To: palladium@dante.neonexus.com
From: Manuel Haendler <Haend@worldnet.att.net> 
Subject: <RIFTS> <NPC> Max Heicker, Ghoul Entrepeneur
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 01:06:24 +0000
The grave ghoul cracked his knuckles as he gazed out over the
vast, elegant expanses of Center. This office was worth every credit that
he had payed for it, if only for the view. The vast spires, the wide
open spaces for the taking, the carefully concealed guard houses...just
beautiful. Not quite as nice as the ashen towers of his home dimension,
but one couldn't really set up an office there. The ghoul then noticed
that one of his fingers had fallen off when he had cracked his knuckles.
"Err...Mary?" he said, somewhat bashfully. "It happened again."
"No problem, Mr. Heicker," said Mary, the exotically gorgeous elf
maiden whom Heicker used as a secretary. He had first purchased her from
a Splugorth slave caravan, then put her to work in his offices. She
lived better than 99.9% of all of the free elves in the Three Galaxies,
so Heicker didn't feel all that bad about occasionally exploiting her
like this. His eyes opened wider and wider, until they were fit to burst,
as the elf bent over in her short skirt to get the fallen finger. The
ghoul was greatly disappointed when she actually handed him the digit.
He would have ripped off his fingers one by one if it could keep her
bending over like that. But still, there was business to be done...
"Have we paid off the smugglers yet, for hijacking those Spluggie
cargo ships?" he asked, his eyes glancing over the computer screen in
front of him. "I see the payoff that we got from selling the crap, but
I don't see the expenditures."
"The expenditures are already deducted, sir," said his accountant, a
nervous little human nicknamed Twitch. "We paid them ten million credits,
in gold, of course, and cleared a net profit of one hundred and twenty
million credits. All of it untraceable."
"Good work. Nothing like sticking it to those tentacled bastards.
Have we sent our monthly uranium shipment to the Coalition States yet?"
"Left two days ago," grunted the shipping executive, a burly dwarf
whose name the ghoul still couldn't remember. "We still haven't gotten
any word back from the couriers, but that's to be expected, what with
all of the cloak-and-dagger shit they have to go through."
"That cloak-and-dagger shit clears up a profit of two billion credits
a month," said Heicker. "I think that that kind of money more than justifies
a few days of trouble. Now, then, on the Kreeghor rebellion. Have we
gotten our monthly arms shipment to the rebels yet?"
"We certainly have, sir," said the dwarf. "Everything's all set there."
"Good, good. Have we sent those new biological weapons to the
Kreeghor yet? They've been bugging us for those for a long time now."
"The shipment goes out next week. We have to go through a whole
bunch of middlemen on that one, to keep Naruni from finding out that we
stole their prototypes."
"All right, then," said the ghoul, flipping through the rest of the
financial spreadsheets. "As long as we stick to the schedules and cover
our asses, we stand to clear a profit of two and a half billion credits
this month. Meeting dismissed."
Heicker smiled as his underlings walked out of the conference room.
Suddenly, there was a loud cracking noise. "Mary," he said, with another
sheepish grin. "That finger came off again."
Heicker was born in a hellish dimension dominated by demons and
powerful alien intelligences. On his world, grave ghouls like him were
merely mindless cannon fodder, to be expended by the thousands in petty
conflicts over personal pride. However, despite the fact that Heicker
was disgusted by this practise, he was even more disgusted by the fact
that for the most part, the ghouls didn't mind. He was lucky enough to
have been born with average intelligence (average by human standards, he
was a supra-genius ghoul), and could see that his people were being
badly exploited by their demonic overlords.
Heicker scavenged a sack of gold coins off of the battlefield
after one particularly bloody battle, and used those coins to bribe a
witch into rifting him to Center (a mysterious metropolis which he
heard his overlords talking about). Heicker stepped through the
glowing portal, and found himself right in the middle of a gang war.
