Tomorrow's Battle is a Storm Lord Rahu member of the Lodge of Crows.
Background[]
Born Elke De Keizer in South Africa in 1960, the woman who would become Tomorrow's Battle lived a life of privilege and opulence. Her father owned businesses and enterprises around the world, from emerald mines to oil rigs, and she never saw anything that would upset her. Her parents made sure of that. She moved to New York in 1978, and for another five years the blinders remained over her eyes. She moved in the richest circles, she supped with politicians, artists, rock stars and actors. Her world was a dream.
This was only barely metaphor. Elke has always felt, even when she was a little girl, that something was surreal about her life, and she was just on the verge of waking up and discovering it was all false. Drugs and alcohol helped to stave the feeling off but as she grew older, chemicals did less for her, as though her body was learning to ignore them. The wind spoke to her. Cars growled hungrily when they saw her as though they knew her family controlled their precious food. Women dripping jewelry would nod in supplication whenever they saw her. And then one blisteringly hot night in August, 1983, she woke up.
Her First Change happened far from the Manhattan fantasy in which she lived. She was on a ship, sailing north to avoid the heat, when the full moon struck her, pinned her to the deck, slapped her, fucked her, woke her up. She killed everyone on board, tore them to pieces and chummed the water with their flesh, and the morning found her awake, staring at the horizon, finally aware.
She joined the Storm Lords within a month of her First Change, and joined a pack of urban werewolves. They were looking for a member who knew the high society ways of New York, just as they knew the Bronx, the street gangs, Little Italy, the mob, the docks. But she wasn't interested in returning to that life. She was ready to leave the pack and strike out for parts unknown when she received a letter. It said only, "Use what you have," and was signed with the First Tongue symbol for Purity. She listened.
Years passed, and she became a Hudesdu, a Tactician. Her pack was unparalleled in combat, especially in fighting foes in plain sight without revealing its true nature. One night, her pack found itself in an impossible situation - blocked into a tenement as the police surrounded it, trapped between the vicious creature infesting the walls and the innocent men trying to serve the public. And Tomorrow's Battle saw it unfold before her - the police would storm in. The creature would consume them. The pack would die in the crossfire.
And then she came to with a start, and realized that the battle hadn't happened yet. She changed her strategy, stayed outside the building, called in a bomb threat and then burned the place to the ground. The police watched it burn, but kept the area clear. She earned the name "Tomorrow's Battle" from her decision, and also earned entry into the Lodge of Crows.
Elke still lives in New York, a society maven with a reputation for long disappearances, drug fueled insanity and spoiled, vapid entitlement. She once hated this image of herself, but has come to appreciate it as a tactic that requires her utmost commitment. She takes lovers, abuses drugs and breaks bread with the mighty and corrupt, and under the full moon, she and her pack hunt down anyone in the five boroughs that they deem a true threat to the city.
Description[]
Elke is a beautiful woman in her early 40s. Her werewolf constitution has kept her young-looking, and she takes great pains to ensure that she isn't obviously too young for her identity. She has a robust figure, short blond hair and pure, unblemished skin. She wears a dizzying array of jewelry, most of it custom made with patterns of occult symbols. These mean nothing to the average witness, but have just enough significance to confuse a scholar. Elke does not rely on fetishes, however - if she needs to fight, she relies on her skills and her pack.
Storytelling Hints[]
If Elke has a regret, it's that she never took a true mate or had a family. This would have been a monumentally bad tactical decision, after all - if she had a child, she would want to raise it, protect it and love it above all else, but she could not compromise her loyalty to her pack this way. So she remains fundamentally alone. Not even her pack knows that she is a member of the Lodge of Crows, of course, but while another Rahu might regard this secret as a betrayal, she knows that it is for the pack's protection.
Stats[]
Auspice: Rahu
Aspect: Tactician
Tribe: Storm Lord
Lodge: Crows
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 4, Wits 5, Resolve 4
Physical Attributes: Strength 3 (4/6/5/3), Dexterity 4 (4/5/6/6), Stamina 3 (4/5/5/4)
Social Attributes: Presence 4, Manipulation 5 (4/5/2/5), Composure 5
Mental Skills: Academics 3, Computer 2, Crafts (Jewelry) 2, Investigation 4, Occult (Spirits, Secret Societies) 3, Politics (Global) 4
Physical Skills: Athletics 3, Brawl 5, Drive 1, Firearms 3, Larceny 1, Stealth (Hunting) 3, Weaponry 2
Social Skills: Animal Ken 1, Empathy 2, Expression (Fascinating Stories) 3, Intimidation 4, Persuasion 3, Socialize (High Society) 5, Streetwise 3, Subterfuge 3
Merits: Barfly, Contacts (High Society, National Government, Local Government, Police, International Business, Corporate), Fame 2, Fast Reflexes 2, Iron Stamina 3, Language (Afrikaans, Dutch, German, English, Italian, Spanish), Resources 5, Status (High Society) 5, Striking Looks 4
Willpower: 9
Harmony: 8
Virtue: Prudence. Every decision that Elke makes is measured, calculated and weighed against her own instincts.
Vice: Envy. But, sometimes she wishes she could be foolish and vapid again, if only for a little while.
Initiative: 11 (11/12/13/13)
Defense: 4 (4/5/5/5)
Speed: 12 (13/16/19/17)
Health: 8 (10/12/11/8)
Primal Urge: 7
Renown: Cunning 3, Honor 5, Purity 5, Wisdom 2
Gifts: Call the Breeze, Clarity, Death Sight, Know Name, Moonlight, Partial Change, Warning Growl, Attunement, Luna's Dictum, Mighty Bound, Righteous Rage, Silent Fog, Primal Howl, The Illuminated Battlefield, Voice of Command, Harmony's Reward, Killing Frost, Fog of War, Intractable Warrior
Rites: Cleansed Blood, Rite of the Spirit Brand
Essence Max/Per Turn: 20/5
References[]
- WTF: Signs of the Moon, p. 184-185
