Difference between revisions of "Arthur/Erebus"

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The first souls of Erebus have never directly suffered in the hands of the Exalted. They are much more powerful than most Third Circle Demons, but still, they are dying. Every day, every second, they can feel the Oblivion consuming their beings, a growing cancer that cannot be controlled.
 
The first souls of Erebus have never directly suffered in the hands of the Exalted. They are much more powerful than most Third Circle Demons, but still, they are dying. Every day, every second, they can feel the Oblivion consuming their beings, a growing cancer that cannot be controlled.
  
Except for The Monarchs, the other souls can be collectively called Uni, which is the name the Primordials themselves used to refer to their lesser souls. There are five Uni. Each of them embody one Underworld element. Their Second Circle Souls are Lesser Elemental Dragons of their elements, and what would be the first circle demons are regular Elementals of the Underworld. Each Uni has at least three natural "forms". The first one, that exists in addition to any form they may take, is a river that flows in the Underworld. It generally extends from what would be its Elemental Pole to somewhere near the mirror for the Blessed Isle (though Acheronte is an exception to this, but even it exists permanently in one area of the East). The second form, which they most often use, is a humanoid one. For any mechanical effect, these forms (sometimes called "physical forms" are Third Circle Demons. The third form is a Draconic one. It is an absolute expression of the Element the Uni represents.
+
Except for The Monarchs, the other souls can be collectively called Uni, which is the name the Primordials themselves used to refer to their lesser souls. There are five Uni. Each of them embody one Underworld element. Their Second Circle Souls are Lesser Elemental Dragons of their elements, and what would be the first circle demons are regular Elementals of the Underworld. Each Uni has at least three natural "forms". The first one, that exists in addition to any form they may take, is a river that flows in the Underworld. It generally extends from what would be its Elemental Pole to somewhere near the mirror for the Blessed Isle (though Acheronte is an exception to this), but even it exists permanently in one area of the East). The second form, which they most often use, is a humanoid one. For any mechanical effect, these forms (sometimes called "physical forms" are Third Circle Demons. The third form is a Draconic one. It is an absolute expression of the Element the Uni represents.
 
 
 
The Uni know not how much longer they can survive, nor what will happen to them if the Oblivion destroys Erebus. What they do know is that Creation will be long lost by then.
 
The Uni know not how much longer they can survive, nor what will happen to them if the Oblivion destroys Erebus. What they do know is that Creation will be long lost by then.
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== The Dubhori, Blood Elementals of the Underworld ==
 
== The Dubhori, Blood Elementals of the Underworld ==
  
The Dubhori (Dubhorus, in singular form), or blood giants, are creatures of battle. Few Blood Elementals are adapted to battle, and that makes the Dubhori unique among their peers. They are monstrous humanoid beings that reach the height of 6 meters with long claws and huge eyes of pure blood. Their skins shiver constantly, like a watery surface when struck by a strong gust of wind. Their lipless mouths are small openings just above their chins.
+
The Dubhori (Dubhorus, in singular form), or blood giants, are creatures of battle. Few Blood Elementals are adapted to battle, and that makes the Dubhori unique among their peers. They are monstrous humanoid beings that reach the height of 6 meters with long claws and huge eyes of pure blood. Their skins shiver constantly, like a watery surface when struck by a strong gust of wind. Their lipless mouths are small openings just above their chins.
Besides their physical characteristics, their charms also mainly directed to combat. They can use the blood of dead enemies to shape weapons and armor for themselves, and they are able to reach a level of combat mastery almost as great as that of the Exalted. They have some strategic capacity, too, and would be useful in mass battles.
+
 
In the Underworld, they are feared as monsters. They often live in isles in the Western sea, specially near the margins of the Cocytus. Sometimes, ghosts bargain with them for military service or other kinds of work that require brute force. They are often surprised in finding out that they’ll refuse to kill innocent victims if they can avoid it. The best way to persuade a Dubhorus to perform a specific kind of work is through intimidation (supposing, of course, that you are sufficiently powerful to threat a 18 feet tall blood giant), though few inhabitants of the Underworld know that.
+
Besides their physical characteristics, their charms also mainly directed to combat. They can use the blood of dead enemies to shape weapons and armor for themselves, and they are able to reach a level of combat mastery almost as great as that of the Exalted. They have some strategic capacity, too, and would be useful in mass battles.
 +
 
