Fae
Name: Roy McDanial Look: Disheveled with laughing eyes Origin: Fae Born Age: 16 Stats: Hot 2, Cold -1, Volatile -1, Dark 1
Fae Moves:
*Faery Contract
- If someone breaks a promise or contract made to you, take a string on them. When spending a String to even out the score and get justice on a broken promise, add these options:
~ they fuck up something simple at a crucial moment
~ add 2 to your roll on an act of vengeance
~ they suffer 1 harm, whether the cause is obvious or not.
*The Wild Hunt
-When you draw upon your most feral manner, echoing the lithe movements of a cat or the voracity of a wolf, add 1 to your roll to turn someone on.
Backstory:
You wear your heart on your sleeve. Give everyone one String.
You've captured someone's fancy. Gain 2 Strings on them.
Sex Move:
When you lie naked with another, you can ask them for a promise. If they refuse, take 2 Strings on them.
Darkest Self:
Everything you say is a promise. Everything you hear is a promise. If a promise is broken, justice must be wrought in blood. To escape your Darkest Self, you must in some way re-balance the scales of justice.
Strings:
Victoria - 2
History:
Roy's history starts with his father, Connor, a young man from Ireland who caught the eye of a fickle fae. Connor was the fae's plaything for a few years, but one another caught her eye, he escaped, hoping to find freedom in America. It was not found, however, when he woke up one morning eight months later to find his former "lover" with a little baby boy. One last promise, to see Roy raised safely to adulthood in exchange for true freedom, and Connor became a single father.
Unfortunately for Roy, safe does not mean loved, and as he grew older it was clear that Conner resented him. He was safe, fed, clothed, and sheltered, but never really felt like he belonged in his own home.
Just like his mother (who he did not know and his father never spoke about) promises were of vital importance to the growing boy. It quickly became commonplace for terrible things to happen to those who broke promises made to the boy, even when he was not around. It became so common, in fact, that the small family would move cities every couple of years.
When Roy was 14, Conner McDanial married Jessica Sloan, who brought not just herself into the family but her twin daughters, Sarah and Emily, who are a couple of years younger than Roy. Added to that Roy was shipped off to the "prestigious" Brownstone Academy, a boarding school that was nowhere near home. His father had finally found a way to fulfill his promise while having Roy out of his house. While trying to come to terms with his new life at boarding school, Roy was wandering the woods near Brownstone one evening when he stumbled his way into a fairy ring. This was all the sign his mother needed to introduce herself. Learning his true heritage, Roy stopped thinking about the lucky things that happened around him and truly began learning to control the power within his blood.
For the last two years, Roy has been a moderately good student at Brownstone, averaging As and Bs in most of his classes. Living in the dorms, he and his best friend/roommate Michael are moderately popular among the student body, as Michael has the uncanny knack for getting invites to every off campus party, and Roy takes advantage of that as much as possible. However, Roy has not returned alone for his Junior year, as his rarely seen "sisters" are starting their freshman year at Brownstone.
Roy has also caught Victoria's fancy over the past two years they've been at Brownstone together, taking two strings on her. It started their freshman year, when she began to notice that no matter where she held a party and who was invited, Roy was almost always there with a crowd that, while not as large as hers, was noticeable. It was clear from how he dressed and where he went on the weekends that he wasn't rich or connected, and she probably would have dismissed him if it wasn't for all the damage that seemed to surround him. Mr Simmons, the chemistry teacher, promised to make time one afternoon for tutoring and skipped out, only to drive his car straight into the campus wall when he was leaving. Sean Laurence, a former student and football player, promised to take Roy with him into The City, and didn't. On the first play of the next game he played, Sean tore his knee so bad he can barely walk without a limp now. On and on it went, any time someone broke a promise they made to Roy, their life went bad. There was clearly power there, and power is attractive...
Lochlann has one written stanza of poetry Roy jotted down and handed to Lock's cousin Ashleigh last year. The English class they shared had paired the students up and had them write poems about each other. Roy had scribbled down a piece about how her beauty was the kind that would cause a Fairy to become enraptured with her. The girl was swooning and showing it off to all of her friends...until she showed it to Lock and he explained exactly what the Fae did to those who caught their eye. It took almost two weeks for that to blow over.
Name: Victoria Hill Skin: Queen Look: Stuck up with calculating eyes Origin: Most Popular Kid in School
Stats: Hot 2, Cold 1, Volatile -1, Dark -1
Queen Moves
The Clique
You’re at the head of the toughest, coolest, most powerful clique around. They count as a gang. Choose one of the following strengths for your gang: they’re connected (with money and designer drugs)
And Your Enemies Closer
When someone betrays you, gain a String on them.
Backstory:
Name three NPCs who are members of your gang. Gain a String on each.
Brittany, Sharron, and Tina.
You find someone threatening. Give them a String on you,
and take two Strings on them.
Sex Move
When you have sex with someone, they gain the Condition one of them. While the Condition remains, they count as part of your gang.
Darkest Self
They’ve failed you. This is all their fault, and there’s no reason why you should have to suffer the consequences
of their idiocy. You need to make an example out of each of them, a cruel and unwavering example. You escape your Darkest Self when you relinquish part of your power over to someone more deserving, or when you destroy an innocent person in order to prove your might.
Strings
Roy -1
Brittany, Sharron, and Tina-1 each
Alvarez- 2
History:
Every school has that one person whose so lucky. They have the looks, the clothes, parents with money. You know... the Easy Life. Victoria Hill is that girl at Brownstone Academy. A tall blonde with brown eyes that see through everyone. Her father works in LA as a lawyer for movie stars, her mother is an actress in a long run soap opera. So why isn't Victoria in LA? It started with a BAC three times the legal limit and stolen Lamborghini and some tight corners in those Hollywood Hills. Victoria's father barely got her out of jail and as punishment, she was shipped off to Brownstone Academy to hopefully keep her out of trouble. Not that that ever works.
