Difference between revisions of "Tempus"

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*'''Sorcerer:'''In order to use your magics, you must be able to speak and gesture. If you cannot do both of these, you cannot use your Sorcerous Arcana. (You may still have other magical abilities that you can use, however.)
 
*'''Sorcerer:'''In order to use your magics, you must be able to speak and gesture. If you cannot do both of these, you cannot use your Sorcerous Arcana. (You may still have other magical abilities that you can use, however.)
  
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==Background==
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==[[Tempus Background|Background]]==
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*Rafiq is born in Basra (Southern Iraq) 8/12/869 to parents of free East African (Zanj) descent. 
 
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*The Zanj Rebellion, a major revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate by free Zanj as well as many slaves and other socially downtrodden peoples, starts in September 869
 
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*Basra is burned in September 871.  Rafiq is 2 years old. His father dies in the fighting.  His mother takes him to the city of Mukhtarah.
 
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*Fall of Mukhtarah and the violent end of the Zanj Rebellion in August 883.  Rafiq is 14 years old.  His mother dies as they are trying to escape the city.
 
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*Vowing revenge on those who killed his parents, Rafiq begins to make his way towards Baghdad.
 
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*In November of 883 Rafiq is in the city of Wasit and overhears rumors about a powerful djinn trapped in a small statue in the ancient city of Kaskar, across the Tigris from Wasit. Believing he might be able to find the statue and use the djinn's power to exact revenge, he makes his way into the ruined part of Kaskar he had overheard the others talking about.
 
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*Rafiq discovers the entrance to a long buried Sumerian temple.  Inside, he finds the statue he was looking for and releases the djinn.  Although Rafiq is a sharp and resourceful young man, he is no match for the wits of the djinn.  The djinn tricks him and trades places with him, trapping Rafiq inside the statue instead.
 
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*Over 1,000 years pass.  Rafiq is trapped in the statue with no way to get out.
 
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*At some point the statue is discovered and becomes part of the historical collection at the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad. 
 
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*A few days before April 10, 2003, staff vacate the National Museum ahead of the advance of US forces on Baghdad. Looters break into and ransack the museum over the next 36 hours until the staff returns, taking some 15,000 objects.  Among those objects is the statue that Rafiq is still trapped in.
 
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*5 years later, in May of 2008, the New York City chapter-house of the [[Zodiac Society]], known as the Taurus House, locates and acquires the statue.  They believe that the djinn is still in the statue, and while dangerous, can be used in a situation they are facing of dire importance. They prepare wards and get ready to do battle with it should anything go wrong and they are not able to contain it.  They release the inhabitant from the statue and are shocked that instead of finding a powerful djinn before them that inside the artifact was a 14 year old boy.
 
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*Feeling a sense of responsibility for Rafiq, the Zodiac Society takes him under their wing and begins to raise him and train him.  Beverley Dawson, Head of House of Taurus House in New York City becomes his primary guardian.  Over time, Rafiq grows to care for Beverley and see her as an adoptive mother, even taking her last name.
 
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*Shortly after his release from the artifact, the elder Invested from London, Foggy, heard about the strange man "pulled out of time" and decided to visit and welcome him to the new world.  Rafiq was still having a rough time adjusting to suddenly being in a new time, still harboring a large amount of anger and resentment. He noticed that Foggy had an old Victorian pocket-watch.  Rafiq found the device both beautiful and fascinating.  In a moment that Foggy turned his head, Rafiq quietly moved the pocket-watch into his own pocket. Foggy knew he'd done it, however, and at the end of the visit revealed that he had known all along, but with a smile told Rafiq that he was being given the watch as a gift, cementing a fatherly relationship that endured as Rafiq grew up.  Rafiq has since started to emulate Foggy's Victorian style of clothing as a way to show his fondness for Foggy, but also because he does feel a little out of place in time and the steampunk Victorian styling allows him to express that while also providing a place in a community where he can meet and socialize with others.
 
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*Once Rafiq reaches adulthood he begins deeper training with the Society, first physical training, and then magical training, and eventually joins the Society of his own accord and becomes a Society agent using the agent name Tempus.
 
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* When her connection to the [[River Styx]] first manifested, '''[[Ophelia]]''' got lost wandering its shores, trying to find her way out. She ended up possessed by an old ghost. She then met her mentor, '''MENTOR''' who advised her to find the Zodiac Society. The young necromancer finally escaped the underworld, and her mentor's magics brought her to Tempus. Tempus experienced ''Ophelia'' 's possession and quickly got her to some place with wards: the Taurus House in New York. Though the Society assisted her in finding the name of her possessing ghost and shaking it free, Tempus was reprimanded for endangering Taurus House by bringing a strange sorcerer to it without conferring with the Head of House. Though she loves him, Beverly Dawson was forced to re-assign him to the Leo House in Los Angeles, where he currently resides.
 
