Zanavy

The Lesser Evils. (Play is live!)

I'm totally ready for this B plot of Albert @DawningAurora wrangling children in his magic house while the others are in the middle of deadly action combat

The Lesser Evils. (Play is live!)

Lesser Sloth is not prepared for a 2-year-old XD

The Lesser Evils. (Play is live!)

Posted. :) And thanks to @duskshine749 for making a post that's easy for anybody to react and respond to. Good idea. Anyone who hasn't posted yet, you can feel free to ignore Setepenre's last statement and keep responding to Cain's prompt if that makes it easier for you. Forum RP gets a little timey-wimey sometimes, anyway.

The Lesser Evils. (Play is live!)

Setepenre

Lesser Pride

Penny quieted her mind as well as she could to take in the solemn information The Detective presented. The news of these Outcasts threatening Innocent souls was troubling indeed. But that was why she was here in the first place, anyway, to protect her descendants and others who did not deserve such a fate.

The apparent team name of this group of seven powerful beings, though... 'Lesser Evils?' Penny couldn't help but scoff a little. None of Setepenre's line were ever lesser at anything.

The young phone-obsessed girl beside Penny spoke up about the possibility of connecting dots between The Outcasts' victims. Penny nodded along in approval. She couldn't help but feel a bit of kinship with the girl, who reminded her of her own daughter. Frustrating as it was to try to interact with a person who had their nose on a phone screen 24/7, some of these young folks could pull off certain kinds of magic with the internet that Penny could only begin to fathom.

"That's some good thinking," Penny replied to Juniper, starting a little side conversation. "If it takes us a long time to prepare to take these Outcasts head-on, at least we might be able to protect the Innocents better in the meantime if we can identify which ones are most in danger. Or even, if push comes to shove, pick the most suitable bait for a trap..."

A bit later, one of the team members spoke up about his powers, met by a table full of silence. That... was a very bold move indeed. The more one supernatural being knew about another's powers, the more opportunity they gained to circumvent them and pose a serious threat. Of course, this Cain fellow was certainly not telling the whole truth, nor did Penny really expect anyone at the table to reveal their full hand now.

"I am able to wield the strength of a lioness in battle," Penny addressed the table. "I can transform into a lioness, a human, and anything in-between. Regardless of my form, I have enhanced strength and speed, and I am a skilled swordswoman. My roar inspires supernatural bravery or fear, depending on the situation."

Penny left a few stones unturned, most importantly, the source of her powers. Any being imbued with divine power could be hamstrung by interference with their connection to the divine, and Sekhmet already seemed to have a tenuous grasp on the world in this era as it was. Penny felt a pang of guilt for choosing not to publicly praise the glory of her goddess in this instance. She would find a way to make it up to Sekhmet later.

Penny frowned as she turned to The Detective. She had a burning question that she couldn't help blurting out.

"And, sorry to interrupt the current topic of conversation, but are there any magical or otherwise protections we can put in place to mitigate the risks of these Outcasts immediately identifying us as threats and targeting the Innocents closest to us like a pack of cowards? I understand that most of our... certain variety of people don't tend to keep close connections with mundanes. And I know the risks all of us made just by choosing to walk into this room. But if there is any chance of concealing our identities for as long as possible, I think that should be a priority for us."

The Lesser Evils. (Play is live!)

Thank you, I appreciate the two-week windows for now.

The Lesser Evils. (Play is live!)

Whoops, I was last, haha. Uhhhh my kids made me run late again.

The Lesser Evils. (Play is live!)

Setepenre

Lesser Pride

"CANDY! Caaandy NOOOW!"

The child's wails were, perhaps mercifully, muffled by the kitchen floor as she lay face-down in half of her jammies. Setepenre stood up from her kneeling position beside her daughter and allowed one moment to inwardly scream. On top of everything else going on this day, it seemed she had committed the cardinal sin of running out of Aliyah's potty training rewards. The woman rubbed her furred temples for a second and then picked up her phone.

"Sorry about that," Setepenre continued, holding the phone with one hand while reaching for the beeping microwave with the other. "Yes, we'll be over in about half an hour. Thanks for watching her on such short notice, that day care lady was being such a bitch you wouldn't believe! She actually had the nerve to say-"

The lion-headed woman reacted quickly to right the plate as she realized she had almost unconsciously poured the defrosted steak into the frying pan with all the breakfast potatoes. A couple drops of cow blood managed to drip off into the pan. Eh... a little more iron in one's diet wouldn't hurt.

