Cryptarii
The deeper one digs into the city, the more one learns just how alive it is. Beyond the strata of the ratmen, below the chambers of the Cult of the Serpent, yet another species has come into being and learned from those that came before.
Roaches, much like the rats above, have been twisted by generations of total immersion in an Evil, violent environment. Their people grew many times their original size thanks to the unrestricted growth and plentiful food for the omnivorous creatures. Their society, while complex, is fragmented, very, very prone to corruption, and vulnerable to the influence of outside powers, and so we have stepped in to make something out of these freeloaders.
The military of the Roachkin is centered on a core of heavy infantry - The Cryptarii. Cryptarii are hooded roaches that stand slightly shorter than a man on their four rearmost legs. They represent the majority of forces used by each magistrate overseeing the various realms of the Roachman Empire, and are trained to fight in tight formations due to the environment they grew up in. While technically unarmored, the chitin on the Cryptarii is thick and resistant to physical blows. The hood of the roach does come over the top and around the sides of the head, but the face is left open, so a metal mask is worn for protection.
In order to combat the protection of Cryptarii fighting against their own, each Cryptarii is trained to use a spear made of a hardwood-like material from flora growing in the subterranean environment tipped with a sharp iron point. The spears have a small crescent beneath the head to act as a blade catch and to prevent overpenetration of an opponent and the potential loss of their primary weapon. The Cryptarii supplement their spearfighting by using gladius blattidae up close - short swords made for thrusting but still capable of cutting. In addition to these weapons, a large squared shield is held in the off-hand for extra protection.
The Cryptarii are a Common unit meant to replace the cultist spearguys.
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Cryptarii - Spittyboi edition
The deeper one digs into the city, the more one learns just how alive it is. Beyond the strata of the ratmen, below the chambers of the Cult of the Serpent, yet another species has come into being and learned from those that came before.
Roaches, much like the rats above, have been twisted by generations of total immersion in an Evil, violent environment. Their people grew many times their original size thanks to the unrestricted growth and plentiful food for the omnivorous creatures. Their society, while complex, is fragmented, very, very prone to corruption, and vulnerable to the influence of outside powers, and so we have stepped in to make something out of these freeloaders.
The military of the Roachkin is centered on a core of heavy infantry - The Cryptarii. Cryptarii are hooded roaches that stand slightly shorter than a man on their four rearmost legs. They represent the majority of forces used by each magistrate overseeing the various realms of the Roachman Empire, and are trained to fight in tight formations due to the environment they grew up in. While technically unarmored, the chitin on the Cryptarii is thick and resistant to physical blows. The hood of the roach does come over the top and around the sides of the head, but the face is left open.
In order to combat the protection of Cryptarii fighting against their own, each Cryptarii is trained to use a spear made of a hardwood-like material from flora growing in the subterranean environment tipped with a sharp iron point. The spears have a small crescent beneath the head to act as a blade catch and to prevent overpenetration of an opponent and the potential loss of their primary weapon. The Cryptarii supplement their spearfighting by using gladius blattidae up close - short swords made for thrusting but still capable of cutting. In addition to these weapons, a large squared shield is held in the off-hand for extra protection.
The Cryptarii have one final trick up their sleeve: in the before-times, their people used a powerful bacteria in their guts to break down and digest wood. As time passed (something we're keen not to mention around one guy in particular) this digestive juice became more potent and was moved into glands in the mouth to aid in ingestion. This acid can be spit at-will (with some refractory period), and can significantly weaken wood, but can also act to weaken other materials and cause irritation of the skin.
The Cryptarii are a Common unit meant to replace the cultist spearguys.
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The Skeleton Key/Keybearer
Sensing the energies of Jilganheim, God of Chaos and Mischief and the like on the Broken Shackle, it was obvious that the busted device should be forged into an artifact worthy of the troublemaker.
