Chronicle: Mage 3: The 6th Watchtower
Venue: Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition
Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler
Eye of the Void:
Travel in the Abyss & Abyssal Magic
Eye of the Void:
Travel in the Abyss & Abyssal Magic
Part 3
Other Chapters:
Chapter Four - Denizens of the Abyss
Chapter Five - Abyssal Magic
Sources:
- H.P. Lovecraft Mythos
- Stephen King Mythos
- Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition
- The Left-Handed Path (MtA1.0)
- Intruders: Encounters with the Abyss (MtA1.0)
- The Imperial Mysteries (MtA1.0)
- Night Horrors: The Unbidden (sourcebook for MtA1.0)
- The Summoners (MtA1.0)
- Second Sight (nWoD)
- The Secret World and the Secret World Legends video games by Funcom
- Kabbalah religious concepts
- Satanic religious concepts
Chapter Three - The Inner Dark
The Abyssal Realms and their Diadems
The "Inner Dark" part of the Abyss includes the Abyssal Realms ruled by the order of one god-like entity - the Diadem. The Diadem is the Royal Avatar of the Realm itself. A Diadem is similar in many ways to a Kerberos of a Death Realm, Onieropomp, Ruling Archetype of an Astral Realm, or the Daimon of someone's Onerous. The realm has established rules (they still might change and are quite insane anyway) and enough structure to facsimilate matter. A stable Abyssal Realm must have a Diadem. Sometimes the Realm itself is the "body" or "projection" from an Abyssal God. Sometimes the Diadem acts as ruler and master of the place in a more direct way. To those very few who have lived to tell the tale they describe these realms as living hells of utter insanity.
The dust contaminates the flesh and clothing of the Traveler. The relentless wind crackles against bodies, desiccating until flesh and identity itself begin to fleck away. The air itself is a painful abrasion (Dark Entropy Condition). At the corners of vision, when heat lightning flashes red on the horizon, Travelers can make out their invisible observers in brief flashes of static and analog electric distortions. Bubbling masses of alien eyes, mouths and tendrils of opalescence. Others are elephantine legged trees of feelers and hungry orifices. Shoggoth. Shoggoth and the Dark Spawn (the thousand young of Shub-Niggurath).
Frekki and the Archmages Nergal and Kairos were lucky, and came with the newly quantified J4A spell. Their space suits made of patchworth cloth protected them from contamination even as it deteriorated with each passing minute. Chimera was not so lucky...
Points of Ingress
Depending on how you get into the Abyss you will encounter
different places. The Inner Dark is what is commonly encountered when a person enters the Abyss using a method that is associated with the 
soul (or lack thereof) from a being or Abyssal entity. This is different from the Outer Dark, which is usually encountered when a mage enters the Abyss with no destination, a ragged hole in reality or stepping into the Ocean Orouboros or into an Abyssal Verge in the Place Between.
Temporary Verges:
Extremely high paradox pooled into one area (20+ LAPA) and/or lots of Paradoxes released (5+ Paradox successes) might draw the attention of one of the Abyssal Gods if it involves a certain path or Arcanum. At this point a Manifestation may leave a ragged hole into the Abyss (roll total paradox pool + released paradox to determine how long the hole remains open in rounds. These entrances, if not strongly associated with any Arcanum can lead to the Outer Dark as well. There are no hard and fast rules for ending up in the Abyss. If there was, this would be it.
The bill comes due... entering the Abyss
Upon crossing the threshold into the Abyss, the mage is bombarded with hallucinatory visions which, as they go on, quickly seem familiar. The Abyss offers her lies. Every Paradox she has ever caused is revisited, the pain of every Backlash she has absorbed is re-inflicted, and she suffers every Havoc, Bedlam and Branding along the way. Anomalies and Manifestations she was responsible for are especially dangerous, as the creatures of the Abyss she inadvertently created confront her during the trial. If she has actually bargained with a native of that place, those debts are now called due.
The effect that crossing into the Abyss has on each mage is dependent upon the Storyteller and the story. If a character releases a lot of paradox or contains a lot of backlash in the past, some measure of that pain or effect should hit them. If they have spoken with Acamoth or other Abyssal entities then they may return to try to claim the mage's soul or strike a bargain. If you can think of nothing else then just throw Abyssal Conditions at them.
The effect that crossing into the Abyss has on each mage is dependent upon the Storyteller and the story. If a character releases a lot of paradox or contains a lot of backlash in the past, some measure of that pain or effect should hit them. If they have spoken with Acamoth or other Abyssal entities then they may return to try to claim the mage's soul or strike a bargain. If you can think of nothing else then just throw Abyssal Conditions at them.
Abyssal Realms: A Nightmarish Topology
The Abyss is made up on anti-real dreamers and reflections of reality (including the ultimate reality of the Supernal). These landscapes vary greatly and Storytellers are encouraged to pick and choose the various conditions and effects the environment may have. Furthermore, the Nightmare realm is usually an Abyssal entity itself. If the characters are in the soul of a lesser entity, that entity is the ruler of that place and this land represents their power, corruption and psyche. If the characters are directly entering the Abyss with a specific destination set up in advance (through profane ritual or worship to act as a conduit) the realm they enter is usually the inner landscape of a lesser or greater Abyssal God (Rank 5+). Always consider where/who you are in...
