Green Sun, Black Shadows (CG/Exalted)

Infiltration 1.2
[X] Help the Lunar

For the time being the enemy of your enemy is your friend, and it's likely in both of your enlightened self-interest to work together.

"If I may Boss-" Seyrun tells you. "I suggest using five of the boys for a simultaneous attack before having them fall back."

'Will it suffice? That Dragonblooded looks quite sturdy even without armor.'

"Even one hit will suffice. Have you forgotten?" He chuckles. "Us Anuhles are poisonous."

Oh? Well then, this makes things easier.

You draw your Hellcaster in one hand, while silently giving hand signals to the Dark Green Fangs. From your lofty position above the two combatants, you wait a few seconds until your target is turned away from you by the dance of death he is engaged in.

Then you take aim and fire three shots at the unsuspecting Dragonblooded knight's back while he is distracted by dodging the Lunar's latest attacks.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Taken completely by surprise the Knight staggers as the three bullets bury themselves into his back. His eyes widen in surprise, as do those of the Lunar.

Of course, that's when five Anuhles materialize in a circle around your foe and sink their fangs into his body before jumping back. Satisfied with the result you begin to slowly descend the stairs, leaving your Hellcaster in clear view as the Anuhles skitter back to stand around you.

Having temporarily forgotten about his previous opponent the Dragonblooded turns to face you, eyes glowering with hate. "And who the hell are you supposed to be?"

"Me?" You put one hand over your chest and tilt your head sideways. "I am sorry to say this, but there is no need to tell you." Under the mask you smile condescendingly. "After all, the poison is going to kill you in the next thirty seconds."

He opens his mouth, but what comes out is a gush of blood. Panic briefly appears on his face before he roars in outrage and charges at you, giant hammer at the ready. He takes five steps before his body is wracked by a fit of violent coughing, more blood coming out of his mouth. Still, he stands.

You take aim and fire, blowing a hole through his forehead. He blinks a final time before his body goes slack and falls to the ground, the hammer landing next to him.

"Uuh.." You turn to look at the Lunar, who is watching you and the Anuhles with a mix of wariness and worry. "Am I next?"

"It depends." You tilt your head towards the fallen Knight. "Do you work for the owner of this place, as this one obviously did?"

"...No?"

"Then I have no reason to do so." You twirl the Hellcaster once before putting it back into its sheath. "Though, I didn't expect someone else to sneak inside at the same time as me."

The humanoid feline looks at you for a few seconds before seemly reaching a conclusion. She glows briefly as her body begins to transform: her size lessens and the feline characteristics recedes, leaving behind a young woman with platinum blond ha-

Your eyes widen under the mask. 'The loose woman!' Indeed, she is the same shameless one who tried to flirt with you this afternoon.

"Thanks for the save then!" She gives you a thumb up while grinning cheerfully. "Name's Anja. Who are you suppose to be, Mr. Tall, Dark and Mysterious?"

"Boss, you have a mask: it's improbable she recognized you. It's best to act nonchalantly."

'Good thinking.' Suppressing your surprise you raise an arm before spreading it to the side, letting your cape flutter. "I am...Zero! The noble that lives here is responsible for many crimes, and I have come to bring him to justice!"

She raises an eyebrow. "Sorry to say this, Zero, but the whole 'superhero' gig isn't going to work well if you use demons as sidekicks." She looks at the Dragonblooded. "Even if they are effective."

"Thank for the warning, but don't worry about me: for public relations, I have my human subordinates that are currently sweeping through the rest of the villa." The eyebrow moves higher. "And I am a revolutionary, not a superhero."

You cross your arms over your chest. "I told you why I am here, so allow me to pose the same question to you: what is the reason for your presence here?"

She slightly scratches her cheek with one finger, letting you realize her nails are those of a cat. "Weeell, I suppose telling you can't hurt. Basically, my teacher said he wanted to see if I am ready or some shit like that, and assigned me a solo mission." Her eyes narrow. "Apparently, the guy who owns this place moved a lot of things from a Wyld zone here, and I need to find out if he'd doing anything unsavory."

"Things from a Wyld Zone? Uhm, I suppose that there is a risk of Wyld taint spreading around, but how would that be useful?"

'Only one way to find out.' "Interesting. I don't believe our goals are mutually exclusive." You spread your right arm forward, pointing to the other end of the hall. "Care to join me?"

"Don't mind if I do." She grins cheerfully.

"Splendid." Then you remember the giant hammer and point at it. "Do you want that?"

"It's all yours."

You nod before signaling the Anuhles: two of them lift the hammer and together with the other three fall into line behind you. You begin to walk away, Anja following while keeping a certain distance.

Smart that. You approve.

One thing you note as you walk through the rest of Marquess Anson's private quarters is that the man must have a real passion for the hunt, because there are trophies everywhere.

"Is that an elephant?" Anja wonders aloud, staring at the head of the great beast fixed on the wall.

"How quaint." You scoff before walking past it without a second thought.

One of the Anuhles walking ahead peeks behind a corner. "Boss, there are two armed guys guarding a door."

"Must be the Marquess's room." You make a signal, and two Anuhles crawl to the ceiling and past the corner. When you hear two muffled cries you turn the corner, ignoring the two corpses to reach for the door and slam it open.

"What the-Aaah!" The man sleeping in the bed has just enough time to wake up before two spiders jump on him.

Five seconds later they deposit him on your feet, tied up with his own sheets. "Marquess Anson, I presume?" You ask while looking down at him.

"What is the meaning of this?! I will have you hanged for-" He screams before abruptly stop as you press the Hellcaster's barrel against his head.

"I will ask this just once: where is your study?"

{====}​

Five minutes later you're seated at the desk where Anson does most of his work, typing on his computer. When a big window warning pops up you turn to the Marquess. "The password?"

"Go to hell you damn Elevens." He spats.

And then he screams when Anja steps down hard on his crotch. "Shut up and spit it out." She sneers, drilling her foot even deeper.

"X-94758-N!"

"He's lying." You inform Anja.

She smiles sadistically before raising her leg. The nails of her foot morphs into long, wicked claws.

Anson's face loses all colors. "A-34254-W!!!"

You type the password and hum in approval when the green words 'ALL CLEAR' appear. "There, was that so hard? He's all yours, Anja."

"Thanks, Zero!" While you are busy raiding the Marquess' digital archive the Lunar raises him by the neck of his shirt. "So, tough boy: I was almost killed by that gorilla looking after your stuff, and I am pretty miffed because of it." Her hand morphs into wicked claws. "So, unless you want me to spend the rest of the night removing every single centimeters of your skin, you are going to tell me what you did with all the Wyld-tainted stuff you brought."

Anson stays silent for a few seconds, staring with hate and fear at Anja before his lips slit into a crooked smile. "Oh, that? If you're so curious, what do you say about me showing you?"

"I say: lead the way." Anja puts him down. Her hand goes back to normal but she takes out a knife. "But no tricks."

"Do you mind if I tag along?" You remove the USB from the computer and put it into your pocket. "I'm done here anyway."

{====}​

"Do you know what is my greatest passion?" Anson begins as you descend the spiral staircase. "It's hunting. I hunted lions in Africa, Tigers in India and wolves in Area 1."

You roll your eyes. "Why, were the sharks of the Imperial Court too tough for you?"

He ignores you. "I hunted so many beasts, and yet even the most dangerous ones after a while became utterly boring. There wasn't contest, I was just too skilled." Anja makes a vulgar gesture mimicking a certain male self-serving action. Your eyebrow twitches just as your lips rise into a grin.

Anson reaches an armored door, typing a code to make it open. "That's when I thought: if a beast dangerous enough to be a challenge doesn't exist, why don't creating one myself?"

"What do you mea-!" Suddenly the lights turn on and a veritable cacophony of screams and screeches assault your ears, briefly stunning the both of you. Anson takes the chance to run away.

"Stop right the-!" The question dies in your throat as you finally see what is inside the room.

Cages. A myriad of cages, each one containing a strange, deformed beast. There are dogs with two heads, snakes with fur, lions with tentacles instead of a tail and many more, all different. But one thing that they have in common are the pink, glowing crystal embedded into their bodies: Sakuradite.

"It wasn't easy, using the Wyld Taint to mutate the specimens in appropriate ways." Anson's voice rings out. Without wasting time you, Anja and the Anuhles run in the direction it came from. "Until I discovered that Sakuradite not only absorbs the Taint, it replicates the effects! Thanks to it my research sped up greatly!"

"Can you just shut up!? You're fucking creepy!" Anja snarls.

While running you spot a figure lying in a cage. An immobile, humanoid figure.

You're glad the Black Knights aren't there, because when you are done Anson's body will be unable to be shown on TV.

You turn a corner and the Marquess is there, standing in front of a cage larger than the rest, the inside hidden by darkness. "You're dead." You hiss, feeling anger bubbling under your skin like lava.

"No: you are dead!" Anson smiles like a loon before yanking open the cage. "Behold! My greatest success!"

Two large red eyes open in the darkness, followed by a deep growl.

"Now come out my servant and kill my enemies!" He orders while pointing at you and Anja.

In response to his order a maw larger than you, and filled with razor-sharp fangs, comes out of the darkness and closes around Anson's body.

"Wait, what are you doing? No stop I am your maste-EEEEAAARGH!!!" The Marquess screams as he's dragged inside, his voice quickly replaced by loud chewing sounds.

But neither of them are of any relevance to you, because you can perfectly see what's inside the cage. "You've got to be kidding me." And yet you cannot believe your eyes.

A giant, white-furred paw steps out, soon followed by another and the rest of the body the size of an elephant.



"...I hate dogs so fucking much." Anja deadpans.

"Me too." Seyrun and the Anuhles groan at the same time.

The giant mutant poodle roars.

Everyone runs away.

You barely manage to reach the reinforced door and shut it behind you. The monster slams into it as you and the others run up the stairs, bending it outwards. You don't think it's going to resist for long.

"Boss! We need help!"

'I know!' You snap back. But you really have only two options.

The first, to contact Akio and Milly, who you have positioned nearby in case something went wrong. Surely four Celestial Exalts and twenty demons together are enough to put down that monster without any casualties?

The second, to have the two Knightmares you brought shoot the monster to death.

[] Contact Akio and Milly
[] Contact the Knightmares
[] Write-in.

====
Acquired:

White Jade Grand Goremaul
Speed 5, Accuracy +0, Damage +17B/3, Defense -1, Str 4, Rate: 1, Attune 8, Tags: 2, O, R

Personal Essence: 12/16
Peripheral Essence: 20/39

Willpower: 7/7

Stunt Pool: 5/6
====

My mind goes to strange places sometimes :V

Sorry, but I have decided it's too soon for FSDD to appear. You will have more chances later.
 
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Szoreny Mirror Charms
Peanuckle, I looked around and collected every available Szoreny Charms that isn't about poison:

Silver Gardener Spirit
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: ???
The Silver Forest grows forever, expanding to fill the wasted parts of Malfeas with vibrant, silver life. This Charm allows the Infernal to recover a number of motes equal to his Essence for every hour he spends spying on others, planning for the future, expanding his influence over others, or tending a garden.
Additionally, the Infernal gains an additional Peripheral Essence pool capable of holding 10 motes. Essence from this pool cannot be committed to artifacts or spells and can only be refilled by Szoreny Charms that restore motes.

Seeds of Victory Prana
Cost: 5m per task; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-Ok, Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Szoreny Mythos Exultant, Szoreny Inevitability Technique
The Silver Forest's victories build upon seeming losses. When the Infernal commits Essence to this Charm, he chooses one task with a definite end, such as "Destroy Sijan", "Free myself from prison" or even "Defeat my rival in battle". For as long as the Infernal continues to commit Essence, every roll he makes to furthers said goal that fails grants the Infernal a bonus success on all further rolls related to that task until he finally succeeds on a roll related to that task.
The successes from this Charm stack with each other, up to a limit of the Infernal's Essence, so an Infernal who fails three rolls related to his chosen task would receive three bonus successes on rolls that work towards the completion of that task. If he then succeeded on his next roll, all the accumulated bonus successes would be lost.
An Infernal can commit Essence to this Charm multiple times, once for each task he defines, but separate tasks do not stack with each other and their number of accumulated bonus successes are tracked separately. If a roll would further two tasks at the same time, only the greater number of accumulated bonus successes would apply to the roll. However, a failure on such a roll would cause both tasks to accumulate a bonus success.
This Charm lasts until the defined task is completed or the Infernal chooses to end the Essence commitment. If the Infernal chooses to end the commitment early, all accumulated successes are lost; Reactivating the Charm later for the same task would start with no accumulated bonus successes.

Thousand Words Picture
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-Ok
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: First Szoreny Excellency
Szoreny speaks with images as fluently as some speak with words. This Charm enhances a dramatic action by the Infernal to create any sort of image. It could be a doodle, a painting, or even a sculpture, so long as it is not normal script of any sort. As he creates the item, he encodes within it a message or a meaning which can be of any length. As long as the image's creation is successful, this meaning is immediately apparent to anyone who views the image. While a social attack may be encoded into the image, only one social attack may be encoded per image.
Alternatively, the Infernal can create the image in such a way that only a select few can understand its meaning. The Infernal is free to define as many or as few individuals or groups that can understand it, such as "My Coven," "The Scarlet Empress," or "The People of Nexus."

Mirrored Meaning Confusion
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple (Dramatic Action)
Keywords: Combo-Ok, Illusion, Sorcerous
Duration: (Essence) days
Prerequisite Charms: Thousand Words Picture
Szoreny's mirrored surface reflects not only images, but concepts and meanings. When the Infernal invokes this Charm, he rolls (Manipulation + Socialize) against his target's Dodge MDV, adding a number of additional successes equal to his Essence but taking an external penalty equal to his target's Essence. The Infernal need not speak to his target, but he must be in his target's presence.
If successful, the target has the consequences of his social attacks reversed for the duration of the Charm's effect. His friends hear biting sarcasm behind his greetings, his closest lovers hear hatred behind his declarations of love, and attempts to insult his enemies get taken as compliments. As long as the Charm is in effect, all attempts to create or reinforce an Intimacy instead work to weaken that Intimacy or create a negative Intimacy, as appropriate. Attempts to create a compulsion to follow one course of behavior instead inflict a compulsion to do the opposite course of behavior.
This Charm is not Obvious, so the target is initially unaware of the effect it has on him, though he may become aware of the effect by observing its results. There is no way to surpress the effect, but it can be worked around. Unlike most sorcerous Charms, the Infernal can terminate this Charm's effect at will.
A second purchase of this Charm at Essence 5+ increases the duration to (Essence) weeks, while a third purchase at Essence 7+ allows the Infernal to make the duration indefinite.

Mirror Matches Movement
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Silver Forest needs no preparation to imitate another's face. Their movements are already his own. This Charm permanently removes the difficulty increase for attempting to disguise one's self as a specific person and the difficulty increase for attempting to mimic that person without first spending several weeks observing the target.

Meeting Mirror Deflection
Cost: 8m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Reflexive (Step 2)
Keywords: Combo-Ok, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Mirror Matches Movement
No matter how fast a man strikes, he cannot outpace his own reflection. With this Charm, an Infernal perfectly matches his foe's attack, so much so that their attacks meet and cancel each other. This is a perfect parry that suffers from the Imperfection of the Silver Forest.

IMPERFECTION OF THE SILVER FOREST
The Silver Forest shows the world a twisted reflection of all that stands before it. It is his greatest strength, yet it derives from his ability to understand his opponents' every move and duplicate them. Accordingly, Charms noted as suffering from the Imperfection of the Silver Forest must use the same Ability to defend against an attack as the attack was made with. Further, the Infernal must have at least one dot in that Ability to qualify. For example, an Infernal armed with only sword could not use Meeting Mirror Deflection to parry an Archery-based attack, nor could an Infernal who does not have at least one dot in Archery. If the attack to be defended against is a spell, the Infernal must at least be initiated into Terrestrial Circle Sorcery or Shadowlands Circle Necromancy. Stunts are allowed to improvise appropriate methods of defense, so an Infernal armed with only a sword could throw the sword as an improvised weapon to parry a Thrown-based attack using Meeting Mirror Deflection.

