From: Chris Clements Subject: "Deluvian"; Possible EiF Spoilers 'Deluvian' Humfried stalked into his room, slamming the door behind him. Lighting a candle to drive away the darkness, he sat on the edge of his bed, cursing. Sounds of the city drifted lazily into his temporary haven through an open window and the naked flame of the candle danced in the gentle breeze which had stolen its way in as well. The flickering light awoke the sleeping shadows on the walls, causing them to sway back in forth in an akward parody of life. "Where are they? I know they're here, they have to be. I've come to far to loose them now. 'Seekers of Pleasures and Pain', bah! If I find them, all they'll know is pain..." Humfried muttered as he clenched his hands in frustration. "I've come too far... Selene, oh Selene. I'm sorry...". Tears rolling down his rough face, he stared off into the corner of his room at a large full length mirror. The reflection was his, but it was different somehow. More captivating. Humfried continued to gaze at his doppleganger, oblivious to the passing time. The room began to grow cold and the lone candle's flame turned from a brilliant orange into a muted grey color. Noises from the outside faded away into the night. Humfried found himself enwrapped in absolute silence. Strangest of all, his reflection began to glow with a soft blue illumination. Terrified of the changes around him, Humfried shook himself out of his trance and stood up from the bed. "Peace, good Humfried. I am here in answers to your prayers. I serve the higher powers and have come to give you aid in your direst need", his illuminated reflection said to him in a soft, beautiful voice that calmed his soul. "You hunt the Seekers of Pleasure and Pain, yes? I know where they are". "Who.. who are you? What do you know of my quest?" "I know the pain that lies within your soul, Humfried. It is a wound that bites deeper than any hurt of the flesh. You display it with every breath you take... how could I not know of it? Or of the ones who caused it?", the figure remarked soothingly. "You are an envoy of... of the gods?" Humfried's jaw was dropped in obvious shock as comprehension dawned upon him. "I serve those who wish to guide you, yes. You shall be our champion, Humfried; our sword. Will you accept the path fate has decreed for you?" the angelic voice answered. "Yes! I will be your tool, just lead me to those foul perverts so I may avenge my fair Selene!" "Good. They shall be yours..." "Praise Sigmar! Thank you.. er, what is your name?" "Deluvian. I am Deluvian..." the figure whispered. -- Notes: Deluvian is an entity of the warp that meddles constantly in the affairs of mortals, passing itself off as a servant of the 'higher powers'. In reality, Deluvian is a servant of the chaos god Tzeentch, though this is not by its choice. This daemonic creature has manipulated humanity through the centuries to do the Changer of the Ways bidding. It is a truly cunning creature that plays upon the mortals faults and its seductive words are to be feared. It only appears through reflective surfaces (such as mirrors, pools of water, etc.) as the viewer's image. Deluvian always has a soft pale glow surrounding its frame while it communicates with its chosen 'champion'. This 'champion' is fed information from Deluvian that is full of half-truths which is intended to guide the individual towards a goal of Tzeentch's designs. Often rival cults are exposed, lending credence to Deluvian's words. Even small groups of Tzeentch cultists could be exposed if it serves their master's needs. In the end, however, the individual will be betrayed in one manner or another by Deluvian (i.e. the person is told that a powerful political figure is a servant of chaos, even though he is not, in hopes that the champion will assassinate him). Long exposure to Deluvian wears on the sanity of the mind, but it is not from the danger of terror that lies behind its visage. The sound of its voice is the true hazard. It serves to unravel the threads of reality to those who hear it for any long lengths of time, inducing delusions of conspiracies and corruption. This type of madness is implanted and is difficult to detect. Subtlety is the key to Deluvian's corrupting ability; it generally feeds its 'champion' the information the character wants to hear. The only condition it places on the 'champion' is to keep its aid completely secret ("I am for you to know about alone. Only you are worthy..."). One trick that Deluvian is fond of is manipulating over a dozen people (usually important people) to pull an amazingly complicated scheme off. If the pcs decide that Deluvian is a threat, or act against its plans, then it will manipulate its other 'champions' to remove the pcs. Woe betide the pcs if an important official has fallen under Deluvian's spell and the daemon has it in for them... Deluvian M WS BS S T W I A Dex Ld Int Cl Wp Fel * 0 0 0 0 - 90 0 0 89 88 91 91 86 6 59 50 5 5 25 90 3 89 89 88 91 91 86 (the second pair of stats is only if Deluvian materializes {which means someone was foolish enough to summon it} or is attacked by magic). Skills: Arcane language - magick, old slann, druidic, daemonic, illusionist magick; blather, charm, demon lore, etiquette, history, identify magical artifact, lip reading, magical awareness, magical sense, read/write, rune lore, secret language - classical, battle tounge, guilder, ranger, thieves; secret signs - ranger; story telling, theology, Cast Spells - (see below). Languages: Can speak all mortal languages (a gift of Tzeentch). Powers/Abilities: Each encounter with Deluvian causes its chosen victim to make a WP test at -20, gaining 1 insanity point if they fail. This test and the record of insanity points gained should be kept secret if the 'champion' is a pc. Once six points have been accumulated, the character must then make a CL roll - a failed roll gives the character *'Delusions - Deluvian's truths' (which should also be kept secret from a pc). If the character passes the Cl test, then for each insanity point given to them by Deluvian after the sixth causes them to make the same CL test, with the same results if they fail. Note: This power is ineffective against actively hostile opponents. In addition, each turn Deluvian appears before the character costs it d3 magic points. It only regains magic points by inactivity on this plane, at the rate of d6 per hour. Immune to all physical attacks, magic or otherwise. Magical spells will affect Deluvian's incorporeal body normally. Daemonic Power Points (magic points): 54 Level 1 Battle Magic, and Level 4 Illusionist; Deluvian also may cast the 3rd level Demonologist spell 'Spread Insanity'. (Deluvian has no need of spell ingredients; it can draw upon the warp to feed the material cost of a casting). * Role-playing the Delusion: Make a secret WP test for the affected character, at -20. If the test is failed, the character knows that one piece of fact told to them be Deluvian is the truth. The character will even go so far as to imagine past events differently, plant evidence to support their theory (and then forget about it), or 'find' confirmations to Deluvian's suggestions (they convince themselves). Weakness: The only limit on Deluvian's corrupting abilities is that it is unable to speak the name of any non-chaos diety. It is physically unable to. To make up for this, it will refer to the character's chosen god metaphorically (e.g. if a character worships Ulric - "The one who commands the wolves and winter rules me."). If pressed to say the name of a deity, it will claim it is against that deity's orders. Clever players may take this statement with a understandable caution... Adventure Suggestions: I used Deluvian as a mover behind the scenes. In EiF, I had it responsible for the much of the strange happenings: Emperor Karl-Franz thinking a Dr. from Morrslieb had cured him, the emperor's guard attacking Karl-Franz (believing it the will of Ulric), and it twisted Yorri's soul (corrupting him for Sheerargetru's invasion). I even had it show itself to a pc who worshipped Sigmar and tried to convince her not to allow the hammer to be found. Deluvian is a strange opponent, because its motives are indecipherable to mortal minds. It may only occasionally visit a character, guiding them through its own intricate plans, for which that person is only just a single part of. This daemon is a truly terrifying foe; one that the pcs can not best through physical confrontation but only through cohesive planning, luck, and good hunches. One last word - pcs make great pastsies for the end result of Deluvian's plans. Be forwarned, the 'safe' cities in the Empire just got a bit less 'safe'. Chris Clements chris@atmnet.com "Death? Yeah, I've met him. I wasn't impressed."