Alastor

Alastor is immaculate. He would be a blue ribbon finalist in any Rat Show you’d care to name. He is sleek and muscular and his black coat gleams with health and care. His haunches are small in comparison to the rest of his body, making him more streamlined than most rats. His body is three feet long. He doesn’t lope like a normal rat, but slinks snakelike, as if riding the ground forward.

Alastor’s claws are manicured and painted scarlet. His incisors look like razors made of pearl. His left ear is pierced with a gold earring.

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Robot Mode

Alastor is still immaculate, every hair in its allotted place. His movements are smooth and filled with purpose. Every motion is calculated. If he brushes against you, it is because he intended to, and if your lifeline snaps, it is not because he made a mistake.

Alastor looks like a handsome, humanoid rat. His head translates directly from his beast mode, complete with incisors and earring. His body is long, making him seem taller than he is, and covered with smooth black fur. Every now and then, jolts of red electricity curl down his body like lazy snakes. These are controllable and he stifles them most of the time.

Alastor’s tail is a long, ringed, and pink. It’s long enough to drag on the floor, but he’s trained himself to keep the end elevated so that it curves down and slightly up. There is a red-stone barb set in the end.

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Personality

Alastor is generally calm. He’s been hurt badly over the course of his life and doesn’t take pain seriously anymore. He also isn’t particularly nervous about dying, as he’ll just end up back in Hell. It’s a rather undignified homecoming, so he’d just as soon avoid it, but oblivion isn’t the mysterious terror it is for others.

Alastor is aware of everything happening around him. He watches people and actually thinks about what he sees. He prefers to observe for a while and map out a social environment before entering into it. His alertness makes him careful and lets him be precise.

Alastor is very dedicated to achieving his ends. He takes pride in his work and enjoys performing well. His primary goal is always to please his mistress, though he’s taking a little break from that now, he’s always on the lookout for something, or someone, she might like. Alastor is entirely amoral when it comes to completing his assignments. He will gut, strangle, and beat puppies if it will help towards his goal. The only things he ever lets get in his way are personal feelings. He doesn’t make friends easily, living in Hell makes you more than slightly distrustful, but when he does he tends to be loyal to them and protective of them. He’s actually friendly towards everyone, but there’s a gulf between friendly and friends.

When not occupied with his duties, Alastor usually seeks out others. He enjoys interacting with people. He finds them interesting, and conversation is pleasant. There’s also a tactical advantage to be had in knowing your allies. He’s aware of that, but it’s low on his list of priorities. Alastor also enjoys dancing. He likes fast beats and complex steps that he can pull off with flare. He sings. He doesn’t love it as much as he does dancing, but he’s good at it and his mistress occasionally desires it, so he practices regularly.

Alastor is prideful and vengeful. He is part of the entourage of the Lady of Adders and is responsible for upholding the dignity of his station. The responsibility has infused him with a vicious self-respect. He grooms himself carefully, taking great pride in his appearance. He brushes his fur every morning and manicures his nails himself, applying a new coat of scarlet polish every week on Monday.

Alastor will not abide being trifled with and responds to any indignity or pain with tenfold retribution. His response is usually swift and decisive, but when it’s inconvenient, he’s not impatient in retaliation. He will wait hours, days, or years keeping a careful tally of those who have wronged him and to what extent, and when convenient he will strike back with just force. In the meantime he is perfectly civil.

Alastor has a great, but not idiotic, respect for women. He is formal when speaking to them, introducing himself with a bow and following a somewhat Victorian etiquette. He never uses a lady’s actual name to address her unless given express permission, instead calling them “my lady.” He will perform small favors for them, fetching objects and opening doors, but won’t be taken advantage of. He treats them like delicate creatures, but intensely aware of their own capabilities.