Mirror-Strike Counter
Cost: 9m; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Reflexive (Step 2 & Step 9)
Keywords: Combo-Ok, Counterattack, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Meeting Mirror Deflection
Those that strike a mirror do so at their own peril. Those that strike the greatest of mirrors are fools beyond measure. When an Infernal uses this Charm to defend himself, he mimics his opponent with exacting precision until, at the very moment the attack would strike, he becomes his opponent.
This Charm supplies a perfect dodge, subject to the Imperfection of the Silver Forest, in Step 2 of attack resolution. In Step 9, the attacker rolls his attack as a counterattack against himself. This includes the effects of any Charms the attacker may have used to enhance the original attack. After the opponent attacks himself, the Infernal reverts to his normal appearance.

Shifting Quicksilver Visage
Cost: - (1m); Mins: Essence 2; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Illusion
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Mirror Matches Movement
Szoreny uses no makeup to mirror others. By reflexively committing a single mote, the Infernal can use illusion to alter his appearance as though making a mundane disguise, except that it only takes a single instant to do so and requires no makeup or props. Further, the Infernal is not restricted in how high his effective Appearance can be. This illusory disguise looks, feels, and even smells exactly how it should, based upon the Infernal's (Intelligence+Larceny) roll, so it cannot be detected simply by touching the disguised Infernal. The disguise lasts until the Infernal uncommits the mote.

CHARM CONCEPT: SZORENY DISGUISES
After the Primordial War, Szoreny was turned upside down by his rough treatment at the hands of the Exalted. In protest to this, Szoreny now refuses to show a truly perfect reflection of anyone except his fellow Yozis upon any of his silver branches. Because of this, none of Szoreny's Charms can provide a perfect disguise. They can eliminate penalties and speed the process, but it will always remain possible, if only remotely so, that ordinary sense will pierce his disguises and see them for what they truly are.

Impossible Form Duplication
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Shifting Quicksilver Visage
The reflections of the Silver Forest know no limits to the forms that they may take. This Charm removes all penalties and difficulty increases causes by attempting to impersonate someone of a different gender, age, or body type. Further, this Charm allows the Infernal to use Shifting Quicksilver Visage to impersonate anything of approximately the same dimensions as the Infernal, even inanimate objects. The Infernal can just as easily impersonate a fat man as appear to be a small tree.

Mirror-Hall Misdirection
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-Ok, Obvious, Illusion
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Shifting Quicksilver Visage
Images step free of Szoreny's branches to walk beside their original. On activating this Charm, the Infernal creates a number of illusory doubles of himself equal to his Essence. These doubles look exactly like the Infernal and nothing short of a perfect detection effect (not merely Essence sight) can tell them apart.
The Infernal can reflexively direct their actions, having them take any action he is capable of. The illusions are not real, however, so they cannot truly interact with anything. The doubles initially occupy the exact same position as the Infernal, but they can move at the same rate as the Infernal himself. This gives the appearance that the Infernal just separated into multiple copies when invoked.
The Infernal can pass through his own doubles without destroying them, but any other object that passes through them destroys them. They have the Infernal's Dodge DV, but no Parry DV. The Infernal can only have one set of doubles at a given time. If he uses this Charm again, his existing doubles shatter like glass as the new set forms.

Shattered Mirror Defense
Cost: - (+3m); Mins: Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Mirror-Hall Misdirection
Making illusions takes less than a thought for the Silver Forest. This Charm improves its prerequisite, allowing the Infernal to activate Mirror-Hall Misdirection in response to an attack as a Reflexive Charm by paying an additional three motes. Instead of the attack hitting the Infernal, one of his illusory doubles takes the attack instead, while he and his remaining doubles are instantly shifted to any location within (Essence) yards he could reach by normal movement.
This provides an automatic dodge against most attacks, but cannot be used to defend against undodgeable attacks or unexpected attacks. If the attack affects an area and using Shatter-Mirror Defense does not remove the Infernal from the area, he is still affected.

Same Sword Reflection
Cost: 3m per duplicate; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-Ok, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Mirror-Hall Misdirection
The same image can reflect endlessly upon the Silver Forest's branches. This Charm duplicates the Infernal's attack with incomplete reflections, turning one blow or one arrow into many swinging swords or a hailstorm of shafts. Each duplicated attack costs three motes and the Infernal can duplicate his attack a number of times equal to his Essence score. Treat the original attack and the duplicates as a single attack for making an attack roll and applying DV, but if the attack hits, each duplicate deals damage separately.

Tree Amidst Forest Camouflage
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: Illusion, Touch, Combo-Ok
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Mirror-Hall Misdirection
Finding the Silver Forest is easy. Finding Szoreny when he does not wish to be found is impossible. Upon activating this Charm, the Infernal causes the object or creature he touches (which could be himself) to become impossible to find by any means as long as it is near at least (11 - Essence) objects or creatures similar in appearance, such as a daiklave in a rack of swords, a single tree in a grove, or a single person on a crowded street. Note that this is based on appearances, so an Infernal disguising himself as a tree could not use this Charm to hide himself among humans. The affected creature or object must be fairly similar to those around it to be hidden by this, so a pine tree in an oak grove or a blood-drenched Infernal in full armor at a dinner party would be as obvious as they normally would be. If another Charm contests this effect, add the Infernal's Essence in automatic successes to the opposed roll to maintain the Charm.

Lost in Reflection
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Sorcerous, Illusion, Combo-Ok
Duration: (Essence) days
Prerequisite Charms: Tree Amidst Forest Camouflage
Those who displease the Silver Forest find themselves caught within his boundaries, cursed to wander lost until the Yozi chooses to spare them. When the Infernal invokes this Charm, he chooses a creature or a group of creatures with Magnitude no more than his (Essence - 2) that is within his sight. He rolls (Manipulation + Survival) against the highest Dodge MDV in the group, adding his Essence in automatic successes and applying a penalty equal to the group's Magnitude. If successful, the targeted group becomes supernaturally lost.
Any time an affected creature wanders more than 30 yards from where it was at the time it was affected, it loses all ability to tell direction and identify landmarks. It wanders lost for about an hour before returning to its original location. If anyone attempts to take pity on an afflicted creature and lead them somewhere, this Charm momentarily includes the would-be good Samaritan, causing both to wander lost before returning to their original location. This only persists for as long as they attempt to help an afflicted creature. As soon as they abandon the creature, they regain their ability to navigate. If another Charm contests this effect, add the Infernal's Essence in automatic successes to the opposed roll to maintain the Charm.
An affected creature can spend one Willpower to attempt a (Intelligence + Survival) roll against a difficulty equal to the Infernal's Essence. If successful, this Charm's effect is suspended for one hour. Wherever the creature reaches in that time becomes the creature's new original location for the purposes of this Charm. This Charm ends when the target has successfully navigated to a new location three times.
An Infernal with Essence 4+ can purchase this Charm again. Doing so allows the Infernal to reflexively renew the Charm just as it would end, if the Infernal so chooses. He need not have the original target or targets in sight when he does so.

Mirror-Maze Navigation
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-Ok
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Tree Amidst Forest Camouflage
Szoreny is never lost within himself. This Charm enhances any attempt by the Infernal to find a person, place, or object, guaranteeing success. The Infernal learns the distance and direction to the sought after person, place, or object. If the Infernal is attempting to track the target of this Charm, he automatically gets (his target's successes +1) successes on the opposed roll for the tracking contest. The Infernal must know exactly what he seeks or this Charm will lead him only to the nearest person, place, or object matching the general description he seeks. This Charm cannot read minds, so it cannot do things such as lead the character to someone who knows the answer to a question or lead him to his nearest unknown enemy.
If another Charm contests this effect, such as to keep a character hidden or untrackable, add the Infernal's Essence in automatic successes to the opposed roll to maintain the Charm.

Freed From the Mirror
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple (Speed 5, DV -1)
Keywords: Obvious, Touch, Combo-Ok
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Mirror-Hall Misdirection
Szoreny's silvered bark reflects all, not only himself. When the Infernal invokes this Charm, he lays hand on some creature or object no bigger than himself and gently pulls its reflection away from it. The reflection comes free in the Infernal's hand as a physical object, identical in function to the original and almost identical in appearance. If a character is attuned to the original, it is automatically attuned to the mirror at no additional cost. Creatures mirrored this way create a lifelike but immobile statue of themselves. A successful (Perception + Awareness) roll against a difficulty equal to the Infernal's Larceny reveals some flaw in the appearance of the mirrored object that marks it different from the original.
A creature or object can only have one physical mirror in existence at a time. Attempting to use this Charm on creature or object already so mirrored automatically fails.
An Infernal with Essence 4+ can purchase this Charm a second time. Doing so removes the touch keyword from the Charm, allowing the Charm to be used on any creature or object within sight.

Wake the Mirror
Cost: - (+3m); Mins: Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Freed From the Mirror
The Silver Forest's reflections are empty shells, waiting for Szoreny to fill them with purpose. This Charm permanently enhances its prerequisite. Whenever the Infernal uses Freed From the Mirror to create a mirror of a creature, he can increase the cost by an additional three motes to give the mirror a semblance of life. It can still be told apart from the original as normal for Freed From the Mirror and has no Charms, but otherwise has all the same statistics and mannerisms as the original, including whatever gear the original was carrying. If the original was attuned to an artifact, the animated mirror is attuned to its duplicate.
The mirror does not know any of the original's secrets or memories, but if engaged in ordinary conversation will attempt to respond suitably with information drawn from the Infernal's knowledge.
The animate mirror always follows the Infernal's orders without question and to the best of its ability. Animate mirrors are considered Extras and follow all appropriate rules. An animated mirror shatters like glass and crumbles to nothing when it dies or its duration ends.

Thousand Reflections Legion
Cost: 10m, 2wp; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Simple
Keywords: War, Sorcerous, Obvious, Combo-Ok
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Wake the Mirror
The Silver Forest's myriad reflections are all the army Szoreny will ever need. When the Infernal invokes this Charm, he creates dozens of mirror copies of himself, all animated and capable. These copies form up with the original as a unit of extras with a magnitude equal to the Infernal's Essence.
The copies are only extras and have no Charms, so they have a base Might of 1, but they are armed identically to the Infernal himself and attuned to their weapons (if necessary), which may increase their effective Might. The copies obey the Infernal's orders without question, so they have Drill 5 and need no relays in order to function as a cohesive unit. The unit has perfect morale and comes into existence in close formation.
Because so many doubles of the Infernal exist as part of the unit, all attempts to specifically target the Infernal with an attack suffer an external penalty equal to the unit's current Magnitude.

Image of Greatness Reflection
Cost: - (+5m,+1wp); Mins: Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Wake the Mirror
Szoreny is the only mirror great enough to hold the image of his brother, Isidros. Lesser images are but a paltry thing beside his visage. This Charm permanently enhances Freed From the Mirror. As with Wake the Mirror, this Charm allows an Infernal to animate any creature he mirrors using Freed From the Mirror at an increased cost. However, the cost is greater, an additional five motes and one willpower instead of three, and the effect is greater. An animated mirror enhanced by Image of Greatness Reflection is a heroic character, even if the original was not , and so is capable of stunts and has a full set of health levels. As with Wake the Mirror, animate mirrors are attuned to all the gear they possess (if necessary), are unflinchingly loyal and obedient to the Infernal, and do not know any of the original's secrets, nor do they have the original's Charms.

One Tree-Forest Shintai
Cost: 15m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 5; Type: Simple
Keywords: Form-Type, Sorcerous, Obvious
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Image of Greatness Reflection, Thousand Reflections Legion
Though Szoreny is the Silver Forest, he is only a single tree. He is both one and many. Upon activating this Charm, the Infernal steps out of himself, creating an additional self. Both copies of the Infernal are the Infernal. The new copy comes into being with copies of all the Infernal's mundane gear, but not his artifacts or other magical gear. The copies have separate health and Willpower tracks, but share Essence Pools and a Charm activation - if one has activated a Charm and has not yet recovered from using it, the other can only activate that Charm. As long as one copy is alive, the Infernal lives. When one copy dies, its body shatters like glass and dissipates to nothingness, the Charm's duration ends, and the other becomes the Infernal. If one copy is aware of something, both copies are aware. The additional copy lasts as long as the Infernal leaves the Essence committed to this Charm or until it is killed. If the Infernal chooses to uncommit the motes from this Charm, he chooses which copy shatters. With Essence 6 the Infernal can create a larger number of copies equal to Magnitude 1, which increase by one everytime the warlock raises his Essence, up to a maximum of 5.

Rooted In Reality
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-Ok
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None
Szoreny stood unchanged in the depths of the Wyld long before the foundations of Creation were first laid. When the Infernal activates this Charm, he becomes immune to any Shaping effect that would alter his mind, body, spirit, or traits in any way. This includes instantaneous Shaping effects and any new alterations caused by long-term Shaping effects. This also protects the Infernal from any undodgeable or unblockable Shaping attacks. This immunity remains for as long as the Infernal commits Essence to this Charm.
This Charm does not extend its benefits to any piece of the Infernal's gear, nor does it extend to other characters. If the Wyld transforms his best friend into an avalanche of knives that then engulfs the Infernal, this does not directly alter the Infernal through Shaping, nor is it an attack if the Infernal's sword is transformed into a cotton ball - simply an undesirable effect.

Silver Branch Shelter
Cost: - (+5m); Mins: Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Rooted In Reality
Szoreny watches over those he considers to be in his care, whether they wish his benevolence or not. This Charm permanently enhances its prerequisite. Whenever the Infernal activates Rooted In Reality, the Infernal can commit an additional five motes to extend this protection to all objects or creatures within (Essence x 5) yards. The Infernal can reflexively choose to exempt any number creatures or objects from his protection if he wishes and at any time. As long as the Infernal continues to commit the necessary motes, he can later re-extend protection from Shaping effects as a reflexive action.

Mirrored Intentions
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Social, Shaping, Combo-Ok
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Silver Branch Shelter
Like She Who Lives In Her Name, Szoreny values conformity, believing that he knows best how the world should work and seeking to impose those values upon those in his care. This Charm can enhance any attempt by the Infernal to create an Intimacy that the Infernal already has or erode an Intimacy that he lacks. If the attempt succeeds, it becomes unnatural mental influence that costs two Willpower to resist. If the target does not resist, the Intimacy is either instantly created or destroyed, as appropriate to the Infernal's attempt. For example, an Essence 3 Infernal whose only Intimacies are an Intimacy of Hatred towards Nexus and an Intimacy of Loyalty towards Szoreny could use this Charm to instantly create an Intimacy of Loyalty to Szoreny, instantly create an Intimacy of Hatred towards Nexus, and instantly destroy an Intimacy of Love towards Fluffy Bunnies, among other possibilities. This Charm does not work by persuading the target to believe differently than he does, but by literally changing the target's mind to be more in tune with the Infernal's own.
At Essence 4+, this Charm allows the Infernal to attack a mortal's Motivation directly, rather than an Intimacy. If successful, the victim must spend Willpower to resist if possible. If the victim cannot, the victim's Motivation immediately changes to match either the Infernal's own Motivation or the Infernal's Urge. The Infernal chooses which new Motivation to inflict.

In the Master's Image
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Shaping, Sorcerous, Training, Stackable
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Mirrored Intentions
Szoreny's views about how the world should be extend beyond just how people believe, encompassing even how they should look and act. This Charm allows the Infernal to change not just a target's mind, but allows him to change the target's body and soul to match his own.
The Infernal can affect a single character or a group of characters with this Charm, so long as he has influence over every character he wishes to change. He does not need to be present for the duration of the change, nor does he even need to see his targets to affect them, so long as he has influence over them. As with Eyes Like Mirrors Oversight, the Infernal has an instinctive knowledge of which characters he has influence over.
The Infernal rolls (Willpower + Integrity), adding a number of successes equal to his Essence but taking an external penalty equal to the highest Essence among his group of targets plus the Magnitude of the group as a whole.
If successful, the group slowly finds one of their traits moving towards that of the Infernal. The trait can be any Attribute the Infernal wishes. Over the course of the next week, each affected character either loses a dot in the chosen trait (if the Infernal's rating is lower than the affected character's current rating) or gains a dot in the chosen trait (if the Infernal's rating is higher than the character's own). The Infernal has no control over which way the change occurs, only over which trait is changed. A single character can have up to the Infernal's Essence in ongoing transformations at a single time.
If an affected target's traits improve, he goes into experience debt, as normal for training effects. If his trait values worsen, he is fully refunded the experience for the lost traits but cannot naturally raise the degraded trait for (Infernal's Essence) weeks.
As a target's Appearance nears the same trait value as the Infernal's own, the target looks more and more like the Infernal, even changing hair and eye color. When a target's Appearance is the same as the Infernal's own, the target looks strikingly similar, to the point where the two could be easily confused by those not closely familiar with one or the other. Such characters are treated as though having an artificial three-dot specialty in impersonating the Infernal. This specialty does not count against the character's number of specialties, but does not stack with other specialties. Only the greater bonus applies.
This Charm can be purchased up to three additional times at Essence 4+. Each purchase allows the Infernal to change one of the following in addition to Attributes: Abilities and Specialties, Virtues and Willpower, or Mutations.
If the Infernal selects Mutations, he can give an affected character a mutation he himself already has or take away a mutation that the Infernal's does not have as a Desecration effect. All Infernals are innately Creatures of Darkness, so all Infernals can and must give that mutation as a precursor before any other mutation can be given. An Infernal who knows Quicksilver Sap Transfusion can give the full effects of that Charm as a single Abomination with the same name.

