Wrote this ages ago, back when Carcosa first came out as a pdf by Geoffrey Kinney. Been sitting on my hard drive for ages so I thought I'd stick it out there. A bit long.
The Brothers of the
Skull are Carcosa’s answer to monks and paladins. Anyone can join
the Brotherhood if they are not a Bone Man, are not psionic, have no
mutations and are willing to swear a dire oath never to use a
sorcerous ritual not sanctioned by the order. On occasion interlopers
try and infiltrate the Brotherhood, and former sorcerers lapse, but
they have various methods for sorting the wheat from the chaff and
never fail to take revenge on backsliders and infiltrators.
The Brothers are based
in the Fortress of Skulls, a delightfully grim edifice at the head of
a rugged canyon in the Mountains of Mankind. Much of the structure is
made of skulls, and the mortar that holds them together contains
ground bone. The outer walls are made of heat-fused basalt boulders,
surmounted with a more conventionally constructed basalt wall with
skull shaped merlons with embrasures in the eyes for archers.
The Brothers do not
worship a deity. They know that there is no supernatural ally
humanity can call on to oppose the Old Ones and their minions.
However they do have faith that humanity can eventually overcome
these cosmic foes by dint of developing their own potential and by
eliminating the sorcerers who allow these cosmic horrors to come
forth into the mundane world.
The founding of the
Brotherhood is shrouded in mystery, but their current base is about
2000 years old, created after they were exiled from the long defunct
Brown Lance Empire. There are about 250 people resident at the
Fortress, 30 Brothers including five Immortal Elders, 60 highly
skilled but conventional soldiers and 160 lay servants of the Order
and their dependants. There is room for over a thousand people within
the fortress and the ruined villages and towns further down the
Valley of the Brothers of the Skull could house thousands more, but
the Brotherhood has waned over the centuries.
There are perhaps 100
more Brothers roaming the lands of Carcosa fighting the cults of the
Old Ones and the wretched Sorcerers who attempt to use them to
further their own ambitions. A few of the larger and more organised
lawful towns and cities have Brothers as counsellors to their lords
and leaders of their armies.
The Immortal Elders of
the order really are immortal. The rituals of the order stop aging
and even reverse it (see below), and the leaders all look like
physically perfect youths, though their eyes betray their long
history of unending warfare against mind-warping foes. The
senior-most Elder at the Fortress is Elder Dorn, 1041 years old and
of 21st level. Stories abound of the foes he has fought and the
massacres he has perpetrated. His role in the infamous Third Bone
Crusade, which attempted to exterminate all the Bone Men from the
land of Ghentheras, has made him a major historical figure. There are
older and more potent Brothers than Dorn even, though they keep their
names and true identities secret as there are many Sorcerers and
demonic deities who want them dead.
Becoming a Brother
Applicants must present
themselves at the Fortress of Skulls in groups of four at midday on
the winter solstice. All must be of the same gender, but otherwise
they may be of any level and of any class. Each must first prove
their dedication to the cause of the Brotherhood by undergoing a
surgical sterilisation. They must then pass a physical and spiritual
examination (add Str, Dex, Con and 1 dice per level and get a score
of 50 or over). During the examination Elder Vagrus tests the
applicants for mutation using the 10th Ritual and Elder
Worthan tests them for psychic ability using the 22nd. All mutants
and psychics are slain on the spot, and surviving members of the
application group interrogated under torture to ascertain why they
assisted these foul perversions of humanity to try and infiltrate the
Brotherhood.
If any member of the
group refuses the operation or fails the test, all four are told to
leave. Those who passed the physical exam can reapply next year as
part of a new group of four, those who failed cannot take it again
until they have gained a level.
Once admitted to the
Fortress as Oblates, none can leave until the first two Rituals of
Infinity have been completed. If one member of the group tries to
leave at this point, all four are slain.
The First Ritual of
Infinity takes several months and involves an intense programme of
self-criticism, self-denial, and ritual humiliation designed to drive
the subjects to suicide. The group are locked in the Tower of the
Lost until one of the four has killed himself. The remaining three
consume part of his body and his cleaned and preserved skull is added
to the fabric of the Tower of the Lost. All surviving members of the
Receptacle gain one point in Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma,
depending on which was their deceased comrades highest of these three
statistics.
