Difference between revisions of "Alchabitius"
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*'''Status: Lucifuge''' (•) | *'''Status: Lucifuge''' (•) | ||
− | *'''Castigations | + | ** (•) You can purchase the Castigation Endowment. |
− | ** | + | *'''Endowment: Castigations''' (•••) |
+ | **Castigation Endowments represent the knowledge of the rites of the Lucifuge. For every dot in this Merit, the character can learn one more rite up to a maximum of five Castigation rites at a time. Switching out rites requires a rededication of the character’s energy, though, and that takes time. The player rolls Resolve + Occult as an extended action. The target number of successes is 20 minus character’s rating in Endowments (Castigation), and the player makes one roll per day in which the character spends at least four hours studying, fasting, flagellating or otherwise preparing himself for the change. As the total number of successes climbs, the character suffers nightmares, sweats, spontaneous nosebleeds and other ailments, and then finally peace as the change sets in. | ||
+ | **Whenever a Lucifuge rolls an exceptional success on the activation roll for a Castigation rite, he must make a breaking point check. If he fails he must take a condition determined by the Storyteller. | ||
*'''Professional Training: Occult Expert''' (••) <span style="background:Bisque">'''Academics, Occult, and Empathy'''</span> | *'''Professional Training: Occult Expert''' (••) <span style="background:Bisque">'''Academics, Occult, and Empathy'''</span> | ||
**'''Effect:''' Your character has extensive training in a particular profession, which offers distinct advantages in a handful of fields. Mark two Asset Skills on your character sheet. The advantages of Professional Training relate directly to those Asset Skills. | **'''Effect:''' Your character has extensive training in a particular profession, which offers distinct advantages in a handful of fields. Mark two Asset Skills on your character sheet. The advantages of Professional Training relate directly to those Asset Skills. |
Revision as of 02:18, 16 February 2019
Matthew Wright
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Attributes
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Intelligence 3, Wits 2, Resolve 4; Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2; Presence 2, Manipulation 2, Composure 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Skills
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Mental: *Academics 3 (Research 4, Religion 4), Investigation 2, *Occult 4 (Demonic Powers 5), Politics 2 (Bureaucracy 3) Physical: Brawl 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Merits
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Professional Training (Occult Expert) 3, Photokenesis 3, Telepathy 3, Library (Occult) 1, Esoteric Armory 1, Eye For The Strange 2, Resources 2, Staff 1, Multilingual 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Advantages
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Health: 7, Willpower: 7, Size: 5, Speed: 9, Defense: 2 (Armor: 0), Initiative: 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Integrity
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Rating: 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Current Conditions
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Matthew is not out as a gay man
Goetic Lore
Ghost Lore
Spirit Lore
Occult Community
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Background
Born Matthew Wright on February 29th, 1940 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Matthew was the first born twin preceding his brother Michael by 15 minutes. Growing up we were inseparable, never far from each other's side, up until that fateful day in April. On April 13, 1990 on a Friday afternoon, Michael went missing. We had been walking home from the bus stop, and were taking a short-cut through the woods near our house. Michael of course had run ahead of me, always wanting to be first. The woods got eerily quiet and I couldn't hear Michael laughing or thrashing through the bushes anymore. I called out his name but got no answer. I ran home as fast as I could, terror lending me speed. Michael wasn't home. It was the first time I had beaten him home. I was terrified and ran sobbing to my mom. She immediately called her friends and my father and then went into the woods to try and find Michael. It was the worst night of my life, and it stretched into the longest months in my memory. My grandfather came from Ireland to stay with us during the time, and he seemed resigned. Like this had happened before. Life was different after that. Dad was broken, mom was strong but became very protective of me. I remember that day vividly, it has been etched into my mind, and there is one detail that I just can't seem to get the details for, I remember seeing a strange figure earlier that day at school. Hanging out around the school yard at recess and lunch, but none of the other kids or adults paid any attention to him. I remember Michael saw him too, and we kept looking for places where he couldn't watch us. For some reason I could never speak about it to any of the adults, some fear kept me from mentioning it. The only person I told was Kathryn Hutchenson, the girl who became my best friend. Later on as an adult I told one other person, and that wound up destroying a friendship, so I haven't told anyone else since.
