Demons of Nysse

in: Races, Demons

## Nysse

A gloomy land of sweeping forests that consist of mostly dead trees and an all encompassing mist shrouding everything in sight:  crumbling ruins in various states of disrepair fill the dead forests and drifting mists of this place.  The shades of Nysse prey upon any who find their way into this realm, striking from the shrouded forests and forgotten places deep within the mists.  The paths through the realm are difficult to travel and easy to become lost within.  Lone travelers often become lost within the twisting paths, but whole armies are also said to have gone missing within the oppressive mists and dark forests.  Throughout the whole of the realm is the ever present smell of rot and decaying plant matter accompanied often by the gaunt and rotting forms of diseased animals stalking the mistlands.  The Lord of Nysse is said to be able to send storms anywhere he desires within his realm, capable of causing any who stay too long within them to lose themselves and forget what they were entirely.  Though the forests are filled with various forgotten places, there are still a few places that are ever present.

## Places of Note

### The Mistwood

The great forest that covers most of the landscape of Nysse, this forest is one massive continuous stretch of dead and decaying trees and omnipresent mist.  The paths of this forest are suspected to move and change as travelers progress further into the realm and things forgotten have a way of appearing in the road from time to time,  only to vanish once more the moment the traveler looks away.

### Greycourt

A vast crumbling estate that rises out of the mists at the center of the Mistwood.  The manor itself is covered in crumbling rooms ever shrouded in shadow.  Its dark interiors are unknown to all, but the most unlucky of travelers report nothing but endless hallways of empty rooms in various states of decay.  It is from this crumbling edifice that Maeror himself rules his realm.  His shades and plaguebearers dwell within and around his mansion, serving the whims and will of their Lord.  It is guarded jealously by the master of the domain, and the Mist seems to seep from every gap in its vast rooftop.  It is rumored that the walls of the innermost chambers of the estate contain records of every one of his many grudges, and that they are vast indeed.

### The Lost Hamlets

While not a single location itself, the Lost Hamlets dot the landscape of the Mistwood.  Decaying villages where lost souls that have lost all identity toil and work in a strange mockery of the living world.  It is these lost souls that produce those things needed by the realm and its great and terrible lord.  Those who end up here are mortal and demon alike, nearly mindless save for the tasks that they perform.  These lost souls are the unlucky ones who have made poor pacts, wandered too far into the mists, or stumbled through a doorway into the wastes rumored to open when great despair fills a place in the mortal world.

## Greater Demons of Nysse

### Zarun’kath, Mistress of Fear

A Greater Demon fueled by the fears of the mortal mind, she has grown powerful in the age of conflict and warfare.  Rising to the ranks of one of Maeror’s most reliable followers and capable of spreading her terror far and wide with the faintest of whispers, Zarun’kath’s powers are far greater when it comes to affecting the mortal realm. The Lady of Terror is even capable of instilling fear in the very hearts of demons as well.  While she is an extremely powerful demon, her powers rely entirely on instilling fear in others and as a result, she has little power over her fearless master.  She spends much of her time trying to find something that Maeror might be afraid of, ever looking to gain power over him.  While she does this work, which is no secret to Maeror, she dwells within a difficult to access attic room in the Greycourt, content to send shades of her own out to spread fear and terror among the hearts of men.  This is to harvest their terror and feed those fears back into the nightmares she spreads throughout the dreams of mortalkind.

Demons that serve the Mistress of Fear are often quite gaunt and often pale white in coloration.  They enjoy nothing more than spreading terror and are typically identifiable by webbing that hangs from their bodies.  They usually have fangs dripping with some vile fluid and eyes of solid black.  In nature, they lurk in shadows, but are keen on letting others see the terrible acts they  perpetrate on others, so they might enjoy the fear of those who are watching.

### Harakvard the Festering

The Greater Demon known as Harakvard the Festering is sometimes also referred to as the Festering Hope.  He is an enormous bloated creature with the upper body of a man and the lower body of an enormous rat.  Once in ages long past, he was said to be a man from one of the northern races, proud and eager to spread warfare and bloodshed.  As he aged, he found a disdain for the continued pain and suffering of his ravaged body.  Afflicted with some dread disease that kept him in a state of constant anguish, he longed for death until the day a coven of vampires came to his village.  They drank the blood and killed all of its inhabitants, turning many of them into creatures of the night.  Harakvard, however, proved to be something they did not expect.  When they tried to turn him, the disease that afflicted him prevented him from dying and instead spread to the vampire and for the first time in years… lessened his own pain.  He took this as a sign and began to spread his illness, making himself better while preventing the coven from consuming any more tribes.  The pain of the disease causes others to spread it as well.  As a demon, he dwells within the rotten places of the Mistwood,  spreading his dread affliction to demons and occasionally mortals when he finds his way to the mortal world.  His own personal plague, a dread yet blessed thing.

