From: [nv 91 asa] at [hitam.nada.kth.se] (Anders Sandberg)
Newsgroups: alt.games.whitewolf
Subject: Nephandi Beings (Part 1)
Date: 25 May 94 16:16:53
Here are some weird and frightening beings allied with the
Nephandi.
The Eater of Dimensions
-------------------------
This is a very strange and threatening being allied with
some Nephandi. It isn't exactly a being, more a whole realm,
filled with one single being. When it manifests in the Umbra
or on Earth, it will use Correspondence 4 to open openings
between its target and its own realm. At first they will
look like areas of blackish, rotten air, and then holes open
up into a space filled with endless writhing tentacles. The
tentacles are very thin, grey threads which whip around and
seems to dissolve and reform into air all the time.
The Eater seems to want space. It literally eats places, by
enlarging the holes and dragging the place into itself,
where it is dissolved. The place just disappears from
reality. It isn't really interested in matter or humans, so
it just crushes them and discard the refuse. Often it opens
up a hole beside its victim, grips it with its tentacles and
squeezes him through the small opening, and then spit out
the gore (often into another realm).
The Eater seems to lack any personality and greater
intelligence. Its just a realm which wants to expand forever
by devouring all other realms. However, it is quite useful
for the Nephandi to do their dirty work. They just make sure
it is summoned to a place they want destroyed, and then they
can lean back and watch. The most common way of making the
Eater become interested in a place is to place objects (like
stones, bottles, cars or people) around it in a certain
angular pattern, something most Nephandi intuitively
understands. People with Correspondence will notice that the
pattern looks strange in some way.
The Eater of Dimensions
Str: *****
Dex: *****
Sta: *****
Brawl: *****
(all other traits are zero)
The tentacles of each opening has wound levels like a
ordinary human, and if the tentacles are damaged enough,
they will withdraw and the opening will close. However,
damage to the opening itself will make it larger, making new
tentacles emerge. Each wound to the opening itself will
heal a wound level to the tentacles. To close an opening
with magick, Correspondence must overcome the Eaters
countermagick
Arete:5
Correspondence 4
Roleplaying tips: You want more Space!
The Teacher
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The being known as the Teacher has been with mankind as long
as history. It has been called Lucifer, Nyarlathotep, The
Black Man and many other things. Its purpose seems to seduce
mages into becoming barabbi, and leading Nephandi deeper
into alien damnation. It seems to appear as a guide to
Nephandi who have undergone an Epiphany, and helps (?) them
in becoming even more alien and inhuman.
Normally the Teacher will appear in a human form. It is
recognised by its intense aura of might and subtle
wrongness. From the corner of the eye people might imagine
it is surrounded by a grey mist, or feel that there is some
kind of disharmonious sounds in the air, just below the
threshold of hearing or perhaps as ultrasound. The Teacher
normally behaves politely, with and air of subtle irony and
well hidden arrogance. It seldom speaks unless asked, and
answers in a low, well modulated voice.
However, the Teacher will change completely if attacked. It
never attacks first, but as it is hurt, its body changes.
Its almost like its human form was a projection on a screen,
which now is tilted. The Teachers body seems to turn in some
unknown direction, loosing its perspective and becoming a
distorted, frightening parody of human. Its perspective is
all wrong, limbs change shape and angle depending on
movement and its voice become somehow "angled", it becomes
utterly disconcerting and induces headaches. In this state,
the Teacher will become a horrible enemy, ignoring any laws
of space or distance, striking people from across the room
while bullets miss by miles.
The Teacher seems never to get angered, it just seems that
its humanity is a facade, its body a three dimensional
projection from something far away. While it still behaves
and talks like a perfect gentleman, it will distort the
shape of people and objects, bending space into knots and
causing enormous paradox backlashes. Then it disappears,
leaving the survivors to sort things out. The Teacher seems
to never get permanently hurt (since its body is probably
just an three dimensional extension of a higher dimensional
being), and will reappear whenever it feels for it. However,
it doesn't have any human motivations, and won't seek
revenge or reprisal against attackers. However, it might
become interested if somebody seemed to be recruitable.
The Teacher teaches secrets beyond mans ken. It knows
profound truths about the universe and how reality works,
but these are extremely alien. In order to learn them, the
student has to become more and more alien to understand
them. At first its just mind- bending riddles and weird
ideas, but later they become more and more drastic and the
exercises practical. The student has to see reality from
more and more alien points of view, becoming less and less
human. The Teacher is especially good at teaching the
spheres, especially Correspondence and Spirit, and also
Cosmology, Enigmas and Occult.
