| DEMONWEED a.k.a. [REDACTED] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| UNHOLY APPETITES |
| Demonweed can produce food, water, and supplemental oxygen to help those in need, including himself. Yet he does not draw sustenance in this way. He derives no satisfaction from treating himself with emergency relief. Properly replenishing his body requires far greater intake than normal. He consumes at least one gluttonous feast on an ordinary day, and he depletes limited oxygen supplies at fivefold the rate of a normal human at rest. Robust use of his powers can intensify these unnatural hungers. His private kitchens overflow with chemically vegan delicacies crafted from the supernatural substance of his own body. If already well fed, he can savor the flavors, scents, and textures of these foodstuffs. Demonweed typically maintains a public kitchen seperate from his own prep area so as to avoid "contaminating" his work through contact with meat. This actually conceals his unusual process for generating food, drink, and other party supplies. Also, his own fondness for meaty fare is best sated when others do the cooking. Away from home it is not uncommon for Demonweed to duck into a restaurant and devour multiple full meals. He might call a large food delivery to his location at an inopportune time. He has been known to feast on the flesh of a fresh kill, though it is unclear if this is an act performed for shock value or a compulsion driven by hunger. His own medicinal powers minimize the risks associated with ingesting parasites and poisons. Even so, Demonweed favors properly cooked barbecue platters or large steaks over almost any alternatives. |
| DEMONWEED'S LAIR |
| The first step in making a new home for himself sees Demonweed out exploring the night life of his chosen community. While sampling notable social spots, he gathers information about law enforcement and the criminal underworld. Sometimes he rents a place on neutral ground. In other cases he obtains the protection of a powerful local leader. Each site is selected as a safe place to stage a wild private party. Festivities often begin slowly. Demonweed may live alone for some time to focus on gardening while furnishing and decorating the place. Nominally the big event is always about someone else – a birthday, graduation, promotion, etc. These small gatherings then snowball as word of mouth spreads and refreshments appear to be in endless supply. Demonweed is particularly fond of creating venues for live music and performance art. Guests make contributions beyond their own creativity. Demonweed has a ravenous appetite, but he never seems to maintain stockpiles of meat. He encourages visitors to make use of an outdoor grill or public kitchen to keep the menu more diverse than fare from the garden. Most items from the butcher's case will be welcome offerings. Yet even freeloaders are encouraged to partake from a rotating assortment of potent beverages, delectable snacks, and downright magical drugs. |
| DEMONIC FAVORS |
| Even before his empowerment, Demonweed had a way of setting people at ease with small gifts, from samples of narcotics to bundles of fresh flowers. Now he can spontaneously produce a staggering variety of crafted objects and extracted substances. Some techniques have been habituated through frequent use. Demonweed can produce one of these items with a gesture that does not disrupt a human disguise or other ongoing magic. If he focuses much more power on the task and makes a serious effort, he can generate a batch containing dozens or hundreds of the following items. • Candy: From potent little mints that rid mouths of unwholesome scents to decadent chocolates that fill mouths with sweet delight, Demonweed is always ready to offer candy or chewing gum on request. Even innocuous items like lollipops and gummy bears may be infused with potent drugs. Recipients do well to heed advice about the appropriate rate of consumption. These discreet doses are ideal gifts for friends and associates residing in areas of harsh law enforcement. • Cards/Letters: Demonweed had awful handwriting in his former life. Now he delights in traditional correspondence, in part because he can produce a page of well-inked calligraphy or neatly printed text as quickly as he can compose the language it contains. He is a living copy machine for documents he can hold in plain view. These duplicates feature imperfections evident under magnification. Thus Demonweed is not an effective counterfeiter when his fakes are skeptically scrutinized. • Dice/Tokens: Not only can Demonweed fabricate small wooden objects in precise shapes, but they form fully painted and/or lacquered. One by one he could produce the pieces of a chess set or tangrams in this way. Objects can be customized to the point that he might give someone a figurine of their own