Duplicity Application

[midnightroads]

« « « IRREVERENT » » »

« « « OOC INFORMATION

---

Name: Solstice Age: 31 Contact: darkersolstice#9463 or darkersolstice Timezone: CST Other Character(s): Maureen 'Ducky' DeCecco

« « « IC INFORMATION

---

Name: Bash St. Expedit Door: Door Pass (Dominant) Canon: Scion TTRPG OC Canon Point: October 31, 2017 Age: 27 Appearance: Link 1, Link 2 History: Setting Info: Scion TTRPG In the world of the Scion TTRPG, the mythical is real--all pantheons of gods exist, locked in an eternal war with titanspawn, the monsters and menaces of mythology. However, gods acting on the real world quickly fuck things up due to the way their Legend warps reality. Thus, gods choose to sire half-mortal kids, demigods, to deal with things on the mortal plane. Demigods start out as epic heroes when given a Divine Visitation by their holy parent, with minor powers, and can eventually scale up to proper demigods and even become recognized gods in their own right (with the same limitations and responsibilities as gods). At the current canon point, Bash has only just gone from hero to demigod, taking on the titles "Demigod of Midnight Roads" and "Patron Saint of the Lonely Street". Setting Info: Campaign Specific In 2012, the Celtic Pantheon all vanished rather suddenly--the gods ceased to respond to prayer, the demigods went missing, and any potential heroes sired by the pantheon never underwent a Visitation. At the same time, the pantheon of Chinese gods, known to English speakers as the Celestial Bureaucracy, withdrew into their overworld. While the scions of that pantheon remained active, their power was greatly diminished. While many beings, divine and otherwise, tried to understand what had happened, there was no information anyone could move on, only vague hints of a 'Great Darkness' or a sense of foreboding, until the summer of 2016, when deities whose purviews were tied to prophecy started getting the sense that everything would come together in Boston, Massachusetts. And so all pantheons began to send their children to that city, in the hope that together they could figure out what happened and fight the coming evil that lurked in the shadows. Background: St. Expédit Like most demigods, to understand Bash, you need to understand his father. Gods have aspects and epithets--Odin's simultaneously the Allfather and Glad of War, and a kid may take after either of these sides of Odin, leaning into his role as a leader or as a war god. Bash's father is Baron Samedi, one of the lwa in African diasporic religions. At least, Baron Samedi is the most common name used for the lwa who leads the Guede (the lwa associated with death), but he also takes on aspects such as Baron La Croix and Baron Cimetière, the former of whom is syncretized with Saint Expeditus. Or, as he's known in certain areas, St. Expédit. Expédit is seen as a remover of barriers, and in areas like Réunion Island off the coast of Africa, he's worshiped at roadside shrines. Background: Okay, here's the actual character history Bash's mother was a young woman who lived on Réunion Island for most of her life. A bright student, she prayed at the roadside shrines for St. Expédit to remove the obstacles stopping her from being able to go to school in America. One night, she was visiting a shrine when she encountered a man in a very nice pinstriped suit, who told her if she spent the night with him the way would be made clear. She did, and got a scholarship to Tulane University shortly thereafter. Her first semester was rough though, as she had become pregnant. Balancing college and work as a single mother was difficult, but she raised her son, Sebastian, as well as she could. Still, even at a young age, the boy saw ghosts, leading him occasionally into trouble in such a haunted city as New Orleans. Bash wasn't a very good student, and dropped out of high school at age 17. His mother insisted he find work, so he became a taxi driver. He was fascinated by stories his fares would tell him, and took pride in showing non-locals the wonders of his city. He'd been at it for five years, when during Mardi Gras, he picked up a man dressed in the top hat, tailcoat and dark glasses associated with Baron Samedi. And the man introduced himself as Bash's father, gifting him with artifacts that would help him channel his divine power, as well as a task: Bash was to find those who'd died on the road, and lead their spirits to the gates of the Underworld. Thus did Bash become a psychopomp. He worked for his father as well as maintaining his job as a cab driver, dealing with the sort of things you find on the road late at night--not just ghosts, but also titanspawn and sometimes human issues, too. In 2016, when scions began gathering in Boston, Baron Samedi ordered Bash to go as well. Not used to working with others, Bash quickly made friends with a few of the other newcomers, offering his aid with 'spooky shit'. For example, when the problem arose of persistent rumors of a specific graveyard being haunted, Bash was quick to figure out that whatever was lingering there wasn't a ghost, but some shadowy corporeal entity. He spent seven nights in the graveyard, showing up each night with a pizza and a thermos of coffee, coaxing the being out until he could talk with him. It turned out to be another scion of the Baron, Odney, who had grown more powerful, but less willing to be around humans. Bash was able to convince Odney to be an ally of the scions. There were many other minor escapades, and no few battles, in Boston, as the scions began to piece together the mystery of what had happened to the Tuatha de Danaan. Bash helped uphold treaties the Sidhe had formed with the