This ritual can be
role-played, or resolved by rolling 1 dice plus Wisdom for lawful
characters, 1 dice plus Wisdom/2 for neutrals and just one dice for
chaotics, the lowest scoring character dies by his own hand. Those of
non-lawful alignment who survive must roll 8 dice and score under
their Wisdom plus Charisma or change alignment to lawful.
The group then move to
the Tower of Sacrifices for the Second Ritual of Infinity, which can
be short or long, depending on the participants. One of the three
surviving members must be murdered by one or both of the others.
Since no weapons and no armour are allowed to Oblates this means
cunning and ruthlessness play more of a role than weaponry. Again
there is a cannibalistic ritual feast and the cleaned skull of the
victim is added to the fabric of the Tower. The survivors gain
another point in Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma, depending on their
deceased comrade’s statistics.
The two survivors are
now Novices of the Brotherhood and may leave the Fortress if they
wish and become 1st Level Brothers of the Skull. They
start their experience point score again from zero, but retain all
their old hit dice and fighting ability. They do not progress in
either until their level as a Brother passes their previous class
level.
Learning Rituals
Novices and other
Brothers may learn any Ritual of Infinity but they must usually
undertake quests for the order or make gifts of magical and
technological items to the orders treasury before they can persuade
an Elder they are worthy. Each time a new ritual is learned, neutrals
and chaotics must roll eight dice and score under their Wisdom and
Charisma or change alignment to Lawful. One may not teach the rituals
one knows until 12th level is reached, and the Third
Ritual completed. These rituals are detailed in a series of grimoires
kept in the most secret and secure vaults of the Order. Many of the
books are no longer intelligible, many are so ancient and fragile
that they cannot be touched and some Rituals do not seem to have been
written down. The Red Book of the Skull, so called because of its
binding of red-man skin, is a list enumerating the titles all those
currently known, and admits to many gaps in the knowledge that the
Order once commanded.
Becoming Immortal
The Third Ritual of
Infinity is carried out when a third member of the original
application group dies. The last member must seek out and retrieve
part of his deceased colleague's body, preferably the skull, and take
it to the Fortress. The cause of death may be anything, but no
Brother may directly or indirectly procure another Brother’s death
after the first two Rituals have been got out of the way. Once the
Third Ritual is complete the last member of the group no longer ages.
He shaves his head and body, the hair never regrowing. He no longer
ages and bar violence, poison, disease, being eaten by Old Ones etc.
he will live forever. He again gains one point in Intelligence,
Wisdom or Charisma.
Gaining Level
Hit points and fighting
ability are as the standard Carcosan Fighter and Brothers of the
Skull may use any armour or weapon, though as they progress and learn
certain rituals they may take on some limitations in weapon use
return for bonuses in other areas. Though the Order is not limited to
lawful alignment, lawfuls adapt better to its strict discipline and
single minded dedication to the cause; neutral members of the order
have a 10% penalty to earned experience, chaotic ones a 20% penalty.
Level Experience
1 Novice 0
2 Initiate 2500
3 Brother 5000
4 Battle-Brother 10
000
5 Brother Superior 20
000
6 Disciple 40 000
7 Knight 80 000
8 Crusader 160 000
9 Commander 320 000
10 Master 480 000
11 Grand Master 640
000
12 Elder 800 000
Those who have passed
the Third Ritual of Infinity add ‘Immortal’ to their title, eg
Immortal Knight, Immortal Commander and so on.
The Rituals
As noted previously,
the Rituals of Infinity are taught at the discretion of the Immortal
Elders, usually in return for carrying out a specific mission on
behalf of the order or making a gift of some precious object to the
treasury at the Fortress of the Skull. Factions have built up around
certain Elders who act as patrons of their own sub-group of Brothers,
but no internecine fighting or splits in the Brotherhood have ever
occurred; none are recorded in the archives anyway. Certain rituals
are mutually exclusive and thus certain ‘schools’ favouring one
approach to ultimate herodom over others have arisen.
There are 129 rituals
enumerated in the Red Book of the Skull (so-called because it is
bound in Red Man-skin), including a number which are now lost. The
Red Book contains full details of only the first three, the rest are
written in other grimoires of the order or are passed on only by oral
transmission. The Red Book states that there are in fact an infinite
number of Rituals of Infinity, and that the creativity and genius of
man will eventually uncover them all. The Order also has books
containing certain sorcerous rituals used as reference by researchers
examining the methods of the Enemy and seeking to thwart their dark
designs.
