[✗] [CA] Paleknights + Palelords

[framalam 837]

 

PROTTIRC-PRUEL UNDERE ADALMKA

Eidolons of the Occult

Living statues of stone, dark, teal colossi, paleknights are living mythos. Plucked from death, and bound to roam the mortal plane forevermore, the eidola are souls given substance beyond ectoplasm. Crude imitations of their forms in life, an eidolon is menhir - blue-ish, damp, rock - incarnate, man chiselled out of stone.

Though only ever that, an imitation, eidola are capable of nearly lifelike motion; they move as great lumbering visages of petrified tissue, their minds irrevocably honed by undeath.

 

CREATION

An Eidola is a construct that requires the careful work of two mystics, or of a Palelord that deems a servant, or sacrifice, worthy.  The aspiring (or unwilling) eidolon-to-be must be a living, or ectoplasmic being from which the soul can be ripped. Beyond this, the steps greatly differ depending on the creator.

 

PALELORD

MYSTIC

Firstly, the aspirant must be brought before the Palelord’s throne within their Eidola Keep - whether they come willingly or not is irrelevant.    In advance, the Palelord must prepare and remove a large section of their own throne or menhir, and arrange it into a new menhirous monolith.   Brought before the throne, the victim must be then ceremoniously executed by the Palelord, and have their soul torn from their body - denied entry into the lifewaters of their slayer.    Instead, the Palelord, along with two other Eidola, must guide and entrap the soul into their obelisk, consuming [1] soul fragment from each participating eidolon.    Only then, after entrapment, will the spire turn menhir-proper, radiating a flat, teal-tinged glow as the spirit of the victim is trapped indefinitely within.

Having first to prepare a menhir in advance, the creation of a paleknight requires two mystics of any aptitude.   Placing the victim before their menhir, one of the two mystics must summon, and weave their ectoplasm into them.   Forcing the ectoplasm into the victim, the mystic must then split their soul from their body, or their ectoplasm.   Then, the mystic must wrangle the soul as it is fractured from its body,  and placed into the menhir.   Here, though, the aid of another is required: the second mystic must enwreathe the obelisk in their own ectoplasm, trapping the soul within.   Only then, after entrapment, will the spire turn menhir-proper, radiating a flat, teal-tinged glow as the spirit of the victim is trapped indefinitely within.

 

 

PHYSICAL STATE

An Eidola’s physical state varies depending on not only its most comfortable existence, usually a form akin to their own in life, but also on its heights in undeath.

 Paleknights are merely restricted to the largest, standard Descendant height - that of an Uruk. Palelords, though, must be at the very least the size of an Olog - the 

apparition within them demands the space, the height, the grandeur.  Regardless, eidola are composed of the same rock as their menhir:  teal, dark, grey, ectoplasmic, and any combination of them all. Quite simply, they are stone. The detail in this stone varies between palelord and paleknight. The menhir of a paleknight will be remarkably rough, boulderous, while the surface of a palelord is remarkably smooth in comparison, alluvial.

 

The eidolon themself is merely a soul entrapped in stone, granted movement by virtue of their lifewaters - liquid, soul-bearing, ectoplasmic. This stone obelisk - a menhir - is the tether of the eidola’s soul to the mortal plane. Should it be broken before a paleknight is allowed to regenerate, its soul shall permanently escape into the Soulstream. Should it be broken while a paleknight is still corporeal, though, the paleknight will have [1] OOC week to construct a new menhir, lest their tether loosen fully, and their soul be released back from where it was snagged. If one were to touch an eidolon, they would find their hands moistened, and for this reason, wet, damp, environments are their preferred ones. To be deprived too long of moisture, and of their waters, is to be deprived of their movement and petrified.
 

The form of an eidolon depends on comfort, whatever state grants the most ease.
Comfort is, of course, subjective, with Eidola seen with tails, extra heads, extra limbs, all with the side effect of halving the strength, in the case of limbs, due to the doubled supply of lifewater. These additional parts too carry the same risk of cracking, of the hollow core being exposed. This hollow core, in which their lifewaters sit, is integral to their mobility. These waters must constantly permeate through the stone, slickening it, to allow for movement.

 

Their stony outside, despite its mobility, bears all the characteristics typical to stone. Stone is unfeeling, and eidola are numbed to pain (save for immense bodily damage), unable to truly feel touch. Slashing, piercing attacks, such as of a sword, or an arrow, do little more than glance off the hard surface. It is only through blunt, chipping, and hammering blows that the stone carapace of the eidolon would break, pouring lifewater out from whatever cavity is created. The location of this cavity is key to their continued survival, while a hollow hammered out of a paleknight’s head may debilitate most other beings, the water would not feasibly pour out of the hole without induced sloshing, or lest the knight be suspended upside down, though complete destruction of head(s) would no doubt blind any eidola to suffer that fate. For this, blows to the lower chest and legs tend to be much more fatal toward incapacitating an eidolon - a truth they know all too well.

 

The very stone they are reborn out of, even in spite of the waters that grant it movement, is stone all the same. Stone that weighs stone, stone that falls like stone, and stone that cracks like stone. The immense weight of eidola inhibits their ability to move, allowing them, at most, a brisk jog. Jumping, dashing, rolling, and other dextrous activities might similarly prove difficult for an eidolon.

 

MENTAL STATE

The mind of an eidolon, much like their body, is plagued by the dark forces from which they were born. Mental disorders pull at the very ego of these constructs, souls torn from the Ebrietaes and thrust into a numb, cold form. The nature of these disorders varies, ranging from identity conflict to dementia, but generally involve some sort of ego death, memory loss, or sadness of their life before undeath.

 

Naturally, they are predisposed to act almost grimly, in mortal eyes. The eidola find little solace amongst the living, much preferring the company and compassion of their fellow undead - the only ones who could truly understand their circumstances. Yet, even among these undead, who themselves are often demented to their own right, true joy and compassion is rare. Joy for an eidolon may come from a multitude of sources: meditation in their waters, serving others, guarding bits and pieces of their life, or sapping the joy of Descendants in order to simply feel. Positive, compassionate, gentle giants, to that regard, are impossible - no eidolon feels joy from seeing the youth they once had.

