Through the veil between worlds, you hear the siren call. The delectable allure of power, barbed as it always is with cost and consequence. A baited hook thrown by one with no idea what they bargain with.
You bite.
The space between worlds is neither familiar nor foreign to you, and you ride the tunnels of prophecy and light with mild indifference. You can make out little of your destination, the whispers and flashes of sight-beyond-sight too numerous and foreign to make sense of, but you can plainly see that you ride for savagery and discord.
You strike the end of the tunnel with impressive force, a force echoed as you manifest under a storm of ash and lightning. Chitinous corpses are hurled away from the impact, piling into mounds of sacrificial victims. But what catches your attention most are your neighbors: Four beings of great power slowly rise nearby, drawn here by the same lure as you. This was a mass summoning.
Only a being of incredible power and hubris would dare summon a creature of your strength and ambition, let alone five at once. It rests before you in plain view, perched atop a haphazard throne of chitin and bone. Like the victims on the ground and the primitive warriors scattered throughout the area, it looks like a chitinous, hunched, crablike humanoid, with four legs, pincers for hands, a protective shell over its back and head, and a single, cyclopean eye.
However, where the victims and warriors are shades of black or brown, with glowing red eyes in the living, this creature's shell is bleached white, and its eye glows a radioactive, emerald green. Its life force has been leeched away to power its foul magics, leaving it brittle and frail... but no less potent. You have little doubt it would see the world burn for its ambition, and judging by the ratio of corpses to living members of its kind, it may have already done so.
It leans forward, studying its new... servants. The binding is more ultimatum than shield, and you could easily shatter it if you were willing to endure the ruinous consequences. Your new master rules by fear and absolute power, and seems to have maintained this approach with five entities each approaching him in power. A bold move, to be sure.
The eye continues to bore into you, and you are reminded that while your new host may be mad, he is no fool. A fool does not summon five demonic lieutenants to further his mad ambitions. A fool does not have vast swathes of his own people sacrificed to power such a ritual. And a fool does not give a being of your caliber pause, knowing you can rebel only at great cost... at least for the moment.
So not a fool, though perhaps quite mad. History may be the final arbiter of that, and you suspect a new chapter is just beginning. A wondrous chapter, filled with whatever you decree it be filled with. Grand ambitions or simple greed. Changing the very face of the world or simply amassing material wealth. Being waited on by legions of fanatical servants or dwelling in an ashen wasteland scoured of any unsightly distractions.
That eye continues to stare. What does it see?
Most actions are handled by rolling dice, with the number determined by relative skill or power in the chosen field. Each die has a 1/3 chance of adding +0, +1, or +2 to the final result, as well as a 1/6 chance of a Boon and a 1/6 chance of a Flaw. The numeric result of an action determines its relative success or power, such as how much of a resource is harvested or the quality of a crafted item. Boons and Flaws apply beneficial or harmful quirks to the result, such as a yield of rare materials or a cumbersome drawback to wielding an item.
By default, most beings roll one die for actions they are capable of performing but poor at, two dice for standard actions, and three dice for actions that especially suit them. Heroes and other powerful entities often have special stats or abilities they use to augment or replace this scale, and which often produce significantly higher results.
Defeat and Demise
When two powerful entities oppose each other, they generally roll their respective actions. If they are directly opposed, they will tend to interfere with each other; however, many actions are antagonistic without being mutually exclusive.
Depending on the intended actions and their results, some or all of the involved combatants might suffer a Defeat. This may signify a physical injury, social disgrace, or even just the abstract knowledge that they failed. Defeats generally impose a negative trait on their bearer and tie up a HP. Both conditions may be reversed by redeeming themselves, thus healing or overcoming whatever weakness or flaw was imposed or revealed by their Defeat. This might involved anything from questing for healing herbs to mend an inflicted wound, to forging a mighty spear to salvage a battered reputation, to hunting down and defeating the one who inflicted the defeat to recover a tarnished pride.
If an entity is reduced to 0 HP by a Defeat, they are generally defeated utterly and held completely at the mercy of their conqueror. The details of this fate may vary somewhat with those of the combatants, conflict, and Defeat- a heavily wounded warrior Defeated for a final time via incriminating speech is unlikely to die from shame, but might be goaded into retirement or forced to serve under a maligned banner.
