Dark Watchtowers of the Black Moon?
As I previously mentioned, the French version gave each occult science five paths. Five mazes of Sorcery, five worlds of Summoning, and five materials of Alchemy, each preferred by Nephilim of one of the five elements. For purposes of organization, I label these the "watchtowers" of the elements. To recap:
Element | Sorcery | Kabbalah | Alchemy |
---|---|---|---|
π Fire | The Axial Way of the Wandering Principles: Fight the darkness and learn from the struggle | Aresh, World of Conflict, where the world is in a constant state of war and honor and atrocity are the only lords | Metal, mastered by the Green Lion, is Mastery |
π Water | The Primal Way of the Rising Spiral: Change yourself to change the world. | ZakaΓ―, World of Purity, where the world is dying and the only hope rests on the healing of the Fisher King | Liquor, mastered by Esmeralda, is Transformation |
π Earth | The Natural Way of the Winding Paths: Look to Nature to heal the wound of your Fall | Meborack, World of Equilibrium, where all is in balance | Amber, mastered by Rebis, is Creation |
π Air | The Winding Way of the Schematic Labyrinth: Understand everything on Heaven or on Earth | Sohar, World of Splendor, where the elements are arranged in mystical patterns to be decoded | Vapor, mastered by Hermes, is Revelation |
☾ Moon | The Labyrinthine Way of the Soul Maze: Discover your own potential hidden in your mind | Pachad, World of Oppression, where the world vacillates between beguiling beauty and raw horror | Powder, mastered by Atalanta Fugiens, is Destruction |
But the Selenim occult sciences, newly revised for Nephilim: Revelation, never received similar paths. But if they did, then what would those be? Since NR revealed that the Black Moon field insidious insinuates itself within all the magic fields, does that mean there are five dark reflections of the Watchtowers of the Five Fields?
As explained in the Gamemaster's Book, the Anti-Lands (lower planes of Black Moon) are divided into three strata. The third and final strata, which many don't even believe exists, is the Unknown Place. It has five foundational branches from which all other third layer Anti-Lands extend: the Continent of Mu, the Realm of the Eumenides (Furies), the Realm of the Parcae (Fates), Eden, and the Loess of the Pavane (renamed Tenebrae in the US version). Hades, an invisible world born out of the Orichalka meteor, is the Nadir of the Unknown Place (analogous to Abaddon in the US version, Major Arcana p72). These correspond to directions and symbolism as given on the table below:
Direction | Symbolism | Anti-Land |
---|---|---|
East | birth, origin, alpha | Continent of Mu |
West | death, end, omega | Realm of the Eumenides |
North | gestation, reflection, wisdom | Realm of the Parcae |
South | burning/saving heat | Eden |
Zenith | spiritual elevation, illumination | Loess of the Pavane |
Nadir | ??? | Hades |
These branches potentially correspond to the five worlds of Kabbalah according to a fan theory. I offer some possible schemas on the table below, based on real world and fictional, for GMs to pick as they like:
Schema | Direction | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
East | West | North | South | Zenith | ||
Liber Ka p51¹ | π Aresh | π ZakaΓ― | π Meborack | π Sohar | ☾ Pachad | |
Enochian Tablets² | π Sohar | π ZakaΓ― | π Meborack | π Aresh | ☾ Pachad | |
Feng Shui³ | π Sohar | ☾ Pachad | π ZakaΓ― | π Aresh | π Meborack | |
Unicorn Tradition | π Meborack | π ZakaΓ― | π Sohar | π Aresh | ☾ Pachad |
¹ The "quarters" are in order, clockwise from North: Earth (0°), Fire (72°), Air (144°), Water (216°), and Moon (288°).
² The four Tablets are used by the majority of both Wiccan and Ceremonial Magick Traditions.
³ The Feng Shui compass is used by the French supplement Exils for the "Shen" or Asian Nephilim.
Ultimately the correspondences are arbitrary, unofficial, and probably irrelevant. "As Above, So Below", thus all the elements exist within all worlds even if each symbolically favors a particular one. I might do more analysis in a future post... Anyway...
So that means that the three Selenim occult sciences, Necromancy, Conjuration and Anamorphosis, could have five Dark Watchtowers darkly reflecting the five elemental ones. The Way of the Black Moon, the Way of the Bitter Water, the Way of the Dead Air, the Way of the Green Fire, the Way of the Black Earth, or whatever you want to name them (those names in particular come from Major Arcana p152).
I need to figure out what the benefits and drawbacks of your choice of path would be. Hmm...
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