Thomas Creeley Hunts-Balance: Approval
for New Ritual (Cleansing the Webs)Thomas Creeley Hunts-Balance: Approval
for New Ritual (Cleansing the Webs)
Character Sheet:
Character: Thomas Creeley Hunts-Balance
Player: Jacob Williamson 9802-157 (6CCP)
Uktena Galliard Homid, Survivor/Spook
Cliath
Pack of the Mystery Men
Rage: 2, Gnosis: 2, Willpower: 3
Mental Primary, 10 traits:
Alert x2, Crafty, Creative x2, Cunning, Determined x2, Knowledgable,
Rational
Social Secondary, 10 Traits:
Charismatic x2, Expressive x4, Intimidating x2, Unsettling x2
(N/S Intimidating)
Physical Tertiary, 8 Traits:
Brutal x2, Ferocious x2, Graceful, Lithe, Nimble, Quick
Negative Traits: Untrustworthy x2, Impatient
Abilities:
Brawl x2, Drive x2, Linguistics: Scots-Gaelic, Lore: Black Spiral
x2, Lore: Scotland, Lore: Weaver x2, Lore: Wyrm x2, Lore: Thanatology
x2, Subterfuge x2, Firearms, Meditation, Occult x4, Performance:
Guitar, Performance: Singing, Research x3 (Non-Standard Investigation),
Science: Literature x3, Stealth x2, Survival, Survival: Alcohol
x2
Influences:
High Society x1, Occult x6, Transportation x3, University x4
Backgrounds:
Past Lives x5, Resources x1, Totem x2
Honor: None
Wisdom: Pragmatic, Wise
Glory: Brave, Bold, Courageous
Honor: Dutiful, <unknown Honor trait>
Gifts: Sight from Beyond, Persuasion, Beast Speech, Sense Magic, Spirit Speech
Rites: Cleansing, Accomplishment, Awakening, Summoning, Binding
Merits and Flaws:
Ability Aptitude: Stealth +2, Derangement: Hallucinations -3
Unworthy (Shadow Lord flaw) -3
1970: Marie Caoilfhionn, Fianna Kinfolk, comes to Austin to finish graduate studies in American History.
1974: Stranded downtown, Marie is forced to walk to her south Austin home. She never makes it back, instead falling victim to the Black Spiral Dancer’s proud tradition of kidnapping Kinfolk.
July 8, 1975: Thomas Creeley born. About five weeks later, he’s put up for adoption.
January 12, 1978: Edwina and Charles Creeley adopt the child--Edwina’s a child psychologist, and the two think they can do him some good.
1981: Creeley’s placed in the Austin Independent School District’s special-education program. He’s scaring the normal teachers.
March 8, 1991-March 26, 1991: Thomas’s vivid imagination, the one that got him put into special education, develops into a full-blown mental disorder. He begins sleepwalking. Counselors send Creeley home for psychiatric leave.
March 26: During a terrifying vision at 2:00 in the morning, Creeley undergoes his First Change fighting invisible, twisted black dogs in the street. He sees himself as a noble Fianna Crinos--though in reality he’s only slightly less horrifying than the creatures he believes he’s fighting. He slinks home (in human form) eventually to his worried family (who saw him flee the house in human shape).
March 28: Black Spiral Dancers slaughter the elder Creeleys and drag Thomas through the Umbra to their hive.
March 30 (?) Creeley is finally taken out of the dark hole he was tossed into, meets his father, gets the "you are among your own kind now" line, falls for it.
March 30-April 17, 1991: "educated" by BSD hive, but recieves visions at night of why becoming a Black Spiral might not be a very good idea.
April 18 (?) Thomas flees the hive, guided by the ghosts of his ancestors. He bolts home, grabs what he can sell or can’t live without, and drives out of town as fast as possible.
To Late 1999: Creeley sets up a pattern of disappearing for a month or more, then returning to Austin, fleeing before the BSDs catch him.
7/18/99: With the help of the Pack of the Rising Storm and Drains the Keg joins Sept of Luna's Shadow. Gets job at Bard's Revel, local Fianna pub.
