[✓] [Magic Lore/Necromancy Addition] Pale Curses

[Security_ 1073]

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Spoiler

Foreword: Curses were once a very large part of necro RP, adding much to the horror aspects possible within the magic by allowing for necromancers to temporarily alter the psyche and body of the target. Forcing blackened shadows to appear in the corners of eyes to giving people urges of cannibalism, necromancy was made for curses. This is another addition to necromancy, and if it is accepted it will simply become another page added to the main necro hub page. Also I hate forum formatting.

Photo credit to Paolo Girardi

 

 

 

 

“Twisted ire wrought o’ malice,

Do your bidding unto this vessel

If naught for He who holds the chalice

Then let the body squirm and revel.”

 

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Curses - Bane of the Living

 

Long withheld in clandestine tomes, forgotten to all with the passing of hands were spells of spite and malediction. Since the great fall of the Gravelord covens by the hands of Malkaathe have the curses which once fueled the plight of Man lay dormant. No more, as with the new age of Necromancy has the mortal art once more vied to twist and corrupt the lifeforce of the living vessel to one’s discrepancy. Maladies of both mind and body may be forced upon the unwilling soul, imparted only to cause misery and suffering- yet never death. This is done by corrupting and altering the life essence within a living descendant, akin to the defilement which causes the necromantic pestilences. As the natural flow of lifeforce harbored in the body is disrupted by the necromancer’s toiling, the lifeforce tampers with the fragile wheel of life that so many overlook. Pale Curses, known only by those witness to its deplorable acts, have come to understand the flesh and the power it holds.

 

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Pale Curses

 

By stagnating, tainting, or twisting the flow of lifeforce within a victim, a necromancer may alter the body and mind alike. Fueled by the imagination of the weaver, they may instill curses that alter the psyche to perceive moving, shifting figures within the corner of the eye, or to awaken a restless urge of cannibalism- perhaps even tainting an entire lineage. Ranging from petty nuisances to complete psychosis, pale curses come in many forms to reap the living of their sanity.

 

Curses are split into two separate categories- lesser, and greater curses. Lesser curses are reserved for combat encounters, requiring constant touch or sight after the initial summoning of lifeforce wherein minor curses, whether mental or physical, may be placed upon a victim. Greater curses are done outside of combat, where the victim is either apprehended or binded otherwise to prevent escape. With greater curses comes the means to imbue objects with the malformed lifeforce, allowing for accursed items to be distributed to the coven’s needs.

 

• Curses are a subsection of necromancy, and therefore require an MA in necromancy to use.

• Curses first become available at T2.

 

 

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Lesser Curses

 

Spoiler

Touch

The Lesser Curses may be administered in two different ways; by direct contact, or by range. Direct contact requires the person to remain within the grasp of the necromancer throughout the parting last emotes of the spell, requiring either a weakened or enfeebled victim, or one that is somehow restrained as to not escape the curse. This takes place over three emotes, where lifeforce is conjured within the first two emotes. The next emote is spent altering and twisting the lifeforce to inflict the specific curse opted for, only then to be imparted upon the victim in its final moments. The final emote is where constant contact is required, lest the essence of malign life fall inert. Once finished, the curse is imbued in the victim. Touch draining may be administered through cloth and light armor, though is unable to breach through plate mail.

 

Chanting

By means of conjuring a lesser curse from afar comes a skill that is reserved for only the eldest of coven leaders. Requiring constant sight and a mastery of lifeforce, weavers may opt to keep their distance as they instill damnation upon their prey. Ranged curses require a total of four emotes to instill the curse, included are the first two emotes of summoning one’s life essence. Should the victim move out of sight or range in midst of the summoning, the curse will falter and the weaver must start anew. Curses extend only to a range of eight meters, and fall inert if line of sight or range is broken. Whilst in the midst of a summons, a necromancer cannot run or dodge, lest their concentration be severed. A necromancer will lose focus of their spell if they are stabbed, knocked down, or otherwise have their attention broken. With the victim in clear sight and range, a visible haze or cloud of lifeforce will slowly ebb and flow about the person, as their lifeforce is altered meticulously in the distance. No matter the tell, it must be clear and define that black magics are in work from range, as it is nigh impossible to hide a pale curse lest one imbue such a devilish rite within a trinket. 

