BOOK [***]: FEAR, FUTURE, AND LIGHT, PART 5 / 9
Part 5.... ok this one honestly bothers me because it's such an easy thing to say to do but it's such a backwards thought process to actually make. I had 2 things to showcase with this power and many things that I could not properly explain. Dbd isn't new to the extreme powerhouse horrors, but this one is on another level.
The Aleph, a.k.a. Nothing There is an eldritch aberration of such immense raw power that there is little anyone can do to slow it down. The Entity itself is actively holding it back throughout the trial to prevent it from killing survivors. The Entity prefers that survivors have some level of hope in their minds during the trial it can feed off of, but The Aleph creates a primal level of fear in them that even when their memories are erased, they would freeze rather than run when The Entity was not as involved as it is now.
The two things to showcase were: 1. everything about this creature is wrong when observed, and 2. This thing has such power it has to be limited heavily. though I think it'd be better for you all to see it yourself.
The Aleph (א)
Biography
Stories of this monster are seldom told outside of hushed whispers. Many say that it is something that looks human but shouldn’t. This aberration is only known for its power and fear inducing form. Holding a hatred for all that kept it within its cage, the entity has offered it a chance to escape. However, The Entity has overestimated its ability to hold back this creature. Nothing There was all it took to kill any set of humans against it long ago.
While The Entity prizes his most abhorrent thralls Nothing There is nothing but pure chaos. Survivors from this thing’s rampage show no more emotion and are despondent. While this has been a great boon for The Entity in the short term the longer-term effects are something it doesn’t want. The Entity wipes memories at the start of Trials but the primal fear that this terror instills can never be forgotten.
Appearance
Each Stage of The Aleph has a different look. And they are not pretty.
Stage 1 looks like a small child seemingly imitating Victor De’shayes though even more disfigured. The eyes sprouting out of its head look milky white and the rest of the body looks like it is someone who has been beaten so brutally it is red in some places.
Stage 2 it takes on a look like Frank of the Legion mixed with Meg Thomas. Neither male nor female. It is not wearing clothes but the odd protrusions out of its body seems to make it look like it is. The face is like a deformed mask but flesh-colored and the eyes are almost popping out of it. The eyes look bloodshot and neither ever look in the same direction unless focusing on a target. The body is now mostly red like shown muscle. Its right arm is very swollen like a club. Almost all animations in this form have a very unnatural feel. When it picks up a survivor it picks them up with its right arm by the blunt end and reaches over to put them onto its left shoulder.
In Stage 3 it takes on its most Iconic appearance. By now it has completely given up on being human-like in the traditional sense and is showing the form that it thinks humans best represent. Its body is constantly writhing. The pictures show a full body look as seen through a cognition editor which hides the more grotesque aspects of it, and the second shows what it may look like without that filter. I associate the second picture with its special attack (Aberrant Sweep). In some cases, in this form survivors will see The Entity attempting to intrude on the body during its animations for breaking generators or hooking other survivors, seeming to forcibly stop it from going too far and killing by hand without prompt.
When transforming between stages 2 and 3, it takes on an egg-like shell. This shell has eyes. All you need to know. When the shell hatches the eyes mark where the individual pieces grow out of.
When performing a Basic Attack in Stage 2 or 3 it will say “Hello” with a child-like voice.
When performing an Aberrant Sweep, it will say “Goodbye” in the voice of a grown man or woman.
When stunned it will make the combined sounds of a cat’s hiss and a child’s scream.
As for the other part of his power that needs a unique design breakdown, sigh The Shelter from the 27th of March and the items hidden inside are based on other abnormalities that are called Tools.
The Shelter itself is one of 4.
The Shelter has green walls and looks very industrial crates line every part of the inner walls and lead survivors towards the unique chests holding the other items. The place is Eerily silent even the survivors’ footsteps are muted, and no sound can be heard from their breathing. Every so often (randomly starts and ends), a radio broadcast sounding like a distress call during a war time will play.
The Aspirational Medical Kit is based on another Tool called the Heart of Aspiration. The abnormality is used only in the picture on the top of the Kit. The addons attached to this have a closer tie to the form it takes in the sequel Library of Ruina where it has 2 unique minions, Lungs of Aspiration. The addons attached to the medkit are what grants it the unique power and speed it has. When used outside of the Shelter the Kit makes splotchy wet noises like a heart or wet sack hitting the ground.
