[Lesser Great Heroics] [Lesser Great Heroics] Phoebe Carlevaro ("The Astounding Mercuria")

[Arynne]

As long as she can remember, Phoebe has loved magic. Watching magicians perform at local street fairs and the occasional circus sparked her imagination, and reading about witches and sorcerers in fantasy novels fanned the flames. Her mother, a world-weary multiple divorcee, told her not to believe in magic, destiny or true love, but Phoebe had faith that all three were to be found somewhere. Even if her absentee father, who had drifted in and out of her mother's life years ago, leaving half a cheap necklace and an unplanned pregnancy behind; and her mother's string of failed relationships since, seemed to disprove their existence.


As a freshman in college, she soaked up every book on the history and practice of magic she could find, from medieval court wizards to the great stage magicians of the 19th and 20th centuries. But she never believed that stage magic was anything more than clever tricks until one fateful day just before graduation.


On a bright spring morning, Phoebe sneaked into the workshop of a visiting magician calling himself "the Amazing Mercurio" to learn some trade secrets. She knew a choice lay in front of her: either seize for herself the power to make her dreams come true, or reject the whole thing as charlatanry and a waste of time and put it behind her.


Hoping for the best, she got the surprise of her life. "The Amazing Mercurio" opened up his suitcase, calmly stepped in, and closed it behind him.


Phoebe was stunned -- and overjoyed. She didn't disbelieve; she wanted to know more. She picked up the suitcase, ran back to her dorm room and set it on her bed. A few hours later, as Phoebe expected, the suitcase opened and a surprised-looking Mercurio stuck his head out.


"Where am I?" the magician demanded. "Who are you?"


"Your new student!" a beaming Phoebe replied.


After graduation, Phoebe traveled with her new mentor for a month, learning more about magic than she ever believed possible. At the end of that time, "Mercurio" revealed the truth: he was really Thoth, the Egyptian God of Magic -- Phoebe's long-lost father. He proved the latter claim by producing the other half of Phoebe's broken necklace and the former one by mending it in a flash of silver light. His visit to the small college town had been no coincidence, and his leaving the suitcase where she could find it was no accident: everything had been a test to see if she were worthy of being acknowledged as a daughter by the inventor of magic himself, and she had passed. Very serious events compelled him to return to the Overworld, but he hoped they would soon meet again.


Calling: Stage Magician


Nature: Visionary


Pantheon: Pesedjet


Patron: Thoth


Favored Abilities: Academics, Art, Occult, Presence, Science, Stealth


Favored Powers: Epic Dexterity, Epic Intelligence, Darkness, Heku, Magic, Moon, Stars


Virtues: Conviction 3, Harmony 3, Order 1, Piety 2


Attributes: Strength 1, Dexterity 4 (Epic 1), Stamina 2, Charisma 3 (Epic 1), Manipulation 2, Appearance 3 (Epic 1), Perception 4 (Epic 1), Intelligence 4 (Epic 2), Wits 3


Abilities: Academics 3, Animal Ken 2, Art (Acting) 2, Athletics 1, Awareness 3, Craft (Stage Machinery) 1, Empathy 2, Fortitude 1, Integrity 2, Investigation 1, Larceny 2, Marksmanship 2, Occult 3, Presence 3, Science (Physics) 1, Stealth 3


Languages Spoken and/or Read: English (Native), Italian, Latin, classical Greek, Spanish, German, Kemetic (ancient Egyptian)


Birthrights: Creature 1 (Baboon), Creature 2/Relic 1 (Shabti), Relic 1 (Top hat -- Darkness), Relic 2 (Pocket watch -- Moon, Stars), Relic 5 (Book of Thoth Tarot deck -- Animal, Earth, Magic, Sky, 1 unique power)


Boons: Animal (Animal Communication -- Baboon), Darkness (Night Eyes), Heku 2 (Ren Harvest, Sekem Blaze), Magic 2 (Unlidded Eye, Bona Fortuna), Moon/Stars (Perfect Timing)


Knacks: Epic Appearance (Center of Attention), Epic Charisma (Charmer), Epic Dexterity (Trick Shooter), Epic Intelligence (Fast Learner, Language Mastery), Epic Perception (Telescopic Vision)


Legend: 3 (9 points)


Willpower: 6


Join Battle: 6


Combat:


Pearl-Handled Revolver: Accuracy 8, Damage 9L, Range 20, Clip 6, Speed 5


Soak: 1L/2B


Health: -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated


Dodge DV: 5


Movement: Walk 4, Dash 10, Vertical Jump 2, Horizontal Jump 4


-----


BPs: Relic 5 (5), Epic Intelligence 2 (4), Creature 2 (2), Relic 1 (1), Relic 1 (1), Art 2 (1), Stealth 3 (1)

 

[Shining Lotus Sage]

SIBLINS. We need to decide whether they've met.

 

[Arynne]

Well, given that Phoebe has a magic deck of cards that curse whoever steals them, a sacred baboon who constantly gets into Curious George-type misadventures, and a too-perfect assistant (we're talking Uncanny Valley here) who is actually a wind-up automaton, I can think of various hilarious ways we could have met...

