#denizen analysis

[sburbian-denizens]

Achlys, the Eternal Night (Revised)

Denizen of the Doom Aspect

Achlys is the personification of misery and sadness in Greek Mythology. She is the Mist of Death which falls over one’s eyes as death overcomes them and Thanatos carries their soul to the Underworld. She was represented upon the shield of Heracles: pale, emaciated, and weeping, with chattering teeth, swollen knees, long nails on her fingers, bloody cheeks, and her shoulders thickly covered with dust. She was also the goddess of deadly poison. Perhaps she was the first being that has ever existed, the Eternal Night that predates even Chaos. Or perhaps she is the daughter of Nyx, trapped in Tartarus where the misery she spreads has no hold over humans.

Land Quests

Land of Miasma: The Land is consumed by a dark and foreboding miasma. Those who wander into its depths may never return, and those who do are cursed or scarred. These curses vary with each victim, from a terrible sickness, to great misfortunes, to a transformation into an animal or some kind of monster. The villages of the Consorts are thankfully cleared of the miasma, though wandering beyond their borders is perilous. It is the Player’s quest to clear the Land of this miasma, most likely through finding its source and stopping it.

Land of Flowers: The Land is covered in a variety of flowers. Some are fragrant and beautiful, while others are… dangerous, to say the least. There are flowers that emit poisonous pollen, or that have thorns sharp enough to cut rocks. Among these dangerous plants lie the Underling Blooms, a type of Underling that takes the form of monstrous plants and can lie in wait in the endless flower fields of the Land. The Player’s quest is to identify and exterminate the various Underlying Blooms and other dangers of the Land.

Land of Contamination: The Land has many water sources dotting its landscape, and seemingly all of them have been contaminated somehow. The contaminated water is deadly to the Consorts, who are suffering something of a water crisis. The Underlings are immune to this contamination and often take amphibious or aquatic forms in order to infest the lake. The Player’s quest is to figure out a way to decontaminate the water sources, and to cull the infestation of the Underlings.

Abilitechs

Denizen Traits

Achlys possesses the standard suite of Denizen abilities, from being able to communicate to other selves in splinter timelines through dreams to the ability to create contingents of Underlings to infest her Player’s Land.

Acid and Poison Immunity

Achlys is quite immune to all types of poisons and acids, making weapons and attacks based on those things quite useless against her.

Mist of Death

Achlys constantly emits a poisonous fog around herself, deadly to those not as resistant as she. This miasma is comprised of the thousands of poisons she has created over her long existence. Each poison is catered to a specific biology, to ensure that its effectiveness on all who inhale it. The miasma is quite thick and is outright opaque when near Achlys herself. Thankfully enough, the mist disperses quite readily in the air, and becomes inert a few feet around Achlys.

Venomous Exhale

Achlys can breathe out her poison mists as a ranged attack. The Exhale has a much longer range than the Mist, reaching potentially miles under good wind conditions. Achlys can only breathe out a single poison at a time, unlike with her Mist of Death, though she keeps access to her full repertoire, allowing the effects of the poisons to vary with each use. One poisons can cause a target to suffocate or cause spasms, others can induce hallucinations or cause paralysis.

Acidic Diffusion

Achlys can release acids through her skin, the likes of which can burn through stone and metal with ease. This grants her physical attacks acid damage and allows her to damage weapons and armor that she touches. She can use the acids to move through solid ground with ease, allowing her to burrow under the floor and catch the Player unawares. Sometimes, she can even damage the ground enough to cause it to collapse.

Corrosive Spit

Achlys can spit out acid as easily she can exhale poisons. Corrosive Spit has a longer range than Acidic Diffusion, though not as long as Venomous Exhale, with a maximum range of a few dozen yards at most. Like Acidic Diffusion, Corrosive Spit can melt through most weapons and armor, though granting them immunity to acids is possible and most Legendary Weapons are immune to being wrecked though such means.

Toxic Harvest

Achlys can summon a field of toxic plants. Most of these plants are flowers, their pollen toxic and their thorns positively dripping with poison. Others are vine-like, reaching and grabbing and just hindering the Player's movements. These vines can even grab the Player and tangle them up, preventing them from moving. These things are, fortunately, just plants, meaning a strong enough Player can break them easily. These plants are also flammable, and incendiary weapons prove effective deterrents against them.

