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Max briest
the sphinx
THE BASICS
NAME Max BriestAGE 30
BIRTHDAY 01/15
GENDER F
SEXUALITY Bisexual
CURRENTLY IN Hudson Square, NYC
HEIGHT 5'8"BUILD Slim, athletic
HAIR Blonde
EYES Blue
HOMETOWN New Springville, Staten IslandMOTHER Valeria Corelli
FATHER Joseph Corelli
SIBLING Letticia Brooks (half-sister)
ABOUT MAX
A self-styled business woman, philanthropist and supervillain. Max controls a significant part of New York's crime and uses the money from illegal activities to fund rehabilitiation centres, shelters, political reform, and scientific advancement.
FIRST IMPRESSION
There are many facets to Max and a first impression will always depend on what she wants to portray, but she's confident, controlled, poised, and always at ease in social situations. She's quick to make people smile, always ready with a compliment or a light joke, and knows how to play nice with anyone and everyone.
The Sphinx is a far more intimidating presence, she exudes a constance threat of violence, is quick to anger and slow to forgive. The point of her is to be terrifying.
APPEARANCE
Tall, blonde, beautiful. Max crafted a look for herself that could easily be found on the runway or in a magazine, she's supposed to be attractive to the point of distraction, so that people think that's all there is to her. She turns heads when she walks into a room, helped by the fact she tends to be dressed impecably and is never seen in public without make up. She always wears expensive perfume.Alternate appearances.
PERSONALITY
Max exists in a world where people became superheroes because that's What Should Be Done when someone suddenly wakes up with powers (thanks, comic books), and as the 'second generation' of powered people, she's been heavily influenced by the importance of stories. As a result, she tends to see the world in terms of narrative structures, and to understand her, you have to understand the roles she's cast herself in.
The first, of course, is the villain. She's being playing the part for so long that it doesn't matter anymore whether or not she is a bad person, she's convinced herself that she is, and that's all there is to it. She can do whatever needs to be done - by her own definition - without question, simply because she's the bad guy. One result of this is that she 'plays up' the villainy; she can be melodramatic, she presents herself alternatively as someone with a short fuse who's a little unstable and can snap at any moment, or as the cold, hard, killer who isn't effected by anything. Neither of these facades are real, but she uses either of them as necessary, depending on which will get the best results.
There are two other main roles she relies on, the protector and the seductress. The latter is fairly simple; occasionally people need to be convinced to do what she wants them to and in many cases, she relies quite heavily on the fact that men like attractive women who pay attention to them. The problem with thinking of her body as thing to be used, is that it's left her with a warped perspective. Sex is a tool, rather than something to be enjoyed, as is her own body. She'll flirt with almost any man with the aim of getting them in a position from which she can manipulate them, even if she can't see an instant use for someone. Women are an entirely different matter; she very, very rarely treats women as targets in this manner, despite being attracted to women, because she doesn't want to be that dishonest and cruel to a woman.
The final role is the one she likes the most, even if she'd never actually admit that to herself. It's the way she deals with the people who she helps, the women living in the buildings she owns, or the girls slinking into clinics to get broken bones set or STIs treated, or the kids coming into soup kitchens looking for a meal they don't have to steal. It's a fairly distant role, she doesn't like to get involved for their sake, but she's friendly, generous, and willing to take the time to help anyone out with a problem, no matter how small it is. Despite this being her favourite 'role', it's also the one she views as being the most constructed, because she sees herself as a monster, and doesn't think that someone can take pleasure in murdering people and be kind. If she spent more of her time in this role, she might be happier.
As part of these roles, the most important thing about Max's personality is her obsession with control, both in a personal content, and in how she deals with others. The skills she learnt in childhood to keep herself safe have only improved with age, and she doesn't often react without careful thought. She might let her surprise, or happiness, or anger show, but only because she wants to, and it's very rare that something gets a genuine reaction out of her. It's not that she chooses every single word, or expression, or gesture, but she'll decide how she wants to interact with someone and tailor her behaviour around that. There's a still in playing nicely with others, or riling them up to get what she wants.
Whether a reason for being so tightly controlled, or a result of it, underneath the surface Max tends towards rather intense emotions, both with regards to frequency and variation. Rapid mood swings are a common occurrence, and she can get extremely worked up over nothing, it's just that she rarely actually lets any of it show. These intense emotions are often on the negative end of the spectrum, though she does get intensely elated when something goes right. In an attempt not to keep her control and not let her emotions overwhelm her, she can sometimes suffer from a sort of disassociation, shutting down her emotional reactions.
The problem with Max, is that she's spent so long telling these lies about the sort of person she is, that she's started to believe them herself.
