John (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
greatoldjohn) wrote2022-10-19 10:40 am
greatoldjohn) wrote2022-10-19 10:40 am
Permissions
OOC PREFERENCES:
•CONTACT METHOD: plurk @![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
yarnzipan
•THREAD-JACKING: Absolutely (especially from Arthur because these two, ya'll)
•FOURTH WALLING / CANON PUNCTURE: Lovecraft? Arkham? The King in Yellow? Absolutely. His specific storyline/podcast? Please no.
•BACKTAGGING: Yup.
•AVOIDED TOPICS: No avoided topics but ETA: gaslighting is a major trigger for me less in the sense of talking about it or having it happen between characters as a discussed plot and more in the sense of 'if there is a situation in game where different perceptions of what happened are a major issue and your character is going to assert a different reality for my character than I am writing, I really would need to have an OOC understanding on what's really happening'. Thanks.
•PREFERRED GENDER PRONOUN: she/they
IC CHARACTERISTICS:
•CURRENT CANON POINT:Part 12 Part 23: Fresh out of the Dark World Part Deux: Sucks To Remember
•PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:lestercraft) and thus will be invisible. However, during those periods he is not, John's 'body' consists of a pallid mask, a hooded robe, and one arm (the left one): see here. The color, texture, and 'cut' of those robes can be changed via the wardrobe and whatever he was 'wearing' previously pops out into his hand. Should the robes be moved aside, it will reveal that he is just a pair of eyes, a left arm up to the elbow, and some barely-visible toes all made of shadowstuff.
As of 2/1/24, John has an Admiral-provided body of his own. While his form is infinitely malleable and everyone will get to see a slightly different version of him, the general gist is as follows: John is an exceptionally large man, well over six feet tall, with golden hair, sharp but handsome features, and gold eyes that may shift in hue with his moods. He is sturdily built, all heavy working muscle by appearances, with the occasional bit of 'tattoo' visible: those on his chest and neck look to be arcane symbols, black unless enraged at which point they may glow gold. On his arms are a number of inky black tentacles, scattered with even darker stars, that extend from his shoulders down to his forearm, though they are known to move and shift. He may also extend some of those tentacles outside of himself on occasion. He sounds like this and this: deep and otherworldly with a slight growl.
As of 08/11/24, he is wearing a bracelet made of golden and brown hair in a complex weave of braids, complete with rose beads. It's on his left arm and it won't be taken off.
•DEMEANOR: Dry. Often aggrieved (especially with Arthur). When angry, loud and growly and mean. When happy or excited, there is definite golden retriever energy going on. But nevertheless, deeply appreciative and even reverent about the beauty and wonder and strangeness of the world around him. He very much appreciates no longer being in what he calls the 'dark world' and it shows in a wonder that isn't so much childlike as persistently thankful. Most of the time, he'll just be curious and interested and tend toward introspection. He's kinder than you might expect in odd and earnest ways. That said he was previously known as the Great Old One, Hastur. So if your character would react to that kind of energy/feeling/eldritchity, he will 100% set off your warning bells.
•ABILITIES:
ETA: The mask that is part of his body is, itself, powerful and allows John to see things that others might not. It gives him a sort of truesight or ethereal vision, and there are things he may be privy while using it that he wouldn't be otherwise. This vision doesn't really work while it serves as his body. It only works while he's inside of Arthur and if Arthur wears him.
Speaking of: grab/carry his mask and the robes disappear as he slips in to possess you and gain access to one of your senses, one of your limbs, and one set of extremities (fingers, toes, a tail, etc.) Totally up to you! He always has sight and hearing, but the others are dull to non-existent unless he's claimed it. Claimed senses or parts are numb to the senses and non-functional for your character at the time. He'll also be able to talk silently in your head to you and provide guidance, information, and bickering, free of charge. He can't speak out of your mouth, but certain supernatural senses can hear him talking inside someone else's head.
ETA: As of 11/30, John can make his mask stay attached to you at will. This is a measure to give him some means of self-defense and the ability to function physically if Arthur is injured or unavailable. Obviously, this is going to be discussed before use.
As of his death on 1/3, John can sort of choose the sense (usually, with wiggle room for mun preference or fun stuff) but the limbs are always random.
