Crucia
| Crucia Douleur | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Title(s) | Misery's Mistress |
| Archetype | Suppressor |
| Hair Colour | Blonde |
| Eye Colour | Cobalt |
| Height | 5' 10" |
| Build | Athletic |
| Notable Features | A tattoo depicting a drop of blood on the nape of her neck; hair worn in a braid reaching the small of her back |
| Born | 182 AR Mixalydia |
| Profession | Mixalydia's Head Inquisitor (Formerly), Leader of the Bloodletters |
Description
Crucia strikes most as an imposing figure, not so much because of her looks as her demeanor. Anyone close enough to hold a conversation with her will see madness dancing in the depths of her smiling eyes. Her oddly cheerful disposition is off-putting, something that she is not only aware of but uses to her advantage.
Outwardly charming, Crucia's sadistic nature lurks just beneath the surface and rears its head when she is angered. Even when in a good mood, she possesses a threatening air about her that makes most people uneasy.
She possesses the ability to augment and manipulate the pain of others, to a degree. She can make others perceive a sewing needle piercing the thigh as a lance goring them, or shut down their nerve endings and make them watch in horror as she extracts their intestines by the handful, without them feeling a thing.
Because of the magic that courses through her veins, her body rejects all magical healing from an outside source, and she revels in physical pain as long as it is not immediately life threatening.
She wields an tool of her own design, a slender black crop called the Agony, which allows her to exercise her powers in a number of ways. Among other things, she is able to heal the injuries of others (to a degree) and store the accompanying pain inside the tool, which she can later inflict on others, and she can cause others to revisit the pain of past injuries by touching the tool to scar tissue. In both cases, the trauma is not mental rather than physical, but the victim will wholeheartedly believe that they are experiencing the injury once more.
Lastly, she is able to establish mental ties with individuals who possess supernatural or magical abilities in a process called Binding. These links are one-way channels through which Crucia can perceive the world through the senses of the Bound person and, should she so desire, sever the link and end their life by destroying their minds during her retreat. To Bind someone, they must remain within thirty feet of Crucia for as long as it takes to break down their mental defenses, which varies from person to person.
The process takes significantly longer if the person does not possess supernatural or magical abilities, as Crucia must first instill a portion of her magic within the person to act as a hook for her to latch onto with her powers.
Background
Origins
As a young girl, she was abducted by the Hidden Hand when at the age of nine, when she was living in the back alleys of the kingdom as an orphan. She was subjected to painful experimentation for three years, resulting in a resistance to magical effects years later as her body grew more accustomed to the strange forces she was exposed to. In the course of that time, she rebuilt herself, establishing a new persona that was better equipped to handle the mental and physical stress that was imposed on her by the experimentation.
Eventually, she retaliated against her captors. On the day that a scientist overseeing the procedures loosened her restraints, he turned his back, thinking her unconscious. In the course of thirty minutes, she had killed seven people, four of them armed, with a scalpel, before she was incapacitated.
The general consensus was that she was becoming more dangerous each day, and that the experiments had failed. The scientists in charge of the project wished to dispose of her and start anew, but the king, Branson II, saw the potential that the girl displayed. He instead proposed the one thing that the scientists dreaded: giving the girl autonomy.
As he had predicted, Crucia responded favorably to the course of action. She was given her own room in the castle and allowed to dine with the king at his table in the evening. In a sense, he was her savior, despite being the one that had approved the experimentation in the first place. Said experiments were ended once she began to exhibit powers of her own: the ability to dampen physical and mental energies in others. No magic could harm her, and she learned to turn spells back on their casters.
There was another side affect to the magic coursing through her: an unstable nature that was prone to violence. The king provided her with the perfect outlet: prisoners. Those that were considered useless were turned over to the girl, who was only twelve years old at the time. At first, she butchered them like an animal, anger driving her hand. But over time, a sense of curiosity and malicious creativity surfaced, and she began to do experiments of her own on the men and women presented to her. She invented unthinkably cruel ways of torturing them, and the king saw another opportunity.
She was given an official station at sixteen years old as an inquisitor, used to get information from captured soldiers of rival kingdoms. She proved to be more than capable of the responsibilities she bore, and enjoyed the task to boot. She continued to prove her devotion to the king by unfailingly extracting secrets from her victims, giving the Mixalydian military valuable information that gave it an advantage.
She became a scientist of sorts, experimenting with her powers. She crafted her tool, called the Agony, to aid her in her efforts. With it, she could enhance or dull pain to learn the working of the body. She pursued her tasks with a fondness that bordered on insanity.
Once the king realized what a boon her accomplishments were, he named her leader of a group he christened the Bloodletters, his personal task force. They acted as inquisitors, the kingdom's secret police, and a private task force for the king. Crucia led them with a sense of authority that brooked no argument, and severely punished those who crossed her.
The Broken Dagger
Crucia has been seen in the streets of Myrkentown with a number of similarly dressed men and women, although they are rarely found together.
The Present
Crucia and her companions have taken up stations around various parts of Myrkentown, inquiring vaguely about a friend who went missing. They seem to be searching for someone named "Felle", who bears a striking resemblance to a certain dancer.
Plots
Major plot events in which the character has been involved.
