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phoebosacerales · 3 months

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Algol and Perseus

The rescuer and the demon

Sebastiano Ricci Antonio Canova

Algol is the beta star of the constellation Perseus, currently sitting at 26° Taurus, known as “the demon star” or "blinking demon", its name comes from the arabic Al Ghul meaning "the demon". To hellenistic astrology it represents Medusa’s head, which Perseus holds on one hand, while on the other he has his sword. An important characteristic of Algol is that its glow has a regular variation, it loses half of its brightness for hours and then it gains back. It was believed by astrologers to be an eclipsing star, which means that another non-visible body would be orbiting it and therefore eclipsing its light from time to time. They were half right, because it was later discovered to be an eclipsing star system, and that Algol was actually 3 stars, just like the Gorgon sisters are three: the imortals Stheno and Euryale, and the mortal Medusa. This is such a hallmark of Algol that it gave its name to its class of eclipsing variable: Algol variable.

Eclipses are associated with death, basically because light in astrology is life-giving, and loss of light is death. But it’s interesting that it's frequently associated with the "demonic", capital punishment and decapitation. Algol is telling a story about the decapitation of a “demon”, just like the lunar nodes (Rahu and Ketu) do in the Jyotish tradition when they cause eclipses. Ptolemy only tells us that the constellation of Perseus is like Jupiter and Saturn. Although Robson agrees with Agrippa about Algol specifically being of the nature of Saturn-Jupiter, and “the most evil star in the heavens”, causing a lot of fear whenever we see it activated in a chart. But I’m not here to scare anybody, don’t worry. It’s difficult, but I’ll try to lighten this up, because the most overlooked fact about Algol is that it also protects and can make revolutions and revolutionary heros.

"Perseus is like Jupiter and Saturn: but the nebula, in the hilt of the sword, is like Mars and Mercury." (Ptolemy - Tetrabiblos) "It causes misfortune, violence, decapitation, hanging, electrocution and mob violence, and gives a dogged and violent nature that causes death to the native or others. It is the most evil star in the heavens" (Vivian E. Robson - The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology)

Illustrations from Al-Sūfī's book of fixed stars

Eletrocution or electrical problems are an issue with eclipses and apparently also eclipsing star-systems like Algol. This is noted by Christopher Warnock about his Algol talismans:

"I have had multiple reports and have myself experienced Algol’s tendency to cause electrical and electronic interference when the talisman is first used. I mysteriously lost my Internet connection for an hour and my electronic thermostat died. One user had his entire block lose power. Less frequently but still regularly clients have reported that while wearing their Algol talisman, “weird” or “freaky” people took one look at them and fled." (Christopher Warnock - Fixed star, Sign and Constellation Magic)

Other one of its proeminent themes is vengeance, or the dichotomy of justice vs vengeance, but the effect of reflecting back evil that's sent towards its direction, or of ending curses describes it better in my opinion. About the images of the fixed Behenian stars, Agrippa says that:

“Under Caput Algol, they made an image whose figure was the head of a man with a long beard, having a bloody neck. This brought the good outcome of petitions, gave the bearer boldness and nobility, preserved members of the body from injury, helped against sorceries, and reflected evil attempts and evil incantations from enemies”. (Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy - Eric Purdue's translation)

Piero di Cosimo

This protection side of the star is illustrated by the story of the champion Perseus not just decapitating the demon but using its head to free Andromeda from her chains and saving her and her city from another monster, and then Athena herself starts using the head of Medusa as a symbol on her shield. As established, this is a star of the nature of Jupiter and Saturn. The nature of Saturn is evidenced even by the names given to the star: demon, cacodaemon, which is also the greek name for the 12th house. Imprisonment, monstruosity and madness are clearly the most important Saturn and 12th house themes. But Algol is a protective star, particularly in astrological magic, although I'll show how this kinda manifests in nativities as well. Algol is mainly of a jupiterian nature, that's why it does liberates. The head is an evil daemon but also a protection amulet. This is interesting regarding the eclipsing factor and the similarity of the significations with the Jyotish Rahu and Ketu. In western astrology the nodes are considered to have effects like Jupiter and Saturn, and the topic of imprisonment-liberation is explored in the dynamic of the two*.

