Character: Moloch von Zinzer

Character Sheet (Moloch von Zinzer)

Combat Value: 8

You are Moloch von Zinzer, a used-up soldier turned reluctant adventurer. You find yourself wishing, today, that you had been born into a world without madboys. Of course, you wish that every day.

It's been that way all your life -- not only were you born to a world of madboys, but to their heritage. Your great-grandfather, Friedherich von Zinzer, was the maddest of the bunch. "Amagog", he called himself -- "Lover of Gog". Family tradition holds that the name refers to the First Spark, described in the Bible. You've read that passage, and it sounds like a madboy, all right: "Thus says the Lord 'On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind and you will make an evil plan: you will say, 'I will go against a land of unwalled villages to take plunder and booty...'". That's always been the way of it -- the madboys are nuts, and the people suffer for it.

Not that old Friedherich saw it that way. No, he was the airy ivory-tower kind of scientist, who only wanted to explore. The legends are pretty unclear, but they all say that he was the master of Time and Space and all that -- wanted to be able to see and know everything. He worked for the Storm King for a few years before getting fed up at playing second banana to the big Clank-builder Van Rijn, and ran off on his own. Built his own little Castle, did lots of insane experiments, married some poor village girl, had a kid named Gregor who he experimented on (who then got pissed off at Dad and ran off), got attacked by villagers with pitchforks, and vanished along with his Castle. All pretty typical Spark stuff.

Your family were Gregor's descendents, and for several generations lived out on the Rock of Gibraltar -- what folks nowadays call "The West Pole" because of the weird magnetic flux that came from there for a couple hundred years. Of course, your family were the reason why the flux was there. They were living there placidly, guarded by the devices that Gregor had taken from his Dad, mostly particularly the Time Ruby, warping time around the spot. The Ruby's effects meant that only about eighty years passed inside the field while 200 passed outside. But it gave the family a nice, quiet life: the time field simply trapped any raiders who tried to attack your little village, like flies stuck in amber. But the family knew how to get out, and occasionally family members would leave via the time maze -- the safe pathway through the distortion that you could all simply see as a side-effect of Amagog's experiments -- to get supplies, find some romance to bring home again, and occasionally bring back their own little treasures.

Really, it wasn't a bad life, and those first few years were pretty good. When you were a small kid, you remember family life as being pretty decent -- it was a tiny village, but peaceful. The Ruby kept the family safe from all the strangeness outside, and you could simply get on with life.

That all ended when you were four. They simply showed up on your doorstep: The Heterodynes Boys and the Iron Sheik, "heroes" of the outside world. They were the first people who had ever managed to find their way through the time maze, guided by a strange little black man named Embi who had a talent for mapping. The family was scared as hell, but the heroes all explained that they weren't here to hurt you all. They just wanted the Ruby.

The hell of it was, you can't even completely resent them for it. The Sheik explained that his homelands had been stuck in their own time distortion, which was "jumping" them forward at the rate of ten years every month -- a sort of terrible and extreme version of what you had here on the Rock. They had learned of Amagog, and knew that the Ruby was one of the few ways they might take control of the problem. It was a huge sacrifice for the family, but there were hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the Sheik's lands, and it was all going to hell. Of course, it was all a madboy's fault -- some loon had caused the jumps in the first place -- but the people living there were innocents trapped in the effect.

So Mom and Dad did the only thing they could do: the gave the Ruby to the Sheik, with their blessing. They even gave him Percival, the pet Roc that Dad had acquired in an adventure when he was young. The Sheik only had a couple of days to get home before the next jump was going to occur, and Percy was the only way to get him all the way across the continent in time. You still remember waving goodbye to these nice heroes who just wanted to help people. You were only four at the time, and had no idea that that was going to be the end of your peaceful, happy life.

With the Ruby gone, you were just another inbred little village, no more special than anywhere else, and you quickly fell under the sway of the local nobles and Sparks. And they did not like the von Zinzer family: they resented the fact that you had resisted their power for so long. The next ten years pretty much sucked, and so you ran off with your older brother Omar when you were 16 and he was 18, taking a couple of heirlooms and enough money to start yourselves off.

