Alchabitius

Matthew Wright

Attributes

Intelligence 3, Wits 2, Resolve 4; Strength 2, Dexterity 1, Stamina 2; Presence 2, Manipulation 2, Composure 3

Skills

Mental: *Academics 3 (Research 4), Investigation 2, *Occult 4 (Psychic Phenomenon 5), Politics 2 (Bureaucracy 3) Physical: Brawl 1 Social: Animal Ken 1, Empathy 3, Expression 1, Intimidation 1, Persuasion 2, Socialize 1, Subterfuge 2

Merits

Professional Training (Occult Expert) 2, Photokenesis 3, Telepathy 3, Library (Occult) 1, Esoteric Armory 1, Eye For The Strange 2, Resources 2, Staff 1

Advantages

Health: 7, Willpower: 7, Size: 5, Speed: 8, Defense: 1 (Armor: 0), Initiative: 4

Integrity

Rating: 7

Current Conditions

Hunted (Persistent) You are pursued by an entity, person, or group that poses a threat to you. On any scene in which you encounter them, you take a -2 to all dice pools that do not involve escaping them. Possible Sources: Becoming alerted to the fact you are being hunted. Resolution: Your hunters are stopped. Beats: Your hunters make themselves known to you in a scene, or you discover signs of their presence. Swooning Wild about someone; -2 to any roll that adversely affects them; they gain +2 on Social rolls against you, and treat your impression as one level higher. Possible Sources: Exceptional Success: Persuasion, Subterfuge; mental powers, having another help you fulfill your Vice. Resolution: Your character does something for his love interest that puts him in danger, or he opts to fail a roll to resist a Social action by the specified character. Alternately, if the target of your interest does something to badly damage that interest, you may resolve this Condition as well. Guilty Deep remorse; -2 to Resolve/Composure rolls to resist Subterfuge, Empathy, Intimidation. Possible Sources: Encountering a breaking point. Resolution: The character confesses his crimes and makes restitution for whatever he did. Goetic Lore Informed Access to a breadth of info on topic; may end condition to upgrade failure to success or success to exceptional. Possible Sources: Exceptional Success on Academics, Investigation, Occult, Science; find excellent source of info on topic. Resolution: Your character uses her research to gain information; the Condition is resolved as described above. Ghost Lore Informed Access to a breadth of info on topic; may end condition to upgrade failure to success or success to exceptional. Possible Sources: Exceptional Success on Academics, Investigation, Occult, Science; find excellent source of info on topic. Resolution: Your character uses her research to gain information; the Condition is resolved as described above. Spirit Lore Informed Access to a breadth of info on topic; may end condition to upgrade failure to success or success to exceptional. Possible Sources: Exceptional Success on Academics, Investigation, Occult, Science; find excellent source of info on topic. Resolution: Your character uses her research to gain information; the Condition is resolved as described above. Inspired End condition to gain a point of Willpower and reduce exceptional success from 5 succ to 3 when taking an action pertaining to inspiration. Possible Sources: Exceptional Success: Crafts, Expression; Inspiring Merit, mental powers Resolution: You spend inspiration to spur yourself to greater success, resolving the Condition as described above.

Background

Born Matthew Wright on February 29th, 1940 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Matthew was the first born twin preceding his brother Michael by 15 minutes. Growing up we were inseparable, never far from each other's side, up until that fateful day in April. On April 13, 1990 on a Friday afternoon, Michael went missing. We had been walking home from the bus stop, and were taking a short-cut through the woods near our house. Michael of course had run ahead of me, always wanting to be first. The woods got eerily quiet and I couldn't hear Michael laughing or thrashing through the bushes anymore. I called out his name but got no answer. I ran home as fast as I could, terror lending me speed. Michael wasn't home. It was the first time I had beaten him home. I was terrified and ran sobbing to my mom. She immediately called her friends and my father and then went into the woods to try and find Michael. It was the worst night of my life, and it stretched into the longest months in my memory. My grandfather came from Ireland to stay with us during the time, and he seemed resigned. Like this had happened before. Life was different after that. Dad was broken, mom was strong but became very protective of me. I remember that day vividly, it has been etched into my mind, and there is one detail that I just can't seem to get the details for, I remember seeing a strange figure earlier that day at school. Hanging out around the school yard at recess and lunch, but none of the other kids or adults paid any attention to him. I remember Michael saw him too, and we kept looking for places where he couldn't watch us. For some reason I could never speak about it to any of the adults, some fear kept me from mentioning it. The only person I told was Kathryn Hutchenson, the girl who became my best friend. Later on as an adult I told one other person, and that wound up destroying a friendship, so I haven't told anyone else since.

