Character Notes for "Desperate Measures"
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ysabetwordsmithThese are the character notes for "Desperate Measures."
KRAKEN MEMBERS
Dr. Eabha Doran -- She has fair skin, brown eyes, and long straight auburn hair that she usually pulls back into a bun. She is Irish. She speaks English, Esperanto, French, German, Greek, Irish, and Latin. She is married with three children. Eabha is borearomantic: about 99% lesbian, she fell in love with a man during an Arctic expedition and decided to keep him. This cost her many of her friends, but as Eabha put it, "It's all very well and good to be a lesbian, but there's no need to be anal about it!" Esperanto is their home language because it's the only one they both speak, so their children are all native speakers. Cheerful and determined, she makes a good mother and a good doctor. She is utterly ruthless in protecting her own, though, and capable at hand-to-hand combat. She belongs to Kraken, currently serving as senior medic on the hospital ship Yemaya.
Origin: A coworker of hers molested her youngest son Fintan, then tried to kill both mother and son to cover it up. Eabha got her hand on a scalpel and stabbed the man repeatedly along several major arteries. Then her superpowers manifested, and she managed to drain enough energy from him to save herself and her son. Due to the gory nature of the events, nobody believed her and she was banned from practicing medicine in Ireland. While Eabha was awaiting trial, Kraken approached her in jail with a nice family benefits package, so she moved in with them.
Uniform: On duty, Dr. Doran usually wears a white coat over scrubs. She also has the Kraken uniform of dexflan and capery, with medical insignia. The jumpsuits are sensibly designed with sleek fit, plenty of pockets and fasteners for equipment. They provide Expert (+4) Camouflage to a designated user, but if worn by anyone else, turn garish neon colors. Off duty, she favors rich greens and blues to set off her auburn hair.
Qualities: Master (+6) Determination, Expert (+4) Emotional Intelligence, Expert (+4) Mother, Good (+2) Cheerful, Good (+2) Doctor, Good (+2) Hand-to-Hand Combat
Poor (-2) Banned in Ireland
Powers: Expert (+4) Healer
She can drain life energy, even from unwilling subjects, and transfer it to someone else.
Motivation: To protect her own.
Borearomantic - Is someone who has a set romantic orientation but with an exception.
-- Romantic Orientations in My Characters
Samang Jey -- He has brown skin, almond-shaped brown eyes, and short black hair. He is currently 30 years old. His heritage is Cambodian. He speaks Cambodian French, Chinese, English, and Khmer; currently learning Esperanto. Samang works as a nurse on the Yemaya, which belongs to Anahita Hospital Ships, a branch of Kraken. Unlike many supervillains, he maintains a close relationship with his family. He simply wants to serve where the need is greatest, and Kraken cuts through a lot of red tape that hampers humanitarian organizations. As a hobby, Samang performs Nang Sbek, or Cambodian shadow theatre.
Origin: All four of his grandparents survived the Khmer Rouge, which killed 25% of Cambodia's population. His paternal grandparents both came from the infamous Tuol Sleng Centre, of which only 15 people survived out of about 17,000. His maternal grandmother escaped the Killing Fields with a severe head injury that left her with narcolepsy, but falling asleep on the bus is how she met her husband, who had lived through one of the labor camps. Samang's parents were born in the 1980s. They survived the Cambodian humanitarian crisis, which at the time involved a guerilla war against the Vietnamese, hundreds of thousands of people living in refugee camps, and many of them fleeing to other countries. Samang's paternal grandparents fled to Thailand with their family, eventually ending up in America. His maternal grandparents fled directly to America. Both families believed that they had all escaped by great good fortune. When Samang manifested Luck Powers in puberty that caused a runaway truck to swerve suddenly and miss him, his family just said, "Ah, of course he is a shaman, the family luck must be getting stronger."
Uniform: On duty, he usually wears scrubs. He also has the Kraken uniform of dexflan and capery, with medical insignia. The jumpsuits are sensibly designed with sleek fit, plenty of pockets and fasteners for equipment. They provide Expert (+4) Camouflage to a designated user, but if worn by anyone else, turn garish neon colors. Off duty, he wears men's clothes, often a light button-up shirt with dark trouseres.
Qualities: Good (+2) Constitution, Good (+2) Linguistic Intelligence, Good (+2) Nang Sbek, Good (+2) Registered Nurse, Good (+2) Studious
Poor (-2) Self-Care
Powers: Good (+2) Luck Powers
Motivation: To help people.
Isolde O'Breen -- She has ruddy skin, blue eyes, and short red hair. Her mother is Welsh and her father is Irish. She speaks English, Espranto, French, German, Irish, and Welsh. She studies penguins and other polar species to learn how they survive in frigid environments without freezing. She has contributed many valuable discoveries to fields including cryogenics and cryogenesis. Isolde is a capable leader, popular with her minions and students. She likes to scoop them out of disadvantaged situations and offer them a better deal. She's always honest about the supervillainy part, but they usually agree anyway. Isolde also has a knack for making tasty meals out of the preserved foods available in harsh environments.
