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Adventure! RPG: Adventures of the Mystical and Mundane - Significant Characters


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((Hiya kids! I had an Official Inspiration Moment* the other day and have a character all rarin' to go! ::cool ))

Amid the seedy yet solvent world of underground art and artifact smuggling, there is no figure more feared than The Ophidian.

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Born Hadrian Blakemore (angliscized from Blackmoor to hide the "colored" ancestry of his wealthy family), the last scion of a prestigious investment banking clan. From an early age, Hadrian rejected the awful mundanity of his expected destiny. While his peers played at sport or wasted away to the dalliances of the idle rich, Hadrian's interest was firmly planted in the world of books and mythology. In prep school he taught himself Latin despite it's fall from popularity as the mark of a learned scholar.

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To further spite his father's ambitions for him, Hadrien got himself expelled from Harvard Business School when a few choice word's obliterated the pride and ego of first his professor and then the Dean. Taking up his considerable savings, Hadrian disowned his family and traveled to the shores of Mediteranea to pursue his passion for ancient lore and culture. While searching for the lost wisdom of Alexandria, he discovered a scroll in Latin detailing a previously unheard of Egyptian cult dedicated to Apep...the Serpent of Darkness.

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Legend told it that the brother of the Egyptian god Osiris, Typhon Set, followed Apep into the Underworld and slew it, eating its heart and claiming the power of darkness for himself. This fragment Hadrian found claimed that this "Heart of Darkness" took the form of a jewel, The Serpent Eye Saphire that had been safeguarded by the Cult of Typhon Set until the Followers of Apep stole it. The Eye gave it's wielder the cunning and craft of the ancient Serpent and the ability to gaze into the Soul of mortals.

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The fragment of forrbiden knowledge was too much for the insatiable Hadrian, pushing his lifelong passion past the edge into a fiendish obsession. For the next 10 years of his life, he became life's blood to the infant science of Egyptology, and funded the most prominent Archaeologists of the day. Many of the Artifacts that made it to Western Museum's were loaned from his personal collection, but the most obscure and telling pieces remained in locked away for his own study.

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Finally after a decade of searching, Hadrian found his prize, tucked away in a secret tomb in the Valley of Kings. His prize had a will of it's own however, ancient and terrible. Possesed by the Artifact, Hadrian plunged it into his own eye socket, fusing it into his skul and merging its soul into his own. It changed him irrevocably, in both appearance and personality. While outwardly possesed with a tremendous aura of personal presence and guile, the Serpent inside him coiled, cold and calculating.

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As The Ophidian, few have come into direct contact, dealing instead with his personal assistant and proxy. Those few whom have seen him in person refuse to speak of their encounter with a fervor that suggests they believe their immortal soul to be in jepordy...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Name: Adam Trooper (aka far too many names to mention)

Age: Appears 28, is actually more like 620

Adam's Appearance is roughly Adrian Paul (Highlander the series). He has the qualities "Handsome" and "Suave". Adam is 6'0" tall, muscled like an athlete and has dark hair, dark eyes (which sometimes look 'old').

Adam is a friendly guy, quick with a handshake or smile. He speaks with a slight accent in his various languages and sometimes people get the sense he has an "old soul". He dresses well when he chooses too but often doesn't bother. He has access to a great deal of wealth but lives below his means.

Background: Adam was born a peasant in France, he isn't sure exactly when. January 1st 1300 has always seemed like a good number. From the start it was clear to him being an official immortal would quickly lead to being burned at the stake. When the subject has come up, which is rare, Adam has simply lied about the 'why' of his age. Angels, magic potions, ancient wizards, fountains of youth, whatever seemed most likely to keep him alive at the time. The reality is he has no idea why he doesn't age much.

At first being immortal was a pain in the ass. There is a world of difference between a 16 year old and a 21 year old, thus he had to move every 4 years or less. Sometimes he'd become a messenger to a far away land, sometimes he'd join the army, sometimes he'd run away. After a century or so he started to look a little older so it got easier. By then he'd gotten the hang of it. Stay on the frontier, move often, and if you meet someone 30 years later claim to be your own son.

The one constant enemy he's had to look out for is boredom, thus a love a new things. His one weakness is he really, really likes being alive.

Abilities:

1) Adam is probably the most experienced swordsman on the planet. He's skilled in dozens of styles and techniques that have been created and abandoned over the centuries. He makes it a point to seek out masters and trade secrets every few decades.

