Spondee Trochee
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Blackweb former Operative | |
| Spondee Amphibrach Trochee | |
| Origin: | Magic |
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| Archetype: | Corruptor |
| Threat Level: | Confidential |
| Identity | |
| Real Name: | Highly guarded secret |
| Known Aliases: | Spondee, The Yellow Man, The Yellow Crusader, The Jaundiced Preacher, Gramps |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Acolyte/crusader/missionary |
| Place of Birth: | North Carolina |
| Base of Operations: | Classified |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Mother: Susanna Weaver Father: Joseph Drummer. Grand-relative: Eliza Callahan Other relatives include children, grandchildren and more. Gods: He Whose Name Is Not To Be Spoken, The Lurker At The Threshold |
| Physical Data | |
| Species: | Humanoid |
| Age: | 171 |
| Height / Weight : | 7'1" / ? |
| Eye / Hair Color: | Blue/Glowing Yellow / Shaved, naturally faded blond |
| Known Powers | |
| Eldritch Chanting, Blessings of the King in Yellow, Curses of the King in Yellow, Inter-dimensional Travel, immortality. | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Incredibly agile, chanting causes severe damage to objects that cannot understand his tongue, able to teleport himself and others, something called the "Taint"? Seems like something out of a horror novel.... | |
| Equipment | |
| Nothing. Really. He's just got a set of acolyte's robes and some tattoos. He has no physical weaponry. | |
| It's odd. He's either killing people or blessing them. He's like a bipolar priest. | |
| Updated: 10/10/2010 - Player: @Hostile V | |
"I've kissed, I've killed. I drove men to madness and cured the ill. I killed Nazis and Confederates and Vietcong. I killed Mormons and missionaries and people I've never known. I've had sons and daughters and taken others. Just another day to me. *laughs* Gods bless immortality."
--Supposed quotation from Spondee regarding his work
Contents |
The Man In Yellow
Those who laugh at his name do not laugh long. Those who laugh at his Gods cower in fear and beg for mercy. Those who earn his respect find themselves blessed with power and love beyond imagination. He who serves the Yellow King, and to a lesser extent The Gate And The Key. Spondee Trochee is a man of incredible faith and power, yet a humble servant and kind man. So why's he serving Recluse and Scorpion? Here's one researchers attempt to make sense of this man's life.
Heritage
Abridged documentation from a diary found in the library at Miskatonic University:
Susanna Wilson was the son of Father Jacob, a Protestant priest in the town of Bangor. Joseph Walker was man gifted with rhythm and played the drums for musical festivals and dances. And they met under the light of the yellow harvest moon in October at the All Hallow's Eve dance. The fourteen year-old Susanna and the fifteen year-old Joseph fell hard for each other, constantly seeing each other despite Jacob's dislike of the boy. In a fit of passion, Susanna and Joseph ran away from Bangor to be with each other, prompting Jacob to disown his daughter. Following the railroad tracks that took the lumber away from the town, they settled in the city of Arkham. Susanna became a seamstress and steadily supported herself and Joseph, who tried his hand at hunting. But one day Joseph returned home in a complete state of shock and awe. He was hunting deer in Billington's Wood when he came across a small enclave of Indians sacrificing a deer.
To his horror, a monstrous creature composed of glowing orbs came forth from the sacrificial alter. The thing talked to the Indians before turning its mass to Joseph. It commanded him to leave Arkham and go farther south. There, hidden in the mountains of North Carolina, he would find an commune of people who would grant Susanna and Joseph eternal life and a son of unimaginable power. Leaving Arkham, they trekked through the forests of the Appalachian Mountains. Almost dying of starvation and dehydration, they eventually found what they sought: The Servants of The King. That January, under the gaze of the elders and the Gods themselves, they performed the ritual of fertility and Susanna became pregnant with their son.
