#NPC Spotlight

[songoftrillium]

NPC Spotlight: Julie "Bites-the-Bully" Lykos

Human-Born Philodox Black Fury Elder, 41, Zedakh, Elk Prairie Sentinels

CW: Blood. Julie appears in 1975 as a well-built woman in her early 40s, 5'10", 193lbs, with a split brow, wiry, curly hair, and expressive, sage-colored eyes. Her face is deeply pockmarked with old scars that extend to cover most of her upper torso around her shoulders and cheeks in particular, making her facial features particularly pronounced in their expressiveness and her utter inability to hide what she's feeling. Her eyes tend to disappear behind a big lopsided smile when you can trick her into grinning. She often is seen wearing levis, bowling shirt or tank top, and one of her dad's WWII flight jackets.

She is most often seen in public working at Aloha Lanes at nights on the weekends, where she can make space for marginalized groups of weird kids like herself to socialize in safety on weekend nights while keeping up an appearance of being a part of the rural community of Trillium. Among garou she makes space for her own packmates and advocates strongly on behalf to ensure their voices are heard, whether from the traditional garou at the sept of the swift waters, to the traditional garou at sept of the trillium glade. She lives in a mobile home, in Steelhead springs with Dr. Esme "Leaping-Ghost" Marshall, Human-Born Theurge Child of Gaia Athro.

From a very young age, Julie was on the road traveling with her military family, but when the second world war broke out, she moved to Seattle to live with her aunt. Julie was always what her dad liked to call a "bent nail", a comment that had him fretting for her well-being. This reality followed Julie through her younger years. Generally speaking, the bent-nail got pounded. Most places Julie went, she never had much of a chance to get an impression long enough to get attached to anywhere, and nowhere did she ever truly belong. By the time she was in public school in seattle where all the kids already knew each other, Julie seldom went a week without coming home to her aunt's arms in tears. Unable to find other recourses, she spent a good portion of her teen years working malt shops, diners, whatever service industry job you could imagine, that's what Julie did. She was determined to go to college, get her degree, and move far away. She always dreamed of seeing alaska's wilderness like she read in her paperback novels, and felt like Seattle was always just beyond the reach of the world's wildest places.

When Julie hit puberty, the war ended, but not before it claimed both of her parents. In school, differences between her and the other girls only worsened. Her jawline hardened, and she started putting on muscle at the drop of a hat. She grew taller than most the girls at her school, and the worst of the bullying she faced was from other women. In short, Julie's self esteem was gone, and she was deeply depressed. When the bullying reached a head, Julie wound up having a breakdown at her school. Her aunt, ever-attentive, pulled her out of school and let her finish her education through homeschooling. In reality, she just let her ward have space and autonomy. Julie found an escape in reading. She especially loved Ursula K. Le Guin, and Leigh Brackett . By all measures, Julie should be the one with the strength to defend against everyone at the school, and none of the desire to do so.

But also, Julie had a plan. All those years she worked sweating in the service industry gave her what one would've needed back then to completely pay for her college, and rent a little studio apartment to herself. And Julie believed that at last she could put her childhood behind herself. Things went well for the first year, new class settling into their year at the school, she felt like she was finally able to let go of some of that bottled up anger, and then, on a hot, dry summer evening, she had her first change in the middle of the food hall at Evergreen college. And what it was wasn't some kind of new bully against her, no, it was seeing someone dump their drink on the head of another student, and before she knew it she was in the woods, panicked and her front covered in blood. Her aunt and a few members of the faculty were there, all kinfolk.

She is best known among the garou for fighting for The Fanum during the War of Chicago. In the aftermath of that conflict, Julie befriended Colleen "Shamisa" Fetner. Working with the Sept, the war started bloody, but ended with an uneasy peace between The Fanum and Sept of the Wind Catchers. Each working in tandem through Julie's efforts to unify them had The Fanum assaulted the Camarilla and sabbat simultaneously.At the end of the war, many garou died, including Julie's own pack mates, but every last known vampire in the city of Chicago were completely obliterated.

