Treacherous Smiler

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"A treacherous smiler"

"With teeth white as milk,"

"A savage beguiler"

"In sheathings of silk,"

- "Sea Lullaby" by Elinor Wylie

Beginnings

The story as it seems to be known starts with one Conrad Dimmesdale, a burgeoning occultist operating out of the Nerva Archipelago and his covetous desires, a tale truly as old as time. Dimmesdale had gotten the taste of power from his first successful dalliances into the world of the occult in 1952, and wanted more...fame, recognition, and above all else power! He scoured over all the greats: Agrippa, Crowley, Lévi, and countless others. He spared no expense importing first edition tomes, and obscure text and implements, and yet despite hours of perfecting the sigils and rehearsing the incantations...nothing...not even a flash or a stray spark from the candles. His pride wounded and his thirst yet to be slacked, he continued his forays into the occult, this time with more...obscure texts. Ever more of his fortune going into this unhealthy obsession of his. However, something always went wrong, adding to his desperation. Desperate urges requiring desperate measures...he snuck himself into the sunken city Oranbega, where long dead wizard-kings and their demonic servants held the key to more potent, and far darker rites.

Thorn Isle, home to the Thorn Tree and one of the many entrances to Oranbega.

On a small wooden boat, he rowed to the island where their fetid tree grew like a malignant tumor from the Earth, and entered the crumbling stone ruins beneath the surface.

Behaviors

Faces of Fear

The entity known as the Treacherous Smiler is an elusive shapeshifter, whether it is difficult to say if his true form has been seen, his most common forms seem to draw on fears and nightmares of others. With what could potentially be his "true form" (whether it is or not is up for debate) bearing many similarities to a twisted monochromatic clown. Seeing as the entity's true name is unknown, these forms are often referred to by the fear that they seem to reflect. The known forms of the entity are as follows:

The Fool

Coulrophobia

coul·ro·pho·bi·a

/ˌkōlrəˈfōbēə,ˌkälrəˈfōbēə/

Noun

An extreme or irrational fear of clowns.

- Oxford English Dictionary

Standing at a looming

The Stranger

Scopophobia

sco·po·pho·bi·a

/skō′pə-fō′bē-ə/

Noun

An extreme or irrational fear of being stared at or observed.

- Collins English Dictionary

The Doll

The Drowned Man

Thalassophobia

tha·las·so·pho·bi·a.

/Placeholder/

Noun

An extreme or irrational fear of deep bodies of water such as the sea, oceans, pools, or lakes.

- Placeholder

Nature of the Beast

The creature has demonstrated a few capabilities of itself in the time it's been roaming the Isles, although exact details become murky from account to account, these are what have been gathered by those looking into this creature, such as M.A.G.I.

• Shapeshifting

• Dream Manifestation

• Feasting The creature

Tools of the Waking World

For the abilities it's shown, the entity is not without it's banes: instruments of hope to stave off the beast and stop it for a bit of time while it recovers in it's pocket realm.

Trivia

• As a big fan of horror and inspired by podcasts like The Magnus Archives, the thought of playing a character based on fear and dreams would be a lot of fun. The eventual theme of dream feasting is what led to the power combination of Dark Control/Psionic Assault spinning the fear and holds of the set as dream-like or nightmarish manifestation, not quite there, but still with some hold as well as the drain psyche of Psionic Assault furthering the vibe I wanted for TS.

• In addition to The Magnus Archives, inspirations for this character include NiGHTS (particularly in design), Pennywise, Dream the Endless, and Upside Down Man (Of Justice League Dark Fame) to name a few.