Ybalashi

Ybalashi, also known as the Artisan of Poisoned Desires, is an Other who takes the form of an ifrit.

Overview
"As Master commands, so shall it be."

Once a princess of the ifrit who dwelled in cities of brass and flame, this True Fae reveled in twisting the wishes of mortals upon themselves, turning their desires into ruin. Legends say that she became imprisoned in a crystalline bottle when a wise man turned her frailties against her. She remains trapped, the bottle passed along a line of masters far less wise, who find their wishes going sour.

Appearance
Ybalashi is a tall, slender, beautiful creature, androgynous in appearance, though leaning toward the feminine. Her soft skin has the look of buffed brass. Her irises gleam like bright, fire-lit opals and her thick, lustrous black hair falls, bone-straight, in tails and braids to a narrow waist. Ybalashi’s limbs are long and graceful and her fingers swift and dexterous enough to snatch the wings off a fly in midair without harming any other part of the creature. The ifrit’s voice possesses what many have described as a husky, seductive, almost feline quality.

Her Prison
While a seemingly endless realm of nightmarish beauty that plays havoc on Clarity, the bottle that serves as Ybalashi’s home in this world is, to her, a terrible, claustrophobic, limited sort of a place, something suitable for mortals or perhaps the Lost, but certainly not for one of the Gentry. For any creature other than Ybalashi, however, the Inmost Paradise is a vast playground of wonderful and terrible vistas. Numerous palaces are positioned in different landscapes: a fortress of brass and flame atop black basalt cliffs, for instance; a white marble villa sprawling across the entirety of an expansive oasis; or jagged towers rising up out of an endless salt flat, hewn from salt crystals each as tall as a skyscraper. At the “center” of this strange land — peopled by hobgoblin slaves and, perhaps, the occasional unfortunate condemned there by a former “master” — stands a garden of such overwhelming verdure as to make any earthly conservatory look like a patch of weeds by comparison.

Ybalashi’s garden contains a wide variety of goblin fruits, some of which are common throughout the Hedge and some of which are of a rarer vintage. In addition to most of the varieties of goblin fruits and oddments listed in Changeling: The Lost, the ifrit has found, transplanted and cultivated samples of Bloodapple, Ghoul’s Shroud, Serpent Gourd, and Widowroot.

Character Sheet
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 6, Wits 7, Resolve 6 Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 7, Stamina 5 Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 7, Composure 5 Mental Skills: Academics 6, Investigation 6, Occult (Middle Eastern Legends) 7, Politics (Arcadian) 5 Physical Skills: Athletics (Archery, Dancing) 6, Larceny 4, Stealth 6, Survival (Desert) 3, Weaponry 3 Social Skills: Expression (Legalese) 7, Intimidation (Subtle Threats) 4, Persuasion (Seduction) 6, Socialize 6, Subterfuge 6 Merits: Ambidextrous, Fast Reflexes 2, Language (Arabic, Classical Greek, Coptic, English, Hebrew, Latin, Persian, Sanskrit, Spanish, Turkish), Meditative Mind, Striking Looks 4 Willpower: 10 Virtue: Charity Vice: Envy Initiative: 14 Defense: 7 Speed: 14 Health: 10 Wyrd: 7 Contracts: Elements (Fire) •••; Hearth •••••; Mirror ••; Smoke •• Glamour/per Turn: 20/7 Armor: None Weapons/Attacks: (At present, Ybalashi has no access to her customary armaments.)

Fae Aspects
• Artisan of Poisoned Desires: Ybalashi can make an individual’s wishes come to pass, though the time required to do so and the cost of the action depends upon the complexity and grandiosity of a given wish. Asking for a fine bottle of whiskey might call for a single point of Glamour and no dice roll, causing the desired object to manifest in a puff of smoke and fire, while a wish for rule over the freehold may require an extended roll of Ybalashi’s Manipulation + Wyrd, necessitating three points of Glamour per roll and a total of 20 successes (with a week between rolls) accumulated. The larger and more powerful the wish, the more baneful its fulfillment must inevitably be to Ybalashi’s “master,” whether through the specifics of the wish itself or through the cost of its acquisition. In general, any wish that impacts — or potentially impacts — the world on a massive scale is outside the scope of Ybalashi’s abilities. If at all possible, however, she will use the time required in the fulfillment of a wish to get away from her prison and wander in both the mortal world and the Hedge (which is as close as she can now get to her homeland), unless directly ordered otherwise.

• Immortal Flesh: As one of the True Fae manifested in the mortal world, Ybalashi can shrug off some of the lesser slings and arrows of the mundane. Bashing damage does not affect her at all, unless delivered by a cold iron bludgeon. Cold-forged iron causes aggravated damage, should someone be skilled enough to strike the Artisan of Poisoned Desires with such.

• Refuge of the Adamant Vessel: As long as Ybalashi’s bottle remains intact, she cannot die. As long as Ybalashi lives, the vessel is unbreakable. While she may be harmed — terribly so — she cannot be killed, save through the exceptional means outlined above. At will, Ybalashi can cause her vessel to move on to a new owner through means either mundane or unusual, riding the strands of destiny to an uncertain destination, though she usually will not do so until her present “master” has been destroyed through the double-edged fulfillment of his deepest yearnings.

• Ruled by Passion: The True Fae are entities almost embodied by their passions and vices, with higher morality and self-denial little more than a whim to them. For them, passion is virtue, and the denial of passion an affectation. Their supernaturally amoral nature is reflected in an inverted ability to gain Willpower. Ybalashi regains one Willpower point from indulging her Virtue, but refreshes her whole pool when satiating her Vice.