Character Name: Charlier Stoweboldt -
The Jade SpiderAge: 34
General Description: Just under six feet tall and weighing 225 pounds. A lot of her weight is muscle from hard labor working on her parents' farm as a teenager. She has a curvy figure - definitely overweight but pretty well-proportioned. She wears glasses or contacts, has several facial piercings and long red/white dreadlocks.
In costume - Kasumi (Charlier's alias with other heroes) wears largely nondescript, traditional ninja clothing. It is practical and protective (with a layer of padded armor underneath) and so it is not revealing - although one could make out her sex if they were trying. The armor is gray but it is covered with a top layer of pitch-black spider silk that makes up the typical "ninja" outfit. On the forehead of the head mask, a jade green spider is embroidered. This matches the green silk she uses in the grappling hook she carries, as well as her trademark kusarigama. She carries a few other, smaller weapons on her, as well as some smoke grenades.
Personality: History: Raised in Wisconsin, she eventually moved away from the royal clusterfuck of dysfunction that was her family. She attended art school in northern Illinois and eventually got a job as a seamstress in Chicago after she graduated. She had developed a keen mind through both her education and living in a situation that forced her to be able to study the faces of others in order to judge their intent. The abuse she suffered during her childhood also helped her develop a high tolerance for pain. None of these things would make her feel heroic, however, they were merely coping mechanisms. As was her taking to martial arts after leaving her family behind.
It wasn't until 2012, two and a half years before the onset of the recent war, that Charlier came into the possession of her inspiration for heroism. She had been attending a social event with a friend and was approached by a strange Asian man who proceeded to let her know he had been holding onto an ancient item passed down through generations in his family. This object, a simple earthen flute (or ocarina) was supposedly foretold to have to go to this particular person at this particular place in time and it was an auspicious occasion for them. She asked a few questions but, not wanting to appear rude, took the flute as graciously as she could, though she did not believe in the special powers that he claimed the object had.
Charlier's grandfather had played the flute in his time and though her parents would never dream of buying her a musical instrument when she was younger, she ended up inheriting Grandpa's and so was permitted to join band in school. Though she hadn't played in years, after the man gave her the ocarina, she decided to take it up again. One night, she played in the comforts of her urban apartment and found a Raven knocking on her window. She found the man's words were true - the flute would grant her the ability to communicate with animals - at times even the opportunity to see through their eyes!
It was inevitable that she would end up entering into the trend of "regular Joe" vigilantes who were attempting to make a difference in the greater Chicago area. Even during the time, years ago, when super heroes were more common, the Midwest was often lacking in them, and many people like herself felt the need to step forward to fight crime in ways that the police force just wasn't able to... or willing to. She formed a band who not only thumbed their noses at the authority's command to leave it alone, but they also encouraged people everywhere to get involved. She was the only person in the group with a strange item, her comrades were made up of stronger stuff than she was or had access to technology she could only dream of.
Before the war had began, she helped PG take down a mutant named Volk, a large beast of a man who had been hired by the crime syndicate her group had been fighting. In order to subdue him, her compatriots researched him as best they could before the confrontation. They found that he had recently had his ass handed to him in New York by none other than the amazing Spiderman and decided to use that knowledge to their benefit. Through a lot of coordination and planning and well-timed threats published in the local papers, they managed to make Volk had to worry about Spiderman even here in the Midwest and, indeed, just about anywhere he would go. They were vague in their letter, implying that the spider's web reached farther than he could imagine. They weren't lying, Charlier's alter ego was called "The Jade Spider" after all and she used green-dyed spider silk in her weapons and clothing. The letter didn't rattle him too much, though it did give him reason to pause and then their all-out attack on the man used pyrotechnics, a booming voice brought about through their homebodied leader - the Grim Peeper - and her ingenious robots. They shot him with a strong-smelling concoction that negated his skill at finding people through smell and then the web tied it all together. He was left wrapped up in spider silk, a gift for the police. Spiderman responded to the repeated questions about whether he was involved by denying it of course, but he sent his kudos along for whoever was. It was one of the best moments in her life.
