#BUT ALSO LIKE THE ADDITION OF YOU BOTH BEING A SOURCE OF POWER FOR EACH OTHER AHDHFHAJ

[seandwalsh]

Is it possible that Madame Clairvoya from Luigi’s Mansion is actually a Shaman from Super Mario RPG?

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the Shamans from Super Mario RPG, which went on to play a major role in Paper Mario, Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door and Super Paper Mario. These odd folk are are depicted as magicians and fortune tellers. Many use Crystal Balls to predict the future and guide Mario on his adventures, usually by reading the Stars.

In Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, we received some elaboration on who these Shamans are:

About Merlon on the east side of Rogueport and Merluvlee underground... Ol' Wonky hears they're from a strange tribe that names people by profession. So, for example, if someone did the same work as Merlon, they'd have the same name... So there could be Merlons all over. Don't you find that strange? Wonky does!

[Source: Wonky, Info guy, Non-player character in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, October 2004]

Meanwhile in Super Paper Mario, Shamans became the focus of the game, where they are revealed to be the descendants of the Tribe of Ancients, a people who had magic powerful enough to predict the distant future and transfer spirits of the dead into “Thinking Tools” called Pixls.

So yeah, ever heard of an advanced civilization called the Tribe of Ancients? They were, like, a thousand times smarter than you or me.

[Source: Garson, Owner of The Underwhere, Non-player character in Super Paper Mario, April 2007]

So yeah, you meet Merlon and Merlee yet? They're descendants of the Ancients and distantly related to each other, I hear.

[Source: Garson, Owner of The Underwhere, Non-player character in Super Paper Mario, April 2007]

So do you know how the Pixls came to be? A powerful magician among the Ancients created them about 3,000 years ago. He did it by transferring a spirit into a vessel he created for that purpose. He's said to have created 12 Pixls like this before he passed away. But his apprentices kept researching Pixls after his game ended... They learned to create many more Pixls based on his original 12. These Pixls became widely used as 'thinking tools' for the grateful Ancients. Through the work of many Pixls, the Ancients prospered as they never had before.

[Source: Carson, Owner of The Overthere, Non-player character in Super Paper Mario, April 2007]

In Luigi’s Mansion, Madame Clairvoya is a fortune teller who uses a Crystal Ball to read Mario’s items and guide Luigi. Her senses from reading the Crystal Ball are incredibly similar to those of the Shamans, with both seeing locations and people from the present or near future within their Crystal Balls and interpreting what they see into advice for the heroes. It’s also stated that Madame Clairvoya can see nearly 49 days into the future thanks to her close connection to the spirit world.

Madame Clairvoya actually wears similar clothing to many Shamans, particularly Shaman women, such as long robes, a headscarf and a veil covering her mouth. While the Shamans have largely been covered by shadows throughout their appearances thanks to their outfits, they are described as humans several times in Super Paper Mario, which aligns with Madame Clairvoya’s clearly human appearance.

Madame Merlar from Paper Mario and Merlumina from Super Paper Mario both return as ghosts long after their deaths and continue to serve as helpful guides, as is the case with Madame Clairvoya.

Madame Clairvoya also describes the Crystal Ball she uses as a "symbol of [her] clan”. This clan could very well be the Tribe of Ancients, whose descendants are shown to consistently use Crystal Balls to perform their work.

Finally - and this is what really got me to consider this possibility in the first place - the Japanese name of every member of the Tribe of Ancients and their descendants follows the same naming conventions, with all of their names being a play-on-words with the addition of the endings "ēru", "āru" or simply "ru", originating from the Japanese name of the Shaman species in Super Mario RPG, "Supēru". This also applies to Madame Clairvoya, whose Japanese name is “Madamu Miēru”.

What do you guys think? Could Madame Clairvoya actually be a descendant of the Ancients? If so, this is certainly a very interesting connection from Luigi’s Mansion back to Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario, though it wouldn’t be the first!

[the-softest-love-is-ours]

F/O Headcanons: Pokemon Universe Edition!

(More will be added with time)

(Also, many of these are inspired from headcanons I’ve previously read, so you may recognize them. Unfortunately, most of these have been in my phone for a long time so I don’t remember some of the original sources; if you do though, please message me so I can give proper credits)

Aromatisse tend to make potpurri nests

Nessa and Raihan are cousins.

Leon does not know how to break open a safe or pick locks… Hop knows how to do both. In fact Hop has numerous skills that are also a little shady.

It’s hard keeping a Riolu at their beginning stage because they are very loving, loyal and friendly pokemon. Don’t give your kid a Riolu because you will be taking care of a Lucario.

Phantump can possess all kinds of tree stumps (fruit trees, redwoods, birch trees, etc.). This gives them some natural variation in appearance.

Kirlia will often "intern" under Gallade and Gardevoir in order to enhance their psychic abilities. Which one a Kirlia trains under is thought to influence its evolution if male.

Magikarp are popular among breeders because they have a good amount of variation and produce lots of eggs. You can get Magikarp/Gyarados in various colors and patterns because of this. This is also true among Rattata, but they’re less popular due to people considering them weak and boring.

Absol are known for being paranoid. They are extremely protective of their trainers and will try to prevent any negative thing from happening to them, even if that thing is "leaf blows into their face" or something equally mundane.

Sylveon and Umbreon get along surprisingly well because they're both stealth hunters.

One popular textile company uses a stylized Leavanny for their logo.

Modern Pokeballs create simulations for the Pokemon inside that make them feel like they're in a large environment. In addition to making the Pokeball feel extra comfortable, they also help keep the Pokemon enriched.

Eevee and their evolutions arguably have the cutest courtship rituals on the planet. They start off by showing interest with short yips and sniffing, studying each other. After that, play-fighting ensues. When that's done, the pair share tiny kisses on the cheek.

Umbreon can spray poison from their rings. They can poison themselves if they breathe it in accidentally due to not being poison-types, but the toxins are pretty mild.

Leavanny can fly, but only for very short distances and not very far off the ground.

A popular rumor states that the more powerful the Lucario the more black they have on their bodies, but there's nothing scientific to back up this claim.

There are some that believe that Fidough evolve faster when around fire-type Pokemon. This claim has yet to be scientifically backed, however.

Young Vulpix will actively try to get their trainers to "hold their paw for reassurance.

The Leavanny line becomes incredibly agitated if they don't have any materials to "sew" with, so make sure they have access to plenty of greenery.

Absol live in isolation out in the wild, only coming together to breed and take care of their pups.

Jolteon oddly prefer sparkling water. Many theorize that the breed generally prefer foods that cause ‘tingly’ sensations as it’s similar to the hum of electricity.

Legendary and guardian pokemon in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos are so rarely seen they are thought of as myths. Meanwhile the Tapu guardians in Alola have shown up in people's backyards to mess around with their sprinklers and lawn ornaments.

Luxray are used as police or medical Pokemon in Sinnoh due to their ability to see through objects and strong stature. They are good at finding and retrieving victims and people who need assistance. Along with that they can be trained to listen for heartbeats and give electricity in a way similar to an AED.

There is a superstition in Johto that if an Eevee jumps into a child's crib, the child is blessed. Often times for baby showers, the mother is gifted an Eevee egg for this very reason. When the kit hatches, it is left in the room with the baby. If the Eevee stays by the child's side, but outside the crib, the child is destined to be average and live a normal life. However, if the Eevee jumps inside the crib and sleeps next to the child, the child will be blessed with fortune, prosperity, and joy.

It's thought that having someone with a positive aura take care of Riolu eggs helps them to hatch faster.

Eevees tend to mimic the personality and habits of their trainers. If their trainer tends to be energetic, the Eevees will get a share of that energy too. If, on the other hand, the trainer tends to be more on the relaxed and a bit lazy side the Eevees will behave like that too.

Popplio are frequently used for public performances and other forms of entertainment. It works out nicely, as it serves as excellent enrichment for them

Swablu's soft, cotton-y down is a favorite filler for pillows, especially because they shed it often. Nowadays it's more common to find synthetic substitutes.

Eevee’s love to be groomed and accessorized, especially on their tail. They don't like baths though but they groom themselves well.

Hisuian Growlithe/Arcanine are still found in some volcanic regions, but they are incredibly rare and protected under law.

A group of Chingling/Chimecho are known as a gong.

While Vulpix and Ninetales have incredible fur, harming one is considered bad luck and, in some areas, sacrilegious.

[makingspiritualityreal]

Bhava Karakas - Decoding Astrological House Potential

Every Astrological House denotes its results from being produced by specific planets. These planets have a different meaning in each house, and houses produced by several planets give a unique result.

I already touched on the subject before, explaining the basic principle of Bhava Karakas by talking about an interplay between Jupiter and Saturn, which produce for most of the houses in the Zodiac wheel, having an essential role in the process of creation and preservation. I also described traditional, astrological influences on cycles of life from childhood to adulthood, which you will see are completely congruent with the traditional bhava karaka layout.

Astrologers dispute the meaning and detailed rules of bhava karakas, my description is what I have seen work in my years of astrology study and involvement in esoteric fields. This Link, although the article is dated, is my personal favorite. Some bhava karakas are self explanatory, some have more complexity between varying planetary influences.

1st House - The Sun

1st house is the Sun, and the Sun inherently has the nature of the 1st house. It is the fact that we are alive in human form, it's the Promethean, fiery breath of first life, that some also associate with Krittika Nakshatra. In the 1st house we simply ARE and nothing else matters, and the Sun is the planet that expresses itself naturally just by the fact of its existence. Sun is also individualistic and independent, because it's so enraptured by its own birth, it's entirely self absorbed. And it is supposed to be, because the 1st house is the only place, that is ultimately about us, and only us. Sun provides us with that level of healthy self-reliance and self-centeredness, as the soul light of the self is eternal, fixed and unchangeable. The essence of the self remains from birth, even if the details of the human avatar grow and change. That essence is given by the Sun.

