Dark Path Sorceress

[Belial666]

ELENA BLACKCLOAK



High Concept: Dark Path Sorceress Trouble: The Temptation Of Power
Other Aspects: Your Friendly Neighborhood Warlock, Abomination-Blooded, Priestess Of Nyx, Revenge Is Best Served With Extra Tentacles, Poorly-Worded Laws Make My Day
  Stress and Consequences: Physical OOOO armor 3,  Social OOOO  Mental OOOO, extra mild consequence Refresh Level and Fate Points: 14, adjusted to 1

Don't get me wrong. I am mostly human. I love many parts of humanity and don't want to see the world destroyed; most of what I do happens in it. But the world that saw my mother burned at the stake for being born as she was and my father decapitated for his attempts to save her will change; that I vow by my Power and the Darkness That Eats All Things.
I do not kill, I do not invade minds, I do not bend wills, I do not transform. I do not raise the dead or trifle with Time. And the powers I use? I was born with them or was made an offer. As I never sought them, your foolish seventh law does not apply. And all I do now is send power through the Gates my allies can cross on their own. Once here, we bargain. I never technically summon anything from Outside. You should probably rewrite the Law but you are so hidebound you'll become extinct before you get around to it.
For the rest of the world, all I have to say is this; you toil and hunger and suffer disease and before you die from old age, you become slaves to politics, religion and money. Let these parts of the world burn. Let us remake it into a place we can exist free of that, eternally. So you won't be purely human. Mortality is overrated anyway.
Born of a Farspawn mother and the warlock who allowed her to cross to the world, Elena never was entirely human but was raised as one. She cannot remember if her parents loved her; the church burned her mother in the Salem witch purge and the White Council beheaded her father when he tried to save her. Spirited away by one of her father's contacts, she grew up seeking revenge.
Unlike most dark wizards, she does not hate the church or the council; long life has given her clarity. She merely sincerely believes they have no place in the modern world unless they accept change. She hates inequality and lack of freedom of any sort and will fight to oppose them. She does not see her use of Outsider powers as evil; the order of the Universe must change if it is for humanity to progress beyond its failings. Many will adapt and form a new, immortal race. Others will not, and will cease to exist; that loss is acceptable.

In combat, Elena is a terrifying force. She can obliterate most opposition with a single blow, changing their nature or relocating them rather than killing or mind-raping. Her willingness to use the powers of her bloodline makes her stronger, especially in ritual magic where she can handle massive amounts of power in a blood ritual and recover within minutes. Apart from her magic, she is a beautiful, young-seeming woman with a strong social presence and a powerful dedication to her beliefs.

