Jakob "The Liar" Lementeur
From Familia Niveum
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Jakob the Liar
Marquis of Mischief and Petty Crime, Mischief Maker
Jacob Lementeur
You know he's been there only after he's gone.
The zookeeper who forgot to lock the door to the monkey house. The desperate investor you just bailed out of a jam for a once in a lifetime opportunity. The business woman in the suit who bumped up against you moments before your wallet disappeared. The loud youth who spilled his Starbucks on your latop.
Jacob is a consumate con artist and the sower of the seeds of discord. He delights in the chaos that people make of and for themselves and their lives, as well as the artists who earn their keep preying off the complacent, the gullible, the venal, and the inept.
Code of the Wild
- Freedom is the highest principle.
- Sanity and mundanity are prisons.
- Give in kind with a gift received.
Miraculous Abilities
- Aspect 2 (Legendary)
- 5 Permanent Miracle Points
Before enNoblement, Jakob had nimble fingers and a silver tongue. Since it, his skills have sharpened to the point that he can speak so beautifully that you'll give him your hearts desire and thank him for taking it off your hands.
- Domain 3 (Marquis) - Mischief
- 6 Permanent Miracle Points
- Secondary Domain 3 (Marquis) - Petty Crimes
Jakob enjoys influencing mischief and mischief makers. From the mild chaos caused by pranks, misdirection, or incompetence, he waters the seeds of trouble into full blown mayhem when the mood suits him. Other times he prunes problems that are still small enough to fall within his domain before they bloom into the full influence of the Power of Disaster.
- Realm 0 (Citizen)
- 5 Permanent Miracle Points
His relationship to Santa Filomena is strained. Perhaps Stultus is not quite ready to trust such a rogue with the keys to the car. Or perhaps he's refused the influence to make his work more challenging.
- Spirit 1 (Hearthfire)
- 5 Permanent Miracle Points
Gifts
Silver Tongue
(Glorious +2 Penetration, 4pts)
Jakob can, when he turns on his charm, convince just about anyone of just about anything. Even other Powers have been known to be stopped in their tracks when he starts to talk the talk.
(Major Creation of Charm)
Limits
Limits are handicaps under which the Noble operates; but in adversity there is power, and limits grant extra miracle points.
Highwayman's Mask (Focus)
A limit of (Domain) ( +1 DMP )
The Highwayman's Mask is the connection of Jakob to his secondary domain of Petty Crime. It can take many forms, but has to be worn, and worn on the outside of ordinary clothing to lend it's potence. (As a mask, hat, glove, ring, tiepin, boot, etc). It is said that Jakob somehow pulled a con on the Duke of Crime and won as a prize a fragmentary connection to that Domain. When or how the Duke intends to recoup this loss is not know. Of course, no one's sure there is a Power of Crime, so it may be another misdirection.
Restrictions
Restrictions are much like limits, but less universally problematic; they grant extra miracle points only when they become a major problem.
Respectful: Cons and Con Artists
Anyone who succesfully pulls one over on Jakob is someone he cannot take direct retribution against. No punishing them by force or deprivation. He can however begin a counter con once he knows he's been had, but he cannot use his Domain or Aspect to completely overawe such an opponent.
Virtue: Cunning
Jakob is tempermentally incapable of taking the brute force route to solve a problem. He'll use misdirection and trickery to get his way nine times out of ten. His aversion to direct, confrontational solutions means that he can always find a lateral option in the face of a problem. He can bargain his way out of a hail of bullets or fast talk his way out of frostbite.
Bonds
Bonds:
- 4 pts The Sanctity of Mischief
- 3 pts The Sanctity of Petty Crime
- 3 pts His focus (Highwayman's Mask)
- 3 pts The privacy of his origin (and the outrageousness of things people will believe about him)
- 2 pts His reputation as a master scoundrel
- 2 pts His antiquities collection (Incl. The Mona Lisa and the Koh-i-noor )
- 2 pts Vuko Orlov (Anchor) - punishing him and making him atone
- 1 pt His underworld contacts
History
Jakob Lementeur, or Jacob the Liar, has long been a figure of mystery in Santa Filomena long before his commencement. Since it, he's become less human in appearance, his curly light brown hair sometimes seems to glow like a halo. Other times his eyes seem to burn with icy cold. When he's not paying attention, there's something unsavory about him, something sinister, something wicked, something uncomfortable, something wild. When he is paying attention he's anything he wants to be, lover friend, business partner, stranger, superior, secretary. You believe what he wants you to believe about him, and sometimes even Nobles are not immune.
If you want to know how he's really feeling, though, watch his shadow. That's where the parts of him that he doesn't want you to see often go. But be careful, because his shadow may be watching you too.
Much has been said about him, and almost all of it is certainly untrue.
Unfortunately no one is certain what is true. He's been said to
have come from France, descended from Louis XVI. He's also said to
have been born to an electrician named Magpie in northern Wales. He's
said to have been the half-breen bastard of Mayor Jacobin Acavas and a royal
Lady of Faerie. That his six foot three, heavy build and golden curls make
him appear more Viking than frenchman or Faerie is considered refutation
of these theories by some and proof of his cunning and misdirection to
the more credulous.
