Great Mother's Blessed Waters
Cost: 15m, 1lhl; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple (One fifteen minute dramatic action)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious, Desecration, Sorcerous
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Tidal Renewal Discipline
Though Gaia may have included some water in her nature and been praised for her beauty, the cold depths of the Demon Sea drowned the raksha by the trillions from the very first days. Yes, Kimbery has first claim upon the depths and rivers alike, and she will not let them go. This Charm allows a warlock to taint water, twisting anything which relies upon it. The Infernal sheds his blood into a body of water, singing hymns to his own generosity. This is a fifteen minute dramatic action, and affects all bodies of water, including groundwater, within a radius of (Stamina x 100) yards around the Infernal.
Over the course of an hour, the affected waters turn bitter and cold, seeping out to create marshy bogs and ruining fields within a hundred yards of an affected body of water. If it is used on land, a body of water (Stamina) yards across will form from the marshes over the course of a month. The weather shifts, such that it rains frequently, even in the Deep South, and a residue of brightly coloured salts can be seen left on things affected by the tainted waters. Land affected by this Charm are reclaimed from the Wyld, chaos drowned by the beauty of Kimbery. Moreover, the very existence of such a tainted area counts as a loophole to allow any Kimberyian demon out of hell every new moon. An area affected by this Charm always counts as a suitable body of water for the purposes of the Sea keyword, but does not count for the Kimberyian Imperfection unless it would normally qualify.
The waters of the Great Mother twist with consummate artistry those who consume them. Any living being which gains the majority of their water in a given week from a tainted source rolls their (Stamina); failure means they gain a single Cosmetic mutation with an aquatic theme. Non-sapient creatures who get the majority of their food from mutated sources halve their Stamina for the purposes of this roll. Failures in later weeks mean they gain a 1-point mutation, up to a limit of (Infernal's Essence). Characters with at least one mutation from Kimberyian sources perceive the waters to be sweet and wholesome. Once water has been away from a tainted source for five days, or has been diluted down to being one-fifth tainted by volume, it no longer counts as coming from such a source.
Once the majority of living beings in an area have such a mutation, the waters wash outwards. Over the course of a day, the land in the affected area crumbles and erodes, gives way to water, gushing from seemingly nowhere. The original (Stamina x 100) yards are flooded, while any body of water within one hundred yards of this point is tainted in the same manner. This process can continue indefinitely, drowning mountains and deserts, though when the central body of water has a radius of five miles or greater it becomes a persistent Blasphemy. The use of countermagic on an affected area does not undo the physical changes to the area; only prolonged geomantic effort will be able to drain the flooding and shift the weather patterns.
At Essence 4+ and with the prerequisite of Spiteful Sea Tincture, this Charm may be repurchased. Reviled characters who drink from an affected body of water or consume a mutated creature suffer from a dose of Poison Lacquer. Thus does Kimbery deny her gifts to those who displease her.
Monstrous Manse-Mother Fountainhead
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Native
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms:
Great Mother's Wame
Kimbery wants only the best for her children, but the hungers of her offspring can be so demanding, always wanting. Sometimes she must pass them off to other nursemaids, so that their desires can be assuaged. Though she weeps bitter acidic tears to see this, the way they grow so big and strong, with hides of toughened flesh and shining carapace and sea-drenched stone makes her so proud! This Charm permanently improves its prerequisite, adding the capacity to create manse-children. When beginning a project with Great Mother's Wame, the Infernal may instead choose to "design" a manse-child, which takes the same amount of time as they would take to design a more conventional one, save that the "design" process actually gestates a grotesquely enlarged zygote which grows at an incredibly rate, until it is the size of a full-term human infant at the end of the "design" process. Any manse designed via this process automatically has the "Living" manse power (Lords of Creation, p120), and a 1 dot Vulnerability; the manse-child dies if the living heart where the hearthstone forms is destroyed with fire. This brewing of hellish geomancy is a natural act, so a warlock may replace her (Craft: [Genesis]) and/or (Lore) ratings with (Essence-1), if she so desires. Provided the manse she is crafting has a manse rating equal to or less than her (Essence), she may also use (Stamina) in place of (Intelligence). The requirements to design a manse with Sentient, Living Manse, or any manse power that has Living Manse as a prerequisite are waived; the Sea Who Marched Against the Flame need not teach her children how to live or face the horrors of a cruel world.