A partial list of
the Rites of the Brotherhood
Red Book Number
|
Title
|
Brief Description
|
1
|
None
|
Rite of suicide and cannibalism associated with
entering the brotherhood
|
2
|
None
|
Rite of murder associated with entering the
brotherhood
|
3
|
None
|
Rite that confers immortality on last surviving
applicant of a group
|
4
|
Lost ritual
|
Never written down, allegedly known only to
the founder of the Order and his first circle of followers
|
5
|
The Lesser Purging
|
Rite required of all sorcerers who wish to join
the order
|
6
|
The Greater Purging
|
Enhanced version of the Lesser Purging
|
7
|
Vomition of Taint
|
Reverses mutation in self
|
8
|
Detestation of Taint
|
Gives resistance to radiation
|
9
|
Eye of the Taint
|
Enables detection of radiation
|
10
|
Finger of the Taint
|
Detection of mutants
|
11
|
Expurgation of the Taint
|
Only the title now known, but allegedly this
is a method for removing radiation poisoning from an area
|
12
|
Chromatic Transition
|
Enables a brother to change the colour of his
skin
|
13
|
Lost Ritual
|
Was allegedly part of the Jale Book of the
Skull, pages now ripped out for reasons unknown
|
14
|
Emulation of the Serpent
|
Enables shedding of the skin and rejuvenation
|
15
|
The Rite of Flaying
|
Enables taking on the skin of another and their
appearance
|
16
|
Emulation of the Saurian
|
Enables rebirth into a new body
|
17
|
Vagary of the Androgyne
|
Enables the Brother to change sex
|
18
|
Emulation of the Dust Devil
|
Enhances dodge ability
|
19
|
Emulation of the Newt
|
Regrow lost limb or digit
|
20
|
Vow of Lasers
|
Give up use of laser technology, enhance use of
other simpler weaponry
|
21
|
Gap in the Skull
|
Gives ESP-like abilities to spot liars and
cheats
|
22
|
Reverberation of the Skull
|
Enables master of ritual 21 to extend detection
to psionicists
|
23
|
Wall of the Skull
|
Resistance to psionics
|
24
|
Emulation of the Droid
|
Attach plates of armour to ones own flesh
|
25
|
Lost Ritual
|
No clues as to nature of this ritual
|
26
|
Lost Ritual
|
No clues as to nature of this ritual
|
27
|
Elixir of Foeti
|
Enables reversal of ageing, but requires a very
unpleasant sacrifice
|
28
|
Eye of Xygon
|
Gives ultraviolet vision
|
29
|
Ear of Xygon
|
Gives enhanced hearing
|
30
|
Voice of Xygon
|
Can broadcast radio
|
31
|
Soul of Victory
|
Trades Charisma points for Intelligence
|
32
|
Triumph of the Will
|
Trades Charisma points for Wisdom
|
33
|
Voice of Mankind
|
Trades Intelligence for Charisma
|
34
|
Rite of Iron
|
Adds 1 point to any physical stat
|
35
|
Tempering of Steel
|
Reduces Charisma but adds to Constitution and
Strength
|
36
|
Forging of the Skull
|
Reduces Intelligence but adds to Strength and
Constitution
|
37
|
The Running Rite
|
Reduces Strength, adds to Dexterity
|
38
|
The Taste of Vengeance
|
Enables a Brother to track a lapsed colleague
by scent and taste
|
39
|
The Thrice Thirteenth Ritual
|
According to the Red Book of Skulls the
carved human pelvic bone on which this ritual was inscribed was
thrown into a volcano, no reason recorded
|
40
|
Forging of the Bone Sword
|
Creates a weapon from one of the Brother’s
own bones
|
41
|
Moulding of the Carapace
|
Creates a piece of armour from the Brother’s
own bones
|
42
|
Lost Ritual
|
Elders speculate that this ritual involved
further manipulation of bone and muscle from the brother into
useful tools.
