Nightshade

Nighshade
Credits: Toughset
Species	European Bombay (White)
Occupation	Stripper - Red Stage Club Amsterdam Skilled Fighter

Nightshade is one of the two side alter-egos of the trickster Launa Viander. The other being the half-beast superhero Sabrecat. She is an on-the-fly creation made in part by losing a challenge to two other strippers of a seedy club. Nightshade is themed around her persona as being "Death's Stripper". At least her moniker is supposed to play as according to Launa, a sensual and sexy antithesis of both geniuses and strippers, even the trickster herself as a cold, calculating anti-heroine in her own right, all while being one of the most popular dancers at the venue.

Despite what the mortal humans see her as a giant white cat, they love her despite adding a bit of cruelty in their step. Vicious and strong of will, intelligent but knows when to break hearts and heads. Loving as long as it benefits her and indifferent to everything else, yet is willing to protect those she cares against threats both mortal and supernatural.

Development

During the 2011 commission of the annual Halloween picture by Elton Portilho, the inked version was going through a series of color scheme experiments that showed what she looked like had her fur/pelt had been in another color. The two most considered was her original black pelt with a lighter underside and white to match with her original silvery white mane she had at the time.

Another part of her development came from inspiration. It was from a 2012 commission from the same artist, titled "The Tail Hunt" That helps add in of what this white-pelted alter ego should be.

Biography

It Started With a Bet...

Launa has many special qualities that define her personality: Do very un-womanly things, is willing the play rough and hard and is caring to kids and the weak. The most notable of those traits is of what she doesn't like while being the trickster preying on unsuspecting mortals: Losing. Launa remedies this by never letting the winners enjoy their victories. One October night, she is summoned by two strippers at a combo strip club/bar called The Red Stage. They are Jamie and Babs, known by their stage names "Tahiti Mama" and "Mando-Mellons" and had a page of a book that contained her summoning spell. She asks of the two of what they desire but instead they insulted her as the two ladies circled around her making judgements on her looks and appearance, for they had plans with her to see if she really is as the underground culture sees her as the sexiest warrior around.

Close to infuriated by their insults, Launa warns them of talking further about her body and asks again of what they want. It is Jamie who asks for them to do a particular job but for a challenge. Launa refuses to take on challenges but Babs goads her into accepting (more like falling) it. Babs and Jamie made her swear that if she fails, she most do what they ask of her. No one knows the details of the challenge the strippers imposed on Launa but the end result is that she failed and doesn't match what the duo can do. Distraught and upset to lose to two mortals, bound by honor, she hears what they had in mind.

...With a Condition

It was a proposal that even the warrior trickster could not believe they are going to subject her to. They want her to see if she is as a better dancer than she is a fighter. They want her to show up on stage and dance in front of the audience on Friday, their biggest night, in her true form. Hoping to see her there, Launa needs to think quick on what she should do, she can't just show up in her own form considering the mounting hidden enemies she has around, but can't break the honor as she is so hard-wired to her Viking heritage of honor. That's when she decides to take on a slightly different but better change to he form.

With a flash of energy, she negated her black fur into a shade of pure white and changed her trademark red shades for blue. Practicing on a change of attitude and a crash course in pole dancing, the trickster had only four days to master and outright outperform the ones who are putting her in that position. Unfortunately for them, Launa is a notoriously fast learner.

Nightshade's Night

As expected at the Red Stage, Friday is its biggest night with many flocking over to have a beer, grab some food and watch the best strippers give their best to show off in front of the male patrons who want to see the star ladies give their performances and heard the rumors of a new attraction coming up on stage. Jame and Babs came up as Tahiti Mama and Mando-Mellons, the favorite among the big-bust strippers who danced, swayed and get the men to empty their wallets for them. But then the time came for the new attraction to appear and everyone is curious. The two want to see how hard she can fail.

