A Reintroduction to Kali
With a new project release, a
reintroduction is in order. This is all about Kali of the Two-Six.
Kali of the Two-Six is a cloud of
dystopia within the Two-Six. She is absolutely capable of all sorts of
debauchery and malicious action. However, her threat comes not from her want to
do many of these things, but her unconscious mind’s acknowledgement of the potential
and possibility that someone can. More so than any of her sisters, Kali
is fascinated by the mechanics of the world, particularly that of the mental machinations
of others. Her curiosity is incessant, like that of a young child. And through that
curiosity her restraint in doing all she can to satisfy that curiosity is
threadbare.
Kali’s most destructive aspect, however,
is not her own activity, but her effect on others. She exudes “madness”. Everyone
around her becomes consumed by an unyielding desire to, like her, satisfy any desire
that takes them. It isn’t as sudden as a transformation, but more like the
breakdown that comes after endless prodding.
A voice starts in their ear, telling
them to fulfill some middling desire. That voice keeps repeating the same
message, urging them to make their desire come true; “Do it. Do it.” It never
rises to the level of a shout or a yell. It never becomes anything more than a whisper.
But it becomes constant, and it becomes clearer. What at first may have been
nothing but a whisper heard in a stray moment of quiet once or twice a day,
becomes a record playing in the background of their mind at all times. It never
tells them what “it” is, only that they should fulfill their desire.
In this state, the person us overcome
but their own desires. Someone angers them and that briefest of thoughts that
the source of that anger should disappear leads to attacking and killing the
irritant. A hint of lust towards another, and they suddenly try to rape that
person. Any one of these incidents will cause fear and apprehension in anyone
that knows of it. That accelerates the voice, and they too seek to end the
threat. Now, they too start attacking others, killing others, to ease their own
dear of being attacked and killed. And as such the spiral grows.
In a way, Kali is something like patient
zero for the Rage Virus. Albeit threadbare, she is in possession of her mental
faculties and her sense of inhibition. She chooses when and where to let herself
go past these internal limiters. She is infected just like everyone else, but
she doesn’t suffer the same as everyone else. But when she comes in contact
with others, she spreads that sickness, and they are not able to resist it the way
she does. And so they fight, and they kill, and so a town, a city, a country, a
world, can spiral down, down, into chaos.
Her sisters are a temper on that valve. If
they are around, the effects are limited – unless of course we’re talking about
Izanami.
My concept for Kali began when I first
conceived of the Two-Six. There were only six of them back then, and the plan
at the time was to have two groups of three, diametrically opposed to one
another, as the basis for an overarching conflict at the backdrop of the First
Moon universe. This idea was in turn based on the Cthulhu mythos, and was set
to establish an “inner/outer” dynamic. That got toyed around with in framing it
as inner/outer planets sort of like the Sailor Moon series. That led to an idea
of having them represent sins v. virtues. That would have ballooned the count to
14… Long story short, in paring back my plans, I was still in need of a character
on the “bad” side. I wanted her to be a very sexy individual, sort of embodying
the worst aspects of a fully uninhibited sexual appetite. She was going to be
extremely lewd, wear the most erotic clothes, and everything she said was going
to be laced with sexual overtones and inuendo.
So, that was the sort of character I was
looking for. And eventually I came across the original unaffiliated image that
became the basis for Drusilla Arenzai. However, by the time I got to the
planning portions of the Arenzai part of the story, my thinking changed. I didn’t
have any interest in essentially writing up a hentai, and given the direction I
was taking the Arenzai story, that sort of characterization didn’t fit so well
anymore. I needed to tone it back somewhat; change Drusilla from just an
unfettered bundle of sexual energy into something more refined and controlled.
As a result, even though Drusilla still
retains her relatively exaggerated sex drive, encompassed by the choice to make
her a succubus, she is a different kind of predator. It became less about her
chasing her prey, more about luring it in or finding it caught in her range. I found
myself gravitating more and more towards Arachne from the Soul Eater series,
until eventually I decided that I would allow the two to be subsumed, taking
what parts of Drusilla’s identity I already had in place then, and seasoning it
with aspects from Arachne’s, particularly the visual aspect and some
particularities such as her “Madness Enhancement XXL.”
Kali has various “incarnations” in my
story. There is her “true” self, Kali of the Two-Six, who resides in the
Rosenckruez universe as Drusilla Rosenckruez. She is the closest to the
original concept I had for her character, the least like Arachne. She is more
brash and lewd than the others. That threadbare sensibility I noted before is
much clearer. She has an air of aloofness, but crystal clear eyes, as though she
can see the whole world in the same detail as a structural engineer looking at their
blueprints. She can often appear slovenly kept, evidence of her periods of
disinterest. But given her feminine charms, this can play as a bit of seduction
at the same time. She absolutely picks up on when she is enticing another, and
will often times play this up for no reason other than to see what reaction
results.
Drusilla Arenzai of First Moon is the
more “traditional” version of Kali I play with in creating the others. This
version is less the mad social scientist, but retains the same intellectual
brilliance. While Kali is aware of her sexual magnetism she exudes and
willfully toys with others using it, Drusilla of First Moon constrains herself.
She is aware of her own beauty, and is not aloof to the effect she can have on others,
but doesn’t readily trade on that ability to entrance others with her physical
grace. That being said, she can be exceptionally passionate when the time comes,
First Moon displaying this in her mad dash to try and win Yami’s affection. Her
intelligence shines through more here because it isn’t being abrogated by flights
of fancy or casually mentioned plans for atrocities.
Drusilla Arenzai of the Cromwell
Universe is my most complete, most detailed, version of Kali (and probably my favorite).
She has all that passion and outgoing nature that is First Moon Drusilla, but
also the focus and attentiveness that defines Drusilla Rosenckruez. Cromwell
Drusilla starts off more like the polar opposite of Rosenckreuz personality
wise. She is very demure, very prudish, in the way she keeps herself. Being
physically identical she obviously has the same beauty and allure to work with
in that regard, but until her encounter with Yugi had only sporadic relationships
that barely held her interest beyond a date or two. Oddly enough, in beginning
that relationship with Yugi, getting married and starting a family, she becomes
less inhibited, more relaxed and effervescent. To put it in game terms, her charisma
was ranked A and then moved up to EX.
Unlike the other Kalis, Cromwell
Drusilla has absolute control over her Madness Enhancement and utterly stifles
it. She generally rejects violence, whereas First Moon Drusilla accepts its use
in generally any circumstance she might need it, and Kali herself feels no way
about it either way. Cromwell’s uses her amassed intellect not to probe social
behaviors or impress a married man with her ability to maintain her rule, but
to pursue an expansion of her kingdom to every possible place in her universe,
one negotiated acquisition at a time.
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