Life after Michael was taken from up was much different. With the exception of Kathryn I withdrew from all my peers, I began studying a lot at the library, the section on supernatural and occult. I was labeled the weird kid, but they mostly left me alone because of Michael's disappearance. After eventually graduating high school, I helped my mom for a bit in her law office before I decided to go to university. That's when I saw it again. The figure from my childhood. I'd see him outside the law offices, at the grocery, and across the street from our home. It never approached, just watched. To this day I cannot recall what it looked like. I just knew it was the same thing from back then. And somehow I knew it was responsible for Michael's disappearance. That's when I decided to move to California, and go to university at Berkley. So in June of 1961, I packed up my life and moved to Berkeley, California to go to UC Berekeley. I studied Business Administration and Religious Studies, getting a double major in both. It was at this time that I met Paul Wilson. I had know for a long time that I was gay, but also quite aware that it wasn't okay to be gay in New Hampshire, so I focused on school. Paul changed all that. He taught me many things about love between two men, and for a while we lived together. To the outside world we were "Roommates" but to our friends in college, they knew better, they all knew we shared a 1 bedroom apartment. It was around this time, after we had graduated and were looking to our future that I saw it again. Outside our apartment, then at the school library where I was working part time, then at the club Paul and I went to on occasion. I was shaken. I thought I had left it behind in Manchester. It had followed me. After a few days of glimpses I finally told Paul about it. He didn't believe me, he thought I was making it up, or that I was high, it created tension between us. Eventually it was too much for Paul, and he left and moved into San Francisco. So it was in April of 1967 I moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to start my life over. Again.
In New Orleans I got a job in a esoteric bookstore run by a man named Bruce Whitechurch who claimed to be related through his first cousin's husband's sister to Marie Laveau. It was good for business, even if he was a fraud. I learned a lot from him about how to run a bookstore, and even began managing it while he was off "communing with the spirits", those spirits being Jack Daniels and Jim Bean. That was when I had my second brush with the supernatural world. One which haunts me to this day. A couple years after I had started working there we started getting a patron who gave me a bad feeling. Every time she looked at me, it was like she knew something about me that I didn't know, and it scared me. I knew from the first time I met her, she was a predator and she was on the hunt. While fascinated with me, she focused much more of her attention to Bruce, and I knew she had picked her target. I didn't know when or how she was going to strike, but I knew he was a dead man. I couldn't face it. I couldn't warn him. So I ran. I hired my replacement that day, packed up my car and drove to Portland. Only stopping long enough to get gas. I found out after arriving in Portland that the man had apparently died in a bizarre animal attack, I never learned the details.
Once in Portland I established myself and opened Apollo's Athenaeum. I've been running the store for about 5 years now and have begun to form new friendships with the people I encounter both in the apartments above and in my store.
The Family Curse
Every Generation has a set of twins born, the second child always goes missing by age 11. The pattern alternates gender every generation.
Matthew's Great Grandmother and her lost Sister, mother of:
Matthews's Grandfather and his lost Brother, father of:
Karen Mallon and her lost Sister Kaitlyn, mother of:
Matthew Wright and his lost brother Michael.
Matthew is the end of the cursed line.
Rumors
"Something bad must happened in his past, whenever I ask he changes the subject."
"He's always listing to music, like I mean ALWAYS. His shop always has something playing in the background, and you can hear music coming from his apartment at all hours of the night. It's just weird."
"He almost forty and isn't married. I wonder if his past trouble was a woman?"
"I've seen him get jumpy when there are suits walking around. Do you think he's hiding from the Feds?"