The Teacher
-----------
Essence: unknown
Nature: Jester
Demeanour: Conformist
(traits below are for human form)
Str: ** Cha: **** Per: **
Dex: ** Man: **** Int: ****
Sta: ** App: ** Wit: ***
Arete:5
Correspondence 5
Time 3
Roleplaying Tips:
Humans are amusing, even if they don't understand it
themselves. Play along with their little games, and see how
much foolish things they will do for you just to learn a
few, simple facts about the universe. If they become
irritating, you scare them a bit and walk away.
Some rotes (using Nephandi-Correspondence):
Bend Space (Correspondence 5)
The Teacher can bend the shape of an object (like a human
arm) into a new shape, and it will remain in that condition
for a while (or permanently). It is not the object itself
that is bent, but the space it takes up. A gun with a bent
barrel will still function perfectly, but the bullets will
fly quite unpredictably. A bent arm can still be used, but
it becomes extremely hard to use it since it doesn't move in
any reasonable way.
[ To use an object (like a gun or a sword), the user must
succeed with intelligence + enigmas against a difficulty of
8 (more or less depending on circumstances). To use a limb,
the user must succeed with dexterity + enigmas. ]
Angle (Correspondence 5)
The Teacher hits somebody, and makes him rotate a bit out of
synch with ordinary space. The effect is direct and
frightening; everything is still there, but somehow angled
into new and unexpected shapes. A ball will look like an
ellipsoid, humans appear as distorted shadows of themselves
and just walking through a room is a hard task. It is quite
simple to get lost, and many victims wander off completely
from normal reality. From the perspective of others, the
victim appears as warped and angled strangely. The Teacher
sometimes use this against its students, forcing them to see
the universe in a completely new way.
Four Dimensional Kill (Correspondence 5)
The Teacher simply makes the space around the victim four
dimensional. Blood, organs and skeleton start to leak out
through the fourth dimension, causing a slow and grisly
death.
Four Dimensional Grip (Correspondence 3)
The Teacher can reach into enclosed spaces and remove items.
It is for example quite simple for it to reach into the
stomach of somebody and knot their guts or rip out their
heart without damaging anything else. But by using the bend
space effect, it can even remove inner organs while they
still are doing their work; a removed heart will still pump
the blood of the victim, a removed brain will still think
while lying in the hands of the Teacher. This is sometimes
used by it for some truly weird teachings, where the student
is more or less disassembled and sent on strange journeys in
many directions at once.
Material Entities ("Gremlins")
------------------------------
These beings lack own bodies, and when they manifest in a
physical form, they animate dead matter. Using their powers,
they can make otherwise rigid objects bend and move, and they
can control machines. For example, a being can animate a marble
statue, giving it the power to move and act. It is still hard
marble, but the marble changes shape when it moves. A being
possessing a car can make it move as it wish, override what the
driver does, lock the doors and possibly make it crunch
together. A being possessing a knife can make it jump through
the air at a target, and burrow into its flesh.
An Entity doesn't see the world very well (except using the
senses of the possessed object, if it has such). They see it
from an Umbral level, noticing mostly life and magickal things
but having great trouble distinguishing material things. They
are attracted to strong negative feelings like fear, pain and
death, and seek out sources of them directly. On the other
hand, they feel Paradox as pain, so they try to avoid sources
of paradox.
Nephandi sometimes use these beings to attack their enemies,
defend their labyrinths or just set them loose in the world to
cause suffering. Often they appear in large schools, hunting
together. They are not very bright, and don't understand much.
They follow orders to the letter, often without any imagination
at all. Subtlety is above them, and they prefer blunt, direct
approaches. As soon as their victim begins to feel negative
emotions (like fear when glass shards start to creep around),
they will zoom in on the source, often causing even more
negative emotions (like combined fear and pain when the shards
pierce the flesh). This makes them even more active, and they
will continue trying to cause more negativity as long as
possible. When they cannot extract any more, they go dormant if
there is no other sources in the vicinity. Dormant entities can
remain so for a long time, but often succumb to the paradox
they have garnered during the wait.
Arete: 3
Matter 3 Animate matter. the being can animate a material
object and make it change shape to move, or control its
actions. Most beings can't use the more subtle functions (like
reprogramming a computer), and prefer simple physical actions
(like strangling a victim with the power cord).
[ The number of successes will equal the beings physical
traits, modified by the nature of the animated object. For
example, a statue will increase strength and stamina with 2, a
car strength, dexterity and stamina with 4 and a pane of glass
decrease the stamina with 2. ]
Mind 2 The being can feel sources of negative emotions in the
vicinity.
