Sorry for the wait. Managed to sign myself out of the site without realizing. Thought there weren’t any new posts.
I’ve poked goodwicki off-boards.
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Glad to hear it. I know for me surgery throws everything else in life out of whack and is incredibly draining. Please take however much time you need for a proper recovery, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
I hope the second time’s the charm.
Eyes open, pressed to floor. Slow roll-over, kneel, stand. Gnarled hands run down windbreaker. Creases remain. This ride would have been undignified, were any of us conscious for it. ”Thank you, K.” Hiss of a slow tire leak. ”I assume we’ve made it safe and sound. Well done.” Crouched waddle to side door. ”Need to stretch my legs. Be right back.” Opens door, exits, nice and slow. Focus on the urban desolation. Silent emptiness. Allow it inside. Let it fill you right up, until you and it are the same. Silent emptiness.
A walk around the parking lot. Beady eyes peer from lumpy, wrinkled face. Across parking spaces. Into car windows. Down streets.
Alexander:
”Of course.” Slow shuffle to exit. Rejoins coterie outside. A faint sight. ”Grimm had nothing to add regarding the Lasombra news.”
Ah, I had read it as 3 per dot of loresheet due to loresheet dots not being cumulative. 3 x new level works for me. Also fine with as many players as you are comfortable running for. And them playing the characters they want to.
Are advantages new level x 3 or just 3 per dot?
I have 2 points total towards a group haven, not 4. Library 1 + ??? 1 = 2. Sorry for confusion. Rereading core rulebook page 189, haven library feature is for a specific skill and specialty. My library 1 is for investigation/cold case. Others may want dots spent in different skill/specialty combinations.
I put aside 2 points towards a shared haven. 1 dot for library (cold case) and 1 dot for whatever makes sense for the group. If we have a Scientology front, the church/org as a group haven makes sense to me.
I like Scientology cult as coterie front. Alexander is probably put off by it, but not me as a player. Maybe Grimm has instructed him to accept coterie's invitation? I have dots set aside for coterie stuff, will look at spending options in core rulebook in next day or two.
Alexander is into local history and mystery, wants to learn how secret supernatural history has affected the mortal history he already knows. He wouldn't be ready to dive right into ancient mystic enigmas, but could become drawn in if linked to a more contemporary investigation. Anyone with a personal library would be a big draw for him. As would anyone purporting to know about local vampire history, or with contacts who know such things. He is more likely to swear loyalty to a cause than to an organization. He definitely still values human life. Needing to feed on people is an unfortunate necessity. Vampires are a type of person, neither superior nor inferior to mortal humans. Being acquainted with Calliope in passing from mortal life is reasonable. The mutual recognition of a fellow stackrat.
I am. Mainly the Elric-related work, some von Bek stuff, and early Hawkmoon. By no means have I read them all. I tried buying the collected series White Wolf put out in the 90s, but never got them all and have misplaced several since then. Moorecock put out a new “complete collection” a few years ago but I cringe at buying the same stories for the second (or third or fourth) time repackaged in a different order. And it’s 30some books.
Grimm is good. Glad y'all got a kick out of Alexander's habit.
Hi, I'm goodwicki's friend. I copy/pasted his character sheet format, but didn't go into text formatting beyond spoilers. There's some blanks to fill in, but is pretty much done. Sorry for the lengthy History write up, hence the TLDR. If there's a list of Nosferatu sires available I'm happy to pick or be assigned one. Also happy to address any problems or questions. Alexander Armarius:
Chronicle: ST Talomyr’s Chicago by Night
Attributes: Physical
Social
Mental
Health 6
Skills: Physical
Social
Mental
Disciplines: Obfuscate *3. Silence of Death; Unseen Passage; *Ghost In The Machine. (+1 from Sandman predator)
Advantages & Flaws: Flaws
Merits
Backgrounds
Experience Total / Spent:
Convictions & Touchstones:
“There’s no such thing as a perfect crime.”
