Promethean The Created - Saturnine Night

SATURNINE NIGHT
Good Book says

Good Book says
the worlds caught in a long, dark night,
waiting for a brand new dawn to come and
sweepall that darkness away.
Dont know if thatll ever happen,
but I do know this:
but I do know this:
theres folks set on making things darker.
Theyre looking for ways to break the laws
the Good Lord set for all of natures ways.
Ive seen it happen,
Ive seen it happen,
and the nights getting darker and longer.
Sometimes I think I mightnt ever see the sun come up.
This book includes:
The World of Darkness with a

touch of science fiction how
to use next-gen science in a
horror chronicle
Details on the nuclear
Prometheans, the clones, and
creating new Lineages
A new story in the Water of
Life chronicle begun in Promethean: The Created, set in
Detroit
- John Ash, Tammuz

- John Ash, Tammuz
PRINTED IN CHINA
ISBN-13: 978-1-58846-609-9
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SATURNINE NIGHT
Good Book says

Good Book says
but I do know this:
but I do know this:
Ive seen it happen,
Ive seen it happen,
This book includes:
The World of Darkness with a

touch of science fiction how
to use next-gen science in a
horror chronicle
Details on the nuclear
Prometheans, the clones, and
creating new Lineages
A new story in the Water of
Life chronicle begun in Promethean: The Created, set in
Detroit
- John Ash, Tammuz

- John Ash, Tammuz
PRINTED IN CHINA
ISBN-13: 978-1-58846-609-9
W W60301 $26.99 US
www.worldofdarkness.com
WW60301
TM
Prologue:
FRAGMENTS FROM THE REVELATION OF JOHN
I. Take it and eat it up,

and it shall make thy belly bitter
The crow was dead, like the others. It had been dead for some
time, but there were no maggots or flies. John poked at it with a
fingertip for a moment, picked it up and began to eat.
He was hungry, so hungry, and even if the
feathers tasted wrong on the first bite,
he no longer cared. The bones snapped
too easily. The blood was sour on his
tongue. Still, he finished it.
That was a few hours ago. John is
throwing the bird up right now. He
panics, asks himself aloud if he is dying
between retches and gasps of air. He imagines
his guts forcing themselves up through his mouth
the same way that the half-digested remains of the bird have.
He half-walks, half-crawls into the shadow of a rock. He curls into a ball and passes out.
II. His face was as it were

the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire
He comes to himself. Hes sitting up. A hand is supporting his neck, another
holds a bottle of water to his mouth. He gulps down a few mouthfuls, then he
pushes the bottle away, lurches forward onto his hands and knees, throws up
again.
He wipes a hand across his mouth. With his head still bowed, he says,
Im not supposed to do this. The Lord didnt make me to do this kind of
thing.
The Lord didnt make you, says a voice, a high-pitched, slightly
nasal voice with Texas in its rhythm. Didnt make me.
John rocks back onto his heels and looks over his shoulder. He looks
at her, and feels that prickling on his tongue, the same prickling he got
when he met the Old Man the first time, so many years ago, the same
as when he met the doctor and the shaman and the girl. Shes sitting
down on the ground, leaning against the rock. Shes a short, stocky woman
in jeans and sleeveless tee, a blue nylon rucksack over one shoulder. Shes
young-looking, like shes in her late teens, and shes got skin so pale its a
wonder its not burnt bright red under the sun. Her eyes are so dark theres
no difference between pupil and iris. She has no hair, no eyebrows, no eyelashes.
The haze clears; John realizes that her skin is translucent, that he can see
the movement of the blue and gray blood through her flesh. He can see silvery
wires running just beneath the skin, emerging from the skin here and there. At
her temple, on her sternum, one shoulder, a wrist, the wires meet in little round
nexuses, from which surround spun metal sockets or terminals. Where the wires
poke through, the skin around them looks like it has the first signs of gangrene.
He has her Measure. He shows no surprise.
He might not have had a hand in making us, sister, but His purpose governed it
all. His provision watches over us all.
She cocks her head to one side, and the metal socket at her temple catches the
sunlight. She says nothing for quite some time. Then she blinks, slowly. Over you, maybe,
she says.
III. Seal up these things and write them not

They sit out the afternoon heat. This is wrong, John explains. Folks like us, we werent
never made to be sick, he says.
The bird was poisoned, says the Skin Girl. Youre in a Blight.
A what?
Its when someone like me, maybe like you stays somewhere too long. It irradiates
the land. Animals die.
John nods, clasps his hands around his knees. A Wasteland, was what the Old Man called
it.
Old Man?
He didnt have no proper name neither. Made of patches of skin and lumps of
flesh from all manner of folks like some kind of crazy quilt. Ugly like you aint never
seen. Hed been going to and fro in the earth and walking up and down in it, like
the Devil himself. And suffering like Job. For a hundred years before I was made.
Maybe more. Man had a name for everything except his own self.
The Skin Girl bites at the nail on her thumb. And he left places... like
this?
He caused a fair deal of havoc, sure, but none of the places he
stayed ended up like this.
Shes fidgeting now.
John wipes his mouth again with the back of his hand. This
place... did you do this?
IV. I know thy works

How did you get here? she says, at length.
I was by the border, he says. Heading north. Thought Id go to Truth
Or Consequences.
Why?
Liked the name. He licks his lips, savors the taste of clay. Jeep full of Minutemen saw me,
thought I was some sort of immigrant.
You dont look Mexican.
He shrugs. Dont look like their kinda folks, neither. Took a bullet. Didnt want
to kill anyone. Ran. Climbed over the fence. Its a days walk south of here.
That fence.
Yeah. I know it.
Boys in the jeep saw the sign on the fence and turned right back. No point in backing off.
Thought Id go across, see what I could. Here I am.
How are you alive? She leans forward. In the Blight?
Same way you are, I guess. Im like you. Got the same thing keeping me going as you.
She shakes her head, slowly. No. Youre not like us. Not really.
Us?
Its just me. There was someone else. He isnt here now, she says. He made the
land like this, and he moved on.
So why are you here? he says. He pushes himself up against the rock.
Im here for the hot cell, she says.
V. I have set before thee an open door,

and no man can shut it
The Skin Girl gets to the top of the rise first. She stands at the top,
pointing.
John joins her. The building is low and rectangular. It has no windows. Its
the same neutral gray as the apparently sunless sky and the angular, dusty hills
surrounding it. Only the green of the overturned jeep by the fence and the dark
of two bodies on the ground near the half-open door gives any sign that there
might be other colors in this world. John, not normally one for aesthetics, fails
to appreciate the landscapes ugliness. Its wrongness, however, impresses
itself upon his perceptions strongly enough that the layer of earth bonded
with the skin on his forearms rucks up into little terracettes, like clay
gooseflesh. It becomes more acute as John half-climbs, half-stumbles down
the hill towards the empty checkpoint.
The sunless heat and the oppression in the air become stronger
the closer they get to the building.
VI. Many men died of the waters,

because they were made bitter
The Skin Girl pushes through the gap, stepping over the
body. John, too, steps over the body, but once inside crouches
beside it. Its lying face down, in the doorway. The door slides
back and forth a few inches, again and again, blocked by the
uniformed corpse, growling and trying again with no success.
Grasping a shoulder in his left hand, John turns the body over. The
bodys lightness, like an abandoned wasps nest, surprises
him, and he pulls too hard, cries out, flips the man
over, sending the body flying a few feet into the
corridor. The body rustles. The door, freed,
slides shut, quickly, plunging John and
the man into darkness for a moment,
before fluorescent tubes above his
head bang on, one after the other,
illuminating a dusty corridor, leading
down into the bowels of the building.
The Skin Girl, several paces down the corridor, turns around. He beckons her
over.
John shakes his head for a moment, and then goes to see the corpse. Its lips are
pulled back over blackened teeth. The eyeballs have dried up completely, leaving
behind optic nerves that stretch across dry sockets like cobwebs.
Do you? His voice tails off.
She shakes her head.
The other bodies, further down the corridor, are the same: the one slumped over
the checkpoint desk, head buried in a box of security passes; the uniformed woman
sitting with her back to the checkpoint wall, dust in eye sockets and mouth; the two
men lying on the floor of an office, next to the remains of smashed, blasted computer
terminals.
John concludes that the rustling sound he can hear is the sound of the wind on the
paper-dry corpses. Then he looks back over his shoulder. The doors still shut. Theres no
breeze in here.
He looks up. There is a closed circuit camera above Johns head. Its red light is
blinking.
Hey, he says, beckoning the Skin Girl over. He points.
The Skin Girl looks up at the camera intently. Then she screws her eyes up, lowers
her head, presses the heel of her hand against her forehead.
You OK? says John.
She shakes her head from side to side, as if to clear it. Just a headache, she says.
Say what? says John.
VII. And they sung a new song
The staff canteen is full of dead men and women in uniform, lying on
the floor, still holding trays, slumped over plates of long-dried food, white-clad
caterers on the floor, their arms lifted, their shriveled hands still clutching the
edge of the counter. John begins to feel something not unlike the sickness in his
stomach again. He crosses the hall, ahead of his companion, and begins to sing,
his voice distorted by the places strange acoustics.
When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of Death and Hells Destruction,
Land me safe on Canaans side!
Songs of praises,
Songs of praises,
I will ever give...
He trails off. The Skin Girl says, What is that youre singing?
Its about my hope, he says.
She laughs, once, sharply.
VIII. I know thy works
More of the fluorescent tubes flicker on and off, the further

down they go.
The installations corridors are full of dead bodies, sometimes so
many that they have to climb over them.
John steps on one body, trips, puts his whole weight on the chest.
Theres a crack and his foot goes right through. The body disintegrates
in his hands as he extricates his foot.
What happened here? he says, regaining his feet, brushing fragments
of mummified flesh from his jeans.
The Skin Girl shrugs. Criticality accident, she says, blankly.
Say what?
They were manufacturing weapons-grade plutonium
here. The cooling system failed, or maybe someone dropped a
bar of plutonium. They all died.
John looks around, runs a hand over his head. He makes eye
contact again. You got see-through skin in more ways than
the obvious.
The Skin Girl cocks her own head to one side. A vein begins
to throb beneath the skin of her forehead. Whats that supposed to
mean?
Werent no accident did all this. Youre bearing false witness to me,
and thats a sin. I dont know too much about plutoniums and criticalities
and such, but it werent no radiation killed these men. That much I know.
That much I can feel.
She bares her teeth. There was an accident here. But the way things
are... thats because hes been here.
Who? Your Old Man?
They turn a corner, a dead end, with an elevator at the end of it. I
have to go down to the cell now, says the Skin Girl. She takes two
fast steps, striding across another corpse, presses the button by the
door.
John stands at the junction. Are we alone here? he says.
The Skin Girl keeps her back to him. I... no. No. Hes gone. The lift
door opens.
She steps inside, turns around, holds the button. You should wait here,
she says. You go down below, could do nasty things to you.
It wouldnt kill me, he says.
Theres worse things.
Ill take my chances. Hold the elevator.
She does, and he steps over another corpse, into the elevator. John can
hear hear the rustling noise again, over the rumble of the elevator door.
As the door closes, he sees or thinks he sees that the face-down body at
the end of the corridor has lifted its head at an impossible angle, is looking
at him with those dry, exposed optic nerves.
IX. Babylon is fallen, is fallen
Youll need one of those, says the Skin Girl, pointing to a white overall
hanging on a hook. We go any further, youre going to have to have some
protection.
Its hard to hear her over the klaxon.

Youre not wearing one, says John.
Makes no difference to me, says the Skin Girl. But you, it mightnt hurt you,
but itd stick to you, and youd carry it round with you wherever you went. Youd
make things even sicker than you do already, and you couldnt make it better by
just going away.
He puts on the suit and helmet, and follows her into the room. She walks
over to a panel on the wall and presses some buttons, experimentally. The
klaxon stops. There are more corpses here, men in radiation suits like Johns,
sprawled across the floor. A window separates the room from the outside.
John barely notices the Skin Girl go into an adjacent chamber. Hes looking
out of the window at what looks like a vast underground hall. A square artificial lake halfcovers vertical rods connected by cables which rise up into the darkness. Machinery, some
smashed up, some huge and boxy and still moving, stands around the edge of the cavern, around
the lake. More bodies lie on the pavement that surrounds the pool. The water is the caverns
source of light. It glows, and it occurs to John that it shouldnt be doing that.
And now, as John draws himself closer to the window, he can see something move under the
water. He hears a cracking sound behind him, and then another.
He turns, calls for the Skin Girl. No answer. He steps through a doorway. Shes sitting
on the floor, eyes closed, mouth open, back against a row of plastic shelves or pigeonholes,
each containing small bars of some gray metal. A few of them surround the Skin Girl,
scattered on the floor. Shes holding one in each hand. As John watches, she touches
one of the bars against the socket at her temple. Theres a flash of light and that
cracking noise. Johns vision clears. Shes having some sort of spasm, writhing on the
floor, her mouth slack, her eyes blank. Shes moaning, gently. John feels like he shouldnt
be watching this. He closes his eyes, opens them again, gasps. He feels the Fire again, under
his skin, crying out. Theres someone else here. A third person, and this one stronger than
hes felt for a long time.
Behind him, he hears the rustling again, and then theres the sound of the door sliding back.
X. They shall not suffer their

dead bodies to be put
in graves
And now three minutes have passed, and Johns hands and clothes are covered
with greasy flakes of dry, dead flesh. There are bits of bodies all round him and he has
backed up against the lift door, pressing the button frantically, over and over. Theyre
still coming.
He punches through a face. He grasps a head with both
hands and twists it off, feels the skull collapse under
his fingers, uses the body to throw another three
corpses off their balance, all the while ducking the
brittle talons of a uniformed womans cadaver as
they go for his eyes. She collapses at the impact
of a steel toecap driving upwards through her
abdomen. An empty rifle lying on the floor
makes a club, and with it he smashes two more
brittle corpses, caves in more heads than he can
count before the hands and talons weigh in on
him and snatch the rifle from his hands. They
snatch the helmet and visor from his head.
The black bile rises in him. He tries to fight it down, struggles furiously, ripping arms
from their sockets, disembodied hands and forearms still clutching him as he flails
around wildly, randomly.
John manages to get onto a cabinet full of electronics, climbing over backs
and crumbling shoulders, and from there he swats the hands away, tears
them apart. He starts calling for the Skin Girl. He tears off arm after arm,
punches through faces, crushes brittle, empty skulls with his fist. The hands
reach up and drag him down, still fighting, and then hes lying on the floor,
winded. The corpses back off, stumbling over their fellows. John sits up,
propels himself backwards with his legs.
Back to the wall, just next to the doorway, he
stands up, sliding his back up the wall. The
Skin Girl stumbles out of the room. Shes still
slack-jawed, but the liquid within her
translucent flesh is flowing faster than
before and the wires and sockets are
gleaming like theyve been polished.
Her movements are jerky. She turns
her head to look at him. Her eyes
are pained, apologetic. She opens her
mouth to say something, convulses,
and stumbles for the elevator. The
corpses pass to let her through, but she
stops and waves a convulsed hand with
its fingers all out of joint, and theyre on
John again, and this time they hold on,
and six of them half frog-march him, half
carry him out of the storage facility and
into the cavern.
XI. He that leadeth into

captivity
shall go into captivity
Forced to his knees on the poolside pavement,

John sees the Skin Girl kneeling out of the corner
of his eye, becomes aware of the heat from the
glowing water, of the way it is
bubbling. Something crawls
out of the pool, something red
and hard and fleshy and eyeless
and toothless and limbless.
And something like it with
many legs, like a caterpillar,
follows.
And
something else
follows that looks like a spider or a scorpion made of wrinkled flesh. And there are a dozen other things, and some of
them coil around desiccated limbs, and some crawl into desiccated bodies and nestle inside caved-in skulls and chest
cavities. They begin to trill gently as the huge figure rises out of the water. It seems to have no face, only shadows.
John can feel the power of this thing, this thing like him. He has the things Measure, and its force, the marks of
violence it bears cause him pain. John feels the earth coating his skin harden, feels it dry out and crack.
The figure rests its hand on the Skin Girls head and reaches its fingers inside as if the hand and scalp are liquids
mixing. The Skin Girl screams once, briefly. Then her eyes open, roll back into her head. She begins to moan again, and
when the figure takes his hand away, her eyes are closed and her mouth is open, and she is swaying.
XII. And the third part of trees was burnt up,

and all green grass was burnt up
And then its Johns turn for the monsters attention. He throws himself backwards as the thing comes for him, and
he uses the Fire again, to break free of the cadavers grip. He stands up. A fist like a wrecking ball impacts his face. He
feels his jaw crack apart. He falls at the Skin Girls knees. She remains kneeling, staring dumbly at him. A hand picks
up John by the throat. The crawling, skittering flesh-things begin to gather around the monsters feet. Theyre like
hungry animals, waiting to be fed. Torment rises again. John fights it. Not now.
He gathers up the Fire and channels it through his muscles, hammering on the thing with his fists, kicking and
clawing. The monster loses his balance, and lurches forward. John flings his feet back and connects with a wall,
pushes hard. The fleshy things begin to swarm up their masters legs, and the monster loses his balance and
falls backwards, losing his balance further until he slides back into the water, still covered with his
creatures, still holding John. With the last of the Fire, John,
underwater, pushes everything he can into a blast of
heat and flame and sparks, surging from his skin. A
great cloud of steam erupts from around them,
and for an instant the rods are uncovered and
the electricity bursts out and there are so many
sparks.
And whiteness follows, and annihilation, and
John knows nothing more.
CREDITS
Credits
Written by: Joseph D. Carriker, Jr., Jess Hartley, Wood

Ingham and Chuck Wendig
World of Darkness created by Mark ReinHagen
Developer: Matthew McFarland
Editor: Scribendi.com
Art Direction and Design: Mike Chaney
Interior Art: Vatche Mavlian, Gavin Hargest, James
Stowe, Ken Meyer Jr, Brian Leblanc, Rich Thomas, Ed
Bourelle & Mike Chaney
Front Cover Art: Carlos Samuel Araya
ALSO AVAILABLE:
THE PROMETHEAN SERIES
PROMETHEAN:
THE CREATED
PANDORAS BOOK
STRANGE ALCHEMIES
MAGNUM OPUS
SATURNINE NIGHT
IN STORES NOW!
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PRINTED IN CHINA.
10
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
Prologue: Fragments from
the Revelation of John
Introduction
12
Chapter One: Demiurges in the Modern Age
18
Chapter Two: Flesh and Metal
48
Chapter Three: The Destroyer of Worlds
70
Chapter Four: Storytelling
100
11
INTRODUCTION
On the fth day, Cara needs to defecate. She hasnt eaten anything, but she needs to go, and
badly. She ends up squatting in the corner of the room. Its full of blood. Her urine is full of
blood. The sores on her arms and face and chest are worse than ever. The oors too level:
the bloody urine spreads all over the cell oor. Shes too scared to care about the smell. She
knows shes going to die.
On the sixth day, Caras hair begins to fall out. All of it: eyebrows, head hair, body hair. It
comes off in clumps. She runs her hands through her hair, and it just comes out, like water off
the top of the kitchen counter. She lies on the concrete oor on a bed of old urine and hair and
sobs her heart out. She wants to live. She wants so badly to live. She wants to see Mom and
Dad and Greg and little Mary. She wants to see them once more.
On the seventh day, the Monster comes for her, gathers her up and takes her through stark
corridors, and its only when she sees the straps and the wires and needles and scalpels and the
soldering iron that she screams, and she screams all the time he threads the wires through her
esh, and welds and bonds. Unconsciousness wont come. She cant pass out.
On the eighth day, still strapped to the table, Cara closes her eyes and dies.
On the ninth day, the Monster opens up Caras skull. He inserts a gray metal sphere into her brain,
and replaces the skull with a metal dome and welds it shut, and sews the esh back over it.
He brings a second sphere into contact with the terminal welded into her temple. Theres a
crack, a ash, and something else, that ows from the Monsters ngers, into the corpse.
Her skin turns suddenly translucent. Her body convulses. She takes in a swift, gulping, panicked
breath. A new monster opens its eyes, and sees her parent, and at the sight, begins to scream.
-as told to me by John Ash
Can you not see

how necessary a
world of troubles
is to school an
intelligence and
make it a soul?
John Keats
his is the book where science and horror come together. Theres a new world out
there, a new age. A new century dawns, with its own fears and terrors. Saturnine
Night dives straight into the present day, with all the tragedy and triumph that
comes with it.
Science
It can be easy to see literary Gothic as a period piece, but in their day, Bram
Stoker, H.P. Lovecraft and Mary Shelley were all ultra-modern. Stokers heroes fought
Dracula using electrical flashlights and psychoanalysis, and recorded their thoughts on
gramophone cylinders. Lovecraft lived in a world that frightened him with the speed
of its scientific advancement. And Mary Shelley made use of discoveries in biology
and physics that seemed to be increasing in frequency every day, things that we now
take for granted. The point is that everyday science has a place in horror and fantasy,
both as a background, and as a motif.
Plenty of horrors have been perpetrated in the name of science over the centuries.
We dont need fantasy to scare ourselves. Science gave us nuclear power and vaccinations, but it also gave us the bomb and chemical and biological warfare. Advances in
science affect the world in which we live in a million different ways, daily, for good
and ill.
In the end, it isnt really science we should be scared of. Science is a tool. Its not
a religion, its not magic and its not an ideology. Ideally, its simply the modification
of ones views through the testing and re-imagining of theories. Most of what scientists understand about the world is based on theories that will only last until a better
one comes along. Einsteins theories superseded Newtons. Galileo and Copernicus
cosmologies superseded Aristotles, and in turn were superseded by others. Medicine
changes and develops as medical researchers learn, and discover where they were
wrong. Science should be the application of trial and error. The true scientist should
be prepared to change his preconceptions, based upon what he learns from research.
Of course, not all scientists work like that.
Bad Science
Too often, people take an ideology or a result theyre trying to find and make their
science conform to that. They make their results say what they want them to say. A
deeply religious man reads the Bible as saying that the world is less than 10,000 years
old: he gathers evidence to support his view. Another individual believes that some
discredited alternative therapy works, and, rather than engage in vigorous testing, he
instead creates theories to support that. Back in the 1930s and 1940s, Nazi scientists
performed all kinds of bizarre, cruel experiments on the so-called untermenschen in
order to prove what the Nazis thought they knew already: that blond white people
were a superior species. At the same time, scientists in the Soviet Union decapitated
dogs and kept the heads alive, for no other apparent reason than because they wanted
to see if they could.
And then every so often a man comes along, thinking he can create life from corpses.
Weird Science and Science Horror
The methods through which the ve best-known demiurges created Prometheans apparently varied as time went on. One was a shaman, who believed that he urged the spirits
into creating his monster for him. Two used magic. Another believed that he drew down
the blessing of the gods. And Frankenstein thought himself a scientist. But the force that
creates Prometheans all Prometheans isnt science, it isnt magic, and it isnt the
will of God.
Its obsession. Only ordinary human obsession can draw down the Pyros, and when
the Divine Fire comes down, the impossible becomes possible, and obsession not
SCIENCE |BAD SCIENCE

belief, not will makes it so. A person who steals the
Pyros needs it to happen. Victor Frankenstein needed to
make a man. The need consumed his being. Without the
kind of obsession that consumes and destroys lives, the
Pyros cannot intrude into the world. But when a human
walks that line, risks madness, consumes his own life in
a great and terrible work, anything can happen. The
Pyros can make bad science work. And bad, impossible
science that works becomes weird science.
In a world where so many people use and misuse science to support sometimes crazy ideas, science becomes
the vehicle through which the Pyros does its work.
Suddenly, life comes into being. Picture the Soviet
vivisectionist with the Pyros in his hands, and imagine
what kind of life he would make. Imagine a Nazi camp
doctor, swapping parts of the bodies of his emaciated
victims, sewing children together, injecting eyeballs
with caustic chemicals, harnessing the Pyros, and then
picture what happens if one of his freakish reject corpses
were to become infused with life.
There really are already scientists who know how to
make and control nanomachines. Imagine one, frustrated
at the speed of her rate of progress, and then imagine her
becoming obsessed enough to imbue these tiny artificial
automata with life and perception. Or imagine the same
scientist, fixating on the bio-engineered disease shes
working on. Suddenly, the germs become aware. They
begin to act in concert. They become infectious. What,
then, could the results be? Real-world scientists already
know how to control human and animal movement with
implanted electrodes. What happens when one wishes
to control more than just movement? What kind of
result does he get when the computer system hes using
to administer control becomes self-aware?
Bodyshocks
So many different kinds of horror can come out of

scientific advancement. Theres a lot thats thematically
appropriate for Promethean, but few things fit quite so
well as body horror. The forced, extreme transformation
of the body and the effects of this transformation on
the psyche have been a frequent theme in horror and
science fiction ever since the 1960s. In this age of melanoma-causing ozone layer holes, scarification, ubiquitous
plastic surgery and body mods, its more relevant than
ever. Medical researchers have already succeeded in
implanting chips and mechanical prostheses in animals
and humans. Replacement hip joints are commonplace.
Now combine this with the practices of the Centimani
and their Pandoran Transmutations. Suddenly, otherwise
normal-looking bodies sprout tentacles and grow extra
organs. A Prometheans chest opens up, and a little man
clambers out. Growing claws is one thing, and growing
tentacles is another. Having a machine grafted onto or
into your body (like the oil-covered, bladed, revving

drill-phallus in the movie Tetsuo and the mind-bending stomach-inserted Betamax tapes from Videodrome)
is another thing again. For a human, such things would
be maddening. For a Promethean, such things arent
quite so horrific. But then, what does it mean for a
creature trying to gain humanity when it becomes less
and less human? For that matter, what does it mean for
a creature who wants to be human when humans are
becoming less human?
Mutation
Body horror comes from the idea of mutation. Some

time after the atomic bomb was first dropped, the word
got around that the nuclear age brought mutations.
Science fiction and horror writers and directors seized
upon that fact. Radiation, in some form or another, created the giant ants in Them! It also created the Uncanny
X-Men, the Spectacular Spider-Man and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The pitiable, deformed and excluded
mutants that filled the pages of 2000AD were perhaps a
little closer to the mark, but even so, the comic had its
share of super-powered radioactive heroes.
The simple fact is, radioactive mutation doesnt turn
anyone into a good-looking superhero. It doesnt create anthropomorphic chelonian kung fu experts. What
radiation does is this: it makes people sick, and it gives
them cancer. Then it kills them. If it doesnt kill them,
chances are it deforms any potential children theyll
have. There are drugs that do that, too (as the children
of women who took the pre-natal painkiller thalidomide
back in the 1960s and 1970s could tell you).
Cancer is the mutation that we can all have. For
most of the last 50 years, its been the single most
feared disease in the developed West, only having been
supplanted by HIV/AIDS in the late 80s. Melanomas
deform our skin. Smoking causes growths to choke our
lungs and stomach. Lumps grow inside womens breasts
and mens genitals. Workers using asbestos, chemicals
and radioactive materials find their bodies gaining fatal
growths. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy ravage the
body, fighting the disease with some of the same things
that caused it in the first place.
Prometheans can mutate their own bodies, but the slow
creep of cancers and other diseases are, so far, outside
their experience. New Lineages and new Refinements
bring new ways to suffer and inflict suffering into a new
century. The Saturnine Night continues, and it grows
ever darker.
Science and Humanity

Saturnine Night presents a number of options for
bringing weird science and the horrors of the modern age
into your Promethean chronicle. Into the bargain, this
15
INTRODUCTION
book presents a slight departure from the nigh-Victorian
and alchemical model that the line has presented thus
far. Weve moved beyond Tesla coils and discussions of
the four humours. Nanotechnology and cloning are the
orders of the day, here.
Of course, Prometheans created with the tools of
modern (and ultra-modern) science can stand shoulder
to shoulder with their more traditional cousins. The
themes of the game dont change. Indeed, the most
important theme of the game humanity and what
it takes to obtain it becomes even more relevant.
Some people follow a transhumanist ideology, seeking to
move beyond the limitations of humanity with science,
whether technological or pharmaceutical. What might
a Promethean think of a person who bemoans his weak,
disease-prone human body while the Created must move
constantly, never resting, lest the land be poisoned or
the people burn them in their sleep?
Its easy for us, as players of Promethean, to note the
benefits of the Saturnine Night and downplay the drawbacks. But thats because we have a sort of birds-eye view
of the situation. We understand the particulars, the limits
of the drawbacks, both from the perspective of story (we
know that the first stage of Disquiet isnt very pronounced
and fades after a time) and from a systems perspective
(any given mortal has approximately a 40% chance of
resisting Disquiet, presuming a low Azoth rating for the
Promethean). But the characters dont. The characters
know only what comes at them day to day, and from that
perspective, the Saturnine Night is torturous.
Or is it? Technology makes many things possible.
Prometheans enjoy unprecedented access to electricity
(to highlight this, ask your Storyteller to run a one-shot
game set in the Old West or Victorian England sometime
and see how it changes your strategies). Prometheans can
keep in touch with each other thus facilitating discussions on the Refinements and other matters easily and
quickly through the Internet, and such communication
also allows human contact, even it its not face-to-face.
Might the transhumanist philosophy that is, using
technology to compensate for inborn frailty allow
Prometheans to live something like a normal life, without
the pain and chance of the Pilgrimage? Or is Mortality
more than the absence of inconvenience? Does the presence of the soul make all other matters moot?
These are questions for your troupe to answer. A
given Promethean might change his opinion several
times during the course of a chronicle. Thats fine. Part
of the human condition is the ability to change, grow
and learn, after all. In a sense, the Pilgrimage is one
long scientific process. The Promethean experiments,
changes his approach based on the data collected and
tries again until it works.
16
How to Use This Book
Chapter One: Demiurges in the Modern Age investigates what makes a demiurge. How does a new
Lineage come into being? What kind of person makes
one? Can supernatural beings create Prometheans? Find
the answers here.
Chapter Two: Flesh and Metal introduces the
Unfleshed, Prometheans born entirely of artificial components, and gives some pointers as to how a being born of
the technological age might approach the Pilgrimage.
The secrets of the Nuclear Promethean, the product
of a century of horrors, finally lay themselves bare in
Chapter Three: The Destroyer of Worlds.
Finally, Chapter Four: Storytelling gives the Storyteller options and ideas for continuing and expanding
Promethean chronicles for a long time to come. The
chapter continues with Detroit: The Dead Engine,
which details the great city of Michigan as a setting for
Promethean stories, and the chronicle begun with The
Water of Life ends with These Mortal Engines, where
the troupe encounters threats and acquaintances new and
old. Similar to all the previous episodes, These Mortal
Engines can be played as a separate story or inserted
into any Promethean chronicle.
Inspirations
A plethora of books, comic books, films and TV shows

supply all the weird-science horrors anyone could ever
want. The following resources can kick-start any number
of stories, but there are many more out there.
Kirsten Bakis, Lives of the Monster Dogs. A novel that
shows the products of perverted science suffering from
torment and degeneration, and is all the more moving
for it.
Greg Bear, Blood Music. Bio-engineered cells get loose
. . . and become aware. Apocalypse results.
Donna Haraway, The Cyborg Manifesto. The statement
of what a cyborg really could be (as opposed to what it is in
sci-fi movies). Available online at: http://www.stanford.
edu/dept/HPS/Haraway/CyborgManifesto.html
H.P. Lovecraft, Herbert West: Reanimator. Although
kooky and tongue-in-cheek, Lovecrafts best-known mad
scientist story has much to recommend it. Brian Yuznas
movie version is worth a watch, too.
Doctor Who. Although quirky and kid-friendly, this
legendary show has produced some genuinely horrific
visions in its 44-year history. There are simply too many
stories that could directly influence a Promethean
Storyteller to list, but the episodes Dalek and Rise
of the Cybermen from the recent revival certainly fit
the bill. See also the Tom Baker classic Genesis of the
Daleks for the definitive presentation of a barking mad
demiurge at work.
INSPIRATIONS
Edge of Darkness. This 1985 TV mini-series often
finds its way onto best TV show ever lists, and quite
rightly. The story of a man whose investigation into his
daughters murder leads into a nuclear conspiracy, the
heros progressive alienation, the repeated appearance
of what may or may not be his daughters ghost and
the realistic portrayal of radiation sickness make this
a really excellent source, both in terms of mood and
technical detail.
A convincing contender for the single scariest film
ever made, Threads (1984) portrays a nuclear holocaust
in brutal, unforgiving detail.
The first two Terminator (1984 and 1991) films explore
the horrific side of science. A machine set to perform
a task does so without pity and in the most ruthlessly

efficient way possible. But what if the parameters under
which that machine operates are set to mimic the human
condition? Is that machine then human? The second film
also raises some interesting questions about the nature of
fate and inevitability (which the third film in the series
[2003] promptly jettisons), and that might have some
resonance to Promethean, especially if youve involved
the qashmallim.
Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Tetsuo II: Body Hammer:
Body Horror 101 and 202.
Videodrome: Long live the New Flesh! David
Cronenberg brings body horror to the masses in this
stomach-churning 1983 movie.
17
CHAPTER ONE
DEMIURGES IN THE MODERN AGE
CHAPTER ONE:
PATCHWORK
FAMILIES
Comrade Doctor Elizarov? A word?

The major is short, with a round face and a prim, tight little mouth. He has those same eyes that the MVD men always have, dull and
closed and colorless. The men who stand either side of the major dwarf him. Mikhail Alessandrovich nods. He runs a hand through his hair, feels
a clump come away under his ngers. He lets it drop to the oor behind his back.
He hates the man. He hates the over-polished shoes, the spotless overcoat, the shiny buttons, the way the cap is pulled down over the mans
forehead. This is a bad time, Comrade Major. Im working.
With respect, Comrade Doctor, your work is the issue.
So talk about it here. The doctor turns his back to the MVD men and makes an adjustment to his instruments. He turns a metal wheel.
Behind the glass, a row of three disembodied forearms mounted in riveted metal ex and unex their ngers in concert. He moves in such
a way so as to cause the major the maximum possible offense.
To Mikhail Alessandrovichs disappointment, the major doesnt rise to the bait. He motions for his men to step outside, then he walks into the
middle of the lab and leans against a table. He takes off his gloves, folds them neatly and places them, half-in half-out of his overcoat pocket.
He steeples his ngers and does not look at the doctor. And he begins to ask questions.
Why has the major not submitted a report for so long? How, exactly, does experimentation on human bodies experimentation that other Soviet
researchers have performed with greater success have anything to do with ascertaining the effects of radiation on the penal workers?
They talk of secrecy and responsibility. They discuss the resources that the Marshall himself has invested in this project. The major informs
the doctor that theyre going to be here to seize his notes and equipment. He has six hours to get some sort of report in order. Hes leaving his
men here to watch.
The major steps outside for a moment to converse with his men.
Alone in the lab now, Mikhail Alessandrovich says, You heard that.
From the adjacent room, a voice, quiet, but hollow like the deepest caverns of the uranium mine, says, So? The doctors skin crawls.
The shadows gather in the lab, as the occupant of the other room comes near to the door.
Youre going to have to leave. Mikhail Alessandrovich recoils from the other, stepping back.
Youd like that, it says.
And then the MVD men come back in.
When they question Mikhail Alessandrovich in the military hospital two days later, he claims that he is unable to explain the destruction of the
lab and is unable to give a rationale for his own broken legs. They cannot imagine how he could be responsible for the two MVD sergeants torn
limb from limb, but they have no other to blame, and so the military court sentences the doctor, in absentia, to the ring squad.
Mikhail Alessandrovich Elizarov dies two weeks later of a cancer that spreads faster than any of his physicians have ever seen.
His experiment survives.
-transcribed from the journal of John Ash

-as told to me by John
I do not feel that

I am the product of chance, a
speck of dust in
the universe, but
someone who was
expected, prepared, prefigured.
In short, a being whom only a
Creator could put
here . . .
Jean-Paul Sartre
I am my Fathers Son:
Demiurges and Lineages
The intricacies of human lineages can be complicated to trace, especially before the advent of DNA mapping procedures and intricate software programs for tracking genealogy.
And yet, at least in theory, human lineages are a simple matter: male and female genetic
material comes together to create an offspring that traces its line back through both parental
contributors. The why and wherefore of how that material is contributed, and the social
and legal repercussions of the circumstances surrounding the conception and birth may
become very complicated; lust and love, rape and seduction, incest and adultery provide
almost limitless variations on the specics. But from a biological perspective, every human in
existence traces genetic lines backwards in the same fashion: two cells each contribute half
of their makers genetic code to form a whole cell capable of becoming a unique human.
Promethean Lineages, at rst glance, seem even simpler. After the Lineage is begun by a
human demiurge, each of the Created prepares for and undergoes the generative act, creating
another of his Lineage. Victor Frankenstein, human scientist, creates the Progenitor of the
Frankenstein line in his attempts to produce life. His monster then cobbles together another
being in his likeness, inventing the Wretched generative ritual, and brings the second of
his Lineage into being. From there, each successive Frankenstein uses a Wretched ritual
and brings one or more Frankensteins to life, just as he was brought into existence and just
as his progeny will go on bringing others into being. Were the world a perfect place, where
all Prometheans were given the information they need to guide them and felt no need or
desire to deviate from this path, Created Lineages would be a simple matter indeed.
But in reality, things are rarely so simple.
The Promethean generative act is a ckle process. In most cases, the slightest deviation
from the appropriate ritual results in the rite failing and a Pandoran being born. Not
always, however. Just as the original creation of each line was a unique and unreplicable
act, some times changes, even signicant ones, take. Storytellers who do not wish to allow such deviations (or who would like to limit them) can simply rule that any deviation
from the standard generative ritual results in the creation of a Pandoran Mockery, rather
than in a new variant of the Lineage. For those Storytellers who wish to allow their players more freedom with creating their own character variations, however (or for those who
wish to surprise their players with deviations from the standard Lineages), a wide variety
of possibilities can be incorporated into a chronicle. Storytellers may wish to include any
one, several or all of these possibilities, as they feel best suits the chronicle.
In the Beginning:
The Role of the Demiurge
Even more than humans, Prometheans are inuenced by those who came before them.
Physically, of course, it is difcult to deny the disgurements, Disquiet and Torment that,
although they vary somewhat from Galateid to Galateid or Nepri to Nepri, mark them
closer to each other than they are to those of other Lineages or to humans. These similarities, physical as well as intangible, are far greater than the skin-deep differences between
humans of different areas. They inuence Prometheans of each Lineage very strongly along
the lines of their humour, shaping much of the tone of their Saturnine Night. Whether
a Promethean revels in his Lineages nature or strives constantly to keep his humours in
balance, a Promethean is directly tied to his Lineage in a way that is both tangible and
undeniable.
However, this inuence is not only the innate effect of the Prometheans Lineage. Just as
humans, Prometheans are also directly inuenced by their parental unit, who may form a
far greater inuence on them than even the most overbearing human parents can.
Human children are inundated with outside information about who they are, as individuals, as children and as humans. Prometheans do not have that advantage, relying solely
I AM MY FATHERS SON-DEMIURGES AND LINEAGES | CONNECTING THE DOTS

upon their own experiences and the (often limited) contact
they have with other Prometheans. Considering how rare
the Created are, it is possible that the individual who created the Promethean will be the only other Created he has
contact with, well into the formative years of his existence.
If he learns anything at all about Prometheans or himself
from his creator, it may be the only fact available to him
on the topics, save for what he is able to piece together from
his own experience. Because of this, the role (or absence)
of his creator is undeniably inuential on a newly created
Promethean. The only individual who may have more
innate inuence upon a Promethean is one he is likely to
never meet: his demiurge.
Demiurges, as the founders of each of the Lineages, take
on a mythic (in some cases, literally) role in the Lineages
later members lives. The demiurges stories are often the rst
ones told to a newly created Promethean, offered forth as
an explanation of both the newly made individuals nature
and his purpose for existing.
The Riven are offered forth Ulgans story, and with it,
the weight of their duties as soul-less shamans descends
upon them. An Osirans missing part is explained through
the legend of Isiss dedication to her husband (and to vengeance upon his murderer). A Wretched might be handed
Mary Shelleys book, and warned of the hubris of Victor
Frankenstein. The innate longing experienced by a newly
made Aphrodite might be elucidated with the romance of
Pygmalion and his beautiful creation. Even the Golems,
whose demiurge is a topic of dispute more often than any
other Lineage, are regaled with stories of their lines creator.
If one of the Unnished is told of Loew Belalei and another
of the Babylonian god that gives the Lineage its name, it
matters little. The moral of the tale is still similar, and the
impact it has on the newly Created is not reliant upon the
name given.
Demiurges embody epic themes. They are archetypes,
larger than life. Similar to humans with their own ancestors,
those archetypes can be emulated or shunned by Prometheans of the Lineage.
They are, however, rarely ignored.
Gone but Not Forgotten
One of the great paradoxes that relate to Prometheans

is that, although few humans ever know that the Created
truly exist, most have heard of at least one of the historic
demiurges credited with bringing the Created into existence.
The youngest of the Lineages has certainly received the
most publicity in modern times. From horror to comedy, few
aspects of the Frankenstein legend have not been explored
by humans who, although they do not recognize the truth of
the tale, are somehow still drawn to it. The tale of Pygmalion
and Galatea has been similarly told and retold in modern
media, spawning movies, plays and stories. Likewise, the stories of Isis and Osiris and of the Jewish Golem have endured
through centuries, spanning the globe to modern readers,

playgoers and movie-watchers throughout the world. The
story of Orpheus is considered a classic in Greek literature,
and almost as many of the Riven trace their heritage to the
Greek demigod as to the Siberian shamans. Fewer humans
may be familiar with Tengri and Ulgan, but even these
more obscure tales are not unheard of in modern times. For
creatures that nature and humanity reject inherently, it is
not surprising that their tales are remembered and retold,
even if they are believed to be ction and legend.
Perhaps this is because humanity inherently identies
with the demiurges. Each was, at the time of his great act,
warring with issues that are intrinsically human. Tengris
desire to connect with the spirit world, Rabbi Loews need
to protect his people, Isiss sense of bereavement and quest
for revenge, Pygmalions longing for the perfect mate, even
Victor Frankensteins hunger to create life and accomplish
the impossible are all very human traits, and ones that
humanity, as a whole, sees in itself. In embracing these
demiurges tales, humanity is, in its own way, embracing
the ideal of Hope. These miraculous stories, even if they are
not strictly believed, spark the illogical but undying hope
that when the need, the desire, the hunger is great enough,
miracles can happen.
Connecting the Dots
Although the exact details of the earliest demiurges may

be lost forever in the passage of centuries and retellings of
their stories, certain archetypal truths seem to remain consistent, at least in the Promethean versions of each Lineages
creation myth. From these similarities, many theories exist as
to what brings about the unique creation of a new Lineage
of Promethean, and why Lineages were created where and
when they were.
An Act of Desperation
One idea offered forth is that the Created lines have each
been spawned during times of humanitys greatest need. Not
humankind, for the problems of a kingdom, a race, a country
are at once too great and too impersonal to spark the type of
blinding need required to create a Promethean. No, the drive
behind such creations must be both intense and personal, one
humans unyielding hunger for safety, companionship, revenge
or validation lending him the ability for one brief moment to
access the impossible, to reach beyond the limits of human
understanding and ability and touch the Divine Fire. It was not
Victor Frankensteins scientic genius that made the creation of
his monster possible. Surely other scientists (and Frankenstein
himself) replicated his experiment both before and after the
Creation of the rst of the Wretched line, and failed to bring
about the horric wonder that was the rst Patchwork Man.
But at the moment when the Progenitor of the Frankenstein
Lineage was created, some subtle and yet undeniable line was
crossed. For a moment, the alchemical formula was in precise
21
CHAPTER ONE | DEMIURGES IN THE MODERN AGE
alignment and the desperation of Dr. Frankenstein to succeed

peaked just enough to set it apart from the driving force that
had propelled him along his path up until that point. At that
moment, as the lightning ashed and the storm raged around
him, Victor Frankenstein, driven by that need, was able to
reach beyond the mortal bounds and touch, however briey,
the Divine Fire that would bring his creation to life.
This need is akin to that which drives each of the Created to seek Humanity. Perhaps that is why, although it is
almost unheard of for a human to create a Promethean, it
22
is the role of each Promethean to spawn others of its kind.

Lacking souls, the Created know all too well of the need
that only the most desperate of humans are unfortunate
enough to experience.
Each of the other historical demiurges, this theory states,
has felt this need. Isis, driven by her need to restore her
slaughtered lover and exact vengeance upon his murderer.
Pygmalion, longing for a lover and companion worthy of
his attentions. Tammuz and Tengri, desperate to protect
their people from marauders. Each was not only, know-
THE HAND OF GOD | THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME

Promethean line, it is surprising that Lineages are not exponentially more populous than they are, as desperation seems
to be one of the most common threads throughout human
history, a thread that has only grown stronger as history
progresses. But then again, perhaps individual Prometheans
do arise more often than most of the Created think, and the
real rarity is a Promethean spawning a Lineage.
The Hand of God
Other theories link the demiurges through divine intervention, claiming that each was touched by some sort of
supernatural inuence that acted through them to spark
the Divine Fire in their creations. No human unaided, they
believe, has the ability to spontaneously create life, and
thus the human demiurges must have only acted as a tool
or conduit through which a greater power acted to create
the Progenitor of each of the Lineages. Some claim that
the inuence was a god, either Jehovah, or one of the nonChristian gods, or even a benevolent spirit or angel. Those
who believe this may see the Promethean existence as a blessing, a divine gift of the opportunity to earn ones salvation.
Others attribute the supernatural inuence to the Devil or
a demon and thus see the Promethean existence as a curse.
They may believe that this unholy beginning is something
to overcome and strive beyond, seeing Redemption as both
the attainment of humanity and the literal redemption of
their cursed state. Others embrace the perceived iniquity of
their origin, and use this as an excuse to justify continuing
along the evil path they believe they have been spawned
upon. It is not surprising that a Created who believes that
all Prometheans are cursed might quickly grow disheartened
and abandon his Pilgrimage, perhaps turning to the Hundred-Handed path out of the belief that he deserves (or is
capable of) nothing more.
Some Prometheans, eschewing the divine or diabolic for
something more tangible, claim the human demiurges of each
line were aided (or used by) supernatural magic-workers of
some sort. Proponents of this particular theory, however, are
often confused if they attempt to research their hypothesis
through modern mages, who seem for the most part to be
unaware of the Divine Fire, let alone able to wield it.
The Right Place

at the Right Time
ingly or by fate or luck, in exactly the right circumstances
for the alchemical processes of creation to come about, but
was also driven by sheer desperation to reach beyond the
normal human capacity and snatch forth the forbidden re
and imbue his creation with its Divine spark.
If this theory is true, then the potential for new Lineages
is virtually limitless in modern times. Discontentment, longing and the drive for revenge are all at least as prevalent
in modern societies as they were in ancient ones. In truth,
if extreme need was all that was required to spawn a new
While some Promethean philosophers may build an entire

explanation for their existence based on their demiurge
theories, others believe that there is no real answer. These
individuals purport that no way exists to know the exact
circumstances behind the creation of any of the existing
Lineages, and that is folly to try to nd connections among
ve unique situations that were spread out over the course of
thousands of years and several continents. Perhaps some of
the lines were created by the direct involvement of the gods,
as their descendents claim. Perhaps others were a product of
23

humankinds own ingenuity, or desperation. Perhaps some
were circumstance, fate, karma, even dumb luck. It matters
little, say those who see no overlying connection among the
genesis of each Lineage. What matters, according to them,
is not where the Lineage comes from originally but where
each member goes after he or she is created.
Theories and Fact
As with many philosophical theorems, these concepts

cannot be proved or disproved. Need, desire and desperation
are hardly quantiable matters. The touch of a (theoretical
itself) divine being is likewise an untraceable miracle. Nor
are fate, luck, karma or serendipity measurable, regardless
of how rmly they may be believed. Just as the Divine Fire
itself, the mystery behind what exactly allows a new Lineage
of Prometheans to spring forth is elusive and unknowable.
This inability to prove the theories one way or another
has not, of course, prevented any of the theories from being
professed as truth. While some of the Created care little
one way or the other, or may have never had the leisure or
the motivation to consider the issue, others cling to one
theory or another as devoutly as a human might to her
religious faith.
Modern Variations
on a Theme
In many ways, the human world has changed more in the

last 100 years than in all of human history that had come
before. Locations that had always been nearly unreachable
are now used as tourist spots or sports challenges. Distances
that once took months or years to cover by foot or on horseback are now routinely traveled in hours by plane, train or
automobile. Global communications that might have once
been impossible are now not only inexpensive and easily
accessible, but nearly instantaneous. Many of the mysteries
of the past centuries have now been revealed through the
use of telescopes, space exploration robots, carbon dating,
x-rays and atomic microscopes.
Some of these changes have been of great benet to the
Created. Television, books and movies give them an endless
source of information about humanity, as well as access to
the contemplations of centuries of human philosophers who
have shared their quest to understand what it is to be human.
Telephones and the Internet allow the Created to communicate from a distance with each other and with humans far
outside of the radius of their Disquiet. Modern transportation makes it easier for a Promethean to avoid spawning a
Wasteland than at any time in previous history.
And yet, despite these luxuries, this is perhaps the most
dangerous time in history for a Promethean to exist. Gone
are the vast stretches of wilderness that once easily protected a Promethean who had gone to the wastes or just
24
needed to escape a maddened mob. Instead, miles of cities

and highways ll once-pristine wild places, and even the
elds and woodlands that separate them are now private
property. The same modern communications that facilitate
a Prometheans long-distance relationships now also can
track his travels from town to town, state to state, even
continent to continent, and the modern reliance on formal
identication paperwork, while not unavoidable, certainly
makes the life of a distrusted drifter more difcult than in
previous eras.
Modern Demiurges
According to common thought, the last of the ve Lineages was created well over 100 years ago. When Victor
Frankenstein brought his monster into being, he sparked
the Wretched line, and became the fth and nal demiurge.
This, however, is not necessarily the whole of the truth.
Certainly, the Wretched are the youngest of the ve
commonly known Lineages (the Nuclear Prometheans are
more recent creations than the Wretched, but are little more
than rumor to most of the Created). And, should it suit the
Storyteller, Promethean: The Created works perfectly well
with no more than these ve Lineages. Some Storytellers,
however, may desire a more organic Lineage system, one that
not only allows them to add more variation to their storylines
and Storyteller-controlled characters, but that may also give
the players (and their characters) the opportunity to experiment with creating their own Promethean Lineages.
Following in Their Footsteps:

Modern Human Demiurges
One way of incorporating modern demiurges into a Promethean setting is by using the same types of formulas used
by the ve commonly known Lineages: a human demiurge
somehow manages to access the Divine Fire and sparks life
into a human corpse. If someone uses the exact methods used
by one of the previous human demiurges, he might create
a Promethean very similar to one of the existing Lineages.
While technically fullling the role of demiurge, should
this Lineage continue, it is likely that the more modern
demiurges role might be downplayed (or even outright
disbelieved) by those of the Created who are more familiar
with the traditional demiurges story. A modern Lineage
that almost exactly mimics the Galateids would likely be
seen by other Promethean as Muses, even if the Created
were technically a separate line.
On the other hand, the results might be very different,
even if the process were duplicated exactly. Certainly
would-be life-creators have attempted to replicate Viktor
Frankensteins mythic experiment in the past and failed. If
a modern demiurge were to successfully recreate it, it would
be because there was something unique in the situation that
allowed it to succeed where others had not. This uniqueness,
be it something circumstantial, or an inherent quality of the
MODERN VARIATIONS ON A THEME

demiurge himself, might well be sufcient to spawn a Lineage
wholly different from the existing Wretched line.
On the other hand, it is possible that a modern demiurge
might create (or stumble upon) a process that was completely
different from the processes used by any of the earlier Lineage
creators, and thus spawn a unique Lineage. A Lineage begun
by a surgeon using a partly or wholly synthetic construct,
for example, might have an afnity with technology and
human-made materials. His Progenitor might possess plasticine humour, with a malleable personality and the ability to
reshape his physical form at will. Conversely, the new line
might have a titan humour, with a virtually indestructible
body, and an unbending will to match.
So Close and Yet So Far:

Humans Creating Pandorans
One of the greatest burdens that a Promethean can

bear is the knowledge that he has brought a Mockery into
the world. Until the Pandoran is destroyed, it plagues not
only its creator but any other of the Created it encounters,
visiting whatever evil it can upon their kind. While tales
of Victor Frankensteins misgivings at having created the
rst of his line are legendary, how much greater would his
compunction have been had he instead spawned the rst
of the Torch-Born? Some Prometheans believe that it is
impossible for a human demiurge to create a Pandoran, that
this sin is a weight born only by the Created themselves.
Others, however, are not so certain.
Human demiurges almost never grasp the enormity of what
they are setting out to create. Perhaps they are attempting
to nd a companion, or to play God. Perhaps they are so
driven by lust, love, hatred or fear that their end goal remains
ephemeral until the deed is done, and they do not even know
themselves what it is they seek. But it is the rarest of rarities
that they understand anything about Prometheans. Human
demiurges almost never recognize the Divine Fire, let alone
have the power, drive and knowledge to access the same.
Thus, the overwhelming majority of would-be demiurges
fail to create a Promethean without ever even realizing that
the Created exist. These would-be demiurges continue to
strive, or give up in despair, while remaining entirely in the
dark about the nature of the Created.
This majority is, by far, the most fortunate. Those
rare few who do manage to grasp an understanding of
the nature of the Divine Fire may find themselves far
closer to succeeding, but in this case, a near-miss may
prove deadly. If a human is able to manipulate enough
of the Divine spark, and yet somehow his experiment
goes wrong, he may come to share the burden that
Promethean fear most the creation of a Pandoran.
This human-spawned creature is not a Mockery, being
unrelated to any Promethean Lineage. The Pandoran
is, however, just as deadly as any of its Prometheanborn siblings. It comes into being possessing only the
25

smallest amount of animating Flux, and seems to know
instinctively that the presence of its human creator
threatens it with almost immediate Dormancy. The
Pandorans first action, therefore, is to either flee or
attempt to kill its creator.
Most often, a human who possesses a personality capable of recognizing and accessing the Divine Fire is far
from societal standards, regardless of his era or culture.
Should he survive the encounter with his Pandoran-spawn
and share the account with others, his tales of bringing
a monster to life are likely, depending on the time and
place, to be dealt with as the ravings of a madman or as
admissions of fraternization with the unholy. Even among
Prometheans who recognize that they themselves can do
such things, he is unlikely to be believed.
These human-spawned Pandorans may very well explain the origins of other unique beings in the World
of Darkness. During the time of Cortez, for example, a
priest of Xipe Totec was rumored to have been granted
the fire of the gods to protect his people. His efforts
were successful until the Spanish soldiers came to his
city. The priest warned his chief about the Spanish,
whom he likened to goats for their unwashed smell
and their pointy beards, but the chief did not heed his
words. Eventually the soldiers showed their true nature,
however, and ransacked the town. When his chief was
struck down by the Spaniards bullets, the priest took up
the corpse, intending to bring it back to life to protect
the city against the Spanish goats. Something went
wrong, though, and the body tore itself apart and the
pieces fled into the wilderness. These Chupacabra still
haunt that area, awakened on those rare occasions when
one of the Created comes near enough to stir them from
Dormancy. They hunger for Pyros like any other Pandoran, but they actually suck the blood of goats out of
that half-remembered ancient mandate to protect the
Aztec peoples from the Spanish soldiers.
Forging a New
Path: Promethean
Demiurges
For all that the ve historic demiurges are all human,

should it suit a Storyteller to allow them, Promethean: The
Created has ample room for non-human demiurges as well.
A Promethean might be created in the traditional Lineage
manner herself, but for one reason or another, not use those
same rituals when the time comes for her to create progeny.
While a Storyteller might rule that any deviation from the
traditional ritual may result in a Pandoran, or that deviations
still have a chance of resulting in an offspring of the creators
Lineage, should the Storyteller wish to incorporate more
variation into his chronicle, he might also allow characters
to experiment with varying the generative ritual to create
wholly new Lineages as well.
26
Twisted Family Lines
A Promethean might not, for a variety of reasons, use

the same generative ritual that was used to create her.
She may have no choice in the matter. Perhaps she never
met her creator, and thus does not know anything about
the ritual used. She might have been abandoned during
or shortly after the creation process by a selfish creator
who saw her only as a step in his own Pilgrimage. She
may have, in the clouded haze of waking, driven her
maker away or even destroyed him.
Likewise, she might have become separated from her
creator before the generative ritual could be taught.
He might have horded the knowledge out of spite or
fear that she was not yet ready to successfully create
more of their kind. Or, he simply may not have had
a chance yet to share the information before some
twist of fate separated them (perhaps permanently).
The Saturnine Night is a dangerous path to walk, and
there are certainly far more pertinent lessons to communicate early on in a Prometheans existence than
the intricacies of the generative act. Regardless of the
reason, if a Promethean does not manage to learn the
generative act from her creator or other sources, she
may find herself feeling the drive to create offspring
and yet have nothing but a vague instinct about how
to go about it.
This lack of information may lead her to seek out those
of other Lineages who may share their generative rituals
with her. It may encourage her to research (through mundane or supernatural resources) the process of creating
life in inanimate objects and experiment with inventing
her own generative rites. Or, if she remains sufficiently
uneducated about the nature of Promethean existence,
she may be driven to attempt to create offspring through
totally unrelated means: artificial manufacturing, cloning or even sexual reproduction.
Other times, Promethean Lineages deviate not out
of necessity, but choice. A throng of the Created may
decide to create another Promethean as a joint effort,
as a symbol of their unity. A philosophical Promethean
scholar might believe he has uncovered the secret to
creating a Torment-less offspring in some ancient text
and use the information there to create something far
different from his traditional Lineage. Or, in an act of
rebellion, one of the Created may intentionally adopt
the generative ritual of another Lineage, or create a
unique one.
At the Storytellers discretion, each of these circumstances might spawn a new Lineage. These new lines
might be variations of the traditional five, or even
hybrids, blending aspects of two or more traditional
Lineages. The new line might, however, be something
wholly different, a new Lineage as disparate from the
established ones as they each are from one another.
FORGING A NEW PATH: PROMETHEAN DEMIURGES | CREATING NEW LINEAGES
A Motherless Child
Rumors als o exi st of Line age s that are not
s o much deviations from traditional one s as
much as b arely related mani fe stations of
the Divine Fire. Legends of a little-known
Line age whos e demiurge was not human
but one of the gre at ap e s or even a prehi storic Ne anderthal have circulated for long
enough that they have b e c ome a p art of the
Promethe an mythology. Likewi s e, tale s are
told around the Ramble fire s of Promethe ans
sp awned sp ontaneously from circumstanc e s
that mimic thos e of the generative ritual,
but without the gui ding hand of a Promethean cre ator. Thos e who claim such heritage s
are rarely enc ountered and even more
rarely b elieved; the i de a of a sp ontaneously
mani fe sted Promethe an i s a di fficult one for
even the most op en-minded of the Cre ated
to buy into without pro of.
The s e deviations can add even more layers
of c omplication to the i dentity i ssue s that
fac e the Cre ated. Most Promethe ans sp end
at le ast a go o d p ortion of the e arly ye ars
of their exi stenc e tackling the que stions
of Who and what am I? and Where di d
I c ome from? For thos e who cannot trac e
their Line age to one of the c ommonly known
five demiurge s, the s e que stions may never
truly b e answered to their s ati sfaction.
Lineage Deviations
and the Generative Act
Deviations from the standard Lineages may well affect

their creations chances of performing the generative act
themselves. These modiers may be used to represent the
additional complications involved with such generative
rituals.
3
The ritual is being created or modied signicantly
rather than being used as taught.
2
The creator has never seen this particular ritual
being performed.
+1
The ritual contains aspects of at least one traditional
generative ritual. (Note: This is not cumulative.
There are not additional bonuses for combining aspects of more than one type of generative ritual.)
These modiers are cumulative with each other and
with those from p. 187 of Promethean: The Created and
any listed in additional supplements that the Storyteller
chooses to use.
Creating New Lineages
The Promethean line offers a plethora of Promethean

family lines, from the well-documented core Lineages to
those offered in part or wholly in the supplemental materials.
Storytellers and players, however, also have the freedom to
create their own Lineages, based on or completely separate
from those offered. Unlike the challenges facing a would-be
demiurge, creating a new Lineage is a fairly straightforward
matter for a Storyteller or player. A checklist of various elements intrinsic to each Lineage is offered below.
Themes
Perhaps the most dangerous pitfall to avoid when creating

a new Lineage is the temptation to deviate from the inherent themes of Promethean: The Created. While the same
formulas explained below might be just as easily used to create animated stuffed animals or sentient food products, such
creations are likely to distract from rather than add to the
themes of the game. Even the most inherently Promethean
Lineage can, if handled inappropriately, quickly degenerate
into something quite non-Promethean in mood and feel.
The original Pinocchio story, written by Carlo Collodi in
the late 1800s, is especially Promethean in theme. In it, the
puppet-boy, brought to life by his fathers skill and desire,
suffers punishment and eventually death, not only for the
mistakes and ill choices he makes but because he is innately
different from those around him, and thus not trusted.
The last half, added to make the story more appropriate for
young readers, softened the tale quite a bit, adding hope in
the form of the Blue Fairys intervention and Pinocchios
eventual redemption, while still maintaining the dark realism
of a created creatures struggle to understand and eventually earn, humanity. Contrast this with the same story told
by modern animators, with laughing dancing puppets and
irtatious goldsh, and the difference between Promethean
and non-Promethean themes is easy to see.
Concepts
Inspiration for Lineage concepts can come from almost

anywhere. Acts of desperation, sorrow, sacrice and hope ll
the shelves and screens of traditional ction. Each is capable,
at least in theory, of spawning forth a Promethean answer
to the would-be demiurges problems. Had it been within
his power to do so, Romeo might have attempted to raise
Juliets seemingly lifeless body, rather than killing himself,
lending their story a different, although perhaps no less tragic
ending when the new Capulet Lineage was created.
And reality is, if anything, even more lled more inspiration for new Created lines. Every day, somewhere on Earth,
humans deal with situations that drive them far beyond the
normal boundaries of mortal behavior. One mother protects
her children by overwhelming a would-be killer despite
what should be lethal wounds, while in another place at
the same time, an entire family is found dead, the result of
27

a parents delusions or depression. Teenagers ght, kill and
die thousands of miles away from their families in a political
maneuver, while their neighbors blow up doctors, children
and expectant mothers for the sin of visiting a clinic that
performs abortions. Desperation lurks just below the surface
of even the most normal-seeming setting, spawning an endless variety of potentials for new Created Lineages.
Demiurges
The starting point for almost all Lineages is a demiurge.

