Talent Show

Category:Mystery
Talent Show is the eighth Mystery in the Saint Mary Vincent Campaign. 
== CONCEPT ==
The pungişhar, a type of goblin, have been let loose in the School of Humanities, where they are stealing “talents” from the supernaturally gifted students and staff. If they are not found and eliminated, the victims could permanently lose body parts, and their talents will be sold to the highest bidder.
== HOOK ==
Alys Hopkins has lost hearing in one ear and is having some trouble using her talent. Maybe it’s nothing, but Ana Lacusta is sure she's been seeing some strange anomalies around the house, and Hanna seems as if she may be hiding something as well.
After Iris Verbeke tries to help locate the cause of the issue with her special sight, she awakens to find she has lost vision in one of her eyes.
== COUNTDOWN ==
Day       	Talents (3-5 more total) continue to be stolen
Shadows 	Katsuhiko Noya attempts to attack a pungişhar based on Ana Lacusta’s directions and loses his talent
Sunset 	Hanna Guzek’s doll collection is found, including the condition of the victims’ dolls. The others blame her for their condition.
Dusk 	Leo Saldana attempts to use retrocognition on one of the Hunters at the request of his superiors. His talent is stolen if he succeeds in using it.
Nightfall 	The Pungişhar have collected all of the talents they need and can escape and summon the Harmunger. Once they escape, there is no way to return the talents to their owners naturally.
Midnight 	The Harmunger takes possession of all the talents and escapes with them. The victims will lose their talents for good, unless they are able to purchase them back from the Harmunger.
== THREATS ==
=== MONSTER ===
Harmunger
Type: Collector
Motivation: to steal specific sorts of things (talents)
Description: A dark magician whose primary motivation is to steal the talents and gifts of others, wither for his own use or for the purpose of selling or trading the talents to other individuals
Once the Harmunger obtains the talents, they cannot be restored by magical means, and can only be returned to the victims by the Harmunger themselves.
Killing the Harmunger will not restore the victim’s lost gifts.
Powers: 
Pungaşhar Egg: Curses a bird to lay an egg creating pungaşhar, goblins which steal talents and bring them to the harmunger.
Gifting: Ability to transfer any talent it receives to another individual (for the right price)
Stolen Talents: Can use any acquired talent
Weaknesses: 
Normal human weaknesses, except when counteracted by acquired talents
Attacks:  
Ritual Knife 1-harm close
Acquired talents where applicable
Armor: 1 
=== MINIONS ===
Pungaşhar
Type: Thief
Motivation: to steal and deliver to the monster
Description: an invisible goblin that steals the talents of a home’s residents
Powers: 
Invisibility: Cannot be seen normally, except by mediums and when using talents
Shadow Step: Can disappear into any shadow and end up in any other, non-linear and untraceable
Acquired Powers
Weaknesses: 
Summoning Spell Trap
Ivy Nets
Death or Illness of Current Victim
Attacks:  
Acquired Powers
Armor: 2
Harm Capacity: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 
Offensive Version of Powers:     ◯=Talent Stolen ▢=Talent Displayed 
XX Ear - Memory Absorption (Alys Hopkins)
             When you share a memory aloud:
             Roll +Sharp:       On a 10+ it is treated like a normal conversation
                                          On a 7-9 the memorist knows all the details, even unspoken ones
                                          On a 6 or less it’s absorbed, you lose all memory of the event, or take -1 forward while you concentrate on retaining it
Harm Capacity: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 CAPTURED
◯▢ Eye - Psychic Energy Detection (Ana Lacusta)
             Auras and psychic energy detected, details strengthen over time
             Harm Capacity: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 CAPTURED
◯▢ Hand - Tactile Psychokinesis (Bernadetta Cerami)
             When you are touched (effects strengthen over time):
Roll +Tough:       On a 10+ you detect the presence, but are unaffected
                                          On a 7-9 you are briefly (30 secs) drowsy, pushed or paralyzed
                                          On a 6 or less you are put to sleep, pushed down or immobile, or take 2 harm ignore armor to push past it
             Harm Capacity: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 CAPTURED
◯▢ Voice - Galdr (Elfar Hafsteinsson)
             Learned over time: Ease Birth; Soft Armor; Blunt Sword; Raise Storm; Madness
             Roll +Weird:       On a 10+ you resist magic/caster fails
                                          On a 7-9 you are minorly affected
                                          On a 6 or less the spell succeeds or you take 1-2 harm or -1 forward depending on which spell was chanted
             Harm Capacity: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 CAPTURED
XX Eye - Spirit Sight (Iris Verbeke)
             Entities of the spirit world are visible, details strengthen over time
             Harm Capacity: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 CAPTURED
◯▢ Hand - Kuji-in (Katsuhiko Noya)
Learned over time: Thunderbolt; Great Thunderbolt; Outer Lion; Inner Lion; Outer Bonds; Inner Bonds; Wisdom of the Fist; Seal of the Sun; Seal of Hidden Forms
             Roll +Tough:       On a 10+ you resist magic/caster fails
                                          On a 7-9 you are minorly affected
                                          On a 6 or less you take 1-2 harm or -1 forward
             Harm Capacity: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 CAPTURED
◯▢ Hand - Tactile Retrocognition (Leo Saldana)
             When you are touched:
             Roll +Weird:       On a 10+ you are aware of info being searched, but they fail
                                          On a 7-9 you are aware of what they have learned
                                          On a 6 or less they learn something, but you don’t know what or take -1 forward or 2 harm trying to block the info
             Harm Capacity: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 CAPTURED
◯▢ Tongue - Sacred Speech (Yuno Samajima)
             Spells learned over time: Stop; Silence; Fall; Sleep; Weak; Run Away
             Roll +Cool:         On a 10+ you resist magic/caster fails
                                          On a 7-9 you are minorly affected
                                          On a 6 or less you obey the given command or take 2 harm resisting
             Harm Capacity: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 CAPTURED
◯▢ Delia                         ◯▢ Edna                         ◯▢ Millicent                   ◯▢ Taffy
=== BYSTANDERS ===
Alys Hopkins (Memorist) 22, Wales
Type: Victim
Motivation: to put themselves in danger
Description: Alys has volunteered to work as a therapist of sorts to the victims of supernatural phenomena. She helps them to work through their traumas and, if they cannot, is able to erase the most traumatic of their memories by absorbing them into her own psyche. She has to work hard to keep these absorbed memories from affecting her own mind. She has also made several enemies due to what she now knows, and so prefers to work in a safe environment like the school.
