Work Text:
"Prophet Bird" / Prophet of Damnation
This abnormality is capable of breach.
This abnormality is capable of spawning/summoning/converting an employee to gain a minion/creature
“In the end, there was nothing left but these empty remains of a forest.”
A tall, lanky bird sustaining numerous wounds. One of its eyes has been gouged out, and the other has been burned away. It's feathers are stained with blood, and many have been torn. One of its feet is a bloody stump.
Subject Number: O-02-94 (-A)
Risk Level: ALEPH
E-Boxes: 30
Damage Type: Pale (2-4)
QC: 3
Prophet of Damnation favours no works at all. All works have a 20% chance of success at all levels.
Ability
At the start of the day, 3 employees will be marked, with the employee using Prophet’s EGO suit and weapon being immune to marking. The marked employees will always be of the highest level avaliable in your facility- it will prefer level 5 employees, and if there are none, it will choose from level 4s and so on. The marks are otherwise random.
Each of them can work with the Prophet of Damnation at a massive bonus (+70%). Prophet of Damnation must be worked with a DIFFERENT marked employee every meltdown or its counter will decrease. Until all 3 employees have been used, you cannot repeat them. Repeating will decrease the counter by 2. The counter cannot increase in any way.
The Prophet has no E.G.O Suit or Weapons to buy. Instead, 1 of them will be automatically added to the E.G.O list when the Prophet’s is first chosen in the Abnormality’s selection screen. Gebura's Core Suppression upgrade does not affect the Prophet.
Breach
When the Prophet's QC reaches 0, it will breach. All 3 marked employees will die, and a hostile entity will spawn in a random room of the facility that is not in the same department as Prophet of Damnation.
This entity- the End of the Forest- appears as a grotesque fusion of three humans. It holds a dagger in one of its six arms, is covered by a large, black feathered cloak, and has a singular, shining eye. The End of the Forest cannot be automatically suppressed, much like Refraction Phenomenon. To suppress, the employees must be manually clicked and moved to their location. It has a singular attack, in which it slashes the target with a dagger, hitting for a perfect 200 Pale Damage. It may also remove an employee’s resistances and inflict White damage by releasing a beam of light in the place that it currently is in. It may also places the entire facility under darkness for 10 seconds, and then teleport to a random room in another department.
The End of the Forest has 2000 HP and massive resistances (0.2) to all damage, except damage from Prophet’s EGO weapon, Misshapen Promises, to which it is massively vulnerable (3.0). It inflicts half damage from employees wielding its EGO suit and cannot remove its resistances. The user of the Prophet’s EGO Weapon/Suit must be the same for the effect to work. While the End of the Forest remains active, the user of Prophet's EGO has doubled movement speed.
The End of the Forest will try to seek and kill every single employee in the facility and will avoid the Prophet until this happens. It moves considerably fast. If it can find no more employees to kill, it will move towards the Prophet and be killed.
Suppressing the Prophet itself is impossible- it has total immunity to all damage and a monstrous amount of HP at 33.333. When the End is suppressed, it will return to containment.
Suppressing the End of the Forest will grant the current user of its EGO a Gift.
Equipment
Weapon: Misshapen Promises
Grade: ALEPH
Cost: N/A
Max Amount: 1
Damage: PALE (11-33)
Attack Speed: Normal
Range: Short
Weapon Type: Sword
Appearance: A curved, claw-like sword with a singular yellow eye on its blade. Wrapped partially in black feathers.
Special Properties: Requires Justice, Fortitude and Prudence IV or higher. Justice increased by 33% if HP is below that same number. 33% of damage inflicted is converted to HP. May trigger a special attack, shining light and stunning the enemy for 3 seconds. Effects only apply if both suit and weapon are used.
The desire to save the damned led to a savior receiving damnation themselves. In the end, that dream died consumed by sin, and all that was left behind were those painful regrets.
Can one truly save those who will not respect salvation?
Suit: Misshapen Promises
Grade: ALEPH
Cost: N/A
Max Amount: 1 (Unaffected by Gebura's upgrade much like Feather of Honor)
Resistances: Red: Endured (0.6) - White: Endured (0.6) - Black: Endured (0.6) - Pale: Endured (0.6)
Appearance: A long robe made of black feathers. Has a white lens on its left pocket.
Special Properties: Requires Justice, Fortitude and Prudence IV or higher. If was not at 33% or above, HP cannot go below 33%. When suppressing, cannot be healed above 33% of Max HP. If below or at 33% HP, become cloaked. While cloaked, gain a Movement Speed boost and all resistances are set to Resistant (0.2). Effects only apply if both suit and weapon are used.
Gifts given freely can be misused. In the end, that generosity was the source of agony. All that was left was a bird, and the hollow remains of a beautiful forest.
Is one truly a martyr, if their sacrifice will not be respected?
Gift: Misshapen Promises
HP +3, SP +3, Success Rate +3, Work Speed +3, Movement Speed +3, Attack Speed +3
Slot: Eye
Appearance: It looks like the giftee’s left eyeball was gouged out, and the right burned off.
Triple the bonus of this E.G.O Gift if the Misshapen Promises EGO Suit/Weapon is being used.
The bird only wished to make others happy. In the end, those who could not understand their own mistakes placed the blame on it. Can one truly make good by giving kindness to those who will not respect it?
