Metaphysicals

This page gives example characters for Lords of Being, to serve as ready-made characters for players, or to use as examples to base your own characters on.

Mabel Anson
British Dog Breeder and Lady of Order

Mabel has liked dogs since canines first appeared in the early Cenozoic era, and has been canine several times herself. She still retains canine senses of hearing and smell. Like most courtiers, she has had many careers in the human millenia, but she is most frequently a breeder and trainer of dogs. She has strong opinions on these subjects, and despises any breeding practices that impair a dog's physical or mental health.

Mabel has created several breeds herself, three of which still exist, though only in the possession of Mabel and a few favored clients. To outsiders, they would appear to be just healthy, intelligent mongrels. Twice, she has created whole new canine species. (These speciations occasioned polite inspection visits from minor angels sent by the Powers. Mabel has been careful to keep these new species out of general circulation.) To the public, she is a breeder of various setters and terriers.

Mabel has spent the last 2500 years in Europe, mostly. The last 300 have been in Britain. She has never engaged in national politics, but she is generally active, in a "pillar of the community" way, at the local level. She is an active member of the British Dog Breeder's Association, the British Dog Fancy, the Women's Institute at the local Church of England, the Totleigh Hunt, the local Chamber of Commerce, and the school board. She lives in a low, rambling house with extensive kennels, in Totleigh, Barsetshire, England, where she is regarded as the heir and "spinster neice" of "Hilda Anson," who was her own previous identity.

Mabel appears as a stocky, middle-aged woman, left-handed, with dark hair, grey eyes, and bony features. She usually wears the practical, tweedy clothes associated with staidly prosperous Britons.

Dog breeder: 90% — Understands and works with dogs. Also knows cats and horses (-10%) and most other domestic animals (-20% or more). Skilled in first aid (on animals, but extensible to humans at -10%). Has social connections to the "dog crowd." Sign: Dog hair on her clothes and, often, an attendant dog on a leash.

Sportswoman: 70% — Can ride and jump fences with a horse, shoot a rifle, keep her bearings in the woods, and track. Knows hunting etiquette and has social connections to the "hunting crowd" in Britain. Sign: Often relates hunting anecdotes.

European history: 40% — She hasn't specifically studied it, she was just there for most of it. Sign: Often relates anecdotes from long, long ago.

Languages: English, French, German. (Rusty languages: Spanish, Latin, Saxon, Gaelic)

Hit Pts: 10__________________________________________
Nrv Pts: 17__________________________________________
Psi Pts: ____________________________________________

Michael Larson / Miguel Lossano
Texan Beach-Boy and Lord of Chaos

Mike took the Gulf of Mexico as "his" area shortly after the end of the Mesozoic, when it first opened up, and lived there as a dolphin for ages. He still returns to dolphin for months at a time, but he enjoys human society and has used human form since people first arrived on the Coast. He now hangs around the beaches of Texas, mostly, an amiable drifter who appears to be in his early twenties.

He enjoys the beach scene, but even that kind of transitory contact requires a "cover story," so he owns a boat house, sometimes a boat, and does what little business he has through post office boxes. His income from the Exchequer is far more than he needs, but he sometimes takes jobs — boat or car mechanic, diving instructor, life-guard, handyman, house-sitter, bouncer, escort/bodyguard, semi-skilled labor. Mostly, he swims and dives (sometimes not coming ashore for weeks), sails, surfs, beachcombs, and circulates through beach parties. When friends start to worry about his aimless life, he drifts off and stays away until they move on or forget him. His close friends know that he has some independent source of income and regard him as an amiable and/or pathetic wastrel. A few very close friends know what he really is.

Mike looks like a tanned young man with black hair and a good build, usually on display since he is usually wearing swimtrunks. One eye is brown, the other black. He switches effortlessly between Anglo and Hispanic identities by varying his accent and the name and papers he uses.

Water Sports: 90% — You name it: swimming, scuba, snorkling, surfing, sailing, motorboating. He can teach any of the above, knows first aid as a lifeguard, and has an intimate area knowledge of the whole Gulf, from top to bottom. (Get him a few miles inland, though, and he's a stranger.) Sign: Usually dressed in swim trunks.

