fractions rework

handouts/character-secrets.md

@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ Each has four parts: **Boon** (an asset you have now) · **Goal** (your secret o
 > **The Catch — CROSS.** You are not the only one hunting that book. Someone here wants it *whole*, in their hands. Every page you burn is money out of their pocket, and they know a fireplace when they see one. If you can't find them first, they'll be standing between you and the flames.
 
 ### 2. The Collector
-> **Boon — The Boss's Sigil.** You carry a crime-lord's signet. Shown to a fellow criminal (an assassin, Tallow), it buys **one grudging act of cooperation** — no combat, but a door opened, a question answered, a blind eye turned.
+> **Boon — The Boss's Sigil.** You carry a crime-lord's signet. Shown to a fellow criminal (an assassin or Mags), it buys **one grudging act of cooperation** — no combat, but a door opened, a question answered, a blind eye turned.
 >
 > **Goal — Recover the Book, Intact.** Your boss wants Orenn's coded debt-journal *whole* — it names everyone who owes him in this quarter. Secure it (under the bar, and the duplicate in the [Vault](../location/deep-cellar.md#the-vault-treasure-room)) and keep it unburned until dawn.
 >
@@ -61,20 +61,20 @@ Each has four parts: **Boon** (an asset you have now) · **Goal** (your secret o
 ### 3. The Handler's Agent
 > **Boon — The Countersign.** You have a coded phrase from a handler you've never met. Spoken to the right ears, it unlocks their trust. (DM: the "right ears" belong to the [Guest](../npc/the-guest.md).)
 >
-> **Goal — Get the Asset Out.** Somewhere below is a changeling called the Guest. Reach [Cell One](../location/deep-cellar.md#cell-one--the-guest), free it, and get it out of this building **alive**.
+> **Goal — Get the Asset Out.** Somewhere below is a changeling called the Guest. Reach [Cell One](../location/deep-cellar.md#cell-one--the-guest), free it, and get it out of this building **alive**. Your handler assumes the Guest wants extraction. The Guest has its own opinion about acquiring another handler—and about leaving a tavern it believes it has earned.
 >
-> **Payoff — *immediate, and powerful.*** A freed Guest **owes you a face.** Once before dawn it will *become* anyone you name — walk past a locked door as Mags, alibi you, whisper a lie in a rival's voice — **or fight at your side in the Reckoning as a full ally (CR 3).** A live, loyal shapeshifter is the single best in-session prize on this list.
+> **Payoff — *immediate, and powerful.*** The countersign buys **one face, not loyalty**. Once before dawn the Guest will become anyone you name—walk past a locked door as Mags, alibi you, whisper a lie in a rival's voice—or stand beside you during the Reckoning as a full ally (CR 3). It honors that one favor exactly. It does not agree that this makes it your handler's property.
 >
-> **The Catch — CROSS / ALIGN.** Someone else was sent for the Guest too — but *not* to free it. If they reach the cell first, your asset is a corpse and your payoff is gone. (You may also find an unlikely ally: someone here needs the Guest alive as badly as you do, for reasons of their own.)
+> **The Catch — CROSS / ALIGN.** Someone else was sent for the Guest too—but *not* to free it. If they reach the cell first, your asset is a corpse and your payoff is gone. If you rescue it, the conflict changes: it means to use Xarrul's transfer to claim the Inn, not follow you out. During [the Vacancy](../storylines/the-reckoning.md#scenario-g-the-vacancy-the-guests-gambit), you may have to defend its projected spirit from your own companion and then decide whether extraction means dragging a newly empowered person away from the home it claims.
 
 ### 4. The Executioner
 > **Boon — Cold Hands.** You've done ugly work in dark rooms. You have **advantage on saving throws against being frightened**, and the horrors below rattle you less than they should.
 >
-> **Goal — Silence the Guest.** A patron paid you to make sure the thing in the cellar never speaks again — kill it, or ensure it stays caged when this place burns. It knows too much about someone who's paying to stay unknown.
+> **Goal — Silence the Guest.** A patron paid you to make sure the thing in the cellar never speaks again—kill it, ensure it stays caged when this place burns, or sever its projected spirit during [the Vacancy](../storylines/the-reckoning.md#scenario-g-the-vacancy-the-guests-gambit). It knows too much about someone who's paying to stay unknown, and a Guest that inherits Xarrul will be almost impossible to reach afterward.
 >
 > **Payoff — *immediate, and vicious.*** From the Guest you take a **vial of face-oil** — a shapeshifter's keepsake. Once before dawn, **read one creature's surface thoughts as *detect thoughts* (no save)** — including a fellow PC's. Learn a secret. Use it however you like. Also: your fee is stashed behind a loose stone near the cellar stairs — **50 gp and a *Potion of Heroism*, findable now.**
 >
-> **The Catch — CROSS.** Someone at this table wants that thing freed and walking out the front door. They are working against you, whether they've said a word or not. And a second person needs it alive long enough to *ask it a question* — kill it too soon and you make an enemy you didn't plan on.
+> **The Catch — CROSS.** Someone at this table wants that thing freed and believes they are rescuing it. They are working against you, whether they've said a word or not. A second person needs it alive long enough to *ask it a question*. During the Vacancy, the Guest and Xarrul become separate targets for three rounds: the cleanest shot you will ever receive, in front of everyone who wants it protected.
 
 ### 5. The Recruit
 > **Boon — The Order's Regard.** You carry a hidden **Order of Mending pin**. Shown to a cultist, it marks you as one of the faithful — they speak candidly, and treat you as a promising prospect.
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ Each has four parts: **Boon** (an asset you have now) · **Goal** (your secret o
 ### 7. The Blade
 > **Boon — Professional Courtesy.** The [House of Scales](../npc/assassins.md) know your work. Once, call in a favor: a guild member manufactures a **distraction, alibi, or opening** for you (no combat aid — the guild doesn't bleed for free).
 >
-> **Goal — Fulfil the Contract.** You were paid to put down a specific person tonight. **Primary mark:** assign an NPC (Tallow, a rival, a named cultist). **But the contract has a clause:** *"If the guild's traitor is unmasked, the traitor becomes the mark."* The guild suspects one of tonight's crowd is feeding the cult.
+> **Goal — Fulfil the Contract.** You were paid to put down a specific person tonight. **Primary mark:** assign an NPC (Rennt, an unnamed blade, a rival). **But the contract has a clause:** *"If the guild's traitor is unmasked, the traitor becomes the mark."* The guild suspects one of tonight's crowd is feeding the cult.
 >
 > **Payoff — *immediate.*** Contract closed, the guild pays at once: **80 gp, a vial of *Silversheen* (or *Basic Poison*, 3 doses)**, and Sevra extends **real cooperation** — guild muscle at your side through the endgame.
 >