Known Facts
- Matthew always has music playing. Even when he goes to bed. In his shop, in his apartment, in his car. Everywhere.
- To most of the outside world he is becoming a spinster. He doesn't have a girlfriend and doesn't seem to have ever had one.
- He's "straight acting", the fact that he's gay is not common knowledge.
- Matthew doesn't talk about his past. Only a small handful of people know.
Appearance Stuff
- Age: 36 (9 if you are being super technical)
- Height: 5'10"
- Weight: 230-240, depending on how busy he's been and if he remembers to eat.
- Description: Matthew is getting older, his beard and hair are starting to turn gray, and he's starting to get a little chunky. He's kind of a bit clumsy, but not a klutz. His grey eyes are kindly and has deep laugh lines around them.
Personality & Lifestyle
Equipment
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Conditions
Swooning: Matthew has a crush on the UPS delivery guy.
Guilty: Matthew feels he should have known something that could have helped Natalie's ghost move on and feels guilty that he didn't try harder to find out more before summoning her.
Informed: Ghost Lore Research exceptional success
Informed: Goetia Demon Lore Research exceptional success
Informed: Spirit Lore Research exceptional success
Inspired: Research exceptional success
Spooked: Brush with a Smilodon spirit
Nightmares: Demon haunting the apartment complex
Merit Details
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Friends and Family
Family
Michael Wright | Karen Mallon | Daniel Wright |
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Brother Born February 29, 1940. My younger twin brother. Missing since 1950, presumed dead. Michael was born 15 minutes after I was, but made up for that in every way up until the day he disappeared. We were mirror twins, Michael and I were reflections of each other. My organs are on the "correct" side, while all of his were mirrored to mine, but unless you were really looking you couldn't really tell, we looked identical. As we grew up we were inseparable, and if you tried to separate us we would throw tantrums until we were brought back together. Like many twins we had developed our own language that no one else seemed to understand. When school started, the teachers and administration thought it would be best to separate us. It was horrible, but no matter how much of a tantrum we threw they would not let us see each other during school hours. They even made us take lunch and recess at different times. After school on the bus home we would sit next to each other, as close as we could get. Kids thought it was weird, but said it must be a twin thing. After a while the trauma of being separated passed and eventually they allowed us to have lunch and recess at the same time. Then on April 13, 1990 on a Friday afternoon, Michael went missing. We had been walking home from the bus stop, and were taking a short-cut through the woods near our house. Michael of course had run ahead of me, always wanting to be first. The woods got eerily quiet and I couldn't hear Michael laughing or thrashing through the bushes anymore. I called out his name but got no answer. I ran home as fast as I could, terror lending me speed. Michael wasn't home. Michael Wright was gone. |
Mother Divorced 63 Karen Mallon was born in Cork, Ireland on January 2, 1911, where she lived until the summer of 1921. Karen was the firstborn of twins, her sister, Kaitlyn was born 15 minutes later. Both girls grew up and went to school in Cork and would summer with their grandparents near Dublin. During the summer of 1921 tragedy struck the Mallon family when Kaitlyn went missing. Their grandfather was beside herself with grief, that one of his granddaughters had disappeared while visiting him and he died of grief within the year. Her grandmother grieved but stayed the foundation of the family for years to come. At the time Karen thought she heard her say "Just like my boys." After that, the family moved to the US to live with Karen's aunt in Plymouth, MA. She finished school in Plymouth and went to college in Dartmouth, getting a Law degree. While at law school she met Daniel Wright, and after a few years of on again off again romance, they got married in the Spring of 1938. Early the following year she gave birth to twin boys, Matthew and Michael. Her father had come to visit them for the event, and when he heard that he had twin grandsons he gave Karen a supportive smile, but cried tears of grief. Her husband became a broken man, but Karen remained strong for Matthew, eventually filling for divorce. After Michael went missing she remembered what her grandmother had said and began researching the family tree and discovered the family secret, although not it's origin. Karen believes in the myths and legends of the old country, although she would never admit it to anyone, and secretly believes all the missing twins in the family over the years have been abducted by the Fae. She is a strong woman, who continues to practice law, and works as a law advisor for a number of non-profit organizations in her community. She misses her son greatly, and is always glad to hear from him. |