ASPECTS

Dark Path Sorceress
Elena is a sorceress of the dark path; she has chosen to employ the dark powers instead of being corrupted to their use and she sees the world ruled by darkness as a better place than the current hell of politicking and money and other human failings.
Invoke: This is the high concept. Any rolls having to do with Elena's abilities, Elena's personality and Elena's relationships with other people and entities.
Compel: This is the high concept. Any rolls having to do with her powers' demands, her own personal failings and enmity with people and entities that oppose what she is.
The Temptation of Power
Elena uses her powers for the betterment of mankind but also for personal gain - and sees nothing wrong with that. But sometimes too much power may lead to bad choices and abandoning responsibilities...
Invoke: This is the trouble. Any rolls to gain more power, especially through pacts with others and sponsored magic.
Compel: This is the trouble. Greed for power and pride in knowing what to choose are often misplaced. They might (and often do) have disastrous results but even if they don't, they aren't going to make you a good person if you give in.
Abomination-Blooded
Elena is the descendant of a Farspawn and a dark wizard. She is not entirely human and while this improves relations in low places and makes her tougher and long-lived, it doesn't exactly endear her to the average "good" supernatural.
Invoke: Endurance and Athletics rolls, social rolls with drak creatures and mages.
Compel: Encounters with the church and hunters, social relationship with anyone afraid/hating her nature.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Warlock
Elena is a self-proclaimed warlock, from a family of warlocks, and has been so for three hundred years. She is still cute and cuddly due to her unnatural long life and while her views on the world could be said to be alarmingly insane, she is usually patient and understanding about them. Unfortunately, wardens are far less so.
Invoke: In breaking the 7th Law and using social skills on those not suspecting her nature.
Compel: White Council encounters and Venator encounters.
Priestess Of Nyx
Elena is a priestess of the Darkness That Eats All Things. Her mistress has gifted her with an artifact that enhances her magic. Elena has an interest in promoting Nyx's agenda however - and other powers may strongly disagree with that.
Invoke Using the Dark Path Robes, good standing with allies of Nyx
Compel Promoting Nyx's agenda, enemies in opposing dark powers such as Hell or contesting Old Ones.
Always Prepared
Nobody survives for three hundred years without being careful with a capital "C". Especially a dark practicioner of Elena's power. Elena typically prepares herself, her temporary boltholes and her escape routes ahead of time. Elena's actual residence in  Salem is a fortress of dark powers, fortified and improved over three centuries...
Invoke: Rolls/declarations to say she is prepared for something, usually in the way of spells and other supernatural preparations.
Compel: The downside of being paranoid, encounters with those disagreeing to her preparations.
Poorly-Worded Laws Make My Day
Elena has had experience defying certain Laws and principles. Three hundred years of it. She is very adept in finding loopholes in supernatural principles and legal crap (and that is a quote) as well as convincing others she is right about it.
Invoke: Lore and Scholarship rolls to find loopholes in Laws, laws, pacts and contracts. Presence rolls to convince people she is right about said loopholes.
Compel: She can't help but try to find said loopholes - and use them to many peoples' annoyance.


SKILLS

+5 Conviction, Discipline, Lore
+4 Rapport, Presence, Athletics
+3 Endurance, Scholarship, Alertness
+2 Deceit, Resources, Guns
+1 Driving, Craftmanship, Fists



POWERS

[-3] Evocation - Spirit Power Specialization +1, 2 focus slots
[-3] Outsider Magic - similar to Hellfire mechanically except control/power bonus to Outsider magic instead, 2 focus slots
[-3] Refinement 3x - Void Power +3, Void Control +2, 1 focus slot
[-2] Lawbreaker: 7th
[+0] Human Guise, hiding completely black eyes, decorative fangs and delicate pointy ears.
[-1] Blood Sorcery - Mythic Recovery only vs magic.
[+0] Inhuman Constitution; Elena does not age and rarely sleeps. She will eventually recover from most harm.
[-1] Robes Of The Dark Path
      * Indestructible
      * One-Time Discount
      * It Is What It Is; black robes from hair-fine iron thread, said to be from the blood iron of human sacrifices. Armor 3
      * Power of Darkness; act as a +5 offensive void power focus, +1 defensive void power focus. (effectively refinement 3x)
[+0] Ouroboros Bracers; this pair of bracers made out of entwined metal snakes eating their own tails serves as Elena's +5 offensive control focus for Void, crafted with her focus slots.



ROTES

Dark Banishing: weapon 14 physical attack vs athletics that slowly forces the target out of phase with reality. Take Out forces target into another plane of existence.
Feed the Darkness: weapon 12 zone attack vs discipline that slowly drains the victims' energy and feeds it to dark powers. Take Out forces the victims into exhausted sleep.
Darkfade: 10-shift veil - the caster becomes slightly out of synch with time and reality, thus becoming invisible.
Circle of Power: the caster requests the aid of the Dark Powers. This applies the sticky aspects "Dark Gift", "Inhuman Focus" and "Unnatural Power" that can only be tagged for destructive purposes.
Grasp of the Void: 14-shift, duration 2 grapple vs might, as per the orbius spell. The caster must usually pay for duration increase in following rounds.



