busyMoonstone (Alaria Miramontez) -- She has light caramel skin, brown eyes, and long wavy hair of golden brown. Alaria used to lead an ambulance crew, but found the work too stressful, so she quit. After that, she moved to a Gentle Life community called Blossom Farm in Orinoco, Oregon. She currently lives in the uppermost bedroom with the round bay window on the second floor of the Healing House. There she learned emotional first aid and energy work. She doesn't have superpowers, but she does have mental training that gives her some influence other other people's energy. After a year, she took the name Moonstone and went to work on the festival circuit as first aid staff. She attends everything from music festivals to Renaissance Faires, every weekend during the peak season and every two or three weekends in winter. During the weekdays, she rests and takes occasional clients.
Qualities: Good (+2) Compassion, Good (+2) Emotional First Aide, Good (+2) Energy Healing, Good (+2) Graceful, Good (+2) Paramedic
Poor (-2) Tolerance for Chronic Stress
Gentle Life is an organization for people with PTSD or similar situatations who want to treat their condition with lifestyle changes. It works very well for those who want a peaceful place to concentrate on healing, although not so much for those who keep wishing they could get back to their old activity level. Gentle Life mostly features farms and artistic communities far out in rural areas, although they have some cohousing locations for suburban or urban dwellers. They concentrate on building a support network in the community and making happy new memories. Art therapy, music therapy, organic farming and cooking are typical offerings. Some of the farms also work with abused animals or do other animal-assisted therapy. Blossom Farm, Tranquil Table, Todos Santos are among the Gentle Life communities.
Moonstone lives in Blossom Farm in Orinoco, Oregon. A home office and a library/workroom make the Healing House a convenient place for alternative health providers to receive clients. An older couple share the master bedroom on the first floor. Moonstone lives in the uppermost bedroom with the round bay window on the second floor. A single man has the middle bedroom, while a single mother and her infant share the one with the private sink. The common bathroom upstairs has a toilet cubicle and frosted doors enclosing the bathtub, making it possible for several people to use the room at the same time without sacrificing privacy. The front porch has patio furniture. The living room includes a fireplace. The kitchen fills a bay window beside the side door.
Armon Roebucker -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and short black hair with a scruffy mustache and beard. He is tall and slender with wiry muscles. As a traveling folk singer, Armon enjoys performing at all kinds of festivals, from music festivals to street fairs. He plays a wide variety of campfire instruments including a Martin Backpacker travel guitar, a Mallow Tone Black-and-Tan carbon fiber guitar, a Hohner Special 20 harmonica, a Generation Nickel tinwhistle, a Meinl Percussion FMDJ7-L-F fiberglass djembe in crimson red, and a Remo Economy tambourine. He also teaches workshops on how to make and PVC pipe drums.
Origin: While at a backwoods festival, Armon took a smoke from a pipe that someone was passing around the campfire. It turned out to be intensely psychotropic, and he's never quite come down from that experience. He still has hallucinations occasionally, and now also has superpowers.
Uniform: He favors casual, outdoorsy men's wear with a bohemian flair. His favorite colors are blue and red.
Qualities: Good (+2) Extrovert, Good (+2) Folk Singer, Good (+2) Life of the Party, Good (+2) Musical Intelligence, Good (+2) Tall
Poor (-2) Being Alone
Powers: (flickering)
Armon has been flickering through a wide variety of psychic abilities for months, each one appearing for anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. This makes it difficult for him to gain control of anything. He has been advised to take a private retreat to concentrate on stabilizing his superpowers, but he hates being alone and craves plenty of interaction with other people. He still has periodic hallucinations, too, which makes it difficult for him to distinguish between what is numinous awareness, what is superpowered, and what is pure imagination.
Motivation: "How the heck do I get down, man?"
The best musical instruments for campfire jamming include the Martin Backpacker Travel Guitar, the Hohner Special 20 Harmonica, the Generation Nickel Tinwhistle, the Meinl Percussion FMDJ7-L-F Djembe, and the Remo Economy Tambourine.
Another is the Mallow Tone Black-and-Tan Carbon Fiber Guitar. In T-America, Mallow Tone makes all kinds of campfire instruments that are both tough and affordable. The Black-and-Tan Carbon Fiber Guitar retails for around $300 and can survive being sat upon. Novice and travel guitars typically range $100-500. In local-America, carbon-fiber guitars cost thousands of dollars, but Terramagne-America has had affordable ones for about 20 years.
