AlphaMoist 1707 Share Posted June 4, 2020 T H E P A R A S I T E O F R A N C O U R A being of pure amber brought about through the chaotic powers of Arun’Asna, The Parasite of Rancour, or simply The Parasite, is the being which brings about the fuel a Shade utilizes to conduct the various spells, abilities, and powers of Shade. Within the body The Parasite has no presence, for it has no physical form in the mortal world as the descendants do, but rather exists on a deeper, unseen level, as it attaches to one’s soul. That is its purpose, an endless cycle of consumption and regurgitation, turning Mana into Amber, a sickly stygian substance that fuels Shade’s powers. It is from its place, attached to the soul of the Shade, that this cycle is conducted, the worm-like being sucking up Mana from the Shade’s pool for conversion. The process itself is not felt, nor seen, but is understood fundamentally, on a subconscious level which allows a Shade to have an unexplainable comprehension for what fuel remains within their form, ready for use. PERSONALITY As each Parasite grows in size, represented through Magic Tiers, they grow more sentient and their presence within a host grows more powerful. At T0, the Parasite will exist only to convert Mana into Amber, being incapable of doing anything else. At T1, a Parasite will be able to produce sounds and utterances that are nearly incomprehensible to the host. At T2, however, a Parasite will gain the sentience necessary in order to match or surpass its host’s mental and physical growth. It becomes its own person, and it gains its own personality. Each Parasite builds its personality from its host. This initially causes the Parasite to be a twisted mirror of the host, however as time passes, it will develop into its own unique entity, and essentially becomes its own persona. This causes the Parasites of Rancour to be entirely unique individuals, however they will always share a few key laws: Parasites cannot comprehend affection and kindness. They will never fall in love, and they are incapable of sexual desire. This should not be confused, however. A Parasite can easily mimic such emotions, so long as the Host has the ability to comprehend them. Along with this, a Parasite can very well understand the concepts of enjoyment and satisfaction. A Parasite may love one form of torment more than another, and a Parasite may find one form of misdeed to be more enjoyable than an alternative. Furthermore, Parasites are incapable of feeling empathy or guilt. They are, by definition, Psychopaths. Parasites will always hate their hosts. This cannot be avoided. They exist to torment and torture the being they live within. This does not mean they can’t pretend to get along with their host in order to deceive and use their host’s level of trust against themselves, but such things cannot be genuine. Parasites are always evil and selfish beings. They place their own gratitude before anyone else's, and they are always seeking the next opportunity they can extort and abuse. While a Parasite is fully capable of respecting its fellow Parasites and superiors, not even this will prevent a Parasite from taking advantage of them whenever possible. Parasites are driven to cause anarchy and chaos. They will always be planning their next scheme and plot, and whenever possible, they will always be doing whatever they can in order to see their wicked plans come to fruition. These plans can be as simple as killing a neighbor’s pet, to as sophisticated as bringing about the collapse of a nation. As a rule of thumb, the younger the parasite, the smaller its schemes will be, and the older, the grander. Parasites value their own existence more than anything else. Anything that threatens to destroy them is viewed as an immediate danger, and as such, the threat will either be avoided or eliminated. For this reason, Takeovers, outlined below, will never occur in the middle of a public setting, unless it is guaranteed that doing such will not endanger it. This sense of self-preservation is also extended towards its host’s life, as without a host, a Parasite cannot exist. Furthermore, when a host seeks the removal of their Parasite, the Parasite will always attempt to stop such from occurring. If the Parasite is facing forced removal, be it through a holy mage or Shade Father, it will always do whatever it can in order to keep itself safe, be it in the form of begging, groveling, or outright attacking the threat. Spoiler MECHANICS The Parasite of Rancour is fundamentally a character in and of itself. It is not a one dimensional excuse to play a crazy character who kills everything they see. The relationship between host and parasite is a dynamic one, and as such, both entities will develop with the interactions between themselves. While each and every single Parasite is unique, there are still a variety of laws that must be followed in order to ensure that it is being played correctly. Parasites are androgynous entities. As such, the gender of their host does not determine their masculinity or femininity. (You will not believe how often I get asked this question.) REDLINES Failure to abide by the laws that govern how a Parasite must behave at bare minimum constitutes as powergaming. Repeated failure to roleplay a Parasite correctly can result in magic infractions, as determined by LT. The laws listed above are the bare minimum. Players are more than welcome to expand the list as needed for their own personal parasites, and while this is overly encouraged, it is not required. TAKEOVERS The Parasite, once as sentient as its host, will gain the ability to take control of their host’s body as if it were their own through a phenomenon known as Takeovers. At T0, this is impossible. At T1, this is reserved for instances where the host or Parasite is in immediate danger, and it will only last long enough to escape said danger. At T2, however, the Parasite may force a Takeover when their host is in a state of emotional instability, or when given control freely. At lower Tiers, Takeovers are brief and fleeing, as the host will be mentally equipped to fight the Parasite’s attempts. However, at later Tiers, as the host’s mental strength wanes, Takeovers become