2nd House - Jupiter

2nd house rules the family provision, and Jupiter is the source of that provision. It's the basic safety we can always count on, that is beneficial to our individual self, that supports our self expression. Here, Jupiter gives us the first breath of external power to not just be contained within the self, but to be able to provide for and spread that self.

3rd House - Mars

Mars gives the 3rd house the courage to self explore. This is where we are first familiar with the concept, that our human vehicle has a trajectory. Mars' gift here is mobility, drive, and energy to utilize our resources, set and reach our destination.

4th House - Moon and Mercury

Moon's gift to the 4th house is adaptability, Mercury's gift is testing, sensing and sampling. The gift of both is sensitivity and emotional exploration, within and without. This is the ultimate learning house, when we finally connect to reality, with all of our senses, our intellect (through Mercury) and sensorium (Moon). Through receptivity, we gain new stimuli constantly through a permanent exchange.

5th House - Jupiter

Many people associate the Sun with the 5th house, and although they are friendly, that is wrong. The Sun produces strictly for the 1st house, because the Sun at its peak is a healthy ego construct, not harming other people but not concerned with them either, as much as it shines among them. The 5th house rules the desire to shine among others, and that desire is presided for by Jupiter, which ruled by the ether element, has the power to spread itself and travel. The Sun is self contained and energetically stoic, as it only travels on its own path. It may not like to participate much in external activities without strict self benefit. Even when it develops deep compassion, it holds its ground, and doesn't care what anyone thinks. It is not interested in any additional creation, because it thinks the self was created and it's already enough. The 5th house is where Jupiter is concerned with fostering younger minds, but also it is the spark of external self expression. Thus, it is interested in others and gathering adulation, and Jupiter here makes the 5th house desire for creativity expand into participation for the sake of spreading of the self, and it wants, and knows how to, make that self exciting for others.

6th house - Mars and Saturn

The most complex, conflicting house from all bhavas, as it is produced by two enemies. Its association with court cases comes from the common theme of the court having to deal with and reconcile opposing parties objectively. Mars here produces an individual, outspoken, unshakeable, unchangeable, personal viewpoint. Saturn's gift is the hard work of ensuring its survivability in the context of the masses. The personal idea here is under maximum scrutiny. Mars provides tenacity, Saturn provides testing.

7th House - Venus

Venus produces death of the individual self and the ego through the other, that occur in the 7th house. Venus produces the desire to merge and be completed by the other, to be able to learn and see in the world what only the external stimulation can bring. Venus produces for the 7th house both the desire and the opportunities for this external appreciation, that only occurs when one makes space for the other through forgetting the ego, even if just for a while.

8th House - Saturn

Saturn's gift to the 8th house is shedding and secrecy during ugliness of transformation. The depth of brutal self reflection is offered here, constantly prodded by external remarks. Saturn allows us to learn here, who we truly are, if everything and everyone fails, if all physical protection is stripped from us. Its path here is directing us to the naked truth of ourselves, but also in context of the raw, psychological complexity of others on an interpersonal level.

9th House - Sun and Jupiter

The 9th house's gift from both Sun Jupiter is finding its niche, its clique. Sun sticks to its guns, Jupiter spreads one's solid individuality, together they find a sympathetic team. One's values, wisdom and opinion here become fully formed in context of self within the collective, as Jupiter here gifts peak enlightenment. Since Jupiter only provides righteous, tested ideas, and Sun gives absolute, resolute self assurance, it naturally attracts people to its well tested ground here. There is a collective security, that Jupiter provides in this house, a free space for discussion that comes from individual certainty, and openness for external ideas and blending them with one's own, which encourages others to come to a place of collective tolerance. Sun's gift here is "live and let live", and Jupiter's gift is "learn and teach from what you lived".

10th House - Sun, Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury

The richest of all houses, as it has to be to provide public order. Sun assures, that everyone here knows themselves and their place, and as a result they find their place within the public. Jupiter ensures, that people grow and find security in being part of the collective. Mercury assures, that people keep learning through broad, public, social exchanges. Saturn gifts durability and reliability to collective ideas, providing an efficient structure.

11th House - Jupiter

The 11th house is where Jupiter has evolved into an idée fixe. The ideas of Jupiter spread the widest here, and the ether becomes a current, that sweeps the masses. This is where we identify with our beliefs, and we either create a wave of energy that envelops others, or participate in already created environments, but only if they fit our ideas. This is where Jupiter becomes the most opinionated, either through endorsing ideas it believes in, if found externally, or creating a new idea and gaining a lot of support for it, because the idea resonates easily with the collective. Jupiter here provides magnetism of individual self expression, that resonates with a sum total of individual beliefs merging into collective urges. A particularly strong dispositor or planet here is so powerful, a person is able to sway the masses and make their mark, even if they are very unique. Jupiter here produces the power to be a worldwide trend-setter.

12th House - Saturn

The 12th house is the most spiritual part of Saturn, as it rules complete surrender and everything ultimately falling into place after a long period of struggle. It is also simultaneously the most perfectionistic of houses, where meticulousness reaches its productive apex. That happens through slow, minimal, gradual but persistent efforts, that Saturn provides. Training is also best done in shadows, which Saturn is responsible for. The height of rational selectiveness is also a gift of Saturn to this house. The 12th house only wants to do what is right, and when it's right and Saturn provides endless patience and stubbornness under pressure, and the gift for understanding, navigating and dealing with the vices of human nature.

[monstersdownthepath]

Lord of Heresy and Despair: Sifkesh, the Sacred Whore

CR 28

Chaotic Evil Medium Outsider

Adventure Path: Wrath of the Righteous: Demon's Heresy, pg. 86-87

WARNING: In addition to despair and heresy, Sifkesh is also the Demon Lord of Suicide. I bring this up because it is reflected in her kit, her lore, and especially in her Divine Obedience and Boons. It is impossible to discuss her stats without mentioning this part of her portfolio. Do not read into her if you are especially sensitive to such subjects.

Among the strangest and most enigmatic of all Demon Lords, it's believed that Sifkesh was once a powerful Erinyes Devil that turned her back on Hell and became one of of the first of the devils to betray Asmodeus. Her two largest lore blocks (in the Complete Book of the Damned and the above-mentioned pages in WotR) are frustratingly vague thanks to the complexity of both her statblock and her Boons taking up the majority of each source, but it paints a gruesome enough picture of this fiend: A great many Demon Lords are gluttonous, or greedy, or heretical, but Sifkesh is on an entirely different level. She does not just embrace heresy, she is heresy in every aspect of her being, so thoroughly that she's heretical to cosmic order... and even the game's mechanics.

I say 'heretical to the cosmic order' because the Sacred Whore isn't just a Demon Lord in her behavior; she destroys like a demon and especially prizes destroying faiths and places of worship (regardless of alignment), but she plots and corrupts like a devil, misleading mortals and poisoning their faith and hope though lies and false guidance with the ultimate goal of weakening the faith's standing in the eyes of the public, if not destroying it entirely. She can spend patient years molding powerful and influential men and women of the cloth into perfect servants of hers, weaving heresies and blasphemies into their beliefs until something--typically another person of equal standing in the same faith--causes the scales to fall from their eyes. By then, though, it's far too late; their souls are too stained to join the god they believed they were serving in the afterlife, and in horrified despair they're driven to take their own lives... at which point Sifkesh seizes their soul and consumes it, denying their soul to any afterlife, even her own.

Demon, devil, daemon--destroyer, corruptor, devourer. Sifkesh plays as all three in equal measure... making her and her minions a very flexible BBEG in a campaign where religious horror and corruption is the main threat. Direct worship of Sifkesh is noted to be 'incredibly personal' for reasons only grimly alluded to, and as such her "cults" tend to consist of 2 or 3 individuals infiltrating larger cults and withering them from within... even other evil cults. The Sacred Whore doesn't play favorites, and even her fellow Demon Lords aren't immune to her antics.

But enough about the havoc she wreaks in the mortal world, let's see what she can do once you pull back the curtains and engage her directly...

In contrast to the other feminine demons we've seen stated out so far, Sifkesh isn't a seductive manipulator who seeks to avoid combat and, if combat is inevitable, becomes an obnoxious ranged/DoT fighter! Instead she's an overt manipulator, using Suggestion at-will to command everyone around her to make her job easier. She's even got the Quickened version 3/day to gently convince people to throw their weapons and shields inside so she can more easily peel them apart with her hideous razor and sharpened claws, and if she's especially impatient, there's Quickened Dominate Person at 3/day to simply seize control of anyone who fails a DC 28 Will save.

These aren't the only notables among her spell-likes, though; Symbol of Strife is unlikely to work on players powerful enough to encounter her but does wonders for turning their summons on their masters and twisting lower-level NPCs to madness, and though she has it only 1/day the DM can easily handwave multiple onto her chosen battlefield if she's seen the players coming (and she likely will, given how subtle her work usually is; it gives her plenty of time to know who's interrupting her plots). Once active, the Symbol will radiate waves of hatred out until their duration expires or they've affected a combined total 150 HP of creatures, meaning that anyone who's dropped below that threshold by, say, Sifkesh's Full-Attack, becomes vulnerable to turning on their friends.

Which typically means "after one round of attacks."