Entities may also be afflicted by Minor Defeats. These are Defeats which are galling but far beneath the being in question, and thus do not reduce their HP. They do still impose a (generally minor) flaw on their victim which must be removed in the same manner as normal Defeats, though the petty nature of the ailment tends to make this an obnoxious chore rather than a trying quest.
Demons, like all divine entities, are creatures of Mana. As the essence of all things, Mana is produced by all things, found in all things, and used by all things. However, none are so adept at the latter as the Devourers, more commonly known as Demons to foolish mortals.
Miracles and Mana
Demons possess the ability to perform acts of great power called Miracles. Miracles are far more potent than even supernaturally-charged mundane actions, but require the expenditure of Mana to perform.
Mana differs wildly by type, and Demons acquire it by consuming things rich in it. While mundane earth or trees contain Mana, the amounts are far too thin to feasibly power their great works. Far more often, they must rely on potent natural phenomena, engineered disasters, or mortal sacrifice. Mortals, in addition to their ability to become tainted with Mana themselves, possess a unique ability to produce Mana associated with the manner of their deaths, providing a conveniently renewable method of extracting power. Demons are rightly viewed as hungry for sacrificial victims slain in ways appropriate to their Mana affinities for this reason.
Fetishes and Gullets
Once Mana has been harvested, it must be stored. Demons do so in largely spiritual organs known as Gullets. When mortal sorcerors perform their rituals of candles, chanting, and lines of salt, they are in fact constructing an artificial Gullet for this purpose- which must then receive its Mana from somewhere, frequently items of power or sacrificial victims.
Gullets are limited in size, and may not hold more Mana than their maximum capacity. They may also hold only Mana of their type with any grace; a Gullet may store Mana of a different type than itself, but such Mana takes up twice as much space, inhibits the Demon's supernatural talents, and is slowly digested to become more like the Gullet's type.
Gullets are technically part of a Demon's Fetish, a manifestation of their power and essence. Physically, Fetishes generally manifest as a distinctive organ or feature- flawlessly alluring skin, great horns of flaming brass, or a heart that seems to spiral eternally into itself, for instance. More importantly, a Fetish signifies and channels a Demon's supernatural abilities in that area- such as inspiring unnatural desire in mortals, unmatched strength within their domain, or the ability to travel through seemingly impassable barriers.
The physical manifestation of a Fetish may be removed from its owner, though for this to have meaning its spiritual aspect must be addressed as well- destroying or claiming a Demon's Fetish has no more innate impact than it would a king's crown. Stolen Fetishes may be crafted into artifacts of great power or even grafted into a different Demon, though many feel tainted by such an act. In truth, Demons are little more than one or more Fetishes- they possess little in the way of core essence or identity beyond this, which explains the hesitance many have to taint themselves with a rival's essence, and the eternal rage most feel at the very notion of being maimed in such a fashion.
Fetishes and their associated Gullets require Mana to grow, which provides a final reason for Demons to hunger for it. It's also one reason Demons have such a reputation for stinginess- beyond being difficult to obtain, the Mana a Demon might expend on dark blessings or other favors could just as easily be spent permanently increasing the Demon's personal strength.
A handful of creatures are so individually powerful that they can affect the world around them on a grand scale despite not being divine entities. These beings are sometimes known as Chosen, but more commonly called Heroes. Heroes may arise through enduring great hardships or to meet great challenges, through superior bloodlines or training, through the wielding of great artifacts or potent blessings, or occasionally through no method and for no reason anyone can discern.
While they cannot innately wield Mana, Heroes are often the equals of Demons and other great entities in mundane strength and talent; indeed, when such higher beings are not wielding Mana, they tend to function as Heroes. Even without the aid of Mana, Heroes may build, destroy, harvest, and otherwise shape the world around them at will.
Heroes are also well known for their motivating effects on common rabble. Without Heroic intervention, even powerful herds of mortals are prone to being soft and complacent, accomplishing nothing save their own maintenance. When led by a Hero, these simpletons may be put to better use, harvesting resources, constructing great monuments, subjugating their lessers, forging mighty arms, and otherwise being of use.
