Madder, the Exquisite Architect<br/>Defiler Caste Green Sun Prince<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Madder, a Mortal</div><div class="spoiler_body">Madder was born in the New City of Chiaroscuro to poor parents, who originally survived on just their father's pay as a laborer.  Her mother, though, fell into a life of crime to help make ends meet when a third mouth to feed was introduced to the family -- and what's more, her increased income meant that they could send Madder to school rather than putting her to work as well.  This was good for Madder; she was a clever and thoughtful child.  She was also incredibly bitter about how hard her parents had to struggle to feed the family and keep her in school.<br/><br/>Madder excelled in school; she was taken in by a patron who recognized her quick mind early on in her studies, and whisked away from her family who tearfully, but understandingly, allowed her to be taken to live in the Old City with the much wealthier portion of the population.  Madder was thankful for the opportunity, and took advantage of the situation to the best of her ability, but the seed of bitterness in her heart grew while she was surrounded by the poor.  It was while Madder was away from her parents, living in a dormitory that was luxurious in comparison to her parent's place, that her mother died.  She didn't learn that -- or even hear from her father -- for years.<br/><br/>Madder's late teenage years were marked by a shift from passive consumption of all of the knowledge and tutelage placed before her toward activist practices toward changing the social makeup of Chiaroscuro: she wanted to see the rich deposed, the poor empowered, and the government to make this happen.  She made traction, too, and had numerous followers and believers.  Her contacts and allies included idealists among the rich, and the angry poor; they included lawmen who wanted to see justice for everyone, and criminals who would side with anyone if it meant a profit.<br/><br/>Her movement lost its momentum almost as quickly as it had begun.  Madder's most trusted associates were dying, most of them murdered in their own homes, some of them executed on trumped charges -- to protect the interests of Delzahn nobles and the Guild's interests, likely, those who benefited on the labor of the poor.  Madder feared for her life, and instead of facing the threats and leading her growing mob toward a socialized state with unified equality for all, she went into hiding.  Her followers' will was crushed; they became convinced that there was no hope for the poor of the New City beyond the meager lives they had already made for themselves.<br/><br/>It was in her hiding place, surrounded by those criminals that Madder trusted most, that a thing (as that is the best Madder could make of it) came to her, materializing neatly beside her bed.  It wore a black robe that hid its features perfectly, save for a pale blue glow that emanated from within its hood.  "Your efforts need not be in vain," it said, speaking in a voice like grinding stone.  "Your failure is not yet complete.  Chiaroscuro will see yet the error of their ways, guided by your hand.  You need only come with me."<br/><br/>And Madder did.</div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Madder, the Exalt</div><div class="spoiler_body"><div class="floatright">(http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy13/mememeikle/madderdefiler-1.png)</div>The moment Madder agreed to accept the gift the cloaked figure offered, it attacked her -- in a way of speaking, taking hold of her and drawing her into itself, until it enfolded her entirely.  Carrying the freedom fighter within itself, it clambered to the corner of the room, and there it settled finally, forming an perfect cocoon of dimly glowing blue flesh to house the inchoate Green Sun Prince that Madder would become.<br/><br/>Inside of the cocoon, perfectly protected and hidden from the world, Madder slept fitfully for five days and nights.  Her thoughts were nightmares and dreams, woefully symmetrical in their nature, and over the course of five days, they changed her.  The girl who emerged was not the same as the frightened idealist that she had been when she was swallowed whole.  Instead, she brimmed with confidence and a frightening understanding of the order of all things.  <br/><br/>She wanted more, and she willed the disembodied demon that resided then in her head to show her the Demon Realm, where she knew she would find the perfect order that seemed to resound in her mind.<br/><br/>She was sorely disappointed.<br/><br/>Hell proved a welcoming place for Madder; as one of the Green Sun Princes, she was recognized as a superior citizen, with authority over nearly all of the demon realm, save the few immediate emanations of the Yozis themselves.  Whatever she wanted for, she was granted; as in her mortal life, she learned and consumed, vulturous, with only bitterness and stirring detestation for those who taught her, who doted on her, who wanted her as a weapon.<br/><br/>It was during her time in Hell that she learned the Sorcery of the Yozi -- not the sorcery of mortals and gods at all, but a dread emanation of the hands that forged Creation, a natural thing that Madder learned to wield innately, an extension of her will.  It is also where she took her first lover and, in a fit of discontent, saw that same lover rendered down into so much bubbling ink and etched onto her body.  It was suiting, she decided in the aftermath, and she felt no remorse: "No love without pain," the demon had told her.  The tattoo was her remembrance of the joys they shared.<br/><br/>It was also in Hell that Madder learned swordplay, and further extended her studies into the occult and the history of the world -- particularly the history of the Delzhan and Chiaroscuro.  The weapon she carries to this day was the favored tool of her mentor; she murdered him at the height of her training, when he stood quietly in awe of the pupil and how quickly she had learned.  The Demon City has laws, she reminded herself.  "No silence without death."  His weapon was her keepsake for the time they spent together.<br/><br/>And, eventually, Madder left.  She took freely from the Demon City all that it could give her, and when she felt it could give her no more without asking its take in return, she left.  There was nothing more to it; the Demon City was a loud, disorderly place, ruled by hypocrites without regard for their own laws beyond the ways that they broke them.  It disgusted and offended her, and when she left, she reminded herself that she was still playing by their rules.  "No power without ambition."  Her Exaltation is her remembrance of the things she took from those who empowered her.  She laughed as she went, and she returned to Chiaroscuro.<br/><br/>She returned to make it a better place, a place that made sense, a place where the laws were just, followed and enforced, where those who led deserved to lead and those who suffered deserved to suffer.  Anything less was unacceptable.</div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Numbers</div><div class="spoiler_body">Motivation: Unify the people of Chiaroscuro into a single unit that promotes peace, unity, and efficiency.<br/>Urge: Set the deserts surrounding Chiaroscuro on fire. (The Malfean Urge to Destroy)<br/><br/>Attributes<br/>Strength 1<br/>Dexterity 4<br/>Stamina 2<br/><br/>Charisma 1<br/>Manipulation 3<br/>Appearance 5<br/><br/>Perception 3<br/>Intelligence 4<br/>Wits 4<br/><br/>Abilities <br/>*Investigation 4<br/>*Lore 3<br/>*Occult 5 [+1 Demonology]<br/><br/>*Linguistics 2 [Native: Flametongue; Old Realm, Riverspeak]<br/>*Performance 4 [+1 Speeches]<br/>*Presence 4<br/>*Martial Arts 1<br/>*Melee 5 [+2 Beamklave]<br/><br/>Awareness 4<br/><br/>Backgrounds [16/17 spent]<br/>Artifact 4 -- Tainted Moonsilver Beamklave, Exquisite Interdiction<br/>Artifact 2 -- Tainted Adamant Hearthstone Bracers<br/>Backing 1 (She Who Lives In Her Name Demons)<br/>Cult 3 (Both the remnants of Yozi Cults and the new Chiaroscuran State)<br/>Influence 1 (Demons of She Who Lives In Her Name)<br/>Influence 3 (Chiaroscuran State, Esp. Undercity &amp; Port)<br/>Spies 1 (Chiaroscuran spies, esp. criminal agents)<br/><br/>Charms - SWLIHN Caste, Cecelyne Favored<br/>She Who Lives In Her Name<br/>First She Who Lives In Her Name Excellency x3 - 1m/die for any action that resonates<br/>Sorcerous Enlightenment of She who Lives In Her Name - 10m, 1wp less for any spell that removes free will -- Terrestrial and Celestial Circle spells that primarily deal damage cost +1wp<br/>Chirality Prohibition Index - so much stuff<br/>Factual