The landscape in one of the Abyssal Incarnea is usually dark reflections of how the entity infects the fallen world or entity's common vector (M.O.) and what it has corrupted or encountered previously.
The denizens of these realms are usually Abyssal entities approximating Spirit Ranks of 1 to 4 but no more than two Ranks less than the host entity. They are usually reflections or aspects of the greater entity and its victims and/or are minions of the entity which infest the "flesh" of the realm.
Many Abyssal Realms have a physical "Daimon" which represents a Royal Avatar of the greater entity itself. This entity is called a Diadem. Diadems are usually one Spirit Rank less in power than the greater entity but they can be weaker. They are also not omnipotent/omnipresent but give the greater being better ability to manage and oversee its internal "body." In addition to the normal things spirits can do, the Diadem can also use principles of Oneiromancy (Subtle Shifts and Paradigm Shifts as seen in Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition) to affect the world they live in.
Infections and parasites are common (various Conditions such as Shadow Sickness from the Book of Spirits) can represent this. Also use Abyssal Conditions from Abyss Part One, or Paradox conditions (Bedlams and Brandings).
Realms may have large expanses where a derangement or Madness is infectious and behaves like a Paradox Anomaly. Places like this can affect those who enter them as if they were temporarily suffering from its effects. You can use the Paradox Anomalies here for inspiration.
New Condition: Extreme Sensations:
In the Inner Dark travelers can be overcome with overwhelming pain, pleasure, sensations and emotions that are utterly distracting and can afflict them with Wound Penalties from -1 to -3. This can also be from the lack of sensation. If the Realm's themes align, consider using the Insensate Tilt (if they fail a Stamina + Gnosis check - Extreme Sensations penalties). You can also crank these penalties up to 5 if a location is extremely bad.
The
Annunaki, The Great Dreamers
All the Abyssal Realms represent a greater entity
creating them through their "sleeping/dreaming/living nightmare" psyche. In these discrete beings this is pretty straightforward and looks and interacts like
being in an Oneiros of Temenic Realm. But the greatest
and more commonly visited places of the inner realms are inside the dreams of Abyssal Gods. The greatest of these are the Annunaki, the
Great Dreamers.
It is said that the Supernal Realms are supported by a thick
foundation of chaotic dream-foam excreted from the Great Dreamers. The Supernal realms needed enough
possibilities to support their truths.
It is said in rare and blasphemous texts that the Old Gods of the
Supernal Realms were Annunaki. They decided to enforce laws and rules on their
realms and over time, making them more concrete, more True. There substance drew
them together like huge masses in the void because of their "gravitational pull" but none of these 10
Supernal Annunaki that represent the 10 Arcana known to all mages could overpower the others and were held in balance. They clumped and formed the Supernal Realms we know.
The Old Gods, the Supernal Gods lost their ability to "dream"
and restricted their power by defining 
it.
That means that the Supernal Realms are literally and metaphysically on
the "backs" of the ten known Abyssal Annunaki. Should they awake, they could devour physical
reality and break apart the Supernal Realms as well.
The Great Dreamers are only defined by what they reflect and
as magic is channeled through the Abyss these dreamers have supped upon that magic and reflected a twisted version of each, an Anti-Arcanum (or Void Arcanum).
The greatest Baalim still only know only of ten Annunaki,
one for each of the Supernal Arcana and this is largely because as mages they
can only define these beings by the forces that have interacted with them. Together they make up the Void Arcana, Abyssal Reflections of the Arcana that Baalim and Aswadim can utilize for advanced Abyssal magic.
When in the Outer Dark one might encounter the externa of these larger beings, living realms onto themselves. Planet-sized blasphemies. The Black Dragons of the Void Arcana are mentioned below in their full glory. Each one has many names but are not named here... yet.
Behold the Wilted Reflection:
The Black Dragons
The Abyss does have a twisted hierarchy of sorts. The 10 Annunaki represent the reflected aspects of the 10 Arcana. They are called the Black Dragons of the Abyss. Like the Dragons of the Arcana in the Supernal, the Old Gods that showed the first mages the way to Awakening and were later overthrown by the Exarchs, the Annunaki are also depicted as Dragons and sometimes reveal themselves as such when in Royal Avatar form (Called Elder Diadems and speculated to be Rank 6 entities). These are the same Elder Diadems that Scelesti entreat to become Abyssal Masters, the Baalim. The Mollusk Gods, at their full power they are Rank 7. In the Kabbalah they are called the Qliphoth (where the Qlipoth we know get their name), reflections of the Sephirah (Arcana). The Black Tree of Death.
Abyssal locales for inspiration:
Looking for ideas on Abyssal Realms? Well there are some great examples of places attuned with the Outside in the Intruders: Encounters with the Abyss sourcebook for Mage: The Awakening 1st edition:
- The Crossways
- False Demesnes
- The Half-Way House
- The Temple of Zanak Khan
- The Twisting Maze
The Dur-Abzu: Abyssal Watchtowers
Reflections of the Supernal Watchtowers
The 10 Annunaki are part of a greater whole. Further reflecting the Supernal, two Anti-Arcana Dragons are divided into pairs just like the Arcana in the Supernal Realms. Between them form the Abyssal Realms of the Dur-Abzu, the fallen reflections of the five known Supernal Realms. The reflections of the Supernal Watchtowers reside here as well. These realms have their own combined Elder Diadems (speculated to be Rank 7). These five Abyssal Gods represent the largest power base of the Abyss, and are Rank 8.