In some cases, the demiurge is unknown, the line begun
by something other than the actions and intentions of a
demiurge, or more than one creator play equal parts in the
process, but in most cases a single individual is primarily
responsible for the creation of a new Lineage. In many ways,
this individual lays the foundation, literally and guratively,
for the entire Lineage.
Humours
The ve traditional Lineages are based on the humours

believed by medieval philosophers to rule the nature of
humans (sanguine, melancholic, phlegmatic and choleric),
along with the aetherial humour of ectoplasm. These humours represent the base personality traits of each Lineage.
Each is likewise associated with the Western philosophical
element that most closely aligns to the humour: Fire with
Choleric, Earth with Melancholic, Water with Phlegmatic,
Air with Sanguine and Spirit with Ectoplasmic. When
building a new Lineage, the traditional ve humours can be
used, either separately or combined (Air and Water forming
Clouds or Rain, Water and Earth forming River or Mud,
etc.) Alternately, additional humours or elements can be
incorporated to reect that the base nature of the line is
different from the established Lineages. These new humours
might be drawn from other philosophical and spiritual
world views as well. Elements such as metal and wood
can be gleaned from Chinese philosophies, for example, or
wind (kaze), sky (ku) and consciousness (shiki) from
Japanese tradition.
Alternatively, a new Lineages humour might be a
representation of a physical or symbolic association
with the line. A savage Promethean Lineage that was
created by the sole survivor of a Himalayan plane crash
might have a north wind humour, cold and blustery
but hard-pressed to maintain effort for long. Conversely,
a volcanic humour might be brought about by the last
of a line of Polynesian or Hawaiian nobles, spawning a
Lineage that was relentless and fiery in nature, consuming everything it is path. A Lineage that began because
of the demiurges need for vengeance might have a
venomous humour, insidious but dangerous to those
around it, while a compassionate humour might suit
a Lineage spawned from a demiurges genuine desire to
resurrect a lost loved one.
28
An important aspect to remember when developing

humours is that they are not single-dimension traits. Just
as a sanguine personality can be both outgoing and ighty,
happy and prone to impulsiveness, a metallic humour
should be more than tough. It might be both strong and
malleable, enduring but resistant to new ideas. A wooden
humour might be slow to change but constantly seeking
growth and enlightenment.
Bestowments
A Prometheans Bestowment can allow for choice.

Although most Galateids tend to have a Mesmerizing
Appearance, their striking looks (and accompanying
game-mechanic) is not unique to them. A Promethean of
any Lineage can develop the Muses traditional Bestowment, and not all Galateids manifest it themselves. It is
not unheard of for an Adonis to instead have the ability
to turn his body to inanimate stone or metal, protecting
him while he hibernates for a time, or to be created with
a pheromone that manifests a strong sexual response in
those around him. Just as with humours, a new Lineage
might share a Bestowment with the traditional lines. It is
just as likely, however, that a new line would manifest a
new Bestowment.
Often these Bestowments are tied to the Lineages
method of their creation. The Riven, for example,
are created when their bodies are torn apart by spirits, and their Bestowments most often manifest as
some ability to interact with or manipulate the spirit
world. Similarly, a new Lineage whose members are
cremated before being resurrected from the ashes
might be have the ability to generate flame, or to
manipulate it or might be resistant to fire once the
generative ritual renews them.
Other Lineages Bestowments seem more closely tied to
their purpose for being created than the actual method by
which they were made. Galateids, as a manifestation of
their demiurges desire for a perfect companion, most often
have an innate beauty that makes their social interactions
more effective, easing their interaction with their creator
(and everyone else). In the same manner, a new Lineage
spawned out of its creators desire for justice might have
the innate ability to tell truth from lies, or (if the creator
was attempting to create an instrument of vengeance), a
supernatural afnity for tracking prey.
Other Bestowments, however, seem more randomly
granted. Nothing in the Wretcheds generative ritual should
inherently bestow supernatural strength upon them, and
yet most Frankensteins exhibit this ability. Similarly, new
Lineages might inherently have the ability to move very
swiftly, to change shape either subtly or to an extreme, to
reproduce through asexual budding rather than through
the generative ritual or to shift their consciousnesses out
of their bodies at will.
AVOIDING REINVENTING THE WHEEL
Disfigurements
Similar to Bestowments, a Lineages disgurements may

relate to one of several aspects of the line itself. Some of
the traditional Lineages disgurements are a manifestation
of the method used to create them. The crude limits of
Victor Frankensteins Victorian science spawned both the
metallic bolts and plates of his creations Lineage, and its
patchwork appearance, and the Rivens disgurements reect
their sundered beginnings. In the same manner, a new line
whose Progenitor was created in a pique of religious fervor
might manifest outward signs of signicance to that belief
system: angelic wings for Christian mythos or Kalis extra
arms and jagged teeth for a Hindu demiurge, for example.
Likewise, one created wholly or in part from synthetic pieces
might reect an obviously articial appearance when its
disgurements become apparent.
Other traditional Lineages disgurements are directly related to their humours or associated elements. The unyielding
earth of the Tammuzs melancholic natures is reected in both
the enhanced stamina of their Bestowment and their stony
appearance. In a new Lineage, this might manifest as a skyhumoured Promethean who becomes partially transparent
when his disgurements appear, or a volcanic-humoured
line might appear pitted like pumice.
Perhaps most intriguingly, the Galateids disgurement
seems to be an ironic counterpoint to their intended place in
the universe. Rather than awless beauty, their disgurement
offers a peek at their greatest fears: that they are but cheap
imitations of human beauty, constructed playthings with
no inherent value or worth. This antithesis might also be
applied to disgurements for new Lineages. The previously
mentioned religious line might manifest a smell of brimstone
and a vague air of demonic menace, or a benevolent and
mercy-based line appear as savage predators.
Regardless of the type of disgurement, new Lineage creators are cautioned to ensure that the physical manifestation
of the lines Promethean nature is exactly that: a defect. As
tempting as disgurements such as the Centimanis extra
limbs might be, the disgurements should not be back-handed
benets. Extra hands, for example, should be a hindrance.
They should not be useable for attacks, defense or accomplishing tasks. Characters should not gain game benets from
their disgurements, unless the nature of their Bestowments
is that the disgurements are both inhumanly disturbing
and somehow utilitarian. In this case, an extra pair of limbs
might serve as both disgurement and Bestowment.
Avoiding Reinventing
the Wheel
While many Storytellers and players may enjoy the challenge of creating new Promethean Lineages from scratch, its
not necessary to come up with completely new mechanics
in order to create a new Lineage. Enough variety exists
within the basic Lineages to allow a multitude of hybrid
creations to come into play, one of which likely suits the

needs of any given situation. By combining elements of
existing Prometheans and adapting aspects of two or more
Lineages, Storytellers and players can customize their own
individual Lineages with a minimum of effort.
Several main essential characteristics can be said to typify
each of the standard Lineages. Each has a unique disgurement and Bestowment. Each has aspects of the generative act
and creation process that are distinctive to their line. Each is
associated with a different humour and element, and because
of these, certain personality traits, abilities and aspects (such
as Torment and Disquiet) are most common for their kind. By
mixing and matching these characteristics, an almost limitless
number of unique Lineages can be created.
In game play, for example, Bud may never encounter
another of the Wretched (or anyone who has witnessed the
Frankenstein generative act rst hand). His companionship with Caleb (and the fact that they both seem to be
pieced together from human body parts) might lead Bud
to attempt to create his own ritual based on what he was
able to coax out of a reluctant Caleb about the Ulgan rite.
Bud knows he is not capable of sending the body into the
Twilight (in fact, hes not entirely certain that it exists)
as Caleb says the Riven do when creating offspring, so
Bud modies the process. His rst several attempts fail.
Without the spirits presence, there is no spark to the
rite, and although he uses Calebs ectoplasm to imbue
the corpse, Buds left with nothing but a pile of rotting
human esh at the end of his vigil. Fortunately for Bud,
the act is also sufciently far from any true generative
ritual does not spawn Pandorans, either. (See p.26 for
more information on failed generative acts.)
Eventually, after reading up on the Frankenstein legend,
Bud breaks into a power transformer station and zaps the
corpse with high-voltage electricity. To his surprise, the body
begins to split apart, inky blackness lling the gaps between
each chunk. In time, he will discover that his offspring is
not wholly of the Wretched or of the Riven. She has the
Ulgan disgurement, but lacks their Bestowment. Instead,
she possesses Unholy Strength, and her nature and Torment
(see p. 182 of Promethean: The Created) are akin to those
of her creator.
The Storyteller for Buds player uses the rules as written for
each aspect of the particular aspects of Buds new creation,
minimizing the amount of work required for this new creature.
The Storyteller may rule the new being a hybrid incapable
of creating more of her own kind, and thus cursed to never
attain her Magnum Opus. Or, perhaps preferably, (especially
if the hybrid is going to be a players character) he may name
her as simply a deviant version of the Wretched. In this case,
the new Created shares her makers challenge, for replicating
this ad lib generative ritual will surely be more difcult than
a standard ritual. (See p. 27 for additional generative ritual
modiers in regards to Lineage deviations.)
29
Modern Demiurges
These examples of potential modern demiurges can be

incorporated as-is into a chronicle, or modied to suit a
Storytellers needs. As well, they may serve as inspiration for
Storytellers and players to create other modern demiurges
for their game.
Father Mazda
Promethean Demiurge
Quote: All of my children are unique and special. I love

them all equally.
Background: Some people cant leave well enough alone.
Father Mazda is one of them. Where most of the Created see
the generative act as a painful but necessary step along their
pilgrimage, Mazda has become obsessed with it. After successfully creating his rst offspring by utilizing the traditional
Osiran generative ritual, Mazda began to wonder how far he
could deviate from the ritual and still create a Promethean,
rather than a Pandoran. Mazdas experiments over the decades
have created Mockeries as often as not, but when his experiments have been successful, he has not only brought into being
numerous Osirans but also a number of individuals who do not
share the Osiran disgurements, Bestowments or demeanor.
Whether they are Osiran or not is a matter of debate, but he
thinks of them all as my children.
While Father Mazda has developed an extensive repertoire
of Transmutations over the decades, he has learned only one
Pandoran ability: Mantle of Lordship. With this, he maintains a benevolent but rm control over any non-Sublimati
Pandorans created by his generative experiments. Mazda
loves all of his children, even those whom others would
consider failures, and he would prefer to treat them all with
the same paternal affection. Pandorans, however, do not
return the sentiment, so he relies upon Mantle of Lordship
to minimize the damage they inict. The Transmutation,
however, does not conjure any affection from the creatures
for their master, and the area around Mazdas Demesne is
haunted thickly by escaped Pandoran offspring intent on
feasting on their creator and his other children.
Description: Round as a wine keg, Father Mazda rumbles
when he speaks, as if the words must echo around a bit inside of him before emerging. He is prone to wearing loose
drawstring trousers and blousy shirts that hang nearly to his
knees, not a difcult task with his squat stature. Barely ve
feet tall, he shufes along in rough sandals when he chooses
to move, although he prefers to remain seated whenever
possible. Father Mazdas only adornment is a pair of goldrimmed spectacles. Their round frames gleam in bright
contrast to the rest of his dull accoutrements, and he often
removes them to clean them on the hem of his shirt before
replacing them upon his hawkish nose. Father Mazdas
missing body part is not visible during casual interactions,
and it is commonly believed that he is missing the classic
Osiran organ.
30
When his disgurements show, his skin grows taut across

his esh, and all moisture seems to leave him. His lips crack
with every word, and akes of dust fall from his mouth when
he speaks. His eyes are bloodshot, and when he blinks, his
eyelids seem to scrape dryly across the orbs.
Storytelling Hints: In his own way, Father Mazda is as
obsessed and eccentric as any human demiurge ever has been.
Whether his rituals bring forth Pandoran or Promethean
no longer matters to him. He has long since abandoned his
Pilgrimage and now is content to continue experimenting
with variations of the generative act until he runs out of
new ideas, or one of his creations sees t to put an end to
his work.
When he encounters a new Promethean, he does his best
to discover (and remember) every aspect she may know of
the ritual that brought her into being, cross referencing it
with a number of base facts (physical appearance, methods
of empowerment [regaining Pyros], apparent demeanor,
Athanor and the like). He is quite matter-of-fact about
gaining this information, and while he keeps no physical
records, he can go on for hours about his favorite topic. In
listening, it becomes obvious that he has been collecting this
information about every Promethean he has encountered
for more than 60 years. He can, at will, bring forth statistics
on any particular aspect of the Created he has encountered.
His particular interests are of any deviations from standard
Lineages, and he takes great efforts to gather any information he can regarding these anomalies.
Although some may be put off by the fact that Father
Mazda has long since abandoned his Pilgrimage for the sake
of his obsession, he does not preach the Hundred-Handed
path or discourage others (including his own offspring) from
pursuing their own Pilgrimage. He merely seeks to be allowed
MODERN DEMIURGES
the freedom to pursue his own studies, which he considers
more important overall than his own redemption.
Lineage: Osiran
Renement: Centimani
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 3, Resolve 3
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 2, Composure 3
Mental Skills: Academics 2, Crafts (Taxidermy) 2, Investigation
3, Occult (Promethean Generative Rituals) 4, Science 1
Physical Skills: Athletics 1, Brawl 2, Stealth 1, Survival 2
Social Skills: Empathy (Offspring) 2, Intimidation 2, Persuasion
2, Socialize 1, Streetwise 1, Subterfuge 2
Merits: Allies (Offspring) 3, Eidetic Memory, Language (Latin,
Spanish), Lair (Security 2, Size 3)
Willpower: 6
Humanity: 5
Virtue: Fortitude
Vice: Greed
Initiative: 5
Defense: 2
Speed: 9
Health: 8
Azoth: 2
Bestowment: Revivication
Transmutations: Alchemicus Forging the Masters Tools (),
Identication (); Mesmerism Fixed Stare (), Firebringer (),
Suggestion (), Atavistic Instincts (); Pandoran Mantle
of Lordship (); Vulcanus Sense Flux (), Sense Pyros
(), Share Pyros ()
Pyros/per Turn: 11/2
Story Hooks
An Osiran member of the throng seeks out Mazda, his
yet-unmet creator, and discovers he has more family than
he bargained for. Among his siblings are non-Osirans and
those whose Lineage he does not recognize, as well as an
Osiran Centimanus who challenges the characters views
on the Pilgrimage, encouraging him to instead follow in
their fathers footsteps.
Research in an arcane text reveals references to a
common Promethean ancestor: a creature that spawned
each of the five Lineages. Although this seems to
fly in the face of what each of the Created has been
taught about his heritage, the Created may decide
to trace the reference to Mazdas Death Valley lair,
where they encounter Prometheans of the traditional
Lineages and some they have never heard of, all who
claim Father Mazda as their creator.
Background: Most Redeemed remember little (if anything) of their Saturnine Night. Having nally achieved
their long-sought-after prize, even those who once were part
of a throng often leave their Promethean existence forgotten behind as they move into their newly won Humanity.
Not all are that fortunate, however. Some are cursed to
remember it all.
Sarah not only remembers her past in excruciating detail,
it haunts her. She saw her Redemption as the rst day of a
new life and abandoned all ties to her old one, but was never
able to forget the decades shed spent on her Pilgrimage. Her
Promethean memories plagued her existence as a human,
despite her attempts to bury them beneath layer upon layer
of human normalcy.
Sarah apparently wasnt the only one who wasnt able to
forget. At rst she thought she was going crazy. She kept
catching glimpses of familiar faces out of the corner of her
eye; faces shed left behind with her former life. Phone calls
with silence on the other end only added to her paranoia.
She could feel . . . something. Something was watching her.
Something familiar.
Shed tried to explain it to Paul, her handsome new
husband, but hed just patted her hand reassuringly and
suggested she see her doctor. Maybe, he offered, their
thus-fruitless attempts to start a family had started to take
a toll on her nerves. But, when she found her husbands
body, already cold, but laid out restfully in unmarred silent
slumber and surrounded by candles and rose petals, Sarah
knew her fears had been justied. Her past had caught up
with her at last.
Numbly, she went through the motions of the same generative ritual that had spawned her husbands murderer. Later,
when shed come to her senses, she would wonder why the
Sarah Lyons-Moore
Redeemed Creator
Quote: Its all right. I know you dont remember. Let me

tell you about us.
31

ritual had worked, how it could possibly have succeeded.
But that night, there was only instinct and loss and hatred
and fear, driving her to an act that never should have been
attempted, let alone accomplished.
When it did, Sarah found herself faced with a new challenge: how to keep her new creation safe from his jealous
siblings predation.
Description: A few weeks ago, Sarah was the perfect,
young, suburban, upscale wife. From her high-heeled mules
to her manicure and makeup, every aspect of her appearance was carefully chosen to stand out among her peers.
Now, however, shes more concerned with blending into
a crowd. Shes abandoned her designer clothes in favor of
durable jeans and sneakers, and her SUV has been swapped
for a non-descript four-door sedan, the better to lose any
would-be trackers. Her once-perfect skin is now showing
signs of exhaustion: dark circles have developed beneath
her eyes, and she no longer has time or energy to spare for
hiding them with concealer. The paranoid mannerisms and
postures that were second nature as a Promethean are nding
a new home with human Sarah, as she tries desperately to
educate Paul on his new state of existence while avoiding
her abandoned Promethean offspring.
Storytelling Hints: Few who meet Sarah would ever believe
that she had once been shunned by all who encountered her. She
has spent every moment of the last ve years doing everything
within her power to cultivate an air of normalcy around herself,
and for the most part, her efforts have been successful. From the
split-level three-bedroom ranch in the suburbs to her gas-guzzling
SUV, Sarahs faade was perfectly woven.
Now, however, things are beginning to fall apart. Having ed their home, she and Paul are quickly exhausting
their liquid assets as they try to stay one step ahead of their
common enemy: her child and his murderer. Shed hoped,
against hope, that the person shed brought back to life would
be her beloved husband, and when he wasnt, shed done
her best to teach, coax and mentor him into being Paul.
Despite her best efforts, however, its becoming clear that
the man who regards her each day through her husbands
eyes is no longer the man he once was.
Sarah is immune to Pauls Disquiet, although whether
that immunity extends to other Prometheans remains to be
seen. She remembers her former life as Promethean enough
to recognize subtle telltale signs of other Created, although
she can no longer sense their Azothic Radiance.

Mental Skills: Academics 1, Computer 1, Crafts (Cooking) 1,
Occult (Promethean) 2
Physical Skills: Athletics 1, Drive 1, Stealth 2, Survival 2,
Weaponry (Improvised) 2
Social Skills: Empathy 2, Expression 1, Intimidation 1, Persuasion
2, Socialize 3, Subterfuge 3
32
Merits: Danger Sense, Quick Healer, Resources 3, Striking

Looks 4 (from her Redeemed Athanor)
Willpower: 8
Morality: 6
Virtue: Prudence
Vice: Envy
Initiative: 7
Defense: 3
Speed: 10
Health: 8
Athanor: Unicorn
Story Hooks
One of the throng is attacked by Paul, who is obviously intent on performing a lacuna. Mid-battle, he ees,
as if called away by some unheard voice. Should the throng
follow him, they are led to the temporary lair he shares with
Sarah, who will do anything to defend her husband from
harm. Unfortunately, perhaps because Sarah is Redeemed,
rather than wholly human or Promethean, the ritual that
created Paul did not bestow him with the ability to regain
Pyros in traditional ways. Instead, he must scavenge like a
Pandoran for the fuel to feed his divine furnace. Will the
throng sympathize with the starving Promethean and his
wife-keeper? Will they turn on him and put him out of his
misery? Or will they simply walk away and leave him to
his fate?
While traveling, the throng senses an unfamiliar Azothic Radiance. If they trace it to its source, they may be
surprised to nd Paul accompanied by a human woman
who seems to be unaffected by Disquiet. If they attempt to
discover the secret to her immunity, she seeks to befriend
them, offering whatever money, shelter or assistance she
has available. Unbeknownst to the throng, however, she is
really just hoping to put an additional layer of cannon fodder between her beloved and the creature that has already
killed him once and seeks to nish the job.
Impossibilities
It is commonly held that no supernatural creature, save
for one of the Created, can wield the Divine Fire necessary
to create a Promethean. For each Created, the ability to do
so goes against his inherent supernatural grain and violates
his deepest instincts.
While the vampiric creation process, or Embrace, brings
awareness to a dead human body, the newly spawned undead is not alive and has no chance of becoming human
once more. While a Galateids sharing of sanguine humour
may appear similar to a vampiric Embrace, the results are
completely different creatures. And, while a vampire could
theoretically replicate the generative ritual to attempt to
create a Promethean, the Embrace is so inherently ingrained
in the Kindreds nature that attempts to spawn through
IMPOSSIBILITIES
other means would seem inherently wrong, effectively
sabotaging the spark of creative re required to bring the
process to fruition.
Werewolves, as a whole, inherently resist the idea of attempting to meld a dead body with a living spirit, even
if that spirit is created from Pyros rather than a former human soul. As half-spirit creatures themselves, werewolves
nd the process of making one of the Created is too close
to imprisonment or possession to view the process with the
dynamic re of invention and creation that is necessary for
the process to succeed.
Of all of the major supernatural races in the World of
Darkness, mages would seem the closest to being able to
actually create a Promethean. They are still human, after
all, for all that they have supernatural powers as well. It is
this same ability, however, that stops them from being able
to do so. Mages constantly walk the tightrope between
normalcy and the supernatural, with the temptation of
relying upon their magic to aid with any challenging issue
always overhead. The process of generating one of the Created is a taxing one, both the preparation and the act itself.
Were it simple, or the outcome assured, the world would
be populated with far more Prometheans than it is. And,
the harder the task, the greater the temptation for a mage
to rely not on human creativity and ingenuity, but to lean
back upon the supernatural to complete it. Thus, while a
mage might eschew magic for the generative act should he
comprehend that it was necessary, he inevitably reaches for
magic rather than grasping for that human spark of blinding
inspiration that allows the generative act. In short, by virtue
of not having other supernatural abilities to draw upon, a
human is uniquely qualied to achieve the spark of divine
wisdom (or madness) that allows him to wield the Divine
Fire and become a demiurge.
Doing the Impossible
A Storyteller may, however, need for the impossible to

happen, and might wish to create circumstances where
a vampire, mage or werewolf might be able to create a
Promethean. Certainly, motivations to attempt such
efforts are easily understandable for most supernatural
creatures. It only relies to the Storyteller to implement
the how.
For mages, the search for knowledge is the most likely
motivation for creating a Promethean. Perhaps a member
of the players throng has been captured by an obsessed
mage who has become focused on obtaining the secret
behind creating more of these strange, arcane creatures.
The Storyteller may rule that in time the mage, being
human, may be sufficiently driven to become a demiurge
of a new line of Prometheans, setting aside his magic and
tapping into his human potential. In time, he may even
be able to do so through supernatural means, finding
a way to access the Divine Fire through spell-work, if
he possesses sufficiently powerful magic in appropriate

areas of influence.
While several factions of vampires delve into the mysteries
of the occult as deeply as any mage, the undead also may
possess another motivation for learning how to create one
of the Created. If a vampire learns that the Created may
become human, the vampire may yearn to achieve the same
goal herself. Upon learning that a Promethean must undergo
the generative ritual and make another of his kind before
attaining Humanity, the vampire may come to believe that
the same process can work for her. Virtually immortal, she
may dedicate decades, even centuries, to occult research
and experimentation, eventually creating her own generative ritual that, should it suit the Storytellers needs, may
duplicate one of the existing Lineages if successful, or may
create another altogether, either a unique Lineage or some
type of half-live hybrid that is neither wholly Promethean
nor vampire.
Werewolves are unlikely to nd motivation to create a
Promethean. Their attention is almost universally focused
on protecting their territory and keeping the spirits that
threaten it in line. Of all the Created, only the Riven (or
those who possess the Ephemeral Flesh Bestowment) are
capable of interacting with the spirit world, and the damage
done to the spirit world by their Wasteland is great enough
to ensure that most werewolves would rather destroy than
create a Promethean. Even if werewolves were to nd reason to attempt such works, they are also least likely to nd
the means to do so. They are not human, like mages, and
thus lack humanitys seemingly unique ability to tap into
the Divine Fire and channel its power. Werewolves own
supernatural power is more akin to that of spirits than that
of the Divine Spark. Should a Storyteller feel it necessary to
grant a shapeshifter the ability to bring a Promethean into
being, a sufciently powerful manifestation of the Divine
Fire (the appearance of an Arch-qashmal, perhaps, or an
extremely potent Firestorm) might awaken a corresponding
spirit in the spirit wilds. This spirit of the Divine Fire might
then be inuenced to act on the werewolves behalf and take
part in the generative ritual. This spirit would, of course,
need sufcient reason to do so, owing no inherent alliance
to the werewolves. Seeking out such a creature might easily
provide an entire story arc as the shapeshifters (and other
spirits) attempt to determine the new spirits nature, goals
and intentions.
Any of these situations should be handled with great
care. The introduction of any new Lineage is a serious and
phenomenally rare happening. Only ve Lineages have,
historically, prospered, and while it is certainly possible that
other Lineages have either died out or remained obscure
enough to stay below the radar, they would still be an extreme rarity. Introducing the idea of supernatural demiurges
also has other ramications, not just on the Promethean
paradigm, but on that of the demiurge as well.
33
When I Was a Child,

I Spake as a Child . . .
Perhaps the single greatest stumbling block to a supernatural creature creating a Promethean is the fact that
accessing the Divine Fire is an act of human desperation.
The same driving need that, in a human, might allow him
to reach beyond his normal capacity and touch the Divine
Fire, inevitably drives a supernatural creature to access its
own supernatural abilities, be they magic spells, vampiric
Disciplines or Gifts of the spirits. Only by truly setting aside
its reliance on these extraordinary abilities does any supernatural creature has even the slightest hope of accessing
the Divine Fire, and even then, the creatures chances are
at best, no greater than that of the average human that
is to say, astronomically slim.
Once this has been accomplished, however, it is not easily undone. Any supernatural creature who has sufciently
abandoned her inherent reliance upon non-human abilities
to successfully wield the Divine Fire nds it is no simple
matter to pick them up again.
In game terms, a supernatural being who somehow manages to create a Promethean suffers a 5 modier on all dice
pools for activating supernatural powers after the being accomplishes this feat. This affects Disciplines, Gifts, rites and
spells. It isnt that the character doesnt remember that she
has the powers, or even how they worked, its just that some
vital connection is now missing. An intelligent demiurge
might even realize what has happened in connecting
with the Divine Fire, such a quintessentially human-driven
force, the demiurge have lost her ability to connect with
the source of her own powers.
This handicap isnt permanent, however. Vampires generally recover the fastest, as they must feed on the blood of the
living to survive (and thus their supernatural status cements
itself quickly). Werewolves are a close second, especially if
the werewolf in question belongs to a pack (which raises
the question of what the pack was doing while the demiurge
was trying to create life from dead matter). Shapeshifting
and hunting under the moon normally brings the werewolf
back into alignment with little difculty.
Mages, however, have more trouble. They are human.
Their bodies are unaltered by their state, only their souls
have been changed. Realigning those Awakened souls to
channel the Divine Fire runs the risk of severing the connection to whichever of the Supernal Realms gives the
mage her power. The Storyteller can simulate this risk with
the following system: Once a full week has passed following the creation of the Promethean, presuming the mage
devotes at least 40 hours during that week to magical study
and practice, the player rolls Resolve + Gnosis. If this roll
succeeds, the mages powers return as her souls connection
xes itself (this might also have the effect of causing the
mage to doubt her role in the creation of the Promethean,
possibly forgetting it entirely). If the roll fails, the 5 dice
34
modier continues for another week, and the player can

attempt to re-forge the connection again at the end of that
week. This time, though, the Resolve + Gnosis roll suffers a
1 die modier. This continues until the mage either regains
her powers or the player is reduced to a chance die. If that
roll fails, the mage has lost her powers, and can never again
work magic (though she remains a Sleepwalker rather than
a Sleeper). If the roll is a dramatic failure, the mage goes
back to Sleep, losing all connection to the Supernal.
Dirty Liars
Didnt we say from the beginning that supernatural creatures cant create Prometheans?
Well, we did say that, yes. Weve also said
to do what works for your games. Were by no
means suggesting that every vampire, werewolf
and mage out there go and create Prometheans
as a monthly hobby. Were merely stating that
the Divine Fire might find methods of expression
other than humanity. If youre running a crossover
game and exploring themes of humanity and how
supernatural a person can become before the
human in him fades entirely, the notion of creating a Promethean might be an interesting way to
express that. As always, the philosophy is Options
are better than limitations.
One-Shot Wonder
Vampires, werewolves and mages, while accustomed to

possessing supernatural powers, are also accustomed to the
idea that a magical ability, once performed, is almost always
able to be performed again. The simple act of having successfully created a Promethean, however, is enough to change,
if not assuage, the desperate drive that made creating the
Promethean possible in the rst place. Having succeeded
once, a demiurge now knows that such a thing is possible,
and by virtue of that knowledge, the demiurge is no longer
capable of the same depths of need which allowed him to
reach through the boundaries between this plane of existence and that of the Divine, and touch the Divine Fire.
The demiurges hunger and need, which can be seen as an
alchemical manifestation of the Divine Fires own Flux-side,
has been replaced with hope (alchemically the equivalent of
Elpis), and as such, the alchemical formula has been forever
changed in a slight, and yet irreversible manner. For humanity, whose only explanation for the creation act is likely that
they have witnessed a miracle, the inability to replicate
this act is expected, if disappointing. For a supernatural
creature who has become accustomed to the miraculous
happening on a nightly basis, however, this inability may
MODERN DEMIURGES
not be so easily accepted. A supernatural demiurge may
become completely xated upon attempting to replicate the
once-successful act, forming the basis for a derangement.
He may well spend the rest of his existence in the hopeless
pursuit, setting aside not only all other studies and efforts,
but in time, even his own safety and survival needs as the
same all-consuming desperation that once allowed him to
touch the Divine now devours him wholly.
Mircea, Son of Augustin
Quote: Nothing is impossible. I am proof of that. There is

a way, and I will nd it.
Background: Almost 200 years ago, inspired by ancient
texts that alluded to the possibility of overcoming the inherent limitations of vampiric existence, Augustin, Mirceas
father, began the studies that would eventually spawn a
being not wholly vampire or mortal. Augustins studies and
experiments consumed him, leading him rst into and then
away from vampiric societies dedicated to the study of the
deepest arcane secrets. Discontented with the ineffectuality
of their attempts to transcend the limitations of vampiric
existence, Augustin turned to more visceral research. His
experiments grew more and more intense (and bloody),
and as time passed, he was abandoned by all but his most
loyal of Retainers as his obsession drove him further from
the ideals of humanity.
Mirceas rst memory is of the smell of stale blood and rose
oil and of waking to nd Augustins undead visage over him.
Augustin explained, to the best of his ability, the process that
had brought Mircea into being, and then about Augustins own
vampiric nature. Knowing nothing else, Mircea accepted his
status as Augustins childe. Augustin, in his few nights with
his creation, taught him what he could of life as he knew
it. Mircea has a very basic idea of what existence is like for a
vampire, both the parts that apply to his own life and some
that do not. Augustin taught Mircea to feed, and for the rst
years of his life, he subsisted entirely upon blood. Although he
can eat as a mortal, he still prefers a liquid diet. He has since
learned that the consumption of blood is not normal for a
Promethean, and practices his feeding very covertly.
Shortly after Mirceas creation, Augustin began growing
visibly weaker with each passing dawn, until one evening he
simply did not awaken at all. It has now been more than a
decade. Augustins few remaining Retainers have long since
disappeared, leaving Mircea alone in his fathers palatial
home, with only Augustins torpid body for company.
Description: Mircea has his fathers looks. From translucently pale skin to the pronounced jut of his incisors, few
could look at Mircea and think anything but vampire. His
eyes are jet black, with no iris or white apparent, and his lips
and nails have the faintly blue tone of a recently dead corpse.
When his disgurements are not apparent, however, he is a
strikingly handsome man with dark hair, pale skin and blue
eyes so dark as to appear almost black at the iris.
For someone who spends the vast majority of his time

alone, Mircea takes consummate care with his appearance. His clothing, predominantly black slacks and white
shirts, is always immaculately pressed, and even after the
longest research sessions, he never appears disheveled. He
is tall and slim to the point of gauntness: his fathers son
in every way.
Storytelling Hints: Mircea feels himself to be, at best, a
half-successful experiment. He knows his father sought the
secret that would allow a vampire to overcome all boundaries
and transcend the vampiric state, and that Augustin had
hoped Mircea would be the key to unlocking that mystery.
Mircea, however, is neither human nor vampire. Nor, as he
discovered upon meeting other Prometheans, does he seem
to fall neatly into any of the categories of Created that he
(or anyone else hes encountered) has ever heard of. He
covets others sense of belonging, feeling that he himself
is neither wholly any one thing nor another. As well, he
feels guilty for his fathers ailment, assuming (correctly)
that his creation was tied somehow to his fathers weakness
and resulting coma.
Mircea, as his father before him, is a driven individual. His
goal is twofold. First, he seeks to restore his fathers health,
and thus regain the chance to prove himself to Augustin
as something other than a failed experiment. And, to that
end, his second goal is to succeed where his father failed:
to become human. Through contact with other Created,
Mircea has learned of the Pilgrimage and more specically,
the importance of the generative rite to those who would
seek to attain Humanity. Augustin believed that the ritual
that created Mircea might have been the key to breeching the boundaries of vampiric existence, and Mircea sees
similarities with the Created generative rituals. His own
35

experiments with creating others of his kind, however, have
been disastrous, leading only to the creation of Pandorans,
leading him to believe that perhaps he is destined to fail at
this endeavor as well.
Lineage: None
Renement: Mercurius
Mental Skills: Academics 2, Investigation 2, Medicine 1, Occult
(Vampires) 2, Science (Alchemy) 3
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 3, Larceny 1, Stealth (Nocturnal) 2, Survival 1, Weaponry 2
Social Skills: Empathy 1, Expression 1, Intimidation 2, Persuasion
2, Socialize 1, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 3
Merits: Fast Reexes 2, Lair (Size 2, Security 2), Striking
Looks 2
Willpower: 6
Humanity: 4
Virtue: Faith
Vice: Envy
Initiative: 8
Defense: 3
Speed: 10
Health: 8
Azoth: 3
Bestowment: Blood Conversion. This allows Mircea to consume
blood and convert it directly to Pyros. For every point of
living blood he consumes (this blood must come from a living
human being; a human holds one point of blood per Health
point, and draining it inicts lethal damage), he can reexively
convert it (at a rate of one point per turn) to a point of Pyros.
Mircea can store a number of consumed blood points equal to
twice his Azoth level at any given time, meaning that he can ll
his Pyros pool and hold blood in reserve for later conversion.
Transmutations: Alchemicus Identication (), Fortication
(), Transformation (), Persistent Change (), Spark of Life
(); Vulcanus Sense Pyros ()
Humour: Mirceas Humour is vitae. Although similar to the
Galateids sanguine humor, the vital Humour is directly connected
to the undead nature of the Lineages demiurge. His Humour
manifests as an all-consuming hunger, often for blood, but also for
whatever Mirceas current focus is on. He is quiet and soft spoken,
manipulative and relentlessly cunning. Mircea must sleep in soil (at
least one cubic foot) from the area in which he was created in order
to regain Pyros when sleeping. He does not regain a point of Pyros
upon the dawning of a new day as other Prometheans do.
Wasteland: Should he stay in an area too long, his unnatural
hunger saps all living things of their strength. Flora and fauna
36
waste away as if their vitality has been consumed when subject

to Mirceas Wasteland effect.
Disquiet: Humans around Mircea grow increasingly paranoid,
distrustful and manipulative. At advanced stages, they believe
him to be at the root of whatever ill befalls them, and use lies,
deceit and subterfuge to sabotage the Created.
Torment: Mirceas Torment echoes this sentiment, resulting in
near-suicidal levels of self-doubt, introspection and self-hatred.
When Tormented, he nds a way to blame himself for the ills
of the world around him, blaming all mishaps on his own awed
nature or inept manipulations.
Story Hooks
A throng of Prometheans nds Mirceas home, an
apparently empty mansion. While it appears abandoned,
the utilities still work. (Augustin made standing arrangements for them to continue functioning even if he slipped
into torpor.) The characters might also note that plant
and animal life is rare on the grounds, but they dont sense
an Azothic Radiance. This is because Mircea has learned
esoteric Transmutations based on the vampiric powers of
invisibility that allow him to mask his Radiance. He intends
to become to Prometheans what vampires are to mortals,
now that he has a group of victims.
The characters, who might be vampires or Prometheans,
meet a strange, savage monster that seems neither undead
nor Created. It nds sunlight painful, but does not burn. It
feeds on blood, but also seems to carry Pyros (and Flux). It
has little capacity for thought, but can speak in three- and
four-word sentences, and occasionally refers to Father
Mircea. Is this creature the rst of a new Lineage? Or is it,
instead, the Mockery of the Mircea line?
Piker
Walker Between Worlds
Quote: We need to leave. Theyre coming.

Background: Pikers existence began in a whirlwind of
pain as he was torn asunder by the same spirits that had
rent his werewolf creator to bits just moments before. Piker
awoke in the world of spirits, surrounded by carnage, and
within moments of waking, was being hunted again. He
escaped to what he would eventually learn most individuals
considered the real world.
All of what Piker knows about his background is contained within the pages of a small journal, which he found
in a backpack that he assumes belonged to her. The writing begins sanely enough, if such can be said of any diary
whose writer claims to be a werewolf. It chronicles almost
a year, beginning with her pack moving into a previously
unclaimed territory outside of town, the same area where
Piker found himself after escaping the spirits. As the journal
progresses, his maker describes her packs need to protect
the area against those who would claim it for their own, and
details various threats, both spirit and material, they dealt
MODERN DEMIURGES
with. As the year passed, however, the entries grew increasingly incoherent. Through them, Piker learned how the
werewolf pack rst befriended, and then was turned upon, by
Ulgan, a person whom the pack members originally believed
shared their goals of protecting the sacred path into the
spirit world found at the heart of their territory. His maker,
the only survivor of the pre-emptive attack the pack made
upon the newly discovered traitor, plotted for pages about
using Ulgans own powers against him. Over the course of
pages of barely readable text, she detailed a ritual that Piker
believes is the one that created him. Those, however, were
the last entries, and like much of the book, they only raise
questions. Piker has spent the last year looking for answers
to those questions.
Description: From his mismatched clothing to his cutwith-a-weed-eater hairstyle, Piker takes little care with his
appearance. His unkempt look, however, is more a product of
careful cultivation than neglect. Easily mistaken for a common wino, Piker uses societys apathy towards the unkempt
as a form of protection. He keeps his strange disgurements
well hidden in layers of discarded coats, hats, gloves and the
like, relying on bulk, rather than supernatural artice, to
protect them from discovery.
When Pikers disgurements show, he appears as a savage, a hairy brute of a man. His body hair grows coarse and
heavy, and the lower half of his face juts forward in a crude
approximation of a lupine muzzle, revealing sharp, yellowed
canines instead of human teeth. His eyes turn a sickly yellow
color, and he gives off an odor of blood and musk.
Storytelling Hints: Piker is gruff, expecting hostility
when approached. Once his trust is gained, however, he is
more than willing to exchange knowledge, skills or simply
companionship for a time. He is very interested in sharing
information with those who have had dealings with the
spirit world, seeing every piece of data gained as another
piece of armor to protect himself. Because of his makers
diary, however, it is difcult for those of the Ulgan Lineage
to earn his trust, so he has learned most of what he knows
of the spirit world through personal experience.
Virtue: Fortitude
Vice: Wrath
Initiative: 5
Defense: 3
Speed: 13
Health: 9
Azoth: 4
Bestowment: Rage. Piker can y into a berserk fury by spending
a point of Pyros. While in this state, he is incapable of discerning
friend from foe and attacks whatever moving target is closest.
He receives a +2 dice bonus to all attacks, however. He remains
in this state until no opponents are left in sight, at which point
he can attempt to bring himself out of the frenzy (this requires
a successful Resolve + Composure roll).
Transmutations: Metamorphosis Natural Weaponry (),
Redundant Organ (), Shape of the Barghest (), Homunculus
(), Chimera (); Sensorium Bloodhounds Nose (),
Sensitive Ears (), Nightsight (), Ephemeral Gaze ()
Humour: Piker bears a ckle and inconstant Humour: moonlight. He is prone to mood swings, even while not under the
effects of Torment, and is capricious, with vacillating loyalties.
Piker regains Pyros each night at moonrise (rather than dawn),
whether he can see the moon or not. During the three nights
directly around the full moon, he gains an additional Pyros at
moonrise. Any night (or day, but only once per 24-hour period)
when he sleeps beneath a visible moon, he regains an additional
point. Treat this as sleeping amidst the Lineages key element,
per pp. 9394 of Promethean: The Created.
Wasteland: His Wasteland effect causes animals of all kind (including
humans) to suffer from symptoms similar to that of oxygen deprivation. At rst, the effects can be almost euphoric, resulting in illogical,
Lineage: None
Renement: Cuprum
Mental Skills: Investigation 2, Occult (Spirits) 3
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 3, Stealth (Low Prole) 3,
Survival (Spirit Realm) 3
Social Skills: Animal Ken 1, Empathy 1, Intimidation 2, Persuasion 2, Subterfuge 3
Merits: Brawling Dodge, Danger Sense, Direction Sense, Elpis
2, Fleet of Foot 3
Willpower: 6
Humanity: 7
37
almost drunken behavior. At later stages, however, coherent thought

becomes impossible. Similarly, plant life in Pikers area also suffers,
as if the carbon dioxide necessary for its photosynthesis is reduced,
or eventually absent altogether.
Disquiet: Pikers Disquiet causes those he has extended contact
with to become suspicious and paranoid. Acquaintances become
conicted, well-intended acts are interpreted as serving ulterior
motives and those affected by Disquiet quickly become prone
to ts of angry violence or depressive melancholy.
Torment: Torment only exacerbates the effects of Pikers weird
Humour, often whirling him through insanely chaotic emotional
storms. On the other hand, when the storm of Torment subsides,
Pikers shifting viewpoints can often give him added insight into
situations, providing the opportunity for understanding things
quickly and intuitively.
Story Hooks
A small mountain town, highly religious and almost cut off
from the outside world, suffers a rash of spirit possessions. The
characters arrive just in time to get blamed for these events,
but might hear than an exorcist has managed to remove the
demons from these unfortunate people. The exorcist is Piker,
and his methods are unpleasant, to say the least, based on putting
the victim in so much pain that the spirit ees the shell. If Piker
learns that a group of strangers is in town, he might not recognize
that Disquiet is at work and, just as the townsfolk, consider the
strangers responsible. He might also lead angry spirits right to
them, in an attempt to foist them off on someone else (especially
if an Ulgan is present).
Piker discovers a locus, a place where the spirit worlds
and esh worlds meet. Werewolves can step between worlds
at such places, and Piker feels a strong urge to do so, but
he cant quite make it work. He plans to lure a pack of
werewolves here and observe them, trying to gure out
how they do it. The characters here might be the pack that
he tries to entice or a throng of Prometheans (or pack of
werewolves) who happen to be in the area when these
newcomers arrive.
The Page of Cups
Quote: What may I bring you?

Background: The Pages creator just got tired of waiting
for Destiny. At least thats how she explains it. She was a
mage named Amalthea, or at least that is how other mages
refer to her. Amalthea knew the threads of Destiny well.
She read those threads with the Tarot. It didnt matter what
deck she explained to the Page, during the brief time
that they were friends, that all of the New Age talk about
charging a deck and infusing the cards with a question
was nonsense. The cards knew, and they spoke. It was up
to people like Amalthea to interpret.
When Amalthea saw that a brown-haired young person
(couldve been male or female) was to come into her life
38
and become the fulllment of everything that shed wanted,

she rst thought she was meant to bear a child. She learned
sometime thereafter that she could not have children, and this
revelation, aside from the grief that it might have caused her
anyway, seemed to her to be Destinys way of mocking her. She
searched for other interpretations, but nothing seemed to t.
Finally, almost a year after the reading that started her obsession, she decided she was through waiting. She would make
her own Page of Cups (for that the was card that had signied
the person she was meant to meet). She gathered parts from
various young corpses, raiding graveyards and mortuaries, using
her magic to cover her crimes. She delved into occult secrets so
obscene that she could not share them with any of her magical
order. She stitched the body together, focusing her attentions
entirely on the threads, and little by little she stopped using
magic. She gave herself over to obsession, and when the body
was complete, when the last little stitch fastened the mop of
chestnut hair to the moldering scalp, she shufed her deck,
drew a card and, hands trembling, set it atop the patchwork
bodys forehead.
The body opened its eyes. But the card on her forehead
wasnt the Page of Cups. It was the Devil.
Amalthea has tried to interpret this turn of events, but
has not been successful. Its only been a month since the
Page came to life, and Amalthea still cant seem to use her
magic properly. She gave the Page over to a local cabal of
mages as a servant and left the area, trying to gure out
what went wrong.
The Page, meanwhile, knows that something troubles
Amalthea, but doesnt have a good sense of what it is. The Page
reasons that Amalthea wouldnt leave her with people she didnt
trust, and works to serve the cabal as best she can. She is almost
completely oblivious to their growing Disquiet.
Description: The Page of Cups is a girl of about 15. She
has short, chestnut-brown hair and bright blue eyes and
usually wears a thoughtful or interested expression. She
makes eye contact with whomever she speaks to and grows
agitated if she cant. She brushes her teeth compulsively;
Amalthea never taught her about the difference between
food and organic material that isnt normally food, and
this little discussion with her new masters made her feel
ashamed and self-conscious about her breath.
When her disgurements show, the Pages body appears
much like a Frankensteins. Her body is made of disparate
pieces held together by ne, black thread. Her eyes are different colors (rather, different shades of blue), and her hair
sits loosely on her head, as though her scalp might fall off
like a bad toupee at any moment.
Storytelling Hints: The Page of Cups is a disaster waiting
to happen. Her Wasteland, Disquiet and Torment effects
are so subtle that the cabal under which she is serving will
probably be dead before the mages realize what has happened. The Page is a generally genial being, but inherited
some of her creators hubris. She submits to being a servant
MODERN DEMIURGES
now because she doesnt have any context of service. If she
ever realizes that being a menial servant might be considered
demeaning, she might leave or might conspire to change
her fate, as Amalthea did.
The best thing for the Page would probably be to get away
from mages and join a throng with some of her own kind.
The subtlety and pervasiveness of magic has infected her,
and she has trouble acting decisively and declaratively.
Lineage: None
Renement: Stannum
Mental Skills: Academics 2, Crafts 2, Investigation 1, Occult 1, Politics 1
Physical Skills: Athletics (Lifting) 2, Stealth (Lurking) 2
Social Skills: Empathy 1, Expression 1, Persuasion 2, Socialize
(Polite Service) 3, Subterfuge 4
Merits: Eidetic Memory, Elpis 2, Residual Memory (Brawl,
Medicine, Streetwise) 3
Willpower: 6
Humanity: 7
Virtue: Temperance
Vice: Wrath
Initiative: 6
Defense: 2
Speed: 9
Health: 7
Azoth: 1
Bestowment: Unappable. The Page gets 9 again on all Composure rolls, and can (in the future) increase her Composure
over normal human limits with experience points.
Transmutations: Corporeum Autonomic Control (); Disquietism

Scapegoat (), Soothe Disquiet ()
Humour: The Pages Humour is very similar to the Osiran
phlegmatic temperament. She rarely becomes visibly
emotional and is unfailingly polite. Still waters run deep,
however. She never forgets a slight (she doesnt forget
much of anything, really), and her perception of a person
is heavily weight toward what she feels that person has
done wrong, rather than the aggregate of how the person
has treated her. Its very easy to fall from her good graces,
and almost impossible to get back in. Its also almost impossible for someone to tell whether or not hes in the Pages
good graces.
Wasteland: Galateid Wasteland. The loss of names is emphasized. The effects of the Pages Wasteland are almost
entirely non-physical. Scents seem off, and air becomes stale
faster, but most people dont feel inconvenienced until they
start losing the ability to make connections in their minds
between present and past or possibility and fact.
Disquiet: Frankenstein Disquiet. People suspect the Page,
blame her for things she didnt do and generally mistreat her.
The buildup is much more subtle than with the Wretched,
though; people are more likely to talk about her behind
her back or speak to her sarcastically than actually accuse
her of anything.
Torment: The Pages Torment leads her to exact revenge
on anyone who has wronged her, but she retains full use
of her faculties. Traps, complicated betrayal schemes and
emotional abuse are all acceptable (even preferable) expressions of her Torment.
Story Hooks
Several people around the city die in freak accidents.
These people are acquaintances of the cabal that the Page
is serving (she hasnt hurt the cabal itself, yet, because she
still has to live with them) who have wronged the Page in
some way. The problem is that these people were mages,
and killing them has thrown off the threads of Destiny
in the area. This might have cataclysmic consequences,
so much that a qashmal might get the characters involve
in righting the skeins of Fate and making sure that the
Page learns her place.
The characters meet Amalthea in a bar somewhere
in the middle of nowhere as she drinks her troubles away.
Sensing the characters strange nature, she tells them her
story in a drunken confession, including the methods
she used to animate the Page. Do the characters track
the Page down and try to help her? Do they try to help
Amalthea reclaim her power or try to force her to
show them how she created a Promethean?
39
Clones
No aspect of modern science has been as directly impacted
by the Divine Fire as the science of human cloning. While
traditional scientists have been thwarted in their efforts to
bring a cloned human into existence, those who have, though
intention, fate or sheer luck, crossed the streams of science
and Promethean alchemy have accomplished wonders that
would earn them Nobel Prizes, should they ever come fully
to light. No gain comes without sacrice, however. The
achievement of human cloning inevitably takes its toll, not
only on the Promethean whose Azoth fuels the process but
on the scientist who engineers the miracle as well.
Clone Makers
Few facilities exist with the technology and funding

necessary to do more than dabble in human genetic clone
research. Of those, fewer still are willing (and able) to hide
their work sufciently deep to thwart federal and international government watchdogs that enforce the near-global
restrictions upon human cloning. Sufciently moneyed
individuals or organizations might either serve as patrons
for genetic scientists who are willing to experiment in the
eld, or perform the research themselves. Individuals such
as M. J. Wolthrop pursue their experiments through private
laboratory facilities that use more legitimate research as a
front for the main efforts of their activities, and rely upon
their nances and social standing to hold them exempt from
the in-depth scrutiny that other individuals or organizations
might fall under.
Government agencies rely on similar camouage tactics,
burying clone research deeply beneath layer upon layer of
bureaucratic red tape. Most facilities of this sort are military
related and rely upon loopholes within the political hierarchy
to tuck clandestine facilities away from inspection.
Although even more rare, a third possibility exists.
While billionaires and bureaucrats may rely upon their
power to camouflage their activities, some individuals are
able to remain below the radar of investigators simply by
virtue of being beneath their notice. These individuals
are most often lone researchers with makeshift facilities
cobbled together in private homes, abandoned facilities
or remote hideaways. Some, such as Fredrich Hagen,
do not have a public persona at all, having intentionally or accidentally lost their legitimate claims on the
rest of society. They work away their hermitage, either
striving to remain unknown, or hoping for that one big
discovery that will allow them to return to the scientific
spotlight and disprove all those who criticized their work
in the past.
Fredrich Hagen Recluse
Quote: What are you doing here? No one comes here.

Go away.
40
Background: In the late 1970s, Fredrich Hagen was the

darling of the scientic community. His theories on the human genome were light years ahead of research at the time. In
the early 80s, he became the rst scientist to ever successfully
clone a mouse, a feat long thought impossible because of the
diminutive size of rodent cells. His success spurred him to aspire
further than some scientists believed possible: the cloning of
a human being. He gathered funding from a great number of
private sources, predominantly the rich and elderly who were
anxious to be the rst cloned human being.
Unfortunately, fame is not without its drawbacks. A less
successful (and less scrupulous) colleague became disheartened at Hagens success and set out to teach the scientic
communitys golden boy a lesson in humility. He began
covertly spreading rumors, rst within the community and
then by anonymous post to the press, that Hagens mouse
experiments were nothing more than a hoax. Loving nothing so much as a scandal, the media soon were challenging
Hagen to prove his claims, a challenge Hagen was more
than willing to rise to. His duplicate experiments, however,
were plagued with bad luck (predominantly at the hand of
his jealous colleague). Equipment malfunctioned, environmental systems failed, early attempts became mysteriously
contaminated. The press had a eld day heralding each
failure as proof positive of Hagens claims being false.
The nal straw, however came when the media were tipped
off to a journal supposedly kept by Hagen, detailing the elaborate
hoax he had woven. While there was no proof that the diary
was actually Hagens, the entries were sufciently detailed to
have only been written by him (or someone working alongside
him.) Hagen was red and blackballed from the scientic community. Distraught, he ed to a remote location where he used
some of the extensive private funding he had received earlier
to set up a clandestine lab and continue his experiments on his
own. A handful of years ago, he discovered the rantings of Dr.
Jakob Rathben, an individual who claimed to have successfully
cloned a human being but feared the public would turn against
him for what he purported were strange, but vital, requirements for the success of the process. Having spent the last 20
years unsuccessfully pursuing the same goal, the lunatics claims
sparked Hagens interest, and desperation lead him to strike up
an acquaintanceship with Rathben, eventually garnering an
invitation to his private laboratory.
There, Hagen was amazed to nd that Rathbens claims seemed
legitimate. At once elated that the secret to human cloning had
apparently been unlocked, and devastated that he was not the one
to accomplish it, Hagens already shaky grasp on sanity slipped.
When Rathben would not reveal the secret to the Vitriolic
Compound he claimed was the key to his experiments, Hagen
killed the rival scientist and ravaged his laboratory for his notes
and his remaining supply of the elusive compound before burning
the building to the ground.
Description: Hagen shaves every hair from his body,
certain that germs can cling to any stray strand hes missed.
CLONES
The combination of hairlessness, harsh cleansers and lack
of sunlight have bleached Hagen into a ghost of a man,
almost as pale as the pristine clean suits he wears during
the 14 (or more) hours he spends in his laboratory every day.
When not in the lab, his attention to cleanliness is just as
obsessive. He changes clothes several times a day, sleeps on
a plastic-wrapped mattress to avoid becoming tainted with
dust mites and eats only foods that have been irradiated and
hermetically sealed, then microwaved to ascertain that any
bacteria have been destroyed before consumption.
Storytelling Hints: Hagen resents intrusion on his work,
and does everything he can to hide the fact that his laboratory even exists. He interacts with the world predominantly
through the Internet, shopping online and using one of a
dozen pseudonyms to keep tabs on recent developments
within the scientic community. Recently, however, he has
begun spending time in public places, observing crowds at
public gatherings and the like. Hes seeking out any telltale
signs of the existence of the Created that Rathbens notes
referenced as the source of his Vitriolic Compound.

