Some Batman Villain
Archillious did come out a little like Joker in that he’s always smiling and can be an utter psychopath. He has an odd level of charm too, but that might also come from his habit of saying whatever he has to for survival. He developed a habit of occasionally talking in the third person too and there’s always an adjective in there. For example: the great Archillious, the cunning Archillious, the tender Archillious, etc. His ego shot so far off the chart from the beginning that it caught me off-guard. It also set the stage for everything he does.
The actual abilities of Archillious are a secret of War of Nytefall: Lost, but I can say he’s very dangerous. He’s not a vampire either. He is what is called an Utukku, which is a Sumerian spirit that escaped the underworld. Well, that’s what it is in our world, but I used it for something else this time. Upon birth, the womb-born have the ability to charm mortals and use them as servants. This power vanishes when they gain their three abilities and the Utukku are typically released. There is a side-effect, which is that these mortals gain superhuman strength and endurance. Imagine what would happen if a young Dawn Fang had an army of these. Worse, what would happen if one of the Utukku decided to lead the others on a campaign? Well, wonder no more because that’s what happens in the book.
I will talk about the goal for Archillious, which is rather simple. He was promised to be turned into a vampire by Lost, who didn’t know what she was promising. Being raised by mortals, Lost didn’t understand the concept, but Archillious requested the power anyway because he felt he deserved it. His goal is to figure out where she went and get her to made good on the promise. Seems pretty simple, but he’s after a fairly elusive target. Not to mention his path is going to cross with Clyde and Xavier, which isn’t going to go smoothly when all those egos clash. The scary thing is that Archillious comes off as more vicious and brutal than the vampires, which makes the prospect of him being turned a frightening one.
Now for the game version . . . He was around for a single session of a live action role-playing game. Archillious and Clyde were hired by a friend to take out a local bad guy who was billed as the main villain of the game. Things went horribly pretty quickly when Archillious decided that he liked the other side more, so he betrayed everyone. The friend (a high level character used for at least a year) was lost and the ‘good guys’ were left in disarray by this one act. It was an utter disaster to the point where the player refused to use the character again and doesn’t like being reminded of him. Before you ask, I’ve talked to him about this and promised to keep Archillious an utter bastard. On the plus side, he’ll always have Nimby. This all means that the only thing I had to work with is that Archillious had to be a villain and a jerk. I’ve started with worse.
Due to his single use, I don’t have a story for Archillious. I will mention that the guy who played him was truly dedicated to the hobby. Near the end of the LARP, the vampire hideout was assaulted by a band of hunters. Word had leaked about this being a massacre ending, so most of the players decided not to show up. So, the few of us who marched to our deaths were outnumbered. One of the hunters was played by Archillious and he was the first one we killed in the gunfight. I guess he was told to make it a good death scene and he saw that he was in front of a couch. Nobody expect him to hurl himself over the couch and hit the wall. The game had to stop for a moment to check him (he was fine) and give him some applause.
Reframing Publishing Success
Legends of Windemere 