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Showing posts from November, 2024

Are a Nephilim's successive incarnations the same person or not?

As I recounted in a previous post, my campaign redefines the nature of Nephilim. Bestial elemental spirits (known variously as daemonians , paredri , or Bene-Elohim ) are born from Nexi under Grand Enthronements, then fall in love with and bond to a mortal's Logos or Atman (immortal divine soul) to create a Nephilim. When a Nephilim dies, their Ka disintegrates into the magic fields. If bonded to a Stasis Object, however, they can persist after death, reincarnate in the future by finding their Logos' new simulacrum, and draw upon the experiences of their Past Lives because of the Stasis Object's link to their Animas or Karmas (mortal sidereal spirit). Are the Nephilim's subsequent incarnations different versions of the same person, or different people linked together by the elemental spirit? I think it depends on your perspective. Some see the Nephilim as a merger of multiple different people, while others see them as different lives of the same person. This is further ...

Atman, Karma, and Yoga: reincarnation for mere mortals

I read the fanzine  Vision-Ka #7 and it provided some much needed ideas that help me clarify my own ideas for reincarnation in my homebrew setting. As explained in the article on Yoga, the human soul (Sol, Solar-Ka) has two parts: the Atman and the Karma. The Karma is the record of life, while the Atman is the immortal soul that originates from the Brahman (the collective unconscious, the origin of the Subtle Planes). When a person dies, their Atman leaves the body and reincarnates, while the Karma remains within the corpse and decays with it. The Karma is the dead spirit that Selenim speak to with Necromancy. In my campaigns the Nephilim are fusional beings, an alchemical marriage of a human Atman and an elemental Pentacle born when the two meet under the right stars. This process awakens the Atman to knowledge of its true immortal nature, altering the Immortal’s worldview compared to their ignorant Karma alone. When a Nephilim dies, their Ka-elements dissolve into the magic fiel...

Why did secret societies imprison Nephilim in stasis rather than destroy them?

So something I found confusing was the rationale for the Black Star to construct elaborate megaliths to calculate the best places to imprison Nephilim in stasis. This was also done in the original French version, albeit by the Sword suit (referenced in the US version as the "Men of the Sword"). For reference, let's recap the rules for stasis objects across the editions. These haven't been consistent across all editions. In the French version, in all editions except for 5th, breaking the Stasis Object would destroy the Nephilim immediately no matter where they were. It didn't matter whether they were in Stasis, Narcosis, or incarnated. In the US version, breaking the Stasis Object meant the Nephilim had nowhere to go upon bodily death. If they couldn't jump between bodies, then they would disintegrate into the magic fields. While the Major Arcana knew how to create Stasis Objects for newborn Nephilim, there was no way to replace a broken Stasis Object. So the c...

Musings on the Saturnian field

These are my musings on the Saturnian field for my campaign homebrew... The Saturnian field is an anomaly compared to the other magic fields of Earth.  It doesn't radiate, but instead pools, particularly within flints and heavy metals as "Saturnite". This is the closest as it ever gets to having a physical manifestation. Rather than a physical substance like earth, water or air, it is only ever present as prima materia Saturni . (The prima materia is the residual Ka present within matter, leftover from when the matter was formed from the magic fields. This prima materia is what alchemy acts on.) Concentrations of Saturnite ore mutually repel the five elemental fields. These appear as a "hole" in Ka-Vision; indeed, the Immortals cannot perceive it directly. However, it is possible for mortals to detect it indirectly because it causes unpleasant vibrations in Solar-Ka. Particularly sensitive individuals may be trained as dowsers by secret societies. When exposed...