The war brought about a definite change of tone in the world around her. Crime went down in most areas, though up in some since the economy of the US suffered a bit. Since big-scale evil had dwindled, it had been easier to manage things even though public morale was down. It was easy to let the loss of superhuman abilities go unnoticed in most of the Midwest since it largely didn't affect anyone there, anyway. So Charlier was a little late coming to the realization that something was going wrong. She, as well as the rest of the members of PG, worked hard to stoke the passions of the normal folks around and get others to help out when things started sliding back into normal again. It was a sobering thought that they might have to take matters into their own hands before the balance jerked backward without those who would normally have kept the streets safe. Knowing how hard they were taking it in Chicago, she could only imagine how disoriented and confused the people of the larger cities on the coasts would be faring, they were used to always having their token superheroes to rely on. What's more... she hadn't heard anything about the whereabouts of Spiderman for longer than she could recall. It was time to go East and help in any way she could.
Social Ties: - Paladin Grade - a group of human vigilantes based in the suburbs of Chicago.
Abilities and Items: - High Pain Tolerance
- Tactically-minded
- Surprising Dexterity for her size.
- Martial Arts Training - in Aikido and Ninjitsu
- Smoke bombs
- Flexible body armor with a layer of spider-silk spun clothing over it
- Voice-Altering mask - The Jade Spider costume is made to look like a ninja outfit with a green spider on the forehead of the headpiece. In her mask, she has a common technological gadget that helps alter her voice in when she needs to
- Tsuchibue Kusarigama - Charlier's skills are enhanced with music or a discernible rhythm. When not using the ocarina (tsuchibue) directly for its use with animals, she attaches it as the weighty end in a kusarigama - which is a kama (sickle) attached to a chain with a lead weight at the end. This is her primary weapon, though she does know how to use a few others. Woven in and out of the chain part is a length of thin rope made from spider silk. The gentleman who had given her the tsuchibue had said it was completely indestructible. She hasn't tested it to a great extent, but it certainly seems to be so far.
If she swings the chain in a circular motion quickly, it will make a dissonant sound that will make any animals in the area flee. In order for her to use it to actually connect with (and seek the help of) animals for a task, she need to play on the instrument for some time and have the task in mind. A mental bond is found with animals in the immediate area (if any appropriate ones can be found) and she is able to give them simple commands. In some cases, she can continue to have the mental link with them for some time after they start executing the command, though she usually must maintain playing for this to happen. The animal she originally made contact with - Archaeron, a black bird - stays by her always and she is able to make a very strong mental connection with him.
Weaknesses:- Mortal - all things considered, she is just a normal human being with all the weaknesses that come with it.
- Near-sighted - She must always wear glasses or contacts. Without them, vision gets fuzzy at less than two feet away.
- Weapon Issues - A kusurigama is not easily concealed, though she does keep it in a backpack metal detectors and magnets will prove problematic as well. Additionally, although the Tsuchibue can be removed and carried around on its own, it is a one of a kind and if she loses it, it's gone. However, it will not work for anyone else.
- Limited Ammo - Her smoke grenades were not something a normal person could purchase on the street. She had a supplier back home, due to the genius of the Grim Peeper, but now she is on her own and attempting to acquire them would be too risky
- Soft-hearted - She will never send an innocent to their doom - this includes animals. If a situation cannot be resolved without keeping those she contacts from danger, then she won't go through with it.
- Slow - Her size does hinder her in this way; She is not at all a fast runner.
- Acrophobia - She has a fear of heights. It's not so severe that it cripples her and doesn't affect her much until she is forty feet (or more) off the ground. She becomes anxious and can't make decisions well. She can also become sick to her stomach.
- Claustrophobia - Anything smaller than a large closet will make her panic.
- Bad family ties - At the moment, she is still safe. One of the benefits to being an average-sized (or larger, in her case) person is that it becomes all that much more difficult to find out your secret identity. However, should her father find out where she was or what she was doing, he wouldn't hesitate to turn her in.
- Preoccupied - A number of things are always on her mind and pose potential for distraction. While her PG teammates have things under hand back home, the moment she hears word that they need her, she will go back. Additionally, her primary reason for being in the New York area is because she wants to help the locals adapt, but she is very curious about what's going on and wants to find Spiderman.
Also, while she isn't at all concerned about him, she had started the hobby of learning about Deadpool in her free time years ago. She finds him amusing and would be very distracted if they ever were to cross paths, for better or for worse.
Here is pic I did of her*Note: don't feel like you need to list that much history.