Birth and Servitude
Born in late October of 1837 under the sickly gaze of the yellow moon, NAME CENSORED was brought into the world under the care of the King's Servants. The young child was raised to be a servant to the King, raised to be humble and polite. He grew older. The young man learned the guitar and developed a soft, haunting singing voice. He learned the prayers of The Elder Tongue, reciting them daily. He learned the songs of praise, singing to the King in Yellow and the King's father, The Gate and The Key. The young man reads the books of his Gods, mastered their language and rituals. And when the time was right, it was his turn to produce a son on the eve of his sixteenth birthday. Now a man, he was allowed to choose his own name. His love of poetry and rhymes led him to choose the name Spondee Amphibrach Trochee, and when the time was right Spondee was given one last task. He was to return to the place where the bubble god prophesied his conception and invoke him.
Spondee followed his father's steps, returned to Billington's Wood and sacrificed a deer to the great God Yog-Sothoth. For his faith, he was given wisdom and strength. His prayers could bless or curse, and was allowed an audience with his King. Brought through The Gate by The Key, he bowed at the feet of The King.
-Here is where the diary breaks off. It's not clear what happens; it just ends abruptly. Story continues from recorded events that seem to involve this enigmatic figure.-
Recorded Sights
Letter from Sergeant Michael Louis to his wife, Alexandra
That day we had advanced into the camps of those Confederate dogs. Much to the surprise of me and the boys, it was dead silent, corpses littering the ground. All of their cannons and horses remained, but the camp was in ruins. Bless my soul dear Alexandra, I did not want to be in that camp on that day. But we were in need of provisions and ammunition, and Johnson had seen the camp on the horizon. My dearest, the tents were cut to shreds from gunfire within the tents. And yet the animals lived, unharmed by the one-sided exchange. I heard Johnson cry from the hilltop with grim news. He found one of the snakes hiding in the well. Guns drawn, we hoisted the traitor into the light. He reeked of death and decay, completely mad. He babbled about a tall specter of a man, face gaunt and eyes blazing with yellow hell-fire. When the Confederates opened fire on the soul, he uttered a single word that drove the men into a frenzy. Many tore at their own faces and bodies; others collapsed on the spot. A few turned tail and ran like madmen into the forest, wailing and weeping. The soldier in the well begged for us to kill him for one reason: the word he heard him speak. I closed my eyes as Johnson obliged the damned man. What hath God wrought on these men?
Record From a Mormon Community, Utah
Mary spoke of a tall man riding into town on a horse. Now John and I thought this to be queer, and we intercepted a few of the men down at the mines for support in case it was a trick from the Injuns. He rode a large horse that stank of sickness, its yellowed mane fraying. It was obvious the poor creature was on its last legs. He spoke kindly to John and I in a southern accent we could not place. The circumstances of the encounter was odd. The man seemed kind yet sinister, clad in black robes fringed with yellow. Morris and I came to the conclusion that he must have been separated from the other Spanish missionaries, and we pointed him to the trail to the California territories. He purchased another horse from Randolph, gave Mary a queer book and bade us good day. So polite but so....dark. John wants me to read the book before Mary sets eyes on it. "The King in Yellow". Looks to be a play. If it is suitable, we could perform it next spring for the community.
Incident at Santa Corona
A convent of nuns in Northern California were found to have been impregnated by an unknown force. Claiming that they did not know the father, the priests and monks rejoiced at the mass immaculate conception. The nuns were treated like royalty.....until they gave birth all on the same day. Five months earlier than normal. The children produced by the sisters proved to be creatures of indescribable horror with writhing tendrils that caused everything they touched to wither and die. The nuns were executed and the progeny were rounded up by the monks and sealed in an abandoned mine in Oregon. The only hint to their parentage was a cheerful, polite missionary who had been seen in the woods with a man hidden in robes and masked with silk. Neither of the two were ever found.
Other Sights
The list goes on from the late 1800's up until the 1980's. Spondee was seen all throughout the American southwest, turning up in different locations and causing mayhem and odd events wherever he was seen. He donated books to missionaries that caused all of the children who read them to be stricken blind and speak in tongues. He was found healing people as a shaman in Nevada and was later chased away by a lynch mob. He was spotted selling maps to settlers heading west who would set up new towns that would develop very different religions. The man even told prospectors about an abandoned mine in Oregon full of gold.
