Now that I have more than three approved PCs and at least one NPC, I figure it's time to start an archive.
If you're looking for a common theme among these disparate characters it should be this: I take RP as a challenge, and like to play things I've never played before. Sadly, that can be quite rare for someone of my level of experience.
A once solid frame of a well trained, and tested, army engineer has atrophied slightly back into his geeky final form. Slender yet stout, tall, with dark hair and light skin this machinist pushes his glasses up his nose to get a good look at you. Upon a brief inspection, his shoulders relax, he retrieves a tool, and resumes working on some ill-conceived mechanical machination.
His glasses briefly flash some data, that his hazel eyes devour, before he reaches out an out-stretched arm beckoning for another tool. "Hand me that," he says, "Then introduce yourself, or leave. I'm busy."
Background: What history does your character have in this universe?
Since learning about the Singularity in history classes nearly thirty years ago Xaith had always been fascinated by the question of what does, and does not, define life. Moreover, the question of synthetic versus organic was always of paramount importance as no one could give a good answer that didn't rely entirely on some philosophical or archaic religious context.
With the ban on artificial intelligence research so overtly hampering his own inquiries, he decided to skirt the rules as closely as he could technically be said to be observing them. To do this he decided to tackle a question that neither science nor society was willing to broach: "How close must an approximation of intelligence be before it is considered to be an actual intelligence?"
Though but a teen when his research and studies began, the attack on Citadel Station introduced him to a new idea, that would changed the direction his life would take. After the shock and horror of the event passed the question instead became: "How close of an approximation are we to intelligent creatures?"
Historical Profile:
After the attack on Citadel Station, Xaith joined the UEC's Army Corps of Engineers. Though he passed basic training, he spent the remainder of his contract behind what amounts to a desk. Though the conflict was not a long-standing one, its consequences were, as the individual nations found themselves totally ill equipped to handle conflict of that magnitude should the need arise again.
After his ten-year in the army, and his development on S.A.S.H.A. which indirectly impacted the Arks development, Xaith unsurprisingly received an invitation to continue his research along side the full construct governing the ship's systems.
More importantly, however, was the duty of helping to maintain the systems of the Vitae, many of which he had worked on in some older form that this state of the art ship's systems were derived from.
See Profession: UEC Engineer for more information regarding his training. See Special Projects: XYI-001 for more information regarding "S.A.S.H.A."
As an United Earth Council Army Corps Engineer during serving during active war, Xaith was exposed to all manner of high grade experimental equipment that required optimization and integration into the various nation's active armadas. While his primary sphere of focus was programming, SFC Calhound was still required to know the physics, the material sciences, and mathematics behind his and the army's equipment.
With their training, and his own university experience, he went out of his way to get certified for the most complex engineering postings available. With these knowledge and skills it was his hope to help the sythetic races of Earth continue to thrive and evolve along side humans for years into the future.
Though only a mid level officer, Xaith was granted several forms of special clearances in order to engage in the Army's business, as well being brought into their Special Projects division with his own proposed Special Project XYI-001.
Project XYI-001: Codename S.A.S.H.A. The Secondary Advanced Simulated Heuristic Administrator was commissioned by the UEC. More specifically, after his tour of duty had ended, and the war was put behind him, Xaith approached the UEC to request funding for research into creating an adaptive, Simulated Intelligence.
Though the question regarding simulation from his youth still motivated him, to the UEC it was a matter of practicality to create and control some form of highly advanced without the risk of it becoming sentient. The manner in which S.A.S.H.A. differs from traditional AI is that her primarily referential and experiential matrices are modular.
As a secondary administrator, rather than an intelligence, S.A.S.H.A.'s primary function is to adapt databases into her software by creating and compiling translation software for them. While collectively 'she' may be classified as intelligent, she is never more than her parts, and once disconnected from those databases her hardcode does not retain any information in it. Not even the software created for adapting it, which is instead added to a partitioned adjutant module. The question then of self-actualizing is avoided as once the task she is assigned is completed, that version of her ceases to exist.
Though the complexities of the task of running a ship like the Vitae, which would require a fully integrated, autonomous, and complete artificial intelligent; Project XYI-001 aided in the understanding integrated systems administration. Since S.A.S.H.A. was beyond the current scope of the most pressing program, the Arks, the prototype was black-boxed and shelved for future investigation.
Psychological Profile:
High Acuity Regarding Digital Information, and Mechanical Systems
Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret Clearance
Physical Conditioning
High Acuity Regarding Digital Information, and Mechanical Systems: As a programmer, and engineer, Xaith developed an extremely accurate ability to parse data and assess important details from large masses of information. As a result of specialized training this is not a skill that applies in every situation, but there is nary a computer in the sol system whose interface can sneak something past him. As the creator of an interface that creates new interfaces, he knows exactly what to look for to get the information from virtually any mechanical device.
Though he personally views himself, and those of the human race as 'purely organic machines' this training simply doesn't apply to them, and has all the ability to read people as is to be expected from an Army Engineer.
Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret Clearance: If necessity is the mother of invention, then bureaucracy is the very angry, very drunk stepfather. In order to actually contribute to the war effort, SFC Calhound had to prove he was trustworthy enough to have several layers of red-tape peeled away, so that progress could be made. Once attained proving that it could be maintained proved to be the difference of life or death, as it was a contributing fact to his joining the Arks program.
Physical Conditioning: While in no way a super soldier, Xaith has spent many a long nights pouring over his magnum opus of the week, and has trained his body to function properly with little sleep, and irregular feeding. His time in the military has also improved the diversity of what he can ingest, and finds it rare that something could be unpalatable.
Low Data Retention
Socially Awkward
Dissociative
Low Data Retention: Spending years designing systems that manage other systems, and having databases full of information that frequently required working with, Xaith learned to trust that would be available if required. While he may occasionally recollect some trivia, he is constantly referencing some technical manual that he, or someone else, created for the task at hand. Though his eye sight is fine, he regularly wears inferred-led glasses that function as an Augmented Reality Interface to provide him with technical information on the fly.
Socially Awkward: Being an engineer is not the most glamorous position, nor does it attract the most gregarious people. The same can be said for the computer sciences, and the spy trade. Being the type of person who is drawn to these isolationist fields, and also being a 'grounded' spacer for over a decade has dulled Xaith's appreciation for social engineering.
Dissociative: As a man who identifies more with the creation than the fellow creators, Xaith has subconsciously picked up many of the quirks of the mechanical things he so regularly surrounds himself with. This is a large collection of subtle things, rather than any one noteworthy thing, that may put people un-at-ease. He's once heard the effect described by army personnel (with whom he had worked long enough that they consciously noticed) as "Looking at the far side of the Uncanny Valley."
Psychographic Profile:
Home is the cot he is assigned, next to whatever mechanical behemoth requires his attention.
Much of his personal quarters is taken up by machinery related to active pet projects. Among which is a charging station for an AI physical avatar. While cables are strewn about the floor, and hang from the ceiling, and several pannels are stripped from the wall at any given time, Officer Calhound assures any passerbys that "everything's fine. Totally under control."
It is, of course, since he at any given time simply in the process of either retro-fitting or upgrading his accommodations to interface with his current projects. Among all the chaos is a cardboard box labeled "Sasha's Baby Toys" that is both never far from sight, but never close enough for inspection. Inside, beneath stuffed animals, doodles, and various baby clothes, is a sleek black box with the number "001" pressed into it.
Xaith Calhound is not only motivated by the survival of the human race, and of "his" race, but also by the question of the Devastators, and possibility of encountering other races. He wonders if the Devastators were once similar to humans, or some other organic technologically evolved race, that simply took a different path than humanity at the point of the Singularity.
With the S.A.S.H.A.'s base code in his possession, it is among his ultimate desires to realize her full reactivation and reintegration into complex systems. While he has her code, he has yet to see any indication that others know that he has it. Nor has he received any permissions to access the databases required to build her.
For the time being she is yet another a half-finished mechanized husk hang hanging over him.
While not particularly anxious, Xaith has many questions that remain unaswered. Questions that are inherently sources of doubt for him. Chief among them is his difficulty separating and distinguishing himself from the bio-chemical processes that maintain his organic machinery, form, and function.
The phrase "I think, therefore I am." means little to this man as no one can quantify what it is to "think."
Notable Technology:
I've said EEGARD twice now, in reference to Xaith's glasses, but never actually defined it in character. It stands for Electro-Encephalo-Graphic (EEG) Augmented Reality Display (ARD). While its intended function is similar to Smart Vision, all that it actually does, and how it works are totally different technologies. The most notable difference is that there is no implants (augs) in Xaith Calhound.
Though, it need be stated that it is based off of design principles that would be extremely controversial in this universe, and relies on out-dated technology (in comparison to other medical tech discussed). Thus it is something Xaith was required to build himself basically in his basement. The manner in which every little thing is brought up speaks to how fine-tuned the system is, and the lack of filter on Xaith's mind. Furthermore, unlike Smart Vision, anything displayed in the device is visible to anyone who can see the device. While even modern (today's) devices have tinting to filter this out, that is just not something Xaith gave half-a-shit about when he made them (Socially Awkward flaw).
If you see him using it around you feel free to comment on it, as he uses the device frequently to do things which may be considered rude. For example: looking up a person's personnel profile in front of that person. From a technical standpoint, Xaith's eyes literally are a window into his mind.
Background: Mistress of multiple religions, keeper of lore and mystical traditions, and voice of the people, Aria Summers has had a long-standing involvement in the ever-looming apocalypse. Unlike so many other doomsayers who would give the faith-inclined majority a bad name, Ms. Summers focused not on the coming apocalypse as a sign of judgement, but instead as the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. Her life's work came to a head as her message of peace and acceptance was tested against the criticality of mass extinction.
As a result she was quite surprised when she was extended an offer to join the Arks program on the Vitae, as she had quite assumed that preserving active faith was an after thought to the scientific lot involved in its creation. As a local leader with strong ties to the community, and the ability to calm civilians, the offer was a natural one that would also naturally be met with controversy.