 +
In the Underworld, they are feared as monsters. They often live in isles in the Western sea, specially near the margins of the Cocytus. Sometimes, ghosts bargain with them for military service or other kinds of work that require brute force. They are often surprised in finding out that they’ll refuse to kill innocent victims if they can avoid it. The best way to persuade a Dubhorus to perform a specific kind of work is through intimidation (supposing, of course, that you are sufficiently powerful to threat a 18 feet tall blood giant), though few inhabitants of the Underworld know that.
  
 
'''Motivation:''' Defend souls from the Oblivion.
 
'''Motivation:''' Defend souls from the Oblivion.
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Claws: Speed 5, Accuracy 9 Damage 11L, Parry 5
 
Claws: Speed 5, Accuracy 9 Damage 11L, Parry 5
 
Kick: Speed 6, Accuracy 8, Damage 13B, Parry 4
 
Kick: Speed 6, Accuracy 8, Damage 13B, Parry 4
'''Soak:''' 11L/9B (Protective Layer, 9L/5B)
+
'''Soak:''' 7L/7B (Protective Layer, 5L/3B)
'''Health Levels:''' -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/Incap
+
'''Health Levels:''' -0/-0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-4Arthur/Erebus/Incap
 
'''Dodge DV:''' 5 '''Willpower:''' 6
 
'''Dodge DV:''' 5 '''Willpower:''' 6
 
'''Essence:''' 3 '''Essence Pool:''' 60
 
'''Essence:''' 3 '''Essence Pool:''' 60

Latest revision as of 08:05, 5 April 2010

Erebus is an alternate Underworld setting still under construction (though probably usable). Any and all help is very appreciated.

Introduction

Ye realms, yet unreveal'd to human sight,
Ye gods who rule the regions of the night,
Ye gliding ghosts, permit me to relate
The mystic wonders of your silent state!

The sages and lore-masters from the Second Age of Men, even the ones among the wisest creatures, like the Sidereal Chosen of Secrets, know little from the Primordial War. What the occult lore books in Spermin and in the galleries of Yu-Shan can say, however, is about its outcome. They state that the Chosen of the Celestial Incarna won, and the Primordials were defeated. The Primordials who died couldn't vanish, and they became the Neverborn. Those who surrendered, were imprisoned inside the body of the prince of all Primordials, Malfeas, and are today the Yozis.

But there were older books and older sages, who knew secrets now reserved only to the Celestial Seven and to a few elder beings. The Primordials weren’t all addicted to the Games of Divinity, and a few loved and respected Creation and the Gods. One of those beings, now known only as Erebus, was the first to fall in the Primordial War. He hated that strife, for he loved Creation above everything else, and he knew the conflict would disturb greatly the natural order of things that he had made himself. When Gaia created from her womb the first living thing, he designed Death, and he said everything that lives shall die. And he said that every living being would also have a soul, and that those souls would reincarnate to become new living beings. Then, he created on his own body the Wheel Of Reincarnation, so that he could watch each life being unmade and made again, for he found that beautiful over everything else.

So, when the first Exalts attacked, he defended their blows with his own body, in an attempt to avoid the conflict. He wasn't immortal, though, and that greatly wounded him. He kept defending for days, which weakened him. He knew he would have to stop eventually, because if he died, the Natural Cycle would be broken without repair. When he couldn’t withstand anymore, he removed himself from the conflict and let the hordes of Exalted attack his brothers. They eventually won, and all the Primordials that didn't die were forced to swear oaths that would imprison them. But Gaia pitied her brother and she asked the Unconquered Sun to spare him. The king of the gods couldn't let a Primordial that opposed to him without a punishment, so he proposed a different agreement to Erebus. He would be exiled forever from Creation, and he would serve as tomb for his dead brothers. In return, he could maintain the Wheel of Reincarnation in his body, and he wouldn't be fated to exist inside Malfeas forever.

