In This Chapter
How to build two characters for Lot 214, which skills the case calls on, and how the handler covers the gaps a two-person team always has.
Build Normally
Each player builds a character with the eight-step process in Chapter Three of the Universe Guide: 110 starting XP, one profession skill may begin at rank 3, Awakened Blood automatic. Nothing in this case requires Magical Tier Access. Characters start at Corruption 0.
The Default Pairing
The case is written for a Lyncean Office agent and a Latchkey Archive containment specialist. The referral packet is a Lyncean document routed to the Archive, so this pairing gives both characters a reason to be holding it on the first page.
| Lyncean Agent | Latchkey Specialist | |
|---|---|---|
| Suggested Background | Law Enforcement or Intelligence | Academic or Field Worker |
| Suggested Career | Investigator (Inquiry, Forensics, Research) | Archivist (Relic Lore, Dead Languages, Research) |
| Faction profession skills | Forensics, Perception, Research, Leadership | Relic Lore, Containment, Technology, Perception |
| Passive used in this case | Impossible Evidence | Do Not Touch That |
| Authority skills that help | Federal Jurisdiction, Local Liaison, Evidence Chain | Vault Access, Containment Authority, Archive Clearance |
| Good first talent | Scene Discipline (Investigation tree) | Trigger Discipline or Tag and Bag |
| Role in the case | Witnesses, records, the police, the family | The object, its handling, its transport |
Skills the Case Calls On
Every key conclusion in this case can be reached by at least three routes, so no single skill is mandatory. The table lists what the case uses most, and where a gap hurts.
| Skill | Used for | If neither character has it |
|---|---|---|
| Inquiry or Charm | Neighbors, Curtis, Joan, and Maddie | The family talks, but only to answer direct questions |
| Research | The storage records, Frank Mazur's papers, the Registry | Call the handler |
| Perception | The garage, the doorbell footage, the house | Evidence stays where it is; the characters must ask for it |
| Relic Lore | Identifying the reliquary (Hard ) | Call the handler; identification takes longer |
| Containment | Sealing and moving the relic safely | The iron-lined case still works; see Chapter Five, Containment |
| Technology | Doorbell footage; Maddie's old phone | The phone needs a repair shop and most of a day |
| Negotiation | Curtis's price; Anselm Drury | Money and authority skills substitute at a cost |
| Discernment | Sensing the relic's reach; a ghost, if one comes | Useful, not required |
| Theology | Applying consecrated sealing tape (Theology 1+) | The iron-lined case alone stops the relic's reach |
The best single investment for this case is one rank of Technology on either character. The case's cleanest ending runs through a phone.
Other Pairings
Any two characters can run this case. The table shows what changes.
| Pairing | What changes |
|---|---|
| Latchkey + Order of Mercy priest | The priest carries Theology and Discernment; the referral arrives through a diocesan contact who read the 2011 inventory. Fiona Kessler (see below) handles the Lyncean side by phone. |
| Lyncean + Lantern Index scholar | Strong on records and Frank Mazur's papers; weak on handling. Fiona Kessler arrives in person to take custody once the relic is identified. |
| Black Road hunter + anyone | The hunter reads the neighborhood and handles Wes Pruitt easily. Kill It Right has nothing to kill unless the clock runs out. |
| Two Independents | The referral reaches them through an Awakened friend at the Erie Police Department. They have no Registry access; the handler becomes an Archive contact who owes one of them a favor. |
The Handler
A two-person team always has gaps. In this case the gaps are covered by Fiona Kessler, the Latchkey Archive containment specialist described in the Universe Guide (dossier 09.5). She is at the Archive's regional facility in Pittsburgh, two hours south, and she is the characters' handler for this case.
Calling Fiona. Once per scene, one character may call Fiona. Choose one:
- Advice: add 1 Boon die to one Research, Relic Lore, or Containment check the character makes in this scene.
- An answer: ask one question about Archive procedure, the Relic Registry, or relic handling. Fiona answers it accurately without a roll.
- A skill you don't have: if neither character has any rank in a skill a check requires, Fiona talks the character through it. The character makes the check with the skill as if at rank 1.
Each call costs one hour on the Case Clock (Chapter Three), because Fiona pulls files, calls back, or stays on the line.
What Fiona will not do. She will not come to Erie before the relic is identified; the Archive does not send a senior specialist to chase a referral. She will not authorize anything outside Archive protocol, and she says so plainly.