REDLINES:

• An Eidola's stone exterior will melt if met by 3 emotes of malflame or dragonsflame and 5 emotes from fire evocation's flames. This will create a hole where the fire has made contact, and although the same spot must be contacted by the flame to become weakened, the emote timer does not reset should the flames not be constant.
  • Malflame will spread across an eidola’s surface unless an emote is dedicated to extinguishing it. Dragonsflame and fire evocation will not spread nor persist on the menhir.
• Eidola may only possess strength akin to the descendant they are most closely to in height, including orcs. A dwarf sized Eidola would have dwarven strength, while an orc sized Eidola would have the strength of an orc, though never reaching the strength of a golem or olog passively. These constructs may only move at the speed of a Descendant in heavy plate armour, or a light jog, at most.
•  Eidola may not exceed eight feet in height, though not go below four feet. 
• If half or more of an eidola’s lifewater is lost, the eidola will perish.
• Due to an Eidola’s stone-like nature, slashing and piercing attacks will not often do much against their forms. Blunt, shattering attacks from pickaxes or hammers, however, prove to be far more effective in breaking or chipping away at their forms, breaking through them with enough substantial hits, likely around two or three. 
• Whichever Mystics created them  still hold a degree of control through the ectoplasm employed to birth them, which only forbids the malicious spreading of information surrounding Mysticism. Eidola may be, by particularly malevolent creators, threatened with the destruction of their menhir, but act otherwise through free will.
• Eidola may not practise any magic nor any powers of Mysticism save for cantrip hindering, though may have similar abilities defaultly and with the proper augments installed.
• Eidola may make physical contact with incorporeal phantoms due to their occult nature.
• Any damage sustained by an Eidola would be healed over the course of one OOC day should their Menhir be intact.
• Upon death, Eidola will respawn at the location of their Menhir over the course of one OOC day. Should the Menhir be destroyed whilst they are alive, another must be made within a week lest they be forced to PK at the end of the week, or on their next death.
• Eidola may change their form at their Menhirs over 3 emotes where they move stone from their body to the structure or take from it and add it onto their frame.  This may not be done in combat.
• Eidola may add and remove soul fragments from Menhirs over one emote out of combat.
• Eidola have [5] units of ectoplasm.
• Eidola may not learn other magic / magical feats or alchemy / alchemical based feats - they have no magic slots.
• Eidola may move their menhir with the assistance of [1] other eidolon. It requires 2 emotes to shuffle the stone onto their bodies before walking off with the titanic structure. Should they get into combat while moving such, they are limited to 1 block of movement per emote and cannot attack back. Once at a new location, the menhir takes 2 emotes to set back onto the ground and requires a new ST sign while the old menhir is invalidated.
• One menhir may be moved at a time.
• An Eidola [CA] holder must be informed OOCly by ST if their menhir is broken. The one week counter for PK following a menhir’s destruction begins upon the player being informed by ST.
• If an eidola’s menhir is destroyed, it must be rebuilt by either a palelord or a mystic, and the eidola must be present for its rebuilding for its soul to be tethered once more. Eidola menhir are represented by an ST sign.

Paleknights

The first form of any eidola is their form in life, who they were before undeath. Beyond that, there is little limit toward what can be pushed into menhir and condemned to a stony eternity. If there is a soul accessible, and a soul trappable, the menhir will accept it.

Following entrapment of a soul, the eidolon will take their first form as a paleknight, ghastly retainers of the Synod who created them. Though they largely have free will, malevolent mystics may seek to threaten the destruction of their menhir to pry obedience out of them.

 

Their name is no deception - they are knights, undying retainers borne from stone.

 

Innate Abilities

“I came to understand the weakness of flesh.”

Menhir Craft

“From stone, for stone.”

 

Similarly to how an eidolon shifts out from their menhir to begin with, a paleknight may choose to craft not a new form, but an extension of their form - a menhir craft. Whether this takes the form of a weapon, armour, or an idol imitating something dear to them in life, the menhir craft is a method of expression, of art, close to the paleknight’s absent heart.

 

As if they were to step out of the stone once more, and be rebirthed, the paleknight may grasp their menhir, plunging their damp hands into the stone to shape, and mould, their desired item over the course of [3] emotes. This craft may then be stored on the eidolon’s body, with a maximum of [1] piece of menhir armour, and [1] menhir weapon being stored at a time. The paleknight could theoretically bring another weapon, holding it, or in a sheathe, but this menhir-born artefact would dry out long before seeing any combat. Additional weapons, should they be made, should be stored within the menhir, to a maximum of [2] menhir weapons (not including any weapon stored in the paleknight)

 

Made of stone, for stone, these weapons may often seem unwieldy for mortal use; even titanic creatures with immense strength would find dextrous motions difficult. The paleknight, in contrast, would be able to wield the weapon just as a footman would wield their ferrum. As a result, menhir craft weapons tend to be large, unruly things, but this is of no requirement to the eidola; menhirous weapons may take the form of all range of melee weapons: swords, spears, bardiches, halberds, pernaches and the like.

 

The craft, though made of menhir, does not bear the waters of the eidolon. Regardless, it shares the same spectral gleam of the paleknight, rendering it capable of striking through phantoms, wights, and other spectral undead immune to mundane weapons.

