LeviathanTempest:RavenDumpingGround

Marduk

When I wrote Marduk I used the Hunter Conspiracies as a guide, this included a selection list of charachter concepts; while I was satisfied with the results I cut it for being unsuited to an Antagonist faction. But I'm stashing them here for safekeeping.

You grew up in a remote village until one day people started to act odd. You tried to talk them to their senses but nothing worked, by the time they officially became a cult you barely recognised people you grew up with all your life. You fled, leaving your family behind, and the Marduk Society showed you that you could stop it happening to anyone else.

You were born to walk the corridors of power, a lobbyist or an “advisor” pushing others to the paths you wanted. Then one day the Marduk Society called your number. Now you’re playing in the big leagues.

You were a historian studying fringe religions and you noticed a recurring pattern of cults across centuries cantered around one family. You went to speak with their descendents and you found the cult was alive again; it really was as bad the records claimed. You’re still scared that you are capable of such violence, of committing murder, but the Marduk Society’s therapists are helping.

You’re everything a hero is supposed to be: strong, just, and not bad to look at either. You’ve been protecting humanity for most of your life, the wounds are caching up and age isn’t helping either. But you can’t stop now; you’d never live with yourself if you left decent humans to their mercy.

The blood of the Tribe runs in your family and for all your youth you dreamed of ascending to godhood. Then your brother started changing and you just couldn’t accept your role as a servant. The Marduk Society promised you could take your birthright, until then revenge isn’t bad.

You were an archaeologist and you made the find of a lifetime. Relics older than any civilisation known to man, you had so many questions but your papers never reached the journals, they reached Marduk who offered answers and a job. You don’t go hunting but you respect the people who do, and try to make sure they know what they’re facing.

The Disciples

Will we ever do more with the sky wizards? If we do mythologically appropriate names (I'm thinking 12 of them)

• [Sirsir]
• [Enki]

Seven Seven splat models

I'm not personally too keen on the 5/2 splat model we have now. Mostly its that we have seven Vestages and Seven Vices, I quite want a player splat associated with all seven. That would also leave us room for seven minor splats for a "round the world tour".

PC Splats

PC Should all come from the Ancient Near East For that birth of civilization feel. Currently we have:

• Bahamut: Sloth, Vitality (Awareness, Fecundity, Might)
• Dagon: Pride, Fecundity (Elements, Predation, Sanctity)
• Nu: Gluttony, Elements (Awareness, Sanctity, Vitality)
• Oceanus: Lust, Sanctity (Elements, Might, Predation)
• Tanin: Wrath, Predation (Awareness, Might, Vitality)

That leaves Greed and Evny and the following Channels.

•  ????? Awareness, Fecundity
•  ????? Might, Fecundity

With Predation, Elements, Vitality and Sanctity to divide as wished.

In terms of physical neich:

• Bahamut, Gentle Giant: Fish/Whale/Everything
• Dagon, Just plain weird: Deap Sea Fish/Everhthing (update to Deep Sea Fish/Barnacle/starfish/Everything)
• Nu, The squishy ones: Tadpole/Jellyfish/Other spinless ocean life/Everything
• Oceanus, The pretty ones: Tropical Fish/Marine Mammal/Everything
• Tanin, The pointy ones: ?????/Everything: Tannin's page dosn't actually give any hint to what they look like besides "no weakness" and lots of weapons. Maybe add in Sea Serpent/Whale/Everything?

We don't seem to have crustations at all and while Kraken would go under Nu physically (on it's weakest front) you'd really want them to favor might (it's the ship crushing and the many tenticals one) So maybe Might could have Crustation/Octopus/Squid/Everything as the Might Splat. The Awareness splat could be based around the Benthic hiding on the floor but seeing all.

Lahamin

[Picture: Central. A woman is entering a wooden cabin. She is young, around 16 and pretty. She wears a brown waterproof coat over torn jeans with sturdy rubber boots. All her clothes are muddy and show the signs of an outdoor life. She carries two large fish over her shoulder, the fish are dripping water down her back. The woman is blond with roughly cut short hair and has unnaturally large brown eyes that are too far apart. You can see patches of mud coloured skin on her arms, they are irregular and look smooth.]

