APPROVED: BACKGROUND_1 Born to Death
Cassandra Cain's birth wasn't so much foretold as ordained. Over the last several centuries, a secret society of assassins, centered in Asia but with worldwide reach, engaged in a selective breeding program, all in an attempt to create the perfect weapon. The program involved much beyond simple genetics, but methods of education, training and discipline developed and cultivated through rigorous study. Finally, 17 years ago, the truest fruit of that tree came to be. Cassandra was born to the greatest female killer of her age, while her father, David Cain, possessed skills almost as deadly. Even more, David was skilled in the arts of instruction as developed by the League of Assassins. Cassandra, as she was named, would be educated in a way no human ever had…successfully. Previous attempts had resulted in stunted, broken or insane children, quickly removed from the program. Only Cassandra would come to thrive under the strict regime.
On the surface, the system was simple: rather than teach Cassandra to communicate through spoke words or language, her entire self and identity would be repurposed entirely towards the physical - that is, towards the martial arts. The art of fighting, moving, and killing became utterlry ingrained in her mind, the very core of her understanding of the world. Her father almost never spoke, especially in those first years, making sure that her brain was wired in the way they desired. She was fed specific foods, taught certain forms of meditation, and kept on a strict exercise regiment. She was forged, like a sword in fire. And she came out razor sharp.
APPROVED: BACKGROUND_2 Breaking The Chain
By the age of eight, Cassandra could already best virtually anyone in straight physical combat, in spite of her small stature and strength. Quick, efficient and skilled beyond reason, her adaptation of movement as language gave her an uncanny insight into the body language of those around her, reading every tick, twitch and bead of sweat. Able to anticipate their movements before they made them, she proved her worth in every test her father put her through. Every test that is, except the final one.
He was no one that important. A middleman in a vast drug empire, vassal to the League of Assassins' lord and far from dangerous. If not for his skimming off the top, he might have lived an easy, simple life of ill-gained luxury. Instead, a nine year old girl crept through his house, disabling and disarming his guards in perfect silence. When she walked into his room, he feared nothing until she leapt across the table where he dined. She struck his nerve points, paralyzing him and then, as she had been taught and practiced a thousand times, she grasps his skull and, with a measured, precise wrench, snapped his neck. As she looked down on her first prey, though, her first kill, Cassandra felt something new. Pity. Sorrow. Guilt. The terror, surprise and shame on the man's face all showed through, his absolute despair as he was plunged into death. And, for the first time, Cassandra truly understood that what her father taught her was no mere game, not something simply for fun, for them to share. She may not have been able to define any ethics or moral code, not even the beginnings of one, but her instincts told her immediately that what she had just done was -wrong-. And so, she did the only thing she could think to do.
She ran.
APPROVED: BACKGROUND_3 Flying on Broken Wings
On her own, unable to communicate, Cassie nevertheless found a way to live. Her physical skills served her well, allowing her to easily steal the food she needed. Toughened and trained to survive, adverse conditions meant nothing to her, as she simply entered an empty mind state, meditating and focusing herself inwards, leaving the outside cold and weather to fade away. Over time, she travelled the world, hitching rides, trying to stay a step ahead of her father and the League. She was a valuable asset and they wanted her back, badly. She had to kill a few more times over those years, assassins who couldn't be stopped with anything less. She didn't feel good about that. But she didn't know what else she could do. In some ways, she couldn't do anything else. THe training was too ingrained. Her hands were often faster even than her thoughts.
Years passed, but little changed. Now seventeen, Cass has grown, physically and mentally. She can understand most of what people say, can even speak a few words herself, although she rarely does so and feels uncomfortable trying. She still can't read or write, but she isn't as afraid of people as once she was. And she's found a purpose: seeing other street people in trouble, she's learned her skills can be used to protect as well as harm. Settling for a moment in Gotham City, she currently inhabits a raven-filled belltower in an abandoned church in one of the city's worst neighborhoods. The ravens, intelligent beyond most birds, have somewhat taken the silent, black clad girl as her own, sometimes following her as if keeping track. For that reason, she has earned a nickname among the whispered few who've seen her in action: Blackbird. How long she can stay there…and out of the hands of the League…remains to be seen.