While the aforementioned lady demons weren't as powerful in melee as they were at a range, Sifkesh shows them up by being equally strong in both. Her weapon of choice, a +5 Unholy Speed War Razor, deals 1d4+27 damage (+2d6 vs Good targets) with every strike (5 a round thanks to the Speed enchantment), and during a Full-Attack she can also choose to swipe once with her sword-length claws for 4d6+27 damage as well. Her claws also cause hideous, rending scars in the victim's body and soul, forcing them to make a DC 41 Will save or become afflicted by 1d4 Charisma drain. Even success on the save causes sickness for 1 round, but failing enough times in a row has an even worse punishment: being reduced to 3 or less Charisma curses the victim with self-destructive depression, which causes them to automatically fail ALL saves against Sifkesh's spell-like AND supernatural abilities until the drain is healed. Suddenly, her Quickened Dominate Person goes from threatening to battle-warping, and her 1/day Weird goes from a nuisance to a party wipe.

How's it a party wipe, you may ask? Because she can use Whirlwind Attack to slash the entire party at once with her claw and then see who's the most miserable afterwards and focus them down until they're rendered catatonic by the damage or the drain. She's resilient enough to be patient and make sure she can get everyone who's a major threat with a single casting. "But wait," I hear you say, "she's Medium! She has a 5ft reach, so all we need to do is--"

Be 40 or more feet away. You may notice that Sifkesh's limbs aren't actually sticking to her! Her Detached Limbs simply float near her body for the sake of convenience, and while this makes her immune to any effect that would sever her limbs or head, the more important part is that she can launch her limbs out and rapidly retract them as she attacks, giving her a 30 foot melee reach. Heretical to the game's rules, remember? She has an enormous threat radius for a Medium creature and she can easily take advantage of the fact the players might not realize just how far she can slap them from by using Combat Expertise for extra AoOs, draining Charisma from people trying to get into position or cast spells even when it's not her turn and using Whirlwind Attack to deliver a single massive cleaving claw attack when it is. Her claw's massive damage, reach, and Charisma drain also makes her Spring Attack more obnoxious, though with her 120ft fly speed, a DM wanting to up her potential annoyance factor could swap Spring Attack for Flyby Attack.

Despite using a lightweight finesse weapon Sifkesh has no Sneak Attack damage, so she doesn't get as much use as, say, Shax and Nocticula do from Time Stop + Summon Demons, and she's certainly no Shamira or Kostchtchie when it comes to setting up shenanigans during stopped time, typically delegating it to either an escape or an engage tool, plopping herself in the middle of a party so her whirlwind of limbs can peel them apart. Despite her leather duds, Sifkesh is significantly harder to hurt than almost any other demigod of similar status; she not only has the Demigod Suite of immunities (death, charm/compulsion, petrification, energy drain), but one very special and specific immunity that is likely to make at least one person in the party froth at the mouth with rage: Complete immunity to slashing weapons.

Her body breaks open and folds around any incoming slashing weapons, negating their damage AND abilities entirely. No swords, no axes, no sickles and scythes, and certainly no using her own weapons against her. And adding onto the 'heretical vs game rules' is the second half of her protection against weapons: Sifkesh absorbs critical hits from any source, be it a weapon or spell. Her Critical Healing restores HP equal to the extra damage she would have taken from any critical hit, so the higher your weapons' crit modifier, the more healing she gets from this ability. Maybe it's a good thing that scythes can't critically hit her...? Slashing weapons don't work at all, and piercing weapons tend to rely on their critical ratio/modifier, which means you can end up healing her more than hurting her... which just leaves the humble bludgeoning instruments. Greatclub gang rise up! Provided that bludgeoning weapon can bypass her DR 20/Cold Iron, Epic, and Good.

The good news is that at least Sneak Attack still works on her!

But here's more bad news: the indirect resilience granted to her by her Despairing Cry making her even more infuriating to harm! This is a swift action she can take once ever 1d4 rounds to fill everyone within 60ft with unrelenting despair. Any creature that succeeds a DC 38 Will save is sickened for 1d4 rounds, but anyone who fails is slapped with 24 entire hours of hopelessness, instilling a -6 penalty to attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, ability checks, AND skill checks. Anyone under the effects of the Despairing Cry has any immunity to fear suppressed (making them vulnerable to, among other things, her Frightful Presence and Weird) can also be convinced via Suggestion, Charm effects, or Dominate effects to take suicidal actions without penalty or the ability to resist the impulse, potentially saving her time by convincing party members to do themselves in for her.

There is, of course, even further heresy against the rules of the game, but before we cover that final part of her kit, her literally Heretical nature bolsters her Spell Resistance from 39 to 41 whenever she's targeted by Divine magic, and boosts her saves from 30/33/30 to 32/35/32 against such spells as well. Any Divine caster that touches her (like literally any one of them trying to use a powerful Domain ability or touch spell) also risks becoming nauseated, leaving them open for her retaliatory Full-Attack, shutting off yet another common angle of attack.

One of the most resilient of all Demon Lords, Sifkesh has counters for almost every vector an average party can come up with, necessitating some extremely specific weapons, spells, and playstyles. Have you ever tried fighting an enemy you didn't want to critically strike? But do you want to know the most frustrating part about all of it? You might have to do it all twice, because once per day as an immediate action, Sifkesh can drop all her defenses against an incoming attack or spell, becoming flat-footed and losing her profane bonus to her AC. Her Spell Resistance drops to 0, and she automatically fails any saving throw she makes against that attack or spell.

As you may be able to guess, it's a trick. But it's one you have no choice but to walk into, because she can trigger this ritualistic Suicide as an immediate action against anything she has reason to believe may be able to kill her. If the attack DOES kill her, not only does she unleash an empowered version of her Despairing Cry (which stuns anyone who fails the save for 1d4 rounds), but one round later she's brought back to life at full health, making her the only Demon Lord that has to be killed three times in one year to make her death stick. Perhaps this is why, despite her behavior flaunting the very rules of reality and with her gleefully corrupting even the cults of other Demon Lords, she has yet to be ousted as the Lord of Heresy.

You can read more about her here.

[istadris]

Accidental Ghost King AU : The Return

Since y'all voted for it.

For a refresher, go there and also there , because @featherandpetals's ideas are such good additions to this AU that I can't not include them!

So some ideas to expand on that verse :

First of all, "ghost" is an umbrella term that encompasses ghosts created from dead mortals (most of the ghosts in LM games) and ghosts created through other methods, like dead energy given consciousness (Boos, Duplighosts, etc...). All have ectoplasmic energy/magic/auras, although it's expressed in different forms.

There is more than one Ghost King in the Mushroom world. All gained that title on the same principle : Right of Conquest+beating an existing Ghost King on their haunting ground several times + establishing themselves with a Gem Crown. Don't ask where the first Ghost Kings came from, they can't remember themselves.

Technically, mortals can become Ghost Kings. You can fight a ghost with magic or technology, and there have been mortal Ghost Kings in the past, although very, very rarely. The thing is, just beating a Ghost King isn't enough to claim their title, you need to have a specific aura/energy to be acknowledged as a "challenger" by ghosts : to give an example, anyone strong enough can kill the male of a lion pride, but the lionesses won't mate with the victor unless he looks, smells and feels like a male lion. And most mortals don't have that specific aura that marks them as "ghost", even honorary. Except That Little Green Guy. Because of course he does. Luigi has such a Weird Presence (all of the weird powers he displays in many games) that he's completely acknowledged as a paranormal being by any ghost, and it only got worse with each of his bouts against King Boo, slowly increasing his spectral abilities. And later with the boost of King Boo, it gets only stronger and weirder.

(Realizing his technology was only partly responsible for Luigi's victories on King Boo might have driven E.Gadd slightly insane toward the end of his life)

So yes, Luigi IS a Ghost King, whether he likes it or not. HOWEVER. Another thing that makes a Ghost King is their Crown : both a source and conduct of spectral energy and magic, only growing stronger over the years, and most of all emphasizing their status over their subjects. It's not just about the symbolism : the magic of the king bleeds from the crown and their subjects can feel that power.

Fun fact : as Luigi (and Mario) learn during the E.Gadd adventure, Toads have that in common with ghosts : their ruler's powers are canalized in their crown or tiara, like Peach's, and other Toad Princesses can appear if they own a proper Crown (yes I included the Super Crown here, shh). Conversely, as Bowser loudly remarks, Koopas don't bother with such baubles : the Power of the Ruler is expressed through their fire and physical strength, and they carry it for all to see at anytime.

I love the plan @featherandpetals had for this story, but I would just change the fact that it takes place only over a couple of days. Instead, I would spread it over several days, with each "phase" of the story (getting to Peach's castle, researching, rescuing Mario , Mario going to Bowser for help, fending off E.Gadd and his ghosts..) takes each some days, giving more time for the characters to learn to work together, especially King Boo and...everyone else. Maybe instead of capturing Boos, this time the goal is to rescue them from E.Gadd.

During that time, while he's contained, King Boo has time to ponder. And observe. And think. He sees how Luigi interacts with his Boos, despite having been their enemy before. He could mock the change in heart born from necessity...but hasn't he done worse, by sending his subjects to their doom, despite being their King ? And Luigi intrigues him more and more. The human is wimpy. Cowardly. Frustratingly stubborn when he decides something is worth fighting for. Yet hidden under this shaking and stumbling, there's something that makes KB realize Luigi is a worthy contender for the title of Ghost King.His kindness, yes yes, but other darker feelings that yet never threaten to bury the plumber, like so many would. Instead used as shields for the others.

