Name: Omentus Anima Occupation: Apothecary Age: 51 Apparent Age: Uncertain, with traits of both 22 years old and 51 years old. Race: Human Gender: Male Eyes: His eyes are a remarkable dark teal color not normally found in humans. Further, his pupils are vertically slitted, and his eyes shine a glittering golden color when seen from the right angle. Hair Color/Style: Omentus’ sable hair is long and unkempt, as though it has not been properly cut or trimmed in years. Weight: 207 pounds Height: 5’ 11” Theme Song: Lux Aeterna
Personality: Omentus is a very unbalanced man. Most of the time he’s trapped in a haze of thought that keeps him from interacting with people around him in any meaningful way. While in this haze, he contemplates himself, the things around him, his research over the years, and analyzes everything. If someone talks to him or tries to grab his attention, he responds automatically. Normally, this haze of thought will not put him in harm’s way. To the casual observer, he probably looks very stoned.
A few things will bring Omentus out of his haze, such as music. Knowing this, he sometimes keeps a music box with him so that he can focus when it is called for. Also, when Omentus encounters a new person or event, or creature with a trait he is not familiar with, he will pick up out of his fog. Physical pain will bring him back to reality. Also, Omentus has a phobia of natural death, and seeing people near death for reasons not directly related to acts of man (disease, old age, falling rocks, wild animals, et cetera) will shake his head out of the clouds.
When not in his haze of thought, Omentus is very direct. He takes pleasure in everything, but is annoyed with everything at the same time. If he finds a trait he desires, he becomes excitable, but his single-minded pursuit never changes. His personality borders on sadistic, as he enjoys watching a person’s psychological reactions to pain or other unpleasant discoveries. The longer he manages to stay out of his haze of thought, however, the more stable he becomes as an individual.
Omentus believes that his body is imperfect, and by making enough modifications to himself, he can eventually become perfect. He also believes that blood is a source of incredible power. With something’s blood, you can have all of the power it does. You only need to find a way.
Appearance: Black magicks, bodily grafts, alchemy and highly specialized drugs have shaped Omentus Anima’s body for the last thirty-one years, making him an unusual breed of man between young and old. Standing at five feet and eleven inches tall, his light frame seems too light to weigh in at over two hundred pounds; he is far more solid than he seems. At first glance, Omentus appears to be only twenty-two years old or so, especially because his skin shows no signs of aging beyond that point. Other parts about him are the proper fifty-one, however, such as his hair and the relaxed stride with which he walks. Since so much of him has been ‘replaced’ or ‘improved,’ these small things may do nothing but shroud his real age.
Omentus’ hair is a soft sable color, usually restrained into a small collection of red leather straps and arranged in such a way that it won’t touch the back of his neck except in strong winds. It falls down as far as the bottom of his collar. Although he is meticulous about keeping his hair washed and clean, Omentus doesn’t seem to notice it often enough to have it professionally trimmed, and therefore does most of its cutting himself – with the years of practice he’s had, it hardly shows anymore, and almost gives his hair a ‘naturally wild’ look.
His eyes are a strange, bright teal color with slitted pupils and that shine like the eyes of a cat under different angles of light. At some point in his life, Omentus also performed self-surgery, planting a third eye into the nape of his neck. His hind eye is lime green in color, with a white pupil. When under certain angles of light, his hind eye shines even brighter than his forward eyes. Normally, Omentus’ hind eye remains closed; it blends in with the back of his neck almost perfectly. His first voice is moderate in tone and has both the deliberateness of an aging man and the verve of a young one, and his second voice is a little rasped and has the definite sound of a middle aged man’s voice.
Fused to Omen's left forearm is an ornate, brassy metallic band with a circular port of sorts that sits above the prominent vein near the wrist. Another of these metal ports is located over his heart, with a web of the same brass-colored metal fusing it to his chest and around his left side. Behind his right ear, five copper-colored scales, each about half an inch long, have been grafted to his skin in a natural pattern.
The core of Omentus’ clothing is a dark red chambray button-down shirt with short sleeves, black canvas pants, a thick leather belt with a steel buckle and a pair of well-worn walking boots. On his thighs, he wears a complicated leather harness that holsters each of his syringes for safe storage and easy draws, as well as an extra eight syringe barrels. Alternatively, he may sometimes wear a black fine twill button-down shirt with short sleeves.
Over his shirt, the seromancer sometimes wears a dull green and black piece of living body armor. Strapped to the outer side of each calf, he wears a tooled red leather pack which contains many of the components of his portable lab, and a similar but slightly larger pack is attached to the right hand side of his belt. Covering everything else, Omentus wears a dark red, insulated leather cloak with a deep hood and many inner pockets. The cloak has seen many years of use, repair and extra tailoring. It even buttons up in the front for cold weather.
These are Tektek avatars of Omentus I made because I can. They don't look exactly like him...
Weapons Vassyr Scales
Thanks to an encounter with a vassyr gargoyle cub, the seromancer has grafted a set of five copper scales to the skin behind his right ear. At his mental command, Omen can cause these scales to break away from his body and fly about as he wills them to. This task requires very little of his concentration, and the scales can strike with enough force to puncture or cut skin, making them good weapons. When Omen wills it, the scales will return to him and reattach to the skin behind his ear as though they'd never left him. The same will happen if he loses consciousness for any reason. Unlike the rest of his body, these scales have no vulnerability to electricity.
Syringes
Omentus keeps an array of four syringes in sheaths on his legs. Each syringe is different from the others, and one of them is even meant to be used only in combat. Each syringe is made from surgical steel and silver, and is usually filled with a drug unique to that syringe.
Argindur
Argindur is a shiny, gun-like syringe with one ring on its top side, and three on its bottom side. The needle on the end of Argindur is two inches long, stocky and reinforced by small rods to make it sturdier. Its plunger is drawn from the syringe at an angle, but can be punched from a trigger on the top side of the syringe, directly in front of the index ring. The casing around Argindur’s barrel is a jagged swirl of red and clear crystal, which is usually filled with the deep, red-black color of its translucent drug.
When muscle, whether living or otherwise, is exposed to the argindur drug, it sparks intense sensations of heat, cold and pain all at the same time. This sensation is strong enough to force a spasm out of flesh that has been dead for weeks, sometimes even revitalizing the tissue. For the living, it is sheer agony and muscle spasms that can persist for up to four hours. Fortunately, argindur’s effects are local; it does not spread easily from the point of injection.
Beli
Beli is shaped like a normal, if expensive, steel syringe. It has two steel rings near its top where its wielder may grasp it firmly, and a plunger which sits between them and is punched or drawn straight to the barrel. A graduated steel coupler connects the barrel to Beli’s one and a half inch long needle. However, all of Beli’s steel portions are rainbow hued, as though the metal had been electrified for color. Normally, this syringe is about half filled with the beli drug, an opaque, bright purple liquid.
The beli drug is a sedative which has the strongest effect on living creatures, but undead or even the dead themselves are influenced by its incredible effect, providing all of them with a release from pain and discomfort in the extreme. Beli is also a powerful hallucinogen which fills its recipient with sensation of joy, love and happiness, while providing vivid delusions for all five (or more) senses. Its effects are moderate term, lasting for a duration of five hours or more.
Helir
Helir is an elegantly shaped, sturdy steel and crystal syringe. Its barrel is more stout than those of most syringes, and partially covered with a lattice of millimeter-thick metal. Its plunger is set on a spring and connected to the trigger on Helir’s side, which is in front of one of the two metal rings near the base of the barrel. Helir’s stalwart needle is designed to draw blood or bodily fluids quickly and efficiently, being equipped with a one-way nozzle that can be disengaged by the syringe’s owner with the flick of a switch. The sides of Helir’s needle are flanged by small razor blades, making it a fine and horrific knife-like weapon in addition to its ‘medicinal’ purpose.
Helir does not have a drug associated with it, although Omentus is most fond of using it in combat, over all his other syringes. It is used to draw the blood of creatures even as Omentus fights, and he will sometimes even put himself in danger of injury to procure a blood specimen.
Valiau
The syringe called Valiau is an especially unique tool, such that its design limits it to left-handed use only. Although the core of the syringe is mostly normal, it is surrounded by a guard reminiscent of but heavier than the swept hilt rapier’s. A set of five rings around Valiau’s barrel allow it to be held comfortably and dexterously. Its skull-motif plunger can be punched either incrementally or smoothly, allowing its wielder to accurately control exactly how much drug is administered. The syringe’s needle extends one and a half inches from its neck, but rather than straight and post-like, the body of the needle is a triangular blade with a half-inch protrusion from its tip. All of the Valiau syringe’s metal except its needle is the same tarnished silver color, giving the tool a very foreboding appearance when combined with the opaque black drug in its barrel.
The valiau drug is a viscous, pitch black fluid with a sickly gray sheen over its surface when viewed from an angle under light. The drug rapidly becomes thin and watery when exposed to heat, with a boiling point at barely over 105° F (41° C). When administered, valiau deadens the senses and body as a powerful regional anesthetic and disturbs coordination, but has no effects on the mind, a victim’s consciousness or its other perceptions. Making the drug dangerous, however, valiau also halts healing or regeneration in the body, prevents blood clotting, and slowly necrotizes the flesh from its point of contact outward, and is especially effective when injected.
Spoiler: Vamet, Surilith Tower Sword
Vamet is a surilith demon that has been reshaped into a tower sword. Its blade is 54 inches long, with a 15-inch long hilt. Eleven inches of that hilt is Vamet’s handle, and the other four inches is its guard. The tower sword’s blade itself is 54 inches long, 8 inches wide, ¼ inch thick at its “edge,” and 2 ½ inches thick in the middle of the blade.
Normally, suriliths resemble gray-violet spiders the size of pack horses or larger, with two blade-like forelimbs and a clutch of eight bright red eyes above their obviously venomous mandibles. The chitin covering their bodies is a touch stronger than steel, and usually thick enough that normal swords are of little consequence to these horrible creatures. Due to the unique magic used to reshape Vamet, his body no longer has the shape of a spider, and his limbs no longer have the kinds of shapes they once did. He is now naturally in the shape of a large sword, and his joints allow him to take on a few different forms.
Vamet’s legs have joints that remain normally firmly locked while he is in sword shape. If it is necessary to avoid taking damage, though, he can quickly unlock these joints to bend with a blow. His six red, glowing compound eyes encircle the guard, giving him sight in all directions around him. The manner in which his legs lock together into the blade’s shape allow Vamet to secrete his venom onto the blade’s edge from his mandibles.
