#M-16 2001, aluminum, sterling silver. Height 13.5cm, Width 4cm. Signed by the artist. The rectangular case is made of aluminum with a highshine finish, chosen because the slow oxidation process creat...

Now to go someplace that we've never been before. To create some sort of sequence for these, let's go by distance for Ureka, since that's more or less the focus of the campaign. The closest Ruin would be Calpoly, the former site of Arcata and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt (though back when I lived in the area, it was Humboldt State University). There are a couple of interesting tags that we rolled up for this one and I haven't really addressed them. The first is "Highshine Concentration." In the default setting of Ashes Without Number, Highshine is the secret sauce that means that radiation will give you cool mutations rather than just radiation sickness and cancer. While I'm not really using an established larger setting, it does let us have those Gamma World vibes even if everyplace else is a bit more Fallout. The other tag is one that I haven't really addressed, but probably should. "Political Gulag." Someone is using the town as a prison. Since Ureka is the nearest Enclave, that suggests that they're the ones sending poor souls here, presumably to get eaten by the wild mutant plants and animals that roam the area. With our prompt being Burden and the location being a place where mutations are common, let's assume that he has a mutation that makes him a burden. It's a bit extreme, but let's say that he has no arms and no legs. He can move and get around, and we could probably have fun by setting up encounters with him turning up in unlikely places, but I think the most common form of interaction would be him requesting a lift somewhere. I do also want him to have some sort of attack power. This is partly to create a justification for how he's able to survive in such a dangerous environment with a distinct disability and partly to discourage players from being dicks and dismissing him outright or being overly ableist. It's a bit crude, but players are going to have more respect for anything that can cost them hit points, regardless of form. He should also be connected to the Political Gulag Tag. He's was not born there, but exiled for some crime against Ureka, The easy one would be sympathy for Ratfolk, but we can also explore other aspects of Ureka by supposing that he was an opponent to some aspect of the Victorian Reconstructionism embraced by the rest of the community. A fun mirror to modern times might have him be an environmental activist against reconstructed timber barons. That also suggests our name: Hillard Hurwitz. "Hillard" as a nod to Julia "Butterfly" Hill, an activist who spent a year in a tree. Hurwitz is for Charles Hurwitz, owner of Maxxam, the private equity company that bled Pacific Lumber Company dry. The idea of a descendant trying to make right has a certain appeal. **Name** : Hillard "Stumpy" Hurwitz **Appearance** : A man with no arms and no legs, clean shaven (somehow) but with long, lanky, dark hair. **Quote** : "How about a lift?" **Roleplaying** : Stumpy is a stereotypical hippy in many ways. He is very "go with the flow" and sympathetic to the balance of nature. He is casually optimistic and avoids getting overly bummed out if possible. He's spent a long time learning about the strange ecology that has developed around Calpoly and has a deep respect for it. **Background** : After staging protests over excessive logging by the Timber Barons of Ureka, Hillard was exiled to Calpoly. While there, he suffered significant injuries to his arms and legs. The mutating elements in the environment granted him a healing power that closed the wounds quickly, but did not restore the limbs. It also granted him thermokinesis which he can use to defend himself. **Key Info** : He is surprisingly capable and well adapted to his current status. He will often be found requesting a lift to a destination He understands the ecology of the monsters roaming Calpoly, but it opposed to their casual destruction or exploitation. **Stat Block** :

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