Forum Game: Bounty Hunters of the Cadaverous Earth

[LD]

The rooms may need a bit more balancing and a few more rooms and upgrades may sneak in, but all the rooms are up now.

So feel free to create your stable masters and charterhouses!

[Rose-of-Vellum]

At this point, I'm thinking of using Madame Zamorra (aka, the Beldame Mouldegill) as my stable master.

[ic]Seated beside the cluttered escritoire is a piscine woman, with squamous skin a glistening mottle of azure and indigo. Fin-like ears sprout from an ovoid head that tapers into a ridged pair of operculum head-flaps. Vermillion-hued eyebrows flutter and pulse like external gills. Her eyes are sallow, phlegmy orbs, and her nostrils are slimy orifices. She wears a massive hoopskirt with ruffled silk dyed to match her skin and a tight corset of tooled leechskin that brazenly displays her décolletage. A large, orichalum pocketwatch hangs from her neck like a pendant, while a pair of petite stilettos peek out from the ruched hem of her dress. There is a practiced, haughty mannerism to her ichthyic features and movements, but Phrixia also notices a hidden fatigue and trepidation.[/ic]

[ooc]Although this is the first time you have seen Madame Zamorra, you have heard of her. Behind her back, she's more commonly known as Beldame Mouldegill. Zamorra is an oddity, with a circus of rumors surrounding her origins. Some claim she is a spawn of the Southern Swamps warped by an Utterance of the Beast-Gods. Others say she is a liberated mere-creature from the Lesion Sea, or is a hideous product of Macellarian fleshwork, or the cursed result of Slow Plague. Regardless of her origins, she controls a major pleasure-pier in the Indigo Ward. Although her inhuman nature makes her despised by most of Skein's xenophobic citizens, her fortunes are predicated upon her business acumen, her special blend of quarinah, asherat, rare fish oils & blue-green algae (a product called Cerulean Bliss), and her practice of harboring and caring for pregnant prostitutes from the Violet Ward (she allegedly sells the children to foreign slavers and has the post-partum prostitutes work as indentured servants until they repay the debts they accrued during their pregnancies)[/ooc]

Basically, after the incident with the Cagastric Rapture, she fled Skein before anti-miscegnationists and radical nationalists  kicked her out, or worse. She resettled in the City of Bodysnatchers, and is trying her hand at bounty hunting (or more precisely, managing bounty hunters known as the Beldame's Manglers -"Man-Anglers"). Regarding those Manglers, here's the rough idea for the first two:

Barneby "Gorgonglass" Crowl: Moroi-born schizotypal witch. Disowned heir of aristocratic Crowl family, previous student at the University of Moroi, lost much of his sanity experimenting with the Medusalem. He now obsessively collects mirrors, breaks them, and then tries to re-assemble the shards. He also jars his feces and urine, afraid that cestoids will come in the night and devour his "essences". Disturbingly flat affect. Alexithymic. Generally wears a brown trench-coat, and little else, save for his cancerous constellations of tattoos.

Iderales Smirch (aka, the Mazarine Skull): Macellarian ghul gunslinger and former tomb-raider. Defected from the House of Hungry Ghosts, after the Assumption stole his memories and ambition. His skin is afflicted with stage two blanche-phage; he wields a black-iron revolver allegedly forged from a witch's cauldron, and wears man-leather armor, a dented tricorne, and his namesake blue-deathmask. He stores two coffins in his room: one for his pre-Assumption wife and son, their bodies embalmed, adorned with desiccated flowers, and bearing a single bullet-hole in each of their foreheads.

[LD]

Quite evocative, imaginative and ... well mellifluous is not quite apt here, but you get the idea- imagery.

Re: Barneby
So Barneby is sort of Howard Hughesish :). What are his tattoos of?
-As he levels up and spends more time in the house, I have a good idea for a complication (probably at least 12 weeks down the line)- he's going to need a separate room for his "Essences" or else his loyalty would sink- since otherwise he may not be able to fit in his room-probably a large closet or vault under his floor. With a closet, there would be a chance that his essences may be disturbed or removed, so I'm thinking only 200 obeloi to 300 obeloi for a base closet with no additional upgrades, protections. A vault would be much more expensive (2500 obeloi?), but it would be very secure. We also may find thieves accidentally attempting to break into it from time to time, believing it contains something more universally valuable, so it would probably raise Defense by 1.
-Also, for an ongoing subscription of 20 obeloi a week, I think we can get him a mirror or two, which will raise his Loyalty by 1.

