Ereshkigal Strength Agility Intellect Willpower 15x 6d 6a 10d Hand Size: 4 (25) Edge: 2 Known Powers: Immortality (s): after she tricked Kayla Ballantine into giving her the power of the Star Brand, Ereshkigal was changed. Though she wound up losing this artifact to the Living Tribunal, she nonetheless held it for a time, and it has left its mark on her. Now, she is effectively immortal; she can be reduced to zero health or cards, and can even die, but her body will eventually repair itself. Resistance to Aging (s): thanks to her magical arts, Ereshkigal was already rather long lived, being several thousand years old. However, her exposure to the Star Brand has greatly extended this life span, as it does all its bearers, though the exact nature of this extension is unknown. The combination of these sources of longevity probably makes her ageless, but this is unverified. Wings (a): a sign of her deviant heritage, the sorceress known only as Ereshkigal has a pair of navy blue, bat-like wings issuing forth from her shoulder blades. These additional appendages are not vestigial, in that they actually offer her the power of flight. In essence, Ereshkigal can use her wings to fly about with intensity 4 power, moving at approximately sixty miles per hour. Schooling: Adept / Philosophical (Evil) Magic Though she has only demonstrated a mastery of magic that would label her a disciple of the arts arcane, Ereshkigal has, in truth, had several thousand years to refine her talent. As such, she is likely an Adept of sorcery, at least, though this is definitely debatable. To date, this deviant sorceress had demonstrated the ability to utilize these magical spells: Dimensional Aperture (d, i): her primary power for getting around the multiverse, this potent spell allows Ereshkigal to fashion portals to other planes. There is no limit to the number of realities she can enter via this spell, though knowing where she's going is often a good idea. This potent sorcerous ability works for Ereshkigal with intensity 12 strength. Disguise (p, a): an ability that has allowed Ereshkigal innumerable opportunities to acquire information and power on the sly, this spell can be used to physically alter her appearance. Not total shape-changing by any means, this spell lets her nonetheless assume any humanoid form she can imagine, within her approximate dimensions, at intensity 8 ability - it even hides her wings! Eldritch Bolt (u, i): a nice, straight-forward attack, this spell can be used by Ereshkigal to fire a blast of raw, unadulterated sorcerous energies at an opponent (or, apparently, at herself). An intensity 12 spell, the blast this magic produces is particularly potent against non-sorcerous foes, as most defenses do not specifically counter the power of magic. Life Extension (p, s): Ereshkigal has lived for thousands of years, though no mention of this long life has been tied to her physiology. As such, it would seem that this deviant sorceress has lengthened her life span with magic. The exact power of this spell, and thus the extent of her life extension, is unknown, but it is definitely at least a +5 resistance to aging - a low but safe bet. Magicsensing (p, w): a staple sorcerous spell, this power allows Ereshkigal to detect sources of magical energy in her vicinity, functioning at intensity 10. It also seems capable of pinpointing anomalous, yet non-magical sources of power as well, such as the Star Brand - this is possibly because magic as she knows it has never encountered the Star Brand before. Philosophical Awareness (s, w): as a through and through evil sorceress, Ereshkigal can detect the undercurrent of major philosophical forces in the multiverse. Functioning at intensity 8, Ereshkigal can use this spell to determine whether a body clings to a orderly, chaotic, good, evil, or balanced mindset, allowing her to react to said persons accordingly. Equipment: Dimensional Harness (i): before she acquired the Star Brand, Ereshkigal traversed the dimensions under her own power, but had to make use of a strange, rocket-sled like vehicle she called a dimensional harness. The exact nature (vehicular stats) of this craft are unknown, but the harness allows Ereshkigal to return home no matter how far she traveled from the earth plane. the Star Brand (w): for a time, Ereshkigal possessed the Star Brand, a device that could be used to draw forth an effectively infinite amount of energy from some unknown source. Ereshkigal never got that far, of course, for she was denied an adequate amount of time to truly put the Star Brand through its paces. However, while she had it, she was capable of using the Star Brand as follows. The Star Brand is capable of virtually anything, save for the resurrection of totally dead biological entities. Powers it is used to actualize typically function at intensity 15, though if he or she wants to, the bearer of the Brand can boost this operating power level as high as is desired - with a typical ceiling of intensity 25. And even this isn't the upper limit of the Brand's power. Furthermore, Ereshkigal could utilize more than one Star Brand effect at a time. Operating two powers at once required an average difficulty intellect action, and each additional power used at once raised the difficulty