Infernal Devices IRC One-Shot [Mini-con]

[Seraph]

Infernal Devices

Mini-con IRC One-Shot

Name of Host: Seraphine_Harmonium
# of Players Sought: 5-7
How to Join? Use the in-site IRC chat client located at the bar under the top banner or go to Mibbit.com
Game World Infernal Devices
Game System: Nemesis
Game Storyline: When you go looking for a missing science expedition, a dangerous secret is found in derelict spacecraft found drifting through aetherspace.

[ic=The Banshee]Professor Lucas Faneran shudders slightly at the sound of wailing permeating the air, echoing off the cold steel walls of the aethership.  He shifts in his seat, looking around the dining table at his companions.  In a room full of hardened criminals and spacefarers, he alone is yet to grow accustomed to the pitiful moans that emanate from the engine room, drowning out the clanks and hisses of steam in the pipes, or the whirring of gears and clockwork in the walls.  

"Corday!" The voice comes from a grizzled man in a long burgundy coat.  Captain Wheeler.  "Corday, get this beast moving!  We got us a job.  Some guvners outa Vorcia F'Chini had some scientists go missing.  They'll pay quite the reward for any as can find 'em and bring 'em back."

"Captain," says bald-black eyed woman Idonia, "Vorcia F'Chini is pretty far out in the Aether. That's awfully close to Legion-Space."

The room grows palpably tense, and Wheeler flexes the semi-mechanical fingers of his right hand, mangled and altered such that is it now half-machine.  There is clearly history between the Captain and that possessed and rapacious horde of raiders.

"Don't think it hasn't occurred to me.  But life is pain.  We can't spend ours running from it, cause it's everywhere.  And we can't win if we don't take the risk.  Course is set.  Thorn already laid it in.  You all know the dangers, now let's get prepared.  We're goin' to catch ourselves some brainiacs."[/ic]

Captain Mortimer Benedict Wheeler
"Life is pain.  Anyone who says differently is selling something."

Mortimer Wheeler is captain of The Banshee, a small aetherspace freighter he bought for cheap, and fixed up with salvaged parts from scrapyards.  With this ship he freelances at anything from smuggling to bounty-hunting, to piracy.  At just short of 6 feet, Mortimer is in good physical shape.  He has many scars from old horrors in his past, and from the many scrapes he and his crew get into on The Banshee.  His wavy black hair falls about his shoulders.  Though he does not grow a full beard, his jawline is perpetually lined with stubble.  He wears a long double-breasted leather jacket in a burgundy color.  His right forearm integrates a handful of mechanical parts—souvenirs of his time in The Legion: a fate from which he was saved by the concerted efforts of Brother August and Dr. Featherstone.  

Mortimer Wheeler is a veteran of the Jorgish Rebellion.  He was drafted by the Imperium into the 34th Motor Cavalry, until a disastrous charge against a Jorgish Regiment.  When they reached the enemy lines, a handful of the enemy exploded as the warp horrors possessing them erupted from their chests, and began decimating Wheeler's unit.  Mort signaled the retreat against the orders of his superiors, but his men were entangled.   The Evac-Airship piloted by Lilly "Thorn" Geanor was shot down, and only she and Mortimer survived the crash. The two were captured and tortured for information on troop movements.  After the war was over and the Rebellion crushed, Mortimer was released from the prison camp only to be Court Marshaled and given a dishonorable discharge for disobeying orders, and was labeled a "deserter." He has had an enduring hatred of the Imperium and "authority" figures in general ever since.  He intensely distrusts such people, viewing them as a heartless lot.  He favors freedom and independence, verging on anarchism.

He insists on viewing things "as they are" rather than "as they appear to be."  He sees interconnections between just about everything, and some of these connections appear to be so small and bizarre that no one else can comprehend them.  As such, many view Wheeler to be somewhat mad.  Mortimer insists, however, that "When you've seen into the truth of things, nothing else makes sense."  He sees design where others see coincidence; where others see bad luck, he sees malign forces at work.  He has been labeled "paranoid" and a "conspiracy theorist."  This is not his only...peculiarity, however: he obsessively meditates at 15:00 every day for an hour, insisting that no one disturb him during that time. Out in Aetherspace, where time is not so easily regulated, he relies on his Grandfather's pocket watch.  

