Jesse Cartwright
Jesse “Burning Bones” Cartwright is a Bone Shadow Rahu member of the Lodge of Death.
Overview
Jesse Cartwright was never anyone's idea of an easy-going guy. He crackled with energy, only rested when he was falling over from exhaustion and only smiled at the thought of more work. He was strong and fit, the result of long years working the family farm.
And then one morning, a bloated orange moon rose over the cornfield. By the time it set again, every living thing on the property was dead. Jesse slept more soundly that night than ever before.
After his initiation into the Bone Shadows and a pack, Jesse spent several years trying to find his place. He was a Rahu, true, but didn't possess a good instinct for coordinated fighting. He was more intelligent than his farm-boy demeanor let on, and quickly soaked up knowledge about spirits, their language and the dangers they could pose, but rituals and the like didn't appeal to him. Finally, he returned to his family land (which he'd allowed to grow wild in his absence) and discovered that his family still lingered on. Outraged by this injustice - he had killed them surely enough, so they should be resting - he sought out a member of the Lodge of Death and demanded to know the lodge's secrets.
His mentor kept him on for the required three months, but never treated him as a serious applicant. At the end of the time, he told Jesse, "You're a full-moon. Your death will be glorious, but you aren't meant to know anything further." Jesse, never good at taking "no" for an answer, gathered his pack, told the Elodoth to perform the Funeral Rite, and laid down on the pyre.
Jesse waited there as his flesh burnt for almost six hours. He lost so much muscle tissue that he appears to have been cut in half when viewed from the side. But his suffering wasn't in vain. Hithethal-Us appeared to him and admitted him into the lodge. His former mentor attended the ceremony, and reports that when Hithethal-Us whispered into Jesse's ear, the Rahu simply nodded and muttered, "Makes sense."
Cartwright took the name "Burning Bones" from the ordeal, and left his pack. He reasoned he was dead to them, so there was no use confusing the issue. He serves the lodge as a ghost-hunter now, finding the unquiet souls and helping them to move on. Sometimes that involves destroying their earthly anchors, sometimes he has to fall back on his skills in battle. Either way, Jesse Cartwright never rests. He knows when his rest is coming.
Jesse is in his early 30s, but his age is impossible to guess. He has horrible burns covering his body. His hair is seared away except for a small patch of bard on his right cheek, and he walks with a pronounced limp. He wears soft, loose-fitting clothes that don't irritate his skin, and carries a long-bladed knife strapped to his hip. The knife is a klaive, a gift from his former mentor after he realized how wrong he'd been about Jesses. When activated, the klaive can strike ghosts as though under the effect of the Ghost Knife Gift.
Stats
Tribe: Bone Shadow
Auspice: Rahu
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 2, Resolve 3
Physical Attributes: Strength 2 (3/5/4/2), Dexterity 1 (1/2/3/3), Stamina 3 (4/5/5/4)
Social Attributes: Presence 4, Manipulation 2 (1/2/0/2), Composure 3
Mental Skills: Investigation 2, Occult (Ghosts) 4
Physical Skills: Athletics 1, Brawl (Blind Fighting) 2, Larceny 2, Stealth 2, Weaponry (Daggers) 4
Social Skills: Empathy (Ghosts) 2, Intimidation 3, Streetwise 2
Merits: Ambidextrous, Fetish (Shade Dagger) 3, Language (First Tongue), Weaponry Dodge
Primal Urge: 2
Willpower: 6
Harmony: 5
Max Essence/Per Turn: 11/1
Virtue: Fortitude
Vice: Gluttony
Health: 8 (10/12/11/8)
Initiative: 3 (3/4/5/5)
Defense: 1 (1/2/2/2)
Speed: 8 (9/12/15/15)
Renown: Purity 2, Wisdom 3
Gifts: Clarity, Death Sight, Partial Change, Attunement, Scent of Taint, Corpse Witness
Rituals: 1; Rites: Rite of Dedication
References
- WTF: Lodges: The Faithful, p. 48