There on the stage they see a tall, imposing figure wearing a dark cloak and holding a long scythe with a long blade as she swings it to and fro as if she is posing as Death herself. Taking off the dark robe, the audience and the two strippers are introduced to something unbelievable: A giant white cat-woman! Wearing a simple two piece with a long loincloth, the woman introduced herself as Nightshade: Death's Stripper. Wearing a strong top to support her mountainous breasts, one long netted stocking and loincloth-attached panties. Nightshade begins her dance and she goes at it like a seasoned pro.

What was shock and curiosity turned into sheer jubilation. Many think that the club is spoiling them and rightfully so by presenting its patrons with something exotic. Her greatest trick is the "Invisible Pole Dance" which gets everyone to just toss her cash even resorting by forcing Babs and Jamie to give up the money they gave and give it to Nightshade. The crowds love her, muscles and all. By the time she is done, Nightshade smiles as the crowd calls out her name for an encore but couldn't hold a candle to the looks on her summoner's faces that their little plan to humiliate her further backfired.

The Stripper of Death

Nightshade's one night became the biggest attraction the city's night scene has ever seen and none of them are the wiser of what she really is. Launa made leaps and bounds to make sure it is kept that way through her magic and suggestive expertise. Nightshade's signature dances and performances is what gets the strip club to have multi-block lines just to see her and her V.I.P. shows gain her a cool $65,000 each. In one week alone, she became the highest earning stripper in the history of the Red Light District. All this as a show of a principle trait that defines Launa: She hates to lose and never lets the victors enjoy their victories.

Babs and Jame learned it the hard way when they thought it was smart to challenge and dared the trickster to do something she can take full advantage of and eventually fall out of favor with the crowd. Eventually the lack of patrons ultimately costs them their jobs and resorted to dancing in lesser-known and sleazy clubs in Amsterdam before having to get real jobs.

Life at the Red Stage

Launa's "mortal" schedule can only take so much to throw in one more into her bloated life with adding Nightshade to the mix, however a few showy competitions that didn't want to use her "talents" are seen as a open window to be worth the sacrifice. Under her conditions, she will show up on every full moon night and the owner agrees. For a good time she dedicates her time being that persona for three nights around the full moon catering to doing more original acts with time some "borrowed" from her stunt shows. It's a good job that gets good pay for those three measly days but she has her limits.

One incident deals with an extremely wealthy patron who she did V.I.P. who really wanted to pay extra but after he got too rowdy with her even to take the extreme to order her to tear off her top. She grabbed his hand inches from nearly slapping her face and brutally drags him out of the club that even the bouncers had to restrain her from nearly killing him.

On the other end, she encounters four backpackers from America who wanted to get their shy friend Tim to enjoy the show. Some of the girls often want to take advantage of the other guys and with Tim seeing Nightshade from across the hall, the others just tell him that he's better off going with the others since he has no chance of ever being with a woman like her. Just as they are about to leave with Tim not getting one piece of the action, he was grabbed and pulled in by Nightshade who noticed his look at her and overheard what his friends say about his chances. Nightshade offers to change that and will give him the treatment that he'll never forget.

She never does this to any of her guests but her special V.I.P. dance did include a chance for him to grab a feel and really put the moves on him that would put even those with the greatest stamina to the hospital. When his friends found him, he definitely has a story to tell. Just as Nightshade waves to the group wishing them the best in enjoying the rest of the city. But all is not just good and dandy at the Red Stage for when you have a supernatural being in your employ, it would attract some otherworldly customers.

A Magnet to the Strange

It would be a matter of time before more supernatural elements would befall on the employees and patrons of the Red Stage (even enough to warrant a series about it). One dealt with a couple of bikers that are actually un-dead under disguise and Nightshade is quick to deal with them harshly. Another incident dealt with dealing with a demon who possessed the clubs owner in which she had to beat up in order to free him.

Other Media

The Red Stage Tales

Main article: The Red Stage Tales

The Red Stage Tales is a five-part miniseries featuring the stripper in a series of events that goes on in the night-to-night life of the strip club being Nightshade. The first episode titled "Horny Hound" is released on DeviantArt and FurAffinity on October 6, 2014.

References

Launa Viander
Launa Viander // Launa Viander (dragon) // Nightshade // Sabrecat // Nemeana