The Battle

Achlys is a terrible opponent to fight, though considering she’s a Denizen most Player’s would have quickly figured that out. Her Mist of Death and Acidic Diffusion makes confronting her in melee a terrible idea while her Venomous Exhale and Acidic Spit allows her to snipe targets from afar. Her Acidic Diffusion also allows her to easily move underneath any battlefield she fights on, especially considering her chamber is far beneath the ground. To top it all off, She can make grasping plants sprout out of the ground to entangle her enemies.

It is advised that the Player find some way of making themselves resistant to poisons to protect against Venomous Exhale, or at least some way of dispersing the gasses before they hit. It is also advised that the Player gain some kind of passive fire aura or other effect to prevent them from getting tangled in the plants. If they do find themselves tangled, they are advised to escape quickly, before Achlys strikes them with her ranged attacks.

Treasure Hoard

Alkahest of Forms

A bottle of liquid emulsion. When applied to a target’s skin it can turn them into some kind of animal, likely the kind that resonates with them. Unfortunately, it is unreliable, sometimes putting the target in a state between their true and animal forms, and other times afflicting them with instant death.

Type: Trinket - Damage: None or Massive (see below)  - Attribute: N/A - Range: Touch

Features

Random Effect: When used, this object has a 90% of activating Polymorphic Form, a 9.999% chance of activating Humanimal, and a 0.001% chance of activating Venomous Concentrate.

Polymorphic Form: The user turns into an animal, typically of the kind that most resonates with their being, granting them that animal’s physical form and traits while allowing them to retain their mind. This effect lasts until Polymorphic Form is once again applied to the user.

Humanimal: The user shifts into a partially animalistic state, halfway between their animal and original forms. This merger of the animal kingdom and their original forms has strengthened their body though their minds are now subject to the instincts their other half naturally have. This effect lasts until either Polymorphic Form or Humanimal is once again applied to the user, which reverts them to their original form.

Venomous Concentrate: The user immediately dies a painful death, caused by the toxic ingredients within the emulsion. Only those with complete immunity to poison effects can survive it. If the user is  immune to poison, then nothing happens to them.

Achlys Venom

This vial contains a dose of poison collected from Achlys’ fangs and nails. As Achlys made it herself, it is deadly and fast acting. The slightest drop of this hateful liquid can kill most creatures on contact.

Type: Trinket - Damage: Massive - Attribute: N/A - Range: Touch

Features

Rancorous Malevolence: The substance is so poisonous that one drop can kill creatures the size of a Denizen in under a minute. It can also bypass all attempts at hindering it less than being a God Tiered Player.

Blackened Nails

A set of ten black daggers, made of a special form of crystallized poison. The daggers themselves are short and thin, seeming more like needles on hilts rather than actual daggers. The daggers are durable and sharp enough to cut rocks. Any liquid that touches the daggers are made slightly more poisonous, making any wounds they inflict dire indeed.

Type: Sharpened Cutting Weapon - Damage: Medium - Attribute: Alacrity - Range: Melee

Type: Sharpened Throwing Weapon - Damage: Medium - Attribute: Alacrity - Range: Medium

Features

Full Set: The Nails are a set of ten weapons, and having all ten allows them to be used to their fullest potential. When the wielder has all ten, they gain a slight bonus to using them as weapons, as well as an increase to the potency of their features. Each of the ten nails can be used individually without a penalty, though their users would lack the bonuses this Feature imparts.

Venomous Fangs: The Nails can turn any liquid their touch more  hostile to lifeforms, making those liquids poisonous. In battle, each time the Nails manage to draw blood, they cause some blood to adopt the traits of poison. In small doses this is quite harmless, though each such wound causes the poison effect to intensify, allowing the poisoning to quickly pile up and turn fatal. If the Full Set Feature is active this intensification can pile up quite quickly, with even the first strike leaving a noticeable effect upon the victim.

