Editing Matthew Moss (section)

==Abilities and Art==

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===Tools===
Any magic items they have they carry on them go here.
-->=== Host ===
Mathew is, or was, a [[Host Magic|Host]] - a Practitioner who specializes in voluntary possession. Although he has crossed the line from human to [[Other]], he still remembers some magic, such as the [[Awakening]] ritual.<ref name=":0" /> He knows the construction and weaknesses of once-human [[Vessels]].<ref name=":3">He knew from his studies and work with the Doom that Hosts liked to 
bind things to key points in the body. It made sense that a Vessel 
would have their space carved out starting at one of those.

He slammed his forehead into hers. The reaction wasn’t anything 
special. Which others? The Crown was one space, very top of the head, 
but he was pretty sure she’d manifest differently if the Other were 
housed there.

He punched her in the solar plexus.

She didn’t carry the mirror woman there. He hit her again, dead center of the stomach.

There. He could see the Other within her react. It looked like it was housed in two of the seven points. Stomach and groin.

- [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/24/back-away-5-d/ Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.d]]
</ref>

He was able to take some of [[Louise Bayer]]'s pain from her condition and take it on himself, in exchange for her forgetting what she had seen.<ref name=":1">“The people who will look into this will be in need of those clues, 
and we’ll be desperate and in need of them,” Matthew said. “If my life 
partner is willing to oblige me, I’d like to offer you a deal. Edith?”
The woman with bleached blond hair and a toque took a few steps 
forward. “She’s in a lot of pain, Matthew. You’re too much a part of 
this to get involved, and you’re fragile.”
“I know. But she’s dying,” Matthew said.
[...]
“Forget about us, okay? Then, outside of any meetings with us or any 
other person or people who ask you about it, forget about tonight and 
forget about… that thing you saw. Make it a total, comfortable amnesia 
that ends if you’re asked. In exchange, I will take some of your hurt, 
pain, and suffering, and I’ll give you more time.”
[...]
“May I kiss you, Louise?” he asked. “There’s nothing romantic to it,
 but these things traditionally work better with a kiss than with the 
holding of a hand. Is that okay?”
“Yes?” she made it almost a question, again.
He touched the underside of her chin to raise her face, and then he 
kissed her. It had been a long time since she had been kissed, and a 
longer time since she had been kissed in a way that made her heart warm.
That warmth was choked by a sudden ''hurt'', black and bitter. 
The hurt leaped into her mouth, and it tasted like regurgitated bile, 
metallic tastes, salt, foul-tasting medications, and the stinging smell 
of her own body odor when she didn’t shower frequently enough. It 
filled her nose, and she twisted away.
He held her face, not letting her, his fingers gripping her chin to 
maintain the contact. The taste and smell dissipated. It was him who 
wrenched his face away, expression twisting. He hunched over.
Dizzy, bewildered, she swayed on the spot, watched as this man pressed one hand to his lower back.
“You’ve suffered a lot,” he said, grimacing. - [[Blood Run Cold 0.0]]</ref> It is implied that he then passed that pain on to [[Charles Abrams]].

When he lets the [[Doom]] out (see below), he goes back to being considered a human Practitioner by the universe and can exercise his Practice. For instance, he was able to Host spirits of Earth with a simple diagram and incantation, granting himself their strength and letting him manipulate the earth around him to form large diagrams.<ref name=":4">He dropped to one knee, and began drawing in the dirt, scraping up 
his fingers as he broke the packed ground. So long as he wasn’t hosting
 the Doom, he could practice. He practiced now. A rune, lines, 
inviting spirits of the solid earth in…

And with one dirty finger, he drew a line up his boot, pants leg, 
and, refreshing his material, continued the line up to his stomach.

“Come, spirits of Earth,” he said.

Inviting those spirits into the hallow in the bed of his own stomach.

He felt the weight of them, the grit of them like sand in his mouth. 
 He could feel strength, but it wasn’t easy strength. More of an 
inevitable one, when it could be brought to bear.

He wasn’t looking to bring it to bear in that way, though.

“As I will it,” he told them.

As heavy as those spirits were, they were so much more comfortable within him than the Doom.

Blinking, his eyes dry and stinging from the smoke, he coughed, then touched a hand to the ground.

The spirits flowed easily. Drawing out lines, erasing others. They 
removed and moved plants in the earth at the clearing’s edge, then 
carried on beyond.

At his will, he drew out a line, roughly a hundred feet in one 
direction, a hundred feet in the other, then elaborated and braced it. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/24/back-away-5-d/ Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.d]]
</ref> This doesn't give him access to his old Practitioner Sight.<ref>He extracted the earth spirits to make room, then he waited, sitting in the dirt. Stomach empty, Sight-blind, and weary. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/24/back-away-5-d/ Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.d]]</ref>

=== Doom ===
Matthew hosts the increasingly powerful<ref>“Is there a way to tap into it as a power source?” Avery asked. “Drain it?”<br><br>''Good question'', Lucy thought.<br><br>“Not much. A little bit at a time, when I need to do stuff for Kennet, but it mostly sits inside of me and I try not to stir it up much. It grows faster than I can drain it. But I grow too. I’m managing, and I’ll grow for a long time.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/07/25 Excerpt] from [[Out on a Limb 3.4]]</ref> [[Doom of Edith James]] the [[Doom]].

