Avryll Callen

**Author:** Voshkod

**Name:** Avryll Callen, a.k.a. Avy, a.k.a. The Obsidian Mask
**Age:** Unknown to himself, but in his mid-20s
**Affiliations:** The Society of Gentlemen Adventurers

**Physical Description:** A handsome young man, with dark hair and
eyes, of medium height and slight build. A thin and well-groomed
mustache. Quick with a smile for his friends or the ladies,
well-dressed in fashions just a bit ahead of the crowd. Never seen
without his gloves.

**Personality:** When he's not on the job, Avy's a friendly guy,
quick with a quip and a grin. Always ready to lend a hand to a fellow
Adventurer in need. Can hold his booze with the best of them
(particularly if he's only drinking one to your two). Enjoys a good
game of cards. When he puts on the Obsidian Mask and goes out to work,
though, he's all business. And if he's carrying Salvation, just stay
out of his way.

**History:** A scion of Saint Illias' Home for Orphans and the
Destitute, Avryll grew up on a diet of gruel and abuse. He quickly
figured out that survival required stealth. A second bowl of gruel
could be the difference between life and death for a sick friend. The
beatings when he got caught were educational, to say the least. When he
 was old enough to hit the streets, he sallied forth with a dagger and
smile, cutting purses, mugging the well-off, and generally raising hell.
 He caught the eye of the Society when he was quick-witted enough to
use a clothesline to stop five mounted guards chasing a member in good
standing. He passed his initiation test by stealing a book of no great
worth from a high lord. He was considered an Adventurer of promise,
until he stole the mask.

Avy found the Obsidian Mask on a ship of no flag that had docked one
dark night. As the sailors tried to hunt him down, he realized he
needed both hands free, so he put the mask on. And the darkness
embraced him. The only one on the ship that saw him was an old woman,
dressed in black. She saw him clear as day, and she winked, and
laughed, and went her way. With the mask Avy was something special. As
 long as it was night, he was almost invisible. Almost, but not quite,
and he still gets careless in his arrogance when he wears the mask.

One day he went to the Artifactors to buy a line-thrower. They asked
for a memory, and he told them about the ship, and the woman, and the
mask. The Artifactors solemnly adjusted their goggles, and built him
Salvation, his steam-pressurized crossbow. So now, sometimes, he takes
on deadly jobs. Not that the Mask tells him to do it. He does it
willingly, he's sure.

**Advantages:**

**A Gentleman Adventurer [Rank 2] (Uncommon-Followers):** As a member in
good standing in the Society of Gentlemen Adventurers, Avy can expect
assistance and support from any other member. A quick flash of a hand
sign (pinkie and index finger extended, like "throwing the horns") or
the common shout of "Make Way for a Gentleman" will invoke the request
for aid. Other members might provide a place to hide, or may attempt to
 confound pursuit by, for example, shifting a cart in front of the
guard. A Gentleman is not expected to risk life, limb, or property at
the request of aid, but must make some attempt to assist.

**The Bag of Tricks [Rank 2] (Uncommon-Personal):** Some might call it a
'utility belt,' but Avy calls it his bag of tricks. All the things an
adventurer might need in a hurry - smoke bombs, silk lines, caltrops,
spurs for climbing walls, a bit of slippery oil, meat infused with
sleeping drugs.

**The Obsidian Mask [Rank 2] (Rare-Item):** Did Avy find the Obsidian Mask,
 or did it find him? It doesn't really matter. He doesn't talk to it,
and he's sure it doesn't talk to him (although what does whisper in the
night when he wears it?). A mask made of jet black obsidian, when Avy
slips it on his face he becomes a near a shadow as a mortal man can.
Lights will not find him, and even the slightest darkness seems to grow
to conceal him. Those rare few who have spotted him when he was wearing
 the mask report that all they saw were their own faces, reflected back
at them in the polished stone, but aged and terrified.

**Charming [Rank 1] (Common-Personal):** He's a hard guy not to like.
Handsome to the ladies, a good chap to the lads, Avy can go far with a
wink and a smile.

**Thievery [Rank 2] (Uncommon-Personal):** One does not become a Gentleman
Adventurer without certain skills, skills Avy honed through a life on
the streets. How to blend in with a crowd, to cut a purse, to pick a
lock.

**Salvation [Rank 1] (Unique-Item):** Sometimes one must steal a life, not a
 gem. Salvation is a steam-pressurized crossbow that can fire a single
devastating bolt at a target. When it fires, the steam escapes with a
horrible howl, and it cannot be fired again until a source of
high-pressure steam is found, and several minutes are used to recharge
it. The bolts are made of a soft and fragile metal, scored in many
places, the better to shatter into a hundred razor-sharp fragments when
it hits skin. Useless against armored opponents, loud at the moment of
firing, and for all intents and purpose single-shot, Avy uses it when
assassination is the only option.