When Shamisa answered a calling to mentor a late changed garou in Seattle, she and Julie traveled there together. Julie lives in a trailer at Steelhead Springs just outside of Trillium with Esme. Opossum, a patron spirit of adaptability, has formed a strong bond with this Black Fury, and has followed her from her first pack to the Sentinels, which she now leads. Her stubbornness for her pack to be heard by the Red Talon Sept is what eventually led to Sept of the Trillium Glade opening itself to the rest of the garou nation, and among her pack and other Black Furies, Julie is respected for both her discipline and emotional intelligence, despite being very plain-worded.

Time spent living with Esme has drawn the two of them closer, though Julie hasn't been able to find the right words to open her heart.

Reason Level 5, Gnosis 7

Description: Reason appears to be a partially broken labrys that's had one of it's blades shattered off. It's undergone a refurbishment with a new, short throwing axe handle, affixed on the other side with what looks like workshop hand tooling to clamp the ornate head to a utilitarian wood handle. On the handle is a sloppily woodburned word that can be barely read for the grime of use as 'Reason'. The spirit of a Freebooter named Iona "Kinslayer" is bound into this axe.

System: The signature Labrys of Bites-the-Bully, constructed during the War of Chicago in collaboration between the Sept of Jupiter and Sept of the Wind Catchers out of Julie's Mentor's Labrys when she and her Labrys were destroyed while defending the anchorhead. Attacks with Reason are difficulty 7 and to Strength + 3 aggravated damage. Activating this Fetish causes it to dramatically lighten in weight, enabling it to be thrown by anyone with a Strength of 4. Reason may be caught on it's return arc with a successful Dexterity + Athletics difficulty 7.

"I'm sure they'll listen to Reason"

[swtorpadawan]

NPC Profile: Lerrek Serrus

Standard intro, 101.

Uli is logical like that.

Spoiler: He is not proud his family are slaves.

I mean... even the Imperials call it an occupation.

This guy is having a bad day. (Don’t worry, dude. Zenith is about to shoot you.)

We all have to accept when we’ve made poor life choices.

Serrus only gets 45 seconds of screen time, but he leaves an impression. Even as a Sith Apprentice, he realizes that his actions are not going to work out. His semi-independence - he’s out on assignment guarding Imperial officers while he should probably kept on a shorter leash - is a rare mis-step for Darth Lachris, one of my favorite Sith from the game.

Its also telling on how the Sith Empire actually operates.

Unfortunately, we don’t get any follow-up concerning Lerek Serrus, and that’s a pity.

The Jedi Consular story is full of NPCs who get interesting introductions, and then are tossed aside without follow-up.

Honestly, things like this are one of my biggest issues with the J.C. story.

[tatteredworld]

We haven't had an NPC spotlight in awhile! Meet Driftglade! Friendly but quiet, he volunteers in the Sauna Caverns in the Snow Globe, distributing clothes made by other members of the community... but his heart is out on the mountain, skiing extreme slopes and blasting through other winter sports.

[zerohitpoints]

City Watch

Every good city needs some volunteer city watchman to protect the citizens from harm!

[storyteller4hire]

City Watch

Every good city needs some volunteer city watchman to protect the citizens from harm!

[robo-dino-puppy]

in the spotlight

[monstersdownthepath]

Monster Spotlight: Su

CR 8

Chaotic Evil Medium Magical Beast

Bestiary 5, pg. 238

Miserable and filled with hate, the Su stalk through thick forests they call home in search of meat and insects to quiet their irritating, mewling young, for whom they hold paradoxical amounts of disgust, envy, and adoration. The disconcertingly humanoid Whelp Family the beasts carry on their back are their own offspring, creatures with immense psychic power but no ability to use it without their parent’s direction. As a Su whelp grows, it gradually changes shape and loses access to its psionic powers, gaining the intelligence needed to use them just as they begin to slip away, something that causes them no end of horrid frustration. By the time they’re an adult, a Su has just enough psionic power to use 100ft of telepathy... and nothing else, relying on the screaming infants that crawl around their bodies--eternal reminders of what they once had but lacked the awareness to appreciate--for psychic defense.

