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From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

((Continuation of Aura Crush's page since her pre/early Arachnos years differ from her current existance. Page is in the works.))

[edit] The Commander

"Wasted potential. She needs to accept Arbitership already." - Operative Bales

Aura's promotion to co-commander of the Wraith Spiders was easily the greatest achievement in her life. Awarded to her by Huntsman Fury with Ghost Widow's approval, she leads her soldiers with pride and dignity with her rank. On operations, she's always the first one into the fray if she can help it, but becomes a bit scatterbrained in heavy combat and will often move forward into more enemies while the rest of her unit is left behind to kill off what she was too aloof to mind. She strongly believes a military leader should do just that-lead, and that is why she tries to remain at the forefront of a conflict. Many in Arachnos disregard her for being too "soft" on the soldiers(by comparison to Arachnos standards), but these unorthodox methods have yet to prove particularly faulty. Although the leader of the Wraith Spider's Spec Ops Division, she gladly steps in to lead other Arachnos squads in need or form coalitionary multi-unit squads to fulfill objectives. She was recently awarded gold Night Widow armor, crafted in the workshop of Weaver One himself. This armor was later taken out of use, as she felt it made her too much a target.

[edit] Combat Style

"Christ! She jumped on that guy's shoulders, snapped his neck with her ankles, did a backflip throwing him into those two guys over there, lunged into that other guy, damn near broke her back bending at a ninety degree angle to stab some other guy in the neck, then blew their bodies down the hallway with her freaking mind!" - Executioner James

"I don't know what to demerit you more for, referring to hostiles as "guys" or that God awful run on sentence." - Arbiter Diaz

Scourge has turned in her old ninja sword and now solidly uses the widow claw blades typical of Arachnos Blood and Night Widows. Her particular set is of the highest calibur issued to high ranking widows and she has them maintained and upgraded constantly. This repetitive surgery has led to much scarring to the back of her hands that is easily visible if she's not wearing gloves. This near obsession with keeping her claws state of the art stands in stark contrast to her utilitarian methods of the past- further proof Arachnos has transformed her in ways most likely for the worse. Her toxic dart launchers are particularly interesting in that they do not use the toxins and poisons typical of what widows are issued. Filters in her claw implants strain the elements from her blood that would bestow parasitic infestation, and fill the loaded dart with a potent toxin that is fast acting and debilitating. If the target is somehow able to survive the initial attack and escape, the common zombifying agent in the toxin will in time kill them and shortly after render them a problem for their comrades.

Calm and collected, she rarely flies into combative rage until after a few strikes have been landed. Unlike the more bloodthirsty Blood Widows, she will stalk an enemy for as long as it takes to guage their strength and catch them off guard.

Being, in essence, an animated corpse with the semblances of lifesigns falsified by her parasitic colony, she can bend and twist in ways moderately surpassing top gymnasts. Combined with her agility, she can dodge most well aimed assaults or squeeze through impossible spaces.

[edit] Personality

"Poise, prim, and proper. Polite and right. You are to be a lady at all times." - Elizabeth Canterbury

Huntsman Fury was easily the best and worst person for Aura to fall into the hands of. Her sense of justice has been altered and she cares far less about what is fair and more for what benefits herself and what she refers to as "my own." Although friendly and generally open to those she meets, the first sign of disrespect from a soldier of Arachnos will incur a fast "correction". For those she does not work alongside, she couldn't care less for she believes in time they'll be at Arachnos' feet begging for life or under it's heel praying for the sweet release of death. Much of her core personality remains untouched as she still seems to have a hard time grasping some aspects of humor, still carries herself in a near formal fashion, and struggles to remain refined at all times.

[edit] Allies

"You're no Night Widow. You're soft. You don't execute for their failures. You have /friends/, you have a /family/. Who do you really serve, hm? I know, they know, we all know. You're a god damn time bomb. You think there are no records? We got rid of 'em all? You're a cape and a biohazard." -Final words of Huntsman Stevens

((This section is in the perspective of hypothetical quotes. These things have never been actually stated ICly))

Huntsman Fury: "We died together, and in that we live together. I started out serving this man and grew to be his equal. I now dote on and live for the single most powerful entity... us."

Tessella: "I never got to have a sister: Dad was too stuck up and Mum was too lazy. Tess, however, is that for me. 'Shame she's a Fortunata, though."

Project Kestrel: "The man needs to stay in his workshop away from time shifts, combat, and for the sake of all that is holy, desks".

Executioner Void: "When I think of someone who has served Arachnos the longest that I personally know, he comes to mind. He is my left hand and a staple member of my division. That man plays the mace as a musician does an instrument."

Death-Master: "He's my right hand and I daresay hypercompetent. I've watched him stand up for Fury and myself when the rest of the unit dared question us. For that alone, he has my gratitude and trust."

Executioner Kage: "Although I disagreed largely with his leave from my unit, I consider him a trusted friend and an asset on any battlefield."