This etiquette is abandoned when inconvenient. He will not pause to bow during a crisis and will not hesitate to hurt of kill a woman who stands in the way of his goal. He does, however, speak politely even when beating them. He will follow female orders over male ones if there is no other determining factor and will rescue women from danger when the situation is not too dire. He puts women on a pedestal. He’s willing, if the situation calls for it, to climb onto that pedestal and rape them, but he always acknowledges that the pedestal is there.

Alastor’s a bit of a flirt. He finds it fun and enjoyable, even when he isn’t particularly attracted to his subject. In accordance with his attitude towards women, he is a very polite flirt with them and, when in a nonviolent interaction, will stop immediately when his advances are rebuffed. He’s a little freer with men and will nettle guys who become nervous with innuendos and touching.

There’s desperation under Alastor’s smoothness. But it’s an old, crusted desperation that’s lost all hope of fulfillment, so it never disturbs the smoothness anymore. Emanon used to be such a very good person. Alastor despises that kind of genuine goodness because he lost it and it hurt him. There’s a difference between moral people and good people. Moral people follow a code that tells them how to be good. Alastor sees them as harmless, rather silly, and easy to manipulate. But he resents good people, people who instinctively reach out to others, without reason or higher guidance. He can’t stand naiveté and he sees this as the worst kind. He will viciously mock it and is prone to violent irritation when it happens around him.

Alastor’s devotion to his mistress and personal pleasure are methods used to escape his past. He wants to grind who he was before into the dust so that he’ll never have to regret what he’s become. He keeps his mind on what he’s doing and never lets himself dwell on history. Sometimes, rarely, he enters dark moods where old memories dredge themselves up against his will. He becomes solitary and broods.

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Weapons and Special Abilites

Scarlet Coils

Alastor’s mistress found the Ollafortunaviridae virus too erratic to be useful, so she arranged to have it changed. They couldn’t cure Alastor, the virus was bound to his spark, but they could mutate it into a more controllable disease. Scarlet Coils gets its name from the red bolts of lightening that coil lazily around Alastor’s body when he lets the virus hang loose.

Touching a coil is painful. It burns in many different ways. It roasts the skin like normal fire, but it also stings like electricity and even after you flinch away, the sensation settles deep in your skin and simmers like invisible acid. They only do surface damage, but leave twisted burn marks.

Every time you touch a coil, there’s a small chance you’ll contract the disease. It manifests itself in a similar red coil at will curl slowly up and down your body, leaving a trail of black, burning destruction in its wake. If untreated, the coil will thicken and multiply. It’s not fatal, but it will eventually turn your skin into one huge burn mark. Thicker coils go slightly deeper, and will damage a transformer’s tactile receptors, rendering them unable to feel anything. Alastor is a carrier and immune to the symptoms of the disease.

Claws

Only the ends of Alastor’s five-inch, retractable claws are painted red, so when they’re fully extended they look a bit odd. They’re manicured from tip to base, so Alastor is always a little reluctant to use them in battle. He’ll do it, but he’ll sigh softly as he ruins his nails on his enemies. Alastor’s virus is particularly concentrated around his claws and often coils leak off to zap people as he slashes them.

Whip

This is actually a combination of Alastor’s claws and Scarlet Coils. Like Emanon, Alastor can release antibodies that force the virus out of his body. This makes them flow out his claws, which are natural conductors of the virus. If the claws are imbedded in something, the virus flows out into the something. If they aren’t, the virus collects at the edges of the claws, slowly forming into one long, red coil. Alastor can adjust the length by controlling the flow of antibodies and form the whip on either claw depending on which one is extended. If his claws are retracted the virus is too close to the antibodies and can’t collect.

The whip adds kinetic force to the collection of pain that comes with scarlet coils, so when you’re hit, you’re burned, zapped, corroded, and lashed all at the same time. The physical damage it does is actually slightly less then that of a normal whip, a collection of viruses is less substantial than leather, but it feels and looks worse. There is a small chance of contracting scarlet coils with every lash and a large chance if Alastor manages to wrap the whip around you.

