ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

Here are some more strange things allied with the Nephandi.

Material Entities ("Gremlins")

These beings lack 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 wishes, 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 source 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 being's physical traits, modified by the nature of the animated object. For example, a statue will increase Strength and Stamina by 2, a car Strength, Dexterity and Stamina by 4 and a pane of glass decrease the Stamina by 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 not traffic rules).

The Nameless God

This being is another of the least known and understood beings of 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 does so as impenetrable darkness filled with the flutter of wings and cries of far off birds. When manifesting inside buildings, 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 who try to appease or serve it. Most of these were quite ordinary people who one day were approached by the being and converted. They seem to be slightly deranged, but it's 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. It's Atropos, the power that cuts the thread of life and existence.

The worshippers build crude temples wherever they can find a good place, erecting something to work as an altar and inscribing 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. When it disappears the sacrifices will have disappeared too. Some worshipers are more specialized, like one old man who acquired works of art from artists and then killed the artists so the work is their final piece. 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). Perhaps it's 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. 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 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 or prevent it. It will never give up, and the victim will never die. Escaping the Nameless God requires extreme ingenuity, and even then it's improbable.

Manifestation of the Nameless God

Nature: Silent
Demeanor: 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 considerable speed if it wants.
Mental Traits: Probably none. The God does not communicate to anyone other than the worshippers, and they just intuitively know what is expected of them.
Skills: Probably none
Arete 6, Willpower (no apparent mind)
Spheres: Corr. 5, Entropy 5, Mind 5 Paradox: It doesn't seem to mind Paradox, but never appears in public, preferring to meet its worshippers alone.

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 bird cries. It's not known if it's 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.