30 monsters a day....
My computer is doing the weirdest thing. I'll kick off tomorrow.
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OK. The computer is now fixed ...ish
The thing is, the way GFF episodes are working out, it's more economical for this month for me to pay three times as much as usual, and get five times as much listening time as usual, from my host. Usually I get 50 minutes a month (roughly), but the large Dunsany episodes I'm planning take 25 minutes each.
Which means the wise choice for this month is for me to really pile up future episodes, to replace the ones I let loose early during the lockdown.
I've been working on it: this month I've prepped 158 minutes of episodes so far. If I can prep another 100 minutes (which is to say, another two months of the usual work) I'll be really well set up for the future, at a reasonable cost.
I do still need to get the backlog of monsters written, and I will find a way, but it delays my participation in the November post per day.
4 Likes
Time to kick off...
When you need a monster quickly, the fastest way to quickly stat them up is to reskin one that already exists. I'm going on a reskinning marathon get my backlog of creatures under control.
Mask creatures
The mask creatures are an idea I've been playing with since Against the Dark . This is a general template for them: when we get to the part of the Venice writeup where we discuss carnival I'll be using it to make individual examples.
Faerie Might: 15 (Mentem)
Characteristics : Int +1, Per +1, Pre 0, Com +1, Str 0 , Sta 0 , Dex 0 , Qik 0 .
T hese statistics are provided by the host. . Some masks provide bonuses to physical Characteristics.
Size : As host
Virtues and Flaws : Focus Faerie Powers (Possession, see below), 2 x Increased Might, Loosely Material*; Incognizant.
Modified to a minor Virtue: may only take forms using possession power.
Personality Traits : Vary by character, generally +3 based on role
Combat : Bite*: Init +0, Attack +8, Defense +6, Damage +1 (Modified by the host’s statistics.) Some mask roles have the ability to use props like swords.
Soak : 0 (as host, modified by any Characteristic changes)
Wound Penalties : As host (generally –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)
Pretenses : Vary depending on role, capping out at 5 (with added specialisation). May use the pretenses or abilities of the host.
Powers :
Possession , 1 or more points, Init +2, Mentem: If this power penetrates, the host is possessed by the mask and is under the spirit's direct control. Some masks have cooperative relationships with their hosts and allow them to control their bodies. Some do not.Any attempt to force a host to act contrary to her nature, or to use any of the host’s own magical powers requires the spirit to spend Might. A supernatural power (including spell-casting) requires 1 Might point per magnitude to produce.
- A questionable action that is contrary to the nature of the host requires the mask spirit to exceed the possessed being’s Personality Trait roll on a stress die + Might points spent. The Storyguide may give a modifier to the Personality Trait roll based on the nature of the command (see the Entrancement power, ArM5 page 65, for suggestions). Both Might costs must be met if the use of a supernatural power is also contrary to the host's nature.
- If the mask is in direct control of its host’s actions, the host acquires the mask spirit's Magic Resistance, but is also affected by wards that would normally exclude her. If the host is acting under her own free will, then she does not benefit from the creature's Magic Resistance, but may also walk through wards with impunity.
- This power’s costs are not based on the Hermetic system of magic. It is instead based on material in Realms of Power: Magic.
Equipment : Someone else’s body, all of their material goods.
Vis : 3 Mentem, in the saliva of the host.
Appearance : Does not have a material body beyond the mask, but if seen with Faerie Sight, or
Second Sight it looks like an animal matching the temperament of the mask's role.
Base creature: The Mormo (RoP:F)
Episode : Loosely https://timothyferguson.wordpress.com/2020/04/03/thoughts-on-masks/
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Ghostly Jester
Magic Might : 10 (Mentem)
Characteristics : Int +1, Per +1, Pre +1, Com +3, Str 0, Sta +1, Dex 0, Qik 0
Size : 0 (but non-physical)
Age : n/a
Decrepitude : Already dead
Confidence Score : 1 (3)
Virtues and Flaws : None (may take Virtues and Flaws as a grog, if desired by the troupe.) Arguably has True Love.
