James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

Lex Libris

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 2

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

  Credits 

Concept and Design

Theodore Bergqvist and Magnus Malmberg

Authors
Theodore Bergqvist and Magnus Malmberg

Additional Writers and Helpers

Max Herngren, Luca Cherstich, Anders Jarve,
Richard Nilsson, Dan Slottner and Mattias Berglin.

Translation
Love Almquist and Wilhelm Hoffstedt

Editing
John Marron

Art Direction
Theodore Bergqvist

Layout and Typesetting 3

Magnus Malmberg

Cover Art
Justin Sweet

Interior Art
Alvaro Tapia, Justin Sweet, Ola Larsson, Per Sjögren,
Theodore Bergqvist, Peter Bergting and Trevor Denham

Additional Kudos
Thanks to all the Kickstarter pledgers and to all the backers
who made this project come to life.

Our style is to use “they” as a singular gender-neutral pronoun when

possible. This usage continues to gain m
­ ainstream acceptance, including
among major style guides such as The Associated Press Stylebook
and The Chicago Manual of Style. We believe it is appropriate and
practical, not just to reflect common usage but to accommodate a more
inclusive view of gender identity. The LexOccultum books also use
“he” or “she” when helpful for added clarity.

isbn: 978-91-984759-0-6

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION 7 IMPRESSIONS 39
The Game Master ..............................................................................7 Different Kinds of Impression........................................................39
The Characters.....................................................................................7 The Impression of Social Status ...................................................39
The Play Session ................................................................................8 Using Impression Rolls....................................................................41
Adventures and Missions...................................................................8
How Does one Roleplay?...................................................................8 LIFE IN THE WILD 45
Rolling Dice .........................................................................................9
Skill Rolls .............................................................................................9 Complications in the Wild..............................................................45
Situation Rolls....................................................................................10 Mitigating Circumstances in the Wild........................................46
To Succeed With a Skill or Situation Roll..................................10 Requirements for Equipment in the Wild...................................46
Measuring the Degrees of Success................................................10 Inadequate Food and Water............................................................46
Degrees of Difficulty.........................................................................10 Hunting................................................................................................47
Luck Rolls...........................................................................................10
Open Roll............................................................................................ 11 ADVENTURE POINTS AND TIPS 51
COMBAT 13 Awarding Adventure Points............................................................ 51
Theory..................................................................................................53
4 Taking Turns......................................................................................13 Other Rewards...................................................................................53
Combat Capacity................................................................................ 17 Tips for Playing.................................................................................53
Unarmed Combat..............................................................................18 Find the Mysteries............................................................................53
Combat Actions..................................................................................20

HEALTH AND FEAR 25

Five Levels of Damage.....................................................................25
Registering Damage.........................................................................25
Care and Healing...............................................................................26
Damage Complications.....................................................................29
Damage for Monsters and Creatures............................................ 31
Physical Damage................................................................................ 31
Physical Damage Levels..................................................................32
Fear and Mental Damage................................................................34
Damage Effects From Mental Illness. ........................................34

chapter 1. the character 4

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 THE WORLD 59 SUB ROSA 139
Calendar...............................................................................................62 The Gnosticians...............................................................................140
The Biblical Timeline.......................................................................63 Pium Sodalicium..............................................................................143
The Heathen Timeline.....................................................................70 Congregatio Pro Doctrina Fidei..................................................146
The Christian Era.............................................................................72 Compagnie du Saint Sacrement...................................................148
Judgment Day.....................................................................................78 Hellfire Club..................................................................................... 151
Society..................................................................................................82 The Witch Cult................................................................................155
Faith and Confession........................................................................84 Terry Jones’ Mysterious Voodoo Society...................................157
Science and Enlightenment.............................................................87 Société En Soie.................................................................................161
Witchcraft and superstition............................................................89 The Hashashins................................................................................165
War.......................................................................................................90 The Illuminati..................................................................................167
Trade.....................................................................................................91 Odd Fellows...................................................................................... 173
Crime and Punishment.....................................................................93 The Order of Freemasons.............................................................177
Vanity and Decadence......................................................................95 Ordre de le Sang Bleu....................................................................184
The Shadow World...........................................................................96 The Dutch Rum and Sugar Trade Company............................188
Geography.........................................................................................100 De Naturali Scientia........................................................................192
England..............................................................................................101 The Rosicrucian Order...................................................................194
France.................................................................................................102 The Royal Society...........................................................................197 5
Holy Roman Empire.......................................................................103 Short Descriptions of a Handful of Other Societies............... 202
Italy.....................................................................................................104 Sub Rosa and the Player Characters...........................................205
Russia.................................................................................................106 Codes and Ciphers ......................................................................... 206
Cities...................................................................................................107 Occult Languages............................................................................212
Amsterdam........................................................................................108 Beasts and Antagonists..................................................................213
Berlin.................................................................................................. 110 NPC Descriptions............................................................................213
Boston................................................................................................. 111 Supernatural Beings........................................................................ 214
Copenhagen.......................................................................................112 Lycanthrope......................................................................................215
Gothenburg....................................................................................... 115 Phantoms...........................................................................................216
London............................................................................................... 116 Spectres and Wraiths.....................................................................218
Paris.................................................................................................... 118 Vampires............................................................................................219
Prague................................................................................................120
Rome...................................................................................................122 THE SECRET ARTS 223
Saint Petersburg..............................................................................123
Stockholm..........................................................................................124 The Three Arts................................................................................223
Venice.................................................................................................125 Using the Arts.................................................................................225
Vienna.................................................................................................126 Descriptions of the Abilities..........................................................225
Typical areas.....................................................................................127 The Supernatural Abilities of Esotericism
– The Right-hand Path.................................................................227
– The Left-hand Path ...................................................................229
The Supernatural Abilities of Theology....................................233
The Supernatural Abilities of Science....................................... 240

5 chapter 1. the caracter

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James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

  Introduction 
“Write, therefore, what you have seen: both what is
now and what will take place later.”
Revelation 1:19

The horrid creature threw itself down of the game master is to move the story The Characters
from the roof and into the darkness. along, providing the players with the The fictional alter egos of the players are
The people shouted at the fiend that was information that is needed for them called characters. The player uses the
said to bear a curse. However, its follow- to understand their surroundings and Character to participate in adventures
ers knew better. The anthromorph was make choices and perform actions based and complete missions in the game. All
a blautsauger, a type of vampire that on their characters’ personalities and players (except for the game master)
backgrounds. should have a character.
hid in the city, and there was no longer The game master is also the one that It can take some time to create a
any time for thought. The vampire had decides how rules should be interpreted, character. The characters can be created
to die tonight or it would put the entire used, or modified. It is the game master some time before the adventure begins,
city at risk. Maybe they could cover who should know the rules the best, but either by the players themselves, by
their tracks, just maybe. It was “it” to be a game master is not just about following the rules provided, or by
against “them”. knowing the rules. As a starting point, the game master. However, it is in our
the game master may use published experience more fun if the players get to
The roleplaying game LexOccultum adventure modules before perhaps create their own characters.
has two types of participants: moving on to creating their own In the Alter Ego book, you will
adventures that the characters will be find all you need to create your very
✦✦ The game master and the Players. plunged into. own character, ready to brave haunted
When you feel like you have an Europe and other unholy places.
overarching idea of what the roleplaying
The Game Master game includes and understand what
The game master (or GM) in a roleplaying really is, start with learning
roleplaying game has no single character how to create a character. Whether you
of their own, instead, they present the are a player or a game master, it is best
world and the story itself. The mission to learn the rules concerning this first.

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 8

The Play Session An adventure module describes places, should prepare notes to avoid awkward
An adventure is played out over one or people, and intrigues. There are also situations in case they forget important
more game sessions. The players do not descriptions for what happens if the events or people. The game master does
need to know the rules exactly, but the characters act in a certain way in not need to know everything before play
game master should know them well different situations. starts as long as they have access to the
enough to lead the game without much In case of pre-made adventures written adventure and notes, and can
trouble. only the game master should read an look up important information.
adventure module and preferably know
it as best as they can. Should the players
Adventures and Missions read the module, all of its secrets and How Does one Roleplay?
The game master presents the characters revelations will be revealed and the play What follows below is a short example
with missions and adventures. session might be rather dull. from a play session of LexOccultum in
One could say that an adventure Of course, the module cannot which the game master presents the
is like a film or a book. There are describe all possible situations that world and an event for the players, who
main protagonists (the characters), can arise. The game master should in turn tell the game master how their
extras (the game master’s characters), exercise common sense and use their characters act.
intrigues, climaxes, and some smaller imagination in such situations where The participants in the game are
events that take place. Unlike a film or the module is of little help. Erik (playing as the character "Pierre"),
a book there are infinite possibilities The game master must thoroughly Emma (playing "Ann") and Johan
for the characters to create their own read the adventure at least once and (playing "Karl") as well as the game
stories. There is just no present script should look through it immediately prior master Julia who has made up her own
to rigidly follow! to the play session. The game master adventure. The characters have received
Game masters can create their own should have a clear idea of the most a mission from an old alchemist which
adventures or use pre-created modules. important events in the adventure and lead them to the following situation:

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 GM: You find yourselves in a very long and dark corridor. The torch you carry Rolling dice determines whether and/
only produces a small sphere of light that illuminates a few meters of adjacent or how well one succeeds. You roll dice
floor and the moist and moss-clad stone walls. The tracks that you have followed for skills, situations, luck and damage.
through the door continue through your circle of light and on into the darkness of In certain situations, such as combat,
the corridor. What do you do? one will need to perform different types
of die rolls and there are extensive
Erik: I (speaking as his character Pierre) hold up my torch in front of me and
rules for this that are described in the
take a few steps into the corridor. appropriate section of this book.
Emma: I (speaking as her character Ann) ready my flintlock pistol and follow
Pierre.
Johan: Hmm...I (speaking as his character Karl) don’t know what to do. The Skill Rolls
beast that ran in here has a great advantage over us. It can see in the dark and we It is completely up to the game master
can only see what lies within the reach of our torch. to decide when and if a skill roll must be
Erik: Oh come now, we must hurry before its advantage over us grows even made. It is also up to the game master to
greater. determine the details of a situation and
Emma: I go back and pull on Karl’s coat to get him to follow. a given skill roll. Modifiers are usually
applied to the target number or "SV" (to
Johan: Alright then, have it your way. I will follow, but I’m ready to flee if I need
be better explained below) and never to
to. I draw my blade. the dice roll.
GM: You move along the corridor. Your steps echo off the cold walls and some- For common actions and simple
times you can hear the sound of water dripping from the ceiling as a great deal of things characters do not need to perform
moisture has formed there. Suddenly you hear an angry growl coming from the skill rolls. Examples of such actions are;
darkness ahead. Someone, or something, is uncontrollably beating against a door. walking, talking, eating or running.
After a while the pounding ceases and the corridor grows silent again. The only
thing you can hear now is the sound of your own breathing and from time to time Combining disciplines and
the sound of a drop of water hitting the stone floor of the corridor.
specializations 9
Johan: I whisper to the others that we must turn around at once. The beast might
The target number for skill rolls is called
be on its way toward us even as we speak, and if we make haste we can lock it inside SV which stands for "Skill Value". To
this corridor. calculate the SV one should start from
Erik: Nonsense! Maybe it managed to break open the door and continue on the basic skill value and add modifiers
through to the other side. I suggest we keep on looking. I walk towards the sound from both the relevant discipline (+1 per
that we heard. level) and specialization (+2 per level) to
Emma: Agreed! I follow Pierre but keep my flintlock pistol pointed toward the the skill value. For instance, if a character
darkness ahead and will fire if anything moves. has bought the first level of the Sleight
Johan: I reluctantly follow the others and keep to the shadows as we move. of hand discipline (+1) that falls under
the skill Stealth and the first level of the
Pickpocketing specialization (+2), the
character gets to add a total modifier
This is a small example of how a moments it is not enough to merely say of +3 to the skill value in Stealth when
conversation between players and a game what the player wants their character the character is going to attempt to steal
master might sound. It is the conversation to do. Instead, you need to perform a something from someone’s pockets.
between the participants that is the core skill check that determines whether a
of any roleplaying game, but in certain character succeeds or not. Combining different disciplines
cases the rules are used to determine if a and specializations
character succeeds or fails in doing what For most rolls only one specialization
the player wants to do. This could for Rolling Dice and the related discipline can be used.
instance be a situation where a character Different types of dice are used in However it is sometimes possible
must jump across a chasm, persuade LexOccultum: six-sided dice (1d6), to combine several disciplines and
someone that they are not a thief but ten-sided dice (1d10), and twenty-sided specializations that are relevant to the
merely an honest merchant, shoot with dice (1d20). Occasionally a "1d5" will situation as a single, greater modifier
a flintlock pistol towards something be used, which means using 1d10 while to the SV. It is totally up to the game
that suddenly leaps from the dark, or dividing the result by half (rounding master to decide whether this is
perhaps even cast mighty spells. In such up). possible or not.

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 Situation Rolls SKILL AND SITUATION ROLLS Degrees of D ifficulty
In some cases, there can be actions or 1d20 Result To determine how simple or difficult it is
situations that are not covered by skills. 1 Always success
to succeed with a task the game master
It might be an attempt to lift a block of will determine modifiers on the skill or
≤ SV or Situation value Success
stone, resist the effects of poison, or the situation roll (value ± Modifier) that the
like. Instead of performing a skill roll > SV or Situation value Failure player needs to roll against to succeed
the character should roll what is called 20 Always failure with the task. It is important to remember
a "Situation Roll". The game master that these modifiers apply to the SV or to
simply determines the likelihood of a the Situation value, not to the dice.
character succeeding with the action/ Measuring the Degrees The easier an action is considered to
situation and the player rolls the die to of S uccess be, the higher positive modifier one is
see if the attempt is successful or not. Sometimes, mostly when something is allowed to add to one’s skill value, and
The likelihood that the game master created, it can be interesting to see how the harder the action, the higher the
chooses is called a "Situation value" and well you succeeded with a skill. Should a negative modifier one is forced to apply
should be indicated in a range of 1-20. player succeed with a skill roll they can to the skill value.
The higher the value, the easier it is to be allowed to roll a further die to measure
succeed. Suitable character traits can how well the character succeeded. The DEGREES OF DIFFICULTY
modify the situation value; positive traits player rolls 1d10 and depending on
Degree Modifier
increase the likelihood of success while how high a skill value the character has
negative traits lower the likelihood of the chance of an open roll is increased Extremely simple +10
success. according to the table below. The result Very simple +5
of the die roll is then transferred into the Simple +3
BASIC SITUATION VALUES result table. It is always up to the game Normal ±0
Difficulty Situation value master to interpret the outcome, but
Difficult -3
Very easy 15
the table below can give some valuable
pointers. (In combat the results are Very difficult -5
Normal 10
10 Very hard 5
measured in the form of damage inflicted Extremely difficult -10
instead of the method described above). Verging on impossible -15

SUCCESS, SKILL VALUE AND

To Succeed With a CHANCE FOR OPEN ROLL Luck Rolls
Skill or Situation Roll SV Open roll A variant of the situation roll is the luck
To determine the outcome of skill and 1-14 10
roll. Sometimes a game master may want
situation rolls a single d20 should be chance to determine whether something
15-17 9-10
rolled. Depending on the result, the happens to the characters. The game
skill or situation roll either succeeds or ≤18 8-10 master then asks all characters to roll a
fails.

✦✦ If the die result is equal to or MEASURING SUCCESS

below the Skill Value (or SV) or the Outcome Result
Situation value, the character has 1-2 Mediocre success. The character barely succeeds with the skill. Objects that are
been successful. created have the Mediocre quality.
✦✦ If the result is above the Skill Value
3-8 Normal success. The character does what is needed to succeed. Objects that are
(SV) or the Situation value, the created have the Decent quality.
attempt has failed.
9-16 Adequate success. The character does slightly more than what is required to
✦✦ A roll of 1 on the d20 always indicates
succeed. Objects created have the Decent+ quality.
a success, no matter how great the
negative modifiers are. 17-20 Great success. The character does more than is required. Objects that are created
have the quality Excellent.
✦✦ A roll of 20 on the d20 always
indicates a failure, no matter how ≤21 Fantastic success. The character succeeds so well that people marvel at the
great the positive modifiers are. result. Objects that are created have the Excellent+ quality.

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 luck roll to see who is the most or least
lucky at that moment in time. Higher
rolls generally indicate that luck is with
the character, while low rolls indicate
the opposite
The one with the most luck might
for instance win the lottery or perhaps
find something on the ground, while
the one with less luck may perhaps be
the victim of theft, sickness, or some
other events that affects one or several
of the characters.
The game master off course choose
which die to use and which result mean a
lucky or unlucky outcome, so that only the
ones that, for example, roll 1 or 2 on 1d10
are affected by bad luck or so that those
who roll 10 are the only lucky ones.

Open Roll
Some die rolls (usually regarding d10)
are called Open rolls. This means that
you are allowed to roll again if you roll
a high result on the die. An open roll
is marked after the die with “OR” and
what die results allow you to roll again. 11
1d10 (OR 9-10) means that one should
roll 1d10 and you are allowed to roll
again if the outcome is 9 or 10.

EXAMPLE: OPEN ROLL

Chris is going to roll 1d10 (OR

9-10). He rolls a 9 and because
this 9 indicates an Open roll Chris
is allowed to roll again. He rolls 9
again and is thus allowed to roll
once more. This time Chris rolls 5.
He is not allowed to roll again this
time since the open roll only occurs
on 9 and 10. Chris adds together
all of his die rolls: 9+9+5=23.
Chris’ roll resulted in 23.

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James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

  Combat 
“I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun
turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red.”
Revelation 6:12

13

In many ways the world of initiative. The ones who gets the If two or more people get the same
LexOccultum is a violent place and highest value starts and the one with initiative, the one with the highest
there are many dangers. Sometimes it the lowest initiative acts last in the Fighting skill value is considered to be
will be necessary for the characters to action round. first of the participants followed by the
fight for their lives. one with the next highest skill value
Combat is a chaotic flurry of actions and so on. Should two or more people
that can be hard to keep track of. Now, Initiative also have the same skill value they roll
roleplaying is much more than just During an action round the characters 1d10 each to determine the order of
combat and weapons, but since combat involved get to perform actions in a set their turns relative to each other. The
can determine whether a character sequence of turns. one who rolls the highest acts first.
lives or dies, the rules for combat are An action round always starts with
more detailed than those for many the participants rolling for initiative.
other aspects of the game. The initiative roll is made with 1d10 Initiative modifiers (“IM”)
Combat is split into segments called (OR 10) and may be modified by various An initiative modifier can result from a
Action rounds (AR). An action round is traits or other factors. number of different factors.
only a few moments long. Some Initiative modifiers always
✦✦ The sum of the die rolls and the apply, whatever action the character
modifiers shows when a character is chooses to perform. Examples are:
Taking Turns allowed to act in relation to the other
Each action round is broken up participants. ✦✦ Initiative bonuses from the Battle
into Turns. The sequence of turns ✦✦ The character with the lowest Experience discipline and Combat
determines who is allowed to act outcome performs their actions last in Reaction specialty
at any given time during an action the action round if none of the faster ✦✦ Positive and negative Dexterity
round. To determine the sequence participants chooses to act later. modifiers
of turns everyone must roll for

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 On the other hand, modifiers linked take it. This is a strategic move, as there incoming attacks, but otherwise cannot
to objects (especially weapons) are are times when it may be advantageous act at all during the round. In the next
applied only when the specific objects to hold your action until after someone action round, they have the opportunity
are used. This means that If you bear else acts, or to save Combat Points for to act faster. They receive a modifier of
a weapon but do not want to attack or defensive actions before spending them +5 on their initiative roll.
parry with it, its IM will not be counted on your own attacks. But that hesitation
in your Initiative. will make your actions slightly more Changing actions
Initiative modifiers from armors are difficult. Sometimes you want to change your
always working, as far as the armor is It doesn’t matter how far you delay actions after the GM countdown has
worn. into the action round; whether you wait started, even if you have already counted
Initiative modifiers can also result for one character to act first or several, the IM according to a different action.
from wounds or from mental illness, as you still receive a -5 modifier on your When this happens, just apply the
explained later on in this book. They action. new IM to your previous Initiative dice
tend to remain as far as the harm is not If a character delays their action, the roll and see in which combat turn your
healed. turn is passed to the next initiative in new, changed action will happen. Now
line. compare it with the present turn in the
Action round schedule: GM If several characters delay their GM count.
countdown and player turns actions and want to act on the same If the combat turn of the changed
Each round the following procedure initiative, priority goes to the one with action has already happened, your action
happens: the highest Skill Value in Fighting. will happen in the present combat turn.
If more than one character vying for If the combat turn of the changed
✦✦ Every player chooses what to do, that spot has the same Skill Value in action is yet to come, your action will
keeping the decision for himself, Fighting, they roll 1d10, with the happen then.
counting the IM which will influence highest roll going first. You need to pay attention when the
his initiative, according to his own GM is counting down the combat turn.
actions. Nonplayer characters If your turn has passed, you cannot
14 ✦✦ Each player then openly rolls the The game master rolls the initiative change your action
Initiative dice. for all of the nonplayer characters Regarding changing actions,
✦✦ The GM then starts a countdown: (also called GM characters or NPCs). parrying and actions of opportunity
20, 15, 10, 9, 8, 7 etc…calling each Sometimes, the GM needs to run a large (see below, among combat actions) are
number aloud. Each called number number of NPCs. special cases since they happen outside
corresponds to a Turn and player To simplify this process and your turn, and only if you have enough
declare their action when their turn prevent everyone from having to sit Combat Points left.
comes. through many initiative rolls, there If parrying or the actions of
is an alternative: the GM may make opportunity are happening later than
Remember that a player can change a single initiative roll for groups of your turn, this means that you have
their action if their turn has not come NPCs. Everyone in that group acts enough Combat Points left, and you
up yet (see below for more on Changing at the same time during the initiative have already counted the IM of the
Actions). order. This can be done all as one large Weapon used for parrying or for the
group, or in several smaller groups at action of opportunity.
Delaying action the GM’s discretion. (Example: The However sometimes you may want to
The character with the highest initiative player characters come into conflict parry or to do an action of opportunity
has the opportunity to act first during with ten bandits. The GM could roll with a weapon whose IM was not
the action round. However, they can one initiative for all the bandits, or counted in the Initiative roll, especially
delay their action if they wish. They split them into appropriate groups like if this happens before your turn comes.
cannot act earlier than their initiative, skirmishers and sharpshooters, then In this case, just modify your turn with
except when reacting to an attack with roll one initiative per group.) the IM of the weapon you are using
defensive actions. During their initiative, now to parry or to make an action
they can use all of their Combat Points Postponing initiative of opportunity. On the other hand,
(to be better explained below, under Instead of taking action, a character remember that you cannot save Combat
”Combat Capacity”) can postpone their initiative to the next Points for parrying and to make actions
If a character chooses to delay their full action round and skip their turn of opportunity after your own turn,
action in a round, they receive a -5 this round. Those who skip their turn if you have not counted the IM of the
modifier to that action when they finally can still take defensive actions against relevant weapon in your turn.

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 15

EXAMPLE: CHANGING ACTIONS

Ferdinando is a Sicilian adventurer and a famous traveller which came to investigate the mysteries of the
Cathars in Provence. While he is investigating some ruins he remained isolated from his companion and he
is attacked by a man, possibly a cultist trying to protect the ancient secrets.
Ferdinando has Dex +2 modifier and wants to use his Excellent Sabre (IM -6). His Initiative roll gets a
“5”, therefore his total initiative is “1” (5 +2 for the Dex modifier and -6 for the sabre). The GM starts his
countdown 10, 9, 8, 7...but when Turn 6 comes two other cultists arrive, making the combat more deadly for the
Sicilian!! Now Ferdinando can leave or he can remain to attack. Three things can happen:
Ferdinando wait until Turn 5 to attack his enemies, as per his normal initiative.
Ferdinando runs away, therefore his new Initiative will be “7” (5 +2 for the Dex but not counting the Sabre).
Since Turn 7 has been already called and it’s now Turn 6, Ferdinando can immediately run away.

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 16

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 according to which weapon is used. For
example, a character who uses a light
one-handed weapon (for example a
stiletto) can use up to four weapon actions,
while a character using a two-handed
heavy weapon (for example a halberd) can
only use up to two weapon actions.

Attacking
An attack is a weapon action where the
character acts offensively against someone
else to cause damage, such as trying to
chop a beast with an axe. Attacks can be
performed with a weapon or unarmed.
To determine whether a character’s
Combat Capacity Locked combat points attack is successful, make a Skill roll,
Combat capacity is a representation of Depending on a character’s disciplines as usual. The Skill Value is equal to the
how competent a character is in combat. and specialties, some Combat Points number of Combat Points spent on the
It is measured in Combat Points. A are locked to actions that use specific attack (plus or minus modifiers).
character’s minimum combat capacity is weapons or perform specific maneuvers The attack Skill roll is 1d20 for each
equal to their Skill Value in the Fighting and tactics. Combat Points locked to attack. If the roll is below or equal to
skill. If the character has a Skill Value a specific weapon cannot be used for the SV for the attack, the character
of 10 in Fighting, they have at least 10 combat actions with any other weapon. succeeds, and if the roll exceeds the SV,
Combat Points. Combat Points locked to a certain the attack fails.
They can increase their combat weapon group cannot be used with
capacity through disciplines and weapons from any other group. Successful attack 17
specialties. However, Combat Points If the character/creature succeeds in
gained in this way are usually locked to attacking the opponent, the defender then
particular situations or weapons, and Weapon actions has the opportunity to parry (if they have
can be used only during circumstances Weapon actions are the actions linked enough Combat Points to spend) or evade
that involve a specific situation or a with a specific weapon. They have a the attack (Never more than one attempt
certain weapon type. limited number of uses per action round, at parrying or avoiding per attack). Should
Combat Points are spent in a round
on various combat actions, whose Skill EXAMPLE: LOCKED COMBAT POINTS
values differ according to how many
Combat Points are put in each action. Jacques has a Skill Value of 6 in the Fighting skill, so when he is involved in
It is clear that one can divide his combat, he has 6 Combat Points.
Combat Points among different actions. Later in his career, his Skill Value in the Fighting skill has increased to 9, and
However, during a round, a character he has gained the first level of the Close Combat Weapons discipline and the second
can never take more weapon actions level of the One-Handed Weapons (Right hand) specialty.
with a specific weapon than the number His combat capacity is now calculated as follows.
of weapon actions that a specific weapon The Fighting Skill Value of 9 grants him 9 Combat Points.
has, even if the character has more The Close Combat Weapons 1 discipline grants him 1 Combat Point for use when
Combat Points to spend. fighting with any manner of melee weapon (as opposed to fighting unarmed or with
Remember that weapon actions ranged weapons).
are mainly attacks and parries. Other The One-Handed Light Weapons (Right Hand) 2 specialty grants him 4
combat actions, not performed with the Combat Points for combat actions with one-handed weapons used with the right
specific weapon or shield, are not limited hand. Thus, when Jacques fights with a one-handed weapon in his right hand, he
by the weapons and shields used. can use 14 total Combat Points (9 + 1 + 4).
Combat capacity is renewed after If Jacques uses a Two-Handed weapon he has only 10 Combat Points at his
each action round. disposal (9 + 1).
If he uses no weapons at all, he has only 9 Combat Points, his minimum from
the Fighting skill.

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 the opponent fail to parry successfully, the Successful parrying Anyone can carry weapons in both
attack will hit the opponent and the die for A successful parry means that the hands, but to use them effectively
damage should be rolled. character/creature negates the attack to attack or parry requires knowing
and does not take any damage. the Body Control discipline and the
Failed attack If the character parries an attack Ambidexterity specialization, as
If a character fails in attacking it simply without using a weapon, see Unarmed described above in the section on
means that the character missed its Combat, below, for special rules. weapon actions with the off-hand.
target. If one successfully parries with a
weapon, roll the damage but apply it
to the parrying object and compared Unarmed Combat
Parrying the damage with the BP value, as per Fighting without weapons is called
A parry is a weapon action where the rules on the damage to object in the unarmed combat. A character that is
character acts defensively against equipment descriptions. unarmed still has the ability to fight with
someone else to defend against an their fists, feet and head. One attack is a
oncoming attack. It happens out of the Failed parrying series of punches, kicks and other actions
character’s turn and only if the character A failed parry means that the incoming that in one way or another cause harm.
has enough CP to spend in a parry. attack was successful and does damage. A character can during an action round
The parry Skill roll uses1d20. If the perform four unarmed weapon actions,
roll is equal to or below the SV, the those being attacks and parries/blocks.
parry is successful. A parry never needs Weapon actions with the Just as with normal weapon actions, it
to be performed until one knows if the off-hand is up to the player to divide the combat
attacker has rolled a hit or not. A character that is going to perform an points from the Fighting Skill plus
To be able to parry without damaging armed attack or do something with their the locked ones (Unarmed Discipline,
one’s arm the character/creature must off hand, instead of the main hand, suffers Brawling and Wrestlings specialties)
have something to parry with (a shield, a negative modifier of -15 on the roll. This among one or more unarmed actions.
a sword, a cane or a parrying dagger). penalty is reduced by -1 per level in the For monsters and creatures that do
18 An unarmed character who Body Control discipline and by -2 per level battle with claws and bites the rules that
successfully parries an unarmed attack in the Ambidexterity specialization. When are provided for each beast are used.
(in other words, parrying with their all levels of the discipline and specializations A normal-sized character does 1d3
hands and arms) avoids the full damage are taken, the penalty disappears in damage after a successful unarmed
just as if parrying with a weapon. Monsters and creatures that fight attack.
However, an unarmed character who with claws and bites have different rules
successfully parries an armed attack and usually do not suffer the off-hand UNARMED COMBAT
still takes half damage (rounded up). penalty. Unarmed combat Damage
Without the specialization 1d3
✦✦ The victim of a surprise attack is
considered surprised and gets a -5 Carrying weapons in two With the Brawling specialization 1d6
modifier on all combat actions for hands Modifiers from the Constitution trait are
the duration of that action round, The three specializations One-handed used for the damage roll
including parries. Weapons, Throwing Weapons and
✦✦ One cannot use more than one parry Pistols can be learned separately for To perform an unarmed parry against
attempt per attack. either the right or left hands. By learning an unarmed attack causes no damage to
✦✦ A character can parry only melee one or more of these specializations for the character parrying. However, an
attacks (armed or unarmed) but not both the right and the left hand the unarmed parry against an armed attack
ranged attacks. character can perform weapon actions often results in half damage (rounded
✦✦ A Draw Weapons action cannot with both hands at the same time during up) being dealt to the one who is
be combined with a simultaneous one action round. This means that a defending him or herself.
Parrying: your weapon is either character can, for example, carry and
already drawn (in a previous turn or fire a pistol with the left hand and attack ✦✦ A successful unarmed parrying
action round) or it cannot be used. or parry with a rapier in the right hand action halves the damage from an
✦✦ A defender who fails to parry an during the same turn. This requires a armed attack.
attack cannot try to parry the same character to know the specialization ✦✦ A character can perform four
attack again, even if they have more Pistols (left-handed) and One-handed unarmed weapon actions per action
Combat Points to use. weapons (right-handed). round.

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 Grappling and Wrestling per Skill Value. Just like performing opponent is thrown to the ground and
Grapple is a combat action where the a grapple, this is limited by the SV of takes 1d3 points of physical damage.
attacker tries to grab hold of one or the Fighting skill, Unarmed Fighting If the person performing the
both of the opponent’s arms to prevent discipline, and Wrestling specialty. throwing decides to remain standing,
them from using any combat actions but the opponent is no longer grappled
the one for trying to get free. Throwing to the ground and can act again in the following
If a character has an opponent stuck action round. Alternatively, the person
Starting a Grapple in a grapple, they can try to throw an performing the throwing can drop to
To perform a grapple, at least one opponent to the ground. To succeed, the ground and throw the opponent
hand must be free and unarmed. The the character must do a roll similar to with extra impact from their own body
one trying to grapple performs an the one he did for starting the grapple weight. In this case, the opponent takes
unarmed attack as usual, deciding how and the victim can resist as he did before. 1d6 points of physical damage (instead
many Combat Points to spend on the If the throwing attack is successful the of 1d3) and remains stuck in the grapple.
attack.
To grapple, however, the character
spends 2 Combat Points per Skill value
to succeed (instead of 1 point per SV, as
in a standard attack).
Characters may not purchase a
Skill value higher than their total SV
in Wrestling, including the Unarmed
Fighting discipline and Fighting skill.
You can attempt a grapple or try to
break free from it only once per action
round.
A grapple is usually performed with
both hands. Any character using only 19
one hand suffer a -5 penalty, to be added
on top of off-hand penalties, if that's the
hand which is used.

Resisting a grapple
The victim can try to resit the
grapple attempt as long as they have
the necessary Combat Points left. A
person who fails to resit and which is
caught in a grapple is unable to use
any other combat action except trying
to escape. In order to break free from
a grapple, the victim may attempt
to do so during their initiative or as
a defensive reaction to the grapple
if their turn occurred earlier in the
action round.
They may spend as many Combat
Points as they want (and are available),
but at the cost of 3 Combat Points

EXAMPLE: GRAPPLE

If a character wants to roll with a

SV of 12, it will cost 24 Combat
Points, as long as they have at
least 12 SV in Wrestling.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Combat Actions Actions of opportunity of their surroundings can do so at a
Basic combat actions are all types of general cost of 2 Combat Points per
actions that a character can use during ✦✦ Combat Points: depending on the 1 meter of movement. It is impossible
an action round, such as attacking, action to move farther than the character’s
parrying an attack, or moving. total movement capacity per action
Remember that “weapon actions” are When a combatant flees, steps out of round (as described under Maximun
combat actions but not all the combat melee battle, or retreats, their opponent movement on page 52 in Alter Ego
actions are weapon actions. has an opportunity to take one action of
Combat actions include the following opportunity, also called a free action. This
actions. When an action is a “weapon occurs regardless of initiative, even if the Draw weapons
action” it is explicitly mentioned in the attacker would not ordinarily be able to act
table below with the “WA” tag. yet due to the opponent’s higher initiative. ✦✦ Combat Points: 5
To use a free action, the character ✦✦ SV: -5 to -10
COMBAT ACTIONS may spend any number of Combat
Actions of opportunity Points but is still limited by the total By spending 5 Combat Points a
Communicate orders
number of Combat Points remaining in character can draw a weapon and be
the current action round. ready for battle.
Combat movement
An Action of Opportunity action is If this weapon is used in this round
Draw weapons usually an attack, and it is therefore the attack receives a -5 SV modifier
Evade attack usually counted as a weapon action. If in the case of sheathed weapons.
Feint other combat actions are performed This penalty can be raised up to
Hasty attack
they may or may not be weapon -10 SV if weapons are drawn from
actions. less accessible locations (e.g. hidden
Hit the weapon
A Draw Weapons action cannot be places, etc.).
Mounted combat combined with a simultaneous Action If a character does not have 5
Mounted ranged combat of Opportunity: your weapon is either Combat Points, it takes the full action
20 Ride-by attack already drawn (in a previous turn or round to draw a weapon. The character
Overcome/Avoid object
action round) or it cannot be used. cannot do anything else, not even parry
attacks.
Pick something up
If the character has been disarmed
Ranged attacks Communicate orders and their weapon has been knocked
Targets in melee combat away,they must first do a combat
Targets at long distance ✦✦ Combat Points: – movement to the location of the
Moving target weapon and then pick it up from the
Any character capable of speaking can ground (using the ”Pick Something
Retreat
do so freely during a action round. Up” combat action instead of the
Stand up Characters can communicate by ”Draw Weapon” action ). On the
Surprise attack whispering to others in the immediate other hand a disarmed character
Other combat situations area, calling out to those nearby, or who still has the weapon attached in
Slippery surface screaming across the battlefield. This a loop around the wrist can use this
can be a single powerful word or several combat action to get a new grip on the
Blind fighting
sentences, as long as it fits within the weapon.
timing of the round. No Combat Points
The following sections detail the are needed to do so, and this can be ✦✦ A character does not need to draw a
costs in Combat Points for these actions, performed at the same time as other weapon to fight unarmed.
as well as modifiers or further effects maneuvers and weapon actions. ✦✦ A Draw Weapons action is a weapon
that may result. Ultimately, it is always action.
up to the game master to determine any ✦✦ A Draw Weapons action cannot
modifiers (positive or negative) that Combat movement be combined with a simultaneous
should be used in a given situation and Parrying or with a simultaneous
what can or cannot be attempted. ✦✦ Combat Points: 2 per meter Action of Opportunity: your weapon
is either already drawn (in a previous
Characters who want to move during turn or action round) or it cannot be
combat while maintaining control used.

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 Evade attack Hasty attack disciplines and specialties linked with
the target weapon can be applied. If
✦✦ SV: According to the Evade specialty ✦✦ Combat Points: 1 per lowered (-1) the victim fails the roll, they loses grip
initiative on the weapon which is thrown 1d6
The character has learned how to avoid meter away.
an attack without parrying or blocking. A character that wants to perform a
It takes an action to attempt to dodge, hasty attack and thus be first in the
and Evade cannot be combined with any initiative order can do so by spending Mounted combat
other actions. The character can during a number of Combat Points equal to
a turn dodge: the modifiers they want to apply to ✦✦ Combat Points: 15
their Initiative score. Lowering their ✦✦ SV: +2/-2
✦✦ 1 attack at level 1-2 skill value by -1 per initiative slot
✦✦ 2 attacks at level 3-4 they want to move up. A character Fighting on horseback is not always
✦✦ 3 attacks at level 5 can spend up to 10 CP to lower their easy, but the benefits for skilled riders
initiative by -10. are great. To be able to take any
Just as for the Fighting skill, the This expense is usually made at the actions other than defensive ones from
player allocates SV for the different beginning of a round but the GM is the horseback during an action round, the
dodge attempts. final arbiter about accepting or not such rider must spend 15 Combat Points at
A character who has, for instance, an expense. the beginning of each round. This cost
15 SV and can thus dodge up to two is reduced by 3 per level in the Riding
attacks per turn can attempt to dodge specialty.
one attack with 9 SV and another with 6 Hit the weapon For the sake of simplicity the mounts
SV. A character cannot attempt to dodge usually acts at the same Initiative count of
the same attack more than once. ✦✦ Combat Points: – their riders. Furthermore the rider do not
spend CP to move, but the mounts do.
Skillful fighters sometimes prefer to The great advantage to fighting on
Feint neutralize the opponent’s weapon in horseback is that the rider receives a 21
order to defeat them. With this combat +2 bonus on all weapon actions against
✦✦ Combat Points: up to 5 (- opponent’s action the character attacks a weapon opponents who are not on horseback
Perception modifier) held by their opponent. (ranged weapons not included). Those
To hit a Weapon is considered a opponents also receive a -2 penalty on
There are fighters which prefer to trick Weapon Action. all weapon actions against the rider.
the opponent during a melee combat, This combat action can only be Combat-trained mounts also give
instead of defeating him relying just on performed against a weapon which is additional modifiers of +1 for the rider
their strength. equal or smaller in size than the one and -1 for any opponent (mounted or
To make a feint during an attack which the character uses. not) per degree of competence, unless
a character must spend a number The opponent can “parry” although, the mounts attack (see Trained Animals
of additional Combat Points up to a even if it is mechanically a parry, its in Alter Ego).
maximum of 5 minus the opponent’s effect will just be to neutralize the “Hit Mounted combat allow the use of
perception modifier. the weapon” action. Ride-by Attack and Mounted Ranged
If the opponent tries to parry he will If the Hit the Weapon action is Attack actions.
suffer a penalty equal to the Combat successful there are two effects. Against mounted opponents SV
Points spent for feinting. bonuses and penalties are stacked
Feint is not a separate Weapon Action ✦✦ The first effect is that the target against each other and therefore
but it is considered part of a Weapon weapon receives damage from the neutralized, unless the mounts have
Action. attack. Compare the damage with different combat training levels (see
the BP of the weapon, as per normal Trained Animals in Alter Ego).
rules on damaging objects, in the The effect on damage from a Ride-by
equipment descriptions. Attack remains.
✦✦ The second effect is that the victim of Mounted Combat is not a separate
the action must make a Skill Roll with weapon action from the weapon actions
a SV equal to their Agility or Fighting used (attacks or parries). It is just a
Skill (whatever is higher), applying the mechanic influencing weapon actions
Strength modifier. If Fighting is used, while mounted.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Mounted ranged combat to get away from a pursuer, or drop to how many combat points it costs to pick
the ground to hide or gain cover from something up, but as a rule of thumb,
✦✦ Combat Points: 15 ranged attacks. Such combat actions the easier it is the lower the combat
are considered Overcome/Avoid Object points it should cost.
In terms of mechanics, this action is maneuvers and normally cost 6 Combat If you want to use the object in the
similar to a Ride-by Attack, but it is Points each. same round you will suffer a penalty
used with ranged weapons. It requires A character can complete an equal to the amount of combat points
the target to be in range of the ranged Overcome/Avoid Object maneuver spent for picking up the object, from -5
attack rather than being passed by in during 1 action round even if they don’t to -10.
melee. have enough Combat Points to cover
Mounted Ranged Attacks are weapon the full distance. However, they must
actions. have at least 1 Combat Point left, and Ranged attacks
completing the maneuver will use all It is not always easy to hit a target with
Ride-by attack available Combat Points for that round. a ranged weapon. Below are examples
Ranged attacks against a character of modifiers that can be used in common
✦✦ Combat Points: 10 (25) who uses an Overcome/Avoid Object situations. Ultimately, the GM decides
✦✦ Damage: increases open roll by 1 maneuver are handled as if they are which modifiers the attacker receives in
performed against a moving target. a given situation.
During an action round, a character All ranged attacks are weapon
on horseback can make a Ride-by actions.
Attack. Pick something up
To do so, the rider must ride past Targets in melee combat
their opponent at some point during the ✦✦ Combat Points: 5-10
horse’s movement. ✦✦ SV: -5
The Ride-by Attack costs 10 Combat With this combat maneuver the
Points on top of the Combat Points character can pick up an object from the A character with a ranged weapon who
22 already spent at the beginning of the surrounding area. If the GM decides so, attacks a foe engaged in melee with
round for Mounted Combat (a total the character must spend combat points others attacks normally, but because
of 25 Combat Points if you have no for moving nearby the object, before the target is involved in a tumultuous
levels in the Riding specialty). This trying to picking it up (see the Combat battle, it is harder to hit. To represent
cost covers the high difficulty of this Movement action). this challenge, the attacker takes a -5
maneuver, but the character still needs Picking up an object is usually an modifier to Skill Value on all attacks
to spend Combat Points on the attack automatic action. The character only against a target in melee combat. If a
as usual. needs to perform a situation roll to ranged attack aimed at a foe in a crowd
When this attack is used, the force succeed in picking up the object if of combatants misses its target, there
from the animal drives the assault and someone else is trying to take the object is a chance that it hits someone or
increases the chance of an open roll by 1 at the same time or if the object is hard something else. The GM makes this
(for example, an attack with an OR 9-10 to pick up (for example a slippery brick choice.
will instead be OR 8-10, and a weapon of soap). Should the character fail the
that normally doesn’t have an open roll situation roll to pick up the object they Targets at long distance
now has OR 10). can try again during the next action
The Ride-by Attack counts as a round. ✦✦ SV: -10
weapon action. Whether you roll it or not, picking
up things costs combat points. How A character with a ranged weapon
many combat points it costs to pick who wants to attack a foe at the limits
Overcome/Avoid object something up will depend on the object of the weapon’s range (long distance)
itself and where it is located. The cost attacks normally, but because the
✦✦ Combat Points: 6 per meter will vary between 5 and 10 combat target is so far away, it is harder to
points according to how difficult is to hit. To represent this challenge, the
Every battle and combat environment is pick up the object. It is easier to pick attacker takes a -10 modifier to Skill
unique, and several objects may need to something up from a table than from the Value on all attacks against a long
be avoided or overcome. For example, a ground. It is easier to pick up a goblet distance target.
character may have to leap over a table than, for example, a needle or a great All ranged weapons have an indicated
to attack an opponent, roll under a fence iron cauldron. The game master decides short and long distance.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Moving target If a character does not have the 10 Other combat situations
Combat Points needed to stand up, it The characters may face all sorts of
✦✦ SV: -10 takes the whole action round to stand interesting and challenging situations
up again. The character cannot do in combat. How much they are affected
Using ranged weapons to attack a foe who anything else during this time, not even is up to the game master to decide.
is running, using a move maneuver, or parry attacks. Below is a bit of guidance for specific
riding a mount is rolled just like a normal combat situations.
attack, but because the target is moving,
it is much harder to hit. To represent Surprise Attack Slippery surface
this challenge, the attacker takes a -10
modifier to Skill Value on all attacks ✦✦ Combat Points: +10 ✦✦ SV: -3 modifier
against a target who is moving quickly. ✦✦ Victim SV: -5
Slippery surfaces impose a -3 modifier
Any attack where the opponent is on the SV of all actions that require
Retreat caught unaware is considered a surprise Agility.
attack. A surprise attack can be used
✦✦ Combat Points: - only once against an opponent. Blind fighting
After that initial attack, successful
A character who wishes to get away or not, the attacker is detected. When ✦✦ SV: -15 modifier
from combat can retreat. A retreat attacking with surprise, a character
means that the character is moving attacks normally but receives +10 A character who is fighting blind, only
rapidly away from their opponent(s) Combat Points to use for the attack. able to use sound to locate a target,
but retains the ability to take defensive The victim of a surprise attack is receives a -15 modifier to the SV of all
actions. The retreating character gives considered surprised and gets a -5 combat actions.
everyone who is in combat with them modifier on all combat actions for the
a free action (described above under duration of that action round.
Actions of Opportunity). However, the A surprise attack is a weapon action. 23
character can still attempt to parry
these free actions with any Combat
Points that remain.
A character who retreats must do
so at the beginning of their turn in an
action round. It is impossible to attack
first and then retreat in the same round.
The retreating character, once free
from melee, can then move as usual at
a cost of 2 Combat Points per meter.
While retreating, it is impossible to
move farther than the character’s total
movement capacity per action round.

Stand up
✦✦ Combat Points: 10

A character who is lying down or has

been beaten to the ground can stand up
as a combat action. However, it is time
consuming and costs Combat Points.
There is also a risk that the character
will be attacked during the time it takes to
stand up (this action may provoke an Action
of Opportunity, if the GM decides so).

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 24

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

  Health and Fear 
“I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive
for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
Revelation 1:18

25

In LexOccultum there are two states The chapter Health and Fear ✦✦ The Constitution and Health traits
of health, the physical and the mental, describes how damage in these two modify the physical health points of a
both of which can be harmed and states of health arises, how the damage character by up to plus/minus 8 points
worsened. On the character sheet there is recorded, and how one heals and to be added or subtracted as boxes to
are two fields that describe the physical cares for such damage. the first physical damage level.
and mental status of the character. ✦✦ The Intelligence and Psyche traits
Both the physical and the mental states modify the mental health points of
of health are described by a number of Five Levels of D amage a character by up to plus/minus 8
health boxes. Each box represents one Both the physical and the mental points to be added as boxes to the
point of health. The more boxes that health status tracks are split into 5 first mental damage level.
are unmarked the better the character is levels of damage. Each level contains
feeling, and as more boxes get filled in a number of health points.
the character feels worse and worse. Registering Damage
The health of game master characters ✦✦ A character normally has a total of 32 Each time a character or creature is
and creatures is also described with physical health points and 32 mental exposed to physical or mental harm
these states of health. health points. the effects are recorded by marking
Lv. 1 Lv. 2 Lv. 3 Lv. 4 Lv. 5
12 points* 8 points 6 points 4 points 2 points

Healthy Damaged Seriously Damaged Mortally Wounded Dying

– – – – –
Sane Delusional Lunatic Insane Beyond Recovery
*4–20. Depending on character traits Constitution and Health for the physical health points and Intelligence and Psyche for the mental health points.

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 off a number of health boxes in the traits at level 0) usually regain 1 point The healer must succeed in a skill roll
field for mental or physical damage of physical or mental damage per day. with one of the healing skills mentioned
on the player’s character sheet, or in People with different levels in the below (but without the modifiers
the gamemaster notes for non-player Health/Psyche traits regain physical/ which advanced medical care suffer, as
characters or for creatures. mental damage at different rates, as described below).
If the character/creature suffers 4 shown in the table below. To perform Basic Medical Care the
health points then four boxes should be healer is required to have not just the
crossed off. NATURAL HEALING skills but also certain disciplines, as
When suffering damage the first Health/Psyche Natural healing specified below.
boxes to be marked are always those +4 4 points per day
at the lowest available level with still ✦✦ To perform Basic Medical Care for
+2 3 points per day
unmarked boxes. Don’t move on to the physical wounds the healer uses
next level of damage until all boxes in +1 2 points per day the Science skill and must have the
the current level have been marked off. -1 1 point every other day Healthcare discipline.
-2 1 point every third day ✦✦ To perform Basic Medical Care for
✦✦ If a creature is exposed to physical -4 1 point every fourth day
mental wounds the healer must use
violence or is in any way damaged the following skills and have the
physically, physical health boxes are following disciplines:
marked off. For the healing process to work the - The Theology skill and the Divine
✦✦ If a creature is exposed to mental person must get at least eight hours arts discipline
violence, damage, fear or other of sleep. Otherwise, it is up to the - The Science skill and the Healthcare
horrible experiences then mental game master to determine how much discipline
health boxes are marked off. character’s natural healing drops. - The Esotericism skill and The
✦✦ During character creation The natural process of healing Right-hand Path or The Left-hand
permanently mark off enough boxes automatically starts when resting Path disciplines.
of the first damage level so that for the Level 1 of damage (Salvus ✦✦ The SV bonuses from related
26 the total matches the health points or Sanus). For wounds belonging to specialties are applied, although
modified by the character trait higher levels of damage, levels 2-5, the having a specialty is not a requirement
modifiers. natural healing must be activated by for performing Basic Medical Care.
professional treatment.
This type of care works as a precursor
Care and H ealing ✦✦ The natural healing process starts and will not heal any actual damage
A creature may heal their wounds automatically when resting for the boxes, instead the patient will simply
through natural healing and care. first level of mental or physical begin their natural process of healing.
However, when the wounds are severe damage.
only professional medical care can help. ✦✦ For the natural healing process to
Only the first levels of damage (“Salvus” work at levels 2-5, it should have been Advanced medical care
for physical health and “Sanus” for first activated by professional medical Advanced Medical Care can be
mental health) can be naturally healed care (Basic or Advanced). attempted in alternative to Basic
without professional treatment. Medical Care.
For example, a character suffering The purpose of Advanced Medical Care
✦✦ Natural healing works at damage only the first level of physical damage is to activate the natural healing process
levels 2 to 5 only after activation due sleeps during the night and because of and, at the same time, to heal damage.
to professional medical care. his Health +1 trait he heals 2 health To perform Advanced Medical Care
✦✦ To heal damage through care, certain points in level 1. But if the character the healer must succeed specific skill
specializations are required, which suffers damage more severe than level rolls (with the modifiers specified below)
are specified below, according to 1 they must first activate the natural and must also have specific disciplines
whether a Basic or an Advanced level healing for it to heal. and specialties, as described below.
of medical treatment is applied. To perform Advanced Medical Care
Basic medical care for physical damage the healer need the
Basic medical treatment does not heal following.
Natural healing any damage but only activates the
Through the natural healing process, natural healing process when the patient ✦✦ The Science skill, the Healthcare
most persons (with Health or Psyche is suffering damage at levels 2-5. discipline and the Healing specialization.

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 27

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 To perform Advanced Medical Care CARING FOR MENTAL WOUNDS: REQUIREMENTS
on mental damage the healer need to Skill Basic Medical Care Advanced Medical Care
have one of the following combinations: Esotericism The Right-hand Path Medicina Mentis Dextera
Esotericism The Left-hand Path Medicina Mentis Sinistra
✦✦ The Esotericism skill, the The Right-
hand Path discipline and the Medicina Theology Divine Arts Pastoral Care
Mentis Dextera specialization Science Healthcare Mental Care
✦✦ The Esotericism skill, the The
Left-hand Path discipline and CARING FOR PHYSICAL WOUNDS: REQUIREMENTS
the Medicina Mentis Sinistra Skill Basic Medical Care Advanced Medical Care
specialization Science Healthcare Healing
✦✦ The Theology skill, the Divine Arts
discipline and the Pastoral Care TIME FOR HEALING
specialization. Damage Level Basic Medical Care Advanced Medical Care
1 1 action round 10 minutes
Advanced Medical Care is difficult
2 2 action rounds 20 minutes
to perform and therefore the SV of the
skill roll is modified according to the 3 3 action rounds 1 hour
severity of the damage to heal. 4 4 action rounds 2 hours
5 5 action rounds 4 hours
MODIFIERS FROM DAMAGE
Damage Level Modifier
Failed healing The dying character is revived after a
1 ±0
Should a healing roll for a given level successful roll, but remains unconscious
2 -1
fail, another attempt can be made after until the character has healed one
3 -3 1d3 hours. physical or mental health point on the
28 4 -5 fifth level of damage through healing.
5 -7 Cheating death
When a character is dying (has marked Being wounded during natural
The healer performs a skill roll for the the final box of either physical or mental healing
actual damage level with the negative health points that symbolises death), When a character is damaged again the
modifier applied to the roll according to they always linger a few moments before natural process of healing is stopped. The
the table above. life completely leaves the individual and damage is recorded in the first available
A successful roll will: the character dies. boxes and the heart symbolising natural
To see how many action rounds it healing is unmarked.
✦✦ Activate the natural healing process, takes before life fades completely one
(heart symbol on character sheet under rolls 1d6 +/- possible modifiers from the ✦✦ Newly suffered damage is always
level 2-5 is filled in to show that natural Health or Psyche traits (depending on marked in the first unmarked box.
healing is activated). what type of damage caused the death). ✦✦ The marking for the natural healing
✦✦ Heal 1d3+1/(healers specialty level) process is always removed when new
damage points (except for the 5th level ✦✦ Life fades after 1d6 action rounds +/- damage is suffered and, if damage is
of wounds were it heals only 1 damage possible modifiers from the Health or still in the 2-5 levels, healing need to
point). The remaining damage in all Psyche traits (depending on what type be activated again.
the other levels will be healed through of damage caused the death).
natural healing
If there is time, someone can start Other healing
Time for healing attempting to revive the victim and There are always a number of different
The healer must spend different possibly save the dying character. ways to heal the mental and physical
amounts of time healing their patient Attempts to revive someone at Death’s damage a character suffers beyond
depending on what form of healing they door are done by making a successful roll healing and the natural healing process.
are providing. Check the table in this of the relevant skill and specialization. The Esotericism, Theology and Science
page to see how much time it takes to The skill roll is, however, negatively skills have their own special ways of
perform the medical care, according to modified by -7 due to the fifth level of healing damage. Some creatures even
which type of care is dealt. damage being filled. have regenerating abilities.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Damage Complications To stop this a doctor must treat the To avoid this the a doctor must treat
As long as a character has not suffered wound with surgery. The healer does the mental damage by succeeding with
more damage than the number of health this by succeeding with a Science skill one of the following skill rolls:
boxes in the first level of damage, “Sanus” roll with the Healing specialization, as
for mental health and “Salvus” for physical better explained in the descriptions of ✦✦ Esotericism with one of the
health, their abilities are not affected by damage levels. specializations Medicina Mentis
the damage. However, the trouble comes Dextera or Medicina Mentis Sinistra.
as soon as the damage has reached the ✦✦ Theology with the Pastoral Care
second level or beyond, “Rabidus” for Amputations specialization
mental health and “Corpus Laesus” for If a wound is not properly treated ✦✦ Science with the Mental Care
physical health. Once these levels are with medical care within an expected specialization.
reached, the effects of damage come into time period (indicated below, in the
play in terms of negative modifiers (which descriptions of damage levels) it develops
are immediately applied) and complications a severe infection. Consequently a body Insanity (Mental level 5
(which happen if damage is not treated), as part or at least a part of it must be - Insanabilis)
better explained below in the descriptions amputated. A Science skill roll is needed
of the specific health levels.. and the healer must have the Healing When a character has been through
The first effect of a damage is a specialization. great mental stress that is not treated
negative modifier to the SV of all skill If the amputation is not performed, correctly in a timely fashion, the
rolls. Only the modifiers from the or if the roll fails, this causes 1d3 in character has reached the mental state
highest damage level that has been damage each day until the character “Insanabilis”, which means that he or
reached are applied. enters the “Moribundus” level (see she has become permanently insane,
If the damage that has been marked below) or someone succeeds with a obsessed, or delusional.
within a certain level of damage is not new amputation attempt (maximum of The only ways to recover from this
treated and cared for correctly with three attempts per body part). is to be treated in a sanatorium or
the prescribed specializations within If a body part is amputated, the through exorcism. The character has
a certain period of time, there is a risk character is unable to function and will become closed off within their own 29
that the damage will lead to further be bedridden for a minimum of 5 days (4 mind, and does nothing on their own
complications. Complications can come +1d10 (OR 9-10)). Each of these days volition any more and must simply be
in the form of amputations of infected the doctor must succeed with a Science lead around.
and damaged body parts for physical skill roll with the Healing specialization.
damage and long-term madness or A failed skill roll means that the patient Treatment at a sanatorium
obsession for mental damage. must stay one more day under the The character is admitted to a mental
doctor’s care. institution and must have his or her
✦✦ Complications from physical damage It is always up to the game master to mental state cared for to avoid ending
can be, for example, infections, decide how much needs to be amputated up as an empty husk for the rest of their
bleeding, and so on. from a body part and what body part lives.
✦✦ Complications from mental damage needs to be removed. One way to To care for a patient’s mental state
can be, for example, delusions, determine which body part must be the healer must succeed with a number
irrational behaviour, and in the worst removed is to roll 1d10 and multiply it by of skill rolls equal to 4 +1d10 (OR
cases, a character may be rendered 10%, where the result is what proportion 9-10). Each skill roll requires one
completely insane. of a body part needs to be removed. day. These rolls can be made with the
following skills:
Inflamation/sever infection Mental strain/collapse ✦✦ Esotericism with one of the
(Physical levels 2-5) (Mental levels 2-5) specializations Medicina Mentis
If the levels 2-5 of physical damage are If the levels 2-5 of mental damage are Dextera or Medicina Mentis Sinistra.
not treated within a certain period of not treated within a certain period of ✦✦ Science with the Mental care
time (indicated below in the description time (indicated below in the description specialization.
of damage levels) and in the correct way of damage levels) and in the correct way
there is a great risk that the wound will there is a great risk that the character If the healer fails 3 days in a row, all
become infected, which in turn can lead get a mental strain or collapse which hope is lost and the character never
to the body part or a part of it having to in turn can lead to insanity and the recover. The character is now out of
be amputated. Insanabilis mental state. control of the player and the game

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 30

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 master decides whether he will die such violence that it cannot function be rolled, this is called an Open roll.
or just become an insane non-player anymore. Large creatures can also have several
character. If one dies from mental damage, the damage dice. An open roll is given after
When all the skill rolls are psyche, the soul and the character’s the damage die and is indicated by the
successful, the character is considered mental health is in such a state that letters OR and a range of numbers
healthy but loses one level from their the character has stopped functioning Open damage rolls are primarily
Psyche trait. and the character is permanently out of provided by weapons, but there are
the player’s control. It’s up to the game other situations that can provide them.
Exorcism master to decide whether the character For example, unarmed combat with
The patent must be a believer or will die or become an insane non-player large creatures, being trapped in a fire,
be sworn to a faith. The character character A fate worse than physical or falling from a great height can all
is considered to be possessed by a death, some would say. cause open damage rolls.
demon or to carry the devil himself It is not only when someone suffers
within their body, which must be violence that he or she can be physically
driven out. Damage for Monsters damaged. Below are described some
Exorcism requires the use of the and C reatures examples for situations in which
Theology skill with the Pastoral Many monsters and creatures do not physical damage might occur.
Care specialization. To remove a follow the same laws of nature as the
demon the exorcist must succeed characters. Some cannot feel pain,
with a number of skill rolls equal to others are controlled by supernatural Fire damage
4 +1d10 (OR 9-10). Each skill roll circumstances, rituals, diseases or It is completely up to the game master
requires one day. other things that the characters don’t to determine how much physical
If the exorcist should fail 3 days have. It is completely up to the game damage a character takes from fire and
in a row, all hope is lost and the master to determine if, and how, the burning. Depending on how much of
character remains possessed and different degrees of damage for physical the character is covered in fire, how
never recover. The character is now and mental health should be used for strong the fire is and how long the
out of control of the player and the monster and creatures. Sometimes it character has been exposed to the fire 31
game master decides whether he can be important for the balance of the damages can be very different.
will die or just become an insane the game that a creature that is heavily One way to determine this is that
non-player character. wounded suffers a penalty for this, the creature or character suffers one
When all the skill rolls are whereas in other cases it may be of little damage die per burned body part and
successful, the character is considered importance. action round that passes. Should the
to be healthy but loses one level from A simple rule of thumb, if you don’t fire cover the legs of a character, he
their Psyche trait. want to use the levels of damage, and or she then suffers two damage dice
the associated complications, used per action round and should the fire
by player characters for monsters or spread to the stomach the character
Unconsciousness and death human game master characters, is to then suffers three damage dice per
A character will fall into unconsciousness use the following principle: when half of action round. Depending on how fierce
when they have taken enough damage a monster’s health points are lost they the fire is the game master can modify
in their physical or mental health points suffer a modifier of -5 on everything the value for an open roll, a smaller fire
that all the health boxes on the fifth level that they attempt to do. dealing 1d5 in damage, a slightly larger
are marked off. If this happens, they will one dealing 1d10, and a very fierce one
not return to consciousness again until dealing 1d10 (OR 8-10).
they have healed one physical or mental Physical Damage
health point on the fifth level of damage To determine how much damage a
through healing. character has taken, a damage die is Falling damage
The character will die when they rolled. In most cases the damage die is Depending on the situation, falling
have suffered more damage in either 1d10, but sometimes it is 1d6, 1d5 or can result in different severities of
physical or mental health points than 1d3. Sometimes, rather than relying on damage. It is up to the game master
their fifth health level contains and a die roll, the damage is determined by to decide how much damage a fall
they must mark the final box, which the game master or the ruleset. should cause. A simple rule of thumb
symbolises death. When one rolls 1d10 as a damage is that one suffers 1d10 (OR 10) in
If one dies from physical damage, die there is sometimes a risk that the damage for every three meters that
the body has simply been put through damage is so dire that a new die must one falls.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 LEVELS OF PHYSICAL DAMAGE The first level: Salvus
Damage level Name Modifier (Healthy)
1 Salvus (healthy) -
✦✦ Modifier: None
2 Corpus Laesus (damaged) -1
3 Vulnus Grave (seriously damaged) -3 The character is healthy or just
4 Vulnus Letale (mortally wounded) -5 lightly damaged. This level represents
5 Moribundus (dying) -7 superficial scrapes and bruises and
sore body parts. The damage will
naturally heal and no healing rolls
are required for the natural healing
A fall from 3 meters thus deals 1d10 process to start.
(OR 10) points of damage while a fall
of 9 meters deals 3d10 (OR 10) points
of damage. The second level: Corpus
laesus (Damaged)
Diseases and poison damage ✦✦ Modifier: -1
It is up to the game master to decide
how many points a given source of The character is more than superficially
damage such as a disease or poison wounded. A wound or crushing damage
should cause. A weak poison might affects the character’s ability to move.
for example deal 1d3 points of damage The damage requires active healing and
while a very potent poison might deal rest to cure the damage.
1d10 (OR 6-10) points of damage. Not caring for the damage within
5 days can lead to infections or other
32 lasting effects: Roll 1d10 (OR 10).
Physical Damage Levels
Depending on how high or low the UNTREATED CORPUS LAESUS
value for a character’s physical health 1d10 (OR 10) Effects
is at the moment, he or she will act 1-8 No lasting effects
in different ways. A low value means
9-14 Inflammation. Add an
that the character barely notices their
additional +1 point of
damage. As the character’s physical damage.
health worsens, they will have an
>14 Severe infection. Add 1d3
increasingly difficult time moving due
points of damage. The damage
to their pain and will act accordingly. requires surgical attention
It is always the modifier from the (successful roll with the
highest level of damage suffered that Healing specialization)
is in effect. Modifiers from lower levels within 5 days on top
are not added together. However, the of the already passed 5
modifier from the highest level of mental days to avoid amputation
damage suffered is added to the modifier of the body part, see
from the physical damage level. Amputation above.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 The third level: Vulnus grave The fourth level: Vulnus The fifth level: Moribundus
(Seriously damaged) letale (Mortally damaged) (Dying)
✦✦ Modifier: -3 ✦✦ Modifier: -5 ✦✦ Modifier: -7

The character is seriously wounded. The character is mortally wounded. The character is staring down the
Deep flesh wounds or internal damage Deep flesh wounds or internal damage jaws of death herself. Hope is lost, the
to important organs makes the to important organs such as the heart, gates of heaven are thrust open and the
character severely limited in his or her lungs, stomach, and the like. The pain reaper beckons. Only a most skilled
ability to move. The pain makes it hard is indescribable and the character must doctor can now save the character, who
to concentrate. summon all their strength to be able to is in dire need of care. One or several
Not caring for the damage within stand at all. wounds have damaged the body so
3 days can lead to even greater Not caring for the damage within 2 badly that it is now only a matter of
negative effects: Roll 1d10 (OR 10). day can lead to even greater negative hours before the character dies from
effects: Roll 1d10 (OR 10). blood loss or organ failure.
The character suffers 1 point of
UNTREATED VULNUS GRAVE UNTREATED VULNUS LETALE damage each 12 hours that passes
1d10 (OR 10) Effects 1d10 (OR 10) Effects due to loss of blood. A successful roll
1-8 No lasting effects 1-8 No lasting effects
with the Science skill and Healthcare
discipline stops the flow of blood
9-14 Inflammation. Add an 9-14 Inflammation. Add an
temporarily for 24 hours (-1 physical
additional +1 point of additional +1 points of
damage. damage.
health point every 24 hours).
The character’s wounds need
>14 Severe infection. Add 1d3 >14 Severe infection. Add 1d3
extensive care within 24 hours after
points of damage. The points of damage. The
damage requires surgical damage requires surgical the damage has occurred with the
attention (successful attention (successful Healing specialization.
roll with the Healing roll with the Healing A successful roll for the Healing 33
specialization) within 3 specialization) within 2 specialization heals only 1 physical health
days on top of the already days on top of the already point in the fifth level of damage and
passed 3 days to avoid passed 2 days to avoid activates the natural healing process for
amputation of the body amputation of the body this level.
part, see Amputation above. part, see Amputation above. Each failed attempt at saving the
character can deal +1 points of damage:
Roll 1d10.

FAILED ATTEMPT
1d10 Effects
1-8 No lasting effects
9-10 +1 point of damage

The stench was almost as unbearable as the screams. The nurse

walked between the beds in the hospital, filled to the brim with
soldiers who had suffered grievous injuries. It had been six days since
the great battle, and most of the people that were bedridden here
had received such severe infections that the doctor didn’t have enough
time to amputate all the legs and arms of the infected. They had
called in the butcher, who had reluctantly agreed to help.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Fear and Mental Damage The creature or situation that inflicts Damage Effects From
Excitement, terror, worry, anxiety and the mental strain causes 1d6 or 1d10 as Mental Illness.
fear are all feelings that play a special a base to determine how many mental Depending on how high or low the
part in LexOccultum. Many times the points the character suffers. Smaller or value of a character’s mental health is
characters will wind up in situations less frightening creatures, and situations at the moment, he or she will act in
where they come face to face with that are only slightly frightening cause different ways. A low value means that
something dangerous and horrifying. 1d6 in mental strain while larger the character is only slightly worried
There are many different situations creatures and more horrible situations by what they have just witnessed. As
that can arise in which a character faces cause 1d10 in mental strain. Some the character’s mental health worsens,
something that he or she is frightened creatures or situations may even cause the anxiety and worry will increase,
by. It can be due to anticipation of an open roll. A fear factor of 1d6 can eventually leading to complete fear
something that is about to happen or never have an open roll. The table below and panic.
for something that has just occurred. works well as a framework. It is always the modifier from the
A die roll will determine how great the highest level of mental damage that is
mental ordeal will be in the form of fear, FEAR FACTOR in effect. Modifiers from lower levels of
anxiety or psychotic illness. Creature or situation Damage mental damage are not added together.
For each new mental ordeal that Moderately frightening 1d6
However, the modifier from the highest
occurs, the character suffers an amount level of physical damage suffered is
Frightening 1d10
of mental damage points. . added.
The mental strain that a situation Really frightening 1d10 (OR 10)
causes is determined by a damage die Terribly frightening 1d10 (OR 8-10)
being rolled, where the result shows Extremely frightening 1d10 (OR 6-10)
how great the mental strain suffered is.

34

Let me tell you about madness. You think it’s a state of mind,
but it’s not. Madness is difficult to understand since there are
so many aspects of it, but one thing is certain, some people are
more likely to go mad than others. However, it’s not like you
think, it’s not because they are lesser beings, or week-minded,
but simply because they dare to travel the dark and twisted
roads behind the curtain and are simply not prepared. Some
gain strength doing so, some simply can’t connect with what’s
hidden there, so they become mad and insane. Others are
touched by madness by getting too close to the source, or even
enter into the shadows. Madness is a beast more than anything
else. It eats you from within, just like a plague or sickness and
to be honest it’s is very difficult to get rid of it. I’ve seen it a few
times, and it all ends with death or salvation.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 35

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 LEVELS OF MENTAL DAMAGE The third level: Mens amissa
Damage level Name Modifier (Lunatic)
1 Sanus (sane) -
✦✦ Modifier: -3
2 Rabidus (delusional) -1 ✦✦ Usual symptoms: Pressure in the
3 Mens Amissa (lunatic) -3 chest, chest pains, dizziness.
4 Demens (insane) -5
5 Insanabilis (beyond recovery) -7 The character is very scared and
terrified. A pressure settles over the
breast as if something invisible was
The first level: Sanus The second degree: Rabidus hugging it hard and the character has
a hard time breathing. Sometimes a
(Sane) (Delusional) sudden chest pain occurs, as if the
✦✦ Modifier: - ✦✦ Modifier: -1 character was suffering a heart attack.
✦✦ Usual symptoms: Sweating, light ✦✦ Usual symptoms: Sweating, However, the pain disappears as soon as
shaking, rapid pulse. trembling or shaking, palpitation. it appeared.
Not caring for the damage within
The character feels a gnawing and The character is scared and nervous. 3 days can lead to the effects below: Roll
uncomfortable feeling that something Their heart pounds rapidly. A slight 1d10 (OR 10).
horrible has happened or is going to headache is coming on as the nervousness
happen at any time. As soon as the and fear spreads throughout the body. UNTREATED MENS AMISSA
source of the character’s fear disappears The character is always on alert and 1d10 (OR 10) Effects
the character starts to recover. The sees dangers and threats everywhere. 1-6 No lasting effects
mental strain heals naturally and no Sudden movements or sounds makes the
7-12 Mental strain.
healing roll is required to activate it. character react defensively.
Additional +1 point of
Not caring for the damage within five damage.
36 days can lead to even greater delusions:
>12 Mental collapse.
Roll 1d10 (OR 10).
Additional 1d3 points
of damage. The mental
UNTREATED RABIDUS collapse demands
1d10 (OR 10) Effects extra guidance (two
1-8 No lasting effects successful rolls with one
of the Medicina Mentis
9-14 Mental strain. Dextera, Medicina Mentis
Additional +1 point of Sinistra, Pastoral Care or
damage. Mental Care specializations)
>14 Mental collapse. within 3 days on top of
Additional 1d3 points of the already passed 3 days
damage. The mental collapse for the character to avoid
demands extra guidance the Insanabilis mental
(two successful rolls with condition.
one of the Medicina Mentis
Dextera, Medicina Mentis
Sinistra, Pastoral Care or
Mental Care specializations)
within 5 days on top of the
already passed 5 days for
the character to avoid the
Insanabilis mental condition.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 The fourth level: Demens The fifth level: Insanabilis ✦✦ Esotericism and one of the Right-
(Insane) (Beyond recovery) hand Path or The Left-hand Path
disciplines.
✦✦ Modifier: -5 ✦✦ Modifier: -7 ✦✦ Theology and the Divine Arts discipline.
✦✦ Usual symptoms: Difficulty ✦✦ Usual symptoms: Difficulty ✦✦ Science and the Health Care
breathing, stomach aches, chest pains breathing, stomach aches, chest pains discipline
and severe trembling. and severe trembling.
The mental damage requires
The stomach turns inside out and the Like a stab to the chest, a horrible pain extensive care within 24 hours after the
character is sweating. The terror that spreads from the stomach. The thought damage has occurred with one of the
the character was feeling is exchanged of going insane no longer exists, now one Medicina Mentis Dextera, Medicina
for a terrible fear and panic that makes can only hope to survive. The character Mentis Sinistra, Pastoral Care or
the character’s entire body tremble. The can no longer think straight. If it is Mental Care specializations.
character feels out of their mind and possible to flee without risking one’s life A successful roll with one of the
fears that he or she is about to break the character will do so without caring above named specializations heals only
down completely and become insane. for the consequences. The character has 1 mental health point in the fifth level
It is hard to communicate with the been inflicted with panic and would kill of damage and activates the natural
character, who is completely focused on to escape. If there is no escape, then the healing process for this level.
trying and failing to control their terror. character will try to hide or simply fall Each failed attempt at saving the
Not caring for the damage within to the ground in pure despair. character can deal +1 points of damage:
2 days can lead to the effects below: Roll The character suffers 1 points of Roll 1d10.
1d10 (OR 10). damage each 12 hours that passes
due to the immense mental strain. A FAILED ATTEMPT
UNTREATED DEMENS successful roll with the one of the below 1d10 Effects
listed skills and disciplines will mend 1-8 No lasting effects
the strain temporarily for 24 hours (-1
1-5 No lasting effects 9-10 +1 point of damage
mental health point every 24 hours). 37
6-10 Mental strain.
Additional +1 point of
damage.
>10 Mental collapse.
Additional 1d3 points of
damage.. The mental collapse
demands extra guidance
(two successful rolls with
one of the Medicina Mentis
Dextera, Medicina Mentis
Sinistra, Pastoral Care or
Mental Care specializations)
within 2 days on top of the
already passed 2 days for
the character to avoid the
Insanabilis mental condition.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 38

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

  Impressions 
“Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.
They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.”
Revelation 3:4

39

During the 18th century, much attention can impact the impression. A small power positive or negative modifiers according
was given to making the correct sphere rating in a place where people have in different situations. This is reflected
impression, which was done through larger power sphere ratings should be a in the tables below and it is totally up the
well thought out posture, gestures, and disadvantage for the player character, and game master’s judgement to establish
the choice of clothing. Each time the the opposite should of course be a benefit. where a certain level of social status or
characters meet a meaningful character, of power sphere gives a positive or a
the game master should consider how negative modifier.
the impression that the player characters Different Kinds of
make affects the game master characters Impression SOURCES OF IMPRESSION
they encounter. It is, however, not only the There are a number of factors that Sources of impression
player characters that make an impression, affect the impression roll such as traits, Social status
but also the game master characters. skills, clothing, and social status and
Traits (usually Charisma)
An impression roll is performed with power sphere. It is always up to the
1d20 where a result of 10 gives a neutral game master to decide what factors Power spheres
impression, meaning neither positive or should impact the roll at any given time Skills/specializations
negative. The lower the result of the die in a specific situation. To get a good Vogue value
is the less is the character affected by overview of what impression modifiers
the impression that is made, while the a character may bring into play, there
greater the result on the die the easier is a certain field, called “source of The Impression of
it is for the character to react favourably impression”, on the character sheet that Social Status
to an impression. describes the different impressions the Depending on what social class a character
The power sphere of the character character may make, any modifiers, and belongs to and among which social class
should of course be used as a modifier the context in which the modifiers can the situation is taking place, the character’s
in situations when the character is in be used. Some of these sources (social social standing can have a positive or
surroundings where the power sphere status, power sphere) can give either negative impact. For example it can be

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 good to be part of the upper class when The impression of power The impression of skills
dealing with members of the lower-class spheres Skills and especially specializations can
in a situation where the lower born are Depending on what surroundings the be of great help when a character is
obedient to the upper classes, but it can be character finds themselves in, their trying to make an impression upon their
horribly bad to be part of the upper class if, level in the relevant power spheres surroundings. Impression modifiers can
for example, a noble happens to be among can affect the impression they make. be similar to the SV bonus given by
oppressed, poor farmers in revolt. It is up to A character with a high level in the specialization but it is always up
the game master to decide what modifiers the current power sphere naturally to the game master to decide whether
are in play during any given situation. makes a greater impression on such modifiers can be applied or not,
The table below can be used to those around them than a small one. depending on the situation.
suggest what modifier should be in However, in certain contexts, well-
use for a given situation. The players’ known members of a certain power
status can be read in the vertical or the sphere can make bad impressions Vogue, the impression of
horizontal axis, according to the game on certain audiences and, therefore, clothes
master’s evaluation of the social context. positive modifiers turn to negative It is completely up to the game master
ones. For example a famous criminal to interpret how the Fashion value of
mastermid (with a high level in the a character affects a certain situation.
The impression of traits Lawless power sphere) will certainly Depending on what clothes a character
Modifiers from the Charisma trait benefit from a positive modifier is wearing and what their quality is, an
determine how a character’s natural when dealing with members of the outfit can strongly impact the initial
personality and posture come into play Lawless sphere, but the modifier will impression made by the character who
in certain situations. A character with be negative when dealing with other is wearing them. Sometimes clothes of
a high modifier knows how to move in spheres, if his role in the Lawless a higher quality have a great Fashion
the best way in a certain context, while power sphere is known. value and thus help a character to give
a character with a negative modifier has The players’ level in a certain power the right impression, while the same
a hard time blending in where he or she sphere can be read in the vertical or the set of clothes can have another effect in
40 finds themselves. horizontal axis, according to the game another situation. For instance to walk
In certain contexts, other traits can master’s evaluation of the social context. straight into the duke’s ball in a set of
be beneficial or harmful for a character The table below can be used to clothes that are three years old and of
but their application is totally up to the determine a modifier for the power mediocre quality can make onlookers
gamemaster’s judgement. sphere. feel both insulted and amused. The

IMPRESSION MODIFIERS BETWEEN SOCIAL STATUSES

Social Status Drifters Pauper Lower Class Middle Class Low Nobility Nobility High Nobility

Drifters +0 +1 +2 +4 +6 +10 +20

Pauper -1 ±0 +1 +2 +4 +6 +10
Lower Class 2 -1 ±0 +2 +2 +4 +6
Middle Class -4 -2 -1 ±0 +1 +2 +4
Low Nobility -6 -4 -2 -1 ±0 +1 +2
Nobility -10 -6 -4 -2 -1 ±0 +1
Higher noble -20 -10 -6 -4 -2 -1 ±0

IMPRESSION MODIFIERS BETWEEN POWER SPHERES

Power sphere Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
Level 1 ±0 +2 +5 +10 +20
Level 2 -2 ±0 +2 +5 +10
Level 3 -5 -2 ±0 +2 +5
Level 4 -10 -5 -2 ±0 +2
Level 5 -20 -10 -5 -2 ±0

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 VOGUE VALUE OF CLOTHES (-10 ↔ 10)
Old FASHION Latest
Quality -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Worthless -5 -10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 Vogue 0
-4 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 Vogue 0 1
-3 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 Vogue 0 1 2
-2 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 Vogue 0 1 2 3
-1 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 Vogue 0 1 2 3 4
Decent 0 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 Vogue 0 1 2 3 4 5
1 -4 -3 -2 -1 Vogue 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
2 -3 -2 -1 Vogue 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3 -2 -1 Vogue 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
4 -1 Vogue 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Excellent + 5 Vogue 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

SOCIAL CLASS AND VOGUE VALUES FASHION, QUALITY AND PRICE is and in which context it is showed.
Social Class Vogue Median Quality or Price Quality or Price A very well-made rapier can, in one
Value Vogue Fashion Fashion context, give a positive modifier while in
High nobility 7 ↔ 10 8,5 -1 x0.8 1 x1,5 another context it can do the opposite.
It is always up to the game master to
Nobility 4↔7 5,5 -2 x0.6 2 x2
decide what effect on the impression the
Low nobility 2↔4 3 -3 x0.4 3 x3 object or item has.
Middle class -2 ↔ 2 ±0 -4 x0.2 4 x4
Lower class -4 ↔ -2 -3 -5 x0.1 5 x5
The impression of the 41
The poor -7 ↔ -4 -5,5 Quality, Fashion or Vogue 0: Price x1
company
Drifters -10 ↔ -7 -8,5 Price= (price Vogue 0) x Quality x Fashion
A chain is no stronger than its weakest
link. So it is also when it comes to
the impression provided by one’s
same set of clothes can, however, make Even if a complete set of clothes is in companions. When a company enter a
people think that you are very wealthy reality made up of several components, place it is the member with the lowest
among a gathering of the less fortunate. we are simplifying it here and saying impression modifier that determines
Other times to wear clothes that are too that a set includes clothes for the upper what the people in the room think of the
nice can be bad in rich communities as body, the lower body, and accessories company as a whole. It is, however, up to
well. To, for instance, be better dressed such as a wig, a box of matches, shoes, the game master to decide how people
than one’s host is not very polite, and to gloves, fan and hat. view a company. In certain contexts, it
wander into a strange tavern dressed in By taking the middle value from the can be positive to have a wild man in the
the highest fashion can result in robbery. Vogue value of these three parts (total party, in other cases it can be negative.
There are primarily two factors that Vogue value is equal to the total of
come into play when one is deciding Vogue for the upper body + Vogue for
the Vogue for a set of clothes. One is the lower body + Vogue, all divided by Using Impression Rolls
“fashion” (how old and what fashion the three) one gets the Vogue value for the There are a number of situations where
clothes are following) and the other is the entire ensemble. The Vogue value is first impressions matter. People will not
quality of the clothes. The table below used to modify impression rolls. care for a character that trips and falls
shows what Vogue value a set of clothes when they enter an elegant parlour,
provides after taking fashion and quality while a character that makes a gracious
into consideration. Quality tells what The impression of objects entry into the same room will be both
quality the fabric is, but it also represents and items admired and envied. A character that
the manufacturing itself. The table also A character can gain either positive or gives a bestial impression will have the
shows which Vogue values are considered negative impression modifiers from upper hand when entering the ring of
to belong to certain social classes. objects depending on what the object a boxing match while a character that

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 42

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 gives a mysterious impression will draw and constantly try to convey how the to remember that this a game that is
much attention from those of a scholarly character is acting and what clothes supposed to be fun, first and foremost.
or mystical bent, while at the same time and accessories that they are wearing in The gender norms of the 18th century
the mysterious one can push away those order to gain social benefits. were rather cast in stone, and if a group of
who fear the mystical. Women and men give different players wants to play it that way because
It is ultimately up to the game master impressions: in most European societies the it is historically “correct”, one should do
to decide when a character’s first two genders are expected to have different so. On the other hand, if another group
impression is of great importance and roles in the society and respecting or not wants to pay no mind to traditional roles
an impression roll should be performed. such roles can be appreciated or despised and prefer to have women with the same
The players should think about the in different contexts. For the players status and power as a man, that group
impression that their characters make and the game master, it is important should then definitely play it in that way.