Miscellany

Other than those, Achlys is known to hoard poisons of all kinds, with a little searching one can find poisons for any living being in existence, even ones such as Universes, Horrorterrors, and First Guardians. Though Achlys undoubtedly keeps those within vaults and locked cases.

[sburbian-denizens]

Hades, Lord of the Underworld

Denizen of the Doom Aspect

Hades is the Greek God of the Dead and Ruler of the Underworld. When the Titans were defeated, he and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, cast lots to determine who would rule what parts of the world. He drew rulership of the Underworld, the place where all souls go when they die, and along with it, all the riches within the earth. While most would portray him as a malicious figure, he is actually among the most altruistic of the Olympians. He spends most of his time ensuring none of his subjects, the Dead, ever leave the Underworld instead of messing with the mortals. The only times he has shown genuine hostility would be when the recipient aggravated him in some way, either by insulting him in some way or by cheating death. His stern and unforgiving demeanor prevent most from swaying him from his duties in some way.

The Quest

Land of Sorrow: The Land is cold, and large downpours, both of snow and of water, are frequent. The Consorts are as dreary as their planet, full of lamentations and tears. The reason is clear, the Land itself, along with the Consorts that inhabit it, are in mourning. They have lost something, something both precious and important to them. That something currently resides within the Denizen’s Palace, in jealous clutches of the Denizen himself. Ripping out of his grasp shall take tremendous effort, yet that is what must happen to complete the quest.

Land of Keeps: A foreboding Land, filled with hundreds of villages, and yet no Consorts. They have all been taken by the Denizen, who is making it his personal mission to ensure they never escape him. In their place, the Denizen has built thousands of Keeps, each filled with Underlings, in order to prevent the Player from freeing them. The largest of the keeps, Avernus, hold the gate to enter the Denizen’s Palace, and with it, the freedom of the Consorts.

The Battle

Hades is a fearsome Denizen indeed, as expected of one who fought in the Titanomachy. His most powerful ability allows him to ‘lockdown’ strife arena’s, preventing his foes from escaping him. As the ruler of the Underworld, he also has command over the shades of the Dead, who can fight for him if need be, and all the riches of the earth, which provide him with endless amounts of materials. His Helm of Hades allows him to become invisible to all sensory abilities. Essentially, his powers allow him to summon minions to defeat his foes while he hides and ensures that his enemies can’t abscond.

The Prize

Helm of Hades - A black helmet forged by the Cyclops to aid Hades in his battle against the Titans. It grants the wearer total undetectability, such that most powers can’t detect them. Only the most powerful of God Tiers could ever hope to detect one that wears the Helm, and even then only with prior preparation.

[sburbian-denizens]

Huitzilopocthli, the Blue Hummingbird

Denizen of the Light Aspect

Huitzilopochtli is an Aztec God of the Sun, War, Blood Sacrifices, and Hummingbirds. One of the sons of Coatlicue, he was born after his brothers Xolotl and Quetzalcoatl. Before he was born his sister, Coyolxauhqui, and several hundred of his siblings attempted to murder Coatlicue for being impregnated by a ball of feathers. It was then that Huitzilopochtli appeared, fully armed and ready for combat, he battled his siblings and beheaded all of them, tossing their severed heads into the sky. Most of his siblings became the stars while Coyolxauhqui herself became the moon. This mass beheading, however, did not actually kill them. It only made them angrier, in fact. ANd from then on Huitzilopochtli needed to fight his sibling day by day, for if he were to falter they would descend upon the world and kill Coatlicue, which would result in the destruction of the world.

The Quest

Land of Exigence: A Land beset by numerous enemies. Perhaps Underlings are ravaging the areas beyond the Consort’s Villages, perhaps Derse or Prospit (or both) have stated incursions upon it in search of something to win the War In Skaia, perhaps Horrorterrors have been summoned from the furthest ring by some unknown means, maybe its all of those things. The Consorts have only a single means of protection from the threat that is upon them, a defense system granted by the Denizen that could hold back the threat and even push it back entirely should circumstances allow it. This mechanism does not work for free, however, and needs the Consorts to constantly fuel it, lest it weakens and allows the threat to overcome it. And the Consorts are running out of fuel. The Player’s Quest is to locate more fuel for the mechanism to keep it going and, eventually, to allow it to turn back the tide.

