New Salem Character #16: Strega

Strega (Antonia Cavallaro)

Pyramid Tier: 4    Experience level: 9

Affect/Gimmick: Stern Italian Grandmother meets the witch queen from Stardust.  

Gang?: Yes, The Mafia. The actual Mafia. Them. Now, the actual Mafia is much more Catholic men than evil black magic women, so she has her son as her proxy. Like Bahamian Sawshark, her gang isn't flashy or gimmicky. They're just effective. 

Status: She is one of the 'public' triumvirate that runs the New Salem Syndicate (not really public but she's part of the firewall that blocks the real leaders). This is high ranking indeed, and her decisions carry enormous weight. 

Powers: 5

1. Body Power - the Evil Eye: This acts as Death Touch but a) at a 5" range, b) the target has their Level -1 hours to survive and try to undo the curse through some mechanism. Each turn they spend fighting reduces that time by 1 hour. 
2. Heightened Charisma B: +20
3. Special Weapon - Unicorn Horn Dagger: This is +4 to hit, +1d10 damage. it has it's own power score of 50 points.  As it's possessor she has:
1. Heightened Endurance C +16, with an immunity to poison. She can also negate poisons with a touch and gets an extra 320 years of life. She keeps these unless somehow she doesn't get the horn back at the full moon. 
2. Teleport: the horns' current power score in inches, PR 1. This creates a cloud of smoke, and she always tries to make it look like she's got an escape route - this is not used for combat teleports. The horn will teleport to her every full moon if it is taken. 
3. Devitalization Ray: This is also invisible in its use, draws 3 power from the horn, and causes 3d10 Power damage. The target is overcome by the psychic screaming of the imprisoned unicorn soul. 
4. Force Field Item: This is the unicorn's skull, which she wears as a helmet/battle mask. It has a power score of 60 points, and gives her a force field defense. This is invisible to the naked eyes, and just appears to be things missing her. She cannot use this at range, but for 1 power she can make HTH attacks as if they were Force Field (she can add the Unicorn Horn weapon mods to that...)

Weight: 110      Basic Hits: 3    Agi Mod: +2

S: 10        E: 29        HP: 22

A: 15        I: 18         Pow:  72         

C: 36                        Move: 54"

Accuracy: +1 or +5 with Unicorn Horn daggers

Damage Mod: +2

Reactions Mod: +7

Carrying Cap: 214    HTH: 1d3

Inventions: All of her frequented places have Unused Escape Routes that are designed to hide her teleportation ability. They are twice as likely to be detected by people looking for them, and they do lead to safety, she just never uses them. She has a Skin Stealing ritual where if she flays a woman with her knife she can steal her appearance and memories, but she doesn't like using it - the emotions that come with it are distracting (takes 1 day, PR 50) 

Background/Origin: Antonia Cavallaro is a witch. Has been for a very, very long time. Being bonded to a Unicorn Horn lets you eke out an extra couple centuries. About 60 years back she decided she needed a power base so she stole the life of a pretty Italian girl and got herself married to the mob. All that time in churches was painful and irksome, but worth it now that she has her dearly beloved son Guido and his control of the New Salem Mafia. Not that he could manage it without her help, but she does make sure the boy gets the respect he craves. 

She may be old but she can adapt with the times, and made sure the Mafia were able to integrate with the Havana Mob and the Yakuza (in ways where they still stayed dominant) without ripping the city apart. Her friendship with Sevite is an honest one, and she respects the Talon's dedication.