En regardant vaguement entre les deux mages, un jeune et un vieux, Noor a dû réfléchir un peu. -- Eh bien, dit-elle longuement, normalement, l'enfant aurait raison. La plupart des cas que je travaille n'impliquent pas des têtes intactes, car quand les surnaturels se tuent, il tend à être... désordonné, et les parties du corps sont lourdement endommagées. Les meurtres humains dans ce cas ne font pas exception, et ce serait une corvée de récupérer leurs corps de toute façon." Elle sourit à Frank, pensant à la chance qu'elle avait d'avoir quelqu'un comme lui sur cette affaire. "Mais tous les corps ne sont pas inutiles. Qui que soient les coupables, ils voulaient envoyer un message clair avec le meurtre final. La mage. Ils voulaient s'assurer que tout le monde savait qui elle était. Donc, son corps était drainé de sang, mais elle a encore sa tête, probablement avec seulement des lésions cérébrales limitées... Une tête que vous pourriez utiliser."
Le gendarme a pris Frank par le bras, et l'a conduit loin des autres, pour au moins avoir l'illusion d'un peu d'intimité. "Pour être honnête, cependant, je n'ai pas rencontré un nécromance amical depuis très longtemps. Il nous faudra peut-être en parler davantage, même après la fin de cette affaire. Avez-vous déjà travaillé comme médecin légiste? C'est mieux que la chasse aux primes, croyez-moi. Je peux promettre un lit chaud (ou un lit froid, si vous êtes dans cela), de la nourriture, du temps et des matériaux pour travailler sur toutes les expériences que vous souhaitez, et en retour, vous m'aidez à attraper les méchants, tout comme vous êtes maintenant. Dans un peu de temps, on ira à ma morgue, donc vous aurez l'occasion de vérifier mes installations et tout ça. Qu'est-ce que tu en dis? Oh, et je suppose que je vais avoir besoin de ton nom, aussi. Je ne peux pas t'appeler tout le temps "le nécromeur".
Name:
Noor Dhahabi, “the Constable”
Sex:
Female
Age:
A little under five-thousand years
Race:
Pacted Dragon (Gold)
Background:
“The Sheriff of Blackbury”, or in more recent years, simply “the Constable” has been a fixture of the city since its founding, having come to England around 150 years after the Pact (she originally heard of the country from a Crusader during one of the occupations of Jerusalem, and after a century, decided she could use a change of scenery). Using some of the considerable wealth she had brought from the Holy Land, Noor lived under various assumed identities for a few hundred years, enjoying her life as a human (which was at that point quite new to her). She had never had any love of dangerous vampires, though, and when she heard rumors about the town, she traveled to it and became something of an unofficial member of the resident clan of Slayers: they would provide her with a clandestine source of meat and fruits (though they appear human, these beings internally remain dragons, and their appetites reflect this), and in return, when there was a particularly nasty or powerful vampire around, she would tag along and “draw its fire”, so to speak, allowing the Slayers more of a chance to take it by surprise. Over time, as the order lessened in influence and greater numbers of supernatural beings, including more subtle and intelligent vampires began to call Blackbury their home, Noor found herself with a new job: keeping them all alive.
Noor has seen it all, in five centuries of living in Blackbury and several millennia before, and if she was honest with herself, she’d see that it was starting to get to her. Even nigh-immortal magical beings need rest, but there’s always something, some threat she has to track down, someone she has to kill to keep the humans away from the pitchforks and torches, and no matter how tough her scales are (and by God are they tough), fight after fight with powerful supernaturals is going to take a mental toll. She’s overworked, stressed, and working on her biting cynicism, but dragons are built to endure, and she won’t be seeing her last job anytime soon.
Now, suddenly, there’s something new. Someone is attacking on both sides, and (of course), she and her "crew" are the only ones with the knowhow and the means to stop it. Some part of Noor hopes that maybe, after this job, things might go quiet. Maybe, just maybe, she’ll have a good decade or so to rest… But really, she’s not one for fanciful thoughts.
Weaponry:
At her “station”, Noor maintains a very small (but very modern) arsenal composed of surreptitiously acquired British Armed Forces weapons, such as the SA80 assault rifle, the Benelli M4 combat shotgun, and a single suppressed MAC-10 machine pistol, all with a fair amount of appropriate ammunition (including a very limited supply of silver ammunition, for use against werewolves). At her house, she also keeps many of her older weapons in good condition, just in case.
Over the centuries, Noor has utilized various and sundry personal weapons, including spears and pikes, crossbows, daggers, a heavy battle-axe (a birthday gift from Brinnie), and an impressive variety of guns, from old flintlock rifles to some of the first revolvers, all the way up to her current concealable handgun, the SIG Sauer P250 (chambered in reliable .357 SIG). It is a fairly recent acquisition, but she has centuries of experience in learning the use of new weapons, and has already mastered many of its idiosyncrasies. Though the SIG Sauer’s use in taking down werewolves is limited at best, especially without silver ammo, which is very expensive to produce in large amounts, vampires can be slowed down for a bit and mages, if distracted, can be incapacitated or killed in just a couple of shots, one if she’s lucky. In the end, she mostly carries it for comfort. Finally, when she knows werewolves are about, she slips a large silver dagger into a sheath at the bottom of her coat’s right-hand pocket. Otherwise, it stays in the car.
Other Possessions:
A pretty large collection of ancient and eclectic items from her past, including a small Babylonian idol of her mother and a massive collection of vinyl LPs, some of which are pushing 70 years old at this point. Boris put all of her music on an iPod years ago, but she still much prefers listening to them in their original form, generally only using her iPod in the car.
Theme Song:
SHAFT!
Miscellaneous:
Dragon magic is not like human magic. It is primal, having to do mostly with the fundamental energy in the world. Possible practical uses include tracking the energy of powerful mages, very limited geomancy, and temporarily regaining certain draconic traits (such as powerful vision, or the ability to breathe underwater), among others.