The Aethernaut Collection adapts a variety of characters from 19th-century literature into the world of Trinity Continuum: Aether. Here’s the second preview character: Thomas Carnacki, the occult detective.
Thomas Carnacki
“Not everything’s explicable by Aetheric interference, old fellow.”
Thomas Carnacki’s a steady man, a sensible, practical fellow with the right blend of stoicism and curiosity to make him a valued member of HRH-PDP and a persistent threat to the Dreadfuls of London and the further reaches of England. Styled as an “occult detective,” Carnacki puts his crowning scientific achievement, the Electric Pentacle, and the minor changes wrought by his dabbling in Aether-drinking to good use keeping England safe. His specialty is the detection and dismissal of incorporeal Aetheric entities, those creatures existing on slightly different planes of existence from the living person on the street.
Carnacki spends as much time debunking hoaxes as hunting ghosts. Dedicated to a rational understanding of the world, he’s quick to douse any unseemly, credulous enthusiasm. He provides an important counterweight to colleagues who see the influence of Aether everywhere, redirecting their attentions to serious (and real) problems. Carnacki’s investigations also expose the petty, malicious people who use the public’s fear and excitement about Aether to terrorize them, such as criminals covering their tracks with staged hauntings or cruel individuals manipulating their families or spouses.
That’s not to say Carnacki’s solely interested in hoaxers. He’s a fierce foe of the beings who haunt the world of the living, whether they’re lingering impressions left by the dead or entities from beyond the material world. Carnacki prefers identifying and categorizing these manifestations to resolving them; more patient folk find lots of work in cleaning up the fallout from Carnacki’s destructive methods. The notorious “ghostfinder” has burned down more than one stately home to rid it of its haunting — earning numerous enemies in the process.
Thomas’s rational approach has been invaluable since the first Martian attacks. His colleagues see Martian spies and schemes everywhere, and Carnacki’s steady temperament and grasp on reason have done a great deal to stop the PDP from erupting into panicked overreaction. These days, he holds a high position in HRH-PDP’s intelligence division, both sifting data into patterns of credible activity and investigating specific cases.
His circle of friends, all with their own interest in the odd and paranormal, have proved to be an asset in this new work: they each have their own networks of friends and confidantes feeding them stories of Aether-tinted strangeness, which Dodson, Jessop, Arkwright, and Taylor pass in turn to Carnacki.
To date, the PDP has tolerated the high cost of Carnacki’s investigations; nobody can deny he’s intelligent and effective, his role in the Martian war truly invaluable. At the same time, though, all of his colleagues breathe a sigh of relief at the realization that the man is increasingly bound to a desk, analyzing intelligence and forced to act as a mentor and patron to other agents and independent allies.
Aethernaut Tier: Gog
Primary Pool: 8 (Reason, Scrutinize)
Secondary Pool: 6 (Study, Explain)
Desperation Pool: 4
Enhancement: +2 (Deductive Reasoning, Occult Knowledge)
Defense: 4
Health: 5
Initiative: 4
Edges: Apparatus (Electric Pentacle; Empathy, Humanities, Integrity) •, Danger Sense •, Spiritually Attuned ••, Voice of Reason ••
Inspiration: 4
Gifts: Astral Projection (p. XX), Astral Transference (p. XX), Fortean Experience, No Stone Unturned, Paragon (Cunning 1, Intellect 1), Reinforce Base Truth