APPROVED: PSY1 Unsocialized
Although she's been out in the world for some time, Cass reminds largely unsocialized. She's never had friends or a close relationship with anyone other than her father, a relationship that was almost entirely defined by training, discipline and combat. She can read body language with ease to detect mood and predict behavior, but reading isn't the same as truly understanding. While she can see how people react, the why remains largely a mystery to her. She could never pass for a regular teenager in any more than a cursory fashion, and, in general, is awkward, uncomfortable and deeply shy, especially at attempts at direct conversation.
APPROVED: PSY2 Curious
While she's kept herself largely apart from the world, she's done so more for their protection than her own. Cass is curious about people, though. Since she can move silently and unseen, she spends a lot of time simply watching people. She's trying to learn…how they work. New things are exciting to her, and she can show a childlike delight in new experiences. The promise of such things can often draw her in. But, of course, we know what happened to the curious cat: she kicked a lot of bad guys in the face.
APPROVED: PSY3 Damaged
Cass is deeply damaged by her upbringing. How could it be otherwise? Everything about her personality was shaped for the purpose of murder, and then she rejected it and had to try and form…something out of what was left. She has difficulty sleeping, flashbacks, and bouts of paranoia from years of being hunted. Throw in her intensive communication difficulties and she's got a lot on her plate.
APPROVED: PSY4 Brave
Cass' courage is the only reason she was able to break free of her training in the first place. She's faced down the greatest assassins in the world for the last eight years of her life. There is no threat, no challenge, that she'll shrink away from. Extraordinary difficult to intimidate, she tends to take people off guard with her extraordinarily fearlessness given her appearance.
APPROVED: PSY5 Motivations
Cass' primary motivation, at this point, is just to stay out of the grip of her father and the League of Assassins. Beyond that, she's motivated by a desire to be able to live with herself and to feel less alienated from the world.
APPROVED: PSY6 Goals
Cassandra's ultimate goal lies in finding a true purpose for herself, a place where her skills and experiences can be put into the service of soemthing meaningful, rather than just the highest bidder. A real life wouldn't be too bad either.
APPROVED: POW1 Movement Mastery
Cassandra's being has been dedicated and trained since birth in the arts of movement and martial arts. Physical violence is her literal first language, having been taught to communicate through strikes, blocks, grapples and dodges since the earliest formations of her mind. Bred from a line of master warriors going back ten generations, her mind and body are in harmony at a level far beyond that of an average human being. Her mastery allows her almost instantaneous reflexes and combat movements, body responding without thought, intuitively, and with absolute precision and control. Her understanding of the movements of others allows her to read body language, understanding someone's moods and enabling her to predict physical behavior with eerie precision. The largest practical effect of this ability is that she can see someone's moves before they make them, reading from the tiniest aspects of musculature and expression and extrapolating to their result. This makes her extraordinarily hard to fight, as she can anticipate attacks and find openings before they've even happened. Combined with her incredible abilities in martial arts, Cass, despite her small size, qualifies as one of the world's most dangerous and deadly combatants.
APPROVED: ADV1 Good Genes
The League of Assassins have tracked and guided specific martial arts bloodlines to interbreed over centuries to create Cassandra. While she remains essentially human, her genetics make her naturally inclined to exceptional health, natural athleticism and durability. She has a damned fine immune system and, in general, tends to stay in good health. She may possess hidden aptitudes still yet unseen deep within that genome of hers.