He accepted, and thus the Underworld came into being.

After the Primordial War, Erebus went to Elsewhere, and his skin became the surface of the Underworld. The Labyrinth is composed of his internal organs, and his heart, that had been destroyed by the Solars, became a pool of black emptiness that would later be called Oblivion. This black emptiness grew like a cancer whenever was fed with Essence. So serious were his wounds, that he discovered he could no longer survive by himself. Instead, he needed souls. At first, he just kept a few souls wandering on his skin before they reincarnated. The Essence they generated was sufficient to keep him alive. In time, though, he discovered he had to utterly consume some of these souls, swallowing them with his black heart. The very thought of destroying something as perfect as a soul tortured him, and so he wept. Some of his tears fell into Creation, weakening its fabric, and they later generated Shadowlands in places of much suffering.

When his brothers came, Erebus hosted their undead bodies within his own. They soon discovered about Oblivion, and, in their plans of revenge, they dreamed of using it against Creation. For that, Erebus hates his brothers, and he knows that one day the Creation he loves so much will be consumed by his shattered black heart. He still grants most souls passage through the Wheel of Reincarnation, but some are thrown in his mouth, in the city of Stygia, where they are consumed by Oblivion and lost forever.

Third Circle Souls

The first souls of Erebus have never directly suffered in the hands of the Exalted. They are much more powerful than most Third Circle Demons, but still, they are dying. Every day, every second, they can feel the Oblivion consuming their beings, a growing cancer that cannot be controlled.

Except for The Monarchs, the other souls can be collectively called Uni, which is the name the Primordials themselves used to refer to their lesser souls. There are five Uni. Each of them embody one Underworld element. Their Second Circle Souls are Lesser Elemental Dragons of their elements, and what would be the first circle demons are regular Elementals of the Underworld. Each Uni has at least three natural "forms". The first one, that exists in addition to any form they may take, is a river that flows in the Underworld. It generally extends from what would be its Elemental Pole to somewhere near the mirror for the Blessed Isle (though Acheronte is an exception to this), but even it exists permanently in one area of the East). The second form, which they most often use, is a humanoid one. For any mechanical effect, these forms (sometimes called "physical forms" are Third Circle Demons. The third form is a Draconic one. It is an absolute expression of the Element the Uni represents.

The Uni know not how much longer they can survive, nor what will happen to them if the Oblivion destroys Erebus. What they do know is that Creation will be long lost by then.

The Monarchs - Fetich Soul of Erebus

Aeneas offers; and, by fate's decree,
A barren heifer, Proserpine, to thee,
With holocausts he Pluto's altar fills;
Sev'n brawny bulls with his own hand he kills;

When Erebus became the Underworld, his Fetich soul divided in two. It had always represented the cycle of Reincarnation, but now each part of the cycle was represented by one aspect of the soul. Pluto represented death, and Persephone represented rebirth. They are not truly two different creatures, but two aspects of the same being. They technically rule over the whole Underworld, but they only exert power over their Labyrinth realm, the Tartarus. There, with help from some their own souls, the Furiae, they torture ghosts to generate the Essence Erebus needs to survive. They keep only 200 dead there, and only those that led the cruelest possible lives when alive.

Pluto is a pale man with black hair and beard. He wears a robe made of Silence and sits on a throne of bones. Nothing that lives can survive his touch, except for his sister-lover, Persephone. His voice is said to echo one thousand dying cries, and when he so wishes, it reverberates through the whole Tartarus, and often reaches the surface near the Mouth of Void. He always carries a coin, and he is fascinated with wealth. In his vast vaults, he is said to keep an Underworld copy of every coin ever used in Creation, be it Jade, silver or something entirely different.

Persephone looks like a River Province woman with very long black hair. She often sings, and ghosts that hear her song are pulled irresistibly to the Lethe. Before Erebus became the Underworld, she used to sing to Luna, and it is said that it was the only thing that could make the Trickster Lady maintain her form for more than a few seconds.