2) Adam's skill with other things is less, but still extensive. Physically, mentally, socially, over the last 6 hundred years he's done a lot, seen a lot, and experienced a lot. He knows... well, lots, in many varying fields.

3) Adam has an almost inhuman sense of identity and self. He's had centuries of getting in the habit of being himself and knowing who, what, and why he is. He's not surprised by much either.

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Odo was eight years old when the German army in Namibia, Africa began a three year genocide on his tribe, the Herero, that killed 65,000. Soldiers massacred his entire village as he hid, finally discovered two days later by a German scientist who imprisoned him. He eventually escaped, making his way to Europe where he was arrested. After hearing of his experience, he met with American agents. Making a deal to give them information on the Germans, he was brought to the US and given a job working for the government.

Odo is a large African with extremely dark skin, around twenty eight years old. He stands 6'2" and weighs 230 pounds. His muscles are freakishly large and sculpted, and has a dark and angry face. His appearance is made more bizarre by his shaved head, which is criss-crossed with large ugly scars. His suits are old, worn and out of style and he carries an old, beat up leather satchel. He is...not an attractive man.

Few in Chicago know him, he has no friends and rarely comes in contact with American agents except to receive orders. Although he still has a thick African accent, his English is good and he's obviously well educated.

Odo is very strong and tough, and an excellent fighter. But as strong as he is, Odo is just as intelligent and is an incredibly gifted scientist and doctor.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Name: Lucius Victor Algreto

Inspiration: Unknown

Age: 51

Mr. Algreto is the agent in charge of the Pandora Garbage Company.

He helped enlist the team and will be the most significant contact for them.

His service record and background details are not known, though he sounds extremely capable and accomplished. He is a southern Gentleman, with stark white hair, and large toothy smile. He has a faint accent though, it seems not to have a birthplace.

His mysterious masked associate seems to follow him everywhere. They are rarely, if ever, seen apart.

[attachmentid=358]

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Name: Doctor Gabrielle Chase

Inspiration: Unknown

Age: 34

Dr. Chase is a top mind in the field of engineering, though she has extensive studies in both medicine and chemistry backgrounds. She joined the Pandora Garbage Company at its inception and is the final stop with anything science.

She has quite the mind for inventions as well and comes up with new and surprising technologies almost daily. She also has a knack for upgrading existing equipment and finding better ways to build and design. One time an invention of hers was not fully tested and malfunctioned, killing the tester. She states it was an isolated incident and it has been admonished from her record.

[attachmentid=359]

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  • 4 weeks later...

-Excerpt from a Branch 9 Restricted Class File Titled: Project Jade Soldier-

Real Name: Unknown

Alias: Yuming

Age: Unknown. Subject is of indeterminate age, estimates range between sixteen and thirty-six years of age.

General Appearance: Subject’s exact ethnicity is undetermined at this time; likelihood is high of Chinese or Japanese origin, possibly of mixed race.

Hair: black

Eyes: dark brown

Height: 165cm

Weight: Classified

Capabilities: **Top Secret**

Background: Classified

-Excerpt Ends-

An Exciting Account of Long Tom and the Yin-Steel Maiden

Thomas “Long Tom” Rudwick had tracked Dr. Fu Yen, a doctor with questionable ethics and known associations with the Ubiquitous Dragon, all the way from San Francisco, through India and Tibet, and finally into the recently formed New Ili Grand Military Government in the Xinjiang area of northern China. The Aeon Society, while investigating the disappearances of many immigrants in the poorer districts of San Francisco, had come across the activities of the shady Dr. Yen. While they were unable to tie anything directly to him, they had evidence to suggest that the missing immigrants, and Dr. Fu Yen’s possible involvement, were part of something much larger and more sinister. Long Tom, experienced world traveler, canny adventurer, and talented investigator, was dispatched to follow the trail to its source.

Operator A-2 of the British chapter of Branch 9, the Supplemental Resources Office, had been sent to Hong Kong to uncover what he could of the possible corruption within their Chinese Branch 9 counterpart. Though unable to uncover any direct ties to the Ubiquitous Dragon, his information did lead him to a meeting between the Machinatrix and members of the Chinese Branch 9. This had been interesting (and troubling) enough that he had decided to see where her trail would lead.

