LogFAQs > #967203118

#8: Nightshade (Eve Eden)
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Here's the ultimate tortilla. In campaign one, she was Roz'etta's Superbuddy, someone to help Roz'etta handle that Amanda Waller wanted her. Roz'etta was not a particularly great student, causing a bunch of monks to die in Nanda Parbat, and ultimately agreeing to work for Amanda Waller. Between campaigns, Nightshade and Roz'etta were teammates in the ultimate American Super Team, under Amanda Waller, the Force of July.

With this campaign, Nightshade has had the chance to shine. Shimmer. Whatever darkness does. She's part of the Shadowpact, one of the many trapped in Oblivion Bar under threat of death via The Spectre. Nightshade would sit alone in a corner, sitting on a chair made of shadow, sipping her drink. Loudly. Very loudly. Extremely loudly. She's just so good at making it clear she doesn't want to deal with you, whether it's your attempts to flirt with her, or your attempts to get out of a bad argument you've made for yourself. She doesn't put up with your shit, even when she's stuck in a bar with nothing to do, she is still too busy for you if you're bringing nonsense to her. She focuses on what matters, like a good drink, good clothes, and a good kill.

That last part might catch you off guard, but Nightshade is a woman with priorities. As the guardian of the Shadowlands, she's seen a lot. She's seen all the people who mess with the shadows, all the people she needs to kill, because one day they'll go mad. One day they'll become a problem, and she wants to be the one to do the deed, because otherwise she's passing her responsibility onto someone else, and she already let that happen once when her brother needed to die. She's Nightshade, she's strong, she can handle her own problems.

This is part of the reason Roz'etta put Alice with Nightshade, because she didn't want her mentor to be alone with her thoughts. She knows Nightshade is strong, she respects Nightshade, she knows Nightshade is alone, the only one with the ability to do anything responsible with shadows, and she knows Nightshade will not put up with Alice's nonsense. Just like how she won't put up with Roz'etta's nonsense. Nightshade sees right through Roz'etta, and will tear through her given the slightest opportunity. When she thinks Roz'etta's going to make an error, she'll say it, and if Roz'etta doesn't follow that advice, Nightshade will have another cutting comment for that. Nightshade sees Roz'etta for what she is, for what she's become.

But it's the small things that make Nightshade and Roz'etta's bond special. Nightshade's open about her family with Roz'etta. How Nightshade should have been the one to kill her brother. How her father, Senator Eden, was always a son of a bitch. He's always treated Nightshade as a path to the top. And in Roz'etta's time in the Force of July, she saw the same thing Nightshade did. Nightshade doesn't talk about this stuff with any other PC than Roz'etta. Roz'etta and Nightshade sit down and talk about Azrael, Roz'etta's enemy in campaign one turned teammate in the Force of July, who would die protecting her between campaigns. For all their differences, for all their disagreements, they're sisters-in-arms, although that sort of statement would make Nightshade flustered like she is every time Roz'etta approaches her not with a problem, but with a desire to just be nice to her friend. Nightshade was awkward about hugs in campaign one, and that hasn't changed.

I am so happy every time Roz'etta manages to get under Nightshade's skin a little. The first time was the reveal that Roz'etta had a daughter. Nightshade, with her tendency to be loudly drinking at all times, drank some of her darkness down the wrong tube, leading to a coughing fit, and proof that Roz'etta could get one over still on her mentor. Eve did the math in her head, and figured out that the possible timelines didn't work out for the suspected father, Azrael, as Nightshade is casual about dropping that Azrael had a thing for Roz'etta but never said anything before. Another recent case was when Nightshade made an idle comment about Roz'etta's age, and was reduced to laughter by learning about Jaime Reyes thinking his Abuela was over 100. Two completely different forms of surprise, both extremely charming, and both something that only a student of Nightshade can pull out of her.

Nightshade is clinical, she's frank about what she feels has to be done. It's very interesting that she has such disdain for Amanda Waller, because in that way they're very similar. Nightshade justifies herself with how much her deeds are needed, just like Waller does. Scarlet gave each of our characters a single word to describe them, and for Roz'etta he used the word monster, for the history of monsters in the Martian blood in her veins, for the people she surrounds herself with. But left out in his list of monsters was Nightshade. I don't know if that was intentional, but I think of all the members of the Shadowpact, Nightshade at her worst I think expresses views the party would find most monstrous, willing to just so quickly kill someone. I think for some that's more unsettling than even Enchantress's desire to steal souls. But Nightshade is not necessarily wrong in her actions. She's just so casual about it, and that's possibly more frightening than anything. Roz'etta is a product of monsters, and Nightshade may just be one of them.

Or Eve Eden may be the edge, the absolute edge of being a monster, with the control and discipline to know exactly where the line is. Exactly where to stop. Good luck figuring out which it is.

Hint for #7: This characters likes one of the PCs far more than the rest.