Incubus (Marked)

Incubus (Marked)
An example of an Incubus in the Marked role playing game
Characteristics
Alignment	Evil to Neutral
Type	Demon (Half-Breed)
Publication history
Source books	Marked Wiki
First appearance	Marked Wiki
Mythological origins	Incubus

For other uses of the word Incubus, see Incubus (disambiguation).

Incubi in the Marked online text based role playing game are an evil, demonic race of males that seduce and impregnate women for their own purposes or feed off their life energy.

Game Background

Marked is an online text based role playing game which is described as being a moderate/advanced modern fantasy role play described as a place for writers to gather and spin tales of adventure, coming of age, romance, betrayal, lost artifacts, special powers, and mysterious creatures all in the secret world of the modern day.

According to the game's setting, history was lost and the strangeness of the world nearly forgotten. But now, known only by the living tattoos upon their skin and the gifts they possess, the Marked are being gathered. The mysterious Rochester Academy, once pulling them in with lies and secrets, now tells its truths to the students, allowing them to open their eyes to a world that was secret. With the creatures and monsters of myths and legends rising up around them, the Marked have never been less alone. Players and characters come in all variations of myths and legends that exist in the world and as part of that universe there are Incubi.

Statistics

• Name: Incubus
• Type: Half-Breed
• Alignment: Evil to Neutral
• Lifespan: Immortal
• Special Abilities: Flight, light manipulation, hypnotism, intoxicating scent and healing
• Weaknesses: Lifeforce dependency, human physical weaknesses minus sexually transmitted diseases

History

Ancient Times

Human myths depict Incubi as "fallen angels" and have been written about in religious texts and book since 300BC. They were the creations of Daemos who wanted nothing more than to toy with human men, using the art of seduction and forms of trickery to use them. Their offspring came to be known as the Incubi. Having known nothing of love from their parents, they became just like them, spreading their seed and creating more of their own kind.

They quickly grew in number and spread themselves across Eastern Europe, claiming up territory as they saw fit. The original eleven Incubi named themselves the leaders over these territories. They mostly stayed in mountainous areas, preferring the solitude amongst themselves rather than mingling with humans for any reason other than carrying out their less than tasteful deeds.

Even among the eleven leaders, there was one that the others looked to most. His name was Shamyaza. The other ten were, in alphabetical order, Araqiel, Armaros, Azazel, Baraqel, Bezaliel, Chazaqiel, Kokabiel, Penemue, Sariel, Shamsiel. Over the course of thousands of years, things went peacefully.

Carpathian Treaty

Around 297BCE, a great war broke out. The cause was over encroaching territories and power struggles among the leaders and their offspring. Thousands were lost all on sides and in the end, their numbers were cut down to a mere two hundred. According to the human myths, the remaining two hundred were fallen angels, cast out of heaven and left in the valleys of the Earth until Judgement Day. The eleven great leaders, tired of the bloodshed that had seemed to consume them, agreed to a truce and wrote up a treaty, knowing that anymore war would surely wipe them all from existence.

The conditions of the treaty were as follows:

• Under a unanimous decision, Shamyaza will be crowned as the King of the Incubi. In the event that he should perish, his direct bloodline will continue to rule the throne.
• The other ten Incubi leaders will become Generals under King Shamyaza's rule with power distributed equally among them.
• Each General is allowed a First and Second Lieutenant.
• The Incubi will congregate and take up shelter inside the Carpathian mountains in Eastern Europe so as to be kept under the watchful eye of one another.
• No new laws shall be created without the support of over half of the leaders' votes, including that of King Shamyaza's.
• The Incubi will limit their numbers by only procreating a select number of times every century.

Dark Ages

The Dark Ages were when Incubi gained significant popularity. They were often blamed for unwanted pregnancies and promiscuous women used them as an excuse for their unfaithfulness to their husbands. It was said that an Incubus could even enter a human's body and possess them. The Incubi were more careful of their activities during the Dark Ages. They were often depicted in paintings during this time, seen looming over their victims while in their beds. By this time, the Incubi had perfected their ability to blend in with society. Because of the constant accusations, they only stayed among humans long enough to feed or impregnate then leave again until it was time to collect their child. Homosexuality was frowned upon in their race during this time as it did not follow their needs.