The Battle

Huitzilopochtli is a powerful and ruthless Denizen, one that has dealt with many combat-oriented Players before. His first power is one that is shared by most sun gods, the ability to summon and manipulate Sunfire. His control over his fire is fine enough to form tangible weapons and even minions from it, and he is experienced enough in its use as to have a variety of fire-based special attacks. His second ability allows him to turn those Underlings who perished on his Land into Hummingbirds which quickly fly to his Palace and fly all around him. He can then resurrect these Underlings temporarily allowing them to fight alongside him. His third power allows him greater recovery ability and power should his followers (Underlings) kill or die. His final ability is the one that allowed him to protect his mother and kill his many, many sisters. The ability to negate Void Antergy. This ability basically manifests as a type of Mana Burn that only applies to Void-Bound or as the destruction and negation of Void Relics and Slivers.

The Prize

Serpent Spear - A snake-shaped Aztec spear thrower that represents the flame snake Xiuhcoatl. When used the spear thrower loads itself by creating flaming spears with snakehead shaped tips to launch at the user’s targets. Once the burning lance hits, the jaws of the snakeheads would bite down on the target and coil itself around them, inflicting constant burning for a number of turns.

[sburbian-denizens]

Anubis, Guardian of the Scales

Denizen of the Doom Aspect

Anubis is an Egyptian God of Mummification and the Dead. Though he’s no longer the absolute ruler of the dead ever since Osiris took over, he still has many functions and powers. He oversees the mummification and embalming of the dead, protects the graves and necropolis from desecration from a perch high above it, awakens the deceased to begin their journey to the realm of the dead, guides and questions them as they journey through the afterlife, and weigh their heart to determine their fate. Those whose souls were deemed innocent were protected from Ammut and led to Osiris, while the guilty were left with her to meet their final death. He is depicted either as a man with a jackal head or simply a jackal, both has black fur, to symbolise his position as a god of the dead.

The Quest

Land of Tombs: A Land covered by hundreds of tombs, where the Dead lie in their eternal rest. The Dersites have tricked the Consorts into desecrating these tombs, awakening the Dead and provoking the Denizen’s ire. He has placed a great curse upon the Land, perhaps a great drought, perhaps a massive flood or endings storms, perhaps something as simple as an unending horde of Underlings. Whatever the case, the Player must find a way to appease the Dead and the Denizen and lift this curse.

Land of Judgement: A Land of broken laws and ancient judgements. The Consorts have broken the Laws of the Ancients, whether or not they meant to, what Law they broke, or whether the Law made sense in the first place is irrelevant. What matters is the Laws were broken and subsequently unleashed the Ancient’s Curse. The Consorts shall suffer till a specified time, and then the Denizen shall awaken and judge them for their sins. The Player must find a way to break the curse and ensure that the Consorts survive the Ancient’s Last Judgement.

The Battle

While he is quite grim, Anubis is an amicable enough Denizen, he shall not attack except in self-defence, and even then, he would seldom hurt those he deems pure of heart. Those with vile hearts are an exception, he would attack them without hesitation. His abilities are formidable

and varied, though few a geared towards combat. He can weigh the hearts of others with a glace, speak to the spirit of any deceased being, instantly detect and protect any grave or tomb, and shapeshift into a Jackal to various degrees. Most of his abilities are those of support, gathering information, and translocating to certain places, even his shapeshifting ability is mostly used to sneak around in more compact form rather than creating claws and such.

The Prize

Book of the Dead - An ancient book bearing the mark of both Anubis and Osiris. It is quite thick and is filled with spells and rites that deal with the Dead and the afterlife. Most of the spells have to do with putting the Dead to rest, protecting their souls from harm, guiding them to the afterlife, ensuring they reach the land of the dead, and other such things.

[sburbian-denizens]

Barong, the Spirit Guardian

Denizen of the Life Aspect

Barong is one of the mythological figures in the islands of Bali, a sort of Spirit King or Guardian Entity. It often takes the form of a white-furred lion wearing jewelry along its front side and upon its back, though it just as often takes another form should it need to. In its legend, it allied with Prince Airlangga and his army against the Witch Rangda and her legion of monsters. Barong and Airlangga gradually cornered the witch, whereupon she cast a spell to force the prince’s men to stab themselves. Barong cast a spell which temporarily made the humans immune to blades, saving them.

