Symposium on the Nightmare Host - notes of Marcus Woundbinder
Scholars in attendence:
Mahavati - Undersea
Luelenvati - Undersea
Tariq - Desert of Brass
Twilight Claw - Rock of Storms
Venerable Mountain - The Empire of Perfect Unity
Winter Plum - The Empire of Perfect Unity
Winter Pearl - The Empire of Perfect Unity
Scribes:
Rajiyah Bint Fuam - The Desert of Brass
Marcus Woundbinder - The Dark Mountains
Luelenvati started off by stating he had knowledge of the origins and motivations of the nightmare host. He stated that he felt the proper course of action was to find a way to purify them, which he admitted would require a lot of research with very little to go on. He stated that terrestrial spirits, the Grey Watch, and the Oun believed this task was impossible. Luelenvati felt that if it was possible it could be done through use use of the magics of the Currents of Deepspirit. He uncovered evidence of two greater workings which, while this wouldn’t be their intended use, could possibly be used in such a way as to try to accomplish this purification.
The first, “The Emanations of Vathriagni’ creates a conceptual spirit of great power. If the nightmare host were forced into slumber this spirit could supplant them taking upon itself the role of the nightmare host but not the corruption.
The second greater working called “The Avatar Mantle of the Pitiless Cycle” makes a caster’s voice turn a foe’s anger back upon themselves and destroy themselves.
Not all present agreed with Luelenvati’s beliefs
Venerable Mountain queried what if it were not possible to destroy the Nightmare Host? Solutions ot his query beyond destruction were not proposed.
Twilight Claw talked about how he had become lawbroken by taking the favor of the nightmare host of Carnage but was no longer allied with them.
Winter Pearl stated that there were believes to be seven factions of the nightmare host but her research had revealed only six: Rot, Strife, Carnage, Privation, Despair, Madness.
Twilight claw suggested spirits that didn’t fit neatly into one of the above (like deceit and decadence) were either minor avatars or have simply failed to be categorized.
There was discussion that there was a lot of fractionation between the nightmare hosts.
Winter Pearl suggested that the split lies along the magnitude of the spirits. She mentioned how nightmare hosts have the ability to take out a part of them selves and put it aside to come back to it later.
Venerable Mountain stated he felt undoing them, removing their existence would be detrimental to the world.
Luelenvati stated that they have existed since Oun and they fed upon the decadence and depravity of the civilization. According to the Old Man Under the mountain, Had the decadence of Oun not existed, the awakening of Destruction would be no more than a ‘bad weekend’.
Twilight Claw again stated that he was lawbroken, proud of it, and how much could be learned from actually breaking the Old Laws and dealing with the Nightmare Host.
Luelenvati reiterated that his primary concern in this symposium was in gaining understanding of these beings.
Twilight Claw asked what concrete could be done against the Nightmare Host threat? He mentions how A number of factions of the Nightmare host oppose one another.
Venerable Mountain suggested starting a Nightmare Host civil war.
Twilight Claw mentioned how often to accomplish something great you have to do something terrible.
Winter Pearl suggested exiling them from the forest.
Venerable mountain queried what changed between the “bad weekend” they were originally and now?
Luelenvati proposed that the answer to the query lay in the extreme badness of Oun and suggested that something about the presence of the wanderlings in the forest allowed the situation to reach a critical mass.
Tariq suggested the the only way to truly get rid of them would be to remove all beings across all worlds from existence.
Luelenvati stated that he thought some good might come if they could be introduced into the cycle of Karma.
Twilight Claw stated that he felt that they were a cosmic threat and that we could fight them and would have to continue on fighting forever.
Tariq proposed the question of whether we made them of if they made our wickedness.
Winter Pearl suggested it might be possible to reduce their numbers by constantly destroying them.
Venerable mountain queried if redemption was attempted at what point would we make the choice to stop attempting to redeem them and settle for destroying them instead.
Luelenvati then began to speak of a pact between heaven and earth that had been broken and breaking it had somehow allowed the nightmare host to run amok throughout the terrestrial plane. He stated that parts of heaven did manage to seal themselves away against both the invaders and the terrestrial spirits.
Twilight Claw stated that he believed the nightmare host were a cosmic fact.
Rajiyah Bint Fuam stated that she had heard of a group called the Wholesome Shapers who had shaped the nightmare host and then mentioned the Dark Esthite as another possible avenue or research interest.
Luelenvati continued that he didn’t know anything about the pact between Heaven and Earth and that the greatest source of info on this entire matter would be the celestial city itself.
Tariq queried if going up to the celestial city would cause corruption in the spirits still present there.
Luelenvati stated that according to the champion the heralds can lead to corruption. The Champion did what he did to the virtues in response to them sealing themselves off in the celestial city. He thought the effort was self defeating.
Twilight Claw stated that any holding pattern such as this is doomed to failure to to the presence and influence of the Nightmare Host of Rot.
Tariq stated that we made the Nightmare Host, they did not make us. Destroying the spirit of Justice would do nothing to the actual existence of justice within the hearts and minds of men. He then went on to discuss how there were 6 virtues, 6 neutrals, and 6 vices and how the virtues were the only ones to dispense wisdom. He speculated that uttered the true name of destruction would destroy it.
Twilight Claw speculated that the uncorrupted spirits may also be our enemies in this fight.
Luelenvati then went on to discuss how there may be some sort of internal schism within the Nightmare host. He mentioned how they can hide the fact that people are anathema marked. It was unknown if this protection extended to the physical symptoms of corruption that a skilled healer can detect. He mentioned how Sol had used his abilities as the herald of truth to determine that Bonfire of Empty Cradles was anathema marked. He mentioned how when he was offered scionship by Thorn of Lies he was offered the ability to tell perfect lies that would be undetectable even to Sol’s abilities.
Twilight Claw stated that while the Nightmare Host of Carnage certainly do live up to their names, they can be best affected by the Rune of Hearth’s warding from the Rock of Storms magic school and Balance in All Things from the Apsara Currents of Deepspirit magic school.
There were queries of where those Nightmare Host in quiescent sleep actually are, and if it would be possible to find them. There were also questions of whether or not the Nightmare Host start corrupted.
There were queries as to which of the 6 vices Lies that Fester served though no definitive conclusion was reached. It was mentioned that Thorn of Lies liked to make people betray one another.
Twilight Claw mentioned a greater working from the Rock of Storms which allowed you to call down the weapons of the gods themselves and use them. He mentioned the Bolt of the Stormfather and the apples of the Allmother. He stated that he was particularly interested in the Hammer of the Allmaker though which could unmake anything it struck.
Luelenvati then mentions research He has seen that was working to combine the Mysteries of Fire and Iron Spell: Blade of Iron Purpose with the current of Deepspirit Spell: Bearing Unseen Gifts to make a blade out of Joss that may be used to attack the Nightmare Host while unmanifested.