Vamet can unfold his body so that he stands on the six legs that usually comprise his blade. In this form, Vamet can walk around and climb on walls and ceilings. With a number of very small leg-like appendages and spinnerets beside his mandibles, he can also create a thick strand of webbing stronger than steel cable. These spinnerets are also available to Omentus when Vamet is a tower sword, but the demon becomes ineffective as a weapon until the strand is detached.
Vamet is a dangerous creature in his own right, even considering his distorted shape. He is highly resistant to damage, able to fall hundreds of feet with little harm, and his chitin has been hardened so that it is about three and half times stronger than most weapon-grade steels. Acid and electricity have only very stunted effects on his chitin. His venom weakens and disorients his victims, as detailed below.
When unfolded, Vamet is faster than a horse, more agile than a parkour practitioner, and strong enough to tear a large animal limb from limb. He can create a strands or different types of webbing, much like a normal spider. The webbing he can create is not as sticky as normal spidersilk, but is stronger and can form into cords as thick as two centimeters. Also, he is able to track creatures by the ‘smell’ of their souls.
As is normal for suriliths, Vamet can communicate with other creatures telepathically. He can speak into the mind of any creature within two hundred feet of himself. Since his reshaping, Vamet’s telepathy has become his primary mode of communication, since his mouth no longer has a shape that can easily articulate sounds. He may share more than words in this way, especially experiences and visual images.
Vamet is not without his own weaknesses, although he is significantly less vulnerable than his successor, Audisce. His chitin is vulnerable to attacks from holy, silver and wrought iron sources. These metals cut through his chitin as though it had no form of special protection other than being an especially thick exoskeleton, and any holy material (blessed water, fire, weapon, magic et cetera) burns through him like a potent acid would sear through any other creature. Although Vamet can regenerate lost tissue, if he suffers a significant wound, he becomes less dangerous as both a predator and a weapon.
Spoiler: The Venom's Effects
The duration of Vamet’s venomous effects can change based on how much of the venom is introduced to a victim. For brief and low exposure to the venom, such as a drop or less, a victim can feel its effects from just a few up to twenty minutes. For such low exposure to the venom, its victim might hear familiar voices calling out to them and get a eerie but infrequent feeling that something is crawling under the skin. Additionally, such a low dose of the venom may distort and confuse the appearance of certain colors to the victim, perhaps making blue look green, red look yellow, or any number of other possibilities, though usually only a single such color is confused at once.
If a creature is exposed to more as much as a dram (1/8 ounce) of Vamet's venom, its effects can endure up to sixteen hours. With so much of the venom affecting a victim, that creature may hear familiar voices calling out their name or hear echoes of sounds long after they've already happened, experience a persistent taste of metal or wine or both, feel as though they are being touched when no one is there, and get an unsettling, almost constant feeling that there is something crawling under their skin. Additionally, they may see flashes of light and color where there are none, or experience blurry and split vision.
Any of the perceptual troubles caused by Vamet’s venom are certainly disconcerting, and may cause sensations of panic or danger when combined with its exhausting and nauseating qualities. Though these troubles can be disorienting, they can be defeated, it is possible to mitigate the venom's effect with exclusive focus on the behalf of the poisoned individual.
Spoiler: Vamet's Silk
The webbing he can create is similar to either dragline, capture-spiral, tubiliform, aciniform or minor-ampullate silk, though any webbing he creates is not quite as sticky as its mundane counterpart. Conversely, any type of silk that he creates is stronger than mundane spidersilk. When creating a cord, he uses a mixture of dragline and aciniform silk that is three and a half times as strong as steel per unit weight, and five times as tough. The silk that Vamet spins does not share mundane spidersilk's weakness to fire, but does eventually decay with time, and becomes more fragile in cold environments. Deep cold can reduce the silk to as little as half its original strength and toughness. Vamet has the ability to bite and sever his own webbing with no difficulty, although this is not due to the strength of his bite, but to specialized enzymes in his venom.
It is worthwhile to note that a .78 inch (2 cm) cord of Vamet’s silk can support up to 88,000 pounds of weight before snapping. More cords can be used to support even more weight than the sum of their load capacities. Also, cutting through Vamet’s cords would require a hacksaw and a replacement few blades to accomplish. With work, though, steel hacksaw blades may be able to sever one of Vamet’s cords in as little as a few hours.
Spoiler: The Smell of Souls
This ability is almost identical to a bloodhound tracking a creature by its physical scent, except that the smell of a soul cannot be washed off and can be detected through water, oil and other physical substances as though they weren't there. A soul's scent can be covered up, but only by surrounding the tracked individual with many other individuals. Naturally, people with exceptionally strong or unusual souls are easier to track via this ability. Places trafficked by more people and animals will cause an individual scent to disperse more quickly, but in lonesome places, a single person's soul-scent can persist strongly for up to two days, and weakly for a great deal of time after that.
Armor: The allure and novelty of his living armor has recently expired for Omentus, causing him to go without it in favor of the enhanced mobility that comes from not wearing it. However, this doesn't mean that the seromancer is unprotected. His own skin, which originated from a powerful demon, has a quality like armor. It is strong enough that it can resist injury from most blades, including anything as weak as steel. He can still be harmed by magical weapons, those stronger than steel, and glass or glass-like edges, but even the finest steel razors cannot cut him. Additionally, his demonic skin resists blunt force and impacts much more effectively than a man's (perhaps comparable to rhinoceros hide), but his bones and inner organs might still be at risk of injury from those weapons.
Carried Possessions: The apothecary carries a tooled, red leather pack on the right side of his belt, and another, slightly smaller one, on the calf of his right leg. These packs contain the pieces of his portable laboratory, as well as a few vials or orbs of his contained mockeries, and the more mundane drugs and reagents of his craft.
Battle Strengths: Patchwork necromancy has afforded Omentus Anima a number of “natural” advantages. Over time, he has grafted onto or into himself the bodily parts of many other creatures while still maintaining a human guise. He has replaced his own eyes and skin, and rendered himself immune to even the most virulent of diseases and poisons, and to extreme heat and cold.
Having the eyes of a demon, Omentus can see in darkness far darker than the capacity of humans. Further self-surgery on his own eyes has also left him at no loss for color, and he can see behind him by opening the eye in the nape of his neck. Replacing his voice box with a demon’s has given him the benefit of two voices, and he has become skilled in speaking in both at the same time – even performing acts of ventriloquism with one while speaking normally with the other. Like his voice, his skin is taken from the body of a demon, and has the profound armor-like quality of being able to turn away even some of the sharpest blades and points.
Omentus fights with utter cruelty in battle, using his agility and inhuman stamina to his advantage, and holds back no sly or depraved trick to gain the upper hand. He is devilishly clever, often luring his opponents into deadly or debilitating traps or siccing one of his pets or creations on them rather than fighting them directly. Tricking an opponent into stepping on a phial of tarasps and leaving them to deal with the deadly swarm is one of his favorites. At times, Omentus will even be accompanied by a “zombie” or two.
His mind is a place of total psychosis and incomprehensible alienism, stitched together from a single man's life and the memories of many others. Although this affects Omentus in no way than already mentioned, it makes trying to read his mind impossible, and doing so for more than a moment will quickly disorient and throw off the intruder. For reference, imagine trying to read the tie-dyed pages of a book on astrophysics in relation to the effects of opium in a blender, while high on LSD. The same could be said of trying to read his soul, as it is shrouded behind walls and mazes of dark magicks, stitched together from the lives of many men, and home to a sort of darkness that could only exist in a thing that is both mortal and demonic.
Lastly, Omentus Anima is a man of many hobbies – alchemy, pharmacology, the dark arts, fishing and research of the deific condition. As a result, he keeps a variety of potions, drugs, reagents, lures and relics on his person at all times, giving him a nearly endless supply of tricks up his proverbial sleeve.
Battle Weaknesses: Although a cruel opponent in battle, Omentus is not especially familiar with combat, and suffers from amateur mistakes if forced into melee with another person. If found in his haze, he is especially vulnerable, as very few things will bring his head out of the clouds; he may even lapse back into the fog during a lull in combat if he hasn’t suffered any injuries.
Electricity also poses a particular threat to Omentus. Although his grafts and bodily additions appear to be physically perfect, even imperceptible in some instances, electrical shocks or lightning cause a severe but temporary disruption in their nervous connections, damaging his vision and partially paralyzing him for a short time after suffering such jolts.
Omentus is also particularly vulnerable to holy, blessed or silvered weapons. Whether this is due to being steeped in the dark magicks of his craft, having demonic skin or a combination of both, even Omentus does not know. The fact remains, however, that holy water burns his flesh like acid, and blessed or holy weapons that break his skin burn just as much. Silver does not readily agitate him, but wounds caused by it heal slowly and leave a lasting impression on his body.
Powers/Skills/Magic: Omentus is skilled in alchemy, fishing and many of the dark arts. Most of his magic is focused on the plethora of abilities which allow him to change the physical shape and sometimes even function of living creatures into other things, usually items which he can wear on his person, or to merge them together into new creatures, and to remove parts from other creatures and graft them onto his own body as though they were never separate from him.
All of Omen's magics draw their fuel from his own personal mana well, which can leave him without the use of spells if caught in the middle of any of the above procedures, as they cost heavily. He does, though, know three spells that are not directly used for these other abilities. Omentus' mana reserve and the cost of his spells are listed below. It is also important to know that the effects of each of the following three spells can be modified by using them in conjunction with different gods' bloods, as listed in the "I'm not comfortable with vagueness" post, below. Omen's mana well, these spells and their costs are as follows:
Mana: 146
Bloodstar Mana Cost: 5
Omentus draws a dart-like construct of blood out of any fresh source, usually an open wound or syringe. The ‘star’ is about two inches long, the blood’s color and sharp on its edges. When cast, the star flies free of its caster and harasses a single target, inflicting small cuts on its victim as it flies around them. If the star is struck hard, it is broken and splashes apart. Casting the spell from a person’s injury will injure them further, and the star lasts for about half a minute after it is cast.
Wound Transfer Mana Cost: 12
Omentus may move wounds from any creature, such as himself, onto any other creature. Both the wounds’ source and their recipient must be not unwilling for the spell to take effect; if anyone involved in the transfer of the injury is opposed to the transfer, the spell fails. With it, though, Omentus may move a wound from one place on a person’s body to another place on their body; break the injury up into smaller, less harmful injuries; or move the injury onto another body altogether. He cannot, however, move any wound anywhere that would make it more harmful than it already is, or combine wounds to create a single, more serious injury.