Re: Smith
Sounds good. If he wants a private crypt down the line for his relatives, that could provide a Loyalty bonus, although I have the impression that he probably prefers having them close by.

Re: Zamora
-Did you mean despised by most of Macellaria's xenophobic citizens rather than Skein's?
-How long does it take her indentureds' to repay their debts, on average? And what exact type of work are they doing? I assume they generally have positive views towards her and that they were previously working by themselves or else she would be incurring not a few companies/pimps' anger by holding onto them. Also, I suppose a question...how long would she really be caring for them- I would assume they can work until about a month before giving birth (unless some are worried about violence and want to give birth but don't want to keep the child?) and need her medical aid because it's cheaper? It would seem more that the prostitutes who come to her are those who would want to keep the children rather than to abort them or give them away? And those who may want to work their way out of prostitution now that they have a family?

[Rose-of-Vellum]

Quite evocative, imaginative and ... well mellifluous is not quite apt here, but you get the idea- imagery.

Thanks, LD, I'm glad they're to your liking!

So Barneby is sort of Howard Hughesish.

Ah, there's some similarity. However, Barneby hasn't attempted to build the world's largest ornithopter out of bloodwood... yet. 

What are his tattoos of?

Snippets of poetry and mathematical formulae masquerading as hexes, and hexes masquerading as snippets of poetry and formulae. To read them, though, one needs a mirror, as the inked words and figures are reversed.

-As he levels up and spends more time in the house, I have a good idea for a complication (probably at least 12 weeks down the line)- he's going to need a separate room for his "Essences" or else his loyalty would sink- since otherwise he may not be able to fit in his room-probably a large closet or vault under his floor. With a closet, there would be a chance that his essences may be disturbed or removed, so I'm thinking only 200 obeloi to 300 obeloi for a base closet with no additional upgrades, protections. A vault would be much more expensive (2500 obeloi?), but it would be very secure. We also may find thieves accidentally attempting to break into it from time to time, believing it contains something more universally valuable, so it would probably raise Defense by 1.
-Also, for an ongoing subscription of 20 obeloi a week, I think we can get him a mirror or two, which will raise his Loyalty by 1.

Sounds great.

Re: Smirch

Correct -he likes 'em close.

Re: Zamora

The above blurbs were taken from my Clockwork Abattoir game. Zamorra was a once-mentioned/seen NPC in Skein. I'm thinking of having her leave the Clockwork City and resettle in Macellaria for the above-stated reasons. Now, in the City of Bodysnatchers, where the Fleshmongers are well-entrenched and slavery is legal, she has abandoned her previous line of profession. She's now trying her hand at the Bounty Hunting game, as it is potentially lucrative and easier to break-into than other professions in Macellaria (e.g., the Circus, Fleshmongers, and Splicing Consortium have strong monopolies).

So rather than pimps, pregnant prostitutes, and drug-dealers, her employees now consist of bounty hunters and the charter house servants -which I was thinking currently included:

Grunt: A tall, lanky, muttering manservant. Grunt is a stitched servitor that Zamorra purchased decades ago during her first visit to Macellaria. Since then, Grunt's raiment has become more milden, but he remains her personal butler-valet.

Gran "Granny Grease" Algease Meant: A small, gibbous woman. Former chef to now-deceased magistra, Delepitore Mei-Vourne. Neither the loss of her octogenarian employer, nor her own advanced years or burgeoning dementia, have been kind to Algease. Her amber eyes hide behind cataracts and half-moon spectacles, and her once-lustrous hair is course and brittle as a scullery-maid's iron-brush. Still, the wrinkled chef can sometimes do wonders in a kitchen -at least when she remembers that arsenic is a poor substitute for parsley. 

Mordecai "Lorde Salmagundi" Streeche: A former member of the Dogskull Thief-Clan who ran afoul of the Splicing Consortium after running parcels for a rogue flesh-parlor. The consortium caught Mordecai and the parlor operator, killed the latter, and then spliced his body parts into Mordecai. Consequently, he's a cruel mishmash of parts: seven- and six-fingered hands; discolored, beady eyes; bactrian lips; and a strange gait from uneven, too-many jointed limbs. After falling into destitution, he sold himself into slavery, where he was purchased by Zamorra. To her face, he is a slimy sycophant (e.g., he's dyed his hair an algae blue), but in truth is a terrible, self-interested gossip. He serves as the charterhouse's majordomo and butler. 