THAUMATURGY

Sightblinder: 12-23 shifts summoning via diabolism. The caster summons power from Outside and infuses an object or person with it. Anyone looking at said person or object with Sight or similar abilities for the following day faces a horrendous vision through the Sight with power equal to the strength of the Sightblinder. A typical sightblinder will momentarily stun a wizard and force them to close their Sight. A verypowerful sightblinder can turn a wizard into a raving lunatic that tries to write down protective wards using his own eye fluids as ink. The spell is NOT discriminatory; the "protected" creature also faces the horrendous vision if it employs such divination. Do note that, unless countered, the energy of the spell dissipates into the world when the spell ends and effects minor changes, taking the world a very small step towards corruption...
Dark One's Claim: 18-29 shifts barrier via disruption/diabolism. The caster warps the area, creating an unnatural barrier of Outside energy that blocks the passage of and attempts to obliterate those trying to pass. This works similar to a warding except that it does not stack with a threshold or holy ground. (in fact, it acts in opposition to such forces). Do note that, unless countered, the energy of the spell dissipates into the world when the spell ends and effects minor changes, taking the world a very small step towards corruption...
Despoil: 12-23 shifts disruption. The caster unleashes a bolt of corrupting Outside energy that attempts to violate a non-Outsider barrier or threshold such as the sanctity of a home or holy ground. The spell does get weakened by the threshold but the remaining energy acts as an attack against the threshold it seeks to violate. Do note that, unless countered, the energy of the spell dissipates into the world when the spell ends and effects minor changes, taking the world a very small step towards corruption...
Veilripper: 16+ shifts disruption. The caster makes a tear in the fabric of the Veil that separates the physical world from another dimension - usually the NeverNever but also works with the Outside. Unlike with worldwalking, the intention is not a stable gateway through which creatures can easily travel that closes after a few minutes; the result of this spell is too strong, too disruptive to the Veil to close naturally (practically, it has enough shifts to always resist the Veil's attempts to heal). Unless dispelled, it stays up for a long time. Naturally, there are some agencies that frown on the weakening or tearing of the Veil...
Have-a-Squid: 16 shifts diabolism. The caster uses a sympathetic link to a location or target to summon an Outsider (such as a tentacled horror) practically on top of them, hungry and primed to eat them. The caster neither binds nor controls the Outsider herself - she merely summons one that is already hungry. As such, while this is a blatant violation of the 7th Law, it does not violate the 1st Law. The target must fight off the Outsider, run like hell, or be devoured (his choice). The Outsider, after the victim is eaten or flees, is free to do what Outsiders do when they come to our reality.


BOLTHOLES AND STRONGHOLDS

Typical bolthole: Ground floor apartment, warded with a Dark One's Claim and a greater veil to make people ignore it. If Elena has the time or is feeling paranoid, she'll layer several Dark One's Claims or make a bigger one and also conjure a Sightblinder.
Elena's house in Salem: This is the house Elena inherited from her father; a small, old, stone manor built inside an old graveyard with a dark leyline running under it. It has been fortified with layered wards over several generations, many of them being Major Workings that took weeks, ley line access and blood sorcery with multiple participants (not always willing). It has veils concealing the place and strong Sightblinders. Between each two successive wards in the multiple layers of defense, lie tentacled guardians that are uncontrolled and very very hungry; when one layer of defense falls, several of them are unleashed to prey on any attackers. Considering the existence of the Leyline, Elena's Sponsored Magic and Blood Sorcery and centuries of preparation, the level and number of defenses is ungodly.

[Belial666]

Filled in the aspects and fleshed out the character plus fixed some minor mistakes.

[Professor]

Wow. Seems well thought out. Very cool.

[Kaldra]

really cool man props . now for the gm notes .

wardens are allowed to enforce the SPIRIT of the laws which i do belive they would do in this case, loop holes get you the doom not off the hook. so how has she escaped the snickedr snack for so long? if she is killing wardens that come a looking well then wardens will come a looking in force.