Mechanic: 70% — Mike often presents himself as a mechanic. He mainly does motorboats, but also cars, motorcycles, and water-scooters. Sign: Lives in a boat house.

Bouncer: 40% — Mike has worked as a semi-serious bodyguard and as a bouncer at bars and some big parties. He can brawl when he has to, and can judge how drunk and pugnacious a stranger is. Sign: Drinks very lightly if at all.

Languages: Spanish, English, French, Delphin, Orca, Sperm Whale. (Rusty languages: Carib, Aztec, Anasazi)

Hit Pts: 10__________________________________________
Nrv Pts: 7__________________________________________
Psi Pts: ____________________________________________

David Ragnison
Danish Professor, Occultist, and Lord of Order

He is, in a word, plugged in to the fringe. The list of organizations he belongs to includes but is not limited to:

MUFON, various parapsychology institutes, the Fortean Society, the Church of the Sub-Genius, the Wiccans, the Order of the Golden Dawn, the Swedenborgians, the Spiritualist Church, the Theosophists, the Anthroposophists, the Rosicrucians, the Vintrasians, the Freemasons, miscellaneous Hermetics and Cabbalists, and (why not?) CSICOP.

He gets some fascinating mail and has really cool bookmarks on his Web browser. (He loves the Internet.) He keeps up on his reading by not sleeping, and he goes on frequent trips to visit these odd people and attend their workshops and conventions. Not that he's terribly social. He spreads himself so thin, he doesn't spend a great deal of time with any one group.

Nor does he spend a lot of time at his job. He is, ostensibly, a semi-retired professor of social history, specializing in the history of occultism and folklore. He holds a position at a small college in Viborg, in Denmark, and he putters about the campus, shows up at lectures, takes part in informal chats, and occasionally gives tutorials, but this is just his toehold in the mainstream world.

His real (self-assigned) work is keeping tabs on psychic and spiritual developments on Earth. He finds the various fringe organizations amusing, because they are mostly so off-base, but they are also good places to watch for the occasional real psychic or spiritual event. People with true paranormal powers or problems usually try them out or (if they know too much to really try them) investigate them, just as Ragnison does. He has trained his perceptions to recognize and analyze psychic activity, and he knows many individual spirits by "sight."

He lives in a tall, narrow, dark townhouse, stuffed with odd books and wired with the latest home media. There, he edits and publishes a newsletter that he circulates to all the other courtiers, by paper, electronic, or occult means. He is often away on trips, but still keeps the newsletter on schedule. A few other courtiers aid him in this, and many others contribute letters or columns.

In appearance, he is tall and bony. He has fair coloring and looks fiftyish. He is lefthanded. He dresses quietly, rather formally (especially for the fringey company he keeps), and with great neatness. He is, after all, a Lord of Order.

Ragnison is too powerful to use as a beginning PC. He could be an NPC resource or adventure hook.

Psychic: 95% — He excels at telepathy and clairvoyance (no cost) and can cast telepathic shield and clairvoyant cloak (cost 3/use). He can detect (no cost) and analyze (cost 1/use) psychic powers and their residues. He can see spirits and knows many types and individuals. Sign: Sometimes stares blankly or at "empty" air.

Occultist: 90% — He is familiar with the scholarly and pseudo-scholarly details of many systems of occultism and fringe science, and generally knows both the truth and the beliefs about their issues. He is mildly well-known in these fringey circles, and has lots of contacts among them. He seldom claims to believe, but almost never argues or debunks and so is seldom met with hostility. Sign: Often carries odd reading matter.

Academic: 70% — He is a member in good standing of the academic community in general, and is mildly well-known among historians and anthropologists, to whom he presents a respectable, non-believer front on the fringe issues he studies. He has lots of academic contacts in history, anthropology, and archeology. Sign: college professor; great vocabulary.