REDLINES:

• Menhir weapons can only be made/forged at the Eidola’s menhir and not in combat.
• Menhir weapons must be a single piece object. Complex ranged weaponry such as bows, or crossbows, are too complex and cannot feasibly be made of stone.
• Menhir weapons take 2 emotes to summon/pull from their body.
• Menhir armour will at most save an eidolon from 1-2 blows from a blunt weapon. They may wear one piece at a time that covers at most one region of the body (head/heads, legs, arms, or chest respectively).
• While multiple weapons may be made, only one can be stored in the Eidola’s body at a time. The rest  (a maximum of another 2) must be stored by or in a menhir.
• Eidola naturally generate 1 soul fragment should they land the killing blow, in which the soul fragment visibly flows through the weapon and into the Eidola’s shell.
• Require ST signatures for weapons and armour.
• Noncombative crafts such as statues or items require player signatures unless they are placed blocks in the world, in which case they require a sign nearby explaining what they are.
• Menhir Crafts will melt if met by 3 emotes of malflame or dragonsflame and 5 emotes from fire evocation's flames. This will create a hole where the fire has made contact, and although the same spot must be contacted by the flame to become weakened, the emote timer does not reset should the flames not be constant.
• Malflame will not spread across Menhir Crafts, as they are not soulbearing.
• A maximum of [1] piece of menhir armour may be stored within a menhir, and a maximum of [1] piece of menhir armour may be stored on an eidola. Menhir armour may not be stored or summoned within the eidola - it is attached to their exterior.

Soulbearing Waters

“And now my stone may shelter you, as it did I, lost soul.”

 

Lifewater is the ectoplasmic, soul-bearing liquid that courses through the hollow of any eidolon, paleknight or palelord. This liquid, similar to an automaton’s lifeblood in function, is starkly different in composition: it is composed of, and capable of carrying, a Descendent's soul. Kills or harvests made by the eidolon or its weapons would expel the soul of their victims, manifesting it as a wisp that diffuses into the paleknight’s soul.

 

An unaugmented paleknight may carry a maximum of [2] soul fragments within its waters, and may grant and take away just as many to and from other mystics, menhir, or eidola.

REDLINES:

• Up to 2 soul fragments may be stored within an Eidola’s waters passively, without the need for augmentations.
• Soul fragments may be added to the waters if an Eidola gets the final hit on a player, a mystic uses the rite of scavenging, or they take them from a previously filled Menhir.
• An Eidola may take or deposit fragments from or to a menhir, requiring 1 emote of contact to do such.
• An Eidola may not have more than 2 fragments at a time unless they have the apparition cradle augment. Any attempt to go over two without such will simply have the excess fragments disappear. In the case of a player PKing (which yields 3 fragments), one will either go to waste or transfer into a nearby Eidola should it have a slot open.

 

Eidola Keep

“Every knight a king in his own keep.”

An Eidola’s Keep is a refuge, a tranquil home for eidola and undead alike, a small area reserved for the paleknight and its compatriots in undeath. Marked, chiefly, by the presence of a menhir craft at their centre, usually in the form of thrones, sceptres, obelisks, or statues, the Keep is an expanse of an unnatural, soulborn cold. Light warps and refuses to enter it, while the region itself dampens, as water muddies with ectoplasm. A hazy cloud of fog descends on the area upon creation, granting respite to all those undead craving it, hiding, calming, soothing them, and stone begins to warp and turn a menhirous teal.

 

Finally, the keep is land for the stoneborn to relax within, and meditate. It is within their keep that eidola most often find joy, or the closest thing to it. Mental illnesses that gnaw at their very being are, although not cured, muted and numbed within the keep. The keep, additionally, provides a base from which the eidola can devour the emotions of the living, extracting their very being to fly with the native wisps of the keep.

 

The creation of an Eidola Keep is no menial feat, and is often the first task bid by benevolent makers unto their stony children. It requires the production of not only a menhirous craft, one of furniture, or a statue of sorts, and subsequently imbuing [2] souls within. When this is done, and the fragmented souls fly into the soothing stone, they will emerge, with fog, cold, and dark, as wisps, flying around the region of the keep aimlessly, endlessly.

REDLINES:

• Eidola’s Keep affects a maximum of a 25x25 area.
• Any blocks changed within the Eidola’s Keep require PRO permission. Otherwise, you may place signs to roleplay the effect of the keep’s presence.
• The creation of an Eidola’s Keep requires a player signed menhir craft be placed (in a chest, preceding an sreq) in the area, with a mechanical representation with a maximum size of 6x6x6. This menhir craft must then be imbued with two soul fragments collected with valid roleplay, which should be provided in the sreq.
• Up to 6 extra soul fragments may be kept in the Eidola’s Keep, and take freeform wispy appearances to no mechanical advantage.
• The menhir craft may not be moved when given souls, and takes 3-4 hits to break. An sreq should be made following roleplay breaking the craft.
• An Eidola’s Keep requires a corresponding ST approved sign for legitimacy. The sign may be hidden to prevent metagaming, but it must be accessible.
• The menhir craft may be concealed through parkour, or within redstone doors, but must still be in the centre of the area.
• Eidola may have one keep at a time.

Devour

"Oh, how I long to feel again…"

 

Driven by their yearning for lost emotions, paleknights can drain spiritual essence - emotion - from nearby mortals to experience fleeting feelings. This ability manifests in two forms, an active, and a passive form.

 

An eidolon may passively drain mortals of their emotion and essence, sapping them as they spend increased lengths of time by the eidola. The only mortals immune to this would be mystics, any others prone to the same mental afflictions that eidola would be, contracting them almost through osmosis. Mortals that spend large lengths of time within fifteen metres of the paleknight would find themselves gradually stray toward apathy and numbness, often mellowing out zealotry, love, as they become generally unfeeling. Their essence, their emotion, leaves them as the eidolon literally feeds off of it.

 

Alternatively, a paleknight may choose to actively drain a victim, willing or unwilling. Whether companions in life, or enemies in undeath, the paleknight must grasp a victim, expel their ectoplasm through porous stone as an ectoplasmic fog, and then continue to keep them near as they coax their mortal victim’s essence out of them to feed on. This method is much more abrasive, often leading to the paleknight’s mental conditions being passed on for the duration of [1] OOC week, as the mortal is completely and utterly drained - devoured, following five emotes of consumption.

 

Exclusive to the active form, a soul fragment may be harvested after [6] emotes of Devouring, after which the victim would fall unconscious, holding only hazy memories of the events leading up to their Devouring. In an Eidola Keep, this count falls to [3] emotes of Devouring, and yields [1] soul fragment whereas the mortal would similarly fall unconscious after [6] emotes.

