What would you do to visit another world? What price would you consider too high to get to the other side? To live in a place made from dreams and pure will? Would you feed it with your own blood?
Would you kill someone?
Personality: Though she’s a little over thirty, her lack of social interaction outside the internet gives rudeMechanical the affect of an excitable teenager when around other people. She is regularly knocked out of good moods by shame and embarrassment for things she remembers doing a long time ago.
Rage: rudeMechanical does not consider “escapism” a dirty word, and if you do she considers you an idiot. Take a look at the real world and then try to tell her with a straight face that this is where people should stay, if they have the option to be anywhere else.
Noble: Call it cowardice, but she has trouble finishing people off if her traps don’t do the trick. She’s about as likely to help an injured victim escape an otherspace as she is to kill them. The exception is people who suspect her of setting the trap, who she always kills to shut them up.
Fear: The other Explorers could come back some day. They could come back and see what rudeMechanical became without them, and that would be the end of her. (Self)
Obsession: To stay in the good graces of the God of the Depths, so that she may continue to explore the forbidden places of the universe.
Wound Threshold: 50
Beloved of the God of the Depths 60*%: (Gains Charges, Casts Rituals, Casts Gutter Magick)**
The Last Explorer 60%: Of course I can remember to bring the right gear for a trip, effortlessly evade otherspace hazards, intuit entry and exit conditions for newly discovered realms (Subs Knowledge, Subs Notice, Protects Unnatural)
Hyena 60%: Of course I can identify the places people will likely visit, set ingenious traps, finish someone off without drawing it out (Subs Pursuit, Subs Fitness, Protects Violence)
**rudeMechanical is a mageekian, but doesn’t know it. Hurting someone with a trap gives her a minor charge, and killing someone gives her a sig. The rush of energy she feels from charging alerts her when someone has fallen into one of her snares. When she’s in danger in an otherspace, the charges fire off, bending the world to shield her from harm. She believes this is God intervening to shield her from harm, in exchange for the sacrifices she offers.
Appearance: Early thirties, but looks younger because of her active lifestyle. Physically fit and always dressed for the weather. Has trouble making the ch sound because of the third nipple on the underside of her tongue, replacing it with a soft d sound.
Possessions: In an otherspace, rudeMechanical carries whatever equipment is necessary for the unique conditions of the place. Protective clothing, hardhat, climbing gear, helmet light, plenty of water, a couple good hunting knives… She has no problem sourcing mundane items and rarely takes them off dead people, as any survivors could identify it and tie her to the crime. She keeps the magick stuff despite the risk, to use or trade later.
ARTIFACT: ADVENTURER BADGE
POWER: Minor
DESCRIPTION: This safety pin button is a beautiful forest green. The words EXPLORER OF THE FURTHEST REALMS are arranged in a circle around an Eye of Horus. Knowledgeable occultists recognize this as a defunct otherspace exploration group from the closing age of Web 1.0. Viewed in aurasight, it looks like one of rudeMechanical’s eyes.
EFFECT: rudeMechanical can see out of this button as though it’s her third eye. She wears it on the back of her hat or backpack to avoid being ambushed. She can attach the button to soft surfaces and leave it there as a little spy camera. If someone sticks their thumb in the face of the button, it doesn’t hurt her, but she reflexively flinches and raises a hand to guard her eyes.
ARTIFACT: AETHERIC DIOPTER
POWER: Significant
DESCRIPTION: An oversized bivalve speculum made of meteoric iron. The words DON’T GO IN AGAIN are engraved on the exterior of the top duckbill. Viewed with aurasight, it irritates the eye enough that it hurts to blink.
EFFECT: Dilate the speculum while in the entrance to an otherspace. The entrance will stay open until the speculum is closed, regardless of how long it’s normally supposed to last.
ARTIFACT: ELIXIR OF KLED
POWER: Significant
DESCRIPTION: This small Yeti flask has a Dymo sticker affixed to the side, with the initials EoK in raised letters that can be felt through heavy gloves. The liquid inside looks like bloody tree sap and smells a little like buttered popcorn, but is tasteless. rudeMechanical got it from a combination plant/animal the Jungle of Kled, a nightmare realm of accelerated evolution.
EFFECT: A sip of the Elixir of Kled heals 2d10 WT of damage, closing wounds and restoring missing bodily fluids. The healing is only effective while in an otherspace. On returning to the real world, the restored WT is lost as the wounds re-open. This can be fatal if the total damage taken while in the otherspace is greater than your total WT.