Life after Michael was taken from up was much different. With the exception of Kathryn I withdrew from all my peers, I began studying a lot at the library, the section on supernatural and occult. I was labeled the weird kid, but they mostly left me alone because of Michael's disappearance. After eventually graduating high school, I helped my mom for a bit in her law office before I decided to go to university. That's when I saw it again. The figure from my childhood. I'd see him outside the law offices, at the grocery, and across the street from our home. It never approached, just watched. To this day I cannot recall what it looked like. I just knew it was the same thing from back then. And somehow I knew it was responsible for Michael's disappearance. That's when I decided to move to California, and go to university at Berkley. So in June of 1961, I packed up my life and moved to Berkeley, California to go to UC Berekeley. I studied Business Administration and Religious Studies, getting a double major in both. It was at this time that I met Paul Wilson. I had know for a long time that I was gay, but also quite aware that it wasn't okay to be gay in New Hampshire, so I focused on school. Paul changed all that. He taught me many things about love between two men, and for a while we lived together. To the outside world we were "Roommates" but to our friends in college, they knew better, they all knew we shared a 1 bedroom apartment. It was around this time, after we had graduated and were looking to our future that I saw it again. Outside our apartment, then at the school library where I was working part time, then at the club Paul and I went to on occasion. I was shaken. I thought I had left it behind in Manchester. It had followed me. After a few days of glimpses I finally told Paul about it. He didn't believe me, he thought I was making it up, or that I was high, it created tension between us. Eventually it was too much for Paul, and he left and moved into San Francisco. So it was in April of 1967 I moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to start my life over. Again.

In New Orleans I got a job in a esoteric bookstore run by a man named Bruce Whitechurch who claimed to be related through his first cousin's husband's sister to Marie Laveau. It was good for business, even if he was a fraud. I learned a lot from him about how to run a bookstore, and even began managing it while he was off "communing with the spirits", those spirits being Jack Daniels and Jim Bean. That was when I had my second brush with the supernatural world. One which haunts me to this day. A couple years after I had started working there we started getting a patron who gave me a bad feeling. Every time she looked at me, it was like she knew something about me that I didn't know, and it scared me. I knew from the first time I met her, she was a predator and she was on the hunt. While fascinated with me, she focused much more of her attention to Bruce, and I knew she had picked her target. I didn't know when or how she was going to strike, but I knew he was a dead man. I couldn't face it. I couldn't warn him. So I ran. I hired my replacement that day, packed up my car and drove to Portland. Only stopping long enough to get gas. I found out after arriving in Portland that the man had apparently died in a bizarre animal attack, I never learned the details.

Once in Portland I established myself and opened Apollo's Athenaeum. I've been running the store for about 5 years now and have begun to form new friendships with the people I encounter both in the apartments above and in my store.

The Family Curse
Every Generation has a set of twins born, the second child always goes missing by age 11. The pattern alternates gender every generation.
Matthew's Great Grandmother and her lost Sister, mother of:
Matthews's Grandfather and his lost Brother, father of:
Karen Mallon and her lost Sister Kaitlyn, mother of:
Matthew Wright and his lost brother Michael.

Matthew is the end of the cursed line.

Rumors

"Something bad must happened in his past, whenever I ask he changes the subject."
"He's always listing to music, like I mean ALWAYS. His shop always has something playing in the background, and you can hear music coming from his apartment at all hours of the night. It's just weird."
"He almost forty and isn't married. I wonder if his past trouble was a woman?"
"I've seen him get jumpy when there are suits walking around. Do you think he's hiding from the Feds?"

