Body Horror Quest Dramatis Personae

PARTY MEMBERS:

Shu: The player character and main viewpoint. Technically a clone, it's complicated. Has known no life save the Crucible. Chronic hero syndrome, keeps getting into epic conflicts to prevent would-be gods from using the power of the Crucible to lord over humanity. Has rapidly gained a reputation for heroism that burgeons on the messianic, is not comfortable with that. Core power is Hive Mistress, has chitin plating and ports from which insect drones can spawn. Gina's girlfriend, and Amara's adoptive mother.

Gina: Party's second-in-command. Former computer science major, still geeks out over Hexane technology. Has some dark events in her past, doesn't like to talk about them. Does her best to move past them by being compassionate and kind. Is secretly a huge pervert, writes smutfic about her own life. Big music fan, likes to DJ when gets the chance. Core power is Neuromancer, has grown circuitry patterns in amethyst all over her body. Shu's girlfriend.

Rath: Party brawler and tank. Original name Rachel, renamed herself in a moment of edgy pique after the end of the world. Childhood spent in a repressive religious family, struggles with asserting her own interests and identity. Likes guns, machinery, and tall women. Also one of the party's best crafters, loves working at a Forge. Core power is Vitruvian, has been hybridized with Fibromancer and Generator. Body is made of superheated material, also can separate at any joint on monowire strings. November's niece.

Julia: Shrinking violet artist. Always suffered from difficulty expressing herself, enjoyed the freedom that becoming a Flesh Artisan gave her to shape her art. Favorite sculpting material is her own flesh, often appears like a flayed corpse as a result. Actually finds this liberating, feels ironically less judged on her appearance when she's a terrifying ghoul. Despite appearance, probably the kindest and most selfless member of the party. Currently in the town of Laoc, helping the inhabitants. Dating Dorian.

Dorian: Another artist and Flesh Artisan. Only male member of party, is trans man and the Crucible defines "female" by biology only so he slipped in under the cut. Styles himself as a Victorian gentleman, can be rather hammy at times. Has a dorky side, though, he loves vampire fiction. Also a bit of a big drinker, regeneration means he doesn't feel the side effects. Dearly misses his mother and sister, who did not make it into the Crucible. Core power has mutated him to be a living thunderstorm of blood, looks totally sweet. Dating Julia.

Amara: A young child whose cocoon was found by the party. Sees the Crucible as an adventure, so far no amount of gore or violence has shaken that idea from her, though she has learned to take things seriously. May be categorically incapable of finding anything gross. Family is gone, Amara has not been forthcoming with specifics. Core ability is Skintalker, her enhanced senses and access to a global "skinternet" communications network have inspired her to mischieviousness. Unnatural Predator mutations have given her cat ears. Also always accompanied by a swarm of clones of herself under her control. Sees Shu as a mother figure. Owner of Sir FuzzBuzz.

November: A cyborg supersoldier. Formerly a Daughter like any other, but out of disgust at her new body and a little bit of PTSD sought out a group called the Disassociated who were experimenting with cyborg technology as a way to fix the problems of Daughter existence. Is now a one-woman gunship. Spent some time floundering and withdrawing into herself in a state of depression. Since meeting the party has become much more lively and happy with her existence, has a purpose to live for again. Fond of terrible "dad jokes" and showing off the cool features on her robot body. Is actually Rath's lost aunt Heather, originally concealed this from her out of shame but has since revealed it to her.

Francine: One of Dr. West's Proxies, Daughters who have been remodeled into duplicates of her and implanted with a copy of West's mind. Hates her originator and everything she inherited from her, was at one point suicidal over it. Has hacked herself to break her link to West, and then went on to break the entire Proxy swarm's link with the help of the party. Now she's looking for a new purpose in life. Artistically-minded, with a droll wit. Has no proper Core, it's complicated. Mutations have made her something of a dryad, growing plant-like features.

