Grackle

Grackle

Eccentric Necromancer
"Waste not, want not, that's what poppa always said! Well, he didn't use those exact words..."
Discord	@TheSplendidSerpent
Reddit	[1]
Metatype	Gnome
Street Cred	4
Notoriety	0
Public Awareness	0
CDP	1
D.O.B.	2/18/2065
Age	21
Folder	https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Qb-i8v3bG-3lE0klV1-Z36qXPz0vENA-?usp=drive_link
Priority	Metatype - C Attributes - B Magic/Resonance - A Skills - D Resources - E
#Max IGs/Ascension	1

Character Information

Summary

An Appalachian necromancer with a shaky understanding of modern society, social norms, and technology. Esoteric knowledge of the 4th world- and its undoing- have left him a jumpy mess.

Goals

• Make a Friend - It's not paranoia if it's true! The world is full of danger- the police, malicious spirits, large birds, and worse! I need people I can count on if I'm going to survive!
• Uncover Forgotten Lore of Yore - In the Age of Legend, mages weaved mighty spells that broke the laws of magic as we know it- and did so with as much ease as I would cast the most basic of magics! Imagine what I could do with that kinda power...
• Awaken the Sleeping Masses - The world is dying, the cycles are ending, and the Enemy is at the gates. People have to know, they have to prepare!
• Make a Living - Living in a rotting apartment in the Redmond Barrens, paying whatever gang controls my neighborhood that week for the right to sleep next to betameth-heads and murderers while dodging bullets on my commute to work is like... super cool and all! But... maybe I could move somewhere a bit nicer if I had the cash? Just a bit?

Background

How does this... Is it recording? Just speak and it writes… oh, shit, uhh, how do I…? Oh, nevermind, I’ll just start now… How should I… right… So! I’m Grackle, real name Wilbur Boggs. I was born… somewhere in eastern Tennessee. Mountain country. I don’t think it’s on any maps. I’ve not checked. So I guess… What's important? Why am I here? Well, it goes back to my grandfather, old Joshua Boggs. As far as I understand it, he was looking to breed a sorta… race of wizards? People who could use hoodoo like back in the old days, in the age of legend.

You see, he was pretty certain that the wicked things that ate up the 4th world were gunna come back and eat up the 6th, and we were woefully unprepared for it. Back in the day they had a whole legion of magic and powers like we’ve never seen, but we’re supposed to do what they couldn’t with just guns and bombs? Anyway, he tried to work with the Aztlaners to make the great race- he’s a smart man, got a degree and everything- but it didn’t work out. For whatever reason they stopped funding him over at Aztechnology (man, he never shut up about it either) so he decided to go his own way with the work.

And uhhh, that's how I was born! What led to me being born. Seventh kid born in my generation, well, seventh to survive. There's complications, and some don’t awaken fast or strong enough and end up going away. I was born pretty frail, from what I'm told, almost didn't make it myself... and never really recovered from it. Still, survive I did, and was told in spite of my frailness I was the best so far. Still not near what he was looking for, but he said I was gunna help make things better. I wasn’t too keen on the idea if I’m being honest… I mean I understand, saving the world is important! I just… wish it didn’t mean not getting to pick who I got with, you know? All that was picked out when I was still a kid, engaged to an awakened girl from our community before either of us really understood what the word 'engaged' meant. The whole idea that as soon as I became an adult I'd get shacked up with some girl I barely knew... and hardly liked... it just didn't sit right with me.

Things kinda… reached a tipping point when I got caught with the neighbor’s son and from there I couldn’t really stick around. I dunno if he was more mad I was with another boy, or that it broke whatever marriage pact they unwillingly shackled me to but either way I wasn’t gunna find out what the punishment was. I got the hell outta dodge, made my way west. I figured if I went far enough I’d find some place the old man wouldn’t look. I hitchhiked and walked, begged, borrowed, and stole, ‘til eventually I reached the ocean and couldn’t really run anymore. I don’t… really have many skills, just what the old man taught me… nobody’s really looking for my kinda clever craft though. Well, nobody but shadowrunners.

Fuck. Why’d I do this? Delete entry. Delete… Erase entry! Guh… Stop Recording!

-

Just wooooork please… stupid- Oh! There we go. I guess I’m continuing this… journal… biography… thing… Anyway, I figure I left some stuff out of my last entry. Like, it’s important for the runner community to know what I can do, right? Like… explosives!

So, I guess it waaaas… somewhere in the PCC… I ended up joining with a traveling circus. I know it’s kinda cliche, a runaway going off and joining the circus, but it’s not a bad gig! I got to try a couple positions out, some were pretty fun. Being a clown was interesting, they had me use my magic for some tricks and stuff but I wasn’t really like… a big act. Which, uh… right, brings me to the explosive thing. There was this dwarf who worked the pyrotechnics, a former EOD specialist from the UCAS. He was really nice, kinda took me under his wing and showed me how to work with bombs. He was really good at blowing stuff up, like really good. I guess he had to be, because he drank a whole lot too, and if he wasn’t good he woulda ended up in pieces a long time ago. I used to drop by his trailer a lot, it was always full of empty bottles of Ares 40 caliber, smelled like a brewery. I don’t think he was very happy.

