Ms. Broken

[amechra]

Ms. Broken, The One Ephemeral

Virtue: Calm, Loyal
Vice: Distant
Concept: Foreign - Very Foreign
Catalyst: <I'm actually unsure - I know it has to do with "her" original mission (study spirit hierarchies), but I'm not sure what the event was, exactly.>

Incarnation - Agenda: Analyst - Integrator
Embeds: Anarchism (First Key), Alibi
Exploits: Decoy, Ephemeral Cover (Inquisitor)

Aspirations:
• [Short] Find My Human Part a Job
• [Short] Fail to Understand Human Social Mores
• [Long] Integrate Myself into the Local Spirit Hierarchy

Demonic Form:
Modifications: Huge Size, Inhuman Intelligence, Sonic Acuity
Processes: Cavernous Maw
Propulsion: Plasma Drive
Technologies: Blind Sense, Inhuman Beauty

Attributes
Physical: STR 3/DEX 2/STA 2
Mental: INT 4/WIT 2/RES 2
Social: PRE 2/MAN 1/COM 3

Skills
Physical: Athletics • (In Twilight), Brawl •, Stealth ••
Mental: Investigation ••••, Occult •••, Politics •••• (Spirits)
Social: Empathy ••• (Emotional Resonance), Persuasion •• (Inhuman Actions), Subterfuge ••

Merits
Area of Expertise (Politics: Spirits) •
Cultists •••
Fixer •
Interdisciplinary Speciality (Politics: Spirits) •
Small Frame ••
Virtuous ••

---

The basic concept is that Ms. Broken was originally an angel designed to interface with and (hopefully) subvert spirit hierarchies. I'm thinking that most of her Covers are made through Ephemeral Cover (with the exception of her human cover, a 20-something Plain Jane that hangs out mostly in the background).

Her Cipher is "Obligations and desires are one and the same"; I'm sorta seeing it go Anarchism → Call Out → Everybody Knows → Apple of Discord, but I don't know what it does.

[ZealousChristian24]

I'm curious; how is she an Integrator? I mean, maybe if you understand why she chose to align herself with that philosophy after she fell, you'll understand what her fall was.

[amechra]

She's very much the type that sees her Fall as a personal failure - hence the name "Ms. Broken". She wants to integrate by "fixing" herself, if that makes sense.

[Korogra]

I am disturbed and intrigued

[Eremite]

Her Cipher is "Obligations and desires are one and the same"; I'm sorta seeing it go Anarchism → Call Out → Everybody Knows → Apple of Discord, but I don't know what it does.

The Interlocks, her Hell, the Cipher itself?

[amechra]

The Interlocks, her Hell, the Cipher itself?

I'm not sure about the Interlocks and her Hell.

[Eremite]

Here are some quick and dirty ideas based around dismantling and subverting hierarchies. Not sure they'll translate too well to spirit courts, though..

Anarchism + Call Out
This Interlock (temporarily) destroys social connections.You could use Conditions for this, but I'd model it by locking the target's relevant social merits for a while (Contacts, Hobbyist Clique. Status, etc). I'd say days equal to successes rolled or Primum. This power should probably be resisted with Composure. Name ideas: Isolate, Cut Loose, You And What Army

Call Out + Everybody Knows
Use this to temporarily subvert or even create a position in a hierarchy (taking the role of someone you've isolated with the other two Interlocks seems like a great use). I'd avoid temporary Merit dots and use the Connected Condition for this one. Name ideas: Integrate, The Masquerade, Promotion

Everybody Knows + Apple of Discord
This Interlock can dethrone someone. It creates a scandal - a minor issue becomes is blown out of all proportion and could end a career. Old wounds, long healed, have their scabs knocked off. Suddenly, leaders (kings, boards, inner circles, whatever) find their subordinates mutinous. Options for how to make this work mechanically,.. The Betrayed or Notoriety Condition, losing social merits (but that's the same as Interlock one). A better way might be to affect multiple people in an organisation to empower them against someone. A merit that gives them a bonus when acting against them, perhaps. .
Name ideas: Eliminate (crappy, but Isolate-Integrate-Eliminate is pretty cool), The Emperor's New Clothes, Dethrone, Defenestrate

The Cipher and her final secret kinda feel more Tempter to me. It feels almost as though she should trying to make herself a monarch of a spirit court. For more Integrator-y twists, perhaps she's trying to make the God-Machine/a loyal servant of same (why not herself?) the ruler of a court... or even twist courts in Its image.(though that makes her potentially insane and dangerous, more of an antagonist)

Cool art, BTW. I like some angels that are more weird than biomechanical.

[GibberingEloquence]

This is a great idea. It's in stark contrast to the great majority of Demons. The image is really cool. Where did you find it? I was reminded of the image at 2:20 in this video (warning: possibly disturbing).

Now I'm imagining a similar Demon who uses Ephemeral Cover and Rip The Gates to explore and draw power from the Underworld. By the way, you might wanna give her the Rip The Gates Exploit so she can enter the Shadow.

Eremite's ideas for the Cipher and her Hell are interesting, but she seems like she'd work best as a mysterious canvas you can fill with whatever you find the most alien and intriguing. I have a hard time visualizing her as a PC. By the way, she wants to fail at understanding humans as one of her Aspirations? I get that's she's supposed to be very strange, but this could probably be phrased differently.

[amechra]

The image is from one of the people I follow on Deviantart; you can find it here.

As for Rip The Gates - that could be part of how she "broke" - she followed a Spirit into Twilight, and fell as a result.

And that Aspiration is totally legit - Aspirations are what you as a player want for your character, not what your character wants.

[GibberingEloquence]

The image is from one of the people I follow on Deviantart; you can find it here.

As for Rip The Gates - that could be part of how she "broke" - she followed a Spirit into Twilight, and fell as a result.

And that Aspiration is totally legit - Aspirations are what you as a player want for your character, not what your character wants.

Thanks for the source. And when you put Aspirations like that, it makes a lot more sense.

[amechra]

I just realized what the Cipher means - or at least, I remembered why I chose to phrase it that way.

It's the fundamental insight that there is no distinction between desire and obligation; that your duties and obligations aren't separate from you, but are part and parcel of your identity. When you say "I must", you are saying "I wish to", and vice-versa.

I like Isolate, Integrate, and Eliminate as names, by the way.