François made the entrance that he had practised for so long. With a nonchalant gesture of his
right hand and a curt nod, he showed respect to his host. Around him in the salon was the flower
of society, observing the newcomer, watching for any small mistake. François knew that all it
took was one misstep in order to ruin everything. The clothes he had bought had cost him a
fortune, and yet they were already out of fashion. The chalk-white wig was perfectly placed on
his head, and his powdered face smelled richly of the precious perfume that was the latest fashion
from Paris. For almost a year, François had tried to gain access to this room full of aristocrats
and nobility. Today, he would finally witness the ritual that, according to his employer, would
spell the end of the whole elite of the city once the Church’s men got wind of what had happened. 43
It was rumored that Satan himself was in league with the society.

With nervous steps, François proceeded into the salon to find someone to converse with. It wasn’t
long before a woman wearing the largest wig he had ever seen and with a powdered face and
bosom stepped forward to meet him. The fan she used to spread her scent excelled at this, and
François couldn’t help but feel slightly uncomfortable as the odors of various perfumes mixed
in the stuffy room. The woman introduced herself with a few standard lines about the weather
before she asked the question that completely baffled François. The offer that the woman had
made to him was far from any that he would have expected in this environment. Of course, he
had been asked this before, but in those cases it had been in a tavern in a completely different
part of the city, the customers of which would have had to work for years in order to afford the
set of clothes that he now wore. And when he failed to give the response she wanted, the woman
pouted, and left him standing with a shameful stare.

When François went with uneasy steps later that night to his employer, it wasn’t to report about
Satan and secret rituals. François had experienced something he didn’t want to forget, and
thus he spoke of nothing that had happened during the evening. For soon it would be a new full
moon, and everyone would gather in the salon again.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 44

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

  Life in the Wild 
“Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. It
had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.”
Revelation 13:11

45

Spending longer periods of time learning the Survival discipline and that they do until the character has
out in the wild is something that is the Travelling specialization that fall had such rest and comfort that the
not done easily. No soft spot to lie under the Well-travelled skill. For negative modifiers have been removed.
down on, rain, wind, cold, and snow each level that the character has in Depending on the weather conditions
are only a few of the natural factors the Survival discipline, the number that existed on the day before the
that affect a character’s time in the of days that can be comfortably spent situation roll, the negative modifier
wilderness areas of the world. The list in the wilderness is extended by +1, for that day’s weather factor is applied.
of conditions that can make one’s time and for each level with the Traveling See the table for complications in the
hard also includes such factors as a low specialization, the number of days is wild below.
supply of food, incorrect clothing, poor increased by +2. For each day that passes without
comfort, faulty hygiene, wet clothes the character having proper rest and
and not a very varied diet. With the ✦✦ During favourable conditions with comfort, the character runs the risk of
skill Well-travelled, the character has the right equipment a character can suffering another negative modifier.
learned to live more comfortably in the stay in the wild for ten days. Each morning they roll a new situation
wilderness, or at least deal with the roll with a situation value of 10 (the
hardships better. When the number of days that a Psyche trait modifies the roll), and
character can comfortably be in the this roll is also affected by the negative
wild has passed, the character must modifiers. Should the roll succeed, the
Complications in the succeed with a situation roll with the character suffers no more negative
Wild situational value of 10 (the Psyche modifiers that day. Should the roll fail,
During favourable conditions with trait modifies the roll) in order not the character suffers another cumulative
the right equipment, a character can to suffer any negative modifiers to all -1 to their already obtained modifiers.
stay out in the wild without issue for skill and situation rolls for the coming Should the weather conditions change,
ten days. The number of days can, days. Should the situation roll fail, the modifier of the new weather
however, be increased by the character the character suffers -1 on everything conditions is applied too.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Mitigating Circumstances MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES IN THE WILD.
in the Wild Factors Modifier Requirements
Certain circumstances can lower Incredibly beautiful weather +1 -
negative modifiers if one fails with the
Cooked food (one day’s ration) +1 Fresh food and cooking equipment
roll for Well-travelled skill (Survival
discipline). In total, a failed roll for the A new set of clothes +1 Clean and dry clothes
skill can never be better than ±0 due to The goal is within reach +1 The characters must know that they only
mitigating circumstances. have one day or less before they reach their
goal
Good comfort +1 Rest with good comfort for over 8 hours
Requirements for without interruption
Equipment in the Wild Good sleep +2 Sleep well for over 8 hours without
Should a character not be dressed interruption
according to what the weather demands,
the negative modifier is doubled and COMPLICATIONS IN THE WILD
the character suffers as many points of Traveling Modifier
physical health in freezing damage during On foot -1
the day as the total negative modifier.
On horseback -2
Temperature (Celsius) Modifier Requirements
Inadequate Food and 0-10° -1 Warm clothes
Water –1-–10° -1 Winter clothes
No one survives for long without food –11- –20° -2 Thick winter clothes
or water.
–21- –40° -3 Thick winter clothes
A character that has not had anything
to eat for an entire day suffers a negative <–41° -3 Several layers of thick winter clothes
46 modifier of -2 for all skill and situation Rain- and Snowfall Modifier Requirements
rolls the following day. Should they get the Rain -1 Cape
opportunity to eat the coming morning, Downpour -2 Waterproofs
they get rid of the modifier. For each day
Torrential downpour -3 Waterproofs
that passes without food, the character
suffers an additional cumulative -2. Hail -2 Waterproofs
A character that has had nothing to Light snowfall -1 Winter clothes
drink for a whole day suffers a negative Snowfall -2 Winter clothes
modifier of -2 on all skill and situation Heavy snowfall -3 Winter clothes
rolls the following day. If the character
Wind Modifier
has something to drink the following
morning, they no longer suffer the Strong wind -1
negative modifier. Gale -1
Storm -2
✦✦ Each day that passes without drink Hurricane -3
the character suffers another -2 in
Sleep Modifier
cumulative negative modifiers.
✦✦ After 14 days with only drink and no Poor sleep -1
food, the character dies from starvation No sleep -2
✦✦ After seven days without drink the
character dies from dehydration. ✦✦ With ½ daily rations of food and ✦✦ With no daily rations of food and
✦✦ The following modifiers are inflicted drink the character suffers -1 each drink the character suffers -2 each
upon a character that does not eat or new day without a normal amount of new day without a normal amount of
drink: food and drink. food and drink.
✦✦ With ¾ daily rations of food and ✦✦ With ¼ daily rations of food and ✦✦ For a character that has been without
drink the character suffers -2 every drink the character suffers -1 each both food and drink the modifiers are
third new day without a normal new day without a normal amount of added on top of each other.
amount of food or water. food and drink. Without food and water in the wild.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 MOVEMENT DUE TO TERRAIN Hunting
Method of travel Plains Hilly Mountainous There are three factors that are essential
By foot 30km/12h 15km/12h 10km/12h
when hunting:
March 30km/8h 15km/8h 10km/8h ✦✦ The environment
Double march 30km/4h 15km/4h - ✦✦ Time
Riding 60km/12h 30km/12h 15km/12h ✦✦ Skill
Hard ride 60km/6h 30km/6h -
Ride at full speed 60 km/2h - -
The environment
Depending on how rich the haunting
MOVEMENT IN FOREST AND LAND ground is in terms of game and
Terrain Factor Terrain Factor what the hunter has set his sights
No road x0,90 Thicket x0,50
on, the hunter gains a positive or
negative modifier on their skill roll
Uneven ground x0,75 Sparse forest x0,75
in the Professions skill (Hunting and
Very uneven ground x0,50 Forest x0,50 Fishing discipline). The table below
High grass x0,90 Dense forest x0,25 shows some examples of hunting
Marsh x0,75 3dm thick snow x0,75 grounds and their positive and
Scrub terrain x0,75 1m thick snow x0,25
negative modifiers.
Remember that several of these
Weather Factor Weather Factor
places are often the homes of predators,
Chill (10° to 0°) x0,90 Rain x0,90 creatures and bandits.
Cold (-1° to -10°) x0,80 Heavy rain x0,75
Frost (-11° to -20°) x0,60 Light snowfall x0,80 HUNTING GROUND MODIFIERS
Arctic (-21° to -40°) x0,40 Heavy snowfall x0,50 Terrain Modifiers
Incredibly fruitful +5 47
Fruitful +2
MOVEMENT ROLLS DUE TO TERRAIN Good +1
Method of Travel Stretch Roll Neither good nor barren ±0
By foot 30km/12h - Barren –2
March 30km/8h Situation roll/day (Constitution) Very barren –5
Double march 30km/4h Situation roll/hour (Constitution) Extremely barren (arctic) –10
Riding 60km/12h Skill roll/day (Agility)
Hard ride 60km/6h Skill roll/hour (Agility) Time
Ride at full speed 60 km/2h Skill roll (-5)/hour (Agility)
The more time someone dedicates to
hunting, the greater the game you will
be able to bring down

WITHOUT FOOD AND WATER IN THE WILD. TIME FOR HUNTING

Day without (day 1) Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Hunt for Time
¾ daily ration of food ±0 ±0 -1 -1 Small game 4 hours
½ daily ration of food ±0 -1 -1 -2 Game 6 hours
¼ daily ration of food -1 -2 -3 -4 Big game 8 hours
No food -2 -4 -6 -8
¾ daily ration of drink ±0 ±0 -1 -1 For every two hours that the hunter
½ daily ration of drink ±0 -1 -1 -2
dedicates to hunting they gain +1 on
their skill roll in the Professions skill
¼ daily ration of drink -1 -2 -3 -4
(Hunting and Fishing discipline). A
No drink -2 -4 -6 -8 hunter that chooses to hunt for an
extra four hours can therefore add

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 +2 to their skill value in the skill depending on how well they are eating, hunting beyond the first 4 hours.
Professions (the discipline Hunting sleeping and how good the weather and A group of 4 or more hunters that
and Fishing) when rolling to catch wind is. are hunting small game gains +1 to the
their prey. Professions skill (Hunting and Fishing
A hunter cannot hunt for longer than More hunters discipline) per extra hour they are
12 hours per day. If a group of hunters (where everyone has hunting beyond the first 6 hours.
A hunter can never gain a greater at least level 1 in the discipline Hunting A group of 6 or more hunters that
bonus from added time than the and Fishing) goes out to hunt, only the are hunting small game gains +1 to the
value of their skill Professions. For one with the highest skill roll performs Professions skill (Hunting and Fishing
example, a character that has the skill the roll to see if the group succeeds. discipline)per extra hour they are
value 8 can never gain more than +8 The benefit to this is that having several hunting beyond the first 8 hours.
on the roll by spending extra time on hunters changes the time for hunting. Only one hunter can use the skill
hunting. A group of 2 or more hunters that bonus at the same time. Should several
Remember that a character that is are hunting small game gains +1 to the hunters hunt separately on the same
out hunting in the wild for longer than Professions skill (Hunting and Fishing hunting grounds then each hunter
one day can gain negative modifiers discipline) per extra hour they are halves their skill value.

48

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Game MODIFIERS FOR HUNTING GAME (the skill value for the hunt - the die
When the game master has chosen what Size Modifier result). The greater the difference, the
terrain is in play and the hunter has Small game +2
more successful the hunt.
decided how long they want to spend
Game ±0
hunting, they should also decide what ✦✦ A character normally needs one
type of game they want to focus on. Big game -5 ration of food per day.
The table below shows what additional ✦✦ If a perfect result is obtained the
modifiers the hunter gets on their skill number of daily rations are doubled.
value depending on what type of game To know what the catch resulted in,
they have chosen. Food rations you can look at the table below to
By smaller game we mean small When the hunter’s skill value for the decide what kind of prey you caught.
creatures such as different kinds of hunt is decided (± modifiers for hunting
rodents. By game we mean bigger grounds ± time + the hunter’s skill
animals such as hares and rabbits. With value in the skill Professions ± the
big game we mean even bigger animals choice of game) a skill roll is performed
such as wild boars, deer, moose and elk. where the difference value is calculated

GAME DIFFERENCE VALUE TABLE

Difference Small game Game Big game
<1 No catch No catch No catch
1–4 1d3+1 1d6+2 No catch
5–8 1d6+2 1d10+6 3d10+2
49
9–12 1d10+2 2d10+4 4d10+8
13–16 1d10+6 3d10+2 6d10+4
17–20 2d10 4d10 8d10
21–24 2d10+4 4d10+8 8d10+16
25–28 2d10+8 5d10+6 8d10+32
29–32 3d10+2 6d10+4 8d10+48
33-36 3d10+6 7d10+2 8d10+64
37-40 4d10 8d10 8d10+80
+4 +4 +8 +16

RESULTING NUMBER OF DAILY RATIONS

Number of daily rations Example of game felled
1-2 Rabbit, pheasant, bird, hare
3-4 Fox, eel, fish
5-8 Carp, boar
9-12 Northern pike, otter
13-20 Old pike, badger
21-40 Sheep
41-80 Deer, elk
81-160 Wild boar
161-320 Cow
321-640 Moose, bear

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 50

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

  Adventure Points and Tips 
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will
give to everyone according to what they have done.”
Revelation 22:12

51

As time passes and the characters the characters can increase their powers always encourage players to describe
expand their skills, they accumulate gradually over time instead of suddenly why their characters are improving in
experience through their successful becoming much better all at once. certain fields.
and sometimes failed adventures. At To see how many adventure points
the end of every mission the characters each sub-mission is worth, the total
are therefore rewarded with a number worth of the mission is simply divided by Awarding Adventure
of Adventure Points (or “AP”) that the number of sub-missions that exists. Points
are based upon how long the mission If the sub-mission is more difficult or How many adventure points the
was, how difficult it was to solve, and more complex than another sub-mission, characters are going to receive depends
how well the characters succeeded. the characters should receive more upon a number of factors and can differ
The Adventure Points are then used adventure points for the longer and more very much from time to time. In the official
to increase the characters’ skill values complicated part of the mission. published adventures that are released,
(skills, disciplines, and specializations), It is important that the game rewards are specified, which can be a good
as well as increasing the rating of one master does not allow the characters guideline for a game master when they are
or more power spheres. to increase their value in a skill that preparing to reward their characters for a
The game master can chose to has nothing to do with the mission mission of their own devising.
differentiate the adventure points that they just performed. If the The game master can choose to allow
and specify that some of the points character has, for example, not been their characters to split evenly amongst
awarded must spent on improving close to water it is unlikely that they themselves the total sum of adventure
power spheres and some must be used have learned to swim any better. If points, however, it is also possible to
for improving skills. they have observed another character give some characters more points than
The game master can and should performing a skill and said that they others depending on how well they
split longer missions into shorter wish to learn from this character, this played their characters.
sub-missions where each part will is a good reason to approve the skill The exact amount of AP to be
generate adventure points. This is so that increase. The game master should awarded is totally up to the game master.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 52

As a generic guidelines one can say The following guidelines can be used The length and difficulty of a
that a success in the simplest and to establish the number of AP. mission
shortest mission should be awarded Depending on how short or long, easy
with 5-10 AP per character. Longer ✦✦ How long the mission was. or hard the mission was the characters
and more difficult adventures can ✦✦ How difficult the mission was. should be given different amounts of
even result in prizes of up to 100 ✦✦ How well the characters succeeded. adventure points. A short but difficult
AP per character. If the GM decides ✦✦ How well the players roleplayed their mission should be rewarded with the
to award AP at each game session, characters. same amount as a long but easy mission.
around 5 AP per character per session It is up to the game master to find the
is enough. balance.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 A method of valuing a mission Out of 100 points from a mission, be taught and who is going to be the
in terms of adventure points is to 80 points might be based on how well teacher, but somewhere between 20 and
determine how much better a character they succeeded and 20 on how well they 40 ducats is a reasonable price.
should become after the mission. Is it, for roleplayed. Depending on what you
instance, reasonable that after a mission value as a game master and group, you
a character should be able to advance can change these numbers around to fit Other Rewards
three level 3 disciplines or specializations your style of play. Apart from adventure points, there
from level 2? If so, the characters should are also other rewards such as items,
be rewarded with at least 63 adventure money, and reputation or something
points each. The game master should Theory of the like that can be just as valuable
therefore value their mission based on Sometimes the characters will study to a character. The best and most fun
what level of knowledge the characters or become a pupil of someone in order reward is one from which the character
should be at when the mission begins to learn new skills or become better obtains a combination of adventure
and what level of knowledge they should at the skills that they already know. It points and other rewards. A creative
be at when it is over. The difference is completely up to the game master game master can easily come up with
provides the amount of adventure points to decide if a character finds a suitable things that are more fun and rewarding
to be awarded. teacher to help them becoming better. for characters than money. It can be
A character can also try to study or material things like superior quality
learn on their own. For some skills the weapon, exclusive equipment, a valuable
How well the players and characters need certain items such as artefact, a horse, or a house. But things
their characters succeeded books or equipment and the like. like membership to a club or society can
When the mission or sub-mission is It can take a long time to study be just as exciting. It can often lead to
complete it is time to sum up the rewards. with a teacher and to do it on your new adventures and rewards.
The better and the more elegantly the own takes an even longer time. A rule The game master should but time
characters have solved their mission the of thumb is that it takes 2 weeks per into preparing what kind of rewards
greater their reward should be. AP with the help of a teacher and 4 they think will be fun and exciting for
Once the value of the mission in AP weeks per AP doing it yourself. Since their players to obtain. Keep in mind, 53
is established, it is completely up to it costs 4 adventure points to increase though, that there needs to be a good
the game master to decide how many a skill value of 3 to 4 it therefore takes balance between the reward and the
adventure points the characters should 8 weeks if the new level comes from performance of the characters.
be given from this total value, tutored learning or 16 weeks if the For the sake of balance, it will
An easy way of doing this is by grading level is self-taught learnt. sometimes be necessary not to give out
the behaviour of the group between 1 Alternatively the game master can any rewards even though the characters
and 5, where 1 is very bad and 5 is very decide how many points a character succeeded in their mission.
good. The result is a multiplier used to gains after tutored or self-taught study.
be applied to the mission value in AP. It is worth saying that study (whether
tutored or self-taught) cannot always be Tips for P laying
SUCCESS AND ADVENTURE POINTS profitable. For every AP to be gained, LexOccultum is a mystery roleplaying
Grade Factor after a set period of time (2 weeks for game that in many regards relies on
1 x0.2
tutored study, 4 weeks for self-taught) the keeping the atmosphere of mystery
character must make a roll to check if the intact. To reveal too much may ruin
2 x0.4
AP is gained or not. The SV is equal to the the feeling. The game master’s mission,
3 x0.6 total SV of the pupil + the total SV of the therefore, is to keep as much of the
4 x0.8 teacher (in the case of tutored study) and mystery and the obscure that is written
5 x1.0 the total is divided by 2 (rounded down). in the books a secret.
The result is the SV to roll under to see if
Should the game master want to the AP is gained or not.
reward the players based on the quality Should the roll succeed, the character Find the M ysteries
of their roleplay, they can choose to gets the points, but should it fail it Forget all you have learned, throw
split the points from the mission into means that the character must study out everything you have heard about
two parts. One is based on how well the another week to be able to try again. the 18th century, it is simply not true!
characters succeeded, and the other is The price for four months of study Over the years, the information has
dependent on how well they roleplayed and training with a teacher varies been distorted and changed to better fit
their characters. depending on the what is going to in the thick tomes and treatises of the

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 historians. Granted, it was a time of The authorities do all in their hands and mysteries are laid bare.
Enlightenment, but also a strange and power to remove any evidence of the For almost a century and a half, the
dark time full of things that never saw supernatural, so as to not let panic loose Church has collected and categorized
the light of day, and it is this darkness in the streets. The mysterious and the everything that may harm or support
that the game is about. bestial is excused as mentally deranged their agendas.
LexOccultum is a roleplaying game recluses driven mad, or as the actions Wars, that senseless despots wage
with its roots in history, more specifically of secret societies, who seek to create against each other, are not always about
what is called the “short” 18th century, the chaos and disorder. power over lands or to protect their
time between the death of Louis XIV (1715) The officials are not there to keep so-called subjects from worse rulers
and the start of the French Revolution order for a growing administration or faiths. They are just as often about
(1789). However, LexOccultum makes or unruly burghers, no, their first and appropriating knowledge or ancient
no claims of being historically accurate. foremost mission is to cover the tracks artifacts.
Play it as an alternative 18th century, of the unnatural and the inexplicable, Awoken from their slumbers, with
rather than an encyclopaedia of the time. they just do not know it themselves. rituals, symbols, sacrifices, and worship,
It could be of great help, before you start Correctional facilities are not mainly monstrous beasts and creatures have
playing, to read up on the 18th century, tasked with keeping the wicked behind appeared on stage.
since it could support the feeling of locked doors or imposing punishments, It is called “the Enlightening”, since
verisimilitude during the game. You could even if that is what the public seems to people have started to strive for the
also encourage your players to familiarize believe. They are there to explain the enlightenment of humankind. People
themselves with the time, to make it easier inexplicable or blame the supernatural shall, through study, research, and
for them to play their characters. on scheming rioters. experiments, draw new conclusions
There is a risk that the game master Many who are accused of being and through them see how it all is put
may fall into the trap of listing years and charlatans and impostors have, in some together. Previous generations are
events, and sharing information, which, cases, discovered things that actually criticized and considered to have been
while correct, may or may not be news work. With mysterious recipes and obscurantists, barbaric, and uncivilized.
to everyone. Instead, try to create a secret formulas, they have managed The new century was supposed to
54 feeling around people or places that may to create extracts and products that be one of reason, as many enlightened
not be as well known, but are still tied have greater effect than people think. philosophers saw that a fair society could
to history in some way, not to mention Healing potions, love potions, magical be created if only people adhered to their
all the amazing possibilities there are waters that slow or expedite aging, innate reason.
to create new people and places. Do most are humbug but some do what The players will, naturally, be curious
not focus too much on history; let your they are claimed to. The alchemists if they completed the mission in the right
imagination run wild and use facts as a have not yet solved the riddle of the way, if the secretive non-player characters
foundation for something you yourself universal metal, how to create gold or were, in fact, evil, or if they were even
have created, Always emphasize things the philosopher’s stone, but in their good. You will see a greater effect if
like alchemy, mystery, secret societies, fervor to become rich and famous, they you keep some of that information to
weird places, and supernatural events. have released powers that have lain yourself, in such situations. A good tip is
Try to tone down what may be too dormant for eons. In secret chambers to finish every session with an opening, a
obvious and that which the players may and forgotten attics, the alchemists lock new hint, or a truth that reveals another
already have heard of in history class. themselves inside their laboratories in secret. It will create a feeling that around
Another important thing is to their hunt for gold and elixirs. Their every corner, there will be a greater
make sure the players understand numbers grow steadily, but there is secret, conspiracy, or mystery that can be
the premises of the 18th century, the also an overt mistrust towards many solved.
political, economic, and social forces as of them, mainly because some have LexOccultum has its roots in 18th
well as how crimes are punished and suffered from macabre experiments that century history, and to make it believable
how one is expected to behave. actually worked. it is necessary that the game master
The secret orders have more power The Church keeps secrets that have has enough background information
than the Church, the scientists, and the not left the dark archives of Rome’s so that the players will not be able to
philosophers. The Gnostics act in the libraries for hundreds of years. But even point out any obvious factual errors.
dark, like watchers of the watchers. The within this mighty organization, there To change history, however, is strongly
members of the Illuminati try to create a are those who have started to falter in encouraged. Let more or less famous
new world order. The unnatural crawls their belief in God and have joined the people get another story, put places and
ever so slowly closer and not even the scientific community. As this happens, events under a different light, but do so
people of the cities are safe anymore. truths start to leak out, writings change in a credible fashion.

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57 chapter 1. the caracter

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James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

  The World 
“All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast – all whose names have not been written
in the Lamb's book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.”
Revelation 13:8

59

Madame, monsieur, do not deny your- Some would say that truth is a thin there are few insights that cover it all,
selves. Come now, step into the warmth, veil, like makeup upon a scarred face, and the veracity of these sources must
or what little is left of it. Perhaps I silk clothes upon a tormented body, always be questioned. Often, they are
should say, “welcome to the bone-chill- pretty words upon a sickly longing, or a small part of a greater mystery, or a
perfume on rotten flesh. Truth is not conspiracy in a greater context.
ing, cold darkness.” Oh, allons, do
more accurate or more deceptive than Shrouded in darkness and buried for
not be shy; you can lay down your anything else. It just is, just as there a thousand years in lies, the “truths”
barking irons on the shelf over there, are worlds and dimensions beyond come through from time to time. Facts,
you will find no enemies in this room. our reality that are too difficult to built upon dogmas, institutions, science,
I have been told that you are a most comprehend for those who do not plumb rituals, covens, God only knows what.
curious soul, eager to know more about the deepest depths of their souls. Those The fundamental principles that are
“the other side”. You will not be dis- who do travel on the razor-sharp edges considered so true, such that the mere
appointed. Step into the chamber and of their minds will experience things thought of them being exposed would
have a glass of wine, the best in all that are not of this world, but as real as bring down doom and death.
time and space. Conspiracies are roiling beneath
of France! Feel at home, le maître will
There are many “truths” about the the surface, the covens gather in dark
soon be here and then he shall tell you darkness and the occult. Countless rooms, knowledge switches owners, and
everything that he knows to be true. prophecies, texts and tomes that occultists dig deep into mysteries to
Have patience, for it is a long story expound upon the unreal and the uncover these secrets.
about vampires, occult rituals, secret bizarre, things that pierce through our
societies and not least, all the lies you reality and leave dismembered souls and This is the twilight of the gods.
have been told all these years... withering minds in their wake. However, Welcome to LexOccultum.

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The men of the Church feverishly fight they would not meddle with and acquire to all but those who needed to know.
against revealing these truths that could knowledge and powers they were not Fragments of truths and insights
possibly topple the Christian conception meant to have. If they did, they would crumbled under the wheel of time.
of the world. According to them, there is all be doomed. Or so it was, until people started going
only Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. If the Thousands of years of persecution, through the archives and questioning
living dead existed and the moon had the witch trials, inquisition and the hunt for the fundamental principles anew.
power to grant creatures the features and heretics and apostates were the result It was called the “enlightenment”,
abilities of the wolf, their entire religion of decisions made by a small group of but for the Church, there was only one
and its dogmas would be replaced by fear, people who wanted, in His name, to term for it: “the end times.” In the secret
anguish and the search for answers away create a brighter and lasting world. God chapters of Enoch, it was written that
from the light. had punished humanity with the Flood, God would punish them with a second
For several hundred years, it was what could stop him doing it again? Flood should they ever seek themselves
possible to quell these notions by total Then came centuries of revolution too close to the darkness. The mission of
denial and intimidation. The “truth” was and new truths. The old was buried in the Church was to stop this, no matter
kept from the weak, at all costs, so that memory and closed chambers, hidden what.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 With enlightenment came There are few, however, who There are societies for all sorts;
questioning, and all too many fragments know that spirits, demons, angels, some worship the Devil, others sex,
of truth passed through their nets. werewolves, vampires, and other life or God Almighty himself. The vast
The Church is desperate, the scientists biblical and mythological creatures majority are officially, or unofficially,
hungry for more knowledge, and and beings are more than mere branded by the Church as heretics and
occultists want to drop the curtains imagination. Countless self- part of the darkness. There are men and
which shelter the masses from the truth. proclaimed prophets walk the markets women of the Church who constantly
They seek the dark arts to obtain more and streets, preaching the truth about strive to infiltrate them to gather
power for themselves, or just to refute the unknown, all with a similar, information and develop a picture of
the thesis that God is almighty and ominous promise of the world’s what they really know.
prove that our will is free. end and the undoing of man. Many Alchemists, philosophers, scientists,
Or to show the fact that God has long believe themselves to know the truth, mathematicians, and other truth seekers
since left humanity to its fate. but there are few who really know after delve deeply into old teachings
What neither science nor Church what is going on. These select few and are watched closely by those who
can “explain” is quickly covered up have named their fateful knowledge do not want the secrets to be revealed.
for posterity by historians, clerks, and ”LexOccultum”, the ”secret law”, Some break the veil of time, keelhaul
priests alike. Nobody, really, wanted to using wrong Latin grammar to their souls to be woken anew, and bear
acknowledge what was actually going mock ignorance, shading even more witness to discoveries never meant for
on around them. Suffering, strange, confusion to the non-enlightned. mankind. As soon as the Church learns
malformed, and deranged people are In the borderlands between light of these things they send their angels of
blamed for the inexplicable events that and darkness, life and insanity, death to clean up and cover up any trace
occur across Europe. Secret orders and gather those who wish to keep these left of them. Those who experiment
societies spread like wildfire throughout secrets. Societies and orders have with such a knowledge are a part of the
Europe’s underworld, knowing, or sworn to protect ancient wisdom darkness. For the Church, these men and
believing that they know, what is really or forgotten artifacts, while their women pose a great threat to the human
going on. The societies have their own members often know nothing about kind. Their hunger for life eternal, gold,
agendas, to create a new world order, what they are safeguarding or why. and elixirs of love will bring about the 61
individuals appropriate to themselves a Still, they are completely subservient end of days.
power never meant for human beings, to an unimpeachable master whose Self-deceivers tell themselves that
priests drive demons back to Hell, and slightest wish can make them perform things sometimes appear to be what
the world shifts and changes beneath the bestial murders and spout untruthful they believe they are, but they are in
surface. confessions. denial.

Siegfried left his house in the small Bavarian village much earlier than normal that morning.
He had awoken in a cold sweat, after having experienced the most strange and terrible of
dreams. No matter what he tried, he had not been able to fall asleep again. Finally he had
given up and stepped out of the bed, moist with perspiration and left his newly wedded wife
still peacefully sleeping on her side of the bed, seemingly free oft nightmares.

Unlike the other nightmares that had plagued him recently, he couldn’t let this one go
away. The earlier ones he didn’t even remember once he had woken up, but this one he
remembered every little detail of. It was as if a new reality had revealed itself to him.
He suddenly saw what had earlier been hidden from him. It was as if God had suddenly
withdrawn the curtain that had obscured and filtered his vision. – Why do you crush me
with this insight? He asked gloomily of his god, whom he had never before doubted. He
didn’t bother to eat breakfast that morning, and neither did he bother to get dressed. Naked
he went out to the yard, continuing on into the cold dawn of spring, never to be seen again.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 the world

 Calendar 

62

The perspective of the world that most histories of different countries, since one To further complicate things different
people have is based on the history is never sure about which calendar system countries deal with the calender change
they have been taught. A history the has been used to record facts. The shift in different ways. For example Sweden
Church has been writing for almost two from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar has begun to adopt the Gregorian
thousand years. The historical views caused panic among astrologers and calendar by excluding the leap day.
below are shared by most people during occultists, unsure which to use when they Unfortunately, the Swedish calendar
the 18th century. That being said, they cast horoscopes. Some even say that the is now ten days behind, instead of the
are not necessarily true, or at least change of calendar is a deliberate attempt calculated eight. The problem was
they are just parts of more complicated by the Church to combat astrology, which solved in 1712, by returning to the
histories, too dangerous to be told. is considered to be spawned from the devil. Julian calendar and by introducing the
Historical studies are made difficult by The Gregorian calendar’s 1 January unique day of 30 February. It is not
these phoenomena, but further difficulty 1735 corresponds to the Julian until 1753 that the Gregorian calendar
comes when analysing the different calendar’s 20 December 1734. is properly introduced in Sweden.

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 calendar

 The Biblical Timeline 

Popes, priests, and theologians, The first age of the world darkness was night. On the second
despite having bickered since the day, God created a firmament in the
Church’s foundation about how to ✦✦ 1 A.M. – 1657 A.M. middle of the ocean that divided the
interpret certain passages, agree ✦✦ (4004 – 2348 BC) water below it from the water above it,
that the Bible is the true account of and called it Heaven. On the third day,
man’s history. Most people during James Ussher of Armagh, an Irish God gathered the water in one place so
the 18th century are more versed anglican archbishop, has calculated the that the dry land appeared. And from
in Bible history than in the greater moment for the world’s creation at the the land He brought forth grass, herbs
political events of the last century. entrance of the night preceding the 23rd and fruit trees. On the fourth day, God
Comparisons and allegories from day of October, close to the autumnal made two great lights; the sun ruled the
the Bible are used frequently in equinox, in the year 4004 BC, according day and the moon ruled the night. On
both literature and day-to-day to the Julian calendar. The exact date the fifth day, God created the abundant
conversations; the clear majority for the Creation has been questioned by moving life of the waters and the fowl
know the Biblical stories by heart the philosophers and scientists of the that flies above the Earth, and on the 63
and their own names are chiefly those Enlightenment, admittedly, even though sixth he created every moving creature,
of its prophets and apostles. For archbishop Ussher’s timeline has since creeping thing and beast of the Earth.
the 18th century person, there is an 1701 been included in all newly printed And so, God created humankind in his
unbroken line through the centuries bibles in the British Isles. image, to have dominion over the fish
from the Creation as it is depicted Some have insisted on other dates. In of the sea, fowl of the air, and over the
in the Bible to their own time. The the old Byzantine empire, it was widely cattle and every creeping thing that
Biblical account of history permeates agreed that the world was created on moves upon the Earth. On the seventh
everything. September 1, 5509 BC, and the Jewish day, God rested.
In the early 5th century AD Saint calendar begins in the year 3760 BC. God created Adam, the first human,
Augustine divided time into the ”Six Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon even from the dust of the ground and
Ages of the World”, which is a model professes that the real age of the world breathed into his nostrils the breath
that is still in use, albeit modified, by is an astonishing 75,000 years. The of life. He then put the man into the
historians in the 18th century. The French noble has also exposed himself garden of Eden to keep and tend to
seventh and last age will include the to ridicule by proposing the absurd it, and commanded that he may eat
Judgement Day and the events of the notion of a relationship between humans from every tree but from the Tree of
Book of Revelation. and primates. There is, naturally, only a Knowledge. If he did, he would surely
Below is a shortened walkthrough small number of fools that dare make die. God saw that Adam was alone and
of the most ancient history of the such heretical claims. Most scientists without a helper, so he caused a deep
world as it is described in the Bible, and philosophers of the Enlightenment sleep to fall on him and, while Adam
and interpreted by the most prominent fully support the Church’s position on slept, God took from him a rib that He
historians and theologians of the the Creation. made into a woman. The woman was
18th century, with additions from In the beginning, there was nothing, named Eve. Kabbalistic mystics claim
kabbalistic and other occult sources. then God created the Heavens and the that Adam had two wives before Eve.
Dates are also given in ”AM” or ”Anno Earth. The world was barren, empty The first was Lilith, who was cast off
Mundi”, the age of the world in years and dark, so God let there be light. when she sought to dominate Adam.
passed since the supposed date of the And God separated the light from the She is the mother of all demons and
Creation in 4004 BC. darkness. The light he called day, and vampires. The other was nameless, and

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James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 created out of nothingness as bones. and became the archangel Metatron, and all animals were swept away, except
When Adam saw flesh and skin bind who came to stop Abraham’s sacrifice for Noah and his ark.
to the naked skeleton, he was terrified of his son Isaac. Enoch lived 65 years In the 18th century, traces of the
and did not want this wife. Then, God and became the father of Methuselah. flood can be seen in Earth-layers and
created Eve. Methuselah lived 187 years and became the erosion of mountains. Nicolas Steno,
Adam and Eve lived in complete the father of Lamech, and when he was Robert Hooke and other prominent
happiness until the Devil, disguised as 182, he fathered Noah. scientists have proved that the rock-like
a serpent, tempted them to eat from the Now that the humans were fossils sometimes found actually belong
forbidden Tree of Knowledge with the multiplying, the sons of God took the to the animals that existed before the
promise that it would make them equal most beautiful of the daughters as their flood. Furthermore, large rocks that
to God. Eve was first to give in to the wives. Their offspring were mighty men seem randomly placed, some of which
temptation and then made Adam eat and leaders of great renown and marvel. show signs of having been pulled into
from it too, which is why the Church sees Who these sons of God were exactly is place, are evidently signs of the flood as
women as more sinful than men. Livid, a matter of great dispute among priests well, regardless of what superstitious
God took from them their immortality and occultists. Some say that they were farmers say about giants and steeples.
and cast them out from Paradise. God simply the divine descendants of Seth Many naturalists propose the theory
then put the cherubim and the flaming who still invoked the Lord and who that some of the ancient beasts hid in
sword to guard the entrance to Eden for married women of Cain’s tainted blood, clefts and caves, thus surviving the
all eternity. According to Archbishop women who had turned from God. flood. Voltaire stresses the miraculous
Ussher’s calculations, the fall happened Others claim that they were angels nature of the flood, for without divine
on Monday the 10th of November. sent by God to watch over the humans, intervention the laws of physics would
After the fall, Eve gave birth first but instead started to desire their never have allowed such an event.
to Cain, and thereafter to Abel. Cain daughters and taught them all manners
became a farmer and Abel a shepherd. of forbidden knowledge. This led to the
When Cain saw that the Lord preferred foundation of many a sinful city and The second age of the world
the gifts of Abel, his mind darkened the practice of occult arts. Apocryphal
and he slew his brother. Banished for and occult writings describe these ✦✦ 1657 A.M. – 2083 A.M. 65
his crime, Cain was driven east, to the fallen angels in great detail, and name ✦✦ (2348 – 1921 BC)
land of Nod, where he settled and had Samyaza and Azazel among others
many descendants. Humankind had that appear in books of the black arts After the water had receded, Noah and
been on the Earth for 128 years at the and rituals of the Devil. The humans his family could once again set foot upon
time of the first murder. The many sons learnt how to forge weapons, follow the Earth. God commanded them to
and daughters of Adam and Eve had and interpret the movements of the spread across the world and repopulate
children of their own, and Archbishop celestial bodies, cast spells, all of which it. Theologians and scientists alike
Ussher estimates the world’s population are against God’s commandments. For agree that all the people of the world
to be at around 500,000 at the time of their rebellion, the fallen angels, led are descendants of Noah’s three sons
Cain’s crime. by Lucifer, were cast down into the (Shem, Ham and Japheth) and their
Adam lived 130 years and became the underworld by God. According to Pope offspring.
father of Seth, who was born to replace John XII, 133,306,668 angels joined The sons of Japheth spread north
Abel as Adam’s heir. After Seth was the rebellious host. 266,613,336 angels and are the forefathers of the people of
born, Adam lived for another 800 years remained faithful to God. Europe, Russians and Turks. The kings
and had many other sons and daughters. God saw that the wickedness of of Sweden are direct descendants of
Seth lived 105 years and became the humankind was great and regretted Japheth’s second son Magog. According
father of Enosh. Seth lived after the his creation, but Noah found grace in to Johannes Magnus, the last catholic
birth of Enosh 807 years and had other the eyes of the Lord. God then told Archbishop of Sweden, Magog settled
sons and daughters. Enosh lived 90 him that he would destroy everything in Sweden 88 years after the flood, and
years and became the father of Kenan. he had created and commanded Noah one of his sons became the first king of
Kenan lived 70 years and became the to construct a great ark to escape the Sweden. Magog is also considered to be
father of Mahalalel, and Mahalalel lived flood, and to bring along with Noah and the forefather of the Goths, Finns and
65 years and became the father of Jared. his family a pair of each animal on the Huns.
Jared lived 162 years and became the Earth. According to some sources, Noah The sons of Shem spread east and are
father of Enoch. The apocryphal Book also brought Adam’s bones on the ark. the forefathers of the Hebrews, Arabs,
of Enoch and other kabbalistic texts The flood drowned the world and lasted Assyrians, Arameans, and other Semitic
tell how Enoch ascended to Heaven for one year and ten days. All humans people. The apocryphal Book of Jubilees

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 tell of how Cainan, son of Arpachshad to build such a blasphemous monument Ishmaelites and the Qedarites. However,
and Shem’s grandson, found inscriptions again, God confused their tongues and God promised that Sarah would provide
from the time before the flood that split the single original language into 72 Abraham an heir.
revealed the secrets of astrology. Some different ones. The confusion of tongues At this time, the plains of Jordan
occultists suggest that it was Enoch who caused the construction to collapse on were fertile but housed many cities that
wrote down the secrets that God’s fallen itself and the people were spread all warred against each other. Two cities,
angels had passed on to the humans. over the world. The Bible says that Sodom and Gomorrah, were notorious
He had a pillar of marble and one of Babel means “confusion” in Hebrew, for their wickedness and sins. It is said
bronze made upon which he engraved however, Voltaire in his Dictionnaire that their inhabitants despised the
the forbidden knowledge. This is how Philosophique argue that Ba means poor, persecuted outsiders, and devoted
the occult teachings survived the flood. “father” in oriental languages, and Bel themselves to unspeakable, perverse
Some freemason texts instead suggest means “god”, thus Babel should be read activities. Abraham’s nephew Lot lived
that it was Hermes and Pythagoras as “city of God”, or “the holy city”. in Sodom, and when God told him
who found the pillars containing these Jews claim that Hebrew was the first that he planned to destroy the cities,
geometrical writings. language, but this has been questioned Abraham asked God to spare Lot. Two
Ham’s sons spread southwards, by Christian theologians and scientists. angels were sent to Sodom, and Lot
becoming forefathers of the Canaanites, Ever since the Renaissance, people have offered them hospitality, but the men
Philistines, Egyptians and the African sought to learn with which language of Sodom tried to storm his house and
people. Nimrod, son of Kus and Adam and Noah used to speak to violate the angels. The men were struck
grandson of Ham, was a mighty hunter God. Some experiments have been with blindness and Lot’s family fled the
who tamed leopards and refused to performed, in which infants have been city. God let rain brimstone and fire
bow to God. He was the first to found isolated and left to grow up without upon Sodom and Gomorrah and the
an empire after the flood. Babel, Erech, ever hearing a human voice, with the two cities were wiped from the face of
Akkad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar hope that they would start speaking the the Earth for their many sins.
were the core of his empire before original language. Unfortunately, those When Sarah was 90 years old and
he conquered Assyria and founded poor creatures have only been able to Abraham was 100, Isaac was born,
66 Nineveh, among other cities. express themselves in grunts with little forefather of the Israelites. When Isaac
Nimrod and his sons defied God’s to no similarities to Hebrew and which grew up, God put Abraham to the test.
commands and founded a city. As a cannot be interpreted as a coherent He commanded Abraham to go to the
monument to their grandeur, they language system. mountain of Moriah and sacrifice his
erected a tower that would touch the The peoples of the world yet again son to him as a burnt offering. Abraham
sky. Some claim that the people were turned to creating idols to worship. took the knife to kill Isaac who was tied
afraid that God would flood the world Abraham lived in Ur, a city of priests to the altar, but he was stopped by an
again, and the tower would save them and mathematicians in Chaldea. God angel of God, for he had shown that he
from a second deluge. Others say that spoke to Abraham and made a covenant, feared God so much that he would not
they built the tower high enough for the in which Abraham would be the withhold even his only son.
host of Babel to storm the Heavens. founding father to a great people that When Sarah died, Abraham took
Through the centuries, scholars have would inherit the land of Canaan. So two other wives that born him many
argued about how tall the tower really Abraham left his fatherland believing in sons, who themselves had many sons.
was. In the Book of Jubilees, the tower God’s promise and going westwards. Abraham’s dynasty grew and populated
is said to be over 2,400 meters tall, the land of Canaan, just as God had
while other sources claim it was at least promised.
twice as tall. For comparison, the tallest The third age of the world Then, a great famine struck the land
building in the world during the 18th and the people moved south, to Egypt. At
century is the cathedral of Strasbourg ✦✦ 2083 A.M. – 2513 A.M. first, they were invited by the Pharaoh,
which is 142-meters tall. Many have ✦✦ (1921 – 1491 BC) but when he died and the people of
discussed the connection between the Israel grew in numbers, the Egyptians
tower of Babel and the Freemasons. After Abraham’s covenant with God, enslaved them. For generations, they
Alleged Freemason Samuel Pritchard his cattle herds and fortune grew, but toiled under the blazing sun on large
published the treatise Masonry Abraham and his wife Sarah were still fields and monumental pyramid
Dissected in which he ties the order’s childless. Since God had made Sarah constructions. From stonecutters
foundation to the construction of the barren, she asked Abraham to go to their and masons, the Israelites learned
tower of Babel. Egyptian handmaiden Hagar. Hagar the secrets of craftsmanship. Some
To stop humankind ever attempting gave birth to Ishmael, forefather of the occultists claim that this is the reason

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James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Freemasons and Illuminati, with their threatened the Israelite’s rightful claim on The chief architect, Hiram Abif, has
Egyptian symbolism such as pyramids Canaan. Idol worship was widely spread a prominent role in the history of the
and the eye of Horus, took hold in Israel among these peoples, and they revered Freemasons. It is claimed that the first
and from there spread to Europe. Baal, Molok, Dagon, and every other lodge of the Freemasons was founded
The Pharaoh still feared the people shape the Devil took. It was during this during the construction of Solomon’s
of Israel, and commanded that all time that the walls of Jericho fell to the Temple, and that Hiram Abif taught
new-born boys would be thrown into Israelite trumpets, when Samson gained the other masters the secrets that
the Nile. Moses was hidden in the his immense strength from his hair, and made it possible. One legend tells of a
reeds by the river bank, and grew up David defeated the giant Goliath. confrontation with the master, by three
to be a great prophet and leader, and To understand God’s will, the men who tried to coerce from him the
God granted him the power to perform Israelites were assisted by court password to the secrets of the trade.
miracles. He asked the Pharaoh to prophets who could interpret dreams When he refused, he was beaten to
let the people of Israel be free from and holy artifacts, such as the Urim death and buried in the sands.
slavery, but the Pharaoh refused. Such and Thummim that were carried in the Throughout history, countless rabbis,
a story has been represented also by breastplate of the high priest, which mystics and occultists have shown
the famous composer Georg Friedrich helped with difficult choices, and the great interest in Solomon’s Temple.
Händel in his biblical oratorio Israel in Ark of the Covenant, in which Moses’ The Bible’s detailed account of the
Egypt, which describes the Israelites stone tablets were kept. measurements of the temple are believed
many hardships in Egypt. It premiered After the conquest of Canaan, the to hold divine wisdom, since they were
in London 1739 at the King’s Theater Israelites were a gathering of tribes, given by God. Isaac Newton, who was
on Haymarket but, unfortunately, the ruled by judges, until the formation of obsessed with the divine geometry of
audience found the work too depressing the kingdom of Israel. Three great kings the temple, devoted an entire chapter
for it to be a success. ruled the country: Saul, who united the of his The Chronology of Ancient
tribes but was too proud and fell from Kingdoms to the temple’s history and
God’s grace; David, who slew Goliath architecture.
The fourth age of the world and was forefather to Jesus Christ; and Solomon’s famed wisdom and
68 Solomon, who was renowned for his great justness is described in the biblical Book
✦✦ 2513 A.M. – 2992 A.M. wisdom, and had built the first temple. of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Solomon
✦✦ (1491 – 1012 BC) is claimed to have ruled over the world’s
most powerful kingdom, and Jerusalem
It was not until God had inflicted upon The fifth age of the world was flooded with gifts and visited by
Egypt ten plagues, including boils, hail foreign rulers from far and wide to pay
storms and swarms of locusts, that ✦✦ 2992 A.M. – 3417 A.M. reverence to his wisdom and power.
the Pharaoh let the Israelites leave his ✦✦ (1012 – 588 BC) Many mythical kingdoms gave tribute
country and return to the promised to Solomon, such as the distant Sheba
land of Canaan. Moses led the Israelites God gave Solomon the command to erect whose riches of gold, ivory and incense
for forty years through the desert and a temple in which to store the Ark of the attract many expeditions during
faced many hardships and encountered Covenant. It was founded in Jerusalem the 18th century, and Ophir, which
many miracles. Upon Mount Sinai, on Mount Moriah, where Abraham sent gold, sandalwood, peacocks, and
Moses spoke with God and received was to sacrifice Isaac. To build the precious stones.
the ten commandments, written on two temple, Solomon asked his ally Hiram In addition to the daughter of the
stone tablets. The story says that when of Tyre for aid, and he sent architects, Pharaoh, Solomon had 700 royal
he descended, his face was radiant; stone cutters, and large amounts of consorts and 300 concubines, all of
however, because of a mistranslation in gold and lumber of cedar and cypress. which were Moabites, Ammonites
the Vulgate, the first bible translation The construction was the largest in the and other peoples God had told the
from Hebrew to Latin, the word entire kingdom, more than a hundred children of Israel to mix with. With
”radiant” was mistaken for ”horned.” thousand men were involved. The age, Solomon’s wives turned his heart
Thus, Moses was depicted during the temple was adorned with exotic wood, toward other gods and he started to
Renaissance with a horn in his forehead. gold and valuable jewels. In the Holy of worship Ashtoreth and Moloch. He
Moses died at 120 years old, just before Holies, two gold-covered olive wooden broke his covenant with God and built
the land of Canaan was conquered. cherubim were put to watch over the temples to these new deities, to which
This was a time of powerful kings Ark, and on the porch, two brass pillars burnt offerings were brought. Many
and heroes who fought Philistines, were placed. The right pillar was named books of the dark arts, such as the
Amalekites, and other tribes that Jachin and the left Boaz. Clavis Salomonis and Pseudomonarchia

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Daemonum claim to hold Solomon’s the king of Babylon, marched into The Persian king Cyrus the Great
wisdom and magical incantations. Jerusalem. The Temple of Solomon conquered Babylonia and freed the
After the death of Solomon, the was sacked and destroyed, the people Jews, letting them return home. In the
kingdom was split into Israel in the captured and forced to march, in chains, ruins of Jerusalem, rebuilding of the
north and Judah in the south. From to faraway Babylon as slaves. old kingdom began. Where Solomon’s
every direction, the two kingdoms Temple used to be, a second one was
were attacked by enemies who sought built. Pilgrims flocked from Babylon to
to take from the Israelites their The sixth age of the world help with the reconstruction.
rightful kingdom. Assyrian kings The time to come was riddled
invaded the northern kingdom of ✦✦ 3417 A.M. – Judgement Day with privation and plagues, but also
Israel successively and took prisoners ✦✦ (588 BC. – Judgement Day) prophets and presages. Foreign empires
of war. During the reign of Sargon II, conquered the land in turns, both
the kingdom of Israel was eventually For 70 years, the Jews languished in Persians and Greeks ruled over it before
defeated and conquered. Many fell Babylonian slavery. Babylon was ravaged its independence. For a hundred years
in battle, others fled or were taken as from the many wars with Assyria, but the kingdom and its people enjoyed
slaves. Ten out of twelve tribes were Nebuchadnezzar had the city repaired freedom before the Romans attacked
removed from history. During the 18th and expanded, and it was now that and annexed Judea and Galilee.
century, theologians, historians and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were From this point onwards the
scientists still discuss their fate. One built Also during this time, many of the sacred history from the bible starts
of the most popular theories is that the books of the Bible were written, and the to intertwine with the history of the
natives of the New World descend from Jews grew stronger in their conviction West. This is because the time of Jesus
the ten lost tribes of Israel. of their divine covenant. Odd Fellows, Christ was approaching and, with it,
In the south the kingdom of Judah and a series of other secret and occult the spreading of salvation to the pagan
was more resilient, but it eventually fell societies, claim to have been founded westerners from which the Europeans
when the armies of Nebuchadnezzar, during the Babylonian captivity. descend.

69

Eric’s steps echoed from the walls in the enormous corridor that stretched between the two
institutions, and from the floor which was covered in polished marble. In his hand he held the
proof that his opponent was wrong. For over a year now he had read books and texts written
by Cathars and spiritualists, despised interpretations of the bible by Beguines and Beghards,
mystics and Gnosticians. He had delved into Lucifer-letters and devil-manuscripts, the liturgy
of Donatists to summon demons and Bogomil writings that, if they reached the streets, would
cause a second coming of the flood. He found truths and spiritual paths with profound depths
that would make child-killers shiver. Then, he had been forced to give in to his opponent, for
their truths had carried the day, but now he had gathered all the proof he needed. This would
surely give him a new and better position in the college next spring. If only that accursed
occultist Tim McDonnel would stay away. He always had to interfere in matters that didn’t
concern him, and was regrettably more knowledgeable in this area than he. Eric caught
himself once again wondering how it could be that a law concerning the finances of the state
had suddenly focused on occult writings from the darkest parts of the Middle Ages.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 calendar

 The Heathen Timeline 

The most ancient history of Europe golden era, a time of innocence during even come near. For the next thousand
is covered in the fogs of myth. The which shepherds wandered with their years, Rome ruled the world and
historians of the Church, however, agree flocks of sheep across the meadows, spread civilization to the most remote
that the continent was Hell’s forecourt, younglings laughed and played areas of Europe. Traces can be found
a dark, vast wilderness where people with satyrs and centaurs on rolling, in the form of milestones, dilapidated
fought for survival against giants, green hills, quenched their thirst in aqueducts, and overgrown temple
Erinyes, satyrs, and other creatures. rippling brooks, and rested in the ruins.
The humans were like wild animals, shade of lush groves. The legendary The world of the Antiquity
crawling and tracking the scent of blood meadows of Arcadia have during the gave birth to architecture, art, and
with twitching nostrils. They lived in 18th century become popular themes science that laid the groundwork for
packs and were completely driven by in painting, and many distinguished Western civilization and is still the
their desires and carnal lust. Fathers nobles have had themselves depicted standard until the current day. The
fornicated with their daughters and sons as simple shepherds, surrounded columns and pilasters that adorn the
70 bedded their mothers, they greedily sated by uncorrupted nature in idyllic newly built palaces of the Parisian
their hunger with chunks of flesh, ripped pastorals. and London aristocrats have their
from bodies still warm, and dressed in In Greece, there was at the time a origins in the temples of Antiquity,
skins of animals and their enemies. civilization highly advanced in regard the cathedrals and churches that reach
Since this was long before Christ died to science, administration, art, and for the skies have their origins in the
for the sins of man, they knew nothing of literature, but which was equally Roman basilica, the meters poets use
God’s salvation. The wild tribes of Europe as ungodly in their idolatry. The when they create their complimentary
wore amulets of corpulent women, raised Greeks built grand temples that were poems for kings, Love, and Nature are
megaliths in giant circles, buried kings dedicated to pagan gods. Many of the same that were used in ancient
under mounds of stones, and devoted their these gods had Egyptian, Babylonian, times. Nevertheless, the decadence
time to the dark arts. In sacred glades or Mesopotamian origins, something of the Roman emperors was unseen
druids cut the throats of people and goats the Greek historian Herodotus wrote in the world since the days of Sodom
with bronze daggers to spill their blood about. Hermes of the Greeks and and Gomorrah. This was a time of
on altars devoted to Mercury, Mars, and Mercury of the Romans had his origin orgies and perversions, mental illness,
various idols during the summer solstice in the Egyptian Thoth, while Aphrodite and incest, with emperors elevated to
and other heathen festivals. and Venus, respectively, were the same godhood and worshipped.
It is claimed that some of these wild goddess that was worshiped in Nineveh Just as Dante pointed out in his
men still live in isolated tribes, deep as Ishtar, in Uruk as Inanna, and in Divina Commedia, the people of
within the forests of the continent. Tyre as Ashtoreth. Antiquity were all condemned to Hell.
These wild men are a common heraldic The Romans were the heirs of the Even Plato, Aristotle, Homer, Virgil,
motif, and the symbol appears, among Greek democratic city states and and other prominent geniuses and pious
others, on the Prussian coat of arms. conquered large swaths of Europe men were relegated to the ”Limbus”,
that were added to their empire. a kind of softer antechamber to Hell,
Stone roads were built and cities were but nonetheless far from the grace of
Classical antiquity founded that are still inhabited. The the Heaven. All of this only happened
In contrast to the darkness of the capital grew to such a size that many because Christ had not yet died on the
north, ancient Greece is described as a 18th-century metropolises have yet to cross for the sins of humankind.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 71

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 calendar

 The Christian Era 

In Roman-occupied Judea, the biblical divinity and the correct way to salvation. fate of the Western Empire was already
prophecies of a Redeemer finally came Simon Magus, Valentinus, and others sealed.
true. God’s only son was born in a stable advocated Gnosticism that stressed the Rome was assailed from all directions
and, at the age of thirty, he preached individual’s own path to salvation and by Vandals, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Huns
the message of Christianity, drove the enlightenment, something that went and other barbarians who plundered
merchants from the Temple, turned completely against the teachings of Paul and burned the city. The last emperor
water into wine, cured leprosy, brought and Peter, where the clergy was the link of the Western Empire, 16-year-old
Lazarus back to life, and performed all between the individual and God. It was Romulus Augustus, was deposed in 476
sorts of miracles before he was betrayed not until the First Council of Nicaea by the Germanic commander Odoacer.
by Judas Iscariot for thirty silver coins. in the year 325 that a summary and The previously all powerful empire fell
The Roman occupation force and declaration of the Christian faith was apart and its domains were divided up
the Jewish leaders had enough of the made. Those who did not fall in line between barbaric kings and princes.
agitator. Jesus Christ was tortured by with the ecumenical council’s decision A darkness descended over Europe
72 Pontius Pilate, crucified, and died on were declared heretics. and the civilized territories fell into
the cross for the sins of humankind, For almost three hundred years barbaric decay. The Roman road
resurrected on the third day, and Christians were persecuted because network was reclaimed by nature, cities
ascended into Heaven, to sit by God the of their faith. Their numbers grew were depopulated, and Roman law and
Father’s right side. constantly, until emperor Constantine order sunk into oblivion. Science and
Christ founded the church and, the Great declared religious freedom. philosophy were limited to monks in
according to the gospel of Matthew, On his death bed, he was baptized and isolated monasteries that kept and
the apostole Peter was put as its head, in the year 380, emperor Theodosius I transcribed the texts of Antiquity while
later to become the first pope in Rome. decreed Christianity as the Roman state superstition and chaos reigned outside
But christianity would have remained a religion. The faith of the slaves had now the protective walls.
purely Hebrew phoenomeon, if it was become the faith of emperors. But not With time, small lights of civilization
not for the missionary journey of Paul even conversion to the true faith could were lit in the overarching darkness.
and his missionary journeys spreading save Rome from ruin. The Frankish king Clovis reconquered
the faith across the Mediterranean. the former Roman province of Gaul and
Peter and Paul were executed by the laid the foundation for both France and
Roman authorities for undermining The middle ages what later became the Sacred Roman
the faith in the old gods. However, the empire. His forefather was the mythical
new faith found more followers, chiefly ✦✦ (AD 476 - 1492) king Merovech who was said to have
among slaves and the most vulnerable descended from a leviathan, and gave his
members of Roman society who were The once powerful Roman Empire name to the Merovingian dynasty that
attracted to the notion of salvation started to crumble, ravaged by enemies would come to rule over France during
from the suffering of the present life. from without as well as conflicts from the next centuries.
Christians were persecuted, thrown to within. In a desperate attempt to keep Apart from uniting what would later
the lions, or burned as human torches control, the empire was eventually split be known as France, Clovis was baptized
for entertainment in the arenas of Rome. in 395, into a Western and Eastern in the true Christian faith and gained
During this time, a number of Roman Empires. In the east, the Eastern the support of the Church against the
Christian sects arose that all had Roman Empire survived for a thousand many impious kings and rulers that
different opinions on Jesus’ actions and years as the Byzantine Empire, but the reigned across the European patchwork

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 of princedoms and kingdoms. The rejected. The universities that started to Even the Templar Knights, whose
mythical Merovingian dynasty ruled for appear were an extension of the Church, name derived from Solomon’s Temple
over two hundred years, and conquered and were modelled on monastic schools. and who had been one of the most
more and more land, but in time grew From the pulpit, the pious masses learned important factions in the protection
weak and powerless. that temptations and sin lurked behind of the Holy Land, became tainted
In the east and south, the threat of the every corner, and the eternal fire of Hell and seduced by devilish temptation.
Mohammedan religion grew. In just a awaited those who fell from the true path. On Friday the thirteenth of October
century Islam spread across the Orient To their aid, the Church had a network 1307, the members of the Order were
and the northern coast of Africa until of informers that reported suspected imprisoned by papal decree. Confessions
the Islamic caliphate stretched from heretics and sinners to Rome. The first were forced under torture, of heresy,
China to Spain. The Moorish hordes and foremost purpose of architecture and idolatry, and other unnameable sins. All
pushed north through the Frankish art was to spread the Christian message were executed and the grandmaster of
kingdom but were stopped in the year and manifest the power and grace of the order, Jacques de Molay, was burned
732 at the Battle of Poiters by Charles God on Earth, in enormous cathedrals at the stake in the heart of Paris. After the
Martel, steward of the Merovingians. with monumental stained glass windows dissolution of the order, their enormous
In 751, the last Merovingian king was depicting biblical scenes. riches and vast territories were granted
deposed, with the Pope’s consent, and In the east, Christianity was again to Philip IV, who was the first to inform
was forced into a monastic life. In their threatened by the advance of the the Church of the Templar Knights’
place, the Carolingians took power. Mohammedan religion. The Pope urged fall from the true faith. Several secret
Charlemagne was crowned emperor a holy war to retake Jerusalem and the societies during the 18th century claim
in 800 by Pope Leo III, marking the Holy Land from the heathens. During kinship with the Templar Knights and
advent of the Holy Roman Empire that the following centuries, righteous claim that the occult secrets the order
still exists during the 18th century under knights and pious pilgrims flocked uncovered in Jerusalem still live on.
the Hapsburg rulers of Austria. With to the East to drive back the ungodly During the Middle Ages, Christianity
Charlemagne’s coronation, it is thought conquerors and win God’s glory. was split as the highest spiritual leaders,
that the Western Roman Empire was Several Christian states were founded as the Roman popes, fought the highest
restored in Europe. Charlemagne and beachheads in the Holy Land, where the worldly leaders, the Holy Roman 73
his successors conquered large parts of crusaders were influenced by the style Emperors, for power. Other kings also
the continent and forced the defeated to of architecture, philosophy, religion, saw their chance to extend their power
convert. One by one, the heathen bent and science of both Byzantium and the at the Church’s expense, all the while
the knee, trembling before the power Muslim world. When they returned to internal struggles within the Church
of God and professed their submission. Europe, they brought with them their had several bishops proclaim themselves
Some claim that Charlemagne’s newfound knowledge. It was at this antipopes to challenge Rome’s power.
successes were due to a powerful relic time that freemasonry and other occult The culmination was reached when
he had in his possession: The Lance of currents from heathen religions spread Philip IV forced Clement V to move
Longinus, said to have pierced the side to the Christian world. the papacy from Rome to Avignon,
of Jesus as he hung on the cross. In southern France, a variety in southern France. For 70 years, the
The power of the Church grew stronger of heretic sects had soon emerged. Church languished in this Babylonian
as larger territories where converted and Cathars and other renegades attracted captivity before the balance of power
accepted the Pope’s superiority. Grand so many followers that the Church had turned again, and the papacy returned
cathedrals were built, the influence over to intervene. First, Pope Gregory IX to Rome.
kings grew, and the Church’s territories instituted the Papal Inquisition with During the centuries, the population
around Rome expanded constantly as the aid of the Dominican Order to of Europe had steadily increased. Cities
the military power of the Papal States attempt to quell the heresies. When grew along the rivers, trade routes and
grew. Almost half of all the cultivated the dukes of Toulouse sided with the old Roman fortifications. Inside the city
land in Europe belonged to the Church, Cathars, the Church and the French walls, commerce and craftsmanship
and the monasteries made so much royal power were forced to crusade in flourished. Groups of carpenters,
money, producing wine and wool as well Languedoc and Provence. Villages and masons, cobblers and other traders
as studying theological questions. The cities were devastated and thousands joined into guilds that with time grew
Church also had a monopoly on learning; of heretics were burned at the stake. increasingly influential. Merchants and
all philosophy and science was restricted In these parts, heresy was so deeply artisans made up the ”bourgeoisie,” a
by Christianity and whatever thoughts rooted that it took 120 years before the new social class, with less power than
and theories that did not correspond last Cathars were captured or driven the nobility and clergy but more than
to the doctrines of the Church were away. the peasants. The cities grew rapidly

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 into narrow labyrinths of rickety people became inspired by the ideals of politician Niccolò Machiavelli described
wooden houses with streets filled with Antiquity, when ambition and sensuality in his work The Prince the ideal ruler of
animals and refuse. The threat of fires, were highly regarded, as a contrast to the time as ruthlessly pragmatic.
famine and plagues was constant. the gloomy medieval sermons of sinners The House of Borgia in many ways
The Black Death swept across the and purgatory. They commissioned personified this Machiavellian prince.
continent during the 14th century and portraits and poetry, built luxurious Through strategic marriages, nepotism,
the Bubonic Plague killed more than 20 palaces, and spent their enormous simony, and assassinations, the family
million people, between a third and two fortunes on the fine arts. The Roman managed to acquire several lesser
thirds of Europe’s population. Many poet Ovid’s epic Metamorphoses, Italian duchies and place two popes in
thought Judgement Day had come, and which was about Roman mythology, office. Rodrigo Borgia’s time as Pope
expected the prophecies of the Book of came to be a source of inspiration for Alexander VI (1492 – 1503) was an
Revelation to come true. Others wanted countless poetry collections, sculptures especially dark time for Rome, which
scapegoats. Wandering vagabonds were and paintings. Even the Church became was characterized by corruption and
blamed, the poor were blamed, as were caught up in this trend, building domed sin.
the leprous, mendicant friars, pilgrims, churches and adorning chapels and The most influential family during
Arabs, and the English, but most of cathedrals with frescoes and painted this time was the House of Medici, of
all, the Jews. The relatively peaceful ceilings. Florence. They came from humble
relations between Christians and Jews Art and literature flourished, but beginnings but managed to create
that had lasted for centuries, were now also philosophy and science were a fortune as textile merchants and
exchanged for burning hatred. In cities, rediscovered as antique texts of bankers. The money was spent mostly
all over Europe, Jews were massacred. Aristotle and Euclid were found again. to support the fine arts, and the House
Confessions were forced with torture Europe, since the fall of Rome an were patrons to many of that time’s
racks and breaking wheels, of poisoned uncivilized backwater in comparison greatest artists, among them Leonardo
wells and other fabulous conspiracies, to the Muslim world and the oriental da Vinci. Agents were sent to distant
which led to more persecutions and dynasties, became once again the center parts of the country to find and retrieve
hatred. In Nuremberg, over 500 Jews of the world. ancient texts, and what they managed
74 were killed, in December 1349, and Among the many prominent artists, to bring back was invaluable to the
thousands were murdered across the philosophers, and scientists of this development of both art and science. It
continent. age, the most distinguished of all was is no coincidence that the Renaissance
The plague continued to ravage Leonardo da Vinci. This universal began in Florence, and without the
Europe, and broke out several times genius excelled both as a painter and House of Medici, the great rebirth of
during the following centuries. The inventor as well as a mathematician and Antiquity might never have happened.
latest epidemic was in Marseille, in 1720, naturalist. He designed machines for The House of Medici’s influence
that claimed almost a hundred thousand war and for flying, performed anatomical grew stronger by the day. They became
lives in the city and its surroundings. studies, developed perspective and Dukes of Florence, and then Grand
invented new painting techniques; in Dukes of Tuscany, and produced two
short, there was no area in which he did French queens and four popes. Their
The renaissance not prove his genius. His services were power over Florence remains until
hired by the leading characters of the 1737, when Gian Gastone de’ Medici,
✦✦ (15th and 16th centuries AD.) time, from the Medici family to the king the last Grand Duke of Tuscany, dies
of France. and the territory is claimed by the Holy
In northern Italy, Florence, Venice, and This was also a time of bitter Roman Emperor.
other city states had grown prosperous competition and opposition. The During this time, the boundaries of
and powerful through trade with the opulent city states fought each other Christianity changed. To the east, the
East. Via the crusader states and the to control lucrative trade routes, and thousand-year Empire of Byzantium
Byzantine Empire, silk and spices fought with the Papal States for land fell in 1453, when Constantinople fell to
flowed from the Orient to Europe on and autonomy. Wealthy merchants the invading Turkish hordes. Many fled
Italian ships that in return supplied the and nobles fought to be appointed westwards to the Italian city states and
crusades. By the end of the 14th century, court judges and cardinals, and within brought with them translated Arabic
northern Italy was the economic center families they fought for inheritance and scientific texts and writings from ancient
of Europe. titles. Among the piazze, campanili, and philosophers that were long been lost
Among the wealthy merchants, an canals, intrigues played out and backs in the West. In the Iberian paeninsula
interest in ancient Rome and Athens were stabbed with daggers much as in the Reconquista was completed as the
arose. Just like Dante and Petrarch, the old Roman senate. The Florentine Granadan emirate, the last bastion of

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 the Moors, fell in 1492. Moorish Spain he accused the Pope and the Church wiped out the entire population of the
had a large Jewish minority that enjoyed of Rome of corruption and having lost city of Magdeburg. Entire cities were
many liberties under Muslim rule. The their way. The Pope excommunicated destroyed and completely depopulated.
new Christian rulers completely lacked him and the Holy Roman Emperor When the echo of the last shot fired had
that religious tolerance, and the Spanish declared him an outlaw, but the damage dissipated and the smoke had cleared,
Inquisition spurred many persecutions. was already done. large parts of the Holy Roman Empire
The Jews were forced to convert or Because of the newly invented were in ruins.
were burned at the stake. Almost two printing press, Luther’s Protestant With the Peace of Westphalia, the
hundred thousand Jews had to flee ideas spread far and wide. Previously, geographic, religious, and political
Spain to seek shelter in more tolerant both bible and service had been in maps of Europe were redrawn. France
states. The majority fled to the Ottoman Latin, but the Protestant congregations secured their role as the continent’s
Empire, but others found their way to started using their native languages and greatest power and Sweden entered
countries such as Netherlands and some translated bibles which increased the the European scene; Brandenburg,
parts of the Holy Roman Empire. new branch’s popularity considerably. which had suffered greatly in the war,
In 1492, Columbus discovered the Many regents saw this as an was granted large territories as war
New World as he sought to find a sea opportunity to break with the Catholic reparations, enabling them to grow into
route to India. The expansion of the Church and end their hundreds- the militaristic power of Prussia during
Ottoman Empire had cut off the old years-old influence, and declared that the 18th century; and the Holy Roman
trade routes and it had become more their states would become Protestant, Empire was declared multiconfessional,
difficult for European merchants to not necessarily because of genuine drastically diminishing the Emperor’s
buy silk and spices from India and the conviction, but rather to lay claim to power.
realms beyond. The discovery of the church property and extend their power Religious persecutions and infighting
new continent would come to be of by making the Church a part of the continued during the rest of the 17th
great importance for Europe, and the state. century. The Edict of Nantes, that had
economic center went from the northern Religious turmoil flared up all over guaranteed the Protestants of France
Italian city states to the kingdoms at the Europe and reached its peak in 1618 some rights, was revoked in 1685 and
Atlantic coast. The Church saw their when a civil war between religious hundreds of thousands of Huguenots 75
opportunity to send missionaries to the factions in the Holy Roman Empire had to flee the country, and in the
New World to convert the heathens. developed into a war between the great revolution in 1688, the Catholic king
Religion, magic, and science were, for powers of Europe. What is notable is was deposed by the English parliament
all intents and purposes, intertwined, that the Catholic France allied with who put a Protestant king on the throne.
as the boundaries between them were Sweden and other Protestant states While Europe was shaken by religious
blurred. Renaissance mystics sought against the Holy Roman Empire, the wars, the Europeans spread to other,
after ”prisca sapientia,” the ancient Catholic League and their allies. distant parts of the world. Regions
knowledge God had revealed to man The Thirty Years’ War completely of the American, African and Asian
in antiquity, in recently rediscovered tore the continent to shreds. The continents were invaded and claimed
antique texts and kabbalistic writings. development of armaments combined by various European sovereignties.
The most important occult books of with considerably growing armies Merchant vessels sailed back to Europe,
this time were Tabula Smaragdina turned Europe into the forecourt of Hell. loaded to the brim with silver, silk,
and Corpus Hermeticum, by Hermes For three decades, military baggage spices and other valuables.
Trismegistos. trains crawled like maggots across the Alchemy, astrology, and mysticism
lands, devouring everything in their thrived. The aristocracy had their
path. Close to a third of the population horoscopes cast, and the kings of Europe
The reformation in the war-torn regions were killed by hired court astrologers. The French
the ravages of the armies. Those who queen Catherine de Medici patronised
✦✦ (16th-18th centuries AD) were not butchered outright succumbed the famous prophet Nostradamus at the
in the aftermath of battle to famine and French court and Elizabeth I of England
On 31st October 1517, the German disease. hired John Dee, who communicated with
priest Martin Luther nailed his 95 Never before had the civilian angels, together with Edward Kelly,
theses to the door of All Saint’s Church population suffered so in a war. The who wrote about the celestial language,
in Wittenberg and caused a schism cruelty of the advancing armies seemed Enochian, that was spoken by Adam in
within Christianity that would change limitless, and the bloodthirstiness of the Garden of Eden.
Europe forever and cost the lives of the Swedish soldiers took on almost During this time, many of the works
hundreds of thousands. In his treatise, legendary proportions when they nearly still read by 18th-century alchemists

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 and occultists were written: Le livre he published his theories in 1632, in the Newton, who in his work Philosophiæ
d’Abramelin le Mage was about the middle of the Thirty Years’ War, the Naturalis Principia Mathematica
Egyptian magician Abramelin, who Pope was furious. Galileo was accused formulated the laws of motion and
taught the German Jew Abraham of and convicted of heresy but managed gravity. In De mundi systemate, the third
Worms kabbalistic magic; Theatrum to avoid being burned at the stake by book of the work, he mathematically
Chemicum went into detail about the recanting his theories, and spent the proved, based on astronomical
secrets of alchemy; and the anonymously rest of his life under house arrest. observations, that the Earth rotated
published Fama Fraternitatis, Confessio Witch trials were held in all of Europe. around the Sun, which finally made the
Fraternitatis and Chymical Wedding Under torture, one by one confessed to Church accept the heliocentric model.
of Christian Rozenkreutz told of the have made pacts with the Devil, the use Still, during the beginning of the 18th
mysterious Rosicrucian Order. of black arts, and other unnameable sins. century, the occult legacy lived on in
Rome stationed spies across the In almost every village, followers of scientific contexts, and despite being
continent. In Mary Stuart of Scotland’s Satan could be found. The Holy Roman the most prominent scientist among his
court, her private secretary was exposed Empire was struck the hardest, wherein contemporaries and president of Royal
as a Papal agent, and when Henry IV tens of thousands were convicted of Society, Newton certainly devoted his
of France was murdered by a Catholic heresy and executed. In the New World, time to alchemy and was obsessed with
fanatic, papal interference was suspected a notable trial occurred in the town of the geometry of Solomon’s Temple.
but never proven. Salem, described by Cotton Mather in By the middle of the 18th century, the
The Church cared little for science, Wonders of the Invisible World. The scientific revolution has influenced the
as long as it did not contradict religious witch hysteria ebbed with the advent social sciences. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
dogmas. As Protestantism gained of the 18th century, but as late as 1734, rages against society’s moral decay and
ground, the Papacy grew even more Swedish law still prescribes decapitation injustices, Voltaire makes fun of the
irascible. Already at its founding, the and death by burning as punishments Church and royalty, while Denis Diderot
Church had taken their cosmology from for witchcraft. and Jean d’Alembert complete the great
the ancient Greeks, that the world was French encyclopaedia in which they
geocentric, with the Sun, the Moon, the praise reason, rationalism and liberty.
76 stars, and the planets all circling the The enlightenment In France and many other countries, the
Earth. When the Polish mathematician crown and Church strike back ruthlessly
and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus ✦✦ (1700 AD – present) with censorship and damnation against
discovered that the Sun had to be the everything that threatens the old social
center in the 15th century, he dared not Already in 1627, English statesman order. Enlightened philosophers are
publish his theories. It was not until Francis Bacon wrote about a society prosecuted, put in chains, and hunted
1543, right before his death, that De founded on enlightenment and down, but the intellectual revolution
Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium was rational thinking in his utopian novel cannot be stopped.
published, but it received little attention. New Atlantis. In the novel, the most In coffee houses in Paris, London,
The Neapolitan Hermetic Giordano important institution was neither and Stockholm, philosophy, politics
Bruno was not as modest. Not only did royalty nor Church but Solomon’s and economics are lively discussed, the
he claim that Copernicus was right in House, an association or order devoted slums grow discontent with the price
believing that the Earth circled the Sun, to scientific studies and development of of bread, and across Europe freemason
but that this infinite Universe contained human thought. Bacon advocated a new lodges form where intellectuals meet in
an infinite number of worlds, populated kind of science based on observation secrecy to discuss philosophy and social
by living creatures. These notions were and experiment, rather than religious reforms. And in dark cellars, alchemists,
blasphemy of the most repugnant kind. dogmas and established myths. occultists and mystics conspire.
The Inquisition caught him in Venice Inspired by Bacon’s utopia, the The East Indian trading companies
and sent him to Rome, where he was Royal Society was founded in London bloom. Ships arrive from the Orient
found guilty of heresy and burned at the in 1660 and the Académie des Sciences with silk, porcelain, and anything and
stake in 1600. was founded in Paris in 1666. These everything that is of latest fashion.
The Florentine scientist Galileo became examples for the many scientific Along the triangle trade routes, rum,
Galilei, employed by the House of academies that were established around textiles, and manufactured goods are
Medici, developed in the early 1600’s the Europe during the coming decades. In shipped to Africa, slaves are sent from
newly invented telescope and through 1739, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien Africa to America, and sugar, tobacco
observing the phases of Venus he came was founded in Stockholm. and cotton are sent back to Europe. At
to the conclusion that Copernicus’ One of the most important characters the Royal Exchange in London and in
model had to be the right one. When in this scientific revolution was Isaac other stock markets, shares of trading

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 77

companies are traded back and forth are lost, the bourgeoisie seek more and Some scientists and theologians
feverishly, and every day fortunes are more influence, the lower classes work speak of the mundus senescens, the
created and destroyed. themselves to death, and at society’s concept that the world, just like a
For some, the 18th century is a time absolute bottom, the paupers dream of living organism, is born, grows, ages,
of advancement and the beginning of a eating one full meal. and finally, inexorably, dies. As proof,
new golden age. For others, however, Discontent and rebellious sentiment the frail 18th century human being is
it is a time of darkness, much like the grow, conspiracies and plots are presented with its modest body and
time just before the flood. Paris and planned while rapiers are sharpened short lifespan in contrast to the Biblical,
London are seen as the modern Sodom and muskets loaded. The cultural, hundred-year-old giants of old.
and Gomorrah, full of decadence and economic, and political revolution that It is a world trapped between twilight
heresy. The royal families of Europe started during the renaissance is now and dawn, and no one knows what is
are bankrupt due to perpetual warfare, close to completion. A new world order coming next, the brightest of days or
the nobility watch as their privileges awaits. the darkest of nights.