Origin: As a graduate student, she attracted too much praise, so a rival locked her in a freezer, expecting it to cripple or kill her. Instead, it gave her Ice Powers and she blew the door off. But then her former admirers didn't want her around the college anymore. Kraken wasn't so picky.
Uniform: Typically cold-weather gear, with practical clothes underneath. She also has the Kraken uniform of dexflan and capery, with commander insignia. The jumpsuits are sensibly designed with sleek fit, plenty of pockets and fasteners for equipment. They provide Expert (+4) Camouflage to a designated user, but if worn by anyone else, turn garish neon colors.
Qualities: Master (+6) Polar Biologist, Expert (+4) Endurance, Expert (+4) Gizmologist, Good (+2) Bunker Cooking, Good (+2) Leader, Good (+2) Observant
Poor (-2) Heat Tolerance
Powers: Expert (+4) Ice Powers
Motivation: To harness the ice.
Arcus Thompson -- He has milk chocolate skin, brown eyes, and nappy brown hair cut very short. He wears stud earrings of surgical stainless steel. He is chunky with a round face. Arcus lost his sister after she started flickering in college and local thugs beat her to death. In protest, he started working for supervillains and they put him through nursing school. Keeping supervillains alive is his way of saying "fuck you" to the forks. Currently he serves on the hospital ship Yemaya, which belongs to Anahita Hospital Ships, a branch of Kraken.
Qualities: Good (+2) Endurance, Good (+2) Listener, Good (+2) Observant, Good (+2) Registered Nurse, Good (+2) Smooth Jazz Fan
Poor (-2) Complicated Grief
* * *
SKADI CREW
Helm
Deitz Kneller, Kapitanleutnant (Captain, deceased)
Gregor Baasch, Oberleutnant zur See (First Watch Officer)
Penrod Vonnegut, Leutnant zur See (Second Watch Officer)
Oskar Esser, Leitender Ingenieur (Leading Engineer)
Chief Petty Officers (Noncommissioned Officers)
Norman Unruh, Obersteuermann (Navigator)
Rald Geissler, Oberbootsmann (Bosun)
Petty Officers (Unteroffiziere)
Kasper Feigenbaum, Steuermann (Helmsman)
Adalgar Dürr, Mechaniker (Torpedoman)
Macon Kaub, Maschinist (Motorman)
Hunfried Sachs, Funkmaat (Radioman/Medic)
Bittan Hummel, Bootsmann (Bosun)
Seamen (Matrosen)
Brendis Voss, Matrose (Seaman)
Edel Regenbogen, Matrose (Seaman)
Fritz Emmelmann, Matrose (Seaman)
Ruprecht Abeln, Matrose (Seaman, deceased)
Wilmer Landau, Matrose (Seaman)
Deitz Kneller was the captain of the Skadi. He used a gun to kill himself, as did several other members of the stranded crew.
This photo shows members of the Skadi crew.
Read about the history of Prussian virtues.
Hunfried Sachs -- He has fair skin, amber eyes, and light brown hair buzzed short. He wears a Les Daltons mustache, narrow and pointing downward. In the photograph, he is the first man on the left in the front row. He is German, with one Italian grandparent and two French great-grandparents. He speaks Arabic, Dutch, English, Esperanto, French, German, Italian, Russian, Turkish, and Yiddish. He was a friend of Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof, who invented Esperanto; and of Marie Anna Jonas, née Levinsohn, was a doctor and a Holocaust victim. Hunfried serves on the U-boat Skadi as a Funkmaat, a combination of radioman and medic, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He has the equivalent of paramedic skills from 1917. This has left him overworked, but he's very popular among the crew.
Qualities: Master (+6) Dexterity, Expert (+4) Funkmaat, Expert (+4) Languages, Good (+2) Trustworthy, Good (+2) Bescheidenheit, Good (+2) Good (+2) Popular
Poor (-2) Overworked
• Humility or Modesty (German: Bescheidenheit)
-- Prussian Virtues
Esperanto was invented by Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof.
Marie Anna Jonas, née Levinsohn (January 12, 1893 in Fischhausen - 1944 in Auschwitz), was a doctor and a Holocaust victim.
Fritz Emmelmann -- He has fair skin, blue eyes, and blond hair buzzed short. In the picture, he is the second man from the lower left corner, standing a little behind Hunfried Sachs. He is German. Fritz is a history maven who values Germany above all else. Fritz serves as a Matrose (Seaman) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew, but was caught in the super-ice by accident instead of intent.
Qualities: Good (+2) Germanic History, Good (+2) Kinesthetic Intelligence, Good (+2) Matrose, Good (+2) Nibelungentreue, Good (+2) Strength
Poor (-2) Thinking for Himself
Similarly, the term Nibelungentreue ("Nibelung loyalty"), which in the German Empire had been used in a positive sense for the military virtue of absolute loyalty, came to be used derogatorily in reference to fanatical loyalty characteristic of fascism.
-- Prussian Virtues
Norman Unruh -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and short brown hair with a Dupond mustache. He is German. In the photo, he is the second from the left in the front row. Norman serves as Obersteuermann (Navigator) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He always knows where he is. He is conscientious about his duty, but that can also make him very stubborn. Norman can eat just about anything, and he never gets seasick.
