Watoto

Watoto is a TTRPG character played by Watson Amelia in Mythbreakers. He was raised to distrust the government and take over the family owned herb business. After the disappearance of his parents and making a deal with the Wyrm, he traveled to Mythton to seek answers. Watoto knows how to gather and grow mushrooms and pickpocket.

Appearance

Watoto is the only character who does not have an official visual design. According to Mori Calliope, Amelia wanted to keep the design ambiguous to see a variety of interpretations of his appearance.

The description on his character sheet is:

A conspiracy obsessed goblin-like human, who is an herb dealer to make money and wants to take down the local “system”. Specializes in potion/poison crafting, pick-pocketing, and street brawls.

A short squat man with a greenish hue to his skin. He sports a macro monocle on one eye to inspect coins and herbs. He wears a trench coat and backpack to carry many wares, concoctions, and knick knacks.

Age: unknown
Hair: blond bun covered with hat
Eyes: yellow
Sex: male
Height: 4’6” (137cm)
Race: human

Personality

Watoto’s speech is simple and unsophisticated. Following the beliefs of his family, he makes it clear he distrusts the government and believes in conspiracy theories. Watoto is resourceful and curious about others, and has assisted people with their bomb threats. But even he has morals: he prefers asking a homeless person for his shopping cart than stealing it with force and helps pay for ice cream for his acquaintances.

Abilities

Watoto has a habit of stealing and gathering items from his environment. Using what he has obtained, Watoto is able to craft complex objects such as a bomb and a sound gun. He was also able to dismantle a television set for parts and reassemble it.

Background

Watoto’s family lived in Watotown since the past decade. Life had been turbulent: money was lacking, distrust of the government was growing, and the herb market was constantly changing. Watoto’s family took shelter at the forest’s edge in a low budget, yet welcoming trailer park equipped with its own greenhouse, all wrapped in tinfoil to block unwanted signals. Father Watoto lost his job at the energy plant long ago, so his family had been focusing on their herb shop until Mother Watoto’s health became unstable. Weary of the world around him, Father Watoto was convinced that leaving his property would be a grave mistake, so it was up to Watoto to make potions, go to town, sell wares, and bring back groceries. Unfortunately, a local drugstore recently opened about 20 paces away from where he usually set up shop, and Watoto didn’t like the way the big pharmacy made his stall look small.

Watoto’s greenhouse was small, quaint, and tinfoil-covered, but it let in just enough sunlight for plants. Containing an array of plants, mushrooms, and small trees, this place was where Watoto made potions. In a trailer a short distance away, Watoto’s parents spent their days not doing much. Father Watoto watched TV while Mother Watoto made plans with fellow conspirators online to sabotage the government. While bombing buildings was all she had been talking about lately, Father Watoto was concerned with protecting his property with his guard dogs and his favorite shotgun that he bought from like-minded merchants that came by his place.

Preparing for the day, Watoto made a fresh batch of potions and mushrooms for one day of selling at the market. As he left to exit the trailer, Father Watoto stood in the doorway looking him up and down, handing him a tinfoil hat, telling him how proud of him he was. Then Watoto saw a kid wearing a trenchcoat with a dog pulling a toy wagon. He recognized that kid as the one that had sold firearms to Father Watoto on occasion. Watoto traded with him one of his mushrooms for a small handgun and some rounds. The kid then gave Father Watoto the shotgun that he ordered, which he paid for with some crumpled up bills and a box full of snacks.

When Watoto arrived in Sweaty Cheeks Alley, he set up his stall more quickly than usual since he already sold part of his stock. Although it was hot, the place remained as bustling as ever. There were all sorts of wares being sold: from weapons, traps, and goods for hunters to chemicals, medicines, and powders.

As the only herb dealer, Watoto owned a monopoly on his corner of the market. Things were going great until a new pharmacy called General Herbs was built. It was an offshoot of a larger pharmaceutical company whose research lab was located in a forest behind Watoto’s trailer. That lab used to be the energy plant where Father Watoto worked, but after an incident caused the plant to suffer a loss, the research lab replaced it.

Watoto sold his wares and started to pack up. As he was about to leave, he overheard chatter from two acquaintances: Slinky and Alphonse, both of them dealers who were increasingly angry at the pharmacy jeopardizing their work. Knowing that Watoto shared their feelings, they invited Watoto to join and make the bomb, giving him special powder for it and saying they would arrive at his trailer in the evening to pick up the bomb. Then Watoto went to buy fish and foot cream before heading back.