Known Facts

• Matthew always has music playing. Even when he goes to bed. In his shop, in his apartment, in his car. Everywhere.
• To most of the outside world he is becoming a spinster. He doesn't have a girlfriend and doesn't seem to have ever had one.
  • He's "straight acting", the fact that he's gay is not common knowledge.
• Matthew doesn't talk about his past. Only a small handful of people know.

Appearance Stuff

• Age: 36 (9 if you are being super technical)
• Height: 5'10"
• Weight: 230-240, depending on how busy he's been and if he remembers to eat.
• Description: Matthew is getting older, his beard and hair are starting to turn gray, and he's starting to get a little chunky. He's kind of a bit clumsy, but not a klutz. His grey eyes are kindly and has deep laugh lines around them.

Personality & Lifestyle

Virtue: Altruistic It's rarely about me Helping others when I am aware that they need it, even if the cost to myself is great. Helping people even if their words or actions have brought me harm, if by helping them the group succeeds. Vice: Cruel Hurtful shade comments based on peoples personal fears Aspirations: List five short-to-medium term goals for your character. These may be in any arena of his life she considers important. Ask Aaron out on a date Build up my Occult Library Confront the thing that has been hunting me all these years Discover Natalie's Fate and help her move on Form more and stronger connections with the supernatural/occult/paranormal community Integrity: 7 Breaking Points: Abandoning someone to a supernatural predator Causing death or crippling injury to someone with my power Losing someone I care about to either sudden death or "disappearance" Being isolated in a forest A child I'm familiar with being abducted or maliciously hurt Equipment Possessions: Leather satchel Always has a flashlight and spare set of batteries Spare set of shop and house keys Books he's currently reading Small selection of 45's for the record player in the store. Jazz, Big Band, Country, and Classical Cat treats A pocket watch A Volvo 164, in burgundy Sansui Stereo System Whole library worth of Occult and Paranormal books Weapons: Kitchen Knives? Other Notes:

Apartment B19 Appolo's Antenaem Job: Apollo's Athenaeum - Sole proprietor Home: He lives by himself in a two bedroom apartment on the 5th floor of Maple Shade. Tidy. Everything has a proper place. I clean once a week. Including the bathroom. There is always a cat at his home if he is home, sometimes even three. Habits & Personality Quirks: Always has music playing in the background. Always. He's always willing to help you find the answer you are looking for, kind of busy body like. His mood can be unpredictable when it comes to people. Sometimes he likes to surround himself with people, other times he wants to be left alone. His daily life is pretty routine: Get up, make breakfast, take a shower, open the bookstore, work all day, come home and fix dinner. Sometimes he has friends over, sometimes he goes out, sometimes he researches late into the night. Sexuality & Romance: After Paul, Matthew does not form emotional connections with men easily. In fact has not had a lover since. He's a rare bath house visitor. He occasionally will bring men home, but they have to leave after we're done. No one spends the night. Matthew is not openly gay. It's just one more weird thing about him he gets uncomfortable about at times. Style: Hygine: He is always clean. Almost germaphobicly clean. Brushes his teeth after waking up, before bed, and after every meal. His beard is always trimmed. His nails manicured. His clothes are always clean. Clothing: Think librarian, but with some fashion sense. When he's not working he often wears jeans and t-shirts, shorts if the weather permits it. Jewelry: Just a wristwatch. Food: He has and uses frequently both the Betty Crocker Cookbook and The Joy of Cooking. It's not as pretty as the pictures, but it's edible. Sometimes take out Has beer in the fridge for when company comes over, drinks red wine at dinner, has good scotch on hand. Entertainment: Reads: Books on occultism, many Crowley books. Anything to do with psychic phenomenon. A lot of it is rubbish, but there are a few that seem to have hidden truths. He does own a few rare books that have much more reliable information in them, they are very well taken care of and he doesn't let just anybody read them. TV: He doesn't really watch anything by himself. When he has company over he lets them dictate the programming. Music: Classical music, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Duke Ellington, Louie Armstrong, Peggy Lee, Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne.