Ignore Me Mana Cost: 17
With this spell, Omentus sheds an aura within about forty feet of himself that causes most people to not notice him, or at the very least, not notice anything special about him. The spell fails on anyone who is specifically looking for him, but makes him just another face in the crowd to everybody else. The spell ends if Omentus does something flashy or if attention is called on him by at least three other people, or about two hours after it is cast.
Other:
Spoiler: Money!
In the world that Omentus comes from, money is divided up into coins of imperial mint. The different denominations are determined by the size, construction and material of any given coin. The most basic coins of his world are circular tabs of metal with the symbol of the city they were minted in on one side, and the coin's dynasty of mint on the other side. The materials of these coins are copper, silver, electrum, gold and platinum. Copper and silver coins are the smallest, being about 3/4 of an inch wide. Electrum coins are slightly larger, at 7/8 of an inch. Gold coins are 1 1/4 inches wide, and platinum coins are just barely larger than gold coins. Gold and platinum coins also have a moire pattern stamped onto either side of them, anywhere the seal and writing are not found.
The first level of imperial minted coins are referred to as "imperial," as these coins are seen in use far more often than other types of imperial minted coins. Imperial copper coins are the basest unit of measurement in this system. An imperial silver coin is worth ten imperial copper coins. An imperial electrum coin is worth five imperial silver coins; electrum coins are seen less often in circulation, being much like the "2-dollar bill" in US circulation. An imperial gold coin is worth ten imperial silver coins (or two imperial electrum coins). Finally, an imperial platinum coin is worth five imperial gold coins. The chart below covers the value of each imperial coin relative to each other.
Used less often are the "astral" coins, which are worth far more than the basic coins of imperial mint. Astral coins are named for the smooth pieces of stone inset to the center of the coins, which are astroid-shaped. The four points of each coin's astroid stone falls 1/4 of an inch short of the coin's edge. The metals of the astral set coins are the same as the metals of the imperial set coins, but the material of each denomination's astroid is different.
Astral copper coins have white quartz astroids, and are the basic value of astral coins. Astral copper coins are worth two imperial platinum coins. Astral silver coins have lapis lazuli astroids, and are worth ten astral copper coins. Astral electrum coins have azurite astroids, and are worth ten astral silver coins. Astral gold coins have jade astroids, and are worth ten astral electrum coins. Finally, astral platinum coins have aqua cat's eye astroids, and are worth five astral gold coins. Astral gold and platinum coins have the same moire patterning on their metal portions as the patterning found on imperial coins. The first chart below details the relation of each astral coin to each other, whereas the second chart details the relation of each imperial coin to each astral coin.
An income of one imperial platinum coin and three imperial gold coins per month is sufficient to keep a middle class family of four fed and clothed in their own home, with money left over to find a decent education for the children. Almost needless to say, most people go their entire lives without ever seeing an astral platinum coin.
Also, there’s a whole ‘nother post below that goes over Omentus’ abilities in extensive detail. It expands on that “nearly endless” part in his strengths. Don’t read it unless you’re prepared for a long read, or unless you’re just looking for information on a particular category of Omen’s abilities. At some point, there will be a table of contents for it.
Likes: Omentus likes to go fishing, and do many things related to the various modes of fishing, such as tying flies, crafting lures, creating baits, and assembling new rod designs. Although he is also versed in bow, net and spear fishing, these aren't common ways for him to fish. He also likes to grow new types of herbs and teas, and to mix and drink new blends of tea.
The apothecary also enjoys creating new pharmacological and holistic products to ease the lives of others, and especially new kinds of medicine to help the less financially fortunate members of society. The sliding scale of his prices of his products and services based on the income of his customers reflects this. A customer who makes 10 imperial platinum a month might pay 2 gold and 5 silver up front for a particular product, while a customer who makes just a few silvers a month may owe Omentus a single copper for the same product. People incapable of making an income, but not layabouts, are often included in his charity programs.
As the apothecary has many projects in progress at any one point in time, he also likes to see his projects grow and develop over time. This is especially true in the cases of his experiments on other people and creatures. However, whereas significantly adverse changes in the health of an experimental subject allow Omentus to learn great deals of information from a single subject, the threshold of Omentus' compassion can be reached, and these subjects might find themselves being 'hunted' by the apothecary as he tries to right the wrongs that have been done to them and cure their unease.
Dislikes: Omentus dislikes the taste of certain vegetables, like squashes, and including pumpkin.
Omentus is also unfond of disorder, but not of chaos. He feels that chaos is not the opposite of, but simply detached and different from the concept of order. Disorder is the bad thing; when things are not in their controlled or moderated state. Excessive personal indulgence disgusts him, but he rarely acts on these feelings.
Certain philosophical topics, such as absolutism, absurdism and existential theory, are things that Omentus has a great impatience for. It doesn't matter to Omentus whether or not we exist or have a purpose, or what our impact on the world may be, especially when nothing can be done with or about the ideas presented. In other words, he dislikes useless thought.
Fears: Omentus has a terrible fear of death by natural causes, such as sickness, starvation or animal attacks. This fear will often drive Omentus out of his haze of thought and into calm lucidity for extended periods of time, forcing him to attempt to stop or cure whatever has incited his fear. This undeniable urge to cure sickness and treat others sometimes makes Omentus look altruistic or compassionate in the eyes of others, though this is not truly the case.
He also has a fear of emotional attachment, which stems from the loss of his parents. Omentus feels that he could lose other people at any time, for reasons beyond his control, which he, subconsciously, does not feel he can handle.
Virtues: Omentus does nothing to be mean to or harm other people. Although he is often cruel, his motivations are never so. If Omentus does something, he does it either as an act of compassion, in an effort to learn more about something, to attain his goal of self-perfection, or on a strictly business commission.
Vices: Omentus' single-minded pursuit of his goals often comes at the cost of his perspective. Once Omentus has taken interest in doing something, only getting his results matters to him, regardless of the cost of those results, or the morality of the matter.
Player: Drammor
Character: Omentus Anima
Innate Element: Blood
Overall Rank: VII
Strength: VI
Defense: VII
Speed: VI
Reflex: VIII
Magic: VIII
Mana: V
Skill: X
Misc.: VIII
Lastly, Omentus Anima is a man of many hobbies – alchemy, pharmacology, the dark arts, fishing and research of the deific condition. As a result, he keeps a variety of potions, drugs, reagents, lures and relics on his person at all times, giving him a nearly endless supply of tricks up his proverbial sleeve.
It may or may not come as a surprise to anyone that the above statement, typed by my own hand, is one I am not comfortable with. I feel that it leaves me with too much room for creativity on the fly with Omentus, which could lead to inventing something to pull him out of a tough spot in the middle of a roleplay, with no actual backing for doing so. Therefore, I have begun to list and explain exactly what this statement entails (especially the 'nearly endless' part), and I will be updating this section semi-regularly as I get around to not procrastinating and write the material for it.
This post has become long enough to be daunting. I'm going to try to fix that now, by splitting it up into different categories.
Seromancy: (Still working on it) A specialized form of magic with effects closely relating to blood, life, souls and biology. Seromancy spells are typically unusual but powerful in nature, being not completely straightforward or having restrictions on them not found in normal spellcraft. Seromancy magic is divided into three categories, based on the ease of casting and mana requirements. These categories are sorceries, spellcraft and thaumaturgy. Sorceries are like spell-tricks - they require very little mana, simple casting methods and their uses are very restricted but applicable in many situations. Seromancy spellcraft is the meat of the magic, being the actual spells cast by practitioners of the art - Bloodstar and Wound Transfer are both seromancy spells. Thaumaturgies are freeform ritual magics capable of a very wide range of things that the caster need not know about in great detail, which often require a lot of time to cast and have heavy mana costs attached to them, and are also limited by the possibility of spell failure. When a seromantic thaumaturgy fails, it may either fizzle and do nothing, do something other than intended, or explode violently.
Sorceries: Bind Hellsoul
Mana Cost: 3
With this highly powerful sorcery, the seromancer plucks a tortured soul out of the Hells and instills it into their own body. As the hellsoul takes root, the seromancer's skin pales into ghostly white, while their veins turn black and stand out from the skin in a stark visual contrast. The caster's eyes turn a deep crimson color, which constantly and slowly weep silver tears until the hellsoul is unbound. To cast, the Bind Hellsoul sorcery requires the seromancer to trace a symbol of profane power on any solid surface.
While a hellsoul is bound the to seromancer, s/he becomes inured to all forms of physical, mental and spiritual pain, making them difficult to deter with mere force. Additionally, the caster gains a terrible endurance, able to be standing (and fighting) when other men would already be very dead. Finally, the hellsoul binder becomes immune to mind-affecting enchantments and charms.
Bloodseep
Mana Cost: 1
With the casting of this sorcery, a slick of brightly colored blood begins to seep from every pore on the seromancer's body. No amount of bleeding from the caster can bring them harm from this sorcery, and the sorcery can be maintained for any amount of time. To use the Bloodseep sorcery, the seromancer need only focus on casting the spell. When the sorcery ends, all of the blood shed from the caster in this way dries into a pale red dust.
As long as blood seeps from the caster's pores, their body becomes very slippery, allowing them to more easily escape from such bondage as ropes, manacles, or the like. Additionally, the Bloodseep sorcery can be used to mask the seromancer's appearance, as the blood oozes from even their face and through their eyes while the sorcery is active.
Carnage
Mana Cost: 1
By making a small cut into his own skin while casting another spell, the seromancer can cast the Carnage sorcery. This sorcery makes a damage-dealing spell into a blood-seeking spell. A spell so modified elicits additional damage from its victim, as its touch draws more blood from the wound it inflicts. If the spell does not normally inflict a wound, the Carnage sorcery causes it to simply rip blood out of the victim's skin from a random place on the body. The additional damage caused by this sorcery is not severe, but can stack up quickly.
For instance, the bloodstar spell normally takes five or six darts to kill a normal, well-armored human soldier. With this sorcery, the bloodstar spell may take only three or four darts to kill the same person.
Chain of Scars
Mana Cost: 2 per chained spell
Casting this sorcery is a simple process, but must be effected with this use of a cutting tool of some kind. While casting the sorcery, the seromancer scores a number of whorl-shaped shallow cuts into their own flesh, which lead to one another in the fashion of a chain. As the chain of cuts is completed, the seromancer assigns a different spell s/he knows to each whorl. After the spells are assigned, the cuts heal over into a chain of spell-charged scars.
