Valtiel, The Crucible of Torment
Fetich Soul of the Silent Wind
Few things are as feared as the Silent Wind Adorjan, whose presence destroys
even the greatest of demons as she scours Malfeas of life. Yet in her own way it
is possible to understand Adorjan and even to prepare for her. She may be driven
back with certain rituals and with music and noise. So while the Silent Wind is
feared she is feared in the same way all living things fear death, as an
inevitability that can not be ultimately stopped but that can be perhaps delayed
for now.
No such understanding exists of Valtiel. When Lillike was killed and Adrian with him,
Adorjan the Silent Wind inherited none of Adrian's desires or grudges, his
hatreds or capacity to obsess. All these things collected like dross in the wake
of the Silent Wind and out of them crawled a new fetich, gross and mutilated and
full of hatred and desire. Among all those things within him only Malfeas rivals
Valtiel for his rage. Yet Malfeas' rage is all-encompassing and impotent. His
hatred is for everything and everyone and nothing less than total revenge will
suit him and thus he can not be bothered to focus his attention on lesser
things. Malfeas is a burning fire that will consume the world.
Valtiel is not. Valtiel hates you, you personally. His rage is cold and
intimate, cruel and vindictive. He hates all those things that make you weak or
petty. He hates your sins and your guilt. He torments you because he wishes
to transform you into something he may no longer hate, a being without sin or
weakness. Where Malfeas or the Silent Wind will kill you with casual disregard
at least they will have the decency to just kill you. Valtiel will pull himself
into your head, drag out your sins one by one and make your nightmares flesh.
Theoretically if one succeeds in purifying themself of all weakness and sin
while subject to his cruelties he will let them go, but few beings exist
without some weakness and if his victims should die while he "helps" them then
it only proves they were unworthy.
Valtiel takes the form of a white fog. In Malfeas she seeps into a neighbourhood
slowly, filling the area with her obscuring presence. Those demons who spot the
fog before it completely obscures their vision flee the area never to return.
Some of those who try to flee find their paths blocked by increasingly unlikely
obstacles. He hates cowards and takes great delight in frustrating those who
would flee from their own guilt. Once the white fog has filled the area it
becomes impossible to see more than a few feet in any directions. Buildings,
objects and people more distant become menacing shadows, twisted and distorted
in the distance into something unnatural but if you approach they return to
normal. Even the light of Malfeas or the Unconquered Sun fades, drained of all
vitality and turned a uniform grey. The Things That Dwell In Shadows may walk
about in this fog and many of the stupider ones crawl out of the underways into
this grey halflight to marvel at the splendor of the diffuse light which is the
closest they will ever come to seeing the sun again. Few survive long, for the
demons descended from Valtiel walk in the fog as well and few of them are kind.
When Valtiel fully manifests all music and noise in the area is suddenly snuffed
out. This is enough to send most demons into a full panic, and no attempt to
create music will work no matter how fevered the playing of the demon musicians.
Strangely enough Adorjan never journeys to a place her son is, despite the
only noise being the screams of the tormented. Perhaps the Yozi approves of her
sons work? Perhaps she is ashamed of what Valtiel represents? Some say she
is afraid, though such talk is certain to catch the Crucible of Torments
attention if he becomes aware of it.
Once Valtiel has fully manifested he starts picking victims. He allows his
lesser demons to kill and maim as they will. Those who do not survive the first
encounters are not worthy of his attention anyway. He locates those beings
within his borders that are full of the most sin and weakness (how he defines
these terms is a subject of much debate among scholars of Malfeas). Once located
these beings become subject to his special attentions. One by one they vanish,
dragged into his own specially created torments for them. The only warning sign
a victim has is the sudden blaring of horns and sirens.
