Be aware, that this isn't really canon as far as Mage goes, any more than my homebrew stuff is. I've tried to stick as close to canon as possible, while inserting my own ideas and nicking a few from the Scelestus of Mage: The Awakening, who are essentially a spiritual successor to the Nephandi (and yes, I like both Mages. I find nMage really good for the horror elements and the Abyss, and the moral ambiguity. Sue me.) to make my vision of the fourth and final sect of the Ascension War.
What is a Nephandus?
A Nephandus is an awakened human who, rather than a regular Avatar like every other awakened being, possesses an inverted Avatar. Now, this is a very simple distinction, but the ramifications are deep and intrinsic. Normal Avatars encourage their hosts to better themselves and the world around them. Normal Avatars, whether possessed by Traditionals, Technocrats, or even Marauders are ultimately a creative force that wants to add to the universe, and uses their host as something of a lens to focus its additions through. A Nephandic Avatar is not like that. Inverted Avatars intrinsically oppose their hosts. They break down rather than build up, and gear the soul toward ultimate Descent, rather than Ascension. It makes the magick of the Nephandus inherently destructive, and impossible to truly use for the positive.
Usually, to gain an inverted Avatar, the Nephandus has to travel through a Caul, an otherworldly gateway that leads, just for a second, Outside the universe. Nephandi don't like addressing what goes on inside it, but suffice to say, the human language probably doesn't have words to do it justice anyway. Once the Nephandus comes out, their Avatars are inverted. Whatever their aspirations before, Nephandi have come to believe that the world they are living in is either a prison to be escaped, an illusion, or simply something disgusting that cannot be allowed to exist, and should be destroyed either for the natural order, or simply out of mercy. This is what unites Nephandi ultimately. They do not want temporal power, except as a means to further their ultimate goal. However a Nephandus justifies it to him or herself, or whatever they may believe may come after, Nephandi want, in their heart of hearts, to destroy the universe.
In game terms, Nephandus is a seven point flaw that characters can take. They can take it in game after passing through a Caul, or at character creation, representing a Widderslainte (reincarnation of a dead Nephandus). It automatically comes with a derangement (Usually, but not always sociopathy. Finding out reality is an utter lie sort of makes conventional morals irrelevant) and confers the following benefits and flaws.
- Nephandi are hunted. A known Nephandus gains the flaw Enemy: Non-Nephandi. Everyone not Nephandi will do absolutely everything they can to either kill him or get away from him.
- Nephandi gain an additional point of paradox every time they would gain some. Their magick is inherently corrosive to reality and reality in turn harms them more.
- Nephandi may only harvest half the Quintessence from a node or Tass, though they can violate the sanctity of an Avatar to rip Quintessence directly out of a person's pattern.
- Nephandi can never Ascend, and their Magick becomes Qlipphothic, inherently destructive.
- Qlipphothic Magick, due to its very nature and the Nephandic paradigm, cannot create anything. Things that look like acts of creation are merely a Nephandus drawing matter in from Outside reality and shaping it, after they have torn a hole in the Tellurian. If cut off from their patrons, Nephandi cannot create anything that was not already there.
- Qlipphothic Magick, however, is incredibly dangerous and corrosive to reality itself. Any damage dealt utilizing Qlipphothic Magick automatically deals aggravated damage, as Nephandic Magicks dissolves patterns and reality itself. Nothing destroyed by Qlipphothic Magick can ever be restored. It is simply annihilated.
- While both have forfeited their souls, Nephandi and Infernalists are very different. Nephandi do not suffer the frozen Arete that mere Infernalists do, as by stepping through the Cauls, they have dedicated themselves to Oblivion on a far greater level than mere Infernalists.
- Nephandi resonance becomes tainted and feels deeply unpleasant.
- Nephandi are Nephandi forever. No Nephandus can ever be untainted, even via the most powerful Spirit and Mind Magicks. They will return forever more as Nephandi in all their lives.
The mere act of trying to destroy the universe seems a totally irrational one, especially considering that the Nephandi live there. There are many myriad reasons that a Nephandus can fall and choose to end the universe.
Opportunists - These 'fair-weather' Nephandi don't really care about Descent, or think that it will happen some lifetime far beyond their own. They are enticed into the Cauls because they are pursuing something, or have been tempted with money, power or knowledge. Nephandi have access to incredible stores of lore and contact with beings that literally have overseen the creation of the world. Most 'true' Nephandi look down on these people, but take what help they give.
