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| Anthropomorph (Earth) copyright 2000 Luke Brown https://www.lukebrownart.com/ |
- The Genius Loci (Dawn)
The Genius Loci is (of course) the spirit of locality in the Here & Now: it can be petitioned and engaged with in normal time and space, but it can also be encountered in other times, spaces, and states of consciousness. The difference is that in the Here & Now the spirit is encountered as a physical embodiment of the land, whereas elsewhere the pariahs themselves come to embody that land themselves.
Roll 2d6 (you might roll with or without favour depending on how the pariahs have behaved in this territory):
2-5: The pariah writhes and moans in agony: they feel the presence of humans upon their flesh as though it were a troop of fire ants. When they return to the Here & Now, they must leave this territory, for fear of incurring the wrath of the genius. However, they also become aware of other human interlopers within the hex, as well as the nature of any malevolent entities that might enforce the genius' rejection of the pariahs.
6-8: The pariah, embodying the land, is indifferent to the presence of their comrades, content merely to luxuriate in their own magnificence. This enables the pariah to learn of the precise geography of the hex, the resources available to forage there and the location and nature of any settlements for the remainder of their trip.
9-12: The genius loci is aware of the presence of the pariah and embraces this temporary mingling of their consciousnesses, sharing a deep and beautiful connection. During their time together the pariah learns of the deep history of the territory, the hopes and fears of the land, and all of the information available under the previous result. Additionally, the pariahs win the genius loci's favour, and retain it for as long as they continue to honour it. - The Crimson Witch (Dawn, Death, Moon)
The harrowing figure of the crimson witch haunts the nightmares of many who have gone astray in the Realm of the Read, but also in the Dawn Realms and those of the Moon. Tales tell of an utterly blood-drenched hag with gleaming yellow, cat-like eyes and a greasy, floor-length mane of black hair and clotting blood. Slender fingers end in short, sharp claws of similar hue to her eyes.
The Crimson Witch does not appear to wear clothing but protects her modesty with an innumerable array of charms, amulets and fetishes. She is happy to trade these for other interesting curiosities, or gift them to those she favours. - A Square, the protagonist of flatland (all)
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This two-dimensional entity is adjusting to whatever multi-dimensional space the pariahs have now encountered him… poorly, most likely, but just how poorly can only be understood with… yup, you guessed it: a 2d6 dice roll.2-3: A. Square thrashes dementedly, corners flipping up to reveal flashes of his two dimensional internal anatomy, barely contained by his four straight edges. He cannot understand this reality and attacks anyone within 5’ (D4 damage, attacks as 1 HD, defence 5 1 HP)s. Incapable of speech apart from horrified screams.
6-8: The square whimpers quietly, maintaining a flat repose, appearing to be a complex carpet with an eye at one corner. Is able to discuss the basics of his own land )flatland of course), reroll reactions with disfavour if attempts are made to describe dimensions beyond 2. If comforted and indulged with tales of the incompetence of one dimensional beings, reroll the reaction with favour (3d6 keep 2 highest)
9-12: Frayed but curious, A. Square is willing to discuss and explore worlds with 3 or more dimensions, and may be able to describe how he is able to transcend between these other planes of reality without the use of entheogens (answer: he cannot, entheogens are entirely necessary.
- The Sapphire Princess (The Here & Now, Sun, Moon, The Beyond)
This entity originally appeared during a play-by-post pariah campaign following consumption of Desert Rue: in the Celestial Palace of the Kingdom of the Sun & Heavens, the tripping pariahs were charged by the Sun's daughter, the Sapphire Princess, to carry out some obscure tasks or endure some terrible punishment.
The Sapphire Princess is essentially a lightning elemental/sentient atmospheric plasma being/goddess of the skies who travels between the outer planes on obscure missions of her or her father's design. She is not always entirely fond of humans: roll reaction with 2d6 on a good day, D12 on a stormy, chaotic day.
2-3 (or less): she wants to fry your brains until your skin blisters. Flattery will get you nowhere, but promise her a metal shell to inhabit in the Here & Now and she may yet let you live
4-5: she wants to watch you dance, and will inflict pain to induce it. Perform exceptionally well to warrant a more positive reaction (reroll 2d6 with favour), perform badly and awaken in the Here & Now with frazzled fingertips and a permanent odour of ozone.
6-8: she couldn't care less, but does not object to you watching as she thunders across a black sky, transforming into an ion storm and dancing an array of colours across the sky. Call her name during a thunderstorm next time you see one in the Here & Now and you shall weather it well.