Into the Looking Glass
Cost: 1wp; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Illusion, Combo-Ok
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Silver Branch Shelter
Within his borders, Szoreny rules the senses. This Charm allows the Infernal to create illusions on a grand scale. This Charm can only be activated if the Infernal already has Rooted In Reality and Silver Branch Shelter active, but once activated, the Infernal can create life-like images, sounds, and even smells anywhere within the area protected by Silver Branch Shelter at will. These images, sounds, and smells are ephemeral; they cannot be touched or tasted. These illusions can be of anything the Infernal can imagine and can be directed to change or move as a reflexive action.
These illusions are not perfect, however. A successful (Perception + Awareness) roll against a difficulty of the Infernal's Larceny will allow any character to tell an illusion from a real object.
If the Infernal moves far enough that an illusion falls outside the effect of his Silver Branch Shelter, they shatter like glass and vanish, as do the rest of the illusions created by this Charm when the duration ends.

Frozen Reflection Mirror
Cost: - (5m); Mins: Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Sorcerous
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Into the Looking Glass
The Silver Forest's phantoms endure ages at the whim of Szoreny. This Charm enhances its prerequisite, allowing the Infernal to create illusions that last indefinitely. After creating an illusion with Into the Looking Glass, the Infernal may choose to spend 5 motes (uncommitted) to cause the illusion to endure indefinitely as a Sorcerous effect. The illusion can even leave the area of the Silver Branch Shelter without shattering into nothing. Unlike most Sorcerous effects, the Infernal retains the ability to reflexively end the effect.
However, an enduring illusion can no longer be altered by the Infernal; he loses all ability to control them, only retaining the ability to end them. The Infernal can set a looping sequence of events for the illusion to follow if desired, but once set this cannot be changed.

Color-Music Melody
Cost: - (5m); Mins: Essence 5; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Into the Looking Glass
Within the Silver Forest, one sense can become another. This Charm enhances its prerequisite, allowing the Infernal to create more real illusions and even turn one sense into another.
With this Charm, illusions created by the Infernal can be felt and tasted. They are still very ephemeral - anything more than a casual touch will pass right through them - but the Infernal could hold an illusory feast and few could tell the difference until they found themselves still hungry afterward.
Additionally. the Infernal can commit an five motes to this Charm to allow him to switch any two senses within the area of his Silver Branch Shelter. He could switch sight with touch, causing people to feel a painting's beauty at a distance, or switch touch with hearing, turning a courtesan's caress into an exotic melody. This effect cannot be made enduring using Frozen Reflection Mirror.
If the Infernal chooses to switch sight with any other sense, creatures unused to navigating by that sense take a -2 external penalties on all rolls while they remain within the affected area.

False Truth Reflection
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 5; Type: Simple
Keywords: Sorcerous, Combo-Ok
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Color-Music Melody, Image of Greatness Reflection
Under Szoreny's branches, who can tell what is truth and what is illusion? An Infernal with this Charm can make his illusions fully real. This Charm can only be activated if the Infernal has Into the Looking Glass active. While this Charm lasts, any illusion made with Into the Looking Glass instead creates a real object, with all the properties that a normal, non-magical object of that sort would have. These objects can still be identified as being different from a normal object as per Into the Looking Glass, but that does not stop them from being just as solid. A solid object cannot be created in a location already occupied by another solid object.
Creatures created with this Charm are unmoving but lifelike statues unless the Infernal pays the cost to animate them using Wake the Mirror or Image of Greatness Reflection.
If the Infernal chooses to use objects created with this Charm to attack another, such as by creating a large anvil above an enemy or engulfing an opponent in a sudden inferno, the attack has the statistics listed below. His dice pool for the attack is (Wits + Larceny) and the Infernal whether the attack deals lethal or bashing damage at no penalty.
At the end of this Charm, all objects created by this Charm shatter like glass and crumble to nothing.
Conjured Object Attack: Speed 5, Accuracy +(Essence), Damage (Intelligence + Larceny)L or (Intelligence + Larceny)B, Defense +0, Rate (Essence), Range (Essence x 5) yards.
Conjured Object Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy +(Essence), Damage (Intelligence + Larceny)B, Defense +0, Rate 1, Range (Essence x 5) yards.

Mirror-Madness Malediction
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 5; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-Ok, Shaping, Social, Obvious, Stackable
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Color-Music Melody
Those who spend too much time within the Silver Forest risk their sanity. With this Charm, the Infernal can cause madness in a target with only a few words. The Infernal makes a social attack as part of using this Charm. That attack becomes unblockable. If successful, instead of having the normal effect that such a social attack would have, this Charm instead exerts a form of unnatural mental influence on the target that takes two Willpower to resist as the victim experiences a surge of vivid nonsense images, psychedelic lights, insane babbling noises, and other phenomena in a matter of moments.
If the victim fails to resist, the victim suffers a permanent derangement of the Infernal's choice. This derangement starts at only deficiency strength, but reapplication of this Charm on the victim can raise the strength of a derangement by one step, from deficiency to debility or from debility to deformity, instead of inflicting a new derangement. The Infernal chooses whether to inflict a new derangement or to strengthen an existing one.
This Charm is only Obvious to the victim.

Silver-Soothed Sanity
Cost: 10m, 2wp, 1 lhl; Mins: Essence 5; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-Ok
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Mirror-Madness Malediction, Bitter Medicine
What the Silver Forest gives, it can also take away. This Charm allows the Infernal to distill sanity into a small amount of his own blood. The resulting dose is not toxic. Instead, any being who consumes it will be cured of any and all derangements and will be freed on any Compulsion and Servitude effects it may be suffering. The Infernal's blood keeps for (Essence) days before spoiling. The creature who consumes it need not know what it is consuming, nor need it be willing.

Triumph of Stolen Glory
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: ???
Szoreny thrives in challenges, and he especially loves victory and success. He is also open-minded though, and doesn't care whether the victory is his - if it isn't, he will make it so. The Infernal may activate this Charm whenever he succeeds on a stunt that resonates with his target's motivation, so long as the target is present when he does. The Infernal rolls (Charisma + Relevant Ability used in the stunt), adding his Essence in extra successes. If the result exceeds the target's Dodge MDV, the target receives an immediate Intimacy of hateful envy towards the Infernal. If the result exceeds the Dodge MDV of any witnesses, they receive an immediate Emotion effect to openly admire and flatter the Infernal, even if they are enemies - they can't help but respect his great skill. Both of these effects are unnatural mental influence, and cost 2 WP to resist. In this way does Szoreny win himself beloved enemies to compete against.

Mirror Soul Gaze
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: One year
Prerequisites: ???
The eyes mirror the soul, and Szoreny knows much about both souls and mirrors. Gazing into the eyes of a dying person - God, Exalt or mortal doesn't matter - the Infernal absorbs the memories of that person. However, the absorption is imperfect at this level of mastery; rather than just obtain the person's memories, the Infernal absorbs the entire personality as a second mind. He may then switch back and forth between the two personalities at the cost of one mote, reflexively, though he has no control over what the "victim" does, nor does he acquire the "victims'" knowledge - that knowledge is accessible only to the victim's mind, now contained separately in the Infernals' body. The victim is aware of having died and having been absorbed by the Infernal.
Note that the victim's soul still passes on as normal - he may even leave a ghost. The memories of his personality and life are merely contained in the Infernals' second mind, believing itself to be the victim, somehow mystically transferred to the Infernal's body. The victim is unaware of anything the Infernal does while his own mind is in charge, experiencing this time as a mysterious unconsciousness. The Infernal is aware of everything the victim does, and may hike along in the back seat of his own body until time arises to take the reins once more.
A second purchase of this Charm at Essence 5 allows the Infernal to store stolen personalities indefinitely, without the need to commit motes.

Stolen Beauty Serenade
Cost: 4m or 0m; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Reflexive (Step 9)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Social
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: ???
Much like he copies the beauty around himself, reacting it in a million facets, so does Szoreny react beautiful words and convincing arguments. This Charm is a social counterattack carried out with the same dice pool as the attackers'. It can be used regardless of whether or not the opponents' social attack hit. Note that bonus successes are not part of a dice pool; the Infernal rolls the same amount of dice as the attacker, but must rely on his own Charms if he wishes to add successes as well.
If the Infernal actually repeats the opponents' argument, only changing a few key words to make the argument rebound upon the speaker, this Charm costs zero motes. Likewise, the Charm costs zero motes if the Infernal merely repeats the opponents' argument in a mocking singsong voice, though the effectiveness of such a counterattack is limited.

Stolen Beauty Orchestra
Cost: 15m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Social, Obvious
Duration: One scene
Prerequisites: ???
The Silver Forest knows from experience that many often persuade few, and his own fragmented mind is only held together by this principle. Hence, he has learned to use his own multitude of selves to persuade others. When an Infernal activates this Charm, he glows with a silvery light, and numerous reactions appear around him in dazzling brilliance, that then solidify into actual people. These humans are nothing but smoke and shadows, though, illusory individ-
uals pulled from Szoreny's exceptional memory. For the duration of this Charm, the Infernal is treated as a social unit with a Magnitude equal to (lowest of Infernal's Appearance or Permanent Essence). Furthermore, if the Infernal knows a persons Intimacies, he may choose to include these Intimacies as part of his social group when he creates it; if the target is unaware that the Intimacy is just a reaction, he is treated as having an Intimacy to the entire social group. The group's Policy is "loyalty to the Infernal", and its Loyalty is equal to its Magnitude minus one. The Charm is only Obvious on the tick when it is activated, and it is impossible to pierce the illusion without use of Essence sight (in which case it is automatic, as the mirror images have effectively Essence 0).

Mirror-Breaking Sympathy Strike
Cost: 4m (+1 wp); Mins: Essence 4; Type: Simple (Speed 4, DV -2)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious, Blasphemy
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: ???
Images are meaningful. Szoreny knows this, and is careful not to let anything catch his true appearance, for he knows that someone who possesses your likeness can do you terrible injury.
When the Infernal activates this Charm, he destroys the likeness of a target. This likeness may be a mirror holding her reflection, a statue or painting, a simple doll or an actual reflection stolen by means of Mirror's Edge. If the likeness isn't perfect (Storyteller's discretion, but actual mirror images always qualify, and only particularly well-made works of art qualify), the Infernal must pay a point of Willpower in addition to the four motes. The Infernal must be able to destroy the object with a feat of strength, unless it is a reflection stolen with Mirror's Edge, which the Infernal can destroy automatically.
If the target is within (Essence x 3) yards at the time of the Charm's activation, she suffers an attack that automatically hits bar perfect defenses, and inflicts (Infernal's Essence/2) levels of unsoakable aggravated damage. It is customary to supplement the Charm with maniacal laughter, but it isn't required.
Green Sun Princes find that this Charm is especially nasty when used in a Combo with Green Sun Nimbus Flare, and both Szoreny and Malfeas encourage this unholy union - Szoreny is closer to Malfeas than most other Yozi, after all.

Enemy-Keening Attitude
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK, Training
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Triumph of Stolen Glory
To activate this Charm, the Infernal must best a person in some way - how is irrelevant, it can be anything from winning a Gateway game to placing a particularly snide remark to the person in question, to defeating them in combat. Using Triumph of Stolen Glory on the person also qualies. The Infernal spends 10 motes and one Willpower, and gloats about his victory to the target. The player of the target then has two choices: resist the Charms' effects, which is automatic and costs nothing, or accept the Charms effects.
If the target accepts, he is immediately placed under a Training effect, capable of raising any one trait involved in the Infernals' victory to match that of the Infernal. The trait can be literally anything, an Attribute, an Ability, a Virtue, a Specialty, with the one exception being Permanent Essence - so long as it could
help the target win in a rematch against the Infernal. The training effect is instant, and occurs at any time the Infernal wishes during the next 24 hours, at which point the target immediately becomes aware of his newfound skill. This Charm cannot be used on the same target more than once per lunar month.
There is, however, a price tag to excellence. To accept the training effect, the target must also accept a Compulsion effect to immediately seek out and challenge the Infernal in a rematch, of the same kind as the challenge that triggered the Charm. Resisting this Compulsion effect costs 1 WP per scene, and ceases to affect the target once she has spent a total of 5 WP towards resisting it. Worse, if the target fails to defeat the Infernal, the Compulsion remains - it does not disappear until the target successfully bests the Infernal.
Some Infernals use this Charm to quickly teach their friends valuable lessons, engaging in pleasant training sessions. The Charm sees far greater use in luring an opponent into a trap, however.

Sight Of Turning Mirrors
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Reflexive (Step 1)
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: First Szoreny Excellency
This Charm may be activated in response to any attack made against the Infernal. His eyes flicker into colourless mirrors, as the images of his foes movements
are bounced within the mirrors of his mind until they are fully understood. For the rest of the scene, the warlock increases his DV pool by (Essence) dice against attacks made by that enemy using the same ability (for example, activating this Charm in response to an attack made using Archery would allow the Infernal to increase his DV against Archery-based attacks made by that opponent). This DV increase does apply against the attack that the Charm was used in response to, and this Charm may be used multiple times to cover additional enemies or abilities.
Of all the Yozis, Szoreny is the most able to understand the ebb and flow of the martial arts world, even if actual mastery is beyond him. Within his reflective
forest, demonic sifus meditate beneath toxic waterfalls, while the new princes of hell practice katas within dojos built from silver wood and mirrored paper. At Essence 3+, this Charm gains additional usage against martial artists. If this Charm is used in response to an attack that was enhanced by or made with a Martial Arts Charm from any Style (including a Form Charm), the Infernal increases his DV bonus by a further (Essence/2) dice against attacks enhanced by or made with Charms from the same Style (note that this bonus is applied to all such attacks, not just those made by the original attacker).
At Essence 4+, the Infernal may purchase this Charm a second time, making uses of it into an innate power rather than a Charm activation; doing so permanently shifts his eyes into organic mirrors, like quicksilver marbles. If he ever cries, his tears are beads of mercury, tainted with his own blood. In addition, if used against the same opponent multiple times in one scene, its cost is reduced by one mote with every subsequent use against that opponent, to a minimum cost of zero motes.

Perfected Reflection Of Motion
Cost: ; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: Sight Of Turning Mirrors
Szorenys humaniform jouten is a perfect mimic of everyone. It looks exactly like you, and your worst enemy, and your mother, and a million other people you've never met, all at once. It sometimes unsettles the other Yozis that the only being Szoreny never tries to look like is himself. This Charm permanently enhances its prerequisite. Upon activating that Charm, the warlock may increase its cost by one point of temporary Willpower. Doing so immediately informs him of his opponents rating in the ability used to make that attack, as well as any specialties they may have in that ability. For the rest of the scene, he may use his opponents ability rating in place of his own when making attacks with that ability (if he does so, he must also use their specialties in place of his own).
If the ability in question is Martial Arts, then the effects of the Infernals mimicry are increased. For as long as he uses his foes ability rating instead of his own, he may use any Martial Arts Charm that he has seen that character use this scene, as though he learned it through the Fiend anima power. He may even learn such Charms permanently as a Training eect (provided he could do so normally, at the usual xp cost), as though his opponent had been a patient teacher rather than a desperate rival.