The two of you bummed around for the next 15 years, picking up whatever skills you could along the way. You had always been good with machinery, and you slowly figured out that the two things all those nobles and madboys (and madboy nobles) wanted were soldiers and mechanics. So you became both, and slowly worked your way up the ranks, playing mercenary in whichever armies seemed to be paying well and offered the best chance of survival. You advanced faster than Omar did because of that mechanical skill, and that probably played into how bitter he was getting, but he never said anything. You were brothers, and looked out for each other.

And along the way, you learned how the outside world worked. It's a nasty place, especially if you don't have a fancy title or the Spark. The nobles live high, and the madboys do all that insane stuff that madboys do, but for the rest it's entirely dog-eat-dog. There are basically two kinds of people: the townies, who want the world to be safe and orderly (and since it never is, punish anyone who doesn't fit their definitions of "safe" and "orderly"), and the outsiders like yourselves, who survive by being stronger and meaner than the townies. You were never going to make it as a townie, so that left the "outsider" label for you.

That last job, for the Duke d'Omas, seemed pretty sweet for the first six months or so. You and Omar were stationed on board a walking gunboat, a big well-armed ship with legs. You had your qualms now and then -- you don't mind fighting against the powerful folks, but being sent to raid villages was never fun -- and d'Omas was a real loon, but taking orders wasn't optional. So you did what you had to.

Of course, working for madboys never lasts long, especially nowadays. Baron Wulfenbach was going to see to that. He had just been the sidekick to the Heterodynes when you were a kid, but now he is Ruler of Europa, at least all the nasty central bits of it. And he doesn't like rogue Sparks at all. So he blew up the Duke's mountain, and left you and your boat at loose ends. The group of you held together, and took to raiding villages for spare parts, so you could keep the ship going -- it was the only thing keeping you all alive, so you didn't have much choice about that. You struck out for Paris, figuring that things would be a little less crazy there.

You never made it. One of the Baron's patrols, led by that lunatic DuPree, found you out there in the Wilderness and blew up the boat without even contacting you. What a witch: if she'd simply asked, you would have surrended. Instead, she bombed the ship. Only four of you made it out alive, out of a crew compliment of 20. Fortunately, you and Omar were among those who got off. Unfortunately, you were now stranded in the Wilderness.

You made for the nearest town, Beetleburg, and proceeded to go on a truly epic bender. You were out of options, but you still had a little money and Omar was in a mood to spend it. So you spent the next week boozing your way across the town, until you were out of cash and looking for what to do next. And that was when you had the great bad luck to run into Agatha Heterodyne.

Not that she called herself "Heterodyne" at the time -- the name she went under was "Agatha Clay", so no one would know who she was. The Heterodyne name still carried a lot of weight, but was also pretty hunted, so she'd been raised under a pseudonym as an ordinary townie. She didn't look like much at the time: pretty enough in a skinny kind of way, but dumb as a bag of rocks and clumsy as a one-legged duck.

She came barrelling into the two of you in a back alley, and managed to piss off Omar in about twenty seconds flat. He was drunk enough to do her some real harm, but you stopped him: Beetleburg did not treat criminals kindly, and the last thing you wanted was to end your days baking in a jar in the town square. So instead he ripped off the locket she was wearing, thanked her for her "generosity", and you ran off.

It wasn't an unusual bit of petty crime: both of you had done enough of that over the years, and he kind of enjoyed it. But it would be his last time. Over the next day or so, he got incredibly sick, and just died, babbling stupidly. The doctors thought it was plague, but it didn't take long for you to put two and two together and realize that the locket contained machinery -- machinery that had killed your brother. So you resolved to pay Agatha Clay a visit, and have a nice intimate "chat" about townies who kill soldiers.

Well, that plan worked about as well as everything had done lately. You found her in her machine shop, asleep in her bloomers and surrounded by machinery. (You would find later that she has a weird thing for building stuff in her underwear.) You accosted her, and she clocked you. And no sooner did you come to, than you were both confronted by a big Clank, and then got gassed. It was all damned confusing.

And then you woke up, on board Castle Wulfenbach of all places. The Baron had gotten the crazy idea that you were a Spark who was just breaking through, and that Agatha was your lover. Okay: you could sort of see how he got the idea when he found the two of you alone in the machine shop with her in her nothings, but it would have been laughably wrong if the situation wasn't so deadly. One doesn't disappoint Klaus von Wulfenbach, or tell him he made a mistake. So you would have to pretend to be a Spark, with his little popsy lover.

