What is a magical aura?

A magical aura is an arrangement of a person’s spiritual essence (or soul), allowing them to perform magic or not. As introduced in the French version, different character roles have different magical auras.

Mere mortals have a Solar Core composed of the singular Solar-Ka, Nephilim have a Pentacle composed of the five Ka-elements, Selenim have a Black Moon Core composed of the singular Black Moon-Ka, Ar-Kaïm have a Heart composed of 2–8 Essences, “magic bohemians” have the Brume (“mist”) composed of trace amounts of all 8 Ka, and the Kwisatz Haderach has a Prism composed of all 8 Ka plus Brume. 

A couple other variations exist too, represented by flaws taken at character creation. Cruxim are Nephilim with only four Ka-elements, forming a Cross. Rejects are hybrids created by 666’s experiments: Nephilim whose Moon-Ka has been transformed into Black Moon-Ka without sundering their Pentacle and Selenim who had 1–3 Ka-elements grafted to their Core. The Necronim, of which only two examples were documented, have the five Ka-elements plus Black Moon-Ka… but for whatever reason may only incarnate within corpses: reanimating as hybrid Restless Immortals.

The spirits of the dead, or ghosts, have a “residual Solar-Ka.” (I’d call it a Solar Residue for reference purposes and to slightly better distinguish it from the living.)

Interesting stuff. I hope to explore it in my own campaign materials.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Primes and the Path of the Prime Essence

The Primes are an option for Nephilim PCs introduced in the third edition Le Codex des Nephilim . They're members of The Star who have developed their own Occult Technique to cultivate Prime Essence and use it for unique magical applications. In was revealed in the French metaplot that all Nephilim were descended from aliens known as the Voors ( who I previously discussed ), and the Primes believed that the way to become Voors again and ride the cosmic wind to the stars was by cultivating Prime Essence. The Primes are contrasted against the  allochtones , another faction within The Star who believe that they must build a physical spacecraft in order to travel the stars. Prime Essence is pure cosmic energy, unfiltered by any celestial bodies. Within the cosmology given, the universe is suffused with Prime Essence. The Sun refracts it into Solar Ethers, which are then refracted again by the planets into the Planetary Ethers, and meet at the Earth's core where they become the Rays...
Read more

What are the Minor Tablets?

In the third edition Gamemaster's Screen , the Quest for the Cycle of Destiny is introduced. (The fanzine  Vision-Ka  #3  specifies on p41 that this Quest is one and the same as the Arcane Quest of The Magician.) The goal of this quest is to acquire and study the Minor Tablets, crafted by Akhenaton as supplements to the 22 Major Arcana Trumps. The purpose of these Minor Tablets is to help mortals reach Agartha. There are four Minor Arcana  in total: The Wand (Fire), The Cup (Water), The Sword (Air) and The Coin (Earth). Keen-eyed readers may notice that the symbolism of the suits correspond loosely to the traditional magical tools (see Liber Ka p52). By pursuing this quest, the Nephilim is better able to understand their Simulacrum's Solar-Ka: they can boost their chances of Critical Success based on their Solar-Ka, retain player control during Shouit seizures rather than handing control to the GM, and develop Solar Resistance through initiation into a Minor Arcanum...
Read more

Some musings on the etymology of Agartha

In the US Nephilim rulebook and supplements, "Agartha" is the perfected spiritual state that Nephilim seek to achieve. Although there are stories of Agartha being a physical place, a city located at the center of the Hollow Earth , these are lies concocted by malevolent secret societies to seduce initiates.  In the French version, the mythical city was later introduced as "Aggartha" (with two Gs). This was the headquarters of the World Arcanum, and thus a play on the wording of "center of the world". It was not located in the center of a Hollow Earth, but was located in the astral plane. Anyway, the real life occultist description of Agartha mentions it is a city at the center of the Hollow Earth and lit by an inner sun (in some accounts a "diamond sun"). What does this inner sun remind you of? It reminds me of the "Grail", the game's name for the Earth's core where the planetary Ethers are transmuted into the magic fields. (In ...
Read more