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===Last Year===
 
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*[[Hexana]] hears that the Zodiac Society has an interest in the doings of [[Shaitan]] and contacts them, telling them they are in Salem. She has information for them. '''[[Sedona]]''' and '''Hexana''' are waiting in Salem for Foggy to make the Atlantic crossing via his Invested asphalt cyst ability. '''Hexana''' hears the screams of her previous incarnations, and then the '''Order of the Hammer''' hits. The two Invested barely make it out alive, thanks to their combined elemental powers. They get out of town, and '''Hexana''' sends Foggy and '''Sedona''' on their way, refusing to cede her town to the Order. Foggy promises to return and help after he's seen '''Sedona''' to safety. '''Hexana''' finds '''Shaitan''' and offers to assist them against the '''Order of the Hammer'''. They agree to her doing freelance work for them, in exchange for some magical lore from them. They drive the Order out of Salem even before Foggy can make it back. Tempus arrives in Salem, asking about the information about '''Shaitan'''. '''Hexana''' claims she has no real information to give them.
 
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===This Year===
 
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* On a night when '''Hexana''','''Sedona''' with '''Foggy''', Tempus with a small group of fellow Zodiac operatives, and ''Ophelia'' with her ghost-mentor are at '''[[Dvaravat]]''', the club is attacked by Beasts of [[BalHemoth|Bal'Hemoth]]. They cut through the defenders of the establishment, and Chandi is hard-pressed to fight them off, so Foggy and Tempus and the others jump in to help. They are enough to turn the tide and drive away the Beasts. Chandi is grateful and bestows a membership on all who helped.
 
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* Tempus has a dream about '''Foggy''' walking the far bank of the '''River Styx'''. He is looking around, confused, and then looks up as though he sees Tempus. He then raises a hand to wave sadly, and vanishes like mist.
 
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===Now===
 
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'''Session 1: 8/07/20'''
 
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*Tempus receives a text message from Foggy asking him to come to London right away. Sensing urgency, Tempus asks a favor of the Zodiac Society Taurus House (Los Angeles) Head of House, Regina Seville, and she opens the Zodiac Arch located in the Taurus House basement that grants access to the otherworldly Thirteenth House and to Gemini House in Oxford, England.  There, he is met by Head of House, Kilasla Thamry, and given access to a Society car.
 
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*Arriving at Foggy's home in London, he meets Ophelia, Hexana, and Sedona, who also received text messages.  They are welcomed into Foggy's home by his wife, Queenie. She tells the group that she is the one who sent the text message to them because Foggy has been missing for a couple days and she is growing concerned.  She asks the the small group who knew Foggy if they can help locate him.
 
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*Queenie states that the last item in Foggy's agenda was an appointment at a tattoo shop in East London.  Taking the group into Foggy's study, Tempus uses the Analysis of Aion invocation to rewind time and observes Foggy speaking in Arabic to someone on the phone.  Foggy can be heard saying that mutual friends in Morocco suggested that the person he is speaking with might have some insight into a recent event he could shed some light on.  He then mentions that he will see this person that night after the shop closes.  He writes down the name "Fanus Tattoos" and an address in East London.
 
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*Tempus and the other 3 drive to the address of the tattoo shop.  Once there, Ophelia uses her ghostly magics to turn invisible and intangible and attempts to enter the shop to scout it out. Meanwhile, Hexana, in her cat form scouts around the side of the building and up to the second floor, eventually entering through a window back in her human form.  The owner of the shop, Amir Tazzi, is alerted to Ophelia's presence by the a magical ward he has in place above the door drawn in the image of a lamp.  Amir casts a spell intended to reveal Ophelia's presence.  While the spell doesn't reveal Ophelia, the flash of light created by the spell does alert Tempus and Sedona who had been waiting outside that something is happening inside the shop.  Tempus and Sedona knock on the shop's front door posing as tourists looking for a tattoo. Upstairs, Hexana finds an altar to [[Abbridon]].
 
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*Tempus confronts Amir, revealing that he knows Foggy came to visit him a few days ago but is now missing. Amir tells the group that he is a member of an order of sufi sorcerers known as the Modruiyya and that Foggy came to him in hopes that he had information about the murder of the invested of Marrakesh. Amir states that unfortunately he didn't have any information to give Foggy and he doesn't know where Foggy went after leaving his shop.  Tempus once again uses the Analysis of Aion invocation and rewinds time to view Foggy leaving the shop and getting into a cab.  Tempus is able to get the name of the cab company and the cab number, but not much else.
 