The shackle itself was removed from the chain and melted down in magically stoked fires overseen by Nar-Carok itself - such a task was too important to have otherwise. The molten metal was then poured into a cast to form a very stereotypical skeleton key. The chain was repurposed and modified into a chain, but more for wearing around the neck than securing to a wall. Infused with remnants of Jilganheim's interaction and stoked by Nar-Carok's evil, The Skeleton Key is a magical artifact capable of changing the bearer from mundane mortal to magnificent miscreant.
When worn around the neck, The Skeleton Key grants the bearer the ability to "bypass the barriers that inhibit them". Doors, windows, and chests all find themselves unlocked at the Keybearer's touch. Even magical entryways or those hidden via magic are revealed to the Keybearer. In combat, the Keybearer finds their attacks passing through shields as though the shield was made ethereal at the point of contact.
That is all well and good, but a very good thief or duelist could replicate that. In order to ensure the Keybearer is able to work at maximum efficiency, The Skeleton Key makes them harder to focus on. Whether it be shifting shadows obscuring their movements, a guard suddenly unable to pay attention to that door over there, or appearing to others as a hazy blur, The Skeleton Key makes it very, very, very easy to ignore the Keybearer and their activities.
If The Skeleton Key is forcibly removed from the Keybearer or the Keybearer dies their body ruptures violently and the artifact fades away, reappearing where it was forged to be granted to the next Keybearer.
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Jilganheim's Unbound Skullcap/The Untethered Mage/Gravity Well
The Broken Shackle resents restrictions almost as if it was a thinking entity on its own. To appease the shackle's desire to be used we have melted it down and reforged it into a cap that sits on the skull - yes, the skull. The flesh of the skull is peeled from the top of a living subject's head and the cap placed on the exposed bone, where the metal and bone fuse. The resulting image resembles a fucked up crown (the flesh is left peeled away but still attached, complete removal is unnecessary work). When the cap fully fuses, the mage's mind is bombarded with unrestricted knowledge. This does have the side effect of withering their body, but their mind remains intact and is in fact improved upon by magnitudes.
The Untethered Mage's body is unable to move of its own free will, so they sit upon a comfortable but not extravagant palanquin. This Palanquin is hauled not by bearers, but by the Mage's own will. The Untethered Mage likewise does not speak with their own mouth, instead imposing its messages into the minds of the people it seeks to communicate with (and can even communicate with living (or dead) things that don't necessarily have a coherent language).
The Untethered Mage has unrivaled magical powers thanks to Jilganheim's Unbound Skullcap, enough so that even Nar-Carok's magical capabilities are surpassed (although Nar-Carok could easily bully the cripple otherwise). This is made evident by the unique magical power granted to the Untethered Mage - the Gravity Well.
The Gravity Well creates a point in space that draws in [nouns] nearby, crushing them together in a terrible mass as they pass through the event horizon (the line with which events begin to happen, obviously). This powerful spell is a unique gift for the Untethered Mage, and therefore we unfortunately cannot glean much of anything from it in the way of making similar spells.
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Shades
When the merciless sun is brought to bear, the intelligent seek out the shade.
Shades are ethereal beings made of tortured souls, shadow, and evil, and dedicated to the causes of Nar-Carok. They are thin and nearly formless, resembling a cloak more than any living being. Their preferred method of transportation is flight. Their bodies notably absorb or block all light that contacts it much like a solid, physical object would.
While the shades are capable of causing fear and uncertainty in Good entities by passing through them, their primary goal is their own death and sweet release. Shades flitter across, above, and within the battlefield seeking opportunities to find their final reward. Their formations can blot out the sun over portions of a fight, and they are quick enough to intercept and wrap around, say, phials of thrown liquid sunlight. Magic and weaponized light both destroy the shades’ form and release the soul.
The final benefit of the Shades comes upon the annihilation of its ethereal form. The souls of these shades, or what is left of them, are utilized by casters wielding soul gems to empower their spellcraft. Only then do they get the reward they seek.
Shades are also known for pairing with specific entities closer to the points of contact between forces, and the Good forces are just going to have to deal with it, scrub.
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Topic: Demon Team - Chiaroscuro 2 | Design Phase T6 (Read 17442 times)