The White Rebellion
[a white, river lily]
Once, there was an empire- a realm so ancient no mortal scribe knows it ever existed. In the height of its power, no rival nation could have stood against it for long. It's leaders knew the secrets of both Heaven and Earth, and they worked miracles so wonderful and terrible that whole countries would have burned in fire if they wished so. Yet, everything must fall- and when it fell, it was like a falling star crushing into the depths on earth. Nothing- not even a name- was left behind. By all chances, it should have been lost and forgotten, like many other civilizations who vanished through history. Yet, the realm wasn't willing to stay dead. Ancient relics rose from the sands of time once in a while, carrying with them dangerous curses and divine powers. And not only items resurfaced from the ages past. People- as much as one can call them "people"- rose from the ancient tombs, holding the powers of the gods themselves and motivated by the whispers of alien entities also awakened, establishing themselves as rulers by the name of their dark patrons. They are the Undying, the living gods who walk among man.
This isn't right.
They should stay asleep.
When the empire with no name existed, no one dared to challenge it- except of once. The challenge didn't came from the outside, but from the inside. It's lords, priest kings who talked in the name of their gods, ruled in iron fist, claiming the be the only authority to bridge between man and the divine. Yet, one didn't agreed with them- a young woman, wearing only white and decorated only with flowers. She claimed to be a prophet of her own, nameless goddess. She said to her faithful that they were in danger- that her goddess has shown her a terrible future. A darkness was coming to their land, and their lords have sinned against their purpose. Their judgement was flawed, their rules were twisted. If they were allowed to stay in control over their land, the darkness would consume them for all eternity. The priests, so sure with their power, weren't even aware for the boiling rebellion, as the prophetess and her believers were waiting for the right time to strike- until their goddess sent them the sign. White flowers bloomed upon the great river, the lords were in the lowest. It was their only chance to save their land.
They failed.
The priest kings may have been weakened, bu they still held sorceries no man could have stood against. They killed thousands of rebels, no matter from where they came from- soldiers, slaves, artists, priests. They slaughtered them in dozens, and made a pyramid out of their bodies. At the head of the mountain of corpses, they bound the prophetess, who was still alive. Then, they spilled oil upon the morbid structure and lit it up, burning the woman alive in honor for their false gods, so no one would ever think to rebel against them again. Then, they turned against the goddess herself, doing the unthinkable- they gave her a name. She, who was once the Nameless Flower, was now Nebthet. By doing so, they bound her to their will- and they started to torment her. They destroyed her statues, broke her idols, burned her temple with fire. They broke her name, again and again, corrupting it into endless forms while twisting every syllable. Eventually, when they were sure she was no longer a threat, they through her away from her divine realm to the land of men, to suffer as a mortal woman for all eternity.
After that, everything is already known- the empire rose and devoured itself. Its mystical god kings have vanished, and no one was remained to remember the lost land. Yet, few have survived the destruction, and inside of fewer the memories of the rebellion still survived. They, who remembered the old stories about the fall of the prophetess and witnessed her words turn into truth, hoped that at least that would be the end for the dark empire- when the goddess showed up before them again, broken and bruised from the deeds of the priest kings. She told them it was not the end- only the beginning. They destroyed their own name, and by doing so became eternal. They should stay vigilant, she said, and share her story with her children, for one day they would have to face against the threat once more.
And she was right.
Hundreds of years after the fall of the empire, the schemes of its dark masters still influence the world. Dangerous relics, monsters and cults stalk in the night, bringing ancient horror which was meant to be buried beneath the sand. Thankfully, the Rebellion is still alive, guided by a vassal chosen by Nephtys at each day. While she could have blessed one of her prophets with the gift of eternal life, she wouldn't- for doing so would stand against the faith of her Temple. They are there to not only protect the modern people from the past, but also help the Undying themselves. They are tired, exhausted from eternal service and meaningless existence. They can help them go back to sleep- they just need to let go. Because helping them is seen as their greatest mission, they have followed them through the globe, finding like minded individuals where ever they went. The past is dead, and they won't rest until every relic, every undying, every monster born out of the nightmares of the ancient past would close its eyes and go to its eternal sleep.
The empire has be forgotten.
Let's keep it that way.
Status
0- You have been initiated into the Temple of Silence and have been blessed with the gifts of the Nameless Flower. You gain accesses to the Coffin Ceremonies Endowment
000- You have destroyed many relics and sang lullaby to a number of the undying, and your exposure to the weird energies of the ancient world has made you sensitive to it. You may use your Status: Temple of Silence + Occult as a dicepool to track down relics just like mummies do. That sense also track down the Undying and similar Sekhem empowered beings.
