Snow's 20 Questions
• We are shaped by our heritage. Facial features, skin tone, height,
build, metatype, even aptitudes are influenced by the genes
passed from parent to child. Attitude, too, is taught by parents,
informed by their own lives and their cultural heritage. Where
does your character come from, what is her lineage, who were
her parents, and what did she inherit from them?
Ophelia was born Yelena Marinova Takinovsky. She is/was the older of twin daughters of Marina and Yuri (Vashka) Takinovsky. Her birth city is Vladivostok, Russia. Even though Elven, her family was afforded an almost equal status in that city and she grew up steeped in the traditions of the Motherland. She inherited her mother’s eyes and striking looks, and her father’s stubbornness. She also inherited the desire for justice and vengeance. Both parents are still living in Vladivostok but the fate of her sister, Olena, is in doubt and is why she is in Seattle.
• Parents can be proud of their children or regret ever bringing
them into the world. Some are loving, and some are indifferent.
All of them are only metahuman and have their own opinions
of their children. Assuming they could speak, what would each
of your character’s parents say about her?
Yelena grew up in a loving household, or as loving as a family deeply entrenched in the Vory, the Russian Mob, can be. The Vladivostok bratva was like an extended family to her and she grew up respecting the codes and being groomed for big things. Her parents loved both daughters, but Olena broke the code and started seeing someone from outside of the bratva. Olena was forced to watch her young man die and she was not the same afterwards, even though she toed the line. She began arguing with the family and acting out. Yuri finally had enough and had her sent to Seattle to get her out of Russia and give her a chance to have a life. Her parents never talked about her after she left, but Yelena always knew they still loved her wayward sister. Yelena was the darling daughter and her parents were never prouder when she was selected to attend medical school.
• Many people remember certain historical events for the rest of
their lives. For those alive in the first decade of the 21st century,
it could be the assassination of John F. Kennedy, or the
Tiananmen Square protests, or the fall of the Berlin Wall, or
the attacks of 11 September 2001. People remember where they
were, and what they were doing when they first heard of these
events. Shadowrun history has significant events as well, such as
the assassination of President Dunkelzahn, the Crash 2.0, and
the emergence of technomancers and artificial intelligences.
Pick a few events from recent Shadowrun history and ask where
the character was at the time, what does he remember about the
event, and what was he doing at the time?
I am a foreigner to these shores, but the so-called Seattle Mob Wars of 2058 resonated even to Russia. When the mafia succession crisis erupted and drug the yakuza into it, the Vory was happy to see it. The Seattle bratva was ordered to stay on the sidelines and try to pick up some of the pieces. Sadly, the boss at that time was not smart enough or quick enough to do more than sit on his drekking butt. The result was that the Vory did not get stronger and the boss of the bratva in Seattle was “replaced”.
Who was not affected by Crash 2.0? The effect was felt everywhere, even by the megacorps. EVO, already a patron of metahumanity, was far more able to react to the emergence, but still, the event shook the world.
• Very few people choose to become shadowrunners. More
likely, they are thrown into the life by a chaotic and uncaring
world. Even if she made a conscious decision to enter the
shadows, her decision is influenced by the world around her.
How did your character get into shadowrunning, and why did
she take that path?
Olena had always managed to keep in touch with Yelena. Yuri was openly very angry about this, but only after Yelena shared the latest news. Marina was the one who kept things together as a family and quietly encouraged Yelena to stay in touch with Olena. Olena had taken to the Seattle life with a real intensity. She was apparently living a classy life of men, fancy clubs, and money. Every letter was full of the great things she was doing, and sometimes even named names of people she was hanging out with. Then the letters stopped. Just stopped. No warnings, no indications of anything wrong, just nothing. Yuri contacted some Vory people in Seattle and learned the truth. His daughter had been lying all the time, well about most things. She was indeed going to high-end clubs and spending lots of money, but that was because she was a hooker. The local bratva said that there had been some troubles with one or more of her clients and she just disappeared. That usually means that she was killed, but there was no body. By tradition, it was up to the family to send someone to find out what happened and get justice and revenge. Yelena was selected to go over. She gave up her budding medical studies because this was about family and honor and Vory. She travelled to Seattle and set herself up as Ophelia and began to live Olena’s life as a means to find out what happened to her. She learned that she had to move in dark shadows and began to cultivate the contacts and experience that would help her.
• People have control over their own living arrangements. From
the child young enough to use crayons and tape all the way up
to the elderly shut-in who plasters her walls with family photos
and cat pictures, everyone makes their living spaces more personally
pleasing. What is your character’s living space like, and
what has he added or changed to make it his own?
I was fresh from Vladivostok and looking for a place to stay while I began my search for Olena. I wandered through her life in Seattle and caught up with a pretty human by the name of LuAnn Gellar. She used the name Pixie, and she knew Olena. Olena had gone by the name of Valeen here. Pixie had only known her briefly, as they were both in the same business of “escorting”. She told me that Valeen had dropped out of touch a bit ago and that she was worried. She turned me on to some contacts that she hoped were helpful. She also mentioned that her roommate had just packed up and left and wanted to know if I needed a place. She gave me directions to her apartment in Lower Queen Anne Hill and I went over to look at it. It is a bit high-end, but the site is good. I moved in and she made me feel right at home. It is a large apartment with a great view. It came furnished so I did not have to add any furniture, although I have added some personal knick knacks I have picked up. One of the rules is that we do not bring our clients home, so this is our space. It is strange having space that is not shared by family.
• Everyone has beliefs, and many have beliefs strong enough to
be convictions. Some are religious, some are political, some are
social, and some are just about why people are here. What does
your character believe in, what are her convictions (if any), and
why does she hold them?