Valtiel's victims vanish from the world yet remain in it. They find themselves in
a twisted reflection of their previous location, except the grey light has become
darkness. The walls become sheets of blackened metal or twisted metal mesh. The
floors are blackened by fires, or are black iron mesh walkways that hang
precariously over pits where all consuming fires burn far below. Everywhere
there is a stale and choking breeze, propelled by lazily spinning fans that are
embedded in the walls. The nightmare world is much like the normal world except
that everything safe and familiar has become dangerous and unfamiliar. Many more
of Valtiel component souls, including some of his second circle souls, walk in
this dark world and they wish nothing more than to harm the victim. Yet Valtiel
does not wish his victims to die, so he will scatter his world with weapons and
clues that the strong or intelligent will use to escape the clutches of his
progeny. In this dark world Valtiel forces the victim to confront their sins and
weakness and cut them out of herself. Sometimes he does this literally, carving
the guilt out of a victims brain and crafting it into a monster the victim must
destroy. Other times his whimsy makes the confrontation far more metaphorical,
the victim must follow a trail of clues to uncover what sin Valtiel has chosen
for them to confront and must symbolically divest themselves of it in some
manner. Valtiel prefers to isolate her victims from each other, but if he senses
that one victim's torment will symbolically enhance the torment of another he
will allow them to meet. Once the victim has burned away his weakness Valtiel
releases him back into the fog-shrouded "real" world there to wander aimlessly
until Valtiel has devised a new torment for him.
Valtiel takes a special joy in foiling attempts at moving about within him. Yet
he punishes those who try and remain in one place. His progeny demons will
appear more and more often eventually overwhelming even the most well
constructed fortifications. Yet the routes to go forward either in his fog
shrouded world or the otherworld of her subconscious are always circuitious and
frustrating. Broad boulevards are broken up by bottomless pits or other
impassable barriers. Hallways become blocked by random cages and doors, and even
the flimsiest door can not be forced by even the strongest victim. The keys to
these doors can only be located far away in areas full of demonic hunters or
behind elaborate, cruel and whimsical puzzles. Unintuitive routes are common and
very rarely can a victim return by the same path he arrived. Still for those
moving forward the number of torments descrease... at least physical torments.
Travelers in his realm, especially the otherworld, will often be subjected to
a near constant stream of disturbing noises and images but none will hurt you...
unless you linger too long and the demons come.
Summoning: (Obscurity 3/5) Summoners call forth Valtiel to punish those
who have wronged them. In most cases they must turn over the victim, whom
Valtiel takes with him to a sanctum Elsewhere where he crafts an especially
dangerous hell for them out of their personal demons. Very rarely has this
backfired on the summoner with the victim returning greatly improved by cutting
away his weaknesses. Some summoners wish to gain access to the relics that
Valtiel has hidden in his depths. Unless compelled by the summoner Valtiel
manifests in the form of a mist which will cover the entire region he is
summoned into. If forced to take a lesser shape Valtiel appears as a twisted an
mutilated humanoid who appears to have been either horribly burned or perhaps
had its flesh ripped off. It has no eyes or sexual organs and its arms and legs
have too many joints. It does not speak unless commanded to do so. When a mother
tries to burn her daughter to death for power Valtiel is sometimes drawn into
Creation, manifesting as both a fog and a fetus in the girl's womb. Every day
that Valtiel is forced to exist without inflicting torments on some victim he
gains one Limit.
Motivation: To eliminate weakness in the crucible of his hate. Valtiel's
intimacies include darkness, puzzles, traps and female children. He has negative
intimacies towards sin, weakness, cowardice and you, yes you personally.
Traits: As a Third Circle Demon, perhaps only second to Ligier.
Virtues:
Compassion 5, Conviction 5, Temperance 2, Valor 2
Sample Powers:
Sin Sensing Fog -- Valtiel can instantly and perfectly sense the greatest
sin or regret that any person within his fog possesses. This is always defined
from the perspective of the victim. Valtiel has no particular judgement on
murder, rape or other things mortals consider monsterous. If his victim has
murdered a thousand children without a care Valtiel doesn't care, what he cares
about is the time the victim abandoned his fellows to die and the guilt he has
been carrying regarding that ever since. Valtiel always senses the context of
this guilt in enough detail to best understand how to use it against his
victim. For mechanical purposes a "sin" is always something that the character
had to suppress his highest rated Virtue to do.
Otherworld -- Once Valtiel has selected a victim he can draw him into his
otherworld of torments and metaphor made flesh. This is a Shaping effect and is
otherwise treated as an Unexpected, Unblockable, Undodgeable effect for valid
defenses. The otherworld is not atually a place, the victim has been drawn
inside Valtiel and escape is all but impossible without powerful magic of the
Solar Circle specifically designed for that purpose. The otherworld is much like
a sanctum the size of the region the white fog of Valtiel covers. It looks like
the place he covers, but he may employ a variation of Wyld-Shaping with a base
pool of 25 dice an an increment per roll of one long tick as if he were in the
Deep Wyld. He can spawn any First Circle demon descended from him by spending a
number of successes equal to its Essence rating to do so.