[SkywardEyes]

really cool man props . now for the gm notes .

wardens are allowed to enforce the SPIRIT of the laws which i do belive they would do in this case, loop holes get you the doom not off the hook. so how has she escaped the snickedr snack for so long? if she is killing wardens that come a looking well then wardens will come a looking in force.

Also, you can consider that if she really is just THAT GOOD at arguing through the loopholes of the laws and the wardens cant pin her down as a lawbreaker (say through lack of evidence) than she might attract the attention of the Blackstaff. DUN DUN DUNNNN!!!

...which can also be another cool aspect to put into her character.
Trouble: Ebenezer McCoy wants me dead or something like that

[Belial666]

She is not killing Wardens. She just banishes them to far-off places in the Nevernever by ripping temporary tears in the veil. If the creatures there kill them, not her business; they were too dumb to survive anyway.
Besides, most Wardens can't see through her veils at all. Coming in strength would not help; only sending the few powerful wardens usually needed elsewhere.

She has had meetings with the Gatekeeper, not the Blackstaff. They have an understanding; she occasionally helps him banish Outsiders from factions opposing Nyx and he stays out of her way.
As for McCoy, how would he find her? She is not dumb enough to leave sympathetic links behind.

[SkywardEyes]

As for McCoy, how would he find her? She is not dumb enough to leave sympathetic links behind.

He hasn't and has got no leads on even where to begin, you can tell as she is still alive  This can also be a long-term plot for your character. Dodging McCoy or striking a deal with him.

[Kaldra]

She is not killing Wardens. She just banishes them to far-off places in the Nevernever by ripping temporary tears in the veil. If the creatures there kill them, not her business; they were too dumb to survive anyway.

thats like saying teleporting some one above an active volcano isnt killing them, you have put them into a situation where they will die and used magic to do so.

Besides, most Wardens can't see through her veils at all.

the sight my friend trums all, so does mystic eye linear.

props on the creative thinking, you would get along quite well with some of my fellow players who love to pull things like this. just remember for every creative mischvious player their existis a dm/gm/storyteller laughing manicaly at all the fun things he gets to do to you now.

[Belial666]

The sight overcomes Illusions. Elena's veil is not an illusion; she literally exits reality so she won't be perceived. (She is using 7th-Law violating magic to do it. Not spirit illusions)


Also, if you teleport sb over a volcano, they will die through no action of any other creature. If you teleport someone into a dragon's lair, they willdie through the dragon's actions - or even their own. So the final act that kills them? Not your doing.

[jalrin]

This character concept is interesting but I do have a few questions and concerns.  First, how is this character going to fit in your gaming group?  This character would be viewed by most groups in the Dresdenverse as being on the Sith end of the scale.  This would make it impossible to work with most of the major supernatural powers and their members and allies.  If anyone in your group is a Wizard, a member of the Venatori Umbrorum, a Champion of God, a True Believer, or a Sidhe Knight, there is no way they will be able to work with this character because they will have extreme animosity towards her behavior (not to mention the fact that the Council would view her as kill on sight).

I am also curious, why does she not have Thaumaturgy or the Sight?  It would seem to me that broadening Elena's abilities would make her better able to function in what is not going to be a hostile world for her.  It would also seem to be crucial in order to justify the wizard level evocation specializations that Elena has (my math may be off, but it looks like she has 6 levels of specialization when non-wizards are capped at 3- the base one that comes with evocation and the one level of refinement permitted for non-wizard evocators).

The sight overcomes Illusions. Elena's veil is not an illusion; she literally exits reality so she won't be perceived. (She is using 7th-Law violating magic to do it. Not spirit illusions)

This is not going to work as a veil because the magic that lets her see what is going on in our reality would be detectable via the sight and thus she could be targetted that way.