Despite the resentment they may feel for their young, the Whelp Magic they possess is incredibly potent, though the younglings can only use their power as a cudgel with no finesse. Each Whelp (to a maximum of 6) grants their parent 3 points of Psychic Energy (max 18), and they can use these points to cast Id Insinuation II to confuse a single target, Thought Shield II to grant themselves +6 to Will saves against mind-affecting effects (bringing them to a +12 to Will), or most dangerously Mind Thrust III to deal 10d8 typeless damage to any creature with an Intelligence score. What’s worse is that due to the Whelps technically being separate beings than the Su, the parent can command them to use their psionic magic as a swift action even while it’s occupied elsewhere.

Thus it can blast two different targets for 10d8 damage, the same target twice, or inflict confusion on two targets, or any combination of offense. The Whelps can also hold concentration on a spell for their parent, allowing both uses of Id Insinuation stick if it needs them to. Scary! And unfortunately for travelers that may be traipsing through Su territory, the beasts are unable to bring themselves to directly harm their own children... so they tend to take out their fury and annoyance on any Humanoid they see, eager to have an outlet for their negativity. With a +19 to their Stealth while in forests, the ability to climb just as swiftly as they walk (40ft) for added cover, and no obvious components when using their psychic magic, a Su can remain hidden and cause a caravan to attack one another or themselves with Id Insinuation, or simply crumple up the weakest-looking creature it sees with Mind Thrust, leaving everyone else struggling to explain what the hell just happened. Though each spell normally casts 3 PE and thus restricts the Su to 6 casts each day, all of its spells can be undercast, a mechanic that allows a psychic caster to use a lesser version of a spell they know and thus use up less energy. Since there’s little difference between Id Insinuation I and II, the beast may elect to just use the first version for only 2 of its PE, stretching its daily reserve a little further. Mind Thrust II also deals a modest 5d8 damage and costs just 2 PE, though the beasts will rarely opt for less damage.

Should a Su feel confident about entering melee, or if it’s exhausted its PE for the day and is thus forced to, it’s no less dangerous. They possess Pounce and a CCB attack to make full use of it, their claws dealing 1d6+4 damage and their bite 1d8+4. Anyone successfully Grabbed by their bite is not only Raked for 1d6+4 extra damage every round the victim can’t break free, but the Su's tearing teeth also inflict 1d6 bleed damage even if the victims DO get away. Though their swift actions tend to be eaten up by their psychic spells, they can use their Prehensile Tails as a swift action instead to make a steal, disarm, dirty trick, OR trip combat maneuver against an adjacent foe without triggering an AoO, giving them significantly more complex tactics than one would expect against such a bestial creature.

Their DR 10 can only be pierced with magic, so the first order of business is typically to disarm foes that possess magic weapons (or turn such enemies against each other with confusion), though tripping foes so they have to waste time getting back up (robbing them of their Full-Attack) is also viable. Pilfering valuable-looking trinkets and potions and having them off to the Whelps for them to investigate/destroy/use is another reason not to near the mischievous and malicious carnivores while wearing your potion belt. Dirty trick is the most versatile, robbing a target of one of its senses for several rounds or inflicting all manner of negative status ailments... like just whacking some poor soul in the family jewels to sicken them before following it up with a Full-Attack or a Mind Thrust while they’re still reeling. Hey, it’s a dirty trick for a reason! And Su have no desire nor need to fight honorably. They’re here for a meal! ...and to let off some steam.

You can read more about them here. 

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

THE BEST OF PRIORITY: THE CITADEL (PART 1)

Featuring: Cmdr. Sophie Shepard, Lt. James Vega, EDI, and Thane Krios With: Flight Lt. Jeff "Joker" Moreau, Councilor Rannadril Bibsos Tembin Lesti Bensin Valern, Cmdr. Armando-Owen Bailey, and Kai Leng Kalahira, this one's heart is pure, but beset by wickedness and contention. Guide this one to where the traveler never tires, the lover never leaves, the hungry never starve. Guide this one, Kalahira, and she will be a companion to you as she was to me. Mass Effect 3: Legendary Edition (2021)

