Iceblade
Posted by: Madrecita
Name: Mirikon Mollen (Formerly Rahki Darkholme)
Handle: Iceblade
Age: 41
Height: 2m
Weight: 80kg
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Brown
Gender: Male
Metatype: Elf
Awakened: Yes (Magician)
If ever there was a name appropriately selected, it’s Iceblade. When I first heard it, I thought he was a vainglorious boy with a lack of imagination. Nothing can be further from the truth. Continue to read, and you will find out why.
To understand Ice, as I call him, you have to understand where he comes from. Put yourself in medieval times, in a feudal system. Imagine growing up privileged, and being taught that you are superior to ‘lesser’ beings and that you hold the position of privilege by right. That is where he comes from. Right or wrong, that is the society that shaped him, and he embraced it, as any noble son should.
I had some difficulty digging up specifics on his early life and training. Some of it is no doubt attributable to the Crash 2.0, but not all of it I should think. What I have should be reasonably accurate. Getting to the nitty gritty of it:
Ice was born Rahki Darkholme in 2032. That makes him forty one or forty two years old, depending on the exact day of his birth. His parents are Count Karellon Darkholm and Duchess Mellaneth Darkholme, with two elder siblings Count Arkash Blackmoon, and Count Garret Richt. They were raised on the family estate near Salem, initially learning all those things a nobleman should know. Things like tradition, the political and social system, and of course all the etiquette, attitudes and behaviours appropriate to the gentry. He learned this even before he received a basic education, so you can imagine how deeply ingrained those things are in him.
When he showed some talent for magic, a tutor was hired, a man of appropriate rank, skill and reputation, by name of Rimaldo Corenas. Rimaldo was a follower of the Swordmage Tradition. Rahki spent ten or so years under his tutelage, picking up not only swordplay, but also the elven martial art Carromeleg. This too had a big impact on the young Rahki. As any magician can tell you, the tradition we follow is central to how we view the world, and Rahki received instruction in a very specific tradition from a very tender age. As with many martial traditions, responsibility is taught along with the power it can unleash. Control and mastery of the body and mind, with magic and blade becoming mere extensions thereof. Rahki excelled of course. I’d imagine that little else would be expected of him, given the society he was raised in.
Upon reaching his majority, he underwent the Rite of Passage, involving being sent alone into the forest with only the basics. For meditation purposes, ostensibly, but I’d imagine also for the physical challenge of it. When he emerged, he underwent the Naming, and chose the name Mirikon Mollen. As a mere third son, he would not automatically inherit hi father’s lands and title. In fact...traditionally, younger sons of the nobility usually joined the military as officers. Unless of course they undertook the Rite of Progression, as Mirikon did. A scant year after his Naming, he was confirmed as Count Mirikon Mollen, a noble in his own right, with lands and privilege and all that went with it.
Now things get a bit fuzzy here, but the details aren’t that difficult to piece together. Given his martial training, his Tradition, and his mentor spirit, it’s hard to imagine he would not have some involvement with the military. I did some digging through my own contacts and found that he did indeed have military background. He spent some time in the Tir Tairngir Peace Force, rising through the ranks as his skills developed. I wouldn’t swear to this, necessarily, but my instincts tell me that he’s a Ghost. My reasons for saying so? Things that should be difficult to find aren’t. And things that should be easy isn’t. For example, I couldn’t find out exactly how long he served, or where, but the traces that he had served and that the data had been ‘Crash 2.0 lost’ was just a bit too convenient. Many explanations are just a trifle too glib, too reasonable, and if something seems too good to be true, it usually is. And there’s his skill with the blade besides. As a follower of Shark, he’s cold, deadly, remorseless and very precise, killing quickly and efficiently. I’ve run with him a few times and saw him in action. It defies belief. Iceblade. The most appropriate name anyone ever chose. He fits the profile of a Ghost, but I’d hate to have to defend my case in a court, so make of that what you want.
