Parasite

Parasite — the threshold of a demigod, and the name here could not be more literal. Parts of the host's body turn into worms, and from blows he simply does not die, unless a vital part is struck.

Parasitism is also theft, but a theft of life: with the Worms of Time the bearer latches onto another's spiritual body, turning the target into a bearer of himself or into his own double. There are two steps to this.

Initial parasitism — the Parasite hides within the host, prolongs his own life and mends his wounds, seeing and hearing everything the host sees and hears; full power over him is not yet there, and he must speak through the host's voice. The side result is convenient: divination aimed at the Parasite runs into the host;

Deep parasitism — the power becomes complete, the spiritual bodies nearly merge, the bearer hears the host's thoughts and at any moment takes the body for himself; the host is left with only his own thoughts, everything else no longer obeys him. It was exactly thus that Amon's double parasitized on Klein Moretti, depriving him of power over his body and of the ability to hide anything from it.

The move has a price and subtleties. Changing hosts costs dearly in power, so Parasites choose those who live long; prolonging one's own life this way is likewise not endless. The host, in turn, influences the Parasite — through the arrangement of his body and his hormones. And, when leaving the host, the Parasite invariably steals something from him.

The second ability is doubles. With a good digestion of the potion the Parasite creates them right here; otherwise he must wait for the third step. A double is not a puppet: it separates from the bearer's own beyond-worldly characteristics and acts on its own, while remaining the same person, only in another place. Doubles are nourished by the characteristics of the Error path, raising their level, and what is stolen — powers and belongings — is shared between them and the main body. The synchronization, in which one can choose which information to share with the double and which not, was devised by Amon himself. While stealing simultaneously with the main body, the doubles raise the chance of a successful theft: the more of them there are, the better it turns out.

It is at this step that Amon's version of the path gains what it lacked before: Pervasive Observation reaches full strength, and the theft of heavenly secrets partially returns.

The promotion ritual matches the essence of the step and is, perhaps, more disgusting than most rituals in mysticism: nine people must voluntarily give everything they have to sustain the existence of the ascending.

Separate mention goes to the potion: on a failed advancement, if the bearer did not die and did not lose control, he himself becomes the bearer of the potion — that is, they now parasitize on him.