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Omphalan, the City That Walks

Recieved: 8/14/04 Completed: 8/15/04

Description:
In the First Age, the Celestial bureaucracy not only functioned efficiently, but it was
kept clean of corruption - not only through the constant and tireless efforts of the Sidereal
Exalted and the Night-caste Solars, but through the occasional wholesale scouring of
Celestial and mortal bureaus in search of impropriety.

One God that was promoted to great prominence in The Divine Witnesses of Human Works
and Deeds (and made liaison with The Bureau of Heaven) was Omphalan. His original
portfolio had been one of a most specialized nature; he had been responsible for solidifying the
bureaucratic ties between various nation-states and encouraging the growth of uniform codified
governments and coinage (he was trained in his ways by an Eclipse by the name of Heron
In the Thrush; one that he'd seduced solely to learn her craft). However, as the Solar
Exalted grew in their hubris and dementia, he had begun to take on the work of searching out the
corruption in the cities that he oversaw; not as purposely seeking to add to his workload, but because
if he didn't, then no one would; making his true task impossible to accomplish.

Omphalan accomplished this task with such economy that it was soon given over to him to be
his sole task. Having grown immensely in power, he felt snubbed (being given a fairly intense
job in place of his old ass-warmer of a position) - snubbed, and now in the position to perform
audits as he saw fit. An angry, powerful, and bureaucratically potent God is not one that is
good for Heaven's well-being.

And so Omphalan was granted a "blessing."

The Maiden of Secrets crafted Omphalan's beautiful ivory flesh into soaring towers; his gorgeous
jade eyes became sky, flecked with blue clouds. His powerful shoulders had become the squat
bureaucratic buildings that would dominate the city, and his memories fled from him - each one
coming alive to serve as the various populants of Omphalan; the god-city.

Situated in Elsewhere, Omphalan exists as a city unto itself, yet reaching into every city in Creation.
Wherever in Creation a bureaucratic office exists, there extends the power of Omphalan. Omphalan
has the power to extend himself into any pre-existing portal or passage (a doorway, a hallway, an arch)
and form a temporary portal into himself; and in this manner he preys on the bureaucrats throughout
Creation; theoretically culling only the corrupt (or hideously incompetent boobs with too much power.)

His sanity has long been teetering, however, and his judgement may no longer be what it was.
Innocent or guilty, however, no bureaucrat has ever escaped Omphalan; once there, their wills are
steadily eroded as they are Geased over and again; set to infinitely repetitive and mind-numbingly-
pointless menial paperwork; as a God of bureaucracy, Omphalan requires (rather, demands)
that every cloud in the sky, every particle of dust, every current of Essence in his city (his self) be
meticulously kept track of on paper. The bureaucrats are thousands of man-years behind in keeping up,
and they will only fall farther behind.

One of the reasons for Omphalan's steadily declining sanity is that his mind is growing cluttered;
by spreading out his memories into actual members of the populace, he eventually ended up geasing
them into work alongside all of the other bureaucrats in Omphalan; as such, his mind has functionally
just become a self-fueling paper mill. Sanity might be restored if someone could make his workers catch
up on all their work (perhaps freeing some of his memories to return to leisure, and allow his mind a chance
to recoup) - or perhaps simply breaking all of the geases (a formidable feat probably requiring Celestial or
Solar circle sorcery, and good only for the time it takes Omphalan to re-geas them).

The other reason was caused by the Maiden of Secrets, and one - we hope - that was unintentional. The
design of Omphalos is, unfortunately, in such a geometric configuration in Elsewhere as to create certain
occult resonance with the Primordial-City of Malfeas; and the two cities have begun to bleed into one
another. While no demons are yet running around Omphalan (and no maniacal paper-pushers have come to
dominate Malfeas), the personalities of the two places are slowly bleeding over; Malfeas is growing a bit more
mindlessly complicated (and orderly, I suppose), while the memories of Omphalos are growing more cruel,
sadistic, and and chaotic. If the two cities were allowed to completely merge, Omphalos' reach throughout
the cities of Creation would threaten to allow Malfeas a means by which to return to Creation...

Combat Notes: While Omphalan himself no longer possesses enough of a body to engage personally
in combat, stone gargoyles decorate every edifice in Omphalan - and these gargoyles are animated and controlled
at Omphalan's will, acting as his proxies in combat. Omphalan, what little intellect remains in him, may choose to
personally control up to three gargoyles throughout Omphalan at any one time, granting them additional power and
speaking through them - he may loosely control as many as he wishes at any other time, for a commitment of one
mote of essence each. There are a sum total of roughly three hundred gargoyles in the City That Walks.