Oh, I met a tiger there too! She was really cool, spirits really seemed to like her. Everyone else was afraid of her though, they said she was a Maneater. Kinda made me feel bad for her, so I used to go sit by her cage and talk so she wouldn't be so lonely (I know what it’s like to only have spirits for friends). Guess it was good I spent all that time with her, cause after I stumbled in on some of the workers moving crates full of betameth into the supplies, they threw me into her cage. She didn’t eat me though, just kinda chewed me up a bit until they left. I figured that was kinda the end of that career, hard to keep working with people who tried to kill you, right? I mean, I definitely can’t go back after I stole their prized tiger…

Narrative Significant Qualities

Positive

• Spirit Whisperer - Wilbur has always been fascinated by spirits, ever since he was a child and his grandpa showed him how call them up from the lands below. For whatever reason, the spirits seem interested in him too...

• History Is Not As Certain As We Are Taught - Wilbur's grandfather was obsessed with the power of the 4th world, and with the great Enemy that destroyed it. He made sure his favorite grandson has the harsh lessons of the old world burned into his mind. "World wheel's turnin, Wilbur, and we've gotta be ready fer whats comin'."

• Witness My Hate - HATE, LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE... er, anyway... it's largely born of fear, as hate often is. Wilbur just want's to live, it's honestly surprising how many people disagree with that simple desire...

• Thermographic Vision - As a gnome, Wilbur can see not only the visible light spectrum but infra red as well. Kinda trippy.

• Arcane Arrester 2 - Gnomes are resistant to magic, and Wilbur is no different. Arcane energy just... doesn't like to stick to them.

Negative

• Computer Illiterate - Raised in a backwood farmstead with no internet, and little electricity, Wilbur practically lived the life of a luddite peasant. He barely even knows what a google is, or why so much stuff is worth one.

• Disheveled - With a normal style one might call at best... eccentric, it's little surprise Wilbur has a little trouble dressing normally. He he acts squirrely and uncomfortable in modern attire, no matter how nice his clothing is he looks like he shouldn't be wearing it.

• One Born Every Minute - Socially stunted, Wilbur never really learned to read people. He tends to take strangers at face value. After all, why would they lie to him?

• Mild Autophobia - When he's alone, the dread thoughts like to creep in. Wilbur prefers company, and gets anxious when he doesn't have anybody around. Still he's not picky on company, after all, zombies are people too!

Run History

Name	GM	Metaplot	Threat	Date of Run
Eat the Witch	AngryHedgie	All Hallows in The Haven	Milk	29 October 2086
PLUSHY BURNY!	Tidanshock		High	12 August 2086
Or'ze Underground TA:5 Yerz the Killer (AKA: A tiger walks into a bar..)	J.R.	Or'zet Underground	High	23 June 2086
In which several people set out on an unusual adventure for sketchy reasons	mudge		Medium	5 June 2086
Circus Wars	Villiers	Circus of Crime All The World's a Stage	Medium	17 April 2086
No Cocaine in the Bedroom, Please	Robinton		Milk	23 February 2086
Divorce Rates	Robinton	Paradise Lost	Medium	25 November 2085

Affiliations

Contacts

Contact	Connection	Loyalty	Archetype	Profession	Aspects	Chips
Tin Can Bill	2	4	Fixer	Fixer/Back-alley Arena Owner/Junkyard King	Unreliable, Word On The Street, A Little Birdie Told Me..., Secret Stash, We All Float Down Here	Even
Dr. Triboulet	4	3	Gear	Mortician/Talismonger (Necro-Magic)	Resurrectionist, Charles Triboulet: Reanimator, A Man of Class, Relax! I'm a doctor!, Overworked, Well-Stocked Medicine Cabinet, Memento Mori	Even

Faction Reputation

Faction	Reputation
Dawkins Group	-1
Crimson Crush	+1
Skraacha	+1

Allies

Maneater - "My oldest and closest friend! We've been looking out for one another for about... the past few years, I'd say. Ever since Schwarz & Whitaker's Traveling Circus tried to feed me to her. We're a pretty good team! She deals with the big threats, I handle the talking and stuff tigers can't do. Managed to travel across half the continent with nothing but each other, so I'd say we make a pretty good pair! Some might call what we have uhhhh... codependency, I think the word is? But I mean, friends are supposed to lean on one another, right?"

Getaway - "She- uh... he? They are the first friend I've made in Seattle! So far, Getaway is really the only person to have taken the me up on meeting and interacting outside of work... we hang out sometimes, we got board game nights on some Sundays, when we can. I mean, they're kinda an unconventional friend, but they're one of the only forms of normalcy I've got."