With the new interpretations of the Medusa myth, some astrologers say that Algol can be about "female rage" or "dark feminine", or "feminine jealousy" etc. I think this is one of the stories that people mix the astrological meaning with the morality of the greek myth associated with the star the most. The greek myth is not really the star and the star is not the greek myth. In my opinion, you always must take into consideration that some things can be just the way the greeks or romans viewed a certain theme, and of course they would put a violated woman to represent a monster on a mindless vendetta, and it's not meant to be complimentary. I believe that's already way beyond Algol's effects, it could be just their misogyny projected onto the stars. I can think of examples where I can see that kind of story taking place, but that doesn’t mean that the star is about those things, but just that this is one possibility because we live in patriarchy and things around women's issues can get ugly in an Algol manner. The star can be about capital punishment, monstruosity, madness, captivity, violation, injustice, vengeance, evil daemonic influences etc, but it's not really about cishet women. So, even though I’m also using the greek myth here, I’m not giving the most importance to the detail that it is a story about a woman receiving unfair punishment and that there's a lack of comradery between women, because I'm interested in the star beyond what greeks and romans said, because the stars can’t be represented by just one hegemonic narrative. A lot of other cultures had their different stories about Algol, the Medusa one isn’t special to the point that we could assume every detail about it, even its moral issues (which are also in this case suffering a bit from anachronism), has meaning for the star associated.

Perseus is a spring time constellation very near the bull (taurus), and that may sound too nice for such a scary one. But in babylonian astrology, the stars of Perseus actually formed the constellation of the Old Man, who also held a decapitated head and a rod instead of a sword. Of it, Gavin White has an interesting perspective to share:

“At this time of natural abundance, the earth was thought to ‘open up’ in order to yield her bounty, but to the archaic mind this opening up was accompanied by a host of dangers, chief of which was the potential pollution from the dead who could gain easy access to the upper worlds at this pivotal time. In light of this belief, I would suggest that the Old Man, with his wand and prophylactic head, is banishing the ghosts of the old year and driving them back to the underworld.”

Illutration from Gavin White's Babylonian Star-Lore

There's a lot of examples of charts for literal decapitation or capital punishment, injuries to the head or neck area as obvious manifestations of the star: The most famous is probably the catholic Saint George, who is said to have been executed by decapitation on April 23 back when that was the time of year when the Sun would conjunct Algol, and he later became associated with the constellation. Back then, Algol was at 2° Taurus. Gianni Versace, who had Algol on the descendant, famously made Medusa the logo of his brand and also died with a bullet to the head. Freud had Mercury with Algol, his 8th house ruler, and he died with throat cancer. Nick Yarris, who spent two decades on death row after he was wrongfully convicted of murder, has the Sun with Algol. Patrick Henry had Jupiter, and he was a murderer whose case influenced the abolition of the death penalty in France, which was done by the method of guillotine until its abolition. He was defended by Robert Badinter, who was an activist against the death penalty and could sucessfully propose its abolition in 1981. Badinter has Jupiter with the alpha of Andromeda in the first house. France has a thing with decapitation, some of the charts for its republics have either Algol or Mirfak activated, the alpha star of Perseus.

Algol and Madness

But I want to talk about Algol's special relationship with madness, in the demonized/criminalized sense, because after all, "the demon" is unwanted, it frequently represents the marginalized and their opression. In Brazil's history, especially during the military dictatorship organized and imposed by usamerican capitalist imperialism, asylums imprisoned and tortured mainly black people, women and queer people. Some asylums got so overwhelmed that they became concentration camps, like the famous case of Hospital Colônia in Barbacena, known as the Brazilian Holocaust case, where people died by the thousands from starvation, hypothermia, anemia, STI's, untreated diseases from the lack of hygiene etc. Some important psychiatrists, psychologists, psychoanalysts have Algol activated by some planet. Freud has Mercury, Fritz Perls has Jupiter, David Healy, who literally has a book titled "The Decapitation of Care", has Venus. But what's more interesting to me is the protection element of Algol in some cases and its role in mad liberation movements, after all, Perseus is a liberator. Algol shows up in very important people in the pysch field who question medical power and have antipsych views, and on important events of the psychiatric reform.

Hospital Colônia de Barbacena - MG

Franco Basaglia, the main responsible for the dismantling of psychiatric hospitals and for the psychiatric reform all over Europe and in Brazil, had the Moon with Algol in the 10th house, representing his deeds, while ruling the 12th. In Italy, the Law 180 (Basaglia Law), the Psychiatric Reform law that determined the progressive extinction of asylums throughout the italian territory, was sanctioned with the Sun on Algol. In Brazil, on May 18, 1987, the exact day of the year that the Sun conjuncts Algol, a meeting of mental health workers at a conference was the major milestone for Brazilian health reform and the anti-asylum movement. And since that event, May 18th has become our national anti-asylum movement day, and it becomes more and more culturally relevant as a day to discuss psychiatric reform and the fight to guarantee the rights and autonomy of mental patients.

