Trolling the Mak Attax list for predators.

Doug Eagleton, on the surface of it, is your stereotypical survivalist nut. Give him the chance and he’ll rant and rave about the Knights Templar attempting to prevent economic expansion and thereby causing the Great Depression. Or about how the NSA uses radio transmissions to send signals to random people’s dental fillings just to throw people off from their REAL mind control methods, which amount to controlling school textbook contents through several removes. He’s angry, paranoid, and impossible to reason with.

Which makes it all the more surprising that he’s decided to work for a multinational global conglomerate in the fast food industry.

History

Like many paranoid and angry people, Doug received unpredictable but vicious thrashings as a kid. He sees threats everywhere and for a long time he desired nothing more than to do unto others before they could do unto him. Luckily (or perhaps the opposite), Doug was also very, very smart. Book smart, anyway. He’s good at chemistry and history both, for the simple reasons that he finds them useful in his view of the world.

Instead of being an unpredictable rage lashing out at everything, his anger was codified and cross-indexed to fit paranoid delusions on the part of the outside world. It makes him stable in his instability. Given his disposition, it was only a matter of time before he fell in with other survivalist types. He tried the Klan, he tried the Weather Underground, he tried the American Nazi Party, he tried a lot of different groups. Then he ran into the Global Liberation Society and found not only an ideology compatible with his own paranoid fantasies, but the practical knowledge and training to work with the fantasies.

Needless to say, when the GLS needed operatives to go after the mysterious Mak Attax organization, Doug was happy to do his part.

His keen eye for detail made him better suited for recon and intel work instead of going in with guns blazing. He made it a habit to spy on suspected Attaxers, both on and off work. To be convincing, he ended up buying some food at the restaurant, which is how he got Special Ordered.

He spent the next three days trying to figure out why his fingernails were growing so fast (up to an inch a day) before the effect wore off, and by that time he was VERY interested in what was happening. A few more weeks of observing the local crew and he suddenly had an unexpected mental breakthrough; he realized all his paranoid delusions, while probably true in the main, were wrong on one major count:

Nobody could ever pull off such plans without a hitch. There were always screw-ups, goof-ups, fumbles, and unforseen problems. The Nazis rose to power because the Templars and the Illuminati both assumed they were the only people behind the scenes and they cancelled each other out. The HAARP array couldn’t be used as a weapon because of constant threat of FCC investigation and fines. Everything in history suddenly made SENSE.

Then it was gone again.

Doug laughed for a long, long time, and from then on, things were never quite the same.

With Mak Attax

Doug’s troubled reasoning resulted in him deciding to side with the Maks. They operated in a totally half-assed way, and that was why they got such interesting results. Other organizations acted effectively and the results ended up half-assed; the Maks had simply flipped the equation. So simple.

He got a job at the Golden Arches where he had first been Special Ordered. It took a lot of time, charm, and open-mindedness to get the local charge dropper to open up about Mak Attax proper, but she eventually decided he’d be a big help. Needless to say, Doug was interested when she brought it up.

The Eagle and Magick

Strictly speaking, Doug doesn’t perceive magick AS magick. What he sees in Mak Attax is a lot of advanced and complicated technology handled by unsophisticated people using a code language for safety. (A lot of GLS agents think the same thing.) He played along on the list and if it weren’t for his mental deterioration, it might not have gone any further. His childhood paranoid fantasies interacted with his adult paranoid theories and wrapped around the result of the SpOrd, and something happened.

Most psychotherapists who spent enough time with Doug, after getting past the gigantic paranoid delusions, would recognize a massive chunk of sadomasochistic and narcissistic personality elements, with a mean vertical split. Since every sadist is a repressed masochist (and vice versa), Doug has a lot of latent self-directed anger, guilt, and shame… the kind of stuff that when acted on can sometimes lead people to more destructive magick schools. Perhaps because of the SpOrd that hit him, Doug drifted that way and finally, literally stumbled his way into Epideromancy. He stubbed his toe on some furniture in his apartment in the dark, and he started thinking about the process of the body turning pain into pleasure through endorphins (a technique obviously used in early Men In Black programs, to make them fearless and cement their loyalty) and his head just slip-slided right into the school.