[aura-bug]

please imagine for a second: ykw au where lucas is the main character

I have a lot of thoughts about this kid specifically and what he would be like as a mc but like first of all his jibanyan-equivalent friend would be wobblewok

yall remember the quest in ykw2 where lucas has a nightmare about "something black and gooey underground and a treasure to unlock a seal on a big mirror in a field" or sum like that. au where he goes through all that hassle to do that shit himself and finds his bff foreva, friend form wobblewok <3

[thenotsolittlelady]

Thought I’d share some NPCs I made for my DnD game with you all! :> They are a rival team to my player’s characters and they call themselves the Emerald Blades. The orc lady is called Satin, the half-elf guy is Orvic and the dwarf lady is Edleen and I love them all very much :’)

[songoftrillium]

Pack Profile: Elk Prairie Sentinels

The Elk Prairie Sentinels are a pack of garou from around the world, consisting of 7 members. First formed in 1963, they resisted old growth lumber harvesting by enabling activist groups around the Seattle area, and helping these groups engage in tree spiking to dissuade loggers. Providing a platform for marginalized voices, enabling the ideals of activism, this pack combats The Wyrm through enabling and arming the world of mortals and garou alike to better defend themselves. Brought to Trillium through a gross violation of The Veil committed by the Sept, upholding the litany and reinforcing a sacred peace on Dead Mountain has resulted in the pack suffering a breakup of its members into two groups, one half of which is still in Trillium, and the other half of which is either traveling abroad or back in Seattle. It's members consist of:

Julie "Bites-the-Bully" Sept Role: Athro Breed: Human-Born Auspice: Philodox Tribe: Black Furies Julie is the pack's alpha. She first and foremost seeks to platform her own packmates to be heard and followed by other garou, preferring to work in the background herself. Despite her strong sense of morality and ethics, she flusters in the spotlight, and uses her own pack to motivate herself into assertiveness. Julie's role in the Sentinels is one that started as a partnership but has evolved into one where the pack depends on her to act as an ambassador to the Sept of the Trillium Glade. She is best known among the garou for fighting for The Fanum during the War of Chicago. In the aftermath of that conflict, Julie befriended Colleen "Shamisa" Fetner. Working with the Sept, the war started bloody, but ended with an uneasy peace between The Fanum and Sept of the Wind Catchers. Each working in tandem through Julie's efforts to unify them had The Fanum assaulted the Camarilla and sabbat simultaneously. At the end of the war, many garou died, including Julie's own pack mates, but every last known vampire in the city of Chicago were completely obliterated. When Shamisa answered a calling to mentor a late changed garou in Seattle, she and Julie traveled there together. Julie lives in a trailer at Steelhead Springs just outside of Trillium with her partner, Esme. Opossum, a patron spirit of adaptability, has formed a strong bond with this Black Fury, and has followed her from her first pack to the Sentinels, which she now leads. Her stubbornness for her pack to be heard by the Red Talon Sept is what eventually led to Sept of the Trillium Glade opening itself to the rest of the garou nation, and among her pack and other Black Furies, Julie is respected for both her discipline and emotional intelligence, despite being very plain-worded.

Dr. Esme "Leaping-Ghost" Sept Role, Athro, Keeper of the Land (Sept of the Trillium Glade) Breed: Human-Born Tribe: Children of Gaia Auspice: Theurge Esme was Shamisa's apprentice. Going through her change in her 20s, Esme took to being a garou poorly. To help with this change, Shamisa and Julie came in from Chicago. Shamisa was happy to teach Esme in the ways of the garou, and Julie used her connections with the septs in Chicago to put Esme in contact with a network of garou and kinfolk scientists to continue her research. This connection strongly motivated Esme to embrace her role as garou. Esme is the one of two members of the Elk Prairie Sentinels that perform a role at Sept of the Trillium Glade, and through interacting with her son, the pack is now able to communicate on a more-or-less direct basis with the rest of the Sept members of the region. Ever since the pack split, and following her experiences living in the woods, she now struggles to reintegrate with human society, and currently resides with Julie at Steelhead Springs. Blaming herself for the breakup of the pack and years spent living as a wolf in the woods, Esme now struggles with Harano and finding a sense of belonging, although with a rite performed by Sunshine, she is stable.