00000- you survive many dangers and fought against the living gods themselves. The Named Flower grants you her gift of sight- first, you can always see into the ghostly frequency of the Twilight. Second, once per chapter the character can force herself into a Sybaritic Omens rolls, even without being exposed to a mummy.
Endowment- Coffin Ceremonies (1-5)
When initiated into the Temple, each member learns the secret rites of Nebthet- spells which are meant to put the dead to sleep. That Endowment has a number of influences. First, when preforming the ceremony upon a dead body during the burial, the character may roll her dots in the Endowment+ Occult. Success would make sure the person won't leave a ghost behind. Dramatic failure guaranties that a ghost would rise- and would feel that the character was the one to rise her. You suffer -1 modifier per day that passed since the day of death, and can use it only once.
Second, those ceremonies may allow putting even the more active dead into asleep. Ghosts would be absorbed into their anchors. Vampires would fall into their torpor. Even the Arisen are forced into Descent Roll. By doing so, the character rolls her dots in the Endowment + Willpower against the undead's supernatural potency. Succeeding would force the undead into the appropriate "sleep" situation. Exceptional Success would double the duration (vampires would be forced to torpor like they were one Humanity dot less. Mummies would have to roll for Descent Roll twice, etc). Dramatic Failure would deal 1 level of bashing damage per dot in the Endowment to the user the the violent energies of Duat get out of control.
The third use includes nullifying the Dread Powers of the monsters. By rolling your dots in the Ednwoment + Occult you may create a "safe zone", protected from dark magics and terrible curses. Powers who are not created from an intelligent beings (like magical items) stop functioning while in a radius of 1 meter per Endowment dot. Monsters have to roll their own Supernatural Potency (or if they lack one, their Willpower) against the character's successes if they wish to activate their powers. Failing to do so would have the monster suffer one level of lethal damage per the character's success.
Finally, the Coffin ceremonies also have a darker use- they can control the dead. By touching a dead body and spending a Willpower, they may force the body into a semblance of life, granting it one dot in Dread Powers per their dots in the Endowment, and they exist for one hour per dot in Status: Temple of Silence. In order to do the did, the character must also roll their Endowment+Occult, with Exceptional Successes doubling the time the body exist and Dramatic Failure turns the dead against them. While doing so is possible, it is seen as a dark act in the Temple, and doing so too many times may endanger your Status and may even turn the conspiracy against you.
[a white, river lily]
Once, there was an empire- a realm so ancient no mortal scribe knows it ever existed. In the height of its power, no rival nation could have stood against it for long. It's leaders knew the secrets of both Heaven and Earth, and they worked miracles so wonderful and terrible that whole countries would have burned in fire if they wished so. Yet, everything must fall- and when it fell, it was like a falling star crushing into the depths on earth. Nothing- not even a name- was left behind. By all chances, it should have been lost and forgotten, like many other civilizations who vanished through history. Yet, the realm wasn't willing to stay dead. Ancient relics rose from the sands of time once in a while, carrying with them dangerous curses and divine powers. And not only items resurfaced from the ages past. People- as much as one can call them "people"- rose from the ancient tombs, holding the powers of the gods themselves and motivated by the whispers of alien entities also awakened, establishing themselves as rulers by the name of their dark patrons. They are the Undying, the living gods who walk among man.
This isn't right.
They should stay asleep.
When the empire with no name existed, no one dared to challenge it- except of once. The challenge didn't came from the outside, but from the inside. It's lords, priest kings who talked in the name of their gods, ruled in iron fist, claiming the be the only authority to bridge between man and the divine. Yet, one didn't agreed with them- a young woman, wearing only white and decorated only with flowers. She claimed to be a prophet of her own, nameless goddess. She said to her faithful that they were in danger- that her goddess has shown her a terrible future. A darkness was coming to their land, and their lords have sinned against their purpose. Their judgement was flawed, their rules were twisted. If they were allowed to stay in control over their land, the darkness would consume them for all eternity. The priests, so sure with their power, weren't even aware for the boiling rebellion, as the prophetess and her believers were waiting for the right time to strike- until their goddess sent them the sign. White flowers bloomed upon the great river, the lords were in the lowest. It was their only chance to save their land.
They failed.
The priest kings may have been weakened, bu they still held sorceries no man could have stood against. They killed thousands of rebels, no matter from where they came from- soldiers, slaves, artists, priests. They slaughtered them in dozens, and made a pyramid out of their bodies. At the head of the mountain of corpses, they bound the prophetess, who was still alive. Then, they spilled oil upon the morbid structure and lit it up, burning the woman alive in honor for their false gods, so no one would ever think to rebel against them again. Then, they turned against the goddess herself, doing the unthinkable- they gave her a name. She, who was once the Nameless Flower, was now Nebthet. By doing so, they bound her to their will- and they started to torment her. They destroyed her statues, broke her idols, burned her temple with fire. They broke her name, again and again, corrupting it into endless forms while twisting every syllable. Eventually, when they were sure she was no longer a threat, they through her away from her divine realm to the land of men, to suffer as a mortal woman for all eternity.
