Clockwork Abattoir: A Cadaverous Earth campaign

[Rose-of-Vellum]

PM sent your way, MG. Let me know what you think.

[Ghostman]

Just to let you know, Xavier's full typification will be Shrewd Male Human Rogue (Assassination) 1

[Rose-of-Vellum]

Thanks, I'll add it asap.

[Ghostman]

[ooc=Xavier]Shrewd Male Human Rogue (Assassination) 1
XP: 0; Benefits Gained:
Grit: 2
Pools (Edge): Might 10 (0), Agility 14 (1), Intellect 12 (0); Damage Track: Hale

Defenses: Agility (expertice); AC: 0; Might Cost: 0; Agility Penalty: 0
Recovery Rolls: 1d6+1; Rolls Left: 4

Languages: Hellspeak, Shambles
Lifestyle: Decent
Senses: Improved vision in darkness due to grafted clockwork eye.
Skills: Crafting: bombs (expertise), Poison (expertise)
(expertise in all interactions involving lies or trickery)
(expertise in defense rolls to resist mental effects)
(expertise in all tasks involving, identifying or assessing danger, lies, quality, importance, function, or power)

Weapons:

• Sabre (medium bladed weapon)
• Blowgun (light ranged weapon)

Combat Maneuvers/Tricks/Esotiers: 

• Trained Without Armor: You have expertise in Agility defense actions when not wearing armor. Enabler.

• Pierce (1 Agility point): This is a well-aimed, penetrating ranged attack. You make an attack and inflict 1 additional point of damage if your weapon has a sharp point. Action.

Flaws: 

• Shrewd: You were never good at studying or retaining trivial knowledge. The difficulty of any task involving lore, knowledge, or understanding is increased by one step.

• Animal Enmity: For some reason, Xavier never feels quite comfortable around animals of any kind. The feeling seems to be mutual, as many common beasts become jumpy or even outright inimical when he tries to interact with them. It might simply be that the creatures are sensing his own uncertainty, or perhaps there is a more esoteric reason behind his troubles. The difficulty of any task involving interaction with animals is increased by one step.

Items:

• Eldritch Oddities: 
  
  
  
  • Venomous Verses: One of Xavier's many victims was an infamous eccentric poet, a young man said to be possessed of a preternatural talent for composition and recital. He must have been possessed by something alright, for when the youth exhaled his last breath and the sparkle of life in his eyes dimmed as he lay broken by the feet of his killer, that indescribable something escaped from his lungs... and entered Xavier's. To this day Xavier hasn't figured out just what the devil that thing was, merely that along with it came knowledge of an odd poem he'd never heard before. It is a harsh piece of wordplay, in a language long since lost or perhaps not from this world. Though obviously not fit for human tongues, the unnatural words come out almost effortlessly when he chooses to utter them -- and they seem to always invoke powerful, albeit unpredictable emotions in those who hear them. Sometimes they make the listerners uncomfortably aroused, other times they inflict feelings of melancholy, yet other times give rise to wrathful urges and anger. Xavier himself finds reciting these eerie verses a somewhat unpleasant experience, as the very act disorients his senses and causes his mouth to bleed.
  • Spy's Eye: This is an artificial eyeball of eldritch clockwork construction, implanted in Xavier's right eye socket after he lost his natural eye in a vicious confrontation with a Nine Eyes syndicate enforcer. The device does more than merely restores his stereoscopic vision: the dark of night hampers his perceptions less than it used to. However, the orb's bewitched gaze sometimes falls upon vistas not meant for the sight of mortal men, revealing glimpses of nameless hells and aberrant realms beyond the fabric of the corporeal world. Such revelations, though usually mercifully brief, can be more than a little disturbing. The mechanical nature of the graft is also readily apparent.

• Theurgic Devices:
  
  
  
  • Smoke Bomb: A small globular, grenade-like device. It is armed by removing a safety pin and detonates on impact after being dropped or thrown. Rather than an explosion it bursts in a billowing cloud of very thick black smoke that quickly spreads about, obscuring visibility. A smoke bomb might be used to enable a retreat from a fight, or to create a smokescreen against snipers, etc. The smoke is affected by wind and will dissipate over time.
  • Flash Bomb: Similar to a smoke bomb, but instead of a burst of smoke it generates a flash of light so bright that it will momentarily render blind anyone who stares directly into it. Such blindness is a temporary debility that fades away fairly quickly as the victims regain their vision.
  Mundane Possessions: Clothing, sabre, blowgun (12 darts), a bag of light tools, the tools needed to make your first-tier crafts, any normal item (of level 1 or 2) that you can make with your skills, a garrotte wire, lockpicks, a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, a pocket watch*, 15 pence.
  

[/ooc]

(*) I figured that these items are fairly cheap and could be assumed based on a decent lifestyle.

(Incidentally, the Nine Eyes enforcer also survived the confrontation, and is something of a personal nemesis to Xavier.)

[TheMeanestGuest]

[ooc=Hadric Beyam Phel-Nirian]Frenetic Male Sheevra Warrior (Phytology) 1

XP: 0; Benefits: None
Grit: 1
Pools (Edge): Might: 13 (1), Agility: 14 (1), Intellect: 9
Damage Track: Hale

Defenses: Expertise in Intellect defense rolls against witchcraft-produced effects
AC:1, Might Cost: 0 , Agility Penalty: 0
Recovery Rolls: 1d6 +1/ Rolls Left - 4

Languages: Shambles, Hellspeak, Hextongue
Lifestyle: Decent. Property and majority of remaining assets currently held under attachment pending court decision vis-a-vis appeal regarding declaration of death in absentia.
Senses: Sight-based perception (expertise). Dim illumination is no hindrance.
Skills: Initiative (expertise), Jumping (expertise [or would it be mastery?]), Running & Athletics (expertise), Persuasion (expertise), Sense & Identify Witchcraft (expertise), Botany (expertise)

Weapons

My Leaf-Bladed Kneaf: heavy bladed weapon
Grent & Grisham Special 8 Revolver: medium ranged weapon

Combat Maneuvers, Esoteries and Tricks

Thrust (1 Might point): This is a powerful melee stab. You make an attack and inflict 1 additional point of damage if your weapon has a sharp edge or point. Action.

Pierce (1 Agility point): This is a well-aimed, penetrating ranged attack. You make an attack and inflict 1 additional point of damage if your weapon has a sharp point. Action.

Gutter-Witchcraft (1 Intellect point): You can perform small invocations: temporarily change the color or basic appearance of a small object, cause small objects to float through the air, clean a small area, mend a broken object, prepare (but not create) food, and so on. You can't use gutter-witchcraft to harm another creature or object. Action.

Hexsight (2 Intellect points): This invocation causes a sheevra's eyes to glow more brightly, but allows them to perceive, and potentially identify aetheric auras. Scanning an item or creature requires concentration, and each use of this ability can last up to one minute. Scanning a target reveals whether it can perform witchcraft, and if so, its level. It also reveals whatever facts the GM feels are pertinent about the aether in that area. Many materials and eldritch fields prevent or resist this hex. Action to initiate and sustain.

Lugent Vessel (2 Intellect points):  Although a sheevra's skin and eyes constantly produce dim illumination in the immediate distance surrounding them, they can temporarily amplify and even transfer some of this radiance to another object, person, or place. To do so, a sheevra must touch the intended target. If successful, the target sheds bright illumination up to a short distance for ten minutes. Action.

Placate Plant (2+ Intellect points): With a successful roll, you convince a plant that is within immediate distance to refrain from attacking you for one minute. Instead of applying Grit to decrease the difficulty of this esotery, you can apply Grit to protect more targets, with each level of Grit causing the affected plant to ignore up to two additional targets. You must be able to see and speak with said targets to provide this protection. Action to initiate.

Flaws

#1: Fast, but not quite graceful. The difficulty of any task involving balance or steady movements is increased by one step.
#2: The difficulty of any task that requires staying still or quiet for extended time is increased by one step.
#3: Hiding debility. Sheevra have slightly luminous eyes and skin, making it hard to conceal themselves.

Items

Eldritch Oddities:

Cybille's Locket: A silver locket given to Hadric by his mother when he was a boy, and one of the few remaining mementos of his childhood. The locket holds two tiny daguerreotype portraits: one of his father, and one of his mother. His mother's portrait is evidently ensorcelled by some means, rendered in living motion - flashing a smile or blowing a kiss, or simply reading a book [almost always Rest for the Wicked, and other stories of Treachery & Romance by Skien's own Vibius Beeze]. Cybille's portrait has spoken to Hadric on some few occasions, whispering words of caution, advice or love when he has needed them most. His father's portrait - a dark and blurred profile against a hazy background - seems to have been captured unknowingly, and has so far proven itself to be nothing more than an ordinary daguerreotype.

