Fulope

Fulope, the Choral Equestrian, Demon of the First Circle

Fulope are masses of flexible fibers like spun glass, each aglow and moving as if adrift underwater. When calm, fulope swims through the air, but fits of passion tangle it into knots, each snarl blistering into a burning eye with a lamprey-like maw as its pupil. Like many of the Silent Wind’s brood, the choral equestrian lives to sing. Its own voice a harsh buzz, it possesses others to perform. Fastening itself to the nape of another creature’s neck, it winds scorching, yet painless nerve-fibers into the victim’s brain and larynx to seize control. Confronted with another singer of any kind, the fulope competes to prove its mastery until they stop. Rival fulope engage in lengthy duels of song, leaving their hosts’ throats raw. A fulope often obsesses over something or someone as its muse — most enticingly, Malfeas’ green sun. Left to itself, a choral equestrian seizes a flying demon’s body and soars into Hell’s sky. Those that fly too high burn, their stolen bodies plummeting like meteors to the city below.

Essence: 2; Willpower: 6; Join Battle: 2 dice
Personal Motes: 70
Health Levels: −0x/−1x2/−2x4/−4x/Incap
Intimacies: Defining: Current Muse (Obsession), Singing (Obsession)
Actions: Beautiful Song: 11 dice (5 with its own voice); Fly: 4 dice; Host Impersonation: 5 dice (8 for long-term hosts); Read Intentions: 6 dice; Senses: 6 dice; Social Influence (non-Performance): 7 dice
Appearance 3, Resolve 4, Guile 2

COMBAT
Attack (Bite): 7 dice (Damage 10) Attack (Tendril slash): 10 dice (Damage 8) Attack (Grapple): 8 dice (7 dice to control) Combat Movement: 4 dice Evasion 3, Parry 2 Soak/Hardness: 4/0

OFFENSIVE CHARMS
Neural Reins (20m, 1wp; Simple; Indefinite; Decisive-only; Essence 2): Expend all rounds of a grapple’s control to roll (10 + rounds of control forfeited) dice against the higher of the target’s (Resolve or current Willpower). If successful, it gains control of her body, using her physical Attributes, health track, and voice. Observers may make a difficulty 3 (Perception + Awareness or Medicine) roll to notice a small glassy lump in the nape of her neck, and a difficulty 5 (Intelligence + Occult) roll to understand its significance. At the end of each scene in which the fulope’s host is present, she may roll (Wits + Integrity), difficulty 3, as one interval of an extended action with terminus 3 and goal number 10 to expel it. She may also roll whenever the demon tries to force her to act against an Intimacy, adding the Intimacy’s rating in bonus dice.
A character may submit willingly; the demon pays the Charm’s cost and automatically succeeds without a roll. A target who retains control while possessed — having sorcerously bound the demon or persuaded it with social influence — can spend the higher of (her Essence) or 3 of the fulope’s motes per scene on social Charms. She can relinquish control to let the demon act for her with its own social and mental traits, and regains control at will. An extended (Intelligence + Medicine) roll with difficulty 5, goal number 10, and interval one hour extracts an embedded fulope surgically from a restrained or subdued host. The patient suffers two lethal damage per roll, ignoring Hardness. Magic that ends possession, such as Burning Exorcism Technique (Exalted, p. 356), can also expel it

Song-Stealing Mollification (6m; Supplemental; Instant; Essence 1): While possessing a host and in control, the fulope gains double 9s on a Performance-based social influence roll to uphold its host’s Intimacies by singing. Using this Charm more than once per scene temporarily shifts one of the host’s Intimacies toward a more demonic context or subject with each subsequent use, until the fulope is expelled.

Uncoiling Glassy Thread (8m; Supplemental; Instant; Essence 1): The fulope’s strands elongate to grapple an enemy at short range, with three bonus successes on the attack and control rolls. Success drags the victim to close range. The strands’ pulsing heat is extraordinarily painful, increasing the grappled target’s Defense penalty to −3.

MISCELLANEOUS
Hurry Home (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): The demon returns to its summoner’s side; unavailable when unbound.

Materialize (35m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): The demon weaves itself from snatches of stolen song in a hundred foreign voices.

Measure the Wind (5m; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): The fulope reads anyone it possesses.

STORYTELLER TACTICS
A fulope without a host tries to grapple the most appealing target. Choose the opponent with the highest Performance rating, or if none have Performance, Charisma. Enemy sorcerers can use summoned fulope to enhance their abilities or take discreet control of someone important. Someone who’s already possessed makes for a good introduction to a mystery the characters can investigate, following rumors of strange behavior or noticing it themselves in someone they know.