What you didn't know, of course, was that the girl was the real Spark, her doltish behaviour aside. So while you were trying to pretend to invent crap, she was making kissy-face with the Baron's son Gilgamesh, and starting to invent things herself.

Just as the Baron was starting to lose patience with you, maybe a month later, it all fell apart. Agatha got revealed as a Heterodyne, and escaped from the Castle. Wulfenbach figured out that he'd been fooled. Worse, he thought he'd been deliberately set up. You tried to explain to him that you were just going along with the insanity around you, but he didn't want to hear any of it. He stuffed you in a cage, to be sent away to Castle Heterodyne.

And the kid? Gil, Agatha's lover, who you'd helped by playing along with the game? Who'd promised to help you if you helped him? Oh, yeah -- he "helped" all right. He gave you a little pellet of poison to take before getting to Castle Heterodyne. Tons of help. Bastard. You've still got the pellet, as a reminder that there are always options.

So there you were, winging your way off to a fate worse than death. No one really knows what happens to those who are sent to Castle Heterodyne, but everyone knows it's horrible. You were starting to seriously think about that poison: suicide wasn't your style, but that "fate worse than death" stuff didn't sound like fun. And of course, the madboys interceded again.

This time, it was Othar Tryggvassen, the legendary "hero". Everybody's heard of him: rescuer of damsels, fighter of madboys, killer of monsters, and all that crap. Well, he does turn out to be big and brave and strong. He's also incredibly thick sometimes, and nuts even by Spark standards. His mission in life is to Kill All Sparks, which you can kind of sympathize with, but he seems unfazed by the fact that he's one himself.

Anyway, he and his new sidekick Theopholous DuMedd attacked the prison ship. DuMedd you knew slightly: he was one the kids being kept on board Castle Wulfenbach. (Agatha had been placed with them as a hostage to your good behaviour -- if you failed to invent stuff, they'd do something terrible to her. Not much of a threat, but you played along at the time.) Othar and Theo brought the ship down just on general principles, but you begged them to free you. And Othar, in that over-the-top theatrical way of his, invited you to join them in their "grand adventure".

Well, why not? It wasn't as if you had anything better to do. And while you didn't exactly love the adventuring thing, it really couldn't be any more dangerous than what you'd just been through. So you set out with them.

The next few months were pretty weird, although kind of fun in a way. The Giant Snail of Sandhyrst wasn't really that much of a challenge, once you found the local salt mine. But the kidnap of the Princess of Harkovia was a genuine adventure, leading to the three of you racing halfway across the continent on giant rocs (putting you fondly in mind of your childhood days flying Percy), and then attacking Sir Shellgreave and his fiery giant clanks. Getting home again from that took a good deal longer, but there were plenty of smaller adventures along the way.

And then you heard the rumors: the Hidden Castle of Amagog had reappeared. Now there was a name you hadn't thought of in years. Family legend always said that gread-granddad's Castle would return someday, and that the family would come into its inheritance, but you never really believed it. You had to know, though. You were the last direct descendent of Amagog -- his son's son's son -- and if there was something to be had, it was rightfully yours. So you suggested to Othar and Theo that this might make an interesting little "adventure".

You got here, only to find Master Payne's Circus of Adventure in residence. You haven't been to see the Circus, but Othar did so a couple of months ago: he's a big fan of the Circus, and loves to go to the show. The three of you didn't make direct contact with the Circus, who were camped out in a glade near the Castle; you've been camped out in the nearby forest, and just quietly observed them.

And look who was here with them: Agatha. Back under the "Clay" name again. On Castle Wulfenbach you were willing to forgive her the lie, since she seemed to really believe she was an ordinary girl. No such excuse now, though: she knows exactly who she is, and what kind of hell she might be bringing down on the heads of those poor folks, and she's not telling them. Typical Spark.

That wasn't the weirdest of it, though. Othar went and introduced an old friend of his: Embi. You may have only been four when he came with the Heterodynes and the Iron Sheik, and flew away with the Time Ruby and your pet roc, but it was the most vivid day of your life. But that was thirty years ago, and he hasn't changed in the slightest. What is this guy? You kept quiet, though -- by now, you've learned not to blurt out questions when you're around strangeness.