Other Details: True Age: 76
History::
Alexander graduated from the University of Chicago with Library Sciences degree, then worked at the university’s Regenstein Library from 1970 - 2000, many of those years spent attending to the Special Collections Research Center. A recluse by nature, he loved curating and restoring rare books, manuscripts, etc at work and collecting (hoarding) and reading local newspapers, magazines, and the like at home. As talk about moving towards a digital format for general library access started to become reality, Alexander retired at the age of 52. He felt ill equipped to assist with this digital future, indeed was depressed by it. He’d invested heavily in the tech industry on the suggestion of university colleagues, but, disillusioned with the promises of new digital technologies, he cashed them out. Lucky for him, he did so at the height of the dot-com bubble, securing a nest egg sizeable enough to see him through his retirement. Despite his resignation he would still visit the library so often many of his co-workers never realized he’d retired. He began to pursue his interest in local unsolved mysteries. With access to extensive print collections both at the library and at home, he researched cases of missing persons, unsolved murders, and other local enigmas from decades past. Each case got its own notebook, filled with all the reported facts he could find and his own personal notes. After several years he solved his first case - he deduced an infant missing from a Chicago hospital in 1978 had been taken and raised by an on-site electrician and was now a local tv weatherman. He approached the man with his findings. After laying out all the evidence, the man arranged a DNA test and proved Alexander correct. Subsequent years brought more victories. He mostly solved little-known crimes decades after those involved were dead, but had some that could still be prosecuted. Alexander grew bolder in his research - conducting phone interviews, visiting the locations of mysteries in person, filing Freedom of Information requests. He even learned how to use the internet he’d so despised, though he was sure to print out all the information he found there for reference. He developed an amicable relationship with the Chicago PD’s poorly staffed cold case unit, he communicates by phone and mails them copies of his research and findings. Over the past few years Alexander began to see patterns in unrelated mid-century (1940s - 1960s) missing persons and murder cases based around Lake Calumet. His research eventually led him to a defunct electrical substation, in the shadow of a landfill and half-swallowed by marsh. His curiosity got the better of him, and the old man pushed his way inside, believing the crimes and their perpetrator to be nothing but history. In fact the perpetrator was still very current. The vampire, a Nosferatu, had used the station as its main haven for decades after it had been embraced in 1940, and was the killer behind Alexander’s cases. It had since moved on, but still used the station a retreat from time to time. That night was one of those times. As an intruder Alexander intrigued the vampire. A feeble septuagenarian armed with a flashlight, memo pad, and polaroid camera, stumbling into its lair. As it wasn’t hungry, it let him live, observing him as he made notes and took pictures. Followed him back to his house, a maze of old filing cabinets filled with professionally archived periodicals dating back more than a century. Read his notebook meticulously detailing how he’d deduced the seemingly unrelated cases were the work of the same criminal, who had performed the murders somewhere in a narrow stretch of south Lake Calumet. The Nosferatu knew then and there that Alexander was a kindred spirit. He was also too dangerous to allow to live. So rather than destroy him, it embraced him while he slept, and brought him back to its lair for induction to the Clan. Alexander’s transformation has been particularly rough. He’s not just unpleasant to look at, he’s nightmare fuel. His new appearance combined with his natural tendency for reclusivity mean he avoids being near mortals whenever possible. Unwilling to face a struggling victim he feeds the same way his sire embraced him, on sleeping victims. Motels and nursing homes mostly. He still visits the library after-hours, familiarity and new-found abilities allowing him to enter and leave largely undetected. He still studies history and unravels mysteries, he’s just got a new set of data to familiarize himself with. Is intrigued by the Week of Nightmares and has begun to gather information on it.
TLDR: Old recluse librarian-turned-amateur detective linked Nosferatu’s haven to decades old killings, was embraced by said Nosferatu for a job well done. Now hunts people while they sleep and researches vampire mysteries. |