Also apparently the Cthulhu mythos authors in pop culture is channeling some very dark shit... in our Chronicle we generally go with H.P. Lovecraft as being a conduit for the dark. The Necronomicon used to be a dangerous Grimorie. He read it and then started writing about it, trying to distribute the corruptive knowledge under the guise of fiction to prevent its detection. The Scholomance freely (well not freely) distributes Abyssal lore, but only to Awakened. In a move no one expected, the Guardians distributed the Necronomicon wholesale, High Speech symbols twisted into the profane went out to the masses. Sleepers disbelieved those symbols out of existence and their resonance with the Abyss. The Dragonheads were shut out of reality again. The serpent ate its own tail, the cultists became victims of their own success. Now the Necronomicon is a useless book, doesn't even mention the names from Lovecraft's stories. The stories don't help the Void anymore, but the names remain the same and can still be used to gain attention and resonance with these Abyssal gods.
Dragonhead: The Godhead of Ao Si is Nyarlathotep. The Crawling Chaos. It is the Fear of the Other (Xenophobia), and by extension, fear of the True Fae. The Alien God. Trickster and messenger of the outer gods. He walks in the Tellurian. He comes and brings destruction and dread omens with him. A harbinger and visitor of the Abyss. Patron god of Abyssals known as the Aliens at Rank 8. Father of all Jotun, also known as the Shoggoth.
Dragonhead: Azathoth (Rank 8) is the fear of Reality around you. The Blind, Idiot God is a singularity of chaos. Everywhere and nowhere, it is the black hole at the "center of the universe," representing the infinite chaos of the Abyss as a whole. He stands uncaring and indifferent to creation, imposing the insignificance of life upon all that gaze upon the unseeing eye. He is entropy incarnate. The Nuclear Sultan. He is the Black Signal. All is tarnish and rot before him. His awakening would herald the death of matter itself. In his realm he floats above all, the massive unfocused eye of Azathoth looms over all. Does it see you in its slumber? Does it sleep still?
 |
| Mad or on to something? |
These are the places where Baalim and Aswadim can visit the most frequently, if they dare. To become an Aswadim (Abyssal Archmage), a Threshold Seeker must venture into the Abyss and form their own Watchtower, severing their soul from the Supernal eternally.
The true Watchtowers contain primal, mythical symbols that mages
interpret through the lens of Sleeper mythology. The Dur-Abzu collect the contradictions
and taboos of Path mythology instead, and Joined Scelestial mages use them as the basis
for magical ceremonies. Many Scelesti use the imagery anti-path themes to evoke the
Dur-Abzu… using the conflict of ultimate supernal symbols to create dissonance that resonant with these twisted images. As a result the Realms are defined by corrupted Supernal symbolism.
Joined Scelesti have witnessed the Abyssal Watchtowers and have "signed" them, channeling their magic from the Supernal to the Abyssal and then into their Patterns. This gives them some measure of power over Paradox that will be covered in another post.
The Realms themselves are represented by the Dragonheads. The Abyssal Gods composed of two of the Black Dragons (Abyssal Arcana) each. They are called the Lords of Madness, the Lords of all Fears, and the Lords of the Abyss.
You may also choose to exclude Lovecraft stuff from your chronicle (never happened in your reality) or feel free to come up with a reason why they are named such. Or give the players no reason and let them speculate in or out of character as to why they are named. Or just change the names. Have fun with it.
A Note on Accuracy:
The following entities and locales may be true or they may be lies. With the Abyss its impossible to know. What we can state is what most organized Scelesti say. They may not agree, but there are common threads, titles and themes. This is not to say these places don't also exist as Underworld Death Dominions or places in the Supernal or Lower Depths. Only that it is said that aspects of them can be or have been visited in the Abyss. Since so few go there and return its hard to say. Those that do, don't share that knowledge often or freely. The entities were named from mythology, or the mythology was based on their unhallowed names. It is impossible now to say which is true.
Ao Si, the Mound of
Thorns (Inversion of Arcadia):
Joined Acanthus call upon the twisted Fomorians and
Norse rot-elves they found in the ever-shifting, thorny maze of their Dur-Abzu.
Their rites recall legendary broken oaths, kin-slaying heroes and inescapable
curses.
Abyssal Arcana: Doom (Fate) & Regression (Time)
Elder Diadem: The tower, the ruler of the realm is that of an entity known as Balor (Zathog), a one-eyed giant demon king. The Oathbreaker. Rank 7. King of the vile Fomor (Fomorians).
Entities: Abyssal Intruders (Aliens). This includes the rarely seen and extremely powerful Gulmoth known as the Shoggoth.
In our Chronicle: During The Collective (2015), Archmages Nergal, Kairos, Frekki (Casstiel Subsoul) and Chimera were confronted in the Dustbowl by successive waves of Shoggoth until they were successfully extracted by Casstiel's Imperial Spell.