"...Thanks sweetie, we'll talk later, loveyoubye." Setepenre hastily finished the call and hung up. She scooped the potatoes onto a plate, gingerly stepped around her sniffling toddler, and placed the breakfast in front of a teenager dressed in the uniform of a nearby grocery store and looking remarkably not thrilled about it.

"Good luck on your first day, Marwa," Setepenre commented in the cheeriest warm tone she could muster. "I am so proud of you."

"Okay," the teen mumbled, eyes on her phone. That was one more word than Setepenre expected to hear out of her. Success!

The woman smiled and scooped up Aliyah into a hug. The girl hung limply like a ragdoll. That was fine, it was much easier to dress a child in a ragdoll tantrum than a flailing tantrum.

Several minutes later, Setepenre was speed-walking to the backyard, exhausted post-tantrum girl in one arm and a plate of bloody mostly raw steak in the other. The divinely blessed being arrived at a metal fenced-in enclosure and slid the steak plate over a rail, letting the meat plop onto the ground. She let loose a series of growls.

"<Have a good day, John!>"

After a few moments, a pair of golden eyes emerged from the large roofed hut near the center of the enclosure, followed by a massive maned head. The lion gazed up at the encroaching rain clouds with a slight frown.

"<Bye mom,>" John replied. The big cat let out a lazy yawn. "<Tell Marwa good luck for me.>"

Setepenre waved goodbye with the bloody plate and headed toward her car. As she walked, her muzzle shortened into a human visage. The hair shrunk from her face and sprouted thick black coils on the top of her head. Her eyes shrunk and dilated to a human look, though they maintained their golden color, an unchangeable hint of the supernatural. 'Penny' pulled open the side door of the old mini van.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Penny power-walked through the hotel, umbrella-less and halfway soaked, determined to beat the clock. It was... kind of a rough morning, but miraculously she found a parking spot not too far away, and that combined with her lead foot and her technically not needing to eat may just allow her to get to this meeting on-

Penny stopped on a dime, then back-tracked a few paces to a large set of doors. She double checked the room number written on the post-it note stained with who-knows-what in her hand. Penny stared at the door for a second and then closed her eyes. She took five deep breaths and counted slowly backward from twenty. Cheesy as it felt, she did take her own advice occasionally, and she really needed to go into this meeting of the supernatural with a cool head if she wanted to make a decent first impression.

Penny put on a friendly smile and pushed through the doors. As expected, she saw several people had arrived before her. Most of the people looked... fairly normal, like herself at the moment, not quickly distinguishable as powerful dangerous beings to the untrained eye. Good. At least these supernaturals weren't the total idiot kind.

The divinely blessed woman made a beeline for the coffee. She took a couple big glorious gulps before searching for someone to get to know. Perhaps someone who looked shy, she loved bringing the quiet ones into the group. A quick scan showed the presence of a man both quiet AND handsome - perhaps this day would turn a corner, after all.

"It's been days since I had a hot cup of coffee that hasn't been forgotten in the microwave multiple times," Penny remarked with a smile as she slid into a chair next to the donut-eating succubus, plopping her massive mom purse on the table. "I am Setepenre... ha, it feels weird to say that in this form. And who are you? Are you from around here? I suppose that might be a complicated question around this crowd."

Penny looked over the handsome man's shoulder and squinted as she caught sight of a person at the head of the table. She had only met The Detective once in the flesh, briefly, and the sight of this person rung a vague bell but she couldn't be sure. Penny gave the person a polite wave just in case.

The Lesser Evils. (Play is live!)

Do you want to see a photo of my wonderful granddaughter’s art project? …You don’t?... I will give you three seconds to change your mind and keep your face.

Pride: Setepenre

Name: Setepenre “Penny”

Sin: Pride

Age: Essentially un-aging. Chronologically about 4000 years old, though most of that was spent in a dormant state. Appearance-wise, she looks to be about 40 years old.