Marches on May 18th

An important activist, Austregésilo Bueno, born with the Sun with Algol, survivor of compulsory hospitalization in asylums in the 70s, wrote a book "Canto dos Malditos" about his horrible experiences as a psychiatric patient treated with eletroshock therapy (another one of Algol's effects). He had his book adapted to film and his story played by the actor Rodrigo Santoro, who has Algol on the Ascendant. The name of the film is Brainstorm in English, but I find the original "Bicho de Sete Cabeças" much more compelling. It's a truly devastating story, and it's the story of thousands unfortunately.

One thing about Saturn and madness is the recurring idea of wearing masks. Masks and theatre have always been associated with Saturn. Saturnalia was a roman festival where all the roles switched, where kings pretended to be fools and fools pretended to be kings. In modern astrology Saturn ended up associated a lot with a raw and harsh reality, disregarding the most mystical and unreal characteristics of Saturn that have always been present. Although life, reality, identity and reason are always a performance, we're always wearing a mask and performing life. There's a point in the movie "Bicho de Sete Cabeças" when the protagonist is having a difficult time on his first days of being an inmate, he's fighting too much against the forced treatment and expressing too much unsatisfaction with his imprisonment, thus getting even more forcebly medicated and punished by the staff. At this point one of the older inmates shares an important advice with him:

"You have to pretend, who in this world doesn't pretend? You have to say that you're in a good mood, you have to say that you're not hungry, you have to say that you don't have a toothache, you have to say that you're not afraid, otherwise you can't do it, you can't do it. No doctor ever told me that hunger and poverty can lead to mental disorders, but those who don't eat become nervous, those who don't eat and see their family go without eating can go crazy, a discontentment can lead to madness, a death in the family, the abandonment of the great love. We even need to pretend to be insane when we're insane, pretend to be a poet when we're a poet."

It's a powerful speech about the farce of medicine's ownership over the subject of madness, the farce of reason and that it must subjugate or dominate madness. Pretending and acting out the platonic ideal behavior at all situations under all circumstances, as if it's normal, that's the only way anyone is seen as sane.

Bicho de Sete Cabeças (2000)

Another important date in brazillian history is the 13th of May 1888, the day of the passing of the law that abolished slavery, which also had Algol activated by the Sun. This was obviously not the definite end of slavery and not the end of the struggle of black brazilians, just like the Basaglia Law didn't mean mad liberation, but I'm just demonstrating how powerful Algol is to protect from evil and put an end to injustice in an official and legislative manner. Like Saint George defeating the dragon, Perseus defeats a monster that is impossible to defeat, the "impossible victory" and liberation is recurrent in the stories linked to it. Systemic opression and injustices a lot of times seem like impossible problems, it becomes harder and harder to imagine a world where they don't exist, but Algol events revolutionize the impossible.

"The important thing is that we have proven that the impossible becomes possible. Ten, fifteen, twenty years ago it was unthinkable that a mental hospital could be destroyed. Maybe mental hospitals will return to being closed and more closed than before, I don't know, but in any case we have demonstrated that the mad can be cared for in another way, and testimony is fundamental. I don't think that the fact that an action manages to energize itself means that it has been won. The important point is another, it is that now we know what can be done." (Franco Basaglia - Conferenze brasiliane)

An important honorable mention should be made to Carlos Marighella, a guerrilheiro in the resistance of the brazilian military dictatorship who was executed before he could see our democratization. He had Mars with Algol.