Father Divorced 68/69 Born July 14, 1905 Daniel Wright led a boring life, compared to his wife and sons. Born and raised in Boston, his life was fairly routine. Had a few girlfriends in high school, dated a few women in college. Went to law school to study business law. Then he met Karen Mallon and he fell in love. He worked as a legal advisor for a group of small businesses in Plymouth until the year Michael disappeared. Daniel was devastated and broken at the loss of his son. He has spent all of his income chasing new leads, poking and prying under every rock. He hates Karen for not caring as much, and is glad they have divorced. He couldn't stand to look at Matthew, because he saw Michael there as well, and is glad that Matthew no longer comes around. He holds down odd jobs now, if he can even get one. He spends half his time living on the streets these days. Only Kathryn Hutchenson seems to know where he is at any given moment, and he is unaware of her presence. |
Friends
Paul Wilson | Kathryn Hutchenson | Leah Chase |
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Friend / Former lover Paul Wilson is a a former college roommate and lover. Paul was the closest thing to a boyfriend that this era would allow. Paul couldn't cope with Matthew's theories about supernatural predators taking his brother, and it eventually led to them parting ways. Paul still visits Matthew from time to time, and vice versa, but they no longer have the relationship that they used to have. |
Closest Friend Kathryn has been Matthew's best friend since middle school. They were inseparable, and they had most of their high school fooled into thinking they were dating each other. She is the only one who believes him about what happened that summer and has been his sole link to his old life. She passes on news from their hometown and keeps him informed about his father. She eventually became a librarian at the local college and helps Matthew find more research materials. She is a strong woman, easy to laugh, easy to forgive, but never forgets. She has a girlfriend of 12 years. |
Surrogate Mom Owner/Head Chef of Dooky Chase Creole chef from New Orleans who taught Matthew how to cook "real" creole food. Matthew visited Dooky Chase shortly after moving to New Orleans and the motherly Leah could tell he was going through something, so she sat down with him while he ate and she drew his story from him (minus the paranormal stuff). His enjoyment of her food led to a great friendship that had nothing to do with the weird shit that happened in the periphery. They've kept in touch since he left New Orleans, mostly her sharing new ideas with him and him telling her about how his business has grown and his cats. She was a mother figure to him after his breakup with Paul and him fleeing the stranger. |
Noelle Britt | Vincent Carlson | Aaron |
Friend in progress The Rootworker Noelle showed up to the group with a bevy of occult experience under her belt, in the form of African-American folk magic, of the type known as "rootworking" or "conjure." She is arguably the most practical of them all, but appreciates their myriad gifts. She is also happy to have folk who don't regard her work as devilish, as too many in her family and community tend to these days. Eventual True Friend Good Impression (Once per day) • Inflicts -3 • Improve Impression: Good to Excellent • 0/4 doors opened |
Technical Engineer An employee out in the Silicon Forest for Electro Scientific Industries, Vincent considers himself a forward thinking man of science. He will happily go on and on about the kinds of wondrous advances the inevitable shrinking of computers will do for society. Freemason and eventual Sponsor for Matthew Good Impression (Once per day) • Inflicts (-X) • Improve Impression" Good to Excellent • 0/X doors opened |
My Crush Aaron is the new UPS driver for the area. Matthew gets flustered when talking with him, and he thinks Aaron has been flirty but isn't sure. He also flirts with some of the bigger girls as well so Matthew isn't sure at all. Average Impression (Once per week) • Inflicts (-X) • Improve Impression maneuver • 0/X doors opened (Swooning focus - Gains +2 dice against Matthew for Social checks, and treats his impression as one level higher) |
Shop Cats
Archimedes, Bast, and Solomon | Grizabella, Tisiphone, Alecto, and Magaera | Ezreal |
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The "Guardians" These three are the cats that live primarily in my shop. Archimedes follows me home every night, and the girls occasionally come home with me. I don't know when or where Solomon came from, but that seems to be the nature of my cats. He seems to be more inclined to stay in the apartment and comes to the shop a couple days a week. |
Grizabella and her kittens Apparently Grizabella was pregnant and I hadn't noticed, and one day while Noelle and Eli were both in the shop she decided she was going to give birth. Now Tisiphone, Alecto, and Magaera have joined my cat family. They currently live upstairs in my apartment, with Grizabella. |
Ezreal Ezreal came back from Milan with Matthew and he doesn't really act like a cat, per se. You can swear that he is actually paying attention to the conversations going on, also he never leaves Matthew's side. |
Other Hunters
Luke Beloi: He's a good neighbor, and he can get super excited about occult topics. Doesn't seem to have any direction in life though. Lately he's been a little jittery.
