Vec
TimemasterWELL THIS WAS AN ABSURD EXPERIMENT BUT IT TURNED OUT MUCH WEIRDER AND SOMEWHAT BETTER THAN I EXPECTED
I might edit bits of it later but I probably won't.
I think the only balance note is to ask whether the second power (discord) is allowed to work between gods or just between humans. I'm fine with either, but kind of expecting it to be restricted to between humans, because even though it's an intensification of emotions that are already there rather than controlling another character's thoughts, it's still something that might influence how characters behave, so I'm not sure how uptight you guys want to be about that.
Alternatively, there might be some kind of 'warning' that activates in gods, but not humans, when Sais tries to intensify their competition, so that gods will know exactly when, who, and how their emotions are being heightened, and thus can resist it a lot better.
I might edit bits of it later but I probably won't.
Name: Sais (Silent 's', so pronounced 'sy').
Gender: Sais is genderfluid, and their appearance reflects this, usually appearing either male or female, sometimes androgynous. Their pronouns fluctuate.
Godly parents: Eris, divine embodiment of Strife, sister of Enyo; and the Archangel Lucifer, the Morning Star, also known as Satan, Father of Lies, Lord of the Flies, Prince of Demons, the Devil Himself.
Spheres: Light, Dishonesty, and Competition.
Personality: Sais never settles on who they want to offend most. Aided by their power of dishonesty, they change their beliefs and behaviour from one extremism to another frequently and with unparalleled fluidity. At many points in their existence, Sais has been a Christian white supremacist, a libertarian advocate, a eugenics-obsessed Atheist, a blogger campaigning for social justice, an anarchist demanding the destruction of all law, an Islamic militant, and every possible shade of radicalised teenager.
With a belief system that changes by the half-hour and the ability to be the smoothest liar of anyone in divine history, it might be said that it is impossible to discern what Sais 'actually' thinks, feels, or believes. The truth runs even deeper into being an exercise in futility: Sais is an entirely non-human entity and does not think or feel, not only in a different way to most gods, but at all. Even deceiving mortals or sending them into strife against one another does not bring Sais any satisfaction, for that, too, is something that they cannot feel. They do it simply because it is their nature.
It is, in fact, debatable whether Sais is even remotely sentient, or if 'they' is really more fitting a pronoun than 'it'.
Sacred Animal: The common housefly. Sais uses these frequently, and they never seem far.
Weapon(s): A morningstar, or spiked mace. Its appearance varies with Sais's own, sometimes resembling the baton of riot control, sometimes the cute, stylised pink wand of a magical girl, sometimes the nail-imbedded plank of the anarchist rebel.
Powers:
-The Smoothest Liar. Anything Sais says, without exception, is said in perfect honesty, sanity, and conviction. Any examination of Sais, any lie detection, any reading of body language, any deep look into their eyes, will show only perfect truth in their words. This is by far Sais's most commonly used power, and their most subtle. Sais cannot outright delude other individuals- If they say that the sun is green, their listeners will not see a green sun when they look. However, in the vast majority of cases, they will look, caught between rational knowledge that the statement is false and their subconscious verdict of truth based on Sais's body language and vocal pattern. Sais's words can only be doubted according to logical rules of argument. Trying to confirm whether they are lying by interrogating Sais themself is impossible. The fact that Sais doesn't always lie, but more often tells the truth, and that some things cannot be confirmed or investigated logically when Sais speaks of them- Such as their own views or emotions- Muddies their reliability incredibly.
-Sowing Discord. Where any kind of strife, hatred, rivalry, competition, or even loving one-upmanship is present between individuals, Sais can intensify these feelings. Dislike can escalate into anger, confused love into jealousy, hatred into violence, jealousy into kismesitude. This power is one-way- Sais cannot produce harmony where they have sown discord. However, through determination, anyone Sais has affected can return to their previous state of mind. This requires that they actually want to do so or see benefit in it, however, and will not occur if they are comfortable in their newfound strife- As is often the case when Sais sets large groups of humans against each other, as their hatred is a unifying factor within each group.