"The urban guerrilheiro is an implacable enemy of the government and inflicts systematic harm on authorities and men who dominate and exercise power. The main work of the urban guerrilheiro is to distract, tire and demoralize the military, the military dictatorship and repressive forces, and also attack and destroy the wealth of north americans, foreign managers, and the Brazilian upper class. But the fundamental and decisive characteristic of the urban guerrilheiro is that he is a man who fights with weapons; given this condition, there is little chance that he will be able to pursue his normal profession for a long time or the reference of the class struggle, since it is inevitable and necessarily expected, the armed conflict of urban guerrilla against the essential objectives: A. The physical extermination of the leaders and assistants of the armed forces and the police. B. The expropriation of government resources and those who belong to the big capitalists, landowners, and imperialists, with small expropriations used to maintain the individual urban guerrilheiro and large expropriations for the support of the same revolution. (Carlos Marighella - Manual do Guerrilheiro Urbano)

Algol in Cannes

Lunga in Bacurau (2019), the first queer Perseus I know

I’ve said here before how much I love Bacurau. The movie premiered in Cannes, on May 15, 2019, at 10 pm**. This is a chart full of fixed stars, with the Sun with Algol in the 6th house. You'll find in the film the Algol classic of extreme injustice being overcome. But one curious thing is that the Cannes Film Festival always happens around the same time of year when the Sun is at the last degrees of Taurus and beginning of Gemini, making a lot of the movies premiered at Cannes have Algol activated. And it shows. It’s a great opportunity to watch how varied the Algol themes can be. On that same year of 2019, they had: THE DEAD DON’T DIE by JIM JARMUSCH, a pretty obvious Algol zombie movie, whom you defeat by cutting off the head, of course; LES MISÉRABLES by LADJ LY, inspired by a real-life event of police violence that inspired the 2005 riots in Paris, it seems to have a very radicalized discourse about raging against violent injustices; ATLANTIQUE (ATLANTICS) by MATI DIOP has dead unpaid workers coming back as spirits possessing their city’s inhabitants to take vengeance on the tycoon who withheld their payment; LITTLE JOE by JESSICA HAUSNER is a film about a lab created flower that alters people's behavior in strange ways, and these last two kinda have the feeling of that "spring danger" Gavin White talks about. DOLOR Y GLORIA (PAIN AND GLORY) by PEDRO ALMODÓVAR has Antonio Banderas as the protagonist who develops dysphagia, caused by a caucified growth in his neck. Etc. And these are all just some of the 2019 films. I haven't watched most of them, but you can always look for the films which had their first screenings around 14-20 of May and they'll be rich in Algol content.

So, I'll leave you with that: a bunch of movie recommendations. Thank you for reading.

*Adam Elenbaas has my favorite content on the subject of the nodes or Rahu-Ketu.

** You can research the screening guide for an edition to find the time.

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nelc · 9 months

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Mike Hinge

#Mike Hinge #robot #psychedelia #Algol

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ancientgoddessofegypt · 1 year

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ALGOL - Divine Femininity and the Power of Creation

Algol sits at the 26 degrees in taurus.

Algol is known as the "demon star" and is connected to the head of medusa but she is so much more than a castrophic star that brings hell to the planet.

'Algol' is a star of the most divine feminine energy on the entire sphere. It rejoices in the cosmic universe and creates from its darkness. Like the womb in the belly of women, we create from here and eventually we birth it into our reality.

What makes Algol a star of divine feminine energy?

She is connected to the Mother. Serpent/Dragon energy. Creatrix and is connected to art and beauty.

Most who fear this star never travel deep into the unknown, however this star teaches you is that the unknown is like getting to the garden of eden and finding the apple that gives you life.

Fixed Star Algol is a major point in the sky, its 'demon' traits are chaotic/yin energy and nothing to be afraid of. When Mother (Earth) is tired of our shit what is she going to do? bring chaos. which is what this star represents in a number of ways.

This chaos can come through art because it is very yin, and the language that it speaks is far bigger than what the 'name' of this star.

ALGOL - AL-KU-HOL - SPIRITS

I noticed with this fixed star that drugs, wine and alcohol play a big part here. im speaking of people who have this placement strongly. Any planet. Not just your big three.

This fix star is heavily connected the spiritual realm and the psychical realm gets a taste of this vibrant energy each time the sun passes through here.

The energy/frequency I would like to dip into with this star is Adam/Eve Tree of Knowledge/Life Serpent/Transformation Phoenix/Dragon Medusa and Lilith energy here. Yeah that was a lot. bare with me.

You travel through depths to get to where you are with this star conjunct your sun, moon, rising and venus. Lilith energy literally rises within you. It connects you the the tree of knowledge. In the Bible these are all metaphors, so metaphorically speaking, you carry the knowledge in the womb and are a creator who connects to the source of the universe. All that you are is mother in the flesh, but more in the mind and spirit. You are bound to go through the waters of the serpents and transform with each valley that you cross.