Sir FuzzBuzz: The fluffiest bee. Shu originated the FuzzBuzzes as a way to normalize insects crawling out of her body and make it less gross. Serve as cute party mascots. Later, a Knight-class swarmling was modified with FuzzBuzz aesthetics and set to the task of guarding Amara. Is the size of a large dog, is rapidly growing in intelligence as he matures, and can breathe fire. Everyone loves him.


FORMER PARTY MEMBERS

B'Ni: An unfortunate case. Knew Sam, the person from whom Shu was cloned, before the Crucible. Was treated horribly by Sam, emotionally abused and groomed to hang on her every word. Developed a bit of an obsession with her. Was ultimately not able to separate Shu from Sam in her perception of them, interpreting Shu's actions as a continuation of Sam's manipulating her. Turned on the party, tried to kill them. Successfully managed to con Mother into giving her a great deal of power, was defeated with the aid of the Midnight Crew, the manifested forms of our Dream Daughters, and the biotechnology of the sunken Hexane city of Almath. Now dead, she resides as a dream Daughter inside Shu. Previously very obsessive and emotionally unstable, is working to form more honest emotional relationships with her fellow dream Daughters. Is mostly succeeding at it, even if she occasionally gets overwhelmed by regret. Relations between her and the rest of the party are strained, but improving.

DREAM DAUGHTERS
When a Daughter consumes another, the dead Daughter is not lost. Instead she resides within the Dreamscape, a virtual world inside the victorious Daughter's mind. Shu's party has made an effort to befriend their dream Daughters, as many of them had little choice due to Hunger madness and even the ones who did aren't necessarily bad so much as desperate. To do a quick recap of the more relevant ones:

Holly: Resides in Shu. Earliest dream Daughter acquired by the party. Frames herself as a fun-loving party girl, does her best to keep people cheery and focusing on solving problems instead of dwelling.

Joanna: Resides in Shu. A suitheist, very big on self-actualization and people learning to be their best selves. Enjoys her mutations, kept them as part of her self-image in the Dreamscape.

Uzu: Resides in Shu. Refusal to accept help from others lead to her becoming Hunger-mad and killing a lot of people. Feels quite some guilt over that. Is working to move past it, has actually become something of a therapist to the rest of the dream Daughters.

Kosi: Resides in Gina. Gina's best friend. Turned into a city-sized cancerous mass by the Crucible. Went a little insane. Was killed by Marrow Dragoon. Now that she's a dream Daughter her sanity has been restored and she's turned out to be an absolutely filthy-minded shipper. Wow, so much smut.

Meg: Resides in Gina. A former boxer. Has been teaching Rath how to fight bare-fisted in their spare time.

Silvis: Resides in Rath. One of the Hexane Ascendants, twelve alien heroes from the last cycle of the Crucible. Has a "working bloke" attitude, gets along well with Rath. Highly critical of the final days of Hexane society.

Mulvath: Resides in Gina. Another Hexane Ascendant. Basically Hedonismbot from Futurama as a three meter-tall plant-insect-humanoid.

Vultha: Resides in Dorian. A Hexane Ascendant. Had romantic feelings for Mother back when she was Ozmas. A historian, keeps a virtual library of Hexane culture.

Cheruem: Resides in Amara. The final Ascendant in the party. Grumpy and dignified, but has a soft spot for Amara. Has been teaching her sword fighting.

The Sororitas: Resides in Amara. A group of girls who fused together as a result of their mutations. Frightening, but ultimately harmless. Were later found vivisected by Dr. West. Amara absorbed them to give them a new home, and they're now her playmates in the dreamscape.

Sasha: Resides in Amara. Leader of a group of predatory Daughters that tried to eat us. Lost, was eaten in exchange. Has come to appreciate the irony and is a grumpy but not hostile presence in Amara's dreamscape. Likes the kids.

