Vekta of Tanaka
*** Spoiler Warning
***
If you are a player
in Juli Herrera's "Time Heals All Wounds"
Amber Diceless RPG
-- Please think carefully before reading
the following.
This and the other pages of this site contain
information about
the character and game that is still
classified with regards
to other characters.
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Physical Description --
(Note: It is important
to remember throughout the following that Vekta is a
*fire-lizard* NOT a dragon.
There is nothing even remotely Draconian about her.)
Two facets of Vekta's physical form remain fairly constant throughout whatever shape she takes. (This doesn't have to be true, it's just that she's unimaginative and hasn't figured out how to master these tendencies. )
#1 - Vekta runs hot.
Sometimes very hot. This is in inverse proportion to her size.
When Vekta is relaxed and in her usual form of 8'6" and 800 pounds, she
is fairly warm to the touch. It would be uncomfortable for an Earth
human to hold hands or lean against her for more than a few moments.
In this form, occasional spurts of steam will emerge from her snout, but
real fire only very rarely -- if she's been working hard for an extended
period. If she shifts to something larger -- and less massy -- she
grows cooler to
the touch. No steam
or fire.
If she shifts to smaller, more dense shapes, she grows even hotter to
the touch. And the
likelihood of 'fire-breath' increases. When she gets down to the
size of a moderate iguana, she becomes *very* hot. Hot enough to
ignite combustibles touching her -- paper, plants, fabrics, etc.
In all of the above, the 'fire-breath' is not so much a weapon she
consciously controls, as
a biological system that 'happens'. Think of burping. There
is some control, but more often than not, it's a surprise.
#2 - Vekta is a 'mood lizard'.
Vekta's skin -- and hair, eyes, claws, crests, etc when she has them --
are heliotropic. She can control this with some little effort, but
more often will choose not to. Or if really upset, can't.
In her usual form, her skin is black with moving stripes and blobs of
mostly crimson, and some
orange, tracing over her shape. When relaxed or asleep, the colors
move slowly, and are darker -- almost blacks. When
moderately active or concentrating,
the shapes start drifting and brighten --
occasional yellows appear.
When agitated, frightened or working furiously, the colors literally begin
to fly around her skin, in psychedelic or fractal level flashes.
Bright reds, oranges, yellows, actinic whites, flashes of magnesium blues.
This color display can -- and *has* -- appeared on just about every form
Vekta has taken. On a human form, it can be extremely disconcerting.
When the stripes and blobs are very active -- they break up the visual
field of a body alarmingly: i.e. it's hard to detect cheek bones, nose,
and ears when the whole face is swimming in dancing color. (Think
of a woman's face with a lava lamp pattern projected on it.)
This biological function of Vekta's is roughly equivalent to breathing.
It
happens whether she wants
to or no. But if she's paying attention, she can
moderate it.
Vekta's shapes -- (or things she can maintain without concentration.)
Usual form - This
is the most common and comfortable form Vekta takes. She is bipedal,
jacklegged, and bilaterally symmetrical. She stands about
8'6" at the head, maybe
5'10'" or 6' at the shoulder. If extending vertical (ie
tiptoed with neck stretched
upward) Vekta would probably measure about 11' feet or so. Tip of
nose to tip of tail -- normally about 8', extended maybe 10'.
A smallish head with a mouthful of wicked teeth, sits atop a muscular
serpentine neck. Vekta's
eyes are on either side of the head. Black with
travertine like veining,
unblinking, and honestly -- pretty dull. The neck extends down to
a body mass that is canted parallel to the ground instead of perpendicular
to it. (Again, think Velociraptor.) Two strongly muscled arms
descend from her shoulders. Her hands are 'webbed' and two
fingers and one opposing
thumb are each tipped with 6" razor sharp claws.
The barrel of her body is not overly large. More of her weight is
carried in her hips and thighs -- and the tail that extends behind them.
Vekta's tail is broad and well muscled, not serpentine at all. And
while *not* prehensile, she can use it as a striking or blunt weapon, instead
of just as a counterbalance. The tail is strong enough to support
her weight momentarily if Vekta wants to lean back and get both feet into
a strike. But she can't retain this position.
Her thighs are enormously powerful, allowing for serious sprints of speed,
phenomenal leaps and deadly, deadly foot strikes. At the end of her
jacklegs, her feet also contain three claws. The two toe claws are
each about 8" long, but typically slightly blunted by contact with the
ground. Her heel claws are shorter, maybe 5 inches long, but much
larger around and do not blunt. In fact, Vekta will leave small puncture
marks at the back of her 'footprints', even across stone floors.
Vekta does 'walk', though she will occasionally move in a series of small
hops if she is feeling playful.
Fighting form -- Mostly
a beefed up version of the above. Smaller (down to about 6" tall),
hotter, with an armored hide, and a spiked crest down the spine.
Horn spikes at the tip of the tail. Horn elbow and knee spikes.
Claws lengthened and sharper. Teeth as well. Eyes move forward
for
binocular vision.
Flying form -- (Note:
Vekta doesn't have a swimming form. She's not
particularly fond of
water. Even though she knows it can't really hurt her.) This
is the smallest of Vekta's common forms. The firebird stands 2' tall
from claw to top of head -- thus it is very, very hot. Wingspan is
roughly 5'.
Vekta as firebird is still built along raptor lines -- not the more common
peacock version of mythology.
Nothing trails or drapes from this form. No
crests. Pinions and
tail feathers are sleek and streamlined. Claws and beak are cruelly
pointed and sharp.
And the firebird burns, constantly, with non-consuming flames. The
flames are aggressive, bright,
glaring and well capable of brightly illuminating almost any size space.
It would be difficult for an Earth human to look directly at Vekta in this
shape.
The actual flames dancing around Vekta's body probably wouldn't set
anything on fire.
But her direct touch might, given her small size and heat
properties. The flames
also burn eerily, silently. In fact, the whole shape is
given to silence.
There is little rustle of feathers, and Vekta doesn't speak or make sounds
much when in this form.
However,
the firebird shape is a *speed demon*, flashing across the sky
at velocities well over
Mach. And Vekta doesn't play around in this shape, no aerobatics,
no sky games. Direct and to the point. There in a flash and
gone. That's what the firebird shape is all about.
Human forms -- Vekta
doesn't use human forms commonly but when she does they are female in design.
Typically larger to cut down on the heat problem; maybe 5'11" or 6' ish.
Long flowing hair in reds and auburns. Skin darker, suntanned and
copperish. Her eyes remain a solid black -- no whites.
She tends to large boned, big handed and footed shapes. Even when
human, there is something
that says 'worker/fighter' about her. She has trouble appearing as
a refined 'lady' in any form.