But he has been seen with a kind side. He's been found in hospitals curing entire wings of people infected with the Spanish Flu and other ailments. He was arrested twice for smuggling immigrants past the eyes of Ellis Island. He was even encountered by Nazi forces who were left in the same state as the Confederate soldiers. Spondee may not have ever returned to the Servants, but that does not mean his work is done.
So What Is He?
Spondee has been blessed by Yog-Sothoth and *name obscured*. He serves the latter primarily, paying no attention to anything else if they conflict with his orders. In his spare time he spreads the word of the Elder Gods and Great Old Ones, or is seen playing his guitar on street corners. He's not human anymore, but that doesn't mean he doesn't love men less fortunate than he. If he has not duties for Arachnos or his King, he will dedicate time to helping others.
Appearance
"I've only grown my hair out three times. When I was young, when I spied on the Nazis for the Allies and when I fell in with a group of *cough* free-loving hippies. They shaved my head for Vietnam, and I'll be damned if that changes."
--Recorded comment.
Physically, he's very tall, thin and ghostly pale. Spondee wears black robes fringed with yellow and yellow sash that keeps his robe in place, feet wrapped in black cloth. He shaves his head ritualistically, and covers most of his face with a yellow mask said to be cut from the robes of his King. Without his robes, he's adorned in black tattoos from head to heels.
Spondee is a natural blond, but shows disgust at his hair color and prefers to shave his head daily. He tends to describe his hair color as "Aryan".
When relaxing, he takes the form of a bald, tattooed man with a pair of tinted green shades.
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Powers
Spondee possesses some of the most powerful abilities bestowed to mortals by the Great Old Ones. As an acolyte, he can speak the Elder Tongue perfectly and uses this as a weapon. With his words, he can cause madness, brain damage or simply kill. On the other hand, as a missionary he wields the Blessings of the King in Yellow, but conversely will use the Taint to weaken foes. In addition to future tutelage under Yog-Sothoth, he uses trans-dimensional travel as a means to get around large areas and must frequently sacrifice to the Hounds of Tinadalos to keep them from attacking.
Personality
All accounts of his behavior are consistent. Spondee is soft-spoken, often cheerful, and always polite and humble. Despite his actions, he always presents himself in a neutral light and provides a shoulder to cry on or ears to hear cries of despair. He refers to his friends as "Brother" or "Sister". His accent is described as Southern that seems to be tainted with some unknown inflection. But don't be fooled: a killer and a fiend hide under the robes. And very occasionally his eyes ignite with a sickly yellow haze and....something speaks through him.
Spondee occasionally engages in drug use. He has a strong dislike of marijuana (claims it brings back bad memories) and prefers mild hallucinogens like peyote or mescaline, but will only partakes in a safe, spiritual environment. Most of the time if he's drinking something, it's either Mello Yello or coffee. He claims he only likes to drink at special events, such as weddings.
Associates
Most of those who he associates himself with tend to be villains, especially his fellow members of Blackweb. But he has made peace with some heroes. He has a strong friendship with Americandy and is often seen talking with her, giving her advice and listening to her problems. He's shown a -very- tender side towards Mistress Mar, and is searching for a way to give her immortality so he won't have to grieve for another wife. When socializing he tends to talk to people who intrigue him.
Spondee does have family. His mother and father still live, but he doesn't see them because they remain in North Carolina. He's been married twice, had a total of six children (one of which he disowned for falling in with a cult for Cthulhu) who in turn have had kids who had kids. He will occasionally talk to his relatives, but finds himself on rocky ground with his great-great-great-grandchildren, especially after one shot him, thinking he was a burglar. The one grandchild he still talks to is Eliza Callahan. They suffer from a strained relationship due to the fact that her great-great-great-grandfather was the first bounty hunter of the supernatural, which he tries to mend mainly because he knew her relative.
Stories
1 - Making a Point
Influences
The character of Spondee stemmed from my love of the Lovecraft mythos. Originally intending to be the cliched "whiny, ultra-religious priest", Spondee grew into something else. A dash of patriot, a heaping amount of neutral observer, a bit of divinely lead purpose and all of the redeeming qualities of Randall Flagg help make up who this toon has become.