[The Symbol of Lahamu: Half a Nautilus shell. There have been holes cut out inside the separation between each chamber, and a dark liquid is flowing from one chamber to the next, until it leaks out of the shell in a small pool below.]

Morphology

The descendants of Lahmu are expected to be subtle and secretive as was their ancestor. Direct action is often thought of as crude or unrefined by the Lahamin, instead the Strain favours networks of Cultists placed within centres of wealth and power and vast hordes of stolen secrets. Rarely seen the eyes and infleunce of the Lahamin can be felt everywhere. This does serve to prejudice the Tribe against them with assumptions that the Lahamin avoid personal involvement or are outright cowards. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Tribes natural weaponry comes easily to the Lahmin, unsuspecting direct confrontation their enemies fall to bristling spines and deadly venoms.

Progenitor

The Lahamin claim ancestry of the Progenitor Lahamu, a being of boundless wisdom and unchallenged sight whose gift of prophecy guided the tribe and their mortal followers from the darkest depths of the primordial ocean.

Genetics

The descendants of Lahamu are reputed to give birth in numbers. Their numerous healthy offspring stand upon a legacy of stillbirths and early graves. Though the bloodline is nurturing to those it spares, the Lahamin are not. At best they make indifferent and neglectful parents, the others never see their children at all. They walk out on their families or abandon eggs to the mercy of nature. All too often the Lahamu must start their search into their family history by finding their genetic parents.

Their Lemashu claim the Mahhu. Lemashu gifted with prophecy but forever scarred by the touch of Lahmu's blood. Mahhu are often born with damaged bodies or crippled minds.

Evolution

From the sea floor came the Lahamin and too the sea floor they return. The true form of the the Lahamu bloodline is one of contrasts encompassing soft worms and the exoskeletons of trilobites, snails and shellfish. Alternatively squamous or rigid their forms are camouflaged against the seabed with prominent unblinking eyes or antenna against the murky depths.

Ecology

The Lahamin tend to have the smallest Cults of the Tribe, each member tends to be carefully chosen for what they can offer with a bias towards formal power and status. A Lahamin's Cult is often not a formal organisation, many exist as an informal web of contacts with the Leviathan invisible but ever watchful at the centre.

Vestiges

Awareness, Fecundity, Predation, Sanctity

Symbols and Associations

The sea of Larwi, the Arabian Sea, the vice of Envy

Concepts

Shadowy information broker, deep sea treasure hunter, neighbourhood gossip, determined reporter, deep cover agent, internet addict.

Quote

"You heard that I pay well for juicy gossip. So you've decided to come here, find out what you can take from me. But as it turns out, there is nothing you know I'm interested in, because I've been watching you, honey, and everything you know, I already know. So the question now becomes, what are you willing to pay to get out of here in one piece?"

Thalassa

[Picture: Central. A man sits in an office doing paperwork. He is old, and wearing a field grey suit over a white shirt and chequered neck-tie. All his clothing is frayed and looks lived in. The man is bald with liver spots, he is exceptionally thin with hollow cheeks and sunken eyes but has broad shoulders. His right arm is in a plaster cast. The shape of a crab like claw is visible through the cast. The room around him is cramped with peeling walls. The furniture is trying to look expensive but is cheep and battered.]

[The Symbol of Thalassa: A Mycenean-style funerary mask made of gold, with very simple shapes for eyes (basically one slit for the top of the eye, one for the bottom and a third in the middle for the closed eyelid). The edge of the mask is frayed or ripped apart. The bottom represents chelicera like a crab's where the mouth should be.]

Morphology

The Thalassans are said to be the Strain most touched by their Vice, cursed with an unholy apatite for wealth and material pleasures tempered by a mercantile instinct and a habit of playing within the system. After all an ancient demigod leading a cult of violent zealots to conquer the city usually ends up dead, an ancient demigod leading a cult of high priced lawyers ends up rich. Even among the Tribe money carries a loud voice, Those Thalassans who thrive dominate the perception of their Strain while their less successful kin, facing the same problems as any other Leviathan, find the expectations placed upon them just mean their failures hurt the more and receive less sympathy from their kin.