Qualities: Expert (+4) Spatial Intelligence, Good (+2) Iron Stomach, Good (+2) Obersteuermann, Good (+2) Pflichtbewusstsein
Poor (-2) Stubborn
• Sense of duty or Conscientiousness (German: Pflichtbewusstsein)
-- Prussian Virtues
Gregor Baasch -- He has fair skin, hazel eyes, and short hair of light brown. He is German. He speaks English, French, German, and Italian. In the photo, he is the second from the lower right corner, in the fanciest hat. He serves as the Oberleutnant zur See (First Watch Officer) on the Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He is a capable leader, good at sorting out personal matters, and very popular with his men. His straightforward personality keeps the drama low. As a result of surviving the transition to modern time, however, Gregor has developed an overwhelming fear of death. Before the war, he enjoyed gardening as a hobby.
Qualities: Master (+6) Oberleutnant zur See, Expert (+4) Geradlinigkeit, Expert (+4) Hand-to-Hand Combat, Good (+2) Gardener, Good (+2) Interpersonal Intelligence, Good (+2) Respected
Poor (-2) Phobia of Death
Geradlinigkeit (Straightforwardness)
-- Prussian Virtues
Penrod Vonnegut -- He has pale skin, hazel eyes, and dark blond hair. His heritage is German and French. In the photograph, he is in the third row from the front, behind and just left of First Watch Officer Gregor Baasch. Penrod serves as Leutnant zur See (Second Watch Officer) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He is quite loyal to Gregor and makes an excellent subordinate. Penrod can put up with almost any amount of hardship, but he doesn't know when to ask for help or what to do with it if someone offers.
Qualities: Expert (+4) Followship, Good (+2) Constitution, Good (+2) Leutnant zur See, Good (+2) Tapferkeit
Poor (+2) Requesting or Receiving Help
• Fortitude without self-pity (German: Tapferkeit ohne Wehleidigkeit): Lerne leiden ohne zu klagen ("Learn to suffer without complaining")
-- Prussian Virtues
Rald Geissler -- He has pale skin, blue eyes, and blond hair. He is slim and agile. His heritage is German, Swedish, and Danish. In the photo, he has round medallions on his hat and stands third from the left in the third row, to the left of Second Watch Officer Penrod Vonnegut. Rald serves as Oberbootsmann (Bosun) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. His sense of organization makes him good at his job. Before the war, he was a goat herder like the rest of his family, and he likes to say that herding goats taught him a lot about leading people. He can be skittish, though, especially around people and situations that he doesn't know well.
Qualities: Good (+4) Agility, Good (+2) Oberbootsmann, Good (+2) Ordnungssinn, Good (+2) Organized
Poor (-2) Skittish
• Sense of order (German: Ordnungssinn): ("Know your place")
-- Prussian Virtues
Bittan Hummel -- He has light brown skin, brown eyes, and short curly black hair. He is short and stocky with a round face. He is the illegitimate son of a Sinti traveler who slept with a bored German housewife. In the picture, he is in the center front with his hands on the shoulders of the kneeling man, his lover Edel Regenbogen. Bittan serves as Bootsman (Bosun) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. Disciplined and inspiring, he holds the respect of his crewmates.
Qualities: Good (+2) Bootsmann, Good (+2) Discipline, Good (+2) Interpersonal Intelligence, Good (+2) Leadership, Good (+2) Strength
Poor (-2) Manual Dexterity
• Discipline (German: Disziplin)
-- Prussian Virtues
Edel Regenbogen -- He has tinted skin, brown eyes, and brown hair. His face is sharply triangular. His heritage is German and Italian. He speaks German, Italian, and Yiddish. He is Jewish. He is homosexual and involved with another crewmate, Bittan Hummel. In the picture, Edel is kneeling in the center front, while Bittan is right behind him with his hands on Edel's shoulders. Edel serves as a Matrose (Seaman) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew.
Qualities: Good (+2) Courage, Good (+2) Fast, Good (+2) Followship, Good (+2) Kinesthetic Intelligence, Good (+2)Matrose
Poor (-2) Hand-to-Hand Combat
• Courage (German: Mut)
His form of courage is refusing to be moved, even under threat.
-- Prussian Virtues
Kasper Feigenbaum -- He has pale skin, blue eyes, and blond hair buzzed short. In the photo, he is first on the left in the third row back from the front, wearing a floppy gray hat. He is German and speaks English, French, and German. His family is Jewish, but he does not practice the faith and hides that background. Born Kerstin, with a female body, he grew up as a girl. Widespread unrest during his teen years inspired him to dress as a boy, and when the Great War broke out, he enlisted in the German Navy. He serves as the Steuermann, or helmsman, on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. While not exactly transgender in the modern sense, Kasper has lived as a man long enough that he doesn't want to give it up -- or even let his crewmates know about his body shape.
Qualities: Master (+6) Zielstrebigkeit, Expert (+4) Fast, Expert (+4) Steuermann, Good (+2) Card Games, Good (+2) Visual-Spatial Intelligence
Poor (-2) Dark Secret: Female Body
Determination (German: Zielstrebigkeit)
-- Prussian Virtues
Brendis Voss -- He has pale skin, blue eyes, and short curly red hair. His heritage is Irish and German. In the picture, he is the first on the left in the second row. He serves as a Matrose (Seaman) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew.