The Cross of Flesh is very heavily edited from its original form. It is based on the Tool “Flesh Idol” and is actually supposed to be a piece of it after the entity shattered it. The Flesh Idol is about the size of a building and is not completely made of flesh, instead being a minor reference to the cross that Jesus Christ died on. Beyond that not much to say about it. There’s no unique addons as the tool had nothing besides its base appearance in the original game.
The Orb with a Strange Symbol, this one’s a doozy. The Tool it’s based on is called Behavior Adjustment and has not changed at all in appearance from its original form. The item works as a shock therapy item for people who are too passive and draws out more aggressive tendencies in the holder. This directly translating to the incapacitated effect in game.
Cosmetics and Weapons
Aleph Class Abnormality -
An Aberration -
Mimicked Arm -
Mori
When performing a Mori against a survivor it does not matter what form The Aleph is in it will play out the exact same way. (if they want to go out of their way to make each stage have its own go ahead)
The Aleph grabs the survivor’s ankle and hefts them above its head. The Aleph then screams and drops the survivor, a now gibbering mess on the floor, as it brings its club-like arm up and smashes the survivor with such force the survivor is killed instantly.
Stats
Speed: 4.6 m/s
Terror Radius: 32 meters
Size: Varies
Power
Main Ability: Mortal Mimicry
You mimic the human form in ways that humans cannot imagine. Your form changes throughout the Trial. At the start of the trial start at Mimicry Stage 1. Start with the Qliphoth Counter at 5.
Every time a Generator is Completed the Qliphoth counter is increased by 1.
Pressing the Power Button when the Qliphoth Counter is at 0 will activate Qliphoth Overload.
Stage 1:
Your Size becomes Short, you don’t emit a red stain, and your speed is 4.6 m/s.
After hooking a survivor, The Aleph gains the undetectable status, the survivor’s aura is not shown to other survivors, and The Aleph’s aura is shown as the hooked survivor’s when read. (The Aura always looks Healthy)
Surprising and Damaging a Survivor while impersonating another survivor decreases The Aleph’s Qliphoth Counter by 1 and allows The Aleph to transform to Stage 2 by pressing the Alternative action button.
Survivors can “Witness” The Aleph to reveal it from and remove the effects.
If a survivor comes into contact with the Survivor you are impersonating (within 16 meters), The Aleph becomes witnessed and loses its impersonation effect.
Neither witnessing effect works if the survivor is suffering from Blindness.
Pressing the Power button while in Mimicry Stage 1 will activate Blood Rush.
While in Stage 1:
- Blood Rush lasts 10 seconds longer
- The cool down is 30 seconds
- Terror Radius does not increase
- Aberrant Sweep is disabled
- Damaging Survivors only inflicts Incapacitated
- Getting close to a highlighted generator does not stun you.
If the Qliphoth Counter becomes less than 4 transform into stage 2.
Stage 2:
Your size becomes Average, and your speed becomes 4.4 m/s
Upon Transformation: 2 random Totems on the map become Hex Totems trapped with Eye Opening. A Hex Totem gains the Eye Opening effect if chosen.
A survivor cleansing a Hex Totem with Eye Opening applied to it turns the totem into a Dull Totem upon completing the action.
If Eye Opening is in the Trial, all survivors become afflicted with the Blindness effect.
Any survivor that cleanses a totem with Eye Opening applied to it that survivor’s aura is shown to The Aleph for 3 seconds. After 3 seconds The Aleph’s aura becomes that of the Survivor and the survivor’s aura cannot be read by other survivors.
Surprising and Damaging a Survivor while impersonating another survivor decreases The Aleph’s Qliphoth Counter by 1 achieving this 2 times will force The Aleph to transform to Stage 3.
The transformation from Stage 2 to Stage 3 is 3 seconds long.
Survivors can “Witness” The Aleph to reveal it from and remove the effects.
If a survivor comes into contact with the Survivor you are impersonating (within 16 meters), The Aleph becomes witnessed and loses its impersonation effect.