Known Powers: the Fetich Soul of Erebus has, even now, while dying victim of an unstoppable cancer, a power level comparable or superior to that of the Elemental Dragons. They can shape the entire Labyrinth like an Unshaped Fair Folk can shape the Wyld within its body. Their most notable ability, though, is to speed the cycle of Reincarnation. Pluto can instantly kill just about any form of life. Exceptions for this rule are beings that have not yet reached the first quarter of their natural lifespan (roughly 15 years for most humans in Creation), Gods, Elementals, Demons, Fair Folk and Celestial Exalted. Those, he has to kill by normal means (which isn't too hard to do either, he is quite powerful). Persephone can do likewise with ghosts, instantly pulling any ghost in her line of sight into Lethe. The only known exceptions for this are Nephwracks. Due to oaths made to the Neverborn by Erebus, Persephone has never tried to pull a Deathloard into Lethe. Whether she would be able to do that or not is yet to be revealed.

In Mass Combat, this ability can only be used against armies with Might under 3, and never with armies composed only of the noted exceptions. It takes [(Might+1)*Magnitude] Long Ticks to kill/pull into Lethe one Magnitude dot of the army in question.

Moreover, no death can happen without Pluto's consent, and no birth can happen without Persephone's. It has never been heard of the Monarchs of the Underworld denying any death or birth, though, for it would be a terrible flaw in the natural cycle.

Not even the Fetich Soul of Erebus can bring the dead back to life.

Charonte, the Boatman - Guardian Soul of Erebus (Bone)

A sordid god: down from his hoary chin
A length of beard descends, uncomb'd, unclean;
His eyes, like hollow furnaces on fire;
A girdle, foul with grease, binds his obscene attire.
He spreads his canvas; with his pole he steers;
The freights of flitting ghosts in his thin bottom bears.
He look'd in years; yet in his years were seen
A youthful vigor and autumnal green

Since the fall of Erebus, Charonte is, after Cocytus and Styx, the Uni that has suffered the most from the consumption of Oblivion. Once beautiful and followed by a white aura of brilliance that could soothe the souls he carried in his ethereal boat, Charonte is now terrifying. The waters of his river, which is called Acheronte by most ghosts, are now polluted and dark and filled with bones, and whoever touches them feels the cold touch of Void. His beard is dirty and oiled, and his eyes are scarlet flames. His flash has deteriorated, and he is a skeleton under his hood.

While most Third Circle Demons can be in two planes at the same time, Charonte can be in many more places that that. He can be, and he is, wherever creatures are dying. He transports souls through his river, that connects Creation and the Underworld. Acheronte's "core" is in the East, but Acheronte also moves, and it can change its course to reach any part of the Underworld. In Creation, it is only seen by dying souls, and it is unique for each one of them. Each soul has his own bone-filled river and his own boatman.

Charonte has three possible destinations when he is taking a soul to the Underworld. The first one is his brother Lethe, who will erase all of their memories before sending them to a new body in Creation. This trip takes 100 years in which the ghosts often get mad with the waiting and throw themselves in the water of the river. Doing that is completely useless, though, for before 100 years ghosts cannot enter the Underworld. Charonte can accelerate this trip if he is offered a single coin. Because of that, most of the funeral processes in Creation, including the Immaculate and Stygian ones, include putting two coins on the dead’s eyes: one for Charonte and one for Pluto to take later (Immaculates, of course, don’t know of or don't admit the fate of the coins). The Boatman, for a reason know only by himself, never accepts coins from those who died before their time.

The second possible destination is the exact equivalent location in the Underworld to the place where the mortal died in Creation. Those who choose that end must prove Charonte they have a strong connection to the world, for only that kind of ghosts, he says, is strong enough to resist Oblivion. This trip still takes 100 years unless accelerated.

