Mickey McClean
Mickey McClean is what happens when a labor strike is handed religious authority. The senior Priest of Sound in Vestige looks nothing like the delicate archivist the title might suggest: a heavily scarred Baywalker, tattoos running under armor and work leathers, hands gone huge and blocky from decades of hard use. On any given day Mickey carries enough tools to rebuild a stage, strip an amplifier down to its parts, or crack the skull of any thief careless enough to rob the Hall of the First Chord. Every mended machine and restored relic looks like the result of blunt force applied with genius. Preservation, in Mickey's hands, is a full-contact religion, and the authority that comes with it was earned through craft, endurance, and total commitment rather than any softer claim.
Away from the Hall, Mickey keeps the Queen's Gambit with Alexa Rook, a partner who is Mickey's opposite in every register of speed and temperament. Where Mickey is heavy, grounded, and immovable, Alexa is quick, wiry, and never still. The Gambit is a small distillery and bar that pours jar liquor, offers no counsel of any kind, and lets a closely guarded record collection speak for the place. Red handprints cover the walls, one for every old friend who passed through. The house rule is short: take a drink, take in the records, and be gone by morning unless you are asked to stay. Those who mistake the warmth for weakness tend to learn better. When a guest once pushed Alexa past her limit and ended up pinned upright by her blades, it was Mickey who closed the matter, laying one oversized hand on the man's head and bearing down until the trouble went still.
Away from the Hall, Mickey keeps the Queen's Gambit with Alexa Rook, a partner who is Mickey's opposite in every register of speed and temperament. Where Mickey is heavy, grounded, and immovable, Alexa is quick, wiry, and never still. The Gambit is a small distillery and bar that pours jar liquor, offers no counsel of any kind, and lets a closely guarded record collection speak for the place. Red handprints cover the walls, one for every old friend who passed through. The house rule is short: take a drink, take in the records, and be gone by morning unless you are asked to stay. Those who mistake the warmth for weakness tend to learn better. When a guest once pushed Alexa past her limit and ended up pinned upright by her blades, it was Mickey who closed the matter, laying one oversized hand on the man's head and bearing down until the trouble went still.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Where Mickey McClean came from before the Hall of the First Chord is not the sort of thing Mickey talks about, and the scars offer more suggestion than answer. What is known is the shape of the life now: a Baywalker who turned the preservation of sound into hard, physical devotion and rose to become the senior Priest of Sound in the most important pilgrimage city the faith has.
Somewhere along that road came Alexa Rook, and the two built the Queen's Gambit into a fixture of Vestige's faith circles, a place where the music does the talking and the company is chosen carefully. The story of the guest who overstayed his welcome and had to be quieted between Alexa's blades and Mickey's hand still circulates as a warning, which is more or less how Mickey seems to prefer it.
Somewhere along that road came Alexa Rook, and the two built the Queen's Gambit into a fixture of Vestige's faith circles, a place where the music does the talking and the company is chosen carefully. The story of the guest who overstayed his welcome and had to be quieted between Alexa's blades and Mickey's hand still circulates as a warning, which is more or less how Mickey seems to prefer it.
Vestige's senior Priest of Sound, a scarred Baywalker who makes preservation a full-contact religion and keeps the Queen's Gambit with Alexa Rook.
Strain
Baywalker
Faith
Kings and Queens Court
Role
Senior Priest of Sound
Base of Operations
Hall of the First Chord and the Queen's Gambit, Vestige
Affiliation
Priests of Sound
Partner
Alexa Rook
Children