Demons that follow Harakvard are all afflicted with some terrible rotting illness and find themselves in a state of near constant pain.  They long to spread their diseases to others to lessen their own pains, if even for a moment.  They despise vampires and other afflictions with a zealous hate, never working alongside such a creature.  In appearance, those who follow the Festering Hope carry a sickly yellow appearance.  Puss drips from their orifices and they all carry an ever bleeding wound on their necks reminiscent of infected vampire bites.

## Appearances and Abilities

### Demons of Nysse

Demons of Nysse are usually some shade of gray or green in color, and either have smooth skin or sometimes skin pockmarked by the seeming ravages of illness. Wings are less common among them than among other types of demons, though some carriers of Maeror’s wasting diseases find their wings indispensable in helping them spread despair. Horns are usually more understated than other sorts of demons though are still often present, and they as commonly do not have tails as they do have them. Some may sport milky white eyes that would indicate blindness in other races, but do not hamper the demon’s own ability to see.

**Special Ability: Virulent Disease** - By touching a target with their unclean hands,coughing, or sneezing upon them, a demon of Nysse may attempt to infect them with a virulent disease of their choosing. They may choose an itching pox, vomit-inducing nausea, pus-filled buboes, or a sweating sickness. If successfully infected, the victim begins to develop symptoms within a matter of hours and is potentially contagious. This attempt should be accompanied by an emote, which adequately gives a clue as to the danger of the touch or fluid ejection. If successful, the demon cannot use this ability to infect another target for twenty four hours. It can still be spread from victim to victim within that time, however, and the intensity of this demonic disease means that it will not go away on its own. It can be treated medically, or removed as a curse with magic. This ability may also be used thematically to infect plant and non-human animal life.

#### **RPR Stats**

* **Target(s):** 1 person
* **Dice Modifier(s)**: Support Casting
* **Difficulty Class:** Target rolls Resist Disease
* **Cost(s):** None
* **Effect(s):** The user gives an infectious disease to target.
* **Cooldown:** 24 hours

**Special Ability: Shadow Manipulation** - The demon is able to twist and pull at the existing shadows around them, changing their shape and causing them to deepen and even move. They can use this ability to create shadowy illusions, to enhance their own ability to move unseen, and myriad other applications. However, the shadows cannot be given substance of their own and cannot physically touch or interact

#### **RPR Stats**

* **Target(s):** Self
* **Dice Modifier(s)**: Support Casting
* **Difficulty Class:** Fixed (1)
* **Cost(s):** None
* **Effect(s):** The user surrounds themselves with the darkness, giving them +5 to stealth.
* **Cooldown:** 4 hours

**Special Ability: Shrouded Form** - The demon may use its inherent magic to disguise themselves as a human version of their demonic form. Their demonic features are hidden and replaced with human characteristics. They have access to only this extra form, and cannot change its appearance with this ability. If they are downed in combat, the illusion breaks, and they are revealed in their full demonic splendor. Certain abilities and items are capable of seeing through or defeating this illusion. They must change to the human slider range while using this ability.

#### **RPR Stats**

* **Target(s):** Self
* **Dice Modifier(s)**: Disguise
* **Difficulty Class:** Fixed (1)
* **Cost(s):** None
* **Effect(s):** The user veils themselves with an illusion to hide their features as a human.
* **Cooldown:** 30 Minutes

**Weakness: Fiendish Nature** - Demons can never receive benefits from the benevolent powers of the Holy or Nature spheres of magic. They can still be negatively affected by these spheres, and may even be especially vulnerable to certain abilities.

**Weakness: Lingering Corruption**- A demon who has been injured cannot hide their nature any longer.  As per the Shrouded Form ability, when a demon is injured they are revealed for what they are.  While Injured a demon cannot make use of their Shrouded Form, nor do any of their racial abilities function until they are recovered from their wounds.  The nature of their corrupt blood brings chaos in the realm of mortals, even to the demon’s own power.