Beware of men that offer you umbrellas in the rain.

The Storm Born

Have you ever looked at a storm and marvelled at its power? Have you ever seen lightning flicker across the sky like electric snakes, and been thankful for the shelter of your home? Have you ever seen the devastation of a hurricane and felt deep in your soul that man is not the master of this earth?
If you have then you’ve probably helped to make one of the Storm Born.
The Storm Born are the physical expression of mans awe for nature, particularly storms. All the fear and awe and wonder buzz around like some kind of psychic static until it builds up so much power that it has to discharge.
Normally this will happen during a particularly large and powerful storm. Just as regular lightning seeks the easiest places to ground itself, so does this psychic force, unfortunately that means people who are sensitive to such forces. Like Adepts, and Avatars, and mystics.
The process works like this:
When one of these “birth storms” gets too strong it will shoot out a bolt of pale, white ghost-lightning which strikes the most sensitive person of the area. (In game terms any human with Soul 60 or higher is in danger, anyone with soul more than 80 is a prime target. The lightning causes between 01 and 80 points of damage.)
It is entirely possible to survive the strike, in which case the unfortunate will most likely need to be treated for electrical burns but the potential Storm Born is a still-birth.
Should the person die however, things get interesting. As the person dies the power of the storm combines with the fleeing soul, creating something new which returns to the body. Then with the smell of ozone and the rasp of burnt lungs the Storm Born stands up.
Storm Born are not the original person, neither are they some separate entity possessing a host. They are not dead and cannot be summoned or compelled like demons.
They are something entirely new.
They often refer to the person who’s body they are wearing as their “Father” and the storm from which they came as their “Mother”. Of course since many of the people likely to “Father” a Storm Born are part of a cabal many Storm Born are destroyed not long after their birth as angry friends of the Father attempt to rescue the original inhabitant of the body (something which is impossible by the way).
The Storm Born never claim to be the original person, though they often take their Fathers name. They remember their Fathers past and possess their skills (see below) however they do not consider the events of their Fathers past to be any real concern of theirs. Lovers, wives and former cabal fellows are left behind as the Storm Born follows its own destiny.
Physically the Storm Born look the same as their Father however they are marked by dark, burned patches around the crown of the head, eyes, hands and feet. Many, though not all go bald shortly after being born.
The Storm Born are as much individuals as people are and you are just as likely to meet one who is pleasant and witty as you are one who is an arsehole. Some enter the O.U. as information brokers or leg breakers, some simply lead mundane lives.
Storm Born come to be only rarely. Perhaps six or seven may be created globally each year and of those most will be swiftly killed. The few that survive tend to quickly leave the area of their birth, skipping to a new country where their Father will not be known and they can follow their own desires rather than live in the shadow of who they seem to be.

Storm Born possess a number of unnatural powers that can make them extremely useful allies or very nasty enemies. It is worth noting however that no Storm Born has ever manifested a recognisable school of magic or any Avatar abilities. Even those who’s Father was an Adept show no talent for it. Exactly why they lose this ability when they retain all other skills from their Father is unknown.
It is also worth noting that Storm Born are commonly sought for rituals purposes. There are always rumours that “The Master of The Wind” can be completed with the blood of a Storm Born and many Adepts in the know wouldn’t mind pickling a Storm Born because something like that’s bound to be good for something.

Storm Born:

Points: 150 – 250
Body:30 – 60
Speed: 30 – 60
Mind: 30 – 60
Soul: 60 – 95

Skills: As per Father, plus Power of the Storm, ten points lower than their soul.

Power of the Storm grants the Storm born the following powers:

Perhaps the most potent of the Storm Born’s powers is their sense of hearing. Any noise (including conversations) that is being produced within line of sight of the Storm Born they can hear if they wish. This effect is almost unnoticeable as the wind gently carries whatever you were saying to the Storm Born’s ears. Further from a decent vantage point (the top of a tall building for example) the Storm Born can hear the noises from potentially anywhere. This ability is limited only the Storm Born’s knowledge of where the conversation is taking place. They can carry the words spoken in room 22a of the Elvis Loves You motel in Kansas to where they stand in Azerbaijan but they cannot simply overhear every conversation the James Grey has, they must know the location.
Storm Born also have the ability to whisper and have the words carried clearly and quickly to any other of the Storm Born. In this case they do not even have to know the name of the person they are sending to, they only need to know which one of their brothers or sisters they are sending to.
Rumour has it that the most powerful of the Storm Born have mastered the ability to pick out the words spoken over mobile telephones, that if they know your number they can eavesdrop on your conversation…

The Storm Born can also exert control over the wind. They can create up to gale force winds from still air in a matter of moments. However this is a dangerous, but not very precise ability. Whilst the Storm Born can fill a room with air turbulence so powerful that they can crush people it wont do them much good if they are standing in that room. They are not immune to the effects of their own power and they do not have fine control over it, basically they could huff and puff your house away but they couldn’t make a breeze to knock a single plate off a shelf. They absolutely, positively, cannot use this power to fly.

Storm Born also have power over lightning. They are utterly immune to any form of damage from electricity, (which also leads to the strange side effect that defibrillators do not work on them) and they can summon lightning. Whilst this is an impressive and dangerous ability it is also somewhat limited. They can only use it whilst a natural storm is blowing and if the target is in area where there are preferable things for the lightning to hit (lampposts, buildings, electricity pylons etc) the lightning bolt becomes very difficult to aim. The easiest way to ensure accuracy is if the target is holding something metal above their head at the time. Beware of the guy who offers you an umbrella in the rain

Strangely although the Storm Born cannot control the wind with any real degree of subtlety the oldest and most dangerous of them have managed to gain a frightening amount of power of the pollutants that blow on the wind. It should be stressed that not all the Storm Born know this trick (Only those with Power of the Storm greater than 70) but there are some who have gained the ability to gently concentrate toxic fumes around a single person. This is a slow, subtle way of using their powers and the only obvious way of telling this power is being used is that the victim may be begin to smell (and pass-out, experience loss of sight, weight or vomiting) unless the victim spends a lot of time in air conditioned buildings the slow build up of carcinogens in their system may cause the ever so powerful mystic to be struck down by chronic lung cancer.