REDLINES:

• Devour requires [1] emote of aura exertion, and [5] emotes of draining. In an Eidola Keep, a soul fragment is harvested after [1] emote of aura exertion, and [2] emotes of draining.
• Completely and utterly drained is defined as apathy, emotional numbness, and lethargy. Otherwise, this is freeform.
• Mystics, phantoms, and other undead cannot be harmed by this ability.
• Eidola may not make other actions, nor move more than [1]m away from their target.
• How the affected player wishes to roleplay permanent effects is to their discretion.
• Unconsciousness requires [6] total emotes. All emotes must have the victim being grasped by the eidola, or otherwise kept within one metre of them. Multiple Eidola using the ability will not speed this up.
• It takes 1 emote to exert their aura, where it will seep out as an ectoplasmic fog from their bodies.
• Emotions that the paleknight gains from Devour last for a maximum of 1 OOC day at full intensity before deteriorating over 3 OOC days.
• All essence consumed is lost upon death/destruction of the Eidola.
• Emotions that the paleknight passes onto the victim from Devour last for a maximum of 1 OOC week, slowly deteriorating over the course of the week.

 

Ebriatean Echoes

"The memory of the fallen is etched into stone."

 

Paleknights, within their keep or other dark environments, may project forth their ectoplasm to recount memories from their past life, or the fleeting moments of battle or devouring from souls consumed. This is not to say the eidolon can peer into the memories of the fallen, but merely re-enact them with their souls, and with their own ectoplasm.

 

Creative freedom is generally left to each individual paleknight for how to portray these scenes, as each eidolon weaves their ectoplasm in different manners, showing different nuance, creating different atmospheres.

REDLINES:

• Ebriatean Echoes is purely intended for flavour, and cannot be used for any combative advantage.
• Ebriatean Echoes cannot be used to metagame memories; the eidola was not present to witness them themselves.
• The aesthetics of Ebriatean Echoes should vaguely follow the redlines - colouring, texture, shape - of ectoplasm. It should not, for instance, be made of water, or lightning.

Warden’s Vigil

“I stand as sentinel, unyielding and eternal."

Entering a quasi-meditative state, a paleknight may fall into a deep state of pensive thought, rendering them immobile, nigh hibernation. This requires immense mental strength from the paleknight, as they must leave themselves vulnerable to petrification - being literally frozen in their own bodies - as they withdraw their lifewaters from their limbs, restricting their own movement to become indistinguishable from a statue over [5] emotes.

 

While in this state, they can remain alert of sounds and changes in environment, as well as a dulled sense of touch, but lose all sight until they restore their waters across their body, making them ideal guards of important locations. Although not discernibly eidola to any normal mortals, Descendants or creatures possessing True Sight may see a faint spectral gleam emanating from the centre of the ‘statue’, a representation of the condensed waters.

 

Though an eidolon may choose to leave this state whenever they please, few choose to remain in the state for extended periods of time, hiding from their fate in undeath to watch as time continues to rush past them, and life slips further away from the present. Over the course of [3] emotes, a paleknight may restore movement and sight on the following turn, as they rush their lifeblood back into their body.

 

Alternatively, should a paleknight be attacked while in this state, they only require [1] emote to re-awaken, as their deep meditative trance is broken, most heinously, by whatever vandal dared assault a statue.

 

Finally, an eidolon in critical state may choose to slowly petrify themselves, unsoaking their stone and essentially shrinking into their core in order to avoid whatever grisly ‘pain’ may await them from limbs being severed, rock harvested, and stone hammered. Over the course of [2] emotes, a critically injured paleknight, at any stage of bleeding out, can turn themselves into unmoving statues; they may allow their lifewaters to harmlessly bleed into the ground beneath them, and leave a husk behind.

REDLINES:

• Warden’s Vigil may not be activated mid-combat. It may be used during entrance emotes, but not in the midst of combat.

• When in Warden’s Vigil, the eidolon will lose any gleam or dampness on the stone, causing the menhir to look mundane.
• Warden’s Vigil may be used as an IRP method to explain for OOC absences, or, alternatively, as a suicide PK, as the eidolon fully allows for their lifewater to seep out, and self-petrify permanently
• Warden’s Vigil husks are just as damaged as the paleknight would be before beginning petrification. They may be destroyed with [1] blunt strike at any section. This is merely intended to be a flavorful alternative to crumbling.

Augments

“In stone, we were birthed; in undeath, we are perfected”

It was in the whispers of the First Synod that the first stoneborn was moulded, and it was over the course of six more that eidola were perfected - chiselled knights of the Abyss. Though mysticism, once an eidolon is created, is not integral to a paleknight’s existence, it is inherent in their birth. It is the craft that birthed their forefathers, and in most cases, them as well. Should an eidolon choose to serve the Synod that birthed them, they may find themselves granted boons far beyond their own crafts and accomplishments - their own pale augments. Augments are just that, augmentations made by Mystics gifted to the eidolon in order to strengthen them, or hone them for a purpose.

 

Phantom Waters

 

A simple augment installed within the Eidola’s stomach, permeating their waters with further ectoplasm, thus allowing them to conjure forth ectoplasm to create deadbreath around them similar to that of a T4 Mystic, this expanding outwards in a five metre radius around the Eidolon in two turns as opposed to three.  Each cast of this uses 1 soul fragment and may only be used once in combat.

 

• Phantom Bulwark and Phantom Waters use 1 soul fragment per use.
• Phantom Bulwark and Phantom Waters may only be used once per combat.
• Phantom Waters allows for T4 dead breath that expands in 2 emotes.

 

Pale Whispers

 

An augment applied into the head of an eidolon, imbuing them with ectoplasm, this augment allows eidola to record, and imitate the voices of collected souls. They may only store up to three voices at a time, and only so long as the soul they imitate is stored within their lifewater; the voice, though, would be indistinguishable. They may only imitate the voice saying phrases the eidola exactly heard - there is no mix and matching of heard words/phrases.

