Featherboy

by Chihiro Yamada (cy@mole.bio.cam.ac.uk)

HTML by Will Franqui (wfranqui@nmsu.edu)

Apologies to Jeff Noon who wrote the very good British SciFi Book Vurt, a number of the important ideas below are his and are taken from the book.

Featherboy (Marauder) 
STR-2  CHA-4  PER-3
DEX-3  MAN-3  INT-4
STA-3  APP-4  WIT-3
Willpower: 10

Quintessence: 16

Arete: 6

Paradox: n/a

Talents: Expression 3, Intuition 2, Artistic Expression 3, Carousing 3

Skills: Drive 2, Research 3, Technology 1

Knowledges: Computer 2, Cosmology 5, Medicine 2, Science 2, Alchemy 2, Herbalism 2, Science Specialites; Organic Chemistry 5, Biochemistry 3

Backgrounds: Allies 3, Arcane 6, Avatar 5, Destiny 3, Library 4, Node 5, Resources 4, Sanctum 5

Spheres:

Background: Before awakening "Featherboy" (not his real name of course) was a Organic chemist. He was also interested in Virtual Reality, was always seeking an escape and fantasy, and he would go to great lengths to create elaborate fantasies and daydreams. A virtual world where he could escape the problems of his life. He had a serious accident some time ago, that left him in a coma. During the coma he had a wonderful dream, a dream that he awoke and had all the powers he had imagined he had. This was in fact his awakening, and he did eventually wake up. - though not in a hospital, his Correspondence saw to that. He still believes everything that happens to him is a dream or fantasy of his own subconscious' devising. He forgets this now and then, but when you are dreaming, you sometimes know when you are dreaming, and sometimes you do not. This Quiet made him, of course, a natural Marauder.

Image: He varies his looks quite a lot, but he is always short with curly hair, usually gold or red. He often appears in Mundane society as wearing a coat of golden feathers. The feathers that come out from the coat are used in a form of magical shared hallucination called "Feathering". However, to conduct mundane matters he shrinks and masks the coat with Life, Forces, and Prime. Though he sometimes likes to show himself in other forms, his symbol of the golden feather is universal.

Talisman: Feathers (Spirit 3, Mind 4, Prime 2, Life 4) The feathers are golden in color and are about 5 inches in length. They are straighter and more pointed than most feathers. They are a potent blend of drugs and magic that gives users a shared hallucination. They have become very popular among Cult of Ecstasy Mages and others now, there are even some plans to start selling them to Sleepers to help them see how their thoughts can effect reality (even if it is only a local one... or is it?)

To use, the feathers are tickled at the back of the throat. When this happens the feathers wither and crumble into a sugary flavored powder (This was just a finishing touch) All users now share a hallucination, but this hallucination overlaps with the mundane world. Also all users can effect the "Feather" world by using their imagination.

Storyteller Information:

The coat of feathers is not in fact a separate coat, but part of "Featherboy" himself. He has manipulated his body to produce two wings of golden feathers (no mean feat) and transforms it into a coat when in the Mundane world. He can reduce the wings to a size where he can completely hide them if he wishes, but doesn't usually do so.

Featherworld is in fact a strange place. It is an aspect of the Umbra that is the Dream world of an entity called "the Dreamer". The Dreamer may be a personification of the Wyld, may be a part of the Wyld itself, or may simply be a very powerful Marauder Oracle in quiet. "The Dreamer" and "Featherboy" are somehow linked, certainly "Featherboy" is naturally attracted to the "The Dreamer" for obvious reasons. Whatever the true nature of the Dreamer a group of Marauders want to awaken it. The way they plan to do this is by allowing as many Mages or sleepers to take the feathers and change the Featherworld so that the Dreamer will react. This is of course very dangerous, but they are Marauders after all.

"Featherboy" is part of all this, and has become, in as much as Marauders can have them, the leader of this group. He designed and created the Feathers by slowly altering his body using life magic and imbuing the feathers with the properties described above. He has done it so well that he no longer has to sustain any magic to keep the wings from producing feathers, they grow naturally. To imbue the feathers with the Quintessence they need, all he needs to do is meditate at a node.

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Anders Sandberg / nv91-asa@nada.kth.se