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 calendar

 Judgment Day 

Soon, the end of days will be upon us: in the secret vaults and that God did has always been naive and foolish
the Judgment Day. not respond to prayers in the same way to believe that the world could last
The Four Horsemen of the as before. The Pope had lost much of forever. Even if everyone lived piously
Apocalypse stand on the crest and his healing powers, and the darkness and righteously, there could be no
the world as we know it will die. had become more and more palpable. hope for salvation. God has already
Twilight has fallen over humankind. The bishops testified to shadows, imposed his punishment a long time
Everything is their fault, the damned speaking with sharp tongues and ago, and what we are living through
philosophical materialists and the to an evil that could be cut through now is simply it’s death throes.
scientists. They turned their backs with knives. They presented to the The priests point their bony,
on God and for that, humankind will Pope a tome more than four thousand accusing fingers towards the lost.
be punished. Heretics, infidels, those pages long, with testimonies both The big question is whether they are
with a thirst for knowledge who dug simple and exhaustive. This Carta right, for who shall save humankind if
too deep: everything is their fault. Monstruorum told of two-headed not God? What does an enlightened,
78 Instead of living a life of peace, the cows, small boys born with horns secular world amount to if it is to
world was thrown into war and from their foreheads and tails between fall anyway, and what is the purpose,
misery. The upheaval and collapse of their legs, misshapen daughters, and really, in seeking truths that lead the
state and individual alike are proof the dead walking again. You could world into darkness? The people bend
enough. When desire for things took read about unholy snakes, born with under the yoke of uncertainty; maybe
hold of their hearts, instead of love, arms, of lizards spewing sulphur, and Judgment Day is tomorrow.
it was too late. The world is writhing of pious priests becoming possessed. Judgment Day is as real to the
in agony before the truth and the sun A date was predicted for when the people of the 18th century as their
is scarcely visible above the horizon; Apocalypse would come upon man and belief in Heaven and Hell, that the
when it casts its final rays, it is over. it was stated that there was little hope Apocalypse will come eventually is
Only darkness will follow. to change the course of events. 1789 just as obvious as Christ dying on
The signs have been there for so is the year when the world will sink the cross. The Second Coming, the
long. Plagues, war, gluttony and into darkness and God will punish coming of the Kingdom of God and
ungodly living, Sodom and Gomorrah humankind. Some claimed it will the Apocalypse are integral parts of
were punished with obliteration, but all begin in France and then spread Christian belief. Countless church
now it won’t just be two cities that will to the world like a wildfire. Others windows, altarpieces, church gates,
be erased, it will be all of humankind. determined that 1776 would be the and decorated facades depict terrible
When the Son of man returns he will year, and that it would strike the New scenes from the Apocalypse as a
not return as a king and leader, but World first. A war there would mark constant reminder of what is to come.
as a judge. The judge will impose the the beginning of the Apocalypse. It is a time looked forward to with
punishment and not even the good Isaac Newton, while being a both fear and anticipation. It is now
may feel hope. Humanity is beyond scientist, agrees with the priests. He that the dead will rise from their
redemption. is of the opinion that “nothing remains graves and the righteous will ascend
In 1712, 201 of the most important without change”, and calculates the to Heaven to live life eternal side by
bishops participated in a secret end of the world to occur in 2060, side with God, while the sinners burn
Vatican Council to discuss the role of three hundred years from now. and are cast down into the abyss.
the Church in a dying world. It was Newton partly puts the blame on the It is a time of great suffering and
established that blood ran from relics lost, but also says that humankind devastation that will make the plagues

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 of Egypt, the destruction of Sodom Earth, the rulers and commanders, When the sixth trumpet sounds,
and Gomorrah, and even the flood, those whose powers and riches now four angels who have been bound by
pale in comparison. mean nothing, will hide in the rocks the river Euphrates will be released.
Since the foundation of Christianity, from the wrath of the Lamb. Their hordes will count twenty
people have awaited the Apocalypse. God’s servants, who have suffered thousand times ten thousand riders
Many dates have been suggested so, will stand in white robes with palm in breastplates the colour of fire,
throughout history. Some of the branches in their hands before the hyacinth and brimstone, whose horses
ascetic Shaker sect have in ecstatic Throne of God, upon which the Lamb spew fire, smoke and brimstone from
revelation learned that the year will sits. These crowds will number one their lion heads. They will kill a third
be 1792. Charles Wesley, one of the hundred and forty-four thousand, and of all humans, and those who are not
leaders of the Methodist Church, has they will be sealed on their foreheads slain will not be converted but will
suggested the year 1794. Others have as servants of God. They will never still worship idols, fornicate and sin.
pointed out dates in a distant future. feel hunger or thirst again. Two witnesses, clothed in
If Isaac Newton calculated the world’s When the Lamb opens the seventh sackcloth, will prophesy until the
end to happen in 2060, Nostradamus’ seal, everything will be silent. All the beast ascends from the bottomless pit
prophecies go all the way to 3797. trembling of the Earth, the noise of and kills them. The people will cheer
Many interpret signs in the present battle and cries of agony will stop. and rejoice at the prophets’ deaths and
day and claim that the Apocalypse Then, an angel will take a golden let their bodies lie in the street. After
has already begun, and the great censer, fill it with fire from the altar three and a half days, God will breathe
catastrophes are soon to come. and cast it into the Earth, causing life into them so that they rise again
In the Book of Revelations, the final thunder, lightning and earthquakes. and terrify all who see them. A voice
days are described in detail. Since the Seven angels will sound trumpets, from the Heavens will call on them
Church’s foundation, theologians and one by one. When the first trumpet and a great earthquake will destroy a
occultists have debated the meaning sounds, fire and hail and blood, will tenth of the city.
of the prophecy’s many symbols. rain down on Earth and burn a third When the seventh angel sounds
Like a scroll, the catastrophes will be of it, and when the second sounds, a their trumpet, God’s secret will
unrolled, one by one. The only one burning mountain will crash into the be completed. In Heaven, God’s 79
who is worthy to break the scroll’s sea turning a third of it to blood and temple will become visible and
seven seals is the Lamb of God, Jesus killing a third of all life in it. When summon lightning, thunder, hail, and
Christ who died on the cross for the the third angel sounds their trumpet, earthquakes. A pregnant woman will
sins of man. a great star will fall from the sky, be seen in the sky, crying out in the
The first four seals summon The burning like a torch, into the rivers pain of birth. A great red dragon with
Four Horsemen: Conquest, on a white and springs. A third of all freshwater seven heads, seven crowns and ten
horse with a bow and crown; War, on sources will become wormwood and horns will appear and throw a third
a red horse with a great sword in his poison everyone who drinks from of the stars from the sky. The dragon
hand; Famine, riding on a black horse them. When the fourth angel sounds will stand before the woman to devour
with a pair of scales in his hand; and their trumpet, it will strike a third of her child when it is born, but the
lastly Death, on a pale horse, followed the sun, the moon and the stars which baby will be taken to Heaven and the
by Hell. They will be granted a fourth will darken, and a third each of day woman will escape the dragon. The
of the Earth each, to kill with sword, and night will be utter darkness. Archangel Michael and his angels will
famine, plague and wild beasts. When the fifth trumpet sounds, a fight the dragon, the ancient serpent
When the Lamb opens the fifth star fallen from the sky to the Earth that is the Devil and Satan. The angels
seal, the martyrs who died for their will appear. The star has been given will defeat the dragon and cast him
faith will be given white robes, and the key to the bottomless pit, which it down to the Earth.
when he opens the sixth seal there will open and release dreadful horrors. A beast with ten horns, seven heads,
will be a great earthquake, the sun An army of locusts with the armored and with the body of a leopard, feet
will become black as sackcloth of hair body of a horse, the face of a man, the of a bear and maw of a dragon will
and the moon red as blood. The stars hair of a woman and teeth of a lion rise from the sea. One of its heads
of the Heavens will fall from the sky, will emerge from the depths. They are will appear to have been mortally
like the figs from the trees shaken by led by Abaddon, the Angel of Death, wounded, but the wound has healed.
a mighty wind. And the Heaven shall whose Greek name is Apollyon. The Everyone will marvel at the beast and
depart like a scroll rolled together and swarms will attack and torment, but follow it. Then another beast rises out
every mountain and island shall move not kill, anyone who does not bear the of the Earth, with two horns like a
out of their places. All the kings of the seal of God. lamb, who makes the Earth to worship

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 the first beast and deceives the masses From the dragon’s, the false prophet’s false prophet will be captured and cast
with his signs. The people will receive and the beast’s mouths three unclean alive into the lake of fire that burns
the mark of the beast on their right spirits will come in the shape of frogs. of brimstone, while the dragon will
hand or their forehead. No one can buy The demonic spirits will gather the be bound in the Abyss for a thousand
or sell without this mark. The number rulers of the world to fight against years. All those who died for their
of the beast is a human number, and his God and bring them to Armageddon testimony about Jesus, and who kept
number is six hundred and sixty-six. for the final battle. their faith in God, will be resurrected
Many have tried, through The Whore of Babylon, dressed and reign with Christ for a thousand
numerology, to seek the meaning of in purple and scarlet, will ride on a years.
the number. Everything has been scarlet beast with seven heads and ten After the thousand years have
proposed, from the Pope, the Catholic horns. She is the great city that rules passed, Satan will be released once
Church, and the Protestant teachings over the kings of the Earth. Through more to destroy humanity and gather
to the ancient Roman Empire or a her power and luxury, the merchants his armies for one last battle. Fire will
future empire. Others claim that 666 of the Earth have become rich. In only rain from the sky and devour them all,
is the number of talents, equivalent one hour, she will be destroyed and and the Devil will be cast into the same
to the weight of Solomon’s annual cast into the depths, and the kings and lake of fire and sulphur as the beast
gold income according to the first merchants of the Earth will weep and and the false prophet, where they will
Book of Kings and the second Book of lament at the loss of the worldly riches be tormented forever. Then the Day
Chronicles. while smoke rises from her ruins. of Reckoning is at hand, where all the
There will be many signs in the Some interpret the Whore as a dead shall stand before the throne and
skies, while angelic voices witness the symbol for Rome and the Catholic be judged by their actions. All whose
judgement that will befall Babylon Church, while others see her as the names are not in the book of life will
and the people with the mark of the false Protestant doctrine. There are be judged and thrown into the lake of
beast. It is harvest time on Earth. also those who point to France as the fire.
Angels will cut down, from the temple new Roman Empire, since it is the A new Heaven and a new Earth shall
in Heaven, that which is ripe into greatest power of the 18th century. come. The new Jerusalem shall come
80 God’s great winepress from which And so comes the time for the down from the Heavens, prepared as
flows blood. Lamb’s wedding. The Heavens shall a bride beautifully dressed for her
Seven angels will empty seven open to reveal a white horse, whose husband. God will wipe the tears from
bowls over the Earth. The sea and rider is dressed in white robes dipped the people’s eyes. There will be no
the rivers will be turned to blood, the in blood. He shall shepherd the flock more death, or mourning or crying or
Sun will scorch the planet, the River of God with an iron staff. An angel pain. For the old order of things will
Euphrates will dry out, earthquakes will call out to all the birds to gather have passed away.
will tear the ground apart, all islands to a great supper of God, to feast on
will disappear, as will the mountains, the flesh of kings and generals. And All this shall one day happen.
and great hail will rain over the Earth. during the battle, the beast and the All this shall soon happen.

The Whore of Babylon, dressed in purple and scarlet, will

ride on a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns. She
is the great city that rules over the kings of the Earth. .

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 81

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 the world

 Society 

During the last couple of centuries, isolation and ostracism like that of power to subjects, commissioners,
the grip of Church and nobility on society’s most unfortunate souls. with authority to carry out certain
power has loosened somewhat, but a From 1682 in France the king tasks. These commissions are not
deeply rooted culture of honor lingers ascends to a spiritual state and becomes hereditary but based on completely
in Europe and a power structure still equal to the bishops of the Church arbitrary grounds. Between the strict
exists, especially on the religious which, even if still in communion with court officials and the commissioners
stage. Rome, it is now a ”Gallican Church.” is l’office, a government post that
The old order, the Ancien régime, is Thus, at religious events, the king can comprises public functions that are
strongly associated with and founded act as Christ’s substitute and appear as established through certain laws and
upon the three pillars: monarchy, the a moral example in front of his subjects. customs.
Church, and the aristocracy, and even Those who are of royal blood, the blue In many European nations,
if this arrangement has begun to be blood, are by definition seen as included especially in France, the king,
questioned by the Enlightenment’s into this elevated community and enjoy carefully separates court officials and
82 most radical followers, there is still more rights than the common folk of state officials. Both types of positions
a yoke of nostalgia resting on the the street. can be bought for money and by
shoulders of society, and both the During the end of the 17th century, building a reputation, but the court
nobility and the Church do all in this structure became more and more officials also require the court’s and
their power to stop whatever change criticized and as the Enlightenment the king’s favor. Different kinds of
is coming. Many ask themselves spread, its structure, however, not advantages and favors should also be
what benefit is there to changing a its sacredness, becomes laxer. It is added to this list; to pull the boots off
government type from something that now possible to purchase titles that of the French king after a hunt is, for
has worked for centuries to something previously were exclusive to the instance, considered to be one of the
that is based on thin air and words. nobility. greatest privileges one can have, and
Reason is deemed fleeting and variable From the beginning of the century those who do so may very well enjoy
on subjective grounds, while the old and up until the French Revolution, admiration for several weeks after.
form of government has been shown a strong culture of honor developed, Court physicians, valets de chambre,
to create great powers and successful where an individual’s reputation is pages, lackeys, cavaliers, chamberlains,
states. The revolutionaries of the close to a material asset, and absolutely trabants, they all compete for a higher
Enlightenment, on the other hand, say crucial to their position in society. In position in the court. The same goes for
that the old order was based on war all social classes, a good reputation the state administration, the Church,
and conflict with both intern forces is a prerequisite to win respect, and and the burghers of the towns and
and with other states, and that the since power builds on authority and cities. A higher office not only grants
few lived off of the many. A revolution not consent, reputation is a highly an economic advantage, but also legal
will come and sweep away the old to important resource. The office and the and religious ones too. An accused
replace it with the new, the healthy. reputation gained is what matters in man who has a good name, reputation,
In most countries, the power of life, whether it is in the courts, salons, and post will be judged differently
the king is absolute, since he has the military, or within the government than somebody who does not. The
been granted it by God: Dei Gratia. administration. privileges the nobility enjoyed during
To question it is to question God The most coveted offices are those the Middle Ages are now tied to their
which in most countries leads to, if of court officials, or in the case when office. Additionally, most offices have
not imprisonment and the gallows, the king has delegated some of his a history, a history that the official

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 can capitalize on. To join the ranks ranking officials of the crown. The among them. It is possible that one
of “heroes” past and present, holding salary is actually interest on the may purchase an entry into the
high office is an important part of pledge. Even succession rights can ranks of the secret societies, but
building a reputation. be bought, in one or two steps. In participation and advancement occur
All sorts of titles and honors for many cases, especially court officials, under completely different rules.
officials, even in court, are considered it may involve a financial loss, but a Occultists and mystics who have
to be important assets whose gain of privileges, reputation, and reached a high position within a
benefits partly consist of a monthly formal and informal power. People society are presumed to have done so
salary and other privileges, such as can raise money on their office and through action, not money.
accommodation and proximity to live on credit for a long time, mainly Beneath the polished surface, there
social establishments, but most of all due to their position. Harbormasters, are a great number of offices that only
prestige and influence. In a system for instances, belong to an office that a few know about. Offices that aim to
called vénalité, offices in France has been around for hundreds of years. cover up the tracks of the dark and
and other countries are bought like Ostensibly, insignificant offices such mysterious. Posts whose only mission
properties or shares in the profits of as fish peddlers may employ many, and is to, with excuses and lies, make the
a trading ship. This system is used grant privileges that may influence unreal become real, the mysterious
for the courts as well as the merchant entire cities, not to mention master become science of the modern age or
guilds and the military. Even in the builders and book binders who all religious truths in the name of God.
illicit liquor shops of Paris, rights to had considerable power over a city’s England, France, Sweden, Russia,
claim a certain position or leadership development. Among these offices are all keep a staff of officials who act
of gangs are traded. To fall out of also found butchers, blacksmiths, spur behind the scenes, who infiltrate
favor and be dismissed from office, makers and wig makers. secret societies and dig deep into the
and with that, power, is seen as Honor culture, offices, and power occult. Who knows, for instance, that
highly disgraceful, even worse that permeate all social classes. Rank, l’office du occulte has its headquarters
bankruptcy. honor and glory are highly regarded in the building next to Paris Justice,
For many, to be able to purchase an in the different social classes and those and that commissarie du mystériux
office is a big and important part of the who have power in one power sphere is the most well-paid official of the 83
Enlightenment. What was previously do not necessarily have it in another, king? The answer, naturally: no one
exclusive to the nobility is now within while some power spheres, naturally, but the king and his closest staff.
reach for the common man, but to weigh more heavily than others. Paris, London, Stockholm, Rome, all
go one or two steps further is seen That the power of the king is seen the capitals of Europe teem with these
as radical and highly provocative. to radiate from God makes it even ombres de robes. However, there are
Both king and nobility have made more difficult for the philosophers plenty of rumors, speculations and
great sacrifices to soften up the old and radicals of the Enlightenment whispers. Like, for example, that the
system of the past hundred years and to gain ground, since these rays of French king has his own ministère du
distribute power more evenly. That power continue down layer by layer. homunculus, an organization whose
which previously had been a privilege To question the king’s power is to foremost mission is to give life to an
of the nobility is now available for directly question one’s own place in artificial man, or that the Russian
everyone, which is a great step society and to question the existence state administration has built an
towards the new order, even though of God, which sometimes happens in entire public authority surrounding
it mostly works theoretically rather the enlightened salons, it is an affront occult inquiry. The latter, however, no
than in reality. Most officials are still to the king and the royal family and is one really believes, not even the most
noble or extremely rich bourgeois, severely punished in many countries. eager mystics. The Vatican’s own
simply because they are the only ones The secret societies and clubs fight occultum cubiculum, the secret room,
who can afford the titles. over members and sympathizers with is an organization and office whose
When a new office is established, the power and influence from “normal” sole task is to research Hell and whose
official leaves a pledge as compensation life, but are in many ways excepted experiences recall Dante Alighieri’s
to the king and his sheriff, or to high from the principle of buying a place Divina Commedia.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 the world

 Faith and Confession 

Many people view the Church as modesty and piousness. For these emphasize good deeds and view religion
an oppressor who stops personal people, the Church stands as a beacon as an emotional matter rather than an
emancipation and the progress of in the night and is the only protection intellectual one.
society, and in this way, science also from the darkness. Calvinists are strict moralists and
has an ideological function. Science Overall, the Church’s power is greatly argue that all personal and public
stands for rationalism, reason, and weakened, and many kings and nobles activity, including the state, should
progress while the Church is thought have in a short time become atheists be subject to God’s will. They believe
to stand for oppression, superstition, and advocates of natural philosophy. In in predestination. The Puritans of
and the reactionary, which causes many the countryside, where there is more England and New England belong
Enlightened philosophers to have an concern over dark omens and the spawn to the Calvinists. There are also two
atheist or deist view. Christianity and the of the Devil, the Church keeps their distinctive groups of Calvinists: those
teachings of the Church are considered grip on people. Things occur constantly, who call themselves Huguenots and
old-fashioned and are rejected, but in between Heaven and Earth, that appear those called Presbyterians. Huguenots
84 reality, they have more power over to be both mystical and inexplicable, are French Calvinists, during this
people that most can imagine. and most are convinced that there time persecuted and harassed all
The Church considers that only an are witches, devils, ghosts, vampires, over France. The Presbyterians are
imbecile would question the God-given and werewolves. Nature is filled with Scottish Calvinists that adhere strictly
order. Almost two-thousand years of wonders and nothing happens without to the Bible as a guiding rule in
documented miracles and holy people is a higher purpose. For who shall save matters of faith. They believe that the
proof enough, according to them, that humankind if not God? Church should be ruled by Presbyters
not only did God created the universe, The abundance of religious sects or elders.
but that the Almighty is also highly is a sign of minds in a ferment. While The Anglicans are the Englishmen
present and involved. most still find solace in the Lord, who retained some part of the old
The punishment is harsh for numerous different approaches to belief Catholic organization and, at the same
whomever denies God, not only on the and doctrine have promulgated. After time, accepted the Protestant belief that
worldly plane but on the spiritual too. breaking off from Catholicism, the life and teachings should follow only the
With absolute authority the Church Protestants split into different sects, word of the Bible. Latitudinarians are
questions most that in turn question and, in some ways, so have the Catholics Anglicans who care little for liturgy, the
God and his creation, and they are well as well. hierarchy of the Church, or its dogmas.
prepared to disprove anything, every In short, Protestants divide into Another branch of Anglicans are
little advance to the irreconcilable. four larger denominations: Lutherans, Methodists, who emphasize a methodical
The archives, libraries, bishops all sit Calvinists, Anglicans, and other life of devoutness and a more personal,
on invaluable knowledge a thousand- religious sects. emotional life of faith. The Methodists
year-old, that will not be overthrown by The Lutherans belong to the first have a large host of travelling preachers
revolutionaries. Protestants, apprentices to the German who set up revivalist meetings.
As a reaction to the current frivolous apostate Martin Luther. They turn Other religious sects include
and thoughtless living, and to the against the Catholic hierarchy and Mennonites and Dissenters.
scientists’ eagerness to solve the riddle ritual and seek a personal, humble, and Mennonites are against child baptism
of life, the Church has in some places direct contact with God. A Lutheran and argue that only those old enough
strengthened its power, and for many branch call themselves Pietists and to decide for themselves should be
there is an aspiration to live life in oppose the Lutheran dogma. Pietists baptised. Congregationalists, sorted

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 85

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 under Dissenters, are those who other religious orders, they made double although they got separated from Rome
believe that every congregation has a vows of obedience to the Pope and their during the Middle Ages. Constantinople
direct connection to God, thus being militant, rigid approach causes offence is still the prestigious seat of the
an independent member of the great to many Protestants, and even to some Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch but the
Christian community. Quakers see no Catholics too. conquest of the city by the Ottomans
need for educated priests or rituals for On the other hand, “Non orthodox” in 1453 meant that, unlike Catholicism,
the individual to join God’s community, are usually communities which define local patriarcates have way more
and cause many problems for the state. themselves as catholics but which authority.
They refuse to swear on the Bible and to the official hierarchy have defined The power of the Church is waning,
do military service. Baptists emphasize as heretics, casting them out of the but there are still few who dare question
bible study and a profound attitude to Catholic Church. God’s existence. 99 per cent of Europe’s
religion, and Unitarians attach great Jansenists and Quietists are examples population completely believe that the
importance to religious liberty, deny the of this kind of Heretics. Jansenism was Earth is 6,000 years old, that the flood
Holy Trinity, consider Christ but a man, founded by Cornelius Otto Jansen in happened, Heaven and Hell exist, and
and that salvation is dependent on an 1617, and its purpose was, and is, to that prayer and worship are the only
individual’s personal strife and not on reform the Roman Catholic Church by ways to salvation. It is believed that all
the grace of God. returning to Augustine’s teachings. The the people of the world are descendants
The Catholic Church is united and the Jansenists value personal righteousness, of the sons of Noah. To question the
hierarchy guards the preservation of the predestination, and the need for divine supernatural, such as the existence of
one true faith defined as “Orthodoxy.” grace. The Quietists consider that to the living dead, werewolves and blood-
To fight the Protestant reformation become complete, man must remain sucking, immortal vampires is the same
and keep orthodoxy many religious passive and deliver their soul to as to question not only the Church’s
orders appeared inside the Catholic God. Sacraments and confessions are dogmas, but the entire Christian world,
Church. The most important are the superfluous. in other words, one’s own world. Even if
Jesuits, founded by the former Spanish Russia and other Eastern European many question the Church’s monopoly
officer Ignatius of Loyola. As highly countries follow the Eastern Orthodox on knowledge and information behind
86 learned priests the Jesuits are involved Church. These are ancient churches closed doors, there are very few who
in both education of the Europeans and which, like the Catholics, have a openly deny God’s existence and the
evangelization in the colonies. Unlike continuity since early Christianity, Church’s authority.

With a bit of surprise Father Alphonsus saw how a lonely ray of light found its way
through the aperture into the dormitory, and illuminated it as if it were a chamber of gold.
Between the bed and the shelf, with its thick tomes bound in calfskin and Levant, he fell to
his knees in prayer. During the night the abbot had showed him the holy relic, and what
could be done with it. Truly the power of Christ is great! Armed with this relic, which
had been kept hidden by the society for so long, he would now venture out on the roads
to seek out evil and destroy it. The cross lay heavily in his hand, but he felt its power, and
relief filled his heart. The dust hung still in the shaft of light that penetrated the room, and
Alphonsus realized that God had heard his prayer. He was filled with a holiness that not
even the darkness could defile. They would taste the wrath of God. Amen.

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 the world

 Science and Enlightenment 

Previously things were accepted

without question and science scarcely
existed. Ever since the 16th century,
research and science have become more
and more important to people and
society. Understanding came through
experiment and calculations instead of,
as it had been in earlier generations,
faith and tradition.
Isaac Newton is usually the person
most associated with the scientific
revolution that occurred during the
late 17th century and the beginning of
the 18th century. It was he who proved 87
the existence of gravity, and said that
religion cannot give man the answers
to how nature works. After that, gravity
was acknowledged as the ruling force of
the universe. Thanks to reason, studies,
and experience, man had made scientific
discoveries and solved the secret of the
universe, paving the way for the ideas of
the Enlightenment.
Apart from inner turmoil, wars
rage among the nations, fought for
domination all around the world which
in turn leads to new opinions about
religion, humankind and the state.
Science has previously been controlled
by, and dependent upon religion, but is
now starting to be used as a weapon to
tear down the Church. That which had
been the Church’s unrestricted field had
now become practised outside of the
monastery walls.
In cramped attics and cold cellars,
alchemists and scientists perform
experiments on people and animals.
They brew decoctions and tinctures,
distil and burn to uncover truths
and knowledge. The rudder of these

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 scientists is a thirst for knowledge, Society in England has a prominent understand everything. Utilitarians
temptation and lust. They fumble and network of scientists who diligently claim that the happiness of the majority
grope forward through the unknown practise this methodology, with its roots outweighs the suffering of the minority,
universe’s uncharted territories. in the alchemist and natural philosopher and atheists completely deny God’s
Inventiveness has no bounds Robert Boyle, who was active during existence.
and new innovations affect politics, the middle of the 17th century. Still, the Enlightenment has
commerce and religion. Among the Contemporary philosophers argue not reached its apex yet, and while
many marvellous inventions during this that man learns through studies and philosophers sometimes organize
age are the flying shuttle, methods for experiences rather than being born themselves in groups, they have not yet
silver plating, gun drills, the threshing with ideas, a notion held by earlier formed a coherent cultural movement.
machine, and the steam engine. philosophers. Humanism is used as a Even though they know each other
However, the life of a scientist is far weapon against slavery, torture, and and correspond frequently, they seldom
from safe. Not only do the leaders of the capital punishment, and for people to agree. The only thing they have in
Church want to stop them, but other be given the same possibilities in life common is their critique against
scientists desire their inventions for from birth, equality before the law and orthodoxy of all kinds, especially the
their own. It is necessary for those who the abolishment of inherited privileges. religious one. They do not believe in
are on the verge of a new discovery to With reason, the world shall become a miracles, and if they believe in God at
arm themselves, sequester themselves better place. These thoughts become all, they imagine Him as a machinist of
far from cities, or gather in societies. common in philosophy, natural, and the universe, a cosmic watchmaker. He
During the Church’s monopoly on social sciences, and religion. The did, after all, construct an extraordinary
learning, the Society of Jesus acquired Church, nobility and the secret societies machine, set the laws for its operation,
a great understanding of science, that want to uphold the old ways are and then withdrew. Due to such an
studying cause and effect and how the counted among the reactionaries. attitude, it is believed that the only true
world worked, but as the power of the There are six branches of philosophy path to God’s intentions is through
Church wanes, scientists greedy for during the 18th century: Cartesians, science, not religion, and through
knowledge stop at nothing to uncover Cambridge Platonists, Deists, sceptics, observations and experiments rather
88 the truth. Academies and universities utilitarians and atheists. Cartesians than dogmas and revelations. Thus, the
become of great importance to the are disciples of Descartes and deny philosophers have much in common
scientific community. Oxford and authoritarian views and claim that only with the scientists.
Cambridge both seek distinguished that which can be seen clearly can be There is great willingness to partake
scientists to join their faculties, and true. Cambridge Platonists are those in what is new. Enlightened philosophers
both take an open stance against the who have revived Plato’s teachings, insist that the old ways should be
Church. Philosophical methodology is especially that moral concepts are scrutinized closely. This, however, also
replaced by experimental philosophy inherent. Deists claim that the leads to a wave of irrational speculations
and the empirical methodology and regularity of nature is evidence enough and pure fraud. Europe is a paradise for
way of thinking spread rapidly among to prove God’s existence. They believe seers and their visions, quasi-scientists
the scientists of Europe. It is no longer that dogmatic religion is redundant. and charlatans. They manage to lead
possible to simply philosophize upon Rousseau and Voltaire belong to these educated and uneducated people to
problems or solutions, you have to philosophers. Sceptics deny the idea believe that they can perform an array
investigate and experiment. The Royal that man and reason can know and of miracles.

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 the world

 Witchcraft and Superstition 

89

The punishment for witchcraft is harsh the eyes of the dead, so that they may pay beliefs. On Thursday nights, many stay
and ruthless, but neither the Church Charon, the ferryman, to be able to pass indoors, as they are considered to be
nor science, with Church attendance or into the netherworld. particularly dangerous.
learned treatises, have been able to stymie Superstition is spread wide across all of Superstition is so deeply rooted and
its practise. Superstition puts fear in the Europe, and not even the most extensive ingrained in the minds of the people
population and keeps them in check. To and frantic witch trials have been able that there are few things that can
keep on good terms with the ”fairy folk” to change people’s minds. There are change their ways. Priests usually have
is important lest the milk will sour or the thorough accounts of what happens if a soothing effect, but mostly, people
well will run dry. In Stockholm, people you do not do what you are “supposed” to follow the rituals and oral traditions that
stay indoors in foggy weather, since do. Exactly what that entails varies from they have heard from childhood. It is a
Satan hides in the mists to take you away. country to country, province to province. common idea that as long as the beings
Under big rocks in the forest, trolls and Some places are more charged with out there are placated, they will not cause
other creatures hide that want to swap magic than others, just as some events any harm. If they are opposed, however,
out babies for their own, or to devour have greater importance than others. they may very well bring you great
them. Entire villages take to the streets Baptisms, marriages, and deaths as well misfortune. In homes, charms, talismans
to chase away the neck or the hulder from as graveyards, churches, and lychgates to bring fortune, and religious objects
the lakes. Silver coins are to be placed on are all surrounded by superstitious can be found as protection against evil.

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 the world

 War 

Europe is shaken by wars that come Most nations in Europe keep a up the great powers of Europe. Spain
and go or stay festering like an abscess. standing army, mostly consisting and the Netherlands are no longer
War is a process of attrition; slowly of mercenaries drafted from other considered great powers despite their
the enemy is worn down, whether it countries. This system is costly, enormous colonial regions. Portugal
is during spring, summer, autumn or especially so if war breaks out, as is almost a British puppet state and
winter. The troops are equipped only they have to draft even more troops. the Swedish Empire lost its status
for whatever season they were drafted One solution is to mobilize a peasant after Charles XII’s defeat at Poltava
in, causing many to be ill-prepared militia from agricultural laborers that in 1709.
for drawn-out campaigns which last neither have a farm of their own nor The great powers seek to tie
longer than expected, something lease one. as many smaller states to them as
that is more rule than exception. The Foreign soldiers make up more possible, and France especially pays
life of the lone soldier is of little to than a third of the French army and large amounts to the countries that
no importance, and neither those of the same is true for the armed forces they want to support them in war.
90 larger units for that matter. Rather, of Denmark. The Polish cavalry is When a throne is empty they compete
it is persistence and the ability to considered to be the best modern to place their candidate on it, and two
continuously draft more regiments fighting force of all, and in the of the great wars during this epoch
that dictate the outcome of a war. armies of Frederick II of Prussia are wars of succession.
Thousands upon thousands of soldiers iron discipline is prevalent. Deserters A selection of the greatest and most
die and disappear on the battlefields are shot on the spot and even slight important wars of the century are:
for no apparent reason. offences are severely punished. A
Most wars are not fought with common punishment is to run the ✦✦ The Great Northern War (1700–
great battles to destroy the enemy’s gauntlet. 1721)
forces, but with smaller ones to secure A new war begins when the last one ✦✦ War of the Spanish Succession
resources. In the end, however, most ends. The balance of power shifts. (1701–1714)
wars are won through diplomacy, Great Britain, together with France, ✦✦ War of the Austrian Succession
something that causes a lot of soldiers the Habsburg empire (today’s Austria, (1740–1748)
to desert or strongly question why the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, ✦✦ Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743)
they fight. As an attempt to remedy Slovenia, Croatia, parts of Romania, ✦✦ French and Indian War (1754–1763)
this, many soldiers are made officers Serbia, northern Italy, Luxembourg ✦✦ Seven Years’ War (1756–1763)
and the cities crawl with these during and almost all of Belgium), Prussia, ✦✦ American Revolutionary War (1775–
peacetime. Russia and the Ottoman Empire make 1783)

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 the world

 Trade 

Throughout the centuries, agriculture you had invested in the company. It did Such bubbles were, however, the
has been the economic base of Europe, not take long before the investors who exceptions. For the brave, or foolish,
and it is thanks to their large properties wanted their money back before the there were opportunities to generate
that the landowning nobility has been ships had returned from China began to massive fortunes through clever
able to grow their fortunes along with sell their shares. Through this trade of investments.
their political influence. During the shares a new economy was born. Seeing these foreign successes, the
last hundred years, however, trade has In the wake of the trading companies, Swedish East Indian Company, Svenska
grown more and more. Raw material unrestricted speculation has caused Ostindiska Companiet, was established
is purchased from distant lands and numerous economic collapses. Most in 1731. The first ship that sailed
continents and is refined into finished notorious is the Mississippi Company toward China was named Fredericus
goods to be exported at a higher price. that acquired a monopoly on trade with Rex Sueciae, after king Frederick I,
This economic growth makes it possible New France from the French state. who repaid the honor by investing
for the merchants to send their sons to Scottsman John Law, the founder of the his own money in the company. SOIC
universities to be educated and raise company, and a well-known gambler and becomes an unparalleled success. 91
their condition. While the royal families British expatriate who was forced to flee Vast amounts of porcelain, silk, and
of Europe devote their time to bleeding after killing a rival in a duel, was given other exotic goods are shipped from
their treasuries dry with neverending responsibility over the French mints, the the far side of the world and sold at
expensive wars and the nobility French national debt, and essentially all substantial profits. Gothenburg, port
waste their fortunes on luxuries and non-European trade. Through various of the east Indian traders, flourishes
decadence, the middle class do their best manipulations of the financial markets, from the fortunes created and in its
to amass capital through commerce and chiefly by letting the Banque Royale surroundings, rich merchants build
investments. print enormous amounts of banknotes great estates. The wealthy Stockholm
The most lucrative trade is in that were willingly lent out to buyers Skeppsbro nobles also become even
spices, porcelain, silk, and other goods of the Mississippi Company shares, Law richer. It does not take long before
from China and other parts of the managed to force the shares to sky-high every lady’s maid seems to own a cup
East. A few organizations gain, to the prices, coining new expressions such or some other piece of porcelain from
resentment of the many, government- as “entrepreneur” and “millionaire”. China.
granted monopolies on trade with other The inevitable collapse, however, was Since every cashbook is burned after
continents and earn huge profits. imminent. The share price fell crashing the statement of accounts, it is hard
When the East Indian trading down, desperate investors tried to to determine exactly the companies’
companies were founded at the beginning exchange their shares for banknotes, and profitability. Some know-it-alls claim
of the last century, private investors were when these decreased in value, they tried that the average yield is a sky-high 30 to
allowed to purchase a share of a journey to exchange them for gold and silver 40 percent, and during the first octroi,
that was then paid back with the profits coins. The economic system collapsed, (1731–1746), only 4 out of 22 ships are
of the sold goods. Such companies, thousands of people lost everything and lost. This makes the Swedish East India
however, were very costly and voyages were forced into poorhouses, and all Company the most secure and profitable
long, and soon, instead of returning the the while the already massive French investment for the affluent middle class
investments, they issued a certificate that national debt increased further. in Sweden.

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 the world

 Crime and Punishment 

All countries have their own specific but is often transmuted into a fine if In most countries, the fine for larceny
laws and punishments, naturally, but appealed to a higher court. The fine is 4 is 3 ducats. The fourth offence is an
everywhere laws and taxes are in place ducats for the married individual and 2 immediate death sentence regardless of
to keep order. for the unmarried. For commoners, this the stolen value. In 1740, the legislation
Any extenuating circumstances are not is a very large amount of money that became even more strict. The penalty
taken into consideration, and conditional cannot always be paid. The sentence for all kinds of burglary was hanging. In
sentences do not exist. The punishments then becomes corporal punishment. For 1746, the punishment for stealing from
are to be educational and crimes are women, flagellation is the most common letters was death, and in 1748 horse and
ranked by severity. Grand larceny is form, while running the gauntlet is most cattle thieves were hanged. In 1766, it
separated from pilfering, for example, as common for men. Six runs equal 4 ducats. was the pickpockets turn to be hanged
is murder from manslaughter. It is also Relationships between two married and in 1773 milking the neighbor’s cow
taken into account whether the criminal parties are called double adultery and are was enough to swing from the gallows.
is a repeat offender. For instance, if punishable by death. Capital punishment In some cases, regarding especially
caught stealing for the fourth time, the was applied throughout the entire 17th bestial crimes, there can be issued a 93
sentence could be hanging. century without mercy, but became laxer symbolic connection between the crime
Originally, there were only be two during the 18th century. Incest and rape and the punishment, to emphasize the
penalties, fine or capital punishment, or were also punishable by death. enormity. The criminal is condemned to
in some cases public humiliation. Public
humiliation meant standing or sitting
in shame before a crowd. The stocks
are such a punishment. The victim’s
legs are fastened in the stocks and
passers-by may spit or urinate on them
or yell obscenities at them.
Furthermore, the court can declare
the convicted as outlaws or even exile
them.
Imprisonment was introduced during
the 1600s and was rather a form of
hard labor. The prisons built were
public prisons with large halls where all
prisoners were kept. Prison cells are few
and far between.
Sexual relationships between two
parties without affinity or consanguinity
to each other is adultery or fornication
(in Scandinavia called leiermål) and is a
criminal act.
Relationship between a married party
and an unmarried party is called single
adultery. The sentence is usually death,

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 an additional punishment, for instance: poor, without properties, whose rights If the fines cannot be paid, a fine of
having their right hand cut off before are close to non-existent, are counted 2 ducats can be replaced by running
being decapitated, decapitation followed among the infamous. Among the officers 4 gauntlets, 4 ducats with running 6,
by impalement (for men), or being of the nobility, disputes are often solved and so on. Running the gauntlet means
decapitated and then burned at the by duelling even though many countries that approximately 50 men form two
stake (for women). The most severe have forbidden the practise. rows, equipped with canes or lashes.
form of these capital punishments is The most common punishment for The convicted then runs shirtless the
applied to those who commit crimes on crimes is fines, with the reasoning that given number of times through these
the shipwrecked. They get their limbs the guilty party shall compensate and rows while the men beat them with
crushed in public on a breaking wheel. make it up to whomever they did wrong. whatever they have got in their hands.
It is very common to settle personal This system has a weakness, however: not Death sentences and particularly cruel
disputes in courts, the so-called civil everyone has the means to pay the fines, punishments are reserved for the most
cases. It could mean anything from and mostly it is the poor who are convicted. serious crimes.
slander to a slap on the cheek, scuffles This means that the propertied classes may A modern police institution does not
or a knocked-off hat. It is all about buy themselves free. If the fines cannot exist in most European countries until
honor, without honor, a person becomes be paid in full, the punishment turns into late in the 18th century. In the cities
infamous and loses their social status, and corporal punishment or imprisonment. the city guard is tasked with keeping
lost honor must be regained. In court, It costs 3 ducats for a chopped-off order. The city guard is most commonly
this could mean economic compensation, thumb, 5 ducats for a burst eye, or 2 organised in a military fashion and is
a public apology, and social redress. The ducats for a broken leg. funded by the city’s inhabitants.

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 the world

 Vanity and Decadence 

It is the age of vanity. To make a

good impression is perhaps the most
important thing of all, next to titles.
Walks in the park, long conversations,
and making one’s toilet are drawn-out
ceremonies that convey power and
success. Courtship follows a pattern
and to keep lovers and mistresses is one
of the most important status symbols
in Europe. In fact, some of the most
successful and respected people have
seduction as their main occupation.
Musical and writing talents, as well
as a good fashion sense are highly 95
valued qualities. At parties and dinners,
it is important to be well-versed in art,
and good rhetoricians and orators who
can argue their case are well respected
and paid. They attend festivities of such
proportions that they undermine the
state’s finances. To show their status,
the upper class stop at nothing to
surpass their rivals or to win the favor
of the rulers.
Verbose and decadent living is in of wine, feasts, and orgies. A grotesque A growing administration means
vogue. To give in to temptation and and debauched lifestyle is a way to new prominent offices, and when the
desires is seen to release the soul and express status and those who can afford provincial town turns into a bustling
let go of reason. People can only find it do everything to outshine each other. city, everyone wants to share the
themselves in utmost pleasure. Plentiful Most of all, it is about the consumption rewards of life. The hard grip of the
salons and establishments do their best of luxuries but also the way of life. priests is starting to let go. In earlier
to let the inhabitants revel in depravity. Assets are spent and used at a shocking times the Church educated and guided,
As long as they can uphold a healthy pace to give body and soul the pleasures but now is unable to stem the flood of
façade, decadence is allowed to flower they need. To spend time at salons and ruin that affects not only the nobility
at will. Secret societies spring up like parties instead of working is the utmost but also the nouveau riche middle
mushrooms, devoted to ancient gods proof of success. class.

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 the world

 The Shadow World 

The great beyond, the realm of shadows, The «Shadow World» is the realm and minds. For always, the forces of this
the twilight zone, the void. I’ve heard of the mystical and supernatural in the astral and ancient realm wish to break
many names by which many enlight- world of LexOccultum. It is, of course, free from their cosmic bonds and spread
a most superstitious concept. Most like the plague.
ened and learned men call the Shadow
describe the Shadow World as a thin veil In the end, those who wish to
World. Greater minds than my own between the world of the living and the commune with the Shadow World
have spent countless lifetimes trying to world of the dead. A place of darkness should know one thing: that they know
decipher its truths and answer its ques- and nothingness, where ancestral beings nothing. It is a place as vast and endless
tions - and yet we know so little. All lurk and lie in wait. To gaze into this as the night’s sky and as fickle as the
that I can tell you for certain is that void is synonymous with insanity, or a sea. Once you let go of our realm and
the Shadow World is what lies beyond. fate far worse. For it is believed that the step into the twilight, no one can know
Beyond what? Well, if I could tell you truths concealed within this realm of for sure what you will find.
that, I’d be the most powerful man in twilight are so great and enlightening
96 history. I can only tell you what I believe, that those who witness them lose all
The shadow world
comprehension of reality.
and I believe it is a place in between. A While very little is truly known throughout history
place of neither life or death, of neither about this kingdom of darkness, there is Throughout history, many civilizations
light or darkness, day or night. no doubt that it is first and foremost a have attempted to commune with
I’ve seen such a place in the eyes of place of malice and menace. It wishes to the Shadow World, or even enter it.
the deranged and in the flesh of the break through, to touch and to defile. It It is believed that monuments like
diseased. I’ve heard it in the mum- is the place where demons lurk beyond the pyramids of ancient Egypt were
blings of madmen and in the whispers countless worlds, where spirits who constructed with the purpose of
of wraiths. I can see you know what it is wish to possess the fragile mind of man creating a path to the Shadow World
I speak of. Have you seen it too? In their make their home. Souls are lost in this upon which mortals could walk. Men
realm of eternal night, falling forever and women of higher learning speculate
milky, sad eyes it appears to me like a
into the great beyond where no master that the dead within such pyramids were
thin veil, as if I could touch it if I only rules. ritualistically mummified to function
reached out. So little, so very little sepa- When mankind communes with as a link between our world and the
rates us from it. A knife to the heart, a the higher powers of the universe and Shadow World, or because they were
step off a rooftop or just the slightest sip gazes into the unknown - it is into the the ones who were being sent to walk
from the wrong cup. Shadow World that they peer. It is the upon the path into the other realm.
In my darker moments, I have seen place that lies beyond the crystal globes Another famous construction that is
it breaking through, if only for just a and that exists within the enchanted believed to be connected to the shadow
moment. You see, sometimes the Shadow circle of a candlelit pentagram. When world is Stonehenge in England. It
World reaches back to us. Sometimes a spiritism séance or ritual goes astray, is theorized that this monument was
it is because the veil that separates our constructed by druids and nature
violently and other times almost seduc- world from the shadow world is lifted worshippers in an attempt to commune
tively. Ghosts, demons, devils? I could and the forces of evil penetrate into our with the nature spirits of the Shadow
not tell you. For those who bear the mortal dimension. It is in this way that World. What the purpose of such
answers to such questions do not live to devils and demons can walk amongst communication was is not known, but
tell of them. the living and prey on their weak hearts there are conflicting theories about

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 whether it was for good or ill. Some through blood rituals. These rituals practiced when it comes to human
say that the bones found around the often revolve around death in one way sacrifice. Some are more effective
monument were placed there to keep or another. Either through the use of than others. Quite often the victim is
the dark spirits of the Shadow World at creatures that have already died, or crucified before being killed, either on a
bay, and allow the good nature spirits to those that will be killed as part of the normal wooden cross or on an upside-
come forth. Others say that the bones ritual. Listed below are the most famous down one. Then the victim is most often
are proof that sacrifices and blood rituals that have proven to be effective drained of all blood after having their
rituals were performed here in the name when trying to summon or commune wrists and/or throats cut open with a
of darker beings. with the devil. ceremonial dagger or sword. The blood
What we know for a fact is that of the sacrificed is then either drunk by
many civilizations, separated through Anmal sacrifice those performing the ritual, or used in
geography and time, have attempted To sacrifice animals in the name of blood lettering. To drink the blood of
to commune with the Shadow World gods and goddesses is a tradition a human victim during such a ritual is
for a very long time. Some may have almost as old as mankind itself. When considered a highly blasphemous and
succeeded to their benefit or gruesome animals are sacrificed in connection inhumane act to perform. Doing so will
demise. For example the fall of Atlantis to the Shadow World, it is often with allow the individual to claim the spirit of
is believed to be one such occasion the intent to commune with the devil. the dead person and become a stronger
where a great attempt to commune Sheep are common animals to sacrifice individual in the name of the devil.
with, or even summon beings from the as this animal is related to the flock and When someone voluntarily gives
Shadow World, went horribly wrong. Christian ideals. To drink sheep’s blood their life during a ritual it is often in
in order to show one’s devotion to Satan an attempt to enter the Shadow World
is common. Another popular ritual is to permanently. Whether this is truly
The paths into the shadow cover a goat in sheep’s blood as the goat effective or not, none can know for
world represents the strong individual and the certain.
To commune with or enter the Shadow warrior that has conquered his enemies
World one must use a “path”, as the with the aid of satan. Blood lettering
esotericists call it. A path can be a spell, It is believed that the most effective To dedicate texts and scriptures to 97
an entire ritual, or something as simple method of animal sacrifice is to kill the devil is common throughout
as an object that once belonged to a animals that are still alive at the many satanic cults and brotherhoods.
deceased person. As you know, there is beginning of the ritual. When death is However, blood lettering - the act of
very little we can say for certain about most present and the blood is fresh, the writing in blood - is by far the most
the Shadow World. All we can do is to devil will sense it more strongly and potent form of communing with the
record that which we have witnessed or will be drawn to it. devil through texts.
felt, and hope that it will take us closer Through animal sacrifice one can Blood lettering is used to write down
to the truth. hope at most to hear Satan“s voice, spells, enchantments, and other magical
These different paths are - of course - his words and commands to mankind, formulas that are meant to draw on
of different strengths and effectiveness. but no more than that. There are the power of the Shadow World and/
To speak with the devil one must do no accounts of the deceiver actually or the devil. It is believed that the use
more than look at a few cards. However, appearing through animal sacrifice. of blood makes the message of the
such methods might still allow you lettering far more powerful and magical
to gain some knowledge that indeed Human sacrifice than if regular ink was used. Sometimes
originates from within the void. Those To sacrifice the lives of others or even blood is used to draw symbols of power
who have closely studied the Shadow to sacrifice your own life in the name instead of straight-forward messages,
World describe it as a world of chambers of the devil is a very effective way of the pentagram being the most common
and locked doors. To open the doors communing with the darker corners symbol used when calling upon the
and gain the knowledge that is hidden of the Shadow World. It is recorded devil.
beyond, one must have the right key. that through human sacrifice people The blood that is being used is of
These keys are what we call paths. have been able to summon demons and utmost importance since it determines
devils into our world as either astral the magical power of the lettering.
Blood rituals projections or even as physical and real Willingly given human blood is the
Belial, Behemoth, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, beings. A human life is the greatest most powerful mean to be used for this
Satanas, Lucifer. The devil bears many price that can be paid and the rewards practice, giving immense power to the
names, and it is to him and his demonic of such a sacrifice are great. written formulas. Sheep’s and goat’s
disciples that one attempts to speak There are several methods that are blood are also potent sources of magical

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 and satanic power, whilst horse’s and very popular - methods are to throw from the Shadow World via the objects,
cow’s blood are less effective. bones and to read tarot cards. These and thus try to decipher their meanings.
It is not uncommon to combine blood methods let the seer simply receive These two methods are somewhat
lettering with bones and other remains signals and messages from the Shadow equal in effectiveness, depending on
of the donor to increase the potency of World and interpret them via either the seer, even though using tarot cards
the message. A goat’s skull, a human cards or bones. is considered to be more direct than
ribcage, or a ram’s horn may be used. reading bones.
Crystal seeing When reading bones, the seer focuses
If there is one material that is revered more on interpreting energies and
Seeing the highest amongst mystical societies emotions that are being sent through
The act of seeing is the act of attempting and practitioners throughout the world, from the Shadow World, whereas when
to understand the Shadow World, see it is crystal. Whether used in the form a seer reads tarot cards they are often
into it, and thus deduce what implications of shards or crafted balls, crystals have directly receiving messages in the form
it may have for our own reality. With a strong connection to the void, as they of images from a sender which lies in
the help of tarot cards, crystal balls, and are considered to be actual windows into the shadow realms beyond the veil.
bones, a person gifted with the sight it. Those gifted with the sight have the Owning a tarot deck and being gifted
can peer beyond the veil that separates ability to see through these windows. with the sight is not enough to read
us from the Shadow World and to an As with any window - it is simply cards. The seer must first attune the
extent commune with it, translate its a way to see through a barrier into cards to be able to receive messages
messages, and carry them back to the somewhere else. What you actually see from the Shadow World. To attune a
common folk. Such messages can be as or hear is not known or guaranteed. deck, the seer must spirit walk into the
mundane as telling you if the weather The Shadow World is always moving void and mentally bring the deck with
is going to be bad or as impactful as and transforming, and a window that them. They must then focus on each
specifying the circumstances of your saw a thousand worlds during one ritual and every card in the deck, and feel
own demise. might only show darkness another time. the card’s specific emotion. The seer
There are indeed those who are The larger the window is, the more of then returns to the mortal realm with
98 blessed with “the sight”. These the Shadow World the seer can witness. the deck which has been attuned, and
individuals, blessed and cursed with can receive messages from the Shadow
supernatural and mystical powers, Spirit walking World.
possess the ability to understand the Through the use of incense and opioids,
language - if you will - of the Shadow a gifted seer can loosen their grip on Substances
World. This language is not like our reality and allow their mind to pick If seeing is the act of looking into
own, made up of words and sounds. It up frequencies and energies from the the Shadow World, then the use of
is instead made up of energies, feelings, Shadow World. A seer can, with this substances allows one’s psyche to
and frequencies. The seers can decipher method, actually enter the Shadow actually enter it. By consuming various
these signals through various tools World in a way, but they often chose not opioids and highly potent substances,
and methods, and so communicate it to to do so since they would then run the the user can loosen their grasp on
common folk. These men and women risk of never returning to the mortal reality and step beyond the veil and into
gifted with the sight can often make realm. the world of the mystical.
a good living from their powers, and When the seer has attuned themselves Folk who have claimed to enter the
frequently find themselves in positions to receiving the signals from beyond the Shadow World via the use of substances
of power, such as being a courtly advisor veil, they can then attempt to decipher say that it is akin to leaving one’s body
or a central figure in a smaller society. them and communicate them to behind and letting the mind fly freely
There are many different tools and non-gifted men and women, who often into a higher (or other) reality. Colours
methods that are popular amongst those pay a hefty fee for such a service. When change, shapes morph, as time and space
gifted with the sight. Some of them are spirit walking, a seer can speak with the travel beyond the veil that various men
more powerful than others, and will dead, see into the past and the future, and women of mysticism have described
allow the seer to more or less clearly and even see into other dimensions or as the border to the twilight zone. We
communicate with the Shadow World. branches of time. know very little about what actually
The two most effective methods are happens when the mind treads beyond
spirit walking and crystal seeing. Both Tarot and bone reading the veil. Some have come back into our
these methods allow the seer to actually By using attuned objects such as reality describing planets, stars, and
look into the twilight zone and see what tarot cards or the bones of a deceased heavenly bodies beyond our own earth.
happens there. Two less effective - yet person, the seer can pick up signals Others describe bottomless chasms of

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 a million colours and a gaping maw by civilized and savage folk alike in mark the skin. However, such markings
of a thousand eyes and infinite truths an attempt to wield the powers of the are not permanent, and therefore not
reaching out to them. No two stories are Shadow World. To mark one’s body as powerful. It is believed that the
the same, and to grasp and understand with ink or with scars is to carry permanent nature of scarring and
these experiences is nearly impossible. the strength and wisdom of other tattooing cements a strong connection
We can only speculate and attempt to creatures or beings. The prehistoric between the bearer and the ethereal
decipher their mumblings. savages of the Stone, Bronze and Iron world of twilight. The painful process
There are those who have used ages both scarred and tattooed their of obtaining these permanent markings
substances and opioids in excess in bodies to tell stories of conquest, is believed to be an important rite of
a desperate (but ultimately foolish) victory, and death in an attempt to passage that strengthens the bearers
attempt to travel further into the wield the strength of fallen heroes or bond to the mystical.
void. Many occultists believe that slain beasts. To bear marks upon the Christian religion in Europe has long
many mentally deranged patients have body was synonymous with carrying since deemed tattooing and scarification
suffered such a fate. They say that mystical and supernatural powers into to be highly blasphemous, even though
such a person has lost their mind in battle. it is practiced in some extreme and
the Shadow World, and that it never In modern times, it has been common zealous Christian sects, of by Christian
returned to their body. for occultists, witch doctors, and churches out of Europe which had their
shamans to cover their bodies in various own separated histories. The Copts, for
markings in an attempt to strengthen example, are known to tattoo crosses on
Tattoos and scarification their bond with the mystical Shadow their wrists in order to show their faith
Since the dawn of mankind, tattooing World. The most common practice and distinguish themselves from the
and scarification have been practiced is to use paints and coloured clays to Muslim also living in Egypt and Nubia

99
Oh, so you’ve come to find the secret teachings of all ages, the mysteries? You claim
to be a modern version of Marsilio Ficino I guess? Or even Hermes? Let me tell you
this, Hermes Trismegistus was more enlightened than you will ever be. Have you read
his writings on alchemy, astrology and divine knowledge? Many of his texts are still
hidden in secret chambers and dark vaults, protected by the initiated. As you know, they
include neoplatonic philosophy, and the Graeco-Roman mysteries, and late Orphic and
gnostic thinking. It’s all part of the Great Discipline, or what some would refer to as the
cornerstone of the secret mysteries. You see, it’s a piece of the great logic and the source
of wisdom, and claims to descend from a Prisca Theologica, a doctrine that affirms the
existence of a single true theology. If you are conscious, you will find this great wisdom
wherever you travel, just look for the trinity. The Arcadian cult of Despoina, the Cult of
Throphonius, the Samothracian mysteries, Chthonic rites, and many more, derive from
the same source: the secret teachings. If you follow the trails of great explorers to the west
and east you will find signs of this great trinity. It is just described in different words,
symbols, and projections. However, the message is the same. There are three parts of
wisdom in the universe; alchemy, astrology and theurgy. Seek and you will find.

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 the world

 Geography 

100
Many missions will take place in cities’ spend some time researching certain and Hungarian borders in the east
narrow alleys and illicit liquor shops. buildings and how they looked like to France in the west. The Holy
It can be difficult to get a map of the during the 18th century, rather than Roman Empire includes the United
exact town you play in, or you might using a contemporary map. Even if the Netherlands and smaller principalities
find a map depicting the city layout for a game master has a map available, do such as Hesse, Bavaria and Prussia.
completely different time period. not necessarily show it, it may break It is a loosely connected federation,
A tip is to partly skip maps and immersion. Maps are a luxury that the ruled by an emperor elected by the
instead describe selected areas for the common people cannot afford. Instead, different duchies and which is usually
characters, or choose a few areas of try to describe the people, the city, and an Habsburg of Austria.
importance to spend more time in. the countryside in terms of “by the France, rules by the House of
Often, it may feel more mysterious and river”, “beyond the mountain”, “by the Bourbon and whose borders in the east
believable for the players if you describe castle”, or “behind the big park”, and so open up to Switzerland, Savoy and the
a dark alley with a staircase leading on and so forth. Holy Roman Empire.
down to a gambler’s den, instead of The British Isles ruled by the British
laying out a big map on the table and crown who hold the Kingdom of Great
pointing to where they are. Describe Countries Britain, the Kingdom of Ireland and the
the city broadly, the atmosphere is more Because of war and rulers hungry Kingdom of Mann. In 1714 the House
important than exactly how far this for power, the maps of Europe are of Hannover dinasty substituted the
street is from that square, just as people constantly redrawn during the course Stuart.
and encounters, certain places and of the 18th century. In short, Europe Scandinavia, with the Kingdom of
events are much more important than consists of the following countries and Sweden, Kingdom of Norway and the
being able to produce a correct map of power houses: Kingdom of Denmark, each ruled by its
London, Paris or Rome during the 18th The Holy Roman Empire, that own dinasty.
century. stretches from the Baltic Sea coast The Russian Tsardom, that spreads
If the game master write their in the north to the republic of to the east and it is under the House of
own adventures, it may be useful to Venice in the south, from the Polish Romanov.

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 England 

101

In the 18th century, after the aristocrats have to give in to a growing form Great Britain. Territories such as
decadence of Spanish and Dutch number of burghers whose fortunes Wales and Ireland was not as tenacious
colonial empires, England became the grow rapidly. Prosperity increases and as the Scots, and were early on annexed
stronger maritime power in Europe in the commercial revolution, England by England.
and the world. Money and resources is ahead. London virtually boils with a
feed a society where middle class has a drunk lower class that suddenly becomes ✦✦ Rulers of the British Isles during
role not comparable in other European owners of land and great riches. The this era:
countries, as are demonstrated by the city is an Eldorado of fast profits, and ✦✦ George II, 1727–1760
English Civil War in the 17th century. sometimes even faster losses. Lots of ✦✦ George III, 1760–1820
In England the Enlightenment’s thin people and commerce, however, bring
veneer of elegance and reason is a cover filth, disease, and crime. Life is valued
for the fondness for change. Among less that material assets, and despite the
the numerous taverns of London, there fact that punishments for crimes are
are countless easy ladies, drinkers, and severe and brutal, many lives are lost in
gamblers. In these raw places, gin flows the dark alleys and shady taverns.
in such amounts that even the Parliament In 1707, the personal union becomes
complains. The landowners and the rich political, when England and Scotland

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 France 

102

France, a proud kingdom with its At the end of the 9th century and center of all powers under Louis XIV
beautiful, gold-plated art rooms and during the 10th, the French monarchy (1638-1715), the so-called ”Roi Soleil”
unending banquet halls, is the stronghold fell into disarray and France crumbled - the Sun King. It is under him that
of the aristocracy in Europe. The most into minor feudal states. During the Versailles turned to a incredibly rich
prominent nobles gather here to ensure beginning of the 13th century, however, court and the model for all Europe,
that they do not miss out on a slice of the monarchy became stronger again, with nobles wasting huge amounts of
the power and wealth that have clustered and one by one, the singular pieces were money into a frivolous life style. French
around the capital of Paris. France is also brought back into the fold. As France fashions, culture and language became
the hearth of the Enlightenment, where became stronger and stronger, new, models to imitated throughout Europe,
new, revolutionary ideas are forged. Plans large areas were annexed that had not but the costs of all this prestige was to
and conspiracies form in castles and shacks belonged to France previously, such as be paid by the lower classes, triggering
alike. Allegiances change rapidly and the Kingdom of Burgundy and what revolutionary processes which will
politics are shaped into perfection. The remained of Lothringia. During the come to fruition only at the end of the
poor are used as pawns in a grand game 17th century the politics led by ruthless 18th century.
of politics to provide the state with soldiers cardinals Richelieu and Mazzarino
for warfare and to fill the national treasury strengthened the French monarchy. ✦✦ Ruler during this era:
with justified and unjustified taxes. The King became the sole and absolute ✦✦ Louis XV, 1715–1774

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 geography

 Holy Roman Empire 

The Holy Roman Empire stretches

from the Baltic Sea coast in the north to
the republic of Venice in the south and
from the Polish and Hungarian borders
in the east to France in the west. It is a
loosely connected federation, ruled by an
emperor elected by the different duchies.
Hannover, Saxony, Brandenburg/
Prussia, Württemberg and Austria are
all minor states that are under the control
of the Holy Roman emperor. There are
constantly a number of smaller wars
within the federation, for territories or for
the coveted title of emperor, during the 103
entirety of the 18th century. Historically
most emperors belonged to the House of
Habsburg although the ascension to the
Imperial throne in 1742 of Charles VII of
the House of Wittelsbach demonstrated
the crisis of the old dinasty.
While England and France continue underling its fierce independence from with Prussia, ceding ownership of
to build upon the radical ideas of the the Habsburgs. Silesia, but as the tides of war turned in
Enlightenment, the northern German When Frederick the Great succeeds Austria’s, and her allies, favor, Frederick
states are content with the piousness his father Frederick William I as king of feared revenge and therefore chose to,
of the Reformation. It is, however, in Prussia in 1740, he inherits a large and as a preventive measure, attack Austria
Germany where the movement takes a well-disciplined army that he, unlike again. The Second Silesian War (1744–
new, important direction. Many people his father, will use diligently. The same 1745) secured Prussian ownership of
claim that the somewhat mystical German year as Frederick the Great is crowned Silesia, albeit at the price of a prolonged
enlightenment is more a form of cultural king, Maria Theresa of Austria inherits enmity between the two nations.
slavery than an enlightenment. Their own the Habsburg countries as her father,
culture is favoured through reformed laws, Charles VI, had, with no success, tried ✦✦ Emperors of the Holy Roman
new language, and fields of science that fit to guarantee her succession all over Empire during this era:
the German culture, but is at the same time the Habsburg empire. Frederick the ✦✦ Charles VI, 1711–1740 (House of
tightly ruled by the authorities. Medicine, Great was the first to break the peace Habsburg)
metaphysics, and law are fields that by launching the First Silesian War ✦✦ Charles VII, 1742–1745 (House of
dominate the German enlightenment. The (1740–1742), in which several states Wittelsbach)
German enlightenment is, however, built took the opportunity to also attack ✦✦ Francis I, 1745–1765 (House of
around those with academic education and Austria, leading to the outbreak of the Habsburg-Lorraine)
far from everyone gets to take part in it. Austrian War of Succession (1740– ✦✦ Joseph II, 1765–1790 (House of
Prussia is a northern state which 1748). Frederick the Great’s successes Habsburg-Lorraine)
becomes more and more important, forced Maria Theresa to sue for peace

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 Italy 

104

Italy does not exist as a country incredibly rich and varied. The only amazing place, with a complex economy
but it is divided among different matters which unite Italians are flourishing in its multi-cultural quarters.
nations and it has been so since the Catholicism and the memories of lost The underground so rich of esoteric
Middle Ages. But fragmentation is Roman grandeur. mysteries which stem from her ancient
not just political but cultural too. The South was historically ruled by past as a Greek colony, when the Sybilla
The differences between Napoletani, the ”Kingdom of Sicily” which in the 18th Cumana’s voice uttered prophecies in the
Siciliani, Veneziani or Lombardi are far century is divided among the Kingdom darkness.
greater than those existing between of Naples (under the House of Bourbon) It is in the 18th century that the great
Prussians and Austrians. ”Italian” and Sicily (whose crown changed holder excavations of Pompeii and Herculeneum
is only a literary language used by many times throughout the century). started. Visiting Northern Europeans of
poets in imitation of Dante and other Italian Southerners are a complicated the Gran Tour are amazed at the Roman
Toscan medieval writers, while local mixture where one can trace influences treasures which are unearthed from the
languages, the so-called ”dialects”, are coming from Roman, Greek, Arab, volcanic ashes of the Vesuvium. Papyrus
spoken everywhere. The paeninsula Lombard, Byzantine, Norman, Angevin scrolls are especially sought since they
has a complicated history of migrations and Spanish cultures. Napoli, the keep knowledges which were forgotten
and invasions which made its culture greatest city in the south, is becoming an since antiquity.

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 105

Northern Italy had no dominant Italy, and Rome in particular, is a after a drawn-out conflict between the
state, but a certain level of prestige powerful stronghold of mysteries. Here, popes and the emperors, that the latter
will be achieved by the Duchy of Savoy, information and secrets, new and old, recognized the sovereignty of the Papal
which from 1720 onwards would be are traded for hefty prices. States.
known as the Kingdom of Sardinia. The From 754, the Pope was not only
venerable Republic of Venice still exists, head of the Church but also ruler of the ✦✦ Popes during this era:
although in a state of golden decadence Papal States in the middle of Italy. In the ✦✦ Innocent XIII, 1721–1724
whose end will brought by Napoleon in beginning, the popes were not sovereign ✦✦ Benedictus XIII, 1724–1730
1797. rulers, despite trying to claim so with ✦✦ Clement XII, 1730–1740
Italy carries a great historical legacy forged deeds of gifts, since the Papal ✦✦ Benedictus XIV, 1740–1758
and the enormous Church treasuries States were a de jure state of the Holy ✦✦ Clement XIII, 1758–1769
hide more than just gold and silver. Roman Empire. It was not until 1274, ✦✦ Clement XIV, 1769–1774

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 Russia 

106

The Russian state has its origins in into tributaries of the Mongol khans. became the official title for the rulers
the Kievan Rus’, founded by Swedish It was not until 1480 that the Russians of Russia, even though tsar remained in
Vikings (the Rus). The kingdom split freed themselves from their Mongol use in everyday language.
in 1019 through succession rights into overlords under Ivan the Great, who,
a number of different principalities, at the same time, unified Russia. Ivan ✦✦ Rulers during this era:
even though the regent of Kiev (from the Terrible assumed the title of ✦✦ Peter II, 1727–1730
1169 on Vladimir-Suzdal, and from ”tsar” in 1547, the Russian word for ✦✦ Anna, 1730–1740
1328 in Moscow) was titled grand Caesar (emperor). However, the title ✦✦ Ivan VI, 1740–1741
prince and had formal sovereignty over was believed abroad to be equivalent ✦✦ Elizabeth, 1741–1762
all of Russia. The splintering made it of king, which, in 1721, led Peter the ✦✦ Peter III, 1762
easier for the Mongols to conquer the Great to proclaim himself emperor, or ✦✦ Catherine II, 1762–1796
states in 1240, and they turned them imperator in Russian. Thus, emperor

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 geography

 Cities 

During daytime, the streets are alive burghers can do so, which means being more places than that, however, and
with bustling activity. The big cities in possession of a franchise in the city. the Grand Tour also includes Naples,
grow fast; both London and Paris have Craftsmen belong to their guild. Venice, Munich, Vienna, Frankfurt,
more than 500,000 inhabitants. The Some craftsmen are permitted to work Cologne, Brussels and Amsterdam. 107
capitals have lower taxes and favourable in the countryside, such as tailors and People like to take lessons in fencing,
conditions for trade and industry, but cobblers, but they must be chosen by riding, and conversation as they go,
people are most of all afraid of the local and royal authorities. but should be wary of pickpockets and
countryside, since it is there where most The royal administration is involved beggars.
of the inexplicable still occurs. in everything: the price of grain, For those who want to experience
From the harbours, the ships of the traveling rules, tolls, justice and taxes. festivals, Venice is a safe bet. The city
trade companies depart and arrive Europe is locked in the grip of ministers, is also known for its easy women, and
from Africa, India and America. Many this new category of administrators. it is understood that the young men
beautiful palaces and gardens are built, The cities offer reeking, narrow who go there do it for them, and not
but most people are confined to tight alleyways, pickpockets, prostitutes, and the canals. Assassins and spies, however,
quarters in often ramshackle hoses officials that do their very best to catch hide behind black masks and white
without any kind of hygienic appliances. or fleece the poor bastards who make plumage to strike at their victims as they
It is in no way safe to be outside their way there. For most people, there is succumb to the desires of the flesh or to
by night. Street lighting consists of great misery and poverty, diseases rage the carnival’s laughter and intoxication.
oil lamp that are lit and placed every and rats claw and feast on those who Rome, along with Paris, is the peak
evening. Thieves may easily accomplish died during the night. A select few enjoy of the Grand Tour. Most come here to
whatever tasks they have committed beautiful palaces and fancy restaurants. look at the ruins of antiquity or to get to
themselves to in the dim light. Priests find grand churches, scientists, see the power of the Church first-hand.
Trade is naturally strictly regulated academies, and philosophers, libraries Numerous ancient secret societies hide
and may only be carried out in the whose collections of books are huge. in the catacombs below the city. Also
cities. Some cities have the right to Many travel from town to town and gathered here are scientists, researchers,
trade with foreign countries while most speak of the Grand Tour, a trip around and priests who want to take part in the
were limited to domestic trade, in the Europe’s largest, and strangest, cities. sweetness of knowledge. It is widely
countryside, no trade is allowed. An To travel from London, via Paris to known that dark, endless tunnels slither
exception, however, is the marketplaces. Lyon, Turin, Florence and Rome is below St. Peter’s Basilica, filled with
A toll must be paid to be allowed to a must for whoever wants to join the books and writings that hide many
import goods into the cities, and only ranks of the well travelled elite. Few visit secrets.

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 Amsterdam 
~ City of jingiling coins ~

108

Ever since the early medieval era, the old abscess. As the 17th century drew to that not even the many wars could
fishing village by the river Amstel has a close, the city was the richest in all budge. The rich became richer and
grown and grown. The jingling coins of Europe and the merchants became the poor poorer, but it was said that
and the merchants that follow them have even more bold in their quest to earn the opportunity was there to create
always been a center point, and the city more and more money. They sent their something out of nothing if you only
has flourished since Floris V granted ships on impossible trade expeditions were industrious enough. In the shady
Amsterdam its city rights. By the end and missions causing countless ships alleys, occult objects and mysterious
of the 16th century, after the Spanish to sink or become lost, never to be seen elixirs were sold, and during the nights,
conquest of Antwerp, many merchants again. Those who returned did come ships without names discharged their
fled to Amsterdam and brought with back with cargo holds filled with spices, cargo, too secret or too dangerous for
them both capital and knowledge of silk, precious metals and stones, and the public. Both England and France
how to conduct trade. Several harbors strange things from every corner of attacked the Dutch republic in 1672,
were constructed and the mighty Hansa the Earth. Amsterdam was the hub in and its Golden Era was said to be over.
grew from Amsterdam like a giant a world-encompassing trade network The feared Hansa was challenged by

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 several secret societies and trade rings headquarters. It is common to see their had already passed the secrets on to his
such as “The Twelve” and “The Silver symbol (”XII” like an ambigram) on both Templar brother Guillaume de Lins.
Ring”, acquired the most power. The ships and places around Amsterdam. The rumors of the Templar’s revival
main trade good of The Silver Ring was Some claim that The Silver Ring and are stirred by the mysterious symbol
secret information, and it was said that The Twelve are the same thing: The XII found on the houses and facades in
their members had heard things that Templar Knights, and that they shall the old Templar district in Paris.
would make ordinary people go mad. soon take over Amsterdam. The Chinon On the outside, Amsterdam is on the
In the middle of the 18th century, more Parchment from 1308 has been brought brink of collapse, a dying sliver of its
and more whisper about “The Twelve”, as proof, listing the names of twelve former self, but few see what is going
a merchant society said to have been Templars who fled from France. Surely, on beneath the surface. Something is
around since the Middle Ages, whose many Templars managed to escape about to happen; the secret societies
influence stretches from America to the Inquisition and the French king, conspire and intrigue. The Patrician
Europe to Asia. Others say that The but these twelve men appear time and oligarchs must fall, the republic will
Twelve is instead an organization time again throughout history and cease to be and instead, Amsterdam
of templars, founded by twelve high it is no secret that Philip IV spent a will fall into the hands of... whom? The
ranking members of the order who lot of resources on finding these men. resurrected Templar Knights? Who do
fled with its treasures as the Templar They are believed to have fled towards they serve, and for what purpose? The
Knights were accused of heresy and Amsterdam, led by Humbert Blanc, an order is renowned for its good hand
crushed by King Philip IV of France old Templar who had served the order with fortunes and for its own banking
in 1314. Legend has it that the twelve for over forty years. He was considered system. Have the old religious ideals and
Templars fled to Amsterdam and split a part of the “inner circle” and familiar motives started to wither and change
the treasures that were then shipped to with the secrets of the order. Philip IV into a belief in capital and a desire to
different parts of the world, and have finally managed to capture Humbert build a new state? Nobody knows, and
since that day made Amsterdam their Blanc and imprison him, but Humbert nobody dares to dig any deeper.

109

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 geography

 Berlin 
~ The forge of weapons ~

The Prussian capital of Berlin grows

rapidly. In 1709 55,000 people lived
110 there and already by the middle of the
century the number has doubled. A
large part of the population are soldiers
or people who in some way support a
growing military power. The Prussian
king’s desire to create a powerful
military is a constant feature in both
organization of and rule over Berlin.
The eagerly supported Enlightenment
comes to an abrupt halt by the middle
of the century as strict censorship
is introduced and nowhere else in
Europe is the city guard so disciplined
and organized as it is here. Spiteful
tongues speak of a military power
that is planning something big, if not
this century, then the next. Others
say that the Devil has sown his seed
in the middle of Berlin and it is from
this spot the evils of Europe will grow
stronger. The city, a natural stop on the
Grand Tour, competes with London as
an industrial center, but everything Like Paris, Berlin is full of salons, discussions in Berlin debate how the
revolves around a great war machine, thinkers, and higher knowledge. It is big machine will work, how everything
not an advanced state. In the dark mostly, however, about a different kind will arrange itself in the organized and
workshops are inventions and variants of enlightenment than that which is structured template of a well-developed
of weapons that amaze even the most discussed in Paris. Far from reason, state, centered around a disciplined
experienced weapon smiths. determination, and freedom, the military power.

