#bubo.exe

Tyto

he/him

Tyto is the head of the Talismen Counsel in all but title. Most major decisions are finalized by him. It was his brilliant idea to inject children with Magic and turn them into living weapons.

He's good at commanding a room, good at strategies, and really damn good at injecting literal children with Magic. Did I mention that? He's putting the Magic into children's bloodstreams and turning them into living weapons. This guy.

Magic Abilities: Magic sensing (i.e. sensing out where Magic is most concentrated, identifying abilities in others, etc) and minor telekinesis

Red

she/her

Red is the Talismen Counsel's propaganda machine. She does speeches, she's on all of the posters, she's smiling at you from every corner on every street, she's telling you that You are important to the Bones, and You can help the Bones (by reporting your neighbors for suspicious activity).

She's good at flowy sentences that sound nice in theory, good at twisting your words into agreeing with her, and good at telling you that you're really an autumn, honey, have you tried wearing more warm colors?

Magic Abilities: Shimmers (a minor form of illusion Magic that causes Red to appear extremely beautiful and for her voice to sound more compelling than it would otherwise. Can be extended to others for a shortened duration)

Screech

he/him

Screech is the oldest of the Talismen, sharp tongued and intelligent. His job is diplomatic interactions, negotiating with other countries for the Bones' favor.

Screech is easily bored, and insults people carelessly. It's really a miracle he gets anyone to negotiate with him at all...

Magic Abilities: Minor memory influence (inserting very minor memories + removing recent memories)

Bubo

he/him

Bubo is... the odd one out of the Talismen. He feels the most guilt out of any of them about their overtaking of the Bones, and about their blatant disrespect of the Jubilee culture, and of their constant propaganda being pushed to the people. Which is to say, he occasionally sees a person that they've destroyed the lives of up close and feels a twinge of regret. Beyond that, though, he hardly thinks about it.

He's kinder, more gullible, than the rest of the Talismen, but still intelligent and willing to bend moral rules to gain a more favorable position.

He trained Jackal, and was officially Jackal's handler for many years. Bubo was the closest thing Jackal had to a parent, and Bubo wasn't a very good one, either.

Magic Abilities: N/A

Otus

he/hir

Otus is the youngest of the Talismen, but he keeps up with the rest of them without missing a beat. Otus gains the Talismen information, sending hir spies throughout the Bones, and all of the surrounding countries.

Magic Abilities: Mind reading

Strix

they/them

Strix is mostly focused on making the Talismen Counsel itself work through any of their internal problems. Realistically, one could argue that Strix is pulling the strings even more than Tyto is. When disagreements are had, Strix navigates it for them and sorts everything out... usually in Strix's favor.

Magical Abilities: N/A

Snowy

she/her (refers to herself with it/its)

Snowy is intentionally the most mysterious of the Talismen. She does not appear publicly, or speak to anyone outside of the Talismen. Even to Jackal, who worked closely with the Talismen for many years, she has not spoken a word.

Snowy is currently training Lynx, after Bubo's 'failure' in training Jackal. Her job is typically political assassinations, although that's keep very quiet. Again - many people do not know that she even exists.

(Your characters sound really cool, by the way!)

Hehe thank you so much!!

9. Are they enhanced in some way? Like drugs/metal transplants/magic to improve their capacity?

Jackal (he/him):

Jackal was the first of a handful magical experiments, meaning they literally injected Magic into his veins ^_^

In this world, though, Magic is just a few coherent thoughts away from sentient, so it doesn't always work the way the Talismen want it to.

Jackal ended up with unpredictable, unstable, uncontrollable violent magic outbursts, that they only just managed to get under their control as the war was ending - Up until that point, though, they hadn't minded so much. Just drop the 9 year old in the middle of an active battle zone, and either the Magic would kill everyone around him, or he would die. Either way, the Talismen come out on top.

Now, though, the Talismen can trigger the Magic with a code word, one that Jackal isn't allowed to know. Jackal, on the other hand, can't really control it at all; it tends to be impossible for him to access unless his life is in danger.

Oftentimes, Jackal is not fully aware of himself or his surroundings when the Magic takes over.

Lynx (they/them):

Lynx was a few experiments down the line from Jackal, and the only one to really work. While they can have violent magical outbursts as well, they also have a lot more control over the Magic than Jackal does. They also tend to remain aware of themself even when the Magic does take over.

Instead of magical outbursts like Jackal, Lynx is able to kill from a distance, stopping someone's heart before they even realize they're dead.

11. Are they stealthy? Or perhaps bulky, odd or otherwise eye-catching?

Jackal:

Not stealthy at all. He's loud and obnoxious, and while he's also twink-ish and not particularly bulky in anyway, nor does he dress in a flashy way or anything, he feels very little fear about calling attention to himself verbally.

He likes being the center of attention, in fact.

Lynx:

Lynx, on the other hand, was built for stealth missions. Their job is to get in and out, killing silently, quickly, and being impossible to trace.

12. What is their name? Is it a number? Do they have a nickname? Who uses it?

Jackal:

Jackal wasn't given a name until long after the Graveyard War had ended. Once he was on display, though, as a threatening presence and reminder to the people of the Bones, he was named Jackal, to make him seem more like he fit in with the common people. As a reminder that the Talismen could take any of you and turn you into one of us.

Lynx: