Servant Caster:
True Name: Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, the Black Priest, Ahtu, as many names as there are ways for men to fall into madness...
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Summoning Catalyst: A certain bizarrely angled gemstone...
Strength- D
Agility- C
Endurance- D
Mana- EX
Luck- B
NP- EX
History:
Heck, it's pretty short... Might as well cite the source directly
Appearance: A tall and imposing man with broad shoulders for his slender build and youthful, delicate features underlying a highly masculine frame. He has heavily tanned skin, long flowing hair colored an unearthly silver and deep golden eyes that seem to peer into one's soul and whisper a thousand fathomless words. Wears stereotypical Egyptian clothes in the style of a Pharaoh's regalia, with a flowing purple cloak draped across his shoulders, a bare torso and gold armoring over his arms and legs. To blend in better with the modern world, he also favors a sleek, jet black business suit, appearing as if it were woven from shadows themselves.
Personality: Playful, scheming and haughty, Caster is an unfettered sadist who finds utmost delight in tormenting humanity and driving them to madness. He shows an almost orgasmic degree of pleasure in breaking the minds of humans. Though appearing to "hate humans", Caster's true perspective is exactly the opposite. Rather, he loves humanity with all his heart. Loves their sins and foibles. Their weakness and vulnerability. Their foolish pride and oh-so-easily broken minds that cling to some semblance of order even on the knife's edge of despair. Caster is someone who drinks deeply in all such things as if they were the finest wine.
If asked for his wish on the Holy Grail, Caster would simply state with a wicked grin- "To plunge this entire world into exquisite madness from which there is no awakening."
Though operating as the messager of the Elder Gods, Caster is actually contemptful of his more powerful kin, referring to them as "Gibbering fools that would sit around and do nothing all day when there are perfectly good humans to torment. Honestly, they're really no different then furniture..."
His mentality is closer to humans then he'd care to admit, sharing such things as pride and a refusal to admit the possibility of one's own defeat. Though he enjoys breaking the minds of others, Caster's own mentality may start to unravel if it looks as if his "lowly playthings" have gained the upper hand against him.
Caster also enjoys perusing depictions of himself across popular culture and, despite expectations, even takes amusement in a certain portrayal of him as a quirky and affectionate girl from Japanese pop-culture. Though, if asked he will certainly say that- "I would've devoured that fool Mahiro in a heartbeat."
Likes tormenting humanity, entertainment
Dislikes: humans of an unbreakable will, boredom
Talent: driving men to madness
Natural Enemy: a certain writer who glimpsed his true nature...
Class Skills:
Territory Creation- B
Ability to formulate a territory advantageous to oneself as a Magus. At this rank, creation of a "Workshop" becomes possible. Reflecting his assumed identity of a pharaoh and scientist, all territories Caster creates through this Skill will resemble a queer cross between a modern day scientific laboratory and an ancient Egyptian Mage's workshop.
Item Construction- B
Ability to craft magical items.
Caster can construct bizarre instruments of glass and metal which, while apparently scientific in nature, defy the common sense of man in ways which suggest only sorcery. Those contemplating overly much into Caster's "marvels" may risk a loss of sanity, as there are some things Man was not meant to understand...
Personal Skills:
Eldritch Charisma- A
An alien variant of Charisma possessed by Elder Gods. Caster's words are cloaked in an unearthly glamor and those exposed to his presence will naturally have their minds twisted and reason eroded into slavish followers to the foul god. Susceptible followers will begin to view Caster as a divine spirit infinitely beyond the feeble minds of man, while more sensitive individuals are able to discern an aura of malaise and grotesquery lurking beneath his otherwise handsome features.
Under his various incarnations and identities, Caster formed numerous cults worshipping him across human history, driving countless humans to madness and despair.
Egypt Magecraft (False)- B+
Connotes apparent proficiency in Magecraft of the ancient Egyptian tradition.
Caster's spells outwardly resemble archetypal Egyptian Magecraft, such as conjuring up scourging sandstorms or rays of light from the god Ra to scald enemies. However, those with a deeper magical sense can discern a subtle unease and primal wrongness from Caster's spellcraft, alien to any magical system on Earth.