Prof. Anton "rutgers65" Sept Role: Athro, Random Interrupts Breed: Human-Born Auspice: Theurge Tribe: Glass Walkers Anton once held rank as Elder at a Glass Walker Sept in New Jersey and was a tenured professor of Electrical Engineering at Rutgers University. Garou history doesn't accurately reflect Anton, who went uncredited for his work in connecting the tribe to Arpanet through his university, and for research contributing to the invention of the Umbral CB. Where many garou pair with kinfolk, Anton fell in love with a gay, black, human journalist named Taylor Altman, something he kept secret for a time by burying his own wolf nature deep inside, and hiding his own wolf nature from his partner. When the knowledge of Anton's relationship became known amongst the Glass Walkers, it was the tales of mockery and denigration, along with being stripped of rank, that became the things he is now best known for. This kicked off a campaign against him by glass walker kinfolk in the region that resulted in him losing his tenure at Rutgers University. Fearing for Taylor's safety, Anton temporarily went into hiding. Through that fallout, Taylor came to learn of the garou, and comprehending the importance of their secrecy, became an ally to the garou, dedicated to upholding the veil, and to his partner. News of this event reached Julie, whom immediately beckoned Anton to join her cause. Looking for a life free of prejudice, Anton and Taylor moved out west, to Seattle, and he used his extensive knowledge to arm activists with information. In the town of Trillium he continues his life, regularly keeping his wolf nature hidden. He works by having deeply integrating himself into the town's society, and it's nightlife, he and his partner remain at the forefront of becoming aware of potential veil violations hitting the town, and learning of any leeches that come through the roadhouse bar. The two of them life together in their own trailer in Steelhead Springs. Reciting any such derogatory Galliard songs about Anton is an immediate way to start a fight with Julie.

Miriam "WKA9Y" Sept Role: Athro, Random Interrupts Breed: Human-Born Auspice:Theurge Tribe: Glass Walkers Miriam was born in Podlasie just a few years before the invasion of Russia and Germany. Her entire family destroyed at-once, she fled the region on foot carrying her father's radio. Mae learned early on to be portable and always keep in touch and learning to operate a radio, and these early formative years became her core personality. Having a vocal disinterest in discussions that happen outside of the sphere of long distance communications, she even went as far as revoking romantic relationships entirely in lieu of these efforts, of which the random interrupts are now all-too happy to enable. After her first change, she joined the Glass Walkers, where her skills with the radio were paired with that of rutgers65 at Rutgers, both assisting in connecting to Arpanet and in developing the Umbral CB. Although receiving sole credit for these inventions, this usurping against the professor evoked a disgust in her and inspired her to travel with Anton and Taylor out west and joined the Sentinels in their work to arm human society against the rising oppression of The Wyrm. She remains in Seattle researching what she calls "A rising trend in coincidences pointing towards a hitherto-unnamed concerted corporate effort to harm gaia". Still shaken by memories of home, she is reluctant to remain in any forested region for particularly long, preferring the comforts of the city. This, perhaps, is why she decided to leave Trillium and return to Seattle, where she currently resides, helping the pack from afar. She is currently working with Anton over Arpanet experimenting with storage of gnosis on electronics out of an intent to prototype a framework for an all-digital Sept.

Seb "Udaya-Akekaten" Sept Role: Adren , Harbinger (Sept of the Tri-Spiral) Breed: Human-born Auspice: Galliard Tribe: Silent Striders One raised in a family of Silent Strider kinfolk, Seb was no stranger to the spirits, and from an early age was one to receive visitations and visits. Volunteering his time at the British Royal Museum, he worked as a storyteller, reciting old Sanskrit poems and stories. Shortly after his First Change, Seb began having harrowing visions of an apocalypse befalling all garou. Seeing many atrocities committed, all under the light of a red sun. His name means 'follows the red sun', he is a member of the Harbingers camp, traveling to region to region as he is struck with visions of a red sun shining over widespread destruction. When his visions brought him to Sept of the Tri-Spiral near Drogheda, Caeli found herself moved by his mission and volunteered to help. Or at least, keep Seb's spirits up. His latest visions have brought him to the Pacific Northwest with visions of entire forests withered and ablaze, burning wolf and man alike. The young garou of the Elk Prairie Sentinels were the ones who volunteered to carry Seb's warning with him to Trillium. He is now traveling the world with Caeli traveling between septs and attempting to unite the tribes against this impending slow moving death.