The Shoggoth are the Abyss's version of Grey Goo, Abyssal nanite machines that create mouths, tentacles and eyes across their blobby forms and infect and consume everything they desire and then touch. Careful, they are much much faster than they look like they should be, and can assume infinite configurations of mobility and vile destruction. They might crawl across surfaces at an uncaring pace, they might roll like wheels or rolling pins made of blades and grabbers. Crawling Chaos indeed.
Why are they sometimes called Jotun? Well, they are big for starters. And their touch "freezes" their prey, nanites converting their bodies to hard ash. But their mouths, teeth and claws also maim as well... some have a cruel streak and prefer to eat to fuel the larger body or rip things apart, rather than consume them externally. The their mouths jibber with madness and their limbs spasm with hatred and need.
Arallu, the Cave of
Rot and Tarnish (Inversion of Stygia):
Instead of the silence of the grave and precious palaces and possessions made eternal, Arallu shows Joined Moros a land of unending decomposition, where
moldering bones and infected blood drift across sands of ground, tarnished
gold and flakes of rust. Joined Moros use corroded metal and rotten flesh as Yantra tools. They call upon Nergal, the king of Arallu, along with gods and demons
that torture the dead. The realm represents being caught forever between two states (stasis of life and death) and the end of that duality.
Abyssal Arcana: Corruption (Matter) & Entropy (Death)
Elder Diadem:
The tower is that of an entity known as Nergal (no not our Nergal, but he could have been). Also know as Sheb-Teth. Rank 7. The Devourer of Souls, or Eater of Souls. An eyeless alien humanoid entity, massively overgrown with both strange flesh and machinery.
Entities: Entropics, those Abyssals that consume and break things down to nothingness. Agents of chaos.
In our Chronicle: During the story What Dreams May Come (2014), Nergal is continuously tempted by the Acamoth residing in his soulstone (The Darkness that Thirsts) and weapon he called Soul Reaver. He had visions of Arallu and is tempted to "sign" the Abyssal Watchtower. He is told he is the rightful ruler of Arallu because of his name symbolism. He resisted, and in order to destroy the Acamoth once and for all he walked across the Ocean Orouboros, achieving Archmastery and denying the Abyss forever.
Drugaskan, the
Impenetrable Darkness (Inverted Pandemonium):
Through utter isolation, the
Mastigos who sign the Abyssal Watchtower invoke Drugaskan. It defies their love of conflict and opposition. Drugaskan’s
lonely, suffocating darkness swallows every sense. To escape, a Warlock follows
Ahriman’s mocking whispers, the only sound in the emptiness.. Joined Mastigos use
sensory deprivation and solitude to deny the self and hear Him whisper again, finding the flaws in reality to escape.
Abyssal Arcana: Isolation (Space) & Dementia (Mind)
Elder Diadem: Ahriman... also seen in the form of Apep (The Darkness). Rank 7.
Entities: Flaws (in reality), Abyssal Manifestations,
The Burning Iron
Spiral (Inversion of the Primal Wilds):
To many Thyrsus, the Dur-Abzu takes the form of an
endless city. Life mutates to accommodate crushing mobs of synthetic creatures and sharp-edged
buildings. The Joined mage takes refuge in polluted places. They adopt the
tools of a cynical“plastic shaman,” prizing adaptation over integrity.
Abyssal Arcana: Mutagen (Life) & Subjugation (Spirit)
Elder Diadem:
Yamata no Orochi, also known as the Hydra or just Orochi. The Serpent with 8 heads and 8 tails. Rank 7.
Entities: Procreates (physical Intruders that replicate, Flesh Intruders and spirits and physical items infected with the Abyss), and the Ak'ab.
In our Chronicle: During The Collective (2015), Archmages Nergal, Kairos, Frekki (Casstiel Subsoul) and Chimera were also confronted in the Dustbowl by successive waves of Dark Spawn until they were successfully extracted by Casstiel's Imperial Spell.
The thousand young of Shub-Niggrath assume various horrid forms. The ones encountered by the mages looked like walking masses of spiny feelers with elephantine, tree truck legs
The Deluge
(Inversion of the Aether):
Instead of climbing to celestial light, Joined Obrimos drown in
blood-tainted flood waters. Aquatic demons harass them. Endless chains converge on
a sea floor littered with devastated temples. They wrap around the Iriyim:
watcher angels who taught humanity forbidden knowledge. Obrimos invoke their
powers and summon the attributes of the fallen ones’ Nephilim children. In his realm is a corrupted and destroyed version of Atlantis, called R'lyeh, which will rise again to haunt mankind.
Abyssal Arcana: Subluxation (Prime) & Negation (Forces)
Elder Diadem:
The tower is that of an entity known as the Jormungandr (The Leviathan),
the Midgar Serpent of Chaos that encircles the world. Rank 7. NÃðhöggr. Dagon, lord of the Deep Ones.
Entities: The Outsiders, those beings who don't belong in reality yet are firmly in it, unable to be dislodged. The Iriyim are the Acamoth, they tempt mankind with their pacts. Also the "Nephilim," children of Abyssals created from combining with men, the Deep Ones.
