Corpse Fishers

 

Art by Alcopopstar but if you have been following "Queen Mab" you know that.

Hear 

Tapping on the pipes, poking and prodding. Muttering and rambling. Otherwise they move quiet, even with a corpse across their back. 

 

Smell 

Even in the crypt, the stink of drowned rotting meat is particular and strong. 

“Ay the scent sticks to thee after a while” 

 

See 

Tottering, staggering, smiling. Grinning and whistling. Tall for a crypt-dweller, strong and rangy. Holding their hook of office. Bestrewn with twine and hooks, straps and bindings. Who knows what they have in that mess on their back? Rank with shit yet unashamed, they’ll give you a wink. 

 

 

Names 

Flexible James

Tankard Fools

Grit Feeble

Twist Valve

Small-Bird Chips

Nit-Fiddler Franz 

 

The Honest Corpse-Fisher 

Happy fellows(?) who take payment in corpses, always thrilled to be given one “for free”.

Cheery types who likely won’t necessarily try to eat you if they randomly bump into you. 

“Corpse Fishers not Corpse Farmers, that’s the Guild way” 

Pretty great guys or whatever they are, unless they find you poaching. 

“Seen any meat my lovelies?” 

“I’ll take that off your hands, no questions asked.” 

“Now that would be telling..” 

“Whats this thingy now? Now that’s a tricky thing….” 

“Well now, what say thee, what see thee? Hows thy meat?” 

 

 

Gossips 

Eager traders of information, they want to tell you the news, and they want to hear your story. 

They will listen your tales and share a few of their own. If you need information, they may know where to get it, or know something else useful. 

This is all to get a clear picture of your doings – they don’t care at all about the High Ladies or politics, all they care about is threats to the Saints. If you don’t pose a threat to the Saints, and hold nothing that might do so, then they don’t care at all what you do – except as gossip and tales to chat and trade over. 

Only malificarum matters to them. 

 

Maleficarum 

The semi-secret duty of the Corpse-Fishers is to stop any dangerous tech before it reaches the saints. Specifically any radioactive material, active nanites, bio-phages, causality weapons – maleficarum. 

“Whats this then my lovely’s? Looks a bit tricky…” 

if a Saint is damaged they will pay in their own flesh. 

The Corpse-Fishers have an ‘arrangement’ with the Hydraulic Church and Court of Melinoe. All malificarum is handed over and in return they keep the Corpse-Fishing rights. 

 

 

Abilities 

“Identify”; Can spot and identify dangerous hypertech. Is that magnetic bottle full of deadly nanites? Is that butterfly a secret carrier of a viral plague? They will spot it. But they won’t necessarily tell you this. 

Their aim is to control and restrict these things, especially to stop them reaching o damaging the Saints. They will only tell you what something is if that is more likely to get it out of your hands and into safer ones. 

 

“Disappear”; In the Crypt a Corpse-Fisher can always find a way to hide or sneak away, if they have but a moments distraction to work with. 

 

“Survive”; A Corpse-Fisher will survive one apparently-lethal attack per round. They usually play dead and use the time to “Disappear” 

 

Schemers 

If they can’t take Malificarum from you directly, they will manipulate others into doing so, or directly inform the Hydraulic Church who will then set themselves against you en-masse. The Corpse-Fishers are well-respected and can destroy the reputation of others in the Crypt if they so choose. 

 

 

The Corpse-Fishers Guild 

You have to be part of the Guild to pull corpses out of the flow. Unless caught in the act this is near impossible to prove. 

The Guild gets angry if they hear of anyone breaking their claimed monopoly. 

 

Joining the Guild 

Need; Good relationship with Corpse Fishers, Hydraulic Monks and Melinoe. Proven skill in Corpse Fishing and keeping secrets. No claims against you of eating the uneaten things. 

The Test; Find and bring three specific corpses to the testing ground before the hourglass turns. The Guild places these in advance and the placement tests the situational knowledge, cunning and luck of the applicant. It’s possible for an applicant to bring other corpses so long as they match the description given, this considered the “luck of the pipes”.