Second Dawn: Isaiah Whittaker
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This is a reference document for the LARP The Second Dawn.
Isaiah Whittaker Player: Joey B. High Priest of the Star Brothers Age: 30s
Additional information (read first): Star Brothers, Hybrid of the Heavenly Host
Background: You were born near New Providence to a minister of the old faith of Christianity. While you learned the scriptures from your father well enough, to his disappointment you never felt the faith as he did. Instead, you preferred the glory of the outdoors, in particular the beauty and majesty of the night sky. You would follow the ancient train tracks out of town for hours, making and recording your observations of the stars and their movements. It was one such night, out with a few of your friends, that the Celestial Messenger came to you. You spotted a bright, unfamiliar star low in the sky, and then watched in awe as it grew larger, brighter, and fiery as it plummeted to Earth. You ran to where it lay, following first the contrail and then the fallen trees to a large smoldering crater. There you found a smoking, softly glowing capsule with strange markings on it. The first one there, you rushed forward to get a better look and to see what it was made of. As your arm brushed its surface, a searing pain shot through you, and you fell back , severely burned. As you clutched your wound and your companions knelt down beside you in the smoke, however, there was a slight hiss as the top of the capsule slid open. Gritting your teeth, you staggered forward to see what was inside. It was beautiful! A creature unlike any you had ever imagined, a wonder of symmetry upon symmetry, with colors and shapes that were both like and unlike those usually found in nature. Its overall structure seemed only vaguely human (quite natural, for a heavenly creature), but its surface and appendages were covered loosely by matter shaped like seven-pointed stars. Its skin seemed to be weeping, and as you stood over it, it raised an appendage to the sky, apparently pointing, and made a garbled sound rather like “Hooooossssttt.” Did it mean to say that up in the sky there was a host, that it was one of a Heavenly Host? Thinking back to your religious training, something clicked in your mind, and a joyous certainty filled you that you were face to face with a divine Messenger. You started to say as much to your friends, gesturing over the divine creature with your arm, when you felt a sting where your flesh had been burned raw---the creature’s appendage had hold of you! Before you could think to react, however, you were released. The bleeding had stopped, the pain was rapidly disappearing----and one of the seven-pointed stars of divine flesh was attached over where the burn had been. A serene calmness filled you. Seeing the others’ fear, you raised your arms, saying “Do not be afraid, I have been blessed by the Messenger. Let us carry this Ark to a safe place, that we might all be blessed and spread the word of the Heavenly Host. This Messenger has fallen from heaven to earth for our sake, so we must learn what message he brings.” And so you came to found the Star Brothers and to become the head of the Church of the Heavenly Host. For seven nights you stayed with the Messenger, beside the Ark that would soon become its coffin. During those nights, you had feverish dreams of great destruction of men in the heavens above, which you recorded as the Book of Warning. From these dreams, you came to understood the unthinkable power of the Host, and the terrifying fact that an ignorant and unworthy mankind would likely provoke such destruction. Your purpose seemed clear: through fate or chance you had been blessed by the Celestial Messenger with insight and with its holy flesh, and you felt it was your duty to spread the word to the rest of mankind. For if man is to avoid divine wrath when it finally returns to the heavens, it must first learn reverence and humility towards its superiors. You began with the others who witnessed the Messenger's fall. After your week by the dying Messenger's side, you gathered them together to explain what you saw. To inspire proper reverence, you borrowed a few items of your father's (incense, candles, and so forth)---which felt appropriate, as the Old Religion seemed to you a fragmented and slightly-corrupted account of the Heavenly Host and its old human prophets. With the proper atmosphere in place, you spoke of what you had seen, and explained the duty placed upon all of you. Then, after passing around several rounds of sacramental wine to embolden their spirits, you opened the Ark of the Messenger and bade them open their flesh to his flesh and accept his blessing. They did so, and thus became the first high initiates, the first of your Star Brothers.
