V&V Vednesday: Sunshine Scout

Character Name: Sunshine Scout     Real Name: Amelia Norton    Side: Good
Gender: Female      Height: 5'5”/5'2"     Weight: 150/120 lbs     Age: 36

Physical Description: As Amelia Norton, she appears as a reasonably attractive woman in her mid-30's with brunette hair and brown eyes, usually dressed smartly but conservatively (although this will vary heavily depending on what sort of assignment she is on at the given moment).  As Sunshine Scout, she appears to be a slender teenager (also with brunette hair and brown eyes) dressed in a stylized version of a girl scout uniform, complete with domino mask.

STR: 12/15     END: 13/19      INT: 15     AGL: 13/22     CHA: 16

Level: 7th     XP: 30,315     Basic Hits: 3     Hit Points: 11/25       
Healing Rate: 0.9/1/5 per day     Movement: 38”/56"      Power: 53/71       
Carrying Capacity: 227/317 lbs     HTH Damage: 1d4/1d6  
Damage Modifier: +2/+3     Accuracy: +1/+4      
Detect Hidden: 12%     Detect Danger: 16%     Inventing: 45%     Inventing Points: 1.5 

Reaction Modifier: +2/-2     Training: Combat Accuracy w/ Light Control

Powers/Talents
Languages: besides English, Amelia is fluent in both Japanese and Spanish (from training)
Natural Weaponry (martial arts): +1 to hit, +2 to damage in unarmed combat (from training)
Transformation A: grants the following abilities (stats with split scores indicate Amelia's normal form first, then her transformed stats as Sunshine Scout) 
     Heightened Attack: +7 damage to all attacks (see below)
     Heightened Defense: -4 to be hit from all attacks
     Heightened Expertise: +4 to hit with all attacks (see below) 
     Heightened Physicality (acts similar to Heightened Strength B, Heightened Endurance B and Heightened Agility B, bonus may be split between those three attributes as desired): +3 STR, +6 END, +7 AGL
     Heightened Senses: sense demonic presences, 15" radius (based on INT)
     Light Control: range 44", 2d8 damage, PR=1

Weaknesses
Special Requirements: Heightened Attack and Heightened Expertise only work vs demons, or demon-possessed foes.  Also, Amelia must recite the Girl Scout's Promise, combined with a series of specific hand gestures, to activate her transformation ability and become Sunshine Scout (no special requirements are needed to transform back into her normal form).

Areas of Knowledge
Journalism, Girl Scout Lore

(note: 'Girl Scout Lore' covers a rather wide range of skills - basically, if there's a Girl Scout badge for it, Sunshine Scout (and to a lesser extent, Amelia) can do it)

Character Notes/Origin/Personality: Ever since she was a little girl, Amelia loved being a Girl Scout.  She loved the camaraderie, being able to help others, and the sense of belonging to something greater than herself.

In 1989, the world was still recovering from the Reality War the preceding summer.  Although the worst of the world's wounds had healed, what wasn't known to most people was that the barriers between their reality, and other dimensions, had not been fully repaired.  Demons, which had shown up here and there across the Earth since the beginning of history, was beginning to appear with greater and greater frequency.

It was one such demon that appeared in the woods where 13-year-old Amelia and her troop was camping one summer night.  Separated briefly from the others, hiding where she saw her friends being threatened with imminent and horrific death, Amelia prayed for a miracle.

It was then that time seemed to freeze momentarily, and that Amelia saw the angel.  An angel, as it turns out, that looked an awful lot like Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts.  The angel told Amelia that she could help her friends, if she did as instructed.  This involved reciting the Girl Scout Promise ("On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law.") while making a very specific set of hand gestures.

Uncertain, Amelia did as told, and was transformed into something similar to what she already was, but stronger, faster, tougher.  Also, wearing a domino mask.  Time now unfrozen, Amelia leaped at the demon, fighting it with her new-found abilities.  She almost died during her first fight, until she discovered that she could create sunlight from her hands, the bright light anathema to the demon, destroying it.  In the confusion of the aftermath, she slipped away, transformed back into her normal form, and rejoined her troop before it was noticed that she had been missing. 

