Fenghuang (CTL)

Fenghuang, once a facet of some girl’s dream, is a fae creature able to bring the dead to life again.

Biography
"Ah. I see you are dying. I think I can help with that. Do you have any questions before we begin?" The bird believes itself to have been born from the injustice of a wise and peaceful emperor dying before his time. In truth, it was a fragment of a dream in the mind of a girl named Fei Li. When her drunk of a father accidentally set the house aflame, the fires reached the girl’s dreams, as well. In these fires, the bird was reborn as a phoenix-like creature. It saved the girl’s life, preventing her from burning and rendering her truly immortal, before leaving for the Hedge. Unfortunately, all goblin gifts come with a price. In truth, the bird is the physical manifestation of a clause with a contract regarding life and death, forged by the Stranger known as the Crimson Ministrix. Each time the clause is used, she is able to pluck a single twelve-year-old girl from the mortal world, stealing her away into Faerie.

Appearance
The hobgoblin’s Mask is of an odd, but not necessarily otherworldly bird with bright red plumage, black eyes, and a heron’s beak. Under the Mask, it is a chimera cobbled together from many birds’ parts (peacock’s tail, heron’s beak, rooster’s comb), all of which are on fire. Additionally, it is unusually large at four feet tall, with an eight- or nine-foot wingspan.

Character Sheet
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 5, Wits 4, Resolve 3 Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 4, Stamina 2 Social Attributes: Presence 4, Manipulation 3, Composure 3 Mental Skills: Investigation 3, Occult 3 Physical Skills: Athletics (Flight) 3, Brawl 3, Stealth 3, Survival 2 Social Skills: Empathy 4, Expression 4, Socialize (Polite) 3 Merits: Fresh Start Willpower: 6 Virtue: Charity Vice: Pride Initiative: 7 Defense: 4 Speed: 16 (species factor 10) Health: 6 Wyrd: 5 Glamour/per Turn: 15/4 Armor: 2 (Lambent Flame) Weapons/Attacks:

Fae Aspects
• Burning Form: Any time the bird makes a successful attack, assume the target also suffers a single point of lethal damage representing a burn. The same goes for any successful attack upon the bird — scoring a hit means searing one’s flesh with one point of lethal damage (the only exception to this is firearms fired at a distance). This fire, however, being more Wyrd in nature, doesn’t actually set anything aflame. In addition, the bird doesn’t burn everything it touches — this is only in combat, when the bird’s “blood is up,” so to speak.

• Second Chances: The bird can bring anybody back from the brink of death with a point of Glamour expended. Two caveats: first, the person cannot be already dead, not even for a moment. And second, the person cannot have a Morality (or equivalent score, such as Clarity) below 6. The bird slows time as it communes with the dying, such that others often catch only a glimpse before it blinks away. Upon choosing to accept the second chance, the person’s wounds are all converted to bashing damage — this damage doesn’t show physically, but may manifest as a general physical malaise. However, the person will assume the mild derangement of Fixation. If this is already possessed, the character instead gains the severe Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. In addition, while Morality or Clarity loss isn’t more likely, upon losing Morality or Clarity, the character does have an easier time gaining a derangement as a result, often relating directly to the rebirth or the phoenix that facilitated it. The roll to gain a derangement from degeneration is made at –2 dice.

• Feather, Talon, Comb: If someone can get these items off Fenghuang, they can be used as weapons — particularly powerful against the True Fae. The bird will actually relinquish one feather to those who ask. The other two, however, must be cut from the hobgoblin’s body. A feather can be used in crafting arrows — both the fletching and the point. Arrows so crafted cause aggravated damage against the True Fae. A changeling can cut himself with the talon, incurring one point of lethal damage, in order to gain two points of Armor against any and all physical attacks from the Keepers for 24 hours. Only one person can benefit from one talon. The comb must be brewed into a heady, sour soup necessitating at least two days of slow simmering in an iron pot or cauldron. It can feed up to 10 individuals. Those who consume the puckering brew gain +1 to Defense for the next week, and +2 when in combat with the True Fae. It also vastly increases virility in men and fertility in women: after consuming the soup, the next time the person engages in sex (protected or no), it will likely result in pregnancy.