Welcome back to #mothershipmonth. Every week day this month I’m producing part of a supplement for Mothership, set on Callaway Falls, an abandoned (mostly…) luxury resort turned mining colony. Last week we looked at the history of the world. This week we’re looking at the Callaway Five, the members of the board who have scattered to the winds, trying to work out why the planet they stole has been stolen from them. Each day we’ll look at one of the board, including background, roleplaying notes and plot hooks. I use the Story Engine card system a lot and the prompt that built their back stories are included next to their names. In addition, click through on their names for a fully statted character sheet.
We’re closing the week in the company of Olivia Tamberlaine, corporate assassin, fugitive and the person most directly responsible, she thinks, for the fall of Callaway Reef.
Olivia Tamblerlaine (Brought ruin/And now they will have to break a promise)
Olivia Tamberlaine has been a corporate assassin as long as she’s been alive. The daughter of a troubleshooter and a freelance peacekeeping consultant she spent her life measuring success in invisibility. She was the key in the lock no one knew was there. The solution to problems that never went public. Silent. Invisible. Perfect.
She loved it. She misses it She lost it because she did Xavier Bolero a favour. Her not quite ex husband (One of several experiments she made with intimacy) had become convinced his own family were connected to the Competent line. He begged her for help and she agreed. She found the truth, and in doing so instigated the downfall of Callaway Reef. She’s honestly not sure how she feels about that but she knows something has to change and to make that change she’s going to have break a promise she made to Xavier. Once Polonius knows, he’ll want Xavier dead. He’ll want Olivia to do it. She doesn’t know if she can.
Roleplaying Notes: Think Robin Weigert in anything she’s ever done or Michelle Forbes, specifically her BSG run.
Operation Rope A Dope
Polonius and Olivia have made it offworld, with Bradda Geologic hot on their trail. They hire the players as decoys, and with the full might of Bradda Geologic on their necks, the players must work out whether to sell the fugitives out or help them escape.
In From The Cold
Olivia Tamberlaine has had enough. She wants to come in and she asks the players to help her do it. They must infiltrate the tower on Callaway Reef, dodging the traps set by Polonius Callaway and help Olivia to escape with the location of Callaway’s fortune. But does Olivia really want out? Or is she looking to make an example for the next people who come for her and Polonius?
Justifiable Homicide
Polonius Callaway is dead, and Olivia Tamberlaine killed him. The players are hired to investigate and are given full access to the records at Callaway Reef.
But…do they know the whole story?
Why did Callaway die of a heart attack? What caused the power to go out, planet wide? And why can’t Olivia Tamberlaine sleep?
Meaningful Exchange of Blows
Olivia Tamberlaine’s best student has been sent to hunt her and Polonius Callaway down. Victoria Rostov is a flamboyant, relentless killer who has been given carte blanche to do anything on this empty world. She wants a duel with her old teacher; winner takes all. She won’t fight fair. Neither will Olivia. That’s where the players come in.