The Magnificent Lens: A small lens made of hardy glass mounted in a bronze frame. Catching a strange glint out of the corner of his eye while wandering the markets of Crepuscle, Hadric purchased the lens from a trinket-vendor who seemed unaware of its unusual eldritch properties. The world transforms when seen through the Magnificent Lens, superimposing a bizarre and surrealist landscape over the mundane, a landscape peopled by a tiny and mischievous folk possessing large teeth, bright clothes, and strange hats. The folk seem to be aware of Hadric's attention and often wave or wink at him, or huddle in small groups while throwing the occasional glance his way. The lens seems completely ordinary to anyone else that Hadric has had peer through it, who report only a slight magnifying effect. Hadric has come to suspect the Magnificent Lens to be an artifact of Ker-Iz, or to have otherwise been crafted by another Sheevra. A source of occasional amusement or inspiration.

Theurgic Devices:

Rosenhound Bulb: A desiccated and peeling bulb smelling of cardamom and vinegar. Hadric cultured several specimens of this plant during his time in the laboratories of Shann-Irim, and this one has at last reached maturity. When the inner flesh is exposed to light, a startling transformation is initiated. Petaled stalks twist from within, quickly forming themselves into the semblance of a squat quadruped. A thorny maw glistening with sap juts from one end, its head-petals arranged into the floral mockery of a grinning predatory visage. A Rosenhound will viciously attack and consume any nearby organic matter, heedless of its own safety, until it has filled its belly. It blossoms for a few brief moments, shedding pollen. Its lifecycle completed the Rosenhound will wither and die, leaving an immature bulb behind.  

Paralytic N2: A fine grey powder kept tightly sealed in a small vial. The second iteration of the fourteenth entry in a long series of pesticidal compounds developed by Hadric. Paralytic N2 enters through the breathing apertures of a given arthropod, thereby infiltrating the hemolymph of the affected creature. Through a method still poorly understood by Hadric himself, the compound hinders or prevents entirely any muscle contraction in arthropodal species. Effect on the locomotion of molluscs is mild by comparison, and requires further study. Rendered inert in mammalian or other body systems.

Mundane Possesions: Clothing, live ardlilly coat (light armor), My Leaf-Bladed Kneaf, Grent & Grisham Special Eight revolver, 12 rounds broad #8, phytologist's tools, stainless steel canteen, a pouchfull of oat cakes, leather coin purse, 40 crowns

Other

Drowsy: Like cats, Sheevra require large amounts of sleep. Sheevra require twice as much time to rest in order to make recovery rolls (i.e., 2 rounds, 20 minutes, 2 hours, and 16 hours of rest to make their daily first, second, third, and fourth recovery roll, respectively).

Fey: Sheevra occupy a liminal space between mortals and oneiroi. Consequently, effects designed to specifically target mortals or oneiroi may affect sheevra, whether for good or ill.

Omnivorous: Sheevra can digest both meat and plant matter, but also draw nourishment from emotions, dreams, and other esoteric substances.[/ooc]

Born in the city, and brought up among its privileged class, Hadric nonetheless has never felt much more than a tenuous connection with Skein, feeling a deep longing in his heart for someplace else. He never knew his father, and his given name is the only bond the two share. The elder Hadric departed from Skein shortly after his son's conception, leaving the pregnant Cybille Phel-Nirian to raise Hadric Beyam on her own. Hadric's mother spoke seldom of his father, saying only that he was quite charming, and a witch of prodigious talent. Fortunately (or unfortunately) orphaned, Cybille Phel-Nirian was in full control of her family's estate at the time of Hadric's birth, and kept the Sheevra child secluded within her familial spire for several years. Though his mother saw to his proper tutelage in both the arcane arts and social etiquette, and foisted numerous toys and several clockwork companions upon him, the young Hadric would nevertheless spend hours staring longingly out the windows at the bustling streets below with an intense sadness in his green-gold eyes. The boy seemed to exude misery, and Cybille found herself at a loss for what to do. It would be cruel, she thought, to raise a human child in such isolation, and Cybille knew she did not fully comprehend the effect it might have on one with Sheevra blood. For bearing a child out of wedlock - and one of impure human stock at that - her name and that of her whole family would be besmirched, and indeed, her title itself might be put in jeopardy. But she loved her son, and she resolved that she could not bear to see him suffer another day. She took him by the hand and led him out into the sun. Her familiar on one arm, and her child upon the other. Hadric cheered immediately, and seemed to bask in the excitement of the city, his skin glowing brighter than it ever had before. A hundred shocked or disapproving stares and glances fell upon the masked Magistra and the Sheevra boy, but Hadric seemed to pay them no mind, and so neither did Cybille. With purpose she strode through the Azure Ward, and to the Stewards' Hall. With the unmistakable light of motherly pride lit in her eyes, she declared Hadric her true son and heir before a slack-jawed and startled clerk. The declaration would not go uncontested.