more and more commonplace. A Parasite will feel a dire need to take control of their host when one of three directives are met: the Parasite/Host is in immediate danger, the Parasite feels it necessary to torment their host physically, and the host is not sowing the seeds of chaos and anarchy to the Parasite’s satisfaction. When one of these three factors are not needed, a Parasite will have no motivation to take control of their host’s body, unless the Parasite’s personality determines otherwise. Furthermore, the Parasite is not as attuned to the host’s physical body as the host is. Because of this, Takeovers that last extended periods of time will result in the Shade’s body to begin to grow weaker as the Parasite neglects to take care of it, either through not eating enough, eating too much, or ignoring the wear and tear of the body and not allowing it to rest. Spoiler MECHANICS A Parasite has the ability to forcibly control their host’s body as if it were their own when certain conditions are met. The conditions are determined by the strength of the host’s mental strength, and the desire a Parasite has to take control in the first place. The higher the host’s tier, the more regular Takeovers have the potential to become. When a host’s mental strength is lower than a Parasite’s will for control, the Parasite may force a takeover. A Takeover can last a very long time, however the body will begin to grow strained from the lack of care the Parasite places into it. During a Takeover, the Parasite’s own mental torment doesn’t bring about any downsides to itself. This mechanic replaces mental anguish with physical anguish while the Parasite controls the host. Specifically, physical anguish is defined as anything that negatively affects the day to day tasks a Shade carries out, especially combat. This is up to the player to decide, however intense muscle aching, extreme sleep deprivation, lethargy, anorexia, obesity, and the risk of death increases the longer a Parasite remains in control of the host’s body. It simply just does not understand how to take care of it properly. These symptoms start small and are not noticeable at first. However, they begin to noticeably affect the host’s body once a Parasite has remained in control for a period of two ooc days. Once a Takeover lasts one entire week, these symptoms become detrimental, as in they provide an extreme disadvantage in combat. A Takeover cannot last more than one ooc month without the body beginning to die. A Takeover is not a forced phenomena. If a Shade is acting and rping everything correctly, then Takeovers only serve as flavor for roleplay. REDLINES A Takeover will occur if a Shade’s life is in imminent danger. The Parasite will then either flee from the threat, or attempt to remove it. “Imminent Danger” implies seemingly near death. If a Shade is in combat, but is doing well, then the Parasite has no reason to believe death is imminent. A Takeover will occur the moment a Shade attempts suicide. This does not mean that suicide cannot be achieved, should a Shade wish to use such an avenue for a PK. A Takeover will occur the moment a Parasite is threatened with removal. That is to say, the Shade is about to be disconnected or purged. If a Shade is not absolutely miserable, then the Parasite will always have motivation to perform a Takeover. If a Shade is not sowing chaos in a way that is desirable to their Parasite, then the Parasite will always have motivation to perform a Takeover. This section is not intended to be interpreted as a copout to not rp Takeovers. The simple fact of the matter is that if a Shade is actively fulfilling their coven’s goals, is rping the downsides of Shade Magic correctly, and is committing chaotic acts and rping the effects of their Parasite, sometimes it just doesn’t make sense for them to have a Takeover over the course of a long period of time. Forcing a Takeover just to have a Takeover tends to lead to subpar roleplay, and it’s best to leave things to naturally occur on their own. This section is moreso served as a checklist for players to use to determine whether or not they are roleplaying Takeovers when they should be. Roleplaying an extended Takeover in order to get around the downsides of Shade Magic constitutes as powergaming. Ignoring the physical downsides that accumulate the longer a Takeover lasts constitutes as powergaming. Abusing Takeover mechanics in any way to get around the downsides of Shade Magic is ******* powergaming. P U R P O S E & C I T A T I O N S This article merely outlines a few clarifications that Shade Parasites needed to have. Arguably being the most important part of Shade lore, I wanted to go in depth and tackle a lot of questions I get asked as a TA holder by my Shade students with this lore piece.The Parasite itself is not an excuse to become a crazy, mentally handicapped murder hobo. The Parasite serves as RP fuel to further character growth for both the host and those the host interact with. The laws listed herein are fundamental guidelines most shades are taught upon asking what their Parasite should be like, and I’ve decided to list them as an official piece of lore to prevent buddy buddy or lovey dovey Parasites from popping up. A rare issue that seldom comes up, but it’s still came up in the past. Furthermore, how long a Takeover can last has never been brought up within any sort of lore piece, which is something of a big deal because most of Shade’s downsides stop existing once the Parasite is in control. The Parasite isn’t going to torment itself, after all. With the addition of a growing physical weakness the longer a Parasite is in control, this should assist the dynamic between Host / Parasite and highlight the fact that while the Parasite wishes for nothing but the worst for the host, it is still dependent on the host for its survival. CREDIT Writer: TheAlphaMoist Consultation: The Shade Community 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
squakhawk 7304 Share Posted September 26, 2020 This lore has been denied. You will be sent a forum PM regarding the reasons for denial within the next 24 hours. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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