 

• Pale Whispers souls must be kept track of OOCly, and roleplayed accordingly. (and is a habit that eidola should take up regardless for easier tracking and sreqs)
• Pale Whispers may only emulate phrases or words spoken by the victim exactly, with no mix or matching.
• Eidola should keep track of these words and phrases, though do not need to keep track of these beyond providing their chat logs should they be questioned on a phrase’s validity.
• Pale Whispers only tracks dialogue the eidola heard before the target’s soul was harvested. In the case that a victim does not PK, dialogue a victim says, that an eidola hears, after monk revival, does not apply.

 

Apparition Cradle

 

Eidola who take on this modification will find the water within their core to be capable of storing numerous souls within themselves. Should souls be harvested near an Eidola with this augment, the soul will be stored within them — and upon fifteen soul fragments, an apparition may emerge from the Paleknight, not bound by any means. However, this is a fragile process, and should the Eidola demanifest while harbouring any souls, the souls will be all but lost. 

 

• Apparition Cradle increases the standard of 2 soul fragment slots to 15.

 

Phantom Bulwark

 

Eidola who take on this augment would be capable of casting Walling akin to a tier four Mystic, though at the cost of arm replacement not dissimilar to that of an amputated occultist, now taking on a Menhir arm which appears like some stone or prismarine, glowing a dull aura of blue or pale green, albeit by no means translucent. Each cast of this uses 1 soul fragment and may only be used once in combat, and should it be cast within combat the arm weakens the arm to a state where only 1-2 hits will shatter it.

 

• Phantom Bulwark allows for T4 Walling.
• Phantom Bulwark and Phantom Waters use 1 soul fragment per use.
• Phantom Bulwark and Phantom Waters may only be used once per combat.

 

Knights Woe

 

Eidola who take on this augment would be able to utilise the non-fatal version of Mysticism’s saturation spell. Over the course of [2] emotes, the Paleknight will leak their interior waters onto their own menhir craft. This will force it to take on a spectral appearance (such as aesthetic translucency, ectoplasmic wisps, mournful whispers etc) to no combative advantage.

 

Should the paleknight land a killing blow on their target, the victim will not die but be reduced into a half-awake state (and therefore are unable to help combatively). This state will persist until the encounter ends. Following this, the victim will be unable to remember the encounter save for hazy, nightmare-like recollections. Optional flavourful nightmares, paranoia or mental unrest may be roleplayed following this encounter for however long the player decides. 

 

Knights Woe takes up [1] augment slot, and reaps [1] soul fragment. 

REDLINES:

 - Knights Woe requires a menhir weapon to utilise. 

- The hazy recollection cannot be used to metagame any information (such as people involved in the encounter, places, or otherwise discerning facts). It is vague. 

- This ability cannot be used on the same persona for the next three OOC days. 

REDLINES:

• Augments are only able to be applied in non-combat scenarios, and once they are implemented, act as inherent parts of the Eidola. They may be removed forcibly from the construct, though with some difficulty.
• Augments do not need a mechanical representation, though should be noted on the eidola CA after providing ST with screenshots of valid roleplay of its installation.
•  A paleknight may only have up to two Mystic augments at any given time.
• Phantom Waters allows for T4 dead breath that expands in 2 emotes.
• Phantom Bulwark allows for T4 Walling.
• Apparition Cradle increases the standard of 2 soul fragment slots to 15.
• Phantom Bulwark and Phantom Waters use 1 soul fragment per use.
• Phantom Bulwark and Phantom Waters may only be used once per combat.
• Only Mystics [T2+] and Wights may create Paleknight Augments.
• Pale Whispers souls must be kept track of OOCly, and roleplayed accordingly. (and is a habit that eidola should take up regardless for easier tracking and sreqs)
• Pale Whispers may only emulate phrases or words spoken by the victim exactly, with no mix or matching.
• Eidola should keep track of these words and phrases, though do not need to keep track of these beyond providing their chat logs should they be questioned on a phrase’s validity.

 

Palelords

"We are Stone, We are Transcendent.”

 The palelord is the epitome of what all eidola strive to become. Recognised, elected, worthy. Elevated, both through height, status, and through moot, the palelord must claim their crown through combat with their Conquest - an abomination of amalgamated souls double that which aspiring Wights must wrangle to embrace wightdom.

 

The palelords retain much of their old appearance but also look to be of a much less cobbled stone, now taking on a smooth form as water ceases to passively drip from their bodies, - though this is not to say their core is gone as it still remains an essential part of their body and will leak water in the normal amount of hits. This smoother stone also restricts the Palelord’s ability to harness or transfer souls, but in exchange, it grants them greater aesthetic expression. Their bodies may now display ghostly visages of their enemies, and while they retain the two additional limbs/appendages of an eidola, they may not add more, and these additional limbs are capped at peak human strength. They stand at a staggering minimum of nine feet, with a maximum of ten. This immense size correlates to strength, and ectoplasm, with the striking force of a peak uruk and [8] units of ectoplasm; this comes with the added downside of limited movement. Their cumbersome weight renders them unable to move more than [3]m with an action, and [6]m on a round fully dedicated to movement.

 

Lords amongst men have kingdoms, and grow greedy for more. Lords amongst the undead have power, and eternally yearn for more. A palelord’s mentality is similar to that of their lesser brothers, yet they will find whatever past ambitions and mannerisms they may have have amplified tenfold - a warrior would strive always for war, and grow lethargic, unfulfilled without it, a prideful eidolon would constantly sing to praise themselves, and so forth. Palelords are the epitome of eidola. Leaders, mighty, they are lords, with lordly ambitions that stretch out far from the Synod’s own.