Omphalan, the City that Walks
Attributes: Strength 0, Dexterity 0, Stamina 100,
Charisma 7, Manipulation 6, Appearance 6, Perception X,
Intelligence 6, Wits 5
X Omphalan's Perception outside his body/self/city is 0; inside the city he is considered to have a Perception of 7, and can make a reflexive Perc+Aware roll at any location inside the city to be aware of what is going on. He can actively monitor a number of locales simultaneously equal to his Intelligence + Wits + Perception.
Virtues: Compassion 1, Conviction 4, Temperance 7,
Valor 4
Abilities: Awareness 3, Brawl 3, Endurance 5, Resistance 5, Craft 1 (Cityscapes +3), Larceny 1,
Linguistics 7, Performance 1, Presence 4, Socialize 5, Bureaucracy 6, Investigation 3, Lore 2, Occult 4
Charms: Harrow the Mind, Confusion, Memory Mirror, Memory Sponge, Memory Transferrance,
Instill Obedience, Lend Authority, Geas, Transport, Capture, Sustenance, Creation of Perfection, Details,
Weather Control, Element Infusion (Bureaucrat), Walking Passage [X] Cost to (de)Materialize: Not Applicable
Base Initiative: 5
Attack:
None. Dodge Pool: None.
Soak: 100L/100B (Stone Skin) (Oversoak 20)
Willpower: 9 Health Levels: -0 x 20 / -1 x 40 / -2 x 40 / -4 x 60 / Inc.
Essence: 7Essence Pool: 200
Other Notes: Killing Ompalan directly is not especially feasible; you won't kill him by standing
around stabbing the street. It would require a concerted attack on various portions of the city using area-
-damaging effects. One would need to destroy Omphalan the way one would destroy a city. Upon
destruction, Omphalan remains as a potent level 5 water-aspected manse located in Elsewhere.
Omphalan rejuvenates all bashing and one lethal health level, or one aggravated health
level of damage per round; this appears to be the grotesque and disgustingly organic regrowth of the
buildings within Omphalan.

[X]Walking Passage:
Minimum Temperance: 6
Minimum Essence: 7
Cost: 3 or 10 motes or 30
Duration: Instant
Omphalan may temporarily turn any passage way ( a doorway, an arch, a hallway ) into a portal to Omphalan;
any one person currently passing through the passageway when the Charm is enacted finds themselves emerging
in a long hallway on the other side, in a confusing maze of an office building, where they will wander for days on end
before being able to find a way out (despite maps of the place being posted on every few walls.)

The cost is 10 motes if transporting someone with a position of bureaucratic power (even if just a secretary in an office)
and 30 if someone that holds no such position. For 3 motes, the duration becomes "1 day" instead of "Instant," and
the portal acts only to allow a dematerialized geased memory of Omphalan's out, instead of drawing someone in; it is
through this charm that he spies on bureaucrats to decide who is "corrupt."

Stone Gargoyle
Attributes: Strength 4 [8], Dexterity 3 [5], Stamina 4 [16],
Charisma 1 [6], Manipulation 1[6], Appearance 4, Perception 4 [6],
Intelligence 2 [6], Wits 2 [5]
Virtues: Compassion 1, Conviction 2 [4], Temperance 3 [7],
Valor 3 [4]
Abilities: Brawl 3 (Bite+3), Awareness 3, Dodge 4, Endurance 5, Resistance 5, Socialize 1, Presence 1,
Bureaucracy 2 [7], Linguistics 3 [7]
Charms: Landscape Travel, Landscape Camoflage, Binding (Only when possessed), Confusion,
Portal (works to access other areas in Omphalan), Principle of Motion, Uncanny Prowess, Malediction (when posssed)
Base Initiative: 5 [10]
Attack:
Claw Swipe: Speed 11 [16], Accuracy 10 [12], Damage 9 [13], Defense 10 [12], Rate 5
Bite: Speed 8 [13], Accuracy 11 [13], Damage 12 [16], Defense 9 [11], Rate 2
Dodge Pool: 7 [9]
Soak: 6L/6B (2L/2B, full stamina soak,Stone Skin) [18L/18B, Oversoak 6]
Willpower: 5 Health Levels: -0 x 1 / -1 x 2 / -2 x 2 / -4 x 1 / Inc. [ -0 x 3 / -1 x 6 / -2 x 6 / -4 x 2 / Inc. ]
Essence: 3 [5] Essence Pool: 63 [97]
Other Notes: Statistics in brackets are when being one of the three chosen possessed by Omphalan