ctrlsaltdel — Roleplayer Guild

The party is as prepared as they are likely to be, which is fortunate because they are out of time. The goat-bat creature comes through the door at what, given its anatomy, passes for a dash. Cloven hooves immediately begin skittering on the tile floor, and its spindly legs almost fall out from under it, but it manages to recover and looks up at the three of you. Judging by the wideness of its eyes and the screeching, bleating sound it lets out, it is not reassured by your presence, and immediately goes to leap over the diner's counter, hoping to bypass you entirely and flee into the kitchen.

As that happens, the man following it reaches the diner as well. He sees the CLOSED sign hanging in the door--flipped by Diana on her way out--and the empty tables facing the street, but he doesn't see the three of you1 until he's already opened the door and taken a step inside.

"Whoa! Wha--hey!" He's clearly surprised to see anyone in here, much less the strange, supernatural tableau he's been presented with. His tone doesn't exactly lack confidence, but the way he's stumbling over his words doesn't do a lot for his gravitas. "Who the fu--I mean, uh, identify yourselves!" As he speaks, he moves his hand to his waistband, where you can see a holstered pistol.


1 Not counting Luka's baseball guy

Phantom Clock:1 PM
Party Experience: 0
Fate Deck: 15/22

Damage Track: Fresh

Damage Track: Fresh
Other:
-1 Forward

Damage Track: Fresh
Ready For Anything:
The Fool - Neutral - You become who you are needed to be in this moment
The Hermit - Neutral - Your actions isolate you
The World - Positive - For a single moment, the world bends to your will

Damage Track: Fresh

Hermannus "Herman" Honemaeker

"I always use every tool at my disposal"

O V E R V I E W

N A M EHermannus "Herman" Hoenemaeker

A G E28

G E N D E RM

A P P E A R A N C EMore than anything else, Hermannus looks like the human equivalent of a cluttered workshop. His build is short and slight--just clearing 5'4" and 115lb--and his hunched posture makes him look even smaller than he is. However, his long hair and whiskers are dark, coarse, and except for the occasional brushing mostly unkempt; round, lightly tinted glasses cover the small portion of his face that his hair doesn't, and the whole arrangement gives him an owlish demeanor.
  
His typical outfit consists of a simple but serviceable tunic and leather breeches suited for traveling, but he adds on to that a great leather coat meant for someone taller and wider, whose pockets are stuffed with wands, crystals, nuts, bolts, screws, and other bits of bric-a-brac. Looking closely, one may be able to see thin copper wires threaded into the stitching. Leather pouches ride on his belt, holding more of the same, with one dedicated to a small selection of tools he finds frequently handy. He also carries with him a large backpack for his traveling gear, as well as larger items which don't fit in his coat pockets. 

His left leg is gone below the knee; he uses a magical prosthetic made of polished wood and brass, which is usually hidden underneath his clothing. It has no special features, except that it responds to his unconscious commands to act with most of the dexterity of a natural limb.

P E R S O N A L I T YHerman is:
- Not a particularly warm person; though he's not unmoved by the suffering of others, he's often too practical a soul to attend to their emotions in the way they might like, and despite being creative when working on his creations, he is frequently too literal-minded in social situations
- Scatterbrained and absentminded; once he locks in on a task he often forgets tangential matters, like grooming, eating, and keeping previous obligations
- Determined; despite his tendency to forget about "trivial" matters when locked into a task, he is willing to power through hardship and pain to achieve his goals

B A C K S T O R YHerman was born the son of a manor servant in Port Marian. His family--father, mother, and two older siblings--were comfortable, if not wealthy. As a child, he was attentive but quiet, and often faded into the background. Though he showed signs of a precocious intellect, he had few interests or hobbies, and generally preferred to sit and read quietly rather than chase his fellow children down the halls of the house. Yet, when the lord of the house looked to his staff for someone who could serve as a lab assistant for his arcane experiments, those same qualities were all the qualifications he needed to be recommended for the position above the other children his age.
  
For the most part, that position involved sitting on a stool in the corner of the room, waiting for the master to call out over his shoulder something he needed. Though most 10 year olds would have considered that torture, Herman was delighted. The first couple of weeks had been awkward, but once the master had gotten used to his presence, he resumed his habit of narrating the experiments to himself, and Herman absorbed that information like a dry sponge. Five years passed, during which his life followed a simple pattern: House chores in the morning, school in the afternoon, attending to the master in the evening, and--if the master dismissed him before the hour grew too late--nights in the library, pouring over whatever texts of magical theory he could get his hands on.