9/20?/99: Asked by Rising Storm to research "unheard-of" ritual, Rite of Weaver-Cleansing. This is as a cub, mind.
10/1/99: Rite of Passage--"prove Thomas isn't of the Wyrm" spirit-quest featuring Coyote as Jim Morrison, Gaia as herself
10/14/99: Mystery Men pack forms. Thomas brought in as member.
I'm going to have to try to answer these questions both for the character *and* for the non-standard ritual in question, but it'll be a little choppy.
1. What does your character hope to accomplish in the near future? Why these particular goals?
Well, obviously, he hopes to finish researching this particular ritual and use it to win some respect from the Pack of the Rising Storm, who asked him to research it, and from the Uktena tribe, who have thusfar ignored him. One of the character's core problems--largely due to his ancestry--is that of acceptance, and he's perfectly happy to buy it.
He actually has no great personal need for this ritual, except as an offering to the above parties--while he sees its usefulness (he believes the Weaver is the only real enemy) he isn't personally plagued by spiders.
Other goals: He's working on getting a high school and college diploma, by means foul or fair--see long-term goals.
2. What are your character's long-term goals?
Learn about his past and the Black Spiral Dancers in general;
gain the acceptance of the Uktena tribe; become indispensable
to the Sept and possibly overthrow the current Eldest Galliard.
He's also working on an Influence stockpile to create and seize
control of a University of Texas department devoted to occult
research--again, he's doing this to be indispensable to the Sept.
3. What is the real reason your character is in Austin?
He was born in Austin, and up until a year ago, didn't realize
there were werewolves anywhere else. He ran away probably a dozen
times in eight years, but always returnedto the city of his birth,
since it was the only place he felt he could learn about himself.
Now he has a Sept, pack and "family" here. He's not
leaving.
4. What are your character's reasons for existing?
Before, he lived simply because that's what living creatures do.
That's still the case--his Past Lives are so strong within him
he feels Gaia and his ancestors would be shamed if he let himself
die--but now he has a pack, and their support has kept him sane
against the obstacles the Shadow Lords have put in front of him.
5. What are your character's greatest joys and fears?
He's terrified of losing his mind and his identity--most obviously
he's freaked out by the presence of Black Spiral Dancers, and
told his Alpha to simply kill him instead of trying to rescue
him if he fell to the Wyrm. He's also scared of frenzies and his
occasional descent into his Derangement--both losses of his identity
that traumatize him as much as the deaths of his parents did.
Joys--he really likes being normal. He recently got a girlfriend (amazing what you can do with Occult Influences)--and she has nothing at all to do with Garou. He loves things that remind him of his past, before his Firsting. He really digs on home-cooked meals. He's happiest with his pack and identity as a Garou he recently found.
6. What emotions are the primary drives for your character?
Desire for acceptance, desire for the strength to overcome his
past, fear of his past, and a love of knowledge recently acquired
from the Uktena Tribal disadvantage.
7. How does your character view the mortal world and its events?
Thomas loves the mortal world--it's his first home, and for the
years when he was on his own his werewolf nature kept him apart
from it. Now, it's more like a playground--he has a home with
the garou, and settled down with about six Glass Walkers. With
his contacts and his love of research the mortal world is a big
toy with lots of buttons.
8. What major events shaped your character's life?
1974: Conception, born of the rape of a Fianna Kinfolk by a Black
Spiral Philodox
1977: Adoption by Creeley family
1989: First Change, attempt by father to convert him to tribe,
his escape after a month in Hive.
1989-1999: On the run until 1995, escaping from Dancers over and
over again. Most had died by 1995, and life was peaceful except
for paranoia.
July 1999: Meets Drains the Keg and Rising Storm, brought to Sept
of Luna's Shadow.
September 1999: Rite of Passage into Uktena tribe. Initiation
into Pack of Mystery Men. Begins work on Ritual of "Sweeping
the Webs."
9. What are your character's relations with the tribe?
He's extremely white. His tribe has thusfar entirely ignored him.
10. How will this character/ritual make the game more enjoyable
for others?