Talent: Memory Absorption
Body Part: Ear
Ana Lacusta (Psychic) 45, Romania
Type: Witness
Motivation: to reveal information
Description: The Headmistress of the school. Superstitious and nurturing. Ana can not only perceive the energy of living things, she has the ability to discern a great deal of their nature. It’s of great help with difficult students.
Talent: Aural/Energy Detection
Body Part: Eye
Bernadetta Cerami (Psychokinetic, Tactile) 32, Italy
Type: Helper
Motivation: to join the hunt
Description: By default, Bernadetta has become the head disciplinarian. Not because she is strict, per se, but because she can bring even the most rampaging, hormonally imbalanced student to their knees with just a touch of her fingers. She is not a patient person, but she does care deeply about the students.
Talent: Tactile Animal Psychokinesis
Body Part: Hand
Charlos Santanderson (Blood Mage) 94, Brazil
Type: Detective
Motivation: to rule out explanations
Description: Founder and Dean of the school. As a younger man, he was distressed to see what a difficult time his children and grandchildren had trying to find a way to reconcile their abilities with their lives in the mundane world and wanted to create a place where other children would receive the support they needed to do so. Convinced Wadim to act as the school’s patron by doing him a great favor many years ago. Sleeps in a pocket dimension of his own making.
Talent: Blood Magic
Body Part: Blood
Elfar Hafsteinsson (Galdramaðr) 25, Iceland
Type: Gossip
Motivation: to pass on rumors
Description: A young enchanter and poet who specially requested to become an instructor at the school after visiting it on a PIE mission. No one is sure why, as he had been a dashing adventurer up until that point. His poetry is really improving, though. Elfar is the most likely of all the instructors to interact with the Yonescu household servants at Peles Castle, though he seems to have no interest in their master.
Talent: Enchanting (Galdr)
Body Part: Voice
Esther Lapp (Braucher) 12, USA (Amish)
Type: Innocent
Motivation: to do the right thing
Description: Esther is a very shy young girl who makes poppets of everyone she meets in order to cultivate relationships with them. Though she does have the ability to cause harm using her poppets, which is not her intention. When the dolls start losing body parts corresponding to the lost talents, she hides them away, afraid that she will be blamed.
Talent: Sympathetic Magic
Body Part: UNKNOWN
Hanna Guzek (Seer) 15, Poland
Type: Witness
Motivation: to reveal information
Description: Hanna has recently discovered that she can see visions of the future in reflective surfaces, whether she wants to or not. Unable to ignore her ability, she has decided to come to the school in the hopes of finding a way to make them useful and, hopefully, voluntary.
Talent: Mirror Scrying
Body Part: UNKNOWN
Iris Verbeke (Medium) 16, Belgium
Type: Victim
Motivation: to put themselves in danger
Description: All of her life, Iris has been able to see ghosts and spirits, but since reaching puberty, it seems that they are increasingly trying to interact with her. In fact, it’s almost as if the spirit world had become more real to her than the mundane world. Iris is looking for a way to navigate the actual world without looking totally insane, and needs to learn how to tell friend from foe when the spirits come calling.
Talent: Spirit Sight
Body Part: Eye
Katsuhiko Noya (Onmyoji) 29, Japan
Type: Official
Motivation: to be suspicious
Description: Rumor has it that he volunteered as an instructor in order to get close to someone else at the school. No one can figure out who, though, because he’s equally polite and reserved with all members of the faculty.
