D͕̼͙͇̫̘͓͙̮̠̖͍͊͌̑ͪ̈́̉̆ e̲̣̱̬̰̪̰̭͙̗͔̯͉ͧ̇͆̈́ͨͨ ṿ͉̠̦̣̹͓͇̫̰̞̖̼̰̺͒̊ͥ̄̃ͯ ị͉̼̳̻̻̻̼̰̝̞̜̱͑͛ͬͣͨ̓́ͅ l̳̻̻͇͔̰̥̖͙͙͓̦̭̝ͬ̏͗ͨ̈́̍ ͎̝͔͖̣̙͈̺̗͍̼͓̯̺̪̼̍̅̊͂̈͗ͯͮ͆ͯͤͮͩ̂ͮ̍̚P̺̻̙̲̣̮͇̣̩̤̬̂̓ͬͤ̾̓̏͒ͮ̊̅̄̏̾ a͖͔͚̙̦̰͎̺̘̫̥̗̩̘͇ͣͬͩͤ̓̈́ͤ̈́̾ͬ̀̒ c̳̟̱̪̪͍̹̩͇̥̄ͯͮͨ̽ͨ t̗̮̺͓̯̟̞̪̙̗͌͋͗͗ͧ̽̍̓ͭ̅͂ͭͤͦͪ́̓̚
Description: Devil Pact magic is a plot magic designed to be an excuse for various IC situations and happenstance. It revolves around the creation of binding contracts that can inact powerful effects and force both parties to complete some clause that they agreed to. The nature of the contracts depend on the contract.
Generally speaking this is purely a plot device given some OOC validity. Siren could, for example, train anyone in any magic by using a Contract as the excuse. Doing so may or may not reduce topic required length with admin approval. This could also be an excuse to change magic. Alter appearance/FCs. Rank up. Gain a weapon/item. Or so on.
It is a swiss-army knife of plot-tools. With Admin approval it could do more dramatic things that aren't covered by the rules for the purpose of mini or not so mini events.
Strengths:
• Make contracts that are sealed by divine power, unbreakable deeds that can bring about miracles at what cost. Just sign the dotted line.
• Limited only by the language of the contract. Meaning the magic empowers contracts, the contracts direct what happens.
• The barer is not subject to magical bindings/contracts/oaths/ of other magics. The contract registers as complete, but does not register breaches of it on her part. (Does not apply to Devil Pact. (The contract can always be nulled by the other parties even if normally unable to(Does not apply to Devil Pact))
• Siren can make contracts without having anybody else agree to the contract if she pays for it with her life. Meaning if she is about to be killed, she can lay a death curse on her enemies, (Her death not theirs) cursing them with some misfortune. Or if for some reason she's feeling whimsy she could willingly pay for some effect with her life.
• Curse Power. Devil Pact is Curse Power and not affected by anti-magic or magic drain. It still uses the same MP pool in total however, shared throughout all her magics. This is just a thematic change and isn't a very uncommon ability on site.
Weaknesses:
• Devil Pact magic is even more binding for her than it is for the signer. By cosmic law, a devil cannot go against a Devil Pact contract. They have to obey whatever clause they have set and do all that they say they will do within the pact. If she says "I will not eat children" she physically cannot attempt to do so. She can, however, brutally maim them if so inclined.
• Contracts can't simply do anything. Siren is a mistress of hell, a ruler of one small fraction of the afterlife. Not a cosmic entity. The scope is too wide to be specific, but generally she cannot make things happen that aren't supported by the forum rules or things that aren't up to simple roleplaying. She could resurrect someone IC through the use of Sacred Altar as an IC excuse for their resurrection, but she could not transfigure someone into some entity beyond their rank (Or beyond 1 rank if the player OOC would be about to rank up and use her as an excuse for that new rank or something)
• Devil Pact magic does not work if Siren or anyone affiliated with Siren intentionally coerced them into signing it. This can be a bit sketchy regardless though. They mostly just have to want it for themselves. She could in theory murder someone and have their lover sign a contract to bring them back, because they'd want them back. But she couldn't hold a sword to their throats and make them sign it.
• Acting against the spirit of the Devil Pact such a in that scenario of murder to make a loved one WANT to sign the contract, causes Siren to produce blood from her eyes as though crying.
