Hound
Career
Qualifications
On Earth 16, the Hounds are the
- advanced henchmen of
- raw materials acquisitions team for
- preliminary test subjects for the metahuman theories of
These are, according to Sinister's criteria, remarkably fit metahuman survivors on Scarce Metal Earth in the wake of the Great Aether War.
((In game terms, this is a 900 point or higher character, who has put at least two thirds of their points into Powers and Attributes before also picking up combat-related Gadgets or Skills.))
Career Progression
Hounds may have started out as thralls, although that is not mandatory. It is also possible to be demoted to thrall if Sinister decides that a specific Hound has the genetic makeup "fit to survive" but does not consider this individual well-suited to the duties of a Hound.
Hounds are, rarely, promoted to become a Dragoon. They have somehow impressed Sinister with their competence, their adaptability, and their capacity to survive difficult odds. Becoming a Dragoon is neither optional for the selected candidate nor, if one is intelligent enough to observe the hazards of being a Dragoon, preferable.
Other Benefits
The Hounds are, among all the people under Sinister's power, perhaps closest to receiving a net benefit from their profession. While on duty, they do have crimson jumpsuits adjusted to fit their shape and their habits of movement. They are not required to wear the entire jumpsuit; many Hounds have parts of the jumpsuit removed by a tailor, or switch out a section for a different style of clothing such as a wraparound shirt instead of the torso and arms of the standard garment. Stealth specialists often limit their crimson clothing to underlayers or to token strips near the seams of their work clothing. They may have up to five pockets, pouches, satchels, or holsters if they can justify such containers in terms of their overall function as Sinister's action team.
Sinister has studied, measured, and recorded their genetic sequences. He has not yet made any modifications or improvements beyond the general cleanup given any thrall.
Hounds are not required to serve a duty shift every diurnal period. They are permitted a certain amount of leeway in terms of recovering from injuries after a conflict without necessarily being found "unfit". They get (supervised, usually) access to the outside world.
Perception
Purpose
The purpose of a Hound is to fetch whatever Mr. Sinister requires.
Social Status
Hounds do not quite fit into the society of Òlhakeike. When they are not on duty, the wise Hounds dress in ordinary clothing and behave as unobtrusively as possible -- not to spy on the other citizens, as some believe, but simply because the thralls vastly outnumber the Hounds ... and no authority figure will step in to protect a Hound if other citizens turn on them. If the Hound is not fit to survive in the existing scenario, well then, by definition the Hound is unfit!
On the other end of society, Dragoons tend to see Hounds as a tool ready to hand rather than a person. The chief strength that the Hounds have is that they outnumber the Dragoons, much as the thralls outnumber the Hounds if not to the same extreme, and the Hounds are expected to use team tactics more casually than the often-solo Dragoons.
(This balance of power did go somewhat off-kilter when a Hound named Feral, objecting to a Dragoon's commands during a supply raid, killed her instead of killing the non-metahuman targets. For several months, the idea grew among the Hounds that they could in fact prove a Dragoon to be "unfit" so long as Sinister himself was not supervising the work. Dragoons regained some psychological power when the Dragoon in question "respawned" six months later, rather vexed at the Hound who disobeyed instructions and determined to show her whose status was actually higher. Feral won that combat, too. But she was in very poor health for a long while afterward. Fighting a Dragoon has an extraordinarily high risk factor for a lone Hound.)
Type
Raw Materials Gathering
Legality
Famous in the Field
Related Locations
Comments