You are not scared to go deep into your shadow, in fact when you get use to it you may succumb to it more. THIS is where your power comes from. Your fears are transmuted into POWER. Your pain turns into POWER. You are what? POWER. And you are a walking force who connects to the energy of the Mother!

You are deeply connected to the roots of this soil and also cosmic and can see into the ethereal realms. You know the underworld because you been there, you know the higher realms because you've traveled there, and you come back to us in this earthly realm and show it to us be it expression, art, soul, style, music, dance, emotions etc. your rage is your truth and you can wear it as you like.

all your powerful emotions can be used in the form of creating something new. it is castrophic but also beautiful. your energy is feared by many but we see how powerful your aura is.

If you have this fix star connected to your sun, moon or rising. You are literally that energy walking among us everyday. every. damn. day.

now I WILL say this with fix stars is that you can tap into them at any time, Algol seems to show up and come through you at the right time if you have this placement. You tend to have an aura that scares people but are fascinated with you at the same time. Who is like this... Lilith :)

The energy is very dark. do not take this as bad or evil because it is not. Dark energy is also yin, yin is feminine. They go hand in hand.

I want to touch on Medusa but I will save it for another time. What I can say is (or may I will argue that) Medusa is another form of Lilith. She was casted aside and was lied on because her power was too much for some, so she became a 'monster' who could turn you into stone.

This is how people with this fix star walk among us. Your energy is that powerful, that mesmerizing you literally have people at their knees im not playing.

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bloodrootarts · 8 months

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Gouache sketch. 2019.

#dark art #weird art #painting #illustration #demon #gouache #gouache painting #eye painting #demon eye #algol #medusa #sketch #witch art

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star-tourney · 9 months

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Shoutout: Algol

This was a star I saw a few people disappointed from the exclusion of it! However, there's one simple reason why it wasn't entered into the tournament: nobody submitted it 😭 I didn't know much about it until it got brought up! But it's really cool!

Called the Demon Star, it represents Medusa's bloody head being held up by Perseus and is a star that's been associated with violence and bad luck for a long time. It's also the first and best known eclipsing binary system, meaning while one of the stars orbits the other, it will move in front of it/move behind it, dimming the overall brightness of the binary. Also there's a computer language with the same name.

#astronomy #space #star tourney #stars #algol #shoutout

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ask-the-amph-greater-universe · 2 months

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What if Witherstorm Monty just checks out the Sulky Star Cluster universe because, from all appearances it looks like a free meal. And then steps into the room everyone’s hanging out in, and goes “D̷̜̳͓͇̯̗̿̅ͅá̵̡͔͍̹͕͇͎̦̙͓̬̫̭͒̏̈́̍͐̾́́̓̆̉̒̈́̚͝͝m̴̢̢̫͚̜̼̤͊̔̄͌̄̀͊̀̍̈́̄̊̊̕̕͝m̸̧͇̰̫͔̄͊͌͘i̵̧̭̟͚̱͊́̚t̸̢̡̪̻̯͈̘̙̯̠̂́̽̕͠͠ͅ” because living people. Eclipses, sure, but living people. (I imagine Antares will have a panic attack about it)

Antares is going to have a heart attack.

Immediate panic. Antares curls up and freezes. Moving him is a no-go. Not unless you want to feel the star sting. Rigel actually uses their lord lunar panic button. Algol running to hide with them. Cygnus decides to defend the shivering ball that is Antares. Meanwhile Black Star is turning on his teleportation device in a blind hope he can suck this wither thing back to the void. Black Star is at least sensible enough to figure out that this wither storm looks funny. But he isn't doing much more than shouting get out. Knowing that the longer wither storm Monty is there. The harder it will be to get Antares's out of their panic attack.

#wither storm Monty #Cygnus #Antares #black Star #Rigel #Algol #crossover story #sulky star cluster

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littleliongirl16 · 5 months

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I'm Still Brainrotting Aurora From Lightlark For Indiscernable Reasons, So:

I was thinking, I'm pretty sure Aurora doesn't have a cannon last name? (don't quote me I may be wrong). And I wanted to give her one!

Since she's a Starling, I wanted to go hard with the astronomy nerd naming, and what I came up with was Aurora Algol.

Algol is a star that used to be called the demon star, because while other stars didn't move or change on a human timeframe, Algol would regularly dim for periods of a few hours, and people thought the weird brightness changing star was spooky. As it turns out, Algol is actually not one star- it's a system of three stars orbiting eachother. Sometimes a larger but dimmer star in the system will eclipse a smaller but brighter one, which makes the whole star system look dimmer.

