[CHAR] Breathless Dead

[Thanqol]

Those encountered at the Grand Armada

Hider

Admiral Odoacer Hetrodus

Iron Admiral: A cruel, stubborn, and unrelenting leader of the Empire's military forces, this admiral does not see the value of sentient life.
Mind Like A Steel Trap: The Admiral has a Leadership Move (page 138) attached to this stat. They lose this Move when this stat is damaged. If they are also a Leader, this is on top of their one normal Leadership Move.
-- Aloof Mastermind You always have a Trap set up in any location you are in, which you can trigger at any time. When you move to a new place, you always have a new Trap set there, which you can also trigger at any time.

Golden Authority: The Admiral always has a Group of basic soldiers around them. They have the authority to execute anyone at any time, and use this authority freely and recklessly.
Cold Iron Heart: Bonds with the Admiral do not make them Companions. Nobody likes the Admiral, and only basic soldiers will ever willingly work with them. Everyone under them only works for them because of coercion and threats, and will happily turn on the Admiral if given an opportunity.
Threat to the World: You must pay a price when acting against the Admiral.

*

The Codexia
The hand-picked hundred strong elite masters of the Warsage's Masteries of Battle.
Adept of the Codex: The Codexia are masters of every form of battle and cannot be defeated. Damage this stat when things descend into chaos.
Warshrine of Athena: Athena will actively intervene on behalf of the Codexia so long as the Warshrine is intact and undespoiled.

King Jas'o
A royal warrior, armed with the might of Zeus
Thunderbolt Strike: King Jas'o has the weapon tags ranged, dangerous, piercing.
Commander: Cannot be harmed or distracted while surrounded by his soldiers

Imperial Phalanx
They're not the best, but they're impossible to shift.
Shieldwall: A Phalanx in good order is immune to damage from anything short of a Dangerous weapon
Immobile: Any attempt to Get Away from the Phalanx automatically succeeds on a 10+

Imperial Skirmishers
Underpaid, underfed, underappreciated
Solid Projectiles: If hit by Imperial Skirmishers, make your next roll with despair

Imperial Plovers
Engineers in powered armour who are never mistaken for true soldiers.
Windrunners: Imperial Plovers can move freely and swiftly through hazardous terrain, including starship interiors. Damage this stat if exposed to ELF fire.
Battlefield Support: Given time, Imperial Plovers can set mines, traps, support equipment or entrenched weapon emplacements.

Queen Hatchan
Oathbreaker, foresworn, doomed - and no longer able to delay the moment of reckoning.
Godless: This foolish soul has angered the Pantheon, and her doom is written. When this stat is damaged her doom has arrived in full, and woe to those around her who will be caught in her dying storm. However, she is free of the laws of the gods and may break any taboo.
Fury of the Forsaken: The Queen's words and deeds are area and necrotic.

Ceronian Veterans
No longer young and spry, but there isn't anything they haven't seen.
Storm Trooper: Elite Troopers never deal damage to the fellowship. They automatically capture anyone they can surround and separate from the group.
Formation Instinct: Anyone who keeps the Ceronian Veterans busy cannot get higher than the 7-9 result, and one of their commanders is summoned in the process.

Iskarot, Tertiary Evoker
A magos of the Order of Hermes, dedicated to the craft of destruction.
Master of Machines: All machines, devices, and technologies do as the Hermetician commands.
Order of Evocation: Your cuts are hard cuts, and are both Area and Dangerous.

Mynx
Your worst best friend in the whole wide galaxy!
Shapeshifting Bodyguard: When someone is successfully Finished, Mynx can reveal that she was secretly that person all along and negate all effects of that Finish.
Toxicrine Temple: If you eat or drink anything Mynx could conceivably have touched, it's possible she has poisoned you.
Faceless: They look like whatever they want, they sound like whoever they like. The nameless can perfectly disguise as anyone, anywhere.

Ivory Smile
High Priest of Hades, an inveterate gambler and bearer of terrible relics.
Shadowcaster: The weaver can manipulate shadows at will, creating illusions or darkness as they see fit. These illusions can cause no harm, but are otherwise extremely convincing.
Doomed Soul: When this stat becomes damaged, the shadow weaver suffers an ironic and terrible circumstance that takes them out of the scene. Whether this is funny or tragic is up to the Horizon. If this is their last stat to be damaged, they are Taken Out instead of leaving the scene.
Dark and Terrible: The shadow weaver can leave curses upon those unfortunate souls who cross them. When the Shadow Weaver deals damage, they can also leave a curse, limiting or hindering the cursed person in a way they describe. The curse is lifted by dawn's light the next day.

Ikarani Adept
A data-addict, capable of weaponizing an entire world against itself.
System Integration: An Ikarani can raise the Escalation Level of an environment it is in. It may need to take actions to accomplish this, but there is no limit as to how far it can raise the Escalation.
Data Absorption: An Ikarani can accurately identify and locate everyone within an environment it is integrated with. It can accurately guess plans and reactions and is almost impossible to surprise.
Rampancy: When a Temple Assassin has reached the stage of Rampancy, it becomes a Threat to the World. It also has the ability to instantly destroy any other threats contained within the Environment.

Diodekoi Adept
A sacred war-engine, divine and terrible.
Avatar of Artemis: The Diodekoi is immune to all Custom and Core moves. She can only be engaged with the Basic Moves.
Sacred Hunt: When the Diodekoi names a target, that target cannot damage or Finish her until she changes target.
Rampancy: When a Temple Assassin has reached the stage of Rampancy, it becomes a Threat to the World. It also has the ability to instantly destroy any other threats contained within the Environment.

Beljani, Oratus Adept
A voice as sweet as opium
Voice of the Divine: An Oratus can convert any individual or group of people into a Threat under her command.
Self Sacrifice: While this stat is undamaged, anyone within reach of the Oratus or any of her subjects cannot bring themselves to harm the Oratus in any way.
Rampancy: When a Temple Assassin has reached the stage of Rampancy, it becomes a Threat to the World. It also has the ability to instantly destroy any other threats contained within the Environment.