Yurei: Resides in Francine. A Daughter who had a plan to trap everyone in a virtual world like the dreamscape, thinking that it would be a utopian solution to end all suffering and pain. Had to be fought when it became clear she had no intentions of this being voluntary. Has since become...somewhat accepting of Shu's perspective, though she still thinks her idea has merit even if it might be wrong to force it on people.

Gemma: Resides in Julia. A Daughter with multiple personality disorder, each alter manifested as a separate Daughter. The Gemma in Julia is an alter that desired unification, and so tried to manipulate her into hunting down and eating the other alters. She's been chastised for this, though Julia forgives her and they're trying to forge a better relationship.

Assorted other Daughters of varying interest, but who haven't had repeated appearances.

OTHER CHARACTERS OF NOTE

Mother: The "winner" of the last round of the Crucible. Formerly named Ozmas, all winners become Mother upon victory. One of the Hexane Ascendants, became convinced her world was beyond saving and that it had to be destroyed and remade from scratch. Betrayed all her party to get to the top and take the throne, only to learn that it was a trap and that victory only ended in the death of her world and her enslavement to the Crucible's systems. Very bitter about this. Currently powerless, after B'Ni's deceptions, claims to just want to die but can not be trusted. Hates Shu with a passion, for daring to stand against the Crucible and have hope.

Charon: Formerly Reyva, one of the Ascendants. Ozmas' most loyal supporter, who realized too late what she had planned. Tried to stop her at the last minute, for their rebellion they were reshaped into an agent of the Crucible's maintenance, tasked with destroying those who would destabilize the system. Has been freed from this task, now seeks to help humanity survive until Shu can end the Crucible. Sees themselves as owing Shu a great debt for gifting them a new name and helping them escape their durance. A bit of a morose figure, who doesn't entirely understand humanity and often makes innocent mistakes, but is growing back into themself. Talks in telepathic ALLCAPS, has no indoor voice.

Ringo: The Tindalos Alpha. One of the first species consumed by the Crucible was a breed of extradimensional canines, hunting across time and space. The Mother of their cycle managed to save the Tindalos by binding them to the Crucible, housing them inside the Cord and allowing them to be enlisted as guardians of important structures. Ringo was met and befriended by the party while she was in this role, protecting a Sparagmos Engine. She's since been freed from the Crucible's control and is now partners with Charon. Has a great affection for Amara, as Skintalkers' abilities were originally derived from the Tindalos' biology and so she sees Amara as a young pup. Also just likes the party because they give good chin scratches.

Karma: A biotechnological artificial intelligence residing within Shu's guns. Originally crafted by Charon during their world's Crucible, they are a shapeshifting omni-weapon that evolves to suit its user. Karma is also a great source of information on Hexane lore and culture, capable of doing analysis and study of things in Shu's environment, and extremely clingy. She really likes hugs.

Themis and Velen: Two of the Ascendants, notable in that they died without anyone recovering their bodies and so their minds should be lost. Something strange happened as a result of a strange way in which Mother tried to make a monster to send after us, and now they've been resurrected. Themis was apparently something of a sociopathic mad scientist in his first life, having gone insane and hurting a lot of people when Velen died, but in this new chance he has no memory of that happening and is deeply mortified to have been told of it. Velen is his partner and stabilizing influence, a biologist who has become even more plantlike than the average Hexane. She's actually used her powers to grow around and fuse with Themis, letting them operate as a single unit.

Marrow Dragoon: One of the most powerful Daughters in the Crucible. Appears as a bone-armored knight riding a dragon construct. Is actually the dragon talking to people through a knight-shaped construct, possibly most mutated Daughter in Crucible. Former investment banker, tends to see things in terms of economics. Secretly responsible for sustaining civilization across the Crucible, it's weirder to find a community that she didn't found than one she did. Has been implied to have some sinister plan, but so far no evidence of any wrongdoing has been shown. Tested Shu's convictions, now believes in her as a hope for humanity and has given her support. Currently is guarding the entrance to the Cord, preventing any other Daughters from climbing it.