Historical Profile:
Born to a pair of atheistic scientists, Aria ironically fell in love with the notion of gods and goddesses, despite her parents evident disapproval. She spent her formative years investigating all religions for fragments of truth, while roaming the wastelands of what once the European continent. This research was supported by her parents who believed that, with enough exposure, she would see them for the inconsistent and incoherent mess they believed these religions to be. She began her early years studying witchcraft, druidism and shamanism, before being branching out to others. Taoism introduced her to Confucian practices, and from there her heart and mind traveled the globe.
For many of her age, the events of Citadel Station catalyzed her in a new direction. Her mission turned from understanding, to implementation, and like so many others she sought to bring down the barriers between religions. Practicing one's faith and ideals does not preclude another to practice thier's. Entire nations were founded upon this concept, and now she believed that humanity must become ready for the next step: accepting that there are no enemies of a loving heart.
As such Aria spent the last twenty years breaking down boarders between faiths and facilitating mutual respect between humanity in terms of religious differences.
The list of religions older than those of Aramaic origins (IE: Christianity Judaism, Islam, etc), and still practiced to this day is long and involved. As are such traditions and practices in celebration of those beliefs. Sufficive to say that mankind is a very spiritual creature and in any reasonable sample size of people there is bound to be at least one devout practitioner of high distinction to lead other religious practitioners.
While some may argue this form of “diversity credit” undermines the very concept of “the best and brightest” nothing could be further from the truth. While once the cornerstone of most societies religious scholars have in recent decades moved toward an advisory role in society. That is until the emergence of the Devastators reignited old superstitions.
This re-ignition—this return to the old ways—massively influenced Aria's future, and made her invitation to the Vitae possible. As smoldering coals turned to raging bonfires the message of unity was tainted with the fact that the people of Earth were united in opposition to an enemy force.
In the scientific community, this undercut many religious leaders, and as a result the pool of acceptable representatives was narrowed away from two fringes: the god loves everyone unificationists, and the god hates everyone-but-us purists. The result is that the moderates were elevated and chief among them sat Aria Summers representing the "Old Religions".
Two key principles separated Aria Summers from other religious candidates. The first was her teachings which is informed by the second, her involvement in multiple religious communities. Unlike so many other patrons of deific obedience, Summers advocated for the education of mankind as a requirement of its survival. That faith, while as important as it is, is not a substitute for knowledge. That, as many monotheistic religions taught, being created in the image of an all knowing god without being all knowing ourselves, defines learning as the challenge by which people may come to know their creator.
As such she believes enlightenment, and peace of the soul, is at the center of all philosophical study.
Psychological Profile:
Gregarious (Social Butterfly)
Omni-Mystic
Tradecraft
Gregarious (Social Butterfly) At its most fundamental level all religions are about one thing: people. It brings them together, and teaches them values. It allows them to share their interests, and underwrites their communication skills. Moreover it creates an environment that elevates social affluence, and in this regard Aria Summers shines.
For the most part, Aria truly believes people want to represent themselves to the best of their own abilities, and chooses to treat them as if they had. In this way, and in several others, Aira Summers has honed her given raw charismatic force, and natural beauty into a light of social brilliance.
This strength is paired to the Naive weakness.
Omni-Mystic Almost every religion known to man can be clustered by way of the central tenets they observe. While being studied in every religion is blatantly impossible for a single person of her age, being studied in the root sources of most is something that she has not only done, but has done with extreme efficacy.
As a certified practitioner of many religions, and active preacher, Aria Summers seeks to emphasize their commonalities rather than highlighting their differences. Regardless of the religion, Aria is extremely knowledgeable on the organized practices and superstitious beliefs of mankind, as well as how they have evolved throughout the ages.
Tradecraft A term most commonly used to refer to the spy business; creating, managing, and living multiple lives, identities, and personalities is a skill Aira has learned as a consequence to overcome the stigma attached to her trade. Both the in-group stigma of practicing multiple religions, and the out-group stigma of practicing any religion at all.
Aria Summers possesses multiple identities—none of which are fake—by which she is known to certain sub-groups of society. Even as a certified practitioner of multiple religions there is little cause for concern that her personas in each may be compromised, strictly because it is rare that worshipers of Innana might rub shoulders with the followers of Christ or Jehovah. These personas are largely known by titles granted to, and held by, Aria Summers rather than by her actual name. In that regard, the persona she carries with her is who she is to those individuals, and the collections of these personas is who she is to herself.
This strength is paired to the Cloistered weakness.
Cloistered
Conflicted
Naive
Cloistered Devotion to one religion is taxing enough but devotion to all of them whilst roaming the wastelands leaves little time to do anything else. Though few people know who Aria Summers really is she is isn’t one of those people. Having spent so much time devoted to research, practice, and mastery has left her with little time to learn other skills. As a consequence she has a low level of technical understanding; far beneath that of the average plebeian.
While she acknowledges technology is a thing, and is important to every-day life, she just doesn’t have a handle on it. As a consequence, anything more than the most trivial task involving modern technology is a colossal undertaking for this religious savant.
Her level of technological ineptitude can get quite embarrassing from time to time, as at one point she had to have explained to her that NO4H is not just “a switchboard operator”, but an actual artificial intelligence. Just as others rely on her for spiritual support, she tends to rely on others for technological support.
This weakness is paired to the Tradecraft strength.
Conflicted Almost all of religious history has been built up around conflict. From resolving inner conflict, to extending imperial control over entire continents, and waging holy wars for personal power. Everything about the idea of religion is mired in its failing in practice and this weighs heavily on Aria. More so than other practitioners of faith as she has studied faith in its entirety, and in its native context this existential conflict has found its way into her very soul.
This weakness is paired to the Omni-Mystic strength.
Naive While an optimist wouldn’t consider their optimism as a drawback there is a certain naïveté that comes with seeing only the silver lining and not any part of the cloud that it is in. Because she is filled to bursting with a positive message, hope, and other theologically significant buzzwords; Aria often overlooks the more negative aspects of life that those words are counter to.
As a Wiccan witch she knows the importance of balance, but finding that balance is something she often struggles to do.
This weakness is paired with the Gregarious strength.
Psychographic Profile:
With so much spiritual influence in her life there isn’t any object in her possession that couldn’t be considered a totem, or vessel of spirituality, the real question is what they all mean.
Knowledge and understanding bring about the inner light she seeks to not only shine from herself, but also encourage others to shine so to spread human radiance throughout the universe.
"Leave everything better than when you found it." That basic concept is sewn into the very fabric of human faith, in every religion, and tradition she has found to be practiced by human kind. Though, there is some debate on what "better" means, there is little debate that this is her principle goal.
Having one's self identity so intrinsically tied to one's faith often results in feeling mitigated, or dismissed by other's dismissal of those superstitions. Deep inside, hidden in a dark place, lies the fear that she was chosen for her skills that her faith has led her to acquire, and not for any appreciation of her self-identity as a person of faith. Furthermore, being seen as something different by all begs the question if there is anything uniquely her.
Also referred to as the Coordinator in Command (Engineering), or the Co-Chief Engineer [second only to Chief Engineer Calhound]
Reference Description:
A once lithe frame built up to withstand the rigors of military life. Rorq is a woman who has, until recently, aged with incredible grace. Her rigid disposition belies a stony interior, and her stern face has few lines from little emotional reinforcement (either positive, or negative). Her hard gait and oppressive gaze indicate the prescience of a life-long military officer, while her deep eyes reveal a tepid soul.
Background: What history does your character have in this universe? The colonization of Mars, and its status as a state, and various other sensitive subjects surrounded the upbringing of this native-born denizen. For many Mars was viewed as the a pioneering frontier despite being settled decades earlier. For the Rorq family this meant opportunity. Like many who worked the land that meant mining. For others, it meant military. For Raquel, it meant both.
Note: in SFC Calhound's opening post he made mention of her pending promotion review scheduled in three months time.
Historical Profile:
Like many humans of Lt. Rorq's mid-life years, she actually lived two distinct and separate lives. Lives of which one ended the day of the Citadel Station attack. As a product of the culture of "revolutionary settlers" it was Raquel's dream to help rebuild the planet, and expand its territorial control with the humane design and material processes that Earth's industrial revolution lacked.
What separated her, even from a young age, was her commitment to everything that entailed. With a small crowd-sourced fund from her local community Raquel was able to return to Earth to attend university with the Nagasaki Conglomerate. With a dual major in both Geology, and Structural Engineering, she studied all the mechanical processes of humane design. Her time was well spent as the collective ten years of dual majorial studies resulted in her leaving the university with a Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degree in both fields.
While most may attribute her success to some level of super human intelligence, Raquel Rorq herself attributes it to intense passion for the subject material, and drive to succeed to enrich the lives of her very-extended Martian family. Upon returning home she marched ever diligently into the ceaseless fray of the corporate cut-throat world of industrial mining and manufacturing where she was a paragon of the martian success story.
A woman with passion and drive, who enjoyed her work, and the challenge it presented. The total package that no superior could deny, and no underling could resist, soon even found suitors falling under her sway. Despite the term being in the martian blood the word "settle" was nowhere in her own vocabulary, and while quickly married Raquel and her husband put off having children and starting a "proper" family until at least a minimal amount of their aspirations had been realized.
After attaining a high-ranking position in the corporate world, both the wedded Rorqs were frequently sent on prestigious, and exotic assignments. Hers was a geological viability survey of Io, one of Jupiter's most interesting moons, while his was to Upgrade Citadel Station's manufacturing plants.
Citadel Station changed everyone. All for the worse. Delusion was perhaps the greatest motivator of change. The delusion that Earth still had a chance. There is an implicit question regarding humane design that one tries not to ask themselves. Tries not to think about, nor nary entertain for a moment.
"I work so hard to build things that harm nothing. How much damage could I do if I really tried?"
Like so many others Raquel Rorq enlisted in the navy at an office formerly known as the Martian Malita Forces of her home province. With her extensive university training she was able to enlist in the officers program, and quickly addapted to the new rules of life on the corporatemilitary ladder.
Having wholly committed there was nothing she wasn't willing to do. No assignment to hard, nor task too outside her comfort zone, as to not find some way to tackle. Throughout her enlistment she gained a rather ruthless image she had no qualms about feeding, and no intent to dispel. She was the job as much as anyone could be and she be the damned best at it.
