Kathryn Rookward

**Kathryn Rookward**, or **Venator** is a character in Villainy and Virtue, created and portrayed by Arbor

Kathryn is an ex-assassin with a brutal past, who has turned her back on evil and has set her heart on bringing justice- at any cost.

## Biography

Kathryn Rookward has always been a killer. Raised in the wilderness by her mother, she was taught from a young age to fight and kill. She became an extremely capable tracker, hunter and survivor, and during her short trips into civilisation developed her abilities at blending in to normal society. For years, this is how she lived- on the outskirts of a normal existence, in a harsh and unforgiving world that made her like steel.

Why her mother chose to keep her from the rest of humanity was a question that was never asked, but the answer finally came when Kathryn was 15. Her mother, Anne Rookward, carried the Recurve, an ancient and legendary weapon the origins of which were shrouded in mystery. Only able to be bound to one person at a time, the weapon had been granted to her by her own mother as a birthright. It could only be passed on in the event of her death.

Anne only found out in the most brutal of ways what holding the weapon meant. Though few knew it existed, many of those who did coverted it's power and sort it's capture. Anne was living peacefully with two young children and a husband when the thugs came after them. Her son and husband were savagely murdered on the streets of Heartania, returning home from school, and then the killers came after her.

She fled with her infant daughter, and went into hiding. It took months of continuous fighting, fleeing and killing before she finally found the hiding spot on the other end of the world that would become her permanent home. Finally safe, she never once let down her guard, and raised her child to defend herself.

Eventually, tragically, the attackers had only been delayed. Far from thwarted, the group of men and women chasing the artifact united their combined wealth and rescources towards finishing the job they started. Once they had it, they would fight amongst themselves to claim it, but until the Recurve was theirs there was an alliance. These were powerful people, who knew secrets the world could never truly understand, and together they slowly began to seek their prey.

It took the hiring of a villain known as Stalker to, a decade and a half after the chase began, finally catch up to the Rookwards. The villain was an unparalleled hunter and a callous killer, with hundreds of murders to his name, and he led the mercenaries and criminal followers of the alliance to the hidden hideout. What followed was a protracted and savage battle, in which almost all of the hired brutes were slain and the rest scattered, leaving a beaten Anne and a triumphant Stalker alone. The mocking of the killer was, however, cut short by a shot from the returning Kathyrn, who came home from a supply run to find a dying mother and a burning childhood.

Wounded, the monster fled, leaving Kathryn to comfort her sole parent as she passed on. The final words given to the sobbing youth were binding- she would have to carry on the legacy, and carry the burden of the Recurve. Moments later, Anne Rookward was dead, and her daughter buried her and turned away, never to return.

Not for Kathryn was the flight and shelter of her mother. She would claim her revenge. Over the next five years she hunted and maimed her way through the ranks of the alliance, taking on the moniker Venator as she carried out her revenge. The constant battles culminated in the streets of the city she was born in, as she hunted and finally slew Stalker, once and for all.

After that moment, she was lost. Half a decade of revenge left little room for a plan in what to do afterwards. Eventually, still bloodthirsty and ready to kill, she became an assassin, a hired killer working contracts. Morals fell back to money as she wandered the world, sowing the misery her foes had once wrought.

It took eight years for her to find herself again, in circumstances shrouded in mystery. She does not talk of why she pulled back from murder, repenting and turning back to the task of hunting the worst of the world, but whatever the reason her goals changed. It was not money that carried her contacts- it was justice.

She was not willing or able to become a true hero. Her past was too soaked in blood, and her methods were enough to be deemed savage by good men. Torture and exortion are nothing more than tools to the Venator- a mentality that has won her few friends but a great deal of results.

Now, she returns to her home city, intent on clearing out the sickness that envelops it. The corrupt, cruel and monsterous are running amock, and it is time for Kathryn Rookward to pick her prey and bring swift and bloody punishment, in the shape of an arrow.

## Appearance

Rookward is a tall and athletic, possessing the figure of someone who has spent years wielding a powerful bow. She doesn't have the brute size of a woman like Nariko, but is nevertheless clearly extremely fit and well maintained. Standing at a little over six feet tall, she has a presence to her that makes the unprepared somewhat unnerved. In most situations, she wears a lose set of black clothing with a light-weight bulletproof vest and a hood. Her face is covered by a full, grey, solid featureless mask that includes night-vision and a voice modulator to hide her identity and protect her face in battle. Underneath, her pale skin and grey eyes are found, along with short auburn hair that's normally tied back to keep her vision clear. She might be considered beautiful, but her face is lined with scars and is set in a continuous scowl. She carries an empty quiver that fills when the bow is summoned.

## Personality

Rookward is a hard, cold woman who does not suffer fools lightly. Her whole demeanour displays professionalism and grim self-assurance, although she has been known to dip into dark humour. Her smiles are as rare as kind Ravagers, and even when joking she gives little sign to her intent. As fits the coolness of her character, she maintains a strict code of honour- do not harm the innocent, and punish the evil without restraint.

## Abilities

Blinking- Venator possesses the power of rapid, very-short range teleportation. As the name suggests, she can disappear and reappear elsewhere in the blink of an eye, even through walls or out of sight, but is limited to short distances and must remain mentally clear and focused to do so. This ability is granted to her by her sacred weapon, but she can use it without having it to hand.

The Recurve- Kathryn can summon this enchanted bow, along with ammunition, to her hand at will, and can just as easily dismiss it. Possessing a remarkable range, accuracy and stopping-power, the weapon can enhance the arrows it fires to a multitude of purposes. These include:

**Utility (at-will)**

* USB
* Grapple
* Short-term EMP
* Smokescreen
* Tracker
* Distraction

**Combat (once per 5 hits)**

* Fire
* Shock
* Knockout
* Immobilize (wrapping around legs etc)
* Flashbang
* AP
* Quin-shot (splits into five arrows mid-flight, inaccurate)

**Elite Combat (once per day, recharge at dawn)**

* Wide area EMP
* High Explosive
* Volley (30 arrow split)

The wielder is an almost unmatched shot, both swift to fire and true-sighted, and even without it is a competent combatant of hand-to-hand conflict. If Recurve is broken for any reason, she must wait a short while to be able to re-summon it, and must rely on her other abilities. The bow itself is, luckily, extremely solid and resistant to blows from both sword and brute force, and takes the form of a tall black recurve bow etched with runes of arcane origin. She has a number of utility arrows, and some that can be fired after five successful hits.

## Paraphernalia

Kathryn wears modern combat armour, and carries a knife on her person for hand-to-hand. She also possesses a survival kit.

## Trivia

The Recurve is not the only weapon of its kind. The rest have not, and likely will not, appear in-RP, but they are out there...