Finally, once every 10 years, Charonte takes a cruel soul to his other brother, Phlegethon. It slowly takes the damned ghost to Tartarus, and while the trip in Charonte's boat is instant, the period in the Phlagethon takes the normal century. When the soul finally reaches the Tartarus, usually mad and burned by the Pyre Flame river, the oldest ghost in Pluto's and Persephone's Realm is freed, and the new one takes its place to be tortured for two millennia.

Charonte hates Shadowlands more than any other resident of the Underworld. He considers himself its guardian, and before the Shadowlands, nothing that lives could enter Erebus without his consent (and a golden rod). Now, creatures enter and leave the realm he defends with ease, and there is nothing he can do to avoid it most of the times. Should he actually meet a living being in the Underworld, he would probably see it as an invader, and might well make it a rightful resident of the realm. Luckily for the living, Charon is rarely on the main stream of the Acheronte, that is the Underworld correspondence to the Scavenger Lands rivers, so he rarely meets an invader.

Known Powers: Charonte controls the Underworld element of Bone. He can create, modify or destroy Bone almost at will. He can travel to any point of his river instantly, and he can take his river anywhere in the Underworld.

His draconic form is a mile-long skeletal dragon.

Cocytus, the River of Wails - Grieving Soul of Erebus (Blood)

Betwixt those regions and our upper light,
Deep forests and impenetrable night
Possess the middle space: th' infernal bounds
Cocytus, with his sable waves, surrounds.

There is a legend among the gods. Saturn is the Maiden of Endings. Whenever something ends, be it a life, a joy or a god, she is there, and she cuts its thread from the Loom of Fate. This legend says that once, in the end of the Second Age, she had to cut the thread that corresponded to her own sister. When she did so, Charonte took the finished goddess in his ethereal boat and lead her to the Underworld, so that her power could reincarnate into another Maiden. So terrible was the agony that the death of that Maiden caused, that Saturn herself, for the first and the last time in Eternity, cried. From her eyes spurt blood, and that blood formed Cocytus.

Cocytus is the personification of the river of the same name. It runs in the West of the Underworld, through both land and sea. Its waters are blood, and its margins are wails. Since the beginning of the Underworld, Cocytus has been slowly loosing his sanity. Today, he is regarded by his four brothers as a lunatic, and they fear they will eventually become like him. His personality is indecipherable, and it seems to change (for worse) every year. He hates the Oblivion, of course, but he seems to also find it extremely funny, which disturbs his brothers, specially Lethe.

In human-like form, Cocytus is a widow dressed in black with a black veil and funeral hat. He sometimes visits Creation in places of great suffering, and, when he does so, he laughs horribly. Any mortal or Terrestrial who hears his laugh is visited by such a devastating agony that he kills himself. Even Celestials can be affected by his Insanity, but they rarely kill themselves.

Also known as the Sea of Wails, the Waters of Sorrow and the Pit of Suicide, every soul that dies of sorrow, be it by taking his own life or otherwise, is destined to drown for a hundred years in the sanguine waters of Cocytus. There is an isle in the heart of the river, know as The Jungle of the Grief, where this souls go after their century of suffering. From that point on, they can live as normal ghosts.

Cocytus' island may appear in Creation during the Calibration. Whoever enters it at that time will be brought to the Underworld with the beginning of the new year.

Known Powers: Cocytus controls the element of Blood in the same way Charonte controls bone. He cannot shape his river in the way his brother can, though.

The laughter of the river has the following effect: anything who hears it must check Essence. For mortals and animals, the difficulty is impossible; for Terrestrials, it's 8; for Dragon-Kings and other magical creatures, it's 6; for Celestials, it's 4. Fail in that test by a threshold of 2 or more means the affected creature must kill itself as fast as it can. Fail by less than that means the character has the option of spending 5 temporary Willpower points not to commit suicide. A botch means the affected soul will be instantly swallowed by Oblivion. Cocytus never intended that last effect, he just can't help it.

His draconic form is a huge dragon made of pure, sanguine blood. It has what could be called a heart, but it no longer beats.

