Star-touch

Star-touch is a vile blessing, a malignant curse, a promise of a different world and a sign of the future to come. Star-touched are those that have had their forms and minds changed by the Outside, either willingly or not. They have become different, foreign, and now are given the option to shun or embrace their eldritch powers.

Most that contract some form of star-touch either die horribly or go insane. However if they survive, they gain an aspect of the outside.

Description

A Star-touched is a creature that is infused with power over form and flesh. This can occur due to three reasons:

• Exposure. Being exposed to the raw energies of the outside has a high likelihood of twisting the unfortunate victim into an eldritch horror. If they are lucky enough to survive, it is likely they will do so as a star-touched.
• Parasite. Certain creatures from the outside may make a victim's body into their home. This can take the form of allowing the host greater control over their own body in a symbiotic relationship, or the parasite using the host like a puppet.
• Grafting. Grafting material from foreign organisms onto oneself, eventually increasing one's biological flexibility into accepting energies from beyond the natural world is another way of becoming star-touched.

Once the form-shifting aspect of the starborn has been introduced into the body, either voluntarily or not, one afflicted is called star-touched. From this moment onward they will have the ability to shift their form, to bend and warp beyond what should be possible and what was intended by the gods. The path of embracing this power offers great rewards, yet it means abandoning one's nature in favor of a new truth.

Traits

Star-touched exhibit a set of powerful abilities:

• Unnatural Shifting: Star-touched can shift their physical form, transforming their bodies into vicious weapons. Natural armor, claws, tentacles, horrible teeth and biological cannons; nearly everything is possible, and even a few things that aren't.
• Eldritch Strength: The Star-touch grants no benefits to one's magical abilities, but they greatly enhance one's physical abilities or toughness. Star-touched are stronger, faster and most durable, due to being hyper-specialized killing machines.
• Unstable Form: Due to their unnatural origins, the bodies of Star-touched are unstable, giving them seemingly random deficiencies. They also have significant difficulties blending in with society, as their flesh-shaping can struggle to conceal their true Form.
• Rapid metabolism. Star-touched have to eat tremendous amounts of nutrients, and the more their affliction progression, the more their diet must be composed of meat. Star-touched are likely to starve rapidly, however they have the ability to enter a hibernation state.

Star-touched are extremely varied, their shapes and sized greatly individualized.
Taboo: Star-touch breaks the Taboo.

Type

Parasitic