|
43
|
Duplication of Heroes
|
Cloning technique, abandoned due to rate of
mutation in duplicated brothers but still on the books
|
44
|
Encapsulation of Venom, aka The Wisdom of Toads
|
Causes any systemic poison to be encapsulated
in a wart on the skin and removed
|
45
|
Exudation of Beneficent Slime
|
Uses extracts of slimes to enhance healing of
flesh wounds and stop bleeding
|
46
|
Breath of the Frog
|
Allows underwater absorption of oxygen through
slime on skin
|
47
|
Path of the Slug
|
Allows walking up vertical surfaces through use
of sticky slime
|
48
|
The Great Encapsulation
|
Allows use of a cocoon of slime to enter a
state of suspended animation as per the Australian lungfish
|
49
|
The Little Encapsulation
|
Details lost, but apparently allowed the
brain to survive even where the rest of the body withered and died
|
50
|
Chant Against the Grey
|
Enables sonic assaults on Greys using a brain
scrambling noise
|
51
|
Dissolution of the Deep Ones
|
Uses an acidic sweat or saliva to protects
against or assault Deep Ones
|
52
|
Binding the Familiar
|
Control one animal by transplanting part of the
brother's brain into it
|
53
|
Lost Ritual
|
Use of hypnosis to control other humans;
deemed to close to psychic power and ritual abandoned
|
54
|
Frenzy of the Righteous
|
Enhances function of adrenal gland to turn the
Brother into a beserker
|
55
|
Rite of the Chameleon
|
Gain chameleon skin
|
Detailed
descriptions of selected rituals
5. The Lesser Purging. Required of any Sorcerer who applies to
the Brotherhood upon his entry to the Fortress. Unless the Sorcerer
has carried out this ritual he is not allowed to take part in the
Second Ritual, and if he refuses then he and all members of his
Receptacle are slain. The Oblate tattoos his name on the skin of his
left little finger, then it is flayed, the skin being removed without
anaesthetic by the Immortal Elder in charge. The finger is then
flensed and the tissue macerated with volcanic sand in a pestle and
mortar and the bones torn off one by one and ground similarly. From
the resultant paste a tiny stylised human statuette is made and
clothed in the flayed skin. This is set in a niche in the wall of the
Chapel of Fraternal Vigilance and should the ex-Sorcerer brother ever
use sorcery again the statuette will weep tears of blood alerting the
Elders of his lapse.
6. The Greater Purging. Some especially hard line Elders will
require ex-Sorcerers to use this ritual to eliminate all their
knowledge of sorcery before teaching them the more powerful rites of
the Brotherhood. The Brother enters the Chapel of Detestation of the
Loathsome Traitors to Mankind and sits naked and unmoving for three
days and nights while he is scourged and spat on by his brethren. He
then dons a collar made of Niobium, Zirconium and Molybdenum alloy
and proceeds to the Crypt of Purgation where he lays himself on a
guillotine and pulls a lever to sever his own head. He then has
twenty seconds grace granted by the collar to recover it and place it
back on his body. Unless he saves vs Death Magic he will fail and
die, but he can be assisted by fellow Brothers who have undergone the
same rite, each giving +2 to the save. The knowledge of the sorcery
will have left his brain along with the blood he spilt in the process
and he will have lost one point of Intelligence and all memory of 1
dice years of his life around the time he learnt the ritual as well.
The spilt blood must be soaked up in volcanic ash, and the place
where it lay on the floor of the chamber cleaned with soap made from
the fat of a Spawn of Shub-Niggurath and water from the
Bottomless Lochs. All residue is then thrown into the volcano Thyroth
at the southern end of the Mountains of Mankind. The process must be
repeated for each ritual known, one being removed at random each
time. Note that in some cases aggrieved demons may take the
opportunity to get their revenge on a sorcerer who has abused them in
the past once they know that their foe has lost the knowledge to harm
them.
7. Vomition of Taint. If a Brother for any reason acquires a
mutation he stops acquiring experience and must either return to the
Fortress of Skulls to be cleansed or renounce his membership of the
Brotherhood and face their wrath. The Rite of Vomition is known only
to Immortal Elder Vagrus and takes place in the Crypt of the Azure
Tank. The Azure Tank is an artefact of Grey technology which causes
all cells which have damaged DNA to die and be replaced by clones of
healthy cells, a process requiring several months in all but the most
superficial cancer or radiation burn. It also requires many complex
nutrients which the Brotherhood lacks the knowledge of Bio-alchemy to
make synthetically as the Greys do. They get by with liquidised human
tissue, one adult person per month of tank time required. As a side
effect the person cured loses 1dice years of physical age.