The manse-child, as a living child of the waters of Kimbery, is explicitly is not designed for a single demesne, and may be born into any demesne of a rating equal to the level of its manse-rating. The birth will not occur, until the Infernal is within the grounds of such a demesne. Once that happens, labour is induced, which is, as per Great Mother's Wame, painless. However, the umbilical cord remains attached to the manse-child, and lashes out as it passes from its "mother's" body, plunging deep into the ground, to attach itself to the essence flows of the demense.
The manse-child grows and matures with shocking speed; each day that passes counts as one man-year on the manse. No other labour is required, and even things like Integrated Magitech Artillery can be emulated with grotesque weapon systems of spines and toxic crystals. Killing the manse-child is as hard as destroying any other partially completed manse. Once complete, its mother is automatically attuned to it, and this attunement may not be broken as long as the manse remains; in addition, it counts as one of her descendants for the purposes of Kimbery Charms. Its aesthetics are designed, in general terms, in the design process, and must conform to both the aesthetics of Kimbery and the aesthetics of the underlying demesne. Although they are living, and born of flesh, that does not prevent the secretion of twisted silicate shells which resemble cyclopean geometries, and other such things. It may not cap Fire, Solar, or Cytherea-aspected demesnes, unless the Exotic Aspect (Kimbery) power has been taken, and in such cases, a mandatory 2-point Fragility Flaw must be taken (overriding the normal rules on the incompatibility of those Flaws), for which no points are received, as the manse-child grows up sickly and weak, trying to contain the agonising fire that burns at its Essence flows. Sentient manse-children who suffer through this will likely suffer psychological problems and trauma, and may well be driven insane. However, once the aspect of the underlying demesne has been converted, that Flaw is removed, as the manse-child can strengthen its flesh-architecture properly without the toxic burning Essence running through it.
At Essence 4 this Charm permanently upgrades, such that the manse-child grows at a rate of (mother's Essence) man-years per day.
(Notes: This Charm lets you make manse-seeds, which you give birth to/impregnate a demense with, which grow into a manse. For the Infernal on the go, who doesn't have time to build a manse, but who does have time for a pregnancy.)
My Pretty Baby
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Pemanent
Prerequisite Charms: First Kimbery Excellency, Monstrous Manse-Mother Fountainhead
Kimbery feels terrible guilt for fostering her babies upon other teats. In her benevolence, she tries to make it up to them, and showers her gifts upon them to make up for such tragic abandonment. This Charm permanently upgrades all manses made via Monstrous Manse-Mother Fountainhead, with the following features:
• All such manses count as having a Network Node, connecting to all other manses made by the same Infernal, which does not count towards their total number of points. All the inlets of Kimbery are the same ocean, after all. These Nodes may not communicate with any non-manse-children, however.
• All such manses are treated as if they are Beloved by the Infernal, unless this is overridden by them becoming Reviled.
• The "Sentient" power in Chapter 2 of Oedenal's Codex is treated as if it is italicised and is favoured regardless of the aspect of the Demesne, allowing it to be taken by any manse for 4 Creation Points.
• As long as the Infernal ingests an appropriate exotic component for the aspect of the manse to be built and the nature of the manse-child, one extra Creation point is granted. For example, the sexual fluids of a Sidereal would be perfect for a Sidereal-aspected manse. This is increased to two extra Creation points as long as the manse is Kimbery or Vitriol aspected. These extra points may only be spent on features favoured by that aspect, or on manse powers that have Living Manse as a prerequisite. Traces appropriate to the source of the exotic component will be left in the manse, especially if it has been given the Sentient quality; the eyes that wriggle in the walls, and the colour of the fleshy walls might be all too familiar to the "father", for example.