Monster Of The Id -- Once a victim is inside his Otherworld Valtiel can
manifest the victims sins as a monster or other creature. The appearance and
personality of the monster are up to Valtiel but he prefers it if they just hint
at what they represent rather than being obvious. The spawned monster has a
Motivation and Intimacies related to the sin which created it. The monster has
the same stats as the character that it was birthed from, including Attributes,
Abilities, Virtues, Essence and Willpower but not Charms or artifacts (though
valtiel may use his Otherworld wyld-shaping to grant it equipment). It gains a
number of bonus dice on all rolls against the victim it was birthed from equal
to the Virtue the character violated when he commited his sin. The Monster of
The Id has a number of Spirit Charms appropriate for its Essence and Virtues and
one unique power for each dot of the violated Virtue. These powers have no hard
and fast rule but should be equivalent of Infernal Charms available at its
Essence level. Exalted victims find that the Great Curse resonate with the
Monster, granting it a number of additional unique powers equal to their current
Limit (it gains or losses these powers as Limit raises or lowers).
For example:
A Monster of the Id created for an Essence 3 God-blooded with Compasion 2,
Conviction 3, Temperance 2, Valor 2 would have 15 spirit Charms and 3 (for
Conviction) unique powers quivalent of Essence 3 or less Infernal Charms, while
a Monster created for a Solar with Essence 6, Compasison 5, Conviction 3,
Temperance 4 and Valor 2 and three Limit would have 26 spirit Charms and eight
unique powers equivalent to Essence 6 or lower Infernal Charms.
If a person ever kills their Monster of the Id they immediatly gain a number of
Willpower points equal to their Essence, even if this pushes them over their
maximum Willpower. The process is extremely cathartic. Exalted character can
reset their Limit track to zero instead of gaining Willpower (this is not a
conscious decision). The Monster of the Id can not exist outside the
Otherworld.
Essence: 10 Willpower: 10
Malakim, The Living Nemesis
Reflective Soul of The Crucible of Torment
Standing nearly seven feet tall, armed with a bloody reaver daiklave and clad in
blood-sppattered leather the demon known as the Living Nemesis certainly cuts an
intimdating figure. The worst part is that his face is never visible. He always
hides it behind a mask which betrays none of what is underneath. This mask looks
different to everyone who sees it, appearing as a barocque ornament to some and
to as a simple cowl to others. The only constant is that one can never see his
face beneath it.
The Living Nemesis never speaks, and barely communicates at all. His only method
of dealing with the world is violence which he engages in without malevolence or
even motive. It is simply the nature of the Living Nemesis to hunt and punish
and if he has doubts or questions none can understand them. The prefered prey of
the Living Nemesis are those creatures with regrets, whom he will target in
preference to all others. If no such beings are available (a rare occurence) he
will inflict minor violence on those who remain, nothing enough to cause them
actual harm but what comes across more as petulant bullying than actual hatred.
If he does encounter a person with regrets in his heart the Living Nemesis hunts
them implacably until he has caught them or they are forever beyond his reach.
Most of his time is spent inside the otherworld of the Crucible of Torment,
chasing down those victims who are unwilling or unable to deal with their
emotional weaknesses. He tends to leave those who have been specially selected
by his master alone, provided they continue to move forward through the Crucible
of Torment's passion play. Whether he does this consciously or not is unknown.
Occasionally the Living Nemesis exits his master to tred the Demon City, drawn
by an especially regretful demon. Few would presume to stand in his path, not
only out of fear of his personal prowess but they fear drawing the ire of the
Crucible of Torments should they harm the Living Nemesis.
The most persistent rumor regarding the Living Nemesis is that the Nemesis was
a Monster of the Id created centuries ago against some nameless victim but
that after slaying the cowardly fool it persisted despite all Valtiel's
expectations and proceeded to slay and devour Valtiel's Reflective Soul. The
truth of this rumor is unknown.
Summoning: (Obscurity 2/2) Summoners call forth the Living Nemesis to
destroy their enemies. He is poorly suited to any other task, though some
arrogant summoners called him forth as a bodygaurd or to ferret out those who
betrayed their master and felt guilt about it from their courts. If the Living
Nemesis encounters someone with true regrets and is prevented from punishing
them he gains a point of Limit.
