Ancient Blood – he’s still somewhat human and will die if he takes enough damage (e.g. broken bones, dismemberment), and can also be affected by disease and poison. The Alphegerai’s wound-sealing works only for external injuries; any organ-related damage requires Samael to be out of combat for the repairs to start. It can hold broken bones together, but only in one spot (e.g. if he has bones broken in two places, it can only deal with one). Plus, sealing wounds or holding bones together does not nullify pain.
The length of the shadow tentacles vary depending on their owner. Samael can only handle one tentacle, and it can be any length not exceeding 6 ft. The Alphegerai on the other hand, can control all of them at once, in which case they will be 12 ft.
The shadow tentacles can lift up to 4000+ lbs if Samael pushes himself. However, he’s much more comfortable lifting things around 100 to 200 lbs.
The Alphegerai can defend Samael from ambush attacks because it can respond much faster than he can. However, its reaction will render him completely blind for 60 seconds afterwards.
When interacting with a physical object, the tentacles will “solidify” when in contact with it. This leaves them vulnerable to damage. Samael tries to counter this by only using the tendrils for a brief moment. His Alphegerai on the other hand, shows no such caution. This can be problematic, as once a tentacle is heavily damaged, it disappears and cannot reappear until all other tentacles are destroyed. The tentacles are about as tough as bridge cables when hit with physical attacks…but magic will dissolve them like heat melts a snowflake. Every time they are destroyed, Samael gets a major hit to his stamina, and the effects will stack and persist until the battle is over. So far, he can’t handle all four of them being destroyed in one battle; he’d be too drained to continue.
Power Overload – using the ‘Surge’ skill for extended periods of time has a very high chance of killing Samael. Though the signs are obvious (steady bleeding from mouth, increased heart rate, V-forehead-mark sending out red sparks, wounds sending out bolts of red lightning, veins from eyes spreading to cover almost his entire face), he may not notice them in the intensity of combat. Also, his Alphegerai is usually so caught up in the thrill of the Surge, it forgets to tell him of the danger. Knowing this, Samael tries to stick to being human for as long as he can; using the power only in emergencies and even then, only a brief Surge is usually necessary. If he’s not careful, using the skill too long could cause his Alphegerai side to overwhelm him (see next weakness).
Impossible Regen – it will instantly repair any wounds Samael has (that includes internal injuries)…but only if he receives a mortal strike. The mortal strike will also be repaired after a couple minutes of delay…as long as it isn’t inhibited (e.g. sword or other large obstruction is in the mortal injury area). If Samael receives more than one mortal injury, then the biggest one will heal first. Mortal strikes will not be instantly repaired if another mortal strike happens while they are healing.
If Samael receives more than two mortal strikes, he will become incapacitated. The same goes for a fatal strike. Incapacitation counts as defeat.
Not A Mastermind - Samael’s telekinesis only works if he maintains eye contact with the objects. Also, he’s more comfortable manipulating only one thing, and usually uses the skill to pick up and throw objects (i.e. he can’t duel with a mind-manipulated sword, every clash will cause him to flinch and lose control of it). Although it is quite possible that he may have enough power to manipulate a whole host of objects at once, his human brain does not have that capacity…yet.
Also, he can’t telekinesis anything that belongs to his opponent (e.g. their signature weapon).
Risk Sponge - Any energy-based attack Samael absorbs has a high chance of supercharging the Alphegerai inside him. If that happens, Samael could suffer massive internal injury. That, or he’d die instantly in a powerful, spectacular explosion. Given those risks, Samael often seeks to avoid absorbing things (or he’d ask his Alphegerai if it’s survivable, but even if it is, he’s not likely to try). The absorption does not work if Samael is dealing with physical projectiles (e.g. sand, bullets, shrapnel etc.).
This is a difficult weakness to categorize since magical abilities fall under “energy”. Although Samael may not seem to receive any damage when hit by magic, the arcane energy expended by the attack could still be absorbed, and can supercharge his Alphegerai.
Tele-Pain - Samael does not teleport often; the ability disassembles his human form and reassembles it somewhere else. After reassembly, Samael has intense pain everywhere for five excruciating minutes. The pain increases with distance traveled. Also, Samael cannot teleport just anywhere; he needs to actually picture a place he’s been to if he wants to go there.
Overall, the Surge skill is so dangerous that Samael can’t even consider it to be an “if-all-else-fails” move.
I’m Supposed To Be Controlling Me – While the Surge is active, Samael’s Alphegerai side is much stronger, and usually tries to take over Samael’s human side, often through argument. The Alphegerai would love that Samael put it charge, and use his Surge more often, but that would be bad for both of them.
If the Alphegerai does take over during a Surge, it will do everything it can to either kill or drive the threat away (usually the former). Samael can still fight and regain control of himself by force, but this is very difficult.
Interference – Samael’s Alphegerai has a mind of its own…so if ignored, it protests. While it cannot seize control of Samael’s motor functions directly, it usually goes for a psychological thorn (e.g. hallucinations, false report about enemy positioning, etc.).
Fear Range Limit – 60 ft. Also, the Alphegerai is nothing but an extremely powerful illusion; it cannot affect/interact with the physical world.
Collar –Samael’s Surge can expend way too much power (the most common indicator is the appearance of a sudden thunderstorm, but the breaking of all electrical lights within a hundred feet of Samael, or all living things within 60 ft of him having the same intense nightmare at once, have also been reported). If this happens, the collar will glow a soft blue and force Samael to faint. When Samael is unconscious, his Alphegerai side will still be awake, and can heal him. However, it cannot attack or defend. The collar will also knock Samael out if he begins to suffer the effects of an overload.
Given the inconvenience of a blackout in mid-combat, both Samael and his Alphegerai try to keep their power under wraps as much as possible. This is quite the challenge; the Alphegerai hates being underpowered, and Samael sometimes lets it have its way because that means it won’t be so bothersome.
Fear and Pain, The Double-Edged Sword – Although Samael is stronger the more fearful he is, any extreme pain will weaken his human mind significantly. Though his Alphegerai side will attempt to keep him going despite heavy injury, his human side will keep registering the pain of those injuries. This makes his Alphegerai stronger, as Samael’s human side tends to release more fear the harder he struggles to survive. Though Samael can force himself to tolerate the bite of broken bones, any mortal wounding would be nearly impossible to ignore.
Basically; fear and pain make the Alphegerai very strong, but a human body (even an enhanced one) can only take so much.
Intensity of Light – Samael’s fractal irises pose an incredible problem if hit with intense illumination. He has that shadow visor (see Appearance section) to help protect them from environmental sources (e.g. sunlight), but it won’t save him from sudden bursts of brightness. Something as simple as a flashlight beam to the face can blind him quite easily, and he takes quite a bit longer to recover from such a thing (usually 1 minute).
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Originally Posted by Iroh