Victoria is a Junior at Brownstone Academy. She's got straight As, not from hard work, but from her network of people. She throws parties at her parent's Winter Cabin, a large 8 bedroom house that Victoria and her poor housekeeper Ana currently live at. She uses her "allowance" to hook all her friends up with the best drugs and alcohol can buy. At school, her posse includes girls that follow her every word. Brittany was a nobody that Victoria claimed her Sophomore year, Sharron's father is a doctor and it's his pad that gets most of the drugs these kids love. And Tina is the newest recruit, a quiet but pretty girl who has been more of the drug mule than Victoria's friend. Each of them date only the hottest boys, talk to the more important people, and know how to push people to get their way.
Roy has also caught Victoria's fancy over the past two years they've been at Brownstone together, taking two strings on her. It started their freshman year, when she began to notice that no matter where she held a party and who was invited, Roy was almost always there with a crowd that, while not as large as hers, was noticeable. It was clear from how he dressed and where he went on the weekends that he wasn't rich or connected, and she probably would have dismissed him if it wasn't for all the damage that seemed to surround him. Mr Simmons, the chemistry teacher, promised to make time one afternoon for tutoring and skipped out, only to drive his car straight into the campus wall when he was leaving. Sean Laurence, a former student and football player, promised to take Roy with him into The City, and didn't. On the first play of the next game he played, Sean tore his knee so bad he can barely walk without a limp now. On and on it went, any time someone broke a promise they made to Roy, their life went bad. There was clearly power there, and power is attractive...
While it's hard to catch Victoria's attention long, unless you are connected to something she wants, Alvarez has seem to done it. But it's not that (s)he* has the looks or the money, it's that (s)he creepy as fuck. Alvarez seems to always been watching Victoria when she's in the school. The asshole was even at her parties, but no one seems to remember seeing him/her. Whoever Alvarez is, Victoria just want someone to deal with that creepy shit.
*The post for Alvarez is so vague on who Alvarez is that I can't tell if its a he or she.
[Will add more once other players start coming forth and we do strings.]
If y'all would take one final look at the Druid and say 'aye.' I tried to clean up Darkest Self to make it clear the Druid has no real control unless/until they meet the conditions. I replaced Folaigh with Geasa - the target must perform a requested task that cannot be particularly dangerous or give the Druid a String. My mind has these Geasa as minor things. Like "do my homework for me" or "be nice to Victoria." Stuff that doesn't have a huge impact on their affairs...most of the time.
The whole idea of the Druid hex set is to encourage others to take action (arguably to 'restore the balance' -- which means whatever the Druid perceives to be the current imbalance should be addressed -- this is key; my character's perceptions are going to matter a lot in the whole balance equation, so I'll talk a lot about their formative experiences). I'm not sure how specifically I should word it because the Witch hexes aren't all that specific.
I've got some story hooks in mind, and need to flip a coin for gender.
Druid
Name: Lochlann "Lock" O'Shaughnessy Look: Gregarious with stormy eyes Origin: Eire-born Age: 16 Stats: Hot -1, Cold -1, Volatile 2, Dark 1
Druid Moves:
● Sympathetic Tokens: used to facilitate Hex-Casting without needing to utilize poetry
● Hex-Casting: like a Witch, but different; without a Sympathetic Token the Druid has to use poetry to effect a hex
○ Ceangal - the Druid adds 1 to rolls involving the target of the hex
○ Faire - allows remote viewing of a person, place, or thing; the Druid slumbers while afaire
● Most Dangerous Game: when you roll to turn someone on, roll with volatile.
Backstory:
You start with two sympathetic tokens; determine whose and what they are. One of the others caught you engaged in a ritual, but stayed quiet. They get a string on you.
Sex Move:
After sex, you can take a sympathetic token from them. They know about it, and it’s cool.
Darkest Self:
Everything has fallen out of balance, and so you must become a monster to make things right. Blood must be shed until the Earth has had her fill. Your skin writhes until the monstrous catamount is freed, ready to stalk the unsuspecting trespassers. You escape your Darkest Self when you wound someone you really care about or you have fed Earth and she lies sated in the embrace of the sun, whichever comes first.
History:
Born in a small town deep in County Monaghan, but raised in Dublin, Lochlann O'Shaughnessy grew up rambunctious and grinning, like most Irish boys. He favored Hurling and Rugby growing up, but was always a mediocre athlete. His mother, a Druid of no small ability and renowned for her sagacious nature noted that in all her life her only mistake was Lochlann's father. Roger O'Shaughnessy was a perpetually drunk longshoreman who, on the days he could manage to get himself to the wharfs, rarely managed to collect a full day's pay. His penchant for fisticuffs was nearly as legendary as his ability to taking a beating.
For a long time Lochlann was only vaguely aware most people thought his father trash. But when Lochlann was eleven and his mother happened to be out, doing some herbalism and healing for the neighbors, Roger O'Shaughnessy came home roaring drunk and pissed at having lost another fight. He tore into Lochlann and nearly killed the boy. When he came to in the hospital Lochlann's mother was there and said "Well, we've had about enough of your old man, aye." Lochlann had no idea what that meant, but when he was ready to leave the hospital his mother took him to his grandmother's house and began training the boy in Druidism.