Khamphong "Rose" King: Vet student, SCAdian, hides in my bookstore a lot. Surprisingly Rose has been fairly steady in the face of all this mess. She's quick to attack though, but on the other hand she's just as quick to help out.
Carol Weaver: Journalist, widow, lived with Natalie, Nancy's Sister. She's coming unhinged slowly, if she doesn't slow down she's going to get herself or someone else killed. She's started asking a lot of uncomfortable questions with little time inbetween.
Harry Olson: Mechanic, vietnam vet, drinks a lot. Harry is a mess. This whole thing with Natalie and her ghost seem to have destroyed him for some reason. Now he's in charge of the shop he was working at, and he's going to be a dad. He's still a hot mess.
Vivian Blackstone: She's very...different.
Social Maneuvers
Noelle • Good Impression (Once per day) • Inflicts -3 • Improve Impression maneuver • 0/4 doors opened
Aaron • Average Impression (Once per week) • Inflicts (-X) • Improve Impression maneuver • 0/X doors opened (Swooning focus - Gains +2 dice against Matthew for Social checks, and treats his impression as one level higher)
Vincent • Good Impression (Once per day) • Inflicts (-X) • Improve Impression Maneuver • 0/X doors opened
Excellent or Higher
Matthew has no one in his life at a Perfect impression
Kathryn Hutchenson - Excellent - Still lives in Manchester, New Hampshire. Noted above.
Leah Chase - Excellent - Lives in New Orleans. Noted above.
Experience
Practical Beats - 0
Practical Experience - 0
Character Experiences
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• Current Beats: 0 • Unspent Experiences: 1 • Spent Experiences: 17(+3 PXP) |
Experiences Earned
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5/25: 1 beat 6/1: 4 beats 6/15: 3 beats 6/22: 3 beats 6/29: 7 beats 7/6: 7 beats 7/13: 7 beats 7/20: 4 beats 7/27: 2 beats 8/10: 6 beats 8/17: 2 beats 8/24: 7 beats 8/31: 2 beats 9/21: 2 beats 10/19: 6 beats 11/2: 1 beat 11/9: 4 beats 11/16: 4 beats 11/30: 1 beat 12/7: 4 beats 12/14: 5 beats 1/26: 3 beats 2/1: 8 beats 2/8: 2 beats 2/15: 5 beats |
Purchases
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Library (Occult) (•), Esoteric Armory (•), Eye for the strange (••), Interdisciplinary Specialty (Psychic Phenomenon) (•), Resources (•), Resources (••), Staff (•), Professional Training: Occult Expert (••), Empathy 3, Multilingual (•) (Latin and Greek), Professional Training: Occult Expert (•••), Dexterity (••), Integrity 8, Library (Occult) (••) |