|
Profile
| DoB:
|
12th of August 1993
|
| Family:
|
Abernathy: •
Ravenwood descendant
|
| Partner:
|
Pqentun Parmequa
|
| Hometown:
|
Fallcoast
|
| Ethnicity:
|
Passamaquoddy / Mohawk
|
|
|
| Occupations:
|
Dancer
PhD Student
Religious Thaumaturge
|
|
|
| Vice:
|
Pursuit of Knowledge
|
| Virtue:
|
Hope for the future
|
|
|
| Template:
|
Keeper of the Vigil
|
| Cell:
|
None as yet
|
| Compact:
|
Loyalist of Thule: ••
|
|
|
| Fame:
|
Bikini & music video model: •
|
| Seductive Grace:
|
Dancer: ••
|
| Striking Looks:
|
Exotic: ••
|
| Striking Voice:
|
Warm: ••
|
|
|
| Communion:
|
••••
|
| Gatekeeper:
|
••••
|
| Natural Medium:
|
•••
|
| Supernatural Senses:
|
Awakened Magic, Gates, Ghosts, Numina & Spirits
|
Score
Native Son
- For now better days have passed
- We walk the streets of broken glass
- Our people vanished as snow before the Summer sun
Nothing Else Matters
- So close, no matter how far
- Couldn't be much more from the heart
- Forever trusting who we are
- And nothing else matters
Welcome to the Family
- Not long ago you'd find
- The answers were so crystal clear
- Within a day you find
- Yourself living in constant fear
|
“Our children are still taught to respect the violence which reduced a red-skinned people of an earlier culture into a few fragmented groups herded into impoverished reservations.”
~ Martin Luther King
|
Who she is... ~ A brief introduction
xxxxxAurore's pursuing a PhD in Anthropology at Saint John's, aided by a scholarship grant. She's writing her thesis on the development and promotion of communal identities, with a particular focus upon rituals, ceremonies, and folklore as bonding elements. To help pay her bills, she spends a few hours a week dancing in a local ”gentlemen's club”.
xxxxxBorn and (mostly) raised in Fallcoast, Aurore was an unusually bookish and strange student at local elementary and high schools before she disappeared off to California for three years. Once in Los Angeles she was 'discovered' by an agent, and won minor fame as a bikini and music video model while paying her way through her B.A. She returned to Fallcoast a couple of years ago to pursue post-graduate studies, but still does the occasional photo-shoot as well as her dancing.
xxxxxMuch less widely publicised than her photos and videos are her occult interests and talents – only a handful of people are aware of her less conventional abilities, let alone that she has started to make break-throughs in thaumaturgy, or that she has pledged herself to the Loyalists of Thule as a keeper of the Vigil.
Hooks ~ Reasons to roleplay
- Altruistic do-gooder: even the World of Darkness produces them every now and then.
- Dancer and Model: minorly famous (1 dot) for her work in music videos and while wearing a bikini, she now dances at Bella Gentlemen's Club. It pays the bills without putting much of a dent into her research time.
- Gamer: She's a roleplayer, part of her cousin Phil's group, and often to be found at his shop. The good guys generally win and happily ever after can happen in pretendy fun-time worlds, after all...
- Loyalist of Thule: a volunteer with the guys who provide obscure lore to those in need of an edge against dark powers; they also have an active sideline in genocide prevention.
- Natural Medium & Gatekeeper: Aurore can not only sense spirits but hear them talk. She can also detect nearby ghosts, spot Avernian Gates, and open paths to the Underworld. Ah, the joys of being an Abernathy born with a caul over one's face!
- Political activist: (mostly) native by blood, highly educated, and very uppity.
- Religious thaumaturge: she's moral, she's magical, and she might teach others how to pursue her own brand of enlightenment.
- University: in receipt of funding for her PhD, writing her thesis on the formation and promotion of communal identities (especially via ritual and the transmission of legends).
Notes ~ Out of character help
xxxxxPlaying Nicely With Others: If it'll help to foster roleplay – especially for the Hunter sphere – I'm likely to be interested. If there's something you'd like to explore in a scene, I'm very likely to be up for it. And as the House Rules page states, Hunters cannnot engage in PvP against other Spheres without sphere head approval in advance. We're safe to meet and play with!
xxxxxTier: I've been brought in as a Tier for the Hunter sphere: if you want me to help to set up a scene, please let me know. I'm hoping to run some long-term investigations, and I can also make use of 'official' plots. If there's something I can help with, please ask!
|
|
What others might know
“He who does not stand firm on principles and has neither wide knowledge nor penetrating judgement is not worthy to be a companion.”