PIANNAWIRE
Piannawire is rudeMechanical’s familiar, summoned and bound via a magick ritual taught by the Explorers, fed blood by the third nipple under her owner’s tongue. She’s a little raccoon with green eyes, the same color as the Explorers button. Piannawire can climb anything, carry small objects, spy on people from stealth, and manipulate things requiring fine dexterity with her little hands. She can speak intelligibly, read and write, and is about as smart as a clever teenager. She loves shiny objects and trinkets, rudeMechanical lets her keep scavenged keys and coins.
WT: 20
Talking Raccoon 75% (Subs Notice, Subs Pursuit, Subs Secrecy)
Everything Else 25%
POWER: Minor
DESCRIPTION: This safety pin button is a beautiful forest green. The words EXPLORER OF THE FURTHEST REALMS are arranged in a circle around an Eye of Horus. Knowledgeable occultists recognize this as a defunct otherspace exploration group from the closing age of Web 1.0. Viewed in aurasight, it looks like one of rudeMechanical’s eyes.
EFFECT: rudeMechanical can see out of this button as though it’s her third eye. She wears it on the back of her hat or backpack to avoid being ambushed. She can attach the button to soft surfaces and leave it there as a little spy camera. If someone sticks their thumb in the face of the button, it doesn’t hurt her, but she reflexively flinches and raises a hand to guard her eyes.
ARTIFACT: AETHERIC DIOPTER
POWER: Significant
DESCRIPTION: An oversized bivalve speculum made of meteoric iron. The words DON’T GO IN AGAIN are engraved on the exterior of the top duckbill. Viewed with aurasight, it irritates the eye enough that it hurts to blink.
EFFECT: Dilate the speculum while in the entrance to an otherspace. The entrance will stay open until the speculum is closed, regardless of how long it’s normally supposed to last.
ARTIFACT: ELIXIR OF KLED
POWER: Significant
DESCRIPTION: This small Yeti flask has a Dymo sticker affixed to the side, with the initials EoK in raised letters that can be felt through heavy gloves. The liquid inside looks like bloody tree sap and smells a little like buttered popcorn, but is tasteless. rudeMechanical got it from a combination plant/animal the Jungle of Kled, a nightmare realm of accelerated evolution.
EFFECT: A sip of the Elixir of Kled heals 2d10 WT of damage, closing wounds and restoring missing bodily fluids. The healing is only effective while in an otherspace. On returning to the real world, the restored WT is lost as the wounds re-open. This can be fatal if the total damage taken while in the otherspace is greater than your total WT.
PIANNAWIRE
Piannawire is rudeMechanical’s familiar, summoned and bound via a magick ritual taught by the Explorers, fed blood by the third nipple under her owner’s tongue. She’s a little raccoon with green eyes, the same color as the Explorers button. Piannawire can climb anything, carry small objects, spy on people from stealth, and manipulate things requiring fine dexterity with her little hands. She can speak intelligibly, read and write, and is about as smart as a clever teenager. She loves shiny objects and trinkets, rudeMechanical lets her keep scavenged keys and coins.
WT: 20
Talking Raccoon 75% (Subs Notice, Subs Pursuit, Subs Secrecy)
Everything Else 25%
WHAT YOU HEAR
If people in the underworld recognize rudeMechanical, it’s as a small time artifact trader who trades trinkets from otherspaces for artifacts and knowledge. There are a couple checkers who would recognize her face as someone who tried to kill them, but they don’t know her name.
The most likely place to encounter rudeMechanical is in an otherspace. She’s happy to meet other adventurers in such a lonely place, and warns them about the hazards up ahead. She’s got her own schedule and can’t travel with you, but if you forgot something important to survive in the otherspace she might even have a spare for you. She uses an alias and keeps Piannawire out of sight because her familiar is the most instantly recognizable thing about her.
Her warnings about otherspace hazards are true, but calibrated to herd you into traps she sets. If you die, she strips any magick items off your corpse. If you get caught, and your friends aren’t around to help you, she shows up to either finish you off or help you to the exit, depending on her mood. If you suspect she set the trap, she has no idea what you’re talking about.
Her familiar Piannawire is sneaky, but not invisible. Observant characters could spot the green-eyed raccoon watching them, then note how it scampers away when it realizes they noticed it. A normal racoon wouldn’t do that, it would just stare right back at you…
Places where you might encounter rudeMechanical, and traps she uses there
rudeMechanical has no combat skills, but her powers make it tough to get a bead on her. Fire a gun or a sig blast, and a contrived circumstance related to the otherspace you’re in will stop your attack from connecting (provided she passes her Beloved of the God of the Depths roll). Keep at it and you’ll burn through all her charges, but she’ll be frantically fleeing the entire time, using her knowledge of the terrain to break line of sight and lure you into further traps.
Her powers don’t work outside otherspaces.