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*The group discusses their next steps and decides that old fashioned detective work might be best.  They decide to talk to the cab company to see if they can get any additional information.
 
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*As they head out to the car, the group is attacked by 5 multi-legged monstrous beings that seem to have been waiting for them and meld out of shadow.  At least one of them is able to become insubstantial.  The group is able to destroy all 5 creatures.
 
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*Ophelia notices a mark on one the creatures' foreheads while both she and the creature are insubstantial and draws the symbol out for the others to see.  One of them recalls that they have seen the symbol before - on the wrist of a woman they have seen gambling at Dvaravat. The group decides to visit Dvaravat.
 
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'''Session 2: 8/14/20'''
 
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*Before heading to Dvaravat, the group decides to follow up on their lead at the cab company that had picked Foggy up from the tattoo shop. They head to the offices of the cab company. Hexana and Sedona, posing as Foggy's American niece and nephew concerned about their missing uncle, head inside to talk to the young woman staffing the front desk. They learn that the cab that Foggy was in, and the driver of the cab were in an accident the night Foggy was picked up.  The driver, a man named Rudolf, was currently at a psychiatric hospital called Serene Care Unlimited suffering not just from physical damage but from what appears to be some mental damage as well.  There weren't any reports of a passenger in the cab, leaving Foggy's fate still unknown.
 
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*The group visits Serene Care Unlimited, but Hexana and Sedona are told by the front desk staff that Rudolph is not allowed any visitors they cannot give out his room number. Ophelia goes into her ghost form and is able to move behind the counter unseen and see the Rudolph's room number.  Remaining insubstantial and invisible, Ophelia attempts to make her way to Rudolph's room, but encounters a darkhound.  The darkhound doesn't notice her, however.  She returns to the others and lets them know.  Hexana wipes the nurse's memory of their interaction, and the 4 head back out to the car.
 
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*Ophelia decides to try getting access to Rudolph's room again, this time from outside the building. She phases into the building and again encounters more darkhounds but is able to avoid their notice.  She eventually finds her way into Rudolph's room and is talks to him.  Rudolph confirms that he picked up Foggy and confirms that the cab was attacked.  He gives her the location of the incident. Ophelia reassures him that he's not going crazy and uses her phone to text the others and let them know that she would like to create a door to Dvaravat and bring Rudolph through with her because she feels it would be safer than there at Serene Care. She opens the door and take Rudolph through.  The others drive down a road a ways and find another location with a door. Hexana uses her sigil to also gain entrance.
 
  
 
==People==
 
==People==

Revision as of 16:07, 20 August 2020

Tempus
Tempus5.jpg
Identity: Rafiq Dawson • Affiliation: The Zodiac Society • Base of Operations: Los Angeles
Ethnicity: Zanj (East African) • Nationality: Abbasid Caliphate (869-883), US Citizen (forged documents)
Age: 26 (1,151) • Gender: Male • Height: 5'11 • Weight: 175 lb
Eyes: Brown • Hair: Black • Other Features: Always dresses in Steampunk cosplay
Origin: x • Power Level: 8 (120 Points: Abilities 46, Defenses 7, Skills 6, Advantages 12, Powers 49)
Abilities
Strength 2 Stamina 4
Agility 4 Dexterity 2
Fighting 3 Intellect 2
Awareness 4 Presence 2
Points: 46 (2pts per rank)
Defenses
Defense Ranks Ability Other Total
Dodge 0 4 4 8/4
Fortitude 2 4 x 6
Parry 1 3 4 8/4
Toughness - 4 4 8/4
Will 4 4 x 8
Points: 7 (1pt per rank)
Combat
Initiative: 4 + 4 = +8
Attacks:
• Arrow of Aion: No attack roll, DC 18 resistance check • 60 cft, Indirect: any point, any direction, Descriptor: objects in my possession • Shapeable Area Damage 8, DC 23

• Mystic Blades: +8 attack roll • close range • Strength-based Damage 6, Slashing, DC 23, Affects Insubstantial: half ranks, Crit 16-20, Penetrating 2
• Abandonment of Aion (Time Loop): No attack roll, resisted by Will DC 18 • Perception range • Cumulative Affliction 8 Dazed > Stunned > Incapacitated
• Throw: +3 attack roll • 50 lbs 120 ft, 200 lbs 30 ft, 800 lb 6 ft • Bludgeoning Damage DC 17
• Unarmed: +3 attack roll • Close Range • Bludgeoning Damage +2 DC 17
• Grab: +3 attack roll • Close Range • Bludgeoning Damage +2 DC Special 12

