Gremlin

Though the name “gremlin” didn’t emerge until the 1920s, Gremlins have always been part of the elaborate tapestry that makes up the Lost. Aviators thought wicked little creatures were sabotaging their planes. They weren’t wrong, exactly, but it was never just planes, or even machines. Anything with even the tiniest flaw was subject to a Gremlin’s dismantling.

Gremlins feel the push and pull of perfection and obsession, twin impulses with the same outlet: destruction. A Gremlin sees no point in doing something unless they get it right the first time, and if they don’t, time to wreck and rebuild. Miss a stitch? Rip the nearly perfect thread out. One wrong line of code? Delete the entire file. This doesn’t just apply to their own work; someone else’s error prompts identical outcomes. More than one Gremlin gets to remain in their motley only because of their identically quick hands and minds. Many changelings only weather Gremlin meltdowns by remembering her promise of a perfect machine.

Before their durance, Gremlins were brilliant minds in fields that could appreciate their perfectionism: engineers, newspaper editors, sculptors, chefs. They shared workaholic tendencies, and spent hours caught in their own narrow foci, sacrificing work-life balance and personal relationships so that they could feel the fleeting joy of perfection. Gremlins usually didn’t need the Gentry to violently abduct them; they just had to be promised a workshop, and glory, and appreciation for their brilliance. Of course, the Gentry then tore their work apart with far more gusto than the Gremlin ever did.

Ogre: He should be clumsy, with his huge hands and hulking frame; he should knock over every table he squeezes past, crush the piping bags he uses to decorate wedding cakes to pulp. But his stature belies his delicacy. No one has ever seen cakes as elaborate and beautiful as his. Even the ones he throws away in anger every time he so much as jolts the piping bag in the wrong direction are lovely beyond belief.

Wizened: The woodworker’s studio doubles as living space and workshop and is so cluttered it’s hard to tell whether any given tool is for her craft or for her life. Is there a difference? She doesn’t seem to think so. Now get out, you’re ruining her focus.

Gentry damn you, can’t you get anything right?

Kith Blessing: When making a Crafts roll to fix a broken or flawed item, the Gremlin’s player achieves exceptional success with three successes instead of five.

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet: When pressed for time, a Gremlin can spend a point of Glamour to turn what would otherwise be an extended action into an instant action, as long as, at some point in that action, something needs to be torn down or destroyed. This ability can be used once per scene.