Claghorn Tull

Breaking Point (Mecha RPG)

Can those of us who were involved in the original return with the same character?

The Treasure of Emily Gray

Bradacharchle
Aboard the Carrion

---

As the plan unfolded, the Erkani kept their thoughts quiet, contemplating what was to come. Alvirstein's hirelings planned to use these rebels as a distraction to further aims that the rebels had nothing to do for. The leaders of the cell would know what they were doing, sure, and they would break off before death or capture could cripple their movement - but their followers would not all have that option.

The palace guard would respond in force, once the situation was assessed. Good people would die, for a gang of mercenaries dancing on the strings of a jumped-up bourgeoisie whizz kid, and the Marxist on board had no idea whether even one member of the crew could be turned over to the cause of the people. To alleviate the fear, then, a test - a small one, the first of many.

"A suggestion, if I may? I understand that our resources, as a small group of operatives, are limited; our own hands are tied. Yet our employer is powerful, and it is possible that these rebels may not be sanguine about working on our behalf if measures are not taken to mitigate the risks their people face - they are not soldiers, after all. Our mission is of critical importance; what resources could our employer divert to bolster the odds of these rebels surviving this stunt, and to improve our own chances in the process?"

The Erkani communist movement was sympathetic to Zero One; in fact, Bradacharchle had personally been a point of contact with them in the past - and therefore could not speak to them directly or warn them of the danger involved in this operation, for fear that recognition by the transhumanist rebels would spoil their credibility with Alvirstein's crew. They would have to trust the mercenaries and rebels alike to carry this off right. Regardless, the Erkani was pleased to have authorization to monitor the call, should Zero One attempt contact.

The Treasure of Emily Gray

Bradacharchle
Aboard the Carrion

---

The Erkani stared curiously at the projection of the Will, tilting their head this way and that as though its contents would sift into place to produce an answer. Steepling their fingers, the alien spoke with hesitation, choosing the words one-by one. "The Empress had clearly set her mind upon this some time ago; the date lies closer to her birth than death; perhaps it is a significant date? My knowledge of recent trivia is... scarce. What was the date of her grandfather's death? And the grave. Twice, the grave - is it her grandfather's grave? Or the old grave beside which they spoke, or perhaps two graves - both, or neither?"

The alien looked at their new comrades, each engaged in their own games with each other, with stakes and rules irrelevant to the alien. The haggard one, the military man, seemed stubborn; quick to anger; emotional. The smoker was an unfortunate presence; nothing personal, just the smoke, distracting, choking, ultimately poisonous. Hard to focus on his other attributes. The pilot... hard to know anything about the pilot, yet. And the last, the fighter, was paying attention to the smoker, perhaps irritated by the smoke as well. Perhaps not. Hard to tell, human body language did not translate as cleanly as most of their written languages.

The Treasure of Emily Gray

Bradacharchle
Aboard the Carrion

---

When the Paladin's call went through, the Erkani science-officer was already seated close to the holo-map console, as they found its dim glow and shifting colors relaxing, good for work. In their left hand, they held open a text on particle physics – an introductory treatise that would have been cheaper in a digital format, but for translation work they preferred hardcopy, as staring too long into the LCD glow of a reader was painful. Their left hand trailed a pressurized-cartridge pen over the pages of a thick notebook, tracing the swirling characters of Erkani calligraphy as they prepared their translated manuscript. The translator-turned-mercenary had brought along plenty of such work for this voyage; all of their personal effects that were not weapons, ammunition and safety equipment consisted of hardcover books on the various sciences, spare ink cartridges, and blank notebooks. While their skill in botany had been enough for Alvirstein to hire them for the position of science-officer, the Erkani did not believe expertise in a single discipline would be sufficient, and so resolved to devote their spare time to studying and translating texts from other key disciplines, starting with the foundations and working their way towards more esoteric knowledge.

As the Paladin's call went out over the intercom, the translator sealed the pen, closed the notebook, and slid both between the pages of the larger book to mark their place, sliding the whole assemblage into a drawer below the console. Free-time was over; another crewmember turned up the lights on the bridge for the comfort of the others, leading the Erkani to reflexively close their translucent second set of eyelids, dimming the light back to their own comfort level as they waited for information on the mission.

The Treasure of Emily Gray

Bradacharchle

Name: Bradacharchle

Race: Erkani

Age: 46

Sex: Indeterminate

Appearance: Sometimes whatever the hell they want, but mostly indistinguishable from other Erkani

History: Hailing from the Archle Erkani commune hidden away in a sealed habitat in the recovering forests of Norway on Earth, Bradacharchle was raised in turn by various members of the clan, sampling various trades and learning the history of their people as they grew. They discovered a passion for linguistics early in their life, devoting much of their time to studying and translating foreign texts that found their way into the commune while tending to an herb garden and taking turns in the project of restoring the forests around the commune in the hopes that robust plantlife may clean Earth's air enough that the Erkani could live without their sealed domes and pressurized environment suits.