Lochlann was a quick study, the rage at his father's failings fueling a prodigious rate of learning. When he was nearly thirteen Roger O'Shaughnessy figured out where they were and demanded the return of his son. Drunk and in a rage, he began to throw heavy punches at Lochlann's mother. That was the first time Lochlann released the monster inside. The monstrous feline leapt out of the house and mauled Roger O'Shaughnessy to death in broad daylight, slinking out of sight over a hill and "vanishing into thin air," according to locals who'd observed the whole thing. Most attributed it to other supernatural creatures or works. Lochlann's mother, on the other hand, was genuinely horrified and made plans to send Lochlann to live with her sister in Washington State, where he could explore Druidism without interference and little danger to others.
Lochlann's aunt, Kiera Tate, instead sent Lochlann off to Brownstone with his cousins, Ashleigh and Rourke Tate. Lochlann O'Shaughnessy has built a school career off of being "that Irish boy." The wheat blonde hair, stormy eyes, soft lilt, and penchant for poetry make him a perennial favorite with girls.
Strings: Grace holds one of Lochlann's strings. She caught him alone one evening out in the woods behind Brownstone. Lochlann was stripped down to a pair of Umbro soccer shorts and lay supine upon the ground, murmuring softly to himself -- poetry, perhaps? -- as he was enveloped by a magic that, to Grace, smelled like a welcoming embrace, felt like the soothing crash of breakers on a remote beach, and sounded like being full of food.
Grace
Striking, Hungry Eyes
Disturbed
Hot -1, Cold 2, Volatile 1, Dark -1
Backstory
Someone reminded you what love was, when you thought that death had stolen it away from you forever.
Give them 2 Strings.
Did anyone watch you die, or watch you come back to life? If so, you both gain 2 Strings on each other.
Ghoul Moves
The Hunger
You have a Hunger for: flesh
When you heedlessly pursue a Hunger, add 1 to rolls. When you ignore a feeding opportunity, roll to hold steady.
Disaffected
When you turn someone on, roll with cold.
Ending
You remember how you died. When you tell someone about it, give them the Condition morbid, and roll to turn them on.
How I got here. Warning, it's... well, I'd say it's not for the faint of heart, but I don't have one anymore. So my perspective on that is sorta skewed, you know?
Zachary and I were high school sweethearts. I asked him to the Sadie Hawkins dance - he had the most beautiful soft brown eyes - and he said yes! He drove us, my dress matched my eyes, everything was perfect. The year flew by like I was in some sort of storybook romance... flowers in my locker, poetry, chocolates. We would talk late into the night, about how I would go the same college he did, follow him anywhere, holding hands and staring up into the starry night sky.
My friends thought he was weird. I thought they were jealous. I was dating a senior, and they weren't. I even got to go to Prom!
I didn't think my life could get any better that night. We had dinner at a fancy restaurant, a lovely desert - they set it on fire when they brought it to us! - and danced the whole night through at Prom. When the final song came on, he held me close, and I whispered in his ear: "I wish this night would never end."
My heart melted at his next words: "It doesn't have to."
I lied to mom about where I was going, asked Anna to cover for me. He drove us to a quiet spot, under the moonlight. We got in the back seat, and I leaned in to kiss him. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a knife. I didn't know what was happening at first, it just hurt. He stabbed me again, and again, and again. I couldn't even beg him to stop, I couldn't make any words, blood bubbled out of my mouth and I just sort of wheezed... and then... then I was looking at my heart.
He hung me up by my ankles and slit my throat. Left me there for an hour while he unpacked stuff from his trunk. I didn't think that death would be like this... mom was a Christian, I thought I'd go be judged by St. Peter and... whatever. It didn't happen, so all of that stuff was a lie anyway.
He did... things. My brain hurts when I think about it. There was a circle, and blood, and candles. And... parts of me. He said some words that didn't make any sense, and then cut me down, and, and...
I did wind up going to college with him, just not how I expected. He kept me in the closet, joked with his friends that I was the "latest model". Didn't even lock the door.
He got tired of me eventually. Put me back in the trunk, and drove back to the woods where he had killed me. He was still wearing his graduation cap and gown when he started digging my grave. I think it was the same place... with the circle and the candles?... but it hurts to think about.
The last thing I saw before he shoveled dirt over my face was a smile, and his soft brown eyes.
I don't know how long I was down there. But eventually... I just got up. I'm not sure how, or why... but I was hungry. So, so hungry. Like all those years I was... like I needed about twenty thousand burgers and just as many chocolate malts to wash them down. I ate everything I could find, and nothing helped. Not until this one boy I found. Soft, brown eyes. After him... I wasn't hungry anymore. Not at first. And then, bit by bit, it comes crawling back up, and I start thinking about soft, brown eyes.
I don't stay in one place much, just sort of walk. I didn't have a destination at first, not that I knew of. But it turns out I'm drawn here. Specifically, here. Like there's something I'm supposed to do, or like... like someone's calling my name, you know? But I can't hear it or anything. I just... know. He's here.
Strings I Have
Roy 1 (Roy is unsubtle)
Lock 1 (Caught Lock communing with the Earth)
Alvarez 3 (Watched me come back to life, watched them phase through a wall)
Strings on Me
Alvarez 2 (Watched me come back to life)
Victoria 2 (Those brown eyes...)
Ghost
Alvarez
Distant, dull eyed, died a confused death.
Hot -1, Cold 1, Volatile -1, Dark 2
-Unresolved Trauma
Whenever you project the blame and trauma of your death onto your current situation, roll with dark. On a 10 up, give two people the blamed condition. On a 7-9, give up to two people the blamed condition, but for each, choose one:
} You gain the delusional condition, } You can’t speak during this scene, } You suffer one harm, } You start re-enacting the scene of your death.
-Dissipate
You can walk through walls.
-Hungry Ghost
You find sustenance in sadness. When others dump their emotional problems on you, roll with dark. On a 10 up, they lose all their conditions, and you choose one: } Mark experience, } Carry one forward, } Gain a String on them On a 7-9, they choose one: } They lose all their conditions, } They gain a String on you.
