Campaign:Era of Dreams/Ash and Onyx Hunter

Basics

• Name: Ash and Onyx Hunter
• Concept: All-Knowing Spook
• Caste/Aspect: Night Caste Solar
• Anima Banner: A pair of blood-red eyes peering through a haze of white smoke.
• Motivation: End the Yozi threat.
• Intimacies: Comeuppance, cigars, hatred of the Infernals, cigars, her contacts
• Experience: 29/30

Background

Ash

Appearance

Hunter is extremely fair, as close to white as human skin tone gets. She keeps her black hair trimmed to just past her shoulders and tied close to her neck with a satin ribbon (keepsake from Gold Wolf). She dresses in conservative, unremarkable clothing; a grey coat over a drab-coloured suit and tie over her armour. She also wears necklace of tiny skulls carved from the legbone of a murderer and a matching bracelet carved from his knuckles. There's almost always a cigar tucked into the corner of her mouth when she isn't needing to hide, which frames her face in a haze of evil-smelling smoke.

Attributes

• Physical: Strength 3 - Dexterity 5 - Stamina 3
• Social: Charisma 2 - Manipulation 4 - Appearance 4
• Mental: Perception 5 - Intelligence 4 - Wits 4

Abilities

 [F]Archery:    	5   [F]Integrity:    	5   [ ]Craft:		0
 [F]Martial Arts:	5   [ ]Performance:     0   [F]Investigation:	5
 [ ]Melee:         	0   [F]Presence:    	4   [ ]Lore:          	3
 [ ]Thrown:        	0   [ ]Resistance:	3   [ ]Medicine:	1
 [ ]War:           	0   [ ]Survival:     	0   [ ]Occult:        	2

 [C]Athletics:    	5   [ ]Bureaucracy:	2
 [C]Awareness:     	5   [ ]Linguistics:  	4
 [C]Dodge:         	5   [ ]Ride:         	1
 [C]Larceny:       	5   [ ]Sail:         	0
 [C]Stealth:		5   [ ]Socialize:    	4

• Specialties: Martial Arts (Razor Claws +3), Archery (Essence Weaponry +2), Investigation (Interrogation +2), Dodge (While Cloaked +2)
• Languages: Riverspeak, Low Realm, Skytongue, Seatongue, Firetongue

Physical Combat

Join Battle: 11

Parry DV: 11 (12 w/Razor Claws, 15 w/Water Dragon Form)

Dodge DV: 11 (12 While Cloaked)

Soak: 8A/9L/15B (Hardness 4L/4B)

Health Levels: 011112222224IDDD

Wounds: 0

Move: 10, Dash: 22, Jump: 0

Weapon                     Spd  Acc   Dam     PDV  Rate  Range  
Punchan                 -   5    12   +(5)B    2(2)  3      -  
Kickan                  -   5    10   +(7)B   -2(-2) 2      -
Gold Wolf's Hand        -   4    18   +(10)L   5(5)  4      -
Hand-Gun                -   4    15    12L     -(-)  4      50

Social Combat

Join Debate: 0

Presence Attack - Speed 4, Dice Pool 8, Rate 2

Investigation Attack - Speed 5, Dice Pool 9, Rate 2

Performance Attack - Speed 6, Dice Pool 4, Rate 1

Parry MDV: 5

Dodge MDV: 9

Essence

• Essence: 5
• Regeneration: 4/hr at ease, 8/hr sleeping
• Personal Essence Pool: 23/23
• Peripheral Essence Pool: 41/63
• Committed Essence: 10+5+4+3=22

Willpower

• Willpower: 8
• Temporary: 8

Virtues

Virtues:

• Compassion: 2
• Conviction: 5
• Temperance: 2
• Valor: 3
• Flawed Virtue: Conviction: Crippling Paranoia
• Limit Break: 0/10

Ash Hunter is naturally suspicious of most people, and rightly so in this age. With Yozi spies, deathlord collaborators, annihilation cults, and worse roaming Creation, one never knows who, or what, a 'trusted' friend could be, or who holds their allegiance. Whenever Hunter finds evidence of suspicious activity in a person she trusts or otherwise holds no animosity toward, she begins questioning everything they do. She must rifle through their things, monitor people's movements, and spend every waking moment thinking of ways that they could have betrayed her. She constructs elaborate schemes to destroy the traitors around her, using the least provocation to completely ruin a person. This lasts for one day. Partial Control: She may stop herself from acting on her suspicions.