Qualities: Good (+2) Agility, Good (+2) Cunning, Good (+2) Hunter, Good (+2) Matrose, Good (+2) Tolerance
Poor (-2) Mutual Dislike with Dogs
tolerance (German: Gottesfurcht bei religiöser Toleranz):
-- Prussian Virtues
Wilmer Landau -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and light brown hair buzzed short. He is German, and speaks English and German. In the picture, he is the man on the far right of the second row from the top, looking to the side. He is the husband of Resi and father of Alvinia. Wilmer serves as a Matrose (Seaman) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He has made many friends among the crew by telling them stories about his family and his travels. He is loyal both to his family and his crewmates. After the rescue, he remains unconscious for some time.
Qualities: Good (+2) Existential Intelligence, Good (+2) Matrose, Good (+2) Treue, Good (+2) Stamina, Good (+2) Storyteller
Poor (-2) Heartbroken
• Loyalty (German: Treue)
-- Prussian Virtues
*
These are the engineers of the Skadi.
Oskar Esser -- He has pale skin, blue eyes, and blond hair buzzed short. A large port-wine stain covers the back of his head and upper neck. He is terribly self-conscious about it, Germans not being fond of visible differences. His heritage is German with a little Swiss. He speaks English, German, Italian, and Swiss French. Oskar serves as Leitender Ingenieur (Leading Engineer) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He is a gifted engineer, with a sense of wonder and daring. When the Skadi got trapped in Antarctica, he modified the Eislanze to put himself and the willing crew into stasis.
Origin: He was born with his superpowers, and learned how to use them during World War I.
Uniform: WWI German U-boat uniform. After awaking in contemporary time, Oskar develops a fascination with geeky t-shirts, especially mathematical and character designs.
Qualities: Master (+6) Logical-Mathematical Intelligence, Expert (+4) Dexterity, Expert (+4) Leitender Ingenieur, Good (+2) Daring, Good (+2) Leader, Good (+2) Sense of Wonder
Poor (-2) Body Image
Powers: Good (+2) Super-Gizmology
Motivation: To understand machines.
Engineer (LI) Leitender Ingenieur Leading Engineer.
A highly experienced officer, he was responsible for the maintenance of the U-boat’s mechanics, which included the engines, motors, batteries, and other mechanical systems. The LI also set the demolition charges in the event the boat had to be scuttled. This also meant that many LIs went down with the boat, some of them deliberately.
• Courage (German: Mut)
His form of courage is proactive, so I've rendered it as daring to do things.
-- Prussian Virtues
Adalgar Dürr -- He has pale skin, gray eyes, and blond hair buzzed short. He is German. He speaks English and German. In the picture, he is looking through the periscope. Adalgar serves as Mechaniker (Torpedoman) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He is always on time, and in fact can usually tell time within a few minutes even if not looking at a clock. However, he can be fussy about schedules and unsympathetic of other people straying from them. This is somewhat compensated by his skill at smuggling such things as cigarettes, liquor, and pornography.
Qualities: Good (+2) Aim, Good (+2) Mechaniker, Good (+2) Pünktlichkeit, Good (+2) Smuggler, Good (+2) Spatial Intelligence
Poor (-2) Fussy
• Punctuality (German: Pünktlichkeit)
-- Prussian Virtues
Macon Kaube -- He has tinted skin, amber eyes, and curly dark brown hair cut short. His heritage is German and Serbian, and he speaks those two languages. In this picture, he is the third man from the left, looking at the engine. Macon serves as Maschinist (Motorman) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He does great with machines, but poorly with people. Accustomed to people picking on him, he has developed good balance and is difficult to trip.
Qualities: Master (+6) Maschinist, Good (+2) Untrippable, Good (+2) Zuverlässigkeit
Poor (-2) Interpersonal Intelligence
• Reliability (German: Zuverlässigkeit)
-- Prussian Virtues
Celso Jöllenbeck -- He has light brown skin, brown eyes, and short black hair. His heritage is German and Italian, and he speaks those languages. In this picture, Celso is the first man on the left, in the back. He serves as Matrose (Seaman) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. Although Celso doesn't hold the rank of engineer, he watches everything and is the first person whom Leading Engineer Oskar Esser looks for when he needs an extra crewman. Celso sits so still that people just stop noticing him, which lets him learn more. He grew up poor and joined the Navy in hopes of doing better, but it still affects him. He enjoys collecting things and has had many collections of small cheap things. His latest one is postcards. Coming through the ice with him, they even survived reasonably intact.
Qualities: Good (+2) Collector, Good (+2) Hiding in Plain Sight, Good (+2) Matrose, Good (+2) Observant, Good (+2) Sparsamkeit
Poor (-2) Impoverished Background
• Austerity or Thrift (German: Sparsamkeit)
-- Prussian Virtues
German postcards have a long and interesting history. Celso has a batch of artistic ones from the Vienna Workshop and a more recent set of war postcards.
