Visage

“I'm afraid none of my grudges live long enough to justify marring my perfect body with a Visage. You, however, could use the help.”

— Soki Noles, A Portfolio of Practical Monsters

Overview

The Visage is one of the most feared—and most intimate—forms of Familiar-binding. A Grudge, a Wrath-Tertia defined by obsessive resentment, is bound not into a creature or constructed form, but into the Master’s own flesh, growing as a tumor or cyst beneath the skin.

The tumor forms a warped second face:
a twisted echo of the Master’s features, stretched with hatred and malice.

It whispers constantly whenever the Master is alone. It urges revenge, recounts past humiliations in perfect detail, and recites the names of enemies in a litany of promised suffering. These whispers are not hallucinations: they are the Grudge, partially anchored but very much alive.

Visages are not assistants. They are not companions.
They are parasites with a purpose—one the Master willingly invites.

Biology of the Binding

The Anchor of a Visage is always a tumor, cyst, or parasitic growth cultivated through a precise sequence of subspace exposures, biopsies, and blood-fed rituals. Over days or weeks, the Grudge reshapes the tissue into something more… expressive.

The resulting growth has:

Primitive musculature capable of twitching, grimacing, and forming crude expressions

A rudimentary nervous system allowing it to feel and transmit pain

A subspace shadow overlay, allowing it to communicate telepathically with the Master

A direct parasitic draw on the Master’s life-force, slowly consuming them

Because the Visage is literally part of the Master’s body, it cannot be “removed” without killing the Grudge—or the Master.
Usually both.

The Visage’s Tertia-form lives in the tumor. Its body, such as it is, resides inside the Master’s flesh. Its will resides everywhere the Master goes.

Psychology & Contract

The Contract with a Grudge is uniquely brutal:
the Master offers the rest of their natural lifespan as payment.

Not figuratively. Literally.

Once bound, the Visage exerts a constant carcinogenic force on the body. The host’s cellular machinery is pushed into a degenerative spiral—slow at first, then accelerating. The cancer will eventually become terminal. This is not a risk; it is the price.

In exchange, the Visage grants:

Perfect awareness of the Master’s grudges

Relentless dedication to vengeance

Direct control of the Master’s body on command

Combat insight vastly beyond the Master’s own skill

When given control, the Visage moves the Master’s body with predatory efficiency. The host becomes a weapon animated by obsessive cunning, able to stalk, hunt, and kill with shocking proficiency.

Taboos & Costs

Primary Taboo: “Let go of the Grudge.”

If the Master genuinely forgives someone the Visage hates, the Contract destabilizes. Symptoms include:

Tumor convulsions

Internal bleeding

Subspace backlash

Possible attempted possession by the Grudge

Early onset of final-stage cancer

Masters who choose Visages must never genuinely forgive anyone the Visage has marked.

Daily Costs to Master:

Lose 1 HP/day (cannot be healed naturally; represents advancing cancer. The Master will need regular stimulants to keep themselves going)

Chronic Pain (6) linked to the tumor

Dependency: Strong Negative Emotions (Daily)

SP loss if the Master suppresses their anger too thoroughly

Risk of emotional erosion: many hosts become brooding, vengeful, paranoid

Health Consequences

Eventually the Master will:

Suffer immune collapse

Develop metastases in non-bound tissues

Enter terminal decline

The Visage does not care. When the host dies, the Grudge escapes back into subspace—stronger from the feast.

Combat & Utility

A Visage can:

• Take Control of the Host Body

For up to a few hours at a time.
This is not a polite possession—the host feels everything.

• Fight with STUNNING efficiency

A Visage-controlled body:

Uses maximum leverage

Ignores pain

Exploits weak points

Has no moral hesitation

Will continue fighting long after the host should physically stop

• Track Targets

Visages can “smell” grudges, following emotional residue through crowds, structures, and even light scrub zones.

• Instill Terror

That twisted second face has a way of… smiling at the right moment.

Callings & Abilities

Visage’s Whisper

A passive ability: the Master receives whispered reminders of every wrong ever done to them. Useful for identifying targets; terrible for mental health.

Visage’s Control

The Familiar takes control of the Master’s body with DX+2, HT+2, and access to enhanced combat instincts.
Duration: Up to 3 hours.
Cost: 1 SP to initiate; 1 HP to sustain.

Visage’s Hunt

The Familiar uses its sensory tether to track a named enemy with Tracking-16, even across moderate subspace bleed.