As of 2/1, John is in a body which allows him to exert all of his power, giving him full access to his power as Hastur. I'll be taking the kind of powers he has from the CoC handbooks and abilities that have been outright shown in canon.
Some of these powers include:
•MEDICAL INFORMATION:
Destroy his mask and you can 'kill' his form. He'll rubberband back into Arthur and his mask will repair itself at the same rate as a warden revives. His form will be achey and unpleasant the same way as a death toll, though he can avoid it by possessing someone during that time. But he has no actual body. He can feel pressure through his spectral arm and pain and very limited sensation through a body part he's possessing but nothing else. He's a great old one. Nothing about his body makes sense according to traditional medicine or even recordable and consistent magic. LITERALLY made of bullshit.
•CABIN INFORMATION: His door looks like a hotel door.Inside is a hospital room from 1934 with a single bed, attached to a simple bathroom (sink, toilet, clawfoot bath), a nice kitchen, and one other door that leads to a den-like room with a conversation pit and several amenities for enjoying movies, books, or music. ETA (11/21/2023): Inside is a nice, big, fancy kitchen with a counter for sitting at that can double as a table. Off of that room is a simple bathroom (sink, toilet, clawfoot bath), a den with a conversation pit and several amenities for enjoying books, movies, and music done up in very comfy gold and deep red and purple and dark wood, annnd a bedroom in the same color scheme with bookshelves, a dresser, and a nice comfy bed. As of 12/24 there is a workshop/painting studio off of the den.
•OFFENSIVE SUBJECTS: the destruction of supernatural creatures, needless cruelty
IC PERMISSIONS:
•MENTAL: They could try but it's a bad idea. Contact me, please.
•MIMICRY: Go ahead; he'll be deeply unimpressed.
•VIOLENCE: Go for it; he's going to try and avoid it.
•MAGIC: Go for it, it's going to be weird.
•DEBATE:Absofuckinglutely.
•OTHER / NOTES: Arthur (lestercraft) and John have explicit permission to godmod each other when in a thread together, due to their statuses as Possessor/Possessee Entwined at the soul.
•CONTACT METHOD: plurk @
•THREAD-JACKING: Absolutely (especially from Arthur because these two, ya'll)
•FOURTH WALLING / CANON PUNCTURE: Lovecraft? Arkham? The King in Yellow? Absolutely. His specific storyline/podcast? Please no.
•BACKTAGGING: Yup.
•AVOIDED TOPICS: No avoided topics but ETA: gaslighting is a major trigger for me less in the sense of talking about it or having it happen between characters as a discussed plot and more in the sense of 'if there is a situation in game where different perceptions of what happened are a major issue and your character is going to assert a different reality for my character than I am writing, I really would need to have an OOC understanding on what's really happening'. Thanks.
•PREFERRED GENDER PRONOUN: she/they
IC CHARACTERISTICS:
•CURRENT CANON POINT:
•PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
[ previously ]
A good deal of the time, John will be possessing Arthur (lestercraft) and thus will be invisible. However, during those periods he is not, John's 'body' consists of a pallid mask, a hooded robe, and one arm (the left one): see here. The color, texture, and 'cut' of those robes can be changed via the wardrobe and whatever he was 'wearing' previously pops out into his hand. Should the robes be moved aside, it will reveal that he is just a pair of eyes, a left arm up to the elbow, and some barely-visible toes all made of shadowstuff.
As of 08/11/24, he is wearing a bracelet made of golden and brown hair in a complex weave of braids, complete with rose beads. It's on his left arm and it won't be taken off.
•DEMEANOR: Dry. Often aggrieved (especially with Arthur). When angry, loud and growly and mean. When happy or excited, there is definite golden retriever energy going on. But nevertheless, deeply appreciative and even reverent about the beauty and wonder and strangeness of the world around him. He very much appreciates no longer being in what he calls the 'dark world' and it shows in a wonder that isn't so much childlike as persistently thankful. Most of the time, he'll just be curious and interested and tend toward introspection. He's kinder than you might expect in odd and earnest ways. That said he was previously known as the Great Old One, Hastur. So if your character would react to that kind of energy/feeling/eldritchity, he will 100% set off your warning bells.
