Tears of Incomparable Misery

5 Dot Soulsteel Punishment Implant

{$caption}

This is a cape of interwoven strands of soulsteel that trails a murky vapor as fire does smoke. Each strand is finer than spider silk and is stronger than anchor chains. The cape is regal and fit for a queen, with gold trimmings and a high collar. Its opulent appearance however disguises its ruthless nature. The strands do not merely form a tapestry of darkness. It reaches deep within her body and integrates into every organ and every bone. The crude necrosurgery leaves an ever open wound between the shoulder blades where it enters the body. The wound is horrifying to look at but otherwise inflicts neither pain nor penalties upon Maiden of the Mirthless Smiles.

It is because of this that the Maiden of the Mirthless Smile is never seen not "wearing" it. It is also the same reason she does allow any but her honor guards to attend her when she is undressed.

For all its apparent horrors the cape is far far worse.

  • The Cape essentially makes Maiden of the Mirthless Smiles a puppet on strings. Regardless of the distance, the Mask of Winter can, should he wish it, play with her as a puppeteer does a marionette. He if he so chooses he can see what she sees, hear what she hears, smell what she smells, feel what she touches, etc. Fortunately this arcane link only links the physical and does not extend to the mind. So he does not know what she thinks or feels.
    • He can also communicate with her (as if he is whispering to her ear) over the same link.
  • While she would never have chosen it herself, the cape can reweave itself into a dozen razor sharp bundles 30 feet long. These cords functions the same as (Essence-2) permanent Charm of Withering Blood Chain Technique1
    • Being Razor Sharp Soulsteel, the attacks of these cords have the same Essence draining properties as Soul Steel and inflict Lethal Damage.
    • While the artifact have similar function as the Permanent Charm, it is not actually the Charm. Thus it does not count against the permanent Charm’s normal limit. Should she ever wish to do so, she can purchase the normal limit for the permanent version of the charm.
    • Like the Maiden of the Mirthless Smiles herself, these malignant appendages’ controls are shared between the Maiden and her master.
  • All these control are merely Damocles Sword. For the Mask of Winter never used it. He does not even use the communication function. Instead he resorts to Necromancy or more mundane ways. The Maiden of Mirthless Smile knows they exist however, since Mask of Winter told her personally when the surgery was performed.
  • In addition the darkness that extrudes from the cape (and the deadly cords it forms) are poisonous to all living things and takes effect when anything it coats inflicts lethal damage. It goes without saying the source of the corruption (the cords) are always thus coated, but one can sweep their weapon through the murkiness and it will gain enough coating for 1 attack. The Maiden buff her daiklave with the cape before every battle and its poisonous property last the whole scene.
    • The poison is magical corruption and cannot be prevented by mundane means. Though magical effects that stops poison and crippling effects does work.
    • The Poison drops Extras to the ground in terrifying screams as their mind is overwhelmed. Mercy is granted to them at the end of the scene as their hearts finally gives out.
    • Mortals fair slightly better, since they at least get a save of Stamina + Resistance over difficulty equal to the controller’s Essence. Should they make it, and it is very unlikely against Maiden of the Mirthless Smile's Essence score, they suffer the same effect as Enlightened Beings; Otherwise they perish just the same as Extras.
    • Enlightened Beings are sturdy enough to resist the poison’s deadlier effects. It however is still deliberating and causes mild hallucinations accompanied by high fever. It imposes a –1 Wound Penalty for a number of days equal to the controller’s Essence score. A successful poison RR vs. the controller’s Essence halves that duration.
    • While Maiden of the Mirthless Smile is inundated by her constant exposure, the poison works readily on abyssal as it does other Exalts. Of course it does not function on beings who has no wound penalties – such as the dead or constructs.
  • The last function is that the cape can be used to whisk the Maiden back to Her Abyssal Manse in an explosion of blood and gore. If one did not already know, it would only be natural to assume it was her that exploded. This is a means of last ditch effort to escape, and functions the same as a Perfect Dodge, though Mask of Winter can also use it as a form of Recall. The active use of this power is a reflexive action that takes 12 motes from the Maiden of the Mirthless Smile. However, it will automatically activate, at no cost, should the Maiden reach incapacitated or below.
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License