Languages: Danish, English, French, German, Latin, Greek, Hebrew. (Rusty languages: Italian, Phoenician, Akadian, Egyptian, Indo-Germanic, (Proto-)Indo-European, Sanskrit)

Hit Pts: 10__________________________________________
Nrv Pts: 17__________________________________________
Psi Pts: ____________________________________________

Teresa Chance & Margaret Joy
Girl Ghostbusters and Ladies of Chaos and Order

Terry (of Chaos) and Peggy (of Order) have been close friends forever. Before they were human, they were cow elephants in the same herd, she-wolves in the same pack, geese in the same flock, raccoons, coelurosaurs, dragonflies, all the way back to desmids, bacteria, and helium atoms. (Being helium atoms was very dull.) They have always favored female forms whenever gender was an option, and never felt any impulse to assume opposite sexes. They have sometimes taken the roles of sisters, which offended the more partisan courtiers. Obviously, they are not at all partisan.

They now live in Chicago, in a rather classy high-rise apartment. Terry cooks, Peggy cleans. They supplement their Exchequer incomes with part-time work; Terry is a genealogist, helping clients construct family trees and family histories, sometimes getting involved in inheritance issues or tracking down lost relatives. Peggy is a hypnotherapist, helping her clients shed addictions, obsessions, and phobias, or occasionally retrieve memories. This leaves plenty of time for the frivolous pursuits and casual dating they enjoy both together and separately.

It also leaves time for their more serious work, which is ghostbusting. Their professions often give them leads on hauntings or paranormal happenings. They can then investigate and decide if what is going on is misperception, hoax, human psychic power, or spiritual activity. If it is the latter, they are familiar with the problems and psychology of ghosts, and also know the local psychopomps (spirit guides, death angels), who can be called in.

Terry is tall, rather athletic, with fair coloring. One eye is blue, the other green. She dresses casually. Peggy is short, delicate, with black hair and very fair skin, looking partly Asian. She is lefthanded. She dresses with elegant neatness, favoring bright red.

Terry (Chaos):

Psychic: 80% — She can project her sight and hearing (cost 3/use), and detect psychic signatures, recognizing familiar types and individuals (no cost). She can see spirits and recognize ghosts and individual spirits of her acquaintance. Sign: Carries an inch-wide crystal ball.

Forteana: 70% — She is familiar with the various categories of believed and actual paranormal events — fish-falls, sightings of legendary beasts, weird weather, etc., in addition to hauntings — and has contacts with the people and organizations who study such things. Sign: Subscribes to tabloids.

Genealogist: 50% — She is familiar with the libraries, databases, and other information channels needed to compose a family tree. She knows how to conduct interviews with relatives to prod for places and dates of births, weddings, and deaths. She is particularly familiar with the recent histories of immigrant groups to the American Midwest. Sign: Genealogy charts and sketches of family trees litter her desk.

Languages: English, French, German, Yiddish, Spanish. (Rusty languages: Italian, Saxon, Frankish, Latin, Koine Greek, Lydian, Phoenician)

Hit Pts: 13__________________________________________
Nrv Pts: 10__________________________________________
Psi Pts: ____________________________________________

Peggy (Order):

Psychic: 90% — She can see in the dark and through walls (cost 3/use), feel the direction and rough distance to Terry or people she has telepathed recently (no cost), and establish telepathic contact with people in sense-shot, to the extent of feeling their emotions and exchanging verbal thought (3/use). She can cast telepathic shield or clairvoyance cloak on herself and anyone within 100 meters (cost 3/use). Sign: Sometimes stares blankly into the distance.

Eschatology: 60% — She knows the sort of things that happen to people immediately after death and is familiar with the psychology of ghosts, their confusions and needs. She knows the local death-angels by "sight" and knows their usual beats. Sign: Speaks of the dead in the present tense.

Hynotherapist: 50% — She knows how to induce a hypnotic trance, how to evaluate someone as a candidate for hypnosis, and how to make hypnotic suggestions without adding extraneous ideas. She also knows some background psychology touching on hypnosis, particularly cognitive and perceptual. Sign: Can speak in a calm, clear, authoritative voice.