8. Detestation of Taint. Immortal Elder Vagrus knows of
another rite he will perform on those who are willing to go into the
Blighted Lands, Radioactive Desert and Mutated Forest in pursuit of
mutants on his behalf. This requires one minim of the Grey Goo, an
elixir found in small quantities in medical facilities in Grey domed
bases (in fact a suspension of microscopic nanites). The Goo is
processed by Vagrus to create Pink Goo, which is then injected into
the thighbones of the brother to be protected. The nanites then
supplement the action of his own immune system, seeking out and
eliminating mutated cells and rewriting their DNA as it is damaged,
giving +2 to any save vs radiation or mutation, doubling the healing
rate of radiation burns and sickness and enabling superficial
mutations to revert to normality over time.
9. Eye of the Taint. Another speciality of Immortal Elder
Vagrus, this requires a dye compounded from phosphorous, fluoride
salts from the flats of the Blighted Lands and tar from the oil seeps
under the Swamps of the Black Delta. This phosphorescent yellow dye
is injected into the aqueous humour of one eye rendering it blind to
normal light, but turning it into a biological scintillation counter.
If any radioactive particle hits it there is a flash of bright light,
and the Brother soon learns to recognise the intensity and frequency
of flashes that indicate dangerous radiation. The flashes also
continue while the eyes is closed and the Brother is trying to sleep,
so they often make a lead lined eyepatch to block out the effect when
not wanted. Having one eye blinded reduces the chances to hit with
missile weapons by 2.
10. Finger of the Taint. It sometimes happens that mutants
infiltrate villages of the Pure in the hope of passing their
corruption on to others, but a Brother who has the Finger of the
Taint can counter this. Again under the supervision of the invaluable
Immortal Elder Vagrus the flesh of the index finger of the right hand
is removed and a hole drilled in the final phalange into which half a
minim of Pink Goo (see the Eighth Ritual) is placed along with a
delicate electronic device crafted from Titanium, Osmium and Tantalum
and a red light emitting diode scavenged from a piece of Grey
technology. The flesh is regrown through use of the Azure Tank or one
of the other methods of regeneration known to the Brotherhood. The
finger is simplicity itself to use, the Brother scratches the
suspected mutant with the sharp pen-nib-like fingernail on his index
finger, if the blood deviates too far from the human norm the Pink
Goo activates to correct it, passing an electric current to the LED
which then glows under the skin of the finger tip. The intensity of
the glow indicates the degree of mutation and thus the amount of
torture required before the mutant is publicly burnt at the stake.
This device also detects disguised Bone Men.
12. The Chromatic Transition. A Brother who has studied the
Green Book of the Skull and has never used the 17th Ritual
can learn to change his skin colour to any other except Bone by using
this ritual over a period of three days meditation and fasting. To
learn it he must spend at least one month living as each of the other
colours, using a pint of blood from a person of the colour
transformed. The rules of the ritual stipulate that the blood must be
donated freely, but some Brothers take sanguinary shortcuts and seem
to get away with it. Once a Brother has moved through all 12 colours
and returned to his own he can change over three days to any colour
he pleases without the blood sacrifice. As the skin colour changes
the personality also changes subtly, and once a Brother has
experienced all the options he may decide he prefers to be a
different colour to the one he was born into. On completion of the
ritual roll 3 dice and if the score is under the Brother’s Wisdom
he gains one Charisma through greater empathy with his fellow men of
whatever colour. Each time a colour transformation is made there is a
1% chance of a mutation resulting in the skin becoming permanently
transparent. This can only be corrected by replacement of the skin.
14. The Emulation of the Serpent. A Brother who has mastered
the Twelfth Ritual may learn this one, which enables him to shed his
skin like a snake over a period of six hour. This refreshes the
complexion, removes scars, even those involving the loss of tissue
from a fleshy part of the body such as a cheek, ear or the tip of the
nose and whole skin thickness burns. The new skin is very tender for
a week after shedding and AC is reduced by 1 and rolls to resist
disease and contact poisons are reduced by 2 until it matures. It
also reduces the physical age of the Brother by one dice years to a
minimum of twenty years younger than his true age, or 18 whichever is
the higher. Each use involves a save vs Death Magic or lose one point
of Constitution permanently.