In truth, Caster's sorcery merely borrows from the imagery of the ancient Egyptian tradition out of amusement and to better cement his current "identity". His true magical power consists in evoking his kin, the Elder Gods from beyond the void. Should he ever grow tired of such mimicry, an even more terrifying power becomes known.
Unworldly Revelation- A
A variation of Revelation for those who received guidance from dark powers. A sixth sense accomodating all matters related to the achievement of a goal (for instance, choosing the optimal path while travelling). Because of its alien and irrational nature, it cannot be explained to others clearly, or so says Caster.
Caster claims this Skill allows him to "hear the voices of the Elder Gods", guiding him to enact their will. However, because of Caster's own independent nature, he mostly ignores these voices in favor of following his own sadistic whims. A bothersome and unmanageable existence even by Elder God standards.
Alien Mentality- C-
Denotes a mindset alien and incomprehensible to mankind. Differing from the Mental Pollution Skill which regards one whose mentality has become distorted, this is a Skill for those whose minds were set apart from humanity at conception. Like that Skill, it grants protection from mental interference based Thaumaturgy but- since one's mentality is fundamentally alien from others- true mutual dialogue and relation become nearly impossible.
Caster is an Elder God, a being which is unfathomable to human minds by nature. However, Caster himself was the most "human" of his kin by far, taking an interest in humankind and even choosing to speak their language rather than his own eldritch tongue. He has additionally lowered his own ranking in this Skill upon summoning in order to further satiate his curiosity regarding the humans he delights in tormenting.
While in taking a roughly human mind he can affect humans and even reason with them to some degree, he likewise can be affected in turn and as such gains a greater susceptability to mental interference based Thaumaturgy.
Noble Phantasms:
Nephren-Ka- False Symbol Of The Pharaoh (C, Support): An intricate regal headdress of the Egyptian style, reminiscent to that worn by the legendary Pharaohs of old. Caster claims it to be the manifestation of his kingly authority and to enhance the effects of his Magecraft, but this is in fact a lie. Its real power is instead to disguise Caster's true hideous nature. While he wears it, Caster's true name and alignment become obscured even to his own Master. In addition, his Eldritch Charisma, Egypt Magecraft (False) and Unworldly Revelation are falsely overwritten with their regular variants, while his Alien Mindset is disguised as Divinity of equivalent rank.
To all observers (including possibly even his own Master), it will appear as if Servant Caster is simply a great Pharaoh endowed with the power of Egyptian gods, and not the otherworldly abomination he is in truth. However those with a great deal of spiritual sense are still able to sense something subtly 'off' about Caster...
This ability is immediately and permanently sealed after his Noble Phantasm-is unleashed...Crawling Chaos KingNyarlothotep
The name of this Noble Phantasm derives from another assumed identity of the Elder God Caster, the Black Pharaoh of Egypt who drove his people to madness and performed horrific occultist rituals in his quest of obtaining a certain mythical stone before subsequently having his very name stricken from history.
Nyarlathotep- Crawling Chaos King (EX, Anti-Team): Less of a proper Noble Phantasm then a manifestation of Caster's "true" form and visage which he keeps sealed normally. Upon invocation, Caster's body becomes that of a shapeless rift in the world from which innumerable shadowy dark tendrils begin to emerge, along with hideous madly darting eyes and ghastly disembodied mouths moaning in a thousand chittering voices.
Reflecting his title of the "Crawling Chaos", this darkness can crawl and slither along the ground at great speed, dissolving all in its path into horrific primal chaos. Ordinary humans will be devoured instantly upon contact with the rift, while Heroic Spirits may be able to resist consumption for a degree depending on their Mana ranking.
Caster in this form is a true eldritch abomination, an existence fundamentally anathema to the integrity of the mortal world. Simply gazing upon him erodes the sanity of humans, risking temporary madness from a prolonged stare. This effect can be defended against based on one's level of resolve and Skills granting resistance to mental interference, such as Bravery or Soul Of A Martyr- but not Mental Pollution, as an already degenerate mentality is no help against further corruption.