 

The Vile Signs

To conjure a curse comes with specific tells, from shimmering rifts of lifeforce amassing around the necromancer, to the calls of a bitter tongue with blackspeech. Chanting in the black tongue usher forth the desired curse, materializing their thoughts to reality. Often vile hymns and screeching falsettos may ring from the throat of the necromancer as they call upon their art, the very earth churning whilst the essence which turns the Wheel is tampered. Their stature may wane as stygian mists begin to leak from their fingertips, pooling to the floor. All signs of the vile curses are quite detectable to prying eyes, meaning covert operations would rarely utilize such practices- as it comes with a further caveat. To rend the lifeforce within an unwilling victim comes with a great pain, akin to hot shards of glass being stabbed into the skin will begin to burgeon from the point of contact. It is not unlikely for those handled to scream in pain or to faint from trauma as the dark touch is glanced upon them. 

 

Here listed are acceptable lesser curses that may be imparted upon a necromancer’s victim within combat. Slight variants may be permitted, but entirely new curses will require an Mart and appropriate implementation. 

 

• Physical Lesser Curses

  • Mild sensory impairment (slight loss of vision, hearing, taste, touch, or smell.)

  • Slight vertigo or vomiting

  • Mild lethargy

  • Mild skin disorders (warts and boils, blisters, hives, eczema, etc.)

  • Lesser migraines

  • Sore muscles or joints

  • Sudden aging (temporary)

  • Nosebleeds

 

• Mental Lesser Curses

  • Mild hallucinations (benign, off putting, or confusing.)

  • Mild delusions (of grandeur, unusual, and benign.)

  • Mild anxiety

  • Mild mania

  • Arrogance

  • Mild depression

  • Perceiving the world bright or darker than it is

  • Mild paranoia

  • Grim thoughts

 

Lesser curses last for five emotes after they are embellished upon the victim, though may be cured by holy healing in the midst of combat. Alchemical potions such as cat's eye are capable of countering the effects of mild sensory impairment, and other 'counters' that seem logical may be used to 'cure' the curse. Lesser cursing is able to be taught at T2 of necromancy with the touch curse spell, while ranged is garnered at T4. At any tier it may only be used twice in a combat encounter. Only living beings may be cursed, as the undead are not affected by the natural cycle of lifeforce.

 

• Lesser curses may be done by touch, or by range.

• Touch curse requires three emotes in total to instill upon someone, with the latter emote requiring full contact.

  • Touch curse is able to be learned at T2.

• Ranged curse requires four emotes in total while in range and in sight of the victim.

  • The range of cursing is set to a max of eight meters. Should the target move out of range, the spell is lost and must be started once again.

  • Losing sight, whether by force or by the victim moving out of view will likewise falter the curse.

  • Range curse is able to be learned at T4.

  • A necromancer can only move as fast as a jogging pace (2 blocks) whilst summoning the curse, with dodging or running breaking the spell.

• Lesser curses should only slightly affect combat, never being fully capable of incapacitating or fatal blows.

• Summoning of pale curses, whether by touch or range, should always be clearly emoted and telegraphed.

  • Example of tells are chanting hexings in blackspeech, lifeforce spilling from fingertips, the skin of the necromancer growing pale as lifeforce seeps from their pores, etc.

  • Visible tells must be used especially in the ranged spell, no unseeable curses.

• Mild sensory impairment infers that one’s vision may grow blurry, or have floaters in their eyesight- it is never full on blindness, nor near inhibiting as such. 

• A curse may only target one sense of sensory impairment.

• The same goes for the other sensations, as cursing hearing may inflict tinnitus or just minor hearing loss.

• Cursing may be disrupted if the necromancer is wounded or otherwise loses their concentration.

• Lesser cursing may only be used twice in a combat encounter.

• Lesser curses last for five emotes in total within combat.

 

 

 

 

 

Major Curses

 

Spoiler

The major pale curses differ from the lesser curses, intended to inflict much more pain and suffering over lengthy spans of time, often even bleeding into families as entire bloodlines are cursed with necromantic ailments. Major curses require the victim and the necromancer to be out of combat, either restrained or unconscious as to prevent the spell from faltering. Once all is prepared, a necromancer may opt to commence their heinous rite alone, or gather more weavers should they wish. First they must conjure their essence, drawing it to forge and twist their lifeforce into an altering entropy. Once fully summoned, it must be ushered into the bound victim as blackened miasma seeps through their maw and eyes, forcing its way into the host as their own lifeforce is redirected by the weaver. Painful contortions and pure agony will rack the body for several moments until the curse has taken place, causing a searing pain akin to hot shards of glass piercing the skin. Once the ritual has concluded, the malignant lifeforce is set, and the curse with it.