-Morning Star. Sais's body can dissolve into a small point of light, like a star, and fly rapidly. Sais can also change the nature of artificial light, which has become extremely useful when dealing online, as unless the brightness of a screen is turned down completely, she can essentially change its contents. These changes in light are followed by digital changes that try to maintain them; If Sais changes a projected 0 into a projected 1, the device projecting onto the screen will try to make the same switch in its digital memory to maintain consistency.
-Lord of the Flies. Sais can control flies. This includes maggots, mosquitoes and other biting flies, but not bees, dragonflies, or anything that isn't a true fly.
History: Sais's birth brought great joy to their mother Eris; Less so for their father Satan. Sais has no permanent agenda, and indeed has never kept one, though they have had many temporary plans which they later changed or abandoned midway. While their ability to inspire belief in humans and set them against one another has always played a healthy part in exacerbating Eris's dream of a world in torment against itself, Satan has been disappointed in Sais's lack of a long-term goal and their consistency in causing mankind to become sinful and evil, as, following their chaotic nature, Sais has also at many times in history triggered movements that lead to positive change. Upon the ascension of the Merged, Sais showed mercy to both their parents, mostly out of apathy. Ultimately, both have left their child to their own devices, albeit under close observation.
The coming of faster communication, especially the Internet, has massively increased the rate at which Sais can spread discord among humans. To date, Sais administrates over two hundred tumblr accounts, nearly a thousand Facebook profiles, and has posted thousands of anonymous messages on 4Chan.
Other: A note for other roleplayers interacting with Sais and their lies: No, Sais doesn't force your character to believe things that they don't. Sais doesn't convince people; Their power isn't an outward projection into other minds, it's a phenomenon of their own body and mind. But they do act with absolute conviction. What that means is that if you're thinking, 'ok, my character is just going to disbelieve everything this jackass says', that's ok- I expect pretty much everyone to doubt what Sais says, pretty much all the time. But try to ask yourself how much doubt is believable from your character's personality. The best way to figure this out is to think of Sais not as a conscious entity that lies smoothly, but an entity that constantly shifts into different forms that each tells their own perception of the truth. Your character isn't forced to behave in any particular way- But Sais is always perceived as someone who believes every word of what they're saying, because that's essentially what they are.
It's more emotionally troubling to doubt a homeless child begging for help than it is a meth addict asking the same thing, even if both of them are telling the truth.
Gender: Sais is genderfluid, and their appearance reflects this, usually appearing either male or female, sometimes androgynous. Their pronouns fluctuate.
Godly parents: Eris, divine embodiment of Strife, sister of Enyo; and the Archangel Lucifer, the Morning Star, also known as Satan, Father of Lies, Lord of the Flies, Prince of Demons, the Devil Himself.
Spheres: Light, Dishonesty, and Competition.
Personality: Sais never settles on who they want to offend most. Aided by their power of dishonesty, they change their beliefs and behaviour from one extremism to another frequently and with unparalleled fluidity. At many points in their existence, Sais has been a Christian white supremacist, a libertarian advocate, a eugenics-obsessed Atheist, a blogger campaigning for social justice, an anarchist demanding the destruction of all law, an Islamic militant, and every possible shade of radicalised teenager.
With a belief system that changes by the half-hour and the ability to be the smoothest liar of anyone in divine history, it might be said that it is impossible to discern what Sais 'actually' thinks, feels, or believes. The truth runs even deeper into being an exercise in futility: Sais is an entirely non-human entity and does not think or feel, not only in a different way to most gods, but at all. Even deceiving mortals or sending them into strife against one another does not bring Sais any satisfaction, for that, too, is something that they cannot feel. They do it simply because it is their nature.
It is, in fact, debatable whether Sais is even remotely sentient, or if 'they' is really more fitting a pronoun than 'it'.
Sacred Animal: The common housefly. Sais uses these frequently, and they never seem far.
Weapon(s): A morningstar, or spiked mace. Its appearance varies with Sais's own, sometimes resembling the baton of riot control, sometimes the cute, stylised pink wand of a magical girl, sometimes the nail-imbedded plank of the anarchist rebel.
