## Statistics Galactic Age: ~1,400,000 Subjective Age: ~30,000 Homeworld: [[Apoidea]] Home Sector: [[Sundered Harmony]] Affinity Groups - [[Past Projects/The Plague Lords/Affinity Groups/War Dogs]] - Longer, Better, Faster, Stronger - "Being good at war is good, being the best at war is the best" - Curing the Plague (For Sale) - [[Past Projects/The Plague Lords/Affinity Groups/Politicos]] - Bet ~~the~~ Someone Else's Farm - A proper soldier of fortune knows how to blow cash on bad ideas You are Engineer Crispi, famed victor of a thousand doomed battles, and less famed loser of a hundred thousand more. Ever since your first trip off of your homeworld of [[Apoidea]], you've been a soldier working on behalf of the [[Hivemother]], one of the original [[Sapient Plagues]], though your service has been kept secret and you've been allowed to pursue work as a soldier of fortune in order to keep it that way. While the war between the Plague Lords and the [[Celestial Empire]] isn't the first time you've been glad for that secrecy, it's certainly a reminder of the value inherent in playing your cards close to your chest. For a million years now, you've fought impossible battles on behalf of your people and your homeworld, all while the galaxy at large saw you as no more than another soldier of fortune. You want to fight the [[Celestial Empress]]. You know you're not ready to fight Her directly yet, that you may never be, but you've heard enough of the old legends to know that the Hivemother and their siblings were all created for the same purpose -the destruction of the Empress. After a million years spent in impossible battles, the idea of one more sounds like nothing to fear. While you're unlikely to get the chance to fight the Empress directly any time soon, every chance you get to enrich yourself and your planet is a chance to prepare for that inevitable day. You've come to the [[Plague Council]] to pad your legend. You want as many people as possible trying to hire you, so that you can pursue your real purposes without anyone asking questions. At the same time, you're doing what you've always done, looking after the people of your homeworld. Rumor has it that Biru, [[Apoidea]]'s Governor, will be in attendance as well. The two of you aren't exactly close (see Connections, below), but you know they're going to need your help to keep the people of your shared Holding safe and secure. ## Goals 1. Get paid an exorbitant fee to participate in a war. 2. Stage an impressive exhibition fight without letting the public know it's an exhibition. 3. Protect and advance the interests of [[Apoidea]]. ## Character Notes - This character is halfway to becoming a Sapient Plague, though they don't necessarily realize that fact. Their legendary combat prowess is a direct result of their connection to, and service of, the [[Hivemother]]. This service is slightly odd, as it leaves plenty of room for private work, even mercenary work, but you've learned to use that mercenary status to conceal the truth of your allegiance in the years since the [[I Killed the Plaguesmith|Death of the Plaguesmith]]. After a million years of service, does this character feel content in their role, or do they want to act on their own behalf for once? - Engineer Crispi is one of the most violent characters in the game, but in many ways regarded as one of the most moral. They almost always fight on behalf of the underdog, and often achieve incredible, come-from-behind victories. Now that the Hivemother and the other Sapient Plagues are at war with the galaxy, however, that shining status is likely to become stained. How will Crispi square the demands of this grim new age with their previously spotless history? - Crispi loves a good fight, and has little interest in the fairness of that fight -in either direction. While it's rare that you're on the side of the juggernaut, you've never minded when that happened. Many of the other warriors present place great value on the idea of a "fair" fight, but you've never really seen what value it is to the dead that their death was according to some vague set of personal rules. Will you take advantage of others' sense of fair play to set them up? - Crispi is among the oldest characters in play both in terms of galactic and subjective ages. They've spent a million years on a cycle of war-splurge-stasis-repeat, which has somewhat eroded their relationships with "normal" people. How will you forge new bonds with people who only barely feel real? ## Connections 1. [[High Seat Ormais]] 1. "Next time." 2. If you're honest, you probably enjoy fighting Ormais a bit *too much*. It isn't that there's anything deeper; relationships with the walking-piles-of-baggage populating the Great Houses is a bad habit you kicked eons ago. No, the problem is that Ormais is just too damned good at war. You spring an ambush with a drone fleet, they drop a lambdavirus that melts the drones from the inside. You flick photoids at their nearest star, they harvest the supernova for fuel. You lure them into the kill range of a black hole, and they deploy a spin cannon fusillade to *evaporate the fucking black hole*. Who does that? It's amazing. A few times over the long span of your life, you've been on their side in a war, and it's just as impressive from the inside. Even the assassins they've sent after you were top notch. Sometimes, you think that Ormais is the only other person out there really *enjoying* war, and that's just a damn shame. Will you work together once more, or will Ormais' antipathy for the Sapient Plagues see the two of you take another tilt? 2. [[Hivemother]] 1. "Grandma honeybee." 