•ABILITIES:
[ previously ]
His touch allows him a certain amount of psychometry, especially upon the recently deceased where he can see the last few minutes of their lives. He has a great knowledge of the Cthulhu mythos (even though he doesn't always know he knows it) and he can pick up information from his host if he's possessing someone like basic world details: what's a lamppost, what's a stop sign, etc. He can also see things that a normal being could not see, such as the energy around a place or the angles of time.ETA: The mask that is part of his body is, itself, powerful and allows John to see things that others might not. It gives him a sort of truesight or ethereal vision, and there are things he may be privy while using it that he wouldn't be otherwise. This vision doesn't really work while it serves as his body. It only works while he's inside of Arthur and if Arthur wears him.
Speaking of: grab/carry his mask and the robes disappear as he slips in to possess you and gain access to one of your senses, one of your limbs, and one set of extremities (fingers, toes, a tail, etc.) Totally up to you! He always has sight and hearing, but the others are dull to non-existent unless he's claimed it. Claimed senses or parts are numb to the senses and non-functional for your character at the time. He'll also be able to talk silently in your head to you and provide guidance, information, and bickering, free of charge. He can't speak out of your mouth, but certain supernatural senses can hear him talking inside someone else's head.
ETA: As of 11/30, John can make his mask stay attached to you at will. This is a measure to give him some means of self-defense and the ability to function physically if Arthur is injured or unavailable. Obviously, this is going to be discussed before use.
As of his death on 1/3, John can sort of choose the sense (usually, with wiggle room for mun preference or fun stuff) but the limbs are always random.
Some of these powers include:
- Shapeshifting - his form is malleable and variable and he can change in the blink of an eye. He has no 'true form', exactly, but his preferred form is described above. It doesn't necessarily follow the rules of usual biology or required physics and 'injuring' it isn't really going to happen normally. This includes the ability to kind of make himself a sludge to slide under a door or something.
- Mental Connection - he's a god and can talk straight to your brain if he wants to, give you visions, the whole thing. He never would, however, without explicit permission. If he wants to I, or he, will ask!
- Mental Control - ...we've seen it in canon, John's never doing it. End of story.
- Dream Walking - yeah, he can go in your dreams too. Similar deal.
- Supernatural Perception - he's seeing a WHOLE lot differently and a whole lot more than most people would. The angles of reality, time, space, eldritch power, he's basically rocking truesight at all times. I'll ask if it comes up as a thing but otherwise he'd never really say anything or remark on it without need.
- Tentacles - He's got as many of them as he wants, they can extend as far as he wants, they can be soft and gentle or they can be knife-tipped.
- Dancers - 'Dancers' are semi-autonomous portions of him that act as 'courtiers'. They are the size of children, their bodies entirely covered in tattered cloth (or possibly *are* tattered cloth), and move in graceful, sweeping dance-like movements. Their tatters can either be used to bind or to cut like knives as needed. If confronted, their default behavior is to protect others and avoid doing harm, aiming to dodge attacks and neutralize the target with the bindings. They cannot speak but since they are John's, he's allowed them to occasionally hold up a sign to communicate something that gestures cannot. (This is mostly for comic effect but also because John would never want any part of him silenced.)
- Magic - ...he's a god. See CoC magic. But like, minor illusions, lighting a candle across a room, making magical items, etc. etc. etc.
- Provide Spells to Others - he can provide spells and the power to do magic to people. For more on that:
[ Blessings 101!]
Previously referred to as 'warlocking', a 'Blessing' ofHasturJohn can include a few different things. These include:- Spells - As John's greater canon is Call of Cthulhu/Cthulhu Dark Ages/Chaosium, the vast majority of spells will be from this lexicon. As CoC materials are not as widely accessible as DnD, here is a small selection of some things he can provide, though that is not all there is. If John ends up 'Blessing' your character, I/he'll work up a small selection of spells for your character. This will start with 1-3, and he may occasionally add something here or there as time passes. Inmate characters would need to have any offensive powers cleared with their permanent warden, just like any power.
- Resilience - As shown by Arthur not being a dead body several times over... he can make you a little more resilient to harm and able to heal to functional significantly more quickly than a normal human body.
- Artistic Amplification - he can inspire and help create or help someone through creative road blocks, enhancing artistic ability of any kind. Such art will probably have an intensity beyond what they have created previously.
