Erica Reference
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-- [Quote source]
Erica is an ordinary high school student with no special attributes. She is below average at an above average number of things and has no real business involving herself in the hidden world of the supernatural, but she has no other way of feeling like she's doing something meaningful.
Table of Contents
BackstoryPreschool
Elementary School
Middle School
High School - Freshman Year For the first time in years Erica was alone. Her only two friends were not allowed to directly interact with her for fear of leading demons to her. And so she waited. The next big news she would hear from the two would be Tommy's death. A demon called the Raven had killed him as he defended ordinary civilians. At the funeral, Erica couldn't bring herself to say anything to Hughes, she was afraid that sharing anything would only add to his burden. So they separated again with barely a word between them. On the eve of the new year Erica would learn that Hughes and Kiera had fallen for each other and started dating. Soon after she'd meet the oracle, Euphemia Saab. A mysterious mage, cursed with visions of disaster, reaching out to inform Erica of her own impending demise at the hands of the Raven. Over the following months Erica would prepare to face the demon she had resolved to run from. Not just to avenge her fallen friend and not just to go down fighting, she was also fighting once again to protect Hughes from the trap set by the demon. She would learn any and all magic and fighting tactics that she could and form as many plans and strategies that she could as the foretold day approached. Finally, the day came and Erica overcame the demon by the narrowest of margins. The Raven was dead, Hughes was safe to go on and fulfill his prophesy and save the world. Erica, however, was broken. Her body was almost beyond repair and her heart, which had been ready for death, was now faced with a future. But first, she had physical and emotional rehabilitation to do and a cover story for her injuries to come up with.
High School - Junior Year
PersonalityErica was a happy and outgoing kid despite her precociousness getting in the way of her forming relationships with some of her peers. Being introduced to the hidden world of magic and monsters was formative in who she would go onto be in many ways. As she is now, she maintains an air of self confident maturity and cheerfulness. However, the facade belies a constant state of paranoia and self loathing. She has become like a machine, spending her time in strictly regimented schedules focusing only on the mission, the goal of making things easier and more comfortable for her best friend, Hughes. |
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Abilities
Item Usage
Her abilities take the form of various specific items she implements. Below is a non-exhaustive list of things Erica has brought into the Crossroads.
Shinto
Shikigami - Spirit familiars inhabiting small slips of paper. Normally, shikigami are familiars that you nurture and grow as servants. A strong onmyoji has commensurately strong shikigami. Erica doesn't have the experience, spirit power, or skill to enlist the help of already powerful spirits or empower weaker spirits. However, forming contracts is easy. By leaving offerings in shrines to the weak spirits of deceased vermin and pests, Erica is able to command thousands of shikigami, each only as strong as the paper they inhabit. These weaker familiars are not capable of thinking much for themselves or interpreting instructions so Erica treats them like machines and provides programs for them to follow and execute built into their contracts.
Omamori - Protective charm consisting of a pouch filled with items of symbolic significance. This type of charm is normally replaced yearly but this particular one happens to be a keepsake that's been passed along a number of times with each new owner adding a new prayer of protection when passing it along to the next. Erica received it from Justin Hughes when he resolved to be strong enough to protect everyone instead of being protected. The charm may have been given to Erica but it was part of a gesture made to someone else. The built of power of the item has made it a highly effective defense against evil power and spirits but has no other effects.
Demon Kodoku - A series of three jars with malevolent spirits and demonic entities trapped within by sealing magic. Each jar initially contained a large number of spiritual entities Erica had caught in the commission of her exorcism and monster hunting tasks. By now, the ritual has only left a single demon in each, strengthened by eating the other spirits and hardened by their rage and their captor. Each of them, blinded prior to being placed in their respective prisons, is now most likely to try to identify Erica by her spiritual energy signature and scent. Both easily transferred to another with enough of a splash of her own blood and just as easily masked from herself with a simple spell.
Daoist
Lingfu - Talismans used in the practice of folk magic. The fulu written on the talismans determine the effects. Because they can have their magical power stored at the time of creation or be designed to channel it from their surroundings this type of magic is ideal for a caster without the ability to generate significant magic on her own. Erica uses large numbers of these to mimic the effects of larger individual spells and enchantments. Her specialties lie in wards, divination, and the creation of magical boundaries.
Geomantic Compass - A magical divining tool, primarily used for detecting magical metastructures and flows of energy. This particular compass houses its needle in a magical crystal ball, allowing it to visually represent more information to the wielder, provided they can see magical energy. Erica uses this tool to detect enemy and ally movements as well as seek out optimal locations for power sources for her magical boundaries.
Cinnabar Ink - Toxic ink used for magic writing. Normally reserved for special occasions due to the special processing needed to both create it and not poison oneself using it.
Buddhist
Sutra Manual - A book of Prayers and spells that didn't do its original owner much good. Erica keeps this more as a memento of a dead friend than for practical purposes as mantras and sutras require long hours of repetition, meditation, and training to be effective for the user.
Witchcraft
Crystal Lens - A contact lens made from magically conductive crystal. Being without any natural magical ability at all, Erica can't see spirits or magic normally and must use these lenses to project the images for her. She only wears one at a time to avoid the risk of a blow to the head cracking both at the same time and completely blinding her.
Sacrificial Figurine - A small and uncanny sculpture made in the likeness of a real person. The figures take on ill fortune and harm from those after whom they were modeled. Erica has a creepy closet full of these, with multiple copies made of each of her family and friends. Due to the difficulty of the magic, she needs to get some help making them, but it is well worth the expense in her mind. When the figurines take on too much bad fortune they break.