Neither witnessing effect works if the survivor is suffering from Blindness.
Pressing the Power button while in Mimicry Stage 2 will activate Blood Rush.
If the Qliphoth Counter becomes less than 3 transform into Stage 3.
Stage 3:
Your size becomes Tall, and your speed becomes 4.6 m/s
Lunge range, vault speed, and breaking speed are increased by 10% for the first 40 seconds of being in this form.
After hooking a survivor, the survivor’s aura is not shown to other survivors, and The Aleph’s aura is shown as the hooked survivor’s when read.
Upon Transformation: 3 Random Dull Totems on the map become Hex Totems trapped with Eye Opening. All Hex Totems gain the Eye Opening effect. All Boon Totems become Hex Totems with Eye Opening
A survivor cleansing a Hex Totem with Eye Opening applied to it turns into a Dull Totem upon completing the action.
If Eye Opening is in the Trial all survivors become afflicted with the Blindness effect.
Any survivor that cleanses a totem with Eye Opening applied to it that survivor’s aura is shown to The Aleph for 3 seconds. After 3 seconds The Aleph’s aura becomes that of the Survivor’s and the survivor’s aura cannot be read by other survivors.
Pressing the Alternative Action Button will highlight the auras of all survivors, not in The Shelter from the 27th of March, further than 12 meters from your position for 10 seconds and your movement is halted, pressing the Alternative action button again while looking at a survivor’s aura will change your aura to the aura of the looked at survivor.
Survivors can “Witness” The Aleph to reveal it from and remove the effects.
If a survivor comes into contact with the Survivor you are impersonating (within 12 meters), The Aleph becomes witnessed and loses its impersonation effect.
Observing The Aleph does not work if the survivor is suffering from Blindness.
Pressing the Power Button while in Mimicry Stage 3 will activate Blood Rush.
Surprising and Damaging a Survivor while impersonating another survivor decreases The Aleph’s Qliphoth Counter by 1.
Special Ability: Blood Rush
Blood Rush lasts 30 seconds.
When Blood Rush becomes activated, dismiss all effects, including stunned and blinded(from flashlights), currently on The Aleph and highlight all generators that are currently being worked on in yellow for 30 seconds. While Blood Rush is active:
- The Aleph’s terror radius is increased in size by 25%
- All survivors not performing an action in your terror radius have their location shown to you with Killer Instinct for 2 seconds every 8 seconds.
- If The Aleph damages a Generator, gain a 5% haste effect for 5 seconds.
- If The Aleph damages a survivor in any way the survivor becomes afflicted with the Broken, and Incapacitated status effects for 30 seconds.
- Pressing the Attack button will cause The Aleph to launch an Aberrant Sweep attack instead of performing a basic attack.
- Entering within a 12 meter range of any highlighted Generator will stop The Aleph and force a Screaming animation for 5 seconds and reveal its aura for the duration of the Scream.
After Blood Rush deactivates The Alph becomes stunned for 5 seconds it cannot be used again for 60 seconds.
Special Attack: Aberrant Sweep
Pressing the Attack Button while under the effects of Blood Rush or pressing the Power Button during a Qliphoth Overload has The Aleph perform this attack.
When this attack is performed The Aleph performs a lunging attack ending in a sweeping motion that damages all survivors caught in it. This sweep’s size is determined by speed. (4.6 m/s is about 55 degrees in either direction from his front. 4.4 is about 45 degrees. 4.8 m/s is about 65 degrees.) This attack breaks Pallets and Breakable Walls
Special Ability: Qliphoth Overload
Qliphoth Overload lasts 90 seconds
When Qliphoth Overload is activated:
- All Survivors working on Generators Scream revealing their location.
- All survivors become exposed for the duration
- The Aleph’s speed becomes 4.8 m/s
- Pressing the power button will perform the Aberrant Sweep attack.
When Qliphoth Overload ends the Qliphoth Counter is set to 7 and The Alph becomes stunned for 8 seconds
Room: The Shelter from the 27th of March
In one of the spots The Basement would spawn in, spawn a new separate space, The Shelter from the 27th of March. (The Game map would have it spawn near the stairwells)
The Aleph cannot enter this space.
