Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Chaosium Digest Volume 14 Number 09
Chaosium Digest Volume 14, Number 9
Date: Sunday, May 19, 1996
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
Arcanum VIII: Strength (Timothy Ferguson) NEPHILIM
Arcanum IX: The Hermit (Timothy Ferguson) NEPHILIM
Editor's Note:
As of this week, the number of subscribers to the Chaosium Digest has
exceeded 900. 906 to be precise. Mythos seems to have definitely
kicked up some new interest in the Internet community. Welcome to all
the new Chaotic denizens.
Speaking of Mythos, the next booster, Cthulhu Rising, should be
hitting stores at the end of this week. Keep a lookout for it. You'll
learn the mysteries of the South Pacific Isles, ancient Cthulhu and
the lost city of R'lyeh.
This time around, a few more Arcanum reprints from the Nephilim ML. As
I noted last issue, when the _Major Arcanum_ book comes out, some of
these writeups will doubtless be contradicted, but remember that the
Arcana are big, heterogeneous organizations. There's room for a lot
of different attitudes in them.
And, lastly, submissions have been really light over the last month. I
have next-to-nothing on line for future issues. If you've been
thinking about contributing to the Digest, but haven't yet, here's
your chance to do your share.
Shannon
RECENT MOVIES OF NOTE:
Jason Durall (71124.157@compuserve.com) sent the following note of
interest to Lovecraft fans:
On Thursday, May 16, in Seattle, the movie "The Whole Wide World"
premieres at the Seattle International Film Festival. Directed by
Dan Ireland, it tells the story of pulp writer ("Conan" creator and
sometime Cthulhu Mythos contributor) Robert E. Howard's life,
focusing on his relationship with a school teacher and his unusual
relationship with his mother. REH is played by Vincent D'Onofrio
(from "Full Metal Jacket" and "Mystic Pizza"), the schoolteacher
Novalyne Price is Renee Zellweger, and his mother is portrayed by
Anne Wedgeworth. No idea if or what place his writings will have in
the film.
The showing time is now past, but assumedly this will pop up elsewhere
in the future.
--------------------
From: Timothy Ferguson <Timothy.Ferguson@jcu.edu.au>
Subject: Arcanum VIII: Strength
System: Nephilim
Strength
(Arcanum VIII)
THE CARD
The card shows Cyrene, handmaiden of Artemis, subduing a lion. Older
decks often display the bettle between Herakles and the Nemean Lion.
Members of this Arcanum tend to prefer this earlier depiction.
GOALS
All:
* Destruction of the Devil Arcanum.
Inner Circle:
* Creation of the Perfect Society.
* Creation of societies that are entropic.
* Perfection of the individual.
* Learning the correct way of life from Elders.
* Guiding students throught the initiations and stages of development
which comprise this Arcanum's path to Agartha.
* Collection of the stases of fallen comrades, their transfer to an
Arcanum community and the re-incarnation of trapped allies.
ATTITUDES
Attitude to Arcanum and to Agarthan Progress:
All members of this Arcanum believe that the Devil Arcanum should be
disbanded by force.
The Inner Circle of this Arcanum follow an elaborate societal
philosophy which, among other things, they feel, justifies their
violence against the Devils. Each believes that Nephilim and humans
form a series of organistic clusters in a vast, living culture. They
feel that the "healthier", or more cohesive, the Greater Society is,
the easier it is for each individual to reach Agartha. Members of this
group tend to view the Devils as an infection within the Greater
Society and blame them for the fall of Atlantis and the scattering of
the Tribes in the time of Ankhenaton. Those influenced by Bhuddism see
the Devils as demons generated by the soul of the Greater society as
it develops, which must be overcome to attain Enlightenment for all.
All members of the Inner Circle strive to create the Perfect Society,
which they see as an ordered culture wherein each member perfects
themselves while aiding the development of communitarian cohesion.
Aside from the war against the Devil, this philosophy leads Strength
members into regiments of strict physical and mental training. Those
least skilled act as students and servants for their teachers, who, in
turn, have teachers of their own. Those of skill are required to guide
their students through the rigours of the initiations into the Inner
Mysteries. Willing service and benificent guidance are the fundamental
bonds between the members of the Inner Circle.
Atttitudes toward Incarnation:
Humans are the smallest cogs in society, yet there are so many of them
that they, acting together, command more force than the larger cogs.
It is important to guide the humans lest they, frightened by the
Devils, destroy all they do not understand.
Taking a host allows that individual to reach a degree of perfection
they could never otherwise have obtained. Becoming a simulacrum is the
finest service to the Greater Society that most humans ever do.