KRAKEN MEMBERS
Dr. Eabha Doran -- She has fair skin, brown eyes, and long straight auburn hair that she usually pulls back into a bun. She is Irish. She speaks English, Esperanto, French, German, Greek, Irish, and Latin. She is married with three children. Eabha is borearomantic: about 99% lesbian, she fell in love with a man during an Arctic expedition and decided to keep him. This cost her many of her friends, but as Eabha put it, "It's all very well and good to be a lesbian, but there's no need to be anal about it!" Esperanto is their home language because it's the only one they both speak, so their children are all native speakers. Cheerful and determined, she makes a good mother and a good doctor. She is utterly ruthless in protecting her own, though, and capable at hand-to-hand combat. She belongs to Kraken, currently serving as senior medic on the hospital ship Yemaya.
Origin: A coworker of hers molested her youngest son Fintan, then tried to kill both mother and son to cover it up. Eabha got her hand on a scalpel and stabbed the man repeatedly along several major arteries. Then her superpowers manifested, and she managed to drain enough energy from him to save herself and her son. Due to the gory nature of the events, nobody believed her and she was banned from practicing medicine in Ireland. While Eabha was awaiting trial, Kraken approached her in jail with a nice family benefits package, so she moved in with them.
Uniform: On duty, Dr. Doran usually wears a white coat over scrubs. She also has the Kraken uniform of dexflan and capery, with medical insignia. The jumpsuits are sensibly designed with sleek fit, plenty of pockets and fasteners for equipment. They provide Expert (+4) Camouflage to a designated user, but if worn by anyone else, turn garish neon colors. Off duty, she favors rich greens and blues to set off her auburn hair.
Qualities: Master (+6) Determination, Expert (+4) Emotional Intelligence, Expert (+4) Mother, Good (+2) Cheerful, Good (+2) Doctor, Good (+2) Hand-to-Hand Combat
Poor (-2) Banned in Ireland
Powers: Expert (+4) Healer
She can drain life energy, even from unwilling subjects, and transfer it to someone else.
Motivation: To protect her own.
Borearomantic - Is someone who has a set romantic orientation but with an exception.
-- Romantic Orientations in My Characters
Samang Jey -- He has brown skin, almond-shaped brown eyes, and short black hair. He is currently 30 years old. His heritage is Cambodian. He speaks Cambodian French, Chinese, English, and Khmer; currently learning Esperanto. Samang works as a nurse on the Yemaya, which belongs to Anahita Hospital Ships, a branch of Kraken. Unlike many supervillains, he maintains a close relationship with his family. He simply wants to serve where the need is greatest, and Kraken cuts through a lot of red tape that hampers humanitarian organizations. As a hobby, Samang performs Nang Sbek, or Cambodian shadow theatre.
Origin: All four of his grandparents survived the Khmer Rouge, which killed 25% of Cambodia's population. His paternal grandparents both came from the infamous Tuol Sleng Centre, of which only 15 people survived out of about 17,000. His maternal grandmother escaped the Killing Fields with a severe head injury that left her with narcolepsy, but falling asleep on the bus is how she met her husband, who had lived through one of the labor camps. Samang's parents were born in the 1980s. They survived the Cambodian humanitarian crisis, which at the time involved a guerilla war against the Vietnamese, hundreds of thousands of people living in refugee camps, and many of them fleeing to other countries. Samang's paternal grandparents fled to Thailand with their family, eventually ending up in America. His maternal grandparents fled directly to America. Both families believed that they had all escaped by great good fortune. When Samang manifested Luck Powers in puberty that caused a runaway truck to swerve suddenly and miss him, his family just said, "Ah, of course he is a shaman, the family luck must be getting stronger."
Uniform: On duty, he usually wears scrubs. He also has the Kraken uniform of dexflan and capery, with medical insignia. The jumpsuits are sensibly designed with sleek fit, plenty of pockets and fasteners for equipment. They provide Expert (+4) Camouflage to a designated user, but if worn by anyone else, turn garish neon colors. Off duty, he wears men's clothes, often a light button-up shirt with dark trouseres.
Qualities: Good (+2) Constitution, Good (+2) Linguistic Intelligence, Good (+2) Nang Sbek, Good (+2) Registered Nurse, Good (+2) Studious
Poor (-2) Self-Care
Powers: Good (+2) Luck Powers
Motivation: To help people.
Isolde O'Breen -- She has ruddy skin, blue eyes, and short red hair. Her mother is Welsh and her father is Irish. She speaks English, Espranto, French, German, Irish, and Welsh. She studies penguins and other polar species to learn how they survive in frigid environments without freezing. She has contributed many valuable discoveries to fields including cryogenics and cryogenesis. Isolde is a capable leader, popular with her minions and students. She likes to scoop them out of disadvantaged situations and offer them a better deal. She's always honest about the supervillainy part, but they usually agree anyway. Isolde also has a knack for making tasty meals out of the preserved foods available in harsh environments.
Origin: As a graduate student, she attracted too much praise, so a rival locked her in a freezer, expecting it to cripple or kill her. Instead, it gave her Ice Powers and she blew the door off. But then her former admirers didn't want her around the college anymore. Kraken wasn't so picky.