Everyone resolved to go break into the Castle and see what was in there, but you started to have second thoughts. From the reports you were hearing, a lot of adventurers had gone into the Castle over the weeks previous, and none had come out. This wasn't a conventional ruin: somehow, this was a fully-active madboy Castle, with all its deathtraps intact. That might not faze lifelong neck-riskers like Othar and Embi (or a would-be hero like Theo), but you knew perfectly well that you're the sidekick in this story, and sidekicks don't tend to live through things like that. So you wished them well, and suggested that you act as lookout. You were a little embarassed at looking like a coward -- but you'll take live coward over dead hero any day.

They were in there for a few hours, but they did come out again. A bit worse for the wear: Theo got a nasty gash in his arm, which the young fool kept trying to brush off as "just a scratch". They told you that they didn't find much loot in there -- the only thing they came out with was a big crystal that Embi showed you, with microscopic clockwork gears inside of it. He assured you that it would serve an important purpose, to save people in danger. Mmm-hmm. Doesn't that sound familiar: him going off with a bit of treasure that rightfully belongs to your family, telling you that it's for the greater good. This time around, though, you aren't four years old, and you aren't quite so credulous. You want a little more proof before you're going to let him quietly make off with it.

(Especially because the shape of the crystal looks very familiar. One of the few family heirlooms you still have is a brooch that you've always wondered about -- you've kept it in a hidden pocket in your belt, and it's been one of your only constants, almost a rosary that you can fiddle with when nervous. It's got a little divot in the middle, with linkages that are clearly intended to hook into some kind of gearing: gearing that looks very much like the gears that are sticking out the bottom of the crystal. Do the two go together? Do you dare try it? They probably are supposed to fit together -- they were both made by great-granddad, after all -- but he invented a lot of crazy and dangerous things. You have no idea what would happen if you did join them.)

Anyway, you've been camped here in the week since, because Theo kept getting sicker. Finally, a couple of days ago, he agreed to go see somebody about his infected arm. Apparently, the Circus has a doctor of some sort, and she gave him something that helped the situation. While he's a bit of a Spark himself, you don't wish him ill: he's a lot more decent than most of the madboys, and has always tried to do right by you. And the last thing you want is to be alone with Othar, who will no doubt get you killed quickly in some stupid scheme. Theo is needed to keep things on an even keel.

He's been kept out of the loop on the latest twist, intentionally. This bit is strange, even by the standards you are used to. While Theo was out talking to the lady in the Circus, Othar introduced you to a woman who you would swear is Agatha. She looks exactly like her, but -- well, there is just something wrong about her. She looks distorted to you, strangely out-of-focus. Othar didn't see anything strange about her, so the best you can figure is that it has something to do with the sight that Amagog bequeathed on the family, the same thing that allowed you to see the time maze when you were a kid.

She told you that her name was "Helen", and she was some kind of madgirl adventurer herself, from a very different world than this one. (Which, to be fair, is the kind of thing you'd expect to come out of Amagog's Castle.) She didn't know much about this world, and Othar had been filling her in on his unique interpretation of things: he's the Hero, the Wulfenbachs are the Bad Guys, etc. You all fell to talking, and by the end she had agreed to help him in making things Better. You weren't entirely sure you like the sound of that -- when Sparks start going after each other, the normal people in the middle are usually the ones who get hurt. But you can't say that you'd mind seeing the Wulfenbachs get a comeuppance, after what they did to you.

She wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of camping with your group (okay, you did make an off-color comment or two -- so many months on the road have left you a bit randy), so you suggested she go take the real Agatha's place, since she didn't seem to be around right now. You made sure she knew not to call herself "Heterodyne" (that would blow things up right quick), and she wandered off. She has a little sidekick of her own -- a talking gerbil of all things. He seemed altogether too nice and too innocent for the dirty work that was likely to come next, so she didn't bring him with her when you all next met.