 

Major curses start as soon as they are inflicted, lasting for a maximum of two OOC weeks until they naturally fade away. Should a coven choose to amass their powers, they may include extra necromancers to the ritual, with each additional necromancer (not including the first necromancer) adding two weeks onto the maximum length of the curse. This hard caps at eight weeks when accompanied by four necromancers in total, with the curse unable to survive any longer. 

 

Cures

Curses may be cured by a few means- the first and most obvious being holy magic and alchemical remedies tailored specifically for unnatural ailments. This may include hemo-flow, which hastens the effects of the curse as to riddance it twicefold, meaning a four week curse may be lowered to two by means of consuming hemo-flow. Deadman’s Cure within black alchemy is also capable of purging curses from the body, as are necromancers themselves. Should a coven take pity upon a poor cursed fool, they must amass the same amount of necromancers that were required to curse the victim. By means similar to cursing, they must bind the cursed as lifeforce is siphoned out of them. Like pulling a tick, the twisted and malignant life essence is drawn from the target in a painful manner similar to its enacting. With their lifeforce redirected and normalized, effects of the curse are immediately cleansed, though not forgotten. Lastly, paladins and shamans are capable of curing curses, requiring the same amount of holy mages as necromancers which enacted it to a maximum of four. If only one necromancer enacted the curse, only one paladin/shaman is required.

 

Familial Vice

Any poor mortal that is cursed by a necromancer has a capability of spreading the vice to their children if they ignore the signs of their ailments. If a cursed individual is to sire children, mental curses may be passed down to their kin. Physical curses would result in a stillborn, or harbor no effects at all in the child.

This is done with OOC consent, meaning that the cursed must allow it to spread to their children.

 

Curses

Here listed are the main greater curses that may be imparted unto a victim that is bound. Additional curses may be added through the use of an Mart, wherein a coven of necromancers may work together to craft their own vile hexes. Curses should work to shatter and worsen the cursed person’s life, giving them anything from urges of cannibalism to thoughts that are not their own. Curses should never be deadly or terminal, but instead a major bane that someone will have to overcome through either pushing through it, or vying for help in holy healers or necromancers.

 

• Greater Physical Curses

  • Osteoporosis 

  • Impotence

  • Enfeeblement

  • Loss of a sense (sight, hearing, etc.)

  • Severe lethargy

  • Harrowing migraines

  • Muscle spasms and seizures

  • Severe arthritis

  • Constant hunger

  • Dementia

 

• Greater Mental Curses

  • Depression

  • Paranoia

  • Unnatural urges of cannibalism, especially around loved ones

  • Sleep paralysis 

  • Memory loss

  • Auditory visual hallucinations

  • Anxiety

  • Maniacism

  • Extreme arrogance or pride

  • Sudden urges to harm loved ones

  • Psychosis or distortions of reality

  • Delusion

 

A Major Curse has no emote count, save for a minimum of three emotes due to its noncombat nature. The victim must be tied down or unmoving throughout the painful process as altered lifeforce is forced into their body. If combat is to arise, the spell will fail if the necromancer or their target is disturbed in any manner. Greater curses are able to be taught and learned at T4. Necromancers which aid in the curse ritual do not need to be the required tier. Greater curses are only usable once a day, tiring the necromancer and the victim, preventing multiple uses a day.

 

• Major curses are purely crafted for noncombat purposes, and may under no circumstances be used in the midst of combat to weaken an opponent.

• Major curses cannot be used in combat.

• Major curses are to be done in a ritualistic aspect, requiring some preparation of the area and to bind their soon-to-be-cursed.

• Major curses have visual tells similar to lesser curses and are left to the imagination of the necromancer.

• Curses last for two OOC weeks with one necromancer performing the ritual. 

  • For each additional two necromancers added, two OOC weeks are stacked onto the original, maxing out at eight weeks maximum.

• A curse may be permanent if the victim OOCly allows for it.

• A maximum of two curses may be bound to someone, one greater and one lesser.

• Curses may be cured by a myriad of ways

  • Any healing magic such as shamanism or paladanism.

    • It requires the same amount of shamans or paladins to cure the curse as there were necromancers performing it.

  • Alchemical remedies for maledictions.

  • Hemo-flow may be used to accelerate the curse's longevity twofold, meaning a 2 week curse will turn to 1 by ingesting hemo-flow.

  • Deadman’s Cure found in Black Alchemy.

  • A necromancer may remove the curse in a ritual similar to its creation. 