The ghoul quickly threw his lot in with the side that seemed
closer to winning. He grabbed up the gun of a fallen gang member, and
blasted away alongside his new allies. When the battle was over, they
allowed Heicker to stay with him, as the fight had badly depleted
their membership. They didn't make the ghoul a member (as no self-
respecting gang wanted to offer membership to such a wretched being),
but let him hang out at their hideout and run errands. From listening
to them and watching lots of videos, Heicker learned about Center and
the Three Galaxies. Furthermore, he liked what he learned. The ghoul
saw plenty of opportunity to be had in this dimension.
He earned the respect of his fellow gang members by predicting
what the next hot new drugs would be, allowing the gang to make a
small fortune. He peddled pills for himself on the side, to save up
for an artificial voicebox he had seen advertised on television (until
then, the mute ghoul had been communicating by means of written
messages in Dragonese). Once Heicker had the box and could speak, he
became even more influential in the gang. He was offered a true
membership after his successful theft of an entire crate of E-Clips from
the city guard, and became the gang's leader after the regular leader
mysteriously vanished.
Over the next few decades, his gang became more and more powerful.
They moved out of the lower levels, and gradually changed from a bunch
of rowdy, drug-dealing kids to a Mafia-esque criminal organization
dealing in drugs, prostitution, and weapons. Heicker's big break came
after the assassination of a local smuggler king. He picked up the
dead man's spacecraft for a song, and used them to start smuggling
activities of his own.
Smuggling was where Heicker really excelled. He was extremely good
at playing different powers against each other, so that they would both
be reliant upon him for arms and supplies. He even managed to break into
the field of galactic politics, by supplying illicit goods to some of
the different interplanetary governments. He has sold weapons to the
Kreeghor and to the Free World Council, slaves and drugs to the United
Worlds of Warlock, the Splugorth, and the Paradise Federation, high-tech
data and blueprints to Naruni Enterprises, and secret information to the
CCW. It is rumored that he has even cut deals with Dominators! None of
these world powers like Heicker or his organization, but all of them
know that if they were to destroy him they would lose a valuable source
for illegal goods. He loves to make these governments dependant upon
him, because that dependancy provides him with greater stability and
security. Thraxus has tried to shoot down Heicker's ships or break up his
organizations on several occasions, only to have his efforts foiled by
Kreeghor or Splugorth agents protecting the ghoul's interests! Thraxus
would love to get rid of Heicker, but knows that the trouble and
expenditure involved would cost him more than the ghoul ever would.
Heicker is nowhere near the brightest guy in the megaverse, but
he has a nose for what people like and a great instinct for self-
preservation. He knows how people think, and knows how best to use
that knowledge. Furthermore, he's extremely good at picking qualified
henchmen and middlemen. The ghoul always deals through intermediaries,
and never exposes himself to avoidable danger. Whenever he goes somewhere,
he'll commit all of the escape routes to memory. If forced into battle,
Heicker will fight dirty and savagely, going for the throat, the eyes,
or the genitals, whichever is the most vulnerable. If he is trapped,
he'll be more than willing to bargain with his would-be killers. The
ghoul's best bargaining chip for such an occasion is a sizeable atomic
weapon built into his headquarters. The detonator is hooked up to a
mini-computer which monitors his life signs. If Heicker is killed, the
bomb goes off, the inhabitants of Level 1 die, and the politics of
the Three Galaxies are thrown into chaos. Very few people know about the
weapon, except for the ghoul's inner circle of advisers.
To his friends, employees, and associates, Heicker is very generous.
He knows that the best way to keep people loyal is to keep them happy.
He only hires qualified people, but pays them and treats them well. Even
the few slaves which he own (although due to his own history, Heicker has
a profound dislike for slavery) are well-compensated and generally content.
To his enemies, Heicker is ruthless. Whenever possible, he will draw them
into servitude, forcing them to work for or aid him. Nothing makes him
happier than sending an old enemy into Herculean labors. When that is not
possible, he sends in overwhelming force to slaughter his foes, as well as
their families, friends, parents, business partners, etc. Overkill is not
a word in Heicker's vocabulary, as he hates taking any chances with his
life or his organization.
