Latest revision as of 08:07, 5 April 2010

A murmur in the Boil - Allyster Lazarus

In the present day Boil, when the powerful crimelords or similarly shady individuals need a person removed from the scene, there is one individual they can faithfully trust to have the contract executed - "Sweet Hemlock", the leader of the Murmur, the Boil's answer to an "assassin guild". The assassins working for him are rumored to be the best in town, and he dispatches them with the leadership that have become his trademark over the years.

20 years ago. Before The rise of the Murmur. Before the name "Sweet Hemlock" ever rose from the dirty alleyways, there was only a simple man with a vision... And the ambition to see it through. A man called Allyster Lazarus.

Standing a bit over 5'8, with features only a bit above plain, Allyster is not really a man that stands out in a crowd. His long black hair is usually tied back in a neat ponytail, and his iron grey eyes are almost always peering from above the rim of some silver spectacles with blue tinted lenses, perched lower on the man's nose. He favors darker colors for his usual clothing, not exactly fancy, but still elegant - A very dark red button up shirt, simple black trousers, sturdy comfortable black knee boots, his ebony and crimson buff Jacket, worn like a long coat, and black leather gloves.

At 28, Allyster has already seen a lot, despite not being very old. Born to one of the numerous prostitutes operating from the Red Lantern district, his childhood has been difficult - no father to speak of, poverty, difficult living conditions as young Allyster had to be taken care of by numerous people while his mother was "working"... As a result, he grew up a true child of the streets, learning how to navigate the narrow alleys without getting lost, evading the pursuit of older, meaner children and sometimes, city guards or merchants, and where to hide when the situation required it. Allyster grew up in a strange environment, a surreal theater where the mundane and criminal elements mixed and where the distinctions between the two blurred.

The young man continued on until his teenage years, where his life took a turn for the unexpected. One night, Allyster's mother got severely beaten up by one of her customers, forcing her into an early retirement as she was recovering from the savage assault. Although her fellow prostitutes took to her and tried to help as best as they could, they did not possess the necessary material ressources to support a crippled mother and her teenage son. As such, Allyster had to take upon himself to earn a living. He didn't have the necessary constitution to apply for a work in the mines, nor was he cut for work for the city guards or the wealthy merchants. Most people merely saw him as another street urchin, and it would prove difficult to be able to show he had skills...

Which led to young Allyster down the path of the criminal, like a lot of disadvantaged youths in the Heartless city. Over the next years, he would sharpen his knowledge of the streets and how to harness its secrets. Starting out as a small time thief and pickpocket, managed to get to a position where he was making enough money to support himself and his mother, and also was able to save a tiny portion for each job - to finance his "advancement". This money allowed him to convince a disgruntled circus performer to teach him the art of knife throwing, and, later on, secured him the teachings of a runaway thaumaturge from an unknown cabal. When his mother died of health complications, Allyster saw very little obligating him to other people anymore. With his new warding abilities and his competency with knives, Allyster made the difficult choice to take on the shadowy path... The path of the assassin.

The few years he saw as an active assassin were pretty succesful, a short career crowned by the famous case of the Eidolon of Highlane District. Though his accomplishments were a good story of success, it was never because Allyster was displaying some uncanny skill or amazing fighting ability - his best weapon was, and still is, his analytical mind, and his cunning. He always made sure he knew as much as he could on a target before even considering moving in, and when he did, he was next to certain the path he took would be the one with the most likely chance of success. He moved quietly, and struck without fanfare. The irony was not lost on him of course - the fact that word of his accomplishments was more due to the fact he did not seem to exist.

Now, 3 years after Highlane District, Allyster has more or less retired from taking contracts. During the few years he spent as a manhunter, he saw just how lonely and dangerous such a life can be. Everybody else was organized in gangs, organizations, cabals... But the assassins walked on their own. Partly because people do not trust them, and partly because there is no place for them. But Allyster knew from experience just how crippling it could be - nobody to watch your back, nobody to take you in when the heat was high on the streets. Nobody to look for contracts for you, and the months of misery that could bring. Somehow, despite the morbid prefession, Allyster thought it would benefit these shadows to have a place to come back to - a place where their skills would mean something, where it would not only mean trading death for money, but where a certain sense of pride and a code of conduct would prevail.

The Murmur. It is is vision, his goal, and he is willing to go to any length to make it a reality. But just like anything, it will be a meticulous work - a true test of patience and planning, where every step must be calculated carefully...

