Aliases: the Woman in Black; the Witch
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Height: 5'0â€
Weight: 120lbs.
â€I answer the call of Henwa, the Brood-Sow, Womb of Corruption! I answer the call of Ist, the-surging-thing, Envoy of Madness. I answer the call of Yvain, Saint-Flayer, Maiden of Deceit,. I answer the call of Bhaal, the-Black-Blade, Lord of Murder! I answer the call of Abaddon, Omniscient-Holocaust, Prophet of Nihilism. I prostrate myself before the Nether-Five, the patient in bondage. Their cage is my torment. Their whip is my scar! Their release... is my ecstasy.
My will, the key to your chains.
My will, the key to your chains.
My will, the key to your chains.
My will, the key to your chains.
My will, the key to your chains.â€
01. Marks of the Nether-Five
An infernal pact with five bound infernal entities grants the Witch power and insight into her mission. In exchange for making her their vassal, each left a personalized signature upon her body, suitable to their portfolio, complete with agonizing and often crippling torments. Each mark is detailed in this section with nature of the mark itself, the associated tribulation, and the associated skill granted by the mark.
Mark of Henwa
The Mark of Henwa Manifests in a pair of crossed wool stitches in place of where the naval should be (her stomach is smooth otherwise, with no evidence of an umbilicus). The stitches reknit themselves painfully if cut. The mark forces her to consume twice as much food as the average human each day to stay alive.
(Skill) Monster-Touched – The Witch often finds symbiotic resolutions when dealing with truly evil beings. A demonic beast known for wanton carnage may be inclined to follow her directions to a new field of slaughter, and leave her unmolested in return.
Mark of Ist
The mark of Ist Manifests as a second pupil, rarely seen, a sickly yellowish-orange in colour. The mark is located on the left eye at the very bottom, and can only be witnessed when her eyes loll into the back of her head. The mark causes the Witch to often catch glimpses of the denizens of the Nether trying to pierce the veil. Spiralling tentacles creep from the angles in walls, and gourmet meals writhe with daemonic maggots for a few moments before the vision passes harmlessly.
(Skill) Maddening Insight – With feverish ritual and compulsive study, the Witch can study a work of language, be it ancient cave paintings or the holy texts of a dead religion, and draw true insight from the work regardless of its native language. The process could take a day or weeks depending on the size of the work.
Mark of Yvain
The Mark of Yvain Manifests in a pair of barbed earrings that prevent the lobes from ever truly healing. Aside from the barbs, they are featureless, save that they are made of cold iron. The Splendid Glamour spell can alter their appearance, but the Witch is always depicted as having them in some capacity. The mark causes crippling migraine headaches that last for an hour about once per week.
(Skill) Honeyed Words - The Witch's lies are skilfully crafted and believable, and she is more likely to succeed in talking her way out of violence with NPCs.
Mark of Bhaal
The Mark of Bhaal Manifests on the bones themselves. Calcium deficient and chalky, the witch's bones break easier from physical trauma and she is treated as having half the endurance of a regular human in regards to how much damage she can sustain in a fight before succumbing to her wounds.
(Skill) Murder – Grace and stealth carries the murderess to her victim, from years of practised, quiet footsteps. She has the skill to use knives and light blades competently, favouring quick strikes to vital areas.
Mark of Abaddon
The Mark of Abaddon manifests as an intricate tattoo network that covers most of her body. In a series of graphic diagrams and ancient writings, the tattoos tell of the exact time and date of the apocalypse though it is all written in Black Speech, the language of the abyss. So eager are the dark prophecies of Abaddon to be shared with the world, they often push themselves to the forefront of her psyche, burying other conscious thought and will. The Woman in Black is especially susceptible to psychic intrusions, mind reading, and all mentally debilitating abilities and magic.
(Skill) Fortune Teller – the Witch is trained in palm reading, many forms of the tarot, and is able to pluck vague truth's about a person's destiny from their aura, but is just as likely to make up a grim lie.
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Hindrance Summary
-Severe migraines(RP)
-Fragile bones (half normal human endurance for withstanding physical attacks)
-Paranoid hallucinations(RP)
-Requires twice as much food as a normal human to live
-Twice as susceptible to mental and psychic attacks of other players and NPCs.
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Skill Summary
-A shared bond with the vilest monsters (RP)
-Fiendish insight helps her decipher other languages over time (RP)
-Talented liar
-Skilled in stealth
-Skilled in the use of light blades
-Able fortune teller
02. Spells and Innate Traits
As tools to carry out her mission, the Nether-Five have granted the Witch dark blessings which lend her power in the form of spells she can invoke, or innate enhancements to her person. Each ability draws on the domain of the patron who granted it. Below these abilities are detailed with their casting time, availability, duration, range, and effect as necessary.
(Nihilism) Unwavering Arrogance
"It will be me, standing alone, last human on Althanas!"
Availability: Passive
Effect: Through complete assurance in her abilities, the Witch exists in a state of heightened perfection, having twice human average perception and reflexes.