In our Chronicles: In our first Vampire Chronicle, The Untold (2005), the coterie callings themselves
The Dark Carnival have dealings with a powerful Ordo Dracul thaumaturgist who's familiar bears a strange similarity to Cthulhu. The same coterie stops an invasion of Illithids (another type of Deep One that look like Mind Flayers) and regular looking Deep Ones from swarming New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina by fighting a powerful entity, possibly a vision of the Ur-Draug in an underwater city. The wash up in Untold II (2006) on a small African island. The island seems to be suffering from the Innsmouth effect and is a place where the Deep Ones replenish resources from the world of men. In Untold 5 (2008), a mage from San Francisco, a werewolf from the swamps and other allies manage to stop another Illithid slave/breeding smash and grab in New Orleans and surrounding swamps during an EMP blackout of the area.
The Golden Lord of Nightmares: Tiamat
Still, the Dragonheads represent five parts of a greater whole. Again, like the Supernal Realms, the five Dur-Abzu Realms represent five heads of an even greater being. Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Yog-Sothoth, Shub-Niggrath and Azathoth. They come together and form a beast of infinite power.
Tiamat. The five-headed dragon. In the Kabbalah, she resides in Daath, the 11th Hidden Sphere, also resonant with the 11th Exarch (did he give her form?). The Golden Lord of Nightmares who shines on the Sea of Chaos. She has never been seen in all her glory, only worshiped. She is served by her right and left hands, the Arbiter and Emissary (maybe the Gate since one of his titles is Emissary of the Abyss?).
Only indirectly confirmed as an entity, speculated to be a Rank 9, she is the glory and terror of the Abyss as a whole. She waits to devour reality. Raw chaos itself, perversion of entropy. The Eater. For now her heads sleep. It is speculated by Archmages, that the Great Dreamers will awaken in the next few years due to the analysis of CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN.
As Above, So Below: Other Known Abyssal Gods
The following are additional beings the Scelesti have named and entreat with. They usually have Rank 5-7 but may be higher.
Wait, how do I make stats for Rank 5+ entities again?
Normally Royal Avatars are limited to Rank 5 to keep them from obliterating normal mages and even Archmages. You can go higher if you want... here is how that works:
1. Attributes: Spirits of Rank 6 and above do not have conventional traits. Assume that a god-like spirit has trait maximums of 15 but achieves additional, automatic successes on any roll equal to its Rank in anything relating to its purview or its Rank — 5 for anything else.
2. Advantages: Add Rank to any passive calculations such as Defense, Armor, Damage or resisting certain spells.
3. Resources: Godlike spirits have ever-renewing supplies of Essence, having a maximum of 25 x Rank and regaining their Rank per turn.
4. Numina: Such beings have too many Numina to list. Instead, their Influence has grown to the point that they are able to improvise Numina in the manner of a mage improvising a spell, using the following guidelines for influences.
Rank 6 - The entity may use any power covered by spells from the common Practices of any Arcanum,as long as the power relates to its area of influence. Convert Mana costs to Essence and add the standard one Essence for using an Influence. Extended spells must still be “cast” over time, each “roll” taking half an hour.
Rank 7 - The entity may use powers from the Practices of Dynamics, Excision and Entities as long as they relate to its area of influence. Extended spells of the common Practices may be duplicated as instant action Numina. Convert Arcane Experience and Mana costs to Essence.
Rank 8 - The entity may achieve anything related to its area of influence, as though it were under the
effect of the Practice of Transfiguration.
Rank 8 - The entity may achieve anything related to its area of influence, as though it were under the
effect of the Practice of Transfiguration.
Rank 9 - The entity may use Numina based on the Imperial Practices as instant actions.
6. Arcana: Some beings that use the spirit creation rules — Ochemata, Supernal natives and the Aeons in particular — have powers that more closely resemble magic (Abyssal Gods can use these rules too if it makes sense, certainly the Black Dragons and Dragonheads do). Instead of Influences, these beings have true Arcana ratings and use Mana instead of Essence. Supernal gods and the Aeons are capable of casting Imperial Spells as instant actions without Arcane Experience or Quintessence costs, while Ochemata still cast in the same manner as the archmage who created them.
Aylith (Lilith)
Mother of all Monsters, The Many Mother, Mother of Pus. Queen of Demons. We call upon her seventeen names. We do not know the secret eighteenth. Only the Nephilim can conjure that. We call upon her names! Abeko. Abito. Amizo. Batna. Eilo. Ita. Izorpo. Kea. Kali. Odam. Kokos. Partasah. Patrota. Podo. Satrina. Talto. Lilith. She is the womb of a shark. Primordial soup. Shark pups hunt and eat each other in the dark. The deadly womb is their whole universe. Embryonic cannibalism. Coupling with her makes for offspring both terrible and miraculous. Many of the monsters of this age trace their roots back to her. Embryonic cannibalism. Likely associate or offspring of Shub-Niggrath and Nib-Shuggrath.