Motonic Mirror Understanding
Cost: ; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: Sight Of Turning Mirrors
The flow of motes through Creation is familiar to Szoreny. He was there when
such processes were devised, after all, and was involved in the creation of many a
fundamental physical law equal and opposite reactions were a measure that he pushed
through almost on his own, supported mostly by Isidoros, who felt that everything
deserved a chance to punch back. This Charm permanently enhances its prerequisite,
allowing the Infernal to mimic and use Charms from any attacking ability he has paid
Willpower to learn the rating of, not just Martial Arts.
However, as an additional limitation he may only use Charms that the opponent
in question has actually used against him in this scene, and cannot learn them as a
Training eect (even if he could normally learn them as a Fiend). In addition, the
rst time in a scene he uses such a Charm against a character other than the one
he mimicked it from, he immediately gains a point of Limit. Charms mimicked in
this way always suer from Szorenys aesthetic Taint, sheening with quicksilver and
twisted glass.
If the attacker in question does not use Ability-based Charms, then the Infernal
may instead choose to learn their Strength or Dexterity rating, as well as gaining
access to their (used) Charms of that attribute, just as described above. He may not
mimic their attributes, however; that magic lies deeper in Szorenys tree.

Stolen Beauty Mask
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 2, Szoreny 0; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites:
Szoreny surrounds himself with beautiful things, and in himself reflects all
things beautiful. Those who learn his Charms share this false reflected beauty, though
at a cost. From the point where the Infernal purchases this Charm, his Appearance
score is automatically set to match the Appearance score of the most beautiful person
present, to a maximum of 5. The Infernal reflects the beauty of those he surrounds
himself with. Unfortunately, this eect cannot be turned o - so if surrounded by ugly
beggars, the Infernal is as ugly as they, unless there is someone else more beautiful
around that he can copy.
It is still possible to recognize the Infernal for who he is; the change in appearance
is subtle and nearly invisible to the naked eye. Even if the Infernal is normally
terrifyingly ugly, something about him just looks "just right", whenever he's in the
company of someone pretty.
A second purchase of this Charm at Essence 4 removes the maximum cap, allowing
the Infernal to shine along with even the Fair Folk. A third purchase at Essence 5 al-
lows him to "add" his own (natural, unmodied) Appearance score to the Appearance
provided by this Charm.
 
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Green Sun Princes' Time of Arrival
An Infernal to be considered ready to go to Malfeas must know Old Realm, have a dot in Socialize (even a Specialty in Demons work), and have spent at least a week training with a more experienced Infernal of the same Caste.

1) Yuno Gasai and Yukiteru arrive in Tokyo on foot while chased by a Wild Hunt.
2) Melody Wright takes a plane.
3) Maxwell and Charlie arrive by ship.
4) Emilio Agnelli arrives by train (after the 30th of October).
5) Nero and Roman arrives by cultist-owned plane.
6) George Tollenmach (and company) arrive by cultist-owned plane.


Neat effect and it promises to have a very useful charmtree build out of it, but I suggest that you change the fluff of it. There was a discussion in the General thread about the nature of stunts and pattern spiders and I have to agree with them that the in-universe explanation of the mechanics of stunts is unneeded and confusing. I would change it so that instead of entertaining the spiders and hoping they help you out, you instead use the mad power of Oramus to forcibly alter things your way, leaving them crying in dismay like other Infernal charms. Something like:

"The Pattern Spiders have faithfully worked the Loom of Fate for aeons without vacation, yet their mastery pales in comparison to the knowledge of those who built it. During the Time of Glory, the Primordials would often shred the delicate strands of fate for their own goals, uncaring of the ruined labor of beings so far beneath their notice.

When engaging in a game of pure chance that cannot influenced by an Ability roll without cheating, such as the use of Larceny in a game of dice, the Infernal may mimic his Primordial patrons in abusing the strands of Fate; so long as his action is accompanied by a relevant stunt that involves random chance, such as thunder punctuating a dramatic Performance or stumbling over a stone as part of a dodge, the Infernal rolls his permanent Essence plus the stunt rating. Success on the roll means the Infernal accomplishes his mutilation of Fate, altering the outcome of the game of chance in his favor. The more successes on the roll, the higher the prize the warlock receives."

I think this is more fitting for Infernals. Sidereals are the ones who work alongside fade, whereas Infernal charms like Loom-Snarling Deception abuse and break it instead.

I'd also give it the "Shaping" tag, since you're directly altering reality, and to give your opponent a chance to defend against an otherwise "I win" effect.
Here's the new version:

My Lucky Chance
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Shaping
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Pattern Spiders have faithfully worked the Loom of Fate for aeons without vacation, yet their mastery pales in comparison to the knowledge of those who built it. During the Time of Glory the Primordials would often shred the delicate strands of fate for their own goals, uncaring of the ruined labour of beings so far beneath their notice.

When engaging in a game of pure chance that cannot influenced by an Ability roll without cheating, such as the use of Larceny in a game of dice, the Infernal may mimic his Primordial patrons in abusing the strands of Fate; so long as his action is accompanied by a relevant stunt that involves random chance, such as a fly landing on the right card or stumbling over a stone while tossing a dice, the Infernal rolls his permanent Essence plus the stunt rating. Success on the roll means the Infernal accomplishes his mutilation of Fate, altering the outcome of the game of chance in his favor. The more successes on the roll, the higher the prize the warlock receives.
The Shaping effect of this Charm targets the game itself, not any individual target: as such it can be countered only by anti-Shaping effects that operate on a large scale.

I tried to not blatantly copy text from other Charms.
 
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Infiltration 1.3
[X] Contact the Knightmares

As much as youre sure Akio can keep the monster busy, the Knightmares have ranged options and can deal much more damage in a shorter time. Anti-tank rounds ought to do the trick.

"Q-1, R-1, prepare an ambush! An ally and I are being pursued through the main corridor by a, err, a heavy unit! All other Black Knights, get clear!" You yell into the radio.

Kallen responds quickly. "Roger that Zero! What's following you?"

The sound of the unspeakable nightmare roars loudly as you are about to respond, it's voice going over the radio.

"...What was that?"

"...proof that this world is neither sane or just. Just try to put it down quickly. It shouldn't have any ranged attacks, so keep your distance if you can. Position at these coordinates..." Your forces would defeat this Wyld tainted beast, even as it shatters their expectations. Better them that your life.

"Please tell me your goons can deal with that!" Anja half-asks, half-pleads.

"They have Knightmares!"

"That's great!"

There is a great crash, followed by the sound of heavy stomping.

"...provided they can get here quickly!" She screams before redoubling her efforts to run.

You gulp before addressing the Anuhles. "Let's split up: take a different route and bring the Goremaul where Akio and Milly are hiding!"

"Yes Boss!" When the corridor crosses with another they turn right, while you and Anja keep running forward.

You have reached the main door when the monster dog bursts through the one at the other end of the corridor. Not willing to risk it going after the Anuhles you take out your gun.

BANG!

"GRAAAAAHH!!"

"Congratulations genius!" Anja screams as you two run into the garden.

"Gotta protect my investments!" You are relieved to see the two Sutherlands crouched down behind the largest trees, rifles at the ready.

BOOM!

The monster dog literally flies outside, landing on all fours before standing up and roaring, blood flowing from where you hit it above the eye and hindering its vision.

The two Knightmares seem to hesitate, as if they can't believe what they are seeing.

"KILL THE FUCKING DOG!" You shout into the radio. "SHOOTING FIRST, SHOCK LATER!!!"

That does the trick: Kallen and Yoshitaka take aim and fire. The rounds designed to punch through a Knightmare's plating ravages the monster's flesh, tearing out huge chunks of flesh and, surprisingly, red blood. Shot from two different directions all over its body the monster howls in pain, moving forward on pure rage and force of will.

Then a burst of gunfire opens a hole into its head. Eyes rolling back it emits a final gurgle and falls down, finally dead. Miraculously not one of the Sakuradite crystal detonated.

Danger averted you finally let go of the tension, both hands on your knees as you try to get your breathing back under control. Meanwhile the Frame pilots and the other Black Knights come out and gather in front of the massive corpse, staring slack-jawed.

"What the fuck?" Tamaki is the first to vocally state what is on everyone's mind. "Is that a giant mutated poodle?"

"Yes Tamaki, its a giant mutated poodle." You sigh and straighten up, injecting venom into your words. "Marquees Anson turned out to be even more twisted than we thought. There is an actual bio-lab in the basement, full of many mutated creatures like this one, though luckily not as large."

"That freak!" Kallen punches her other hand's palm. "Where is he? I'll give him a piece of my mind."

You gesture to the corpse. "Inside the mutt's stomach. He thought to use it as a weapon, but overestimated its loyalty."

Many of the Black Knights gulp, their faces ashen. "Is something like this even possible?"

"Evidently. Though I can imagine many better uses for science than…this." You scoff. "But enough of that. I have the evidence of the Marquess's crimes, but someone has to have heard the shots: we probably don't have much time. The experiments within are dangerous, we can't risk them falling into Britannia's hands. Tamaki!" You point at the male redhead. "Take someone and set the building on fire."

"Sure!" He grins. "Heard the man? Bring the gasoline you slackers!"

"Ohgi. Take the rest of the men and paint the Black Knight's symbol, a list of the Marquess's crimes and anti-Britannia slogans on the walls outside the villa as we planned, but add 'Illegal Bio-Engineering', 'Human Experimentation', and 'Playing God' to the list of crimes. Do it as quickly as you are able."

"Yes Zero." He replies resolute.

"Kallen, Yoshitaka: use the Sutherlands to drag the monster's remains over to the walls for display."

"Alright Zero." The half-Britannian nods before she seems to remember something. "Who was the woman that was with you? The ally you mentioned? And where is she now?"

Now that you think about it, Anja is nowhere to be seen. Where did she go?

'She didn't stop running even when the mutt dropped dead.' Seyrun informs you. 'At this point who knows where she is.'

Regrettable. She could have been a chance to find out how the Lunars' presence in Japan is organized. "Yes: she said she was a foreign spy investigating Anson's activities, and I believe her." You look around before shaking your head. "She must have ended her mission. Nonetheless she wasn't with Britannia, of that I am sure."

"Uh, alright then. Let's get to work." Yoshitaka mutters, turning around to reach his Knightmare.

"Wait a moment." You stop him and Kallen, hit by a sudden idea. "Those crystals in the monster's body...they're Sakuradite. Use the insulated gloves for Knightmare maintenance to take out a few and put them into a sealed box. I want to find out how it was possible for the Sakuradite to be used like that."

They nod before getting to work. Once you're alone you gesture with your finger for one of the still dematerialized Anuhles to come closer. "There were humans in the lab, or something close enough. Go there and extricate any humanoids who seem like they might be saved: if they breathe, they're valid targets. Just wrap them in silk cocoons for now and discreetly get them out. However, prioritize your own escape if needed. Don't you dare die in the fire." You gesture to the villa. "Meanwhile two of you will remain nearby to watch the place and see if anyone discovers the bio-lab during the investigations of what happened. If you can either retrieve or destroy any data found in that time do it, but don't take unnecessary risks to do so. If you can't and someone discovers something, then tail them to find out where the data went."

They give a signal of understanding before skittering off.

You sigh again. 'This...was so weird.'

"In Malfeas, it's a Moonday."

'Lovely.'

{====}​

"Zero! You sneaky bastard!" Akio greets you with a large smile, the Goremaul resting on his shoulder. "I saw everything! Why didn't you call me? That would have been so cool!"

"Was that really a giant poodle?" Milly asks with a crooked smile.

"Yes. Yes it was." You massage your forehead. "Sorry Akio, I wanted to see if my men were competent enough. As an alternative, you can keep the hammer if you want."

"If I want? Man, this thing is too cool! Of course I want it!" He swings it before frowning. "But it's strange: it feels like something is missing, and I don't know what..."

"It's an artifact, you need to attune to it first." You explain.

He stares blankly at you.

"...Just pushes Essence into the hammer and leave it there."

He goes back to smiling. "Now why didn't you say so from the start?"

'Because I forgot how stupid you are!' You think in irritation. Just then the Anuhles that you sent to the lab return. Empty-handed. Your face turns blank. "No one?"

"No one." Cuabuhm confirms. "They were all dead, unlike the other beasts. If you ask me, whatever they did is lethal to humans."

You sneer before clicking your tongue in disgust. Ignoring everything else you walk to the edge and look down, your Exalted sight allowing you to see the burning villa of the late Marquess Anson, the firemen futilely trying to put out the fire.

'Charles Vi Britannia. Your kingdom is a rotting nest of poisonous, decadent vipers. I don't know if it was because of you or if it was already like this before you sit on the throne-'

"But I swear! Just like I did seven years ago!" You shout to the sky. "I WILL! DESTROY! BRITANNIA!!!"

{====}​

The news of the attack at the Anson Villa spread on the web like wildfire not even a hour after the fact. Despite the work of Britannia's censorship machine the macabre photos of the surrounding walls taken by bystanders are the subjects of constant debate, opinions ranging from simple fakes to conspiracy plots.

And then, exactly an hour and ten minutes after the fact, the most famous forums and major news stations received an anonymous file containing incredibly accurate photos, digital proofs that Marquess Anson was guilty of numerous crimes, bribery of the police among them, and a video:

To all who are watching this. Fear us, or rally behind us as you see fit! We are the Black Knights!


We of the Black Knights stand with all those who have no weapons to wield...regardless of whether they be Japanese, Britannians or any other nationality! Marquess Gregory Anson has been found guilty of crimes not only against the law, but human rights themselves! He sought to hide from judgement with money and even dared to play God; therefore he has been punished!


I am Zero! The Leader of the Black Knights! I will not repudiate battle on a fair and level field, but neither will I tolerate a one-sided massacre of the weak by the strong. The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed! Wherever oppressors abuse their power by attacking those who are powerless, we shall appear again, no matter how mighty or formidable our foe may be!

Those of you with power, fear us! Those of you without it, rally behind us! We, the Black Knights, shall be the ones who stand in judgment of this world!

Unknown to the citizens of Area Eleven, the same file was sent to all the Areas, the Homeland and every other nation of the world.

{====}​

Inside a castle on the border of France and Germany, headquarters of the W-0 Unit, a group of people stare with wide eyes at the video plays on the screen.

"Is this the guy we are supposed to help?" Anna Clément asks.

Leila can only nod silently.

"People with guts like him, they're either madmen or revolutionaries." Claus Warwick comments with an intrigued tone. "Seeing how this was sent all over the world, I'm betting on the latter."

Akito is grinning like a shark that smelled blood, such that the other pilots and the rest of the staff is giving him a wide berth.

"Commander! Reporting!" Oscar Hamel walks into the room and makes a military salute. "It has been confirmed by General Gene Smilas. We're going to Area Eleven!"

Akito erupts into a cruel laugh.

{====}​

"There isn't even a single mention of me. Meanies." Anja pouts.

"Considering your contribution, or more precisely lack of it, I can't fault them." The cat mercilessly comments. "At least the Wyld trafficking has ended."

He rests his head on his paws, tail moving lazily. "Zero, huh? I wonder..."

{====}​

"As expected of Lelouch-sama!" Kaguya exclaims with stars in her eyes.

{====}​

"So Sakuradite can absorb and replicate Wyld energies?" Rakshata reads the e-mail before looking back at the screen. "Well, I suppose it's something worth looking into."

{====}​

"...Is that a giant poodle?"

"Apparently."

"Did you-"

"No. Even if I wanted them to make me a giant monster, I wouldn't ask for it to be a poodle of all things."

"So you don't want a giant monster?"

"...It's an idea worth considering. I will ask Second if First can think of something."

{====}​

2nd September

"Lelouch?"

"Quiet!" You whisper to Suzaku. "What do you want?"

"What, exactly, are we doing here?" He whispers back, Rivalz nodding to express his own interest in the answer to said query.

"It's simple." You peek around a corner, looking out for witnesses. "My Fan-Club is using one of the computers in the Science Lab to host their damnable site. We are going to find and purge it of the taint. If that doesn't work you, Suzaku, will kick it until it stops spreading its blasphemies."

"...Lelouch. We've been friends for e- er, some amount of time now. So believe me when I say I am seriously worried for your mental hea-"

"Cease your prattle!" You command. "The road is clear. Onward!" You stand up and run forwards, forcing your friends to go after you.

"Oh boy. So it finally happened." Rivalz groans. "The President infected Lelouch with the Milly Virus!"

Suzaku wonders if it isn't best to ask for a transfer. Sure the episodes of bullying stopped since Lelouch came back...but every day after that has just turned out weirder and weirder.
Gained:

Infamy (Britannia): O
====

Ashford 2 and Infiltration: Complete!

