Second Dawn: Niallghas Tinker

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This is a reference document for the LARP The Second Dawn.

Niallghas [NEE-ul-gus] (Niles Maddox) Player: Aaron B Visiting Tinker; Immortal Mastermind Age: 355/early 30s

Additional Information (read first): Ageless, Cataclysm, Black Science, Seerstones, Tinkers, Sickness

Background: You were born in 2071, and it’s been a long slow haul ever since. Sometimes you get tired of life, the endless mistakes repeated over and over, the sight of everyone you care about getting old and dying just to be replaced by a generation no wiser than the last. But those low moments never last; you’re self-motivated man. Just because everyone else is clueless doesn’t mean you have to be. Your life was pretty ordinary, back before the Cataclysm. Wild college years in Old Providence, after which you took your Foreign Relations degree into government work. You survived the Cataclysm by luck; you were visiting New Providence when it was bombed, but you hid and survived, escaping the (thankfully conventional) weapons and evading the marauding Green Liberation groups who took advantage of the damage. You hid, you survived, you did what you had to, with significant help from your boosted immune system. You were very relieved when things began to calm down, when the city began being rebuilt as New Providence, a little higher up on the hills from the old pre-global-warming days. You started running into other “Ageless,” the half-dozen in the New Providence area who kept showing up decade after decade, looking the same, just like you did. There was even a familiar face or two from the old days. As the generations passed, you began to realize that you were seeing things, people and groups and movements, differently from everyone else. With so much time, you learned; not from books, but from people. You saw what they did, how they worked, the ways they could be convinced, every generation the same. And beyond that, you took the long view, adjusting to your apparently endless life. Most of your fellow elders don’t seem to have really applied themselves and learned like you did- with one exception: your old freshman roommate Christopher. Damn, you hate that kid. You can barely remember the girl you two fought over in your youth, but the bad blood has never quite faded, always rekindled every time you two end up meddling in each others’ schemes, intentionally or otherwise. You like having big schemes, big plans; it’s a good challenge, and it keeps you entertained across the decades. Your most recent has been brewing for about 70 years now. When you came up with it, you left New Providence, heading a little ways west to Connecticut County, centered around the river junction where Hartford used to be. There, you spent a few decades using your wiles and skills to learn about the Tinker community. They had a particularly small and poorly-secured community, which is why you went there, but it still took you decades to learn enough to pass as one of them. You made your way in by blackmailing and bribing and convincing a few weak individual,s fooling the rest. As a Tinker, you have access to much more technology, some of it familiar but some of it outside the scope of anything you ever used back in the old days. Most importantly, you’ve gotten your hands on some seerstone-electronic adapters, never found outside their ranks. With those converters, you have only two steps left in your plan. First, you need to get your hands on some old electronic cyberwear. Luckily, you have that all set up; you’ve been staying in touch with Ken, one of the other Ageless from New Providence, and been a consistent buyer for his underground “black science” trade. He won’t consider it at all unusual when you pick that up from his batch tonight, and he’ll never know that’s the sole reason you’ve been funding and encouraging his business. If you have the cyberwear together, you’ll need to get it implanted. That’s the hard part, but if you set things up right, you should be able to do it tomorrow. You have a doctor, but no equipment; the only good hospitals are run by Tinkers and the government, neither of whom you really want to catch you in the act. If you can disrupt the local government enough, they’ll pull security away from the hospital or even shut it down (which will be no obstacle to you). That’s why you’ve been supporting and encouraging the shipworker’s union, a group of Second Dawn workers who’re planning to protest and strike for better treatment from the government. Of course, to make that happen tonight they’re going to need some leverage to counteract government security- and that’s why you’ve arranged to have some mercenary Great Lakes Pirates here too. So, tonight you have to get your hands on the cyberwear, and make sure the workers’ rebellion. With implanted cybernetic computer systems and an electronic-seerstone adapter, you’ll have enormous control over seerstone computer systems wherever you go for the rest of your endless life- not to mention the satisfaction of a plan well done. Unfortunately, you have to be here tonight, to pull this off… and you’ve put yourself right in the middle of Tinker politics. Two factions are pushing at each other, and you want nothing to do with this; if you cast the deciding vote, you’ll get too much attention in the Tinker community, and they may find out your true identity. For the most part, you like the Tinkers, but they can be vicious to those who cross them- and if they find that an outsider swayed their policy, they’ll be quite angry.

Roleplaying Notes: You are good, and you know it; but you are also subtle, and know well the dangers of overconfidence. You enjoy the thrill and satisfaction of seeing a big plan come together, but deep down inside, you know you plan out these big schemes mostly just to pass the empty decades. You consider few people your equals, and therefore come across as somewhat arrogant. Other Ageless understand some things about you that nobody else ever could, but truly clever mortals are worth your respect as well.

Goals: 1) Acquire an Ancient cybernetic interface that you can get implanted. 2) Encourage and support the shipworkers with their strike. 3) Uncover and thwart whatever scheme Charles Bazett is up to. 4) Stay out of Tinker politics as much as possible.

Opinions: Second Dawn: You like it. It reminds you of the good old days; it’s one more sign that things are improving, if only slowly. Black Science: You don’t think it’s bad. You remember when AIs made life better for everyone, and when even fission power had its beneficial uses. Religion: It’s hard to maintain any active faith after so many centuries of ruin, but Tinkers are nonreligious anyways. Eastern Union: A sad shadow of the old United States, and that says a lot. Yet, you can’t disapprove too much; it’s been a great improvement from the old days of anarchy. Maple Kingdom: Much but not all of Don’s stock originates from this nation. El Dorado: In the day since their arrival, there’s been much buzz in the Tinker circles; they clearly have a great deal of lost technology. Personally, you suspect some kind of vast fraud.

