Puppeteer

Puppeteers use dolls, puppets, and marionettes to influence, control, and manipulate targets. They can also use dolls for direct sympathetic magic and as homunculi. They are considered the most insidious and dangerous magic users in the world by some. They are feared, spoken of as monsters, warned of. Their craft is illegal in many countries, equal to slavery in most people's eyes.

String

The strings used by puppeteers are a crucial part of their craft. Any kind of string can work for a skilled puppeteer, but most use gossamer (+6), as it is the most effect kind of string. Gossamer infused with gossamer light, the energy of the puppeteers, allows them to practice their magic.

Puppet

(+4 to influence, +1 to control base)

Puppets are the most common tool of a puppeteer. They are special dolls with strings or rods attached or worn on the hands that are crafted to resemble a target that is controlled or influenced by the puppeteer. This can be done specifically (a puppet designed to look like a specific individual) or generically (a puppet designed to look like, for instance, a soldier or a baker). The former is much more powerful than the latter. They are all-purpose.

Marionette

(+7 influence, +4 control base)

Marionettes are more powerful than puppets, as they are all stringed puppets with powerful gossamer light within them. They are for long-term control.

Doll

(+1 influence baser)

A doll is any kind of doll. They are not used for long-term control, but brief control and sympathetic magic (for instance, pins stuck in them to cause pain). Dolls can be "awakened" like automata and allowed to act independently of the puppeteer, working as servants, slaves, and soldiers of the user.

Automata

Automata are machines, dolls, homunculi, statues, or other figures that puppeteers can awaken and use as servants, slaves, or soldiers. These range from golems to gargoyles to mechanoids to living statues, special figures, and so on.

Methodology

Puppeteers must establish a connection between their puppets and their targets. The most common way to do this is to take a bit of hair, a tooth, a drop of blood, a fingernail, or some other part of the person and place it in the puppet. Other ways include making extremely realistic simulcra of the target, making puppets that look shockingly like them. Or they can use metaphysical tools to make such a connection, wielding gossamer light to connect the puppet to the target. Or they can use experiential mimicry (put the puppet through something the target went through, place them in parallel locations--both in a bath, for example--etc.) or other methods. The most powerful is the metaphysical connection, then physical.

Targets

The puppeteer can have a specific target (which is common) or a general target (any nearby soldier, all the men in an area, someone under five foot tall). For the latter, they may only influence the target. For the former, they can take direct control of the target. Targeting multiple people becomes much harder very quickly than one at a time.

Influence

(+1 difficulty base)

Influencing a target means whispering in their ear, making them see something from the corner of their eye, nudging their thoughts or emotions, etc. A subtle push to get them to do what the puppeteer wants. Though this is often seen as less potent, skilled puppeteers can change the course of history with this skill.

Control

(+10 difficulty base)

Control of a target requires a strong connection between puppet and target. Simple control--forcing a single action upon a target--is used by skilled puppeteers much in the same way influence is. The right action at the right time... More complicated control is possible, but requires much more of the puppeteer's attention, craft, and will. A complicated action requires attention. A series of actions takes time. Controlling multiple people takes enormous will. And permanently enslaving someone requires actively draining a target's WIL.

Enslavement

(+16 difficulty base)

If a puppeteer has a good enough puppet, one with a strong connection to their target, they can enslave the target permanently (or for as long as they like) by using their connection to drain the WIL of the target and replace it with their own. A skilled puppeteer will be able to essentially turn a target into an automaton, one who serves the puppeteer without even direct application of will. The process of draining WIL is done by invocation of the power of gossamer light by placing a special gossamer string into a puppet via a specially carved spot, one carved with a knife made of quicktitanium.

Draining

(+13 difficulty base)

Once someone is enslaved, the puppeteer can drain characteristics, thoughts, emotions, metaphysical qualities, memories, skills, health and other things from the target into their marionette (never a mere puppet).

Reversal

A target of any kind of puppetry can reverse the connection and take over the puppeteer if they are powerful enough. They must be aware of the connection and act before the connection is broken, hence why long-term control is very dangerous and influence is brief and safer. Anyone can reverse the connection simply by succeeding exceptionally at an AWA and WIL roll when targeted, or they can do so via special rituals, vision-quests, or tools if they control lasts long enough.

Webs

The most powerful tool of a puppeteer is a web, a net made entirely of gossamer light. To create a web, a puppeteer must use a marionette to steal the souls of at least six slaves. Once the souls are taken, they must be bound in gossamer light, then processed by a series of rituals that require the enslavement and murder of an equal number of targets. Once the rituals are complete, the puppeteer must burn the marionette in hellfire and capture the smoke in a bottle full of gossamer light, which they then bury under a crossroads for nine days and nine nights. After this time, if they dig up the jar, it will have a web of fine infernal gossamer in it. This web can be attached to any set of puppets or marionettes and allow the puppeteer to control people by the dozens for long periods of time.

Aura

As puppeteers steal characeristics, souls, etc. from their targets, they develop evil auras of gossamer light and other infernal energies that protect them. They can intentionally feed these auras and become very powerful, or they can transfer the auras to jewels in brooches and store them for later, give them to others to use, etc.

Poison

Puppeteers are well known for their use of poisons to weaken the wills of their targets. They often use dolls to distribute poisons.

Stats

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

PRO /
ATH +1
STR /
AWA +7
WIL +7
STH +3
PRS +6