The Erkani traditions of communal living influenced Bradacharchle's interpretation of the texts they translated, abetted by the experiences of the Erkani communes under the Empire. The writings of Karl Marx proved to be of particular interest, prompting a great deal of thought on how life could be improved for the majority of those living under the Empire. While the Empire had taken the Erkani in as refugees from the Harbinger, it was clear to all that the Erkani way of life was incompatible with the capitalist system that dominates life in the Empire, and if things continued as they were, the Erkani communes would eventually be broken to accommodate the demands of capital.

In order to begin gathering resources and making connections to advance the cause of the planned communist revolution, Bradacharchle left Norway and the commune and began taking work as a mercenary, showing preference to jobs that put them in contact with other leftist rebel groups, eventually linking the Norwegian commune to a greater network of communist and anarchist rebels seeking to overthrow the Empire.

Personality: They take no pleasure in violence, but have resigned themselves to the impossibility of revolution through reforms implemented by the very capitalist system they oppose. Quiet, contemplative, and self-assured, Bradacharchle is firmly optimistic, and believes that any risks they take with their own life will be repaid in service to the revolution. They possess an unending fondness for the odd quirks of linguistics and translations, along with an unfortunate love of puns and word games. Given their own circumstances, they are aware of the possibility that others who have been hired to seek the treasure may potentially be persuaded to join the communist cause, and so will hesitate to kill any of them when other options are available. Stubborn and self-assured, they will take on any work they believe they are capable of handling, regardless of other constraints upon their time.

Allegiance: Alvirstein hireling, Marxist-Erkanist revolutionary

Occupation: When separated from their commune, they have been working as a mercenary. Within the commune of clan Archle they work primarily as a linguist and translator, making old texts in various human languages and the languages of other refugee aliens accessible to the majority of Erkani.

Personal Effects:
-Sealed Envirosuit: The only thing they wear apart from gunbelts, this pressurized suit protects the Erkani from environmental hazards up to and including the vacuum of space. It is only donned when an environment is expected to be noxious or hazardous beyond normal tolerances, and is otherwise stored in a small compartment on their gunbelt, as wearing it restricts their shapeshifting.
-Erkani Broadsword: Similar in design to a Vietnamese Da-dao, this long-handled Erkani-made sword hangs from a magnetically-secured loop on their belt. With its curved blade and long handle, it is good for sweeping strikes and parries.
-Defiance Arms Auto-6 Standard: A relatively cheap machine pistol known for reliability and durability, the DAA-6 is this Erkani's favored side-arm, providing suppressing fire and a few more options when the target can neither be sniped nor slashed.
-Iskuri Adhesive Grenades (x3): Manufactured by Finnish anarchists, these grenades are frequently used by the Archle commune for demolition projects, as they are simple, durable, and easy to safely use. Priming the grenade sends an electric charge through the block of foam at its base, preparing it to become a powerful adhesive that expands rapidly upon contact, forming a hard, sticky mass that ensures the grenade will not move. After that, a simple flick of a switch sets off the explosive charge. Bradacharchle has taken a small stock of these grenades for themselves, and can carry three of them at a time.
-Tērvu Arms Single-Shot Compact Reyilkaṉ: Based on a Tamil design originally manufactured as a hunting rifle, this powerful rail-sniper is designed with carrying straps that slip over the shoulders to allow it to be carried on the back when not in use, keeping it out of the way. The button behind the square panel on the side pops the panel open, allowing a sabot to be loaded in for firing. The scope features an adjustable optical zoom, along with filters that allow it to pick up ultraviolet and infrared light and translate these portions of the spectrum to an intelligible output for the shooter.
-Eisenherz Shield Projector: Received from Germanic anarchists in Seventh Heaven, this arm-mounted projector creates a circular energy shield with a radius of one meter. Its inertia is significant when activated, slowing down the user's movement of that arm but also making them more difficult to push around.

Greetings from Claghorn Tull

Happy to finally make the jump to the Guild. I spent several years on BZP RPing in science-fiction and fantasy settings, but the scene over there's basically dead and I needed a new outlet. Not likely to join more than one or two games at a time, so there's no guarantee you'll see a lot of me, but I'm glad to make your acquaintance all the same.

I'm an avid birdwatcher with a degree in Marine Science and a strong background in biology and natural history, as well as an amateur musician and a pencil artist.