+- NEUS Projects (https://neus-projects.net/forums)
+-- Forum: Sigrogana Legend 2 (OOC) (https://neus-projects.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=8)
+--- Forum: Applications (https://neus-projects.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=52)
+---- Forum: Character Applications (https://neus-projects.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=53)
+----- Forum: Approved Characters (https://neus-projects.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=55)
+----- Thread: Lilia - Amalgama Spiritual Body Persistance (/showthread.php?tid=8679)
Lilia - Amalgama Spiritual Body Persistance - Poruku - 11-28-2021
Applicable BYOND Key - KayranAlchemy (slot 3)
Character Name - Lilia AKA "<Excited or Calm> Trickster"
Request Type - Character Power
Request Details -
Lilia's spirit shell has a special quality: It uses the power of the spirits within to continuously re-build her body out of crystallized focus entirely to be exactly the same as when she was created. This is isespian magic, the spirits forming crystals then reshaping them into an imitation of human body parts via necromancy. The spirits essentially take a "blueprint" that was inscribed in her soul, and re-construct that endlessly. In times of intense shock, the spirits can "surge" which re-attaches essential systems rapidly and rebuilds smaller parts.
This request is essentially to flavor and expand on the "Formidable" Amalgama power as well as the amgama healing spells.
Formidable (mutation): When defeated in battle, revive at 50hp without badly beaten
Specific description of the power's effects
1: If dealt a killing blow, Lilia's body rebuilds any essential systems: reattaching the head, organs, etc, minor such effects within reason, up to once per roleplay session. This does not allow her to escape capture or do anything beyond not being dead.
2: Lilia doesn't need regular maintenance unless she is drained of focus for a while
3: Lilia needs to consume a lot of food and/or blue potions regularly
4: Lilia has very minor regeneration and any wounds and scars will disappear over time.
5: Lilia cannot modify her body (from piercings to robotic limbs, etc) in any way, not even her hair
6: Major limb loss/maiming will put her into a lengthy coma where she will require extreme amounts of focus to remain alive. Her body will rebuild the limb during that time. The duration is about one month ICly for an arm or similar, a week for smaller parts. Internal organs can also recover but it's not like she would survive without a heart or lungs for an hour let alone a month. The process is slow so any lethal wounds that aren't covered by a formidable "surge" still need to be treated normally. The process looks like white crystals slowly forming then reshaping into a smoother form. Interrupting this process by breaking the forming limb can easily kill her.
7: Lilia grows rapidly exhausted then comatose if even slightly wounded and out of focus, since the spirits will use focus for repairs at any cost.
Reason why you are making this request (if applicable) -
Aside from it being cool and probably fun to roleplay, my main reason is a thematic one. This ties into most Lilia's major character conflicts/insecurities.
Impostor Syndrome:
Why would I deserve to live? Lilia is a being formed out of 4 souls, more specifically two pairs of people who were couples when they were alive, which carries its own set of inner conflict mostly unrelated to this app. Though she does her best to drone out those thoughts, she feels intense guilt about having essentially "stolen" the lives of those people. Her body is an extension of this: it's something that she not only did not choose but does not feel she earned. Though she likes her body, she sometimes feels like it is not necessarily her own, as well, and can feel detached about physical things because of that. This in turns makes her seek more physicality but I won't get into that. This feeling of her life being undeserved is drastically worsened by the fact she sees herself as a terrible person. How this ties into the app is, the inherent "perfection" of her body in how untouchable and untarnishable it is greatly contributes to those feelings of detachment and being undeserving.
Powerlessness:
Tying into her detachment is her feeling of powerlessness towards her life, mind and body. One of Lilia's main struggles is her incapacity to control her more intense urges, which are often nefarious, and at best dangerous to herself. This extends into a sense of being powerless to control her life, her thoughts, and anything. When it comes to her body, and thus this app, her struggle is one of a desire for control. She would like to get piercings, change her hair, etc, but cannot. Although these may seem like minor things, the fact she doesn't have these simple freedoms translate to a general feeling of lack of control over her own body and accentuate her feelings of powerlessness.
Carelessness:
I've mentioned Lilia's nefarious urges. In the most basic terms, Lilia is a thrill seeker. Her alias is "trickster" for a reason: her most pressing inner desires are ones of inflicting torment and chasing highs of adrenaline. This translates into a lifestyle of crime, cruelty and impulsiveness. How this ties into the app is that Lilia has a strong tendency to put herself in danger. The fact nothing she physically endures lasts forever makes her very careless, essentially what mercalan tenants warn us about: over-reliance on healing, thus she doesn't care about most wounds. This makes her further desensitized towards physical suffering, both her own and other people's. Her body's regeneration thus reinforces her psychopathy and impedes her empathy. This is a big reason why I feel this app is important for Lilia's character.
Violence:
Lilia is inherently violent and cruel, something she constantly grapples with as she strives to be a better person. The aforementioned desensitization towards pain combined with her sadistic urges and tendencies brings her to turn to violence rapidly as a solution, even when the problem is unrelated. Knives are essentially her primary means of self-expression. Her prized knives are a way of affecting the world she understands and is comfortable with, and thus she relies on them when she's uncertain or when she lets her urges take hold. Bringing this to a bit of a dark place, how this relates to the app is, self-harm is something Lilia has always done. It's a way for her to distract herself from her urges, punish herself for them (and existing), and also let out frustration and negative emotions in a way that doesn't harm others. It's also a distraction in times of emotional pain and confusion. This being such an important part of Lilia's character, I find it extremely fitting and thematic to have the scars from these acts disappear with time. It trivializes the act in her mind, making it a difficult habit to break in the future despite being very unhealthy. It also fits with the general theme of Lilia's desensitization and physical dissociation, both with pain and her body overall. Overcoming this habit in spite of her regeneration would be a very interesting and thematic arc for Lilia as she growns and learns, in my opinion.
Roleplay & Lore supporting your request -
Lilia was created by Morgan Fey of the Arcane Kind. He created this system inside her to ensure she would be safe and independent. Morgan wanted her to be fully free, not relying on anyone. Become happy on her own terms. An essential part of what she became. Further reasoning on his end would need to be asked from AscendedChild.
The power is of course based on the nature of Amalgama as artificial created beings, their bodies essentially being "dolls". Lilia's body is often described as "too pristine, like an artificial doll", though she hides most of her skin with clothing. There are no specifications or limitations on what exactly the materials composing Amalgama can be, thus I felt it appropriate to use crystallized focus altered by necromancy. A totally "unnatural" being is fitting for Lilia.
Lilia has high WIL, 370+ focus, and regenerates 11 per turn, so she certainly has the pool to back up her power's consumption.
And of course, this is a flavoring and extension of the Amalgama mutation "Formidable". As a sidenote she got it on first roll and I will never re-roll.
Lilia also possesses 2 amalgama healing spells, using focus to regenerate herself, which supports the power mechanically and lore-wise.
Final word
Thanks for reading, sorry it was long. I'm okay with changing the power in any way you might see fit. The only essential part is the inability to modify her body and her wounds disappearing over time. The rest just feels like it'd be cool
RE: Lilia - Amalgama Spiritual Body Persistance - K Peculier - 11-30-2021
After reading through your application I don't see any real problems assuming you don't 'evolve' this power to have more than what you listed down and if you do, you should probably make a different app and ask an eventmin to reflect that if for a story-related purpose.
Feel free to go through with what you've written here though, I'll approve it.