Also, if you teleport sb over a volcano, they will die through no action of any other creature. If you teleport someone into a dragon's lair, they willdie through the dragon's actions - or even their own. So the final act that kills them? Not your doing.

There is no way the White Council would ever buy this.  Allowing this kind of action would make it possible for a practicioner to kill helpless mortals with magic in such a manner as the mortal authorities could not cope with (teleportation to another realm as murder weapon does not fly in court).  The wardens, not to mention the Senior Council, would go berserk and begin a witch-hunt.  Considering the ease with which the distortions to reality created by her powers could be tracked (cf the the tracking of necromantic energy in Dead Beat), this would the survivability of this character problematic. 

[Belial666]

The group is currently hunting down a lead a demon gave us so we can off a True Venator that would prevent Outsider forces from working in London. Doing right now in the chat - kind of fun.

For blocking the sight, you're right. Will reconsider.


For the laws, see her last aspect about poorly-worded Laws. It would definitely not fly in a trial. But she is not getting "lawbreaker" for getting rid of the Wardens. And considering that the Council didn't get the Disciples of Kemmler until Harry came about, why would they capture her?

[Richard_Chilton]

She technically might not be breaking the laws, but that wouldn't stop from the Wardens from seeing her as a law breaker - especially if she is harming Wardens.  Of course, with the Red Court War in full swing she might not be at the top of their "track it down and kill it" list, but she would be on that list.

Attack a Warden and you're on their list.  Cause one to die and you move up on their list.  Eventually they will get to you.

Now a slight rework would be to make the character part of the accords.  That would limit the conflict with the White Council.

Richard

[Becq]

Some thoughts:

* Your veil, as currently written, is also a violation of the sixth law (moving against the flow of time), either when you turn it on or when you turn it off.
* I'm a little uncertain about your robe that grants 3 armor and 3 refresh worth of refinement for one point.  The "It Is What It Is" rule is intented to provide mundane item abilities for no cost, and a robe that protects like full plate or SWAT armor is a bit beyond this.  If you had Plate Armor of the Dark Path, that would be different.  A non-supernatural robe made of metallic threads would probably be Armor:1 (similar to a bullet-proof vest, and less than true mail armor which would be Armor:2)
* I'm also a little uncertain about being able to getting a +5/+1 Refinement bonus from an IoP.  Refinement is required to follow the column rules similar to skills.  Even if Refinement was allowed for an IoP (and it falls under the "GM should examine closely" part of the allowed capabilities for IoP) I think you would be limited to a +3/+2/+1 at best.
* I think you need to more thoroughly define what your source of power, the outsider known as the "Darkness that eats all things" is.  When I see that description, it does not strike me as compatible with "Elena uses her powers for the betterment of mankind" and "She is still cute and cuddly".  Keep in mind that magic is very much about who you are, and the way you use magic actually molds who you are.  Making regular use of a power that has as its reason for existence the destruction of all that exists seems unlikely to lend toward fluffiness and bluebirds chirping on one's shoulder.  Perhaps you had something very different in mind that actually makes these aspects consistent, but it isn't clear to me.
* "Technically not breaking the Laws" would be -- at the very, very best -- a very hard sell to most Wardens.  Wardens don't follow courtroom rules, nor is there any "innocent until proven guilty" policy.
* Regarding the argument about sending wardens into hostile dimensions, it's not entirely clear to me where the line is.  But it seems to me that banishing someone with the clear expectation that doing so will result in their death is *morally* if not legally the same as killing them.  Think of it in these terms: if I tossed someone into a pit filled with hungry lions, I would be convicted of murder.  Defending myself by saying that I really only pushed them into the area above the pit -- and that the fall was entirely coincidental -- wouldn't convince any judge (well, any sane judge who hadn't been bought off).  Nor would arguing that I expected my victim to be competent enough to fend off the lions, and that it was therefore their fault.  I get that your character is using that as a justification in an attempt to RP rules-lawyer the situation, and that's fine.  But convincing the jury (warden) will be difficult, if not entirely impossible.  It is, however, impossible to fast-talk the metaphysical Laws themselves.  So porting someone into a nice hotel room across town would be fine, even if by some coincidence they happen to be run over while crossing the street on the way back.  But porting someone into a deadly portion of the Nevernever strikes me as borderline at best, and as I mentioned, I'm not entirely sure where the line is, exactly.