Psychopaths - Some people are just plain nuts and magi are no exception. These mages join the Nephandi to give full expression to their desire to hurt as many people as possible on the greatest scale possible. These Nephandi almost universally go out in truly extravagant displays, killing themselves, their enemies, their allies and everyone unfortunate enough to be around them, however, a few last for years, slowly plotting acts of shocking sadism that ruin millions' of lives.
Gnostics - The most common 'rational' reason for the Nephandi to join. Many Nephandi believe that the world is nothing more than an illusion. They see the world as a cage, and see Ascension as just a way of becoming further trapped. Nephandi argue that the only way out of the cage is to degrade it, destroying it and freeing everyone ultimately. They see demons, Outer Gods and Oblivion itself as the only beings worthy of respect as they come from Outside, and they share the mutual goals of opening the gates of reality. Other Nephandi see the same demons and elder things to be nothing more than extensions of the cage, who will vanish along with it when it is broken.
Faithful - Some Nephandi may very well be sincerely worshipful of their patrons. They believe that they will be rewarded when they finally open the gates for their masters.
Nihilists - Finally, there are those magi who are simply overcome with despair. They may believe that the world is beyond saving or redemption, or that the only possible way forward is by forcing it through the Void, to see what emerges on the other side. These mages may very well believe they are saving the world, or that they are doing it a mercy.
Factions
Factions are something of a misnomer among the Fallen. Many outside them believe that Nephandi are divided among lines of devil-worshipers, worshipers of the Wyrm and worshipers of the Outer Gods. In truth, while those are the most prevalent, it's a joke that's lost on most outsiders. Nephandi know very well that these three are the most common manifestations of the Outside, what lurks beyond the walls of reality. Nephandi call upon these powers because they work, and they violate reality in the way that very few other powers can, but they have no illusions that they are in any way 'separate' from each other. The Outside adopts many masks, but ultimately, an Infernalist calls upon the same power as a Malfean. Many Nephandi do not even subscribe to this dichotomy, and form personal traditions and philosophies on the end of all things. Many have their own separate, unique, and truly bizarre paradigms. Unlike the Traditions however, Nephandi are organized. They work together because they want the same thing, and don't really care what way another Nephandus chooses to look at the Outside.
The Nephandic Condition
Being a Nephandus means confronting, more than any other magus, the truth that conventional reality, and thus morality is a lie. In some ways this is incredibly freeing, and in other ways it's incredibly unsettling. Reality is a comforting place, and Nephandi recognize the trap of comfort as easily as any other trap. Yet, all Nephandi know the call to Descend, and know that in their hearts of hearts they cannot accept the world as it is. They consort with dark powers, perform absolutely and utterly unspeakable rituals, do things that would drive normal humans insane, and all for the simple fact that they would do anything to get out. It's all an illusion, so it shouldn't matter either way, right? Many Nephandi go mad from the strain, becoming brutal, hedonistic psychopaths who desire nothing but to spread misery and woe. Others become depressed, slowly becoming more twisted as they expose themselves to horrors no mortal mind should face. Worst of all, Nephandi face all this alone. The Traditions and the Technocracy will kill them on sight, and as the Nephandi must hide amongst their enemies, they need to keep their disgust for the lie a secret.
Among their own kind, Nephandi fear no judgement. All of them are aware of the illusory nature of the Tellurian, and no sin can shock someone who doesn't truly believe it's real. When Nephandi gather in their Labyrinths, they commit some of the most horrific atrocities imaginable, and when working their Magick, they are unafraid of dealing with absolutely anything.
Crafts
Nephandi, more than their Tradition, Technocratic or even Hollow brethren, are truly fragmented and egalitarian in their paradigms and methods. Despite falling into the 'big three' of Infernalism, Malfeanism and K'llassha, there are many myriad lesser Crafts and even truly unique Magickal systems to a specific individual among the Nephandi. Below are some samples of my own creation.