Backgrounds

• Artifact 5 (Armour of the Unseen Assassin)
• Manse 4 (Stone of Airwalking)
• Artifact 3 (Spiral Shield Bracer)
• Contacts 3
• Artifact 2 (Gold Wolf's Hand)
• Artifact 2 (Skin Mount Amulet)
• Artifact 2 (Hand-Gun)
• Manse 2 (Gemstone of Surface Thoughts)
• Cult 1 ([City] Night Watch Association)

Charms and Combos

Charms

• Ox-Body Technique - Gain 1 -1 Health Level and 2 -2 Health Levels.
• Ox-Body Technique - Gain 1 -1 Health Level and 2 -2 Health Levels.
• 2nd Martial Arts Excellency - 2m+, Reflexive, Instant: Hunter may add up to half of (Dexterity+Martial Arts) successes to one Martial Arts roll, at the cost of 2m per success.
• Infinite Martial Arts Mastery - 2m+, 1wp, Simple, One Scene: Hunter reduces the cost of the first three Martial Arts Excellencies by 1m for every 2m she commits to this charm. She may spend any number of motes.
• Flowing Water Defense - 1m, Reflexive, (Essence) Actions: Hunter subtracts one die from her own attacks pools and three dice from the attack pools of all opponents attacking her.
• Rippling Water Strike - 2m, Supplemental, Instant: If Hunter successfully inflicts damage on an attack supplemented by this charm, she deals Bashing damage equal to the damage of the attack to everyone within 10 feet of the target. This damage ignores armour. She may pay 1m per ally to have the damage ignore them, but no more than (Essence) allies.
• Drowning in Blood Technique - 4m, Simple (Speed 4), Instant: If Hunter hits with this attack, she does not damage the target, instead rolling (Strength+Martial Arts) against the target's (Stamina+Resistance). If successful, the target loses one Stamina for a number of actions equal to the extra successes on the roll. This is stackable, and targets reduced to 0 Stamina are dead.
• Shrugging Water Dragon Escape - 3m, Simple, Instant: Hunter cannot be restrained by mundane restraints, and nullifies supernatural restraints for (Martial Arts x3) actions.
• Water Dragon Form - 5m, Simple (Speed 5), One Scene: Hunter adds her Martial Arts to Bashing and Lethal Soak, and soaks Lethal damage with her full Stamina. When successfully attacked, she may pay 1m for two points of soak against that attack only. She also adds her Essence to her Martial Arts.
• 2nd Integrity Excellency - 2m+, Reflexive, Instant: Hunter may add up to half of (:V+Integrity) successes to one Integrity roll, at the cost of 2m per success.
• Temptation-Resisting Stance - 6m, Reflexive, One Scene: Hunter raises her Dodge MDV by her Temperance. She may use another Virtue if it is relevant to her motivation.
• Integrity-Protecting Prana - 5m, 1wp, Reflexive, One Day: Hunter is protected from Shaping effects that alter her mind, body, spirit, or traits. She is also protected from undodgeable, unblockable Shaping attacks. This charm doesn't protect her from miscellaneous danger of the Wyld or Wyld-use.
• 1st Archery Excellency - 1m+, Reflexive, Instant: Hunter may add up to (Dexterity+Archery) dice to one Archery roll, at the cost of 1m per die.
• Trance of Unhesitating Speed - 2-4m, Extra Action, Instant: Hunter may make up to (Essence +1) Archery-based attacks at a cost of 2m each, including the first, with DV penalties equal to the highest penalty for one attack.
• Arrow-Storm Technique - 8m, 1wp, Supplemental, Instant: Hunter makes one attack and applies it up to (Essence x3) valid, human-sized targets, or up to (Essence x3) times on a larger target. Hunter must have the ammunition for each attack.
• Flashing Vengeance Draw - 3m, Supplemental, Instant: Hunter adds a number of bonus successes to a Join Battle roll equal to her Essence, and may reflexively draw and ready any available Archery weapon.
• 1st Investigation Excellency - 1m+, Reflexive, Instant: Hunter may add up to (Investigation+[Ability]) dice to one Investigaion roll, at the cost of 1m per die.
• Crafty Observation Method - 5m, Simple (DV -1), Instant: Hunter may compress any Investigation task taking up to 15 minutes into several seconds. She also does not have to ransack a scene to search it.
• Judge's Ear Technique - 3m, Reflexive, One Scene: Hunter can see through any deliberate lie presented to her, as well as any half-truth, though she doesn't know which part of the statement is untrue. She adds her Essence to the (Perception+Investigation) roll to oppose any charm hiding the truth.
• Irresistible Questioning Technigue - 4m, Simple (Speed 6 in long ticks), One Scene: Hunter exerts unnatural mental influence on a target, rolling ([Ability]+Investigation) against their MDV. If successful, the target is forced to answer her questions truthfully. Resisting costs one Willpower per five minutes, to a maximum of three Willpower, and the compulsion lasts for one scene. Increase the target's MDV by three each time she has used this charm in a story on the same target.
• Ineffable Logic Method - 3m, 1wp, Simple, Instant: See description below.
• Easily Overlooked Presence Method - 3m, Simple, One Scene: Mundane Awareness and Investigation rolls cannot detect Hunter with this charm, unless she is currently in battle, or the observer has a +2 circumstance bonus.
• Mental Invisibility Technique - 5m, 1wp, Simple, One Scene: Hunter rolls (Dexterity/Manipulation+Stealth), adding her Essence in bonus successes to the roll. She inflicts unnatural mental influence on all those whose Dodge MDV is lower than the successes rolled, causing them to ignore her if she is not joined in battle. It costs four Willpower to resist this compulsion, one if someone points Hunter out to them.
• Shadow Over Water - 1m, Reflexive, Instant: Hunter removes all penalties to her Dodge DV for one attack.
• Seven-Shadow Evasion - 3m, Reflexive, Instant: Hunter perfectly dodges one attack. Hunter cannot use this charm if her actions are contrary to her Motivation.
• Surprise Anticipation Method - 1m, Reflexive, Instant: Hunter is guaranteed success on any Awareness action to notice immediate mortal danger. This charm will activate automatically so long as she has not used a different charm or combo not containing this one for that action.
• Second Larceny Excellency - 2m+, Reflexive, Instant: Hunter may add up to half of (Dexterity/Intelligence+Larceny) successes to one Larceny roll, at the cost of 2m per success.
• Flawless Impenetrable Disguise - 7m, Simple (Speed 6 in long ticks), Until Hunter sleeps: Hunter rolls (Wits/Manipulation+Larceny), successes determining the disguises' quality. With this charm, she can change skin texture, color, hair color, eye color, apparent age from twice to half her actual age, ethnicity, gender, and height up to 10%. She may also change her voice, accent, speaking style, and scent however she chooses. Ordinary Awareness and Investigation rolls cannot penetrate the disguise. Charm-enhanced Awareness can, but at a +4 difficulty penalty. She may not mimic the appearance of others exactly. Once the charm ends, mundane disguise effects remain.
• Lock-Opening Touch - 3m, Supplemental, Instant: Hunter may automatically pick any mundane lock as a Miscellaneous Action, even without tools, and adds her Essence in automatic successes to the (Dexterity+Larceny) roll to open it.
• Sagacious Reading of Intent - 3m, Reflexive, Instant: Hunter hears a one-sentence summary of the motivation behind a statement she reads or hears. This charm perfectly defends against any social attack fundamentally hostile to Hunter or her Motivation.

