Veles

Veles

Moros; Guardians of the Veil (Prophets); Tamers of Stone; Lamplighters (Position)
Disciple 1º
Konstantin Voroshilov; Faith/Wrath; Lord of the Underworld

Background

• Veles led the Salem cabal known as Bastion, responsible for seeing to the defense of Salem.
• He also acted as the Reeve of Salem.
• Recently, Veles broke with Bastion and petitioned for permission to enter the Consilium of Roses as a member.
• After an interview with the Hierarch and Council, he was given permission, and assigned to the newly formed Lamplighters cabal.

Rumors

There are a variety of rumors about Veles:

• He once served in the KGB, until he was recruited by a Guardians Labyrinth.
• He actually grew up in a Siberian gulag, the son of political prisoners, and earned his gang contacts and tattoos there.
• As an agent of the Guardians, Veles has acted as Interfector in Salem every time someone needed to be killed.
• Veles adheres to a strange code of honor.

Traits

• Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 2 (4), Resolve 3; Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3; Presence 1, Manipulation 3, Composure 3 (7)
• Abilities: Investigation 3, Occult 3, Politics 2, Science 1; Athletics 2 (Thrown), Brawl 3 (Punch), Drive 1, Larceny 2, Stealth 3 (Urban); Empathy 1, Intimidation 3, Persuasion 3, Socialize 1, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 2
• Merits
  • Mental: Language (Russian); Trained Memory
  • Physical: Fighting Style, Boxing 1
  • Social: Allies, Criminals 2; Allies, Laborers 1; Allies, Security 1; Allies, State Government 1; Contacts 3 (Police, Society, Architects); Resources 5; Status, Society 2; Status, Underworld 3
  • Awakened: High Speech; Masques (Crown of Eyes, Lord Asp, Weaver of Whispers); Network Spider; Occultation 3; Sanctum 2; Status, Guardians of the Veil 3 (Contacts, Status, Occultation); Status, Consilium 2
• Advantages: Health 8, Willpower 6, Wisdom 4 (Derangement: Suspicion), Size 5, Speed 10, Defense 2 (Armor 4), Initiative 5

Magic

• Gnosis: 4; Arcana: Death 2, Matter 4, Prime 1, Space 2
• Spell Tolerance: 2/3; Spell Control: 5/6
• Rotes
  • Night Walking: "Animate Shadows", Death ••, Manipulation + Stealth + Death; Performed at night +2
  • Apart at the Seams: "Decay", Death ••, Resolve + Intimidation + Death; Study target object for one turn +1
  • Biting the Bullet: "Breach Point", Matter • + Death • + Space •, Strength + Streetwise + Matter
  • Conflict Foresight: "Alter Accuracy", Matter ••, Composure + Brawl + Matter
  • Unsafe Hands: "Backbite", Matter •••, Strength + Brawl + Matter; Punched the wielder of the weapon between one and three turns before +1.
  • Thread Across the Doorway: "Intrusion Warning", Space ••, Wits + Investigation + Space; Tying a thin thread across at least one entry to the area being protected +1
  • Fool the Long Gaze: "Ward", Space ••, Manipulation + Subterfuge + Space; Spend one minute whispering lies to the space to be protected +1, ten minutes +2, sprinkling space with charcoal dust +1
  • Future Rotes: Scrying, Weaponize Object, Apportation
• Active Spells, Self (Max. 3)
  • Unseen Aegis + Grim Sight (Matter •• + Death •): Potency 3/3, Duration 4/4. These spells are cast on Veles personally, and renewed once a month. (Average Casting Time: 5 hours)
  • Angle Vision + Omnivision (Space •): Potency 6, Duration 4. This spell is cast on Veles personally, granting him 360º vision, and the ability to see around all corners and obstacles to his line of sight. (Average Casting Time: 5 hours)
• Active Spells, Other (Max. 7, including on Self)
  • Shape Liquid (Matter ••): Potency 7 (3 Volume, 4 Strength), Target 4, Duration 5. Hidden in one of his bolt-holes (see below), Veles keeps four steel kegs, filled with water on which he has cast this spell. If in a dire situation, he will Apporate the kegs to him (using 2 Target Factors to summon all four) and then manipulate them to his own ends, up to an including using Transmute Water to turn the water streams into gasoline or similar substances.
  • Jury Rig (Matter •••): Potency x, Target x, Duration 5. Hidden
• Legacy: Tamers of Stone.
  • 1st - Master of the Demesne: Ward effect on any building overseen the building of, with Potency of Matter + Gnosis, and spending 1 Willpower dot. Activate Ward in any building being studied with Wits + Investigation + Space, requiring one scene to study the building; remains for one scene after the Tamer departs the building. Permanent Find the Hidden Hoard at Matter Potency rating.
• Nimbus: A darkening of the light, as though a great shadow passed in front of all sources of light. From beneath the ground, a wailing emanates, the howling of the furious dead, just at the edges of hearing.
• Masques
  • Crown of Eyes: The Crown is a collector of secrets, of all manners. (Token: Camera or notebook; Benefit: +2 to Streetwise; Drawback: -2 Expression)
  • Lord Asp: The Lord follows a strident code of honor, and extracts brutal retribution to those who cross him (Token: Armed at all times; Benefit: +2 Brawl; Drawback: -1 Composure)
  • Sighing Tower: The important figure who uses his position to sate his lusts. (Token: Status ••• in organization; Benefit: +1 to Persuasion rolls; Drawback: -1 to Resolve rolls.)
  • Weaver of Whispers: The Weaver lends help, not by his own effort, but through a network of others. (Token: Notebook or cell phone; Benefit: +2 to rolls involving Allies and Contacts; Drawback: -2 to Intimidate)
  • Future Masques: Opener of Ways, Runehold, Prince of Feasts