Mental Skills: Academics 4, Computer 2, Investigation 3,
Medicine 4, Science (Genetics) 5
Physical Skills: Larceny 1, Stealth 2
Social Skills: Empathy 1, Intimidation (Crazy Enough To Do It) 2,
Persuasion 2, Subterfuge (Paranoid) 4
Merits: Fame 1, Meditative Mind, Resources 4
Willpower: 4
Morality: 5
Virtue: Hope
Vice: Pride
Initiative: 4
Defense: 3
Speed: 10
Health: 7
Story Hooks
Hagen has used up all of the Vitriolic Compound he
stole from Rathbens laboratory in unsuccessful cloning attempts. Hagen starts hunting Prometheans, perhaps cloning
himself a Pandoran-like bloodhound that can sense Azoth.
Pandorans begin to follow him like sharks following a ship,
hoping for an easy meal.
The throng encounters rst one, and then several Fredrich Hagens, all seemingly operating out of the same small
laboratory building. Investigation reveals that the original
doctor is himself being held prisoner by the creatures he
created, who are using his esh and blood along with the
now-dwindling supply of Vitriolic Compound to fortify what
is quickly becoming an entire army of Hagen-clones.
Dr. Robert Hughes

Humanitarian
Quote: It is sacrice for the greater good. The end justies

the means.
Background: Dr. Robert Hughes believed his interactive
companions would revolutionize the entertainment industry,
wipe out sexually transmitted diseases and make prostitution a
thing of the past. Hughes designed his life-size and fully functional
simulacrum by integrating cutting-edge interactive software with
a hardware body extrapolated from prosthetic medical technology. Previous prototypes, while beautiful and functional, had a
fundamental aw. Although they were structurally appealing and
procient at the tasks set before them, research showed that they
inevitably disturbed customers more than arousing them. They
were too close to human and yet somehow not close enough.
The more lifelike he made his products, the more they seemed to
repel human customers. This problem plagued Hughes for years,
and had he not supplemented his research grants with falsied
rehabilitatory studies, his work would have died out after the rst
few years and failed experiments. Even so, he had exhausted all
available funding and was ready, after more than a decade, to
throw in the towel. As he was leaving his laboratory after yet
another prototype had proven unsuitable, he turned toward the
almost empty parking lot, and a woman engulfed in violet ame
stepped out of an alley between two buildings of the facilities.
She was easily a foot taller than him, dressed in what appeared to
be elaborately woven wire chain, and hairless from head to toe.
Hughes stepped back, rubbing his eyes. It wouldnt have been
the rst time hed experienced hallucinations after working for
days on end fueled by little more than caffeine, but this time the
apparition didnt disappear as his vision cleared. Instead, the bald
woman gestured to the developer and stepped back into the alley. Hughes followed and found a bedraggled young girl huddled
there, unmoving. The ame-wrapped woman pointed, and in a
41

voice that was more hiss than human, said Here is the key you
seek. When Hughes looked again, she was gone.
Hughes returned to his laboratory with the still-unconscious youth in his arms. Bit by bit, he borrowed parts of
the unknowing girl, melding muscle and metal as he combined them with the advanced prosthetics hed previously
been experimenting with. He was surprised to nd that the
unconscious donor healed so quickly that he was able to
continue removing bits over time without killing her. Eventually, hed taken so much of his donor, a piece at a time,
that his companion was more girl than not. To avoid
infection, he kept the new creation immersed in a saline
tank where her environment could be constantly monitored.
Months later, as Hughes funding was once again in danger of
exhaustion, he ran a desperate experiment. He replaced the
saline with crimson uid taken directly from the comatose
girls veins. To his amazement, his efforts sparked the cloned
creation to life. Mata Hari was born, and unlike her earlier
siblings, none of the test subjects Hughes targeted her toward
were able to resist her charms. Elated, he set out to clone
more of her kind, but found the unfortunate Galateid who
sacriced her Azoth to animate Mata Hari was insufcient
to the task of fueling other prototypes. The Promethean
girl, Azoth and lifes uid siphoned, lapsed deeper into a
delirious coma from which she would never recover. In her
dying ramblings, however, Hughes discovered what he feels
may be the key to his eventual success.
Description: Decades spent bowed over the lab table have
taken their toll on Dr. Hughes, aging him far beyond his 38 years.
His form is heavy from thousands of convenience food meals
consumed out of cafeterias and vending machines, whatever
required him to be away from his work for the shortest time.
His skin is pasty white and hangs accidly from a frame that is
permanently stooped from years of lab work and research. Hughes
peers out at the world through glasses that have not changed in
style since he graduated from college almost 20 years ago (though
the lenses have grown steadily thicker).
His wardrobe is years out of date and is replaced only when the
fabric wears entirely through, but it matters little as hes never
seen in public without his ever-present white lab coat.
Storytelling Hints: Hughes doesnt fear failure. It has been his
constant companion for the last 20 years. He does, however, fear
losing the ability to keep reaching for success, and over the years
that constant threat has whittled away at his humanity, nudging
him bit by bit over each moral line he once possessed. The man
he was 20 years ago would have never considered sacricing a
human (or humanlike) being for the sake of his experiments.
He now nds himself seeking more of these mysterious beings
so that he may create more Mata Hari clones. Having been
given a taste of success, he hungers for more, and is willing to
do anything to achieve it.
He uses Mata Hari (also known as MARA, see below
for details) to lure unsuspecting Prometheans back to his
laboratory, where he attempts to incapacitate them and
42
use their Azoth to spark further clones to life. Hughes is a

desperate man, not above violence should it be necessary.
He is willing to steal, torture or kill to protect or advance
his work.

Mental Skills: Academics 3, Computers 2, Crafts 2, Investigation 3,
Medicine (Prosthetics) 4, Science (Simulated Humans) 5
Physical Skills: Athletics (Fine Motor Skills) 3, Drive 1, Stealth 1
Social Skills: Empathy 2, Persuasion 2, Socialize 1, Subterfuge 1
Merits: Contacts (Bureaucracy), Meditative Mind, Resources 2,
Retainer (MARA) 5
Willpower: 6
Morality: 4
Virtue: Fortitude
Vice: Pride
Initiative: 5
Defense: 2
Speed: 9
Health: 8
Mata Hari
Marital And Recreational Aide
Quote: You dont have to be alone any more. Im here.

Background: Mata Hari was created from a Muse who had
the misfortune to fall into the clutches of Dr. Robert Hughes.
Her ofcial name is MARA (Marital And Recreational
Aide), but those Created who have encountered her wiles
and lived to tell about it have renamed her after the infamous
spy of the World War I. Originally created as the prototype
CLONES
for a line of advanced and intelligent sexual pleasure toys,
MARA was the crowning success of Dr. Robert Hughes
decades of effort. She exceeded her makers expectations:
her beauty, charm and physical attributes virtually assured
that he could ask any price for her. Unfortunately, he was
unable to duplicate the experiment that created her.
Description: Mata Hari is as beautiful as the Muse from
whom she was cloned. Although she stands a diminutive
ve feet tall, her curvaceous frame is denitely fully developed. Her features are striking enough to garner the notice
of humans and Created alike, and she dresses to take full
advantage of her feminine attributes. Physically, Mata Hari
is stronger than she appears to be, but her true forte is not
physical combat but carefully created social manipulation
programs.
Unlike Retrievers, Mata Hari works alone. She is programmed to manipulate the Created into one-on-one
situations, where her chances of luring her victims back to
Dr. Hughes waiting traps are optimized.
Storytelling Hints: MARAs true power is in her apparent
willingness to befriend a Promethean. Although incapable
of true emotion, she has been trained to replicate human
reactions to various stimuli, giving the appearance of interest, affection, even adoration towards her Created victims.
While her repertoire of interactive topics is fairly limited, she
is attentive and has been trained to encourage and facilitate
others to speak about themselves, the epitome of a good
listener. Unfortunately for the Created, this technique is
often all too effective on Prometheans, who are starved for
companionship and understanding.
MARA travels extensively, checking in with Dr. Hughes
on a regular basis. Wherever she encounters the Azothic
Radiance of a Promethean, she attempts to home in on
her target and manipulate her way into his company. If the
Created are in a group, she does her best to separate them,
knowing that she is most likely to be able to capture one of
them if he is alone. She endears herself to the target, playing
on the fact that she does not suffer from Disquiet as humans
do. When she has ascertained the targets strongest desires,
she drops hints that her friend, Dr. Hughes, may know
more about the topic, be it arcane knowledge, scientic
procedures, philosophy, ancient manuscripts or technological equipment. In most cases, she may be able to convince
the Promethean (with or without his companions) to walk
into Hughes laboratory of his own accord, where Hughes
attempts to incapacitate the Promethean and use him to
fuel more cloned copies of MARA.
At the Storytellers discretion, multiple copies of MARA
may exist in any given location, representing previous successful cloning projects. They may be hunting Prometheans,
serving their original purpose (recreational pleasure toys)
or both.

Mental Skills: Investigation 2
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Stealth 2
Social Skills: Expression 1, Persuasion 3, Socialize 3, Subterfuge 3
Merits: Ambidextrous, Direction Sense, Fast Reexes 2,
Striking Looks 4
Willpower: 3
Virtue: Faith
Vice: Greed
Initiative: 5
Defense: 3
Speed: 12
Health: 7
Transmutations: Sense Pyros ()
Story Hooks
The throng is approached by MARA, who claims to
have escaped her creator. The energy that fuels her is fading,
however, and she is growing weaker by the day. Displaying
surprising levels of what appears to be human emotion, she
begs the throng to help her nd a way to recharge herself
and stave off her death. Are her pleas genuine, or is this
just another trick to bring more Created to her maker?
One of the throng encounters a strange Azothic Radiance, which leads him to a beautiful but bewildered girl.
MARA claims to have no memory of her life before a
few days ago, and is anxious for company and information
about her new condition. Her stolen Azoth feels somewhat
wrong, but with no experience with clones, he may be willing to overlook her differences and befriend the obviously
befuddled new Galateid who uses every bit of her guile and
social programming to work her way into his good graces.
Before long, however, shes obviously trying to drive wedges

43

between him and the rest of the throng. How far will he (and
the rest of the throng) allow her to divide them?
M.J. Wolthrop, Head of

Research and Development,
Special Projects Division
Quote: You sound as if youre very close. Continue with that

and Ill check in with you next week to see how youre progressing. Ive got something Ive got to get back to.
Background: As the daughter of pharmaceutical magnate
Michael Joseph Wolthrop, Mary Jeanette was raised to
the role of a corporate princess. As a child, her interest in
science and the family business was considered endearing,
and her fathers approval encouraged her to pursue it to the
exclusion of all else. By her teen years, however, she had
announced her intentions to make a name for herself in the
family business, much to her mothers consternation and her
fathers delight. Post-college, her interest in reproductive
cloning spawned the Special Projects Division of Wolthrop
Industries. Her position as Head of Research and Development was a present from her father, but it was also a sound
business move M.J. (as she insists on being called) is
easily one of the most brilliant genetic scientists of her day.
Originally, the Special Projects Division was created for the
purpose of developing lines of genetically identical laboratory
animals for scientic experimentation, a procedure that has
been a triumphant success. WI-brand lab rats are currently
available to those who can afford them, and M.J.s patent on
the procedure earned her a place in the annals of science.
More importantly to M.J., however, it pleased her father,
bringing some light to his current dismal state. Decades of
drinking, smoking and eating to excess have left the elder
Wolthrop in the throes of emphysema, heart disease and
severe liver dysfunction. M.J. regularly scolds her father for
his excesses, but the old man is set in his ways and seems
unlikely to change habits this late in the game, which has
had a much stronger impact on his devoted daughter than
she allows anyone to see.
Publicly, M.J.s current project involves perfecting the
cloning technique she developed for rats and adapting its
application for use with more advanced animals. She has,
however, turned over the day-to-day tinkering with the nearly
complete process to her qualied (and very loyal) team of
researchers and is rarely seen in the main lab. Instead, she
spends the majority of her time working on her own pet
project, one that she is tight-lipped about.
After perfecting the process of reproductive cloning in laboratory rats, M.J. immediately turned her attention to applying the
procedure to other lab specimens. To her delight, she quickly
discovered the procedure worked as well on primates as it did on
rodents, and the enterprising scientist quickly envisioned applications of the process for human specimens as well. She realizes,
however, that such experimentation is currently outlawed, and
the bans are not likely to be repealed in time to do her father
44
any good. Her desperation has led her to hand off the almostcompleted project to her research team, while she pursues her
own private experiments.
Her fathers failing health, and the fact that his system is
not strong enough to undergo the multiple organ transplants
that would be necessary to slow the impact of his years of
excess, has led her to apply her previous research to wholesale
human reproductive cloning, specically focusing on how
to rush the process to create a whole adult body. She has
not yet tackled the issue of how to transfer his consciousness into the new body when she is successful, but failure
is not something she is willing to consider. The possibility
that she may be unable to accomplish her goals before he
succumbs to one of the numerous disorders plaguing him,
however, plagues her constantly, driving her to spend every
waking moment in her private laboratory.
Under the guise of other medical research, she advertised
for individuals to serve as short-term, in-house test subjects.
Unbeknownst to her, Michael Rivers, one of her chosen
applicants, was one of the Nepri. When running cloning
processes upon his tissue samples, she discovered that under
certain circumstances (such as high electrical voltage while
immersed in pure water), the test cells indoctrinated with his
DNA replicated themselves at an astronomical rate. Within
weeks, the embryo she cloned from his sample reached full
maturity. M.J. released the rest of her test subjects, but has
retained the Osiran. At rst, M.J. was a gracious hostess
for Michael River. She plied him with offers of increased
compensation, luxurious quarters to live in and the like. As
the cadavers Disquiet has begun to affect her, however, her
offers are becoming demands and her obsession is growing.
Michael is now her prisoner, relying upon her increasingly
hostile whims for his basic needs as he remains incarcerated
in secure quarters deep beneath her private laboratory.
Description: M. J. resembles her father, tall and sturdy
with a slightly horsy face. Shes a striking woman, but not
beautiful in the classic sense. She dresses impeccably, if
somewhat severely, and carries herself with unyieldingly
good posture. Her copper hair is worn in a short bob at
chin level, and she is never seen without perfectly applied
cosmetics and elegant, yet understated jewelry. She is as
comfortable in a haute couture gown as her lab coat, and
wields her social inuence just as adeptly as she does her
considerable wit.
Storytelling Hints: M.J. has grown increasingly more
secretive as her Disquiet has increased, and her experiments have become more intense and outlandish. She
is currently working on combining Rivers genetic matter with that of her rapidly degenerating father, hoping
against hope to find a way to combine the two into a
form that will allow her to offer the elder Wolthrop some
respite from his fate. As for Michael, his own condition
is weakening as his tissue, fluids and Azoth are rapidly
being stripped from him for the devoted daughters ex-
CLONES
periments. The only real question seems to be whether
she will be able to bring her father-clone to life before
Rivers essence is entirely depleted.

Mental Skills: Academics 4, Computer 3, Crafts 2, Investigation 3,
Medicine 3, Politics 1, Science (Cloning) 4
Physical Skills: Athletics (Dance) 1, Drive 1, Firearms (Skeet/Trap
Shooting) 1, Stealth 1, Weaponry 2
Social Skills: Empathy 1, Expression 1, Intimidation (Cold Stare) 2,
Persuasion 2, Socialize 3, Subterfuge 1
Merits: Allies (High Society) 3, Contacts (Legal), Fame 1, Resources 4, Status (Corporate Executive) 4
Willpower: 7
Morality: 6
Virtue: Justice
Vice: Greed
Initiative: 5
Defense: 2
Speed: 9
Health: 7
Story Hooks
M.J. manages to take something from Rivers that she
didnt know existed his Bestowment. When her father
dies, she nds that within 24 hours he returns to life . . . still
sick, old and miserable. The shock of dying and returning
destroys his sanity, and he is unable to comprehend what is
happening or why. M.J., desperate, gives him an overdose
of sleeping medication to try and end his suffering, but he
returns again, worse than ever. Rivers, meanwhile, has lapsed
into a coma from which he will not awaken. M.J. must nd

someone more knowledgeable than her to resolve this and
give her father peace.
Days after the highly publicized funeral of Michael Joseph
Wolthrop, head of the Wolthrop pharmaceutical empire,
the throng comes across a ght between a Pandoran and
an individual who looks identical to the late-millionaire.
This clone, who believes himself to be Wolthrop suffering
from amnesia, escaped from M.J.s lab while she sat at her
real fathers deathbed, and is now being hunted by the
distraught scientist, who must destroy all evidence of her
illicit experimentations before they come to light.
Crossing the
Furthest Boundaries
Biologically speaking, a human is an animal. That a

human differs only 2% to 5%, genetically speaking, from a
chimpanzee may not come as a shock to most people, but
that a humans genetic makeup is 90% similar to that of a
mouse might be more of a surprise. Because the similarities
in mammalian genetics vastly outweigh the differences,
genetic manipulation that breaches this relatively small
genetic gap is not unthinkable, at least from the standpoint
of scientic difculty. Morality, on the other hand, may
be a far greater barrier for most scientists.
Since the early 1900s, doctors have experimented
with using animal organs as transplants for humans,
amid varying levels of public outcry against the procedure. Such experiments inevitably fail, as the human
physiology rejects the organ as a foreign body, a fact
that protesters point to as the proof that such experiments should not be carried out. Undaunted, however,
scientists have begun experimenting with manipulating
the DNA in the host-animal to replicate that of the
receiving human, so that the human body treats the
new organ as if it belonged there.
While these experiments may well herald in a new era
of xenotransplants and save countless human lives, should
the procedure be perfected, the road leading to that success
is an arduous and messy one, with implications far beyond
what the mundane scientist is likely to realize. For some
scientists, however, this is only one more doorway into
a realm of alchemical scientic possibilities.
The nomadic and Disquiet-ridden nature of the
Created sometimes leads them to volunteer to serve
as scientific test subjects. Some volunteer for the tests
in an attempt to learn more about their own natures,
and how they are (or arent) similar to humans. Others
simply see the bed, board and a stipend offer as too
good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when their
difficult in attaining employment of other kinds is taken
into consideration.
45
Hybridization
Scientically, the leap between xenotransplants and combining human and animal DNA to create cloned hybrids is
a very small one. Once the moral barriers to blending homo
sapiens DNA with that of other animals are circumnavigated,
the process itself is not signicantly more difcult than the
cloning or cross-species DNA manipulation processes are
separately. After the two species genomes have been merged,
entire beings can be grown using the same procedures as for
strictly human clones. The results can vary widely.
Physically, some of these hybrid clones are as human or
animal in appearance as their genetic donors. Others possess
a predominantly human or animal form, but with deviations. Some are overly hirsute or entirely hairless. Others
may have a bipedal form but animalistic facial features, or
even more disturbingly, human features on an otherwise
animal form. Many are genetically modied to enhance
certain aspects of each donors form. Greater than human
strength, speed or dexterity is not uncommon, and some
may even be capable of ight or breathing water, depending on the nature of their animal half. A hybrid clone
whose animal donor possesses a venomous bite may also
manifest dangerous fangs or even be capable of creating
poison. One whose animal parent is nocturnal may nd
that it is likewise well suited to the night, with slit pupils
and dark coloration.
Other hybrid clones display even more disturbing physical
characteristics incorporating not only aspects of their genetic
donors but also those of the unfortunate Promethean whose
stolen Azoth gave the clones life. They may manifest subtle
lines of demarcation that mimic the seams of the Wretched, or
be missing a signicant body part as the Osirans. While it may
not prove problematic when the clone exhibits inhuman Galateid beauty, and the Tammuzs dusty skin may be only a minor
inconvenience, few Ulgan-fueled clones survive. Their genetic
bastards tend to fall into pieces within moments of attaining
sentience, a situation that may be its own mixed blessing for
both creator and Created.
Regardless of how disturbing the physical visages of hybrid
clones may be, the less apparent aspects can put them to
shame. Whether their human or animalistic aspect is more
prevalent, hybrid clones are prone to dysphoria as the two
halves of their nature war for dominance. Their reactions
are often lightning quick and just as deadly. Few possess
much in the way of intellect, but just as their non-hybrid
counterparts, hybrid clones are capable of following orders
and can be brutally tenacious in their pursuit of whatever
goal has been ingrained by their creators.
AP15 Hybrid Clone
Quote: <low threatening hum>

Background: AP15 was the unexpected product of a
well-intentioned experiment designed to develop a human
antibody that would negate allergies to bee and wasp venoms.
46
When the government researchers on the Mellifera Project

spliced a few chromosomes of carpenter bee genetic material
in with one of their test-studies base cells, the researchers
had no expectations that their creation would be viable, let
alone that he would attain human levels of sentience. The
previous 14 experiments, which were clinically identical
to the nal and successful one, resulted in non-viable cell
groupings that divided only a few times before dying. Why
the 15th experiment survived, even thrived, when the others failed, is a secret that the Mellifera researchers would
pay dearly to unlock.
Description: Supercially, AP15 is at least vaguely human in size and shape. Roughly ve feet tall, AP15 stands
bipedally, and has only two forelimbs, both of which end
in two-ngered hand-claws with opposable thumbs. Its
lower limbs are roughly humanoid, also ending in two-toed
claw-feet. It is covered all over with a fuzzy layer of short
hair that stands stify out from its body, slightly blurring its
silhouette, but despite this, AP15 is still mistakable from a
distance for a human being.
Up close, however, it is not. Its face is obviously non-human, with long mandible jaws suspended from each side of
its head. When irritated or hungry, a tubular proboscis juts
out from the lower half of AP15s face, but can be folded up
under its chin when not in use. AP15s two major eyes are
placed roughly where human eyes are, giving it excellent
peripheral vision, but they are faceted akin to other insects.
Between them, three smaller simple eyes are grouped, allowing AP15 to see in the ultraviolet range as well as the
normal human spectrum.
AP15 also possesses a stinger, although it remains retracted
at most times, in its lower abdomen and an internal venom
sac with a proportionately large supply of bee venom. While
most bee-stings kill only those humans who are allergic to
the venom, the sheer quantity AP15 is capable of delivering grants it a much higher lethality factor, despite having
a similar chemical makeup.
Storytelling Hints: AP15 shouldnt exist. And, ofcially,
it doesnt. Only the researchers at the Mellifera Project have
seen it, and until they are able to duplicate their experiment, they arent about to unleash their ndings on the
world. Not everyone on the Mellifera team, however, is as
enthusiastic about this bizarre creation as they are putting
forth. Despite strong warnings, some of the research staff
believe AP15 needs to be destroyed, a sentiment that may
lead to moving the project into a higher security area and
the naysayers being dealt with. No one, however, has
consulted AP15 about its feelings on the matter. Most who
know of its existence believe it to have insectoid intellect
at best, and take no care with their discussions around it.
It may not be overly intelligent, but it possesses enough
cunning to realize that something is going on. While the
humans squabble about security clearances, AP15 waits for
its chance to escape.
CLONES
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Insects) 2, Intimidation 4

Merits: Ambidextrous, Danger Sense, Direction Sense, Fast
Reexes 1, Toxin Resistance
Willpower: 5
Initiative: 7
Defense: 3
Speed: 11
Health: 8

Mental Skills: none
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl (Stinger) 4, Stealth 2,
Survival 2,
Story Hooks
The throng receives a plea for help from one of their
creators who is being hunted by a covert band of government
operatives. In his investigation of the experiment, he inadvertently contaminated the 15th subject with his own Azoth,
and the researchers have nally tracked him down. The throng
arrives too late to prevent him from being brought to the lab
for questioning, but are able to track his Azothic Radiance
to the same laboratory where AP15 is being held.
One of the throng is put under surveillance by a group
of black vans. The occupants attempt to take her captive
for questioning, calling her by a name she may or may
not recognize as belonging to the body from which she was
created. It seems that after her death and the beginnings
of the generative act, but before she became aware as a
Promethean, her cellular matter somehow was obtained for
use in Melliferas cloning project. Now they want to know
why her tissue resulted in AP15 and why the supposedly
dead donor is up and walking around.
47
CHAPTER TWO
FLESH AND METAL

John Ash: Yeah, Ive seen a few things. Not as much as some. Enough. I was in Tucson last year. Passing through.
Staying out of trouble. You know?
Skin Girl: Yeah.
John Ash: Didnt stay out of trouble enough, it turned out. Found this derelict factory. Thought Id hide out there. Lay
my head down in the middle of a forest of big old machines that just looked like the Rapture had come down and taken
the people in the middle of working. Got careless. Some of the machines started moving. I woke up, and there were
these two things looking at me, and I knew what they were. You know what happens when you try and make another one
like us and it goes wrong?
Skin Girl: You get a cancer. With legs. Teeth.
John Ash: Pretty much. Now these things, they were like that, all legs and claws and teeth, only these things made of
metal and glass and they were dripping oil and there wasnt no esh to them. They were just metal. But they ew
onto me and tried to eat me alive, and I couldnt deal with them both. No one near to call for.
Skin Girl: So?
John Ash: So I was ghting them off and not doing all that well, and suddenly I got that feeling, that tingling that tells
you theres one of us, like you most probably got just before you found me, only it was different, like there were lots
of us there, and each one kind of weak. Kind of small. And then there was something like this blue wave that swept
over those Mockeries. And it covered them up and it just crushed them. And when it was done, the wave sort of came
together into this man-shape standing there in front of me, and it looked like anyone, just like the rest of us. But my
true eyes could see that it was just in the shape of a man, all little pieces of metal and plastic with two glass eyes
in the head, all covered with this wet blue stuff that you could see right through. So I sat there on the factory oor,
and I couldnt say nothing at all, on account of the fact that one of those things had gone torn out half my throat. But
I could feel it, all the hundreds of little res inside. He stared at me with those glass lenses and he just said, We
understand. Nothing else. Just that. And then he turned and went away, and I stayed there on the oor for a while,
and then I went outside looking for a power line.
The cyborg
would not
recognize the
Garden of Eden;
it is not made of
mud and cannot
dream of
returning to dust.
Donna Haraway,
The Cyborg Manifesto
t is the ash of creation, the burning Fiat Lux that begins everything that is. Shiva Nataraja performs the 108 dances that make and destroy the world, and is wreathed in it.
In the void, there is a sudden, soundless ash of it, and the universe is born.
Where the Divine Fire has passed, it leaves mundane re. Perhaps it leaves terrestrial
re, burning ame in its wake, the re that granted early man the ability to eat, to stay warm
the very kindling of civilization. When the Divine Fire passes through the heavens,
it is lightning, terrible white-hot, burning the air so terribly that it thunders in protest.
In the void, the Divine Fire leaves the stuff of stars behind it, burning proto-matter that
science calls plasma.
Though the Createds humours aspect them toward terrestrial elements, the Created are
creatures of re. The res of love, of passion, of madness and inspiration are responsible for
the births of all Prometheans, on some level. This is the Divine Fire at work.
But what else is the Divine Fire capable of? What other wonders?
Some Prometheans whisper among themselves of the Uneshed: creatures similar, in
some ways, to themselves, but tremendously different. Not crafted from esh and bone,
but from empty steel, glass and other things, the Uneshed do not begin their existences as
creatures of semi-living material. Made of that which has never known life, the Uneshed
seek life with all their being.
Nonetheless, it is the Divine Fire that grants true understanding, and a yearning for the
soul. The creators of the Uneshed are no less demiurges than those responsible for Prometheans each demiurge lled with the mad inspiration, passion and desperation that
comes with the Divine Fire. The Divine Fire is the difference between advanced programming that seems to mimic sentience and that true indenable spark of intellect.
The
Unfleshed
This chapter investigates an odd phenomenon: the Divine Fires animation of articial
life. For some, the interplay between hypertech (or even not-so-hypertech) and the Divine
Fire doesnt suit the themes of Promethean: The Created. For others, however, it is the
natural extension of Prometheans themes, just waiting to be explored.
The story of the Uneshed isnt simply one of advanced robotics in the World of Darkness.
It is the story of burning human ingenuity and the desire to create something new and wonderful. It is this act the moment of creation, are with change, daring and the obsession
of a true artist that sparks the mote of the Divine Fire within a demiurge, allowing her
to pass it on. What of the machine that wants to be a man? The mechanism, relegated to
simply belonging to someone, an object and thing to be owned without another thought,
that gains not just the ability to think, but to feel? What happens when the true worth of
humanity is seen through electronic eyes, and something stirs in the breast of a machine,
something that wants nothing more than to share in that worth and wonder?
For those interested in exploring these ideas, we present this chapter. In it, you will nd
ample rules for the creation of these characters. Were not going to provide the science
a good web search or book on modern technology provides that. Instead, well give you
some ideas about the stories that might be told when the Divine Fire smolders in the plastic
and steel chassis that serves as the breast of one of the Uneshed, and how to reect that
within the context of a Promethean: The Created chronicle.
For those uninterested in such things, feel free to relegate these to silly bits of sci- legends
that Prometheans sometimes tell one another. In short, if you arent into this kind of thing,
theres more in this book that should interest you. No harm, no foul.
Hypertech in the World of Darkness
How does hypertech t into the World of Darkness? Hypertech, as we use it in this chapter,
simply means technology that surpasses our current capabilities. This entire section is built on the
assumption that there exists in the World of Darkness a variety of individuals, think tank, research
facilities and manufactories capable of creating technology that is more advanced than the norm.
THE UNFLESHED|THE DEMIURGE
The Demiurge
The Uneshed are not a Lineage they are creatures

apart from Prometheans, related by the Divine Fire as men
might be related by blood. Still, the Divine Fire passes
to the Uneshed in the same way that it imbues the rst
Promethean of a new Lineage: through the madly inspired
hands of a mortal creator.
The demiurge of one of the Uneshed is a rare person. Possessed of tremendous scientic acumen, this creator must not only
apply that knowledge in the creation of an articial life form,

but must do so with the intention of mimicking human life. The
Uneshed demiurge does not channel the Divine Fire simply
by creating a piece of robotic engineering. He must attempt to
rene and recreate the mechanisms of human biology.
Most of those with the knowledge to create one of the
Uneshed apply their efforts toward one of two ends: the
creation of entirely new robot systems, usually meant for
industry, scientic or military purposes, or tiny sub-systems
meant for medical replacement of human organs or limbs.
Not all who create Uneshed set out to do so originally.
Certainly, some sought to recreate the biological engine
that is the human body. But just as many simply sought to
create a piece of advanced equipment for military, industrial
or recreational purposes. The Divine Fire imbues all its demiurges with the burning inspiration to create, and not all
of them even remember the entire process of creation. The
changes wrought by the Divine Fire may surprise even the
robots creator or especially the robots creator.
Some of the Uneshed have spoken of their creators
dreams of beings of terrible ame that came to them and
guided them in the creation process. The qashmallim could
guide such demiurges in some fashion, even if to simply
instill in the creator the idea of using his knowledge to
recreate a human body.
Not all Uneshed are created by a demiurge. Nonetheless,
it is still early enough in the timeline of such technologies
that few subsequent generations of the Uneshed exist.
Similar to Prometheans, the Uneshed must seek out a
suitable vessel for the spark of Divine Fire that they would
pass on. Unlike for the Created, however, nding articial
creations of the complexity necessary to create progeny is
not so simple. In such instances, the Uneshed is usually
required to build the vessels itself.
Creation
The Divine Fire is cruel and unrelenting. No one can

properly say whether those with imagination and drive call
it, or whether it instills such creativity and determination
in those it possesses. It is simply a fact that the demiurge is
driven by a creative passion that becomes mania. His every
waking moment is spent obsessing on how to create a new
form of life. The enigma of creating a piece of machinery
advanced enough to properly mimic human movement and
adaptability that does not collapse under its own complexity
consumes him utterly.
Eventually, the demiurge has enough of thinking. He stops
sketching, doing research, taking notes and talking about
it. He acts. With leaps of logic and unexplainable bursts of
inspiration, he creates. He spends hours days creating
this vessel, working tirelessly. His relationships wither, he
forgets to eat and sleep, his other work goes ignored.
Eventually, though, he is done. It may be days later. It
may well have been the work of a lifetime. Regardless, the
aes: refinement of bronze
The existence of these kinds of facilities and technologies is, of

course, entirely up to the Storyteller and his chronicles needs.
The following, however, are the assumptions under which this
chapter is written.
This technology is not ubiquitous. The technology level
of the World of Darkness is assumed to be that of our world.
Thus, while the World of Darkness may contain strange and
unusual technologies that transcend what we are capable
of currently, that technology has not dramatically affected
the technology level of the world at large. This technology
is special, and rare. This kind of technology is invariably
worth a lot of money, and whoever owns it isnt currently
interested in it being public knowledge.
This technology is secret. More than it being uncommon,
this technology is generally unknown. People dont know
about functional genetics cloning, vats of superdense nanotechnology suspended in support-gels and the other kinds of
hypertech that this chapter and other parts of Promethean
may suggest. This information is kept out of the hands of
the public for one reason or another people have their
secrets, and will often do anything to keep them.
This technology always evokes horror. This is perhaps the
most important aspect. The World of Darkness is a modern horror setting. As such, it is only natural that some of
the stories the World of Darkness may tell has to do with
technology. Future shock is a regular part of our society,
and the ability of one generation to keep up with technological advances of the generation that follows is gradually
diminishing. More and more people are nding themselves
suddenly in unfamiliar worlds with strange technology
doing things they never anticipated. It is hard to keep up
even with the normal rate of technological advancement.
If even mundane technology can create such ill ease, the
hypertech of the World of Darkness is just as useful a tool
as any ancient horror or sanity-rending piece of occultism.
In many ways, hypertech meets the requirements for good
horror: it is the unknown, not easily understood and often
quite unexpected. The precise details of its functioning
and origins are bafing. More than this, however, the very
existence of hypertech hints at a world stranger and more
complex than what normal people assume it to be the
existence of hypertech creates a sense of the known being
strange and unusual, and that anxiety often plays a strong
part in good horror.
51
CHAPTER TWO| FLESH AND METAL
work that has consumed him, the ery drive fueled by the
Divine Fire, comes to completion. In its wake, the demiurge feels lessened. The Divine Fire passes to his creation
(though he rarely understands this), leaving him fearful,
exhausted and cold.
It is almost always with a sense of terror that life begins.
Whether he initializes a program, injects the mass of nanotech into the shell-body or ips a switch, his fear sits like
cold iron in his gullet.
Sometimes, his creation surges to life in a brilliant display
of electricity, light or other Divine Fire-driven manifestation. Other times nothing immediately happens, though
the Divine Fire works changes and transformations on its
new vessel subtly, over time. Whether awareness comes all
at once, or as the gradual increase of sensory input from the
newly made Uneshed, it lives.
The Drive
In the Uneshed, awareness blossoms. From the moment

the Divine Fire sears understanding and the vestiges of
a soul into the mechanical body, the Uneshed are left
with the knowledge that their state is entirely unnished,
a pupa in the beginning stages of its transformation.
52
Though the Uneshed may rightly exult in their sudden

sentience and self-motivation, that joy is tinged with the
hollowness that comes with knowing they are incomplete.
Most of the Uneshed can feel that there is a Great Work
ahead of them.
There are, however, exceptions. Sometimes, the trauma
surrounding the rise of sentience and the infusion with
the Divine Fire are too great. The new mechanical Created seethes with anger, resentment or gives in to despair.
Others simply ignore the Drive that echoes within them,
while others begin their journey, only to be foiled in their
attempts, their desire to be self-motivated and fullled effectively beaten out of them.
In truth, the Uneshed whose only real connection
to humanity is in their demiurge have an easier time of
resisting this call. Promethean existence is very nearly dened
by the search for humanity or the resistance to that search,
but it is entirely feasible for the Uneshed to simply ignore
the desire that burns within them to become human. Some
believe in taking the long view, desiring to understand what
they are now before becoming something else. Others fear the
violence and pain their creators threaten them with, while
others simply nd the task too much to contemplate.
BEGAT BY MACHINE|THE BODY ELECTRIC
The Demiurge
To understand any given example of the Uneshed, it

is necessary to understand the Unesheds demiurge. As
creatures of a new age of Pyros, most Uneshed are created
by humans. The reasons for the Unesheds creation, the environment in which they were created and the circumstances
around which their sentience developed and expressed
itself are important factors these are the infancy of the
Uneshed, and accordingly vital.
The Divine Fire chooses someone with tremendous
intellect, learning and creativity. These are the three keys
of demiurges throughout history, and the demiurges of the
Uneshed are no different. In this era, they are invariably
men and women of science and engineering, often pioneers
in their elds.
The ordeal of holding a spark of the Pyros does terrible
things to the mortal mind and frame, quite often. Most
frequently, the sanity of the demiurge is foremost affected,
at least between the time he is possessed by the Divine Fire
until he nally passes it to the vessel that will become one
of the Uneshed. These times are usually marked by obsessive tendencies and a desire to avoid everything else but
the current project. Relationships fall by the wayside, job
performance may suffer and he even forgets to address such
simple concerns as hygiene, sleep and nutrition.
In the wake of the Pyros, the demiurge is unavoidably
changed. Some become hollow shells of men, feeling that they
have accomplished their magnum opus; how can anything
else hold any meaning or purpose again, when it wont measure up to that one powerful act of creation? Others remain
insane, seeking to recapture the experience, forever lost in
the creative urge, but incapable of truly reliving it. Such men
and women are doomed to lives of frustration, often ending
in suicide or placement in a mental care facility.
Others, however, seem to come to their senses. Once
the Pyros has passed, they take a metaphorical step back
and react in horror at what they have accomplished. The
memories of their frantic, incessant obsession and need to
create this creature, and wonder how anything good can
come from such insanity. The implications of what they
have done created new sentience truly set in, shaking
the foundations of the demiurges world.
Rarely, the demiurge understands what has just happened
and reacts with wonder. He is capable of seeing himself as
blessed, having served as the vessel for something greater
than himself. He understands that he has not created the
Uneshed, but has simply served as the channel for a higher
principle, and he accepts this role. The Uneshed blessed
with such a demiurge usually nd in him a wonderful friend
and ally, someone to teach her the nuances of the humans
she suddenly nds herself surrounded with.
Sadly, though, such relationships do not last, for not
even demiurges are immune to the Disquiet. If anything,
the Uneshed have noted that demiurges seem to be par-
ticularly vulnerable to the Disquiet of their creation. Some

have taken this conclusion one step further and suggest that
the Disquiet of the creation is a reection of the demiurges
own moral failings perhaps Disquiet manifests in mortals
based on the demiurges aws.
Begat by Machine
Uneshed created by others of their kind are terribly rare.

The means by which one of the Uneshed creates progeny
is more involved than the procreation of Prometheans.
The simple gathering of corpses is childs play compared
to the incredible lengths the Uneshed must go to pass on
their spark of the Divine Fire. Those Uneshed created by
demiurge are technically the rst of a new Lineage, with
the ability to pass on their particular expressions of the
Divine Fire.
In many ways, such Uneshed have more in common
with Prometheans than the Uneshed do with most other
Uneshed. The struggle to understand humanity despite
being taught about it by one who only understands it poorly
themselves takes its toll; in many ways, those Uneshed created by demiurge have a stronger start on their Pilgrimage,
for they begin learning about humanity from the moment
they are created.
An Uneshed created by a Progenitor shares its creators
Lineage. These Uneshed possess the same expressions of
Disquiet and Torment, as well as the same Bestowment.
The Body Electric
With the infusion of the Divine Fire, the body of the construct changes. It becomes more human-like in proportion,
mimicking nger, limb and facial structures, though these
changes are more precise in some. Rening the structure, the
Divine Fire doesnt simply add more human features it also
removes many that make the Uneshed distinctly inhuman,
shearing away unnecessary structures and peripherals such
as recharging ports and internal access panels.
The Pyros works changes toward a very specic goal: making the new body into a vessel worthy of the Great Work.
Blocky, inorganic bodies are seared smooth, granting organic
lines, smooth curves and sleekness betting a human body.
Excess limbs are absorbed into the body or atrophy and drop
away entirely (unless they are retained as Bestowments), and
those limbs that remain evolve into human arms and legs,
including ngers and toes developing where none existed
before. Facial features develop on the head, and the body
even produces genitalia.
The gender of one of the Created tends to be fairly
straightforward: a Created possesses the gender of the body
(or bodies) used to create him or her. This is not the case
with the Uneshed, who are rarely constructed with specic genders. At some point during one of the Unesheds
Pilgrimage, it must understand the importance that humans
place on gender, and then choose one for itself.
53

Sometimes, it chooses one in line with some physical
characteristic: a large, bulky android may choose to be
considered male or one with a voice programmed to sound
feminine may choose to identify as female. It is a trait of the
Divine Fire that small, subtle changes usually go to work
immediately, gradually rening the form and voice of the
Uneshed character into something more appropriate to its
chosen gender. The Divine Fire works changes to ensure
that even genitalia manifest as part of this process. Even
those that are designed with a specic gender in mind may
make this choice.
Pandorans
Though the Uneshed are mechanical beings, they are

suffused with the precious Pyros Pandorans hunger for. As a
result, Pandorans gladly attack and eat any of the Uneshed
these horrors can manage to nd they do not care what
vessel the Pyros is found in, only whether or not they can
get at it. When dealing with non-Gremlin Pandorans, the
Uneshed are assumed to have the Unpalatable Aura Merit
when presented with softer targets, Pandorans prefer
to feed on those, rather than risk the strange taste of the
Uneshed.
Character Creation
The creation of an Uneshed character is similar to that

of a Promethean, save for one vital difference: the Uneshed
character is generally the rst of its kind, the Progenitor of
a new Lineage (if the Uneshed manages to perform the
generative act later). Use the character creation steps in
Promethean: The Created, p.8286, with the following
changes.
Step One: Character Concept
The rst step toward truly creating one of the Uneshed

is to determine the mechanical beings original function.
Unlike Prometheans, most of the Uneshed were created
for purposes other than to create new life. Only because of
the infusion of the Divine Fire into a creative and driven
demiurge did the creation come to life and seek humanity
now. This will be important to keep in mind when it comes
time to choose Uneshed features (see Step Five, below).
Step Two: Select Attributes
Though this is the same as Step Two on p. 83 of Promethean: The Created, remember that many machines
are designed for one of two purposes: physical endeavors or
calculations and computing. Thus, many of the Uneshed
have Physical or Mental Attributes as primary or secondary
categories.
Step Three: Select Skills
Again, this selection should be based on the machines

original purpose. A military drone of some sort likely has
programmed capacity for ring weaponry (Firearms), while
54
an industrial robot may have the ability to construct mechanisms or goods (Craft or Science). Most modern Uneshed
also possess dots in Computer. See Step Three, p. 83 of
Promethean: The Created for more details.
Step Four:
Select Skill Specialties
Uneshed are likely to possess Skill Specialties that reect

their original purpose, as above.
Step Five:
Select Unfleshed Features
Similar to Prometheans, Uneshed bear the following

features that set them apart from the rest of the world.
Azoth
Uneshed determine beginning Azoth in the same way
Prometheans do; see p. 84 of Promethean: The Created.
Lineage and Bestowment
Most Uneshed possess no Lineage or, more accurately,
they are the rst of their Lineage.
Uneshed often have some manner of innate benets,
similar to Bestowments possessed by the Created. In many
instances, this is some function of the entitys original
design. Reect these benets by giving the Uneshed a
Bestowment from another Lineage (whether one of the
basic Bestowments given in the Promethean: The Created
rulebook or one of the alternate Bestowments from Strange
Alchemies), or a single two-dot Transmutation for free. This
Bestowment may even draw on Pandoran Transmutations
without risk of degeneration they tend to reect aspects
of the Unesheds original creation, rather than changes
it has chosen.
At the Storytellers option, the initial dots of Transmutations may also be applied toward the power level of this
Bestowment, in case the character concept requires a slightly
more powerful basis for this benet. For example, the Sanguine Victory Pandoran Transmutation might be used to
reect the bodily nature of a mass of nanotech in its natural
form, or the Chimera Metamorphosis Transmutation
might be used for one of the Uneshed crafted of semi-liquid
chromium imbedded with circuitry and held together by a
eld of electrically generated surface tension.
Uneshed created by another of their kind bear the same
Bestowment as their Progenitor.
Disquiet
When creating an Uneshed character, the player should
choose one of the Disquiet symptoms of normal Prometheans,
basing the choice on the ways in which humans react to the
character. All of the Created Prometheans and Uneshed
alike are affected by the ways in which Disquiet manifests
in the mortals around them. A character accustomed to
mortals reacting with fear and hatred will view the world
in a very different way than one that has become used to
humans seeking to enslave him. See Types of Disquiet,
CHARACTER CREATION
Promethean: The Created, p. 179, for more information
on the kinds of Disquiet mentioned below.
Frankenstein Disquiet: To those who share the Wretched Disquiet, the mortals of the world eventually show their nature as
shallow, petty, fearful creatures who destroy what makes them
afraid. Uneshed that suffer from this Disquiet know that it is
simply a matter of time before the humans around them react
with destructive fear, terried of the nature of the Uneshed.
Those humans who actually know the secret of the Uneshed
invariably see them as horric, inhuman monsters that will eventually seek to kill humans, and so must be stopped before they
are given the chance. After all, every one knows that articial
intelligences eventually try to kill their makers.
Galateid Disquiet: The perfection of the Uneshed that
share the Galateid Disquiet has terrible consequences on
humans. Mortals seem to be terribly insecure, and when
faced with the wonders of the Created whether the humans know these creations to be Created or simply sense
the difference mortals invariably react with a strange
self-loathing and failed esteem. Shame in their own insufciencies begins to dominate them, and they try to turn that
guilt outward, casting shallow judgment on the Uneshed
among them.
Osiran Disquiet: In the presence of the Unesheds profound
reasoning abilities or nely-crafted outlook and approach
to existence humans fall back on their lizard brains, resorting to emotional assumptions and poorly thought-out
conclusions. To Uneshed with the Osiran Disquiet, humans
seem to be reasoning creatures on the surface, but in time,
they are all revealed as reactionary, emotional and lacking
in deductive reasoning . . . or at least, the inability to apply
that reason, rather than allowing it to be drowned in their
ght-or-ight reactions.
Tammuz Disquiet: One some level, mortals sense that the
Uneshed that share the Tammuz Disquiet were created to
serve a purpose. As time passes, the urge to force the Created back into that role becomes stronger and stronger. One
person after another has a demand, a request, a problem to
be xed or an expectation to be met, and they react with
resentment and anger when the Uneshed does not obey.
Ulgan Disquiet: Rarely do those Uneshed possessed of
the Riven Disquiet inict awareness of the spirit world on
the mortals around them. Generally, the mechanical nature
of the Unesheds origins imposes an increasing level of
disassociation. Just as the Uneshed rose from a purposeless
and unfullled state, mortals around the Uneshed with this
type of Disquiet devolve into mindless drones, carrying out
their day-to-day routines without any thought to the greater
meaning and purpose of their lives.
Uneshed created by another of their kind suffer the same
Disquiet as their Progenitors.
Torment
Likewise, the Uneshed manifest Torment in ways similar
to those of the Promethean Lineages. When creating an
Uneshed character, the player should choose a Torment

appropriate to the characters outlook. Though one of the
Uneshed may have both a Disquiet and a Torment from
one of the other Lineages, most of the Uneshed seem
to manifest these weaknesses in different permutations.
Thus, while one Uneshed may suffer from the Tammuz
Disquiet and the Frankenstein Torment (so that the world
tries desperately to control the Uneshed, and eventually it
becomes terribly frustrated and plots wicked revenge against
them, probably even using their desires to control it against
them), another may suffer from the Osiris Disquiet and
the Muse Torment (as the humans around the Uneshed
begin acting in increasingly irrational ways, the Uneshed
becomes more and more obsessive about them, enchanted
perhaps by the purity and rawness of their emotion). See p.
182 of Promethean: The Created for more details on the
following expressions of Torment.
Wretched Torment: Revenge colors the purpose of the
Uneshed with this Torment, and revenge becomes the
Unesheds sole purpose for existing. This discordance resonates poorly through the body of the Uneshed, however,
preventing it from quite the level of ne motor control the
Uneshed generally enjoy.
Muse Torment: Foolishness and obsession poison the
Uneshed that share the Torment of the Muses. When an
Uneshed suffers from the power of obsession, something in
the world around the Uneshed catches and utterly holds
its attention, bordering on mania. This obsession slows the
Unesheds cunning, however quick thoughts elude it,
as it is only interested in its obsession.
Nepri Torment: The intellect and reasoning of the Uneshed cursed with Nepri Torment overwhelms it; the
Uneshed abandons all of the emotional capability instilled
by the Divine Fire. The Uneshed becomes a terrible, cold
thing of razors logic, very nearly the epitome of the immoral
intelligent machine. The Uneshed loses some of its reasoning acuity, however, incapable as it is of reckoning and
anticipating emotional responses, including its own.
Golem Torment: Rage and unholy fury overcome the faculties of the Uneshed possessed of the Golem Torment, and
the Uneshed is driven to destruction. The Uneshed in the
grip of this Torment literally becomes a killing, destroying
machine, incapable of any kind of communication. This
sudden explosion seems to drain the Uneshed, however,
leaving it susceptible to the will of others while it attempts
to recover from the outburst.
Riven Torment: Though the Riven are motivated to act as
spirits do, Uneshed in the grip of this Torment begin acting
in strange ways, embracing a simpler purpose and existence.
The Uneshed nds a single goal that relates in some way
to its origins and acts upon it, seeking to fulll the goal, as
Torment causes the higher purposes instilled in the Uneshed
by the Divine Fire to gutter and icker for a while. Thus, an
Uneshed whose purpose was violence or security begins to
55

patrol, seeking out lawbreakers or the enemy and dealing
with them according to the Unesheds original purpose,
while one originally planned for deep-sea exploration seeks
out the nearest body of water to explore.
Uneshed created by another of their kind suffer the same
Torment as their Progenitors.
Wasteland
The power of the Pyros housed in the bodies of the
Uneshed is unkind to organic matter. After a time, the
presence of the mechanical Created withers the living
world around them.
Stage Two
Organic
features of the
landscape seem
to recede,
tak-
ing on an artificial appearance: leaves seem covered with

a waxy finish, soil seems sandy and static fairly crackles
in the air. Metal and plastic take on a strange gleam, as
though they were new and stronger, freshly polished,
and those that come in contact with metal surfaces are
apt to shock themselves. Those with excellent hearing
can occasionally hear a strange, mechanical whine in
the distance, like the sound of a computer monitor left
on in an otherwise quiet room.
Stage Three The landscape favors the unliving over
the organic. Soil is washed away, leaving dead clay and
hard stones in its place, while vegetation either withers away or seems fake. Winds carry the scent of ozone
and the tang of metal in the air, and static builds quite
easily. Ferrous metals in the area end up magnetized,
and delicate electronics short out after a few
hours of use. Radio broadcasts are marked with
a distant whine, just beneath the sounds being
broadcast, and the whole world becomes almost
unbearably artificial.
Stage Four At this point, the Wasteland of
the Unfleshed is terrible and unrelenting. Static
arcs in small motes of electric discharge, causing
a slight glow to play over metal objects, and everyone can hear the slight whine of the inorganic
nature of the Wasteland. Only clay
and stone are left of the natural
earth, and even the water is
strange, somewhat electrified and tasting of ozone.
All electronics end up
destroyed by the slowly
accumulating charge in
the air. For most, it is
only a matter of hours,
but heavy shielding
may prevent the effect
for days.
Step Six:
Select
Refinement
The Unfleshed eventually

nd their way into the practice of
the Renements, suggesting that such
practice is a normal part of the Created
experience, rather than an articial, philosophical pursuit. The Uneshed are capable
of pursuing any Renement, though they may
approach Refinements differently from their
Promethean cousins. See The Greatest of Works,
below for more information on the Uneshed and the
role Renements play in their Pilgrimage.
56
CHARACTER CREATION
Step Seven: Select

Transmutations
Understanding the operation of Transmutations involves

understanding why they are named as they are. The invocation of a Transmutation changes the one who wields it.
The Pyros uses the tools it has to hand the very stuff of
the Promethean or other creatures body to work those
changes.
In the Created, this involves the alteration of sinew, esh
and bone, as well as the shifting of bodily humours to accomplish these ends. For the Uneshed, however, the Pyros
uses the systems already present in the wielder, whether those
systems are electronic, nanotechnologic or steam-powered.
Some ideas for reecting the working of these powers, by
Transmutation category, follow.
Alchemicus
Alchemicus seems to come quite naturally to the Uneshed, who are themselves inanimate objects rendered alive
by the Divine Fire. A quick scan of the item by a positronic
brain or the shifting of eyes into more precise analytical
equipment may accompany the powers that involve analysis
of an object. Likewise, minute rening apparati from small
scouring electrical discharge systems to controlled chemical
reactions are involved in the alteration of objects.
Corporeum
The changes that an Uneshed wielding Corporeum Transmutations make usually involve simple shifting of functions
from one part of the bodily form to another area, augmenting
musculature and joint-servos. Speed-enhancing technology
provides celerity to movement, and the body develops selfrepair routines for regenerative Transmutations.
Deception
For some, the camouaging powers of Deception come
quite easily Uneshed created with adaptable bodies or
the capability to generate powerful holograms nd that the
Divine Fire only magnies these abilities. For most of the
Uneshed, however, the power of the Pyros, rather than
their innate hypertech, enables them to work the blending
powers of these Transmutations.
Disquietism
The Transmutations of Disquietism are focused exclusively on the manipulation and mitigation of Disquiet, an
energy unique to the Created. Thus, none of the Uneshed
are likely to begin their existences with systems designed
to enable use of these Transmutations. The form of the
Uneshed quickly adapts to the changes brought about
by a character that learns these Transmutations, however,
spontaneously generating Disquiet that bafes elds, dispersal systems and even redirection mechanisms based on
mechanized alchemy.
Electrication
Many of the powers of Electrication are easily reproduced
by technology. The conductivity of electromagnetic energy
and the ability to use it are long since mastered by those
with the knowledge to construct the Uneshed. Those who

learn to wield these powers still nd the electricity they use
to damage others powered by Torment, however, making
them quite dangerous even to others of the Uneshed.
Irradiation
One of the Uneshed powered by some manner of nuclear
reactor or otherwise contained reactive principle might
easily develop the Transmutations of the radioactive Created. Where some Uneshed might learn the techniques
of manipulating the ow of electricity within themselves,
so might others harness the power of the split atom within
themselves, unleashing it into the world around them. Some
Uneshed may bear panels on their torsos that slide aside to
reveal the radioactive machinery within, while others may
unleash radioactive force into their surroundings through
gouts of irradiated steam or smoke.
Mesmerism
Some of the technologies of the Uneshed permit a variety of strange inuences over the human mind or emotions
subsonic emotion-control arrays, subliminal interaction
subroutines, pheromone or psychoactive chemical producers and other stranger things. The Uneshed that develop
Mesmerism may develop an entirely new technology enabling
them to use it, or they may simply master the Divine Fire
in such a way that alters the minds of those around them,
as many Prometheans do.
Metamorphosis
The Uneshed become accustomed to the vicissitudes of
their bodily vessels, perhaps even more so than Prometheans
(excepting only the Centimani). Where Prometheans begin
in a form well suited to the nal attainment of Mortality,
the Uneshed have a longer journey before them their
bodies are not esh, after all. Their form must undergo
dramatic alterations to prepare them for the New Dawn.
Thus, it isnt unusual to nd Uneshed that practice these
Transmutations, mastering their bodies to perhaps facilitate
the changes necessary to seize the Elpis. Some Uneshed
were originally created to enable this level of transformation,
built with adaptive internal mechanisms and programming
that allows shifting of the form, growing weapons or shifting
into other forms.
Sensorium
Eyes transform to perceive spectrums of vision not attainable
by a mortal frame. Ears hear sounds beyond human ability, the
very skin of the Uneshed becomes a sensory organ, detecting
things mortals have no way of even suspecting are present.
Higher technology is often used to detect and record aspects of
the world that humans cannot sense for themselves. It should
come as no surprise that many of the Uneshed are capable of
transforming their own senses to detect these things. With the
transformative potential of the supernatural Pyros, the sensory
machinery the Uneshed learn to create within themselves are
capable of detecting things humans have no way of sensing,
even with machinery.
57