Languages: English, French, German, Yiddish, Spanish. (Rusty languages: Italian, Saxon, Frankish, Latin, Koine Greek, Lydian, Phoenician)

Hit Pts: 10__________________________________________
Nrv Pts: 12__________________________________________
Psi Pts: ____________________________________________

Cleo Demetriou
European Socialite and Lady of Chaos

Cleo has always been interested in the march of history and the development of civilizations and cultures. She studied these things on several other planets before coming to Earth in the 7th century BC. Once here, she happened to be in Macedonia when Alexander the Great ascended the throne. Recognizing him as an interesting subject, Cleo changed sex and became Cleon, a footsoldier who followed Alexander to Asia and watched his career with fascination. With that same fascination now mixed with dismay, she watched his empire break up. Then she became engrossed in the Ptolemies and Selucids, the Romans, the Byzantines, and so on. She realized the eastern Mediterranean was a great place for history-watching.

She studies these developments by hovering right at the edge of the spotlight of celebrity. She has never been famous, but she has usually been known by many famous people. She has never sought power. On the other hand, she has her own sense of right and wrong (being Chaotic, she tends to favor freedom over law), and she likes to help friends. She has smuggled people, art objects, and lots of information for various causes she approved of. Since she has lots of friends who are spies, a few of them have figured out that she has switched identities more than once, and is much older than anyone could plausibly be. If she is confronted, she explains ... a little.

So she circulates at the fringes of the diplomatic and intelligence communities, doing favors, getting owed favors, calling them in from time to time, and collecting pullable strings. Every once in a while, she gets a visit from a curious angel sent by one of the Principalities (the guardian angels of peoples and nations), checking to make sure she has no ambitions regarding human destiny. (She hasn't.)

Her interests are wider than politics. She is also interested in the development of the arts, and the favors she calls in are often on behalf of struggling musicians, writers, painters, actors, etc. She often has a collection of these types as house guests. She is not artistic herself, but is an excellent critic, and can winnow out the strength and weaknesses in execution, conception, and even intention.

She is now a confirmed jet-setter, of course, but she still favors the eastern Mediterranean. She has a nice little villa on Corfu and an apartment in Athens; these are where she stows those house guests. She is often a house guest herself, often in the homes of diplomats or prominent artists. She is a very social being and enjoys both hosting and visiting.

Cleo is short, thin, with black hair and olive skin, appearing somewhere in indeterminate middle age. One eye is hazel, the other brown. She is usually dressed flambouyantly.

High Society: 70% — She is very familiar with the personalities of, and relationships between, people highly placed in diplomatic and cultural circles. If she doesn't know these people, she knows people who do, and has often done someone a favor that can be called in. Sign: Can often name the people at the edge of the picture in news shots of celebrities.

Art Criticism: 70% — She is familiar enough with most forms of art to tell good from bad in a rough way, and can often give a much more thorough analysis, predicting popular success, critical success, and how good (in terms of technique, sincerity, and concept) it really is. Sign: Carries small books of obscure poetry or art photos.

Political History: 60% — She has an encyclopedic knowledge of political events, worldwide but especially in her chosen region. This trait would be higher, but (1) a lot of her knowledge is so obscure and personal as not to count as public "history," (2) being Chaotic, she has never bothered to keep records, and (3) the last couple of centuries have been terribly eventful, compared to earlier times and the static societies she lived in on other worlds. Sign: Wears very old jewelry.

Languages: Greek, Italian, French, English, Turkish, Arabic, German, Yiddish, Latin. (Rusty languages: Hebrew, Egyptian, Persian, P-Celtic, Indo-Germanic, (Proto-)Indo-European, Sanskrit)

Hit Pts: 10__________________________________________
Nrv Pts: 10__________________________________________
Psi Pts: ____________________________________________

Cadmus Clisk
London Software Engineer and Loyalist Lord of Order

The natural or default occupation for a Lord of Order is the study of mathematics. Even though he is on assignment to Earth, this remains Cadmus's central interest. He presently lives in London and works as a contract software engineer, composing programs that do esoteric mathematics for think-tanks, advanced engineering companies, and the like. Sometimes, he teaches mathematics.