Strings:
2 Me->Grace, I watched her come back to life
1 Me->Victoria, I've been in her room while she slept
A light.
Pain.
A thud? Bang? Maybe?
Screaming.
Creeping fear.
Laughter.
I play the events of that night (day?) backwards in my mind.
None of it makes sense. Nothing adds up, subtracts down or multiplies out.
I woke up in my room. Scratch that. This is definitely not my room. There's no ironic Dark Side of the Moon poster, for one...
Grace was there. Maybe she knows what's what.
Alvarez is always wearing a hoodie, in the back of every class, and smoking just outside of every door. Almost perpetually silent, you've never heard them speak up in class, except that one time in Fine Art.
You remember. Suspension for two weeks after that stunt, except you can't send anyone home. In uniform, 24/7, no visiting other boarding houses, had to check in with a teacher on duty every hour on the hour.
A good person to bum smokes off, but otherwise? Typical punk asshole student.
Cool, that all looks good! Now everyone will need to go around and fill out their backstories, giving and receiving strings. We'll go in the order you posted your characters, so @AspectVoid, you're first.
Everyone gets a string on Roy. Subtlety and hiding emotions are not something he does at all. He's probably the worst poker player at school, but he's completely approachable which makes it one of the things that makes him popular among the students.
Roy has also caught Victoria's fancy over the past two years they've been at Brownstone together, taking two strings on her. It started their freshman year, when she began to notice that no matter where she held a party and who was invited, Roy was almost always there with a crowd that, while not as large as hers, was noticeable. It was clear from how he dressed and where he went on the weekends that he wasn't rich or connected, and she probably would have dismissed him if it wasn't for all the damage that seemed to surround him. Mr Simmons, the chemistry teacher, promised to make time one afternoon for tutoring and skipped out, only to drive his car straight into the campus wall when he was leaving. Sean Laurence, a former student and football player, promised to take Roy with him into The City, and didn't. On the first play of the next game he played, Sean tore his knee so bad he can barely walk without a limp now. On and on it went, any time someone broke a promise they made to Roy, their life went bad. There was clearly power there, and power is attractive...
Victoria has one string on her posse, Brittany, Shannon, and Tina. They follow Victoria everywhere, the four of them are hardly seen alone, and if you wish to speak or deal with Victoria, you normally have to talk to one of them.
While it's hard to catch Victoria's attention long, unless you are connected to something she wants, Alvarez has seem to done it. But it's not that (s)he* has the looks or the money, it's that (s)he creepy as fuck. Alvarez seems to always been watching Victoria when she's in the school. The asshole was even at her parties, but no one seems to remember seeing him/her. Whoever Alvarez is, Victoria just want someone to deal with that creepy shit.
*The post for Alvarez is so vague on who Alvarez is that I can't tell if its a he or she.
Lock has Sympathetic Tokens from Victoria and Roy. He's come into possession of one of Victoria's favorite hair scrunchies (he won it at an auction held in the boys' dorm). He also has one written stanza of poetry Roy jotted down and handed to Ashleigh last year (she later gave it to Lock, asking the Irish poet to interpret its meaning -- suffice it to say she did not like Lock's take).
Grace caught Lock communing with Earth, naked save for a pair of soccer shorts, wrapped up in a magic that feels at once welcoming but with a hint of the wild sea that seemed out of place here at Brownstone. She therefore has a String on the young Druid.
When Grace first came to Brownstone, she noticed Victoria. How could she not, right? Victoria's everybody's darling, even when she's not. But it wasn't the looks, the clothes, or the money that caught Grace's attention. It was Victoria's eyes, those soft, brown eyes so much like Zachary's. Watching everyone fawn over Victoria, it's hard not to be reminded of just how much Grace thought she loved Zachary before... well, before he killed her.
The week after she first arrived at Brownstone, Grace was hit by a drunk driver. The guy probably thought he hit a deer, or he was too scared to come back and check, but he left Grace quite alone on the side of the road where he had hit her. Grace, of course, just picked herself back up and was about to keep on walking when she realized she wasn't alone. But it wasn't the guy who hit her - it was Alvarez.
(Grace doesn't have Short Rest for the Wicked, but I thought that made more sense to the story. If that's not groovy, here's an alternative.)
Alvarez watched Grace dig herself out of the shallow grave in which Zachary had left her. She didn't have any idea who they were, and Grace didn't try to explain herself. She just walked off. Finding Alvarez haunting the halls at Brownstone was a shock, but Grace didn't let it show. She just nodded like running into them again was the most natural thing in the world.
I don't care about much. NOFX. Rage Against the Machine. That lucky zippo dad gave me.
So what was it about Victoria?
Wasn't money. Doesn't buy authenticity or sense. Besides, mom had enough of that to exile her only child here.
Wasn't the looks. Couldn't give fewer shits about that.
There's just a compulsion. A pack of smokes saw a window left open, and a bit of tape on some internal doors left the rest of the way clear. Definitely a thrill, sneaking in to the dorm of this rich little...
Almost looks peaceful sleeping there. Still. There's something sinister bubbling just under her skin.
One string: Alvarez on Victoria. Grace and Al are pretty good at catching each other in a compromising situation, it seems.
Having picked her up off the side of the road, watching her pop her arm back in its socket, it was plainly obvious Grace was no ordinary student.
Cool.
So Alvarez wasn't especially concerned when Grace walked in to the ladies' room to find them halfway through a wall.
She seemed unphased, but being halfway through a mirror tends to be remembered.
@jdarksun, it sounds like your character just kinda hangs around the school. Are you a known quantity socially? Do you attend class? Know people? Or maybe you're the subject of a new rumour around school, of a girl seen wandering the woods at night? Also, your first history with Alvarez is fine.