You seem to be developing quite the little group of oddballs out in the woods. Also coming out of the Castle are a pair of University professors named Merlot and Glassvitch, who had apparently been living inside it for a while until they got driven out by the creature that's lurking in there; whatever brought Helen here also drove them out of the Castle. (You're still not quite clear on the details.) Merlot is pretty full of himself, but claims to be the world's biggest expert on Amagog, so he might be useful. Glassvitch is -- well, there's something really wrong about him, when you look at him. It's like he's a shell or something, with someone or something hiding inside. You haven't confronted him about it, but you're suspicious.

The group began talking, and came up with a hare-brained scheme, worthy of the daftest madboy. Helen claims to be an expert with brain transfers: she can take two people, and switch their brains. So the group will set out to find the Wulfenbachs, kidnap the Baron, switch brains between him and Othar, and Othar will make everything happy and sunny. Yeah, right. You'll play along for the moment, but you can't say that the idea of Othar ruling the Baron's lands makes you any happier than the idea of the Baron doing so. That said, you aren't going to just jump up and throw yourself in front of them, either, so this needs to be done subtly. Helen and Othar are both a bit nuts, Merlot is an angry son of a bitch, and Glassvitch is -- well, something. You don't relish the idea of confronting them. So you're keeping quiet for now. Maybe you need to have a little chat with Theo, and work something out. (If you can trust the kid to not do anything too headstrong and stupid.)

And then there's the Castle, sitting there and taunting you. Dammit, that thing is yours! You're the heir to Amagog. Now that Othar and company went and broke a bunch of the deathtraps, it may be time to find a way inside yourself: not alone, of course, but with a group. There must be something of value in there, and is rightfully yours. The thing that really scares you is the legends of Amagog's "Perfect Construct". The stories say he had some kind of monster in there, and both Helen and Merlot say that something hideous chased them out of there. Confronting a mysterious creature isn't your idea of a good time. But this is finally your opportunity to make something of your life -- you can't waste that...

Public Info

Personality

You're a cynic. You know that, and you've stopped being all that ashamed by it. The world is pretty simple, when you really look at it honestly. The powerful are on top, and the ordinary people like you are crushed below them. The smart man watches out for himself, and makes sure that he doesn't do anything for anyone for free. Still, sometimes the old idealism pokes through, and it really hurts to see the ordinary folks getting squished by accident.

You like to believe that you are a reasonable man, but you are prone to anger. You can't stand people being stupid or unrealistic, and you have to admit that you sometimes get violent a little too easily.

Some People You Know (Moloch von Zinzer)

Friedherich von Zinzer, aka Amagog: Your madboy great-grandfather, Master of Time and Space and all that crap. So far, you aren't all that impressed with the end results of his legacy, but he might yet redeem himself with some sort of legacy here in the Castle.

Omar von Zinzer: Your now-dead brother. He was sometimes an idiot and sometimes a jerk, but he was still your brother, and was your closest friend for most of your life. You miss him bitterly.

Agatha Heterodyne: The madgirl who got Omar killed, with that damned locket of hers. Intellectually, you know she didn't do it deliberately, but she still owes you for all the hell she's put you through -- not just Omar, but nearly getting you sent to Castle Heterodyne on her behalf.

Othar Tryggvassen: The loony madboy leader of your little band. It's not that you question Othar's intentions: you're not a Spark, so he doesn't want to kill you. But he does tend to leave wreckage in his wake.

Theopholous DuMedd: A minor Spark, but a decent kid anyway. Probably the only member of this little band of yours out in the forest who you really trust.

Helen Narbon: A madgirl who looks just like Agatha, who claims to be the world's biggest expert on brain transplants. Which, you have to say, is probably the creepiest thing you've ever heard a Spark talk about, especially when she smiling that cute grin as she talks about it. And you can't get over how weird she looks to you: she really isn't of this world.

Artie: Helen's talking-gerbil sidekick. You get the distinct impression that he's much saner than she is. You might bring him in, if you need to do something about this little out-in-the-woods plan, but first you need to sound him out more.

Dr. Silas Merlot: Self-proclaimed expert on Amagog, who had apparently been living in the Castle for a while before getting chased out by the Construct. So what was he doing in there? Did he steal anything that's rightfully yours?

Dr. Hugo Glassvitch: Merlot's associate, another doctor-type who was in the Castle and another source of wrongness. Helen at least admits that she's from another world. What is Glassvitch's excuse?

