Queen of the Orphic

[Sophia Van Gongorei]

Name: Sophia Van Gongorei

Age: The exact age is unknown, but her recorded history dates back several centuries. Yet she looks no more than a woman in her mid 20’s

Appearance: Sophia is a woman with a moderately slim build and an exceptionally refined taste. Her body is particularly curvy, and her attire is typically black, with some gemstone accessories and ornaments to further accentuate her features, as any Empress should. She is nearly always donning some cape or flowing garment, a receipt of her former identity and stature. Sophia is tall for a typical woman, standing about 5'10 in her heels. She is a whopping 6'3. She always has on her heels whether she is addressing her followers or driving a knife into the heart of an enemy—her most notable trait.

Pillars: Sophia once belonged to the former Shinobi alliance, which had been wiped out some time ago. In defense of her homeland, she fought vigorously against the Horsemen but was ultimately defeated when she was banished from Vescrutia to another dimension. She spent two centuries imprisoned, which in Vescrutia Time was little more than four years. She cannot recall her former life. Yet this uncanny sense of grief and regret plagues her every second of every day. She yearns for some release, freedom, and murder help.

Central Pillar: Something has summoned her back from this realm. It has given her a promise. One she would see kept. Has an agenda. Failure is not an option. To disrespect her is to ask for a merciless death. Each kill brings her power—the host of a powerful dark entity.

Contrast Pillar: Having spent the better half a century wrestling for dominance of her soul, Sophia is more or less unhinged. Her mood fluctuates often and is highly sadistic. The insidious being that has infiltrated her body is constantly trying to usurp her for control over her being. It wants nothing more than to become the absolute ruler of all things. Sophia subconsciously once yearned for the same; however, those ambitions led to the total genocide of a tribe of Vescrutians who once revered her as a Goddess of Death. Guilt she has never learned to live with.

The force of this guilt was significant enough to attract this entity to her, who discovered her true nature and now seeks to open the portal to its world once more, where it plans to unleash its imprisoned brethren to bring death and subjugation to all Vescrutia. Starting with the remainder of the Maru bloodline. Sophia has been able to suppress it to the extent of maintaining sovereignty over her consciousness. However, she cannot deny the venomous rage and ambition to dominate and kill that this creature vehemently pumps through her veins.

To build the power and name she would need to flourish, she spent years gathering followers and now runs a femme fatale order of assassins known as the Daughters of Nyx, of which it’s Goddess: The Lowly one, Nyx name she has taken for her own and serves at its central pillar and founder. Their creed, “The price of freedom...is Blood.”

Active Pillar: The curse she carries has inverted Sophia's perceptions and desires and brings out the utmost negative within her. Still, she outwardly maintains a calm, cool, albeit cruel demeanor. She still shows love and tenderness to her “Daughters'' but has no respect or patience for men. They are all toys to her. Lesser beings at best. She detests the notion of love for them. All this is because she has an unprecedented desire to see one man groveling beneath her stiletto heel. Zero Venkage. She can’t pinpoint where this need for his death begins or ends. Something tells her this one alone has the power to impede her ambitions: Freedom foremost and the eventual rise of a Dynasty all her own. For now, she bids her time amassing power and influence. Though soon…she will mobilize.

Crossing Pillar: Ikki(Sophia’s Daughter)

Anthem: Queen of the Orphic: The corruption of her soul has transformed Sophia into a being of smoke and darkness. An Orphic. Formerly a powerful Fae, her nature now seeks to spread the same scourge onto others. This power can be used in many ways and has many different applications. The most frightening, however, is her ability to corrupt the naten of others and transform them into Orphics. She can produce vast amounts of this plague and can control the potency, thickness, shape, density, and toxicity of this essence, making her one of the most versatile and deadliest of killers. Sophia is highly resistant to toxins and manipulates the toxicity of the smoke by infusing it with various chemical concoctions.

Passive Traits

Superhuman speed: Sophia is unnaturally fast. She can control her density and make herself as light as air. She can use her wind naten to sense the airwaves and make her body less resistant to air currents.

Flexibility: Sophia is double-jointed and nimble. Her grace and finesse in movements are sultry and slick. She is not easily trapped.