Inside this shelter are Unique chests. Opening any of these chests takes 60 seconds. All of the chests hold one of these 3 Limited items, no duplicates can exist within the Trial at one time:
- Aspirational Medical Kit
- Cross of Flesh
- Orb With a Strange Symbol
If any limited items from the shelter are dropped outside The Shelter from the 27th of March, they are returned to their respective chest and locked again after 10 seconds.
While a survivor is inside this Shelter :
- The action speed of all survivors is increased by 25% x the number of survivors in the shelter.
- auras of survivors inside the shelter are hidden
- All Generators regress at 100% x the number of survivors in the shelter.
- If a Survivor outside The Shelter gets a skill check there is a 33% x number of survivors inside the shelter chance that the skill check will be a ruin skill check. (Old ruin had survivors complete a skill check with a great to prevent the generator from regressing. I'm thinking of bringing this back here.)
- Every 45 seconds all survivors in the Shelter will scream and The Aleph’s Qliphoth Counter reduces by 1. The Qliphoth Counter decrease has a cool down of 30 seconds.
- If a single Survivor spends more than 80 seconds in the shelter The Aleph gains a 15% haste effect for 10 seconds. This effect refreshes when a Survivor inside the shelter screams. The timer for this resets for the survivor if they leave the shelter.
- Any item, aside from Limited Items not including Flash Grenades, dropped inside the shelter is lost after 4 seconds
- Survivors inside accrue Crows inside this at 100% speed, even while performing actions inside.
- Survivors inside cannot be put into the dying state, all effects that do so are instead activated 4 seconds after they leave.
- All Negative Status effects applied to a survivor inside the shelter, are applied 4 seconds after a survivor leaves.
Aspirational Medical Kit:
Limited Item
A Med-Kit with a uniquely shaped heart on the cover.
- Unlocks the Self-Heal action.
- Increased Altruistic Healing speed of +225%.
- Increased Personal Healing speed of +200%.
- Decreased item efficiency when self-healing by 50%
The Med-Kit has a Capacity of 20 Charges.
For every 5 charges used the Survivor Holding it hears a close-range Heartbeat for 20 seconds. This heartbeat overpowers the Killer Terror Radius.
If attempted to be used while inside The Shelter from the 27th of March, all healing speed bonuses are reduced to 0%.
If attempted to be used while the item has no charges or the item runs out of charges while healing another survivor, the survivor holding the item takes a Health State of damage and all charges are refilled.
Cross of Flesh:
Limited Item
A seemingly carved piece of flesh the size of a key.
The Cross of Flesh’s Aura-reading abilities can be used for 90 seconds.
Survivors can channel the energy in this cross by pressing the secondary action button.
Reads the aura of the Killer and Totems in a 20-meter radius.
For every 10 seconds Used at a time the range of the reading increases by 10%.
When this effect is activated 4 times by the same survivor the survivor becomes Broken for 180 seconds.
If attempted to be used while inside The Shelter from the 27th of March, Aura reading of The Killer does not work.
This item regains charges at 1 c/s while on the ground or in a chest.
If attempted to be used after all charges have been depleted, the survivor is put into the Dying State.
Orb with a Strange Symbol:
Limited Item
An orb bursting with boundless energy, holding it empowers you while your heart is racing.
Survivors can pick up and carry this item and can drop it.
While Carrying this orb:
- Survivor is Incapacitated
- Survivor cannot leave the Trial through an Exit Gate
- Survivor has a 5% haste effect.
- All Vaulting action speeds are increased by 40%
If a Survivor Screams (does not trigger if scream is from this effect) while carrying this item or attempts to drop this item before 60 seconds after it has been picked up:
- The Survivor Screams
- The Survivor is given the Deep Wound Status effect.
- The Killer is able to see the survivor’s aura for 6 seconds.
- The survivor becomes exposed for 30 seconds.
This Object is inert while inside The Shelter from the 27th of March.
Perks
Scourge Hooks: Skin Taking
You take those that panic and turn them into shells without emotion.
At the start of the Trial, 4 random Hooks are changed into Scourge Hooks:
- The Auras of Scourge Hooks are revealed to you in white.