Motivation: To punish the guilty. The Living Nemesis always has a
negative Intimacy towards his current victim and nobody can guess at his other
Intimacies.
Attributes:
Strength 12, Dexterity 5, Stamina 12, Charisma 3, Manipulation 3, Appearance 0,
Perception 5, Intelligence 2, Wits 2
Virtues:
Compassion 1, Conviction 5, Temperance 2, Valor 4
Abilities: Melee 5 (Swords + 3), Resistance 5, Integrity 5, Presence 1
(Intimidation +3), Performance 1 (Intimidation +3), Survival 5 (Tracking +3),
Investigation 5 (Uncovering Guilt +3), Awareness 5
Backgrounds: Cult 2, Backing (The Crucible of Torment) 5
Charms
Bane Weapon -- The Guilty
Destiny Sponsorship -- Against The Guilty
Divine Perogative -- Punishing The Guilty
Hurry Home -- The Crucible of Torment's Otherworld
Landscape Travel -- When Nobody Is Looking (x2 movement)
Meat of Broken Flesh -- The Guilty
Portal -- When Nobody Is Looking
Principle of Motion -- Nine Banked Actions
Sense Domain -- Guilt
Sheathing The Material Form -- Against The Guilty
Spirit Cutting
First (Ability) Excellency -- Melee, Survival, Investigation
Second (Ability) Excellency -- Integrity, Resistance, Awareness
Ox-Body Technique -- +4x-1, +4x-2
Essence Plethora -- +40 Motes
Reserve of Will -- +4 Willpower
Materialize -- Cost 80 Motes
Join Battle: 7
Attacks
Soak: 18L/24B (Bloody Leathers +12/+12)
Health Levels: 1x-0/10x-1/10x-2/-4/Inc
Dodge DV: 6 Willpower: 9 (13)
Essence: 7 Essence Pool: 155
Other Notes: Stroytellers who wish to make the Living Nemesis a
more intimidating opponent can say that it is indeed a former Monster
of the Id and that it retains some of its unique powers. These powers
would resemble the Infernal Charms Ablation Of Brass And Flame,
By Agony Empowered, Inner Devils Unchained (Phalegs), Cosmic Transcendance of
Convicton and Broken Silence Laughter Defense . They are not exactly
those Charms, and the he may not use any of them outside Valtiel's Otherworld.
The Living Nemesis can not speak or apparently communicate at all, but it
understands the orders of its summoners no matter what languages they speak.
Balseraph, The Lying Woman
Indulgent Soul of the Crucible Of Torment
Legends are whispered throughout Creation that those who can survive
the Crucible of Torment will be rewarded in way they can not imagine. The
legends say that those who can truly redeem for their sins and honestly
desire to put things right can exit the accursed land with the gift of
a second chance. Your loved one may be returned to you, whole and
healed no matter how you lost her and things can be better now.
The legends lie.
The most common way to encounter the demon Balseraph is in the fog of
the Crucible of Torment. She will appear in the form of a female loved
one who is dead, but there will be several things about her which are
just different enough that she can be mistaken for someone else. These
relative imperfections reflect the desires of the viewer. If one
wished their wife was more sexually aggressive Balseraph will appear
more inticing, if one wished his mother was more caring she will appear
more motherly, if one wished her general was more competent she will
appear more martial and so on.
Balseraph will claim to be another innocent victim of the Crucible of
Torments and will latch onto her chosen victim for "protection". She will
follow the unfortunate around, weaving her Charms around his heart. The
victim will find his memories of his lost loved one fading and slowly
being replaced by memories of Balseraph chosen form. She will insinuate
herself into the passion play created by the Crucible of Torment, playing
the role of victim or saviour as the victim desires. She will act as guide
and companion, always pushing the victim into more and more danger but
never quite more then he could handle (although if he dies she will
simply move on without a care).
Eventually he will completely accept her and escape the Curcible of Torment
with her, leaving Valtiel's fog. For a time she will play the perfect dark
mirror of the loved one that was lost, filling the person's soul with joy
and healing old wounds... but there is always something odd about
her and eventually the victim sees through her deception to her true form.
At that point she tears his body and soul apart and returns to the Curcible
of Torment to await her next victim.