Cybille's brother - the Magister Claudius Phel-Nirian - had always desired her inheritance, and had borne a powerful envy of his elder sister's arcane talent since childhood. He saw in this the perfect opportunity to seize what was his rightful due, and placed a case before the Court. He claimed that his sister's designation of her non-human bastard child as her heir was unlawful, and furthermore that it had done grievous injury to the family's reputation. Thereby, he argued, she had demonstrated a lack of fitness to administer the family estates, and indeed, even bear her noble title. Cybille demured. While acknowledging Hadric's bastardry, she argued that - as established by precedent in no less than seventeen cases in the past century alone - the right of a legitimized bastard child to inherit had been upheld by the Court. Further, she raised question to contest Claudius's claim that Hadric was indeed non-human, and in turn accused him of slander. She had borne Hadric in her own womb, she said, and pointed out that it was common knowledge that there were no full-blooded Sheevra left on the face of the Cadaverous Earth. Thereby, Hadric's blood must in the majority be human.  The Chief-Justice himself agreed that the existing legal definitions of the distinctions of species in the Corpus Juris could not apply cleanly in this instance, and called upon the esteemed Dr. Niddeus Nival, professor of xenobiology at the Collegia Tho-Lladrim, to stand before the Court and deliver his expert opinion.

The doctor concurred with the argument of the Magistra Cybille. The boy, he said, could be judged human if his blood was so in its majority portion. Indeed, he declared, many prominent families of the city are known to carry traces of the demoniac in their blood, and by the application of sensible biology (or the law, of course) one could not designate them se'irim. And so before the Court, the Chief-Justice, and an increasingly red-faced Claudius Phel-Nirian, Dr. Nival draw a sample of young Hadric's blood and dripped it most carefully onto an alchemical paper. It puffed a puff of purple smoke, and the doctor peered at the small slip intently. "No less than seven-tenths in its proportion human, and no more than two and three-quarter tenths in its proportion of the lineage of the ancient city of Ker-Iz." he said. Chief-Justice Girauld brought down his gavel, and ordered the case dismissed, having been satisfied that the boy had been proven to meet a certain legal definition of humanity. Claudius stormed out in a rage, and mother and child returned to their home.

With Claudius's departure, life proceeded happily for some years, though Hadric was given to fits of moodiness. He eventually enrolled in the Collegia Tho-Lladrim, studying botany, xenobotany, and applied alchemy & cantrips. Hadric was an avid student, but the necessities of sleep caused him to miss lectures frequently and earned him the ire of several of his professors. However, his enthusiasm for learning was undeniable, and he seemed possessed of irrepressible drive and energy, routinely exceeding the academic achievements of his peers. It was perhaps this, in conjunction with his evident if not legal race, that encouraged his classmates in their enmity and various torments. This bullying shortly induced in Hadric another fit of profound misery, and his mother's sympathy seemed to do nothing to alleviate it. But abruptly his misery seemed to morph to determination and anger. Awaking early one afternoon feeling strangely light and joyful, he holstered his revolver, and immediately proceeded to the Tho-Lladrim campus at a trot. There, on the quad, he sought out and challenged Shenn Adrien - the son of a powerful and storied family of Magisters, and Hadric's chief tormentor - to a duel, demanding satisfaction for the many slights delivered against him. A crowd was gathering, and Shen was laughing. Hadric could tell it concealed an inner nervousness. Hadric knew Shenn couldn't refuse - the two belonged to rival shooting clubs, and Shenn made no secret of his antipathy for Hadric. Shenn seemed to hesitate for a moment, but nodded his head in assent. Seconds quickly volunteered, and a firing lane cleared. The duel commenced; ten paces, and Hadric turned, drew, and fired his revolver twice. The first round went wide, embedding itself in a nearby tree. Nonetheless, Shenn had barely put his hand on his own pistol when the second bullet struck him in the chest. The crowd fell into a stunned silence, and gradually dispersed. Hadric was briefly detained by the Watch, but was quickly release after a cursory investigation confirmed the duel had been lawful. Hadric's classmates maintained a respectful distance thereafter. Shenn recovered from his wound, but was troubled by a persistent wheeze into old age.