In the several years since then, you have codified many rites of the Star Brothers and established a hierarchy within the Church of the Heavenly Host. You and a few other faithful have traveled a bit within the nearby territory of the Eastern Union, occasionally bringing back interested new disciples. A number have proven worthy of witnessing the holy flesh, and a smaller number have been allowed to receive it themselves after many vows of secrecy and service. After all, while you know that the celestial stars are a gift from the Messenger, you have no delusions as to what the ignorant populace would think if they saw without first hearing your preachings. Additionally, you have been slightly more suspicious since one of your earliest converts, Raymond Latour, came to you all the way from the Maple Kingdom, worked his way into your trust, was initiated into the highest secrets and blessings, and then disappeared a few months later. It was a lesson in humility for you, though you sometimes wonder if even that failure was in some way part of a divine plan.
Over the years, you have noticed a few side-effects that you can only attribute to the flesh of the Messenger. Since receiving his blessing, you have never fallen ill, your bruises and scratches have healed within hours, and (most startlingly) you have stopped needing to breathe. You assume the pulsing of the star takes care of that somehow, but you're not really sure how. As you noticed that people felt odd around you, you have trained yourself to breathe as you used to, but you sometimes forget. Also, you have developed a curious appetite for crystalline minerals, so you usually carry a healthy supply of rock salt, which you either eat or apply to the sacred flesh, depending on how the craving takes you. Fairly recently, you heard word that the Second Dawn project was nearing completion---mankind was about to reach into the Heavens without any sign of respect or humility before the Host! Are your dreams of warning about to become reality? You pulled a few strings to get an invitation to the launch platform in the hopes of averting utter calamity. While you have no real hope of stopping the launch, you did think of a way to delay disaster: if you can get a Star of the divine flesh onto the ship (either in the cargo bay or attached to the pilot), the Heavenly Host should recognize the blessing of their Messenger and will leave the ship be. Of course, if the launch goes well, the Eastern Union may be sending more things into the Heavens, and you and your present church may not be able to bless every ship that goes up. If you're going to continue protecting mankind from the wrath of the Heavenly Host, then you need to make some influential converts, and fast. You have been in communication with a few prominent individuals who will be at the launch platform tonight who are interested in joining the Star Brothers, and you will have two lower members of your order present as well, so rapid initiation into the great mysteries may be in order. If you can convince anyone else of your cause, all the better. Ministers and ambassadors are a bit of a step up from your usual dinner-party targets, but you feel up to the task.
Roleplaying Notes: You are a devout and virtuous man, if a bit fanatical. You are passionate and intense, and willing to use fear of the divine as a tool. You believe in the wonder and majesty of things greater than you, finding this at first in nature, then in the Heavenly Host. You realize, however, that many people must be appealed to with ceremony and mystery, and so you try to play that part to best serve your heavenly overlords. Also, you try to remember to breathe, as people tend to be put off (without realizing why) when you don’t.
Goals: 1) Arrange for the flesh of the Celestial Messenger to be placed on the Second Dawn. 2) Convince influential people about the danger and glory of the Heavenly Host, that their fear and reverence might pacify those above. 3) Initiate your new members into the order, and your useful initiates into the higher mysteries. 4) Confront Raymond Latour over the church secrets he took with him.
Opinions: The Second Dawn: Mankind’s first reach into the heavens. While you are eager for man to meet with the Heavenly Host above, you worry that man is not yet worthy and will be smote for his presumption. Tinkers: They cling to the old achievements of man, while remaining oblivious to the source of true power and enlightenment. Black Science: Evil worldly paths to power and self-importance. Man should accept his place in the universe, not try to raise himself above where he belongs. Eastern Union: Your home, you are proud of its efforts to reach out to the stars, rather than remaining fixated as so many do by petty worldly concerns and politics. Maple Kingdom: From your little experience with them, they are untrustworthy, two-faced finks. You’re not one to be fooled twice. Space: You know what lies beyond the Shroud; you have seen it, touched it, and felt it. The Watch: These black-science hunters shouldn’t have any cause for complaint with you or your church, but you really wouldn’t want them to find out about the blessing of flesh and falsely label it Black Science out of ignorance. If nothing else, publicity would ruin your mystique.