Either way, I can account for only about six years of military service that I’d sign my name to. His name pops up on one rather interesting list though. Who among you remembers a corp called Arcanix? Hit hard by the crash, the corp, situated near Salem where Ice lived, was about to be gobbled up, and the CEO at the time decided it was time to...cut the overhead. The details of exactly what happened is unclear, but tracing a few records here and there, I found that well over eight hundred people were killed that day, September 14, 2065. All employees of Arcanix, who must have missed the memo about that day being a mandatory holiday...There were only three survivors, and two of those died the following day in hospital. Only Mirikon escaped alive.
I lost track of him there, but he pops up in Seattle as the Ice we’ve come to love or loathe. There’s very little middle ground with a man like Ice. You either love or loathe him, take him as he is with all his ways, or take exception to them. You can make a case for either position.
Over the years in Seattle, he’s been seen in the company of many people, including the Salish-Shidhe ambassador, the Seattle Ambassador to the Tir, the Tir Ambassador to Seattle, Redmond Mayor Sonya Scholl, and been romantically linked to several more, including Karen King.
There have been a few other hints I uncovered, but I’ve found very little to corroborate it, so I think I’ll keep them to myself for now. I realise that there isn’t too much here, and a lot of it is rather disconnected. I could probably connect the dots for you...but I think you’re all big, and bad Shadowrunners able to draw your own conclusions from these bare bone facts. Have fun.
Keep in mind his record as a runner though, and never forget for a moment what he calls himself. Someone who can survive a run into the very heart of Tenochtitlan and escape with the goods, killing a dragon – not a great, but nevertheless – in the process is not someone to take lightly.
Also...don’t be lulled by his good looks and charming ways. A certain Horizon executive made that mistake and never knew she was being played. He's frequently posed as a male escort, and believe me, he can pull that off. Thing is...when he's with a woman, he never needs to fake it, even if she's nothing but a mark.
That said...I’ve never known him to break his word after accepting a job. You can trust him to be professional in every way...unless you’re his mark, in which case all bets are off.
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Madrecita
Posted by: Iceblade
Vital Stats: Madrecita
Age: 60
Height: 185cm
Weight: 83kg
Hair: Ebony
Eyes: Dark brown
Gender: Female
Metatype: Elf
Awakened: Yes (Magician)
I admit that I struggled a bit on how to start this profile. The mage we know as Madrecita has walked some dark paths in her time. I'm not doing her any favors writing this piece. All I can do is hope that if she reads this, she realizes how far she's come, and lets go of her hate. In Tir na Nog, the Wheel turns one way. Learn from the past, but keep moving forward.
Our Madrecita was born Xerena Suelo Rubruquis on January 3, 2014 in Madrid, Spain. Public records from the time are understandably sketchy, with two Matrix Crashes happening in the interim. Most of it is the normal childhood stuff. Boarding school at 8, until she Awakened, and then a semi-private school after that, and she went to a university to learn to use her magic to help with healing people.
At some point, she met a man, and fell in love, becoming Mrs. Beltran Calderon in 2044. Her kids, Vita and Alano, were born a couple years later. For a while, she lived a normal life, working in a private clinic specializing in trauma care and reconstructive surgery.
Things started to unravel for her in 2052, when her husband was killed. It was ruled a hate crime, but no one was ever caught. Xerena dealt with her grief by devoting herself to her children. And then they, too, were taken from her.
According to the official police reports, Xerena went to her parents' house in July of 2054 to pick up her children who had been visiting. She walked in on a bloodbath. Her parents and children were all dead, and the murderer tried to kill her too. She survived at least four other attempts on her life in the next three months that I could find records of, literally throwing her into the shadows, without any time to grieve for her family.
This would be the beginning of the 'batshit crazy' time of her life. Anyone who's lost someone important to them knows how easy it is to go a bit mad from grief. And with all these losses piled on top of one another, it is understandable that Madrecita began spiraling into madness.
She sold everything she had, everything her parents had, and dove headlong into the shadows in order to avenge her family. She finally caught up to him, but that confrontation destroyed what little grasp she had on sanity. The killer was a former lover of hers. To make matters worse, her children were simply collateral damage. Her parents were the targets, victims of an Aztechnology reprisal from their shadow work hunting blood mages for the Draco Foundation. Madrecita vowed a vendetta against Aztechnology.
