Harmonious Flipper of the Thousand Hungry Wings

[AlaskanWyvern]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/702rpjcwu49f0c4/Flipper.pdf

Flipper started out as an enterprising young naturalist hopeful looking for work on a Western island. Choices were scant, but there was one ship that seemed interested, and it promised well above average pay. In hindsight, that was highly suspicious, but that didn't really occur to young Flipper. All he knew was that it was bound on an expedition for distant lands, and that was good enough for him. It wasn't until the ship had reached open water that the captain revealed their mission. The captain was a dragon-blooded, and he was headed out to find and study the Elemental Pole of Water. As assured, the entire ship had been well-outfitted with Wyld wards that should keep everyone safe - theoretically.

As the ship passed further and further into wyld-tainted waters, the wards gradually became strained and finally passed beyond their abilities. The crew was forced to rely on their (certifiably insane) captain's wyld-warding charm. In hindsight, that strategy would have been more effective if his charm had been able to protect anyone other than himself and the boat. One by one, the crew mutated, went mad, or died outright from various wyld hazards. Soon, there were a scant five men left, including the captain. Provisions were nearly gone, and the men were beginning to resign themselves to death or worse. Finally, the captain gave the cry that they had reached their destination. No sooner had he hauled out and turned on his large battery of obscure-looking testing equipment than the ship violently ran aground. The captain and most of the men were hurled overboard, where they fell into an abyss of weak water just over the bow. (Apparently, either they had managed to collide with the only spire of solid water in the area, or the equipment had done something unusual.) Flipper, however, managed to grab hold of the deck railing before being launched overboard. As he clung to the railing, he looked back just in time to see one of the remaining men have his time in Creation run out. As he scratched and clawed at the deck, his hands slowly turned to water, then his arms, and then the rest of him as his empty clothes floated away.

Flipper slowly clawed his way up the deck, back towards the machinery. He figured that the problem had started there, and he was shutting it down if it was the last thing he did. Breaking it was out of the question - it was made almost entirely out of jade. The only problem was working out the dials, which were in a language Flipper didn't know. It was down to logical deduction as to what did what and what would turn the contraption off. After a minute or so of swift tinkering, the lights on the device shut down, and the ship shifted before being violently ejected back the way it came.

The silver light of Luna shone on the Elemental Pole of Water that day.

Flipper remained with the ship for another few days until he practically ran over a small band of other Lunars who had been sent to recover him. They trained, instructed, and tattooed him on a small uncharted island in the bordermarches before sending him on his way and pointing him to Mishiko, where he could follow up on his interests in artifice and find useful occupation recovering exotic ingredients from the Wyld.
During this time, another exaltation occurred, this time in the Neck. Flipper came with his circle, out of necessity, and ended up pulling success from the jaws of defeat, through his speed and his compatriot's Furious Hound Pursuit. His Infinite Resplendence Amulet was a gift from his mentor to commemorate his performance there.

On his way back East, one of the final five men from the boat caught up with him. The entire rest of the crew was either dead or missing (including the captain, who was last seen faring badly with the business end of a Raksha), but this one man had sort of survived. He had been turned into a water elemental, but he was as psychologically fit as someone in his position could be. He stays with Flipper to this day.

On the way back, Flipper sold the boat (although it was a bit of a lemon by now, literally) and the equipment and swore an oath to Luna that he would never set foot on a boat again.

During the last leg of his journey, Flipper passed a battle near Naraka, and he felt a rather curious feeling. He suspected it might be the Solar Bond he had been told about. He cautiously approached through the bushes and arrived just in time to see that there was indeed a Solar, and he was bleeding out on the ground. As he watched, *something* approached the Solar, and suddenly everything about the solar seemed to go black. Flipper summoned up his courage, warped in, grabbed the new Abyssal about the shoulders, made a rude gesture at the Mask of Winters, and warped back out to safety.

Later, he would play the bait in an ambush on an Abyssal, which would earn Pall his artifacts.

Flipper has been discreetly taken under the wing of a young Chosen of Journeys; several castings of Yellow Path have turned up Flipper as part of the intended path. Flipper is in turn an acquaintance of the Sidereal's, who seeks to flesh out Flipper's skills and continue to use him as a mission asset.