Atttitudes toward Secret Societies:
The Strength Arcanum likes creating small paramilitary organisations
to provide Simulacra for its members. Most paramilitaries have only
one Nephilim member, but there are some that have dozens.
Persistent rumours indicate that the Temple may have been a Strength
paramilitary. Given the philosophy of this Arcanum, that does not
appear impossible. Saint George, whose cross is used by the Templars
as one of their symbols, was a Strength Arcanum member. It is believed
by those who give credence these rumours that some ordinances of the
Templars are still loyal to their masters and that the Grand Plan is a
peversion of the Perfect Society.
Generally the secret societies ignore this Arcanum in favour of the
larger ones with greater power, like the Empress and Emperor. The
Strength Arcanum tends to return the favour.
Attitudes toward other Arcana:
Each other Arcanum performs some sort of necessary role in the Great
Society, as they did in Atlantis and in Egypt. The Devil are not a
true Arcanum, as they have no role.
The role of the Selenim is complete. They should cease to reproduce
and all be cured by the Temperance Arcanum. The Strength Arcanum takes
no direct action against the Selenim to avoid creating a Selenim-Devil
alliance.
METHODS
Create a position of Strength and use that Strength for the good of
the Greater Society. Teamwork is valued highly in this Arcanum, as is
obedience. Ties of teacher to student, in feudal or other forms, are
common.
SPECIAL BENEFITS OF A SUCCESSFUL ARCANUM ROLL
If the cause seems sufficient:
* Teaching from a higher member of the Inner Circle.
* Service from one or more students.
* Co-operation from other members of the Arcanum.
* Hospitality in Strength Communities.
* Sanctuary with other members against all and any enemies.
* The potential for your Stasis to be recovered and a new body be
provided for you.
* Access to highly-trained Nephilim and their paramilitaries of human
warriors.
* Supply of contraband weapons and weapons of mass destruction.
* The use of Orichalka weapons, including those of the most modern,
armour-circumventing types.
* Special training that prevents the usual nausea and fear associated
with the presence of orichalka weapons.
* Training in the accurate gauging of the Khaiba totals of both yourself
and others.
* Contacts within the Temperance Arcanum who can lower your own Khaiba
total.
REQUESTS UPON MEMBERS
* Hospitality to other members of the Arcanum.
* Sanctuary for other members of the Arcanum.
* Willing service to superiors.
* Benificent guidance of students and others less developed than you.
* Unceasing war, to the point of annihilation, upon the Devil Arcanum.
* Collection of the Stases of Strength members and their transportation
to a community where a plexus can be created and a body provided to the
fallen.
Timothy Ferguson.
--------------------
From: Timothy Ferguson <Timothy.Ferguson@jcu.edu.au>
Subject: Arcanum IX: The Hermit
System: Nephilim
The Hermit
(Arcanum IX)
THE CARD
The card shows an elderly man in a robe, facing the viewer's left. He
holds a lantern at shoulder height and a staff. The ground is white,
the background bleak and featureless.
The Nephilim of this Arcanum believe that mundane life and the
material world are full of distractions that pull Nephilim away from
Agartha. The Inner Circle believe that the need to take a Simulacrum
is a punishment for the Original Sin of attempting to control the
Solar Ka. Its members attempt to become Agarthan by using magic in
solitude or in communities of the like-minded. They consider the world
to be full of noise and temptation.
GOALS
* Achievement of Agartha through self-discipline and the denial of the
baser nature.
* Creation of places for of distraction for such study.
* Formation of communities of like-minded individuals, for mutual
support.
* Atonement for the Sin of Prometheus, the attempted theft of the
power of God, which divided God into pieces.
* Rejoining God, whose head is the Sun, with the pieces of His body,
the Solar-Ka in humans and animals, through achieving Agartha or
some later stage of development, wherein the Simulacrum's Ka
rejoins the Godhead and the Ka elements in the Nephilim fuse to
become Solar, returning it to both internal unity and
connectedness with the divine.
ATTITUDES
Atttitudes toward Incarnation:
The disgusting process of incarnation was forced upon the Nephilim by
the Divine for the Promethean sin of attempting to steal the Divine
Fire, which destroyed the Unity of God and trapped parts of Him in
human bodies.
The human body is a disgusting thing to a Hermit. They think about it
as little as possible. It is a prison for a piece of God.
Note that there is no question that taking a simulacrum might be
immoral. It is a punishment by God that taking a Simulacrum should be
necessary.
Atttitudes toward Secret Societies:
It varies, but the Promethean secret societies are the crop reaped of
Prometheus' sin.
