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Piece of emptiness for the small December
The air was filled with the scents of the coming holiday, sweet pies and light beer; people were busy with preparations and paid no one any mind—not even the lonely girl in a long hooded cloak walking straight toward the table where the Watcher was tasting fresh wines.
- Wonderful, excellent wine. - She praised the product of one of the winemakers, who then ran somewhere into the general warehouse area with a foolish smile on his face. Likely for something even more outstanding.
- Ahem...
The Watcher finally noticed her.
- Ah, Western, take a seat; I can't taste all this alone. - she said in a friendly, smiling tone.
- No, thank you. I came regarding my concerns. Someone has appeared beyond the barrier again.
- We already spoke about this yesterday. - The Watcher whispered. - You are exaggerating too much.
- I am afraid.
Children shouted and laughed; people scurried back and forth incessantly. Birds sang, the wind rustled.
- After the holiday. - The Watcher said, no longer smiling. - It is not worth scaring the people now. Now excuse me, I must pay tribute to tradition.
The same winemaker was already running toward the table, now with a dusty barrel in his hands.
Western reached her dwelling in the grove by the fields, where she shed the unnecessary cloak and went for another patrol of her territory; a shiny bullpup rifle lay habitually across her back. Walking along the fields of tall wheat, she stopped to rest under a high tree with lush foliage standing alone on the outskirts. The wind gently tossed her hair and tickled her soft ears; everything was calm.
- Maybe I really am exaggerating?..
Meanwhile, a buggy racing at great speed across the sand dunes braked sharply at the edge of the barrier. With one leap, leaving the buggy, a girl stepped onto the ground.
Approaching the dome closely, she knocked gently.
- Knock-knock.
December
Watcher
The Watcher of December was always distinguished by her extraordinary calmness and decisiveness; it was said that this very trait became her ability as the head of the barrier. The image of a sweet girl often misleads new merchants or refugees from the outside world; few know that this sweet girl is already several decades old.
ND
ult. Influence: regardless of the voting results, she can execute anyone.
Features
I. Status: double vote.
II. Dexterity: 75% chance to avoid death during an assassination attempt.
Human; Altered
Mechanic
The human responsible for the dome's functionality: its brain, its immunity and its pulse blood running through the veins of microcircuits. The entire communications, power supply, and security system are in the Mechanic's hands.
Too much for one person; sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the day at his workplace, in a puddle of spilled tea with a terrible headache from overstrain—only the wet nose of his favorite dog, nudging his palm, could bring him out of shock in such moments.
ND
I. Switch: disconnects all communications in the target's room; the target is blocked, ND directed at the target do not work.
Features.
I. Protective gear: cannot be stunned.
II. Loyal friend: the dog maims the attacker regardless of the ND type (block, kill, wound). Can be sent to another target.
Human; Pureblood
South guardian
The South Guardian was the hero of scary children's stories for fifty years or more. Children grew up before her eyes, new ones arrived, grew up... but none of them could understand how this smiling girl, holding a Gauss rifle in one hand, hits the bullseye from two hundred meters. No one, however, had tried to lift even a single plate of her armor; otherwise, there would be enough astonishment for another hundred years.
ND
I. Check: checks target status (human/non-human).
II. Protection: protects the target (50% to kill the attacker, takes the hit herself).
III. Attack: kills the target.
Features
I. Armor: 50% chance to survive an assassination attempt.
II. Cannot kill the North Guardian.
III. After the death of the North Guardian, gains the ability to use her ND.
Weapon
S91 Gauss
.unstoppable bullets
.magnetic charged bullets
Human; Altered
North guardian
The North Guardian was seen very rarely, as there was practically nothing interesting in the northern part of the barrier. Only occasionally, people who had accidentally wandered into the northern forest would tell stories with enthusiasm over a mug of beer by the campfire about the fear they experienced while in the domain of a mysterious forest spirit that glides like lightning shadow between trees, leaving neat notches several centimeters deep along its path.
ND
I. Observation: check status altered/pureblood.
II. Lightning attack: maims the target (the target's first ND after this has a 50% success rate).
III. Attack: kills the target.
Features
I. Agility: 50% chance to dodge attacks.
II. Rage: Kills their own killer.
III. Cannot kill the South Guardian.
IV. After the death of the South Guardian, gains the ability to use her ND.
Weapon
Reaper blade
.blade dance
.pierce strike
Non-human; Altered
Medic
One of the refugees who survived after the fall of May. Before the dome collapsed and raiders flooded in, killing her entire family and friends, before houses were destroyed and fields were scarred by tire tracks, she was the chief physician of the barrier. The terrible image still surfaces in her memory: when she, wounded and exhausted, was dragged toward one of the raider vehicles by a priest who had personally killed three attackers intending to violate her.
ND
I. Healing: heals the target.
ult. Panacea: heals the victim (cannot be blocked).