Combos

• "Elementary!" - (1st Investigation Excellency, Crafty Observation Method, Ineffable Logic Method) (9 XP)

Sometimes, Hunter doesn't have time to wait around for an answer to percolate within her skull. She needs an answer NOW. Kicking her mind into overdrive, she processes every clue around her simultaneously, allowing her to pull information in seconds, rather than minutes.

Cost: 8m+, 2wp

• Rippling Pool Stance - (2nd Martial Arts Excellency, Flowing Water Defense, Rippling Water Strike) (6 XP)

Hunter's training under the master Ocean Trench Walker has taught her enough of Water Dragon to be effective when she needs. This is one of her favorite stances learned from the master, since it emphasizes economy of motion, maximizing both attack and defense.

Cost: 3m+, 1wp

• Paper Plate Mask - (2nd Larceny Excellency, Flawless Impenetrable Disguise) (5 XP)

With a few minutes of effort, a handful of simple props, and minor changes in stance and voice, Hunter can become almost anyone she needs to be.

Cost: 7m+, 1wp

• "Years of Practice" - (Surprise Anticipation Method, Seven Shadows Evasion) (9 XP)

Hunter has done enough sneaking to know when she's being spied upon, and she knows the trick of getting out of the way of someone trying to surprise her. It is her job to do that, anyway. Not the other way around.

Cost: 4m, 1wp

Inventory

• Gold Wolf's Hand - It's a sleekly built prosthetic made of orichalcum and moonsilver that replaces Hunter's right hand and wrist. The white-gold alloy perfectly mimics the movements of a normal hand, though it occasionally pulses with a ripples of white haze when her anima flares. At Hunter's command, her nails lengthen into long claws, razor sharp. As well, there are a number of useful items tucked into the alloy's memory, allowing it to take the shape of most any small, non-threatening tool. Gold Wolf's Hand has one hearthstone slot.