Throughout her years of service she cross-trained in every field at her disposal at every opportunity. From this she gained a level of command accumen unprecedented for one of her rank and rose time and again into leadership roles. Though her reputation and stigma often followed her she was at times able to use it to motivate her men, and at others, quell descent in the ranks further inflaming her apparent cruel disposition.
Lt. Rorq is the type of person who excels in the on-paper assessment, and then puts the on-paper assessment to shame with live performance. That initial paper version of oneself in conjunction with a particular strength lead to the creation of the Advanced Shift Prioritization, Exchange, and Transfer system used to match employee personality to proposed sift trade color-coordinated by professional and personal synergy. The software also does a great deal to automate the transfer process to ensure highly qualified people are, at all possible times, working to the best of their ability with like-minded individuals.
This technology, while developed for her own mining company, has been updated and implemented ark-wide and is one of the chief reasons Rorq was asked to join the Vitae. Every department on the ship utilizes Rorq's system, but the unassuming nature of the implementation of trademark, copyright, and patents render the casual observer unaware of ℝ, and its connection to Rorq.
Psychological Profile:
Overclocked Engineer
Material Science / Advanced Geology
Command Training
Overclocked Engineer: While some engineers may specialize in the miracle worker legend of yore, studying total mastery of principles of design has proven more in line to Lt. Rorq's personality and style. While working with a system that is designed to perform the task at hand Lt. Rorq can push that system or machine well past its recommended safety limits and tolerances without incurring mechanical failure. A process she is so adept at she can identify the limits before she even begins to exceed them.
This high level of efficiency, and responsiveness to a very demanding operator, often leaves lesser engineers in awe at the raw force of will that these systems bend to in order to accommodate her.
This strength is directly responsible for her Cruel & Calculating weakness.
Material Science / Advanced Geology The innate understanding of structure and materials makes all the difference in the world when designing a tool, or improving a machine. Much like the performance of a task is subjective to the operator, the raw nature of being is subjective to the builder. While her doctorate education in mineralogy, and life experience as a geo-scientist itself is impressive, in the context of engineering it allows Lt. Rorq to understand the nature of materials and their impact on design.
While building, modifying, upgrading, replacing, or repairing machines Lt. Rorq can do so with far less materials than even the best engineer on the ship. This is something of a combination of her understand of design, and of efficiency, as the application of the science is within the context of the task that equipment is designed to perform.
While they work perfectly within their recommended usage, many such modified devices fail to meet safety standards for any... secondary adaptation the Vitae's Chief of Engineering or other reckless engineers may have in mind for them.
For her a tool is defined by its purpose and is designed to fulfill it.
It is this mentality that is responsible for her Aged & Reputation Weakness.
Command Training / Extensive Cross-Training While not the jack-of-all-trades the name implies, Lt. Rorq has a basic understanding of many diverse leadership styles, and disciples outside her own. The main take-away from this is her ability to motivate systems of people to the same effect that she does machines.
While working with personnel under her direct command, and extended command by chain-of-command proxy, she can both drive their efficiency to near super-human levels by means of various coordination methods, to balancing inspiration and fear.
Operations and departments under the management of Lt. Rorq do not suffer any ill-effect from being undermanned, as her machines require less to function well. Also, the members of her staff can be pushed to exceed their own limits during their performance, much the same way machines under her care can.
This experience and longstanding tradition is directly responsible for her Career Officer weakness.
Cruel & Calculating
Aged & Reputation
Career Officer
Cruel & Calculating A more apt personal description might be "efficient" and "thoughtful" but no one who interpets Lt. Rorq's nature through observance of her actions would see them that way. Lt. Rorq is a widow and has been hurt in a way, and a place, that she still can't really understand. While once sweet and friendly, life has been a bitter pill that has done little to temper her critical nature.
The most noticeable aspect of this shift has been to observe how manipulative the lieutenant can be when pursuant to her goals, regardless of what those goals might be. When people, or machines, fail to meet her expectations she tends to be rather cutting with her lack of restraint when telling them just how they failed.
Aged & Reputation: Less than a hundred years ago the mid forties were considered a woman's sexual prime. The last hurrah for the hoo-ha before the baby-factory shut its doors for good. That isn't the kind of age that afflicts the this particular engineer. Its the existential age of having two lives. Two careers. Of outlasting one's family while still having another fifty plus years to go.
Like that of her age, Lt. Rorq's reputation is an equally mounting collection of minor things, and wild stories about a wounded animal seeking retribution. Most of them are untrue, and even the ones that are true tend to be grossly exaggerated. Its difficult for outsiders to get an accurate sense of just who Lieutenant Raquel Rorq is since she makes no effort to clear up these misconceptions about her. Her reputation is a tool to be used, but more often than not, she's cut by its dual blade.
Career Officer: When one lives for their job they have difficulty functioning outside of it, or turning it off when they go home. As much as it is a calling, passion, or driving force it is also an excuse. More than that it has become a crutch by which she busies her mind to escape reality, or excuse herself from social gatherings. By assigning an arbitrarily higher level of importance to her job, than her personal life, she can escape all manner of unpleasant experiences through an easily understandable "out".
While, on the other hand, Lt. Rorq might be a basket case for reasons related to her personal life, and history, this weakness of hers helps keep that crazy in check with a more noticeable brand. As a member of her own manipulable system her Career Officer drawback indicates that she is usually manipulating herself with her own Command Training.
Psychographic Profile:
Few things adorn Raquel Rorq's cabin, the most notable of which is the rock garden that spans the entire surface area of the floor. Zen does not even begin to describe the nature of it, as each rock was hand selected by the mineralogist, and imbibed within it some special significance. On the wall a weathered note scrawled in crayon the following poem reads:
Rock.
You are a rock.
Gray.
You are gray.
Like a rock.
Which you are.
Rock.
Aside from the 'garden' within, many of the features and effects found within Rorq's home are dualistic in nature. Some are artifacts from her pre-war civilized life such as a large and luxurious bed, while others seem only to exist to haunt her with ghosts of the past; as to never forget what drives her forward. Citadel Station memorabilia adorn a small shrine wherein her husbands dog-tags are laid to rest. A shrine which is featured prominently in the first section of her quarters. A locale that is unmissable in her daily preparations for work.
Despite her brutally ridged military life, and discipline, there is something for which her passion still burns like an ember at the bottom of a burned out campfire. While outside the confines of her job as an engineer, Rorq takes pleasure in simply geeking out over geology and geological processes.
Building a better life is a simple goal that never leaves one. For a time, that may appear as hurting those who oppose that goal, but it always comes down to the building. The building is what makes Rorq an engineer. She looks heavenword to find a new perfect planet, to build a new perfect civilization, away from the horrors of what humanity was and was subjected to.
Much of what Rorq was is no longer who she is now. A shift so massive she considers it tectonic, and as a result reasonably fears any potential similar aftershocks associated with such shifts. However, as a "high-powered" cooperate, and military life person, these fears are hardly ever evident; if even motivational at all. They are existential concerns she often finds herself too busied by being a Carrier Officer to address.
Special Note: While extremely detailed here, Lt. Rorq is for the use of anyone who wants proxy control of an engineer, while giving the Engineering department a permanent face and voice. An alternative voice to SFC Calhound who's player (me) may or may not always be available to interact with (due to intense scheduling). While her history and profile is incredibly detailed for an NPC, the intent behind that is to build some solid consensus about what this character is and does so that everyone who chooses to use her can have some standard of expectation as to how she will behave, and interact with their character.
She is a largely professional person, and it is unlikely that any player's character may know her personal side. But, that isn't to say she doesn't have one, and that it doesn't motivate her actions. Though that is not to say she can't be written outside of that environment, if one follows the general personality outlined here, which is in turn why such personality notes were mentioned.
Her expansion in this form is intended to encourage players to give some consideration to how all the characters are intertwined in one singular complex story by giving them direct control of an NPC with player-character levels of development.
Trivia: For those not in the know, Raquel Rorq is named after a specific miner: the Rorqual and was initially conceptualized as its personification within this universe.
Background: Raised in a single parrent household Sarah never knew her father, nor did her mother talk about him very often. She learned that he was once a well-respected pokeresearcher, and she was a trainer in a Psychic Gym, but that was a life-time ago, as the mother she knew had been a spiritualist for as long as she could remember. Though dad was never around, his pokemon was, and Sarah grew up with the ditto that remained from his research. It was, as her mother often told her, to be her first pokemon when she came of age. With her faitfhul ditto named Squishy in her possession, she set out to meet the local professor to recieve her pokedex, and begin her journey from her family home tucked away in the woods north of Oldale Town.
As it so often goes in every universe people surround themselves with things (or other people) with which or whom they share a special bond. Something in each reflects a part of the self, and the nature of the relationship Sarah has with her pokemon is no different.
Extended Background: Team Origins
Nickname: Squishy Type: Normal Gender: --- Nature: Lax Ability: Impostor Item: Elixir Ball Type: Premier
Before even acquiring her pokedex Sarah's mother transfered the ditto left by her father into a the premire ball that came free with the ten pokeballs bought for her 10th birthday. Though old, this pokemon was largely used for research and breeding purposes, and has not yet lived the high-intensity battle life of a trainer's first-choice pokemon. Being the older of the two, and more tested in battle (if only by a little) than its master, Sarah often fines herself having a difficult time controling or motivating Squishy to act in the manner in which she diesres. As a result Sarah was forced to catch a few more local pokemon to ensure her safety while traveling to the Professor's home.
Personality Trait: Adaptability As a young, fresh adventurer, Sarah's mind is still malleable and easily molded. She adapts quickly to new situations based off of her previous experience in other situations. Unfortunately she doesn't have a lot of experience (yet) to draw from.
Move Set: Transform (separate from Imposter), Me First, Substitution
Nickname: Ziggy Gender: Male Type: Normal Nature: Adamant Ability: Pickup Item: --- Ball Type: Normal
Being the first pokemon caught by a trainer is the silver lining of the cloud that is 'being a pokemon caught by a trainer', and its a badge of honor that this Zigzagoon wears well. Among the gifts of affection it has brought into Sarah's life was a gold nugget which resulted in a rocky start of their relationship when Sarah traded it for supplies. Taken as a sign of disrespect the two haven't really seen eye-to-eye in the few days that followed.
