Penance

Penance (true name Aldrian Prizma) is one of the main antagonists of Sunset Maiden. Former ruler of the city of Palacio de Sol, Aldrian initiated the project to experiment with Sunset Prominence, leading to the creation of the Angels and the eventual downfall of his own realm. Exposure to the substance reduced him down to a soul, which took on the identity of Penance as a means of dealing with his sins.
==Description==
Penance typically takes on the form of a charred-black, shriveled corpse with bright green eyes and runes dotting his body. His clothes consist of a green hood, a tunic which covers his chest, and a tattered skirt. His forearms are sealed inside large metallic bracers, which crackle with green energy. This is not Penance's true form, however, as the game insinuates that it is merely the form of the corpses he possesses.
Penance can occasionally be seen taking on the form of a small wisp of green smoke after a body he is possessing is slain; this is implied to be his true form.
==Personality==
In memory sequences, Aldrian is shown as being a laid-back and passive individual, ruling Palacio de Sol with a gentle touch and preferring to solve things peaceful if at all possible. He was known for having an insatiable curiosity and an exceptional level of scientific prowess, especially in the fields of biology and chemistry, leading to his renaming the position of king "Alchitect" in reference to his borderline magical chemical prowess. This seems to insinuate that though kindhearted, Aldrian did have a bit of an ego. Though he was known to love his wife dearly, he seems to have no qualms about enabling them to hurt themselves in the pursuit of scientific knowledge, as evidenced by his wife Radiana's experiments with Sunset Prominence and her eventual transformation into the Sunset Maiden.
The tragic events that lead to the downfall of Palacio de Sol has left Aldrian a hardened, near-emotionless spirit, lacking much of the joy and kindness he once possessed. Though he remains passive and laidback whenever he appears, he now has much more tension behind his tone of voice, and is more likely to act aggressively towards others. Seeing his trapped soul as a means to pay for his sins in life, he now attempts to drive others from the ruins of his former realm, preventing them by threat of death from discovering its secrets or abusing Radiana's powers.
==Abilities==
Penance is effectively a ghost, lacking any capability to die or be harmed aside from choosing to end his own existence. However, this prevents him from interacting with any form of tangible object without using a host. As such, he has taken to using corpses across Palacio de Sol as bodies, simply leaving the damaged shell upon defeat and using this as a method to remain effectively immortal and everlasting.
Regardless of body, Penance is able to generate toxic materials as an offensive technique. This can manifest in the form of either green gas or green crystals, but either variant is hazardous to the touch and can cause mental maladies and burning sensations if contacted. Penance's cause of death, as well as the crystalline and gaseous forms of the ability, seem to hint at it being related to a corrupt form of Sunset Prominence. Penance is also a swordsman, though compared to Malya and other swordfighters seen in the Pyroverse, he is quite clunky and inexperienced, wielding only a standard broadsword.
Penance, like Malya, possesses the ability to activate and control Sol technology via physical contact, though his enhanced knowledge of the technology as well as his body-jumping abilities make this more versatile than Malya's.
==Appearances==
===Sunset Maiden===
Penance's debut, he first appears as a hostile NPC in Lune City. After this first encounter, he will randomly appear throughout the map to harass the player; however, if the player begins seeking out Memory Sequences, Penance will begin actively chasing them down instead. Though he can be killed, dropping massive amounts of Sol and SP, he cannot be killed for good, as he will merely show up again later.
If the player has collected every Memory Sequence in the game, enabling them to obtain the Truechild Glyph in the Memorial Chamber, Penance will spawn in the area for a final battle. As the Memorial Chamber has been filled with the corpses Penance uses to reincarnate, the player will have to deal with multiple versions of him at the same time. Once all of the bodies are exhausted, Penance's spirit regains his clarity before passing on.
==Trivia==
*Penance was inspired by the Abyss Watchers of Dark Souls 3, and was based on the concept of a single entity utilizing a multitude of identical bodies to fight the player at once.
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