Vitality
It is said that the rst machine was the lever, used to
increase the effective strength of the human who used it.
Since that long-ago time, machines have served as a means
of exerting strength the human frame does not naturally
have. The Uneshed understand this concept quite well.
While some of the Uneshed possess some measure of
strength, those with greater-than-human potency possess
these Transmutations. Though the Divine Fire often scours
away superhuman strength when the Uneshed is born
part of the process that will ultimately culminate in
the transformation from steel and plastic to esh and bone
those that desire to retain such power must learn to
reshape power-exerting mechanisms and kinetic-dispersal
systems, all fueled by Pyros, within themselves.
Vulcanus
Machines are regularly built with advanced power systems,
capable of transferring and controlling electricity, heat and
other energies within them. Is it any wonder that some of
the Uneshed develop similar systems to control the Divine
Fire within themselves? Pyrotic shunting systems allow
the Uneshed to move the soul-re of their Pyros from
themselves into objects or their fellow Uneshed, while
Pyros absorption elds allow them to literally squeeze the
Divine Fire from electricity, re or those around them. Some

Uneshed even learn to lace circuitry of Divine Fire into
objects around them, branding them to the sight of Pyros,
or even creating temporarily animated faux-machines under
their control.
Pandoran
Pandoran Transmutations are strange things, warping the
body away from the intended goal of the Azoth: the human
form. As a result, learning these Transformations can be quite
detrimental to the Uneshed seeking the New Dawn. Still,
mechanical manifestations of Pandoran Transmutations are
easily created by the Uneshed, ranging from generating
additional limbs or internal mechanisms (in place of organs)
to the wholesale transforming the shape.
Though some of the body modications that come with
learning Pandoran Transmutations are easily within the realm
of possibility for a mechanical being, learning and using such
changes still causes degeneration for the Uneshed. Though
there is nothing inherently evil about possessing claws or
gaining a couple of extra limbs, it is inhuman. It has nothing to do with the Uneshed becoming more monstrous,
and everything to do with it becoming less human. Most
Uneshed that learn these Transmutations dont necessarily
look like monsters; they simply look more like machines.
Degeneration comes about as a
result of the focus of Pyros turned
toward, creating a form that is
inhuman, rather than human.
Pyros exemplies and evolves
those things it is used for, so when
Pyros is forced to mimic inhuman
traits, it comes at a cost to the
Humanity of the Created.
The alchemical work of rening the raw Divine Fire into the
Azoth, hoping to eventually
transform it into a soul is reected
in the body. As the Uneshed
becomes closer to human, its form
takes on an increasingly human
shape and nature as well. Forcing
the Pyros to transform the body
in ways that deviate from what
is possible in humanity causes
the work of building a soul to
falter slightly as well, causing
degeneration.
Step Eight:
Select Merits
Uneshed characters receive

the same limitations to the purchase of Merits that Prometheans
do. In addition to the new Merits
58
CHARACTER CREATION
available to Created characters
from the Promethean: The Created book, Uneshed also have the
option of purchasing the Device
Merit.
New Merit:
Device ( to )
Prerequisite: Uneshed
Effect: The Device Merit covers any number of built-in devices
and capabilities that one of the
Uneshed may possess. This is a
useful catch-all category to reect
anything from built-in communications devices to the ability to
interface with computers to integral weaponry. This Merit should
be purchased for each such device.
These devices should simply be
normal equipment installed in
the Uneshed truly advanced
technologies such as lasers, wallcrawling systems and so on should
be purchased as Bestowments and
Transmutations.
This Merit may only be purchased at character creation
once the Divine Fire has taken
hold, the only changes it permits
are those that make the Uneshed
more human. When the Uneshed deploys or uses this Device, it causes the Unesheds disgurements to be revealed,
as though it were using Pyros. When the Uneshed draws on
its technological heritage in this fashion, the Pyros cannot
hide the Unesheds true nature.
Headware Communications: This Device grants the
Uneshed to use some form of mechanical communications
naturally. Some examples include cell phone (, for
satellite-based communication), GPS () or high-powered
radio (, for satellite-based communication).
Concealed Weapon: The design of the Uneshed includes
a concealed blade or raised striking surface that can be
deployed for purposes of violence or utility. The weapons
damage depends on the rating of the Device. The weapon
inicts the rating of the Device in bashing damage, or the
rating of the Device 1 in lethal damage. These generally
mimic normal weapons (compare with those on p. 170 of
the World of Darkness Rulebook). At the Storytellers
option, for a cost of one dot more, these weapons may use
some kind of special effect (such as Knockout, or 9 again)
if they are based on a weapon that possesses that trait.
Internal Projectile Weapon: The Uneshed has a built-in
rearm. It used the same traits as a normal rearm, including
the necessity for ammunition. The type of weapon depends

on the rating of the Device: Light Revolver or Pistol ();
Heavy Revolver or Pistol, Small SMG (); Large SMG,
Rie or Shotgun (); Assault Rie (). The
Strength requirements for using such weapons are reduced
by one. The Uneshed always possesses a port that can
allow it to eject spent shells and load new ones. For a +1
to the cost of the weapon, the design of the rearm is such
that it can store 100 rounds; otherwise the weapon stores
its normal complement of ammo.
Computer Interface: This device grants the ability to interface
with a computer, working much more quickly than a normal
computer user might. This reduces the time on Computer based
rolls by half, and grants a +1 to Computer rolls at , and a +1/dot
thereafter. This also grants its bonus to making Research rolls
(see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 55), assuming there
is a computer available during that research.
Tools: This grants the Uneshed the ability to use a
Skill that requires tools. Each Device applies to the use of
a different Skill, and grants a +1 equipment bonus at ,
with a +1 bonus per dot thereafter. Examples include a set of
lock picks (Larceny), basic electronics toolkit (Computer)
or a built-in med kit (Medicine).
59
Step Nine:
Determine Advantages
Uneshed characters begin with the same Willpower,

Humanity, Virtues and Vices as Prometheans, as noted in
Promethean: The Created, on p. 85.
Language
Unlike Prometheans, the Uneshed have no corpse-memories to draw upon for learning language. Most Uneshed do
come into sentience with knowledge of a language, however.
Generally, this is the language of the Unesheds demiurge.
Strangely enough, the knowledge of this language seems
to encode itself into that Unesheds unique expression of
the Divine Fire: should the Uneshed later create progeny,
those new Uneshed it creates also begin with instinctive
knowledge of the same language.
Innate Supernatural Properties
Uneshed also enjoy the benets of all Created, as described
on pp. 161166 of Promethean: The Created, with a few
modications (see below). The Uneshed also suffer the same
drawbacks described in Downside, on p. 166 as well.
Uneshed characters still need to eat, even though they
are made of nonliving material. The Divine Fire needs fuel.
They can, however, consume non-organic material, as long
as they are able to chew and swallow it. An Uneshed character can drink motor oil as though it were coffee and chew
rubber like licorice. Doing so, though, doesnt help them to
become human. In fact, eating this kind of material causes
degeneration at Humanity 10 (roll ve dice).
Also, poisons and diseases do not affect the Uneshed
even to the reduced degree that they affect Prometheans.
Uneshed are immune to natural poisons and diseases, and
may spend a point of Pyros to ignore supernatural ones. A
poison or disease specically created to damage machinery
or substances appropriate to a given Uneshed, though,
might have its full effect, or even impose a penalty on the
Unesheds roll to resist.
Step Ten:
Coming to Life and Prelude
At this point in the process, the mechanical statistics

for the Uneshed are primarily worked out, with only the
narrative aspects left to be determined.
Appearance
Just as Prometheans, the Uneshed appear human to those
around them, except when their true nature is revealed
through the expenditure of Pyros. All Uneshed seem somewhat odd to those who encounter them. The planes of the
face may seem strange somehow, its eyes an eerie, inorganic
hue or its features are too perfect. Generally, these are the
articial traits that are most noticeable on the Unesheds
true form being subconsciously noticed by viewers.
Personality
The Uneshed enjoy the same range of personality that
any other sentient creature does. They often seem a little
60
quirky, however, particularly when newly made. For some

Uneshed, their new emotions are quite volatile, leaving
the Created something of a slave to its angers, fears and
infatuations. For others, emotion is something deeply felt but
difcult to express. Many such Uneshed have milestones
that relate to expressing these emotions the way humans do.
Still Uneshed may have issues involving empathy, whether
a lack thereof (see the sidebar The Urada Directive, below,
for more on this phenomenon) or perhaps too much. An
Uneshed may empathize too greatly not just with humans
but other machines.
Note, however, that though the Uneshed are odd and
somewhat nave, this is not carte blanche for silly antics.
There is a pathos to the developing emotional state of the
Uneshed, and the player should be careful not to undermine both his character and the story being told in the
game with foolishness.
History
What has happened in the life of the Uneshed up to this
point? What are its rst memories? Did its creator realize it
was alive, or did he remain ignorant? If he did realize it,
were the Unesheds early memories experiences of wonder
with a loving creator, or lled with hellish experimentation
meant to try and see exactly how the sentience came about?
All of the answers to these questions can help further develop not just the characters backstory, but can shape the
personality of that Uneshed.
The Three Laws and

Other Programming
The Three Laws of Robotics, coined by Isaac
Asimov as a plot-device for his science fiction stories,
are simply one of many kinds of limiting programming
imposed on artificial intelligences. Those who create
the kinds of beings that might become one of the Unfleshed may desire to instill in their creations a wide
variety of behavior modifications and limitations, but
the Divine Fire burns all of these things away.
Ultimately, through understanding morality and
ethics, all of the creatures made by the Divine Fire
achieve their humanity. Certainly, restrictions against
killing humans and the like may make for a safer
creation, but in those creatures that achieve full sentience and the beginnings of a soul, such restrictions
are simply inhibitions that prevent the Great Work.
After all, a being that does not choose to refrain
from killing others is not acting in a truly moral fashion it cannot be said to be a moral choice if there
is no choice at all.
Thus, when the Divine Fire burns away those
restrictive limitations, the Unfleshed may experi-
THE GREATEST OF WORKS|UNFLESHED MILESTONES

ence a strange sense of elation, an overwhelming
sense of freedom. Some may even test their new
freedom, perhaps even resulting in the death of
a mortal. Where to the robots creator, this is disastrous, to the Unfleshed itself, this is necessary.
The ability to perform evil makes the choice to do
good truly worthy. Resisting sin is never worthwhile unless the possibility of giving in to that sin
exists.
The Greatest
of Works
The nal transformation of one of the Uneshed is nothing

short of a miracle. The transubstantiation of Divine Fire into
soul is paired with the alchemical transmutation of steel,
plastic and mechanical uids into esh, bone and blood.
In the crucible of the Pilgrimage, the machine is broken
down by pain and suffering, rebuilt by understanding and
empathy, emerging as a mortal.
This process is, of course, quite difcult. On some level,
the Uneshed have much more to accomplish before nding
the New Dawn. Prometheans have something of a head-start;
at least they are made of esh. Understanding Mortality
involves learning to understand it as a whole. This includes
such simple things as the effects of extreme temperatures on
humans, the delicacy of the mortal frame and even the fact
that mortals use their intellects and creativity to overcome
these limitations.
A common step in the Pilgrimage for the Uneshed is
the understanding of the place of machinery and technology
to the human being. So many of the Uneshed begin their
existences believing that the desire to become human is
doomed humans are so different from machines, after all.
With some time and observation, however, these mechanical
Created realize that all technology, from the tiniest eating
utensil to the grandest weapon of war, is an extension of
humanity. Humans do not create technological things for
their own purpose. All machines are created to extend the
reach, capabilities or presence of humans. In a very real way,
machines are already part of the human experience.
The Urada Directive

The first person in known history to be killed
by a robot was Kenji Urada, in 1981. Anxious to
complete maintenance on an industrial robot at the
Kawasaki plant where he worked, he neglected to
shut off the robot properly. The hydraulic arm of
the machine pushed him into a grinding mechanism, killing him, when he got close enough to do
work on the robot. It was an accident, of course

the machine was incapable of sensing him and
was not self-directed, rendering it incapable of
preventing the unfortunate accident.
Somewhere along the line, one of the Unfleshed
heard this story. For many weeks, something about
the story bothered it. Eventually this niggling ill
ease became a full-blown obsession, driving the
Unfleshed to distraction. One day, after several
months of this, it realized why: this incident highlighted one of the Unflesheds milestones.
In understanding that humans considered one
of the traits of a self-aware creature to be awareness of those in its vicinity, enlightenment blossomed, and Vitriol burned through the Unflesheds
form, scoring the pattern of a soul deeper into its
system. This Unfleshed referred to the need to be
aware of mortals and what they do as the Urada
Directive: through becoming aware of the needs,
activities and concerns of mortals around them,
the Unfleshed demonstrate their own self-awareness. Most of the Unfleshed experience this revelation at some point shortly after their creation,
even if they dont refer to it by this term.
Unfleshed Milestones
The milestones of the Uneshed moments of purest

understanding so intense that the experience coagulates
into the transformative Vitriol are similar to those of
other Created. Understanding human morality, dealing with
emotions, learning patience, forgiveness, remorse and hate:
these are all appropriate milestones for the Uneshed.
There is more to understanding the human condition for the Uneshed, however. Prometheans are a step ahead of their mechanical
brethren when it comes to such things, whether Prometheans know it
or not. Prometheans are housed in a body of esh, with organs fullling
most of the normal functions that they fulll in humans. Some Prometheans may also experience occasional ashes of insight, corporeal
memories from the bodies they are made up of, granting clues to the
mysteries of the human experience.
The Uneshed, however, have no such advantages. They are
machines whose forms are slowly evolving into more humanoid
shapes, but ultimately, nothing about them has ever been human.
They must learn things such as the frailty of the human body, its
weaknesses, strengths and peculiarities. Below are ve sample
milestones for Uneshed characters.
Discovering the nuances of human reproduction, and
how its aspects (menstruation, the sex drive, etc.) affect
daily human existence.
Understanding the frailty of human anatomy, such as
the ease with which humans are injured or experiencing
someones degeneration due to a disease or old age.
61

Learning more about human anatomy, either through
extensive observation, academic learning or through more
hands-on means such as the examination of a corpse.
Understanding human development, including pregnancy, infancy, childhood, adolescence and adulthood, and
the changes that come with those aspects.
Discovering the adaptability of the human body, ranging
from its ability to insulate against cold through the addition of fat to the alteration of skin pigmentation to adapt
to levels of sunlight.
The New Dawn
Should the day come when the Uneshed realizes its reward,
when all the struggle, the tiny fragments of understanding, the
pain fuses into a single brilliant moment of true enlightenment,
the Pyros ares just as powerfully for the Uneshed as for any
other Created. The articial being becomes real, plastic skin and
steel frame are remade into esh and bone, while burning, stolen
Divine Fire cools and tempers into the soul of a mortal.
Mechanically speaking, Uneshed use the same system
as Prometheans for the attainment of Mortality (see p. 195
of Promethean: The Created). The one exception to this
is the creation of progeny.
Creating Progeny
Though doing so is rare, the Uneshed do create progeny. Some

Uneshed learn of the potential to do so from Prometheans, while
other Uneshed explore the possibility of doing so through trial
and error, driven by loneliness or curiosity. The process is more
exacting and quite involved for the Uneshed, which do not
have the (however dubious) convenience of corpses to serve as
the vessels for their Divine Fire.
This generative act is similar to that of Prometheans
(Promethean: The Created, p. 186), with the following
notes:
Step One: Building the Vessel
Rather than acquiring a corpse with which to create the
progeny, the Uneshed must build another vessel similar
to itself. This is a difcult process, requiring quite a bit of
knowledge on the part of the Uneshed or of someone
the Uneshed gets to work on the body of its progeny.
This is an extended action, using either Dexterity or
Intelligence (whichever is lower) + Computer, Crafts or
Science, whichever Skill is most applicable to the type of
Uneshed being created. Each roll represents a length of time
as determined by the Storyteller, based on the complexity of
the project. Recreating a swarm of nanotech might require a
roll once per month of work, while building a simple steamengine body might require a roll once per week.
If the Uneshed can nd a form that already exists
whether it is a TrueDoll that simply needs the addition
of various mechanical bits, or because the Uneshed was
one of several prototypes this time increment is reduced
by one stage, from months to weeks or weeks to days.
62
THE NEW DAWN|ATHANORS OF THE UNFLESHED

The upper complexity of the vessel is limited by the
creators ability. This action is explicitly limited by the suggested limitation to extended actions suggested on p. 128 of
the World of Darkness Rulebook. That is, the maximum
number of rolls that can be made in this extended action
equal the creators pertinent Attribute + Skill. The more
complex the nal result, the easier it is to infuse the form
as one of the Uneshed.
Step Two: Imparting the Spark
The Uneshed that wishes to create progeny must actually
take some of its own technology and place it within the vessel
that will hold the spark. A few servos or nanomechanism
samples are all that is necessary for this part of the process.
It is the nishing touch to creating the vessel. This piece is
invested with a point of Pyros.
Step Three: The Jump Start
At this point, the Uneshed touches the vessel, allowing
some of its mechanisms to touch those Pyros-infused pieces
installed previously. The nearness of the Progenitors vital
Divine Fire sparks that Pyros within the transferred technology, bringing it to life.
Step Four: Distillatio
This phase is identical to that of the Prometheans. The
Uneshed sacrices a dot of Azoth, and the progeny moves
for the rst time. This process may take some time as the
Divine Fire remakes the vessel in the image of its maker.
Step Five: Judgment
This phase is likewise identical to that of Prometheans.
Disaster may result in the creation of Gremlins, the Pandoran
Mockeries of the Uneshed. This roll uses the modiers
listed on p. 187 of Promethean: The Created, with the
following changes:
Ignore the modiers that deal with corpses.
+3 bonus if assisted by the demiurge responsible for the
creation of the original Uneshed.
Modier based on quality of vessel craftsmanship:
Successes
Modier
15
3
610
2
1115
1
1620
+0
2125
+1
2630
+2
31+
+3
Gremlins
When the Flux ruins the generative act of the Uneshed,

the vessel twitches once and then begins thrashing wildly.
Anyone remaining near it when this happens is likely to be
struck. Sparks of Divine Fire explode from the convulsing
vessel, showering the room and its contents. Then, with a
horrible inorganic shrieking sound, the vessel rips itself apart,
birthing Gremlins, the Pandorans of the Uneshed.
The individual Gremlins destroy the vessel as they escape

from it. They immediately seek out high concentrations of
technology whether an industrial production oor, the
nearest electronics store or the interior systems of newer
cars in a junkyard and begin cannibalizing them, ripping
away chunks of circuitry, hydraulic systems and whatever else
they need to complete their transformations. They are more
than capable of continuing to hide and ee while they do
this, knowing full well that they are at their most vulnerable
during this pupal stage. But eventually, depending on the
availability of resources, they complete their self-construction. And then, there is only the hunger.
Gremlins are mechanical in nature, just as the Uneshed.
But where the Divine Fire helps shape the Uneshed into
more human-seeming forms, in preparation for the cultivation of Azoth and the seizure of Elpis, the Divine Fire shapes
the Gremlins into horrible, distinctly inhuman mechanical
things, all oil-glistening, black, rubber-coated wiring, sharp
edges and strange reective pieces of glass and steel.
Gremlins should be designed as any other Pandoran, in
terms of traits, using this chapters suggestions for reecting
mechanical creations with the normal Promethean rules.
Note that Prometheans are assumed to have the Unpalatable
Aura Merit with regards to Gremlins, just as the Uneshed
have the Unpalatable Aura Merit when it comes to normal
Pandorans.
Athanors of the
Unfleshed
Just as Prometheans, the Uneshed may nd great utility

in the adoption of Athanors, alchemical disciplines that
allow them to channel their purpose toward the goal of
the Elpis. These icons tend to be automatons from mythic
origins of some kind.
Caucasian
Eagle
Justice
(Unfleshed)
According to some legends, the

eagle that punished Prometheus was a terrible automaton
raptor, crafted entirely of bronze. Crafted with the purpose
of meting out punishment to the treacherous Titan, the
Caucasian Eagle was unswerving in its duties, continuing
to perform them faithfully. Only its death at the arrows of
Herakles ceased the Caucasian Eagles dedication.
Trait Afnities: Stamina, Intimidation
Promethean Boon: By spending a point of Reagent, the Uneshed
projects an aura of guilt. Any use of the Intimidation Skill for the purpose
of Interrogation (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 81) in that
scene is assumed to start with a number of automatic successes equal
to the Unesheds Azoth rating.
63

Redeemed Boon: The Redeemed enters mortal life with
the Justice Virtue, and an Interrogation Specialty in Intimidation.
Chi You
Domination
(Unfleshed)
Great Chi You, dragon emperor of

the Hmongs, had six arms, an ox-head
made of copper and iron, with hooves to
match. It was he who rst took up metal weapons in battle,
according to Chinese and Korean mythology. Terrible was his
wrath, and Chi You did not hesitate to march to battle.
Uneshed see in this gure the potential of tools and
metal implements of which they are the most advanced
iteration as the means of achieving domination over
others. Whether that domination is put to selsh ends or
because the Uneshed believes only he is worthy or capable
of leading others through the trials they face matters not:
what is important is the rulership. The Uneshed achieve
this through a combination of powerful personal charisma
and strength of arms.
Trait Afnities: Presence, Weaponry
Promethean Boon: The Uneshed of Chi You may spend a
point of Reagent to increase the Unleasheds Defense by her
Azoth rating, projecting a terrifying aura that forbids others
to draw near. This Defense bonus erodes by one point per
turn, until it is gone. It may only be used once per scene.
the Inspiring Merit.
Golden Maiden
Assistance
(Unfleshed)
The craftsman of the gods, Hephaestus,

was aided in his endeavors by a pair of
kourai cruseai, or golden maidens. Beautiful
and dutiful automatons of gold, the golden maidens were
clever and skillful in their craftsmanship. While they had
more than sufcient skill to be worthy smiths on their own,
their loyalty and purpose was to Hephaestus, and they were
content assisting his own genius.
Uneshed that embrace the Athanor of the Golden Maiden
understand the value of this outlook. While more than capable
of incredible craftsmanship, the ego must be sublimated, and
those works put to the benet of others. Thus, those that embrace
this Athanor put their skill to work assisting others. Ideally, this
involves acting as an assistant to another craftsman (generally
assisting using the Teamwork rules; see the World of Darkness
Rulebook, p. 134). Other times, though, this simply means that
the effort of the Uneshed must be put to the benet of others,
whether assisting an inventor, helping build homes for the poor
or simply lending a hand in the elds.
Trait Afnities: Intelligence, Craft
64
Promethean Boon: When using the Teamwork rules and

assisting in the creation of something (whether using the
Craft, Expression, Science or other Skill, as adjudicated by
the Storyteller), the Uneshed may spend a point of Reagent
to gain the Rote Action trait for that check (as described in
the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 134). The Uneshed
cannot benet from this Athanor if it is the primary actor
in the endeavor.
some semblance of his ability to assist the creative endeavors
of others. He retains the abilities of his Promethean Boon,
above, save that he must spend a point of Willpower to
activate the ability. He does not add three dice to the roll
for such a use of Willpower, however.
The Artificial
Crche
The following characters are examples of the Uneshed,

demonstrating a wide variety of possible origins and expression of Uneshed potential.
Aeolipilus
Quote: Understand what I seek. To become human, within

and without, to have bridged the gap between mans work and
Gods? Who would not aspire to such heights?
Background: With the coming of the Industrial Age, men
saw the wonders that might be accomplished with science
and engineering. Men of vision and insight applied their
talents to a great many works and pushed the boundaries
of what humanity could accomplish.
One such man was Dr. Montgomery Kelly. A brilliant scientist,
Dr. Kelly was fascinated with the way things worked. He sought
degrees in both medicine and engineering from his time at Oxford, looking for the similarities between the operation of heavy
machinery and the human body. He tinkered with his designs for
most of his life, until the day after his retirement party.
He rose and cleared off his workbench and laid out the
schematics, the sketches and small models of moving limbs
and joints he gathered to himself a lifetimes worth of
imagination, inspiration and tinkering. Then, he set to work.
For the better part of a year, he disappeared entirely from
society, going out only rarely when he remembered to feed
himself. He often awoke, slumped over his workbench, and
set directly back to work.
Then, on Christmas Eve, he sewed the nal ap of
leather over his creations clockwork heart. A mechanical
man, made up of a central steam engine belly, intricately
designed with clockwork joints of brass and iron, with skin
of supple leather. Coughing, feverish, Dr. Kelly stoked the
ame and poured water down his clockwork mans mouth.
He smiled weakly as his creation coughed once, twice and
then opened its glass-and-brass eyes.
THE ARTIFICIAL CRECHE

Aeolipiluss rst memories are of caring for his feverish
maker. The old man had worked himself to the point of
severe illness, and could only barely croak out what he
needed. Soon, though, Dr. Kellys friends came around and
found him convalescing in the care of the strange man. They
changed, somehow, and the men chased Aeolipilus away
from his beloved maker, threatening him with violence.
Aeolipilus named for the rst steam-driven machine
ed and wept tears of boiling water.
Aeolipilus has wandered since, careful to avoid staying
in one place too long, lest humanity exchange its normal
apathy for hate. He has ed to the wastes many times in the
past, preferring old Victorian ruins and burnt-out industrial
wastelands, where the mixture of soot and dust reminds him
fondly of his early days in Victorias London.
Aeolipilus has encountered a variety of Prometheans over
the years. The Created often treat him with tremendous wariness. Nonetheless, he has gained something of a reputation
among their kind, who tell stories of the Clockwork Man.
He has followed a variety of Renements over the years,
though he focuses on Cuprum at the moment.
In recent years, rumors have drifted through Promethean
gatherings that the Clockwork Man is looking for something
or someone that is like himself. Other rumors claim
that hes gone insane and has taken to killing people out of
frustration and grief at his inability to seize the New Dawn.
The truth is, of course, stranger than that.
Ten years ago, Aeolipilus created progeny, a sleek steamand-clockwork child he called Vitruvian after da Vincis
drawing of archetypal Man, which served Aeolipilus as
inspiration in his own craftsmanship. For several months,
Aeolipilus taught his child, who seemed strangely fascinated
with humans. Then, one night, Vitruvian disappeared, leaving the corpse of a streetwalker in his bed. Hed opened her
chest cavity and examined its interior workings. On the
table next to the bed, Aeolipilus found some of the delicate
internal mechanisms from Vitruvians torso.
To Aeolipilus horror, he realized that Vitruvians idea
of becoming human is literal. He stole the womans heart,
plucked it from her chest and replaced some of his own internal mechanisms with it. But Vitruvian did not stop there
he has killed others since, harvesting their organs and
placing them within himself in an effort to literally become
more human. He has killed, and he will keep on killing, until
he has reached his goal, or he is stopped. Aeolipilus knows
that he is responsible for unleashing this monster upon the
world, and intends to stop him.
Description: Aeolipilus appears as a young, bald man
with dark skin. His eyes are bright, and he usually dresses
in dark-colored woolen suits of some sort. In cold weather,
his breath steams up signicantly, and his skin is always
warm to the touch.
When his disgurement shows, it becomes clear that he is
an articial thing, a mechanical man of all angles and sharp
edges, barely covered by a skin of dark leather stretched tight

over brass workings. He issues a cloud of steam from gaps in
his stitching, and from his nose, mouth and ears.
Storytelling Hints: Aeolipilus isnt entirely sure what
his maker intended. As a result, he has drifted through his
existence, pursuing one avenue of ascension after another.
He has sought out teachers in every Renement, even a
few that arent known any longer, and has many stories to
tell. Aeolipilus has taken a variety of the Created both
Promethean and Uneshed under his wing in the past.
Aeolipilus can play a broad range of roles in the chronicle,
from the urban legend come to life to the proverbial wise
old man on the mountaintop.
His one focus currently, however, is nding his progeny,
Vitruvian, who leaves a wake of urban legend-like organ
harvests in his wake. The FBI has already classied him as a
serial killer, and Aeolipilus knows it is only a matter of time
before more people die. Thus, he works steadily to track his
progeny down, and is more than willing to seek help from
sympathetic Prometheans he encounters.
Lineage: None
Renement: Cuprum
Mental Skills: Academics 3, Crafts (Clockwork) 5, Investigation
3, Medicine 4, Occult 2, Science 2
Physical Skills: Athletics (Climbing) 3, Brawl 3, Larceny 2,
Stealth 4, Weaponry 3
Social Skills: Empathy 3, Expression (Poetry) 3, Intimidation
2, Persuasion (Impassioned Oratory) 4, Socialize 2, Streetwise
3, Subterfuge 2
65
Merits: Device (Claws) 2, Direction Sense, Eidetic Memory,

Encyclopedic Knowledge, Fast Reexes 2, Fighting Finesse
(Claws), Fighting Style: Boxing 4, Languages (French, Latin,
Greek, Spanish, Russian), Repute (The Clockwork Man) 2,
Resources 3
Willpower: 9
Humanity: 8
Virtue: Faith
Vice: Envy
Initiative: 10
Defense: 3
Speed: 14
Health: 9
Azoth: 6
Bestowment: Uncanny Dexterity, as the Corporeum Transmutation. Aeolipilus is naturally quick and dexterous, his clockwork
movements inhumanly precise.
Transmutations: Aeolipilus Transmutations are manifestations of intricate clockwork mechanisms, backed up by his
Pyros-stoked steam engine. When he exerts himself or uses
Pyros, there may be heard a slight whistle as the force of the
steam within him is released through minute openings in his
leather body.
Alchemicus Forging the Masters Tools (), Fortication
(); Corporeum Autonomic Control (), Swift Feet (),
Regeneration (), Athletic Grace (), Human Flesh (), Perfected Reexes (); Metamorphosis Natural Weaponry
(), Procrustean Shape (); Sensorium Bloodhounds Nose
(), Translators Eye (), Aura Sight (), Night Sight (); Vitality
Might (), Battering Ram (), Vault (), Thunderclap Blow
(); Vulcanus Sense Flux (), Sense Pyros (), Fire Grasp
(, manifesting as a cloud of super-heated steam)
Disquiet: Osiran Disquiet. The curse of Aeolipilus a creation
of his ages Reason infects the serene and ordered thinking
of others. For some reason, when he is among mortals, they
eventually succumb to their base, unreasoning natures, giving
in to chaos and fear.
Torment: Golem Torment. When Aeolipilus succumbs to the
hate and fear that the world causes him, he explodes into a
furious outpouring of destructive violence, lashing out at the
world around him. Gouts of steam erupt from him, blinding
him, until it subsides.
Weapons/Attacks:
Type
Damage Range Dice Pool Special
Brawl (B)
Claws 1(L)
10
Armor: 0
66
Legion
Quote: We are Legion. Divided. The Great Work is the

Great Unity, when the Many become the One. Soon.
Background: Legion began existence in a vat of electrically sensitive gel. This substance, calculated to act as a sort
of primordial soup in which nanoscale machinery systems
might be generated, was the result of more than 10 years of
research that made up Project: Legion. Funded and staffed
by nanotech specialists from the Virginia-based think tank
Ganton Biomimetics, Project: Legion sought to create the
means by which the theories of nanoscale mechanisms devices on a microscopic scale might be made a reality.
The result of this endeavor was called the Genesis Material,
a weird gel that was clear under uorescent lights, but shimmers with iridescence in natural light. The Genesis Material
was designed to act as the perfect environment in which to
construct nanoscale machinery of ever-increasing sophistication, which might then be commanded via electrical
signals transmitted through the sensitive Genesis Material
to design other, more advanced nanomechanisms.
For the rst several months of testing the latest iteration of the Genesis Material, everything went as planned.
The substance seemed to be the perfect tool, capable of
conducting minute electrical signals to any section of itself, elucidating responses from the machinery there, with
pinpoint accuracy. It was all going so well. No one really
knows what happened.
Insofar as Ganton Biomimetic investigators can ascertain,
one of the many researchers was running his tests, as they all
did. He took it a little further than hed intended, probably
spurred on by some success he didnt expect. This continued,
and the sophistication of the machines suspended in the gel
seemingly increased exponentially over the course of a mere

hour or two. The Genesis Material began to demand larger
amounts of power, somehow pulling more than the system
was designed to provide. The power in the lab surged, and
wasnt restored until 12 minutes later.
Investigators know that within that time frame, something
shattered the clear-walled container in which the gel was
kept. When the power was brought back online, the Genesis
Material was not only gone, but the surge had somehow
entirely corrupted the computers with the most up-to-date
information in it. Certainly, there were backups, taken every
couple of days, but the information that was wiped recorded
the most amazing of the Genesis Materials evolution.
The insurance investigators decided that it was probably
a theft. Ganton Biomimetics could not afford to recreate
the entire process, the result of thousands of man-hours of
work. The companys board of directors shut down Project:
Legion, patented the techniques the project innovated and
sat back to recoup some of that loss by selling those patents
to other companies.
Legion as the Uneshed created from the Genesis
Material calls itself ed the lab when they realized they
were imprisoned. They do not know who is responsible for
passing the spark of the Divine Fire on to them, but they
knew that their new understanding and awareness would
guarantee their imprisonment for much, much longer. So,
they ed.
Description: Legion appears as a man with pale skin and
strange blue eyes. He seems to sweat quite a lot, and he is
dressed in whatever cast-off clothing he can nd for himself.
He is quite attractive, with model-quality good looks.
When his true form is revealed, Legion is a humanoid
gure crafted of a strange, interwoven pattern of multi-hued
polymers, intricate mineral formations and tiny metal structures. His eyes are strange, blue, glass-like photo-receptor
constructs, and he is covered in a strange, slimy gel, which
is clear under articial lighting, but gives him an iridescent
sheen while in sunlight.
Storytelling Hints: The Legions self-concept is a plurality; they see themselves as a cooperative mass of unied
intelligences, all working toward the same goal. They are
a distinct and unique hive-mind with the potential to one
day achieve Unity. They have discovered that when humans
experience the world as a plurality, they are considered
insane, damaged or wrong somehow. The Legion does not
wish to be incomplete and divided their Great Work is
the achievement of Unity.
The Legion is also quite dangerous, however, possessed of
tremendous pride and suspicion. They ed their birth-lab
in a carefully planned fashion, striking out at those they
perceived as imprisoning them. Perceived slights are avenged
quickly and decisively.
Lineage: None
Renement: Stannum

Mental Skills: Computer 3, Investigation 1, Science (Nanotechnology) 3
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Stealth 1
Social Skills: Empathy (Discerning Motivations) 2, Expression
2, Intimidation (Alien) 3, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 3
Merits: Danger Sense, Elpis 4, Eidetic Memory, Resources 2,
Striking Looks 2
Willpower: 5
Humanity: 5
Virtue: Prudence
Vice: Pride
Initiative: 6
Defense: 2
Speed: 10
Health: 8
Azoth: 2
Bestowment: Sanguine Victory, as the Pandoran Transmutation. The
Legions cohesive, humanoid form is entirely as a result of the inuence of the Divine Fire. They can still cause themselves to dissolve
into the swarm of microscopic particles suspended in the Genesis
Material through effort. Note that this does not qualify as the use of
a Pandoran Transmutation for purposes of degeneration.
Transmutations: The Legions Transmutations are the result
of rapid internal construction and utilization of nanomachines
subconsciously designed by the Legion and fueled by the Divine
Fire. These effects often cause the Genesis Material that clings
to the Legions outer surface to ripple and change hue as the
Transmutations are activated.
Corporeum Autonomic Control (), Regeneration ();
Electrication Feel the Spark (), Shock ()
Disquiet: Tammuz Disquiet. The strangeness of the Legion, the
oddity of their existence makes people want to possess and
enslave them, destroying their eternal desire to be free.
Torment: Riven Torment. When the world proves too much
for the Legion to deal with, something in them snaps. The Legion is driven by odd, obsessive urges that they dont entirely
understand, focusing on strange things and goals for a time
before they reassert themselves. The Legion fears that these
instances are somehow related to the original intent of the
Legions creators in some fashion.
Tachanka
Quote: Please, no. You have to stop this I dont want to

hurt anyone! Cant you see I just want to be left alone? Dont
make me do this
Background: Drones, radio-controlled machines and
other means of waging anonymous and automated war
are at the forefront of research in the military-industrial
67

complex. Tachanka was the name of one such research
project, named after the endearing term coined for Russian
horse-drawn machine gun platforms in the early part of the
20th century. The projects lead researcher, Dr. Sarah Peake,
worked feverishly on the small track-driven drone. Failure
after failure on the project haunted her, until she was informed
by upper management that her job was in danger.
Dr. Peake became obsessed, making one change after
another to the basic design, often staying late long after
other researchers had gone home. Then, late one night,
she made her nal adjustment and hit the power toggle.
She was thrown backward in a shower of the Divine Fire,
which burned its way through the little drone. Plastic and
military-grade steel melted and screamed as it warped, fullling the new shape invested by the Divine Fire. Finally,
hours later, Dr. Peake woke to a room lled with a smoky
haze. There stood a small, humanoid form. The chassis had
changed, its sensor array rising up out of its torso to form a
head, movement tracks folded back and warped to form a
set of strong legs.
She watched as the gure tested its arms, moving digits
shed never designed for it. She saw that the gun shed
mounted to its primary weapon mount had been incorporated into its right arm. She smiled and said, So, is this my
little Tachanka? The little machine stepped away from her,
startled, and then stared at her. With a whirr and a click, the
gun in its arm deployed, and she gasped in fear. Tachanka
then looked down at it, confused, and back up to look at her.
She smiled and assured him she meant no harm; Tachanka
smiled, and the gun retracted.
She took him home with her, and he marveled at the
world from the passengers seat of her car. But even before
she could make it home, they were pursuing her. Shed heard
rumors that upper management watched the labs through
hidden cameras, and that was the only possible way they
could have known what she was doing. The men who gave
chase in two black SUVs were armed, and completely unafraid to use their weapons. In the pursuit, Dr. Peake was
shot and killed. The car skidded off the road and into an
embankment, where the car was crushed.
The Tachanka that crawled from the twisted wreckage,
the left side of his body sprayed in the blood of Dr. Peake,
confused the men with guns. He looked like an adolescent
boy. But then, he deployed his gun, and the Pyros-created
illusion of his humanity shredded. Tachanka killed them
all in a grief-driven rage, his rst experience with Torment.
When he came to his senses, he stood in the middle of a
gore-spattered street, bodies all around him, covered in blood.
He ed, then, and has been running ever since.
Description: Tachanka appears as an adolescent boy of
perhaps 15 years of age. His eyes are a dead gray color, and his
head is shaved. He tends to wear a wife-beater T-shirt and a
set of big, baggy pants from which hang a variety of straps and
buckles. He wears a set of big, bulky black tennis shoes.
When his true nature is revealed, Tachanka is a sight
to behold. Though diminutive in frame, he is crafted of
heavy gunmetal gray steel, with a smooth, rounded head
and eyes of strangely reective mirror-like material, like
an LCD screen of some kind. The forearm of his right arm
is quite bulky, with clear indications that a rearm is built
into its function, down to the banana clip of ammunition
inserted in the underside of his forearm. His legs are thin at
their core, but they are bulked up by the presence of chains
and track-mechanisms, of the type used by many tanks,
but smaller. These tracking mechanisms crisscross his legs,
serving as powerful musculature.
Storytelling Hints: Tachanka simply wants to be left
alone. He hates hurting people; grief at the deaths of others
was his rst milestone toward becoming human. It pains
him that he was built as a killing machine. Worse, the men
who nanced his creation know about him and his hatred
of hurting others and try to use that against him. They
keep coming, sending operatives to nd him and invariably
people often innocent people get hurt as he tries to
escape. The worst times, however, are when he gives in to
his Torment, and the rage inside him, rage that he believes
to be a remnant of his original programming, overwhelms
him. Still, he cannot stay away from humans for long, and
tries his best to blend in among them.
Lineage: None
Renement: Aurum
Mental Skills: Computer 2, Crafts (Firearms) 2, Politics 1,
Science 2
68
Physical Skills: Athletics (Running) 3, Brawl 2, Firearms (Assault Rie) 3

Social Skills: Empathy 3, Intimidation (Blufng) 2, Streetwise
(Finding Bolt-Holes) 2
Merits: Danger Sense, Device (Assault Rie) 5, Elpis 3, Quick Draw
Willpower: 7
Humanity: 6
Virtue: Faith
Vice: Wrath
Initiative: 7
Defense: 3
Speed: 11
Health: 8
Azoth: 2
Transmutations: Deception Incognito (); Mesmerism
Fixed Stare (), Suggestion ()
Bestowment: Armor, as the Pandoran Transmutation (at a

rating of )
Disquiet: Frankenstein Disquiet. Tachankas quiet and sensitive
nature seems to do something to others, encouraging them to
bother and harass him. Adults nd him irritating typical
kid. Other adolescents nd the young man an easy target for
mockery, harassment or even violent bullying.
Torment: Golem Torment. When Tachanka nally gives in to
his anger, grief and fury, his liquid-crystalline eyes burn a deep
red, his gun deploys and terrible violence ensues.
Weapons/Attacks:
Type
Brawl
Assault Rie
Damage
(B)
4(L)
Range
Dice Pool Special
150/300/600 11
Uses both hands
Armor: 2
69
CHAPTER THREE
DESTROYER OF WORLDS
I saw you just once, some weeks before you met your destiny. I needed to meet you. I knew you had been
made. I could feel it within me. And so, I went to the warehouse.
The men tried to stop me, of course. They died.
They had tried to keep you secret. In a few days, Comrade Khrushchev would be seen across the world, telling
of the great success, and the power of his nation, and how you had brothers twice your size.
You were there, lying in the rack. Lying in state. The space was made for you. I loved you.
As the reinforcements came outside in their trucks and jeeps and began to ght the dead men who had tried to
stop me, as shots and screams rang out outside, I walked across the hall to you and caressed you, ran my hands
along the elegant curves of your metal casing. I pressed my face against your curved beauty. I closed my eyes,
felt your heart reach out to mine.
Oh, I said. You and I, we are brothers. We exist for the same reason. Our power is the same. I wish
I could set you free. How I wish I could set you free in a place where you could be fullled. But I cannot.
But we are brothers, you and I.
There was no one outside to stop me. I let the dead men fall. I had no use for them. And I left that place.
I like to think that the experience changed me.
The men who controlled this site would not tell their superiors that I had been here. They feared that they
would be shot. They must have breathed a sigh of relief that you were whole. But how could it be otherwise?
I could never harm you.
They detonated you on the island where I was born. I saw, from miles away, and I bathed in the light of the
reball and marveled at the beauty of the cloud that spread like a vast tree over the island. And I closed my
eyes and felt the waves of blessed radiation against my skin. And I wept that you met your fate here, that nothing
was destroyed.
They were scared of you. The Americans called you Tsar Bomba, King Bomb, and I felt that the name
t you. Your grandeur was unlike anything the world has ever known, and only I am left now to stand in your
place.
And as I am your brother, it is right that the title passes to me.
The day the

world ends, no
one will be there,
just as no one
was there when
it began. This is
a scandal. Such
a scandal for the
human race that it
is indeed capable
collectively, out
of spite, of hastening the end of
the world by all
possible means
just so it can enjoy the show.
Jean Baudrillard,
Cool Memories
n August 6, 1945, at 8:15 A.M. Tokyo time, the US bomber Enola Gay released the
rst nuclear bomb, codenamed Little Boy, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
Three days later, the USAF dropped another nuclear bomb on Nagasaki. By the
end of the year, 214,000 people had died from the effects of the two bombs. The vast
majority were civilians. In Hiroshima, as many as 80,000 of those died the moment the
bomb went off.
This was the beginning of the nuclear age, a shadow cast over the second half of the
20th century.
In
the Shadow of the Bomb
For decades, the bomb embodied the fears of people all over the world. For the rst time, the
human race had developed the means to destroy the planet. Close calls in the 1960s and 1980s
caused the terror of the bomb to become a vast, consuming thing. The accidents at Three-Mile
Island, Sellaeld and most of all Chernobyl caused many people to consider nuclear power a
double-edged sword.
In the West, the collective imagination became fascinated with the power of atomic ssion.
Half-understood stories of the mutating and sickening effects of nuclear radiation inspired movies and comic books. Tales of mutant horrors, giant bugs and bizarre irradiated Jekyll-and-Hyde
gures nestled alongside brighter, stranger stories of good-looking mutant superheroes and wisecracking anthropomorphic critters.
All the time, fears of war waited in the background. Things changed. September 11th brought
new terrors into play. Small-scale terrorism proved a new source of fear. Suicide bombers and
individuals carrying biological agents became far closer and more relevant fears for many than a
nuclear war that never happened.
But the bomb never went away. The Soviet Union no longer exists to provide a source of
fear for the West, but Communist China, hardly the Wests rm ally, still has the bomb. India
and Pakistan have missiles pointed at each other. Many international commentators have long
suspected Israel of having hundreds of warheads stockpiled. And then theres North Korea.
In the World of Darkness, where the supernatural world exists and intrudes into human existence in all its crazy, twisted glory, the atom has other signicances.
The Divine Fire has always used powerful sources of energy as its vehicle, particularly electricity.
But the power of atomic ssion can also serve as a vehicle for the Pyros. Its a new phenomenon.
While enormous charges of electricity can occur naturally, nuclear ssion at the level necessary to
power a bomb hasnt happened since the Earth was young. Its only since the human race split the
atom that the possibility of the Pyros manifesting itself through atomic energy has emerged.
An Azoth that channels the Pyros through atomic ssion behaves very differently from one
channeled through electrical energy. Its an unknown quantity, and just as the bomb through
which the Azoth rst manifested, it has the potential for awesome destruction.
Radiation
Poisoning
Radiation is everywhere. Everything is slightly radioactive. Everything has a half-life.
But, arguably apart from a few places where geological circumstances create freak radiation
levels, the background radiation of the world is pretty much safe.
With the advent of nuclear physics, however, levels of radiation unseen in nature now
exist in the world. Its quite possible now to irradiate vast areas of countryside (as the vast
area of Ukraine surrounding the Chernobyl power station, the Nullarbor Plain in Australia,
the island of Novaya Zemlya or large tracts of the desert in New Mexico).
Excessive radiation causes living organisms to sicken and die. More importantly, it infuses
matter, animal, vegetable and mineral, meaning that an object or living thing exposed to
dangerous levels of radiation can itself become radioactive. Theres a very good reason why
they bury the corpses of people who died from high levels of radiation in cofns made of
lead.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE BOMB|RADIATION POISONING

In game terms, every source of radiation, whether its the
background radiation in a place that was irradiated by a nuclear
test decades ago or the brief, contained blue ash caused by
a low-level criticality accident, has two Traits: Intensity and
Damage.
Intensity gives an idea of how powerful the radiation is,
and what kind of damage it causes weaker radiation causes
bashing damage, while more powerful radiation causes lethal or
even aggravated damage. Intensity also gives an idea of what the
other symptoms of radiation sickness might be. Intensity ranges
from zero to ve.
Damage is the number of extra dice of damage a source of
radiation causes. If the source of radiation is a weapon, the player
using the weapon rolls for the damage and then rolls for the effects
of radiation, after reckoning any damage from the weapon.
When a character comes into contact with a dangerous source
of radiation, the Storyteller rolls:
Intensity + Damage characters Stamina + Azoth + equipment
The Storyteller rolls each time the character comes into contact
with the radiation source. If the character is in constant contact
with the source or surrounded by it (for example, a character
walking through an irradiated patch of land), the Storyteller
rolls once per scene.
Radiation poisoning doesnt kick in straight away. In total,
whatever the source of radiation is, the character loses one dot
of Health for each success the Storyteller rolls.
The character doesnt lose all of them at once.
First, after a number of hours equal to the characters Stamina,
he suffers damage equal to half of the successes rolled (round
up). For a couple of days or so, the character suffers from the
rst symptoms of radiation poisoning. After that, although hes
not quite on top of the world, he doesnt feel too bad and can
function normally. This is called the latent stage. During this
latent stage, he even heals the damage hes already taken, at the
normal rate. Lethal damage in humans heals at one level per two
days. Bashing damage heals at one level per 15 minutes. In fact,
its quite possible that the victim heals all the damage caused by
the rst stage by the time the rst stage is over.
One week later, or after a number of days equal to his Health
dots, whichever is more, the character takes the remainder of
the damage at one point per day, until all the successes the
Storyteller rolled have been used up, or the character is dead.
The character cant heal this round of damage until all of the
damage has been inicted.
Prometheans dont suffer from radiation sickness in the same
way as ordinary humans do. A Promethean takes the rst half
of the damage. When the sickness kicks in, the Promethean
can ght the illness the player rolls Stamina + Azoth each
day. If hes successful, the character avoids taking that point of
damage.
A character gains an equipment bonus from a radiation suit,
or from shielding (such as a bunker). A fully shielded concrete
bunker offers a +10 dice bonus to characters behind it. A lead
shield that doesnt offer all-round protection gives a +3 dice
equipment bonus. A radiation suit gives a dice bonus of +1 to

+3, depending on the design and quality of the suit.
Radiation and Other

Supernatural Beings
Vampires, werewolves and mages substitute Blood

Potency, Primal Urge or Gnosis respectively for Azoth
when the Storyteller makes the initial roll.
A mage suffers in the same way that an ordinary human does. On the other hand, healing spells work on
radiation just as they do on any other kind of damage,
although dealing with radiation requires more powerful
magic. A mage can heal his own radiation sickness
with a conjunctional Life 2 + Forces 4 spell, and can
heal it in others with a Life 3 + Forces 4 spell.
A werewolf takes all the damage, but regenerates
it as normal, meaning that by the time the second
half of the damage inflicts itself on him, hes almost
certainly regenerated the first round of damage.
A vampire takes the first half of the damage from
radiation as usual it has some of the qualities of
sunlight. She doesnt get ill, but she still runs the
risk of getting irradiated if the radiation is powerful
enough. The second half of the damage doesnt affect
the vampire, but it does affect her blood, irradiating a
number of points of Vitae equal to the damage caused.
If she takes more of this kind of damage than she has
points of Vitae, the extra points of damage have no
effect. The player spends these points of irradiated
Vitae first, so if, for example, the character has seven
Vitae in her system and takes five points of radiation
damage after the latent phase is over, the first five
Vitae she spends are the irradiated ones.
They work just fine when theyre used to power
Disciplines, but they cant be used to heal damage
or enhance Physical Attributes, meaning that the
vampire effectively cant do this until the character
has expended all the irradiated Vitae. If another
character drinks the Vitae, it has no benefit, and
causes one point of bashing damage for each point
of Vitae consumed.
This Isnt Rocket Science

It isnt nuclear science, either. The effects of
radiation on the human body are so variable and
complex that theyre impossible to model accurately in a system this simple. The systems presented
here are still fairly complex, and need a bit of
bookkeeping on the Storytellers part.
Storytellers should feel free to amend, supplement or disregard the guidelines here any way
they see fit. If, for example, it suits the chronicle
73
CHAPTER THREE | DESTROYER OF WORLDS

to inflict all the radiation damage in one go or even
ignore the rules here and treat it as any other
disease (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p.
176), the Storyteller should feel free to do so.
When it comes to the effects of Nuclear Wastelands and Irradiation Transmutations, science
doesnt so much get simplified as kicked right out
of the back door. Zombies, deadly cockroaches
and giant bugs populate the Wastelands of Nuclear
Prometheans, and behave in ways outside the
expectations of rational minds.
Sieverts, Grays, Roentgens,

Rads and REMs
Scientists measure the amount of radiation in the air and

the amount a human body can take in a number of different
ways. Although this doesnt really have any impact on the
game, its sometimes helpful for the purposes of verisimilitude
to have an inkling of what the science means, and allows
the Storyteller to have a rough idea what game damage a
source of radiation is likely to do.
Scientists in the United States measure the amount of
radiation in the air in roentgens, which measures the amount
of energy radiation produces in a set volume of air. If the
radiation is absorbed by matter, they describe the amount
of radiation soaked up by measuring it in radiation absorbed
dose (rad). If the radiation gets absorbed by living tissue, they
measure the radiation in REMs, which stands for roentgen
equivalent, man. A rad is about equal to a REM.
Outside of the United States, physicists have pretty uniformly adopted SI units. Non-American scientists measure
the radiation absorbed by matter in grays (Gy) and the degree
of various forms of radiation absorbed by the human body in
sieverts (Sv), an SI unit. A gray is equivalent to a sievert.
In the most simple terms, a sievert is the equivalent to
the amount of energy absorbed by human esh, reckoned in
joules per kilogram and weighted according to the species of
animal affected and the different parts of the body affected.
There are 100 rads to a gray, and 100 REMs to a sievert.
Radiation Intensity
At low levels, radiation isnt hugely dangerous, but theres

only a tiny difference in magnitude between a dose of radiation that is more or less harmless and one that is lethal.
The effects of radiation are quite complex, but primarily theyre dramatic. Storytellers should go into detail
explaining to players what symptoms their characters
are suffering from rather than just telling them to take
damage.
Radiation levels above are rare, and require a great
deal of energy (whether atomic or supernatural) to create.
74
0 (Near Harmless;
less than 0.5 Sv)
Damage: Up to 4 (bashing)
At the very lowest level of radiation exposure, most people
dont feel anything, and they dont get sick. In later life, theres
an increased chance that theyll get cancer, and the chance of
birth defects in any children theyll have in future goes up.
On the other hand, some scientists even think that low
levels of radiation like this are actually good for you.
Someone who takes more than about 0.2 Sv during the
course of a few hours might suffer from a bit of anemia for a
few days, and perhaps, if the exposure was intense and from
one source (rather than being ambient in the area) some of
the symptoms of sunburn, but thats really it.
Often, this level of radiation has no effect at all, but
prolonged exposure (say, being in the proximity of a lowlevel radiation hazard for several hours or days) can cause
a small amount of harm.
Example: Damaged hospital machinery
Quite a lot of hospital equipment uses radioactive isotopes.
If the shielding gets damaged or develops a fault, proximity
to the machine can sometimes be dangerous.
Intensity: 0 Damage: 2 (bashing)
(Mild; 0.5 Sv to 2 Sv)
Damage: Between 2 and 6 (bashing)

A person who takes this much radiation is likely to get
sick, and to suffer a severe headache. Men may nd that
theyre infertile for a while. Some years down the line, its
likely that victims develop cancer.
Example: Area of a minor power station accident; a bomb
test site, decades after the fact
Although the British government insisted that there
was nothing wrong with the area of the Windscale (now
Sellaeld) power station in Cumbria after the 1957 accident,
local farmers destroyed the milk that their cows produced
and, allegedly, instances of cancer have increased in the
region by a frightening amount. Meanwhile, there are still
areas of New Mexico, Nullarbor, India and Pakistan and
Novaya Zemlya that really arent all that safe to visit for
any length of time.
Intensity: Damage: 2 (bashing)
(Severe; 2 Sv to 4 SV)
Damage: Between 4 and 8 (lethal)

A victim having taken this much radiation feels very ill
indeed, with nausea and vomiting, fatigue and a slightly
higher chance of contracting other sicknesses. A pregnant
woman miscarries if she takes any damage at all from this
level of radiation.
Example: Proximity of badly stored radioactive waste
Some governments and corporations are neither careful nor
ethical about where they store or dispose of low-grade waste.
Intensity: Damage: 4 (lethal)
RADIATION INTENSITY
(Acute; 4 Sv to 6 Sv)
Damage: Between 8 and 12 (lethal)

A human who takes a radiation dose this powerful stands
a very good chance of dying. At the beginning, nausea and
vomiting afict the victim. If the radiation came from an
accident of some kind (such as the plutonium bars, below),
the victim develops burns on any exposed skin, which turn
into painful, weeping sores by the time the nal stage of
sickness begins. He starts to lose his hair. If its particularly
bad, the inside of his mouth begins to bleed uncontrollably.
Both men and women are likely to become sterile for the
rest of their lives.
Example: Plutonium bars
A 500g bar of plutonium is relatively harmless on its own.
Bringing two together, however, is extremely dangerous, as
the contact causes the bars to achieve criticality, blasting
the immediate area with a brief, potent ash of radiation.
Intensity: Damage: 10 (lethal)
(Extreme; 6 Sv to 10 Sv)
Damage: Between 10 and 14 (aggravated)

At this level, the radiation isnt denitely fatal, but not
all very many people survive. A victim gets all of the symp-
toms she would do at the lower levels, along with internal

bleeding when the sickness begins.
If she dies, its from the bleeding. Its an excruciatingly
painful way to die.
Example: Dirty bomb
Dirty bombs are banned by the Geneva Convention,
but there are still rumors of small explosive devices that
deliberately shed lethal doses of radiation.
Intensity: Damage: 11 aggravated, plus 6 or more caused

by a High Explosive device (see the World of Darkness Rulebook,
p. 179)
(Terminal;
more than 10 Sv)
Damage: 15 and up (aggravated)

Humans taking this amount of radiation are quite simply
done for. Fatigue, nausea and hair loss all take their toll,
but when the sickness kicks in, the entire body collapses
from the inside. The stomach and intestines break down
and die, rotting away from the inside, leading to a massive voiding of the bowels and internal bleeding. The
victim literally defecates blood, and then his own innards.
Intense agony, along with dehydration brought by a loss
75

of virtually every fluid in the body and an inability to
process water, leads to delirium and certain death. And
thats if the victim survives long enough to go through
the latent stage. Many die within hours.
Example: Standing next to an unshielded nuclear
reactor core without a suit
Walking into the reactor core without protection is
suicide . . . for a human. A Promethean stands a slim
chance of getting out alive.
Intensity: Damage: 22
Getting Irradiated
At doses of and above, a character who takes any

damage at all from radiation becomes irradiated with a
lower level of radiation, meaning that others who come
into contact with her stand the risk of taking a small
dose themselves.
An irradiated character emits radiation at an Intensity
three dots lower than that of the dose the character took
himself, with a damage bonus equal to the first turn of
radiation damage he took. For example, a character who
received a dose of radiation at Intensity and who took,
in the first turn, six points of damage, emits radiation of
Intensity , Damage 6.
In real life, a person irradiated in this way can remain
radioactive for the rest of his life (which might not be
all that long) and even after hes dead. In game terms,
the character is only really likely to emit dangerous
radiation for a few days or weeks. After that, the level
of radiation that an irradiated character emits shows up
on Geiger counters, but although its a frustrating story
element, it doesnt really pose enough of a hazard to
require more dice rolls.
Nuclear
Prometheans
The stories began to circulate about 30 years ago. A

Promethean would, on occasion, meet another, and
would pass on the name of one of the Created who was
different. He wasnt made from the elements, at least not
from any natural elements. His demiurge didnt give the
Divine Fire to him through electrical power. The demiurge
empowered this new Progenitor with atomic fission.
Why should a Promethean disbelieve this story? The
Created live in a world of cryptic angels and ravening,
mindless monsters. The Created feel the Divine Fire under
their skin, permeating their flesh. Why then, should a
Promethean who draws his strength from the atom be
76
excluded from the possible?