Allyster's Character Sheet

Name: Allyster Lazarus
Player: Kazuki
Caste: None (Mortal)
Concept: Calm and calculated Criminal
Nature: Visionary

Attributes

Physical
Strength ●●
Dexterity ●●●
Stamina ●●

Social
Charisma ●●●●
Manipulation ●●●●
Appearance ●●●

Mental
Perception ●●●
Intelligence ●●●
Wits ●●●

Abilities

War
Archery
Athletics
Awareness ●●●●
Brawl
Dodge ●●●
Endurance
Martial Arts
Melee ●●
Resistance
Thrown* ●●●●●
(Specialty - throwing knives - 2)

Life
Craft
Larceny* ●●●●
Linguistics
Performance ●●
Presence ●●●
Ride
Sail
Socialize ●●
Stealth* ●●●●
Survival

Wisdom
Bureaucracy ●●
Investigation* ●●●●●
(deduction specialty)
Lore - ●●●
Medecine
Ocult* - ●●●●●

(*=favored abilities)

Backgrounds

Experience ●●●
Knowledge ●●●
Allies ●●
Contacts ●●●
Ressources ●●●

Thaumaturgy

The Art of Warding

• Spirit Warding
• Demon Warding
• Elemental Warding
• God Warding
• Mortal Warding
• Fair Folk Warding

Merits and Flaws

Merits:

Prodigy (x4) ●●●●●
Eidetic Recall (Sight, hearing) ●●
Tactical Instincts ●●●
Essence Awareness ●●●
Mutation: Blindsight ●●●●●●

Flaws:

Secrets (Is Sweet Hemlock [he has not taken on this name yet at this point, however]) ●●●
Wanted (Eidolon of Highlane District) ●●●

Virtues

Compassion ●●
Conviction ●●●
Temperance ●●●
Valor ●●

Essence and Willpower

Essence ●●
Willpower ●●●●●●●
Personal Essence - 2 (Essence) +7 (Willpower) +3 (Conviction) +6 (Conviction x 2) = 18
(Note - Only 6 motes of the essence pool is available freely. The remaining 12 motes can be accessed by spending 1 Willpower to dig in.)

Health Levels

-0 x 1
-1 x 2
-2 x 2
-4 x 1
Incapacitated

Equipment

Kit of 9 throwing knives (Ressources ●●)

Acc: +0
Dam: +2L
Rate: 3
Range: 15

Buff Jacket (Ressources ●)

Soak(LKazuki/Allyster/B): 3/4
Mobility penalty: -1
Fatigue Penalty: 2

Connections

Ally:

Desmond Stanford: A middle aged thaumaturge owning "The Incredible Desmond's Farseeing Parlour", a Fortune Telling and tallisman shop set in the Red Lantern District. Desmond is actually an information broker, using the Fortune telling front to direct people in need of illegal good and services in the right directions. He and Allyster met a few years ago, as the younger man often needed Desmond's services to establish connections with the city underworld - their collaborations grew more and more frequent, up until the point where they saw it benefical to watch each other's back, lacking the backing of an organization to do so. For the moment, Allyster operates from the backstore of the Farseeing Parlour, for lack of a better safe spot to plan/meet with allies.

Desmond is an average height, dark haired man sporting a neatly trimmed pointy beard and mustache. He dresses extravagantly, matching the kitsch mysticism of his shop, and wears obnoxious (although fake immitations) rings on each finger. His southern accent is a practiced one, as he was born in the Boil and has never set foot in the south in his entire life, adding to the surreal cheesy universe one finds himself into when walking into the shop.

Contacts:

Sigmund Gantz: Achiver and bureaucrat, Sigmund works for the city council as an archive-keeper of the city's past criminal cases. He is also a professional information broker, with the ability to delve into said archives and sell out information for the right price. He can be a blackmailer's best ace in the hole... If they are fortunate enough to know of him.

Maria Mercuri, "Mercury Fox": One of Simma Siray's girls, Mercury Fox is a street gang girl whose job is to keep a tab on any and all gangs roaming the streets of the Boil. Spying, infiltration of hostile gangs, intimidation... Those are her trade and her job. A wild child that lives dangerously and enjoys every single minute of it.

Hektor Warren, "Golden Carp": Importer of illegal goods who takes care of supplies lines in and out of the city. A survivor to the core, Hektor currently provides his services both to Nathaniel Barr and Angela Dunor. It is a very dangerous game, as the two are rivals, but Hektor figures he will continue to supply both and stick with the winner when the time comes. A bargain that could make him very rich - or very dead.

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