Oracle Void: "There's something about this man that just confounds me. I understand his past is unlike any others, but somehow I can /feel/ that he understands fate. That he can sense and interpret it. I... don't even believe in fate."

Weaver Romanov: "I bring him along on operations against Malta because it makes my day to hear him squeal about Sappers."

Huntsman Creel: "He has redeeming qualities. It took me /forever/ to find them, but they're there. He rescued a family member once, and I guess that just gives him leeway enough to continue being a lascivious bastard."

Graffiti Samurai: "He's the most compromising individual I've ever met in my life and he needs to stop shattering my bloody image in front of my troops. Why, oh why, did I let him live that horrid day almost two years ago?" *Said with dramatic irony*

Fortunata Plague: "More like her father than anyone else, it's a double edged sword. She can drive me to the bottle and make me swell with pride simultaneously. 'Shame she's a fortunata, though."

Medic Pathogyn: "My son who takes much after me. I want better for him, but there's not much I can do but watch him be tangled into this wicked web I wove him into."

Arachnos Commander: "My awe and respect for him go beyond words. I had always thought I was the only civil one with any say in Arachnos until I met him."

Dr. Kazz: "There's a certain under the table friendship with Kazz as we often meet and collaborate to right wrongs enacted by these Islands unsavory individuals."

Wraith Spiders: "They're my unit, my home, and my duty. Since I insidiously worked my influence into them they've become better than the ruthless, backstabbing dogs of Arachnos they started out as. We're protectors of these island's citizens along with Arachnos for as long as I've /any/ say in it."

Arachnos Elite: "They are our trusted, reliable, and skilled allies in this prolonged war against Arachnos' enemies. I've yet to meet one of their soldiers I didn't like."

Blackweb: "We gave them our blessing and assisted them in taking roots as a new squad. We should have foreseen that our efforts would pay us back a bitter cold war under the false pretense of "alliance". Luckily, a new day has dawned for them and I do hope they can serve Arachnos alongside us."

[edit] Enemies

"I hate them. I hate them more and more everytime I see them. Their faces, their goals, the screams they make... Hate." - Night Widow Scourge

Faer

Paracytica

The Council

Operative Scanlon

[edit] The Colony

"You think you're ssspecial? That you can /control/ usss?! We made you! Shut up and kneel to usss, we are eternal and you are our vesssel!" - Overlord Putrifaction

Aura Canterbury is the host of millions upon millions of microscopic lifeforms that keep her "alive" and with lifelike qualities. To keep them from consuming her, she must provide them with alternative sources of human flesh. The parasites provide her with heightened agility, senses, regenerative properties, and almost complete immunity to toxins and disease. She can manifest them outside her body in the form of tendrils or a thin coating to cover herself. All of this comes at the price of constant psychological stress from being able to hear the whispers of the beings in her mind and the constant discomfort of having millions of creatures squirming through her veins and breeding in her stomache.

[edit] Rumors

"That woman is an enigma." - Executioner James

"...She's a Night Widow." - Anonymous Blood Widow

"...Oh, well... Uh... Yeah. That would explain that, then." - Executioner James

• It is said that once a month she is nominated for Arbitership, but declines it.
• An unconfirmed rumor holds that Scourge killed the prior Night Widow Commander for the Wraith Spiders. When asked, she only slyly grins and repeats her predecessor's words "There was only one way to be promoted to Night widow Commander, and that's kill the current one."
• Some soldiers claim to have seen her sprout small "tendrils" at time and speak in a harsh rasp.
• No papertrail backs it, but a yarn has spread throughout Arachnos that she had a largely unapproved biological weapon and super soldier program shut down by the Arbiters just shy of a year ago.
• Occasionally she is spotted sharing quiet words with a mercenary or "Destined" One not associated with or even mildly opposed to Arachnos. Could she be involved in something shady?

[edit] OOC

Aura's personality is designed to reflect the sort of upbringing she had, so her personality at it's core is largely inspired by the results of certain parenting styles. Her hair color (black dyed white) is intended to be a foil to her true nature, for she is more a good person trying to be bad, than someone evil trying to whitewash it. Her last name is a reference to Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" written in the 14th century, as Aura is an immense hypocrite in that her philosophies and lifestyles contradict to an extreme.

Her colony of parasites is largely inspired by John Carpenter's "The Thing", and my favorite animal the "Hair Worm". My intention was to come up with a more complex system for zombies/infectious mutations that played an interesting role and wasn't ruined with spontaneous, random, and morphologically gratuitous features such as in Resident Evil.

Soundtrack:

• Fitter Happier - Radiohead
• Death of a Mother - Shadow Gallery
• To the Edge - Lacuna Coil
• City of Delusion - Muse
• Suckerface- Orgy
• Voices - Disturbed
• Call of Ktulu - Metallica
• In This Shallow Grave - Arch Enemy