Vital Stats[]
- Name: Quin (Jaquin) Yellow Horse, BA, PhD
- Gender: Male
- Breed: Kinfolk
- Tribe: Wendigo
- Nation: Comanche
- Date of Birth: 1978
- Marital Status: Single
- Occupation: Forensic scientist for Washington State Patrol, on loan to SCPD
Overview[]
In the human world, Quin is a forensic scientist who has been working for the Washington State Patrol for some years, involved in both laboratory analysis and crime scene investigation. He has been on loan to the St. Claire Police Department for the last five years.
In appearance, you could stick a feather on him and call him a stereotype. However, this relatively unassuming man is anything but. Sometimes, true, you can find him puttering through the wilds on his strangely-colored little horse, or sitting under a tree carving a new bow. More often you'll find him in the city where he lives and works.
He smokes, he drinks, he lives on coffee and donuts, and his sleep-schedule hasn't had a set routine since he left college. He's got a cop's dry humor, a BA in Criminal Justice and a doctorate in Forensic Biology and Forensic Science Techniques. He can be seen on moderately regular occasions dropping by the Glass Walker tenement, bringing offerings of pizza, Krispy Kreme, and the latest weird crimes that might pay Garou investigation. He has been known, on more than one occasion, to arrange for inconvenient evidence to quietly disappear, and for oddball crimes to end up with perfectly rational and completely mundane explanations.
His grandfather Nacoma Yellow Horse is a respected Comanche Elder and well known kin in Oklahoma. He is also a hedge wizard, and has maintained that Quin has the talent to follow in his footsteps. Finding himself temporarily displaced by the recent Wyrm threat, Quin finally gave in and agreed to his grandfather's training. Hardly anybody knows this yet.
OOC Notes[]
Job Status:
The Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory Division is a civillian branch of the WSP. It employs scientists as part of the overall service provided to the State. The Laboratory Division's facilities are available to a variety of law enforcement departments throughout the state. Facilities include DNA profiling, fibre analysis, firearms analysis, fingerprinting, forgery investigation, chemical and biochemical analysis (e.g. narcotics, explosives, body fluids), among others.
Another of those services is the provision of forensics specialists who work with investigating officers at the scene of crime. Quin has frequently acted as one of those Crime Scene Assistance specialists. Thus, while he has had considerable direct involvement with the police troopers who are at the sharp edge of law enforcement, he is a civillian and not a cop. His word can carry a lot of weight where it pertains to his areas of expertise, but he is not a direct part of the command structure.
Rituals:
Fox's Cleverness (1): This requires a small lucky charm, such as a smooth water-worn pebble with a hole through it. The charm is rubbed with the thumb while reciting a prayer in Comanche which asks for Fox's favour, then carried in a pocket or worn around the neck. Most often the ritual is used by the sorcerer on himself- if an attempt is made to grant the favor to another then the result is much less reliable. The reliability may be improved by making regular offerings and prayers to Fox. If the charm is lost then a new item of significance must be sought out, which could take several days or weeks. The 'favor' takes the form of a flash of perception or an incident that triggers a moment of inspiration: the recipient just happens to spot a significant clue at a crime scene which would otherwise have been overlooked, for example, or stumbles upon a mis-filed document while searching for something else entirely which allows the finder to realise a connection between previously unconnected clues in a case.
Preparing for War (3): The sorcerer preparing for battle uses certain procedures and preparations to induce a dream state, in which he learns the correct symbols and colors he will need to use for the next stage of the ritual and memorises the song he will need to use. The following day, he prepares body-paint and draws the symbols he saw in his dreams onto the participants while singing the song from the dream. Originally this would have been himself and his pony, but it need not be so and need not include himself although those involved must have a close tie (siblings, best friends, etc.). Those marked in this way will each experience good luck in battle, equivalent to +1 die (select from either: Dodge- things luckily miss them; Attack- the enemy somehow manages to dodge /into/ their attacks; or Damage- their blows just happen to hit the weaker spots). The participants as a whole may also gain a single lucky break between them, either turning what would have been a serious injury into a mere glancing blow, or the reverse.
Empty Vessel (1): The sorcerer makes an item that retains the intrinsic spiritual essence of the raw materials. Such 'empty vessels' have no inherant powers but may go anywhere the sorcerer does (including dreams). Prepared vessels are more easily made into Talismans (-1 to difficulty, in addition to any other bonuses or penalties due to choice of materials, preparation and so on). Mages who get hold of such vessels find they are easy to infuse with Tass, Garou may carry them across the Gauntlet without needing to dedicate them, and spirits often find them to be pleasing vessels for Talens. However, if not used they quickly degenerate into mere mundane items, which prevents them from becoming widely known or common as minor currency (typically a month, just a few days for hastily- and poorly-made items, perhaps a few months for a special success). The sorcerer may make multiple items at once or a single item, up to a total mass of approximately a pound or the total volume of a house-brick. The time required is the time needed normally to make the item(s), plus one day for the extra ritual elements.
Bowmaking (1): This ritual requires a minimum of six months and involves making a bow entirely from scratch, beginning with identifying the donor tree for the wood, the animal for the sinew and so on and performing the appropriate prayers to ask them for permission. Much of the time is required for wood to season, glue to cure and so on, a process that cannot be rushed without being detrimental to the finished product- the sorcerer is not actively engaged in the ritual for the whole of the time. The ritual includes knowledge of the best type of materials and decoration to suit the finished bow to the intended recipient, but it does /not/ include the mundane skill of bow making. The finished bow reduces difficulties by 1, in addition to any bonuses resulting from the quality of the weapon, and may only be used by the intended recipient. If the bow is ever used by another then the bonus becomes a permanent penalty of 2 (ritual knowledge includes the correct 'funeral' to give in such cases, which apologises to the sleeping spirit of the bow, releases it and destroys the bow).
Spirit Arrow (2 and Quin can not yet use it): the offensive equivalent to Empty Vessel, and as such may NOT be used with an already-prepared item as the ritual requires making arrows from scratch. The ritual includes the appropriate methods and prayers with which to appease and please the spirits of the plants, animals and land whose physical counterparts provide the materials. Arrows made with this ritual retain an innate spiritual essence, and as such do damage as supernatural weapons (i.e. they do aggravated damage to supernatural creatures). They otherwise act almost exactly as normal arrows of the same type, though a Garou may carry them across the Gauntlet without Dedication. Once used on any target, supernatural or mundane, they are broken. At GM's discretion if they miss a target entirely it may be possible to find them and re-use them. The ritual requires the same time required to make the mundane equivalent, plus one day for the extra ritual elements. The ritual may produce multiple items- up to a pound in weight, or a maximum of six arrows.