Personality Traits : Protective +3, Dramatic +2, Joyous +2,
Reputations : None
Combat : n/a The ghost is non-physical, and so cannot be harmed by combat or harm others
in combat.
Abilities : [Area] Lore 5 (court), Awareness 5 (where his beloved is), Carouse 1 [being the butt of jokes], Church Lore 1 (funerals), Folk Ken 4 (stories), Living Language 5 (courtly), Magic Lore 2 (ghosts), Profession (jester) 5 (storytelling)
Powers :
Kinesis , 5 points, Init 0, Terram: The ghost can move an object as if he were still physically present. One expenditure of Might allows him to move one object until he puts it down again. He has no combat Abilities, so she cannot fight wielding an object as a weapon. One exception is that the jester can move a group of traditional props of his trade, like juggling balls, at the same cost as a single object.
Equipment : Apparently clothing and tools, but these are all ghostly and really part of him.
Vis : None. Magi cannot render other characters’ Ghostly Warders down for vis.
Appearance : A jester who watches over the woman he fell in love with. Note that he is invisible to characters without an appropriate Virtue.
Base Creature : Ghostly Warder (RoP:M)
Episode : https://timothyferguson.wordpress.com/2020/04/03/the-wind-among-the-reeds/
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Supposed ghost of a lost love
Faerie Might : 10 (Mentem)
Characteristics : Int +1, Per +1, Pre +1, Com +3, Str 0, Sta +1, Dex 0, Qik 0
Size : 0 (but non-physical)
Age : n/a
Virtues and Flaws : Faerie Sight, Faerie Speech, Incognizant.
Personality Trait s: Forlorn +3
Reputations : None
Combat : n/a The ghost is non-physical, and so cannot be harmed by combat or harm others
in combat.
Pretenses : [Area] Lore 5 (local), Awareness 5 (home], Charm 3 [causing regret], Folk Ken 4 (hauntings), Faerie Lore 2 (ghosts), Profession (as suits) 5 (as suits)
Powers :
Kinesis , 5 points, Init 0, Terram: The creature can move an object as if she were still physically present. One expenditure of Might allows it to move one object until she puts it down again. She has no combat Abilities, so she cannot fight wielding an object as a weapon. As an exception, the creature can freely move objects to gain the attention of a single, designated victim.
Equipment : Apparently clothing.
Vis : 2 Mentem – a hair of the dead.
Appearance : Seems to be a ghost, but is actually a faerie feeding on grief.
Base Creature : Ghostly Warder (RoP:M)
Episode : https://timothyferguson.wordpress.com/2020/11/06/walter-de-la-mare-5/
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Nerida
Order: Spirit of Deceit
Infernal Might: 10 {Terram)
Characteristics: Int +0, Per +1, Pre +3, Com +2, Str +1, Sta tireless, Dex 0, Qik 0
Size: -1.
Virtues and Flaws: Effectively has Non-combatant.
Confidence Score: 1 (3)
Personality Traits: Merciless +3, Enjoys tricking mortals +2
Reputations: Spirit of Deceit 1 (Infernal)
Combat: n/a (Cannot move).
Soak: +8 A stone casing around a puddle of vileness.
Fatigue Levels: Does not to suffer fatigue
Wound Penalties : –1 (1–4), –3 (5–8), –5 (9–12), Incapacitated (13–16), Dead (17+)
Abilities: As required for story, but assume high social abilities.
Powers:
Coagulation , 0 points, Init 0, Terram: The creature can manifest in a single statuesque shape. Although the statue is not articulated, the demon may move itself to follow a victim, appearing in their home, or in shops they pass.
H ound: 1 point, Init +3, Corpus. This power allows the demon to always know his victim’s location.
Envisioning , 1 point, Init 0, Mentem: For 1 point, allows the demon to enter and twist dreams. If used to terrify, the victim can ignore it with a Brave Personality trait roll against an Ease factor of 9 or more. Failure to resist leads to a profound physical reaction. In this case the demon prefers to seduce the victims with a story of being a stone-locked mermaid. .