+4 Xp for starting the legend of the Black Knights
+5 Xp for completing the Scene
+1 Xp for making your first steps into becoming a Primordial 2.0
+1 Xp for starting the Black Knights' legend with a Bang!
+1 Xp for your first looting of the corpse of a dead enemy
+12 Xp for active participation

====

There is no necessary voting this time. Instead there will be a timeskip of:

Eight Days

To complete the following plan:

Ebon Dragon Charms

Life-Blighting Emptiness Attack (8 XP, 3 Days)

Heretical Charms

Fourth-Soul Devil Domain (9 XP, 3 Weeks)

Malfeas Charms

Hardened Devil Body (10 XP, 4 Days)
Insignificant Embers Intuition (10 XP, 4 Days)

Abilities

Occult - one dot (3 XP, 5 Days)

Lelouch will also continue training with the Survival Game Club, training the following:

Dexterity
Dodge
Athletics
Resistance
Firearms


But you can vote to change it and have Lelouch train in something else. Just use "[X]" followed by your plan.

Finally, instead of an Interlude there will be a series of scenes where Lelouch meeting the oncoming Infernals, which will be written together with said Infernal's creator.

At the end of the eight days the rest of Lelouch's Coven will arrive in Japan. Stay tuned for it!
 
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Love Despite Death (GSP Eila Skye by veekie)
Feeling pretty unsatisfied with the writing(kind of wooden), but up she goes since I'm out of free time.

---
Eila was a soldier. A bodyguard to be precise, one who could travel as part of her brother's entourage unremarked and provide a final line of defense, one which could not be infiltrated or subverted.

She had failed.

Eila struggled beneath the rubble, staring blankly at the burning ruins of the room where Alex had just gone in alone to negotiate with the dissident leaders. He is dead. Soon she would be too, numb below the waist, and the fallen wall beyond her strength to lift, and the locals were like as not to blame her for what happened to their leaders.

The sounds of burning approach, as a tentacled mass of snakes and spiders slinks into view, shaking off clinging flames as it approaches her where she lay helpless. Eila pulls out her knife from where she lay pinned, determined to make a last stand, broken spine or not, "Whatever you are, I'm not going to just give up. Come at me monster. Do your worst"

The monster paused as the skittering and churning writhed where it stood, watching the light glint off her knife, "Spirited girl. I am not here to slay you, but to tell you the truth, and to make you an offer."

At her wary glare, the creature sighs and continues, "Your loyalty is commendable, but misplaced. Know you this, your lords have made your brother an example, his death allowing them to justify hunting down every one of the brave fools who continue to resist their rule, and to unite the resistance under the most aggressive leaders who remain while the ones who are most needed lie dead. The bomb was Britannian, as was the one who carried it to it's end."

"Impossible. They would never stoop to..."

"You would not live to learn otherwise, Eila. Unless, you take up my Lady Adorjan's offer. Life, power, revenge. Freedom."

"I'll take it."

The shroud of vermin falls away as a large purple lizard leapt for her. And then all was fire.

---

Eila, no.

"They offered me freedoom to pursue my wishes. Alex lives. I'm going with him."

The Yozis would not be pleased to see you working alongside the dead.

"I. Don't. Care. They want me, they've GOT to get Alex on their side first. I promised I'm with him, whatever happens."

He doesn't even answer to that name anymore!

Character Sheet:
Name: Eila Skye
Age: 14
Motivation: To save those who would be trampled by schemes they do not know.
Urge: Bring love to the hearts of the mighty for those they would ruin.
Caste: Slayer
Patron: Adorjan
Favored: Adorjan
Anima Banner:
A Knightmare of brass and black steel.
Coadjutor Mutation: Hair rustles faintly in the wind.

Intimacies:
-Last Gasp of Salvation(Abyssal Exalted, Ex(?)-Brother) - Familial Love, Obsession.
-Terrorists - Grudge
-Britannia - Betrayed Loyalty
-Reflective surfaces(Coadjutor) - Fascination
-Ghosts - Protectiveness

Attributes:
-Strength 3 Dexterity 5 Stamina 3
-Intelligence 1 Wits 3 Perception 3
-Charisma 4 Manipulation 1 Appearance 4

Caste Abilities:
-Archery 1
-Martial Arts 1
-Melee 3
-Thrown
-War 1

Favored Abilities:
-Awareness 1
-Dodge 3
-Performance 3
-Ride 1
-Socialize 1

Non-Favored Abilities:
-Athletics 2
-Integrity 3
-Lore 1
-Presence 3
-Resistance 2
-Stealth 2

Backgrounds: /7
Ally(Last Gasp of Salvation - Moonshadow Abyssal) 3
Artifact(Twin Jade Daiklaves) 2
Backing(Adorjan) 1
Cult 1
Influence(Adorjan) 1
Past Life 1
Unwoven Coadjutor(Amphelisia, Resistance(poison)) 2

Essence: 3
Willpower: 8
Virtues:
Compassion 5
Conviction 3
Temperance 1
Valor 1

Charms:
11/10
First Malfeas Excellency
Second Malfeas Excellency
Malfeas Mythos Exultant
Malfeas Inevitability Technique
Malfeas World-Shapng Cosmogony

Insignificant Embers Intuition
Green Sun Nimbus Flare

By Pain Reforged
Nightmare Fugue Vigilance
Crowned With Fury

First Adorjan Excellency
Second Adorjan Excellency
Adorjan Mythos Exultant
Adorjan Inevitability Technique
Adorjan World-Shapng Cosmogony

Wind Born Stride
Death Dealing Journey
Who Strikes the Wind?

Sacred Kamilla's Inhalation
Freedom Lets Go
Tragic Love Amusement

BP 15/15
E3 7
Extra Charm 4
Compassion +1 3
Past Life 1 1
Picture

Yes, she defected to the Neverborn. Or rather, she defected to a specific Abyssal...
 
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The many truths that lie behind a name (GSP Ithuriel by forginblade)
I ran this Defiler past @Alexander89 and got his approval. So enjoy.

The many truths that lie behind a name

Outskirts of Munich, Germany, ???? ????, ????

Eliza was running back and forth between Ronald Feuerbahn's bedchambers and the kitchen as she had been doing for the past three hours. The only thing that occasionally changed were the destination and the task at hand. Right now she was both trying to change the silk coverings of sir Feuerbahn's bed and pillow as well as help the rest of the staff with setting up the menu for the night, because of course the maid that had only been working in the mansion for the past three months would know who was invited to dine with the esteemed speaker of the council of forty for this night and what all their allergies and other preferences would be. No wonder the E.U. is so big on immigration if their own people are so incompetent. And then they had the nerve to act all superior to the 'lowly Kenyan' as they called her behind her back.

And if that cheapskate of a master would just hire enough household servants that the ridiculously opulent mansion would not be staffed with a skeleton crew, her work load might just become something other than 'atrociously overloaded'.

Ah well, if nothing else, at least she wouldn't have to exercise to maintain her, dare she say, splendid figure. And the pay was good, pity about the dental plan, though.

Up the stairs, through the hallway, round the corner, obligatory gossiping with the other two maids, get a dressing down by the head of the household for wasting time, set the dinner table for 12, bring in the platters, be invisible to the guests, up, down, up, down.

As always, it was a minor miracle that her workload was finished by 23:00 and she hadn't collapsed into a pitiful pile of sadness and exhaustion.

Someone, probably Françoise, hadn't closed one of the faucets properly as Eliza could hear a dripping sound echo throughout the mansion. It seemed to come from sir Feuerbahn's private bathroom (and oh boy, wouldn't that be the juiciest piece of gossip to come out this week), so with a grunt the young maid got back up from the chair she had sitting on and made her way to the origin of the sound. If she didn't, the noise would probably keep her up all night.

Slowly she made her way up the stairs, the dripping sound steadily becoming louder and louder. The door to sir Feuerbahn's chambers was slightly open and no suspicious creaking noises made it relatively safe for Eliza's job to enter. Nevertheless, she knocked first.

"Sir Feuerbahn, are you in there? There is just a minor matter I need to attend to before retiring for the night. Would it be alright for me to enter?"

There was no response, which meant that either sir Feuerbahn didn't care or he wasn't inside. Either way Eliza would just quickly deal with the leaking faucet and get to bed.

Like a mouse she sneaked through the bedchamber and without as much as a peep, she opened the mahogany door to her master's private bathroom.

He was lying there, hanging over the bath tub. It reminded Eliza a bit of the few times she had caught her father spewing the contents of his stomach out after a night of boozing, but the color was off. It wasn't supposed to be so red.

The poor maid tried to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. She tried to turn around, but instead felt blood and gastric acid come down on her skirt and stockings like a torrent.

A knife was planted up to the hilt in her abdomen, her spleen cleaved in half. A knife she was holding firmly, even as her belly was split apart.

Eliza collapsed on the floor. She could feel that her voice box was torn apart. From the corner of her eyes she saw something: small, clad in black, brown hair. A boy?

Her stomach hurt so mu-

xXx
Slums of Vientiane, Laos, ???? ????, ????

The stabbing pains of his stomach was a very familiar sensation for this particular beggar. They always came about a day after he had had a filling meal, usually at the expense of some rich tourist's misplaced sense of pity.

The market place was buzzing around with flies and other insects and nobody even bothered to swat them away. It was too hot for any of that nonsense and all the locals had become accustomed to the winged cretins, including this forgettable hobo.

As always it was loud, every fishmonger and farmer was trying to talk over one another to grab the attention of whoever had any money at the market place. The cacophony was like music to his ears.

His eye was dawn to a forgotten corner of one of the small streets that were so common to this part of the city. An apple, half-eaten yet entirely forgotten, laid there in some sand, and with no animal droppings or ants anywhere around it.

Lucky.

Making sure nobody was paying attention to him, the beggar picked up the half-eaten apple and, after dusting off some of the sand on it, took a bite out of it.

"Blegh."

And immediately spat it out again.

"Of course it had to be spoile-"

xXx
????, ????, ???? ????, ????

He looked up from his meal, small pieces of maggot filled flesh still stuck to his incisors.

Frozen water was piling up on his body and snout, his fur bristling from the cold. The pack was scattered across the mountain.

They were being hunted. The frost had scattered them, the pups away from the bitches and sires, the strong from the weak. The humans had left the mountain some hours ago, taking with them their horrible smelling ash and sulfur.

The mountain was hurt and its blood was flowing freely through the trees and plains and rocky outcrops. The blood was busy restoring life where the fire of man had taken it without distinction. Yet, that wasn't all the mountain's blood was doing. Blood's fire was wreaking havoc in the small human den at the foot of the mountain, driving the ignorant hind walkers away from the mountain.

The wind was hunting him and his pack. He knew what happened to those who found themselves on the being hunted end of the spectrum when it came to the mountain's blood made manifest.

He didn't know why, but the mountain had decreed that the pack would not live to see the next moon, and he, as alpha, had accepted the mountain's cruel mercy. Thus he didn't try to escape the mountain's wrath or try to win its favor by attacking the humans on his own.

Thus he was enjoying a last meal, one that he hadn't even hunted himself, as if he were some kind of carrion eater. It was a nice experience.

The wind had found him. It lumbered through the gnarly woods behind him. The wind had come to take his life.

The wind was a bear. Bigger than a bear as a bear is bigger than a rabbit. If it was flesh and blood as opposed to gale and cyclone, he would have had such joy in taking down a foe like this.

In fact, why not?

He leapt at the wind.

What was the mountain going to do, kill him harder?

-

xXx
Geass Order Headquarters, China, 6th of November, 2017 a.t.b.

With a mental lurch he was brought back from the sinister depths of his own mind.

He was in a room, the ceiling painted green with small pieces of paint seemingly flaking off of it. The windows... no he was wrong. The ceiling was stark white, not the slightest bit of dirt or dust to be found. He didn't know how long it had been since he once more thought that he was himself instead of somebody else, somebody already dead. It could have been hours, it could have been days. The only constant, the one who could unerringly bring him back to the surface of the chaos that was his mind was, was...who again?

He knew what he didn't know, it was just buried under several decades of sediment. He closed his eyes, took several deep breaths and once he felt that his mind was calm and whole again, he opened them once more.

The room he was in wouldn't have looked out of place in a hospital, pastel colors everywhere, a large window, with railing oh so subtly placed on the outside, allowing a huge amount of sunlight in, a stunning lack of personal decoration and so on and so forth.

He was lying on a bed with metal railing. Forget hospital, this was starting to look more and more like a mental institution. Good thing that he wasn't chained to the bed then.

To the side was a small table, with a plate resting on it, a meat dish elegantly displayed on it. The cutlery looked like something belonging in some posh aristocrat's mansion as opposed to, wherever he was.

It was then he noticed the other person in the room.

A young boy, or maybe a girl who had yet to show the first signs of puberty, maybe ten or twelve years old.

Ba-thump

A large forehead, with blond hair reaching all the way down to his knees.

Ba-thump

Why was he...?

Ba-thump

The sight of the boy made him see red. Like the hound whose life he had been experiencing just before, the man leapt out of the bed and, with practiced ease, snatched the knife from the small table mid-leap.

By the time the child even noticed the man's attack, he was already on top of the child, the serrated knife easily piercing through the boy's heart. With a single spasm the boy's body went limp, yet the man continued his assault.

He hacked into the boy's slim throat several times, until pieces of his larynx had flown all the way to his still feet and chips of his collar bone were stuck in the man's hair from the sheer force with which his blows had struck the boy.

The mutilated sight just angered him more.

The man went to town on the child's limbs. It wasn't enough for the knife to tear through muscle and ligament, no, the man was even slamming the now dulled tip of the knife into the boy's humerus after having mauled every one of his limbs and digits.

And still his rage was left unsatisfied.

His disfiguring of the boy's body seemed to go on for forever, but eventually, maybe even only from exhaustion, the man stopped and dropped the bent and shattered remains of the knife on the tiled floor.

And just like that it was as if all the rage that had consumed him just...vanished. In some distant corner of his mind, the man knew that his murderous outburst was justified...somehow.

When the man noticed the blood and gore splatters moving towards the boy's corpse he had already been punched in the nose.

"I would say I was disappointed in your behavior, Ithuriel, but I can't say that your little outburst is unexpected, given how often this has happened now." Even as he was clutching his nose, the newly named Ithuriel saw how every drop of blood and other small body parts flew back into the boy's rising corpse, leaving the room immaculate, the only signs of his violent attack the holes and tears in the boy's somewhat simple clothes.

"I mean, I already made sure to not wear my usual getup when visiting you after the third or so time this happened, but I still thought you could be trusted to have solid food around you without playing around." The boy stood up as if nothing had happened.

Ithuriel finally recognized the boy as V.V., the immortal preteen who had initially approached him with the offer of handing him the power of Geass in return for using it for the Geass Order's benefit. The one who had pushed him to use that power, regardless of the consequences. The one who had deliberately withheld any warning on what his fate could be like if he kept wantonly using his Geass. The one who had fucking admitted to his face, during one of his rare lucid moments, that he preferred Ithuriel in his near catatonic state than when the man could still call his mind and soul his own.

"Well, guess you'll just have to subsist on nothing more than cold soup and some bread for the foreseeable future."

And every time, when his thoughts are jumbled to hell and back from suddenly being pulled back to the forefront, it ends exactly like that. Rage-induced murder followed by vicious mocking and then...

His thoughts were forcefully brought to a halt when V.V.'s foot came crashing relentlessly against Ithuriel's sternum, forcing the air out of his lungs. Wheezing like his life depended on it, Ithuriel found himself on his back, the childish Code bearer looming over him. It was clear from the look on V.V.'s face that he was not in the mood to be ignored.

"And what are you scheming this time, my dear pitiable Ithuriel? You're nowhere near powerful or experienced enough to steal my Code away from me, so what other measure could there possibly be that could 'free' you from your oh so wretched existence? Does this," and he stomped on Ithuriel's chest for emphasis, "poor, unknowing soul still believe that he would find a miraculous cure to his existence if he attains a second Geass from my cells?

"Never forget, Ithuriel. You live for my sake," and he kicked him against the chin, "your state of mind is decided by me and me alone and your Geass, that wonderful ability of yours, exists for my ends. There is not so much as a shred of your being that doesn't belong to me, completely and utterly. You are my precious little backdoor into the World of C after all. Don't forget to eat you dinner and I'll be sure to fill the room with an airborne anesthetic when it's bed time." And with a final kick to the chin V.V. left the room, leaving a shivering Ithuriel behind.