Then Cybille Phel-Nirian died. It was a carriage accident, they said. Consumed by a furious grief, Hadric refused to leave his rooms, moping in the darkness. He eventually dropped out of the Collegia entirely. Years passed in this way. His servants came to wake him one evening, as they always did, but he was gone. Days turned to weeks and then to months, and it seemed the Sheevra had disappeared. Hadric was declared legally dead, and Claudius gained the estate. On an unremarkable day a worn and scarred man with glowing gold-green eyes stepped off a barge in the Indigo Ward. Tall, he bore unruly locks of blonde hair. Bedecked in some kind of living coat of ever-moving flowers, he bore a razor-edged green sword crisscrossed with veins upon his shoulder, and it resembled nothing so much as an enormous leaf. Returning to a certain spire, the man found it locked up and in ill-health, its upper floors having been surgically removed. So began Hadric's odyssey to prove that he was, in fact, himself, and that he was, in fact, alive. Three years later the case remains before the courts, and Hadric finds himself wearied by the strange legal limbo he has found himself in.

Nibs

On his fifteenth birthday - as is right and proper for a young magister - Hadric summoned and bound his first and last familiar. The rigorous pomp and ceremony of the day had somehow simultaneously bored him and filled him with trepidation. Hadric had to steady his shaking hands and swallow down rising bile as he drew the summoning circle and spoke the words. His demon appeared in an unceremonious and thin wheeze of blue smoke, and resembled nothing so much as large constricting snake, save that it was covered in a rich plumage of brown feathers, and bore the shining yellow eyes of a cat. It gave its name as Nibs, and made no secret of its delight at having been summoned by 'one of the great dead city under the sea', exclaiming that it had been several milennia since it had conversed with such a being. Nibs revealed itself a cheerful and loquacious creature over the course of the following weeks, and Hadric was well-pleased by this new companionship, seeming much happier than he had seemed in several years. But a strange guilt began to gnaw at him. A memory crystallized in his mind: clutching a stuffed toy in a tiny hand, and staring out at Skein's spirescape from his bedroom window with a feeling he couldn't then describe, but now knew to be the intense longing of freedom. Seemingly without any consideration of consequence or propriety, Hadric struck the silver collar from about Nibs' neck, and unbound the spell that bound the demon to him.

Nibs stared at Hadric with a look of eminent concern writ plain upon his serpentine features, and for his part, Hadric seemed flummoxed. "Ah, young masssster, why have you done thiss?" Nibs hissed, motioning to the slack chain with the end of its tail. Hadric sputtered and gestured meekly with his hands, eventually managing to explain his reasoning. Nibs grinned a snakey grin. "I am free to choose then." it considered "Sso I choosse to stay here." Nibs answered, finality evident in its tone. The event was deemed scandalous by Skein's upper society, and even Hadric's mother made her disapproval evident. Nevertheless, the two became fast friends, and have maintained their unusual relationship over the course of years. Though Nibs comes and goes on jaunts to various Hells, he has always returned to Hadric's side, and the pair have shared several harrowing near-death experiences, which Nibs gleefully refers to as "Adventuresss'. Their bond is a bond of ages, and is stronger than any silver chain.

[Rose-of-Vellum]

Progress looks good, gents. I'll review the stat blocks as soon as possible.