Old World Wisdom: Sophia is an ancient and wise being. She has seen the times and ages come and go and learned many things along the way. She has watched and even participated in some world-changing events, which grants her a vast wealth of experience and knowledge. Much of this has been lost to her because of her sealing.

Opulent Will: Sophia is practically Dogmatic regarding her whims and desires. She does not know “no” and will have all she wants. That is her reality, and she carries a will strong enough to make it the reality of others through words or force.

Ancient Occultist: Tapping into the demonic spirit within her as a medium, she can communicate and forge pacts with beings from the Low Realm. The demons have various power levels and abilities; however, they also bear their agenda and sentience the higher rank of being they are. The most powerful always ask for the heftiest price.

She has forged several pacts with lesser beings that did not require much of her. This means that despite the pact, she could bind them under her command with her anthem. One that resisted her nature would be her guardian, “The Black Night,” an old being who did not reside within the nether initially but was trapped there eons ago, like her. This being is never in plain sight and will manifest whenever her life seems to be in danger. They never leave her side unless instructed to do so.

Martial specialist- Despite her overwhelming talent as a caster, Sophia has spent years studying and mastering several hand-to-hand combat styles. Though she does not carry innate bone-crushing force, she can adeptly blend corporal and incorporeal energies to enhance her blows, allowing her to strike hard, fast, and unseen.

Crest of GolGrim- Right before she was summoned to this world, Sophia had found an ancient artifact. A rune with an otherworldly hue. She had this gem crest embedded in a headpiece she always had on her. The crest bestows upon one who can resonate with its magics a significant boost to their stamina. One of her goals is to find the origins of this crest.

Tech

The Nether's Scion: Sophia's power is tethered to the realm from which the entity infested her originates. It is a lawless place of hatred, darkness, and negative energy that acts as a prison for some of the most insidious of beings. Her connection to this place gives her the power of Entropic magic and the ability to "consume" death. Or, more specifically, the regrets and negative energy the soul harbored at death. She can use this power to heal wounds and magnify her physical powers. The amount of energy is relative to the amount she consumes.

Veil of the Ebon Matriarch: A spell almost constantly active on her person. Sophia manifests her Shadowy, smog-like essence around her like a dark violet veil that layers upon her garments. She can harden it like a shield or manipulate its form for offense.

Garden of Necrefa: Sophia creates a domain of smoke that she can manipulate at will. She can also use this smog as a sensory device, picking up the most subtle movements within it.

Wave of Onyx: Sophia gathers her essence in her hand and can release highly condensed waves of smoke for slicing. Its density and sharpness are in tandem with the amount of naten used to craft them.

Pestilence: Sophia exudes a noxiously intoxicating mixture of smoke and concentrated dark energy. The smoke inhaled carries that command to corrupt the naten of all who inhale it. While her essence resides in a being, they are subjugated to her whims. The stronger the will, the more naten she must expend.

Tools: Piercer of Realms: A spear she had fashioned from the fang and spine of a SilverMane- A swift bipedal feline creature said to be one of the Apexes of the Nether. Silvermanes have unprecedented naten control and often use their spine to condense and regulate significant quantities of naten. They usually infused their fangs, which increased their piercing power and sharpness. Using the fangs of Father Mane, she faced and had the spine reinforced with a gorgeous silver alloy that smooths out naten currents, she fashioned a spear that is said to be so sharp it can pierce through dimensions. (Not literally) Sophia can channel her essence through this spear and use it as a conduit for her Orphic abilities.

Ar’Ratheus: Named after the Black Hydra, she beasted in the Nether Arena. Its carcass was her reward. What was exceptional about this kill was not the diamond-like durability of its scales; it was their uncanny glare. The pattern of the scales uses a mixture of black, violet, and fuchsia patterns to create a slightly hypnotic effect that only impacts significantly weaker beings. This is but a bi-product. Those patterns carry a neurotoxin in them. It disrupts the neural pathways' ability to transmute, making the victim feel lethargic. Having had these scales fashioned into an armor-like garment set, I noticed tiny sharp barbs on the outside of it in the event she is physically touched.