The Father of All Acamoth, Succoth-Benoth was supposedly the first Abyssal to charge into reality immediately after the fall. Atlanteans were horrified by the strange beast which ensured its children were nested in as Earthbound Acamoth. Mysterium lore tells of Five guardians, powerful mages from time immemorial used their souls and powerful temples hidden across the earth to bind Succoth-Bennoth, to an Abyssal Watchtower, called "The Sixth Watchtower" by some. The tower was bound by mystical chains that are anchored by the Guardians. The tower chains countless Soulless to the surface of this tower, they shed off when summoned to do his bidding in the world.
The Soulless are entities often employed by the Denarians and other Scelesti. They act as guard dogs, shock troops and Paradox generators. Those normal humans who have had their souls sacrificed to Succoth-Benoth have their undead bodies twisted into a horrid shape.
In our Chronicles: In the Battle of the El Cortez (2012), the final conflict that pushed the Seers of the Throne out of San Diego proper, mages Fulgore, Nox, and Donado defeated the Scelesti Cabal known as the World Enders. It was led by a servant of Succoth-Benoth called Kethes. He fell into an Abyssal Thurae and his plot was thwarted. In the attacks by the World Enders which proceeded the creation of an Abyssal Verge, Kethes employed Soulless in almost every altercation.
In our Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen chronicle, during the events of stories Death Masks (2011) and Dead Air (2012), the Denarians also used the Soulless to bolster their numbers and to guard their holdings.
In our chronicle: During the events of Family Secrets (2013), Witness encountered a massive fortress/machine called by a Hob-Goblin called Lord Malshun (aka Mr. Munshun) as the Big Combination. It is a structure so deep in the Hedge it is believed to be in fallen Arcadia (because of an agreement between the Red King and a True Fae called the Pit Lord. Children touched by ancient fae pacts of exhibiting parahuman abilities or potential for Awakening are kidnapped by servants of the Crimson King and "processed" here. It is not know what the children are used for.
Nib-Shuggurath 
Mostly the name is thought to be a spoonerism of Shub-Niggrath and nothing more. To some cultists, it is believed to be the male counterpart to Shub-Niggrath. Yang to her Ying. He fertilizes life to create his own abominations. Together they make hideous monstrosities. It is rumored that the Hounds of Tindalos aka the Hounds of the Nameless Days, are his brood. They are also called Abyssal Salawa.
In our chronicle: During the events of Family Secrets (2013),Nergal, Indra, and Kairos fought many Salawa Hounds that assisted Lord Malshun while they attempted to rescue Indra's cousin (his later shadow name was Ritter) from the clutches of the Crimson King. Thankfully Witness managed to intercept the Hob and rescue the teenager from the Big Combination. Ritter later attended the Pentacle Academy.
Hastur 
Him Who Is Not to be Named, The King in Yellow, The Unspeakable One. Speak his name three times to draw his attention (for sleepers this attention is quite mild though). Associated with Ammut, the Egyptian devourer of souls in Duat. An Entropic god (and therefor beholden to Azathoth), he said to be the "father" of the Mirror at the End of All Things (another Entropic Abyssal incarnea).
In our Chronicle: During The Vault (2013), Seraph, Casstiel and Persephone venture into a lost Seer prison which started on a mountain top near Machu Picchuin and ended in the Anthropic Redoubts (Anima Mundi.) There, an exiled Exarch was forever imprisoned. When he was cast out of "heaven" his mind was infected with the Abyssal god known as the Mirror at the End of all Things. They corrected the alignment of the prison so that the Abyssal corruption that was wearing down the ancient spells since the fall would cease.
In our Chronicle: On several occasions, when visiting the ocean Orouboros, mages have had short conversations with the Dark Man. Thankfully, they always get creeped out and flee, refusing to enter the Hovel...
The ocean Ouroboros at the very edge of the Anima Mundi is said to be the black blood of a dragon slain in the Time Before when the Celestial Ladder was created. The "stairway to heaven" required the dragon be killed so that a stable bridge into the Supernal could be built. Its death heralded the start of the instability that later caused The Fall. The dragon was a gatekeeper, testing those who would tread into the most hallowed place with trials before letting them pass. Now it is the harbinger of the Abyss, its Astral blood the gateway for corruption to seep into the Tellurian. Also called Choronzon, the Dweller in the Abyss, scelesti will invoke the dead dragon and the ocean as well. Some dare to collect the water from the last ocean, which can only be carried in a soul or soulstone.
In our Chronicle: During the events of The Shores of Ouroboros (2011), the Five Horsemen cabal consisting of Casstiel, Nergal, Kairos, Prodigy, Loudon, and Indra, venture to the Citadel of the Aeon Dahhak, The Orchid of Pandemonium (The Whorl - Anima Mundi). Kairos is charged with going there to entreat with an Ochemata of the Paternoster, the Exarch who claims responsibility for allowing his Awakening. Along the way they meet Death of the Endless, goddess of Death in the Tenemos. She loops Nergal into gathering a sample of the waters of Orouboros to bring back to her. In so doing, Nergal's soul gains sympathy with the Abyss. After they return from the successful journey, Nergal begins to receive dreams from the Acamoth infecting the Bakken oil formation nearby. This is how he meets the Darkness that Thirsts... his ally and bane for many years after. Later Nergal throws his soulstone into the ocean and then crosses the Threshold to become an Archmage. So... thanks Death? I guess?
