Homunculi
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A homunculus (or homunculi for plural) is a chaotic creation of Alchemy, made from the body of a descendent (either alive or dead), and/or strong alchemy ingredients. The creature is 'reborn' with a shape resembling that of the body used, but never alike. If a body isn't used, the creation will be extremely chaotic, a fiendish creature.
Contents
Creation/Origin
Homunculi are normally the result of extensive practice of alchemy, using powerful symbols to try and create new things, aiming to create homunculi, or trying to achieve the great myths of Alchemy, such as Takwin (alchemy life), Panacea (cure all potion), Elixir of life (immortality in a bottle), or the philosopher's stone (perfect symbol). Great lengths have to be reached to even try and create a myth, a reach which always fails, but there could be consequences for trying. A bad mix of strong ingredients may change life of some of the ingredients (such as plants or creature parts) and create a fiendish being which is alike to a disgusting monster. Yet to reach great levels in alchemy, the alchemist might go through a darker route, the use of descendant's bodies. It is through this way that the greater homunculi are created, and through this way that some alchemists even give their life to gain greater powers, without knowing the consequences.
Behavior
The weaker types of homunculi, the fiends, behave animalistic, without much intelligence. Simple fear, aggressiveness and survival instinct exist in the creature. All the other greater kinds of homunculi see changes which align with the symbol it is created under. A water homunculus is calm and elegant. They take time in order to make decisions, and do so with a calm demeanor. A fire homunculus tend to be more careless and emotional. Unlike a water homunculus, they will make decisions based off of their feelings. An air homunculus is smarter and faster than its contemporaries. Lastly, the earth homunculus is very strong willed, and much more sturdy than their counterparts. An important aspect of Homunculi is that they are controlled by their own desires. They will show little to no regard for races other than their fellow homunculi. This isn’t to say that homunculi cannot do good things. In fact, homunculi are known for building up false relationships with other races. However, whenever a homunculi does something, they expect to be rewarded for their good deeds and actions, going along with their self-indulgent nature.
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Types
- Fiend -
Fiends are created from failed potions. They often appear disfigured, with odd mutations and tumors, and either excessive, or little to no hair forming on their bodies. Due to the many imperfections of their body, they never live too long, and will always die within a few months of their creation. Their thoughts are animalistic, being focused around survival itself. Given this fact, it is possible for someone to take a fiend, given time and effort.
Because of their nature, they have a whole slew of weaknesses. They are weak to holy magic, gold, and the opposite symbol of which they were created. They also lack the ability to use magic and may only use primitive melee weapons. Also, once a fiend has been killed, there is no chance of it being brought back to life.
- Deviant -
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Due to its higher place of being, a deviant required a dead body in order to be made. They are often formed from people attempting to use a potion of revival, or some other complicated alchemy process. The creature will appear humanoid, but still have some minor disfigurations from the imperfect alchemy process, such as eyes being out of place, having extra or too few fingers, and sometimes will have deformed limbs. Their skin color will also be effected by the color of their chosen element, being red for fire, yellow for earth, white of air, and blue for water. Unlike fiends, they do have sentience, albeit a very low form of sentience. Due to their relatively simple minds, they are most often used as fodder my the alchemists that make them.
Deviants still have weaknesses however. Although they are higher beings that fiends, they will die after ten years if they stay in their deviant form. They also have blood making them prone to regular weapons, alongside holy magic, gold, and their opposite element. They also cannot use any magic, as they lack mana.
However, their most notable feature when compared to fiends is that they have a soul shadow. Upon being killed they will not always die, and may reform in the abyss. They also process the ability to ascend to higher beings, such as Aberrants and Doppelgangers.
- Aberrant
Abberants are homunculi which are just shy of being perfect. Abberants are just shy of the perfection of the superior Doppelgangers. These homunculi appear eerily similar to the being whose dead body was used in its creation. Being imperfect still, their skin color will still be effected by the element which was used in their creation, being red for fire, yellow for earth, white for air, and blue for water. Imperfections will also occur, though they will be far less extreme then the perfections of fiends and Abberants.
Abberants will lack much of their skills that were developed during its life. All memories of an Abberants previous life will be lost, along with any association with other beings. Essentially, they become an entirely new person, even giving themselves new names. They are very similar to Doppelgangers in strength and wits.
Like all Homunculi, Abberants are weak to gold, holy magic, and the opposing symbol of the element from which it was created. They will die after having lived fifty two years, though are usually dead after 40–50 years. They also lack a mana pool, and therefore may not use magic.
Similar to Deviants, Abberants have soul shadows, and will reform in the abyss upon death. They may also ascend into Doppelgangers. While they have blood, like a Deviant, their internal organs to not work. ((Note: In order to play an Abberants, you must either PK a character, or find someone willing to let you play as a character which they have PKed. The PKed character will then become the Abberant.))