After that, everything is already known- the empire rose and devoured itself. Its mystical god kings have vanished, and no one was remained to remember the lost land. Yet, few have survived the destruction, and inside of fewer the memories of the rebellion still survived. They, who remembered the old stories about the fall of the prophetess and witnessed her words turn into truth, hoped that at least that would be the end for the dark empire- when the goddess showed up before them again, broken and bruised from the deeds of the priest kings. She told them it was not the end- only the beginning. They destroyed their own name, and by doing so became eternal. They should stay vigilant, she said, and share her story with her children, for one day they would have to face against the threat once more.
And she was right.
Hundreds of years after the fall of the empire, the schemes of its dark masters still influence the world. Dangerous relics, monsters and cults stalk in the night, bringing ancient horror which was meant to be buried beneath the sand. Thankfully, the Rebellion is still alive, guided by a vassal chosen by Nephtys at each day. While she could have blessed one of her prophets with the gift of eternal life, she wouldn't- for doing so would stand against the faith of her Temple. They are there to not only protect the modern people from the past, but also help the Undying themselves. They are tired, exhausted from eternal service and meaningless existence. They can help them go back to sleep- they just need to let go. Because helping them is seen as their greatest mission, they have followed them through the globe, finding like minded individuals where ever they went. The past is dead, and they won't rest until every relic, every undying, every monster born out of the nightmares of the ancient past would close its eyes and go to its eternal sleep.
The empire has be forgotten.
Let's keep it that way.
Status
0- You have been initiated into the Temple of Silence and have been blessed with the gifts of the Nameless Flower. You gain accesses to the Coffin Ceremonies Endowment
000- You have destroyed many relics and sang lullaby to a number of the undying, and your exposure to the weird energies of the ancient world has made you sensitive to it. You may use your Status: Temple of Silence + Occult as a dicepool to track down relics just like mummies do. That sense also track down the Undying and similar Sekhem empowered beings.
00000- you survive many dangers and fought against the living gods themselves. The Named Flower grants you her gift of sight- first, you can always see into the ghostly frequency of the Twilight. Second, once per chapter the character can force herself into a Sybaritic Omens rolls, even without being exposed to a mummy.
Endowment- Coffin Ceremonies (1-5)
When initiated into the Temple, each member learns the secret rites of Nebthet- spells which are meant to put the dead to sleep. That Endowment has a number of influences. First, when preforming the ceremony upon a dead body during the burial, the character may roll her dots in the Endowment+ Occult. Success would make sure the person won't leave a ghost behind. Dramatic failure guaranties that a ghost would rise- and would feel that the character was the one to rise her. You suffer -1 modifier per day that passed since the day of death, and can use it only once.
Second, those ceremonies may allow putting even the more active dead into asleep. Ghosts would be absorbed into their anchors. Vampires would fall into their torpor. Even the Arisen are forced into Descent Roll. By doing so, the character rolls her dots in the Endowment + Willpower against the undead's supernatural potency. Succeeding would force the undead into the appropriate "sleep" situation. Exceptional Success would double the duration (vampires would be forced to torpor like they were one Humanity dot less. Mummies would have to roll for Descent Roll twice, etc). Dramatic Failure would deal 1 level of bashing damage per dot in the Endowment to the user the the violent energies of Duat get out of control.
The third use includes nullifying the Dread Powers of the monsters. By rolling your dots in the Ednwoment + Occult you may create a "safe zone", protected from dark magics and terrible curses. Powers who are not created from an intelligent beings (like magical items) stop functioning while in a radius of 1 meter per Endowment dot. Monsters have to roll their own Supernatural Potency (or if they lack one, their Willpower) against the character's successes if they wish to activate their powers. Failing to do so would have the monster suffer one level of lethal damage per the character's success.
Finally, the Coffin ceremonies also have a darker use- they can control the dead. By touching a dead body and spending a Willpower, they may force the body into a semblance of life, granting it one dot in Dread Powers per their dots in the Endowment, and they exist for one hour per dot in Status: Temple of Silence. In order to do the did, the character must also roll their Endowment+Occult, with Exceptional Successes doubling the time the body exist and Dramatic Failure turns the dead against them. While doing so is possible, it is seen as a dark act in the Temple, and doing so too many times may endanger your Status and may even turn the conspiracy against you.
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