Atago McCart

"Atago McCart"

- on Rance.

About
Atago McCart is the current owner of the McCart Bar, a tavern of some renown located within the Free Cities Alliance.

The daughter of proud bar owners, Atago took over running the family business after her parents reached retirement age, allowing them to live comfortably in the countryside while she supported them financially. After becoming the new owner, Atago quickly became famous throughout the Free Cities for her excellent looks, cheerful disposition and superb cooking ability, inspiring people from all regions of The Continent to flock to the bar in order to see her, causing it to become one of the most popular venues in the region.

At some point, the city state in which the McCart bar was located was bought out by the Copa Empire, becoming a part of its capital, CITY, in the process. Business flourished even further, as the countless services offered within CITY attracted people outside of the bar's usual clientele, allowing for it to amass an even greater following.

This period of supreme popularity would prove to be only temporary, however. Shortly after the events of Sengoku Rance, the warrior Rance, who had decided to take an extended vacation in order to keep his mind off of his beloved slave Sill Plain, who had become frozen in a block of seemingly unbreakable ice, rented a room at the McCart bar. Rance quickly became interested in Atago and, after taking advantage of her naive nature, took her virginity, slightly traumatizing her in the process. In the weeks following Rance's visit to CITY, the tavern's regulars began to grow wary and fearful of the brutal warrior who now frequented it, as he had been known for picking fights with other adventurers on the street and killing several people. They were also fearful of the knowledge that Copandon has an interest in Rance. As a result, the once thriving business lost nearly all of its customers, with only Rance and his allies regularly visiting it. In addition, Atago was forced to resign herself to continuing to serve Rance with both the bar and her body, as he would threaten to destroy the building if she refused to follow his demands.

During the events of Rance Quest, Rance regularly visited the McCart bar, much to the ire of Atago, who had grown bitter and jaded from her experiences with him. In addition to occasionally taking job requests from her at the Keith Guild, Rance is also able to make Atago place an ad in her bar for adventuring companions, allowing him to occasionally recruit new party members whenever he visits it. If Rance is able to gather all three bottles of the "Dancer Princess' Lotion", a mysterious substance said to contain the powers of an ancient princess whose dance possessed rejuvenating magic, he will force Atago to allow him to massage her with it, bestowing her with the lotion's power in the process. After doing this, Rance will demand that Atago travel with him on his adventures and, despite her protests, will recruit her as a party member.

During the epilogue of Rance Quest, the McCart bar's business is said to eventually return its normal thriving state following Rance's departure from it. Despite this, Atago, forever damaged by the experience, remains anxious and paranoid that he will someday return to ruin her life once again.

Personality and Appearance
Atago is a fairly tall woman who possesses long light purple hair and a curvaceous figure. She is noted to be very beautiful, with countless men visiting the McCart bar simply to gaze at her. Her clothing consists of a plain collared shirt, an open white jacket, a brown skirt and a black choker around her neck.

Prior to encountering Rance, Atago was noted to have been an energetic and optimistic girl with a bright personality. Her cheerful and charming personality allowed her to instantly win the affections of all who knew her, causing her to quickly become an idol of sorts within her community. She was also fairly naive and quick to believe the words of others, allowing for Rance to manipulate her into giving him her trust, her virginity, and near total control over her business. After meeting Rance, however, Atago's character became the polar opposite of what it previously was. With her family's bar losing almost all of its customers as a direct result of his presence, she has developed an extremely sardonic disposition, often dully noting that she has placed both herself and her parents into a seemingly hopeless situation. In spite of this, she continues to work hard to make the most out of what little business her bar now gets, showing that she still desires to support her parents and their legacy even after everything that has happened to her.

Atago possesses a strong hatred for Rance, who is single-handedly responsible for ruining the reputation of her bar due to his violent and belligerent reputation scaring away all potential customers. Rance regularly acts incredibly manipulative and abusive towards Atago, threatening to kick up a fuss in the bar, cause further damages, or outright ruin whatever she is currently doing in order to force her to do things for him, such as service him sexually. As she is aware that there is nothing that she can do to get rid of him, however, Atago has learned to put up no resistance to his ridiculous demands, instead simply responding to them with either biting sarcasm or complete unenthusiasm. Rance is annoyed by this behavior, frequently noting that he wishes she would return to her "cute" former personality. This frustration is likely the sole source of relief that Atago receives when dealing with the brutal warrior. Many of Atago's fans have also developed a hatred of the warrior for what he has done to her, with some going so far as to swear that they would one day kill him and free her from his torment, though none have come close to gaining the courage to actually attempt to do so.

Abilities
A skilled bartender and hostess, Atago is capable of managing all of the areas required to run a tavern completely unaided. She is able to tend to the needs of her customers while also entertaining them with either stories or rumors she has heard from previous clients, improving their dining experience by creating a pleasant and engaging atmosphere. In addition, she is noted to be a skilled chef, with her Grape Rice in particular becoming a signature of the bar that is seen as a hallmark of the spring season arriving by the citizens of CITY. Through a combination of her excellent service skills, her superb cooking and her winning personality, Atago was able to gain a large fan following in a very short amount of time, making her bar extremely successful in the process.

As an adventurer, Atago is completely ordinary. She possesses an average Level Cap of 10 and no notable skills as a fighter. After being forced to be covered in the "Dancer Princess' Lotion" by Rance, however, she gained the ability to perform a dance that possesses extremely powerful rejuvenating magic. When performing the dance, Atago is able to remove any and all fatigue from her allies, allowing for them to continue fighting at full strength even after a long and arduous adventure. It is unknown if she still possesses the abilities of the dance after the events of Rance Quest or if they eventually wore off after a period of time.