Dolls all suffer from three weaknesses known as Solos. These weaknesses are called Aria, Dirge, and Elegy. Each one has its own detrimental effects on a Doll and, if discovered, can be used against it with devastating effect.
The solo known as Aria arises not from the souls that are sung into the Doll, but from the corpse that holds them. The shell that was created by its first soul does not forget its origins so easily, and there are times when control of the Doll can be wrenched from the souls piloting it. This happens when a particular kind of object important to the original owner is noted by any of the Doll's senses. The type of object is determined by the Doll's mode, and the Doll's player selects what, specifically, the Doll's Aria object is. The exception is the Locrian Dolls, who always have the Aria of Dolls.
Categories and explanations are as follows:
System: If a Doll sees its Aria or somehow realizes that one is nearby, it is in severe danger of losing control of its body. Much like Vampire frenzy, it must make a difficult roll to avoid catatonia, and five successes are ultimately needed. The stat rolled is the Doll's Growth. If the Doll has not seen its Aria object in the past 8 hours, the difficulty for this roll is 8. Each success will stave off the Aria for one round, until five successes are achieved. If the Doll has been struck by its Aria in the last two hours, it is immune to the object's effects. If the Doll has undergone Aria between 2 and 8 hours ago, the number of hours since the Aria's passing (round up) are the difficulty for the Doll's Growth roll.
If all successes are achieved, the Doll resists its Aria and can operate normally. If it fails any of the rolls before achieving the requisite successes, it collapses in a heap, eyes open, and cannot move for five full minutes (or 30 rounds). The Doll is helpless during this time.
On a botch, the Doll will begin to scream at the top of its lungs and will not stop until the Aria has ended.
A Dirge is a method by which a Doll's souls' harmony can harm it. Each type of Doll finds a certain material, when used in weapons, more deadly than any other type. These materials are normally harmless to the Doll, but when wielded by an opponent who tends to harm it, the Doll's flesh practically melts in its path. The object must be able to do damage; wielding a rag against a Locrian doll will have no effect, but wrapping your hand in the rag and punching with it will.
The system for Dirges is quite simple-- no matter what damage the weapon would have done before, it will do the same amount of damage in Aggravated wounds to the Doll.
The following are the materials each Mode of Doll makes into a Dirge:
An Elegy is the most effective way to keep a Doll out of the way for as long as possible. Each Mode of Doll develops a peculiar attachment to its body, and it is expressed in an unusual way. If a certain part of the body is removed from it, the Doll will be unable to awaken for two full weeks. What's more, it will be bound to its body; it cannot abandon it and simply be placed in a new one, as when it is encased in cement or burned to ash. Note: once a Doll has been mutilated in one fashion, its Elegy can no longer be engaged. Trying all of these things is not an effective way to find a Doll's Elegy.
The part one must remove from a Mode of Doll to engage its Elegy follows:
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