The victim of such a contract is entitled to 1 free favor from Siren that Siren MUST fulfill. They need only ask. The favor can't be anything too extreme and self-harming, but it can interfere with her personal motivations and goals. There is no bottom limit however, so be careful what you say. She'd be more than happy to give them 1 last call or 1 last meal or so on before they go on to fulfill whatever contract they signed, and in doing so use up that favor.
By simply saying her name if she owes such a favor Siren will be forced to appear, allowing them to claim their favor.
• All deals must have an escape clause through which a signer can no longer be subject to the deal. This does not include Siren not fulfilling the intended clause such as "Help me defeat x", which will break the contract anyway (Though be careful: If no timeframe is given it can be a very long time indeed).
Escape Clauses can be pretty much anything. A Prince kissing you in swan/frog form. Finding true love. Siren killing x y or z, ect.
• A Contract cannot directly work powers over an individual who does not sign the pact. Meaning someone can wish someone else dead, and Siren herself will have to slay them in order to fulfill the contract.
Abilities:
• Wish upon a Deed: - Siren can make binding contracts that can achieve magical effects that both parties are bound to fulfill. Contracts are defined above by the magic. A Devil Pact leaves a small pentagram mark on the contractee's body until the contract is complete. A devil pact is always accompanied by a Pentragram-like magic circle of a size related to the power at work in the contract.
• Speak of the Devil: - Referencing Siren using any name or identification of her other than generics like "That demon whore" or "That red witch" and so on or even "She who must not be named" allows Siren to hear what is said for the next five minutes. If they repeat it, she can see what occurs as well. If they say it a 3rd time, Siren can choose to step through and appear before them. By luring her with something they could get her to appear of her own accord.
By performing a summoning ritual using Siren's full real name and making some sort of offering of some value (Can't just be a turd while you sit back and laugh), Siren is forced to appear. She cannot refuse to appear. The ritual takes at least 5 minutes to prepare and 1 minute to kick-in. Siren is aware of the ritual being performed and can use those 6 minutes to prepare herself as well and be wary of a trap.
Notice: This has a benefit: If anyone needs help in a job they can try to summon Siren into their job as a reinforcement. Doing so forfeits all jewel reward and halves job EXP.
- Spoiler:
Spells:
D-Rank Spell Name: Decoy Summon
Duration: 3
Cooldown: 4
Type: Support
Description: Summons a Thought Projection of Siren. It is treated as Siren and shares the same consciousness as Siren. It is considered to be S-rank but it cannot use magic except for Devil Pact.
Strengths:
• It is treated as Siren
• shares the same consciousness as Siren
• Allows Siren to send a Decoy when someone attempts to force-summon her, rather than being summoned herself.
Weaknesses:
• Cannot use magic except for Devil Pact.
• Cannot endure more than 1 S-rank hit.
• Cannot cause serious harm (Non-ranked non-mage NPC strength)
• Does not have the same strength of magical aura or acnologia taint. Forcing her to present her aura can be an easy way to identify the Decoy.
• Can only be used when someone would summon her (As seen in "Speak of the devil")
C-Rank Spell Name: Read Fantasy
Duration: Passive Toggle
Type: Support
Description: Siren can read the fantasies of an individual she can see. Know what they desire most in life. She sees each such fantasy until she sees one that she can fulfill. So if their fantasy is "To become a god", she'd see it but it will be be passed over to see the next.
While reading, she can "Whisper" to them, a heart-to-heart / mind-to-mind communication similar to an illusion.
Strengths:
• Read fantasies. If they have a fantasy regarding Siren, it reveals that fantasy even if it isn't the top/near the top.
• Gets a general idea or at least hint at someones personality.
• Can be used to tempt or otherwise lure someone into a contract.
Direct communication, no lag-time neither visible signs of speech or words audible to unintended recipients.
Weaknesses:
• Can't read fantasies if protected from divination by C-rank effects or greater.
• Can't read fantasies if there are none. Some characters are just that dead inside, or just that fulfilled already.
• Knowing someones fantasy isn't always an advantage. "Pure of heart" and all that shtick.
• Can't intentionally keep reading to see lower fantasies.
• Doesn't read mind or anything. It just shows her their fantasy
• Doesn't work on individuals of a higher rank.
• Can't overwhelm the mind in any way. The Whispers are softer, and can't confuse or disorient and neither do they take concentration. They're just there as though someone was whispering to them. If her Whispers start to annoy or anger, an individual can shut them out by willing it so, preventing her from Whispering to them.
