[HOE] Re: Skitzos and Manitou?

[Jim Burzelic <zombi_bobb@yahoo.com>]

Warning! I typed this up after reading this thread and
I hope it provides a rather fleshed out and applicable
NPC for this horror setting, but I think I touch on
rather sensitive subjects that some may not want to
take part in. I don't provide stats, just background.

Harold had a troubled "haunted" life. His
pill-popping, alcohol-swilling mother was probably the
initial debaser in his life. When sober she was
extremely caring and affectionate. When she was
"chemically altered" she was abusive and cold. She
would punish Harold for no particular reason, yet
telling him it was for his own good. On more than one
occasion when he was being "too rambunxious" she would
put one of her empty insulin needles into his arm and
say that if he didn't sit still he would die when the
air bubble got to his heart. (Irrational fear of
needles, irrational compassion for addicts, eventually
manifesting as "Rolly") As he got older his distant
father started taking a bad interest in him. For
several years he was sexually abused by his dad. He
was told that this too, was his fault, and that he
deserved punishment for what he did to the
family.(this trauma manifested as "Maude") His teenage
years were filled with peer alienation and ridicule.
After high school, Harold entered the military in
order to bring order and purpose to his life. In Boot
Camp, he recieved punishment again and once again
Harold's personalities cracked. He should have been
discharged for mental instability but the other men in
his barrack, attempting to avoid punishment from the
Drill Sergeant, dragged Harold through basic training,
keeping his problems quiet through intimidation.
(Refusal to give in in extreme circumstances, short
temper, doesn't work well with "incompetence",
manifested as "Duke") Then the war started. For the
entire duration of the war, Harold was an artillery
man. He has expert knowledge of the area and even
knows how to devise artillery out of next to nothing.
During the Big Bang Harold was shooting everything out
of the sky. The one thing in particular he remembers
was the bomber. It was a sitting duck, flying
foolishly slowly. Harold and his crew took aim and
blew it out of the sky. What none of them knew was
that it was carrying a Citybuster. Harold saw its
airborne explosion and realized that he had been a
part of this massive destruction.  Strangely, this
didn't crack Harold any further. Instead, "Duke" took
most of it in stride. Instead of panicing at the loss
of sight he calmly gathered his men and they fled the
fallout. Once they were safe, Duke faded away and
timid Harold came back. His commanding officer was
relieved to have Harold "return to normal". He made
sure to keep an eye on him however, and decided to
have him imprisoned for his own safety when they got
to some form of headquarters. That was when Harold
recieved the worst beating he ever took. When the
other troops tried to subdue him, Duke took over. He
fought like an animal, but four men with beat-sticks
overcame him. Unknowingly, they beat him to death.
After they buried him he came back like so many
Harrowed do.

Zurnek liked this Harry guy. He knew a bunch of stuff
that would be alot of fun AND he'd be easy to dominate
seeing as there were already four people time-sharing
his head. Duke would be the tough one, but he'd
probably get himself into enough trouble. The other
three were pushovers. So Zurnek just sits back and
waits for prime moments to put a hand into a
situation.

Harold doesn't know how he survived. HE doesn't know
how he dug himself up and he's afraid of the new guy.
Harold knows he shares his body with others, but this
newest one scares him. He'd seen a shrink a few times
several years before the war under an alias at a
college. When he was told he had MPS, it had explained
so much about the holes in his memories. HE learned
about the others a little. He could talk with them a
little and learned their names. He learned alot about
himself and under the circumstances, they came to an
agreement of sorts. This new one though was
uncompromising. "Zurnek" didn't make deals. HE said
he'd do as he pleased. Duke said, he wouldn't let him
and Zurnek said he'd like to see him try to stop him.
So far Zurnek has done as he pleases when he pleases.
Everyone's scared and no one really knows what to do.

Zurnek let's the four personalities run Harold across
the wastes only taking over to taint their actions
beyond what they are willing to do, causing terror for
not only those being hurt but for the personalities
living with him. All of the personalities think Zurnek
is a new manifestation brought about by the beating
Harold recieved.

Zurnek's views and methods:
Harold: Timid, quiet, shy. Zurnek likes messing with
Harry. The wuss is lonely and every time he tries to
make a friend "Z" throws him a curveball, usually by
lacerating those that Harold gains the trust of. Man,
seeing Harry freak out at all the blood is worth a
week of laughs!

Rolly: This mush bucket likes to help druggies. He
cries way too much too. Zurnek's willing to help these
junkies, he gives them their final doses. Bah, this
one cares too much about worthless things.

Maude: Oh, she's rich! She's really into kinky sex.
She likes being on the recieving end of powerful men's
control. She's probably the free-est spirit in here.
Her fun is the easiest to spoil because it's already
on the dangerous side.

Duke: He HAS to go. Yeah, Zurnek can push him around
and ruin his day, but Duke has been getting more
powerful and more bold with his defiance. Something
has to be done about him soon.

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