Race: A being imbued with divine power, somewhere a little toward the demon side on the angel-demon spectrum

Appearance: In her base form, Setepenre appears as a tall, strong woman with the head of a lioness. She can change her form at will to range anywhere on the spectrum of pure lion to pure human, though maintaining these changes over a prolonged time will cost energy. As a human, “Penny” has dark skin, wild black hair with golden streaks, and golden eyes. She has a scar on her abdomen to mark where a mortal wound once was.

Personality: First and foremost, Setepenre is proud of and loyal to her family line to a fault. Everyone must know how amazing her children, grandchildren, etc. are – from the acclaimed PhD to the safari’s largest lion to the four-year-old who made a fridge-worthy doodle. She has a tendency to be a helicopter parent, making a big deal out of anyone or anything that has a chance to harm her children even slightly, and acts like the world should bow down and serve her beloved children’s every desire. Her main goal is to build a better life for her family line. Sometimes this results in Karen-like behavior, sometimes vicious violence, and sometimes genuine good/heroic acts to preserve the world her descendants live in. (Yes, Setepenre will recycle the soda can she’s drinking from while she blackmails the school principal.)

Other than that, Setepenre is an outgoing, driven, intense person. Her emotions tend to range on a scale of warm to fiery. If you get on her bad side, you are in for a world of pain. If you get on her good side, she will provide all the warm blankets and fresh cookies and tender motherly feelings you could ever need. As long as you give her some time in the conversation to obsess about her descendants, of course.

Background: Setepenre was born in Egypt around 2000 B.C. She married the pharaoh and quickly rose to prominence as one of his most important wives. The pharaoh was content to keep only a small army for defense and focus on internal improvements. But Setepenre thought of the more glorious Egyptian empire of the past, how disappointed her beloved goddess Sekhmet must be at its decline, and how weak and vulnerable the kingdom would be when her children inherited it. Over time, Setepenre convinced her husband to begin conquering nearby lands. Setepenre’s sons and even the queen herself fought in battle, bolstering the army’s resolve as the empire steadily grew.

Then one battle, Setepenre’s oldest son was killed, and herself gravely wounded. The queen chose to be sealed alive in the tomb meant for her husband along with her dead son, in order to continue providing for her son into the afterlife. But rather than die, Setepenre was blessed (cursed?) by the goddess Sekhmet for her ferocious loyalty to family and empire. She became an ageless being, halfway between mortal and immortal, angel and demon. Setepenre remained divinely tethered to her tomb to guard over her family’s legacy and greet each of her loved ones on the road between life and death. After a few timeless decades, the doors stopped opening, new bodies stopped being added. After the last of her royal bloodline arrived, Setepenre raged and wailed until she cried herself to sleep. It was a deep, deep slumber…

In the year 1870 A.D., Setepenre was suddenly awakened to the noises of a group of tomb raiders. Setepenre defended her family’s treasure, and that was the last thing any of those thieves ever saw. In the chaos, much of the tomb and its contents collapsed into dust. That’s when Setepenre realized… something had changed. The tether was gone. She could go anywhere. She loved her old empire and family with all her heart, but… she owed it to them to start anew.

Over the past 150 years, and with plenty of awkward mishaps, Setepenre has learned to survive and thrive in the modern world. Her first priority was to start a new family, and she has many descendants of either fully-human or fully-lion species, seemingly at random. She spends whatever time she can in fully-human-looking form and has learned to utilize concepts like “mortgage” and “a job,” especially when such things benefit her human children.

About 10 years ago, Setepenre was thrilled to hear her grandson got into a prestigious college abroad near The City and many of the family moved with him to The City. They like their new home, though the culture shock led to some overreactions on Setepenre’s part. It seems one of those, uh, angry lion Karen moments caught some attention, as the Detective contacted Setepenre about using her abilities to defend The City from vague evildoers should the need arise. Setepenre wholeheartedly agreed to protect her descendants… and also, y’know, other citizens of The City who happened to be nearby. Besides, she could feel bits of her power start to wane, and she sensed she would need to find some glory in battle soon if she wanted to keep her blessing from Sekhmet…

Skills and Abilities: Setepenre is ageless and immune to sources of harm that would increase over time such as starvation, disease, and poison. She can change her form to lion, human, or any combination of the two. She can communicate with and command lions. She is a resilient fighting machine with subtle amounts of super-strength, super-speed, super-toughness… though not as much as a person with more concentration in one of those traits. Her roar can cause terror or inspire bravery - but only one at a time, so she’d better pick whichever applies best to each battle. Setepenre is next to useless with firearms but great with swords and knives. She seeks the healing abilities associated with Sekhmet but thus far those prayers have not been answered.

