Joseph Condoy
Ang Aso 'The Dog' |
23 |
Male |
5'7" |
141 lbs To protect and care for his family the best he can.
Secrets: Joseph has a secret relationship with an affluent man, but presents as straight because of hetero norms in his family's cultural upbringing.
Fears: Being outed to anyone, especially his family; losing any more of his family; feeling trapped or being stuck in a helpless situation, especially in the dark.
History: Before the Wall went up 50 years ago, Filipino immigrants made their way into Nocturnia and settled in what is now Iron Gate. Among them were Joseph’s paternal grandparents, who managed to get title to a pair of flats and a grocery store close to each other. Over the years, both the properties and business stayed within the family. For a while, pre-Wall, Iron Gate was prosperous and the Filipino-Spanish community worked well together.
Born second of three children to Basil and Maria Condoy, Joseph grew up feeling somewhat invisible compared to his older brother Jordan and younger sister Jane. Their father worked long hours with their grandfather as engineers at the local power relay station, while their mother ran the asian grocer with their grandmother. Most of their time as kids was spent either at the store or staying with family friends and their children.
Life was rough when the Wall went up. The Mafias, with the advent of Gyfts, had become a real threat and somehow the Nocturnia police turned out to be no better. Iron Gate was never the wealthiest district, and it got worse when it became a battleground between the two forces of Nocturnia. The district was host to more altercations between mafiosos and police as the years went by. When he and his siblings were growing up, Joseph’s parents drilled the importance of staying safe even when in their own neighborhood.
Unfortunately, the conflict reached their world. Their grandmother was mugged on her way home from locking up the store in the evening and left for dead when Joseph was only 9. A few years later: Joseph’s grandfather was killed when mafiosos blew up the relay station, plunging Iron Gate into a district-wide blackout. The memory of being only 12 and huddled with his mother and siblings around tealight candles, with only fragile hope to keep them company, is one that stayed with Joseph to present day.
The city’s administration never rebuilt the relay station, and instead settled with drip-feeding ‘excess’ electricity from the neighboring districts. Under this approach, Iron Gate suffered from frequent power shortages and whole neighborhoods went without electricity. Swathes of the district fell into poverty and disrepair, and Iron Gate became an ever-attractive option for mafiosos to establish drug labs and black market storehouses in the district’s abandoned real estate. With the district’s increased poverty, tensions strained between the Filipino and Spanish population until they split into two opposing factions within the slums.
Basil had left the relay station to pick up dinner for his coworkers, inadvertently saving his life. But with the loss of both his parents and his job, and a struggle with survivor’s guilt, he turned to drinking and gambling to distract himself. At first it was a beer most every night, and then twenty minutes at the local pub. But over time, he lost himself in the glass bottles flashing lights and his family’s meagre finances suffered for it.
It was supposed to be Joseph’s 13th birthday. But instead of candles and cake, Joseph watched as his mother got upset with his father. That was the first time his father smacked his mother. Very quickly, addiction and abuse became synonymous for Basil, as he tried to find more and more money to blow on his vices and subsequently took his frustrations out on Maria. Joseph and his siblings would sit huddled together in the dark of Jordan’s room, waiting for the screaming and smashing of glass to stop.
One day, after two years, Jordan stood up for his mother. Jane was out on a sleepover, and he’d told Joseph to stay where he was. Moments later, the screaming and smashing of glass became much more violent. When he heard his mother wailing and the sound of punches landing, Joseph grabbed the revolver his father kept in his room and ran downstairs. What waited for him around the corner of the wall seared itself into his memories. Basil, panting as he stopped beating Joseph bloody, turned to see his younger son pointing the gun at him. Basil raised his hands, but the seething look in his eyes was enough justification.
Before Joseph pulled the trigger, his Gyft manifested in a way neither he nor his father expected. The bullet shot through the trick-mirror Joseph created behind his father and Joseph watched as blood and brains splattered on the kitchen cupboards. He was frozen in place, ears ringing, and didn’t hear Jordan weakly calling out to him. When he finally ran over to Jordan, his older brother snatched the gun from Joseph and told him to call the police.
He never heard his older brother’s last words over the sound of their mother’s crying.
When the police arrived, they went over the scene with a fine-tooth comb. They concluded Jordan had shot Basil in self-defense before dying and Joseph, being the one who called emergency services, had found them like this. Barely recovered from the trauma, Maria packed up what was left of her family and they moved into the flat above the grocery store.
Eventually, Joseph joined the Iron Gate Police Division (IGPD) and spent time training as a cadet. He reunited with his childhood friend and now fellow officer Elena Hawke, and the two rose through the ranks together. After spending so much time together on the job, Joseph confided in Elena about his sexuality and his fears. Elena suggested presenting to their friends and family as dating, to cover for Joseph, and the two agreed to be boyfriend and girlfriend.