REDLINES:

• Palelords are not automatically resurrected upon death as Eidola are, with the exception of death stemming from PvP the palelord did not vote for.
• Must be a minimum of 8 feet tall and a maximum of 10 feet tall.
• Cannot perform stealth due to their immense size and are limited to 3 block movement in combat while attacking and 6 while sprinting.
• Have 8 units of Ectoplasm.
• Palelords appear much smoother than Eidola and do not leak water passively, though this is not stronger than an Eidola's normal stone.
• Palelords are as strong as an Uruk at peak strength.
• Lords largely retain the same personality as their paleknight form, but will have certain mannerisms radically amplified. 
• Lords cannot take additional augments beyond the ones selected on their CA. They automatically lose all augments they had as a paleknight, unless they re-select them on their CA.
• Palelords may not have any additional limbs. They may have non combative additions, such as horns, or a tail, to no combative advantage.
• The ghostly aesthetic of the lord is freeform but may not affect combat.
• Palelords take damage in the same way that an Eidola does but contain more water, meaning that it will take a few extra emotes for them to die.
• Palelords may still cast all innate paleknight abilities. However, souls may not be gained from Devour without the presence of a nearby eidola with Apparition Cradle equipped, and Eidola’s Keep no longer requires any soul fragments for construction. 

 

The Stone Moot

“To the most worthy, the most power.”

 

The Stone Moot is a ritual held by eidola to elect a worthy lord amongst themselves, to raise them, with the aid of mystics, and through combat with their Conquest. For a paleknight to become a palelord, they must first have the Apparition Cradle augment equipped, and have fifteen of fifteen souls in their waters. Then, a second eidola (or however many choose to elect the knight as lord, with the number of souls, including the aspiring lord,  equalling or exceeding thirty) must give a total of [15] soul fragments to the elected, amalgamating the fifteen of the lord, with the fifteen of the other eidola/on.

 

Before the waters are oversaturated, consuming the paleknight, the eidolon must expel the souls within, creating their Conquest: a horrid construct of all the tarnished souls consumed by the paleknight and its allies. The Conquest will immediately attack any eidola pacted to the election, that being any paleknight or palelord who contributed to the thirty or more souls required to summon it.

 

This combat with the Conquest is one designed to subdue it, hence the requirement of helping mystics to capture, and embed the souls within the paleknight to allow for its ascendance. When it is subdued, or defeated, in a sense, the mystics must weave ectoplasm around it and force it within the paleknight’s carapace, while any other participating eidola must rapidly bring stone from its menhir to build up the palelord.

 

The moot requires a minimum of [30] soul fragments, though any Conquest above that is certainly possible, with appropriate increases in its strength, though. The moot requires a minimum of [2] T4 Mystics or Wights, as well as a minimum of [2] eidola, including the palelord, though it is strongly encouraged to gather more for the combat.

REDLINES:

• A Stone Moot requires a minimum of [2] Eidola, including the aspiring pale lord, as well as [2] Mystics of T4 or above.
• A Stone Moot requires that [30] soul fragments be gathered with valid roleplay for them.
• The eidolon attempting to become a Lord must have the Apparition Cradle augment equipped. The assisting eidola do not necessarily need to, but none having it equipped would require a minimum of 8 assisting eidola. (8 x 2 max soul frags. held)
• Conquests require an ST-sponsored event and should be, by virtue of being made of more souls than standard Wight Apparitions, incredibly difficult to subdue.
• For a Mystic to participate in a Conquest they must have knowledge of the Stone Moot ritual, which must be spread by a Pale Lord CA holder, and must be marked on the Mystic’s MA, or Wight’s CA, respectively.
• Pale Lords innately know this ritual, and can spread knowledge to Mystics. Mystics themselves cannot spread the ritual. Paleknights innately know of this ritual, but not how to perform it. They must be taught, and this must be marked on the paleknight’s CA.

 

Innate Abilities & Revival

“As I have served my stone, so too shall it serve me.”

 

Augmented Stone

“The hands of Man are weak to Stone.”

 

Ascended forms of the eidola need no helping hand to achieve greatness. The raw anima surging through the dozens of souls in the lifewater of the pale lord strengthens it far beyond how any Mystic could.

 

As an evolved form of paleknight, palelords can innately choose [3] of the [5] augments offered to eidola, as shown on their CA when they resubmit. These augments will lose all cost, if they cost a soul fragment (as palelords cannot hold souls in their lifewaters), and will not require a Mystic for implementation. By extension, and by being an evolved form of a paleknight, palelords innately know all innate paleknight abilities.

REDLINES:

• The augments chosen must be marked on the Lord’s CA.
• Apparition Cradle cannot be chosen, as palelords cannot carry souls.
• Pale Whispers is now frozen, and only souls utilised to create the Conquest may be imitated. No new dialogue/souls may be imitated.

 

Hephaestic Craft

“Stone is the tool with which I shape stone.”

 

Made of smoother, aesthetically freeform menhir, the palelord demonstrates a level of mastery over their own stone far beyond that of a paleknight. Capable of constructing grand, elaborate thrones for their own ego and resurrection, a palelord may hold [2] menhir weapons within its core, instead of [1], and up to [4] menhir weapons in their throne. 

This extends to armour as well, being able to hold [2] pieces of menhirous armour in their menhir.

 

More interestingly, though, their proficiency with stone extends to other materials that do not innately harm an eidolon (i.e. aurum, slayersteel), allowing for gilding, embedding, and menhirous alloys of wicked proportions, to no combative advantage beyond the properties of that material.

 

REDLINES

• Imbuing ST materials, enchants, or otherwise unordinary augments into a menhir craft  requires MArt submission.
• Adding materials other than menhir to a Menhir Craft negates the craft’s ability to harvest souls.
• Hephaestic Craft is an evolution of Menhir Craft. The general redlines for Menhir Craft weapons and items listed there are true here.
• Imbuing mundane materials into a menhir craft, regardless of whether it is combative or not, requires ST approval.
• Any mundane material may be used, and their respective redlines apply.
• Any and all MArts created must go through the standard MArt application process.

 

Lord’s Word

“Bow before me, knight.”

 

The Moot is a procedure in which other paleknights, or palelords, recognise the authority of their elected eidolon. They recognise, through merit, through might, or through leadership, that an eidolon has proven themselves worthy to ascend, and one worthy to ascend, is one worthy to lead.