Obsession: 1-3 points, Init -5, Mentem: May force characters to make Personality Trait rolls to resist a temporary trait, Lovelorn , which has a score equal to the Might points spent.. If the roll is successful, the trait vanishes. If it fails, they gain the trait permanently at +1, although they can remove it by the usual means of reducing traits.
Trust of the Innocent: 1 point, Init -1, Mentem: The target believes a single lie for as long as possible, until presented evidence to the contrary. An Int roll against Ease factor 6 allows a character to resist this effect. This power is used to suggest that killing people will free Nerida, or that a person might find peace through drowning.
Weakness: .The demon is essentially a puddle of slime in the middle of a immobile shell. It’s incapable of combat (although if you want to make it combat worthy, the moving statues in Lands of the Nile would provide suitable statistics.)
Vis: 2 pawns, Terram.
Appearance: As per story and illustration.
Base creature : The demon from Master Zacharias. (https://timothyferguson.wordpress.com/2020/06/11/a-horological-demon-from-jules-verne/)
Episode : https://timothyferguson.wordpress.com/2020/05/01/unprofessional-tales-nerida-by-normyx-norman-douglas/
Nerida can’t move in the story, but if you wanted her to, you could use a version of the animated statues of a from Lands of the Nile . I’m giving her a weapon and a shield because its in the original I’m reskinning and, why not?
Combat :
Viciously sharpened limbs and large sheet of rock as shield: Init +1 , Attack +17 , Defense +14, Damage +12 . Kick: Init –1 , Attack +8 , Defense +5, Damage +11 . * Includes Increased Initiative, Attack and Damage.
Soak: +15 (statue)
Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+),
Powers:
Possess statue, 0 points, Init 0, Terram: ReTe30.
Base monster: Egyptian statue (Lands of the Nile)
Tiger Moon
The Tiger Moon is a lovely example of how a tiny spirit can do terrible things to non-magical characters. The temptation is to always push the upper edge of the power envelope. I could build it up as a Prince of Hell, but instead you can do much the same thing by just making it tiny and setting it on dependant NPCs.
Order: Evil Spirit
Infernal Might: 5 {Imaginem)
Characteristics: Int +1, Per +2, Pre +2, Com +0, Str N/A , Sta tireless, Dex 0, Qik 0
Size: Immaterial.
Virtues and Flaws: Effectively has Non-combatant.
Confidence Score: 1 (3)
Personality Traits: Cruel +3
Reputations: Evil Spirit 1 (Infernal)
Combat: n/a
Soak: n/a
Fatigue Levels: Does not to suffer fatigue
Wound Penalties : n/a
Abilities: As required for story.
Powers:
Coagulation , 0 points, Init 0, Terram: The creature manifests as an immaterial, terrifying image.
H ound: 1 point, Init +3, Corpus. This power allows the demon to always know his victim’s location.
Envisioning , 1 point, Init 0, Mentem: For 1 point, allows the demon to enter and twist dreams. If used to terrify, the victim can ignore it with a Brave Personality trait roll against an Ease factor of 9 or more. Failure to resist leads to a profound physical reaction. In this case the demon prefers to find an image that causes fear or pain, and use it to torment the victim.
Obsession: 1-3 points, Init -5, Mentem: May force characters to make Personality Trait rolls to resist a temporary trait, Anxious , which has a score equal to the Might points spent.. If the roll is successful, the trait vanishes. If it fails, they gain the trait permanently at +1, although they can remove it by the usual means of reducing traits.
Sleep without rest : 1 point, Init 0 Corpus. This power causes the loss of a long term Fatigue level ,and prevents the recovery of Fatigue during the night. It may be used on successive nights on the same victim. (Taken from the Hag riding power in RoP:I)
Weakness: .The demon is incapable of harming people who don’t feel guilty about anything, and so it can be easily repelled by people sincerely undergoing the Rite of Reconciliation.