The most likely place to encounter rudeMechanical is in an otherspace. She’s happy to meet other adventurers in such a lonely place, and warns them about the hazards up ahead. She’s got her own schedule and can’t travel with you, but if you forgot something important to survive in the otherspace she might even have a spare for you. She uses an alias and keeps Piannawire out of sight because her familiar is the most instantly recognizable thing about her.
Her warnings about otherspace hazards are true, but calibrated to herd you into traps she sets. If you die, she strips any magick items off your corpse. If you get caught, and your friends aren’t around to help you, she shows up to either finish you off or help you to the exit, depending on her mood. If you suspect she set the trap, she has no idea what you’re talking about.
Her familiar Piannawire is sneaky, but not invisible. Observant characters could spot the green-eyed raccoon watching them, then note how it scampers away when it realizes they noticed it. A normal racoon wouldn’t do that, it would just stare right back at you…
Places where you might encounter rudeMechanical, and traps she uses there
- The City is where she lives. She’s got an abandoned penthouse in the tallest building within line of sight. The place is hooked up with water, power and internet through a door to a cheaply rented office in real world Tulsa, OK, permanently propped using her Aetheric Diopter. The way up the building in the otherspace is full of traps designed to knock people off ledges - doors that swing open on springs, collapsing floors and the like.
- Ricketyland is her favorite hunting ground. It’s the perfect combination of dangerous and attractive to visitors. The natives get upset if you loosen the bolts on the rides, but they don’t care if you string piano wire at neck level on the coasters, or coat the dangerous walkways with slippery substances.
- The Strong Anthropic Principle is still occasionally used by Sleepers, which makes rudeMechanical a hero for booby trapping one of the doors with a grenade on a tripwire. The blast shredded the Marquis of Manhattan with 51 points of damage at the exact moment he noticed the funny green egg at his feet.
- Azathoth and the Jungles of Kled are easy to trap. All you have to do is immobilize someone until the hostile inhabitants finish them off. Nasty way to go, but at least it’s quick. Just don’t expect them to leave anything behind to scavenge.
- The Pool Rooms are trouble. You could easily hide a bear trap under the water in those dark tunnels, but it wouldn’t be a clean kill unless it was big enough to hit the femoral artery. Even then it could just as easily leave the poor bastard crippled for a week until they died of thirst. The best alternative rudeMechanical has come up with is a heavy block which falls underwater, drowning anyone caught in the snare tied to it with a rope.
- The Endless Alleyway takes timing. Go in there right before the garbage collectors come through, toss the Adventurer Badge high up on a wall, and leave. The exits won’t work with someone watching them through the eye, so anyone trying to get out after striking a last minute bargain gets crispified by the things in cleansuits.
rudeMechanical has no combat skills, but her powers make it tough to get a bead on her. Fire a gun or a sig blast, and a contrived circumstance related to the otherspace you’re in will stop your attack from connecting (provided she passes her Beloved of the God of the Depths roll). Keep at it and you’ll burn through all her charges, but she’ll be frantically fleeing the entire time, using her knowledge of the terrain to break line of sight and lure you into further traps.
Her powers don’t work outside otherspaces.
OTHEROTHERSPACES
Some otherspaces have inhabitants. Some of those inhabitants come upsettingly close to human levels of self-reflexivity. Whether or not they are actually conscious, these magickal creatures have an unconscious of their own. And where there is a collective unconscious, there are naturally occurring otherspaces. An otherspace within an otherspace.
So far rudeMechanical has only discovered one such place, accessed from The Chowder Pot. Born out of every six year old’s fascination with the live lobsters and crabs you used to see at grocery stores, the murky waters of this flooded glass city are filled with crustaceans, who wear clothing made of rubber bands and build crude homes from the endless shells of their deceased tankmates.
So far rudeMechanical has only discovered one such place, accessed from The Chowder Pot. Born out of every six year old’s fascination with the live lobsters and crabs you used to see at grocery stores, the murky waters of this flooded glass city are filled with crustaceans, who wear clothing made of rubber bands and build crude homes from the endless shells of their deceased tankmates.
The decapods know there’s another world out there. It haunts the dreams that trickle through the lobula giant cells of their outsized tiny brains.
A restaurant kitchen, ten times larger than the genuine article and with a tenth of the resolution, drawn in black and white, every object made of chitin and black glass. Devoid of life, except for the occasional lost Dungeness scuttling up and out of the tank and into the dry and airless void. rudeMechanical has been there twice, both nearly killed her. She couldn’t bring Piannawire because they don’t make SCUBA gear for raccoons. It was the most exciting thing that ever happened to her. Exploring a realm further than the furthest.
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