The Abyssals

"The Neverborn, forever dying in the maddening depths of The Labyrinth, twisted the Chosen of The Sun into haunted bloodthirsty villains."

Note: Abyssals are probably best left as antagonists for now, so that their mechanics don't need to be as strictly defined. The following are a bunch of left-over ideas from a previous iteration of this system. Use with caution.

Common Traits
Abyssals take all of the following traits for free.

Caste Traits
Abyssals choose one of the 5 following Caste traits for free. Within each of the Castes, an abyssal gains 7 Spheres of Influence. These Spheres are named after the 25 "abilities" from Exalted, plus the opposite associations of the solars. For a guide to what these Spheres mean, what skills are associated with them, see the Spheres and Channeling Examples

Whispers
''"Every Abyssal [and many ghosts] bear the stain of the Neverborn upon their soul and Essence. For some, this connection stays as distant and impersonal as the relationship between the Solar Exalted and the Unconquered Sun. Others are less fortunate. The Neverborn are not kind gods, but unknowable horrors who hate their Exalted only marginally less than they hate their enemies. Abyssals particularly blessed—or cursed—with the direct attention of their chthonic masters experience an endless torrent of blasphemies that gnaw away their sanity." ~ ''MoEP: The Abyssals (pg 100).

Mechanically, 'Whispers' is an emotional attribute that all Abyssals have access to, and which many ghosts and ghost-bloods can tune into over time. Despite that, we'll use the term "abyssal" throughout to refer to any who can hear Whispers. Whispers is naturally open-ended, is not affected by wounds, uses the practise cycle of Faith, and advances like Greed (i.e. routine tests always count).

Whispers has two functions: First, it allows the abyssal to open and learn the Necromancy skill and use that skill for the purposes of Death Arts (BWC pp 279-289). If this is done, then the Whispers attribute itself may be used like the Ritual skill; to make linked tests for Death Art Necromancy. (For Necromany to also be used for spellcasting, the abyssal must still be Gifted and know Symbology).

When tested directly, Whispers may Help Whispers. Additionally, Void Demesnes can be used to power Whispers tests.

Secondly, it may be tapped for power with Artha like Corruption (BWC pp 255-262, specifically see 'The Temptation' on pg 256). Whispers follows all the same rules as Corruption, except that starting Whispers questions and random traits are different.

Starting Whispers
Abyssals open the Whisper attribute at rank B2. (Minor ghosts open it at B1 and Major Ghosts at B3.) Then, during character burning, answer the following questions: Exponent 9 is the maximum Whispers during character creation and exponent 1 is the minimum. 5 exponent points may be spent to shade-shift (with permission). If a character obtains Whispers through play then open the attribute but only answer the first three questions.
 * +1 if the character’s Will exponent is 4 or lower.
 * +1 if the character’s Perception exponent is 6 or higher.
 * +1 if the character has ever laid still at night and listened out for the subterranean mumblings of forever-dying titans.
 * +1 if the character has accepted their death.
 * +1 if the character’s age since death is ≥100 and <500 years. +2 if it is ≥500 and <1000 years. +3 if it is ≥1000 years. And +1 more for every 1000 years thereafter.
 * +1 if the character has a 1D or higher affiliation with the orders of the Restless or Sanctified Dead.

Whispers Twists the Mind and the Spirit
At a Whispers exponent of 7 and above, the Abyssal should begin to gain traits that represent their harrowing mind. these can be directed through play and discussed, or they can be randomised by the table below if you can't think of anything. (The 'Corrupted Body and Soul' traits are reserved for the Whispers of Oblivion). As with the table on page 261, choose which one you want, then alternate for all future rolls: As with Corruption, if you get the same trait twice then tough luck: You get nothing.

Lost In The Labyrinth (Exponent 10)
If Whispers ever reaches exponent 10, then the character is possessed by the Whispers and lead down below the Underworld and into the Labyrinth. The character has transcended sanity and all vestiges of humanity in obeisance to the Neverborn. They become lost in that place, forever unplayable. But they might still be sent out into the world at the behest of their cryptic masters.