Mind 1 The being will always understand the capabilities of any
object it possesses. If it becomes a car, it will know all
functions of the car (but no traffic rules).
The Nameless God
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This being is one of the least known and understood beings from
the Deep Umbra. The few mages who have dealt with it have left
contradictory reports about it. It seems to have no difficulty
manifesting on Earth, despite its paradoxical manifestations.
It lacks any name except a strange symbol, which is its
insignia. It seems to be both mindless and coldly planning.
When the Nameless God manifests, it manifests as impenetrable
darkness filled with the flutter of wings and far of cries of
birds. When manifesting inside buildings, in darkness or
confined spaces it doesn't have any shape, it fills the shadows
and absorbs the light. When manifesting outside, in sunlight,
it will manifest as a broad pillar of darkness, stretching into
the sky. It doesn't have any limbs or pseudopodia, just
darkness. It doesn't have any physical presence, and thrown
objects pass right through it. Or disappear.
The being has some worshippers, people who try to appease or
serve it. Most of these were quite ordinary people who one day
was approached by the being and were converted. They seem to be
slightly deranged, but its hard to notice their strangeness.
They seem also to have an intuitive knowledge of what their god
want and what to do. According to its worshippers, the Nameless
God (Or the Bird-Darkness) is the God of Endings. It rules over
everything that ends, from the sudden death of a loved one to
the end of a movie. Its Atropos, the power that cuts off the
thread of life and existence.
The worshippers build crude temples wherever they can find a
good place, erect something to work as an altar and inscribe it
with the symbol of their god. Many such temples are decorated
with strange things that the worshipers feel fit, like
discarded trash, random newspaper clips about endings, clothes
from victims or paintings of the god. They end (i.e. sacrifice)
things, plants, animals and humans for the god, which will
appear, and when it disappears the sacrifices will have
disappeared too. Some worshipers are more specialised, like one
old man who acquired artworks from artists, and then make sure
he is killed so the work is the last ever of the artist. It is
then placed in his temple. Another group used a crude altar of
crates in a warehouse to sacrifice food and magazines. The god
accepted the sacrifices of both groups.
One odd property of the god is that it dislikes circles. It
cannot cross a circle, either drawn or implied (like drawn in
the air with a finger). Maybe its because a circle has no end,
and thus is resistant to the god. Badly drawn circles or just
implied circles will not hold it for long, and soon it will
leak over them.
Another very strange thing about the nameless god is how it
selects its high priests. The High Priest will not normally
die, although he will age normally. The god protects the priest
from serious accidents and physical dangers. But if somebody
tries to kill the High Priest the god will not interfere, and
choose the killer as a new Priest. Unlike the other worshipers,
who voluntarily serve it, the new High Priest is very seldom
inclined to serve it, and will most often try to escape. But
this is impossible, since the god can appear everywhere. It
will protect him from any large physical danger (non lethal
dangers are ignored), and wait. From time to time it appears
before the High Priest, in his dreams or in the real world.
The worshippers often appear, and try to make him join them.
Every time he a accepts being High Priest, the darkness of the
Nameless God will absorb more of his mind. The process is
finished when the High Priest performs his first completely
voluntary sacrifice to the god.
The only way of escaping priesthood is by being killed, and
then the killer become new High Priest. Suicide is not an
option, because the god will heal it. It will never give up,
and the victim will never die. Escaping the Nameless God
requires extreme cleverness, and even then its improbable.
Manifestation of the Nameless God:
Nature: Silent Demeanour: Silent
Physical traits: None. The being never seems to interact with
the physical world in any normal manner. It will move rather
slowly most of the time (about walking speed), but can flow
forward with a considerable speed if it wants.
Mental Traits: Probably none. The God does not communicate to
anybody than the worshippers, and they just intuitively know
what is expected of them.
Skills: Probably none.
Arete 6
Willpower: No apparent mind.
Paradox: It doesn't seem to mind paradox, but never appears in
public, preferring to meet its worshippers alone.
Correspondence 5
Entropy 5
Mind 5
Usually the god flows into a place from nowhere, probably a
Correspondence/Spirit effect. It can also transport things
which enter it (like a thrown knife or a car) to other places,
or just let them disappear forever. It seems to be always aware
of the whereabouts of its followers, and can give them
intuitive knowledge of its wishes. It doesn't normally hurt
people who wander into it, but they can wander forever inside
the darkness and birdcries. Its not known if its just one being
or several, since several pillars of darkness have been seen at
the same time, but may be due to colocation of the being.
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--
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Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension!
[nv 91 asa] at [hemul.nada.kth.se]
GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y