Lilly Thorneton "Thorn" Geanor
The Cap's pilot and second in command, Thorn Geanor knows Mortimer better than anyone.  She knows his brand of "crazy" because she's been through a lot of the same things.  She saw the slaughter of his unit, and the two of them were the only survivors of the subsequent crash.  Both were captured and tortured for information, and left to die by the Imperium.  She knows how to calm Mortimer down when he gets in one of his wilder moods.  In such situations she is more "stable" and grounded, and plays the voice of reason.

A somewhat exotic-looking woman, Thorn has a soldier's build, though she lacks the pure physical power of the front-line Vanguard.   She keeps her hair short and rather untidy.  Her face is somewhat lined from stress and her eyes are slightly sunken.  She wears a bulky flight jacket, which she wears over a blouse and trousers, or occasionally a loose skirt (with enough mobility to allow her to fight and function).

Thorn isn't exactly "cheery:" she has a grim outlook and demeanor.  Though others may call her a pessimist, she prefers "realist."  She doesn't rule out the chance of a best-case-scenario, but she firmly believes in preparing for the worst.  God, Fate, or whatever powers that be have screwed her over too many times for her to expect anything but disappointment from life, so she takes charge of anything she can control, in an attempt to "limit the variables."  Though not humorless, Geanor's humor is considered somewhat strange by others.  She is cynical and sarcastic, leaning towards "black" and "graveyard" humor.  Her jokes do little to dispel the myths of her pessimism.  

Lilly Thorneton Geanor has gone by "Thorn" since her first tour of duty, and rarely uses (or even admits to having) the name Lilly.  She's never felt attached to the name to begin with; her mother and grandmother were both named Lilly as well.  At family gatherings there were too many "Lillies" to call by name, so she was called by childish nicknames.  The name never felt like her own, and she tends to get annoyed when people call her "Lilly."

Thorn has been somewhat hardened against the impulse to rush to the aid of those in distress—such actions have typically only brought trouble and pain—but a part of her always takes pity on those who are struggling.  She is always willing to give pointers or to lend a friendly ear, and will provide a helping hand when it seems prudent or strategic to do so.  Bunt in times of imminent danger, she looks out for herself and those closest to her before worrying about others.  The permanent crew-members are all high on her list of priorities, but when it might make a difference, she might be inclined to leave stragglers behind—or those whom she is...less attached.  


Dr. Lucretia Featherstone
The Banshee's straight-laced medic, Lucretia Featherstone is rather short and slight in figure.  She dresses conservatively, in high-collared blouses, often accompanied by a waistcoat of corset.  She keeps her red hair bound up in a bun, or keeps it tied back.  Lucretia has a crystal shard mounted to her chest, to bind and trap the demon inside her.  The glow from this crystal can often be seen through her clothes.  Though she does not reveal them, her torso is covered in arcane symbols and arcane sigils.

After the war, she became obsessed with the question "Why do we hurt one another?"  She delved into psychiatry, and religion, at which point she met Brother Corday, who acted as her spiritual mentor, and later directed her to a number of occult tomes.  Though she has never told this story in full, she has relayed the following details: In an unorthodox experiment, Lucretia performed a ritual, summoning a demon by the name of Ar'ngathlobb, and asked for it to take her desire for harming others.  Since that moment, Lucretia Featherstone has no desire to harm another person in any way ever again; but the demon that lives inside of her does.  Ar'ngathlobb has more than enough rage and hatred, and thirst for blood for fifty people.  At first he was overwhelming, and her body - a vehicle for the demon - went on a spree of aimless murder and mayhem.  It was Brother August who saved her.  When her name went out on the wanted posters, he tracked her down before the authorities could.  He bound her, and performed rituals to drive the spirit from her, but Ar'ngathlobb was inextricably a part of her.

They fashioned a special demonstone which would be mounted into a brass housing surgically mounted to her sternum, which she placed herself.  Around this she had tattooed the pentacle of binding, and together they spoke the holy words that would keep Ar'ngathlobb contained in the stone.  With this demonstone Lucretia can power small devices which she connects to her body through a series of connectors she installed into her arms.  Her eyes also tend to glow blue—a trait which many find unsettling.  

Featherstone and Corday came on board Captain Mortimer Wheeler's ship, offering their services on the condition that no questions be asked about their desire for passage.  While this was agreed to, details have at times become necessary.  Mort's crew has benefitted more than a few times from Lucretia's skill as a surgeon, however, and Mortimer himself owes this pair his humanity.  When the captain was captured and turned by the Legion in an attack, the crew found him, and saved him, with Dr. Featherstone and Brother August performing the exorcism.    She finds herself generally content here, but one thing troubles her: she has recurring nightmares about the murders she committed while under Ar'ngathlobb's power—nightmares where she hears his voice in her head speaking to her, and hinting at some scheme that has yet to come to fruit.  She begins to fear the demon may not be bound as securely as they thought...

