Falcon/Talios

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Talios, Communicator Soul of the Coils of Night

The room was dark, the only light a faint blue emanation from the warding circle inscribed in the floor. No window existed to let light - or creatures - in, and the only door had been eight times warded before Jhagatai had entered. His research had been painstaking and exact, identifying every ward and its key. His associates had searched the libraries of the Forbidding Manse of Ivy and the Violet Bier of Sorrows to prime him for his confrontation with the occupant of the warding circle. A demon of the second circle, the first he had ever faced. Jhagatai removed an arrow from his quiver and made ready to fire. The room was small for archery, but he had scored kills in smaller spaces.

A moment's concentration attuned the demon-hunter's essence to the hidden things of the world, and the secrets of the darkness spoke to him, outlining themselves to his sight with a faint green radiance. He became aware of a faint sussuration in the air, a whispering just beyond his hearing. Within the circle, something stirred. Jhagatai raised his bow. Even to his discerning gaze, the thing inside the circle was a faint outline at best.

"Show yourself," he commanded. "I wish to see what I have come to kill."

A faint laugh. "Show myself to a man who admits he is here to kill me? A poor idea, at best."

Jhagatai gave a tight smile. "I will ask nine times if I have to, but it would demean us both."

The laugh again. "More than you know, little hunter. Very well."

There was no sense of transition. The darkness simply began to suggest a figure. A sculpted curve here, the line of an arm or leg there. Hair the same colour as darkness flowed around the androgynous figure's ankles. Although Jhagatai couldn't see it clearly, something about the flowing shadows suggested incredible beauty. A ghost of a smile.

"Here I am, then. Am I everything you imagined?"

"You are pleasing to the eye, yes. I will craft a superior portrait in your honour."

The demon's smile remained. "You will have to improve a great deal to do me justice."

Jhagatai pulled his bowstring taut, aiming for the probable chest. He paused.

"I note with interest that I am not yet dead," the demon said. A single eyebrow arched.

Jhagatai held his aim. "You're not defending yourself. Not even trying."

"You'll only know why if you shoot me, little hunter." The demon laughed again. "You have read the books about me, I imagine."

"Lord of Air and Darkness, Keeper of Secrets," Jhagatai said flatly. "Demons Kestrel has bound reveal that you have been absent from the demon realm for a long time." A sudden thought, and he flashed his tight smile again, lowered his bow. "I imagine it seems longer, trapped here."

The demon nodded smoothly.

"If I shot you..."

"...your arrow would have broken the warding circle and in the blink of an eye I would have fled further than your bow can fire," the demon confirmed.

Jhagatai replaced his arrow in his quiver. "I think I'll leave you here, for now."

"You know," the demon said conversationally, "I have more secrets at my fingertips than anyone else you know. Even Kestrel."

Jhagatai frowned. "Why do I care what secrets you hold?"

He turned and left, closing the door behind him. In the darkness of the room, Talios faded back into the shadows, turning his attention once again to the whispers of the night. If anyone could have distinguished him from the darkness, they would have seen that his smile still remained.

- - -

Kestrel relaxed in her chair, letting her senses return to the opulent room she was in. Jhagatai would never have let her keep a protective eye on him, so she had placed the Coin of Distant Vision in his quiver secretly. What the demon had said... If he was free, she could bind him. She could turn his vast knowledge to the good of Creation - irony had always appealed to her. The demon was canny, and dangerous, but Kestrel was certain she could turn things to her advantage. And if all else failed, Jhagatai would be all too eager to hunt him down and kill him. Surely, it was a flawless plan...

Talios, Lord Of Air And Darkness
Demon of the Second Circle
(Wisdom soul of the Coils of Night)

Nature: Conniver

Attributes
Strength 4
Dexterity 5
Stamina 4
Charisma 4
Manipulation 6
Appearance 5
Perception 5
Intelligence 4
Wits 4

Virtues
Compassion 2, Conviction 4, Temperance 3, Valour 3

Abilities
Athletics 4
Awareness 5 (Following Multiple Conversations At Once +3)
Dodge 4
Investigation 4
Lore 6 (Night-Time Secrets +3)
Linguistics 7
Martial Arts 3
Melee 3 (Smoke And Mirrors +2)
Occult 7 (Night-Time Secrets +1, Air Elementals +2)
Performance 2 (Acting +2)
Presence 4
Socialise 3
Stealth 6

Charms

Compassion

  • Landscape Camouflage
  • Landscape Travel
  • Measure The Wind

Conviction

  • Instill Obedience
  • Stoke the Flame

Temperance

  • Host Of Spirits
  • Sustenance

Valour

  • Affinity Element Control (Air)
  • Affinity Element Control (Darkness)
  • Materialise
  • Principle Of Motion

Combat Stats

Cost To Materialise: 95 motes
Base Initiative: 9
Attack:
Smoke And Mirrors* (Speed 9, Atk 12, Damage 7L, Def 12)
Unarmed Martial Arts (Speed 9, Atk 8, Damage 4B, Def 8)
Dodge Pool: 9
Soak: 16B/14L/12A (Armour Of Darkness, +12B/+12L)
Willpower: 7
Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/-4/-4/-4/Incap
Essence: 7
Essence Pool: 103

Other
Anyone hit by one of Talios' paired short swords finds that shadows cloud their vision and the air itself struggles against them. For the rest of the scene they suffer a -1 die penalty on all actions, on top of any other penalties. This penalty is cumulative with itself, so the more Talios hits you, the slower you become.

While in Creation, Talios has the ability to hear anything spoken at night in Creation - air elementals he has bound to his service labour endlessly to carry such secrets to his ears, but this vast amount of information takes time even for Talios to process. If he is specifically listening for something, he will always hear it as it is spoken unless the conversation takes place in an airtight room. So long as the conversation was spoken, he will always hear it eventually. Storyteller's discretion as to whether he notices anything else (Wits + Awareness is a good default roll) although as before, he will always hear it eventually.

Talios can see through darkness and shadows as easily as he can see in sunlight. He prefers the darkness, but the light of the Unconquered Sun gives him no special penalties.

Talios' Landscape Camouflage lets him hide in shadows. His Landscape Travel allows him to go anywhere so long as he is outside at night.

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