When the seromancer casts the spell assigned to the first whorl, the spell for each whorl down the chain is automatically cast in sequence, allowing the seromancer to cast several spells in rapid succession, and to cast spells while performing other tasks. While the chain of scars is automatically casting spells for the seromancer, the seromancer is still free to use other sorceries or metamagics in conjunction with the spells being cast from the chain.
Once started, the chain of spells cannot be stopped, unless the caster does not have enough mana to cast the next spell in sequence. If this happens, the first uncast spell-whorl becomes the whorl which starts the chain on its spell's next casting. Each time a whorl casts a spell, it vanishes permanently from the seromancer's flesh.
Eyes of Blood
Mana Cost: 1
This sorcery requires Omentus to blink as the entire method of casting, thus making it a very fast sorcery to use. When cast, the eyes of blood sorcery causes Omentus' eyes to turn crimson like the color of blood, with no difference in the color of his whites, irises or pupils. While under the sorcery's effect, Omentus can see the animating forces within any being he looks upon. Living creatures contain a crimson flame around an orb, dead ones have only a pale bone white orb. Undead creatures seen by the eyes of blood sorcery are identified by black flames surrounding an orb, whereas golems and the like are given away simple shimmering orb of silver color. There are other signatures that identify other forms of animation, but these appear far less commonly than the ones listed above. This ability to see animating forces cannot be blinded, though it can be misled. The eyes of blood sorcery lasts until the caster ends it by blinking again, or uses another of the Eyes sorceries.
Eyes of Bone Mana Cost: 1
This seromantic sorcery requires Omentus to blink as the entire method of casting, thus making it one of the fastest effects in his repertoire. When cast, the eyes of bone sorcery causes Omentus' eyes to turn white like the color of bone, with no difference in the color of his whites, irises or pupils. While under the sorcery's effect, Omentus can see magical auras in addition to seeing normally. Differences in the color, brightness, oscillation and patterns of magical auras allow the seromancer to determine the nature of the magic, its power relative to his ability to cast, and the specific purpose of the magic in effect. This ability to see magic cannot be blinded, though an especially powerful aura can outshine others around it. The eyes of bone sorcery lasts until the caster ends it by blinking again, or uses another of the Eyes sorceries.
Eyes of Darkness
Mana Cost: 2
This seromantic sorcery requires Omentus to blink as the entire method of casting, thus making it one of the fastest effects in his repertoire. When cast, the eyes of darkness sorcery causes Omentus' eyes to turn pitch black in color, with no difference in the color of his whites, irises or pupils. While under the sorcery's effect, Omentus can see through darkness of all intensities, whether that darkness is normal, magical or otherwise in nature. While using this sorcery, Omen sees only muted colors, but is otherwise visually unimpaired. The eyes of darkness sorcery lasts until the caster ends it by blinking again, or uses another of the Eyes sorceries.
Sanguine Boost
Mana Cost: 2
Through the means of the sanguine boost sorcery, a seromancer is able to include his own blood as a component of nearly any spell. To do this, the caster muster somehow injure theirself or otherwise draw their own blood, cast the sorcery and then cast a spell. The casting of the sanguine boost seromancy itself is very quick, but drawing the blood can take a little extra time. The more blood that Omentus draws for use as a component in a spell, the more powerful the spell becomes. A few drops is sufficient to embolden a spell on a moderate level, perhaps making one of his bloodstars a time and a half as strong as normal, and greater amounts are all the more helpful. Although this sorcery is both useful and powerful, Omentus is hesitant to use it often, as its use does require the use of both mana and his own blood to cast.
Soul-Chilling Gaze
Mana Cost: 3
By gazing onto any other creature and with the use of this sorcery, Omentus can fill a victim with a sense of supernatural cold. This affects victims on an austere, mostly ethereal level, but its effects are felt almost wholly in the physical realm. To a person under the effects of the gaze, it feels as though they were plunged into a deep winter's storm, and a rime of ice may even begin to form on their skin with enough exposure to the gaze. The source of the cold is not evident, and the victim's body is not actually cold in any way, but for where the ice formed by the effect touches their body. The supernatural cold of the soul-chilling gaze also has a numbing effect on its victim, making them slowly more unresponsive with time.
Meeting the seromancer's gaze strengthens the effect of the sorcery, having the worst effect on a victim after only two or three minutes of exposure. Without a line of sight to be met, the effect can take as long as half an hour reach the same level of power. At worst, the soul-chilling gaze is horrible to experience, but is never lethal, or even injurious. Frostbite never forms due to the cold.
The removal of the seromancer's gaze does not immediately end the effect, as the soul still takes time to warm back up from the experience. Recovery from the gaze always complete, however, never leaving any lasting damage on the soul. The sorcery's effect lasts for as long as the caster wills it, and the soul-chilling gaze is cast with only a few moments of concentration.
Venilixir
Mana Cost: 3
By the use of this sorcery, Omentus can drink a dose of potion and delay its effects by storing the potion away in his bloodstream. Omentus can store only a single dose of a single potion in this way, but the potion's effects can be released at any time he wills them to be. The venilixir sorcery's effect last for up to an hour. If a potion stored by this sorcery is not released within that hour, the draught is wasted entirely.
Well of Deeper Black
Mana Cost: 3 – 18+
Normally used for travel onto the dark planes of existence that drain or snuff the soul itself out of living beings, this sorcery transforms the soul of the seromancer into a thing of deep darkness, rather than light. Effectively, this sorcery smoothly and harmlessly transforms its caster's positive lifeforce into an undead creature's negative lifeforce for its duration. When its durations ends, the transformation back to a light-souled (living) creature is just as smooth and harmless.
As different planes of existence have varying strengths, more mana can be spent on the sorcery to strengthen its effect. When a force attempts to pull at the seromancer's life force or soul, the deeper "darkness" generated by the sorcery pulls back, testing which of the two pulls is the stronger. If Omentus' well of black is the deeper of the set, or if the forces of the drain are equal in strength, then he will be safe from a life-draining environment.
This sorcery can be used offensively against many of the undead and other creatures that have the power to drain the life force of living things. In the same way that the well of deeper black can make the pull of Omen's soul heavier than a plane's environment, it can make his soul heavier than the drain of one of these creatures. As soon as the draining contact is initiated, Omentus can deepen his "well" to annul, and even reverse the process, draining away the animating force of a creature attempting to steal his life force, instead. In a logical sense, this happens because when compared to Omen's transformed soul, the lighter of the two is effectively positive, and positive always flows toward negative. However, since contact needs to be initiated from a creature other than the seromancer, this effect cannot be used to drain the life of living creatures without any related abilities.
The casting of this sorcery can be done without a single motion or word, though use of the incantation "Tinswarrohn" does reduce the overall cost of the sorcery by 2 mana. The sorcery lasts for at least three minutes, but can be maintained for longer (and without the cost of additional mana) with minimal concentration.
Spellcraft: Bloodstar Mana Cost: 5
Omentus draws a dart-like construct of blood out of any fresh source, usually an open wound or syringe. The ‘star’ is about two inches long, the blood’s color and sharp on its edges. When cast, the star flies free of its caster and harasses a single target, inflicting small cuts on its victim as it flies around them. If the star is struck hard, it is broken and splashes apart. Casting the spell from a person’s injury will injure them further, and the star lasts for about half a minute after it is cast.
Wound Transfer
Mana Cost: 12
Omentus may move wounds from any creature, such as himself, onto any other creature. Both the wounds’ source and their recipient must be not unwilling for the spell to take effect; if anyone involved in the transfer of the injury is opposed to the transfer, the spell fails. With it, though, Omentus may move a wound from one place on a person’s body to another place on their body; break the injury up into smaller, less harmful injuries; or move the injury onto another body altogether. He cannot, however, move any wound anywhere that would make it more harmful than it already is, or combine wounds to create a single, more serious injury.
Thaumaturgy:
Spoiler: Potions and Artefacts
Useful Combinations (In Progress) Argindur and Beli: By combining these two drugs into different parts of the brain of a corpse not older than three days, Omentus can bring a person's consciousness back from the dead. The argindur forces the brain tissue to produce the animating electrical impulses, while the beli keeps the dead person blissful enough to cooperate with Omentus' commands. This means that a reanimated corpse dies again after either of the two drugs wears off, since there is no blood flow in the body, but Omentus is working on a device to remedy that problem.
A corpse reanimated by beli and argindur is alive, has all the memories and skills it did in life, but its personality is stunted by the presence of the drugs and, it has no soul. It follows the commands of the first voice it hears on waking, without any heed for its own self-preservation.
Ash Doubter, Blood Locus Pin and the Blood of Thael: By surreptitiously planting a locus pin filled with the blood of Thael onto another magic user, Omentus forces most of his opponents magics to change into fiery versions of themselves. Whenever Omentus is attacked or confronted with one of these changed spells, he merely strikes the manifested spell with the ash doubter's bell, devouring it.
Glove of Dark Hands and Syringes: In combat or amidst other activities, Omentus is fond of wielding one of his syringes with a hand created by the glove, enabling him to inject an opponent with one of his special drugs by striking from a direction the opponent is not paying attention to. The trick tends to work only once or twice, but considering the drugs in those syringes, once or twice should be enough.
Spider Scaling Potion and Steadfast Cleats: Better traction while climbing on walls and ceilings, perfect for trying to crawl on ice or similar surfaces.
False Paranoia Ring and Arienna's Ignore Me: Since everything is concealed by the Ignore Me spell modified by the nature goddess's blood, everything becomes visible to Omentus, limned in wispy fire.
Ignore Me and a Vial of Mockeries: Whether using a vial of compressed guren hawks or tarasps, it doesn't matter, the insects released from the vial aren't already looking for Omentus, so they won't notice him. Instead, the bugs will be focused on anyone else nearby, like whomever Omen threw the vial at.
The Old Cloak of Many Pockets (Parts 2 of 5 complete)
Omentus wears a dark red insulated leather cloak with a deep hood and many inner pockets; it has seen many years of use, repair and extra tailoring. It even buttons up in the front for cold weather. During its tailoring, the cloak has become difficult to remove from Omentus, since it has parts that attach to his leg harness and a heavy set of clasps and buckles around his shoulders and neck. Inside the pockets of the cloak, Omentus keeps most of the things he believes he might find useful in a plethora of situations or perhaps just in a pinch. Below are the trinkets and devices he keeps on hand in the cloak:
Potions Flask of Healing Potion: This wood and steel flask looks like it should hold some kind of brandy instead of a potion, but it nonetheless holds what Omentus believes is his most valuable of elixirs. The healing potion in the flask is a potent one, with no minimum amount of it that must be quaffed to achieve some degree of healing. Even a sip can close small cuts and scratches across the body, and about two thirds of the flask's contents are sufficient to bring a person back from the brink of death. It's not a sweet or pleasant drink, though. It smells like pine needles and wax, but tastes like blood and spice.