[AlaskanWyvern]

Manses:
Hidden Eel's Grotto: lost First Age manse grown vertically into an abnormally large overhang on a hidden reef; only an Essence-channeler sailing near it stands a good chance of noticing it. The manse has no floor; instead, one may enter or leave through the water's surface where the floor would be. When one does not wish to enter or leave, the surface of the water may be walked upon, and the user stands in a large pocket of air. The manse produces a Stone of Aquatic Prowess from a black jade oyster shell on the inner wall.
magical conveniences 1 (the door/floor, lighting)
Greater Veil of Shadows 4 (projects a holographic reef wall to hide the overhang)
Comfort zone 1 (air filtration)


High Nocturne Cabana: Deep in the jungle outside Naraka, a single vine hangs down to ten feet above the ground, bearing a single orchid on its end. Climbing this vine brings one up to the top of the canopy, where the trees' leaves turn silver-veined. At a certain point, hidden from the ground, the branches begin weaving themselves in ordered shapes, the rigid leaves arranging themselves into architectural details. The trees form a set of several large circular rooms, arranged in a crescent. Several of these are devoted to a forge, created from a section of where the wood petrifies. Ironwood tools of all types grow from the walls.
The manse is tended by a Burmese Python named Jeeves, who tends to pruning the manse's extra growth. Without maintenance, the manse overgrows and disrupts its own integrity.
Produces a two-dot Gem of Above Average Mobility, which enhances move actions but provides no benefits to other action types
Living Manse 1
Workshop 3 (Craft Magitech)
Well-flavored Aspect 1 (Lunar)
Maintenance -2 (regular trimming of the leaves and branches)
Bound Servitor 2

Resources: Flipper works as a courier, delivering packages along his journey.

Ally:

Hai, water elemental
His main purpose is to provide a bubble of water around Flipper for him to swim in while on land. When not in use, he hides out in Flipper's water-skin.

[CodexGigas]

Take 4XP for back story, plus 2 for describing your manses.

[AlaskanWyvern]

Spent it on three initiate thaumaturgies and added another dot to the Lunar manse, the powers for which I will update soon. Probably just knock off the fragility, so I don't have to worry about it exploding.

[AlaskanWyvern]

Since I'm torn between Craft Magitech and Fire for my second manse, should I assume that the Magitech workshop is at least a basic workshop for Fire's purposes, since I'd need to fabricate parts of varying sizes?

[CodexGigas]

Yeah, a magitech workshop could count as a fire workshop a step down the table.

[AlaskanWyvern]

Sweet. That solves that problem.

Edit: Here's a dirt simple sketch that I got way back when. In this clime, I wouldn't assume he's so shirtless, but this was for a game set in the West.

http://alaskanwyvern.deviantart.com/art/Flipper-by-Toraneko-315744880

[AlaskanWyvern]

Putting this here for lack of somewhere better.
Int/lore, +2 1st excellency.

[The_GM]

The member 'AlaskanWyvern' has done the following action : Dice roll

'd10' :

[AlaskanWyvern]

Puffin and Mudskipper Meditation
Cost: 5m; Mins: STA 4, Essence 3;
Type: Simple
Keywords: Obvious
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
In the days of old, when Creation was fresh from the grasp of its Primordial overlords, the mudskipper longed to join its friends above water. So it prayed to Gaia, and Gaia said "No, you are a fish, and your rightful place is in the water." But Luna also heard its prayer, and quietly whispered to it, "Follow your dreams, little one." And then did the mudskipper walk upon the land.

In the cold seas of the north, the puffin heard of the fish that swam deep underwater, out of its reach from the sky and the cliffs. So it prayed to Gaia, and Gaia said "the fish swim there for protection from you; be content with what you are given." But Luna heard this prayer too, and said "The ocean is like the sky; it's all a matter of perspective," and thus did the puffin learn to fly in water.

So too does the Lunar learn to ignore Creation's chosen environments for his forms. If the mudskipper can be a fish on land, so too can the Lunar. If the puffin can fly underwater, so can the Lunar. But the Lunar does it by invoking an obscure clause of the moon's commands over the tides, converting his own anima into a bubble of water.

Coming up for air in this bubble is possible, but unless the effort is made, it is entirely possible for the Lunar to drown himself - or others. For all practical purposes, the Lunar is considered to be underwater for the duration of the charm.

[AlaskanWyvern]

Doing a check for nightmares out of the way here...

[The_GM]

The member 'AlaskanWyvern' has done the following action : Dice roll

'd10' :

[AlaskanWyvern]

willpower regen

[The_GM]

The member 'AlaskanWyvern' has done the following action : Dice roll

'd10' :

[CodexGigas]

If you want to hold off on WP, the heart might significantly affect that.

[Sponsored content]