Knights of the Widows Walk

Sir or Lady, but largely unused given the secrecy implicit in this order’s existence

Equinox Road pps. 44-47
Wyrd	●●●●●●
Preqs	Subterfuge ●●●● Mantle ●● or less
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The Knights of the Widow’s Walk are much like men lost at sea, gone for so long and so consumed by their mission that they might drown and never be seen again. They are spies, driven into deep, deep cover, who leave their freehold and go to another. There, they assume a whole new identity, a persona suited to the social sphere they seek to penetrate. New name. New face. New role. Some risk Glamour addiction. Some find their Clarity shuddering as they are submerged beneath the waters of the new identity. Some get caught, and get dead.

What do they do undercover? The menu of potential tasks is limitless. Spy on a rival sovereign to see if she’s secretly returned to her Keeper’s service? Attempt to uncover the names and identities of a dangerous Loyalist army or vast Privateer band? Abscond with a treasured — and well-hidden — token? Assassinate a Prince? All of the above might end up on a Knight’s plate. For some, the task may take a few weeks, maybe a few months. Others go deep for years, losing huge chunks of their lives in service to this long-standing order.

Mien

As noted in Privileges below (“The Spy’s Shifting Face”), the Knight’s mien is liquid, changing to suit the assignment.

Privileges

The Spy’s Shifting Face

A Knight’s identity is up to her. Upon receiving a new assignment from the Spymaster, she has the opportunity to shift her mien considerably, becoming what appears to be an entirely different changeling of a different kith — though, she can only shift to the mien of a kith within her seeming. This costs her nothing, and her Mask also changes according to her whims (though always to the same Size and gender). She doesn’t actually gain the benefits of the new kith, though she still can access the blessing of her own original kith.

She can reveal her own true face and kith by spending a Glamour point, and this lasts for one scene.

She can also shift her mien and Mask in the middle of an assignment, but doing so costs her one Willpower dot.

Curiously, the Knight cannot use this benefit to appear as someone else: the shift of Mask and mien must be invented wholecloth. Attempts to accurately mimic another’s face (Mask, mien or both) fail automatically. Certainly she can attempt a fair facsimile, and with makeup can carry it further, but it’ll never be a perfect mimicry.

A Bouquet of Lies

A Knight of the Widow’s Walk can literally smell lies. No roll is necessary; when someone lies to the character, it manifests as an aroma appropriate to the lie. (A sweet lie — “I love you” when it’s just not true — might smell sickly sweet, whilst a lie about a murder — “I didn’t kill him, I don’t know anything about it” — might smell like a rotting corpse.)

Subterfuge, So Sweet

The Knights are excellent liars. They must be, given that so much of their day-to-day lives hinge on constant deception. Thankfully, this order prepares them for that, giving them a comforting bonus for perpetuating such subterfuge. Once a day, the changeling may regain a point of Glamour from lying successfully (meaning, having convinced another of an untruth). In addition, upon joining the Knighthood, the changeling may take a free Specialty in Subterfuge.

Joining

If a changeling of estimable power falls into the gutter, they might find a hand descend from above: and it belongs to one of the Knights of the Widow’s Walk. Any Knight is free to make the offer to a changeling if he thinks she could make a good spy.

Denial isn’t really an option, given the secret nature of the Widow’s Walk. If the target turns down the opportunity—or at some point tries to bail out of the deal — then that target has to take a permanent dirt-nap. It’s sad, but necessary. Such is the nature of the order’s clandestine business. The only comforting thought is that this represents a small mercy: after all, if the target has truly hit bottom, then shoving them off this mortal coil is a kindness.