Brother August McLachlan Corday
Brother August is a priest of the Holy Father, ordained in the mysteries and rites of the Imperial Orthodox Church—or rather, he was.  He has since been excommunicated for heretical beliefs and membership in the Brotherhood of the Wailing Machine.  This brotherhood is dedicated to the study and binding of demons.  They are tech-savvy, and often function as experts and exorcists who constantly tinker with mechanical devices designed to aid in the compulsion of malevolent spirits.  

Tall and lanky, Brother August Corday tends to look malnourished no matter how much he eats.  His salt-and-pepper hair reflects his age and experience.  He is usually seen wearing grey robes with red trim and the patterns of his order, but he also has a ritual robe that seems to flow like mercury, and is embroidered with holy angelic sigils in gold.  

Brother Corday acts as Chaplain aboard The Banshee, and is the unofficial source of spiritual counsel for the crew.  He helps to keep sane all those who work shifts in the engine room, and thus interact with the demon Banshee directly.  August is understanding and compassionate, and tries to dissuade the crew from judging people too hastily—though his own moral judgments are often quick and hard to break.  August still believes himself to be a man of the cloth and a true servant of the Holy Father.  Corday believes his excommunication to be a test of his faith, and a punishment for past sins.  

He has a close relationship with Lucretia Featherstone.  She is his student in the occult, and he feels responsible for her current predicament—she became possessed after he led her down the path, and he believes that the murders Ar'ngathlobb committed through her are his fault, and perhaps a punishment for past sins.  

Idonia
It only takes one glance to see that this lithe woman is not entirely human.  Idonia's hairless body, black eyes, and milky white skin betray this fact.  Idonia has an extensive disguise kit, however, and with make-up, one of her many wigs, and false eyebrows and lashes, she can almost pass for normal—even beautiful.  While she is relaxed enough with the crew to allow them to see her in her natural state, she always wears a disguise in public—though her hair color and style can change from day to day, or even more than once in one day if she so chooses.  

Idonia is descended on her mother's side from a race of telepaths mutated by bizarre microbes in the soil of the Dicia Colony in the Mali system.  This gives her advanced mental abilities her associates do not possess.  She was once a bounty hunter—a career for which some telepathic ability proved invaluable.  She can predict the actions of her target and compensate for them, giving her an advantage in tracking, combating, and capturing her quarry.  She ran afoul of the law years ago on Revati II, and evaded capture for a few months before getting a new start traversing the aether with the crew of The Banshee.  She serves as a gunner and weapons-expert.  

Idonia is quite fond of her extensive arsenal of weaponry—left over from her career as a bounty hunter.  She spends much of her time cleaning, polishing, and maintaining these weapons, and may well have names for some of them.  Her favorite firearms are her SPAR and her Uriel Mark X Sniper Rifle.  She gets along rather well with Harman.

Harman Rawson Downs
[note][/note]One of the most "honest" criminals you will ever meet, Harman Downs was raised in a wealthy family on Eridani I, where he learned the ins and outs of high society.  His father, Rawson Downs, made sure to instill the values of honor, fair-play, and chivalry in his boy, while Harman trained and became a champion pugilist.  Though his early life was charmed, his family fortune was lost in a legal suit, and their name destroyed.  He resorted to crime—fighting as a gladiator in underground tournaments—sometimes against bizarre, alien opponents.   When Harman took up with Mortimer's band of miscreants, it was as a strongman and a bruiser.  He is willing to break the law—to steal, sneak, smuggle, fight, and when necessary injure or kill—but he will not cheat.  Per his upbringing as the son of a lawyer, however, he is perfectly willing to exploit any loopholes he can find.  He treats each enterprise like sport: there are rules to the game, that must be obeyed, or victory means nothing.  He will not lie, but he will when necessary or advantageous bend the truth, misleading those he wishes to fool while speaking the letter of the truth.  

Harman Downs is a giant of a man, standing at 6'7" with broad shoulders and enough bulk to fill out his thick frame.  Most of his mass is pure muscle—which he gains and maintains through his intensive workout regimen.  Apart from his sheer size, Harman's most prominent feature is his thick, carefully groomed handlebar moustache.  The man takes great pride in this moustache, and becomes positively livid with anger when someone—or something—ruins its appearance.  