Heroes are motivated by their Creed, which is sometimes referred to as a 'Mortal Gullet'. A Hero's Creed is the ideal they draw their strength from; a Hero who loses their Creed, whether through failing or fulfilling it, will tend to fade into obscurity and contentedness (or sorrow). Creeds are also highly variable; some Heroes want nothing more than to raise a family or serve their master out of fear, while others will stop for nothing less than ascension to godhood or conquest of the known world and beyond. More ambitious Heroes tend to be more powerful and competent, but also more strong-willed and reckless. A Hero's Creed may change with time and experience, but the core of such a champion cannot be altered lightly.
Heroes are noteworthy for their ability to increase their own strength through challenge and hardship. A Hero's Creed is important to this process; achievements directly related to a Hero's Creed are more likely to strengthen the Hero, and a Hero's strengths will tend to be in pursuit of their Creed.
Demons consider most mortals to be cattle at best and an offensive odor at worst. Indeed, many Demons have difficulty even focusing on individual mortals, in the same way a mortal might find it difficult to zero in on individual grains of sand on a beach. Massed in great numbers, mortals are no less contemptible, but at least serve some potential function, be it looking beautiful or being scooped into buckets and smelted into glass.
Mortals are generally divided into Herds, arbitary clusters large and organized enough to affect the world like an unambitious Hero. Left to their own devices most Herds will work for their own maintenance and little else, but when led by a Hero or otherwise motivated can produce useable resources and constructions.
Herds generally like to dwell within structures, which have a limited amount of space. Herds in good health will multiply to fill out this space, and can spread into empty slots in other present structures. The type of structure inhabited generally dictates the Herd's current profession.
Herds are notoriously fickle and unruly, demanding various luxuries and conditions, feuding with other Herd clusters, and developing inane requests, fears, or demands. Beings desiring happy and sophisticated Herds will endeavor to keep them safe, well-supplied, and pandered to. Beings desiring a steady flow of basic resources will endeavor to brutalize anything that interferes with their reign.
Herds have one other vital function: They are a renewable source of Mana. Herds may display some types of Mana outright, being Knowledgeable or Warlike enough to serve as valid sources of Knowledge or War Mana, for instance. However, even Herds not aligned to any useable Mana type may be used to generate Mana based on the method of their sacrifice: A deady puzzle maze might generate Knowledge Mana, a mass drowning could produce Water Mana, and so on.
Note that mortals tend to take being eaten for Mana poorly, so wise Demons tend to do so sparingly, inisidiously warp acceptance of it into their culture, only prey on hated groups, or decide early on that they do not care what their crops think of being harvested.
[b]Name:[/b] What you insist upon being called. Demonic names run the gamut, from simple and arbitrary to elaborate poems of their true nature.
[b]Mana Types:[/b] You begin with two Fetishes of any chosen Mana. These may be thematically linked (Ice, Death), diametrically opposed (Love, Hate), or have no apparent connection (Lightning, Plague). They may even be the same type, in which case you will begin with two separate Fetishes devoted to the same Mana type.
[b]Appearance:[/b] What you look like. Demonic appearance varies wildly, but on 'average' a being of your power would be around half again as tall as an 'average' mortal.
[b]Personality:[/b] How you tend to act and think, what you want, and what others tend to see in you. Ruthless ambition and relentless greed tend to be innate to most Demons, but there are exceptions and nuance even there. For everything else, Demonic minds can vary as much as their physical forms.
[b]Backstory:[/b] Anything noteworthy about your origins or past. Demons may be spawned like mortals, forged like tools, arise spontaneously, or come into being through stranger methods. They may wander in solitude or infest great warrens, answer only to themselves or serve in vast hierarchies, and contemplate serenity or ceaselessly toil. They may learn wondrous new things, reject their past, and seek a brighter future, or have come into being with the same talents and outlook they carry today. Whatever the case, you are now powerful enough to not be trifled with.
Five players, selected on whim and estimated quality. Feel free to ask questions.
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Topic: The Five Crowns of Nagoth [Turn 2: Endless War] (Read 4267 times)