(Corruption) Plague Immunity
A casual stroll through a field of corpses, rife with disease.
Availability: Passive
Effect: Total immunity to all diseases, natural or magical. Poison affects her as normal.
(Madness) Many Eyes of Ist
Eyes loll into the back of the sockets and the Witch views the world through an abyssal lense.
Casting time: A bat of the eyelashes
Availability: Once per day
Duration: One post
Effect: Ability to see in the dark completely unfettered.
(Deceit) Splendid Glamour
Enchantment prevails in foaling light and the Woman in Black is born anew.
Casting Time: A brief pre-bedtime ritual involving a razor. Triggers the moment the sun comes up.
Availability: Every night at exactly midnight. The specifics of the glamour are determined at the time of casting and can not be changed until the next casting.
Duration: Until midnight the next night.
Effect: The Woman's long raven hair straightens or curls at her whim, stains are removed from the teeth, nails are manicured and skin is unblemished. Breath sweetened. The glamour knits magical clothing across bare skin, forming costume jewellery (1gp or less in value), constructing footwear in many models of lowest tier 1 materials, and creating virtually any clothing style conceivable (never totalling more than 10gp in value). Any article removed from the Witch's person disappears instantly without effect.
*Note* The glamour can create accessories such as hats or glasses, but not bags or tools.
(Murder) Trophy Essence
The Witch drinks deep of a departing soul, adding its waning life force to her own.
Casting Time: One full post
Availability: Every time she successfully murders a sentient humanoid. The victim must have been slain within the last post, and in the same scene. In the case of multiple slain opponents, she must choose one to drain from, allowing the souls of the other's to pass peacefully. This ability has no effect on a departing soul's final reward.
Range: Close contact
Effect: Wafting soul essence through her nose and mouth with a deep breath, the Woman in Black uses the life force to repair one single injury she has sustained with a severity no worse than a broken or fractured bone. Complex injuries such as broken ribs may require multiple uses (requiring additional murders) or may just be too grievous to heal at all (such as a severed limb).
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Ability Summary
-(passive) 2x average human perception
-(passive) 2x average human reflexes
-(passive) Immunity to Disease
-Darkvision, 1/day for one post
-A superficial but powerful cosmetic shapechange with a demanding availability
-A life-leeching heal that can be preformed on a slain opponent to heal a medium single wound
03. Black, Canvas Backpack
A simple black backpack with a large central pouch, two small side pouches, and a medium pouch at the front, all secured with brass buckles. The main pouch contains a week's worth of food; waxed cheese wheels from Corone, spiced Raiaerian wine, Dheathainnian rice, trail mix, jerkied venison, and a variety of Scara Braean spices.
The smaller pouches contain a collection of fragile, empty glass jars and vials, writing ustensils, ink, feathers, crow skulls, chicken feet, and a small amount of mundane roots and herbs associated with black magic. The medium pouch hosts a blank vellum tome with 100 pages, scrap pieces of parchment, a few pieces of quartz, a fragile steel razor, and a simple, sharp iron dagger.
04. The Nether-Five
2000 BT - The Thayne's power was nearly uncontested, but not every aspect of the supernatural world was eager to bend a knee to the emerging deities. Ancient entities embodying the worse aspects of reality gathered in force to stand before them. Most of these dark entities fell early in the conflict, unable to match the power of the ascended Thanes. A few though, were strong enough to challenge them in a bloody stand off. Unable to defeat these last five horrors quickly, and the casualties in their new world threatening to grow to great heights, the Thanes found a fast and lasting solution – Sealing the last evils away, and continue forging the destiny of Althanas unhindered. The last five powers were scattered across the world, and sealed away with lost magicks granted by the Tap. The five were trapped in the Nether Realm of nightmares and suffering.
CP 10 – All records of the banished Five are deliberately lost from record to protect the seals, and their exact nature is erased. Language evolves and magic had changed. The seals are neglected, and small cracks appear in them, allowing the Nether-Five to whisper from a forgotten place into the sleeping minds of mortals in the form of nightmares.
25 years ago* - At the rough center of the five seals, located in Corone, Raiaera, Salvar, Alerar, and Dheathain respectively, a child is born. From youth to adulthood the entities whisper to her while she sleeps, imparting abstract lore and diagrams into her mind through her dreams.
Present Day – the Witch embarks on a geas to activate the seals that bind the Nether-Five. As each seal is opened, one of the Five aspects may bleed its influence into the world strongly. When all Five are opened, the aspects are free to walk the earth in avatar form again, and permanently erase peace from the world**.
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OOC Notes
*I'm not exactly sure what year could be considered “the current yearâ€, or how long ago 25 years may have been.
**I have no idea how large the scope of this quest really is, but it will comprise this character's entire roleplaying career on Althanas, so I figure you could roughly average it out to one seal every 4 levels?
Finally, I'm going to do this thing, trying to destroy the known world, and I welcome input, restrictions, and guidance from the Althanas world-building and lore team. I would be elated if other players came to see this as a serious threat over time, and tried to stop me.