Heicker's "front" operation, Brimstone Inc., has its offices on
Level 1 of Center, in a small yet well-designed building. Heicker resides
there, in a luxury penthouse suite. He spends most of his time watching
films or TV shows (his favorites being big-budget action flicks and
steamy porn), and playing Game Dude cartridges. He has some surprisingly
low tastes despite his high financial status, enjoying cheap whiskey and
a sandwich of half-rotting human flesh more than a meal of fine wines
and exotic meat. He smokes a lot of cigars, and can be found chomping on
a smelly stogie more often than not. He is smelly, lewd, and gross, but
his money is good enough and his power is great enough to convince most
people that his way is the right way.
Real Name: Max Heicker
Alignment: Miscreant
Attributes: IQ 15, ME 6, MA 5, PS 20, PP 13, PE 11, PB 3, Spd 19.
MDC: 40
Horror Factor: 12, 15 if one knows his reputation.
PPE: 6
Level of Experience: 9th Level Runner
Natural Abilities: 200 ft. Nightvision, Blinded by Bright Light (wears
sunglasses to compensate), Impervious to Cold, Poison, Gas, or Drugs,
Vulnerable to Fire, Prowl 68%, Shadow Meld at Will.
Disposition: If he's willing to meet with you personally, then he
probably likes you, and will act in a friendly, if disgusting, manner. He
tells lots of inappropriate jokes, is rude and overbearing, and insists
that everything be done his way. On the other hand, he'll freely give
you anything that you want, and genuinely tries to make you happy.
Appearance: He looks pretty much like a typical grave ghoul, with
a typical foul stench and rotting flesh. He dresses in fancy suits and
uses deodorants to hide this, but it doesn't fool anybody. He always wears
sunglasses, and is usually smoking.
Psionic Powers: None
Magic Powers: None.
Combat Abilities: HTH: Basic.
Attacks per Melee Round:
Bonuses:
OCC Skills OCC Related Skills Secondary Skills
Dragonese: 98% Detect Ambush: 80% Pick Locks: 85%
Trade Four: 95% Detect Concealment: 75% Pick Pockets: 80%
Basic Math: 98% Intelligence: 71% Streetwise-Drugs: 56%
Basic Radio: 98% Demon Lore: 75% Computer Operation: 85%
Scrambler Radio: 98% Literacy: 80%
Cryptography: 90% CCW Law: 75%
Zero G Movement: 98% Galactic Lore: 50%
EVA: 90% Xenology: 45%
Pilot Starship: 72% Forgery: 35%
Pilot Spacecraft: 87% TV and Video: 29%
Weapon Systems: 90%
Read Sensory Equipment: 90%
Streetwise: 68%
WP Energy Pistol
WP Knife
HTH: Basic
Weapons: He will always try to flee from combat, but does carry a
couple of weapons just in case. Heicker always carries his lucky GR-10P
gravity pistol, the gun he pulled off of a dead ganger on his first day
at Center. He also carries a vibro-dagger, and occasionally carries a
few grenades. Of course, there is always his ultimate weapon, namely the
detonator he carries.
Armor: Wears a miniaturized N-50 Superheavy Force Field (160 MDC)
under his clothing, and wears suits made out of MDC materials similar to
those of the CAF jumpsuits (AR 12, 15 MDC).
Other Equipment: Usually carries a handheld computer, a portable
telephone (with scramblers), sunglasses, white noise/anti-bugging devices,
and a wide assortment of ID cards.
Money: Always carries around a few million credits in cash and
jewelry. He can get his hands on 1D4 x 100 million credits at a moment's
notice, and can get much more than this with a little bit of time. His
total bank accounts hold about 3 trillion credits, and he has properties
and holdings worth about 1 trillion more.
---Ghoull
_________________________________________________________________________
Proud to be the Honorary Joseph Prosek II.
When the apocalypse finally occurs, when the streets run red with blood
and supernatural monstrosities hunt openly in the streets, I'm pretty sure
that it'll all be the fault of the Egg Council.
