Nyx
Art by Jacob E. Blackmon
Long ago -- longer ago than this language has words to describe -- a group of extraordinarily powerful entities, whom we could call the Old Ones, realized that they needed still more power in order to accomplish a task that they had set for themselves. The Ascendants of the World More Sorcerous, heirs to the Old Ones, have only legends of this time and the decisions that were made then. But according to at least some of those legends, the decision to hide the creature later dubbed Ananke in a reality less magical than their own, where the powers of entropy were notably weaker, was made to ensure that she would be forever out of the reach of the Old One who embodied those powers. If so, then Nyx, last of the Old Ones, has had the last laugh, for he has endured long enough to see that reality become one that he
can reach. Can, and will.
As "Hierarch" of Entropy, it was his ostensible responsibility to oversee the corruption and destruction of mortal life. While callously permitting any number of schemes towards those ends, it was obvious to most observers that his own plans were exclusively directed towards preserving his own position in the hierarchy, which necessarily required him to preserve that hierarchy itself. To do this, he was quite willing, at times, to cooperate with Ascendants of the four spheres of Life, though he frequently manipulated them to bad ends. By the time of the Anachronic Calamity, however, he had apparently become sufficiently certain of his position that he believed he could survive even the disintegration of reality that the Calamity would cause if allowed to continue.
Strangely, however, he did not believe that he could survive an assault by an unprecedented alliance of renegade Entropics and a collection of Eaters of Worlds, and agreed to support the plan to stop the Calamity if the Argonauts would protect him from them. This oddity was noted by some at the time, and has been speculated on since. It seems likely that he had known of the prospective ambush (though perhaps not of the rebellion) beforehand, and chose to allow it to continue in order to evaluate the capabilities of the assembled defenders of reality. For he had seen an opportunity taking form, and his actions were all carefully chosen to allow him to seize it.
And now the World Less Magical is no more, and entropy in that reality possesses its spiritual qualities that it previously lacked. So Entropics can travel there safely. Nyx will not go there himself, initially; he will send a catspaw to clear the way for him, likely a certain rebellious Shadow Dragon who has a grudge against creatures from that distant future. But once the way has been cleared, he intends to travel there and seize power in that era, escaping the doom that it sure to come to him if he remains in the World More Sorcerous that will now end a few scant hundreds of millions of years from now. Nothing in that reality can hope to challenge him ...
... but perhaps, if they do, that will be interesting as well.
Nyx -- PL 18
Abilities:
STR 15 |
STA 18 |
AGL 4 |
DEX 3 |
FGT 9 |
INT 9 |
AWE 9 |
PRE 8
Powers:
Ascendant: Immortality 5 (one day), Only When On Home Plane*; Immunity 1 (aging); Movement 1 (dimensional travel to home plane), Reaction (death); Movement 2 (dimensional travel to planes of the Sphere of Entropy)**, Standard Action - 10 points
Chill of the Grave: Perception Range Damage 18, Resisted by Will**, Insidious, Subtle - 74 points
Divine Body: Immunity 10 (life support); Impervious Toughness 16 - 26 points
Divine Mind: Impervious Will 16, Limited to Mental Effects; Reaction Damage 6 (when subject of mental attack, mental communication or mind reading), Resisted by Will; Senses 7 (vision counters all concealment, vision counters illusions) - 45 points
"For The Dead Travel Fast": Accurate Extended Teleport 13 (30 miles/8000 miles), Turnabout; Enhanced Advantages 6 (Close Attack 2, Evasion, Improved Initiative 3), Quirk (Close Attack is only enhanced against targets with a lower Initiative total); Enhanced Defenses 18 (Dodge 9, Parry 9) - 76 points
Grip of the Grave: Affects Insubstantial 2 on Strength Damage - 2 points
Sense Immortal: Senses 2 (ranged detect immortal) - 2 points
Tentacles: Extra Limbs 4; Elongation 2 - 6 points
Advantages:
All-out Attack, Assessment, Chokehold,
Close Attack 2, Evasion, Fast Grab, Fearless,
Improved Grab, Improved Hold,
Improved Initiative 3, Jack-of-all-trades, Power Attack, Uncanny Dodge.
Skills:
Deception 8 (+16), Expertise: Dimensional 7 (+16), Expertise: Magic 7 (+15), Insight 8 (+17), Intimidation 10 (+18), Perception 8 (+17), Persuasion 8 (+16).
Offense:
Initiative +18
Unarmed +11/+9 (Close Damage 15)
Chill of the Grave -- (Perception Range Damage 18)
Defense:
Dodge 18/9, Parry 18/9, Fortitude 18, Toughness 18, Will 18.
Totals:
Abilities 150 + Powers 241 + Advantages 9 + Skills 28 + Defenses 14 = 444 points
Offensive PL: 18
Defensive PL: 18
Resistance PL: 18
Skill PL: 13
Complications:
Power--Motivation. Aura of Death (kills mundane insects and plant life in his immediate vicinity.)
Obviously Inhuman. Whimsical Sadism.
* When he emerges in the present, he does not have a Home Plane. This represents an opportunity to permanently destroy him. However, he will be aware of this vulnerability and seek to correct it. If he succeeds, add Equipment 5 (Home Plane) to his sheet. (It should also be present on his sheet in any depiction of him in the World More Sorcerous.)
** This division of reality does not exist in the current era; given time, it will become "mystical dimensions". Allowing him that time may be unwise.
*** Characters with Immunity (aging) are also immune to this effect, unless the GM gives them a Power Loss complication. ("How does it feel to be a billion years old?")
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."