15. The Rite of Flaying. Once a Brother has mastered The
Fourteenth Ritual he may learn this variant. He may skin a captive
alive and preserve their skin and blood in a jar containing an
extract of the leaves of a Liver Tree from the Mutated Forest. This
will only keep it fresh for a day or so, so the Brother must act
quickly to perform the Fourteenth Ritual, donning the flayed skin as
soon as his own has been shed. He then sits in a darkened room for a
week, drinking the blood of the skinned victim and chanting over
their skull; if he emerges into sunlight at this point the stolen
skin will die and he will be left skinless. At the end of this period
their skin will become his and he will look and sound exactly like
them until such time as he repeats the 12th Ritual and
regrows a skin of his own. This cannot be used on a victim of the
opposite sex and does not work with the skins of Bone Men.
16. Emulation of the Saurian. This ritual is detailed in the
Jale Book of the Skull and can only be used by female, hermaphrodite
and syncarp Brothers (see the 17th ritual below) who have
never used the 12th Ritual. The ritual must begin in the
Temple of the Tyrant Lizard in the ruined city of the serpent men
with the sacrifice of a hadrasaur or ceratopsian by laser fire to the
brain. The Brother is subsequently seized with a great hunger and
over the next three months he/she/it? must eat five times the normal
amount of food or go into a feeding frenzy lashing out and eating
anything that comes into reach including comrades. The Brother,
grossly overweight, then lapses into a coma, and is taken to the Hall
of Transovulation in the Fortress of Skulls where they spend the next
six months wasting away while a great leathery dinosaur-like egg
forms within them. They then awake and lay the egg, inevitably dying
in the process. The egg hatches after a further months care in the
Hall, and the brother is reborn as a baby. The child has all the
memories and knowledge of the original brother, but only one point in
each characteristic. It grows quickly, gaining one year of
chronological age per month and one point of each stat per month up
to the Brother’s original total, but obviously discounting any
penalties due to ageing incurred in the previous body. The new body
will eventually become identical to the old one as it was at the age
of eighteen and then age normally. Those Brothers who know the 17th
ritual can choose which gender they are reborn as. Any biomechanical
enhancements such as those granted by the 8th, 9th,
10th, 24th, 28th and other such
rituals are lost, and any mutations, scars, illnesses, lost or maimed
limbs are now corrected and renewed. There is a 1% chance that the
Brother’s eyes will be of reptilian appearance with slit pupils
after this ritual and that their skin will show faint scaling. This
will result in the gain of +1 AC and a penalty of -2 to any save vs
Cold attacks. These mutations are permanent and cannot be corrected
by any means, resulting in the expulsion of the Brother from the
Order. The Elders will usually give the pseudo-baby brother to a
family far away to adopt and allow two years for the brother to
mature before hunting them down and killing them. The author of the
Jale Book says that there is a variant of this ritual that enables a
Brother to lay a clutch of four eggs, each of which will hatch into a
clone of the original brother but ‘of lesser spiritual stature’
(ie half level), but does not say how this is done.
17. The Vagary of the Hermaphrodite. This ritual from the Jale
Book of Skulls enables the Brother to change sex. The initial ritual
involves consumption of an elixir concocted of several fungi, lichen
and moulds from the Caves of the Scaled Ones, the Blighted Lands and
the crevasses of the Thaggasoth Mountains. The Brother then eats a
special diet for the next six months, gradually changing gender as
they do so. Eating meat from male animals will turn the Brother from
female to male, meat from female animals changes from male to female,
a mix of both results in development of hermaphrodite traits and a
vegetarian diet results in the Brother becoming a neuter with no
distinctive sexual characteristics. This ritual can only be used by
those who have never altered colour via the 12th Ritual.
The anonymous author of the Jale book states that Red and Blue Men
can only become males or females, in his opinion indicating the
primitive nature of these colours which he regards as ancestral to
the other ten. He also says that by using other dietary regimes
Ulfire and Green men can become ‘hipes’ or ‘syncarps’, two
extra sexes, in his opinion presaging the humanity to come which will
all be naturally four-sexed. He neglects to mention the diet required
however, and the physical appearance and attributes of these sexes.
18. Emulation of the Dust Devil. Allegedly passed down to the
Brotherhood from an ancient tribe of Orange desert nomads, this is as
much a combat technique as a magical ritual. The Emulator must walk,
alone, across the Stinging Desert from the Monolith of Jahaleer to
the Wadi of Kumsh, dressed only in a loincloth and equipped only with
a length of hellthornwood. If they succeed in surviving the
scorpions, pteranodons, sandstorms and heat exhaustion they gain +1
AC as the scars and abrasions on their body heal into a mystical
pattern ‘written by the desert’. They also double their armour
bonus from high Dexterity and for each level they gain after
completing the ritual they gain another +1 AC. These benefits are all
lost if they use any from of armour other than a shield, lose the
pattern due to changing their skin or renewing their body or using
ritual 24.