[Seraph]

Ready for review
[ooc]"Mr. Nix"
Furtive male Ghul Witch 1 (Diabolism)
XP:    ; Benefits Gained:
Grit: 1
Pools (Edge): Might 7 (0), Agility 12 (1), Intellect 15 (1); Damage Track: Hale

Defenses: Gravespawn defense against disease and poison (mastery), immune to aging and death effects; AC 1
Recovery Rolls: 1d6+1   ; Rolls Left: 4

Languages: Hellspeak, Shambles
Lifestyle: Decent
Senses: See in the dark (100 ft), Perceive demons (expertise)
Skills: Witchcraft (Expertise), Demonology: perceive, identify, persuade (Expertise), Stealth (Expertise), Deceit (Expertise), Invocations of Trickery or Deceit (Expertise)

Esoteries:

• Dowse (2 Intellect points): Through a brief calling and binding ritual, Mr. Nix commands demons to scan an area equal in size to a 10-foot (1-meter) cube, including all objects or creatures within that area. The area must be within short range. Successfully dowsing a creature or object reveals its level (a measure of how powerful, dangerous, or difficult it is). He also learns whatever facts the GM feels are pertinent about the matter and energy in that area. For example, Mr. Nix might learn that the wooden box contains a device of orpiment and ivory. He might learn that a glyph-scribed glass cylinder is full of poisonous gas, and that its copper stand has a voltaic field running through it that connects to a clockwork apparatus in the floor. He might learn that the creature standing before him is a grave-spawn. However, this esotery doesn't tell him what the information means. Thus, in the first example, Mr. Nix won't know what the orpiment and ivory device does. In the second, he won't know if stepping on the floor causes the cylinder to release the gas. Many materials and eldritch fields prevent or resist dowsing. Action.
• Soul's Torment* (1 Intellect point): Mr. Nix attacks a foe by opening a miniature portal which allows Hell's demons to assault his enemy's spirit. To use this esotery, Mr. Nix must be able to see his target. This mental attack inflicts 2 points of Intellect damage (and thus ignores Armor). Some creatures without minds (such as automatons) might be immune to this variant. Action.

*Mind Strike, reflavored for Mr. Nix

Flaws:

• Carnivorous: Ghilan can only digest meat.
• Light Sensitivity: Ghilan are dazed in direct sunlight.
• The difficulty of all tasks that require swift movement, such as running, is one step higher for you.

Items:

• Eldritch Oddities:
  
  
  • Lashing Tongue: This foot-long appendage appears to be the still-living tongue of a demon.  Mr. Nix keeps it in a bag, where it worms and thrashes around eerily but ineffectually.  It is slimy, and drips saliva constantly, and it is covered in ugly boils and blisters.  Anyone who dares to put it in their mouth will instantly be able to speak Hellspeak, but can only manage to shout profanity and curses.
• Theurgic Devices:
  
  
  • The Dark Glass: The edge of this jagged shard of obsidian has been carefully engraved with glyphs of seeing.  Upon command, the glass will display an image.  "Show me ____" will always be obeyed, but the exact nature of the image is uncertain.  Everything looks smoky and slightly indistinct.  The vision lasts for one minute, and at the end, the vision fades, and the glass becomes ordinary obsidian.  The last thing you can see in it is the reflection of your eyes—No wait, who's eyes are those?  Who was watching me through this thing?  it requires an Intellect check to make it work, with the DC based on the familiarity you have with the intended target. So, gaining a glimpse of your squatter's hole would be a DC 0. Glimpsing an associate you have worked with several times might be a 1 or a 2. Asking to see a magistra you've never met might be a 5, and seeing the bottom of Abysm (if such even exists) would be a 10.
  • Glutton Worm: Mr. Nix keeps this sluglike creature in a small ivory box.  Properly known as Aerugo Larvae, the glutton worm secretes a powerful, unique acid which can dissolve inorganic material of level 3 or lower, but has no effect whatsoever on flesh or other organic matter.  The creature gobbles up the dissolved material around it, and in a matter of rounds, eats until it curls up into an ephemeral cocoon, then explodes, releasing a cloud of tiny cog-midges.  It can be used to eat through a lock, disable a clockwork device or a trap, or otherwise damage or destroy an object, but it can never be used to damage a living (or gravespawn) creature.
  • The Wailing Bottle: A bottle carved with mourning, screaming faces, the lid is stoppered up, and sealed off with clay.  If this bottle is smashed open on the ground, it releases the damned souls in torment that were trapped inside.  They instantly start to be pulled down into Hell, and they will reach, pull, and claw at a single living creature within immediate range to try and remain in this world.  Upon a successful attack, a horde of spirits assaults the target of this bottle, making all action rolls one step harder for 1d6 rounds.

