Page 246 - Chronicles of Darkness

Speed: 16 parameters are dictated by her boss, who receives his orders
Defense: 6 from someone higher up. Presumably, these parameters are
Initiative: 8 set by the entity they are appeasing, and something about
the victim satisfies its needs and prevents world annihila-
Supernatural Aspects: tion. Margret analyzes each individual for these parameters
• Drain: As the Numen (p. 137). Lucien can and selects the one with the best fit. She then informs her
drain Health or Willpower. It must touch its target superiors and the individual is brought in for sacrifice.
(Dexterity + Brawl to do so in combat). The roll to Most of the time, the sacrifices come from internal sources.
activate the power is Strength + Resolve, op- Sometimes they come from other companies or completely
posed by Resolve + Composure + Supernatural unassociated outside sources.
Tolerance (if draining Willpower) or Resolve + Margret doesn’t know if she believes she is saving the
Stamina + Supernatural Tolerance (if draining world, but she has always done her best at any job she has.
Health). If Lucien wins, it gains Willpower or
Health equal to the successes rolled. The truth of the matter is far less glamorous than saving
the world. She is selecting individuals based on a pattern
• Emotional Aura: As the Numen (p. 137). set forth by the God-Machine to keep some gears well-oiled
• Unnatural Hunger: Lucien loses two points and functioning.
of Willpower per day. It must use Drain to Description: Margret Avery is a middle-aged woman with
replenish this Willpower. If it runs out of long, thick black hair streaked through with gray. She has
Willpower, it starts suffering lethal damage. deep brown eyes, and lines along her face from smiling. She
Once its Health track fills with lethal damage, is a little overweight, but is healthy. She has a high-pitched,
it suffers a -3 to all actions until it can use Drain
to heal. Lucien can regain Willpower through lilting voice and a contagious laugh. She often dresses
its Virtue and Vice, but not via rest. It cannot smartly in a pantsuit and flats and wears Chanel No. 5 as
heal Health in any way except by using Drain. her signature scent.
Storytelling Hints: Margret Avery is an intelligent woman
who cares about her job. She schedules sacrifices about a
MARGRET AVERY week in advance, and they occur weekly, sometimes more
often if necessary. Those outside her chain of command may
notice her association with several disappearances within the
The administration expert. corporation or around the city. If someone comes around
Background: Margret Avery worked for a large corpora- asking too many questions, Margret is more than likely go-
tion as a Human Resources specialist, and everything ran ing to be suspicious of them. She is not completely certain
smoothly in her office. Her particular specialty was layoffs. that she is saving the world, and can be convinced that she
She was in charge of reading production reports and deter- is being used if the notion is presented logically. Otherwise,
mining where to cut excesses to keep the corporation work- she might recognize a few parameters in the questioner, and
ing as efficiently as possible. She performed this job with assume a sacrifice is attempting to avoid their fate. Margret
a sense of detachment to the personnel affected, but she cares about humanity and life, and even if she cannot be
was polite and professional when delivering her decisions. convinced to leave her job, she could easily be convinced to
While Margret did not especially love her job, it satisfied her let a potential sacrifice leave in lieu of another.
analytical mind. She took it seriously, though, and she was Margret has a layer of security personnel around her at
good at it. It was no small wonder that she was promoted all times, even though she usually doesn’t see them. She’s
twice in one year. a good false antagonist — the characters might trace weird
Margret’s second promotion changed her job drastically. occurrences or orders for sacrifice back to her, only to find
It brought her out of HR and into the administrative offices that she’s just doing her job. She’s a good character to appear
of the company. Here is where Margret Avery first learned the in The Moon Window (p. 212) or in an official capacity in
true purpose of her corporation. On the surface, the company Proposition 279 (p. 223). She might also provide some advice
functions as any business would. They produce goods and sell for the characters if they get to the point of making sacrifices
them to the public. Behind that public façade, the company in The 300 Block (p. 197).
makes sacrifices to an ethereal entity to prevent the world
from ending. Of course, the veracity of the belief that they Virtue: Idealistic
are saving the world has yet to be tested. Vice: Naïve
Margret’s new job is to select individuals for sacrifice. The
job is surprisingly similar to her job as a layoff specialist. She is Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 3,
given a portfolio of select individuals that includes their work Resolve 2
performance and their overall life experiences. Parameters for Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2,
acceptable sacrifices are not based completely on their output Stamina 2
and performance, nor are they based on their usefulness Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 2,
to society. Instead, each time a sacrifice is needed, a set of Composure 2
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NPCs