APPROVED: ADV2 Avian Empathy
Communicating with movement as language means that Cass can often read animals as well as humans. This has become especially key in her relationship with birds. A rooftop dweller since her escape, she's developed a natural rapport with birds, who seem to treat her sometimes almost as one of their own. Most notably, she's developed a specific connection with the feral ravens of Gotham, an exceedingly intelligent species. Cass lives and nests among the ravens inside an abandoned church in one of Gotham's worst neighborhoods. Whenever she goes out, at least one or two ravens, sometimes even a mass of them will follow and watch over her. If she's in trouble, ravens may even attack her enemies to defend her, and they can often announce warnings with croaks or flapping if someone tries to sneak up on her. In time, perhaps, she may be able to train them to be more but, for now, she's happy just to have them as her friends.
APPROVED: ADV3 Eidetic Mimicry
Cass has an eidetic memory, able to recall virtually every moment of her life, every action and movement especially. She can reproduce any action she's seen with relative ease, her physical and mental memories deeply tied. Memory isn't the same as recall, as finding a specific memory can take time, no matter how complete her record. It also doesn't help with interpretation - she's seen a thousand people write and read, but remains illiterate. The most specific usage, however, -has- been related to language. Having difficulty transferring her thoughts to speech, she often mimics words and phrases she's heard from others, her uncanny memory and vocal abilities allowing her to mimic them sometimes to an eerie degree. She wouldn't fool a voice detector, but she might do it on a phone. Of course, she's never actually spoken on a telephone and would never conceive of such a scheme…but she has the basic ability.
APPROVED: ADV4 Pain Tolerance
Cass is used to pain. Her father deliberately tortured her on numerous occasions, teaching her to withstand pain that would make grown men cry (and he did this when she was the age of a kindergartener). She can block out virtually any level of pain, withstand intense torment and is essentially unbreakable in terms of 'enhanced interrogation' and physical harm as a persuader. She's capable of fighting at full efficiency even with extreme pain and wounds.
APPROVED: SKILL1 Warrior
From the first breath she took, Cassandra Cain has been melted, beaten and forged into a living katana, a warrior of unparalleled mastery and potential. Her abilities cannot be measured in black belts or titles. Fighting for Cass is as fundamental as breathing, as walking, and even more so than talking. For her, movement and combat were her first languages and remain her primary lens through which she sees the world, constantly assessing angles, counters, attacks in every flick of her gaze. She's been trained in dozens of martial styles from every corner of the globe, incorporating them all into her efficient, quick and acrobatic style, taking what works best for her and combining it into something all her own. Although she generally prefers her own hands and feet, she's trained with and mastered every martial and melee weapon known to man, from swords and sai to shuriken and staff, darts and bow to spear and stave. Put in the barest terms. Cassandra Cain would rank easily among any list of the greatest fighters in the world - for those few who know she exists.
APPROVED: SKILL2 Stealth
Most ninjas wish they were as sneaky as Cass. Small, slender, quick, and utterly versed in the arts of unseen, Cass can defy most means of detection. Usually clad in black, she can hide herself amongst shadows with great ease. She can stay utterly still for hours at a time, years of training enabling her to do so without risk of cramping or loss of mobility. She can bypass most forms of security, high and low tech, with relative ease. She's a shadow.
APPROVED: SKILL3 Survival
Cass has lived on her own since the age of nine. She's adept at pulling together the needs of survival in a variety of environments, from the urban to the remote. She can hunt and catch game, find water and shelter, hide from predators and clear her trail to make herself hard to track. Left with nothing but her hands in virtually any environment in the world, she could find a way to endure and thrive, barring extremes of weather.
APPROVED: SKILL4 Stalking
A specific skill of the assassin's art, Cass has perfected the art of hunting and tracking prey, be they wild or human. She can follow even the slimmest of clues or sign, find the perfect vantage point to strike, and keep on them for days or even weeks. She'll memorize their movements and routines, every aspect of their being, anything that might give her an advantage, an edge, to make it easier to strike and kill. While she tries not to commit murder, these instincts are still very hard-wired and can be applied even without a lethal ending.