I've got a layout of your homeroom class. Everyone, tell me where you sit in class. (Or if you don't) We'll then fill out the rest of the class.
Regarding OOC talk, let's keep it in spoilers to keep things uncluttered.
@jdarksun, it sounds like your character just kinda hangs around the school. Are you a known quantity socially? Do you attend class? Know people? Or maybe you're the subject of a new rumour around school, of a girl seen wandering the woods at night?
Grace had... well, let's call it a slip up, and ate a girl attending school here. Grace didn't exactly finish school the first time around, so she decided to just fill in for the girl she accidentally killed and attends classes in her place. She's effectively taken over that girl's life at this point. Hopefully mom and dad doesn't drop by for a surprise visit.
I certainly hope not, but I was at GenCon last week, so I was perfectly happy with nothing happening then. Now that I've recovered, though, I really want to play this.
I certainly hope not, but I was at GenCon last week, so I was perfectly happy with nothing happening then. Now that I've recovered, though, I really want to play this.
Away on work business this week, then got a wedding this upcoming weekend, so I probably won't start this week. I'll try to get all of my stuff together in the next couple of days, and get everything ready to go for the beginning of next week.
Spoilering this because its OOC... does anyone know how I can get the set of second skins from the kickstarter?? They released this, "The Skins will become available for public purchase in the Autumn of 2014, with select material from the wider project available for purchase after." and there's apparently Unicorns and etc.. and I really want to give them my money!! But howww?? Thanks!!
Posts
Fae
Name: Roy McDanial
Look: Disheveled with laughing eyes
Origin: Fae Born
Age: 16
Stats: Hot 2, Cold -1, Volatile -1, Dark 1
Fae Moves:
*Faery Contract
- If someone breaks a promise or contract made to you, take a string on them. When spending a String to even out the score and get justice on a broken promise, add these options:
~ they fuck up something simple at a crucial moment
~ add 2 to your roll on an act of vengeance
~ they suffer 1 harm, whether the cause is obvious or not.
*The Wild Hunt
-When you draw upon your most feral manner, echoing the lithe movements of a cat or the voracity of a wolf, add 1 to your roll to turn someone on.
Backstory:
You wear your heart on your sleeve. Give everyone one String.
You've captured someone's fancy. Gain 2 Strings on them.
Sex Move:
When you lie naked with another, you can ask them for a promise. If they refuse, take 2 Strings on them.
Darkest Self:
Everything you say is a promise. Everything you hear is a promise. If a promise is broken, justice must be wrought in blood. To escape your Darkest Self, you must in some way re-balance the scales of justice.
Strings:
Victoria - 2
History:
Roy's history starts with his father, Connor, a young man from Ireland who caught the eye of a fickle fae. Connor was the fae's plaything for a few years, but one another caught her eye, he escaped, hoping to find freedom in America. It was not found, however, when he woke up one morning eight months later to find his former "lover" with a little baby boy. One last promise, to see Roy raised safely to adulthood in exchange for true freedom, and Connor became a single father.
Unfortunately for Roy, safe does not mean loved, and as he grew older it was clear that Conner resented him. He was safe, fed, clothed, and sheltered, but never really felt like he belonged in his own home.
Just like his mother (who he did not know and his father never spoke about) promises were of vital importance to the growing boy. It quickly became commonplace for terrible things to happen to those who broke promises made to the boy, even when he was not around. It became so common, in fact, that the small family would move cities every couple of years.
When Roy was 14, Conner McDanial married Jessica Sloan, who brought not just herself into the family but her twin daughters, Sarah and Emily, who are a couple of years younger than Roy. Added to that Roy was shipped off to the "prestigious" Brownstone Academy, a boarding school that was nowhere near home. His father had finally found a way to fulfill his promise while having Roy out of his house. While trying to come to terms with his new life at boarding school, Roy was wandering the woods near Brownstone one evening when he stumbled his way into a fairy ring. This was all the sign his mother needed to introduce herself. Learning his true heritage, Roy stopped thinking about the lucky things that happened around him and truly began learning to control the power within his blood.
For the last two years, Roy has been a moderately good student at Brownstone, averaging As and Bs in most of his classes. Living in the dorms, he and his best friend/roommate Michael are moderately popular among the student body, as Michael has the uncanny knack for getting invites to every off campus party, and Roy takes advantage of that as much as possible. However, Roy has not returned alone for his Junior year, as his rarely seen "sisters" are starting their freshman year at Brownstone.
Roy has also caught Victoria's fancy over the past two years they've been at Brownstone together, taking two strings on her. It started their freshman year, when she began to notice that no matter where she held a party and who was invited, Roy was almost always there with a crowd that, while not as large as hers, was noticeable. It was clear from how he dressed and where he went on the weekends that he wasn't rich or connected, and she probably would have dismissed him if it wasn't for all the damage that seemed to surround him. Mr Simmons, the chemistry teacher, promised to make time one afternoon for tutoring and skipped out, only to drive his car straight into the campus wall when he was leaving. Sean Laurence, a former student and football player, promised to take Roy with him into The City, and didn't. On the first play of the next game he played, Sean tore his knee so bad he can barely walk without a limp now. On and on it went, any time someone broke a promise they made to Roy, their life went bad. There was clearly power there, and power is attractive...
Lochlann has one written stanza of poetry Roy jotted down and handed to Lock's cousin Ashleigh last year. The English class they shared had paired the students up and had them write poems about each other. Roy had scribbled down a piece about how her beauty was the kind that would cause a Fairy to become enraptured with her. The girl was swooning and showing it off to all of her friends...until she showed it to Lock and he explained exactly what the Fae did to those who caught their eye. It took almost two weeks for that to blow over.