 

Through free will alone, a paleknight may pact themselves to a palelord, granting the palelord indisputable command over the paleknight, able to order the eidola at whim. This pact requires the paleknight to give up a large chunk of their menhir, imbue their lifewaters within, and embed it into the lord’s throne - their loyalty becoming unwavering.

 

In order for the pact to be dissolved, the palelord’s throne must first be destroyed by a third party, not the paleknight, and the section of menhir (represented by a mechanical item) must be returned to the paleknight’s own obelisk. Alternatively, the pact is automatically dissolved should the paleknight ascend through moot to become a palelord. 

A palelord may have a maximum of [4] paleknights pacted to this regard, and give [3] orders per encounter.

 

A palelord may choose to bestow upon pacted knights a tell, some sort of motif in order to identify their knights as their own, to differentiate them from others. This is relatively freeform, and may manifest as anything from a specific color gleam of ectoplasm, to a consistent shape of menhir,  to stone coloration.

REDLINES:

• Lord’s Word may not be used to force a suicide PK.
• Lord’s Word requires OOC and IC consent from both the paleknight and palelord, and must be marked on both CAs.
• Lord’s Word may be used both in combat and passively, and commands total obedience from the paleknight.
• Palelords may give [3] commands per encounter. There is no limit to commands outside of combat.
• Paleknights cannot be forced or coaxed into agreeing a Lord’s Word pact.
• A palelord may break their pact with a knight by returning the stone from their throne into the knight’s menhir.
• Lord’s Word motifs may not override any physical characteristic lore for paleknights, and may not hold any combative benefits. These are purely for flavour and aesthetics.

 

Oathing

“Rise, and take your place among us.”

 

As a king raises knights, so too does a lord raise his eidola. When a willing (or unwilling) sacrifice proves themselves worthy, or useful, to a pale lord, they may be calcified as a freshborn eidolon with the assistance of [2] other eidola.

 

The aspirant, if of flesh, must first be slain, and their soul split from their body to inhabit their new menhir. An otherwise ectoplasmic victim does not need to be slain, and merely needs to be pulled apart, consumed, and pressed into their menhir.

 

This requires the palelord sacrifice a significant chunk of their own menhirous throne to construct the monolith of their new brother, thus only performable once every [3] OOC months. This wait time begins on CA acceptance, a denied CA will not count toward the timer.

 

Pale Clotting

“Fall, and fall in shame; fight, and fight with glory.”

 

Granted dominance over their kin through ascension, a pale lord may repay their election in kind. The sheer number of souls contained within the lifewaters of the palelord thirst, and gravitate towards the souls contained within other menhirous husks, and by harnessing this lust can a palelord achieve limited control over the lifewaters of other eidola.

 

Over the course of [3] emotes, ([2] focus, + [1] connect + [4] cast) a palelord can stem lifewater from bleeding out of a paleknight, suspending it for a maximum of [4] emotes. This may also be used to accelerate leakage, but cannot directly cause it.

Should the palelord be interrupted, via being dealt a staggering blow of any kind, the spell will immediately cease, requiring recasting if interrupted before casting, and rendered unusable for the rest of the encounter. Pale Clotting may be used a maximum of [1] time per OOC day.

REDLINES:

• Pale Clotting freezes an eidola’s bleed out timer. It does not protect them from incurring additional damage while clotted.
• Should an Eidola incur too much damage, defined as four major breaches of the carapace, Pale Clotting cannot be used - there would be too great an area to clot.
• Pale Clotting may not be recast if interrupted past the [3] emotes of casting for the next 24 OOC hours.
• Pale Clotting may accelerate lifewater leakage, halving the eidola’s bleedout timer. Halved numbers will always round up to the nearest whole number, so 1.5 will become 2 emotes until a full bleed.
• Pale Clotting cannot be used if an eidola has already lost more than half of its lifewater.
• A freeform tell must be made clear through emotes in roleplay during the connecting and casting process, such as ectoplasm coming out from the palelord towards the wounds of the paleknights.

 

Exaltation

"I am made anew once more."

 

Made one with their Menhir, the Pale Lord is granted an ascendancy unlike other phantoms; and even the Wight Barrowlords are no exception. With this, those who have taken up Pale Lordship are rendered immune to the effects of Mysticism Handling and Anchoring, bound by no mind but their own; tethered to the Mortal Plane by will and stone. This does, however, come at great detriment, which forbids the Lord from reassuming their form upon obliteration, left to stagnate and fester in the Wastes should they come to perish. 

 

Exaltation is the name for the ritual in which a Palelord is resurrected from death. Unlike Eidola, Lords do not respawn naturally over time and instead must be recreated from their “Throne”.  Should a Lord exist without a throne for longer than [2] OOC weeks, they will be permanently PKed, thrown into the depths of the Sousltream and unable to be resurrected as any other Undead CA.

 

Before death, a Palelord will make an object denoted as their throne. These do not have to be thrones in the literal sense, but instead are large objects of Menhirous stone from which they may be reborn. These may be sculpted to take whatever shape the lord wishes, but they must not be small and will always be at least the height of the lord. The lord must then denote this object as a throne through pouring a fraction of their lifewaters over it, tethering them, and their soul, to the mortal plane.

 

When a lord dies, they may be resurrected by a gathering of [3] Mystics, who have been taught how to perform Exaltation. This knowledge is not innate within Mysticism, and is exclusive knowledge of palelord CA holders unless they share it.

 

The Mystics must gather around a chunk of menhir from the Lord’s death, or a menhir craft constructed by the Lord. At this, they should fuel the Lord’s throne with [9] liturgies of ectoplasm, enwreathing it, and then pushing the soul contained within the menhir/craft and trapping it within the throne. Over the course of [1] OOC day from the last emote, the Lord will begin to take form from out of the throne, and a new throne must be constructed.

REDLINES:

•  Only one throne may be placed at a time and requires a nearby ST sign to denote its legitimacy.

