Brainstorming: Enforcers of the Scarlet Moon (spoilers below)

[CoreBrute]

Re: Brainstorming: Enforcers of the Scarlet Moon (spoilers below)

 

I applaud your thread necromancy. I always did wonder what happened with this thread.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Brainstorming: Enforcers of the Scarlet Moon (spoilers below)

 

Hmm' date=' talking superhuman enforcers, couldn't any member of the Circle just hire some superthug with their cash, possibly reinforced with some subtle mind control? You'd think they'd prefer to stay away from openly magical flunkies, as it might draw too much attention. ("Say, Defender, why does Senator Baalzebul keep sending invoked demons against us?")[/quote']

 

I'd thought about this, and it certainly makes a great deal of sense, and would fit with the general m.o. of the Scarlet Moon. There are quite a few mystical villains for hire in the Champions Universe; in fact, I could see Circle members hiring non-magical villains, to make it less likely that they'd be traced back to their hirers.

 

Still, there's a lot to be said for having powerful servants whose first loyalty is to you rather than the biggest paycheck. I also considered the attempt by the Duquesnes to create magically-gifted offspring to enhance their parents' power and prestige. Until Witchcraft and Talisman went off the rails the experiment looked very promising, which might have inspired other Circle members to try their own versions.

 

Really, though, I just wanted to give the Scarlet Moon a more distinctive flavor when used in a superheroic context. Well, that and a little creative exercise.

[FenrisUlf]

Re: Brainstorming: Enforcers of the Scarlet Moon (spoilers below)

 

I wasn't criticizing it, just wondering out loud.

 

But I really do like some of these ideas, especially the ones for Clarissa Thorp and Henrik van Diecks.

[Eosin]

Re: Brainstorming: Enforcers of the Scarlet Moon (spoilers below)

 

Their example leads me to wonder what other attempts to create or recruit super-class operatives the Circle might have attempted. I doubt they would build an attention-gathering villain brigade' date=' but a relatively small number of loyal supervillains could come in very handy[/quote']

 

 

First thought is a Solomon Grundy or Frankenstein knock off. The necromancer can keep him slumbering until needed. When heroes get too bothersome out come "Stitch" to beat some respect into the offending party.

 

Henrik might have a Hellboy type enforcer. Some partial demon graft. They are as common as water in the CU so I'd steal one of those write-ups.

 

Walter needs a Wendingo type enforcer and Pantera works as well as anyone for a Wendingo.

 

Marcella might have a good old fashioned super agent as her hired killer. You know the South American expression - Lead or Silver? Silver Sable - Kraven the Hunter level living weapon.

 

Michaela might have a magic foci low grade brick.

 

There is my 2$

[FenrisUlf]

Re: Brainstorming: Enforcers of the Scarlet Moon (spoilers below)

 

Henrik Van Dieriks: as a Satanist' date=' it's logical for Henrik to summon some type of demon to serve him, but as with James Abbot I prefer something a little less cliche. Then I remembered a Fourth Edition Champs villain from [i']Creatures of the Night[/i] called Razor Girl, a cute little ten-year-old possessed by a demonic master of blades, which would likely come as a disturbing and lethal surprise to most people. One of the more loathsome details mentioned about Van Dieriks is that he uses his influence to protect the largest pedophile ring in Europe; so it would make sense for him to combine two of his major interests.

 

A good book if you can find it for some flavor here would be Graham Masterton's Devils of D-Day, which uses devils of war named in medieval grimoires for the plot. One, named Elmek, is the Lord of Blades -- and now that I think of it, he sounds like a major influence for Razor Girl.

 

Hmm, dumb question: if Razor Girl could manifest 'knives' of materials other than steel (cold iron, silver, whatever) should that count as Variable Special Effects?

 

Clarissa Thorp: as a worshipper of the Norse goddess Freya, who in some accounts was considered the leader of Odin's choosers of the slain, the Valkyries, the most obvious recourse for her would be to have the spirit of a Valkyrie possess a mortal host. You'd probably end up with a super-strong warrior woman type, like certain comic-book precedents. I wanted to do some more research into the Valkyries to see what other abilities might be attributed to them.

 

Just wanted to say that I still love the idea of 'valkyrie possession'.

 

Iwalani Kapulika: Again, I wanted to do more research into each of the cultural traditions they study to see what seemed promising before I made suggestions.

 

 

I can't believe I didn't think of this before...

 

In Hawaiian folklore and myth, there are the infamous weresharks. There are also boar-monsters filling the 'cannibal ogres' role; and you could argue for evil lava elementals as the Daughters of Madame Pele (goddess of volcanoes).

 

There are also the Night Marchers, ghostly/undead chiefs and warriors who prowl every night in search of victims. They come off as a Hawaiian version of the Wild Hunt; and there are also the menehune, Hawaiian fae who are great builders who sometimes kill disrespectful ha'oles who mess with the old sacred places, the heiaus. The heiaus were sometimes used for human sacrifice too... though that wasn't for purposes of black magic, it was to punish people who violated kapu by doing things like allowing their shadow to fall across a ali'i or nobleman. Polynesia was and is beautiful, but it wasn't always nice.

[FenrisUlf]

Re: Brainstorming: Enforcers of the Scarlet Moon (spoilers below)

 

Something else with Clarissa Thorp and her Norse/Freya connections...

 

Freya was the guardian of part of the honored dead in Norse belief. Maybe this could be twisted around to Clarissa commanding one or more of the superhumanly strong and tough draugr of Norse myth? They're basically Norse zombies with independent wills (usually), the aforementioned inhuman strength and resistance to injury, and sometimes other suitably creepy powers as well (summon fog, shapechange into horrid forms, drain life with their gaze, etc.)

 

And a "horse of the valkyries" (a giant flying wolf) could work too, though that might be hard to hide. "It's a Norwegian Wolfhound. No, really, very rare breed."