The Disciples of Oppenheimer - Nephandic technomancers who respect J. Robert Oppenheimer, the so called 'father of the atomic bomb', for helping to shape their paradigm and methods. This particular craft of the Fallen focuses on the interactions between matter and energy and the power released through the breakdown of matter. Many experiment with 'anti-matter', attempting to create a true annihilation of physical reality and seeing it as a key to breaking the bonds of reality itself. Specialty Sphere: Qlipphothic Matter
The Dead Dreamers - The Dead Dreamers are a very old Nephandic tradition, and very popular among the K'Lassha, and other less sane members of the sect. The Dreamers believe that the world is nothing but a dream, either their own or someone else's. The Dreamers see the Outer Gods as a reflection of their own souls and bodies in the 'real world' Outside, and welcome their insane dreams into their minds and souls, hoping to experience visions of true reality, outside the illusion. They experiment with waking nightmares, pulling horrors from their own deranged minds into reality in an attempt to 'shock' themselves and others into wakefulness. Specialty Sphere: Qlipphothic Mind
Mutilators - The dark reflection of the Verbena, the Mutilators are druids and dark scholars of the ecology of the Outside, summoning grotesque monsters from beyond the Gauntlet and dissecting them. Mutilators believe that by understanding the ecology of the Elder Gods, it can be replicated within reality and thus, allow those Outside passage. Mutilators can be ancient druids in lonely fields, reading the future in the guts of a horror, or be based in labs, dissecting aliens captured from beyond time and space. Specialty Sphere: Qlipphothic Life
The Strange Aeon - This craft is the most common among Infernalist Gnostics, and has it's roots in different Christian Gnostic heresies. Its primary philosophy is that God is actually the Demiurge, a malevolent being that has denied humanity its divinity and created the universe to trap us. To escape, the Aeon believes that its members must indulge in all sin, defy God's will in every way it can, and in ultimate evil, ultimate Satanic enlightenment, they shall Descend and be free. Specialty Sphere: Qlipphothic Prime
Architects of the Void - A craft of Technocrats who became a little too fascinated with spatial anomalies and other 'flaws' within physics and the universe. They study Black Holes, Dark and Strange Matter, and anything else that seems to represent the dissolution of physics and reality. Gravity especially, is a fascination of theirs, for its seeming ability to warp time and space, and their methods often involve drawing the energy from things, with the eventual goal of bringing about the Heat Death. Specialty Sphere: Qlipphothic Forces
Unweavers - One of the most common Nephandic crafts, and one that is arguably the most easily applied to any Nephandic paradigm. These Nephandi see the universe as a pattern, and argue that minor changes inevitable in all patterns eventually lead to dissolution. These sorcerers specialize in bad luck and decay, and work to unravel patterns wherever they find them, seeking to use these methods to unravel the greater pattern of the universe. Specialty Sphere: Qlipphothic Entropy
The Singularity Front - This Craft represents a method rather than a unified paradigm, but all Nephandi who belong to it see space and separation as an illusion. They see these things as metaphorical walls, which when broken, will allow the entire illusion to be pulled into a single point and quashed altogether. Through this idea, they specialize in sympathetic magick and enjoy the destruction of areas of space, seeing it as the eventual fulfillment of their ideal. Specialty Sphere: Qlipphothic Correspondence
The Church of the Black Hourglass - A popular Craft among particularly powerful Nihilists, especially those gifted in Time Magicks. The Black Hourglass argues that choice is pointless. The Universe adapts and branches off with every choice, spawning an alternate reality to house and contain every possibility. The Church claims that it has destroyed thousands of alternate worlds, only find that, like a hydra, more alternate universes keep springing forth. Their ultimate aim is to seek the 'Genesis Point,' the very first act that set all things in motion, and in that single slice of existence, annihilate and negate it. Specialty Sphere: Qlipphothic Time
The Doomsday Lodge - The classic Craft for Malfeans, the Doomsday Lodge arguably forms the main stereotype for the Nephandi. It is the Lodge that primarily deals with spirits, communes with them, and deals with entities from beyond the Gauntlet. The Lodge are the sages of the Nephandi, the points of contact between them and their otherworldly patrons. The Lodge negotiates deals and delivers orders from the Outside, and ultimately work to weaken the barrier between the worlds of flesh, spirit and beyond. Specialty Sphere: Qlipphothic Spirit
These, of course, represent only a very small portion of the total methods of Nephandic Magick. Individual Nephandi forge their own points of contact, make their own methods, and as long as it destroys reality, their brethren will work with them with no real complaint. The Nephandi may differ in beliefs, magick and motives, but ultimately, when the battle is won and reality falls, they will have forever to work out their differences.
I will leave you with Owlman, from Justice League: A Crisis on Two Earths, the best representation of a Nephandus in a work of fiction I've seen in a while, for some final thoughts.
- Kephn
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