Some ideas on lunar entropy

In this post I wanted to discuss some ideas for handling Lunar Entropy, a fifth Khaiba form in which the Nephilim is gradually corrupted by the Black Moon. (This post assumes that Khaiba forms are persistent and noted on the character sheet, rather than determined randomly when the PC suffers a Khaiba episode.) 

While Onirim are the most sensitive to it, Lunar Entropy can strike any Nephilim. While the vulnerability scales with the Nephilim’s own Moon-Ka, even a Cruxim whose lunar branch was amputated by anti-lunar extremists entirely is still vulnerable to it.

Lunar Entropy points may accrued from a variety of sources: performing the sacrifice ritual for a moon spell, certain fumbles on the occult sciences, casting certain spells that flirt with the darkside, being exposed to aggressive or concentrated sources of Black Moon-Ka… Once it has asserted itself as their persistent Khaiba form, anything that aggravates Khaiba will progress it.

When contaminated, the motes of Black Moon-Ka insidiously insinuate inside the Nephilim’s Pentacle, particularly the Moon-Ka, in order to insulate against Entropy. The infection develops a limited sentience and whispers to its host even as it parasitizes his Ka-elements. The symptoms of lunar entropy manifest as a growing sensitivity to the Tenebrae and a growing fascination with the Black Moon fields. 

Sensitivity to the Tenebrae means the Nephilim starts “hearing” the vibrations of the magic fields, which they can harness to boost their spellcasting. However, tapping into this new sense causes them to accrue more Khaiba points! They cannot develop this sense to the point of practicing Necromancy or Conjuration, so they only hear muffled whispers when passing cemeteries.

Fascination with the Black Moon fields means they’ll be drawn to frequent cemeteries, fraternize with Selenim, visit the lower astral planes, and generally put themselves at risk of worsening their lunar entropy. They’ll lose interest in practicing anything other than lunar magic, and even attempt to assist Selenim in rituals! 

Many are horrified by this “haunting” and keep it secret to themselves, fearing that they will be treated as lepers by their brethren. By refusing to acknowledge the problem and seek help, they make progression more likely.

Once the lunar entropy reaches its terminal stage, then one of two things happens. Most afflicted will transform into somber Khaiban beasts, drawn to terror, darkness and death. Only Temperance can help them now. A rare few will manage to transform into Selenim, thought most of them require the help of another Selenim to act as “midwife”.

When a Nephilim transforms into a Selenim, then all their Ka-elements other than Moon-Ka detach from their Pentacle and are immediately sucked into their Stasis item. Their lunar branch contracts and turns into Black Moon Core. A Cruxim who lacks a lunar branch will see their Black Moon infection condense into a new Core.

The end result of a successful transformation is a Selenim with the origin “Incarnate Ex-Nephilim, from a Contamination”. The benefit of this is that their Imago, should they develop one, will be slightly more independent due to inheriting the sentience from the infection. The drawback is that trauma of their infection makes them leery of summoning Black Moon entities, as these foreign presences remind them of the infection’s eerie sentience.

The ratio of Selenim to Nephilim is about 1:8, with the majority being of this origin. Even more were lost to Khaiba without ever becoming Selenim.

Temperance knows rituals to cleanse the infection, or even reverse the transformation entirely. Provided, of course, that the Stasis item containing the Ka-elements is on hand.

The Devil plays with fire, allowing members to cultivate Lunar Entropy instead of another Khaiba form. Should they fail to maintain their Ka-elements and become Selenim, then The Devil is content to point them towards the nearest Unnamed Initiate. Advanced Khaiba infections are resistant to changing from their current form to Lunar Entropy, so Devils ironically have little to fear from flirting with the Black Moon!

Hope you enjoyed!