Key Information: •You became the founder and High Priest of the Star Brothers (the Church of the Heavenly Host) after you found the crash of a star-covered divine being, one of the stars of flesh attached to you, and you had visions of a host of these beings raining destruction upon an irreverent mankind. •Elizabeth Rowell and Eugene Kennedy are loyal Star Brothers, and should be willing to help with whatever you ask. •You want to gather your two Star Brothers (Rowell and Kennedy) and your two Star-Brothers-to-be (Monroe and Hood) for a secret initiation ceremony where you bless one or more of them with the divine flesh, to properly impress the new recruits. •Your initiates do not know the secrets of the Host. You have no other higher members here tonight aside from yourself. •You have a constant craving for crystalline minerals, especially rock salt, which is easier to satisfy if you apply it directly to the divine flesh.
People Known: Raymond Latour (Adam K): One of your earliest converts, this man from the Maple Kingdom worked his way into your confidence with his enthusiasm and burning desire to know about the Heavenly Host, then abruptly disappeared shortly after being blessed with the flesh of the Celestial Messenger. He owes you a lot of answers, and preferably some assurances about what he’s doing with a piece of the divine. Bring him back in line or try to mitigate the harm he could cause. Elizabeth Rowell (Isabel K): A lower-ranking initiate of the Star Brothers, she has been working on the Second Dawn as a construction worker. She’s a no-nonsense type, and loyal enough to your church. Make use of her as needed, and perhaps she’ll warrant advancement tonight. Eugene Kennedy (Simon M): A lower-ranking initiate, he joined your church about a year ago, causing a bit of a stir as his father is President Grant’s Chief of Staff. He seems sincerely devout, and (lately) sincerely terrified by the Heavenly Host. His connections might make people take him seriously. Sydney Monroe (Nitsan B): The congresswoman from New Providence, she has expressed a strong interest in joining your church. You’ve exchanged letters but never yet met. You do intend to induct her, but you might be able to milk some influence or gifts out of her if you pretend to be uncertain. Candace Glenn Hood (Marsha M): Assistant to the Appalachian Ambassador, she also has asked to join your church. If your mission regarding the Second Dawn fails, and the Heavenly Host annihilates the Eastern Union, you will be very glad to have an ally in the Appalachian Confederacy. You’ve never met before tonight, only exchanged letters. Jonothan Grant, President of the Eastern Union (Ted M): The President, the Second Dawn is his project, so if you can convince him of the truth of your cause, maybe he will cancel the launch or at least allow you to “bless” the ship. Captain Ivy Pearce (Rachel O): The Captain of the Second Dawn, and presumably nowhere near worthy to meet the Host. If she can be converted, then she could certainly carry the “blessing” of the Messenger into the heavens as a token of peace. Desperate times, after all. Rosetta Jones (Suzanne G): A local hedonist, she moved into town 6 years ago. You’ve met a few times and would like to draw her into the more meaningful life of the church. Perhaps if you made it seem particularly exciting she might come along for the thrill? The first step is always the hardest. Jill Deasey (Kendra T): A local socialite from a good family, you have tried to interest her in your church before, but she has been unwilling to commit. Edward Archibald (?): Another local socialite, you’ve had some members scout him out, and he seems to find religion as a whole to be a subject of amusment. Hmph. Kathleen Penland (Katie G): Her reclusive family owns the excellent Green Fox restaurant, but you’ve never had the chance to meet her in person before.
Ratings: Pilot: 0 R: 1 D: 1 G: 3 (2) Note: the effects of the “hybrid” (see Items) are already included in your stats.
Nametag Symbols: E, N
Attributes: Physical: Defense 3 Pool Rating 3 [] [] [] Mental: Defense 3 Pool Rating 3 [] [] [] Social: Defense 4 Pool Rating 4 [] [] [] []
Recoveries: -Be simple and charming and non-creepy for a conversation (+1 point, 3/hour) -Tell someone about the Star Brothers’ teachings (+1 point, 3/hour) -Perform a dramatic ceremony with at least 2 other people (+3 points, twice ever)
Abilities: Attack, Penetrating Insight, charm, entice, oratory, awe, leadership, evasive (x1), reaction,
Items: Pouch of coins, seven-pointed hybrid, creature under glass, bag of salt, knife
Reaction System: If an item with the “D” quality is activated in your presence, it will fill you with nausea and directed anger, as the flesh of the Host crawls and shivers. (The simple presence of such an item produces no effect, only use.) Additional system: If you notice someone using a power with the “X” quality, you will feel a vicious and irrational hatred towards that person forever. The Host wishes them dead, and so do you.
