Durant 'our snake' - Ars-Archange/ars-pbp GitHub Wiki

Durant 'our snake'

Characteristics : Int 0, Per +1, Com -1, Pre 0, Sta 0, Str +1, Dex +2, Qik +2

Personality Traits : Ambitious (become best spymaster) +6, Brave +2, Secretive +3

Age : 30 (30)

Born : 1170

Last Updated : Spring 1200

Confidence : 2 (5)

Reputation: Depending on the name used: Usurer (4), Gossip (2), Merchant (2)

Aging Modifiers: No longevity rituals, +2 Wealthy, -1 Poor Living Conditions

Virtues and Flaws

  • Merchant (0)
  • Forgettable Face (1)
  • Gossip (1)
  • Social Contacts - Rogues and Criminals (1)
  • Piercing Gaze (1)
  • Minor Enchantments (1x2)
  • Self-Confident (1)
  • Wealthy (3)
  • Ambitious (-3)
  • Bigamist (-3)
  • Usurer (-1)
  • Poor Living Conditions (-1)
  • Magical Fascination (-1)
  • Secretive (-1)

Abilities

Ability Speciality Start XP Game XP Total Score Comment
Occitan Provençal native 0 75 5 -
Hebrew slang 50 0 50 4 -
Latin classical usage 0 17 17 2 -
Animal Handling dogs 5 - 5 1 -
Area Lore - Narbonnais nobility 30 - 30 3 -
Area Lore - Arelat urban areas 10 - 10 1 -
Athletics climbing 30 - 30 3 -
Awareness urban 30 - 30 3 -
Bargain favors 15 2 17 2 -
Brawl knife 50 - 50 4 -
Carouse game of chances 15 - 15 2 -
Charm commoners 5 - 5 1 -
Church Lore personalities 5 - 5 1 -
Etiquette nobles 15 - 15 2 -
Folk Ken commoners 30 - 30 3 -
Guile lying to authority 75 - 75 5 -
Infernal Lore demons 0 1 1 0 -
Intrigue rumormongering 50 4 54 4 -
Judaic Lore folklore 0 5 5 1 -
Leadership intimidation 5 - 5 1 -
Legerdemain filching 50 - 50 4 -
Magic Lore creatures 5 - 5 1 -
Order of Hermes Lore personalities 5 - 5 1 -
Ride speed 5 - 5 1 -
Stealth shadowing 50 - 50 4 -
Survival mountains 5 - 5 1 -
Swim underwater 5 - 5 1 -

Magical Items

Iron Ring of the Recognizable Spy (Invested Item)

  • Effect 1 - 10 spell levels: MuIm Spell 2 (Base 1, +1 Concentration) +3 (6 uses per day) +5 item maintains concentration): This power is used to change the look of the item into a particular type of jewelry, which Durant uses to either collect on debtors or to report to nobles or the covenant, since most people forget what he looks like after meeting him, but might recognize gaudy jewelry.
  • Effect 2 - 10 spell levels: As Eyes of the Cat, once per day, D: Conc, item maintains concentration.
  • Effect 3 - 10 spell levels: As Ears of the Hare, once per day, touch range, D: Conc, item maintains concentration.
  • The iron ring is still opened with 2 unused pawns. The ring is otherwise rather plain.

Boots of Quick Escape (Lesser Enchantment) 20: ReCo Spell 20 (Base 15, +1 touch): Allows the wearer to jump as per Gift of the Frog's Legs.

Equipment

  • Excellent Knife +1
  • Lock-picking tools, hidden in boot compartment
  • Double-sided cloak, one side is black, the other side is brown
  • Assorted traveling merchant wares and gear in cart
  • Riding Horse

Advancement log

Pre-game: 45 xp childhood, 25 years at 20 xp per year (Wealthy)

Background notes

Known as Durant and colloquially "Our Snake" to the covenant, this is a man of many names and many locales. His main loyalty is to the covenant, largely due to his fascination for all things magical - which is how they roped him in, and then wisely fixed an arcane connection to this man who can show up at the gates of the covenant without the guards being sure if it's him again, despite almost a decade of service, until he displays the covenant's sigil with a snake imprinted on it using his ring. The covenant has used him for many purposes - mostly as a spymaster of sort, seeing how he travels and compulsively collects gossip and information accross the Narbonais, and occasionally the Arelat. But they are aware he has other uses, including spreading rumors on opponents, stealing useful items, and even getting a mundane killed. The snake is, however, not particularly violent (although he has threatened debtors and broken legs in the past), but he has his entries in the underworld, and finding a criminal willing the do the jobs he isn't willing to do himself isn't terribly difficult.

His personal fortune is not tied to the covenant, however, it is tied to his personal business as a traveling merchant officially, and unofficially to his money-lending network mostly done through intermediaries which he uses to minimize the time spent lending and collecting debts - although sometimes his intermediaries need help breaking a leg or making a point. People seem to forget what he looks like as time goes by, and so Durant uses the ring to remind them of whatever name he last gave them. He probably wears a half-dozen aliases in the Narbonais alone, and maintains two stable households. As such, his reputations are not connected to each other. Part of his spare income is spent to keep his wives happy while he's away, and part of it is occasionally used to offer bribes, fees to criminals for jobs, and pay drinks for information. When an information is particularly juicy, he may peddle it back to a local noble or churchmen. This allows him entries an average merchant might not. He is loyal to the covenant first, but they are not the only ones who are privy to the information he collects. His poor living conditions is due to the sometimes unsavory locales he is forced to frequent to get the information he seeks. He sometimes like to remind the covenant that he's doing them favors, spending his cash and time for them, and that a new trinket would be nice. How much they indulge him is up to them - he's probably too hooked on being occasionally close to magic users to leave, although being shown some appreciation as their "spymaster" seems to flatter his ego.

Agents

Name Location Social Status Modifiers Resources Resistance Strength Agency Points Relationship with Durant Bond Score Comments
Estève Montpellier Town Magistrate (Minor) Dependant Underlings +1 2 Loyal --- Recruitment underway