Spd: 5, Acc: +5, Dam: +5L, Def: +3, Rate: 4; M. Attune 3

• The Hand-Gun - The Hand-Gun is a configuration written into the hand's memory matrices. To use it, she cocks her thumb back, points her index and middle fingers forward, and the ring and pinky fingers tuck into her palm. Four small rubies on the caps of the knuckles glow faintly, showing off how many charges are left within the Gun that action. The Hand-Gun requires 1m per four shots fired, but otherwise needs no ammunition.

Spd: 5, Acc: +3, Dam: 12L, Rate: 4, Range: 50; Attune 4

• Spiral Shield Bracer - Another of Gold Wolf's devices. This one is a small bracelet attached to her wrist, around the edge of the Hand. As a reflexive action, she can deploy the Shield, sending thick plates of overlapping orichalcum spiraling outward almost instantly. She can dismiss it just as quickly.

+3 to both DVs, Attune 6

• Armour of the Unseen Assassin - The armour was built for her by her late Twilight friend to match her arm. She wears it near-constantly underneath her suit, turning off the stealth function when she needs to interact with people. The visor and helmet, when not in use, fold up into an earpiece on her left ear.

Exomuscular Fibers: +2 Strength to Feats of Strength and inflicting damage. Doubles groundspeed.

Adaptive Camouflage Subsystem: +4 bonus to Stealth.

Sensory Augmentation Visor: +2 bonus to Awareness, provides constant Essence Sight.

Destiny Interdiction Field: While worn, Hunter's future cannot be divined by any means, nor can she be the target of Sidereal Astrology or Fate effects. Sidereal Charms may not drain Willpower from her or give it to her, transport her to another location, or effect her behaviour at all.

Cloaking Device: By spending 5m per hour of use, Hunter can disappear completely from view. Characters must make a (Perception+Awareness) roll (Difficulty 4 while moving, Difficulty 8 while standing still) to notice her at all. They make the check once when she first disappears, and once per action she does something to betray her location. Once a character succeeds in noticing her, they can continue to track her normally so long as she remains in line of sight, and may attack normally. While undetected, Hunter cannot be targetted by ranged attacks, and she inflicts a -2 external penalty on all close combat attacks against her. This last affects even those who do detect her. While active, Essence Sight alone cannot detect her.

Soak: 8L/12B, Hardness: 4L/4B, Mobility: -0, Fatigue: 0

Advancement

Essence 5 (7 BP)
Conviction 5 (3 BP)
Specialties (3 BP)
Artifact 2 (2 BP)

Custom Charm

Ineffable Logic Method

• Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Investigation 5, Essence 5
• Type: Simple (Dramatic Action [Speed 5 in long ticks])
• Keywords: Combo-OK
• Duration: Instant
• Prerequisite Charms: Judge's Ear Technique, Crafty Observation Method

A smart man can put several facts together and come with a sound conclusion. A Solar can pluck answers from the air, using random, seemingly unrelated events to explain his incredible insight. A bucket, a frog leaning on its side, a man sneezing, and two steps down the street can tell an observant Solar almost anything he wants to know.

The Solar rolls Perception+Investigation and asks one question. Depending on the successes rolled, he determines how detailed the answer is. One success will tell you that the man sitting in the third balcony seat in a restaurant across town is eating a sandwich. Three will tell you what kind of sandwich a man in Nexus is eating. Five will tell you why a sailor in Newstone is eating that particular sandwich, and how many times he's eaten it in the past, and how much money he has on him. The answer to the question must have occurred or currently exist; it cannot predict the future. Also, it cannot retrieve answers in Malfeas, Yu-Shan or the Underworld without at least one being from that realm present when he activates the charm.

Hunters Contacts

• Eduardo Lizardo - Eduardo is a young Changing Moon Lunar, with a Gecko totem. He leads a small band of guerrillas based out of the ruins of Chiaroscuro on infrequent raids against the First and Forsaken Lion's holdings.
• Cathak Willay Piett - Willay Piett is an ancient, irascible Fire Aspect living on the Blessed Isle. He currently works as an instructor for the House of Bells.
• Merciless Vigilant Eye - Vigilant Eye is an acid-tongued Soulsteel Alchemical stationed in Celeren, just north of Thorns. He has charged himself with watching the movements of the Deathlord 'The Mask That Skulks In Darkness' and the Yozi threat, and reporting his findings to the Blessed Isle.