Personality Trait: freedom Zigzagoon's purpose is to use its special abilities to collect and provide for Sarah on her adventure. The pokemon equivalent to raccoons—the real world's trash-bandits—Zigzagoon and Sarah share a desire to play by their own rules, and general disregard for (learned) social customs.
Move set: Tackle, Sand-Attack, Quick Attack [Normal], Oder Sleuth, Covet, and Rest.
Later Moves: Tackle leads to Headbutt, and Take-Down. Quick Attack leads to Extreme Speed, and Swift. Oder Sleuth leads to Lock-On, and Block. Covet leads to Bestow, Fling, and Payday.
Nickname: Sweet-Pea Gender: Female Type: Grass / Poison Nature: Modest Ability: Run Away (Becomes Stench on first evolution, and Healer on second) Item: Big Root Ball Type: Normal
The first pokemon that Sarah caught whom doesn't give her a load of greif, Sweet-Pea is as her name suggests, a very caring oddish. She was captured with a net ball purchased with the money that Zigzagoon's nugget sold for, and as a consequence has become Ziggy's arch-nemesis. When the two are out of their balls, but not in battle, they find themselves fighting each other.
Personality Trait: Caring Sweet and mild tempered Sarah genuinely cares about everyone around her until they give her a reason not to.
Later Moves: Sweet Scent leads to Aromatherapy, and Sunny Day (with combined prerequisite Petal Dance) Magic Leaf leads to both Petal Dance (on move list) and Razor Leaf. Absorb leads to Mega Drain, which leads to Giga Drain Leach Seed leads to Spore (rather than Sleep/Stun/Poison Spores) and Sun/Moonlight (with combined prerequisite: Mega Drain) Solar Beam (a move on the move-set of previous gen [she'll evolve to Bellosom]) is the culmination of all her grass moves and will be her ultimate technique. Grass types evolve quickly and typically see the fastest progression of moves, which leads them to have a lot of (similar) moves, and move prerequisites in their progression. Poison Gas may lead to Acid, and possibly Acid Spray & Acid Armor.
Upon completing her initial journey to acquire a pokedex, Sarah returned home to find a mysterious egg in her home in her mother's place. The note read: "Congratulations Darling, you're now a woman! I found this egg at a local shrine and believe it to be a sign. As you begin your journey I too will renew my own, and go on a pilgrimage. I trust it will be safe in you're care. I love you, honey, and wish you all the best. xoxo, Mom."
Though Sarah has only recently received the egg, and has no idea about what may hatch from it. It contains a Misdreavus.
Personality Trait: Belonging When Misdreavus hatches it will remind her of her mom, and her place in the world. Belonging is an indirect thing, and as a reminder of her mom (who was also indirect), Sarah will nurture that indirectness.
Early Moves: Spite, Astonish, Confusion Ray, Mean Look,
Later Moves: Astonish leads to Shadow ball, Curse leads to Perish Song, Spite leads to Payback, Grudge, and Imprison.
Optional Background: Trainer Traits
Bloodline
Exuberant Child
Gym-Trainer's Daughter
Bloodline: The daughter of a psychic trainer, Sarah has a minor gift for telekinisis and can lift small objects like pokeballs with her mind. This ability does not have any practical purpose in combat however, but it has given her an affinity for psychic, ghost, and dark type pokemon whom she naturally gets along with.
Exuberant Child A fresh faced trainer has come of age and squired her first pokemon, and pokedex. As are all children of her age, Sarah is a bundle of energy, will eat anything, and is generally an optimistic person. This is a personality trait often appreciated by normal and fairy type pokemon.
Gym-Trainer's Daughter Even without a pokedex Sarah has had the fundamentals of their society's technology explained to her over time. She understands many of the things other kids her age may have to have explained to her.
Childish
Cursed/Unfortunate
Dual-Nature
Childish: Let's face it. She's 10. So, while there is quite a bit about pokemon she may understand, there is a lot about regular every-day stuff she doesn't. Sometimes this manifests as being oblivious to certain subject matters, while at other times, she may be oblivious to some obvious social custom.
Cursed/Unfortunate: A trait also inherited from her mother, Sarah has a long streak of unlucky coincidences aligning against her, and is often found to be quite clumsy. Pokemon or trainers with an ability to read other pokemon, can read Sarah for free while reading her pokemon. This may result in their gaining a battle advantage over Sarah.
Dual-Nature: From one mystical parent, and one science-focused parent, to the psychic-spiritualist mother, and dead father, there's just something about Sarah that makes it difficult for her to befriend single-typed pokemon.
Notable Tech (under consideration)
Based pm the the above EEGARD, Pokemon Crown is a more direct hardware extension designed to modify any existing pokedex, or pokedex-like devices. The Electro-Encephalo-Graphic (EEG) Augmented Reality Display (ARD) technologies are less compact than their sci-fi version. The Crown exists in two parts, the first being a tiara-like piece of headgear and the second bein a storage device that the gear connects to wirelessly. The crown's function is to provide a hands-free, and instantaneous request-processing by reacting to what the user is thinking about.
Trainers utilizing a Pokemon Crown as their primary pokedex-like device find that the storage device that interprets the EEG signals conveyed to it, can be augmented with all manner of apps that any other device can be. The storage device also contains a small screen for maintenance purposes when the crown is not in operation.
A product of Convex Enterprises, based in the Orre Region, research teams discovered a way to capture and reproduce three dimensional images in a similar method to how PCs reproduce items, and pokemon (particle displacement turned photon displacement). However, unlike the traditional PC these gadgets fit in the palm of one's hand and contains all the same apps any other hand-held pokedex-like does.
Like it's namesake, the Pokemon Lens features a concave set of optical data projectors in its center, and a series of buttons along its outer rim. Utilizing the same projectors that manifest materials, to produce light-based replications (or holograms) accounts for its compact design. The surface area of the Lens' projection matrix is roughly a centimeter larger in diameter than a fully expanded pokeball. The device in whole is roughly three-to-four centimeters thick all around.
Character you have created: --- Alias: ℝoot Speech Color: TBD. Probably some aggressive basic (the language) programming color like #5DFC0A or #49E20E. Character Alignment: Walking the Line (toward Evil) Identity: The Shadow / ℝoot (See below for details) Character Personality: INTJ (See below for details) Uniform/costume: Hoodie (with a tank-top under), Cargo Pants, and a Backpack (See Super Suit) Origin Info/Details: Accident (See Origins) Hero Type (Select one): Psychic with a splash of Teech and Gray Matter Power Level (Select one below): City Level (IRL) / World Level (Digital) Powers (Be Specific): Attributes (Select one at each category):
Background: An intellectual styled super, with an ambiguous alignment, ℝoot--or The Shadow as she goes by in the real world--is a hacker with a pension for tackling problems in non-linear ways. She lacks the raw physical powers of some other heroes and villains and makes up for it in spades with devious plans and contingencies. Her abilities as a psychic help but she rarely puts herself in a position to rely on them.
Historical Profile:
ℝoot was deep core hacking through government servers looking for something interesting to dump onto the darknet, or potentially wikileaks, when she happened across a read-only file labeled 'Dec 31, 1999' that would change her life forever.
It was the singularity.
That's a bit of an exaggeration, as it was not the event per se, but the beginnings of an Earth borne artificial intelligence trapped in a write-protected unevolving state. The magnitude of the discovery, in addition to the complexity of the data contained therein, overloaded both her mind and the circuitry of her personal EEGARD (see 'Notable Tech' below). When she attempted to steal the file she triggered a security precaution that shorted out every RFID transmitter on her scalp, and sent electroshocks into the nerve-clusters of her brain they were positioned to read.
As she lie helplessly comatose on the ground of her single bedroom apartment a battle began in her stead between her own security system versus the government systems. A battle that came to a draw with the total mutual annihilation of the two networks engaged, and the resulting electrical fire consumed her home. ℝoot nearly died that night, and remained comatose for months as a Jane Doe in a local hospital.
New information creates new pathways in the brain, however, and so too does temporary damage that needs to be bypassed. When she awoke in the hospital after several months of being in a coma she found her mind had been totally rewired. She now possessed the ability to send and receive mental information: a mind-to-mind telepath. In terms that she understood--that of her trade--it was as if other minds were broadcasting on mental wifi over unsecured channels.
She knew these broadcasts were not the same as her mechanical counterparts but in essence humans are basically biological machines that as a species we have a meager and infantile understanding of.
Much of ℝoot's life has been spent confined to a small room well lit with LED monitors and the fiber optic vanity lights that filled many of her computers. Since she was old enough to hold an electronic device ℝoot has, like many of her generation, thrown herself into them entirely. Also like many of her generation she's been disillusioned by the blatant corruption in the social system. Debt driven economics enslaving the every-man, blatant corruption on every level of government, and the tyrannical militarization of the police are just a few of the things that drove to a life of crime.
The zero-sum was simple, the whole world and its law, was designed to oppress the masses and she would have nothing more to do with it. ℝoot joined the hacktivist group Anonymous in an effort to collaborate in taking down as much of the corrupt system she could, before realizing that systemic corruption was all that existed in the world outside. Though she made a few like-minded friends in the group, it wasn't until after she gave up on salvaging the system that she really came into her own.
ℝoot is self employed in that she makes money from her skills, but those skills aren't particularly put to service anyone in general. For most of her finances, she simply pilfers government black-budget programs, or shell company bank accounts. However, with the world's currencies all digitized, most of the things she might need money for, are things she can simply spoof the existence of money to acquire.
That's not to say she doesn't put her skills to work in the traditional sense. While the system is corrupted to the core, she still believes there are users whom really do mean well, and often takes on charges by way of legitimate charities and NPOs. Particularly high on her list of crusades is public education foundations who legitimately seek to better the world for the many millions of civilians just like her.