Baron Klaus von Wulfenbach: Ruler of pretty much everything in these parts, and a mean son of a bitch. Mom always said that you shouldn't judge your betters, but you can damned well judge him: he spends so much time focused on his big-picture war that he completely ignores how bad things are on the ground for the normal people. He may have brought peace, but it sure isn't security.

Gilgamesh von Wulfenbach: The Baron's pretty-boy son. A madboy like his father, and completely nuts for Agatha, but you gather he thinks that she is dead. Serves him right.

Von Pinn: Some sort of terror figure who runs the "school" on board Castle Wulfenbach. You never met her, but Theo occasionally tells stories of what it was like being raised by her.

Bangladesh DuPree: The Baron's hired killer. You only saw her from a distance, but the witch is at least indirectly responsible for everything that's happened to you -- if she'd just let you and yours get to Paris all those months ago, you would have been safely out of Wulfenbach's hair and away from this insanity. You'll never forget that gleeful grin as she blew up the gunship.

Embi: The strange little man who was with the Heterodynes and the Iron Sheik all those years ago. Did he get caught in the time distortions, or what? No one looks that young after thirty years.

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Male Human (from Comic) (Status: In Game)

Pictures
Moloch's military outfit can be seen in the bottom right panel of [this page].
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/cgi-bin/gg101.cgi?date=20050608
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/cgi-bin/gg101.cgi?date=20060315

Plots:
The Brigadoon Effect (Brigadoon Effect)
The Brain Transfer (Brain Transfer)
Amagog's Legacy (Legacy)
The Prophecy (Prophecy)
Theft of the Clockwork Crystal (Stolen Crystal)

Items

Black Pellet (Poison Pellet) -- A small, round, black pellet, about the size of a large bean. See a GM if you try to do something with this.

Incomplete Brooch (Incomplete Brooch) -- A large brooch, about six inches across, of fine filigree. This item would have been the height of fashion in the late Baroque period, but it's a bit tasteless today. It is clearly designed to have some sort of gem set into the middle, but that has been long since lost.

On looking at it more closely, you can see a collection of tiny linkages at the bottom of the divot in the middle, as if it is actually designed to have a mechanical contraption plug into it, rather than a gem. You can also see that it has a pair of tiny power leads coming out the back.

Abilities and Disabilities

Skilled Lab Assistant (Skilled Lab Assistant) -- You are not a Spark yourself, so you can't just casually invent things. But you have a good deal of experience helping Sparks do their work, so you make a valuable lab assistant. Your presence on a project will tend to improve the results. You may contribute Points to the project on a one-for-one basis.

Mechanic (Mechanic) -- You are a skilled and practiced mechanic, who understands technology quite well. If you are not a Spark, you can't casually invent new devices the way they do, but you are quite talented at understanding existing devices -- you do that as well as most Sparks, and better than many.

You may examine any device for two minutes to puzzle out what it does. (There may be some rare exceptions, of exceptionally complex technology.) If it is broken, but not missing any key components, you may spend one Point and five minutes to repair it.

Distortion-Sensitive? (Distortion-Sensitive?) -- Distortion-Sensitive?

Next Time

• Actually write Moloch's Distortion Sensitivity contingency envelope, which should trigger when he sees Sarah and gives him the Prophecy Text ten minutes later.

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Historical Background

The following were notes while the character was evolving. They do not necessarily represent the way it came out.

The brother of Omar. He blames Agatha for Omar's death -- he correctly and quickly sussed that the Trilobyte? was responsible for his death on [this page], but believes falsely that she intended the effect. There is an implication here that this is a man who will not hesitate to kill if he thinks it's warranted.

Moloch could possibly come into the game, as a more or less bad guy. By now, Klaus is well aware that he's no Spark, but he's a vaguely competent military man, and deeply interested in catching Agatha, so he might have been put on her tail. But he would need more plot than simple revenge, especially since he can't get it. And frankly, it's clear that Moloch just doesn't hold his grudge against Agatha that deeply -- even by [this page], fairly early on, he is already willing to treat Omar's death mainly as a bargaining chip. That said, he almost certainly feels like Agatha owes him -- or at least, is willing to say so.