I thought this would be really fitting for a villain whose main ability is shapeshifting and changing her appearance, and also it sounds cool :)

#aurora lightlark #lightlark #astronomy #algol #hyperfixating on a book that isn't even good <3

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amphiptere-art · 3 months

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Cygnus- Cygnus X-1. It is a part of the Cygnus constellation. Better known as the swan constellation. It is a black hole and a star rotating around each other in a x-ray binary system. Most of the focus goes on the black hole. Was one of the first strong evidences for black holes.

Antares- The brightest star in the constellation Scorpius. Sometimes called the heart of the scorpion. It is a binary star system. It is one of the largest stars. A red super giant. Due to its size it could supernova soon.

Rigel- Is one of the brightest stars in Orion. Located at the left foot. It is a blue supergiant. Due to its size, it has a high likelihood to supernova soon. It technically is four stars that appear as one from our vintage point. A star system.

Algol-It is a star in the constellation of Perseus. Known as the demon Star. Called as such because it either represents Medusa's head or Satan's head. It is a three-star system, with an eclipsing binary star system included. Meaning of the stars regularly pass in front of each other to create an eclipse-like effect.

#here's a little research on all the different stars and what they mean #I knew some basics but this was my deep dive #Yes each one of these names has been chosen for the eclipses in the Black Star support group #so now you get a little bit more background on how they all work together #sams #tsams #tsams au #sams au #stars #star #antares #rigel #algol #cygnus x 1

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mozart-the-meerkitten · 2 months

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Does this look like the face of someone who betrayed their best friend and enslaved a planet for a few millennia?

No? Good, then I'm doing his character redesign correctly.

I'm working on redesigning the main villain of The SOS Chronicles, Algol, based on the lyrics of the Petra song "Angel of Light".

"Angel of Light, I see you glow in the night, But you only bring darkness to my soul. Angel of Light You're telling me wrong is right But I won't let your evil take control."

Instead of leaning into demonic elements like I was before, I'm now trying to make him look alluring, like someone you assume is a good guy because how could he not be??? just look at him! It makes more sense then that the characters didn't realize right away that he was the big bad, especially since he's also using Almitak's power to mind control (almost) the entire populace of the planet (Aguitha) he lives on. But Almitak's power weakens over time, so as the mind control loosens, Algol falls back on using his beauty, along with lies and trickery, to keep people trusting him. Much like a skilled politician, he makes the ordinary people think he cares about them by knowing just what to say every time. His military following is completely loyal and trusting of him because of the web of lies he's trapped them in, and it takes a long time for Oliver and co. to unravel those lies and find the truth of who Algol is and what he's doing.

(no, but seriously, on a scale of 1-10, how trustworthy do you think he looks? This is just a concept-art esque sketch, I am open to changing his design at this point, feedback is appreciated)

#the sos chronicles #algol #algol the space dragon #petra #angel of light #my drawings #my oc's #dragons #worldbuilding #character building #not me changing an entire character design because of a song I learned last weekend alkghjaldasdf #the lines over his chest are his scales listen it's a sketch I'm tired xD #I really like how his vest thing looks Idk how I did that #his horns are naturally longer than that but he files them down so that they're less noticeable #his hair is unnaturally bright red #he glows too #like just subtly #like there's a ray of sunshine always on him #a stark juxtaposition to the enforcers and he uses that to his advantage #when people complain about their cruelty he promises to reform them and does so in a way #that calms and soothes people's fears #most aguithans trust him completely and don't question his leadership #he's spun a legend about himself that long ago he killed a space dragon #and stole it's power #which is why he looks different from normal aguithans and has lived so long

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sulky-star-cluster · 2 months

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They are the equivalent of Kill Code in the dimension but quite different from most. So it's a post October 2022 Lord Eclipse dimension and he put multiple people into stasis while he figured out what he would actually do with them. So Moon and Lunar still shared a body. While they were in stasis, their codes kind of congealed. Lunar was removed a while later but their coding wasn't split correctly. Then when 'Kill Code' developed sentience and was removed from Moon, he had bits of what was originally Lunar's coding which neutralized the more malicious parts of his coding. Chaos is protective and possessive but not necessarily violent by nature. Though he will absolutely slaughter people to keep his family safe. So he is classified as more of a protection code than a kill code.

