Name: Salem Vicarious
Epithets: The Lord of Lost Things, Teracore's Magnum Opus
Age: 555 years old
Teracore:
In this plane, there is only one planet of note, Teracore, a magitech fantasy land governed by two fundamental forces, ether and codex. Ether is liquid magic, liquid energy, it can be distilled from light or extracted from any source of energy, including organic, and is often made from seed oils or mineral gases. Ether releases physical force when activated, and is used to power all sorts of punk-tech marvels in the world of Teracore. Ether can also be vaporized, and becomes an extension of the wielder's will, allowing telekinesis and manipulation of other physical forces and fundamental energies. Codex is the ability for a human to mentally and magically control a certain volume of ether. Codex has two parameters, capacity and complexity. A powerful machine would have a large ether chamber, requiring much high-capacity codex to control; conversely, a complicated machine would have many small ether chambers, and require high-complexity codex to control.
On Teracore, with the help of individuals with inherently high codex coefficients, humanity advanced rapidly in the field of technology, creating airships, skyscrapers, mecha, and other magnificently magical marvels of engineering. Of course, such power in the hands of so many inevitably led to violence, and a squad of peacekeepers were formed; mostly young girls with tremendously high codex aptitudes, who could control the most intricate and most powerful machines and wield the strongest spells. Under their watchful gaze, Teracore flourished, for a time...
After Salem was done with it though, the entire planet has been optimized into a factory world of forges and furnaces, extracting ether wherever it can be found and producing an endless stream of minions and parts for his enjoyment.
On Teracore, with the help of individuals with inherently high codex coefficients, humanity advanced rapidly in the field of technology, creating airships, skyscrapers, mecha, and other magnificently magical marvels of engineering. Of course, such power in the hands of so many inevitably led to violence, and a squad of peacekeepers were formed; mostly young girls with tremendously high codex aptitudes, who could control the most intricate and most powerful machines and wield the strongest spells. Under their watchful gaze, Teracore flourished, for a time...
After Salem was done with it though, the entire planet has been optimized into a factory world of forges and furnaces, extracting ether wherever it can be found and producing an endless stream of minions and parts for his enjoyment.
Description:
In his native form, Salem is an automaton, a ball-jointed doll in the shape of a small child. He dresses in Victorian/Gothic-esque dollwear and gives off a 'pretty and cute' demeanor. As something created initially in the form of a children's toy, Salem is vain and cares a great deal about his appearance and how he's perceived by others, and if he cannot make you love him, then he will make you fear him. This stems from a sense of abandonment he felt when his creator turned a new leaf and stopped producing evil toys, leaving Salem with a fragile mentality and a sadistic streak. His domination of Teracore was essentially one prolonged tantrum.
Backstory:
Salem's creator was one of Teracore's premier villains, and nemesis of the Peacekeepers. A disgruntled researcher who used his knowledge to create weapons in the form of toys, the Toymaker's primary advantage was that he had found Teracore's Shard, the Omnicodex, an artifact of infinite codex and infinite ether, allowing him to control weapons and devices of impossibly intricate design.
Throughout his entire arc of villainy, the Toymaker worked on Salem, teaching the budding sentient thing all his grudges and dreams of world domination. But fight after fight, defeat after defeat, the Toymaker began to doubt himself, until one day, through the power of 'love and friendship', the Peacekeepers convinced the Toymaker to abandon his villainous ways; yet Salem waited in the Toy Factory with what remained of the Toymaker's other creations. Salem was to be the Toymaker's Magnum Opus, his final weapon, but he needed to be powered by the Omnicodex, which lingered in the factory, just out of reach. Unable to move without it, all Salem could do was talk, and talk he did, trying over and over again to get one of the Toymaker's other, significantly dumber, creations to bring the Omnicodex to him so that he could no longer be paralyzed. Mind-numbing decades later, it finally happened, one of the other puppets brought Salem the Omnicodex and he broke free from the Factory, ready to exact his purpose upon the idyllic world of the Peacekeepers.
At first, he sought out his creator, believing that he had been captured. But when he tore through Teracore's capital city and found the Toymaker, all he saw was a placid old man who had found peace, and who pleaded with Salem to stop his rampage. Abandoned, disillusioned, and filled with rage, Salem snapped, and the Omnicodex 'spoke' to him, showing him a great vision and a renewed purpose, not confined by the weakness and limits of his creator, one that would elevate him above just a toy, just a creation. Salem did not stop until he had subjugated the entire planet and forced its population to provide him with an endless supply of ether, machine parts, and automaton minions. He had become the creator now, the watchmaker, the world ticked by according to his design. His first task complete, the plane of Teracore was 'invited back' into the fold of Chaos, where Salem hoped to meet his 'true' creator and his 'true' siblings.
Throughout his entire arc of villainy, the Toymaker worked on Salem, teaching the budding sentient thing all his grudges and dreams of world domination. But fight after fight, defeat after defeat, the Toymaker began to doubt himself, until one day, through the power of 'love and friendship', the Peacekeepers convinced the Toymaker to abandon his villainous ways; yet Salem waited in the Toy Factory with what remained of the Toymaker's other creations. Salem was to be the Toymaker's Magnum Opus, his final weapon, but he needed to be powered by the Omnicodex, which lingered in the factory, just out of reach. Unable to move without it, all Salem could do was talk, and talk he did, trying over and over again to get one of the Toymaker's other, significantly dumber, creations to bring the Omnicodex to him so that he could no longer be paralyzed. Mind-numbing decades later, it finally happened, one of the other puppets brought Salem the Omnicodex and he broke free from the Factory, ready to exact his purpose upon the idyllic world of the Peacekeepers.