Vis: 1 pawn, Perdo sordida.
Appearance: The face of a tiger, appearing initially in dreams, then in reflective surfaces, then as apparent hallucinations.
Base creature: The demon from Master Zacharias, (https://timothyferguson.wordpress.com/2020/06/11/a-horological-demon-from-jules-verne/) but Sleep Without Res t is the succubus/incubus power of hag riding. (RoP:I]
Episode : https://timothyferguson.wordpress.com/2020/05/01/unprofessional-tales-tiger-moon-by-normyx-norman-douglas/
Messenger Troll
Faerie Might : 5 (Terram)
Characteristics : Int 0, Per +2, Pre –3, Com –2, Str –5, Sta +3, Dex +2, Qik +6
Size : -4
Virtues and Flaws : Immunity from Terram, 2 x Great Characteristic; Faerie Sight, Faerie Speech, Humanoid Faerie, 2 x Improved Characteristic, Observant; Little (twice), Sovereign Ward (dogs)
Personality Traits : Obedient +3
Combat :
Brawl (fist) : Init +6, Attack +9, Defense +13, Damage -1*
Improvised weapon (two handed): Init +9, Attack +8, Defense +13, Damage +7*
*Includes +1 for pretense specialization
Soak : +6, Immunity from Terram
Wound Penalties: –1 (1), –3 (2), –5 (3), Incapacitated (4), Dead (5+)
Pretenses : Athletics 2 (digging), Awareness 2 (hazards underground), Bargain 5 (with mortals), Brawl 6 (fist), Craft (smith) 5 (weapons), Great Weapon 5 (pick, as pole arm)
Powers :
Tumbles almost like flight: 2 points, constant, Corpus The character is capable of almost flying. He may use the Athletics skill to simulate difficult maneuvers, but may not engage
in combat while bouncing about swiftly. The faerie may not tumble when heavily encumbered,
Costs 15 spell levels: (ReFo Base 4, +2 Sun, +1 constant. This base is deliberately
lower than Hermetic magic might suggest and is based on the RoP:F power Flight.)
Spirit Away [special] – Note that the troll does not spirit away those who do not volunteer to be taken.
Equipment : The rune the troll carries may force it to be successful (basically it has a Destiny while it is carrying the rune).
Vis : 1 pawn, in main tool or body residue.
Appearance : As per creature
Base creature : Dwarf (RoP:F)
Episode : https://timothyferguson.wordpress.com/2020/11/13/king-of-elflands-daughter-2/
Missed a day, so here are two...
Strange Orchid
Order : Corrupted plant
Infernal Might: 5 Herbam
Characteristics : Int 1, Per –2, Pre -6, Com –6, Str –8, Sta +3, Dex +4, Qik +8
Size : –2
Virtues and Flaws: Giant, Puissant Brawl,
Personality Traits: Ambush predator +6
Combat : Brawl: Init +9, Atk +5, Dfn +8*, Dam -6
(* As the creature is effectively trapped in a pot, its Dfn is only this high if people are attacking its lashing tendrils. If people strike at its roots, the Dfn falls to -4)
Soak : +3
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: –1 (1-3), –3 (4-6), –5 (7-9), Incapacitated (10-12), Dead (13+)
Abilities : Awareness 2 (food), Brawl 2 (grapple).
Powers :
Exsanguinate : 0 points, Init 0, Herbam: If a target is immobile, the plant can painlessly drain its blood, doing 1 Fatigue level of Damage per turn. Once the character’s Fatigue is exhausted, it begins draining Wound levels.
Somniferous perfume: 0 points, Init 0, Herbam: The room in which the plant is stored fills with a scent that makes humans and animals drowsy, as per Call to Slumber. with Duration boosted to Diameter.
Vis : 1 pawn (Perdo)
Appearance : An ugly orchid.
