Arcane Arrow
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Arcane Arrow is an archer and mysticism based hero who is the 12th in a line of magical archer heroes. She's often seen accompanied by her spirit bear helpers Taga and Ran. By day she is the owner of a ssuccessful construction company, by night she's the daring arrow-shooting hero known as Arcane Arrow.
Contents
Appearance
Arcane Arrow is a short woman at 5'1". She is of fair complexion with dark red hair that she wears long. Her build is on the average side if not a bit curvy. She favors two different costumes, one is urban the other is wilderness. Her urban costume tends to be of a more retro-heroine flare. It comprises of calf high four inch heel boots, and a short skirt cut at an angle with a scalloped edge cape. The costume has a black and green motif and is topped with a domino mask which has an eyeglow effect added to it. Her wilderness outfit is comprised of a green jerkin worn over a brown bodysuit, depending on the enviroment the bodysuit may or may not be knit. She tops it off with long toughened hide boots and packs a quiver with spare arrows and the same domino mask. Both costumes have a set of green and black bracers.
Personality
Anne is a woman of two personas. Her day-life is Anne Allard heiress to Athena Construction, a company that has made substantial amounts of money following the large amounts of reconstruction work following various emergencies in the great lakes area. Anne Allard is a serious business oriented woman. At night she is Arcane Arrow XII, heiress to a heroic mantle passed down her bloodline. Initially she was daunted by the legacy before her, however, she has grown into her shoes becoming a rather self-assured hero with a slightly in your face attitude. The Arcane Arrows have had a tendancy of forging their own path, and occasionally brushing the law the wrong way, but they've never fully crossed the line to vigilantism, and despite the fact that even this Arcane Arrow has not registered under ASPRA her family legacy and the relaxed stance of PRIMUS in the great lakes area has prevented the issue from being pressed with her. One can be certain PRIMUS would be singing a different tune in a place like Miami however. Arcane arrow is a huntress a heart with a strong independant streak.
Powers
Magic
As the name might infer, Arcane Arrow knows a degree of magic. The roots are a mixture of druidic tradition mixed with some sorcery. The technique she uses is one that's been passed down the family line from Arcane Arrow to Arcane Arrow and tends to be rather specialized towards stuff specifically needed for her general superhero trade. Being as such, she is far from a generalist mage. Common spells include something that boosts the combat effectiveness of others, a spell that heals injuries, and defensive warding. She is rather adept at enchanting equipment which is what she uses to produce most of her specialized ammo. It is a little known fact outside of the line, but the last several generations of Arcane Arrows have had diminished magical talent as the blood gets diluted with mundane talents. The current Arcane arrow depends on guile, stealth, trained skills, a handfull of highly practiced specialized spells, and an arsenal of enchanted gear and more mundane gadgets.
Spirit Helpers
Ages back the first Arcane Arrow Ian Fletcher, saved a pair of nature spirits from a menace. In return they swore to help and protect him and his bloodline. The current Arcane Arrow still benefits from that pact through two spirits known as Taga and Ran. They normally lurk out of sight, only coming when called upon. Though even when not in play the spirits occasionally advise her ot keep their eyes open for potential threats. They are good consultants for matters of nature and magic. The spirits when called to fight materialize as a pair of grizzly bears, though enough force can force them to discorporate they can make an imposing set of bodyguards.
Abilities
Archery
Anne Allard has been raised at an early age to use a bow adeptly. She is extensively skilled at the weapon and can hit a target with precision even when runing full tilt. Any bow in her hands is like an extension of her body.
Survival
While most girls her age were getting large birthday parties when they became 16. Anne Allard was taken out to the middle of nowhere, Ohio, and left to survive on her wits in the woods for a few weeks with nothing but a hunting knife and a bow. Since then she has only gotten better. She can survive indefinitely in a wide variety of hostile natural enviroments by livnig off of the land.
Stealth
Taught in the way of the hunter, Arcane Arrow is quite proficient at stealth and slipping through places unseen and unheard. A lot of her magic items are designed to operate without glow, and the stuff that does glow has means of turning it off.
Knife Combat
While this is not her preferred method of engaging someone. Arcane Arrow is proficient in knife combat and carries a few hunting knives hidden in her costume in varius places. Her lack of super strength however prevents her from being extensively dangerous with this style of attack against foes with superior defensive abilities. However, in a pinch she had put temporary enchantments on a knife to give it a little extra punch.
Acrobatics
Anne Allard has been put through a large physical regime all through her life. She is quite nimble on her feet and very acrobatic.