APPROVED: SKILL5 Escapology
Keeping Cass imprisoned or bound is an almost impossible task. She's an advanced escapologist, capable of slipping bonds with relative ease. She's learned to safely dislocate most of her joints and possesses the kind of contortionist's flexiblity that allows her to slip free of most anything short of a full body bind. Locks, be they mechanical or electronic, pose her relatively little difficulty.
APPROVED: SKILL6 Acrobatics
Tiny, lithe and incredibly dextrous, Cass can somersault and flip with the best of them. In any other world, she'd be a world class gymnast, easily an Olympian. She's incorporated her acrobatic skills into her fighting style, making her a flying, leaping dervish, almost impossible to catch or avoid, and they serve her well in the roof running so common in the superheroic trade.
APPROVED: SKILL7 First Aid
Cass has had to subsist on her own, which has meant taking care of herself in all situations. Illnesses, rare though they are, happened, as well as injuries. She's twisted ankles, broken bones and even gotten a concussion. Not to mention the uncounted nicks, scrapes, cuts and even some gunshot wounds (thankfully only nicks). Learning by watching EMTs and nurses, she's learned to provide emergency care, stabilizing, dressing wounds, even able to give stitches. She isn't a substitute for a doctor by any means, but she can at least make do in a pinch.
APPROVED: FLAW1 Language
Because her mind was dedicated to incorporating movement and martial arts into her primary form of communication and understanding - essentially her language - Cassandra's learning of spoken and written languages has been stunted at best. She's functionally illiterate, unable to read and write even basic letters, her mind seemingly struggling to make a connection between these abstract markings and the sounds she hears. She can follow the gist of most speech, having listened to enough conversation, can even do so in several languages. Speaking remains difficult for her, however, her vocabulary, syntax and general formation of words and thoughts aloud still a struggle. She typically communicates in one or two word phrases. Many of these are, in fact, repetitions, straight mimicry of overheard snippetes of conversation, usually including even tone and accent. Obviously, these communication difficulties can be VERY limiting.
APPROVED: FLAW2 Unsocialized
Beyond her simple communication problems, Cass is just badly socialized. While she's comfortable in any fight, she's almost cripplingly shy in anything resembling a social situation. She's unaware of a lot of basic cultural norms and behaviors. She miscueds and misidentifies behaviors. She doesn't understand things which might seem universal to a modern, Western human (from how to use an iPad to how to drive a car to what chili cheese fries taste like). She can find these things overwhelming, confusing, exciting, basically anything but normal. In some ways, she's almost like an alien and she can rarely pass for anything resembling normal.
APPROVED: FLAW3 Traumatized
Cass routinely has nightmares, flashbacks, and bouts of paranoia. While her training has made her a lethal and capable fighting machine, most any civilized human would also call it extended and violent child abuse. She started taking beatings when she could barely walk. Obviously, this has a lot of lingering psychological effects, most of which Cass herself is in no way capable of understanding or interpreting (given that she doesn't know anything at all about psychology - including that it exists).
APPROVED: FLAW4 Hunted
David Cain and the League of Assassins want Cassandra back. They've invested tooo many years and too much energy in her training to let her go. While she's stayed a few steps ahead, they will never give up until she is either back in their clutches or cold in the ground.
APPROVED: FLAW5 Destitute
Cass is homeless and completely without funds. Other than the few material possessions she's scrounged or stolen, she has nothing. She steals her food or eats out of dumpsters or, if she's feeling brave, at soup kitchens. She tends to stay away from those, if only because people have a habit of calling child services and she ends up having to run or, even worse, kick a cop in the jaw.
APPROVED: FLAW6 Foriegn Bodies
While Cassandra has an incredible grasp on standard human body language, including virtually all forms of martial fighters, there are still occasional opponents that can throw her off. Aliens, androids, robots and people in armor all present difficulties for her, making it difficult to anticipate their movements, if not outright impossible. Insanity can also render an opponent so illogical and unpredictable that her abilities wouldn't necessarily read them true.
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