Magpie: Marrow Dragoon's former partner. Had some sort of falling out with her at some point, though still works together when needed. Served as a sort of grumpy mentor figure to Shu...until something triggered her to go on a killing spree, annihilating the settlements that Marrow Dragoon had made. Seemed to believe that they were actually a threat somehow. Was incapable of explaining why, appeared to have some sort of sleeper program controlling her behavior and limiting what information she could share. Had to be killed to stop her, unfortunately she erased her mind-state to prevent the sleeper program from being passed to Shu and harming her. A mystery to be solved.

Dr. West: Francine Randolph West, the greatest villain of the Crucible. A polymath doctor who, fascinated with the potential of the Crucible to advance the biological sciences, went full Mengele. No experiment is too unethical for her. Is infuriatingly catty and urbane with those she's hurting in the pursuit of science. Has converted many innocent people into cyborg mind-jacked slaves, her Proxies. Plans to take control of the Crucible and travel the universe doing mad science on innocent planets until she can become the ultimate organism and build the perfect world, because she's being entirely too consequentialist and sees any crime as just fine if it has a positive outcome in the end. Hasn't been seen in person, but is probably mutated into a giant jellyfish at this point.

West Proxy Alpha: One of the first of West's Proxies, built alongside the party's Francine. Rather than imitating West's personality and scientific abilities, Alpha is designed to be a near-robotic hunter-killer. Possesses massively powerful cyborg frame, engineered with power systems that actually ramp up the greater the threat she faces. Previously without a personality, but after Francine's crashing of the Proxy network has started to question her existence and what it means. Was last seen heading west to find Dr. West and confront her to some unclear purpose. Has agreed not to harm any other Daughters unless attacked first.

Professor Uzu: Uzu's grandmother, a powerful Neuromancer who climbed the Cord and studied the secrets of the Crucible, relaying information back to a construct recording it for her. After her death in the Cord, the construct inherited enough of her personality to act in her stead to a degree, something which upset her granddaughter. Her notes make cryptic reference to a "Mother of All", almost like a prophecy. It's implied that Shu might be the Mother of All, but if so, we don't know what that means.

A: A former protege of Marrow Dragoon's. Something went wrong with testing her powers, she's now not entirely sane. Apparently immune to the Hunger that drives other Daughters mad, though, just going to sleep when it overtakes her instead of being driven to consume others. Seems to know something about the Mother of All mentioned in Professor Uzu's notes, but isn't entirely lucid enough to say what. Friendly enough, though. Full name is likely "Alicja". Polish, often peppers speech with Polish phrases.

Cassandra: A high-ranking member of the Disassociated, the group of cyborgs that Francine worked with and that November got her body from. Basically a giant robot head in their basement. Friendly, though, and was willing to share a lot of information on the state of the world beyond the Cord-adjacent regions the quest takes place in. Knew Professor Uzu, but didn't reveal any knowledge on what the Mother of All might be. Is leaving for space soon, as the Disassociated plan to escape the Crucible by rocketing to the outer solar system and building a robotic civilization there. Kind of awesome, really.

Orwell: A skinternet blogger and media presence, using her medium to help people by relaying messages of hope, fighting off misinformation, and helping educate the populace on dangers. She's also a scrawny teenager who really needs to shower. Been locked up in her streaming cave for too long. She's become a staunch ally of the party, being fascinated with Shu's story and wanting to help her achieve her goal of saving the world. Very inquisitve and focused when on the job, gets awkward when not in a professional setting and isn't sure what to do with herself. Is also extremely fond of Amara, being reminded of her own little sister. Amara is a fan of her stream, too, so they get along very well. Was mentioned to have a bodyguard at some point, but no such character has ever appeared. Weird.