Balseraph represents Valtiel's desire to forgive and forget. She is drawn
to those who wish to avoid pain by forgetting the past. She indulges the
whim to never face your darker nature, until eventually the deception turns
sour and she takes on her father's nature and destroys those who were
never able to overcome their regrets. Because of this, Valtiel can not say
no to her. Rumors in the First Age persisted that some Exalt had actually
truly won her heart with his overwhelming commitment to live without regrets
and she assumed the form of her dead wife until she was slain defending her
mate during the usurpation. The truth of this rumor is highly suspect.
In her true form Balseraph appears as a mutilated woman bound to a iron-framed
bed with barbed wire and chain. She uses tendrils of barbed wire to climb
across cielings and to lash those who have seen through her deceptions at last,
viciously torturing them to death as slowly as possible.
Summoning: (Obscurity 4/5) Summoners call forth Balseraph out of greif
and the desire to be with a loved one they have lost, even if they know it is
a lie. Some summoners enjoy her carnal pleasures, and she rivaled Mara in her
conquests during the First Age. Vindictive summoners call her forth to inflict
her on their enemies. When summoned she always appears in a form appropriate for
her summoner or her victim (if the summoner is calling her to torment another).
If neither applies she appears in her true form, which causes her great
discomfort. Every day she must remain in her true form she gains a point of
Limit. Balserpah may not be accidentally released into Creation, but when
someone murders their wife and regrets it she may draw them into the white fog
of the Crucible of Torment and if he survives that place she may leave with her
into Creation should she desire it.
Motivation: To remove grief by replacing lost loved ones and, failing
that, murder. Her Intimacies are toward Valtiel, Widows and Widowers,
Nightmares, her dead First Age lover (if she exists) and she has negative
intimacies towards The Living Nemesis.
Attributes:
Strength 2, Dexterity 8, Stamina 2, Charisma 1, Manipulation 12, Appearance
Varies*, Perception 5, Intelligence 4, Wits 7
Virtues:
Compassion 5, Conviction 4, Temperance 1, Valor 2
Abilities: Martial Arts 5 (Whips +3), Integrity 4, Performance 3,
Presence 6 (Seduction +3), Lore 2, Medicine 4, Occult 3, Awareness 3,
Athletics 1 (True Form +3), Larceny 6 (Impersonation +3), Dodge 4, Socialize 5,
Linguistics Varies*
Backgrounds: Backing (The Crucible of Torment) 3, Cult 4
Charms:
Form Reduction Technique -- If she reduces her Essence to 1 she is
indistinguishable from a mortal using any magic less potent than Eye of the
Unconquered Sun. Even All Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight only grants a +1 die
bonus to see through her illusion.
Host of Spirits -- Summons crows, bats or ravens to harass her opponents
Hurry Home -- The white fog of the Crucible Of Torment
Landscape Travel - May move along walls or ceilings as easily as the ground in
her natural shape
Measure The Wind
Memory Mirror -- Memories of lost loved ones
Mind-Knife Sacrement -- Removes inconvenient memories about the person whose
form she has assumed
Sense Domain -- Those who have lost a female loved one
Shapechange -- Takes the form of a female loved one who is dead or lost forever
Stoke The Flame -- Longing or Lust
Wine of Infinite Heartbreak -- Those who have been seduced by her illusions
First (Ability) Excellency -- Martial Arts, Presence, Socialize
Second (Ability) Excellency -- Larceny
Third (Ability) Excellency -- Integrity, Dodge
Divine (Presence) Subordination -- Maintaining her chosen role
Materialize -- Cost 75 motes
Martial Arts -- Laughing Wounds Style (All Charms)
Join Battle: 11
Attacks
Punch Speed 5 Acc 14 Dam 2B Def 15(8) Rate 3
Kick Speed 5 Acc 13 Dam 5B Def 11(6) Rate 2
Clinch Speed 6 Acc 13 Dam 2B Rate 1
Barb Wire Whip Speed 4 Acc 16 Dam 7L Def 18(9) Rate 4
Soak: 9L/10B (Iron Framed Bed +8/+8, only in true form)
Health Levels: 1x-0/6x-1/6x-2/1x-4/Inc
Dodge DV: 9 Willpower: 9
Essence: 6 Essence Pool: 105
Other Notes: Balseraph always has Appearance 1 dot higher then the form
of the person she has stolen, since she can not help but be a little more
perfect then they were. In her natural form she has Appearance 0. She may wield
her barbed wire whip in both her adopted and true forms, in her adopted form she
wields it by holding it like a normal whip, in her true form she gains the
benefits of the Multiple Arms mutation 4 times (reducing all multiple action
penalties by 4) as the barbed wire whips serve as her multiple limbs. She can
speak whatever languages the person whose form she is adopting could speak. Her
Cult rating does not come from prayers to herself. Whenever someone offers
prayers to a dead woman who soul has passed into Lethe or Oblivion Balseraph
steals the Essence.