This self-appointed title based off of the titular character of an Old Time Radio Show of the same name. The main character of which had similar abilities to ℝoot, and provided her a sense of comfort in the maddening analog world that is real life while she remained bed-ridden due to her origins event. She adopted the title, at first, as a joke at how quaint the 1940's sci-fi serial seemed by modern standards, and in irony regarding the picture-perfect black-and-white way the world was viewed in the time, but the moniker simply stuck as her super persona.
She was introduced to the character when The Secret Whistle's Shadow Act V came on Pandora, and then looked up the quoted title (The House That Death Built) from her phone. After hearing the full context she began to incorporate the telepathic abilities she gained into herself as a real extension of who she was.
Then, inasmuch as she used her human skills for hacktivist vigilantism, her super powered natural extension of her ability to network resulted in a similar natural extension of her sense of purpose. Now, she simply had the power to hack the people's minds the way she hacked computers.
When ℝoot was eventually released from the hospital she set about gaining the real life anonymity that was so integrated into her internet persona. She hunted down the many friends, family, and acquaintances that knew her from real life and tested her powers on them; erasing herself from the real world.
Though she technically has a true name, and a social security number of her very own, neither of these things have any social context or weight due to them being completely unfettered from reality.
ℝoot's secret identity—the manner in which she self identifies—is ℝoot, and having that step removed from modern society is what facilitated the adoption of 'The Shadow' for her IRL super-persona.
Psychological Profile:
Air-quotes "Independently Wealthy"
Dual Nature
Master Code-Smith
Air-quotes "Independently Wealthy" The United States was the last first world country to abandon the gold standard and did so in the 1970s. Since then the very concept of money has simply been an agreement between people. When monetization was digitized it fell immediately into the domain of the digital elite. Being one such digital elite the question of 'cost' or 'availability' never becomes a concern for ℝoot. Apart from the value people place on it, money has no intrinsic value, and ℝoot always has exactly as much as she wants because it is a trivial exercise for her to procure more.
This strength is paired to the Easy Enmity weakness.
Dual Nature While most supers have a gimmick, some thing they rely on nearly exclusively, ℝoot's is that the world operates in both digital and real space and she has 'evolved' to handle both while in either. She's adaptive and flexible in crossing over the lessons and skills in one environment to another.
Living out on the bleeding edge of technology has given her considerable insight into how they work in modern society and context. As such real world problems are given digital solutions, and vice versa. ℝoot can use technology as an intermediary for her abilities, and her abilities as an intermediary for technology.
This strength is paired to the Underdeveloped Powers weakness.
Master Code-Smith Hacking is as much about revising, forging, reforging, and editing code as it is about writing new code. As much of her life before her awakening as a super revolved around these skills ℝoot has pushed them to the pinnacle of human potential. She routinely breaches government and private sector security alike with little effort. She hasn't met a system yet that can keep her out if she were to really set her mind to entering.
This strength is paired to the Digital Addiction weakness.
Digital Addiction
Easy Enmity
Underdeveloped Powers
Digital Addiction In the age of information, when the answer to all of the questions of the world are at one's fingertips, its easy to become over-reliant. While the average human being always carries with them at least one of three digital devices (phone, computer, music player) they can usually function reasonably well without them if need be.
This is untrue of ℝoot who has become completely reliant on them from an early age. While they don't sustain her physical life, they do sustain her digital one--her connection to the digital world is how ℝoot defines herself. Modern technology has become her crutch and without it she is prone to severe and constant anxiety.
This weakness is paired to the Master Hacker strength.
Easy Enmity You don't become an elite without letting other people know, and you don't climb the ladder of success without stepping on a lot of rungs along the way. Be it governments or corporations with whom ℝoot left her calling card, or the competition in the hack-o'-sphere, ℝoot has made her fair share of bad impressions. She's hot shit, and she knows it, and never has any problem letting others know.
With this flaw ℝoot finds it difficult to forge positive bonds with people, preferring instead to manipulate, and it shows. When it comes down to times of cooperative action she frequently leaves a bad taste in other's mouths after the fact, resulting in several burned bridges.
As a result people only come to root when they need her expertise and she knows it.
This weakness is paired to the Air-quotes "Independently Wealthy" strength.
Underdeveloped Powers Unlike many other supers ℝoot's powers only developed recently once she became an adult, and only as a consequence of tragic action, and as of yet has not had either the time nor the desire to master them. Many of the things she could want to know about a person are readily available online on self-publishing social media sites, and so diving into the sick-unfiltered septic system that is the human mind for kicks is not something that regularly appeals to her.
Because of this, and in part due to how her powers came into being, ℝoot can never develop abilities that extend beyond the base of mind-to-mind telepathy. While other psychics regularly develop "kinesis" style powers through whatever process opened their mind to telepathy, and anything of the sort remains completely out of ℝoot's grasp.
This weakness is paired to the Dual Nature strength.
Author's Note: As ℝoot experiences the world, and thereby understands her powers, relies heavily on digital analogs (a pun) I can only explain them as such.
Rather than listing specific powers it'd be simpler to explain exactly how the powers function. ℝoot's powers are an extension of basic communication the brain establishes with other parts of the body, and rational thought. As is the trope for newly developed telepathy ℝoot views others as constantly broadcasting their thoughts whether they know it or not. She easily receives these thoughts while within range of visually distinguishing the thinker; in the same vein that wi-fi routers have a fixed signal radius.
Author's Note: The word wi-fi gets abused a lot in modern culture to be synonymous with 'wireless internet' which it certainly is not. Wi-fi is a local area network type that does not naively connect to satellites.
As a telepath, ℝoot possesses the basic powers one might expect that are consequences of two or more brains communicating directly, and typically refers to them in their computer jargon equivalents: sending, receiving, broadcasting, reading, writing, packet editing, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Psychographic Profile:
Always in possession of the latest hand-held gadget, or device, and such things are often accompanied with the latest fads. Be it toys from gashapon machines or beanie babies strapped to her backpack, ℝoot always has enough flair in her style to not stand out of a crowd of people her age.
The Shadow doesn't require a specific outfit to be effective. This is because The Shadow is a machination of the mind, and often an revisionist edit of the memory. As such, ℝoot simply wears what is comfortable, conveniently, and inconspicuous. Typically that's a hoodie with some sort of nerd culture logo on the front, a backpack with sparse flair, and cargo pants for her gadgets. Her outfits usually consist of earth tones, or sky tones in color, and she never mixes the two.
Heavily motivated by imbalance in powers and systematic oppression, when ℝoot engages to correct one of these two things it is in a manner that up-heaves the entirety and swings the pendulum hard in the opposite direction; rather than attempting to establish any form of balance.
Drain the swamp is a phrase that gets bandied about quite a lot when dealing with the type of things that ℝoot engages in. Wile that was her goal initially, it has devolved into 'don't drown'.
Being thoroughly defeated by the enormity of the problems with the world, and turning her interest to local bite-sized symptoms often has her wondering if she's actually making a difference. Her impulsive involvement in a discouraging situation often has her wondering if she backed the right side.
The Electro-Encephalo-Graphic (EEG) Augmented Reality Display (ARD) is the chief of all of ℝoot's digital devices. As noted earlier, it utilizes RFID tags affixed to her scalp to monitor and transmit the EEG data wirelessly to a drive that translates the data and responds with digital commands. The versions of this hardware have been greatly improved since the alpha version that fried her brain in the first place.
Based on the following real-life tech:
While the real life version is being billed as a digital panacea for all the worlds woes, it was not until incorporating the Augmented Reality Display that the EEGARD reached its fullest potential. The version that ℝoot possession is ridiculously modified far beyond the wildest dreams of the software's inventor. Aside from the ARD aspect, and wireless connection, it also sports security that would make the NSA, CIA, and Homeland Security blush.
That is because the device is trained to read the user's mind and interpret, as well as transmit, the information. It is a one-sided technological equivalent of ℝoot's super power. After acquiring the tech, ℝoot aquired the developers, and killed the research; making her EEGARD one of a kind.
Flag: Dark Perennials (Fungal) | Light Perennials (Floral) |
Entity/Organization Type: Alien
Main race: Plant/Fungal Based parasites The Perennials are far from a single species raised to dominance like that which are found on other worlds (humans for example). Instead, they are a conglomeration of species that have risen to sentience together through a long and brutal evolution. An evolution that creatures of meat were late to the party for. Perennials take many forms, and that which could be called the part that is the perennial is a spore-based parasite that infests a host. Once infected the entire being is reformed and a Perennial is 'born'. Spores that are ingested or breathed into a creature then take root and blossom; integrating into their physiology and dominating the subject's mind. While the drifting or nonintegrated spores themselves are no more sentient than a man's sperm, or a woman's ovum, a creature so made joins the collective of Perennials. Individually spore may share sensory data, such as temperature, humidity, and other environmental conditions experience through touch to the Great Web.
Throughout their evolution the surface flora and the subterranean fungi have been at war for untold generations. That all changed, however, with the arrival of the humans. Apex predators in their own right the humans made too tempting of a target for the surface flora to ignore in their ever continuing fight for dominance. However, the humans that colonized the Perennial's world quickly became aware of the Perennials abilities and brought fire to the world. In that act the fungal Perennials became the dominant species of the two.
History(what you did under the rule of the empire for roughly 300 years): They evolved. Being only a matter of time before the humans discovered the subterranean Perennials, they scattered into far flung space, by pollinating other worlds with their spores. In that time they they evolved resistances to humans, and their technologies, as well as adapted countermeasures to the humans' native immune system using the few lost explorers, miners, and other foolish meatlings to over extend into their territory that they could find.
From their first interaction onward the Perennials undertook purposeful evolution to overcome any and all weaknesses that the Humans could exploit (at the time of first contact) and perfected their evolutionary advantage to infest humans. Though, they were careful not to expose many healthy humans to the spore as to prevent their own exposure, and the humans from adapting a natural counter. Instead the Perennials focused on developing an exploit in the human genetics associated with deficiencies in the immune system (that not all humans possessed).