2. You've never really understood all the hype about the [[Sapient Plagues]]. Sure, there are the ones like [[Crimson Breath]] who might actually be straight-up monsters, but that's the minority. You suspect this positive opinion of yours is informed by growing up on [[Apoidea]] and then spending more than a million galactic years (and more than thirty thousand subjective years) working with and for the [[Hivemother]]. Since the day you left your home planet, you've been guided by the buzzing of bees' wings and the whispers they carried. When the Hivemother's agents directed you to rest in stasis, you rested. When they woke you, you went to war. Sometimes, you were on the winning side. Much more often, you were the only thing preventing a defeat from turning into a slaughter. You don't know much, nor do you care much, about the "morals" of the side you fought for, you just care that you did it better than anyone else. Now, you and the Hivemother will be in the same place for the first time in nearly a million years. Will it be the familiar relationship of a distant but beloved grandmother, or have you become just another soldier in the hive? 3. [[Governor Biru]] 1. "Governor Grumps." 2. You have nothing against Biru. You really don't. You just feel like they're a *little* uptight. True, they're one of the only people walking around even older than you are, so you suppose it might be some elder-sibling syndrome, but even so. You were born on [[Apoidea]], the planet Biru rules, though they were always a pretty hands-off Governor in your experience. After just a couple centuries, barely into real adulthood, you left the planet and entered the Hivemother's service. Since then you've run into Biru, or Biru's children (who are all clones of the Governor) a great many times. Typically, they're leading underground rebel networks, drumming up support for those same networks, or otherwise acting the part of Peoples' General. You've spent plenty of time fighting for plucky underdogs in your day, so you have an appreciation for the art, but you don't see why they're so damned solemn about the whole thing. Will the grumpy one and the sunshine one work out their differences? 4. [[Harbinger Wilde]] 1. "Big Talk." 2. You've met Wilde a few times in the last fifty thousand galactic years -usually when they were starting a fight at some event or another- and you've also been one of the lucky few to hear their battle cadence as you bombarded a hostile planet. In moments of grand battle, Wilde is the voice which ensures every hand moves to the same will and every death is toward the same end. The rest of the time, you see them as the kind of person who talks a lot of shit and then gets someone else to do the teeth-kicking, though that is somewhat offset by just how good that shit-talking tends to be. Having Wilde on your side, mocking your enemies right before you melt them into their constituent atoms? Bliss. Unfortunately, Wilde is here working, specifically on behalf of their Holding, [[Sateen Kaari]]. Will your personal affection be enough to form a real bond, or will the demands of politics see you as enemies? ## Mechanics **Asset:** [[Shop Gear]] As an engineer, you always have the tools for the job - as long as that job is basic repair. You can fix any broken device with just a few minutes' effort. When you take possession (even temporary possession) of an item tagged "Broken" you may choose to remove that tag, rendering the item usable once more. You cannot remove the "Destroyed" tag. **Special:** Hivemother's Paladin This character has been empowered by one of the original Sapient Plagues with all the strange, esoteric might of an omniphage. While the character may not realize the source of their power, and may explain it to themselves as military genius, superpowers, or magic, the truth is that a planet-sized cloud of nanobots has been tasked to serve their every need. This character is no true Sapient Plague, but gets the following benefits: in combat, add 1 Advantage to this character's side for every character on the opposing side (as the Omniphage benefit). This character is able to fight Sapient Plagues without automatically losing, but cannot automatically participate in Fleet Combat Scenarios (another character must provide the necessary Asset). **Lien:** [[Nobody Has Seven PhDs]] Being a Holding Engineer is an impossible, thankless job. Not only are you expected to fix every device as soon as it breaks (if not before) but you're also expected to be conversant in a dozen wildly different technical disciplines and an expert in at least half as many. Try as you might, it's simply impossible to cover all the bases. This character does not understand any piece of technology tagged "Arcane," and cannot learn. When presented with such technology, the character is simply baffled and unable to achieve any specific effect without help. (This includes the use of the [[Shop Gear]] Asset.)