And yet, all that said, we do gradually get the idea that he is [developing some genuine affection] for Agatha. I suspect he may recognize a kindred idealist when he sees one. Yet that doesn't stop him from getting [angry and violent] at the drop of a hat.

As we see on [this page], Moloch is neither stupid nor gratuitously nasty. But he's not a nice person, either. He is a halfway decent actor, a sort of nasty rake, as we see [here].

Moloch prefers the term "Madboy". He can be [genuinely bitter] about Sparks. One gets the impression that there is more backstory that we haven't heard yet.

Moloch at least claims that Agatha ["isn't his type"]. Taking that at face value: what is his type? He might make part of a really interesting angsty romance plot.

He is actually quite [technically proficient] -- not a Spark, but a skilled mechanic by mundane standards. He can't invent, but he takes instruction well, and can fix normal devices.

He used to work for the [Duke d'Omas], on a walking gunboat. Klaus blew the Duke up, and Moloch and company went rogue with the gunboat. They were eventually taken down by DuPree. This was apparently [pretty recent], since it shows up in her most recent report to Klaus early in Book Three. It sounds like it happened shortly before the beginning of the story.

It appears that Moloch survives, and perhaps even becomes one of Agatha's sidekicks -- he apparently shows up in the [earliest time distortion], which (probably not coincidentally) appears just after the gunboat is destroyed. And notice that he is wearing the Heterodyne insignia. So we shouldn't put him too much at odds with Agatha.

We do kind of [get the idea] that Moloch genuinely cares about the people and the countryside. For all his bluster of being a hard-bitten and cynical soldier, I think he's the classic frustrated idealist. The question is, what are his ideals?

When last we saw Moloch (v4, p37), he was being shipped off to Castle Heterodyne. The implication is that this was a fate worse than death. Note that Gil gave him a small black poison pill to take before getting there. He might still have that as an item, but it's a dangerous item to have in-game.

Justin 12/30: Moloch was sent out from Castle Wulfenbach, destined for Castle Heterodyne, early in Volume 4. We pick up from there.

When he left the Castle, his transport convoy was attacked and seized by Othar and Theo, who were on the run together. They were simply looking for transportation, but Moloch convinced them that he was an ally, and they let him out.

Since then, he has been traveling with them, getting involved in Othar's strange adventures. He has become clear that Othar is very well-intentioned, very capable in his own peculiar way, and quite insane. That said, he's also become a friend, and it has been a long time since he's had a friend. And while he's been relegated to the sidekick role, that suits him in a way -- it harkens back to his military training. (Heaven knows, Othar isn't any crazier than some of his previous commanders.)

After numerous adventures together, Moloch heard about the reappearance of the Hidden Castle a month ago, and urged the other two to join him in making their way to it. He knows something they don't: he is a direct descendent of Amagog himself, and has some hopes of happening into a little power himself.

Justin 1/28: Moloch was born on the "West Pole" (the Rock of Gibraltar), under the influence of the Time Ruby and other artifacts of Amagog; he was four when the Heterodynes, Embi and the Iron Sheik came through. He slightly remembers Embi, enough to be puzzled by the lack of aging. Most importantly, though, he has an odd sensitivity to time/space distortions. When he looks at Mirror-Agatha or Helen, he sees them as wrong: he can see that they look like Agatha, but they make his eyes water strangely. But the worst is when he looks at Maria -- he sees her as bent and distorted: he can see the two timelines that have been forced together in her. This is one of the intentional hints that she is not what she thinks she is.

Catchphrase: ["I'm not gonna hurt you unless I gotta -- but I will if you act stupid."]

History

From the way that Moloch refers to Omar as "sergeant" on [this page], it appears that Moloch is also ex-military, and was of some rank higher than sergeant, so he was probably an officer. Whose military he served in is unclear, but D'Omas' is the obvious answer.

Klaus spent most of Book Two convinced that Moloch was a Spark, based on circumstantial evidence. Do we have any idea what he thought of him after being disabused of that notion?

Agatha has to spend most of Book Two [pretending that they are lovers].

Gil was pretty clear from the beginning that Moloch was no Spark. He finally [tells him off] at the end of Book Two.

Amount of Character Potential: Fair (Needs plot and ties, but one of the better characters in terms of roleplay. We know a lot about him, and ought to be able to slot him in as a utility character somewhere.)