James "Emet" Day

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NAME: James Day
SHADOW NAME: Emet
SHADOW SLEEPER NAME: Alexander Elford
CONCEPT: Spiritualist Journalist
VIRTUE: Temperance
VICE: Envy
ORDER: Thrysus
PATH: Guardians of the Veil

Personal Details

APPEARANCE

look at p128 of the Guardians book

HISTORY

He was a reporter for a local paper. He'd found a story hinting on links to organised crime in local government, and wanted an exposé; a national paper had shown interest of he could get concrete evidence. He found some hints, but they found him. He wound up at local hospital within three days, by the bedside of his girlfriend, who'd been kneecapped, then killed by the goons of whoever he'd been investigating, with a note warning him off pinned to his chest. When he left the hospital, to get some sleep, he underwent a Mystery Play Awakening, following the ghost of the girlfriend to the politician's house, which ended with him leaving a bloody hand print on the wall next to the politician, who'd had his throat torn out in the Play.

The Guardians picked him up, as he lay in a foetal position in an alleyway, thinking he'd gone mad. He's passed all three of the Veils, and now works to keep both spirits and ghosts from interfering in the Fallen World, and uses them as spies, using the negotiation training he got as a journalist.

Additional Ramblings:

Well, it's obvious that the other party involved with the politician might quite like to find him. They may have been just human crooks, but they may have been an alliance between the Tremere and the Sangiovanni Vampires; he doesn't know.

His girlfriend still follows him around, as he is one of her anchors, which can be useful, although she is still understandably bitter.

This is kind of a doing what must be done kind of character, then paying the price. He will alienate his spirit contacts to take down a spirit which has eaten Abyss-tainted Resonance, he will put people into poverty by preventing a new jobs programme planned by the Seers by driving the managers insane. He hates what he does, but he does it because someone has to.

Guardians of the Veil: He will conceal information if they ask him to, although he wonders why they sometime get him to hide mundane facts.

Mysterium: He'll work with them on any project studying Twilight or the Shadow, although they sometimes act upon things they shouldn't. He suspects that one member of the Mysterium has a Claimed working for them.


NOTES

As for mentors, Alice Demurge/ Sally Nartuae/ Cognisia (all of them Shadow names for the same woman) was the individual who found him in the alleyway. She guided him through the Veils, after he chose to stay with the Guardians. As a neophyte, he also heard the rumours about her; that she had been a crack Guardian Seeker, who'd saved several ruins from Sleeper Disbelief and the bumbling of the other orders, until something had happened to her cabal, and she returned to the Guardians psychologically very different. She definetly taught him the High Toungue properly; not the bastardised version which most others - he could, should he wish, write his newspaper reports in something Sleepers (and most mages) couldn't understand. She is resident in the territory of the Assembly, and is a member of the Prophets faction, just as he is; she often ends up dealing with the Council in the name of the Guardians. They grew more distant, as he grew far more interested in the esteorica of the Sprirt Arcanum, rather than the more earthy foucus on Life that she possesses, but they trust each other about as much as any Guardian can.

Game Stats

ATTRIBUTES

MENTAL: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 2
PHYSICAL: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2
SOCIAL: Presence 3, Manipulation 3, Composure 4

SKILLS

Mental Skills: Academics 1, Computer 1, Investigation 3, Medicine 1, Occult 1, Politics 3, Science 1
Physical Skills: Athletics 1, Larceny 1, Stealth 2
Social Skills: Empathy 1, Expression 1, Persuasion 1, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 2

-*Rote Specialties = Investigation, Stealth, Subterfuge

DERIVED STATS

Health: 7
Willpower: 6
Wisdom: 6

Size: 5
Speed: 9
Initiative: 6
Defense: 2
Armor: 4 (Ephemeral Shield, Spirit 2)
Numinous Shield: 4 (Spirit 3)

XP: 1 remaining

MAGIC STATS

Gnosis: 2
Mana: 7 (max: 11, 2/turn)
Innate: Pattern Restoration (1/day), Pattern Scouring (1/day), Unseen Sense
Nimbus: Animalistic Watchfulness (The area darkens around him, and eyes can be seen staring from every corner, as his eyes flash to something not quite human)

Arcana

Spirit 4, Death 2, Life 2, Time 1


Rotes

Eye for Ethereal Weakness ( Read Spirit, Spirit 2, Adamatine Arrow p 188) * Guardians of the Veil Rote: Wits + Investigation + Spirit

Knowledge of the Ban of a Spirit which violates the Veil is a prime tool, whether for negotiation, sale to other Spirits or direct action. By focussing upon the modern stereotype of the all-knowing government agent, the Guardian can spot the nature of a spirit with just a glance.