- Access to Carcosa - the King is Carcosa and Carcosa is the King. While John is no longer the KiY, precisely, he cannot remove Carcosa from him, and thus he can bring those who are Blessed by him by spirit/dream into the current Carcosa. Once a lie of an eternal golden age, John has begun to transform Carcosa into a place of renewal, of fresh beginnings from eventual ends. While all things must come to an end, Carcosa is now the promise of a new start where once it only lay in ruin and memory.
- Empowered Items - Hastur/KiY/and now John can empower items to enhance abilities (strength, charisma, etc.) or have special properties. Examples will be pulled from the CoC books!
- Currently Blessed Individuals:
- Lester Sheehan
- D'vana Tendi
- Father Oscar
- Fives (temporary)
- Lester Sheehan
- Spells - As John's greater canon is Call of Cthulhu/Cthulhu Dark Ages/Chaosium, the vast majority of spells will be from this lexicon. As CoC materials are not as widely accessible as DnD, here is a small selection of some things he can provide, though that is not all there is. If John ends up 'Blessing' your character, I/he'll work up a small selection of spells for your character. This will start with 1-3, and he may occasionally add something here or there as time passes. Inmate characters would need to have any offensive powers cleared with their permanent warden, just like any power.
- Say My Name - calling him with intention (aka, crying out FOR him) calls his attention
- Floating/Flying/Mage Hand - gravity is 100% his bitch
- Telekinetics - considering the KiY snapped Arthur's legs like a slim jim with a thought, yeah... he can do some pretty fucked up shit in that area
- Influence - traditionally seen in the Yellow Sign, he can do things through conduits; John won't be using the Yellow Sign himself; he has a different sign which is modified to his own liking which almost seems like a shepherd's crook, a
violincello, and a boat's anchor combined and stylized. See here. - Byakhee - don't see it coming up considering, but yeah, he's got the power to summon them and bond them to people if you wanted to be the most fucked up sort of 'dragon' rider.
•MEDICAL INFORMATION:
[ previously ]
Destroy his mask and you can 'kill' his form. He'll rubberband back into Arthur and his mask will repair itself at the same rate as a warden revives. His form will be achey and unpleasant the same way as a death toll, though he can avoid it by possessing someone during that time. But he has no actual body. He can feel pressure through his spectral arm and pain and very limited sensation through a body part he's possessing but nothing else.
•CABIN INFORMATION: His door looks like a hotel door.
•OFFENSIVE SUBJECTS: the destruction of supernatural creatures, needless cruelty
IC PERMISSIONS:
•MENTAL: They could try but it's a bad idea. Contact me, please.
•MIMICRY: Go ahead; he'll be deeply unimpressed.
•VIOLENCE: Go for it; he's going to try and avoid it.
•MAGIC: Go for it, it's going to be weird.
•DEBATE:Absofuckinglutely.
•OTHER / NOTES: Arthur (
lestercraft) and John have explicit permission to godmod each other when in a thread together, due to their statuses as
NOTES
no subject
[ Counters and Binding ]
Anathema
Counterspell- a word of power which takes the form of burning letters in front of their face dispels other magic within earshot. It's variable depending on how much magic is used for it so adjust as needed for plotting.Binding
Hold Person/Monster- make it so that someone/something can't move or harm anyoneSilver Spray - negates spell effect on a single target within ten feet.
[ Obfuscation, etc. ]
Raise Fog / Mists of R'lyeh - create thick magical fog/mist that obscures vision before disappearing in 10X10 block
Eibon's Wheel of Mist - evokes a whirling cylinder of mist in which one can hide from things.
Pose Mundane / Mask - puts an SEP on stuff
Walk Unseen / Warding Sign - hand gesture that makes you invisible to magical detection
Shroud of Shadow
Pass Unseen- make you mundanely undetectable for a period of timeRaise Night Fog - raise natural fog, can be done from a distance
[ Utility ]
Ariadne's Twine - provides a mental mini map of any maze, labyrinth, cave system, etc. someone might end up in. You cannot get lost while this is cast. Lasts 1 day.
Spiritus de Piscibus - breathe underwater for 12 hours
Brew Space Mead - make a substance that can let you travel through the vacuum of space for three days without being harmed. Can also be used to make vessels able to travel through space.