Powers:
-The Smoothest Liar. Anything Sais says, without exception, is said in perfect honesty, sanity, and conviction. Any examination of Sais, any lie detection, any reading of body language, any deep look into their eyes, will show only perfect truth in their words. This is by far Sais's most commonly used power, and their most subtle. Sais cannot outright delude other individuals- If they say that the sun is green, their listeners will not see a green sun when they look. However, in the vast majority of cases, they will look, caught between rational knowledge that the statement is false and their subconscious verdict of truth based on Sais's body language and vocal pattern. Sais's words can only be doubted according to logical rules of argument. Trying to confirm whether they are lying by interrogating Sais themself is impossible. The fact that Sais doesn't always lie, but more often tells the truth, and that some things cannot be confirmed or investigated logically when Sais speaks of them- Such as their own views or emotions- Muddies their reliability incredibly.
-Sowing Discord. Where any kind of strife, hatred, rivalry, competition, or even loving one-upmanship is present between individuals, Sais can intensify these feelings. Dislike can escalate into anger, confused love into jealousy, hatred into violence, jealousy into kismesitude. This power is one-way- Sais cannot produce harmony where they have sown discord. However, through determination, anyone Sais has affected can return to their previous state of mind. This requires that they actually want to do so or see benefit in it, however, and will not occur if they are comfortable in their newfound strife- As is often the case when Sais sets large groups of humans against each other, as their hatred is a unifying factor within each group.
-Morning Star. Sais's body can dissolve into a small point of light, like a star, and fly rapidly. Sais can also change the nature of artificial light, which has become extremely useful when dealing online, as unless the brightness of a screen is turned down completely, she can essentially change its contents. These changes in light are followed by digital changes that try to maintain them; If Sais changes a projected 0 into a projected 1, the device projecting onto the screen will try to make the same switch in its digital memory to maintain consistency.
-Lord of the Flies. Sais can control flies. This includes maggots, mosquitoes and other biting flies, but not bees, dragonflies, or anything that isn't a true fly.
History: Sais's birth brought great joy to their mother Eris; Less so for their father Satan. Sais has no permanent agenda, and indeed has never kept one, though they have had many temporary plans which they later changed or abandoned midway. While their ability to inspire belief in humans and set them against one another has always played a healthy part in exacerbating Eris's dream of a world in torment against itself, Satan has been disappointed in Sais's lack of a long-term goal and their consistency in causing mankind to become sinful and evil, as, following their chaotic nature, Sais has also at many times in history triggered movements that lead to positive change. Upon the ascension of the Merged, Sais showed mercy to both their parents, mostly out of apathy. Ultimately, both have left their child to their own devices, albeit under close observation.
The coming of faster communication, especially the Internet, has massively increased the rate at which Sais can spread discord among humans. To date, Sais administrates over two hundred tumblr accounts, nearly a thousand Facebook profiles, and has posted thousands of anonymous messages on 4Chan.
Other: A note for other roleplayers interacting with Sais and their lies: No, Sais doesn't force your character to believe things that they don't. Sais doesn't convince people; Their power isn't an outward projection into other minds, it's a phenomenon of their own body and mind. But they do act with absolute conviction. What that means is that if you're thinking, 'ok, my character is just going to disbelieve everything this jackass says', that's ok- I expect pretty much everyone to doubt what Sais says, pretty much all the time. But try to ask yourself how much doubt is believable from your character's personality. The best way to figure this out is to think of Sais not as a conscious entity that lies smoothly, but an entity that constantly shifts into different forms that each tells their own perception of the truth. Your character isn't forced to behave in any particular way- But Sais is always perceived as someone who believes every word of what they're saying, because that's essentially what they are.
It's more emotionally troubling to doubt a homeless child begging for help than it is a meth addict asking the same thing, even if both of them are telling the truth.
I think the only balance note is to ask whether the second power (discord) is allowed to work between gods or just between humans. I'm fine with either, but kind of expecting it to be restricted to between humans, because even though it's an intensification of emotions that are already there rather than controlling another character's thoughts, it's still something that might influence how characters behave, so I'm not sure how uptight you guys want to be about that.
Alternatively, there might be some kind of 'warning' that activates in gods, but not humans, when Sais tries to intensify their competition, so that gods will know exactly when, who, and how their emotions are being heightened, and thus can resist it a lot better.
