Bio

Growing up was hard when you didn’t know who you were. You were always smaller, softer, less able than your friends. and while they grew up, you seemed to stay the same size. Perhaps your mom and dad, whoever they were, were short. Yes, that was it, it’s just a family trait. Now if only you could remember your family. All you have is the name they gave you. To’Mas or Thomas, or something like that. Dammit, if only you could remember.

Your earliest memory was waking up on the cold streets of the City. It was mid-winter and you were dressed in a barely serviceable bundle of rags. You were found by a local gang of orphans, taken in as one of their own and taught the ways of the street. That was a couple of years ago now, and most of your friends have outgrown you. Literally. You’re still as tall now as you were when you first got recruited into the ‘family’. From the size of your friends you can’t be more than 9, maybe 10. While that might not be ‘old’ to some, here on the streets, with life lessons learned so harshly, its almost an elder. Most of the gang has long since moved on. Either changing cities or caught by the guard, or worse. A few lucky ones were caught by an Orphanarium and adopted by families without children of their own. It’s hard to decide who are the lucky ones; The adopted pets of some rich couple, who will spend their lives in the gilded prisons of forced families, or the poor sods who were hung for stealing a loaf, to eat, to survive.

It’s not all bad though. The childlike innocence you can project allows you to get away with far more with the Grups. I mean, ‘Grown Ups’. A trembling lip, a single tear, and they are putty in your hands. How many times now have you ‘lost your dog’ and had some rich fool give you money for a replacement. Suckers. As you always say; You don’t have to be strong, but if you are dumb, you are playing in the wrong sand box. The Grups may have size on their side, but you have speed, both of thought and action. A nimbleness that only a child could manage.

If only you could remember more. All you have are a few scraps of cloth, a handful of garbled memories and the Tattoo on your upper back of a strange sigil, that no one seems to recognise. Maybe you are the kidnapped son of a powerful king… or the long lost heir to a magical fortune! Yeah, now that would be fun. Of course, you might just be the son of a baker who hit his head one too many times on his dads rock cakes… but you have to have a dream, don’t you?

So, you play the odds, bilk the marks, and do what you need to do, to survive. You’re not a bad person… at least, you try not to be. But a growing boy has to eat.

Note: The picture on the character page is the sigil that appears on To’Mas’s back, between his shoulder blades. The pigment of the tattoo seems to be some kind of reddish brown colour, and the symbol itself so far defies translation.

The Invisible Hand

The invisible hand is a magical artifact that appears to be a good quality artificial hand. From the wrist a chunk of arm extends about three inches, leaving a smooth flat surface. The hand is cool to the touch, no matter how hot it gets. Despite the realism the hand is very hard. There is a small runic symbol on the under arm towards the end which glows during use.
Despite the name the hand is perfectly visible. However whilst its owner is in skin contact with it they are capable of moving objects within their reach without actually having to touch them, as though they had (you guessed it) an invisible hand. The bearer is able to handle objects with the invisible hand, and is even able to feel them almost as though they were using their own hand, the crucial difference being that they don’t feel pain. As such the item has great value to alchemists, engineers, sorcerers and all those who handle dangerous things, such as angry lab-rats, and corrosive chemicals. Obviously it also has great value to thieves, as the hand is spectral and exceedingly useful against locks that could not normally be reached (usually a bit of feeling around is needed first).

The invisible hand grants short-range telekinesis in the form of a spectral hand to its bearer who must be in skin contact with it. The spectral hand allows the bearer to feel around by touch, even if he can’t see. The spectral hand is not stopped by barriers – the item being manipulated does not need to be seen. The spectral hands range is equal to the normal reach of the bearer – usually around 3 feet. In order to manipulate the object a WP test must be made; this enables the bearer to manipulate objects for a number of rounds equal to their Toughness bonus. Each failure makes this test harder by one step until rested for 8 hours.

Hand of Fate: In exchange for a fortune point the hand becomes more powerful, the runic symbol on the wrist briefly glowing extremely brightly. The WP test to wield it is automatically passed. The number of rounds it can be used to manipulate things becomes equal to double the bearer’s Toughness bonus. Additionally it operates at the wielder’s stats + 15.

Hand of the Unseen: In exchange for a fortune point the hand loses it’s telekinetic qualities, and instead makes the bearer and all carried and worn items invisible to sight (at a maximum one of these may be living). This invisibility to sight doesn’t extend to the affects of the bearers actions. If lookouts aren’t actively watching for the unseen then the bearer cannot be ‘spotted’ unless in water, smoke, tall grass, etc. If lookouts are bumped into, see furniture moving without cause, or hear laughter coming from nowhere they might start looking for the unseen. The invisibility can be dropped with a successful willpower test, at which point the hands other powers return. A successful willpower test is required to maintain it after each hour.