Equipment

• Possessions: Plenty of cash on hand in billfold, fine-cut suit, smartphone, limo and driver. Cigarette case with IR Strobe trackers, DVR bugs and X.
• Magical Tools: Black wool scarf (Order Tool); Diamond-studded ring (Matter Tool; also diamond used in reading resonances for +3)
• Imbued Items:
• Weapons: Set of diamond-studded rings (Durability 8; Damage +8; AP 2; +4 dam for piercing cover), high-carbon steel discs (Durability7; Damage +7; AP 2; +4 dam for piercing cover).
• Other Notes: X

Flaws

• Wanted: The Portland Organized Crime Task Force and the Oregon State Police have all heard rumors of a gang of Russian mobsters who seem to run a great deal of the organized crime in the state. They've heard of a kingpin figure who seems superbly connected and incredibly devious. He's the Siberian Devil to the motorcycle gangs who run drugs and arms in and out of the state, the Gentleman to the hard men that run the prostitution rings in the state's main urban areas, the Diamond Tzar to inner city gangs. The authorities have almost had him (or at least, the Russian they think is him) multiple times. He's also been reported killed - with a body, even - several times. The FBI reportedly refers to "Oregon's Kaizer Soze" when speaking of him, a mocking reference guaranteed to infuriate Oregon law enforcement.

Experience

• XP Earned: 147; XP Spent: 109; Current XP: 38
• Arcane XP Earned: 56; Arcane XP Spent: 31; Current Arcane XP: 25

Magic XP Purchases Death 2: 12 XP Occultation 2: 3 XP Sanctum 2: 3 XP Rotes: 6 XP Masques, 3: 6 XP Rote: Alter Accuracy: 4 XP Masque, Sighing Tower: 2 XP Status, Consilium 2: 0 XP (End of Chapter Two reward) Gnosis 4: 31 Arcane XP + 1XP Matter 4: 24 XP Prime 1: 7 XP Rote: Scrying: 4 XP Rote: Weaponize Object: 4 XP Rote: Apportation: 4 XP Geomancy: x XP Prime 2: 14 XP Space 3: 18 XP Matter 5: 30 XP

Mundane XP Purchases Status, Underworld 3: 6 XP Status, Society 2: 3 XP Allies, Gangs 2: 3 XP Allies, Laborers 1: 1 XP Allies, State Government 1: 1 XP Contacts 3: 6 XP Trained Memory: 2 XP Subterfuge 2: 6 XP Fighting Style, Boxing 1: 2 XP Science 1: 3 XP Investigation 3: 6 XP Allies, Security 1: 2 XP Allies, Security 2: 4 XP Allies, Gangs 3: 6 XP Science 2: 6 XP Fighting Style, Boxing 2: 4 XP Stamina 4: 20 XP X: X XP X: X XP

Merit Details

• Resources: True to vory traditions, Veles owns nothing permanent. His extravagant lifestyle is purely afforded by his constant influx of criminal funds from across a significant portion of Oregon's crime trade, particularly the drug industry, gun running, smuggling and prostitution. He has what he refers to as "investments" all over Portland, Salem and Eugene, as well as a few out of the way places: people (often former criminals) who wanted to start businesses whose products or services might be of use to him, so he lent them start-up capital and in return gets access to lush hotel rooms, hidden-away safehouses, car and messenger services, and the like.
• Fighting Style: Boxing
  • Body Blow (•): Your character can deliver powerful blows that leave opponents reeling and gasping for air. If successes inflicted in a single Brawl attack equal or exceed a target's Size, the victim loses his next action.