I love this trope and this ship is made for it, sue me, but : at some point during one of the final battles against E.Gadd and his troops, King Boo has to posses Luigi to save his life...but somehow, instead of KB being the only one in charge, Luigi gets a hand on the wheel as well. Another moment of Luigi's Weirdness manifesting. Maybe a residual from sharing consciousness with Gooigi .It's very clumsy and awkward at first, but they manage to make for a terrifying force once they get their bearings.

[navree]

How do you think Augustus felt about Livia?

It's a bit hard to parse out how the man felt about anyone, just because he controlled his image so tightly that nobody ever publicly saw anything he didn't want them to see, save for some very rare exceptions (ex: Augustus is recorded as having become publicly emotional three times in his entire public life, and two out of those three were very likely deliberate performances meant to engender a specific response, though one of them was definitely just spontaneous emotion). And with the added caveat that trying to ascribe feelings to historical figures can be very tough because those involve private thoughts that we are just not historically privy to, especially during the Antiquity where we're just missing so many records, I think it's fair to say that there was some kind of love there.

There's a lot of misconceptions around their relationship because Augustus and Livia just have very negative public reputations (Augustus just due to the popularity of Antony and Cleopatra as a couple, which means that most stories of this time are about them, slotting him into the role of antagonist or even outright villain in contrast to them as protagonists; Livia due to the popularity of stories like I, Claudius, which painted her as a scheming manipulator and burgeoned outward from there) that sees them both as people who didn't care about anyone, let alone possibly each other, and were in this relationship purely for opportunism and power. That's not to say that they didn't care about the power or opportunities the match would have afforded both of them, they clearly did; I've never bought into the legend that Octavian fell in love with Livia at first sight because nothing I've read about the guy, Mr. "hasten slowly" himself, shows someone who made snap judgments without thought. Octavian had prestige from his relationship to Caesar, and his family was influential in their Roman suburb, but he didn't have the patrician family roots that Livia did, and marrying her would have given him additional prestige to really solidify power. For Livia's part, her family was on the downward spiral after having repeatedly been on the wrong side in recent wars (her father fought for Brutus and Cassius, her first husband routinely was opposed to Augustus not just at Philippi but also during Fulvia's War and my beloved Siege of Perusia as well as siding with Sextus Pompey when he opposed Octavian), and allying herself instead with someone who was shoring up massive amounts of power and influence in his own right would have been hugely beneficial for her and her children. There was absolutely a calculus that went into this relationship and in figuring out what both parties could bring to the table to make the marriage viable against some not great optics, like Livia already being pregnant by her first husband and Octavian getting ready to break his alliance to Sextus by divorcing Scribonia (literally on the day she gave birth to Julia, my man you couldn't have waited a day?).

But I don't think that means that there wasn't any feeling there. For one, again, there were some bad optics involved as well as changes in alliances, and Livia definitely needed Octavian more than he needed her; he could have absolutely found some other patrician woman to boost up his pedigree by association rather than one from a family that had constantly opposed him. I wouldn't be shocked if there had been some emotion behind choosing Livia specifically, that when they met (sources say she was personally introduced to him before they decided to get married, so they had at least one chance for rapport) they formed a connection of some kind and an appreciation for each other. We also know that Octavian, as he grew in power and especially once things steadied in Rome and he got his name changed to Augustus, still relied on her as a source of advice and listened to her as a counselor, in spite of her gender and the extreme patriarchal nature of Rome. Augustus, when it comes to Livia's role as an advisor to him, actually had Livia occupying a space very similar to the one he had originally occupied for Julius Caesar: not just being an advisor and a trusted someone at their side, but also someone you could ask to intercede for you with The Great Man either on your behalf or on the behalf of someone you cared about. That Augustus allowed this at all shows a care for her, because he was big on the rigid societal structures and propriety of Ancient Rome, what with all his family laws and his strong stance on morality. But I do think the strongest indicator of love between them, since I do believe there was a love between them, is in the fact that they stayed married.

Livia and Augustus were married for 51 years, from 39 BC until he died in AD 14. And it is honestly wild that, in all that time, they never got divorced. Divorce in Ancient Roman times was exceptionally easy. Literally all was required was that one of the parties move out of the house and that's it, you're considered divorced legally and religiously in all ways that mattered. That's why, when you read about these people, you see how often they're just getting divorced right and left at the slightest provocation, Augustus included, divorcing Claudia and Scribonia with relative ease. But not Livia, even though the marriage wasn't doing the one thing most political marriages really need to be doing: bringing in children. Livia and Augustus never had any children, and only ever one pregnancy, which ended in a stillbirth. Given that Augustus specifically really needed an acceptable heir, as he was trying to build a hereditary autocracy that relied on power being passed down from father to son, rather than the semi-democracy Rome had at the time, this is a big deal. We know that Augustus struggled with heirs, mostly because everyone he ever wanted as an heir kept dying before him (which has to suck, just on a personal level, given that a lot of these were family members that he'd been close to and viewed as his own children, sorry man), and he probably would have very much liked to have a natural son to prepare to succeed him, rather than bouncing around. And given how quickly it became apparent that his marriage to Livia was not going to give him any children at all, let alone any sons, he could have easily divorced her with just a few words and found someone else, especially after he cemented his power following Actium and patrician prestige was no longer as important as his own personal presence. But he didn't do that. For a man who always thought ahead and always made decisions based on how they would advance the goals he felt he needed to have, irregardless of personal feeling (the existence of the Second Triumvirate is basically proof that Augustus, very quickly in his political career, developed a habit of shunting his own personal feelings to the side for the sake of doing what needed to be done), choosing to stay in a marriage that wasn't really offering him anything beyond the companionship of a woman he loved is very weird. It speaks to the amount and the depth of feeling there, that he decided to remove political calculation and opportunism from his thought process and decide to stay in a marriage that wasn't necessarily advantageous, because he wanted to, because he cared about and loved the person he was married to.

All in all, I think he cared about her, probably did love her, and even if there was some opportunism in the match, it seems to have been a marriage between two people who enjoyed being together and liked each other.

[lairofsentinel]

The [nonsense] comparisons between Forgotten Realm and Dragon Age Lore

Without entering to a discussion of how valid or not Canon is, and what does it mean, we all can agree that within the context of dnd, Canon gives a frame where the community can be build characters and stories around it. Canon gives the basics so we all can produce around it or modify some bits without turning it into another thing entirely different to what it was originally conceived, and therefore, our contribution in the fandom is an interesting addition because we are sharing, as a community, canon basic rules.

With this said, I would like to highlight some things that keep being repeated and make no sense  when compared:

Dragon Age (DA) lore is totally different to Forgotten Realms’ (FR). And this produces that the characters within these worlds have different and totally opposite experiences about the “similar” thing in question. Especially when it comes to magic. I will sum up briefly this:

In DA, so far we know, there is no Weave as it is in FR. The Fade is not the Weave. The Fade is a plane of existance where mostly mages can access to via dreams [even though history has shown some exceptions, but we are not going into those details]. The Weave in Forgotten Realms is Mystra herself, and it’s like a translator: it allows the use of raw magic that only Wild-magic users can tap into it directly. The Weaves allows any mortal to cast magic if they study hard enough without losing their sanity with the use of raw magic. In the Weave there are some of Mystra’s previous Chosen Ones, living as spiritis, one with her, ready to be reincarnated when she decides it is needed. These are the Weave ghosts that have been added to the lore of FR recently. Again, Fade and Weave are not even similar. And the Veil in DA can’t also be considered similar to the Weave: it is a restriction between two world: the Waking World and the Fade. So no. There is no equivalent of the Weave in DA.

Magic comes from different sources in FR: you can study it and master it via the Weave, or you can be devout to a god or have a patron and they will provide you divine/”patron” power [clerics, paladins, warlock]. Bards are more like a “free to interpret” case since their magic comes from music or sometimes from a god, depending on the way you create your bard. In DA, there is no apparent source of magic, although it seems to be connected to the Fade. Mages are born with magic, and need to learn how to control it along their lives at the risk of being posessed by demons.There is no way in DA that any non-mage person can master magic [Let’s put aside the dilemma with the dwarves and the non-magical powers of the Titans, that’s a lot of [unresolved] lore in DA for this summary]

DA’s demons are not even remotelly close to Demons in FR. In FR we have demons [chaotic evil entities] and devils [lawful evil entities] who have been in war eternally in what it’s called the Blood War. Both factions want to control the planes, but first their need to deal with the enemy faction. Many secret organizations in FR work incognito to help Devils/Demons when this conflict ends up too inclined to one side. This is because these organizations are trying to keep Devils and Demons fighting 50/50 each other eternally since, once this conflict is solved, it’s mostly for sure that the planes will be conquered by the winning faction. That dire it is. Devils do not exist in DA, and its Demons are related to human’s desires and compulsions. DA’s demons also have, like the spirits, a reflective nature: they mirror what the mortals expect from them.

Dragon Age has no Wizards as Forgotten Realms has. Wizards are people who through a lot of effort, study, and intelligence have acquired the power to manipulate the Weave, or tap into it, to produce magic.  If anyone is midly qualified as a Wizard in the world of DA is Dagna: a person who has strongly studied magic by her own volition without a real “need”. But she can’t perform magic [yet].

DA’s mages are closer to FR’s sorcerers, even though they are not exactly the same. Sorcerers in FR are magic users who don’t need to learn to control magic because it’s natural to them. They tap into the Weave to take what they need. The Wild-magic sorcerer can tap directly into the Raw Magic, without touching the Weave and without losing their sanity, but the consequence is the randomness of their magic. Sorcerers don’t need to study to control their powers unlike the DA’s mages. In DA, mages develop their powers in their childhood and are unable to control them. Nobody can’t turn into a mage unless you are born with that “gift and curse” in DA lore. All mages in DA lore need a teacher, mentor, or studies in order to control their powers and prevent demon posession.

