Harlot Spotlight - Sammy (Patreon)

The harlot spotlight today is on one of the more interesting harlots in the House – Sammy. This does present me with a little bit of a dilemma as it's very difficult to talk about Sammy at all without revealing massive spoilers. As the Harlot Spotlight series is an in-depth look at a character (as well as revealing their artwork), I don't think I can avoid this. So, I'll put a big spoiler warning on this post and direct readers to play through her scenario first (and talk to The Elegant Woman afterwards).

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Ok, so let's get into it.

Sammy isn't a succubus. She's a human disguised as a succubus.

There are hints of this throughout her scenario. If the player has a high enough INT, they will notice her horns are fake and easily knocked askew. The big tell is if the player visits her after being heavily drained by the other harlots in the House. She's not a succubus. She doesn't have supernatural sexual powers. If the player shows up empty, he's not going to be able to get an erection and Sammy doesn't have the ability to force it, because she's just a regular – if very attractive – human woman.

She also can't Bad End the player. At all. This is to balance out harlots like Morticia Rose, who will always end the player's run if selected.

Despite this, her scenario is surprisingly complex under the hood. Sammy checks a number of the player's attributes to determine how much she likes the player character. This affects her dialogue. Sammy is under the misapprehension she will eventually claim the soul of someone she has sex with and become a full-fledged succubus. If she really likes the player, she'll be glad he's not the one and give them more lore on the House. If she doesn't like the player, she'll keep quiet about it and behave more like a typical dispassionate prostitute.

I intended Sammy's scenario to be a storyline stub. There are a few harlots where I have ideas for little 'side questlines' where the player can unlock special repeat and future encounters possibly even leading to alternative endings. Suffocatrix Mamilla was the test case for this, although it's very difficult to trigger it with the demo reduced to 5 rounds.

Sammy's questline will likely have the player freeing her from the succubus currently tormenting her.

I don't want to go too deep onto those as my major priority is getting all the base scenarios in place so I have a fully working game.

Unfortunately, while I've had a lot of patrons ask me, Sammy will not turn into a full succubus. One of the "rules" I have for my universe is that regular humans cannot turn into succubi. This is to avoid the 'vampirism/lycanthropism as super powers' trope that was very popular in fiction (especially YA fiction) for a while. I probably lean more on the erotic side of erotic horror, but my horror instincts are still very strong. I really hate that trope with a passion as it sucks the mystery and scare factor out of perfectly good monsters.

So there won't be any humans getting cool succubus superpowers on my watch! If it does happen, it will be a very rare, complex and difficult process and afterwards there won't be much left of the human's original personality. This is one of my internal worldbuilding rules to prevent the setting getting too silly and out of control.

So, no Succubus Sammy, sorry.

However...

Now we come to the background lore part, which is a little more tangled with her game mechanics.

The Elegant Woman will reveal most of this if you speak to her after visiting Sammy. If you speak to her beforehand, she'll wind you up into thinking Sammy is a dangerous and powerful succubus, because it amuses her.

Sammy was part of a group of girls that unfortunately found themselves trapped in the House. Sammy's friends were drained to death pretty soon after entering. Unfortunately for Sammy, she caught the attention of a really spiteful succubus, Saeva Diabolia. There are hints that there is an element of jealously to this, as Sammy is a stunningly attractive human woman (she would need to be to pass as a succubus in a House full of stunningly attractive succubi).

For her sport, Saeva told Sammy she must work in the House and fuck enough men until a magic sigil placed on her body activates and turns her into a succubus. This is all lies. A cruel practical joke for Saeva and her friends to torment Sammy with.

However, there are harlots within the House that are a little more sympathetic to Sammy's plight. The Devotees of Priti Nāndyāh (the 3rd faction focused on sensuality), who prize the act of giving pleasure, have noticed Sammy's efforts and would like to bring her into their fold. Humans cannot become succubi, but they can be taught various techniques and even in some cases, actual magic.

Canonically, there are some interesting future possibilities for Sammy. My idea for her is that she is eventually broken free from Saeva, the Devotees of Priti Nāndyāh do take her under their wing, where she proves to be a very dedicated and adept student.

Humans cannot become succubi, but they can wield sex magic as witches and sorceresses. What Sammy does when she eventually leaves the House, whether she uses her new abilities for good or evil, that will make for some interesting future stories...

The art is again by Marwmellow. I think he did a brilliant job with capturing her 'innocence'.

I hope you like the art (and background lore dump). Let me know your thoughts below.