Determination Analysis - 2m, tests a given statement for truth or falsehood<br/>Counter-Conceptual Interposition - 5m to perfectly parry anything; 10m against unrecognized Combos or Charms (Diff 5 Int+Occult to recognize a thing)<br/>Essence-Dissecting Stare - 5m, as All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight<br/>Mind-Hand Manipulation - 5m committed; telekinesis using Willpower as Dexterity, Essence as Strength, and Occult as all Abilities<br/><br/>Kimbery<br/>Intolerable Burning Truths (Trust is Naive) - Madder only needs one scene to develop a positive intimacy<br/>All Things Betray - 1m to make an Unexpected Attack expected; 3m to add +Essence to Join Battle or Join Debate; 1wp to use this Charm as an Innate Power<br/><br/>Cecelyne<br/>Transcendent Desert Creature - Madder gets a bunch of bonuses in places that don't support life; also, her metabolism is perfect and she can't be tracked.<br/><br/>The Ebon Dragon<br/>Cracked Cell Circumvention -- 2m, doubles successes to escape any confinement<br/>Bloodless Murk Evasion -- 4m, perfectly dodge anything (except attacks that benefit from Holy)<br/><br/>Spells<br/>Slave-Spawn Summons (20m) -- like Summon Demon, but requires no Ritual (just a normal one-action cast time)<br/>Droning Suggestion (5m) -- makes all of Madder's social attacks into Unnatural Mental Influence that can't be detected as such for a scene.<br/><br/>Combos<br/>Dying Is Not Perfect -- This Combo lets Madder function at ideal capacity without being murdered.<br/>First She Who Lives in Her Name Excellency + Counter-Conceptual Interposition + Bloodless Murk Evasion<br/><br/>Intimacies<br/>Chiaroscuro's Upper Class (Unrelenting Hatred)<br/>Chiaroscuro's Lower Class (Stewardship)<br/>Tzilya (The Most Awful Kind Of Love You Have Ever Seen I Mean Seriously She Turned Her Into a Tattoo)<br/>Ecstatic Grace, Administrator of Madder's Affairs (Appreciation)<br/><br/>Essence and Virtues<br/>Essence 3<br/>Personal 17/17<br/>Peripheral 31/38 (7 committed)<br/><br/>Compassion 2<br/>Temperance 3<br/>Conviction 3<br/>Valor 1<br/><br/>Combat<br/>DDV 4<br/>PDV  4 (7 beamklave)<br/><br/>Soak<br/>2 B/1 L<br/><br/>Exquisite Interdiction<br/>Speed 5, Accuracy +5 (17), Damage +7L (+8L), Defense +4 (PDV 7), Rate 2 (4)<br/>In addition to its normal weapon traits, any mundane weapon used to parry Exquisite Interdiction or parried by Exquisite Interdiction is destroyed (whether the parry attempt is successful or not) and all parry DVs against Exquisite Interdiction are halved, rounded down.  Anyone who uses a natural weapon to parry Exquisite Interdiction suffers two levels of lethal damage; extras lose any limb used to parry these attacks.  If Exquisite Interdiction strikes a being wear non-magical armor, the raw damage of the attack is permanently subtracted from the armor's lethal and bashing soak values, to a minimum of 0.  If both values reach 0, the armor is destroyed.  Inanimate objects of the user's size or smaller suffer similar soak reductions, though not destroyed if reduced to 0/0 soak.  Magic weapons suffer no penalties from contact with Exquisite Interdiction, and parrying attempts using magical weapons do not suffer any PDV penalties from Exquisite Interdiction's qualities.  Exquisite Interdiction requires a reflexive expenditure of 5m to activate for a scene.  Otherwise, it's just an eight inch tube of vitriol-tainted moonsilver surrounding a hellish core consisting of Cecelynian glass encasing the compressed essence of a Dancing Flame.<br/><br/>Mind-Hand Manipulation (Blow)<br/>Speed 5, Accuracy +0 (13), Damage +0B (3B), Parry 7, Rate 3, Range 11<br/><br/>Mind-Hand Manipulation (Clinch)<br/>Speed 6, Accuracy +0 (13), Damage +0B (3B), Rate 1, Range 11<br/><br/>Mind-Hand Manipulation (Blade)<br/>Speed 5, Accuracy +0 (13), Damage +0L (3L), Rate 3, Range 11<br/><br/>BP (18/18 spent)<br/>Artifact 3-&gt;4 (2 bp)<br/>4 caste/favored dots (4bp)<br/>Willpower 8 (3)<br/>Droning Suggestion (3)<br/>Slave-Spawn Summons (3)<br/>Combo (3)<br/><br/>XP (48/50 spent)<br/>Essence 3 (16)<br/>SWLIHN Excellency (8)<br/>SWLIHN Sorcerous Initiation (8)<br/>Counter-Conceptual Interposition (8)<br/>Mind-Hand Manipulation (8)<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Tzilya, the Dark Places</div><div class="spoiler_body">Tattoo of Tzilya, the Dark Places (Artifact 0, Sentience 2)<br/>This tattoo resembles a woman, etched in dark black and red hues.  