Not long after, Joseph spent time on a case that took him into Elysium Heights. Ordinarily, the Boys Upstairs would’ve swooped in and taken the case. By chance, Joseph ended up returning a stolen necklace to Simon Liu: a wealthy art collector who lived near the Apollo Quarter. The two spent the night together, starting an adulterous relationship. A few days later, Joseph found out that he had been promoted to the rank of Sergeant and reassigned to the EHPD. At the same time, Joseph received title to an apartment near his new workplace; coincidentally, a few blocks away from his new paramour.
Nowadays, Joseph is struggling to manage a fine balance between family, his ‘girlfriend’, working his job with officers that look down on him, and his new and mysterious secret boyfriend.
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Alliance: Detective
District: Elysium Heights
A veritable bubble of affluence where the rich live insulated and decadent lives. Tall stone fences and gilt metal gates, lengths of green lawns and trimmed hedges, and fountains with marble carved in the likeness of fabled figures. And then there’s the manors: the style of the common Elysium home is white walls and contrasting red tile roofs, accentuated with Grecian columns and artificially overgrown to give the impression of enduring timelessness. The buildings may not be tall in Elysium Heights, but they cast a long shadow over Iron Gate nevertheless.
The Apollo Quarter
A centre of music and the arts, the Apollo Quarter is constantly illuminated at night by a rotation of different light installations by modern artists and light technicians. Here stand the Amphitheatre, place of both scholarly discourse and famous comedies or tragedies; and the Olympus Galleria, where artists are either made or their legacies preserved.
The Dionysus Quarter
Connected to the Apollo Quarter by an overhang bridge, the Dionysus Quarter is the night to Apollo’s day. All the best cafes, bars and clubs are zoned and located here. For a night out in Elysium Heights, crossing from Apollo to Dionysus after complimentary champagnes has become a mandated tradition. The most notable places in the Dionysus Quarter are the Olive Garden cafe, Hera’s Cup rock n’ roll bar, and the Erebus nightclub.
EHPD ‘The Spire’ HQ
Seat of power for the EHPD. Although technically the tallest building in Elysium Heights, The Spire is only named because of the elevator that connects it and the IGPD police station below. Still, The Spire is host to numerous facilities typical for a Major Crimes-focused division. Here, the Boys Upstairs gather and do less real work than the laziest artists over in the Apollo Quarter. They are much more content to collect a paycheck for bossing around the Ironskins with sickening glee..
Joseph has an office at The Spire, but he tries not to spend as much time in it as he does in the field. By doing so, he avoids his sneering colleagues while doing actual police work.
Rich Lifestyle, Commercial and Residential 1-Story Buildings
Generates 3 Wealth every GM post from Drugs, or Taxes
Generates 5 Non-Gyft Personnel every GM post
Faction: Elysium Heights Police Division (EHPD) 'The Boys Upstairs
The EHPD is to the IGPD as Major Crimes is to beat cops; inflated with self-importance and hopped up on authority that comes with operating in a wealthy district. The ‘Boys Upstairs’ (as affectionately named by the ‘Ironskins’) spend more time lording over the IGPD than they do solving real crimes on their own. They’re more likely to ‘swoop’ in and steal cases worked by cops that come to Elysium Heights, citing jurisdiction religiously.
And then there’s their side hustle: being the cudgel for the rich who live in Elysium Heights. The officers of the EHPD are not above taking favours to arrest whoever the 1% point their gilded finger at. Lorded over by Captain Maxwell Stone, the Boys Upstairs are led by example and their leader is no paragon of virtue. Joseph hopes to one day change things within the division, despite being alienated by both the Boys and the Ironskins.
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Gyft: Trick Mirror
Joseph conjures two perfectly similar mirrors in different positions. The mirrors are connected and allow objects to be transported through them as though they were a window through reality. The mirrors are only as big as 3 inches in radius. Conventionally, Joseph uses his Gyft offensively to make 'trick shots' on enemies or objects.
Mechanics:- 3 inch wide mirrors
- 120 ft distance within Line of Sight
- Lasts 10-3 seconds depending on distance; can be cancelled early.
- Transports objects through either end.
- Can transport limbs (eg. to punch someone) but isn't recommended as the mirror will amputate if it closes early.
- Opens and closes within 0.3 seconds.
- Angles can differ between mirrors.
- The mirror does not move.
- Only one pair of mirrors can be used at any time.
- Cooldown of 10-60 seconds, depending on distance.
Limitations and Weaknesses:- Works both ways. If anyone is on the other side of a mirror, they could use it themselves.
- Near useless in mobile fights.
- Both mirrors shatter if the back or rim is hit with enough force to shatter tempered glass.
- Too small to be used as a portal.
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