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 geography

 Boston 
~ The new world ~

111

One of the most important cities of punishments and that everything with different ethnic backgrounds, but
the New World is Boston. It was should return to the old ways. also a tribute to Guy Fawkes’ attempt
here that the first British immigrants Because of its location by the ocean, to blow up the Parliament in 1605, also
settled down. They were led by the the city also became an important known as the Gunpowder Plot. Those
Puritan William Blackstone. Only harbor for ships from Europe, and who fight are the North End and the
those who swore allegiance to the the Bostonians are famous for their South End Gangs. Each gang has
Puritan Church and the true faith got shipbuilding skills. Long Wharf is their own festival train with a heavily
to settle here, and it was natural that built in 1710. Even if the Bostonians ornamented carriage. Members
the Bostonians held firmer onto their are more than willing to support the dress up in masks and costumes. The
faith than others. The city’s foundation English struggle with the French in gangs are led by so-called officers,
is claimed to have been blessed by the Canadian colonies, many voices and despite the calm beginning of
God and there are plenty of records are raised in rebellion, supporting the the holiday, it always ends with riots
of men and women who have received right to break free from England. The and fights with many casualties. Not
powers directly from God. By the end area is in constant turmoil. In Europe, until the Brits arrive with troops do
of the 17th century, however, science, Boston is spoken of as a wild animal the gangs unite, this time against their
and, first and foremost, education had that has to be tamed before it becomes new enemy.
become established, allowing the city too dangerous. They believe that the Boston is not one of the world’s
become a center for intellectuals and population has socialized too much with larger cities, but it is growing fast.
scholars. Several universities were the natives and have become as savage Most of all, it stands for a new time, a
founded and adventurous scientists as they are. new way of thinking and a new country.
travel all the way from Europe The fifth of November each year, Boston is a boiling pot on the other side
to study here. Firm believers are thousands of people clash from two of the eternal sea, far from London’s
convinced that the earthquake of 1755 of Boston’s biggest gangs. It is a fight mechanical workshops and Paris’
and the great fire in 1760 are God’s and a struggle between the gangs, perfume-drenched salons.

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 geography

 Copenhagen 
~ City of lost secrets ~

112

Copenhagen grew rapidly during strike again, as if to stop the city from what was called the Museum Rarirorum
the late 17th century and had at the growing, on November 20, 1728, when and in the ruined observatory at
beginning of the 18th century around a great fire raged for three long days. Rundetårn.
60,000 inhabitants. Everything seemed The fire turned almost a third of the city After the Plague and the terrible
promising for the Danish capital. to black ash, and over 15,000 of the now fire, the Lutheran Church rose above
The Enlightenment would carry 70,000 inhabitants found themselves the ashes and covered the city with
Copenhagen’s reputation to the rest of homeless afterwards. its raven-black coat. Since the halls
Europe to take a place among the great, However, the greatest loss of this and institutions of science had been
enlightened cities. disaster was not the buildings, but that shaken badly, the scientists’ influence
But death would come first. In 1711, which they contained. Among the burnt- diminished greatly. The Enlightenment
Copenhagen was struck by the Black down buildings were the university with and science were soon completely
Death which claimed the lives of 22,000 its 30,000 bound books and invaluable replaced by Church values. Scientists
out of the city’s 60,000 inhabitants. scriptures. In Borchs Kollegium and enlightened philosophers with
The Copenhageners, however, would 3,500 zoological and botanical works alternative ideas found themselves
not be defeated so easily, the two thirds concerning the peculiarities of nature persecuted and targeted by the men
who survived would soon rise again were destroyed, as were the priceless of the Church. Those who wanted to
and together strive for Copenhagen’s measuring instruments, made by Tycho research or study fields such as the
development. Catastrophe would soon Brahe and Ole Römer, that had been in natural sciences, technology, astrology,

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 113

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 and other subjects that came with the Church tower, and it was completed in King Christian VI was crowned in
Enlightenment had to ask the Church 1656. That the tower was not built for 1730, and ruled rather anonymously.
administration, now holding the city the Church first-hand but for something Scientists all over Europe who had
in an iron grip, for permission. Since 9 as ungodly as astrology and astronomy listened to the rumors now understood
out of 10 were denied, scientists were is believed to be the reason for what had that the Church also had the King in
posed with the decision to either leave now happened. their claws, something that became
Copenhagen altogether, or to conduct Soon, the rumors of Copenhagen’s even more obvious as the Pietist court
their research in secret. Most chose to Church administration started to spread preacher Bluhme never seemed to leave
leave. among scholars and in the corridors the King’s side. Christian VI did not rule
Perhaps, the foundation of this schism and libraries of European universities. for very long, however. The King died
between Church and science had already Firstly, conspiracy theories blamed the in 1746 and his son Frederick became
begun in 1642, when Christian IV’s 36 Church for the great fire, then others Frederick V. Whether or not this was a
meter tall Rundetårn was completed. claimed that the Church had hidden setback for the Church administration,
The King was, like many others of the away the supposedly destroyed works or if they had chosen another direction,
time, absolutely certain that the stars and instruments. Later on, vicious is now a hot topic in scientific debates.
and the planets had great influence over rumors even blamed the Church for the Some say that Christian VI was killed to
what happened here on Earth, and this plague, thought to have been brought to stop the Church’s influence, while others
tower erected for the scientists to use the city as some form of cleansing. say that the Church still have power over
to observe the stars’ and the planets’ Despite this power struggle after the the Crown, but act more carefully now.
positions. To placate the Church, he also fire, Copenhagen was completely rebuilt All in all, King Frederick V soon became
let the Trinitatis Church use it as their by 1737. the king of the people.

It was a processional cross that had once belonged to the order of the
114
Knights Templar. Odo de Saint Amand, hung it above the entrance to
the subterranean crypt where the society had gathered. It was common
knowledge that the crypt had been used by the exorcists of yore, who had
convened in secret meetings to share their skills. Perhaps the cross was a
trophy they had taken in connection with the burning of the last Grand
Master, Jacques de Molay, at the hands of brothers of the same group
that used to operate here. What wasn’t common knowledge, however, was
that the society had taken over the crypt now. A rich but unknown donor
had made sure that clanking coins had been exchanged for silence, and
turned away gazes. Now they could hold their meetings unhindered in a
place that seemed to breathe power and authority. In the innermost parts
of the crypt, fragments of bitterness and longing still lingered on the
walls, as well as the feeling of defeating your enemy but still not being
able to enjoy victory, since the enemy was dead or so broken by pain and
on the edge of madness that death would be a welcome relief.

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 geography

 Gothenburg 
~ The port of silence ~

Even though there have been plenty of the city by Utrella instead. In 1621, the responsible for the large number of Dutch
settlements around the outlet of Göta city was re-founded with Dutch structural and British citizens.
Älv, such as New Lödöse, Götaholm and engineering, since they had great Then, a night like so many others, some
the town of Älvsborg, it was not until the experience with founding cities in wetlands. ten, twenty years since the Swedish East
time of Charles IX that Gothenburg got Thus, the population of Gothenburg Indian Company was established, there
its name. On the river bank, south of the consisted mostly of Dutch people, which was talk among the Dutch seafarers in the
northern abutment of Älvsborg Bridge, actually made the government move tavern Halta Lotta, of strange things out
the city was founded by royal decree, Swedes there by force. During the middle at sea. A black, ancient ship without crew 115
but was subsequently destroyed in 1611, of the 17th century, the Elfsborg fortress had been sighted in the fog on the route
leaving only a ruined church and a few was torn down and replaced by a the New to the open sea. This was the first time
other remains. Officially, it was the Danes Elfsborg fortress by the harbor entrance, in a hundred years that the silent made
that burnt down the city, but other sources to better protect the city. an appearance. Soon, there were more
claim something completely different. The silent were soon forgotten and sightings of the ship, all at a distance and
They are said to have come from the sea, only a few had heard of or read about in the fog, and rumors of the ghost ship
in black, ancient ships, barely dressed and them. The population grew slowly but spread among the superstitious sailors.
not uttering a single word. Even so, it was steadily and by the middle of the 18th It took another couple of years before
like they spoke to each other. It was over century, the city had a population of over the next contact was reported, when a
in a few hours, and when the mute left the 10,000 and had become a trade hub for fisherman named Harald sat in his rowing-
newly founded Gothenburg, there were northern Europe. Primarily, Gothenburg boat, fishing. Suddenly, the black ship
few left to tell the tale. When the Danes was a fishing city. When the first Swedish came gliding out of the mists towards
arrived, the city was already aflame. international trading company was him. Despite the calm weather, the ship
Those who have researched the subject established in 1731, the Swedish East had wind in its sails. The ship drifted past
have found few stories and even fewer Indian Company, Gothenburg became Haralds’ boat within only a few meters,
chronicles that can shed light on what it a European center for trade with China which gave him full view of the deck.
was that attacked the city, but tales of the and the Far East. Goods such as tea, There they were, completely still, staring
silent go back further in time. The first porcelain, spices and silk officially traded emptily towards the bow where a mighty,
written accounts of the silent are from the owners in the company’s warehouses, but horrifying dragon’s head sat. Harald was
latter half of the 12th century, from when due to the heavy regulations, there were filled with such dread that his hair turned
they attacked smaller settlements around some unofficial changes in ownership white. When he finally managed to return
the river’s outlet. Some of the chronicles as well. Since Sweden’s economy had to Gothenburg, later in the evening, he
tell of tales way, way back to when the suffered badly from the Great Northern could scarcely speak, his stutter was so bad
Vikings ruled the North. War, many foreign merchants travelled to that few could actually understand what he
When the son of Charles IX, Gustavus Gothenburg. The city thrived, all thanks was saying. What no one knew, was that
Adolphus took the crown after his father’s to the Swedish East Indian company. Harald was the first, and only one, who had
death the same year, he decided to locate The company was a part of the city and seen the silent up close and lived.

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 geography

 London 
~ The mechanical workshop ~

116

London is the largest city in the world. themselves on the streets, much like the Decadence is but a dream, nurtured by
It grows uncontrollably as a furnace of animals. Dead cats, dogs, even horses the high aristocracy that gazes with
trade, people, encounters, and misery. and cows are left to rot in the gutter. envy toward Paris and Rome. The city
Almost the entire city burned down Butchers hang their goods on meat is a living, devilish machine that belches
during the Great Fire of London, in the hooks along the walls and bakers bake forth its poisons over its population. The
Devil’s year of 1666. A new city was built their bread on earthen floors. alchemists thrive in dark, underground
in great haste, and the heavy influx of Still, this is not what characterizes laboratories and technicians build their
people has new houses being hurriedly London the most. Above all, London occult contraptions said to be able to
built. Everything is temporary, and is the industrial capital of the world. create life. Engineers, schooled in new
the rickety houses lean on each other. Industries spew black, unholy smoke, scientific fields, develop and construct
Should one fall, the entire city will go the coal barges wriggle their way up machines that lie well above people’s
down. To be around this confusion of the Thames in a never-ending line. The previous abilities. There are rumors of
patched houses and stinking streets Soupers, the infamous London fog, is mechanical inventions that enable man
after daylight fades is extremely risky. mixed with the black smoke and is said to fly, or even worse, cog-wheel hearts
Nowhere in the world is the murder to be poisonous to whomever inhales of metal that beat steadily. Manuals
rate so high as it is in London. Poverty too much of it. Unlike many other that circulate in the underworld tell of
is wide-spread and the population make European cities, London is heated with man-sized automatons.
do with what they have. The sanitation coal, instead of firewood. Houses and The city’s population suffers from the
issue causes most to give up entirely factories use large quantities of coal and gin craze, and many individuals live in
on their personal hygiene and the hope the black smoke covers the city like a constant intoxication. The authorities
of drinking fresh water. Not even the thick veil. There is no room in London do all in their power to stop the drunken
simplest of toilets exist, people relieve for enlightenment and soft philosophy. populace, to no avail. Priests and

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 preachers argue that it is the modern assistants to tailors, cobblers, bakers, all of these end in violent riots. The
man’s poison and that the Devil is on his or in the factories. Few children reach Londoners love to fight and when
way to bring the city to its knees. They adulthood. The mortality rate is so high money runs out, fists take over.
blame unholy factory owners and claim that it is no longer possible for people Bethlehem Royal Hospital, also known
that the distilleries are built by Satan’s to get graves for themselves. Bodies as Bedlam, allows up until 1770 public
henchmen. The craze has knocked out are stacked in so called poor-mans- visitors to come watch its patients, much
entire neighbourhoods, and in its wake holes that are deep enough to fit seven like a zoo. Bedlam is one of Europe’s
follow crime and harsh punishments. coffins upon each other. Those who do largest sanatoriums for those afflicted with
In the alleys, those who have not not die from dysentery, diarrhea, typhus insanity, involuntary idleness, melancholy,
yet found anywhere to live are pressed or some other infection are more than or other unhealthy mental illnesses. The
together with paupers and thieves. It is likely to work themselves to death for asylum has thousands of visitors each
apparent who has the money. The costly minimum wage. year and the patients are mocked and spat
factories are expanded and the public A city so burdened with poverty and at to the Londoners’ great excitement.
buildings fall into disrepair. The power deformity has, naturally, created its own Otherwise, the biggest enjoyment is
lies with those who create economic kind of pleasures that are vastly different when criminals are punished. Gauntlets,
growth. Filth and decay bring with from the rest of the European cities. flagellations, and watching someone
them disease and infections. The lice are In London, paying visitors can watch chained and beaten is an exciting event
the size of thumbnails and can be found freak shows featuring hermaphrodites, that few Londoners want to miss. At
in clothes everywhere. The Londoners deformed mutants, trained monkeys and bigger executions, the authorities even
have taken on a sickly pallor and every an assortment of creatures and objects send out special invitations to the city’s
so often, the mouth area is covered with gathered from every part of the world. most prominent citizens. 30 to 40 people
boils, scabs and eczema of various kinds. Quack doctors perform theatrical shows are hanged every year by Tyburn Tree,
Half of the babies born die within two revealing the latest discoveries and and later Newgate Prison. The executions
years. The few who survive are relegated people gather in the streets to watch attract big crowds, almost 30 to 40,000
to a childhood of hard, unpaid labor as cockfighting or puppet shows. Almost each time.

117

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 geography

 Paris 
~ The salons drenched i perfume ~

118

The jewel of Europe is Paris: it is the will be replaced with fruit orchards The secret societies and associations
city of cities. Fashion, architecture, and vegetable gardens and land all have their own plans for how to
ideas and enlightenment flow from development and city construction has make Paris the center of the world, from
here. Many of Europe’s most modern begun. Pont Neuf, that ties together which all power shall radiate. The new
thinkers are located in Paris to try the banks of Seine via Île de la Cités, world order shall start a revolution
to achieve a position. While the helps connect the different parts of the that will spill over into the rest of the
people live in poverty, the nobility, city and Paris becomes more and more world, and a new dawn, a new era will
rich merchants, philosophers, and of a metropolis. The areas around the replace the old. The city is like a beehive
explorers gorge themselves with Louvre and in St. Germain, on the of ideas and ideals. A never-ceasing
luxuries and decadence. They do other side of the river, compete with stream of people come here seeking
not deny themselves anything, and Marais in attracting affluent citizens, enlightenment. Some stay for a while
everything can be bought for money and in their hôtels, they organize a before they move on.
or favors. social life that makes others green The camps of vagabonds outside
Just like the other European cities, with envy. The new buildings will be Paris are among Europe’s biggest.
Paris is riddled with streets and towers, well planned and pompous in both Travelers seek out the city’s inns.
its houses worn and in disrepair. A architecture and adornments, built Scientists, thinkers, and especially
new city plan, however, is supposed of stone along streets at least three explorers meet at the notorious salons
to put Paris on the map as the world’s meters wide. Ancien Régime, the old to exchange ideas and experiences,
most modern city. The Marais district order will be replaced by a new. knowledge from all around the world

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 119

flows through here. Explorers tell lectures are preceded by open flirtation. around the salons and all of them fight
stories of horrible animals and beasts Relations shift according to the host’s for their customers. How people dress,
in the jungles of Africa, philosophers preferences and are shaped by the lusts smell, and make themselves up is a clear
of enlightenment and scientists of and inclinations of the participants. indicator of status and power.
important breakthroughs in medicine, Many guests are diplomats, politicians, Art, fashion, and entertainment are
alchemy and natural sciences. In the administrators, or other prominent highly valued. The rich visit the theaters
center there is flirtation and the art figures who have travelled there and operas on a daily basis while those
of seduction. Paris is the Sodom and to partake in the decadence. To be with less means gather at variety shows
Gomorrah of Europe. To keep lovers seen at the right salons is of utmost and vau-de-ville theaters.
and mistresses is as accepted as eating importance, while at the same time the At the same time, discontent
a meal, and the power of seduction quality of the guests defines the salon. smoulders with the commoners. They
is important for holders of any It is also at the salons where the most watch as the rich roll themselves in
position or office. The salons are a link complex intrigues and plots take form. luxury and wealth while they themselves
between Versailles of the court and the Freemasons, Gnostics, Kabbalists, and starve and work hard. Every now and
intellectual Paris, where the new ideas other loosely put together societies use then, minor riots break out in the city,
thrive. Flirtation is the cement that the salons as both hunting grounds and only to be quickly put down by a well-
binds it all together. Spiritual pleasures sanctuaries. trained city guard. The punishments for
are seen as important as those of the The wigmakers, perfumeries, and agitation and instigation of rebellion are
body. Music and readings, debates and silk tailors can be found in abundance harsh in order to have a deterrent effect.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 geography

 Prague 
~ City of the stone giants ~

120 Prague was founded as early as in the winding streets, that was founded in that the Catholics wanted to abolish
9th century, and consists today of four the 11th century. Here lies also one of religious freedom. The governors faced
districts on both sides of the Moldau Europe’s oldest universities, Charles a summary trial and were sentenced to
river. The city soon became a seat for University, which was founded in 1347 death by defenestration. Fortunately,
the Bohemian kings, of which some by a bull issued by Pope Clement VI. the governors survived the fifteen meter
became even Holy Roman emperors. In Lesser Town and Old Town are, fall after landing in a large pile of dung.
the 10th century, Prague was described since the 14th century, connected by the Many say that dark powers were
as a lively center of trade, and in 973 Charles Bridge, framed by Gothic bridge now in motion and some even went so
the city became a bishopric. The city towers and adorned with Baroque statues far as to say that it was the Jews, with
flourished under the rule of Charles of saints. In the Old Town’s northern their ancient kabbalism, that made the
IV, who decreed the founding of the parts lie the Jewish districts. Protestants act as they did.
new city, Nové mesto, during the 14th South of the Old Town is the New The time after the defenestration was
century. Town, Nové mesto, that is not exactly a tumultuous one. The Jews were soon
On the river’s left bank, the district new as it too was founded in the 14th blamed for all bad things that happened
of Hradcany dominates the city, with century. in the city, mysterious or not. Rumors of
the Prague Castle and its complex of Prague was, during the 14th the Jews’ mysticism and what they were
palaces and churches, towered over by century, Europe’s third largest city capable of started to spread through the
the majestic St. Vitus Cathedral, built and an important center of trade and districts of Prague like wildfire. The
during the 14th century and the oldest culture. But the city has long since most minor inconvenience or random
Gothic cathedral of Central Europe. been cursed with bad luck which is event was blamed on the Jews.
East of Hradcany is Malá Strana, said to be the reason behind several The straw that broke the camel’s back
Lesser Town. This district also boasts wars. It all begun in May 1618, when came later that year, when an ominous
elegant palaces, such as the royal Protestant nobles found it appropriate red comet illuminated the sky and
residence Belvedere and the Strahov to throw two Catholic governors terrified the entire European people.
monastery with its unique library. and their secretaries out of one of the Everywhere, the comet was said to
On the other side of the Moldau, east windows in the Prague Castle. One of portend disease and war. In Prague the
of Lesser Town, is the center of Prague, the reasons is believed to be that the Jews were accused of having summoned
the Old Town, Staré Mesto, with narrow, Protestants in Bohemia were afraid the Great Comet and many were killed

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 for no apparent reason. Few Jews dared fire, nobody knows; the three who were and horrible events in the alleys of the 121
to show themselves outside of their arrested for the crime revealed nothing Jewish districts. A giant, stone creature
districts during this time. Even fewer of their intentions, despite ruthless was said to have wandered about in the
non-Jews dared enter them. For thirty, torture. Many hoped that the Jews district, violently attacking those who
terrible nights, the comet lit the night would be banished because of the fire, did not belong to the Jewish people.
sky and people all over Europe turned but the Jews rose from the ashes and This led to the remaining population
their gaze toward it and feared the were soon as strong as they had been being reluctant to visit there, let alone
worst. That mankind had angered God before. The city was set abloom again settle down. The districts remained
and now were to pay for their sins was when rich merchants rebuilt the city untouched until 1748, when the Queen
obvious. People spoke of plagues and and made it more beautiful than ever. suddenly revoked the deportation and
wars, and war was what they got. Soon Although, peace would not last very let the Jews return to Prague. Whether
after the comet had vanished from the long in Prague. The Austrian War this had to do with the enormous Golem,
skies, a terrible war broke out that was of Succession broke out in 1740, and as the creature was called, or not is still
rumoured to have been sparked by the Prague was right in the middle of it. debated. Some mystics claim that the
defenestration of the two governors By the end of November 1741, Prague giant in the Jewish district was not the
and was blamed on the Jews. The war was conquered by an army made up of only one of its kind. More, albeit smaller
lasted for thirty years, giving those who Bavarian, Saxon and French troops that and nimbler, stone creatures were said
studied night sky phenomena grist to had advanced through Bohemia, but to have committed bestial murders of
their mills, and involved major parts of was relieved the following year by the Habsburg administrators and it was
Europe. Habsburg Queen Maria Theresa. these murders that caused the Queen to
When the war ended, the Jewish In 1745, after hearing rumors of the let the Jews back in.
population enjoyed a brief moment Jews having sided with the Prussians, As soon as the Jews returned, the
of respite. However, in 1689 they the Queen banished them from the murders ceased, and reports of stone
suffered the next blow, as the Jewish city. Around 30 per cent of the 65,000 creatures became fewer and fewer until
districts were set ablaze. The fire, that inhabitants were deported and were they stopped altogether. To this day, few
was supposedly only meant to hit the forced to leave their homes and Prague. people dare enter the Jewish districts with
Jewish districts, devastated large parts Shortly after the deportation, reports ill intent, as it is believed that the stone
of Prague. Why the Frenchmen set the came flooding in about mysterious creatures still keep vigil over their people.

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 geography

 Rome 
~ The cellars of knowledge ~

Rome is a city used to be the center of

the world for more than a millennium.
From the capitol of the ancient
empire it became the world center of
Christian faith, with the Cathedral
Petri, ”the throne of Saint Peter”
giving authority to the Popes. Rome
is a spreading metropolis, where
crowded sections stand by abandoned
one. Modern shambling houses, mix
with magnificent ancient ruins, and
the refined palaces of the nobles and
cardinals. Graeco-Roman sculptures are
122 positioned nearby masterworks of the
Renaissance and Baroque architectures.
Such a concentration of beutiful items,
unknown in the rest of Europe, decorate
the houses of the Roman elite, while
whole sheep herds, wandering orphans
and bloody knife duels are commonly
seen in the streets. The most vulgar
and the most sublime scenes can be seen
here, intertwined in Rome’s landscapes.
Rome is also the highlight of the
Grand Tour, as loads of young nobles
and well-educated people come here
from all around Europe to hear the
echoes of history. They have their
pictures painted, posing next to columns
and statues from the time of Christ, as
well as to visit the catacombs where the
Saint Martyrs are buried. The richest
buy artifacts from dig sites and send comprehend. The streets crawl with ritualistic machines, that if put into
them back to their countries as proof myths and rumors about these secrets. the hands of ordinary people would set
of their travels. The myth of Ancient Power, knowledge and salvaged the entire world ablaze. The churches
Rome has rooted itself in England, and objects are kept safe by the priests, are wealthy and their vaults filled to
many of those who come visit are Brits. who refuse to share their treasures. the brim, the population superstitious
The Church has more power here People whisper about tears of angels, and religious. Here, it is best to not
than anywhere in Europe. In the Jesus’ cross, about holy relics and challenge the power of the Church and
secret vaults of the holy churches lie scriptures, but also about embalmed its preaching, the few who have are
secrets too great for humankind to demons, manuals of the Devil and never heard from again.

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 geography

 Saint Petersburg 
~ The mysterious cauldron ~

123

A new era demands a new city. Such is Both the Tsar’s and his daughter’s involved in the occult. The priests are
the reasoning of the Russian Tsar when interest in the occult causes Saint very powerful and are viewed rather
he founded Saint Petersburg in 1703, Petersburg to attract mystics and as mystics than as preachers. People
close to the spot where the Russian occultists like manure attracts flies. trust in their whisperings and the
national hero Alexander Nevsky once Beneath the surface, the city boils with sects that bring their words to bear
defeated a great Swedish host. The seances, devil worship and rituals, even are quite numerous. One of the most
newly founded city, with an important the Orthodox priests are pulled into the powerful mystics in Saint Petersburg
harbor, becomes Russia’s window to the mysteriousness and in Saint Petersburg, is Alex Zdorov. Born in a village east
west. The city’s importance becomes it is no longer possible to discern the of the Ural Mountains, in windswept,
so great that it becomes Russia’s new holy from the unholy. Everything merciless Siberia, Alex arrives in Saint
capital in 1712. It is possibly the world’s is a jumble of prayers, worship, and Petersburg sometime during the end of
most modern city and French architect sacrifices to higher powers. the 1720s. Here, he creates his branch of
Jean-Baptiste Le Blond is assigned with Where occultists gather, mythical the hedonistic sect Bozhiy lyudi, God’s
planning it. Soon, the area is transformed and mysterious object can be found. people, known to the Petersburgers as
from a stinking marsh to one of the most Perhaps Europe’s most complete Khlysty. They preach that salvation is
beautiful and modern cities ever beheld. collections of occult literature and achieved through life of complete sin.
A grand citadel and fortifications are objects are located in Saint Petersburg. Within a few years, they acquire a great
rapidly constructed, as is a mighty dock. Alchemists and collectors flock here to deal of power and influence over the city.
Craftsmen stand in line to partake in the discover, see and, perhaps for a large Alex is believed to have several occult
wonder. Shortly after the death of the amount of money, buy these items or powers and his followers grow steadily
Tsar, the court moves back to Moscow writings. Visitors will soon learn that in numbers. Many people claim that the
in the 1720s, but will soon return again. almost the entire court are in some way city’s future is tied to Alex Zdorov’s.

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 geography

 Stockholm 
~ The city of dreams gone by ~

It is said that a country’s capital is newly-rich merchants and East Indian

its own mirror, and nothing could be traders gather by the Skeppsbro wharf.
truer for Stockholm. Sweden is an Every day, ships arrive with new cargo
impoverished empire on the fringe of to be sold or repacked to be shipped
Europe. Her days of glory have passed somewhere else. Iron is a very valuable
and the only remaining trophy is the good. Swedish iron ore is transported
bitter taste of loss. In Stockholm the to Stockholm and shipped to England,
remnants gather of that which once where it is turned into tools and
was, discarded and drunken officers factories, and Swedish merchants make
spew out their rage over being obsolete a good profit out of it. The Crown
and discontent grows in the streets and has its eyes on their assets and does
markets. The people long for another everything they can to maximize
war, a new enemy, but the national taxes and regulations, but they fight
124 treasury is so empty that even the rats against the odds. The nouveau-riche
starve. Politicians and administrators Stockholmers are quick to threaten to
say it is time to look forward, that move to England or France or to end
Sweden must forget its days as a great their businesses if the state does not
power and create for itself a new identity. work with them to further increase
The little money that remains is spent their wealth. The answer is more
on rebuilding a state administration and administrators and inspectors, more
Stockholm is where the officials, clerks, documents that need stamps and seals,
administrators, and politicians gather. more goods and cargo inspections, efficiency. In its wake, many institutions
Why the departments and colleges need something the Stockholmers have pop up, such as a banking system,
to be so big is widely speculated, and come to call “the perpetual dance”. auction halls, and the Swedish National
people say that it does not have anything Why do the lowest street numbers Land Survey. The latter creates great
at all to do with administration, but to begin the closest to the Royal Palace, confusion: what is surveyed and why?
cover the tracks and sweep away secrets and ascend from there, why do all public Dressed in black, the surveyors act in
that cannot reach the city’s population. buildings have to be yellow, and why is secrecy and everything they survey is
What secrets, many ask. Others do the Royal Archive not gathered in one gathered in their great archive.
not care, they are so poor that all they and the same place? The questions In an attempt to create a new golden
think of is how to survive the next are many, and conspiracy theories era, the city invests in new architecture,
winter. The cold gales of change blow fuel the notions that something is fancy salons, culture, entertainment,
through the alleys and people gather going on behind the scenes. Who is and everything to uphold a polished
what little strength they have. Officers the marionette and who is the master? facade. With dreams of times long
and dismissed soldiers conspire to take Nobody knows, and nobody dares ask. past, people hope that enlightenment
power. They want to restore Sweden’s Stockholm is no longer the focus of and organization will make Sweden a
prestige and expand its territories, they interest of the other European powers, leading country again. Most believe,
want a new king and most of all, they do but shouldn’t the city still have some however, that the time for dreams has
not want a bunch of administrators and kind of importance? The growing passed, it is time for action. Although,
politicians standing in their way. state administration, granted, is at the question remains who will take over:
Parallel to this game of power, the the leading edge of organization and the military or the administrators?

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 Venice 
~ City of daggers ~

125

The rich palaces of the elite and the century is in pure decadence. But it is There was something that neither
gondolas on grand canals are still an a golden twilight for the Serenissima plagues nor kings could take from it:
enjoyable in Venice, although the city republic. This is the age of the famous its mysterious past full of masquerades
has been fading away for almost 200 playwright Carlo Goldoni, the skillful and secrets. The citizens have always
years. When Venice was struck with painter Giambattista Tiepolo and of conspired; Ottoman conquerors, along
the Plague in 1348 and then again in the amazing adventurer and seducer with Spanish and Roman, have tasted the
1577, it was like stabbing it first in the Giacomo Casanova. The city is filled bitterness of the shadows and the daggers.
back, then slitting its throat, and during with aristocratic salons and elegant The masquerades have only ever been a
the outbreak in 1630, it killed more ”caffè” houses where intellectuals pretext to gather and conspire against
than 100,000 people. New trade routes meet to discuss learned matters. The everything and everyone who sought to
and shifting alliances caused Venice to wealthy Venetians spend their days in claim Venice. It is, for the same reason, no
lose power and momentum. The old, melancholic grandeur. Masked feasts, coincidence that several assassin’s guilds
glorious republic whose politics once especially during the celebration of the have their base in Venice, or that many
influenced kingdoms and changed Carnevale, are incredibly in vogue in occult writings and scriptures originate
crusades’ targets, during the 18th Venice. from this place.

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 geography

 Vienna 
~ Halls of the heavenly tones ~

126

Vienna, the center of the Habsburg most talented musicians and artists. end of the century Vienna became the
power, has gone through significant The city vibrates with the tones of permanent residence of the Wolfgang
change in the last hundred years. strings, kettle-drums and clarinets. Amadeus Mozart, who have surprised
New ornate and costly buildings The concerts bring tears to the eyes the European courts for years,
have been completed: castles, public of young ladies and cause men’s knees while Joseph Haydn is a local hero
establishments, music halls, and to tremble. European nobles visit the and everyone wants to listen to his
opera houses. They all attract the newly established concert halls to symphonies.
best architects, but most of all the hear the latest compositions. At the

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 geography

 Typical Areas 

The slums
In most big cities, there are districts
that have for various reasons fallen into
disrepair, where beggars, thieves, and
prostitutes gather at night to warm
themselves by the fires. The houses are
rotten hovels, the narrow alleys filled
with rubbish, lice, and rats. The taverns
are home to fences and assassins. No
respectable person would ever think of
visiting these districts, even in broad
daylight. Every so often, the authorities
perform raids and round up the trash
to send them to hospitals, prison, or 127
the gallows. But despite the zealous
constables and night watchers, people
arrive constantly, in large waves, from
the countryside. Desperate farmers who
lost their lands to wealthy landowners,
migrate to cities in search of fortune,
but what they find only poverty and
degradation. They are just lower-
grade mechanism of the ”Industrial
Revolution” which, starting from
England, is bound to change the urban
landscapes of Europe.
Different gangs of thieves dominate
these criminal societies and teach
children the art of stealing and cutting
the throats of honourable people who
have become lost in the alleyways. From
time to time, the slums are shaken by been driven off from bigger cities all over word of God and be put to work, to cure
bloody disputes as various gangs clash Europe. It was not until the middle of the their wicked ways. The royalty of other
in proper battles to decide who gets to last century that France found a more countries understood that this was an
rule over which street and square. Apart permanent solution. Instead of driving extraordinary way of strengthening
from cudgels, knives, and fists, the gangs ragamuffins and prostitutes off to the their grip on the population and, at the
arm themselves with a wide assortment countryside, Louis XIV decided that same time, getting their hands on some
of improvised weapons, cheap to make every beggar, tramp, invalid, mentally cheap labor, and established similar
but deadly nonetheless. insane, and street urchin should be institutions, modelled after the great
Vagrants, beggars and criminals have rounded up and put into an institution hospital in Paris.
always been a problem, and have in turns where they would have to listen to the Life at these dreary institutions is

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 fully planned, from early morning to in most cases also act as assembly points that the less fortunate should be able
late in the evening, with sermons and for stolen goods and prostitutes. to afford to live in the houses, but the
hard labor. Overpopulation creates an Neighboring Seven Dials was administration is corrupt and as soon
environment characterized by disease, established at the end of last century with as the buildings fall into the hands of
starvation, and violence, much like life the ambition of becoming a respectable landlords, they rent out single rooms at
in the slums. area. Investors soon lost interest, exorbitant prices. A myth that is deeply
In most cases, trials are not however, and the district became a rooted is that below Rue Francois Miron
necessary to put someone in a public retreat for thieves and ragamuffins as there is an enormous crypt where the
hospital. The simple requirements are the rot of St Giles slowly spread. The city’s vampires sleep.
homelessness, joblessness, and the bad district is built around a square in ”Mouchard Roi”, the rat king, keeps
luck of attracting the attention of the which a giant dial stands. Originally, it the district in line with his gang of
authorities. It is common for affluent was planned for six streets to radiate thieves. Most are from Paris, but
families to buy lettres de cashe to get from the square, and that the property Mouchard Roi, also known as Monsieur
particularly inconvenient sons and developer could rent out the buildings Couteau, was born in the New World
daughters locked up. in the center for maximum price. In and has Dutch roots. Those who follow
their greed, they also planned a seventh Mouchard Roi carry either a feather
St Giles and Seven dials, London street. The sky-high rents deterred or a rat’s tail in their hair. Rival gangs
The worst slum in England, and maybe investors, the houses fell into disrepair, stick to the outskirts of the district,
in all of Europe, is St Giles in northern and the square is now lined with pubs belonging to either the mysterious Les
London, coincidentally enough named instead of decent establishments. Couteaux who carry long knives, or Les
after the patron saint of beggars and The rabble from St Giles and Seven Lupins who wear rabbit hats.
invalids. During the Middle Ages, the Dials do not stick to their districts, but
city’s gallows were located here, with often venture south to the markets by Rovine
the St Giles in the Fields church and Covent Garden, where they pick the Rome is filled with ancient ruins or
its monastery acting as a hospital for pockets of gentlemen and servants who ”rovine”, as the Italians call them.
the leprous. Across the centuries, the watch the puppet shows playing “Punch However there is a place with no known
128 city’s buildings crept closer and closer, and Judy”, snatch vegetables from the name which only few inhabitants of
and during the 16th century, you could stalls, and cut down incautious strollers Rome even knows. These ”Rovine”
find run-down houses, occupied by in the alleys. are located not even half a day’s ride
beggars, thieves, and prostitutes. The northeast of Rome, and are accessible
area is seriously overpopulated, and in Le Marais, Paris by wood trails and thickets. Rumour has
the dirty, cramped quarters, diseases Only the old wetlands in Paris, that it that the ruins were once a flourishing
and epidemics thrive. It was at St Giles’ together go under the name Marais, city that surrendered itself to the
cemetery that the first plague victims can be compared to London’s St Giles. darkness, or that the ruins were born
were buried, during the great plague What began as an ambitious project out of the Earth like an evil child and
of 1655, and the area has on many four hundred years prior, is now a refuge that they carry secrets darker than Hell
occasions been the source of epidemics for beggars, thieves, and vagabonds. itself. One thing is certain, however, that
that have swept through London. When the people of the salons and few of those who visit them have ever
The gallows have now been moved to court decided to move to Faubourg returned, and those that do have been
Tyburn, but the cart from Newgate Saint-Germain, the district decayed. It marked by fear and anxiety. Some say
Prison still stops by here, to let the soon became Europe’s largest Jewish Rovine is the remains of the ancient city
condemned have a last drink at The ghetto and the Place des Vosges is of Fidenae that was severely punished
Angel. At such events, people gather in run-down and occupied. The area offers for opposing the Roman Empire.
the streets to yell obscenities and throw a wide assortment of gin shops, opium The city was covered with darkness
rocks at the prisoners, and then run dens, bars, and lice-riddled taverns, summoned with black magic and rituals,
after it all the way to Tyburn, outside but there is also much joy to be found and slowly died. No one knows what the
the city bounds, to watch the execution. in little variety theaters and carnivals ruins hide or what secrets lay buried
The district’s thieves’ guilds speak that line the streets one after the other. there, maybe the citizens collected huge
”St Giles’ Greek,” a thief language The festivities are a way to attract the treasures, or maybe they brought the
full of foreign loanwords and absurd middle class to Le Marais, only to be darkness upon themselves. That they,
wordplays, and are notorious all over later robbed by local inhabitants. in a desperate attempt to protect the
London of plucking out the eyes of There is an awkward attempt to build city, gave in to the dark and released
those who resist being robbed. A fourth more houses on Rue Francois Miron the most terrible beings the world had
of all establishments are gin shops, that that begins in 1734. The ambition is ever seen. One thing remains certain,

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 however: Rovine is not for the faint of
heart. The ruins are grand and spread
out, and the closer to the heart one gets,
the darker it becomes. In its innermost
core, even lanterns are of little help.
Slums surround the area, that have
to be crossed to get to the ruins. Here
gather the outcasts, the poor, and the
lawless in the hope that the ruins’
reputation will scare the authorities
away. Vagabonds and circus folk from all
over Europe are also found here, along
with deserters who seek to avoid the
long arm of the law.

La Salpêtrière
The example model for the hospices
of Europe was established by Louis
XIV in Paris, in 1656. An abandoned
gun powder factory was rebuilt and
became one of the French Baroque’s
most important buildings, with the
giant complex surrounding a great,
eight-pointed chapel, as a reminder
of the king’s Christian mercy. Really,
the Sun King only wanted the rabble
off the streets, since they sullied his 129
radiance. Additionally, it was a way
for the absolutist monarch to further community in itself, with its own laws, in delicate pastel, romantic novels of
strengthen his power that completed its own hierarchies, and rulers. The high shepherds, and other impressions the
his network of contacts and his lettres mortality rate lets beggar kings rise and upper class has of nature, life in the
de cashe, arrest orders decreed by the fall within weeks. The public hospice is countryside is far from luxurious and
king, or his ministers, letting people be also notorious for its giant hordes of rats carefree. Almost all land is owned by the
incarcerated without trial or a reason that steal food, sneak through bedding, nobility and the crown, which means
why. and brazenly feast on the dead, or those the peasants must pay high tenancy
About 6,000 people, almost one too sick to defend themselves. to cultivate the land. The surplus is
per cent of Paris’ citizens, now crowd Most of the inmates at La Salpêtrière sent to the markets and whenever the
inside the walls. Street urchins, beggars, are women. This is mostly because more peasants get to eat vegetables or meat,
invalids, prostitutes, the mentally women than men are arrested, and that it is common that the food has become
insane, and epileptics are kept chained men more often are brought to the rotten, infested by pests, or in other
in small alcoves, or wander aimlessly gallows instead. Additionally, a large ways too ruined to be able to be sold.
in the naked corridors and across the portion of the less hardened women The constant wars also take their toll on
walled yards. The point is to put them are shipped off, after a brief stay at La the peasants, as armies march through
to work and preach to them beneath the Salpêtrière, to the French colonies in the provinces, ravaging everything in
giant dome in the chapel. In reality, the Louisiana to populate the areas where their way. Agriculture, during the 18th
misery is far worse inside the walls than the colonizers “lack” womenfolk. century, is absolutely essential for a
in the worst of slums. country and the population of Europe
Pests, epidemics, and murder are is in direct relation to the fertility of
everyday business. People die like The fields and the factories the land, agricultural technology, or
flies and the bodies have not even Around 85 per cent of Europe’s the ability to import grain. In spite of
been thrown on the cart to be buried population live in the countryside in this, the economic and technological
in unmarked graves at Cimetière des small villages, where most make a development of many European
Innocents before new inmates have living off of various kinds of farming. In countries is hampered by the royalty
taken their place. The hospice is a small contrast to the idyllic scenery painted and nobility who focus all too much on

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 farming while ignoring other kinds of of these terrible things can attract the faience inspired by China. Among the
industries. attention of the authorities, or worse, largest workplaces are the faience
People in the countryside are entirely the Church, who might choose to factories of Quimper in France,
dependent on agriculture and a good eliminate these fearmongers. Oettingen in Bavaria, and Delft in the
harvest. Failure of the crops can cause Traditionally, most of the production Netherlands.
entire villages to starve and die off. of goods and commodities has been
During the last years of the 1600s, crop managed by specialized craftsmen, Languedoc
failure, famine, and epidemics raged organized into guilds that date back In southern France lies Languedoc, one
across Europe. In France, two million to the Middle Ages. During the last of the country’s largest agricultural
people perished, in Sweden 100,000, a centuries, it was common practice to territories, with a rich history of
fifth of the Estonian population starved make use of the domestic system, in Templar Knights, heretic sects, and
to death as did a third of Finland’s. The which a merchant farms out steps of rebellious Huguenots. The fertile earth
18th century has also been marked by the production chain to households is due to the warm climate and the limey
frostbitten springs, crop failures, and that work from home. When done, the soil, and the landscape is decorated
famine. Whispers of how starvation has merchant collects the goods and bring with olive trees, waving rye and wheat
caused the entire population of some them to the next team of workers, until fields, juicy grapevines, and colourful
villages to go insane and turned them the product is finished and ready for the maize imported from the New World.
into famished wolves in human clothing, market. The domestic system, however, Many cities among the fields have the
crushing the skulls of their neighbours is time-consuming and ineffective, peasantry’s hard work to thank for
for a moldy piece of bread, or gnawing providing small profits. their prosperity, such as Carcassonne,
like rats on the bones of their fallen An extension of the domestic systems with its woollen textile industry;
comrades. is the manufactures, in which all workers Toulouse, where trade routes from the
The peasants, in essence, are at the are gathered under the same roof, Mediterranean and the Atlantic meet;
local noble’s complete mercy. Not only something that dramatically increases and the provincial capital of Montpellier
do the nobility own the farmlands production and yields. More and more with its grand Venetian villas.
that they rent out for a hefty sum, the middle and upper-class entrepreneurs For the people living in the Languedoc
130 mills are often owned by landlords or are starting to realize the profitability of countryside, life revolves around tilling
innkeepers that the peasants also have this system, and with the English textile the earth and the change of the seasons.
to pay to refine their rye and wheat. In industry in the forefront, manufactories In the beginning of the year, they
Russia and eastern Europe, the peasants are built with blinding speed across plough the fields and in February and
are generally serfs, and cannot leave Europe. The agricultural streamlining, March, they sow oats and grain, prune
their patch without the landlord’s or the during the last couple of decades, has the grapevines, and clean the vineyards.
authority’s permission. Violations are rendered plenty of small-time farmers After sowing the maize in April, the
penalized with a heavy fine, flogging, or jobless and forced them into the cities to peasants walk in procession between the
execution. seek employment at the manufactories. It vineyards with images of saints, praying
The peasantry often lives in a small, is common for entire under-class families to Saint Mark, Saint George, and the
windowless cottage with clay walls, to work at the same place, and even single other patron saints of wine for a rich
thatched roof and earthen floor. Wheat women, who previously have lived as harvest. A sudden change of weather
and other grain are kept indoors, as abused maids in the households of higher could mean that the budding grapes
are smaller farm animals. The entire social classes, or forced into prostitution, freeze, and some claim that the peasants
family sleeps in the same bed, which is can now find work and a sliver of pray to completely different deities if
absolutely necessary so as to not freeze independence at the manufactories. spring should be particularly cold, or
to death when winter’s cold is severe The work is hard and strenuous with another catastrophe is at the doorstep.
and firewood is expensive. Travelers long shifts in cramped, noisy halls, and When spring arrives, the haymakers
and other guests who seek shelter for many workers become crippled from pour down from the north to the fields,
the night also get to nestle down under the inhuman working conditions. At the to help with the harvest. May and June
the greasy sheets. same time, skilled tradesmen are highly is spent tending the wheat and maize
The countryside is also a breeding sought after and an experienced worker fields. Under the baking summer sun
ground for myths and stories about the is often relatively well-paid. in July, they cut the oats and the grain,
darkness. In the hovels, legends can be The largest industries during the and hay is cut, raked and put out to dry.
heard of werewolves, ghosts, and evil 18th century are the textile industry, In August, they fertilize the soil, prune
spirits that terrorize the population. with its spinning mills, weaveries, and the maize, and harvest the hemp, and in
But the storytellers must be careful of dye works, as well as different kinds September, they harvest the maize and
who might be listening; to speak freely of earthenware such as porcelain and tend the fields that in October will be

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 131

sown with rye, wheat, oats and beans. of Mirrors at Versailles. A century also receive a small cut of the company’s
Then November comes, the one month later, Saint-Gobain had surpassed the profits every year. A factory worker
of the year that the peasants’ aching Venetians, and is close to achieving signs a contract for one or two years at
backs and raw hands get to rest, and a monopoly on European glass a time, and to break it means whipping,
later, in December, they work again production. heavy fines, or prison. More common,
with the maize fields and tree planting. Around a thousand people work at however, is that people work their entire
A year has passed, and the wine this giant complex, from guards, clerks, lives at Saint-Gobain. The wives help
and grain that have been shipped out, and factory priests to the glassblowers out in the warehouses, and as soon as
via Canal du Midi, has made the fine who toil in the hellish heat by the the children grow old enough they are
gentlemen and merchants of Toulouse furnaces, the workers in the yards who put to work in the yard or in the halls,
slightly richer and slightly more fat. shovel sand and ash, and the carpenters learning the trade, so that they can one
who chop wood and plant trees. A team day take their fathers’ place.
Compagnie de Saint-Gobain works a week at a time and spends every
One of France’s largest manufactories waking hour by the furnaces where
is Saint-Gobain, to the north of Paris they also sleep, on straw mattresses Hunting grounds and nature
and by the border to the Austrian on the floor, in the searing heat. They Hunting is heavily regulated and a
Netherlands. The company was work day and night, blowing flasks, privilege only a few enjoy, the crown
established in 1665 by Louis XIV and making mirrors, and windows while owns most lands and a few rich nobles
Colbert, the minister of finance, to they constantly must keep the furnaces the rest. Even though the landowners
kickstart the French economy and to at the right temperature. It is a heavy seldom use their hunting grounds, it is
challenge Venice, who was the leading and dangerous work that requires strictly forbidden for people in general
glass and mirror producer to whom experience, which means that it also to enter these areas without permission.
the French monarch had paid a fortune pays well. Apart from free gloves and Certain foresters and stewards manage
during the construction of the Hall other work-clothes, the glass workers the forests and hunting grounds when

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 the lords are elsewhere. Hunting Opera houses and theaters Even if the dirty worker and
rights may be bought or gifted, usually, Entertainment and drama are on the ministers with noble titles frequent
hunting rights go to the nobility or an rise during the 18th century. Both the the coffee shops as well, the middle
office and people of high stations have richest of kings and the poorest of class make up most of their customers.
received the rights to large areas. beggars appreciate comedies both in the The aristocracy may have the court,
Groups of well-to-do people meet up street stages and crown-funded theaters. but the middle class has the drinking
at the estates and spend weeks in the Oftentimes, the stages are a forum for joints. The coffee houses are where the
grounds, hunting fox, deer, boar, and covert critique and satire, but also a way ideas of the Enlightenment spread the
fowl. Much of the meat goes to waste as for young artists, musicians, and actors most and the famous Le Procope in
the small, exclusive parties can scarcely to quickly gain status and power. Paris has customers such as Voltaire,
consume the amounts that they kill. The opera houses fill up almost every Rousseau, and Diderot. It was here, over
To preserve heads as trophies is highly night when the nobles, politicians, a steaming cup of coffee, that the idea of
regarded and acts as a statement of the and administrators trying to acquire the Encyclopédie was born.
quality of the grounds. The bigger the contacts and holds on each other. To not Coffee is not the only drink in fashion
trophies and antlers, the higher the participate in the entertainment circle is in Europe. In Spain, they drink chocolate
possibility of attracting the big game, to stand outside of the center of power. made from beans from the colonies of
that is to say, the high nobility, to the the New World, and in England, people
area. have started drinking an exotic brew
England, as well as France, has many Coffee houses and illicit made of Indian leaves. ”Tea”is the name
large hunting grounds that are held liquor shops of the novelty which in Eastern Europe
in high esteem and are much coveted, Coffee is said to have arrived in Europe is instead called ”Chai” or ”Shai”, using
but far from the exclusiveness of the in 1683, when an Austrian soldier found an oriental word, since its trade come
savannahs of Africa or the America’s a sack left behind after the Turkish via Arab and not English merchants.
wilderness. Those who return from occupation of Vienna, containing London has more than a thousand
exotic hunting trips to one of these wild strange, green beans. It is more likely, coffee shops and Paris almost as many.
continents have many stories to tell in however, that it was introduced in Even an out-of-the-way corner of
132 the salons, and sometimes lower status Venice by merchants who traded with Europe such as Stockholm can boast a
or lack of etiquette can be compensated the Muslim world. The black drink few of its own.
for with a grand story of a lion hunt. was, in any case, ascribed with several Opium dens have started to appear
medicinal attributes, it would dry out as well; as trade intensifies with India
Quorndon, Leicestershire phlegm, sharpen the intellect, and and China, opium usage has increased as
Quorndon, outside of Leicestershire, is a overall be good for the health. The well, by both the upper and lower classes.
famous hunting ground for the high and increase in coffee consumption led to the
low nobility of England, and a center for establishment of coffee houses that soon Café Procope
the breeding of hunting dogs. The area is became a place where people met, drank At Café Procope, on Rue de l’Ancienne
well-known for its foxhunts and hunting the dark miracle drink, and discussed Comédie, theaterfolk from the Comédie
is refined into an artform, parties come trade and politics. Francaise, that lies just across the street,
and go after another and a steady stream Eventually, they became so popular gather. The café has many prominent
of English celebrities spend at least a week that they were banned several times guests and enlightened philosophers,
a year here. When the foxhunt is over, in countries across Europe, by the end Rousseau, among others, comes here
they move on to hare or deer. Plenty of of the 17th century, since they were often together with his entourage. Some
estates are available for the partiers’ leisure, believed to be arenas for criminals and a say that this is the heart of the new age,
managed by a large number of servants hotbed for intrigues against the crown. and the street is full of people who want
who do their best to serve their lords when In addition to the bans, pamphlets were to sneak a peek at the philosophers and
they arrive for the annual hunt. spread, telling people of the drink’s up-and-coming theater stars.
An unending number of beaters, harmful effects on both physical and A well-kept secret, however, is that in
drivers, and servants are there to help mental health. The coffee houses, the basement lies the largest opium den
the hunting parties, but there are also however, had become too popular and in Paris, and it is even rumoured that
the occasional carnival and smaller the bans were soon repealed, causing the king comes there to visit sometimes.
circuses to entertain and charm. The new establishments to appear all over There are two simple rules at the opium
ladies wait at the estates and prepare the cities. The middle class yet again den: leave all titles at the door and what
the overflowing dinners while the men gathers to read papers aloud and discuss happens there, and whatever is said,
hunt, talk politics, and negotiate on politics, trade deals, and Enlightened stays there. To reveal something that
horseback during the day. philosophy. goes on in the basement of Café Procope

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is enough to get oneself killed, and the to plot to assassinate William III, and a and taunts while other guests drink
Chinese who run the den may have hired few years later the coffee house became their expensive coffee. Most of the stock
killers on their payroll. a rendezvous for stockbrokers who were trade takes place at Jonathan’s and every
thrown out of the Royal Exchange. It was day, unbelievable amounts of money and
Jonathan’s Coffee-House here that the infamous South Sea Bubble shares get new owners. In an afternoon,
In the blocks around Exchange Alley, right grew, burst, and ruined every speculator fortunes can be created out of nothing
in the center of London, the coffee houses who had invested in the company. or several generations’ worth of
appear one after the other, and there are The English Stock Exchange has savings can be turned into worthless,
colourful signs on every street corner. recovered from the market crash of ink-stained papers.
One of the oldest is Jonathan’s Coffee- 1720, and yet again stockbrokers and In 1747, a fire that started at a
House, with a history that goes back to speculators meet up at Jonathan’s to wigmaker’s spread fast and burned
the middle of the 17th century. By the end trade shares in the East Indian and down several coffee houses, among them
of the last century, conspirators met here other companies with loud exclamations Jonathan’s. The establishment decides

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 to move a block over to Threadneedle bestow their patron with several master wife Ulla, born Sparre, and twenty-
Street, the same street that houses the pieces as a thank you. some servants, is a constant arena for
Bank of England. Some say that now, For the upper class, the year is divided literary gatherings and other meetings
even the intriguers and king killers have into spending time at the estate, where for Stockholm’s cream of the crop. Even
found their way to Jonathan’s. they deal with economic concerns, and his political enemies must reluctantly
the seasons when they rent, if they accept that Tessin is the fixed star of
do not already own, a palace in the Swedish culture, as he supports Swedish
The estates and palaces capital and visit the literary salons, and foreign artists, with his unerring
Most of the aristocracy live in the watch the latest plays, and listen to the eye for the continental art that he
countryside, where they own large latest operas and compositions. Some imports to Sweden.
properties and land. The peasants in the also have burdensome duties in the With time, however, his relationship
area rent the land from the owner and must Parliament, Riksdag or another civil with the Queen becomes strained. In 1749,
pay a rent, that is more often than not very service department that they have to the friendship takes a serious hit when
high, to be allowed to farm it. Additionally, find time for between the parties and Tessin arranges the betrothal between
the landowner owns the mill, which incurs theater visits. The palaces in the city the three-year-old Crown Prince and the
another fee for the peasantry that has to be are often even more luxurious than the Danish princess of the same age. After
paid with coin, grain or work. country estates, and furnished with this arrangement, the Queen’s approach
An estate is a large establishment that Cuir de Cordoue, Dutch and French towards Tessin became frostier.
comprise acres upon acres and is run by paintings and grand wall murals The final break between the Queen
a staff of servants that may be up to a depicting allegories and Roman gods. and Tessin comes in 1754 after,
hundred people strong, from kitchen according to the rumors, Tessin knelt
maids and stable hands to inspectors Tessin Palace and expressed his love. Such feelings
and governesses for the children. Many In Sweden, at Slottsbacken, right across for royalty are not allowed, even for the
estates can barely be separated from the from the newly built Royal Palace, lies most influential politicians, and Tessin
royal castles, with their giant halls with a grandiose town palace with a yellow is forced to step down as Lord Marshal
painted ceilings, paintings by Flemish plaster facade in the Italian Renaissance and governor. His career and personal
134 and Italian masters, and dazzlingly style. With its built-in garden, Baroque, finances disintegrate and the following
white marble statues, along with vast French-styled interiors and new Rococo year, he is forced to sell his palace and
Baroque gardens with geometrical furniture, it is, after the work of three retire to Åkerö Manor in Södermanland,
hedges, mazes and fountains. generations, one of Stockholm’s most far from politics and the court.
Hunting is the nobility’s greatest prominent buildings.
hobby, as is breeding hunting dogs Carl Gustaf Tessin, born in Versailles
and other animals. Among English 1695, broke, to his father’s great Nowhere has the magnificence of royalty
nobles, it has become fashionable to let disappointment, a line of three manifested itself so apparently as in
particularly fat swine be painted, as a generations of architects. Instead, he Versailles, outside of Paris. The luxury
sign of their great wealth. was drawn to politics and is a minister is without comparison. Gold, silk, and
It has also become popular to collect a in Paris and Vienna, where he makes porcelain in abundance, geometrically
cabinet of curiosities: collections of odd himself famous as an art collector planned gardens and enormous mirrored
specimens, such as stuffed calves with two and Bon Vivant, before he returns to halls all form a radiant splendor that has
heads, spiral horns of narwhals, and bottles Sweden for a seat in the senate, and later not been witnessed outside of Heaven.
with mummified monstrosities. To show also leads the construction of the Royal The construction was a project that was
off, dukes and other rich aristocrats keep a Palace. Tessin has a successful career, likened to the Pharaohs’ construction of
”menagerie”: a collection of exotic animals not only as party leader for the Hats and the Pyramids, 30,000 workers, 20 years,
from foreign continents. Lions can be seen president of the chancellery, but also as a and unimaginable amounts of money were
walking restlessly around their gilded close friend to the royal family, especially spent to build the château of all châteaux.
cages, peacocks that angrily flap at amazed close to the young Queen Louisa Ulrika, The French court at Versailles makes
visitors, and emaciated elephants that who even visits the Count’s palace that up its own universe. Every conversation,
slowly fade away in the northern climate. he decorates in modern Rococo style every movement, every thought, is strictly
The fine arts are very important to and who appoints him governor for the regulated and controlled like a mechanical
the upper class. Every aristocrat with young Crown Prince Gustaf. At the clock or the orbit of the planets. In the
self-respect acts as a patron for the arts height of his career, Carl Gustaf Tessin middle of the glory is Louis XV, the absolute
and support promising writers, painters, has more power and influence than the King and despot of France, a Sun King, like
sculptors, composers, and architects. King himself. The town palace, where his great-grandfather and predecessor,
Naturally, the artist is expected to he lives with his beautiful and charming Louis XIV, and a celestial body whose

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gravitation pulls in all in its surroundings said, does not exist. The fact is, that the Thus Versailles is an arena for
and bring them warmth or destruction. To top layer of French politics emanates intrigue, betrayal, and backstabbing so
break convention or etiquette can lead to from and revolves around Versailles ignominious that even the most callous
banishment and the revoking of titles. A and the King. The only way to acquire criminals over at La Salpêtrière would
smile from the King can lead to ascension a desirable office is to be seen at court hesitate to commit such heinous acts.
to power unparalleled, a look of distaste and fall in favor with the despot. But The illusion rests on the backs of the
can be a death warrant. living in this environment costs an masses, sucked dry and weary by the
Half of the Parisian aristocracy’s astonishing amount of money. It is so ever-rising taxes. The question is: how
enormous income from the farmlands expensive, that many instead choose to long before it all comes crashing down?
and industries they own goes to go out on the Grand Tour, and visit all Whispers are heard of secret societies
clothing, wigs, and carriages in a raging of Europe’s capitals, since it is cheaper whose only purpose is fanning the
battle to outshine one another. That than to stay at the courts and the great flames of revolution. A revolution that
which is not seen at Versailles, it is palaces. would set the entire world ablaze.

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137 chapter 1. the caracter

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chapter 1. the character 138

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  Sub Rosa 
“This calls for wisdom. Let those who have insight calculate the number
of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.”
Revelation 13:18

139

Europe is overflowing with secret steer the wheels of fate. The most blame for its own crimes and to
societies, conspiracies, clubs, important societies in the dark world pursue its own secret aims. Both
religious communities, and occult of LexOccultum are described below. Illuminati and Rosicrucians often
groups. Scientists, priests, lords, It is worth remembering that infiltrate Freemason lodges, which
administrators, soldiers, everyone LexOccultum does not just display later put their members into the secret
seems to be involved in some kind of the 18th century as known in history conspiracy which hides behind the
secret that is too great to be revealed. books, but rather a much darker, British Royal Society, spreading creeds
There are many societies and their gothic and distorted version of it. and new visions to alter others’ beliefs.
members are initiated through rituals The following descriptions are not Multiple levels of a secret can exist
and ceremonies. They are baptized in to be taken as full, comprehensive and a hidden truth can hide an even
blood, water, fire, and words. They visions of these hidden societies. more esoteric and dangerous reality.
swear loyalty to icons, weapons, Conspiracies are built on secrets and And even what is known as certainty
forlorn ideals, and to each other. Some mysteries can be composed of many quite often is only another illusion.
societies are based on dark secrets, layers of meanings, which are meant The game master is the final arbiter
while others look for bright truths; to be revealed only to specific kinds in deciding what is true and what is
some are forced into the societies, of audience. Not everything which is false on what is described below. The
while others join them of their own revealed is meant to be true. And not game master must also be careful in
free will. Those that swear the oaths every initiate knows everything of his choosing what is less offensive to the
convene under the light of the moon, own conspiracy, and quite often not players’ sensibilities, especially when
in damp subterranean catacombs, or even the leaders understand the whole dealing with religions and beliefs that
in magnificent castles to hold their picture. Lies can be hidden among the players can share. It is important
councils and gatherings. truths and realities can be distorted to remember that the aim of a game
In the secretive world of through shadowed visions. There is is to have fun: choose only what gives
LexOccultum, no society is too petty no better hideout for a conspiracy the most fun to the people at your table
to be ignored or grand enough to than to use another conspiracy to without offending anybody.

139 chapter 1. the caracter

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Religious Societies

 The Gnosticians 
~ Gnosis ~

During the first 600 years of constant development of the mind and trapped, or slumbering, in the mind of
Christianity several cults and societies spirit. This supreme force is represented man and can only be freed by insight.
formed which would later be known in the mythological character Abraxas In conclusion, man is a divine being
by one name: the Gnosticians. They whose number is 365. Abraxas wears trapped in a material world.
are opposed to those believers who Roman armour and a tunic, and holds One of the cornerstones of gnosticism
value faith more than anything. The a battleaxe in his right hand and a is the belief that good and evil are
gnostic doesn’t believe, they want to shield in his left. Carved on the shield two polar powers that need to coexist
know, and seeks the highest truth. To is the inscription IAO, or SABAOTH. in balance. This balance can only be
these people, blind faith is not enough. Abraxas has the head of a bird and his maintained by someone who is close to
Their version of Christianity is mixed legs are two snakes. There is a lightning achieving gnosis, one who knows and can
with the truths and philosophies of bolt beneath him. All of these attributes directly access the hidden dimensions
Pythagoras, Plato, and several other are said to convey meaning for the of creation. The Gnosticians claim that
Greek and Eastern philosophers. They Gnosticians. Abraxas’ body represents they represent the true Christianity as
140 do not see the point in searching for mankind and the bird-shaped head it was revealed in the secret teachings of
the truth in one single religion, and represents intelligence and the desire Christ, and they use several techniques
thus gather and mix the best parts of for enlightenment. The tunic represents that make it possible to “see the realm of
any doctrine or religion in which they the necessity of always striving and the God before one dies.”
find wisdom and knowledge. battleaxe represents power as well as There are many different creeds and
Even though it didn’t take long before devotion to the gnostician ideal. The sub branches among the Gnosticians.
they were branded as heretics by the shield is said to symbolize wisdom and The Ophites, for example, worship
Church, their doctrines slowly gained the snake legs symbolize insight. the snake because it tempted Eve in
influence in Europe. They preach the According to the Gnosticians the Garden of Eden and thus extorted
theory that all of mankind are able to in every human being there is an knowledge. There are also the Cainites
reach their full potential by developing incomplete calling and a longing who are also counted among the
their minds, but to do this they need toward a higher purpose that can’t be Gnosticians. The Cainites believe that
to strive towards “gnosis” which achieved through an ordinary life. They everything material, everything created
means “knowledge” in Ancient Greek. believe that mundane experiences like within the material world, needs to be
Contrary to the scientists, however, love, relationships, businesses, worship, torn down and destroyed since it binds
the Gnosticians do not gather facts and prayer and other things that belong humanity in a prison. Furthermore there
results from experiments, but rather to the ordinary world cannot satisfy are Gnosticians who deem the world to
teach that one should reach deep and this longing. The foundation of the be more evil than good and that this is
personal insight about the world and gnostician doctrine is the idea that the further reason to cleanse oneself and
the ego. Facts and experiments, they highest “god” is exalted and unreachable. achieve gnosis if only to survive.
say, are a part of the closed and sealed From him radiate the Aeons, beings Hidden away in the shadows, the
world, which is also corrupt and evil. that inhabit the higher world, Pleroma. Gnosticians plot to destroy the power
The main objective of all Gnosticians Because of desire, one of the Aeons fell to of the Church, but not primarily by
lies in finding the “supreme force” which the material world of the senses. Named violence. The Gnosticians believe that
lacks form and is invisible. It is said that Demiurge, it is a lower divine being that when they achieve gnosis the Church
one can gain contact with this force created the material world. The higher will fall by itself. It is also said that those
by achieving gnosis. This achievement principles trapped in the material world who achieve gnosis obtain the secret of
requires great sacrifices however, and a equal humanity. A cinder, or particle, is eternal life.

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 In Europe the Gnosticians have been
gathering in several different groups
since the Middle Ages. Bogomils,
Cathars, and Borborites are counted
among these but it is almost impossible
to gather all the different Gnostician
sects into one whole society. They have
countless branches and creeds, which, if
they where put together in one single
organization, would be one of the most
powerful institutions in the world.
They are, however, hated and hunted
by the Church and have been so for a
long time. The Church does everything
in their power to keep the different
Gnostician factions apart out of fear
of the consequences that a unification
of them would bring. Other societies
such as the Illuminati and the Ordre de
le Sang Bleu have in secret branded the
Gnosticians as their enemy.

Organization and influence

Whichever specific gnostician creed
one looks at, they all seem to have a
few things in common. They divide 141
mankind into three categories: those
who don’t follow their creed, those that
adhere to the creed but haven’t achieved
gnosis yet, and finally, those that have
achieved gnosis.
Those that don’t adhere to the
gnostician beliefs are deemed to be
lost in the material world and beyond
any salvation. To sojourn with these
is considered dangerous since they can
pull the one that is trying to achieve
gnosis toward the Demiurge’s creation. If
this happens, the gnostician’s progress
is lost, and they will need to go through
their trials all over again.
Those that adhere to the gnostician
beliefs are regarded as people who,
while having been initiated into the
secret teachings and understanding
the implications of them, do not yet leaders guide their fellow gnostics, Most of the gnostician creeds in
understand how to fully apply them. they must do so without revealing Europe during this time originate from
Only a few people have managed their own knowledge since everyone Syro-Egyptian Gnosticism, with its
to achieve gnosis, those who have are achieves gnosis in a manner unique to adherence to platonic ideas.
tasked with the duty of guiding and themselves, and it is not guaranteed Gnostician communities and societies
counselling others so that they may that someone that is guided achieves were very widespread during the
gain the same insight. These are the the same level or kind of gnosis as their Middle Ages, but they have declined in
leaders of the Gnosticians. While these mentor. numbers since then, although traces of

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 these communities can still be found all and vast knowledge of the Roman a young age, of which engraving is the
over Europe. Empire. He grows up in Hampshire as one that he has mastered to the greatest
The Gnosticians should not be regarded a weak and sickly only child, plagued by extent. William holds gnostician beliefs
as a single large society but rather as the illnesses and afflictions that haunt early on in his life, even if he doesn’t
fragments of creeds and mysteries that him all his life. He rejects his British realize it until 1770, when he discovers
have been created over several thousand upbringing and instead seeks comfort that the ideas and beliefs that he himself
years and which have had the research of in the occult and mystical at the same had developed were in fact Gnostic.
gnosis (or of a similar esoteric concept) as time as he writes an impressive number William is plagued by a severe
their foundation. The fragments that still of folios and pamphlets about Ancient split-personality disorder and often
survive mostly manifest in certain people Rome and the Roman Empire. suffers hallucinations and visions about
who possess otherworldly abilities, the He moves to Lausanne in 1763 after how he is supposed to live his life. He
like of which haven’t been seen since the the war on the continent has ended. partly develops a personal mythology,
days of Babylon. From there he soon travels to Rome and directly inspired by his alter egos and
It’s rumoured that those that achieve decides to write about the history of hallucinations.
gnosis can assume the shape of a spirit the city. Following these studies he also Through his Gnostic studies
which can travel through space and delves further into Gnostic ideas. He William has gained the ability to
time, and that they don’t need to eat or finally returns to England in 1765 and is dissolve his body to the point that he
sleep. Others say that they can cause the elected to parliament, but quickly gains appears invisible. He only needs to eat
death of somebody simply by willing enemies due to his strong agitations in and drink once or twice every year. He
it. Their power is great, but few ever favour of gnostisicism. can also make people feeling nausea
manage to achieve this higher insight. In his long and strenuous studies of and fall ill just by thinking of that
Many try to achieve gnosis during the mysteries of the Roman Empire he specific person.
the 18th century but only one of them eventually found “The Curse of Apa
succeeds: William Blake (1757-1827). Victor” and regards himself as being
Unfortunately the powers that Blake able to cast this curse, even though he Hubs and important places
unlocked through gnosis eventually hasn’t yet tried to do so. The Gnosticians are spread throughout
142 drove him mad and finally killed him in Edward has also, through his Gnostic Europe and aren’t gathered in specific
the early 19th century. studies, almost transcended the need to holy places. It’s not unusual for
Another person that is said to have eat and drink and doesn’t need to feed gnosticians, like the Bogomils, to believe
been close to achieving gnosis during himself for several months. that one should keep away from Churches
the 18th century is the historian Edward and masses since they bind you closer
Gibbon (1727-1794) William Blake to Demiurge. Most gnosticians are in
William is an English poet, artist and fact against such buildings in general
Edward Gibbon (1727-1794) mystic who was born into a middle- and other material creations, which is
Edward Gibbon is a historian who is class family in London in 1757. He also why it’s unusual to find traces and
mostly known for his extensive studies learns many different arts and crafts at artefacts left by gnosticians.