Some things are known about him. His accent is British, with a touch of Welsh. He was first publically known in Santa Filomena about two decades ago. He appeared there looking to be in his early twenties, and he still looks that way. He drinks, womanizes, and flirts outrageously with married women. Some years ago he apparently was hired by Mayor Acavas to put political pressure on his opponents during a suprisingly vigorous election cycle when it seems popular support for his regime had suddenly eroded.
Before enNoblement he was known to smuggle things in and out of the Chancel for rich and powerful customers. He can procure works of art and rare artifacts which are not believed to be for sale. As far as anyone knows, he's never been arrested for a crime and the few times he's come to the law's attention, gentle words, and possibly some money changing hands cleared things up amicably. Everyone knows he's patently untrustworthy and unsavory to boot, but no one seems to hold it against him. He's as likely to be seen at a dive bar in a trench coat and fedora as at a high society party wearing something fashionable and rakish.
With respect to the legends about his origin, he's refused to divulge any positive information, but vigorously denies the wild speculations about himself. In fact, while drunk, he's vigorously denied many rumors that had not until that moment ever circulated, which has led some to believe that he's the chief source of the many legends about him. What's less well known is that he may not even be sure himself about all the secrets of his past. Since ennoblement, he's been busy outside the Chancel and has only returned a few occasions. It's claimed by some that he won his Secondary Domain in gambling contest against the Duke of Crime.
Anchors
Vuko ("Wolf") Orlov (Hate)
Vuko Orlov was in the Serbian military for fifteen years. He's a hard, reactionary man with a bad temper. He moved his family to Paris about ten years ago, after he left the military. From Paris he used his contacts to broker sales of assault weapons to paramilitaries in his home province. The allure of arms dealing caught his imagination, and soon, despite his intense nationalistic feelings, he was selling anything to anyone, and using 'rumors' about deals he himself had actually brokered to bargain up buyers on both sides of various world conflicts.
They met when the then Mundane Jakob was running a philantrhopic scheme to smuggle South African diamonds to Paris and smuggle medical supplies back in. Vuko's men blew up Jakob's fake Red Cross convoy with an RPG while demoing it to a buyer. Jakob was captured and interrogated when it was discovered that his ambulances had been full of diamonds. Alongside the petty despot he'd been dealing with, Vuko helped interrogate and torture Jakob in successful attempt to find out where the diamonds were coming from. What Jakob didn't tell him was that the owner of the diamonds was already investigating the drop in his supply and going back for more was suicidal.
Vuko survived the trap, but not without blowing up several Cartel squads and a small village. Since then the two men have watched out for and hated each other. Now that Jakob has been enNobled, he's taken Vuko and intends to bend him to less martial purposes. But on the other hand, it's always good to have a 'friend' who can supply a small army at short notice.
Misc
- Eternal Chaos - Greater Preservation (M)
Take a place that already is filled with mistakes, snafus, and idiocy compounded by indifference. Sprinkle on a greater preservation and you can ensure that things will never EVER be quite right there. Perhaps an airport from which no plane will ever leave on time or arrive at the proper destination. Or maybe a bank where nothing filed will ever be unfiled at the right time. Or perhaps a ubiquitous piece of software produced in Redmond Washington can be made ETERNALLY buggy, opening floodgates to spam, viruses and continual errors. Not to be TOO specific.
- Distraction - Lsr Preservation (M)
By increasing the mischief around himself purposefully, Jakob can ensure that his own path is made smoother. Guards are drawn away by noisy customers, bureaucrats have filing errors, clerks have personal emergencies.
- Eternal Con - Lsr Preservation (PC)
Jakob appreciates fine art. From grifts, to cons, to pickpocketing. Occasionally he'll observe an artist of such skill that he wants to reward them. He's been known to bless particular forms, whether they be con routines, pickpocketing styles, etc, with a special charm against discovery. For much longer than they should these larcenies will go undetected, and their practicers will do well.
- Gremlins - Lsr Preservation/Creation (M)
Jakob can unleash the mischief of a place or a system, talking to the spirits of it, and convincing them to break the rules that bind them and run wild. When he does this, disorder and mayhem soon follow. The disorder can be slow and subtle or wild and chaotic.
- Smear - Lsr Creation (M)
Jakob can whisper something in someone's ear, and make it come alive. The words, the rumor, will grow, spread and mutate, changing into something capable of destroying a career, capable of destroying reputations, families, businesses or even ruling governments. The words don't matter, someone, somewhere becomes the focus of this vicious attack, and nothing will prevent the message from finding an audience, again and again, until the target is damaged beyond recognition.
- Peace - Lsr Destruction (M)
When faced with an escalating disaster, sometimes Jakob needs to throttle things back to prevent something moving beyond the reach of his estate. With this miracle, political dirty tricks can be systematically exposed, wild rumors can be quelled and forgotten, investigations launched and concluded successfully.
- Utility Belt - Ghost Miracle (PC)
It's important to have the right gear. Failing that it's important to have some gear. With ghost miracles of Petty Crime, Jakob can always have the most basic of larcenous tools.