Poe - "He's really cool! We have a whole lot in common, so it make sense we'd become quick friends- Like, he's a mage who loves spirits, he grew up out in the woods away from technology, and he learned to survive in Seattle by making friends like I'm trying to do! Plus, he is really good with animals, and knows a lot about them! I think if anybody can help me... well, maybe not fit in, but survive... it'll be him."

Reign - "Real mysterious sort. She doesn't really talk about herself much, but thats ok, she's pretty fun to hang around! She's very friendly, and knows all the fun places to hang out in the city- and people will just, let her in! Must know the owners, which makes sense cause she's real good at making friends. Parties awful hard, though... I dunno if I can keep up!"

CURIE -

Enemies

Miut - "I mean... I wouldn't call her an enemy, no sirrie! No, we're friends! I mean... I may have... fumbled a few social interactions with her, and she might have once or twice said she wants to kill me... but thats all in the past! She doesn't really answer my calls, but thats just... she's busy, I'm sure!"

Symbols and Signatures

No specific symbols, though tends to leave small bindrunes carved into his things and places he goes.

Matrix Search Table

Threshold	Result
1	Very little Matrix presence, as though he doesn't use it.
3	Follows a variety of personal tutorial videos on subjects from cooking to home repair, some of which are obviously unhelpful or outright faked. Can be inferred to be a CAS native, from what little he discloses.
6	A squatter living in a rundown apartment in the Barrens. No family, no friends, no real life outside the shadows.

Shadow Community Table

Threshold	Result
1	A CAS expat living somewhere on the outskirts of Seattle.
3	A magic freak with an interest in some of the darker aspects of magic. Blood magic, shadow spirits, the works.
5	A necromancer, with a dangerous fixation on the magic of the 4th world.

Assensing Table

Threshold	Result
1	Usually nervous, Awakened
2	No Cyberwear, Magician
3	No Alphaware
4	No Bioware, Essence 6, Magic 6
5	No Deltaware, Gene Treatments, or Nanotech. Not a Technomancer.

SINs

Thomas Whateley - Rating 4 Fake SIN (Mage License 4, Exotic Pet License 4)

Appearance

Grackle is a young man standing at about 2'11" tall, with pale skin, large ice blue eyes, and a mop of black hair over his head. His face is youthful and pretty, though the dark rings circling his eyes tell of many a sleepless night. When grinning (or just… mouth breathing…) Grackle’s large, gap-teeth gives him something of a rodent-like quality.

He carries a nervous, skittish disposition, like a mouse always on the lookout for the cat.

Clothing

Grackle’s usual ensemble leaves no question as to what he is: a street shaman. He would not look out of place in a slum-side wizgang or selling fortune readings out back of a Taco Temple.

Usually, his face is sunken deep into the dark hood of an old poncho, worn over a second-hand armored coat that’s just a few sizes too big for him. A home-made net of black wire acts as a sort of tactical webbing worn over his poncho, with gear and trinkets clipped or woven into the wire for quick access. Across the whole of his fetishes and talismans of carved bone and feathers adorn his slight frame, often rattling noisily when he moves quickly. While on missions, he tends to wear a cheap respirator to hide his identity.

Beneath his armor and cloak he wears more typical, if unfashionable, street gear. A red t-shirt with a large yellow “Krime” logo across the front is well cared for, but still ripped and stained in places from years of use. A baggy pair of gray cargo pants are tucked into an ancient set of combat boots that are almost comically too big for the gnome. He almost always wears disposable medical gloves, both on and off the job - they hide fingerprints and mean he doesn’t need to touch people directly. Typically he has some spares tucked into his pocket.

Matrix Persona

Default Gray Humanoid Avatar. He doesn't know how to change it.

Astral Form

A small, willowy-limbed white humanoid cloaked in billowing black. The form beneath lacks any discernible features aside from large black eyes that narrow, widen, and shift to display emotion like a theater mask. It's smaller and thinner even than his true form, looking like a little wisp that might blow away at any moment.

Character Plot Hooks

Here are characteristics of the character that GMs may take advantage of to add complications to runs, or to otherwise use when in use. If you want to use them in unrelated to runs, please ask first.

Aspect	Information	Related Run(s)
Not Meant to Know	Grackle is always hungry for more knowledge on the 4th world and the Enemy, and will do near anything to get it. He's trying to save the world, after all.
Cultist	Grackle was born into an awakened focused cult in the backwoods of Tennessee. Though he escaped, it has flavored his views of the unawakened, magic, and the world at large.
Living Trashcan	Amongst the gnome's many nervous tics is pica- when stressed he has a tendency to eat small objects, and sometimes not thinking before popping whatever he is holding in his mouth. Largely a note for GMs, it probably won't come up but feel free to enforce it if you think it will make an interesting complication.
Old Man Boggs	The general story of Grackle's Grandfather https://shadowhavenboggsfamily.carrd.co/
Aspect 5

Media Mentions

https://shreloaded.net/wiki/Raging_Rhino_in_Redmond