Gather Information
DC10: There's a ghost or a witch or a demon or something prowling around the streets of Emerald City. It's got no face, just a skull. In whispers, some people call her "Santa Muerte".
DC15: Santa Muerte is a witch. She has a face; she just wears a skull mask. She's basically an exorcist, though not a church-sanctioned one. She helps out with stuff like demonic possession and haunted houses. She's even helped the cops close some unsolved murders.
A character who actively uses their Gather Information skill on Santa Muerte will not obtain any of the following unless they make a point of searching for potentially restricted information. If they do, then they also need to make a contested Gather Information check against Santa Muerte. If she wins, then she will be alerted to their inquiries. They can avoid this contested check by taking a -20 penalty to their original Gather Information checks for a Discrete Inquiry (or if the have the relevant challenge feat).
A character using the Well-Informed feat upon first meeting Santa Muerte or hearing of her may obtain the following information with a high enough Gather Information check, but since that represents prior knowledge, it will not trigger a contested check against her.
DC20: You know that spooky bookstore on University Hill, "Mictlan"? Santa Muerte hangs out there sometimes. You know how they sell stuff like magic potions, and they really work? She's the one who makes them.
DC25: Santa Muerte's real name is Ximena Romero. She's been sighted around Mictlan because she owns the place.
An appropriate Profession sub-skill can be substituted for any of the following skills:
Knowledge (Arcane)
DC10: Santa Muerte is a witch.
DC15: Santa Muerte is a necromancer. She specializes in magic dealing with the undead and the infernal.
DC20: Santa Muerte has been observed controlling hellfire, summoning and banishing demons, inflicting curses which wither the body and break the mind, and vanishing without a trace.
DC25: Santa Muerte's style of spellcasting is similar to that of Vivienne, a necromancer who owns an old plantation in Louisiana. Santa Muerte probably studied under her, or maybe her mentor or one of her students.
DC30: Vivienne is dead. Her plantation was burned to the ground. In fact, she's deader than dead. She isn't even in an afterlife. Her soul was completely obliterated, probably consumed. Santa Muerte might be the one who did it.
Knowledge (Streetwise)
DC20: Mictlan, that spooky bookstore on University Hill? Don't mess with it. Don't sling dope on the corner across the street. Santa Muerte watches over that place. She'll put a curse on you and give you cancer.
DC25: Same for the 23 B Apartments. Just stay away.
Knowledge (Theology & Philosophy)
DC15: Santa Muerte's costume and spell incantations both include numerous references to Christian as well as Mesoamerican mythology.
DC20: The name "Santa Muerte", or "The Lady of Holy Death", belongs to a folk deity, a hybrid of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican death gods and a Catholic saint. She has a robust cult following in Central America, despite being declared heretical by the Vatican.
DC25: Mictlan, the occult bookstore on University Hill where Santa Muerte has been sighted numerous times, is named for the realm of the dead in Aztec myth.
Ximena Romero
Gather Information
DC10: Back in 2007, a guy in Emerald City named Romero went crazy and killed his whole family. He rampaged up and down the block until the cops shot him. He was on PCP or something. She related to him?
DC15: Ximena Romero's father ALMOST killed his entire family. His daughter, the sole survivor, miraculously recovered from her MANY stab wounds.
A character who actively uses their Gather Information skill on Ximena will not obtain any of the following information unless they make a point of searching for potentially restricted information. If they do, then they also need to make a contested Gather Information check against her. If she wins, then she will be alerted to their inquiries. They can avoid the contested check by taking a -20 penalty to their original Gather Information checks for a Discrete Inquiry (or if the have the relevant challenge feat).
A character using the Well-Informed feat upon first meeting Ximena or hearing of her may obtain the following information with a high enough Gather Information check, but since that represents prior knowledge, it will not trigger a contested check against her.
DC20: Ximena spent her early teens getting bounced around from one aunt and uncle or set of grandparents to the next, but none of them kept her around for very long. They didn't approve of her "lifestyle". After her family died, she became obsessed with the occult. She was queer, and she refused to hide it. And she never grew out of her goth phase. Eventually her family dumped her into foster care, and she slipped through the system's cracks and disappeared.
Ximena, along with her business partner, Atzi Ramirez, is the owner of Mictlan Books & Curiosities and the 23 B Apartments, both on University Hill in Emerald City.
DC25: Ximena was active in the occult scene across the country, spending her late teens and early twenties bouncing around from one town and one cult to another.
She's also the Emerald City witch they call "Santa Muerte".
The following information cannot be obtained with a Well-Informed check. It can only be obtained with an active use of the Gather Information skill.
DC30: Until late 2019, Ximena was the student of Vivienne, a necromancer who owned an old plantation in Louisiana. Atzi Ramirez used to work for Vivienne.
The official reports said that Ximena's father was on PCP when he killed all those people, but his original bloodwork came back completely clean. The reports were altered by someone high up.
DC35: Vivienne wasn't just Ximena's mentor. They were lovers as well.
DC40: Vivienne is dead. Her plantation was burned down. Ximena and Atzi are probably the ones who did it.
The murder of Ximena's family was arranged by The Chamber.
An appropriate Profession sub-skill can be substituted for any of the following skills:
Knowledge (Arcane)
DC25: When Ximena Romero's father killed all those people, he showed all the signs that would come to be known as possession by The Terror.
Knowledge (Business)
DC20: Ximena Romero is the registered owner of Mictlan Books and Curiosities on University Hill in Emerald City.
DC25: She also owns the 23 B Apartments, also on University Hill. They charge well below the going market rate.
Knowledge (Civics)
DC25: The official reports said that Ximena Romero's father was on PCP when he killed all those people, but his original bloodwork came back completely clean. The reports were altered by someone high up.
DC30: The murder of Ximena Romero's family was arranged by The Chamber.
Knowledge (Streetwise)
DC20: Don't mess with that lady. She's a witch. She'll straight-up give you cancer.
DC30: The murder of Ximena Romero's family was arranged by The Chamber.
Knowledge (Theology & Philosophy)
DC20: Ximena Romero's entire family is Catholic, but she clearly has some pagan leanings.
