From nv91-asa@nada.kth.se Sun Jul 11 07:36:51 1996 Status: RO X-Status: Received: from cwis.isu.edu (schoandr@cwis.isu.edu [134.50.254.11]) by mail.nada.kth.se (8.6.10/8.6.10) with ESMTP id HAA03991 for ; Thu, 11 Jul 1996 07:36:49 +0200 Message-Id: <199607110536.HAA03991@mail.nada.kth.se> Received: by cwis.isu.edu (1.37.109.18/16.2) id AA049553475; Wed, 10 Jul 1996 23:37:55 -0600 Date: Wed, 10 Jul 1996 23:37:55 -0600 From: SCHOU_ANDREAS_C X-Within-Url: file://localhost/users/student/schoandr/oroborous.txt To: nv91-asa@nada.kth.se Subject: oroborous.txt Project Oroborous Certain things exist that -- paradoxially -- must not exist for the universe to continue. Demons clamour to be outside the Inferno, the Outsiders vainly rip at the fabric of reality, and the Wyrm writhes inside its prison in Malfeas. All want to be in; to have access to the wellspring of the Tellurian, Earth. Most believe that the Horizon alone is strong enough to keep these beings from the Earth forever. Most are wrong. If, even for an instant, there was any iota of belief in any of these beings, they would have a wedge into the Realm -- if, even in a dream, a Sleeper felt the concept of the God of the Two-edged Polyhedron, then that K'llassha being would have a way to bring itself through the Horizon and into the Near Umbra. This cannot be allowed to happen. However, a group of mages has conceived of this notion, and has taken steps to fight it. They call themselves Project Oroborous. Seldom has a more eclectic group been collected; any mage that conceives of the idea is immediately welcomed into the group, for to do otherwise would be to allow one of the 'Horizon-breaking thoughts' to exist. The sub-group draws equally from the Void Engineers, the New World Order, the Celestial Chorus, and the Sons of Ether. However, the Void Engineers and Etherites tend to work together, as do the New World Order and the Chorus. Part of the enforcement is simple. The Horizon must be maintained and the Hordes beaten back. The solution is as direct as humanly possible: the Void Engineers and Sons of Ether take to their ships and attempt to destroy the Lords of the Abyss that cross. The work is thankless and hard, but not once has a Horizon Enforcer gone to the Nephandi; or, as is whispered amongst the Traditions, all of them have. The approach that Project members take is frighteningly close to that of both the Euthanatos and the New World Order: kill the offenders and destroy the evidence. Several dark dreamers -- notably, H.P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, and several lesser-known horror writers -- have met their ends at the Project's hands. And even yet, hits are currently planned on H.R. Giger and surrealist painters throughout the world. After all, forbidden thoughts must not happen. The Outsiders must not be allowed to exist. To destroy these dangerous reality deviants, the mages must see the art they aim to destroy; thus, they see the forbidden thoughts given physical shape. This is doubly dangerous to the members of Project Oroborous, since they, as mages, shape reality and even their subconcious thoughts take form in the real world. The Hobgoblins of those who retain their memoriesare often more dangerous than the Nephandi Lords themselves. Some within the Void Engineers believe that the Lords can manifest through Paradox, but this is often dismissed as paranoia. Their solution to the fact that forbidden thoughts remain is blindingly simple: cease to remember them. Most of the Project's assassins have had their long-term memory destroyed, and cannot remember anything other than coded assignments given after rigorous preparation. Furthermore, Gilgul is often performed on these assassins to destroy their influence over the collective paradigm. Among Project members, Gilgul is so commonplace that it is rumored that they have magi that can perform the complex ritual on their own. Even the non-combat Project members have to be mindwiped once every few months to prevent the creeping tide of non-terrestrial thoughts from invading their mind. They might not remember PCs from week to week, and may seem confused or even insane. This has led to the strictly-enforced Pogrom on the Oroborous Project by head Iteration X warlords, who believe that the Oroborous magi are Marauders. Paradigm: Project Oroborous members usually retain something similar to the paradigm they originated from, but most pick up foci and paradigmatic points from the other magi. It is not uncommon to see a Son of Ether driving away a Nephandi Lord with a cross or a Void Engineer building a steam-powered paddlewheel spacecraft. Common Rotes: Remove Memory (Mind 5) This rote simply takes the long-term memory from the person at which it was aimed. Such a person no longer has the ability to remember anything that happened more than twenty minutes ago. The Traditions and Conventions disagree on how to do this: the New World Order prefers brainwashing, while the Sons of Ether prefer to perform complex lobotomies on the hippocampi of the assassins; the Chorus prefers to prepare them as vessels of God by removing their free will, and the Void Engineers simply use the Automatons. (stats provided below) Timed Wipeout (Mind 4, Time 4) To prevent thoughts of Outsiders from invading their minds, Project members often cast this rote. It wipes the mind every two to three months, leaving only information that is of use to the organization. This rote is usually accomplished by inserting a sub-dermal drug implant. Common Servitors: The Automaton was the Etherites' answer to the HITmark: fast, deadly, and robotic, as well as having the Etheric twist. The project was soon abandoned, however, when it was found that Automatons were much too deadly; they often mauled their opponents for days after actually killing them, and eight killed their creators. The project was scrapped, and the idea eventually fell into the hands of the Oroborous Project, who now use Automatons as assassins. An example of an Automaton's appearance is provided below, though individual specimens vary; many have up to eight arms, and the latest models have a writhing mass of coppery tentacles instead of a head. From: _A Study of the Automaton: First Impressions_ -- Ghhhhhnthlk of the Order of Baal, formerly of the Hermetic Order "Artwork." "This is masterful artwork, but no more: a brass statue of a skeleton, kneeling in supplication to a nonexistent monarch and offering up a ball of smoky crystal. The heavy ball is fused to one circuit-covered wrist, and is studded with spikes in all directions. The other, a six-fingered hand, holds the ball up in offerance to the Labyrinth." "Clockwork fills the skeleton's internal cavity; steam vents stud crystaline globes that fit in between randomly organized cogs and flywheels, and matching hydraulics -- the legs of a mad spider -- lead from mechanical organs to coil over its head and limbs." "The head is oddly distended, with a cranial cavity twice the size of any human being's. Veins -- hydraulics -- trace every tiny bump in the hammered brass, occasionally slipping inside the skull. The down-turned eyes are simply hollow pits, coated with lampblack so that they seem to be inscrutable wells of darkness; unsettling, to be certain -- the impression that something burns in the impenetrable shadows cannot be placated." (The entire Labyrinthian Order of Baal was later destroyed by the Automaton, prompting investigation by later inhabitants. The Nephandi are now warned that the Automatons are not artwork.) Statistics: Str: 6 Cha: 0 Per: 4 Dex: 4 Man: 0 Int: 1 Sta: 5 App: 0 Wit: 5 Information: The Automaton's weapon, a ball of Primium-laced quartz, does str + 4 aggravated damage to all supernaturals; if the damage is greater than the strength of the person it hits, they are knocked prone. The structure of the creature provides three dice of countermagick and three dice of armour, unless either effect is aimed at the glass organs, which have 5 dice of countermagick but cannot soak. However, the attack roll must get at least four successes to hit the organs.