And since it's a Lord Eclipse dimension, Envy, the Eclipse has plenty of blood filled wild life as well as plants that can produce what is basically blood fruit. So plenty to feed the pack.

Chaos also very intentionally gathered them. Just surprise adopted whoever wasn't being fed properly or was on the daycare kill list when he traveled to another dimension. He also has a few Eclipses, a Sun, and a Lunar.

*travels to Antares' dimension, leading him to a partially cleared section of the rubble. Sun is basically a scrap heap* As far as I can tell he has been offline pretty much the whole time so he probably only suffered for a short while. Though that short while almost definitely sucked.

Algol: Oh! So they aren't even really a Kill code anymore. Chaos is just a more defensive version of Moon? Intriguing. I suppose if you are Lord you can do about anything. Although Antares is a contradiction to that. I don't know what he's doing. I suppose if you just have flowers and fruit that just bleed blood, It would be easier to satiate them. I bet this chaos fellow sounds like he would take every single one of us under his thumb if he could. I'm surprised he hasn't with his description. Plus what the frequency he is mentioned. Why haven't they taken any of us under his wing?

---

Antares: O-oh... Oh dear. They really are- Oh there in such bad shape. I don't even know if this is repairable, does he even have a memory chip? He's so- Oh- Oh that's funny.

Antares: Hahaha. It's a strange feeling. What is it? Guilt? Longing? A pitiful memory cloaked in a different light? Why does it even arise? How was I not expecting it? I asked to see, to look at what I left behind. To understand what state I left him in.

Antares: I never enjoyed Sun. He was my punching bag. Nothing more than a measly servant. Never once did I feel bad for what I did, or what I was doing. I was aggressive, merciless. Many would have reasons to hate me dearly. I felled numerous enemies. Like any lord I was a tyrant.

Antares: But looking at him now? About as broken as the world that I refuse to look at. Worse for wear then what I could ever do to him. Remembering that his entire life was being mocked under somebody's thumb. Whether that was Moon or me. I-

Antares: Perhaps I can sympathize with Black Star. I honestly do not see myself acting any better if he came back. It is only when I am alone that this feeling comes. This pitiful feeling of what ifs, And why did? The simple answer will always be because-... If we were already forgotten for just existing, then we must make them see us through extremes. Extremes that always end in devastation... But we are seen.

Antares: Ahh. It would- It would definitely be best if he did not come back with me. I don't know if I can- even now I don't want to see. Send them to whichever one you think would repair him best. Although as much as this Lord Envy sounds kind, I would prefer those two good eclipses could be chosen. If he does remember anything. If he can. It would be best not to scare him.

I am heading back.

#tw robot gore #cw robot gore #tw guilt #tw implied abuse #cw implied abuse #Algol #Antares #ask #sulky star cluster

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thecreaturecodex · 2 years

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Demon, Algol

[Commissioned by @crazytrain48. Demons in Arduin usually have types pertaining to elements (fire demon, ice demon) or thematics (storm demon, she demon) rather than fantasy names. So I had to come up with one for the star demon. I went with the name of the actual Demon Star, Algol. These do not tie into Apharoe, the Star Witch in canon Arduin, which struck me as an oversight, so I added a link. ]

Demon, Algol (Star Demon) CR 18 CE Outsider (extraplanar) This creature resembles a mighty humanoid statue carved out of black crystal. Its hands and feet bear vicious claws, and a crown of horns grows from its brow. It has large wings made out of shimmering rainbows that seem to exist only in two dimensions, and an orb of fire burns in its chest, as if it contained a miniature sun.

The algols, or star demons, are among the most powerful of the non-unique demons. They form only from rare souls, chaotic evil mortals whose crimes effect an entire planet. The architects of world wars, the inventors of doomsday machines, and polluters par excellence may be transformed into star demons upon death. They act to spread chaos and evil throughout entire solar systems, gleefully destroying entire civilizations in their wake. They are particularly fond of radioactive materials and may stoke the development of nuclear power in order to unleash its destructive potential.

An algol burns with the heat of an artificial star, and its wings are made of sheets of plasma. These are both destructive weapons and grant the algol the ability to make incredible bursts of speed. As such, a star demon usually fights with hit and run tactics, raking its claws, casting spells, or firing beams of disintegrating energy from their eyes at a distance. Most enemies that close to melee regret the decision, as star demons are radioactive to a lethal extent. A badly injured star demon will usually move to a crowded area (the more innocents the better), knowing that they will explode when slain in a final glorious burst of violence.