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 Religious Societies

 Pium Sodalicium 
~Memento mori~

At the First Council of Nicaea in 325 as “number 74” and “number 205.” brothers of the Pium Sodalicium were
it was decided that the Pope would Furthermore it is not even sure if they trained assassins and spies, people
sit at the top of the Church hierarchy, were actual brothers by blood or if without regret or remorse for their
over the Patriarchs, and that a secret they considered themselves brothers actions. An example of this is when
order of holy warriors, called the only by being part of the same society. Fernandes describes how one of the
“Pium Sodalicium” would be put under There are secret protocols from the brothers tortured a friend of Salvatore
his control. All mentions of this Pium Council of Constance attesting a secret for days in order to find out where
Sodalicium were removed from all meeting which happened on the 5th of the heretic was hiding. With sharp
official documents before the signing November 1414 between the Antipope awls, spiked bludgeons, and tools from
of the first protocol. The only trace of John XXIII and an otherwise unknown a local farrier, the man was beaten
it remains in a brief reference in scroll man which is called “Constantin Piero.” and bled until he revealed the truth
which is supposed to be a kind of diary The protocol describes how the latter and was then killed and thrown in
of one of the bishops who took part to of these two asked for a large sum of the river. At the end of this account,
that council. money for the training of members of Fernandes Villa praises the brothers 143
It’s not until 1325, however, that the Pium Sodalicium, as well as facilities and absolves them from the sins they
the Pium Sodalicium is mentioned in Italy, France, and Spain for the have committed in their struggle
in official texts, during when Jacme lodging of these members. According against the darkness.
Fornier, the bishop of Parmiers who to the notes, John XXIII granted the The Jesuit and theologian Martin
later became pope Benedict XII, led request without even looking at the Antoine Del Rio wrote almost 50
the persecution of the Cathars well details of the statement. years later several letters to his Dutch
into the Pyrenees. Jacme Fornier had The Pium Sodalicium is mentioned friend Justus Lipsius, which after
gathered information and interrogated for the third time in the documents the death of Justus in 1606 fell into
the inhabitants of the small Carthar dating to the late 1560s about the auto the hands of a bookbinder in Leiden
village of Comté de Foix who had been da fé of Salvatore da Vista who was by the name of Hans Votche. The
accused of heresy. Two brothers from burnt at the stake in Burgos. What letters speak of a secret association,
the Pium Sodalicium had aided him by remains of the protocols from this a brotherhood of murderous angels
infiltrating and eliminating important trial say that the Pium Sodalicium had working in the name of Christ. A
Cathar leaders in the village. The tracked down and captured this heretic secret society that has devoted their
documents do not mention if these and brought him to the holy court. lives to serving the church and
two brothers were actual members Inquisitor Fernandes Villa wrote punishing anyone who would try to
of Jacme Fornier’s company of a several-pages-long account of smear or weaken it. Del Rio calls the
inquisitors, but it does say that they the deeds of the brothers in these society “La Sapiniere” but mentions
had sworn to serve the light and protocols. He described in great detail that the brothers themselves use
the good and were ready to kill in the murders that the brothers had the name “Pium Sodalicium” for the
the name of this cause. And they did committed in their efforts to capture society and “Custos” for each other.
kill. No less than 28 people, mostly Salvatore, the people that had been Del Rio explains to his friend that
Parfaits (the Cathars chosen elite), bribed, and how much said people had the brothers are recruited from the
but also ordinary men and women, been paid. The protocol also provides street and that these recruits are
were tried and executed by the two an account of the methods that were mostly made up of young thieves and
brothers. Neither of the brothers used by the brothers when murdering murderers. The Church, however,
is ever mentioned by name, only their victims. It is clear that the takes them into its protection,

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 cares for them, and gives them an
education fitting for the line of work
that is intended for them. They are
exposed to the light of divine power,
and invariably realize that they must
devote their lives in service to the
Church. With the Pope’s approval the
brotherhood is given all the resources
they need to protect the Church from
the darkness that lurks outside the
holy walls of the papacy. They are
given the Church’s blessing to kill
in the name of the greater good and
in order to guard the knowledge and
divinity that will force the darkness to
its knees.
In the middle of the 17th
century several rumours about the
brotherhood began to pop up but
no documentation exists that can
actually prove their existence. Today,
the brothers are no longer gathered
from the streets, but are rather chosen
from certain cloister-schools. Only
boys are chosen and, before they are
taught the unholy arts, they are given
144 remission for their sins and their last
rites. In connection with these rituals
they are stripped of their names and
given a number, often associated
with Kabbalistic numerology, to
hide their background. The boys are
given numbers like 868, the number
for “Path”, or 743, “Defender”. Their
former lives are erased as well as all
ties to their friends and families. Their
fake “deaths” are orchestrated, mock
funerals are held, and the boys are
taken far away from their homelands
to study with a mentor who will teach
them everything they need to know in
order to serve the Pium Sodalicium.
As a last commitment that they are
going to serve the Christian cause as
God’s avengers on earth, they are sent
to meet the Pope who gives them his
blessing with the words: “The end
justifies the means, serve and you shall
live.” Those men who decide to stray
from this path are tracked down and
killed by their own brothers.
At the start of the 18th century the
organization has grown in strength,
supported by greater funding from the

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 papacy, which believes that the powers In the middle of the 18th century The brothers that are given the
of Satan have been put into motion and there are representatives, and in mission to kill and eliminate all those
that the Church needs to defend itself many cases Custodes and Interfectores, who would bring harm to the Church
by any means necessary. To simply in most of the larger cities in Europe. or threaten to cast humanity into
stand by as these dark forces take hold The brothers of the Pium Sodalicium darkness are called “Interfectorers”
of Europe would be like leaving the fate have dedicated their lives to fighting (Singular: Interfector). They are
of the world in the hands of the devil evil and nothing, not even the people assassins and angels of death that have
himself. A number of secret outposts within their own ranks that advocate a mastered their craft. No man has ever
are constructed in cities as well as in more tolerant approach, may stand in survived a death verdict given by the
the countryside. In these cloister-like their way. Rota Romana and this speaks volumes
environments the brothers are trained of the skill of the Interfectores.
to be able to perform the well-planed A Custo only acts within a specific
murders of certain unholy people, spy Organization and influence area where he has been placed and he
on the dark powers and act as a shield The Pium Sodalicium is a very secret has no right to act outside of it. The
against those forces that threaten to organization within the Catholic Interfectores however are not given such
overthrow God’s holy institution on Church that is only know of by the restrictions and are always on the move.
earth. Some of the brothers are placed Pope, the twelve papal chaplains/
at strategic points to watch and spy, judges, the auditores, and those that
learn and report, others infiltrate care for the education of the boys Hubs and important places
courts and societies disguised as who are going to be part of the secret The only permanent gathering point
alchemists and scientists, others still society. Even though the brothers that the brothers of the Pium Sodalicium
receive direct orders to execute plots execute the orders of the Rota Romana, have is within a house in the shadows of
and assassinations. All brothers live they only obey and answer to the Pope St Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. This is the
to execute the verdicts given by the himself. only place that the brothers know about
Rota Romana and its 12 auditores and The brothers are trained in different and are given instructions to go to if
they answer only to the Pope. The crafts and skills, and not all of them are a mission should go awry. Interfectores
judges of Rota Romana are notified in cold-blooded assassins. Some learn the always return there after they have 145
a secret coded language that only the difficult art of exorcism while others performed a murder. They stay in this
auditores and the brothers know. As learn the grim ways of interrogation, as house for at least a year, locked behind
a secret language among themselves they were developed during the darkest bars, hidden from the public and not
the brothers speak Ancient Greek days of the inquisition. Some are allowed to meet anyone except for the
or Aramaic, the languages in which taught the skills necessary to infiltrate guards present in the house. Some
the Gospels were written. The any trading-companies, free-churches, would call the house a prison but to the
generally avoid using Latin since it is societies, or political administrations. brothers it is heaven on earth where
understood by too many members of All these brothers go by the name they can retreat to rest and pray for a
the European learned elites. “Custodes” (Singular: Custo), guardians. very long time.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Religious Societies

 Congregatio Pro Doctrina Fidei 

~The Inquisition~

The Congregation has formally lost a lot official hierarchy of the Church. The penitente, which classifies different types
of power and influence. The Inquisition champions of the Inquisition would live of demons. Barely fifteen years later he
that started with the Albigensian crusades only to serve one purpose and care for wrote his opus, Ars Divina, which would
and that has, according to the Church, nothing else. The reasoning behind the become the inquisition’s secret handbook
saved mankind from certain damnation, decision to form the Inquisition and why on the use of the divine arts. Sebastien
is a shadow of its former self. Unofficially, Gregory IX thought it was necessary thoroughly explained the five disciplines
however, the organization is by all means is shrouded in secrecy. Some say that to be mastered by the inquisitor through
still vital and a force to be reckoned with. Gregory had received visions of a future divine talents: Reveal, Interrogate,
The Inquisition was created during the where mankind was living as slaves to Exorcise, Cure, and Destroy. The first
Early Middle Ages to fight against heresy material things and had abandoned the power (”Reveal”) allows the identification
and blasphemous deeds. The organization Church in favour of lust and gluttony. of hidden creatures of darkness, the
was seen as a way to protect humanity Others say that Gregory, in his search for second (”Interrogate”) is meant for
from the devil and his earthly servants. the light, was confronted by the darkness interrogating and figuring out what
146 While the organization did shrink during incarnate and was so frightened by the kind of creature it is, and the third art
the 17th and 18th centuries, its members event that he swore to do anything in his (”Exorcise”) is for driving out the creature
are committed all the more to stopping power to destroy this evil. from its host or vessel. The fourth art
the approaching Doomsday that they see In addition to being trained in the (”Cure”) includes a healing ritual, which
drawing closer. The highly educated and canonical rules and tools, a chosen few the inquisitor can use to heal or purify the
competent inquisitors are schooled in the monks were taught the ways of the divine victim. The final discipline (”Destroy”) is
old arts as well as in modern knowledge, arts and learned to perform exorcisms the most powerful of the divine powers
for they are firmly committed not to let as well as the art of healing themselves since it teaches the inquisitor how to
the darkness gain foothold again. They and others. The Albigensians as well destroy the darkness with their own
argue that the witch trials of the 17th as the Knights Templar experienced power. It takes almost 30 years, however,
century were a necessary evil to save the wrath of God, and the Church before an inquisitor can manage to
Europe from falling into the damnation of considered that the innocent lives that master all the five divine powers. In 1652
evil sorcery. were lost were a reasonable price to pay the prodigy and inquisitor Emanuel de
According to official history Pope in order to repel the darkness. Frouy used his powers to find, exorcise,
Gregory IX established the first formal The Inquisition and its famous and destroy what was then believed to
organization of the Inquisition in 1233, members were given great power and be an incarnation of Beelzebub. There
giving order to previous attempts to liberty to perform their holy duty. are notes by a “Father Bosroger” from
fight heretics, putting everything under The ambulated sentences could not be as early as 1652 that provide an account
the canonic law. overruled and the power of the inquisitors of the inquisition that was performed in
The Inquisition was officially led by was supreme. Under the leadership of the Louvier and of the uproar that occurred
ecclesiastic leaders which were often, but grand inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada, surrounding the incident. Nuns accused
not always, Dominican monks that were the congregation expanded their power two priests of being possessed and the
trained theologians and used to travelling. to the point that they stood above the Inquisition sent priests with knowledge
However, secret documents attest that, king of Spain and many feared the power of the divine powers to deal with the
since Gregory IX’s main concern was and office of the inquisitors. situation. They partly failed with two
the pure destruction of darkness, he In 1612 the French inquisitor Sebastien of the divine powers however and are
secretly allowed the Inquisition to work Michaelis authored the book Histoire thus not credited with being the first to
unhindered by the organization and amirable de la possession et conversion d’une master the whole process. A dire problem

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 with the divine powers was that the those that had mastered the divine arts. Unlike the Swiss guard that swear
one performing the divine powers from Consejo de la Suprema have survived the loyalty to the papacy, however, the Cohors
the Ars Divina often is put under such passing of time even if the organization nigra swear loyalty to “The Light and
a grave distress that they risk dying, or was reorganized into a flatter, less The Good”. Aiding them in their mission
worse, becoming possessed themselves hierarchical form as a result of the is a brotherhood that calls itself Pedro
during the process. In 1703 the inquisitor Counter-reformation that in 1542 also led Mártirs and that has sworn to protect the
Giordano Galesi announced that he had to the founding of the Roman Inquisition. members of the inquisition.
been granted a new vision regarding the Territorial courts were introduced in the
divine arts and added a sixth discipline 16th century, and although the Inquisition
to the former divine pentagon, namely officially came to an end in the early 18th Hubs and important places
“Banishment,” which protects some of century, it is in fact still active. The local
the church’s territories but also punishes connections are upheld with Commissars, The Scavi
blasphemers and the possessed who dare who are priests that serve in the The Congregation has its very own
to enter holy ground. countryside, and Familiares, laymen that palace below the church of St Peter in
are devoted to the light. what is called the Scavi. Close to the
The Congregation isn’t a secret place where St Peter is buried, behind
Organization and influence society or organization; everyone knows a heavy iron door, the small palace is
There have been many prominent of their existence. What people don’t hidden. There are neither windows nor
inquisitors and members throughout know is who controls them from the other doors leading out of the palace
the centuries but few of them have ever shadows and what their true purpose is. other than the one that is used for entry.
known exactly how the inner workings In the holy corridors of Rome one can In the deepest chamber of the palace the
of the organization function. Although still find chosen inquisitors, wandering book Ars Divina is kept and it is only
it has changed several times over the like ghosts from ages past. They act in within these chambers that inquisitors
centuries that it has been active, one the shadows and reveal their methods are allowed to access the information
thing that remains unchanged is that and goals to no one. Not even the locked within its pages.
the highest ranking inquisitors answer cardinals are allowed to participate in
directly to the Pope. Some people their councils, held behind doors guarded Saint-Germain-des-Prés 147
would even say that not even the Pope by the Congregation own soldiers. This impressive cloister in Paris holds
is entirely safe from them and, even if The Congregation is built around many secrets. It was founded by king
the processes have been handled with a cardinal (who is called the “Black Childebert I and is the burial place
utmost secrecy, there are rumours Cardinal” within their own ranks) of many Merovingians. It has been a
about secret protocols in the Vatican and the Grand Inquisitors who are central hub for the storage of valuable
library from interrogations that the responsible for specific countries or texts and documents since the
Inquisition has held with Clemens X regions serve beneath him. The number Middle Ages, and, consequently, it’s
and Innocentius XII, when they were of Grand Inquisitors varies, but there has a natural gathering place for catholic
suspected of being possessed. In neither always been one in Rome, Paris, Lisbon intellectuals. The construction of the
of these cases did the allegations prove and Berlin. Serving under the Grand church of St Vincent was completed
to be true, but there are whispers in the Inquisitors are the Inquisitors who in in 588 and was inaugurated by the
inner circles of the Vatican that such turn are served by inquisition-brothers bishop Germain on the 23rd of
processes were in fact just a way for and commissars. The commissars are December, the same day as Childebert
the Congregation to show how far their priests that have been trained in some of I died. Almost a thousand years
power and influence reached. the arts of the inquisition but don’t have later, in 1579, the Inquisition moved
In origin the medieval Inquisition the authority to hold a trial. Inquisition- into the city district and opened the
had a less hierarchic, more egalitarian brothers are initiated and have some gates to the subterranean chapel that
structure with intensive contacts mandate but aren’t full members yet. is located under the northern part
between inquisitors of different origins: To this day there are two separate of the church. The chapel has been
Dominicans, Franciscans and others. branches of the inquisition that both made into the headquarters of the
More recently the Spanish inquisition obey the Black Cardinal: the draconic French Inquisition and is the place
was organized as a strict hierarchy with Spanish Inquisition and the holy Roman from which they plot and execute
a high council, Consejo de la Suprema, that Inquisition. their activities. In the rear parts of the
demanded reports and notifications on The Congregation fields its own chapel lie the embalmed remains of
the work in the tribunals. This council soldiers, called the Cohors nigra (the black the famous French inquisitor Bernard
also issued the directives directly to every guard) whose members are handpicked de Gui, who is said to have condemned
individual inquisitor and especially to from the recruits of the Swiss Guard. over a thousand heretics.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Occult Societies

 Compagnie du Saint Sacrement 

~ La Cabal des Dévôts ~

In March 1630, the secret society of In 1629, the king Luis XIII and his patronage for the organization. The
the “Compagnie du Saint Sacrement” small hunting company were assaulted society was officially disbanded in 1665
(The Society of the Holy Sacrament) by a Werewolf that killed many in the but a small core group survived.
was formed, whose main purpose was party and left the king injured. Antoin Sondieu gathered the
to protect the Catholic faith. The society At first, most people thought that the knowledge of the society and retreated
was itself very secretive. The exact king was delirious when he was found, to the countryside where he started
reason for its founding and the true but a small group of people believed to rebuild the group. Once again, the
purpose behind the society was only everything that he had said and realized outward image of the group was of a
known by the innermost circle. Their real the horrible fact that the things, which society aimed at opposing Protestants as
mission was in fact not at all to defend they had thought only to exist in stories well as helping the sick and poor. Those
the Catholic faith, even though most of and legends, now lived in the forests. few people who were initiated into the
the organization’s members thought so. The mysterious origins of this terrible inner circle of the society, however, were
The society was founded by Henri beast are of course unknown, but the taught the dark secrets of the beasts
148 de Levis, Duc de Ventadour, Henri de inner circle of the society declared a and of the supernatural world and how
Pichery, Jacques Adhemar de Monteil secret crusade against such monsters. to fight them. They swore that they
de Grignan, and Philippe d’Angoumois. They found great effectiveness in the wouldn’t rest until these abominations
Among those that were quick to rally to Catholic rituals but the Protestant faith had been destroyed.
the society were the Jesuit Père Suffren proved too weak to be able to deal with Antoin lead the Compagnie du Saint-
and Charelesde Condren, “General such creatures. They realized, however, Sacrement until his death in 1709 when
of the Oratorians”. All of these had that publicly admitting the king’s claim he left the society in the hands of his
strong connections to Luis XIII and his of having seen a werewolf would only apprentice Gaspard Villier. Gaspard
household. lead to two things: one half of the initiated several hunters into the society
Although the king never officially population would think that the king but he never completely trusted the
approved the organization or even was insane and should be dethroned, new recruits to be capable of keeping
admitted its existence, it was known and the other half would panic and secrets. He slowly revealed the truth to
among its members that he harboured riot. They chose instead to use this the initiated and, only after they have
deep sympathies and made considerable opportunity to blame the Protestants proven their loyalty, he showed them
donations to the initiated. for the attack, and started to persecute the stuffed werewolf that he keeps at
Their first aim was to defend the them and to spew out all the hate that Antoin’s estate. Through the leadership
Catholic faith, and the Protestants they harboured against the heretics. of Gaspard, the focus of the group
became their worst enemy. The society was favoured by Luis XIII has clearly shifted from knowledge
On the other hand, the king also and, even after his death, it flourished to action. The few initiated consider
wanted the society to secretly aid the as long as Cardinal Mazzarino was themselves an elite group who protect
least fortunate and most poor in society. in power while Luis XIV (the famous the people from a dangerous truth. They
He did not approve the misery that he “le Roi Soleil”) was too young to rule realize that their duty must be done
beheld in his country and wanted to directly. When the king grew up he unnoticed or fear and chaos would take
aid these miserable people through was initiated into the secrets of the hold over France. They are royalists
the Catholic Church. The organization society in 1664, like his father before by oath and are strong believers in the
did these things, although the inner him. However le Roi Soleil decided that notion that the king is chosen by God.
circle was working toward something the society’s hatred for the Protestant When Gaspard retires in 1738, at the
completely different. had gone too far and renounced his age of 87, François Antoine is named

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 149

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 the new leader of the Compagnie du Organization and influence the son of a military officer and quickly
Saint-Sacrement. He has already at this At first the Compagnie du Saint- gains a position within the French
time worked his way into a position of Sacrement is led by a council with military himself. He becomes a close
significance in the royal administration. nine members who are replaced friend to many important people in the
In 1760 he is named the King Luis every third month. There was always royal court and is eventually given the
XVI’s hunting master and is thus given one person who was the superior, title of royal hunting master.
leave to freely hunt in the King’s lands, one who was schooled in the law, He is a stubborn royalist who
namely, all of France. and one priest. They met once every regards the king as chosen by God and
During his travels in Italy and Spain, month to discuss new members, how firmly believes that the people exist to
François initiates a few people to the to help the poor, and how to support serve the king and not the other way
terrible truth. Some new branches the Catholic Church. This is what the around. He is very pious and has many
of the society are founded in these uninitiated members are told anyway. contacts within the Church. François
countries but great care is taken to keep In truth the council is always made is a well-liked man with few enemies
it as secret as possible. up of the same people and while but also few true friends. He often pulls
In 1765 the king orders François to they do discuss the strengths of the away if he believes that a friendship
investigate the events in the province of Catholic faith and the weaknesses of is growing too strong but spreads his
Gévaudan and the rumours of a terrible the Protestant faith, they do so in web of contacts in such a way that
beast that terrorizes the countryside. terms of discussing how to defeat the lets him lead the society in the most
On the 20th of September 1765, he unknown evil beasts. effective manner. The other members
and his followers manage to kill the The composition of the council, nine of the society have great faith in him
creature that had been named “Le Loup fully initiated members that is, lasts until and he is considered a good leader.
de Chazes”, or the Beast of Gévaudan. François Antoine takes over the society.
Only a few months later another He then expands the council to include
beast appears. The people believe that an additional two people, one from Italy Hubs and important places
it’s the same creature but François and one from Spain. These members in The society is active all over Europe and
realizes that it must be a second beast turn have three fully initiated members regards borders as insignificant in their
150 and sends word to his best hunter, Jean each in their home countries. There thus hunt for the creatures of evil. While it’s
Chastel, who had stayed in Gévaudan. are 17 fully initiated members in total. true that many of them make their home
Through secret Catholic rituals he is in France, Spain, and Italy, this does not
able to attract the beast into a trap in Gaspard Villier stop them from hunting in Germany,
1767 and kills it with two silver bullets. Gaspard was born in Paris as the son Sweden, and Russia as well.
After this event the Compagnie of an administrator. He was sent to
du Saint-Sacrement withdraws to the countryside early in his life to be Propriété de Tibault
the shadows and their existence isn’t an apprentice at a fine estate and learn Propriété de Tibault is the estate in
heard of, even in the most secret of culture and etiquette. Gaspard was Clermont where Antoin Sondieu moved
associations until 1789, the year of the taken care of by Antoin Sondieu who all the secret knowledge of the society
French revolution. quickly saw that Gaspard’s integrity in 1666. The estate has since then been
The members of the Compagnie du could be important for the survival of inherited by a member of the council and
Saint-Sacrement consider themselves the christian society. Antoin Sondieu its ownership has thus stayed within the
to be protectors of the people under initiated Gaspard in the secrets of the society.
the blessing of God almighty. As society and asked Gaspard’s father It is a simple estate with a large
the weaker Protestant churches gain to let him stay at Antoin’s estate library and gathering room. In the
foothold and the people lose their faith, as an apprentice. After the death of basement, which can only be reached
they see the darkness taking over. The Gaspard’s father, Antoin adopted through a secret tunnel, the secrets of
twilight of the gods is upon the world Gaspard. the society are kept, among which is
and it is the mission of this society to He takes over the society in 1709 and the stuffed werewolf. In a locked and
hold the line as long as possible. They starts to transform the knowledge of his sealed room there is a large arsenal of
consider themselves to be a part of the teacher into action. weapons, tools, religious materials, and
old world while scientists, alchemists, other things that are used to hunt and
Protestants, and non-believers have François Antoine kill werewolves, vampires, and all other
opened a door that should never have François is in many ways Gaspard’s evil beasts identified by the society.
been opened, a gate leading away from opposite. He mingles with the This place is only revealed to the
God and the ancient power of the godly aristocracy with easy grace and likes members of the council and it is here
beings. to spend time in the finer salons. He is that they hold their secret meetings.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Occult Societies

 Hellfire Club 
Brotherhood of St. Francis of Wycombe,
Order of Knights of West Wycombe
~ Fait ce que vouldras ~

The first time that the Hellfire Club “knights” to the monastery which he, with greater ease. Thus, they believed
announces its existence publicly is according to the latest fashions, has that animals kill in order to eat, drive
in 1750 though Sir Francis “Hellfire decorated in a gothic style, spiced with others away in order to mate, and
Francis” Dashwood (1708-1781), a Egyptian and Greek fertility symbols so on. This was likened to the belief
Baron and subject of King George and statues. that people who were stronger, or
III. Although much of the growth When Francis the older invited his had greater means to oppress others,
and organization of the club can friends to the hedonistic gatherings of had a greater right to indulge their
be attributed to Sir Francis, it was the club, he did so at the family estate, lusts than others. Someone who could
actually his father, with whom he a tradition that was passed on to pay was therefore worth more than
shares his name, who founded the Francis the younger when he bought someone who allowed themselves to
Hellfire Club in 1691 after having, West Wycombe House, which came be bought, and thus the right went to
allegedly- entered into a pact with the to be the most important hub for the the one who was stronger.
devil to be able to enjoy everything Hellfire Club. The Hellfire Club is a terrible
forbidden, like sex, liquor, wealth Francis’ vision for his club was society in that its members use the 151
and occult rituals. The motto of the that anyone with the means to do weaknesses of others the sate their
club “Fait ce que tu voudras” which so should be able to enjoy life to its own base needs and wants.
translates as “Do what thou wilt” fullest and be able to do whatever As all hedonists, the members of the
pretty much explains what the club is they want. Naturally, he thought Hellfire Club try to maximize their
about. that one should have the right to buy pleasure and measure their happiness
After coming home from his great whatever they wanted, assuming they and satisfaction in quantity and not in
tour of Europe, Francis inherits the had the means to pay the price. This quality, that is, the more one is able to
leadership of the club from his father very idea evolved in such a manner indulge oneself, the better.
and founds a number of sub-branches as to eventually involve the torture In his youth, Francis was a well-
of it. The first of these is the “Society and murder of certain carefully travelled man and made many contacts
of the Dilettanti,” closely followed chosen victims. Their justification during his grand tour of Europe. In
by the “Society Divan,” inspired was that nothing, not even such vile his travels he learned all that was to
by Francis’ travels in the Ottoman deeds, should stand in the way of the be known about lusts and desires, he
Empire. Lincon, a gentleman’s-club principle that certain people should learned about his own as well as how
for tea drinking, is another example of be able to do whatever they felt like to sate others’ appetites. When he
how they gather chosen men in closed doing. An elitist ideology of pleasure finally returned home, he gathered
environments. In 1746 Francis founds in any shape or form was taking root his friends in his father’s salon where
the Order of St. Francis (as a parody of and it was as a holder of these ideas he, in his childhood, had seen things
St.Francis of Assisi), whose members that Francis the younger gathered that no one should have to witness
meet at the George and Vulture, a pub into the Hellfire Club. To attain total and learned about things that others
in Cornhill. Five years later Francis pleasure one must break the chains didn’t understand even as adults.
takes the opportunity to buy the of humanity and claim one’s place in It was there that he started to build
12th-century monastery, Medmenham the world like a beast. Francis and his the foundation of the society. With
Abbey, near Marlow, and not too far comrades felt that as human beings we Epicurean principles of hedonism, the
away from his family home in West can’t ignore the aspects of life that are men in the society started to develop
Wycombe. Following this acquisition separated from pure pleasure, but that their ideology of pleasure and power.
he moves the headquarters of his as animals we can sate our base needs The men often paid prostitutes to sate

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152

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 their needs, but from time to time it and Satanists, that they worship who are either hired or volunteer to
happened that women of noble birth the dark one himself and that they participate in the rituals are called the
participated in the rituals to indulge perform rituals to summon him at “Nuns.”
the abominable needs of these men. their gatherings. The administrator of the society
As the club grew and accepted more While it’s true that Francis’ father is the poet Paul Whitehead, who is
members into the lower ranks, the did enter a pact with the devil to be responsible for documenting all the
rituals were expanded and the parties able to indulge in the pure pleasure gatherings.
spread all over Europe. Through of orgies, lust, alcohol, and vanity, the Famous members are: William
prominent people, Hellfire Clubs Hellfire Club of today does not consist Hogarth (1697–1764), Horace Walpole
were created in Germany, Spain, Italy, of Satanists. A better word for them (1717–1797), George Bubb Dodington
Russia and France. All with the same would be murderers and sex-addicts, (1691–1762), George Selwyn (1719–
purpose and goal as the mother club since their gatherings involve both 1791), Charles Churchill (1731–1764),
in England. prostitutes as well as outsiders who Robert Vansittart (1728–1789), Edward
In England, some of the larger are lured to their gatherings only to Thompson (1697–1742), Thomas Potter
gatherings were moved to some be sacrificed to Bacchus and Venus. (---), son of the bishop of Canterbury,
natural caves near Wycombe Hill and The monastery is open for friends John Wilkes (1725–1797) and even
as the rituals grew darker and more and associates of the members, but Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) is said
dangerous, the society became more one part of it is reserved only for to have attended the gatherings of the
and more closed-off and secretive. the 13 initiated members. Only these club more than once.
Even though the sexual elements are 13 are allowed entry into the chapel, Not more than 10 years pass before
of great significance, it’s important for none others. This is the place where several men, and women, of significance
the club to be able to offer satisfaction many of the horrible murders that in England have participated in at least
to any kind of craving. They drink are a part of the inner circle are one of the club’s gatherings, even if the
great amounts of alcoholic beverages, performed. They believe that to reach gatherings of the original 13 members
smoke opium, and use other kinds true pleasure one must separate are of a more sinister type. In the middle
of narcotics, they arrange fashion oneself from all the ties to the deed of the 1760s, Francis has managed to
events to be able to buy expensive and after it is performed in order to avoid found both a German and a French 153
beautiful clothes or hire entertainers anxiety and uncomfortable emotions. branches of the Hellfire Club.
to please the members’ hunger for This is naturally not something that
pleasure. the inner circle reveals to anyone Sir Francis Dashwood
Inspired by the Eleusinian outside their strictly selected group. (1708-1781)
Mysteries they perform a number of These inhumane murders are a Francis is orphaned at the age of 16,
rituals that last for nine days and that well-kept secret and they have gone the son of a rich businessman who
honour the Greek goddess Demeter undetected so far, even though there married into the aristocracy. Francis
and her daughter Persephone. All are people in London who suspect soon leaves on his grand tour around
of it coloured by a mix of darkness the club for crimes weaker than just Europe and is exposed to many
and depravity, either mocking their their well-known hedonistic habits. impressions that he then brings
servants or completely exploiting Francis’ private bodyguard, the so back to England. He becomes deeply
them, all in order to satisfy their own called “Bucks Militia”, does their best fascinated with classical architecture
morbid lusts. to intimidate the most curious and and mythology, and starts to harbour
While a significant part of the those who ask too many questions resentment toward the Church and
club’s activities are made up of these are frequently found dead in the river other religions.
gatherings, they also own a number of Thames if they come too close to the He also gains the very same kind
books and texts about pleasure and the truth. of fascination for different societies,
members are more than happy to lend clubs, and orders. He tries to indulge
these from the club’s private library. his sick fantasies in these clubs that he
One of these books that Francis Organization and influence either founds or tries to join, but it’s
owns is a unique, otherwise unheard The members of the Hellfire Club not until the Hellfire Club’s founding
of, English translation of the Kama- were at first limited to the number 13 that he is truly able to satisfy his
Sutra, a text mostly unknown to the but quickly expanded their numbers morbid needs. He becomes the 15th
Europeans of the 18th century. and initiated more people. The twelve Baron le Despencer in 1763 but is
There are several rumours are called apostles, or the “Monks of more interested in running his club
surrounding the Hellfire Club. It is Medmenham,” and Francis goes by the than in any other official or familial
said that they are devil-worshippers name of the “Abbot” and the women duties given to him.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Hubs and important places Even though Francis has moved the of time. Every member has their own room
The most important hubs of the gatherings to Medmenham Abbey and that they can withdraw to if they wish.
Hellfire Club are naturally in England to the caves, the house still remains an The garden of the monastery is full of
since this is where the club was important hub for the club’s members. hedonistic statues and symbols, Many
founded and where it recruits most Here they often meet in order to plan women who were brutally murdered lie
of its members. In the other countries events or discuss matters. buried in the forest nearby the chapel
there are no permanent hubs but
rather temporary places rented for Medmenham Abbey The Druid caves
specific gatherings. After Francis and the Hellfire Club’s The Druid caves are not far from the
acquisition of Medmenham Abbey, it monastery and it’s believed that they
West Wycombe house doesn’t take long before they rebuild it once served as a place of pagan rituals,
West Wycombe House was Francis’ in order to better serve the purposes of something that suits the Hellfire Club
family home and even if his father had the club. The thing that visibly shows perfectly. It is a large complex of caves
held several hedonistic gatherings here. is the sign hanging over the entryway and tunnels that Francis arranges his
Francis quickly realized that the home saying: “Fait ce que tu voudras”. gatherings in. A number of cells are
wasn’t suitable for the club he intended The monastery is large and well suited prepared for the members of the club
to form. The Hellfire Club initially met to hold their gatherings. Guests as well as and hedonistic rituals are held in the
in a rebuilt stable on the estate. the initiated can live here for long periods large central chamber at night.

154

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Occult Societies

 The Witch Cult 

~ Queen of Faerie ~

The Witch Cult’s roots stretch back The Witch Cult is spread all over person. After the oath has been sworn
many centuries, maybe even to a time Europe even if the merciless witch and the “higher mysteries” have been
before the birth of Christ, but it wasn’t hunts of the 17th century nearly revealed, the cult baptizes the initiate
until the trial of Jean d’Arc and Gilles destroyed it. The cult is organized in a ceremony called the “Baptism of
de Rais that the true purpose and differently depending on the city or Darkness.” The initiate must always
goal of the cult was fully revealed. country that it is active in. Something be baptized in flowing water so that
Many attempts were made then, and that is true for the whole cult however all other covenants are cleansed from
later during the witch trials, by the is that whomever wants to join must them. Some say that this is also the
Inquisition to exterminate the cult and do so by their own free will and the reason why witch-hunters threw
all its members. initiate needs to pledge their body their suspects into the water during
It is impossible to understand and soul to the master, to obey it and the witch-hunts to see if they were in
the Witch Cult without trying to renounce to all other faiths. When league with the devil or not. Those that
understand the supreme power and god the oath has been sworn, the other floated were witches and those who
that the cult worships. The Christians witches cut the back of the initiate sank were innocent. In some places, 155
say that it is the devil, Satan, Lucifer, with sharp knives while they reveal the the cult baptizes the initiate by cutting
Beelzebub, or simply evil incarnate “higher mysteries”. Exactly what these them in the neck, sucking out blood
that is the subject of their prayers. The “higher mysteries” are is unknown from the wound, and then spitting in
witches themselves have no such name and it seems that they are different the candidate’s face while saying: “I
for their deity. The one that they fall on between different covens. Sometimes baptize you in the name of the Master”.
their knees to worship and give praise they speak of alchemical processes, The mark of the witch, or the
and sacrifices to is simply a divine being sometimes of supernatural abilities mark of the devil, is widely known
that gives them power. Mostly they and magic. Witches who bear children and feared. All witches who enter a
simply call him “The Master” or “Grand are expected to also initiate their child pact with the master are said to bear
Seigneur”. But the deity is not always a into the cult, the same way that a child the mark, but only those who are
man in the eyes of the cult. Sometimes gets baptized into the Church. In this knowledgeable and experienced are
the witches speak of it as a woman and, way, the membership in the cult is often able to find the mark. According to
at their unholy masses, they can worship passed down from mother to daughter. protocols of the Inquisition from the
it as the dark princess. According to Sometimes the witches are required 16th century, the mark of the witch
both the Inquisition’s protocols from to sign a devil contract with blood. is immune to all kinds of pain, and if
the Middle Ages and later protocols In 1453, the priest Guillaume Edeline one cuts it with a knife, for example,
from interrogated witches, the master found several such contracts signed it won’t bleed. Witch-hunters regard
supposedly always participates in the by the witches in his town. A similar finding the mark and seeing if the
gatherings of the cult, rising from a contract was found in the possession witch is immune to pain there as
burning pit to participate in orgies and of Stevenote de Audebert who was the best method to expose a witch.
rituals. The master mostly chooses the burned at the stake in 1619. Usually the However, they warn people that the
shape of a human but sometimes he contracts specify that the witches make devil is cunning and sometimes gives
appears as a goat, sometimes as a jackal, a life-long pledge, but sometimes the his servants a number of different
and others as a black wolf. Because of contract specifies a seven-year pledge. marks to confuse and complicate the
this, it’s not uncommon for the witches Rumours claim that those that choose process of exposing the witch.
to wear wolf skins or goat masks to break their contract are killed by the It is said that all witches have a
themselves. Master, who comes to take revenge in so-called familiar. It is an animal that

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 the witch has a special bond with. The The witches gather at the time of Esbat eager hunts for the witches have left
familiar is usually a cat or a goat and the to trade secrets, buy mystical artefacts many of them bitter and spiteful, which
witch is able to communicate with the or plants, or to learn new spells. is why many of them use their powers to
animal by pure thought. The witches make four kinds of do evil instead of good.
sacrifices: Blood Sacrifice, Animal
Sacrifice, Human Sacrifice, and God
Organization and influence Sacrifice. Blood Sacrifice is when the Hubs and important places
The witches who belong to the cult witches sacrifice their own blood since In addition to the many local gathering
frequently convene, often to hold what it is believed that blood is magical. It’s places, the witches of Europe have two
the Christian priests call a “Devil’s mainly done when a witch contract gathering places that are quite similar
Mass” but the witches simply call it a is signed but can also be done later both in name and appearance: Blåkulla
gathering, a mass. The Hebrew word when mixing witch brews and poisons. and Blocksberg.
“Sabbath” is sometimes used, although Animal Sacrifice is often made for the
in a distorted sense from its original glory of the Master and in order to Blåkulla
meaning of Hebrew Holy Day. It’s a show one’s submission. Human Sacrifice Blåkulla is the legendary island located
common conception that witches fly to is most often done in order to learn in the bay of Kalmar which is the home
these gatherings on an enchanted broom. mystical spells and to gain knowledge of of all the witches in the Nordic countries.
The witch-hunter Isaac de Queyran the innermost mysteries. God Sacrifice The witches believe that Blåkulla is a
describes in his protocols how the sky occurred mainly during the 15th and 16th magical place that they can draw power
was once darkened by witches flying on centuries. This kind of sacrifice is the from, which is why they often visit the
their black brooms. He also suggests that same as a Human Sacrifice except that island. Once every year the place is
witches grease their wrists with a special the human is put through a ritual and filled with the witches of the north. On
oil before these gatherings so that the dressed in animal skins and an animal Maundy Thursday every year, a great
devil would be alerted of their arrival head before the sacrifice. They do this to Sabbath is held here and the witches
by the smell. Exactly where the masses make the human more like a god before participate in orgies and worship.
are held is of no particular import other they are sacrificed. God Sacrifices
156 than it needs to be held near a river, a are said to be extremely powerful and Blocksberg
lake, or the ocean, and that the ground dangerous. They can bring a whole In Altmark, in the duchy of Magdeburg
must not be hallowed since the Sabbath town to its knees and spoil the crops of lie the mountains of Harz. The highest
cannot take place on holy ground. At a whole county. peak is called Blocksberg, and is said to
the Sabbath the Master is worshipped, What brings the Witch Cult together be a place where witches convene. There
new witches are initiated, and devotion is the belief in, and proof of, the power are especially many witches here during
to the Witch Cult is shown. When all of witchcraft. Just as the scientists and Walpurgis Night when they gather to
this is done, the witches report of their alchemists gather to solve the riddles perform their annual celebration. The
sorceries since the latest Sabbath. They of this world, the witches perform their local mountain population also claims
can also use this opportunity to ask the arts in order to create rain, fertility, that Blocksberg is the home of the
master for advice. After the initiations heal sickness, or see into the future. “Brocken Ghost,” but scientists who
and reports are finished, the witches The Witch Cult has been branded as have studied the mountain believe that
participate in orgies and festivities until Satanists for many centuries however. this claim is simply based on an optical
dawn when they finally fly back home. Because of this the cult leads a hidden illusion that enhances the size of the
Other than the Sabbath, the witches and secretive existence and the “wise spectator’s shadow greatly while it is
also gather for something called crones” of yore are now forced to live a reflected on fog. Priests, however, have
“Esbat.” Esbat is different from Sabbath life in the shadows. The witches are only proclaimed the place to be heretical
in that it’s mainly about commerce called upon to heal the sick or lift curses and warn that anyone that visits the
while the Sabbath is strictly religious. when nothing else helps. The long and mountain does so at their own peril.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Occult Societies

 Terry Jones’ Mysterious Voodoo Society 

~ Bondyè ~

In 1672, the English captain Terry Jones off the coast of St. Dominique. With the This time however, Terry did not
visited St. Dominique for the first time. help of the merchants, Terry managed allow his capture and instead demanded
The trading ship that he had sailed from to buy himself free from the grasp of the to be given his own hut and sent word
London on in 1671 had ventured far from voodoo priests. He had been their guinea for a mambo capable of expelling the
its course, arriving in a windless zone in pig and they weren’t eager to let him go. disease spirits that had taken hold of
the middle of the Atlantic. It remained During the mystical séances and rituals, his body. He pointed out to the voodoo
there for weeks. Desperation and hunger Terry had gained deep insight into the priests that while his body was weak,
were ruling aboard the ship. When the art of voodoo and its mysteries. his spirit was strong and if they didn’t
wind finally returned and carried the The following year Terry arrived do as he asked he would put a hex on
ship forward to St. Dominique, Terry in France but became very ill. He laid them and curse their village. The priests
instead thought that he had reached the in the grip of a fever and had violent dared not to defy him.
western African coast. visions for almost six months. A maid Terry then stayed for an additional
Many in the crew had died during the then received instructions to find a 10 years on St. Dominique where he
terrible journey, and everyone else was group of Africans living in a small was initiated into the deepest secrets 157
sick after the long time they had spent village outside of Paris. Among these and mysteries of voodoo. He learned
at sea. Terry Jones however had never she found a woman called N’ganga who to contact the Iwa spirits including
felt better and bore no sign of scurvy returned with the maid to Terry Jones Danbala Wedo, Papa Legba Atibon, and
or other diseases, the houngans (voodoo- in order to examine him. N’ganga was a Agwe Tawoyo.
priests) of the island saw this as a sign mambo who had come to France when When he returned to Europe in 1690,
that Terry Jones had a strong spirit in the slave ship she was on was wrecked Terry Jones was a full-fledged voodoo
him, and that his met-tet, the spirit that off the coast of Spain in 1669. priest and in his travelling trunks he
owned his head, was unusually powerful. When N’ganga saw Terry she had many items for use in the rituals
Several rituals were performed immediately realized that he was cursed that he had learned.
around Terry Jones to see how by the mysterious arts of voodoo After unsuccessfully trying to
susceptible he was to spirits and soon and explained to him that his met-tet introduce the English to voodoo during
it was found that it became difficult to demanded that Terry return to St. the years 1691-1695, he decided to move
anger the Iwa spirits whenever Terry Dominique before the end of the year or to Paris where he founded Terry Jones’
was around. else he would die. Mysterious Voodoo Society in 1696. As
To the great horror of Terry, the men Feverish and with his head filled with a last farewell to his English friends,
of his crew disappeared one by one into strange and horrible visions, Terry Terry made several dolls that contained
the jungle, never to be seen again. At the boarded a ship that would take him to fragments, such as hair, nails or teeth,
time he suspected that the inhabitants the very island where he had been kept of famous men and women and laid
of the island were cannibals, but later, prisoner for seven years. different curses on them. Some of these
when he came into contact with the In the winter of 1680 he landed on curses were more potent then others,
spirits of the lost crew, he learned that St. Dominique again and was met by some would be inflicted on the victim’s
the crew had been lured to the peak of the island’s houngans and mambos who offspring, while others would affect the
a mountain where they had been killed knew that he would arrive on this very victim directly as soon as the next full
by mambos (voodoo priestesses) in order day. Still Sick and weak from the long moon. Unaware of their fates, several
to nourish and strengthen his own soul. journey, Terry went ashore to meet the chosen English men and women, some
Terry was held prisoner on the island voodoo priests that had gathered on the of greater significance then others, were
until 1679, when a trading ship docked paradise-like beach. cursed by the mystical powers of voodoo.

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158

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 In France he was mostly a subject of of voodoo. In those cases where Jean meet and exchange their experiences
interest for black Africans and lived the Pappi made enemies, he used the power and secrets, just like the witches. They
life of a vagabond in the countryside, to control their lives through dolls and have sworn an oath not to share their
but in 1698 Terry met doctor Jean masks. knowledge of voodoo with anyone
Pappi who - like Terry, had been In 1724, a man named Doc Lugunga outside this community. The one that
exposed to Bondyè, the great god of arrives from St. Dominique in Paris. currently leads the society, like Doc
creation in voodoo mysticism. Terry This man is bossale, uninitiated in the Lugunga, always holds voodoo dolls
and Jean shared their experiences and rituals of voodoo, but he soon meets of the other members and would-be
it soon became apparent that Terry Jean Pappi who has heard of the man’s members are required to give similar
possessed far greater knowledge than arrival. It turns out that Doc Lugunga dolls to the leader. Everyone in the
Jean. They could now form the core possesses a great aptitude for voodoo society knows what to expect if they
that was needed for the survival of the and in 1728, when Jean Pappi dies, he break their oath.
society: Terry as houngan and Jean as takes over the leadership of Terry Jones’
hounsi, his valet. Mysterious Voodoo Society and leads it Doc Lugunga (1706-1771)
They performed a number of rituals until his death in 1771. Doc originally came from the island of
and in 1701 their society became the Because of its roots and dark rituals St. Dominique in the company of some
subject of investigation by both the the society has chosen to keep a low released slaves, who had been granted
state and the Church. They were profile, and few ever hear of it. In the the opportunity to go to Europe by
branded as enemies of the state by the middle of the century however, rumours the wealthy skipper Peter Longstedt.
French government and as dangerous of a voodoo society, working on the Doc had been exposed to the practice
Satanist and heretics by the Church. streets of Copenhagen, are spread. The of voodoo already in St. Dominique but
Because of this, the society went into rumours speak of people thought dead it wasn’t until he came to Europe that
hiding and, ironically, this was exactly returning to the living but speaking in he truly developed an interest in the
what was needed for the society to some kind of African language. They matter.
recruit new members. In secret the are called “zombies” after the Congolese Doc is a social chameleon who doesn’t
society held mystical voodoo rituals, word nzambi. The rumours quickly reveal his inner thoughts or his hatred
they brewed potions that put their attract the attention of scientists and for white people. When he is feeling 159
victim into a trance-like state, and it other learned men and Doc Lugunga uncertain he often lets out a thunderous
was even said that they could make and his followers are pointed out as laugh, but behind the surface a dark
the dead walk again. By stealing hair the cause of these mysterious events. mind hides, which has a deep connection
from their victims and putting it in The rumours disappear as soon as they with the mystical spirits of voodoo.
dolls that they then punctured with appeared however, and no one knows
needles they could curse or even kill why, but the fact remains that many of Maman Brigitte (1698-1789)
their victims. Terry and Jean gathered the most outspoken protesters against Maman Brigitte came from Boston as
fetishes and masks to be able to Doc Lugunga died under horrible the slave of a wealthy English family that
perform the most horrifying voodoo circumstances. had decided to move back to England.
rituals in which they would summon The family released her however when
Baron Samedi, Kalfou, Papa Legba, she was 16 years old. She then moved to
and Simbi. Organization and influence Denmark and married Jaan Boeder, with
When Terry died in the aftermath During the middle of the century there whom she had nine children.
of one of the rituals in 1724, he left his are five houngans who are members Through various dreams and
innermost secrets in the hands of Jean of Terry Jones’ Mysterious Voodoo visions she came into contact with Doc
Pappi, who took over the society which Society in Europe: three in France, Lugunga, who taught her the art of
by this time had over 50 members one in Germany, and one in England. voodoo, and just like Doc, it turned out
spread out all over Western Europe. There are another handful of people that she had a deep connection with the
Jean is inclined to a more aggressive who lay claim to the title but haven’t spirits.
and experimental use of the vodoo been able to snare a hounsi. There are In 1736 she kills her husband through
powers than his teacher, Terry Jones. also four mambos: two in France, one the power of voodoo and with the money
He has corpses of animals as well as in the United Netherlands, and one in from a farm that she inherited from him
people possessed and tries to fill them Denmark. The society fills the function she opens Papa Ghede’s Smoking house,
with spirits or use the dead animals of being the uniting force regarding which in turn becomes an important
and people to spread different diseases. the rituals that Terry Jones brought hub for those practitioners of voodoo
He does most of these things out of to Europe and that he then developed that travel around Europe and helps to
pure curiosity and to test the powers there. Both the houngans and mambos share their knowledge.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Hubs and important places At the estate, which Terry inherited to be the corpse of the first human that
Terry Jones’ Mysterious Voodoo Society from the eccentric Madame René, there is died. He is known to appear as a short
does not have as large an organization a large collection of masks, dolls, spears, dark man with a big cigar and a top hat.
as many of the other societies, and wooden statues, and other secret items It is said that he always carries an apple
because of this, there aren’t many hubs that are connected to voodoo. It is in this in his hand. In honour of this spirit, the
where the members of the society can mysterious environment that the houngan society’s branch in Copenhagen has
meet. There are, however, two places of the society hosts his gatherings. founded a cigar house, located not far
that are confirmed as housing members Seen from the outside it is clear that from the central parts of the city. The
of the society, even if they themselves all of its windows are barred and Terry society calls the house Papa Ghede’s
try to keep their presence a secret. has had the house painted black. The Smoking House, and just like Maison
only thing coloured white are the large Cherbourg, it houses many things
Maison Cherbourg double doors that lead into the house. connected to voodoo. The strange
The port town of Cherbourg in France, It is said that the house’s exterior thing about the house is that one can
which is mostly famous for the glass symbolizes Baron Samedi with his only contact the spirits while one
factory that was founded by Lucas de black hat, his skull-painted face, black smokes, or so the locals believe anyway.
Néhou in 1655, is also the headquarters glasses, and cotton-filled nose, just like Papa Ghede’s Smoking House
of Terry Jones’ Mysterious Voodoo a gravedigger. is owned and run by the mambo of
Society. This is where Terry Jones gained Denmark: Maman Brigette, as she calls
his first followers and it is from an estate Papa Ghede’s smoking house herself. Maman Brigette is a large black
outside of the town that Terry as well as Papa Ghede, who is one of the most woman who is never seen without a
both Jean and Doc lead the organization. powerful spirits of voodoo, is believed cigar in her mouth.

160

Only a fool thinks that he can bypass the laws

of God. Alchemists, mystics, devil worshippers,
they’re bringing down the wrath of Our Lord. And
all for nothing. Honestly, tell me what they have
accomplished. Nothing, just theories and models
about worthless things. There are no such things as
great secrets or mysteries to be uncovered. The only
mystery is the one Our Lord teaches us. Only a true
and firm belief in God will enlighten us, neither
Rosicrucians nor Freemasons will.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Occult Societies

 Société En Soie 
~ Les Femmes Fatales~

The society of the silken dress isn’t as to forget what had happened that night their youthful bodies they lure the men
peaceful as one would necessarily think. and move on, but once she learned that to a place where they then kill them.
The society is one of the most violent one of her clients was being courted by On the surface, the young women
and dangerous in all of Europe. While one of the men that had assaulted her, look innocent and harmless, but in
their numbers are few, they are still a hatred was awakened in her that was reality, they are trained assassins many
extremely dangerous. too hard to contain. The matter was not of whom have numerous murders on
The society is a rather new one, as made better by the fact that the woman their consciences.
it was founded around 1715 by Anette was deeply indebted to Anette Gardaou, In the middle of the century however,
Gardaou, a famous and prominent and soon to be more so because of the the society changes their operations to
seamstress in Paris. The rumours claim new dress that she was purchasing. include political influence, espionage, and
that Anette Gardaou had counted many An idea for revenge started to form in information brokering. Assassinations
prominent members of the French court Anette’s mind. become more unusual and the society
as her clients for many years, and that Anette promised to cancel all debts instead makes an abundance of money
those women who didn’t wear one of her which the woman owed her if she by selling information, or spreading 161
dresses were never invited more than would make sure that the man she was lies of political, cultural and economic
once. Her dresses were famous for their seeing, after their meeting, went to a significance. They continue to charge
bold cuts and shapes, and were among certain apartment in central Paris. The high prices for their services.
the most expensive ones in all of Paris. courtier hesitated at first but saw the Even though the society is so secretive
Highly-positioned courtiers came from opportunity to rid herself of her debts that few even know of its existence, the
all corners of Europe to have a dress and at the same time avoid the cost of truth of the inner circle of the society
made by Anette Gardaou herself. Many one of Anette Gardaou’s new dresses. is one of the most well-kept secrets in
also came to seek advice about courtship She promised to do as Anette wished. Europe. The great secret of the society
and the game of love, something that The day after their meeting, the man is that one of the men that violated
the beautiful Anette was said to be an was found dead in the slums of Paris. Anette carried a terrible disease without
expert in. In her youth, she had been a Anette managed to kill three of the knowing it. During his terrible acts of
courtier at and played in the palace of five men that had raped her through violence he bit Anette’s neck and by
Versailles as well as the mansions and deals like this, the other two fled the doing so infected her with Vampirism.
estates of dukes and counts in Italy, country but were eventually found and The truth is that all of Anette’s femme
Spain and England. At the age of 35 killed by the women of the society. fatales are vampires, and thus incredibly
she was still considered to be one of the The events at the estate had torn dangerous murderers and beasts that
most beautiful women in Paris. Anette’s mind asunder and she now few have the power to stop. They have
In 1713 however, something hated men more than anything. When all been bitten and initiated by Anette
happened that radically changed her, she created the Socété En Soi, she and turned into vampires that lead the
and many others’, life. Several men gathered women who had no qualms nightlife at castles and estates.
from the younger generation of nobles, when it came to men and would more In 1753 Anette decides to arrange
who had come to her in order to collect then happily see them dead. They her own death and funeral in order to
dresses for their fiancées, raped Anette became a society of assassins, and they travel across the Atlantic to America in
and left her for dead at her own estate. charged a high price for their services. incognito mode. She fondly hands over
She survived against all odds however, They draw their victims into their the leadership of the society and its
and was eventually able to continue her fold through courtship and the game of mission to Marie-Louise O´Murphy. But
work as a seamstress again. She tried love. Through cunning, betrayal, and when her bloodlust grows too great and

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162

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 she loses control, the society is saved by bodies, their minds, and intelligence into contact with Anette and is drawn
the seductive Madame du Barry. Anette to seduce and finally kill their victims. into a web of murders and misfortunes.
never has more then six femme fatales, Femme implicite are those women who When Marie-Louise is 14 years old
that is vampires, but there are a large gather and share information, who Anette passes her vampirism onto her
number of femme implicite who are just spy, and through cunning, betrayal, and at the age of 16 she takes over the
initiated into the society but have no and pacts can fulfill the wishes of leadership of the society.
idea of the secret truth that Anette and their employers. They never deal in Marie-Louise is nowhere near as
her inner circle are vampires. assassinations however. careful and cunning as Anette and
The organization is lead by Anette almost bring ruin to the society and
Gardaou until 1753 when she “dies” of herself on several occasions. Her
Organization and influence natural causes. Until then she rules the bloodlust is great, as is her desire for
The society is strongest and most society with an iron fist and when she men.
influential in France and Paris but hands over the society to the mistress
there are also small cells in London, Marie-Louise O´Murphy, who at the Madame du Barry (1743-
Amsterdam, Rome and Copenhagen. time is 16-ears old, the organization undefined)
Their reach stretches far however, and is a well-oiled machine that commits Madame du Barry is more like Anette
it’s not unusual for women to travel far assassinations all over Europe. then Marie-Louise, both in character
and wide in order to track down, court, In 1763 the society is taken over and looks. She was born not far from
and thereafter assassinate their targets. by Madame du Barry, the illegitimate the farmhouse where Anette had her
Sometimes an exotic woman from the daughter of one of the women that sewing workshop, but the two of them
north can be the perfect weapon against served under Anette and Marie-Louise. don’t meet until du Barry is grown up.
a hopelessly romantic Italian who has The take-over happens rapidly when It is also Anette, not Marie-Louise, who
made wealthy enemies. Marie-Louise loses control of the infects du Barry with vampirism.
The ladies of the society learn organization and leaves her post of her Madame du Barry becomes a skilled
to sew the beautiful dresses at an own will. Marie-Lousie will however seamstress but is also knowledgeable
early stage. Outwardly, this is their serve the society until her death. about politics and administration, and
primary occupation when they aren’t thus soon gains influence reaching into 163
mistresses or lovers of powerful men. Anette Gardaou (1702-1753, see the French royal house. She loves to
They are taught what Anette calls above) travel and makes sure to make contacts
“the first art”, to use other women’s Anette was born into a poor family all over Europe, not only to initiate new
desire for beautiful dresses and to let in the countryside outside of Paris. ladies into the society but also in order
them grow indebted in order to gain She learns needlecraft early and it to be able to meddle in international
useful influence over these women. In eventually becomes apparent that she politics.
many cases this is also how women are has great aptitude for making beautiful
recruited into the society. In short, they clothes, cloths, and designs. She lives a
are forced to commit murder in order quiet life until the event that changes Hubs and important places
to pay for their debts and are then kept her life in such a dramatic manner (see
in the society by blackmailing them above). Thereafter she only lives for her Père-Lachaise
with the information of what they have vengeance. Almost a hundred years before Père-
done. After a couple of years, most of She easily compels the women who Lachaise is officially declared to be the
the ladies no longer mind since they come and buy her dresses to help her with largest burial place in Paris, a few crypts
are well paid and it opens up many small matters, and eventually entangles and mausolea were already there. It lies
doors that would otherwise be closed them in more complicated matters that a good distance away from Paris itself
to them. The society has very good can have huge consequences. and is therefore a good hiding place for
financial connections and can get their Anette and her femme fatales, who need
way on many levels. Marie-Louise O´Murphy (1737- to rest in the earth of their home. In
The women sworn to the society undefined) the cemetery there are three crypts,
are often divided into two categories: Marie-Louise comes to France from which can easily be accessed by the
femme fatales and femme implicite. Femme Ireland with her mother when she is no women after dusk. Few even dare to
fatales are the women who commit more then two years old. They settle venture here during the day since it is
assassinations: they are of the highest in Paris and makes connections with said that the place is haunted and evil,
rank and all of them are vampires. several wealthy men who pay for their a rumour that the women of the society
They have learned all the ways of upkeep as long as they remain as their are more then happy to spread.
courtship and knows how to use their mistresses. Marie-Louise soon comes Along with Anette’s weaving house

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 in Paris, where the women can also it is however the main hub for many of to operate is the vanity of the people
rest in their own earth, this is the most the women in the Société En Soi. They here and the parties, which require
important headquarters of the society regard the palace and its surroundings people to wear the most extravagant
from where they can put their schemes to be their hunting grounds for “Big- clothing. By buying a dress that is too
in motion. Game”, and although no murders or expensive, or several, one can soon be
Similar places also exist in Rome, actual espionage is committed here, the forced to listen when one shouldn’t, or
London, Copenhagen and Amsterdam palace is a place where they most often charm someone whom one doesn’t like
although they are without names. meet their targets for the first time. in order to escape one’s debts.
It is also at the palace that new ladies Of course the ladies of the society can
are introduced and initiated. Here you be found at many castles, mansions and
Versailles can find the elite practising the noble art estates throughout Europe but the palace
The palace of Versailles may not be of courtship, both among women and of Versailles must still be regarded as one
owned or controlled by the society, but men, but what also makes it a fine place of the most important hubs.

164

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Worldly Societies

 The Hashashins 
~ al-da’wa al-jadida ~

The origins of the Hashashins have Fatimid rule and all Mustali Ismailis Hulagu Khan and his invading Mongols.
deep roots in the division that happened and it was said that those that joined It is said that the fortress fell after an
in Islam after 632 AD with the death of the Hashashins were given dark and internal struggle and after a highly
the Prophet Muhammad. The Muslim supernatural abilities. They learned the ranked Hashashin had betrayed the cult.
world went through a schism over art of killing and perfected it with the Following this defeat, the Hashashins
who should succeed Muhammad as use of their mystical abilities. Some of scattered across the world. They have
the leader of Islam. The Sunnis and the Hashashins could, like vampires, survived since then as a hidden society
the Shias had different opinions about transform into mist, some could climb that uses its power in complete secrecy.
the matter, but the Shias got their way on flat walls, and some could even kill Often, but not always, the membership
when the cousin and son-in-law of with the power of thought. is passed on within the family, and the
Muhammad, Ali, took control and made Hassan-i-Sabban created the fortress cult was very restrictive in recruiting
himself the first Imam. The Imam are of Alamut, located in the Alborz new members.
religious authorities which the Shias Mountains near the Vulcan Damavand During the expansion of the Ottoman
claim to have been divinely appointed. on the Caspian Sea,and, according Empire the Hashashins moved into the 165
In fact the first seven of them were holy to legend, filled the stronghold with war-torn areas and hid in the Turkish
prophets and displayed divine abilities. black magic. From this place Hassan- cities. During the 18th century, small
The leadership of Islam was held within i-Sabban orchestrated a number of units of Hashashins have managed to
the family of the Prophet But, after 30 political assassinations. It all started spread all over Europe, where they hide
years in power, he disappeared and it with the assassination of Nazim-al- and accept blood money from the rich.
was said that he had wandered into the Mulk, a vizier in the Seljuk Sultanate, Their headquarters lies in Istanbul, but
infinite desert and wouldn’t return until at the hands of an assassin disguised few of the Hashashins have ever visited
the time of the holy war. as a Sufi mystic. When the Sultan sent it. Most of them live a life on the road,
The 18th imam and 9th Fatimid an army against Alamut as a response, and receive their missions through
Caliph, al-Mustansir of Cairo, leader of it was forced back. Even though there messages or emissaries.
the Ismailic Shias of the Fatimid dynasty, were many attempts to overthrow the
had two sons: Mowlana Nizar and sect’s headquarters, none succeeded in
al-Mustali. Nizar, who was the older of conquering Alamut, and the warriors Organization and influence
them, was considered to be the rightful described it as a dark and evil fortress From the outside, it would seem like
heir, but when Mustansir died in 1094 full of mysteries and secrets. They the Hashashins are lacking a proper
the throne was taken by al-Mustali. claimed that the Hashashins couldn’t be organization, but those with intimate
This angered Nizar, who revolted defeated and that ten seasoned warriors knowledge of the cult know that it has a
against his younger brother along with died for every Hashashin. few binding structures. All Hashashins
his followers, but Nizar was captured During the crusades it is said that follow the three pillars, Silsilah, Sukr,
and killed while imprisoned. The Ismaili the Hashashins committed a number of and Ilm al-yaqin, and these customs and
in the east refused to accept al-Mastali assassinations on the behalf of Richard principles bind them together.
as their leader and were called Nizari the Lion-heart. Raymond II of Tripoli Silsilah is “The Holy Chain”, which
Ismailis. One of these was Hassan-i- and Konrad of Montferrat, the king of binds all Hashashins in kinship and
Sabban who converted the people of Jerusalem, were counted among their brotherhood and which carries the link
Daylam and founded his own cult of the victims. all the way back to Hassan-i-Sabban;
Nizaris that would later be known as The fortress of Alamut was destroyed The Holy Chain is an immaterial
the Hashashins. Primarily, they opposed in the year 1256, during the assault of reminder of their legacy and origins.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Sukr is the ritual of sharing hashish Ashabs can be divided into groups (giruh) nor power is important, but rather the fact
and experiencing spiritual intoxication of 2-8 members. that Hashashins believe in a higher calling
with the goal of achieving theophany, The leader of all Hashashins is and the cult is a brotherhood that will lead
a perception of God and Paradise, called “The Old Man in the Mountain” them to Paradise. The Hashashins believe
which is called Tajalli.Ilm al-yaqin is or simply “The Old One”. Who he is that it is important to cast aside “malkuth”,
the life-long goal and the certainty that exactly is unknown to all, and it is said the veil that blinds humanity. Only by
through their actions they will earn the that this is the most closely guarded fully committing to one’s task is one able
right to share an afterlife with God in secret of the Hashashins. There are to reach perfection, and finally Paradise.
Paradise. rumours however that the capabilities The Hashashins have gained deep
In addition to these three customs of the Old One are so powerful and knowledge of the most secret mysteries
and principles, there is actually a rather great that he rivals one of the Sumerian of Sufism and it is said that their
thorough and simple organization demi-gods of old. knowledge of the magical is far greater
of the cult. This organization can be To be initiated into the society one than any other society. They patiently
difficult to perceive for an outsider, must worship al-Haq (which means wait for the return of Ali from the
however, and even initiated members “truth” and is one of the names of God). desert so that he can lead the holy war.
of the cult don’t always know how In the mysterious initiation ritual, the Everything else is in preparation for
the cult is organized, even if they are initiate binds himself to the brotherhood Paradise. Few know exactly what the
knowledgeable about the theory behind and surrenders his soul into the hands meaning of their holy war is. Some say
the cult. The Hashashins as a whole of the old one. It is said that after this it’s a war against other tribes, others say
are a single “Tarika”, a way among the day, the leader is able to control the it’s against Christianity, and some even
Nizari Ismaili Shias. Everyone in the initiated with his willpower. go so far as to say that it is a war against
Tarika, that is, all Hashashins, are called There are rumours of the dark the evil gods.
“Fedayeen,” which means: the one who Modhim who are a group of Hashashins
is ready to give their life for a specific that are believed to be in direct contact
purpose. In the Tarika, which is led by with a higher power. Some even say Hubs and important places
a group of Sayyids (5°), the Hashashins that they are connected to the old gods The Hashashins living in Europe have
166 are divided into brotherhoods (turuqs) of Babylon and that they use dark and no shared gathering point. Every
that are led by a Shaykh (4°). A Shaykh mystical powers. Sometimes the Modhim Hashashin, or group, lives and operates
appoints one or more of his turuq to be are called Rijal al-ghayb, the invisible. where their current mission takes place.
guardians (khulafas) that will aid the The Hashashins’ services are expensive, Sometimes such a mission can take
Shaykh in his duties. The rest of the and it is said that the cult could live in great several years and sometimes just a few
turuq is called “Ashab,” which means abundance from the fees they collect. To days. The headquarters of the cult is
follower and brother. During missions, the members of the cult, neither money located in Istanbul however.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Worldly Societies

 The Illuminati 
Moriah, Nanna
~ Novus Ordo Seclorum ~

At the end of the dark 18th century, that they, through dark pacts and secret divine blood was transferred to the
information about the secret society meetings, gave birth to thirteen sons royal Jewish bloodline. The Hebrews
known as the Illuminati (singular: that would later become the thirteen emigrated and once they were back
Illuminatus) will reach public ears, and bloodlines that took part in the divine in the land of Canaan, king David and
thus reveal the existence of a society order. They also learn that Nimrod, king Solomon carried on the legacy.
which had been kept secret from most the great hunter, destroyed so many Their descendants later immigrated
people for hundreds of years. creatures of the dark that he became to Europe, where they became the
That Adam Weishaupt in 1776 will to be worshipped as a god. Nimrod is Habsburgs: the new incarnation of the
claim to have founded a new order is also the builder of the famous Tower order’s enemies.
only the tip of the iceberg in a conflict of Babel, as described in the Bible, and A well-guarded secret, and proof of
that has been ongoing in the society the one whose ambition even arrives to the unbroken bloodline that exists even
for a long time. In reality, Adam is challenge God. to this day, is the striking resemblance
only seeking attention in order to keep Even though the secret pacts mostly between the Habsburgs and the
his professorship at the University fell into oblivion, the Egyptians Akhenaton’s bloodline. The former 167
of Ingolstadt. The founding that he continued to guard Nimrod’s legacy, suffer from a genetic deficiency, which
boasted of is only the most recent hidden amidst the traditional Egyptian is called mandibular prognathism,
chapter in the long history of the religion, but were plagued by inner abnormal under-bite, which according
society. None of this has happened yet struggles and constant attacks from to the Illuminati was also diffused
however, it has only been foreseen by the outside. Around 1350 BC the among the family of Akhenaton.
Persian Crypto magicians. pharaoh Amenhotep IV took the It is important to underline that all
The Society of the Illuminati is name Akhenaton, and introduced the this theory, even if diffused among the
the mother of all secret societies and monotheistic worship of the sun god unitiated, cannot make sense for the
conspiracies. It is the most secretive Aton as the state-religion, overcoming European cultural elite. During the
and legendary association that exists. in this way the secret plans of the order. 18th century proper knowledge of the
The history of the Illuminati The traditional Egyptian priesthood ancient Egypt is still not spread among
stretches back to the beginning of was furious because of this, and after scholars, who mostly ignore names like
time. When the ziggurats were built the pharaoh died of poisoning, the Akhenaton, Ramses or Sethi. All that is
in Babylon and the pyramids were worship of the old gods was brought known about Egyptian history comes
raised in Egypt, the Illuminati lurked back. However, much of the old from the Bible since Champollion will
in the shadows and dictated where the knowledge from the times of king decipher the Rosetta stone only in
great blocks of stone would be placed. Nimrod had already been lost during 1822.
Members of the Illuminati plotted and the Akhenaton’s reformations, and the Even so, the initiates of the
schemed to steer history according to secret order was all but destroyed. Illuminati bear a secret knowledge that
their plans when mankind was in its At about the same time the has been passed through the centuries
cradle. They were in the inner circles Hebrews were being kept as slaves as a precious heritage. How much
of the Pharaohs, in the temple of king in Egypt. They were influenced by such a knowledge responds to truth
Solomon, and within the Roman senate. the cult of Aton, and with time Aton or became distorted through time it’s
The ones who are initiated into the became YHWH. During the Egyptian possibly unknown even to the leaders
deepest secrets of the society learn that captivity, secret bonds and connections of the conspiracy.
the order was founded by king Nimrod were formed between the Pharaohs The members of the Illuminati
and queen Semiramis of Babylon, and and the Hebrews or Jews, and thus the are told of the striking resemblance

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 between Akhenaton and Philip IV of on their own but to take control of “Fleur” by his fellows, believes that
Spain, and of the House of Habsburg, those that already existed, and to rule a revolution on the streets of Paris
and that the under-bite is a clear sign them from the shadows. For some would quickly spread to the whole
that they belong to a degenerated hundred years the society worked out nation and even beyond. During the
bloodline, whose ancestors once of sight, watched without acting, took 18th century France is the centre of the
wanted to overthrow the world order positions that weren’t used, and gained world, a model for the other countries:
that was founded by the descendants knowledge that was kept hidden. The therefore the revolutionary ideas from
of Nimrod. The Illuminati believe that next time the Illuminati was heard there could infect the rest of Europe,,
if this had not happened, the order of was in Florence during the 14th bringing disaster to the Habsburg and
would never have been broken, and century. Here they gained a powerful the other royal dynasties hated by the
the descendants would have ruled over pawn in the form of Giovanni di Bicci Illuminati. The council believes that
all the peoples of the world. Instead, de’ Medici, who controlled a multi- the order isn’t ready for an event of
man remained unenlightened and was national bank and who succeeded that magnitude yet, and decides that
thrown into darkness. in making this bank the Papal bank the control of the situation would be
After centuries of plotting in the in order to gain control of the holy lost too easily. The plan is put on hold
shadows and finally succeeding in power. for the immediate future.
causing the fall of Rome, they moved It is at this point in time that the The plan that the Illuminati have
their interest to Byzantium. They Illuminati started using the owl as been working on for thousands of years
believed that the barbaric tribes of a symbol of the society. The owl was is starting to take form however. A new
Europe could never achieve any kind chosen in part because of its ancient world order will be created by their
of higher civilization without the aid of meaning as a symbol of wisdom and work in the shadows. The old powers
the order. in part because of its ability to see will be overturned by a new rule, and
Unfortunately, the fall of Rome in the dark, that is, to see the hidden the members of the Illuminati will
along with their grand scheme of truth beyond the world of lies and steer the world toward its own destiny.
establishing Christianity had taken its propaganda. The owl also appears in When this new world order is created
toll on the Illuminati. The organization a stylized shape in the symbol of the and built into the very foundations of
168 was spread thin and was about to lose Dutch East-India Company a few society, the enlightened rule will begin.
all form of control. Although Rome hundred years later. To put the owl The Enlightenment, the new
had fallen, it did so in an uncontrollable in the symbol of the Company was philosophical movement which is
manner, and since the order couldn’t perfectly in line with the order’s habit spreading throughout Europe during
take hold of the power, they couldn’t of hiding in plain sight while acting the 18th century, strongly bear signs
introduce the new world order as they out of sight, to see without revealing. of the Illuminati’s influence. Most of
had planned. Christianity spread like The letters V.O.C. in the East-India the Enlightenment’s scholars have
an infection, faster than the Illuminati Company’s symbol form the owl, which nothing to do with the Illuminati’s
could infiltrate and establish control can be seen all over the world, but few conspiracy. However, the challenge
over it. In many places, they were know the secret truth of its meaning. to old traditions, and the focusing on
forced to abandon their posts and flee In 1737 all remaining high-ranking raising the mortal man’s rationality
with their tails between their legs. Illuminati from Europe gather to hold against God, all resound of the ancient
At the end of the 12th century, it a council. Plans are made to start a war Nimrod’s act of defiance against God
is said that there weren’t more than of succession, something that could with the Tower of Babel. Even the name
thirteen members left of the society, bring down the House of Habsburg of the movement (“the Enlightenment”)
one representing each of the original which, in the same time, has spread seems to be reference to the Illuminati’s
bloodlines. Hunted and sought after by his influence through marriages in theory of enlightenment.
many rulers because of their widespread different dynasties. At the same time, In contrast with the Church, which
involvement in matters both large a plan of even greater scale is made to sees Enlightenment as the end, the
and small, they went into hiding and bring down the British Empire through Illuminati believes that while the
swore to each other to not even speak a war with their American colonies. By world will end, a new one will then
the name of the order. In less then ten infiltrating the Freemasons in America, be formed, a world were humanity is
years all traces of the Illuminati had they are certain that they can cause more enlightened and more powerful
disappeared from Europe. enough unrest to start such a war. then ever before. The Illuminati do
By any means necessary, the At the same council a proposal not fear the wrath of God, they know
members of the order infiltrated all is made and approved: to allow that they can achieve divine power
social structures. Their main goal the common people to seize power on their own, and thus that God has
wasn’t to build a powerful organization in France. The Illuminatus called played out his part.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 How this secret order with IV of Naples, for whom he acted as a Minerval is the name for those that
relatively few members can have the Prime Minister. have been initiated into the order, who
power to bring states to their knees Bernando is the first member of the have sworn loyalty and submission,
and to shake the foundations of the Illuminati who manages to crack the and who have been made aware of the
holy power is a riddle for most people. secret code that hides within the Codex first secrets. Their number fluctuates,
To this day there is no living person Pisanus, which is also why he eventually and can vary greatly from decade to
that has been able to credibly reveal is given the title of Illuminatus Rex. The decade. The ones who take the next
the secret behind the structure and Codex Pisanus, also known as Codex step are called Illuminatus Minor.
power of the society, nor have any Florentinus, is a collection of Byzantine An Illuminatis Minor must first
members of the order revealed their writings from the 6th century, which is have either a good education, good
involvement voluntarily. in turn a copy of the Justiniani Augusti recommendations from an Illuminatis
Everyone with significant power in Digestorum seu Pandectarum, containing Major, or distinguish themselves as a
Europe knows that the Illuminati are laws and regulations written down in Minerval before being initiated into
out there lurking in the shadows, but no fifty volumes in both Greek and Latin. this rank. As an Illuminatis Minor, one
one knows who serves them and what Parts of these writings are said to is allowed to wear the symbol with the
their true purpose is. Sometimes they originate directly from the Codex of “all-seeing eye” at gatherings and is
seem to be driven by an irreversible Hammurabi, which was written down initiated into a number of secrets and
hatred, sometimes by a will to renew, on a pillar of basalt stone around 1700 codes of the society.
change, and improve. Exactly what a BC, and which is said to hide the truth Every Illuminatus Minor is given a
“New World Order” means is known of the thirteen bloodlines and the new specific task that must be completed
by few, the secret is well-guarded by world order. When Bernardo deciphers successfully before they can move on.
the inner circle. the secret code that once was written In total, this rank is made up of 39
It is true that the Illuminati was down by a devoted mystic, many pieces degrees and related tasks that must be
founded to prepare the way for a new regarding the new world order fall into completed before they are considered
world order, where “the enlightened” place. a full-fledged Illuminatus Minor.
would rule the world, but few know Bernardo greatly affects the methods In some associations the brothers
what is meant by “enlightenment”. that the order uses to strengthen its of this rank are called “The Sneaking 169
Some say that it is the same thing as power over the Papacy, and makes sure Brothers” since most of their missions
the Apocalypse and that the foremost to weaken the power of the Church consists of spying and infiltrating.
role of the Illuminati is to stop the significantly. In the eternal struggle It’s not until the final degrees that
doom of man by taking over the divine with the Habsburgs, his power is the Illuminatus Minor starts to act
role themselves. diminished in the middle of the 1770s and execute their own plans. Every
The Illuminatus Rex (leader of the when the queen of King Ferdinand IV, Illuminatus Minor is served by
order) at the beginning of the 18th Caroline of the Habsburgs, is given a thirteen Minerval initiates which aid in
century is Francesco Farnese (1678- seat on the council of ministers of the completing tasks
1727), the duke of Parma. A few years Kingdom of Naples and Sicily. The second highest rank is
after his death, the title is taken over by Illuminatus major. The total number
Jean-Baptiste de Machault d’Arnouville of initiated belonging to this rank can
(1701-1794), along with the leadership Organization and influence never be more then thirteen: six in
of the Illuminati. The organization and its networks the outer circle, six in the inner circle,
Acting through his offices, of which are more widespread than one might and one aspirant for the last rank of
one is Minister of Finance in France, de think. The ruling core consists of a Illuminatus Rex. This aspirant is also
Machault d’Arnouville stages several few people but the groups and people known as Rex Minor.
operations to increase the power of that they control and have either Those who are initiated into the
the order. Unfortunately, he comes bought or manipulated are of a great rank of Illuminatus Major are first
into conflict with Madame Pompadour number. required to have passed all the 39
and in consequence the order’s power The Illuminati have four main degrees of the Illuminatus Minor with
in France is significantly diminished. ranks: Minerval, Illuminatus Minor, impeccable results, and have earned
Many years before his death, Jean- Illuminatus Major, and finally the recommendation of all current
Baptiste de Machault d’Arnouville will Illuminatus Rex. There are also a vast Illuminatus Major. Few members ever
hand over the title of Illuminatus Rex number of people, and other mystical reach this rank, but the reward is said
to Bernardo Tanucci (1698-1783), who creatures, that serve the purposes of to be all the more great. The ones
has great influence over both Charles the order without being initiated, or who are of the outer circle are those
III of Spain and his son Ferdinando even aware of it in some cases. who have held the rank of Illuminatus

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Major rank the shortest time, while The Mississippi Company is founded was the Spens family, with Jacob
those in the inner circle have held in 1716 and is given Royal charter to Spens and his wife Beata Bonde as
the rank the longest. This rank has give out banknotes that, on demand, the most prominent members, who
a total of 169 degrees, of which can be exchanged for gold and silver. brought the order to Sweden. Their
each represents a piece of the secret Already in 1717 the Mississippi son Axel, who has fought in the
regarding the founding of the order, Company gains a monopoly on using battles of Narva and Poltava, and who
its history, its purpose, and what is the the giant colonial holdings along the is currently a lieutenant colonel of the
hidden meaning behind the motto of great river. As if this wasn’t enough, mounted royal guard, is only one of
the order (“Novus Ordo Seclorum”) as Law takes over the tobacco monopoly the high-ranked soldiers who belong
well as the truth about the all-seeing and the lease on the indirect taxes, all to Illuminati. One of his friends from
eye. according to the plans of Illuminati. Narva, Magnus Stenbock, is also said
Exactly who is chosen to be Rex In England they have a greater to have belonged to the Illuminati.
Minor and Illuminatus Rex, their grand influence than any other secret Magnus was captured however, by the
master, is a guarded secret that isn’t society, especially among Freemasons. cunning of Norwegian Freemasons
revealed to those belonging to ranks It is said that the Illuminati have after the surrender in Tönningen
lower than the 168th degree of the representatives in all Freemason on the 6th of May 1713, and was
Illuminatus Major rank. According to lodges in England, acting as a held prisoner in the dungeons of
rumours and speculation within the hidden conspiracy ruling behind the Fredrikshavn, where he died in 1717
order, it is at this particular rank, the Freemason conspiracy. This power without having revealed any of the
168th degree, that one is able to see is quickly spreading to the lodges of secrets of the Illuminati other than
the whole truth for the first time and North America and the consequences that he himself belonged to the order.
becomes “enlightened”. of this will be better understood at the Due to the power shift in favour
As Illuminatus Rex one directs end of the 18th century with the War of “the Hats” political party at the
the organization toward the higher of American Independence. parliament of 1738-1739, the Illuminati
purpose, and the one who holds the In Germany they have, as in Italy, gain unexpected power over Swedish
office is able to gain great knowledge been able to infiltrate large parts of finances and credits as well. They
170 about all the secret teachings of the the judicial power but have also gained introduce an expansionist policy, and
universe. control over the growing banks. For the state bank is their most important
The Illuminati have gained their some inexplicable reason, the society tool in this. The state-bank once was
greatest foothold in Northern Italy, has a difficult time trying to gain the treasury of the state, but now it
and controls several important the same control over the German also becomes the main instrument for
institutions and families involved in peasants as they have over the French subsidizing commercial enterprises.
commerce and law. The Papal States ones. In Germany, there are prominent Support and subsidized credits from
are a bulwark against the Illuminati’s university teachers and scientists who public authorities and institutions are
conspiracy but, on the other hand, are believed to belong to or serve the financed with credits from the bank,
in Southern Italy the Illuminati Illuminati. and its rapidly growing, ever cheaper,
influence arrives with the coming of The Illuminati gained a foothold loans require little collateral or real
Bernardo Tanucci as Prime Minister in Sweden during the Great Power estate, with low rates of interest, all
of Ferdinand IV. era, primarily as a result of influences according to a model designed by the
In France they have significant from the many wars. Naturally then, order’s most competent economists in
influence in political matters at high the Illuminati have most influence Italy to further the order’s schemes.
as well as at low levels. It is said that in the Swedish military, where many Carl Fredrik Pechlin (1720-1796) is
they, with a few words, can make high-ranking officers are believed said to be the man responsible for the
the lower classes of Paris rise up to belong to or sympathize with the order’s enterprises in Sweden during
against the aristocracy but that their Illuminati. At the lower ranks of this period.
control over these classes remains the order it is speculated that these
brittle and that such an event could officers, will make up the foundation Jean-Baptiste de Machault
easily get out of hand. They also for the armed conflict that will d’Arnouville (1701-1794)
have great influence in the financial precede the new order. It therefore Jean-Baptiste is perhaps the Illuminatus
world of France. Among other follows that the order makes sure Rex that accrued the most power and
things, they co-found the Mississippi that these officers are sent on official influence to both himself and the order
Company through John Law, a known missions to inspect and chart the during the 18th century. He possesses
Freemason of the lower degrees who military organizations of foreign a number of offices which allow him to
is also said to belong to the Illuminati. countries. The rumour says that it directly appoint members of the order to

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 important positions within the French La Pilotta originating from the thirteen bloodlines.
administration. La Pilotta, the ducal palace in Parma - What they are called, and what families
By having total insight and control of is said to be one of the most important they belong to, have been lost in time
the society, as well as large parts of the gathering places of the order. All but there are no doubts that they are
French administration and politics, Jean councils are traditionally held in the true descendants.
Baptiste builds a network of Illuminati inner chamber of the library, and in
all over Europe. the tunnels beneath the university, Place Royal
where the Illuminati hide many of their Place Royal is the oldest planned
Bernardo Tanucci (1698-1783) collections of books and scrolls, some square in Paris and it hosts a small
Bernardo is a man of the grand politics. of which are said to date to the days of house resembling a palace. It is called
He is involved in much of the European Babylon. Soleil (“Sun”) because of its yellow
high politics of Europe even before he exterior. The house doesn’t look very
reaches the title of Illuminatus Rex. He Ponte dei Sospiri impressive next to the other impressive
begins his political career within the The Ponte dei Sospiri, (the “bridge of buildings and mighty palaces of the
law, but eventually gains positions of sighs” in Italian), in Venice, is one of city, but behind the massive walls and
increasing power in Naples, for example the most important places where the thick doors of bronze, the heart of
as minister of foreign affairs and finally order exchanges information. Here, the the order in this part of Europe hides.
as prime minister. Illuminati trade messages and secrets Many gatherings happen in this house,
He works to make sure that power lies with each other using lead capsules that as well as many of the rituals that are
with the state and not with the Church, switch hands while two members pass held every so often.
and because of this he makes many each other on the bridge. Sometimes the What most people don’t realize is
enemies within the religious sphere. Illuminati stop for a couple of seconds that this was the finest address in all of
As a politician he enforces a number of and trade a few cryptic sentences. Paris during the 17th century. There
laws that strengthens the state’s power The bridge was built in the 16th were a number of salons of literature
against the Church, but he always keeps century and belonged to the prison, but with connections to Maria de Medici,
the interests of the Illuminati as his it makes for an excellent place to trade queen of France, in the house next door,
foremost guide. information since there are a number and a number of powerful noble houses 171
of stairs, alleys, and bridges nearby lived by the square.
Carl Fredrik Pechilin (1720-1796) where the Illuminati can lose potential What a potential visitor, most
The master of intrigues, and perhaps followers. likely an Illuminatus Major, since no
the most talented optician in Sweden The use of the place is so secret that others are allowed entry, will notice
during this time, Carl Fredrik studies at only those of the higher degrees of is that all the walls in the house
the University of Lund and eventually Illuminatus Major learn of it. have bookshelves loaded with folios,
joins the military. This is were he encyclopedias, and other texts. This is
learns about the Illuminati for the first Saló del Tinell perhaps the order’s largest collection
time, and he works tirelessly to find a This banquet-hall in Barcelona has seen of Babylonian, Akkadian, Sumerian,
connection that could give him access to a number of historical events. It was and other Ancient scriptures, for
this secret society. built during the years 1359-1370 above example, the Codex Pisanus. The
In 1746 he meets an Italian a demolished part of the royal castle importance of these texts cannot be
representative of the society and is belonging to Ramon Berenguer IV. The underestimated since most of them
initiated into the “enlightenment”. hall is an impressive construction of are written in ancient dead languages
After that, he is a devoted member stone, with arches and walls that make which the European scholars of the
of the order and does whatever the this historical building the envy of even 18th century have not yet deciphered.
Illuminati asks of him, including the most talented masons. It is here that the centuries-old
betraying his friends, which he does in Although the order has held the knowledge of the society is hosted,
1761. He reaches the title of Illuminatus position of key-master of the hall for ready to be accessed only by selected,
Major in 1786. generations, and thus always has had initiated few elite Illuminati.
access to it. It is the lower parts of the
old Palace that are the true gathering The Ziggurats
Hubs and important places point for the order. The Ziggurats are tower-temples that
The Illuminati has a number of Even if there is no collection of books were built in Mesopotamia from 2100
gathering points and hubs, which or secret knowledge in this particular BC to, circa 550 BC, and which are the
they control, use, or own. The most place, there are graves of three direct most important historical places of the
important ones are listed below. descendants of the Aryans, a people Illuminati. In the temples that were built

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 on top of the ziggurats, the priests could weathered. These places are usually still since the ziggurats remain important
perform ancient ceremonies. Most of unknown to Europeans who rarely visit historical places the Illuminati still
them were built in honour of the moon this easternmost part of the Ottoman treat them with reverence.
god Nanna (Nanna is Sumerian and Empire in the 18th century. However It is members of the Illuminati that
means Illuminator), who was regarded there are still today some Illuminati give the Ottomans the information that
as a divine light that shone on the earth. who travel to the ziggurats in order leads to the assault on Vienna in 1683.
Most of the ancient ziggurats did to hold ceremonies, but much of the In Exchange for this information, the
not survive until the 18th century but holy atmosphere that surrounded these Illuminati are allowed, under great
the ruins of a few of them still stand in temples is lost as they no longer serves secrecy, to operate at the ziggurats and
Mesopotamia, although overgrown and any purpose to the society. However, unearth their secrets.