Probably one of the most important differences: Larian is not Bioware. Larian has always had its own mark for good or bad [just check all the previous games they did]. And Larian has a long, long history of being really bad at handling lore, even their own lore [DOS2, DOS1, Ego Draconis, etc]. Which I think it’s clearly shown in BG3 too. Even with borrowed strong lore, they manage to produce important plot holes and lore holes [Characters turning into Mind Flayers without being Tadpoled, Gods that are not gods, but quasi deity and therefore have no godly powers, extremelly confusing mixture of concepts that were well defined in 4th Edition and now are all the same in some conversations, but in others are different things, Weave that doesn’t exist, etc, etc].

[dailycharacteroption]

Geomancer (Occultist Archetype)

Fun fact. Did you know that it’s possible to power a light bulb by sinking a wire connected to a power source into the ground and another connected to the bulb a surprising distance away?

I suppose the point of that little tidbit is that the earth beneath our feet is capable of channeling very real power, so it’s only natural to think that it might also channel mystical power.

The word “geomancy” has taken on something of an altered meaning in this day and age of fantastical and over the top special effects and video game animation. I’m sure many of you think of geomancy and imagine a mage ripping stones from the ground to bury and bludgeon foes.

And there’s nothing wrong with that, but much like necromancy, geomancy originally was about gaining information and wisdom from the earth. Hell, Feng Sui is technically a form of geomancy, albeit one peppered with legitimately good advice for designing homes that don’t suck, as is the concept of ley lines and the like.

Today’s subject seeks to reconcile the two, being a bit of tapping into the wisdom and magic of the terrain, with a bit of drawing actual magical power from it as well, as well as a touch of manipulating it in dramatic ways.

The occultist class, with its focus on reading psychic and occult impressions in physical objects, is perfect for this, reflecting the more esoteric mysteries of geomancy both western and eastern, in addition to using them with the more dramatic geomancy we see in the modern era. Just look up geomantic tools and charts and tell me that you can’t imagine a fantasy geomancer using them to summon power from the terrain.

The result is an occultist whose magic varies a bit depending on what terrain they are in, and can be quite formidable. I imagine they are most common in regions where esoteric and occult lore is given a lot of credence and respect, perhaps alongside strong druidic traditions.

In addition to storing mental focus in their implements, these mystics can store some in the very terrain itself. As long as they maintain contact with the ground, they can draw upon this investment for various powers.

Additionally, they use some of the focus that they would use to learn magic associated with an implement to instead draw magic from their environment, these spells changing as they change what terrain they are in. Cold regions grant icy spells; deserts grant those of heat, dryness, and sand; forests let them manipulate and commune with plant life; jungle taps into the poisonous and verminous life found there; mountain calls upon deadly stone attacks and utility; plains call upon wind, agile quadrupeds, and the multitudes of unnoticed insects; other planes draw upon useful utility and survival spells for extraplanar realms; swamps offer mud, rot, and insect life; underground gifts earth manipulation, enhanced senses, stifled air, and formless allies; urban grants magical understanding, agility, and stealth; and finally, water grants survivability beneath the surface and direct control over water.

The level of investment these mystics put into the terrain enhances their awareness of it, making it easier to survive and thrive therein.

They can, however, expend some to bolster their speed, the terrain shifting to remove obstacles , give them boosts, and otherwise quicken them.

These geomancers can also expend some energy to bolster themselves and nearby landbound allies, the terrain empowering their strikes and defenses alike.

Their most dramatic abilyt allows them to reshape the terrain into a strong barrier with a hefty expenditure of energy.

At the cost of one implement school, these mystics gain what is essentially a different implement school with ever-changing spells useful for whatever environment they are in as well as survival buffs, mobility, buffs, and battlefield control. Of course, all of these abilities require mental focus to be invested beforehand, so you can pick when to use them each day depending on the situation, investing a lot or a little and reallocating as needed. The spells and powers are guaranteed to almost always be moderately useful as long as you and the party don’t do a lot of flying, so you’ll probably enjoy it a lot. I recommend a build centered on buffing and battlefield control, appropriately.

This archetype doesn’t reference real-world geomancy all that much in the end, but you can totally use such tools and symbology as part of your character’s arsenal and aesthetic. It mostly revolves around finding ways to randomly generate symbols and then interpreting them, though other forms exist as well.

For decades, the journal known as the Wanderman’s Cypher has eluded decryption, but new evidence points to the key being tied to mystical signifiers tied to the locations where they were originally written and encoded. Of course, the text is centuries old, so acquiring the answers will need strong retrocognitive magic tied to the memory of the land rather than the memories of mortals.

It is theorized that the gargoyles of Nakkor created the Nakkori Lines, great shapes carved into the badlands earth that are visible from the air, as a way to navigate while high in the air, and while it is true that they do use them for such now, other sources suggest they are much older.

There are plenty of mystics that claim domain of the sea, but the ocean giant tyrant Ogzal claims not only his domain, but the shore beyond as well, backing it up with mystical arts tied to his esoteric magics. Stripping him of that power will help those seeking to dethrone him stand a chance.

[imflyingfish]

Hi fish hi fish!! :] hope you're doing swell- wanted to ask for some advice

I've been trying to learn how to draw wheelchairs for a while now, hardest part has been finding refs with people in em, do you know what terms to search up to find stuff like that? All good if not, just know you're pretty well acquainted with drawing em so figured I'd ask

First off I'm going to state that I'm not a wheelchair user. I have researched them in the past and have asked a family member who uses one for advice, but still don't take my word as absoultely reliable. The majority of my knowlege/observations comes from watching family members with chairs so it may be biased. I'm going to be mostly talking about manual chairs but the same suggestions should apply to powered.

Searching up "wheelchair drawing reference" can help, but I discourage using google images. Often the images will be unrealistic due to them being stock images, or of the wrong type of wheelchair for what youre drawing. (One that comes up a lot are foldable wheelchairs which are more associated with hospitals than practical life).

Instead, try to use reference collections made by wheelchair users. This is a really good collection by Criptid Cosplayer in both manual and powered wheelchairs. They also have a small guide to designing fantasy wheelchairs which was interesting.

I also reccomend learning what the different parts of a wheelchair are and do. This will make it easier to understand how the user uses the chair, the shape of the chair and make it easier to remember the different parts while drawing. I don't have a specific source for this using photo reference since I looked at real wheelchairs for this. However @/calvin-arium has a good guide to drawing chracters with wheelchairs with drawn diagrams here.

Also ensure you observe how real people use wheelchairs. I find that tutorials for using wheelchairs are a good source for this since they break down how each movement works. This will make it easier to draw Wheelchairs in montion/natural posing. Wheels2walking has a good video explaining rolling and one here for wheelies.

Other tips:

Give your characters wheelchair gloves, especially if they're going to be going longer distances than just being inside. Not all users use gloves but they do help protect the hands.

Consider if the character needs additional support/what type of chair they're needing. E.G. Seatbelts, cushions, cupholders, additional storage space, hight of handles/if they have handles, back height ect.

Check what type of wheelchair your character needs. One of my OC's needed to always hold a megaphone as her main weapon, so I gave her a powered wheelchair with a headrest to ensure that I could still have her move around the battlefield without taking away her disability. Other times you will need to consider the type of chair around their disability rather than design/character function. Make sure you research the type of chair for the disability and adjust if needed.

Wheelchairs have different functions. Sports wheelchairs and off-road wheelchairs look very different to regular wheelchairs so keep that in mind. Always research the right wheelchair

Also consider if your character can move their legs or not while posing.

To draw the wheelchair start with a circle with the figure to get an idea of the pose. Treat the chair as an extension of the character while drawing. Don't worry about the anatomical accuracy of the chair before you have a good idea of the pose/a basic sketch or thumbnail

Remember to draw the wheelchair using perspective. or dont.

Wheelchairs are even cooler decorated. Some people use stickers, covers, lights, fabrics, spikes.

It's okay to draw wheelchairs badly. I see a lot of people avoid drawing them for fear of getting them wrong but thats just. counterintuative. Make sure you research (even further than this post links to) and stop avoiding them.

Okay yeah, thats all I can think of for now. Keep in mind that I'm not disabled and so not everything I say is guarenteed to be accurate. But this should be enough to help you out I think.

If anybody else wants to add on to this feel free

[utilitycaster]

you tend to have very interesting opinions about the intersection of character build mechanics and narrative in dnd- what are your thoughts on the builds of the brass ring?

They are all extremely good. I'll go through each PC although we don't have all the details on Patia's build:

Nydas has an incredibly cool build that explains his history, fits with his current state, and makes him particularly deadly in battle. His first few levels are in sorcerer, which explains how he was able to rise to his position (this was used as a device for Saccharina in D20's A Crown of Candy too and is in my opinion one of the best reasons to play a sorcerer), but he then gained the bardic skills to be a fighter and a leader. His connection to dragons fits his role in the Golden Scythe and his sword proficiencies and various forms of expertise make sense for a pirate-mage. Even his metamagic choices fit perfectly; he is both exceptionally quick to act and a very forceful, hard-to-defy person.

Patia is hard to pin down because we don't have any subclass features nor many feats, and she's otherwise a straightforward wizard build, but her spells paint a picture of a noncombatant, primarily interested in defense and obtaining information. The fact that many of these spells may be from her orb of power (and the ambiguity of whether this was standard at the time or something she had herself created) is also very cool.