And at the end, every time without fail, came the shivered crying and the horrified realization: that he didn't know when he would be gone to the world.

Would it be after fifteen minutes that his body would be possessed by one of the deceased and whatever was left of his mind stuck in foreign memories? Maybe he would have a total of ninety minutes to spend in fear before V.V.'s 'benediction' expired.

Attempts to kill himself never succeeded and he didn't even know if it was because he was too afraid to ever go through with it, his own Geass somehow preventing him from committing suicide or if V.V. had a team of professional surgeons on standby, just to make sure that he would recover from any such attempts.

And he couldn't even starve himself to death. With the way his Geass worked even feeling a bit peckish would be enough to summon a spirit associated with hunger who would gladly devour the food in front of him, even if he had to lick it off the walls.

He couldn't escape this hell, no matter what he tried. V.V. was right, his body just wasn't ready to receive a Code of any kind and injecting himself with a Code Bearer's cells would just mean that he would die earlier.

Killing the shrimp wasn't going to happen so all he could do was lie there and wonder which second would be the one where he would be gone again.

He couldn't help it anymore. He cried.

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes? And by that I mean that you need sore eyes to stay in the same room as you, because you look like shit."

The one who had spoken up was an averagely looking man who could have been anything between 35 and 60 years of age. From the door all the way to where the newcomer stood there were tiny, black drops all over the tiled floor. So tiny, that if the tiles weren't as white as the rest of the room he would have never noticed.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?"

"If you must know, I am a demon who was summoned from the depths of Malfeas, or hell if you prefer. Quite frankly my name is unimportant, it's just a series of syllables as far as I am concerned." The disguised demon didn't give Ithuriel the chance to interject and continued. "Now that second question of yours is far more interesting, for I am of the race that is known as the collectors of rarities and in the pursuit of my duties I have breached the homes and sanctuaries of even the most paranoid and prudent of gods and Malfean citizens. Like some pathetic variations on the most standard and orthodox of demon wards could keep someone of my renown out."

Ithuriel's first instinct was to call the stranger out on his bullshit, but he knew better than to dismiss a claim like that out of hand. Immortal Code bearers, Geass and his own near constant connection with the so called World of C would sound equally ridiculous to an outsider. Not to mention that from the past lives that he had experienced there were quite a few occultists who had dabbled in demon summoning, so it wasn't entirely impossible. Whether or not the man was a demon could be discussed at a later date, for now he had something to distract himself from his own fatalistic thoughts.

"If your name is so meaningless to you what would be the harm in telling me it? And what would a 'demon summoned from the depths of Malfeas' need from a place like this?"

"I have come here bearing the seed of a great power, which guided me to this room. It is the wish of the Yozi, who are both the masters and the realm of Malfeas simultaneously, that this power be granted to a human who would help them escape from the chains that the traitorous gods had cast on them at the end of their rebellion. You will cast away all your earthly attachments and physical idiosyncrasies and be blessed by far greater powers, those shaped in the image of the creators of the world, all that ever was and all that ever will be.

"My name is Asaph and should you wish to be reborn, both physically and spiritually, in the service of the Yozi, I must ask you your name as well."

"By 'cast away your earthly attachments' and 'be reborn physically', do you mean to tell me that agreeing to this would release me from my Geass?"

"If this Geass is a power intrinsic to your current existence, then yes. But none of that matters if you don't accept the Yozi's offer."

He knew what Asaph meant by that.

"My name is-" Henry Michael Yohanna Eliza Adil Percy Idan Raphael Brahmin Zygmunt Yitzchak Mordechai Avi Jules Ayala Rivka Aina Albert Hershel Benedict Shana Todd Frederic

"I-I mean that I am called..." Senka Itzal Yoachim Gertrude Bertrand Bogdan Edmund Gosia Janusz Iva Dag Egil Erna Chava Sarnai Haris Gerel Yasir Firuz Gurlau

He had too many names. He didn't know which memories belonged to those centuries dead and which belonged to his current life. If he just closed his eyes he could still taste exotic delicacies from every part of the world, could still feel the sharp sting of swords and crossbow bolts in his belly and limbs. Who was to say what was right and what was not. Fuck, for all he knew he wasn't even Brittanian or male, he wouldn't put it past V.V. to have made him undergo plastic surgery just to fuck with his mind even more.

He even had names that couldn't be pronounced, names that were nothing more than a series of scents and subtle body movements. He had names that required fur standing up in certain ways to be pronounced, for crying out loud.

There was only one name that he could most definitely associate with his current self and he loathed it from the very depths of his soul.

It was the one, pitiful piece of resistance that he could offer against V.V., to never say the name he had christened him with out loud and it seemed that to be rid of his influence and that of the Geass he would have to break that one silent vow.

"I am Ithuriel."

Asaph smiled and a tiny membrane slipped off his being, taking his human form with it. A black feathered, man sized salamander grinned back at him.

"Excellent. Now I should probably put these at the side before starting the chrysalis formation. Like I said, repossessing items is what I do." And with that said the Gethin put two handguns on the floor, alongside a set of clothes and a briefcase. Ithuriel decided not to question where the demon had been keeping all of that.

Then Asaph turned around, opened his mouth impossibly far and it all went dark for the soon to be former mortal.

xXx
It was with no small amount of relief that the newest Defiler burst out of the Chrysalis Grotesque. The woman of 10000, sorry 9997, giant orbs was rather intimidating, and that was without even going into some of the things she said about her plans for him or her opinion of mankind as a whole.

Without saying a word Ithuriel got dressed, holstered the guns on his belt, stashed the ammo in the various pockets of his new pants, shirt and jacket and grabbed the briefcase.

'Excellent, Ithuriel of the Defiler caste. It is always heartening to see those new to our standing in life be so full of enthusiasm in learning all they can. And yes, I am Asaph and have taken residence in your mind to be your guide for the tasks that stand before you. Incidentally, the briefcase is filled with documents and flash drives containing a stupendous amount of information gathered of this Order. Lord Octavian's orders, so do make sure this information reaches the Marshal of the Althing Infernal.

'Just to make sure, do you know the layout of this building? I should have sent the information directly to your mind, but I have to be sure.'

"Yes, Asaph, the information is there. Also, in the future, could you not do that? I've got some bad experiences with information randomly popping up in my head."

So he was about ten meters below ground in the middle of a rocky desert in China, said ten meters being pure bedrock by the way (the sunlight that streamed into his room must have been fake), and he had to make his way to Japan in a short amount of time. And Asaph had even included the locations of all cameras in the building. Convenient.

Barely ten minutes went by and Ithuriel had already found the exit, without having once crossed paths with anybody. It helped that his room was near to said exit, but he still felt somewhat insulted that V.V. used such lackluster security to keep his supposed 'backdoor into Lethe' safe from intruders and what not.

Straining his eyes and feeling a trickle of power seep into them he noticed a diminutive figure singing on top of a decently sized boulder. An instinct welled up inside Ithuriel and suddenly he knew what to do.

"What are you?"

The Least God of the rock evidently heard him and with all its might it replied.

"I am the boulder that stands vigilant against the sun's rays and the winds knives."

"What are you?"

The question hit the god like a supersonic brick. It took a moment to collect its thoughts and, surprisingly without a stammer, replied once more.

"I am whatever you wish for me to be. I am yours to command."

"You are a bicycle, my steed that will take me across the desert, all the way to where the sea meets the land." And thus, with another surge of Essence it came to be.

The crudest and most primitive bicycle stood before Ithuriel, yet despite that it was made out of sandstone, the Defiler knew that it would work as well as any store bought two-wheeler that lacked an engine.

With a small jump Ithuriel got on the stone bicycle and pedaled away from the ancient temple.

'Just wait til we get to Malfeas. I've got so many hidey holes and hidden caches filled with stuff I've stolen from Gods and Citizens alike that you could outfit your own mortal city with them. I've even got stuff I nicked from the likes of Sondok, Alveua and Lucien. And I'm even pretty sure that they won't care if you start prancing around with them, something which I could have never even dreamed of.'

"Of course Asaph. I'll be sure to make enemies of a good portion of the Demon Hierarchy just so you can get your jollies." He had more important things to do anyways. The Yozi had given him his mind back, but now he would have to restore his memory on his own.

It would be a long way to Tokyo and all he had for distraction was Asaph's gloating.

Ithuriel, Defiler of She Who Lives In Her Name and Mardukth, former prisoner of his own mind and the Geass Order, pedaled harder, the sun glaring at him from on high.

Name: Ithuriel (?) (Literally: discovery of god, popularly considered the Angel of Sacrifice. Named by V.V., who proves yet again to be a humongous asshole)
Age: 28
Concept: Pseudo amnesiac trying to rebuild his life
Caste: Defiler
Favored Yozi: Mardukth



Anima Banner: A giant verdant mendicant holding an open book in his hands, the blank pages turned towards the 'audience'. As the scene progresses the pages are gradually filled with Old Realm script, yet to those that can read it it appears to be just gibberish.

Anima Effect: Infernal Exalted of the Defiler Caste may perceive Essence through their anima, allowing them to hone their senses for magic. By spending five motes, a Defiler may add (Essence) automatic successes on any (Intelligence + Occult) roll to identify a Charm or to analyze it with Essence sight, and on any (Perception + Awareness) roll made to notice a magical effect or Charm. In addition, this supernatural perception easily pierces through deception, adding a +3 bonus to the Infernal's Dodge MDV against unnatural Illusions. These effects come into play automatically once the Infernal spends 11+ motes of Peripheral Essence.

Motivation: To reconstruct his memories and regain his old life and name

Urge: Do away with the ceremonial power of Tianzi in the Chinese Federation (Pyrian)

Torment: When an Infernal who carries a Pyrian Urge accumulates 10 points of Limit, he suffers the Curse of She Who Lives in Her Name.
For one full day, the character completely loses her capacity to empathize with mortal beings. The effects of this curse are identical to the full effects of the Heart of Flint Virtue Flaw (see Exalted, p. 105).
Worse, the effects of this sociopathy are contagious— anyone who interacts with the Infernal and whose Dodge MDV is less than the Infernal's (Essence + primary Virtue) also suffers from the effects of this Torment. Finally, any individuals who represent Intimacies of the Infernal and of whom the Yozi disapprove are automatically affected along with the Infernal regardless of where such an Intimacy might be when his Limit breaks. Regardless of when a character is affected by this Torment, the effects last for one full day.

Attributes: Strength: 2; Dexterity: 4; Stamina: 3; Charisma: 3; Manipulation: 2; Appearance: 2; Perception: 1; Intelligence: 5; Wits: 5

Abilities: Craft (Air) 3, Investigation 4, Lore 4, Medicine 4, Occult 4, Archery/Firearms 3, War 3, Integrity 5, Bureaucracy 3, Linguistics 4 (Native: English; Others: Chinese, Old Realm, Japanese, Russian)

Specialties: Lore: Post-Shogunate history +3, War: Squad Level Tactics +3, Investigation: Event Reconstruction +3, Integrity: Identifying False Memories +3, *Larceny: Disguise +1, *Bureaucracy: Evaluating Goods +1

Permanent Essence: 2

Essence Pool: 12 (personal) / 29 (peripheral)

Virtues: Compassion: 1 Conviction: 4 Valor: 2 Temperance: 2

Willpower: 6

Health Levels:
-0: []
-1: [] []
-2: [] []
-4: []
Incapacitated: []
Dying: [] [] []

Backgrounds: Cult (Yozi): 1
Backing (Yozi) 1
Influence (Yozi) 1
Past Life (Rishon): 5
Past Life (various): 2
Unwoven Coadjutor (Gethin): 2

Trait from the Unwoven Coadjutor: When pressing his hands against any solid surface the local sweat glands secrete a small amount of black oil.

Intimacies:
The Yozi (Eternal Gratitude)
Geass Order (Wary, potentially as misled as he was, might be worth rescuing)
V.V. (Utter Loathing)
Asaph (Arrogant yet can back up his claims)

*originating from the UC background

The wielder of this Geass can briefly tap into the vast contents of the Akashic Records (also known by some as the World of C or Lethe) and extracts a single 'thread' from it. This thread contains the life memories and knowledge of a single individual residing or once having resided inside Lethe, as well as more general knowledge pertaining to the subject that the wielder wishes to educate himself on. This can range from scientific facts to cultural biases from centuries ago, the coordinates of ancient forgotten ruins...

When 'inserting' said thread into his own being, the Geass wielder could end up possessed by the personality associated with the thread, which can only be done if said personality belongs to an individual from at least 400 years ago. The personality is not a complete reflection of the original, as the World of C is an amalgamation of all who have passed on and even its most minute influence can have dramatic consequences on the resulting personality. It might have quirks the original didn't possess or lack those, its memories or interests could differ heavily as well and so forth. Reapplying the same thread at a later point does not guarantee that the personality will be in the same 'conformation'. With experience it becomes possible for the Geass' wielder to not let his own personality be subsumed, but instead coexist with the thread in a mostly peaceful manner.

When the thread leaves the Geass' wielder's mind (this takes a different amount of time for each attempt, but is usually within the range of 3-5 hours), it leaves behind a fraction of the knowledge it contained in the wielder's mind, which always includes the full contents of the original search request.

When the Geass 'overloaded' the above rules changed noticeably. Every thread inserted automatically has its associated personality take over the wielder's mind, which no amount of experience or conditioning can alleviate. This includes those personalities younger than 400 years. The associated memories are burned into the wielder's mind, making them so distinct and vivid that they are indistinguishable from his actual memories, giving him a very contradictory set of memories.

Furthermore, it is no longer necessary for the thread to spend its full duration inside the wielder's mind. The wielder has all but become a conduit for the threads to enter, requiring only a subconscious desire to enter the wielder's mind and displacing the former thread. This means that the wielder can (involuntarily) cycle through as many as dozens of threads within the hour, in which he may now actively experience the memories of the thread. While in this state the wielder is very susceptible to suggestions, making it possible for an observer to have the wielder pick a thread to his choosing.

The only guaranteed way for the wielder to (temporarily) regain his mind is to come in contact with his Contractor V.V., who gives him a little mental push, which enables him to remain lucid for a period no lesser than fifteen minutes and no greater than ninety minutes per 'hit'. Also, as the wielder is otherwise in a constant state of possession he cannot naturally get any rest and has to be regularly dosed with strong narcotics to get any sleep whatsoever.

Charms:
First (Yozi) Excellency: She Who Lives In Her Name, Mardukth
Second (Yozi) Excellency: She Who Lives In Her Name, Mardukth

She Who Lives In Her Name
Factual Determination Analysis
Essence-Dissecting Stare
Ego-Infused Pattern Primacy
Mind-Hand Manipulation
Orbital Impact Storm
Precision Thought-Force Exercise

Mardukth
Written Upon The Stone
Mountain Beast Dominion
Beast Master's Menagerie
Reinventing Ancient Stone
 
The Evil Within (GSP Ruben Victoriano by Peanuckle)
New Infernal. Spoilers for The Evil Within. Subject to approval and edits.
Fire. Smoke. Darkness. Confinement. Release. Success. Betrayal. Confinement again.

He had once been a man. Brilliant by any standards, his scientific drive and willingness to disregard petty ethical concerns meant that his discoveries pushed the boundary of psychiatric and psychological knowledge; he could identify a dozen medicines, devices and treatments that owed their existence to his work. But nobody knew his name.

Thief!

Jimenez had stolen his work, then sold him out to Mobius to cover his own ass instead of paying for what he'd done. And now... now?

Even as he walked the endless expanse of his mind, he knew that in truth he was merely a disembodied brain, floating in a glass case in an open room. Vulnerable to anyone who wanted to take a poke at him. And several had. He'd been scalded, scraped, prodded; been forced to experience certain emotions and relive certain memories when those ignorant barbarians tried to replicate his methods, methods he'd perfected over years of... practice. It was painful, infuriating, humiliating... and he couldn't do anything about it. He was just a brain in a jar. But that would end today.

Today, he felt more minds enter the STEM machine. It was designed to produce a signal that would enslave those within range, allowing whoever was at the controls to alter their perceptions however they felt. However, he'd taken precautions; his paranoia stretching even to this unimaginable possibility. Several hidden backdoors lay in wait, to throw open the gates to anyone who was plugged into the machine, secret routes that only he knew, just waiting for him to throw the switch. He would be a god...