Skills
Skill Ranks Ability Other Total
Acrobatics 1 AGL (4) x +5
Athletics 0 STR (2) x +2
Close Combat: Mystic Blades 3 FGT (3) x +6
Deception 0 PRE (2) x +2
Expertise:Magic 5 INT (2) x +7
Insight 0 AWE (4) x +4
Intimidation 0 PRE (2) x +2
Investigation 1 INT (2) x +3
Perception 1 AWE (4) x +5
Persuasion 0 PRE (2) x +2
Ranged Combat: Throw 1 DEX (2) x +3
Stealth x AGL (4) x +4
'
{{{Skill14}}} {{{Skill14Ranks}}} {{{Skill14Ability}}} {{{Skill14Other}}} {{{Skill14Total}}}
Points: 6 (1pt per 2 ranks)
Advantages
Combat: Defensive Roll 2, Improved Initiative 1, Quick Draw
Fortune: xxx
General: Equipment 1, Evasion 1, Membership: Dvaravat, Membership: The Zodiac Society 2, Teamwork
Skill: Ritualist, Languages 1
Points: 12 (1pt per rank)
Powers
• Abandonment of Aion: Cumulative Affliction Resisted and Overcome by Will, DC 18; Dazed > Stunned > Incapacitated • 8 ranks (4/r) • Standard Action • Perception • Instant • Cumulative

• Absence of Aion: Teleport • 8 ranks (2/r) • Move Action • Distance physically reachable in 30 minutes • Instant • Accurate • Limited to places you can physically reach
• Absolution of Aion: Healing • 6 ranks (5/r) • Standard Action • Perception Range • Instant • Affects Objects, Increased Range: Perception
• Arrow of Aion: Damage • 8 ranks (COST/rank) • Standard Action • Shapeable Area 60 cft• Instant • Shapeable Area: 60 cft, Indirect 4: any point, any direction, Variable Descriptor: objects in my possession
• Analysis of Aion: Enhanced Trait (Dodge + Parry) + Senses (Danger Sense 1, Postcognition 4, Precognition 4) • 8 ranks (2/r+ 9 flat) • No Action • Personal • Sustained • Dodge +4, Parry +4
• Mystic Blades: Strength-based Damage • 6 ranks (1/r +8 flat) • Standard Action • Close Range • Instant • Slashing, Affects insubstantial: half ranks, Dangerous 4, Penetrating 2, Indestructible • Removable

Points: 49
Other Traits
Equipment: Night Vision Goggles, Undercover Shirt (+2 Toughness)
Complications: Anachronistic, Enemy (evil djinn), Responsibility: The Zodiac Society, Sorcerer

Powers

The Arcana of Aion (36 PP)

  • Abandonment of Aion (Time Loop): Cumulative Affliction 8 (32 PP) With an utterance of Aionian power, you curse a target to be abandoned by Aion's forward march, and time stutters and even stops around them, slowing or freezing them in place. 1st degree: Dazed, 2nd degree: Stunned, 3rd degree: Incapacitated, Resisted by: Will, DC 18; Cumulative, Increased Range 2: perception (Standard - Perception - Instant)
  • Absence of Aion: (1 PP) Invoking Aion, you stop the flow of time around yourself, putting it on "pause" and allowing yourself to move around while time is stopped for others. While you can observe and interact with the world, your actions are limited as objects and people are immobile when time is stopped. You can also quickly move your bodily location, allowing time to start back up once you have done so. To viewers, you simply teleport from one spot to another. The power’s rank isn’t technically the distance you can go, it’s the time you have to move while time is stopped for everyone else. 8 = 30 minutes.
    • Quickness 8: Perform routine tasks in -8 time ranks; Quirk 2: Limited to routine actions while active.
    • Teleport 8: 1 mile in a move action, carrying 50 lbs.; Accurate; Limited: places you can reach physically
  • Arrow of Aion: Damage 8 (1 PP) This invocation of Aion's power stops time, giving you the chance to set up an attack against a target, placing it where it will drop on them, or hurling a projectile to strike them. When time restarts, the attack seems to appear out of nowhere for the target. DC 23; Shapeable Area: 30cft., DC 18, Increased Range 2: perception, Indirect 4: any point, any direction, Variable Descriptor: close group - objects and hazards of opportunity (Standard - Perception - Instant)
  • Absolution of Aion: Healing 6 (1 PP) By Aion's power, you rewind the body of a person or object you can see, removing damage done to them by resetting them to a previous state of existence. Affects Objects, Increased Range 2: perception (Standard - Perception - Instant)
  • Analysis of Aion (1 PP) You cast your mind and senses wide, merging them with the flow of Aion. If you cast your sight into the present, you can predict direct attacks coming at you, and improve your ability to avoid them. If you cast your sight to the past, you gain postcognition; if you cast it into the future, you gain precognition.
    • Traits: Dodge +4 (+8), Parry +4 (+8); Permanent (Free - Personal - Permanent)
    • Senses: Danger Sense (Perception), Postcognition, Precognition (Personal - Permanent)

