Calavera
Real Name Valerie Gray
Created and Copyright Barry Reese

ADVANTAGES: Contact (Dark Society) -6D, Obscure Knowledge -2D, Wealth -2D
DISADVANTAGES: Enemy (Dark Society Rogues Gallery) +6D, Secret Identity +3D, Weirdness +4D (-2 penalty to all Presence-based rolls except intimidation, interrogation, and willpower)

POWERS: Spirit Manipulation 13D, Longevity 10D, Sustenance 20D (Limitation: linked to Spirit Manipulation), Microwave Projection-Necromantic Energy 9D (Limitation: linked to Spirit Manipulation), Precognition 5D (Limits: Uncontrollable; Only shows someone’s probable means of death; Linked to Spirit Manipulation), Speak with Animals 10D (Limitation: Ravens Only; Linked to Spirit Manipulation), Ectoplasmic Manipulation 8D*.

*This is a new power but is essentially like Darkness Manipulation only using Ectoplasm instead. Calavera’s use of this power takes the form of small sugar skulls that are filled with a form of ectoplasm that she calls ‘necroplasm.’ This power debuts in Dark Society volume 9.

BACKGROUND: Valerie Gray is the great-granddaughter of famed hero Lazarus Gray. Her grandmother was also the daughter of Gravedigger, another famed hero of the past. As such, is the product of multiple heroic legacies and was seemingly destined for greatness from birth — however, her father (the hero known as Geist) did everything in his power to drive her away from the family business. As such, she grew up thinking her father was an absolute jerk. Eventually Valerie became a successful mystery novelist, working under a pseudonym and trying to keep everyone from knowing of her connection to Lazarus Gray. When a massive conspiracy targeted her on the brink of the apocalypse, Valerie found herself dealing with attempts on her life, even as she was dealing with the death of her beloved grandmother. Unwittingly, she had exposed herself to a set of sugar skulls that had belonged to her Gran — these sugar skulls were portals to Deadworld, a gateway between the living and the death. As a result, Valerie is ‘partially dead’ – meaning that she no longer ages, she’s unnaturally pale, her skin is cold to the touch, and people get a bad ‘vibe’ from her. These energies also transformed her into the hero Calavera and she was essential to saving the world from the forces of Heaven and Hell. Though not the most powerful hero, she has a strong sense of purpose and always seems to find herself in the right place at the right time.