Acantha/BoyInAnger

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The Boy Who Looks Back In Anger

If you'll indulge me...

"You know who I am," he said
The speaker was an angel
He coughed and shook his crumpled wings
Closed his eyes and moved his lips
"It's time we should be going."

(Waiting so long, I've been waiting so, waiting so)
Look back in anger, driven by the night
Till you come
(Waiting so long, I've been waiting so, waiting so)
Look back in anger, see it in my eyes
Till you come

No one seemed to hear him
So he leafed through a magazine
And, yawning, rubbed the sleep away
Very sane he seemed to me

(Waiting so long, I've been waiting so, waiting so)
Look back in anger, driven by the night
Till you come
(Waiting so long, I've been waiting so, waiting so)
Look back in anger, feel it in my voice
Till you come

(Waiting so long, ahhh...)
(Waiting so long, I've been waiting so, waiting so) (Waiting so long, I've been waiting so, waiting so)
(Waiting so long, ahhh...)
-- David Bowie, "Look Back In Anger"

The Boy Who Looks Back In Anger is, yes, inspired by the above David Bowie song. He joins other such Abyssals as The Voyeur of Utter Destruction, The Glass Spider Deaf to the Cries of His Own Children, The Memory of a Free Festival, and The Heart's Filthy Lesson. I think it's appropriate, considering the Solar one-shot that preceeded this one had all the characters based on Winnie-the-Pooh characters.

Description

The Boy Who Looks Back In Anger is barely a teenager, angelic-faced and not much older than fourteen. Lithe and delicate, he looks of Haltan descent, though is olive skin is now fair and his deep green hair has whitened considerably. His eyes are still green, though they're now so dark they pass for black. His expression is alternately manic grins or deep concentration, and he's liable to switch at a moment's notice.

He most often wears loose tunics over long-sleeved white shirts, with fitted pants and no shoes if he can help it. He keeps his hair short and somewhat shaggy, and his fingers and sleeves are stained with ink and blood. He often carries a thick, unlabled leather-bound book with him, and will often read aloud from it or take furious notes.

Personality

Most people consider the Boy less than sane. He is insane, in a way, but he's more in control of himself than most people realize. Obsessed with memory and death from an early age, the Boy tends to look at life (and death) as a great game, a perpetual grin on his face and a manic twinkle in his wide eyes. The Mask holds him in surprisingly high regard, which lets him get away with his more whimsical fancies, such as only answering to a certain language for the day and his capricious dealings with his ghost servants, whom he always names Estragon and tends to destroy when the mood takes him. Despite this, he is incredibly intelligent and intuitive, and can reason things out that stump Exalts several times his age. He is a perpetual child, and while some find his vibrant personality refreshing, they also wonder just what drove such a young boy to such heights of sadism and obsession. There is one thing he hates with a passion, and that is Fair Folk. His dearest wish is to get his hands on one of them and pick it apart to discover exactly how they feed on the dreams of the living, and how he can learn to do something like that as well. He is also obsessed with memory, and incessantly questions ghosts and the living alike on how they remember things. His experiments almost always hinge on whether his subjects remember things afterwards.

Sometimes, at night, he cries. He doesn't know why. And the dreams that he knows come while he sleeps restlessly in his masoleum always disappear at the first light of morning.

History

The Boy was born into a poor Haltan family, wanderers who were charged with travelling the East and planting trees wherever they could. The Boy grew up accustomed to the hardships of the road, seeing his relatives die from diseases and battle, and learning that to survive, he had to fight for whatever he could. Somewhat weak, he was usually found in the back of one of the caravans, eagerly devouring whatever books he could get his hands on. His family considered him odd and somewhat touched, and usually left him to his own devices. His one friend was a young aunt, not much older than he, who would often sit with him and listen while he talked about his books.

He was just hitting adolescence when a bandit attack went wrong for the caravan, and left none alive. The Boy and his aunt fled with his younger brother and sister into the forest, where they hoped to hide from the bandits that still burned and ravaged the remains of their family. Unfortunately, they happened to stumble into the territory of a group of wandering Fair Folk, who just happened to be looking for their afternoon snack. They offered his aunt a deal: If she gave up the three children she was guarding, they would let her go free. She agreed without hesitation.

Surprisingly calm, the Boy watched as first his brother and then his sister were sucked free of joy and innocence, left as empty husks who fell without protest under the gossamer blades of the Fair Folk. They turned toward him, and his aunt made no attempt to protect him.