For the next four years, Amelia led a double life - a normal teenager most of the time, but also a superhero when needed.  She fought primarily against various demonic forces, but she occasionally fought against more normal superhuman threats, as well.  Upon learning of the young heroine, the press dubbed her the 'Sunshine Scout', based on her costume and powers - the name stuck, somewhat to Amelia's consternation.

By 1993, the frequency that demons showed up upon the Earth had gotten even greater, enough so that other superheroes were starting to take note.  Those in the mystical community feared that, at the rate things were going, the floodgates would open and all the demons of Hell wold walk the Earth.  

It was then that the wizard Zarthwyn made his presence known to Sunshine Scout.  No hero by any means, he still knew better than most what would happen if the barriers between realities crumbled completely.  He informed her that he knew of a way to re-form the natural barriers between Earth and the nether realms, but that a sacrifice would be required.  She offered her life.  He told her that death was not the way to defeat the demonic threat, but that the cost would be great nonetheless - she would have to sacrifice the knowledge that allowed her to transform into Sunshine Scout, and to completely forget that she had ever been that hero.

Tearfully, she agreed.  Zarthwyn performed the ritual, sealing the barriers between the nether realms and the earthy plane.  Amelia found herself afterwards in her bedroom; she remembered nothing of her second life from the last four years, but she still felt a sense of loss that she could never quite explain. 

Her sense of justice and responsibility was still with her, though, and after graduating from high school, she went to college, eventually earning a degree in journalism.  She would over time become a highly respected print journalist, earning more than a few awards, and several times getting herself into (and out of) various dangerous situations.  More sympathetic to the superhero community than most reporters (while also holding them to a higher ethical standard than many), she has also gotten over the years several exclusive interviews with different superheroes (and even a few supervillains, as well).   Although she never married or had children, she also helped to sponsor a local Girl Scout group in her community.

Just last month, while covering a story on a local Satanic cult, Amelia was as surprised as anyone when the rather-clueless cultists actually managed to summon a demon.  As the cultists were being slaughtered, old memories resurfaced within Amelia's mind.  Somewhat despite herself, she found herself making the old gestures as she recited the Promise. To her surprise, she transformed once again into Sunshine Scout, whom the years seemed to not have touched.  In her youthful and superpowered form, she once again went into battle, eventually destroying the demon.

Transforming back into her normal, adult form, the joy she felt upon regaining her memories and her abilities was soon dashed when she began to ponder the implication of what had happened.  Had the demonic forces managed to overcome what Zarthwyn had accomplished, negating her sacrifice?  Or had the return of her memories for whatever reason cancelled out Zarthwyn's ritual, inadvertently threatening the world with Sunshine Scout's return? 

Now, both as journalist Amelia Norton, and as superhero Sunshine Scout, she seeks out the truth, hoping and praying that the world is not once again on the verge of a demonic apocalypse. 

Campaign Use: Any demonic activity in the area (that the PC's might be investigating) will also cause Sunshine Scout to show up as well.  If any of the PC's are magicians, or otherwise versed in occult lore, she may try to find out if there has been an upswing in recent demonic activity, possibly even letting them in on her secret identity, if they come across as both knowledgeable and trustworthy.

She will also be trying to track down and find Zarthwyn (no easy feat), which may draw the attention of any PC's (or other superheroes) who are also hunting after the wizard; they may be somewhat surprised to find out that she is looking for him to get help and information, and that her impression of him is not necessarily a negative one. Her search for Zarthwyn may also draw the attention of Khronos.

On a lighter note, while she mainly fought demons back in the day, she did also occasionally fight the odd supervillain here and there.  If one of these villains made a return appearance, the PC's might wish to speak to Sunshine Scout to get some insight on how to defeat them.

As Amelia Norton, her job as a journalist means that she can serve any number of useful roles in a campaign; ally, foil, contact, perhaps even as a romantic interest.  

Inspired in part (twice!) by Shadowjack's various 'In Which I Watch Sailor Moon' threads on the RPG.net forums.