Harrowing Silence

Harrowing Silence
Chosen Guardian of Her People
Background: When the lingering threat of the Winter Folk materialized in
the dead of night, a young woman who came of age as a street rat living on
the fringes of her society used knowledge of her village’s secrets to lead
her people to a long-forgotten mine — a place where they could safely
make their home underground and rebuild their community out of reach
of the fae that hunted them. It was this act of selflessness that captured
the attention of the Unconquered Sun, and the one known as Harrowing
Silence greeted the day and what remained of her home with new gifts
meant to help her protect those she had saved who now saw her as a hero.
With what was left of her decimated town repurposed for farmland,
Harrowing Silence now takes it upon herself to patrol the land above
the underground community and fend off anyone who dares approach
whether they are visitor, wanderer, or fae. She hides in plain sight
among the snow drifts, stalking a path around the entrance to the
mines and refusing to let anyone in or out as she fiercely protects the
villagers and their secrets. Traders and scavengers alike have spoken
of the mysterious woman who strikes down those who cross into her
territory, though the village itself is now a distant memory.
Desperate to maintain the life she knows and to retain the adora-
tion and fear of those who dwell within the mountain, Harrowing
Silence has become a terrifying threat as she begins to expand
the territory she claims as her own and as she grows more and
more consumed by the force that drives her: she was chosen to
protect her people, and anyone or anything that might interfere
with her doing so must be eliminated.
Image: Harrowing Silence is often seen as a flash of metal as her spear
slashes through air or a rush of wind kicking up a torrent of snow
before her tall, imposing figure is spotted through the fog. Her earth-
tone garments are often caked with snow when not serving as cam-
ouflage, and even her long hair glistens with beads of ice. She keeps
her garments lined with fur to protect against the cold, but is careful
not to wrap herself so tightly that her movements are inhibited.
Intimacies: Defining: “Without my home, I am nothing.;” Major:
Outsiders (Wary suspicion); “Change is the enemy of peace;” Minor:
Her spear (Prized possession)
Secrets: Though she tells the villagers that nothing waits for them
in the outside world, Harrowing Silence knows that the mines they
inhabit are still rich with ores thought to be lost to time. Several em-
issaries from the Heptagram and Whitewall’s colleges have been struck
down by her blades for surveying the nearby area for these minerals, and
she has begun venturing further from home in order to seek them out
before her people can be discovered.

Equipment: Spear, hunting knife, hide jerkin and fur
wraps, rucksack with rations. If she has recently been
hunting she will be carrying her quarry or items scav-
enged from an intruder.
Roleplaying Hints: Having learned that it is better to be
appreciated for her ability to strike fear into those she
encounters than to be unknown and lost to history, her
focus is rooted in a desire for acceptance and she could
be open to persuasion if one were to choose the right
words when addressing her.
Caste: Night
Supernal Ability: Stealth
Anima: A great bird of prey
Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 4, Stamina 4; Cha-
risma 2, Manipulation 1, Appearance 4; Perception
4, Intelligence 3, Wits 4
Essence: 2;
Willpower: 6
Join Battle: 8 dice
Personal Motes: 16
Peripheral Motes: 40
Health Levels: -0/-1x3/-2x4/-4/Incap.
Abilities: Athletics 3, Awareness 4, Brawl 1, Dodge
3, Integrity 2, Investigation 1, Melee 3, Presence 1,
Resistance 2, Stealth 5, Survival 5, Thrown 3
Merits: Demesne 2, Direction Sense 1, Fast Reflexes
3, Tempered By The Elements 2 – Deep Snow
Specialties: Melee (Spear), Survival (Tracking)
Attack (Spear): 9 dice – Lethal, Melee, Piercing,
Reaching (damage 15)
Attack (Hunting Knife): 11 dice – Lethal, Melee,
Thrown (Short) (damage 11)
Combat: Soak 6 (Light Armor +3); Parry: 5 (melee);
Evasion: 4; Rush: 3 dice; Resolve: 3; Guile: 1; Disen-
gage: 7 dice
Charms
Sensory Acuity Prana (5m; Reflexive; One scene):
Sharpening her senses in order to more easily monitor
her surroundings, for the rest of the scene Harrowing
Silence’s Awareness rolls benefit from double 9s.
Surprise Anticipation Method (Reflexive; Instant):
Harrowing Silence’s keen senses and familiarity with
her surroundings aid in guarding her from threats she
is not consciously aware of, and threats revealed while
she is asleep or unconscious automatically wake her.
Awareness checks to reveal any source of harm grant 1
mote of Essence for every 9 that is rolled and 2 motes for
every 10. These motes can only be used to offset the cost
of Awareness Charms used to reveal a threat.