At Essence 4, this power improves further. When creating the manse-child, as long as the Infernal ingests or obtains an appropriate exotic component for the aspect of the manse, rather than receive the aforementioned bonus they may instead cap a demense with a manse one dot higher rated than the manse. For example, the Infernal could cap a 3-dot demesne with a 4-dot manse. The difficulty of all design rolls and the required construction time would be that of a 3-dot manse, but the resultant structure would be a 4-dot manse in all regards (producing a 4-dot hearthstone, having creation points equivalent to a 4-dot manse [see The Books of Sorcery, vol. III—Oadenol's Codex], and so forth). Kimbery does not play fair with her children, and so the Infernal may still deliberately weaken her designs to produce one-dot manses, if desired. If used to design a 5-dot manse, My Pretty Baby does not raise it to N/A level, instead providing six additional creation points with which to design its features, gives it the Sentient quality for free, and it makes the manse a potential geomantic channel to sustain a N/A level manse elsewhere.
(Notes: Upgrades your Manse-babies, via the power of Kimbery, so they're worth more than just casting Raising the Pussiant Sanctum. Quite a bit referenced from Design Beyond Limit, but this is a specifically manse-focussed Charm, while that one is more general craft. Kimbery should build better living manses than Solars.)
Geomancy-Suckling Little Darling
Cost: - ; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Shaping
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms:
Seared Fruits of Union,
Monstrous Manse-Mother Fountainhead
The children of Kimbery need not content themselves with just the paltry fare of Creation. No, she has taught them to always demand the best, and so they shall have it, like ticks upon the dragonlines of Creation, warping the local geometry to feed their beautiful growth. With her corrosive waters, she impregnates those things which come within her reach and catch her eye infusing them with her progenitive Essence. This Charm permanently upgrades Monstrous Manse-Mother Fountainhead. When the Infernal designs a Kimbery or Vitriol-aspected manse for a level 1 demesne, she need not place it on a pre-existing demesne. Instead, using Seared Fruits of Union, the Infernal may impregnate a suitable building, barren mountain, river, lake, bog, seaside, collection of limpid pools high in the mountains, or otherwise geomantically auspicious place with the manse-child, which latches onto the structure or feature with its umbilical cord.
Its growth is rather more convoluted and complicated than one of its siblings permitted a demesne to grow on, however. First, it, as it fuses with the pre-existing geography, squamous tendrils sinking into rock to burrow out a lair into the mountainside or tumourous coral growths enveloping a building. The manse-child grows into a pseudo-manse, taking as long as it would if it were a level-1 manse produced by Monstrous Manse-Mother Fountainhead, which produces no hearthstone and may not be used to regenerate motes. Once this is done, the pseudo-manse has the Living Manse, Dangerous Traps, and two points of Essence Vents powers, as the corrosive power of Kimbery arcs within it. These are paid for by 2 points of Habitability and a 2-point Vulnerability; any naked flame (including a Fire Aspected anima banner) bought into the undeveloped hearthstone chamber destroys the manse.
The pseudo-manse requires, above all, motes. It respires motes at a rate of 2m per hour, and each mote counts as one man-day of labour towards building a level 1 manse, meaning that each day, 50 man-days are contributed towards the manse. As a result, assuming uninterrupted Essence flow, the manse is built in two years. In places which resonate with the manse-aspect, this rate is doubled. As it draws on the surrounding area, the essence of Kimbery bleeds slowly into the area, affecting everything within a one mile radius of the pseudo-manse as if were a Kimbery demense, mutating mortals as normal, and warping the landscape. Rain falls often and pools, water keeps its chill in even the heat of summer, fish and other water-dwellers grow big and vicious, and anything born within this area takes, as a Desecration Effect, a Pox thematically appropriate for aquatic life. This even affects the dreams of the locals; they dream of deep seas, squirming life, and the Infernal who mothered the manse-child, which causes bad sleep. Mortals in the affected area lose one dice to rolls to recover Willpower, as a fear-based Emotion effect. Once the pseudo-manse has "built" itself by feeding off Essence, it manifests as the designed manse, with a Level 1 Demense underneath it. The effect on the landscape and area ceases, although the landscape and its inhabitants will be scarred by their experiences.