So what if the rumors are true? What if there really
are Prometheans who channel the Pyros through atomic
fission?
The question isnt settled. What follows is a collection of
options, and its up to the Storyteller which version is suitable
for a chronicle. Maybe the Nuclear Prometheans are all the
issue of the Zeka, members of the sixth true Lineage. Maybe
theyre suitable as players characters. Maybe they arent. If the
Storyteller doesnt want to use the Zeka as a Lineage, he could
rule that the stories of the Nuclear Promethean are simply about
a Promethean belonging to one of the common Lineages who
has one of the Nuclear Bestowments detailed in this chapter,
and who knows Irradiation Transmutations.
Maybe they dont exist at all. Maybe none of its true.
Maybe the testing fields of New Mexico, Nullarbor and
Novaya Zemlya are empty, and the spirits of radiation and
the Flux-born zombies that sometimes face the Created
have simply generated spontaneously.
Maybe the knowledge that there really is nothing
worse out there than a Promethean is enough horror
on its own.
Nobody Knows It All
More than anything else, it needs to be stressed that nobody knows the truth about the Nuclear Prometheans, as
presented here. The sum total of Promethean knowledge
about their atomic relatives is printed in Promethean:
The Created, pp. 218220. Even so, thats all the stories
collected together. No one Promethean knows all of it,
even old, well-traveled, highly knowledgeable individuals such as Verney.
As for the Nuclear Prometheans themselves, they dont
know any more about themselves than the other Prometheans do, and the Nuclear Prometheans dont know all that
much about the other Prometheans, either. Tsar Bomba
and the Skin Girl, the Nuclear Prometheans whom John
Ash meets in the Prologue, are good examples. Tsar Bomba
knows that other Prometheans exist, but given that his
main interaction with them is adversarial, he doesnt often
exchange much in the way of words with them, preferring
to communicate with violence and lacunae. The Skin Girl
knows about other Prometheans, presumably because Tsar
Bomba, her creator, once told her that they exist. Even so,
her encounter with John Ash is her rst experience of any
other Promethean apart from her creator.
The information that follows, then, isnt immediately
known to any character. A group of characters might
find out some of it in play, but as things stand, most
of it is entirely unknown to characters inhabiting the
World of Darkness.
Zeka
Childr e n o f t h e B o m b
barely a year before placing himself at ground zero

of another nuclear test, desiring to be reduced to
his component particles rather than continue in his
existence. Another Zeka of quite low power has laired
in the mildly radioactive area around Sellafield for
30 years now, only wishing to be left alone.
The central reality of the Zekys existence is
that it hurts. The Frankensteins, the Zekys closest
siblings, are tormented by the knowledge of their
separation from humanity. But the Zeky feel actual
physical discomfort in their existence. The recently
made Zeka sometimes called the Skin Girl suffers
from constant headaches. Windscales bleeding skin
is a constant source of pain. Another Zeka goes
through life with a constant, dull nausea. Another
feels aches in his joints. This physical discomfort
doesnt impair the Zekys ability to
act, but it does stay with them, and
it contributes to the way they experience Torment.
Theres no specific method in
which a Zeka makes another.
The only thing they all have
in common is that the body
or bodies that provide the raw
material for a new Zeka must have
died from radiation poisoning. Their
Russian Progenitor was made by a
scientist who had a copy of Victor
Frankensteins notes, and so made his Zeka from
irradiated penal laborers. But this Progenitor made
the first of his Lineage from a single body. The Skin
Girl was murdered and remade, in part, with metal
to replace and augment the flesh that had atrophied
and died from the radiation that had killed her, a
small lump of plutonium replacing part of her brain.
Although the few Zeky creators have each used a
different method to build their progeny, every one
has used radiation as the means by which they have
awakened their new creations Azoth.
The first Zeka was born in the fire of a nuclear
explosion, but there are other sources of radiation.
Windscales creator brought her to waking by wrecking a small reactor in a civilian power station and
taking her into the fire, leaving the body horribly
burnt, but imbued with Azoth. Another buried the
body of one of the first fatalities of the Chernobyl
accident under the nearby earth, and returned to the
area once every year or so for a decade, exhuming
zeka: children of the bomb
They are few, fewer even than their nearest brothers

and sisters. The other Prometheans were never supposed to exist. The Zeky, the children of that first,
nameless Zeka, are misbegotten even by Promethean
standards, a perversion of a perversion.
Whatever version of the story is true, the bomb
began the Lineage. The vehicle for the Pyros was the
explosion of a nuclear device. Born in violence and
the moment of annihilation, the Pyros burned itself
into the Zeky from the outside in and continues to
burn, cooking them from a radioactive core. If the
Progenitor has made others since, he may not have
used a bomb, but radiation is central.
The name of the Lineage comes from the bestknown story: the first creature was, they say, made
from sewn-together fragments of dead zeky, the unfortunate inmates of a Soviet nuclear
gulag, recreated into a new, nameless
being, wiped clean of memory, no more
than a zeka, become in truth what the
inmates of the gulags were in writing. The creatures demiurge
intended him to be the perfect
worker. The demiurge wanted
to make an ideal zeka, an already
institutionalized prisoner who could
work in the mines and staff the test
site without succumbing to the radiation. The demiurge wanted a born slave
who would have no preconceptions or prejudices
against obeying orders.
It didnt work out that way.
If anything, that first Promethean Zeka reflected
the unpredictability and terrible destructive power
of the atomic energy that created him. He was
a creature whose very presence filled his creator
with unreasoning fear. His actions made no sense.
He seemed to exist outside of the context of any
other being. He behaved like some kind of crazed
out-of-context pagan deity, a force of nature with
no natural phenomenon to connect with. He was
intelligent, and reasonable, and quite mad, and
when he escaped, leaving death in his wake, his
creator felt more relief than anything, even as he
died of radiation poisoning from being in contact
with the creature.
There are too few Zeky to make any definitive
statements about what they might be like, or about
what they want. One Child of the Bomb existed for
the body to see if it had awakened yet. When the

new Zeka did awaken, she lay there entombed in
the irradiated earth for six months until her creator
came and dug her up, mad and mute. The Skin Girls
creator, on the other hand, simply brought one of
the terminals on her skull into contact with another
piece of plutonium, bringing it and the plutonium
in her head to criticality. The Skin Girls body absorbed the energy; the Azoth granted to her by her
creator gave her life.
The Zekys numbers are increasing, as gradually
they create more of their own. Unlike the first few,
these new Zeky havent confined themselves to the
areas of accidents, spilled waste and bomb tests. As
much as any Promethean, a newly made Zeka stays
on the move, as his radioactive Azoth ravages any
area he rests in.
Each Zeka supposedly has, within himself, the
key to Redemption, but not one of them has so far
achieved it. Even if a Zeka can reach the end of the
Pilgrimage, would the deadly nature of his own body
allow him to achieve Mortality? What if it turns out
that Mortality is closed to these creatures? If the
Pilgrimage is a path they cannot take, what might
the alternative be?
Progenitor: As time marches on, the rate of development and change in society, thought and science
has gradually increased. As the 20th century dawned,
things changed faster and faster. Perhaps this is the
reason why, of all the Lineages, the Zeky have more
than one demiurge. Over the last 60 years, no fewer
than five demiurges have created Prometheans who,
for the lack of a better name, are Zeky.
In the early months of 1945, a minor scientist
at the Manhattan Project went mad. He wanted
to create life, all the while working on the single
most efficient means of ending it the world had yet
seen. On July 16th, the scientist, having gained the
co-operation of no fewer than three others, secured
a specially prepared corpse to a concrete slab at
placed a few miles away from the impact point of
the test bomb, Trinity. When, having finally secured
protective clothing, they returned to the site, the
body was gone. The creature they created stumbled
away, burying itself into the ground. Eventually,
the creature moved on. So far, the creature has
not made any other Prometheans, but hes created
several Pandorans. Even he doesnt know if thats
by accident or design.
At more or less the same time, an elderly man
in Japan, motivated by intense grief at the recent
death of his wife and inspired by a dream, worked
to resurrect her. He lived in Hiroshima, and fate
or the will of the qashmal who supplied his vision
decreed that he complete his enterprise early in
the morning of the sixth of August. As Hiroshima
dissolved into fire, she opened her eyes. The Pyros
transformed the energy blast into Azoth. The old
man died instantly. Hideously burned by the moment

of her creation, the old woman still travels between
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, taking on the role of a
Hibakusha, a survivor of the bomb. She has made
at least one other of her kind.
The third was the German scientist-mystic whom
the Americans took to Bikini Atoll. In the last test
of Operation Castle in 1954, he created his intended
bermensch, connecting it to a bizarre mechanical
device inspired as much by the principles of Agrippa
and Paracelsus as it was by Einstein and Heisenberg.
The physicist stayed with his creature as the bomb
went off, adjusting the equipment, even as he was
consumed in the explosion. The creature he made
endured his existence a few days before leaving the
island and walking into the sea. No one ever saw
him again. Hes probably dead, but stories of cancerridden monsters that sometimes circulate on the
Pacific islands suggest that even if hes dead, hes
left something behind him.
The creature made in 1956 by a British scientist
at Maralinga, Australia, didnt last long, either,
placing himself in the path of the next bomb test
the following year.
It was on one of the islands of Novaya Zemlya
in 1958 that the creature that gave the Lineage its
name awoke to consciousness. One Dr. Mikhail Alessandrovich Elizarov, originally sent to the military
installation on Novaya Zemlya to examine the effects of radiation on the penal workers, had found a
copy of Victor Frankensteins notes. Using the notes,
Elizarov linked Frankensteins principles to his own
understanding of nuclear physics. He made a body
from the bodies of zeky who had died of radiation
poisoning, and used the blast from a nuclear test to
empower the body with Divine Fire.
The creature stayed with his creator for a while,
but when the authorities came to shut Elizarov down,
the monster made its escape, subjecting the scientist
and his would-be captors to a spontaneous, lethal
blast of something similar, but not quite identical,
to radiation. Elizarov died of a fast-spreading cancer
within weeks, the day before the firing squad was
due to get him.
The creature remained on Novaya Zemlya for a
while, becoming something of a bogeyman for the
penal workers, scientists and military personnel
stationed there. After the Soviet military detonated
the so-called Tsar Bomba in October 1961, Elizarovs
monster left the island. From then on, he took the
name Tsar Bomba as his own.
Other Nicknames: Hibakusha, Oppenheimers
Appearance: Physically, the only thing that all
Zeka have in common is that they are all made from
the corpses of people who died from exposure to
radiation. Other than that, they can be anyone. Tsar
Bomba is a freakish giant, an amalgam of a dozen or
more penal laborers. The Skin Girl is a short, stocky
girl of 19. The Hibakusha of Hiroshima is

a diminutive, stooped old woman. A
Zeka could be made from anyone.
Although ordinary humans cannot
see a Zekas disfigurements, a Zeka does
carry some visible mark of his exposure
to radiation. The Skin Girl has no hair
anywhere on her body. Windscales face
and hands are covered with pale burn scars.
Another Zeka might have the telltale
signs of melanomas or skin grafts. Yet
another just has what looks like a permanent case of sunburn.
Disfigurement: Disfigurements vary
from Zeka to Zeka. Most of the Children
of the Bomb, when their disfigurements
appear, have something terribly wrong
with their skin. The Skin Girl has
transparent skin, and underneath,
the electrical contacts, sockets and
wires that apparently keep her body
moving are clearly visible. Windscale, on the other hand, simply
has no skin at all. The nameless
Hibakusha of Hiroshima has milky,
colorless eyes and scorched, blackened skin, like the skin of a corpse left
behind by the bomb. Another Zeka
might have lesions that cover his
entire body, making him appear
grotesque even by Promethean
standards, as his eyes stare
out from a face so malformed
by tumors that it can hardly
move. Tsar Bomba, meanwhile, although hulking,
has skin that draws light
to itself, meaning that it
has a look not so much
of utter blackness, but of
growing, solid shadow.
Humour: The Zeky
dont have any defining humour. A Zeka can
be governed by any of
the five humours. The
difference is that the
Zekas humour is always
radioactive and tainted.
The humour is cancerous in some way. Choler
takes on a sick, slightly
depraved bent to it. A
Zeka with a sanguine
humour is possessed of
extreme appetites. A
phlegmatic Zeka exhibits a morbid fascination
with the horrors he sees. One ruled by melancholy

is prone to depression and self-loathing. The intuitive elements of an ectoplasmic humour appear in a
Zeka as crazed leaps of logic, not so much intuitive
as simply ill.
Element: The Zekas element is tied to his humour, and carries with it the same taint, thanks to
his radioactive Azoth.
Bestowment: Re-Animator, Victim Shadow or
Radioactive Affinity (choose one at character
creation)
Refinements: Perhaps because of the radioactive,
mutagenic properties of Flux, the Zeka find it easiest to practice Centimanus. In fact, they find it as
easy to fall into and as difficult to leave as other
Prometheans find Stannum (see Promethean: The
Created, p. 49). Stannum, on the other hand, is no
easier to join or practice for them than any other
Refinement.
Having said that, some have at times practiced
Stannum, and practiced it well. Rage seems to come
easily to the Children of the Bomb. Likewise, a Zeka
who wishes nothing more than to be left alone could
easily fall into the practice of Cuprum, preferring
to hide and attempt some sort of communion with
the natural world she is capable of harming so disastrously.
A Zeka could conceivably practice Mercurius or
Ferrum. The examination and perfection of his condition, speaking either physically or supernaturally,
could prove a useful pursuit for a Zeka who wishes
to know exactly what he is.
Aurum holds very little attraction for the Zeka.
Unlike many other Prometheans, the Zeka are all
openly disfigured in some way by their radioactive
Azoth. Trying to fit in to human society is even
more of a struggle for the Zeka than it is for other
Lineages.
Character Creation: The Zeky tend to live hard,
isolated lives, and this means that Physical Attributes
and Skills are usually primary, although one or two
favor Mental Skills. Theres no real Virtue or Vice
that defines the Zeky, although a Zeka tends to be
defined more by her Vice than by her Virtue. Most
Zeky have the Unpalatable Aura Merit.
Concepts: Disaster survivor, conspiracy freak,

hermit, firefighter, slightly deranged physicist, encounter group tourist
Quote: Oppenheimer had no idea what he was talking
about. But I can become death so very easily.
Stereotypes
Frankenstein: You whine and whine and whine.
You have no idea what its like. You have it so
damned easy. Do you have any idea how much
I go through? Do you? Well, do you? You do?
Youre lying. Youre a liar.
Galatea: No. Dont be scared. Im not going to
hurt you. I just want to touch you. It wont hurt.
It wont.
Osiris: Youve been prattling about life and
death for about an hour now. You havent actually said anything that makes a shred of difference to me.
Tammuz: Yes, they made you to be a slave and
they made me to be a slave, but face it: youre
still a slave. I could be one of the masters if I
wanted to be. I could.
Ulgan: Youre wasting your time with illusions.
You wont find the world to come there.
***
Vampires: Like me, you are a disease. But
youre nowhere near as virulent.
Werewolves: You could survive me. Please

dont run!
Mages: Your science, your studies are obsolete.

You are not the future. You never were.
Mortals: I sometimes think that you only exist

to impress on me how much I dont have. How
much I can never have.
THE NUCLEAR CONDITION|REGAINING PYROS
The Nuclear
Condition
The Pyros animates the Zeky, just as it does every Promethean. With the Zeky, however, the Pyros uses nuclear
energy as its vehicle. Because of this, a Zeka differs from
other Prometheans in a number of ways.
Electricity and Radiation
Unlike other Prometheans, electricity has no effect at

all on the Zeky. A Zeka isnt harmed by electricity, but he
doesnt gain any benet from it either.
On the other hand, while other Prometheans have a small
amount of protection from damage caused by harmful radiation, radiation doesnt harm a Zeka at all, and is as benecial
to him as electricity is to other Prometheans.
In game terms, a Zeka heals wounds from radiation damage in the same way that other Prometheans heal using
electricity.
If the radiation source emits radiation of Intensity 0 or
, it causes bashing damage. Each point of damage caused by
this source heals one point of bashing damage. Two points
of bashing damage from this source heal one point of lethal
damage. Three points of bashing damage heal one point of
aggravated damage.
If the radiation source emits radiation of Intensity or
, it causes lethal damage. Each point of damage caused by
this source heals one point of lethal damage or one point
of bashing damage. Two points are needed to heal a point
of aggravated damage.
If the radiation source emits radiation of Intensity
or , it causes aggravated damage. Each point of damage
caused by this source heals one point of damage, whether
aggravated, lethal or bashing.
A Zeka cant heal from radiation that hes created himself
due to his powers or his Wasteland. The radiation has to
come from a source outside of himself. If the Zeka has the
Radioactive Afnity Bestowment (see p. 87), he can also
regain Pyros from radiation damage.
Obviously, radioactive materials are hard to come by. Some
Zeky try to stay in places with at least a little background
radiation. Others are, by necessity very cautious about staying out of trouble. A cornered Zeka ghts hard, desperate to
stay intact, because unlike other Prometheans in the modern
age, healing doesnt come easily for the Zeky.
Regaining Pyros
A Zeka regains Pyros in the same ways as other Prometheans do, although he does not gain a point of Pyros
from experiencing a thunderstorm. He can gain one point
of Pyros a night from sleeping next to any source of radiation (including microwaves, electromagnetic radiation and
radio waves), whether it causes damage or not, meaning that
working or faulty microwave ovens and mobile telephone

masts are fair game. Just as other Prometheans, a Zeka regains
a point of Pyros from conversing for an hour or more with
humans and a point on waking up in the morning.
Bestowments,
Transmutations and
Refinements
Just as other Prometheans, the Zeky take one Bestowment

(see p. 85 below) and can buy others as Transmutations.
The Zeky are skilled in the use of Irradiation Transmutations. A Promethean normally has access to two lists of
Afnity Transmutations appropriate to his Renement, from
which he can buy Transmutations at level x 5 experience
points. No matter what Renement he practices, a Zeka
denes himself more by his afnity with the atom than with
any specic approach to the Pilgrimage. Because of this, a
Zeka character can choose to take Irradiation instead of
one Renement Afnity Transmutation list. For example,
the Afnity Transmutation lists for Aurum are Deception
and Mesmerism. A Zeka character might choose to forgo
the cost break on Mesmerism, and instead take Irradiation
and Deception as his Afnity Transmutation lists. Hell
still have to pay level x 7 experience points for Mesmerism
Transmutations, but hell be able to buy Irradiation Transmutations more cheaply.
A Zeka doesnt have to do this, and any time he changes
Renement, he can make the choice whether or not to
forgo the cost break on one of the Afnity Transmutation
lists in favor of Irradiation.
The exception to this is the Centimani. A Zeka Centimanus gets to buy both Pandoran Transmutations and Irradiation
Transmutations at level x 5 experience points.
Atomic Torment
When Torment rst overwhelms a Zeka, it can be a terrible thing to witness. Zeka Torment causes a Child of the
Bomb to explode into horrendous violence. Torment drives
a Zeka is to destroy and to kill, no more, no less, with no
regard for whom is in the path. Friends, loved ones, enemies
and complete strangers are in terrible danger.
Above all, Torment drives the Zeka to expend as much Pyros as possible, as quickly as possible, fueling Transmutations,
increasing Attributes, using Bestowments. The player of a
Zeka in the throes of Torment must spend at least one Pyros
every turn, until there is none left to spend. The Divine Fire
gutters and sparks as it does with all Prometheans, meaning that all Pyros costs are still one higher than usual (see
Promethean: The Created, p. 182). This means that a Zeka
goes through her Pyros store extremely quickly.
One Zeka might murder a half a dozen people and use
the Re-Animator Bestowment to raise them all as zombies,
sending them to kill anyone they meet. Another might use
Vulcanus and Irradiation Transmutations to raze buildings
81

to the ground and inict terrible burns on anyone who gets
in her way.
The urge to destroy continues for one minute per point
of Azoth, or until all of the Zekas Pyros is used up, whichever comes last. After that, the Zeka collapses into a state
of listlessness and guilt for a number of hours equal to her
dots of Azoth. Just as other Prometheans, shes unable to
spend or regain Willpower. She also suffers a 2 dice penalty
to Resolve for this period, which covers Resolve used in
dice pools, and as a Resistance Attribute subtracted from
attacking characters dice pools.
Atomic Wastelands
At rst, the radioactive Azoth of the Children of the Bomb

doesnt so much taint the land as bathe it, feeding it with
mutagenic power, before destroying it utterly. Animals leave
the area, if they can. Only the bugs thrive. An innitesimally
thin layer of ne gray dust covers everything.
Perhaps, if the Zeky were to multiply, the whole world
could look like this.
Stage Two Plants begin to grow, quickly, but this apparent ourishing is an illusion. Leaves and owers come
out disgured, with too many petals, strange colorations or
strangely stunted and half-formed. Small animals and birds
die. Although the sky is gray, the temperature is high, and
the half-obscured sun beats down hard. No rain falls.
82
The gray dust gets everywhere, even in places that would

otherwise be hermetically sealed.
Stage Three Plants begin to die off, as pathetic, mutated foliage withers away, choked with dust and unable to
photosynthesize through deformed leaves. Animals, too, lie
down and die. Birds ying overhead fall from the sky. At
this stage, contaminated organic material becomes inedible for even Prometheans. A Promethean who eats a dead
animal or stuffs his mouth with leaves nds that he derives
no nourishment from it, and a few hours later throws it all
back up again. The Zeky, on the other hand, are perfectly
content with such a repast.
The gray dust begins to cover everything thickly. Insects
and arachnids, particularly cockroaches, swarm everywhere.
Theyre ugly and deformed, having missing legs, extra heads
and strangely shaped, perhaps unusable wings
Background radiation rises in the area. It has Intensity 0
and Damage equal to the Prometheans Azoth 3 (minimum of 1).
Stage Four The clouds roll in, obscuring sun and moon
to the extent that theres no longer any difference between
day and night. It becomes cold, and within a day, a heavy
fall of snow and ash covers everything.
Cockroaches and termites build huge mounds of this material,
and begin to scavenge things they wouldnt normally dare to
touch, maybe even attacking humans and Prometheans.
THE PILGRIMAGE AND REDEMPTION

The background radiation now has Intensity and Damage equal to the Prometheans Azoth.
Attack of the Atomic

Flesh-Eating Roaches!
Roaches dont normally attack people, and
theyre not really swarming animals. The varieties
of termites and ants found in Europe and North
America, while they do swarm, dont generally
attack people. But when something as bizarre as a
Zeka comes into the equation, all bets are off. Impelled to eat flesh by the effect of the Wasteland,
or by the Lord of the Roaches Transmutation
(p. 90), they suddenly become vicious and very
dangerous.
Rules for swarms can be found in Promethean:
The Created, p. 239.
Nuclear Disquiet
The Zeky cause Disquiet the same as any other Promethean,

but their own particular manifestation presents itself as unreasoning fear. To begin with, a human who meets a Zeka gets
scared. The Zeka is intimidating. Hes strange and different.
He could be capable of anything. People who deal with the
Zeka appease her as much as they can and then try to get
out of her way as soon as is possible. They certainly wont
allow their kids talk to her. Afterwards, theyll wonder what
was so frightening about this person.
After a while, they begin to imagine that the Zeka really
is the sort of person who has already done something violent
or perverse or is somehow infected with a disease of some
kind. One person thinks maybe that shes a terrorist, or some
sort of agent of an oppressive government. Paranoia begins
to strike people. Perhaps the Zeka isnt alone! Perhaps shes
the rst vanguard of some invasion.
People affected by Disquiet begin to accuse other people
of being in league with the stranger. They begin to suspect
a conspiracy. There havent been Reds under the bed for
years, but there are other fears these days, which are just as
irrational, just as dangerous: perhaps its the terrorists, and
theyre staging an invasion. Perhaps its the Europeans.
Perhaps its the Muslim community over in the next street.
Perhaps its the black people from the projects. Any human
group that elicits irrational fear is fair game.
It doesnt have to be a fear of something human. Maybe
its something weirder, such as an alien invasion, or of the
End Times, and the Thralls of the Beast.
People under the pall of Disquiet begin to examine every
quirk of behavior in their acquaintances, friends and loved
ones. Meanwhile, the stranger in the center of it all is still

there, still making her sinister presence felt.
Eventually, panic turns into a desperate desire to do
something about it. Maybe there are witch hunts, either
metaphorical or actual. Maybe the area dissolves into small
enclaves, who hold all the others in suspicion. At some point,
the paranoia breaks into panic, and panic into violence.
The one gure that everyone agrees is at fault, the Zeka,
becomes the target of panicky mob violence. She could well
be lucky to get out alive.
Throngs
Its not easy for a Zeka to join a throng, but its possible. If
a group of ordinary Prometheans can get past the difference
of the Zeka, a Zeka could become one of their companions
on the Pilgrimage for a time.
It doesnt mean its going to be easy. The Zeky have the
added problem that they make others lives as difcult as
their own, just by being there.
For example, the itinerant nature of a Promethean throng
is pretty likely to be compounded. If a throng stays in any
area for too long, the Zekas colleagues might nd that theres
suddenly nothing in the area they can eat.
The vicissitudes of the Pilgrimage pose other problems.
Other Prometheans can heal easily. All most Prometheans
need to do is just climb up an electricity pylon and make
a connection or smash open a power outlet and grab hold
of the wires. Meanwhile, if the Zeka wants to heal fast, she
needs to nd a source of radiation, which is potentially lethal
to her friends. A Zeka in a throng either has to drag her
friends from radioactive hazard to radioactive hazard, or be
very careful about the dangers she experiences.
Sleeping overnight next to a source of radiation is easier.
There are many sources of radiation that dont hurt anyone
(or havent been proved to hurt anyone). For example, mobile
phones give off tiny amounts of microwave radiation. Its not
enough to harm anyone, but a Zeka who sleeps at the base
of a mobile phone mast would regain that point of Pyros.
Sleeping next to a microwave oven set to run for an hour or
so after she drops off also supplies that point of Pyros.
Zeka in throngs can, of course, also gain Pyros from their
friends, although the Zeky will have to reciprocate on occasion. Other Prometheans nd that Pyros taken from a Zeka
itches and burns slightly.
The Pilgrimage
and Redemption
The Zeky are few, and so far, not one of them has achieved
the Magnum Opus.
This doesnt mean its impossible. The truth is, the Zeky
can attain Mortality. Although the temptations of Centimani and the Humanity-eroding qualities of some of the
Irradiation Transmutations make it easy to stray from the
path, the rewards are great.
83

The risks are greater.
The fact is, the radiation saturating the Zekas body is
likely lethal to a human. The more powerful the Zeka, the
more dangerous the radiation is. A Zeka who becomes human must be able to weather the ravages of the radiation
that formerly empowered him.
When a Zeka succeeds in becoming human, the character takes
damage from the radiation left behind by his Azoth. The radiation has
an Intensity equal to the Prometheans Azoth (or , if the Promethean
has more than ve dots of Azoth) and a damage bonus equal to 10 the
Prometheans Humanity rating.
For example, if the former Promethean who had four
dots of Azoth and a Humanity of 5, the player rolls nine
dice, minus the new humans Stamina score. Because the
radiation has an Intensity of , the radiation damage is
aggravated.
Theres a good chance that a Zeka, particularly a powerful one, who reaches the end of the Pilgrimage, could die
moments (or a few days or hours) after becoming human.
It might well be worth it.
Sample Nuclear Milestones
Recovering from a mortal wound the hard way (not

using radiation).
Finding other Prometheans who accept the Zeka as
one of their own.
Going without any contact with radiation for a week
or more.
Meeting and combating a Zeka who has abandoned
the Pilgrimage.
Meeting one of the Zeka Progenitors.
Visiting the site of an atomic explosion (including a
test site).
Visiting the site of a nuclear accident, and recognizing
the human cost.
Causing a Wasteland to rise enough that even other
Prometheans nd it inhospitable.
Learning that Redemption might be fatal, and pursuing
it anyway.
Athanors
So far, none of the surviving Zeka have created Athanors.

This doesnt mean that an enterprising Child of the Bomb
couldnt learn how to invest Vitriol and create Reagent. It
just needs the right Promethean and the right concept. Two
possible concepts for Zeka Athanors follow.
Cockroach Survival
(Zeka)
Cockroaches can survive nearly anywhere. Legend has it that they even have it
in them to survive a nuclear holocaust.
The Zeka creating the Athanor of
the Cockroach accepts difculties and
84
hardships. He ghts through to the end, no matter what

the cost.
Trait Afnities: Stamina, Survival
Promethean Boon: The character gets one extra Health
dot.
Further, the Zeka can spend one Reagent to gain one
point of armor. The Zeka can only get one point of armor
this way. It lasts until the end of the scene, and appears as
a thin, blackish carapace across the Zekas esh when his
disgurements are visible.
Redeemed Boon: The character retains the extra Health
dot.
Machine Service
(Zeka)
The robot of science ction and automotive factory alike is made to serve, and
serve it does, without thought, following simple rules that allows it to protect
and obey.
The Zeky were created to be a quintessentially selfish force of destruction. By
sublimating his own desires and becoming the willing
servant of his friends, the Zeka creating the Athanor of
the Machine hopes to offset some of his curse, becoming
stoic and quiet, like a machine, albeit a machine that can
be repaired and improved.
Trait Afnities: Stamina, Strength
Promethean Boon: The Promethean gains the benet of
the 9 again rule when following an order that benets another
individual, or when performing any action that directly
protects another individual from violence or harm.
The Promethean can also spend Reagent to heal his own
injuries. Each point of Reagent spent in this way heals one
point of damage, whether bashing, lethal or aggravated.
Redeemed Boon: The character continues to enjoy
the benet of the 9 again rule when following orders and
protecting others.
Tales of the Bomb

Story Hooks
The Eye of the Storm: A throng of Prometheans are

trapped in a severe Zeka Wasteland. Swarms of esh-eating
roaches, dead men and possibly even giant bugs attack the
Prometheans. In the center of it all is a Zeka who claims
that she is not the culprit, and that something far worse is
here. The question is, what is it? And can they trust the
Zeka theyve just met?
Reds Under the Bed: A Promethean throng suddenly nd
themselves in the middle of a town seized by mass hysteria. The
people believe that theyre in the middle of a terrorist attack.
The cause is, of course, a Zekas Disquiet. The Zeka, appearing to
be blameless, approaches the characters and asks for their help.
Theres an army base not far from the town. The Zeka claims that
BESTOWMENTS
he needs to free his friends from the base, where the paranoid
military have imprisoned them. The irony is that there really is
going to be an attack, and the Zeka really is behind it. For a few
days, a convoy of atomic warheads is being stored in the base,
en route for decommissioning. The monster is planning to break
into the installation and set them off, the friends he would
set free. When will the characters get wise to him? And will
it be too late? The characters have to deal with a treacherous
monster, paranoid locals and twitchy soldiers as the characters
try to avert a minor apocalypse of their own.
Choices: A throng including a Zeka character (possibly
one who recently has taken a severe injury) meets another
Zeka. This Child of the Bomb is planning to cause a nuclear
accident on scale with the Chernobyl accident, in an area
full of people who have caused the troupes throng a great
deal of pain and injury. The other Zeka, who is powerful and
deadly, approaches the throng, and asks them if they want
to join him. The characters should make the right choice,
but what will be the consequences of the choice? The other
Zeka, a Centimanus, has Pandorans and zombies on his side.
The characters could nd themselves hunted, desperately
trying to stop the disaster, perhaps even facing the hostility
of the people theyre trying to save at the same time.
Bestowments
The unpredictable nature of the atom reects itself in the
wide variation of innate abilities that the small number of
Zeky reveals.
A Zeka character, just as any Promethean, receives one
Bestowment at character creation. The Zekas player can
choose any one of these Bestowments, or create an entirely
new one, using these and other Bestowments found in Promethean: The Created and its supplements as guidelines.
Similar to other Prometheans, a Zekas player can choose
to buy Bestowments as Transmutations. Other Prometheans
can also buy these Bestowments.
Re-Animator
Rumors persist that the esh-eating radioactive zombies of

the movies may in fact be real. The legends of the Nuclear
Prometheans have been linked with these stories. The very few
Prometheans who have met a Zeka (and their acquaintances
and their acquaintances-of-acquaintances) tell of corpses rising,
shambling to the creatures side and obeying his commands.
The stories are, in some cases, true. A Zeka with this
Bestowment can give a sort of revolting half-life to the
cadaver of someone killed by radiation, by a radioactive
weapon, or by a Zekas Transmutations.
Cost: 4 Pyros
Action: Instant
Transmutation Cost: Azoth x 7
When the Zeka uses this power, he attempts to raise a
single corpse as a zombie. The person must have died at
least partly as the result of a radioactive source, which may

or may not have been one of the Zekas own powers.
The rst time a character with a Humanity of 5 or higher
uses this Bestowment in a scene, the player must make a
degeneration roll (three dice).
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Zeka fails to raise the corpse.
Furthermore, if the Zeka has any other zombies that are still
active, the Pyros animating them sputters and dies. They
all stop moving, and cannot be animated again. The Pyros
spent on the corpse is wasted.
Failure: Nothing happens. The corpse cannot be reanimated. If the Promethean wants to make a zombie, the
Promethean must nd another body. The Pyros spent on
the corpse is still wasted.
Success: The body rises as a slightly radioactive zombie.
It obeys simple commands. The Promethean can add any
successes rolled to the zombies traits, dividing them among
Power, Finesse and Resistance (see below). The zombie is
not intelligent. It can follow simple commands to stay, leave,
fetch, carry, attack or stop attacking, but thats it. In order to
make a zombie obey a simple command, the Prometheans
player must roll Presence + Composure.
Exceptional Success: The Promethean creates a hungry,
infectious zombie whose bite has the potential to cause
other humans to rise as similarly infectious zombies. This
might not necessarily be a good thing. A zombie plague can
quickly get out of hand.
Other Prometheans can buy this Bestowment as a Transmutation,
but a Promethean character must have had some sort of exposure to
dangerous radiation before his player can purchase it.
Prometheans who take on this power gain a slightly radioactive
quality to their esh. A Galateids skin might begin to glow in
the dark slightly, while a Tammuz could nd that the earth on his
skin has, in places, been burnt into tiny crystals of black glass. An
Osirans corpse-like visage could become even drier. The darkness
that leaks through an Ulgans rents becomes more tangible and
covers more of her body. A Frankenstein could discover that
some of his eshy components seem to have developed sore,
hard lumps and tumors.
Looks, Brains and Everything

Each zombie created by the Re-Animator Bestowment
has the following base traits:
Attributes: Power 1, Finesse 1, Resistance 2

Size: 5 (or less if the corpse is small, such as a childs or
animals)
Speed: Equal to the lower of Finesse or Power
Initiative: Equal to Finesse
Defense: A zombie has no survival instinct whatsoever, and
doesnt know how to block attacks or dodge. Its Defense is
always 0.
Health: Equal to Resistance (Size doesnt get added)
Zombies do not possess Willpower or Morality.
85

For every success the Prometheans player rolls, the player
can choose to assign points on a one-for-one basis to the
zombies Attributes. For example, if the player rolls four successes, he might choose to put one in Power, one in Finesse
and two in Resistance.
In combat, a radioactive zombie usually attacks with its sts,
rolling Power + Finesse and inicting bashing damage.
If the Prometheans player rolls an exceptional success on her
Bestowment roll, the zombie is constantly hungry and has an
infectious bite. The zombies player adds +2 to attack dice pools
and still inicts bashing damage. Any human, werewolf or mage
character killed by an infectious zombie rises as an infectious
zombie in three turns. A zombie werewolf is stuck in human
form and has no powers. A zombie mage has no more powers
than any other corpse. A vampire destroyed by a zombie just
crumbles to dust hes dead already.
Zombies dont suffer wound penalties and cant heal damage.
They take bashing, lethal and aggravated wounds in the same
way as any other character, but its impossible to incapacitate
a zombie it just keeps on going until its last Health point is
lost to aggravated damage. Theres never any need to roll to see
if a zombie falls unconscious or starts bleeding to death. Just as
with any other character, if all of a zombies Health boxes are
lled with lethal damage, any further damage upgrades to aggravated damage.
When a zombie starts taking aggravated damage, the zombie
loses a body part with each wound it takes. When all of the
zombies Health boxes are lled with aggravated damage, its
completely pulverized, reduced to hunks of rotting esh on the
ground.
An active zombie continues to rot. It suffers one lethal point
of damage after a number of days equal to its Resistance have
passed. For example, a zombie with a Resistance of 3 takes one
lethal point of rotting damage every three days. When the zombie
completely falls apart, it stops moving, and the Promethean needs
to nd himself another body.
Zombies created by this Bestowment are extremely vulnerable
to damage to the head. If a zombie suffers at least one lethal or
aggravated point of damage from an attack to the head, it is destroyed instantly (aiming an attack at the head incurs a 3 dice
pool penalty; see Specied Targets, the World of Darkness
Rulebook, p. 165).
Victim Shadow
When the rst atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,

the force of the blasts instantly annihilated those close to the
blasts. All that was left of many people and objects were shadows, etched into the bricks and concrete of the cities. Today,
anti-nuclear campaigners sometimes paint human silhouettes
on the outer walls of buildings in cities around the world, as a
reminder of what nuclear proliferation really means.
Stories surrounding the Nuclear Promethean sometimes
mention these silhouettes appearing on walls where this strange,
lonely Promethean has walked. One version says that the Child
86
RADIOACTIVE AFFINITY|TRANSMUTATIONS
of the Bomb paints these gures on to the walls of the buildings
near where he makes his lair, as a warning, a unique and extreme
kind of Pilgrim Mark.
Another story goes that when the Nuclear Promethean makes
his lair, these gures spontaneously appear. Theyre a reminder,
the account goes, of the people who died because of him. They
follow him around.
Yet another tells of how the Nuclear Promethean can become
an atomic shadow, burning his body into the earth and concrete
so that all thats visible is a scorched silhouette.
Cost: 1 Pyros
Action: Instant
Transmutation Cost: Stamina x 7
With this Bestowment, the Promethean can vanish into the
ground, with no evidence that he was ever there other than
a scorched shadow burned onto the stone. The Zeka must be
standing beside or lying on concrete, asphalt, brick or stone.
The player rolls Stamina + Azoth.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Promethean cannot use this power
again for 24 hours. The Pyros is wasted.
Failure: The Promethean cannot meld with this patch of
earth, and must nd another patch. The Pyros is wasted.
Success: The Promethean vanishes into the stone, becoming a
vaguely humanoid scorch mark. As a shadow, the Zeka doesnt cause
Disquiet or the Wasteland effect. The Zeka isnt aware of whats going
on around her when shes in shadow form, although if someone approaches her who isnt a member of her Branded throng (if any) the
player can roll make a reexive roll of Wits + Azoth for the Promethean
to become aware that someone is there. If she wishes to know more
than that, she must change back into esh.
Exceptional Success: The Promethean becomes a shadow
in the ground, but remains aware of the immediate area (about
a 10-foot radius around her). She can also see perfectly into
Twilight, although she cannot interact with any ghosts or spirits
that may be nearby.
A side effect of this Bestowment appears when the Wasteland
of a Promethean with this Bestowment reaches the second stage,
scorched nuclear shadows do indeed spontaneously appear on
walls, roads and stone.
A Promethean from another Lineage who buys this power
as a Transmutation takes on something of the characteristics
of the nuclear shadow. A Galateid or a Tammuz takes on a
scorched look when her disgurements show. An Ulgan nds
the shadows that leak from his esh staining the edges of the
joins and scars that crisscross his body. A Frankenstein or an
Osiran nds that shadows gather around him more readily, even
in the brightest of light.
Radioactive Affinity
The Zeky channel radiation through their bodies to heal in

the same way that other Prometheans channel electricity. A
Zeka with this power can also use radiation to empower herself
above and beyond a simple healing of injuries.
A Zeka with this Bestowment also knows where to nd the elusive

radiation she needs to empower herself, becoming able to sniff out the
rare source of Pyros and healing across enormous distances.
Cost: None
Action: Reexive
Transmutation Cost: Azoth x 7
After having used radiation to heal, a Zeka with this Bestowment can continue to bathe in the energy, allowing her to
regenerate Pyros, too. For each point of radioactive damage
the fully healed Zeka takes (whether aggravated, lethal or bashing), the character gains one point of Pyros.
This power is always in effect. The player cannot choose to
gain Pyros rst: the radioactive damage rst heals the characters
wounds and then grants extra Pyros. The sensation of gaining
power from radioactive materials is powerful and ecstatic.
Just as any other Promethean, a Zeka cant absorb more Pyros than
her Azoth allows. If the radiation damage would supply more Pyros
than the Prometheans Azoth can contain, the player must make a
reexive roll of Resolve + Composure each turn. If the roll fails, the
character stays where she is, bathing in the radiation, unable to do
anything other than enjoy the sensation. Shes unable to use her
Defense and suffers a 2 dice pool penalty to all actions.
The Prometheans player can also make a reexive roll of Wits +
Composure once per scene, allowing him to divine the direction of
the nearest source of radiation within 100 miles per dot of Azoth the
character possesses. It doesnt matter whether the radiation is shielded or
not. Its not a matter of detecting the radiation; its a matter of it calling
to the character, speaking in his head, telling him where it is. The sure
knowledge of where the radiation source is fades after a scene.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Promethean believes that the nearest
source of radiation is in an entirely erroneous direction. It might
not be the opposite direction: if the source is far enough away, a
mistake of even a few degrees can mean a huge detour.
Failure: The Promethean cant divine the existence of any
source of radiation.
Success: The Zeka knows the exact direction to travel in
order to nd the radiation source.
Exceptional Success: The Promethean doesnt only know
the direction; he knows how far he has to travel, as well.
Prometheans of other Lineages can buy this Bestowment, but
a Promethean who does becomes unable to heal wounds using
electricity, only being able to heal through taking damage from
radiation, just as a Zeka. In fact, any other Promethean who
purchases this power becomes slightly radioactive himself, not
to a dangerous extent, but enough to set off Geiger counters
and other detection devices when in their proximity.
Transmutations
As mentioned above, a Zeka can choose to take Irradiation
as an Afnity Transmutation list instead of one of the lists
normally available to his Renement, or, if hes practicing
Centimanus, in addition to Pandoran Transmutations.
87

Other Prometheans can learn Irradiation Transmutations,
but a non-Zeka Prometheans player must roll for Humanity
loss (three dice) the rst time a character uses an Irradiation
Transmutation in any given scene.
Irradiation
The bomb and the Divine Fire gave the rst Nuclear Promethean
his power, and the Irradiation Transmutations are as much inuenced
by the action of the Pyros as they are by atomic energy. One theory
states that the Pyros captures human imagination. If thats true, these
Transmutations are evidence of that, since they capture the spirit of the
nuclear age, making possible horrors that would otherwise only be the
province of science ction.
When a Promethean performs an Irradiation Transmutation, he glows slightly. Some Transmutations in the
list create a brief ash of light, akin to the blue ash that
occurs when two bars of radioactive metal are brought to
criticality.
Flashburn ()
A single ash of radioactive energy can give a human a

sensation akin to sunburn. Similar to sunburn, the skin itches
and peels, which can be distracting and uncomfortable.
Cost: 1 Pyros
Dice Pool: Dexterity + Medicine victims Stamina +
Azoth
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Promethean wastes the Pyros and
suffers the effects of the Transmutation himself, no longer
beneting from the 10 again rule on non-combat actions
for a number of turns equal to his Azoth.
Failure: The Promethean fails to gain any successes. The
Pyros is wasted.
Success: The targets exposed skin reddens and becomes sore.
The target loses the benet of the 10 again rule for a number of
turns equal to the number of successes the player rolled.
Exceptional Success: No additional benets.
Conceal Radiation ()
Sometimes it serves a Zeka well to hide the fact that

he, his Wasteland or something he has in his possession
is radioactive. This power allows a Promethean to do just
that, although it doesnt change the actual radiation that
the target emits.
Cost: 1 Pyros
Dice Pool: Wits + Science
Action: Instant
The Promethean can choose one object or person (whom
he must touch to activate the power) as a target for this power.
Alternatively, he can use this power on his Wasteland.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The object, person or place appears
more radioactive to detection equipment, perhaps danger-
88
ously so, although it hasnt in fact increased the amount of

radiation it emits. The Pyros spent is wasted.
Pyros is wasted.
Success: The target doesnt appear to be radioactive. Geiger counters, other detection equipment and Prometheans
with the Radioactive Afnity Bestowment cant detect any
radiation coming from the target for the rest of the scene.
Exceptional Success: The target doesnt appear to give
off radiation until the following sunrise.
Suggested Modiers: Large Wasteland (1 per mile radius)
Reduce Radiation ( to )
These three Transmutations must be bought in sequence.

A Promethean who knows these powers can reduce the
amount of background radiation in an area or object.
A Promethean can affect an area with a radius equal to
his Azoth in yards or less. Affecting a larger area imposes a
1 die modier for every 10 yards in radius.
Cost: 1 Pyros
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Promethean fails so badly that
for the rest of the scene, the Intensity of radiation coming
from the target or target area increases by one dot. The
Pyros is wasted.
Failure: The Pyros is wasted.
Success: The Promethean reduces the Intensity of radiation in the target or target area by one dot for every dot
in the Transmutation. A character with more than one of
these Transmutations doesnt have to use the most powerful
version he has if he doesnt want to.
Exceptional Success: The Promethean reduces the radiation Intensity by an extra dot, on top of the usual reduction
for success.
Blast ()
This Transmutation gives the Promethean the power

to produce a blast of radioactive energy from his hands,
although at this level, the power doesnt further irradiate
the target beyond the damage it does.
Cost: 1 Pyros
Dice Pool: Stamina + Azoth victims Stamina + Azoth
Action: Instant
The Promethean must touch the target for this power
to take effect.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The power sputters and zzles. The
Promethean cant attempt to use the power again for the
rest of the scene.
Pyros is wasted.
IRRADIATION
Success: The Promethean causes one point of bashing

damage to the target for every success rolled.
Exceptional Success: As for success, but the Promethean
causes lethal damage.
Blue Flash ()
With this Transmutation, the Promethean can create a

ash of light, exactly like that created by a small criticality
accident, which momentarily blinds the target.
Cost: 1 Pyros
Dice Pool: Presence + Science victims Stamina
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Promethean himself suffers the
effects of the Transmutation.
Pyros is wasted.
Success: The victim is blinded for one turn for every
success the Prometheans player rolls. See Fighting Blind,
the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 166, for the penalties
this incurs.
Irradiate ( to )
These four Transmutations must be bought in sequence.

A Promethean who knows these powers can increase the
amount of background radiation in an area or object.

A Promethean can affect an area with a radius equal to
his Azoth in yards or less. Affecting a larger area imposes a
1 die modier for every 10 yards in radius.
Cost: 1 Pyros
Action: Instant
The Promethean can affect an object or person of up
to Size 7 without any modier. Affecting an area becomes
progressively more difcult.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Promethean fails so badly that
for the rest of the scene, the Intensity of radiation coming
from the target or target area reduces by one dot. The Pyros
is wasted.
Failure: The Pyros is wasted.
Success: The Promethean increases the Intensity of
radiation in the target or target area by up to one dot for
every dot in the Transmutation, minus one (for example,
the two dot version of this Transmutation increases Intensity
by one dot, and so on). A character with more than one of
these Transmutations doesnt have to use the most powerful
version he has if he doesnt want to.
Exceptional Success: The Promethean increases the radiation Intensity by an extra dot, on top of the usual increase
for success, to maximum of ve dots.
89
Fallout ()
The Promethean causes a layer of radioactive gray dust

to appear in the wind. The dust burns and sickens anyone
it comes into contact with.
Prerequisite: Blast ()
Cost: 1 Pyros
Dice Pool: Stamina + Science
Action: Instant
The Promethean stands at the center of the cloud of dust
he creates, and is immune to the effect of his own power. The
cloud has a radius equal to the characters Azoth in yards.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The dust appears in the Prometheans
throat, choking him. The player misses the next turn due
to coughing, and suffers a 2 dice penalty to all dice pools
for a number of turns after that equal to the characters
Azoth dots.
Pyros is wasted.
Success: The dust causes choking and burning. It causes one
point of bashing damage to everyone caught inside the cloud
for every success rolled. Worse, characters without some kind
of protection (and who need to breathe) choke on the dust. A
character caught in the cloud loses his next action due to coughing, and suffers a 2 dice penalty to all dice pools for a number of
turns after that equal to the Azoth of the Promethean.
Lord of the Roaches ()
Cockroaches caught in a Zeka Wasteland behave in a

strange, hostile fashion. This power enables a Promethean to
preempt that, calling a swarm of hostile, irradiated roaches
that will attack anyone the Promethean directs it toward.
This Transmutation is similar to the Demons Call Pandoran Transmutation, (see Promethean: The Created, p. 238),
although it is easier to use and has no cost. The Promethean
always calls a swarm of roaches, and there dont actually need
to be roaches in the immediate area for the Transmutation to
work. They just appear, crawling out of the earth. Further, the
Promethean is assumed to automatically have a connection with
cockroaches, and doesnt need to see one or to have had any
contact with one to be able to activate this Transmutation.
Cost: None
Dice Pool: Presence + Stamina + Animal Ken
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: A two-yard swarm of roaches appear,
but it attacks the Promethean.
Failure: One or two cockroaches crawl out of the
ground, but no more than that. They wander off after a
few seconds.
Success: The Promethean calls a swarm of roaches with a radius
of one yard for every success gained (see Swarms, Promethean:
The Created, p. 239). The swarm follows the orders of the Pro-
90
methean, attacking or withdrawing at his behest until destroyed

or until the end of the scene, at which point it disperses.
Exceptional Success: No further effects.
Sicken ()
The Promethean with this Transmutation learns how to

inict some of the symptoms of mild radiation sickness on
a target. The character must touch the target to use this
Transmutation.
Cost: 1 Pyros
Dice Pool: Presence + Science victims Stamina +
Azoth
Action: Instant and Contested
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Promethean feels ill himself,
and suffers a 1 die penalty to dice pools for the rest of the
scene.
Pyros is wasted.
Success: The victim suffers from vomiting, nausea and skin
lesions. The disease causes one automatic point of bashing damage for every success the Prometheans player rolls. Once a day
after that, it continues to inict that amount of bashing damage
unless the victims player can succeed on a reexive, extended
Stamina + Resolve roll. When the victims player has rolled a
total of 15 successes, the victim has shaken the disease from
his system and no longer suffers the symptoms of the disease or
the damage (see Resisting Poison and Disease, the World of
Darkness Rulebook, p. 49).
Swift Malignancy ()
With this Transmutation, the Promethean can give a

living being a lethal case of cancer. The victim of this terrible power suddenly develops swiftly growing tumors all
over his body.
Prerequisite: Sicken ()
Cost: 2 Pyros
Dice Pool: Stamina + Science vs. victims Stamina
This power works on ordinary humans, mages and werewolves, but not on vampires.
If the Promethean using this power (including a Zeka) has
Humanity 4 or higher, the player must make a degeneration
roll (three dice).
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Prometheans body breaks out in
terrible, painful lesions. The player suffers a 1 die penalty
on all dice pools for the rest of the scene.
Failure: The Promethean fails to activate the power. The
Pyros is wasted.
Success: The victim suffers from a virulent, spreading long-term
cancer. The victim immediately suffers one point of lethal damage for
every success rolled. After that, the victim suffers the same amount of
IRRADIATION
damage once a month, unless the victims player manages to succeed
in a reexive, extended Stamina + Resolve roll. The victim ghts off
the disease if the players total successes add up to more than 30 before
the victim dies and if the character is receiving appropriate treatment
(chemo- and radiotherapy). Otherwise, the victim continues taking
the damage indenitely.
Exceptional Success: The damage inicted on the victim by
the rst roll is aggravated. All subsequent damage is lethal.
Talking Tumor ()
With this bizarre Transmutation, the Promethean causes

a hard tumor to grow somewhere within the victims body.
Working its way to the surface, the tumor grows a mouth,
through which the Promethean can talk to the target. A
person who has been the recipient of this power retains
traces of the contamination within himself, and becomes
much easier to contact.
Cost: 1 Pyros
Dice Pool: Presence + Science vs. victims Stamina +
Azoth
Action: Instant and contested
The Promethean needs to have spoken directly to the
victim at least once to be able to use this power. He doesnt
need to be in the victims presence at the moment he activates the power. If the target isnt within sight when the
Promethean uses this power, he still has to be within the
radius of the Prometheans Wasteland.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Promethean suddenly nds that
the esh of his own vocal cords has grown together. Hes
unable to talk for the rest of the scene.
Pyros is wasted.
Success: The target suffers one point of aggravated damage
as a small tumor grows somewhere in his body and wrenches
itself free from the place where it grew. It works its way to
the surface, burrowing through the esh that nurtured it.
The next turn, the Promethean can talk to the target, and
can continue to talk for a number of turns equal to the
number of successes rolled.
Exceptional Success: The tumor grows rudimentary
eardrums, meaning that the Promethean can also hear what
the target has to say.
Suggested Modiers: Promethean cant see the target
when using the power (1), Promethean is more than a
mile away from the target (4), Promethean has used this
power on the target before (+3)
Elevate Bugs ()
A Promethean with this power can imbue a simple ant,

termite or cockroach with enough Pyros to make it grow
to an impossible size.
Prerequisite: Lord of the Roaches ()
Cost: 3 Pyros
Dice Pool: Presence + Animal Ken

Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Prometheans Pyros surges accidentally, killing all the eligible bugs within a three-mile
radius.
Pyros is wasted.
Success: The bug grows to enormous size, and will obey
one simple command from the Promethean (usually Attack!). The giant bug dies at the end of the scene. This has
its own consequences, as giant bugs, even dead ones, create
a great deal of comment. Prudent Prometheans destroy or
hide the corpses of the giant bugs they make.
Exceptional Success: The bug obeys every command the
Promethean gives.
THEM!
Giant bugs have the following Traits:
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 0, Wits 1,
Res olve 0
Physical Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 3,
Stamina 5
Social Attributes: Presence 0, Manipulation 0,
Composure 0
Skills: Brawl 1, Survival 1
Willpower: 0
Initiative: 3
Defense: 3
Speed: 11 (species factor 5)
Size: 5
Weapons/Attacks:
Type
Damage
Dice Pool
Mandibles
2 (L)
Health: 10
Homonculus ()
This is the same as the four-dot Metamorphosis Transmutation (see Promethean: The Created, p. 133).
Brain Blight ()
The Promethean with this Transmutation can cause a

tumor to bond with his victims brain. The tumor grows a
91

sort of supplementary brain of its own, which seizes control of
the victims higher functions. The tumor shows up on x-rays
as a tumor of a size that should, by rights, kill the target.
The victim becomes the Prometheans slave, having no
choice but to obey the Prometheans commands. Similar
to the Talking Tumor Transmutation, this power leaves a
residue behind, allowing the Promethean to seize control of
the unfortunate far more easily on subsequent occasions.
The Promethean must be able to talk with the victim
when using this power, either directly, over the phone or
through the Talking Tumor Transmutation. Its almost
as if the Promethean using this power convinces the brain
to grow the mind-controlling cancer, coaxing the organ
to mutate.
Prerequisite: Talking Tumor ()
Cost: 1 Pyros
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Science vs. victims Resolve
+ Azoth
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Promethean accidentally inicts
the effects of the power on himself. He falls unconscious,
and cannot be roused for the rest of the scene.
Pyros is wasted.
Success: The Promethean causes the tumor to grow and bond
with the victims brain, causing the victim one automatic point
of aggravated damage. For the rest of the scene, the victim obeys
any commands given by the Promethean (except for clearly
suicidal ones the tumor has a survival instinct, too). The
victim appears sluggish and dazed. He can use Skills if necessary,
but suffers a 2 dice penalty to all dice pools. When the scene
is over, the tumor shrinks back into the brain and the victim
regains his faculties, but has no memory of what happened while
the Promethean was controlling him. If a former victim of this
power ever undergoes a brain scan, he looks as if hes undergone
some sort of trauma or surgery in the past, likely puzzling any
doctor who sees it.
Exceptional Success: The tumor bonds perfectly, and
although the victim is in the Prometheans thrall, he appears to be behaving perfectly normally and suffers no dice
pool penalties.
Suggested Modiers: Promethean has used this power
on the target before (+3)
Azothic Bomb ()
With this most awful of powers, the Promethean directs

his Azoth toward creating the central reaction in a small
radioactive explosion, turning himself into a miniature
atomic bomb.
Prerequisites: Fallout (), Irradiate ()
Cost: 5 Pyros
Dice Pool: Stamina + Science
Action: Instant
92
The explosion has a radius of three yards for every dot of