Business Background
As heir to the Athena Construction empire Anne has become rather familiar with the ins and outs of construction just what goes into the construction of a building. She is familiar with high end management business practices, knows how to handle large amounts of money, and is quite comfortable talking with otherwise intimidating people.
Equipment
Extra Dimensional Storage Bracers
The bracers Arcane Arrow uses are special bracers that store equipment off-phase with this dimension. Their construction is a special technique that was developed and refined through the generations of Arcane Arrows. The left bracer is where she stores her bow. The right bracer is for arrow retrieval. The angle at which she holds her forearm back at sets the stack of arrows from which she will draw from. A special hand gesture activates the bracer and silently puts the item in question in her hand with no flashy light show that normally accompanies magic. She has a variety of arrow stacks stored in this fashion which allows her to quickly retrieve the arrow of the type she needs without encumbering herself with a quiver filled with different arrow types. She still in some costumes carries a quiver in case she suffers from a bracer failure. She tends to refer to these bracers as her "Weapon Space".
Bow
An archer is not an archer without a bow. Arcane Arrow carries a hand-crafted bow fitted and tailored to her specific build and draw strength. She generally keeps several backups at her home and stores at least one in her left bracer storage. Since any bows she pulls from thin air are actually stored in her bracer, knocking a bow out of her hand is still an effective way of disarming her.
Knives
An Arcane Archer costume always has several knives hidden in various places. While it is not her preferred attack method, she has at least some threat for anything that gets in her face.
Enchanted Clothing
Her footwear is enchanted to enhance her speed and mobility. A fully eqiupped Arcane Archer can really haul some rear. Her various costumes incorporate defensive wards into their construction which gives her a degree of protection against small arms fire.
Mask
Arcane Arrow favores a domino mask. The mask actually is a technological piece, it superimposes a HUD on her vision that she links up her CRP communicator with so she can easily see who is talking and she can access basic computer functions. The original mask was rewarded to Arcane Archer XI by UNTIL for outstanding service to humanity. Arcane Arrow XII has since convinced someone to at least get the CPU and programing up to date with conventional standards. She has worked an enchantment into it that allows her to sense magical auras at will.
Charm Belt
Arcane Arrow's heroic costume tends to feature a belt with red and yellow disks. Each disk features different sigils and runes and has unique enchantments placed on it. It acts like an arcane utility belt, but activating individual disks she can gain miscellaneous minor enchantments briefly. Most tend to be one shot with a cooldown. Her most commonly used one is a misdirection charm which causes people to overlook her unless she does something that would blatently call attention to herself. Great for hiding. Each of the charm disks can be opened to reveal a compartment where gadgets may be hidden.
Arrows
Arrows are the meat and potatoes of the Arcane Archer style. A lot of them are enchanted but she always employs a bunch of more mundane arrows. Any arrow she uses she needs to replace later, often hand-enchanting them. This leaves Arcane Arrow with a lot of homework between forrays if she uses a lot of ammo.
Broad Heads
A broadhead arrow is by far one of the more simple arrow types Arcane Arrow uses. These things are completely contemporary with nasty looking bladed heads. She does not use these things on people if she can in any way shape or form avoid it. She will use these readily if hunting wild game. She also has particularly nasty versions of these with catches and blades that flip out after penetration for rather aggrivated wounds and arrows that can not be removed without dealing considerably more damage.
Blunts
These arrows don't have a particularly sharp tip. Usually used practice, Arcane uses these when she wants something a little less lethal. She tends to buy these in bulk and convert them to magic arrows.
Bug Planter
These arrows have a thin profile on the head to minimize any chance of lethal injury while penetrating. The arrow head is actually a small tracking bug that is planted into the target on hit. When Arcane removes the arrow and heals the wound on the target she can seal the tracking bug in her target. This allows her to release something and track where it goes. The whole rig is entirely technology dependant, and any sort of EMP would disable the rig. The bugs themselves can easily be removed through some basic surgery but are generally inobtrusive in the body. She would not use this sort of equipment on a person unless she lacked any other form of recourse.
Mystic Stunner
These are blunt-headed arrows that have been enchnated. When fired the arrow is converted into a bolt of arcane energy that strikes the target with a solid kinetic hit that doesn't pierce the flesh. The end result is she can use a barrage of these arrows on a person to buffet them into submission with little to no risk of serious lethal injury. These are her most commonly used arrow when dealing with the undesireable element.
Gas Arrows
Arcane Arrow carries a variety of arrows that create an atomized mist on impact. Most common type is a noxious mixture of various substances that leave any living person coughing and gagging in their wake. She however carries some that can create stuff like a mist of holy water or other unconventional mists to deal with more exotic foe types.