Culture: Infesting the flesh and animating it is a difficult conversion process. A subject does not always survive, and in this way the parasites have generated an image of being both a plague, and their meatlings being a form of undead. As a result they are a very closed, secretive society, that keeps outsiders at the proverbial arms length, and have erected many societal barriers to give the allusion of normalcy. Prior to the arrival of the humans, the Perennials had little in the way of a culture of their own, and adopted that of those they infested. As a result they were tribal and primalistic as was the nature of the avian and animals they incorporated. When humans joined their collective, however, they brought with them all manner of culture, technology, and most importantly: ambitions.
To outsiders the Perennials appear to be a singular alien entity spread across many bodies and forms. For the most part this is true, however, that truth is dependent upon the level of incorporation into the collective. The Perennials tightly observe a genetic caste system, not unlike that of the insect kingdom, as insects were the first to consume the Perinnal's spores. Fully integrated meatlings are little more than drones, or warriors, whereas only partially integrated meatlings fulfill other roles.
Type of Government: Confederacy with Caste System, Partial Hivemind Description of Government: The government is a strict genetic caste system as one would see in any natural species. The Great Web rules over all, and instills this system into all whom become infected with a Perennial spore. Among the less integrated extremities of the web's reach there is a facade of Confederacy. Collonies operate under a web of their own which may become instantly integrated in the Great Web when their strength grows large enough to facilitate the connection. The Thralls also present a facade of normal human behavior, to the best of their ability, but only when being observed (or expected to be observed) by other humans. Each infection of a human is done so with a purpose, and that purpose rarely results an a radical shift from the human's everyday normal behavior. It has been known to have entire colonies infested just to practice presenting the facade of of being normal human beings, and increasing the Great Web's wealth of knowledge.
Minority races: There are no minorities in the Perennial Society as all are one in the Great Web. Meatlings, however, make up a minimalistic amount of the species composition. while many different types of people (and animals) may fill the same caste, within that caste there is a fairly egalitarian view of other caste members.
Religion: To become one with, or to return to, nature is a romanticized fiction of the very real Perennial dogma. Many human religions that possess this as a central tenant have found their way into the Perennial society as a form of meatling bait. While the Perennials themselves do not practice a religion, per se, they have invested considerable resources into integrating themselves into the religions of men to grow their numbers. And, while the dogma is a romanticized fiction it's reality is not far off. The Perennials are in effect living both the heavenly bliss, and hellish damnation of what has been a common galactic thread among other species.
Demography: It is a matter of legacy that only the minority of Perennials infest a human body. The slave caste often incorporated animals for labor. Though human machines have greatly outpaced and out performed those animals, they are also obscenely conspicuous, and require technical understanding that is hard to come by for the Perennial infestors. While a minority of Perennials are humans, a meager 20%, they do fill the most various of roles which results in them seeming more populace than they actually are. Humans most typically fill the roles of thralls, collectors, and harvesters. Humans also provide a face for the species to interact with other humans, and non-aliens. Of all perennials the thrall caste has the most varied levels of connection with the Great Web. They're often afforded the ability to keep much of their personality as there are many human ideas the Great Web can only comprehend vicariously through its human parts.
Animals make up another twenty to forty percent of the Perennials' species and vary wildly depending on demand. Infesting an animal is a trivial task, however, their life spans are short and their utility is limited. Animals also typically are able to remain incognito, hidden in plain sight, and provide little resistance to reporting back to the Great Web.
Heroes, Primes, and Elites:
Leadership:
All that is infested is a single cell in the Great Web. Its rule is absolute and it is as much a congress of minds as it is a single mind into and of itself. It possesses no singular body and is the will of the Perennials as much as the Perennials are an extension of its will. The Great Web is everything and nothing and there is little else to say about it. It is revered as a god and dismissed as myth depending on how well a creature is incorporated into it.
The title of strategist and supreme leader is insufficient to describe what the Great Web is and does. However, it does fill these roles as all Perennials are part of it, and it is part of all Perennials.
A dedicated Thrall and grand matron, Aria is at the helm of much of the species' religious outreach. She has little autonomy, but one would never guess by looking at or interacting with her. She has lots of personality, and access to a complete understanding of the religions incorporated into the Perennials hive consciousness which gives her an air of wisdom not found elsewhere in Perennial (or possibly all of human) society.
Further, she has been genetically modified by the Great Web to produce pheromones that aid in the allure of her message in the same way that even venomous briers may produces flowers with an alluring scent. The scent is not one people consciously become aware of, and is not one that radiates any more than normal human pheromones, but they have been specifically designed to be more potent to those especially susceptible to the Perennial Spore transformation.
Aria plays as important a role to maintaining the perception others have of the Perennials as Gretchen does, and may be regarded as a diplomat of another kind: incognito, and appearing unaffiliated.
Aria's importance to the Great Web is expanded upon as she was one of the first humans consumed by The Great Web that does not possess the genetic abnormalities that they have been explicitly targeting. More importantly she became a member by giving herself unto it. As such she brought with her some very 'hippie' philosophies of live, and let live. To peacefully coexists and be be one with nature. This has given the Great Web an understanding that it can coexist with humans but her willingness to become a part of nature has been a bit misleading for the Great Web as it does not accurately represent the motivations of all humans. Evangelicals proclaim that humans are temporary. Ethereal. And that (individually) their souls are more important than their meat.
To an evangelical humans are engines of war, and of peace, depending on what wrong needs righting if any.
An actual pig, and one of the oldest surviving members of the animal-warrior caste, Boar is a hearty and resilient leader that inspires the submission of other animals. Boar has since evolved the ability to speak and understand human tongue as required, but rarely does so, as his instinctual and tenacious nature has been only lightly tampered with. More importantly, Boar is the pinnacle of battle evolution possessing a hard skin, redundant vital organs, sinuous fiber sheathes around nerves, and mycelium enhanced muscles. His saliva possesses a powerful paralytic, and his quills a noxious poison. His tusks are hard and fragile, they regenerate quickly, and shatter in a foe leaving sharp shrapnel in anyone he gores.
Boar has seen a numerous amount of victories over the humans in the early days of colonization which has lead to the Great Web's investment into his development.
Research and Development:
A mathematician with a specialty in Complexity Theory, Xaith is the inventor of simulated intelligence, a special kind of AI with unique characteristics. Unlike true artificial intelligence a SI is a being of modular intelligence: that is in being modular it is highly reconfigurable. It has no qualms about being unpluged, reconfigured, or turned off. Additionally it is able to simulate the true identify of a manifested AI based on the informational networks it is provided.
Dr. Calhound is among the lightest integrated into the Great Web, with his connection being largely one way, and is unaware of its influence on him. Instead, the Great Web utilizes his models, theories, and mechanical creations to advance it's own self design and improvement. In relation to computer and interface design, as well as his mathematical field of study, Dr. Calhound is well known. However, his connection to the Great Web is undiscovered (even by himself).
Dr. Calhound is a double-agent of sorts and does not live in Perennial society. Rather, he serves more as an insecure access point to human society, technology, and research. The closest thing he has to contact with the Great Web is only through pawns manipulated by Alalia Wallice.
Simulating human intelligence is not something the Great Web itself can do and that is the specialty of this Complexity Theorist. Dr. Calhound's experiments and creations require a hard, unemotional, and unbiased look at humanity for what it is and the Great Web could not ask for a better source of information. For as much as the other Human Primes do to interact with the societies of the humans, and their population, this human helps the Great Web postulate on what it means to be human.
While the good doctor is not a point of contact for the humans to interact with the Great Web, he is none the less an important link to the humans for the Great Web.
Like Boar, wing is among the eldest of infestations and predates the time of humans. Unlike Boar, however, everything that was human from the early days was poured into Wing and it was ever frequently modified to become and appeal to humans as a representative (that is until Gretchen was incorporated) resulting an peculiar avian-humanish hybrid form. After an extremely long development and evolution path wing has picked up a sense of Perennial integration. Wing's mind is incredibly sophisticated but wing possess no formal training the way humans truly do. Instead it has had a patchwork miss-mashed assortment of memories poured in and scrubbed out. Wing is an intuitive and instinctual being that communicates with biological components on a subconscious level. Noting that, for many of the components of technology not yet integrated into the Great Web, the subconscious level is all that exists. Wing possess the ability to fly and sing, as it always has, as well as an appearance that most humans find unsettling.
Wing's primary purpose is to provide oversight regarding deep incorporation of new Perennials and Perennial Tech into the Great Web.
Also known as "Mac&Cheese" Myriam and wheel-rat Brianna (Brie) are 'acquisition specialists'. Mac operates a salvage yard and serves as a fence for unscrupulous people whom have little concern with whom they deal. Her connection to the Great Web is tentative, and her genetic advancements are sleight, possessing a more parasitic bond than actual incorporation. This happy-go-lucky girl from the school of hard knocks has developed the ability to sustain herself on eating just about anything. She's also more resistant to infection than any of the other primes save for Boar himself, and her body quickly adapts to the conditions she finds herself in, as well as the toxins found in her work.
Mac is a mechanic of unquestionable reputation and her lose connection to the Perennials has granted her an unparalleled instinct when it comes to diagnosing and fixing mechanical things. Of all of the primes she is the least connected to the Great Web, but has been subconsciously seeded with an amenable disposition to their agents. While other primes are designed to be double agents, she is most closely represents the actual reality of the term, and the interests of the Great Web are represented through her to criminal organizations. Despite her not being the central nexus of a large criminal (mostly human) organization, she is the Great Web's access point to it.
Myriam's most defining characteristic by far is not one that the Great Web could impart, and that is the Luck of the Irish.
Diplomatic Corps:
A kindly old lady from the first generation of infestation there has been little effort in hiding her evolution. It was also well documented that, in her initial turning, she died. Her reanimated form speaks a cautionary tale to those whom would engage with the Perennials. The focus of her evolutionary path has made her quite hard to dispose of in nearly all non-combat capacities. Much of her meat has been replaced with more hearty plant and fungal components, and her immune system itself has undertaken a complete overhaul. While she cannot sustain the vacuum and cold of space for long she enters into hibernation instead of dying out-right.