Shadowform Potion: This potion is kept in a steel-reinforced grey ceramic bottle, and has the property of turning its drinker into a causeless shadow. While being a shadow, the imbiber moves along the ground, or walls or ceilings equally and can continue to perceive the world around them normally, and can “attach” to people or objects to become their shadow for a time. The potion’s effects last for a half an hour.
Spider Scaling Bottle: A black glass bottle of potion that allows its drinker to climb on walls and ceilings as though crawling across floor, as long as the drinker has at least one hand or foot on that wall or ceiling. The effects of the potion last for an hour.
Teleportation Potion: This small, jeweled white bottle holds two draughts of potion. When this potion is drunk and its imbiber visualizes a location within 100 miles, s/he is instantly teleported to that location.
Zombie Blood: A colorless, odorless, tasteless liquid that Omentus keeps in a two-ounce clear glass bottle. It is easy to slip into food or drink without being detected and can be attuned to a single master if stirred with a finger before giving it to the victim. Once consumed, the potion’s drinker becomes mentally like a zombie, and its effects last for four days before expiring. Zombies made by the potion obey any new commands they receive from the master of potion, including self-injury or endangerment, or from anyone at all if the potion had no master.
Artifacts Ash Doubter: This is an object more commonly referred to as a candle snuffer. It has a smooth wooden handle, a long, dark gray iron neck, and a pair of branches that reach off the end of the doubter. One of the branches curves into about a 90 degree angle and has a clapper-less bell attached to its end, which is used to snuff out flames by placing the bell over them. The other branch points in the opposite direction of the bell and is ended with a wick that is lit and used to light candles. There's a sliding button near the handle of the doubter that is used for pushing out or pulling in the doubter's wick by up to an inch.
The Ash Doubter's magic allows it to extinguish any fire the doubter's bell is cupped over, no matter of whether or not the fire is mundane or magical in nature, and the entire flame need not be so cupped. If the doubter extinguishes a fire spell in this way, then the wick can be lit and imbues the next candle lit with it with the power and effect of that spell, one of two ways, either the spell's effect is stretched out over the course of the candle's duration, or the spell is cast when the last of the candle's wick is burned. At any time, it can be commanded to forcefully expel a cone of warm ash and cinders from the doubter's bell, which varies in size based on how much fire the doubter has snuffed out since the last time it was commanded to gout ashes.
Blood Locus Pin: Each of these small, silver pins is comprised of a fine-pointed post made to pierce through and stick into clothing, and a clear crystal at its top, through which numerous miniscule holes have been drilled. The walls of the little holes in the crystal have been coated with an alchemical substance which crystallizes and hardens blood on contact, and the entire pin is no more than a half inch long. When the crystal at a pin’s top is dipped in the blood of a dead god, it draws the blood inside its crystal and traps it there. Anyone who is carrying or holding a blood locus pin, whether they know it or not, automatically focuses all of their spellcraft through the blood of the god it was dipped in, which causes a shift the in the properties of the spells they cast. This shift of properties changes based on the gods’ blood used, and the different bloods that Omentus has at his disposal are listed below.
Chain of Autumn Leaves: This is a chain of less than a dozen carefully woven tulip tree leaves, about nine inches long. The autumnal leaves are richly colored in red and orange, and very flexible. The chain of leaves is especially resistant to harm, as if it were made of canvas or a similarly tough fabric. When wrapped around a hand or arm, the chain adheres magically and conjures hundreds or thousands of such leaves, which cover that arm completely and then form a pair of bat-like wings with a span almost twice and a half as wide as their bearer is tall.
Omentus loses the practical use of the hand and arm using the chain of leaves, and his ability to fly isn't an especially fast one, but he does have good airborne agility while using the wings. Although the leaves are magically strengthened, they are not extremely tough, and if they are damaged too severely, their bearer will not be able to fly on them until they are reformed. Removing the chain of leaves requires a mental command, and causes the wings to instantly separate and collapse.
Clay Voodoo Doll: A mostly featureless doll made of dark gray clay, which is about four inches tall. Its magic allows its owner to control another person through magical compulsions and suggestions, which the doll plants directly in the victim’s mind. To designate a victim, the doll’s owner needs a token of the victim, which could be a lock of hair, a tooth, a shred of clothing or another personal effect, and the doll’s magic is more effective based on the size of the token equipped to it. Dressing the doll with multiple tokens also increases its effectives, but none of the tokens used may be larger than the doll itself. The strength of the victim’s willpower is also a factor in determining the effectiveness of the doll.
The doll’s control over its victim is not subtle, so the presence of its magic should be obvious to a victim, even if the magic’s source is not obvious. For average people, the will of a fully dressed doll is almost impossible to ignore and as difficult to resist and, the command of a doll which has only a single, small token could overpower only the most weak-willed of individuals. At the most, a person could be completely overwhelmed by the power of the doll and give in to its owner’s commands completely. At the very least, the doll is a tool of hard-to-resist distraction.
Falling Star Ring: Omentus created and once owned this, but it was stolen by Cadenza Madrigal.
False Paranoia Ring: This ring is made of interlaced bands of white platinum and translucent smoky quartz. When it is worn, any thing or creature that has been rendered invisible, hidden or secreted away that enters the area of a fifty-foot globe around the wearer becomes outlined in bright green wisps of fire that do not burn. These green wisps are visible to the wearer of the ring within line of sight and through doors, clothing, camouflage, walls, and any other form of concealment, and are visible to anyone else within line of sight. If a person lies while within this area, he or she becomes outlined by harmless wisps of bright blue flame visible only to the wearer of the ring for as long as s/he continues to lie.
Glove of Dark Hands: A dark gray dyed glove made from the stitched, tanned flesh of many criminals, this glove fits tightly but comfortably on Omentus’ right hand. It is a magical item, requiring a piece of the necromancer’s concentration and magical focus to use. The glove is used to create cold, black hands of energy that float in the air nearby Omentus. Each hand is strong, dexterous and able to lift up to ten pounds, and ice cold to the touch. The dark hands respond to the necromancer’s silent will and can be moved anywhere within ten feet of him, and perform any task the necromancer himself can. Creating and controlling a single hand is nearly effortless, but more than four is almost impossible for Omentus, although this might change as he becomes more experienced in using the glove.
Snarecaster: A brassy-colored metal device a little less than a foot long, decorated on its outside with stylized engravings. In shape, it resembles an oversized cigar, with a point at one end, and a hole at the other. Looking into the hole reveals only darkness, regardless of light source. To be used, it must be pointed at its target, whereupon it fires a bright yellow-white tether of energy that latches onto or loops around the target with the strength of a titanium cable. The snarecaster has a maximum reach of sixty feet and excellent accuracy, can fire multiple tethers at different targets or even the same target, and can employ up to eight tethers at the same time.
Also, the snarecaster doesn't need to be attached to a loop tether it is employing, and it has a maximum range for these loops of one hundred feet. The tethers connected to or looped around targets cannot harm their captives, and once the wielder releases their grip on the snarecaster, all of its tethers vanish instantly.
Spelleater Jewel: This is a smooth, soft blue gemstone orb about the size of a small walnut, secured into a steel setting and then strung onto a tough braided leather thong with a steel ring at either end. The thong is designed to be wrapped around Omentus’ hand so that the rings can be worn comfortably on his thumb and pinky fingers, while suspending the jewel tightly to his palm. When the jewel is worn and brought into the close proximity of a spell, it soundlessly absorbs the entire spell, regardless of the magic’s intent, ability or power and keeps it within until the spell can be ‘digested’ by the jewel. The time it takes to digest magic it has absorbed varies between an hour and a half day, but the jewel can never hold more than a single spell, and it cannot release a captured spell for any reason. The jewel does not need to come into direct contact with a magic to absorb it, but it does need to be within about a foot, so the ring-and-braid setup does help for ‘aiming’ its effect.
Steadfast Cleats: A pair of metal and leather pieces that attach to the bottom of a pair of shoes or boots. These cleats provide their wearer with magically perfect traction on any surface, no matter how difficult their terrains may be, and allows its wearer to resist being pushed, pulled or blown about by any force once attached to a pair of boots. A metal key on the outside of each cleat adjusts it to fit any boot.
True Spyglass: Omentus created and once owned this, but it was stolen by Cadenza Madrigal.
Spoiler: Blood of Dead Gods
In the many-pocketed red cloak that the necromancer wears, he nearly always carries at least a single vial of the blood of each god whose corpse he has discovered on the astral plane. The following are the dead gods that Omentus has run across in his research and travels and drawn the blood from, and some of their effects:
Alrohir, God of Books, Enlightenment and Knowledge
The blood of Alrohir is a deep, bluish red in color, almost purple. When gazing into the blood, a person can see books, scrolls and swaths of blue and silver color. When the unprocessed blood is injected into mortals, it can cause madness or amnesia. The blood can be used as an optional focus for Omentus’ spells, as follows:
Wound Transfer: The spell confers knowledge instead of injuries from one person to another.
Ignore Me: The caster is not ignored, but forgotten after they leave a person’s sight.
Arienna, Goddess of Animals, Healing and Nature
Arienna’s blood is a normal red color, but viewers may see images of trees, plants, animals and images associated with springtime in its depths. When the unprocessed blood is injected into mortals, its effects are unpredictable – it might heal them of all wounds and injury, or give them the physical traits of some animals, or even allow them to commune with nature for a short time. Arienna’s blood can be used as an optional component for spells, affecting Omen's spells as follows:
Ignore Me: Instead of making the caster ignored, the spell causes an explosion of fluttering, brightly colored leaves and flower petals to appear over a large area, concealing everything from the view of everything else. The petals and leaves typically cover an area a few hundred feet across.
Bresaharine, Goddess of Death, Rainbows and Winter
The dark red blood of Bresaharine appears almost normal to some people, but to others, it contains imagery of wintertime, of restful sleep and peaceful death, of massive glaciers filled with rainbow colors. If the unprocessed blood of Bresaharine is injected into a person, it nearly always means cold, frostbite and, in some rare cases, even death. If used as an optional focus for spells, it changes the following magics in Omentus’ repertoire:
Bloodstar: Rather than drawing a dart from blood, this spell may draw an ice dart out of any source of cold or icy water.