Charm Animal - make an animal treat the caster as a friend; does not allow communication with the animal, just it's inclined to look after the caster.
Command Plants - control plants ala Poison Ivy.
Detect Enchantment
Detect Magic- makes any magic / magically affected things glow.Dowsing - find stuff using a twig, thing on a string, etc.
Flight
Fly- self explanatory; lasts for a few hoursLevitate
Mage Hand- floating through the air; can be used asfeather fall, can be used to lift stuff, can be used on yourself or stuff, generally levitates 3-5 feet up.Light of Seker
Light- makes a globe of light you can control that shines about 5-10ft.Moonlight
See Invisibility- creates moonlight, also lets you see invisible stuffPerceive Text - lets you read in the dark for up to six hours.
Reach / Pass Through Stone - lets you reach through objects with your limbs; have to concentrate while you're doing it, though if you break concentration, you just have to cast it again to get your arm out; stone takes more magic than wood, etc.
Seek the Lost
Locate Object- find stuff within 300 ft.Sense Life - detect the presence of life within a place, around the size of the average house
Assist Dreamer / Visitation of Dreams - go into a dreamscape
Voice Thoughts / Vocal Mask
Magic Mouth- project your thoughts vocally from another source in your immediate area.Warmth of Mind - increases body temperature and counters freezing, hypothermia, etc.
Plumb the Void - long range teleport; can be done on caster or someone else, requires time to cast
Revelation of Script - read any language
Set to Rights - clean or straighten up to a 5x5 space to remove stains, dirt, and mend broken mundane items
[ Blessings / Enhancement ]
Bless - increase one characteristic for 24 hours (smarter for a puzzle, more charismatic, more dexterous, etc)
Bless Blade - add magic damage to physical damage
Demon Senses - heightens senses (hearing, vision, etc.) for an hour
Endurance Chant - allows caster to engage in great physical exertion for up to six hours, feeling stronger and sturdier during that time; there is no pain or fatigue afterwards, just calm and invigorated.
Quicken / Haste - increases caster's movement and speed; gets harder to do the more you cast it
Step Through
Misty Step- short range teleport; harder to do the more you do it[ Communication and Summoning]
Call John - you can summon him.
John's Sign - inscribing John's Sign (see icon) will allow John to bring comfort and warmth as well as use his powers despite not being there presently; it can be put in a place or on a thing.
Candle Communication / Flame Tongue - can communicate with someone via candles lit at the same time. Lasts until one of the flames is extinguished. Includes images and voices.
Telepathy
Sending/Message- allows caster to non-verbally communicate directly with another person's mind. May speak to up to three people within visual range, or one person if they know them well outside of visual range.Summon Byakhee (DOES NOT WORK ON BOARD) - summon a byakhee that can transport you just about anywhere, time and space. Would be taught with Brew Space Mead as otherwise you'd die when you did it.
[ Protection ]
Cast Circle - create magical barrier that can be set to keep out specified beings
Circle of Warding - create magical barrier that repels spells
Deflect Harm - deflects physical harm; hold up a hand and cast and it will deflect attacks while the hand is raised.
Flesh Ward - protection against physical attack for up to 24 hours; only blocks so much before being used up
Desire of Protection - protects STUFF vs people from magical attack/interference.
Blunt the Weapon
Mage Armor- causes all slashing and piercing weapons to act as if blunted when striking to greatly diminish the harm done by weapons.The Grand Ward - creates a barrier against spirits and spells in a certain area (up to 50 ft)
[ Healing Etc. ]
Earthly Serenity / Bind Pain - inhibits the ability to feel pain and brings a calm state of mind for one hour.
Healing / Meld Wounds
Cure Wounds- heal physical injuries. More magic = more healing. Use reasonably.[ Offensive Spells ]
Shrivelling - blast of energy, causes blackening and withering to living tissue
Spectral Razor - make an invisible energy knife that can be thrown; acts like a normal knife except it cannot get stuck in a person and it can do magical damage to things that would not be harmed by mundane knives
Stupefying Blast - blast of green and blue energy which strikes the target as deaf, blind, mute, and numb
Black Lightning
Eldritch Blast- 100 yards lightning strike attackWrack - cause incredible, incapacitating pain to target but deal no actual damage (supernatural stun gun, effectively)