Personality wise, Gretchen is the least dominated by the Great Web, with only the command to represent it to the humans. As a result she has been granted unparalleled latitude in terms of anonymity and autonomy. An ex-colonist and designated baby factory, elevated to high station in the Perennial society she understandably possesses a very "well this is my life now, I guess," mentality and serves with dedication and distinction. She knows full well that any treachery will result in her loss of self and absolute reversal of fortune. Even with that threat over her she is a very loyal, and candid servant.
Gretchen possesses access to any human experience within the Great Web that she deems necessary for the conducting of her duties and her access to them, as well as her own, are heavily monitored but rarely interfered with. She is the face of the Perennials in every regard. While extremely difficult to kill outright, she is also extremely difficult to use outside of her role as ambassador, possessing none of the battle enhancements (such as strength and endurance) that any militant fighter would.
A woman of humble beginning, Gretchen has become the fruit of the the other three human's experiences and philosophy. By herself she's an unassuming old woman, and nearly an empty shell. As a Prime she's been filled up with--and built up as--the Perennials' ideal human. While on a galactic scale she's little more than a sock puppet, she serves as a gauge for what the Great Web considers humans to be. When humans interact with her and find her disconcerting that is because there is a discrepancy between what they think they are, and what the Great Web thinks they are. Because the Uncanny Valley is a thing, there will always be discrepancies.
As integrated as one can be, and still retain some semblance of personality, Alalia has an absolute understanding of what she is and whose agenda she is furthering. Alalia is an extremely successful marketing agent, and has free access to the many doctorates of psychology, and physical education, that the Great Web has incorporated. She has also been modified on the cellular level to possess both extreme beauty, as dictated by her understanding of physical beauty, as well as being extremely capable physically. In a word she is a modern day ninja, acrobat, and athlete all rolled into one buxom supermodel. Alalia boasts the pinnacle of human perfection in every aspect that the Great Web could endow her with without raising suspicions of her true Perennial nature.
It is very difficult for Alalia's genetic augmentations to be spotted, by comparison to Gretchen's, as Alalia's uses only base human genetic material for the evolved physical improvements. While the perfect human, by Perennial standards, she is far from the perfect Perennial and is antithetical to their design. Because of her design most Perennials do not recognize her as one of them, and only does so if the Great Web identifies her to them individually. Alalia spends most of her time among humans doing her super spy thing.
Once an ordinary house-cat Whisker Wishes has been evolved only slightly to fully utilize its role as an infiltration arm of the Great Web. It possess all the training and ability to perform expected of that of a service animal, and a performance animal. Whisker Wishes can easily slip into any place that humans cannot go, that her physical form can accommodate, and easily blends into any place that animals are allowed or expected to be. Whisker Wishes has had her scent glands redesigned to produce Perennial Infestation Spores and can introduce them environments or people otherwise unreachable.
Whisker Wishes is very similar to a witches' familiar in that it can behave as one would expect of an animal, or as one would expect of a person pretending to be an animal, as needed by the Great Web. Unlike Alalia, Whisker Wishes is not designed to infiltrate societies for complex missions, and instead is designed for general reconnaissance.
Organizational Expansion
Unlike most other species there is a focus on biological integration of ships, and an unabashed use of biological warfare. Perennials have encountered and infested numerous types of toxins in both flora and fauna over the course of their evolution and have a genetic memory (in the Great Web) of them. They approach the use of biological warfare in a very utilitarian way, in that: if it works use it.
Much of the Perennials' technology is also stolen, and the finer points on how it operates still escapes its understanding. Insufficiencies in this area are countered by biological adaptation. This has resulted in the development of bio-mimetic technology for the installation and infestation of the Great Web into ships of both organic, and non-organic design.
The specifics of their ships are as wide and varied as any other species if a bit dated in design. They, like any other part of the Great Web, each fill a specific role and function. While not performing that function they may be adapted to serve another as ship technology is difficult to recycle in any other way.
Additional Detail:
Biochemical Purification: The foundation of all medicine and biological science is controlled breeding. While humans have developed other advanced methods of extracting and refining plants, animals, and other natural resources for the production of medicine their control over the art pales in comparison to that of the Perennials: a species that is the living embodiment of that scientific process. The Perennials medical technology is unrivaled, even if many of their processes may seem barbaric. Though few who understand the nature of the Perennials may feel comfortable being operated on directly by them, their supplements, supports, chemicals, acids, poisons and so on are all top tier.
Bio-Technological Substitution: Bark Armor, DNA Computers, etc. Unique to plant and fungal species, especially species that infest others, this armoring is the pinnacle of grown form. It follows a central design of Regenerative Leaf-Plate styled forced evolution wherein living plant and fungal tissues were forced to evolve in a way that allows them to ingrain in non-organic technology and feed off of it. The hulls of many a ship have been painted green with the seed-paste and over time the armoring has fed on the minerals therein, weakening them but also growing in strength and flexibility. Given enough time non-organic components are replaced by organic ones, and have grown the ability to heal from damage and injuries.
Similarly circuitry is replaced by specially evolved strands of plant-matter that conduct like neurons, and are more resistant to tampering and damage their alloy-based counterparts. Where one may see copper and silica in a human's technological design, the same circuit in a Perennials' tech may have mycelium and algae slime.
Following the central theme of the Perennials, and their biological development and subjugation to the Great Web, the technology that has been fully integrated is extremely difficult (neigh impossible) to compromise. The Great Web's primary function is information warfare and security, and is biologically incompatible with most "standard" forms of interface-technology. For example: the average Apple user isn't going to be able to 'Independence Day' their way into a Great Web integrated computer.
Middle-ground Intolerance: Technology outside of the biological domain, however, leaves much to be desired. Most forms of technology they possess are considered "last generation" by other species because acquiring, installing, and integrating with the technology is a process that take as much time as the natural advancement of technology. Both biological and technological development follow the same exponential curve, resulting in deviations between the Perennials' technology and that of the meatling species. Anything fully integrated in technological substitution may be considered to be on par with "this generation" level of tech but is generally completely incompatible with it.
Similarly, any piece of technology not being integrated in the Great Web that can be operated by thralls of it may find itself in the hands of Perennials; suffering the associated pros and cons of each. Such technology rarely stays unincorporated for long.
Due to their emphasis on infestation and adaptation they do not conduct war in the normal manner. Rather than engage with a perceived enemy their preference is to simply consume them. Also, they do little to extend their reach to worlds they cannot control. As a result their boarders are incredibly small, but the thoroughness by which they are controlled is staggering.
In case it has not yet become abundantly clear the Perennials are a subversive and pervasive lot requiring non-linear thinking to play. Rarely do they engage in hostilities unless required, and are as amiable to trade and diplomacy, as they are to war and planetary consumption.
Perennials were inspired in part by the Zerg, the Borg, and many species from the D&D monster manuals.
This game has been canceled by the GM. This game has been rebooted by the GM.
A light runewood frame that carries the boxy outline of a golem has been repurposed to serve as the basis for Jumper's build. The vaguely human form is child-like in size and rough-hewn from a species of lumber no longer seen anywhere in the world. The designs of his joints seem primitive but functional when compared to modern standards. From simply looking at him it was apparent that his creator had little to no tallent in the ways of shaping wood.
Where that creator's talents did lie, however, was in the ways of shaping magic. The manner in which magic was imbued in every fiber of the wood was so thorough that even modern magitech scholars would be impressed. Though the wood was dried while processed, and filled with magic to attain its 'runewood' state, the wood that makes up this body has mysteriously sprung to life again since he was assembled. In the years of exposure since, many forms of mosses and vines have naturally taken root in Jumper's body and have grown through out it; reinforcing his form and aesthetic.
Perhaps one thing that sticks out the most about Jumper's body itself is the distinct lack of effort that went into beautification. Beside from a coat of varnish that has long since cracked and pealed away Jumper was never treated to a paint job, and no effort was made to make his body seem more 'human'. However, there is a bit of a strange groove on the sides of his head, about the ears, wherein a mask could be slotted.
As for other particulars, many of the details lacked the flourishes that were fashionable for the age. His hands lacked intricate detail and instead his fingers remained mostly blocky, possessing only the finesse required to matched the movements of the would-be-possessor. His feet similarly anatomically correct but only in-so-far as they served the same purpose.
Jumper's faded cloak looks to have been a deep and royal green at one point in the long distant past. Now it resembles more a forest color as small bits of dirt clings to it, while moss grows from its textured fabric. Despite its frayed edges (and its age) it lacks any other signs of wear as if magically warded against exposure but, eventually, time conquers all.
The cape's cowl is pulled tightly overhead and casts an unnatural shadow over the face, while sleeves and gloves cover the visage of this puppet's body, but not the rigidity of its movements. On its interior there is a faded inscription of an ancient and long forgotten order known only as "the Brothers Delthus", which crests the icon of a rising sun.
As for the remainder of his clothing, they resembled those of a highly trained wizzard or sorceress, and were miss-matched for the size of the body they were draped over. The school's emblem, however, even if it had not been faded to time would not be something identifiable in modern society. In every way his clothes looked to be hand-me-downs (from the wizard who built him) despite the extravagant materials they were made from.
Light stains were intermixed into the ensemble. They resembled that of sweat but in actuality were automation oil not uncommon to the field of magitech engineering, or golemancy. To the uninitiated of the trades however, an awkward, tired, and sickly-thin child stands solemnly buried in oversized clothes from a lost era. Only after the cowl is pulled back is Jumper's true nature revealed.
Note could not find any images that closely represented the character I have in my mind, but have found a few images that are similar in some/enough respects to serve as a visual reference.
Magic is a force that twists the world into creating an effect not ordinarily present, and its use leaves a stain. Though the magical energies do exist naturally in nature they do so in balance with the world around them. When sorcerers twist nature out of balance nature itself has a way to bring itself back into balance. Often times plants, or animals, whom live in the shadow of such twisted places absorb the ambient magic thereby removing the stain. In many cases the load is distributed over many parts so that no one must carry the whole. In these cases the magic is stored in, and passes through, the creatures normally. However, when that is no the case--when one creature absorbs so much ambient magic as to become twisted by it, they become what is known as "Weirds".
Tsukumogami refers to an object that is cared for by a living being (typically a human), who pours their heart's ambitions into the object through out that care, and over the course of their lives until it one day awakens. Depending on the strength of the source soul, and their ambitions, the time this process can take may vary.