Phlegethon, He Who Boils Souls - Offensive Soul of Erebus (Pyre Flame)

The hero, looking on the left, espied
A lofty tow'r, and strong on ev'ry side
With treble walls, which Phlegethon surrounds,
Whose fiery flood the burning empire bounds;

Through the desolated South of the Underworld, runs the most terrible of the river brothers. It was terrible even before the Primordial War, and the legends say it was Phlegethon designed the Essence of the element Fire. Every ghost who knows it, fears it, and even the First and Forsaken Lion speaks with caution of the Burning Horror. The only ones who dare to approach its margins are necromancers who have use for the Pyre Flame it is made of.

The anthropomorphic representation of the river is a tall barbaric man engulfed by Pyre Flame. Despite of his terrible nature, his words sound wise and even kind to ghosts that happen to talk to him, and his brothers regard him respectfully. He loves Persephone's voice, and respects Pluto deeply. If he is being affected directly by the Oblivion, he hides it particularly well, for nobody has noticed any change in his body or personality since the fall of the Primordials. Of all the Underworld rivers, he is the most feared by the Deathlords in general, a sentiment he is all but pleased to maintain. Phlegeton ends in the heart of the Tartarus.

Known Powers: Phlegethon has as much control over Pyre Flame as Charonte has over Bone.

His greatest power is his element control itself, which he could easily direct to obliterate both living and dead armies. Phlegethon hasn’t done so since the Primordial War, but, if he wished, he could also take a less threatening form and act as a general. Among Erebus’ souls, he is the best at war and martial leadership, and few troops could stand against a dragon of Pyre Flame, anyway.

His draconic form is a mass of condensed Pyre Flame, with no solid matter at all.

Styx, the Mistress of Empty Jade - Structural Soul of Erebus (Void)

"Son of Anchises, offspring of the gods,"
The Sibyl said, "you see the Stygian floods,
The sacred stream which heav'n's imperial state
Attests in oaths, and fears to violate."

Styx spirals from the city of Stygia, where the Mouth of Void lies. It is not really a river, but more like an abyss without bottom. Few have tried to explore Styx's pits, and none have ever returned or reincarnated.

Styx is a particular case, and is treated like such by her siblings. Opinions vary, but most of the souls agree that Styx will soon die. Her human form is that of an androgynous person. It has no hair and is has its body completely covered by a black mantle with a hood. Its face is covered by a featureless mask of what was once Black Jade, and is now Soulsteel.

What the Uni don't know, is that Styx is not near-death. She died already. Her previous Element, Jade, is now Void. When her Essence Tumors caused by Erebus' wound grew to such a size that she could no longer resist, she was sent to the Labyrinth. There, the Neverborn plunged what still remained of her Essence in the Void. They did so thrice, until something occurred. What Styx would explain later to her new masters is that she couldn't stand anymore the pain and the cold, and so she gave in to the Void, and accepted its Essence. The truth is sightly different. While the last motes of her Essence were consumed by the infinite blackness, she felt something. She felt peace, she felt serenity, and she loved that. The truth is that the new Styx loves the Void just as much as any Neverborn, maybe more. She can’t wait to engulf Creation in nothingness. Anyway, the Uni Styx accepted the Neverborn as its masters, and adopted Void as her new aspect. The dead Primordials charmed Erebus so that he didn't notice the change, and Styx agreed in pretending she was still the Jade Dragon. Her siblings don't suspect a thing. When her Elementals all changed to something far more terrible than just Jade, they assumed she was so close to death that her very core had entered some kind of defensive state to delay her destruction.

Known Powers: Styx controls the element Void as Charonte controls Bone.

If she chooses to do so, Styx can engulf anyone standing near her surface in black Essece that later solidifies to create a cocoon of black stone. She can then swallow it from her surface, where her victim will be forever imprisoned in a never-changing river in the Underworld. It costs her much to do so, though, because Jade is no longer her real aspect.

She has never used this power on anyone, but she could also create a pool of Oblivion in the fabric of Creation (or somewhere else), as per the spell Grandmother Void.

