MTH:The Academy of Servitors

Live amongst the rich or powerful for very long, and you will see them. You may not know you saw them, but you saw them. Often they operate off the social radar, noticed but not noted. They serve meals, they clean, they run errands. It's all very humble, functional and dignified, but if that is all their masters needed them for, they would not have highered from The Academy. The butler with an unusual understanding of firearms and sight-lines, the nanny with an encyclopedic repertoire of methods on how to circumvent security measures, the repair man who can get his hands on whatever incendiary device you might want, the cook who knows how to dissolve a body, and that silent valet who might as well be a mother f***ing ninja, these are the Alumni of The Academy. Generally quiet spoken and rarely willing to advertise their abilities, they are the graceful and dedicated servants of the strange and potent across the world. The Academy believes in the nobility of servitude, and that this servitude in a needed part of all sentient beings. Only by a limited form of self-denial can an individual reach their peak potential. The quality of the master, ethically and practically, is a secondary concern.

Membership

To become a functionary of strangeness requires several things. The Academy looks for individuals who have been changed, on an emotional level, by extreme events. The admissions board reasons that one must be, on some level, wedded to the unusual to handle the oddities of life with the kind of grace they require, and only something that deeply effected a person can cause this sort of adjustment. The second is that the person demonstrate a certain level of reserve and calm when faced with the bizarre. Third, is a sense of decorum. Fourth, and not least by any means, the prospective Servitor must be willing to place their trust in the goals and values of another person, deeply and at length. Mechanically, this requires Composure 3, Resolve 2, Socialize 1, and someone they are willing to call Master (ideally a PC). They may not have the Fame merit.

Benefits

All Servitors gain a Socialize specialty in Etiquette after graduation. They also may use their time at the Academy to justify training in unusual skills and merits related to the role they play for their master. They gain the virtue Loyal in addition to any other virtue they have. Also they possess a version of the Inspirational merit, though this version only effects those who are professional servants of some kind, from their own point of view. If their Master orders them to do something particularly dramatic or dangerous, the Servitor may roll Resolve + Composure. On a success the Servitor may take an appropriate condition, such as Steadfast, Informed, Bonded, Connected or Inspired.

Restrictions

The Master may be any being or distinct group of beings. A given family or household is appropriate, but not an entire race or population. The Academy often sets assigns the graduating Servitors to their Master, though they may request specific assignments. Should a Servitor loose their Master, The Academy will usually aid them in finding a new one. Loyalty to the Master is an implicit requirement. This does not require that the Servitor always agree with their Master, and they may voice their concerns, but they may not disobey a direct order. Doing so applies one of the following conditions: Shaken, Guilty, or Embarrassing Secret, as appropriate. That being said, some Servitors are in the habit of interpreting undesirable orders in an overly literal fashion.