Kyriaki
Dark Phoenix
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Codify an item established in rp.
Image Source: Screenshot from TOR.
Canon Link: N/A.
Permissions: N/A.
Primary Source: N/A.
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Sibylla Laskaris.
Affiliation: Tephrike.
Market Status: Closed-Market
Model: Brand of Humility and Rightful Obedience
Modularity: Pain setting can be modulated.
Production: Limited
Material: Blood, alchemised reagents and ink.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Inflicts a permanent, alchemised brand on the wearer. Can be applied anywhere, though a Sith is best advised to mark their victim's face both because that's the most visible spot...and makes it the most difficult to remove.
- It burns. The pain inflicted by the brand can be modulated by the alchemist. But it always burns.
- At the same time, it marks the recipient as a 'favoured' slave. One who cannot be casually harassed and punished without their controller's input. For this slave is 'trusted' and 'favoured'.
- Similar to a blood trail, applying the brand allows a Force-User trained in its use to 'mark' a target and thereby track them through the blood mark. This is used to prevent valuable slaves and prisoners from escaping their leash. The brand also causes the recipient physical pain.
- Permanent. The brand won't come off, even if for some reason the recipient say scours the flesh from their face or wherever it was applied, it will still burn. Theoretically, it is possible to remove it by excising the marked body part instead of simply burning it, as it just seeps into an area. So limb removal is able to get rid of it...if it wasn't applied on the victim's face.
- Strong blasts of Force light can destroy the rune, as the brand is a construct of the dark side, freeing the recipient from the mark. However, the brand does not go quietly, and so its destruction is painful for the slave. If the highest pain setting was used for the brand, there is a serious health risk.
- Voidstone and ysalamiri will disrupt the effects of the brand, including the controller's ability to track the recipient.
When a Sith of the Disciples of the Vader wishes to 'reward' a slave for their obedience and diligence they apply the Brand of Humility and Rightful Obedience, nicknamed the Brand of Castigation. It requires a drop of blood from the alchemist and - if they are not identical - the slave's controller. Sith sorcery swears by blood. Typically it is smeared over the slave's face, as that is the best area to apply the brand. Then the alchemist must stamp the slave on whichever area the brand should be applied to. The face is preferred since it marks the slave for everyone to say, but other options such as the wrist are also valid. To this end they employ a shaped metal template that has been alchemised.
If it is laid on say the blood-smeared cheek and draws upon the sorcerous arts, black ink comes out of the shaped metal. The ink proceeds to leach under the slave's skin, looking like black worms are burrowing their way in. The process is very painful and deeply uncomfortable for the slave, for it burns. The alchemist can modulate how much, but even on the lowest powered version the brand will burn - and never stop burning even after the shaped metal is removed.
It is unwise to touch the brand, since that hurts. The brand will never come off, even if the slave scours the affected flesh, it will still burn. The slave is expected to get used to it in time. Strong blasts of Force light can obviously disrupt or destroy the brand, but this is very painful for the slave...and potentially very dangerous. As it has been created through Sith alchemy, the brand has a dark side presence and thus can be felt through the Force.
The brand is a 'reward', after a fashion. A slave thus marked is among the 'favoured'. These are slaves who have progressed to being placed in positions of authority over lesser slaves. They are typically found in managerial roles. The mark means they cannot be casually beaten or murdered by Vaderite thugs. But they are also marked as property, always in pain to varying degrees...and, crucially, marked as collaborators for the Imperium's enemies.
A slave who betrayed a slave revolt because they knew it was futile and feared for their family being murdered in a 'reprisal' may be rewarded by being given the mark and placed in a position of authority, say by managing the labour force of a plantation. Now they are free of the shock collar and relatively privileged, as they receive superior rations and accommodations and a small degree of authority and some freedom of movement. But they are always in pain, can always be tracked and monitored by their master and rebels will have marked them for death. The rune is a construct of the Force, so the Republican Guard will consider them tainted, and it is an artefact of the dark side, so they are also suspect in the eyes of the Dominion of Light.
Furthermore, it allows the controller to track the slave in a manner akin to a Nightsister blood trail. Some Disciples tell their slave that the brand enables them to read their thoughts. This is untrue...for now. Sibylla is working on adding this feature.
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