His father was a wealthy lawyer representing aristocratic families on Eridani I, after establishing himself advocating for the Eridani Mining outpost.  As Rawson Downs associated so closely with the upper classes, his family's low birth was something of a problem, so he insisted that Harman and his family learn to be as "aristocratic" as possible, so as to not make fools of themselves—or him—in the social gatherings of the Elite.  Downs learned to mingle in high society with his parents at fancy dinners, and how to put on a show of etiquette—how to charm and flatter those who he wanted to have as friends.  He was taught to read people—their emotions, motivations, and bodily "tells."  The two of them went on hunting expeditions to Mali IV with Rawson's clients, where Harman learned to fire a Teumaric Mjolnir Lightning Rifle.

He is one of the few members of the crew to take a liking to Professor Faneran.  The two share a love of pugilism, and enjoy sparring together.

Professor Lucas Tyrell Faneran
[note][/note]Lucas Faneran is a professor of Criminology and Forensics at Parnell Towers University on Uron Meno.  He is fascinated by crime and criminals, and sought out Mortimer and his ship to do some research first-hand.  He seeks to understand the criminal mind—what turns them to crime, what drives them, their methods, their personal interactions, their goals; everything about them.  Lucas wishes always to be in the midst of whatever is going on...something the Captain finds rather annoying, but the professor pays him well, so Mortimer usually tolerates this, wondering all the while if it's really worth it.  And while his presence is sometimes a bother, he is far from helpless.  He has enough sense to learn to be capable with a sidearm.  He makes feverish notes in his journal whenever a member of the Banshee crew says or does anything he finds interesting.  This is a trait that makes many on board uncomfortable; they dislike being under constant scrutiny, and the idea that their every activity might end up in a book someday.  Faneran assures them that all names will be changed for confidentiality, but the crew still tends to distrust him.  The only member of the crew with whom he consistently gets along is Harman Downs, with whom he shares a love of boxing.  The two spar frequently in the cargo-hold, or anywhere they can find sufficient space.

A smallish, unimposing man, Lucas Faneran has greying auburn hair.  He wears a tweed 3-piece suit and wire-rimmed spectacles.  He always carries his leather-bound journal and a fountain pen.  A full beard and moustache cover his face with bristles.  

Lucas gets very excited by inventive criminals and attempts to avoid detection and to cover tracks. If he were caught in a deadly elaborate trap, he would be as thrilled at the ingenuity of it as he was afraid for his life.  He has actually been known to aid in some of the capers of the Banshee crew from time to time, justifying any illegal activity he might engage in as "research."  His knowledge leads him to presume on the crew, providing his opinions and insight whether they are desired or not.  Granted, his professional opinion is often useful, but a man so involved with book learning is occasionally so wrapped up in his theories about how things are supposed to be that he can be quite clueless about how things actually are.  Professor Faneran is, however, delighted to be proven wrong—an event always proceeded by an enthusiastic and frenzied note in his journal.  Lucas Faneran has an indomitable cheerfulness and sense of wonder, and seems to be happy no matter how bleak his situation.

[sparkletwist]

Oooh... nice.
I see a certain fairly strong Firefly influence, if I'm not mistaken. :grin:

How do you feel about original characters?
That's not to say I don't like these, because I do! From this list I'm leaning a bit towards Idonia at the moment, but I'm not sure yet.

[Seraph]

Anything "space" I do will almost certainly have a strong Firefly influence. 

I did put a fair amount of time into these characters, but I am not inherently averse to original characters, as long as the following conditions are met:
1) The Party doesn't get too huge
2) All the important roles, like Captain, Mechanic (in this case that means a priest), pilot, etc. are covered.

[Seraph]

Any more interest on this?

[sparkletwist]

I'm still interested!

[Seraph]

Thank you sparkle!  Anyone else?

[Steerpike]

Yes, definitely!  I've been away for a little while so had dropped off the radar but I'm definitely interested.  Not sure which character yet.  Maybe Lucas, but I'd play anyone.

[Xathan]

I am interested too! I'd like to play Cap Wheeler. :)

However, my schedule makes it kinda hard to plan, so when were we thinking?

[HippopotamusDundee]

I'm in the same situation as Xathan, having just started university and all. If I can make it, I'd like to play Father August.

[Seraph]

I am interested too! I'd like to play Cap Wheeler. :)

However, my schedule makes it kinda hard to plan, so when were we thinking?

Don't know the exact day or time, but the plan was for a few hours one day near the end of March.

[Seraph]

Any more interest in this?