At first, he sought out his creator, believing that he had been captured. But when he tore through Teracore's capital city and found the Toymaker, all he saw was a placid old man who had found peace, and who pleaded with Salem to stop his rampage. Abandoned, disillusioned, and filled with rage, Salem snapped, and the Omnicodex 'spoke' to him, showing him a great vision and a renewed purpose, not confined by the weakness and limits of his creator, one that would elevate him above just a toy, just a creation. Salem did not stop until he had subjugated the entire planet and forced its population to provide him with an endless supply of ether, machine parts, and automaton minions. He had become the creator now, the watchmaker, the world ticked by according to his design. His first task complete, the plane of Teracore was 'invited back' into the fold of Chaos, where Salem hoped to meet his 'true' creator and his 'true' siblings.
The Omnicodex:
Teracore's Shard of Chaos takes on the form of an intricate mechanical bauble, reflecting the technomagical nature of its native plane. A red glow emanates through the seams and filigrees of the Omnicodex. On Teracore, everything is finite, and there are laws of conservation in place concerning mass and energy that also apply to codex and ether. As a Shard of Chaos, the Omnicodex violates Teracore's ruling principles, and is a device of infinite codex and infinite ether. It's codex coefficient is so great, in fact, that it can be used to simulate sentient intelligence, and forms the core of Salem's 'soul' as the only true AI from Teracore.
The Omnicodex forms the basis for all of Salem's abilities. He primarily uses it to constantly emit gaseous ether, which has a hazy, blue-green glow, and allows him to manipulate physical forces within his vicinity. He mostly just uses this to telekinetically lift and throw a ludicrous number of objects, as well as to control any more-specialized piece of Teracore machinery that he brings from his homeworld, but it also allows him to cast spells, his favorite of which are lasers, gravity spells, and sound-based spells. As an arrogant display of his power, Salem prefers to hover instead of walk, telekinetically moving himself at just above eye-level, allowing him to look down on all around him.
The Omnicodex has been painted to resemble an eye with a red iris, and sits in Salem's right eye socket, where it provides him with his powers.
The Omnicodex forms the basis for all of Salem's abilities. He primarily uses it to constantly emit gaseous ether, which has a hazy, blue-green glow, and allows him to manipulate physical forces within his vicinity. He mostly just uses this to telekinetically lift and throw a ludicrous number of objects, as well as to control any more-specialized piece of Teracore machinery that he brings from his homeworld, but it also allows him to cast spells, his favorite of which are lasers, gravity spells, and sound-based spells. As an arrogant display of his power, Salem prefers to hover instead of walk, telekinetically moving himself at just above eye-level, allowing him to look down on all around him.
The Omnicodex has been painted to resemble an eye with a red iris, and sits in Salem's right eye socket, where it provides him with his powers.
Powers:
- Telekinesis - Salem behaves like a poltergeist on steroids. Able to constantly spread gaseous ether, and with more than enough complex codex to control it all, Salem's preferred method of fighting is essentially an 'endless yeet', where anything and everything can be a projectile.
- Trick Weapons - As an evil toy, every part of Salem's doll body incorporates some hidden weapon or gadget: arm blades, finger guns, you name it. These parts can also separate and be telekinetically moved around, allowing Salem to attack from multiple angles, making it much harder to dodge and avoid his attacks.
- The Toy Chest - Salem often rides on or carries an oversized coffin that contains replacement parts for his bodies, as well as various different specialized weapons, allowing him versatility and a way to deal with unusual situations.
- Teracore Spells - Teracore is, at its heart, a magical world, though it is covered by a veneer of science and technology. Ether can be used as fuel to cast spells, and Teracore spells often have the hint of science, so their 'elements' are usually ones that more closely align with scientific fundamental forces, air becomes sound and electricity, fire becomes heat, light, and explosions, earth becomes gravity, and water becomes cold. Salem is adept at all these and will resort to them if just throwing shit doesn't cut it.
- Amalgam - Salem's body is modular, and once he's decided to drop the cutesy facade, he can keep adding additional doll parts and other machinery to keep growing his body into a large, grotesque, body horror creation, seemingly without limit. The monstrous "final form".
Assets:
- Factory World - Salem has converted Teracore into a factory world that constantly produces mechanical soldiers, replacement body parts, ether-based weapons, and whatever else might be needed.
- Toy Soldiers - Teracore is policed by a massive force of robotic mannequins and toy-like creations. The weakest among them are just slightly stronger than the average human. However, the soldiers follow a protocol of self-improvement, and are always seeking to scavenge for parts to add to their own bodies, while competing with each other to rise through the ranks in a simulated 'mechanical evolution'. So no two soldiers are alike, each sporting their own 'optimized' combination of different abilities.
The City of Lost Things:
Salem's corner of Gladius is a large chamber made to simulate an industrial-era city nightscape, the architecture being a grotesque mishmash of Victorian, Gothic, and Baroque. Toy soldiers mill about in the city's dark, cramped alleys. They simulate 'citizen life', living in homes with fake dysfunctional families, and heading to work to do nothing. In the center is an opulent Mansion, The House that Salem Built, where Salem resides. It is like Disneyland, where it's made to look larger than it actually is.
Themes:
Misc:
- Salem's faceclaim is Souseiseki from the anime/manga Rozen Maiden.