Progenitor

The Thalassans claim to be the descendants of the Progenitor Thalassa, the mother of fishes. A being of immense power who forged islands with mighty claws or shattered them with one blow of her many arms. She was feared and revered by merchants and sailors who would pay tribute in return for safe passage.

Genetics

The Children of Thalassa are reputed to demonstrate abundant fecundity or possess the ability to weather the rigours of reproduction but rarely do they combine both traits in a single being. Mortal bloodlines touched the Thalassans may have a large family tree marked with dead ends and weaknesses or they will be small and if not lightly touched by the Tribe then they will carry the toughness needed to bear their heritage.

The union of Thalassan blood with mankind produces Alphestes. The Alphestes are characterised by both prodigal strength and the mercurial drive of their forfathers but with neither the leadership or skill. Many end up as hired muscle or right hand men.

Evolution

When manifesting their divine natures the Thalassans thrive where the sea meets the land, they are most at home in beaches or rocky pools and living far from the safety of the depth grow strong shells or exoskeletons with mighty claws or grasping tentacles.

Ecology

Thalasans are known to drill their cult towards unity and cooperation, not for moral or aesthetic reasons but because they respect that a unified Cult is that much more effective than constant infighting over status and favour. This is aided by the wealth that successful members of the Strain possess, when times are good rewards flow freely in a Thalasan's Cult but this unity is founded on fundamentally selfish values. When times are bad order breaks down as Cultists turn on each-other seeking to escape with what they can carry and their lords favour.

Vestiges

Might, Elements, Fecundity, Vitality

Symbols and Associations

The sea of Sanji, the Myrtoan Sea, the Vice of Greed.

Quote

"Can I put a value on godhood? Can I estimate the worship of men and the adoration of children ? Can I put a price on the heritage of the heavens? Hell yes I can. Everything I have, everything my heritage gives me, has been taken from another. I am a tick, sucking at the blood of society. The only redeeming feature, the only one, is that all of it was given freely."

NPC Splats

There's actually quite a few mentioned already in chapter one:

• Cipactli. Listed as the first deviner in chapter one. Maybe take Awareness from Vasuki.
  • South America, Awareness, Gluttony.
• Sanna more commonly known as Senda. Hard to place her in mechanics, Gluttony or Pride both work depending on which story you go for (Pride as Gluttony is taken by Cipactli). Mother of seals may point to Fecundity - that part of the story is a dead match for Womb of Terrors.
  • North America, Fecundity, Pride
• Jormungandr. Not sure about vices but given that it's thing is size and poison: Vitality.
  • Europe, Vitality
• Isonade, one of the two current NPC splats. We gave it might as a Primay: It's myth has it killing people by strikeing the beach. Elements (associated with storms) and Predation (it's a shark) make a good secondary. This drops Scantity which was given because its cults tend to be in human places of wealth a power, I'd suggest giving that trait to Ocean or one of the new guys.
  • Japan/East Asia, Might (Elements, Predation)
• NagaRaja
  • India (yes I know, but with Europe being north Europe and Asia being east asia there's room for an India splat. We can't exactly do Antarctica).
• Tangaroa
  • Oceania
• Arnapkapfaaluk. Sanctity
  • Africa.

One of the things I'm thinking of is that the NPC splats only get a choice of two Vestiages for their second pick, this is because they have a smaller gene pool rather than less power.

Primordial Icons.

Just a couple of things I made to flavour the Progenitors.

I got this idea from the Demigod opening video. The art style is supposed to be the same as the icons of the demigods seen around 1 minuet in. Obviously this is not meant to be an accurate description of the progenitors.

[Picture A carved stone wall depicting the progenitors in crude drawings.

In the centre of the carving is an icon of Nu: A slightly deformed circle with a wave symbol in the centre. From the top, anticlockwise are:

Bahamat: A fish 1.5 times the size of the other progenitors.
Dagon: An eal with a fish's head. It's body is positioned like an S, its belly is swollen in pregnancy.
Nagaraga: A huge eye, four tentacles emerge from the corners.
Isonade: A shark who's body curls to make a circle, its tail is disproportionately large.
Oceanus: A dolphin drawn vertically so it crudely approximates a man. It's tail splits at what would be half way between the ankles and knees and its flippers are held apart from the body. It's face looks almost human.
Tanin: The head of a sea serpent with a mighty jaw.