VISUALS
RELATIONSHIPS
JULIAN DEVORAK
Capable of healing injuries, including poisons, by transferring them to himself. Seems to have something of a martyr complex in relation to the healing. Decent with a knife. Slight issues with personal space boundaries. Appears to have some deep seated self-worth issues. He's been kind when the situation calls for it.1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5 ; 6 ; 7 ; 8 ; 9
PARKER
MISSING 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5
PLASTICMAN
A superhero, fortunately not similar to ones in my world. If I had to guess, he's accustomed to playing the comedian role and is unused to being responsible in the way he is here. He's done well enough, despite that. Sees and knows more than he lets on, but I think he understands that I won't hurt anyone here. Possibly need to show more emotion in response to negative situations, he doesn't approve of me "playing sociopath". I do trust him more than the others, despite his career.1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5 ; 6 ; 7 ; 8 ; 9 ; 10 ; 11 ; 12
JESTER LAVORRE
Comes from a world that is comfortable with magic, and she is comfortable wielding it, too. Uncertain of the extent of her abilities. She seems to have a fondness for jokes, and is quite curious about this world. Unfortunately, she came into contact with the black substance and has been damaged by it.1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5
JUNIPER HYMN
A warlock by her own definition, with a relationship to the Raven Queen, a goddess. Her magic is powerful in offensive and defensive uses, she also seems to have an ability to strengthen spirits with her voice. Somewhat young and very kind, but I would not call her naive, she performed admirably when assisting with Julian's surgery. We've been working together on understanding the language and have both progressed quite well.1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5 ; 6 ; 7
RIN
From a world similar to the tieflings and Fjord, initially claimed to be a merchant and led me to believe he was not much of a fighter. Has proved himself to be very adept with a knife. Charming as he needs to be, I'm unsure how false that aspect of him is, as he became cold quite quickly after the incident. I like him.1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5
ASHRAF SALIB
Another magic user, with an ability to teleport, has ascribed his power to faith, perhaps the same as Juniper. Unfamiliar with modern vehicles, which also suggests a similar world to the other magically capable people here. Friendly enough and open to cooperation, a good enough start.1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5
RIPLEY ARKWRIGHT
A colleague from my own world, I'll need to watch over him here, as he isn't inclined towards violence. Knows me as the Sphinx, this may cause some issues if he slips up, but it won't be irreparable damage. He's not someone I've spent much time with, as our paths don't often cross, so I will have to see what kind of man he is. 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5
HISTORY
Max, named Amelia by her parents, was born into the Italian mafia in New York. Her father, Joseph, was a capo and a successful one at that. While many of the mafia shied away from people with powers, Joseph was more than happy to use them as foot soldiers in his efforts to gain more power. Amelia, as a child, was relatively sheltered from her father's business, though not from his temper. It wasn't until her own abilities manifested at 15 that she became embroiled in Joseph's world. Despite all her protests, Amelia was more scared of her father than she was of the police, and she became a thief and assassin who could wear a new face for every crime, or a bargaining chip to be traded to Joseph's allies, once she was old enough. For a long time, she held out hope that something would change, but a run in with one of her world's heroes made her realise she was going to have to save herself.
Her plan took years to perfect, but at 21 years old, Amelia managed to murder a large number of the men in her family, framing a rival gang, and then flaming the fire of retribution and antagonism between the two groups, until they all but decimated each other. She faked her own death during this time, and rebuilt herself as Artemis, a superhero, wanting to atone for her sins.
Being a superhero didn't pan out the way she'd hoped; after being blocked by red tape, being pushed out by what was essentially a superhero country club, and watching criminals walk away scot-free, Artemis decided to take matters into her own hands again. She felt that she couldn't work within the legal system, even one that allowed vigilantism, so she made use of what she knew, and that was the criminal world.
With a brand new identity, Max Briest, and her experience in the mafia, she slipped back into a life of crime, slowly but surely building herself an empire, stylising herself as the Sphinx. She controls the drug and arms trade in New York, doing her best to keep those things out of the hands of people who'd do the most damage with them, while also funnelling her profits into humanitarian purposes. She bought apartment blocks to turn into shelters, using the money from her crime syndicate to fund these projects, taking in desperate people and helping them get their lives back on track.
Eventually she expanded her operations to more legitimate avenues, hiring scientists to solve problems she saw in the world and profiting from patents while ensuring that the production of these goods is ethical and environmentally responsible. She owns a variety of businesses, largely employing people who've been through her shelter system.
On the surface, Max Briest is the owner of a shipping company passed down from her parents, who has significant philanthropic interests and is known for partying a little too hard sometimes. A little bit Paris Hilton, a little bit Sara Blakely.
It took her a while to move onto politics, because she wanted to ensure she had a stable backing before taking bigger risks, but she's been whispering in politicians' ears or blackmailing them to support certain bills or reforms. Sex and money are powerful tools when it comes to getting what she wants, and while she isn't always successful, the world is slowly starting to change.
ABILITIES & SKILLS
SHAPESHIFTING
Max's power has manifested in the form of shapeshifting, of a limited nature.
• She's restricted by the law of conservation of mass.
• She can only shift to things found in nature - i.e., she could turn her skin to bone (why) but not metal
• The process isn't automatic, she has to concentrate on what she wants to do and needs a working knowledge of what she's shifting to. Over time she's cut down the length of time and difficulty that certain shifts require, through practice.
• If depowered, unconscious, or otherwise incapacitated, she won't revert to her "default" form, as she doesn’t have one. Every shift is permanent until she shifts again. Max hasn't seen her original face since she was 22.
• Shifting is tiring and can be painful, if she overextends she needs to rest, and it's harder to shift if she's tired/drunk/etc.
COMBAT
From machine guns to swords to her bare hands, if something is used to kill another person, Max has learnt how to use it. She spends her down time seeking out experts in various fields and learning under their instruction.