Those encountered on Baradissar

Hider

Cavel-4954
The High Priest of Dionysus, perfection in madness.
Threat to the World: You must pay a price to act against her
The Robot: The construct does not eat, sleep, or breathe. It is tireless in pursuit of its current goal, and nothing in its way will stall it for long.
Just Like You: The rogue has all the Gear of the Construct player, if one is in the game. They are also made of the same stuff, taking the same What Are You Made Of? Move the Construct has.
Iron Heart: The rogue has no mercy. They deal damage as Hard Cuts.

*

Omn
A loyal advisor, well-informed of your kingdom's status at all times, and with plenty of opinions about it too.
Consultancy: The Advisor is always trying to tell you what to do. If your Wisdom is damaged, they sound extremely convincing, and you will always do what they say.

*

Kaeri Predator Phalanx
A nightmare of a thousand talons, an unbreakable wall of smoke.
Shadow-wall: A Predator Phalanx cannot be damaged while its mobility is unconstrained.
Terror Soldiers: If your Courage is damaged while facing a Predator Phalanx, replace all your Agendas with Run Away

Captain Lorventi
A Kaeri Bloodfeather can turn a duel into a murder.
Frenzy: When this stat is damaged, or the Bloodfeather is Taken Out violently, she may damage three stats.
Still Useful: The Kaeri will drag their champion back from the brink of death if at all possible.

Those encountered on Ridenki

Hider

Coherent Phalanx
The line infantry of the Order of Hermes, armed with wonders and terrors.
Tethered: Damage this stat if you can take the ground between the Coherent and their MRU.
Epic, Dominating Bursts: You must Pay a Price to close the distance to the Coherent Phalanx. They have the tags ranged, area, dangerous.

Mobile Reactor Unit
A font of divine energy to power the weapons of the gods.
Reactor Plating: This stat can only be damaged by Dangerous weaponry, or by the attention of a skilled engineer.
Unlimited Power: If a threat Tethered to the MRU takes damage, immediately heal that damage.

Magos Birmingham
The Saffron Lord travels between life and death - surely time, too, is within her power.
Threat to the World: You must pay a price to act against the Magos.
Master Chronomancer: The Magos holds the secret of nonlinear time within his clattering contraptions, giving him limited precognitive abilities.
Fateful Bargainer: The Magos may use his magic to alter the conditions of any deal struck - a gift may become a trade, a promotion can become an exile. Subjects will remember agreeing to the updated terms, though they will not recall why they did.
Locked In A Bunker: The Magos' bunker walls are impenetrable, though he can only leave them by proxy. Inside, he is helpless.

The Master of Assassins
First, murder death.
Chosen of Demeter: Overlord Stat The vessel of unrestrained life, unblemished by death.
Threat to the World: You must pay a price to act against her
Cycles of the Temple: The Master of Assassins can take on the aspect of each of the Temple Assassins in turn, though without their Rampancy.
Gardener of Fate: Anyone killed by the Master of Assassins rises again as a bonsai tree - still alive, in a sense.

Those encountered on Bitemark

Hider

Battle Servitors
Various obsolete, poorly maintained, or last-generation servitor designs.
Following Orders: This stat must be damaged twice when the Trooper is in a Group, Gang, or Army.

[Tatterdemalion]

The Past

Parentage

Hider

Redana Honorius Claudius, Princess of Tellus, Heir Apparent to the Throne of Ecumenopolis, is a demigod, both legally and in the eyes of Heaven.

Her mother is Empress Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Tellurian, savior of Humanity in the wake of the fall of Molech, that vast and terrible edifice of hubris struck down by the gods for its blasphemy. By her iron will has Humanity been saved from dissolution; by definition, Humanity in the sense of shared culture and history only legally exists within the confines of the Emergency Declaration, which weighs upon humanity at 9.8 meters per second squared.

It must be understood that while the Empress is a tyrant, she is in intent a benevolent one. She witnessed the drowning of the Atlas Cultural Sphere beneath the black and crushing waves, and saw the gold-wreathed altars to Hades Plutonian cleaved in two by his wrath. She is the last righteous hero of a fallen age, a witness of apocalypse, disgusted by the excesses of the boards of grasping, insatiable Molech. All that she has done, she has done in the name of Humanity, that it not be scattered and ultimately dissolved in the twilight of the wine-black sea.

If she has a flaw, it is that her love is as smothering and irresistible as the waves that drowned dishonored Atlas, and she is convinced that those she loves must have her protection and cannot be trusted to make decisions for themselves. If she has two, it is that she believes she can sing.

For the genetic donor for her child, who she decided she must have in case she was ever incapacitated or otherwise unable to rule, she chose the victor of the Olympic Games in an auspicious year. The victor, whose identity has been sealed by Imperial Edict, relinquished all claim to parentage and offered the glory to Zeus Olympios, Bringer of Victory, who appeared in person to adopt the yet unmade child. So it is that in all ways, by the laws of Ecumenopolis and the will of heaven, that Redana is considered the child of Zeus Olympios.

Indeed, when the princess was decanted from the loom, she was held by the shining arms of the goddess and given the blessing of heaven. And in her childhood, she always loved stormy days, for those were the days that might herald a visit from her father.

Yet, as she grew, those visits grew less frequent, for the simple reason that she had, by simple virtue of adoption, aroused the ire of Gazelle-Eyed Hera, She of the Peacock. It is rumored that Hera has sworn to see the princess brought low, a servant of servants, humiliated and base; it is similarly rumored that the reason the princess was locked away in her palace was from fear of Hera’s retribution, her servants and her cult.

Regardless, on the princess’s sixteenth birthday, Zeus Olympios appeared before her and offered her further blessing, and Redana asked simply for a taste of freedom.

Zeus does not bless by half measures.

Education

Hider

Specialization is for insects. For this reason, Nero declared that her daughter would master every aspect of good governance: diplomatic courtesy, martial prowess, wise stewardship, political cunning, and a full understanding of the culture and history of Humanity. After all, she had suffered much to learn all she had, and her daughter (free of trouble and strife) would be able to learn so much more!

In practice, trying to convey centuries of experience crammed into a decade and a half of lessons and expecting her daughter to absorb them all may have been hubris on Nero’s part. If Redana had been a born scholar from birth, it’s possible she might have been able to succeed, but Redana was born an athlete and a kind soul, not the kind of genius Nero expected.

Ignoring that she herself was a warrior and wanderer before she became Empress of Tellus, Nero doubled down on endless lessons and workbooks and quizzes provided by an endless array of tutors, which put more and more pressure on the princess, who absorbed less and less.

