Example characters

Ilya Kutemov - transport commissar
· Concentration 4 (average attention span)
· Dexterity 1 (hopelessly clumsy)
· Intuition 7 (makes leaps of insight)
· Leadership 8 (a true hero to his staff)
· Merit rating 3 (=13, still pretty lowly on the Mammon ladder)
· Resources 10 (vehicle component assembly (doubled up), transport services)
· Skills 9 (singing 1, Russian 1, swimming 2, information technology 4, mechanics 1)
· 'Smitherses' 6 (his deputy, Han Xi-Bin, an extremely skilled mechanic)
· Special 2 (has good taste in art)
· Toughness 5 (a powerful competitor in the triathlon)

Ilya runs Taiga Trucking, the largest transport firm in Celeste, controlling the factories that assemble his transports (and those of some of Mammon Inc's other components) as well as directing their routes and loads. He has a mastery of the intellectual side of his job, and the loyalty of his staff, who see him as a cheery soul always trying to make conditions for them as safe and comfortable as possible. Ilya's family kept in touch more with old Russian culture than most, and he still loves to quaff vodka while singing mournful folk songs late into the night. He is 37, heavily built, with dark hair and blue eyes, and a broad, reddish face.

Jack B Nimble - stage magician
· Concentration 8 (amazing powers of concentration)
· Dexterity 9 (mind-boggling quickness of hand)
· Intuition 4 (only averagely penetrating mind)
· Leadership 2 (negligible powers)
· Merit rating 5 (=15, well rewarded for his work)
· Resources 3 (an individual rather than a manager)
· Skills 10 (conjuring 3, juggling 3, stagecraft/ screencraft 2, escapology 2)
· 'Smitherses' 6 (his wife and 'beautiful assistant' Gloria, herself a more than capable conjuror)
· Special 7 (has the mutant ability to dislocate any joint in his body at will, and to put his limbs painlessly through impossible contortions)
· Toughness 1 (utterly puny)

Jack is a successful performer, with a weekly show on the Fun Holo! channel as well as regular live dates in his home of Hope. He is 27, slim to the point of drawing mild attention in the street, with a shaven head and intense, deep-set eyes. He has been married to Gloria for three years, although she was working for him before that. He has a great rivalry with Aldo MacNamara, escapologist and contortionist or arrival channel, and they are constantly striving to top each other's feats. Jack hopes to be able to take his stage act to other cities, but as yet has not had the nod from Mammon Inc to do so. He was gestated in a Peretti tank, and does not know who his biological mother was: his father died when he was a young boy.

Captain Graca Mendonca - martial arts trainer
· Concentration 8 (never lets a problem slip her grip)
· Dexterity 7 (fast, deadly hands)
· Intuition 6 (occasional flashes of brilliance)
· Leadership 1 (a hopeless commander)
· Merit rating 5 (=15, a moderately respected post)
· Resources 2 (military training installation - she also has control over her suppliers of training gear, and over the local farmers who supply the station)
· Skills 4 (martial arts 3, training 1)
· 'Smitherses' 3 (two unremarkable assistants, Lts Enrique Morales and Mary Shutt)
· Special 10 (unknown, leave it to the GMs to decide…)
· Toughness 9 (a super-strong cookie)

Graça is a career military woman, finding her niche running a remote station OUT in the pampas north of Buenos, training recruits in the basics of martial arts. She is far from a natural at commanding respect and obedience, but her capabilities in her role mean that her authority is rarely questioned, even though it may be resented. She is 25, stocky, dark-haired, with large, square hands that are best seen as a blur about to deposit some unfortunate trainee on his back. Few of her trainees see active service, of course - the occasional riot. The feeling is that Mammon Inc keeps a standing army in case it is ever driven to war with the other conglomerates, or in case some remote hostile survivor group is found in a newly-dared area of the globe. Since childhood, Graça has had irregular dreams in which she is ascending a vast crystal staircase, but she has no idea at all what they might signify.

Dr marie Chavannes - gloop blender
· Concentration 10 (her powers of application are spoken of in hushed tones)
· Dexterity 2 (fortunately machines do the actual mixing)
· Intuition 8 (inspired experimenter)
· Leadership 3 (her staff are none too inspired by her)
· Merit rating 9 (=19, a key figure to Mammon Inc)
· Resources 6 (well-equipped Gloop laboratory, with control over the plants that mass-produce the Gloop as well as the chemical plants that supply the raw ingredients)
· Skills 7 (biochemistry 4, chemistry 2, skiing 1)
· 'Smitherses' 1 (her 13-year-old son Maurice)
· Special 5 (her right arm is a bionic replacement, her own having been crushed in a skiing accident)
· Toughness 4 (average)

Marie runs SunshineGloop, one of Mammon Inc's largest Gloop houses, although not one of the most innovative, based in Drakensberg. Their slogan is 'We make the Gloop that gets you to work on time'. She is 35, with long, blonde hair slightly greying, and blue-green eyes. She looks forward to nothing more than continued success at her work, although her main concern is security - there are fears that Tagaro spies have stolen some of SunshineGloop's secrets in the past two years. Outside work Marie's main interest is her son Maurice - her husband, a clean-up chemist named Laurie Trellis, is a distant figure with whom she has little contact other than that necessary for the dear child's well-being.

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