The Doom gives him something akin to the [[Sight]] while inside him,<ref>To his Doomsight, there was someone nestled inside her, dark, chafed around the edges and shadowy, like she’d had pale skin before being rinsed in thin black ink that had settled into the creases. It was a woman, long-haired, human sized and human shaped, curled up and contorted into a space as small as this woman’s upper body. Her eyes and teeth were too white and bright.<br><br>
A vessel, but the edges weren’t so neat. Some were, but it was like a space of a certain size had been measured out, and this figure had forced her way in, breaking and straining some parts of the container. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/24/back-away-5-d/ Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.d]]</ref> albeit unable to be switched off.<ref name=":5">“I feel it. Pressure,” Matthew said. “I was chasing it, driving this way and that. We’re close to a nice big patch of it.”<br><br>“Is that your Sight?” Verona asked.<br><br>“I lost my Sight a little ways into hosting this thing,” he said, giving his chest a thump. The markings flared again, jittery, and Edith backed away a half-step.<br><br>There was a pause.<br><br>“Sorry,” he said.<br><br>She shook her head.<br><br>He took a moment, then looked over at Verona, “My Sight is gone, but my vision is tinted. I’m more sensitive to some things. Kind of like Sight, but not optional.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/06/back-away-5-2/ Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.2]]</ref>

The Doom feeds his connection with Edith, since they are in agreement in wanting to be connected to her.<ref>His connection to Edith was strong, and the power that sat heavy within him fed that connection because it and he were both in alignment in wanting to keep tabs on that. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/24/back-away-5-d/ Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.d]]</ref>

He has the ability to temporarily release the Doom, with conditions, allowing him to make it fight for him as a powerful ally<ref name=":6">“Doom,” Matthew murmured. “Two min-”<br><br>The girl with the oxygen mask pulled her mask off and inhaled.<br><br>All the air in the clearing was sucked out. Matthew staggered on the spot, the air dragged out of his lungs.<br><br>He couldn’t form the words without lungs.<br><br>The smoker smiled, then exhaled, like he was blowing out a long puff from a cigarette. The smoke came out in a column of thick smoke that expanded out, limiting visibility.<br><br>He voiced the words in his head with as much authority as he could. ''Two minutes. Defeat them first-''<br>[...]<br>''-you must return by the deadline, by the terms of your binding.''<br>[...]<br>He felt the Doom stir within him. Agreeing.<br><br>With one hand, he touched a spot on the binding. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/24 Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.d]]</ref> and freeing up his own Hosting abilities.<ref name=":4" /> However, this is risky, especially if Edith is near.<ref>“It’s frustrating,” Edith said. “You can’t use your full strength while I’m near, which means that as long as we’re waging this war for Kennet, we’re being pulled apart.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/24 Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.d]]</ref><ref>In the off hours, the two were recruiting. They took turns, with the person who was free handling going off into the deep woods. Edith would occasionally hit the spirit world or go to some distant lake or petrified tree, and she’d find a spirit and coax them into helping to guard the perimeter. Matthew did something similar, but it was a little less of a coax and more of a cattle prod.<br><br>He ''could'' use his Doom, and the further from Edith he was, the more comfortable he was in employing it. He moved some Others around, and drove off some that were problems, but not so problematic that John was needed.<br><br>It was scary, seeing glimpses of that. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/03/back-away-5-1/ Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.1]]</ref> The Doom will go after her if it has time left over after it has finished its tasks, but may also draw things out to use up its time without helping him if he doesn't give it enough. Every use strengthens the pattern of its release, which will eventually allow it to go free entirely unless he strengthens the bindings. If she's close, it will be less willing to help him in order to simply reinforce the pattern.<ref>He sat down hard as he felt the Doom slip past. Using the remainder of the time he’d given it.<br><br>He could have given it less. But that was the balance he always had to strike. If he gave it too little time, it might meander. It would hurt the enemy, just enough that he had to wrap up the job himself, or else summon it again. And each time he summoned it, he established a pattern.<br><br>Letting it out.<br><br>If that pattern ever got stronger than the pattern of his binding, it would be able to choose when it made its exit. Forcing him to step up what he was doing, make the binding stronger.<br><br>A constant struggle. Edith was right, that it was easier if they were apart. He could ask the Doom of Edith James to do one thing and return, and it would. Because that contributed to the pattern. In situations where she was close, it was less reasonable. He had to give it a ''chance''. To trust Edith. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/24/back-away-5-d/ Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.d]]</ref> He ideally uses verbal bargains for this, but can communicate to the Doom inside him mentally if he has to.<ref name=":6" />

