Eirin Austnes

Eirin Austnes is a character in St. Jude's Monsterhearts

Eirin Austnes

• Cover Skin: The Witch. I certainly do have magical powers, but they come from my heritage.
• Looks: Scared, darting violet eyes. I'm small and skinny, with brown hair and light skin. I usually give a nervous, fidgety impression, and there's something a bit off about my eyes and my mouth.
• Origin: Just like Grandpa. We don't really talk about my mother's side of the family. My dad holds a very important position in the Norwegian oil industry, so I've mostly grown up abroad, with little time to visit my maternal family in their little fishing village.

Stats

• Hot -1
• Cold 1
• Volatile -1
• Dark 2

Moves

• The Masquerade

You have a True Nature - that of a Deep One. If someone learns your True Nature in your presence gain 1XP. A PC who knows takes 1 Ongoing against you, while an NPC who learns may immediately make a Hard Move and gains a string against you. When you take a Season Advance you may End the Masquerade, and replace Masquerade with any advance. You may trade both Sex Move and Darkest Self with your cover skin. After you’ve Ended the Masquerade the first time you meet: Any PC who knew your True Nature, you can thank them and give them 1XP and 1 forward or not. Any NPC who knew you but not your True Nature may immediately make a hard move

True Nature revealed to:

• Passing: Hex-Casting (Withering, Illusions)

You can cast Hexes. Choose two that you know. To cast them, either expend a sympathetic token during a secret ritual, or meet the target’s gaze and chant at them in tongues. Then roll with dark. On a 10 up, the Hex works, and can easily be reversed. On a 7-9, it works but choose one:

• • the casting does you 1 harm;
  • the Hex has unexpected side effects;
  • trigger your Darkest Self.

Hexes Known:

• Wither

The person loses all of their hair, or their teeth start rotting and falling out, or their period comes and it comes by the bucket, or their skin gets all sickly yellow and spotty. Whatever the specifics, it’s bad.

• Illusions

Pick one: snakes and bugs, demonic visages, false prophecies, non-existent subtext. The hexed sees that thing everywhere. You have no control over the exact images or iterations.

• Bringing the Storm.

The weather follows your mood. When you Run Away in the rain use Cold. When you call on the Old Gods for help in the storm, you may call a lightning strike, Lashing Out with Dark for +1 harm

Additional Moves

Sex Move

If you haven’t already done so, reveal your True Nature to that person. If they accept you, give them a string and they choose on condition you get to remove. If you disgust them, give them two strings and take 1 forward to moving against them.

Darkest Self

Do they know? Your True Nature and the thought of keeping it secret consumes you. You need to find out who knows, and to make sure they won’t tell. And do anything to make sure the secret won’t get out - or if it does make sure they are looking anywhere but at you. The concept of protesting too much doesn’t occur to you. You escape your darkest self either when you think no one knows or when someone who knows offers you acceptance.

Background

I'm thinking that Eirin's father is an important businessman who has placed her at a well-regarded British school to give her a proper international education, and give her an air of old aristocracy that can't be found in her native Norway. Her mother is a perfect, Stepford-y trophy wife who is very eager not to discuss her childhood in some isolated fishing community. Eirin herself doesn't really like drawing attention to herself, and has probably tried staying off people's radar during her time at school.

How does Eirin know that she's a Deep One? Perhaps it's the dreams that have been calling her. Perhaps it's how pre-human words force themselves out of her throat and cause disease and madness in those who hear. Perhaps it's the rows of lamprey-like miniature teeth growing all over her palate, the transparent membranes in front of her eyes, and the way her skin has started turning white and moist like the underbelly of a fish. However, the changes started less than six months ago, and she has already started realising what her family wanted to hide from her.

Taking: English Language, Geography, Mathematics, Geology, Economics and Chemistry