The Quest

Land of Beasts: A Land of mutated animals possessed by wicked ephemeral creatures. Some of the life spirits of the Denizen’s court has become hostile to the Consorts and seeks to wipe them out. These spirits possess various animals and infuse them with their mutative power, creating monstrous creatures barely resembling the original fauna controlled by the intelligence of the spirits. These ‘Beasts’ hunt the Consorts along with the packs of Underlings each of them leads. The Beasts are also almost impossible to permanently get rid of for even if their (continuously regenerating) material forms are killed, the spirit within them can simply fly away and find a new host. The Hero, it seems, must find a way to permanently deal with the threat of the spirits. Either by finding their Banes and killing them For Real or by getting the Denizen to reprimand them and force them to stop.

The Battle

Brong is a gentle Denizen and is quite reluctant to engage combat on his own. Beware, however, for Barong is quick to react should others hostility with his own. His first power allows him to detect threats to him and allows him to quickly respond, making ambushes and surprise attacks almost useless. Another of his powers allow him to grant himself and others various defensive status buffs, making both him and any allies he has with him extremely difficult to put down. Finally, he is able to take on a variety of shapes, with each form granting him various bonuses and abilities tailored to certain forms of combat. Overall, while he is not as dangerous as other Denizens when it comes to attacks, he is quite proficient when it comes to battles of attrition. Should you wish to defeat him, make sure to finish it quickly or to stock up on a ton of Health Gel canisters and healing abilities.

The Prize

Warding Necklace - A sacred necklace that Barong usually wears. The necklace contains a blessing that changes itself to fit with whatever adversity it’s wearer faces. It would heal them when they are hurt, strengthen them when they are weak, protect them when they are attacked, and so much more. Do note that the blessing could only do so much at a time, and the more that it divides its power, the weaker its effects become.

[sburbian-denizens]

Anubis: Examine Hoard

Book of the Dead

An ancient book bearing the mark of both Anubis and Osiris. It is bound in thick leather, and has no title except for the marks on its front. It is very thick, and while its contents are written entirely in hieroglyphs, the user could somehow understand it just fine.

Journey of the Dead - The object helps guide the Dead into the afterlife, and putting them to rest. While it is placed upon a creature’s grave or within its tomb, that creature would be protected from any effect that would tamper with its remains and its soul would be efficiently brought to the afterlife, preventing their ghost from manifesting. Should it be removed, the opposite happens, the protection collapses and the soul is forcibly dragged back from the Beyond back to its grave. This has no effect on beings whose souls are destroyed, or who never had a soul to begin with.

Spells of the Dead -The book is filled with spells and rites that deal with the Dead and the afterlife. Most of the spells have to do with putting the Dead to rest, protecting their souls from harm, guiding them to the afterlife, ensuring they reach the land of the dead, and other such things. There are also a number of more malevolent spells, such as to curse grave robbers, kill a Dead Soul permanently, raising a corpse and binding them to a purpose, etc., though these are few and far in between. Casting any of these spells would require the user use their own Shenergy, and to learn them before casting them.

Scales of Ma’at

A large, human sized scale, the likes of which were used in ancient times. One side is left empty, while the other bears a single glowing ostrich feather floating atop it. When Weigh the Heart is used, a symbolic replica of the target’s soul, usually a heart colored by their sins and vices, appear in the empty side.

Weigh the Heart - The scales weigh the target’s heart against the feather. Should the heart be pure the scales shall tip towards the feather and the object shall have no further effect. However, if the heart is wicked the scales shall tip towards it, and the user can use their own Shenergy to activate Devourer of the Damned.

Devourer of the Damned - The target’s heart is wicked and full of vice, thus the devourer shall consume it upon their death. This ability costs a lot of Shenergy to use, but is more than worth it. The target is drained of most of their health and Shenergy, and any buff effects upon them are deactivated. Furthermore, should the target die within a specified amount of time, their souls would be Devoured by Ammit, inflicting Soul Death.