With his own bizarre twist, that is. After talking a bit about conspiracy theories, a few other Maks pointed him towards the game Deus Ex, which had conspiracy as its main theme. So Doug got a computer, and played the game. It was okay, but he thought it left out too much, especially the obvious connection between the Sputnik Satellite and Echelon II. Still, enough of it got stuck in his head to seep into Epideromancy and create, instead of an alternative charging system, an alternative spell system.

Modern Day Warrior, Mean Mean Stride

Doug has constructed some false memories to explain his powers: He was an early prototype for a super-soldier program using micro-spheres in conjunction with his body. He was just to be used to see if the spheres were small enough to evade detection by the immune system; yea or nay, he was to be terminated. He survived thanks to a computer database error and beaurocratic bass-ackwards-ness. Now he’s learned to control the microspheres in a relay from the ones in his nerves to every other system, but they have to have fuel; hormones, neurotransmitters, and of course adrenaline. Once the stuff is released, they catalyse it electronically and “charge up”, and the easiest way to release the fuel is to physically injure himself.

Of course, those who made the technology would know how to unmake it, or at least screw it up. They can’t infiltrate every single place he might be, but they’ll try. First they’ll try to dissipate the charged energy, then they’ll try to remove the microspheres to study, since he got them to work all on their own. Then they’ll kill him. To this end, he does not trust doctors, dentists, or anyone who might be in position to alter his body and/or apply counter-sphere elements. (He didn’t suspect his hairdresser until it was too late, so there was a lot of angry yelling and running off that was never fully explained. After that he decided to just shave his head.)

He understands the difference between minor and significant charges, even though he thinks of them in terms of electrical energy stored by the microspheres. He figures that he can’t combine minors to make significants because the spheres are too small to carry that kind of transformer coil equipment, but it works the other way because electricity, like water, tends to “run downhill”.

It’s definitely worth noting the differences between Doug’s magick and typical Epideromancy. First off, Doug’s Blast is totally different: While he still must touch his opponent, it’s based on electricity. He thinks he’s directly discharging electricity from his microspheres into his targets. (This is a rationalization supported by the magickal growth of special organs like those in electric eels. On some level he probably knows this, because he’d have to consciously direct their growth. It does, however, form a chicken-and-egg issue that he can’t think about directly without going into a fight-or-flight response.) Second of all, he doesn’t think he actually casts spells, he thinks machinery rebuilds his body from scratch, so a lot of his effects are different, and not necessarily as good as “standard” fleshworker powers.

Minor Spells:

Jolt: 2 Minor Charges
Effect: The Minor Blast. Inflicts hand-to-hand damage on the target and also requires them to roll Body, as though hit by a stun gun. Can be used to damage or disable small electronic devices like cell phones, listening bugs, and tracking beacons.

Accellerated Healing: 1 Minor Charge
Effect: Heals one die of damage. Cannot, of course, be used to repair self-inflicted wounds.

Athletic Boost: 1 Minor Charge
Effect: Provides a 10% shift to Body or Speed until the next time Doug sleeps. Does not add Wound Points if used on Body.

Fatigue Limiter: 1 Minor Charge
Effect: Reduces the need to sleep and removes any penalties from exhaustion. Doug feels great for eight hours and so-so for the next eight.

Night Vision: 3 Minor Charges
Effect: Not like light amplifier or infrared goggles at all, this spell reproduces some of the chemical and structural elements of the eyes of nocturnal predators. Color vision goes to zero, but a clear night with stars out seems to Doug about as bright as a heavily overcast day. He can read most text this way. The full moon can easily blind him, as can any artificial light source like a flashlight or flare. If he is blinded, not only is he at a major disadvantage, he takes one die of damage to his eyes. It takes the body a while to heal the damage naturally; using Accelerated Healing can put him back in action much faster.

Significant Spells:

Shock Therapy: 1 Sig Charge
Effect: This is the significant blast. The target takes firearms damage and must make a Body roll as with the minor blast. Can be used to mess up a fusebox or car ignition system.

Kevlar Skin: 2 Sig Charges
Effect: Skin begins to grow hardened keratin, like in the nails, over all surfaces save the joints. All firearms damage becomes hand-to-hand damage, as with bulletproof vests, unless armor peircing rounds are used. Hand-to-hand attacks aren’t affected, since they hit a wider surface area. Lasts three rounds.