Situational Tests
Whispers use the same situational tests as Corruption (BWC pp259-260), except replace every instance of the word 'demon' with 'major ghost' (meaning things like nephwracks and hecatoncheires). And the Ob 9 test is being possessed by a major ghost or sanctified dead, while an Ob 10 test is being possessed by (or selling your soul to) one of the Neverborn, or to Oblivion itself (the latter of which earn you the Whispers of Oblivion trait). There's also a few extra tests: (Mark the highest of these, don't mark four Ob 5s and one Ob 7 if you spent a month in The Labyrinth, for example.)
 * Ob 3: Bringing a living person into The Underworld.
 * Ob 4: Using a Demesne to empower your Whispers.
 * Ob 5: Spending a week in The Labyrinth.
 * Ob 6: Bringing a living person into The Labyrinth.
 * Ob 7: Spending a month in The Labyrinth.
 * Ob 8: Attempting to commune with the Neverborn directly.
 * Ob 9: Spending a year in The Labyrinth.

Whispers of Oblivion
''"The Neverborn are not the only whisperers in the Underworld. Incomprehensible murmurs rise from the Abyss and echo within the darkest recesses of the Labyrinth. They also penetrate Creation at a few supremely cursed and evil locations." ~ ''MoEP: The Abyssals (pg 101).

The Whispers of Oblivion trait sort of 'upgrades' the usual Whispers attribute to be even more powerful, but also more dangerous. Note that there are no new questions for Whispers of Oblivion, you simply sell your soul to Oblivion and your Whispers attribute gains new functions: All of the artha powers of the Whispers attribute remain, but the attribute itself may now be used to cast Necromancies, Summon the dead, and perform Death Arts, without needing persona to be spent to substitute (and ignoring the Gifted trait restriction, or any other restriction, though the spells must still be learned).

As such, when Whispers of Oblivion is used for Death art, the Necromancy skill itself can then be used like the Ritual skill instead, to make linked tests.

Where Is My Mind?
At the beginning of every session, a character with Whispers of Oblivion make a Will test The obstacle of this test is equal to their Whispers exponent. If they fail this test then the GM gets to write and replace of one the characters beliefs with one that compels them to commit Atrocities Against Existence. The character can earn Artha off of this belief as per the usual rules, then it is removed at the end of the session... until the next session... or the next...

Thus, the Whispers will hamper the character's ability to do the things that they really want to do, but in a more subtle way than imposing a simple mechanical penalty.

Oblivion Deforms the Body and Soul
Using the same rules as Corrupted Body and Soul (BWC pg 260) roll on the table on BWC pg 261 to obtain mutation traits from advancing Whispers of Oblivion. If you've already used the table above (for normal Whispers) then keep the alternation pattern, as appropriate.

If you have the 'Void Resistance Ward' trait then you can avoid one of the mutations by dropping that trait.

Sucked Into The Void (Exponent 10)
If a character's Whispers of Oblivion ever reaches exponent 10, then the maw of The Void itself opens beneath their feet, and they are drawn in as though they had just crossed the event horizon of a black hole. They are permanently destroyed. More so, they are wiped from existence entirely. Their actions may still have lasting impact on the world, but nobody will remember them.

Finally a Void Demesne (with an rating equal to their Essence exponent divided by 3, rounded up) will form in the spot that they died within a month or so of their vanishing, and nobody will know why it appeared there...

Situational Tests
Whispers of Oblivion uses all the same situational tests as Whispers (above), except there's a few extra tests:
 * Ob 5: Pushing a dead person or a ghost into Oblivion.
 * Ob 6: Earning fate for a Whispers of Oblivion belief.
 * Ob 7: Pushing a living person into Oblivion.
 * Ob 8: Earning persona for a Whispers of Oblivion belief.
 * Ob 9: Attempting to commune with Oblivion directly.
 * Ob 10: Earning deeds for a Whispers of Oblivion belief.

Oblivion vs. The Neverborn
"I don't get it. What's the difference? What's the Neverborn and what's Oblivion?" you might be wondering... These are lore questions that you can look up yourself if you have access to the original books. But the sort answer is that Oblivion (also known as The Void) is a sort of black hole that sits at the bottom of the universe that's slowly going to destroy everything. The Neverborn were the first ones to discover it (or perhaps they created it?), and their tomb corpses kind of hang into it in a state of eternal collapse. Their cyclopean bodies make up The Labyrinth. And all of this lies deep beneath The Underworld, which is a dying reflection of Creation. The Neverborn want nothing more than to die, properly, by slipping into Oblivion and be done with this shit. Oblivion simply wants to drag the whole rest of the universe with them.