It’s never quiet in the City of the Steel Lotus. Music fills the air morning and night. Travelers call to each other along the streets no matter the hour, beckoning a friend to catch up, calling for a carriage, or shouting drunkenly at passing courtesans. You learn to sleep despite it all.

There are other sounds, too. Fists on flesh, for example. The sound that started it for me, and ended it, too, I suppose. What can I tell you? I was an entertainer, paid to sing, not be struck — not that the spoiled Dynasts cared. I knew Hell long before I walked beneath the Green Sun. It’s hard to sing when your body aches from beatings, but doing so was an act of rebellion. For years I poured my hatred into my voice, but my clients didn’t hear it — I was nothing to them. One day I hit back, and then they took notice. I ended up in chains. The sounds changed, but not the constant noise. Not the pain.

Then the demon found me. It didn’t speak in words I could repeat, but its voice was a chime that rang with vengeance. It wrapped me in filaments of crystal and chitin, and as the layers curved around me, sound receded. 

There was my breath, and my heartbeat, and then there was nothing at all.

Such a thing can only be peaceful for so long.

Alone, in the silence and the dark, my memory rang with those chimes of vengeance. Splashes of crimson seeped into my vision, and I was borne away on a rushing river, though I never moved an inch. I was a great, stomping beast, crushing entire cities beneath my feet. Flowers bloomed where blood pooled in my tracks, and at their centers were the faces of everyone I’d ever lost.

At some point, I knew I was no longer alone in the chrysalis, though no one had been wrapped up inside with me. But, ah, the demon with the voice like chimes had become my chrysalis, and I no longer knew where I ended and it began. I spread my arms to touch its walls, but no sensation told me if I’d done it. I was no longer sure I had arms to stretch out.

The demon broke me down piece by piece, intertwined its very self with mine, and put us back together once more. My bones knit together. Muscles wrapped around them and tendons stretched between. I felt my heart’s first sluggish beats. Green light filled my vision, and slowly sound returned. 

Muffled voices outside my chrysalis. Questioning. Fearful, but not enough. 

Now, when I stretched out my arms, I felt the slick shell at either side. I pushed against it and the sound of it shattering seemed to go on forever.

My tormenters stood around me. Four of them, wide-eyed, hands clapped to mouths in horror as they bent to investigate the strange object in the field where I’d met the demon.

Did they recognize me? I didn’t know. Besides, I was one slave among many; even if they knew my face, they’d never bothered to learn my name. Now, the sound of fists striking flesh came from me, and it didn’t stop once those four were dead.

These bangles I wear? Ah, how I got them is another story for another time, but I’ll tell you this: when I move, I hear the echoes of those demon-chimes in them, reminding me that vengeance is my duty and my right.

Cost: —; Mins: Integrity 3, Essence 1

Type: Permanent

Keywords: None

Duration: Permanent

Prerequisite Charms: None

Upon purchasing this Charm, the Infernal gains one of its keys, irrevocably altering her mind.

Apex Being Assurance: Fear is no longer a meaningful concept for the Infernal. She gains +3 Resolve against fear-based influence and is immune to fear-based influence that isn’t enhanced by magic. She is incapable of having Intimacies based on fear, whether voluntarily or as a result of social influence. She must pay one Willpower to retreat, surrender, or otherwise avoid combat for any reason other than practical strategic concerns.

Greatest Good Benevolence: The Infernal’s empathy and compassion crystallize into something inhuman, caring for others not as individuals but as components of a greater whole. When she bolsters her Resolve with a positive Tie toward a group, an Intimacy reflecting compassion or benevolence on a broad scale, or a similar “greater good,” she ignores any Resolve penalties from positive Ties to individuals unless their Resolve is higher. She can act against positive Ties toward individuals without gaining Limit or suffering other consequences as long as doing so aligns with her Intimacy of greater good. However, she rolls two additional dice of Limit whenever she violates a “greater good” Intimacy.

Immutable Self-Concept Axiom: The Infernal’s unfaltering conviction in her beliefs, goals, and choices reaches inhuman extremes. She adds +3 Resolve against any influence that would weaken or alter one of her Intimacies, as well as Psyche effects that would cause her to gain Intimacies or alter her memories. However, she must spend one Willpower to violate one of her Major or Defining Intimacies, including by voluntarily weakening it.

World-Transcending Temperance: With extreme self-control comes absolute clarity of focus. The Infernal gains +3 Resolve against influence that is based on worldly pleasures and hedonistic desires, and influence that would cause her to act in an intemperate or unmannerly fashion. She also gains this bonus against Psyche effects that compel her to take actions or alter her perception. However, she must pay one Willpower to indulge in a worldly pleasure when she receives no concrete benefit from doing so. She’s incapable of having Intimacies based on enjoyment, hedonism, or desire.