"Unexplained tech is better than stupid tech." ---Anime Axiom
Siege Against Tolkeen is currently freeloading at:
http://www.oocities.org/TimesSquare/8976/
The Israel Netbook is currently hanging out at:
http://www.missouri.edu/~c675123/page100.html
The Eylor Netbook is currently spending some time at:
http://www.paonline.com/Jaults/atlantis/econt.htm
_____________________________________________________________________________
Subject: <RIFTS> <NPC> Max Heicker, Ghoul Entrepeneur
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 01:06:24 +0000
The grave ghoul cracked his knuckles as he gazed out over the
vast, elegant expanses of Center. This office was worth every credit that
he had payed for it, if only for the view. The vast spires, the wide
open spaces for the taking, the carefully concealed guard houses...just
beautiful. Not quite as nice as the ashen towers of his home dimension,
but one couldn't really set up an office there. The ghoul then noticed
that one of his fingers had fallen off when he had cracked his knuckles.
"Err...Mary?" he said, somewhat bashfully. "It happened again."
"No problem, Mr. Heicker," said Mary, the exotically gorgeous elf
maiden whom Heicker used as a secretary. He had first purchased her from
a Splugorth slave caravan, then put her to work in his offices. She
lived better than 99.9% of all of the free elves in the Three Galaxies,
so Heicker didn't feel all that bad about occasionally exploiting her
like this. His eyes opened wider and wider, until they were fit to burst,
as the elf bent over in her short skirt to get the fallen finger. The
ghoul was greatly disappointed when she actually handed him the digit.
He would have ripped off his fingers one by one if it could keep her
bending over like that. But still, there was business to be done...
"Have we paid off the smugglers yet, for hijacking those Spluggie
cargo ships?" he asked, his eyes glancing over the computer screen in
front of him. "I see the payoff that we got from selling the crap, but
I don't see the expenditures."
"The expenditures are already deducted, sir," said his accountant, a
nervous little human nicknamed Twitch. "We paid them ten million credits,
in gold, of course, and cleared a net profit of one hundred and twenty
million credits. All of it untraceable."
"Good work. Nothing like sticking it to those tentacled bastards.
Have we sent our monthly uranium shipment to the Coalition States yet?"
"Left two days ago," grunted the shipping executive, a burly dwarf
whose name the ghoul still couldn't remember. "We still haven't gotten
any word back from the couriers, but that's to be expected, what with
all of the cloak-and-dagger shit they have to go through."
"That cloak-and-dagger shit clears up a profit of two billion credits
a month," said Heicker. "I think that that kind of money more than justifies
a few days of trouble. Now, then, on the Kreeghor rebellion. Have we
gotten our monthly arms shipment to the rebels yet?"
"We certainly have, sir," said the dwarf. "Everything's all set there."
"Good, good. Have we sent those new biological weapons to the
Kreeghor yet? They've been bugging us for those for a long time now."
"The shipment goes out next week. We have to go through a whole
bunch of middlemen on that one, to keep Naruni from finding out that we
stole their prototypes."
"All right, then," said the ghoul, flipping through the rest of the
financial spreadsheets. "As long as we stick to the schedules and cover
our asses, we stand to clear a profit of two and a half billion credits
this month. Meeting dismissed."
Heicker smiled as his underlings walked out of the conference room.
Suddenly, there was a loud cracking noise. "Mary," he said, with another
sheepish grin. "That finger came off again."
Heicker was born in a hellish dimension dominated by demons and
powerful alien intelligences. On his world, grave ghouls like him were
merely mindless cannon fodder, to be expended by the thousands in petty
conflicts over personal pride. However, despite the fact that Heicker
was disgusted by this practise, he was even more disgusted by the fact
that for the most part, the ghouls didn't mind. He was lucky enough to
have been born with average intelligence (average by human standards, he
was a supra-genius ghoul), and could see that his people were being
badly exploited by their demonic overlords.
Heicker scavenged a sack of gold coins off of the battlefield
after one particularly bloody battle, and used those coins to bribe a
witch into rifting him to Center (a mysterious metropolis which he
heard his overlords talking about). Heicker stepped through the
glowing portal, and found himself right in the middle of a gang war.
The ghoul quickly threw his lot in with the side that seemed
closer to winning. He grabbed up the gun of a fallen gang member, and
blasted away alongside his new allies. When the battle was over, they
allowed Heicker to stay with him, as the fight had badly depleted
their membership. They didn't make the ghoul a member (as no self-
respecting gang wanted to offer membership to such a wretched being),
but let him hang out at their hideout and run errands. From listening
to them and watching lots of videos, Heicker learned about Center and
the Three Galaxies. Furthermore, he liked what he learned. The ghoul
saw plenty of opportunity to be had in this dimension.