Zerxus is a similarly very straightforward build and in many ways very classic paladin but the choice of redemption - a primarily defensive/deflecting build - and the degree to which he commits to that - as well as his incredibly powerful magical items - is a fantastic choice. I think it does a lot for story and worldbuilding to have the characters with divine powers be given the most powerful items and pivotal roles within the city while also having them be locked out from positions of true decision-making power. Inspiring leader was also a fun and fascinating contrast because on the one hand it complements both standard paladin abilities and specifically Oath of Redemption's focus on talking through problems rather than smiting first, but contrasts with Zerxus's incredibly serious and even somewhat bitter personality.

Loquatius, like Nydas, has a primarily bardic build with a few levels of another charisma caster, granting him some highly specific offensive capabilities bards lack but unlike Nydas, he is largely a support and utility character. The archfey subclass doesn't actually end up doing a whole lot mechanically, particularly since he's already a fey being, but it does put his choice to decline Elmenore's portal in a new light given that it's implied she's not just his queen, but the source of some of his powers. And, of course, eloquence is the perfect bard subclass for someone who is head of the state-run media and who in the end feels guilt over the damage his incredible powers of deception wrought.

Laerryn is by far the most min-maxed/optimized for combat: her high constitution, the tough feat, and her subclass are all designed to permit her to tank despite being a wizard. Eldritch Adept not only gives her additional armor as a cantrip; it also provides her with a way to game the system and recharge her arcane ward as Mage Armor is abjurative. It's a very cool choice, as well, to have her narratively be dedicated to something we often think of as conjuration or transmutative (planar magic/moving the leylines); to have her be the destroyer of some of the most powerful abjurative magic that ever was in that pursuit; and to then have her use that other skill set ultimately for a protective purpose in the end. The all-purpose tool is also very fitting and narratively earned in her role as someone who works on the infrastructure of the city. I also happen to just love the idea of using abjuration to refer to someone who is in charge of preventative maintenance rather than reactive shielding.

Cerrit has both a relatively simple build - martial, comparative restraint with the magical items - and a highly specialized one that tells the story of what the Eyes of Avalir are and how this non-magical group succeeds in a city of mages. Cerrit is built to be the anti-mage. He is incredibly good at seeing through quite frankly everything (expertise in insight, perception, and investigation); he is able to evade a number of magical effects and, failing that, outrun a lot of mages (150 ft in a turn of pure movement gets you out of range of the vast majority of spells); and the choice to have observant and mage slayer - and therefore to be a mostly melee rogue - means it's difficult for wizards to get around him. Inquisitive rogue also grants you the ability to get sneak attack without allies and to see through illusions. It creates, in effect, a character who will be in opposition of what we know to be the hallmarks of the age of arcanum, which makes his survival narratively very fitting.

[satoshi-mochida]

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth ‘Destined for Rebirth’ trailer; Caith Sith, Elena, Captain Titov, and Yuffie detailed

Gematsu Source

Square Enix has released a new trailer for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth titled “Destined for Rebirth,” as well as new information and screenshots introducing Cait Sith, Elena, Captain Titov, and Yuffie.

Get the details below.

■ Key Artwork

■ Regions of the World

The world of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is comprised of multiple regions. Each boasts unique environments for you to explore. Let’s take a look at a couple now:

Starboard Junon

An urban residential zone within the fortified metropolis overlooking the ocean. In addition to housing for Shinra personnel, high-end boutiques and restaurants line its streets. Currently, preparations are underway here for Rufus Shinra’s presidential inauguration parade.

Shinra-8

A Shinra cruise ship that ferries travelers between the planet’s eastern and western continents. After departing the port of Junon, it heads for the resort town of Costa del Sol. As part of the on-board entertainment, the ship plays host to a Queen’s Blood tournament.

■ New Characters

Cait Sith & Moogle

This gregarious cat fights from atop his sturdy moogle mount, who provides both mobility and support during battle. When Cait’s not duking it out, his high-tech helper aids him in hacking computer systems and telling fortunes.

Elena (voiced by Piper Reese in English, Megumi Toyoguchi in Japanese)

Though she may be a rookie, she’s as skilled with her fists and a gun as anyone else in the Turks unit of Shinra’s General Affairs Division. She and her partner Rude are tasked with pursuing the black-robed figures, which she is more than happy to do if it means being assigned a mission with Tseng.

Captain Titov (voiced by Tsuyoshi Koyama in Japanese)

The captain of the Shinra-8, responsible for overseeing safe passage for all who travel between Junon and Costa del Sol. He’s earned a sterling reputation among his crew, thanks to his unerring devotion to his duties. This is most evident during the various festivities held aboard his vessel, which he personally—and passionately—emcees.

■ Combat

Next up, let’s take a look at what some of the new additions to the party can do in battle!

◆ Yuffie

Basic Attacks

Yuffie quickly strikes enemies with a large throwing star. The speed with which she attacks allows you to charge ATB faster than most. While her throwing star is out, Yuffie can unleash magic-infused “ninjutsu” to punish foes.

Abilities

Yuffie excels at chaining her attacks together and switching their elemental affinity. Her Doppelgänger ability allows her to attack in tandem with her clone, enabling her to exploit enemies’ weaknesses even more effectively.

Unique Ability

Hurling her throwing star at enemies allows Yuffie to keep up the pressure from adistance. While her throwing star’s out, she can also pelt her foes with ninjutsu. Whatever element her target’s weak against, Yuffie has a ninjutsu spell for it.

◆ Cait Sith

Basic Attacks

Cait Sith darts about the battlefield with the agility of an acrobat (or perhaps a cat?), assailing enemies from every side. When he wants to switch things up, he brings out his moogle pal, changing his attacks.

Abilities

These Cait Sith-exclusive moves can hurt enemies or buff allies, but most rely on luck in some way. “Let’s Ride!,” however, allows him to hop on his moogle, enhancing his regular attacks and his unique abilities.

Unique Abilities

While riding his moogle, Cait Sith can give enemies the boot with Dropkick. Once his moogle’s attacks have filled the Moogle Meter, he can also buff his companions with abilities like “Defense!”

◆ Synergy Abilities

Synergy abilities are powerful attacks in which two characters team up to turn the tide of battle. More abilities will unlock as you increase the party level – a numerical expression of how closely-knit your team is—and deepen the affinity between party members. Fill the synergy gauge by using abilities, then unleash a synchronized assault!

Moogle Pinwheel (Synergy Ability / Yuffie and Cait Sith)

Yuffie and Cait Sith attack in tandem with a secret ninja technique.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is due out for PlayStation 5 on February 29.

Watch the trailer below. View the screenshots at the gallery.

Destine For Rebirth Trailer

English

Japanese

[vyladromeave]

26 and 28?

26. you're tasked with writing an official side story/spin-off roleplay (void paradox, mermaid tale, upside-down story), what would that look like?

Every day I am haunted by the fact that the original mcd spin-off stuff just became mystreet and i know I could do a modern au of MCD better than jess. I know it. but i cant pick that as my answer because mystreet already exists and is bad.

I kinda struggled with this for a while ngl, i have a lot of reject answers that will not be seeing the light of day. I'm an MCD guy, so my instinct is to do something more MCD-based, potentially still set in MCD's world. But keeping it within the same world but different characters usually makes series that are boring and hard for people to get attached to (for an Aphmau-specific example, see Phoenix Drop Days). But series with characters that are AU-ified and altered are often very hit or miss for me... I really didn't like how series like mermaid tale and royal tale treated returning characters, and mystreet is a whole separate train wreck entirely.. It's very hard to make things different but also respectful to the original source.

BUT. THAT BEING SAID. In the middle of this i was reminded of the au behind this post, the role swap of The Jury and Shadowknights, and I feel like that would be fun to cover!!! I need to make a whole nother post about the au as a whole just to solidify my ideas about it tbh. i have ideas.

But i think overall just covering like a short retelling (its just a spinoff, unfortunately I cannot cover all of MCD) of a time where we get a bunch of people involved on both sides on screen would be fun. I'm specifically thinking of the arc at the end of S1 with Katelyn and Lillian in town. I think a lot of the shadowknights and jury share a lot of parallels with each other already, which would be fun to explore, but also fun to look into how these people being a part of different organizations would change who they are and how they act massively.

28. if you could ask jess one question about the series and recieve a direct answer, what would it be? 

now here is where i get to cheat. because

i was asked this question TWO ADDITIONAL TIMES. so I get 3 questions total now. thats how this works. yes this is just straight up cheating. thank you.

QUESTION 1: i gotta give it to stellisketches. this is exactly where my mind went first too. i wish i could just say "Give me all your planning notes and script documents because I know you have them you mentioned them on stream years ago please let me see them." But that is unfortunately a demand, not a question. So asking about the intended direction and ending of S3/MCD as a whole will have to do.

^this is the main one that i would most want an answer to. The rest of these definitely aren't as important, but they do haunt me personally:

QUESTION 2: WHO THE FUCK ARE THE OTHER JURY MEMBERS AND WHAT ARE ALL THEIR TITLES. Its called the fucking Jury Of Nine, we're still very notably missing a whole third of their members. No, Garroth doesn't count, he was a temporary sub-in. We have 6 official members. We almost have more people on the official "could have been a jury member if we needed one replaced" list than there are actual jury members. Well ok not really, but it's closer than it should be. We didn't even know Ivan was supposed to be a jury member until Rebirth. Have we seen the others in og mcd (or other series?) and Jess just forgot to mention they were Jury like Ivan, or was Ivan a last-minute promotion plotwise? Is Zane supposed to be a member? To me it seemed like he was supposed to be leading them, but not strictly a part of them. They just answered to him. But was that me misreading things? Is Zane the secret 9th member? (I know a lot of people consider him one because of the S1 finale, since he powers up like Garroth does and Garroth seems to have Katelyn's like weird jury-relic thing. but ONE: the jury-relic things are stupid and never brought up again and TWO: Zane has Esmund's relic at this point, that's what's powering him up, not a jury-relic-thing. So?????) ARE there even other plans for the Jury members we haven't seen? Do they exist to Jess? Does she have any others in mind at all? I need to know these things. Also why do so many of them use scythes or have scythe in their titles. That's stupid. Stop that.

