Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Selenim
How Do Selenim Differ from the Nephilim?
All Selenim began their existence as Nephilim, then subsequently altered themselves to become Selenim. The differences between the Selenim and the Nephilim hinge upon the fundamental magical energies that comprise their beings. The Nephilim are comprised of five different energies, or Ka, all of which are Solar-Ka from the Sun diffracted from different heavenly bodies: Fire-Ka from Mars; Earth-Ka from Jupiter; Air-Ka from Mercury; Water-Ka from Venus; and Moon-Ka from the Moon. The Selenim have cut away all of their Ka elements except for one, their Moon-Ka, and that they have re-diffracted through the remnant Black Moon fields to become Black Moon-Ka.
Nephilim are capable of manifesting their magical natures through their innate Ka-vision, with which they can view the variations in the Ka fields, and through the three accepted occult sciences of Sorcery, Summoning and Alchemy. The Selenim have only a pallid vestige of their former Ka-vision, but have developed a sort of "Black Moon-Ka hearing" commonly called the Tenebrae, with which they can "hear" the shifting of the Black Moon fields. An unusual side effect of the Tenebrae is that Selenim are able to hear the voices of the dead, and through the use of this ability have developed an occult science different from that of the Nephilim: Necromancy. Another occult science that they have developed is the specialised Black Summoning, with which they are able to summon dread and dire beasties from the Black Moon fields.
The Nephilim are capable of replenishing their magical energies simply by bathing in the Ka fields that envelope the planet. Selenim, on the other hand, have no such source, as the Black Moon fields are too dispersed across the planet to sustain them. To replenish their Black Moon-Ka, the Selenim must instead draw Solar-Ka from humans and in so doing convert it into Black Moon-Ka. In this sense, they are very much like vampires, though they do not require the actual drawing and consumption of blood. Instead, the Selenim are able to psychically siphon off the Solar-Ka by engendering emotional states to which they are attuned. Thus, the Selenim are constantly engaged in creating highly charged emotional situations among humans from whom they wish to feed.
What is the Imago?
In order to create a reserve of Black Moon-Ka, the Selenim are prone to creating something called the Imago. The Imago is a sort of idealised image that the Selenim has developed of itself. In one sense it is a sort of barely-perceptible shadow that looms over the Selenim, and in another, it is a sort of intangible sculpture that it is creating. Every aspect of the Imago that the Selenim creates is a reflection of its emotional state, and represents a particular emotion upon which it favors feeding. In this sense, the Imago is a means of eliciting the emotions it desires. Some Imagos are very beautiful. Most Imagos are shocking, if not outright dreadful. All Imagos are designed to be impressive.
The Imago is generally invisible and intangible. For all but the most powerful, the Imago looms behind the Selenim like a perverted shadow, visible only to other Selenim, but almost perceptible to Nephilim or humans using Ka-vision. At certain times the Selenim may wish to manifest the aspects of its Imago upon its own body. When it does so, its body twists and warps into whatever dimensions the Imago aspects dictate.
Can You Tell Me More About the Occult Sciences of the Selenim?
IMAGO
The Imago is a sort of archetypal shadow-self. It is both a
store-house for Black Moon-Ka and a means of refining the
technique of Assuaging. It is really less of an occult science
than an inherent ability of being a Selenim. The Selenim
"moulds" or "sculpts" an idealised image of
itself that represents the sorts of emotions that it prefers to
feed upon. For instance, a Selenim may develop a face that
represents and evokes Fear, while it develops hands with claws
that represent and evoke Greed, etc. A whole body will be
sculpted, aspect by aspect, and each aspect will help the Selenim
evoke a preferred emotion from its victims while Assuaging. Imago
aspects are limited only by the imagination of the Selenim
itself, though once created, they remain immutable.
Each Imago aspect (generally comprising a head, body, arms and legs, but may include any number of other refinements and extraneous elements) is controlled by an emotional Trait rated on a scale from 0 to 20 in precisely the same fashion that the emotional Traits for Metamorphoses (from Chronicle of the Awakenings) are. A rating of 0 represents no control over the aspect, and 20 represents complete mastery over it.
The Imago is generally invisible and looms behind the Selenim like a malignant shadow, but the Selenim may choose to manifest the Imago aspect upon its own body. Doing so is often damaging and painful to the body of the Simulacrum, however, and must be done with great caution. Generally, it costs approximately 5% of the original cost of the aspect in Black Moon-Ka in order to manifest it upon a Selenim’s body.
For the purposes of creating an Imago, assume that a human-like head costs 30 Black Moon-Ka (BMK), while a more animal-like head will cost 50 to 80, depending upon how specialised the head is (big teeth cost more, etc.); human arms and legs cost 20 BMK, while animal limbs will cost anywhere from 30 to 60 (they generally have useful claws, hooves, tentacles and such); human bodies cost 50 BMK while animal bodies generally cost about 100 BMK.
NECROMANCY
Necromancy involves two different techniques: Communion and
Command. Both involve the focusing of the Tenebrae skill to
listen to the voices of dead human spirits.
Communion - This is the ability to communicate with the dead. Generally speaking, the dead are eager for a good conversation. Sometimes, they are even privy to information useful to the Selenim. Likewise, often times the survivors of the deceased are eager to speak with their now-dead acquaintances and may be willing to do favors for the Selenim in exchange for establishing contact. Communion may take any of a number of forms, including speaking to skulls, augury of corpses, raising spectral forms, traditional parlor seances, etc. Communion is always a mutually voluntary relationship between the Selenim and the spirit.