He earned the respect of his fellow gang members by predicting
what the next hot new drugs would be, allowing the gang to make a
small fortune. He peddled pills for himself on the side, to save up
for an artificial voicebox he had seen advertised on television (until
then, the mute ghoul had been communicating by means of written
messages in Dragonese). Once Heicker had the box and could speak, he
became even more influential in the gang. He was offered a true
membership after his successful theft of an entire crate of E-Clips from
the city guard, and became the gang's leader after the regular leader
mysteriously vanished.
Over the next few decades, his gang became more and more powerful.
They moved out of the lower levels, and gradually changed from a bunch
of rowdy, drug-dealing kids to a Mafia-esque criminal organization
dealing in drugs, prostitution, and weapons. Heicker's big break came
after the assassination of a local smuggler king. He picked up the
dead man's spacecraft for a song, and used them to start smuggling
activities of his own.
Smuggling was where Heicker really excelled. He was extremely good
at playing different powers against each other, so that they would both
be reliant upon him for arms and supplies. He even managed to break into
the field of galactic politics, by supplying illicit goods to some of
the different interplanetary governments. He has sold weapons to the
Kreeghor and to the Free World Council, slaves and drugs to the United
Worlds of Warlock, the Splugorth, and the Paradise Federation, high-tech
data and blueprints to Naruni Enterprises, and secret information to the
CCW. It is rumored that he has even cut deals with Dominators! None of
these world powers like Heicker or his organization, but all of them
know that if they were to destroy him they would lose a valuable source
for illegal goods. He loves to make these governments dependant upon
him, because that dependancy provides him with greater stability and
security. Thraxus has tried to shoot down Heicker's ships or break up his
organizations on several occasions, only to have his efforts foiled by
Kreeghor or Splugorth agents protecting the ghoul's interests! Thraxus
would love to get rid of Heicker, but knows that the trouble and
expenditure involved would cost him more than the ghoul ever would.
Heicker is nowhere near the brightest guy in the megaverse, but
he has a nose for what people like and a great instinct for self-
preservation. He knows how people think, and knows how best to use
that knowledge. Furthermore, he's extremely good at picking qualified
henchmen and middlemen. The ghoul always deals through intermediaries,
and never exposes himself to avoidable danger. Whenever he goes somewhere,
he'll commit all of the escape routes to memory. If forced into battle,
Heicker will fight dirty and savagely, going for the throat, the eyes,
or the genitals, whichever is the most vulnerable. If he is trapped,
he'll be more than willing to bargain with his would-be killers. The
ghoul's best bargaining chip for such an occasion is a sizeable atomic
weapon built into his headquarters. The detonator is hooked up to a
mini-computer which monitors his life signs. If Heicker is killed, the
bomb goes off, the inhabitants of Level 1 die, and the politics of
the Three Galaxies are thrown into chaos. Very few people know about the
weapon, except for the ghoul's inner circle of advisers.
To his friends, employees, and associates, Heicker is very generous.
He knows that the best way to keep people loyal is to keep them happy.
He only hires qualified people, but pays them and treats them well. Even
the few slaves which he own (although due to his own history, Heicker has
a profound dislike for slavery) are well-compensated and generally content.
To his enemies, Heicker is ruthless. Whenever possible, he will draw them
into servitude, forcing them to work for or aid him. Nothing makes him
happier than sending an old enemy into Herculean labors. When that is not
possible, he sends in overwhelming force to slaughter his foes, as well as
their families, friends, parents, business partners, etc. Overkill is not
a word in Heicker's vocabulary, as he hates taking any chances with his
life or his organization.