Later, in The Robe (2016), the Triforce cabal (Jack, Chimera, Reaper), Witness, Caissa and Overwatch collect the Robe of the Dethroned Queen. They decide the return of the Exarch would be a threat to reality and dispose of the Robe in the Ocean Orouboros. It returns on the shoulders of Chimera after the events of The Scepter (2017). Apparently there ARE some things that cannot be destroyed by the last ocean!
In our Chronicle: Thus far there have been many possibilities for a piece of the Red Word to cross paths with the characters in our games. Those that came true ended in the destruction of the abyssal intrusion or containment by other Orders. It is only a matter of time however, before the Red Word Cult has to be dealt with.
Traveling an Abyssal Realm:
Within the realm an explorer can attempt to devise a relatively linear path to a location in the realm that corresponds to a destination they seek. Explorer rolls Resolve + Survival (-5 for Hard Navigation Condition). A roll represents about an hour of travel. Without protections against the environment, the mage will accumulate 60 resistant bashing damage...
Results are as follows:
Egress: Finding a way out of the Abyssal Realm is even more difficult than finding a way in. Places in the Fallen World that have Thuraes or Abyssal Verges may offer a path back into the Fallen World from the realm. Closed and invisible irises occasionally open through Abyssal Verges and locations in the Fallen World where the worst Space Paradoxes occurred or are occurring. Creating excessive and repeated Space Anomalies may create a way out but come with their own serious risks. Natural exits caused by thin space fabric or folds can be found and opened using some sort of ritual or condition but they are not readily visible in the Place Between, nor do they look like one. An explorer can attempt to intuit a ritual or action to create or find an Iris by making a Intelligence + Occult (with the -5 Skill Penalty and possible Environmental Penalties) roll once per Scene (hour). Successes do not accumulate. Results are as follows:
- Dramatic Failure: Take a Beat, Lose a Willpower point, Gain the Lost Condition, you gain no progress to navigating to where you are trying to reach and must discard the Lost Condition before you can roll again which takes another Scene/Hour. You also will most likely run afoul of the Realm's Diadem or a particularly bad patch in the realm.
- Failure: You make no progress and encounter difficulties. This might be a powerful anomaly, a strong Gulmoth or pack of lesser Gulmoth.
- Success: You plot a course to your destination, accumulating successes over the next hour and encountering no further hardship. Successes required to reach the destination are dependent on the Storyteller. Since time and distance in these places may be completely relative, you'd need to design these successes differently depending on what Abyssal Realm you are in.
- Exceptional Success: In addition to extra successes on navigating the Abyssal Realm, take a Willpower Point and gain the Informed (Specific Abyssal Realm) Condition. At your destination this will come in handy for finding a pathway back into the Fallen World.
- Dramatic Failure: Take a Beat, Lose a Willpower point. Not only do you fail to come up with a ritual or find a natural Iris but you also botch the chances of finding one in this area. The explorer is forced to attempt to travel to a new place near their destination in search of a way out. The failure wastes a Scene on location and no doubt attracts the attention of hungry Gulmoth.
- Failure: You spend the scene in an area looking for an Iris or trying to develop a ritual to escape but don't find or come up with anything. There may be an additional narrative obstacle based on Storyteller discretion.
- Success: You find traces of a potential point of egress and/or come up with some ideas on how it may be opened using a ritual act, key or conditional trigger and an Archmastery spell. Ritual ideas often look counterintuitive or nonsensical, such as chaining oneself to a wall or maiming one's own feet with a loose piece of pavement. The ritual or Iris will cost something in harm or sacrifice. You are likely to end up in another Abyssal Realm or other place rather than the Fallen World (the Shadow, the Hedge, etc).
- Exceptional Success: You find a hidden Iris or develop a ritual and you and your party may pass through an act of Archmastery. Take an Arcane Beat and recover one Willpower Point. The egress is costly but not maiming. You find a way back to the Fallen World.
The Collective (Part Two)
As recalled by Frekki (subsoul of Archmaster Casstiel)
HELLOTHERE NOAH. YOUWILLCOMETOUS. ALONE. FOLLOWTHEPATH. 
ABANDON, ABDICATE, SUCCUMB. TIMEISRUNNINGOUT. IMPATIENT. TICKTOCK. FINDUS. MAKEAWISH. HE WATCHES. WAITS. FOR YOU!
(Transcript of video sent from the Operative to Noah Maxwell before his death)
Over another dune lay a ghost town. Sand-blasted buildings in two rows, forming the main street of a small ghost town. The wreckage of a Bismarck from the 1800s perhaps? We were flecks of desiccating grime crawling into a tiny oasis... an oasis with no relief or respite, only more lies and lures.
Caissa, Reaper and Overwatch kept an eye on Milo Maxwell from the Qlipoth (The Operator) and his Collective of Proxies. Meanwhile, Jack, Nergal, Casstiel, Nergal and I prepared to attempt a rescue of Chimera from the Abyssal Nightmare Realm inside the Operator. After much brainstorming, Jack hit upon the concept for the J4A spell and the Archmages assisted in codifying it. We constructed space suits from materials on hand and created layers of patchwork cloth to be enchanted for ablative armor. We brought everything we could think of to bear: various layers of standing mage armor, prevention of fatigue, radiation, cold, bolstering our patterns, reinforcing our bodies. After over a day of preparation compressed into only a few hours of time (thanks Kairos), we were as ready as we felt we could be.