9-10: you have her attention, she is willing to talk. What do you want to know of a being who has existed since the Age of Chaos, has witnessed the passing of the Titans and the Fall of the Others and whose father is the sun Himself?
11-12: you have her favour. This might not be as good as you'd like: she has a Quest for you in the Here & Now, involving travelling to a faraway away proto-city and dealing with some very awkward priests. The rewards are great, however: temporal and possibly beyond! - Yourself, from the future (all)
As the shimmering being begins to coalesce into something more humanoid in shape, you slowly begin to recognise yourself. Older, yes... wiser? You aren't sure. Your older self smirks as it suddenly remembers this moment. You may ask one question of this being before it vanishes, but be most wary of wisdom unearned.
(the player may ask one question about their future, the outcome of which will occur D12 days from the current time. The character is death-defyingly lucky until this point, but will be NPCed once that moment comes to pass) - The Amplituhedron (Dusk, Sun, Beyond)
Like A. Square (see above), this geometric construct is fully sapient. Unlike A.Square, it is far from afraid of multi-dimensional spacetime, operating at modalities far beyond human comprehension, whatever medicine they've been taking. The extent to which it ameliorates this incomprehensibility to spare lesser beings is entirely contingent upon how well it responds to such entities: make a reaction roll!
2-3 This radiant entity is so awesome that all who behold it must save vs death or experience total ego death (reduce CHA to 0, awaken in the Here & Now as a Nameless One): PCs have the opportunity to look away/cower/pray in its presence to avoid making this save, but any interaction necessitates that D20 roll. If all present are able to endure its radiance, reroll the reaction.
4-5: Just looking at this set of multi-dimensional mirrors is enough to induce nose bleeds: any interaction necessitates a save vs. beyond (if they've not save vs. Beyond before, find their target number by rolling 2d10) or suffer 1d4 psychic damage to int/wis or cha (choose randomly). reroll the reaction (with favour) if the PCs are able to endure a conversation
6-8: the presence of the amplituhedron is nauseating, but through incredible conscious effort the PCs are able to endure its presence and may ask up to 3 questions of it before it fades from view. It is omniscient, but might not choose to answer questions in a way the PCs fully understand.
9-10: The amplituhedron tones itself down so that it merely sounds like thunder and looks like something mildly impossible, like a tesseract or a Klein bottle. It will answer 3 questions clearly and fully, and will reward questions it enjoys (about maths, logic or interdimensional travel) with spiritual boons (bound dusk spirits, magic items etc.)
11-12: As above but the PCs are invited to step inside the tesseract or klein bottle, experiencing tits essence as their own, before additional dimensions, planes and vertices are added until they come to fully understand the nature of the amplituhedron. I cannot explain what this means because it hasn't happened to me, but thereafter any PCs will be able to enter the realm of Dusk at will, simply by closing their eyes and envisioning the amplituhedron. - Hive Tyrant: queen of the Mutagenic Hive Swarm (Dawn, Dusk, The Beyond)
Wisewomen speak of the chaotic immediacy of Dawn in contrast with the rarefied reptilian intelligence of Dusk: within the beyond, these two realms have conflated. The plague swarm is a complex, technologically advanced culture of monstrous insectoid reptiles driven by the insatiable hunger of dusk to replenish and reproduce. Biomechanical monsters driven by the desire to assimilate all life and reform it in their own image- Sketches for My Sweetheart, The Beyond
When the Absolute Mother Goddess of a parallel reptilian-insectoid reality dreams, she transcends time and space and wanders into wherever she wants. Sometimes she happens upon tripping stone age psychonauts.
Ultimately, her aim is the subsummation of all possible realms to the Plague Swarm and her vision of biomechanical perfection, but she is an ageless and immortal being and isn't in a particular hurry. Ideally, she'd like to fin out about the strategic potential of the pariahs' reality as a launchpad for further interstellar conquest, and would like the pariahs' help in achieving both of these goals. How aggressive she is in pursuit of this is dependent on her rection to the party.
Note that in the context of the Here & Now the pariahs would probably perceive her as horrific, but her reptilian-insectoid form seems to fit comfortably within the context of whatever world she is encountered. Yourself, from your past (all)
As the shimmering being begins to coalesce into something more humanoid in shape, you slowly begin to recognise yourself. Younger, yes... more foolish? You aren't sure. Your younger self seems oblivious to the fact that it is dealing with itself, and your memory of this moment is confused.
If you have visited this realm previously, think back to an encounter with an intelligent entity. If this is your first time, think back to the first encounter you experienced this session: you realise that the entity was actually you. temporarily you assume its power and form. You may change the course of that previous encounter as you see fit.