Voermfelsch "Vormer" Hagman, former prostitute-priestess of Myx from Slimesquallor, who made coins by coupling with outsiders. For this taboo, Vormer was ostracized and cast out of the temple. He/she accepted Zamorra's employ and toils as one of the charterhouse's maids. He/she dreams of buying new eyes, and has secret graftpunk fantasies.

Lillias Solcur: Macellarian human girl, orphaned during the recent Banehulk-spred plague. Her parents were Morgatch & Gorte, costermongers of a Rag-and-Bones cartel (Slavering Torch), allied to the House of Howling Sun. Although her parents were both gutter-witches, she lacks magical aptitude. Her face and shaved scalp bear a large tattoo -an anthropomorphic sundog- that is partially concealed by funerary bonnet that matches her charcoal-grey eyes. Lillias serves alongside Vormer as a maid. 

[LD]

>>Snippets of poetry and mathematical formulae masquerading as hexes, and hexes masquerading as snippets of poetry and formulae. To read them, though, one needs a mirror, as the inked words and figures are reversed.

I see he didn't want anyone else reading his book easily when at close range :P.

>>So rather than pimps, pregnant prostitutes, and drug-dealers, her employees now consist of bounty hunters and the charter house servants

Great. That makes more sense to me!

The servants seem good. I'm working on brainstorming some specials as a reward for the descriptions. Some ideas...

Grunt's Quest - When laid on the frigid obsidian slab of his creation, Grunt recalled sensing his other parts be placed in another being, a servitor like himself. He wants his parts back. This quest will take you into the unknown. (3 levels of Research and then a medium difficulty Clever test to unlock the Servitor's location.

Mordecai reminds me of Thomas from Downton Abbey. I like the detail of how he dyed his hair so as to be seem appealing to his mistress. :P.

[Rose-of-Vellum]

Grunt's Quest

Cool. I totally wrote the flavor for flavor's sake, but I'll gladly accept crunchy-rewards -particularly when they in part are so flavorful!

Mordecai reminds me of Thomas from Downton Abbey.

Now that you mention it, yes, he certainly does. Very, very much so. Apart from the whole spliced body. :)

[LD]

>>Cool. I totally wrote the flavor for flavor's sake,

Well, I'd like to encourage such involvement from players, so it is much appreciated :)

Here are my more developed ideas.
Special Modifiers Based on the Servants

- Eyebite plague spreads as rapid as water if not properly contained by practiced sorceries. Mordecai's unobtrusive snooping in the female bunkroom revealed the most concerning information that Lillias Solcur had not yet fully surrendered the memory of her parents. A mason jar, near-overflowing with pickling juice, contains jaundiced eyeballs of Lillias' parents, all that remains of the disease that ate them inside-out--the dread disease that preserves the one infectious portion to the last, so that its communicativeness can be preserved.
The Stable Mistress may have a standing order to retreat to Lillias' room and to hurl the jar and eyeball at intruders in the event of assault on the Charterhouse. If so, there is a chance that the disease spreads among the denizens, and there is a chance that the enemies will immediately retreat, for Eyebite plague is fatal if not remedied in its important first hours.

- Unleash Mordecai's Audacity.
If you choose to give him full reign as a spy and taskmaster over the other servants and the tradespeople who come and go from the home- add 10% to upkeep cost per week due to his alienation of many suppliers, but increase Defense by 1. Occasionally, he may give you advance warning regarding Complications, or prevent them outright.

Grunt's Quest - When laid on the frigid obsidian slab of his creation, Grunt recalled sensing his other parts be placed in another being, a servitor like himself. He wants his parts back. This quest will take you into the unknown. (3 levels of Research and then a medium difficulty Clever test to unlock the Servitor's location. After that, it remains up to the Hunter to retrieve the parts, and any associated baggage and Complications that accompany them.

[Rose-of-Vellum]

Most excellent and appreciated, LD. I've started the bounty hunters' crunch, but I might hold off till Superbright or another player finalizes his/her interest (as I have some RL tasks to complete this week).