Labyrinths

Calavera Set

A Mexican street gang, with a Santisima Muerte cult imbedded in its traditions. Veles controls them through the use of the Weeping Bride, the ghost of a woman killed on her wedding night, which Veles keeps bound to his service. The Calavera Set who've seen her assume that she's a visitation from La Santisima Muerte. The gang uses skull iconography and Dia de los Muertes themes in their gang symbolism, including the use of white stocking masks painted with designs to make them look like Dia de los Muertes skulls. They are part of Veles' Allies (Criminals) Merit.

• Crimson Veils: Those who have achieved the Crimson Veil in the Calavera Set are called los Novios - "the Grooms". Each of them have been visited by the Weeping Bride when they were alone. Los Novios gather in their own spaces, consecrated back-alley altars to the Weeping Bride, ready to act on her commands.
• Connection to Veles: The Novios know that their set is also connected to a larger criminal network by a man they call El Primero (the First) because many of them believe he was the husband the Weeping Bride married on the night she was killed, and that he secretly works to avenge her death at the hands of her assailants. (This is Veles in a Lord Asp Masque.)

The Oregon Architects Institute

A trade organization for Pacific Northwestern architects, the OAI is basically an advocacy and legal aid organization for its membership, as well as a social club. It is considered the go-to organization for young or newly arrived architects in the region, and it maintains an archive of the plans worked on by its members. It also hosts a secretive inner circle of those who are interested in the long-standing traditions of urban geomancy in Portland. They are part of Veles' Contacts (Architects) Merit.

• Crimson Veils: A few members who have proven their loyalty are given keys to the Willamette Lounge. These few men and women - known as keyholders are aware that they are part of something bigger. They are also initiates of a discipline of urban-scale geomantic study, mostly as a casual interest shared among the keyholders.
• Connection to Veles: Veles frequently attends these meetings as a keyholder, using his Crown of Eyes Masque. He is known in OAI as Valmar Reyen.

The Adytum Rite

A Masonic Co-Fraternity (that is, an organization that only accepts full master Masons, providing degrees that add to those received as a Freemason), the Adytum Rite has something of a reputation among the Masonic fraternities as somewhat esoteric and weird. They still work with many of the old Masonic rituals no longer in favor, and have pursued others, focusing on the themes of the "construction of the Temple" as ritualized endeavors intended to build one's society and self. The upper echelons become even more occult as the degrees advance, to the 33rd Degree. They are part of Veles' Contacts (Society) Merit.

• Crimson Veils: X
• Connection to Veles: X

Rose City Conservation & Heritage Society

A philanthropic organization made up of many of Portland's local upper-crust, the RCCHS is based around ideas of city pride and conservation of historical sites. Hidden within its membership is a secretive cult to a local goddess: Portlandia, the goddess of Portland, as depicted in the copper statue on the Michael Graves' Portland Building. They are part of Veles' Contacts (Society) Merit.

• Crimson Veils: X
• Connection to Veles: X

Staroye

A small group of Russian immigrants and their descendents, the Staroye (which means "Old Ways" in Russian) seems to be simply a Russian heritage society. In truth, they are also a group of ved'ma and koldun, witches and cunning men who practice old Slavic sorceries. Because so many of them are blue-collar workers (including more than a few criminals), they are part of Veles' Allies (Criminals and Laborers).

• Crimson Veils: X
• Connection to Veles: X

Enhanced Items

The following are enhanced items created by Veles. All of them have been cast on the items, and then the item treated with Bundle Enhancements, followed by the casting of Instill Mortality.

• Veles: Diamond rings on hand (+X), a dozen stainless steel coins (+X)
• Boss: 2 guns, Bowie knife, special gun
• Gutenberg: Brass Knuckles (Ring)
• Sarah: Chain (Wallet Chain)
• Mneme: Sword (Pen), Gun (Ring)

Weapon Enhancements

Total Items Enhanced: X
Effects: +4 Durability, Armor Piercing (2), +5 Equipment bonus, Considered +4 damage for purpose of piercing cover, Able to shift back and forth between weapon and stone on War Bracers (see Lamplighters Imbued Items Project List).

