CALL ME ISHMAEL
FATE + FICTION By Gary E. Weller
is our line of original and
classic short stories.
Situations, characters, and
other elements from the
story are expressed as
Fate RPG Aspects. Read
and enjoy the stories on
their own, then mix the
Aspects you like into your
own Fate Core or Fate
Accelerated game!
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M.R.M. Blackwood (order #5896805)
“Call me Ishmael.”
Leo could do nothing while in his grasp. A thick raspy hand against his
neck held him fast against the wall. Leo knew that the simple and precious
possibility of him living or dying was literally in the palm of his enemy. All it would
take was a twitch of muscle, a flash of thought, a frightened impulse or a deliberate
and cold command to end him.
The beast had been imprisoned in the bulky man. He was blue collar by the
look of him. Greasy, receding hair was being hidden underneath a faded yellow
hardhat. Thick, stubby fingers crowned a huge hammy fist, and lead up to the
vessel’s massive forearms. Leo could feel the callused fingers involuntarily scrape
against his skin as it enveloped his neck.
He smelled of diesel oil, smoke, and dust. The vessel may have been a
driver on some great machine, or around one, but he wasn’t always just one with the
machine. The hand wrapped around Leo’s neck had done hard time with the tools of
destruction. It and its twin that held the stub of a foul smelling cigar had been
forged from the handles of shovels, pickaxes, jack hammers and posthole diggers.
They were working hands.
The vessel’s body was a different story. It had the shape of an upended
apple. The vessel was narrower at the top and expanded outwards towards the belly.
Legs clad in navy blue Dickies came out from under the ball gown of fatty organs
draped in dingy jersey t-shirt, and a red and green flannel. They seemed too small
to support the huge body. They were overshadowed by the vessel’s massive spare
tire.
Acrid blue smoke grew in a wisp from the burning cigar stump polluting
the air. Leo held back the urge to cough knowing the vessel would only squeeze his
throat harder. The beast inside of the vessel would use the momentary weakness to
its advantage. It was their way. They knew no better, they were ignorant pieces of
torn souls that were once beautiful. They knew no peace for they were no longer
righteous. They were the inevitable shadow that always encompasses the light.
“On second thought, don’t. You don’t get to call me by that name. Your God
doesn’t hear anymore. Your God is a silent God full of impotence and apathy.”
The vessel’s eyes darkened and narrowed under the command of the beast
inside. The shred of God-spark that was once part of the vessel had been
extinguished by the cruel malevolence of the beast. It was their downfall. The flesh
forms had weakened throughout the centuries. They no longer possessed the
mental fortitude to be righteous. They were nearly as lost as the beasts that hunted
them.
In truth, most of what was left of humanity was just about three steps above
the beasts. They were lost within their toys and emotions. They were full of self-pity,
self-loathing, and had no self-respect. They had forgotten what it was like to be
righteous. It was the grand experiment that had failed. It had failed even after the
reset. They were a bad idea from the start.

Situation Aspects
Demons exist.
The dark Gods are rising,
and possessing people to
carry out their work.
No longer possessed the
mental fortitude to be
righteous.
The condition of humanity
in this setting offers up
some limitations, as well as
possibilities.
Character Aspects
As close to righteous as
you’re likely to find.
Human no longer have the
mental fortitude to be
righteous, but Leo’s on the
side of good.
Vessel
Ishmael and others of his
ilk can possess people,
meaning they can look
like anyone and go
anywhere.
Sliver of divinity
Able to manifest some
power on par with Ishmael
and other demons, in order
to fight them.
M.R.M. Blackwood (order #5896805)
Call Me Ishmael Page 2 of 5
The spark within the flesh form could do nothing but rot as the vessels
scurried across the surface of the planet that He had created for them. They ran
around creating the billions of shallow cuts into the world that had drained His
life force, and corrupted their spark of divinity. It was His favored that had killed
Him off and made the world a hunting ground for the beasts.
In a slow and deliberate motion, the beast brought the smoldering cigar
up to the vessel’s mouth and sucked on the damp piece of wrapped tobacco that
looked more like a turd. The stub flared to life as the beast drew on it. The heat
and smoke stung Leo’s eyes. Tears were beginning to form as a reaction to the
caustic smoke.
A sickly chuckle came out of the vessel’s massive jowls, along with a
thick cloud of blue smoke. “What’re you going to do now?” the beast rolled the
cigar between his fingers and looked up to the sky in feigned innocence. Small
and recessed eyes snapped back and locked onto Leo’s own eyes. “How about you
die now?”
Leo felt the callused fingers start to squeeze against his throat. Fat,
sausage-thick fingers created dents in Leo’s flesh. It was getting harder to
breathe. The vessel’s hand, enhanced by the beast’s own strength, was cutting off
the air supply. Leo’s lungs burned with the strain, and he could feel his heart
pounding harder. Anyone else in his position may have been consigned to the
death that the beast promised.
Any human.
Between the hammering heartbeats, Leo pushed deep down into himself
to where his own divinity was stored. He felt the power and the glory fill him.
Pain that once burned and flared before Leo’s senses leaked away and fell off of
him in waves. It had been too long since the beasts that roamed the planet had
felt the wrath and power of a true warrior.
The vessel’s red-rimmed eyes widened in some misplaced memory as Leo
began to stare back at the beast. Leo could smell the scent of fear cascading
through the vessel, through the cigar smoke. It was about time that the beasts
learned the taste of fear again. It had been too long since they were in check.
“No, you can’t be,” the beast redoubled its efforts and tried to keep hold
of Leo against the wall.
“I am.” Leo smiled back at the beast.
Leo could feel the power rising from within him. His own sliver of
divinity was manifesting once more. It was a glorious feeling that rushed
through his veins. “Tell your master we are back.”
The beast recoiled from Leo as if the vessel’s hand was burned. Slowly at
first, the beast within the flesh form turned and ran.
 Page 3 of 5 Call Me Ishmael
About Call Me Ishmael Situation Aspects
by Berin Kinsman Tell your master we are
I hope you enjoyed Gary’s story. That would make me happy, and I know it would back
make Gary happy. Yet even if you didn’t, I hope you can see how even a piece of The good Gods are present
fiction you don’t like can be mined for ideas, and ways that those ideas can be remixed as well, and capable of
and reimaged and used as material for your own Fate RPG game. possessing people too.