Heicker's "front" operation, Brimstone Inc., has its offices on
Level 1 of Center, in a small yet well-designed building. Heicker resides
there, in a luxury penthouse suite. He spends most of his time watching
films or TV shows (his favorites being big-budget action flicks and
steamy porn), and playing Game Dude cartridges. He has some surprisingly
low tastes despite his high financial status, enjoying cheap whiskey and
a sandwich of half-rotting human flesh more than a meal of fine wines
and exotic meat. He smokes a lot of cigars, and can be found chomping on
a smelly stogie more often than not. He is smelly, lewd, and gross, but
his money is good enough and his power is great enough to convince most
people that his way is the right way.
Real Name: Max Heicker
Alignment: Miscreant
Attributes: IQ 15, ME 6, MA 5, PS 20, PP 13, PE 11, PB 3, Spd 19.
MDC: 40
Horror Factor: 12, 15 if one knows his reputation.
PPE: 6
Level of Experience: 9th Level Runner
Natural Abilities: 200 ft. Nightvision, Blinded by Bright Light (wears
sunglasses to compensate), Impervious to Cold, Poison, Gas, or Drugs,
Vulnerable to Fire, Prowl 68%, Shadow Meld at Will.
Disposition: If he's willing to meet with you personally, then he
probably likes you, and will act in a friendly, if disgusting, manner. He
tells lots of inappropriate jokes, is rude and overbearing, and insists
that everything be done his way. On the other hand, he'll freely give
you anything that you want, and genuinely tries to make you happy.
Appearance: He looks pretty much like a typical grave ghoul, with
a typical foul stench and rotting flesh. He dresses in fancy suits and
uses deodorants to hide this, but it doesn't fool anybody. He always wears
sunglasses, and is usually smoking.
Psionic Powers: None
Magic Powers: None.
Combat Abilities: HTH: Basic.
Attacks per Melee Round:
Bonuses:
OCC Skills OCC Related Skills Secondary Skills
Dragonese: 98% Detect Ambush: 80% Pick Locks: 85%
Trade Four: 95% Detect Concealment: 75% Pick Pockets: 80%
Basic Math: 98% Intelligence: 71% Streetwise-Drugs: 56%
Basic Radio: 98% Demon Lore: 75% Computer Operation: 85%
Scrambler Radio: 98% Literacy: 80%
Cryptography: 90% CCW Law: 75%
Zero G Movement: 98% Galactic Lore: 50%
EVA: 90% Xenology: 45%
Pilot Starship: 72% Forgery: 35%
Pilot Spacecraft: 87% TV and Video: 29%
Weapon Systems: 90%
Read Sensory Equipment: 90%
Streetwise: 68%
WP Energy Pistol
WP Knife
HTH: Basic
Weapons: He will always try to flee from combat, but does carry a
couple of weapons just in case. Heicker always carries his lucky GR-10P
gravity pistol, the gun he pulled off of a dead ganger on his first day
at Center. He also carries a vibro-dagger, and occasionally carries a
few grenades. Of course, there is always his ultimate weapon, namely the
detonator he carries.
Armor: Wears a miniaturized N-50 Superheavy Force Field (160 MDC)
under his clothing, and wears suits made out of MDC materials similar to
those of the CAF jumpsuits (AR 12, 15 MDC).
Other Equipment: Usually carries a handheld computer, a portable
telephone (with scramblers), sunglasses, white noise/anti-bugging devices,
and a wide assortment of ID cards.
Money: Always carries around a few million credits in cash and
jewelry. He can get his hands on 1D4 x 100 million credits at a moment's
notice, and can get much more than this with a little bit of time. His
total bank accounts hold about 3 trillion credits, and he has properties
and holdings worth about 1 trillion more.
---Ghoull
_________________________________________________________________________
Proud to be the Honorary Joseph Prosek II.
When the apocalypse finally occurs, when the streets run red with blood
and supernatural monstrosities hunt openly in the streets, I'm pretty sure
that it'll all be the fault of the Egg Council.
"Unexplained tech is better than stupid tech." ---Anime Axiom
Siege Against Tolkeen is currently freeloading at:
http://www.oocities.org/TimesSquare/8976/
The Israel Netbook is currently hanging out at:
http://www.missouri.edu/~c675123/page100.html
The Eylor Netbook is currently spending some time at:
http://www.paonline.com/Jaults/atlantis/econt.htm
_____________________________________________________________________________