Tuatha, he riddled with a sphinx, he sought out artifacts like the Book of Oghma. And he helped plan a ritual to summon the spirits of a band of Tuatha de Danaan scions who had died in Boston, with the intent of learning anything they knew about the coming darkness. It was roughly an hour before the ritual when he was brought to Duplicity. Personality: - Irreverent - It may seem ironic for someone who's blessed with divine blood to hold nothing sacred, but for Bash, this trait is an expression of frustration with being "the Man" without having gone after that role. It leads to him treating the concept of divinity in a cavalier way sometimes. For example, he was willing to entertain the idea of letting a relic of the Tuatha de Danaan get corrupted by titanspawn in exchange for information about the disappearance of that pantheon. But this also extends to non-divine authority as well. Bash doesn't like police, doesn't want to learn laws, and doesn't believe in modern government. He's a bit of an anarchist at heart (in the 'fuck laws that say people can't grow food on their lawn, let's make it easier for people to get by in any way we can' sense). - Unintellectual - Bash never graduated high school, and he doesn't spend much of it seeking knowledge. In Boston, he was known for a habit of letting other Scions do book-research, while he was more hands on in poking, sometimes venturing out before all the useful knowledge could be found. There's a sense of helplessness about it, a chorus of "oh, I'm not smart enough for that shit." It means that if he does end up in a situation where he needs knowledge, he needs to cultivate good allies to find it for him. - Short-Sighted - Bash is someone who just doesn't have ambitions of his own. Some scions are playing 4D chess, trying to plan how to expand their influence and weaken foes, but Bash tends to focus on one problem at a time, accepting problems as they come. While in the game, other scions thought of him as something of a tool, and would pull him in on tasks and projects, but he'd rarely initiate them on his own unless they directly followed as the result of something he was doing at the moment. ? Macabre - I joke about him being a spooky soft boi, but it's core to who Bash is now that he doesn't shy away from the aspects of his divinity or his life that deal with the grotesque or spooky. He's content to visit graveyards or morgues in the line of duty. He won't flinch away from the sight of corpses or hesitate to comfort the dying even if they look gruesome. And he might play into all of this for drama or to try and scare someone into backing down from a fight with him. + Peaceful - During the Boston struggle, Bash's fellow scions might have wanted to spin this as a negative trait, perhaps calling him conflict-averse. However, being something of a martial pacifist and developing a reputation for resolving conflicts without flying off the handle is a virtue when you're not surrounded by enemies. In his dealings with Odney, Bash decided to start from the assumption that the thing lurking in the cemetery wasn't an enemy, and thus gained himself a lasting ally. This was the sort of attitude he brought with him to many of his dealings, often saving people from being hurt in potential fights. In short: he's got capybara energy. Powers and Abilities: Purviews: As a demigod, Bash has powers derived from the purviews associated with his divine father. These fall into a few main categories: Darkness, Death and Psychopomp: Darkness: - Bash can see clearly in any natural darkness. - He can use shadows to create a brief illusion that strikes fear into the hearts of others. (OPT-IN) - He can cloak himself in any shadow large enough to cover him, becoming invisible to those who only have mundane senses. - He can step into one shadow and emerge instantly from any shadow within his line of sight. Death: - Due to his attunement to death, he can see ghosts. - His sense for death also allows him to look at a corpse and get a sense for how it was killed. - By touching a corpse or its grave with a hand, Bash can raise that corpse as a mindless zombie. (This is not an ability he chooses to use pretty much ever) Psychopomp: - Bash has the sort of homing sense a pigeon could envy--he can always determine true north and does not get turned around or confused in Euclidean space. - If someone makes remote contact with him (by telephone, instant messenger, telepathy…), he can get a sense of how far away he is and in what direction. The sensation remains even after the period of contact ends, but it doesn’t follow the person around if that person moves. (OPT-IN) - Bash can pass through a solid surface as if either he or it were intangible. He can pass through only as much space as he could cross in a single step— through a wall or a locked door, for instance—and doing so is a simple action. In addition, Bash can do a few little 'flavor' effects (none of which will damage anyone), like summoning a spooky fog, lighting a cigarette with a snap of his hands, or calling the sound of distant church bells. While it is not an instant summoning, Bash has a sense for those who use the veve of St. Expedite, and it will tend to draw him to a location. It's something like a persistent itch that he can't scratch until he responds to it, so this is something that could be used as a trap against him. Inventory: - Black Iron Lantern: this is a relic of his father's power, which when lit can draw ghosts toward him. It can be sensed as magical by those who have the capacity to detect magic. - One bag of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans - A black eyeliner pencil Samples: Text-style thread Log-style thread