• Alter Integrity [Matter3]: Pot 4, Target x, Dur - (TN x, Veles)
• Armor Piercing [Matter3]: Pot 1, Target x, Dur 5 (TN x, Veles)
• Alter Efficiency [Matter4]: Pot 5, Target x, Dur 5 (TN x, Veles)
• Breach Point [Matter1, Death1, Space1]: Pot 4, Target x, Dur 5 (TN x, Veles)
• Double Shape [Space3]: Pot 5, Target x, Dur 5 (TN x, Mneme)
• Instill Mortality [Death1]: Pot 1, Target x, Dur - (TN x, Veles)

Improvised Weapon Enhancements

Total Items Enhanced: X
Effects: +4 Durability, Armor Piercing (2), +5 Equipment bonus, Considered +4 damage for purpose of piercing cover, Able to shift back and forth between weapon and stone on War Bracers (see Lamplighters Imbued Items Project List).

• Weaponize Object [Matter2]: Pot 4, Target x, Dur 5 (TN x, Veles)
• Alter Integrity [Matter3]: Pot 4, Target x, Dur - (TN x, Veles)
• Armor Piercing [Matter3]: Pot 1, Target x, Dur 5 (TN x, Veles)
• Alter Efficiency [Matter4]: Pot 5, Target x, Dur 5 (TN x, Veles)
• Breach Point [Matter1, Death1, Space1]: Pot 4, Target x, Dur 5 (TN x, Veles)
• Double Shape [Space3]: Pot 5, Target x, Dur 5 (TN x, Mneme)
• Instill Mortality [Death1]: Pot 1, Target x, Dur - (TN x, Veles)

General Equipment

• The Spy's Best Friend: Pot 4, Target x, Dur 5 Veles had used the spell Jury Rig to grant his phone a handful of applications it was never originally intended to have. Among these are:
  • Memory & Storage: Capable of storing dramatically higher amounts of data than any phone can, and processing far, far more than any can as well.
  • Cell & Radio Jammer: X
  • Ultra-Wideband Radar Scanner: With this technology, the phone can be used to scan through walls and other solid surfaces, using ultra-wideband radio as a form of radar.
  • Shotgun Mike: Permitting recording or simply listening on conversations up to fifty yards away.
  • Portable Voltage Tester: Allows the detection of electrical currents. By getting close to a door or window, it can be used to determine if there is an active alarm system on that portal.
  • Infrared Scanner: Able to pick up IR emissions.
  • Voice Changer: X
  • SIM Cloner: The phone can store multiple "copies" of cloned phones, switching between them and recording activity on them.
  • Hybrid Positioning System: Allowing for the use of both GPS and SIM-based cell phone tracking for any of the cloned phones the SBF has currently stored.
• Tablet: Pot 4, Target x, Dur 5 Veles has also used the spell Jury Rig to grant his tablet a handful of less-immediate functions that nonetheless frequently require the use of more specialized equipment. These include:
  • Memory & Storage: Capable of storing dramatically higher amounts of data than any tablet can, and processing far, far more than any can as well.
  • Data Recovery Hardware: X
  • Hard Drive Live Cloning Tech: Ability to set up a "clone" to a connected computer's hard drives and then maintain a live "clone" of that information, updating on an adjustable schedule (from by the second to daily or weekly).
  • Satellite-based Hot Spot: Permits uplink with a satellite for data and communications access, and can then provide connectivity for phones and other devices.

Car

• x: x
• x: x

Lifestyle

Veles' normal, regular day-to-day life consists of a couple of facets which are reflections of both his vory lifestyle and his Guardian paranoia. All of the below assumes his normal "mundane" life - work for the Guardians can and does derail all of these things routinely.