Mystic Blades (13 PP)

Tempus carries two mystically enchanted blades that he uses in close combat. He has had them enchanted to affect insubstantial opponents in hopes that they will one day assist him in killing the djinn that trapped him in a statue for over 1,000 years.

  • Removable (indestructible)
  • Strength-based Damage 6, Slashing, DC 23; Accurate +2, Affects Insubstantial 2: full rank, Dangerous 4: Crit 16-20, Penetrating 2 (Standard - Close - Instant)

Advantages

  • Defensive Roll 2: You can avoid damage through agility and “rolling” with an attack. You receive a bonus to your Toughness equal to your advantage rank, but it is considered an active defense similar to Dodge and Parry, so you lose this bonus whenever you are vulnerable or defenseless.
  • Equipment 1:
  • Evasion 1:You have a +2 circumstance bonus to Dodge resistance checks to avoid area effects.
  • Improved Initiative:You have a +4 bonus to your initiative checks.
  • Languages 1: Arabic (native) and English
  • Membership: Dvaravat:You have a membership at the esoteric nightclub and lounge, Dvaravat. You bear on your body a permanently-henna'd Sanskrit sigil that is your passkey into the establishment. By using your finger and a standard action to draw that sigil on any solid door that sits fully in a doorframe, you can turn that door into a portal into one of the many doors in Dvaravat.
  • Quick Draw:You can draw a weapon from a holster or sheath as a free action, rather than a move action.
  • Ritualist:You can use the Expertise: Magic skill to create and cast magical rituals. This advantage is often a back-up or secondary magical power for superhuman sorcerers, and may be the only form of magic available to some “dabbler” types.
  • Teamwork:You’re effective at helping out your friends. When you support a team check you have a +5 circumstance bonus to your check. This bonus also applies to the Aid action and Team Attacks.

Membership: The Zodiac Society

Senior Operative (Rank 2)

Senior Operatives are the tried-and-true of the society's agents.

  • Missions: SeniorOps are most likely to function as solo agents, always within their area of expertise. They also round out teams where more experience is needed from the members of the team.
  • Training: A SeniorOp always has a specialty of some sort, and their tasks tend to take advantage of those specialties. SeniorOps may also be assigned to assist with tasks outside of their specialty range. Typical specialties include arcane support, combat support, research, investigation, networking, infiltration and espionage, and clean-up.
  • Society Cards: SeniorOp society cards function as a GrounOps card does, but they can also use them to get access to restricted areas of the Houses. SeniorOps are also reasonably permitted to use their cards to make personal purchases.
  • Resources: SeniorOps share in barracks quarters in one of the Houses as well, although the senior barracks tend to be divided up into pairs of beds for slightly better privacy.
  • Accommodations: SeniorOps also receive personal quarters, in the form of an apartment or small house in one of the cities where the Houses are found. They usually also have a personal vehicle.

Complications

  • Anachronistic: You have been pulled out of time and were trapped in an artifact for 1,124 years
  • Enemy: Evil djinn who trapped you in the artifact
  • Responsibility - The Zodiac Society: You have a set of responsibilities to the Zodiac Society, from oaths of secrecy to assignments that are supposed to be foremost in your time to active duties as part of one of the Houses...or even as the Head of one! Anytime your obligation to the Society gets in the way, or you are forced to choose those obligations over other important things going on, gain a Hero Point.
  • Sorcerer:In order to use your magics, you must be able to speak and gesture. If you cannot do both of these, you cannot use your Sorcerous Arcana. (You may still have other magical abilities that you can use, however.)

Background

People

Crystal.JPG
 Beverley Dawson
The Zodiac Society • Guardian
Beverley is a sorcerer of some skill. She took Tempus in when he was released from the artifact he had been trapped in and effectively raised him from the age of 14 onwards. She is the Head of House of Taurus House, the New York City chapter-house of the Zodiac Society.

Locations

  • x
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