Missekai'd: A Cortex Genre Mashup:Nameless

Nameless, Chosen of the Forgotten One

Distinctions

(All have SFX: Hinder - Gain a PP when used as a d4 instead of a d8 in a high stakes action)

Speaker for the Forgotten Dead d8

Nameless speaks for those who have been forgotten, and hears the whispers of the spirit that echoes within the body they inhabit.

I Have Lived a Thousand Lives d8

Nameless has lived many lives and done many things. Though they do not retain the full skills of those they inhabit, Nameless still learns from personal experience.
SFX: I've Done This Before - When attempting something you've done in a previous life, step up or double this Distinction by stepping back a different die in the pool (the die stepped back must be d6 or higher).

Helping Myself By Helping Others d8

Nameless believes they are not as heroic as they once thought, and their main goal is to find an end to the curse. However, somewhere deep within them is the desire to help others, and they reconcile this incongruity by framing all such help in a way that allows them to believe they are helping further their own goals in the process.
SFX: Help Is Its Own Reward - Gain a Plot Point when you resolve a significant task for another person that they have been unable to complete on their own. This includes tasks for the Forgotten Dead.

Abilities

Rebirth d8

When switching bodies, create an asset equal to the Rebirth die to represent the capabilities of the new form. Sacrifice the created asset to switch to a new body.
Death is not the end. When Nameless dies, their spirit is drawn to a new vessel. The body must be of someone who will be unmourned after their disappearance, and who has a task left undone in life. The body is restored to life during the rebirth, though that only lasts until the task is complete and it is time for the spirit to depart. The asset represents any inherent capability of the body or the primary skill of restless spirit that seeks relief. A chef would share their cooking skill with Nameless, while an ogre would have extraordinary strength.
SFX: Blessing of the Forgotten One - Spend a PP to change the asset created by Rebirth to another suitable for the current body, or to swap two Approaches. The change lasts for the duration of the Rebirth asset.
Limit: Bonds of Duty - Nameless only changes forms upon dying and entering a new body. Doing so without fulfilling the previous body's task inflicts a d8 Complication of Unfinished Business, that functions like a physical wound until a task of the Forgotten Dead is completed. If Nameless already has such a complication, step it up.

Force Effects d8

Based on Telekinesis, pg 210 of Cortex Prime.
Nameless has learned to shape magical energy into raw force, usable for attack and defense. Examples include:

• Propel - Push a target (which can be Nameless) in a direction with pure magical force.
• Force Shield - A shield of magical force which can be used to block attacks.

SFX: Seeking Bolt - Spend a PP to step up or double Force Effects against a single target, inflicting damage on a successful roll.
Limit: Conscious Activation - If taken out, asleep, unconscious, or dead, shut down Force Effects. Restore Force Effects when you awaken.

Background

Once upon a time, there was an idle noble that loved adventure. He had the best teachers, was good with a sword...and had an accomplished bodyguard that compensated for his many mistakes. He traveled the kingdom questing and helping people. One day, his group came upon an old, dilapidated temple on a mountainside in an unexplored area of the kingdom. A search turned up nothing, but the group camped nearby. The noble decided to take a look around the old temple while the others rested, and cleaned the shrine of cobwebs and debris. The task was more arduous than he expected, and he fell asleep in the shrine once he was finished.

The noble's dreamed of a faceless person of indeterminate gender, standing in a graveyard. The figure told him, "I am the keeper of the Forgotten Dead, those who died unknown and unmourned. I am the only one who hears their laments, of tasks left undone and final words left unsaid. You are the first in a long time to come to this place, yet you know nothing of loneliness and obscurity. You bask in praise and glory, calling yourself a hero while the forgotten suffer in silence. Are you a hero?"

"Yes, of course! I could have lived a life of luxury, but I am out in the world, helping those that can't help themselves. It is my privilege and my duty."

"You gain nothing from this, then?"

The noble replied, "I do so simply out of the goodness of my heart." Yet in his heart, he wondered whether he chose a good path out of duty, or something else.

The figure replied, "We shall see..." He woke up shortly thereafter, but did not attach any import to the dream.

Two days later, the group came across a vicious monster. Unprepared for the assault, all of them were killed...and the noble was the first to die. The spirit rose unseen from the body as his companions were being slaughtered. One by one, they died...and their spirits moved on. Only at the end did the noble notice that he had not moved on, and neither had the group's porter, a muscular woman he had never really noticed before. The noble asked the porter, "Why are we still here?" The porter did not know. "My brother lives in poverty. The rest of our family has passed on, and I was hoping to make enough money to give him a chance at a real life. Now, he won't even know I am gone."

The noble was preoccupied with his own death, but years of adventuring had ingrained his response. "I'm here to help." There was a sudden lurching, and then the noble sat up...in the porter's body. The noble felt the burden of the task, and realized that the Forgotten One had done this to him. He crept to his own body and took the pouch of gold, then snuck away before the monster spotted him. Whispers from the porter lead him to a village, where he found the brother and passed over the gold. "Take this, for your need is greater than mine." The brother was grateful, and prepared a fine meal. They ate together, and then the noble sought sleep. As he lay down...his spirit left the body. He saw that though the brother would be sad, he would remember his sister and see that she was properly buried. It was comforting, and the noble looked forward to his own passing. Surely someone would find his body, and he would be remembered for his deeds.

Then there was a sudden lurch, and the noble was pulled into another of the forgotten dead, to complete a task for them. Again, and again, until the noble couldn't even remember their own name. This had to be a curse - to lose all sense of self and only exist for the purpose of others. One way or another, this nameless noble would find a way free. Nameless learned many things over the years, including the manipulation of magical force - something tied to the spirit instead of the body, that could be carried with them. It made the tasks easier, but offered no solution for the curse. Sometimes, they failed in their task, and that failure was a wound carried by their spirit, only cleansed fully by continuing to help others. The tasks given could be delayed, but death would eventually come and that burden would strike Nameless like a sword.

Then, one day, as Nameless had just left a body, the ritual struck. They were left adrift in a new world, unseen and unable to help others, for the curse was not native to this place. It was a long period of silence, barely able to perceive the physical world, and they feared they would go mad. Finally, a body presented itself, and Nameless did not resist the pull.

Bodies Inhabited

Abigail ("Abby"), the Gunslinger

Missekai'd: A Cortex Genre Mashup