Aruma Hemlocke

Aruma Hemlocke is the main antagonist of the Irradiated World. She is the leader and founder of The Flock.

## Aruma Hemlocke

### Aliases

* The Wastewalker
* Mother of Magic
* The Bishop

### Affiliations

* The Old Ones
* The Flock

### Family

* Unnamed Father
* Unnamed Ex-Husband

## Appearance and Character

### Appearance

Aruma is reminiscent of a walking corpse, extremely thin and bony. Her entire body has a sunken appearance, at one point being described as 'wraithlike'. She is extremely tall, around 6'5", with very long and elegant fingers. Her hair is a sickly shade of blonde, pale and limp, usually up in a high ponytail, though is seems to be paradoxically stiff. Her eyes are a deep shade of red, and are accompanied with deep red bruises around her the sockets. Her arms and under-eyes are scarred, raised and pink, patterned in an almost runic fashion.

Aruma is usually seen wearing a long, flowing white and scarlet coat, adding to her ghostly air. She has a brown bandoleer slung across her body containing metal discs. At times, she appears to smoke a long pipe, though the smoke has no smell or discernible effect.

Her aura is very warm and feels as if it’s made up of thousands of rapidly beating, soft wings, but can also feel searing and hostile and invasive.

Aruma speaks with no particular accent.

### Personality

Aruma is cruel and callous. She is completely willing to do anything or harm anything to get her way.

### Abilities

* Magical Abilities
	+ Extreme magical talent, including teleportation and energiamancy and so on. A master spellcaster - if a spell exists, she is likely to know it.
* Stealth
	+ Abilities in stealth remain almost unparalleled. It was one of the skills she trained during the war. She can melt into shadows.

## Personal History

Aruma was born to an extremely rich and powerful family. Her father was, in fact, a founding member of the Modern Wizards, and therefore, she was automatically interred to the cult. She grew up experimenting with magic and becoming more and more steeped into the values presented by the shadow organisation. At some point during her twenties, she underwent a hysterectomy.

Aruma played an extremely significant part in the escalation of the cold war. At the behest of the other wizards, she seduced an important politician, one close to JFK. After his wife disappeared 'under mysterious circumstances', she replaced her and began manipulating him into a pro-nuclear stance. This was instrumental into the events that transpired, leading to her nickname: "The Mother of Magic".

She was extremely close to her father, and his death during the opening of the rifts devastated her. As a result, she fell into a deep depression and became unable to eat, turning to magic to keep her body alive. Her body is extremely weakened and she is constantly casting a thermal ward around herself.

Several years after the new world was established, she took seven apprentices, which eventually evolved into The Flock.

She also, at some point, raised a homunculus.

## Plot

During the encounter in the silo, she telepathically crushes the party's dog.

## Trivia

* Aruma's name is derived from the corpse plant, Titan Arum. Her surname is a combination of hemlock, the poisonous plant, and 'Loke', an alternative spelling of 'Loki'.