He was welcomed home by his parents, who were sitting on lawn chairs drinking beers. He brought fish to Mother Watoto and told Father Watoto he made half of what he actually earned, who replied with how proud he was of him. Father Watoto mentioned that he was hearing strange things from the forest recently, and warned Watoto to stay far away.

While waiting for dinner, Watoto went to the greenhouse to make the bomb, completing it after much effort. Then Watoto studied satellites and saw that there were unusual black spots in the forest. Oddly enough, no one had come by to pick up the bomb yet. Then Watoto heard the dinnertime call from the kitchen.

The whole family sat around the table to enjoy Mother Watoto’s cooking. Before they ate, they joined hands and said the Watoto prayer. When they ate, Watoto shared some foot cream with his father, and told his mother that he built a bomb that could be used for her plans. She was so happy she gave him extra leftovers and a whole box of snacks as thanks. Then after dinner, they all went to sleep in hammocks.

Watoto had a dream. He was in a dark forest, and no matter which way he looked, he could see a shadow in the corner of his eyes. Feeling uneasy, Watoto started to run but he felt as if his feet were strapped to bricks. He tripped and fell, then woke to a horrible smell coming from the greenhouse. When he checked inside, he saw the plants had overgrown in a dark purple color, and the mushrooms were black and rotten with bright deep purple spots on them. Eyeing the pulsating vines and plants, Watoto cut the vines, only to find rotten purple sticky flesh inside. Then he heard Father Watoto yell, so he grabbed his handgun to assist.

Outside a yellow smog infiltrated the land. Believing it to be government gas, Father Watoto looked back and forth maniacally with a shotgun in hand. Suddenly the guard dogs ran off into the forest. Feeling compelled to stay, Father Watoto asked Watoto to check the trailer for Mother Watoto. When he did, he noticed that she wasn’t in her usual hammock, and that there were signs of a struggle. Then Father Watoto called from outside, shooting his shotgun left and right at something Watoto couldn’t see. Watoto offered him a medicine mushroom, allowing Father Watoto to see clearly and shoot at something in front of both of them that briefly materialized as an alien and space-rending figure, who beckoned Watoto deeper into the forest. Father Watoto asked Watoto to find his mother while he defended the trailer.

Watoto went where the voices guided him, ending up at the research building. Avoiding the guards, he removed a sewer grate and entered the tunnel to infiltrate the lab. Strangely enough, the interior resembled less of a lab and more of a prison. Inside were half-human half-wolf creatures in cells. He tried to talk to the animals, who told him that this place wants to destroy everything and everyone. They pointed him in the direction of the garden before falling unconscious.

The garden was full of machinery, but it was overgrown with plants similar to what was inside Watoto’s greenhouse. The shadows from Watoto’s dream appeared from the corner of his eye, sensing his desire to destroy the facility. It chased him as he ran into the garden. Watoto asked what the shadows wanted, and it replied that it wanted Watoto’s assistance. It offered many things and power beyond belief, but when Watoto said he only wanted Mother Watoto it said he couldn’t have her. Watoto set the timer on the bomb, threw it, and tried to run out, but tripped just outside the garden. The shadow loomed over him, giving him one last chance to make a deal. He accepted its help to save him in exchange for one favor. The bomb exploded, but the figure whisked Watoto outside before he could get injured.

Outside the guards were on high alert as the lab exploded in flames. Watoto ate his last camouflage mushroom, allowing him to blend into the surroundings. Then he noticed a car pull up into the scene, and stepping out was a well dressed older man. Watoto could see shadows regard him with mockery as he shook his head and reentered the car. As the car drove back out, someone inside took out the guards with swift, almost inhuman sniper shots. Then the shadows turned to Watoto, telling him he was now a servant of the Wyrm before disappearing into sludge and seeping into the soil. Watoto then noticed on his hand a special mark of alien symbology that reminded him of the pact.

Watoto slowly trudged to the trailer to find the guard dogs home but his father absent. The plants in the greenhouse strangely began to char despite there being no fire inside. Watoto tried to grind the plants into powder, but they were unsalvageable. Taking his savings and the guard dogs, Watoto decided to buy materials to restart his herb business.

He made his way back to Sweaty Cheeks Alley but didn’t find many materials in the stalls. However he caught sight of the kid merchant along with an older, grandmotherly woman. When he told them about his plight, they offered to help, and they all traveled to the entrance of a bar where they saw a janitor and a heavily injured Yuul with a box of pizza.

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