His quiet demeanor meant that few realized what he was up to, and they mostly let him be, except where his personal studies interfered with his duties around the house. The master certainly didn't realize that his able assistant was beginning to follow his experiments--at least until one fateful day, when Herman spoke for the first time without being directly addressed, to let him know that one of his solutions was unstable. The master's initial reaction was a mixture of surprise and irritation, that a common servant would speak to him as if he knew the craft. His second reaction was shock and outrage, as the slight teenager tackled him to the ground. His third reaction was terror and shame, as the flask exploded and took several other items on the workbench with it. 

The study half-collapsed around them, and everyone--especially the master--agreed afterwards that only Herman's quick actions had saved them both.

The master escaped mostly unharmed, but the same was not true for Herman, whose lower leg was crushed in the wreckage and had to be removed. In recognition of the debt owed--and of Herman's now obvious intellectual ability--the master of the house made the young man his apprentice, and hired a tutor to oversee his arcane study.

For a time, Herman occupied a position of importance and respect in the household--though true to form, he seemed to barely recognize it, and focused mostly on his studies and work. Before his 20th year, the apprenticeship had become more of a partnership between the two men, and the master of the house--Baron Damien Erkens--became his first close friend.

Unfortunately that idyllic existence was shattered when General Guanyu's forces launched their attack. Both Herman and the Baron threw themselves into the defense of their city, but when the conflict ended Port Marian was under the boot heel of the invaders, and the Baron--along with most of Herman's family--were dead or captured.

With his hometown crushed under the weight of the General's occupation and everyone he knew either in a grave or scattered to the winds, he was at a loss of what to do next, and spent most of the six months idling in the manor house, while the occupying administrators tried to decide what to do with it.

Then, as if by serendipity, he received the letter from the Arnmagne City Academy alerting him to his admission. The Baron, it seemed, had enrolled him and paid his way prior to the fall of the city, then perished before he could spring the surprise. Letter in hand, Herman gathered what objects of use and significance he had left and set off from Port Mariam, intent on making the most of this last gift.

S T R E N G T H SHigh analyical intelligence and creativity
  
Strong grasp of magical theory and mechanics
  
Talented and experienced at creating and using magical artifacts
  
Tenacious and determined; high tolerance for his own discomfort and pain in pursuit of his goals

F L A W SShort and scrawny; will lose a purely physical contest to most people
  
Bad at people; can sometimes read them ok, but consistently fails to identify what they want, or how to get what he wants from them
  
Not a trained combatant; he has some "military experience" from the fall of Port Mariam, but that basically amounts to logistics and supply work, with one or two frantic back-alley confrontations near the end
  
Abilities are mostly dependent on his equipment; he has a couple of useful cantrips under his belt but given his training, anything more complicated needs to be channeled through a focus or a pre-prepared magic

Determination paired with physical frailty often leads him to exceed his own limits

A T T R I B U T E S

C L A S SArtificer.

P R O F E S S I O NArtificer/Arcanotech researcher

A B I L I T I E SHas the ability to cast a couple of minor spells on his own (mage hand, prestidigitation-style effects)
  
Can produce magical items that create larger/more powerful effects, given time and materials

E Q U I P M E N T
Battle Coat - Leather coat designed and crafted by him; incorporates channels for magical energy that increase its protective effect, and can allow him to control the movement of the coat

Staff of Fire - Arcane implement he "borrowed" from the defense forces during the fall of Port Mariam. Primary purpose is offensive, but allows a skilled user to manipulate heat and flame, within reason.

Journeyman's Wand - Arcane implement used for creating magical items. Provides a variety of useful functions, including magic detection (to help diagnose issues with items), heat (to fuse or cut small pieces of metal), steam (to help put out fires), electricity (to energize items), and so on. Can also be used as a general-purpose magical focus, though not as effective in this role as a dedicated focus.

Miscellaneous - Herman carries with him an assortment of small magical items intended to produce specific effects, including: enchanted feathers (to slow a fall), salves (to heal minor wounds), talismans (to defend against magical attacks), and so on.

N E NEmission type; final ability would be focused on remote sensing, maybe with a focus on sensing and understanding magic effects

N O T E S
Baron Erkins - former master, partner, and friend. Paid Herman's way to the academy.

Hermannus Hoenemaeker uses 7ca4ba.

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