The Lesovik
Mother told me you’ve been telling tales of the Lesovik. You should know it’s not wise to envoke their name - you may draw their attention. My son, they do exist - but they are not invaders or some form of xenos threat. They are the impure flotsam of generations past - lepers and outcasts driven down below the decks of the hive proper where they work the old engines and manufactora. Whatever crimes their forefathers committed to deserve such a fate, I do not know, but their descendants are diminutive muties who toil away in the dark. They have grown deranged in their exile, and on occassion come up to the proper hive to ****** unruly children awy to feed upon. So my son, put away your tall tales, and by the Emperor mind your manners, lest I come home to find you snatched away by the Leperkin.
'In bed above or deep asleep. While greater love lies further deep. This dream must end, this world must know. We all depend on the beasts below.'
The Leperkin
The Lesovik (or Leperkin) are diminutive mutants that dwell far beneath the hive of Sceleris. Unlike the assorted mutants that plague it's sister hives of Lex Foveo and Vesuna Regis, the Leperkin have become a stable strain after countless generations of isolation.
These mutants are left relatively at peace by the local purgation squads of the Vigil. Expert scavengers by necessity, the Leperkin are often unofficially tolerated as reclaimators whose spoils trickle into the upperhive through dealings with an assortment of underhivers. Gangs, guilder-merchantmen, and impoverished hab-levels trade with the mutants for technological trickets, ammunition, or other prizes wrested from the deep forgotten chambers of the hive.
WS BS S T Ag Int Per Wp Fel Inf
30 32 28 28 37 40 42 28 16 -
Wounds:
8
Movement:
3/6/12/24
Armor:
Tattered Rags and Scavenged Armor (2 All)
Skills:
Survival (Per) +10, Tech-Use+10 (Int), Trade (Technomat or Armourer) (Int)
Talents: Weapon-Tech, Blind Fighting, Disarm, Double-Team, Technical Knock
Traits:
Size (3), Unnatural Movement (1)
Gear:
Scavenged leather armour, broken trinkets and mementos
Leperous Infection:
The Lesovik are covered with leperous skin. Their mutation is highly infectious to direct contact, which accounts for the mutants' prediliction for covering their bodies with layers of dingy cloth, tattered rags, and heavy cloaks. Scavenged respirators or make-shift masks are common as well when dealing with untainted humans. However, if direct contact is made with the skin of the Lesovik, their infectious mutation will spread rapidly.
If a character comes into direct contact with the Lesovik's skin for any reason, he must pass a
Hard (-20) Toughness Test
or become infected with the contagious infection. If he fails this test, the infection will begin to spread from the point of contact in the course of 10 + 1d10 days, subtracting the characters
Toughness Bonus
from the result. For each day the infection spreads, the character suffers a specific outcome.
Consult the following table to determine the spread of the infection and it's effect on the character:
10 or less days The infection is largely restricted to the point of contact, spreading no further than the length of a limb or a broad section of the torso. The character suffers blisters, dried and cracking skin. If the character can conceal the infection, he suffers no mechanical effects, but if it's in an exposed location (such as his head), he suffers 1d5-TB (Minimum 1) Permanent Fellowship Characteristic loss.
11-16 The infection spreads to cover nearly two thirds of the characters body, covering his body with blisters, dry and cracking skin, oozing pores and loss of hair. The character suffers 1d10-TB (Minimum 1) Permanent Fellowship Characteristic Loss, as well as suffering a -10 penalty on all Disposition checks, unless he can conceal the infection.
17+ The infection consumes the character completely, knarling his flesh into an unrecognizable mess of growths, blisters, and bleeding pores. The character suffers 1d10+4 Permanent Fellowship Characteristic loss, as well as the Fear (1) Trait when dealing with untainted humans as well as a -20 penalty on all Disposition checks unless he can conceal his entire body.
The infection, if limited to a single limb, can be negated with a cybernetic replace (removing the permanent Fellowship Characteristic loss). However, there is no known cure by the citizens of Sceleris or on the world of Juno itself. It would take tremendous resources outside the purview of the underhives to cure such a disease.
Edited
by Cogniczar