Setepenre is also proficient in mundane motherhood skills such as cooking, putting a child's clothes back on, and ignoring a tantrum all at the same time. She has many descendants in various fields, so if there's a random task that needs done or expert knowledge to gain, there's a good 10% chance one of her kin can do it.

Weaknesses: Setepenre’s primary weakness is the depth of her devotion to her children, and she might be swayed to give into someone’s demands and/or thrown into a blind rage if her descendants are threatened. She could also be easy prey to manipulation by one of her descendants. While Setepenre has a superhuman amount of energy, it does take effort to use her powers, and she could grow exhausted over a long battle. Setepenre is much more resilient than a normal human but could still be killed by large amounts of most types of damage that could kill a human. A more hidden weakness is catnip. Setepenre absolutely cannot resist catnip, and exposure to it will get her stuck in fully-lion form for a couple hours.

Equipment: Setepenre carries an impressive mom-purse with all the snacks, band-aids, etc. a mom could ever need. She also tends to carry a knife, just in case. She always has an idol of Sekhmet on her. She owns a couple swords but keeps them on display at home whenever she's trying to 'act natural.'

Miscellaneous:
- Setepenre is bisexual and demi-romantic. (I couldn’t make a Pride character during Pride month and NOT make her something in the rainbow, could I?)
- She currently has three children living with her: a 17 year old human daughter, a 7 year old three-legged lion son (the AUDACITY to require a PERMIT to care for my disabled son), and a 2 year old human daughter.

The Lesser Evils. (Play is live!)

@karamonnom Setepenre: Why don't you come over for holidays anymore, son? :(
Son: Because my boss is LITERALLY A DEVIL

The Lesser Evils. (Play is live!)

Do you wanna see a photo of my wonderful granddaughter’s art project? …You don’t?... I will give you three seconds to change your mind and keep your face.

Pride: Setepenre

Name: Setepenre “Penny”

Sin: Pride

Age: Essentially un-aging. Chronologically about 4000 years old, though most of that was spent in a dormant state. Appearance-wise, she looks to be about 40 years old.

Race: A being imbued with divine power, somewhere a little toward the demon side on the angel-demon spectrum

Appearance: In her base form, Setepenre appears as a tall, strong woman with the head of a lioness. She can change her form at will to range anywhere on the spectrum of pure lion to pure human, though maintaining these changes over a prolonged time will cost energy. As a human, “Penny” has dark skin, wild black hair with golden streaks, and golden eyes. She has a scar on her abdomen to mark where a mortal wound once was.

Personality: First and foremost, Setepenre is proud of and loyal to her family line to a fault. Everyone must know how amazing her children, grandchildren, etc. are – from the acclaimed PhD to the safari’s largest lion to the four-year-old who made a fridge-worthy doodle. She has a tendency to be a helicopter parent, making a big deal out of anyone or anything that has a chance to harm her children even slightly, and acts like the world should bow down and serve her beloved children’s every desire. Her main goal is to build a better life for her family line. Sometimes this results in Karen-like behavior, sometimes vicious violence, and sometimes genuine good/heroic acts to preserve the world her descendants live in. (Yes, Setepenre will recycle the soda can she’s drinking from while she blackmails the school principal.)

Other than that, Setepenre is an outgoing, driven, intense person. Her emotions tend to range on a scale of warm to fiery. If you get on her bad side, you are in for a world of pain. If you get on her good side, she will provide all the warm blankets and fresh cookies and tender motherly feelings you could ever need. As long as you give her some time in the conversation to obsess about her descendants, of course.

Background: Setepenre was born in Egypt around 2000 B.C. She married the pharaoh and quickly rose to prominence as one of his most important wives. The pharaoh was content to keep only a small army for defense and focus on internal improvements. But Setepenre thought of the more glorious Egyptian empire of the past, how disappointed her beloved goddess Sekhmet must be at its decline, and how weak and vulnerable the kingdom would be when her children inherited it. Over time, Setepenre convinced her husband to begin conquering nearby lands. Setepenre’s sons and even the queen herself fought in battle, bolstering the army’s resolve as the empire steadily grew.