One thing you might want to consider, which would simplify most of the above issues: make the character an Emissary of Power, rather than a mortal wizard with outsider connections.  To my understanding, the Laws of Magic (both in terms of Warden enforcement and metaphysically-enforced Lawbreaker stunts) only apply to practicioners of mortal magic, not to Emissaries who have spellcasting abilities of different types (or Changelings, or Vampires, etc).  Of course, killing Wardens might still piss them off, but that's a different issue.

[knnn]

One thing you might want to consider, which would simplify most of the above issues: make the character an Emissary of Power, rather than a mortal wizard with outsider connections.  To my understanding, the Laws of Magic (both in terms of Warden enforcement and metaphysically-enforced Lawbreaker stunts) only apply to practicioners of mortal magic, not to Emissaries who have spellcasting abilities of different types (or Changelings, or Vampires, etc).  Of course, killing Wardens might still piss them off, but that's a different issue.

Of course, if you're not really human, the wardens can then use magic against you without worrying about the first law.

[Belial666]

Technically, Elena is a scion. She inherits mortal magic from her father and outsider magic from her mother. She still takes Lawbreakers if she uses her Evocation (which is the point of mortal magic BTW). And yes, the Wardens can use lethal magic against her.

Refinement is required to follow the column rules similar to skills.

Only specialization has that requirement. If you took refinement for focus items, you can have a staff that gives +5/+1 as an item. The robes are, effectively, acting as a powerful focus; they don't actually give the Refinement ability. The -3 for refinement is what that focus would cost to create as a normal item so I am using that as the refresh cost. If they gave actual refinement, the wearer could use that refinement elsewhere, like making potions, making other foci or boosting specializations. That does not make sense, hence the robe bonus being "locked down" into a focus.

your robe that grants 3 armor

Elena could have just as easily a suit of Armor 3 (full plate) and veiled it to look like anything. Besides, Human Guise. Robes are a thematic choice - not a matter of power - and "robes" made of thick, iron fabric, weighing as much as armor and covered with runes would be just as noticable as tactical gear.

"The Darkness That Eats All Things"

Nyx. Absu. The Black Goat With The Thousand Young. Names don't mean nearly as much as one might think when talking about the Old Ones. She (if gender can be said to apply) is the mother of a legion of abominations in the times of legend. Charon, Thanatos, Geras (Old Age), the Keres (three fates), the Oneiroi (such as Morpheus), Momus (Blame), Apate (Deceit), Nemesis (Vengeance), Moros (Doom), Hypnos (Sleep) and many others are said to be her children - and that is just in the Greek legends.
Nyx does not unmake Reality by touching it. Or rather, she does - and replaces it with something made in her image. She is at the same time one of the most dangerous and one of the most "benevolent" of the Old Ones. It is unclear if that is by design or simple nature but the truth is that it does not matter.
Nyx has in the past used her presence in the physical world not to destroy but to slowly change the world in her image. She is probably responsible for a great deal of non-human monsters existing, as well as entire pantheons of dark gods. The most dangerous part of such blasphemous spawn is that, if they are half-human, they can still summon outsiders through the old Wards...

"Elena uses her powers for the betterment of mankind"
"She is still cute and cuddly"

Think of it as Kerrigan trying to turn all Mankind into infested half-zerg. Or even full zerg. "Betterment" is all relative. And have you noticed that she has "Human Guise" ? Elena looks cute and cuddly. That is a weapon, not her nature.