20. The Vow of Lasers. This vow covers more than just lasers,
it is a blanket declaration that the Brother will use no craft or
technology not developed by a human; in the current state of Carcosa
that means being limited to iron age equipment and even abandoning
those rituals and rites of the Brotherhood that utilise technology
recovered from the Greys such as Rituals 7-10, 24 and 28-30. The
Brother practices all the more intensely with his current weapons and
chooses one category to specialise in from: swords, daggers, axes,
maces and clubs, staff, spears and bows. The Brother gets +level/3
(rounded up) to hit when using a weapon he specialises in, with a
minimum of +1.
24. Emulation of the Droid. The Immortal Elder Haghadar and
his master smiths at the Fortress of Skulls can take a plate of
Manganese- Cobalt doped with crystalline Yttrium and Technetium and
vapour-plated with microfibrils of Germanium and create an armour
plate which will bond directly with human skin. These metals are not
exactly easy to come by and the usual procedure is to make small
scales and graft them in a pattern that allows for expansion once
more material is obtained. Very occasionally a Grey warbot will be
found that has a casing made of this alloy and a whole slab can be
crafted and grafted on. A complete covering of this armour confers an
AC of -3, lesser coverings give proportionately lesser protection. In
addition for each 3 AC worth of armour gives a bonus of +1 save vs
electrical, laser, X-ray attack due to the conductive and reflective
properties of the armour, but -1 vs microwaves, and the Brother loses
one Dexterity.
32. The Triumph of the Will. A Brother can use this ritual
once per year at the winter solstice to permanently reduce his
Charisma by one in return for a gain of one Wisdom point. To learn it
one must return the skull of a sorcerer of at least sixth level
sheathed in lead to the Fortress for inclusion in the Chapel of
Detestation of the Loathsome Traitors to Mankind, and then memorise
the 32 verse Hymn to Harden the Cortex, found in the Black Book of
the Skull and taught by some masters of the order. One must then make
thirty-two successful saves vs Spells, following each one with a
stanza from the hymn, and upon completion of the last stanza, one
become able to enter the necessary trance state. The only limit to
this ritual is when the Charisma reaches one – reducing the
Charisma to zero will make the person a semi-catatonic schizophrenic
with no emotional affect or ability to empathise. Wisdom may go as
high as one pleases, with ever increasing benefits in resisting
mental magic and the fear induced by supernatural monsters.
Using the above rituals
as a model, the GM will be able to develop detailed desriptions of
further rituals in the Brother's canon.
Sample Brothers
Tranak, Disciple of the
Skull (level 6), Colour: White, Age: Physical 45 Actual 52
Str 12 Int 21 Wis 8 Dex
12 Con 18 Cha 1
AC 3 HD 6+6
Rituals of Infinity
5 The Lesser Purging,
12 The Chromatic Transition, 14 Emulation of the Serpent, 31 Soul of
Victory, 35 Tempering of Steel
Sorcery
Banish the Nighted
Essence, The Glyphs of the Ebon Lake, Canticle of the Crawling God
Equipment
Plate Armour,
Double-handed sword, Logic Blaster – pistol, 45 charges, emitter,
logic
Ganak, Disciple of the
Skull (level 6), Colour: Black, Age: Physical 37 Actual 52
Str 19 Int 13 Wis 18
Dex 10 Con 14 Cha 4
AC 3 HD 6
Rituals of Infinity
12 The Chromatic
Transition, 14 Emulation of the Serpent, 9 Eye of the Taint, 10
Finger of the Taint, 23 Wall of the Skull, 32 Triumph of the Will, 34
Rite of Iron
Equipment
Plate Armour,
Double-handed sword, 30 point Force Field, 4 Acid grenades
Tranak and Ganak are
two survivors of a set of Blue quadruplets who joined the Brotherhood
together. Neither is yet immortal, but will become so upon the death
of his brother. Tranak is deep into the rite of the Soul of Victory
and is a hard faced tactician who gives not a damn about the lives of
any individual human, not even that of his brother, not even his own,
but weighs all with an eye to the ultimate victory of humanity over
the alien. Ganak is not much better, a dedicated warrior but arrogant
and abrasive, forcing people into following his brother’s heartless
plans by bullying and threatening them. On the other hand they
stopped Faghahan the Foul from calling up the Nighted Essence to aid
his campaign to become Autarch of the city of Vaskemanie, and helped
obliterate three thousand Deep Ones and half-Deep Ones in the Purging
of Kvansch, so they can’t be all bad. Currently conducting purges
of mutants in the fringes of the Radioactive Desert, looking for a
three-eyed skull to allow Tranak to perform the 21st Rite,
the Gap in the Skull.
