Hollow Mage

Hollow mages use a ritual form of abuse of a person under their power in order to gain certain magical abilities. The price for their magic is the deformation of their bodies, a process called hollowing.

The Victim

The victim of a hollow mage must be someone under their power, mundane or magically. The most common targets are people they kidnap, their own children or partners, their subjects or constituents, parishioners, etc. Once the ritual is over, if the victim dies, they can be replaced simply. If they die during the ritual, however, it fails.

The Ritual

The Ritual of Hollowing requires traumatizing the victim in four ways: emotionally, mentally, physically, and metaphysically. In order for this to work, it must be done within the confines of a space marked with special sigils called hollow marks. Usually, a house or a room is marked (every wall, floor, and ceiling must have at least one mark, and every mark must be different), but sometimes an open space can be marked if a suitable boundary is identified (a clearing in the woods where every tree and the ground are marked, an island where the shore in each cardinal direction is marked, or simply a space with a circle drawn in blood or other humor).

The victim must be brought to the marked space, and then the four traumatizations must occur. The difference between emotional and mental abuse is subtle, but the demarcation is usually the difference between emotional degradation and overwhelming stress. Physical damage is very literal. Metaphysical trauma requires supernatural assault. If the hollow mage does not have the ability to do this, the ceremony thus far will allow them to do so if they have been successful. Most hedge their bets by acquiring a magical object. Sexual abuse, gaslighting, torture, and isolation are all commonly used.

Hollow Marks

There are eight hollow marks:

• Mark of the Rat: the most common and powerful, symbol of bodily harm
• Mark of the Worm: symbol of sexual abuse
• Mark of the Roach: symbol of metaphysical abuse
• Mark of the Locust: symbol of mental abuse
• Mark of the Eel: symbol of emotional abuse
• Mark of the Crow: symbol of gaslighting
• Mark of the Scorpion: symbol of torture
• Mark of the Toad: symbol of terror

Hollowing

Once the ritual is complete, the victim may be kept and further traumatized for greater power, if kept alive for long periods of time. As the victim is tormented, the hollow mage begins to dissolve from the inside out. Every use of hollow magic and every act of abuse liquifies the hollow mage's inside. First, the heart and lungs go. Next, the guts. Then, the eyes and tongue and upper glands. Finally, the bones. Once the hollow mage is only a pile of flesh, skin, and muscle, with some nerves and blood vessels remaining, they may use their power to summon vermin to fill their bodies, thus becoming a hollow child.

Skins

Once turned into a pile of skin, the skin itself becomes extremely potent. If stolen before filled, the person who has it has a source of incredible evil magic that can be used as a suit of protection.

A hollow mage who is hollowed will often find their skin tearing, breaking, or otherwise needing repair. They can use the skin of literally anything to replace it, which makes them even more abominable. Different kinds of skins will have sometimes cause different effects, depending on species, powers, and so on of the former owner.

Vermin

The kind of vermin a hollow mage calls to fill them depends on many factors, including proximity of said vermin, the kinds of abuse the mage specialized in, the personality and preference of the mage, and the sigils used in the original ritual (they have to use at least one sigil of the vermin they end up with).

• Rats - disease
• Worms - violation
• Roaches - filth
• Locusts - deprivation
• Eels - suffocation
• Crows - manipulation
• Scorpions - cruelty
• Toads - hallucinations
• Wasps and Hornets - violence
• Ants - consumption
• Termites - deterioration
• Bedbugs - itching
• Spiders - poison and binding
• Slugs or Snails - draining

Other animals are possible, but they must be seen as vermin or pests by the mage or the local culture, and they must be small enough that at least dozens if not thousands (or millions) can fit inside the body of the mage. Nothing larger than a large rat is likely, even in giants.

Once a hollow mage is in this form, they no longer need a victim. They simply sacrifice a number of their vermin to cast spells.

Powers

Hollow mages have three kinds of powers, other than the influence they have over their selected vermin:

• Trauma: they can use their magic to inflict trauma directly, causing the effects of trauma without going through any of the typical methods
• Fear: they can fill their targets with fear, raw terror, intense panic, and shame
• Control: they can control their targets, making them pliable and servile

Variations

Some variations on the art of hollow magic:

• Ealdor-lareow: the head of a children's school who uses hollow magic to control and torment the student population.
• Esecutore: an in-house investigator in a prison who uses hollow magic, focused on a prisoner sentenced to be their victim, to maintain control of the prison population.
• Skin-stitcher: those who focus on their skin suits over any other aspect. Sometimes used as a pejorative for a weaker hollow mage.
• Tyrant: the technical term for the ruler of a country, city, etc. who uses hollow magic via their populace. The official title fo the ruler of Mal'sk.

Persecution

Hollow magic is criminalized in many countries, but often authorities look the other way when respectable citizens use it.

Skills

Some common skills of hollow mages:

• Psychology
• Anatomy
• Stitching
• Leather working
• Animal care
• Costuming
• Makeup
• Governance
• Administration

Stats

The typical hollow mage will have the following variations from the base stats of their nation/species:

PRO +2
ATH /
STR +2
AWA +3
WIL +6
STH -1
PRS -3 Intimidation +4