And here's a poem. In the words are hints to the close relationship between Dagon, Oceanus and Isonade (they each share three favoured Channel with eachother) and the primary Channel of each

Once there were seven.
Once three went to the surface and four the depths.
Once Eldest Nu became sea and sky.
Once Unchained Bahamut grew in deep places.
Once Watchful Nagaraja hid beneath and saw all.
Once Unbending Tanin hunted across oceans.
Once Hierarch Dagon birthed and buried multitudes.
Once Enchanting Oceanus called from the rivers.
Once Graceful Isonode broke islands with a blow.
Once there were seven.
Mother Tiamat above all.
Now there are none.

Rituals

Quick question: is mechanical benefits for human sacrifice a step too far?

New Merit. Cult Colony (OOOOO). Requires Zeal (OOO). You're cultists live apart from society, Because they are freed from needing to manage time between worship and the rest of the world you may order far more rituals or tasks, replace per story with per week. However with this you're abandoning any attempt at blending in. It becomes significantly easier for police, Marduk or even worried family to track you down: They get a +1 bonus per dot of numbers to find the location of your colony.

All Leviathan's possess vast psychic powers outside of, certain Vestiges and Birthrights these are unfocused, useless for any practical purpose beyond the blunt instrument of the Wake. But by using their cult as a lens a Leviathan can focus their natural power into a fine scalpel.

Cultists aren't a continent resource that can be brought up for rituals and packed away until they're needed, they have lives and commitments. Performing a Ritual requires planning, a Leviathan gets five “ritual points” per dot of Cult numbers for a story. Performing a ritual takes a number of points equal to its dots. If the time is inconvenient such as a working day charge one extra point, also charge one extra point if the cultists were not given sufficient warning. Assume it takes 24 hours warning per dot of the rituals rank.

Unless stated otherwise all rituals have a dicepool of Sheol + Zeal – rank and take one hour per dot of rank to complete. Attempting a Ritual without a cult requires a Sheol – Rank - 3 roll.

Ritual of Worship (O)

Through the worship of their cultists a Leviathan can send a strand of thought back through their bloodline to connect with their divine heritage and the power that is their birthright.

Dramatic Failure: The Leviathan feels the sting of rejection, being denied their heritage costs a point of Willpower.
Failure: The Leviathan reaches with their mind but is unable to find anything.
Success: The Leviathan regains Ichor equal to their cult's Zeal + Successes.
Exceptional Success: Connecting with their divine heritage reassures the Leviathan of their place in the world. In addition to Ichor the Leviathan regains a point of Willpower or indulge the Vice of Pride. Players choice.

Ritual of Scrying (O)

The leviathan departs their body to spy unseen.

Dramatic Failure: The Leviathan leaves their body but without a thread to guide them home. Lose a point of willpower and roll one die, it takes that many hours to find your way home.
Failure: The Leviathan remains within their body.
Success: Each success lets the Leviathan travel further. 10 miles for a single success, 20 miles for two successes and so on.
Exceptional Success: In addition to the distance a Leviathan gains +1 to all perception rolls during their scrying.

While in this state a Leviathan is in both Twilight and Apotheosis with full access to their Ancestral Channels. The Leviathan is vulnerable to weapons that can affect beings in Twilight using Willpower in place of health, should their last point of Willpower be lost the Leviathan is thrown into deep unconsciousness and will wake when they have rested enough to gain a point of willpower.

Defences against supernatural spying such as a Mage's wards manifest as physical barriers. It takes an Wits + Occult roll to sneak by or an Strength + Brawl roll to smash through which may sound the alarm.

Finally the Leviathan cannot benefit from Vestiges that require Ichor, or Vestiges that involve psychic powers: It has travelled too far from its physical brain to make use of them. Purely physical Vestiges such as Mortal Devouring armoury still work but only against other beings in Twilight.

Ritual of Prophecy (OO) Needed for Oroborus' Kin but I'm not sure how to write it.