Ceriwa, Goddess of Butterflies, Darkness and Secrets
In the blood of Ceriwa, a viewer can see images of fluttering pixies, blue or black-winged butterflies, people whispering secrets to one another and acts carried out under the cover of darkness. When Ceriwa’s blood is injected into a person, that person might temporarily grow butterfly-like wings on which to fly or become unable to disclose things spoken in secret, or able to see in darkness. Although the blood can be used in spellcasting, Omentus knows no spells that can be used with it.
Eredaigh, God of Guardians, Protection and Sentinels
The rich red blood of Eredaigh does not harbor any special images, but looking upon it does fill a person with a sense of safety. Injecting the blood of Eredaigh into a mortal is unsafe, sometimes making them resistant or invulnerable to harm or able to summon a powerful shield for a short period of time, but always leaves a person exhausted and prone to sickness for days afterward. Eredaigh’s blood can be used as an optional focus for spells, changing the following magics in Omentus’ repertoire:
Bloodstar: The dart produced by the spell is blue, rather than the color of the blood it was taken from.
Ignore Me: The caster is not ignored, but bystanders and innocent are drawn to protect the caster if he is threatened or endangered.
Esmoiress, Goddess of the Celestial Realm, Dreams and Time
People looking into the blood of Esmoiress often see images of stars and moons, and remember pieces of dreams they’ve forgotten or dreams they are yet to have. If the goddess’s blood is injected into a mortal, the effects are highly unpredictable, but usually bad – the victim may fall into a deep sleep for upwards of days, dreaming intensely during that time, or progress or regress in age by up to a few years, or even fall out of place with the time stream, lagging behind or being ahead of the rest of existence until it wears off. The effects of using Esmoiress’s blood as a spell focus are as follows:
Bloodstar: Rather than creating a dart of blood, the dart conjured is made of a silvery material related to age. The injury it causes makes a person grow younger, but pulls a like amount of youth out of the dart’s source.
Wound Transfer: Instead of transferring wounds, the recipient gains the dreams of the donor, which become synchronized with the donor’s for up to a few weeks.
Fyhri, Goddess of Black Magic, Evil Fey, and Undeath
The black blood of Fyhri displays images of dark magics being cast when a person looks into it, of nightshade and bramble faeries causing mischief, or of the dead waking and bringing ruin to the world of the living. If Fyhri’s unprocessed blood is introduced to a mortal bloodstream, it is disruptive to the flow of life and life energy, causing a person to become substantially weakened, while also creating severe mischievous impulses in their mind. If used as an option spell focus, its effects are as follows:
Bloodstar: The spell becomes more powerful, creating either multiple darts from a single casting, or making the dart sharper, more durable and more aggressive in nature. People who are slain from the wounds caused by this casting of the spell may rise from the dead as zombies or ghouls.
Ignore Me: Normal people do not ignore the caster, but the spell becomes effective against fey and undead creatures.
The last of Omentus' stores of Fyhri's blood were stolen by Cadenza Madrigal.
Haely, Goddess of Beauty, Freedom and Love
Haely’s blood is a rich red in color, and those people looking into it see images of beautiful men and women, of fetters coming apart and undone, and first kisses between lovers. When let into the bloodstream, Haely’s blood causes mortals to feel extreme pleasure in lieu of any other sensation, and also causes restraints to fall off their body for up to four hours after it is introduced. For some reason, Haely’s blood is not addictive in any way, despite its pleasurable effect on people. When used as a focus for spellcasting, it has the following effects:
Bloodstar: The dart created is made of a source’s beauty, and it bestows that beauty on the target, while draining it away from the source. The effect is not permanent, but can last up to two weeks before wearing off.
Wound Transfer: Rather than transferring wounds from one person to another, the spell allows its caster to sense the emotions of others by touching them.
Ignore Me: Instead of being ignored by people, the caster becomes very physically attractive to others, regardless of their actual appearance.
The last of Omentus' stores of Haely's blood were stolen by Cadenza Madrigal.
Isalie, Goddess of Death, Fate and Heroes
The blood of Isalie is red in color, but has a sheen of both black and silver over it at the same time. People looking into the blood see nothing otherwise unusual about it, except for when the life of a great hero or powerful mortal ends. At that time, the blood twinkles from within the colors of that person’s soul, and the colors of each soul that person had touched in their lifetime. If the blood of Isalie is administered to a person, either absolutely nothing happens or, about one percent of time, the victim dies or; most rare of the three, the recipient temporarily ascends to a heroic state, gaining better physical abilities and often becoming able to channel magic from within themselves. If used as an optional focus is spellcasting, its effects are as follows:
Bloodstar: The dart created by the spell is black and is composed of tainted life energy, draining a part of life itself away from its source, and severely injuring a target struck by it, but vanishes after striking its target for the first time. This version of the spell is draining to cast, requiring about one sixth of Omentus’ mana reserve to manifest.
Wound Transfer: Rather than moving injuries from one person to the next, the spell moves the extraordinary and even preternatural abilities of one person to another. The effects are temporary, usually lasting no more than an hour.
Presently, Omentus has very little of Isalie's blood remaining, and is therefore hesitant to use it for purposes other than observation and focusing spells.
Nesconx, God of Chaos, Destruction and the Void
The deep, bright red blood of Nesconx shows images of swirling red and black energies in its depths, of bolts of like-colored lightning, and a hundred thousand cities crumbling into ruin at the same time. If the blood of Nesconx is injected into a person, it is extremely harmful, causing the destruction of flesh, bones and blood alike, as if consuming something by a short-lived void. Its effects are very brief, but even a small injection in the right place can mean a painful death. When applied as a focus for spellcasting, it has the following effects:
Bloodstar: Instead of producing a blood dart, the spell creates a dart of black void, which pulls in air and liquids around itself fast enough to create a screaming sound as it flies through the air. This dart pulls its substance out of the all-pervasive void, and does therefore not require a normal receptacle to draw from at all.
Omentus has currently depleted his stock of Nesconx's blood.
Nymru, God of Betrayal, Shadows and Thievery
The bright golden-tinted blood of Nymru is hidden from view, covered constantly by a cloak of fluctuating shadows, in addition to seeming to be a few inches away from its actual location. If the unprocessed blood of Nymru is injected into a person, they will instantly develop a paranoid sense that they are about to be betrayed, while becoming shrouded in an unnatural cold that chills a person to the bone. When used as a focus for magic, it affects Omentus’ spells in the following ways:
Bloodstar: The casting of the spell is completely silent, as is the dart created.
Ignore Me: The effects of the spell are amplified, making a person ignored under nearly all conditions, and masking their presence from magic and special senses, including smell and any “sixth” sense or the like.
The last of Omentus' stores of Nymru's blood were stolen by Cadenza Madrigal.
Penrimaglos, God of Mysteries, Secrets and Silver Magic
The color of Penrimaglos’ blood is difficult to name for certain, though most people agree that it is either silver or purple. When injected into mortals, its effects are profound – a person might learn secrets kept by others by touching them or simply being around them, or they might develop the ability to spontaneously cast magical illusions or divination, or they could become forgotten by everyone they’ve ever met until the effects of the blood wear off, which can be between one and three days. When used as a focus for magic, it has the following effects on Omentus’ spells:
Ignore Me: The caster becomes completely forgotten, as though they had never existed, and undetectable by magic for the duration of the spell. People may learn of the caster after the spell is cast, but will have no previous knowledge of him (if they should have any) until after the spell wears off.
Rohire, God of Justice, Knighthood and Law
Rohire’s blood is a bold thing, being the colors of white and blue swirling together but not mixing and, not red at all. Looking upon it reveals no images to the viewer, but fills them with a sense of accomplishment, control and glory. If the unprocessed blood of Rohire is injected into a mortal, that person feels a pain for every wrong they have ever committed. These pains vary in length and severity based on the weight and cruelty of the wrongs committed, but the effects of a single dose of the blood cannot last longer than three days. When used as a focus for magic, Rohire’s blood affects Omentus’ spells in the following ways:
Bloodstar: The dart becomes more effective against people who have wronged others. The more severely the target has wronged others, the faster, sharper and tougher the dart becomes.
Wound Transfer: Rather than transferring wounds from one person to another, the spell absolves a person of a single named crime, by moving the guilt to another person. If the spell is not cast in the presence of a presiding judge, ruling figure or deity, it fails.
Ignore Me: The caster becomes both forgotten and ignored, but only by members of law enforcement.
Thael, God of Dragons, Magic and the Sun
The blood of Thael is a normal red color, but it has a light sheen of gold and green over its surface. In the blood, one can see images of the sun its various positions in the sky, and of many different kinds of dragons in their natural habitats. When administered to most mortals, it causes an exhausting fever and an extreme, painful sensitivity to sunlight for upwards of a day. When administered to dragons or the descendents of dragons, however, it improves their health and well-being while awakening latent magics from their bloodline and allows them to hear the guiding voice of Thael, as he speaks to the dragonkin in his deathsleep. When used as an optional focus for magic, it affects Omentus’ spells in the following ways:
Bloodstar: Instead of creating a dart from a source of blood, the caster evokes a roaring stream of sparkling golden fire that assaults a victim, which burns hot enough to melt ice in a flash. This spell is powerful, requiring almost a tenth of Omen’s mana reserve to cast once.
Wound Transfer: Rather than moving injuries from one person to another, the spell moves magical exhaustion, effectively restoring one target’s mana at the expense of the other.
The last of Omentus' stores of Thael's blood were stolen by Cadenza Madrigal.
Vahle, Goddess of Disease, Pain, Poison and Torture
The blood of Vahle is an unnaturally rich crimson in color, yet also a sickly gray at the same time. Those looking into the blood will see images of poisonous snakes, of torture implements such as the rack or iron maiden, and of thousands of plagued and dying people suffering in their final moments. If Vahle’s blood is administered to a person, it causes them to break out into hives and open sores for two days, after which all trace of them vanishes. If used as a spell focus, it changes Omen’s spell in the following ways:
Bloodstar: Wounds inflicted by the dart are particularly painful, and often become infected with strange and rare diseases if not treated within minutes of being caused.