Modern Times

Since the Dark Ages, the Incubi have returned to their previous activities. With single mothers being a more acceptable in most societies, it is much easier for an Incubus to procreate. Rather than keeping to the mountains like they did in Ancient times, they now feel comfortable enough to live in towns and cities on occasion. Because there is a large population of Incubi, there isn't as much of a need to procreate. Instead, they simply indulge in promiscuous behavior, leaving a trail of broken hearts in their wake. They end up spending a lot of time in clubs and bars, finding it much easier to seduce humans. Nowadays, they don't have to limit themselves to only females or even humans. Quite a few Incubi find Half-Breeds to be more of a challenge which intrigues them.

Physical Attributes

Incubi are an evil, demonic race of males that seduce and impregnate women for their own purposes or feed off their life energy. Considered to be quite beautiful makes it easy for an Incubus to seduce a woman. They are said to have flawless, smooth skin that seems to radiate and bright, piercing eyes. All Incubi have a pair of wings they use to travel if they dislike modern forms of transportation, all of which are quite large, their wingspan being twice the size of their height, giving them an intimidating appearance. They have more of a leathery texture, usually in dark colors, with sharp talons on the thumbs of their wings, much like a bat. Incubi are able to essentially absorb their wings into their body if they need to although the process is quite painful to endure. During this time, they are left with two horizontal ridges where the bone and tissue is kept until needed at a later time.

An Incubus' hair color is the same as their wings. Dark shades of black, blue, brown and red are seen. This is a trait that is taken on by their Incubus father as well as their eye color, which varies just a human's. Other physical attributes such as the shape of their nose, lips, eyes, as well as their skin color, are gained from their human mother. All Incubi are tall, thin creatures, ranging anywhere from 6'2" to about 6'8". Nearly all Incubi have a muscular build, a combination of vanity and recreational physical training, putting their weight range (excluding their wings), at about 180-220lbs. Their wings, being made of bone and thin tissue, end up adding about a fourth of their own weight which is 45-55lbs.

To add to their unusual appearance, they have moderately-sized teeth that are all pointed. In addition to this, all Incubi have horns. The shape and style vary as much as other physical attributes although they grow larger and longer, as the Incubus does. They are a sign of status and rank. The larger the Incubus' horns, the longer he has lived and therefore demands more respect from the others. It is rare for Incubi to have tails though not unheard of. It is a trait that is passed down through only a few bloodlines and is only seen in very few.

Racial Abilities

Flight

The most obvious racial ability and Incubi possess is that of flight. Their large wings make them capable of traveling long distances for long periods of time. Because of their large wingspan, the average Incubi are able to carry at least twice their own weight but some have been able to carry as much as three times, during flight. Reaching the maximum is rare and only a few Incubi have succeeded through rigorous conditioning. In battles or fights, some Incubi use flight as a battle tactic, soaring through the air with many loops and sharp turns. More artistic Incubi use flight as a form of expression, similar to dance.

Hypnotism

Another natural skill of the Incubi is hypnotism which begins very weak at birth. Incubi are required to look into the eyes of their prey in order to hypnotize them. After that, as long as the Incubus is within a few yards, the hypnotism stays. They use normal hypnotism techniques that humans use in order to start the connection, one of the easiest being to repeat a command softly until the human succumbs.

Creating an illusion is a skill while their victim is hypnotized that they are taught to perfect at a young age, how to use it effectively on those around them, since it's their best means of hiding in desperate situations. Through hypnotism they can create an illusion over their original glamour. Some Incubi use this power to disguise themselves as a victim's lover despite getting more pleasure from knowing the woman is being unfaithful while using a form that is closer to their own. Hypnotism only works on people whose minds are open and vulnerable. It can be resisted or avoided by closing off one's mind before an Incubus can make the connection with them.

Light Manipulation

Light manipulation is another natural skill that is taught from a young age. Incubi are taught to enhance this skill, making them able to bend the light around them and hide themselves and other objects in shadows. In addition to being able to bend the light away and around themselves to cause greater shadows, they are also able to lessen them by taking a small amount of light and bending it so that a something such as a small candle, gives the impression that it lights up an entire room. The downside to such a thing is that they are not able to create or extinguish the light with such a power. Also, they cannot create a shadow in the middle of a brightly lit area; they must already be partially within a shadow being cast off of something else.