Hagranai the
Skull-Siren
Immortal Battle-Brother
of the Skull (Level 4), Colour: Orange, Age: Physical 18, Actual 40
Str 14 Int 6 Wis 12 Dex
12 Con 10 Cha 18
AC 5 HD 4
Rituals of Infinity
16 Emulation of the
Saurian, 17 Vagary of the Androgyne, 20 Vow of Lasers, 33 Voice of
Mankind, 40 Forging of the Bone Sword
Equipment
Chainmail, Two
bone-swords made from her own tibiae, +2 to hit from Vow of Lasers,
+2 to hit and +2 damage from being bone-swords, riding beast
(Pithekoi).
Can use two weapons in
combat at -2 to hit
Hagranai was originally
male, but has become female through the 17th Ritual, and
is leading a popular gang of rebels from the town of Ghulhulane. The
ruler of this town, The Flesh-Sculptress of the Plasmatic Temple, is
oppressing her populace and encouraging the worship of
Shub-Niggurath. Hagranai was once captured and dismembered by this
tyrant for sedition, but was rescued by her followers and regrown
from the egg via the 16th Ritual. She even stole back the
bones from her severed limbs to create two bone swords which she
wields together. Little does the Flesh-Sculptress know that Hagranai
was originally one of her own Sons of the Mighty Arm, who escaped
from her clone pens before he could be grafted with the arm of a
Pithekoi and lobotomised.
Pithekoi
Number Appearing: 4-16
AC 8 HD 4 % in Lair: nil Treasure: nil
The Pithekoi roam wild
in the southern plains and woodlands and are sometimes domesticated
and used as pack and riding beasts. They are great apelike beings
that walk on two bowed hind legs and two long arms with huge hands
and horny knuckles. They are covered in sparse fur, predominantly
dark blue, though other colours exist, and have large human-like eyes
of deep mournful brown. They stand five feet high at the shoulder
when hunched over, ten or more if they stand upright.
In the wild they are
nomadic, wandering through places far from human habitation eating
roots and fruits. Riding domesticated ones is not too difficult in
ordinary circumstances, but when they face danger the ungelded males
tend to rear up into an upright stance, beat their chests and holler.
War trained Pithekoi will even punch and cuff enemies for two dice
damage, but their riders must be very skilled and using a war-saddle
with straps to hold them on. Pithekoi will even use huge clubs for
three dice damage under the direction of a rider, but they are
basically peaceable creatures and will retreat if wounded or even if
their opponent manages to shout louder than they can.
The relationship
between Pithekoi and man is very close. Slave merchants in Ghulhulane
have cross bred Pithekoi and humans to create a low intelligence but
thickly muscled hybrid which is fertile and breeds among its own
kind, though rarely breeding true. These beasts fortunately inherit
the peaceable nature of the Pithekoi and make poor soldiers.
Other
pseudo-monastic orders of Carcosa
The Brothers are not
the only Carcosan organisation to superficially resemble a
terrestrial monastic or chivalric order. There are communities of
followers of Nyarlathotep which follow a hierarchical system or
novices, brothers and masters, usually surrounding the tomb-like home
of a group of mummies. Another group are the Psionic Monks of the
Cephalic Order, dedicated to extending and enhancing the use of
mental powers, and the Bone Men are alleged to have an order
dedicated to studying deception, political manipulation and
assassination. A more militaristic group are the Adjudicators of the
Norm, whose scared text defines the true nature of man and all other
beasts and declares all humans not born a Red Man as lesser species
to be expunged. All of these are dire enemies of the Brotherhood of
the Skull and of each other.
Author's Note
The idea of the
Brotherhood and details of the first two rituals were inspired by
Robert Silverberg's novel 'The Book of Skulls', hipes and syncarps are from the Pirx stories of Stanislaw Lem.