The group tracked down the Operator, overcoming the Qlipoth's ability to hide itself in the Lie. Kairos, Nergal and I approached what used to be Kevin Haus, which was pretty easy, considering it was looking for trouble. It and several of its mask-wearing proxies were out in force on the Victor Park Nature Trail again for some reason. It seemed to be drawn to that place... Bishop, Overwatch and Caissa were dispatched to contain them after we were drawn into the Nightmare Realm. We must have looked ridiculous in our patchwork "space suits"... and terrified. The Abyss was never a place you could go to and return from. Even for the archmages this was serious uncharted territory. We hurled spells around the Qlipoth, Nimbi flaring and suddenly it and its servants were gone and the world was suddenly a stranger place. We instantly lost control of our spells, unable to absorb paradox in our patterns. Thankfully the spells we fired were designed to be harmless and fizzed as the sun faded into pitch.
We stepped out of the fossilized trees of the forest path and into a beach. A beach made of dust, gray sand and ash... a beach with no ocean. Dunes of gray as far as the eye could see, but I knew all senses could not be trusted. Mage Sight was painful and blasted the psyche with terror and hopelessness. We were on the fucking moon! Alone. We were not alone. We were in the grip of something. We were on a precipice. Everything was menace. This is how the Abyss manifested to us.
The patches of our suits instantly began to fade and fall off like dried leaves every few moments, dissolving on the sand, faster than we predicted. The patchwork faded, drained of color and peeled. Exposure to the "elements" meant flash-cooking, freeze drying, dissolving. Time was short. There was no sun, no stars, just black pitch overhead. Somehow though, the desert's particulates were painfully bright, illuminated by nothing. The horizon all around us was just roiling walls of massive dust storms, utter desolation in the foreground and vast nothingness beyond.
Walking on the hard-pack sand crackled with static electricity. The air lacked all humidity, though we were not exposed to it, safe for the moment inside our suits (which we checked constantly for physical/metaphysical leaks). It was impossible to distinguish what was true and what was illusion in this place (there was no truth here). I reach for words that don't really have the impact or precision of what it really was like. The only sound was the roar and hush of a television set to nothing, white noise. Our telepathic network felt like distorted radio transmissions, sometimes we heard each other think and say things we didn't create.
We walked across the desert. It was only dotted by the isolated bleached bone and petrified trees, the occasional only wooden shack, who's windows stared out at us like eyes. You definitely felt like things were hiding and watching in them. We did not get to close but eliminated it as a hiding place for Chimera. Things looked grim. She had been inside the Abyss for at least an hour, and we had no idea how time worked in this Realm. Our suits were falling apart the way exposed flesh, air, consciousness would...Who could survive such a place without all the defensive spell prep? Not only might we not escape but my (or my creator's rather) cousin was surely dead.
The empty sockets of broken windows bore into us, the town brought its own oppressiveness. My two companions both testified later that we were seeing crawling translucent shapes, disturbances in the hair, at the corners of our sight. A bust of static, tentacles or many legs, then gone.
We searched the buildings, sticking close together the whole time as to not get ambushed. Jumping at shadows, figuratively (everything had a shadow, nothing cast a shadow). My apprehension grew to a manic pitch and this was without the mind-twisting of true exposure to the Abyss, without the buffer of our spellwork.
The buildings had their own small dunes inside, amongst fragments of floorboard. Small pieces of bones, draconic. An old VHS tape, the writing of its homemade label rubbed off by the elements, memories of Casstiel's childhood we didn't dare watch. We didn't read the information on anything here. Some mathematical writing we identified as the Nemesis Continuum. A small manila folder with old black and white Polaroid photos, the folder was labels in black market as "A minor plot device." The hell? Again, if you find the Necronomicon you don't read it. Not looking.
Then we found a wretched creature huddled in the shadows of one of the half-collapsed buildings. It was Chimera. Well, it wasn't exactly Chimera. Chimera, exposed to the corruption of the Abyss, retreated into herself and allowed her Daimon, Grace, to assume control and battle for survival. She was withered and drained of all color, literally all color, and was loosing substance one piece of ash at a time. She looked like an old hag, clothing rotting and falling apart before our eyes. We quickly placed an extra space suit on her and stabilized what was left of her. Her wounds would not close or heal but we prevented further deterioration, pushed back the rampant thoughts and emotions. Once Grace was sure she wouldn't attack or run she allowed Chimera to resurface.
We didn't have time for a mental breakdown and she knew it. Despite the complete wreckage she had become, she suppressed all pain and reaction in favor of escape. I sent up the signal to Casstiel to pull us all out of this place... and felt nothing. I felt cut off from my greater self. It didn't feel like the rip cord had been pulled, the flare didn't feel like it went up. We had anticipated this, Casstiel was going to use Fate magic to increase the accuracy of the timing in which to extract us. We just had to wait and survive. For how long? Impossible to say.
The intensity of the hallucinations was getting worse. The crawling invisible things were getting bigger, closer, more solid. More lucid. We had to shore up some place and find a way to keep them away...