~ Mo Tzu
|
xxxxxA few things to try to help with RP: feel free to make use of any or all of these sections that might apply to your own characters.
Fallcoast Locals ~ Ambitious Indian
xxxxxLocals of around her own age might remember Aurore as a strange and bookish youngster; after being advanced a year in elementary school she stood out even more than would be expected for an ethnic minority kid born to a low-income single mother. Though frequently bullied (something exacerbated by tales of her having conversations with thin air), she initially had a protector in the form of Qent – but when Aurore was 14 and Qent 16 (and most of their classmates 15), Qent was sent to juvie for breaking the nose of a well-connected tormentor. Thereafter, Aurore became easier prey, and more evidently withdrawn. She didn't date, and spent most of her free time at home, in dance classes, or in the school library.
xxxxxGraduating with extremely high grades, she chose to pursue her academic studies at the opposite corner of the country. When she returned three years later, it was with a great deal more overt self-confidence, a new sense of style, and a promise of funding for her research.
Loyalists of Thule ~ Sorceress and Scholar
xxxxxAurore is a recognised Scholar of the Loyalists of Thule. Recruited while she was in Los Angeles, she has provided research materials to the Compact, and has in return tapped their resources to help her own thaumaturgical studies. Though her ethnicity might lead one to expect a shamanic approach, she seems to have had success in combining religious beliefs with formal rites and the study of arcane tomes.
Students and Faculty ~ Not Yet a Doctor
xxxxxHaving received her MA in 2014, Aurore is now one of Saint John's more distinctive PhD students and teaching assistants - covering an eclectic spread of courses on topics related to her research. Students of anthropology, history, sociology, and political theory might all encounter her for a seminar or two.
xxxxxHer conference papers, lectures, and articles all eloquently convey a passion for her subject, though her personal commitment to justice for indigenous communities often leads her to clash with more conventional thinkers. When riled she can indulge in youthful intemperance, and is quite willing to pitch in against much more prestigious opponents.
|
|
Magic and Other Strangeness
xxxxxBrief notes on what Aurore can do - for the benefit of myself, plot-runners, and anyone who might find it useful in RP. For mechanics, check the relevant books (mostly Second Sight) and the house rules on this wiki.
xxxxxNote - Slow and Subtle Powers: The very fastest thaumaturgical rite takes at least a minute to activate; one even takes an hour just to reach the first in what might be an extended set of rolls. Aurore's a ritualist and a medium, not a combat-mage. If you're throwing Plot at her, please bear in mind that in most ways she's just a knowledgeable mortal!
General Bonuses
xxxxxAbernathy Boon: +1 to Occult rolls
xxxxxApostle of the Dark One: Small bonus to rite and merit rolls in pursuit of Vice (i.e. the pursuit of knowledge).
xxxxxFame: ~ • ~ Bikini and urban music video model. Small bonus per dot to social interactions with those who recognise her as famous.
xxxxxSeductive Grace: ~ •• ~ Small penalty per dot to audience's attempts to resist impact of suitable performances.
xxxxxStriking Looks & Voice: ~ •• each ~ Small bonus per dot to social rolls when relevant.
xxxxxUnearthed Secrets: ~ • ~ At the start of a story, each dot allows one relevant secret about monsters, occult problems, or even other Hunters to be gained via the information-exchange network of the Loyalists of Thule. Each dot of this Merit also permanently acts as a point of Occult-related contacts.
Morality
xxxxxApostle of the Dark One: Due to Aurore's focus upon the human soul as a literal spark of the divine and her use of it as the lens for her thaumaturgy, she finds it hard to repair any damage her own incurs. The cost-multiplier for buying a dot of Morality is one higher than for normal people.
xxxxxHunter: As noted in the House Rules, Keepers of the Vigil tend to be prepared for brown and sticky stuff to hit the whirly thing at almost any moment. Consequently, Aurore can treat Morality-damaging acts as if they were one tier higher up the scale, and may also roll one extra die to avoid a Morality drop. No bonus is gained for resisting degeneration in the event of a drop, however.
xxxxxSin-Eater: As a magically-empowered idealist with a focus upon the soul, Aurore has the capacity to try to take others' sins into herself, giving them a chance to regain lost Morality. Upon performing the necessary rite, she gives the recipient a second chance at the Morality check for the relevant sin: if they pass, they regain the lost dot. Whether or not they pass, Aurore also has to make a check, and risks Morality loss herself.