Now let’s deconstruct the story, pick out some of the elements that are present,
Character Aspects
and discuss ways that you might use those as possible Aspects in your own Fate RPG
Learn the taste of fear
game. Understand that the following interpretations are only my interpretations, and
not the only possible interpretations. The object of Fate+Fiction is to help you learn Ishmael is scary, and that
how to mine stories for pieces and parts that you can adapt for your own purposes. quality get passed on to his
(its?) vessel.
Let’s begin by trying to summarize the story. Aside from establishing the basic
cosmology of the setting – Gods, demons, and beings of that ilk exist, and are capable
The beast’s own
of possessing people, apparently because people are lazy, apathetic, and self-centered –
strength
there are still a few good guys. The heroes are about as scary as the monsters, and the
Ishmael can transfer
benevolent Gods are also capable of possessing people.
physical power into, or
The Situations through, vessels as well.
There are as few Situation Aspects that we can pull out of this story. These
Aspects, or something like them, can then be adapted to your own Fate game. Let’s
take a look.
Gods exist.
This establishes the fact that whatever you want to call them, dark Gods or
demons, have a presence in the world, after some period of absence. Bad guys can
Invoke this for aid in doing the bidding of said entities. Good guys can be Compelled
to act against them.
No longer possess the mental fortitude to be righteous.
Human beings have become so self-involved that that have simultaneously
provided the dark Gods with the opening to return, and precluded themselves from
the ability to resist possession and/or fight the evil beings. As gamemaster, I’m going
to Compel player characters to do morally ambiguous things and turn them to the
dark side. As a bad guy, I’m going to Invoke that to do bad things to weak people.
Tell your master we are back..
The good Gods have a presence in the world, and can apparently either possess
humans as well, or instill them with some portion of their divine power in order to
help battle evil. As a good guy, I’m going to try to Invoke those Gods for aid, and as a
GM I’ll Compel people to do good because these beings exist.
The Characters
Now let’s examine the characters in the story. For your own Fate game you don’t
need to use these exact characters. Look at existing player characters and supporting
characters, and see who might fill the same roles in relation to the Situation Aspects.
Who might the relevant Character Aspects, or something similar, be appended to?
Leo is pretty much a cypher. We don’t know what he looks like, what he does, or
why he does it. That means that in your Fate RPG game, you can map Leo’s role right
over any existing player character or supporting character. He’s the one that actively
stands up to the bad things in the world. He may also be able to tap into divine power,
sliver of divinity, or may become possessed by a divine power as needed.

M.R.M. Blackwood (order #5896805)


Consequences
Sliver of divinity
It’s a Consequence to
Ishmael: killing Leo brings
divine wrath down upon
his head.
Boosts
Leo’s lungs burned with
the strain and he could
feel his heart pounding
harder.
As a last ditch effort before
death, a character gets a
boost on one final, valiant
attempt to save his or
herself.
M.R.M. Blackwood (order #5896805)
Call Me Ishmael Page 4 of 5
Ishmael, the beast isn’t really described, only his vessel. That means that these
things can look like anyone, because they can possess anyone.
Consequences
Not every action has a clear or specific consequence, and sometimes we need to
dig a little bit to discover them within a story. Here’s what I found.
Sliver of divinity
My reading of this falls somewhere between a Consequence and a Boost, and
which it is depends on whether you’re Ishmael or Leo. It seems like Leo can’t tap into
that sliver of divinity within him unless he’s dying or in danger of doing so. Why else
would he not reveal himself until he did? Player characters in most roleplaying games
would want to walk around wearing that sort of power on their sleeve. Either near-
death Compels the Aspect, or the character can only Invoke it under these special
circumstances.
Boosts
Boosts are another set of elements that don’t always make themselves explicit
within a story. It often takes some probing and a little bit of imagination to discover
something that could potentially provide a Boost in a Fate game.
Leo’s lungs burned with the strain and he could feel his heart pounding harder.
I’m thinking of those mythical mothers who can lift cars to save their children, or
people who go all-out in one final attempt to save themselves knowing that they’re
going to die anyway. There’s no use in holding back. Separate from Leo tapping that
sliver of divinity, I’m thinking about the idea of giving characters that are almost
certainly going to die one final action, with a Boost explained by the sudden
adrenaline rush and the overwhelming urge to live. It would have to be appropriate to
the setting and the campaign, but it would allow characters to get one last heroic
action in before they die, or possibly even save themselves.
A Side Note
My pet theory is that Leo is the Pinkerton from A Flock of Cranes, also in this
anthology, and Ishmael’s vessel is about to become riddled with arrows. That’s why the
Pinkerton needed to place himself in danger, and have someone standing by to rescue
him.
 Page 5 of 5 Call Me Ishmael
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Fate+Fiction: Call Me Ishmael ©2014 Gary Weller, Berin Kinsman. Authors: Gary Weller, Berin Kinsman. Editor:
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