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<blockquote data-quote="Stormonu" data-source="post: 8285214" data-attributes="member: 52734"><p>I really have trouble seeing Ivan getting any use as portrayed, so I present <strong><em>altered Ivan Dilisnya</em></strong>.</p><p></p><p>Ivan's past remains the same - a childish soul in an aged man's body. However, Ivan's fetish with clockworks and his loneliness has resulted in him creating clockwork versions of individuals that populate his estate. However, in his intellectual arrogance, the flat personalities these clockworks possess are simply one-dimensional interpretations of how Ivan perceived the original, tweaked so that they fawn over him. He has created clockwork copies of his parents (in their prime years), his favorite servants - a snide but wise butler, a maid he had a crush upon before he killed her, facsimiles of lesser household staff with no personality, and copies of several childhood friends in their adult years (before he grew tired of them and murdered them). His most striking facsimile is a clockwork version of his sister (at approximately age 12, though with adult personality) that he is most fond of, and which contains enough of the original personality that it eventually rebels against him before he must shut it down and reprogram it.</p><p></p><p>Ivan uses clockworks to deliver his messages or execute his orders from afar, ranging from stealthy clockwork gnomes (child-like and fey in appearance) who carry out his twisted edicts and the clockwork hawks that deliver his messages. Ivan has these clockwork spies scattered throughout Borca, and the clockwork gnomes report back to him when they discover individuals who meet specific criteria Ivan considers "interesting". Once Ivan becomes interested in an individual, he tends to go through a four-fold stage desire to meet them:</p><p></p><p><strong>Stage One - Observation</strong> The targeted individual is stealthily observed by one of Ivan's clockworks. The clockwork keeps its distance, but may intercede in matters to assist the target without their knowledge - Ivan may have it buy and secretly deliver minor gifts to the target, or quietly deal with bullies, lovers or other individuals that might have strong feelings towards the target.</p><p></p><p><strong>Stage Two - Pen pals.</strong> After a week or two of observation, Ivan eventually has the clockwork reveal itself and that he is the master of the clockwork. If possible, Ivan begins a pen pal relationship with the target, writing notes and letters to the individual and expecting same-day correspondence from the individual. At first, these missives are well-thought out and worded, but as either Ivan's letters are responded to or rejected, his writing becomes more disturbing. Ivan's selfishness begins to rise to the fore in the letters, and his excitement (or rage) grows, he begins to first skip words and then entire sentences and paragraphs as his intellect races ahead of his ability to put the words to pen. Quickly, Ivan begins to believe that the target is so in tune with his own thoughts, that he need not explicitly express them for his target to understand his desires and motives.</p><p></p><p><strong>Stage Three - Obsession.</strong> At this point, Ivan becomes so obsessed with the target, he begins to seek to push away any others from the target that may distract them from interacting exclusively with Ivan. Ivan begins a campaign to drive away the friends and relatives of the target, turning the target to depend and trust only Ivan, as their "one true friend". Ivan will use his clockworks in these endevours, and is not above killing, maiming, framing or otherwise inflicting harm on those the target cares about to force the target to seek solace in Ivan's "friendship".</p><p></p><p><strong>Stage Four - Consumption.</strong> Eventually, Ivan seeks to have the individual brought before him for a personal meeting. Whether by abduction or invitation, the individual is brought to Ivan's estate where a grand celebration is planned and executed by the staff. The celebration is meant to show off Ivan's superior intellect and always concludes with a meeting with his sister's golem, "alone" - where Ivan can observe the interaction. Regardless of the results of the interaction, Ivan reveals himself afterward and uses the results to justify "integrating" the target into his circle of "friends". This invariably means killing the target and creating a clockwork copy from the information he has gleaned. At this point, the only hope the target may have of escaping their fate is getting Ivan's clockwork sister on their side, who will attempt to intervene in Ivan's plans (and the clockwork sister's possible destruction - though Ivan will rebuild her at some later point).</p><p></p><p><strong>Adventures with Ivan</strong></p><p></p><p>1 - A local luminary has become the focal point of strange events; it turns out Ivan has decided to "befriend" the individual</p><p>2 - One of Ivan's clockworks has gone rogue and is running amok, causing mayhem in a local community</p><p>3 - A well-liked individual has gone missing, and strange notes have been found in their residence. A clockwork has abducted the individual, and the race is on to recover the individual before they are taken to the Degravo estate</p><p>4 - A young child is saved from accidental drowning in the local well by one of Ivan's clockworks. The clockwork remains afterward, acting as an overprotective bodyguard that all too willingly follows the selfish child's orders.</p><p>5 - The characters receive an invitation to a Degravo estate party in celebration of a local's coming-of-age. However, Ivan is planning to kill and replace the attendees with clockworks as a show of affection for the local celebrant.</p><p>6 - An individual approaches the party, asking for their aid in protecting a loved one from attacks by one of Ivan's clockworks</p><p>7 - A missing individual returns home with no memory of where they have been. They act slightly off-kilter until it is revealed they are, in fact, a disguised clockwork replacement</p><p>8 - Ivan's clockwork sister has escaped Degravo estate and pleads with the characters to help her keep from being recaptured</p><p></p><p>Ivan's clockworks</p><p><img src="https://bowlivestorage.blob.core.windows.net/beastsofwarlivesite/2017/04/Clockwork-Droids1.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Ivan contemplates his next move</p><p><img src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wpDPuf00jLkpaM5zoonEFI2qJgg=/0x0:2250x1688/1400x1400/filters:focal(0x0:2250x1688):format(jpeg)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51378415/westworld1.3ford.0.