Uniform: Typically cold-weather gear, with practical clothes underneath. She also has the Kraken uniform of dexflan and capery, with commander insignia. The jumpsuits are sensibly designed with sleek fit, plenty of pockets and fasteners for equipment. They provide Expert (+4) Camouflage to a designated user, but if worn by anyone else, turn garish neon colors.
Qualities: Master (+6) Polar Biologist, Expert (+4) Endurance, Expert (+4) Gizmologist, Good (+2) Bunker Cooking, Good (+2) Leader, Good (+2) Observant
Poor (-2) Heat Tolerance
Powers: Expert (+4) Ice Powers
Motivation: To harness the ice.
Arcus Thompson -- He has milk chocolate skin, brown eyes, and nappy brown hair cut very short. He wears stud earrings of surgical stainless steel. He is chunky with a round face. Arcus lost his sister after she started flickering in college and local thugs beat her to death. In protest, he started working for supervillains and they put him through nursing school. Keeping supervillains alive is his way of saying "fuck you" to the forks. Currently he serves on the hospital ship Yemaya, which belongs to Anahita Hospital Ships, a branch of Kraken.
Qualities: Good (+2) Endurance, Good (+2) Listener, Good (+2) Observant, Good (+2) Registered Nurse, Good (+2) Smooth Jazz Fan
Poor (-2) Complicated Grief
* * *
SKADI CREW
Helm
Deitz Kneller, Kapitanleutnant (Captain, deceased)
Gregor Baasch, Oberleutnant zur See (First Watch Officer)
Penrod Vonnegut, Leutnant zur See (Second Watch Officer)
Oskar Esser, Leitender Ingenieur (Leading Engineer)
Chief Petty Officers (Noncommissioned Officers)
Norman Unruh, Obersteuermann (Navigator)
Rald Geissler, Oberbootsmann (Bosun)
Petty Officers (Unteroffiziere)
Kasper Feigenbaum, Steuermann (Helmsman)
Adalgar Dürr, Mechaniker (Torpedoman)
Macon Kaub, Maschinist (Motorman)
Hunfried Sachs, Funkmaat (Radioman/Medic)
Bittan Hummel, Bootsmann (Bosun)
Seamen (Matrosen)
Brendis Voss, Matrose (Seaman)
Edel Regenbogen, Matrose (Seaman)
Fritz Emmelmann, Matrose (Seaman)
Ruprecht Abeln, Matrose (Seaman, deceased)
Wilmer Landau, Matrose (Seaman)
Deitz Kneller was the captain of the Skadi. He used a gun to kill himself, as did several other members of the stranded crew.
This photo shows members of the Skadi crew.
Read about the history of Prussian virtues.
Hunfried Sachs -- He has fair skin, amber eyes, and light brown hair buzzed short. He wears a Les Daltons mustache, narrow and pointing downward. In the photograph, he is the first man on the left in the front row. He is German, with one Italian grandparent and two French great-grandparents. He speaks Arabic, Dutch, English, Esperanto, French, German, Italian, Russian, Turkish, and Yiddish. He was a friend of Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof, who invented Esperanto; and of Marie Anna Jonas, née Levinsohn, was a doctor and a Holocaust victim. Hunfried serves on the U-boat Skadi as a Funkmaat, a combination of radioman and medic, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He has the equivalent of paramedic skills from 1917. This has left him overworked, but he's very popular among the crew.
Qualities: Master (+6) Dexterity, Expert (+4) Funkmaat, Expert (+4) Languages, Good (+2) Trustworthy, Good (+2) Bescheidenheit, Good (+2) Good (+2) Popular
Poor (-2) Overworked
• Humility or Modesty (German: Bescheidenheit)
-- Prussian Virtues
Esperanto was invented by Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof.
Marie Anna Jonas, née Levinsohn (January 12, 1893 in Fischhausen - 1944 in Auschwitz), was a doctor and a Holocaust victim.
Fritz Emmelmann -- He has fair skin, blue eyes, and blond hair buzzed short. In the picture, he is the second man from the lower left corner, standing a little behind Hunfried Sachs. He is German. Fritz is a history maven who values Germany above all else. Fritz serves as a Matrose (Seaman) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew, but was caught in the super-ice by accident instead of intent.
Qualities: Good (+2) Germanic History, Good (+2) Kinesthetic Intelligence, Good (+2) Matrose, Good (+2) Nibelungentreue, Good (+2) Strength
Poor (-2) Thinking for Himself
Similarly, the term Nibelungentreue ("Nibelung loyalty"), which in the German Empire had been used in a positive sense for the military virtue of absolute loyalty, came to be used derogatorily in reference to fanatical loyalty characteristic of fascism.
-- Prussian Virtues
Norman Unruh -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and short brown hair with a Dupond mustache. He is German. In the photo, he is the second from the left in the front row. Norman serves as Obersteuermann (Navigator) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He always knows where he is. He is conscientious about his duty, but that can also make him very stubborn. Norman can eat just about anything, and he never gets seasick.