Her draconic form, which she has never taken outside the Labyrinth, is a serpentine form of absolute nothingness.

Lethe, the Wheel of Reincarnation - Transitional Soul of Erebus (Ash)

Then thus the sire: "The souls that throng the flood
Are those to whom, by fate, are other bodies ow'd:
In Lethe's lake they long oblivion taste,
Of future life secure, forgetful of the past.
Long has my soul desir'd this time and place,
To set before your sight your glorious race,
That this presaging joy may fire your mind
To seek the shores by destiny design'd."

Weren't the Uni all part of the same being, one would probably say Lethe is the oldest brother of the five. He is as dedicated to his duty as Charonte, and he is probably the most important one for the proper functioning of the Underworld.

Lethe's personification is a blonde-haired man dressed in common summer clothes. He looks merry and relaxed most of the time, and people feel comfortable around him. With but a touch, he can completely erase someone's memories, and by plunging a soul into his waters, he can send it to a new body. He once caught part of his waters in a flask, which he then game to Persephone, who drank them. That is what allows her to send ghosts into Lethe by singing.

But Lethe is very different from his brothers. Differently from any other Primordial Soul, he is not an inherent part of the being it composes, but an artificial creation. When Erebus designed the Cycle of Reincarnation, he knew it would need an engine to work properly. Thus, he extracted Essence from all his other souls, and with them, he formed a completely different being, that was more than the sum of parts. Lethe is therefore the youngest of the Uni, He was grafted into Erebus' Essence.

His river, which runs in the extreme north of the underworld, is completely made of ash. This ash flows like waters. Some of the ghosts find it curious that a Uni so related to beginnings and restarts is made of something so sterile as ash. Lethe is also, though, a being of ends. He realizes that everything that begins grows on the ashes of past things, and that nothing is completely new. The ashes that form his "waters" are, in truth, the burnt memories he extracts from ghosts.

Known Powers: in addition to the noted powers, Lethe controls Ash as the other Uni control their elements.

His draconic form is a serpentine creature that flickers between lighter and darker shades of grey, with two blazing eyes on its head.

Second Circle Souls

Cerberus - Guardian Soul of Charonte

No sooner landed, in his den they found
The triple porter of the Stygian sound,
Grim Cerberus, who soon began to rear
His crested snakes, and arm'd his bristling hair.

Alecto - Unceasing Soul of the Monarchs

Scarce had he said, the prophetess began:
"What hopes delude thee, miserable man?
Think'st thou, thus unintomb'd, to cross the floods,
To view the Furies and infernal gods,
And visit, without leave, the dark abodes?"

Megaera - Envious Soul of the Monarchs

The Queen of Furies by their sides is set,
And snatches from their mouths th' untasted meat,
Which if they touch, her hissing snakes she rears,
Tossing her torch, and thund'ring in their ears.

Tisiphone - Avenging Soul of the Monarchs

Sublime on these a tow'r of steel is rear'd;
And dire Tisiphone there keeps the ward,
Girt in her sanguine gown, by night and day,
Observant of the souls that pass the downward way.
From hence are heard the groans of ghosts, the pains
Of sounding lashes and of dragging chains.

First Circle Souls

The Dubhori, Blood Elementals of the Underworld

The Dubhori (Dubhorus, in singular form), or blood giants, are creatures of battle. Few Blood Elementals are adapted to battle, and that makes the Dubhori unique among their peers. They are monstrous humanoid beings that reach the height of 6 meters with long claws and huge eyes of pure blood. Their skins shiver constantly, like a watery surface when struck by a strong gust of wind. Their lipless mouths are small openings just above their chins.

Besides their physical characteristics, their charms also mainly directed to combat. They can use the blood of dead enemies to shape weapons and armor for themselves, and they are able to reach a level of combat mastery almost as great as that of the Exalted. They have some strategic capacity, too, and would be useful in mass battles.

