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This week's COTW installment is actually a set of eight
characters built around a single story idea - seven
travelling performers, and the sadistic demon that toys with
their psyches. The format will differ slightly, the content
in six separate posts. All contents of all segments (c)
copyright 2000 Volker Bach; this is segment six of six.
THE CURSE OF CHAUGNAR TAAL
About a year ago - when the troupe was passing through
inhospitable country - Mother Soreny made the decision to
camp in the ruins of Coldlairs to have some shelter from
rain and wind. This turned out to be a bad choice, as most
locals would have told them. They disturbed the fitful sleep
of Chaugnar Taal - a demon bound into the rocks there during
the age of the Magewars - and became its first victims in
centuries.
Chaugnar Taal is a fiendish and terrible creature of the
spirit world, far more sophisticated than the
claws-and-tusks variety of demon mages prefer to deal with.
It thrives on suffering and death, and has the power to
alter the minds of men. The Mummers presented a great
opportunity, far too great to simply rend them limb from
limb or turn them upon each other in hate, as it would have
done in its younger days. Instead, Chaugnar Taal chose to
use them as extensions of its will - deliverers of fear and
death to slake the thirst of their demonic master. To add
even finer taste to this delicious plan, the demon contrived
to make them unwilling partners, placing them under his
compulsion helpless, but knowing.
The Mummers are compelled by the will of Chaugnar Taal to
deliver him up a victim at least every month. The troupe
joins in a ritual slaying that gives nourishment and joy to
their taskmaster. Should they not deliver a victim they
would experience fierce cravings for violent death, rising
until one of them runs amok, killing indiscriminately
whoever is at hand. This has not happened yet, and they are
unaware of it. The compulsion to kill is too great for them
to resist long.
The power of Chaugnar Taal is too great for this craving to
end the normal way. Withdrawal can be attempted at the
normal -10 to Will, but even when successful it offers only
temporary respite. The compulsion returns, requiring weekly
Will rolls with mounting penalties over the coming months to
fight it off. The only way to free them from this slavery -
short of killing them - is to destroy or banish the demon.
They themselves are, of course, unable to even attempt this,
as they are bound with strong compulsion not to divulge it.
(A WL roll is necessary to tell any kind of stranger about
the murders, and a WL-3 to even speak of Chaugnar Taal.)
MODUS OPERANDI
The Mummers take great care not to leave too obvious a
trail, or to alert the authorities to their doings. That is
why they confine themselves to lower-class entertainment,
and never travel in the same area long. They do their best
to draw an audience, perform their show, and mingle with the
people seeking out the young and impressionable, the poor,
unloved and unremarkable. Many of them volunteer to follow
the Mummers, drawn by the romance of the open road. Others
grow infatuated with Njala or Kendrik, neither of whom do
anything to discourage such romantic entanglements. Only
once did they resort to abduction.
Once they have their victims in their midst they will sound
them out, trying to establish whether they will be missed by
anyone. If they conclude that killing them will be possible
without risk of investigation, they will seek out a lonely
campsite, suitably far away from the victim's home, and
prepare the slaying. The victim is bound, drugged and placed
in a pit. All Mummers then cut open one of its arteries - at
the wrists, elbows, shoulders, thighs or neck - and stand
around chanting as the unfortunate person bleeds to death,
fully conscious and aware. Chaugnar Taal relishes this kind
of open-eyed terror more than the pain-clouded sensations of
torture.
CHAUGNAR TAAL, fiend of the nether hells
Total Points: 1324.5 points
Most of the time, Chaugnar Taal is invisible. When it
chooses to show his natural form, it appears as an
amorphous, floating blob of fire.