Canopic Jars

There are hundreds of these brown clay jars are present in the hoard, though all of them are present in sets of four. Each set has a pair of lungs, a stomach, a liver, and an intestine stored between them in different jars. Anubis was given these as tribute from the various Dead that met him. Though they have no magical effect on their own, perhaps the user can find something worthwhile through Alchemizing with them.

[sburbian-denizens]

Huitzilopochtli: Examine Hoard

Serpent Spear

“A spear thrower that represents the flame snake Xiuhcoatl. It's about as long as an arm and is painted decoratively so as to resemble a serpent made of flames.”

Type: Magic Throwing Weapon - Damage: Medium - Attribute: Alacrity - Range: Medium

Features

Flame Snakes: When readied, the spear thrower would create a spear of pure flame with a tip that resembles a snake-head. Once thrown, the spear would seek out its target before opening the jaws located at its tip and latching onto its victim, all the while coiling tightly around them. This attack deals the normal amount of Damage when the attack first lands and then continuously deals Low Fire and Bludgeoning Damage to the target for a number of turns. This continuous Damage ends once the snake has been pried off of the target, or when it runs out of steam and disappears into incandescent motes of flame.

Call of the Azure Hummingbird

“A small blue whistle, decorated with the feathers of a hummingbird upon its sides. Blowing it creates a sound similar to the humming caused by the rapid flaps of a hummingbird’s wings, as though hundreds of the small birds are surrounding the user.”

Type: Fluted Symphonic Weapon - Damage: Medium - Attribute: Pulchritude - Range: Medium

Features

Call of the Feathered Legion: Blowing the flute causes dozens of hummingbirds to appear seemingly out of nowhere to attack the user’s target. Individually, they do not deal much Damage on their own, together, however, they would deal enough Damage to match a good blade. It helps that these hummingbirds are particularly vicious members of their species. The user may designate any number of targets for this attack, though the resultant Damage must be divided equally among all of them.

Blood Ruby

“An octagonal gem the color of freshly drawn blood. When it is near carnage, whether in the present or the recent past, the gem would emit a crimson glow in proportion to the scale of said destruction. In places such as the Battlefield, the Ruby would glow bright enough to mimic a bonfire.”

Type: Trinket - Damage: None - Attribute: N/A - Range: Touch

Features

Sanguine Vessel: The blood ruby can contain within it the power of Sacrifices, drawn from the ambient carnage around it. While it can draw power from property destruction in addition to actual bloody combat, its effects are much more potent in the case of the latter. It essentially functions as a pool of Doom-Aspected Antergy, one that slowly fills itself when in the presence of carnage. Obviously, the more carnage is around it the faster it replenishes itself. Non-Doom Players can draw Antergy from it, converting it to a type they can channel in the process, though doing such would inflict damage upon them proportional to the amount of Antergy they draw. Doom Players can generally draw Antergy from the gem without repercussions.

[sburbian-denizens]

Hades: Examine Hoard

Key of Pluto

A black key with a skull motif upon its handle. It is styled as an old-fashioned key, yet it could somehow fit in the keyhole of any door in existence.

Gate of Avernus - Using the key to open a door creates a gate to the Underworld within the doorframe. Closing the door would also close the portal, which would also strand anyone on the other side within the Underworld. The key can only open portals one way, better make sure the door is kept open.

Helm of Hades

The helmet of a Greek warrior, made of an unidentifiable material. Its color is so black it seems more like a hole within the Universe rather than an object, that it doesn't seem to reflect light at all only reinforces that idea.

Cap of Invisibility - The Helm turns the user invisible to all but the most potent of God Tier abilities. While they themselves are invisible, their abilities are not, allowing certain clever foes to detect the user regardless. They also make no noise nor leave a scent or prints, though the above still holds true.

Endless Wealth

Hades is also known as the Wealthy One, for he owns all the riches that come from within the earth. Within his hoard is a mere fraction of those riches, mountains of gems and gold and other precious materials tower above the Player in his treasure room. Within those mounds are the occasional chest and artifact, relics long lost beneath the earth. There are even a few decent weapons stashed in there somewhere, though finding them among all this treasure would be a minor feat in itself.