    • If a curse was enacted by four necromancers, at least four are required to cure it.

• Cursed individuals have a chance of passing their curse down to their heir. Such is decided OOCly

  • Children cursed may only have mental curses, as physical curses would likely result in death.

• Curses, no matter how destructive, are never able to cause death in their own right.

• Curses may be slightly added upon for more specific tailoring to characters, i.e. hallucinations may be specific to the victim at hand, or paranoia can be felt around only certain persons.

• Additional curses may be made through Marts.

• Greater Curses become available at T4, yet those below T4 may still aid in a ritual as long as the leader is of a required tier.

• Greater curses may only be used once a day, requiring the necromancer to rest before they may use it again.

• Curses may never bring one to suicide or death, but may subtly push one closer to these options on their own accord.

 

 

Black Trinkets

 

Spoiler

 

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Forged in revelry, black trinkets are the agents of ruin so precariously fitted into the hearts of courts and kings alike. A monarch’s crown, a magi’s ring to mundane cutlery, any trinket- forged of gold or bone within reasonable size may harbor a curse should a necromancer weave it. By instilling cursed lifeforce within an object, it may slowly churn and alter the life essence of those who don or wield the trinket. Most often cursed items are crafted of gold for its unique interaction with lifeforce, yet materials such as bone or cartilage may be used. Truly anything may be cursed, with only the imagination the limit of such trinkets. Ivory may be etched upon in blackspeech scrawls, or a sword may harbor esoteric runes in its fuller as each item is specifically crafted and tailored for a unique purpose. A crown may be bestowed impotence as to prevent the birth of an heir apparent, just as a sword may be given the power to whisper terrible nothings to its master. 

 

Ritual of Creation

The ritual to create a black trinket requires the item to be forged of coveted materials and an area prepared. By conjuring their lifeforce, the weaver begins to stagnate and corrupt their essence in a quarters of solitude. Funneling it into the trinket, the lifeforce is enwreathed to stagnate and cease the natural flow of energy, or otherwise to defile the natural wheel. Hence altering the lifeforce of those who interact with the trinket, it is capable of instilling mental and physical stigmas unto the unlucky. Rarely this may alter the appearance of the item in question, its countenance taking on a darker hue or flickering oddly in the light. Should the object ever be broken or destroyed, the curse would be severed.

 

The Strength of the Soulless

Black Trinkets are likely to attract unwanted attention, beckoning holy mages to cleanse these damned relics of their malevolent nature. So have the weaver covens devised a way to assure their masterpiece’s purpose by means of sacrifice. Not only may necromancers convene to increase potency of the curse, living sacrifices may be used to smith potency from holy magics. Utilizing the excess lifeforce a mortal brings, a necromancer may weave a tether from the sacrifice to the trinket-to-be, killing them in the process.

 

 For each additional necromancer aiding in the ritual of creation, one additional holy mage is required to alieve the cursed item of its curse- reaching a max of five necromancers (which would then require five paladins to cleanse the item.) Should living sacrifices have their lifeforce drained into the relic, it would take one additional holy mage to break the curse for each descendant. Draining is done in a similar to fashion to darkening, as the victim's lifeforce is tethered to the object, only to be drained to a husk. The maximum number of living sacrifices one can utilize in a ritual is five, working in tandem with necromancer collaboration to reach an overall maximum of five holy mages being required for only the most vile and wretched trinkets. Whether sacrifices or necromancers are used, at most five holy mages, (including paladins and shamans) are needed to riddance the curse. Additional necromancers and sacrifices can be used intermittently, yet collaboration can never yield higher than a count of five on its own. Though of course, one may simply destroy the object with force or by tossing it in lava.

 

Effects of the Black Trinkets

A cursed trinket will slowly bring about the curse depending on its application. Items of apparel and accessories must be near the victim or directly worn. Weapons and tools work in succession of uses, growing most effective when used in repetition. For worn items, the first OOC day, or first use depending on if it’s a tool, brings about minor and acute effects of the curse. The second OOC day brings about a meddling of the curse, as symptoms begin to accelerate and become noticeable. By the third OOC day of interacting with the trinket, the curse is fully onset, and remains embellished upon the victim. Curses begin to act within an hour of contact, and the effects of the curse only arise when directly interacting with the cursed item. This may be when a king adorns his crown, or when a knight unsheathes his sword. Effects of the curse last for a narrative hour after interaction, slowly fading over time. Should the cursed simply distance themself and cease contact with the trinket for more than an OOC week, the curse is lifted and the process must be started anew. Some may experience highs and lows as their body and mind are altered, often looking to external influences and internal turmoil for the reason of their maladies.