It is doubtless this that provoked her to sneak out with her beloved pet servitor, Bella, to see the great and terrible city of Ecumenopolis for herself.

What she saw there shocked and disgusted her. This, then, was the empire she was being raised to maintain? This was all the good Humanity could expect from their ruler? This was her birthright and her responsibility?

From that night, the desire to escape, to defy the Astella Monotellus, was born inside her.

The risks were high; the price, higher. She was forced to leave Bella behind after a furious fight, her pet hoping to keep her safe by not allowing her to leave. Her escape was on a pitifully small sloop, barely capable of enduring the vastness of Poseidon’s domain. Yet the god of the deeps chose to take pity on her, perhaps due to the intervention of Zeus, perhaps due to the princess’s delight and zeal in carrying out her ship’s duties alone, and guided her to safer harbors.

The Princess

Hider

Some time has passed since the Princess escaped. Not much, but some. Instead of an Imperial uniform, she wears spacer’s gear: a jacket to keep out the cold, figure-hugging clothes that won’t catch or tear, a bandana to keep her hair from getting dirty, boots that won’t slip when Poseidon roars his fury and gloves that won’t let her get rope burns. An Iokheira, a duelist’s blade, is sheathed at her thigh, and though she’s been professionally trained in its use, she prefers not to have to use it.

She has her mother’s eyes. One green and warm, the other cold and blue, with an imperial insignia for an iris. Her mother insisted she be fitted with an Ianuspater auspex, despite her struggle to integrate its feedback on any complex level. Her skin is flawless, due entirely to the Zeus-blessed st/YX nanite swarm constantly at work inside her. She refuses to cut her golden hair, the color of Zeus’s own, and instead pulls it back in a ponytail or a bun.

She’s only of average height, and built like a swimmer: all sleek, lean muscle and legs strong enough to crack open a watermelon. Despite this, she has the kind of presence that fills the room when she enters, and the sort of charisma that makes her exploits seem easy, much like her Olympian father. And much like her Olympian father, this means that people expect her to know what she’s doing, even when she very much doesn’t.

She seeks proof that it is time for Humanity to travel the stars once more. If she goes back now, she will have to yield to her fate or else fight and likely kill her mother, and she can countenance neither. Hades alone can provide her with something that can change her stubborn mother’s heart, or so he claims.

REDANA, THE EXILE
Marked by Zeus Olympios and Poseidon Polychromatikí.

LOOK
Mismatched eyes
Olympic body
Spacer’s uniform
Unblemished skin

AGENDAS
Learn the Truth (discover the world outside your sheltered past)
Human Superiority (it is your duty to protect lesser creatures)
Seeking Freedom (evade the Hunt)

STATS
Blood +2
Courage 0
Grace +1
Sense -1
Wisdom +2

In short, she’s very athletic and charismatic, but prone to getting in over her head fast.

MOVES
A Lesson Learned (when you forgive someone who harmed you, and let them know, both heal and you Forge a Bond)
Forbidden Element: Metal (Blessing of Nemea)
Elder Arts (Ianuspater Auspex)
Poetry in Motion (always pick +1 option on Get Away)
Chasing Smoke (you can always try to Get Away)
Survivor (when you hit an Overcome, heal or Get Away with a 7-9)
Savior (take damage instead of another)

Redana bears the blessings of Zeus. The Nemean Blessing allows her to channel power through herself, hardening her skin and growing into an Amazonian figure of glorious battle. The Blessing of Freedom makes her capable of escaping any peril, should she choose to do so. And, from birth, the blessed st/YX nanites have worked to make her nigh-invulnerable; given time enough to heal a wound, they will close it over without leaving even a scar.

GEAR
Spacer’s Rations (Food, 3-Use)
Iokheira Dueling Rapier (Melee)
Spacer’s Uniform (Useful, 2-Use)
Mag Harness (walk on any metal surface)
Abyssal Star Chart (Map)
Ianuspater Auspex The Eye of Hermes (Look Closely, 2-Use)
Paragon Nanite Capsules The Shepherdess’s Touch (Healing, Slow, 2-Use)
Fistful of Obols, beloved by the Gods (Precious, 2-Use)
Portable Smelter (2-Use, Repair, Slow)
Command Seal (1-Use, COME TO ME)

The first four are reasonably common, even the mag harness, which is useful for ship repairs. The latter four? Those are rarer gifts: a map from the lord of the deeps, the wonderful eye her mother implanted in her, the height of Ecumenopolis’s medical technology, and offerings highly coveted by the Olympians and those who worship them. The final two are the two sides of her relationship with the warrior construct, Alexa: the portable smelter for filling her cracks and chips with molten bronze, and the Command Seal integrated with the back of her hand by which she may give Alexa orders.

BONDS

• I grew up with Bella.
• I promised to keep Bella safe.
• I feel responsible for Alexa.
• When I was on the run, Dolce fed me.

DAMAGE AND SPENDS — Refreshed as of arrival in the Azure Skies
GRACE - torn away by Thist’s stroke
BLOOD - sacrificed for Bella
SENSE - drowned under Hermes’ sorrow
COURAGE - wounded by Bella
Both Uses of Healing — the work of the Shepherdess’s Wand
One Use of Spacer’s Outfit - in the toxic engine room

EMBER, DAUGHTER OF CERON, THE KNIGHT
Initiate of the Silver Divers Clan
Favored by Zeus Limenodkopos and Poseidon Asphalios

LOOK
One eye sapphire, one eye emerald
Olympic body
Waterproof silks and fish-scale armor
Shining golden hair

AGENDA
But What Of Ceron? (Act on behalf of Ceronian wealth and honor, first and foremost)
Territorial (Aggressively defend your friends)