Skin: Queen
Look: Stuck up with calculating eyes
Origin: Most Popular Kid in School
Stats: Hot 2, Cold 1, Volatile -1, Dark -1
Queen Moves
The Clique
You’re at the head of the toughest, coolest, most powerful clique around. They count as a gang. Choose one of the following strengths for your gang: they’re connected (with money and designer drugs)
And Your Enemies Closer
When someone betrays you, gain a String on them.
Backstory:
Name three NPCs who are members of your gang. Gain a String on each.
Brittany, Sharron, and Tina.
You find someone threatening. Give them a String on you,
and take two Strings on them.
Sex Move
When you have sex with someone, they gain the Condition one of them. While the Condition remains, they count as part of your gang.
Darkest Self
They’ve failed you. This is all their fault, and there’s no reason why you should have to suffer the consequences
of their idiocy. You need to make an example out of each of them, a cruel and unwavering example. You escape your Darkest Self when you relinquish part of your power over to someone more deserving, or when you destroy an innocent person in order to prove your might.
Strings
Roy -1
Brittany, Sharron, and Tina-1 each
Alvarez- 2
History:
Every school has that one person whose so lucky. They have the looks, the clothes, parents with money. You know... the Easy Life. Victoria Hill is that girl at Brownstone Academy. A tall blonde with brown eyes that see through everyone. Her father works in LA as a lawyer for movie stars, her mother is an actress in a long run soap opera. So why isn't Victoria in LA? It started with a BAC three times the legal limit and stolen Lamborghini and some tight corners in those Hollywood Hills. Victoria's father barely got her out of jail and as punishment, she was shipped off to Brownstone Academy to hopefully keep her out of trouble. Not that that ever works.
Victoria is a Junior at Brownstone Academy. She's got straight As, not from hard work, but from her network of people. She throws parties at her parent's Winter Cabin, a large 8 bedroom house that Victoria and her poor housekeeper Ana currently live at. She uses her "allowance" to hook all her friends up with the best drugs and alcohol can buy. At school, her posse includes girls that follow her every word. Brittany was a nobody that Victoria claimed her Sophomore year, Sharron's father is a doctor and it's his pad that gets most of the drugs these kids love. And Tina is the newest recruit, a quiet but pretty girl who has been more of the drug mule than Victoria's friend. Each of them date only the hottest boys, talk to the more important people, and know how to push people to get their way.
Roy has also caught Victoria's fancy over the past two years they've been at Brownstone together, taking two strings on her. It started their freshman year, when she began to notice that no matter where she held a party and who was invited, Roy was almost always there with a crowd that, while not as large as hers, was noticeable. It was clear from how he dressed and where he went on the weekends that he wasn't rich or connected, and she probably would have dismissed him if it wasn't for all the damage that seemed to surround him. Mr Simmons, the chemistry teacher, promised to make time one afternoon for tutoring and skipped out, only to drive his car straight into the campus wall when he was leaving. Sean Laurence, a former student and football player, promised to take Roy with him into The City, and didn't. On the first play of the next game he played, Sean tore his knee so bad he can barely walk without a limp now. On and on it went, any time someone broke a promise they made to Roy, their life went bad. There was clearly power there, and power is attractive...
While it's hard to catch Victoria's attention long, unless you are connected to something she wants, Alvarez has seem to done it. But it's not that (s)he* has the looks or the money, it's that (s)he creepy as fuck. Alvarez seems to always been watching Victoria when she's in the school. The asshole was even at her parties, but no one seems to remember seeing him/her. Whoever Alvarez is, Victoria just want someone to deal with that creepy shit.
*The post for Alvarez is so vague on who Alvarez is that I can't tell if its a he or she.
[Will add more once other players start coming forth and we do strings.]
The whole idea of the Druid hex set is to encourage others to take action (arguably to 'restore the balance' -- which means whatever the Druid perceives to be the current imbalance should be addressed -- this is key; my character's perceptions are going to matter a lot in the whole balance equation, so I'll talk a lot about their formative experiences). I'm not sure how specifically I should word it because the Witch hexes aren't all that specific.
I've got some story hooks in mind, and need to flip a coin for gender.
Name: Lochlann "Lock" O'Shaughnessy
Look: Gregarious with stormy eyes
Origin: Eire-born
Age: 16
Stats: Hot -1, Cold -1, Volatile 2, Dark 1
Druid Moves:
● Sympathetic Tokens: used to facilitate Hex-Casting without needing to utilize poetry
● Hex-Casting: like a Witch, but different; without a Sympathetic Token the Druid has to use poetry to effect a hex
○ Ceangal - the Druid adds 1 to rolls involving the target of the hex
○ Faire - allows remote viewing of a person, place, or thing; the Druid slumbers while afaire
● Most Dangerous Game: when you roll to turn someone on, roll with volatile.
Backstory:
You start with two sympathetic tokens; determine whose and what they are. One of the others caught you engaged in a ritual, but stayed quiet. They get a string on you.
Sex Move:
After sex, you can take a sympathetic token from them. They know about it, and it’s cool.
Darkest Self:
Everything has fallen out of balance, and so you must become a monster to make things right. Blood must be shed until the Earth has had her fill. Your skin writhes until the monstrous catamount is freed, ready to stalk the unsuspecting trespassers. You escape your Darkest Self when you wound someone you really care about or you have fed Earth and she lies sated in the embrace of the sun, whichever comes first.
History:
Born in a small town deep in County Monaghan, but raised in Dublin, Lochlann O'Shaughnessy grew up rambunctious and grinning, like most Irish boys. He favored Hurling and Rugby growing up, but was always a mediocre athlete. His mother, a Druid of no small ability and renowned for her sagacious nature noted that in all her life her only mistake was Lochlann's father. Roger O'Shaughnessy was a perpetually drunk longshoreman who, on the days he could manage to get himself to the wharfs, rarely managed to collect a full day's pay. His penchant for fisticuffs was nearly as legendary as his ability to taking a beating.