Wound Transfer: Rather than moving wounds from one person to another, this spell causes prolonged agony in a touched target, which can go on for up to an hour. A second casting on an affected individual heightens the pain inflicted, but also extracts thin red syrup of concentrated pain from their body. This substance is called anguish, and it has the property of turning all of a person’s sensations into pain for an hour when eaten raw. If cooked into food or made as a sauce, the anguish of others tastes sour-sweet and is extremely satisfying on almost any food, but the anguish of one’s self is very bitter.
Spoiler: The Homunculus Process
Homunculi are tiny humanoid creatures made with alchemy, a little bit of magic and the blood of others. Their exact shape and abilities change with the knowledge and skill of the alchemist, but they are all linked in some mystical way to their "original" (the donor of the blood) and nearly all of them also have the memories of their original, along with a similar personality. The homunculus process is the manner in which homunculi are made.
Although Omentus could use this process to create homunculi of the people he meets, he prefers to use the process in his own, entirely unique way. The necromancer has perverted the process by only completing certain steps of it, which infuses the original’s blood with their memories and a bit of life force, and then injects himself with it to gain those memories.
Omen’s version of the process gives him the memories of a person’s entire life, including portions that may be locked away from the original, for reasons such as trauma or early childhood. In addition, part of the original’s personality becomes implanted in Omentus’ mind whenever he performs the process on new blood, which manifests as an independent part of an archive of personalities. This means that his personality is not a combination of all the folks whose memories he's assimilated, but there's still a portion of his mind that is made of all of their memories and personalities combined into one, like a single jewel with many facets. Repeated abuse of the incomplete homunculus process is a major contributor to the alchemist’s psychosis.
Spoiler: Remnant Joining
Blasphemy against Existence Itself – Remnant Joining: (In Progress)
Becoming remnants is what happens to those things that are killed, but cannot die. It's also what happens in some other events; the state is a sort of catch-all for strong-willed individuals whose souls have nowhere to go, or who leave existence. Remnants, things which do not exist in a reality which is not real, are beings that cannot be affected by divinity because they are not a part of existence. For some reason, however, mortals can bind remnants to their own souls and gain powers from them in a symbiotic sense. People who bind themselves to remnants in this way are referred to as joiners, and the act is referred to as joining a remnant.
Remnants bound by mortals feel a semblance of existence through their link to the joiner. As long as a remnant is bound, it confers powers onto its joiner, which are related to the skills, abilities and personality traits of the remnant before it stopped existing. The level of power that a remnant can bestow on its joiner is not always in proportion to the power it had in life. Instead, it's usually related to the circumstances of the ceased existence of the creature, or the age of the remnant.
Joining a remnant can be a difficult thing. Although the end of the bargain is always the same thing (the remnant experiences life through its tether to the joiner’s soul), and the remnant can never strictly refuse a joining, its unique seal must be discovered, and it must be summoned for an interview. Many remnants are summoned by using a mirror and calling out the remnant’s name, and perhaps a few of the titles the remnant held in life. Clever remnants have placed terms on their summoning, however, requiring things such as offerings in exchange for their arrival, limitations on when or where the remnant must be summoned, the medium through which its visage is summoned (like a statue or magical circle instead of a mirror), or how long it takes to summon the remnant.
After a remnant has been summoned, the joiner and the remnant discuss the terms and conditions of the joining, speaking in a heavy jargon not unlike the language heard in a court of law. Many remnants put restrictions on which of their powers may be used and when or whether or not a joiner is allowed to use their more potent abilities at all. Many of the bargains cut also limit the joiner by requiring them to show a certain sign of their joining, such as a change to their body or a shift in their personality, which is influenced by the joining remnant. The less skilled the joiner is in speaking the language of the joining, the less experienced the joiner is in making deals with remnants and, the older the remnant is, the worse or more restricting the end deal usually turns out to be for the joiner.
A joiner can be severed from a remnant it has been contractually bound to before the contract expires. This occurrence is exceptionally painful and disorienting for the joiner, especially because the pain is felt on a spiritual rather than physical level. After a joiner has been severed from one of their remnants, it can take the joiner up to several minutes to fully recover from the shock, nausea and vertigo of the event. Remnants can be forcibly severed from their joiners by exorcising the remnant as if it were a demon, or by magics that can dispel unnatural presences or transformations from people.
So then, the question usually asked at this point is: if it such a hassle, why join remnants at all? The answer is the power that goes along with them. Remnants and their abilities come to joiners in packages. Typically, a joiner can gain the use of two to four abilities from a single remnant, which are often powers beyond their own ability, or things that a person would need to be a creature of an entirely different race to gain the benefit of, like fire breathing or seeing in the dark. As joiners become more skilled in the art of joining remnants, they can handle joining more than one remnant at the same time, and learn to exploit their bargain to use abilities the bound remnant hasn’t quite agreed to, but also didn’t disagree to.
Joining a remnant does not have a cost, per se, but it does come with a relative difficulty. This difficulty is shown as a measure of weight, the more difficult it is to keep a particular remnant joined, the greater its tethering weight will be. Joiners can take on up to a certain amount of tethering weight between the different remnants they have joined, which is represented by a figure called tethering strength. If a remnant is unhappy with its joiner, it can attempt to increase its own tethering weight, or the weight of its powers individually.
A remnant cannot increase its own tethering weight by a figure of more than half of its original weight, rounded down, but also not by any more than a single point with any given attempt. For every point of original tethering weight a remnant has, it has about a 4% chance of successfully increasing its tethering weight with an attempt, and cannot attempt to increase its weight more often than once every five minutes. The remnant can also increase the weight of any one of its powers by a figure of up to one quarter of its original tethering weight, rounded down. It is very rare for one of a remnant's powers to have an original weight greater than zero.
If a remnant's tethering weight becomes greater than its joiner's tethering strength, then the remnant is severed from its joiner, incurring all of the normal penalties and effects of losing the tether before the end of the contract. If the weight of one remnant's powers causes the overall weight of the remnant to become too heavy for the joiner, then only that power (and the weight that went with it) is lost to the joiner. If a power's weight is greater than zero and the remnant's tethering weight becomes too great for the joiner, then the remnant's powers are lost (in order of greatest weight to smallest) before the remnant itself is severed from the joiner.
Omentus knows the seals and rites to summon three remnants. Tethering Strength: 18
So, without further ado, the remnants:
Name: Chaos, Hora Inconcerta Titles: Never Ending Chaos, Serpent of this Eden Gender: No gender Race: Remnant
Tethering Weight: 12
Summoning Requirements: A round mirror, no less than 7 feet across. Chaos's seal must be written onto the mirror in the joiner's own blood.
Manifestation: When Chaos first appears, the blood seal on the mirror boils and vanishes into the mirror itself. A few moments later, the joiner's reflection splits along a dozen seams and falls open like the linen skin of a doll. From within the fluttering shell, a flood of black, paper thin butterflies gushes out into the space reflected by the mirror. As the butterflies flutter about the area the mirror reflects, seven blinded eyes appear from the butterflies' fluttering cloud to move around freely in this confusion, floating, rather than being held up by anything solid.
Finally, Chaos' blood red eye appears above where the strip-like remains of the joiner's reflection lay on the ground. As the eye flexes, the linenesque strips of the joiner's reflection rise up and settle into the joiner's shape, but do not suture together, and glow from the inside with a rich, soft red light. As Chaos moves about on its side of the mirror, the strips of its body drift about, revealing slivers of the crimson eye that lays beneath them. When Chaos speaks, red light escapes from its mouth hole, wherein there is no real mouth. Worse still, the remnant speaks in the joiner’s voice.
Physical Trait: The joiner’s torso and left arm become covered with numerous black images in the likeness of swallowtail butterflies. The tips of these butterflies’ wings fade toward red, like the color of a dying ember. Every so often, one of these image appears to twitch, as if adjusting its wings.
Personality Shift: Chaos urges its joiner to forget mercy, making them more ruthless than they would otherwise be.
Powers: Summon Legion - Tethering Weight: 0
With just a moment of concentration, Chaos’ joiner can summon the Legion sword. The sword resembles a katana, but is significantly longer and almost as light. The blade itself is 5 feet long, while the handle is 1 foot long. The handle is wrapped with a black, rubbery like ribbon. At the end of the handle, is a cord made from the same material, this cord can extend to the joiner’s will, turning the sword into a dangerous, makeshift whip. When used as a whip-like weapon, the tip of the sword is always aimed at the opponent instead of the arc (like a flexible scythe), aiming to plunge the blade, no matter how the cord is swung. (If brought down from above, the tip will be aiming for the opponent’s head, if he dodges, then it will plant itself in the ground.)
If the sword is destroyed or lost, it can be re-summoned after a waiting period of about five minutes. If it is just broken, the sword regenerates itself in about half the time.
While wielding Legion, the joiner gains the ability to wield it with expert skill, and can use any of the following techniques with it:
~Kicking Sword Rush – The wielder kicks the back of the blade as it is swung upward. The attack is so strong it can sever large tree-trunks and break through concrete walls with ease.
~Destructive Palm Sword Rush – Like the ‘Kicking Sword Rush’, instead, the hand is used to push the blade when it is brought down. It can be used as a blocking technique, often with the intent of breaking the opponent’s weapon.
~Morning Sky Sword Rush – A follow up to the ‘Destructive Palm’, after the sword has been stabbed into the ground. The wielder steps on the pommel and jumps into the air, while retrieving the sword from the ground by using the cord attached to the handle. This is followed by a whip-like slash at the enemy (be it overhead or wherever). This technique can be used to nullify attacks like Ryutsuisen and Ryushosen (Dragon’s Hammer and Dragon’s Flight, respectively).
~Winter Fang Sword Rush – A rushing thrust attack based on speed and power, dealt with the left hand (instead of the usual right), the user also grasps the pommel instead of the handle, extending the reach of the sword. The length of Legion makes this attack potent, and even if the opponent dodges slightly, a little body movement and the length of the blade can make up for it.
Chaotic Embrace - Tethering Weight: 0
Joining with Chaos makes a person unusually faster and stronger than the average human. Chaos’ joiner becomes strong enough to lift more than a ton, and run at speeds of up to 130 miles per hour. While performing at these enhanced capacities, the joiner’s stamina is also extended, so that they can endure heightened activities for no less than two hours without resting.
Mirror Hall - Tethering Weight: 0
With this ability, the joiner may enter any mirror as though it were an open doorway. When the joiner enters a mirror, they are actually stepping into an alternate world. This world is like our own in many ways, but is empty of people except for when a reflection appears. When a person moves an object in the real world, its mirror world counterpart goes through the same motions, but without the person manipulating it. When a joiner moves an object in the mirror world, its real world counterpart does the same.