STATS
Blood +3
Courage 0
Grace +1
Sense -1
Wisdom +2

MOVES
# Stalwart Defenders (never pay a price to Overcome Threats to the World, roll with Hope when Overcoming on behalf of someone she has 3 Bonds with)
# Ceronian Treatment (when she introduces herself to a ruler, they must— even begrudgingly— offer a room for the night and a hot meal, and their subjects become valid targets for the following move)
# Yes, My Lady (when she issues a command to someone below her rank, they’ll do it immediately without any need to Talk Sense, until such time as a command causes them direct harm)
# Strike True! (when she has an Advantage over someone, she can choose to stop them from causing further harm in the scene, stop them from giving chase, or remove a damaged stat entirely, no Finish Them roll necessary)
# Foreign Exchange [Survivor] (when she Overcomes harm directed at herself, she can heal or mixed beat Get Away)
# How Dare You?! (when insulted to her face, she can try to Finish Them with Blood or Grace, or ask two questions from Look Closely instead)

GEAR
Chalcedony (Melee, Precious)
Little Fang (Melee)
Scout Training (Armor 1)
Ceronian Spoils (Food 3)
Medpack (Healing/Slow 2)
The Jewels of the Seven-Colored Rainqueen (Precious 2)
A Strange Eye
A Secret

BONDS
Mosiac is… wow. Have you seen her? She’s just. Mmmph.
Mosiac and I both emerged from the sea together.
Mosiac’s sisters are under my protection, even if she swears she can do it herself.
Dolce is a sweetheart who deserves my protection.
Gemini and Taurus sponsored me in joining the Silver Divers, and I can’t disappoint them!
Plundering Fang never lets an opportunity to humiliate me slide.
I tamed the wild surf-steed Belle; she’s feisty, but I managed to rein her in.

DAMAGE AND SPENDS

LEVELS
Level 2- +1 Blood
Level 3- How Dare You?!

[Phoe]

The Kennels

Hider

If it hadn’t been for her father, things might have worked out ok. She was bred for beauty, you see. She was bred to be a champion. Her stock included Seneca, the first tiger-breed to sweep all ten categories at the Tellurian Servitor Show. Her stock included Maxima, the only Servitor ever to achieve perfect scores in the Poise and Posture categories. And there was pretty little Decima, who was better trained than any who came before her and set records on the obstacle course which hold to this day. Justus and Cato and even Aurelia contributed to her line. Her mother Aeliana gave birth while wearing all forty seven of her ribbons.

If her father had been like the rest of them, her life would have been normal. She would have been normal. A Servitor of exceptional breeding to be sure, a champion, but a normal one. But there had been concerns about the progression of the shape of the legs in her line. Aeliana had to be retired early after she’d developed a bad walk! So the Master in his infinite wisdom looked for genes outside of the beauty stock, and paid the exorbitant fee to rent the great racing-cat Felix.

She was descended from champions. She was born to rule the auction block. But as it turns out? She didn’t. The Master of the Kennels had never had a racer before. In the whole of Tellus, no one had ever seen a runner be so beautiful before. Certainly no Servitor had ever cost this much to produce before, and the Master was absolutely intent on receiving only the highest price for her.

It didn’t matter how prettily she swished her tail in front of buyers, or how sweetly she batted her lashes. It didn’t matter that she could do a perfect cartwheel or when she ran so super fast around them. It didn’t matter that her diction and enunciation were perfect when she asked, “Please, Mistress~”, and it didn’t matter that she could sing five entire songs with the voice of a little kitty-eared angel. Nobody bought her: she was too expensive.

One by one her friends and littermates were sold off. Month by month and then year by year she became lonelier and lonelier.

At first, the Master was kind to her. She was, after all, the crown jewel of the kennels. He pat her on her pretty little head and wiped the tears from her eyes, saying that it wasn’t her fault, the poor dear, these buyers just had no taste. She’d do better next time. But then next time came and went without a sale, and the Master found it a little bit harder to praise her. Was she doing this on purpose? Was she a bad girl??

Sick in her heart with guilt, the kitten practiced harder than ever. She studied and she learned a whole bunch more tricks, even ones that adults struggled to master sometimes! It didn’t help at all, and the Master was getting angrier and angrier with her. Didn’t she understand how much it cost to keep her here? Well fine, if she wasn’t going to get herself a buyer, she didn’t need to eat so much! She didn’t need to be warm at night! She wouldn’t get any more pretty clothes for her auction days!

When she started getting too old for a good sale (that’s five years, so you know), the Master started hitting her. It hurt. It hurt so much, but what hurt even more than that was being a bad girl who nobody wanted. She didn’t know how she was doing it wrong, but nothing she tried worked and all of her friends were gone now and the Master would never forgive her now but please, please, please! Don’t throw her out the window, don’t! Just give her one more chance!

But then a miracle happened. No less than the Praetor herself came to announce that the Empress sought a young Servitor to be a gift for the Princess. Only the very best would be acceptable. The Master of the Kennels had the Imperial Purse opened on his head. The useless, rotten, good-for-nothing little kitten got washed and brushed for the first time in months, got put in the cutest little dress, and then the Praetor tied a shiny bell to her fluffy white tail and stuffed her inside of a box.

The next time she saw the light, it came with a delighted squeak and a little hand reaching out to touch her. Then she got a hug, even though she flinched and growled when she wasn’t supposed to. And then for the first time in her life she got a name, and she was Bella. Because she was so beautiful! Or… maybe, because she was wearing a bell. The Princess was not the cleverest of girls.

The Palace

Hider

Officially, Bella was an Imperial pet. But the palace was huge and always in need of work, and simple-minded machinery could only do so much. There were so many chores, horrible drudgeries really, which nevertheless benefited enormously from the dedicated attentions of a Servitor. They had that, if you could excuse the expression, “human” touch. Besides which, Servitors love to work! They adore it! They were literally born for it, if you remember the histories! An idle Servitor is a mistreated Servitor, isn’t that the expression?

So Bella worked. She swept, she scrubbed, she did laundry for the Princess, the Empress, and half the Senate. She flitted about the palace in the early morning in her frilly little maid outfits and her mary janes, or she trudged through maintenance hangars in greasy jumpsuits and fixed worn down machines with instructions from the Palace AI.

When she made a mistake, she got beaten. When she took too long, she was beaten much harder. Of course she was, did she really think that being an Imperial pet would mean nobody would hit her when she was a bad girl? How else was she going to learn? Still, she was a clever girl (even though nobody wanted that) and learned more quickly than most. By the time she was grown up, she was (almost) never whipped anymore.