Musculature Enhancement: 3 Sig Charges
Effect: Body score is doubled (to a maximum of 100) but wound points do not increase. With the proper leverage, Doug can pick up large objects and throw them like the Incredible Hulk, scaled down. Cars can’t be tossed around, but the occasional motorcycle is fine. Lasts five minutes or five rounds.

Speed Enhancement: 2 Significant Charges
Effect: Speed is doubled (to a maximum of 100). This does not increase initiative skill, but makes rolling for it very attractive. Lasts five minutes or five rounds.

Gills: 2 Significant Charges
Effect: Doug develops gills along his neck that allow him to breath underwater for a short time. They basically add sixty seconds to the time that can be spent, and reset the clock related to using the Body Score.

Today’s Tom Sawyer, Mean Mean Pride

So what does a strange variant Epideromancer do with his powers over flesh? He fights the myriad conspiracies that threaten half of the world with slavery and the other half with genocide. And in this strange, secret war, Doug has decided now is the time to provide a little cover fire for his fellow soldiers.

Some time before he switched sides from GLS puppet to Mak Attax fryolator jockey, some unlucky girl posted on the mailing list that she needed some cash. Somebody was able to use the information explaining how to send donations to locate, interrogate, and terminate her.

Once somebody explained this to Doug, he decided that it might be prudent to turn the tables on the attackers. “The_Eagle” claims to be a 40-something aviation expert and UFO researcher into conspiracies, posting the occasional request for funds to afford parts to use in experiments. (These experiments are claimed to be aimed at finding a common ground between magick and technology and perhaps creating ritual or spell effects with electrical circuitry; in otherwords, making magick much more accessible to non-mages.) Things being what they are, those most interested in helping can’t afford to send much money; Doug has collected only $190, all of it sent to Superconductor via Rocketfly.

He’s crazy, yeah, but he’s not selfish.

On the other hand, this has let Doug bag four attackers from GLS-controlled groups. He’s been attacked three times in his apartment and once in a dark alley. None of the bodies have been discovered… yet. This has made the anti-corporate groups slightly more cautious about going after list-based information; clearly this conspiracy has decided to shell out more high tech defensive equipment to the lower levels after the botched attempt to kill Superconductor.

Doug’s Stats

Personality: Carefully hidden madness, nice when not ranting.

Obssession: (Epideromancy) Personal Power and Independence.

Wound Points: 65

Rage Passion: Being manipulated. He’s still smarting over his work for the myriad groups he now realizes are just as dangerous as any government or secret society.

Fear Passion: (Helplessness) Being betrayed. After all, you can never be absolutely sure if someone is on your side, only absolutely sure that he’s not — after he pulls a gun on you.

Noble Passion: Protecting fellow Maks. The group managed to save the world’s bacon on the new millenium; if they weren’t being attacked from all directions, they could save a lot more bacon.

Body 65 (Tough Enough)
General Athletics 40%, Okinawan Karate 55%

Speed 60 (Fleet of Foot)
Dodge 40%, Drive 20%, Initiative 30%, Firearms 45%

Mind 55 (Clever)
Wilderness Survival (General Education) 35%, Notice Suspicious Behavior 40%, Improvised Weapons and Explosives 40%, Conspiracy Lore 35%

Soul 60 (Paranoid Maniac)
Charm 15%, Lie 45%, Magick: Epideromancy 50%

Madness Meters

Violence: 4 Hardened, 0 Failed
Unnatural: 3 Hardened, 1 Failed
Helplessness: 2 Hardened, 5 Failed
Isolation: 3 Hardened, 0 Failed
Self: 3 Hardened, 3 Failed

Mental Disorder: Paranoid Delusions. Doug’s delusions of reality are usually based around conspiracies and the prospect of hidden enemies everywhere.

Possessions: Cramped Apartment, Beat up pickup truck, unliscensed .38 Special revolver with speed loader, ice pick (+3 penetrating). He also has a significant magickal artifact, a gift from a Kleptomancer he helped out of a jam. It’s a blank key enchanted with the Instant Locksmith spell and it’ll work four more times before it becomes a normal key again.

Allies: Edward “Spike” Weiler, the Wheel Spiker, Kleptomancer specializing in carjacking. Katy Flint, Spike’s girlfriend. Daniel Dwight, owner of the local firing range.