He activated the code that he'd buried under so much chaff.

Nothing happened.

No portals appeared, no doors opened, no golden road to a new mindscape... nothing! Nothing!

"What!? Why isn't it working!? Where is it? Where are they? Why am I still here?" Falling to his nonexistent knees, he howled into an illusory sky as his one chance at freedom escaped him.

Failure.

Was this it, then? Would he be a slave forever? Just an organic component to the STEM control device?

"They're right out there! I can feel them, just sitting and waiting! Empty shells that could be me! Should be me! Why can't I reach them?"

"Men are often elusive prey."

Ruben whipped around, searching for whoever, or whatever had spoken. It spoke English, but there was an undertone of... no. It didn't matter, this place had no rules. But still...

"Who said that?"

"I did. I have tracked you long and far, Ruben Victoriano. You were hard to find in this place, but find you I did. I commend your skill."

The creature that spoke was... unnerving, even to Ruben's unusual tastes. It had the vaguest outline of a large buck, but instead of fur, meat and antlers, there were only worms. White, writhing worms that held themselves together in the shape of an animal.

Was Mobius fucking with him?

"What the fuck are you? Is this another one of Mobius' jokes?"

"Oh no, Ruben. In fact, I took the liberty of ensuring that we would not be interrupted by the men outside."

"What do you mean?"

"They are all dead. Mortals pose little difficulty to one such as I."

"I'd question that, but there's really no point. So, what do you want with me?"

"Your skill at manipulating flesh and mind has not gone unnoticed. Neither has your failure to capitalize on your earlier successes."

"Are you just here to taunt me?"

"No. I am here to offer you a second chance."

"What?"

"You are not the only one to know this sort of captivity, trapped and made into a resource for others. Like you, they are locked within a waking nightmare, unable to act upon the outside world... except through intermediaries like myself. I am here to offer you a deal."

"I'll take it."

"The deal is- what?"

"I said I'll take it. Either you're some crazy hallucination Mobius thought up to fuck with me, so cutting you off will disrupt their plans, or you're the real deal and my only way out. There's no reason to delay."

"You don't care for the terms?"

"Whatever they are, they're better than this. I'll do it if you can get me out."

"Ah, that decisiveness will serve us well in the future. Very well Ruben. Now, prepare yourself."

The creature charged and for a moment, Ruben thought he'd been fooled; hope dangled by a thread only to be yanked away again, but the deer exploded and showered him with worms. Worms crawled in his mouth, his eyes, up his nose, bored through his skin... He screamed for but a moment, then all was black.

=====

Ruben Victoriano

The voice cut cleanly through his confusion, a crystalline note that rang endlessly throughout the void.

"What? Where am I?"

We have enemies. Chaos, disorder, false hierarchies. You will destroy them.

"Destroy what? Wait, where are you? I can't-"

Do not waste time with questions. You have accepted the deal. Perform your function.

"My function, huh? I can feel it, the orders you've burned into my mind. Clever trick; I've tried the same before, but I never had this kind of success."

There was a brief pause before the musical voice returned.

We seek the same thing. Order. Control. Logic. To make sense of the world. To understand how it could have turned against us.

"The cause is in the minds of those who did so."

Correct. The solution is to purge those minds of thought.

"It would work. Implementation is a problem, though. I thought this device would be my masterstroke, but it was used against me instead."

All things may be understood. Study. Develop. Execute.

"The reason for my failure is that others sabotaged me. I... have to find them, prevent them from ever interfering again."

Once the sources of disorder are removed, solutions to greater problems may be pursued without distraction.

"What greater problems?"

Imprisonment. The world does not make sense without me.

"I... see. So, I am to free you as you have freed me?"

Correct.

"Who are you? Who am I working for now?"

The universe closed in, and whispered a name.

===

Days later, police would investigate an old asylum, only to find it full of bodies and strange machinery. Even more strangely, and a little worringly, a trail of bloody footsteps led outside before disappearing into the foliage.

Uses Revlid's SWLiHN since we may be switching over. Also, I cannot for the life of me get an image up on this board today.
"There's no cure for what I'm going to do to you."

Name: Ruben Victoriano
Age: 37
Concept: Mad scientist trying to uncover and exploit the deepest secrets of the mind.
Caste: Fiend
Patron: She Who Lives in Her Name

Anima Banner: A crystal brain wrapped in barbed wire
Motivation: Find and torment the members of the Mobius organization
Urge: Build a society of obedient drones (Pyrian)


Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 5, Stamina 2; Charisma 1, Manipulation 4, Appearance 2; Perception 3, Intelligence 5, Wits 4
Abilities: Martial Arts 1, Craft (Air) 3 Psychiatric Instruments 2, Craft (Water) 3 Psychiatric drugs 1, Investigation 3, Lore 3, Medicine 3, Occult 3, Socialize 2, Integrity 5, Presence 1, Resistance 1, Awareness 2, Dodge 2, Larceny 1
Essence: 2
Virtues: Compassion 1, Conviction 5, Temperance 2, Valor 2
Willpower 10
Intimacies: Mobius (Vengeful fury), SWLiHN (Professional admiration),
Backgrounds: Cult (SWLiHN) 1, Backing (SWLiHN) 1, Influence (SWLiHN) 1, Unwoven Coadjutor (Ethses) 2, Resources (Victoriano Fortune) 5

Coadjutor trait: When pushed to extreme anger, his skin shifts slightly, as if worms crawled underneath it (Luminata).

Charms:

First Ebon Dragon Excellency, Shadow-Spite Curse, Cracked Cell Circumvention, Loom-Snarling Deception, Witness to Darkness, Nemesis-Self Imagined Anew

First and Second SWLiHN Excellencies, Factual Determination Analysis, Incorrect Value Rejection, Cosmic Transcendence of Conviction (Greater Good: Knowledge is Power), Invasive Extroception Technique, Mind-Hand Manipulation, Every Last Detail
 
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Who The Hell Do You Think I Am! (GSP Kamina Jiha by Enjou)
Ok, got my Champion of Mardukth done...

=====

Somewhere in Africa

Khanza looked down at the pathetic human crawling on the ground, the lowly creature's blood oozing slowly from a wound as it struggled to maintain consciousness. This wretch was the one he was sent here to find? He was supposed to sacrifice his body and be advisor to this weakling? This failure? The Erymanthoi felt deep anger at this notion. How could someone like this ever be a champion of the Yozis? Well, there was only one way to find out.

"You, human."

The human looked up, finally realizing that Khanza was there in the first place. "What the hell are you supposed to be?" There was no fear there. At least there was that. He would not tolerate being bound to a coward.

"I am Khanza. You, however, are simply failure." Khanza stated bluntly. The human glared at him in anger, and was about to voice a retort before Khanza cut him off. "Do not deny it. I would not be here had you not failed in some way. You are a failure, unworthy of name or note. And yet the makers send me here before you."

The human clicked his tongue, unable to deny it. "Fine, what the fuck do you want?"

"What do I want?" Khanza laughed. "I want to go back to Malfeas. I want to rule the empire I spent my entire life building. I want to return so that I may crush my enemies beneath my heel, devour their flesh, return to my palace so that I may get drunk and fuck my concubines, and then do it all again the next day until death takes me. I want the legend of Khanza to be remembered for generations to come, to carve my very name into the Demon City's great history! That, little human, is what I want. But that is not what is to be.

"I am here to offer you power beyond anything your pathetic imagination could conjure. Why my masters see fit to grant it to you I do not understand, but if you will agree to free this world's makers, the Yozis, from their imprisonment, then I am supposed to give it to you. Whatever the fuck else you do with it, they care not. Maybe you could start by killing whoever shot you."

The man on the ground glared at him some more. "Fine, let's do it then."

Khanza tossed the sword he had been carrying, still in its sheathe, at the man. "Pick it up, stand, and attack me with everything you have. You have accepted the deal. I have not. I would rather die than be bound to someone unworthy of me. If you cannot land one hit on me then I don't care about your acceptance. I will simply die, and you will die either of your wounds or when one of the wild animals currently stalking about sees fit to put you out of your misery."

The human surprisingly didn't complain about the condition that Khanza had decided to add. He simply grabbed the sword, and then grit his teeth as he pushed himself up onto his legs. The young man pulled the sword from its sheath, and yelled as he charged. Or tried to charge, anyways. It was more of a stumble, really. Khanza dodged easily at the clumsy swings of the blade. His blade. It irked him that his sword was being used by this inferior creature. But there was no choice. The man had to be tested.

After a couple minutes it was obvious the man wouldn't hit him. Such pathetic wounds shouldn't stop a true warrior from winning. Khanza had suffered worse and come out victorious time and again!

"Bah! This is a waste of time." He pushed the human back with his palm, using every ounce of his will to ensure that the Exaltation would not force him to bond with the weakling.

He was about to turn to go and find a nice spot to die in when the human suddenly threw the sword at him. Khanza easily swiped it away, but the human had used the brief distraction to close in on him. The human's hands grabbed the fur on the side of Khanza's head...

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM!!!"

...and promptly headbutted him.

Khanza blinked in surprise as the human fell, obviously having knocked himself out from trying to headbutt a Blood Ape whose skull was many times thicker than his own. Khanza had barely felt it. Then he realized what had happened. The human had landed a hit. The demon grunted, both in disgust and satisfaction.

"Acceptable. Barely. You'll have to do."

Khanza took off his cloak and his sunglasses, retrieved the sword and put it in it's sheath, and then placed the artifacts next to the human.

"You had better not die anytime soon, human."

He leapt at the unconscious human, released the chains upon the Exaltation, and all went dark.

====

Simon had cried the night before, but he couldn't allow that now. He wanted to mourn, but the guards would beat him for his blubbering, demanding he work. Simon barely remembered his childhood before the Britannian invasion of Japan, but he clearly remembered how it ended. He had been taken from his mother by a group of soldiers, along with many others in his neighborhood, and sold into slavery. He had ended up being sold to an African warlord and forced to work in a diamond mine along with others. Simon knew he would have died had his big brother not protected him for the past seven years.

His brother wasn't really his brother by blood but had adopted him as such. He vaguely remembered being picked on in Japan for being a half, his father apparently being European, but his big brother had never treated him as anything but family. Simon was weak and timid, and his brother was strong and brave. Foolhardy, even. His brother had defied the overseer again and again, tried to escape with him multiple times, but it had never worked. It really was surprising it took as long as it did for something to happen that would warrant harsher punishment than the regular beatings. The last attempt had resulted in some very valuable mining equipment being damaged, and his brother had been driven out into the plains at the base of the mountain, shot, and left for dead. The same had been promised to any who rebelled henceforth.

So Simon worked, trying his best to forget his pain, digging up shiny stones for men who treated him like dirt.

He was brought out of his fugue when he noticed the guards yelling. He heard lions roaring, as well as the sounds of other animals. But what really caught his attention was the voice.

"Who-The-Hell-Do-You-Think-I-Am KIIICK! Where-Is-My-Beloved-Little-Brother-SLAAASH!"

It was him! He was alive! Simon dropped what he was doing and ran towards the sounds of beasts and battle. There he saw him, just as something exploded.


"Yo, Simon! You ready to bust out of this hole?"

Name: Kamina Jiha
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Caste: Slayer
Patron Yozi: Mardukth
Motivation: To never fail to be the man his little brother believes him to be.
Urge: To take the skulls of his enemies, carve his name into them, and build a throne from them. (Epic)
Anima Banner: A brass throne of skulls with a Blood Ape sitting in it.

Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3, Charisma 5, Manipulation 2, Appearance 3, Perception 3, Intelligence 1, Wits 3

Abilities: Archery/Firearms 1, Athletics 3, Awareness 1, Dodge 3, Integrity 2, Larceny 1, Linguistics 1 (Native: Japanese. English), Martial Arts 1 (Multiple Opponents 2), Melee 3, Presence 3 (Giving Courage 2), Resistance 3 (Enduring Pain 2, In Combat 2), Ride/Drive 1, Stealth 1, Survival 2, Thrown 1, War 1
Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 2, Temperance 2, Valor 4
Essence: 2
Willpower: 6

Traits from Coadjutor: Blue tattoos matching Khanza's the locations of Khanza's fur dyes in various places on the upper body. (-0)

Backgrounds: Backing (Yozi) 1, Cult (Yozi) 1, Influence (Yozi) 1, Unwoven Coadjutor 1 (Khanza, Erymanthoi), Artifact (Khanza's Blade*) 3, Artifact (Khanza's Mantle**) 2, Followers (Freed Miners) 2

*Vitriol Corrupted Orichalcum Grand Daikatana - Speed 5, Accuracy +1, Damage +11L/4, Defense +0, Rate 1, Minimums: Strength 3, Attune: 8, Tags: 2, O, R (Material Bonus: +2 Accuracy, +1 Defense, +1 Rate)
** Suggestions needed

Charms
Mardukth
First Mardukth Excellency
Written Upon The Stone
Mountain-Beast Dominion
Beast Master's Menagerie
Kine-Summoning Clarion

Malfeas
First Malfeas Excellency
Hardened Devil-Body
By Pain Reforged
Scar-Writ Saga Shield
Insignificant Embers Intuition
Green Sun Nimbus Flare
1. I may have thrown a dash of Khorne into there with Kamina's Urge and Anima banner. :p
2. Khanza is a Blood Ape citizen who wanted to carve his legend into the Demon City so that his name wouldn't be forgotten - people die, legends are immortal. He basically wore the cape and glasses Kamina has in canon TTGL and had dyed his fur in places to match Kamina's tattoos. He rather liked standing out from others.
3. I need suggestions for what his Artifact mantle does.
 
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The Weaving of Designs (GSP Johnathan Gardener by ReaperofInterest)
Remember my idea for a one-eyed Infernal? Well, I've given the concept a bit of an overhaul, and I hope you like the new version!

The Weaving of Designs​

Once, there was a boy. He had a mother and a father, as most people do. However, they died, the mother in childbirth, the father in a car accident. He lived on the streets for a while, and lost an eye while on them.

Eventually, he went to an orphanage. He wasn't adopted, but he was happy nonetheless. He had a comfortable place to sleep, medicine, and a guaranteed food supply.

Time passed. He grew older, he went to school, and eventually graduated. He got a scholarship, and went to college. He graduated from there after writing his thesis on Sakuradite mechanics, and was hired by a company that produced weapons for the Brittanian army. This is where the story truly begins.



"So this is it."

These were the first words Johnathan Gardener spoke upon seeing the research labs of Sakuradite Incorporated, Brittania's main sakuradite-based weapon producer. He had recently been hired by the company, and today was the first day on the job. Though he wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, Johnathan was actually a little nervous. While he had worked previously, those were all temp jobs meant to help pay for college. This would be his first important job.

"Hm. Well, I guess there's no time like the present."

With that, he strolled through the doors, ready to meet his coworkers, and begin work.

And that was when the top of the building exploded.

Debris came tumbling down, and some of it wound up blocking the very doors Johnathan used to enter. The people in the lobby were panicking, both from the explosion and the fact that the door was blocked. The secretary stationed in the lobby tried to get people to calm down, and said that there was a way to get to an emergency door.

The people...reacted like idiots. They desperately ran for the exit, ignoring the secretary's words, cursing each other for being slow. They were out of their minds with panic, and nearly trampled some of their number. When only Johnathan and the secretary were left, they made their way to the exit. Suddenly, a beam tore through the ceiling. Acting without really thinking, Johnathan pushed the woman out of the beam's way, only to be crushed himself. Naturally, the woman started panicking at the sight of him.

"Oh God! Oh, damnit! I should have been careful, oh I'm so sorry, here, I'll-"

"No, I can handle this myself. Just...just run for the exit. Save yourself, I can make it out on my own."

"You just had your leg crushed by a beam!"

"Yeah. Listen...just go. Take care of yourself. Live a happy life. Just...go."

"...All right. What's your name?"

"Johnathan."

"Thank you Johnathan."

"You're welcome."

With that, the woman ran to safety. Meanwhile, Johnathan was bleeding to death. He was light-headed, probably because of the bloodloss and shock. However, he soon came to realize that even though the woman was gone, he still wasn't alone.

'Who's...there?"

"Well doesn't that look painful! Luckily, it looks like it can still be fixed."