Base creature: https://timothyferguson.wordpress.com/2019/03/12/supplemental-monsters-march-2019/
Episode: https://timothyferguson.wordpress.com/2020/08/06/the-flowering-of-the-strange-orchid-by-h-g-wells/
Demon of the Altar
Arguably the creature is far larger in the poem, so you could up its Size. That would make its wound brackets wider, add to its Damage, and reduce its Defense.
Order : Corrupted Beast
Infernal Might: 15 (Animal)
Characteristics : Cun 0, Per +3, Pre +2, Com –, Str +4, Sta +1, Dex +1, Qik +3
Size : 2
Confidence : 1 (3 points)
Virtues and Flaws: Magical Monster; Ferocity, Homing Instinct (always knows where altar is in relation to self), Keen Vision, Horrifying Appearance
Qualities and Inferiorities: Focus Power (Nests of Gold), Improved Abilities, Improved Attack x 2 (beak and claws), Improved Damage x 2 (beak and claws), Improved Soak x 2, Minor Virtue (Improved Characteristics), Minor Virtue (Long Winded), Minor Virtue (Puissant Athletics), Minor Virtue (Second Sight), Minor Virtue (Strong Willed).
Personality Traits: Defends altar +5, Brave +3
Combat :
Draconic tail stinger: Init +3, Attack +12, Defense +10, Damage +8*
Grapple : Init: +3, Attack +7, Defense +9, Damage: special (On subsequent rounds may add Grapple Strength to Attack Roll for stinger attacks.)
Large Leonine Claws: Init +3, Attack +14, Defense +12, Damage +8
- add poison if you like.
Soak : +7
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: –1 (1–7), –3 (8–14), –5 (15–21), Incapacitated (22–28), Dead (29+)
Abilities : Animal Handling 1 (griffons), Area Lore 4 (home territory), Area Lore 1 (gold rich territory), Athletics 5+2* (flight), Awareness 5 (prey), Brawl 5 (claws), Hunt 4 (horses), Second Sight 3 (Illusions), Survival 4 (home terrain).
Vis : 3 Animal, heart
Appearance : The body of a dog, the claws of a lion, the wings of an eagle, the stinging tail of a dragon.
Base creature: Juvenile female griffon from Legends of Hermes
Episode: https://timothyferguson.wordpress.com/2020/10/18/a-demon-from-spenser/
Monks of the Miserere
Gustavo Bécquer was a Spanish author who wrote stories in the Romantic style during the Nineteenth Century. I’d love to record them for Librivox, but I have a lot of Venice to get through, so can I suggest a recording put out by a different podcast? Please see The Miserere episode from Haunted Places : Ghost Stories.
I don’t want to over-elaborate my explanation here, because the episode I’ve cross-referenced frames it well, but essentially there’s a murderer who believes his sin will be forgiven if he writes a perfect Miserere. The Miserere is the 51st Psalm set to music. It was, in the period we are considering, only sung in the Sistine Chapel, never written down, and performed in the Tenebrae: the days between the anniversary of the death of Jesus and his resurrection. The murderer hears that there’s a ghostly choir at a ruined abbey that sings the miserere, similarly trying to atone for their sins, and he goes to benefit from their work.
Becquer’s theology doesn’t work in Ars Magica: certainly the monks die unshriven, but they are monks performing service killed by enemies of the church, and so they are technically martyrs. This leads me to believe that, in Ars Magica terms, these are demons. There need to be at least nine monks to perform the miserere – it is performed by two choirs, one of four singers and one of five.
Order: Tempters
Infernal Might: 10 (Corpus) Note, they monks live in an Infernal Aura of 3, with a higher regio level of 5.
Characteristics: Int +1, Per +1, Pre +3, Com +3, Str +0, Sta +3, Dex 0, Qik 0
Size: 0
Confidence Score: 3 (3)
Virtues and Flaws: Weak-willed
Personality Traits: Sad +5
Combat: do not engage in physical combat
Soak: +5
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –2 (6–10), –3 (11–15), Inc (16–20), Dead (21+)
Abilities: Many, including Sing 9 (Miserere)
Powers:
Chant of the Monks: 2 points, Init –2, Mentem. The chant of the monks creates a powerful dread in a character, forcing him to make a Personality trait roll of 6 or higher before he can leave the abbey. If the roll succeeds, the curse is broken. If it fails, the character will not attempt to leave the abbey until dawn. If multiple monks are using this power simultaneously it affects everyone who can hear it. Individual monks can only affect a single victim per use of the power. The group variant of the Miserere can cause Warping.