172

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 Worldly Societies

 Odd Fellows 
The Fellowship, The Brotherhood
~ Friendship, Love, Truth ~

According to their own history, the Odd brought back to England by Jean de as the True Levellers), who were even
Fellows originate from the time of the Neuville, who founded a Grand House more radically revolutionary, were
Jewish captivity in Babylon, when some of Honour in London. Since many of the outlawed and butchered by Cromwell’s
of them joined together in brotherhoods members in England were craftsmen, soldiers. During the latter half of the
in order to protect and support each the organization of the order was 18th century, a number of revolutionary
other. Once back in the Holy Land, these greatly influenced by guilds’ rituals. societies and associations were founded
associations developed with time into During the 14th century there was among the farmers and peasants of
different cults and societies. At the time infighting in the guilds of England Ireland (like the Whiteboys and Peep
of the birth of Christ, the Essenes in between masters and journeymen O´Day Boys), which fought against the
Jerusalem and Qumran were the rightful (Fellows). The consequence of this English superiority and were similar to
heirs, and preached their message of was that the journeymen formed their the Odd Fellows in both organization
brotherhood, collective ownership, and own guilds, called Yeomen Guilds, in and ideals.
struggle against the dark powers. When contrast with the Livery Guilds of the The actual order of the Odd Fellows
the Romans conquered Jerusalem in 70 Masters. In many small towns and was divided during the Glorious 173
AD, the Essenes fought bravely but villages there weren’t enough craftsmen Revolution of 1688 into two branches:
in vain. The city fell and the cult was of certain enterprises to create their own the Order of Patriotic Odd Fellows
scattered. guilds, and thus it wasn’t uncommon for that supported the new king, William
Some of the Essenes were brought journeymen of several different crafts of Orange, and the Ancient Order of
back to Rome as slaves, and some of to band together into the so-called Odd Odd Fellows who were loyal to the
them eventually became Roman citizens Fellows Guilds. old royal house of Stuart. The latter
who served in the legions. There, the In these guilds, ideas of brotherhood, had connections with the Jacobites and
rituals and beliefs of the Essenes were collective ownership, and responsibility supported Bonnie Prince Charlie’s failed
mixed with the numerous soldier-cults toward the poor and weak thrived. Many coup in 1745. The order isn’t reunited
of the legions and it became normal people, knowledgeable about secret until 1789, when they form the Grand
for the members of the society to societies, believe that it was at this time Order of Odd Fellows after a century of
contribute to a common treasury, which that the Odd Fellows were truly founded violent infighting.
was then used if one of the members and that the earlier history is simply a Odd Fellows act to create an equal
became sick or needed aid for some later construction to give the society a society where all humans are of equal
other reason. Within the legions, the more religious and occult legitimacy. worth. Exactly how they will achieve
cult quickly spread across Europe, and During the following centuries the this Utopia varies between different
after the conquest of Britannia, their organization and rituals grew into groups, but most of them advocate some
first house was established in what is the secret society known as the Odd kind of revolution and armed struggle
today England in 100 AD. This house Fellows, while at the same time their against the crown and the upper classes.
was closed and demolished however, principle ideas spread to other similar The foundation of their world view
once the Romans withdrew from the societies. The political party known is Christian, but its exact form varies
island in the 5th century. as the Levellers, who fought on the between different branches of the
After the fall of Rome, the society side of Parliament during the English organization, and all claim that their
survived in the former Roman provinces Civil War, was clearly influenced version is the only true and correct one.
in Spain, and then spread to Portugal by the Odd Fellows’ ideas in their It is also common that different parts
and France during the 11th century. In desire for a classless society. Their of the Odd Fellows and their connected
the 13th century the society was finally successors, the Diggers (also known societies plot and fight against each

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

174

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 other. In Ireland during the 18th century, revolutionary groups, but around 10-15 from these stories. All members
a violent guerrilla war is waged between thousand individuals can be counted carry the three links, which represent
the anti-English and anti-Protestant as members of orders or societies that Friendship, Brotherhood, and Truth, in
Whiteboys and the anti-Catholic Peep in one way or another share principles some way. This could be in the shape of
O´Day Boys. In London, criminal gangs and goals with the Odd Fellows during embroidery on their coat, a brooch, three
with more or less loose connections to the middle of the 18th century. For rings on their left hand, or something
the Odd Fellows fight battles to control simplicity, only the two branches of Odd similar. Other symbols are the bow and
blocks and districts of the city during Fellows are described in this chapter, quiver (which represents the friendship
the whole century. but the Game Master is encouraged to between David and Jonathan), the fasces
The newly initiated will feel well- create their own variations of similar (which represents strength in unity),
taken-care-of and be struck by the local movements. the axe (which represents progress and
order’s care and kindness towards its Every Odd Fellow belongs to a guild the work in making the right way), the
members, and by its charitable works. that is subordinate to a Grand Guild hand with a heart in its palm (which
In a society where there are no safety in London (Order of Patriotic Odd represents brotherhood), the snake,
nets, the Odd Fellows act as a kind of Fellows) or Sheffield (Ancient Order (which reminds of the importance of
primitive union that strives to aid its of Odd Fellows), and the size of a local knowledge), and finally the bee-hive
members when they are incapable of guild varies from a handful of people (which represents diligence and
working or lose their income. Step to encompassing a large part of the collective efforts).
by step, however, the demands on the population of a village or town. Every rank is surrounded in
initiate are gradually increased, and A guild is lead by a Noble Grand mystery and it is forbidden under any
when the initiate reaches the third (Master) of the fourth degree, who is circumstance to reveal its secrets to
degree of initiatio, they are forced to assisted by two Wardens of the third brothers of lower rank until they are
give up their former life entirely and degree. During initiation, the initiate is deemed as susceptible enough and thus
to devote their whole life to the order. often assisted by a Conductor of the third initiated. Violations of this rule, as well
In the higher ranks, the discipline is degree, who guides the initiate while he as any attempts to exit the order, are
merciless, and anyone who protests and is wearing a blindfold, and during some mercilessly punished with death by
tries to hold onto some part of their rituals, answers in his place. In every kicks and blows. Gradually, as a brother 175
old identity will be broken through guild there is but one Master, except in is rising through the ranks, he goes from
psychological terror or be killed. the Grand Guild, where all members are being a God-fearing Samaritan who
In the highest ranks, everything is of the fourth degree with the exception lives to help his fellow man, to being
connected to battle-drills and other of the Grand Master who is of the fifth a fanatical revolutionary fixated on the
preparations for the day when the upper degree. From the Grand Guild, rules thought of crushing the old order.
classes are to be brought down and of conduct and missions are sent to the
humanity finally will be free. guilds, and every local guild must pay Sebastian Hawk (1722-1776)
50% of their income to the Grand Guild. Sebastian is both the leader of the
The level of religious freedom within Hawkubites and the Noble Grand in his
Organization and influence each of the guilds is greatly varied. In guild in London. He is tall and skinny
The Odd Fellows and their some of them, only proper Catholics and looks gaunt in an almost sickly
connected societies are very fractured (or alternatively only Protestants) are way. He leads his fanatical followers in
organizations that, in large part, lack accepted, while others welcome even a number of riots and acts of violence
central leadership. The size and level Jews and Muslims. The main ideology on the streets of London at the end of
of unity varies between the Order of is brotherhood, collectivism, and the 1730s in order to “restore the proper
Patriotic Odd Fellows and the Ancient collective ownership, which they believe, order”. Like his followers, he is fanatical
Order of Odd Fellows, who have a according to their own interpretation of in his belief in the creed and manifest of
large number of guilds in London and the Acts of the Apostles, to be the true the Odd Fellows. He doesn’t hesitate for
the surrounding countryside and in message of Christ. At the higher ranks, a second to use violence to make a point.
northern England and Scotland, down religion loses its significance, and the One’s first impression of Sebastian is
to the Mohocks, Hawkubites, and other focus lies rather on the struggle against a gaunt, impulsive, and unpleasant man
street-gangs in London and other the oppressive powers of the Church who always carries a rod in his hand.
larger cities along with the Whiteboys and the Crown.
and Peep O´Day Boys that only consist The symbols of the Odd Fellows are Joshua “The Rabbit” Dane (1729-
of a few farmers in a handful of villages in large part drawn from certain lines 1765)
in the Irish countryside. It’s difficult to in the Bible, and serve to remind the The Noble Grand of the Odd Fellows in
draw the line between these and other members of the lessons to be learned Manchester is Joshua Dane, nicknamed

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 “The Rabbit” because of his incredible negotiate, and solve disputes, which Le Pant has evolved into a central hub
quick punches in fights. He takes over most of the time leads to the dumping of for criminals from the whole city. Here,
control of Quay Street at the young broken and battered bodies in the Seine prostitutes from Le Marais, assassins
age of 16, after having accused his a couple of hours later. from Pont-Neuf, professional beggars
predecessor of failing the ideals and Originally the building was a and petty pickpockets meet the larger
code of honour of the society and then tobacco-house, but after the edict of gangs like the Huguenot Les Garcon
killing him. In 1747 he unites all the Nantes was dissolved, the owner, who Vai who fight against all of the Pope’s
Odd Fellows guilds in Manchester and was a Huguenot, was forced to flee faithful and the shoemaker-apprentices
gathers them into a kind of Great Guild. the country. The building was quickly Les Savatieres.
He keeps fighting for his cause, both abandoned and was left to decay over the
on streets and in the squares, and is sent following decades as a consequence of a
to prison a number of times. The power dispute between the city and the family Manchester “Unity” square
of the order is so great however, that he of the original owner. Exactly who came Manchester square lies at the end of
manages to be released every time. up with the idea of using the building Berkley Street in London, and is an
Joshua is a quick minded, well-trained as a safe meeting place is unclear, but important haven for the members of the
man who always wears a red vest. it is safe to say that the street-gangs of society in the City. They have a large
Paris were already holding meetings complex of rooms and tunnels in the
at the house at the start of the 1720s. upper levels, which stretch across the
Hubs and important places A petty thief or robber-murderer of whole neighbourhood. Many compare
somewhat greater education named the the place to a nest of rats. Here, they
Le Pant place “Le Pantheon”, which was soon hold parties, arrange fights, and
Faubourg Saint-Antoine in Paris is shortened into Le Pant, and rumours conduct strategic meetings. Sometimes
the unofficial gathering place for the of the sanctuary spread like wildfire they invite the poor and the peasants to
criminal underworld of the city. Here throughout the criminal classes of Paris. their parties, but most of the time only
they gather in order to hold council, By the middle of the 18th century, the members are welcome here.

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 Worldly Societies

 The Order of Freemasons 

The Freemasons, Masonic Order
~ Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood ~

The history of the Freemasons, like the esoteric knowledge that hid behind In 1717 the first grand lodge was
those of many other societies, is covered the architecture and geometrics they founded in England and the size and
in secrecy and mystery, and stretches taught. Symbols and occult patterns power of the Freemasons increased
far back in time. Scholars claim that the were studied, and it is said that dramatically when lodges were founded
first Freemason was Adam who learned Solomon is the father of the Kabbalah. in most European countries. However,
the secrets of life through the tree of The Masons thrived during the time Pope Clemens XII denounced the order
knowledge and that his fig leaf was of Solomon and they lived on in the 21 years later (1738) as it was natural
the first apron that would later be the shadows of Jerusalem influencing the since the Catholic Church is the first
traditional uniform of the Freemasons. rulers even after his reign. enemy for Freemasons, and no Catholic
This knowledge spread to his children, During the Middle Ages, the situation can become part of the Freemasonry
forgotten and mysterious architects, changed for the Masons. When the without risking an excommunication. It
whose names have been lost or been crusaders arrived and the Christians took wasn’t until 1745 that the Freemasons
kept well hidden in the haze of history. over Jerusalem, many masons converted removed the requirement that all
Even though they have lived in the to Christianity and settled in Europe. members had to be men, when Elizabeth 177
shadows, their works have always been They were hired as the architects and Aldworth was initiated in Lodge
on display for they built the pyramids stonemasons for cathedrals, and took Number 150, belonging to the Grand
and other works of wonder. to calling themselves Freemasons. Lodge of Ireland.
Already in the days of king Saul a Unlike many serfs and other peasants,
group of descendants of Noah banded the Freemasons could move from town
together and called themselves “the to town to start new building projects. Organization and influence
Sin-Free Masons”. They evolved not During this time period the Freemasons The Order of Freemasons is without
only as masons but also as advisors mixed with the Comacinians and a doubt the largest secret society in
to the king and guardians of the their Roman secrets. The Order of the world. Despite this fact there are
treasures and hidden knowledge of the Knights Templar also had some very few who have any insight into its
the land. During the many wars that connections with the Freemasons and organization and even fewer who truly
Saul waged, and because he wanted many Freemasons went to Europe with understand the goals and activities of
to liberate himself from the influence the returning crusaders. the order. In the year 1750 there are
the Masons had exerted, the Masons During the 17th century, the Order around 30,000 Freemasons around the
allied themselves with the Hittites. of Freemasons changed from being world, and the organization is growing
During the time of king David they an operational organization to being a rapidly.
kept to the shadows but managed to speculative organization. This meant Every Freemason belongs to a
influence David’s wife Batsheba so that they started to initiate people who lodge, usually the lodge that they were
that their son Solomon was born. were not trained masons. Instead of initiated into, which is called their
During the reign of King Solomon, concentrating their mysticism entirely “Mother Lodge.” There are a number of
the Masons flourished and in 960 BC on the principles of building, they lodges in every country and every lodge
they built the Temple of Solomon, the started to develop in a philosophical way. is subordinate to a national “Grand
first temple of Jerusalem, in which The first person to be initiated in this Lodge.” A lodge can be made up of only
the Ark of the Covenant was kept. manner was the Scottish general Robert a handful of initiated in a small village
King Solomon was initiated into the Moray in 1641, a man who, twelve years to several hundred in a city.
mysteries of the Masons during his later, also became the president of the A Worshipful Master leads every
upbringing, becoming interested in Royal Society. lodge and is assisted by the Senior

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Warden and the Junior Warden. Except apron is the traditional clothing that others to determine what is good and
for these three, there are many local shows the belonging of the Freemason what is bad for the rest of society.
variations of administrative offices that during meetings and rituals. Beside Th outer shell, however, isn’t flawless
are appointed by the Worshipful Master. the apron there are a number of or innocent in their actions either, since
The Junior Warden organizes all the symbolic tools: the club, the cutter, they are indoctrinated into a fanatical
initiated in the lodge and makes sure that the compass, the 24-inch ruler, the belief in martyrdom. They often use
they are notified of meetings and other angle hook, the spirit level, the plumb, questionable methods to achieve their
things. The Junior Warden belongs to and the trowel. The club represents goal of improving society. Fire is fought
the second or third degree. The Senior strength, the cutter the benefits of with fire, and some need to be sacrificed
Warden (third degree) deals with education, the compass the quest for in the struggle for the greater good.
the lodge treasury and the economic insight, the ruler the 24 hours of a This also means that the Freemasons
management of the lodge as well as day, the angle hook is a symbol for are draconic within the order, while
the correspondence between the lodge morality, the spirit level equality, the they advocate a strong morality to
and the Grand Lodge. The Worshipful plumb represents righteousness, and those outside. Those that don’t follow
Master (fourth degree) leads rituals the trowel brotherly love. the guidelines of the order or ignore
and meetings and the wardens always What most Freemasons don’t realize the restrictions of their degree will be
need to have their approval before they is that the order is divided into two parts: severely punished.
do something of importance. In a lodge the outer shell and the inner core. The The Freemasons’ greatest political
there is usually only one member of the outer shell is made up of Freemasons undertakings are: to prohibit slavery
fourth degree but in the Grand Lodges belonging to the 1-3rd degrees, called and the export of native people
it is considerably more common to find the “exoteric” masons, while the inner from colonies; to establish complete
Freemasons of Master degree since the core is made up of Freemasons of the censorship of the press and print; to
Worshipfull Master of a Grand Lodge 4-5th degrees, called the “esoteric” stop all kinds of extra-marital sin; and
is a Grand Master. The Grand Lodge masons. The outer shell deals with the to improve the situation of those groups
sends out rules of conduct, common order’s public operations and advocates in society who have a worse economic
information, and missions of greater tolerance, morality, and righteousness. and juridical standing (typically lower
178 importance. All lodges pay 20% of their The inner core, however, has gained class people and women). What are
income to the Grand Lodge. such great insight into the order that the real political aims of the Inner
Within the Order of Freemasons they instead, through the Light, seek Core’s Freemasons is most difficult to
there is a high tolerance and freedom power and divinity. The outer shell is establish since their views are kept just
of religion, where the only common completely oblivious to the insights and for themselves, but certainly their own
requirement is that one worships a activities of the inner core. projects are carefully hidden among the
higher being, which in many cases is The Freemasons have no true activities of exoteric Freemasons.
seen as interchangeable with a creative metaphysical theory that is unique
principle. This being has been given to their own organization. They are Comte de Saint-Germain
names such as Grand Geometer, Grand however influenced by the Pythagoreans, Saint-Germain is a charismatic visionary
Architect of the Universe (G.A.O.T.U.), Gnosticians, Neo-Platonists, and early who, despite his lack of sensitivity and
and the Light. Every lodge chooses Rationalists. Every Freemason seeks humility, captures the interest of others
their own version of the organization’s to improve their community and show with his stories and well-presented
holy book, which is called the Volume of tolerance for others’ opinions, while arguments. He moves gracefully and
the Sacred Law. Usually the book is an at the same time creating a balance with elegance, but lives an ascetic life
unmodified version of the Bible but in in this by establishing an acceptable away from any temptations of the flesh.
other lodges it can be other books such morality. The tolerance and respect The Count can impress with song and
as the Quran or Talmud, or even special is demonstrated with courtesy, violin, as well as with composition
modified versions of these sacred texts. understanding, and generosity. of music and poetry, and through his
The Volume of the Sacred Law is the The world view of the inner core considerable knowledge of medicine
scripture that the lodges of Freemasons and the outer shell diverge somewhat, and chemistry. Despite being a Grand
use as foundation for their traditions however, since the inner core, which is Master, he doesn’t lead a lodge or Grand
and rituals. Despite the organization’s governed by a superior occult insight, Lodge. He is an elusive and mysterious
tolerance toward religion, they use has lost its tolerance and regards man that always seems to know more
this volume to determine a clear moral themselves as individuals that are than others, and always something that
viewpoint. superior to the common man. This is of interest.
The symbols of the order derive means that the masters of the order It is unknown when he was initiated
from their origins as masons. The consider themselves better suited than into the order but he is a member of the

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Grand Lodge of London between 1743- who presume too much or take what Initiation ritual
1745, and then moves to a lodge in they want without asking. Well dressed, with a blindfold, a noose
Edinburgh in 1745 before he is arrested around the neck, and only one shoe
for spying. He disappears the same John Theophilus Desaguliers on, the candidate is brought to a secret
year only to appear again in Versailles John Desaguliers was born in France in place. By using a secret knock, the door
in 1758 where he participates in the 1683 and grew up as a Huguenot. When to the ritual place is opened where the
Grand Lodge of France (Grand Orient the edict of Nantes was dissolved he fled candidate, still with the blindfold on,
de France). He then travels all across with his family to England, where he must walk through a dark room. An
Europe and the Russian Empire in later became a naturalist philosopher initiated will place the point of a rapier
order to search out the knowledge that and member of Royal Society. In 1741 against the candidate’s chest and if the
has been spread out across the world. he is awarded for having discovered the candidate refuses to go further they are
He takes many names and identities: in qualities of electricity. He also improves thrown out, uninitiated. If the candidate
Belgium he calls himself Surmont, in the design of Thomas Savery’ steam continues to walk forward they will
Bavaria he goes by the name of Freiherr engine. He is Grand Master of the take one point of damage but will then
Reinhard Gemmingen, in Gutterberg, Grand Lodge of England between 1725 be brought to the next room, at which
the Count of Tsarogy, in the Holy and 1741. time they will lose their blindfold. They
Roman Empire he takes the name Count Desaguliers is a very superficial are brought to the ritual carpet where
Welldone, and in some places he travels person who prefers things that are they will lay down in order to “die and
under the name of Francis Rakoczy II, beautiful, taste good, and smell fine. He be reborn”, and thus become a part of
Prince of Transylvania. is very picky and criticizes everything the secret society. All initiated who
A person that meets Saint-Germain that he has not created. At meetings and have chosen to participate in the ritual
quickly realizes that he likes to find out rituals, he tends to point out the flaws gather around the carpet and they are
the secrets of others, and that he dislikes and failures of others while he acts uniformed and armed with a rapier each.
it when someone touches him. flawlessly (at least according to himself). The Worshipful Master sits by the short
side of the carpet at the candidate’s feet,
Elizabeth Aldworth and reads a few well chosen lines from
Born in 1693 in Cork, Ireland, as the Initiations and degrees the Volume of the Sacred Law while the 179
daughter of Lord Doneraile. In 1713 symbols of the society, the angle hook
she marries Richard Aldworth. She has First grade – Novice (Entered and compass, are displayed. Thereafter
always been interested in politics even apprentice) all the initiated lower their rapiers
if her opinions were seldom given any towards the candidate and then raise
notice before. After having spied on Requirements them again (the initiated that know that
Freemason meetings of the first and To enter the Order of the Freemasons a the candidate is a spy can kill them at
second degree, she was caught but by person needs to meet eight requirements. this point, without giving the candidate
using her impressive skills of diplomacy, The person is required to enter the a chance to defend themselves). The
she managed to become the first society of their own free will, without candidate has now been reborn as an
woman to be accepted into the Order of force or the influence of any intoxicants, initiated of the order. The ritual is
Freemasons in 1745. threat, or higher powers, except completed with a banquet where the
Between 1750 and 1770 she is the for one’s own spiritual conviction. newly initiated receives the regalia
unofficial Worshipful Master of the The person needs to be a man (this of the first degree. After all this it is
150th lodge. The members of the lodge requirement is removed in 1745 when customary to try to outdrink the newly
are very loyal to her and she has built a Elizabeth Aldworth is initiated). The initiated.
great network of communications over person is required to believe in a higher
most of southern Ireland. There are power. The person needs to be at least Initiation period
few things that escape her knowledge, 18 years old. The person needs to be
especially regarding politics, which she healthy in body and spirit. The person ✦✦ 14 days (2 hours every day)
is usually trying to influence in one way needs to have good morals and a good
or the other. Her goals are to improve reputation (can’t have been convicted During the initiation period the novice
laws and customs regarding marriage for a crime or be disreputable). The is educated in ideology, knowledge
and inheritance, as well as improve person needs to be born free (can’t be theory, and ontology according to the
women’s access to education outside of born as a slave or as a part of the lower Volume of the Sacred Law. This is to
the cloisters. classes). The person needs to have the enlighten the novice in the order’s
Elizabeth is a firm leader who likes recommendation of at least one other views of tolerance, freedom, and
those who are patient and dislikes those initiated member. morality. The education is provided

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 by way of reading the Book of across the throat; a light pressure Initiation Period:
Constitutions and the Volume of the with the thumb on the joint of the
Sacred Law, with clear guidance. All freemasonic colleague’s index finger; ✦✦ 1 month (3 hours every day)
novices are also given a mentor who and the password “Boas”, which means
instructs them in philosophy, politics, “in strength”. Regalia
and religion. The Fellow Craft is given a new apron
Mission of excellent quality, embroidered with
Regalia During the whole time that a person the symbol of the Freemasons and the
The newly initiated is given a fine is initiated as a Novice they are given insignia of the lodge. The Fellow Craft
apron embroidered with white thread; missions by the lodge. The missions is also given a fine compass in steel, and
a hammer with a wooden shaft of can be long as well as short, difficult a 24-inch ruler in walnut.
walnut and a head of steel; a cutter or simple. They are always about
with wooden shaft of walnut and blade instructing on morality or tolerance, or Perks
of steel. about advocating censorship, freedom, During the initiation period of the Fellow
and creativity. Examples of missions Craft they are given more education
Perks could be to hand out pamphlets; burn and more thorough knowledge about
Since the organization is so widespread books; steal manuscripts; liberate slaves; the ideology of the order, ethics, and
and influential, the novice receives a commit perjury in court; or conduct similar topics. The Fellow Craft is also
few privileges in society such as: being raids against bathhouses or illegal pubs. given responsibility for initiates of the
better treated in court, given a discount first degree, which he gets to lead in
on quality goods, and having an easier Second degree – Apprentice the activities of the order. The Game
time getting invited to establishments (Fellow craft) Master decides who the initiated people
of the upper classes. are that the Fellow Craft gets to lead,
Requirements and what skills they have.
Drawbacks To become a Fellow Craft of the Order
The only drawback to being a member of the Freemasons one must meet Drawbacks
180 of the Freemasons is that there is a all the following requirements. The The Fellow Craft must still pay tax to
tax within the order, and that it is person must be of the first degree of the the lodge even if this tax is considerably
presumed that the novice will spend Freemasons; the person needs to have less then that of the novices. The
a lot of time at the lodge. A player gained enough knowledge of the order Fellow Craft is however given greater
character of this degree is required to and its goals; the person needs to be responsibility and is required to spend
pay two ducats every month to their educated enough in the ways of society; more time at the lodge in order to be
lodge, and to spend eight hours every the person needs to be intelligent available and offer advice and education
day at the lodge or on a mission for the enough. to novices. The Fellow Craft pays 1.5
Freemasons when called upon (after ducats every month, and must spend
the initiation ritual). Initiation Ritual at least six hours at the lodge or on
The candidate is brought blindfolded Freemasonic missions to supervise and
Secret to an abandoned house where they, educate novices.
The novice learns that the without food or water, are supposed
Freemasons existed as early as the to search the house for its secrets. Secret
reign of Solomon, nearly a thousand The house is completely dark and all The secret of the Fellow Crafts concerns
years before Jesus Christ, and that sources of light have been removed. the mythical past of the Freemasons.
it was they who built the Temple of Whether the candidate finds the They learn that it was the Freemasons
Jerusalem. They also learn that the secret or not, the ritual still continues that built the pyramids of Egypt and
Superior Being that everyone worships for 24 hours. The purpose of the ritual that their legacy stretches back to the
is called G.A.O.T.U. (Great Architect is that the candidate should search for first man, Adam, who through the
of the Universe). By following the insight for a whole day, whatever the tree of knowledge was given mystical
Volume of the Sacred Law, one is able result might be. If the candidate tries knowledge that wasn’t meant for the
to create a better and enlightened to leave the house they will be forced common man. This insight has made the
society. Finally, the novice learns the to stay by supervising Freemasons, Freemasons the guardians of the good
secret sign of the Freemasons: a short if they try to eat or drink, the same society, and martyrs in the struggle
step back with the left foot that makes masons will stop them, and if they to preserve it. Just as Adam sinned by
the right heel touch the arch of the try to sleep the Freemasons will wake gaining this knowledge, so, too, the
left foot; a hand that is quickly drawn them. Freemasons sin in order to make up for

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 the insight that they have. In this way only way to fail the initiation is to overman (or übermensch). Through the
the common man can live in blissful commit suicide in the cellar or reveal creative process, one takes on part of the
ignorance in the good society that the oneself to be a spy during the torture. G.A.O.T.U’s power, and become a part
Freemasons shape. of the Light.
Initiation Period
Mission Mission
Initiated of the second degree are ✦✦ 3 months (4 hours every day) The Equal participates in the lodge
basically given the same missions as to the degree that it is their mission
the first degree, but with the difference Regalia to make sure that the lodge remains
that the Fellow Crafts are given the The Equal is given a silver-ornamented secret and that all members of the
responsibility to lead the novices on rapier of excellent quality. They are also lodge keep a low profile. Those that
missions. In addition to the missions that given an angle hook in walnut and a can expose the lodge or the Order of
were given during the first degree, they spirit level in the same material. the Freemasons need to be silenced,
are expected to educate the novices in quelled, or neutralized. The Equal
philosophy, religion, politics, and similar Perks also needs to watch the press so that
topics that provide enlightenment During the Equal’s initiation period it doesn’t expose the order or publish
regarding the behaviour, function, and they are educated to reach complete anything contrary to the values of the
composition of mankind. knowledge of ideology, ethics, and order.
similar matters. The Equal is given
The third degree – Equal (Fellow responsibility over initiated of both the The fourth degree – Master or
craft 2°) second and the first degrees that they Master mason
will lead in the activities of the order.
Requirements If the Equal has performed well in Requirements
To become an Equal of the Order of their duties they may even be offered To become a Master of the Order of
Freemasons one must meet all the the office of Junior or Senior Warden Freemasons one must meet all the
following requirements: the person if these positions are unoccupied at the following requirements: the person
must be of the second degree of the moment. The Game Master decides must be of the third degree of the 181
Freemasons; the person needs to have who the initiated people are that the Freemasons; the person needs to have
enough knowledge; the person needs Fellow Craft gets to lead and what skills enough knowledge; the person needs
to be educated enough in the ways they have. to be educated enough in the ways
of society; the person needs to be of society; the person needs to be
intelligent enough. Drawbacks intelligent enough.
The Equal must still pay tax to the
Initiation Ritual lodge even if this tax is considerably Initiation Ritual
The candidate is drugged with opium lower than that of both the lower The candidate dresses up and is invited
or some other intoxicant and is degrees. They are naturally given even to the Grand Lodge where many other
then taken away by masked people. more responsibilities, however and are Masters and Grand Masters are. The
The candidate is bound and led to a expected to spend even more time in the candidate is required to wear their apron
dark cellar where they are exposed lodge to advise and educate the initiated and their rapier. Once in the Grand
to psychological torture and water of lower degrees. They must pay 1 ducat Lodge, the candidate is offered a goblet
torture in order to reveal their secrets. every month to the lodge and spend at of wine and after the refreshment they
The candidate is left alone from time least 4 hours every day at the lodge or are challenged to a duel. The candidate
to time in the dark cellar and there on missions to supervise and educate chooses whether the duel will be fought
is a noose hanging from the ceiling. novices and Fellow Crafts. with rapier, pistol, or words. The duel is
The torture is always performed by always to first blood and almost always
initiated of a higher degree. After Secret the duel is just a formality where the
a maximum time of 24 hours the By shaping society, humanity duellists aren’t actually attempting to
candidate is released and led to a progresses and gains insight into not hurt one another (although it sometimes
hall where they are given their new only the workings of the material world acts as a way for the order to get rid of
regalia. Initiated of lower degrees but also of the spiritual world. The unwanted candidates). After the duel,
walk in procession into the hall and material creativity enhances the soul, the Worshipful Master of the Grand
bow to the candidate. The torture that and through such development and Lodge dubs the candidate a Knight and
the candidate is put through causes a insight the individual is able to elevate Master of the Lodge. Last but not least,
total of three points of damage. The themselves over others and become an the ritual ends with a splendid banquet.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Initiation Period: one who stands responsible before the to a meeting from the core of the
Grand Lodge, which will certainly Grand Lodge to the candidate. The
✦✦ 6 months (6 hours every day) mean the Master’s death. The Master candidate is seated on the short side
must therefore spend a lot of their time of a long table and everyone else is
Regalia at the lodge in order to control and be seated on the long sides. On the other
The Master is given a new apron watchful of the members of their lodge. side of the table, opposite to the
embroidered with silver thread on The Master must spend 6 hours a day candidate, the Worshipful Master is
which the symbols of their degree, in their lodge or on missions, to advise, seated, who then orders all the lights
lodge, mother lodge, and Grand Lodge lead, and educate the lower degrees. to be extinguished. Then, in the
are represented. They are also given a They must also be on constant watch darkness, an aggressive interrogation
silvered plumb and a silver trowel. Last for infiltrators or spies. is started and if it turns out that the
but not least, they are given a golden, candidate accepts the Light that is
star-shaped badge of office to display on Secret the new day, a mass is started that
their coat. Man is a being full of potential to evolve. summons Lucifer. Before the golden
Through insight, the individual is not haired figure that illuminates the
Perks just able to become an overman but also hall, the candidate will then pledge
A Master has been initiated into the to reach a higher kind of knowledge, his soul to Lucifer and thereafter be
esoteric core of the society and given a higher ability, a level of knowledge given a mission. The mission could be
insight into the spiritual endeavours of at which the individual becomes a anything but one should remember
the order. The Master has permission higher power, a creative principle. Such that Lucifer will return once it is
to open their very own lodge, and knowledge and insight comes with a completed and if the Grand Master
can collect local Freemason tax, greater responsibility that others aren’t then kisses him on the rear the devil-
but only with the permission of the ready to understand. The symbol of this pact will be sealed.
Grand Lodge. The Grand Lodge also knowledge is the light that comes from
demands 20% of the local Freemason darkness, the aurora: Fosforos. Initiation Period
tax from the lodge. If the Master
182 creates a lodge, they are granted the Mission ✦✦ 1 year (8 hours every day)
office of Worshipful Master in that Their mission is to expand and increase
lodge. They can initiate more members the power of the Freemasons by Regalia
to their lodge but aren’t allowed to creating a new lodge and initiating more The Grand Master is given an excellent
lure already initiated to join their members into the order. Through this apron of exotic materials, embroidered
lodge. Other initiated are however free the Master gives the order more power with golden thread. Along with this
to switch between lodges any time and greater influence over society. The they are also given a golden star-shaped
they want. When a lodge is founded, Master is also supposed to seek the badge of office to display on their coat
it isn’t required to have any other Light on their own, in order to achieve and a golden coloured silk cloak with a
members than the Master themselves. the greatest control and ability possible. hood.
In addition to all this the Master can
take a percentage of the income of The Fifth degree – Grandmaster Perks
the lodge. The Master has control of Mason A Grand Master is a part of the
all the Freemasons of their lodge, but innermost core of the Order of
the Game Master decides how many Requirements Freemasons. They usually belong to
these are and what their skills are. To become Grandmaster Mason of the the Grand Lodge and can earn their
The Master receives five marks every Order of Freemasons one must meet income through it. Besides this they
month per member of their lodge. all the following requirements: the are given access to the extensive
person must be of the fourth degree library of the Grand Lodge where
Drawbacks of the Freemasons; the person needs much esoteric knowledge can be
The Master who has their own lodge to have enough knowledge; the person found. By becoming a Grand Master,
is required to pay 20% of that lodge’s needs to be educated enough in the one usually makes a Pactum Cum
income to the Grand Lodge. The Master ways of society; the person needs to be Diabolo, a devil pact with Lucifer. The
is also responsible for the activities of intelligent enough. Grand Master receives an income of
the Freemasons near their lodge, which 50 ducats every month, is given direct
could cover a small town or a whole Initiation Ritual control over most Freemasons along
city. If the order were to be infiltrated The initiation ritual for Grand with the additional benefits of the pact
through the lodge, the Master is the Masters begins with an invitation with Lucifer.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Drawbacks Mission Fellow craft and equal
The Grand Master must attend the All Grand Masters have their own L´homme machine by Julien Offray de
Grand Lodge in order to educate agenda and act both in solitude and La Mettrie (1747); An Essay on Man
Masters. A Grand Master most often is together to create the rules that the by Alexander Pope (1733); Treatise of
not a Worshipful Master of a lodge and order follows. Human Nature by David Hume (1738);
thus no longer has any direct control Utopia by Thomas More (1516); Candide,
over other Freemasons, even if their ou l’Optimisme by Voltaire (1759).
word carries great weight within the Library
order. The Grand Masters are also forced The library of the Freemasons Master
to live with the negative consequences of is extensive and naturally varied Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum
the pact with Lucifer. The Grand Master depending on which lodge one belongs by Elias Ashmole (1652); Musaeum
thus needs to spend two hours at the to, but here below are some examples Tradescantianum by John Tradescant
Grand Lodge every day to oversee and of books that the initiated can be given (1656); The Book of the Dead.
train Masters, communicate with the access to depending on their current
Masters of the order to send its members degree. Grand Master
on missions, and deal with the drawbacks De confessionibus maleficorum et sagarum
of the pact with Lucifer. Novice by Peter Binsfield (1589).
The Volume of the Sacred Law (either the
Secret Bible, Talmud, the Quran or some other
The Light and the Aurora: Fosforos is in similar book); Book of Constitutions by
fact Lucifer, the first angel. James Anderson (1723).

183

You cannot map the dark frontier, its laws are not
the same as ours, it is floating, and disappears as
soon as you enter it. But you see, that’s also the most
interesting part. When you travel there, mostly in
your mind, you will see through secrets and mysteries
too twisted to understand if measures against what
you have experienced before.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Worldly Societies

 Ordre de le Sang Bleu 

Sangreal, Sionis Prioratus
~ Benei ha-elohim ~

At the beginning of time gods, angels, the great Nephilim survived, for they Despite the constant infighting, the
and demons walked the earth and mixed were also children of the sea and could Merovingian kings managed to stay in
with mankind. Especially, the daughters survive for long periods of time under power for almost 250 years by dividing
of man attracted the divine creatures water. the power between different rulers
and the result of these love affairs was By the 5th century AD, the divine who, in exchange for land, promised to
the divine bloodline that the Ordre de family had settled in the northern contribute soldiers for the never ending
le Sang Bleu seeks to protect and keep parts of today’s France and were called wars. This was the system of laws and
secret. It is the family known as the Merovingians after the mysterious regulations that replaced the collapsed
Merovingians in France, and later as Merovech, who was believed to be the Roman administration, and which laid
the House of Habsburg, which takes founder of their line and, according to the foundation for Feudalism.
hold of the power in Europe. legend, was fathered by a sea-monster. Eventually the realm started to
The knowledge of exactly when The Merovingians were famous collapse due to infighting between rival
the divine bloodline was founded has warriors, renowned for their long hair local rulers, and in 751 the Merovingian
184 been lost to time. Maybe it was when and for their ferocity on the battlefield dynasty was broken. Childeric III, the
mankind played with gods, satyrs, and in their constant wars against the fourteenth and last Merovingian king,
dryads in the shady meadows in Arcadia Visigoths, Alemanni, and other rival was usurped, forced to cut his long
of old. Maybe it was in the time of Noah, Germanic tribes. Their realm grew hair into a tonsure, and was placed in a
before the flood, when the daughters of rapidly as they subdued more and more cloister where he died four years later.
man bore the children of the sons of God of their neighbours, and in 486 AD In their place, the Carolingian dynasty
as it is written in the book of Genesis. they managed to conquer all of Gallia was installed on the throne and, in the
For the members of the order, there is north of the Loire. To appease the year 800, Charlemagne was crowned
no doubt, they are the descendants of Ys former Roman citizens, the king of the the first Holy Roman emperor.
and they carry the divine blood. They Merovingians, Clovis I, was baptized Officially the Merovingian family line
are not humans, they are demigods. after he had defeated the Visigoths in ended but in reality the remnants of the
According to legend, Ys was the the battle of Vouillé, and in 507 Clovis bloodline survived in the Carolingian
divine city that was devoured by the was named consul by the grateful Empire. The Merovingians had
sea. Its kings and descendants were Byzantine Emperor Anastasius. The practised polygamy, and countless noble
children of the great oceans. Ys was Frankish Empire was at this time the families could now claim descent from
the most beautiful city which man had greatest power in Western Europe, the old royal family, which was still seen
built in the antediluvian era. When a and consisted of the greater parts of as divine. It spoke volumes that it wasn’t
group of angels first went to earth, present-day France, Belgium, and enough for Charlemagne to posses the
this is the place which they visited Germany. It was also in this time that lance of Longinus, which had killed
first. It wasn’t long before these angels strong connections between the Crown Christ, and several thorns from the
produced children with man and thus and the Church were made, which later Crown of Thorns, but he also felt the
the Nephilim were born. The Nephilim would result in the Holy Roman Empire. need to take a Merovingian princess as
were half-man, half-angel. They weren’t After the death of Clovis, his realm was one of his wives in order to legitimize
just the creation of God, they were his split by his four sons after Germanic his rule.
direct offspring. When God saw this custom, which in turn lead to centuries The most pure blooded of the related
he was angered and tried to drown the of war between the four rival parts of families fled after the shift in power,
city. Some even claim that this was the the realm, which were only united for and eventually settled in present-day
true reason behind the great flood. But short periods of time under one crown. Switzerland. The divine descendants

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 were furious over the usurpation of Bourbons, claims the throne of Spain. In 1737, the order obtains documents
their rightful rule, and swore on all that The Holy Roman emperor, Charles that prove that the Medici family
was holy that they would reclaim their VI, soon realizes that the Austrian have supported the Ottoman Empire
power over Europe. This oath was the branch is also threatened, as he lacks through finance and information during
seed of what would later become the male heirs. He only has two daughters, their war with Austria (1683-1699), and
Ordre de le Sang Bleu. Maria Theresa and Maria Anna, and therefore were indirectly responsible
In the year 1020, they held the in 1713 thus proclaims the Pragmatic for the occupation of Vienna in 1683.
family castle of Habichtsburg (the Sanction, in which the other European Furious over this betrayal from a family
Hawk Castle), the name of which was royal houses agree to accept a female which they had made several marriage
later Germanised to Habsburg, and the line of succession in Austria so that the alliances with, the Habsburgs want
family started their long climb back to Habsburgs will be able continue their blood but are robbed of their vengeance
power. rule through Maria Theresia. When when the last male descendant of the
The family managed to go from the emperor dies in 1740 however, the Medici family dies the very same year.
counts to kings in the Holy Roman promise is forgotten and the enemies of Instead, the Habsburgs and the Ordre de
Empire within a few generations, the Habsburgs attack to claim the throne, le Sang Bleu have to be content with a
but their real triumph came in 1438 which starts the War of the Austrian more symbolic revenge by incorporating
when Albert II became the king of Succession (1740-1748). Charles Albert Florence into the Habsburg Empire,
Germany, which in practice made him of Bavaria uses the opportunity to achieved by installing Franz Stefan as
Holy Roman Emperor, and started proclaim himself Holy Roman emperor grand duke of Toscana, an office that
their dynasty on this throne: the very in 1742, but he dies only three years had been held by the Medici family since
institution that had been founded by the later. In 1745 Maria Theresa, queen of the 15th century.
hated Carolingians after their coup. The Hungary and Bohemia, arch-duchess of The Ordre de le Sang Bleu is obsessed
divine descendants through the House Austria, grand princess of Transylvania, with the idea of the divine bloodline, and
of Habsburg held on to the throne, and, and duchess of Parma, Piacenza and acts to stop it from being thinned out, but
with some exceptions during the years Guastalla, manages to get her husband rather strengthened through carefully
1740-1745, the Habsburgs rule as Holy Franz Stefan elected as Holy Roman planned marriages between different
Roman Emperors, the highest worldly emperor. families of the nobility. Marriages 185
title, from 1438 all the way to 1806 As the worldly power of the between different noble and royal
when Napoleon abolishes the Empire. Habsburgs grows, so too does the Ordre families have served political purposes
Throughout the centuries, the family de le Sang Bleu. The order is founded for in all times, but what the lower classes
grows ever more powerful despite the the first time in Navarra in northern and most of the nobility don’t realize
wars against the rival royal houses Spain during the 11th century as an is that many of the marriage alliances
in Europe and the constant threat order of crusaders in the struggle against throughout the centuries have actually
from the Ottoman Empire in the east. the Moorish occupation of the Iberian been part of a scheme to strengthen
When Charles V inherits the throne in peninsula. The expression “Blue-blood” the divine blood. Unfortunately, this
1519, the Habsburgs’ domains include is originally used as a derogatory term inbreeding has led to some unwanted
the Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia, for their enemies, since their veins shone physical traits that are now passed on in
Hungary, the Spanish Kingdom, through their bright skin. The order is the family, something that is especially
Netherlands, and the Spanish domains initially greatly influenced by the Order prominent in the Habsburg family
in the New World. The Habsburgs at of the Knights Templar and other where marriages between first and
this time rule an empire where the sun crusaders, but later develops their own second cousins have been the rule rather
never sets. identity, built around blood mystery than the exception. A usual topic of
Because of the Reformation, the and war romance. When the order discussion is the “Habsburg lip” or the
30-years war, and the diminishing spreads to the Holy Roman Empire, the “Habsburg jaw” since everyone in the
power of the emperors office however, Habsburgs quickly take control of it and family has such a prominent under-bite.
the Habsburgs’ grip over Europe starts make themselves the grand masters of Charles II of Spain had such a deformed
to slowly slip from their hands. A real the lodges in the empire. The constant lower jaw that he couldn’t chew food or
setback happens in 1700, when Charles intrigues and wars between different close his mouth and always drooled. In
II dies without an heir to the throne, royal houses and noble families however other noble families, malformations are
and the Spanish-Habsburg branch is makes the order very divided and at this also usual, such as lack of all hair or nails,
extinguished, which also starts the War point the order should rather be seen as differently coloured eyes, abnormally
of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714). a number of different societies with a short or long extremities, extra nipples
The consequence of all of this is that common principle of their divine legacy or breasts, and other deformities that
Philip V of the French royal family, the rather then a united order. are hidden under make-up, wigs, and

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 corsets most of the time. The Ordre Exactly how the lodges are organized English and Scottish lodges as well as
de le Sang Bleue doesn’t see these as varies greatly from country to country. in Languedoc, where the legacy of the
malformations however, but rather Most lodges outside the Holy Roman crusaders is strongest. Some members
as proof of their direct connection to Empire lack a grand lodge, and are try to take on the appearance of the
the Nephilim. They believe that these loosely organized networks without Merovingians of old, and let their hair
malformations are just heirlooms of unity, while the lodges within the grow into a long mane that they hide
the true and original appearance of the empire are better organized and under a powdered wig and it is only
Nephilim of old. completely controlled by the Habsburgs let out when the lodge is gathered. It
In the Ordre de le Sang Bleu, the since only members of their family and should be mentioned, however, that
legacy of the war-like Merovingians closely related families are allowed symbols aren’t as important to the
and the crusaders is cherished, and skill entry into the fifth degree of initiation. Ordre de le Sang Bleu as they are to other
with rapier, military tactics, and other Even though the number of members is societies since most lodges only have a
arts of war are highly valued. Although very small in total, and only consists of few members, of which all are from the
there are cowardly counts in the lower around 100 members in all of Europe, nobility and thus have close contact
ranks that prefer to hide at their estates many more are unknowingly involved even outside the meetings of the lodge.
in the countryside, it is required to have in the operations of the order since the Many of the most powerful people of
gained glory on the battlefield in order members have such prominent positions Europe during the 18th century belong
to advance in the ranks of the order. of power and can command over to the Ordre de le Sang Bleu. Among
hundreds of thousands of men. These the highest ranking members of the
range all the way from valets and staff at order one naturally finds members of
Organization and influence castles to the thousands of soldiers that the Habsburg dynasty and the Holy
The members of the Ordre de le Sang die on the battlefields in wars started by Roman emperors: Charles VI (1685-
Bleu are drawn exclusively from the finer members of the order. 1740), Franz I (1708)-1765) and Joseph
noble houses and only members of royal Most of the members are Catholics, II (1741-1790). Furthermore, kings of
houses are given entry to the higher ranks even though Protestants are accepted Great Britain of the house of Hannover
of the order. The order has throughout or are even the majority in some are members of the order: George I
186 the centuries started several wars, and countries like England and certain (1660-1727), George II (1683-1760)
redrawn the map of Europe many times. parts of the Holy Roman Empire. Jews and George III (1738-1820). Among the
Because its members are kings, royal and Muslims aren’t found in the order other members of the order one can find
heirs, and archdukes however, the order for obvious reasons. The religion in William Saint Clair of Roslin (1700-
as a whole is extremely divided with one itself isn’t as important as the belief 1778) and Pontus Fredrik De la Gardie
strong faction ruled by the Habsburgs that the nobility is chosen by a divine (1726-1791), among others.
and a number of smaller factions that power to rule over the masses, and that
constantly intrigue and fight amongst the divine blood flows in their veins. Prince Charles Alexander of
each other. Because of the fragmentation of the Lorraine (1712-1780)
Many of the lodges operate more or order, it happens that certain lodges Prince Charles Alexander is born in
less like exclusive gentlemen’s clubs, worship Apollo and other ancient gods, 1712 as the youngest son of Leopold,
where nobility with ancestry from the or even Baphomet and different kinds the Duke of Lorraine, and grandson
12th century can meet and socialize of demons, in the belief that the divine of Charles V, the famous general that
without being bothered by the vulgar blood descends from them. Likewise, , together with the Polish king Jan
new-nobles and gentry, who have their holy scriptures vary greatly Sobieski, freed Vienna and Hungary
bought their titles or have been handed between lodges, from Apocryphal bible from the Turks in 1683. The Vaudemont
them through expansions of royal texts to Egyptian scrolls written with family, which had been Dukes of
administrations during the last century. unreadable hieroglyphs, but generally Lorraine since the 16th century, had
Especially in France, the old warrior- the Ordre de le Sang Bleu isn’t very close relations with the Habsburgs,
nobility (noblesse d’épée) consider it focused on the study of scriptures. and the prince’s own grandmother was
important to separate themselves from The symbols of the order are collected Eleonora Maria Josefina of Austria, the
the upstarts of the office holder-nobility from heraldry and consist of everything daughter of Ferdinand III.
(noblesse de robe). For many, membership from the imperial double-headed eagle Charles Alexander receives a military
in the order can also be a way to get in of the Habsburgs to the rearing lion that education early in his life, and after his
the good graces of the king, archduke, or occur on the crests of countless noble older brother Stefan married Maria
count, and in such a manner to achieve a houses. Other symbols that are gathered Theresa of Austria, Charles became
sought-after post in the court or in the from the legends of the Holy Grail and an officer in the Austrian army. In the
government. King Arthur occur, especially within the campaigns against the Turks in 1737

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 and 1738, he distinguishes himself 1746 he is initiated as grand master of pure. This offspring from the incest
on the battlefield and when the first the Imperial Grand Lodge, an office he remains secret however, since they are
Silesian war breaks out, he is appointed holds until his death. malformed beasts that are required to
a colonel by his sister in law. At the be locked away. She wants to kill these
same time, he advances in rank within Maria Theresa of Austria (1717- sons, but is stopped by the rest of the
the Ordre de le Sang Bleu and is initiated 1780) order since they want to use the sons
into the fourth degree. The daughter of Charles VI and for breeding in the hope of creating a
In 1742 his forces battle with the Elisabeth Christina of Braunschweig- stronger, more hardened, Habsburg.
Prussians of Frederick the Great at Wolfenbüttle, she rules the Habsburg
the battle of Coutsitz and are barely Empire from 1740 to 1780, after having
defeated, but in the following year he achieved the highest rank of the Ordre de Hubs and important places
manages to defeat both French and le Sang Bleu and receiving the blessing Since all members of the Ordre de le
Bavarian troops. In January 1744, when of her subjects. Sang Bleu belong to the aristocracy, the
his troops are in winter-camps and are She rules her empire conservatively, order has access to a number of palaces,
waiting to cross the Rhine into France, with an iron fist, and does everything castles, and mansions all over Europe.
prince Charles is wed to Maria Anna in her power to stop the Habsburg In connection with these lie a number
of Austria, who is the younger sister of bloodline from thinning. of stud farms and menageries where
Maria Theresa, and the couple is made At the peace of Aachen in 1748 she the many breeding experiments of the
governors of the Austrian Netherlands. is forced to surrender Silesia to Prussia, order are performed. Depending on the
In connection with the ceremony, but manages to achieve her main goal of influence of the lodge and the wealth of
Charles also goes through the initiation keeping the Habsburg Empire together, its members, these vary from smaller
ritual for the fifth degree of the Ordre de not in small part due to the faithful mansions with a few smaller buildings
le Sang Bleu. support of the Hungarians. to gigantic castles with several hundred
In December 1744 he receives the In 1756 she turns the bitter enemies acres of land.
news that his beloved wife has died in France and Austria into allies and
childbirth after giving birth to a four- creates a coalition against Prussia. The Schloss Schönbrunn
legged monster too malformed to Seven Years War (1756-1763) which The castle of Schönbrunn in Vienna is 187
live more then a couple of moments. follows, does not bring the pay-off that the summer residence of the Habsburg
Devastated by this loss, he goes into she was hoping for, and Silesia remains family, but also perhaps the most
Silesia with his army, but the sorrow in Prussian hands. important hub of the most highly
clouds his judgement, and his forces She marries duke Franz Stefan of initiated members of the order. Initiates
are defeated both at Hohenfriedburg Lorraine in 1736, and fulfils her duty of the lower degrees are never invited
and at Soor by Frederick the Great. as a mother in the Habsburg family by here as members of the society, but
Furthermore, his forces in Roucoux giving birth to her sons Joseph II and possibly in other affairs. This is where
suffer a humiliating defeat at the hands Leopold II. She co-rules with her son the order keeps all the writings and
of marshal Saxe during the campaign of Joseph from 1765-1780, and gives birth objects that confirm their relation by
1746. to two more sons, secretly fathered blood with the divine beings. The castle
His attention at this time however by her own son Joseph, according to is a true beauty, widely talked about and
has moved entirely from the battlefield ancient traditions of the Ordre de le drawn by Johann Bernard Fischer von
to the Ordre de le Sang Bleu, and in Sang Bleu in order to keep the blood Erlach.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Worldly Societies

 The Dutch Rum and Sugar Trade Company 

Nederlandse Rum en
Suiker Handelmaatschappij

The ships of the slave trade are very treasury is all that counts, and no care historical items, especially from the
profitable to the merchant-companies or concern is given to the people who Mediterranean, which arrive among
that are able to finance their journeys are the victims of these unscrupulous the endless flow of cargo in English
and profit from the so-called triangular merchants. With a strong and firm and Dutch ports. Large stolen book
trade. Often the trade route starts in handshake, deals are made with anyone collections end up on the shelves of
Liverpool, Bristol, or Amsterdam with who wants to do business, whether they wealthy lords, sacred items in the
wares that are desired in West Africa are pirates, non-sanctioned trading basements of occultists or the treasuries
such as firearms, alcoholic beverages companies, or royal trading companies. of secret societies.
(usually rum), cotton, and beans. The In 1703 Reik meets the drunken, Around 1714, The Dutch Sugar and
wares often end up in Guinea where unsympathetic, and very skilled Rum Trade Company are behind a large
the merchants trade these goods for merchant Daan Bakker. The two of part of the opium trade in Western
African men and women that have them found the Nederlandse Rum en Europe. The lion’s share of their goods
been kidnapped and are sold as slaves. Ssuiker Handelsmaatschappij, the Dutch are hijacked or bought from bribed
188 When this exchange is complete, wares Rum and Sugar Trade Company, and captains of the East India Company.
from Europe for slaves from Africa, the start to compete with Reik’s father right The East India Company doesn’t
merchant ships steer their course to away. Within a year the Dutch Rum let this pass idly by, and under chaotic
America. The conditions for the slaves and Sugar Trade Company has put circumstances, Daan Bakker is arrested
are extremely horrific and as many as The Dutch Small Trade Company into and condemned to death. Reik manages
one out of six die before the ships reach bankruptcy, and to the great delight of to save much of the money, goods, and
the West Indies, where all the great Reik, his father comes begging to him contacts that are the foundation of The
slave fairs are held. The merchants for aid. Instead, Reik sends his hired Dutch Rum and Sugar Trade Company.
buy or trade for molasses made from thugs to give his father a good beating. From this moment on, the company
sugar cane, and fill up their ships before They give him the message that he isn’t goes underground, and it is in this time
heading back to Europe. The molasses welcome there again. Six months later that the company starts its darkest and
is primarily used to make rum. Reik’s father is found murdered on the most secretive era.
The men, and sometimes women, docks. Reik doesn’t even care enough to From 1716 onwards, no goods are held
of these companies are in other words go to his funeral. sacred. Everything that the company
hardened, unscrupulous, and lacking In contrast with many other trade can profit from is fair game. While the
in conscience, and are people who sell companies, the Dutch Rum and Sugar shipments aren’t as large as they were
slaves, alcohol, and weapons for their Trade Company owns no ships or before, they are all the more valuable.
own profit. trading stations, but rather strikes deals They use considerable means to not
It is in this environment that Reik with captains and smugglers for stolen only bribe captains and dock workers,
van der Waal grows up at the end of the goods and illegal cargo or “waste”. For but also highly ranked administrators
17th century, when his father runs the example, they make a deal with several in different administrations. Not even
Dutch Small Trading-Company. captains of slave vessels that they are to the Church, which rapidly looses many
With beatings as his only nurture, report 20 dead slaves when only 10 had of its book collections and sacred items,
and the ability to swindle others out of died in truth, the remaining 10 slaves is safe.
their money as his only encouragement, are sold and profits are shared with the As they are used to the slave trade,
Reik struggles through his youth. At his captain. the Dutch Rum and Sugar Trade
father’s side he sees the darkest powers of In 1712 the company starts to Company now starts to trade in
trade play the devils fiddle. Silver in the trade on a grander scale in occult and kidnapped Europeans who are then

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 189

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 sold for profit. Fearful after their more valuable, and a number of rumours Even if the Dutch Rum and Sugar
experiences with the East India are spread about the Dutch Rum and Trade Company’s tentacles reach across
Company and the power which they Sugar Trade Company and Monsieur the globe, they perform most of their
had shown, the company no longer Terrible. trade in the western parts of Europe as
trades in opium and spices, but pretty This limited trade is fortified when well as the West Indies and Boston.
much everything else that is profitable the company manages to capture and
becomes a source of income for Reik sell a werewolf in 1748, and at this time a Mr. Hoogaboom – Monsieur
and his company. number of strange and mysterious goods Terrible (1721- undefined date)
After 1720, one no longer hears pass through the secret warehouses Mr Hoogaboom was born in a
of the Dutch Rum and Sugar Trade of the company. In 1751, they sell pleasure house in Lübeck, but escaped
Company since they officially cease a Babylonian mummy to a famous as a young boy to Amsterdam where he
to exist through a well planned occultist in France, for example, and in lived among thieves and sailors until he
bankruptcy, but unofficially this is still 1752 they sell the formula for phlogiston, meets Reik in 1732. The two of them
the name that Reik and his ruffians use which had been stolen from the Royal take a liking to each other, and when
when they are making shady deals. In Society, to a Swedish alchemist. In 1759 Reik dies Mr. Hoogaboom takes over
connection with now secretive nature they sell the names of the French spies the operation.
of his operations, Reik forms “the Rum that had infiltrated the court of Spain, He has a reputation for being cruel
Boys”, a group of sworn-together boys and in 1763 they sell a shipload of items and unpleasant, but he protects his
and men who act as Reik’s executioners connected to voodoo from the West closest crew with his own life if need
and debt collectors against anyone who Indies. The pinnacle of their operation be. Because of this he has managed to
fails to meet their part of a bargain. is believed to be in 1768 when the Dutch gather a small group of men who are
They often travel in pairs, usually Rum and Sugar Trade Company sells a willing to follow Mr. Hoogaboom and
heavily armed, and spread great terror. coffin containing a sleeping vampire. No carry out the most insane operations,
One of these people, Mr. Hoogaboom, one knows if this is true or not however, like when they steal a coffin containing
earns a nasty reputation. It is said that since only Monsieur Terrible is said to a vampire and sell it in 1768.
he loves to torture his victims with an have been present for the transaction,
190 iron hook, which he has nicknamed and the buyer is unknown. Old Nelly (1728-1758)
Monsieur Terrible. The name of Monsieur Terrible is Old Nelly isn’t as old as one would
Reik quickly gains a liking for Mr. mentioned until the very end of the think because of her name. She belongs
Hoogaboom, and when Reik dies of century but no one knows if it is still to Hoogabooms “Rum Boys”, and even
syphilis in 1744, the operation is taken the original Mr. Hoogaboom behind the though she is the only woman in the
over by Mr. Hoogaboom. name or a secret successor. company, there are few who would dare
The many wars and troubles in to say anything about this.
Europe at this time contribute to Nelly grew up in Oxford but fled to
filling the treasury of the Dutch Organization and influence Paris and eventually to Amsterdam.
Rum and Sugar Trade Company. The Dutch Rum and Sugar Trade She is a true vagabond who likes to
Trade in weapons and ammunition, Company operates from the dock- live on the road, which is also why she
as well as financing of rebellions and quarters in Amsterdam where they have has became the eyes and ears of Mr.
assassinations of trade magnates in several warehouses and storage rooms. Hoogaboom in many port towns in
turn contribute to the legend of the They also have contacts with a number Europe. Since she is a tough negotiator,
secret trading company. of captains, pirates, administrators, slave she is trusted with many of the most
When Mr. Hoogaboom takes over the hunters, smugglers, and other people important cargoes and goods.
leadership of the company, he chooses to across the globe that can help them to
go underground. One no longer speak find wanted goods. The company has
of him as Mr. Hoogaboom but rather as a smaller office and loading place in Hubs and important places
Monsieur Terrible, a name that invokes Liverpool, and a similar den in Boston.
fear in sailors from all over the world They try to keep as low a profile as The Shack-a-lock
and makes them look an extra time possible, and therefore avoid having The office of the Dutch Rum and Sugar
behind their back. This is a man one a permanent presence at the most Trade Company in Amsterdam is called
doesn’t want to do business with unless active trade hubs. They always make the Shack-a-lock. It lies squeezed into
one has to. sure to have representatives in these a dark alley among warehouses, opium
The shipments become fewer and places however, to listen for rumours dens, and illegal pubs. The only thing
fewer, as well as the number of clients, and negotiate with people of doubtful indicating that some kind of business
but the cargo keeps getting more and character. operation is going on here is the sign

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 on the door, which states “Open – from doubtlessly a dark and gloomy hideout, upper level where a business deal or two
dusk till dawn”. where many dreams are ruined and is made, this is primarily a place where
From the outside the office looks lives are forfeit. Sometimes the Dutch the company secretly hides goods for
like a small shack, but a long tunnel Rum and Sugar Trade Company hosts some time - that is wares that can’t be
stretches from the entrance to the inner here large parties for its members, and sold right away.
chambers. Behind sturdy doors a large it is said that these are the only times It is said that this is the favourite place
warehouse in direct proximity to the that one might hear a laugh or two in of Mr. Hoogaboom, since the building
water is hidden. the halls. was once used to hang up the dead
Here they not only keep valuable bodies of victims after executions. The
goods but also bring, through the Groutstreet warehouse hooks, on which the bodies were hung,
backdoor, some of the people whom they Groutstreet Warehouse is a small hidden are still present in the ceiling, serving as
want to “settle a score” with and who building near the Thames in London. a reminder of what could happen if one
are later found floating in the ocean. It is Although there is a simple office on the isn’t careful.

Peter Utterberg, weaponsmith for the Crown and former apprentice of

David Bars in Stockholm, stood before an ocean of blasphemies. Here
one could find black devil-bibles, reversed crosses with unholy symbols, 191
pistols, amulets, necklaces, and mystical paintings, all with some kind
of connection to the dark side. Occultist, devil-worshiper, and Kabbalist
were some of the titles by which Peter’s client was called. But he paid
well and, even though he had a frightening appearance and Peter felt
more than uneasy in his presence, he was always polite and forthcoming,
a true gentleman. Peter fingered nervously the little box of wood that
contained the pistols that he had made to order. For more than a year he
had worked on them, and they were probably his finest creations. He had
paid a hefty fee for the gold decorations on the pistols’ sides, but he was
certain that he would receive at least a hundred ducats each for them.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Academic Societies

 De Naturali Scientia 
~ Pratica Nuova ~

Since mankind was given a consciousness, whose purpose was to gain greater spread them through secret networks
they have tried to learn how the body understanding of the powers of medicine all over Europe. Among the most
functions. Endless experiments have independently from the Church. famous of these was the De Secreti Novi
been performed to study the fluids of Leonardo Fioravanti boldly threw (“about the new secret”). In this book
the body, its organs, and not least, the himself onto the ocean of resistance that there were descriptions of a number of
secret of life. For thousands of years the came partly from the Church and partly surgical procedures and antidotes, but
priests had the sole right to determine from his fellow scientists. In the secret also thorough formulas of alchemical
and decide over the body of man. This society however, he was seen as a hero. processes and medicines that were
meant that most of the workings of the In a number of texts and secret believed not only to be able to cure the
body was explained as the will and plan theses, members of the society revealed sick but also to bring the dead back to
of God. Although many throughout their discoveries. In secret they had life. The members of the society called
the centuries had tried to shatter this performed surgical procedures that themselves anatomists, and believed
monopoly on knowledge, and to face the were considered heretical, and learned that the secret of medicine was hidden
192 problem from an empirical point of view, to cure deadly and contagious diseases in the understanding of the anatomy
it was first with Leonardo Fioravanti through alchemical methods. The of the body. At secret gatherings,
(1517- after 1583) that scientists started society believed that something had audiences were invited to witness
to organize themselves. Leonardo gone horribly wrong, and that the their procedures and sessions. The
Fioravanti was a doctor in Bologna mind of mankind had been eclipsed and Church, which quickly infiltrated these
during the end of the 16th century needed to be reopened. Furthermore, gatherings, described them as heretic
and belonged to the group of men who they were horrified by the misery and carnivals and spectacles where people
challenged the holy power in search present conditions of Italy. What was spat on God. Girolamo Cardano was
of the truths of medicine. Fioravanti once the core of the former glorious imprisoned and condemned to death,
was accused of heresy many times, Roman empire had been fractured, and but the society survived. The spread
and during the middle of the 1570s, the pursuit of knowledge had stagnated. of the manuals had made more people
officers of the Provveditori alla Sanità They said that man had degenerated interested of the innermost mysteries
were sent to seize him and lock him and been corrupted, as Europe had of medicine, and soon the society
into a sanatorium. They said that he been thrown into darkness. Without had members in Paris, Madrid and
had gone too far in his explanations of real truths, the body of man would be Berlin. An organization was built and
bodily functions, and they were outside even further deformed and it became knowledge was transferred. During the
of the accepted terms and truths, which the mission of the society to uncover the first half of the 17th century the society
the Church preached. But Leonardo mysteries of medicine, no matter how grew in strength, and several new
Fioravanti was far from defeated. He dangerous they could be. manuals were disseminated. During
had studied at the Medical University in For almost a hundred years De the witch hunts, many members of
Bologna, a widely famous university in Naturali Scientia was a small society the society were accused and executed
this time, that was said to have amongst with only a handful of members, and for witchcraft however. In the middle
its faculty the greatest doctors in the at the death of Fioravanti, the number of the 17th century it was believed
world. After days spent in a cold and of members had been limited to nine. that the society had been completely
dark cell, he was released due to outside Girolamo Cardano took over De annihilated and that the Church had
pressure. In April 1553 Fioravanti Naturali Scientia and the responsibility confiscated De Naturali Scientia’s
went underground and founded the for its collected knowledge. He whole library. A small group from the
secret society “De Naturali Scientia,” published a number of manuals and society went into hiding in Rome and

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 kept spreading their knowledge of the The leader of the society is a Doctor who university “Herzog August Bibliotekh
medicine of the new age. They became is always based in Bologna. There are also a unt Universitet” that was founded by the
more and more radical, and mixed number of Sub-Doctores who administrate great local son Julius of Braunschweig-
both classical surgical procedures with their operations from different cities or Wolfenbüttle. The German
alchemical substances and mechanical universities. Below these are the Accoliti, mathematician, philosopher, and lord
inventions. In the De Divini Homonculi acting as assistants. There is no common Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz was
book (“About the divine artificial initiation ritual, and any would-be actually a librarian here. The university
being”) by an anonymous member of member needs recommendations from has drawn teachers of extreme opinions
the society, it is described how they had several members before they are accepted and experiments for a long time, and
managed to create a living mechanical into De Naturali Scientia. A person who is although the university isn’t officially
being. about to be initiated is first notified that a property of the society, it is used as
The utmost purpose of the society they are being considered, and watched, a gathering place. In the many Roman
is to delve deeper into the mysteries and must thereafter wait at least five catacombs below the university, sessions
of medicine, no matter if they gather years before they are really initiated into and lectures are held that would make
their knowledge from Sufi mysticism, the society. During this period of time the most hardened doctors shy away in
Kabbalah, or mechanical inventions the candidate is watched and the society fear.
and heretical rituals. They regard the gathers information about their work. If
Church as their eternal enemy, and the the society suspects in the slightest that University of Uppsala
holy power in Rome has condemned the person has connections to the Church, North of the Swedish capital Stockholm,
the society as dangerous to humanity. or could pose a threat to De Naturali in the town of Uppsala, lies the oldest
The Pope has repeatedly said that the Scientia, they will never hear from the university of the Nordic countries.
members of the society have angered society again. The university has a long and exiting
God to the extent that they will bring history of different faculties and
about Armageddon. institutions. Here the flower of the
Hubs and important places Swedish upper class’ youth is gathered
The members of the society act in to delve into economy, politics, and
Organization and influence solitude most of the time and delve into medicine. Especially the medical 193
Today De Naturali Scientia is spread the mysteries and truths of medicine in faculty is considered to be more
all over Europe and has members in their own chambers. On a few occasions radical and experimental than those
many countries. They are however very however, the society gathers in more at other universities, and the school
restrictive in their initiation of new organized forms at one of the places has therefore become a place to recruit
members, since they fear that the Church where they feel safe. new members of the society. Even if it’s
will infiltrate them again. The Church unusual, De Naturali Scientia hosts some
has always been an enemy of this secret Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttle of their most secret sessions in one of
society, and De Naturali Scientia fears that In the city of Wolfenbüttle, in the the buildings owned by the society in
it will destroy them once and for all. province of Niedersachen, lies the proximity to the university.

Florian scanned through ancient writings by Opheits and Nasenits,

banned texts that described Cain and Esau as heroes and not as damned
souls. He knew that somewhere in here, among these pages, he would find
the source of the knowledge that would grant him the contact he sought.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Academic Societies

 The Rosicrucian Order 

Golden and Rosy Cross,
~ The Rosicrucians ~

If one mentions The Rosicrucian According to these writings, the and forgotten Biblical texts, they
Order to people on the streets, one Rosicrusians were well versed in the try to reach certain spiritual levels
is met by uncomfortable looks and Hermetic Sphere and arts, including that eventually will let them recreate
frowns. If one mentions them to the the transmutation of metals, the themselves in body, mind, and spirit.
occult masters and members of the spiritual, and the magical. They By studying and experimenting
secret societies, they grow quiet and claimed that they had learned to live with eastern creeds, and mixing them
fearful. In the world of LexOccultum, without food or water, and that their with those of the west, they hope to
The Rosicrucian Order is a dark and members who had achieved a higher find a way forward, out of the darkness
secretive association. level could turn invisible. and limitations of man, so that they
The Rosicrusians, as they are also They spoke of the world in terms will be able to discover the secret.
known, have their roots in alchemical of phases, that man was leaving an old By doing re-enactments of
and esoteric societies. The society phase to enter a new age where religion, mythological stories and playing the
was founded by Christian Rosencreuz art, politics, and administration would parts of ancient heroes in this age
194 in Germany during the 15th century, meld together and form a new entity, when the gods are leaving humanity,
but didn’t take its current shape until that it was in the combination of they create scientific and spiritual
the 17th century. In connection with everything old and that which wasn’t alloys and mixtures that no one has
the publications of his writings, Fama yet discovered, that the new world dared to make before.
Fraternitatis in 1614 and Confessio would be formed. For a long time The way forward is full of
Fraternitatis in 1615, the order became however, the society kept quiet and it experiments and work of the mind,
officially known as the “Order of the almost seemed that it was everyone and during the entire 18th century, the
Rosicrucians.” The order claimed that but the society that wrote and talked members of the order struggle to reach
they had existed for over 200 years, about the beliefs and teachings of the their goal, but it isn’t until Cagliostro
but that they also had roots even Rosicrusians. They had achieved an enters the picture that this is truly
further back in time. According to the almost mythical status. In secrecy, the realized. He teaches them to see thing
1614 writings, the order was founded Rosicrusian Order delved deeper into in new perspectives, and shows them
in 1459. Christian Rosencreuz was a alchemy, magic, devil worshipping, doors and ways they didn’t know
German nobleman who was sent to a and all manner of esoteric mysticism even existed. The society had already
cloister in 1378 in order to learn Latin that could help them bring about the gained knowledge of the creatures
and Greek. He was taken by a monk to new age. of darkness, such as werewolves and
Cyprus. The monk unexpectedly died At the beginning of the century, vampires, but Cagliostro shows them
shortly after their arrival. It is said that the secret members spend their time just how to use that knowledge.
thereafter the lonely Christian travelled in mixing the ancient Kabbalistic and To gain knowledge they, like the
to Arabia, to a place called Damcar and Babylonian teachings with the new Illuminati, infiltrate other secret
whose location is unknown. He then scientific theses and experiments societies. They have no scruples about
studied in Egypt and in Fez before of the Enlightenment in an attempt stealing information from others for
finally going back to Europe. to decipher the signs that reveal their own gain.
The year after, the text Chymische themselves. They create and develop a They believe in a moral and
Hochzeit (“Alchemical Weddings”) system known as “Arcana Arcanorum,” religious reformation, but not in the
was published, and since then the a mixture of spiritual and alchemical same manner as most others do. They
Rosicrusians have been surrounded by teachings related to immortality. With believe that humanity is about to
secrets and mystery. Michael Maier’s Alchemical theses enter a new age, and that those who

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 195

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 do not gain knowledge are doomed. Italy. At the age of 25 he marries He writes several texts of which Les
Their first manifesto and writing, Fama the 14-year old Lorenza Serafina Promenades de Gamaliel, juif Pholosophae
Fraternatis, is clearly inspired by the Feliciani, whom he conducts a number and La Connexion Originaire des Espirits
work of Heinrich Khunrath where he of moral experiments with. Among et des Corp, d’apés les Principes de Newton
is the first to touch upon the idea of a other things, he forces her to become are the most famous.
“marriage” between different mysteries a prostitute to see how it would affect
and creeds. Transmigration is the their relationship, as well as to finance
central point in these teachings. It is not their expensive lifestyle. Hubs and important places
about living forever, but being able to He received a number of visions at
recreate oneself, and to the Rosicrusians the age of 15, and also solved some Damcar
this is an important difference. To live of the cryptomagician codes, which Damcar is the name of the secret place
forever means that somebody else, God, earns him a powerful enemy in the that only exists in another dimension,
allows one to live, but to recreate oneself Cryptomagicians. He often talks about but those who have reached the second
means controlling your own destiny. how the Rosicrucians are the truth and highest rank of the order can travel
The insignia of The Rosicrusian Order the light, and how those who won’t to. It is a dream world where one
is a cross and a rose. join this society are doomed, for this can perform experiments with pure
he himself has seen in his visions. He thought and directly see the results.
openly claims that he knows how to Everyone who comes here has a
Organization and influence create a life-elixir and how to cure any different experience and perceptions
It is said that large parts of the society afflictions in the world. of Damcar, some see it as hell or
left Europe during the 17th century He is generous with giving of purgatory, others as heaven itself.
because of the political turmoil, and that his own, and the order’s, money to
those who stayed swore to keep hidden alchemists and theologians who wants The house of Christian in Kassel
and not to reveal their organization. to “try something new”. His only It is said that Christian was born in the
Among those that lead the society demand is that he must be the first white house next to the river Fuldas in
are Ferdinand of Brunswick, Samuel to know the results. He also conducts the German town of Kassel. True or
196 Richter, Johann Christoph von Wöllner, many of these experiments on his wife. not, the white stone house is one of the
Hermann Fictuld, General Johann In his madness however, he can easily most important hubs of the order, even
Rudolf von Bischoffwerder, and the see chemical and spiritual connections, if few know about it.
alchemist Johann Hermann Obercit. and this is also the explanation for why It is a huge house with 30 rooms,
Some are also known Freemasons. he achieves so much in his mysterious banquet-halls, and an enormous
experiments. ground level for great dances and
Ferdinand of Brunswick festivities. During the Middle Ages
(1721-1792) Johann Hermann Obercit this was a smaller fortress but in
Ferdinand is the fourth son of Ferdinand (1725-1798) later times it was redesigned to fit a
Albert II, the duke of Brunswick- Johann is born in Arbon, Switzerland, more modern era. Of the old fortress,
Lüneburg. He receives a military in 1725 and develops a reputation of only the north tower remains, which
education and participates in many being strange and mysterious already rises over the northern parts of the
battles and wars, of which the battle of as a boy. He has mastered many of house, and an enormous complex of
Rossbach establishes his reputation and the creeds and theses of alchemy by catacombs, which are beneath the old
earns him a promotion. He has close his tenth birthday. He eagerly mixes fortress itself.
contacts with Frederick the Great in this knowledge with other sciences In the attic of this strange building
military matters, and beside his ever- and with spiritualism to find a higher are the gathered secrets of the order,
increasing interest and commitment meaning. and it is here that the ritual to recreate
in the Rosicrusian Order, which he In 1747 he becomes obsessed with oneself is performed for those who want
is initiated into in 1741, warfare and solving the secret of eternal life and to advance to the highest rank.
military arms are his main interests. His tries to be accepted into the Royal Connected with the house is also a
vision is to one day be able to raise his Society, which dismisses him as a bookbinding and printing workshop.
own Rosicrucian army. madman however. In 1751 he comes into From this place, all the texts and
contact with the Rosicrucian Order, and writings that remind the people of the
Alessandro Cagliostro becomes infatuated by their teachings. imminent reformation are spread.
(1743-1795) Eight years later he enters the third
Alessandro Cagliostro is born the 2nd order, the eighth degree, but this is as
of June in 1743, in Palermo, Sicily, far as he reaches.