Command - This is the far more nefarious application of Necromancy, and the dead aren’t so keen to participate in these activities. Command involves the invocation of the dead spirit and forcing it to the Selenim’s will. The spirit may be tortured into revealing information, or bound to haunt a certain place, forced into menacing spectral forms, or even compelled to animate its corpse. Necromancers who engage in an excess of malignant Command develop a bad reputation among the dead quite quickly, and are asking for a nasty pay-back some day.
BLACK SUMMONING
This occult science involves three circles of invocations that
draw quite bizarre creatures out from the Black Moon fields.
Black Summoning is actually quite seldom used among the Selenim
for four reasons: 1) it is generally too expensive in BMK to cast
the spells; 2) the creatures summoned are often too dangerous to
control safely; 3) Black Moon creatures can only be summoned in
the very strongest of Black Moon fields, which are few and far
between; and 4) because the spells are so nasty, few Selenim are
willing to teach them to potential rivals.
First Circle - These summonings generally invoke goblin-like creatures that are able to affect the emotional states of their victims. There are also one or two creatures that can do a minimum of direct physical damage. These creatures are invariably invisible to anyone unable to sense Black Moon fields.
Second Circle - These creatures are distinctly more powerful than the previous circle, and they have more dire abilities, including physical damage and the destruction of various types of Ka. They are also much harder to control.
Third Circle - These creatures are almost off the scale. They are beyond control and possess the most alien and malignant knowledge beyond the ken of most Selenim. Virtually no one possesses these spells, and those who do would not be foolish enough to share them with others.
(Note: As may be inferred, at least some of these beings of the Third Circle are the lingering spirits of the great Saurians.)
Where Are the Selenim Today?
The Selenim are generally quite loosely dispersed today, as any time that they congregate in greater numbers, they are routed by the Nephilim. However, they still command certain strongholds in Mexico and the mountains of Central Asia. In usually solitary conditions, they may generally be found where they have both access to a considerable population of humans from which to feed, and a fair sized population of dead souls with which to communicate.
The Selenim are unable to reincarnate as easily as the Nephilim, and as such are generally a rather craven lot, preferring to muster their power in safety and command their magics from afar. They tend to have lackeys, both mundane and magical, do their dirty work for them, though in a pinch, a Selenim can strike out with astonishing fury and destruction of its own accord.
What About Major Arcanum XIII?
Major Arcanum XIII, the Unnamed, is the Arcanum appointed to the Selenim. Their nominal figurehead, their Pharaonic Egregor, is reputedly a Selenim known as Nephren-Ka, who presented Akhenaton with the Ebon Tablet. This act ensured their place among the Major Arcana of the Nephilim, in spite of their radical variance from the path to Agartha. Few Nephilim acknowledge the legitimacy of this Arcanum, and most reject the Selenim as monsters at best, and at worst as traitors. Beyond these facts, few Nephilim know anything of the Arcanum.
In fact, the Selenim themselves do not refer to their Arcanum as "Unnamed", preferring the name it holds in the tarot: Death. The Death Arcanum is dedicated to the perpetuation of their original role among the Nephilim as martyred saviors. In payment for their sacrifice, they exact a toll from the betrayers of the Nephilim -- the Solar-Ka of humans. Their great sacrifice after the fall of the Orichalka Meteor was their effort to perpetuate the existence of their brethren. Immune to the effects of Orichalka, they were the guardians of the Nephilim, and as an Arcanum, they are prepared to do so again. This is not to suggest that they are entirely noble in this pursuit - many Selenim resent the constant ingratitude and persecution they suffer at the hands of the Nephilim, and most will not go out of their way to assist a Nephilim in any but the gravest of circumstances. Some Selenim refuse to aid them at all, instead choosing to wait until the final battle between humans and the magical races, where they will stride forth as a wildcard in the end game.
A great secret that very few Nephilim are aware of is that most Selenim do not stand unified under the banner of the Unnamed Arcanum. In fact, the majority of Selenim worldwide belong to societies particular to their locale. The Xixiegui (pronounced "shee-shay-gwee") of Asia are organised under the Yama Kings of the many-fold hells; the Xibalbans (pronounced "shee-ball-ban") form their own kingdoms and lordships throughout Mexico, Central America and into South America. The largest group, easily dwarfing the Arcanum, and certainly the most influential among them, is the mysterious Cult of Lilith. Based out of Central Asia, they hold sway over the majority of Selenim throughout Europe, the Middle East and North America. This cult is the source of most of the truly monstrous legends that persist about the Selenim, and it is they who are most likely to act in outright opposition to the Nephilim.
What About Agartha?
Agartha, as you'll recall, is the pinnacle of spiritual enlightenment for the Nephilim. It is a state of being that they achieve when they have become sufficiently enlightened and in tune with the magical fields. The Selenim have divorced themselves from those fields and are thus unable to attain Agartha. This is one of the greatest sacrifices the Selenim have made for the Nephilim. However, the Selenim are not entirely lost, as they are able to create Realms, whole worlds that obey their every command, once they have developed a sufficiently vast hoard of Black Moon-Ka. They hoard Black Moon-Ka by funneling it into their Imagos, which grow steadily bigger and more massive with each deposit. Eventually the Imago grows too huge to follow the Selenim about like a shadow anymore and becomes stationary. Not long after this, it becomes massive enough to collapse in upon itself and fall out of existence in this plane. Thereafter, it becomes a sort of pocket universe into which the Selenim may withdraw and act as absolute ruler and creator.
Selenim Realms are generally rather small at first, but may continue to grow as the Selenim deposits more and more Black Moon-Ka into it. As the Realm is essentially another form of its Imago, it will also reflect the Selenim's emotional personality, and may be shaped according to whatever whims the Selenim so chooses.