Coagulation, 1 point, Init –1, Corpus.
Envisioning; 1 point, Init +0, Mentem. The monks use the Envisioning power on humans who fall asleep in their regio, to make them think they are spending many days, and even years, working on the Miserere while the monks sing.
Drawn into darkness, 1 point, Init –10, Vim. This is similar to the Faerie Spirit Away power: it draws a human into a higher level of Infernal regio on this site, where they go slowly mad trying to write a perfect Miserere.
Equipment: Monastic cowl
Weakness: Prayers to Saint Veronica, the patron of kindness and charity.
Vis: 1 pawn each of Rego and Imaginem vis sordida in cowl
Appearance: Superficially like blackrobed monks, these demons are skeletal when they first appear, but put on flesh as they sing.
Base creature: Infernal monks in Tales of Power.
Episode: no epsiode.
Part one of three
Our Ladies of Sorrow
These three demons are queens of suffering who claim to be working on behalf of God to make human souls more perfect. Unusually for a family of demons, they appear to belong to different Orders, and to work in easy co-operation. This has lead to some speculation that they are not true demons at all, merely faeries so infernally tainted and skilled at playing demons that there is little effective difference.
The eldest is Mater Lachrymarum, Our Lady of Tears. She is the weeper who refuses to be comforted. She raves, and moans, and grieves. She thunders against Heaven demanding the return of the dead.
Order: Prince of the Furies
Infernal Might: 45 {Mentem)
Characteristics: Int +2, Per +2, Pre +2, Com +1, Str +3, Sta +5, Dex +2, Qik +6
Size: 0
Virtues and Flaws: Self controlled -6.
Personality Traits: Grief stricken +4, Angry +3, Drawn to suffering +3
Reputations: If all humanity roared its pain in a single shout +9
Combat: Brawl: Init +6, Atk +12*, Dfn +16*, Dam +5 *includes specialisation
Soak: +5
Fatigue Levels: Cannot suffer fatigue.
Wound Penalties : –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)
Abilities: As required for story, Brawl (humans) 9.
Powers:
Beserk Rage: 1 point, Init. 0, The mother can grant anyone the Beserk virtue, until they calm down.
Bitter Tears , 0 points, Init 0, Aquam: The mother’s tears are, at her discretion, strongly alkaline, and can be used to dissolve and burn things which contact them (+5 damage). She is not affected by her own tears. Rumours that her bitterest tears are given to her servants as poisons are difficult to confirm, but plausible.
Call the Tempest: 3 points, Init. -10, Auram. Creates a thunderstorm to match the Mother’s mood. The use of this power apparently requires no conscious choice.
Coagulation , 0 points, Init 0, Corpus: Can form a body of ambient matter. The Mother’s keys that open any door are symbolic – she can just flow through obstructions. Sometimes she does make locks spring open because it is dramatic, but that’s treated as a free aspect of this power.
Endurance of the enraged : 0 points, Init. 0, As a Fury, the Mother of Tears can ignore Wound penalties, except on Defense totals.
Envisioning , 1 point, Init 0, Mentem: Allows the Mother of Tears to enter and twist dreams – does not cause seizures like some demons.
Flight , 3 points, Init -10 , Auram: Can be pulled aloft by a storm-wind. The negative Init. score can be increased if a storm is already raging.
Inescapable , 0 points, Init 0, Corpus: Can unfailingly track prey, so long as she has a starting point, like physical track, Arcane connection, or name. She looses the track if the subject is warded beyond her ability to penetrate. Oddly, this power is not hindered by the presence of relics or by Divine Auras.
