Campaign:Era of Dreams/Intrepid Rook
Basics
Name: Intrepid Rook
Concept: Transhumanist Weaponsmith and Industrialist
Caste: Twilight
Motivation: "Build a better Humanity, starting with myself."
Intimacies: Safeguarding Humanity, Optimum Physical Efficiency, Her Dignity
Experience: 10/10
Combo Experience: 19/30
Background
In the deepest South, there was once a metropolis-oasis known as the Provenance of Daana'd, planted at the base of seemingly the most powerful Water demesne in the region. Prosperity flowed along with the fresh rivers from the mountain's tallest peak, eventually drawing every capable member of the populace into employment operating the city's thriving agriculture, or the vast network of machines inside the mountain's core that fed them. They knew of their Solar lord, but never saw him save a giant projection of his image in the city square, which would materialize to announce working hours, meal times, and other daily rituals from on high. These pronouncements were so regular and unchanging that steadily the projection was dubbed the Clockwork King in his absence, more of an active ruler in spirit than he had been in person.
Rising through the stations from a humble technician's daughter to a minor intern within the reservoir-temple Manse, Rook grew up surrounded by peace and a lazy, but necessary, work routine. Even holidays and recreation were formalized to an extent that many citizens simply drifted from one place to another, reading or listening to glyph readers half-awake, as only attendance was mandated. Life was unrushed, with no sense of urgency.
And then one day the temple Manse began to rumble, culminating with a shaft of green fire that exploded from the mountainside. Many citizens stood agape waiting for the Clockwork King to issue an order, but none ever came, even as the mountain Manse shuddered violently once more. Within the Manse was total chaos, as the massive jade and crystal machinery rocked and strained, trying to free itself from it's cables and mountings even as it tore apart the facilities around it. Rook was unlucky enough to be within the control room as a great demon fist ripped it's way from inside the primary power tank, followed by another and then yet another. She hammered away at the failsafe keys, but all of them had been damaged or powered down in the aftermath. Wrenching open a panel, Rook surged with golden light as she snapped her own glyph reader in half and stabbed it into her arm, plugging it directly to the Manse essence systems. Suddenly in a flash of sparks, she stood before all of the populace of the city as the Clockwork King, directing a mass evacuation as the Manse melted down around her. She had only time to feel an inhuman hand tighten around her neck before everything around her vaporized.
By the time she awoke, Deliberative Disaster Control was already on the scene, cordoning off the smoothed glass rubble that remained. As survivors were being prepared for relocation, she was quietly bundled off for delivery to Meru, chunks of glyph reader still embedded in her forearm and nursing a profound sense of loss.
Appearance
At one time Intrepid Rook was a somewhat unremarkable girl, fighting a never-ending battle to keep her work suit pressed and dull brown hair out of her face. Apple-cheeked but not exactly chubby, mouthy but not particularly clever, dutiful and formal but never enough to stand out from her peers. Mere months after her 126th birthday the "revisions to her standard template," as she cheekily refers to them, are as numerous as they are outlandish.
Her frame is now tall and statuesque by design, to support her ever-changing number of alterations, from sharpened talons to flexing crystal plates with gears and belts whirring where muscles should be. These add ons rotate into and out of her daily routine according to a plan and schedule only she is aware of; sometimes arranging an "ensemble" for a particular day, other times full armaments staying on until they prove themselves worthwhile or bore her with consistency. Rook even attended the celebration of her 99th clad only in a variety of snake skins, not as a dress but shedding them throughout the evening. These days she keeps her public appearances far more practical to avoid an unwanted exhibitionist reputation.
Yet the one concession to her old life is her face, which has stayed largely unchanged for over a century. No longer quite as apple-cheeked as she once was, Rook's hair still occasionally falls into her clicking clockwork eyes, glasses still perched on her nose though she hasn't required them in decades. She favors sleeveless laboratory smocks and skirts whenever she is out and about, keeping her limbs unrestrained for using her many implanted gifts whenever possible.