Conditions

Hunted: Matthew is being hunted by something, he's been running from it off and on for 17 years.
Swooning: Matthew has a crush on the UPS delivery guy.
Guilty: Matthew feels he should have know something that could have helped Natalie's ghost move on and feels guilty that he didn't try harder to find out more before summoning her.
Informed: Ghost Lore Research exceptional success
Informed: Goetia Demon Lore Research exceptional success
Informed: Spirit Lore Research exceptional success
Inspired: Research exceptional success

Merit Details

Photokenesis: (•••) Your character has a psychic ability to manipulate the forces of the universe. He can intensify, shape, and douse his particular area of ability. With the three-dot version, some of the given force must be present for him to manipulate. With the five-dot version, he can manifest it from nothingness. Telepathy: (•••) Effect: Your character can hear surface thoughts and read minds. With the five-dot version of this Merit, he can broadcast simple messages to others’ minds. He hears these thoughts as if they were spoken, which means they can sometimes be distracting. He can only hear thoughts at the range he can normal conversation, regardless of any ambient noise (so a telepath can hear the thoughts of someone next to him at a loud concert, even though he can’t actually hear the subject talk, but cannot hear the thoughts of someone a football field away under quiet conditions). Professional Training: Occult Expert (••) Academics, Occult, and Empathy Effect: Your character has extensive training in a particular profession, which offers distinct advantages in a handful of fields. Mark two Asset Skills on your character sheet. The advantages of Professional Training relate directly to those Asset Skills. Networking: (•) Take two dots of Contacts relating to that field. Rare Book Dealer Paranormal Author Continuing Education: (••) When making a roll with her Asset Skills, she benefits from the 9-again quality. Breadth of Knowledge: (•••) Choose a third Asset Skill, and take two Specialties in your character’s Asset Skills. (Empathy , (Academics: Religion), (Empathy: Motives)) Library (Occult) (•) Effect: Your character has access to a plethora of information about a given topic. On any extended roll involving Occult, add the dots in this Merit. Specialty: Witchcraft (Not Protected) - When researching topics that fall in line with the topic, the library grants one use of the Rote Ability quality to one Research roll in the extended test.

Esoteric Armory: (•) Effect: Your character is the go-to guy when one needs a knife carved from the bone of a martyred saint, a hawthorn stake, rock salt shotgun shells, the powdered remains of cremated suicides or any number of other things. No matter how strange the need, you’ve got it covered. After successfully researching an ephemeral entity’s Bane, compare your dots in this Merit to the entity’s Rank. If the merit is equal to or greater than its Rank, you’ve got what you need in your Armory. A one-dot Esoteric Armory can fit in a large bag. Eye for the Strange: (••) Prerequisite: Resolve ••, Occult • Effect: While your character does not necessarily possess a breadth of knowledge about the supernatural, she knows the otherworldly when she sees it. By perusing evidence, she can determine whether something comes from natural or supernatural origins. Roll Intelligence + Composure. With a success, the Storyteller must tell you if the scene has a supernatural cause, and provide one piece of found information that confirms the answer. With an exceptional success, she must give you a bit of supernatural folklore that suggests what type of creature caused the problem. If the problem was mundane, an exceptional success gives an ongoing +2 to all rolls to investigate the event, due to her redoubled certainty in its natural causation. Interdisciplinary Specialty: (•) (Psychic Phenomenon) Prerequisite: Skill at ••• or higher with a Specialty Effect: You can apply the +1 from Psychic Phenomenon on any Skill with at least one dot, provided it’s justifiable within the scope of the fiction. Resources: (••) Effect: This Merit reflects your character’s disposable income. Two dots is a comfortable, middle class wage. Staff: (•) Effect: Your character has a crew of workers or assistants at his disposal. For every dot in this Merit, choose one type of assistant, and one Skill. At any reasonable time, his staff can take actions using that Skill. These actions automatically garner a single success. While not useful in contested actions, this guarantees success on minor, mundane activities. Multilingual: (•)