Phaleg, The Penitent Ones
Progeny of the Living Nemesis
When a mortal is drawn unawares into the Curcible of Torment it is rare for them
to ever escape, not even death offers a release. Such mortals are hunted down by
the Living Nemesis. He terrorizes them, drives them into a corner and finally
pins them to a floor or wall with his great knife. Then he grabs their skin and
rips them inside out, sealing them away inside a prison of their own skin then
pours virtiol into their hearts until all that is left of the human is pain and
regret.
The Phaleg appears as a grotesque parody of a human figure. The entire upper
torso has been turned inside out, with the skin warped around it like some
horrific straightjacket sealing the arms and head inside. Only a single hole
exist through which one can hear the laboured sobbing of the Penitent One's
voice. The demon can spit vitriol from this orifice as their only form of
defense.
The Phaleg shamble mindlessly around inside the white fog and otherworld of the
Crucible of Torments. When Valtiel moves to a new location the Phaleg move with
him, drawn along in his wake like detirus in a breeze. Often Phaleg are the
first type of unusual demon a victim caught in Valtiel's clutches will
encounter. The demons are drawn to fear and despair and mindlessly attack any
living being that wanders near, but are quick to forget about those who show no
fear.
Summoning: (Obscurity 5/5) There is very little reason to summon a
Phaleg. They make poor soldiers or gaurds and have few useful skills. They can
sense fear and despair, but are too mindless to serve as hunting hounds. Phalegs
can not enter Creation on their own and are rarely encountered apart from the
Crucible of Torments. The only advantage a Phaleg offer is it never resists
being bound, automatically assuming the Slave template.
Motivation: Share their misery with others.
Attributes:
Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2, Charisma 1, Manipulation 1, Appearance 0,
Perception 1*, Intelligence 2, Wits 2
Virtues:
Compassion 1, Conviction 1, Temperance 3, Valor 1
Abilities:
Martial Arts 1 (Body Slams +1), Thrown 5 (Acid Spit +3), Survival 1 (Inside
Valtiel +2), Dodge 4, Stealth 3 (Hiding +2), Linguistics Varies*
Backgrounds: None
Charms:
Acid Spit -- As dragon susprise, spits Vitriol
Hurry Home -- The Crucible of Torment
Sense Domain -- Fear and Despair
Materialize -- Cost 30 motes
First (Ability) Excellency -- Thrown
Second (Ability) Excelleny -- Stealth
Third (Ability) Excellency -- Dodge
Join Battle: 2
Attacks:
Body Slam Speed 6 Acc 5* Dam 2B, Def 5(2)* Rate 1
Acid Spit Speed 6 Acc 10* Dan 4L Rate 1 Range 10 yrds (5m, 1wp per attack)
Soak: 3L/3B (Twisted Flesh +2/+1)
Health Levels: 1x-0/3x-1/2x-2/1x-4/Inc
Dodge DV: 4* Willpower: 4
Essence: 2 Essence Pool: 40
Other Notes: Phalegs are Blind, and thus suffer a -2 external penalty on
all rolls that require vision, including most combat rolls and DVs. Phalegs are
almost always Extras.
Ophiel, The Surgeons of Nightmares
Progeny of The Lying Woman
When the Lying Woman assumes the form of someone's lost love she must eventually
abandon it. When she does the Essence of her deception gathers in the mists of
Valtiel and eventually forms into a Ophiel. Whenever the Curcible of Torments
leaves a section of the Demon City it invariably leaves behind a number of the
Ophiel. As such they have spread across the whole of Malfeas, using their
peculiar skills to earn a living. The Ophiel can cut painful or disturbing
memories from their subjects, though their surgery inevitablty involves cutting
the living flesh of their patients.