In the Underworld, they are feared as monsters. They often live in isles in the Western sea, specially near the margins of the Cocytus. Sometimes, ghosts bargain with them for military service or other kinds of work that require brute force. They are often surprised in finding out that they’ll refuse to kill innocent victims if they can avoid it. The best way to persuade a Dubhorus to perform a specific kind of work is through intimidation (supposing, of course, that you are sufficiently powerful to threat a 18 feet tall blood giant), though few inhabitants of the Underworld know that.

Motivation: Defend souls from the Oblivion. Attributes: Strength 7, Dexterity 4, Stamina 4; Charisma 2, Manipulation 1, Appearance 1; Perception 2, Intelligence 3, Wits 3 Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 1, Temperance 2, Valor 4 Abilities: Athletics 4 (Lifting +3, Swimming +3), Awareness, Dodge 3, Integrity 2, Lore 2, Martial Arts 4, Medicine 3, Melee 4 (Talons of the Sanguine Warrior +2), Occult 1, Resistance 3, Survival 3 (Western Underworld +2), Thrown 2, War 3, Sail 2 (Sailing Cocytus +3) Backgrounds: usually none, though some may have Allies or even Followers Charms: Benefaction—+1 to combat rolls Materialize—Costs 45 motes Sheathing the Material Form—+7B/+3L when covered in blood (by bathing in blood or diving in Cocytus, for exemple) Talons of the Sanguine Warrior—see below First (Ability) Excellency—Athletics, Melee, War Dragon’s Suspire — The blood of every enemy in the area starts flowing in wrong ways, sometimes even escaping through the skin Elemental Expression — Works only in the Underworld

Join Battle: 4 Attacks: Claws: Speed 5, Accuracy 9 Damage 11L, Parry 5 Kick: Speed 6, Accuracy 8, Damage 13B, Parry 4 Soak: 7L/7B (Protective Layer, 5L/3B) Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-4Arthur/Erebus/Incap Dodge DV: 5 Willpower: 6 Essence: 3 Essence Pool: 60 Other Notes: Talons of the Sanguine Warrior is an unique power of the Dubhori. By using his influence over his Element, a Dubhorus can reunite massive amounts of blood from other creatures, infuse it with his own Essence, and then condensate the result in a blade of blood harder than steel. This power costs 10 motes of Essence and 1 Willpower point from the Elemental, and it lasts for one scene. This cost is reduced in one mote per dead human body - or equivalent amount of blood - in a range of 5 meters from the Elemental, to a minimum of 5. Using the ability in this way creates gruesome effects, like body parts exploding and flowing through the air to form the monster’s weapon. The weapon formed has the stats of a regular Daiklave, with one additional characteristic: when used to attack creatures that depend on their blood to survive, the sword drinks and sucks their life fluid from their veins, instantly causing one level of unsoakable Lethal damage per attack.

Final Considerations (a.k.a. that which could not yet be inserted in the main text)

  • The myth on the formation of Styx is false.
  • Cerberus is a Lesser Dragon of bones.
  • The furies all live in the Tartarus, and their main function is to extract as much Essence as possible from souls without destroying or permanently damaging them.
  • There ARE ways to summon the Erebus’ souls, but the Necromantic rituals that do so are known only to a few Deathlords, and strictly forbidden on most cases. Summoning a regular elemental is relatively easy, while bringing a Uni to Creation or binding its will in the Underworld should require incredible effort, possibly permanently consuming Essence dots and/or requiring rare items.
  • The souls usually ignore the DLs and vice-versa. They obviously hate that, and would be willing to destroy each other, but they know both sides would have much to lose (the souls would lose precious ghosts and the DLs might lose their un-lives), so they have an oath of non-violence.
Comments

Hi, I upgraded your wiki. Or at least tried to. - Sz

Blockquotes don't need to be wrapped in quotation marks. Added italics and indentation. For smaller font size, you'll need to use wiki software that doesn't suck. Can't be done here. - Wordman

Thank you both. I've also added the first Elemental... Ok, they are pools of pc-kicking consensed blood, and little more than that. Anyway, I had to stat the Dubhori out for use in a game, so I figured I could also post them here. Sorry if the fluff got kind of lame. - Arthur