Throughout time, countless alchemists and enchanters have searched for the secrets of immortality. Sorceress Lilly Smith had discovered an elixir that granted her eternal youth, but she has to keep taking it and even then she is only the bare minimum of what is considered “immortal” in Trivium. Not to mention she's not the only one to do so. Still, she continues to experiment with the concept, with multiple relevant projects in the works. The Pleiades were born of one such project.

Project Crocus was conceived as an attempt to create an undying immortal body, by building one from scratch rather than rendering an existing body immortal. If successful, then people could transfer their mind and soul to the new body. Because this project was commissioned by Lilly, a powerful sorceress, to craft a new body for her, they would have to be able to handle large amounts of mana.

Humanoid slimes were used as a base, due to their nature of being difficult to kill as long as their core wasn't damaged. An attempt was made to decentralize their mind to eliminate this weakness, spreading it across the body. Havas latex was used to strengthen their skin, while a special magic flower was used to grant them high mana generation. However, because this flower only blooms once every seven years, they were hard to acquire. The blood and DNA of several demihuman species were also used.

The resulting life form was powerful, but the project was ultimately deemed a failure. Decentralizing their minds make them nearly impossible to kill, but it also limited their intelligence. They lacked the capacity for genius level intellect, but even so, they weren't totally mindless. Normally, they would be of below average intelligence, able to use rudimentary strategy and fighting styles. However, due to the high cost of resources required and the low success rate of creating functional prototypes, the project was suspended. The majority of specimens were placed into storage with the possibility of reviving the project once other technologies and techniques developed that could help it, but not all of them.

Atlas was one of the early prototypes, one that was powerful enough to survive. Troll DNA was used to help facilitate his healing factor, which also led to him being quite large and strong. However, he was also rather clumsy and with poor dexterity, often breaking things. Still, he was a valuable prototype and considered the father of those that came after him. He was placed into storage like the others, but would occasionally be called upon when a mission needed his raw, brute force.

'Pleiades' was the name given to the seven most successful prototypes, who serve as part of the ongoing aspect of the experiment, monitoring their long-term health. They have the outline of human or demihuman species, but their skin is largely black, resembling latex. Due to their large amounts of mana, they tend to glow in places, ultimately taking the form of lines across their bodies. At minimum, they possess Olympic-level athletic abilities, but some are even stronger or faster. While lacking the skills for more complex spells, they do have a small library on which to draw from, but often fire magic bolts as a default. As was the goal of the experiment, they also possess resurrection-type immortality. Upon taking too much damage, they will melt into a puddle of goo for a while until they can recover and reform. While they are resistant to several forms of petrifaction, they are still vulnerable to freezing.

Merope glows green. She possesses superhuman levels of strength and limited size-shifting. Her height ranges from 6’4” to 8’6”, making her the tallest of the Pleiades, only shorter than Atlas. More of a brawler, she is rather durable compared to her sisters.

Maia glows teal. She has been gifted superhuman speed. She stands at 5’1”. She can be rash at times, but is often able to avoid hits, though she runs of the risk of someone figuring out her attack patterns. Because neko DNA is the most dominant of her bases, she has manifested cat ears and a tail. Tempest has requested she be made a permanent member of her team on more than one occasion, but she is restricted to a case-by-case basis, instead remaining grouped together with the other Pleiades.

Electra glows red. Likely due to the oni blood used in her creation, she developed electrical powers. Standing at 6’5”, she one of the tallest Pleiades, second only to Merope. Her physical strength is also greater than most of the others, though not close to what Merope can dish out. In her free time, such as it is, she has developed a taste for music and has taken up the drums.

Taygete: TBD

Alcyone: TBD

Celaeno: TBD

Sterope: TBD

The Pleiades are used as elite minions, often on the front lines of battle. While they have a certain level of autonomy, they are normally teamed up with a handler, typically a telepath, who they have imprinted on. The process of changing handlers is intentionally time consuming, though naturally Lilly insured they will listen to her above all else. More often than not, they are sent in as a group, but on occasion they will be broken down into smaller teams or placed in another group.

There are more latex humanoid slimes than just the Pleiades and Atlas, but they rarely leave the base or lab. Instead, they are placed on guard duty.

I drew inspiration from a number of sources on this, the first being Gojiro7's Chipped Titans pictures, which is where the regeneration immortality comes from. The looks are inspired by the Prelates from the Sonic the Hedgehog comics, which I didn't actually read. Rather, I got the idea from the Prelate fan art Rosvo drew, namely the Kim Possible one. While I never actually saw Tron, I do like the black outfits with glowing neon trim they wear. I had actually gotten the name Pleiades from the anime Overlord, but that is merely where I first heard of it and looked into the myth from there. Funny enough, I actually misread 'Prelate' as 'Pleiade' at first, or misremembered it anyway.

I try to adhere to the One Steve Limit rule, aside from when it comes to Steves for a joke. I already have a character named Elektra with a K, but it shouldn't be a big deal. Granted, neither character has a last name. I did name a character Mary after already having another Mary cameo in The Mechromancer, but at least they have last names. I had also slipped up and given two minor characters the same name, not realizing it until I made my list.

Still, I'm getting off-topic. I haven't fully developed the team yet, but as I'm naming them after the seven sisters, I already know what they are all named at least. I commissioned this as part of 's Cyber Monday sale, but only a few of them. It likely would have been cheaper if I had gotten them all at once, but I didn't fully have the team together at the time. Eventually, I will commission the rest of the group and update this entry. Look forward to it.

Art by Colors by me

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