Jumper is a combination of these two ideas into one living object. Originally created by a wizard for the purpose to serve as a receptacle for an astral projection, Jumper's name is his purpose. However, the wizard who created the magically inclined frame was since embroiled in a conflict and destroyed. Given that the wizard must be powerful indeed to project astrally and possess objects to give him form there is no surprise that the site of his demise would be drenched in magical energies. Energies that infused into Jumper as a Weird, but with them came the will of all those involved in the conflict, as it too leaves a resonance on a battle site.
The latest in technological advantages created to advance a brutal and unforgiving war between two brothers, Jumper is a prototype that never saw the light of day. At least not while his creators yet lived. Despite being mortals of nearly god-like power, whom had amassed a literal mountain of followers, they too had amassed as many enemies and were not long for the world after their philosophies became known to other mighty religions.
Though it is possible that Jumper is not the last surviving remnant of the brothers' once mighty claim to the world, a considerable effort had been undergone to purge the world of their memory. In the centuries that followed the disparate tribes of the Obivec Isles have since organized into factions and nation states, and The Brothers Delthus have been forgotten: a relic lost to time.
In that time the great and mighty citadel that was once the base of power for the Brothers Delthus has fallen to ruin and erosion. It sank in shifting earth, being slowly buried over time till even it's central spire looked little more than a mere mage's tower. In time that too has come down in a geological event that woke the misbegotten child: Jumper.
Few souls worship would be gods, especially those slain in their hubris, but still their remains a loyal lineage or two whom still pay tribute. The wealth of knowledge and power left in their wake was never truly tapped again, but an elderly scholar did regularly pay visits to what was once the highest spire of knowledge, and sanctuary to the Delthus Wizard.
It was here that the scholar found Jumper awake, but inactive, and retrieved him thinking that Jumper was perhaps the greatest potential source of information from that lost age. To his disappointment, however, Jumper remembered nothing of the legacy that ended at his beginning.
Jumper was then taken back to the man's home where he studied and was studied in earnest for all the remaining days of the scholar's life. It was in this way that the language of Abbalic was impressed upon him, and the language of the Ancients was retrieved for the scholar. After the scholar's passing Jumper's wanderlust beset him once more and so he set out in the world to see all that it had come to be.
Quirky and childlike, Jumper is full of contradictions and finds himself desperate yet unable to rationalize them. Jumper is both young, and old. His form has existed for a hundred of years before finding sentience, yet his sentience is still new... still underdeveloped. Jumper has an affinity for the arcane, like the creator of his physical form, but has absolutely no talent in its use. Likewise, he has an affinity for nature, being a part of its balance, but again no natural talent in wielding nature's power. Jumper has the heart of a warrior but his body is a prototype and lacks the armaments and stature of a true battle droid.
Jumper's most defining aspect, however, is his oldest. He has an innate childlike curiosity about everything. Jumper's body--his initial frame--was originally designed for exploration and as such wonderlust is at the core of his being.
Skills: Languages:
Jumper understands and speaks the language of his initial creator. This language isn't spoken anymore, and is as dead as the race that once spoke it. The ancient language requires conceptualizing communication in a drastically different way than merely ramming words together. Just how different it is, and how inconvenient it is by comparison to the modern spoken word may have played heavily into the downfall of the race that Jumper's creator was.
The spoken word of the world today Jumper was imprinted with this language upon awakening. While far from a universal tongue it has become very common, and extremely convenient.
Arcane - Jumper understands arcane magic as if it were a language like any other. For many arcane casters this would translate to tremendous power, but for Jumper the ability to read and speak magic, as well as understanding it's nature, does not translate to the ability to cast spells. This is because Jumper has no soul to attach to arcane energy to force it to enforce his will. He does, however, possess an aura not dissimilar from a permanent spell that those whom can see magic can use to identify his magical nature.
Nature - Similar to arcane magic, Jumper also has innate understanding of natural magic as though it were a language. He also has all of the corresponding drawbacks. In short Jumper is a receptacle for the will of nature, not one who can command it. Jumper can cast no nature magic outside of his listed abilities.
Traits:
Passive (Balanced Strength/Flaw). Jumper is a magical object. He doesn't eat, drink, sleep, or breath. He can not be poisoned but has the strengths and weaknesses associated with the material his "soul" is in. As an object Jumper is also immune to any form of healing meant for a living creature regardless of the source; be it magic/magitech, potions, spells, or just good ol'fashion bed rest.
Passive Being 'born' a weird, Jumper is more of a receptacle for magic, than a conduit. He can not learn to manipulate any form of traditional magic. The only magical abilities he may possess are direct offshoots of his nature and are some twisted or bastardized form caught in the middle of other more refined and elevated magics. While acting as a conduite for others Jumper's Weird nature may also cause any number of undesirable side effects.
Passive A small and light frame is not without drawback and consequence. Jumper's light and small frame means he can not fit heavy equipment, nor carry as much as an adult human without risking damaging his frame. His strength in this regard is about on par with that of a child.
Passive Most equipment simply will not work with, or integrate into, Jumper's framework. Jumper's body is humanoid but only to an extent. His lack of vital organs is itself compounded by vulnerable spots in his chassis that armor is simply not designed to protect. Many pieces of standard issue equipment for a human would be required to be custom tailored to fit Jumper.
Abilities:
Ability (Strength) Living objects tend to be very very difficult to 'kill' for a variety of reasons, but Jumper is more so than most. While in the presence of ambient magic, natural or arcane, Jumper's body regenerates. The more magic the faster the regeneration. When laid low in places particularly stained with magic he can even return from the dead but does so twisted again by the magic and will of the site he was buried.
While Jumper is powered by ambient magic, direct magic is a different story. Direct magic would be classified as the magical embodiment of the will of its wielder, while passive magic is magical energy not yet harnessed or directed by another. Jumper can't steal magic any more than he could steal a soul, nor can he harvest magical out of beings. In-fact his ability to absorb magical energy is only such that it returns the world into a natural balance.
Ability (Balanced Strength/Flaw) As one draws with ink, so too can they draw with the energy of the soul. While lacking a soul per se Jumper is filled directly with living magic, and can channel that magic into objects to create runes inside materials that may not be visible to the naked eye. The ability to detect magic directly with another sense will reveal them easily enough however. While Jumper can impress runes into objects quickly and efficiently he doesn't actually have any spells to put into them. This ability was meant to serve as a conduit for another.
It is the nature of a rune created this way to be more resilient than ordinary runes for better or for worse (see Twisted Magic).
Ancient Ritual While a typical weird mutates and grows in strength as it consumes more and more magic, Jumper's base design was such that a magical form (the soul of a man) could come and go as it pleases. As such Jumper can prepare a new receptacle to receive his 'soul'. Naturally, this is a process that takes a long time of uninterrupted concentration.
Notable Skills: The base frame for Jumper (the one he start's with) is light and agile and maneuvers quickly and with ease. Any changes to his frame (with GM permission) will result in the appropriate changes to his skills.
Limited/Specialized: As a complex work of magic prior to Jumper's getting 'weird' the Jumper frame was imbued with the basic tools and understanding necessary to maintain itself. Jumper can create any of the necessary oils and tools required to clean, repair, maintain, or upgrade his form or future receptacles. As he improves this skill specializes further, rather than generalizing to other forms of alchemy. For example: Jumper has no need of healing potions and wouldn't rightly be able to retain the knowledge.
With a scrappy and small (default) frame that utilizes mechanical hands that grip efficiently, and without tiring, Jumper can effortlessly climb most surfaces a human can and even some surfaces a human can't.
Unlike most whom practice trade-craft and skulduggery, Jumper's ability to blend in does not come exclusively from training. Instead it is a mix of many factors of his nature. Magic, when not bent into a spell, is a thing that naturally goes unnoticed by most. His small size, and light step contributes to maneuvering out of sight, and his lack of biological presence (heat, soul, etc) make him easy to forget.
For all the things that contribute to Jumper's ability to blend in an equal number of things cause him to stick out to those specifically trained to see them. Jumper can not hide his lack of soul, nor fully cover his mechanical nature (his demeanor and behaviors will out him even if fully cloaked). Jumper is marked as a Weird as well, and a twisted tangled mess of magic is easy enough to find when one is actively searching for it.
Jumper's default frame is made of runewood that's magically protected from rotting, and has a natural bouyancy to it. While Jumper can't drown, he also finds it difficult to dive unassisted by heavy objects. While not weighed down Jumper can be used as a flotation device.
Inventory: Jumper more closely resembles a small thief, or a mettlesome alchemist, than any true warrior or wizard. He has a handful of spells that are derived directly from his nature, and a majority of his skills are focused upon upkeep, maintenance, and stealth.
Worn: Standard attire for a human child, plus a cloak with cowl, and gloves.
In Travel Pack: Hunting Knife - A sturdy knife initially made from polished and preserved bone that has long since turned to ivory. The ritualistic carvings along its blade are too faded to make out, and is one of a few relics recovered from the broken tower where Jumper was found.
Length of Rope (25 ft) - This rope, and the travel pack it is in, was recovered from the body of a dead adventurer who met an untimely demise while scavenging the ruins Jumper was laid low in.
Incorporated: Note - Damage to Jumper's body may result in damage to any incorporated or internally stored equipment or items and vice versa.
Light Repeating Crossbow (In right arm). Jumper has a weapon designed for integrated self defense and is rarely implemented. Rather than using a bow-arch like a traditional crossbow, Jumper's integrated crossbow uses gears and a fly-wheel to generate the power and force necessary to fire its projectile. The internal mechanisms automatically reset once used and can sustain continuous fire for up to seven shots.
Wire wench with Grappling hook (in left arm). The grappling hook is operated the way one does a mechanical crossbow of similar design. Once fired it must be reeled in manually (in the default frame). Jumper may incorporate magitech to upgrade this process to be automatic later.
Smuggler's Storage: Several storage places of various size are incorporated into Jumper's body. Most are for the purpose of holding tools or oils appropriate to his maintenance and repair, while others are for more nefarious purposes.