QUESTION 3: WHO THE FUCK IS VYLAD'S BIOLOGICAL FATHER, WERE THERE ANY PLANS FOR HIS (biological) PATERNAL SIDE OF THE FAMILY. Is this a bad question? Yes. Does Jess likely actually have any plans here? Probably not. Was obscuring Vylad's bio dad's name done so that Jess didn't have to invent a whole new character, and not because she had someone in mind and wanted to obscure who it was? Yeah probably. Are there better things to ask? Yeah. But this haunts me every single day. We don't even know if he's alive. We don't even know his fucking name. Is there an actual reason he looks like every other brown haired character in the series, or did Jess just want those sweet sweet Jeffory parallels? I need to know if there was at least some plan here, even if it was stupid. I need to know if Jess was just pulling shit directly out of her ass or not. It's important. I'm the Vylad guy you have to let me have this.

(ask prompts from here!)

[monstersdownthepath]

Monster Spotlight: Wickerman

CR 13

Neutral Colossal Construct

Bestiary 4, pg. 277 (Art source!)

Construction Requirements: Craft Construct, Fire Seeds, Wall of Fire, Warp Wood, with a caster level of at least 12th. Craft (carpentry) or Craft (sculptures) DC 15.

At least 12,000 pounds of both common wicker and rare, elder wood from powerful and ancient trees are needed, with the wood alone often costing 10,000gp. In addition, a living, sapient humanoid must be sacrificed inside the Construct's chest to bring it to life.

Cost to Build: The complicated magic used to fuel the Wickerman's eternal burning engine will run you a total of 60,000gp, plus a stain on your soul, as the sacrifice to ignite the Construct is considered an Evil act.

Having more than a few similarities to the previous article, the purposes of the two Constructs couldn't be more different. A Tophet is used as punishment and prison, but a Wickerman is exclusively used as an outlet for sacrifices. These towering monstrosities are surrounded in a Constant Blaze, their fires never going out once they're lit by the initial sacrifice to imbue them with life unless they're fully submerged in water (and they reignite the instant they're in open air anyway). Despite being made of straw and wood, the eldritch magic that allows them to move also constantly restores their form, steadily rebuilding them so long as they aren't destroyed entirely. They're one of the few Constructs with Fast Healing because of this; Fast Healing 1, but that's infinitely more than most! They need it, though, because despite their hefty CR they have low AC and extremely low saves, with only Hardness 5 to protect them. Like the Tophet, they're best kept in reserve.

Once active, a Wickerman mindlessly follows the orders of its creator, and when left without orders is simply content to sit still and burn eternally, lashing out only against creatures that attack it first. They're almost only ever used against creatures that have no hope of fighting back against them, or who are demoralized by the sight of them... the latter of which is possible if someone's already trapped inside the Wicker Cage, burning alive for 4d6 Fire damage every round (technically 5d6, because victims automatically catch fire and burn for 1d6 additional damage).

How's someone get in there in the first place? Usually they're bound and gagged and offered by the cultists who constructed the Wickerman, and the giant thing just scoops them into its hands and shoves them inside. If the cult wants a little more pizazz, they'll release the sacrifices into an arena and let the Wickerman take its pick. A BIG arena, mind, because it has a 30ft space and 30ft reach! Maybe they'll even let the victims fight back against it with weapons that have no hope of doing permanent harm just to spice things up! And then the Wickerman smashes them halfway into the soil like a fence post before pulling them out and shoving them into the cage anyway. A Wickerman can make two hefty slam attacks a round, each one dealing 2d8+13 damage and setting the victim on fire for 1d6 more damage a round. What's more, struck victims are Grabbed, and on its next turn (or current, if it only used one slam!) it may use its move action to shove any grappled creatures into the Wicker Cage to slowly burn away to nothing.

Breaking out of the Wicker Cage does have a side effect on the Construct itself, one that cuts down its effectiveness quite dramatically: Breaking out renders the cage unusable until the Wickerman is fully healed. With only Fast Healing 1, that means any creature that busts out of the cage pretty much makes it a non-factor for the rest of the fight... Unless the creators are nearby. No, I'm not suggesting they use Make Whole, I'm suggesting they use Fireball; Wickermen draw strength from flames no matter the source, and absorb any Fire damage they would have taken to heal 1 point per 3 points of absorbed damage. A Fireball cast by a 12th level caster deals, on average, about 35~40 damage, which means it heals for 12~13 health! Wow! yes, that's small, but remember that's healing the Construct and damaging everything around it at once.

Because the Wickerman can cause things to burst into flames just by slamming them with its fist, there's also the possibility of it starting a wildfire and then standing in the blaze, attacking everyone around it as the raging inferno heals it. It can even start fires from a range if it wants! Because once per round, it can scoop some flaming straw from its body and hurl it as a ranged attack with a 60ft increment, dealing 4d6+13 damage to anything it hits and setting the target on fire. Not even staying out of its considerable reach will save you from being burned.

Though they're somewhat fragile, the Wickermen aren't meant to be soldiers. They're weapons of terror and instruments of wicked rites to gods of fire, nature, or destruction, towering infernos with a bottomless appetite for sacrifices to forces and entities they don't have a mind to comprehend and possess no true loyalty to. They're meant to be supported by creators with torturous ideals, the bludgeoning instrument at the side of a caster who can invoke enough fire to keep the Wickerman healed as it claims its screaming sacrifices from among crowds of fleeing civilians and brave adventurers standing against it alike. Sending them in as a solo act will typically end with the towering, intimidating colossus buckling after the first Cone of Cold hits it, and no one wants their 10k+ gold investment to just go up in smoke instantly! You gotta support your creations!

...

sigh. ok hold on, i gotta do this before someone else does:

not the bees aaaa nooooo not the beeeeees ! ! ! there. reference concluded.

You can read more about them here.

[brightgnosis]

Tools and Materials of the Craft

The best materials for making tools are those materials that were originally “living” at one point, as opposed to artificial substances. Thus, something like wood is better than metal, and metal is better than plastic. If the material is Virgin (having never been used before for anything else), then all the better.

Things augmented are better than things used as-is. And those items made by hand (any hand) are even better. The very best, however, are those tools you make yourself by your own hand- and all the better if crafted by your own hand entirely from start to finish; the more energy you can channel into the tool, the better. And so logically, the greater percentage of the tool that you make, the better. 

Any tool is better than none at all, however. And your ritual tools need not be expensive or fancy, either. Though they should be special in some way and have significance to their owner- and they should be pleasing to them on an aesthetic and spiritual level; that the tools of the craft have a certain beauty of both form and function is certainly helpful to a practitioner in its own right.

Tools should also be consistent with the path or tradition being participated in, in the first place. Not all Tools are necessary for one to possess, even within a singular tradition. But care should still be taken when deciding which tools to (and not to) take up as a practitioner- especially along paths which utilize a variety of tools. 

All of that being said: It’s very easy for beginning practitioners to be distracted by the tools early on in the process, and ultimately lose their focus on what’s really important- which is their own spiritual and psychic development; real magic ultimately begins entirely within you, the practitioner, and continues from there. A set of tools, therefore, can never be a replacement for actually doing the mental, spiritual, energetic, and other work of Wicca. Likewise, performing spells and rituals through tools alone, and nothing more, will ultimately be ineffective.

But then why do Wiccans use tools at all? Because a Wiccan’s magical tools are like extensions of the Witch themself, infused with their owner’s energy and attuned to their metaphysical will. Thus they act as assistants to ritual, ultimately enhancing both the ritual itself, and the practitioner’s magic, by helping the Witch focus their energy in a much more fine-tuned way. In addition, since the tools are only used in ritual- and since each one has deep symbolic meaning- they help to attune one to the ritual mindset in the first place.

Yet effective ritual isn’t dependent upon the number of tools one uses. Yes, tools and memorized chants are outward expressions of inward changes (such as the shift to ritual consciousness) which add richness to the deep well of power that magical people draw from. They can assist us in creating these inner transformations as a result. But they aren’t in any way prerequisites or requirements for them.

To put it otherwise: Tools are the icing on the cake. They aren’t necessary- especially once a practitioner has mastered the basics. But they are welcomed, and they can be of invaluable help.

However, there is always the slightest caveat to the discussion: You can eat a plate of spaghetti in many ways without using a fork, true. But using utensils- especially a specialized tool such as a fork- certainly makes it quite a different experience overall (and often a much easier one). Yet, with or without the tools, the end result is still the same regardless. The same is true in Witchcraft.

Main Source: ‘Wicca for Beginners: Fundamentals of Philosophy and Practice’ Thea Sabin; 'The Gardnerian Book of Shadows' by Gerald Gardner; ‘Wicca for One: The Path of Solitary Witchcraft’ by Raymond Buckland; ‘A Wiccan Bible: Exploring the Mysteries of the Craft from Birth to Summerland’ by AJ Drew; ’Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner’ + ’Living Wicca: A Further Guide For The Solitary Practitioner’ by Scott Cunningham; 'A String and a Prayer: How to Make and Use Prayer Beads' by Eleanor Wiley and Maggie Oman Shannon; 'Grimoire of the Thorn-Blooded Witch: Mastering the Five Arts of Old World Witchery' Raven Grimassi; various writings by Daniel Schulke; 'A Mystic Guide to Cleansing and Clearing' by David Salisbury; others.