Waxing Tide of Humors: 3 points, Init +6, Mentem. This power causes passion to overcome sense. A character can resist this effect with a roll against an Ease Factor of 9, modified by Traits like Calm.
Weakness: Can only target the grieving. Cannot use her powers in strong Divine Auras, but can enter them if she wishes.
Vis: 9 pawns, Perdo sordida
Appearance: “Her eyes are sweet and subtle, wild and sleepy, by turns; oftentimes rising to the clouds, oftentimes challenging the heavens. She wears a diadem round her head. And I knew by childish memories that she could go abroad upon the winds, when she heard the sobbing of litanies or the thundering of organs, and when she beheld the mustering of summer clouds. This sister, the eldest, it is that carries keys more than papal at her girdle, which open every cottage and every palace.”
Lady of Sighs
The second sister is called Mater Suspiriorum—Our Lady of Sighs. She never scales the clouds, nor walks abroad upon the winds...Hers is the meekness that belongs to the hopeless. Murmur she may, but it is in her sleep. Whisper she may, but it is to herself in the twilight; Mutter she does at times, but it is in solitary places that are desolate as she is desolate, in ruined cities, and when the sun has gone down to his rest. This sister is the visitor of the Pariah...; all that are betrayed and all that are rejected outcasts by traditionary law, and children of hereditary disgrace,—all these walk with Our Lady of Sighs.
She also carries a key; but she needs it little. For her kingdom is chiefly amongst the...houseless vagrant of every clime. Yet in the very highest walks of man she finds chapels of her own; and even in glorious England there are some that, to the world, carry their heads as proudly as the reindeer, who yet secretly have received her mark upon their foreheads.
Order: Prince of the Accusers
Infernal Might: 40 {Mentem)
Characteristics: Int +2, Per +2, Pre +2, Com +1, Str +5, Sta +7, Dex +1, Qik +1
Size: 0
Virtues and Flaws: Self controlled -6.
Personality Traits: Humiliated +4, Drawn to suffering +3
Reputations: If all humanity roared its pain in a single shout +9
Combat: Non-combatant
Soak: +10
Fatigue Levels: Constantly suffers fatigue that has no mechanical effect.
Wound Penalties : –1 (1–4), –3 (5–8), –5 (9–12), Incapacitated (13–16), Dead (17+)
Abilities: As required for story.
Powers:
Betrayal of the Heart , 2 points, Init 0, Mentem: Each use of this power draws forth from the victim one fact they would never share. It does not work on the truly sinless, but remember that in period deep despair is a form of sin (it's a failure to trust in Divine Providence) so the Lady can use this power to find precisely the right psychological injuries to target with her other powers.
Coagulation , 0 points, Init 0, Corpus: Can form a body of ambient matter. The Mother's key that opens any door is symbolic - she can just flow through obstructions. Sometimes she does make locks spring open because it is dramatic, but that's treated as a free aspect of this power.
Envisioning , 1 point, Init 0, Mentem: Allows the Mother of Sighs to enter and twist dreams, so that people see the wreckage of all they desire. Does not cause seizures like some demons.
Inescapable , 0 points, Init 0, Corpus: Can unfailingly track prey, so long as she has a starting point, like physical track, Arcane connection, or name. She looses the track if the subject is warded beyond her ability to penetrate. Oddly, this power is not hindered by the presence of relics or by Divine Auras.
Sighs , 3 points, Init +6, Auram: The mother's sighs are, at her discretion, audible at Sight range. Hearing a sigh forces a Personality check for hopelessness against an ease factor of 9, odified by positive traits.
Whispers behind the back , 2 points, Init 0, Mentem: Much like Pains of Perpetual Worry , this power makes the target think that their secret is already known, and that people are discussing it behind their back. Its effects last a month.
Weakness: Can only target the grieving. Cannot use her powers in strong Divine Auras, but can enter them if she wishes.
