Ziran the Synchronizer and the Skeleton Keys

An NPC I wrote for my current Maximum Recursion Depth campaign, following up from my Jewels of the IndraNet post. A Synchronizer is one who combines principles of karma and synchronicity; chemistry and alchemy; engineering and narrative, to create Dharmatic Augmentations.

 

He lives in Neo Seneca Village, a Jewel in the datacloud that is the IndraNet. His home looks like a hand standing on its fingers partially curled in a grasping motion, palm down and knuckles forward. The building is constructed in an eco-brutalist style.

 

To facilitate their Poltergeist Investigation it was suggested to the PCs to search for Ziran the Synchronizer, where they were offered the opportunity to sacrifice a finger to be crafted into a Dharmatic Augmentation; a Skeleton Key.

 

The ritual entailed taking a drug/sedative of their choice if desired and thinking of a loved one (naming them out loud), before slotting the finger into a finger-sized guillotine.

 

 

 

Ziran the Synchronizer 

• A touch of Iroh and Glossaryk
• Thick French accent, wise/romantic type, existentialist/absurdist
• Bohemian flowing outfit
• Shimmers like a body of water
• Phantom Limb: Left arm is only a shadow, but the shadow can operate independently and do things that affect the material world, including its “shadow puppet” forms. Has a mind of its own with the impulsivity of a dog and the personality of a knave.

 

These Dharmatic Augmentations require the sacrifice of a respective finger, which will be carved into the appropriate key. Each key unlocks:

Index
Doors: And vaults, and other physically-locked things.

Middle
Encryptions: Physical or digital things; that which is protected by passwords and algorithms.

Ring
The Heart: Not the ability to induce love, but to experience it, or alight that which was already present.

Pinky
Opportunities: Of a social nature; access to higher echelons, the line outside a popular club, shibboleths, insider knowledge.

Thumb
Potential: Especially that which is hidden.

 

 

The Players were given the opportunity to design the Skeleton Keys for themselves. Of course I did not take good notes and my game has been on pause for a while and I don't remember all of them offhand but they were all clever and appropriate to the character and the theme of the key.