Qualities: Expert (+4) Spatial Intelligence, Good (+2) Iron Stomach, Good (+2) Obersteuermann, Good (+2) Pflichtbewusstsein
Poor (-2) Stubborn
• Sense of duty or Conscientiousness (German: Pflichtbewusstsein)
-- Prussian Virtues
Gregor Baasch -- He has fair skin, hazel eyes, and short hair of light brown. He is German. He speaks English, French, German, and Italian. In the photo, he is the second from the lower right corner, in the fanciest hat. He serves as the Oberleutnant zur See (First Watch Officer) on the Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He is a capable leader, good at sorting out personal matters, and very popular with his men. His straightforward personality keeps the drama low. As a result of surviving the transition to modern time, however, Gregor has developed an overwhelming fear of death. Before the war, he enjoyed gardening as a hobby.
Qualities: Master (+6) Oberleutnant zur See, Expert (+4) Geradlinigkeit, Expert (+4) Hand-to-Hand Combat, Good (+2) Gardener, Good (+2) Interpersonal Intelligence, Good (+2) Respected
Poor (-2) Phobia of Death
Geradlinigkeit (Straightforwardness)
-- Prussian Virtues
Penrod Vonnegut -- He has pale skin, hazel eyes, and dark blond hair. His heritage is German and French. In the photograph, he is in the third row from the front, behind and just left of First Watch Officer Gregor Baasch. Penrod serves as Leutnant zur See (Second Watch Officer) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He is quite loyal to Gregor and makes an excellent subordinate. Penrod can put up with almost any amount of hardship, but he doesn't know when to ask for help or what to do with it if someone offers.
Qualities: Expert (+4) Followship, Good (+2) Constitution, Good (+2) Leutnant zur See, Good (+2) Tapferkeit
Poor (+2) Requesting or Receiving Help
• Fortitude without self-pity (German: Tapferkeit ohne Wehleidigkeit): Lerne leiden ohne zu klagen ("Learn to suffer without complaining")
-- Prussian Virtues
Rald Geissler -- He has pale skin, blue eyes, and blond hair. He is slim and agile. His heritage is German, Swedish, and Danish. In the photo, he has round medallions on his hat and stands third from the left in the third row, to the left of Second Watch Officer Penrod Vonnegut. Rald serves as Oberbootsmann (Bosun) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. His sense of organization makes him good at his job. Before the war, he was a goat herder like the rest of his family, and he likes to say that herding goats taught him a lot about leading people. He can be skittish, though, especially around people and situations that he doesn't know well.
Qualities: Good (+4) Agility, Good (+2) Oberbootsmann, Good (+2) Ordnungssinn, Good (+2) Organized
Poor (-2) Skittish
• Sense of order (German: Ordnungssinn): ("Know your place")
-- Prussian Virtues
Bittan Hummel -- He has light brown skin, brown eyes, and short curly black hair. He is short and stocky with a round face. He is the illegitimate son of a Sinti traveler who slept with a bored German housewife. In the picture, he is in the center front with his hands on the shoulders of the kneeling man, his lover Edel Regenbogen. Bittan serves as Bootsman (Bosun) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. Disciplined and inspiring, he holds the respect of his crewmates.
Qualities: Good (+2) Bootsmann, Good (+2) Discipline, Good (+2) Interpersonal Intelligence, Good (+2) Leadership, Good (+2) Strength
Poor (-2) Manual Dexterity
• Discipline (German: Disziplin)
-- Prussian Virtues
Edel Regenbogen -- He has tinted skin, brown eyes, and brown hair. His face is sharply triangular. His heritage is German and Italian. He speaks German, Italian, and Yiddish. He is Jewish. He is homosexual and involved with another crewmate, Bittan Hummel. In the picture, Edel is kneeling in the center front, while Bittan is right behind him with his hands on Edel's shoulders. Edel serves as a Matrose (Seaman) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew.
Qualities: Good (+2) Courage, Good (+2) Fast, Good (+2) Followship, Good (+2) Kinesthetic Intelligence, Good (+2)Matrose
Poor (-2) Hand-to-Hand Combat
• Courage (German: Mut)
His form of courage is refusing to be moved, even under threat.
-- Prussian Virtues
Kasper Feigenbaum -- He has pale skin, blue eyes, and blond hair buzzed short. In the photo, he is first on the left in the third row back from the front, wearing a floppy gray hat. He is German and speaks English, French, and German. His family is Jewish, but he does not practice the faith and hides that background. Born Kerstin, with a female body, he grew up as a girl. Widespread unrest during his teen years inspired him to dress as a boy, and when the Great War broke out, he enlisted in the German Navy. He serves as the Steuermann, or helmsman, on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. While not exactly transgender in the modern sense, Kasper has lived as a man long enough that he doesn't want to give it up -- or even let his crewmates know about his body shape.
Qualities: Master (+6) Zielstrebigkeit, Expert (+4) Fast, Expert (+4) Steuermann, Good (+2) Card Games, Good (+2) Visual-Spatial Intelligence
Poor (-2) Dark Secret: Female Body
Determination (German: Zielstrebigkeit)
-- Prussian Virtues
Brendis Voss -- He has pale skin, blue eyes, and short curly red hair. His heritage is Irish and German. In the picture, he is the first on the left in the second row. He serves as a Matrose (Seaman) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew.