 

• Black trinkets require an ST signature to function with adequate RP of its creation. The curse chosen must be clearly worded in the description. 

• Any curses applied to an item that does not use an established curse must go through an Mart application.

• A maximum of two curses may be bound to an item, one greater and one lesser. To add more would require an Mart.

• Cursed trinkets may be crafted out of any dead organic or inorganic material.

• Creation of a black trinket must be done outside of combat and without distraction.

• Should combat commence with the necromancer in question during the ritual, the ritual fails.

• Items may change appearance after cursing as an aesthetic choice if the necromancer wishes.

• Aesthetic changes must not alter the item drastically, and cannot edit the shape, weight, or any other physical parts of the item save for luster, color, etc.

• Black trinkets may be broken just as their mundane counterpart, releasing the curse but also rendering the item unusable.

  • A king figuring out his ancient crown is cursed may wish to alleviate the curse before simply destroying his crown.

  • Should a mundane metal item be melted down and repurposed, the curse remains. This includes iron, steel, gold, etc, barring noded or special materials.

• Dispelling a curse may be done with paladin healing, or any other healing magic that can target items.

• Likewise, necromancers are capable of dispelling cursed trinkets.

• Should a necromancer wish to craft a trinket with exceptional resilience to dispelling, they may opt to either gather more necromancers for the ritual, or to imbue the lifeforce of an unwilling sacrifice.

  • With each additional necromancer and sacrifice, the amount of holy mages/necromancers needed to dispell the item are raised by one.

  • This reaches a maximum of five, requiring at most five holy mages to riddance a curse from a trinket.

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Credits

Spoiler

Spoiler

Should this be accepted, it would be added as a new subsection of necromancy. My hope with this lore is to allow for necromancers to further change the world around them by creating personal vendettas that have lasting effects. Something something cameronposting.

Credit to Johann for keeping my brain alive and being a cool dude :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hephaestus 1317]

Feed me more.

[Smaw 2368]

Don’t Necros have enough in their arsenal already?

 

Curses are for Witch Doctors; curses that have been nerfed heavily. Can it be justified here as well?

[King_Kunuk 888]

3 hours ago, Smaw said:

Don’t Necros have enough in their arsenal already?

 

Curses are for Witch Doctors; curses that have been nerfed heavily. Can it be justified here as well?

If you read the old necromancer lore, the ability to make curses has always been a thing they could do. Flam era bs made them drop it.

personally I think this is a lovley addition to necromancy as it adds in a new method of rp, which the necros can use to help creative narratives

[Smaw 2368]

7 hours ago, King_Kunuk said:

If you read the old necromancer lore, the ability to make curses has always been a thing they could do. Flam era bs made them drop it.

personally I think this is a lovley addition to necromancy as it adds in a new method of rp, which the necros can use to help creative narratives

Having had a previous feature doesn’t necessarily make it passable in today’s climate.

 

If the recent lore passed without it, we can assume it was needed in order to prevent the Necro lore from being too overwhelming.

[Security_ 1073]

3 hours ago, Smaw said:

Having had a previous feature doesn’t necessarily make it passable in today’s climate.

 

If the recent lore passed without it, we can assume it was needed in order to prevent the Necro lore from being too overwhelming.

Necromancy being a 4 slot magic means it should have some room to fit in more abilities. I don’t believe that adding mental and physical curses really makes necromancy “overwhelming”, and the reason curses were lost was simply due to Dardonas not wanting to write them. A single combat spell and the ability to curse bound victims is hardly any different than giving someone smallpox because they ate some bread.

 

Flam era lore was quite hard to pass, hence why it makes sense to try and implement something necromancy has had for years back into the mix after flam has left. I also believe necromatic curses and shaman hexes have enough differences in both lore and effect to have a reason to exist.

[HurferDurfer1 2584]

omg i love this!!! +1

[JustMeMorgan 1000]

I want to hold security's toes like you hold a hand :)

+1

[𝙻𝚞𝚟 XO 3062]

Curse me xd +1

[squakhawk 7303]

This Lore has been accepted. Moved to Implemented Lore, it will be sorted to it's appropriate category soon. Please note that if this is playable lore, such as a magic or CA, you will need to write a guide for this piece. You will be contacted regarding the guide (or implementation if it isn’t needed) shortly.