Vis: 8 pawns, Perdo sordida
Appearance: "She wears no diadem. And her eyes, if they were ever seen, would be neither sweet nor subtle; no man could read their story; they would be found filled with perishing dreams, and with wrecks of forgotten delirium. But she raises not her eyes; her head, on which sits a dilapidated turban, droops for ever, for ever fastens on the dust. She weeps not. She groans not. But she sighs inaudibly at intervals....She is humble to abjectness."
Our Lady of Darkness
She is the defier of God. She is also the mother of lunacies, and the suggestress of suicides. Deep lie the roots of her power; but narrow is the nation that she rules.... Madonna moves with uncertain steps, fast or slow, but still with tragic grace. Our Lady of Sighs creeps timidly and stealthily. But this youngest sister moves with incalculable motions, bounding, and with tiger’s leaps. She carries no key; for, though coming rarely amongst men, she storms all doors at which she is permitted to enter at all. And her name is Mater Tenebrarum—Our Lady of Darkness.
Order: Prince of the Avengers of Evil
Infernal Might: 45 {Mentem)
Characteristics: Int +2, Per +2, Pre +2, Com +1, Str +24, Sta +2, Dex +2, Qik -5
Size: 10 - literally touches the sky. If she takes a Size 0 form for some reason, her Str drops to 4 and her Qik rises to 5)
Personality Traits: Defiant +5, Drawn to suffering +3
Reputations: Imagine a lighthouse that could suggest you killed yourself with its light +9
Combat: Brawl: Init +1, Atk +34*, Dfn +12*, Dam +29 *includes specialisation
Soak: +30
Fatigue Levels: Cannot suffer fatigue.
Wound Penalties : –1 (1–15), –3 (16–30), –5 (31–45), Incapacitated (46–60), Dead (61+)
Abilities: As required for story, Brawl (humans) 9.
Powers:
Punish the Sinner: 5 points, Init. +6, Mentem: This power does damage based on the sins the target carries. If they have a unshrived mortal sin, they take an automatic Heavy Wound. If the person has vices as Personality traits, add all of the absolute values together and that's the damage modifier Soaked by a stress die plus Stamina. The Lady can inflict this power on anyone within her Sight range, and she's taller than a mountain. She can only harm each target this way once.
Coagulation , 0 points, Init 0, Corpus: Can form a body of ambient matter. Does not carry a key because she can smash virtually any barrier.
Envisioning , 1 point, Init 0, Mentem: Allows the Mother of Darkness to enter and twist dreams. She does not cause seizures like some demons, but tries to break people's spirit.
Flight , 3 points, Init -10 , Auram: Doesn't tryly fly, but moves in great leaps.
Inescapable , 0 points, Init 0, Corpus: Can unfailingly track prey, so long as she has a starting point, like physical track, Arcane connection, or name. She looses the track if the subject is warded beyond her ability to penetrate. Oddly, this power is not hindered by the presence of relics or by Divine Auras.
Waxing Tide of Humors: 3 points, Init +6, Mentem. This power causes passion to overcome sense, driving suicide. A character can resist this effect with a roll against an Ease Factor of 9, modified by Traits like Calm. Player characters may have plot armor against this effect - discuss at your table.
Weakness: "She can approach only those in whom a profound nature has been upheaved by central convulsions; in whom the heart trembles, and the brain rocks under conspiracies of tempest from without and tempest from within."
Vis: 9 pawns, Perdo sordida
Appearance: "Her head, turreted like that of Cybele, rises almost beyond the reach of sight. She droops not; and her eyes rising so high might be hidden by distance; but, being what they are, they cannot be hidden; through the treble veil of crape which she wears, the fierce light of a blazing misery, that rests not for matins or for vespers, for noon of day or noon of night, for ebbing or for flowing tide, may be read from the very ground."
So, in body horror news, periodontists exist and their basic diagnostic technique is to push a tiny metal spike along each tooth until your gum resists.
Guess what I did yesterday?
I did have a creature for today, Reynarde of the High Mountains, but I just found out the version I was going to use, a werefox, is a 1940s addition to the original, so he's still in copyright.
Better luck tomorrow.