Thaumaturgic Rites
For an extremely useful summary of thaumaturgical rules, see here
xxxxxCommunion: ~ •• & •••• ~ One-hour rite to commune with divine patron; the lower-level version allows for tapping its insight as if in possession of the Common Sense Merit. The higher one allows for two-way communication and more benefits: in addition to any visions / guidance the patron wants to send of its own volition, caster may choose to receive benefits to actions. Best follow any instructions received, however... (SS p104)
xxxxxCountermagic: ~ •• ~ One-minute rite permits caster to erect personal defence: for the next scene, will automatically detect the first thaumaturgical rite to target her, the instant it begins. (SS p 105)
xxxxxEvocation (Spirits): ~ •• & •••• ~ 10-minute rite, resisted by target spirit which may be either personally known to the caster, or the nearest of a named type. 4-dot version compels it to perform a service for the caster; the rite is made easier if the desired task is one it would be glad to perform or the entity has been summoned before. (SS p 108)
xxxxxLuck Magic: ~ •• ~ 10-minute rite to grant minor boost to a single skill, for (Manipulation) uses. (SS p 114)
xxxxxScrying: 1-minute rite to project senses to location to which an arcane connection links; e.g. the point from which a chip of stone was taken out of a wall. May see, hear, and smell as if viewing the site from that point; may turn 'head' to change direction of focus, but may not move. Also get reflexive Wits+Occult roll to identify as a magical nexus any mystical site (Locus, Verge, Avernian Gate, etc) viewed by this means. (SS pp 78 & 116)
xxxxxSecond Sight: One-minute rite grants ghost-aspected perspective of Twilight on top of normal sight and sound; perceive both sides of the Veil simultaneously, but at moderate penalties with regard to physical world. Cannot perceive non-ghostly entities in Twilight via this rite. (SS p 116)
xxxxxVisionary Trances: ~ •• & •••• ~ 30-minute rite to open a mental connection to the Shadow: the 2-dot rite allows for perception of Shadow and communication with entities there, but no movement, combat, or the like. The 4-dot rite allows the creation of an ephemeral body in Shadow, linked to the caster's corporeal form by a silver cord. (SS p 119)
xxxxxWarding: 10-minute rite creates a ward on a physical location: may be a vehicle, but cannot be a person, clothing, etc. Boundary points must be marked. May either erect a general ward, or one vs a specific creature (the latter receives small bonus to strength). Strength of ward is deducted from Power trait of ephemeral entities caught inside or seeking to cross it; if reduced to 0 or below, they can't (no roll; it's impenetrable to them). Ephemeral powers projected across boundary are also reduced by ward's strength. Lasts one day as a general ward; one week if created vs a single specific entity. (SS p 120)
Supernatural Senses and Other Weirdness
Aurore can detect all of the following, without a roll:
- Awakened magic
- Ghosts and unfettered Geists
- Spirits (of the Shadow variety)
- Numina (whether used by Spirits, Changing Breeds, Purified, or Visitors)
- Larval and Immundi 'demons' (but not more powerful types) detect as ghosts or spirits
- Avernian Gates
Note: She senses the category into which something falls, but not its level of power, appearance, or any other details
As a Natural Medium, she:
- Can understand spirit-tongue
- Is visible to spirits across the Gauntlet
- Can hear spirits that choose to address her
- With effort can reply, even across the Gauntlet
- Is wholly immune to involuntary possession by spirits
As a Gatekeeper, she can open Avernian Gates with a touch (and a bit of effort). Again, no roll required.
As a Lucid Dreamer, she automatically knows when she is dreaming, has a moderate bonus to Composure when under attack in her dreams, and can fight back against intruders.
Thanks to Psychic Resistance, she receives a small bonus vs the use of mental and emotional psychic powers, and (whether or not they succeed) receives a reflexive perception check to realise that she has been targeted by one.
|
|
|
Aurore Abernathy