For a long time Lochlann was only vaguely aware most people thought his father trash. But when Lochlann was eleven and his mother happened to be out, doing some herbalism and healing for the neighbors, Roger O'Shaughnessy came home roaring drunk and pissed at having lost another fight. He tore into Lochlann and nearly killed the boy. When he came to in the hospital Lochlann's mother was there and said "Well, we've had about enough of your old man, aye." Lochlann had no idea what that meant, but when he was ready to leave the hospital his mother took him to his grandmother's house and began training the boy in Druidism.
Lochlann was a quick study, the rage at his father's failings fueling a prodigious rate of learning. When he was nearly thirteen Roger O'Shaughnessy figured out where they were and demanded the return of his son. Drunk and in a rage, he began to throw heavy punches at Lochlann's mother. That was the first time Lochlann released the monster inside. The monstrous feline leapt out of the house and mauled Roger O'Shaughnessy to death in broad daylight, slinking out of sight over a hill and "vanishing into thin air," according to locals who'd observed the whole thing. Most attributed it to other supernatural creatures or works. Lochlann's mother, on the other hand, was genuinely horrified and made plans to send Lochlann to live with her sister in Washington State, where he could explore Druidism without interference and little danger to others.
Lochlann's aunt, Kiera Tate, instead sent Lochlann off to Brownstone with his cousins, Ashleigh and Rourke Tate. Lochlann O'Shaughnessy has built a school career off of being "that Irish boy." The wheat blonde hair, stormy eyes, soft lilt, and penchant for poetry make him a perennial favorite with girls.
Strings:
Grace holds one of Lochlann's strings. She caught him alone one evening out in the woods behind Brownstone. Lochlann was stripped down to a pair of Umbro soccer shorts and lay supine upon the ground, murmuring softly to himself -- poetry, perhaps? -- as he was enveloped by a magic that, to Grace, smelled like a welcoming embrace, felt like the soothing crash of breakers on a remote beach, and sounded like being full of food.
Striking, Hungry Eyes
Disturbed
Hot -1, Cold 2, Volatile 1, Dark -1
Backstory
Someone reminded you what love was, when you thought that death had stolen it away from you forever.
Give them 2 Strings.
Did anyone watch you die, or watch you come back to life? If so, you both gain 2 Strings on each other.
Ghoul Moves
The Hunger
You have a Hunger for: flesh
When you heedlessly pursue a Hunger, add 1 to rolls. When you ignore a feeding opportunity, roll to hold steady.
Disaffected
When you turn someone on, roll with cold.
Ending
You remember how you died. When you tell someone about it, give them the Condition morbid, and roll to turn them on.
How I got here. Warning, it's... well, I'd say it's not for the faint of heart, but I don't have one anymore. So my perspective on that is sorta skewed, you know?
My friends thought he was weird. I thought they were jealous. I was dating a senior, and they weren't. I even got to go to Prom!
I didn't think my life could get any better that night. We had dinner at a fancy restaurant, a lovely desert - they set it on fire when they brought it to us! - and danced the whole night through at Prom. When the final song came on, he held me close, and I whispered in his ear: "I wish this night would never end."
My heart melted at his next words: "It doesn't have to."
I lied to mom about where I was going, asked Anna to cover for me. He drove us to a quiet spot, under the moonlight. We got in the back seat, and I leaned in to kiss him. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a knife. I didn't know what was happening at first, it just hurt. He stabbed me again, and again, and again. I couldn't even beg him to stop, I couldn't make any words, blood bubbled out of my mouth and I just sort of wheezed... and then... then I was looking at my heart.
He hung me up by my ankles and slit my throat. Left me there for an hour while he unpacked stuff from his trunk. I didn't think that death would be like this... mom was a Christian, I thought I'd go be judged by St. Peter and... whatever. It didn't happen, so all of that stuff was a lie anyway.
He did... things. My brain hurts when I think about it. There was a circle, and blood, and candles. And... parts of me. He said some words that didn't make any sense, and then cut me down, and, and...
I did wind up going to college with him, just not how I expected. He kept me in the closet, joked with his friends that I was the "latest model". Didn't even lock the door.
He got tired of me eventually. Put me back in the trunk, and drove back to the woods where he had killed me. He was still wearing his graduation cap and gown when he started digging my grave. I think it was the same place... with the circle and the candles?... but it hurts to think about.
The last thing I saw before he shoveled dirt over my face was a smile, and his soft brown eyes.
I don't know how long I was down there. But eventually... I just got up. I'm not sure how, or why... but I was hungry. So, so hungry. Like all those years I was... like I needed about twenty thousand burgers and just as many chocolate malts to wash them down. I ate everything I could find, and nothing helped. Not until this one boy I found. Soft, brown eyes. After him... I wasn't hungry anymore. Not at first. And then, bit by bit, it comes crawling back up, and I start thinking about soft, brown eyes.
I don't stay in one place much, just sort of walk. I didn't have a destination at first, not that I knew of. But it turns out I'm drawn here. Specifically, here. Like there's something I'm supposed to do, or like... like someone's calling my name, you know? But I can't hear it or anything. I just... know. He's here.
Strings I Have
Roy 1 (Roy is unsubtle)
Lock 1 (Caught Lock communing with the Earth)
Alvarez 3 (Watched me come back to life, watched them phase through a wall)
Strings on Me
Alvarez 2 (Watched me come back to life)
Victoria 2 (Those brown eyes...)
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Alvarez
Distant, dull eyed, died a confused death.