ST 0 [-] - fatigue 10
DX 0 [-]
IQ 18 [125] - senses 18
HT 0 [-]
WL 18 [-]
ADVANTAGES: Cultural Adaptability [25]; Doesn't
Breathe [20]; Doesn't Eat or Drink [10];
Doesn't Sleep [20]; Dominance (Controls 1,000 points
of characters; Gives victim Mental/Social Disadvantages
other than Slave Mentality, +100%; Infects by telepathic
contact instead of bite, +100%; Selective Effect, +50%;
Victims cannot pass infection to others, -25%)
[504]; Extra Fatigue (Psionics only) +10
[20]; Immunity to Disease [10]; Immunity to
Poison [15]; Insubstantiality (Affects substantial
world, +100%; Always on, -50%) [120]; Invisibility
(Normally visible, +10%; Invisible to entire EM spectrum,
+60%; Invisible to sonar, +20%; Invisible to magic sight,
+20%) [84]; Invulnerability (Magic) [100];
Invulnerability (Psionics) [150]; Psychokinesis
(Power 16; No signature, +20%) [80]; Sense of
Perception [100]; Telepathy (Power 16; No signature,
+20%) [80]; Unageing [15].
DISADVANTAGES: Appearance (Monstrous) [-25];
Dependency (Statue in Coldlairs, constantly) [-150];
Overconfidence [-10]; Sadism [-15]; Sessile
[-50].
QUIRKS: Thinks itself superior to humans; Prefers young
victims to murder, but older, experienced ones to possess;
likes to speak to its victims before possessing them.
[-3]
SKILLS: Area Knowledge (Material Plane)-26 [16];
Detect Lies-18 [4]; Diplomacy-17 [2];
Fast-Talk-26 [18]; Hidden Lore (Demons)-20
[6]; History-18 [4]; History (Esoteric)-20
[8]; Intimidation-18 [2]; Occultism-22
[10]; Psychology-19 [6]; Strategy-16
[.5]; Thaumatology-18 [8].
LANGUAGES: Unknown; the demon's telepathy functions without
regards for language.
PSI SKILLS: Emotion Sense-18 [4]; Illusion-18
[4]; Mental Blow-18 [4]; Mental Stab-18
[4]; Mindshield-18 [4]; Mindwipe-18
[4]; PK Shield-18 [4]; Pyrokinesis-18
[4]; Sleep-18 [4]; Suggest-18 [4];
Telecontrol-18 [4]; Telekinesis-18 [4];
Telereceive-18 [4]; Telescan-18 [4];
Telesend-18 [4].
EQUIPMENT
As an invisible, intangible entity of an entirely alien
nature, the demon Chaugnar Taal has no need for equipment.
The only exception is the statue - see "How to Kill it?",
below - in which its life-force is contained.
BIOGRAPHY
Chaugnar Taal was brought into the material plane centuries
ago by a powerful necromancer who bound the demon into a
ring of gold and fed it upon the pain and terror of his
victims. The mage was powerful enough not to fear the spirit
creature, and was intrigued by its alien nature. Even more,
he enjoyed the fear that his mastery of it struck in the
hearts of his enemies. It was not to last, though; in the
wars his castle was overthrown, the necromancer killed and
his pet demon bound into a statue and ensorcelled with
powerful compulsion to the spot. The castle was left to
crumble and Chaugnar Taal to howl alone in the wilderness
among the ruins.
ENCOUNTERED
Chaugnar Taal is normally encountered only on its own terms,
close to its home and on ground of its choosing. It is
rarely actually seen, but only contacts its victims
telepathically. Those it finds little interest in it will
simply invade, either warp brutally or physically tear limb
from limb by its psychic powers. Those it finds some
interesting features in it may choose to converse with. In
some rare cases it may even let them go. In general, though,
those that hear the fine, whispering voice of Chaugnar Taal
in their heads are destined to become its servitors.
In terms of raw power, Chaugnar Taal is not the most
impressive of demons. It has no physical manifestation,
near-zero mobility and limited, though still overpowering,
mental abilities. A group of well-trained human magicians or
priests with the right stuff can easily manage it, given
sufficient preparation. Unprepared or ignorant characters,
however, don't stand the ghost of a chance.
HOW TO KILL IT?
Chaugnar Taal is invulnerable to all physical attacks. Not
only doesn't it have a physical body, it has no body at all.