But her most important job of all was taking care of Princess Redana. She woke the Princess up every morning with a tray carrying her breakfast. She could always tell when she did a good job with that, because Redana would squeal and demand that Bella have some too, never having any idea she was sharing Bella’s own cooking with her. She gave the Princess her baths, she attended her during training, she stayed up way too late with her best and only friend staring at the stars and talking about what might be up there past the immutable border of the Empress’ will. She sang the lullabies that finally coaxed Redana to sleep, or put her back under when the nightmares started up again. If she was lucky, she’d spend part of the night curled up on that big soft bed in her Princess’ arms. She spent the rest of it in her own tiny “bed” on the floor. She had to be sure she woke up early, or there wouldn’t be time for all her work before the Princess needed breakfast.

She even helped the Princess with her studies. Redana’s grades took a dramatic (if still not acceptable) upswing when Bella started watching her study, reading over her shoulder and then playing the role of the silly kitty who needed the big scary concepts explained to her in simple words whenever she reached a passage she knew the Princess would bounce off of otherwise.

She was a clever girl. She was a silly girl, when her Princess needed that more. She was a Good Girl. And every day, she tried not to be jealous of her Mistress for having everything she could possibly want and still somehow have the audacity of dreaming to have more. Sometimes she even succeeded.

Then came the day the pair of them escaped the confines of the Imperial Grounds for their grand adventure in Ecumenopolis. Bella’s giddy excitement lasted her as far as the gate. Then she thought about the punishment that would be waiting for, and started tugging on her Mistress’ sleeve to go home. And then she saw the squalor. She saw the huddled masses, the pain and the hunger and the fear, the Servitors crammed into alleyways to be chewed to death by mange while they wasted to nothing on the scraps of scraps that nobody else could be desperate enough to consider food.

And she saw at last how far she might still fall. And she understood instinctively that this was where she was supposed to wind up, before her Princess asked for a pet. She understood, and her heart hardened into diamond, and she tugged on her Princess’ sleeve harder than ever before, until there was no choice but to finally go home where they could be safe again.

Redana betrayed her. Redana ran away. Redana beat her up and tied her up and told her lies like “I’m sorry” and “Be safe” and then she disappeared on that pathetic little sloop and left her Bella to the most vicious and savage punishment of her entire life.

The Games

Hider

Empress Nero had never looked so furious. She held her head and squeezed her eyes shut and said that Bella should be killed. Then she changed her mind and said she should be exiled. Then she changed her mind again, and said that Bella should go and retrieve her precious daughter, because by whatever accident of Fate this useless, stupid Servitor knew Redana best and might manage to retrieve her where a bounty hunter might fail.

If! Only if Bella proved herself. Only if she washed the stench of failure from her body and showed that she was Redana’s equal. Only if she won the Olympic Games in full sight of Zeus and every other god.

Bella trained like she’d been possessed. She broke herself on the wheel of toil and taught herself everything she could about boxing, wrestling, fencing, chariot riding, and racing. She sharpened her body and her claws, and even managed to keep up with her chores. But it was pointless. With enough effort she might be able to win the race, but the Games were sacred. The greatest athletes across Tellus would be there, and Bella was bred for being admired. She had no lineage for this, and nobody anywhere could be the best in anything overnight.

She cried every night, instead of sleeping. And when she thought no one was listening, she prayed. She prayed and she offered up everything she had, and then she prayed some more. Every night she cried into the emptiness and the moonlight, all alone. Then only her very last night before the competitions, Hera appeared before her. She brushed Bella’s hair, caressed her tear soaked cheeks, and smiled like a mother should when she said that Bella couldn’t possibly win the Games, silly girl. She wasn’t meant to.

But what could she do?

“Cheat, of course.”

And did she ever! In the sight of Zeus and every other god in the pantheon, Bella made a complete mockery of the games. She drugged wrestlers, and when she couldn’t she bit them and clawed them and strangled them with her chain until they were too weak to resist her. She threw sand and spit oil from the maintenance decks in the eyes of every boxer. She smashed every chariot but hers ahead of the race. The marathon… the marathon she might have won herself, but even still she set traps and threw obstacles and shot the other fastest runner with a pacification bolt she stole from a guard along the route. She won the laurel wreath in every event, just like she was… well, she won them, anyway.

The people were outraged. They booed and spit on her, they stripped her medals, they tied her to a post and had her flogged in the name of Zeus. The Empress herself came, and stared at Bella as she slumped and bled into her ragged clothes. She sniffed haughtily, and turned her back.

“You will come back with my daughter,” she declared, “Or you will not come home at all, Praetor.”

The Servitor

Hider

Bella is a beauty pageant queen masquerading as a soldier. She wears Imperial black and gold on her fancy dress with its long flowy sleeves, pleated skirt, and heavy boots for travel. But around her neck she wears the thick, black collar that marks her true position in society, whatever titles might be sprinkled on top of her, and on the back of that collar a heavy chain dangles all the way down to her knees. She stands tall in spite of it, to show how strong she is. She wears bells on her sleeves and on her tail. For… for luck, she says.

Yes. For luck.

Her white fur is soft and silky on her arms and legs, but has been chemically stripped from the rest of her body during her time in the Kennels. It’s considered more beautiful to look this way. Easier to paint. The hair on her head is a deep blue-black, and dangles all the way down to her back. She says it’s so long because it helps her hide the chain. It has nothing to do with Redana liking to brush it and style it, ok? Nothing!

Her eyes are sharp, feline, and shaped from liquid gold. Her tail is exactly 27 inches in length. Her ears are perfect twitchy triangles. The Master of the Kennels had her whiskers pulled when she was four because she was a Bad Girl, but you can’t really see the scars anymore. She’s built tall like an Amazon, with wide hips, a slinky waist, and the sort of soft, ample chest you would expect from someone bred for generations to be the perfect beauty. Don’t tell her that. But don’t not tell her that either, ok?

She’s here for one thing, and one thing only. She’s going to find Redana, and she’s going to bring her home. She’ll drag her back if she has to, drug her, beat her, she doesn’t care anymore. Whatever it takes, she’s going home. Where it’s safe. Where she’s loved. And if you think you’re going to stop her, that’s a mistake you don’t get to make twice.