Attributes
Strength 2/4 Charisma 3 Perception 5/6 Dexterity 4 Manipulation 4 Intelligence 4 Stamina 4 Appearance 3 Wits 4
(Bonus from Clockwork Prosthetics after slash)
Abilities
Archery 0 Integrity 4 Craft 5 Athletics 3 Bureaucracy 0 Martial Arts 4 Performance 0 Investigation 4 Awareness 5 Linguistics 3 Melee 0 Presence 4 Lore 5 Dodge 3 Ride 2 Thrown 3 Resistance 5 Medicine 5 Larceny 0 Sail 0 War 0 Survival 0 Occult 5 Stealth 0 Socialize 0
Crafts
Craft (Air) 4
Craft (Genesis) 5
Craft (Water) 3
Specialties
Craft (Air) (Mechanical Implants +2)
Craft (Genesis) (Spare Parts +3)
Investigation (Locating Weak Spots +2)
Martial Arts (Unarmed +3)
Presence (Authoritative in Glasses +1)
Languages
Native: Old Realm, Others: Seatongue, Foresttongue, Firetongue
Backgrounds
Arsenal: 2
Artifact: 4
Backing (Solar Deliberative - Cauldronists): 2
Backing (Consortium of Altering the Living Temple): 2
Cult: 1
Manse: 3
Panoply: 4
Reputation (Legitimate Businesswoman): 1
Wealth: 5
Charms
Craft
Second Craft Excellency: (2m per success, Instant, Reflex) Adds up to [Attribute + Ability]/2.
Craftsman Needs No Tools: (7m 1 Willpower, Instant, Supplemental) Removes penalties for creating objects without tools, and accomplishes Essence x3 hours of work for each hour invested.
Shattering Grasp: (5m, One Scene, Simple [Dramatic Action]) Adds Craft x2 to Strength + Athletics for breaking/disassembling objects and structures in 3 minutes. Larger structures take 3 hours, and this Charm cannot be ended once started or unexpectedly interrupted.
Keen Understanding of the Core Imperfection: (10m 1w, Indefinite, Simple) Instantly learns a method of destroying an object, and for the duration of this Charm ignores that objects soak and deals Essence x5 additional damage. If it is indestructible, this Charm grants one way to temporarily destroy it.
Medicine
First Medicine Excellency: (1m per die, Instant, Reflex) Adds up to Attribute + Ability.
Touch of Blissful Release: (5m, Essence in Hours, Simple [Speed 5, -1 DV]) Removes three points of penalties from Crippling, Poison, Sickness and Wound penalties. Ends 5 minutes after duration ends.
Contagion-Curing Touch: (2m, Instant, Supplemental) Removes all penalties for lack of medicines, tools or unfavorable conditions.
Flawless Diagnosis Technique: (1m, Instant, Reflex) Automatically recognizes all known diseases, ailments and their sources. If the cause is unknown, it registers the lack of information.
Instant Treatment Methodology: (7m, Instant, Simple [Speed 7, -1 DV]) Reduces the time for any Dramatic Medicine action, up to an hour.
Wholeness-Restoring Meditation: [Perm] If 5 or more successes are rolled during any Dramatic Medicine action, may spend 5m to heal any Crippling effect. Patients are restored after the usual healing time.
Martial Arts
- Solar Hero Style
Fists of Iron Technique: (1m, Instant, Supplemental) Adds +1 Accuracy and +2L to an unarmed attack. Can block Lethal without a stunt until next action.
Sledgehammer Fist Punch: (3m, Instant, Supplemental) Doubles the pre-soak damage of an attack before it is applied to an inanimate object.
Occult
First Occult Excellency: (1m per die, Instant, Reflex) Adds up to Attribute + Ability.
- Terrestrial Circle Sorcery:
Incantation of Effective Restoration: (15m) Repairs any mundane items to like-new, provided it is small enough for her to lift and carry. On magical artifacts, it instantly repairs single-piece artifacts that do not require maintenance. Magitech and similar items must be disassembled first, and this spell may only work on a single part at a time. It does not help with reconstructing them, or renew any exotic fuel or chemicals for it to function. Regular casting halves the total time for repairs on such items, but does not remove maintenance entirely.
Water From Stone: (10m) Creates a flowing spring of cool water from any source of stone, able to refresh a Magnitude of people equal to half her Essence (round up). Lasts for [Essence] years in rainforest, to hours in places with no water.
- Celestial Circle Sorcery:
Sapphire Countermagic: (15/20m) Speed 0 action. Renders her immune to one opposing spell/counters Sorcery spells of the first two Circles, and Shadowlands Necromancy.
Volcano's Heart Invocation:(30m), Target: Caster, Duration: Until released
Within every Celestial essence is a locked seed of potential that infuses everything the she does, bleeding off into the world as her Anima Banner. Using sorcery as her conductor, the Exalt briefly links her three souls as one inside her Anima, unlocking that potential and allowing it full reign. Her Anima flares to Iconic, manifesting as a semi-solid barrier of essence that boils out from within her, similar to the eruption of power that marks the first signs of the Second Breath. So long as 20m is committed to the spell, this hardened shell breaks and prevents any effects that would lower her Permanent Essence or cause her to lose access to her memories, Charms, Combos, Intimacies or Abilities. The raw power flowing out of the very core of her being is only amplified if the mortal flesh containing it is breached, adding additional damage dice to every blow equal to the number of Health Levels she has suffered. While the innate power of her essence empowers her anew, the Exalt is rendered fully immune to supernatural fear.