Key Information: •Your original/real name is Niles Maddox, but Niallghas is your current identity. •Your cover identity is as a Tinker from Charleston, far away to the south. The Tinker community is fairly insular, but that distance should create an expectation of unfamiliarity. •You don’t believe that Patricia Kennedy, the dead Ageless, really died of tuberculosis. You don’t have evidence yet, but you’re convinced someone killed her; it’s the only possible explanation. •While you have mostly lived in Connecticut County (old Hartford) for 70 years, you have frequently returned to New Providence, which you consider your permanent home. •The Great Lakes Pirates are on the guest list as members of the Plains States delegation. They may be grateful for that safe cover, but you may have to negotiate further to get them to do specific jobs. They don’t know who their patron is, but will recognize the phrase “You’ve come a long way just to watch some fireworks.”

People (in approximate order of importance): Charles Bazett/Christopher Knapp (Paul E). You haven’t liked him for 336 years. But you have grown to respect him over the last centuries; he’s gotten as smart and clever and farsighted as you. You want to see him fail, but you don’t want to see him dead. He seems to have gotten himself into the powerful post of Minister of the Borders. He hates being called “Chris.” Donald Baxter (Jerry S): He runs a business trading in illegal black science; you’ve spent years encouraging this, just so you could get your hands on the right kind of cyberwear when it turns up. His last list of items said he had what you need. Personally, you don’t think much of him; he doesn’t seem to have learned or grown much over the centuries. Mario Patriarca (Paul S): Head of the construction workers here, you’ll have to manipulate him carefully. You’ve been guiding and molding his family for years as a “family friend,” he’ll recognize you and know your Tinker identity is a disguise. Find an explanation that will keep his trust, because you need it in order to guide him in his workers’ strike. Beathag [BEH-ah] (Sue B): An old and well-respected Tinker, politically active. Through some mutual friends, she helped you get into this party; she knows you’ve been living in Connecticut, though you don’t know how much more she suspects. She’s kept your secrets so far, and she could be a close ally; you’ve even considered telling her the truth, but it’s probably best to keep the Tinkers in the dark about the Ageless. Artair [ARE-ter] (Jed S): Minister of Sciences, and Beathag’s opponent in the political games you’re trying to avoid. You know he’s done much to promote the Second Dawn. Ceallach [KELL-uch] (David B): A young Tinker. You don’t know him, but at least you know how to pronounce his name correctly. Malamhin [MAL-uh-veen] (Abrihette Y): A young Tinker. You don’t know her, but at least you know how to pronounce her name correctly. Dierdre Lamprey (Emily B), Peter Dogfish (Bryce K): The two Lake Pirates. Only their leader should recognize the key phrase, find out which one he or she is. William Cone (Richard S): An Ageless who has found a simple route to happiness; these days, he’s a construction worker and enjoys doing that. You know he was a soldier in the old days, and a good one; you could try to talk him into using his old skills if you needed, but he won’t like it. Regardless, you’ll be running into him a lot, since presumably he’ll be taking part in the workers’ strike. Kathleen Penland (Katie G): An Ageless woman living in New Providence, she runs the Green Fox, an excellent restaurant. She’s kind and friendly, a good person, seemingly content to live a simple life forever. Edward Archibald (Thomas L): The last local Ageless, he just likes filling his time with simple degenerate pleasures of the flesh. You get along well enough with him, though you do hold a vague contempt. Isaiah Whittaker (Joey B): You’ve been hearing more and more about his little church recently; you wouldn’t want to get involved yourself, but you are quite curious. Perhaps you can find an indirect way to find out about it. Haley Jean Cole (Xephyr Z): A non-Tinker woman who’s set up a repair shop in New Providence. As a Tinker, you should probably come down hard on this sign of technical thinking among outsiders, but you don’t actually mind or care. Franklin Kennedy, Chief of Staff (Matt W); Rosetta Jones (Suzanne G): Mortal widower and friend of Patricia Kennedy. You tried not to let them see you at the funeral, but you can’t be sure whether or not you succeeded.

Ratings: Pilot: 1 R: 1 D: 2 G: 3 ID: 8974

Nametag Symbols: E, O

Attributes: Physical: Defense 3 Pool Rating 3 [] [] [] Mental: Defense 5 Pool Rating 5 [] [] [] [] [] Social: Defense 4 Pool Rating 4 [] [] [] []

Recoveries: -Outwit someone in any noticeable way (+1 point, 3/hour) -Do something that is more clever than productive (+2 points, 1/hour) -Go a full conversation without letting slip your Tinker disguise (+1 point, 2/hour)

Abilities: penetrating insight, convince, suspect, entice, charm, technical access, technobabble, survivor (x1), attack, hack, contingency plans, evasive (x1), diversion, hypnotize, black ways, just what you need

Items: Pouch of coins, molded plastic piece, gadget, clear seerstone, babbage, opto-electronic interface (“two-headed cable”), knife

Black Ways System: Any item with the “B” quality seems suspicious, potentially using black science. Only an extensive study of its workings or uses could verify this with complete certainty, so you will have to use your personal judgment tonight.

Just What You Need System: An item with the “Y” quality is an implantable computer system that will meet your needs.