The Machinatrix had shortly thereafter conducted meetings both with elements of the Dragon Coil Tong, and with someone wearing the uniform of a high ranking Communist Party official whom A-2 was unable to identify, and they had then begun to travel inland towards the northern sections of China. That such a notorious character as the Machinatrix would have dealings with everyone from Branch 9 operatives, to the Dragon Coil Tong, to the Communist Party proved nothing in itself as she was well known for her lack of discrimination when it came to paying customers, but Operator A-2 knew he was on to something nonetheless. A-2 tracked her all the way to Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang, where she met with one Dr. Fu Yen. It was there that the Operator stumbled upon Long Tom of the Aeon Society as he was keeping tabs on Fu Yen. The two compared notes and, seeing that they had similar goals, they paired up and followed the two unethical Doctors into the mountains of northern China.

As they strayed further and further from civilization and neared the border between Xinjiang and Tibet they were forced to stay further and further behind their query to prevent the Machinatrix or Fu Yen from spotting them. Thus it was that they were still more than three miles down the remote mountain that housed the REG Science Station that the Machinatrix and her Chinese hosts had disappeared into several hours before when the entire facility was rocked by an enormous explosion that shook the mountain itself. Operator A-2 and Long Tom hurried to the scene as quickly as they could, but were unprepared for the carnage that awaited them.

Though the blast itself had obviously been behind many of the dead they discovered, there were at least as many who had been killed in some sort of bloody battle with parties unknown. It was in the deepest parts of the Secret Laboratory that the two men discovered a singularly beautiful young Oriental woman whom Long Tom would later christen Yuming (Shining Jade), and found the source of the carnage. She was entirely naked and covered in blood, standing in the midst of several corpses who had obviously fallen victim to the exotic and deadly chain weapon made of a strange glistening black metal that she held loosely in her hands.

Both men were cautious in their approach of such an obviously dangerous individual and, gentlemen that they were they felt they must avert their eyes because of her state of undress, which exposed them dangerously to an attack by the young woman. But the girl seemed disoriented and confused, and made no move to resist as Operator A-2 hesitantly examined her to determine how serious her wounds were. He was surprised to find that she had somehow suffered only minor wounds, despite the explosion and her fight with nearly the entire staff at the station. Neither the Machinatrix nor Dr. Fu Yen were discovered, alive or dead, in the wreckage of the Secret Laboratory (Note: both individuals have been reliably sighted since then, and obviously managed to escape the disaster in Xinjiang with their lives). It was decided that A-2 would follow up on whatever leads were left in the ruins and go from there, while Long Tom would escort the mysterious beauty back to civilization.

It was two days before the girl began to speak, and when she did, it was in both Chinese and Japanese. Fortunately, Long Tom spoke some Chinese himself, and so he was able to ask the girl about herself. Tom quickly discovered that the girl - radiant beauty and deadly combatant though she might be - was a completely blank slate. She could remember nothing about herself or her past at all, though she still seemed to possess a great deal of reflexive knowledge (he’d heard of people who literally forgot everything they ever knew and had to relearn even such basics as walking, speaking, or reading). Over the course of their trip through Tibet, into India, and finally across the oceans to England, they became fast friends and Long Tom, assuming she was Chinese, eventually settled on the nickname “Yuming” (meaning Shining or Radiant Jade in Cantonese).

A few months later A-2 returned from China, and while he wasn’t able to discuss the details of his mission or what he’d uncovered, he still stopped in to check on Yuming and Long Tom (who had been enjoying the hospitality of the London Branch of the Aeon Society) and Yuming, who had by then picked up a truly astonishing amount of English, was able to thank her other “rescuer”. Shortly thereafter she, Operator A-2, and Long Tom traveled to New York to meet first with Branch 9, and then she and Long Tom met with Maxwell Mercer and other key members of the Aeon Society, and Yuming was formally accepted into the Aeon Society as a full-fledged member.

While she has been accepted as a member of the Aeon Society, Branch 9 still feels a certain sense of “ownership” over Yuming (she was found during an investigation into corruption in the Chinese Branch 9, and there is evidence that the experiment that made her the way she is was at least partially funded by them as well). As such, she was sent to the United States (as far from the Dragon’s influence as is possible), and while Branch 9 had no real place for her within its own ranks, they still wanted to keep a close eye on her, so she was directed to The Pandora Garbage Company as a way to keep her busy and put her talents to good use. After all, what better place to hide a walking, talking, top secret piece of mysterious super-science than within the ranks of a top secret organization that investigates mysterious pieces of super-science (among other things...)?