Tapping this power is taxing in the extreme, and so for every additional scene that this power is held, the Exalt suffers one unsoakable level of Lethal damage that cannot be healed until the spell is released. Once the commitment has lapsed, the Caster must wait for her soul to heal before it can be used again safely, lasting for one full day under the light of her patron sky. Activating it before this time causes Health Level loss as noted above, increasing by another 1L per use.
- Solar Circle Sorcery:
Adamant Countermagic: (20/25m) Speed 0 action. As Emerald, but any Sorcery spell and the first two Circles of Necromancy.
Fountain of Fathomless Dreams: (50m) Creates a fountain that grants a package of mutations with [cost of positive mutations] - [cost of negative mutations] no greater than her Willpower. The fountain may be triggered for any set of limitations, such as only to plants or mortals. Valid targets gain these mutations after [positive mutation cost] - [negative mutation cost] days of drinking from the spring and last for one full month, reset each time the target drinks again. After this month, the mutations wear off over a number of days equal to the cost, inflicting a -4 penalty. Mutations granted do not breed true. These Fountains last for up to a century or until dispelled.
Devonian Absorption: [Perm] May attune to an Artifact/Manse in 20 ticks by rolling Intelligence + Lore, difficulty [Artifact/Manse rating x2]. Once the roll is successful once, it need not be repeated. Also, if interrupted during a spell casting, may reflexively activate an Occult Excellency to modify the Wits + Occult roll to stabilize.
Resistance
Ox-Body Technique: (-1, -2 x2)
Body-Mending Meditation: (10m, Until end of day, Supplemental) Roll Stamina + Resistance. Success increases Healing time by a factor of 10, or adds that many successes to a Medical Charm aiding her. Can be used while Inactive.
Body-Mending Purity Stance: (12m 1w, One Scene, Reflex) Heals 1L and [Resistance]B every Action. Cannot heal a dying character, or during an action that has overridden a Virtue.
Durability of Oak Meditation: (3m, Instant, Reflex [Step 7]) Adds +8 Hardness.
Iron Skin Concentration: (2m, Instant, Reflex [Step 7]) Roll Sta + Resist against opponent's Essence. On success, the damage is prevented. On a failure, +4A/+8L/+8B soak.
Spirit Strengthens the Skin: (1m per die, Instant, Reflex [Step 7]) Reduces pre-soak damage by 1 die per mote. May reduce damage to 0.
Adamant Skin Technique: (4m, Instant, Reflex [Step 7]) Prevents all damage from a single attack. (Valor Flaw: Move towards biggest threat in the area until DV refreshes twice).
C-C-C-Combo's
"But I Can't Cure Idiocy"
First Medicine Excellency, Contagion-Curing Touch, Instant Treatment Methodology, +9m, 1 Willpower
"Shining Construction Method"
Second Craft Excellency, Craftsman Needs No Tools, +9m, 2 Willpower
Essence
Essence: 5
Regeneration: 16 motes per hour, 20 while at rest.
Personal Essence Pool: 22/22
Peripheral Essence Pool: 47/63 (+10 from Skin-mount Amulets)
Committed Essence: 16
Willpower
Willpower: ●●●●●●●
Temporary: □□□□□□□
Virtues
Virtues:
- Compassion 3
- Conviction 2
- Temperance 2
- Valor 4
Flawed Virtue: Obsessive Research (Valor).
Intrepid Rook takes any mystery or fact she cannot unravel as a personal insult to her intelligence. She will pursue any means to find out what eludes her, including hijacking I AM and altering her modifications towards her goal. This scholarly binge lasts for one full day.
Partial Control: She will function normally, but the target of her obsession will still gnaw away at her brain, distracting her and subconsciously popping up in conversation. She suffers a -2 penalty to mental and social actions until the compulsion passes.
Trigger: Facts are deliberately hidden from her.
Limit Break: □□□□□□□□□□
Inventory
Orichalcum Baneclaw, Artifact 1. Commit: 2
Orichalcum Breastplate, Artifact 1. Commit: 2
Skin-mount Amulet x2, Artifact 2 each.
Orichalcum Perfected Kata Bracers, Artifact 4, Commit 8.
These bracers were passed down from Rook's previous incarnation, who was said to be one of the leading experts in medicinal Martial Arts. She doesn't care much for that, and has only passable skill in their use, but never-the-less hangs onto them for the time being.