likeness or a personalized engraved wooden plaque. Yet Demonweed is no expert in gambling or physics. All of the dice he generates are essentially true until defects accumulate from handling and use. • Drinks: Demonweed's parties feature well-stocked bars where spirits pour from casks into wooden goblets or hollow coconuts. Wines and beers are likewise drawn from barrels and served in wooden vessels. Some of his concoctions feature infusions of ayahuasca, cannabis, coca, coffee, ephedra, kava, khat, iboga, opium, peyote, psilocybin, salvia, or wormwood among other substances. Yet even those who favor simple juice or water need not go thirsty while Demonweed is around. • Furnishings: Demonweed can produce small ornamental items, such as dollhouse furniture, with nothing more than gestures. More of his power is required for objects meant to support the weight of at least one person. His skills in this area are well-honed. From breezy wicker chairs to stately hardwood thrones, expert craftsmanship shows in the results. He can also produce beanbags, beds, cabinets, cases, couches, cushions, desks, doors, partitions, pillows, railings, shelves, stools, tables and decorative woodwork through these efforts. • Joints: A common parting gift at Demonweed's events is a polished ebony case containing twelve marijuana cigarettes. Extensive knowledge allows him to offer a range of varietals cured and ground for an ideal smoking experience. Now capable of treating his own diseases, the demonic herbalist has also been known to produce cigars and cigarettes featuring cloves, cocoa, eucalyptus, ginseng, opium, and/or tobacco. Sometimes he prints official Surgeon General's warnings on their cases. • Packaging: No supplies are required for Demonweed to wrap a parcel or gift. Simple twine and brown paper sealed with hot wax are his inconspicuous default. Yet he can produce all manner of colorful papers, durable boxes, floral embellishments, and satin ribbons. Disposable cups and wrappings allow gifts of food and drink to pass for store-bought unless specifically branded then subject to close inspection of graphics or labels. For a truly elegant presentation, Demonweed may opt for a glossy wooden box with sliding panels and padded interior. • Pastries: Demonweed's signature brownie delivers 420mg of activated THC – a dose that overwhelms many. He can also produce breads, brownies, cakes, cookies, croissants, cannoli, cupcakes, doughnuts, eclairs, pies, rolls, and tarts with little or no narcotic content. These may contain a variety of infusions derived from beans, nuts, fruits, mushrooms, seeds, and vegetables. He can be quick to offer doughnuts and coffee to law enforcement personnel arriving at the scene of trouble. • Scents: Demonweed's natural fragrance is similar to an earthy cannabis, turning to brimstone when he is injured. Using magic in his true form makes his fragrance particularly potent. Live flowers and hot bread provide cover for that and various other aromas in his home. Fresh cut flowers, incense, scented candles, and perfumes are all employed by Demonweed to make his company more pleasant. Stronger oils of clove, mint, or pepper are options for discouraging bloodhounds. • Stains: An assortment of inks, laquers, paints, and varnishes can be dispensed from Demonweed's fingertips. Even liquid latex is an option for him. Occasionally he vandalizes property with graffiti, and he can be quick to cover over any hateful graffiti in his path. He undertakes cleaning tasks with solutions featuring citric acid or ethanol. Mustering his full conjuring power can be unpredictable. Each large batch varies as much as 70% over or under a target quantity of fluid. • Textiles: A full blanket is a little too much for Demonweed to weave with a simple gesture. A warm scarf, a dry towel, or a flimsy robe are the sorts of things he always seems to have handy. Yet with greater effort he can produce banners, drapes, nets, paintings, rugs, sails, sheets, tapestries, and tents of considerable size. Blankets and complete ensembles of clothing are also possibilities. Coconut, cork, cotton, flax, hemp, jute, lotus, and nettle are among the sources of fiber Demonweed can incorporate into these creations. |
| DEMONIC ARCANA |