This is my own compiled research on the topic from a multitude of sources, from my own Book of Shadows. I am happy to share my sources, but if you found this helpful or interesting, please consider Tipping or Leaving a Ko-Fi (being Disabled, even $1 helps); you can see my other "Original Content" here.

This account is run by a Dual Faith «(Converting) Masorti Jew + Traditional NeoWiccan» & «Ancestral Folk Magic Practitioner» with 20+ years of experience as a practicing Pagan and Witch. If that bothers you, don't interact.

[teawinx]

Hello again

Thanks for answering my question before 😊👍

Hmm here are some suggestions you could try to implement in your rewrite (if you feel open to them l mean)

The major fairies of earth each guard over a relic belonging to their element/season

Diana :Flower of Life for Earth/Spring

Nebula:Sword of War/Staff of Peace for Summer/Fire

Sibylla:? Not sure what for her yet (maybe a book on earth magic(book of knowledge?)/Air

Aurora:Crystallized Snowflake/Water

Ok and here’s this :in addition to being holder of one of the four elements of nature,they also have an auxiliary power (this of it as being similar to the main element but slight different like branches (so light being a branch from fire , ice for water, metal for earth, and sound ? for air )

Also what about non physical/elemental powers ?(y’know like emotions,illusions,technology,music,etc)

.Cause I was trying to make an Winx oc inspired by your rewrite and her power /title is fairy of the rainbow (so I guess is this case her source of power would be light and fire magic)

oh and how about instead of just being born a witch or fairy,it’s more like idk earning a job ? Like everyone has magic in them and it’s up to them to decide what they want to be (like a fairy,witch or sorcerer/warrior) Also I feel like since Earth low key loves witches and fairies,the relationships between them would be more friendly than they are in Magix ( Roxy and Selina’s friendship being obvious difference) (where they’ve basically been feared/maligned no thanks to the Trix causing massive trouble nearly every year thus making some Magic fairies feel like all witches are no good and are out to do evil (even though magic is a more or less neutral energy that can go either way)

Also what do transformers look like for Earth Witches (same for fairy transformations) I’d feel like they would look different than the witch and fairy forms from Magix (making them look different to make them stand out and thus kinda being looked down upon by them Magic fairies since magic is just coming back to Earth after being severed for centuries by the Wizards of the Black Circle (thus maybe adding to Roxy and Selina’s struggle to fit in at Alfea/Cloudtower during their first year trying to work on their Winx (I thought that would be a good term for both witches and fairies because I couldn’t think of anything’s to call a witch’s first form/transformation)

So basically this

Winx - believing in one’s self

Charmix -facing your deepest fear

Enchantix - sacrifice yourself for someone you don’t agree with (Earth)

Believix (Highest level form just for earth fairies)-belief in the power of unity with others

can’t remember what you wrote down for witch forms so you can just put them in your reply

Hi hi

I'm unsure about implementing relics alongside seasonal spirits/fairies. Feels very very similar to a certain other series (RWBY). But I think the whole seasonal thing could be the opportunity to explore nymphs a bit more. So Diana is the Nymph of Spring for example. I love the idea of Nymphs in Winx, it's just a massive shame they weren't able to explore it further.

An oc based on my Au????? I'm gonna throw up that's so sweet aaaahhh!!!! Fairy of the gays yaaaaassss

I think you'd be born one thing (like you're born a fairy, or you're born a witch/wizard etc) but you're able to transition into a different magical being if that's what your heart desires. Like Mirtha basically.

And yeah, I think using Terrestrial Fairies/Witches could be a great opportunity to show how different the relations are. On Earth they're chummy, but they're in for a nasty shock when they see the Magical Universe. A very big part of Roxy's story is her disgust at the treatment of witches. That stuff ain't gonna fly, not on her watch.

All that you said at the end is mostly correct, except for Believix! I've gone on record a few time about how much I don't like Believix, so it's changed a lot here. Believix is a form created by the White Circle to combat the Black Circle. The Black Circle absorbs magic, so you can't stay transformed around it, Believix is the only form that's not affected by that. It's a weak form, but it's enough for you to hold your own.

And for the Witch forms, I'm still a bit unsure. We have Base Witch, Advanced Witch (Gloomix) and then High Witch.

Voilaaa

[tyrranux64]

"Holy Diver"

Welcome to Providence City America, cirta 2364 AD. Spanning about 200,000 miles in diameter hanging just off the coast of California like a cancerous growth. A fully realized technological marvel and a “paradise” of late stage capitalism, offering the mere illusion of a more “evolved” civilization no longer adhering to the old ways when in truth the old status quo is very much alive still feeding off the lower class like a parasite. And now going against the system is punishable by having your very alienable rights stripped from you and being treated as a pariah on social media, death would be much for favorable…..so naturally the suicide rates are at an all time high (and a frequent source of meat for fast food chains). Truly is a wonderland of stagnant progress……much better than the alternative. About 80% of North America lies in ruin, terraformed into a hellscape of alien crystal and bio flesh following the events of the Great Cataclysm, details of which are now lost to time. Anyone who cannot afford to leave the continent will have to brave this hellscape for a chance of freedom. Such is the sad state of affairs that two very unlucky street rats find themselves in. Forced to live day by day under the oppressive rule of corporate greed. Waiting for the last straw to give them cause for unleashing the strange power that they each possess to burn this nightmarish status quo to the ground…..and then they are contacted by a mysterious freedom fighter, one Poppy Quocks, who has a proposition for them both…. _______________________________________________________

Chrost Matoi {HOLY DIVER}[Colleen Clinkenbeard] Japanese, age 12, non binary, pending. 4 feet 3 inches. Quiet and reserve right down to the overgrown hair obscuring their eyes, has a hard time communicating with even other kids their age. A kid in every sense of the word, right down to the iron clad attachment towards their adoptive brother Frisk. It is no mere codependency, it is a bond between two kindred spirits that have nothing else in this terrible shit hole known as Providence City, nothing but each other a couple hundred Providence Dollars to their names. Because of the circumstances Chrost is especially protective of Frisk, taking care of his wounds, making sure he eats right, being over lenient with his knuckleheaded decisions, willing to maim anyone that harms so much as a hair on him. If anything were to happen to Frisk there is no telling what Chrost would do….especially since it turns out that Chrost is in possession of a dangerous power that could destroy the world… _______________________________________________________ THE AEONS The fallen angels of destruction, diving down from the heavens upon the world to destroy it and rebuild it anew. So the legends say. Thought to have been mere myth, the recent appearance of the infamous Holy Diver has people now paranoid that all these doomsday prophecies, conspiracy theories and hokum might actually be cold hard reality. There have also been rumors of other such monsters, sharing the Holy Diver’s mouth only face with no eyes, boasting powers that could only be describes as…..eternal……

-[HOLY DIVER;] The Titan of Wrath. Bearer of the Hecatonchires Driver transforming them into a humanoid of shimmering gold. “Herculean” doesn’t quite do justice to this humanoid beast’s terrifying strength, amplified by its ability to stretch its limbs and grow additional arms. Wields the power of light with such ferocity that it can atomize solid matter in one full power blast. Height in this form is 8 feet 3 inches.   

-[VOID DIVER;] The Slothful Assassin. Bearer of the Gashadokuro Driver transforming them into a skeletal nightmare of pale ivory. His bone like body makes him virtually invincible and incapable of feeling pain. A master of the blade who is able to grow bone protrusion weaponry from his body, any protrusion they grow is sharp enough to cut through solid diamond. Height in this form is 8 feet 6 inches. -[MEGA DIVER;] The Avarice Wyrm. Bearer of the Jormungandr Driver transforming them into a Herculean dragon god. Sheer power and strength concentrated into their fists and their very skin cuts through even steel like a thousand blades, has heightened senses able to see in full three dimensions at once. Can channel great water like chi energy for devastating attacks. Height in this form is 10 feet 4 inches.   

-[NOVA DIVER;] The Lustful Psychopath. Bearer of the Cerberus Driver transforming them into a feminine lycan of reddish obsidian. Has three heads, two of which are massive shoulder pauldrons spewing out intense flames which then take whatever animal like shape that they desire. Armor is constantly giving off intense radiation and can even outright become like molten rock. Height in this form is 7 feet 9 inches. 

 -[ZERO DIVER;] The Jealous Nightmare. Bearer of the Leviathan Driver transforming them into a disturbingly beautiful fishman of crystalline blue sapphire. Is easily identified by the fifty foot long “serpent tail” protruding from the upper back and neck, able to reduce the very temperature of the immediate area to sub zero within seconds causing living flesh to become like frozen rock. Height in this form is 25 feet 5 inches.  

-[GAEA DIVER;] The Gluttonous Beast. Bearer of the Behemoth Driver transforming them into a towering quadrupedal beast. The very concept of devastation and genocide made manifest, able to destroy an entire city with its sheer animalistic fury and hunger. Also has the ability to spew poison that causes hideous decay and mutation. Height in this form is 40 feet 10 inches.   

-[CHAOS DIVER;] The Vain Antichrist. Bearer of the Sephiroth Driver transforming them into a demonic humanoid seraphim with six wings of bleeding blades. Easily the most dangerous of the Aeons simply for having the power to unleash the Rot, but even without that power this beastly terror is exceptionally powerful in raw strength and speed. Height in this form is 20 feet 10 inches.