 

[Arynne]

Birthrights


AKIIKI


Creature 1

Akiiki is a hamadryas ("sacred") baboon -- a large species of monkey native to east Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The baboons are known for their intricate clan-based culture, the bright silver manes of their chieftains, and their cries of greeting to the rising sun. Fierce fighters and proud patriarchs, these semi-intelligent monkeys lived more or less peaceably alongside humans in ancient Egypt, under the protection of their God A'an -- better known as Thoth.


Akiiki is seven years old, and has spent most of his life in Iteru, where a small colony of sacred baboons serve as companions and helpers aboard Thoth's flotilla, aiding their distant ancestor Istennu, the Chief Librarian. He has normal traits for a monkey (Hero, p. 332) but is more playful and friendly, and far less aggressive, than wild baboons. Akiiki is quite clever and can perform a variety of tricks...but he is also very curious and mischievous.


SESHAU


Creature 2/Relic 1

In ancient Egypt, wealthy people were buried with tiny figurines called shabti -- "answerers" -- to fulfill their desire for servants in the next life. In most cases this amounted to nothing more than a nice statue and some wishful thinking, but certain priests, pharaohs and Scions were sometimes gifted with enchanted figures capable on answering their owners' commands in this life.


Seshau (literally, "the scribe") appears when inert to be a wind-up automaton of the kind found at carnivals. Bald-headed and wearing the robes of an ancient priest, it seems to sit at a desk with a writing implement in its hand. Winding it up with a key causes it to inscribe hieroglyphics on a piece of paper.


When Phoebe spends a point of Legend and calls for Seshau by name, however, a change occurs. The empty glass eyes fill with golden light, and the figure pushes aside the desk and stands up, growing as it does so into a full-sized human. When the transformation is complete, the shabti answers simply, "Here I am."


To mortal eyes, the transformed Seshau looks like a normal human being -- almost. His movements are a little too precise, his face a little too smooth, his voice a little too clipped. People who remain in his presence for long begin to think disquieting thoughts about puppets and mannequins. From a distance, though, the illusion is perfect. No one suspects Phoebe's unflappable stage assistant, clad in immaculate evening dress, of being anything more than what he seems.


Offstage, Seshau serves as Phoebe's secretary and valet, organizing her schedule and attending to her meals, clothing and possessions. His service is as impeccable as his manners, with two exceptions: as a human, he prefers to squat cross-legged on the ground and use a brush when writing, becoming testy if obliged to sit at a desk. And he refuses to come near "that monkey". He is not above pretending to "seize up" if ordered to.


To beings with a Legend rating, Seshau's true nature is obvious: he appears as a clockwork man of blue glass and crystal, with springs, whirling gears and other intricate internal mechanisms. He has traits comparable to a generic mortal (Hero, p. 281) with the addition of Art (Calligraphy) 5, Legend 1 and the Virtues: Conviction 2, Order 3, Harmony 2, Piety 2.

 

[Arynne]

Birthrights, cont'd


TOP HAT


Relic 1

A top hat is a traditional part of a magician's ensemble, but the origins of this one are mysterious. Darkness is not a Purview associated with Thoth -- he symbolizes light, wisdom and justice -- or with any of the major Egyptian Gods...so who did he acquire this hat from? And will they come looking for it?


STELLAR-LUNAR WATCH


Relic 2

The Egyptians were among the first people in the world to use timekeeping devices, inventing the sundial and the water clock, and timekeepers remain favored Birthrights among those Pesedjet linked to the celestial bodies. This particular example is a silver, spring-wound pocket watch in the shape of a scarab; when opened, its face shows the zodiac and the phases of the moon as well as the time. The Scion who carries it gains access to the Moon and Stars Purviews, and it is closely associated with the Boon known as Perfect Timing.


THE BOOK OF THOTH


Relic 5

Long ago, it is said, Thoth himself penned the first book of magic, using indissoluble ink upon imperishable paper, wherein he set down the language of birds and beasts, the secrets of earth and sky, and the innermost workings of Fate. He later regretted allowing such precious knowledge to escape his control, but the book once written could not be unwritten. So Thoth commanded his priests to hide the book at the bottom of the Nile, within a series of locked chests, guarded by a giant serpent.


None of this dissuaded the bold magician Prince Nefer-ka-Ptah, who by means of his arts parted the waters of the river, broke open the chests and slew the guardian. Too late he discovered that Thoth had also pronounced a terrible curse on anyone who dared to steal his book, and after his wife and son both fell victim to it, Nefer-ka-Ptah killed himself out of guilt.


The book was buried with him, but its legend had already spread throughout Egypt, and more than one enterprising sorcerer has ventured into the City of the Dead hoping to learn the secrets forbidden to mortals. The dreadful results of the curse (and the dead prince's vengeful ghost) always ensure the book is hastily returned...but transcriptions have been made, and they carry some of the original's power. In the 1940s, one daring Scion of an unknown pantheon even recreated the book as a Tarot deck!


No one knows how many copies of The Book of Thoth exist, for Thoth himself endeavors to find and regain control of them all, reclaiming the fragments of wisdom he once recklessly spilled into the World. He occasionally entrusts a copy to one of his children who shows promise in the magic arts, though, with a warning to guard it carefully. The Book of Thoth, both as a text and in the rare Tarot version, allows the user to learn the Animal, Earth, Magic and Sky Purviews...but would-be thieves discover, to their horror, that the God's original curse is still in effect. If anyone but the rightful owner reads the book, someone close to him will die every seven days until it is returned.

 

[Arynne]

XP: 4 banked