Then one battle, Setepenre’s oldest son was killed, and herself badly wounded. The queen chose to be sealed alive in the tomb meant for her husband along with her dead son, in order to continue providing for her son into the afterlife. But rather than die, Setepenre was blessed (cursed?) by the goddess Sekhmet for her ferocious loyalty to family and empire. She became an ageless being, halfway between mortal and immortal, angel and demon. Setepenre remained divinely tethered to her tomb to guard over her family’s legacy and greet each of her loved ones on the road between life and death. After a few timeless decades, the doors stopped opening, new bodies stopped being added. After the last of her royal bloodline arrived, Setepenre raged and wailed until she cried herself to sleep. It was a deep, deep slumber…

In the year 1870 A.D., Setepenre was suddenly awakened to the noises of a group of tomb raiders. Setepenre defended her family’s treasure, and that was the last thing any of those thieves ever saw. In the chaos, much of the tomb and its contents collapsed into dust. That’s when Setepenre realized… something had changed. The tether was gone. She could go anywhere. She loved her old empire and family with all her heart, but… she owed it to them to start anew.

Over the past 150 years, and with plenty of awkward mishaps, Setepenre has learned to survive and thrive in the modern world. Her first priority was to start a new family, and she has many descendants of either fully-human or fully-lion species, seemingly at random. She spends whatever time she can in fully-human-looking form and has learned to utilize concepts like “mortgage” and “a job,” especially when such things benefit her human children.

About 10 years ago, Setepenre was thrilled to hear her grandson got into a prestigious college abroad near The City and many of the family moved with him to The City. They like their new home, though the culture shock led to some overreactions on Setepenre’s part. It seems one of those, uh, angry lion Karen moments caught some attention, as the Detective contacted Setepenre about using her abilities to defend The City from vague evildoers should the need arise. Setepenre wholeheartedly agreed to protect her descendants… and also, y’know, other citizens of The City who happened to be nearby. Besides, she could feel bits of her power start to wane, and she sensed she would need to find some glory in battle soon if she wanted to keep her blessing from Sekhmet…

Skills and Abilities: Setepenre is ageless and immune to sources of harm that would increase over time such as starvation, disease, and poison. She can change her form to lion, human, or any combination of the two. She can communicate with and command lions. She is a resilient fighting machine with subtle amounts of super-strength, super-speed, super-toughness… though not as much as a person with more concentration in one of those traits. Her roar can cause terror or inspire bravery… but only one at a time, so she’d better pick whichever applies best to each battle. Setepenre is next to useless with firearms but great with swords and knives. She seeks the healing abilities associated with Sekhmet but thus far those prayers have not been answered.

Setepenre is also proficient in mundane motherhood skills such as cooking, putting a child's clothes back on, and ignoring a tantrum all at the same time. She has many descendants in various fields, so if there's a random task that needs done or expert knowledge to gain, there's a good 10% chance one of her kin can do it.

Weaknesses: Setepenre’s primary weakness is the depth of her devotion to her children, and she might be swayed to give into someone’s demands and/or thrown into a blind rage if her descendants are threatened. She could also be easy prey to manipulation by one of her descendants. While Setepenre has a superhuman amount of energy, it does take effort to use her powers, and she could grow exhausted over a long battle. Setepenre is much more resilient than a normal human but could still be killed by large amounts of most types of damage that could kill a human. A more hidden weakness is catnip. Setepenre absolutely cannot resist catnip, and exposure to it will get her stuck in fully-lion form for a couple hours.

Equipment: Setepenre carries an impressive mom-purse with all the snacks, band-aids, etc. a mom could ever need. She also tends to carry a knife, just in case. She always has an idol of Sekhmet on her. She owns a couple swords but keeps them on display at home whenever she's trying to 'act natural.'

Miscellaneous: Setepenre is bisexual and demi-romantic. (I couldn’t make a Pride character during Pride month and NOT make her something in the rainbow, could I?)

Edit: I skimmed through the interest check but my brain didn't register Dusk stating interest in Pride. Uhh, I can back off if you all want Pride for the person some of you seem to know already.