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 Academic Societies

 The Royal Society 

Invisible College
~ Nullius in Verba ~

With its roots in the Ionic naturalist Galileo Galilei, and Johannes Kepler. scientific research that is experimental,
philosophers, the Royal Society The secret association was at this time and believe that no area is too sacred to
is founded in 1660 at Gresham known as “The Invisible College”, and be further explored.
College, London, but fully blossoms was kept hidden from the Church that, As a natural consequence of this the
at the beginning of the 18th century. despite this, sentenced and executed society has been proclaimed an arch-
Carrying on the legacy of pre-Socratic several of the members because of their enemy of religion in Europe, and thus
philosophers such as Thales, heretical ideas. lead a dangerous existence, since most
Anaximandes, and Anaxagoras, the From its very founding, the society of the population in Europe believe in an
society members try to encourage had been an international network that all-powerful God that is the sole creator
experiments as a science in itself, stretched across the borders of nations and ruler of the universe.
no matter if it is scientific studies and religions. They wanted to create Their thirst for knowledge touches
in botany, alchemical experiments an “empire of science”, a “harbour of on many scientific areas. Famous
relating to the principle matters, or experiments”, and worked to exchange scientists such as Robert Boyle, Robert
paranormal experiments regarding thoughts and theories between scholars Hooke, William Petty, and - maybe most 197
other dimensions and alternative and scientists all across Europe. importantly, Isaac Newton, support
spirituality. During the 17th century the cultural research that tries to solve the mystery
The Ionic naturalist philosophers climate was tempered and a number of Arch, corpuscles and voids, the
weren’t primarily interested in technical of academies of science were founded search for the calculation of longitude,
problems, but rather wanted to find all over Europe by different monarchs, the secret of mercurialism, magnetic
general and valid principles behind with help from members of The fields, animation, all kinds of alchemical
the processes of nature: how the world Invisible College. The Accademia dei research, and a number of mechanical
came to be, how things change, what Lincei was founded in 1603 in Rome, inventions and experiments. The Royal
the universe looks like, which elements and counted Galileo Galilei among its Society is behind many of the secrets of
control and influence things, and so on. members, while the Académie Francaise the fluxation method and the calculation
Most people credit Leonardo da Vinci was founded in 1635 in Paris by cardinal of the infinitesimal, mathematical
as the definitive founder of the society, Richelieu, and has linked several people experiments, as well as calculations and
and believe that the universal genius of significance to its institution during computations relating to geodesy that
from Florence had managed to learn the 18th century. forms the foundation for research into
the wisdom of antiquity through Arabic All these are profane academies forces, gravitation, and the movement of
translations of lost Egyptian, Greek, which publicly operate, albeit some of the planets.
and Roman writings. To preserve his the members are linked to the secret A number of prominent geniuses, who
knowledge, and to make sure the ancient and mysterious Invisible College experiment with theories regarding
wisdom wasn’t lost again, he founded which is bound to be the foundation of eternal life or the resurrection of the
the society that would later be known as the Royal Society. This society, in fact, dead by primal powers like lightning
the Royal Society, but which at this time differs from others since it has taken a or earthly energies, are members of the
carried many different names. step further in the scientific research, society, as well as doctors, apothecaries,
After the death of da Vinci, the creating theses and research relating to and alchemists who preserve the
knowledge and the society were kept the origins and elements of everything, traditions of Paracelsus and Abu Musa
alive by the foremost scientists of how these can be proven and thus Jabir ibn Hayyan. The society supports
their times, such as Francis Bacon, overthrowing or challenging old truths chemists like Georg Ernst Stahl in
Copernicus, John Dee, Tycho Brahe, and perceptions. They encourage all his experiments regarding phlogiston

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 and the physicist John Canton in his Outwardly the society tries to keep a collection of recorded experiments,
experiments on artificial magnets more scientific profile, but on the inside many of which are classified as “too
without the help of natural ones. it boils down to a secretive society with revolutionary” or “too dangerous” to
Many of the contributions occur in members who stand with their backs be revealed to the eyes and ears of the
secrecy without official involvement arched over pistons, formulas, and secret public.
from the Royal Society. substances. Decoctions and minerals Among these secrets are, for example,
In short: the Royal Society contributes along with dead bodies, mechanical a collection of successful experiments
in many ways to overthrowing old inventions, the primal forces of nature, recorded by Bolos of Mendes within
truths and driving science forward in and parapsychological breakthroughs the area of chrysopoeia, that is, the
a way that the world has never seen form the foundation of experiments that alchemical term for creating gold from
before. some would deem threatening to the lead. Scientists who experiment with
Through large donations from very existence of mankind. Nothing is this could be sentenced to death. The
wealthy patrons, the Royal Society held sacred, everything is taken apart Clavicula Solomonensis (“the keys of
gathers the results of experimental and questioned, whether it’s a new Salomon”), also called the “philosopher’s
research, successful or not, and mechanical invention or new spiritual stone”, a mysterious substance with the
decides who gets to take part in these truths. While the pitfalls are dangerous capability to turn lead into gold, is said
contributions. and the truth is sometimes difficult to to be in the possession of the society.
The members of the society live in bear, the experiment is held superior to Other important discoveries that are
constant danger, not only because they everything else, and it is to this truth yet to be revealed, or are surrounded
have powerful enemies in the institutions that the initiated members of the Royal by secrecy, are Georg Ernst Stahl’s
in which they operate, but also because Society have sworn themselves. phlogiston, as well as a number of
they live under the constant threat of The Royal Society is, during the 18th alchemical and cross-scientific proofs
attacks from fanatics and followers of century, one of the most prestigious and half-finished experiments performed
the teachings that the scientists try to scientific institutions in Europe, and can by, among others, the famous chemist
refute through their experiments. count the absolute elite of present-day Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742-1786).
The motto of the society, “Nullius scientists among its members. Only a But there are secrets even greater
198 in Verba”, translates to “on the word of few of these are initiated into the secret than these. In the society’s possession are
no one” and represents the ambition part of the society however. Among the large amounts of information, solutions,
of the society to determine truths initiated patrons are, among others, manuals, designs, cryptic messages, maps,
with the help of experiments and the Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777), King symbols, items, stuffed fabled creatures,
rebuttal of universal and religious George II of Britain (1683-1760), and knowledge from Babylonian,
principles that haven’t been questioned Maria Gaetana Agnesi, who, through Sumerian, Persian, and Roman sources,
or experimented on. her position as Foreign Fellow, can to name a few. Here are technological
The society is more than happy to impress with her intelligence, and advances and descriptions of giant
patronize young scientists, and believes the mathematician Daniel Bernoulli proportions that would put the great
that these seekers of truth are unspoiled (1700-1782). discoveries of the enlightenment to shame.
and can be encouraged to drive their The greatest secret of the society This tide of information and knowledge
research forward without having to is the identity of the patrons who hide would change the world in many ways if
fear for their institutional or financial behind some kind of cross-scientific it were unleashed. What would happen
situation. institution, whose utmost purpose is if the finished drawing of the helixpteron
It’s during the mid 17th century that to conduct experiments in mechanical were released? Would men then fly
the Invisible College gets a more public, science, alchemy, animism, Platonism, wherever they want? What kind of world
open face, becoming the british “Royal materialism, agnosticism, and in more would that be? Certainly a wonderful one,
Society.” Already in 1661, the society or less any known creed or philosophy, claim many scientists. Others point out
is given their “Royal” designation, and to challenge old truths. that they would be beset by the Church,
and thereafter openly operates as the Together the patrons control through which would accuse them of wanting
national science academy of Great their capital large parts of the foundation to take God’s place in their longing for
Britain. Many say that it is thanks to Sir of European science, on which all the Heavens, to be his equal instead of
Robert Moray that the king Charles II European development rests, even if his servant. This, many scientists inside
has approved the society, and that the most researchers and scientists aren’t the Royal Society claim, would smear
king and Sir Robert belonged to the aware of it. As a part of this support, them and in the worst case lead even to
same lodge of Freemasons, although they have collected a large amount of excommunication. It was decided that
that last part cannot be confirmed by scientific data throughout the years the time wasn’t yet ripe for this particular
anyone. and own what is possibly the largest technological advancement.

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 The same arguments were heard But fortunately, this knowledge have led even to murder and violence,
at the end of the 17th century when is spread among a reliable circle of spreading blood in museums and
the initiated members stood hunched administrators, who hold it as their secret laboratories. Only history will
over drawings of an automaton with highest honour to keep it secret and not determine who will be the winner in
pistons and pipes, from which valves release it to the public, yet. the fight for controlling the scientific
poured smoke as if from a volcano. In this circle, which between the end advancement in Europe.
Soon, they said, soon this invention will of the 17th and the early 18th century
see the light of the day. Although the is led by Robert Hooke (1635-1703),
technology was known already during the common conception is that those Organization and influence
antiquity, the steam engine wouldn’t be who find something in these archives, There is a huge difference between the
released to the public for another couple whatever it may be, have a revolutionary visible Royal Society and the invisible
of decades, or so the secret elite behind discovery in their hand. society that exists within and beyond
the Royal Society decided. Denis Papin Robert knows what he is talking the official organization. Officially, the
(1647-1712) had naturally thought about. It was he who discovered the Royal Society is governed by a council
that the discovery should be released very same mathematical formulas, of 21 members with a president at the
earlier, and came into conflict with the written down by a Jewish Kabbalist top.
rest of the society when he was caught sometime during the 7th century and The secret Royal Society is on the
trying to smuggle the drawings to the hidden by Robert in the archives, which contrary organized more like a secret
public. He died as a pauper in 1712 and, his arch-enemy within the society, Isaac society, with five grades that represent
somewhat ironically, the Royal Society Newton, later stole from this treasury the five Platonic bodies, and thus the
released a steam engine with the help of knowledge and published as his own five classical elements. The five grades
of Thomas Newcomen the very same idea in his opus Principia, when the also represent which kind, and what
year. Equally ironically, they gave Denis time was right. This very event led size, of donation one is ready to make
Papin the credit for having invented to the society changing its rules on to the society. To understand how this
something he hadn’t. publication and the dissemination of works, one must also understand that
There are quasi-experiments ideas and sciences. Today, for example, those who give patronage to the Royal
regarding how a human being can they never keep all the information of Society may also gain many enemies, 199
be drained of their life-essence, and a “not yet revealed but revolutionary hence the secrecy surrounding those
theories on how this essence could be invention” in one place. Instead, the who finance the progress of science. The
used to create new life, or resurrect information is divided into different visible part of the Royal Society is only
that which had died, how one could parts that can be gathered and an administrative tool, which performs
create hybrids, breeding different types reconstructed by those who lead the the will of the patrons and makes sure
of beasts together, or even human society when they deem the time is that their contributions are used in the
beings, in order to obtain new creatures right. best possible manner.
whose abilities are both terrible and The collective knowledge of the To members of the lower grades,
revolutionary. Experiments relating to society is a stormy ocean of metaphysics the society is a way to, in addition to
the abiogenesi, to create life from non-life, and cross-science, and only the most contributing funds to others, freely
are conducted, but are kept secret by a initiated members of the experimental exchange ideas and further the progress
small group of initiated scholars. Among cause are allowed to venture into this of science beyond the judgemental eyes
the experiments are finished theses on rough sea, only they can keep a straight of the Church and of the royal authority.
how to build mechanical prostheses and course on these dangerous waters. For the members of the higher grades,
how to make the body adapt to these by The aims of the secret Royal society the secret association of the Royal
using animalistic magnetism, or how to are naturally at odds with those of the Society is more of a way to control
fill the lungs with secret fluids to make De Naturali Scientia conspiracy. The scientific developments and to hinder
someone able to breath under water. two societies are aware of each other specific knowledge and unwelcome
The same decision, to withhold existence and De Naturali Scientia does theories from being published.
discoveries from a world that wasn’t not approve the total control over the The Royal Society doesn’t exist
ready for them, have been made on a pace of scientific advancement that solely in London, but has members
number of discoveries and experiments the Royal Society has. Members of the at universities and academies all over
in proto-science, magic, Gnosticism, two conspiracies fight each other and Europe. A large group is connected
kinetic Daoism, cosmic and earthly rarely collaborate, although there are to the French Academy, but there are
radiation, animalistic magnetism, scholars who secretly belong to both also members in the Royal Science
the fluid of thought, and a number of societies, either as infiltrates or as Academy in Stockholm and not least
sciences and theories. opportunistic exploiters. The conflicts on the other side of the Atlantic

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 in America, where there are many Johann Joachim Winckelmann She is a universal genius without
patrons and members present in (1717-1768) comparison. Some say that not even
Boston. Winckelmann grows up in Germany Newton is the equal of this woman who,
A completely independent branch and has a great influence on the newly in 1747, is elected as Foreign Fellow in the
of the society, which has nothing to awakened interest in Classical Antiquity Royal Society in great secrecy. Gaining
do with donations or the distribution during the 18th century. After his public access to the secret Greek archives in
of resources and the gathering of conversion to Catholicism he became 1751, she solves a number of mathematical
information, are the so-called Slingers. the Soprintendente alle Antichità di formulas that had eluded the foremost
These are men, and sometimes women, Roma (“Controller of the Antiquities mathematicians of Europe for centuries.
who makes up an armed branch of of Rome”) for the Papal States. His She pursues an education in theology
the society. The group isn’t like an studies on ancient sculptures form the later in her life in order to protect
army however, but rather act as lone basis of a whole new understanding herself from the Church, which wants to
gunslingers (hence “Slingers”). These of antiquity, having great influence raise accusations of heresy against her.
serve the society as bodyguards of the even on the cultural and artistic By studying a number of
many members of the society that are neoclassicist movement. He makes sure mathematical formulas written by an
beset by outer forces and madmen. to move the focus from Roman to Greek unknown Greek mathematician during
Slingers also track down and eliminate antiquity, and is clearly influenced by Classical Antiquity, Maria has managed
the rebel scientists who have been Montesquieu’s teachings about climate, to solve the riddle of time and space. She
initiated but chosen to break the rules of which he happily discusses on his many can, by combining several complicated
the society. The Royal Society has strict journeys. numbers and calculations, push back
rules regarding how information is to Among his published works are time up to two hours as well as travel
be treated, and those that break these Gedanken über die Nachahmung der from one city to another with just one
rules more than once often die with a griechischen Werke in der Malerei und step. This is an ability she has chosen
bullet in their head. Unfortunately, this Bildhaurkunst (”Thoughts on the not to reveal to any other, not even to
happens all too frequently since the imitation of Greek works in painting her closest friends in the society. The
temptation is great and the reward for and sculpture”) and Geschichte der ability drains her powers enormously
200 new inventions is even greater. Kunst des Alterthums (“History of Art however, so she rarely uses it.
The three main attributes of a in Antiquity”), which are published in
Slinger are the two pistols with silver 1764. Like Isaac Newton, Johann finds
handles, the rapier with the “RS” letters luck in his experiments, but not of the Hubs and important places
engraved in silver on the handle, and physical type, but rather experiments
the letter stating that they belong to of the mind. In his core Johann is an British museum
and are paid by the Royal Society. archaeologist and art-historian, but also Sir Hans Sloane, who is a prominent
has a lively interest in the occult. researcher in naturalist philosophy, is
Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) during the years 1727-1741 chairman of
Isaac was cared for by his grandparents Maria Gaetana Agnesi the council, that is the official institution
early in his life and was placed in school (1718-1799) that guards and distributes the funds
at the age of ten. He went to university Maria is born in Milan and is forced to donated by the patrons and whose job it
and received further education there. choose at a young age between living is to thereafter collect the results of the
He became interested in science and as a nun or as a mathematician, and she experiments.
scientists of both the past and present. chose the latter. She learns to speak When Sir Sloane dies in 1753, he
He conducts a number of experiments French as well as Italian before the age donates a large part of his scientific
on both himself and his surroundings. of five, and Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, works and collections for the
Isaac often gets into conflict with German, and Latin before her 13th establishment of a museum, which will
other scholars who insinuate in any birthday. Her father quickly discovered also become an important gathering
way that Isaac could be wrong or that her talents and enormous intelligence, point for the members of the society.
there is another way to conduct an and made sure that the best and In the closed-off parts of the museum,
experiment. He often falls into deep brightest geniuses and teachers came to there are considerable scientific results
depression when his hypotheses aren’t their estate to tutor her. that haven’t yet seen the light of day,
proven or his experiments fail. She is the second woman to be named as well as ongoing experiments with
He is a great mathematician and professor at the university in Bologna, both a magnetic vehicle and a watch
universal genius with a firm opinion but keeps a low profile despite this, and that is able to measure longitude
on most matters. He often writes about spend her time caring for the situation independently from moisture by using
gravity and the heavenly bodies. of the poor. a universal time frame.

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 Among the writings and books that century, when Sir Hans Sloane started next to the garden, and that these works
can be found here are The Kybalion: to donate large funds to the botanical contain very strange information, about,
Hermetic Philosophy, the Emerald Tablet garden. among other things, the Illuminati. It is
and the Corpus Hermeticum, Compendium In the back parts of the garden, where also said that they contain a model for an
Heptarchiae Mysticae, Mysteriorum Liber neither the public nor the uninitiated are ideal city based on the Sforzinda of the
Sextus et Sanctus, Monas Hieroglyphica, allowed entry, the society often meets Renaissance and Atlantis of Classical
Tuba Veneris, Tabula bonorum angelorum and discusses with soon to be donators Antiquity.
invocantes, and Manuscripts from Maric their gifts and payments. In this place
Casaubon among others. they are well hidden from curious eyes
and ears, and for donors that prefer Crane Court
anonymity there are many occasions to Officially the Crane Court is the heart of
Chelsea physic garden visit the garden without revealing one’s the Royal Society, and the place where
This hub of knowledge, which lies in purpose. the council holds their meetings. It lies
London, has as its foremost outwardly As if by fate or accident, the garden in central London and has a number of
purpose to educate and research about also lies in proximity to the house rooms in the two wings that belong to
the botanical science. The garden has a where Thomas Moore wrote the book the main building. One of the wings also
formidable collection of plants from all Utopia, the bible of all conspirators and functions as a hub for the Slingers who
over the globe. It was founded in 1673 revolutionaries. Some say that the society reside in the city or act as bodyguards
and has been under the control of the has found unpublished works by Thomas for the members of the council when
society since the beginning of the 18th in the underground storehouses that lie they are here.

“Most honoured audience! Finally, science has managed to recreate the

201
elf queen’s secret! Only a couple of drops and the woman you desire will
throw therself into your arms!” David raised his eyes from the slippery
cobblestones, and saw a fat man with a red cape who stood outside a
circus tent that was raised in the plaza. “Invigorating, invigorating,
my ladies and gentlemen! Staggering pleasures for only a few coppers!
Meet the king of liniments and emperor of tinctures and his mixtures
that are famous all across the Christian world. Magnetic fluid, the
secret of secrets!” The charlatan announced all this with a tremble
in his deep voice worthy of the theater. David had seen it all before,
and certainly, the new display of electricity was impressive, but right
now he directed his steps toward a different kind of entertainment.
He didn’t care that the others constantly pointed out that she came
from the lower classes, and that she had been the mistress of both the
Marquis de Monde and the famous duellist, Gabriel Fernaud. Tonight
they would meet again in the pleasure house, and he would once more,
in her tender arms, declare his love and his snow-white intent.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 sub rosa

 Short Descriptions of a Handful of Other Societies 

In the dark world of LexOccultum, the between the magician and the guardian Babylonian demons, only a complicated
surface is a thin varnish of administration angel that guards the knowledge. It coded language that combines numbers
and civilization. Whoever dives into the is said that such a technique has been and magic could banish the evil demons
deep soon realizes that those that seem developed by the cult for thousands of from the world. God imprisoned the
to pull the strings are often puppets years. demons in these combinations. Opening
themselves in a large game between The manuscript contains three books them naturally leads to the hidden
secret societies and other unknown with a total of 413 pages, including a knowledge, but could also mean that one
institutions of power. The secret number of magic rituals, biblical texts unleashes the demons upon the world.
societies have great power in both the of Abraham, and Kabbalistic diagrams.
super-national and the mundane realms. Whoever manages to break through
This chapter lists a handful of societies the barriers and learn the magic arts The Great Swedish
with short descriptions in order to show becomes a part of the Cult of Abramelin Conspiracy
the depth and width of the world of and are said to be able to cast spells and During almost the entire 18th century,
202 LexOccultum. The Game Master may perform magic rituals. from 1720 onwards, a conspiracy boils
develop these societies in whatever way beneath the surface of Swedish politics. It
they wish. is composed of members of the Swedish
The Cryptomagicians military who are unhappy with how the
With their roots in Jewish mysticism, fatherland has lost its power. A number
The Cult of A bramelin and as a branch of the Kabbalah, the of conspiracies are formed throughout
The Cult of Abramelin differs from cryptomagicians hide behind the the century, and the whole thing ends
many other societies in that they have universal numbers. They believe that with the assassination of Gustav III in
no governing organization, and in God has hidden the truth about reality 1792. Jacob Johan Anckarström, Adolph
that the members initiate themselves and the future in coded keys that mostly Ribbing, and Claes Fredrik Horn are at
through deep studies and insights. consist of numbers and combinations this time the leaders of the conspiracy,
Abramelin is said to have been a of numbers. They decipher these codes, but the brothers Jacob and Johan von
magician and sorcerer who wrote a which are hidden in ancient texts from Engström were also involved along with
number of powerful documents that the time of Moses, and can predict Carl Pontius Lilliehorn, T. J. Bielke, and
could train someone in the dark arts. things that will happen in the distant Carl Fredrik Pechilin.
The first time they are translated from future. Pechilin is, however, early in his life a
Hebrew to French is in 1458, but no one The Cryptomagicians aren’t member of several conspiracies against
knows exactly when Abramelin lived operating with their own organization the state and the royal house. Among
or when he wrote these manuscripts. in Europe, even if there are initiates that others, he takes part in the conspiracy
The original is said to be written in operate on their own accord or visit the which is led by Hugo Johan Hamilton
the language of the ancient Jews, and countries of Europe to seek knowledge. (1668-1748) during the late 1740s.
contains the sacred magic that God gave Usually a group of cryptomagicians Hugo Johan Hamilton was a friend
to Moses, David, and Solomon. gather around a specific teacher, a of Jacob Johan Anckarström the older,
Initiation in the arts revolves around Jewish Rabbi, who is considered to be and thus Jacob Johan Anckarström the
a number of levels where the initiate in direct connection with the chosen of younger is said to have been initiated
cleanses themselves and their mind, God who guard the sacred codes. into the secrets. He plans of a royal
and around using a child, between the The keys are said to have been assassination as the only way to save
age of six and eight, to act as a medium originally created in order to expel Sweden.

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 The Initiated he goes. They go underground for The men called themselves Thugs or
Kabbalists of Loew long periods of time after they have Thuggees, and with their new abilities
It was joy mixed with horror that the been spotted however, until they are they could quickly recruit additional
Jewish Mystic Yehudah ben Bezalel forgotten once again members. Sometimes the members
Levai (1525-1609), also known as Mr killed while they were travelling, and
Loew, experienced when he succeeded sometimes they kidnapped their victims
with a ritual that is recalled in many Order of the Thought and killed them in the temple of Kali near
Kabbalistic texts, but which no one Builders Mirzapur. They often kill their victims by
had managed to perform for several (Tankebyggarorden) Many of the strangling them, but sometimes also by
centuries. The ritual was performed in cultural elite of Sweden, authors, poets, stabbing them with small sharp knives.
the Jewish ghetto of Prague, and from scientists, and even alchemists and Witnesses report having seen the
dead clay and earth was created a living occultists, gather in 1753 and onwards Thuggees kiss their victims as they kill
creature, a golem. around Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht. them. Some claim that the kiss is a final
That Mr Loew had great aptitude Strongly affected by French culture, she farewell and others that they suck the
for the Kabalistic rituals was already builds a society, which in many ways is life force out of their victims and thus
known, but this was nonetheless a similar to the Royal Society but which strengthen themselves with the kiss.
remarkable event. Unfortunately, this performs science and experiments of a Thuggees claim descent from the
golem managed to separate itself from cultural kind. struggle between Kali and Raktabija.
its maker’s leash and spread terror They publish a number of texts and The Thuggees believe that they are the
on the streets of Prague. For some perform a number of social experiments, offspring of Kali, and were created out
unknown reason it killed several people, primarily on paupers, to see if they can of her sweat. The members of the cult
all Christian, before it disappeared into set powers in motion by giving people actually perform their assassinations
the ghetto where it then hid. For years tools and information. and murders in the belief that they
Loew and his initiated Kabbalists tried Outwardly, the order is a cultural are the saviours that are protecting
to find his creation, but never succeeded. club for people of a similar state of mankind from total annihilation. By
In a final attempt before his death, Loew mind, but on the inside, there is a pleasing Kali through their sacrifices,
performed a reversed ritual that was strict hierarchy, in which the result of they stop her from annihilating man. 203
intended to lure the mystical creature experiments determine who can enter The cult isn’t widespread in Europe.
back to its creator, the ritual ended the inner grades of initiation and in this Rumours claim that there is a group
however, with the initiated Kabbalists, manner gain access to the occult truths of Thuggees in England who arrived
along with Loew, disappeared into thin that Hedvig is said to guard. onboard British trading ships, as well
air. as a few individuals and smaller groups
A good hundred years later, talk in France and Spain. Though few in
of a murderous creature made of clay The Cult of T huggee number, they are greatly feared.
haunting the streets of Prague once (Phansigars) There are many Indian The leader of every group of
again spread, but just like last time, no records of the misdeeds performed by the Thuggees is called Jemadar, which is
one was able to catch it. In 1703, a man “thugs”, the members of the cult of Thuggee, simply a military term for someone
calling himself Yehudah ben Bezalel but little knowledge of the cult itself or of higher rank. Beneath the Jemadar
Levai appears in Prague. He looks like its organization. The British adventurers there are Naib, or Naib Subedar, which
he is hundreds of years old, and the Thevenrot and Fryer wrote in their means agent. Every Naib is required to
Jewish communities refuse to listen letters to the crown during the middle of perform a number of murders in Kali’s
to him as they believe that he is a joke the 17th centuries about the violent cult name in order to remain in the cult.
mocking the real Mr Loew. of stranglers that devoted themselves to The cult grows steadily during the
The man takes to the streets and assassinations in the name of the goddess entire 18th century and reaches its peak
shortly thereafter there are rumours of Kali. It is a cult that has existed for over a just before the French Revolution. In
him being seen with the creature. After thousand years as a Shivaist belief. 1790, the British authorities capture
this, the two (man and golem) disappear The members say that the goddess the Thuggee leader Shankarbaba. He is
again for an additional 20 years until revealed herself to a group of men. She accused of having committed over 900
they reappear in Ingolstadt and, after an gave them signs and omens as well as murders and is sentenced to death. The
additional ten years, in the countryside tasks to perform in her name, and the rumours claim that Shankarbaba had
around Brandenburg. most important task of these was to lived for over 300 years, that he was the
Midway through the century, he has kill in her name. The men performed oldest member of the cult, and that he
managed to gather a group of Kabbalists her wishes and were rewarded with was the grandson of Mahalti, one of the
around him that follow him wherever supernatural abilities and hidden truths. seven original Thuggees.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Skoptsy The Skoptsy already exist as a The castrated singers gather around a
Most secret societies have some kind part of the flagellants during the person that they call the prophet and who
of strange and mysterious initiation 17th century, but fully emerge in the is believed to have direct contact with God.
ritual but none is as strange as that middle of the 18th century. They aren’t This method is used in both Liber
of the Skoptsy, the Russian castrated heard of as a society until 1771 but Loagaeth by John Dee and Edward
singers. It is a society whose members operate in full force from the start of Kelly and Lemegeton Clavicula Salmonis,
are often deemed insane or fanatical in the century. in which different sigils are keys to
their beliefs. It is a Christian society that Those who castrate themselves in the charts in the grimoire. In many of
exists primarily in Russia and in the a ritual known as “Raenyi” are put the Kabbalistic writings, the Hebrew
Balkans, whose ideas are derived from into an ecstatic condition, which they alphabet function as sigils one should
mysterious creeds where holy patron- have a hard time waking from. This is apply to mathematical charts in order
saints, monks, and ascetics were said to also the first time that they perceive to receive a complex series of numbers
gain familiarity with God by removing the power of God and move closer to that in turn are translated back to the
their sexual desires and temptations. him. Hebrew alphabet.

204

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 sub rosa

 Sub Rosa and the Player Characters 

Since it is the Game Mater who pulls Game Master should take care not to that the player who plays this character
the strings, it’s up to the GM to decide give the player characters too much doesn’t know what will happen during
if a player character can be initiated into information about the societies. the initiation from reading this book.
a secret society or not. While a player Sometimes, however, it can be both If the player does know this, it is
character can found their own secret fun and necessary to allow one or more recommended that the Game Master
society at any time, they would need player characters to become members changes how the initiation ritual is
some kind of deed, recommendation, of a secret society. This can be either performed, otherwise a lot of the
or a special reputation in order to be because they have built up a certain secret tests that the characters are put
accepted into one of the already existing reputation and have been invited into through in order to join the community
secret societies. Most of the time the the society, or because it’s simply are ruined.
player character’s desire to join a society necessary in order to play a certain The Game Master should also
simply isn’t enough to earn the right to adventure. prepare some extra information and
be initiated. When a Game Master intends to secrets for the character to learn about
Because of the integral part that the introduce a player character into a during their initiation and that are 205
secret societies play in maintaining the society that requires some form of specific for the society that the player
aura of mystery in Lex Occultum, the initiation, it is of the utmost importance character will join.

Frantz contently leaned back in the bronzed bergerè with a swivelled

back and joints. He observed the group of recruits, who stood staring
at the floor with their hats in their hands. On the grand oriental
carpet stood Ian Bartstow, a well-known and hardened man of
violence, that had too many lives on his conscience. Next to him were
the two Le Sang-twins, who were most famous for having solved the
code of the Runiére texts, a feat they had been rewarded for by the
king himself. Unfortunately, they were also hopeless alcoholics and
had the habit of using drugs from the Far East. The money they had
been rewarded with was spent on liquor, drugs, and women, and now
they were standing on his fine carpet, no richer than paupers. Frantz
was most surprised however to see that the old colonel and occultist
Sergei had shown up. He had travelled all the way from St Petersburg
to once again enter the service of the prince elector.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 sub rosa

 Codes and Ciphers 

For most secret societies it is of parts written in code. Steganographia all great powers of Europe have their
the utmost importance to keep the (published posthumously in 1606) by the own black cabinets, tasked with acquiring
communication between sworn members German occultist Johannes Trithemius intelligence and decrypting messages
secret from the Inquisition, the crown, is, at first glance, about using angels to from hostile powers. The largest secular
and other, hostile secret societies. If a communicate over long distances, and was staff of cryptographers and code breakers
document falls into the wrong hands it put on the papal list of forbidden books. is the Geheime Kabinettz-Kanzlei in
can result in excommunication, torture, But for those that dig deeper into the Vienna, the eyes and ears of the Austrian
or the pyre. In ancient times it was book’s secrets, it is a handbook teaching emperors. Every morning, letters
enough to use a simple written language ciphers and methods to code messages. addressed to foreign ambassadors are
to keep information hidden from the There are those that say that Isaac first brought to the cabinet where the
illiterate masses. In the Mesopotamia of Newton’s Principia Mathematica, Johannes secretaries melt the sigils and a team
old and ancient Egypt, the priesthood Kepler’s Tabulae Rudolphinae, Encyclopedia of stenographers copy the texts before
and secret societies used Cuneiform and Voltaire’s Lettre Philosophiques sur les they are re-sealed and handed out to
206 script and Hieroglyphs to preserve their Anglais contain similar coded passages. their unknowing addressees. Even those
knowledge, and thus also their power over The Papal State has, on the pope’s orders, letters that merely pass through Austria
the people who thought of the strange put great effort into trying to intercept go through this process before being
markings to be magical things. But as messages in order to detect occultists sent on their way. The Habsburgs have
literacy became more widespread it was and heretics for centuries. As a result, an agreement with the princely family of
necessary to develop new techniques to the staff of code breakers in Rome is Thurn und Taxis, who handle the post in
keep the uninitiated from taking part in still the largest and most accomplished all of the Holy Roman Empire and who
the secrets and, because of this, several in the world during the 18th century. In supply the Austrian intelligence services
different methods for keeping messages a magnificent baroque palace that lies with hundreds of letters every day. In
out of enemy hands have been developed in close proximity to St Peter’s Square, addition to the black cabinet in Vienna,
through the centuries. In the invisible hundreds of the greatest mathematicians there are also similar staffs in Liège,
war between secret societies, the Church, and linguists in Europe work tirelessly, Brussels, Frankfurt, and Regensburg.
and the kings of Europe, cryptography day and night, to break coded messages The information, which is deciphered
and ciphers have become their foremost that have been sent between occultists and by hundreds of crypto-analysts, not
weapons. sworn brothers. This is the explanation only supplies the Austrian emperors
Most occult texts use some kind of behind the almost supernatural ability of with invaluable intelligence about their
code or cipher, and even some scientific the Pium Sodalicium to find heretics and enemies, but is also sold to other great
texts that risk offending the Church secret societies. powers in Europe for huge sums of money.
have coded chapters. In the 13th century, It isn’t just secret societies that use The most common codes and ciphers used
the Franciscan monk Roger Bacon codes and ciphers during the 18th century by secret societies and black cabinets are
wrote Concerning the Marvellous Power however. Important orders and dispatches listed below. When ciphers appear in
of Art and of Nature and Concerning the from kings and commanders are often missions or adventures, it is recommended
Nullity of Magic, in which seven ways to coded by cipher-secretaries so that that the Game Master let the players
cipher messages are described. Geoffrey they are hidden from prying ministers solve the codes themselves. Although
Chaucer, most known for his Canterbury and foreign spies, and the ciphers have successful skill checks should give clues
Tales, added to his Treatise on the Astrolabe become increasingly more complex and or even solve the ciphers, in such cases the
a compendium called The Equatorie more difficult to decipher during the last player characters should be awarded with
of the Planetis, which contains several century. In the middle of the 18th century, considerably fewer adventure points.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Stenography The advantage of this method is that parts of the text the author describes
The easiest way to stop a message from eventual enemies won’t be able to see which angels and demons correspond
falling into the wrong hands is by simply that the letter contains a hidden message with certain heavenly bodies or hours
hiding the message itself. In ancient at first glance. The drawback is that a of the day, and thus reveals which sigil
Greece, it was common to write on a skilled crypto-analyst knows to look for should overlap what grid. In this way,
wooden tablet, which was then covered letters that seem to be written with more the author provides both the key code
in wax, and it is said that Demeratus or less ink than the rest of the letters, and the encrypted message within the
had a slave shave his head, tattooed a and thus stand out. Many experienced actual text, right in front of the code-
message on his head, and then, when code crackers also use a set of standard crackers who try to solve the code in
the slave’s hair had grown out, sent frames to look for hidden messages. For vain by other methods.
him to Sparta to warn of the Persians this reason Cardan is hardly a foolproof This method is used in both Liber
plans of invasion. The Italian scientist way to hide messages, and is more likely Loagaeth by John Dee and Edward
Giovanni Porta improved stenography to be used by noble ladies to declare Kelly and Lemegeton Clavicula Salmonis,
by developing an ink of alum and their flaming passions in secret then by in which different sigils are keys to
vinegar that was then used to write on occultists and secret societies. the charts in the grimoire. In many of
hard-boiled eggs. The ink penetrated the Kabbalistic writings, the Hebrew
the shell and wasn’t visible until alphabet function as sigils one should
someone peeled the shell off the egg. Sigil apply to mathematical charts in order
Throughout the centuries similar kinds In many grimoires of black magic there to receive a complex series of numbers
of invisible ink have been developed by are lists of angels and demon princes that in turn are translated back to the
using organic fluids that only become and the magical symbols - or sigils - Hebrew alphabet.
visible after they are heated, by holding that represent them. The sigils are used
a letter above a candle for example. in rituals to summon their particular
Other strategies involve using the first angel or demon, and are also often Cryptography
letter (alternatively the second or third engraved on items and door frames to As the centuries go on, it becomes more
and so on) to spell out the real message give them magical powers or to protect usual to try to stop a message from
in a letter or by marking certain letters a certain place. What less experienced being read by the enemy even if the 207
with tiny needle holes. The definitive occultists don’t know is that these sigils message should fall into their hands.
drawback of stenography is that the are key codes, and nothing more then a In cryptography a number of methods
enemy can easily read the message development of the Cardan system. It are developed to distort (or encrypt)
once they have found it. Purely by the is usual in many occult writings that a message after a set of rules (also
rules, this means that player characters the author in some part of the text has called a key code) that is only known
can find and solve a stenograph with written down magical quadrants with to the transmitter and the receiver, and
a successful skill check with Stealth letters or numbers in a grid, and put the which makes the message unreadable
(Detection discipline and Detect sigils that are supposed to overlap the to everyone else. The original message
Hidden specialization), with varying grid in order to find the real message is called clear text and after the code is
negative modifiers to be established by in another part of the text. In the other applied is called encrypted text.
the GM.

Cardan
The physicist and mathematician
Girolamo Cardano invented in the 16th
century a variant of stenography. He used
a paper sheet with holes cut out of it and
laid it above another piece of paper. He
wrote his message in the cut out holes and
then removed the paper sheet and filled
in the blanks on the underlying piece of
paper with letters so that it turned into
a communication with seemingly trivial
contents. The receiver of the letter had a
sheet with identical holes and could easily
read the real message.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 The challenge for the creators of a piece of parchment or a leather strap longer text. The frequency of letters
encrypted messages is to find a code wrapped around it. The sender would diverge somewhat between different
that is difficult to solve, in case it falls then write along the scytale and when languages and in German, for
into enemy hands but, at the same time, the strap was removed from the staff the example, the letter E usually makes
easy to decrypt for the intended receiver. text looked like randomly placed letters up a whole 19% of a longer text. To
While there are codes that are incredibly until the receiver wrapped it around a complicate matters for the frequency
complex and all but impossible to solve scytale with the same circumference and analyst, cryptographers sometimes
for unintended readers, in most cases could easily read the message. During fill the blank spaces with so-called
it is important that the receiver is able the 18th century this technique is still zeroes, characters that represent
to read the message quickly. A warning used by certain societies who wrap blank spaces but at first glance look
that the inquisition is just an hour away straps around their walking sticks or like letters.
or that hostile forces are arriving at spires, even though the cipher is very
dawn, demands a cipher that can quickly easy to solve.
be read and understood by the one who Caesar shift
receives the warning. The Caesar shift is the most simple
Substitution form the of substitution code, where
Considerably more common than the the code alphabet is pushed forward
Transposition transposition code is the substitution one or several steps, so that A is coded
In transposition codes, the letters of the code, where every letter is replaced B or C, and B is coded as C or D, and
clear text are scrambled to the point with something else. This is the most so on for example (see picture below).
that they are basically an anagram. In common kind of cipher and is used by One way to complicate the Caesar
shorter messages, a transposition code both kings and occultists. shift is to use a certain codeword (or
is very simple to solve since the number One of the drawbacks with key-word) that is written at the start of
of letter combinations are limited, the substitution code is that they, the code alphabet. Julius Caesar, in his
but in longer texts the combination contrary to certain stenographies and communication with his generals, used
possibilities become infinite. For the transposition codes, reveal themselves the word Caesar as his keyword, which
208 receiver to quickly be able to read the to be a cryptogram immediately and is why this style of code bears his
message, the key code needs to be quite thus inevitably draw attention to name. The keyword is written at the
simple, which increases the vulnerability themselves. start of the coded alphabet, all double-
of the code. letters are removed, and the rest of the
alphabet follows. Unfortunately, Caesar
Monoalphabetical shift is very vulnerable to frequency
Pigpen cipher substitution code analysis and is routinely solved in black
The most common transposition code is In the simplest variants of the cabinets throughout Europe.
the Pigpen Cipher, in which one writes substitution code, one letter in the
the message so that every second letter clear text corresponds with one letter
is written on an upper row and its in the encrypted text. If the letter A Atbash
following letter is written on the lower in the clear text corresponds with the A typical substitution code is Atbash,
row after which they are then attached letter X in the encrypted text, then all which was historically used by Jewish
to each other. When the receiver the letter A in the text are replaced mystics and Kabbalists. In this cipher,
decrypts the message they simply write with the letter X. the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet
every second letter on an upper row The greatest drawback of is exchanged with the last, the second
and every second on a lower row. To monoalphabetical substitution codes with the second to last, and so on. In
complicate the code, people sometimes is that longer messages are very the Bible one can find examples of
use three or four rows. While the pigpen vulnerable to frequency-analysis. Atbash in Jeremia 25:26 and 51:41,
cipher is both easy to write and decrypt This is the most common way to where Babel is called Sesak and in
it is also very easy to solve for enemies, decrypt ciphers and means that Jeremia 51:1 where Leb-Kamai is
which is why it is only used by the lower one counts the occurrence of single Atbash for Kasdim, or the Chaldeans.
grades of the secret societies. letters in the text and tries to Some occultists say that Baphomet,
replace the letters with the highest who was worshipped by the Knights
frequency with the most common Templar according to the legend
Scytale letters of the language (E, T, A and and was the reason that they were
In ancient Sparta it was common to O in most European languages), excommunicated and burned on the
use a wooden staff called a scytale with which usually makes up 10% each in a pyre, is really the Atbash version of

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 “Sophia,” wisdom incarnate in gnostic Still, the code isn’t impossible to solve. grades of the Freemasons, for example,
belief. When written in the Latin Partly because more unusual letters don’t switch book cipher every time a new
alphabet Atbash is rather easy to occur with more than two variations volume of the Encyclopedia or a new
solve, but because the older Hebrew and thus can be easily defined in longer book by Voltaire is published.
language only uses consonants, Atbash messages, and partly because certain
written in Hebrew is considerably combinations of letters in the language
harder to solve, since one can’t often are very common (in French Le, La and Svinstiechiffer
see that a word is written in Atbash. Les are very frequent, as well as THE In the lower ranks of the Freemasons
Atbash is especially widespread in English), while others are extremely a so-called svinstiechiffer is used, where
among Kabbalists, Cryptomagicians, unusual (in the English language for every letter is exchanged with a
and within the English branch of the example, the letter Q is never followed symbol in a simple mono-alphabetical 209
Ordre de le Sang Bleu. by another letter then U). substitution code. It is said that it was
when a letter written by Voltaire to
Frederick the Great of Prüssia was
Homophonic substitution Book cipher intercepted and solved by the Pope’s
cryptography An even more secure variation of the agents that Voltaire was finally forced to
To make frequency-analysis more homophonic code is the book cipher, in flee to Berlin in 1751. A similar code is
difficult, cryptographers have developed which one chooses a book or a text that the Rosicrucian cipher, which is used by
homophonic codes, where the same will function as the key code. The words the lowest grades of the Rosicrucians.
clear text letter can be replaced with in the book are numbered from 1 up,
several different characters in the and every number in the encrypted text
encrypted text. The letter A could for represents the first letter in the word Le Grande Chiffre
example be written as 45, 123 or 378 with the same number. The advantage Luis XIV was obsessed with keeping his
in a coded message. Usually, one takes of the book cipher is that the characters business secret and trusted his cipher
the characters that occur with the most in the encrypted text never need to be secretaries Antoine and Bonaventure
frequency in the language and gives these repeated. Contrary to almost all other Rossignol to such a degree that he
several variations so that all characters in ciphers in the 18th century, the book moved their offices right next to his own
the encrypted text occur with the same cipher is impossible to solve without chambers. Father and son Rossignol
frequency. E could be replaced with knowing the key, which in theory makes were tasked with constructing a
twelve different characters, T by nine, A it definitely the most secure cipher. completely safe cipher for le Roi Soleil,
by eight, O by seven, and N by six, while Skilled crypto-analysts have learned, and unfortunately, Le Grande Chiffre
letters with less frequency like B, F and however, to check book ciphers against turned out to be so secure that no one
J may only have one or two characters to books and texts that are commonly used could read the encrypted documents
replace them. The consequence of this is by secret societies, which in practice in the archives after both the older
that every character in the message will makes it a relatively easy cipher to solve. and younger Rossignol had died. Even
only make up about 1% of the letters, The point with a book cipher is that though many attempts have been made
which makes regular frequency analysis the key should be easily identified and by the greatest crypto-analysts of
impossible. acquired by the receiver. The middle France, the cipher remains unsolved.

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 What the Rossignols did was of symbolism has been used by early specialization) skill check. It is up to the
that they developed the homophonic Christians in Rome, who, in order to avoid Game Master to determine how obscure
substitution code by writing the most prosecution, used a fish as their symbol a symbol is and to give a negative
common combinations of letters, or since the Greek word for fish (ichtys) can situation modifier, if applicable.
bigrams, (-es, -en, -ou and, de for be read as an acronym for Iesous Christos
example) with their own signs. For Theou Yios Soter, which is the Greek
example the phrase “les enemies” (the for “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.” Emblems
enemies) was written as 124-22-125- The greatest advantage of symbols A developed form of the symbol is the
46-345 (les-en-ne-mi-s). is that they can be shown in public emblem, which depicts an entire scene,
Even though countless cipher since only the initiated can interpret often with an associated line of text,
secretaries and code breakers have them, and many secret societies often that is often reproduced in woodcuts
failed, it is possible to solve the cipher. use their symbols on noble heraldry in occult writings. During the 17th
Since certain words will occur a great and in the insignias or names of trade century, emblem books that contained
number of times in the text they can, companies. Many times, the symbols are emblems depicting the Christian virtues
with great difficulty, be identified since used by secret societies to audaciously became immensely popular in Europe
combinations will eventually start to flaunt their existence right in front of and are still sold in several editions
repeat and form a pattern. By testing the ignorant masses. One of the most during the 18th century. Emblematics
the most common signs in the coded widespread and at the same time most are also used in painting, where different
text against the most common bigrams secret symbols is the Dutch East-India symbols in a painting carry different
in French, one can find a way to solve Company’s name, which is shortened meanings. The most famous motif is the
the cipher. as VOC, which makes up the symbol of Memento Mori, where a skull is used to
It is said that the Compagnie du Saint- the wise owl that sees all secrets and represent the mortality of life. Many
Sacrement, of which the Rossignols sends a clear message to all initiated paintings from the Middle Ages and the
were members, still uses Le Grande that the company is controlled by the Renaissance are littered with symbols
Chiffre. Illuminati, who thus control a large part of the Christian virtues. Quite often
of world trade. Another example is the these symbols have double meanings,
210 lily used in French heraldry, which in one that is perceived by the masses and
Codes the secret society Sapientia is a stylized another that can only be seen by the
A development of the homophonic symbol for a bee, a gnostician symbol initiated in secret societies. Many of the
code, to complicate frequency analysis, of industriousness. Secret societies will greatest painters in art history were
is the code where whole words are often make use of common symbols such initiated into secret societies, and it is
exchanged with characters or signs. as the cross or the sun, and modify them rumoured that many famous art pieces
In this way one can avoid the message so that they stand out to the trained eye. hide occult secrets and messages that
being solved through repeated letter The biggest drawback of symbols can be revealed by someone experienced
combinations. For the key code not to is that they can only deliver limited in emblematics.
be as extensive as a dictionary however, information and are mostly used to
one needs to combine the code with a show membership in a certain secret
substitution cipher in order to write society. Another drawback is that
certain words. symbols in most cases have a wide
One example is the code system array of different meanings. A skull for
that Maria Stuart used to order the example could serve as a reminder of
assassination of Elisabeth I of England. the mortality of life and to encourage
The code was solved, however, by the members to live a righteous life during
cipher secretary Thomas Phelippes after their short time in the world, while, for
weeks of trial and error, and became the the society members of higher ranks, it
proof which resulted in the execution of could serve as a symbol for the naked
the queen of Scots. will and determination, free from the
weaknesses of the flesh and the soul’s
moral obstacles, and to encourage the
Symbols grand master to rule and control their
A development of the method of using surroundings.
codes is symbolism, where a frequent A symbol can be revealed with
character is used to symbolize another. an Esotericism (De Sodaliciorum
One of the most famous examples Discipline, Esoteric Symbolism

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 Polyalphabetic substitution clear text, which made the cipher as a matter of fact, be solved with
code almost impossible to analyse. frequency analysis. The first step is
If one, for example, uses the word to guess the length of the keyword
The most sophisticated substitution “roi” (king), the first letter of the clear with a “trial and error” approach.
code uses several different crypto- text is coded from the row that starts Thereafter, one performs frequency
alphabets to encrypt one and the same above R on the Tabula Recta, the other analysis on every crypto-alphabet (in
message. The consequence is that one with O, the third with I, the fourth with the example above, three different
and the same character can represent a R, the fifth with O and so on. When ones) and compares the results with
number of different letters in the clear the receiver then decrypts the message the different rows on the Tabula
text, and thus make frequency analysis they use the Tabula Recta to recreate the Recta to find the keyword. When the
impossible. Polyalphabetic ciphers are process. keyword is identified one can easily
considered to be extremely complex It is said that not even the Pope’s decipher the message.
however, and are primarily used by the most skilled cipher secretaries have Many black cabinets in Europe
highest ranks of secret societies during found a way to break the Vigenère know how to write messages with the
the 18th century. Even the Pope’s cipher, but that the cryptographers Vigenère cipher, even if they don’t
personal crypto-analysts usually fail of the Illuminati have held the key know how to solve it, but because of
to solve many polyalphabetic codes. for a long time. After all, it was the the complicated process to code and
In order to solve a polyalphabetic Illuminati who invented and gave the decrypt with it, it is only used for the
code a character is required to have cipher to Vigenère. The cipher can, most sensitive documents.
the specializations Mathematics and
Reading and Writing.

Vigenère cipher
The first to develop a polyalphabetic
code was the great Renaissance artist,
composer, and philosopher Leon 211
Battista Alberti (1404-1472), also
know for having led reconstruction
work in the old church of St. Peter’s
and for having written the first printed
book on architecture, which was the
main reason for the transition from
the Gothic style to the Renaissance.
After having discussed with the papal
cipher secretaries about the ability
of frequency analysis to solve any
substitution codes, Alberti suggested
shifting between two different Caesar
Shifts to code a message, and in this
manner trick the frequency-analysis.
The German abbot and occultist
Johannes Trithemius and the Italian
naturalist philosopher Giambattista
della Porta further explored Alberti’s
design, but it was the French diplomat
Blaise de Vigenère that gave the cipher
its final form. To help him, he had
Trithemius’ invention the Tabula Recta,
a chart that compiled Caesar shifts in
falling order where A is coded as B on
the second row, C on the third, D on the
fourth and so on. Vigenère’s addition
was to use a keyword to encrypt the

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 Occult Languages Enoch was the last man to speak Lingua ignota
In many occult and blasphemous rituals, the language of angels until it was St Hildegard of Bingen was a pius
spells, and ritualistic chanting, languages rediscovered in the 16th century by the abbess who, during the 12th century,
long since dead and forgotten are used. court astrologer and advisor of Elisabeth founded a number of cloisters in the
Some of them have been constructed by I, Dr John Dee and his assistant Edward Rhineland, wrote moralizing plays,
occultists and cryptographers, while Kelly, who wrote it down in Liber and composed music. At the end of her
others have been passed down and Loagaeth. Dee and Kelly claimed that life she published a text with the title
preserved since time immemorial. Less they had been given the language by Lingua Ignota per simplicem hominem
knowledgeable alchemists and sorcerers angels, but many occultists say that Hildegardem prolata, in which she had
believe that these magical words have they in truth constructed the language written down dictionaries and an
the power to perform miracles even themselves. Since only a few phrases alphabet for the language: the Lingua
if spoken by the ignorant. In reality, were translated by Dee and Kelly, only Ignota. The origin of the language is
occult languages have the same function bits and pieces of the language are unknown, and the subject of much
as ciphers and codes: to hide secrets known even by the most knowledgeable speculation. Some say that the abbess
from those who are not initiated. In occultists in Europe. In the Rosicrucian herself constructed the language as an
whispers one can hear rumours that Order however, of which both Dee alternative to Latin, with the purpose
the highest ranks in the Ordre de le Sang and Kelly were members, the angelic of uniting the learned of Europe; others
Bleu use Mesopotamian and cuneiform language is spoken fluently among the claim that the language was spoken
writing, and that the inner circle of the highest ranks. To be able to read texts before the tower of Babel fell and the
Illuminati speak Egyptian and write written in Enochian, the character is language of man was confounded. Only
in hieroglyphs. Whether there is any required to have both Reading and a few mouldy copies of the text remain,
truth to these rumours, no one knows. Writing (Enochian) specialization and even if certain parts have been preserved
Maybe it is just a myth, since no one the Foreign Language (Enochian) in certain devil-bibles and alchemical
has managed to solve the riddle of the specialization of the Communication writings.
hieroglyphs yet in the 17th century. skill, Languages discipline. It is rumoured that the highest
Because the occult languages take years grades of the Pium Sodalicium uses the
212 to learn, they are almost exclusively Lingua Ignota, and that the last words
used by the highest ranks of a secret that heretics hear before they are burnt
society. Although certain societies use on the pyre are whispered to them in
occult alphabets in the absence of actual this harsh language.
knowledge of the occult language, the
fact that these messages are written in
a normal language means that they are,
in practice, nothing more than homo-
alphabetic substitution ciphers that can
easily be solved as such.

Enochian
Some claim that Enochian was the
language used by God to create the
world, and later by Adam when he
named all things in creation. When
Adam and Eve were banished from
Eden, they forgot the language, but
it was rediscovered by the patriarch
Enoch, the great grandfather of Noah,
and famous due to the Book of Enoch.

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 sub rosa

 Beasts and Antagonists 

Below are some of the beings that haunt these items can be skipped at the GM’s What they know and don’t
the 18th-century world of LexOccultum discretion. know
presented. There are also some simple
advice to help the GM describe the Describe what the NPC knows that
people and beings which the player NPC Descriptions could be important for the events in the
characters (PCs) might run into during adventure, and what they don’t know.
their LexOccultum adventures. ✦✦ Appearance
The people and creatures that ✦✦ Background
the player characters can run into ✦✦ What they know and don’t know First Impression
are called “Non-Player Characters” ✦✦ First Impression Describe what impressions the PCs get
or simply “NPCs”. Some are more ✦✦ Character traits from the NPC when they first met him,
important than others, and these ✦✦ Skills and what are the impressions from the
should be created with varying ✦✦ Abilities and Powers PCs that the NPC would react to.
amounts of care depending on their ✦✦ Combat Capacity 213
importance in the adventures. NPCs ✦✦ Fear Factor The impression given by the NPC
that a PC will only meet and speak ✦✦ Health Points and Natural Protection Describe in a few words how the PCs will
with briefly don’t need to have more ✦✦ Gear perceive the NPC the first time they meet.
depth than the bare minimum, while a
NPC that the PCs will face in combat, The impressions that the NPC
or that is essential to the current Appearance approves/disapproves of
story, should be described in more Describe briefly the appearance of the It could be advantageous to describe how a
depth. Depending on the role and character and how they behave. human NPC reacts to certain impressions
importance of an NPC, the description that the PCs or their actions might give.
could range from a few lines to several What impressions will make the NPC more
pages. Background accommodating and what impressions will
When creating a NPC, the process Where does the NPC come from, what have the reverse effect? It doesn’t have to
does not need to be as detailed as it is drives the character to act in a particular be several lines of text, a few useful key
for PC. A NPC does not need to have manner, and what is their role in the words are sufficient, using “+” for what is
an archetype, and can be given any adventure? approved and “-” for the opposite.
trait, skill, discipline and specialty
that match the GM’s vision of the
character and their role in the story. It
is often more important, however, to EXAMPLE: IMPRESSIONS
give a NPC a thorough description of
their appearance and personality than Jack: +Reserved; + Modesty; - Forwardness; - Arrogance
it is to write down their skill sets and The NPC Jack doesn’t like forward or arrogant people. He will ignore these people
secondary attributes. to the best of his ability. He appreciates people with reserved demeanours and modesty
There is a brief list below of things however, and is happy to oblige if such people ask for his help.
that should be considered in the Isabelle: +Dangerous; +Secretive; - Insecure; - Silent
description of a NPC. Depending on The NPC Isabelle is drawn to dangerous and secretive men that keep everyone at
their role, however, one or several of a distance, but she despises insecure and quiet men.

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 Character Traits combat (without considering hindering Each level is indicated, as well as
Describe the character’s foremost factors like terrain and weather which the modifiers which are applied after
character traits. The effects of their could raise the CP cost). entering that level.
character traits could be unnatural and The second value indicates the
different from the effects a PC gets from maximum number of meters a creature
theirs. can move during a single round (while Protection
not engaged in combat). Protection shows whether the NPC is
Some creatures will have more than resistant to certain kinds of damage,
Skills one set of stats if they have more types of physical or mental. The protection of
List the most important skills, movement (walking, flying, swimming, etc.). a NPC could be attributed to a special
disciplines, and specialities of a NPC, abilities, powers, armors or just an
and give them a skill value (SV). You exceptionally thick skin.
do not need to specify all the skills an Fear Factor
NPC has, but only those which are more Describes how horrifying the NPC is, and
frequently used. how many mental damage points it causes Gear
its opponents when they first see it. Describe what gear the NPC carries
and/or has access to, and which quality
Abilities and Powers level each item is.
Describe what special abilities and Health Points
powers the NPC possesses. Health points describes how many
physical and mental health points the Supernatural Beings
NPC has, and how it is affected by Why do they exist? Where are they
Combat Capacity injuries. Some beings and beasts only from? There’s an abundance of questions
Combat capacity describes how many have one of these types of health points. and unfortunately too little is known
combat points the NPC have at their Health points are usually shown in to answer these questions about
disposal and which combat points are ranges, so that the Game Master can werewolves, vampires, spectres, demons,
214 free or locked to certain weapons. choose the exact amount according to and other strange beings that wander
his vision of the particular individual our earth. The only thing one can say
Samples of Attacks monster in a certain species. for sure is that they are real, and that
This entry describes one or more typical To estimate how many Health Points their abilities are far more powerful than
combinations of how combat points a human being might have per damage that of any human. There are plenty of
are spent in a round. This will greatly level you can use the normal rules which theories ranging from that they have
simplify combat if the Game Master are used also for player characters, been conjured by Jewish Kabbalists to
does not want to change the values. as explained in the Alter Ego book. that they have been summoned from
For other creatures consider the total the sky through Babylonian mysticism.
Arms and Natural Weapons available Health Points and divide as A number of documents and “truths”
Describe how the NPC is armed and follows (rounded down). circulate among secret societies, but
how much damage each weapon does. the truth is that it is unknown if all
Natural weapons show how much ✦✦ Damage Levels the various supernatural beasts have a
damage a NPC can cause in unarmed ✦✦ Level 1 = Health Points / 3 common origin or if they exist completely
combat. A natural weapon could, for ✦✦ Level 2 = Health Points / 4 independent of each other.
example, be fists, kicks, claws, or bites, ✦✦ Level 3 = Health Points / 5 In LexOccultum, the PCs will wage an
but it could also be toxic tentacles or acid ✦✦ Level 4 = Health Points / 8 endless battle against supernatural beings.
spit. Although the natural weapons of a ✦✦ Level 5 = Health Points / 16 (or what They will face all kinds of monsters, from
being mainly cause physical harm, there is left) dark beings and ancient spirits to demons
are also natural weapons that could have from the fiery pits of hell.
an effect on its victim’s mental wellbeing. EXAMPLE: DAMAGE LEVELS A few examples of different beings
that haunt the world of Lex Occultum
70 Health Points are given below. Naturally, the GM can
Movement Level 1: 1-23 (70/3=23,33) freely create their own supernatural
This stat is divided in two parts. The Level 2: 24-41 (24+(70/4)=41,5) beings (which, in fact, should be the
first value represents how many meters Level 3: 42-56 (42+(70/5)=56) rule rather than the exception), or
the expense of 2 Combat Points allow Level 4: 57-65 (57+(70/8)=65) modify the existing ones to better
the creature or NPC to move while in Level 5: 66-70 fit their particular story. The stats

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 presented below are just examples of monsters met by the characters, the stages of the same sickness which
what a certain creature can be, not exact more extraordinary they will appear. decides what shape a lycanthrope will
representations of all the members of a Monsters are exceptions to the normal take, we will leave it unsaid for now.
particular monstrous kind. Remember life, therefore treat them as such! The two factions of scientists are
that each creature should be treated unified, however, in their understanding
as a special and unique entity, whose of how the disease or lycanthropy is
exact abilities cannot be predicted Lycanthrope spread. There are several known cases
with certainty. If a vampire has certain The scientists that have devoted of it spreading, and the conclusion
powers and weaknesses, it does not themselves to the study of the dark which can be drawn from these is that
mean that all blood suckers share mysteries regarding lycanthropy are lycanthropy is spread in two ways. One
the same abilities and characteristics. divided into two camps. On the one way is that a person is bitten or scratched
Remember to always challenge the hand, there are those who claim that by a wolf that carries the disease, and
players’ preconceptions! it is actually possible to categorise the other is that a person is bitten or
One suggestion, however, is to be lycanthropes, and that there are at least scratched by an actual lycanthrope.
economical with the use of monsters six, but perhaps as many as twelve, Some claim that other animals can also
and with what monsters the PCs face different variations of the creature. be carriers of the disease, which in turn
in their search for the truth. Often, a The other camp, however, claims that leads to other variations of lycanthropes.
simple rumour of a beast can be more lycanthropes cannot be categorised, Rats are especially suspected of being
terrifying than an actual encounter since it is a sickness that manifests such carriers.
with it. Always remember that in differently depending on who is afflicted, What exactly triggers the trans-
Latin “Monstrum” means “a prodigy”! i.e., all lycanthropes are different from formation is also a subject of discussion.
Monstruous creatures should be each other. Although the latter group Some stubbornly believe that it is only
fearsome and encountered at the concur that one can classify a number the clear light of the full moon that
apex of a climax in the story. They of abilities and traits that are common can trigger the transformation, while
should enter the scene in dramatic to most lycanthropes, they firmly reject others claim that the smell of blood, or
ways and their mere presence should the notion that lycanthropes can be merely the sight of it, could be enough.
make the player characters feeling classified in different categories such as: Another strange thing is that the 215
uneasy. Meeting a monster should Luna-lycanthrope, Gemini-lycanthrope, duration of the transformation differs.
make the PCs realize how the reality and Silver-lycanthrope. Whether there Some are rumoured to have been turned
as they know simply does not work for actually are different categories of for several months or even years, while
such creatures and, the fewer are the lycanthropes, or if it is merely different others are merely turned for a few days.

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 Character Traits LYCANTHROPE: ABILITIES AND POWERS
(when transformed) Abilities Effect
Natural Protection The lycanthrope has exceptionally thick skin and thus receives natural
✦✦ Constitution: + 6 protection. It is up to the GM to decide how much protection the skin
✦✦ Dexterity: +4 gives, although 5 or 10 points are common values.
✦✦ Intelligence: -4 Character Trait Improved Character Traits when transformed. The Game Master
✦✦ Perception: +4 decides how much the physical traits change after the transformation.
Regenerate The lycanthrope regenerates 1 physical health point every third
action round.
Skills (when transformed)
Persistent Life The lycanthrope cannot die from injuries. When the lycanthrope’s
physical health points reach or pass 0 it will collapse in a death-like
✦✦ Agility SV 10 coma, and slowly regenerate its injuries.
✦✦ Body Control 2 (Parkour 3, Evade 3)
✦✦ Fighting SV 10
✦✦ Battle Experience 1 (Combat Actions 3, Above are some examples of lycanthropic ✦✦ Mental Health Points: -
Combat Reaction 3), Unarmed Fighting 1 powers. It is totally up to the Game ✦✦ Natural Protection: -
(Brawling 4, Wrestling 2) Master to decide which ones a specific
✦✦ Stealth SV 10 creature has and how strong they are.
✦✦ Avoidance 2 (Hide and Camouflage 2, Phantom
Sneaking 4), Detection 3 (Observation 5) A phantom is an anxious soul that,
Combat Capacity for some reason, cannot cut whatever
binds them to the world of the living
Abilities and Powers ✦✦ Combat Points: Free 11 / Unarmed and enter the world of the dead.
All lycanthropes have some abnormal and 1 (Brawling 8, Wrestling 4). Phantoms are often created from the
beastly powers in common. Some only souls of those whose lives have abruptly
become slightly stronger while turned, Sample of Attacks ended, perhaps by accident or murder.
216 while others become much stronger ✦✦ Unarmed Brawling SV 11, SV 9 They live in a kind of limbo, between
(change the Character Traits as above or as the world of the dead and the world of
fitted). The transformation seems to be very Weapons the living. Some phantoms aren’t even
individual, and this supports the theory that ✦✦ Bite 1d10 (OR 8-10) + Constitution aware that they are dead, and instead
there aren’t different breeds of lycanthropes modifier. remain, bound to the place where they
but rather that every specimen’s disease ✦✦ Claw 1d10 (OR 9-10) + Constitution died in the belief that they are still alive.
is individual, and has different stages of modifier. All phantoms aren’t bound to a certain
transformation based on this. place however, some are instead bound
A lycanthrope does not always receive to a particular person or object. There
supernatural abilities and powers after Movement are both good and evil phantoms.
being transformed, however their ✦✦ Move: Land 2 CP per m (Max 16 m) Good phantoms usually try to aid
natural abilities, such as strength, speed, those around them, and to understand
and physique, are always improved. why they remain in this world in the
Senses, such as hearing, smell, and sight, Fear Factor hope that they will one day be able to
are also significantly improved. ✦✦ Fear points: 1d10 (OR 8-10) to be applied leave it. These spirits are ready to depart
Some lycanthropes, however, seem to after the transformation happens. to the other side, and have accepted that
have a regenerating ability that makes their time in the world of the living is
them impossible to kill. Even if all limbs over and that a new life awaits them on
are separated from the body, new ones Health Points and Protection the other side. What binds them to this
will grow out from the head. The only world could be things that they’ve done
way to kill these lycanthropes is to burn ✦✦ Physical Health Points: 32-80 that they’re ashamed of, for which they
them to ashes, or by destroying the head need to be forgiven before they depart. It
in another way. Furthermore, some seem ✦✦ Damage levels (for 70 health points) could be that they have been murdered,
to be very resistant to damage, and have ✦✦ Lightly injured: 1-23 and can’t receive the peace of the other
some form of natural protection. Some ✦✦ Injured: 24-41 side until their murderer is caught. It
have a weakness for silver, and can be ✦✦ Seriously Injured: 42-56 could also be that they’ve been treated
killed if the fatal blow is made with a ✦✦ Critically Injured: 57-65 unjustly by someone, and need to let
weapon or projectile made of silver. ✦✦ Dying: 66-70 this person know that they’ve forgiven

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 them for this. objects. This ability is usually limited ✦✦ Mental Health Points: 20-100 (45 is
The evil phantoms that remain in this to smaller things however, for example, a common value)
world often do so for the same reasons as moving furniture, pushing an item off a
the good. However, some have lived such shelf or a table, having a whole tea set The mental health points show how
an evil life that they couldn’t stop doing fly around in circles in the air only to strong a spirit is. The more mental
evil deeds even after their death. Some fall to the ground, writing texts with a health points it has, the stronger the
discover that they’ve received powers feather pen, closing or opening doors, or spirit is. There are no damage levels
that they didn’t have before, and are extinguishing candles. and therefore no modifiers from
more than happy to use these to spread Some phantoms have terrible powers damage.
terror among the living. When a soul is that they can use against people who
suddenly forced to leave the world of the cross their path. It is completely up to Harming a phantom
living, they do this with great bitterness. the GM to decide exactly what powers There are different ways to harm a
It is this bitterness which creates the evil a phantom possess. Below are some phantom.
phantoms. Their lingering minds are suggestions for these abilities.
twisted and evil, and their sole wish is ✦✦ Some phantoms haven’t realised that
to take vengeance on the living, whom they are dead. Convincing such a
they jealously hate more than anything Movement phantom that they are dead will help
else. These phantoms often remain in ✦✦ Move: Flying Up to 16 m (no cost) them depart to the other side.
the world of the living, in addition to the ✦✦ If an exorcism is performed over the
reasons given above, for other similar phantom, it will receive the amount
reasons: they aren’t finished with the evil Fear Factor of mental damage indicated by the
deeds that they did in their life; they hate ✦✦ Fear points: 1d10 (OR 9-10) exorcism’ description.
a person or a family to the degree that ✦✦ When the conflict, which binds the
they can’t find rest until the person or phantom to a place, is solved, the
the whole family has died; their jealousy Health Points and Protection phantom disappears.
of a person compels them to remain and
haunt that person, or they believe that a ✦✦ Physical Health Points: A phantom 217
person is responsible for their death and lacks physical health points
want to take vengeance on them.

PHANTOM: ABILITIES AND POWERS

Appearance Abilities Effect
Phantoms have no physical bodies, and Thought Control The phantom can force someone to do something against their own
are often perceived as a translucent, pale will. To resist this effect the victim must make a Situation roll with a
figure that hovers above the ground. SV of 8 modified by the Psyche trait.
Often, they can choose when they Invoke Vision The phantom can invoke terrible visions so that a character flees in
are seen and when they are invisible. terror. The PC must succeed in a situation check with the situation
Some can change their appearance so value of 10 (modified by the character’s Psyche trait). If the roll fails,
that they are sometimes perceived as a the PC will receive 1d5 mental damage points. The fear factor is and
horrifying vision, only to be perceived the situation value to resist can be modified by the Game Master for
as an innocent child (for example) the stronger or weaker phantoms, but the chosen values should always
next second. reflect how horrifying the vision is.
Telekinesis The phantom can move objects through the air. How large an object
that the phantom can move is up to the GM
Abilities and Powers Control Perception The phantom can choose to remain unperceived by certain people, or
Some phantoms have learned the ability choose to only be perceived with certain senses
to choose who can see them and who they Death Experience The phantom can force a person to experience the phantom’s own
are invisible to, even if these individuals death. To resist such an effect the victim must make a situation roll
are in the very same room. Some have wit ha SV of 10 modified by the Psyche’s trait. How horrifying the
learned to create visions of things that experience is should determine how much damage a PC’s mental
have happened, or that they think will health takes. This is usually established by the Game Master but a
common value is of 1d10 (OR 9-10) of mental damage.
happen. Some phantoms, but far from
all, have learned to move objects, and
sometimes they can even lift or hold

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 Spectres and W raiths Abilities and Powers Movement
A spectre or a wraith is a strong soul, Spectres usually terrorize their ✦✦ Move: Land 2 CP per m (Max 10 m)
which has managed to seize a dead body environments through physical
in order to turn it into its vessel in the violence, and don’t have many mental
world of the living. The body is most abilities or powers. It’s completely up Fear Factor
often the same as the one, which the to the GM, however, to determine what ✦✦ Fear points: 1D10 (OP 8-10)
soul was once bound to, but sometimes abilities they have and how powerful
they use another body that the spectre these are. The GM is also free to pick
has managed to seize. abilities and powers not just from this Health Points
The difference between a spectre and a list but also from the phantom’s list. There are a couple of ways to destroy or
phantom is that the spectre has a physical banish a wraith. One way is to destroy the
body, although it could be both decayed body of the wraith, but this won’t kill the
and lack one or several body parts. The Combat Capacity spirit, which will eventually return. In order
body is really just a vessel for the wraith, Just as with the skill set, the wraith has to destroy and banish a wraith completely,
and by destroying this vessel, the wraith, the same skill value in Fighting as well one must target its mental health points.
or spirit, is unleashed and will immediately as the same disciplines and specialities
try to find a new body (the wraith then as it had when it lived. The GM can Physical Health Points
functions as a phantom). Since the ghost modify what Skill Values the wraith Since the wraith uses a dead body, its
can’t seize a living body, it will find its way has for its different attacks and parries physical health points are determined by
to the body of a newly buried individual. as they see fit. the state of this body. However, since the
The ghost has little time to accomplish
this however, since only the most powerful
ghost is able to dwell in the world of the
living for more than one lunar month SPECTRES AND WRAITHS: ABILITIES AND POWERS
outside of the safe harbour of a body. Abilities Effect
Mislead The wraith can lure victims astray with the help of misleading lights.
218 When a person sees a light like this, there is a chance that they will
Appearance choose to follow the light to its source. To see if a victim is led astray,
Most wraiths possess their own former one makes a situation check against 10 modified by Psyche. Depending
body. If that body isn’t available, the on how strong the ghost is, the situation check can be modified.
wraith will choose another body to Earthen protection The spectre can seek shelter by sinking into the ground, an action which
possess. Rarely a wraith possesses the takes 3-10 rounds, during which it can’t do anything else other than
body of a dead animal. When the body taking shelter (a specific spectre might be either quicker or slower). Some
for some reason has stopped functioning spectres can also move short distances through the ground.
(when its health points reach 0), the Screech The spectre can let out a terrible screech that can potentially cause a
wraith will seek a new body, and will new fear factor roll. The PC must succeed in a situation roll with the
then often settle on the first corpse it can situation value of 10 modified by the character’s Psyche. If the check
find. While the wraith moves between fails, the PC will receive 1D5 mental damage points. Specific wraits
bodies, it behaves as a phantom. can inflict greater Fear Factor or the situation value can be completely
different, according to the GM’s judgement.
Protection The Spectre can only be damaged by silver weapons or other special objects.
Character Traits Drain life-force The Spectre can drain the life-force of a person at the speed of 1D3
physical damage points per action round (the GM can modify this
✦✦ Constitution: +6 amount, according to his desire) by giving a so-called kiss of death. To
activate such a power the Spectre must have physical contact with the
victim, usually through keeping hold of it, wrestling.
Skills Strong The wraith is very strong, therefore one character trait is at +8.
A spectre usually has the same set of Extra endurable The body of the wraith can withstand more damage than usual (how
skills, disciplines, and specialisations as many more health points it has is up to the GM).
it had while it still lived. Some skills may Disease The wraith can spread an illness by coughing on its victims, who
be improved, and some can be lowered, immediately need to make a situation check with the situation value of
however, and it is completely up to the 10 (the character trait Health is used to modify the check) in order to
GM to modify the skill values. A broken avoid falling ill. (The GM can modify the situation value based on how
dangerous the wraith’s disease is.)
body could impair the spectre’s Agility.

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 wraith doesn’t feel any pain, it doesn’t and stories are extensive. Some say that Languages 4 (Foreign Languages 4,
have any damage levels, and the amount there exist both the original vampires, Reading and Writing 4, Native
of points should increase somewhat from who are around 2000 years old, and Language 4); Rhetoric 4 (Bartering 3,
a living creature’s (who’s pain, blood loss, so-called Vrykolakas, which is a kind of Persuasion 4)
and damaged organs contribute more to second generation of vampires. ✦✦ Culture SV 10
the death of the creature.) The old, or Upior as they are called, ✦✦ Civics 3 (Administration 3, Economics 1,
are powerful beings that have travelled Heraldry 4, Law 2), Humanities 2
Mental Health Points the earth for aeons and have gained great (Archaeology 1, History 3, Literature
The number of mental health points that power and dangerous abilities. Since and Arts 2, Philisophy 2)
the wraith has is determined by how there are so many variations of vampires, ✦✦ Entertainment SV 8
strong its connection is to the world of there are also a number of different life ✦✦ Acting and Dance 2 (Acting 2,
the living. Often, this has to do with how styles for them. Some live just like any Dancing 3), Gambling 4 (Cheating 2,
the soul was separated from its body, i.e. normal human being, while others live Games 3 Illicit Gaming 2), Music 2
how the person in question died. lives that seem more like predators. What (Playing Instruments 3)
A few examples on how the wraith all vampires have in common, however, is ✦✦ Esotericism SV 9
can be damaged in are listed below. that they need blood to survive. ✦✦ De Sodaliciorum 2 (Esoteric Symbolism
There is also a number of stories 3, Occult Literature 3, Sub Rosa Doctus 3),
✦✦ Exorcism can be performed over regarding how one becomes a vampire. Divination 3 (Numerology1, Seer 2),
the wraith with great success. Use Some say that a vampire must visit the Supernatural beings 3 (Beastiology 3),
the rules for exorcism, as described person in question three times and The left-hand path 3 (Black Magic 4,
elsewhere in this book, but the damage drink their blood from the same wound, Medicina Mentis Sinistra 3)
it inflicts is both physical and mental. after which the person must taste the ✦✦ Fighting: SV 10
✦✦ When the conflict, which binds the vampire’s blood. Other stories claim that ✦✦ Battle Experience 2 (Combat Actions
wraith to a place, is solved, the wraith a vampire can choose to turn someone 4, Combat Reaction 3), Close-Combat
disappears. into a vampire by draining them of all weapons 3 (One-handed Weapons
✦✦ When five nuns simultaneously blood and then giving the person a drop 4, Two-handed Weapons 3), Ranged
throws sacred earth on the wraith, of their own blood before the victim dies weapons 3 (Pistols 2, Rifles 2), 219
it receives 1d6 damage to its mental from the blood loss. Unarmed Fighting 3 (Brawling 3,
health points for every sacred clod of Wrestling 2)
earth it is hit by. ✦✦ Profession SV 9
✦✦ When sunlight hits the body of the Character Traits ✦✦ Animal handling 1 (Animal Care 1,
wraith, it receives 1 mental damage Animal Training 2, Hunting with
point for every action round it is ✦✦ Constitution +6 Animals 2), Crafting 1 (Craftsmanship 2,
subjected to the light. ✦✦ Dexterity +4 Forgery1), Hunting and Fishing 2
✦✦ If gillyflowers are thrown in a ring ✦✦ Intelligence +4 (Fishing 1, Hunting 2, Tracking 2)
around the wraith, it will receive ✦✦ Perception +2 ✦✦ Science SV 9
1d10 (OR 8-10) in mental damage ✦✦ Psyche +4 ✦✦ Applied science 2 (Pharmaceutics
points if it steps out of the circle. 1, Technology 2), Healthcare 2
(Healing 2, Mental care 3), Natural
Skills philosophy 3 (Biology 2, Chemistry 1,
Vampire The vampire has the same skill set Geology 1, Mathematics 2, Physics 2),
Scientists and monster experts divide as it had while alive (or better). It is Transmutation 2 (Alchemy 3)
vampires into a number of different completely up to the GM to decide what ✦✦ Stealth SV 9
categories. The Raspail-vampires, who skills, disciplines, and specialisations ✦✦ Avoidance 2 (Hide and Camouflage 2,
have human shape but supernatural the vampire has learned. What follows Sneaking 4);
abilities, Nosferatu, who still have much is just an example of a typical Vampire ✦✦ Detection 3 (Observation 5)
of its beastly side but still has a human skill set ✦✦ Theology SV 9
shape, Strigo and Blautsauger, who ✦✦ De Religionibus 2 (De Sub Rosa Religione
basically are the same thing, Moroii, ✦✦ Agility SV 10 2, Iconography 2, Knowledge of Miracles 2,
which is the typical Romanian vampire, ✦✦ Body Control 2 (Parkour 3, Evade 3), Religio 3, Religious Literature 2)
the Muli-vampire, which is a special kind Horsemanship 3 (Driving Wagon 2, ✦✦ Well-Travelled SV 10
of Romani-vampire, and Empusas, which Riding 4) ✦✦ Social Studies 3 (Geography 3, Knowledge
is a more animal-like creature. In short, ✦✦ Communication SV 9 of People/Cultures 4, Power Spheres 4)
the list is long and horrifying. The myths ✦✦ Etiquette 3 (Social Intercourse 3, Vogue 3)

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 Abilities and Powers invitation, while others can even enter a believe that vampires are the spawn of
There are a number of different myths and church without a care in the world. Satan. Some vampires are so sensitive
legends about vampires, and especially The one thing all vampires seem to have to the cross that they are an exception
about their abilities and weaknesses. in common is that they shun the cross like to the normal rule, and are both harmed
Some vampires, it is said, cannot stand nothing else. They aren’t always damaged if someone lays a cross on them and are
sunlight and yet there are those who live by the cross however, to be damaged or stopped dead in their tracks if someone
in the light of day as well as any man. repelled by the cross, the one holding the holds out a cross before them. Another
Others are said to be repelled by garlic, cross needs to be a consecrated priest. In thing that all vampires have in common,
while clearly some aren’t, just like some the hands of a layman, the cross won’t have without exception, is that a vampire dies
are said to be invisible in mirrors but much more effect than that the vampire or is destroyed if an oaken stake is forced
others are as visible as anyone. Some dislikes looking at it. This is something through their dead hearts.
can’t enter a house without receiving an that has given Christians reason to Some vampires are rumoured to be
able to transform into animals, fog, or
VAMPIRE: ABILITIES AND POWERS something similar. Some are said to be able
Abilities Effect to affect a person’s mind by controlling
Protection The vampire only take 1/3 damage (rounded down) from attacks with
their thoughts or what they see or don’t
normal weapons (applies to all vampires, with varying strength). see. Yet others can become invisible, or
move from one place to another, with the
Thought Control The vampire can make a person perform certain actions. The person
in question has to make a situation roll with the situation value of 8
power of thought. These vampires often
(Psyche modifiers apply) to avoid thought control. lead something that looks like a normal life
among people, often in the upper classes
Chameleon The vampire can make their body take on the same colours as its
background. People who are looking for the vampire receives negative of society, since their long lives have given
modifiers on skill and situation rolls that are made to discover the them both experience and money.
vampire. These modifiers are established by the Game Master, There are supposedly also vampires
although -5 is a pretty common value. who are more like animals than humans.
Invisibility The vampire can turn completely invisible. Their appearances diverge greatly. Some
220 Teleportation The vampire can teleport from one place to another a few times every
have wings while others walk on all fours.
day (how many times is based on the power of the vampire). They are said to have abilities that are more
like physical and natural abilities than the
Metamorph The vampire can turn into a certain animal such as a bat, a black
powers that the more human-like vampires
stallion, a wolf, a horrifying beast or something else.
possess. Walking vertically up or down a
Shadow The vampire can turn into a shadow. wall, blending into the environment like
Fog The vampire can turn into a cloud of fog. a chameleon, or flying (with wings) are
Regenerate The vampire regenerates 1 physical health point every other action typical examples of such abilities.
round (applies to all vampires, with different speeds however).
Sight control The vampire can decide what a person can see and what they can’t see
(illusions). This ability can be resisted with a SV of 8 modified by the Combat Capacity
Psyche trait.
Fly The vampire can fly, with or without wings. ✦✦ Combat Points: Free 12 / Close-
Strength The vampire has abnormal strength, even for a vampire. The Combat 3 (One-handed weapons 8,
Constitution trait becomes +8. Two-handed weapons 6) / Ranged
Dextrous The vampire has a very dextrous body and thus the character
Weapons 1 (Pistols 4, Rifles 4) /
Dexterity trait is increased up to +8. Unarmed 3 (Brawling 6, Wrestling 2).
Climb The vampire can walk on walls and on the roof as if they were floors
Sample of Attacks
Damage The vampire can inflict a large amount of damage. This usually means OR ✦✦ One-Handed Weapon: SV 13, SV 10
to be raised by one step (e.g. 1d10 OR 10 becomes 1d10 OR 9-10, etc…). ✦✦ Pistol/Rifle: SV 19
Blood Suck The vampire sucks blood with a speed of 1d4 physical Damage points ✦✦ Unarmed Brawling: SV 11, SV 10
per action round that it is allowed to drink (applies to all vampires,
but in varying degrees). If performed on an unwilling victim, used the
Weapons
rules for wrestling.
✦✦ Bite 1d10 (OR 8-10) + Constitution
Return The vampire vanishes into smoke once their physical health points are modifier.
depleted and materialises again in their home, where they regenerate ✦✦ Claw 1d10 (OR 10) + Constitution
their health points.
modifier.