Whenever she invokes a Form Charm, these bracers add +Essence to the Accuracy, Damage and Defense of all her attacks. Additionally, attacks enhanced by the bracers deal Aggravated Damage to creatures of darkness. [Not committed or currently worn]
Prosthetics of Clockwork Elegance, Total commit: 10
Mechanical Left Arm, Artifact 2: +2 Strength (3m)
Lung-Baffles, Artifact 2: May breathe water like air. (4m)
Clockwork Eyes, Artifact 2: +1 Per for visual rolls, ignores low-light penalties except in complete darkness. (3m)
"Test Design 47" Chaomorphic Sybmiote, Artifact 3. Commit: 1, 1L when uncommitted.
Rook's latest attempt at Mutation-wear, made for performing specialized tasks in Factory cathedrals that are typically out of mortal reach. If the design passes her criteria, it may become her next purchasable Fountain format. The package contains the following, activated at 2m per mutation point:
Lidless Demon Eye, 4 points: +1 to all Awareness rolls and functions as All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight, but renders stealth impossible while the eye is exposed. Covering it causes a -3 internal penalty to all actions.
Elemental Adaptation (Water), 1 point: No harmful effects from surviving in salt or fresh water for extended periods. May hold breath for (Stamina x2) minutes, plus the result of a Sta + Resist roll. Reduce difficulty on Athletics for swimming by 1, and double swim speed.
Sonar, 1 point: Emits high-Pitched sounds that allow for sight beyond normal range underwater. Also ignores blind fighting penalties.
Fluttering Wings (Skin flaps), 4 points: Allows gliding for limited distance and slowing falls. Double vertical leaping distance, triple for horizontal.
Allergy (Steel), -1 point: -1 penalty when exposed to Steel. Skin contact inflicts 1B every 2 actions.
Diet (Fruits), -1 point: Delicious fruit, must eat.
Hungry, -1 point: Requires 25% more food than normal while active.
"Cogwheel" Automata Austrech, Artifact 3. Commit: 1
Str 6, Dex 5, Sta 7
Per 2, Int 2, Wit 3
Abilities: Athletics 4, Awareness 3, Dodge 2, Integrity 1, Investigation 1, Martial Arts 2, Presence 1, Resistance 3, Stealth 1, Survival 2.
Bite (Speed 6, Accuracy 7, Damage 6L, Parry DV --, Rate 1, Tags N)
Kick (Speed 5, Accuracy 7, Damage 8L, Parry DV --, Rate 1, Tags N)
Dodge DV: 3
Soak: 5L/17B (Armor hide, 5L/10B)
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/-4/Incap
Principality
The Shining Water principality a small island-state just southeast of Wavecrest, which Rook rules as more of a proud but overbearing mother figure than a steel-fisted tyrant. She's a savant at heart, and so stays distant from direct governance, but keeps a critical eye on the dominant attitudes and societal changes that influence her people. Every Dragonblood in her hierarchy is a close personal friend, hand-chosen for their expertise and favorable views of both their people and what Rook wants Shining Water to become. This state of affairs suits Rook perfectly fine as she works her business into the day to day operations of government, though she still demands each new law must be personally scrutinized before it is approved.
Among the common people, the law dictates that each citizen must make use of Rook's wide variety of inventions in their normal life and work. The most obvious of these is the sorcery-driven "caste system" that requires mortals to undergo small amounts of mutations to optimize their effectiveness at their chosen career, openly marking them as an employee of a particular industry. Thus the bulk of spending goes into public health care and education, including a policy of paid time off for mortals during the month of painful "detox" while changing from one job to the next. Rook has also instituted a sizable network of mortals and thaumaturgists trained to notice when combinations of mutations and artifacts combine badly, and report their results to her for further development. So far, only one mass-production Artifact has required a full recall (the "Earth-sight Eyes" which caused a large amount of fuss when no one could see stonework anymore, such as the walls of houses).
As a result Shining Water boasts some of the most highly specialized and adept mortals in the Southwest, capable of repelling even Lintha raids without Dragonblooded support, a fact that Rook never fails to capitalize on in her marketing. The widespread and frankly mishmashed nature of these specializations has led some of her more critical colleagues to start referring to her RPCs as "Rookeries", a term she has ruefully embraced.
Manses and Hearthstones
Cloister of the Calmed Mind, Earth-aspect, Rating 1.
