Nergal (CTL)

Nergal, also known as the Raging One, is a True Fae of great power who embodies the fury of a great storm. He was the Keeper of Grandfather Thunder, the King of Eternal Summer of Miami.

Biography
"I am thunder, I am rain. I am lightning! You are nothing!"

Nergal has no home in Faerie — he is a creature made of storms, wandering itinerant across the skies above the Arcadian lands and lakes. He likes to brag that he is the only storm in Arcadia, and that all other storms are his children or his prisoners. To a point, he’s right — he shackles his kept changelings with chains woven from seemingly unbreakable threads of his own hair, and he lets his kept slaves drift out away from him, knowing that they’ll never be able to free themselves from such chains. Sometimes, to punish them, he sends fire and lightning coursing along the leash — when it strikes the prisoner on the other end, the sky lights up, the clouds rumble and the fiery might of this Fae shoots to the ground below.

Of course, by sending lightning to course through the bodies of his prisoners time and time again, some of them learn how to use it, their own flesh infused with Nergal’s mighty magic. Few ever are capable of escaping — but one did. Miami’s Grandfather Thunder managed to escape in a way that Nergal’s still-held changelings dream about. Somehow, Thunder managed to send the lightning backto Nergal. When the raging Fae was dizzied by his own raging power, Grandfather Thunder was able to pull himself back via his leash — which he then wrapped it around the tumescent throat of his Keeper. Nergal, choking, severed the woven leash to free himself from Thunder’s grip… and Thunder fell to the Hedge below.

Nergal now loathes Thunder, and desperately wants him back. The Fae sent another Fae after Thunder, but that Fae never returned. Rumor whispered through the Hedge says that Grandfather Thunder beat that Keeper into black and bloody pulp with a cold iron hammer. Some even say that Thunder ate that mad fucker’s heart.

Nergal ’s Changelings
All that Nergal has is his anger. It makes him a frightening master, like a drunk and abusive father who gladly takes out his rage on his children. He is blustery, violent and ceaseless in his fury. While it is what makes him frightening, it is also what compromises him. His anger darkens everything. At times, he is unable to think rationally because of how completely his rage overwhelms him. This is how changelings escape him, by exploiting him when he is at his most furious — and his most foolish.

Obviously, one of Nergal’s changelings is Grandfather Thunder — a Fireheart of the Elemental seeming. As Nergal is a creature of the elements, many of his prisoners grow infused with Elemental magic. His rain aspect might incur a Waterborn changeling, while his windy and blustery aspect might create an Airtouched.

Of course, a changeling kept by Nergal needn’t be an Elemental. Nergal’s brutality could imbue the changeling with Ogrish powers. The constant arcs of luminous lightning could see a Bright One emerge. Consider how a changeling, held so high up in the sky, might grow feathers, even wings, and end up as a Windwing.

Appearance
Nergal’s body is composed of several clotted clouds, gray and black, with eyes of coruscating lightning. His mouth is a sucking cyclone, his heart beating through the clouds with the shifting colors of the aurora borealis. The Mask he prefers to wear on those few occasions when he comes to this world looks somewhat like the image of Grandfather Thunder. It is, of course, an imperfect mimicry — the eyes are pale, not brown, and the hair appears bone-white, not gray — but it’s good enough for those who give Nergal a casual glance.

Character Sheet
Nergal, the Raging One

Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 3, Resolve 3

Physical Attributes: Strength 6, Dexterity 5, Stamina 4

Social Attributes: Presence 5, Manipulation 2, Composure 2

Mental Skills: Investigation (Surveillance) 3, Occult 2

Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl (Lashing Out) 5, Survival 4

Social Skills: Expression 1, Intimidation (Loud) 6, Persuasion 1, Subterfuge 1

Merits: Brawling Dodge, Fast Reflexes 2, Harvest (Dreams) 2, Iron Stamina 3, Strong Back

Willpower: 5

Virtue: Fortitude

Vice: Wrath

Initiative: 8

Defense: 5

Size: 7

Speed: 16

Health: 11

Wyrd: 4

Glamour/per Turn: 13/4

Contracts: Darkness 3, Dream 2, Smoke 2, Elements (Electricity) 4, Elements (Water) 3

Mien Blessings - Flicker, Shocking Caress, Velocity of the Zephyr (Airtouched)

Frailties - Riddles (minor bane); cannot come out when sun is in the sky (major taboo).