No magician, no matter how skilled, is a match for a megacorp, however. Madrecita took a position with Doctors Without Borders, moving throughout South America, staying a step ahead of the Azzies. More than a few bodies were left in her wake as she fled, victims of Aztech reprisal squads who just missed Madrecita. The violence was later blamed on terrorists, cartel wars, and rebel groups. This continued until she did what so many of us have done, and faked her own death in Bogota.
After that, things get sketchy. The Azzies aren't known for their recordkeeping, but I was able to track down one of her companions from back then, a fellow runner named Sinead.
// upload media file :: user Iceblade :: 01/23/74 //
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"There was a group of us, working with the Catholic Church. We had all lost someone to Aztechnology, and we were all looking for payback. We found it hunting blood mages. Madrecita was our mage. When she hit a place, there were no 'innocents'. Anyone who got in her way was cut down. If not by her spells, than by that nasty ass blade she carried, looked like something out of an old sci-fi flatscreen. There's nothing scarier than watching a Spanish woman get her blood up, let me tell you.
We spent '57-'61 in South America, hunting Azzies on their turf. Went through a lot of teammates during that time. You know how it is. You get to know someone just the time they get killed, again and again, and eventually you stop getting to know people, and they're just cannon fodder to help you get to your goal. Madrecita was a mess when we started working together, and she only got worse as time went by. Wouldn't listen to anyone. Took insane risks. She didn't care who died, so long as she got to kill Azzies.
In '61 we decided to hit a teocali that they were activating near Altun Ha. Things went to drek almost immediately. Astral barriers blocked our line of attack, so we had to circle around. We were about to go in, and Madre scouts the astral. Comes back saying they're binding blood spirits in there, and the mage knows we're there. The others are all for bugging out, but Madre won't hear it. She's on a suicide run all the way, you know? Just charges in after the guy. And, like an idiot, I followed her.
The mage was more powerful than we could handle. Blasted us with some of the most powerful magic I've seen, before or since. Madre tried to fight him, but was no match. By that point, I was half unconcious from the blows. Next thing I know, she's kneeling over me, knife in hand, ready to kill me. Then she just froze up. The mage started shouting some crap, and I took her knife and put it in his eye. She passed out not long after that. The guys fought their way through to us, and we bugged out."
// end media file //
Until then, Madrecita had been walking a continually darker path, and had dabbled in some of the darker aspects of magic, driven by the mad quest for vengeance. She turned back from that path, though, before she'd gone beyond the point of no return.
After that incident, Madrecita and Sinead went to the Yucatan, and helped the rebels fight the Aztlan forces. However, with the rise of the toxic faction in the rebel army, she left the fight in disgust. She'd passed too far down one dark path to risk associating herself with another.
Making her way to Bogota, spent a few years in the city, working against Aztechnology, including the assassination of an Azzie executive named Eduardo Vasquez. Her team decided that the best way to get to him was to be roadies with a music group. Unfortunately, Vasquez's favorite music wasn't popular in Bogota at the time. So Madrecita becomes Moncita Caballe, and begins singing in local clubs, while the rest of the team promotes her, making sure that Vasquez hears about her. Sure enough, he shows up at one of her shows, and she gives him a kiss on the cheek with some shellfish toxin, and it is a perfectly 'accidental' death due to allergic reaction. Some of those performances were recorded and commercially released. You can find some nice pirate copies here. [link]
In '67, she got word that the man who had killed her family had been spotted in Seattle. With Sinead at her side, she came to the Emerald City, and finally settled scores with the man who had taken so much from her.
Settling down with an alchemy lab, Madrecita took up the life of a talismonger, and parted company with Sinead. Since then she's worked as a respectable talismonger, and hasn't shown any signs of returning to her dark past. She's shown that even though you can fall, and fall hard, it is still possible to pick yourself back up. And it doesn't hurt to actually pay attention to what the spirits are telling you, either, instead of fighting it.