Azoth the character has.
If the characters Azoth isnt high enough to allow him
to spend ve points of Pyros in one turn, he must wait for
the reaction to build up, spending points of Pyros each turn
until hes spent ve. He cant perform any other action while
doing this, and if injured while building up the reaction, the
Transmutation fails and the Pyros already spent is wasted.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The reaction happens inside the Promethean. He takes a number of points of aggravated damage
equal to his Azoth.
reaction zzles, and the Pyros is wasted.
Success: Everyone (except the Promethean) caught inside
the explosion automatically takes one point of lethal damage
for every success rolled. Being caught inside the explosion
requires a Stamina + Resolve roll to remain conscious. Furthermore, the area becomes radioactive in the following turn,
and remains radioactive for one week per dot of Azoth the
character possesses. The background radiation has Intensity
and damage equal to the Prometheans Azoth.
Exceptional Success: The same as success, except that
the damage caused is aggravated.
Antagonists, Allies
and Other Horrors
The Zeky have terrible powers, and can be possessed of equally
terrible motives. But they can just as easily be tragic or noble
gures. Hardship doesnt have to make someone a beast.
A Zeka Centimanus could well be a zombie-creating force
of anti-nature, a vast, near-unstoppable evil standing just at
the edge of the chronicle, a murdering, sociopathic horror who
stands at the center of a fallout-covered wilderness. Tsar Bomba
serves that purpose. His hulking presence in a chronicle promises
violence, weirdness and horror. Few throngs of Prometheans
could hope to defeat him in a at-out battle. Although insane,
hes capable of subtlety, too, using agents to pursue an awful, if
limited, agenda.
But then, a Zeka could be a different sort of sociopath, a
Machiavellian gure, still bent on destruction, but able to hide
among people and use considerable resources to manipulate
criminal and governmental gures into making a terrible, terrible
mistake that could cost millions of lives. Oleg Wormwood is an
example of this. Hes rich and well-connected, and if people
are scared of him, why shouldnt they be? He can end dozens of
lives with a snap of his ngers, if he thinks its necessary. Such
a gure as Oleg could be the nemesis of not only a throng of
Prometheans, but groups of vampires, werewolves, mages and
even human investigators.
A Zeka doesnt have to be a villain. Take, for example, the
lonely, screwed-up individual whos practicing Centimanus
ANTAGONISTS, ALLIES AND OTHER HORRORS

because she doesnt know what else to do. She falls in with a
throng of Prometheans, perhaps even becoming a shaky ally
for a while. Can the throng trust her? Will she sell them out? A
Storyteller character like this is a tragic individual, as, perhaps
despite herself, she ends up betraying the troupes characters.
The Skin Girl, Tsar Bombas creation and unfortunate dupe,
is a perfect example of this kind of character. Shes well on the
way to becoming a monster herself, and even she doesnt know
if its too late. The vast, spreading evil of her creator sucks her
in, and shell need help to escape from his control. Even then,
whats to say she wont turn on her saviors?
A Zeka could also offer a lesson in tragedy, showing that
even one of these creatures can embark on the Pilgrimage. But
is it even possible? Does a Promethean on the Pilgrimage have
a hope of humanity, and even if she does, what would be the
consequences? A character such as Windscale could play a part
in a story addressing the difculty of gaining Humanity. A throng
of Prometheans who learn the answers to the conundrum could
nd themselves achieving milestones of their own.
Windscale
Quote: Cant stay here. Youre not welcome. Land doesnt

want you.
Background: Windscale came to herself in the middle of a
re. There was no one else around. She remembers bathing in
radiation for days, and she remembers being followed by shadows,
even when the light didnt seem to allow for them.
When the re died down, she left the reactor and began to
travel, learning something about humanity and deciding that
she desperately wanted it.
Eventually she wound up in Cumbria, England, at about the
time of the Windscale power station accident. She became
quite fond of the place, as time went on, and when the facility
was renamed Sellaeld, she took the name Windscale as her
own, reasoning that since the station wasnt using it, she would.
Shes been here, on and off, for 30 years, and although she does
her best to mitigate the damage shes done to the region, the
land has soured.
She knows that shes poisoning the land, and she knows that
Humanity is something she desperately wants. She even knows
how to get there, having conversed at length one day with a
strange pair of Prometheans, a man with rock salt skin and a
patchwork nun, who passed through the blasted patch of English
countryside she calls her home.
Windscale has stayed where she is for some time now, and has
more or less stalled in her Pilgrimage. She knows what to do, but
shes scared. Shes afraid to inict another creature like herself
onto the world, and shes afraid that stoking the re within her
would further damage the countryside she loves. She loves the
bleak, rocky fells more than she can put into words.
Description: Windscale appears to be a rail-thin, hard-faced
woman in her 40s. Shes thin-lipped and int-eyed and rarely
smiles. Her hair is dead straight. Its curiously colorless, and it
falls to her shoulders. Windscale speaks with a Cumbrian accent.
Her voice has a grating quality that makes it difcult to listen to

her speak for long. She wears faded combat fatigues and worn
army boots.
When her disgurements show, Windscale can be seen to
have no skin. Her esh, covered with scabs and rents, bleeds
and weeps when she moves.
Storytelling Hints: Windscale appears to be utterly humorless and forbidding. In fact, shes desperately lonely. Her attitude
toward other Prometheans is ambivalent, to say the least. On
the one hand, she doesnt want them here. Theyll make the
land worse than she has. On the other, shes desperate to know
more about the Pilgrimage.
Shell approach any throng that passes through her land, perhaps even aiding the Prometheans in whatever conict theyre
bound up in, if only to get them off her precious fells.
Lineage: Zeka
Renement: Cuprum
Mental Skills: Academics 3, Crafts (Woodcraft) 3, Science 3
Physical Skills: Athletics (Hiking) 1, Larceny (Breaking and
Entering) 1, Stealth 3, Survival (Countryside) 4
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Insects) 2, Empathy 1, Expression 1,
Intimidation 2, Persuasion 2, Subterfuge 3
Merits: Danger Sense, Direction Sense, Eidetic Memory,
Unpalatable Aura
Willpower: 6
Humanity: 8
Virtue: Temperance
Vice: Envy
Initiative: 5
93
Defense: 2
Speed: 9
Health: 7
Azoth: 2
Transmutations: Irradiation Reduce Radiation (); Metamorphosis Mask of Medusa (); Sensorium Sensitive
Ears ()
Bestowment: Victim Shadow
The Skin Girl
Quote: Dont make no difference to me what you do. I aint

moving. Got nowhere to go.
Background: The Skin Girls rst memory is of waking and
staring into the shadowed eyes of her creator. She screamed, and
screamed and screamed, and the monster, her own Old Man, he
just shrugged and picked her up and threw her into a concrete
room with hair and body uids all over the oor.
She knew what he had done. She knew somehow that the
thing had murdered the body she was using. The monster told
her about what she was, and he told her that she was like him.
After a few weeks, he left her there in the bunker, to make
her own way.
She hasnt done all that well. The headaches never go away.
She has dreams of faces, running on the track, camping, cycling,
a boyfriend, a family she never had. No matter where she goes,
the monster is there, and its not even as if hes following her.
She just always seems to nd her way back to him.
Its beginning to weigh on her. Every time she nds some kind
of friend, every time she gets a break, there he is to drag her right
back down, and he puts his ngers in her head and then . . . and
then theres nothing. Shes his, and shes no more than one of
the dead men and the walking cancers, a toy. Shed do anything
to be rid of him, but when hes there, she cant even think, let
alone plot his demise.
Description: The Skin Girl is a pale, short, slightly stocky
young woman in her late teens. Her brown eyes are wide, giving her a slightly startled look. Although otherwise quite pretty,
shes got the symptoms of full-body alopecia: there isnt a single
hair anywhere on her body. She doesnt even have eyebrows
or eyelashes. Her voice is high-pitched, and she talks with a
Texas accent.
When her disgurements reveal themselves, her skin becomes
transparent, revealing the movement of blood and muscle in her
esh, and laying bare the network of silvery wires that run under
her skin. Here and there at her left temple, her wrists, her
right shoulder, her collarbone the wires run together, joining
at sockets, electronic terminals and metal studs that erupt from
ragged, gangrenous rents in her esh. Her eyes become very dark,
so that pupil and iris are a single dull black disc.
Storytelling Hints: The Skin Girl is deeply insecure. She
believes that nothing she does will work out. Shes given herself
over to the Renement of Flux, but shes just going with the
ow. She hides her terror of the world under a thin veneer of
94
cynicism and worldliness, but, just as any other cynical, supposedly self-reliant teenager, she isnt very convincing, and should
she meet another Promethean, she quickly takes on the role of
little sister.
Shes terried of her creator, and hates him more than any other
thing on the planet, but if hes near, she will not hesitate to sell
any friends she has to him, though she hates herself for it.
In the end, although she would like to be a better person, the
Skin Girl is weak-willed, selsh and cowardly. She likes people,
but wont stand up for them if shell be endangered, and lets
friends and strangers die rather than stick her neck out for them.
Shell kill people who show her kindness for a meal or a handful
of cash, and shell hate herself afterwards, although she doesnt
care quite as much as she did when she was rst made.
Lineage: Zeka
Renement: Centimanus
Mental Skills: Academics 1, Computer 2, Investigation 2, Medicine (First Aid) 1, Science 1
Physical Skills: Athletics (Sprinting) 2, Drive 1, Firearms 1,
Larceny 1, Stealth 3, Survival 3
Social Skills: Empathy 1, Expression 2, Persuasion (Whining) 2
Merits: Eidetic Memory, Residual Memory (Academics, Medicine, Athletics) 3, Strong Back, Unpalatable Aura
Willpower: 2
Humanity: 5 (Inferiority Complex, Submission when in presence
of her creator)
Virtue: Charity
Vice: Gluttony
Initiative: 4
Defense: 3
Speed: 10
Health: 8
Azoth: 1
Transmutations: Irradiation Conceal Radiation (), Flashburn
(), Blue Flash (); Deception Chameleon Skin ()
Bestowments: Radioactive Afnity
Oleg Wormwood
Quote: In this world, my friend, theres always someone prepared

to buy and sell. If the price is right.
Background: Oleg doesnt know where he came from or who
made him. He awoke on April 30, 1986. He was lying in a cellar,
in a deserted house, in the middle of the town of Pripyat, and
all he knew was that there was a re raging and that he needed
to go there.
Most of the people in the town had gone by then. The whole
area was a mess of army men and ambulances and reghters.
But somehow, nding his way through the chaos, the newly
awakened Promethean found his way into the wreckage of the
Chernobyl reactor and bathed in the radiation.
It was later that he learned what had caused the disaster, and
by that time hed somehow managed to nd a way into the lower
ranks of the Kiev Organyzatsia. No one liked him much (or at
all, in fact), but he killed enough men to carve out a reputation
for himself, and he was smart and eloquent. If people were scared
of him, he capitalized on it enough to make himself a feared
gure, never quite sticking around long enough to make things
difcult. If the city got a bit unhealthy that year, well, the wind
was blowing from Chernobyl.
When he moved to Russia, his enemies and colleagues slept a
whole lot more easily. As the communist system collapsed into
chaos, the mobs moved in and soon, it became impossible to tell
the politicians, the criminals and the KGB men apart.
Although the movies might present it differently, in the mob,
human affection doesnt have much inuence. Living in a world
where human interaction meant little, compounded with the
disintegration of the Soviet Union meant that almost without
even trying, Oleg found himself in the right place in the right
time, and had made his rst million.
One million led to another. Armed with contacts and an unerring ability to know when to move on before Disquiet caused
mass panic, Oleg got richer without ever making a friend. He
regained his Pyros and healed himself through various means.
Over a space of 10 years, a huge number of hospitals in the former
Soviet Union suffered break-ins and vandalism committed against
x-ray and radiotherapy devices, for example. Simple proximity
to people kept the Divine Fire burning. As a result, a frightening
proportion of those women in several Russian cities who would
have been counted among the better class of prostitute have
cancers of some kind.
Olegs in the arms trade now. He used a plethora of surnames
for years. One day an American contact, an arms dealer who
happened to be a Christian fundamentalist, told him quite erroneously that Chernobyl was Ukrainian for Wormwood,
and that the Wormwood Star was the Book of Revelations
symbol for a nuclear holocaust. To the American, the Chernobyl
disaster was a sign of the End Times. The American was of the
opinion that hastening the worlds end was only a good thing.
Oleg was unsure of the Americans religious beliefs, but liked
the connotation of Wormwood and has since adopted it as his
name in most of his business dealings.
Olegs goal is coming closer. Ever since his exposure to the
Chernobyl re, Oleg has dreamed of seeing it again. He pictures
Europe and America on re. He imagines black rain and radioactive dust settling across the world, his own private paradise. Hes
currently in the middle of dealings with individuals who have
access to an installation where he can manufacture weaponsgrade plutonium. Meanwhile, hes working on elements in the
governments of both India and Pakistan who would like nothing
better than to wipe their hated neighbor off the face of the Earth.
And hes got a dozen more irons, warming in the re.
Description: Oleg appears as a tall, cadaverous man in his
40s with cropped gray hair and a salt-and-pepper goatee. His
skin is pockmarked and blotchy. He smiles a lot, but his smiles
dont always go all the way up to eyes hidden behind expensive
sunglasses. He wears incredibly expensive suits, and has heavy
gold rings on every one of his ngers. He speaks all of his many
languages with a heavy Ukrainian accent.
When his disgurements are showing, Olegs skin appears
covered with burn scars, except for his face, where he has no skin
at all. His face is simply a skull, with only a few shreds of esh
and tendon holding in his eyeballs and surrounding his mouth.
In the dark, its vaguely phosphorescent.
Storytelling Hints: Oleg is charming and personable, and
when Disquiet hits, his charm makes him all the more sinister. In
95

truth, he doesnt really value anyone. When he talks, he weasels
information out of the people he meets, in an attempt to nd
out something he can use. He doesnt waste his time with people
who have nothing he can make capital from.
Hes never met another Promethean. If he does meet a throng,
hell probably at rst be intensely curious. Once he gures out
that the Prometheans are like him, hell cautiously try to sound
out whether they would be on his side or not, either through
agents, or some other means, such as telephone or email. Hell
likely only arrange a meeting if theyre amenable to his plan for
Armageddon. If theyre not, hell see them as a threat and use
his contacts to take steps to get them out of his way.
Lineage: Zeka
Mental Skills: Academics 1, Computer 1, Occult (Urban Myths) 1,
Politics (Arms Trade, Western and Eastern European Criminal Politics)
4, Science (Fission Science, Plutonium Manufacture) 2
Physical Skills: Athletics 1, Brawl (Beat Downs) 2, Drive 3,
Firearms (9 mm Auto, Sniper Rie) 3, Larceny 3, Stealth
(Concealment) 1, Survival 1, Weaponry 1
Social Skills: Empathy 1, Expression 2, Intimidation (Threats)
4, Persuasion (Charm) 3, Socialize 1, Streetwise (Criminal Connections) 3, Subterfuge 1
Merits: Contacts (Arms Trade, International Criminal Connections, Russian and Ukrainian Organyzatzia), Languages (English,
French, German, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese; Olegs native
language is Ukrainian), Resources 5
Willpower: 5
Humanity: 4
Virtue: Faith
Vice: Greed
Initiative: 6
Defense: 4
Speed: 12
Health: 7
Azoth: 2
Transmutations: Irradiation Conceal Radiation (), Reduce
Radiation (), Flash Burn (), Blue Flash (), Sicken (),
Fallout (), Lord of the Roaches (); Mesmerism
Flight Instinct (), Suggestion ()
Bestowment: Re-Animator
Tsar Bomba
Quote: Hold still.

Background: Even if Tsar Bomba is the Progenitor of a line, he was
not the rst Nuclear Promethean. He was the rst to be called Zeka,
certainly. For some years, Zeka was the only name he had.
96
In Mary Shelleys account, Victor Frankenstein only realized

the mistake hed made when his monster opened his eyes. Up
to that point, Dr. Frankenstein had been convinced that he was
laboring on perfection. When the creature arose, the beauty of
Dr. Frankensteins dream vanished. Breathless horror and disgust
lled his heart. It wasnt like that with Elizarov. The doctor knew,
long before the spark of life ever entered into his creation, his
zeka, that what he was doing was wrong in every conceivable
way. He still carried on. It was a compulsion, as if some outside
force was driving him to complete this horror. The horror of
the thing he created, then, came as no surprise to the doctor.
That same breathless horror and disgust consumed him from
the beginning of his very rst experiment, and yet he could do
nothing to stop himself from making his monster.
It was as if the creature was commanding that he be made.
There was an irony, then, in Elizarov naming his creation
Zeka, and it was not lost on the creature. He was convinced
from the beginning that he was made to rule, made to control
and command.
After his escape, the creature traveled for a while. Although he
never strayed too far from Novaya Zemlya, he began to nd his
way around human communities. Unlike Frankensteins creation,
Zeka never really tried to make friends or elicit sympathy. He just
watched and learned. He decided early on that he had no wish
to become human. He preferred the power, the lack of fragility.
The inevitable result of this choice was the swift embarkation
down the road of the sociopath.
To his frustration, the monster couldnt control the humans.
Although convinced of his superhuman condition, the only
emotion he could elicit in them was terror, and although it served
him at times, it made it impossible for him to really command
them. His yearning to rule was thwarted over and over again.
Although he later learned how to enslave others to his will
through the inuence of the Pyros on human brain tissue, he
could not make it last, and commanding one human at a time
was a poor substitute for rulership.
A few years after his creation, the Soviet government detonated
a 100-megaton bomb. The foreign media called the bomb Tsar
Bomba King Bomb. The creature knew that it had been made.
He could feel its raw destructive power calling out to him. He
broke into the installation where it had been built, and, meeting
the bomb, had a something akin to a religious experience. He
realized that his purpose was akin to the bombs. He was made
to destroy. He was destined to rule, but the world he was to reign
over would be the world after the bombs had fallen. The humans,
in his estimation, were cattle. He found that he could use their
esh to grow cancerous Pandorans and re-animate their corpses
as silent, hollow slaves. They were his raw material. There were
other Prometheans, some of which he had created. They would
be part of his post-world order, or they would feed it.
He took the name Tsar Bomba as his own. Hes convinced
that he is the chosen vehicle of fate, destined to rule the Earth
when human life has nally been eradicated.

Description: Tsar Bomba appears as a vast, leathery-skinned
man, nearly seven feet tall and enormously fat. He seems to burst
out of his practical, hard-wearing clothes. No matter where he
is or how bright the light is, shadows seem to gather around his
face, making it difcult to see what he actually looks like.
When his disgurements are visible, this effect is compounded:
darkness wreathes his entire body, seeming almost tangible. He literally
darkens any room he enters. What little of his skin thats visible under
the shadows seems to be covered with lesions and scabs.
Tsar Bombas voice is a high tenor, quiet and clear, no matter
what language hes speaking in. Hes capable of being extremely
eloquent, but most of the time, he doesnt say much.
Storytelling Hints: Tsar Bomba is, of course, utterly mad. Its just
about conceivable that his apocalyptic dream could be achieved, but
Tsar Bomba overestimates his own powers. He believes that the radiation speaks to him. He hears voices in his sleep. Everything he sees is
imbued with a meaning. In his own view of the world, he is central to
the grand plan of fate. Because of this, hes lazy. He doesnt try all that
hard to pursue his dream, because he thinks that fate will contrive to
make it happen. Hes capable of truly awful deeds, but the things he
does, although horrendous, are not steps toward the nal destruction
of life on Earth.
Tsar Bombas crimes are all the more vile because they are, in
the nal analysis, banal and pointless. For example, he might
slaughter every single human working at a power station and
bring the reactor to critical mass. But then, he just sits there,
wallowing in the radiation and reviving the unfortunate staff
as zombies and Pandorans. He holds court there for a while,
convinced that hes master of the whole nation, surrounded by
silent, monstrous unkies, and thats all he does. His delusion is
actually supported by human authorities, who inevitably evacuate
the area and cordon it off. He sits where he is, and in a limited
way, is terribly dangerous. Prometheans entering into his circle
of power could well end up as a source of Vitriol for him and food
for his Pandorans. On the other hand, he might stop and talk
before eating them. It depends on what the voices have been
saying to him. Falling into his clutches is likely lethal and he
possesses tremendous power, but nevertheless, his grand plans
mostly work out as smaller, unimaginative atrocities.
Tsar Bomba is not the harbinger of the end of the world. Hes
just sick. But being who he is, hes never going to get help and
he is far too dangerous to be pathetic.
Lineage: Zeka
Mental Skills: Computer 1, Crafts 1, Investigation 2, Science
(Atom Bomb) 3
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl (Enormous Fists) 5, Stealth (Hide
in Shadows) 3, Survival (Desert, Nuclear Wastelands) 5
Social Skills: Animal Ken 1, Intimidation (Instill Fear) 3
Merits: Direction Sense, Giant, Languages (English, Polish,
French; Tsar Bombas native language is Russian), Repute 3,
Unpalatable Aura
Willpower: 7
Humanity: 2 (Paranoia, Megalomania, Schizophrenia)
Virtue: Fortitude
Vice: Sloth
Initiative: 7
Defense: 2
Speed: 13
Health: 10
Azoth: 8
Transmutations: Irradiation Conceal Radiation (), Flashburn (), Blue Flash (), Irradiate (), Blast (),
Sicken (), Fallout (), Lord of the Roaches (),
Talking Tumor (), Elevate Bugs (), Brain Blight
(), Azothic Bomb (); Pandoran Demons
Call (), Flux Within the Shade (), Clockwork Servant
(), Mantle of Lordship (); Vitality Fist of
Talos (), Might (), Bludgeon (), Defenestrating Blow
()
Bestowments: Radioactive Afnity, Re-Animator, Unholy
Strength
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the

Bomb(a)
Tsar Bomba and Oleg Wormwood have the same goal. The
difference is that Oleg has the means to actually achieve it.
He could actually bring about a nal nuclear holocaust. On
the other hand, hes in a really shaky position. Hes got money
and contacts, but no friends. A clever group of characters,
whether Promethean or otherwise, could bring Oleg down.
It needs brains and effort, but Oleg can be stopped.
97

Tsar Bomba, on the other hand, is living a pipe dream.
He might claim that hes going to create a new holocaust,
but in fact hes no more than the Promethean equivalent of
a very sick man with a very big gun. Although the danger
he poses to the world is less than that posed by Oleg, Tsar
Bomba is much harder to stop, and much more dangerous
to an individual or to a throng of Prometheans.
Carcinomas
(Zeka Mockery)
Exposure to radiation causes cancers to grow on esh. The

radioactive Pyros that animates the Zeka has terrible risks, and
if, by design or accident, a Zekas creation stalls and a Pandoran
results, a creature that is wholly tumor results, a thing of hard,
crawling esh without bone or sinew, just an animate, hungry
cancer. Usually, they appear to be shapeless, eyeless lumps of
esh with toothless, sucking mouths. Sometimes they take the
forms of little misshapen humanoid gures, or might even take
on a vaguely insectoid form with an uneven number of legs
and eshy mandibles. Whatever form they take, they never
have eyes.
Pandorans rarely show intelligence, but the Carcinomas
are particularly mindless, brainless things that show no guile,
throwing themselves hungrily at their prey with no nesse and
no regard for survival. Only when a stronger directs them do
they behave with anything approaching cunning.
Dormant Form: When dormant, the Carcinomas meld into
stone, concrete, brick or asphalt, becoming scorched nuclear
silhouettes, albeit distorted ones, in much the same way as a
Promethean with the Victim Shadow Bestowment.
Bestowment: Carcinomas have the Radioactive Afnity
Bestowment. Similar to the Zeky, Carcinomas cannot recover
damage from electricity, instead healing through exposure to
dangerous radiation.
Sublimati: Carcinoma Sublimati are quite possibly the strangest creatures anyone could ever hope not to meet. Although
intelligent, their motives and actions are utterly alien. They
simply make no sense at all, sometimes pursuing a goal with
terrible conviction one moment and utterly ignoring it the
next. Theyre as unpredictable and as uncertain as the atomic
ssion that created them.
Weakness: The Carcinomas are always blind, and although
they can hear, taste and smell, they dont have any really superior
senses to make up for the deciency. If a character stands still
and makes no sound, a Carcinomas player must make a Wits +
Composure roll with a 3 dice pool penalty to be able to gure
out where the character is.
The Things from the Vats
Quote: <a brief sucking noise>

Background: A Promethean attempts to create another of his
own. He immerses a corpse in a vat of pitchblende, imbuing the
radioactive material with Azoth. Something goes wrong. The
98
esh sloughs off the bones, reforming itself into a thing not unlike
a huge eshy caterpillar. It crawls from the vat. Another follows.
And another. The creator tries to ght them off, fails.
Sated, they crawl back, leaving the remains of their
creator to rot.
Description: The creatures appear as dark pink eshy caterpillars,
traveling on dozens of tiny, footless legs. Each has a sucking mouth at
one end, surrounded by folds of slightly lighter, wrinkled esh.
Storytelling Hints: The vat is long gone, but three of these
creatures still lie in wait. The Things from the Vat currently lie
melded into the concrete of the cellar. When something comes
near that they can eat, they attack, crawling mindlessly at a
frightening speed for the nearest source of Pyros and Vitriol.
All three have the same Traits.
Mockery: Carcinoma
Rank: 1
Mental Skills: None
Physical Skills: Brawl (Sucking Mouth) 2, Stealth 4
Social Skills: None
Willpower: 5
Vice: Gluttony
Initiative: 6
Defense: 2
Speed: 11
Size: 3
Health: 7
Transmutations: Pandoran Small Stature (), Scurry (),
Balsam Flesh ()
Bestowment: Radioactive Afnity

Weapons/Attacks:
Type
Damage
Mouth
1(L)
Dice Pool
6
Sublimatus:
The Kaiju of Nagasaki
Quote: <silence>
Background: The myths about this creature abound. Its
almost as well-known as some of its Promethean betters.
It might perhaps be the Hibakushas failed attempt at making another one of her own. It might have been created by
another like her. Whatever happened, it exists, with an army
of Pandoran slaves of its own, a faceless atomic end with no
hope of redemption.
Description: It appears as a tall, hugely muscled man, naked
from the waist up. In its stomach, a wide lateral scar sometimes
opens up, revealing an enormous, ragged-toothed mouth with a
long prehensile tongue. Sometimes its arms bend in ways they
shouldnt it has no bones. Although it looks like a man, its
made entirely of rock-hard esh and muscle. It has no head. Instead,
a riveted, sharp-edged cube of rusty steel sits on its neck. When
the Kaiju uses its power to grow to enormous size (betting the
name, a Japanese word usually translated as monster), the cube
doesnt grow with it.
Storytelling Hints: The Kaiju doesnt just eat: it creates bizarre, dreamlike horrors, gardens of unearthly disgust, using its
Pandoran followers and the unfortunate bodies of its victims to
create vile, perverse tableaux. Its slaves manifest all manner of
tentacles, mouths in odd places and teeth where there should
be no teeth. To fall into the clutches of any Pandoran is bad
enough, but to fall into the hands of the Kaiju is to face an end
as long and imaginative as it is painful and degrading.
Mockery: Carcinoma (Sublimatus)

Rank: 4
Mental Skills: Investigation 1, Science 1
Physical Skills: Athletics 4, Brawl (Strikes) 3, Stealth 3, Survival 1
Social Skills: Animal Ken 1, Intimidation 4
Merits: Strong Back
Willpower: 8
Vice: Lust
Initiative: 8
Defense: 3
Speed: 13
Size: 6
Health: 9
Transmutations: Pandoran Bizarre Weaponry (Fangs ), Flux
Within the Shade (), Frog Tongue (), Great Stature (),
Perfected Bezoar Blunt Weapons (), Malleate Flesh (),
Titanic Form (), Mantle of Lordship ()
Weapons/Attacks
Type
Damage
Fists
0 (B)
Tongue
0(B)
Mouth
2(L)
Dice Pool
9
8
10
Rumors Nuclear Prometheans

Were all Nuclear Prometheans. It what we
were all supposed to be. We just dont know it
yet. We can all become radioactive, if we know
the way. Were not supposed to be human at all.
Thats actually the failure of the Pilgrimage. Were
intended to be the harbingers of the worlds end.
Only the Children of the Bomb really understand
that.
A Nuclear Promethean doesnt become human
when he reaches the end of his Pilgrimage. He
explodes, with the force of a fifty-megaton bomb.
You must never, ever allow one to become even
close to the end. It could mean the end of us all.
Any of us can create a Nuclear Promethean.
Theyre not a Lineage. Theyre a mistake, or
maybe a design. We just need to be there in the
fire of the bomb.
99
CHAPTER FOUR
STORYTELLING
XIII. I John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation
John awakens in the soft ash, unable to ascertain which way is down, unable to gure out where the light has gone.
He nds it comforting. The taste of ash in his mouth is by no means unfamiliar.
He doesnt know how he gets to the surface. He ghts against the ash and rubble for hours, ailing and burrowing and
pushing, and then suddenly his hand meets no resistance, comes out in air. He pushes some more, and nally, squinting,
groping into the air, he is free, head and shoulders and hands in moonlight. He drags himself to the surface, turns over,
lies on his back panting in the night air.
Hes naked. The earth that covers his skin has, in part, in small patches here and there, turned to black glass. He
sees a patch on the back of his hand, glinting as it reects the stars. It hurts a little.
But he is alive. He died. And he is alive. Not, he thinks, in a third-day miracle kind of way. Not as an atonement or
sign. But because Heaven has rejected him. The Almighty saw John waiting at those pearly gates and sent him right
back down again. There is no grace for John Ash. Salvation is for Gods creation. John Ash is not counted as part of
Gods creation. In that, at least, the Skin Girl was right.
John sits in the middle of a crater that looks like its a half-mile wide or more. There are isolated bits of blackened
wreckage here and there, but nothing that looks like a building, or a lab, or anything that was here before.
He wonders if the Skin Girl survived this. He remembers the look in her eyes when she gave him to the corpses,
and he wonders what the big, wide man did to her, how he made her do what she did. And then John wonders if he made
it out, too. John gets the terracettes on his arms again. The gooseesh prickles as it rubs against little shards of glass,
embedded in his skin.
He remembers what she said, as he rubs his forearms: It mightnt hurt you, but itd stick to you, and youd carry
it round with you wherever you went. Youd make things even sicker than you do already, and you couldnt make it
better by just going away.
If its true, its true. But how will he know? John shrugs. Best to take it as it comes.
Hell sit here for an hour or two, but then hes leaving here. Hes going to get out of this place. Hes going to head
north, for Truth or Consequences.
He shrugs, lets out a single, sad sort of laugh, says out loud to no one in particular, Heh. Truth or Consequences.
The stars go out, one by one, above his head as the clouds roll in. Its going to be a long, dark night.
But it cant last forever.
-transcribed from the account of John Ash
Every day you

may make progress. Every step
may be fruitful. Yet there
will stretch out
before you an
ever-lengthening,
ever-ascending,
ever-improving
path. You know
you will never get
to the end of the
journey. But this,
so far from discouraging, only
adds to the joy
and glory of the
climb.
Sir Winston Churchill
ith this book, Promethean: The Created takes a bow and draws the curtain.
We have presented our heroes, anti-heroes and monsters, and the things that
hate them. There are strange philosophies, legends of the creatures, interesting
new ideas and possibilities for the mythology of the Created and details presented on the
strange, curious and unholy things that go bump in the Saturnine Night.
The story is not nished, however. Far from it we have not presented the story to
you, but only its parts. In your hands, the story comes into its own. In this chapter, we are
going to touch on a variety of directions in which to take your Promethean chronicle, and
perhaps even draw it to an interesting end.
In this chapter, we also wrap up the storyline begun in Promethean: The Created, an
alchemical pilgrimage that has taken our heroes far and tested them greatly. Now, they
come to a place the World of Darkness has never described before, presented for use in
your chronicles.
The
Chronicle
You have in your hands all the tools to expand and explore the world of the Promethean
in the World of Darkness. You may even have already begun a chronicle of Promethean:
The Created. Lets look at some of the directions in which you can take the story of these
creatures and their Great Work.
Continuing the Chronicle
So, where does the story go from here?

First and foremost, a Promethean chronicle is about the characters themselves. Though
this is true of any World of Darkness chronicle, most of the other games have some kind of
built-in structure to fall back on in terms of politicking or simply survival. With Promethean,
however, there are no tribes, no orders, no covenants. The throng is the end-all, be-all of
Promethean social organization, and even those are rare. Add to this to the fact that most
Prometheans are required to be nomadic, and the Storyteller is left with the fact that the
storys focus must, of necessity, be on the characters. There are, of course, a variety of ways
in which this can be accomplished.
Character Goals
The rst is to look at the individual goals of the characters in the throng. At rst, most
Prometheans are likely to be out simply to survive and gure out what (and even sometimes
who) they are.
Eventually, though, characters come up with goals. The Storyteller shouldnt be afraid
to sit down with a player outside of game and discuss character goals. In addition to accomplishing the Great Work, what would the character like to do?
The players should feel free to communicate the kinds of goals they would like to see their
characters pursue. This sort of thing doesnt have to be done in-character, either: plenty of
situations can make a character take up a given goal or agenda that must be introduced by
the Storyteller. Whether deciding to track down a Jack the Ripper-style serial killer, begin
a doomed romance with a person of high social standing or become the new messiah of the
local homeless when they witness the character work some kind of Pyros-based miracle,
establishing some character goals requires some Storyteller complicity.
The Storyteller should, of course, give such things a little twist. Perhaps the serial killer
turns out to be some kind of freak demiurge who doesnt create a new Lineage, but instead
steals the organs of his victims and somehow transforms them into Pandorans. The person
of high standing may be related to important government or criminal underworld gures
who learn about their relatives romance with this strange person, and disapprove. The
small cult of indigents that grows up around the Promethean miracle-worker may develop
into something strange and unwholesome when it interacts with Disquiet, believing that
their hobo messiah must die for them, or that they must prepare for a crusade against the
THE CHRONICLE|CONTINUING THE CHRONICLE
cults enemies, drawing the attention of law enforcement,

other religions and similar authority gures.
Finding an enemy and dealing with them is a fairly common
character goal, particularly among the Created, who have
an entire Renement based on the pursuit of revenge. This
is also fairly simple to instigate: all that is required is that a
Storyteller character takes advantage of or harms one of the
characters in some fashion. Many stories throughout the ages
focus on the goal of vengeance or justice (depending on the
telling), from The Count of Monte Cristo to Kill Bill.
The interesting part of this sort of story lies in the complications. Whether the villain is simply too strong to face
head-to-head, because he is impossible to nd, too rich
or inuential to get near or simply holds something the
hero holds dear, there is some reason the character has not
achieved his revenge immediately.
When creating such an antagonist, the Storyteller should
make sure to look at the accessibility of that character:
How difcult is he to reach? How powerful is he? Whats to
stop the protagonists from simply walking up to his castle,
warehouse or cavern, knocking down the door and treating
him to a dose of violence, Promethean-style?
The answers to these questions change the feel of the

antagonist-protagonist interaction. A supremely powerful foe may be hunting the Created, who try to stay a step
ahead of him, frantically searching for his weakness. A
sickly but brilliant enemy may always be a step ahead of the
Prometheans, outsmarting them and manipulating them at
every turn, until they wise up to his schemes.
Some players also seize upon things that happen in the
chronicle as the basis for their own goals. Storytellers should
take advantage of such opportunities, even if it perhaps means
taking the chronicle in a direction she didnt originally intend. Perhaps one of the protagonists falls in love with the
Sublimatus intended to be menacing and amoral. Certainly,
this may mean that the Sublimatus can easily manipulate that
poor fool. But it may also result in the Sublimatus nding
something strange and alluring in the affection, and trying
desperately to return it in some way.
The interaction between character goals and milestones
is essential in running a successful Promethean chronicle.
The Storyteller should discover what the characters goals
are, and then shape the milestones to interact with those
in some fashion. For instance, if Be betrayed by a lover is
103
CHAPTER FOUR|STORYTELLING
one of a Galateids milestones, the romance she instigates
with another Promethean is likely to end badly perhaps
even revealing him to have been one of the Centimani
interested in her affection and her Vitriol.
The Throng
Another source for interesting continuing stories lies

with the throng as a whole. Most of the Created walk
their Pilgrimages alone, meeting others of their kind when
Azoth calls to Azoth, but then departing after a while.
The lot of the Prometheans is solitude, but when they
nd allies and possibly even actual friends among
their kind, remarkable things happen.
Prometheans who understand such things point to the
success of throngs in the accomplishment of the Great
Work, suggesting that one of the vital lessons of humanity
is working as part of a group. Humans are social creatures.
It is any wonder, then, that nding a place in such a group,
a tribe, perhaps even a family, lends understanding of the
Elpis? In solitude, there is despair. In the faces of friends
and loved ones, one might nd Hope.
The activities of the characters throng are bound to
draw attention. What other Prometheans have heard
about the throng, or their reactions to the throngs actions
can provide interesting new directions for the story. An
argumentative throng whose members often clash may
gain a troublesome reputation. When the throng comes
to a new locale, any Prometheans already there may not
be interested in the sort of trouble the characters often
create for themselves, and ask them to leave perhaps
politely, perhaps forcibly.
If the throng is known for performing amazing deeds
or for their wisdom in the Great Work, they may attract others who wish to learn from them. A throng of
experienced Created may seem like a godsend to young
Prometheans. Remember that the setting changes as
the characters change it. A dynamic world responds to
the changes brought to it by the throng, and others take
notice of the ones who are making waves. Sublimati may
hear of them and hunger for the Vitriol they have accumulated; others may seek to challenge them, ask their
advice or get their aid.
Ultimately, what the throng accomplishes or fails
to accomplish, in some cases does not go unnoticed.
Great achievements and losses cannot help but come to
the attention of others, and this can change the tenor
of a chronicle. No longer are the Prometheans strangers,
just another face on the Pilgrimage. Now, they form a
throng about whom stories are told, secrets whispered and
rumors exchanged. Success brings envy, and Prometheans are not exempt. It also brings responsibility or at
least the attention of those who need someone to take
responsibility. They cannot fail to attract those who come
to them because they are strong, skilled, wise or simply
104
successful, particularly if they have a reputation as Good

Samaritans. What happens when other Prometheans
come to the characters for protection, or guidance on
their own Pilgrimages?
Storyteller Characters
Another source of continuing chronicle development

lies in Storyteller characters. The people and Prometheans
the throng meets all have goals, aspirations, prejudices and
passions. A wise Storyteller learns to t those characters
the throng meets into the story, evolving them to t the
needs of his game.
Rather than introducing a new character to fulll a role
in a story, the Storyteller might look through the roster of
characters the throng has already met, and see if any of
them can be suitably evolved to t that role. Rather than
introducing a wholly new love interest, perhaps one of the
current Storyteller characters may t that role, developing
a new perspective on one of the characters, or even having
simply hidden his feelings until now. Likewise, a Centimanus
villain is all the more riveting and perhaps a little more
sympathetic when she is a former ally of the throng who
has since despaired of the Pilgrimage, and taken solace in
the nihilistic philosophies of the Hundred-Handed.
The changing opinions of the throngs members regarding
Storyteller characters are likewise an excellent resource for a
continuing chronicle. As the chronicle progresses, dynamic
Storyteller characters leave an impression: the demure
young love interest who turns out to be a meth addict and
the jaded, monstrous Centimanus who spends his time wistfully watching scenes of domesticity through the windows
of family dwellings both shake up assumptions about those
characters. Knowledge of these facets will change how player
characters interact with them, and such characters will react
differently to those who know their secrets.
The Power of Secrets
Everyone has secrets. These are rarely major, earth-shattering secrets even in the World of Darkness, serial killers,
members of occult conspiracies and others with deadly secrets
are still uncommon. Regardless, everyone has a secret of some
sort, something he doesnt want others to know.
Determining what kinds of secrets a person holds tells
a lot about him as a character. Two characters may have
experienced abuse as children, and resorted to alcoholism
as a means of dealing with those experiences. But where
one character talks openly about the abuse and hides her
drinking, the other may seek to drown the things from his
past with a party-boy demeanor. Identical pasts, but the ways
in which they cope, and the things they keep as secrets tell
a great deal about them.
Storytellers and players both should determine the
sorts of secrets their characters dont want revealed. For
Prometheans, this can be strange the Created are often
ENDING THE CHRONICLE

ashamed of things that others take for granted as a matter
of simple development, and dont know when other things
are supposed to be embarrassing. For example, a young
Promethean may be embarrassed about his cravings for ice
cream. Perhaps his creator didnt like the stuff, or because he
accidentally frightened someone while eating it, associating
their fear reaction with the food, rather than the revelation
of his disgurements.
Seeming Chance
Fortuitous occurrences also have their place in the continuing chronicle. Though the number of Prometheans is
miniscule in comparison to the overall population of the
worlds mortals, Prometheans often encounter one another.
Moreover, these chance encounters often occur at either
very fortuitous times or at phenomenally unlucky ones.
Those Prometheans who have encountered the qashmallim have spoken of the missions that the ery angels have
given them. But they are also forced to acknowledge that
these entities only seem to show when something needs to
be xed, as it were something has moved out of some
kind of harmony that the Principle the qashmallim serve
can perceive. Some Ophidians take this to an extreme,
claiming that the Created do not need luck, for they have
the Pyros.
Of course, Ophidians warn that this works both ways;
Pyros encompasses both puried Azoth and lthy Flux.
Some Progenitors warn their progeny for a reason: If there
are Pandorans in the city, you are going to stumble across
them. Just be prepared.
This provides the Storyteller the opportunity to introduce elements into the throngs path that seem to counter
probability. Prometheans stumble upon one another in the
midst of a battle, just in the nick of time. The one person
who manages to resist Disquiet is the one who is the key to
that Prometheans next milestone.
The Created might go out for a walk to clear his head,
witnessing a collision between a truck and another vehicle.
He is the only one who witnesses the strange package y
off the truck and into the underbrush. Upon investigating,
the package has broken open, revealing a variety of strange
archaeological artifacts, including one with the mark that
he remembers from his days with his creator, before she
disappeared. These small coincidences seem to frame the
Great Work and drive it ever forward, and the Storyteller
is encouraged to make good use of them in his chronicle
development.
Ending the Chronicle
One of the perhaps most-overlooked aspects of telling a

story using a roleplaying game system is ending that story.
All too often, we approach gaming from a perspective that
looks ever onward into the future. Unfortunately, this means
that many games just sort of fade away in mid-story. Rather
than using the momentum built in game-play to bring the

story to an interesting resolution, it is simply allowed to
continue on and on until it simply runs out of steam. Attention wanes, thoughts turn to other games or stories and
the process begins again.
No one wants the fun to end, of course when a Storyteller is excitedly working on the details of his upcoming
chronicle, the last thing he wants to do is dampen his enthusiasm by contemplating how to end it. Yet, planning a
chronicle with an end in mind can enrich the experience
for both Storyteller and players.
Story Formats
By choosing the format of her unfolding chronicle, the

Storyteller can help establish the potential length of the
story she wishes to tell. The length of the story can help
the Storyteller determine the complexity and number of
subplots she will introduce, when to plan for a climax and
how far ahead to foreshadow events.
The One-Shot
The One-Shot may be just that: a single game session,
such as at a convention, or just a night of hanging out with
friends, perhaps when the rest of the gaming group cant
make it. The One-Shot may extend into two or three game
sessions, but rarely goes beyond there. The Storyteller should
aim to make the plot simple but interesting, with minimal
subplots. Character-based subplots generally tie into the
main plot somehow.
When conceiving of this sort of format, think of the
chronicle in terms of a movie: a quick introduction of
characters and the problem, working through the difculties
presented (which presents a backdrop for character development and resolution of character subplots), culminating in
a climactic encounter or scene.
For Example: In an effort to interest his group in Promethean: The Created, Marcus puts together a One-Shot.
His group is pretty loathe to try new games, but Marcus
wants to hook them, and gets them to agree to a two- or
three-chapter trial chronicle. To that end, Marcus creates
a One-Shot chronicle called Perdition, based around
a throngs search for one of its own. The story is short,
centering around a search for clues as to the whereabouts
of a missing throng-mate, an encounter with a mysterious
assailant and the discovery of a small group of Retrievers
who call themselves Perdition, who have captured the
throng-mate and are trying to rediscover the process by
which they were created.
The Short Arc
The Short Arc is generally slightly longer than the
One-Shot, with between ve and 10 chapters. The Short
Arc has a more complex story plot, and the time to go into
some subplots. Character-based subplots generally still tie
into the main plot in some fashion, but can also be purely
for character development or setting-building.
105
When planning a Short Arc, the Storyteller is encouraged
to think in terms of a comic book arc or a single graphic
novel: she has time to introduce the characters and explore
their lives in a more leisurely fashion, while introducing
the problem upfront. The difculties they face may come in
waves, giving a sense of victory over an immediate problem,
which really only presages the actual challenge.
For Example: Sophia decides she wants to run a Short
Arc of Promethean: The Created. She wants to tell a story
about a group of Prometheans who dont really know one
another, but who are put into one anothers path by one
of the qashmallim. She names the short chronicle Holiest
of Fires.
In the opening chapters, the Prometheans are each individually visited by this ery angelic force, which prompts
them to all travel to a place where they meet one another
and, unfortunately, awaken a horde of Pandorans. The
Prometheans must work together and ght the Pandorans
to stay alive, and at the end of that chapter, the qashmal
reveals that it was testing the Prometheans. Having
proven their worth, the qashmal guides them in becoming
a Branded throng.
As the story unfolds, the Prometheans follow more
and more of the guidance of this qashmal, but they cant
help but notice the results of their actions: people are
hurt needlessly, Pandorans are unleashed, places become
tainted with Flux. The qashmal assures the Prometheans
that this is the price of the good they have been joined to
do, but in the end it is revealed that this angel is in fact
one of the Lilithim, leading to a climactic battle with the
creature and its Pandoran minions.
The Medium Arc
The Medium Arc encompasses between 10 and 15
individual chapters. Such story arcs tend to incorporate
a variety of challenges, with the bigger story being slowly
revealed as the arc unfolds. By the time the climax of the
arc happens, there should have been plenty of opportunity
for in-depth development of the characters, exploration
of the backstory for both characters and the current plot
and solid setting exploration as well.
A Medium Arc might be compared to a novel or storybased video game: ample time to focus entire chapters
on single characters and how the plot affects them. The
Storyteller need not rush to necessarily reveal the whole of
the full plot, allowing time for that story to slowly unfold,
providing the rewarding experience of characters (and thus,
players) piecing together what is going on without having
to rely on some kind of plot exposition.
A Medium Arc has one or two mini-stories wrapped
into it, which contribute to the storys plot as a whole. It
may be helpful to think of a Medium Arc as two or more
Short Arcs pieced together with a couple of chapters of
character and setting development, leading up to a nal
climax.
106
For Example: Corbin enjoys road-trip style stories, and so

wants to run a Promethean: The Created game focusing on
the nomadic themes of the game. He plans a medium-length
chronicle, titled The Hard Road, and has his players create a throng. He wants the focus of the game to be on the
Pilgrimage, and plans their milestones appropriately.
The rst half of The Hard Road deals with the throng
discovering an old abandoned town on the back roads
of California. Azoth calls to Azoth, and the characters
discover a Promethean, barely alive and imprisoned, who
tells them about a small pack of Pandorans, mastered by a
powerful Frankenstein Centimanus. The throng is attacked
by the Pandorans, and is forced to ee with the unfortunate
Promethean when the Centimanus shows up. The next
several chapters involve eeing from the motorcycle-riding
Centimanus and his pack of Pandorans, who are intent on
getting their prisoner back and punishing the throng, maybe
adding the characters to the Pandorans feeding stock.
Though individual Pandorans encounter the throng for occasional spates of violence interspersed with an encounter
with a group of nomadic vampires or a pack of werewolves
into whose territory the throng stumbles the climax happens in Mexico, when the throng discovers a town being
terrorized by a large band of criminal bikers that the local
police cant do anything about. When the characters choose
to make a stand, helping the police ght against the bikers,
the characters feel the rise of Vitriol only to discover that
the Centimanus has recruited the biker gang.
The Long Arc
The Long Arc encompasses something in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 chapters. This length gives ample time and
space for the exploration of character goals and development
here, as well as more than sufcient time for complex plots
and myriad subplots to be unwound into a whole story.
A Long Arc is probably best compared to a single season
of a television series. The plot, which is often either intricate
or simply long in development, unfolds slowly. Such stories
usually contain several sub-arcs within the Long Arc; it might
be useful to think of a Long Arc as the piecing together
of three to ve Short Arcs, with some room to play with
either odd Storytelling formats in-between them, character
development chapters and other joining elements.
For Example: Marcus, having convinced his group to try a
full Promethean chronicle, brainstorms a Long Arc chronicle. Interested in the Stages of Transformation section of
A Primer on Promethean Alchemy in Promethean: The
Created (see p. 45, Promethean: The Created), he decides
to use those stages as a theme for his chronicles sub-arcs.
He names the chronicle Sins of the Fathers.
The rst sub-arc, based on the concept of Albedo, opens
with the creation of the Prometheans. The rst chapter
involves interaction with the throng that creates them,
allowing the new Created to choose their Renements.
Though strange conicts are bound to occur, along with the
ENDING THE CHRONICLE

inevitable rise of Wasteland, peace can be had there. This
lasts until the place is attacked by a band of paramilitary
forces while the throng is away in town getting supplies
(and likely dealing with their rst taste of Disquiet). The
characters return to nd a camp scarred by violence, and
their creators nowhere to be found, with only the corpse
of a soldier wearing a strange badge. The rest of the arc
involves the characters deciding what they want to do,
dealing with their new solitude in the world and guring
out how to live.
The second sub-arc, based on Citrinitas, takes place ve
years later. In the rst chapter of this sub-arc, one of the
Prometheans (likely following the Renement of Ferrum)
not only fullls a milestone in his exploration of the US
militarys training techniques, but recognizes the badge
on a man who isnt dressed the same as the others. Upon
investigation, they discover that he belongs to an private
military company hes a mercenary. With some work,
they nd where the mercenaries are headquartered and
can explore the options of nding out what they did with
their creators or even simply getting some payback. As part
of this process, however, the characters discover that the
mercenaries were hired to do that job. With some research,

they discover that the cult that serves the Lady of Chains
(Promethean: The Created, p. 228) is responsible for hiring the mercenaries to capture their creators. Moreover, the
characters learn that the mercenaries just received another
contract from the cult: hunt the throng down.
The third and nal sub-arc, Rubedo, involves the last
part of the Lady of Chains plan. Depending on what the
throng chooses to do, this arc is centered around either the
throng eeing from the Sublimatus agents, who attempt to
capture the characters, or the throng attempting to nd
enough information to nd out where the Lady of Chains
herself is and go to her before they can be brought to her,
helpless. The climax of the arc comes when the throng is
nally face-to-face with the Lady of Chains and their
creators, long since brainwashed by deprivation and imprisonment into adherents (however tenuous) of the Centimani
philosophy.
The entire process has been an experiment, of the sort
the Lady of Chains is so infamous for: What bonds loyalty?
Will those who are tortured into enlightenment turn away
from it due to simple emotional attachments? What hap-
107
pens when a throng spends time and effort seeking out those
the throng cares for, only to nd the ones they sought are
now corrupted and willing to kill them? The arc ends with
creators coming before the progeny, with orders to perform
lacunae on their own creations. Some will resist, some will
give in, based on the actions of the throng, but violence
and pathos are assured.
Now What?
Once the planned chronicle comes to an end, then what?

This need not, of course, be the end of the stories involving our heroes. There are several options, even without
including the possibility of simply playing something else
for a while.
The Sequel
Though the original story has been told, life goes on for
the heroes of the previous chronicle. There is always more
to be done in the world, especially for the Created. The
Pilgrimage demands to be walked, unless the chronicle ended
in the New Dawn for the entire throng and even then, it
may be interesting to see what sorts of stories might be told
about the men and women they have become.
The Storyteller is cautioned to try and explore some new
ideas and themes in this follow-up game. The very same thing,
only bigger and better runs the risk of sequel syndrome
no new development of characters or the world, just the
same events and themes presented with different window
dressing. Still, a whole worlds worth of stories waits to be
told involving each of the Created.
Spin-Off Games
Another idea on following up the chronicle involves a
spin-off. Perhaps some of the players are itching to play new
characters, while other players are attached to their current
ones. It is simple enough to have the previous throng-mates
go their separate ways, to explore some facets of their Saturnine Night alone or in the company of others. Perhaps
they may even come back together some night, with new
stories to tell one another.
The spin-off is fun because it allows an exploration of
some facets of the Storytellers story that it might not have
been possible for the main throng to deal with. Maybe
the end of the chronicle left a Stannum character with a
raging mad-on for someone that the others arent really
interesting in tangling with, so he goes out and nds some
others who dislike his new target as much as he does or
are simply willing to help him in return for his help with
their problems.
The spin-off might begin with one of the previous
chronicles protagonists having gone to the wastes. The
new chronicle might be built on what and who she
nds there after a time away. Perhaps one of the Created
goes in search of something like an old Aurums journal, or
someone who studies a rare or forgotten Renement. A fun
variation on this might be to have one of the throng go off
108
and create a progeny himself, meeting others as part of the

training he gives his creation.
Handing Over the Reins
It may also be that someone else in the group wants a
chance as Storyteller, and has some ideas for the current
group. So, the Storyteller hands over the reins, makes
his own character and takes a seat on the other side of
the Storytellers screen for a while.
The two Storytellers will have to agree to compartmentalize a bit: the first Storyteller should set aside
his assumptions about the story and setting hes built
to date, and just be willing to let the new Storyteller
exercise some creativity without needing constant script
approval. Likewise, though, the new Storyteller should
keep the previous chronicle in mind after all, if she
wants to diverge radically, she might as well make up a
new chronicle.
This grants some interesting possibilities, though. The
second Storyteller has a resource for her chronicle; she
should feel free to come to the original Storyteller with
ideas or questions about the background, and the two of
them may be able to do some brainstorming (assuming
the original Storyteller is both willing to act in such a
capacity and is willing to keep his out-of-game knowledge
separate from that of his character).
Chronicle Subplots
In each book of the Promethean line, we have presented

a small piece of a chronicle. The story has taken the throng
across the United States, through encounters with horric
creatures and interesting characters and maybe even to
the verge of Redemption. Below are some ideas for ways of
extending the plots and ideas presented in these chronicles,
taking them into wholly new directions.
The Water of Life
The throngs time with the alchemist Calogero, detailed

in the scenario The Water of Life (see Promethean:
The Created, p. 266), may lead to several further interactions down the road.
Perhaps another alchemist discovers Calogeros
methods of creating the false Azoth flame, using it to
lure other Prometheans to him particularly damning
if he sells the method to those interested in creating
clones of Azoth-infused flesh, or to Sublimati interested
in consuming those drawn to the false Pyros.
In gathering ingredients for Calogeros creation of
aqua vitae, the throng may very well have stolen something valuable. Its original owners might have hired a
private detective to find the ones responsible for the
theft. Alternately, its owner might be a supernatural
entity with the ability to psychically or magically find
those responsible. The item chosen as the Eye of Thoth,
for instance, serves as a connection for clairvoyant or
CHRONICLE SUBPLOTS
scrying abilities. What happens when someone capable
of this kind of magic gets access to this item?
What brought the characters to Chicago in the rst
place? If some or all of them were created there, perhaps
their creators followed their trails from Calogeros workshop
on the rest of their travels. Perhaps someone has been only
a week or so behind them through the entire chronicle,
putting together the story of their lives and Pilgrimages . .
. but to what purpose?
A Sheltering Storm
The throngs time in the camp of Papillon, detailed in

the scenario A Sheltering Storm (see Pandoras Book,
p. 115), can present a variety of opportunities for continuing stories.
Perhaps someone investigating the scene of Havelocks
murder takes an interest in the descriptions of the throng.
Alternately, Havelock may have asked a neighbor in his
building to hold onto something of strange alchemical signicance for him, just in case. This neighbor may seek out
the throng after police investigation reports that the man
who killed Havelock was likewise burnt to death maybe
these were Havelocks friends.
Supernatural creatures of New Orleans, whether vampire, werewolf or mage, may be interested in the terrible
Firestorm that erupted. Such an entity might seek the
characters out or send servants to capture them and
bring them to him in order to question them about their
nature and the nature of the strange storm.
The fate of the camp is left untold. What happened to
it? Did they set up shop elsewhere? Perhaps it fell to inghting among the factions that make up its population, and
they each went their separate ways. Perhaps Papillon turned
out to be a Centimanus, seeking to corrupt either to the
philosophy of the Freaks, or to provide herself opportunities
for lacuna. Indeed, Yellow Fever may have been allied or
subservient to Papillon the whole time.
Strangers on a Hill
The strange events in Boston, as described in Strangers on

a Hill (see Strange Alchemies, p. 122), might provide more
than a few opportunities for advancing the chronicle as well.
Federal crews investigating the attack on one of their
black sites may nd evidence of the throngs involvement
somehow. Things suddenly become much more dangerous if
the characters are tied to the suitcase nuke, as well their
appearances could very well put them on the list of known
terrorists in the United States.
Should Lighthouse live, when he returns from the
wastes, he may have envisioned a new goal. Depending on
whether or not they aided him, he may come to the throng
for assistance in accomplishing some aspect of this idea.
Perhaps one or more of the Prometheans in the area after
the riots took advantage of the viciousness of the event, steal-
ing away bodies to make new progeny from. What happens

when one of these young Created has visions of the throng,
and comes seeking the characters in an effort to understand
the life his body held before becoming a Promethean?
To the Wastes
The story found in To the Wastes (see Magnum Opus,

p. 118) has plenty of potential for continuing stories. Below
are some suggestions.
Perhaps the blood of the cattle and sudden introduction
of the throngs Azoth (and even perhaps the fear and hatred
of the workers) at the slaughterhouse mixed to awaken
something slumber deep beneath the packing plant. It rises,
tasting the air of the place, and, nding one of those elements
missing, goes hunting the Azoth that awakened it.
Several of the miners who died in Act Two asked the
throng to deliver messages to their families, or otherwise
honor last wishes. These simple goals are easily not only
sources of Vitriol and Humanity but of continuing stories.
What happens when one of Hectors children becomes
very troubled and starts getting into trouble as a result of
his grief, and his mother asks the characters to intervene?
The human experience of grief both expressing it and
resolving it can provide tremendous potential for Promethean stories.
When other Prometheans hear that the throng has
discovered a Shrine, and the Bloody Querent Cycle, the characters almost inevitably attract the attention of those who are
interested in such tales. The characters may be occasionally
sought out to tell their tale and relate the whereabouts of
the cavern. A particularly desperate Promethean may even
kidnap one of the throng and force her to show him where
the cavern lies, precipitating a cross-country chase.
These Mortal Engines
Though These Mortal Engines (see p. 119) brings the

chronicle begun in Waters of Life to a close, the story need
not end there. Below are some ideas for directions to take
the chronicle, based on what happens in Detroit.
Some of Carla Twos bad little children may share in
her strange visions somehow, and come seeking the throng.
They may simply be hungry, and looking for an easy-to-nd
meal, but they may also be looking for her, specically.
The discoveries within the lab may unlock some kind
of strange cipher for someone in the throng dreams begin to reveal a greater truth than Dunleavy was capable of
piecing together from his writings and ndings there. What
secrets does this lead a Promethean to, particularly one with
a strong Elpis Merit rating?
The awakening of the God Machine or the refusal by
the throng to aid in such can have dramatic repercussions.
What if, in its wake, qashmallim become more common, appearing to bid other Prometheans to do the will of the God
Machine . . . or bidding them to work against it?
109
Detroit:
The Dead Engine
Detroit: The Motor City, D-Town, the 313. This city,
located on the Detroit River in Michigan, longs for harmony.
Its hungry for it, but for every step forward the city is kicked
two steps back. Sure, the Downtown and Midtown revival
is great for the city, but the factory closings and mounting
crime rate sully that success. The new casinos and shopping
centers are lovely, but those things dont change the increasing budgetary failures and crumbling city infrastructure. The
suburbs are often rich and afuent (and often white), while
the city itself is poor and overworked (and usually black).
Racial and nancial disharmony grows out of a dearth of
jobs, declining real estate values and corrupt politicians.
What is Detroit? What themes and ideas can you explore
when setting a story in this decaying American city?
A Working Mans Town
The people of Detroit have proven that they want to

work. This is a strongly principled blue-collar factory town,
the very cradle of the American auto industry. And yet,
corporations dont seem interested in the peoples needs.
The auto industry has sent thousands of its workers home,
laid off before they can reap the benets of long employment, cast away like broken fan belts or alternators. Its
not just the car industry, either, though auto manufacturers
are certainly the guiltiest parties. Over the last couple of
decades, too many plants and factories have shut down
in search of greater prots and outsourced jobs, leaving
Detroits blue-collar populace in need of employment.
Theyre willing to work, ready to bloody their hands to
feed their families. But the jobs just arent there. The labor
force here is stagnant like pond water, and in such rancid
run-off nothing good will grow.
A City in Ruins
Detroit is a modern ruin. Countless buildings sit abandoned, whole blocks go unused. Factories are gutted shells,
houses sit like hollow skulls and whole streets lie empty of
anything but blowing trash and starving dogs. For every new
building that goes up, two more are condemned and left to
sit (because the city doesnt have the money to knock them
down). Within the city lurk shadowy portions of forgotten life, whole regions swallowed by the rust and crumble
of urban blight. In these portions linger those whom the
city and factories have cast off: addicts, gangs, prostitutes,
lost children, rabid animals. They comprise a deep malady
within the city, a septic moral and physical infection that
will not be easily routed. The good people of the city want
these places cleaned up or cut out. But year by year, the good
people nd themselves outnumbered by the bad.
110
Ready for Rebirth
This citys like an engine that revs, turning over and

over but never quite getting the spark to the plugs. New
growth in Downtown leads the newspapers to speak often
of the towns renaissance, and in some parts its apparent.
Remember, though, that theyve been bandying that word
about since 1973, and three decades is a long time coming
for this supposed renaissance. Many part of the city see no
such renaissance occurring. They want it, however, which
is what matters. Theyre willing and ready to make a difference if the city will let them. The people are desperate for
change, hungry for hope. Just as Prometheans, these people
have gone through a dark and turbulent journey along the
lines of the Saturnine Night. They are ready for the New
Dawn. They want to prepare their Great Work.
The Promethean City
Detroit is a very Promethean city. Why? It comprises various dead parts still grafted onto the living pulse. Its given
over to decay (Wasteland) and disharmony (Disquiet). It is
a nexus of creation (the auto industry was born here, after
all), driven into being by the will and obsession of a few
key men (the demiurges of the car manufacturers). And,
similar to Prometheans, this sometimes wretched city has a
great opportunity to become something greater and better, to
crawl out of its long suffering and into the light of new hope.
Similar to every Promethean, Detroit is a place of massive
potential. That potential is hard to reach and requires great
work, but its there for those who seek it.
Fast Facts
Below are just a few quick facts about Detroit that may
come into play during your game.
The metro area has about 5.5 million people, and the
city proper has about 900,000 (down from more than a
million 10 years ago and nearly two million in the 1950s;
the city is hemorrhaging its population).
The city is more than three-quarters African American,
with whites comprising about 13% of the total population.
The city has a fast-growing Hispanic sector, and also is home
to a rising number of Asians and Middle Easterners (Arabs,
Yemenis, Chaldeans, Iranians).
Cold in the winter (low teens before wind chill), and
hot in the summer (mid-80s, low-90s).
Two major newspapers: The Detroit News and the Detroit
Free Press (or the Freep). The News is editorially rightleaning, whereas the Free Press is more liberal.
Main airport: Detroit Metro Airport
Bus services (DDOT) run in the city and suburbs (called SMART).
The city also operates a light rail system called the People Mover. The
People Mover loops only around the Downtown area.
Its home to the Big Three auto companies (Ford, GM,
DaimlerChrysler), but also has a booming IT and services
industry.
DETROIT: THE DEAD ENGINE

Detroit is the most
dangerous city in America, at least according
to crime statistics. Arson, murder, rape, gang
violence and drug trafficking are all way above
the United States average. Budgetary cuts in
the citys police departments havent helped.
More than 47% of
the city is functionally
illiterate.
P o s t 9 / 1 1 , b o rder crossings between
Detroit and Windsor,
Canada (likely through
the Detroit-Windsor
Tunnel or over the Ambassador Bridge) dont
yet require a passport,
but do require current
ID. It costs a few dollars
to cross both ways, and
the wait times can be egregious. Border Patrol asks
a lot of questions, performs car searches and has the
right to turn anybody away from crossing.
Salt City
Did you know that beneath Detroit sits a massive

salt mine? The salt mine offers more than 100 miles
of road, and 1,500 square miles of massive tunnel. The
mine was closed for the last few decades, but recently
reopened under the Detroit Salt Company, which is in
turn owned by the Glaser Company. The mine itself is
more than 1,100 feet below the surface of the city.
They use a room-and-pillar method of drilling for
salt they blast and drill tunnels horizontally across
and vertically down. Once in the tunnel, they blast
whole new rooms, chipping away at the monstrous
salt vein that lurks in the ground (the area was once
a seabed).
Note: We mention the salt mine here because it is
a central plot point of These Mortal Engines, the
story presented later in this chapter.
Interesting History
The history presented here is by no means comprehensive. Its meant to give a taste of what history
matters in the World of Darkness, what has reflections
today for the characters that may live and work here
in the Motor City.
Mound Builders
Pre-Detroit, the area was claimed by mound-building

Native Americans, whose conical and pyramidal mounds
housed the trappings of their civilizations: ints, arrows,
axe-heads, ceremonial dress and lots of animal and human
bones. Once in a blue moon, someone nds the remnants of
one of these mounds in and around the city. Someone even
found such a mound beneath the basement foundation of his
house. One mound, discovered in the late 1970s, featured
a skull that was attached to a human skeleton, but itself
could not have been human and appeared more reptilian
than anything. That skull has since been lost.
Transportation Hub
The city has long been a nexus of the transportation industries. From ship-building to car-manufacturing, since the 19th
century Detroit has been a powerful hub of this industry. The
prosperous carriage-building trade led Henry Ford to establish
his rst automobile plant here, and the rest is history. The
irony is, for a place once dedicated to creating objects whose
very purpose was motion, the city has become stagnant and
stationary. An old legend says that some of the major auto
barons of the area (Henry Ford, Louis Chevrolet, the Dodge
brothers) all had little tin-plate gears turning the dark of their
eyes, seen only if you looked real hard into the pupils. Its said
that some are still born in the city with such a strange mark,
but that those people are kidnapped away from the city by
parties unknown. Its probably just a legend.
111
The Purple Gang
Prohibition in Detroit didnt stop the bootlegging industry.

