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May. 23rd, 2023 11:08 pmThe Skull in the Jar
'Skull' is a creature of three appearances.
In one, he is a skull in a jar. Browned, stained and bolted to the bottom of a silverglass Ghost Jar, he just looks like any other mouldy old skull, albeit surrounded by greenish smoke. He is intact, uncracked and has all of his teeth, still white. The jar itself is intact, stamped with a sun-and-eye symbol and topped with a reddish lid. It is corroded around the rim. There is a red flange on the top that, when opened, allows his voice to be heard through a square of iron mesh if the Listener has the talent to hear ghosts.
The second is the overly expressive approximation of a human face made from ectoplasm overlaid over the skull. The eye sockets usually remain empty, save for pinpricks of light, though he can manifest eyes if he wants to.
Lastly, his form on the Other Side and in the living world, assuming he's not restrained by the jar, is that of a thin, rangy youth of around 17 to 19 with untidy, spiked hair. He is greyish and washed out in appearance, even when he appears at his most solid. He is dressed in the attire of his era -- Late Victorian.
In one, he is a skull in a jar. Browned, stained and bolted to the bottom of a silverglass Ghost Jar, he just looks like any other mouldy old skull, albeit surrounded by greenish smoke. He is intact, uncracked and has all of his teeth, still white. The jar itself is intact, stamped with a sun-and-eye symbol and topped with a reddish lid. It is corroded around the rim. There is a red flange on the top that, when opened, allows his voice to be heard through a square of iron mesh if the Listener has the talent to hear ghosts.
The second is the overly expressive approximation of a human face made from ectoplasm overlaid over the skull. The eye sockets usually remain empty, save for pinpricks of light, though he can manifest eyes if he wants to.
Lastly, his form on the Other Side and in the living world, assuming he's not restrained by the jar, is that of a thin, rangy youth of around 17 to 19 with untidy, spiked hair. He is greyish and washed out in appearance, even when he appears at his most solid. He is dressed in the attire of his era -- Late Victorian.
personality
🔥
Clever . Loyal . Analytical . Insightful . Cunning
💀
Sarcastic . Sardonic . Insulting . Jealous . Amoral
☠️
Violent . Volatile . Mean-spirited . Murderous . Destructive
Voice & Behaviour
Skull's voice, when contained within the jar, comes out with a whispering, unpleasant quality, undoubtedly due to the silver and iron in his jar's construction. Outside of it, his voice is clearer and deeper.
In both instances, it is sarcastic, mocking and oddly cheerful. Skull tends against hiding his emotion where his voice is concerned, but his body language is generally more reserved, even bored, and he has a tendency to slouch. It's put on. As a ghost, he is a being of emotion, instinct and desire.
Being dead, Skull doesn't seem to value life much and often talks about even casual murder with an unsettling kind of flippancy. Ironically, he longs to live again.
In both instances, it is sarcastic, mocking and oddly cheerful. Skull tends against hiding his emotion where his voice is concerned, but his body language is generally more reserved, even bored, and he has a tendency to slouch. It's put on. As a ghost, he is a being of emotion, instinct and desire.
Being dead, Skull doesn't seem to value life much and often talks about even casual murder with an unsettling kind of flippancy. Ironically, he longs to live again.
abilities
weaknesses
background
The Skull's actual identity is unknown. While he is mentioned in papers from his lifetime, his name is not documented.
What is known is that he acted as a servant to the disgraced physician and prolific occultist Edmund Bickerstaff. Barely out of childhood when he was first employed, he had the ability to see ghosts and spirits, even if they were rather less common back in his life time than in the days after the Problem emerged. With his master and the other acolytes, he engaged in graverobbing, murder and similar criminal activity in the pursuit of knowledge and Bickerstaff's goals.
It is clear from the boy's manner that he was not of the same social class as Bickerstaff or his aristocratic compatriots. He considers Bickerstaff to be a genius and visionary and his loyalty has transcended both of their lives.
What has been noted in the personal journals of one of Bickerstaff's former followers and friends is that the boy was 'cunning and malignant' and quite willing to engage in violence to achieve his master's ends, acting as his enforcer as well as protector where ghosts were concerned.
That said, he was never entirely one of the inner circle and was never privy to the contents of his master's papers and learnings, even if he was present for much of what went on to make them a reality.
He was one of the few who were involved in the manufacture of a Bone Glass -- a mirror-like artifact made from a piece of glass and seven bone-based Sources -- that acted as a window to the Other Side. Glancing into it was enough to cause obsession and madness and looking into it properly was fatal.
He was also involved in the deaths and attempted murders of a few of his master's peers, either directly or indirectly.
Bickerstaff was murdered by gunshot by one of his compatriots in 1877, while trying to force her to look into the glass when she confronted him. The boy, however, managed to get away in spite of being shot at.
What happened to him between that incident and his skull being found in the Lambeth Sewers is unknown, but it's safe to assume that he met a bad end a short time after, for his ghost is scarcely older than he was when he fled the scene.
Bickerstaff was interred in an iron-lined coffin together with the mirror to keep the Bone Glass's malevolent energy contained and prevent anyone else getting their hands on it.
What is known is that he acted as a servant to the disgraced physician and prolific occultist Edmund Bickerstaff. Barely out of childhood when he was first employed, he had the ability to see ghosts and spirits, even if they were rather less common back in his life time than in the days after the Problem emerged. With his master and the other acolytes, he engaged in graverobbing, murder and similar criminal activity in the pursuit of knowledge and Bickerstaff's goals.
It is clear from the boy's manner that he was not of the same social class as Bickerstaff or his aristocratic compatriots. He considers Bickerstaff to be a genius and visionary and his loyalty has transcended both of their lives.
What has been noted in the personal journals of one of Bickerstaff's former followers and friends is that the boy was 'cunning and malignant' and quite willing to engage in violence to achieve his master's ends, acting as his enforcer as well as protector where ghosts were concerned.
That said, he was never entirely one of the inner circle and was never privy to the contents of his master's papers and learnings, even if he was present for much of what went on to make them a reality.
He was one of the few who were involved in the manufacture of a Bone Glass -- a mirror-like artifact made from a piece of glass and seven bone-based Sources -- that acted as a window to the Other Side. Glancing into it was enough to cause obsession and madness and looking into it properly was fatal.
He was also involved in the deaths and attempted murders of a few of his master's peers, either directly or indirectly.
Bickerstaff was murdered by gunshot by one of his compatriots in 1877, while trying to force her to look into the glass when she confronted him. The boy, however, managed to get away in spite of being shot at.
What happened to him between that incident and his skull being found in the Lambeth Sewers is unknown, but it's safe to assume that he met a bad end a short time after, for his ghost is scarcely older than he was when he fled the scene.
Bickerstaff was interred in an iron-lined coffin together with the mirror to keep the Bone Glass's malevolent energy contained and prevent anyone else getting their hands on it.
