The Stained Artist

All artwork on this post was done with Midjourney AI

This is a character write up inspired by the Sigil & Shadow Play-by-Poll I ran over on the Osprey Games Twitter. Every decision voted on not only steered the events of the story, but the development of this persona. Granted, after the fact I filled in some blanks according to my own interpretations of events.

You thought you were a normal starving artist — you got up every day for your routine job in retail, stopped at the same coffee place, then spent the remainder of your waking hours slinging paint to canvas. Problem is you were never much of a people person outside work, and it was hard to “put yourself out there”. Okay, you weren’t really a people person at work either.

Luckily, you had some misfit friends that you got along with. Spooky friends, weirdos, folks you met at the coffee shop who openly talked about ghosts, witchcraft, haunted places and the like. You didn’t really buy into it at first, but after a few really weird outings with them you felt there was something going on. They even taught you a couple “invocation” spells and some sigil magick.

Then came the day, on your way to work, when you saw something in the bushes near the coffee place. It really got to your core, even though you didn’t understand what you had seen. You tried to call your friends up to go check it out, but wound up flying solo. You really wanted to see what it was for yourself, and boy howdy it was more than you bargained for.

Something wicked manifested that night; something entirely not of this world, and after saving some poor ol’ soul from being devoured by it, you got in over your head trying to banish the damn thing. You were overwhelmed, and in a panic you tapped into something dark within you. The sorcery you had channeled that night ripped it out of existence, but in the process forever altered your own existence.

It’s been months since that night. You no longer have a reflection — you resort to always dressing in hoodies even when it’s hot outside. You wear thick, bright colored wigs and are always trying to face away from any reflective surfaces. For the most part you get by unnoticed, but the constant fear of your reflection (or lack thereof) being noticed has caused you to lose your job. It also doesn’t help that whenever you’re around people for a small amount of time, they tend to get put off and even despise you, completely out of the blue.

Luckily, your weird friends don’t have that problem. They seem to recognize and understand that you’re just different now. Your alchemist buddy (my bad, the “pharmakeist”) calls you “Afflicted”. You call him a dealer, which he doesn’t like.

It’s not all bad, though. You’re a chaneller of the dark arts now — umbra magic, the ability to manipulate shadows, ghosts, spirits and more without so much as a gesture and a thought. Even though your newfound status as a “sorcerer” causes most folks to fear your or resent you… you kind of don’t even care. Hell, quite often you revel in it.

The Stained Artist

The Stained Artist: Character Sheet

Casting: Shadowed (Afflicted) | Drive: Scorn | Background: Artist
Descriptors: Thirst for the Unknown, Obsessive

Skills:

• Arcana
  • Vita 1/+10%
    
  • Umbra 1/+10%
    
• Education (Art) 1/ +10%
  
• Mysticism

Perks:

• Eye for Detail

Manifestations:

• Channel Umbra 1
  
• Concealment 1

Burdens:

• Hindering Trait (Casts No Reflection)

Equipment:
Occultist Pack, Mobile Device, Sketchbook, Big Stick (1D Damage), Reinforced Clothing (Layered leather jacket and hoodie)

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The journey of The Stained Artist will continue on the @SigilAndShadow twitter account.