Friends and Family

Family

Michael Wright	Karen Mallon	Daniel Wright
Brother Born February 29, 1940. My younger twin brother. Missing since 1950, presumed dead. Michael was born 15 minutes after I was, but made up for that in every way up until the day he disappeared. We were mirror twins, Michael and I were reflections of each other. My organs are on the "correct" side, while all of his were mirrored to mine, but unless you were really looking you couldn't really tell, we looked identical. As we grew up we were inseparable, and if you tried to separate us we would throw tantrums until we were brought back together. Like many twins we had developed our own language that no one else seemed to understand. When school started, the teachers and administration thought it would be best to separate us. It was horrible, but no matter how much of a tantrum we threw they would not let us see each other during school hours. They even made us take lunch and recess at different times. After school on the bus home we would sit next to each other, as close as we could get. Kids thought it was weird, but said it must be a twin thing. After a while the trauma of being separated passed and eventually they allowed us to have lunch and recess at the same time. Then on April 13, 1990 on a Friday afternoon, Michael went missing. We had been walking home from the bus stop, and were taking a short-cut through the woods near our house. Michael of course had run ahead of me, always wanting to be first. The woods got eerily quiet and I couldn't hear Michael laughing or thrashing through the bushes anymore. I called out his name but got no answer. I ran home as fast as I could, terror lending me speed. Michael wasn't home. Michael Wright was gone.	Mother Divorced 63 Karen Mallon was born in Cork, Ireland on January 2, 1911, where she lived until the summer of 1921. Karen was the firstborn of twins, her sister, Kaitlyn was born 15 minutes later. Both girls grew up and went to school in Cork and would summer with their grandparents near Dublin. During the summer of 1921 tragedy struck the Mallon family when Kaitlyn went missing. Their grandfather was beside herself with grief, that one of his granddaughters had disappeared while visiting him and he died of grief within the year. Her grandmother grieved but stayed the foundation of the family for years to come. At the time Karen thought she heard her say "Just like my boys." After that, the family moved to the US to live with Karen's aunt in Plymouth, MA. She finished school in Plymouth and went to college in Dartmouth, getting a Law degree. While at law school she met Daniel Wright, and after a few years of on again off again romance, they got married in the Spring of 1938. Early the following year she gave birth to twin boys, Matthew and Michael. Her father had come to visit them for the event, and when he heard that he had twin grandsons he gave Karen a supportive smile, but cried tears of grief. Her husband became a broken man, but Karen remained strong for Matthew, eventually filling for divorce. After Michael went missing she remembered what her grandmother had said and began researching the family tree and discovered the family secret, although not it's origin. Karen believes in the myths and legends of the old country, although she would never admit it to anyone, and secretly believes all the missing twins in the family over the years have been abducted by the Fae. She is a strong woman, who continues to practice law, and works as a law advisor for a number of non-profit organizations in her community. She misses her son greatly, and is always glad to hear from him.	Father Divorced 68/69 Born July 14, 1905 Daniel Wright led a boring life, compared to his wife and sons. Born and raised in Boston, his life was fairly routine. Had a few girlfriends in high school, dated a few women in college. Went to law school to study business law. Then he met Karen Mallon and he fell in love. He worked as a legal advisor for a group of small businesses in Plymouth until the year Michael disappeared. Daniel was devastated and broken at the loss of his son. He has spent all of his income chasing new leads, poking and prying under every rock. He hates Karen for not caring as much, and is glad they have divorced. He couldn't stand to look at Matthew, because he saw Michael there as well, and is glad that Matthew no longer comes around. He holds down odd jobs now, if he can even get one. He spends half his time living on the streets these days. Only Kathryn Hutchenson seems to know where he is at any given moment, and he is unaware of her presence.