In earlier ages, he has been a mechanical engineer, an architect, an astrologer, a scribe — whatever was the precision profession of that time and place. He loves precision. He spends lots of time in extensive discussions, by mail or net, and the other side usually employs the terms "nit-picking" and "straw-splitting" sooner or later.

Tempermentally, he is not suited to get along with the Lords of Chaos. Their general sloppiness irritates him. He realizes the worth of the raw energy they provide, but sees no reason why they can't leave it at that. Why deal in luck and randomness? It's pure carelessness, as far as he can see, and he suspects that the Paths, certainly Order's Lefthand Path, would not need clearing at all if it weren't for the irregularities of Chaos.

Well, from now on, they can do their own clearing. Since the Breakdown, Cadmus has not cleared the Righthand Path of Chaos. He hasn't said anything about it, but if anyone notices, he won't deny it.

He also has not spoken to any courtier of Chaos, not that he often did before. However, he has spent a lot of time keeping track of events back in the Court of Order. He has regular visits from other Order Lords, unmanifest friends. He even has an esoteric network link to the Court, rather like Loois's TV contact. Also, he asks questions of angels, zotielim (minor angels), and other metaphysicals he encounters. He knows the debate is raging between separatists and collaborators back in the Court, and he solidly backs the separatists.

He presently lives in a London apartment crammed with books and computers, but ferociously neat and clean. It has no bedroom or kitchen; Cadmus never sleeps and seldom eats. Cadmus himself is a tall blond man with short-cropped hair and a round face that is quite pleasant when he gets around to smiling. He is left-handed, and his apartment is ergonomically adjusted to that fact. He is always formally dressed, in white and pale gray.

Mathematical Programming: 90% — Cadmus excels in math, and has lately been implementing it in computers. This has given him a general knowledge of computer programming and usage. Sign: Carries a palmtop computer with customized programming.

Lightning Reckoner: 60% — Cadmus can calculate in his head very quickly and accurately, including extraction of roots, logarithms, and, more importantly, working out chains of deduction. Sign: Calculates tax and VAT on credit slips; counts change at a glance.

Metaphysical Contacts: 50% — Cadmus knows where to encounter non-physical people such as angels and zotielim (minor angels), their fallen counterparts, courtiers of Order (and Chaos, if he must), disembodied souls, and other, stranger beings. He knows several of these individuals personally, mostly other Lords of Order of course. Sign: Sometimes watches "nothing" go by in the middle distance, the way cats do.

Languages: English, Esperanto, German, French, Latin. (Rusty languages: Greek, Phoenecian, Egyptian, Akadian, Urdu, Sanskrit, Mandarin)

Hit Pts: 10__________________________________________
Nrv Pts: 10__________________________________________
Psi Pts: ____________________________________________

Jan van der Linden
Family Man and Lord of Order

Jan has gone native. It is normal for courtiers to take part in human society, but Jan has gone further: he takes part in human families. Once or twice a century, he marries. If the lady has no children from a previous marriage, they usually adopt. Usually, the lady knows what Jan is before she marries; almost always, he tells her eventually. The children often learn, too. And when his wife eventually dies, and the children themselves are in late middle age or older — and after Jan has got over his loss — those children usually help Jan with his cover story for his next identity, posing as his "older" relatives. Several times, they have suggested a nice woman to be the next wife. Because they love Jan. He's become very good at being a father and husband. It is far more important to him, now, than being a Lord of Order.

He is now a prosperous Dutch businessman, working in an insurance office in Rotterdam. He makes a point of being a good provider. He also knows how to talk with children, nurse the sick ones, feed them, clean them, play with them, and teach them. He never forgets birthdays or anniversaries, knows how to hire servants, helps with the housework, and is affectionate, gentle, faithful, and true. He is not, admittedly, very exciting, but his being a metaphysical creature in human form rather makes up for that. Anyway, he's long known better than to court a woman who wants an exciting man.