However, if there is an uncapped Demesne within (Demesne's Rating squared) miles of the pseudo-manse, the manse-child will, in addition, draw the rich, concentrated Essence from the nearest demesne, sending questing tendrils underground to suckle from it. The demesne generates no motes while the pseudo-manse is draining it, but for each day that it drains it, it counts as 10 man-years towards the manse, rather than 50 man-days. The draining tendrils have the statistics of Ichor Flux Tendrils, and "grapple" the geomancy of the area, attacking anyone who attacks them. If destroyed, they take a number of days equal to (the distance in miles +1) from the pseudo-manse to the demesne to regenerate, and will attempt to drain again. Once the manse and demesne are complete, the rating of any targeted demesne which has provided more than (demense-rating x 10) man years is permanently reduced by 1 point. The pseudo-manse may not feed off Fire, Solar, or Cytherea-aspected demesnes.
As an as-yet-unknown, innate Heretical feature of this Charm, Green Sun Princes who have developed and learned their own Excellency via Triumphant Howl of the Devil Tiger may also create manse-children aspected towards themselves via this method, even if they have no other way to create demesnes aspected towards themselves. The product of one's loins know who their mother is, after all.
(Notes: Lets your manse-babies begin on places which aren't manses, forming a demesne by sucking all the local Essence flows to them, and then growing into a manse. And, sure, they might taint the entire area towards Kimbery, too, but that's just because they're so adorable.)
Potential-Drowning Depths Dweller
Cost: - ; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms:
Geomancy-Suckling Little Darling
To Kimbery, the Wyld is but a transient thing, to be replaced by her artistic vision, and her children shall bring it to completion. This Charm permanently improves Monstrous Manse-Mother Fountainhead, allowing it to be used on a single waypoint in the Wyld. The Infernal may design any Kimbery-aspected manse with a manse rating of (Essence/2) or less, following the normal rules for manses designed using that Charm, and give birth to it in a Wyld Zone. The newborn manse-child draws upon the changing energies of the Wyld, drowning it in the cold depths of Kimbery. In the bordermaches, each day counts as 5 man-years towards completion, in the Middlemarches, each day counts as 10 man years towards completion, and in the Deep Wyld and in Pure Chaos each day counts as 20 man years towards completion. To be used in the Deep Wyld or Pure Chaos, the manse must be designed with the "Traveling" Feature, as it will drift free on the tides of the Wyld; ones in the bordermarches or middlemarches are sufficiently anchored to Creation to stay static.
However, such manse-children do not act like normal manses. They do not produce a hearthstone and receive no bonus Creation points for that, instead flooding the entire waypoint with Kimberyian Essence, reshaping it, as they lock it into shape. The entire waypoint is made part of Creation, for as long as the manse-child remains in place; its death allows the Wyld to attempt to unmake the land again. The manse-child expands over the entire waypoint, although there is a central body which will appear as a normal manse, and so manse powers can be used over the entire area without needing to purchase Zone of Influence. The Essence of Kimbery fills the entire place, making any child born or made within it a Creature of Darkness, and count as one of the Infernal's descendents as a Desecration Effect, and granting 6 mutation points to be spent on appropriately themed positive mutations, which may be either set by the Infernal whenever they stand in the empty hearthstone chamber, or permitted to vary based on the manse's aesthetics. Moreover, each day spent within such a place count as one scene towards building an Intimacy of "Unconditional Love and Obedience" towards the Infernal who gave birth to the manse-child.
The tendrils of the manse-child suffuse the land, making it like wet clay in the hands of its mother. While standing in the vacant hearthstone chamber, the Infernal may reshape anywhere within the waypoint as if they knew Wyld-Shaping Technique, treating the land as Middlemarches. All such changes must be compatible with the aesthetics of Kimbery and her Excellency, and the Infernal may only create (or modify) Land, People, or Wealth. In addition, it also calcifies any Unshaped Fair Folk who enters it after a number of ticks equal to (11 - Infernal's Essence), rendering them down into vitriolic sludge which screams eternally in drowning agony in an amusing similarity to Chalcanth (and has some interesting, little-known properties in crafting).
(Notes: Because Kimbery has her own way for taking over the Wyld. And lol Fair Folk. You think you matter.)