B-Rank Spell Name: Show Fantasy
Duration: Passive Toggle
Type: Support
Description: Show Fantasy allows, out of combat, Siren to create illusions of an individual that she has seen through Read Fantasy. Siren can see and interact with these illusions as though they were real, as can the individual who's fantasy she is projecting. If she takes the effect away it's revealed they didn't actually move anywhere they wouldn't be capable of physically moving and so on.
Strengths:
• Reveals someone's fantasy as though real before their eyes.
• Can tempt/lure people into contracts.
• The illusions can lead people away from things or into hazards.
Weaknesses:
• Strong willed can break the illusions by denying them. If they're simply resisting, the illusions appear faded wherever they are not actively focusing on and feel unreal (But the desires of the heart are fickle and often don't care.)
• Easiest way to break the illusion is becoming hostile with intent to cause harm to something that isn't part of the fantasy, or if anything with such hostile intent enters the area, thus triggering "Combat" and breaking the illusion completely. By extension, it outright fails to appear if combat is already engaged.
• Illusions have to be relevant to the fantasy in some way.
• If hazards are near the illusions will fade and flicker around the hazard alerting the would-be victim and giving them the opportunity to resist again.
• Only Siren and the recipient can see their own fantasies.
• Only works on one individual at a time.
A-Rank Spell Name: Aura of Trust
Duration: Passive
Type: Support
Description: Siren generates an Aura of Trust, this simple effect simply makes Siren seem trust worthy even if she would not normally appear so to someone. People feel secure, comforted, relaxed... and often speak freely with her.
Strengths:
• Helps get close to people. Definitely not shady.
• Helps get people to talk with her.
• Helps people trust that her contracts are secure, which they are.
Weaknesses:
• It isn't absolute. People can still be wary.
• Very ineffective against enemies or people who's first sight of her is doing something that isn't exactly trust-building (Like attacking them or something they care about to some extent)
• People still obey their natures and don't immediately cave into her just because she is there, unless that is in their nature.
• Even if they trust her they'll still defend themselves and others, they'd just wonder what the hell is wrong with her and try to get her to stop and "Talk sense" unless pushed too far after trying. If they only just met/saw her they'd be a lot more forceful of course than if they've been exposed to this for weeks, months or years. Meanwhile if they are merciless by nature then, well, as said, their nature remains.
• Generally requires some investment of time on a person to get them to "Warm up" to the Aura of Trust.
• This generally just relies on roleplaying and some common sense and understanding of ones' own character.
S-Rank Spell Name: Final Seal
Duration: 7
Cooldown: 8
Type: Support
Description: Final Seal appears to stop time. The world flashes into either a colorless mirror of itself that Siren can alter the color of into vividness beyond reality, an ideal mirror of reality. She can make aspects of this mirror-dream fade away or otherwise alter the environment of this dream.
Strengths:
• Isolates an individual and separates them both from reality to a fantasy world at the complete whim of Siren.
• Time appears to be stopped at first before fading into the fantasy world. The entire affair exists only in Siren and the individual's mind. Time hasn't stopped, their minds have linked and sunken to a deep layer of consciousness. (The appearance of time stopping is optional, but things can be handled differently depending on the scene to make things interesting. Whatever happens though, none of this is real and has no actual effect outside of what they remember happening in this psyche-world)
• By signing a contract with Siren, this world can become theirs. At their complete whim, or a single set world to their every desire.
• In certain situations with characters signing a contract before hand, Final Seal's dream reality can be far more persistent and allow combat to occur within, which can vary dramatically from the real world in many ways and be used as a way to train without danger, going all out. In such a case people can't exit until whatever the contract says occurs. This can set up excellent Arena Fights for plot points. The depth of the dream state might also only be surface level, allowing some effect to project what is happening inside to the outside world for view pleasure.
Weaknesses:
• Strong willed can break the illusions by denying them dramatically. ("No. No. That's not true, that's impossiblllllee")
• Fighting with Siren breaks this effect, making both appear right where they left off with no sense of disorientation at all.
• Siren can't just leave someone in here, she's in there too. If she leaves the effect ends.
• Provides no advantage in combat that some form of telepathy could not. But due to the cooldown they cannot keep talking once ended.
• Siren cannot harm the target of this in any way in the dream world.
• Entities of highly capable dream-mind affiliated magic might detect and latch onto this dream, where they can spy or break the dream themselves. If such an invader tries to harm anyone though, the dream is broken.