Magecraft
Mana Stones - Stones with the capability to absorb magical energy from their surroundings. The quality, size, and type change how much, how fast, and from how far they can absorb mana. By using a large number of stones with a short range Erica has made a disruptor for spells and enchantments.
Mage Ash Chalk - Chalk made with ashes of magical creatures. It contains and conducts magical power, making it ideal for writing out mystical scripts and spells. Erica uses it as a supplement to her boundaries and enchantments.
Alchemist
Potion of Vision - A potion that improves the drinker's night vision and dynamic vision.
Potion of Tiny Hours - A potion that alters the drinker's perception of time, stretching minutes to hours.
Potion of Internal Cold - A potion that lowers the temperature of the drinker, once used for fevers.
Exorcist
Monster Hunter's Prayer Book - A book containing only verses used as countersigns to various supernatural entities. Hand copied over generations, each new copy reinforces the text itself with the faith of the copyist. Erica had this one commissioned to be used against demons and devils.
Silver Bullets - Small caliber rounds made to minimize material costs but maximize dead werewolves.
Homemade Firearm - Easily concealed gun that only kind of breaks the law. While it was initially only made to be a silver delivery system, Erica thought it impractical not to carry around some lead for other situations.
Variety Pack Monster Repellents - Salt, Holy Water, etc.
Chemistry
Botulinum Toxin - Highly toxic, easily obtainable. By intentionally improperly canning foodstuffs and doing a bit of research, Erica has been able to more or less isolate botulinum bacteria for use as both a foodborne and weaponborne pathogen.
Mundane
Bear Spray - A type of pepper spray no approved for use against humans.
Stun Gun - A small electric device capable of temporarily immobilizing modest sized targets at a touch.
Utility Knife - A folding knife with a sawback.
Strike Anywhere Matches - Sticks of wood tipped with a chemical coating.
Lighter - A metal fuel reservoir connected to a flintwheel and striker.
Pencil - Wooden stick with a graphite core.
Water Bottle - Bottle of water.
Painting Mask - A mask used for safely spray painting even in poorly ventilated areas.
Makeup Kit - Makeup, lots of concealer.
Miscellaneous
Lucky Charms - A series of symbols, objects, and items believed to bring about protection from harm and good fortune. In a very extreme interpretation of Occam's Razor Erica has opted to sew over a hundred different protective symbols, religious and otherwise, into her clothing. It's unclear whether it has an effect, but you never can be too careful.
Curse Doll & Nails - A straw effigy and long nails used in a particular curse. The ushi mairi ritual is believed to cast a curse capable of bringing about the death of a target. Erica's never used it, but it would be cool if it worked.
Smoke Bombs - Small fireworks designed to produce a large amount of smoke. Erica modifies the bombs with various additives to use the smoke as a dispersal system for either chemical or magical agents rather than just a smokescreen.
Foxbane Incense - A poisonous plant, particularly distasteful to fox spirits, processed into burnable blocks. While foxes are hardly a common threat, Erica has made it a bit of a hobby thinking of ways to counter foxes.
μ-Haul Truck - Rental vehicle mainly used for moving.
Strengths
Planning Is Everything
The way Erica approaches combat is more like a hunt or even a military campaign where reconnaissance, logistics, and preparation are the name of the game. As a result, she goes into most fights with both an informational advantage and a distinct game plan. This makes her strongest early in a fight and more likely to win the less time the opponent has to go off script.
Disciplined
She doesn't blink first. Erica isn't susceptible to verbal or scare tactics. Her ability to tamp down her own emotions and involuntary responses and reactions can make her slow to react to real danger but it more frequently allows her to keep from flinching or backing down at key moments. It also means that anyone trying to goad her or get inside her head will be about as successful as her grief counselor.
Innovative
Erica doesn't stick to tradition when it comes to usage of skills or techniques. She's able to squeeze more efficiency or flexibility out of seemingly worthless artifacts, enchantments, and spells or put together highly synergistic strategies from common constituents. This will typically give her an element of surprise over even those familiar with the items she employs.
Weaknesses
Plans are Worthless
The same plans that put Erica in the fight at all can lead to her downfall. Her first fight ever took six months of planning and ended with her in a hospital for three months. With only a fraction of that time to work with, she won't be able to form anything near as resilient to new information or surprises situations as that. This also means that she will not be able to as finely tune her gear list to the needs of the situation to begin with.
Frail
Small and weak even for her size. Dealing damage is very conditional and taking damage is very devastating as a result. This weakness extends to other weaknesses inherent to humans such as long reaction times and low movement speeds.
Item Reliant
Since everything special about her lives in her grandparents' bank accounts, Erica is incapable of doing anything tougher than a brisk walk without her gear. She traditionally can't even see most of her opponents without the aid of a specialized lens. Given most of her items are also consumables and take up space, she's limited to however much she can carry or how much she can set up ahead of time. This both limits her ability to adapt and sustain combat for longer than several minutes at a time.
On the Edge
Fighting strains her body and mind to the limit by its very nature. As a result tactics that directly assault the mind or put additional burden on the body could very well break her on the spot without any further need to fight.
Pushover
Erica is not a very skilled practitioner at any of her chosen tactics, partially due to a lack of talent in any particular branch of combat or magecraft and partially due to a preference for coverage over depth. Either way, her tactics completely lack power moves that allow her to be the belligerent in neutral situations. Even fairly weak opponents may be able to bully their way through her best efforts if they know not to respect her.
Highly Specialized
Exorcism and monster hunting tactics don't work especially well on regular humans or those with nonmagical abilities like psychic powers or high technology. So she will frequently by off axis to even meaningfully interact with certain types of enemies.
Gallery
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Author's Notes
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