Qualities: Good (+2) Agility, Good (+2) Cunning, Good (+2) Hunter, Good (+2) Matrose, Good (+2) Tolerance
Poor (-2) Mutual Dislike with Dogs
tolerance (German: Gottesfurcht bei religiöser Toleranz):
-- Prussian Virtues
Wilmer Landau -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and light brown hair buzzed short. He is German, and speaks English and German. In the picture, he is the man on the far right of the second row from the top, looking to the side. He is the husband of Resi and father of Alvinia. Wilmer serves as a Matrose (Seaman) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He has made many friends among the crew by telling them stories about his family and his travels. He is loyal both to his family and his crewmates. After the rescue, he remains unconscious for some time.
Qualities: Good (+2) Existential Intelligence, Good (+2) Matrose, Good (+2) Treue, Good (+2) Stamina, Good (+2) Storyteller
Poor (-2) Heartbroken
• Loyalty (German: Treue)
-- Prussian Virtues
*
These are the engineers of the Skadi.
Oskar Esser -- He has pale skin, blue eyes, and blond hair buzzed short. A large port-wine stain covers the back of his head and upper neck. He is terribly self-conscious about it, Germans not being fond of visible differences. His heritage is German with a little Swiss. He speaks English, German, Italian, and Swiss French. Oskar serves as Leitender Ingenieur (Leading Engineer) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He is a gifted engineer, with a sense of wonder and daring. When the Skadi got trapped in Antarctica, he modified the Eislanze to put himself and the willing crew into stasis.
Origin: He was born with his superpowers, and learned how to use them during World War I.
Uniform: WWI German U-boat uniform. After awaking in contemporary time, Oskar develops a fascination with geeky t-shirts, especially mathematical and character designs.
Qualities: Master (+6) Logical-Mathematical Intelligence, Expert (+4) Dexterity, Expert (+4) Leitender Ingenieur, Good (+2) Daring, Good (+2) Leader, Good (+2) Sense of Wonder
Poor (-2) Body Image
Powers: Good (+2) Super-Gizmology
Motivation: To understand machines.
Engineer (LI) Leitender Ingenieur Leading Engineer.
A highly experienced officer, he was responsible for the maintenance of the U-boat’s mechanics, which included the engines, motors, batteries, and other mechanical systems. The LI also set the demolition charges in the event the boat had to be scuttled. This also meant that many LIs went down with the boat, some of them deliberately.
• Courage (German: Mut)
His form of courage is proactive, so I've rendered it as daring to do things.
-- Prussian Virtues
Adalgar Dürr -- He has pale skin, gray eyes, and blond hair buzzed short. He is German. He speaks English and German. In the picture, he is looking through the periscope. Adalgar serves as Mechaniker (Torpedoman) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He is always on time, and in fact can usually tell time within a few minutes even if not looking at a clock. However, he can be fussy about schedules and unsympathetic of other people straying from them. This is somewhat compensated by his skill at smuggling such things as cigarettes, liquor, and pornography.
Qualities: Good (+2) Aim, Good (+2) Mechaniker, Good (+2) Pünktlichkeit, Good (+2) Smuggler, Good (+2) Spatial Intelligence
Poor (-2) Fussy
• Punctuality (German: Pünktlichkeit)
-- Prussian Virtues
Macon Kaube -- He has tinted skin, amber eyes, and curly dark brown hair cut short. His heritage is German and Serbian, and he speaks those two languages. In this picture, he is the third man from the left, looking at the engine. Macon serves as Maschinist (Motorman) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. He does great with machines, but poorly with people. Accustomed to people picking on him, he has developed good balance and is difficult to trip.
Qualities: Master (+6) Maschinist, Good (+2) Untrippable, Good (+2) Zuverlässigkeit
Poor (-2) Interpersonal Intelligence
• Reliability (German: Zuverlässigkeit)
-- Prussian Virtues
Celso Jöllenbeck -- He has light brown skin, brown eyes, and short black hair. His heritage is German and Italian, and he speaks those languages. In this picture, Celso is the first man on the left, in the back. He serves as Matrose (Seaman) on the U-boat Skadi, and he is one of the survivors from the incident that froze some of the crew. Although Celso doesn't hold the rank of engineer, he watches everything and is the first person whom Leading Engineer Oskar Esser looks for when he needs an extra crewman. Celso sits so still that people just stop noticing him, which lets him learn more. He grew up poor and joined the Navy in hopes of doing better, but it still affects him. He enjoys collecting things and has had many collections of small cheap things. His latest one is postcards. Coming through the ice with him, they even survived reasonably intact.
Qualities: Good (+2) Collector, Good (+2) Hiding in Plain Sight, Good (+2) Matrose, Good (+2) Observant, Good (+2) Sparsamkeit
Poor (-2) Impoverished Background
• Austerity or Thrift (German: Sparsamkeit)
-- Prussian Virtues
German postcards have a long and interesting history. Celso has a batch of artistic ones from the Vienna Workshop and a more recent set of war postcards.
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Date: 2018-04-25 11:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-26 11:59 pm (UTC)Well ...
Date: 2018-04-27 12:04 am (UTC)Re: Well ...
Date: 2018-04-27 12:21 am (UTC)Re: Well ...
Date: 2018-04-27 12:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-25 03:42 pm (UTC)--Laura G