Trillium (Joni Klint) -- She has fair skin, brown eyes, and long curly hair of dark blonde. She is short with small breasts and modest hips. Her father is Swedish and her mother is an Irish Traveler. Joni put herself through college with a major in Studio Arts and a minor in Popular Culture. After she graduated, she got a decent job at a business that produced corporate art for office buildings ... but she hated it. After a couple of years she quit. She tried several other jobs, including muralist and street artist, before she discovered face painting. Soon she took the name Trillium and turned to face painting full time. With her love of children and need for a spontaneous lifestyle, she went on the road to do county fairs, birthday parties, music festivals, and other events. She can do a variety of styles including both freehand and stenciled designs. She favors casual swirls and stripes that go on fast, so she can offer cheap prices but still make a comfortable living. Among her favorite paints are the FAB 20-Color Best Seller Pro Palette, FAB 6-Color Shimmer Swirl Palette, Pixie Cake Pro Palette, and individual 18ml Snazaroo jars.
Qualities: Good (+2) Dexterity, Good (+2) Face Painter, Good (+2) Joyful, Good (+2) Loves Kids, Good (+2) Visual-Spatial Intelligence
Poor (-2) Tolerating a Structured Lifestyle
See an example of the Mermaid Pixie Cake.
Snazaroo is a brand of face paint available in flat palm-size jars. Watch a video about it. Featured colors include Sparkle White, Sea Blue, and Royal Blue. Here you can see a set in hand for size comparison.
Face painters often use special stencils like the one Shiv chose to make designs more efficiently. For people with tactile issues, a broad sponge over a stencil is often more bearable than a tickly brush. A good face painter can adapt to different situations.
Trillium has a vardo for events. These are much more popular in Terramagne than here, especially for traveling performers. See the exterior at night, the front door, and the back window. Here is the same window from inside. The bed is right under there. Cabinets provide storage space, and a woodstove heats the vardo. A couch offers seating beside the door.
Blossom (Elowen Wyttenburg) -- She has fair skin, brown eyes, and wavy brown hair to her shoulders. Both arms are tattooed with flowers, leaves, mushrooms, and other nature symbols. Blossom grew up in Portland, Oregon but never had much luck holding down a dayjob. Instead she works the festival circuit as an herbalist, making everything from teas to perfumes. When she uses her enhanced senses, sometimes that creates a spray of lights swirling around her. She enjoys singing and plays a folk guitar. Between festivals, Blossom has a room back in Portland, in the house of her sister who makes art quilts.
Origin: Blossom got tattoos with a new "watercolor" ink that left her with superpowers.
Uniform: Bohemian women's clothes, often in warm muted colors like mauve and berry. She likes big chunky jewelry with turquoise, coral, or other semiprecious stones.
Qualities: Expert (+4) Herbalist, Good (+2) Bohemian, Good (+2) Folk Singer, Good (+2) Naturalistic Intelligence
Poor (-2) Keeping a Dayjob
Powers: Good (+2) Super-Senses, Average (0) Light Show
Her senses of smell and taste are the most refined, followed by hearing, then touch and sight.
Shanti (Donal Morrow) -- He has tawny-fair skin, hazel eyes, and wavy brown hair with a short mustache and beard. His heritage includes British, East Indian, and Scottish. He is metasexual. Shanti travels the festival circuit teaching art, yoga, self-awareness, and peacemaking skills. Although he doesn't have superpowers, he does have enough focus to influence people who do. He also has a low bullshit tolerance. However, unlike most people with this trait, Shanti doesn't get hostile over it. Instead he starts speaking inconvenient truths, which is a lot more damaging. He is entirely capable of producing personality ruptures in painful places, and doesn't always realize his own strength. Shanti loves bright, soft colors and often dresses in plaids, paisleys, or other patterns. He lives in a converted campervan decorated in bohemian style.
Qualities: Master (+6) Traveler, Expert (+4) Mellow, Expert (+2) Wisdom, Good (+2) Artist, Good (+2) Teacher, Good (+2) Yogi
Poor (-2) Low Bullshit Tolerance
Shanti
Pronounced SHAHN-tee.
Another common mantra chanted at the beginning or end of yoga class, Shanti translates to “peace” in Sanskrit.
The back of the campervan contains a full-size bed. The cube in front of the bed actually conceals a composting toilet. The minifridge is just barely visible in the lower right corner of the picture, with OM painted on the front. It has a two-burner stovetop above it.
