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MUSIC | VISUALS | ABILITIES
WORLDBUILD | STORY

Creeping Dust (romanized: Sŏkta) verb to molder, putrefy, rot, become heavy, gather dust.

PERSONALITY
An eerie and unkind occultist. Creeping Dust is usually found wearing a smile, but that smile almost always has a patronizing lull to it. He is not much attached to this world or this life and instead is training his mind and spirit for the long corridors of eternity. Creeping Dust exemplifies his patron zodiac -- the Ghost Dog. He is distant and cagey, mocking and difficult to pin down. Often a portent of death to come. He has little patience or pleasantries for those he views as unworthy or lazy, but is fiercely loyal to those who earn his admiration.

IDEALS
Knowledge. Agency. The Ghost Dog is patron of the retention of intellect and virtue after death. A High Master of the Ghost Dog spends his days in study so that upon his death he will be more than a mindless ghost. Less concerned with the trivialities of every day life and more concerned with the realities of eternity. His mind is almost always elsewhere.

ABILITIES

THE OCCULTIST - A lifetime of scholarly inquest into ancient and forbidden lore has opened the Occultist's mind to the powers of the Ghost Dog. Debilitating curses and maddeningly impossible support skills are his specialty.

Skills are a mix of homebrew, Darkest Dungeon Occultist, and Diablo II Necromancer.

PHYSICAL
Ritual Knife - The ritual item for the Ghost Dog is a knife, and Creeping Dust is quite handy with it. Wounds from this weapon bleed much more than they should.

GHOST DOG
Hounds - Spell summons two great hounds made of smoke who can perform a few short attacks before they dissipate.

Mist - Spell summons mist around an enemy's feet which holds them in place for a short period of time before it dissipates. Causes disorientation, impedes vision.

Ghost - Summons one big hound with a fire elemental attack in its bite. Can take enemies off their feet with the reverberation from its stomp. Its howl causes a sense of terror and can scare off weak-willed foes.

Ghost Dog spells are actuated with his will and do not require his voice, in kind take more of his energy.

CURSES
Amplify - Increases damage dealt
Dim vision - Obscures enemy vision
Weaken - Lowers damage dealt by enemies
Iron Maiden - Reflects damage dealt by enemies
Terror - Causes enemies to run away/stumble/miss
Confuse - Causes enemies to attack each other
Life Tap - Leeches health from enemies
Attract - Marks an enemy to be attacked by others
Decrepify - [Temporarily] Ages the enemy remarkably, causing physical weakness, slower speeds, and existential dread
Lower Resist - Lowers enemy resistances to attack

Only 1-2 can be active on an enemy at any one time, they last for a short period of time.

His curses need a vocal activation, so Mute stops him up in PVP.

WARDS
A variety of wards that effect magic, spiritual or [other] powers. They can repel or entrap different entities. There are also wards where a practitioner might sit inside the circle in order to regen a stat.

Wards are drawn and do not require his voice.

Genre: Alternate Earth/Alternate History, Cold War occultism-punk.

No large-scale fighting is happening, but each side is manipulating proxy countries, causing political tension anticipating WW3 breaking out. Espionage campaigns and foreign intelligence are integral tools. Awareness of the horrors of the second WW lingers. Nationalism is a powerful motivator in the superpower nations, which benefits some and victimizes others. 80s technology.

But also, occultism is the new WMD.

The atmosphere is dreary and tense.

Creeping Dust and Spinner were born in the dreary fishing village of Oeam; in the country of Tammoran. An isolated place, steeped in occultism and old folk lore. The older of the brothers, Creeping Dust, found the old stories and practices fascinating. He eventually stopped attending school as a teenager to study elsewhere. The younger of the brothers, Spinner, wanted a more modern life that he would never accomplish on his own. He stopped attending school as a teenager to join the army.

And that was how the two brothers fell apart and split ways.

It was many years that Creeping Dust came to the capitol. In his correspondence with other scholars on the topic of folk magic, he came into contact with a professor at the national university; Professor Bright Wind. And he accepted an invitation to travel and see the professor's most recent findings. Creeping Dust absorbed himself fully in this precious chance to look at another's work. Together, they deciphered the location of the holy texts of some forgotten school.

They fought for their funding to search for it, and won it. They plotted their path through the mountains, they loaded their packs, and they went out into the mists. Their rapport and camaraderie served them well. Creeping Dust, who grew up in such a remote place, was a great resource in navigating both the terrain and village customs. It still took them several years to complete their expedition.

And in that time, the atmosphere in the capitol had changed greatly. Oversight from the government was already a concern when they left. When they returned, there was special interest placed upon them. Creeping Dust noticed that he was being followed, and the two occultists were soon very certain that the government wanted their findings for themselves.

An understandable position, considering the summoning ritual they had unearthed and the tools with which to perform it. There were similar whispers from countries across the ocean. Power building in the vacuums left behind after the second world war.

It was Bright Wind's decision to flee rather than to perform the ritual. In his attempts to meet up with Creeping Dust on the outskirts of the city, however, were met with an ambush. The military. Bright Wind was executed, and Creeping Dust escaped into the forest.

Furious and defiant, he performed the ritual alone.

And that was how he met the Ghost Dog. A celestial beast from beyond the veils of Earth. It told Creeping Dust about the 4 other creatures, that upon their summons could remake the world in a new vision. Whoever could possess the powers of all 5 would be a god.

Creeping Dust now possessed 1, and would be very valuable.

From then on, he is hunted by the government across the country. His first stop, unfortunately, was to recover the rest of Professor Bright Wind's papers. They had been left behind in the hurry to escape with their lives. They were now requisitioned by the army... This adventure allows him to test the new powers bestowed by the Ghost Dog. These tests leave behind harrowing rumors of his power, which only enlivens his manhunt.

The first soldier to find him is Spinner. His younger brother attempts to speak to and apprehend him, but Creeping Dust has no pity for his brother in this moment. He is defying the government and is uninterested in being their pet occultist to help them rule the world. He would rather do it himself, he has a firm and unshakeable certainty that he can make something better than all this.

He leaves his brother behind in shock.

Spinner is subsequently brought onto the task force to reclaim his brother. They will see each other again as they cat and mouse across the globe, on a hunt for the power to change the world.