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 Movement
✦✦ Move: Land 1 CP per m (Max 16 m)

Fear Factor
✦✦ Fear points: 1d10 (OR 7-10)

Health Points and Protection

Vampires have mental health points since
they are really dead creatures. The mental
health points show how strong a spirit the
vampire has, and is also what determines
how much physical violence the vampire
can resist since the vampire’s power
protects its body. A vampire doesn’t die
once its physical health points are depleted.
If this happens, the vampire will collapse
until it has regenerated the injuries and
can get up and leave. To kill a vampire, one
needs to deplete its mental health points.

✦✦ Physical Health Points: 32-80

✦✦ Damage levels (for 50 health points)

✦✦ Lightly injured 1-16
✦✦ Injured 17-29 221
✦✦ Seriously Injured 30-40
✦✦ Critically Injured 41-47
✦✦ Dying 48-50

✦✦ Mental Health Points: 40-100

✦✦ Damage levels (for 65 health points)

✦✦ Lightly injured 1-21
✦✦ Injured 22-38
✦✦ Seriously Injured 39-52
✦✦ Critically Injured 53-61
✦✦ Dying 62-65
action round that the vampire is in damage every action round that the
Harming a vampire close proximity to 1 kg of garlic. vampire is close to the holy object.
How close the vampire can get to the How close the vampire can get to the
✦✦ A sacred weapon causes full damage garlic before taking damage depends cross before taking damage depends
against the vampire’s physical health on how powerful a vampire is, or how on how powerful the vampire is, how
points as well as half damage (rounded allergic it is to garlic, and how much allergic it is to the cross, and who is
down) to its mental health points. A garlic it is exposed to. holding the cross.
sacred weapon that deals 8 damage ✦✦ Holy water damages a vampire’s ✦✦ The vampire can’t stand the touch of
points to physical health thus deals 4 mental health points with 1D6 per silver, and weapons of silver causes
damage points to mental health. 10cl. Exactly how much damage the not just physical damage but also half
✦✦ A consecrated stake of oak, driven vampire takes is based in part on how damage (rounded down) to the vampire’s
through the heart, instantly kills the powerful the vampire is, and in part mental health points. For example
vampire. on how allergic it is to the water. a silver weapon that deals 8 damage
✦✦ Garlic damages the mental health ✦✦ A cross damages the mental health points to physical health thus also deals
points with 1 point of damage every points of a vampire with 1d3 of 4 damage points to mental health.

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222

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  The Secret Arts 
“They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the
whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.”
Revelation 16:14

223

In LexOccultum many things happen In LexOccultum all these powers are There are not, as far as we know,
that are simply unexplainable and the known as “The Secret Arts.” any all-encompassing magical powers,
characters will often meet people and Some say that the secret art is spiritual wells, or chemical formulas
creatures that either have inexplicable intertwined with ancient magical that in any unified way can explain the
powers or that look like things that they knowledge that has been passed down rise and use of the secret arts. Most
have never seen before. These powers through the generations, others claim are satisfied with confirming that it
might take the form of speaking to that one can obtain these powers by simply exists, and it is the search for the
spirits, fending off demons, telepathy, reading mysterious books such as the components, sources, codes and causes
or opening portals to other dimensions, renowned Kryptomagica or being in that makes the arts performable.
among many others. contact with ancient, powerful relics.
Since the dawn of time, rituals have There are societies that claim that the
been performed by people with a desire art has been given by God the Father The three arts
of obtaining supernatural abilities. himself, just as there are those that claim Those who have delved deeply into the
However, most of these rituals provide that these powers are the work of the secret arts usually categorize them into
no actual effect other than what the devil. Officially, the Church claims that three categories.
participants and observers believe to these powers don’t exist or, at worst,
see. In the world of LexOccultum there they blame Satan to cause such unnatural ✦✦ The dark arts
are, however, people who can actually phoenomena. Whatever the source of ✦✦ The divine arts
penetrate the wall of reality, through these arts, the one who learned them ✦✦ The scientific arts
powerful rituals, prayers, and sorcery, becomes far more powerful than any
or just simply because they belong to human being could normally ever hope
a particular bloodline from which they to be. The art itself has no moral position.
have been able to obtain supernatural Some use the secret art to perform acts of
and highly unnatural powers. good, other to bring pain and evil.

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224

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 The dark arts or other religious rituals conducted by or learning, even if, from a mechanical
Under this name are included many priests or other holy characters. point of view, the character have all the
varieties of sorcerous powers, all To use the divine art, the believer prerequisites for learning and using them.
stemming from esoteric knowledge. There must have SV and levels in the following: Acquiring such powers should instead be
are many wizards, witches, illusionists, an involved and time-consuming process
and charlatans that have learned to use ✦✦ The Theology Skill in which the characters thoroughly search
the dark art for their own purposes. They ✦✦ The Divine Arts Discipline for a long time before they find even a
have come to understand the supernatural ✦✦ At least one specialization among small clue about the ability.
and mystical by studying old writings, Holy Power and Mysticism. Player characters should not start to
objects, and stories. Through rituals, play with secret arts during character
symbols, sacrifice, and secret sorcery they creation. If they want to master such
summon things or obtain abilities that The scientific arts abilities, these should be seen as difficult
ordinary humans cannot comprehend. The 18th century is an age when science goals to achieve, after years of study or
The dark arts consist of a number of is making progress at an astonishing extraordinary stories.
different bodies of knowledge such as rate, surprising scholars and learned
truths from Babylonian mysticism or of this time. In the meanwhile, in the
Celtic astrology, but most prominent are darkness alchemists manage to combine Descriptions of the
the powers that stem from Kabbalism. old formula with new technologies and Abilities
This is because the kabbalists have been scientific theories in order to create The description of each ability or power
most eager to demand truths and powers powers and effects that common people includes a series of entries explained
from the mystical world, where many consider supernatural. The scientific arts below.
others would have been satisfied with focus on empirical experiments, where
mere confirmation of the existence of old ideas are mixed with contemporary ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: This is the
these powers. Thousand-year-old secrets knowledge about processes, devices, modifier which is applied to the SV
have been passed down through the machines, forces of nature and substances. when activating the power.
generations and powers have been stacked To be able to use the scientific arts, ✦✦ Requirements: This includes any
on top of each other like stone upon stone the scientist must have SV in the Science skill, discipline or specialization 225
forming the tower of Babel. skill and levels in at least one (or more) which are needed for obtaining the
The dark arts are mostly made up of of the following sets: SV to cast the power. A specific level
practical rituals, meditation, and the use is often required, although if this
of pure sorcery. ✦✦ The Applied Science discipline and entry does not indicate a level in a
To be able to use the dark arts the at least one of the Pharmaceutics and skill or discipline this is supposed to
occultist must have SV in the Esotericism Technology specializations; be “1”.
skill and levels in at least one (or more) of ✦✦ The Transmutation discipline and ✦✦ Other Requirements: A few powers
the of the following sets: the Alchemy specialization. have also this entry which includes
other skills which are required in
✦✦ The Right-hand Path discipline and order to master the power, although
the White Magic specialization; Using the A rts their levels are not counted to get
✦✦ The Left-hand Path discipline and the There is no all-encompassing rule for the SV for using the power. A specific
Black Magic specialization; all the powers of the different arts. level is sometimes required, although
✦✦ The Divination discipline and at least Instead, each process and effect is a if this entry does not indicate a level
one among the Seer and Numerology unique combination. Some powers can in a skill or discipline this is supposed
specializations. be relatively simple to summon but to be “1”. As a further note it must be
at the same time incredibly powerful. stressed that many powers come from
Other powers or effects demands books written in ancient languages
The divine arts years of preparation but the ability like Hebrew, Latin or Greek. The
Under this name are included the itself can be simple and the effect most knowledge of such languages (the
supernatural powers stemming from restricted. “foreign languages” and “read &
various religious belief systems, sects, write” specializations) is indicated
and societies. The game master is below only when it is an essential
encouraged to develop these after their Finding the art requirement to use such a language
own tastes and preferences. What is Supernatural abilities in LexOccultum to activate a power. However, even if
common for all the various divine arts should be very rare, and not something the knowledge of such languages is
is that they are all performed by prayers that the characters have an easy time using not mentioned in the requirements, it

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 should be always required if the power
is learnt from books written in those
languages.
✦✦ Material Requirements: This
includes any object needed for
Activating the power.
✦✦ Effect: This is the description of what
happens when the ability or power is
activated.

Whatever the entries below say, it

is important to underline that, first
and foremost, it is always the game
master that decides what skills and
requirements an ability has and its
effect. Degrees of difficulty and levels
for disciplines and specializations are,
in effects, just for the basic usage of the
ability. If a character wants to perform
a variant (either described below or
made up by themselves) of the ability,
then it is totally up to the game master
to decide the degree of difficulty for the
ability and what SV are required.
Gamemasters are encouraged to create
new abilities and effects and some inputs
226 from players should be welcome.
Both of them should sit down
together and discuss which skills and
requirements are needed and what
effects the ability has but it is always up
to the game master to decide whether
the mechanics are balanced or not.

To succeed with the art Each ability has a degree of difficulty, into mist, being invulnerable, having
To decide if a character has succeeded a negative modifier that is subtracted immense strength, or having the
or failed when using an art, a skill roll from the total value. power to mentally command others.
is performed, either in conjunction with The difference between the secret arts
the summoning or at the creation of the ✦✦ SV = Skill value + discipline + and the supernatural properties is that
effect: see the respective abilities for specialization - degree of difficulty. the secret arts require preparation.
what time the skill should be rolled. The Supernatural properties are lasting, and
required skills (and related disciplines) The supernatural abilities described are inherent parts of the creatures’ very
depend on which kind of power one is below represent just a small sample beings. One cannot learn supernatural
using: of the many powers that exist in the properties: either you have them or not.
twilight world of LexOccultum. On the other hand, in certain rare cases
✦✦ Dark Arts: Esotericism skill supernatural properties can be obtained
✦✦ Divine Arts : Theology Skill when one is afflicted with a curse or a
✦✦ Scientific Arts: Science Skill Supernatural properties transformation.
Legendary creatures like werewolves, Supernatural properties should be for
To determine what skill value the vampires, undead, and evil spirits game master characters and creatures,
character has when they are going possess many supernatural properties, never for player characters, unless they
to use an ability sum up the relevant powers, and inexplicable skills. These have been granted such an ability by, for
skill, discipline and specialization. powers include abilities such as turning example, vampires and werewolves.

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 The Dark Arts

 The Supernatural Abilities of Esotericism 

The Right-hand Path

Hypnotic sleep Effect Levitation

To put someone into hypnotic sleep is A willing victim can always be put into a This is the ability to levitate above
a mighty ritual. A character entranced hypnotic sleep if the mesmerist succeeds the ground, fly through an invisible
by hypnosis is very vulnerable, a status with the skill roll. A character that does power and be able to soar in the air.
which can be exploited in several ways. not want to be put through the ritual By concentrating very hard and using
To put someone into a hypnotic sleep can avoid it by succeeding on a situation the invisible force of the world, the
you need a focal object which simulates roll with the situation value of 8 (the character can make a body, their own or
a magnetic fluid that brings the victim Psyche trait modifies the roll). another’s, levitate above the ground and
into a deep resting state. A focal object A character in hypnotic sleep allows either hang suspended there in the air or
can take whatever form the user prefers, the mesmerist three possibilities (only move upwards or in any other direction.
for example a stone or a mineral, a one can be used for each hypnotic sleep Levitation is considered by the Church
spinning coin, a pendulum, or a pocket and it is always up to the game master to be a clear sign of being possessed by
watch. to decide if the situation value should a demon.
be increased or lowered depending on 227
✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -6 what the hypnotiser is looking for): ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -10

Requirements ✦✦ The victim speaks of memories that Requirements

they have forgotten or pushed away
✦✦ Skill: Esotericism SV 7 from their consciousness. ✦✦ Skill: Esotericism SV 7
✦✦ Discipline: The Right-hand Path ✦✦ The victim answers questions. ✦✦ Discipline: The Right-hand Path
level 2 ✦✦ The victim is forced to perform level 2
✦✦ Specialization: White Magic level 2 an action. The action must be ✦✦ Specialization: White Magic level 3
explained during the mesmeric sleep,
Material Requirements suggesting a specific command to Material Requirements
activate the action. Later on, after
✦✦ “De planetarum influxu in Corpus the sleep ends, when the hypnotist ✦✦ Ten gnostic writings and diagrams
Humanum” authored by Franz Anton subsequently performs the command, concerning the Simonians and the
Mesmer in 1766. The book is located the victim will immediately fall again powers of Simon Magus.
at the university in Vienna, but at into a hypnotic sleep under which
least a few copies have found their they will perform the action, with or Effect
way to Paris. Such an art was rarely against their will. When the action By meditating for one hour (there is
possessed by European esotericists is complete the victim will awaken a negative modifier of -1 for each 10
before Mesmer, therefore for games from the sleep, without any memory minutes less than the full hour spent in
set before the publication of this book of having performed the action if meditation) to concentrate the primal
in 1766 the game master can come up the hypnotiser wishes them not to power, the character can apply forces
with other, more esoteric, books from remember. around themselves or someone else.
the East. Examples can be Arabic This must, however, happen within half
medieval translations of ancient a day after the meditation. The chosen
Sanskrit scrolls or of Chinese books. body starts to levitate and move in

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 the direction that the mystic character ✦✦ Decamerone by Giovanni Boccaccio, Material Requirements
chooses with a speed of 1 meter per Coelum Philosophorum by Philippus
action round. Theophrastus Paracelsus, and Physico- ✦✦ A corpse and equipment for
Should the character wish to Mathesis de Lumine, Coloribus et Iride embalming.
suspend the person in mid air, by Francesco Maria Grimaldi. All ✦✦ A book describing Mumia Arabum
they may not subsequently start to three tomes are needed. that was written by an unknown
levitate upwards or down. Should the author during the 16th century or the
levitating person be touched during Effect Isagogicon, a book of pharmacology
this time the force will disappear and Moros Musphoron causes the light to published in 1650 in Sicily..
they will fall. bend away from the character and makes ✦✦ The Book of the Dead, a Egyptian
The effect is persistent for 1d6 them almost invisible. The power is painted papyrus by the high priest
minutes for fixed suspension in mid active as long as the character holds the Paynejdem of Amos, dating circa 970
air or 1d6+6 Action Rounds for stones in their hands, for a maximum of BC.
moving levitation (or flight). During 10 minutes. After this time the stones
this period, the one who is levitating no longer have any power left and the Effect
cannot do anything else. Should the balance in the body is lost. When he To achieve the desired effect, the corpse
levitating character try to perform power is active those who are not already must be embalmed according to the
another action the force disappears and aware of the character’s presence cannot correct method, and then be buried for
the levitation stops, which means that discover them. Should the invisible one a month. Thereafter the corpse must be
only people who are willing, or dead, make any noise, a successful skill roll dug up and the Mumia Arabum must be
can be levitated. is required with the skill Shadowing obtained from the grave. Such a process
(with or without appropriate disciplines produces 1 dose. Mumia Arabum is life
and specializations). Alternatively ,a giving and empowering, and has one
Moros musphoron successful situation roll with a situation (and only one) of the following effects.
By having the correct balance of value of 4 (the Perception trait modifies
vital fluids in one’s body, one can the roll) is required to notice the ✦✦ Neutralise the poison in a poisoned
228 allow the force between a heliotrope character. character.
(bloodstone) and a kapun stone ✦✦ Fight an infection
(rooster’s testicle) to travel through ✦✦ Heal a fracture
the body. The heliotrope is held in the Mumia Arabum ✦✦ Heal 1d6 damage points.
left hand and the kapun stone is held By embalming a corpse according to ✦✦ Fight a disease
in the right hand and should remain ancient Egyptian methods and then ✦✦ Remove a scar.
that way throughout the procedure. burying the body, one can obtain a
By succeeding with such connection life-giving tincture from the petrified
of the powers of the heliotrope and liquid that the corpse has been sweating
the kapun stone the monoids in the out in the grave. This petrified liquid,
body are empowered to push away the Mumia Arabum, is then melted into
waves of light striking the character an ointment or is crushed into small
and thereby to escape reflection, pieces and put into wine to be drunk.
making them invisible.
✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -12
✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -12
Requirements
Requirements
✦✦ Skill: Esotericism SV 7
✦✦ Skill: Esotericism SV 7 ✦✦ Discipline: The Right-hand Path
✦✦ Discipline: The Right-hand Path level 2
level 2 ✦✦ Specialization: White Magic level 3
✦✦ Specialization: White Magic level 3
Other Requirements
Material Requirements
✦✦ Science SV 7, Transmutation
✦✦ A heliotrope (bloodstone), a kapun Discipline level 1, Alchemy
stone (testicle from a castrated rooster). specialization level 3.

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 The Dark Arts

 The Supernatural Abilities of Esotericism 

The Left-hand Path

Devil’s fire within it a collection of rebuses, Homunculus is the name for the
To make things burst into fire without secrets and occult truths in the creature created, and the science that
physically applying fire to them is form of fifteen images. The first exists for creating a creature from
something that is often connected with version was printed in 1677 in La something that once lived but now is
witches, demons, and the Devil himself. RocHelle. Most sought after are the dead. It is possible to combine body parts
Scientists have, however, not allowed the few copies that still exists from the from different individuals but they must
Church to scare them off and have instead first, incorrectly printed, version be of the same type and the same gender.
continued to research the phlogistic since later versions do not include
theory (mechanically represented by the the famous Oculatus abis ignis, the ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -18
Science skill, specialization Chemistry at picture and key code that is the
level 3). Sadly enough the Science skill, source of knowledge concerning Requirements
even if can allow proper understanding the creating fire out of nothing. The
of these phoenomena, cannot give Church was able to stop this revision ✦✦ Skill: Esotericism SV 10
the esoteric ability to use this power, and instead a few modified variants ✦✦ Discipline: The Left-hand Path level 3 229
which needs secret knowledge, coupled made their way onto the market. ✦✦ Specialization: Black Magic level 5
with extensive experience of different Only a few copies of the original
experiments and mathematics. The ones remain, of which, of course, the Other Requirements
who master this ability can, however, Church owns most. Science SV 10, Healthcare discipline
make things ignite at a distance by ✦✦ To make something ignite you need, level 1, Healing specialization level
speaking a formula that is very powerful. along with the above-described book, 4; Applied Science discipline level 1,
a fistful of ashes from the cremation Technology specialization level 4.
Degree of difficulty: -12 of a not baptised child.
Requirements Material Requirements
Effect
✦✦ Skill: Esotericism SV 7 When the ashes are thrown into the ✦✦ The excrement of a bull.
✦✦ Discipline: The Left-hand Path level 3 air at the same time as the character ✦✦ A dead body (or parts of many bodies
✦✦ Specialization: Black Magic level 3 reads the key code from the book, they but whose sum is a body).
summon the devil’s fire upon an object ✦✦ A glass container as big as a bathtub.
Other Requirements or creature that then takes 1d10 (OR ✦✦ The energy collected from a lightning
8-10) physical health points in damage/ that is run through a machine known
✦✦ Divination discipline level 1, AR. The fire is blueish in colour and as a Homunculus Ex Machina
Numerology specialization level 3. lasts 1d6 AR and each AR a new damage (described in blueprints drawn by
✦✦ Science SV 7, Transmutation discipline roll is performed. Leonardo da Vinci).
level 1, Alchemy specialization level 3; ✦✦ The book Visions of Zosimos with the
Natural Philosophy discipline level 1, alternative texts from the Kitab al-Fihrist.
Chemistry specialization level 3. Homunculus
Perhaps one of the hardest and most time- Effect
Material Requirements consuming of all supernatural abilities. It is A successful skill roll each day during
said that so far only one man has succeeded 30 consecutive days imbues a creature
✦✦ A most-spoken of and sought-after in created a living creature (1738), doctor that was once dead with new life. The
book is Mutus Liver which holds Albrecht von Haller, a living legend. creature’s properties are based on the

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 parts from which it was constructed. A Pythagoras’ Formula for archives. Among these is The Book of
human that is created with the brain of a Action Numbers. the Masters of the Secret House, or the
master scholar but the body of a wrestler This power relies on numerologic Chinese writing Circle of the Dead.
will be smart (for a homunculus) and theories regarding the symbolic and
have the strength of a wrestler. invisible links which exist between Effect
The creature will, however, be jaded and reality and numbers. The one who can To calculate the number of an action, a
have at least three traits that are negative and control such numbers can therefore skill roll is performed for the supernatural
only a single positive one. The remaining hope to control the reality itself and, ability. Each calculation will take at least
traits will be set a “0”. A homunculus has a in particular, the people’s behaviour. one month. The degree of difficulty
strong bond to their creator which is seen as In this sense the Pythagoras’ formula suggested above (-7) is for the very basic
their father/mother. of control is tied to a character’s control of an individual whose actions
individual number and used to force cannot have more than local effects. Based
him or her to perform certain actions. on what action the victim will be required
Pactum cum diabolo This power calculates a formula that to perform, it is completely up to the game
To enter into a contract with the devil then translates a desired action into master to determine the degree of difficulty.
himself, pactum cum diabolo, can bring a number which, together with the A simple action or something with no
esoteric benefits, although always mixed individual number of the victim, consequence for other people will have a
with terrifying consequences for the one can force the victim to perform easier modifier (-5 or even -3), while a more
who signs such a pact. A contract with the pre-calculated actions. studied and complex action or something
devil means that one has sold one’s soul to Depending on how significantly the whose influences can be felt on national or
the devil and as a result, a wish is fulfilled. action will affect the world, the number even continental scale, could require quite
The devil will, however ,use your soul to is different in length. An action of no difficult modifiers (-15 or even -17).
its maximum potential since he sees it as significance only has two digits, while
his own, to do with as he wishes. the murder of a king may require a near ✦✦ Note: This power will allow only the
infinite number of digits. calculation of the action’s number. To
✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -6 It is said that Pythagoras himself force the realization of this action,
230 succeeded with a formula that the power “Pythagoras’ Inscription”
Requirements intertwined two individual numbers (described below) is required.
with an action so great that one of
✦✦ Skill: Esotericism SV 10 the individual numbers took over the
✦✦ Discipline: The Left-hand Path level 3 other. The formula is said to make the
Pythagoras’ formula for
✦✦ Specialization: Black Magic level 4 dominant character obtain total control
over the other using only the power individual numbers
Material Requirements of thought. But the number became so According to the Pythagorean mystical
long that it was hard to fit onto the body tradition there is a formula that calculates
✦✦ The character needs to be willing to of the victim. a character’s individual number. This
enter the contract and needs to read number is intertwined with fate itself and
the bible backwards while summons ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -7 (subject to by using it in other advanced formulas one
the devil and swears their soul to him. GM judgement) can make the character perform certain
The character writes a contract with actions. It is this ability that calculates a
their own blood in which they swear Requirements character’s individual number.
their soul to the devil in exchange for Depending on how influential the
having a wish fulfilled. ✦✦ Skill: Esotericism SV 7 character is and what important actions
✦✦ Discipline: Divination level 3 they will likely perform during their
Effect ✦✦ Specialization: Numerology level 2 lifetime, the number will be different
The effect is completely individual and it in length. Normal people have a small
is up to the game master to decide how the Material Requirements number with few digits, while important
pact is structured and what effects it has. A people whose decisions can change the
pact with the devil can only be performed ✦✦ The individual number of the victim whole European or World history have
once ,and, as far as we know, it cannot (to be obtained with another power, a much longer number with more digits.
be broken. The game master is strongly described below).
advised to balance positive effects with ✦✦ Pythagoras’ formula that is written ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -5 (subject to
terribly corrupting consequences: this is down in a few mathematical and mystical GM judgement)
a pact with the devil, not a normal power! publications that are kept in secret

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 Requirements ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -14 Spiritus
The ritual Spiritus is not only a ritual but
✦✦ Skill: Esotericism SV 7 Requirements also a continuing contract. By summoning
✦✦ Discipline: Divination level 2 and nurturing a spiritus, the character is
✦✦ Specialization: Numerology level 3 ✦✦ Skill: Esotericism SV 10 granted access to certain riches. A spiritus
✦✦ Discipline: Transmutation level 3 is a small, pale snake that is said to be the
Material Requirements ✦✦ Specialization: Numerology level 4 spawn of the devil. By making a vow to
the devil and gestating a rooster egg (a
✦✦ The secret formula by Pythagoras Other Requirements shrunken hen egg), taken from a gallows
that is written down in a very few hill, in the ritualist’s armpit, a spiritus can be
mathematical and mystical publications ✦✦ Science SV 7, Transmutation discipline birthed. It must be kept in a small wooden
that are kept in secret archives. Among level 1, Alchemy specialization level 3. box during the day and must be fed with
these is The Book of the Masters of the sober morning spit (before the character
Secret House, or the Chinese writing Material Requirements has had breakfast). As long as this is done
Circle of the Dead. the pale worm will, during the night, slither
✦✦ The victim’s individual number away to obtain riches for its master.
Effect ✦✦ The action number
To calculate the individual number of a ✦✦ Ink mixed with an extract made from ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -13
character a skill roll is performed for the something organic that belongs to
supernatural ability. The calculation will the victim such as blood, sweat, nails, Requirements
take at least one month. Depending on hair or saliva.
what historical role the victim will play ✦✦ The individual and action’s numbers ✦✦ Skill: Esotericism SV 7
during their lifetime, it is completely up must be calculated with the powers ✦✦ Discipline: The Left-hand Path level 3
to the game master to decide the degree described before. These numbers ✦✦ Specialization: Black Magic level 2
of difficulty. The number of a poor person are then inscribed through mystic
is hardly difficult to calculate, while formulas on the body of the victim. Material Requirements
the number of a king are may be near 231
impossible to calculate. The degree of Effect ✦✦ A rooster egg that has been laid on a
difficulty indicated above (-5) should be To see if the inscription and the gallows hill and a box of wood.
used for a normal person whose life cannot command is successful, a skill roll ✦✦ Cypranius, a Danish book of sorcery
have consequences greater than local level, is performed for the supernatural from the middle ages, which exists
while persons whose decisions can change ability that is then modified by in translations into other European
the history of nations should require higher possible modifiers from the victim’s languages. The book is hard to get hold
degree of difficulty: -7 or even -10. Psyche trait. Depending on how the of, but is not unique in any way. Anyone
This power allows the identification of commanded action will affect the who owns the book is considered to be
the individual number which, in itself, does victim, it is completely up to the game a witch or wizard by the Church. The
not seem very useful, but it can be used as a master to decide the degree of difficulty. one who summons the spiritus must
basis for other numerological powers. A simple action that is not too far from carry it with them at all times.
the nature of the victim has no modifier,
✦✦ Note: This power will allow only the while something that is completely out Effect
calculation of the number linked to a of character and different from what A spiritus can, during each night, bring
specific person. To force this person the victim would normally do should back to its master coins or a piece of
to do things the power “Pythagoras’ have greater modifiers, as for example jewellery in its mouth. The value of the
Inscription” (described below) is required. the -14 modifier suggested above. jewellery is completely up to the game
A character that is unwillingly put master to decide and depends on how
through this process often appears long the character has spent on the
Pythagoras’ Inscription schizophrenic to those around them. ritual when it was created. When the
This is the ability to force a victim to character who summons a spiritus dies
perform an action against their will. Variant his soul is given to the devil.
To make a victim perform the action in People speak of an invisible ink that can Should the spiritus die of starvation,
question you must succeed in inscribing only be seen under the light of the full the summoner is cursed with SV -3 on all
the victim’s individual number and the moon. that they do during the rest of their lives.
number of the action on the victim’s
body with a special ink.

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 Tarot Material Requirements ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -13 to -11
The cards of the tarot have been around
since the dark ages. Many fortune tellers ✦✦ A deck of tarot cards. Requirements
have just the Seer specialization at level 1,
implying only a very basic and mundane Effect ✦✦ Skill: Esotericism SV 10
understanding of tarots. Real power comes For each level of the Seer specialization ✦✦ Discipline: The Left-hand Path level 3
only from this supernatural ability, based that the user has, they can make a single ✦✦ Specialization: Black Magic level 4
on the requirement of a higher knowledge prediction for a character. To achieve
of Tarots (Seer Level 3), in order to make an effect, two successful skill rolls are Other Requirements
real predictions. Furthermore with the required: one for the cards to be laid
help of the cards, the one who is predicting down correctly and one to decipher the ✦✦ Theology SV 7, De Religionibus
can even affect the character whose fate cards. discipline level 1, Religio (Vodoo)
is being predicted and warn them about A character can only have a prediction specialization level 3 (the caster must
their future. made for them once per month. be an initiated Vodoo priest).
Should both skill rolls succeed, the
✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -12 one who is being read for should roll a Material Requirements
luck roll with 1d10 (OR 10). Read from
Requirements the effects in the table below. ✦✦ Ritual trappings related to the Voodoo
religion including a doll crafted with
✦✦ Skill: Esotericism SV 7 at least one material piece from the
✦✦ Discipline: Divination level 2 Voodoo Pwen target ( Hair, cloth from clothing the
✦✦ Specialization: Seer level 3 By creating a representation of a person target has worn, skin, nail clippings,
in the form of a doll (pwen), a voodoo sweat, etc).
Other Requirements priest can affect a character’s physical
health by sticking needles into the doll Effect
✦✦ De Sodaliciorum discipline level 1, or putting it into a fire, and thus cause When the doll has been created (a
232 Esoteric Symbolism specialization level 3 actual harm to the victim. ritual that takes one month), the priest
must succeed with a skill roll in order
to be able to establish a link between
the doll and the person it is supposed
TAROT READING to resemble. Should the skill roll fail,
1d10 (OR 10) Reading the doll must be burned and re-made.
1 Great misfortune. The cards show death, the devil and the final doom. The
Should the skill roll succeed, the doll
character suffers -3 on everything they do during the coming month. The can then be used.
character will also (with the help of the game master) be victim to a number The difficulty to use this power range
of accidents of a very violent and dangerous sort that the character must depends on the number of material
try to avoid. elements from the victim which are used
2-3 Misfortune. The cards show misfortune. The character suffers -2 on for crafting the doll. One piece gives a
everything that they do for the next month. The character falls victim to a difficulty of -13, two pieces a difficulty
number of accidents that clearly are not in favor of the character. of -12, three pieces a difficulty of -11.
4-7 Neutral effect. The character will face both trouble and good fortune in More than three pieces do not change
the future. the difficulty modifier. However the GM
8-9 Luck. The cards are the lovers, the wheel of fortune, or one of the other can come up with interesting additional
cards that bring luck. The character gets +1 on everything that they do effects if he likes to.
during the coming 2 days. The creator of the doll can cause
10-15 Luck and fortune. The cards show happiness and fortune and the character damage to the person that the doll
gets +2 on everything that he or she does during the coming week. Chance depicts by sticking needles into it, or
(with the help of the game master) will show its best side and the character burning parts of the doll. The damage
will encounter a number of events with a clear positive effect. from the needles and fire takes the form
>15 Great fortune. All cards show the best possible outcome. If the character of 1d10 points of physical damage to
is open and perceptive, great fortune will befall them within the near the target, no matter where he or she
future. They get +3 on everything that they do during the coming 2 is in the world. The damage will be
weeks. The character will encounter a number of events that clearly make immediate. A doll can only be used to
their life better. hurt the target once a week.

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 The Divine Arts

 The Supernatural Abilities of Theology 

A note is due regarding the following Catholic patriarchal ritual The spiked cross of Huet
powers. LexOccultum is supposed It is said that Jesus himself performed The Church has always put much
to be a fun game to play, so the game this ritual when he healed the sick and research into fighting the servants
master is strongly advised to consider cured the deformed. It is a prayer that of evil and one of these researchers,
how much their players are comfortable requires patience and tenaciousness, yet Pierre-Daniel Huet - a well-known and
in dealing with religions which are there are not many who can receive its praised bishop of Avranches that died in
today still widely practised. The game effects. The one who performs the ritual 1721 - succeeded in creating an effective
master should adapt the systems below and the one who receives it must both weapon against vampires. The weapon
described to the players’ sensibilities. be firm believers in Christianity. goes under the name of “The Spiked
For example many powers linked with Cross of Huet,” or just “The Cross of
the Christian religion are products of ✦✦ Degree of difficulty: -12 Huet.” It is a holy crucifix with one hand
the more ancient form of Christianity which has been sharpened to become a
(Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Coptic, Requirements pointed spike.
Armenian, etc.). However, given how 233
much the Protestant reform changed ✦✦ Skill: Theology SV 7 ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -10
religion (in both doctrines and rituals), ✦✦ Discipline: Divine Arts level 3
one may wonders whether Protestant ✦✦ Specialization: Holy Power level 2 Requirements
pastors can be able at all to use some
of these ancient powers. The answer Material Requirements ✦✦ Skill: Theology SV 10
of these and similar doubts are totally ✦✦ Discipline: Divine Arts level 2
up to the Game Master’s judgement ✦✦ Access to a Church. ✦✦ Specialization: Holy Power level 4
who makes a decision according to his ✦✦ A holy object (cross or the like) that
players’ sensibilities. This is a game: has been blessed by a cardinal or Material Requirements
remember that fun is the first priority! archbishop.
✦✦ Holy water. ✦✦ A cross that has been blessed by a
✦✦ Tears from a character that has been bishop/cardinal who has sprinkled
sentenced to death even though they holy water upon it.
were not guilty and has had their
punishment carried out. Effect
✦✦ A bible. A vampire that is stabbed by the cross
suffers 1d10 (OR 7-10) points of physical
Effect damage. Stabbing an immobilized
The one who performs the ritual heals a vampire is usually automatic although,
character (or a creature) of 1d6 points of if it happens in real combat, a normal
both physical and mental damage. melee attack roll should be done and the
By performing this ritual for 6 months crucifix must be considered a one-handed
the priest can try to heal deformed and weapon.
destroyed body parts. By thrusting the cross into the heart
of a vampire it will be turned into dust
and die. This is easily performed on
immobilized vampires but to perform

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 it during combat is incredibly difficult. ✦✦ To write down a Coptic curse by Material Requirements
The attack roll should require the yourself demands great knowledge.
spending of at least 10 combat points on The greater the curse the greater the ✦✦ The one who performs the ritual is
top of those used to make the attack roll. degree of difficulty. “in persona Christi,” that is, being a
Catholic priest that acts directly in
Effect the name of the Church and Christ.
Coptic curse The effects of a spoken curse can vary ✦✦ The character must have the
The Coptic Church is heavily influenced from case to case. Generally, a curse authorization and direct blessing of a
by Alexandrian theology, and a number can mean that the one who is inflicted bishop or of a cardinal to perform the
or curses and blessings that are written with it will suffer negative modifiers on exorcism in order for it to work. In
down in Coptic are derived from ancient skills that have something to do with the case of Orthodox priest it must be
Egyptian. There are rumours about an the curse. It is up to the game master to a Patriarch.
esoteric heritage of rituals which is still decide the specific effects. Some curses ✦✦ The character must hate sin itself
known among Copts but whose origins give its carrier misfortune in certain with all their heart.
can be traced back to the ancient pagan situations, others are stronger and can ✦✦ The character must be clad in
pharaonic times, when sorcery was said cause death. soutane, surplice, and wear a purple
to be powerful. It is completely up to the game stole. They must also carry a book
To put a Coptic curse upon someone master to decide the degree of difficulty of psalms (first and foremost the
is very rare since the curse is in most for the curse. The suggested degree (-5) psalter), the Bible and a crucifix.
cases permanent, which means that is for curses who deal a penalty of -2 on
once put on someone, few things can a specific skill roll. Mortal curses should Effect
remove it. Some curses are put on a have a difficulty of at least -15. The demon that has obsessed the victim
specific person, others are placed upon suffers 1d10 physical health points in
locations and are inflicted upon those damage per AR as long as the exorcism
who dwell there or happen to be there Exorcism is being performed. During this time, the
just by chance. Exorcism is riskier than one would demon will do everything they can to defeat
234 Most written curses hail from the perhaps believe. The fact is that the the priest with the help of their abilities.
time of Egyptian greatness, but there character who performs the ritual runs The character whose body is possessed by
are a few “modern” writings from those a great risk of being possessed by the the demon will fight against the priest.
who have learned to create new curses. very demon that they are trying to Usually only one skill roll is required
Degree of difficulty: -5 or more banish. This ritual is usually linked with and damage to the demon continues as
the Catholic Church, although all other long as the priest keeps on performing
Requirements “ancient” Christian Churches, like the the exorcism. However, such a powerful
Orthodox one, have versions of it. ritual requires the priest’s complete
✦✦ Skill: Theology SV 7 focus and if the priest is interrupted
✦✦ Discipline: Divine Arts level 3 ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -15 in any way (for example by being
✦✦ Specialization: Mysticism level 3 wounded) a new skill roll must be made.
Requirements
Other Skills
✦✦ Skill: Theology SV 10 Glossolalia
✦✦ Communication SV 10, Languages ✦✦ Discipline: Divine Arts level 3 This is the ability to speak in tongues,
discipline level 1, Foreign languages ✦✦ Specialization: Holy Power level 4 but its aim is not to speak foreign
(Coptic) specialization level 4; Read languages. Many a holy person has
and Write (Coptic) specialization Other Requirements spoken in tongues and this is said to
level 2. be a language that pulls power directly
✦✦ De Religionibus discipline level 1, from God. Glossolalia is not a whole
Material Requirements Religio (Catholicism or Orthodoxy) ritual but only a litany that brings
specialization level 3. calmness to all listeners. It is a religious
✦✦ The curse must be written in Coptic ✦✦ Communication SV 4, Languages language that consists of a rhythmic
on some flammable material, which is discipline level 1, Foreign Languages coming together of sounds and words.
then read by the one who is going to (Latin for Catholic, Greek for For example: “go-ra-mi-so-fo-sa-er-
place the curse. The written curse is Orthodox) specialization level 4, ol-lo-re-as-of-os-oim-ar-og”.
burned or it magically withers as the Read and Write (Latin or Greek)
curse is being performed. specialization level 2. ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -7

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 235

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 Requirements No other skill rolls are required: the ✦✦ Esotericism SV 7, Divination
caster must only keep on performing discipline level 1, Numerology
✦✦ Skill: Theology SV 7 glossolalia. If he is disturbed in any Specialization level 2.
✦✦ Discipline: Divine Arts level 1 way the effect disappears, the AR count ✦✦ Communication SV 4, Languages
✦✦ Specialization: Holy Power level 2 is reset and a new skill roll is needed. discipline level 1, Foreign Languages
(Hebrew) specialization level 4, Read
Other Requirements and Write (Hebrew) specialization
Golem level 2.
✦✦ Communication SV 4, Languages It is said that Rabbi Loew was the first
discipline level 1, Foreign Languages to create a golem in the year 1580 from Material Requirements
(Hebrew or Aramaic) specialization clay from the beach of Moldeus. The fact
level 4, Read and Write (Hebrew or is that the Rabbi was far from the first to ✦✦ Clay, sand or stone shaped like the
Aramaic) specialization level 2. create such a kind of creature from dead creature that you wish to create.
matter. Rabbi Loew succeeded however ✦✦ Access to the shem of Rabbi Loew,
Material Requirements in being the first Rabbi in several or some other written shem with a
hundred years to learn this ritual that similar spell.
✦✦ The Persian Psalter. The psalter is imbued the dead clay with life by using
included in every Hebrew bible, but Hebrew letters forming a “shem”, a Effect
through several translations the powerful ritual structure based on one Should the ritual succeed, and
psalter has been changed and it does of the Names of God. depending on the power of the
not include this power. Only the one A golem is a constructed creature summoner, a creature is created that
who finds one of the five books of the created from stone, clay or sand that will follow every command issued
Psalter, written by Ezra in Aramaic, varies in power depending on how by its master. Should the golem be
can learn Glossolalia. There are also strong the spell and ritual is when it left alone for any length of time (2-3
versions in Hebrew since Hebrew is is created. The golem will obey every days) it will search for its maker and
the ancient religious language for command by its master but is by nature will run rampant until they are found.
236 Jews. a dangerous and aggressive creature. How powerful the golem is and what
Kabbalism is a required knowledge abilities it gains is unique for each
Effect to use this power (as represented by golem and should be decided with
Glossolalia makes the comfort of God the requirement of the numerology the game master as consultant. The
descend on all listeners. Everyone that specialization in the mechanics below). Constitution trait should however be a
is filled with the comfort of God in this The Shem is inscribed on the golem’s prominent feature of the golem.
way will have an additional protection forehead or on a piece of paper to be
of 2 against attacks that affect mental put inside the golem’s mouth. A version
health during the rest of the day. says that the word “Emet” (“Truth” in Gregorius’ prayer
Furthermore glossolalia is Hebrew) must be inscribed to give life The pope Gregorius VII (AD 1015 –
quite useful against fear-causing to the creature but, if the first letter AD 1085) was canonized as a saint of
phenomena which keep on inflicting (and “aliph”) is deleted the meaning of the Catholic Church in 1728, therefore
fear every round. If the character the Hebrew word turns to “death” and his memories had some prominence
performs no other action but the the creature dies. exactly in the time period of
glossolalia power any Fear effect LexOccultum. Gregorius was famous
lowers of one level per AR. If a ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -18 due to a personal war against the Holy
phenomenon inflicts fear only in the Roman Emperor Henry V for the
first round, its power is diminished Requirements primacy over investiture. Nevertheless
by only the first level. his detractors spread also darker
For example after the successful ✦✦ Skill: Theology SV 10 rumours on him about his interest in
skill roll a “very terrifying” experience ✦✦ Discipline: Divine Arts level 4 necromancy.
(mental damage 1d10 OR 10) ✦✦ Specialization: Mysticism level 2 Whatever the truth, pope Gregorius
immediately becomes just “terrifying” VII is credited as being the author of
(mental damage 1d10) and, after an Other Requirements a powerful protective prayer which,
AR, it becomes “slightly terrifying” combined with certain occult ingredients,
(mental damage 1d5). Two rounds ✦✦ De Religionibus discipline level 1, could actually protect from any fire.
later it does not deal any mental Religio Specialization (Hebraism)
damage anymore. level 4. ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -7

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 237

Requirements (Latin) specialization level 4, Read and Effect

Write (Latin) specialization level 2. The one who smeared the ointment
✦✦ Skill: Theology SV 7 on their hands is completely protected
✦✦ Discipline: Divine Arts level 2 Material Requirements against heat and flames for an entire
✦✦ Specialization: Holy Power level 3 day.
✦✦ Saffron mixed with holy water and
Other Requirements urine from a black goat, smeared on
the hands at the same time as you pray
✦✦ Communication SV 4, Languages a prayer from the Liber Psalmorum
discipline level 1, Foreign Languages (book of psalms written in Latin).

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 Holy body according to Rafaelian blessing of blood Shield of the apostles
roman mekubal’s chetz 908 The Rafaelian blessing of blood In the year 1343 the catholic priest
“Mekubal” is a Hebrew word for a exists in several variants, depending Samuel Del Tiero found a manuscript
kabbalist, and “chetz” is the word for on whether you are a Jew, Orthodox, that had been hidden by heretics. Its
arrow or lightning. The word chetz Catholic or Protestant Christian. origins were unknown, as was its author,
has the number 908 according to Most often the ritualist fails since although it seems like the heretics where
Kabbalistic numerology. The Mekubal they do not have proper knowledge of hiding it in order not to give a certain
chetz is therefore “the arrow of the how the blessing should be performed advantage to Catholics. It was clear
kabbalist”, and that is just what this or they belong to the wrong religion. however that it was a very old writing
supernatural ability is. The one who It is said that the basic blessing hails that described a special ritual to protect
masters the ability summons a bolt of from Egyptian healing arts but that the men of the Church from the darkness.
lightning from the sky. it was only during the 13th century The “Successio Apostolica” is an
that the blessing was refined by a essential requirement for this power to
✦✦ Degree of difficulty: -9 group of Franciscan monks. They be activated. Jesus Christ gave authority
added a spiritual aspect that really to Peter as a first bishop, who made
Requirements made the power to work. After their other priests and, with the centuries, all
discovery the ritual was also adapted priests should have their investitures
✦✦ Skill: Theology SV 10 by non-catholic but, during the later directly descending from what Jesus
✦✦ Discipline: Divine Arts level 4 ages, many scrolls containing the Christ did to the apostles.
✦✦ Specialization: Mysticism level 4 exact, working ritual process were This ritual is performed by three
lost and confused. Catholic bishops/cardinals (or orthodox
Other requirements Patriarchs) on a person which will be
✦✦ Degree of difficulty: -13 shielded from the darkness by being
✦✦ Esotericism SV 7, Divination ritually and symbolically crucified in a
discipline level 1, Numerology Requirements Church at the same time as the ritual is
specialization level 3. performed. After the ritual the person
238 ✦✦ Communication SV 7, Languages ✦✦ Skill: Theology SV 10 is protected from the beasts of evil in a
discipline level 1, Foreign languages ✦✦ Discipline: Divine Arts level 2 way that normal mortals are not.
(Hebrew) specialization level 3; Read ✦✦ Specialization: Mysticism level 4
and Write (Hebrew) specialization ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -15
level 2 Material Requirements
Requirements
Material Requirements ✦✦ A couple of drops of blood from a
male virgin. The blood should be ✦✦ Skill: Theology SV 10
✦✦ The one who summon the bolt of mixed with holy water and splashed ✦✦ Discipline: Divine Power level 5
lightning must be outdoor, and have upon the forehead of the one who is ✦✦ Specialization: Mysticism level 5
learned the ritual and the words going to be blessed. The one who
from a Kabbalist. A successful skill performs the ritual must have fully Material Requirements
roll will summon a blue bolt that mastered a ritual which corresponds
hits any target that the Kabbalist to his own religion. ✦✦ Three bishops/cardinals that
points at. have learned to perform the ritual
Effect by studying Samuel Del Tiero’s
Effect The one who is blessed gains writings. The older bishop/cardinal
The bolt does 1d10 (OR 7-10) points of resistance to all types of supernatural must lead the ritual and he is the one
physical damage. The ritual can only be abilities that they are exposed to. In who makes the skill roll.
performed by each character once per addition, they gain a bonus of +1 on ✦✦ A Church, a cross and the one who
week. everything that they do for a day by is going the be ritually crucified. The
saying “with the help of Rafael and crucifixion is only symbolical (using
Variant God” and making the sign of the cross. cords to fix arms and legs on a cross).
There is a variant of the lightning that Jews performing this ritual through
does 1d10 (OR 9-10) damage but can be the Jewish version off course do not Effect
summoned thrice per week. make the sign but raise their hand as a The one who is crucified cannot
sign of blessing. afterwards be harmed by supernatural

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 abilities and only suffers half the inside the Church of St. Peter in Rome.. The prayer of the true
damage from physical and mental This means that the knowledge of faithful
attacks from supernatural creatures this powerful banishment could have
or humans that are the servants of been also spread among a few Catholic The “prayer of the true faithful” is an
evil. This blessing usually lasts for exorcists, although nobody really old prayer that was not understood
one year. knows how much this is true or not. fully until the end of the 17th century
A note on the “Successio Apostolica”. when it was read by a small group
The priests of ancient churches ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -11 of priests in Scotland. The prayer is
(Catholic, Orthodox, Armenian, written down in an encrypted form
Coptic, etc..) all clearly respect Requirements on a stone tablet that the Templar
this requirement but the matter is Knights were said to have brought
more tricky regarding others. Most ✦✦ Skill: Theology SV 7 with them when they fled the wrath
protestants congregations refuse the ✦✦ Discipline: Divine Arts level 2 of Philip IV at the beginning of the
concept itself of “priest.” The matter ✦✦ Specialization: Holy Power level 3 14th century. It is a simple prayer that
is even more obscure regarding provides the priest with peace and
Anglicans, since King Edward VI Other Requirements strength. In some circles within the
made his own bishops, breaking Church the prayer is considered to be
therefore the “successio apostolica.” ✦✦ Communication SV 10, Languages blasphemous and a work of the devil,
When judging the feasibility of such discipline level 1, Foreign Languages but by others it is considered the only
a power the Game Master should (Ancient Greek) specialization level prayer that provides true power from
carefully consider these matters as 4, Read and Write (Ancient Greek) God.
well as the players’ sensibilities. specialization level 2.
✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -14
Material Requirements
The apostolic orthodox Requirements
confession of faith ✦✦ A version of the prayer that the
When a group of monks - that lived character has been taught to recite by ✦✦ Skill: Theology SV 7 239
in the Cypriot mountains during the someone who already knows it. ✦✦ Discipline: Divine Arts level 3
14th century AD opened a crypt that ✦✦ The character who performs the ✦✦ Specialization: Holy Power level 3
stood inside a small and abandoned prayer must be an ordained christian
Church, they found a book of prayers priest. Other Requirements
written in an extinct variant of the
Greek alphabet. As luck would have Effect ✦✦ Communication SV 4, Languages
it there were amongst the monks on Supernatural and physical beasts (not discipline level 1, Foreign Languages
the island a few that could still read undead or ghouls) that hear the prayer (Latin) specialization level 4, Read
the writings and translate them. What suffer 1d5 points of physical damage and Write (Latin) specialization level
they found was first and foremost a per round once they have heard the 2.
variant of the apostolic confession prayer.
of faith that contained two new, This damage continues as long as the Material Requirements
previously unknown verses that can priest keeps on repeating the prayer.
be used as a powerful weapon against No other skill rolls but the first is ✦✦ The one who performs the prayer must
the dark spawn. The prayer proved to usually required, although If the priest be a priest and have learned the prayer
be most effective against beasts such is interrupted in any way (for example from someone who knew it before.
as werewolves and vampires. A few, by being wounded) a new skill roll must The priest must be sworn to, and be a
chosen ones within the Orthodox be made. follower of a Christian Church.
Church today still know this ancient Usually the priest cannot perform
prayer but the original books were any other actions but saying the prayers, Effect
nowadays lost during an Ottoman although the game master can allow A successful prayer gives the priest +3
raid. However there is a legend about simple actions (e.g. moving, seating, on everything that they do for 1 hour.
courageous orthodox monks who taking a small object from the pavement, The prayer can only be performed once
saved the texts, bringing them in the etc..) using his common sense. per day.
West. According to some mysterious
clues the books are nowadays locked

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 The Scientific Arts

 The Supernatural Abilities of Science 

Animal magnetism mystic magnetism and must be created Amandis powder

Many have heard of animal magnetism by a mystic that is knowledgeable of It is said that the chemist Bernard
but there are few who know its true the process of creating such staves. Trévisan, in his eager attempts to find
effect and meaning. Innumerable The number of staves required is up to the philosopher’s stone, discovered the
charlatans have claimed to master the the game master green powder of truth. In the hands of a
magnetic curves but few have actually fully trained chemist the powder reveals
succeeded. Animal magnetism is a sort Effect truths that are hidden to all others.
of supernatural power that is said to Usually the one who is being healed Usually it is poured over a dead character
cure diseases and heal broken bodies. should be put into a tub filled with water and the observer will then know how
Those who master the art of creating after the staves have been arranged in that character came to die, or in a
magnetism are said to be able to heal the water. They must also touch the particular location to learn what events
broken bodies and cure lycanthropy, but staves. After a not fixed amount of time have transpired there recently. The truth
the most common example is that they (to be established by the game master) becomes manifested as a green curtain of
240 cure various lung diseases. the illness is treated. smoke. The more powder you have, the
The negative modifier to the ability more questions can be answered.
✦✦ Degree of difficulty: -5 are increased or decreased at the game
master’s discretion according to the ✦✦ Degree of difficulty: -8
Requirements number of needed staves and the
severity of the sickness to heal. Requirements
✦✦ Skill: Science SV 7 The penalty from the damage level to
✦✦ Discipline: Applied Science level 2 be cured is also added to the modifier. ✦✦ Skill: Science SV 10
✦✦ Specialization: Technology level 2 Furthermore the healer is required ✦✦ Discipline: Transmutation level 4
to have the technology specialization ✦✦ Specialization: Alchemy level 4
Other Requirements at the same level of the damage level
to heal. For example a third level of Material Requirements
✦✦ Healthcare discipline level 1, Healing physical damage (”Vulnus Grave”) can
specialization level 2 only be healed by somebody who own ✦✦ Snake poison, lotus flowers and opium
the technology specialization at level 3. powder that has been all distilled
Material Requirements To re-attach or regrow a body part together.
is amongst the hardest things that ✦✦ An amanduin stone that has been
✦✦ The character who aims to use this one can do (-15 on the skill roll), even grounded down and mixed together
power must have learned the art from a though there are rumours of people able with the other ingredients and left to
true master and understood the entire to resurrect the dead with this method. dry.
process. The pupil must also expose Depending on what is going to be healed ✦✦ A “blowing machine” known as a
their hands to a process which may the healing process takes different “blowsniffer” created by the scientist
destroy them or cause such a damage amounts of time to finish. However, just and inventor Joshua Reeden.
to the nerves that the hands become because the healing process is complete
limp. In addition, the character must it does not mean that a new body part Effect
have a complete set of magnetic staves will emerge immediately. It is said that The process creates a powder which
that change the magnetic balance of a body part will grow as quickly as the must be used within three days before
the body. The staves are loaded with hair on one’s head. losing its power.

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 By blowing the powder through a so traits, sometimes both. It is completely upon an area of sand which creates a
called “blowsniffer” onto a human corpse up to the game master to decide what 2x2 meter large area of quicksand. The
that has not been dead for more than three difficulty modifier the fluid has, its probability that the quicksand will dry
weeks, or on a location, you will learn how effect, and how long it lasts. within 48 hours is 80%.
the character died or what happened at a The indicated degree of difficulty is
certain time there. The vision is vague. for a simple trait modification of one Variant
The game master should perform level which lasts for 1 month. To create a quicksand that will last
a luck roll with 1d10 (OR 10) where 1 more than ten years the chemist needs
means a very weak vision of what has - apart from a higher SV (Science SV
happened and 10 or more gives a very Chemical quicksand 10, Transmutation discipline level 2,
detailed vision. The ancient Egyptians were amongst the Alchemy specialization level 4) - to have
first to know of the art of creating traps out learned to say an Egyptian prayer called
of quicksand. In the tombs of the pyramids “No-a tapeth, no-ak Nut pet em hotep”
Bodily refinement it was common that the entrance was (Communication SV 4, Languages
While many sought for the stone of protected by a trap of quicksand. Chemical discipline level 1, Read & Write Ancient
knowledge there were those that sought quicksand is made when one creates a Egyptian or Coptic specialization level 2).
for the key to change living creatures. substance derived from quicksilver, oil, and It is also said that a variant of the
By adding different types of phlegm, bile glue created from boiled bones. substance exists that is so powerful that it
(black and yellow) and blood to the bodily is possible to place it upon any material (not
fluids of a character they can provoke ✦✦ Degree of difficulty: -6 just sand). The area where the substance
reactions, both negatively and positively. is spread is turned into quicksand but is
Therefore, experiments were carried out Requirements not changed in appearance.
at a fast pace concerning what substances
and what amounts of them would make a ✦✦ Skill: Science SV 7
body react in a certain way. For instance, ✦✦ Discipline: Transmutation level 2 Interfectrix nubes
when a great bull is emptied of black bile, ✦✦ Specialization: Alchemy level 2 When the alchemist Ibrahim Al Gantim
blood and phlegm and then the fluids are wanted to create an elixir of life he mixed 241
properly mixed together, the one who Material Requirements cold water with the distilled juice from
drinks this mixture can gain the power a mysterious, unknown herb. The effect
of the bull. Or when a lynx is emptied of ✦✦ Quicksilver, oil, and lime (or a glue of such a mixture was the so-called
bodily fluids and these are mixed together created from boiled bones). All the Interfectrix Nubes - a fume which is
properly, drinking the mixture can make elements should have been boiled “murderous” since it is poisonous. The
a character very dexterous. Some claim together for five days. process is long and time consuming, while
that the werewolf is a product of such also putting the chemist at great risk.
experimentation. Effect At the beginning of the century the
Should the alchemist succeed in create chemist Thomas Einhocken figured out
Degree of difficulty: -4 the substance he should then pour it a way to create the fume in a bottle and

Requirements

✦✦ Skill: Science SV 7
✦✦ Discipline: Applied Science level 2
✦✦ Specialization: Pharmaceutics level 3

Material Requirements

✦✦ The four bodily fluids: yellow and

black bile, phlegm, and blood from
one or more animals.

Effect
The one who drinks the mixture can
temporarily, or, in extreme cases,
permanently increase or decrease their

241 chapter 1. the caracter

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

 in this way kept it sealed. By throwing EFFECT AND MODIFIER: INTERFECTRIX NUBES
the bottle, it will break and the fume Added Effect Modifier to be added to the basic -6
will be released and slowly smother the Powerful (1d6 damage per round) -4 Difficulty
chemist’s victims.
Very Powerful (1d10 damage per round) -9 difficulty
✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -6 Lasting (1d6 hours) -4 Difficulty
Log-lasting (1d10 hours) -9 difficulty
Requirements Invisible -5 Difficulty

✦✦ Skill: Science SV 10
✦✦ Discipline: Transmutation level 4 for a character’s mental capacity, while cannot have been dead for more than
✦✦ Specialization: Alchemy level 4 other substances could affect the human five days for this to be possible, and
physique. frequently the dead one will not answer
Material Requirements you at all if you do manage to summon
✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -5 them.
✦✦ At least 50 grams of gold, absinthe,
a fistful of powder and a small Requirements ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -7
laboratory. A bottle with a tight cork.
✦✦ Skill: Science SV 7 Requirements
Effect ✦✦ Discipline: Applied Science level 2
A bottle full of the fume covers an area ✦✦ Specialization: Pharmaceutics level 3 ✦✦ Skill: Science SV 10
as large as 5x5 meters and everyone ✦✦ Discipline: Transmutation level 4
that is in range of the fumes are affected Material Requirements ✦✦ Specialization: Alchemy level 3
by them. The smoke causes 1d3 points
of physical damage per round that the ✦✦ Access to a chemical laboratory and Other Requirements
victim is within the area of the smoke. a number of chemical substances and Esotericism SV 5
242 The smoke disappears after 1d10 rounds elemental building blocks.
(modified by the current weather). Material Requirements
Effect
Variant There are several effects that can arise ✦✦ A body of someone who died no more
There are a number of variants of and each effect is a separate ability. The than five days before, five candles
Infectorix Nubes. Some versions are much player can come up with what they want made from the fat of a goat, nine
more potent, others do not disperse until their character to discover and what the lanterns placed in a circle around the
several hours have passed and others, effect should be. However, it is up to the body, and the tears of a suicide.
even more powerful, are invisible. These game master to decide the degree of ✦✦ Opus Magnum Mortuorum is the
are however very difficult to make. To difficulty and what the final effect should name of a tome that was written
make these versions add up the following be. The degree of difficulty indicated here by group of Gnostics during the
modifiers to the basic difficulty (-6). is for a minor new discovery, something 16th century. It is said that a great
that, for example, can heal a health level amount of the writing in the book
or can make people to fall asleep for a few contained Babylonian elements that
Mineral chemistry hours. were thousands-of-years old but
The coming of chemistry (both organic and the Gnostics managed to decipher
inorganic) as a proper science was welcome the combination of symbols and, by
by many scholars as a great discovery which doing this, obtained a knowledge
would bring immense power for humans, Necro linguistika of a great Babylonian secret: the
both in the physical and mental realms. By To speak to a dead person is something ability of speaking with the dead.
mixing together different “elements” (a that can be very terrifying and Opus Magnum Mortuorum exists
term that was introduced circa 1660) with dangerous. The dead, quite often, in three sets, of which two are adrift
different chemical substances the mineral know things which are not meant to be somewhere in Europe. The third
chemists could create substances that had revealed to the living and great tragedies book is guarded by the monastic
a great effect on humans. A certain mineral could come from such a knowledge . brothers in the Greek monastery of
water had a healing effect, some pulverised Only those within the esoteric sphere Roussanou. This book is considered
elements could be combined to have both usually make the attempt to speak with to be the original, the other two are
intoxicating and strengthening effects someone that has passed. The dead one considered to be copies.

chapter 1. the character 242

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 Effect Effect Valentinian mirroring
The summoner can speak to a The one who drink the draught feels This ability makes a character able to
creature that has not been dead for great pain in their stomach (imposing a transfer limited thoughts to a liquid
more than five days. The summoned -1 penalty on all skill rolls) and is covered that is then mixed into a draught. The
spirit will remain for 2d6+2 minutes. in hair on both arms and on their back. one who drinks the draught will share
Furthermore the dead are not obliged For 1d6 hours the character becomes in the thoughts.
to speak with the summoner. It invisible to werewolves. The stomach
is totally up to the game master’s pain disappears with the effect but the ✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -12
judgement to establish whether any hair can remain for several weeks.
information will be gained or not. Requirements
The nature of the dead (whether he
was favourable or inimical to the The flame of Trithemius ✦✦ Skill: Science SV 10
summoner) has a role in this but good By an advanced chemical process, the ✦✦ Discipline: Transmutation level 2
role play and successful social skill abbot Johannes Trithemius created a ✦✦ Specialization: Alchemy level 4
rolls (e.g. the Communication skill) candle that could burn forever without
can help. being extinguished. Material Requirements

✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -12 ✦✦ Fama Fraterntaatis, found in the

Tufloû Loukû Pósis first pamphlets that were written at
The Greek occultist Kyriakos Requirements the beginning of the 16th century
Anasiadis, who lived in the middle of by the society of the Rose Cross.
the 17th century, had a deep interest ✦✦ Skill: Science SV 7 The tome was written by pupils of
in discovering ways to protect ✦✦ Discipline: Transmutation level 2 the alchemist Valentin Adreae. The
common men from unnatural beasts. ✦✦ Specialization: Alchemy level 3 treatise contains a great number
He discovered that one could, through of formulas and procedures, not
boiling some werewolf meat in holy Material Requirements least of which were those to create
water, create an elixir that would a draught that one could share 243
make one invisible to werewolves. The ✦✦ Sulphur, alum, a drying chamber, one’s thoughts with. The writing
name of this draught, Tufloû Loukû Venetian leek, a copper tablet, white itself exists in more than a hundred
Pósis, means “potion of the blind silk, and sand. copies in Europe, but it is difficult to
wolf ” which is an apt name for such a ✦✦ The handwritten manuscript by create the draught which is why so
concoction. Johannes Trithemius in Latin. few have been able to replicate this
supernatural ability.
✦✦ Degree of Difficulty: -7 Effect
Should the chemical process be performed Effect
Requirements as described in the manuscript, a light The draught can have two different
can be created whose flame will never go functions. The alchemist decides the
✦✦ Skill: Science SV 10 out and thus burn forever. The process effect when the potion is created.
✦✦ Discipline: Transmutation level 4 creates a small flame that can fit in a glass The first aim to obtain information.
✦✦ Specialization: Alchemy level 3 with sand. To create a bonfire or greater The one who drinks the draught
flame that burns forever is not possible. experiences another person’s memories.
Other Requirements Should the flame be exposed to water it The second possible effect creates
will be immediately extinguished only to a force of habit, which means that the
✦✦ Esotericism SV 4, Supernatural automatically re-light itself again a few one who drinks it feels compelled to
Beings discipline level 1 seconds later. Should the candle be buried, perform a particular action. In order
it will go out, but as soon as it gets air not to perform the action, the victim
Material Requirements again the candle will re-ignite by itself. must make a situation roll with a
✦✦ A piece, around 50 grams, of meat The fire is otherwise normal. By placing situation value of 8 (the Psyche trait
from a werewolf or somebody a lid over the glass you can suffocate the modifies the roll).
infected by its curse , holy water, and flame and it will be extinguished but by
a distillation apparatus. A successful removing the lid and thus bringing air to
skill roll creates one dose. the flame it will relight itself again.

243 chapter 1. the caracter

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  Index 
—A— Chelsea physic garden................................... 201 Emblems........................................................... 210
Abilities and powers.... 214, 216, 217, 218, 219 Chemical quicksand....................................... 241 England............................................................. 101
Action round schedule......................................14 Christian Era..................................................... 72 Enlightenment................................................... 76
Actions of opportunity.................................... 20 Cities.................................................................. 107 Enochian........................................................... 212
Advanced medical care.................................... 26 Classical antiquity............................................ 70 Environment...................................................... 47
Adventure points and tips...............................51 Codes................................................................. 210 Estates and palaces........................................ 134
Adventures and missions...................................8 Coffee houses and illicit liquor shops........ 132 Evade attack........................................................21
Alessandro Cagliostro (1743-1795).............196 Combat................................................................ 13 Exorcism.....................................................31, 234
Amandis powder.............................................240 Combat actions.................................................. 20 —F—
Amputations....................................................... 29 Combat capacity.................................................17 Failed attack.......................................................18
Amsterdam....................................................... 108 Combat movement............................................ 20 Failed healing.................................................... 28
Anette Gardaou (1702-1753, see above).... 163 Combining different disciplines and Failed parrying..................................................18
Animal magnetism.........................................240 specializations.......................................................9 Faith and confession........................................ 84
Anmal sacrifice................................................. 97 Combining disciplines and specializations....9 Falling damage .................................................31
Apostolic orthodox confession of faith......239 Communicate orders........................................ 20 Fear and mental damage................................ 34
Appearance.......................................213, 217, 218 Compagnie de Saint-Gobain....................... 131 Fear factor.........................................................214
Arms and natural weapons...........................214 Compagnie du Saint Sacrement.................. 148 Feint......................................................................21
Atbash................................................................208 Complications in the wild............................... 45 Fellow craft and equal................................... 183
Attacking ............................................................17 Comte de Saint-Germain.............................. 178 Ferdinand of Brunswick (1721-1792)..........196
Awarding adventure points.............................51 Congregatio pro doctrina fidei.................... 146 Fields and the factories.................................129
—B— Copenhagen......................................................112 Fifth age of the world...................................... 68
Background...................................................... 213 Coptic curse.....................................................234 Fifth degree – Grandmaster Mason.......... 182
244 Basic medical care............................................ 26 Countries..........................................................100 Fifth level: Insanabilis (Beyond recovery).. 37
Beasts and antagonists.................................. 213 Crane Court..................................................... 201 Fifth level: Moribundus (Dying)................... 33
Being wounded during natural healing...... 28 Crime and punishment.................................... 93 Find the mysteries............................................ 53
Berlin..................................................................110 Cryptography..................................................207 Finding the art................................................225
Bernardo Tanucci (1698-1783)......................171 Cryptomagicians.............................................202 Fire damage .......................................................31
Biblical timeline................................................ 63 Crystal seeing.................................................... 98 First age of the world...................................... 63
Blåkulla............................................................. 156 Cult of Abramelin...........................................202 First grade – Novice (Entered apprentice)......
Blind fighting.................................................... 23 Cult of Thuggee..............................................203 179
Blocksberg........................................................ 156 —D— First Impression............................................. 213
Blood lettering.................................................. 97 Damage complications.................................... 29 First level: Salvus (Healthy)........................... 32
Blood rituals...................................................... 97 Damage effects from mental illness. .......... 34 First level: Sanus (Sane).................................. 36
Bodily refinement........................................... 241 Damage for monsters and creatures.............31 Five Levels of Damage.................................... 25
Book cipher......................................................209 Damcar..............................................................196 Flame of Trithemius......................................243
Boston................................................................111 Dark arts..........................................................225 Food rations....................................................... 49
Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttle......................... 193 De naturali scientia........................................ 192 Fourth age of the world.................................. 68
British museum...............................................200 Degrees of difficulty........................................ 10 Fourth degree – Master or Master mason......
—C— Delaying action..................................................14 181
Caesar shift......................................................208 Descriptions of the abilities.........................225 Fourth level: Demens (Insane)...................... 37
Café Procope.................................................... 133 Devil’s fire........................................................229 Fourth level: Vulnus letale (Mortally
Calendar.............................................................. 62 Different kinds of impression........................ 39 damaged)............................................................ 33
Cardan...............................................................207 Diseases and poison damage......................... 32 France................................................................ 102
Care and healing............................................... 26 Divine arts.......................................................225 François Antoine............................................ 150
Carl Fredrik Pechilin (1720-1796)...............171 Doc Lugunga (1706-1771)............................. 159 —G—
Carrying weapons in two hands....................18 Draw weapons................................................... 20 Game................................................................... 49
Catholic patriarchal ritual............................233 Druid caves...................................................... 154 Game master .......................................................7
Changing actions...............................................14 Dutch rum and sugar trade company....... 188 Gaspard Villier............................................... 150
Character traits................................................214 —E— Gear....................................................................214
Characters.............................................................7 Edward Gibbon (1727-1794)......................... 142 Geography........................................................100
Cheating death.................................................. 28 Elizabeth Aldworth........................................ 179 Glossolalia........................................................234

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

  Index 
Gnosticians...................................................... 140 Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768)..... —N—
Golem................................................................236 200 Natural healing................................................. 26
Gothenburg.......................................................115 John Theophilus Desaguliers...................... 179 Necro linguistika............................................242
Grand master................................................... 183 Jonathan’s Coffee-House............................... 133 Nonplayer characters........................................14
Grappling and wrestling................................ 19 Joshua “Rabbit” Dane (1729-1765)...............175 Novice................................................................ 183
Great Swedish conspiracy............................202 Judgment day..................................................... 78 NPC descriptions............................................ 213
Gregorius’ prayer............................................236 —K— —O—
Groutstreet warehouse ................................ 191 —L— Occult languages............................................ 212
—H— La Pilotta...........................................................171 Odd fellows.......................................................173
Harming a phantom........................................217 La Salpêtrière..................................................129 Old Nelly (1728-1758)....................................190
Harming a vampire........................................ 221 Languedoc........................................................ 130 Open roll..............................................................11
Hashashins....................................................... 165 Le grande chiffre............................................209 Opera houses and theaters........................... 132
Hasty attack........................................................21 Le Marais, Paris............................................. 128 Order of freemasons...................................... 177
Health and fear.................................................. 25 Le Pant.............................................................. 176 Order of the thought builders.....................203
Heathen timeline.............................................. 70 Left-hand path ...............................................229 Other combat situations.................................. 23
Hellfire club......................................................151 Length and difficulty of a mission .............. 52 Other healing.................................................... 28
Hit the weapon...................................................21 Levitation.........................................................227 Other rewards................................................... 53
Holy body according to roman mekubal’s Library.............................................................. 183 Overcome/avoid object.................................... 22
chetz 908...........................................................238 Life in the wild.................................................. 45 —P—
Holy Roman empire....................................... 103 Lingua ignota.................................................. 212 Pactum cum diabolo.......................................230
Homophonic substitution cryptography...209 Locked combat points.......................................17 Papa Ghede’s smoking house....................... 160
Homunculus ....................................................229 London...............................................................116 Paris....................................................................118
House of christian in Kassel........................196 Luck rolls............................................................ 10 Parrying..............................................................18 245
How does one roleplay? ....................................8 Lycanthrope..................................................... 215 Paths into the shadow world ........................ 97
How well the players and their characters —M— Père-Lachaise.................................................. 163
succeeded............................................................ 53 Madame du Barry (1743-undefined).......... 163 Phantom............................................................ 216
Human saacrifice.............................................. 97 Maison Cherbourg......................................... 160 Physical damage.................................................31
Hunting............................................................... 47 Maman Brigitte (1698-1789)........................ 159 Physical damage levels.................................... 32
Hunting grounds and nature....................... 131 Manchester “Unity” square.......................... 176 Physical health points.....................................218
Hypnotic sleep ................................................227 Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718-1799)............200 Pick something up............................................ 22
—I— Maria Theresa of Austria (1717-1780)....... 187 Pigpen cipher...................................................208
Illuminati.......................................................... 167 Marie-Louise O´Murphy (1737-undefined)..... Pium Sodalicium............................................. 143
Impression given by the NPC..................... 213 163 Place Royal........................................................171
Impressions........................................................ 39 Master............................................................... 183 Play session ..........................................................8
Impressions that the NPC approves/ Measuring the degrees of success................ 10 Polyalphabetic substitution code..................211
disapproves of.................................................. 213 Medmenham Abbey....................................... 154 Ponte dei Sospiri..............................................171
Inadequate food and water............................. 46 Mental health points...................................... 219 Postponing initiative........................................14
Inflamation/sever infection (physical levels Mental strain/collapse (Mental levels 2-5).29 Prague...............................................................120
2-5)....................................................................... 29 Middle ages........................................................ 72 Prayer of the true faithful............................239
Initiated kabbalists of Loew........................203 Mineral chemistry..........................................242 Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (1712-
Initiations and degrees.................................. 179 Mitigating circumstances in the wild......... 46 1780)................................................................... 186
Initiative ............................................................ 13 Monoalphabetical substitution code..........208 Propriété de Tibault....................................... 150
Initiative modifiers (“IM”).............................. 13 More hunters .................................................... 48 Protection..........................................................214
Insanity (mental level 5 - Insanabilis) ........ 29 Moros musphoron..........................................228 Pythagoras’ Formula for action numbers. ......
Interfectrix nubes........................................... 241 Mounted combat................................................21 230
Introduction..........................................................7 Mounted ranged combat................................. 22 Pythagoras’ formula for individual numbers..
Italy....................................................................104 Movement..........................................................214 230
—J— Moving target................................................... 23 Pythagoras’ Inscription................................ 231
Jean-Baptiste de Machault d’Arnouville Mr. Hoogaboom – Monsieur Terrible (1721- —Q—
(1701-1794)........................................................ 170 undefined date)................................................190 Quorndon, Leicestershire............................. 132
Johann Hermann Obercit (1725-1798).......196 Mumia Arabum...............................................228 —R—

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

  Index 
Rafaelian blessing of blood..........................238 Situation rolls.................................................... 10 Third degree – Equal (Fellow craft 2°).....181
Ranged attacks.................................................. 22 Sixth age of the world..................................... 69 Third level: Mens amissa (Lunatic)............. 36
Reformation....................................................... 75 Skill rolls ..............................................................9 Third level: Vulnus grave (Seriously
Registering damage......................................... 25 Skoptsy..............................................................204 damaged)............................................................ 33
Renaissance........................................................ 74 Slippery surface................................................. 23 Throwing to the ground................................ 19
Requirements for equipment in the wild.... 46 Slums................................................................. 127 Time ................................................................... 47
Resisting a grapple........................................... 19 Société En Soie................................................ 161 Time for healing............................................... 28
Retreat................................................................. 23 Society................................................................. 82 Tips for playing................................................ 53
Ride-by attack................................................... 22 Spectres and wraiths......................................218 To succeed with a skill or situation roll..... 10
Right-hand path..............................................227 Spiked cross of Huet......................................233 To succeed with the art................................226
Rolling dice ..........................................................9 Spirit walking.................................................... 98 Trade....................................................................91
Rome.................................................................. 122 Spiritus.............................................................. 231 Transposition...................................................208
Rosicrucian order........................................... 194 St Giles and seven dials, London............... 128 Treatment at a sanatorium............................. 29
Rovine............................................................... 128 Stand up.............................................................. 23 Tufloû Loukû Pósis........................................243
Royal society.................................................... 197 Starting a grapple............................................ 19 Typical areas.................................................... 127
Russia................................................................106 Stenography.....................................................207 —U—
—S— Stockholm......................................................... 124 Unarmed combat...............................................18
Saint Petersburg............................................. 123 Sub Rosa........................................................... 139 Unconsciousness and death ...........................31
Saint-Germain-des-Prés............................... 147 Substances.......................................................... 98 University of Uppsala.................................... 193
Saló del Tinell..................................................171 Substitution......................................................208 Using impression rolls.....................................41
Samples of attacks...........................................214 Successful attack ...............................................17 Using the arts.................................................225
Scavi................................................................... 147 Successful parrying...........................................18 —V—
246 Schloss Schönbrunn ...................................... 187 Supernatural abilities of esotericism..........227 Valentinian mirroring...................................243
Science and enlightenment............................. 87 Supernatural abilities of esotericism..........229 Vampire............................................................. 219
Scientific arts...................................................225 Supernatural abilities of science..................240 Vanity and decadence...................................... 95
Scytale...............................................................208 Supernatural abilities of theology..............233 Venice................................................................ 125
Sebastian Hawk (1722-1776).........................175 Supernatural beings........................................214 Versailles.................................................. 134, 164
Second age of the world.................................. 65 Supernatural properties................................226 Vienna............................................................... 126
Second degree – Apprentice (Fellow craft)..... Surprise attack.................................................. 23 Vigenère cipher................................................211
180 Svinstiechiffer..................................................209 Vogue, the impression of clothes.................. 40
Second degree: Rabidus (Delusional)........... 36 Symbols............................................................. 210 Voodoo pwen...................................................232
Second level: Corpus laesus (Damaged)...... 32 —T— —W—
Secret arts........................................................223 Taking turns...................................................... 13 War...................................................................... 90
Seeing.................................................................. 98 Targets at long distance................................. 22 Weapon actions..................................................17
Shack-a-lock.....................................................190 Targets in melee combat................................ 22 Weapon actions with the off-hand................18
Shadow world.................................................... 96 Tarot..................................................................232 West Wycombe house................................... 154
Shadow world throughout history............... 96 Tarot and bone reading.................................. 98 What they know and don’t know............... 213
Shield of the apostles.....................................238 Tattoos and scarification................................ 99 William Blake................................................. 142
Short descriptions of a handful of other Terry Jones’ Mysterious Voodoo Society.157 Witch Cult........................................................ 155
societies.............................................................202 Tessin Palace................................................... 134 Witchcraft and superstition........................... 89
Sigil....................................................................207 The three arts.................................................223 World................................................................... 59
Sir Francis Dashwood (1708-1781)............. 153 Theory................................................................. 53 —Z—
Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727)......................200 Third age of the world.................................... 66 Ziggurats...........................................................171

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

  Notes 

247

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)

  Notes 

248

James R Mitchell (Order #15757350)