Écate, the Saturnian Immortal

This idea was originally shared on the old defunct US mailing list in the 1990s, but I decided to bring it up again. I've transcribing and translating the rules and lore for the French version, which includes a lot of information on The Sword. The Sword is the descendants of the Promethean Glaives and was probably the basis of the Black Star and other secret societies in the US version.

Écate, Demoness of Night

Statistics

(Using third edition statistics)

Saturnian Core: Very Initiated.

Metamorphosis: Not Hidden by default; psychotic, silvery, amorphous, inexplicable aversion in nearby Immortals. Concealed using the Eye of Ishtar (see below) and mundane cosmetics.

Shadow Arcanum: Initiate of The Black Star.

Occult Sciences: Master in Third Circles of Saturnian Sorcery and Saturnian Summoning. Knows all published Saturnian Spells and more besides… She may cast Saturnian Spells on any day, not just Grand Enthronements. 

Lore at Master: The Magician, Black Star, Saturnian Magic…

Important Past Lives: Late Kingdom Egypt 1350BC; Greece 700BC; Jerusalem 10AD; Montségur, France 1243AD; London 1900AD.

Assets

Stasis item: Orichalc Broadsword with 2000+ Capacity, originally made by Atlanteans/Prometheans. 

Artifacts: Acquired the Eye of Ishtar some time prior to 1350BC, which she uses to conceal her Immortal aura at Very Hidden.

Secret Places: She maintains her own Saturnian Realm hidden deep within the lowest planes of the magic fields, "Tartarus", where she cultivates Silver Deaths and other Orichalc elementals. Tartarus is only accessible through artificial gates raised through the construction of esoteric architecture to channel the residual Saturnian field, hidden at various locations across the world. One such gate is hidden at the bottom of Lake Avernus in Italy.

Simulacrum

Name: Ms. Victoria Lichtburg

Livelihood: Corporate executive for a major multinational corporation (actually controlled by the Templars)

Social Characteristics: Wealthy, Learned, Very Sociable.

Innate Characteristics: Enough Strong, Endurant, Very Intelligent, Agile, Very Charming.

Solar-Ka: Enough Initiated.

Life Experiences: High-profile businesswoman M. No occult experience.

Equipment: concealed handgun with license to carry.

Whereas other Immortals default to some version of their Simulacrum's personality, Victoria Lichtburg's Immortal personality has been thoroughly corrupted by her incarnation as Écate. The Saturnian Paredrus is so filled with hatred and spite that every incarnation is quickly overwhelmed and driven on a mad crusade against all Immortals. During Shouit episodes, Victoria Lichtburg behaves like a ruthless but otherwise mundane businesswoman and is incredulous at any claims of the occult.

History

Many millions of years ago, the cosmic wind Iz brought alien seeds, the Voors, to the Solar system. The majority of these Voors would land on Earth, internalize the Ka-elements, and germinate into the Kaïm. One Voor emerged inside an asteroid orbiting Saturn, where it integrated Saturnian-Ka into a Core. Circa 100,000BC some Kaïm in Atlantis experimented with samples of Ka taken by survey ships visiting the outer planets, including Saturnian-Ka. Somehow something went wrong: their experiments summoned this mineral cocoon, now christened "Orichalka", to Earth where it crashed into Atlantis and hatched Écate.

She is the first and only Saturnian Immortal, sole member of the Shadow Arcanum corresponding to The Black Star. Like the Nephilim she must incarnate in Simulacra to survive, as the human's Solar-Ka shields her Core from the ambient chromatic Ka. However, if she enters a Plexus or Nexus she suffers the same deleterious effects as a Nephilim entering an Orichalc Plexus. Even entering a Black Moon Realm has similar effects as it cuts her off from the Saturnian field.

Her only goal in existence is to destroy the Immortals, so she secretly works with various secret societies to help them destroy the Immortals and raise esoteric constructions to channel the residual Saturnian field. She consistently patronizes the mortal initiates of the Black Star, the Fraternitas Saturnii, and other anti-Nephilim secret societies.

She uses an ancient amulet, the Eye of Ishtar, to conceal her Saturnian-Ka and Metamorphosis from others. Otherwise, she would be quickly detected by the Immortals and mortals would flee in fright. Despite this, her subtly psychotic demeanor means that others still find her presence off-putting.

Inspired by the spontaneous births of the natural proto-Selenim within the nightmare realms, Écate is attempting to birth new Saturnian Cores within her astral realm Tartarus in hopes of bringing reinforcements to her eternal war against the Immortals. So far, she has only succeeded in creating Orichalc demons with limited autonomy, but which can possess human bodies to survive on Earth and serve as menial agents...

Attitude towards…

  • Mortals: They are pawns and tools, convenient vessels, but of little consequence otherwise.
  • Nephilim: These disgusting vermin must be annihilated.
  • Selenim: Those cheating leeches must be annihilated!
  • Ar-Kaïm: You traitors! Abominations! Kill them all!


The Eye of Ishtar


Using Écate as an antagonist

Écate is an all purpose antagonist and ultimate villain. She hates all the Immortals simply for existing, so it's easy to feature her regardless of the makeup of the PCs or the nature of the quests they pursue. Her hatred of all other Ka beings, including agents of The Dragon and any surviving Saurians (e.g. the Loch Ness monster), provides a justification for otherwise unlikely alliances even between enemies. Don't underestimate her, though, as she is more than willing to manipulate her enemies into fighting each other.

PCs who study Saturnian-Ka for whatever reason may find her an interesting case study. She may appear to such PCs in the guise of a mentor, concealing her ulterior motives by pretending to offer her tutelage. It may be possible to resolve the conflict non-violently (as violence is unlikely to work against her anyway) by pursuing a quest that allows her to reach Agartha, removing her from the occult chessboard and perhaps allowing her to serve a mentor role to the PCs in the future. Star Initiates who discover how she arrived on Earth might think to trap her on Saturn using any discovered means of interplanetary travel, perhaps even the same survey ship that brought Orichalc samples to Atlantis in the first place!

Hecate?

The name Hecate has been used as an alias by multiple Immortals, including Nephilim and Selenim alike, some working at cross-purposes. This confusion obfuscates Écate's true identity, as knowledgeable Immortals who encounter her usually mistake her for one of these other figures before they realize their mistake only too late.

[In the French version, Hecate was officially a Nephilim follower of Prometheus who secretly led one faction of The Sword (the French version's equivalent of the Black Star and similar secret societies) for millennia.]

Hope you enjoyed!

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