Friends

Paul Wilson	Kathryn Hutchenson	Aaron
Friend / Former lover Paul Wilson is a a former college roommate and lover. Paul was the closest thing to a boyfriend that this era would allow. Paul couldn't cope with Matthew's theories about supernatural predators taking his brother, and it eventually led to them parting ways. Paul still visits Matthew from time to time, and vice versa, but they no longer have the relationship that they used to have.	Closest Friend Kathryn has been Matthew's best friend since middle school. They were inseparable, and they had most of their high school fooled into thinking they were dating each other. She is the only one who believes him about what happened that summer and has been his sole link to his old life. She passes on news from their hometown and keeps him informed about his father. She eventually became a librarian at the local college and helps Matthew find more research materials. She is a strong woman, easy to laugh, easy to forgive, but never forgets. She has a girlfriend of 12 years.	My Crush Aaron is the new UPS driver for the area. Matthew gets flustered when talking with him, and he thinks Aaron has been flirty but isn't sure. He also flirts with some of the bigger girls as well so Matthew isn't sure at all. Average Impression (Once per week) • Inflicts (-X) • Improve Impression maneuver • 0/X doors opened (Swooning focus - Gains +2 dice against Matthew for Social checks, and treats his impression as one level higher)
Noelle Britt	Vincent Carlson
Friend in progress The Rootworker Noelle showed up to the group with a bevy of occult experience under her belt, in the form of African-American folk magic, of the type known as "rootworking" or "conjure." She is arguably the most practical of them all, but appreciates their myriad gifts. She is also happy to have folk who don't regard her work as devilish, as too many in her family and community tend to these days. Eventual True Friend Average Impression (Once per week) • Inflicts -3 • Improve Impression: Average to Good • 3/4 doors opened	Technical Engineer An employee out in the Silicon Forest for Electro Scientific Industries, Vincent considers himself a forward thinking man of science. He will happily go on and on about the kinds of wondrous advances the inevitable shrinking of computers will do for society. Freemason and eventual Sponsor for Matthew Good Impression (Once per day) • Inflicts (-X) • Improve Impression • 0/X doors opened

Shop Cats

Archimedes, Bast, and Solomon	Grizabella, Tisiphone, Alecto, and Magaera	Oh gods, there's more?
The "Guardians" These three are the cats that live primarily in my shop. Archimedes follows me home every night, and the girls occasionally come home with me. I don't know when or where Solomon came from, but that seems to be the nature of my cats. He seems to be more inclined to stay in the apartment and comes to the shop a couple days a week.	Grizabella and her kittens Apparently Grizabella was pregnant and I hadn't noticed, and one day while Noelle and Eli were both in the shop she decided she was going to give birth. Now Tisiphone, Alecto, and Magaera have joined my cat family. They currently live upstairs in my apartment, with Grizabella.

Other Hunters

Luke Beloi: He's a good neighbor, and he can get super excited about occult topics. Doesn't seem to have any direction in life though. Lately he's been a little jittery.
Khamphong "Rose" King: Vet student, SCAdian, hides in my bookstore a lot. Surprisingly Rose has been fairly steady in the face of all this mess. She's quick to attack though, but on the other hand she's just as quick to help out.
Carol Weaver: Journalist, widow, lived with Natalie, Nancy's Sister. She's coming unhinged slowly, if she doesn't slow down she's going to get herself or someone else killed. She's started asking a lot of uncomfortable questions with little time inbetween.
Harry Olson: Mechanic, vietnam vet, drinks a lot. Harry is a mess. This whole thing with Natalie and her ghost seem to have destroyed him for some reason. Now he's in charge of the shop he was working at, and he's going to be a dad. He's still a hot mess.

Social Maneuvers

Noelle • Average Impression (Once per week) • Inflicts -3 • Improve Impression maneuver • 3/4 doors opened
Aaron • Average Impression (Once per week) • Inflicts (-X) • Improve Impression maneuver • 0/X doors opened (Swooning focus - Gains +2 dice against Matthew for Social checks, and treats his impression as one level higher)
Vincent • Good Impression (Once per day) • Inflicts (-X) • Improve Impression Maneuver • 0/X doors opened

Experience

Practical Beats - 0
Practical Experience - 0

Character Experiences

• Current Beats: 0 • Unspent Experiences: 0 • Spent Experiences: 11(+2 PXP)

Experiences Earned

5/25: 1 beat 6/1: 4 beats 6/15: 3 beats 6/22: 3 beats 6/29: 7 beats 7/6: 7 beats 7/13: 7 beats 7/20: 4 beats 7/27: 2 beats 8/10: 6 beats 8/17: 2 beats 8/24: 7 beats 8/31: 2 beats

Purchases

Library (Occult) (•), Esoteric Armory (•), Eye for the strange (••), Interdisciplinary Specialty (Psychic Phenomenon) (•), Resources (•), Resources (••), Staff (•), Professional Training: Occult Expert (••), Empathy 3, Multilingual (•) (Latin and Greek), Professional Training: Occult Expert (•••)