Yelena believes in the brotherhood of the Vory and has made contact with the Seattle bratva. The Vory is about family, but on a larger scale than just her parents and sister. It is the entire extended family, to include many people not related to her by blood. It is a different kind of blood and goes much deeper than what “normal” people call family. She is apolitical and amoral. Her life is the Vory and she will do what is necessary to bring justice for one of the family, because Olena is still family, even if she tried to deny that. Yelena has beuty, brains, and talent and she will use all of it to bring justice to the Vory.
• Everyone has aspects of their personality that grate on someone.
Even the best of friends annoy one another from time to time.
The flaws in a person’s character are as important as the qualities.
What do you dislike most about your character’s personality?
Yelena hates that she is falling under the spell of the bright lights of Seattle. She has taken up gambling as a means to pass her time as well as cultivate contacts. When in a game, she thinks of little else and that disturbs her. Although she can control the urges for now, it is becoming harder for her to resist the call of the game. That can manifest itself in the way she talks to people when she is caught up in the moment.
• The Sixth World is considered by many to be spinning out of
control. If anyone could exert control over it, it would be the
“Big Ten” triple-A megacorps. These transnationals exert a lot of
influence on everyday life in the 2070s. Which of the Big Ten
does your character hold in the highest (or least low) regard,
which does he like the least, and why?
EVO Corporation is by far and away her favourite. The corporation is Basically Russian, is metahuman friendly and actively supports its Elven community. It is also linked to the Vory and that is a big plus. EVO paid for a good bit of her training, shelling out nuyen like water to support her early training as a hacker and then continuing with her medical education. She has respect for EVO. And respect is hard to come by.
• People make acquaintances and friends; we’re hardwired for it.
Humans are social animals. This is especially true in the shadows,
where often it is not the power you have, but the power you
can borrow, and not who you, are but who you know. There’s a
story behind each and every one of these relationships. What is
the story with your character and her contacts?
Contacts? Hmmm. Yes I have made a few. Most are just nobodies or johns. I need the johns to make money and I find the sex to be both relaxing and stimulating, depending on the john. This was Olena’s world and someone here knows about her. I will sleep with everyone in the sprawl to find out the truth if I have to.
LuAnn Geller, known as Pixie, is a professional high-end escort. She knows Olena slightly, having met her a couple of times at parties. She has little information about Olena's disappearance, but has been able to give leads on various pimps and arrangers. Her former roommate had just moved out and she was looking for a replacement.
Morris Baker is a leech on what remains of society. He is a professional gambler, but has a steady position as a shill for various casinos and betting parlors. He will lure people in with rigged wins then watch as they get sucked into a continuing downward spiral of debt to hard men. Snow is one of those who is now addicted to gambling. She realizes that she has a problem,, but gambling is compulsive.
Nickel is a small time hacker that is Snow's contact to the greater hacking underground. His contact is suspicious of him because his motives are suspect, but he is, in turn, able to reach out to a greater number of hackers and suppliers.
Phil was driving the cab that Snow took when she landed in Seattle. He recognized a mark when he saw her and offered to give her guided tours of the city. Since Snow does not own a car or cycle, she frequently uses Phil and his cab to get around. Over time, they have reached a common appreciation of each other.
EVO provided Snow with Robert Parson's name when she left Vladivostok for Seattle. He is the corporate "problem Solver" in the Seattle sorporate office. He is a former UCAS Special Forces officer who went freelance after leaving that force. He has a good skill set for dark operations and has proven to be a relaible contact for those special and hard to get items such as Snow's disguised gun.
Sasha was once an EVO Corporate Hostess, but has left the trade for the private sector. Snow has worked for the corporation long enough to suspect that Vlady is still on the corporate payroll. Vlady helps line up high-end clients for Snow. She also had minimal information about Olena, but has feelers out into the shadier side of the business in the hope of uncovering more for Snow.
An entirely new world opened up for Snow when she was promoted to her present status in the Vory. Suddenly, she had access to material and contacts worldwide. These include, but are certainly not limited to, the boss of the Seattle bratva and all of his advisors, soldiers, cops and politicians on the take, and other paid links to the Seattle sprawl.
• It’s Sunday morning, and your character has no commitments
until tomorrow afternoon. What does she do for the day?
Ophelia would roll out of the fancy hotel bed and look at the clock. She will look over at the handsome human on the other side of the bed while she runs a hand through her hair and stretches. The money had been good and the tip even better. The man had actually been a pleasure to be with. He had taken her to dinner and a play before returning to his hotel room for the obligatory sex. Ophelia would tell herself that even that had been better than average. As she swung out of bed and made her way to the toilet and shower, she switched on her comm link to see what was on her schedule for the day. So far absolutely nothing. She could relax and maybe enjoy the man in the bed a bit more. He seemed nice enough and certainly was a good tipper. It was too bad that he had to return to his strung out wife and antsy kids, but that was life in the sprawl. Another day and another john. She sent a quick message out to Vlad, <<Hey, good looking. Nice contact yesterday. I owe you one. Feel free to send more like him my way. Your cut is already deposited. Ta.>>
Without much of a plan, she would go work out at the gym for a bit before going on a run. She mentally grimaced at the thought of how much it would take to exercise off the food she ate last night. She was thinking of going to the club in the evening to meet Stokesr. He had messaged her last night that he had a game on that she just could not miss. She angrily shrugged, this absorption with gambling was a weakness. It had started as a way to get in tight with people who had known Olena. No she had to remember that the name here had been Valeen. It had worked, only it had also got into her blood and she was having a hard time shaking it. So, yes, she would try to make it to the club for the sure thing game.
She turns on the shower and turns off the link. She just wants to soak away her anger at herself and enjoy the nearly unlimited hot water that came with the expensive hotel room. She smiles as she considers that the man still in the bed might be worth another tumble this morning and she would certainly get his contact links.