***

BELLA, THE NEMESIS

Marked by Hera and Aphrodite

LOOK


AGENDA
Inferiority Complex (prove your worth, at all costs, and at every opportunity)

STATS
Blood 0
Courage +2
Grace +1
Sense -1
Iron +2

MOVES
A Moment’s Hesitation:
When you make a move against the Fellowship, they may erase a Bond they hold with you. Choose one: show them mercy, tell them something important, or act anyway, rolling with Despair

Steel Heart:
Your Wisdom stat has been replaced by Iron. You cannot Speak Softly without a Wisdom stat, and cannot Talk Sense with Wisdom or finish with Wisdom, either. When you Finish by outlasting them in a contest of power or endurance, roll with +Iron. On a 10+ they pass out

Tenacity Incarnate:
On 6- or a Fellowship 10+, gain Vigor and you cannot have Despair
Dark Authority:

Your companions are Threats and follow Threat rules. They make cuts and do not roll dice. When a threat harms the Fellowship and survives the scene, you may forge a bond with them. If you need more minions, damage a stat and forge a bond with a local Threat, recruiting them instantly.

Speak Harshly:
When you demand answers from someone weaker than you, roll +Iron. On a 7+, ask 2 questions (they must answer honestly). On a 9-, one of the answers may be a lie. You will not be told which one, or even if there is a lie. On a 6-, you may only ask one question.

• What can you tell me about the Fellowship?
• What are you hiding?
• Where is ____?
• No more questions. You deal damage to them, ending the interrogation.

The Bad Guy:
You are not part of the Fellowship. Any 10+ Finish attempts by either you or they against the other cause the target to damage all their stats and be Taken Out instead of killed. When you are Taken Out, you are out of play for the rest of the session, but will Recover between sessions. You do not Recover when the Fellowship does. When you join the Fellowship, temporarily or otherwise, replaced this playbook with The Redeemed.

Cut Them (Loveless Family):
The Nemesis may make Cuts under specific situations. If the Fellowship ignores you, you may Cut them. When you Cut something under the protection of the Fellowship, it begins as a Soft Cut. If nobody can responds, or if they respond but fail, it becomes a Hard Cut. Cuts made against targets the Fellowship cannot protect may be as hard or soft as you like.
Bella may make Cuts when she acts in Redana's best interests (according to Bella or Empress Nero)

Cornered Rat Cat:
While you are Damaged, your attacks gain the Dangerous tag

Avatar Imperial Regalia:
You have Protection. This gives you immunity to a Location stat of your choosing, and you may choose which one to be immune to at the beginning of any scene.

Dark Power:
You are a Threat to the World

Alone Against The World
When you fight against them by yourself, you can try to Keep Them Busy no matter who they are, how outnumbered you are, or how poor your position is, even if they are a Group, Gang, or Army.
When you Keep Them Busy by yourself, they take damage once you are done Keeping Them Busy.

Limitless Skies
You can appear anywhere you can see, effectively teleporting through the air. Whether this is actual teleportation, divine insight, or extreme speed is up to you. You roll with Hope when using this to Get Away.

GEAR

Bella is a melee weapon
Clever Tricks (Useful, 2 Uses)
High Mobility (Armor, 1 Use)

The Empress Nero Claudius has given Bella a ship, a crew, and a command. It is ridiculous to expect her to grant a twice-marked failure real supplies. Bella’s title is worse than just for show, but by Zeus’ glittering smile, do not suggest that where she can hear you.

BONDS
"I will capture Redana, no matter what the cost."
"My feelings for Redana confuse me."
"I do not understand why Alexa acts the way she does."
"...Redana betrayed me."

[Balmas]

My Hider

The first thing you need to know about Molech is that you're wrong.

The gods, in their wisdom, smote him down for his hubris, yes. But that doesn't mean that he was a bad person or a bad father, right? He was kind, and caring, in his own way. He was a good teacher.

(She never once forgot one of his lessons. He made sure of it.)

He taught me how to be brave, how to be strong. The enemy must know, the instant that she steps on the field, that they are doomed. Let them wail and gnash their teeth, for they face the Warmaster, the chosen of Athena, and none shall survive!

(She tries to spare them, once. What are they called? A small military outfit from a backwater, barely worth noting. It's over in a second, after all. Routine. Decapitate the leadership, and clean up the rout. But they're running. Panicking. Leaderless. Not a threat, at least not today. Let them live.

(And then the next day, Molech brings her to the courtyard, to the prisoners. They sit, tied, no hoods or armor to distract from the terrified looks in their eyes. She missed some, he explains. It's perfectly understandable, after all. A battlefield is chaotic. But she's better than that! She's made in the image of Athena! She's the offspring of the Warmaster! Anything short of perfect devastation is unacceptable.

(So, in his mercy, he allows her to correct her previous mistake. Make it quick, Alexa. After all, there are other, far more drawn-out ways to be killed.

(She cleans her spear obsessively that night, but it still feels unclean.)

Molech taught me how to fight to the end, to give it my all in every situation! Never back down, never surrender, and never give up!

(She runs, once. Breaks in the face of the enemy.

(And they win! The Glorious 25th Regiment, her friends, her comrades, they win, even without her! It's amazing, and she's so glad that Molech doesn't have to know!

(He knows. Of course he knows.

(And the next day, the road out of his capital gains some new decorations. Anyone who witnessed her shame must find a new occupation. Slave, perhaps, if you're lucky. Outcast. Disenfranchised, locked out of bank accounts, family, friends, left to pick for scraps until starvation or prison take them.

(The unlucky take weeks to die.)

More than anything else, he taught me loyalty! How to be a proper bodyguard, how to care for only your ward! I was his servant, his creation, and I owe him my life. Perfect devotion and obedience is the bare minimum I can do to start to repay that debt.

(Her name is Minerva, and she has the softest hair Alexa's ever felt.

(They weren't supposed to meet. Schedules should have made it impossible to do more than catch occasional stolen glances in corridors.

(But Minerva... Alexa can't help herself. Can't help but find reasons to pass by the library. To ask questions. To learn favorite books (The Rise of Endymion), color (lavender), hobbies (reading, blushing). To make her laugh and find eternity in the way her cheeks dimple. To spend long afternoons basking in her light.

(She shouldn't. She knows it. But she can't help it.