Even psionic or magical attacks that target the mind cannot
affect it. Its attacks can be blunted or turned away through
either magic or psionics, but challenging it on its own
ground is a task for the mightiest of mages.
The better approach is to seek out its vulnerabilities. The
most obvious one is its limited physical power. It can
certainly throw about boulders and people, but that pales in
comparison to what truly powerful corporeal demons do. Thus
attackers could succeed if they found a way to deny the
demon access to their minds; zombies, golems or other tools
might be a solution, powerful spells or items another.
The only way to destroy Chaugnar Taal is to destroy the
statue to which it has been bound. This is a weathered black
granite gargoyle about four feet high, standing in the midst
of the ruined great hall. Its nature can be discovered from
the histories of the castle, though researching them should
be a challenge for PCs. Local legends speak of the 'terrible
stone beast' or 'gargoyle' in the castle, but nobody there
knows any hard facts beyond these phrases. Histories from
the days of the war will refer to the necromancer of
Coldlairs and his bound demon, and further research into
demonological tomes will reveal some facts - however much
the GM feels is appropriate - about Chaugnar Taal. The demon
is quite minor, but well known; the writings of the mages
who destroyed Coldlairs (and bound the demon into the
statue) contain all the information the PCs will need to
know, once these arcane sources are found. If the PCs arrive
at the ruins unprepared, they will find weathered
inscriptions marking out the danger, and possibly making
cryptic references to "the fiend fettered in carven stone",
but little more than this will be found. Should they locate
the statue nonetheless, the GM should allow a simple
Thaumatology or Demonology roll to determine the best way of
disposing of the being trapped within.
Once the PCs approach the statue with the intent to destroy
it, Chaugnar Taal will fight back with all its power to
prevent their actions. Most likely, it will begin by using
its abilities to befuddle the minds of its assailants,
turning the party away from its target, trying to set them
on each other, or hiding itself and its statue through
elaborate illusions. It may conceal the entrances to the
hall, disguise the gargoyle as something else, or create
convincing "doubles" - maybe in dangerous or inaccessible
places - to draw the efforts of the avenging PCs. If this
fails, it will turn to more direct telekinetic attacks:
hurling boulders, collapsing roofs, or manhandling the
attackers. (During all of these attacks, it is important
that the GM keep track of Chaugnar Taal's use of Fatigue,
since the PCs' only hope of salvation may well lie in
waiting for the demon to tire itself out.) Once the
destruction of the statue begins, Chaugnar Taal will recoil
in intense pain and fear; the gargoyle has DR 8, and should
be considered destroyed after taking 300 points of damage.
Once this happens, Chaugnar Taal will be destroyed
completely.
CANONICALITY
Chaugnar Taal does not break any standard GURPS rules,
though it does slightly bend some. Most significantly, its
Dominance advantage differs in two ways from the version on
p.CI53. One, its effects are delivered not by bite, but by
telepathic contact. And two, it allows the demon to give any
appropriate Mental or Social Disadvantage, not merely Slave
Mentality; these changes are handled with enhancements. (In
theory, Chaugnar Taal could create any kind of personality
in his victims, but its own appetites dictate that those
touched by its powers will become murderous and cruel.)
With the exception of IQ, the demon has no attributes. It
was not given the Being of Pure Thought advantage (p.CI34),
because that advantage involves the astral plane in a way
inappropriate for this character. Chaugnar Taal is an
intangible, invisible entity, but it is not an astral entity
per se, nor should its mode of existence be seen as some
kind of psionic ability. In a similar vein, the demon's
Psychokinesis and Telepathy powers were enhanced with No
Signature to model the fact that they are not traditional
psionics, but some alien and mystical form of mental
ability.
In general, the demon's abilities to affect the environment
and the minds of sentients - while modelled as Psionics -
are best regarded as a kind of unique, personal power rather
than something that some human, somewhere, has experience of
and may even be better at.
- written by Volker Bach
(volker_bach@public.uni-hamburg.de)
- additional material & edits by andi jones
(andi@angelwerks.com)
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