Shockers
Shockers are arrows enchanted to not penetrate, but deliver a strong electric jolt on impact. They lack the damage of a lot of her other arrows and instead stun the victim much like a long range taser.
Web Arrow
A Web Arrow is something Arcane Arrow deploys on occassion to restrain foes. On impact they explode and fill an area with sticky webbing that holds anyone fast caught in the blast.
Flasher Arrow
Flasher arrows flare into a bright light either on impact or a few moments after being fired. She can use these as signal flares, or to mark an area with light for ease of distinguishing targets, or to just hinder foes with a well placed light to dazzle their senses.
Ghost Slayer Arrow
A bit of a misnomer, it's quite hard to outright kill a ghost. But these arrows will definitely blast one to submission. They are designed to turn into a blast of magical energy that flies slightly out of phase with reality when fired. Against living targets they function much like her mystic stunners. Against insubstantial foes these arrows strike true. These arrows can actually pass through walls, allowing her to shoot someone through cover, though the difficulty in enchanting these shots makes her use them sparingly.
Dowser Arrow
More of a support arrow then an attack one, the dowser arrow on impact innudates an area with water. It's great for combating fire, not so useful against enemies, outside of leaving them wondering just what the heck happened.
History
The Arcane Arrow Line
The line started in the 19th century when british ranger Ian Fletcher happened upon a strange sight indeed, an actual real live though malevolent druid attempting to use a portion of the forest he was ranging over as a point to enact a ritual to bind some nature spirits to his will. Ian told the man to stand down, he didn't quite understand what was going on, but he knew something was intrinsically wrong with the situation. Though magic was quite anemic at the time, the druid decided to merely make a sacrifice of the man. Ian defended himself and narrowly killed the druid. The spirits, then freed, thanked Ian, sensing a good spirit in him tha cared for the land, they swore to assist him in return for his assistance to them. Ian became the first Arcane Arrow. Until the 1930's magic was quite weak, so the initial Arcane Arrows were of the pulp variety. They tracked various menaces, most of the time using old-fashioned methods of looking for clues, but occasionally they'd muster enough mojo to perform a divinitory ritual to aid them in the pursuit of their foes. Taga and Ran the spirit bears rarely if ever materialized, they were unseen guides. It wasn't until the 30's where the line took off towards truly superheroic ends. The floodgates of magic opened and superheroes materailized everywhere. Arcane Arrow the IV took Mysterio of the Witch as his wife. She brought into the line a lot of more magical know-how. As the times moved forward so did the line, adding more techniques and magic, though the Arcane Archer line has been known for bieng practical. They rarely keep superflous magic, leaning on precisely what is necessary to get the job done. Arcane Arrow the XI was the first female one, it is her costume that the current Arcane Arrow XII wears.
For several generations the Family has been passing down the family business of Athena Construction. The company focuses on large scale construction projects. It has helped cover a lot of the expenses that go along with being a self-sustaining hero who doesn't lean on public or government aid. It wasn't until the destruction of Detroit that the company really made it's fortunes however. In the wake of rapid construction with several wealthy individuals and companies paying heavily into reconstruction efforts, Athena Construction managed to secure the labor and construction contracts for reconstructing parts of Millennium city, they still make brisk business with all the collateral damage heroes cause in the great lakes area.
Anne Allard
The Arcane arrows had been fletchers until Arcane Arrow XI, Janette Fletcher. She married Albert Allard, a banker she met during her cover-identity as a stock trader. The Fletcher became Allard and her daughter Anne Allard was soon being groomed by her grandfather and mother to be the next Arcane Archer. For a while she was a sidekick to her mother as the Quiver Kid as sort of an internship for her study to be a Heroine, but eventually she had grown enough to stand on her own two feet. Arcane Arrow the XI retired and passed the mantle on to Anne Allard. The task before her was daunting, though she managed to gain some initial acclaim by rooting out a few VIPER bases in the northern US and Canada that had been disrupting pristine park territory. The Arcane Archers had had a longstanding good relationship with the Trismegistus Circle, and she was called on several occasions to help them root out a few of their foes, the Circle of the Scarlet Moon. Her various jobs kept her migrating both to Canada and the US. It was only Natural she ended up setting a base of operations in Millennium City. It was centrally located, with access to not only some interesting arcane shops, but it was the center of Science, giving her access to interesting equipment.
Other Character's Views
Feel free to edit in your own character's views on the Arrow.
The breast magic archer I know. I mean... She's no boob when it comes to crimefighting... What I'm trying to say is... her costume shows a lot. A lot. - Nightfang