Mundane Items: Voulge Chirurgeon derringer pistol (12 shots), worn spider-silk cuirass, Tricorn hat, 5 smoke powder capsules, Frock Coat (with hidden sleeve pocket), Mask, Chalk, 9' knotted measuring cord, tallow candles, matches, ornate ceremonial knife, votive silver chain, 40 coins (less the cost of the items here).

Vex: Hellhound (DC 2), Health 6, Attack: Bite 4 points of damage + Level 2 poison, Skills: Tracking (Expertise)
[/ooc]

The coat and hat look like this: The Mask looks like this:

And Vex:

[Rose-of-Vellum]

Review forthcoming. One quick question though: last we spoke, you described Mr. Nix as being a de jure squatter, a denizen of an abandoned, ruined building in Ebon Ward. Is that still the case? If so, how do you see that jiving with a Decent lifestyle?   

[Seraph]

Review forthcoming. One quick question though: last we spoke, you described Mr. Nix as being a de jure squatter, a denizen of an abandoned, ruined building in Ebon Ward. Is that still the case? If so, how do you see that jiving with a Decent lifestyle?  

You're right, that's probably more fitting of a poor lifestyle.  I was thinking decent because he might have done some upkeep to turn into something a little more comfortable than how he found it--somewhere he could still study the occult, and spend time deciphering the coded messages and spells on his body.  

And I recalled another question, regarding Ghul light-sensitivity: If they stay in the sunlight for hours at a time, do their eyes adjust and stop penalizing them, or does this last for the duration?  Wanting to know just HOW vulnerable I would be in the daytime.

[Rose-of-Vellum]

SH,

Regarding lifestyle, it all depends on how you want to spin it. Squatting in an an abandoned warehouse in the Ebon Ward would likely be indigent or poor. The difference between the two could be a matter of perceived 'legitimacy' of your occupancy of the warehouse/building. For instance, you might pay rent to a sleazy landlord or pay a similar fee to a criminal syndicate for living in their turf. A Decent lifestyle would definitely include one of the above -and include the upgrades you suggested.

Regarding ghilan light sensitivity -they remain dazed as long as they remain in direct sunlight. Thus, they do not acclimate. However, there are a variety of things that can obstruct direct sunlight. Parasols, tinted glass, beshadowed alleys, awnings, even heavy cloud-cover. Also, remember that the dazed condition in Penumbra is not the same as in D&D (i.e., you can still act, but with a one step increase in all task DCs). So it isn't that sunlight burns them -even though it does bother them. Consequently, ghilan generally avoid direct sunlight.

[Rose-of-Vellum]

[ooc=Xavier]Shrewd Male Human Rogue (Assassination) 1
XP: 0; Benefits Gained: none
Grit: 2
Pools (Edge): Might 10 (0), Agility 14 (1), Intellect 12 (0); Damage Track: Hale

Defenses: Agility (expertise), Intellect vs mental effects (expertise); AC: 0
Recovery Rolls: 1d6+1; Rolls Left: 4

Languages: Hellspeak, Shambles
Lifestyle: Decent
Senses: see
Skills: flex skill (expertise)*, crafting bombs (expertise), crafting poison (expertise), deception (expertise), disguise (mastery), stealth (expertise), identifying or assessing danger, lies, quality, importance, function, or power (expertise)

Weapons:

• Sabre (medium bladed weapon)
• Blowgun (light ranged weapon)

Tricks:  

• Pierce (1 Agility point): This is a well-aimed, penetrating ranged attack. Xavier can make an attack and inflict 1 additional point of damage if his weapon has a sharp point. Action.

• Surprise Strike: If attacking from a hidden vantage, with surprise, or before an opponent has acted, Xavier reduces the difficulty of his attack by one step. On a successful hit with this surprise attack, he inflicts 2 additional points of damage. Enabler.

Flaws:  

• Animal Enmity: For some reason, Xavier never feels quite comfortable around animals of any kind. The feeling seems to be mutual, as many common beasts become jumpy or even outright inimical when he tries to interact with them. It might simply be that the creatures are sensing his own uncertainty, or perhaps there is a more esoteric reason behind his troubles. The difficulty of any task involving interaction with animals is increased by one step.