The Boy doesn't remember much of his Exaltation, which bothers him to no end. He does remember a smooth, dark voice offering him a second chance at life, if he would pledge his soul to Oblivion and a dark master. He also remembers the slowly unraveling bodies of the Fair Folk, their wounds edged in dark, angry burns. He remembers the look on his treacherous aunt's face when he sucked the life from her body and sent her shade to Oblivion.

The Boy was there when The Mask of Winters took Thorns. His part in the takeover earned him the favor of his master and several new toys to play with.

Statistics (2ED)

Name: The Boy Who Looks Back In Anger
Caste: Moonshadow
Anima: Moving shadowy figures coming ever closer, the images of every living creature he's killed.
Concept: Whimsical historian obsessed with memory
Motivation Harvest the memories of every living thing in Creation, affording them the peace of Lethe and him the world's knowledge.

Attributes
Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2
Charisma 3, Manipulation 4, Appearance 3
Perception 3, Intelligence 5, Wits 3

Abilities
Athletics 1, Awareness 3 (Things Deliberately Hidden +1), Bureaucracy 1, Dodge 2, Investigation 1, Linguistics 4, Lore 4 (History +2), Martial Arts 2, Occult 3, Performance 3 (Storytelling +2), Ride 1, Socialize 4, Stealth 2, Thrown 3 (Boomerangs +1)
Languages: Forest-tongue, Old Realm, High Realm, Flame-tongue, Riverspeak

Backgrounds
Leige 4, Artifact 4, Manse 3, Whispers 3, Followers 1, Resources 2

Charms
Linguistics: Language-Absorbing Method, Blood Inscription Technique, Glyph-Unveiling Method
Lore: Crypt Bolt, Essence-Scattering Blast
Performance: First Performance Excellency, Morbid Fascination Style
Socialize: Exquisite Etiquitte Style, Loyalty-Eroding Exercise
Thrown: First Thrown Excellency

Virtues
Compassion 2, Conviction 3, Temperance 2, Valor 2

Resonance 3

Willpower 5

Essence 3
Personal: 14
Peripheral: 31 (14 committed)

Merits and Flaws
None.

Combat
Health Levels: -0, -1, -1, -2, -2, -4, Incap.
Dodge DV: 4
Parry DV: 4
Soak: 7B, 6L, 5A
The Screams of Lethe (Artifact Soulsteel War Boomerang): Speed 5, Accuracy 11, Damage +9L, Rate 2, Range 50
(The Screams of Lethe screams loudly when it is thrown towards an enemy, and erodes one Intimacy every time it hits its target. It also removes one memory for every HL of damage it does.)
Discreet Essence Armor: Soak +5L/+5B, Hardness 2L/2B, -0 Mobility, 0 Fatigue

Notes

Expanded Backgrounds

Leige 4

The Mask of Winters considers the Boy to be a great asset, and allows him his fancies more than he would some other deathknights.

Artifact 4

The Boy has full and exclusive access to the following artifacts:

The Screams of Lethe

An artifact soulsteel war boomerang, carefully fashioned for him out of soulsteel found in a Wyld zone. The tainted weapon screams loudly as it careens towards its target, and erodes memories and loyalties when it hits (Mechanically, it removes one Intimacy per hit, and a number of memories equal to the total HLs removed).

Discreet Essense Armor

The bracers are a bit large, and clink musically when the Boy moves.

Mask

The Boy uses this artifact to cause mischief, but also to enhance his storytelling to the point where he can play several characters at once, changing the features of his mask to suit the character in question.

The Library Book

Specially crafted for the Boy, this large, unlabeled leatherbound book contains all the knowledge found in a large, well-appointed library in its pages. Searching through the book with a topic in mind will almost invariably produce something, giving a +1 bonus to all Lore and Occult rolls involving the subject. Mechanically, it is equivalent to a 2-dot library contained in one book, indexed for easy searching.

Ivory Butterfly

The Boy uses this artifact to carry often bizzare requests to his servants at home. He also sends it to the Mask when the mood takes him.

Manse 3

The Mask has given the Boy access to a Solar-aspected Manse near Thorns that produces a Gem of Grace, granting him a +2 on all Charisma and Manipulation rolls.

Followers 1

The Boy has several servants that tend to his needs while at home and on the road. His favorite servant is invariably a ghost, whom he always calls "Estragon" after a book he read once. He has a tendency to destroy Estragon when he is displeased with the ghost's service, but will always pick a new personal assistant and dub him "Estragon" as well. Estragon's duties are usually packing the Boy's things when they have to go beyond Thorns, carrying his many books, taking notes, cooking, setting out clothing for the day, and keeping watch. Despite his sudden fits of anger at his Estragon, the Boy is uncommonly fond of him and considers him a close friend and confidant.