Lingering Smoke
From Greenthings
Contents |
Introduction
Lingering Smoke is a Midnight Caste. Before his not-quite-death, he was- oddly enough- a tomb robber, and an unusually effective one at that. This might be because of his relentless bravery in the face of danger. It might be because of his ability to wheedle information out of even the most secretive of artifact dealers and lore collectors. It might be because he's a lucky prick who loves exaggerating his exploits. According to him, his success is entirely due to his skill in entrepreneurship; he simply saw a need, and he filled it.
His name was Mark Balamada. As a young wannabe punk, he had a small epiphany: what makes tombs so damn hard to take from? Because often, no living soul knows where they are or what's actually in them. How does one solve that while doing the least possible amount of work? Why, one could find someone else to ask than the living. He learned how to talk to the dead- and how to protect himself from them- and though it ended up being considerably more work than he'd expected, he ended up with a nice little business trading favors for ghostly knowledge. Fortune (much of which goes to pay medical expenses)! Treasure (a lot of which is unusable and damn near uncarryable for mortals)! Fame (just under enough to get stabbed in the night)! It wasn't a bad life at all, he thought.
Sadly, one can't spend that much time around people, even dead ones, without developing a bit of sympathy for them. Okay, a lot of sympathy. Eventually, Mark's little favor-trading business had him doing things for ghosts who couldn't possibly have anything useful to say. Going out of his way for them. Even actually... helping them. The horror!
That was what eventually got him. He was off on some damn fool quest he still refuses to talk about- something about "a kid" and "shut up"- and ran into someone who was rather insistent that he not be allowed to make good on his word. Long story short, he ended up pinned to the wall by something very sharp and painful...
Character Sheet
Lingering Smoke
Midnight Caste
Motivation: Entertain people and inspire them to greatness through having way too much fun doing stupid, dangerous, heroic things.
Anima: An ever-flowing font of swirling black smoke, glimmering occasionally with dark green and gray flecks.
Attributes:
Str ** Dex **** Sta **
Cha ***** Man **** App ***
Per *** Int *** Wits ***
Abilities:
(Midnight)
Integrity ****
Performance *****
Presence ***
Resistance ***
Survival
(Favored)
Lore **
Occult **
Stealth ***
Larceny ***
Melee ****
(Other)
Dodge **
Athletics **
Awareness **
Investigation ***
Socialize **
Linguistics * (Flametongue- Native, Old Realm)
(Specialties)
Occult (Ghosts) **
Virtues- Cmp *** Con ** Val **** Tem ** | Flaw: Foolhardy Contempt
Intimacies: His Pride, Sarien, Michael
Essence- ** Personal (0/13) | Peripheral &(23/32) | Committed- armor4, lance5
HL - x0 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 4 I | Exp: 21 Spent: 63 | Willpower- ***** **
Merits/Flaws:
Enchanting Feature (voice, +2), Eternal Vow (+3)
Favor (-3), Permanent Caste Mark (-2), Known Anathema (-1)
Charms:
Ox-Body Technique (-, x1)
Spirit-Hardened Frame (3m)
Ivory Blossom Carapace (1m/per)
2nd Melee (2m/per)
Vengeful Riposte (1m)
Fluttering Moth Defense (2m)
Slashing Ghost Talon (1m)
Crimson Banquet Method (5m, 1w)
--
2nd Performance (2m/per)
Withering Dirge (2m/1L, Essence max)
Lamenting Ghost Technique (1m/1L, 50y, armor-piercing, Sta+Ess max)
Morbid Fascination Style (5m)
--
Spirit-Sensing Technique (3m)
Corpus-Rending Blow (2m)
2nd Stealth (2m/per)
2nd Larceny (2m/per)
Theft of Face (5m)
Cunning Criminal Style (10m)
Lock-Weathering Touch (3m)
Backgrounds:
Allies *****
Artifacts ***
Contacts *
Influence **
Whispers **
Underworld Manse *
Descriptions and Elaborations
