Shannon Travers

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Even modern machines have their own spirits. If you give them time and love, anything is possible.

Shannon Travers was born with a foot in two worlds. Her father was a British minerals company employee who often spent his months in northwestern Quebec sourcing sites and working with the Native population, while her mother was a local environmentalist and member of the local Mohawk tribe. The relationship didn't last, but Shannon remained a legacy of their time together. Her father's promotion to an executive position and the educational opportunities offered to her as a consequence meant that she spent her youth traveling a lot between her father's hometown of Birmingham and her mother's new workplace in Montreal, where she'd taken a teaching position.

Growing up wasn't too hard, and she lived conformable with either of her parents. Her native relatives were kind, but distant- all too aware that she wouldn't be allowed to stay on the reservation due to failing the blood quotients, but still welcoming. In particular, she had many fond memories of her grandparents, especially her grandmother who many referred to as a wise woman and shaman, and a grandfather who didn't mind her poking around and helping out while he repaired car engines at his mechanic shop. Her father's family spoiled her, though she managed to avoid becoming a problem child- somehow.

She awakened spontaneously, after a boating accident sent her tumbling into a canal. Her impassioned pleas for rescue were met by the city spirit of Montreal, which buoyed her to the bank and drew the ambulances to her with little tricks. After that incident, they spoke many times both in dreams- often about the corruption in the world and the malaise that many of the new cities suffered as a consequence of the frailties of their youth and the mass produced buildings that filled them. The discussions shaped Shannon more than anything else, and motivated her to pull on her father's connections to enter a university in London after she graduated.

Her goals were twofold: first to meet the legendary city spirit of once the greatest city in the world, and second to learn architecture, city planning and civil engineering, what she considered to be the new arts of geomancy. Meeting Electra Stephens while studying, she fell in with the Idol House almost without noticing it, and became their defacto mechanic, carpenter, interior decorator, architect and easily a dozen other things.

Name// Shannon Travers

Concept// Spirit Smith who wants to heal the urban world.

Image Song// Thousand Bells, Yonderboi

Nature// Architect - Soulful Modernity

Demeanor// Bon Vivant - "We can make the world beautiful."

Essence// Questing - The Alleycat

Chantry// Idol House

Attributes

Physical

Strength 2

Dexterity 2

Stamina 2

Mental

Perception 2

Intelligence 4 (Creative)

Wits 2

Social

Charisma 4 (Enthralling)

Manipulation 2

Appearance 4 (Radiant)

Abilities

Skills (13 +1)

Craft 4

Specialty: Customization

Drive 3

Etiquette 2

Performance (Singing) 2

Technology 3

Talents (9)

Alertness 1

Awareness 3

Expression 2

Intuition 3

Knowledges (5)

Computer 1

Cosmology 2

Occult 3

Backgrounds

Avatar 2 (A weak traveling spirit of urban lore.)

Fetish 4 (The Stallion's Medallion)

Resources 2 (Works part time as a mechanic.)

Magick

Arete 4

• The Spirit of Each Thing - Matter 3
• The Great Spirits - Prime 2
• All of the Above and Bellow - Spirit 3

Paradigm

Shannon's paradigm is a fusion of traditional shamanism and technomagic, combining sacred and evocative iconograpy with ritualized maintenance and care for machines.

Foci

• Matter: Repair tools, paint, custom parts, goggles.
• Prime: Goggles, engraving/painting, geomancy.
• Spirit: Singing, engraving/painting, goggles.

Things to Track

Willpower: 7
Temporary Willpower: 7
Health Levels: -0 x 1, -1 x 2, -2 x 2, -5 x 1, Incapacitated

Current Damage: -

Quintessence: 2/2
Paradox: 0

Miscellaneous

Common Rotes

Hidden Gems (Matter 2)
Discover the hidden value of an object, such as finding a quality engine in an old ruster or rich wooden floors beneath cheap carpet. In combat (and with Prime 2), it can also turn random trash and obstacles into seemingly impenetrable chest-high walls.

Spirit Armor (Prime 2)
Armors the material against things of the Umbra. Shannon prefers embroidery and engraving, although sometimes fresh paint in the right color will suffice.

Fragments of Dream (Matter 1)
Shannon can see through walls by channeling the spirit of a peeping tom through her goggles.

Hit It Until It Works (Matter 2)
Sometimes hinges do give out and seemingly impenetrable restraints break with enough struggling. Alternatively, it could also allow for banging a seemingly pliable piece of metal until it's the exact shape needed to repair a mechanical object or hold a door shut.

Awaken the Inanimate (Spirit 3)
Draw out the spirit of an object and bring it to sentience. Shannon prefers to serenade it quietly while engraving it with elaborate patterns relating to its function (or to identify it to herself), or give it enough custom parts that it can stand out as a unique creation.

Breach Escape (Spirit 3)
Punch a hole into the Umbra. Depending on urgency, Shannon will either carefully prepare an existing doorway to function as an umbral gateway or make a fascimile on surface. In times of danger, she may just slam a wall open with a power tool (like a jackhammer) or paint out a doorway and hope it works.

Camouflage (Spirit 3, Matter 2, Prime 2)
Umbral gateways aren't the smartest thing to keep open all the time, since they attract attention. Cobbling together the right mix of spirit wards, electronic baffles and maybe even some clever paint, the effect can mitigate the apparent strength of an open doorway.

Merits

Crack Driver (In the past, some Dreamspeaker horseback riders were preternaturally skilled at communicating and controlling their mounts. Shannon is part of- or destroying- a proud tradition. -2 Dif on all rolls relating to the operation of a motor vehicle.)

Mechanical Aptitude (Being able to communicate with even dormant spirits of technology has certain benefits. -2 Dif on all rolls relating to technology.)

Spirit Magnet [7] (Shannon seems to draw a lot of attention from helpful spirits, notably on the very occasion when the City Spirit of Montreal rescued her and she awakened.)

Flaws

Echoes (Shannon tends to cause some weird happenings by being in a certain place. Cats often crowd her and tend to be affection while dogs exhibit stranger interests. She is also bothered by water if put into it against her will, taking a -1 penalty to all actions if doused by surprise.)

Phobia (Shannon has yet to cope with her traumatic near-drowning incident, and has been deathly afraid of large bodies of water ever since. She can still bathe or traipse in relatively shallow waters, but going over rivers and lakes- let alone swimming is a mortifying enough experience that she takes a -2 difficulty penalty on all actions while this is happening, with the above penalty from being wet stacking if she didn't go in of her own will.)

Primal Marks (Shannon has a number of catlike mannerisms that her friends write off as quirks, such as saying the words 'mew' ironically, rubbing her face with the back of her hand or stretching like a cat. Some people have occasionally seen her with cat ears, only to blink and not see them anymore. The Umbra has temporarily made these traits more apparent.)

Spirit-Trained (Shannon was awakened and trained by the city spirit of Montreal, and only has her background in Mohawk traditions and myth to complement this. This has given her a far more technomagical conception of spirit bargaining that might set her at odds with other Dreamspeakers and make her seem weird to technomages.)

XP and Background

Freebie Points

Freebie Points 22/22

Primal Marks (-2)

Phobia: (-2)

Echoes (-2)

Spirit-Trained (-1)

Willpower (2)

Prime 2 (10)

Mechanical Aptitude (1)

Crack Driver (1)

Spirit Magnet (7)

Craft 4 (2)

Fetish 4 (1)

XP

Maid: The Ascension