Although some algols are free agents, others are more integrated into the hierarchies of the Abyss. Their immunity to confusion and fear effects makes them skilled hunters of qlippoth, and some are employed to drive back the protodemons and reduce their numbers in the Abyss. Being able to disintegrate foes and blast them with starlight also makes them dangerous to other demons, and they may be employed as artillery in wars between demon lords. Apharoe the Star Witch has a dozen algols, known as the Zodiacal Potential or ZP, as her elite agents, each one assigned to watch over a different planet deemed a candidate for her needs. Most algols dream of being able to kill a Malebranche, the planetary agents of Hell, but would require numbers, reinforcements and excellent tactics to make such an assassination happen.

Algol CR 18 XP 152,600 CE Huge outsider (chaos, demon, evil, extraplanar) Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 feet, detect magic, low-light vision, Perception +27, see invisibility Aura radiation (15 ft., Fort DC 27) Defense AC 33, touch 15, flat-footed 26 (-2 size, +6 Dex, +1 dodge, +18 natural) hp 297 (18d10+198) Fort +17, Ref +17, Will +17 DR 15/good; Immune cold, confusion and madness, electricity, fear, fire, poison; Resist acid 10; SR 29 Defensive Abilities freedom of movement Offense Speed 40 ft., fly 150 ft. (good) Melee 2 claws +26 (2d10+10), 2 wings +21 touch (3d6 electricity and 3d6 fire) Ranged 2 disintegration beams +22 touch (9d6) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks death throes, rend (2 claws, 2d10+15) Spell-like Abilities CL 18th, concentration +26 (+30 casting defensively) Constant—detect magic, freedom of movement, see invisibility At will—fester (DC 21), dispel magic, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. only), irradiate (DC 21), magic missile 3/day— blasphemy (DC 25), quickened haste, mass fester (DC 24), prismatic spray (DC 25), reverse gravity, spell turning, empowered sunbeam (DC 25) 1/day—prismatic sphere (DC 27), summon (1 nalfeshnee, 50%, 8th level), sunburst (DC 26) Statistics Str 31, Dex 23, Con 33, Int 24, Wis 22, Cha 26 Base Atk +18; CMB +30; CMD 47 Feats Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Empower SLA (sunbeam), Flyby Attack, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (haste) Skills Bluff +29, Fly +27, Intimidate +26, Knowledge (arcana, religion) +25, Knowledge (engineering, geography, planes) +28, Perception +27, Sense Motive +27, Spellcraft +25, Stealth +19, Survival +27 Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Celestial, Draconic, telepathy 100 ft. SQ no breath, starflight, sprint Ecology Environment any (the Abyss) Organization solitary or flight (2-4) Treasure standard Special Abilities Death Throes (Su) When it is slain, an algol explodes in a 60 foot radius. All creatures in the area take 18d6 points of plasma damage (half electricity, half fire) (Reflex DC 27 half), and are exposed to high radiation (Fortitude DC 27 negates). Disintegration Beams (Su) As a standard action, an algol can fire two beams of disintegrating energy out of its eyes. Treat these as ranged touch attacks with a range of 200 feet. A creature or object struck takes 9d6 points of typeless damage (Fort DC 27 half). An object made of force (such as a wall of force, resilient sphere or interposing hand) is automatically dispelled, as is a prismatic wall or prismatic sphere. A creature reduced to 0 hit points is reduced to dust, as per a disintegrate spell. An algol can use this ability at will, but must wait 1d4 rounds between uses. Radiation Aura (Su) All creatures within 15 feet of an algol are exposed to high radiation (Fort DC 27 negates) each round. As a supernatural effect, the algol does not radiate moderate or faint radiation, as is normal for mundane radiation sources. An algol can suppress or resume this aura as a move action. The save DC is Charisma based. Sprint (Ex) Once per hour, an algol can move up to 10 times its speed when making a charge or run action. Starflight (Su) A star demon can survive in the void of outer space. It flies through space at an incredible speed. Although exact travel times vary, a trip within a single solar system should take 3d20 hours, while a trip beyond should take 3d20 days (or more, at the GM's discretion)—provided the demon knows the way to its destination. Wings (Ex) An algol’s wings act as secondary touch attacks that deal 6d6 points of plasma damage (half electricity, half fire). The damage the wing attacks deal is not modified by the algol’s Strength bonus.

#algol #star demon #pathfinder 1e #arduin #commissions #demon

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