Tail Barb

A bright ruby hook with a hollow end that has been seamlessly grafted onto Alastor’s tail. Alastor’s tail barb is another conduit for his virus, but it also contains various poisons that he can inject into victims using the sharpened, hollow, end. The poisons come in thin, glass vial that he can insert into the ruby barb. Once the vial is secure, he can snap his tail, to break the glass against the barb and let the liquid start to flow out.

For maximum effect, Alastor prefers to imbed the hook in his victim quickly after he breaks the vial so that the liquid actually flows out into someone else. If not imbedded, the poison dribbles out over the barb. Stinging someone with the venom soaked barb tends to be less effective than injecting the poison directly into the bloodstream (fluidstrem, whatever). Bright Acid and Claret Misery will be more effective injected. Salt works the same administered either way.

Bright Acid

Bright Acid is a pale yellow solution. When injected, it sears the inside of the veins with clear, sharp pain, and traces lines across the body, weaving a spider web of bright hurt. It feels like detergent, a painful scouring of your capillary system (or fluid pumping devices, whatever you want to call it). Even after it’s gone it feels like you have a sunburn on the inside of your skin. The web is larger if the poison is injecting, spanning half the body of a medium sized transformer. Scratches result in foot-wide patches of pain.

Claret Misery

A burgundy colored serum that goes straight to the head. When injected, Claret Misery subjects a victim to sporadic migraines. A purplish-red haze fills your vision and it feels like people are digging their nails into your brain. These headaches come and go quickly, but without warning, and enjoy occurring at critical moments. It’s also very hard to tell when the poison has run its course. Just when you think you’re out of the woods, it starts up again, like the hiccups. If injected, the condition can last for days, slowly petering out. If not, it usually just lasts a few, unpleasant hours.

Salt

Salt doesn’t cause pain by itself. It intensifies pain already there, disinhibits the nerve endings sending negative signals and forces a bot to concentrate on his or her wounds. When salt is injected into a healthy person, they notice aches and become more sensitive to being jostled or touched. It makes you feel very delicate and minor injuries explode into your brain, overriding all other thought as they happen and pulsating at the forefront of your mind as long as they exist. Moderate injuries eradicate any chance of mental activity apart from focusing raptly on how much pain you’re in. Critical injuries disable your abilities to do such basic things as stand, see, and, sometimes, breathe.

Alastor currently has three vials of bright acid, three vials of claret misery, and two vials of salt. He stores them, heavily padded, in his empty spark chamber. Alastor always carries many empty vials. He has no way to make more of any of these poisons, the ingredients are native to Hell, but he’s always on the lookout for local flora or fauna that he can use to make something unpalatable.

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Equipment

Earring

Alastor has a series of three earrings lining his left ear. They are gold studs, set with deep red garnets. They get progressively smaller as they go down his ear. They become warm and glow when his mistress desires his presence. The smallest stud is just an alert that she’d like to see him as soon as he has the chance. The medium one implies immediacy: get over there now. The large implies urgency. Alastor can curl his ear over the studs to stifle the light if it’s inconvenient.

Alastor can recalibrate the studs to respond to someone else. The stones are activated based on desire. The subject doesn’t have to issue any mental instructions; he or she just has to desire that Alastor be present. Currently, they’re set to Ravon.

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Traits

Demonic Nature

About a third of the demons currently in operation were born into the position. The rest are just mortals who made bad choices, morally or practically. There are a number of differences between demons and mortals, but the basic one, and the one most others stem from, is the fact that a demon’s soul is no longer connected to his or her body. Demons can keep their souls in their bodies, but now it’s like luggage instead of an appendage. Most demons hide their souls somewhere or entrust them to someone. Alastor’s soul, or “spark” as is the quaint local term, is actually owned by someone else. It’s a common practice among demons, leasing your soul to a more powerful demon for payment and protection.

