In my next-to-last campaign, the PCs made several visits to the Eighth
Virtue (the floating "Malakite bar" from You Are Here).
While there, they several times encountered a Malakite of the Sword, one
Vidatsy by name*, who had a hook at the end of his arm. Vidatsy was
missing a hand. And it wasn't just his Vessel, either -- Vidatsy had the
Crippled Discord at level 3.
But the other Malakim treated him, not just with tolerance, but with
respect. And whenever the PCs asked what the story was (Discordant Virtues
being vanishingly rare IMC), non-Malakim would shrug, and Malakim would get
poker-faced and change the subject.
The PCs were mildly curious, but nobody ever quite got up the nerve to ask
Vidatsy about his Discord directly. And that's a good thing, because I
really had no idea what the answer was. I had dropped the one-handed
Virtue into the bar on a whim, as an example of a slightly unusual
Malakite, and also as a maybe-someday potential... plot hook. But I never
actually worked out his backstory.
And I never have. One-Hand Vidatsy has stayed in the back of my head for a
couple of years now, and I still have no idea how he managed to get that
Discord. I don't know why nobody knows the true story but Malakim, and why
they won't talk about it. Nor why Laurence hasn't stripped it from him.
It's trickier than it sounds. Scars can be a badge of honor for a human,
but Discord comes from Dissonance -- and Dissonance, for a Malakite, is
always a thing of horror and shame. IMC, the (very rare) Malakim with
Discord are viewed by their fellows, and view themselves, as carrying a
shameful badge of failure. Their status is noticeably diminished, and
they're usually almost obsessive about getting it removed ASAP.
Your campaign may be different, of course... but, given these constraints,
how can we explain the mysterious Vidatsy? I've never been able to do it.
So I'm throwing it open to all comers. Anyone?
* If it's any help, "Vidatsy" means something like "Look!" or "You must
see!" in various Slavic languages. May be relevant, maybe not.
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