This Manse is a comfortable stone and glass cottage on the lower slopes of Meru, in one of the quiter neighborhoods. The entire manse is arranged like a tremendous rock garden and spa, with trickling rivulets, waterfalls and stony slabs dividing the various "rooms." Rook herself lives in the Hearthstone chamber at it's center, where all the water meets in a large relaxing wading pool. She has done a sizable amount of work on her abode over the past century, using her sorcery to imbue various rivers and streams within the Manse with body-altering effects, turning the Hearthroom pool into something of a "wade-in closet". Luckily, most of them are keyed to Solar Exalted-only to prevent accidents, and cause purely aesthetic changes to herself in the majority of cases. In the attached garage, she normally keeps Cogwheel, her clockwork Austrech, in storage along with her Chariot of the Infinite Heavens.
Powers: Magical Conveniences [2 points] - The Manse was originally built to provide a serene, calming atmosphere for those within. The waters may be stopped or redirected with a mental command to reduce noise, or may raise themselves in temperature to that of a steamy bath. Rook mainly uses this feature for combining mutations in her hearthstone pool, to create new "looks" for herself whenever the whim takes her.
Stone of Breath, Earth 1
Trigger: Constant
Allows for clear, calm breathing. Adds +3 to all Resistance rolls. [Set in Baneclaw]
Spires of White Iron, Air-aspect, Rating 2.
Crouched across the tallest point of her island principality, this impressive townhouse is where Rook spends the bulk of her time outside of Meru or not behind a pair of essence-shielded goggles. Lush hanging gardens and balconies lie between the large metal towers that give the manse it's name, giving the overlook a quiet and peaceful ambiance, perfect for researching and entertaining random visitors.
Powers: Comfort Zone [1 point] - The manse constantly swirls wind around it's towers, giving the grounds a cool breeze even in the humid tropical climate. Magical Conveniences [1 points] - Doors, windows, cupboards and other amenities automatically open through small gusts of wind on approach, even turning book pages with a slight gesture.
Savant's Icy Eye, Air 2
Trigger: Constant
Bearer instantly knows exactly how many things there are within a given group, and may rough-estimate even if she sees only a portion of them. Additionally, grants +5 dice to all rolls involving numbers or calculations. [Set in Amulet]
Cathedral of Singing Gears, Air-aspect, Rating 3.
As the premiere workshop within her principality, the Cathedral of Singing Gears is fully staffed by Clockwork efficacy servitors, folding servants and other useful automata which keep the manse running at optimal levels. It's from these towering buttresses of crystal tubing and essence-transference conduits that she produces most of the mutation designs, Fountain templates (including Labor, Policing, and more specialized blends) and Artifact enhancements for her people.
Powers: Genesis AND Air [6 points] - Functions as a Flawless workshop for Craft Genesis and Air, and counts as a 4 dot workshop for repairs on such items. Control Room [2 points] - Overlooking the entire factory floor, the controls allow Rook to direct entire wings of Servitors in their duties, as well as monitor their ongoing progress. Habitability 2 - The Manse is a factory, first and foremost. It makes no accommodations for living areas beyond a small alcove stationed far away from the bubbling pipes and essence-conducting arrays, stocked with a single bed mounded with reference tablets and tomes. Rook does not look forward to her multi-day visits, and so tends to spend what little time she stays there setting up an extensive backlog of projects and experiments to be completed before her return.
Key of Mastery, Air 3
Trigger: Constant
Reduces the cost of a single spell by Essence x2 motes, though it cannot reduce a cost by more than half. Attuning to a new spell requires meditating with the stone for a number of hours equal to the mote cost of the spell. [Set in Amulet. Currently keyed to Fountain of Fathomless Dreams.]
Combat
Dodge DV: 6
Dodge MDV: 8
Soak: B:10 L:10 A:8
Hardness: B:3 L:3 A:3
Join Battle: 9
Attacks
Baneclaw (Machine-arm) (Speed 4, Accuracy 10, Damage 7L, Parry DV 7, Rate 3, Tags D, M)
MechaFist/Normal Punch (Speed 5, Accuracy 12, Damage 4/2B, Parry DV 7, Rate 3, Tags N)
Kick (Speed 5, Accuracy 11, Damage 5B, Parry DV 5, Rate 2, Tags N)
Health
□ -0
□ -1
□ -1
□ -1
□ -2
□ -2
□ -2
□ -2
□ -4
□ Incapacitated
Advancement
7 Bonus points - Essence 5
1 Bonus point - Martial Arts (Unarmed +2)
1 Bonus point - Craft (Air) (Mechanical Implants +2)
1 Bonus point - Craft (Genesis) (Spare Parts +2)
1 Bonus point - Investigation (Locating Weak Spots +2)
1 Bonus point - Arsenal 2
1 Bonus point - Manse 3
2 Bonus points - Wealth 5
5xp - "Shining Construction Method" Combo
6xp - "But I Can't Cure Idiocy" Combo