Healing

In addition to extensive the aforementioned capabilities, Incubi are able to heal themselves rapidly. Once an injury has occurred, healing begins almost immediately. As long as the Incubus maintains a healthy amount of life force from the hosts that he feeds from, he will be able to heal completely in a fraction of the time it would take a human or other Half-Breeds. A small cut would heal in less than a minute whereas a large gash would take around a day. Hairline fractures only take a day or so as well. Things such as compound bone fractures take only a week or so to heal after it's set compared to the months it would take for a human bone to heal. A major limit on an Incubi's healing ability is that if it were to lose an arm, the wound itself would heal but it wouldn't be able to regenerate and grow another arm or other limb. Another limitation is if an Incubi hasn't been feeding as often as they should, their healing ability will slow until they feed again.

Intoxicating Scent

Another attribute that all Incubi posses is their strong scent. For the most part, only other Incubi recognize it as such and are not effected by it. Since they have recently been encountering other Half-Breed races, others may be able to do so as well, particularly the more canine races. This scent, when smelled by humans, has an intoxicating effect on them, sometimes putting them into a deep sleep when an Incubus increases its strength. The effects that an average human would feel when exposed to such a scent would be a feeling calm and relaxation, sometimes even arousal, and leaving them in a sort of drunken state. The more of the scent a human breathes in, especially at a higher concentration, the more they are lulled into a deep sleep. As long as the Incubus remains present and continues to emit their scent, a human can remain in this sleep-like state for hours. After the Incubus leaves, they they are left with patchy memories. This skill, paired with hypnotism, could potentially have their prey practically begging them to be used as a host.

Despite being immortal, Incubi can be killed just as a human would be. They have the same physical weaknesses as humans and can die from diseases such as smallpox but despite their promiscuous behavior, are immune to sexually transmitted ones. They can also die from wounds that are too deep for their healing ability to fix in time. Because they have to feed off of life force in order to survive, an Incubi can die from not feeding properly. This usually takes only a few months for an average Incubus.

Racial Personality

Incubi are a proud race and are also rather vain. Because their need to survive depends so heavily upon using the life force of others, mostly humans, they use their appearance to their advantage and are quite seductive and forward towards others. Although these traits are common in all Incubi, they are still varied otherwise. Being a race of men, it is quite common for one to be competitive with the others. Jealousy and greed can also be problems among their race, as it mostly stems from their pride and competitiveness.

Incubi in more prominent bloodlines see the others as inferior but only to a certain extent as they still interact with each other. More serious Incubi rise through the ranks to more affluent careers, most often in their small military. Incubi are mostly obviously known to be highly promiscuous but it is not unheard of that one may limit themselves to a select few lovers, still never being completely faithful.

Offspring

Birth of Cambions

Cambions are the offspring of an Incubus and a human woman. It is the term Incubi use for their children. The gestation period of a Cambion is around 2 months, longer than that of their counterparts born of a Succubus. During this time, growth occurs rapidly. Most of the women impregnated hide away during this period anyway, most of them already married or tied to a human man in some way. Shortly after a Cambion is born, it is taken by its Incubus father to be raised with it's own kind.

Education

The first few decades of a Cambion's life is spent focusing on their gift of flight. Without this skill, they would be limited where they were able to travel. Being sure they have strong wings is also essential as a Cambion grows and they will be taught how to fly with added weight and basic maneuvers. While this is happening, they also are taught the most elementary forms of hypnosis. This skill needs to be matured to ensure their ability to hypnotize their prey and attain the life force they will need later.

It isn't until they master the basics of these two abilities that they will then move onto learning how to manipulate light, bending it around themselves to hide among the shadows. Living inside their mountain home, it is easy for them to practice and expand their mastery of this ability.

By the time they reach their age of maturity, a Cambion should be able to pass a simple exam that ensures they will succeed. This occurs after their first few hunts and is meant to show that they are truly ready to be on their own.

Aging

Like many other Half-Breed races, Cambions grow quickly in their first century of life, their aging slowing dramatically afterward. The age this occurs is not an exact science, ranging from 90-120 years. This coming-of-age moment is marked by the growth of their horns. These horns will continue to grow slowly, until their death. Also, the growth of their wingspan will have reached it's maximum amount. It is at this time that they are considered a fully fledged Incubus and no longer a Cambion. It isn't until they go through this transformation that they need to feed. Before this, they require the same food and drink as a human.

