Lingering Smoke
From Lavosbyssals
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, and someone decided to make him an offer he couldn't refuse...
Character Sheet
Lingering Smoke
Midnight Caste
Motivation: Find and protect the knowledge of the past and present from those who would abuse it.
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 ****
Dodge **
(Other)
Melee **
Athletics *
Awareness **
Stealth **
Investigation **
Socialize *
Linguistics * (Flametongue- Native, Old Realm)
(Specialties)
Occult (Ghosts) **
Bureaucracy (Shady/Pseudoillegal) *
Bureaucracy (Bribery) *
Virtues- Cmp *** Con ** Val **** Tem ** | Flaw: Foolhardy Contempt
Intimacies: Never Admitting He's A Nice Guy, The First Artifact He Ever Personally Found (Hearthstone Compass), Aiding Small Children and Other Cute Innocent Things In Danger
Essence- ** Personal (13/13) | Peripheral (32/32) | Committed-
0 1 1 2 2 4 I | Exp: 0 Spent: 0 | Willpower- ***** **
Merits/Flaws:
Born to Rule (+2), Eternal Vow (+3)
Favor (-3), Permanent Caste Mark (-2), Known Anathema (-1)
Charms: (unfinished)
Backgrounds:
Allies *
Artifacts *****
Contacts (Artifact Hunters) *
Contacts (Underworld) *
Influence **
Whispers **
Underworld Manse **
Descriptions and Elaborations
Hello! Come in, come in, getcha a drink? Name's Lingering Smoke, artifact trader, treasure hunter, née Mark Balamada, Black Ghost of the Dunes and all that. I'm sure you've heard of me, that's why you're here, so just what can I do ya for?
Preferred Name(s): Smoke, Mark, Lingering Smoke (in about that order)
Basic Description: Tall, wiry, brown hair that doesn't quite cover that eerie black circle yet, hazel eyes, and pale skin (sadly, tans fade fast in the Underworld). Image (Deviantart)
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.
First Breath: Born a street rat in Gem. One known living family member, his older sister; current relationship basically extends to sending each other Calibration cards. Normally operates in the South. 35 years old.
Exaltation Notes: (or, why the hell isn't he a Day Caste? in more realistic terms than "Compassion 3")
Being a priest of the Sun's Shadow is about accepting the natural course of events and encouraging others to do the same. Smoke has spent more time talking to ghosts pre-Exaltation than some people do afterwards, and he's proven his desire to prod them towards accepting Lethe by having, well, done so. He likes the shinyflashythings- dear heavenly gods does he go after the shinyflashythings- but he knows well enough that the important things are not always worth the money it'd to throw them away, and they're not always physical things.
Perhaps most importantly, there's the fact that he's gradually spent more and more time being a counselor than a rogue, however much it cost him; and while part of this is compassion, part of it is a real conviction that these people shouldn't be here, and that getting them to go ahead and reincarnate would be a good idea on general principles.
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 interesting 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.
- Hearthstone Compass (*, R1) The first thing he ever found, Smoke originally kept this as a token of good luck. He tends to keep it on his person and in a safe location whether he's using it or not. (see Intimacies)
- Fivefold Harmonic Adapter (*, R1)
- Ghost-Summoning Whistle (**)