Being suddenly disconnected from your soul can result in mutations, which is the reason for some demon’s horrific forms. Alastor’s severing was skillfully done, so he suffered no visible ill effects. However, having a disconnected soul has repercussions. He is not technically a person anymore and his sense of self, what it means to be Alastor, is a memory instead of the certainty it is with us. He can be affected by will of others. Orders backed by strong desires can compel him to do things, though the desire has to be focused and the order precise. There is a reason why most of Alastor’s weapons are built to painfully jangle the mind. They keep people off balance and unable to organize will against him.

Some people just don’t have the personality to exert control, for instance, people who are indecisive, confused, or purposeless. People who have a weak sense of self or an aversion to the idea of control can’t control others. On the other hand, control freaks with iron wills and solid blocks of self-confidence can bend Alastor to their whims with a certain amount of effort. Isolated commands are a simple thing to impose, but Alastor may resent them and there is no way of maintaining constant control unless you’re willing to enter a perpetual battle of wills with him. There are certain devices available to magic circles that can bind him permanently with contracts, but making deals with devils is traditionally dangerous.

When he lost his identity, physical existence became a privilege. Without a soul, he is not a person anymore so there is no solid reason for his body to exist. It continues to due to inertia, but when he enters owned places, such as people’s homes, his existence privileges can be revoked by the owner. The owner can banish him, making him vanish and reappear at the boundary.

A home must be a permanent place of residence with some emotional importance to the owner attempting to banish. Alastor cannot be banished from campsites. He can, however, be banished from ships, so he tends to be very cautious in space. Most temples are built with the understanding that things like him are not allowed inside, though it does depend on the religion. Alastor takes pains to hide these weaknesses from mortals.

The advantage to being a demon is, of course, the relative immortality, as long as you can keep your spark safe. There’s also an infinite ability for advancement. Demons gain power by collecting the souls of mortals. They can digest a soul and gain whatever powers the personality may bequeath, which ranges from increased strength to the formation of wings to ESP. Or, they can store the soul in a safe place and use it as currency in Hell. Alastor is a minor demon, meaning he hasn’t started collecting souls yet. He’s too busy catering to his mistress.

Summon-able

Parallel to the fact that Alastor can be compelled to leave a place is the fact that he can be compelled to enter it. Summoning a demon is harder than banishing one, but any mage knows how to do it.

To summon a demon you must first create containment. This usually takes the form of a shape sketched on the ground, a pentagram or a circle of runes, designed specifically to prevent the demon from crossing. It protects the summoner. Particularly powerful demons require circles carefully designed to match their natures. Alastor is a minor demon and most carefully drawn general-purpose circles will be enough to contain him.

The actual summoning is a simple battle of wills with the demon. You focus on the demon you want and try to compel it to appear in your circle. Most mages use chants or rituals to focus their mind on the task. Many use sacrifices, or put some kind of lure in the circle. A willing demon is much easier to summon than one who is resisting the call and it makes it more likely that he or she will appear inside the intended containment. There is a school of thought that holds that having a piece of the demon, a bit of hair or the demon’s true name, will help with a summoning. There is no concrete evidence of this.

Once a demon is summoned, the summoner has to bind it or negotiate with it. Demons can be bound to simple tasks, guarding something, giving information, and performing small favors. But the more complex the task and the more unwilling the demon is to perform it, the more likely it is that simple will won’t be enough to force the demon into action. When that happens, summoners have to negotiate contracts with demons. Demons can break out of bindings by overcoming the summoner’s will. Contracts are advantageous because demons are physically unable to break them. If it is possible to fulfill their end, they will do it, and if it is impossible, they will be in a great deal of pain. It’s like resisting gravity.

The problem with contracts is that the summoner has to put in something too. The demon must be paid for his or her troubles. Payment usually comes in the form of souls, the official currency of hell, which is why living sacrifices are such effective lures, but it can be anything the demon is willing to take. A dangerous but popular method, if the summoner has nothing the demon wants at the moment, is to promise the demon a favor at some point in the future. Most demons will do anything for this, because summoners are just as bound to complete their end of the bargain as demons are to complete theirs. Demons are generally predisposed to make deals. It’s how they earn a living.