(And then one day, she comes to the library, flowers and a copy of the newest Endymion release in hand and… it's an unfamiliar face at the desk. The little nook in the back corner, where sound is muffled by thick stacks of tomes, the little nook with a fold-out couch and a well-loved blanket, is absent all of the above. Alexa rips the door off her home, shouting her name, only to find soldiers inside who warn her of the dangerous spy who lived there, and was trying to steal proprietary technology from the palace.

(She doesn't ask Molech he did with her, and Molech doesn't tell her. She tells herself it's for the best. Hasn't she done enough already?)

So if you think you know Molech, think again. He's not as bad as the stories say.

(The stories aren't nearly bad enough.)

Alexa
The Construct
Marked by Athena and Hera
Seeking Peace

Courage: +3
Blood: +2
Wisdom: +1
Sense: +0
Grace: -1

Agenda: What is my Purpose: Find a reasons for who you are and what you do.

Moves:
Built For This
You have only one purpose in this world: You were built to explore the Horizon. You must follow your orders. It is what you were made to do. You do not have your own society. You are artificial. You Command Lore about your creators, their secrets, and their science. Tell us who made you - it may even be the people of another member of the fellowship. You also Command Lore about yourself - your purpose, your functions, your creation. Only you can tell us what you are.
This Move cannot be Shared

By Your Command
You were created to serve, and serve you shall. You have three Locked Bonds, and you begin the game with the first one filled in with the name of another member of the fellowship. These Locked Bonds are:
-Like it or not, I must follow _______ ‘s orders.
-I have chosen to follow _______ ‘s orders.
-I have grown emotionally attached to _______ .
When someone named in your Locked Bonds gives you an order, you are filled with Hope if you follow it, and filled with Despair if you ignore or go against it. Either way, this Hope or Despair only lasts for one roll.
When you Forge a Bond, you may write a name into an unwritten Locked Bond. Once it is written, it is permanent. You can never change or erase a Locked Bond, unless a Move specifically tells you to.
Locked Bonds count towards your maximum of 3 Bonds with a single
person.

The Robot
You cannot eat Food, and the Healing tag has no effect on you. When you Fill Your Belly, you must use Fuel--the ichor of the Gods-made just for you. You can be healed by items with the Repair tag.
You do not need to breathe or sleep to survive. Your severed limbs or eyes can function remotely from your body, although you need an item with the Repair tag to re-attach them.

Hold Them Back
When you successfully Keep Them Busy by grabbing them, pinning them, catching them, or otherwise holding them close, you grab them. Someone you have grabbed cannot move and cannot harm you, but otherwise this works just like Keeping Them Busy normally does.
You may end the grab at any time to do one of the following things:
Throw them to the ground. They land prone right where you want them.
Slam them into something, hard, dealing damage to them.
Talk Sense or Speak Softly with them, rolling with Hope. You hold them close until you’ve said your piece and they’ve said theirs.

Advanced Sensors
When you Look Closely, you may ask one question from the list before you roll. You may choose whether or not you still want to roll after hearing the answer to your first question.
You may only use your Advanced Sensors once per scene.

What are you made of?
Stone and Bronze
You are a very tough golem, built of marble and bronze, and animated through the will of Athena. Add your Aegis (Armor, 1 Use) to your Gear.
When you Fill Your Belly, when you are Repaired, or when you get a 10+ on any roll, restore 1 Use to your Aegis. It can never have more than 1 Use at a time.

Gear:
A pair of spears, presented to me by Athena herself (Melee, piercing)
As a replica of Athena, I share her multilimbed nature and can walk or run on walls and the ceiling.
I have a riding pod, perfect for defending my ward or restraining naughty kitties.
Redana, as a clever princess, has a small crucible of bronze with which to patch chips in my stone (Repair, 2 uses, slow). She’s also figured how to use the Seal to summon me to her side whenever it is needed (1 Use). Now, if only she could figure out other things…
Crucible: [ ][ ]
Seal: [ ]

Bonds:
I must obey any order Redana gives me.
I enjoy the elaborate tea ceremonies I have with Dolce.
I'm slowly sharing the booze recipes I've accumulated with Vasilia.
Isty and I played tag in a flirty way.
I told Redana who I am.

Stat Bookkeeping

Fought Jas'o. Damaged Blood
Fought Jas'o again. Damaged Grace.
Grace repaired by Dolce.
Level up! +1 Courage. End of Session 1.
Wild robot orgy damages Grace.
Stabbed by Bloodfeather, damage Sense.
Repair Blood between sesssions.
Refresh repair kit.
Level up! New Programming: Speak Only When You Mean It from Ogre playbook. End of Session 2.
Rest episode! All stats refreshed.

[TheAmishPirate]

When There Were Two

Captain Vasilia
Marked by Zeus and Artemis
Seeking Peace

AND

Chef Mate Dolce
Marked by Hera and Artemis
Seeking Adventure

THE PAIR
Vasilia’s Agenda: Viva La Revoluction
Dolce’s Agenda: All For One And One For All

STATS

Vasilia
Blood: +1
Courage: +1
Grace: +1
Sense: +1
Wisdom: -1

Dolce
Blood: -1
Courage: +0
Grace: +1
Sense: +1
Wisdom: +1

Combined (Always with Hope)
Blood: +0
Courage: +1
Grace: +2
Sense: +2
Wisdom: +0

Paired Core

Birds Of A Feather: You play as two characters. The Pair can split up or stay together as they
like, allowing you to be in two places at once. They each have a separate Look, separate Stats, and a separate personal Agenda.

The Pair has separate bonds for each of them. Each of the Pair can only have one Bond with someone else, and others can only have one Bond with each member of the Pair.

When they Fill Their Belly, the Pair only spends 1 Food, but they each heal one damage.

Working Alone: When The Pair is separated, they make rolls with their separated stats and get the Spotlight separately.

-When one of the Pair is acting to rescue, protect, or rush to the side of the other, they roll with Hope.

-Working Alone is dangerous, as you rely on your teamwork. When you take damage while Working Alone, you must also pay a price.

Working Together: When The Pair is together, they act as a single unit in perfect harmony. They combine their stats when making a move, and they share the Spotlight together. If either of you has Hope or Despair, you both do.

-When you Keep Them Busy together, only one of you needs to stay to Keep Them Busy. The other may disengage and begin Working Alone.

-When you Get Away or Look Closely together, you may split up. If you do, each of you may choose different options from that move's list, and you are now Working Alone.

