Vexation

From Mizahar Lore

Vexation

Gnosis
Murder breeds Pain
Granted by	Krysus
Positive marks	Amplify Pain, Create Vexlings
Negative marks	Amplified pain and possible death
Pos. mark appearance	Deep crimson colored veins covering the hand
Neg. mark appearance	Black veins covering the hand
Mark location	Either hand or both
First mark	Birth or after an attempted murder
Champion	None

Vexation is the power granted to those marked by, Krysus, Goddess of Murder and Pain. A child by divine standards, Krysus has nonetheless gained a respectable amount of power during her relatively short existence. With every murder committed, she grows a little stronger and from every cry of pain, she becomes greater. As a way of promoting such things to happen, Krysus gifts her followers with the ability to enhance pain in others while reinforcing their desire to do so. She does this through Vexation by making the follower themselves feel pain unless they cause pain to others. Pain must be directly caused to a sentient being in order to relieve the personal pain of the follower.

The pain one feels as a follower begins as a simple headache at first but progresses to violent chest pains by the end of the first day. The second day brings shooting pains in the arms and legs while the third day the follower's skin splits open in places causing no small amount of pain and bleeding. On the fourth day, after suffering so much focused pain, the follower will die. This may all be prevented however by causing pain to another sentient being. No matter the level of pain one causes to another, they only buy themselves a single day before their own pain begins or if it has started already, they reduce the effects by one day. So if someone is three days into their own pain and they cause pain in another, their own pain is reduced to the level of two days. Killing another however will reset the follower's pain clock to day one. No matter how caught up a follower is on causing pain or killing others, they cannot buy themselves more than a single day before their pain begins anew. There have been reported occurrences where those marked by Krysus begin to view their curse almost like a drug; reveling in the painless feeling while fearing the painful withdraw.

The curse does come with some benefit to the follower. By marking her followers with deep crimson veins upon their hands, Krysus also instills in them the ability to amplify pain caused by injury to others. All of those positively marked by Krysus acquire this ability. As one gives themselves more to Krysus, their ability to cause pain becomes greater to the point where even the slightest injury may cause death.

One of the most disturbing abilities employed by full priests and priestess of Krysus is the creation of a Vexling. A vexling is a creature spawned from murder that crawls out of the killing wound of one killed through vexation. Standing roughly 1' tall and weighing no more than 10 pounds, these creatures look like tiny humanoids with overly large mouths filled with razor-sharp teeth. Their skin is either black or crimson red and their body is covered in scales. They have short, stubby tails, three fingers and three toes on each limb and two tiny eye set in enlarged sockets. They usually dress in torn rags taken from the clothing of the murdered victim they are spawned from. The vexling serves the priest or priestess and acts as a channel between them and Krysus. They share thoughts with the priest but are otherwise unable to speak. The vexling aids the priest in their various endeavors but always reminds them of their first duty to Krysus.

Acquiring single positive marks from Krysus isn't all that difficult as she is always willing to promote pain in others. Multiple marks however are not easy as they require a morbid mix of discipline, desire and tolerance for pain, and for many, proven skill in the art of killing.

Mark Progression

Marked [Cursed] - 1 Gnosis Mark
	Those with a single mark from Krysus are able to amplify the pain caused through direct injury to another via touching them. The actual wounds are no more severe although the pain felt from them is. Thus if a someone with a mark from Krysus were to cut someone with a dagger, that person would feel as though they were stabbed with it. Unless the wound itself is fatal, the victim will not necessarily die from the pain although they may very well wish they had. Only a single target can be affected by this at any one time. The marked also suffers from the before mentioned curse. Those who are negatively marked by Krysus suffer the curse without any of the benefits; the veins on their hand turning black.
Favored [Despised] - 2 Gnosis Marks
	Those who gain a second mark from Krysus may amplify existing pain in others while not necessarily having to cause the initial wound or injury. Only a single target may be affected but this works with a single touch. The level of pain can be increased so that if a person has a wound on their arm, they may not be able to use that arm. If they have a wounded leg, they would not be able to use that leg. A head wound, headache, or other form of head trauma could be amplified to cause the target to lose consciousness. The curse is amplified as well such that the headache stage is skipped over and the follower will suffer from extreme chest pains before progressing toward death. Those who are negatively marked by Krysus and thus despised with the second gnosis will suffer the amplified curse without benefits; the veins on both hands turning black.
Priest/Priestess [Adversary] - 3 Gnosis Marks
	At this point, the follower becomes the exclusive property of Krysus. As a result, they gain the ability to give birth to vexlings. From the open wounds of their murdered victims, a priest or priestess can cause a vexling to form. Only a single vexling can be created per killing and even then only one vexling can be "controlled" by the priest. Each day another vexling can be created from fresh murder however the priest has no control over the additional vexlings. The uncontrolled servants of murder are free to cause all manner of mischief, pain and death as they see fit. Unfortunately for the priest, their curse is amplified yet again. They skip over the first two days of pain and go immediately to the open wounds and bleeding followed the next day by death if they do not cause pain or kill other sentient beings. Adversaries of Krysus suffer the further amplified curse yet are unable to find release from it; dying on the second day after being marked.
Champion [Nemesis] - 4 Gnosis Marks
	Where the Krysus' Champion walks, pain and murder fills their steps. They can control pain as if they were controlling their own breathing. With a touch, they can cause wounds to spontaneously open on a target or painful, incapacitating spasms that can leave a target crippled for their short life. A simple cut can be turned into a feeling of dismemberment. Woe to all sentient life if a Champion possesses great creativity for the art of murder. The Champion, with all their power though, will die an unimaginably painful death if they do not cause pain or kill every single day. A Nemesis is not possible for Krysus.