Marcus+Ganesh = GodlingMarcus is a good chess player, but how's his endgame?
Appearance:His appearance is going to change. Hoo, boy.
In the newbie stage, four things will be most apparent:
The nose - The nose is going to grow way beyond any human standard. Becoming long, tubelike and floppy, it will be long enough to cover and touch the bottom of his chin, similar to that of a
tapir. He won't have anything but slight reflexive control over it (twitching or motions during a state of shock, digust, anger, etc).
The ears - the ears would become larger, though not huge, and more fanlike. Approximately the size of your average human palm.
The weight - heavy weight is a distinctive trait of Ganesh (in fact, anthropologists and historians get help identifying date and region of statues based on his stomach size). In the newbie stage, Marcus would become what bullies would call "the fat kid." His clothes would fit. Barely.
Skin colour - his skin would become slightly more red, like the second picture above; it would be as if he had a mild sun burn all the time.
Prophet Stage: More of the same.
The nose - the nose would grow longer and begin to become prehensile. Overall, it would be 18-22" or so long, enough to touch his wrist with his arms outstretched. The nose would begin to have tattoos.
The ears - the ears would grow larger and become like fleshy asian fans.
The weight - Marcus would increase in weight some, very much to the point of no longer fitting his old clothes. At this point he would no longer wear a shirt anyway but loose vests, due to his Helping Hands ability.
Helping Hands - see prophet stage ability by the same name.
Skin colour - his skin colour would deepen to a heavy magenta-like tone.
Cultist Stage: More!
The Nose - the nose would lengthen, to the point where, if stretched, he could touches his knees while standing easily. Strong tattoo markings cover the trunk and the space between his eyes, which would increase.
His ears - would remain the same.
The weight - would increase slightly, to the point you see in most representations of Ganesh.
Skin colour - finally, his skin would become an unmistakable crimson red.
Powers: - Under heavy construction.
Ganesh has powers that overcome obstacles, to create obstacles, or hide or find information. He is also the patron deva of Aum, the sound of creation. He can do little that is directly offensive.
Newbie powersKnock - Knock grants power over simply locks, latches, and other fastenings. Marcus can lock/unlock or fasten/unfasten simple things by touch. He could bypass a padlock, but nothing as complex as a computer-operated lock. It can cause things to become done or undone. Technically speaking, he would be able to zip, buckle, or button things without touching them.
Divination - This is a complicated power; one that grows through the stages. As simply put as possible, Marcus meditates to learn information. He must sit and meditate undisturbed for a duration of time relevant to the difficulty of obtaining the information. At the newbie stage, it might take Marcus ten minutes to find the nearest establishment that is advertising for work - information that might be common knowledge anyway. It might take him a half hour to know the name of the person he spoke to a few days before. It would take him a couple hours to discern the location of someone whom he knows. Furthermore, this ability allows him to read minds, albeit minimally. The longer he focuses on someone, the more he knows what's going on in their head. At the newbie stage he can't do much. After a couple minutes of intent focusing, he would be able to tell generally what the person's short term goals are, and vague at that. The fact that a person is searching, or searching for someone, isn't all that helpful without knowing the context of who the person is or why they are searching for them. At prophet and cultist levels, Divination comes more quickly to Marcus, finding more facts easier and more quickly.
Easy Path / Hard Path - movement can have many pitfalls, or it might not. That depends on Marcus. Easy path overcomes simple obstacles you may face while moving. It clears containers/clutter out of the way a few inches, makes you step over potholes or other things to trip you, or finds/creates ways to get over gaps and walls. Crates at the end of an alley might strangely be stacked like a staircase for you, or a plank might be moved to make a bridge over a 2-3 foot gap between rooftops. If one didn't know better, they could assume it was good luck.
Hard path does the opposite: it makes travel difficult, put things in the way, creates potholes to trip in and generally make life miserable. Overall, a combination of the two would make running away or chasing someone down easy; Marcus' physical ability couldnt take much more.