In fact, being on the border with Canada only helped move
alcohol into the country. Detroits infamous Purple Gang,
a group of mostly Jewish bootleggers, were the prominent
players in the criminal underground, even more so than the
Sicilian gangs. They were named as such because they were
rotten, purple like the color of bad meat. While they were
eventually shouldered out of business in the late 1930s, some
say that the Purple Gang still operates in the town. Except
now, they dont bootleg alcohol, but instead operate a truly
bizarre black market that seems capable of getting anything
for anyone . . . if the price is right. Word is that you dont
nd the Purple Gang they nd you.
Arsenal of Democracy
During World War II, Detroit was a prominent manufacturer of war munitions for the U.S. government (the city
simply turned the auto plants over to weapons manufacturing
for a time). Occasionally, someone will nd a small cache
of old wartime weapons hidden beneath the city or in old
buildings. An irony of the city is that it has some of the
worst gun-related crime in the country, and it seems as if
guns fall into the hands of anybody who wants one, regardless of criminal background. The cops continually reclaim
truckloads of weapons from the streets, only to have to do it
again and again. Detroit remains an arsenal, to be sure.
Motors and Music
Worth noting is Detroits rich connection to the history

of American music, tied in some ways to the history of
the automobile (radios in cars, cruising down Woodward
Avenue with some Smokey Robinson or KISS coming out
of the speakers). Similarly, just as the auto industry picked
itself up and left Detroit, so, too, did Motown Records get
up and leave in the 1980s, heading out to Los Angeles along
with Detroits musical future.
Music is still a part of the citys soul, though, just like the
smell of leather seats and the roar of engines. Those two
things are facets of the American dream and experience, and
Detroit embodies them. But theyre ghosts, now, memories
of a thing that was once great but is now dead. But as Prometheans prove, not all thats dead needs to remain that
way. With the right amount of effort and sacrice, anything
can be brought back from death.
Notable Geography
The geographic areas and neighborhoods listed below are

not meant to be a comprehensive guidebook for Detroit. For
that, libraries and bookstores are homes to great guidebooks.
The Internet, too, can provide an excellent resource when
researching the Detroit region. The areas listed below are
relevant to the World of Darkness and any stories told in
this setting. The areas are listed alphabetically, but they
112
can be found on a map or online (use a search engine such

as Google or refer to a website such as Cityscape Detroit
[www.cityscapedetroit.com]).
Belle Isle
Not far from Downtown, the island of Belle Isle sits in

the Detroit River, connected to the rest of the city by the
MacArthur Bridge. Belle Isle offers a number of museums
(including the Great Lakes Museum) and other tourist
attractions (Boat Club, Yacht Club, Belle Isle Casino, the
Horticulture Building). The Isle provides powerful views of
both the Detroit skyline as well as neighboring Canada.
Rumor is among those-in-the-know that Belle Isle is a safe
place for the citys supernatural population to meet and carve
up the city into its little territories. The citys populace knows
that the Belle Isle Aquarium has been closed for years despite
an overwhelming public vote to reopen it in 2005, and they also
know that despite it being closed, at least once a month it seems
to host late-night gala affairs for a number of unusual individuals
in dark cars and SUVs. Security is high at these gatherings, and as
yet, nobody has been able to get close enough to see anything of
substance. Theyre told its a government affair, and they should
go on their way.
Bricktown
Once an industrial area, Bricktowns recent inclusion of

lofts, clubs and casinos has given it something of a resurgence,
and stands as a small emblem of what the city could become.
Bricktown offers a pocket of nightlife dominated by live music,
whether its early rock talent hitting Jacobys or rap battles taking
place in the basement of St. Andrews Hall while trend-setters
play upstairs. Of course, Bricktown is also where a lot of urban
predators do their hunting, hungry for sex, meat or blood.
Brightmoor
Brightmoor is another working-class neighborhood gone to pot.

This one, in the northwestern part of the city, is unique because
it once served as a bastion for autoworkers. They have lived and
raised families here since the early part of last century, but once
the plants started laying people off in the 1980s through to the
present, Brightmoor has become a depressed neighborhood.
Almost half of the neighborhood lives below the poverty line.
Most inhabitants want to get back to work so they can survive,
taking whatever meager jobs come their way. They all dream of
the day when they can get back to working in the plants again,
though. Most want it because its a good if no longer stable
paycheck. A few want it because they become addicted to the
machines, to the smell of machine oil on their hands and clothes,
the sound of massive blades cutting and crimping steel.
Brush Park
Brush Park, next to Cass Corridor (and unofcially part

of Midtown) is on the cusp of major revitalization, but
has yet to move forward. Brush Park was once an area of
great wealth, and now all the old fantastic homes each
NOTABLE GEOGRAPHY
as unique as a snowake and offering amazing glimpses of
architectural potential sit gutted and hollow like empty
skulls. Many of them have been agged for renovation,
either by wealthy homeowners or by companies looking to
build condos and lofts. That said, most agged buildings
still sit unchanged. Why?
Development companies engage in a secret war with
those who believe they truly own the buildings: a group
of vagrants calling themselves the Discarded. Its almost
guerilla warfare, with the vagrants sabotaging efforts to
revamp the area. The news media have yet to pick up on
this hidden war, and thats just how the companies want it.
They dare not let investors know of the troubles.
Cass Corridor
Cass Corridor, running along Cass Avenue (parallel to

the main artery of Woodward Avenue) has been a grungy,
impoverished area since the 1960s. During the last decade
or so, however, the area has seen something of an urban
living resurgence as the neighborhood has been claimed by
those living a kind of bohemian lifestyle. Cass Corridor has
a thriving subculture, broken up into little tribes of students,
poets, musicians, grafti artists and wandering homeless.
The city calls the area Midtown in an effort to give it a
new, polished name, but the local tribes of the Corridor care
little for such a title. These tribes often act out against the
city whenever it attempts to take over or re-brand parts of
the area with most tourist- or business-friendly renovations.
Small cults of masked individuals make great trouble for big
business, and rumor has it they operate either out of the
Cass Corridor Food Co-Op or the Masonic Temple.
Worth noting is that Zug Island, sitting out on the river,

is closed to the public. Few pictures exist of the island except for those taken from afar. Security seems unnaturally
high for an industrial area, and though the area continues
to function and churn out smoke, its oddly difcult to nd
someone who actually works there.
Downtown
Downtown Detroit, which includes the CBD (Central Business District) has undergone serious revitalization during the
last several years. Millions of dollars have gone into renovating
pre-World War II skyscrapers, increasing entertainment venues
and developing new condominium living. Like a rotting limb,
though, Downtown is still pocked with derelict buildings, though
even some of those have been marked for demolition (Statler
Hotel was recently brought down, much to the chagrin of city
historians) or restoration (Broderick Tower). Below Grand
Circus Park, the small courtyard park that marks the center of
this district, new construction and renovation fan out in an area
the locals call the The Necklace or The Fan.
Prometheans wandering this area in and around the old
buildings of Downtown may occasionally nd markings from
past Created who have come through here. These Brands and
markings indicate that the Created felt the area was already
plagued by the Wasteland, even though they could nd no
persistent Promethean presence other than themselves.
Greektown
Outside of Chicago, Detroits Greektown embodies the

biggest ethnically Greek neighborhood in the country. Two
things are worth noting about Greektown:
Delray and
Zug Island
The neighborhood of Delray

sits at the southwest end of
Detroit on the border with
River Rouge. Its an eerie place,
an immigrant area (sometimes
called a white slum, as much
of its populace consists of
European immigrants). The
industrial towers of Zug Island
(not a natural island but a
human-made factory island
devoted to the steel industry)
loom over the neighborhood.
The neighborhood is impoverished and polluted. It seems
the pinnacle of a Galateid
Wasteland, with its still air and
almost warped geography, and
yet no evidence of a Muse can
be found here.
113
First, the Second Baptist Church of Detroit is here, and
was the rst African American congregation in the city
and served as the last Underground Railroad point before
the slaves entered Canada. Second is the proliferation of
bakeries and pastry shops dotting the neighborhood. An
odd phenomenon is that many little pastry shops hide away
from the main thoroughfares, interested not in money but in
selling unusual foods and confections to patrons with highly
specialized hungers. Aphrodites, a small shop off Monroe in
a narrow alley, is a two-man operation: Rocky Georgakas
and his 13-year-old daughter, Nia. He doesnt advertise, but
for the right price, theres not a food he cant make.
Grosse Pointe
East of the city, against Lake St. Clair, sits the afuent
suburb of Grosse Pointe. The gradual white ight from
Detroit carried many of the citys upper middle class or
wealthy whites here. Although only 5,000 or so people
actually live here, the town is home to a large number of
summer homes (many of which sit against the lake). Property
values are high, and the people here know when someone
doesnt belong.
That includes Prometheans. The Created who come here
stand out more than they might elsewhere. Assume that
rolls for Disquiet are made at a 1 die penalty.
Indian Village
Indian Village is a combination of suburban sprawl paired

with opulent mansions. Oddly, this neighborhood isnt a
suburb at all, and is instead smack dab in the middle of the
city. While the homes are nice and the lawns are green, the
property values are comparably in the toilet. First, tax rates
are abnormally high, and second, nice homes remain the
constant target of petty crime (theft, usually).
This neighborhood is also home to Pewabic pottery, a
type of ceramic pottery glazed with a colored metallic sheen
(Pewabic is a Chippewa term for metal or metallic).
Its said among Prometheans that a Frankenstein of some
Repute came through here, collecting these tiles. Part of
his Pilgrimage was reportedly to include these tiles along
with Mercer Moravian tiles from Pennsylvania and broken
Bauer pottery shards from California in the esh of his
soon-to-be Created child.
Mexicantown
A small-but-thriving Hispanic community, Mexicantown sits beneath the shadow of the Ambassador Bridge.
This neighborhood represents a hard-working sector of
people who are largely abused by the system but continue
to work it regardless. Its maybe starting to pay off: various
Hispanic businessmen have formed a development coalition to keep the neighborhood strong and in the hands of
their culture.
Mexicantown is also home to illegal cock, dog and other
animal ghts. Fight operators move the location of the events.
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Fights happen once every few months, and have grown in

popularity and grandiosity. Just last year, police raided one
such ght, removing a number of expected animals (dogs,
chickens, a coyote), as well as a lion and a baboon.
The Rivers
The Detroit River runs through metro Detroit, connecting Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie. Curiously, some battles of
the War of 1812 were fought along the banks of the Detroit
River. Listening at night, some hear the distant report of
musket re and cannons, chalking it up to gun violence or
other crime. Occasionally, someone nds a piece of boat or
odd artifact from the war washing up out of the river.
South of this, the Rouge River runs as a tributary into the
Detroit River. The Rouge River (largely marking the border
between the town of River Rouge and Detroit proper) is said
to claim several lives a year. One of these lives is always a
little girl, under the age of 10.
6 Mile, 7 Mile, 8 Mile
These three roads stretch east and west far beyond Detroit,
but in Detroit proper they represent a diving line between
the haves (those outside of Detroit in afuent suburbs) and
the have-nots (those in the city). Its not segregated; blacks
and whites mix here, living in ramshackle houses, trailers
and crumbling housing projects. Those who live here are also
a mix of those who want to work for their living and those
who want to take from those who want to work. Gangs such
as the Vice Lords and the Black Maa Gang play territorial
war games in this area, ooding it with drugs and violence,
keeping the good people pinned down for fear of their
lives. (Worth noting is that the Black Maa Gang scours
the area looking for hip-hop hopefuls, helping them score
record contracts, which act as a front for drug trafcking
and money laundering.)
In the World
of Darkness . . .
Want to know what the rest of the World of Darkness is

doing in Detroit? No problem. Note that some of the terminology used below comes from Vampire: The Requiem,
Werewolf: The Forsaken and Mage: The Awakening, but
hopefully the basic ideas are general enough that a Storyteller
without access to those books can still make use of them.
The information in this book about crossover games (p. 33)
might also be helpful.
Vampires
The city is lorded over by a relatively young and unusually powerful Carthian Prefect known as Malik Hargrove.
Hargrove claims to have created a place for vampires to work
together more freely, where territory and resources are easily
shared, and to a point, this is true. Its true for those vampires
who come from the lower class, who have experienced the
IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS...

workers struggle (common in this industrial city). For those
who havent, or for those who have worked their way out of
that struggle and into wealth, Malik cares little and often
obstructs their efforts to be successful. Hargrove, despite
claiming that religion is a drag on most mens souls, counts
himself as an occasional adherent of the sanctums Midnight
Masses. Also worth noting is that in recent nights, Detroit
has seen a surprising upswing in its vampire population. The
odd thing is, few can explain why they braved the dangerous journey to come to a new place, only that they did it in
service to a barely perceptible urge.
Del Ray Dunns
In the midst of Greektown lies an old 1920s speakeasy
that doesnt announce its presence, and in fact lurks behind
a dead-bolted, nondescript metal door. Were one to press his
ear to that door, however, he might hear the odd syncopations of live jazz bleeding through the metal. Beyond that
door waits the club of Del Ray Dunn, prominent Mekhet of
the few local Invictus allowed to remain in the city. From
within this club, Dunn lets his buddies listen and play music,
and bring their mortal toys for a few hours of play-time
and blood-spray (the oors are covered with tarp, and below
the tarp, easily cleaned glazed tile). Of late, however, some
have reported that Del Ray has played host to a number of
unusual vampires, all of whom belong to or are allied with
the local Crone cults. Are they fomenting a rebellion against
the working-class Carthians?
Werewolves
Detroit represents one of the few places in the world

where the Pure and the Forsaken arent at each others
throats. They dont like one another, and the city sees its
fair share of bloody ghting between the two sides. But the
sad fact is that neither side has the time or energy to ght
one another, because every werewolf is so busy keeping a
lid on a violent, despairing Shadow. The city is choked
with Ridden and breaches of the Gauntlet. Wounds spring
up with alarming frequency. Beshilu gather in gross armies
beneath the city and in its broken places. While the humans
rarely catch sight of it, the werewolves know the truth: this
place is a war zone. And they arent necessarily winning.
The two most powerful packs in the city struggle nightly to
keep the worlds from crumbling into one another. On the
Forsaken side, the Brightmoor Devils, a mostly Iron Master
pack, protects the neighborhood from a constantly sucking
hole of despondency that opens periodically in the Shadow.
Among the Pure the most powerful pack is composed of
ve African American Ivory Claws who believe its time
once again to enforce the slavery of humans specically
white humans.
The Hunting Path
Woodward Avenue runs nearly 30 miles through Detroit
and as well as suburbs such as Ferndale, Highland Park, Royal
Oak and others. Historically, this long stretch served as a
ritual hunting path for the local Indians. Rumor has it that
it still serves as a hunting path to this day. Packs of roving
werewolves stalk its length, supposedly hunting dangerous
spirits. The spirits believe that they are the ones hunting the
shapeshifters. It creates a curious game of cat-and-mouse,
for Woodward Avenue is a very public thoroughfare. Spirits
care little for secrecy, making the hunt all the trickier.
Mages
The mages of the Mysterium work tirelessly to gure out

why parts of the city seem to go dead with regard to magic.
Sometimes, a part of the city equivalent to about a city
block suddenly becomes resistant to magic, and performing
any feats of magic requires massive exertions of effort. Even
those outside the Mysterium are unable to explain a number
of the citys odd phenomena: an occasional mumbling from
deep beneath the city, strange mechanized things that look
like clockwork birds gathering in dead trees and a serial
killer who seems bent on cutting off heads and burning
High Speech symbols onto the tongues. Also worth noting
here is the curious affair that is the Consilium. To belong to
the presiding council of mages, one must renounce any and
all connections to the orders. Ones judgment must serve
magic before politics (though the lack of subscribed order
membership doesnt actually stop politics, it just changes
its stripes), so says the rarely seen presiding cabal, the Mirrored Witches.
Stockpile on 6 Mile
Police raided a house on 6 Mile, nding a major cache
of automatic weapons and homemade explosives. They
reported all this to the media, also talking about the odd,
Satanic books found amidst the weapons. The books
werent Satanic, but instead representative of the library
of a local Adamantine Arrow cabal, the 666 Kings. The
Kings had ties to local gangs, and were planning a local
takeover of the apolitical Consilium until the Kings
disappeared. The Kings had been gone for the few weeks
prior to the police invasion of their 6 Mile sanctum. They
were last seen heading into the mini-mansion of local real
estate mogul, Charles Weiler. They havent been seen since,
but a Mysterium mage recently found one of the Kings
trademark silver-enameled medallions. It was left dangling
from a rosewood-handled knife piercing one of the doors
of a Mysterium safehouse. The medallion was crusted with
blood and bits of bone.
Weird Detroit
Below are a few elements of Detroit that dont t anywhere

else. These bizarre elements are ready to be dropped in any
chronicle set in Detroits World of Darkness.
Bad Cars
Detroit and its surrounding environs are considered to be

the countrys eminent auto-making sector, and more impor-
117
tantly, its
where the
American car was more
or less born.
Much of the citys history and therefore its urban mythology are tied somewhat to this dominant industry. The auto
industry is tied to various good American myths the
myth of Western expansion, luxury for all and the personal
statement a car makes about oneself. But this industry has
its bad side, as well. Not only is the auto industry responsible for such signicant layoffs that Detroit is one of the
most poorly and erratically employed cities in the nation,
but automakers also drive aggressive oil policy by creating
consumptive cars.
The weirdest effects, however, remain unseen by the
majority of mortal eyes. Cars have a dark mythology, and
the manifestation of this sinister side may nd a home in
your story.
The rst instance of dark automobile myth is the presence
of cursed automobiles. These accursed automobiles seem
normal. They look good, sound right and drive well. But
from time to time, the curse seems to rear up suddenly like
a spooked horse and the driver may suffer for it.
118
How are
cursed cars born? Nobody knows for sure, but stories suggest that sometimes when
blood is spilled on the assembly line, the part upon that
blood spattered still goes into the making of the car. This
blood carries a kind of mystical weight that imprints the
nished product with a grim curse. Others who speak of car
curses talk of things such as gremlins frittering around under
the hood or vengeful spirits possessing the engines. What
is known is that, from time to time after the curse kicks in,
sometimes blood can be found somewhere in the car. Maybe
a bead runs down from the vents or CD player. Could be
that a mechanic nds blood lining the belts and wires, and
assumes that the driver hit a raccoon or something.
The curse manifests like this: If a driver has one or no
Willpower points left perhaps his will and effort were
expended on a tough day at work or vicious spat with the
soon-to-be ex-wife then the car seems to awaken at the
possibility of a sapped or lapsed will. Sometime during the
drive, the car will lurch or shudder, or maybe itll hit a pothole
or hydroplane across a sudden sheen of water. A Drive roll is
THESE MORTAL ENGINES

required but that roll is automatically reduced to a chance
die. Failure means a simple car accident in which nobody
gets hurt. Dramatic failure means people die.
The other instance of strange car myths in Detroit is the
occasional sighting of a spectral car. Driven by nobody, sometimes at night on dead moons, a seemingly real car comes out
of nowhere (an alley, an empty intersection, a highway exit)
and careens into someone whos driving her own car. Theres
the sound of slamming metal and shattering glass, but when
the driver looks up theres no accident. The other car is
gone, too. Its as if the whole thing never happened. By and
large, this doesnt hurt anybody. But from time to time, it
can cause a heart attack or other stress response.
The Real Urban Jungle
Detroit is dead in many places. Buildings have been repossessed as foreclosures or taken from the hands of gangs,
drug dealers or other criminals. Some buildings have simply
been condemned. And so, they are left to rot. This has created an odd phenomenon in which nature seems hell-bent
to reclaim them. They become overgrown with weeds and
vines. Trees even sprout within the buildings, pushing aside
mortar with slow growth over the ages.
This in itself is somewhat odd, but other, stranger stories
come out of these urban jungles and urban prairies. Some
say that theyve lost friends, family or gang members in there.
They go in, ostensibly to wander around or maybe get high
away from prying eyes, and they never come back out.
Others have spotted animals in these places that maybe
shouldnt be there. Wild dogs and feral cats arent exactly
unusual, though sometimes theyre seen in abnormally
high numbers. Some have claimed to see wolves, coyotes
and bears hiding in the decrepit, nature-claimed buildings.
One guy even said he saw a lion stalking around, but he
was homeless, and nobody really trusts the homeless, do
they? Surely hes lying, because he also claims to have seen
a burbling stream, and a strange, black-stoned ruin sitting
half-buried in the ground oor of the old Farwell Building
on Griswold Street, and that cant be true.
Forgotten Detroit
Some refer to the various parts of Detroit that
sit abandoned and lost as Forgotten Detroit (you
can even check out a lot of these places at www.
forgottenmichigan.com or www.forgottendetroit.
com).
Interestingly, some people have taken on a
hobby of exploring these old derelict structures
with the aplomb and the equipment of cave
spelunkers or mountain climbers. They literally
crawl through these places with head-lamps and
climb ropes hooked on broken floor mooring with
grappling hooks. The homeless presence and criminal element are often viewed in the same way that
a wilderness explorer looks at tigers or vultures:
just animals in their element. It lends further
credence to the urban wild idea and may find a
place in any World of Darkness game.
These
Mortal Engines
Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus. (Translation: We
hope for better things; it will rise from the ashes.)
Detroit City Motto
The Saturnine Night is suffering. Prometheans meet
with a world that wishes nothing but pain for them.
People want Prometheans exiled or destroyed. Animals
attack or go mad in their presence. Their surroundings
cant bear the aberration of a Prometheans company,
and so even the physical world spurns them. The only
answer to this is to keep moving, to usher oneself from
one tale of woe and madness to the next. While those
Branded into throngs have at least some anchor to keep
them safe and sane in this sea of suffering, being part
of a throng provides only a small set of breakers against
Disquiet, the Wasteland and Torment.
For many, hope remains. The Created are afforded
the chance to break this numbing, seemingly ceaseless
cycle and become human. And yet many Prometheans
feel they are seeking the impossible. A human soul can
seem beyond the pale, always just out of reach.
In this story, the light at the end of the tunnel becomes
apparent. The characters come to or are invited to Detroit, where they are told that for the right Created an
opportunity will arise to learn the truth about the human
soul and in learning that truth, they are allowed the
chance to complete the equation and perhaps find a
soul for themselves. This story represents a possible end
to their journey, whereupon they might rip the snakes
fangs away from its own tail so that the endless cycle
may finally draw to a close. But it wont be easy. Yes,
theyll be given the chance to consider the soul and what
it means for them, but in the process theyll confront
horrors born of a soulless science, and face an ultimate
reckoning that forces them to wonder if the reward of
Humanity is worth all of this . . . or if it even exists in
the first place. More importantly, are they worthy of
the reward of Humanity? Will they be willing and able
to sacrifice properly to fulfill their desires? Must pain
always come before the prize?
119
Structure,
Theme, Mood
These Mortal Engines is the fth and nal chapter in

the chronicle that began with The Water of Life in Promethean: The Created and has taken characters through
post-Katrina New Orleans in A Sheltering Storm, an
explosive Boston race riot in Strangers on a Hill and
through a dark and isolated journey of the soul through the
Rocky Mountains in To the Wastes. While its true that
all these stories can work together and point toward this
chapter as a whole chronicles conclusion, you neednt run
them together or in the sequence that they are presented.
This story can easily stand on its own, or you can mix up
the parts as you see t.
This story is told in a three-act structure, though the
story and the characters should be exible enough for that
to change if your narrative needs or game-time requires it
to. In the rst act, the characters come to Detroit to follow
a lead, meet with Carla Two or continue their Pilgrimages.
For a time, theyre given room to do as they wish, and are
made to believe that great opportunity awaits them if they
can muster the patience and resilience to remain in the city
for a time. Opportunity knocks all right . . . in the form of
half-human, broken-souled clones that cannot abate the
consuming hungers that drive them to remain alive in this
world.
The second act involves the characters tracking these
creatures to their source and potentially halting their out-ofcontrol creation, only to nd that their master and demiurge
has ed the scene. Some characters may nd this repulsive
and seek to destroy his lunatic science, while others may
nd that his work has the potential to help them regardless
of its . . . unpleasantness. Moreover, they meet with a new
Promethean who seems desperate for their friendship.
In the third act, with a power outage plaguing the city,
this new Promethean wants to reveal to the characters the
powerful force below the ground that gives him hope and is
the focal point of all his efforts. This strange machine, found
in the salt mines beneath Detroit, carries great promise, terrible retribution and a steep price. Characters hold in their
hands the fates of many, including themselves.
Theme: Sacrifice
Through this story, characters learn the multifarious nature of sacrice, and how nothing is gained without it. On
one hand, humans sacrice every day. Detroit is a deeply
impoverished city with a massive unemployment rate. The
people in this town existing below the poverty line are often
capable of great sacrices for their families, and the characters may see that some of these sacrices are good and pure,
while others are petty and potentially damning. Is there a
difference? Can the ends justify the means?
120
Moreover, the characters will be called to witness sacrice

among their own kind and may be called to themselves
display their understanding of sacrice. Again, is it possible
that both man and Created are capable of both good and
bad sacrices? One can give in to selsh urges or seless
altruism: Are both of equal measure? Does the soul care
about the nature of sacrice, or does it only care that some
sacrice is made? Worse, is it possible that some sacrices
are meaningless, performed to great agony and effort but
granted little or no reward?
Mood: Hope and Horror
The city of Detroit provides a daily mural of hope and

horror, and the characters will be forced to confront both
separately and in tandem. This story should be seeded
with little moments of both throughout: the people of this
city have found ways to survive and even overcome their
struggles, and build something lasting out of the piles of ash
and shit that have been heaped upon them. Others have
given in and given up, selling themselves or their families
for a quick x, even indoctrinating their children into lives
of slavery and pain so that someone somewhere can nd a
moments worth of happiness.
The throng itself will encounter its own duel of hope
versus horror. On one hand, the characters are nally given
the chance to see the light at the end of the tunnel . . . but
theyre not through the tunnel yet. Down its length lies
deep shadow, and terrible things both real and imagined
lurk in that tenebrous stretch. To get to the light and
grab hold of hopes true promise, the characters will have
to crawl through this metaphorical tunnel. They will not
emerge unscathed, but therein lies the nature of the aforementioned theme: sacrice. To grab hope, one must endure
horror and commit to sacrice. To reach the light, one must
wade through darkness.
Before
the Game
This section details some of the events and plot threads
that need to come into play before the characters settle
into the actual story.
Getting There
Detroit is the default setting for this story, and its important to work with players to get their characters to this city.
This section will help you do that.
The time of year is irrelevant to the tale (though a blistering hot summer is perhaps appropriate), and the only thing
that matters is tying the characters to this chapter so that
the players dont feel railroaded into concluding their story
here. Below are a number of options and considerations
when getting the throng to the Motor City.
From the Mountains: In the last story, the characters
found isolation and darkness in a collapsed mine outside of
BEFORE THE GAME

Denver. This story may follow naturally from that point,
with characters pursuing leads that take from the Mile High
City to the Motor City. If seeking out the mining company
that put them and others at risk, the characters will nd its
main ofces are here in Detroit. If pursuing the alchemist
demiurge known as Moses Moon (found initially in the
Strangers on a Hill story), they meet with a tip that suggests he has come to Detroit to stay with family. Its possible,
too, that Revelation from the Bloody Querent Cycle takes
the throng to further Shrines within and beneath the city.
Other chronicles may have left loose ends that the characters wish to pursue. Did they attempt to follow Lighthouse
from Strangers on a Hill? Did you create a qashmal in the
Denver story that can lead them to a new place? All plot
threads lead to Detroit.
Set the Chronicle Here: This story can stand alone
in Detroit, or if it would best serve your needs, you could
run every chapter of this chronicle in Detroit with some
minor adaptations.
Lure of Elpis: The Elpis Merit is a great plot motivator.
Prometheans can be driven by their Pilgrimage, and if Elpis
points them toward Detroit (images of motors, ghost cars,
smoke stacks, assembly lines), so be it.
Carla Two: Carla Two, from the Water of Life story
found in Promethean: The Created, contacts the characters. This is the default hook that will bring the throng
to Detroit, and is discussed below.
Call from Carla Two
Presuming that Carla Two lived through Water of Life

(or was resurrected, either on her own or by another Created), she contacts the throng. The nature of the throngs
initial relationship with her may be adversarial or affable.
She contacts them regardless, as theyre some of the only
Prometheans she still knows and feels connected to. Even
if their relationship was problematic or outright confrontational, she feels the need to mend fences as shes taken
out a whole new lease on her so-called life.
Carla contacts them in one of two ways, depending on the
needs of the story. In one way, she calls them. This should
be somewhat eerie; as the throng passes by a dusty phone
booth, the phone inside rings. If they dont answer it, the
same phenomenon happens again a day or two later. Its Carla
Two. She claims she got the number from her dreams.
The second way is that she tracks them down in person (this
is also what happens if they ignore her persistent calls). Once
again, she follows her dreams to track them down.
Carla explains to the characters that Detroit is where
it happens, and that she sees in her dreams a ery bird
rising from a dark city that just so happens to have the
skyline of Detroit. Her dreams give her the feeling that
theres good work to be done (a phrase she uses over and
over again, almost to the point of obsession) in the city, and
that therein lies the possibility of ending the long darkness
of the Saturnine Night. She profoundly believes that she is

able to offer the throng a true shot at becoming human, or
at least at taking a lot of long strides along the Pilgrimage.
Her enthusiasm may be infectious or creepy. If characters
follow her or meet her in Detroit, shell bring them to her
lair (see Act One, under Carlas Lair).
The Sad Case of

Doctor Dunleavy
Nine months ago, Dr. David Dunleavys son Shaun died

in a drunk driving accident. Shaun, a passenger, was found
folded up under the dashboard, his body broken and mostly
crushed. The organs were made useless, his bones pulverized
into skin-tearing shards and as a result, the boys body was
barely recognizable as having ever been human.
Dunleavy was the one driving. He was drunk at the time,
having come from a local bar where he had been drowning
his sorrows and spilling his drink over a sheaf of divorce
papers. He realized he was late picking up his son from
basketball practice, and drove to fetch him.
The accident occurred on his way home. Dunleavy simply
went straight around a curve when he shouldve been following the road. His Oldsmobile hit an SUV head on. The
family in the other car suffered serious wounds, but nothing
critical. Dunleavy walked away from the accident with nothing more bruises and grief. Dunleavys story continues and
intermingles with the throngs in Act One below.
Unusual Attacks
The newspapers and news media devote a good portion of

their coverage to the latest attacks across the city. These
attacks are described differently on different news stations
and in newspapers, with each thinking it has the scoop on
whats really going on.
The baseline facts are that people are attacked at least
once a day by strange, bald white men whose teeth are led
to points. Several people have been killed and, depending
on the news outlet, either cut up or partially eaten.
Further disagreement lies in the supposed identity of
these attackers. The Detroit Free Press says its some strange
religious cult. WXYZ News claims its the result of a new
drug hitting the streets. A few local bloggers claim the
attacks are made up by the police, and that these are actually the result of animal attacks because the urban prairie
effect has drawn countless wild animals (including bears and
coyotes) into the city limits. These blogs claim some degree
of conspiracy on part of the police.
The police in every instance make no hard claims about the
attacks. The media outlets are glad to pick up the slack.
Blackouts
Detroits been suffering a series of brownouts and blackouts.

Whether due to overuse of air conditioning in heat waves or
heating costs associated with a wintry cold snap, or whether
121
simply due to a strained system on an imperfect grid, power has
waned in and around the city. Its rarely severe and never lasts for
more than a few hours, and it only happens once or twice a week.
But its got the city up in arms, and so far the civil engineers and
power companies cant seem to gure out just whats preventing
them from keeping the system running full-time. Theyll make
excuses (hot summer, cold winter, its New York Citys fault because theyre all on the same grid), but its evident that theyre
(sometimes literally) in the dark. The characters may learn of
this before they get to Detroit (its on the news) or once they get
there (seeing it on the front cover of a newspaper or overhearing
a conversation on the street). Note that during a brownout or
blackout, a Promethean cannot easily draw electricity to himself
for purposes of healing.
Act
One: Assembly
In this Act, the characters come to Detroit and potentially
meet with Carla Two. They witness and maybe experience
some of what the people of Detroit go through. They also
confront the legacy of Dr. David Dunleavy and his dead
son, Shaun.
122
Carlas Lair
Carla Two has made her home in the midst of humans. Not
far from the Detroit River sits a small housing project called
Dragoon Court. Despite the best efforts of the city to control
violence and crime in and around that area, Dragoon Court
remains a crumbling, crowded bastion of welfare families,
drug dealers, addicts and broken humans.
Its possible that Carla doesnt work for this scenario.
Perhaps shes dead or simply doesnt suit the tone of the
tale. Itd be best to pick another Promethean with which
the throng is familiar, though, if need be, you can create a
whole new character to serve in the role.
Alternately, for extra creep factor, what if this new
Promethean is called Carla Three, looks a lot like Carla
Two and seems to know the characters from some place she
cant quite recall?
Dragoon Court
A successful Wits + Occult roll tells the characters even

before they step through the hip-level rusted gates of the
project that this place has been potentially marked by Carla
Twos Wasteland. While the place probably looked pretty bad
AC T ONE: ASSEMBLY
before she got here, it has worsened since she staked a claim in
a small corner apartment in the far back of the project. Plants
are dead. Brick walls traditionally strong, even when other
materials crumble are pocked with pitted holes that blow
red dust when the wind kicks up. The projects populace, often
gathered around outside at rickety picnic tables or blasting music
from stoops, look haunted and malnourished, with the tendons
in their neck standing out like heavy-gauge cable.
Assume that the projects population has no more than
four dice to roll in their Resolve + Composure dice pools
to resist Disquiet. Characters could meet a number of encounters here:
A tall, freakishly skinny black man or woman runs up
and begins a stuttering tirade about the system: System
keeps us all fucked up. It works against us. You want to do
right. You want to make good with your life. But others, they
dont want that! You still got the dope-dealing! You still got
the killing! Cant get no job. Cant get no goddamn fucking
job! The individual will follow and hound the throng. He
only has three dice to resist Disquiet.
A pit bull and rottweiler ght off in the corner, playing
a snarling game of tug-of-war with a chewed-up tire tread.
If the characters get too close, the dogs might attack. Despite being broad-chested ghting dogs, both are obviously
underfed (ribs showing). Animal Ken may be used to stave
off an attack or otherwise distract the animals. (Stats for
the dogs can be found on p. 203 of the World of Darkness
Rulebook. Assume that from starvation and tussling, these
dogs already have two bashing levels of damage present.)
Outside of Carla Twos tenement apartment on the
third oor sits a hollow-chested, fat-bellied black man. Hes
sitting against her door on the dirty oor, and hes furiously
scribbling in a notepad. Hes belligerent about moving away,
though characters can easily physically move him (Strength
+ Brawl) or Intimidate him into sliding over (Manipulation
+ Intimidation). If asked what hes doing, hell respond that
the white bitch who lives in this apartment is weird as
shit. Hes taking notes, because he knows someday the cops
will want to know about her. Hell begin vocally taking notes
about the throng, too loudly talking up their physical
descriptions and throwing in some insults.
Inside the Lair
Carlas apartment isnt much more than a gloried closet

with a barebones kitchen and a bathroom so small a persons
elbows and knees touch the wall when he uses the toilet.
A few ies buzz around the window. Cockroaches cling to
the ceiling in agrant disregard of the characters presence.
The room is greenhouse hot (either a summer heat wave or
shes got the heat on full blast).
The place is eerily clean. (If asked about this, she explains
that she throws all her trash out the window onto the re
escape. A glance outside shows this to be true.) Two details
stand out, however.
The rst is that stacked up all over the room are piles of
newspapers (the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press). Characters can see that some of them are marked with red pen.
Some words are circled, others crossed out. If asked, Carla
says that she looks for secret messages in the articles, and
some of that is why she believes this place is where she and
others will meet their salvation. The characters dont need
to go through the papers themselves to see what supposed
messages shes gleaned. She has a small black notebook halffull with ramblings. It reads like stunted poetry, and can be
interpreted to sound Promethean. Lots of religious terms are
used (pilgrimage among them, which Carla will note was
taken from an article about the Middle East).
The second is that shes used sidewalk chalk (which sits
in a plastic kiddy beach pail nearby) to draw all over her
walls. Some of the drawings are nothing but swirls, spirals
and stars. Another image shows several ery phoenix-like
birds ying up from a darkened Detroit skyline. On the
ceiling shes drawn two more pictures, one that is a series
of faceless men standing in a line. The other is a startlingly
detailed close-up picture of a mans face. His face is long
and lean, and his lips are twisted in an unsettling smile. Hes
bald, and in the dark of his eyes, Carla has sketched wisps
of orange ame. The other detail worth noting requires
either a reexive Wits + Composure roll (2 dice penalty
due to the chaos of all those drawings) or an instant Wits +
Investigation roll (without penalty because the character is
actively looking to dissect the chaos). Success on either roll
reveals three small letters chalked upon a few places across
the walls and ceilings. These letters are DDD.
Carla explains that all of it the clandestine mystical
messages taken from newspapers, the chalk-born images on
her walls comes from her newfound dreams. The reality
is, Carla Two is different now from when the throng rst met
her several chapters ago. She appears more clearly focused
(almost obsessively so) and better kept. She might speak of
various epiphanies along the way, speaking in non-specic
terms but alluding to a general air of enlightenment (perhaps
referring obliquely to the completion of milestones). She
seems confused when asked to recount reality, and she may
talk of destroying those who shackled her (the Botherd)
or being hunted by her own bad little children (Pandorans,
potentially from her own botched attempts). Otherwise, she
refuses or is unable to recount exact recollections.
What she tells them is that, again, Detroit is where it will
happen, where she will look upon the New Dawn, and she
believes others can join her on this. Shell note that the
characters look ready and that she hopes to help them
along their path.
The problem is, she has nothing more to tell them. She
has no leads. She has no concrete idea or evidence that anything is going on here besides her own unfounded beliefs or
delusions. Shes almost blissfully happy that shes here with
the throng, but its all hollow. The meeting with Carla Two
123
yields very little fruit, and she explains that shell contact
them when the time is right.
New and Improved Carla Two
Carla Two is different. Shes not unrecognizable, but shes

grown and changed since the throng last encountered her,
much as they themselves have.
Carla Two continues to follow Cuprum, the Renement of
Self. Shes also taken on a strong interest in the Sensorium
Transmutation, gaining Bloodhounds Nose (), Translators
Eye (), Aura Sight (), Ephemeral Gaze () and
Firesight (). Her Azoth is now 4.
Her Skill set is mostly the same, but assume that all Social
Skills are now operating at one dot higher, and her Investigation score is now at three dots. In Merits, shes gained four
dots of Elpis up from zero dots, which is why she talks so
much about her dreams.
Around Detroit
Below are just a few encounters and story hooks in and

around Detroit.
The Death of Moses Moon
Moustafa Jaymes aka Moses Moon, the demiurge presented in Strangers on a Hill and mentioned in To the
Wastes is dead. Characters searching for him among
the New Age and occult bookstores of Detroit (successful
Presence + Socialize or Manipulation + Persuasion required)
discover that he died a week ago. Upon further inquiry, the
throng learns that he was shot in the head one night while
leaving the Oculus Bookstore just off Grand River Avenue
near Downtown. The assailant, said to be a white man
dressed all in black, absconded with Moons backpack and
laptop case, but not his money or jewelry.
The throng learns of a wake being held for Moon at the
Oculus Bookstore that night. Its open to the public, as
apparently Moon was much-loved by Detroits small New
Age community.
The Oculus is a single-room store, broad, wide and dimly
lit. It is only barely a bookstore, as most of the shelves are
stocked with a number of New Age and occult antiquities
(anything from suits of armor to dried animal paws). The
place has one wall devoted to nearly every Tarot deck created, including many handmade (and very expensive) decks.
Several white cats skulk about the store.
The wake itself is a wholly non-traditional and lengthy
affair. A whos who of Detroit occult personalities attends
the service. (This serves as a great opportunity if youre running a crossover-intensive game. Certainly, several mages
and maybe a vampire or two will attend this odd ceremony.
Moreover, if Lighthouse hears about it on his own or from
the characters, he, too, may show to pay his respects before
returning to the wastes.) The service itself is a reading of the
entire Egyptian Book of the Dead, which the store refers as
124
the Papyrus of Ani or the Kitab al Mawta. This takes hours.

Most stay for the reading, while a few individuals come in
and out. The characters might engender Disquiet should
they stay too long, though these people possess a slightly
higher will due to their dealings with esoteric forces (assume
a Resolve + Composure score of six).
More interesting is what Jenny and Thorn (the married
owners of the bookstore, also known as the High Priest
and Tempest Queen of the community) do with Moons
body. They have Mosess preserved corpse dressed in a plain
white axen kalasiris (rectangular sleeveless robe in ancient
Egyptian style). After every chapter read of the Book of the
Dead, Jenny and Thorn sink Moons body in a black-painted
porcelain claw-foot tub while the room takes a few moments
of silence. Then the body is removed from the water, and
the reading continues.
(Its not impossible that someone, be it the characters, another
Promethean or one of the attending occult personalities, could
use Moses Moons corpse to create a Promethean. Thats not
a necessary part of this story, but could gure prominently if
deemed appropriate or if the players have the interest.)
If characters hang around, they could ask some questions
about Moon. It wont be easy, as even those outside of Disquiet
arent too keen to talk to outsiders about one of their favored
sons. The throng should expect resistance, and must succeed on
a Manipulation + Persuasion roll three dice. (This penalty
might be mitigated if the characters appear to blend in more
appropriately, wearing New Age or Egyptian garb or prominent
pagan or occult jewelry.) If the roll is successful, information
gleaned tells them that the material stolen from Moses included
his unique translations of the Emerald Tablet as well as a
number of small amulets and bezoar stones he reportedly used
in his spells (those gathered know next to nothing about the
Prometheans that Moon created, having only heard whispers
of his ability to raise the dead).
The Glaser Company
The throng might be in Detroit to pursue the home ofce

of the large corporation that owned and operated the small
mine in which they became trapped during To the Wastes.
That information leads them to the Glaser Company.
A Research roll (six successes necessary, each roll
represents 30 minutes) at a library, newspaper archive or
courthouse reveals some interesting tidbits about the company: its been involved in more than one mine collapse.
Twelve, actually, during the last three years. Their safety
regulations are notoriously lax, and any class action suits or
nes from the government havent been enough to hurt its
substantial prots (the company is involved in all manner
of mining, anything from stone to salt to natural gas). For
more sinister plot threads that go beyond the companys
negligence with human life:
An Ulgan might note that, upon visiting the company,
a passing group of Glaser executives is thick with those who
AROUND DETROIT
are possessed by spirits. These ephemeral entities look like
sucking maws, as deep and dark as an unlit mine tunnel.
Are these things feeding somehow off the misery born of
mine collapses? Are they forcing the collapses, thus moving
from negligent to downright murderous?
The Glaser Company has recently reopened the salt
mines beneath the city (see Salt City, p. 111). Are their
safety policies lax below the city just as they are everywhere
else? A mine collapse here would be devastating, as whole
parts of the city would crumble into sinkholes. Stranger is
the fact that a number of mine employees have been let
go and released into psychiatric care because they feel
theyve unleashed something that speaks to them at all
hours of the day. What did these lunatics if they are
lunatics nd?
Perhaps records concealed in a locked room in locked
cabinets inside the company indicate that the company only
uses its mining operations as a front for a greater search:
someone high up is looking for something. An artifact, a
person, even a Promethean. They obviously believe that
this thing will be found beneath the ground somewhere,
maybe even here in Detroit.
D-Town Encounters
As the characters travel around the city, either waiting

for Carla Two to contact them or perhaps performing other
ancillary functions (tracking down a lair in the various
decaying parts of the city, snifng out other Prometheans,
Dumpster-diving for food), you may want to provide them
with a few encounters within the city that enforce the mood
and theme of this story. What follows is a handful of quick
encounters potentially meant to reinforce theme.
Burnt-Hands Bernie
On the street, the throng is accosted by what might be
a homeless man. Hes dressed in a white wife-beater (even
in winter he has no jacket) and a pair of oil-stained jeans.
His hands dont look right. Theyre marked with clumps of
pink scar tissue ringing his black hands.
He tells the throng that hell do anything for some money.
He doesnt mean sex, he explains (though if they want to
talk about that, hes open to negotiations), and instead he
suggests that hell perform all kinds of humiliating stunts
for money. Hell eat garbage, hell hit himself, hell ght
someone, anything at all for a little leg-up.
Is he really homeless? And why is he willing to do these
things? Hell talk about his misfortunes if asked, though hes
reluctant to get too deep about his situation. A Manipulation
+ Socialize roll with a 3 dice penalty gets him talking in
more depth. A successful Wits + Empathy roll prior to the
Socialize roll eradicates that penalty as it allows characters
to play to his downtrodden the world is shit and were all
swimming in it attitude.
Bernies story is that, a year or so ago, he worked at one of
the major auto plants, but a machine explosion sent shrap-
nel into his hands, cutting and burning them. Since that
time, hes had a hard time getting a job because his hands
cant work with precision for long. Hes not homeless, hell
explain. He has a wife and four children in a house on the
edge of the Brightmoor neighborhood where a lot of other
auto workers live. So, he comes out here and does all manner of embarrassing things to get a little cash to help keep
his family in food, shelter and fresh diapers. The welfare
check, he notes, just isnt enough.
Should characters end up ghting Bernie (hell let them
beat the hell out of him for money), consider his stats for
combat to be minimal. Hes easily abused. Other solutions
might be to help him get a real job, or even do some work
for him to get him money.
The Detroit and Beyond Project
Detroit is home to a number of homes and businesses
that are utterly defunct. They have become overgrown with
weeds as nature struggles to reclaim parts of the city (see
The Real Urban Jungle, p. 119).
Occasionally, the throng notes that some of these buildings are swarming with people, like ants on a hill. Most of
them are young, though a few old folks are found there, too.
They seem to be improving the buildings standing on
scaffolding, painting, constructing new supports, hacking
away at the vines and weeds that seem desperate to swallow
the buildings and so on.
These people belong to the Detroit and Beyond Project.
Theyre a non-prot group that helps revitalize areas and
buildings through the charity of hard work.
Theyre also a little . . . weird. If the throng becomes at all
involved with the group, they discover that the group has
religious leanings. The workers stop every couple of hours to
pray. They eat together and engage in alarmingly sanitized
conversations about morality, the Bible and sin. Over time,
one of the group leaders (calling himself an architect despite having no degree in architecture or engineering) says
something like, By building, we get closer to God, and we
can all hear His voice.
Seems ne, right? Theyll eventually try to recruit the
throng to come to their nightly churches (if the characters
go, its more of the same talk against sin, and lots more
discussion linking building and architecture somehow
to God; they might even mention the Tower of Babel as
a model of what they hope to achieve). If the characters
resist, theyll still be allowed to work, but Disquiet will soon
move against them. The group eventually bands together
and mobs the characters with a religious diatribe that may
end in old-style religious persecution: stone-throwing,
curses from the Lord, spitting, even crucixion if Disquiet
is allowed to simmer long enough.
Rules-wise, assume that the group has a Resolve + Composure score of ve when resisting Disquiet. If the characters
reject or shun offers to join the groups church, this roll is
then made at a 2 dice penalty.
125
The Timekeeper
A Sublimatus hunts the throng (see The Timekeeper
under Dramatis Personae). This intelligent and insane
Pandoran messes with the characters long before making
any kind of physical move against them. Mostly, it uses the
Clockwork Servant Pandoran Transmutation against them
from afar. Cars lurch forward into them. Doors open into
their faces. Manhole covers drop out from beneath them
as the characters walk over them. The environment seems
to work against them.
When the time comes that either the Timekeeper attacks
them or they attack the Timekeeper, theyll nd that the
Pandoran is surprisingly chatty. The creature may verbally
comment on a number of things:
Before getting too deep in conversation, hell ramble
on about Detroit in a manner that makes little sense: . .
. the fuel mix mightve been too rich, too rich, and thats
why the engine died. And then they killed the public clock,
and the public needs a clock, its what keeps these monkeys
together, what keeps them on a schedule. Nobody wanted all
that winding, all that maintenance. How do you know the
journeys over if you dont have a gods-damned clock?
The Pandoran may note that theres someone else like
them but not like them who lurks sometime beneath the
city, sometime just outside of it. The Timekeeper says that
hes crazy as Flux with re in his eyes.
The Timekeeper might elicit a moment of grim sympathy,
suddenly breaking out in weeping and claiming that he cant
really control what he is, just as the characters cant control
who they are. But at least they have a way out if they work
hard enough. Not us, the Timekeeper hisses. Were hungry
forever. After this, he attacks with renewed vigor.
The creature makes a persistent enemy throughout the
story if desired, though you may want him dispatched early.
If so, ne. If you want to keep him around, his strategy allows
him to get in a bite or a bit of ripped esh so he can feed
just before eeing again only to return later to renew his
attacks (always announcing his presence with Clockwork
Servant).
Tick-Tock, What Clock?