of this action by one difficulty level. In other words, she could theoretically use all of her Star Brand powers at once, but this is difficult for her to concentrate on. At any rate, Ereshkigal has demonstrated these Star Brand abilities so far: * Body Armor (s): by spreading the Star Brand's energies throughout her body, Ereshkigal can achieve virtual invulnerability. She doesn't have to concentrate on this effect, as it seems to come naturally to her, possibly thanks to her extensive mystical training. As such, she possesses +10 resistance to all attacks, though she could conceivably boost this if she tried. * Energy Blast (i): by extending its energies outside herself, Ereshkigal can create startling displays of the unknown, paradoxical power of the Star Brand. While she can focus this into a directional blast of power, it typically manifests as a sort of explosion centered on her body, inflicting intensity 15 damage to everybody within striking range. If she should increase the effect above intensity 15, however, Ereshkigal must make a desperate difficulty energy blast action to focus it into a beam, as opposed to detonating everything within her immediate area. Furthermore, the blast effect of this energy burst (if unfocused) is increased to affect everybody within firing range if Ereshkigal has raised its intensity over 15. * Flight (a): although she is already equipped with natural wings, wings that allow her to fly under her own power, Ereshkigal can achieve much higher speeds while using the Star Brand to fly. In an atmosphere, she can fly about at intensity 8 power, or approximately 375 miles per hour; of course, she can likely enhance this significantly (in or out of an atmosphere). * Portability: the Star Brand itself is easily portable, and Ereshkigal can move it about on her person as she sees fit. If she wants to get rid of it, it is similarly easy to just move it onto the body of another person, should they want the thing. However, it is vital to note that the Star Brand cannot exist on an inanimate object; placing it upon such a thing is a very, very bad idea. This is because, without a true sentience to control it, the power will rage out of control, disintegrating the object (and a very large portion of the surroundings). For instance, placing the Star Brand into a bent ten pound weight destroyed said weight and all matter within a twenty five mile radius, accidentally creating the Pitt. Needless to say, this also ruined Ken Connell's day... Similarly, placing the Star Brand into a non-sentient animal isn't a good idea, either. This won't cause the calamity described above, but it will kill the animal over time, as the Star Brand's energies, unchecked, will consume it within days. Of course, this was discovered by the Old Man during his many attempts to rid himself of this thing... Hindrances: (none) Skills: Dimensional Geography (i): being primarily an explorer at heart, Ereshkigal has spent her long life wandering the myriad planes of existence. As such, it is difficult for her to get lost while off-plane, though still possible, and she likely has several hidey-holes known only to herself. Disguise (a): in addition to her magical spell of the same name, Ereshkigal knows how to pose as a body, mimicking body language, voice, and even the psychological mannerisms of others. Heck, even without her magic, she can effectively pose as other people. Lore / Deviant Society (i): a product of that subterranean society of offshoot humans, Ereshkigal knows all about deviant society, law, history, and culture. She can easily get by within a deviant enclave, and can similarly guide others through one - should she wish to. Manipulation (w): Ereshkigal knows how to get what she wants from people, especially without them figuring out that they've been manipulated. Her cool detachment from the sensibilities of others helps her pull such schemes off easily, not that this makes people feel better afterwards... Occult (i): her thousands of years spent as a wandering sorceress have taught Ereskigal a thing or two about mystical happenings, including hauntings, random magical events, and even astrology. In such matters, Ereshkigal should make intellect actions at one difficulty level lower than normal. Theoginist (i): Ereshkigal has spent a very long time studying the origins and capabilities of various extra-dimensional or otherwise abstract entities of power. She can automatically identify such beings whenever they manifest, as long as they assume their 'natural' form. Calling: Explorer, eventually shifting to World Domination: originally, Ereshkigal's goals were merely the discovery of new worlds, new planes of existence. However, once she discovered the existence of powerful cosmic entities, she wanted only to overthrow these beings in order to ensure her independence. Costume: Ereshkigal, when not posing as someone else, typically wears an ebon leotard with deviant symbols etched onto it in blue. This is a one piece, armless affair, wholly covering all of her body save for her arms, which are covered by long gloves with a similar motif. Finally, she wears a curious, horned headpiece. Personality: Ereshkigal has demonstrated a cool disdain for the way the multiverse currently operates, and strives to change this status quo, mostly for her own benefit - either for independence or dominance. To this end, she craves vast amounts of power, power she can use to turn cosmic law on its head. Real Name: unrevealed Occupation: explorer, would-be ruler of the multiverse Legal Status: Deviant citizen of unknown criminal status Marital Status: single (?) Alias(es), if any: H.D. Steckley (she's the second person to use this alias) Group Affiliation: none Height: 5' 8" Hair: black Eyes: brown Weight: 135 lbs. Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Ereshkigal has bone-white skin and a rather large pair of leathery, bat-like wings. Story: Ereshkigal is a third generation deviant sorceress. Her family has apparently had a long tradition of extraplanar exploration, a hobby that Ereshkigal has adopted as her own. While traversing the planes, this sorceress learned of the existence of vastly powerful cosmic entities, beings that administrated the cosmos in far too orderly a state for Ereshkigal's liking - and she decided to do something about it. In order to make her activities independent of these disembodied interlopers, Ereshkigal began to seek out sources of power - power that could be used against these entitites. For several thousand years, she looked all over the multiverse, and found nothing she could get her hands on, no power that wasn't already accounted for in the scheme of things, already catalogued by the Powers That Be. This all changed when Quasar returned from a far-flung multiverse with an alien power source, the Star Brand. Initially hoping to swipe this hero's Quantum Bands, Ereshkigal immediately sensed the alien artifact, which he'd inadvertently given to his girlfriend, Kayla Ballantine. Forgetting the Bands, Ereshkigal decided to get as close to this woman as possible, using Moondragon's H.D. Steckley alias. Insinuating herself into Kayla's life as a sort of confidante, Ereshkigal was present when Kayla was abducted by the extraplanar villain known as Quagmire. As this darkforce-oozing thug thrust Kayla through a portal that led across the cosmos, Ereshkigal leapt through, not about to let this power escape her. This found her on the far-flung world of Scadam, which was under siege by a Black Fleet. These techno-organic craft were attempting to eradicate all life on Scadam, which was why its protector, the Chief Examiner, was trying to duplicate the powers Kayla didn't know she had. You see, this android was copying the powers of all earth's major heroes, in order to amalgamate them into a synthetic protector to vanquish the Black Fleet. He couldn't absorb Kayla's powers, however, and was destroyed. As the world fell apart around the earthlings, Kayla became frustrated with all the death and destruction around her, and let loose with her irresistible power, annihilating all but one of the Black Fleet craft. Soon after, the ladies found their way back to earth, though Kayla fell into an inadvertent conflict with the starfaring heroine known as Kismet shortly thereafter, and seriously injured her. Thinking Kismet dead at her hands, Kayla wanted nothing else but to rid herself of the Star Brand, and Ereshkigal was more than happy to take it off her hands. As soon as she tricked Kayla into surrendering the Star Brand, Ereshkigal revealed her true form, and after gloating for a bit, flew off to take over the multiverse via the Nexus of Worlds - leaving Kayla to her fate. However, Kayla sicced her boyfriend on Ereshkigal, as she in the process of disrupting the very Cosmic Axis within the so-called Interzone. This caused several cosmic powers to take notice, including Master Order, Lord Chaos, and the Living Tribunal himself. He threatened to stop her directly, but when she didn't give in, the Tribunal proposed a contest of champions to determine the fate of the multiverse. Both heroes would be told they were fighting for the fate of all reality, but not which side they were fighting for, and Ereshkigal liked this plan. She chose Quasar as her champion, and the Tribunal chose the Silver Surfer (who had investigated these events on his own) as his. The two heroes then had a royal scrap, until Quasar figured out he was on the wrong side, and let the Surfer beat him - hard. According to the terms of their deal, Ereshkigal would've gained the multiverse if she'd won. Instead, she was now required to surrender the Star Brand to the Living Tribunal, and she refused to face this defeat. As such, Ereshkigal used her mystical powers to annihilate herself, and the Living Tribunal seized the Star Brand from her smoldering carcass, eventually returning it to Kayla. Everybody involved then left for greener pastures, but as the Star Brand always leaves its mark on its bearers, even if they do totally lose its power, Ereshkigal will return someday. She is no longer bound by concerns of life and death, and as such, she will continue her quest for ultimate power, though this will most likely lead her out of the multiverse altogether... Chronology: Thor # 283, Thor # 284, Quasar # 30, Quasar # 35, Quasar # 36, Quasar # 37, Quasar # 38, Quasar # 39, Quasar # 40, Quasar # 41, Quasar # 42, Quasar # 43, Quasar # 44, Quasar # 45, Quasar # 46, Quasar # 47, Quasar # 48, Quasar # 49, Quasar # 50.