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- Doppelgangers -
Doppelgangers are the peak of perfection as far as Homunculi go. They will look exactly like the person from which their body was created, having no imperfections. Doppelgangers will also carry over knowledge from their previous life, but will contain no memories attached to that knowledge, or any other memories. Doppelgangers, like Abberants, will be entirely different people from their previous lifeform, choosing a new name for themselves, and usually taking on an entirely different personality, though it is often linked to the element which was used in their creation. Doppelgangers will also display the typical behavior of Homunculi, mimicking emotions and feelings in order to get what they want from the living.
Homunculi will not age, and will always look exactly the same as the body from which they were formed did. Due to this, they will not retain scars, as their shadow soul essentially carries the exact blueprint of their body. They do not have working internal organs or blood, and therefore will not see hair growth, unless using potions. They will also, instead of blood, have the element from which they were created in their veins, or some variation of that element. They also have better healing abilities, being able to heal minor wounds in a few minutes, and large ones in a few days. They are also stronger, faster, and smarter than the person from which they were formed. Because of their absolute perfections, they tend to have longer lifespans from the race which they were created, typically living about 20% longer before ultimately dying.
However, like all descendants Doppelgangers have their weaknesses. Gold and holy magic will hurt them, and their lack of a true soul means that they have no mana pool, and therefore can’t use magic. They will also die if they go missing for long periods of time, though this can be counteracted with proper preservation. ((Note: In order to play a Doppelganger, it must be from a persona which you yourself have played, and may not play another person’s persona as a Doppelganger, even with permission. Doppelgangers will die if the person playing them goes inactive for 1–2 months, or if it goes 2–4 months with very little roleplay. You must screenshot yourself using proper preservation in order to avoid this, though a warning will be given if you are at risk of being PKed.
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Use of Magic
Homunculi are creatures without a soul and without mana. They are not capable of doing any magic. Some homunculi even consider magic as something that should not be mixed with their kind or what they are made of.
Weaknesses
The abilities that the homunculi get from their symbol also come with disabilities, as they are strong with their symbol, but weak against another symbol.
- A water homunculus would be susceptible to hard hits and feel extremely trapped with confined spaces.
- A fire homunculus would fear water and cold, and easily drown.
- An air homunculus would fear fire and heat, and with enough heat and fire, combust.
- An earth homunculus would fear heights and be very slow.
Being creatures without souls, they have various other weaknesses.
- Holy magic
- Gold weapons (Not as extreme as ghosts and spectres, gold needs physical touch with the skin to harm them)
Redlines
- No altruistic Homunculi unless it's a trick. Homunculi can not be very nice people, they always have ulterior motives if they do something deemed good.
- Holy magic is a great weakness.
- No homunculus can do magic.
- Homunculi can not have children.
- Homunculi can not fade to black in sexual ways. They have no desires nor do they have the functions.
Mechanics
- Fiends play as the Necrolyte Nexus race and can't wear armor.
- Deviants and Aberrants play as the Necrolyte Nexus race.
- Doppelgangers play as the Construct Nexus race, if of the Water or Earth symbols. Doppelgangers of the Air and Fire symbols play as the Spectre Nexus race.
References
Homunculi Preservation
Background
Homunculi, save doppelgangers, are generally short-lived creatures. With this lore, we hope to alleviate some of the problems occurring to players whom have gone into a hiatus and are unable to play their homunculi because they died during their absence. This lore will not prolong a Homunculus’s lifespan but rather stop the deterioration process during hiatus via In-Character methods of approach. Because of this, we are using the following materials in hopes of facilitating the process of inducing homunculi into a comatose state: clay (in tandem with earth-bound homunculi), ice (water), gas (air) and mercury (fire). It is also important to note that we are utilizing alchemy’s ambiguous and vastly unexplored tangents to hopefully make this lore possible.
Procedure
During hiatus, a person may choose to have his or her character, the homunculus, bound by the following materials: clay, ice, gas and mercury. After being bound, with the help of another individual(s),within one of the given materials, a Homunculus will enter a comatose state wherein all bodily functions cease to operate. Once bound, the materials will be drawn slowly into the Homunculi’s body at a gradual pace, keeping them alive through unknown means. At this point, because their faux “shells” are have been partially absorbed into the homunculus’ body, it serves as an extension of their own body. Whatever damage done to the layer of materials will inevitably affect the homunculus within. Once the entirety of the outer layer has fully been absorbed into the homunculus, they may then break free. However, the time it takes for the material to be absorbed is up to the discretion of the player roleplaying the homunculus. Once awoken, homunculi will feel sapped and fatigued, taking at least anywhere between a few elven days to an entire week, depending on how long the player’s hiatus was, to recover the majority of their strength; this is due to the fact that they recently used their bodies were unmoving for a large amount of time, similar to how machinery ceases to operate after a long period of disuse. Considerable space is required for this process to work and, while in their sleep, homunculi are incredibly vulnerable to attack.