Features
I. Self-healing: impossible to influence the success chance modifier of an ND.
Non-human; Pureblood
Surgeon
As the chief physician of December, she saw enough pain and suffering, even though nothing serious happened inside the barrier. She very quickly learned to calm her patients, both with medicine and conversation. However, she never liked such a life; the barrier seemed like a maximum-security prison with its own guards and rules.
"Everyone must be in their place," was the law; for her, it became a sentence.
ND
I. Healing: heals the target.
II. Anesthesia: blocks the target.
Features
I. Learns the full status of the healed target.
Non-human; Pureblood
Godless
He has changed significantly since then. Now his faith consists in the belief that the gods have abandoned the inhabitants of the barriers and everyone must decide for themselves what to do and how to live. Strangely enough, the Watcher approved of his position.
Now he speaks with few people unless it concerns his new religion; no one knows what he thinks or if he believes what he says himself. But fear, for him, is merely a long-forgotten feeling.
ND
I. Status check (any).
II. Sermon (deprives of vote).
Features
I. Not afraid of intimidation, impossible to deprive of (steal) a vote.
Human; Altered
Technocrazy
Obsessed with technology, as he calls himself, the scientist always had a mania for studying all technologies inside the barrier, from the most complex and in-demand to the most useless and dangerous.
As a teenager, he sketched blueprints of a steam gun in his notebook. The teacher, seeing them, only laughed, saying something about youthful enthusiasm. Who would have thought that just a few years later, the first model of the steam gun would be assembled in just a couple of nights in an abandoned mechanic's closet, using components stolen or simply found throughout the barrier.
ND
I. Steam veil: the target and all those who come to them have only a 50% chance of ND success.
II. Steam gun: blinds the target; they use an ND with a 50% probability and lose natural defenses.
Features
I. Overload: Cannot use the same ND twice in a row.
Human; Altered
Engineer
Any plans and blueprints pass through his hands before coming into force. Due to his natural persistence, the Engineer receives all documents even before a courier is sent to him with them. It is better not to try to push any project past him that is not approved by the rules; who better than he knows about the detrimental consequences of such maneuvers?
As an apprentice, he was far too interested in explosives; teachers even reported this matter to the Watcher at the time. However, nothing terrible came of it.
ND
I. ND redirection (swaps targets of two players).
II. Explosive disposal.
Features
I. Invulnerable to explosives.
II. Unbribable
Human; Pureblood
Underworker
Kilometers underground, darkness and loneliness; only the constant noise of the generator's lower levels and the light of a flashlight remind one that this is reality and not someone's bad dream.
To keep the generator running stably, it is necessary to monitor it constantly and always be ready to fix a malfunction. Always remaining underground, in solitude.
ND
I. Electromagnetic pulse (neutralizes one ND of a target with Altered status for two nights).
II. Shock discharge (neutralizes one ND of a target with Pureblood status for two nights).
Features
I. Impossible to stun with lightning or steam.
Human; Altered
Scientist
The chief analyst and theorist of the barrier, who spends whole days over formulas and graphs. Most of his projects are very risky and only make sense on paper for now; analytics capabilities are another matter.
He was the most diligent student and spent all his time studying and reading useful books, as otherwise one could get a job as a cleaner or be sent to the field to gather wheat.
ND
I. Status comparison (same/similar/different).
Features
I. Unbribable.
Human; Pureblood
Merchant
One of the merchants who was granted access to December. Excessively cautious and irritable, like all people from the outside world who have ever been in the city.
Although he received a pass into the city personally from the Watcher's hands, his guards still had to leave their weapons at the main gate post; also, he knew that he was constantly being watched, which doubled his irritability.
ND
I. Bribe (forces target to use an ND on him; the ND is not displayed in the newspaper).
ult. Ransom (releases a chosen player from prison).
Features
I. Alertness (chance to leave no clues does not work, dynamite has no chance to kill anyone but him).
Human; Altered
Raiders
Seawave
The bold and decisive leader of the Shards—one of countless bandit groups.
When the first barrier, October, was destroyed, the raiders could not find her among the rocks that were abundant near her home. All other residents met a sad fate; the raiders killed everyone they could, and those they didn't kill were taken away to be sold.
She managed to reach September; it was a very difficult, almost unimaginable journey, but she wasn't even let through the outer gates.
There was nothing left but to join a merchant who was heading to the nearest large city. There she found someone who could, for a certain fee, change a few things in her imperfect body.
ND
I. Kill.
II. Bold conversation: steals vote.
Features
I. Absolute accuracy: enemies have no chance to dodge.
II. Cat's agility: 50% chance to avoid death.
III. After the Watcher's death, receives a double vote.
IV. Kills the Watcher with a hundred percent chance.
Weapon
Modificated Desert Eagle 0.14
.explosive bullets
.armor piercing bullets
Human; Altered
Bruno
The second-in-command of the Shards. Silent and unyielding, both mentally and physically. Cruel and immoral, in moderation.
Their first meeting with Wave gave birth to the gang's name; specifically: she tried to stab him with a shard of strange thick glass that turned out to be stronger than steel. No one remembers anymore what caused the conflict, but it clearly benefited both; you don't meet a skilled fighter every day, especially one with views just like your own.
