Second Entry!

[urbwar]

Decided to do some revising of Melka for the contest. Like The Hunt, I've included a more detailed background, incorporating some of the things discussed in the original thread where I posted her:

Melka the Tooth Maiden

Among the Valadarins (and even Soderins), there is a myth about a being known only as The Tooth Maiden. When a child loses a tooth, their parents tell them to leave it under their pillow at night. While they sleep, the Tooth Maiden comes to them, takes the tooth, and leaves a coin in its place. However, if the child stays awake (disobeying their parents), the Tooth Maiden takes them away, never to be seen again.

While many claim this is just a folk tale, it is actually true. Long ago, there lived a woman named Melka. Melka was young and beautiful, and found herself wedded to a much older man. Her husband was wealthy, and Melka was given anything she wanted. Her husband granted her every wish save one: To give her a child. Melka, for all her beauty, was barren, and would never have a child of her own.

To assuage her despair, she started to spend time with the children of her town. She would buy them sweets, and allow them to play on the grounds of her husband's estate. One day, a child playing on the estate came to her, holding a tooth in her hand. It had come out after the child had fallen down, and hit their chin on a rock. Melka smiled at the child, and gave him a coin in exchange for the tooth.

Soon, all the children in the town would go to Melka when a tooth came out, and she'd give them a coin and some sweets. All the children loved Melka. The adults on the other hand, felt she spent too much time with children not her own, and some suspected she had sinister purposes in mind. This all came to a head one winter, when three children went missing. They had last been seen near the home of Melka and her husband, so the townsfolk armed themselves, and went there. They demanded Melka give back the children, but she proclaimed that she had not seen them. No one believed her, and they stormed the house. Her husband died protecting her, and the townsfolk burned the house with Melka trapped inside. As the flames consumed her, she swore vengeance on the those who killed her, claiming she would take that which was most precious to them.

Later that day, the children turned up unharmed. They had gone into the woods to play, and had gotten lost, until a woodsman had found them, and brought them home. The children were upset, as they had loved Melka dearly. The parents, not wanting their children to despair, told their children to leave a tooth under the pillow as they went to bed. While they were sleeping, the parents would creep into the rooms of their children at night, and leave coins in place of the tooth. One parent went so far as to warn her child that she had to go to sleep, or the Tooth Maiden would punish her for being a bad girl. It was this pronouncement that allowed Melka's vengeance to take form. One night, a boy stayed awake, hoping to see Melka. Melka appeared, and because the child had stayed awake, she snatched the child out of bed, and took him away. His parents, hearing the boy scream, charged into his room. All they saw was a figure wrapped in shadows flying away with their son. From that moment forth, the Tooth Maiden was someone to be feared. Children are taught that if they disobey their parents, the Tooth Maiden will take them away, and leave them in a place of total darkness. Many a child, fearing such a terrible fate, listen to everything their parents tell them to.

In some communities, a form of worship has started around the Tooth Maiden. Small Icons of the Tooth Maiden are carved from black stone, and left outside a child's window. A plate and cup sit next to the icon. The cup is filled with milk, while the plate will have a tooth, usually one an adult has lost. Melka will sometimes take the tooth and drink the milk, and leave that child alone.

On the anniversary of Melka's death, the town collects any teeth lost by children. They are all placed on a wooden plate, and left in the center of town, along with a large mug of milk laced with honey. When Melka comes, she drinks the milk, takes the teeth, and leaves a coin for each tooth. If she catches anyone awake, adult or child, she attacks them. Adults she kills; children she takes to her personal hell, trapping them in darkness forever.

While the Tooth Maiden is feared, she has become an accepted part of Valadarian (and to a lesser extend, Soderin) culture. She is the boogieman parents use to scare their children into obedience, and fear of her wrath has turned many a wayward child on the right track.

Physical Description: Melka appears as a woman wrapped in tattered black robes. Her face is covered in a porcelain mask of pure white, with her piercing blue eyes almost shining in the dark. Patches of blond hair can be seen behind her mask at times.

Mark: Melka's Mark is the odor of burned flesh that emanates from her body.

Powers:
1) Attack, Physical (Clawed Hands)
Instant, Others

2) Glamour (Darkness)
Permanent, Self

3) Immunities (Unblessed Weapons)
Permanent, Self

4) Immunities (Disease)
Permanent, Self

5) Immunities (Old Age)
Permanent, Self

6) Immunities (Poison)
Permanent, Self

7) Movement (Flight)
Permanent, Self

8) Movement (Pocket Dimension)
Permanent, Self

9) Movement (Pocket Dimension)
Permanent, Others

Weakness: True Weakness (Melka is vulnerable to being burned by one who escaped her punishment as a child)

Traits: Power Rank [9] Cunning Rank [9]

Vitality: 19
   
Wake: Melka's wake is the chill breeze that announces her presence to those she comes to in the night.

[urbwar]

I got two more ideas I am going to try and work up to submit over the weekend. Be on the lookout (man, this contest is just turning out to be all my stuff; I wish someone else had something to submit)

[Keith Senkowski]

Hey,

It's still early and the game still flies under the radar quite a bit.  That's why I have set a long deadline.  I look forward to your next creation, these first two have been excellent...

Keith

[urbwar]

Hey,

It's still early and the game still flies under the radar quite a bit.  That's why I have set a long deadline.  

True. Still, I'd have thought someone would have followed my lead by now.

I look forward to your next creation, these first two have been excellent...

Keith

Thanks. As I said, I have two more creatures, and a conspiracy in mind to write up. Did you just want creatures for the contest, or can I also submit the conspiracy?

[Keith Senkowski]

True. Still, I'd have thought someone would have followed my lead by now.

Thanks. As I said, I have two more creatures, and a conspiracy in mind to write up. Did you just want creatures for the contest, or can I also submit the conspiracy?

Hey,

You and me both man.  I figured at least three entries (by three people) would have shown up by now, but oh well.  We shall see what kind of response occurs between now and the deadline.  Maybe I need to give away a few t-shirts or something...

As to submitting a conspiracy, that was actually going to be the next contest I do (figuring March), but feel free to post it to the forum.  

Keith

[urbwar]

Hey,

You and me both man.  I figured at least three entries (by three people) would have shown up by now, but oh well.  We shall see what kind of response occurs between now and the deadline.  Maybe I need to give away a few t-shirts or something...

Well, I have a few more ideas to submit, so at least you'll have my stuff :)

As to submitting a conspiracy, that was actually going to be the next contest I do (figuring March), but feel free to post it to the forum.  

Keith

I'll save it for that contest then. Gonna write it up soon (while it's fresh), but I'll save it for the contest :)