The Prieure di Sion and the Cathari Movement, the Jainists and other
such ascetics are all viewed as valuable sources of somewhat cleaner
simulacra. The Hermit Arcanum is closely linked to the Eastern
Orthodox Churches. Saint Basil and Vassili the Holy Fool are often
thought of as Hermits, although Vassili might have been a student of
the Zero Arcanum. In the Catholic Church, Saint Benedict was a Hermit,
as was Saint David of Wales. Later the Hermits lost control of the
Western Monastic Orders in many places.
Attitudes toward other Arcana:
Most wish to control the Godhead that is the Sun. This is prideful and
wrong. Eclipses are God turning Its face away from the desecration of
its body.
Fool (0): The Fool and the Hermit are often allied through the human
agency of the Prieure di Sion. The difference between the two groups
is a philosophical one. The Hermits believe enlightenment comes from
study, the Fools believe it is like lightning from the sky, striking
where it will. The Hermits believe grace is earned, the Fools that it
is freely given.
Magicians (I): A cult formed to continually re-enact the Original Sin.
High Priestess (II): The two Arcanum co-operate closely in matters of
the preservation of information, although this is the focus of the
High Priestess, the Hermits being more inclined toward research.
Empress (III): The tecniques for destroying human emotions discovered
by this Arcanum are of great benefit to the members of the Hermit.
Emperors (IV): They just don't understand how wrong they are. At last
they are only amoral, not evil like the Magicians. At least if they
were successful the humans would leave us to our studies.
Hierophant (V): Paul was a Hierophant Nephilim and when he went into
Shouit his Simulacrum used Hierophantism to destroy the teachings of
Jesus. Struggles between the Hierophants and Hermits for the control
of the Early Church lead to the Schism between the four Hermit
patriarchies and the Western Patriarch.
Lovers (VI): Utterly misguided, although a brief union was possible
during the Cathari era, when Hermits took over the bodies of
troubadors. Saint John of the Cross is an example of a Troubador who
was able to marry the ideas of physical love and spiritual love, so
that both became extracorporeal.
Chariot (VII): Distracted by bells and whistles.
Strength (VIII): Fighters against the Devil. Misguided, but handy.
Wheel of Fortune (X): The fields are not important. What they do is
the Nephilim equivalent of train-spotting.
Justice (XI): No, they do not really understand the Cosmic Order, but
they are generally in the right.
The Hanged Man (XII): Instead of ignoring the body and opening the
spirit, they ignore the spirit and follow the urges of the body.
The Unnamed (XIII): Accursed be they! They never die, so they can
never liberate their Simulacrum's solar Ka. They offend God and the
path to Agartha is lost to them.
The Tower (XVI): Self-appointed destroyers of the Promethean Legacy,
these Nephilim attempt to prevent repetition of the Original Sin and
the commission of the Thousand Lesser Sins.
The Star (XVII): The Sign they are looking for is overhead at noon.
The Moon (XVIII): They would trap the separated parts of God in lower
lifeforms and choose forms other than the human so as to avoid His
righteous vengence for the Original Sin.
The Sun (XIX): Dedicated to the Control of God. Prometheus' true
heirs.
Judgement (XX): They do not accept that the Meteorite was a punishment
from God. If they did this, they would find focus.
The World (XXI): This Arcanum has no members because we are all
trapped inside it.
METHODS
* Purification of hosts, through the spread of the Truth.
* Purifictaion of Self through denial of material wants.
* Reuinion with God through pentient suffering and the building up of
spiritual merit, which is self-awareness, since the self was designed
by God and contains clues as to the method of reunification.
* The casting of magic as a method of gaining personal insight.
SPECIAL BENEFITS OF A SUCCESSFUL ARCANUM ROLL
If circumstances warrant it:
* Knowledge of the whereabouts of the nearest community of Hermits.
* Access to those magics developed by the Arcanum.
* Access to a Simulacrum who has been prepared for a Hermit Nephilim.
* Aid from humans who are part of Hermit-aiding groups, such as Secret
Societies or Church congregations.
* Access to those plexi and nexi that the Arcanum controls.
* Assistance from an Agarthan. (Agarthans seem to assist this Tribe, as
bodhisatvas, saints and angels, far more often that the other Tribes,
at least in this Tribe's estimation.)
REQUESTS UPON MEMBERS
Loyalty to other Hermits. Assisting weaker Hermits along the path.
Aiding the reunification of God. Spreading the Truth.
--------------------
The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial discussion forum for Chaosium's
Games. To submit an article, subscribe, or unsubscribe, mail to:
appel@erzo.org. If you are interested in subscribing to the Nephilim
Mailing List, a discussion forum dedicated solely to the Nephilim
role-playing game, send a piece of mail to majordomo@erzo.org, with
the command "subscribe nephilim-digest" in the body of the message.