At his fully awakened power, Caster would be able to envelope the entire world in a day and plunge the souls of all men into madness. However, the limitations of his spiritual vessel as a Servant prevent Caster from tapping into his true fount of otherworldly power, making it possible for him to be defeated by regular Servants.
Rather than a true transformation, this Noble Phantasm merely opens a gateway to another dimension where Caster's true body dwells, allowing him to partially manifest it in the world. Even without invoking its true name, Caster can call upon aspects of his hyperdimensional "body" such as shadowy tendrils, mouths and laser-shooting eyes opening up in the fabric of space itself to attack and defend with.
"I have over a thousand bodies, all of which could drive you to madness at a glance. This one is merely my favorite!"
Shining Trapezohedron- The Many Angled Stone (A+, Anti-Unit): A mysterious blood-red gemstone composed of twisting bizarre angles which hurts the eye to look at. This stone serves as Caster's summoning catalyst, being the ideal artifact with which to invite the Elder God into this world. Those that gaze deeply into the gemstone are said to be able to see all of time and space refracted within its lurid depths. As such, Caster can look into it to gain the advantages of Clairvoyance at rank EX. Ordinary humans can also utilize this aspect, but the prolonged encounter with such an artifact is likely to drive them to madness or at least leave severe psychic scars.
However, this Noble Phantasm's true power lies in its legend as "a means for the Elder God to instantiate himself in the world". Anyone to even glance upon the gem- defined by light bouncing off it and entering their eyes- is immediately "marked" as a suitable vessel for Caster. Should he ever perish in the Grail War, Caster will automatically begin to "reincarnate" through the selected individual, gradually twisting their own personality, body and mind into his own. For ordinary humans the process will take several days while for Heroic Spirits of great psychic resilience, it may take weeks or be staved off indefinitely.
Magic Resistance of rank B or higher is enough to negate the initial "marking", while Skills granting resistance to mental interference can help defend against Caster's encroachment upon the target's psyche. Furthermore, even while fully corrupted some faint glimmers of their former mind may still remain, and can temporarily hijack control of their original body in order to sabotage Caster in key moments. Of course, given his overall contempt for humanity and low view of their resolve, Caster is loathe to ever even conceive of the possibility that a "lowly human" could successfully resist his control- a key blind spot which could prove his decisive undoing in the Holy Grail War.
Once fully incarnated, Caster then gains access to all his original Skills and Noble Phantasms in the new body, twisted to resemble his own as much as possible although certain factors (i.e gender) remain immutable. This is a very dangerous Noble Phantasm that effectively allows Caster a second (or third, or fourth...) chance of winning the Grail War, for he can continue reincarnating himself indefinitely so long as "marked" individuals remain (though keep in mind, only one can be suitably marked at a time).
Also, this effect can only activate if the stone itself is placed in complete darkness following Caster's death. If it is kept constantly in light or destroyed afterwards (though it is nearly indestructible to attacks of A+ rank or below) then the conditions of this Noble Phantasm cannot actualize.
This Noble Phantasm was originally a relic possessed by one of Caster's previous hosts, the Black Pharaoh Nephren-Ka who was obsessed with obtaining it, keeping the stone in his possession in a vast windowless pitch-black pyramid so its powers would forever be active. Later the stone resurfaced in an Archeological expedition in ancient Egyptian ruins and came into ownership of a certain Dr. Robert Blake, who was driven to calamity and eventually death through its fell influence.
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So, the Lovecraft sheet Kitteh posted up a few pages ago got me thinking about the Cthulhu mythos. Never seen a portrayal of Nyarlahotep as a Servant before (though Lovecraft himself has been done quite a few times) so I decided to write him up over the span of a couple hours. It ain't got nothing on the hypothetical glory of Mahou Shoujo Lovecraft (which I still have not decisively decided against doing, by the way) but I hope it's at least interesting in its own right.
As always, be sure to drop by with comments and criticisms! Thanks.