Where he came from and who he was before is unknown to anyone.
ND
I. Kill.
II. Wall of bullets: 50% to kill the main target and 50% for each person coming to them, no more than once every two nights.
III. Attack: blocks the target.
Features
I. Iron will: impossible to deprive of vote, impossible to bribe or redirect.
II. Leader: after Wave's death, receives a double vote.
Weapon
Two automatic handguns
.bullets wall
.bullets typhon
Human; Altered
Doctor
A mysterious scientist who joined the gang due to the grand plans and high ambitions of its members. At first, he was treated with distrust and quite coldly; you don't meet a person who knows more about technology than any barrier scientists every day. However, over time everything changed; his words were listened to, the devices he assembled were actively used, and his combat potential was beyond all doubt.
But still, everyone knew that he was hiding something very important. This man had his own plans.
ND
I. Discharge: kills target (ignores armor).
II. Lightning: blinds and stuns the target (target uses an ND on a random player with 50% probability).
ult. Singularity Short Circuit. Destroys the target: defenses, healing, and resurrection do not work. Impossible to: block, redirect, cancel, stun, provoke. Target's features do not work, no clues of murder are given, no hints about the role are given.
Features.
I. Any assassination attempt on him is redirected to Bio.
II. Immune to Mechanic's actions.
Weapon.
Tesla phase cannon
.electric beam
.phase refuse
Human; Pureblood
Ghost
Ghost came from the steppes further north, a few kilometers from Night. Before even attaining the status of a man, at his grandfather's request, he delivered an item to a healer in a neighboring village; when he returned to his own, he found a huge ash heap instead of it. No one survived. Returning to the healer and falling at his feet in tears, he told him what he had seen. The healer then returned the item that Ghost himself had brought him some time ago. Unrolling the heavy cloth, he discovered his grandfather's shiny rifle, the treasure of his entire former village.
The healer told Ghost that the people of Night came to the village to take something from the ground; the first time they came in peace, but were refused. Then the grandfather realized they had no chance and decided to save the two things most dear to him.
ND
I. Kill
II. Demoralize: deprives target of vote.
Features
I. Impossible to block.
II. Windwalker: 50% chance to leave no clues (every second kill leaves a clue with 100% probability).
Weapon
HN8 Automatic rifle
.damper
Human; Altered
Bio
Bio was once a guard for a very respected merchant. Just imagine, that man even had access to one of the four main barriers! Everything was going well until one day, the merchant brought them a large metal box, after which the barrier security took him away somewhere and they were asked to wait at the gates.
After their lifeless bodies were picked up and thrown into a bio-waste container, which was then hauled outside the barrier, he was picked up by some psycho who dealt with bio-implants and alterations. There was no choice but to agree to test the madman's new ideas on himself.
ND
I. Kill.
II. Protection (takes the hit).
ult. Steel Barrier: Protects the first victim (among group members) with 100% probability, the second with 50% and the third with 25%. Does not die from attacks.
Features
I. Armor. 50% protection against attacks.
II. Mechanical body: impossible to maim, blind, put under anesthesia or heal.
III. Counterattacks the attacker (if not killed).
Weapon.
Mechanical claws
.armor crush
Non-human; Altered
Demo
Demo never lived inside the barriers, but she did not like them. All technologies and riches, all medicine and knowledge that were available to everyone without exception, were locked under secure locks. She simply could not tolerate such selfishness.
Being lazy and phlegmatic in life, she resembled a cat eternally sleeping on a bed. But if it suddenly concerned explosives, she changed magically, which greatly amused the others.
She has one main dream—to blow up the dome.
ND
I. Explosive pack: can arrange an explosion in the target's house on the same night or within the following two nights.
II. Mining: mines the target's house; the first person to arrive is blown up (33% chance that the target also suffers).
III. Stun charge: a random ND of the target will be used instead of the declared one.
ult. Chain: arranges a series of large explosions in the city; the success chance of all peaceful NDs is reduced to 50%.
Features.
I. Explosives: 75% to kill the main target, 33% to kill each victim coming to the target.
II. Does not die from defenses.
III. No more than two charges can be set simultaneously.
IV. Always knows where the charge is; if necessary, can deactivate it.
Weapon
Demotools
.time demo charge
.explosive pack
Non-human; Pureblood
Visitor
Empty
Emptiness.
ND
I. Destruction: kills a player.
ult. Sacrifice: kills a chosen player and resurrects another. Requires two kills.
ult. Devastation: kills all who come to the target. Requires three kills.
ult. Distortion: two kills in one night. Requires four kills.
Features
I. Immune to the first assassination attempt; after that, receives 50% protection.
II. One immunity from daytime voting.
III. Takes features and weapon of the victim; can use for two days (not all; which ones are reported by the GM).
IV. 50% chance to leave no clues.
V. Does not die from defenses.
VI. Each night can choose a target whose actions will be ignored in relation to them.
VII. 50% chance to avoid block.
Weapon
nothing