The Midnight Crew: A group of four Humoral Paladins, one for each humor. Choleric Jacky, sanguine Quinn, phlegmatic Keane, and melancholic Ace. Originally sort of a rival group to the party, after we worked together to defeat Uzu's monster form they became good friends and trustworthy allies. Jacky still sees herself as a bit of a rival to Shu, though that might just be her flirting. It's unclear. They've come to our aid on a number of occasions, and relationships between our groups are very strong. Special note should be made to Keane and Amara bonding, with the somewhat emotionally childish Keane getting along great with our adopted daughter. An additional note of interest is that Jacky has recently acquired a powerful sword that does not appear to be of human or Hexane construction. It may be the work of the same species that made the Crucible to begin with. Also, yes, their name is a Homestuck reference, Keane is a nerd.

The Barbers: Another allied group. Rosa, Sia, Sugar and Betty. Kind of fangirls of the party, to start with, seeing us as these super-cool heroes. We worked together against Yurei, and now we're buddies. Of special note, Sugar apparently spent a lot of time delving deep into the flesh of the Crucible, and half-remembers discovering things about its fundamental nature, including what the Mother of All is. She can't properly articulate it, though. Sia is also an interesting case, being one of the Gemma alters and having no desire whatsoever to integrate. She's just fine being a completely separate entity. Very nice, actually, helped Shu work past some issues she was being anxious over.

The Hyenas: A group of Unnatural Predator mercenaries first found working for Yurei. They don't begrudge us killing their employer, though, we talked it out over drinks and now we're fine with each other. Currently they've been hired to defend the town of Laoc, which is where Julia is also assisting, leading to Julia adopting a bit of their biker chick aesthetic. Only three of them have been named: Ivey, their leader who doesn't wear pants and so posting images of her is tricky on a blue board, her second in command Razorback who apparently has a crush on her, and a little girl named Anna who serves as their scout with her Skintalker powers, and who Amara has befriended.

Sam: Shu's progenitor. A manipulative and self-centered young woman, though one with a potentially sympathetic backstory of abuse. Treated B'Ni like a pet, stringing her along and using her in various schemes to advance herself. When B'Ni finally realized how little Sam cared for her, she clubbed her head in with a lava lamp. This lead to errors in the assimilation process the Crucible uses, and instead of fixing Sam's injury it created an entirely new person, Shu. But Sam lived on as a presence in the back of Shu's head, raging at her powerlessness. She also threatened Shu a few times, which made her situation worse as Shu did not realize that she wasn't in any danger and so tried to keep Sam locked up tight. Eventually they reconciled, and Sam was decanted into a new body made by the Disassociated. Sam's still kind of a horrible bitch, but she's at least trying to be decent to people now. We don't have much contact with her, though.

The Pyre Ant Queen: A rare instance of a sapient Amalgam, capable of thinking more complex thoughts than those needed for hunting. Even rarer, something that should not be possible unless the Crucible is malfunctioning, she's capable of reproducing. She has an entire mound of sapient ant-people. Against all odds (we rolled REALLY well) we managed to make peace with the Pyre Ants through the medium of FuzzBuzz. Yeah, seeing our cute bee mascot convinced them that we could be allies instead of food or enemies. She's actually become quite friendly.

The Guardian Amalgams: Three enormous super-monsters that Mother released into the world in a fit of frustration and despair at her situation. Designed to defend the Crucible from outside threats, with no clear enemy around they're wandering aimlessly. They haven't attacked anyone, but their presence exacerbates the Hunger and so they're still causing a lot of harm. One can fly, one is a sea monster, one is a land-dweller.

THE NOTHING: We have no idea what this thing is. All we know is that it's a presence that can be sensed by gazing inside the high-energy cores of the Forge technology that's used to manipulate biomass into Relics. The way it's talked implies that it's got some sort of administrative role over the Crucibles. That it is, while not their creator, something set to watch over them. It says its rooting for Shu, even though it's not supposed to play favorites. It's also fascinated that Shu would give up power to make other people safer and more free. Time will tell if it contacts us again.