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Stormonu, post: 8285214, member: 52734"] I really have trouble seeing Ivan getting any use as portrayed, so I present [B][I]altered Ivan Dilisnya[/I][/B]. Ivan's past remains the same - a childish soul in an aged man's body. However, Ivan's fetish with clockworks and his loneliness has resulted in him creating clockwork versions of individuals that populate his estate. However, in his intellectual arrogance, the flat personalities these clockworks possess are simply one-dimensional interpretations of how Ivan perceived the original, tweaked so that they fawn over him. He has created clockwork copies of his parents (in their prime years), his favorite servants - a snide but wise butler, a maid he had a crush upon before he killed her, facsimiles of lesser household staff with no personality, and copies of several childhood friends in their adult years (before he grew tired of them and murdered them). His most striking facsimile is a clockwork version of his sister (at approximately age 12, though with adult personality) that he is most fond of, and which contains enough of the original personality that it eventually rebels against him before he must shut it down and reprogram it. Ivan uses clockworks to deliver his messages or execute his orders from afar, ranging from stealthy clockwork gnomes (child-like and fey in appearance) who carry out his twisted edicts and the clockwork hawks that deliver his messages. Ivan has these clockwork spies scattered throughout Borca, and the clockwork gnomes report back to him when they discover individuals who meet specific criteria Ivan considers "interesting". Once Ivan becomes interested in an individual, he tends to go through a four-fold stage desire to meet them: [B]Stage One - Observation[/B] The targeted individual is stealthily observed by one of Ivan's clockworks. The clockwork keeps its distance, but may intercede in matters to assist the target without their knowledge - Ivan may have it buy and secretly deliver minor gifts to the target, or quietly deal with bullies, lovers or other individuals that might have strong feelings towards the target. [B]Stage Two - Pen pals.[/B] After a week or two of observation, Ivan eventually has the clockwork reveal itself and that he is the master of the clockwork. If possible, Ivan begins a pen pal relationship with the target, writing notes and letters to the individual and expecting same-day correspondence from the individual. At first, these missives are well-thought out and worded, but as either Ivan's letters are responded to or rejected, his writing becomes more disturbing. Ivan's selfishness begins to rise to the fore in the letters, and his excitement (or rage) grows, he begins to first skip words and then entire sentences and paragraphs as his intellect races ahead of his ability to put the words to pen. Quickly, Ivan begins to believe that the target is so in tune with his own thoughts, that he need not explicitly express them for his target to understand his desires and motives. [B]Stage Three - Obsession.[/B] At this point, Ivan becomes so obsessed with the target, he begins to seek to push away any others from the target that may distract them from interacting exclusively with Ivan. Ivan begins a campaign to drive away the friends and relatives of the target, turning the target to depend and trust only Ivan, as their "one true friend". Ivan will use his clockworks in these endevours, and is not above killing, maiming, framing or otherwise inflicting harm on those the target cares about to force the target to seek solace in Ivan's "friendship". [B]Stage Four - Consumption.[/B] Eventually, Ivan seeks to have the individual brought before him for a personal meeting. Whether by abduction or invitation, the individual is brought to Ivan's estate where a grand celebration is planned and executed by the staff. The celebration is meant to show off Ivan's superior intellect and always concludes with a meeting with his sister's golem, "alone" - where Ivan can observe the interaction. Regardless of the results of the interaction, Ivan reveals himself afterward and uses the results to justify "integrating" the target into his circle of "friends". This invariably means killing the target and creating a clockwork copy from the information he has gleaned. At this point, the only hope the target may have of escaping their fate is getting Ivan's clockwork sister on their side, who will attempt to intervene in Ivan's plans (and the clockwork sister's possible destruction - though Ivan will rebuild her at some later point). [B]Adventures with Ivan[/B] 1 - A local luminary has become the focal point of strange events; it turns out Ivan has decided to "befriend" the individual 2 - One of Ivan's clockworks has gone rogue and is running amok, causing mayhem in a local community 3 - A well-liked individual has gone missing, and strange notes have been found in their residence. A clockwork has abducted the individual, and the race is on to recover the individual before they are taken to the Degravo estate 4 - A young child is saved from accidental drowning in the local well by one of Ivan's clockworks. The clockwork remains afterward, acting as an overprotective bodyguard that all too willingly follows the selfish child's orders. 5 - The characters receive an invitation to a Degravo estate party in celebration of a local's coming-of-age. However, Ivan is planning to kill and replace the attendees with clockworks as a show of affection for the local celebrant. 6 - An individual approaches the party, asking for their aid in protecting a loved one from attacks by one of Ivan's clockworks 7 - A missing individual returns home with no memory of where they have been. They act slightly off-kilter until it is revealed they are, in fact, a disguised clockwork replacement 8 - Ivan's clockwork sister has escaped Degravo estate and pleads with the characters to help her keep from being recaptured Ivan's clockworks [IMG]https://bowlivestorage.blob.core.windows.net/beastsofwarlivesite/2017/04/Clockwork-Droids1.jpg[/IMG] Ivan contemplates his next move [img]https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wpDPuf00jLkpaM5zoonEFI2qJgg=/0x0:2250x1688/1400x1400/filters:focal(0x0:2250x1688):format(jpeg)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51378415/westworld1.3ford.0.jpg[/img] [/QUOTE]
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