-When one of you takes damage while Working Together, the other takes damage to the same stat, if it is undamaged.

Heroic Association: The Pair Commands Lore about an organization, instead of a society. You come from a company of mercenaries, bounty hunters, heroes, or some other such group. You Command Lore about who they are, what they want, their place in the world, their culture, their rivals, their enemies, and their laws, just as everyone else does.

Daring Devils:
-When you need a cool prop appropriate to your environment, like a chandelier to drop, a window to leap out of, or a vine to swing from, it’s there.
-When you use the terrain to protect you, you may Overcome using +Grace instead of +Blood. Leaping off of tall places to escape danger always counts as using the terrain to protect you.

Who Are the Pair?

Fated Pair: The two of you are inseparable, a perfect combination. When you are Working Together, you roll with Hope.

The Pair Custom

Heroes of the People: You do not need to roll to Speak Softly with common folk, friends, or coworkers - simply ask, and they will answer.

Taste my Blade!: When you engage in swordplay with an enemy, you may Keep Them Busy with +Grace. On a 7-9, after their retaliation, you may insult them or make a quip to Keep Them Busy again, as if you'd rolled another 7-9 result.

Mismatched Pair: Each member of the Pair takes a Custom move from a different playbook. Keep track of who took which move. Each of them may only use their chosen move while Working Alone.

Vasilia: Listen Here You Little Punk: When you Talk Sense by telling them what will happen to them if they do not do as you ask, Talk Sense with +Blood, and on a 7-9, they cannot ask their favor of you until after they have done what you asked of them.

Dolce: I've Got A Bad Feeling About This: When you're certain something's wrong here, you may ask the Overlord to tell you the safest way out, and also the quickest way out. They will answer truthfully

Vasilia’s Gear
-An elegant sabre, the twin of Dolce’s (Melee)
-A grav-rail glaive with its own independent gravity field (Melee, Clumsy, Dangerous)
-An elegant, long-barreled SP rifle (Ranged, Reload, Piercing)
-An brace of pistols, blessed by Zeus (Ranged, Piercing, Dangerous, Recharge)
-An Anathame. A knife with her name on it. (Protection against a Location stat, will betray her at any opportunity. Damage a stat to destroy permanently.)

Dolce’s Gear
-An elegant sabre, the twin of Vasilia’s (Melee)
-A tasteful variety of well-preserved foodstuffs (Food, 3 Uses [X][][])
-Household odds and ends, turned to creatively underhanded purpose (Useful, 2 Uses [X][])
-A travel-sized cocktail kit, amply supplied (Slow, Vigor, 2 Uses [][])

Vasilia’s Bonds
-If it’s a night for drinking, I’m with Alexa. No one else.
-Iskarot and I have a professional respect for each other. And, personally, his straightforwardness is refreshing.
-Bella carried me to her room. Shared of her private stock of wine. And for a moment, we might’ve trusted each other.

Dolce’s Bonds
-Redana and I have spent hours together on the observation deck, watching Poseidon’s wonders.
-I am convinced that Alexa can taste, she just hasn’t found a meal she could taste yet.

Advancements:
-Paired Custom: Taste my Blade!
-Paired Custom: Mismatched Pair
-Stat increase: Vasilia takes +1 Sense
-LEVEL UP NEEDED

DOLCE, THE SQUIRE
Marked by Mars and Artemis? Aphrodite?

STATS

Blood: -1
Courage: +0
Grace: +1
Sense: +2
Wisdom: +3

AGENDAS
-Be Brave, Take Risks
-Tell Us Of Your People
-Improve The World Around You
-Friendship Is Magic

WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE - Remembered By History

You want to be a hero so bad, even if the only way to do it is to tag along with the real heroes.

Whenever anyone near you goes anywhere, you can always choose to tag along with them, even if doing so should be impossible.

SQUIRE CORE

Fast Friends: When you spend a scene by someone's side or Speak Softly with them, you may gain a Bond with them immediately.

You can have an unlimited number of Bonds with anybody. People who you have Bonds with do not become Companions. You do not have enough pull with the fellowship to just recruit people. Those you have Bonds with will think well of you and will try not to harm you if they can help it, regardless of their feelings for the rest of the fellowship.

You can Command Lore about anyone you have any Bonds with, except for your Bonds with other players. You can Command Lore about Companions, friends, and minions of the Overlord who you have Bonds with, but you cannot Command Lore about the other heroes of the fellowship or about the Overlord.

This move cannot be Shared.

Please, Just Listen: When you Talk Sense to someone, you may erase a Bond with them instead of owing them a favor.

When you Speak Softly with someone, you may erase a Bond with them to make them answer a question they refuse to answer.

It’s Dangerous to Go Alone: When you watch someone's back and keep your eyes peeled, you can roll to Overcome any harm against them with +Sense instead of +Blood

SQUIRE CUSTOM

I’ve Got a Bad Feeling About This: When you're certain something's wrong here, you may ask the Overlord to tell you the safest way out, and also the quickest way out. They will answer truthfully.

Voice of Reason: You alone are the voice of reason in this insane world. When you offer advice to another player and they ignore it, you are filled with Hope during any attempts to bail them out of whatever mess they got themselves into. Basically, if you could say "I told you so" after your action, you have Hope to do it.

We’ll Make It: Your Bonds have the Healing tag, and you can Use them by erasing them. Your Bonds can only be used to heal the person listed in them, and only while you are by their side. This move cannot be Shared.

BONDS

-I know the fear that grips the heart of the Royal Architect. I may be the only person alive who knows it.
-Inexplicably, I've caught the eye of the Crystal Knight, and I would do well to steer clear of her impish smile.
-20022 was the first of my kind that looked at me as anything more than an outlier.
-Vasilia taught me how to make sense of the world when it all seems too much for me.
-I feel nervous and lost about how to show affection to Vasilia, but she's clever and quick-witted and we always figure something out.
-When I feel lost, and like there's nothing I can do, I know Mosaic will find us a way through.
-I trust Ember never to bite or bark at me.
-The Ancient Craftsman takes me under his wing, and I could listen to his stories and lessons for hours.
-[Bond with Assassin]

ADVANCEMENTS
-Squire Custom (Voice of Reason)
-Increase Courage or Wisdom by 1 (Wisdom +1)
-????