Feeding

Incubi do not require the same sustenance that humans do to survive. Instead, they feed off of a being's life force to replenish their own. In order to feed, the Incubus will wrap their wings around their victim, encasing them in a tight wrapping and their wings will absorb their prey's life force. They are not able to kill their victims in this way, being able to only take so much at a time. It is obvious when an Incubus need to feed because the color of their wings will dull and they may become more lethargic. Feeding is required at least once every two weeks in order to survive as not feeding for any reason can lead to their own death.

Culture

Language

Among their own kind, Incubi prefer to speak in Latin. Having learned many languages and encountered numerous cultures over the course of their existence, they much liked the Roman and Greek cultures, adopting Latin as their primary form of communication. Living in the Carpathian mountains in Eastern Europe, they're also very comfortable speaking Slavic languages. When traveling, Incubi try to learn the language of the area. This is much easier in modern times because of the progression of human technology.

Location

Since the large war the Incubi endured, they have since begun to live in the Carpathian Mountains which is what the Carpathian Treaty was named after. The Incubi have managed to create large caverns in which they live in a large city that they simply call Domus which is the Latin word for "home". Each clan has it's own extensions off the main cavern. The further from the main cavern, the more inferior the clan is thought to be. City and it's extensions are split into separate divisions, which the Generals and their Lieutenants maintain order.

Attire

While inside Domus, the Incubi have kept to their own attire instead of changing with the times with humans. Because Domus is inside the mountains, it has to be kept warm with large fires, smaller ones being places in the smaller tunnels away from the center of the city. Although the Incubi are tolerant of lower temperatures, they can still freeze. More often than not, Domus is at a much higher temperature than is desirable what with drafts pulling the warm air out. For this reason, Incubi dress in thinner fabrics to keep from overheating, wearing it loosely. Nobles have clothing in finer fabrics such as silk and velvet although this is usually only worn on special occasions because of the city temperature.

The King, Generals and Lieutenants often walk around in their armor as a sign of their hard work and status. Their armor is usually form fitting and flush against their skin although personal preference allows for slight changes. Because they sometimes wear it in flight, the armor is also lightweight but still strong and durable against damage.

When amongst humans, Incubi dress in whatever styles or fashions match the area and times of their destination.

Social Order

The Incubi follow a social order to determine their worth in the community. It follows from highest to lowest:

• King: King Shamyaza was crowned at the time of the Carpathian Treaty. It was a unanimous decision that he be their overall leader since he always has been since their creation. He is seen as a great mentor and is treated with much respect and devotion. His direct bloodline is seen as the purest among their race and is easily recognized by their unique hair and wing color with is a dark blue.

• Generals: The Generals are the ten remaining leaders from the war that resulted in the treaty. They are second to the King, advising him in major decisions as well as maintaining order in their division of the city. No laws can be created, altered or expunged without a vote among all ten generals and King Shamyaza present. They are passed by the majority ruling.

• Nobles: Nobles are determined by which of the two favored bloodlines they come from. The first bloodline is of course, the King's. The other bloodline is that of Azazel, the most highly favored General among the ten. First and Second Lieutenants are also considered nobles as well as the first generation of their offspring.

• Commoners: The majority of the population of Incubi make up the commoners. They are seen as only slightly inferior. Although they are not considered equal to any other tier in the social order, they are not treated poorly as a slave would be. Instead they are forced to live farther from the inner city and cannot dress in finer fabrics such as silk or velvet.

Incubi clan marking

• Clans: Incubi clans are followed by the eleven bloodlines that the race consists of. Each clan derives from one of the ten Generals or the King's, which is considered to be the purest. Each division of the city lives the clan. In the past few hundred years, clans have begun to take on brands or tattoos that represent which they belong to. It is a source of pride and displayed while inside Domus whereas it is usually hidden when among humans. They vary in size, shape and design and not all members of the clans are required to have them. The most notable marking is of the King's bloodline, consisting of a tribal-like lotus flower to symbolize their purity. It is usually a tattoo but occasionally seen as a brand as well.

Player Characters

• Rosier

See Also

• Succubus (Marked)

External Links

• The Marked website - No Longer Available
• The source of this article at the Marked Wiki - No Longer Available