Rote factors: The Mage wears a pair of darkened sunglasses, preventing the spirit from seeing his eyes: +1 Potency


Questioning the Ferryman (Final Sight, Death 2, GotV p186) * Guardians of the Veil Rote: Manipulation + Investigation + Death

The last thing the victim of a murder saw can often be vital when trying to find out who the killer was. By calling upon imagery developed in the Greek Labyrinth, the mage may release from Charon the final things the eyes of the victim saw.

Rote Factors: The Mage leaves two copper coins beside the body: + 1 Factor The Mage addresses the corpse in ancient Greek, and pleads for Charon to show what the victim saw: + 2 Potency


Intangible Guard (Ephemeral Shield, Spirit 2, M:tA p246)* Guardians of the Veil Rote: Wits + Stealth + Spirit

By calling upon ancient deals made with the Realms Invisible, a mage can be shielded from both the invisible and the seen. The conditions of these deals need only be honoured, and the reality will comply

Rote Factors: The Mage washes his hands and face in purified water before casting: +2 Duration A spirit is present to witness the casting: +1 Potency


Purge the Daemon (Harm Spirit, Spirit 3, M:tA p249) Banisher Rote: Presence + Occult + Spirit

A rote taken from a Banisher captured in the 14th century, in what is now Germany, it has been adopted by the Guardians, as it has proven exceedingly effective at dealing with spiritual entities who refuse to listen to the Guardians.

The Mage wears a ring with the double-headed eagle of the Holy Roman Empire on it: + 1 Potency Instead of chanting in High Speech, the Mage uses an instant action reading from a Catholic Church approved Liturgy against daemons or the daemonic in Latin: + 2 Potency


Carpe Temporum (Momentary Flux, Time 1, p257 M:tA) Guardians of the Veil Rote: Wits + Investigation + Time

The basic knowledge of how things will turn out has saved many a Guardian’s life. The moment must be seized and used by the Guardians, or another will.

The mage carries at least two watches on him: +1 Spell Factor


Touch the Unseen (Gossamer Touch with conjunctal Death 2, Spirit 2 + Death 2, p247)* Guardians of the Veil Rote: Presence + Politics + Spirit

Communication, for it to truly occur, requires the ability to touch the other party; or at least this is a widely held belief by Thryus among many orders. This rote has the ability to add Death 2 to the casting, to enable the caster to touch and interact with ghosts and non-living Twilight objects, as with Touch of the Grave (p138, M:tA). This is an expression of the Guardian philosophy that the amount of Vulgar magic should be kept to a minimum, and only having to cast one spell is an advantage.

The mage wears a pair of white gloves while this spell is active; the right with the Chinese symbol for Life on it, the left with the symbol for Death - +1 Duration Factor

Dedicated Magical Tools

Order Tool - Pair of darkened sunglasses with the High Speech word for "Vision" carved into the frame, Arcana Tools - Death: one of his girlfriend's rings

MERITS

Resources 1
Status (Guardians of the Veil) 1
(High Speech )
Status (Newspaper) 1
Contacts (Police) 1
Ghost Ally (as Familiar, but ghost instead of spirit) 3
Trained Memory 1 (bought with 2XP, p 46 of the Guardians Book)
Mask (Binder of Night, p 73 of the Guardians book) 1 (bought with 2 XP)
Language (Atlantean) 1 (Secrets of the Ruined Temple; allows fluency in Atlantean, rather than just the jargon for casting of High Speech)
Library (The Shadow) 1
Guardian Spirit 3 (Influence: Knowledge, fettered to the library) (Sigil and Sanctum p 86)