• Trivial Ignorance: lore and knowledge (defect).

Items:

• Eldritch Oddities:  
  
  
  
  • Venomous Verses:
  • Spy's Eye:

• Theurgic Devices:
  
  
  
  • Smoke Bomb:
  • Flash Bomb:
  Mundane Possessions:
  

[/ooc]


The above is an edited version of your sheet, with minor typos and formatting problems fixed. The following issues, however, require a bit more thought and explanation:

Lifestyle: Where did you imagine he lives? In a Brass Skull's safehouse, his own terrace, or something else?

Senses: I'll cover this in my comments on items.

Skills: Remember you have a flex-skill. You can denote it with an asterisk.

Flaws: Where is you human foible? Is it animal enmity? If so, I'll ask for something more for 2 reasons. First, a foible is severe, i.e., it imposes a debility rather than a defect. Second, handling animals in a highly urban campaign isn't likely to be too relevant -unlike if we were playing in the Southern Swamps. Even then, 'normal' animals in CE are much rarer than in typical fantasy settings.
That said, feel free to keep the flaw, but you'll need something more for your foible.  

Items, however, are the only section where significant work remains.

The Verses is a rich, creative idea. However, it is a bit beyond the scope of an eldritch oddity. Namely, eldritch oddities are inherently able to affect others. I mean, yes, Bartleby could throw his bleeding trophy at someone but that's a stretch. So, if you wanted to tweak the 'item', you could have it so that when Xavier recites the poem, or a stanza from it, that his breath turns to indigo smoke that dances like a salacious sylphid or forms leering, vaporous faces. You can maintain the disorientation and orifice bleeding if you wish.

Eye: A clockwork eye is perfect for your syndicate ties. However, eldritch oddities are usually curios, not sense or skill-enhancers, and theurgic devices are temporary. So, what to do? Here's a few options:

The eye might be a miniature gaslamp globe. You can ignite the gas, creating light for some 10 minutes. After that, you would need to have the eye 'refueled'. Thus, the clockwork eye has an effect that functions as a theurgic device.

Or, I'll let you swap out a skill (e.g., crafting poison), and I'll let you instead gain the following sensory ability: unhindered by very dim illumination. Later, you could 'spend' another skill to gain ability to see in darkness up to short range. Or, you could just select sight-based perception as a skill expertise.  

Theurgic items:

Smoke bomb needs its mechanics spelled out more, namely distance, duration, and degree. As a level 1 item, I would suggest it only fills an immediate distance, and that it decreases the DC of all perception checks by 2 steps for one round, then only 1 step for the following minute. Higher level bombs could have affect bigger areas for longer durations or more severe degrees.

Same need of mechanical clarification for the flash bombs. Area, duration, etc.?

I'll also suggest snazzifying the names for the bombs a little.

Mundane Possessions -you need to pick whether you have tools to make bombs or make crafts and delineate them accordingly. Especially since you then also get to have a level 1 or 2 poison or bomb of your making.

A garrote would be a weapon (heavy).

Lockpicks are 50 pence. Attempting lockpicking tasks without them impose a hindrance.

A cheap lighter is about 10 pence. You might consider making one of your eldritch oddities function as a lighter.

Although even a plain tin or spelter pocketwatch would cost more than 1 pence, you can start with one.

[Rose-of-Vellum]

SH,

Your sheet is up next for review (as I think you are the only one otherwise done?)

Superbright,

I noted you are filling in your sheet -let me know when you're done and ready for review.

MG,

Same thing, although I'm still waiting to hear what kind of focus interests you.  Bioengineering? Dueling? Governance? Something else?

Steerpike,

Anything you need from me for your forthcoming stats?

[Rhamnousia]

How much does lyssa cost?

[Steerpike]

Steerpike,

Anything you need from me for your forthcoming stats?

Just a pocket dimension where time runs at a slower rate.  But I'm actually almost done.  Basically just oddities and items left to go, I think.

[Rose-of-Vellum]

Lyssa is 400 pence a hit. It's is one of the most expensive drugs in CE, in part because it is combination of two already eldritch substances: ghostgrass and hellmold. Consequently, feel free to change your PC's addiction is the price tag makes you leery.

As for time-slowing micro-dimensions... I definitely need one as well.