While in the Mirror Hall, the joiner’s wounds heal at a rate three times faster than they would in the real world. Additionally, the joiner can possess any person’s reflection, taking control of its movements and actions, such as making the reflection grin at a crying person looking into the mirror. Due to restrictions that Chaos normally places on its contract, its joiner cannot enter any mirror portal more often than every five minutes, no matter of whether they are coming to or going from the Mirror Hall.
Negative Seize/Chaotic Judgment - Tethering Weight: 0
Each time the joiner suffers a cut more than two inches long, a paper thin black butterfly escapes from the wound. These carnivorous butterflies move very quickly and have voracious appetites. However, their little mouths can only cause pinpoint bites and their concealed claws can shred paper. In small numbers, they are mostly harmless, but become more threatening as more of them arrive. The butterflies move and attack under the joiner’s direction.
When a butterfly escapes from one of the joiner’s wounds, one of the butterfly tattoos on the joiner’s body disappears. When the last of these images disappears, no more will escape from the joiner’s wounds. When a charred hell butterfly is slain, its image reappears on the joiner’s body. When Chaos is first joined, there are always exactly forty-five charred hell butterfly tattoos on the joiner’s body.
After all of the charred hell butterflies have escaped from the joiner’s body, they can be commanded to arrange themselves into a ‘cannon’ around the joiner’s left arm, with arcs of pulsating black energy between them which hold the insects together. This cannon can be used to fire a large burst of burning black energy at a single target, which chases its target indefinitely. When the blast hits, it inflicts massive damage on its victim, far more than enough to kill the average man, or put a wide hole in brick wall. After being used once, the butterflies disappear back into the joiner’s skin.
Name: Adentine Titles: Lord of the Frozen Abyss, Husband under Shackles, Baron of the Eastern Mountains Gender: Male Race: Remnant
Tethering Weight: 8
Summoning Requirement: The seal must be drawn inside a circle on the ground, twelve feet across. Both the seal and the circle must drawn into the ground with a sharpened human bone.
Manifestation: Large ice crystals begin to form on the ground in the circle, then the half-rotted bones of a hundred corpses unearth themselves and crawl into the shape of a large coffin, the gaps of which fill with hoarfrost until the coffin is complete, and an icy mist fills the circle. In front of the joiner, the withered corpse of a woman appears from the air and drops onto the ground. She lurches toward the coffin, but is stopped short by the chains of thick, rusting manacles around her wrists and an iron collar at her neck, which pull her into the ground until only her face is exposed.
A tortured moaning sound issues from inside the coffin, which buckles under an internal pressure and suddenly explodes, torrenting a thick black water across the circle. When the water washes away, the body of Adentine can be seen on a rack of icy spikes inside the coffin, the top and lid of which were destroyed by the explosion. His skin is taut and part of his jaw is missing, and iron shackles hold him to the rack. The more he struggles, the more the chains pull him down onto the spikes, but he cranes his head forward nonetheless. His tongue lashes about, hanging unnaturally long without a mouth to contain it. His eyes are wild and pinned on the face of the buried woman in front of the joiner, but he drags his attention to the joiner at last. When Adentine speaks, his mouth moves and he struggles to get toward his wife, but the rasped sound of his voice comes out of her mouth.
Physical Trait: A streak of blue-green color appears in the joiner’s hair, about an inch wide, and the joiner’s upper right id tooth, canine and bicuspid turn transparent, although they were made of ice.
Personality Shift: The joiner develops a subtle contempt for all other members of their own race, as well as a peculiar urge to lash out homocidally at anyone with maroon or red eyes.
Powers: Ice Control - Tethering Weight: 0
Adentine’s joiner has the ability to shape, form and direct the growth of frost and ice by an act of will. Creating frost and ice through this power can be done without a source of water or humidity, but is limited to no more than 27 cubic feet of ice (a cube 3 feet wide on each side) created within a given span of six hours. The ice that is created can form into the joiner’s desired shape almost instantly, but more complex shapes can take up to a few minutes to be articulated.
If the joiner has access to a source of water or rich humidity, then they can create and shape up to 1,000 cubic feet of frost and ice (a cube 10 feet wide on each side) in this manner. Of course, controlling this much ice is difficult, and shaping any more than 27 cubic feet takes significantly more focus than smaller amounts.
Adamantine Skin - Tethering Weight: 0
With this ability, the joiner causes their skin to become impervious to physical injury. This protection prevents the joiner’s skin from being cut, pierced or bruised by any physical means, but does not protect the joiner from injury from blunt objects and magical assaults that do not inflict damage by way of breaking their victims’ skin.
Once the joiner uses this ability, it persists for about three minutes, then ceases to protect the joiner. After the Adamantine Skin effect has worn off, Adentine’s joiner must wait at least another five minutes before using this ability again.
Summon Frigid Destiny - Tethering Weight: 0
By concentrating for only a moment, the joiner can conjure the Frigid Destiny, Adentine’s spear, to their hand. The spear is six and a half feet long, with fifteen inches of its length being the blade. Frigid Destiny’s haft is made of a cyan-tinted metal, with letters spelling “Tragedy” etched in an infernal language along its length. The spear has a simple guard made of wrapped black leather, through the bands of which a faceted sapphire has been inset to the haft. The spear’s blade is shaped like an obelisk, and the metal that it is crafted from glitters like stars in the night sky.
Although the Frigid Destiny has average weight and balance for a spear of its size and length, Adentine’s joiner is able to wield it with great skill, regardless of whether or not they have any experience with a spear at all. If the spear is destroyed, broken, or lost, it disappears, and can be summoned again after just two minutes.
Spoiler: Mockeries of Science and the Natural Order
Omentus is skilled in the art of fusing together two or more different species of creatures from the natural world into twisted animals of his own creation. He can also simply change the natural shape and function of a creature's body to a certain extent, and also its mind. He has practiced these magics in order to produce his sword, shield and armor, as well as a few things that have yet to be mentioned. The creatures whose names are marked with an asterisk and detailed below are usually kept in vials of crystal glass and iron, which are physically too small to contain the vast numbers or size of creatures that are within them, but Omentus has magically augmented the vials to allow for this sort of storage without causing the death of a vial's occupants. He has done nothing, though, about the pain that would be associated with being crammed into such a tiny space.
Guren Hawks*
These insects are crossed between a tarantula hawk (a type of blue wasp with red wings that kills tarantulas to implant their eggs in them) and a box jellyfish. They appear much as tarantula hawks do, but for being covered in a light blue coat of jelly, with tentacles hanging down between their each of legs. They are about two inches and their tentacles can be as long as three inches. They can both fly and swim, and store bubbles of air in sacs to breath with when they go underwater. They attack other creatures by stinging them with their tentacles, biting them and stabbing them with their stingers. The poison of their stinger causes horrible pain that has been described as, "Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath."
Guren Hawks are usually in groups of two to eighteen dozen when first released from one of Omentus' vials, and tend to angrily swarm the first thing within five feet of them before moving on to anything else nearby. They are especially resistant to fire and heat, but cold makes them sluggish and eventually fall dormant with freezing. If guren hawks are allowed to live in the natural world, they search out temperate to jungle regions and cities to build colonies near bodies of water, and have a hierarchy that consists of a queen, hunters and workers. They eat fish and small animals.
Tarasps*
These creatures are a hybrid of tarantula and paper wasp. They have much of the outward appearance of large, hairy spiders. They are about six inches wide, bright yellow in color with blacks bands on their bodies, and have bright red eyes. There are broad, chitinous wings on their backs and the end of their abdomens contain, large black stingers. The poison of their bite is mildly paralytic in nature, but several bites (7-12?) can render even an adult human almost helpless with delirium. The tarasps move as both a pack and a swarm and prefer to hunt large game for their food, which they can chase down and set upon with frightening speed. Tarasps can run quickly, leap long distances and even fly for short periods of time. When a packswarm of tarasps manages to catch its prey, some of the creatures bite their victim, while others wrap it in a cocoon of tough webbing.
Tarasps are first released from a vial in groups of twenty to eighty, and viciously attack anything within twenty feet, before moving out and covering a much larger area. The body of a tarasp is resistant to physical harm and suffers in no way from lightning or electricity, but the creatures instinctively fear fire. If tarasps are allowed to live in the natural world, they prefer to live in forests, cities and savannas where large game are prevalent. Tarasps build complex tunnel-hives composed of 'paper' and webbing in their territories and have a hierarchy of regional queens, hunters, warriors, workers and drones.
Amberlatches
These truly vile creations are crossed between an Amazonian giant centipede, a king cobra, and an artist’s conch, the latter of which is a type of mushroom. An amberlatch is born about four feet long, and can grow to upwards of sixteen feet. Its scaly body is mostly olive-hued, but the upper third of its body is armored in coppery-red chitinous plates and seventeen pairs of jointed, spike-like legs used for burrowing underground and crawling over obstacles. Its spear-like head is particularly armored, with reddish-gray woody plating around most of the mouth and skull. When the amberlatch opens its mouth, it reveals a set of large fangs dripping with pale amber venom. Amberlatches move and strike fast and quietly, whether burrowing through the ground or stalking its prey above the ground.
First, the amberlatch’s venom is primarily neurotoxic and thus attacks the victim's central nervous system and quickly induces severe pain, blurred vision, vertigo, drowsiness, and paralysis. In one to two minutes, cardiovascular collapse occurs, and the victim falls into a coma. Death soon follows due to respiratory failure. Also, an amberlatch has several thin but deep slits along its body, which release hallucinogenic spores into their surrounding area. The spores induce nightmarish hallucinations in their victims. The spores themselves cause the hallucination on contact with skin, and so does the poison they release, which becomes gaseous at about 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Due to the nature of these spores and their poison, they pervade into the area up to forty feet around the serpent almost instantly, and remain just as potent underwater. Lastly, the amberlatch is especially difficult to kill, since its body has no blood, but is instead nourished by a thin, sticky white slime that stores and moves air and nutrition through itself with incredible efficiency and speed.
Amberlatches are kept in vials of four to ten, and usually attack anything within their range of smell (fifty feet) after being released from the vial, then move away from each other to hunt alone. The amberlatch has no normal place in nature, but if allowed into the wild, it finds any climate and terrain with small to medium game suitable for its territory. It hunts and lives alone, but the creatures do meet up once every two lunar years to mate, producing one or two young from eggs planted in dead plants, which hatch after four months.
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