Caeli "Rages-in-the-Dark Sept Role: Fostern Breed: Human-born Auspice: Ragabash Tribe: Bone Gnawers Raised in the UK, Caeli escaped a home with an alcoholic and abusive mother kinfolk, narrowly avoiding an induction into the Black Spiral Dancers. Having difficulties forming lasting friendships, Caeli took to street life comfortably. Circumstances brought her and Seb together when he came to Sept of the Tri-Spiral, where Caeli was mentoring under the Fianna and learning White Howler history. Learning of Seb's visions of Anthelios was sobering to the Bone Gnawer, who volunteered to travel with him and share his vision of the future, out of hopes of perhaps preventing another tribe from falling. Caeli has brought a deep anger with her into the garou nation, and expresses it through actions against scumbags that attack the bottom rung of humanity. She supported the pack as best she could in Trillium, but the small town life lead her back to Sept of the Swift Waters.

Marie "Culls-the-Tainted", Adren Human-Born Black Fury Ahroun, 28 (Player Character) hails from Lafayette, Louisiana. She is often seen around Aloha Lanes with Julie. Where she works the front counter, Julie maintains the pin-setting machines in the back. Unusually tall even as a child, as an adult she has to bend over in every doorway, standing at 7 feet tall. This made her an easy target in school, something she often responded to with direct confrontation. She experienced her first change when she and a group of her friends was attacked by a pack of fomori dogs. Her friends survived and the fomori dogs didn't, but what also died that day was her friendships and that old life. Shortly after she became fostern, her pack, which mostly consisted of Stargazers, disbanded when the Stargazers left the nation, and her packmates followed them to parts unknown, leaving her once again isolated. Taking a sabbatical with the Black Furies, she turned her focused inwards, trying to gain insights on what she wanted for herself. When news of the existence of Sept of the Trillium Glade, and by extension Dume'fa, reached the furies, Marie and her husband were sent to Trillium as a bit of a diplomatic overture from the rest of her tribe to work with Julie as an effort to introduce more humans to the sept. Upon arrival, she found an immediate kinship with Julie, and joined the Elk Prairie Sentinels pack. Having just gained the rank of Adren, Marie is now poised to serve as the Den Mother for any cubs in the sept, setting a new precedent, and high expectations, among it's Red Talon leadership. Her relationship with most of the garou in the sept can be described as distant at best and somewhat hostile at worst, but is the most qualified to train human cubs. She has a better relationship with the Ephemeral Mists than others in the sept, but things are still a little awkward.

[luckyavntrne]

i hope alhaitham's story quest revolves around him and not a random npc that we'll probably never talk to outside of the story quest

[tatteredworld]

Robin is a total gossip in between running the Greenhouse Garden and seeking out every party invitation she can get her hands on. Her heart is in the right place, though, as she really just wants to connect with people and try to make up for her occasional mistakes.

[tenshiharmonia]

Since it's (finally) Zygarde's time to shine, I must say, I'm quite surprised that it never became a trend among poké-fanartists to imagine new forms for the big hexagon guy. I mean, we already have 10, 50 and 100%, but that still leaves ninety-seven levels unaccounted for (ninety-six if you consider an individual cell or core to be 1%, but this one is debatable). What would a 25% forme look like ? Or 42% ? Or 80 ? Or 69 ? :3 Really, as far as Pokémon go, Zygarde's got such a fun and unique concept ; I'd think people would have been more inclined to toy with it…

[jaxxedup]

Just a tag dump!

[robo-dino-puppy]

horizon forbidden west | kotallo 4/?