Demons are popular familiars because their nature can be used to enhance a mage’s natural powers. Alastor’s natural element is electricity, so he is best used in conjunction with a mage in that branch, but he also works well with metal, fire, glass, and air mages. He’s a poor match with plastic, water, and earth. He can either be used as another source of mana, or an active unit in spells, splicing their effects for new results.

Demons can be held in the circle for as long as they are willing to stay or as long as the summoner has attention to spare. When they escape or are dismissed, they return to where they were before, though they have control over exactly where they appear in that area. After being summoned, demons can return to a circle at will as long as part of it still exists. This is why it’s important to erase a circle completely after a summoning. Partially erased circles are open links to Hell. Or wherever the demon came from.

Stimulating Touch

After a few seconds of searching another creature, Alastor can locate and stimulate sweet spots the result in intense pleasure or intense pain. This generally isn’t effective in battle, as he needs a few moments to familiarize himself with a body before he can manipulate it, but it can be a dangerous distraction if he’s fighting a friend and once he gets a hand on them he can quickly reduce lovers to twitching mounds of agony and ecstasy. Alastor learned this skill from a master, his mistress, to whom the living body is just one big erogenous zone.

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History

Alastor’s history is identical to Emanon’s (or Emanon’s is identical to Alastor’s, depending on whom you ask) up to a point. While Emanon was working with Estra and Sphinx, the entire team went to Hell. Quite literally. It was a nasty place. Emanon was picked up by a demoness and tortured, as is the custom in Hell, until Sphinx rescued him three months later. Emanon was badly traumatized and developed intense phobias associated with women. Alastor was never rescued. He watched the demon kill Sphinx.

Which broke him. He’d been holding out hope based on Sphinx, not exactly that she’d rescue him, but that she might still be all right, or at least have gotten out.

The demon saw this and enjoyed it and pitied it at the same time. She’d grown very fond of Alastor during their time together. He was like a lost puppy and a sex toy rolled together. This last blow has reduced him to a hopeless shell of a ruined creature, divorced from his past in a strange environment, confused with nothing solid to hold on to. They were ideal conditions for shaping him into something new, and she was very fond of doing that.

She had always treated him with a disconcerting mix of cruelty and kindness. Now she bent that into subtle brainwashing. She treated him with increased respect, which wasn’t saying much given his previous position, and taught him certain, useful things. She gave him something new to believe in: her general philosophy of amoral sybaritism, tempered by undying loyalty to her. Alastor fell into a twisted sort of love. It was Stockholm syndrome, gratitude, physical attraction, and a genuine appreciation for her personality. He was thoroughly charmed by her, once she stopped hurting him.

Alastor chose to become a demon because it was practical and numbing. It also suited his new sense of style and would help him better serve his mistress; mortals had trouble navigating Hell. He’s been working in the underworld for about seventy years, old enough to be a recognized face, but still young as far as demons are concerned. He derives most of his authority from having such a powerful mistress. He stumbled on to the Rock through subspace. He was fetching an angel for his mistress and it hid in the dimension.

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Commanders’ Notes

Scalene: “Nonny’s sweet. He’s an exquisite little bastard most of the time, but he’s got a sentimental side that I was never quite able to beat out of him. I kind of like it now.”

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Known Acquaintances

Name: Scalene
Beast Mode: When a transformer, Scalene is a leopard/opiliones fuzor. In Alastor’s reality, she is human.
Status: Alive
Relationship: Mistress

Name: Sphinx
Beast Mode: Siamese/Parrot fuzor
Status: Dead
Relationship: Friends

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Alastor

From Axalon RPG

Contents

Basic Info

Quotes

Statistics

Skills

Combat

Non-Combat

Physical Description

Beast Mode

Robot Mode

Personality

Weapons and Special Abilites

Equipment

Traits

History

Commanders’ Notes

Known Acquaintances

Views

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