I was given an award for Best Role-Player in the Garou Venue,
and I usually work to intergrate people into the venue both IC
and OOC (I'm AADC Newbies for the Garou Venue).
The Ritual is just another magic trick, really, though it's one that at least three people are working on, so it might give them some fun. The actual *casting* could be amusing--the ritual I'm working on involves at least one invocation to Azathoth.
11. What will this Ritual add to Sanctioned play?
It fills a void in the rituals of the Garou--no-one has a rite
that will work on things of the Weaver. I've tried to balance
it by making it an Intermediate ritual, since Garou do not naturally
understand the Weaver.
12. why do you want to obtain this ritual in particular?
My character has been raised to believe that the Weaver is his
first enemy--he didn't need prodding to go for a Cleanse Weaver
rite, but Medibomber, the Sept's most respected Theurge, asked
him to--this makes it *important.*
13. How will you be like a Storyteller in the use of your Ritual?
Query? I've developed this Ritual in response to Chronicle pressures,
as an option to "solve" situations the Weaver engendered.
In addition, I've designed to work as part of a story as opposed
to a simple patch--it works over time, guiding spiritual forces.
I hope this will help the plot, not destroy it.
Sweeping the Webs (Intermediate Rite of Accord)
[Designer Notes: The Weaver does not "taint" like the Defiler Wyrm. It instills order over chaos. Therefore, any Rite that would attempt to cleanse the influence of the Weaver must directly attack order itself. This Rite erodes stasis, but does not destroy it entirely--it is meant to be subtle, and can be overwhelmed by concentrated attacks by Weaver forces]
Sweeping the Webs strengthens the Wyld energies of a small area, temporarily weakening the threads of the Pattern Web. The "taint" of the Weaver manifests in the force of order. Since all form, all life, including the form of the Ritesmaster and the subject, is built from Weaver-imposed order, this Rite requires power and control beyond the simple Rite of Cleansing it was born from. The subject of the Rite is infused with the power of the Wyld--while effects are easy to predict in a localized area, over larger scales the Ritesmaster will have little control.
The Gnosis cost of this Ritual is based on the size of the target. As a general rule, double the Gnosis requirement of a standard Rite of Cleansing (One Gnosis: A single person or man-sized object, two Gnosis: a small room; four Gnosis: a large building.) For objects or creatures, the Rite functions as per the Gifts: Jam Technology or Exorcism, damaging machines until they can be repaired or casting Weaver-spirits out of their hosts.
The Rite's more potent use is to increase the strength of the Wyld in an area. While the Rite is in effect, any attempt to increase the Weaver's hold on an area--construction, repair work, scientific development or otherwise increasing order--will require a Mental Challenge against the Ritesmaster (who risks no Mental Traits and can retest with Occult or Science and other appropriate Abilities). Rebuilding after Garou attacks becomes much more difficult. As a side effect, the Wyld-infused area will suffer entropy more strongly--computers glitch, sidewalks crack more often to let grass grow through, cars break down,and so on. The exact effects are up to the Storyteller, but these manifestations are primarily a nuisance effect.
Single-target uses of the Rite last until their effects are undone--the Weaver-spirit repossesses its host, someone repairs the machine. The area-effect version of the Rite lasts one full lunar month.
Write-up by Jacob Williamson, 9802-157, ADST Propaganda, Austin, TX
Notes on the character:
By the time research on this ritual is complete, Thomas Creeley
will have:
*10 mental traits, including Creative x2, Determined x2, Knowledgeable,
Rational
* Rite of Cleansing (used as the base ritual for this Weaver-oriented
variant)
* Occult Influence x6 ("research a new or unheard-of rite
from tomes or mentors")
* Abilities: Occult x4, Research (non-standard Investigation)
x3, Weaver Lore x2, plus additional traits from Past Lives x5
as needed
Character was asked to research this Rite by the Pack of the Rising Storm, Austin, and immediately used it as a justification to quit his job and live with pack members. He's been researching the Ritual as a full-time job, roughly 6 hours a day (the Uktena tribal disadvantage keeps him from getting bored) since roughly September 25, using the University of Texas research facilities and Esoteria from Occult Influence x6.
10/10/1999