She is graceful and lithe, and the tattoo changes regularly, rarely maintaining the same pose or position for long.  It changes generally while it is out of sight, and Tzilya always hides beneath Madder's clothes when she can; she is emboldened in the dark and loathes the light.<br/><br/>Tzilya provides none of the benefits of a demon ink tattoo; she is effectively a 0-dot version of the artifact.<br/><br/>Tzilya's Urge is to "Discover dark places"; she believes that becoming aware of a dark place -- either by visiting it, as in the case of places like sunken cities or empty basements, or by drawing them out of people, as in the case of repressed memories or ugly secrets -- empowers her.  She prefers the latter to the former, but she is not particular.  Any action Madder takes that directly serves Tzilya's Urge gains +2 dice; if she acts directly contrary to the Urge, she must choose to spend 1 willpower and gain 1 limit (and resist the penalties for acting contrary to the Urge for a scene), or automatically botch the action and suffer a -2 die penalty to any action that runs contrary to the Urge for the rest of the scene.  She can attempt to bargain with Tzilya to avoid these penalties.<br/><br/>As a tattoo, Tzilya gives Madder access to the following Charms:<br/><br/><strong>Intrusion-Sensing Method</strong>: Tzilya defines 'her domain' as any dark place she has personally visited for the purpose of this Charm<br/><strong>Fruit of Living Essence</strong>: Rather than consuming a target's Essence, Tzilya activates this Charm in response to the revelation of a person's darkest secrets, memories, or desires.  Tzilya can only use this Charm against a consenting target; someone who willingly divulges some inner darkness is always considered consenting.  Tzilya consumes the revelation, not the target's Essence; she does not remove Essence or Willpower from her target with this Charm, nor does she inflict Crippling or Sickness effects.<br/><strong>Memory Mirror</strong>: Not everyone is willing to share their secrets with Tzilya; she is willing to take them by force.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Inexes, the Crawling Chaos, Totally Not a Lovecraft Ripoff</div><div class="spoiler_body">During her time spent in the Demon City -- only a little over a year as it was -- Madder managed to make a lot of enemies, and went mostly unmolested because of her position and rank as a Green Sun Prince.  She still holds that honorable title, in a manner -- she's left the Demon City and the Thing Infernal behind, but she has an Infernal Urge, and so long as she follows it, she remains in the good graces of She Who Lives In Her Name, if none other.<br/><br/>But She Who Lives In Her Name is not the only individual in the Demon City that matters.  Madder made a mess on her way out.  She ground a well-known and popular demon into paste and stenciled it under her skin; she brutally murdered a great swordsman in the dojo where he had trained hundreds of great warriors, other Green Sun Princes before them.  All within her rights as a Green Sun Prince, all legal by the hypocritical laws of Cecelyne.<br/><br/>But revenge is legal by the laws of the Demon City, too, and Inexes, the Crawling Chaos, has a grudge out for Madder.  Both Madder's slain mentor and her tattooed lover were subsidiary souls of this Third Circle demon; she has pruned and damaged her immensely, and she demands revenge.  Inexes is a strange demon (as they all are); her primary form (if it can be called that) is an area of roughly a mile diameter that inflicts incredible unease and discomfort on those who exist within it -- many who spend time with Inexes find themselves beset by nightmares of worlds beyond the Wyld, the forgotten reaches beneath Zen Mu, the twisted things that dwell under Creation, forgotten and failed designs of the Primordials.  Hers is the duty of remembering the horrors wrought by righteous hands -- and sharing them.<br/><br/>Fortunately for Madder, he cannot escape the hellish prison to chase after her directly.  Unfortunately, as a Third Circle Demon, Unquestionable of the Yozi Realm, Inexes has an incredible amount of influence and resources that she is perfectly willing to direct toward bringing her to justice.</div></div>