The Five Influences

Basic Information

Thusoth, Myria, Quelden, Janx and Dyonsi -- the Five Influences -- beings of great mental and, in the case of some, physical power. Born on a planet with horrible conditions that barely sustained them, the Five escaped, but not before their harsh birth forever shaped their personalities: all of the Five are merciless and cruel. They soon discovered that they were superior to most races, and when they found races that were even close to them they made those races their outright slaves. Feeding off of an endless supply of minds, the Five grew even stronger and more intelligent; they even mastered the technologies of other races, and catalogued their cultures. And then they came across the weakest "superior" race they'd ever encountered, humans, and decided to have a little fun.

Involvement with Earth

The Five first came across Earth in the 1920s, and set about manipulating the minds of their newest feeding race. In the 1930s, the U.S. government uncovered the body of one of their outsider lackeys when they shook down a cult that had been murdering children; after questioning members of the court thoroughly, and discovering the existence of the Five, the government began the TOA (Termination of Occult Activity) branch to stifle the Five's influence when it was found out. The TOA coined the Five Influence terminology; as of recently, one of its senior but youngest operatives, Tanner, has started to call the Five "the Five Bastards." This often sticks with the youngest generation.

Influence itself

There are two forms of influence. One is the direct mental manipulation of either a member of the Five, or one of their leiutenants and followers. The other is indirect insanity in humans (or other creatures of higher intelligence) due to being fed on, which is a majority of the influence that occurs; direct manipulation is usually only one individual, while indirect influence is usually around ten to twenty people.

Thusoth

Most competent, which means more than a dose of arrogance, Thusoth works behind the scenes and looks after its four siblings with a delicate sense of how things are best done. Physically the largest, it is incapable of physical violence -- or even moving -- and instead drives anyone attempting to fight it into insanity, even (or maybe especially) if they weren't physically threatening it. It is closest to Janx, who serves as its body guard when it isn't trying to press its own agenda. When it feeds, its victims are described as overwhelmed by something they can't quite comprehend or understand.

Janx

Youngest and most agile of the bunch, Janx is so horrifying to behold that it usually doesn't get to fight anything: its smartest opponents run screaming in the opposite direction. A combination of claws, talons, tentacles and teeth ravage its enemies until nothing is left of them. Smart but pragmatic, Janx serves its eldest sibling, Thusoth, protecting it against their common enemies. When it feeds on others, their behavior is usually described as depressed.

Myria

Different in that it looks almost humanoid, compared to the wholly alien look of its siblings, Myria plays its own agenda and rarely if ever tolerates its siblings, prefering that lackeys do that for it. Because of this, Thusoth keeps a close on it, convinced that Myria will eventually try to set up its own empire and annihilate the rest of them -- this isn't too far from the truth. Myria likes humans the most out of the Five, but like the rest of them, she only sees them as particularily maleable servants. When it feeds on others, their behavior is usually described as chaotic.

Quelden

Master of the technology and cultures that the Five have come across (and mostly exterminated). Quelden is a close but competitive friend, in addition to sibling, of Thusoth, but the two differ wildly in terms of their views. While Quelden values knowledge and learning, Thusoth values being at the top of the food chain. Nevertheless, all of the siblings, perhaps with the exception of Myria, come to Quelden for advice about the cultures they manipulate. In addition to everything else, Quelden is a foremost expert on behavioral psychology, which comes in handy for the Five. Out of all of them, though, Quelden is the frailest. Feeding on other creatures makes them feel tired.

Dyonsi

Second-largest, Dyonsi is a genius compared to most races, but falls short of its siblings. It compensates by being able to take the most beating out of all of them, and by being the strongest. Almost undescribable, but generally thought of as a large, clawed mass, Dyonsi feeds on enormous amounts of other creatures, making them unconsciously irritable and angry.

Current location

The Five currently live somewhere on the Earth, but the exact location is not known. TOA has theorized that they inhabit some place deep underground, because of their cultists' preference for similar locations or basements.

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