"What do I want? I want to inspire people. I want to make my mark on the world and in the hearts of nations. I want to discover the lost knowledge of the ages and have my story retold in the halls of kings for thousands of years. I want-
Oh, another sandwich, yeah. What? You asked. And one for the butterfly as well, thank you." <3
Preferred Name(s): Smoke, Mark, Lingering Smoke (in about that order)
Age: 35
Basic Description: Tall, wiry, outrageously dyed hair (currently electric blue with fuschia stripes), brown eyes, usually wears gray and blue silk, black vaguely gothic boots, and his soulsteel armor (out in public) with a light cloak over it when it's not far too hot for all that. Image (Deviantart)
Personality: Smoke is, above most other things, an actor. He might be an overweening fop of little worth when you meet him, or he might be a cold-hearted thief who'd sell out his grandma for a handful of shekels, but five minutes later he'll be a daring, rogueish man of mystery to that pretty lady in the corner and he'll be just as convincing in it as you ever saw him. In truth, he's naturally a lot more mild of feeling than he pretends to be, but his rabid sense of adventure tends to drive him to ends that surprise even himself.
Origin: Born a street rat in Gem; his parents died when he was about three and he was raised by his older sister Alita. He became a con man and a thief, she married up; while their relationship is amiable enough, it's distant, and they haven't spoken since before he Exalted.
Backgrounds
Allies *****
- (name) (**). Crafter guy. To be figured out once the mental debate ends over whether or not am amused enough to make an Edgar ripoff.
- Michael Vanguard (***). Crow Totem Waxing Moon, see Eternal Vow. Spiky, easily-amused, antisocial bastard. Likes shiny things of ancient magical power, gathering an island-chain power base with which to bring the doctrine of life and change to the people of Shadowlands, and intentionally and with forethought doing incredibly reckless things to increase said power base. He loves his Mate (not that he has much of a choice), but tends to treat him like well-valued property. (Smoke isn't complaining. :B)
Artifact ***
- Soulsteel Reinforced Breastplate (***, +12L/+11B, 9L/9B, -1M, 1F, &Att4). This particular item was given to him when he Exalted. It would be proper to give it back if he ever chose not to use it for some reason.
- Fivefold Harmonic Adapter (*, R1)
- Moonsilver Dire Lance, Glowering Fang (**, sp5, acc+4, +8L(+12L charge), def+4, Rate2, &Att5). You can find the damnedest things in tombs, you know?
- Moonsilver Dire Lance, Glowering Fang (**, sp5, acc+4, +8L(+12L charge), def+4, Rate2, &Att5). You can find the damnedest things in tombs, you know?
Contacts
- Underworld - Not all of the ghosts Smoke has dealt with before Exalting have chosen Lethe, and some of the ones that did have still-unliving friends.
Influence **
Around various places in the South, mostly; likely at least one small Shadowland. This isn't so much political or social influence as it is Emperor Norton-esque notoriety; people may find him charming, annoying or (more so lately) scary, but you can't act like he does and not make a lasting impression on a lot of people.
Underworld Manse *
- Air; Echoing Crags
-Wind Jewel **
Merits/Flaws
- Favor - This is probably payback to somebody he unintentionally screwed over by doing the whole "dying except not" thing, but there are plenty of other options appropriate to the character at the GM's option.
- Permanent Caste Mark - Smoke has a habit of lying to himself about being anything other than a particularly clever thug (among other things). Someone thought this was an appropriate addition.
- Known Anathema 1 - The main thing keeping this number low is the relatively short time he's actually been Exalted.
Notes
JB: 5 DDV: Dex + Dodge + Essence / 2 = 4 ParryDV: Dex + Melee + Specialty + Defense bonus / 2 = 6
Soak = (sta)+armor B = 14; (sta/2)+armor L = 12; Hardness = armor 9L/9B