• Money: Veles is usually quite flush with cash, carrying multiple thousands of dollars on him at one time. He receives these handfuls of cash multiple times a week from a variety of mostly criminal sources. His kick-back from legitimate investments (who can't always easily hand off cash without awkward accounts balancing) instead deal out use of their resources and services. One of his bolt-holes (see below) is a vault where he routinely places cash and other valuable goods he receives.
• Clothing & Jewelry: Veles routinely receives clothing and jewelry as part of his payment from various contacts and connections, whether those are gained through theft or simply a way of payment that is easier to account for on the books as shrinkage.
• Communication: Though he carries a high-end smartphone, it's always different. Having helped to fund a former hacker's legitimate mall kiosk front, Veles has the man constantly set up temporary accounts in a variety of names, cloning them to his phone on a routine basis.
• Food: Veles almost entirely eats out at restaurants, frequently springing for meals at extravagant eating establishments for important allies (particularly in society) or at almost-anonymous hole-in-the-walls for criminal and poorer contacts. The main exception to this is when he accepts an invitation from a society contact to dinner, or when he has a meal at the home of someone who is part of his Staroye labyrinth, when he really misses good home-cooked Russian food.
• Housing: Veles stays in any one of a handful hotels in the area, rarely staying in the same place for more than a night or two. About two-thirds of the time, he simply stays in rooms that the owners or management (allies of his) have marked as out of order, needing construction or the like. The rest of the time, he simply pays someone from among his many contacts and allies to reserve the room for themselves and pass him off the key. He is not above hunting up a cot space in the back of a friendly bar or restaurant, either, or copping a squat in one of his bolt-holes.
• Days: Veles spends most of his days tending to the legitimate aspects of his life: taking important contacts to lunch, making connections between people who are useful to him and the like. He's also quite honestly a late sleeper, usually not rising until early afternoon when he doesn't need to. Much of this day-time work goes into shepherding his labyrinths as well.
• Evenings: Unless he's tending to specific projects, Veles spends a lot of time in any one of several restaurants, nightclubs or bars that he has helped establish, fund and maintain. He has a different sort of hang-out for each of the groups he travels in, and makes appearances at most of them regularly. He usually spends the majority of his time in places where the criminals under him feel free to come and make contact with him at...and where criminals who don't know him, but might have business of interest to him can find him with a minimum of searching (but plenty of layers of interaction through his criminal network).

Bolt-Holes

Veles has established a handful of bolt-holes in the cellars and beneath the foundations of several buildings he's helped design (or otherwise influenced the design of). These bolt-holes have a few notable traits: they are all subterranean, have absolutely no connections to the area outside them (that is, neither ventilation or portals of any kind), were all personally designed by him (so that they benefit from his Attainment) and are steel-and-concrete in construction. He accesses them through the use of his Matter magic to open and remove passages into them as needful. For the most part, though, he almost never visits any of them, simply using them as "storage space" he can access via Apportation. He maintains a close eye on the status of the buildings they are part of, ensuring that no maintenance or other construction takes place that might in some way affect them. If that happens, he excavates the bolt-hole, clearing it of the entirety of its contents.

• Money Vault: Where Veles stashes away his immediate sources of cash. It rarely stays here long, though, as he frequently uses that money to make additional investments. (This basically reflects his ability to make purchases at his Resources rating.)
• Wardrobe: A wide selection of garments of all sorts. Half of it is the fine, somewhat flashy suits that Veles prefers to wear, as well as an unholy variety of ties, shoes and everything else he needs. He also maintains a selection of jewelry here for his personal use (as compared to the jewelry he maintains in the Money Vault for other uses). The other half of the garments here are for his various Masques and other identities. He keeps this area well-stocked with wallets with false IDs of fair quality, credit cards in the names of those identities and the like.
• Armory: Veles maintains small crates of weapons of all sorts here (generally those of Resources ••• or less), as well as specimens of more expensive weaponry (Resources ••••). Because these weapons are often used as currency in criminal enterprises, the roster is constantly changing. He also has a full supply of modern ballistics wear, from nearly-invisible kevlar vest to full riot gear. He also maintains a variety of spy gadgets here as well.
  • Box of 100 IR strobe trackers (small attachable IR strobes that flash visibly to IR detection gear, but not visible light or radio).
  • FAX/Printer bug, allowing the copying of any documents Faxed, scanned or printed in those devices.
  • WiFi bugs, piggybacked onto a router or modem that records information sent through it and forwards it to a specific IP Address.
  • Shredder scanner, allowing documents to be scanned and saved as they are shredded. Information is later retrieved through RF commands or by syncing the device with WiFi and forwarding it to a specific IP Address.
• Lab: Veles maintains his chemical and drug stashes here, including several of his "emergency kits". Pre-prepared baggies and vials of meth, cocaine, heroin, hash, ecstasy, ketamine and a handful of other rotating "drug currency" are maintained here for his use as well. Against one wall is a shelf of some of the finest vodka available anywhere in the world, a smaller collection of fine, expensive wines and other high-shelf alcoholic beverages. He also keeps a liberal supply of medical goods here, from first-aid materials to prescription drugs.
• Hideout: The only one of the bolt-holes with a permanent (albeit hidden) door, the hideout is located beneath the airport, with access from a storage closet, accessed from one of the mens' bathrooms. The hideout has a simple cot, some food and clothing, medical supplies and burner phones, as well as a tap into the high-traffic internet wiring for the airport.
• Storage Locker 1: Open space. Contains the two kegs whose contents are enchanted with Shape Liquid.
• Storage Locker 2: Open space.
• Storage Locker 3: Open space.