When you return to the Here & Now, think carefully: do you want to return to the reality you previously occupied, or the divergent timeline that you have since altered?Polygod (all)
Humanity is still young: heck, the world is still young. No one's really sure if this primordial multiverse needs a g0d, nor how many or what She/He/They should look like.
Nonetheless, the Polygod is keen that all cultures at least bear them in mind as a possible candidate.
This timeless entity is fully aware of how a One true g0d should look, sound and act (roll on table below), but its all for show. They have no real power other than that which they can leverage through manipulation of their burgeoning congregation (the PCs can help!)False Marian (all)
As noted, the Queen of Dawn is at times wont to manifest in the Here & Now. Conversely, an unknown entity that assumes the form of the Virgin Mother/Goddess of Mercy/ Guanyin/ Mary is also witness across many realms, bearing the same divine countenance and beatific smile.
Yet this being is an imposter, and a most sinister one at that. The heling she provides reverts within a week. Her message of peace is a harbinger of war. Her loving embrace is a suffocating bear hug.
In short, she lies: and the more she likes you (roll 2d6, modify w charisma!) the deeper, darker and more believable those lies become.Boltzmann Brain (all)
Millenia after the pariahs have died and the cities of the settled folk have transformed the verdant, oxygen-loving ecotomes of the Here & Now into the Twilight Empire of Dusk's Setting Sun, the scholars of that dying earth will ponder how all came to pass. And their stunted impoverished intellects will look upon the glory of creation and, beholding only chaos, will catalogue the algorithms that allowed this state of affairs.
Amid this chaos, one man will ponder that it's more likely for a random brain (or even an entire body or galaxy) to spontaneously form with false memories in a vast, fluctuating universe than for the entire universe to develop as cosmologists believe. (source: Wikipedia)
Well, guess what: here is that brain!
Sustained only by the improbability of its own spontaneous manifestation, the brain sleeps and dreams of an unfolding reality, comprising multiple dimensions of time and space, all emergent from its own dreams of a six-fold stack of parallel realms, and an infinite realm of possibilities beyond.
With patience even a rag-tag bunch of proto-neolithic animist psychonauts might be able to jury-rigg a means by which the Boltzmann Brain might perceive its immediate external environment, not merely the vast and infinite multiverse of its imagination. It might not be quite ready for the resultant ontological shock but on that note...The Gamemaster (all)
Okay, this might get a little awkward, because this is going to really flex everyone's RP muscles but hey: this is why you went to those improv classes! This is really going to make your livestream memorable! Possibly for all the wrong reasons.
You going to need to speak directly to the characters for this- nope, that's not a mistake, this isn't an inversion of "my GM always kills the players lol", this is real. You need to sit down in front of the characters, as the GM in the real world, because you're the entity they've just encountered in whatever weird and wonderful world they've been navigating.
You've got to break the news to them: they're just figments of the collective imagination of some silly humans playing make believe. They're merely puppets in a fucking weird show that hardly anyone is watching, their actions and their consequences determined by the roll of the dice. They have no free will, just an illusion of agency in a world of arbitrary GM fiat.
Let that sink in for a while, then bring them back slowly to the Here & Now, watch as they nervously share tales of the "weird dream" they just had.
Alternatively, just say it's not you it's just a Draeden that looks like you
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Links
The Others
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-others-pariah-city-of-ghosts.html
Sketches for My Sweetheart, The Beyond
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2020/12/sketches-for-my-sweetheart-beyond.html#more
Mutagenic Hive Swarm
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2023/07/mutagenic-hive-swarm-zini-edition.html
The Butterfly Effect
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-butterfly-effect.html
D12 Anomalous Orbs
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2024/04/d12-anomalous-orbs.html
Dusk
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2020/12/dusk-realm-adventures-in-entheogeneering.html
Draeden: a classic 80s D&D monster that rarely gets a look-in:
https://dungeonsdragons.fandom.com/wiki/Draeden
Some cool stuff! Makes me really want to check out Pariah
ReplyDeleteI love that it's literally the Square from Flatland lol. These are all awesome though; the way it pulls inspirations from the present while still feeling coherent with the world of Pariah, because the way they experience time and exist is just fundamentally different than linear time as we think of it, and playing with dimensionality, and the meta-ness that's a bit extra but I still love it haha.
ReplyDeleteI think forever ago you posted about like psychocartography in Pariah via Twin Peaks Red Room, and I remember at the time saying how I loved the idea of these modern elements seeping outside linear time into the neolithic psychonautical landscape (I probably said it more verbosely and less effectively than that), and it's been cool to see more and more of that happening recently.