The Clockwork Heralds

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Czernobog
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The Clockwork Heralds

Post by Czernobog »

The Clockwork Heralds are a group of beings from another dimension that wish to destroy the possibility of free will. Different members of their faction have different means to achieve this end, but all have the same goal. First a physical and psychological description will come, then a description of their strengths, weaknesses, goals and plans.

The Clockwork Heralds are beings made of well, clockwork. Their general appearance is that of an eight-foot tall angel with wings of feathered steel, powered by elegant reactors in their chests, draining a limited trickle of power from a dimension of infinite energy. Their weapons are swords of twisted reality as close-combat weapons and kinetic-force blasters for ranged attacks. Their angles are very much non-euclidean, and it is thought by some that their appearance in the mortal world is nothing but a small projection into this reality of a higher-dimensional being, a limited 'avatar' so to speak, of a much larger entity.

If the avatar is sufficiently damaged, it self-destructs with the power of a small nuclear explosion, in an attempt to avoid being researched or found out about.

The rank and power of the Clockwork Heralds are determined (or shown) by the type of precious metal that they are made of, from silver (weakest, lowest) to platinum (most powerful, highest). Now, their psychology is centred around the fact that they cannot comprehend free will. They feel no emotion, and their beliefs (if they can be called that) are based around the idea that a deterministic, clockwork universe is perfect and ideal.

Chaotic things, like people, confuse them, and they eternally strive to make them like themselves: logical and ordered. This is because they cannot understand the concept of free will, and they seek to destroy that which they cannot understand. Their plans range from using mind-control devices, to seeking the destruction of the entire universe's population.

They are a hard foe to face in combat, because of several things. For one, they can analyse situations and calculate probabilities perfectly, have weapons beyond the ken of Earth's greatest scientists, and have a shield of twisted reality around them which means that projectile attacks often miss, and also makes them hard to see clearly.

But they have several weaknesses, in some cases very large.

First of all, the same thing that makes it impossible to comprehend free will also makes it impossible to predict improvisation. People who are skilled at improvisation have more of a chance fighting them than those who are not.

Second, the use of probability-manipulating powers, as well as free choice, confuses their sense of probability, which is as innate to them as sight is to humans, and may even blind it in some cases.

Thirdly, they do not understand emotions, which makes it hard to predict the actions of emotional creatures, even with their probability sense. It also makes it futile to try and manipulate them, which is why they often take the direct approach.

Finally, magic is alien to them, and they have little defence against it, making them hate magic almost as much as they hate free will.
You have ruled this galaxy for ten thousand years.
You have little of account to show for your efforts.
Order. Unity. Obedience.
We taught the galaxy these things.

And we shall do so again.
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Shroom Man 777
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Re: The Clockwork Heralds

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

Reminds me of the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who.

Could be useful as simple villain characters, like many of your simple villain characters. Who are all bent on killing things.

However, these winged/whatevered/spike/sword-armed monsters/angels/demons/Germans/things from another dimensions coming to Earth to kill-kill-kill without remorse/mercy/characterization are slowly becoming tedious. Like as if that's all you can write.
If the avatar is sufficiently damaged, it self-destructs with the power of a small nuclear explosion, in an attempt to avoid being researched or found out about.
Meh.
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"Sometimes Shroomy I wonder if your imagination actually counts as some sort of war crime." - FROD
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