Crossbreeds in Poughkeepsie

I missed a day, yesterday, so I'll post another one tonight.

- Moe

Crossbreeds in Poughkeepsie

The Symphonically dead nature of Poughkeepsie tends to dissuade supernatural entities from settling there, as even the ones capable of surviving the town's unique environment rarely enjoy the experience. This is not to say that there isn't the odd refugee or two; but it's unlikely that they're voluntary settlers. Things have to be bad before a supernatural entity finds Poughkeepsie to be an attractive alternative.

Things are bad for Gorgons and Nephellim.

There aren't that many, mind you. To start with, there aren't that many, period, unless Eli's been busy (and how the Hell do you know that he hasn't? If Dominic doesn't know, trust me, neither do you). The ones that do get created often don't last long, thanks to the numerous things inherently wrong with them. And, of course, it isn't as if Poughkeepsie advertises itself as a blind spot in the Symphony; quite the opposite. But it is possible to get a message out, and the first Gorgon to discover Poughkeepsie's silver lining was sufficiently altruistic to want to broadcast it. You see, the unnatural stresses that define both Nephellim and Gorgons are precisely that - unnatural. Inside the Bubble, they become pale shadows of themselves - and treatable, to boot.

In game terms, a crossbreed's inherent disadvantages get reduced to level/1 when inside Poughkeepsie's borders. Furthermore, the crossbreed may buy off that level/1 with earned experience points (or GM fiat, for NPCs) and a good in-game reason (usually, plastic surgery and/or psychiatric counseling, both of which are available). Should the crossbreed leave the Bubble, the disadvantages come right back, at the old level (points spent on reducing the disadvantage are not lost permanently, however). GMs running games centered in Poughkeepsie should cap the points gotten by Gorgon or Nephellim PCs for their inherent disadvantages at the 1/level, even if the intent is to have the campaign action mostly outside of the Bubble.

Needless to say, by now there's definitely a crossbreed presence in Poughkeepsie; they mostly congregate in one neighborhood, keep to themselves until the major surgeries and therapies are done, use each other as job references... and never, ever leave if they can help it. Crossbreeds do not have an overly regimented shadow life, mind: they need quiet places where physical and mental alterations can occur, safely off of the record, and they need good forgeries. What formal organization exists is for those two main needs; other than that, crossbreeds just want to be left alone and live a normal-enough life. What they intend to do when the first ones start dying of old age has not yet been determined, but the crossbreed community will no doubt work something out on their own. That's sort of the point, really.

Crossbreeds in Poughkeepsie are, officially, unaffiliated with everybody in the War, and mostly everybody in the War returns the favor. Heaven and Hell have enough trouble working in the Bubble without adding the chore of hassling entities with a vested interest in staying under the radar, the various ethereal spirits have learned by now that they are loathed by both halves of the crossbreed community and there's nothing in Poughkeepsie to interest a Sorcerer anyway. Individual crossbreeds may do jobs for individual outsiders, but the majority prefers to keep a healthy distance away from the esoteric, and who can blame them for that?

But there remains the occasional rumor that the crossbreeds are working for someone. It's hard to tell, but they do exhibit signs of possibly having an agenda of some sort - beyond the obvious ones of integrating new immigrants into the community and going on with their new lives.

Indira Khan, MD

Gorgon

Age: 54

 

Corporeal Forces: 3 Strength: 6 Agility: 6

Ethereal Forces: 3 Intelligence: 6 Precision: 6

Celestial Forces: 2 Will: 4 Perception: 4

Charisma +1

Status/4 (doctor)

Disadvantages: Vestiligum/1 (Bought off), Angry/1 (bought off), Murderous/1 (bought off)

Skills: Dodge/3, Emote/3, Fighting/6, Knowledge (Lore of the War/3, Psychiatry/3), Medicine/6, Move Silently/2, Ranged Weapon/4 (rifle), Tactics/3

Songs: None

Indira is, despite the name and Gorgonic form, not the child of a Hindu ethereal spirit; she is not actually certain of her father's origin, although she'd be happy enough to find out. There's a favor or two that she'd like from local agents of the Host, and trading them the name of a spirit capable of Ethereal Fruition would make a fine exchange.

She is the head of the crossbreed community in Poughkeepsie: her Gorgonic nature (essentially, a naga) manifested relatively late in her life, but a lucky set of circumstances surrounding her botched suicide attempt (essentially, the river that she picked to drown herself in was the Hudson) led her to discover Poughkeepsie's odd environment. A bit of experimentation provided her with a map of the area of effect; a certain amount of discreet research gave her both an understanding of the actual nature of the universe and the names of some people who could profit from joining her inside the Bubble. She's been carefully bringing Gorgons and Nephellim inside ever since.

Dr. Khan is both conscientious and thorough in her self-imposed duty. She has managed to create a network of illegal-but-who-cares surgical facilities, recovery rooms and psychological counseling centers that make up the backbone of crossbreed rehabilitation procedures; she is also the one that mediates what disputes crop up. Her major interest is finding someone who can replace her in both capacities. Not that she has any desire to retire, just yet, but she's not getting any younger, either.

Comments

[Chris Anthony]

Mentioning the Grigori has reminded me of another question - what happens to disturbance that happens outside of Poughkeepsie? Does the border of the town simply nullify any disturbance? (I tend to assume so, given its blank-spot nature.) For that matter, what happens to a celestial who dies (corporeally) in Poughkeepsie - can he recorporate where he died, or does he have to descend a Tether? (Or does the descending angel/demon simply hit a point 5 miles above Poughkeepsie and recorporate suddenly? Are Malakim who frequent the city now in the habit of requesting parachutes with new vessels?)

Also: Nephallim. ;)