When a Survivor is unhooked from a Scourge Hook they suffer from the Haemorrhage and Mangled Status Effects.
- Both status effects are removed when fully healed.
- When fully healed the survivor suffers from the Blindness status effect until they are injured again
- When the survivor is injured after being fully healed reveal the aura of the survivor that healed the survivor.
“<name>, who was in the Containment Unit, was killed by Nothing There. Suddenly, Nothing There changed into <name>. The same instance occurred when another employee had panicked.” - Nothing There’s Managerial Tips 3
Inspiring Greeting
You inspire fear just by existing, take advantage of their weakness.
Within the first 50/55/60 seconds of the trial, when a survivor is working on a Generator, your aura is revealed to them. If a survivor looks at your aura, they will scream revealing their location to you then become afflicted with the blindness status effect until Hello? deactivates.
“Nothing There’s appearance is just like that of a human being. However, employees with sharp eyes will notice a sense of incompatibility.” - Nothing There’s Work Flavour Text
Goodbye
If survivors are performing a cooperative action in your terror radius Goodbye becomes active. Goodbye remains active for 3 seconds after the condition is no longer met. While Goodbye is active,
- If any survivor moves 16/12/8 meters away from another survivor, reveal the aura of those survivors to you for next 6/7/8 seconds.
- If any survivor stops working on a cooperative action outside of a chase, the survivor will scream and become afflicted with the oblivious status effect.
Goodbye has a cool down of 40/35/30 seconds.
“If it has been confirmed that it has escaped […] there is only one thing you can do. Straighten up your posture, gather your hands neatly, and pray to whatever you believe in ....” - Goodbye Abnormality Page Flavour Text
Add-Ons
Brown
Enkephalin Overdose (Aleph)
Increases the time Blood Rush is active by 10 seconds
Reduces the time Qliphoth Overload is active by 30 seconds
Qliphoth Counter at the start of the Trial is 6
Gain 500 extra Blood Points for landing an Aberrant Sweep
___:
Increases the time it takes to Witness The Aleph by 1 second
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Reduces the time The Aleph becomes stunned after ending an ability by 1 second
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Increases the Number of totems granted Eye Opening by 1
Yellow
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Reduces the time The Aleph becomes stunned after ending an ability by 2 seconds
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Decreases the time Generators are highlighted during a Blood Rush by 5 seconds
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When a Survivor Witnesses The Aleph by any means, they gain the Blindness status effect for 30 seconds
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Increases the Number of totems granted Eye Opening by 2
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Raises the threshold for transforming via the Qliphoth Counter by 1
Green
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Decreases the time Generators are highlighted during a Blood Rush by 10 seconds
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When a Qlipthoth Overload is activated all survivors become Oblivious for 10 seconds
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Increases the time it Takes to witness The Aleph by 2 seconds
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Decreases the time The Aleph Screams when approaching a Highlighted Generator by 1 seconds
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Hitting a survivor with an Aberrant Sweep inflicts the Mangled and Hemorrhaging status effects.
Purple
___:
Increases the time it Takes to witness The Aleph by 3 seconds
___:
When a Survivor Witnesses The Aleph by any means, they gain the Blindness status effect for 50 seconds
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Decreases the time The Aleph Screams when approaching a Highlighted Generator by 3 seconds
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Decreases the time Generators are highlighted during a Blood Rush by 15 seconds
Iridescent
Crate of Negative Enkephalin
A box of Enkephalin refined from a failed experiment with Nothing There
When all generators are completed Qliphoth Counter becomes 0.
“” -
Broken Ventilation Shaft
A piece of a vent used to pump Qliphoth suppressants into abnormality containment units
Qliphoth Counter decreases by 1 every 90 seconds
Qliphoth Counter gained when a generator is completed increased by 2.
“” -
This entire thing is stupidly strong and personally I would never want to go against this thing in game. The Shelter is one of many ways that I decided to balance out the extreme power with something the survivors can make use of. (fyi: I could not think of names for these addons. no matter what I tried, they wouldn't make sense.) I limited the addons to not affect the part of the power that survivors get to themselves, and I will never change them to do that.
All questions relating to this character and power are encouraged to be asked.