Prophet PowersHelping Hands - As we all know, Ganesh has four arms. However, it will be more complex for Marcus. Marcus will not grow another set of arms - but he /would think/ he had. From the average person's perspective, Marcus would have two hands. However, Ganesh is projecting another set of hands in his mind. Marcus would see and feel a second set of arms below his own, at the bottom of the rib cage. EXCEPT for pain, which he cannot feel with them, he can touch, move and use objects just like normal hands. What's really going on is that he will gain minor telekinetic powers, that will act as his hands. Visually and sensually having two hands is easier for the mind to process. If one were to watch Marcus even read a book with them, one could see it floating in air and turning pages by itself. He would be using his hands. As a downside, though, this makes most "two arm" clothing very uncomfortable, trapping his imaginary arms. Because of this, he must wear loose shawls and vests to overcome.
Divination - Increases its potency.
Beacons - simply put, he can track chosen objects. Marcus can choose objects by touching them, and know generally where they are and who is holding them. If they become broken, they cease to function. The magic ceases to function if another godling's powers affect the item.
Knowing is half the Battle - Part of Ganesh's strategy is planning for the future, and having the right tool for the right job at the right time. With his power of knowledge and Aum, Marcus is able to 'distill' newbie powers, with many constraints. When another godling uses a newbie level power in close proximity to Marcus, he can open an airtight container, like a vial or bottle. When he does this, he is able to 'hold' a single copy of that ability in the bottle. The next time that the container is opened, the newbie power is used, regardless of if he wants it to or not. If the container is broken before the spell is used, the spell is destroyed. This ability cannot be used on anything but newbie level powers.
Conceal the Truth - As Marcus bears more and more marks of Ganesh, it will be difficult for him to interact with ordinary city denizens. So much, in fact, that it becomes an obstacle - and herein lies the power. For short periods of time, Marcus can appear to normal human eyes as a normal human, albiet weighty. This only works for an hour or less, before having to maintain the spell or drop it. Other Godlings can see right through it.
Gravity is not an obstacle - The upgrade to easy/hard path frm newbie level, Marcus no longer has to walk on the ground, and can now treat any flat surface as a walking space, like a wall or ceiling. However, while no more physical effort, the more he does it, the more winded and strained he becomes. If he tried to do it for an hour, he would likely collapse and fall to the REAL ground.
Cultist PowersDivination - Increases its potency.
Wormhole - The upgrade from Gravity is not an obstacle. Marcus can create a point to point portal, in a straight line, or within line of sight. For example, he could create a wormhole at one end of a straight three mile street and come out the other, without having to walk it. Alternatively, he can make a wormhole to the top of a building within sight. With the two rules, he can do a lot with Wormhole. "Straight line" lets him go through walls, but it has to be straight. He couldn't, say, go straight, turn two corners, then up an elevator shaft. He can aim the straight line, but he needs to know the endpoint, not the path. Within sight is pretty obvious. If he can see where he wants to end up, there he is. Since sight creates a straight line to the point, it's easier for him to make the wormhole.
Foresight - At all times, Marcus can see a few (about ten) seconds into the future as a slight blur or shadow. With the power of knowledge of hte future, he is better able to dodge incoming attacks, and know where the enemy will be in a moment, if he were to strike with a weapon.
Aum - The sound of creation, the sound that created the universe. Ganesh knows it well. Marcus would use this sparingly, because from the sheer potency of this power, he falls unconscious. The area in ~100 meters around him is filled with the energy of creation. Everything glows brightly for a few moments. Buildings are fixed, objects repaired, even wounds mended. This applies to all - enemies, allies, monsters, summon creatures, or random non-game passerby. Everyone affected feels refreshed, as if they had just woken up from a long rest. Because of the unselective nature of the ability, this could heal enemies who would likely kill him once unconscious. In addition, from the sheer power of the ability, he can not use it more than once every few weeks, at most.
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