Hot -1, Cold 1, Volatile -1, Dark 2
-Unresolved Trauma
Whenever you project the blame and trauma of your death onto your current situation, roll with dark.
On a 10 up, give two people the blamed condition.
On a 7-9, give up to two people the blamed condition, but for each, choose one:
} You gain the delusional condition, } You can’t speak during this scene, } You suffer one harm, } You start re-enacting the scene of your death.
-Dissipate
You can walk through walls.
-Hungry Ghost
You find sustenance in sadness. When others dump their emotional problems on you, roll with dark.
On a 10 up, they lose all their conditions, and you choose one: } Mark experience, } Carry one forward, } Gain a String on them
On a 7-9, they choose one: } They lose all their conditions, } They gain a String on you.
Strings:
2 Me->Grace, I watched her come back to life
1 Me->Victoria, I've been in her room while she slept
A light.
Pain.
A thud? Bang? Maybe?
Screaming.
Creeping fear.
Laughter.
I play the events of that night (day?) backwards in my mind.
None of it makes sense. Nothing adds up, subtracts down or multiplies out.
I woke up in my room. Scratch that. This is definitely not my room. There's no ironic Dark Side of the Moon poster, for one...
Grace was there. Maybe she knows what's what.
Alvarez is always wearing a hoodie, in the back of every class, and smoking just outside of every door. Almost perpetually silent, you've never heard them speak up in class, except that one time in Fine Art.
You remember. Suspension for two weeks after that stunt, except you can't send anyone home. In uniform, 24/7, no visiting other boarding houses, had to check in with a teacher on duty every hour on the hour.
A good person to bum smokes off, but otherwise? Typical punk asshole student.
Everyone gets a string on Roy. Subtlety and hiding emotions are not something he does at all. He's probably the worst poker player at school, but he's completely approachable which makes it one of the things that makes him popular among the students.
Roy has also caught Victoria's fancy over the past two years they've been at Brownstone together, taking two strings on her. It started their freshman year, when she began to notice that no matter where she held a party and who was invited, Roy was almost always there with a crowd that, while not as large as hers, was noticeable. It was clear from how he dressed and where he went on the weekends that he wasn't rich or connected, and she probably would have dismissed him if it wasn't for all the damage that seemed to surround him. Mr Simmons, the chemistry teacher, promised to make time one afternoon for tutoring and skipped out, only to drive his car straight into the campus wall when he was leaving. Sean Laurence, a former student and football player, promised to take Roy with him into The City, and didn't. On the first play of the next game he played, Sean tore his knee so bad he can barely walk without a limp now. On and on it went, any time someone broke a promise they made to Roy, their life went bad. There was clearly power there, and power is attractive...
While it's hard to catch Victoria's attention long, unless you are connected to something she wants, Alvarez has seem to done it. But it's not that (s)he* has the looks or the money, it's that (s)he creepy as fuck. Alvarez seems to always been watching Victoria when she's in the school. The asshole was even at her parties, but no one seems to remember seeing him/her. Whoever Alvarez is, Victoria just want someone to deal with that creepy shit.
*The post for Alvarez is so vague on who Alvarez is that I can't tell if its a he or she.
Grace caught Lock communing with Earth, naked save for a pair of soccer shorts, wrapped up in a magic that feels at once welcoming but with a hint of the wild sea that seemed out of place here at Brownstone. She therefore has a String on the young Druid.
The week after she first arrived at Brownstone, Grace was hit by a drunk driver. The guy probably thought he hit a deer, or he was too scared to come back and check, but he left Grace quite alone on the side of the road where he had hit her. Grace, of course, just picked herself back up and was about to keep on walking when she realized she wasn't alone. But it wasn't the guy who hit her - it was Alvarez.
(Grace doesn't have Short Rest for the Wicked, but I thought that made more sense to the story. If that's not groovy, here's an alternative.)
Alvarez watched Grace dig herself out of the shallow grave in which Zachary had left her. She didn't have any idea who they were, and Grace didn't try to explain herself. She just walked off. Finding Alvarez haunting the halls at Brownstone was a shock, but Grace didn't let it show. She just nodded like running into them again was the most natural thing in the world.
@Oats to bring us home
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
So what was it about Victoria?
Wasn't money. Doesn't buy authenticity or sense. Besides, mom had enough of that to exile her only child here.
Wasn't the looks. Couldn't give fewer shits about that.
There's just a compulsion. A pack of smokes saw a window left open, and a bit of tape on some internal doors left the rest of the way clear. Definitely a thrill, sneaking in to the dorm of this rich little...
Almost looks peaceful sleeping there. Still. There's something sinister bubbling just under her skin.
One string: Alvarez on Victoria.
Grace and Al are pretty good at catching each other in a compromising situation, it seems.
Having picked her up off the side of the road, watching her pop her arm back in its socket, it was plainly obvious Grace was no ordinary student.
Cool.
So Alvarez wasn't especially concerned when Grace walked in to the ladies' room to find them halfway through a wall.
She seemed unphased, but being halfway through a mirror tends to be remembered.
One string: Grace on Alvarez.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Looking forward to the game starting.
@jdarksun, it sounds like your character just kinda hangs around the school. Are you a known quantity socially? Do you attend class? Know people? Or maybe you're the subject of a new rumour around school, of a girl seen wandering the woods at night? Also, your first history with Alvarez is fine.
I've got a layout of your homeroom class. Everyone, tell me where you sit in class. (Or if you don't) We'll then fill out the rest of the class.
Regarding OOC talk, let's keep it in spoilers to keep things uncluttered.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
But yes, balanced!
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Got back to work and things are bbbbusy
Away on work business this week, then got a wedding this upcoming weekend, so I probably won't start this week. I'll try to get all of my stuff together in the next couple of days, and get everything ready to go for the beginning of next week.