Wu Mei

*A Girl, A Geek, A Slayer*

* Overview
* Sheet
* Background
* 'Ships
* Logs

 But that's not how things work! That's not how ANYTHING works!

— Wu Mei

Nerdy Asian soccer chick is what most people at Beacon Hills High would know her as. She's noted for geeking on maths and computers, always being on a bike when not at school, not having a social life, and being an OK soccer player. Unbeknownst to all (including herself) she's fated to be a Slayer. Her ticket just hasn't come up yet. Yet.

## Personality

Focused, nerdy, curious, and a little bit socially awkward. (Like the Atlantic is a little bit wet.)

## SIGNATURE ABILITY

### Twist Odds

Whenever she's alone, badly wounded and facing insurmountable opposition (in her perception) something unusual happens: events just start happening Mei's way. If she's fighting a horde of mooks, each strike hits something that takes the mook down. If she's fighting the level boss, she finds by happenstance the weakness that gives her an edge. None of this guarantees victory, but it can keep her alive long enough for help to arrive or for an opportunity to escape to present itself (if she's smart enough to take it). It's as if in the cosmic D&D game her to-hit rolls keep coming up 20 and her damage keeps maxing out. (Or if the cosmic game is Rolemaster, her crit rolls are always 66.)

## SKILLS

As a lifelong resident of Beacon Hills, and as one who's had to cycle through it for almost everything she does, Mei is pretty good at knowing what is where, even some of the things people might be trying to conceal.

Preparing for a computer science degree, Mei loaded all of her electives and spares with maths and computer classes and every evening with maths tutoring.

All the whining in the world hasn't helped Mei in her quest to get a car. She can't afford one and her parents won't let her have one. She has thus, since childhood, gone everywhere by bike, picking up a few survival skills for going through traffic.

The real kind that involves a FOOT kicking a BALL, not the fake kind that involves a HAND carrying an EGG. Her parents insisted. It gets her out of the house and keeps her fit and away from the keyboard and books that otherwise dominate her life.

The musical instrument. Her parents insisted. Don't ask her about it and she won't get upset. (She will never admit publicly that she finds it relaxing to play.)

The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Mei needs to speak Mandarin to interact with most of her living family.

Preparing for a computer science degree, Mei loaded all of her electives and spares with maths and computer classes and every evening with maths tutoring.

## ABILITIES

Especially paired with their heightened senses, a slayer has exceptional reflexes. They have increased physical agility and manual dexterity, as well as moving faster in general. They are able to outrun a motorcycle, leap several times higher and farther than a regular human, and can even potentially dodge or catch projectiles.

Slayers have dreams steeped in history and lore. These may teach them things, reveal insights, or even be prophetic glimpses into the future. They may also experience the same dream as someone else, usually for a specific reason.

Slayers can take a beating that would land a regular human in the hospital, then keep fighting. They are highly resistance to traumatic force. It's difficult to break their bones, and they can survive falling from several stories, electric attacks, and being hit by moving vehicles. They are also resistant to natural disease and sickness.

If a slayer is injured or somehow becomes sick, they recover very quickly. More serious injuries, which would most likely kill someone not gifted with such superhuman abilities, may take longer or even render them comatose until they have recovered. More minor wounds typically heal within seconds or minutes.

With reflexes and a tremendous awareness of their surroundings, slayers are able to operate at a higher sensory level a regular person. They are, consequently, able to respond to stimuli faster and more effectively, which among other things is a tremendous advantage in battle. They can sense the presence of non-humans, although they typically have to first encounter each kind discovered its nature.

Slayers are strong enough to bend metal with little effort, throw hundreds of pounds a significant distance, and crack reinforced concrete with unarmed strikes.

## ADVANTAGES

Slayers are gifted with formidable fighting abilities. Even before the potential slayer is activated, they have a natural ability to defend themselves, which seems to be triggered by supernatural threats. This ability further allows slayers to learn combat skills and tactics at an astounding rate, learning in days or weeks what would take the average human years or decades to master.

## WEAKNESSES

Wu Mei is emphatically NOT a combatant by temperament. She's a thinker. She's remarkably easy to distract by intriguing puzzles to the point that dangers might be overlooked and openings left in active combat if the puzzle is sufficiently intriguing and its delivery well-timed.

Slayers are infused with a powerful magical essence, drawn from the same wellspring that created the First Slayer. Those with sufficient mystic knowledge or perception may be able to detect or even track that essence. In a broader sense, it makes them stand out from a crowd of normal humans, even before seeing their superhuman abilities.

## Prehistory

In the beginning there was nothingness. Wu Mei was formless and of the void. Then Wu Songming (later Walter Wu) met Huang Linting (later Linda Huang) in Hebei province of China, on the banks of the Yellow River, fell in love, married her, and suddenly the world changed. Wu Songming, following an opportunity granted by an employment visa, took a job as a history professor in America, teaching at Beacon Hills College, and through diligence and talent, turned that into permanent residency for he and his bride (who herself, later, found employment as a sales clerk in a regional department store). Shortly after that the era of formlessness and void-like attributes ended and Wu Mei (May Wu in the local parlance) entered, squalling, into the world.

## Younger Years

The younger years of Mei were the usual thing that every child had: Mandarin lessons, forced study of the guzheng, bike riding (LOTS of bike riding because Mr. Wu didn't want Mei driving until she was an adult and had passed stringent driver safety classes), and, once her aptitude for maths (and her interest in computers) was discovered, lots and lots and lots of study and tutoring and practice to streamline her for her own academic career, following, somewhat, in the footsteps of her father. Given that both parents were full-time employed, Wu Mei spent a lot of time finding ways to entertain herself, most of which were spent on her bicycle riding around and looking (not to mention riding around to get to various tutors' homes and/or classes).

## Senior Years

Senior school was a turning point for Mei. Up to this point she was pretty much a wallflower and nonentity in the social scene. She had a few friends, none of them particularly deep. She got involved in activities, most of them the disregarded nerdy things like chess or math-related things. However, in senior school, she was forced by circumstance to change schools as her father had taken a job in San Francisco teaching history in Saratoga High and, naturally, the family packed up and moved along. Once there she was additionally forced into taking up soccer by her parents who were concerned she was going to coast all the way through school without doing anything social. As a result she actually picked up notice--some good, some bad--for her participation in the team. And, truth be told, she wasn't a bad player. She'd never be team captain, but neither did she spend her time warming the bench. She got out there. She played. She did OK. And from this she developed a wider circle of friends and acquaintences and even managed to pick up some pretty close ones.

## SLAYER!

It's time, however, to address the lion in the living room. It's been fated since before she was born: Wu Mei is a Slayer. Only she doesn't know it yet. It hasn't broken out. She hasn't had the contact with the supernatural that seems to bring this out of slayers. As far as Wu Mei, her family, and her friends are concerned, she's just a normal, if nerdy high school student looking forward to university next year where she'll study the perfectly normal, if nerdy, subject of computer science and join the perfectly normal, if nerdy, world of high technology. Until, of course, the day Fate takes an active interest in her life....

Logs featuring Wu Mei:

* 2020.06.23 - A Ghoulish Welcome