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  • 10 months later...

Homecoming

William Sinclair approached the door to his father’s bedroom with trepidation. The distance between himself and the far side seemed a gulf that might swallow him whole. It wasn’t simply that he hadn’t seen Father for twelve years, nor that his return was only brought about by the fact that the man who had raised him was dying. Nor even that, for once, he had absolutely no idea of what he might say to make amends. No, clearly it was far to late for forgiveness; he was beginning to resign himself to that. It was just a feeling that something was about to change forever - just a feeling and yet so very clear that it almost seemed to have happened already...

William drew a deep breath and steeled himself as he reached for the gold plated doorknob; only to have the door open inward before he could make contact. The man in the doorway was immaculately turned out in a suit and waistcoat with gravitas added by hair silvering at the temples; he could be what William saw in the mirror in five years... if life was kind. “Oh,” said George Sinclair... ”It’s you. He’s been asking after you. Though God alone knows why. He wants to speak to you, alone.”

Where once Roland Sinclair had been a giant - of presence, if not physique - now, where he lay sleeping in his antique four poster bed, the smell of frail mortality in the air, he seemed so very fragile.

William shuffled closer and coughed softly.

“Hhmm” the Roland’s dark eyes sprang open and focussed on William with such ferocity that he took a step back...

“Ha... the prodigal returns then... “ he coughed. William nodded slowly. “Good. I didn’t want to snuff it... before... we had... a little talk.

“Father, surely you shouldn’t be speaking.”

“Shut up and listen... boy. I’m... your father. A terrible father perhaps. I pushed you too hard. Made you run off.”

“No. I was...”

“I said shut up. You never were much for listening, were you. I cut you off and you still had your own way.”

“I...”

“Listen! I don’t have... long to say this, and it needs saying. I watched you. I had people watch you. I know what you’ve done... how you’ve lived. How you drifted across Europe from party to party. Woman to woman. Disreputable scheme to disreputable scheme. I know... what you are. Sit down.”

William sat. The chair by his father’s bed was an antique mahogany; superbly uncomfortable.

“I know you made a small fortune through gambling and graft. I know that you never asked any of your friends for a penny... or took one from any who didn’t deserve it. I know what you are, my son. You are fully trained.”

“What?” William wasn’t quite keeping up with this.

“Hah... did you think me a fool... a... an old fool? You aren’t one for running the show from the boardroom. You’re a doer. You like... to get your hands... closer to the dirt. You are just like your Uncle Thomas... who, incidentally I will be seeing soon...”

“Father, no... don’t say that. You... you still have years left in you.”

“I don’t want years, boy. I want to give you this... to pass it on.” Roland drew forth a small silver disk, apparently a pocket watch, on a thin silver chain. “It’s your legacy. I can’t give you anything else... well... aside from your share of the fortune... but my place in The Brotherhood must go to your brother. That is just the way of things.”

William gingerly took the watch from his father’s frail spotted hand... shivering slightly at the moment of contact. And what it meant.

Popping the watch open he found that it wasn’t a watch at all... instead it seemed to be a compass with the directions marked clearly along the edges, but with a strangely shaped curved needle. It was pointing steadily at William. But, as he watched, it slowly swiveled around to point at his father. It was then that he noticed the inscription on the inside of the lid. “I am the way.”

Roland smiled sadly. “That bit of bronze in there doesn’t point North... It points where you need to be. Where you need to look. What you need to do. It points to the truth... It’s from the point of one of the nails... you see...” the fit came on fast - coughing and bloody.

The last word William heard clearly as the doctor and his elder brother ran in was “Follow”.

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William Stuart Sinclair, 32

Nationality: American

Accent: Upper Class New England meets the Queen’s English

Appearance: 6’ and good looking, but with a pretty average build. He dresses well and acts the part. Think a younger George Clooney.

Second son of the American branch of the family that, by tradition, hold the reins of the Illuminati; descended from Templars who took the refuge offered to them by Robert, The Bruce, and some say with the blood of Christ Himself in their veins, there is no denying the connection the family of Sinclair, or Saint Clair if you prefer, has with the world of the occult.

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