Lingering Smoke

From Lavosbyssals

Current revision as of 07:04, 9 November 2007

[edit] 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...

[edit] Character Sheet

Lingering Smoke
Midnight Caste
Motivation: Find lost knowledge and keep it from being abused.
Anima: A flowing dome of green-and-black smoke, with vague blocky shapes and the occasional glitter in the "background".

Attributes:

Str ** Dex *** Sta ***
Cha ***** Man **** App ***
Per *** Int *** Wits ***

Abilities:

(Midnight)
Integrity ****
Performance *****
Presence ***
Resistance ***
Survival

(Favored)
Lore **
Occult **
Bureaucracy **
Larceny ****
Melee ***

(Other)
Dodge **
Athletics **
Awareness **
Stealth ***
Investigation ***
Socialize **
Linguistics * (Flametongue- Native, Rivertongue)

(Specialties)
Occult (Ghosts) **

Virtues- Cmp *** Con ** Val **** Tem ** | Flaw: Foolhardy Contempt
Intimacies: His Pride, The First Artifact He Ever Personally Found (Whistle), Sarien
Essence- ** Personal (13/13) | Peripheral &(23/32) | Committed- armor4, lance5
HL - 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 4 I | Exp: 23 Spent: 41 | Willpower- ***** **

Merits/Flaws:
Born to Rule (+2), Eternal Vow (+3)
Favor (-3), Permanent Caste Mark (-2), Known Anathema (-1)

Charms:
Ox-Body Technique (-, x1)
Spirit-Hardened Frame (3m)
Imperishable Headstone Meditation (2m)
Spirit-Sensing Technique (3m)
2nd Melee (2m/per)
Vengeful Riposte (1m)
Slashing Ghost Talon (1m)
--
2nd Performance (2m/per)
Withering Dirge (2m/1L, Essence max)
Morbid Fascination Style (5m)
--
2nd Larceny (2m/per)
Theft of Face (5m)
Cunning Criminal Style (10m)
Lock-Weathering Touch (3m)

Backgrounds:
Allies *
Artifacts *****
Contacts **
Influence **
Whispers **
Underworld Manse **

[edit] 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 too, thank you kindly." <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 *

• Sylvester Tam-iaki. Somebody had to teach him how to find ghosts, and that somebody was this guy. He's God-Blooded, and a pretty good thaumaturge and artificer, partly because of Mark's repayment over the years in the form of discreet backing and sharing some of the... less monetarily valuable things he finds.
  

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? Somebody might want this back someday, to say the least.
    
• Ghost-Summoning Whistle (**). The first thing he ever found, Smoke originally kept this as a token of good luck. This may or may not be a good thing, as it's gotten him into trouble more than once. He tends to keep it on his person whether he's using it or not. (see Intimacies)
  
• Essence Flare Pillars (**, R1). Because they're fun.
  

Contacts

• Artifact Hunters - It pays to know what other people are doing in a business like this. Smoke has had a long-standing non-competition arrangement with one person in particular, who will happily trade services if there's something Smoke doesn't want to directly have his hands in. "Trade", of course, being the operative word there.
  
• 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 **

Air; Endless Hall of Portraits

-Memory Stone * (This one's in the Dire Lance.)

Merits/Flaws

• Eternal Vow - This could be the hook for an epic romance. It could also be the hook for an epic comedy, a major tragedy, or a minor character note.
  
• 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.
  

[edit] Notes

Soak: 2B/1L, 14B/12L with armor.

Before first session:
Maukali: Haven't met him yet, at least not in actual canon.
Sarien: He's just a friend, I swear. why the hell do I keep falling for cross-dressing men ==;
Gan Ning: Never met him, but I get this odd premonition of impending doom when his name comes up. Oh well, never stopped me before. :D

After third session:
Maukali: Nice guy. Great guy. He gave me a sandwich.
Sarien: ...I'm glad he's found somebody, that's great, maybe Gan Ning will make him happy. That shouldn't hurt to think about.
Gan Ning: I don't think I trust an inch of him. ==;

After six:
Sarien: I, ah... am going to have to make up for that, somehow. Dear butterfly...
Gan Ning: Charismatic bastard. Nyah.
Kiwi: Cute kid. Odd kid, and he pays too much attention to That Furry Bastard, but I guess that's a Lunar thing or something.
Alek: Loud jackass... yeah, definitely reminds me of me when I was that age. He's gonna be fun to work with. <3
Sia Ilaryn: Not around yet. Good to have more Abyssals around, though- no offense to Kiwi.