| Demonweed dabbled in the occult even as a young man. Back then he would perform tarot readings as a way to bond with and learn about open-minded associates. He stumbled into a position of privilege within DEMON after being transformed into an entity with vast arcane potential. Demonweed participated in various studies and experiments in exchange for advanced training from occult masters. His mind has since been purged of many secrets, but he retains lore related to black magic, conjuration, mesmerism, and Qliphothic phenomena. Originally fashioned from the residue of countless burnt offerings, Demonweed's body is constituted by billions of tiny fungible particles. Each seems to sport an ember as if it were slowly combusting. These magical motes boldy defy physics, including the law of conservation of mass. If depleted, collective can be restored by one spell without any material input. Dispersion into a smoky form allows Demonweed to flow through mesh screens or ooze under the gaps in doorframes while barely heavier than the surrounding air. Yet he can also substantiate so intensely as to acquire the inertia of a mature blue whale. His motes are also robustly metamorphic, altering colors and other properties as needed. Thus Demonweed can impersonate a fully grown human or even lurk as a seemingly inanimate piece of furniture. A casual effort allows him to whip up a kilogram of vegetable or fungal matter by shedding a few motes. Only in his true form can Demonweed attempt greater efforts, burning small wisps of himself to power personalized spells. When he focuses on pure conjuration he can produce elaborately crafted objects of botanical origin with individual components no larger than With his favorite magic, Demonweed trades a little of himself to restore the health of another. A similar sacrifice supports long distance travel or expeditious withdrawal with an infernal conduit trivializing the distance between two locations in this world. Demonweed is particularly skilled at manipulating neurotransmitter levels in the minds of others. Delerium, hallucinations, and suggestibility are personal specialties. Nowadays when he offers a tarot reading in his true form, Demonweed's patter may be a ploy to distract from sorcery of the subconscious. |
| INFERNAL ENDS |
| Demonweed has been technically killed several times since his original body was incinerated during the event that united him with this Qliphothic form. If knocked out while disguised, he will revert to this monstrous true form. If that form is so badly damaged that everything resembling normal biology ceases, he will grow cold. Yet he will also literaly grow in an almost imperceptible way, day by day restoring absent appendages and replenishing the population of his magical motes until he is whole enough to engage in conscious spellcasting. When Demonweed is well, his body temperature is higher than an ordinary human. He may seem feverish under close examination. Demonweed has the theoretical potential to unleash devastating torrents of hellfire. Because his own body is particularly combustible, he eschews even the arcane convenience of a fingertip flame. An oracle operating under duress in DEMON captivity once foretold Demonweed would meet his end in fire. Cremation surely could reduce his remains to ash unable regenerate. Yet fire is not all he need fear. With a spirit born of this world, Demonweed is not particularly harmed by most blessings and holy magic. His body is altogether different. Demonweed's flesh becomes as soft and frail as an ordinary human while visiting a duly consecrated burial ground, church, shrine, or temple. Also, properly performed exorcisms unravel the magic at the core of his being. His body will dissolve throughout the course of such a ritual. If Demonweed does not escape or neutralize the officiant(s) during the first minute of an exorcism directed at him, he is likely to be disabled. It would only take another minute or so of additional efforts from the exorcist to achieve permanent destruction. |
| DEMONWEED FACTS |
| Demonweed remains a relatively obscure figure for a being with his abilities. Information about him can be pieced together from eyewitness accounts, law enforcement records, demonologists' pontifications, and a small number of media interviews. The following details can be uncovered with an appropriate Skill Roll: N/R: Demonweed was once a mortal human transformed into a demon when an occult ritual misfired with explosive results. He has been connected to a wide range of non-violent crimes. K/R: Demonweed inhabits a body designed to serve an infernal herbalist at the vanguard of an invasion of hellspawn. The cult intent on that apocalypse no longer exists, but it was a cell within DEMON. -2: The ritual that empowered him was unknown to Demonweed before he arrived that night. He was no member of the cult, and his interference thwarted the summoning process. -4: Demonweed is not the savvy investor he appears to be on paper. He props up his own net worth and covers tax obligations with regular infusions of legitimate cash. This is likely acquired through the sale of street drugs to buyers willing to pay a premium for purity and quality. -9: DEMON once bestowed the title of Morbane on Demonweed while schooling him in unholy arcana. He completely renounced the group and allowed his memory to be purged of organizational secrets. Nevertheless DEMON continues to study Demonweed as a magical anomaly. |