Overprotective parents are a common precursor to hypochondriasis, an excessive anxiety over the possibility of having a serious illness. It was certainly the case in Homer’s experience, his father was absent and his mother hovering and nervous. He was constantly pulled out of school to visit doctors, exempt from sports and kept away from socialising with other kids on account of his “delicate constitution”. The funny thing is that Homer was never, ever, sick as a child.
The fallout of being raised this way followed him into adulthood, if he’d been more talented germophobia could have been passed off as a quirk. Instead it stifled him professionally and socially. Otherwise well adjusted if a little timid, Homer turned to therapy, applied himself diligently and worked to overcome his obsessive scheduling of regular doctor’s appointments and knocking back dozens of spurious placebos a night. He succeeded and then he got deathly ill.
The mystery illness was never identified, it didn’t last long enough for that to be possible. Soon after being admitted to hospital Homer’s condition rapidly improved. Going from next to death to the picture of health in a span of hours confused doctors but the limitations of hospital resources put a pin in their curiousity and he was sent home. It did cause him to relapse into old negative behaviours, which he did his best to deal with, repaired his damaged confidence and then it happened again.
Once is coincidence, twice is a little hinky and Homer’s sensitivity piqued his interest. He experimented on himself, it seems that whenever he goes without his obsessive routine of burdening the healthcare system he gets horribly sick. On the other hand when he goes with it he could swim through sewage and never develop a sniffle. Naturally this sort of thinking isn’t endorsed by his therapist so he’s started lying. He’s also experimenting, modulating his routine to try and find the keystone that’s holding it all together and deliberately exposing himself to disease to gauge the extent of his immunity. So far while the results have been impressive specific details have been elusive. He’s getting impatient and started looking in corners most people ignore.
Next week he has a meeting with a brother/sister pair of katharomancers he met online. Posing as virology researchers they’re planning the world’s most sterile kidnapping to get to the bottom of this mystery for their own purposes.
STATS
Personality: Exhausted but with a fire behind his tired eyes. Homer has been a bit of an underdog most of his life, if he can nail down what’s going on with his body it’s his shot at making it big.
Rage: Neglected sanitation. Of all the unsafe things Homer sees in his day job the gross, bacteria-infested messes that build up behind fridges and under stoves piss him off the worst.
Noble: Minding your elders. Homer spends a lot of time with his parents and humours their dated opinions and concerns even if he doesn’t agree with them. They won’t be around forever.
Fear: Electrocution. Homer’s seen some grisly aftermaths in his job, death by electricity scares him the worst (Violence).
Obsession: How immune am I?
Wound Threshold: 50.
OHSA Inspector 50% (Substitutes for Notice, Substitutes for Knowledge, Coerces Helplessness.)
Meticulous Fortitude 70%* (Specific Protection - Illness, even supernatural, Casts Rituals, Use Gutter Magick.)
Shock Gauges
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