Keen Hearing and Touch Technique (3m; Simple; One
scene): With a simple touch Harrowing Silence may
identify materials she knows, or she may instead listen
intently for otherwise unnoticeable. For the rest of the
scene she automatically succeeds at rolls of difficulty 2,
and for more complicated actions the difficulty is low-
ered by 1. For 6 motes, this charm lasts indefinitely.
Studied Ear Espial (1m; Reflexive; Instant): Focusing
on sounds of movement, Harrowing Silence is can notice
anything that disturbs the stillness around her. She gains
+3 dice to spot a character attempting to move in stealth.
Reed in the Wind (2i per 1 Evasion; Reflexive; Perilous;
Instant): Drawing on her own momentum in response to
an attack, Harrowing Silence gains 1 Evasion. She may
spend additional Initiative to gain multiple Evasion,
and raises the cap on how much she may enhance her
Evasion with her Essence.
Excellent Strike (3m; Supplemental; Uniform; Instant):
Harrowing Silence channels her Essence to hone her
accuracy and gains one automatic success in her attack.
She also rerolls all 1s until they no longer appear.
One Weapon, Two Blows (3m; Reflexive; Instant):
While trading blows, Harrowing Silence senses an open-
ing to strike with great speed. After making a withering
attack that lowers her opponents Initiative below her
own she may use this charm to unleash a second wither-
ing or decisive attack against that opponent.
Ox-Body Technique (Stackable; Permanent): Harrowing
Silence is more durable than her mortal counterparts and
has gained one -1 and two -2 health levels.
Blinding Battle Feint (3m; Supplemental; Instant):
Leaping in and out of battle with nigh untraceable speed,
Harrowing Silence may use her (Dexterity + Stealth) to
Join Battle. If she beats her opponents Awareness-based
Join Battle roll she is automatically concealed so long as
there is a viable place to hide, and any other Join Battle
rolls from foes must make an Awareness check to be able
to detect her.
Guardian Fog Approach (3m; Simple; Mute; Instant):
Harrowing Silence may obscure another someone else
with her own efforts to remain hidden so long as she is
touching them and is also attempting a Stealth action.
Half of her successes and any stunt bonuses on this ac-
tion are added as dice to her charge’s stealth roll.
Dark Sentinel’s Way (1m; Reflexive; Mute; Instant):
Harrowing Silence may use a defend other action on a
subject and conceal her action while hidden. Parrying
incoming attacks cause her to flicker briefly into view
before vanishing once more.
Smoke and Shadow Cover (3m; Reflexive; Mute;
Instant): Becoming one with the shadows, Harrowing
Silence may treat mild concealment as light cover, heavy
concealment as heavy cover, and completely dark envi-
ronments as full cover. This requires a take cover combat
action that replaces her Dodge with Stealth unless she is
already concealed, and ranged attacks are penalized by
one success.
Shadow-Crossing Leap Technique (5m, 1wp; Reflexive;
Mute; Instant): Unfurling her unseen anima, Harrowing
Silence leaps to join the darkness she has conquered to
instantly move up to one range band from one place of
cover to another without penalty if there is a sufficient
path for her to do so.
Flashing Nocturne Prana (10m, 1wp; Reflexive; Mute,
Perilous; Indefinite;): In concealment, Harrowing
Silence marks her current location. By ending this
Charm she instantly returns to it, as long as she is within
long range, and automatically enters concealment. She
can’t be detected at all for two rounds.
Hardship-Surviving Mendicant Spirit (5m; Reflexive;
One day): In concealment, Harrowing Silence marks her
current location. By ending this Charm she instantly re-
turns to it, as long as she is within long range, and auto-
matically enters concealment. She can’t be detected at
all for two rounds.
Trackless Region Navigation (5m, 1wp; Reflexive;
Indefinite): Greatly familiar with her surroundings,
Harrowing Silence and a group of up to 4 followers can
travel through her region with ease and automatically
succeed on any Survival rolls to find the next shelter.
Unshakeable Bloodhound Technique (4m;
Supplemental; Instant): Harrowing Silence may track
someone by instinct, even if there are few signs of their
presence. When making a (Perception + Survival) roll
she may reroll all 5s and 6s until they no longer appear
and treat 1s rolled by her opposition as 10s for her results.
Precision of the Striking Raptor (1m; Supplemental;
Withering-only; Instant): Imbuing her hunting knife
with Essence, Harrowing Silence is able to throw it as
if she were at close range regardless of the distance be-
tween her and her target. If she is already at close range,
the target’s defense is lowered by one.
Joint Wounding Attack (3m; Supplemental; Decisive-
only, Stackable; Instant): Marking her target, Harrowing
Silence throws her knife with deadly purpose. If it does
at least three damage, her opponent adds -3 to their dice
pools for the rest of the scene.