Flavor Text
[Working]
"[name] asks a question. The Prophet does not answer."
"Thousands of people have tried to be kind. And yet, all they gain in return is agony."
"That bright, peaceful forest exists no longer."
"Three times it gave gifts, and three times it was betrayed."
"[name] begs for an answer, but the Prophet remains silent."
[The End of the Forest]
"Damn that bird."
"There is no one to punish you sinners... no one but me."
"My gaze reveals all sins..."
"That Prophet led me astray..."
"Pay for your sins..."
"... damn it all..."
"Together, we will make it pay."
Story
- "Once upon a time, there was a forest- a forest of such size and magnitude, that it housed creatures of all sizes and forms. To these creatures, the forest had no name: but to outsiders, it was the Prophet’s Forest.
- In the forest, lived a great and wise bird- who was only known as the Prophet. It could gaze into the future itself- it had feathers that shone with the color of the night sky- and it was the kindest of all the animals of the forest. It was loved and respected by all, and people came from far and wide to ask for its counsel. Thus, the forest received the name.
- It was a warm and sunny afternoon when three strangers visited the peaceful forest. These three strangers- a watchman, a judge and a soldier- were passing through times of great agony. They held no hope for the future, and, in desperation, came to the Prophet Bird for advice.
- The Prophet spoke to each of them, but no matter how hard it tried, it could see nothing but darkness in the future of these three. But it was kind- perhaps too kind-, and could not allow these strangers to suffer any longer.
- From its feet, the Prophet tore a claw, and gave it to the soldier in the form of a dagger. They had foreseen his death in a war, coming from a traitor he could not punish. So, they would receive the strength to slay all foes.
- From its face, the Prophet tore an eye, and gave it to the judge in the form of a lens. They had foreseen their death in the hands of sinners- sinners that the judge themselves had found innocent. So, they would receive the eyes to realize sin.
- From its wings, the Prophet tore away many feathers, and gave them to the watchman in the form of a cloak. They had foreseen their death, coming from knives in the dark that he failed to see before. So, they would receive a wreath of shadows to keep him hidden.
- Time passed. The Prophet never truly regained what was given away, but they did not regret it. The strangers, however, did.
- The soldier’s strength was matchless. But as he led a bloody war of conquest, more and more traitors and deserters appeared. Thus, his doubts and paranoia consumed him- and in the end, he ended the lives of all his brothers-in-arms- traitors, who had sworn to end this war he fought so hard for.
- “Alas-” thought the soldier. “If only I had not received the dagger from that bird. I would be dead, and my brothers alive. Damn that prophet.”
- The judge’s gaze was peerless. But as he found and judged more and more sinners, he began to see sin in all manner of places. His lens could help him see sin- but what he defined as sin remained his responsibility. So he saw so much sin, and declared so many guilty, that the word “sinner” lost all meaning- and he condemned all he loved to death.
- “Alas-” thought the judge. “If only I had not received the lens from that bird. I would not have been led astray. Damn that prophet.”
- The watchman’s shadow was impenetrable. But as he remained ever-hidden, always watching, he lost his grasp on the world. He often abandoned his post, to lurk alone, contemplating the shadows. One day, he returned to his home to find that, in his absence, all had been destroyed.
- “Alas-” thought the watchman. “If only I had not received the cloak from that bird. I would have not drowned in this realm of shadow. Damn that prophet.”
- So, one day, the three strangers returned to the forest. They spoke to one another, and enacted a plan. They were wreathed in resentment.
- “We are not strong enough. This forest is so vast and wide, the three of us cannot face it and live.” muttered the soldier.
- “But there is no one to punish that sinful bird but us.” answered the judge.
- The watchman contemplated their words for a moment. “If you come with me- if we unite in our goal- we can accomplish it.”
- “Yes.” said the three. “We can.”
- The watchman draped his long cloak over the other two. The judge gazed over the forest with his bright lens. And the soldier held his dagger, ready to strike at any moment.
- Against their combined wrath, the forest could not stand. Any who attempted to hide were found by a merciless light. Any who attempted to find the assailants could not pierce the veil of shade. And any who attempted to fight back were destroyed by a cruel weapon.
- In the end, all that was left of the forest but an endless valley. Not even the trees had survived. The only thing that remained was those dead stumps, an endless filed of corpses- and the bird of prophecy..
- The three strangers mocked the bird. Its own flesh had destroyed the forest- how saddening was that? Perhaps it shouldn’t have brought them tragedy, if it did not wish for tragedy for itself.
- The dagger’s edge tore through its flesh. The light of the lens burned its remaining eye. And with the cloak, the assailants remained hidden.
- In anger and fury, the bird attempted to strike back. By pure chance, it struck true- and knocked out the dagger out of the soldier’s hands. It struck again- breaking the judge’s lens into a thousand pieces. It struck a third time- tearing the cloak away from the watchman’s shoulders. Then, it struck a final time- ending the lives of the three strangers.
- But what was the meaning of this? What could the victory mean? There was nothing left to save. There were no creatures, no trees, no life, nothing. All that was left was just a bird and the hollow stumps of the Forest.
- Rumor it is, in that dark valley filled with corpses, resides a blind prophet.
- But as much as one may ask it questions, the bird does not answer. Perhaps the future it sees is too bleak to be spoken of.