• Requires 3 mystics and consumes 9 liturgies of ectoplasm. 
• Lords will be playable once more after 1 OOC day from the last emote of the ritual.
• Thrones may not be small and must be at least the height of the Lord (1m = 1 block). Players are encouraged to form these objects into meaningful shapes and structures, as their maximum size is not limited.
• Thrones take 4-5 hits in the same spot to break them, no matter their size.
• Thrones may have ghostly aesthetics, such as fog with faces or wisps floating around them.
• Thrones may at most be behind 1 redstone doors or 2 iron doors. Should any more be in the way, they will be invalidated. 
•  A lord will feel uneasy when their throne is destroyed or should they not have one. A lord must be notified should their throne be destroyed.
• If a Lord goes 2 weeks without a throne, their soul will untether and they will be hard PKed.
• A fragment of the lord is required for the resurrection ritual, meaning that someone must grab a piece of stone, or a menhir craft, when they die or they will be lost forever.

PHYSICAL WEAKNESSES
MALFLAME	Malflame is a hellish fire that latches onto anything soul-bearing. As the lifewaters are what slicken menhir, and menhir is constantly damp with the lifewater, menhir itself is a soul-bearing substance. An eidola must dedicate one turn to extinguishing malflame on their person, lest it spread, and are otherwise subject to its standard redlines, with menhir melting in one concentrated spot across 3 emotes.
BLUNT ATTACKS	Blunt attacks, specifically from sledgehammer-like weapons cause reverberations across the hollow stone of the eidolon.  These reverberations, when they cross around the paleknight’s body and meet, crashing together, form ruptures that can be repeatedly hit and weakened until a breach forms - generally 2-3 strikes from a hammer can cause a rupture.
CHIPPING ATTACKS	Similarly, chipping attacks cause reverberations. In this case, though, they would require more precision and likely repeated strikes onto the same area as the stone is literally chipped off, and thinned. The impact of the weapon, though, would have a similar effect to a blunt attack, causing a rupture within 2-3 strikes.
DRAGONSFLAME	Dragonsflame spewed from the maw of a Nephilim has sent many a paleknight to their grisly end. Similar to malflame, dragonsflame takes 3 emotes concentrated on the same spot to melt a hole into the menhir. This does not have to be continuous, it merely has to be targeting the same section of rock.
FIRE EVOCATION	Flames from a fire evocationist, while they are certainly frightful, are not nearly as pressing of a threat as dragonsflame or malflame. Five emotes of concentrated fire spewed onto the same spot, continuous or not, would cause menhir to melt.
AURUM/SLAYERSTEEL	Aurum (or slayersteel) does not have any particular benefit against the hard carapace of a paleknight aside from causing maybe minor bubbling as it comes into contact with the residual amounts of lifewater seeping through the porous menhir.   However, should aurum (or slayersteel) cut into substantial portions of the lifewater, for instance, through a breach in the stone exterior, it will cause an intensely debilitating pain as it can cleave through the ectoplasmic liquid as if it was flesh; the pain is akin to unarmored flesh being cut. This pain will force the paleknight to target exclusively the source of said pain, and enrage it, rendering it beyond reasoning for [2] emotes afer the aurum/slayersteel makes contact with the paleknight’s internal lifewater.

 

CREDITS

Framalam (Writer)

BobBox (Previous writing)

Meteor__Dragon (Feedback)

Meowmaxer (Feedback)

Werew0lf (table help)

 

Purpose:

Spoiler

ironing it out before zarsies comes in and destroys the stonebros. im fully willing to cut pale lords as a whole, i tried my best to relegate them to a sort of support position rather than an endgame, char doesnt progress past this CA - i think that was the issue w palelords. added more flavor. Sorry LT, i know this is long, autodeny if u want

 

[wowj 9765]

can i learn?

[Johann 2498]

aint no way we got paleknights zhonyas

 

[xo31 4010]

hey man!!! this lore looks good!!!

3 hours ago, framalam said:

Flames from a fire evocationist, while they are certainly frightful, are not nearly as pressing of a threat as dragonsflame or malflame. Five emotes of concentrated fire spewed onto the same spot, continuous or not, would cause menhir to melt.

what about blue fire man!!!

[ThatFunkyBunch 2818]

I don't care about the rest I saw no more Olog strength 15 foot tall stone boys and I am happy. 

[framalam 837]

1 hour ago, xo31 said:

hey man!!! this lore looks good!!!

what about blue fire man!!!

fire evo isnt any different regardless of the flame, was in the old lore

4 hours ago, wowj said:

can i learn?

its draan bound unfortunately

[Boknice275 1588]

What impact would shaman hexes have on these guys? Similar to malflame?

[luv 3469]

@Zarsiesthey said you were gonna ruin mysticismmmmm 👀

[framalam 837]

5 hours ago, Boknice275 said:

What impact would shaman hexes have on these guys? Similar to malflame?

link and i maybe edit but shamans are going up on the shelf imminently, i tried to cover things that would reasonably have an effect

Edited September 9, 2024 by framalam

[TuggIsHere 54]

I like the CA progression change, should hopefully make this a more fleshed-out version of what it once was. 😁👍

[MercyAzalea 405]

cooked.

[King_Kunuk 3025]

how would magics that drain life force work with these creatures? What about abjuration from void lore (as it can actually hurt ghosts oddly enough, dispelling the mana portion of their ectoplasm) or warding for that matter?

 

I like it tho. Shame ur removing olog strength from pale lords though. Always thought that was something cool about em since they are basically magical brutus golems

[framalam 837]

13 hours ago, King_Kunuk said:

how would magics that drain life force work with these creatures? What about abjuration from void lore (as it can actually hurt ghosts oddly enough, dispelling the mana portion of their ectoplasm) or warding for that matter?

 

I like it tho. Shame ur removing olog strength from pale lords though. Always thought that was something cool about em since they are basically magical brutus golems

i’ve sreqqed about thanhium, and in that case the mana disruption was largely ignored, while the cold aspect made it freeze the waters. the mana defo wouldnt be accessible without a breach, and even with one, MAYBE mobility issues? i think that’d have to be a case by case basis

[Islamadon 9162]

This lore has been denied. You will be sent a forum PM regarding the reasons for denial within the next 24 hours.