Ophiel appear as breathtakingly beautiful women, wearing revealing white outfits
that are often splattered with blood. Their faces are always hideously
mutilated, and each one is mutilated differently. Some have had their eyes cut
out, others had their faces burned or ravaged as if by a wild animals claws or
had surgical masks and bandages melted into their features. Some have their
heads on backwards. Some of the more self-important ones wear elaborate malfean
porcelain masks to conceal their disfigurement, others revel in their
hideousness. When they move their motions are jerky and accompanied by
popping sounds. In motion they appear as if someone had seen what a human being
appeared like on the outside but hadn't quite grasped how they are put together
inside.
Ophiel are drawn to people who have negative memories, whether memories of pain,
loss, fear or despair. Those that have escaped the mists of Valtiel know to curb
their desire to cut these memories from their victims, those still inside the
mists do not seek their patients permission first.
Once a Ophiel has cut out a painful memory they process the dreamstuff into a
special elixir which grants strength to those who imbibe it. They care little
for this ampules and have been known to drop them in the oddest places.
Summoning: (Obscurity 2/3) Ophiel are often summoned to remove painful
memories from their masters. Wise summoners also draw forth a Sesseljae before
the Ophiel starts her work. Some use her to create her ampules, which she has no
use for in the Demon City. Those that can stand their faces find the Ophiels
excellent couretsans, though their tastes run to the violent. Some summoners use
the Ophiel to cut out selected memories from their victims, not just painful
ones. Though forcing a Ophiel to remove a non-painful memory causes the Ophiel
to gain a point of Limit.
Motivation: To cut out painful memories.
Attributes:
Strength 1, Dexterity 2, Stamina 1, Charisma 5, Manipulation 1, Appearance 5*,
Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 1
Virtues:
Compassion 4, Conviction 4, Temperance 1, Valor 2
Abilities: Melee 4, Integrity 2, Presence 2, Performance 2, Resistance 2,
Craft (Water) 5, Medicine 2, Occult 2, Lore 2, Awareness 1 (Light Sources +3),
Dodge 3, Socialize 2, Linguistics 1 (Native: Old Realm, one other)
Backgrounds: None
Charms:
Creation of Perfection -- Work With Painful Memories (see Touch of Eternity)
Hoodwink -- Effects any being sexually attracted to the Ophiel
Memory Mirror -- Painful Memories
Mind Knife Sacrement -- Removes memories, however for each success required on
the roll the demon must inflict one lethal health level of damage. If the demon
has already damaged the victim this scene, it can use this Charm after the
attack.
Principle of Motion -- 8 Banked Actions
Sense Domain -- Painful Memories
Spirit Cutting -- The Ophiel can operate on even immaterial spirits
Touch of Eternity -- Once the Ophiel has cut out a number of painful memories
equal to 10 health levels (one lifetimes of memories; see Mind Knife Sacrement)
the Surgeon of Nightmares may forge it into a special elixir called an ampule.
This costs the demon 15m, 2wp. The elixir created will remain potent for 10
years, granting anyone who drinks it ALL the benefits of a Touch of Divinity
(except the reduced aging) until the potion loses potency.
First (Ability) Excellency - Melee, Dodge
Second (Ability) Excellency - Craft, Medicine
Third (ability) Excellency - Melee
Materialize -- Cost 60m
Essence Plethora -- +30 motes
Reserve of Will -- +2 willpower
Join Battle: 2
Attacks
Punch Speed 5 Acc 3 Dam 1B Def 4(2) Rate 3
Kick Speed 5 Acc 2 Dam 4B Def 0(0) Rate 2
Clinch Speed 6 Acc 2 Dam 1B Rate 1
Scalpel Speed 5 Acc 8 Dam 5L Def 7(4) Rate 3
Improvised Club Speed 5 Acc 3 Dam 7B Def 6(3) Rate 2
Soak: 4L/4B (Blood stained uniform +3/+3)
Health Levels: 1x-0/5x-1/5x-2/1x-4/Inc
Dodge DV: 5 Willpower: 8 (10)
Essence: 4 Essence Pool: 110m
Other Notes:*Despite their deformed faces the Ophiel are quite stunningly
beautiful. Still humans often find their faces disturbing and thus those who do
no conceal their face behind a mask have effective Appearance 1 (but 5 for the
purpose of resisting social attacks).