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Smiley
Posted by: Madrecita
Age: Early Forties,
Height: 6'1''
Weight: 205 lbs
Hair: Black (Partially dyed yellow)
Eyes: Black
Gender: Male
Metatype: Elf Drake (rumored)
Awakened: Yes (Mystical Adept, Wuxing)
“Service with a smile”. Sounds like your local hotel, or the motto of a brothel, doesn’t it? Nothing at all sinister about it. You also wouldn’t think there could possibly be anything sinister about the man who issues those black cards upon which the phrase is printed. He’s such a likable rogue, always smiling, full of life, the heart of the party. Still...there is something about him, and pinning down exactly what it is is next to impossible.
To give you an example...I couldn’t even track down a name for him other than Smiley, and no date or place of birth. He simply appeared in 2049. Given his metatype, it’s difficult to judge his age. From several conversations with him, I’d estimate him to be in his early forties.
Besides the “Service with a smile” calling card he invariably leaves behind after a job, he does have a few other distinguishing features: he always wears black and yellow, he wears four golden rings on his right ear and one on his left eyebrow and he has Chinese dragon tattoos on his arms and back. Like most elves, he’s tall and quite beautiful, as strange as it is to apply that description to a male.
The earliest record I could find of Smiley places him in Redmond in 2049, running with the Green Hoods, a bunch of...well, ‘Hooding gangers ripping off the rich and giving to the poor. He ran with them for about ten or so years before an unfortunate tangle with the Halloweeners wiped them all out. Only Smiley’s connections with the Triads saved him. A few weeks later, he paid the Halloweeners a visit and left sixteen of them dead, leaving his calling card “Service with a smile” for the very first time.
After that, he became a shadowrunner, doing mostly wetwork, but also the occasional protection gig. At each kill, he left his calling card, and that was always the only thing ever discovered at any of the scenes. He left no evidence at all. He did this for two years before he was betrayed by the man who trained him. I couldn’t find out exactly what happened, or why, but my digging around did reveal that the mysterious person who trained him attempted to carry out a hit on Smiley. In retaliation, he killed both the man and his hitman, before joining a band of ‘runners whom he later also killed before making off with millions of nuyen worth of credsticks. Wetwork pays, I suppose.
This became a pattern with Smiley. Anyone who betrayed him, or made a serious attempt on his life didn’t live long enough to try again.
Now with money to back up his very solid rep, Smiley began moving in the upper reaches of society. He established contacts in the FBI, CIA, UCAS Marshalls, the Star, the Knights...all the upper crust folks without ever working against any of them.
In 2066, he formed the band “Thanks for coming out” and released an album before suddenly disappearing completely. He reappeared in 2071, now packing stronger magic and sharpened abilities. Where he went to hone his skills I have not been able to uncover. He rejoined his old band they resumed making music as if nothing had happened.
Now think about everything you’ve learned. Who is this person we call Smiley? He kills as easily as he breathes, even people close to him. His entire team was killed, but did he do it or not? I haven’t been able to find out. He killed the man who trained him. He kills with a certain panache...one might even say with a twisted sense of humour. When he was hired to make a death look like a suicide, he strapped bombs to his mark’s wife and child, and then commanded him to kill himself to save his wife and child. He’s capable of surprising acts of kindness, even compassion, and then turn right around and kill. He’s spent ten years of his life hooding, and suffered many betrayals. He lives as if he believes he’ll die soon. He speaks Sperethiel like a native and appeared so suddenly it seems like he lived in a cave in the Tir before coming down out of the mountains.
Could our friend Smiley be a Shifter? Maybe. He follows the Wuxing tradition, which suggests connections with China. His racial characteristics is certainly Chinese. So’s his Triad connections. If he is a Shifter, I’d postulate he’s an eastern critter.
There’s mysteries upon mysteries about Smiley. He’s a good ‘runner, a fun person, but one that’s hard to pin down, hard to know. I don’t get any bad vibes from him, but I would also not care to cross him. He’s a good guy to have on your contact list, but a bad enemy. Tread lightly with him, enjoy his company and play your games straight with him. Catch up with him at Powerline and share a good time with him. Then hire him and receive “Service with a smile”. And pray he doesn’t come after you.
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