=== Weaknesses ===
Edith noted that he was "fragile" and using his powers on Louise was risky.<ref name=":1" /> Any power he channels through him is a potential escape route for the Doom.<ref>“If you wanted to, could you have hurt it?” Lucy asked.<br><br>

“I don’t think so,” Matthew said. “Not in a way that would take it out like that. Disappeared or dead. I- <em>maybe</em>
 with the right tools, the right practices, but I’d run the risk of the 
Doom inside me slipping free of its confines. Anything I channel 
through my body or spirit is a possible escape route.”<br><br>

“Could the Doom have hurt it?” Verona asked. She was talking the least and making the most progress through her burger.<br><br>

Avery looked down. She hadn’t touched her burger, and thinking about it made her tense. She ate more vegetables.<br><br>

“Possibly, but not killed it. It’s not that strong, and I’m not strong enough to keep something capable of killing the Carmine Beast inside me.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/07/28/out-on-a-limb-3-5/ Excerpt] from [[Out on a Limb 3.5]]
</ref> Everything magical he does either draws directly on the Doom or is twisted by it, limiting him to doom-adjacent magics.<ref>I carved out a hole in myself to take it in using the practices I was taught as a youth, but Edith’s darkness is too large and unwieldy for me. I have power if I need it, I can draw on its strength, but I have to be very careful. I can’t really practice and haven’t practiced for seven years, and the practices I ''can'' do are all touched by the force I hold inside myself, or directly related to it. Darkness, pain, doom. At this point I would better be considered a human turned Other than a practitioner. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/05/16/lost-for-words-1-3/ Excerpt] from [[Lost for Words 1.3]]</ref>

The [[Hallow]] within him, which he has created to better Host things, is in his stomach.<ref name=":4" /> If a Host is struck in the body part anchoring their hallow it will affect them and the thing inside them.<ref name=":3" /> When the bindings are weak, even something as minor as thumping his chest can make the Doom strain within them.<ref name=":5" /> If he were injured or the hallow was occupied by something else, it could allow/force the Doom out.<ref>I harbor constant worries that Matthew will get in a car accident, and 
the Doom will be loosed, and I’ll only know he’s dead or hurting when it
 comes for me. Or that something else might happen, weakening his 
resolve or protections, or filling that hallow with the Doom inside and 
displacing it so it can roam free. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/07/28/out-on-a-limb-3-5/ Excerpt] from [[Out on a Limb 3.5]]</ref>

Exposure to a [[Skeptic]] like [[List of Bristow's Tenants#Sharon Griggs|Sharon Griggs]] could weaken his bindings more than it does the Doom, risking it escaping.<ref>“If it was Matthew and-or Edith, then being near Sharon would be 
dangerous. Losing the spirit or losing the bindings that keep the Doom 
contained,” Verona noted. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/20/back-away-5-5/ Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.5]]</ref><ref>“The skeptic. She’s watching,” Verona said. She looked around, scanning the darkness.<br><br>She didn’t see any faces. She didn’t see any camera.<br><br>“Get somewhere safe,” Edith said. “Matthew-”<br><br>She stopped.<br><br>Matthew was stock still. One fist clenched, the other wrapped around it, held at waist level.<br><br>“I’ll go,” Edith said.<br><br>“But-” Verona said. She looked back at the fire, and the smiling ghoul, lit by the ring of flame.<br><br>“I have to go. It’s too dangerous if I don’t. If something happens to Matthew, you may have to deal with the skeptic, before the Doom hits its full strength.”<br>[...]<br>“Come,” Matthew said. He started striding the other way. “I think the best thing to do would be to get ''very'' close to her, or get ''very'' far from her. The middle ground is the most dangerous.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/06/back-away-5-2/ Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.2]]</ref>

Avery speculated that he wouldn't be able to physically exert himself much in a fight without drawing on the Doom, because he couldn't afford to exhaust himself and risk freeing it.<ref>“Draw a quick barrier for Edith. Matthew… I don’t even know.”<br><br>

“If it’s Matthew,” Avery whispered, “I don’t think he can do a lot without letting the Doom out. I think even Verona could outrun him. They’d both get exhausted, but he can’t afford to get so exhausted he lets his guard down.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/08/08/out-on-a-limb-3-8/ Excerpt] from [[Out on a Limb 3.8]]
</ref>

=== Tools ===
Matthew has mentioned that he "mostly" relies on [[Magic Item]]s, which don't risk freeing the Doom, although no examples have been shown yet.<ref>Verona went on, “And you can’t tap into the Doom. You don’t have any other tricks or powers?”
<br><br>
“I know some things, but practicing is dangerous for me. It doesn’t 
take much to shake this Doom loose and if it escapes it hurts me or 
Edith. I can take being hurt but I can’t take my own stupidity hurting 
Edith. I remember each and every time. I mostly stick to using tools; 
items are something you can use, even if you’re technically innocent.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/07/25/out-on-a-limb-3-4/ Excerpt] from [[Out on a Limb 3.4]]</ref>