jezebelinhell | Entries tagged with evolution

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One thing never changes, Catherine is and will always be a survivor who thrives under the circumstances thrown at her. And when a bunch of bio-medical savvy hunters known as the Society of Leopold fails to restore her immortality to her after their experimental treatment turns her mortal, she preforms an [infernal] ritual in a mindscape (#1) and binds her “soul” to a demon before their ministrations result in her Final Death. With her “soul”/conscience sucked into Hell, Catherine learns that her tribulations with the Tremere were training wheels for the real political battles and infighting she’d faced in Hell. Things didn’t go entirely as expected: gone - presumed dead - for about 1.5 years on earth (the time that I haven’t RP’ed her since her Final Death), but 150 in Hell, Catherine comes back much changed - her alliances have shifted, her goals have evolved, and she wants to bring about hell on earth. Thing is, this doesn’t mean exactly what you think it does. Not entirely. Not always. Not for everyone.

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Thing is…

Hell was pretty fantastic. The Abyss sucks, for sure, it’s a place of torture for man, monster, and demon, but once your guilt was tortured out of you and you accepted your infernal divinity, you progressed through several underworlds. And Hell can be beautiful, and free, and good place to usurp your way through the ranks. Catherine rose to become one of the Queens of Hell, ruling a world that she created when she won a few drops of creation from the very oily essence of the Abyss. Every new power was something earned from a hard earned gain. Don’t worry, she lost so much as well. For instance, her crown. And the ability to stay despite being infinity happier there. But there’s the larger picture to consider and Hell needs to rebirth its generals, leaders and spies where they can be useful, on earth.

#1. The mindscape was created with Tristan’s help. While in captivity, Tristan created an entire inner world for Catherine to escape in while the Society of Leopold was painfully failing to undo their work. She doesn’t know how much of him she imagined in this inner world, but her impression is that they spent almost a lifetime there together and that he helped save her unlife on her terms. She has no idea what was real and what was her pathetically imagining a different outcome for them than they had in “real life” as she died. If he was there, she is worried that he somehow became trapped or entangled in her consciousness as she “died”/bound a demon and travelled to the Abyss and that’s what caused him to go into torpor. Permission was granted from Tristan-mun to use these "what if's".

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Is she still of Clan Tremere?

Very much so, but it may be more of a means to an end for her now. In canon, there is a rumour that Tremere’s bloodline is tainted with infernal magic. Catherine’s bloodline is firmly rooted in one of the deeply hush-hush infernal bloodlines in the Tremere. While her Sire, Marc, chose to ignore his lineage and focus on politics, Aidan nurtured it and set Catherine on the path that she’s taken, despite her initial rejection of his infernal teachings. It’s this infernal path that created the circumstances for Catherine to be “reborn” into Clan Tremere - it holds the magic and blood that made it possible. But, for the most part, clan Tremere abhors infernalists. If they found out what path she and Aidan are on, they would be ended. So Catherine took great pains to ensure that if that revelation comes, she has enough "Tremere" loyal to only her. But will she take up her new mantle on earth as decreed by the rulers of Hell? Or will she forgo it and just luxuriate in her own easy power among the Tremere? Catherine without purpose is more dangerous than one with a vision.

Is she still a vampire?

Physically, yes. The Tremere have great flexibility in their bloodline and she's just evolving as she took a heck of a turn in her 150 years in hell and she was a transformed by following this path. At the same time, characteristically, not entirely. She's not one-step blood bound to the Tremere anymore. Her loyalties might lie entirely elsewhere now and in hell there wasn't a Clan Tremere, nor was she a vampire as she was free/stripped of that construct (although she went through transformative phases in hell - more on that in fiction perhaps). Coming back to earth is part relief, part mourning and a major adjustment. I'm going to play around with how being more "Tremere" slides her back on the evolution scale and how leaning forward on her infernal path gets her closer to Golconda.

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How does this change interactions with Catherine?

It doesn’t for most characters except maybe for Selene and Tristan. The latter depending on how extensive their involvement was in her mindscape and the former because the elements of their MA storylines will have significant revelations. Others may notice that some things seem less important to Catherine then when your muse knew her and that there may be some personality differences - she's had over 150 years that your muse hasn't seen her to change. Otherwise, she’s still playing the same game, meaning that she keeps a part of herself, who she is and her agenda hidden, and works her subterfuge relatively unseen while using her work for Clan Tremere to meet her own ends. And she'd still rather pop out an eye than attend a Camerilla meeting.

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Evolved abilities:
(these are additions to her character sheet, which will be updated.)

Blades of the Abyss

Coffin nails - Without touching her victim, Catherine can draw her nails across her enemy and cut them deeply. This doesn’t need to reveal where the attack came from.
Her hand to her elbow changes into Abyss demon form with long elongated talons/nails and fingers, knobby at the joints but powerful. They can cut bodies in half. But it's also an obvious show of where the attack came from.
Legion - For a short time, she can control humans that are in her vicinity and up the volume on specific sins that they are susceptible to so that they act on them. It's not super predicable and the situation can get out of hand.
Fallen angels/Queen - she can take the form of a she-demon (half demon/ half human form), making her more resistant to damage, more lethal, as she’s all claws and long sharp wings.

New weaknesses:

She has to kill when she feeds and she can only feed on those really rip with defilement/corruption. It has to be a very bad person (like an unrepentant violent sinner), not just someone who made a mistake. It’s ironic and paradoxical.
She has a True Name, which means that she can be bound to or by an infernalist if her name is ever found out.
Unlike the Earthbound and other demons, she still bound to the Kindred curse and can’t walk in the daylight. But something has evolved and she doesn’t fall into torpor. She can stay awake and watch the day unfold, much to her frustration. This will evolve as she leans into her mission on earth, it’s how to measure that she is getting closer to Golconda*, but it carries the burden of increased humanity*, which obviously doesn’t please her.

* Golconda, or enlightenment, for a demon-vampire will look very different, i imagine! Playing with the concept though.
* Humanity towards whom or what is what I'm toying with here.

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Current highlights and key storylines:

Story 3. In order to keep Aidan busy and away from finding out her True Name, Catherine devises a ruse that puts him directly into the crosshairs of Dr. Evangeline Nix, Callum Winter and MI7 (The Collective).

Story 2. Catherine takes over a significant part of Vienna Chantry, the powerhouse of the Tremere, from the shadows, but draws Aidan’s attention. During an unpleasant reunion he reveals that her evolution has provided her with a significant weakness, one he intends to exploit to bind her to him for eternity into infernal servitude. Catherine realises the curse of having forgotten some of her memories, including her True Name, is a blessing in disguise. But who or what is responsible for it?

Story 1. Nowhere to be found, what happened to Tristan is paramount in her mind when she returns from Hell. Displeased to find that the current Prince of New York is NOT Tristan and that the new Prince, Edmund Deyncourt is somehow involved, Catherine is puzzling out the why and concerned that maybe she inadvertently had something to do with Tristan’s current state of affairs.