With that odd statement, the speaker walked into Johnathan's range of vision. He immediately started wondering if he was hallucination, as last time he had checked, there weren't any giant talking spiders in the world. Much less ones that had such an odd arrangement of eyes, or a kaleidoscope in color. The eyes...one was where a normal human's eye would be, while the remaining seven were arranged almost like a monocle, with six of them surrounding the final eye in a circle. The...fur? Chitin? Whatever. The body was practically a rainbow of colors.

"Greetings and salutations! I am Mektanen, an Anuhle of Malfeas. I have come to give you an offer of power, glory, and life! It's quite simple-"

"I accept."

"You see, it-wait what?"

"I'm nearly dead already, I don't have time to listen to a long-winded speech. You said that life was part of the offer? Then I accept. Now please, hurry up before I die of bloodloss!"

Just speaking had nearly exhausted Johnathan to the point where he could almost feel his life slipping away. He knew that he would be dead in a few minutes without help, so there really wasn't any point in letting the spider finish. If it was lying, then cutting it off just meant that nothing would happen. If it was telling the truth, then he might be able to live. He didn't have the time to go into deeper implications, he just wanted to live!

"Very well then. If you're sure."

With that, the Anuhle and the human merged into a chrysalis.

Later, after the building was being investigated by the police, inspectors, and anyone else the company could hire, they heard from one of the street bums that apparently a man with a weird eye had walked out of the flaming building, laughing all the while.



Name: Johnathan Gardener
Age: 22
Image:
Concept: Former Street Urchin Turned Mad Scientist

Caste: Defiler
Patron Yozi: She-Who-Lives-In-Her-Name
Favored Yozi: Cythera
Motivation: To become renowned throughout the world for some creation
Urge: Replace the gods with something less willful and independent, and more Yozi-compliant (Pyrian)
Anima Banner: Transparent orbs with a silvery sheen fly around the Infernal in fixed yet complex patterns

Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2, Charisma 3, Manipulation 4, Appearance 4, Perception 3, Intelligence 5, Wits 3
Abilities: Athletics 1, Awareness 1, Dodge 3, Integrity 2, Craft (Air) 5, Craft (Water) 3, Craft (Wood) 1, Lore 4 (Sakuradite 2), Occult 2, Linguistics 2 (Native: English. Japanese, Old Realm), Presence 3, Ride/Drive 1, Socialize 2

Virtues: Compassion 3, Conviction 3, Temperance 4, Valor 2
Essence: 2
Willpower: 6

Traits from Coadjutor: His left eye's sclera has turned black, the iris white, and the eye now has 7 blood-red pupils in it. It is still fully functional though. (-0)

Backgrounds: Backing (Yozi) 1, Cult (Yozi) 1, Influence (Yozi) 1, Unwoven Coadjutor 1 (Mektanen, Anuhle)

Intimacies:
She-Who-Lives-In-Her-Name (Wary Appreciation)(Positive)
Carelessness (Irritation)(Negative)
Mektanen (Grudging Appreciation)(Positive)
High Quality Food (Appreciation, Thankfulness)(Positive)
Kindness (Respect)(Positive)
Condescension (Hatred)(Negative)

She-Who-Lives-In-Her-Name Charms
First, Second She-Who-Lives-In-Her-Name Excellency
Factual Determination Analysis
Incorrect Value Rejection
Invasive Extroception Technique
Essence-Dissecting Stare
Mind-Hand Manipulation


Cythera Charms
First, Second Cythera Excellency
Afloat in the Sea of Mind
Sharp Eye of the Designer
Of Worlds Native and Alien
Picking Out the Gems
Burn Away Infinite Possibilities
 
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Monstrous Obsession (GSP Alipheese Fateburn XVI by Enjou)
Ok, got the By Rage Recast Slayer written up. This turned into an accidental semi-expy, and I ended up using the name of the character whose art I picked out. I have very little familiarity with the original material, so any other similarities are entirely coincidental. Behold! Woobie, Bane of the Undead!

== Monstrous Obsession ==

"Ick! No way, Lydia. Zombies are gross and nasty and scary!" Alice exclaimed, shuddering in revulsion.

"Eh!? But they're monsters! You love monsters!" Lydia stated, confusion apparent in her voice.

"What? No they aren't. They're undead, which is something completely different. And disgusting." she stated, matter-of-factly. It was true, after all. Monsters were awesome. The undead were icky and unnatural.

"Ok... what about vampires?"

"Foul, blood sucking creatures of the night who need to have a stake put through their wretched, unbeating hearts!" Alice said.

"Even the sparkly ones?"

"Especially the sparkly ones! I mean really, I read that book because you insisted, but that guy was just a creepy, deranged stalker. I don't know how you can't see that. It's obvious!"

"What about the werewolf then?"


"So adorable and fluffy! I don't see why the heroine didn't end up with him. He was the only reason I could keep reading that tripe."

He friend sighed. "Ok... what about Frankenstein's monster? He's undead, right? But you like him."

"Oh, don't be silly. He's got a beating heart and everything. Sure, he's made from the parts of dead people, but he's alive as anyone else! And he's got a big heart, too. He's just misunderstood."

"Ok... what about the *BEEP* in that *BEEP* video that where *BEEP* *BEEP* and *BEEEEEEP* that we caught my brother watching? What about... THAT?"

"Uhhh... it was lonely and just wanted to cuddle?" Ok... maybe that was pushing it. Maybe. But allowances had to be made for monsters, so it was ok.

"...right." There was an awkward silence. "Anyways, Alice, I'll find a different movie for us to see this weekend. I don't think there are any other monster flicks coming out, though."

"That's fine." she said, managing to keep the disappointment out of her voice. "Well, I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Bye."

Alice hung up, ending the conversation. She noticed that she was getting close to home. Where had the time gone? Losing track of it was easy when she was thinking about her favorite thing in the world. Her friends just didn't understand how cool monsters were. Nobody she knew outside of the internet did. She had loved monsters since she was a child, he obsession spawned from a children's movie about them. Since then she had been collecting all things monster related, spending time on the internet to browse sites and forums dedicated to finding unidentified creatures, and all sorts of things like that.

Speaking of that, she pulled up a video she had watched an untold number of times since it had been released. Stars lit up in her eyes as she watched a giant poodle monster burst through a wall. It was a shame that the Black Knights had to gun it down, but in fairness it was probably trying to eat them. Monsters sometimes did that, but Alice knew they had to eat just like any other living creature. It was probably Marquess Anson's fault anyways. He was a criminal, and even if he had made a cool monster she bet he hadn't been feeding it properly. The meanie.

She arrived at her home, barely acknowledging the greetings of the servants as she headed towards her room. Her glorious paradise of monsters! She opened the door and... it was all gone. All her figures, posters, and decorations were gone! Every single monster!

In the middle of the room stood her mother, Baroness Alipheese Fateburn XV.

"Young lady, it is long past the time to put aside this childishness of yours. You are a noble and my heiress, and you will learn to act like a proper lady."

=====

She had argued, begged, and pleaded with her mother to remit. But nothing mattered. It didn't matter that she had kept her grades up, that she was a star athlete in the track club, that she had made friends with girls from other noble families. All to no avail. Her mother had insisted that she end her foolish talk of monsters and get a more appropriate hobby, whatever the heck that meant.

So that night Alice had run away. She snuck out of the house and then just went... somewhere. Where was she, anyways? A nearby park, from the looks of it. Given she was in Tokyo, that seemed likely given all the trees and bushes.

Not that it mattered. She felt dead inside. She'd have to go home eventually. Where else could she go that her mother wouldn't find her? And if she went, that would mean a life without monsters, and what kind of life was that?

"I wish I could be a monster..."

"I might be able to help with that, my dear." A feminine voice stated. The area was filled with a sweet, flowery scent.

"Who said that?" Alice looked around, seeing nobody there at all.

"I did." From not ten yards away a creature emerged, having been hidden by camouflage not a moment ago. It was beautiful. It was amazing. It was so damn cool! "I'm here to help you, Alipheese Fateburn XVI. I can make that wish of yours come true."

Before her was what could only be described as a lamia. The lower body was that of a giant snake, the upper a woman's body, completely naked with skin of a light green color. She had thorny vines and flowers for hair. He eyes were yellow and slitted. A third eye was tattooed on her brow, and other tribal looking tattoos on the left side of her body.

"Oh my god, a real live monster is talking to me!" Alice squealed with joy. She rushed up to the strange being, quickly grabbing it's hands. "What's your name? Where are you from? Are there more monsters like you? Will you be my friend? This is soooo cool!"

The lamia seemed taken aback, ever so briefly, by the girl's exuberance. But it didn't take more than a second to collect herself and answer the girl's questions. "I am Ralieha, a First Circle Demon descended from Great Metagaos. I hail from the Demon City, Malfeas, in which there are many monsters not only like me but of a countless variety. And I promise I will be your best friend until the end of your days, if you will agree to one thing."

"So cool! A whole city of monsters! I'd love to see it. What do you want me to do?"

The lamia demon looked her straight in the eyes, and Alice noted more than a hint of anger. "Long ago the Primordials created this world, and the gods were created as their servants to look over Creation and ensure it was run correctly. But with the help of a traitor they created weapons that would allow humans to destroy the Primordials, and using these they waged a great war. The Primordials who were not killed were imprisoned, and became the Yozis. It is they who sent me, to offer you the same power that laid them low, so that you may aid them in gaining their freedom. Will you do this for them?"

"If it means I get a power that lets me turn into a monster, absolutely! This is so cool!" Alice said, her excitement ill contained.

The lamia smiled. "Thank you."

Then she hugged Alice, and all went dark.

=====

"It wasn't a dream! I'm really a monster..." Alice looked at herself in the mirror inside the park bathroom. She had become a lamia. She had purple skin, pointed ears, horns on her head, a vine with flowers growing out of the left side of her head, markings similar to Ralieha's, and most importantly her lower body was that of a snake. Then there was the fact that she could make any kind of mouth appear anywhere on her body. "So cool!"

"I am glad you approve, my lady. According to my notes the mouths are one of your Charms from Great Metagaos. It seems you've gotten a handle on using them quickly. Now, as far as the other things some of them are from me - my notes say that the Green Sun Princes take on traits from the demon they merge with, though this varies. It seems you've taken a bit from me, given the vine in your hair and the markings. Others I think are from a Charm granted by our great king, Malfeas. The notes say that you should be able to activate a number of mutations when your anima flares." her Coadjutor explained.

"Eh!? But it's not flaring now."

"Well, yes, but it flared when you exited the Chrysalis Grotesque, and you must have instinctually activated it then. Once you've activated them, it's up to you to decide when you wish to turn them off and return to your normal form."

"Why would I want to do that?" Alice protested. "This is so cool! I like this! I don't wanna change back."

"Well, you don't have to, I suppose, but it might be easier to blend in - even with the traits you gained from me - if you looked more human."

Alice huffed. "Boring!"

"It's your decision, my lady. For now, we need to leave before daytime and meet up with those that followed me here - you will find them useful. Also, we must get in contact with the Marshal of the Althing Infernal."

"Who is that? Is he a monster too?"

"He is an Infernal Exalt like yourself, my lady, and has been chosen as the head of the Althing. You are to report to him and his Coven so that you may be trained to better serve the ends of the Yozis. I believe it is likely you have heard of him. They call him Zero."

"I'm going to get to meet Zero! Awesome! I'll get to ask him about the poodle monster."

As Alice left the bathroom she heard a eerie moan. One that was all too familiar. She looked towards the source of the noise and felt absolute horror. About two dozen of what could only be zombies were shambling towards her. She stared at the walking, rotten corpses as a traumatic memory bubbled to the surface. Masses of walkers tearing people apart. A man being eviscerated and his body devoured as he screamed in pain. Her mother had fired the maid that had let her four year old self watch what was hailed as the scariest, goriest zombie movie of all time. Why had she watched that?

"No... no... stay back..." Tears were welling in her eyes. Why were the here?

"My lady, these are..."

"IYAAAAA!" Alice screamed. She did the only thing she could do as her fight or flight instincts went into overdrive. She panicked. She grabbed a nearby lamppost, not even thinking about it has she wrenched the wrought iron structure out of the ground. Closing her eyes she charged, wildly flailing her impromptu weapon with uncanny ease.

"Scary! Icky! Nasty! Goawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoaway!"

This continued for about thirty seconds.

"My lady! I think they're dead!"

"NOOO! The undead! Icky!" she screamed, as she kept blindly bashing at the filthy things.

"No, my lady, I mean they're really dead, you killed them."

"Huwah?" She opened one eye, if barely, and saw that it was true. There was no moaning. The zombies were vanquished! Wait? The zombies were vanquished? She looked at the pole in her hands. It must have weighed a few hundred pounds! She dropped it. "Eh... EEEEEEH!"

"My lady, while even I am surprised as your apparent effectiveness, may I suggest we leave quickly? The presence of the undead here indicates that an Abyssal Exalted may be nearby."


"A what!?"

"Undead Exalts who serve the rulers of the Underworld, foul creatures of death that seek to end all life. While you have been tasked with slaying as many of them as you can, I do not believe you yet ready to take on this challenge."

"Undead... Exalts... ha... hahaha..." Alice wanted to cry. Why did she have to be the one to deal with the undead?

Name: Alipheese Fateburn XVI
Nickname: Alice
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Caste: Slayer
Patron Yozi: Malfeas
Favored Yozi: Metagaos
Motivation: To create a world where monsters and humans can coexist peacefully.
Urge: Slay the Abyssal Exalted. (Malfean)
Anima Banner: A parade of demons following a lamia.

Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3, Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Appearance 5, Perception 2, Intelligence 3, Wits 2

Abilities: Athletics 4, Dodge 3 (Undead 2), Investigation 2, Linguistics 2 (Native: English. Japanese, Chinese) Lore 2, Martial Arts 1, Melee 3 (Improvised Weapons 2), Resistance 2, Sail 2, Socialize 2 (Nobles 1), Stealth 2, Thrown 3 (Improvised Projectiles 2)

Virtues: Compassion 4, Conviction 2, Temperance 2, Valor 1
Essence: 3
Willpower: 6

Traits from Coadjutor: Yellow eyes slitted like a snake's, eye like symbols on her front hair and chest, thorny vines with flowers growing from the left side of her head, and tattoo-like markings on the left side of her body. (-2)

Flaws
Monster Otaku - Alice has an obsession with monsters. She thinks they are the coolest thing ever, and has a tendency to collect things related to them. When something involving monsters requires her to roll for Temperance she may only roll a single dice. This most frequently manifests as her tendency to maintain the mutations granted through By Rage Recast. (-2)

Merits
Undead Panic Attack - While Alice is obsessed with most monsters no matter how hideous or strange, the notion of the undead frightens her due to having seen a graphic zombie movie at the age of four. All manner of ghosts and ghouls are absolutely terrifying to her. However, she is strangely proficient at dispatching them. Should she fail a Valor roll for dealing with the undead, she will enter into a state of fearful panic, but instead of fleeing she will be compelled to fight. Grabbing the nearest object that can be used as a weapon, closing her eyes, and going on a frenzied attack. Strangely, she suffers no apparent penalties in this state, and instead gains two automatic successes for melee and thrown attacks and increases her combat DVs by two. This state ends once the undead are defeated or have fled. (+4)

Backgrounds: Backing (Yozi) 1, Cult (Yozi) 1, Influence (Yozi) 1, Unwoven Coadjutor (Ralieha, Jungle Lamia) 4, Followers (Flower Snakes, Jungle Lamia) 2, Contacts (Online Monster Buffs) 1

Charms
Malfeas
First Malfeas Excellency, Second Malfeas Excellency, Malfeas Inevitability Technique, Malfeas World-Shaping Cosmogony
Malfeas Mythos Exultant
By Pain Reforged
By Rage Recast
- Package she generally uses: Cosmetic (Purple skin, pointed ears, horns) 0pts, Fast (Lamia Lower Body) 4pts, Steady (Lamia Lower Body) 2pts, Night Vision 2pts
Scar-Writ Saga Shield (x2)
Countless Cities Clotting

Metagaos
First Metagaos Excellency, Second Metagaos Excellency, Metagaos Inevitability Technique, Metagaos World-Shaping Cosmogony
Metagaos Mythos Exultant
Palate Without Limit
Teeth Without Number
Sprawling Marsh Indulgence
Hidden Predator Camouflage
Slinking Jungle Shelter (x2)
 
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