Gavroche of the Graves
From Familia Niveum
Gavroch
Gavroch Story, the Angel of Grief, True King of Chancel Blah, Keeper of the Graves, Guardian of the Veil.
The cemetery is empty, tranquil and free of graffiti. On the grave lies a marble statue of a angel gripping a wreath, its body thrown across the headstone. The near-perfect silence is broken only by a sob quiet enough to be imaginary- the angel moves, and grieves.
Contents |
Personal Code
Code of Heaven’s Remembrance
1. Beauty is the highest principle 2. Justice is a form of beauty 3. The remaining should pay respect to the departed
Design
Ivy grows thick over marble, representing patience and hope of immortality. Four periwinkles are tied in a circle, for memory, with a single white lily bud in their centre, for death.
Miraculous Abilities
- Aspect 3
- 5 Permanent Miracle Points
- Domain 0
- 5 Permanent Miracle Points
- Realm 3
- 5 Permanent Miracle Points
- Spirit 1
- 8 Permanent Miracle Points
Gifts
Gifts are unique special abilities possessed by the Noble.
Born from Death
5-pts- Major Creation of Self, Automatic, Self-Only, Comprehensive, and Uncommon Never alive, never to be dead. This is the blessing and curse of the Keeper. Gavroch is stone and thus needs neither food nor sleep. He is hard to injure and heals well. He also does not age. If slain, he reawakens at the Story Crypt. He will only die permanently if the Imperator is slain, if the Story Crypt is destroyed or by Excrucian weapon or the like.
Flight
1-pt- Aspect-based Miracle as White Book The Angel of Grief can fly with those big stone wings.
Virtue
Mindful
Gavroch is dedicated to his task and role as griever for all who have died. He cannot be distracted, caused to forget or seduced from his duties, nor tricked into misinterpreting those duties.
Limits
Limits are handicaps under which the Noble operates; but in adversity there is power, and limits grant extra miracle points.
Light Touch
A limit of Spirit ( +2 MP )
Gavroch has no domain over the living, not even that of the usual power. As such, he cannot directly control an anchor against their will.
Restrictions
Restrictions are much like limits, but less universally problematic; they grant extra miracle points only when they become a major problem.
Guardian of the Story Crypt
A General Restriction (+1-3 MP when appropriate)
At Vespers each day, Gavroch is drawn to the Story Crypt to weep and will do so under nearly all circumstances. If he places anything before this need, he looses 2 MP.
Summonable
A Restriction of Aspect (+3 MP when summoned; +5 MP when bound for longer than a day)
Gavroch can be summoned to any memorial anywhere in the world by a simple ritual, or by the honest grief of a pure soul. More exceptionally, his soul can be drawn from his body and bound into any marble grave-angel. There he is trapped, immobile, until he has answered three questions about the dead or until someone the summoner cares about dies.
Live Heart
A Restriction of Spirit ( +1 MP )
Gavroch serves the dead and as such, they cannot be made to serve him in perpetuity. Gavroch cannot Anchor the dead, the undead or the dying.
Bonds
- The Sanctity of his Domain 3
- The Story Family 3
- The Unknown Soldier 2
- Mordechai Graves 1
- Friendship with Mister Saturday 1
- Grieving Angel representations 1
- Stanford University 1
- The Vatican Catacombs 1
- Secrets of the Veil 4
- Hatred of Vagrant Dead 3
History
Crafted in 1894 by William Wetmore Story to embody the grief he felt Heaven must be feeling over his wife’s death. Heaven, of course, did not grieve as a rule but one Imperator noticed the hubristic grief. The statue was unaware that a divine being watched as he guarded Story’s memories and passions with silence and stillness. The statue was copied again and yet again, becoming one of the most famous memorials of all time. Each of these grave-statues tried to emulate their ‘father’ and payed homage with their eternal vigil.
In 1901, an earthquake shook San Francisco and destroyed the most famous replica of the statue. Struck down for the first time with a grief of his own, the Angel of Grief took flight, seeking the uncaring Heaven that allows tragedy after tragedy and calls upon the services of his kind without reward. Imperator X found him and whispered the secret of death into his ear, ennobling him.
Anchors
Mordechai Graves
“Chick was whacked with a stiletto heel to the head at some sortof super-speed. ‘M thinkin’ it was one of Brazuda’s ladies, y’know? Croaked three days ago, judgin’ by the gunky ooze I get when I squeeze the eye like so.… pass me that chicken, yeah?”
A New York coroner working out of Central Manhattan Morgue. Perhaps America’s leading expert in identifying John and Jane Doe’s. Remaining stick-thin despite eating enormous amounts of food, barely seeing daylight between his steel underground lair (the Manhattan morgue) and the dingy night streets he patrols.
The Unknown Soldier
After World War I (1914-1918), officials of the Allied countries found that the bodies of many soldiers killed in battle could not be identified. The governments of Belgium, Britain, France, Italy, and the United States decided to honour the memory of these soldiers. As one of his first acts, the power of Memorials chose one of his own. Patient #48 was only 15, but suffered amnesia during the war, and had lost his life as he knew it. Gavroch ennobled him, and for the past 107 years, the Unknown Soldier has served as Memorials strong right arm in Creation, hunting his enemies. Mystical healing and access to minor magic has extended his life, but both power and anchor agree that none should live past their time. As such, the Soldier lives in a home, playing whist to waste his final days and hoping for one last mission before he goes.
Notable Friends and Enemies
1. Balthasar, Duke of Carrion Eaters. The rivalry between the Heavenly Gavroch and the Hellish Balthasar has gone well beyond the acceptable for the Society of Flowers. Balthasar is a horde of maggots infesting the bloated corpse of the domains former power. He considers the dead and dying naught but food for his legion of subjects, and uses all of his dark power to desecrate and deface monuments. He has strengthened his domain by defining nzambi’s as crawling things and is using this new power to torment Gavroch.
2. Viktor Lamentrov, Viscount of Thousandfold Vengeance. Gavroch has a friendlier rivalry with the Russian-mobster-turned-dragon, Viktor. Viktor mainly focuses on imbalanced vendettas, but has an interest in making it easier for the vengeful dead to cross back. The pair negotiate often, with the excitable dragon shouting at the silent statue, but so far they have always come to an arrangement.
3. Mister Saturday, Duke of Crossroads, Baron of Hats. Gavroch’s closest friend outside the Familia, the infamous trickster shares a love of funerary festivals and memorial rites. The pair make an effort to spend time together in New Orleans each year.
4. Prevecardo, Regent of Sculptures. As Gavroch was the first statue to be ennobled in Prevecardo’s time, the pompous and diminutive artist is immensely proud of the Angel of Grief and considers himself Gavroch’s patron and mentor.
Goals and Motivations
- To improve the forensic sciences, making identification of the dead easier.
- To destroy Balthasar of the Carrion Eaters once and for all, Valde Bellium be damned
- To protect the chancel and his family with his own life
- Similarly, to guard the Wall of the Fallen, containing the names of all the nobles, estates and Imperators the Excrucians have so far claimed, and the secrets of the Veil, whispered into his ear by the Imperator