Talent: Kuji-in
Body Part: Hand
Leo Saldana (Seer) 18, Spain
Type: Busybody
Motivation: to interfere in other people’s plans
Description: Can see visions of the past of any person or thing he touches. It’s impractical to live like that, and sometimes he ends up seeing things he never wanted to see. It has gotten him into some serious trouble in the past and he needs help learning how to turn it off.
Talent: Tactile Retrocognition
Body Part: Hand
Radu Varonin (Telekinetic) 18, Moldova
Type: Gossip
Motivation: to pass on rumors
Description: Can move things with his mind. He would be happy with his ability if he could do it on purpose. A generally cheerful kid.
Unpredictable when tense, but well-meaning.
Talent: Telekinesis (Semi-Voluntary)
Body Part: UNKNOWN
Soma (Dreamwalker) 14, Sudan
Type: Innocent
Motivation: to do the right thing
Description: Became a social outcast in his boarding school when his dream walking ability was revealed, even if it did save the life of a fellow student. Just learning how to control his powers and still sometimes invades the dreams of others accidentally.
Talent: Dreamwalker
Body Part: UNKNOWN
Yuno Samejima (Kotodama) 17, USA (Hawaii)
Type: Helper
Motivation: to join the hunt
Description: Kidnapped by a nefarious sect and made to use her gift for their purposes. After being rescued by a team of PIE hunters, she elected to attend the school and learn what she could before returning to her family.
Talent: Sacred Speech
Body Part: Tongue
== LOCATIONS ==
Peleș Castle, Sinaia, Romania
Type: Crossroads
Motivation: to bring people, and things, together
Description: Wadim’s home and the current base of the hunters. The 34,000 square foot castle has 170 rooms, 4,000 pieces of arms and armor, and 2,000 paintings. The ground floor is open to tourists 9-3 Monday - Thursday. 
School of Humanities, the Guards Chambers, Peleș Castle, Sinaia, Romania
Type: Den
Motivation: to harbor monsters
Description: A school funded by Wadim Yonescu and run by Charlos Santanderson, with the purpose of helping children experiencing supernatural phenomena to control their talents and function within normal society. Despite being housed at Peleș Castle, the school is strictly for human children and run by human instructors. The school and residents of the castle proper have very little interaction.
== OTHER == 
Pungaşhar entry from 
‘Folclorul antic al Țării Românești, Transilvaniei și Moldovei’, 1914 
The pungaşhar (pickpocket, lit. pungaş - rogue; har - talent, grace) is a type of goblin or spirit capable of stealing a person’s physical talent, causing paralysis of the body part used to display that talent. Historians believe this to be an early folk explanation for sudden paralysis, such as that accompanying a stroke, or even leprosy.
According to legend, the pungaşhar are brought into existence by a type of black magician known as a harmunger (talent merchant, lit. har - talent, grace; munger - merchant, milker). It is said that when the harmunger wishes to curse a household with pungaşhar, he casts a spell on a young hen, and then delivers the eggs of said hen to the intended victim’s home. The pungaşhar (typically 3, 5, or 7 in number) are contained within the egg until it is broken, at which point the creatures are let loose within the home. Though the pungaşhar themselves are invisible, it is said that the egg containing them will have no yolk (see: fairy egg).
Once the pungaşhar are released, they are trapped within the home until each has stolen a talent from someone within the household. Only one talent may be taken per day. While in its possession, the pungaşhar may use this talent as if it were natural.
The victim suffers paralysis and numbness to the affected area. If the pungaşhar are not stopped in time, it is believed that the affected limb or organ will eventually shrivel up, fall off or rot away.
While the pungaşhar are active, they will attempt to keep their victims from harm, as their “talent” cannot be sustained without the health of the source.
It is traditionally believed that a pungaşhar cannot steal a talent that has not been displayed to them. This is the origin of the phrase “ispitind pe pungaşhar (tempting the pungaşhar)”, which is a warning against idle boasting of or displaying one’s talents.
Once all of the pungaşhar have gathered a “talent”, they are no longer restricted to the home. At this time, they will escape into the nearest densely wooded area and summon the harmunger. Once the harmunger is summoned, he collects the talents and the pungaşhar are transformed into chickens. The harmunger is free to use any and all talents he is carrying, and is therefore considered extremely dangerous.
While it is traditionally held that the pungaşhar are invisible to humans, it is believed that those with extrasensory perception may be able to detect them. Additionally, pungaşhar are wholly visible while casting spells or using their stolen talents.
Pungaşhar that have stolen a talent may be trapped with a magic spell that requires their victims’ blood to be placed in an eggshell with strong liquor and set alight. The moment the light begins to flicker, signifying the presence of the pungaşhar, a net of green ivy must be dropped on the creature while chanting “Oul, Ola, Omuleț” (“Egg, Pot, Little Man”). The same net and chant combination may be used on a pungaşhar made visible by other means.
If all pungaşhar are captured before they can summon the harmunger, a ritual may be performed to restore the talents to their rightful owners. This ritual requires 12 participants and should include all victims. Participants must begin the ritual at first light and complete it before the sun has fully risen. It must be undertaken in complete silence and requires the live sacrifice of an animal hatched from an egg. 
Category:Mysteries