His current wife, Elise, had enough excitement with her first husband, a drug addict whom she married when they were both in secondary school. He begot a son on her, Arend, brought the family to financial ruin, then died of an overdose when Arend was three. Elise struggled along with Arend until she met Jan. In fact, she was introduced to him by a co-worker who is Jan's daughter from the previous go-round. Elise married Jan, fully knowing what he was, when she was twenty-eight, Arend was five, and Jan looked fortyish. Arend is now fifteen, and knows all about his adoptive father.

So Jan told them all about the Breakdown. Perhaps that was why they seemed less surprised than Jan when Anna showed up to find out how Jan was doing. Anna is Jan's ex-wife from 1538—1581. She's dead, of course. She now shows up most afternoons, in period costume, for coffee and gossip with Elise, who's quite taken to her. Arend calls her "Aunt Anna" and thinks it's cool to have a ghost visit. Jan is, um, delighted to see her again, of course, but, ah, isn't there something she should be doing in the afterlife? No, Anna doesn't think so. She's quite vague about what she's been doing, except that it included keeping track of Jan, and that "the children send their regards." Oh, good. She also sometimes reports angelic, demonic, or ghostly opinions on the Breakdown and its complications. This might be useful someday.

Meanwhile, Jan works his job, keeps the Paths clear, worries a little, and guards his family, including Elise, Arend, and his surviving children from before. He's very good at guarding. Not only does he offer advice and assistance on familial and financial matters, he can also offer the occasional "omen" or "portent," to keep one out of trouble. His family have all learned to heed these.

He, Elise, and Arend live in a suburban house on the outskirts of Rotterdam. He now looks like a big, blocky, graying Dutchman, with blue eyes and a mustache. He is, of course, neat and lefthanded.

Family Dynamics: 90% — Jan knows all about making daily life run smoothly and getting along with mortals, particularly the mortals he lives with. This means a wide range of coping skills, from patching up arguments to elementary first aid to eatable cooking. Sign: Carries lots of family photos in his wallet.

Finance: 50% — Jan is a conscientious but unimaginative businessman. He runs his part of the insurance company with great fairness, but is not quick on seizing opportunities or spotting problems. Sign: Dresses in a suit; often carries a briefcase.

Karmic Magic: 60% — At a cost of 5 psi points per success, Jan can determine one action for a person to take in the next day, for their safety or for their success in an endeavor, provided that person is well-known to him. But he can only tell who his omen is good for, not what it's good for, that is, what the results will be. It also means he spends psi points at a steady rate, and so is usually low on them. Sign: Delivers advice à propos of nothing. (If he does, pay attention.)

Languages: Dutch, German, English, French. (Rusty languages: Italian, Latin, Frankish, Saxon, Goidelic, Indo-Germanic)

Hit Pts: 13__________________________________________
Nrv Pts: 10__________________________________________
Psi Pts: ____________________________________________

Mona
Full-Time Tourist and Lady of Order

Most people think of the Order courtiers as very stable; you wouldn't think roving would appeal to them. But it appeals to Mona. Of course, she roves in a very regular, organized fashion. In earlier times, she made ten-year-long circuits of Eurasia, taking in the Silk Road and pilgrimages to Benares, Mecca, and various shrines in Christendom. Now, she goes around the world once a year.

Mercurial Magic: 90% — intangibility, flight, teleportation. Sign: Carries a notebook of maps, both national scale and street-atlas scale, with notes written on them. This is her teleport atlas, reminding her exactly what's at each teleport trace, and exactly where the trace is.

International Contacts: 50% — knows people all over the world – not necessarily important people, but a huge variety of them (Sign: Carries several thick address books and a cell phone.)

Touristry: 60% — the details of mundane travel: what to pack; how to navigate customs, airports, car rental agencies; how to pick out and find tourist sites Sign: Several large suitcases, a small purse, and an overnight bag.

Languages: English, French, Mandarin, Arabic, Spanish. (Rusty languages: Italian, Latin, Koine Greek, Phoenecian, Akadian.)

Hit Pts: 12__________________________________________
Nrv Pts: 10__________________________________________
Psi Pts: _____________________________________________