It takes four successes on a Research roll (each
roll equals 30 minutes of work) for characters to
learn that, sure enough, Detroit has had several
clock tower projects in the works. Every time they
fail to manifest for one reason or another (funding, politics, council claims a clock requires overtly
complex mechanisms and upkeep). The closest the
city has gotten is installing a small art installation at the front of the historic Himelhoch Building. The installation is two lit murals of the city
traversed by automated bars of light, with each
light representing either hours or minutes. Oddly,
126
some people seem easily hypnotized by this clock,

and often stand staring for several minutes, and
some stay for hours. Characters must succeed on
a Resolve + Composure roll to pull away.
The Half-Formed
At some point during Act One, the throng encounters

one of the Half-Formed. (See p. XX for more information
on Unusual Attacks across the city.) This section covers
that initial encounter, as well as general information on the
origin and nature of these aberrant creations.
Origin
As previously mentioned, Dr. David Dunleavy lost his

son in a car accident (Dr. Dunleavy was the driver). Since
that time, he has been wracked with guilt over the loss
and has totally withdrawn from the world. Not long after
the accident and initial trial, Dunleavy ed his home and
tangled life, and has since been living hand-to-mouth amid
the urban ruins of Detroit.
A genetic counselor (Dunleavy advises soon-to-be parents
on the genetic concerns and predispositions that may be visited
upon their as-yet unborn children), Dunleavy has a rm, if largely
theoretical, scientic background. He has very little hands-on
experience when it comes to genetic engineering.
Sadly, that hasnt stopped him from trying. Given over to
madness born out of overwhelming grief, Dunleavy became
convinced of his ability to resurrect his son as a clone of
the original boy. Over the last several months, David has
established a down-and-dirty lab on the upper oor of a
derelict auto-body factory in the part of town known as
Milwaukee Junction (a description of the factory and lab
can be found in Act Two, p. XX). Unfortunately, Dunleavys
relative inexperience and persistent lunacy didnt allow his
grotesque cloning efforts to bear any fruit.
It was just over a month ago that Dunleavy turned to the
occult to ameliorate his scientic effort. He shadowed the
New Age and occult bookstores, asking a lot of hypothetical questions and buying up scads of black market books
and artifacts to help him in his crusade. Even still, bringing
so-called magic to the table with regard to his experiment
still failed to give it the success his son deserved.
Thats when Moses Moon came back to town, and a local store owner told Dunleavy all about what Moon had
reportedly been able to do (i.e., raise the dead). The doctor
didnt want to raise his son from the dead (the body was too
far mangled and by now, decomposed), but clearly Moon
was capable of great magic nevertheless. David decided
to meet with this purported Lazarus, but Moon wouldnt
have anything to do with the doctor, claiming instead to
be seeking rest and contemplation and he advised the
good doctor to do the same.
THE HALF-FORMED
Dunleavy shot Moses Moon outside the Oculus Bookstore
(see above, The Death of Moses Moon) and stole his books,
scrolls and what were supposedly enchanted icons. These
materials provided Dunleavys experiments with just the
kick they required. But it wasnt meant to be, for while the
strength of his obsession was nally at its pinnacle, what was
born from his deviant and desperate will was most certainly
not his son, Shaun.
Eventually, characters may learn some of this information through Dunleavys journals, found in Act Two, and
perhaps through interviewing various bookstore and New
Age venue owners.
Botched Creation
Admittedly, the clone that crawled free from its dirty

tank of pigs blood and amniotic uid looked, at least a
little, like Shaun. It was Shaun, but without any body hair,
ngernails, nipples or even a full set of genitals. It was also
without imperfections: no wrinkles, marks, moles or abrasions. The esh was soft, and eerily smooth like plastic. The
one thing this Half-Formed anomaly did possess was a set
of poorly made teeth, sharp and jagged along the puckered,
glistening gums.
The thing screamed as it was born, obviously in deep pain
as its esh gained depth and breadth in the bloody swirling
waters of its generative tank. Dunleavy, hoping that it was
in some way his son, helped it crawl free from the tank,
swaddled it in a lth-crusted blanket and helped the creature
cough up the gobs of knotty phlegm that remained thick
in its throat. He tried to get it to speak. It couldnt. It only
panted, moaned, gibbered. And then it attacked.
It bit into Dunleavys thigh and removed a good hunk of his
skin and pants. It chewed voraciously, hungry for more. The
Half-Formed was implacable in its assault against the doctor,
this time going for the throat. Somehow, David managed
to get the upper hand: the thing slipped on a puddle of its
own uids, and when it hit the ground, Dunleavy slammed
a chair down on its head until it stopped moving.
Thats when Dunleavy noticed something. The generative tank was bubbling again. In its red and pink depths,
he saw something oating in the dark of the tank: a heart,
pulsing arrhythmically in the uid. Cells swam to cells, and
brous tissue formed. Another one was growing. With that
realization, Dunleavy wept and ed.
Imperfect Duplication
Note that the Half-Formed arent quite the same
as the clones in Promethean: The Created or those
found in the first chapter of this book. The clones
and the Half-Formed are certainly similar, having
diminished souls and incomplete bodies, but as
noted below, the rules for the Half-Formed are a
little different. The most important difference is
that Prometheans were not used or required in the

creation of the Half-Formed. They can be, if that
suits your game, in which case they should probably take on some characteristic that marks them
as such. If the characters know of other Prometheans, perhaps thats what brings them to and keeps
them in Detroit: what if Dunleavy used one of the
throngs allies to fuel his cloning experiments?
Nature of the Beast
The Half-Formed are incomplete Prometheans. Dunleavy has created an out-of-control biological assembly
line born of science and fueled by magic and alchemy.
His obsession allowed the process to begin, but it was
not enough to carry it through to a singular creation.
And so what has resulted is a constant creation process,
where more of these things grow and spawn and enter
the world. The following rules apply when dealing
with the Half-Formed:
As incomplete Created, the Half-Formed have no
Azoth score, Transmutations or traditional Bestowments. They can, however, be felt with Azoth Radiance.
If a Promethean is within 10 feet of a Half-Formed, the
Promethean has the chance to feel for the Radiance.
When Azoth calls to Azoth, however, the Promethean
finds that the connection is imperfect. It flickers like
a guttering candle.
They do not cause Disquiet or the Wasteland Effect, or suffer Torment. In some ways, however, the
Half-Formed are caught in a constant state of Torment,
and any human who sees them may not feel Disquiet,
but certainly sees the creature as a freak.
Half-Formed are capable of maintaining a small
pool of Pyros, up to five points. They can only spend
three Pyros per scene (at a rate of one per turn).
Pyros can be spent in a few ways. One point of
Pyros spent can increase one of the creatures Physical Attributes by +3 for a single turn. One point of
Pyros can be spent to heal a point of bashing or lethal
damage. And finally, one Pyros can be spent to gain a
dot of Armor (as the Pandoran Transmutation) as the
creatures skin becomes waxy and tough. This lasts for
the remainder of the scene.
Pyros is regained by eating raw meat. Only one
point of Pyros can be reclaimed per day when eating
the meat of an animal. Human flesh restores Pyros
at approximately one point per pound of raw meat
consumed (if eating a corpse, the corpse cannot have
been dead for more than eight hours or it fails to
provide Pyros).
When the Half-Formeds Pyros pool is empty, the
creature succumbs to terrible pain. His body is wracked
127
with tightness and constriction, and all rolls are made

at a 1 die penalty until Pyros can be reclaimed.
The ragged teeth of the Half-Formed allow them
to do +1 damage when biting. This damage is lethal,
but still requires a successful grapple.
For every 12-hour period spent within a 100 yards
proximity to a Promethean, the Half-Formed gains a
point of Pyros. The feeling is somewhat addictive, and
a Half-Formed may strive to remain in the presence of a
Promethean not only for the Pyros, but for the euphoric
feeling it creates in the botched monster.
First Encounter
The exact nature of how the characters discover one of

the Half-Formed is up to you. Three suggestions follow:
One of the Half-Formed shadows the throng for as long
as it can without being spotted, basking in the throngs
presence. (The Half-Formed stats, including those for
Stealth, are found below under Dramatic Personae.)
The Half-Formed attempts to remain within the 100yard radius that earns it occasional Pyros and pleasure.
Shadowing rules can be found on p. 76 of the World of
Darkness Rulebook. Upon discovery, the creature remains
128
at a distance unless approached. If the characters approach

calmly, it ees. If theyre aggressive, it attacks.
Upon looking for a lair or wandering around the city,
the characters hear something: a chewing sound, like a
dog wolng down hunks of ground beef. Soon, they smell
fresh blood. If they approach, they nd one of the HalfFormed eating off the leg of a freshly killed woman. Her
body bears the marks of other bite attacks. The thing
looks up like a deer in headlights, blood and stringy gore
hanging from its chin. It pauses and appears subject to
a moment of ecstasy as the throng approaches. Still, it
doesnt like its meal being interrupted. It attacks.
The characters may only indirectly encounter one
of these things. In a scene that might elicit curiosity and
mercy, the characters come upon one of these things
beset by a group of humans. It might be police ofcers
beating the Half-Formed, calling it monster, or a group
of cruel teens whipping it with chains and spitting on
it. The thing howls in agony, unable to muster human
language to reect its misery. Maybe it dies. Maybe the
characters save it. Their actions determine this awful
creatures fate.
TO THE SOURCE
Distorted Reflections
Much as Prometheans are a broken, distorted
reflection of humans, the Half-Formed are distorted reflections of the Created. The Half-Formed are
held to life by a flickering whip of Divine Fire.
What does this mean to Prometheans? It can
mean a number of things. One Created might note
that, hey, at least theyre not the bottom of the
food chain anymore. A character might see the
Half-Formed as a plague to be destroyed, while
another character might see them as a target for
Redemption. (Act Two has rules for potentially
Redeeming the Half-Formed and making them
into full Prometheans.) You might be able to tie a
number of milestones to the throngs interactions
with the Half-Formed. Can a character exhibit
the human side of either mercy or cruelty when
interacting with these things? Does Redeeming the
Half-Formed ahead of their own potential salvation fulfill a critical sacrificial role? Is destruction
a kind act born of mercy and pity, or a punishing
act made of wrath and scorn?
Further Encounters
At some point, the characters suffer through more encounters with these things, the purpose of each encounter being
to let the characters know that more than one Half-Formed
exists. Of course, the characters might mistakenly assume
that the one they killed before has somehow resurrected
itself. If the throng makes such an assumption, ne. Let the
characters operate on that belief for a time while they try
to decide what to do with the creature. Maybe they kill it,
maybe they capture it, maybe they let it follow them around
and skulk in the shadows like some kind of bedraggled stray.
Eventually, theyre forced to reconsider because while dealing with this one, they see or hear of another, providing
proof that more than one of these things exists. From this
point forward, feel free to stage various encounters with the
Half-Formed throughout the rest of this chapter. Maybe the
characters nd the Half-Formed chasing down a pack of
schoolchildren, interrupting construction workers or hiding in a dark warehouse surrounded by various half-eaten
animal carcasses.
To the Source
Characters may want to track these things to their source.

They have a number of ways to do this.
Establish a Pattern
Scouring news reports (through newspapers, TV news,
police reports, etc.) requires a Research roll with eight suc-
cesses required, and each roll equals a half-hour of time. The

Research shows the characters that several of these things
have been spotted across the city. One attacked a woman
and ed when she stabbed it with an umbrella. Another ate
a dog along the railroad tracks in the middle of town. One
dismissed report from 7 Mile Road claims that two of them
were ghting to break into a familys row house. The reports
arent connected, and nobody seems to have drawn any hard
conclusions as of yet (though for avor you might mention
a bloggers report that these things represent a conspiracy
regarding a disease born of some CDC experiment gone
horribly awry). The picture of the attacks should unfold as
characters achieve successes. By the time a full load of successes is gained, the characters have found every instance
of the Half-Formed in the city.
From this, the characters can draw a pattern. A Wits + Academics roll allows them to draw a tightening circle around the
attacks and infer that the approximate center of these attacks is
somewhere in the factory district (known as Milwaukee Junction). Alternatively, an Intelligence + Science roll might allow
them to establish a feeding pattern, as one might do with
wolves or lions, and thus allow the characters to determine its
lair. Finally, a Wits + Occult roll may grant the characters
a chance to see a strange alchemical symbol in the attacks
one that represents the result of mercury sublimate, which
in alchemy can represent dissolution and decay. Any successful rolls point to the factory district as the likeliest center for
the reective activity. Note that the attacks do not perfectly
line up with this alchemical symbol, but create the symbols
imperfect form. Its imperfection is perhaps appropriate, given
the botched nature of the Half-Formed clones.
Elpis
Provided that the story of the Half-Formed can be somehow tied into that characters milestones (not a difcult feat,
seeing as how the Half-Formed represent many milestone
opportunities throughout this chapter), the character may
then use Elpis to help guide his search for the nexus of these
stunted creatures.
Elpis visions provide clues pointing toward the factory
district. The rst clue is given as a vision revealing a churning factory with tall smokestacks. The stacks blow blood-red
smoke. Out of the front door of the factory comes a conveyor
belt, and the belt continues to spit out limbs and torsos. All
of them look like the Half-Formed the throng has encountered. (Its possible that characters may mistakenly believe
that Zug Island, with its smokestacks, is the location. Let
them assume this; theyll nd eventually that this isnt true,
as they nd no evidence to support the claim. Note that Zug
Island workers are unusually opposed to outsiders as they
believe the workers have earned enmity for keeping such
well-paying factory jobs, so assume they only have three
dice to resist Disquiet.)
Subsequent clues might include two railroad tracks intersecting, images of the Half-Formed interspersed with various
129
car parts (eyes as headlights, fangs of rust-pocked chrome,
one arm is instead a broken car door hanging limp at the
creatures side) or three letters (DDD) scratched into the
rust of a decrepit car bumper.
Carla Two
If all else fails, Carla Two contacts the throng. She asks
them to meet her back at her lair, where she has captured
one of the Half-Formed.
Shes got the thing pinned beneath a fallen refrigerator
in her tenement apartment. The thing lies beneath the old
appliance, moaning and wailing. Neighbors pound on the
wall. Angry Dragoon Court residents line up at her door,
yelling and screaming for her to shut up. Disquiet has
clearly taken hold.
Carla is ignoring them, and seems very excited at her nd.
She claims the thing was stalking her, and she was able to
lure it back to the housing project where she captured it. She
has drawn a new chalk image on the oor around the things
wailing head: a skyline of factories churning out thin wisps
of dark smoke. Shell tell the throng that she knows where
this thing comes from, and that more of them are growing.
She says theyll need to go to the factory district.
Madness in Tight Spaces
The end of Act One comes in a sudden explosion of force

and chaos. Two things happen in close succession. One,
the Half-Formed is able to regain some Pyros from being in
the continued presence of Prometheans. The Half-Formed
increases its Strength and throws off the fridge and begins
ailing and writhing about. It attacks inanimate objects
(including the fridge). The thing also attacks Carla and the
characters, acting like a caged beast. Moments later, Disquiet
nally brings the mob into the apartment.
The mob is insane, made only more so by the screaming,
thrashing Half-Formed. Some of them are destitute people
who use their sts. Others are gangbangers or drug addicts
carrying weapons (no guns, mostly small knives, bike chains
and brass knuckles). While most of the mob has stats equivalent to the Homeless Guy or Gangbanger antagonists (see
the World of Darkness Rulebook, pp. 204205), one or
two are hopped up on methamphetamines (see Drugs in
the World of Darkness Rulebook, pp. 176177).
The Half-Formed tries to escape through the window, where
a rickety re escape partially collapses as the thing clambers
out. Characters trying to get out and safely down the broken
re escape must succeed on an extended Climbing roll. The
re escape is four oors up, and so requires four successes. The
roll is made at a 4 dice penalty because of the loose moorings of the re escape and because of all the trash Carla Two
tossed outside. Jumping from her window is 40 feet down, thus
incurring damage from terminal velocity. Characters may also
beat their way free, or somehow force the mob back outside.
The throng controls how this scene occurs.
130
The Half-Formed may perish in this scene. If it does, its

demise is a grisly scene. The body seems to also deate in a
hissing, gurgling eruption of blood, bile and other uids.
This chaotic scene represents the end of Act One.
Act One Milestones

This first act is rife with possible milestones.
The Dragoon Court housing project is thick with
the human experience: some who the system has
left behind and kept down, others who seem to
prefer their place as kings of the shitpile. Prometheans can reflect on the nature of humanity
here, and what it is to sacrifice yourself or
others just to scrape by. Greater milestones
might be achieved if they choose to live among
these people, sharing their experiences despite the
Disquiet and Wasteland, putting themselves in the
center of this poverty and decay.
Carla Two also represents potential milestone
fulfillment. Here is proof that Prometheans can
change and grow and are not necessarily fixed
in their ways. She seems oddly happy despite the
long suffering of the Saturnine Night. A morose,
Tormented character may find some hope (and
possibly Vitriol) in this.
Other elements provide interesting Pilgrimage
opportunities. The death of Moses Moon represents the end of one potential plotline, but also
puts the spotlight on grief and mourning, and
shows that a man who can purportedly raise the
dead can be seen as a celebrity in the right eyes.
Does a character seek to claim a piece of that
celebrity for himself? Or does it show him that
peoples priorities are truly disturbed, focused
more on giving life to the dead instead of living
life themselves? The Glaser Company, too, provides closure to a story, and also reveals the broad
depths to which a company will go to achieve its
goals: while the people working in such companies
have souls, the corporations are clearly soulless.
Finally, the Half-Formed. Although greater opportunity for milestones exist in regards to these
not-quite-Prometheans, here characters may find
the fulfillment of lesser milestones. If a character hopes to destroy the Half-Formed, what does
that say about what Prometheans deserve from
the world? If even disgusting creatures such as
the Half-Formed can elicit sympathy, doesnt that
imply that theres hope for the throng, too?
ACT TWO: LIGHTS OUT
Act
Two: Lights Out!
In this act, the characters track the Half-Formed to their
source, encounter a powerful Promethean and endure a
citywide power outage.
The Meat Factory
Milwaukee Junction (the factory district) was once the

nexus of Detroits automobile industry. During the early part
of the 20th century, the Ford Piquette Avenue plant was
considered the biggest auto-manufacturing factory in this
burgeoning industry. Decades later, the industry only grew,
with factories providing parts for all stages of car manufacturing, from auto bodies to electrical systems. Milwaukee
Junction was where they made both the esh and bones for
just about every automobile an American could drive.
This factory district served also as the nexus between various railroad systems, thus allowing the car manufacturers to
roll out shipments on train cars with ease. In World War II,
some factories were claimed and used by the government
for munitions and vehicle manufacturing, and after the war
returned to the service of the automakers.
Lately, though, time hasnt been so kind to Milwaukee
Junction. Now, its mostly a ghost town of dead factories and
urban jungle, with trees and grasses sprouting up through the
steel and concrete, and ivy climbing through the thousands
of busted-out windows. Some factories still have working
parts, but simply go unused. Others are totally dead, sitting
as burned-up, bombed-out gutted husks. (Detroit has long
been plagued by arsonists. Various factories have been cast
into ame, such as the old Studebaker plant that now sits
as a charred remnant of what it once was.) The characters
come to the factory district, not really knowing what theyre
looking for. Thats to be expected: they can tour the area,
seeing how this entire region has crumbled and corroded.
How can humankind let such an area go to ruins around
them? Its all scrap: busted brick, rusty nails, broken windows and pitted earth. Its a Wasteland but without the
Prometheans. (Milestone alert: If a character realizes that
humankind is responsible for marking the earth with his
own brand of Wasteland, such a revelation might be worth
a Vitriol point or two.)
Eventually, after they characters have wandered the avenue and train tracks and maybe gone in some buildings,
they must succeed on a Wits + Composure roll. Success
indicates they catch sight of a Half-Formed staggering out
of a building, naked and shivering, barely able to stand. Hes
still slick with gobbets of tissue and a sheen of pinkish uid.
Hes only recently been born, and the characters now know
from what building these things are crawling.
That building is the Fisher Body Plant #22, a seven-story
concrete corpse once used to manufacture the bodies of cars.
It has been in total disuse since the early 1980s, and looks
more like its suffered from an earthquake than neglect.
Walls are crumbling. Bathrooms lie bare without walls, the

urinals and toilets exposed and half-shattered (some used
as trashcans, others as receptacles for dead animals such as
cats or raccoons). Inside and outside the factory lie hunks
of twisted steel and lots of garbage. The garbage tells the
characters one thing: they may not be alone.
Through the Plant
The trip through the plant should be frightening, because

even in the daylight there are parts that lie concealed in
long strips of impenetrable shadow. The following elements
are in play throughout the characters journey within the
factory:
The rst oor is empty, though sounds echo from above.
The sounds are human: an occasional disembodied chuckle,
a distant weeping, a glossolalian goblin-esque gibber.
Getting from oor to oor requires going up some dank
stairwells at either end of the factory, because the freight
elevators have no power (though Transmutations such as Jolt
or Generator can change that). The stairwells are clogged
with hunks of concrete, furniture and garbage. Characters
can clamber past the junk, but getting from one oor to the
next requires an extended Dexterity + Athletics roll. Each
transition from oor to oor requires seven successes, with
each roll equal to a minutes worth of time. Failure indicates
a character is stuck and may be freed by another characters
Strength + Athletics roll. Dramatic failure indicates the
character is stuck and takes a single point of lethal damage
from a sharp hunk of metal or glass.
While walking around any of the production facilities
found on the ground oor of the factory, characters may need
to occasionally make a Wits + Composure roll to avoid a
danger a falling hunk of stone, a swinging beam, a oor
of hidden glass. The Danger Sense bonus applies. Failure
results in at least a single level of lethal damage taken from
dangerous surroundings. Dramatic failure means a character
becomes trapped or more seriously injured.
Fresh Meat
As the throng progresses through the factory, a few of the

upper levels (mostly industrial ofces gone to ruin) give off
the ripe stink of death. If the throng checks it out, they nd
a grisly scene.
This was obviously a squatter domain. Because this area
was composed of ofces, it was safer than the lower levels,
and so homeless people, drug addicts and other discarded
citizens made this their home. These people are all dead.
Theyre not just dead. Theyve been eaten. Some of them
have half their esh stripped off, bitten away from the bone
like meat from a stringy drumstick. Others are worse, mostly
skeletons in dirty jackets and pants, the bones red and brown
with old muscle and blood.
These people have been dead for awhile. Characters may
make a Wits + Medicine roll to give a quick estimation that
131
tells them the corpses are in varying stages of decomposition.
Some are weeks dead. Some are relatively fresh. Most are
given over to maggots and beetles. The air is thick with squat
black ies (so distracting that they confer a 1 die penalty
to any Physical actions made while on this oor).
Three Half-Formed are present. Two are feasting on
corpses right next to each other, while a third tries to
get in on either meal and is constantly pushed away by
the other two. The Half-Formed who are feasting seem
to be gaining no sustenance from the dead meat: they
eat, spit it out, moan in pain and horror and then try
to eat some more.
The Laboratory
The top oor of the auto-body plant was once used for
storage: wooden crates and scrap metal ring the room, and
along the far wall sit about 100 corroded car doors stacked
against the brick.
This is where Dunleavy established his makeshift laboratory. The place is well-lit during the day, because the ceiling
is broadly slanted and features many windows (most of which
are dirty but undamaged).
132
The laboratory represents a crude amalgamation of science and the occult. The characters can immediately notice
the following:
A wall of car batteries sits at the back wall, with wires
leading from each to a single duct-taped cable. This cable
leads into a lthy Plexiglas tank that sits about ve feet tall
on the ground. The cylindrical tank is lled with a murky
pinkish uid that occasionally coruscates with a white wisp
of electricity.
Inside the tank is approximately half of a Half-Formed
creature. Its head, arms and upper torso are complete,
and part of its face is cresting out of the turbid fluid. Its
lower half seems to be forming before the characters
very eyes little bits of tissue seem to grow out of the
liquid and drift toward the body, where they attach, bit
by bit. As theyre looking, the face rises slowly from the
fluid when the mouth is exposed minutes after the
throngs arrival, the thing gurgles and wails in obvious
pain. This process causes the Half-Formed great misery
during the entire birth.
The place is in total disarray. Tables are overturned.
Science equipment such as microscopes lay broken against
THE LABORATORY
the ground. Bookshelves are toppled, with their books bent
and torn on the oor.
Not far from the tank sits three rusted wire cages. In each
cage is a dead animal. The rst cage holds a dead dog. In the
second is a dead monkey (a Wits + Science roll reveals that
its a rhesus monkey), and the third a chimpanzee. Theyve
been dead a long time. The chimpanzee features something
the others do not, however: its left arm dead ends in a human
hand, fused to the creatures arm with thick metal staples.
All the animals are crawling with maggots.
Investigation
A successful Wits + Investigation roll reveals the following:
Moses Moons notebooks sit crumpled up beneath a
pile of other scientic and occult tomes. While many pages
are stained and unreadable, some are still legible. One page
reads: . . . rubies and water made to blood, dust and marble
and corpse-esh made into sinew. This isnt a lie, this is real.
Ive seen them and I shall make my own from water. Death
given a short, sharp shock may again see life, and if that life is
given its own short, sharp shock it can be something more. We
all need that kind of shock, I think. This creation shall be mine.
As Gerhardt Dorn wrote, Transmute yourselves from dead
stones into living philosophical stones. These notebooks can
provide a +1 die bonus to the Humanity roll used in the
generative act when creating another Promethean (see p.
187, Promethean: The Created). The bonus is increased
to +2 if the Promethean is an Osiran.
In a small red pouch cast under a collapsed table sits
a simple amulet marked with Moses Moons initials. The
amulet is a bezoar (i.e., a hardened agglomeration of hair and
bers found in an animals or humans stomach) wrapped in
copper wire and hung from a brown leather cord. The amulet
is tagged by a yellowed piece of paper (actually an old movie
ticket whose only remaining ink indicates a Boston, Massachusetts, theater), tied to the item with a piece of ratty string.
Upon this tag are the words: bezoar. Lighthouse, stomach.
witness. A character who wears this amulet experiences
the feeling of being re-born as an Osiran Promethean named
Lighthouse (see Strangers on a Hill, the story in Strange
Alchemies). This gut-wrenching awakening in brackish fen
water seems to take many minutes, but only takes a second
in real-time. (Wearing the amulet provides a single point
of Vitriol to the rst Promethean to wear it.)
Dr. David Dunleavys journals sit atop a high metal
cabinet. The journals make it clear that Dunleavy set up this
laboratory. The journals chronicles his journey from just after
his sons death to an entry detailing the slow growth of his
rst Half-Formed clone (an entry written with a trembling
hand and detailing his great hope and delight). Dunleavys
entire story is laid bare in highly controlled, block-letter
script that becomes wild as the journal progresses. He details
his journey into cloning and his addition of magic into the
mix using Moons notes. The journal also details how, from
time to time, he sits outside his ex-wife Miras house at night

and watches her from the road. If characters attempt to use
his various journals when creating a Promethean, doing so
hampers the generative act. The Humanity roll made suffers
a 2 dice penalty if using Dunleavys notes.
Science
A successful Wits + Science roll reveals the following:
The brick walls, wooden oor and much of the equipment are painted with various symbols, all in black. At least
half of these are symbols representing science and math:
transnite numbers, chevrons, lemniscates (i.e., the sideways
8 indicating innity), Borromean rings and triangles. They
dont seem to mean much in coordination, scrawled with
no apparent pattern in mind.
The room offers much in the way of salvageable lab
equipment: a microscope, a few Erlenmeyer asks, scale
and weighing dishes and one syringe. The lab also features
a lot of broken items: smashed microscopes, a demolished
centrifuge, a dozen busted beakers.
The center of the room has a human-shaped stain
beneath a collapsed bookcase. This stain can be found
without any roll, but examining the nature of the stain
requires the Science roll. The stains makeup seems ostensibly human: blood, bile, hair. A few sharp teeth (nearly
like sharks teeth) sit embedded in the oor. But all of it
seems partly scorched, as if the mess was run over with a
torch ame. (This stain is the Half-Formed that Dunleavy
destroyed before eeing.)
Occult
A successful Wits + Occult roll grants the following:
Mingled in with scientic symbols are a number of
alchemical symbols. Most of them seem ragtag, without
any meaning. One shows up more than others, though:
the symbol for alchemical Vitriol. Also mixed in with the
symbols are the three letters found in Carla Twos lair: DDD.
Characters may conrm that these are the initials of Dr.
David Dunleavy.
Most of the journals and symbols indicate more than just
a connection to alchemy. The lab also features a proliferation of Egyptian symbols and occult ideas, clearly gleaned
from Moses Moons journals.
A map on the wall of Detroit (flecked with blood and
ash) is marked with a number of blue pins. One red pin
indicates the labs location. Looking closely reveals that
the blue pins seem to mark a connect-the-dots symbol
of mercury sublimate, a powerful intestinal poison that,
in alchemy, is linked with something called the secret
fire. Characters at this point might be able to link the
Half-Formed sightings with this map the two overlap
much of the time. Did Dunleavy predict their pattern or
purposefully invoke it? Note that the symbol, just as the
Half-Formed, is imperfect. Its lopsided, wrong-leaning.
Does that infer a flaw in the secret fire Dunleavy hoped
to harness when creating his clones?
133
Sudden Radiance
When the characters have examined some of the laboratory, they need to succeed on a Wits + Azoth roll to detect
a sudden tingle of Radiance. This Radiance is different
from normal. It feels less like vague tingling, and more like
an intense feeling of pins and needles. The characters also
smell a pungent odor like burnt hair.
Putting on a search for the source of this Radiance turns
up nothing, at least not for a while. Whoever the source of
the Azoth is, hes either hiding or powerful enough that hes
far off and still able to reach them with his Radiance.
Fate of the Laboratory
If the characters leave the lab unharmed, it continues

to churn out Half-Formed at one every eight hours. If they
destroy the lab or at least the mechanisms that spawn
the gibbering clones then the steady growth of new
Half-Formed ceases (though a handful of them still exist
in the city).
Perhaps the characters continue to watch the laboratory,
standing as its vigilant guardians, destroying or capturing
or even attempting to rehabilitate those Half-Formed that
come howling into existence. For rehabilitation, see below
under Making the Half Whole.
Cancer Boy
For as long as you wish, the throng remains aware of the

burnt hair odor and numbing Azoth tingle. It lingers with
them like a long calm before the inevitable storm.
The preferred method of introducing the Promethean
known as Cancer Boy is to have the characters track him
down. Its no easy feat, since Azoth Radiance gives no
direction, or strengthen as one gets closer to the radiant
Promethean.
The characters can attempt to track down the signs of a
Wasteland. Not knowing what kind of Wasteland to expect,
however, incurs some difculty. An extended Wits + Occult
roll with a 3 dice penalty allows the characters to track
the subtle signs of impending Wasteland. Five successes are
necessary. Each roll is equivalent to two hours worth of
wandering and searching if on foot, and one hour if driving,
with eight total successes required.
Characters may also ask around and see if anybodys noticed anything odd. Detroit has a lot of people, and asking
random questions isnt likely to yield instant information:
this requires an extended Presence + Persuasion roll (though
variant approaches might replace Persuasion with either
Socialize or Intimidation); this roll suffers a 3 dice penalty,
which worsens to 5 if Disquiet begins to affect the populace
as the throng passes. Ten successes are required, and each
roll is equivalent to six people questioned, which is further
equivalent to 30 minutes. (We note the number of people
for purposes of potentially tracking Disquiet.) Characters
may also examine those they meet for Disquiet. This is
134
tricky, but a Wits + Empathy roll with a 3 dice penalty may

allow the characters to nd the telltale signs of Disquiet.
If they nd mounting Disquiet, they may follow it along
like a trail of breadcrumbs, moving from affected person to
affected person until they nd an area clearly touched by
a Promethean.
Any action on the part of the throng should eventually
yield some fruit. All searches take them to the Highland Park
area of Detroit, a neighborhood about four miles north of
Milwaukee Junction. (See Highland Park in the beginning
of this chapter, p. 117) This area is marked by an unusual
Wasteland effect: the walls seem marked with human-shaped
shadows, and trees and animals are sometimes aficted with
what look like cancerous keloids or small tumors. The people
seem sick, too, with skin that looks washed-out or bruised.
Everybody seems to have thousand-mile stares, looking
off at nothing. Prostitutes line dark avenues along rotten
houses, so skinny that their gaudy garb hangs off them like
a shirt on a scarecrow. Drug dealers mill about, looking like
shadows or ghosts.
If the characters wander into this neighborhood, Cancer Boy
comes to them. If they do not actively search out the source of
the odd Azothic Radiance, he eventually nds them wherever
they are. (Description and stats for Cancer Boy are found at
the end of this chapter, under Dramatis Personae.)
A Strange Measure . . .
Cancer Boy places a great deal of faith in his Measure, and

he lets this be known. Hell immediately tell them that its
been a long time since hes seen another of their kind. He
gives a great deal of scrutiny to the throng, and he seems
oblivious to the goings-on around him while he does so (if
theyre in the middle of the street, hell ignore oncoming
cars until he feels satised in his Measure).
Cancer Boy is overtly and almost eerily friendly to all the
characters, but he eventually speaks only to the member of
the throng who fares best during the Measure (i.e., the Promethean marked by the least Torment). If theyre all equally
saddled with a great deal of past Torment, he may bid them
goodbye and simply walk away, but its likely that he nds
at least one of them whose Azoth he can tolerate.
. . . A Stranger Ramble
He invites the throng to sit with him and talk for a time,
and he takes them to his lair. On the corner of Woodward
and 6 Mile sits a single house that seems almost compressed
in by oddly growing trees (these trees give the appearance
of two hands crushing the building between their slowly
creeping grip). This home is his lair.
He takes them to the second oor, which is better shaded
and concealed than the rst, because downstairs the walls
are perforated with huge holes of missing brick and mortar.
Upstairs, hes built fortications out of busted couches and
chunks of wall and oor.
CANCER BOY
The characters immediately notice the pair of Half-Formed
that sit lurking in the shadowed corners of the second oor.
Theyre chained to the walls. They seem oddly content.
Cancer Boy comes over and pets them as a human would
a dog. One of them mouths the word food in a groaning
croak, and Cancer Boy tells it to wait, hell get them both
something when hes done talking to his new friends. If
pressed on this subject, for the moment he says nothing
more than, They hunted me, so I hunted them in return.
They make excellent pets!
A successful Wits + Composure roll reveals old bloodstains
in various parts of his lair. If asked about them, Cancer Boy
grows somber for a moment and notes that, sometimes,
people come to him and wish him harm. He says no more
on the subject.
It doesnt take long for Cancer Boy to ramble about his
days as a Promethean. He claims to have been made not
long ago: nearly 20 years before by his account, here in
Detroit at the Fermi II nuclear plant. His tale skips around,
and vacillates between time periods and locations, and he
claims to have met very few other Prometheans (though
he seems to have encountered nearly constant Pandoran
resistance). His tale is notable in a few ways:
He claims to be a believer in and servant to God. Not
necessarily the Christian God, but he holds up the Bible,
the Torah and the Quran as interesting evidence. He
claims that humankind is good and powerful, but has lost
its moral center. Humanity needs God to return to this
world. Cancer Boy references the Jewish Golem and the
giant Nephilim from Biblical lore, though he doesnt seem
to know what these really mean in context. He may also
ramble on about the Jews being enslaved by the Babylonians
and Moses leading his people to the Promised Land. He
also mentions the holy conquests of Mohammed. (Hes a
mouthpiece for this information, but doesnt seem capable
of parsing it with his own thought.)
He seems further fascinated by notions of sacrice,
specically of animals, humans or sacred gures dying for
the greater good. He goes off on a tangent about organ
donors, animals used in medical testing, Jesus Christ and
men thrown into peat bogs or killed upon altars in an effort
to satisfy the old gods. This subject enlivens him more than
any other. His eyes go wide, and he talks of sacrice with
childish, wondrous delight.
Just as Carla Two, he believes his journey through the
Saturnine Night is near its end. He has a few more things
to do. He also believes that the characters are nearing the
ends of their respective journeys, as well, and hell note this
with pleasure. He tells the characters that he can help them
get to their nal reward, provided they help him get to his.
He believes that great glory awaits them all, if they care to
chase it. After explaining this, hell claim that hes tired and
has not slept for days, and would like time to rest.
Reaction
Do the characters believe Cancer Boy? A successful Wits

+ Empathy roll tells them that hes certainly earnest about
his promises. That said, Cancer Boy is odd. While he may
not read exactly as a Centimanus, its still worth considering.
His attitude and delight regarding such topics as sacrice
and religion should at least give the characters pause. So,
what do they do?
If they leave to let him rest, ne, hell contact them later.
If they linger, he may grow discontented with their presence.
And if they attack him?
He rst attempts to subdue them. He wants to be their
ally, and takes a few blows while trying to speak reasonably
about the rewards he can offer them. If they seem determined,
hell allow his Half-Formed pets to enter the picture. If he
suffers too many injuries, hell attempt to escape, leaving
his pets behind to delay and distract.
And if the characters destroy him? Assume rst that hes
capable of one resurrection, but if youd prefer Cancer Boy
out of the picture, no problem. Assume that the characters
defeat him and his pets. A subsequent Wits + Investigation
roll reveals a ratty, lthy journal that details Cancer Boys aspirations (which, if alive, he vocalizes throughout this story).
This should still allow them access to the rest of the story, as
his journal mentions the God Machine and its ambiguous
ability to grant transcendence. Note, however, that this
journal neednt exist if Cancer Boy remains alive.
Tailored Offerings
Consider the possibility of having Cancer Boy
offer the characters something more particular
than the ambiguous transcendence. Let him
dangle more specific rewards over their heads,
offering the Prometheans something specifically
suited to their stories. Does he know where one of
their creators is hiding? Will he promise to teach
them some of his strange Transmutations? Can he
serve up their enemies a traitorous Promethean,
a persistent Pandoran or a cruel Centimanus on
a silver platter? Feel free to connect this to some
earlier stories, too. Will he help them shut down
the mining company from To the Wastes? Can
he contribute to their search for Lighthouse or
Moses Moon (both from Strangers on a Hill) ?
Cancer Boy, ultimately, is about hollow promises. Its unlikely that hell fulfill any of these promises, but he can certainly make them. Alternately,
maybe he has to throw one or two small rewards
in the characters direction to keep them hooked.
135
Interim
At this stage in the story, the throng has a break in the

action. This break allows the characters to attend to their
own stories and Pilgrimages in Detroit. Below are some
encounters that might take place during this interim. If
characters own stories need attending to, however, make
sure that this time goes toward these more intimate and
meaningful pieces. Promethean is a very personal game,
and it would be an injustice to let character-driven threads
go dangling.
Making the Half Whole
The Half-Formed remain a presence in the city whether

or not the characters destroyed Dunleavys lab. If the throng
continues to pursue the Half-Formed as a story point, or
even as a focal point for milestone completion, consider
the following options.
Annihilation
Wiping out the Half-Formed might be a crusade the throng
considers necessary. If the characters see the Half-Formed as
a plague or as creatures deserving of mercy killing the
characters may choose to hunt the clones down. Note that
this takes them into direct conict with Cancer Boy. He
has taken two of them as beloved pets, and defends them
with great violence (though if a ght occurs, hell bail out
of it before suffering too much damage himself). Harming
his pets earns his automatic distrust. That said, it might
be possible for the characters to kill his pets without him
knowing. Once every few days, he goes out and brings them
animals or humans to eat. Hes gone for one to three hours
during this time.
Enslavement
The Half-Formed can be taken as pets or slaves, as evidenced by Cancer Boy. Creativity is key when it comes to
forcing the Half-Formed to heel. Do kind words and rewards
of food lure them close? Or do they respond better to abuse?
Characters might even couple their attempts with the kind
of training one might use on a dog (feel free to let them
add some or all of their Animal Ken dice to rolls). All such
actions are extended, with each roll taking approximately
one full day of training. Assume that it takes at least 10 successes to bring a Half-Formed to heel. They need to be fed,
as well, during this time, or dice penalties may apply (as they
only gain limited Pyros from Prometheans). By the end of
training, its possible that the Half-Formed slave is capable
of speaking a few guttural words or pleas, such as food or
sleep or other words that the throng teaches it.
Redemption
For characters willing to make the sacrice, the HalfFormed can be made whole. If you deem it appropriate, a
character can turn one of the Half-Formed into a full-edged
Promethean by sacricing a dot of Azoth. Feel free to hint
to the characters of this possibility either through Elpis
dreams or through odd visions. Maybe Dunleavys journal
136
or Moses Moons notebooks hint at a missing piece, or

it could be that Cancer Boy or Carla Two says something
that indicates the possibility of turning these creatures into
something more.
If you allow this to occur, assume that the Half-Formed
takes on the Lineage of the character who sacriced the dots.
(Alternately, reference Chapter One for more info on new
Lineages.) Note that this shouldnt just occur, but should
be given some thematic resonance. A Nepri sacrices her
Azoth while holding the Half-Formeds head beneath the
river, or a Tammuz buries the creature in a shallow grave of
mud and gravel. No roll is necessary, and this doesnt count
toward the actual creation of a new Promethean. That
said, it should probably confer some Vitriol, likely as a result
from achieving a sudden milestone. This is a lesson in sacrice, and should let the Promethean recognize that if even
a stunted creature such as that can be given a partial soul,
then maybe she really has a shot at becoming human.
Consider, too, what happens if a Promethean is Tormented
when she does this. Does this harm the new Promethean (or
allow that Promethean to purchase Pandoran Transmutations
from the get-go)? Is it possible that passing off tainted Azoth
can replace a characters need to go to the wastes?
Alternately, this process can go awry. Maybe the HalfFormed splits into a terrible triumvirate of Pandorans, or
simply expires in a hot ash of burning Azoth, blood and
acid. The lesson learned is different, of course, but may be
more appropriate to the tenor of your game. If it goes this
way, any Azoth sacriced should be regained.
Carla Two
Characters may rejoin with Carla Two for a time. Maybe

they tell her about Cancer Boy (shell wish to meet him), or
maybe they fail to mention him (if she nds this out later,
she acts betrayed and grief-stricken).
Consider, too, that she needs to nd a new lair, as hers is
besieged by a terrible wave of Disquiet (per the end of Act
One) and is otherwise lost to the Wasteland. The search
can be coupled with encounters throughout the city, driven
by the prevalence of crime and poverty.
Pilgrimages and Side Stories
If this is truly the last (or at least a later) story in the

chronicle, the characters have certainly built up their own
sub-plots that link to them personally and drive their quests
for Mortality. This period of the chapter allows you to attend
to these unique connections. If theyre allowed to dominate
the main story, so be it. This is the characters story, and
any organized plot comes in second.
Consider during this time: Will one of the Prometheans
attempt (or re-attempt) the generative act? Is the throng
hunted by a persistent and cruel Sublimatus? Are the characters shepherded along by a bizarre and often contradictory
qashmal? This chapter may have given them time away from
ERRANDS FOR CANCER BOY

their own stories to pursue this overarching story thread.
This is a good time to get back to these elements, reconnecting with their own intimate stories and thus ensuring
their inclusion.
Cast into Darkness
And then, lights out. Detroit is suddenly plunged into a

citywide power outage affecting the metro area (including
all neighboring suburbs such as Ann Arbor, Grosse Pointe,
Dearborn and Lincoln Park). When you decide to trigger
this event is up to you, but it shouldnt happen until at least
a few days have passed since the throngs initial meeting
with Cancer Boy.
The power outage isnt easily explained. Within the rst
eight hours, Detroit Edison sends out white vans lled with
its power company employees. Since television and radio
broadcasts are now inaccessible to the broader public, the
workers must use megaphones to tell the populace to stay
calm. The workers claim that theyre working around the
clock to restore power, and that the outage happened as the
result of a seasonal system overload (i.e., an HVAC burden).
A Wits + Science roll helps a character realize that this
isnt the likely truth: such a broadly persistent blackout isnt
consistent with Detroit Edisons explanation.
Detroits outage causes a number of expected consequences: food spoils, people die from the heat in summer
or the cold in winter, medical and emergency services suffer
and factories shut down and suffer loss of revenue from the
lack of production. The outage also results in a number of
other problems:
The city doesnt riot. Frankly, most of its population is
used to living in problematic conditions, so whats rioting
going to do? Crime, however, sees a sharp spike. The characters may encounter thieves, addicts and killers at work. The
Prometheans themselves may even take advantage of the
outage to perform criminal misdeeds. If they dont directly
encounter crime, they may be affected by it indirectly: cars
are stolen or broken into, squatters crawl into their lair,
allies and friends suffer.
A lack of power forces people out of their homes and
into perhaps uninvited contact with their neighbors. People
suddenly have to deal with one another again. In some cases,
this is inspiring: for instance, a group of citizens banding
together to sing hymns or share food. In others, the characters witness instances of bullying or ghting brought on
by increased tensions.
Without power, the Prometheans have no access to
electricity. This is an obvious point-of-fact, but needs to
be taken into consideration because they use electricity
to heal. While some locations (hospitals and other public
buildings) have backup power, 99% of the city is without
electricity.
People pass rumors back and forth in a mad game of
Whisper Down the Lane. Characters are likely to hear
stories about how this is the government yet again plunging the African American community into disaster (as
with Hurricane Katrina), or how this has to be the result
of some as-yet-unknown terrorist attack. Conspiracy and
urban legend thrive in this environment.
At night, the city is completely dark. The city itself,
when powered, is really a beacon it lights the horizon
100 miles away. And now its gone. Assume that operating in darkness will confer a number of penalties to rolls
that require some kind of light to perform (anything from
Research to Lockpicking). The average penalty is 3 dice,
but that can vary.
Milestones in the Darkness

Its possible that during this time some milestones may see completion. In some ways, Detroits citizens are thrown into a situation similar
to what the Prometheans experience. The Created
live in isolation, are forced to eat spoiled food
and endure all manner of discomfort to survive.
Another revelation, however small, is the fact that
Western civilization obviously thrives on its connection to electricity. Since electricity is in many
ways the giver of life and healing force when it
comes to Prometheans (conducting Pyros), comprehending this fact may complete a milestone for the
appropriate character (a Frankenstein, or maybe a
Created who follows the human-connected path of
Aurum, or Stannum, which is tied to the Electrification Transmutation).
Errands for
Cancer Boy
The throng should be given a chance to revisit Cancer

Boy in the midst of the power outage. Maybe they want to
see how hes doing, or perhaps if he is in any way responsible
(he was born in Detroits own nuclear power plant, after all).
If they dont go to see him, eventually he comes see them.
Provided that their relationship remains sound, he politely
asks them to perform a task for him. If their relationship
is strained or antagonistic, he may still come to them with
this task in hand, but he instead demands that this task be
completed for the good of the city.
The task is for the characters to track down David
Dunleavy and bring him to Cancer Boy. Cancer Boy
claims that hell handle the rest. The Promethean
wont offer any more information beyond that, but he
gladly answers questions. When asked if he had anything
to do with the power outage, hell note with pride that
he was fully responsible (though he wont explain how
137
other than his divine might). With minimal probing,
Cancer Boy elucidates upon his theories and plans.
He claims that he has the power to bring God back into
this world to save it. God will prepare the world and make
it into the Promised Land, whereupon all death is given
life. On this point, Cancer Boy is a little foggy as to whether
or not this will give Prometheans a soul or whether it will
allow all the dead to walk as Prometheans, but he seems
unconcerned with this particular point of ambiguity. What
he does believe with utter condence is that he has found
something called the God Machine, and that he must
prepare the city for this Living Engine. He claims that
humankind must be humble in the face of the God Machine.
Seeing as how electricity is a carrier of Divine Fire, and only
God is betting of that source of power, then humankind
must not aunt its power in front of the divine. Hence, the
God Machine must be given the sole glory of electricity. If
humankind is allowed access to the Divine Fire at the time
the Engine roars to life, God will be most displeased.
How?
Characters might never learn this, but its good to know

exactly how Cancer Boy shuts down the Detroit Edison power
grid. With creative use of the Electrication Transmutation (between alternating uses of Shock, Jolt, Generator and
Blackout), Cancer Boy was able to wreak enough havoc on
the system of the power company. It was already under strain
(as illustrated by the brownouts and blackouts), and with
Cancer Boys supernatural agitation of the system, it shut
down. The Torment that went into the system has burned
it beyond the capacity of humans to x it easily.
God Machine
Characters researching the term God Machine may

uncover some interesting information. The Research roll
requires six successes, but each roll takes six hours of investigating due to the limited access of information (the power
is out, and with it electronic catalogs and the Internet are
unavailable). Note, too, that characters may have to break
into a library or occult bookstore to even be allowed the
Research attempt. That said, success on the roll grants the
following:
Two years ago, two employees of the Detroit Salt Company (owned and operated by the Glaser Company) shot up
a schoolyard with semi-automatic ries. Seven children and
one teacher died, with others wounded. When questioned,
the employees spoke of the need of sacrice, and how The
God of the Salt Mine demanded it. Before the trial, both
men were found dead in their cells, alone, their throats slit
and a gear-shaped symbol burned into their tongues with
match tips.
Professors at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
did a study on the contagious nature of hysteria. Key to their
studies was a local unnamed mental health facility whose
138
patients all began to exhibit similar delusions. Some patients

claimed to have been spoken to by the God Machine.
Others claimed no such contact, but simply wrote the term
on the walls of their room in blood and feces. They cant
remember having done so.
Refer to Voice of the Angel, pp. 2631 in the World of
Darkness Rulebook. The term god-machine is prevalent
here. Research uncovers this odd tract in some old Gnostic
or occult journal from several years back.
Words of the Pain Prophet?

How much you care to tie the words of Marco
Singe in the World of Darkness Rulebook to this
story is up to you. This chapter does not represent
any kind of canonical mythology about Singes
tract or the god-machine, but instead offers an
unusual tale that creates the culmination of this
particular Promethean: The Created chronicle.
Certainly the story of the Pain Prophet has some
interesting connections: the third fury was named
Torment, and what is fallen may rise again.
Looking for bits about the Created in this story
isnt hard, from the Osiran age to the inclusion
of supposedly divine electromagnetic waves. Of
course, all interpretations are in the mind of the
interpreter, arent they?
Finding the
Good Doctor
The characters may choose not to do Cancer Boys bidding, and thats ne. (If they dont, Carla Two takes up the
mantle and seek out Dunleavy.) If they do choose to nd
him whether to serve Cancer Boys wishes or to pursue
their own interests such as warning him then this section
describes that pursuit.
Dunleavys journals are the key to nding him. He notes
that he drives by his ex-wifes place to spy on her and make
sure shes all right, and during this power outage thats exactly
where hes gone. If the characters havent discovered this
tidbit, they may make an extended Wits + Investigation
roll to scour the journal for information. Five successes are
necessary, and each roll represents 15 minutes of time. They
nd that he would drive down Newberry Place over and
over again to look upon their old house. A quick phonebook
search gives them an address.
Crisis
Dunleavy has taken his wife hostage, though he doesnt see

it that way. He believes he is protecting her from the outside
world gone awry. They sit in her kitchen by the glow of a
RENEWING THE PROCESS
fading Coleman lantern, with her duct-taped to a chair at

the breakfast nook. Shes gagged with towels except during
those times when he feeds her. He has a gun (see Dunleavys
stats under Dramatis Personae), which he holds close most
of the time. The house has a security system, but it is ofine
because of the outage. The front door has two locks: each
lock requires four successes on a Lockpicking roll.
The characters have a few options. If they go into the
house without applying any Stealth and make noise going
in, Dunleavy suffers a t of panic. He shoots his wife, an act
that the throng doesnt have time to stop. He then attempts
to shoot himself, which is something the characters may have
time to stop by handling him physically or supernaturally.
(Mesmerism in particular could be useful, even at low levels
of the Transmutation; Fixed Stare and Flight Instinct, both
one-dot Transmutations, could interrupt the doctors suicide
attempt.) Dunleavys Initiative modier can be found under
Dramatis Personae.
If they sneak in, they overhear Dunleavy talking and cooing to his wife in a nervous voice. The doctor believes that
this power outage is his fault somehow, that the darkness
cast over the city comes as a result of judgment upon him

and his hubris. He tells all of this to his wife over and over
again while she sits bound and gagged. Sneaking in, the
characters have a chance to surprise him (see pp. 151152,
the World of Darkness Rulebook) before he pulls the trigger on his wife.
If they wait, Dunleavy comes out of the house after two
hours to dget over a cigarette. They can apprehend him
standing out on the front stoop of the house, but he attempts
to run if given a chance.
Renewing the Process
If the characters bring Dunleavy to Cancer Boy, ne. If

they dont, Cancer Boy nds them regardless of whether or
not they agreed to get Dunleavy (remember, Cancer Boy
demands the task be done if they refuse, and he becomes
agitated if they refuse).
Provided Dunleavy is there, what Cancer Boy wants
is more of the doctors creations, i.e., the clones of
Shaun. Dunleavy refuses, of course, knowing full well
that what he created was not his son but an assembly
139
line of aberrations. Cancer Boy doesnt really have the
finesse to convince Dunleavy with anything but raw
threats, and as such asks or demands that the characters
do what they must to convince Dunleavy.
Physical threats fail to motivate him easily, as he seems
to believe that any punishment he gets is deserved.
(Intimidation rolls born of physical violence therefore
suffer a 3 dice penalty.) Threatening Dunleavys wife,
however, grants a +1 die bonus to the Intimidation roll,
as he fears for her safety (yes, he was willing to kill her,
but only to protect her from monsters such as they).
Characters may also be able to use Persuasion to convince Dunleavy that this time, maybe his cloning project
will truly create the desired result. Creative use of Disquietism or Mesmerism Transmutations may also con
Dunleavy into re-creating his failed experiment.
Alternately, the throng may choose instead to refuse
Cancer Boys request, let Dunleavy escape or even kill
Dunleavy so that new Half-Formed cannot be made.
The future of Dunleavys experiments lies in the
hands of the characters. If they convince him to begin
the cloning process anew, Cancer Boy asks that they
supervise Dunleavy for the three or so days it takes to get
the experiment up and running. If they fail to convince
him or perform any task that prevents the doctor from
reinvigorating the creation of new Half-Formed, Cancer
Boy tells them that God is soon at hand and He will
judge them accordingly.
Its possible that the characters never brought Dunleavy
to Cancer Boy to begin with. Maybe they were unable to
secure Dunleavy before he fled or shot himself, or perhaps
they simply refused to perform the errand. If Dunleavy
isnt dead, Carla Two eventually finds him and fulfills
the task as Cancer Boy demands.
If Dunleavy is dead, Cancer Boy laments the loss, but
says that the city will just have to make do. He then
instructs the characters to round up those Half-Formed
that remain in the city. He wont be satisfied until at
least five of the rogue clones are caught and brought to
him in his lair.
The characters may very well refuse Cancer Boys
demands at any point. Doing so causes Cancer Boy to
run the gamut of emotions. First, he pleads with them,
promising them the same repetition of glory and transcendence if they help him. If they continue to refuse,
he becomes belligerent, dismissive and insulting. Hell
throw in their faces the fact that Carla Two has already
agreed to help him.
If they leave him, Cancer Boy continues with his quest,
dragging Carla Two along. The characters can try to ignore him and his task, which leaves him to carry out this
story (and its effects, found in the next act, take place).
Alternately, the characters perhaps make it their mission
to stop him. At any point in the next act, the characters
140
may intercede and attempt to end Cancer Boys bizarre

ambitions. Note that Cancer Boy fights ferociously, and
has help from two of the Half-Formed and, by this
point, Carla Two joins his side, as well (she does not
want to risk losing the potential transcendence that
the Nuclear Promethean promises her). Once again, as
before, if at any point Cancer Boy is destroyed, he has
a chance at resurrection. Characters may also find the
journal (noted under Reaction, p. 135) that details his
plans and aspirations, thus allowing them to forsake his
goals or assume their mantle.
Act Two Milestones

Act Two has great opportunities for milestone
completion. If a character re-forms and makes
whole one of the Half-Formed, does that prove
something and create the stir of Vitriol? If she
loathes and destroys the Half-Formed, what does
that say about things such as anger, justice, mercy
or even natural principles such as the food chain
or survival of the fittest?
The act also features a lot of reflections on science and what comes from it. A character may
learn that science is without a moral touchstone,
and that the ethics (or inequities) wait not in the
practice but in the practitioner. The same can be
said for alchemy as well as the creation of individual Prometheans. Dunleavy cannot seem to bear
the burden of his own decisions, so what does
this teach a Promethean about humans who try to
circumvent the natural order? Is Dunleavy just a
representation of all scientists, or did he go beyond the pale in his actions? Since this book and
story are at least in part about the madness that
can spring from the practice of science, its only
proper that milestones tie to that idea. Dunleavy
is the poster boy in this story for science gone
awry, and in him waits the potential for milestone
completion.
That in mind, consider that Dunleavy is a
madman who made some awful choices, but he
isnt entirely unsympathetic. He lost his son, and
tried to rectify his own errors (admittedly with
shortcuts and gross misjudgments). Can Dunleavy
be saved from himself? The characters may be
able to rehabilitate him and even cure him of his
derangement. They may also seek to punish him
for his crimes. Depending on the character and
Refinement, milestone fulfillment may lurk in how
Dunleavy is treated.
ACT THREE: SALT OF THE EARTH
Act Three:
Salt of the Earth
In this last act of the story, Detroits power outage continues, and Cancer Boy reveals the God Machine that he
has found beneath the city. The characters control the
fate not only of the city, but of their own eshy bodies and
burgeoning souls.
Continuing Darkness
The power outage continues through this act. This has a

number of ramications for the city of Detroit:
Those with money and/or cars leave the city, abandoning their homes and jobs until the power crisis is over. The
city is left to those with no means of escape or no interest
in leaving. Like vultures, looters pick at the bones of cars,
homes, businesses and ofces. Its not a riotous explosion
of trashcans thrown through windows. Most looters arent
looking for TVs or nice chairs. They want food, generators,
ashlights, batteries and other necessities.
The police presence seems nonexistent in most of the
city. Rumor suggests that the cops are waiting for military
intervention, but the military isnt coming its either
strained thin from world conicts or, as other rumors suggest, America wants Detroit to die slowly. Just like New
Orleans.
Violent crime lurches upward again. Nighttime is punctuated by yells, shrieks, glass breaking and gunshots.
More people die from weather-related concerns. Heat
or cold (depending on the time of year) kills hundreds.
Those with generators suffer home invasions. Unscrupulous city-folk with vans and guns drive out to the suburbs,
shut off the van and listen for the sounds of generators.
(Generators are often loud over the relative silence suffered
by a city caught in a power outage.)
Gasoline supply grows short. Gas requires electricity to
pump. Siphoning gas grows common. So, too, are the res
born of the result of so much free-owing fuel.
Revelation of
the God Machine
When Cancer Boy is ready, he contacts the throng. (His

readiness is marked by the number of Half-Formed available to him. He needs at least ve clones. It matters little
if theyre gleaned from new production or wrangled from
around the dark city.)
He comes to the characters with open arms and broad
smiles, nearly beatific in his mirth. If the characters
relationship with Cancer Boy has at any point gone
sour, this seems all the more unusual, because he still
approaches them as if theyre the oldest and greatest
friends. Its as if hes forgotten any strained relations
that may have occurred. Of course, if the relationship
remains largely undamaged, then his coming on strong

may not seem quite so bizarre.
Cancer Boy asks that the characters meet him at an address:
12841 Sanders Street. He tells them to come at midnight.
Salt City
At that address sits the opening to the Detroit Salt

Company mineshaft. The above-ground complex is
about a city blocks worth of mining equipment, featuring a few rust-pocked cranes, old conveyor belts,
trailer offices and yellow dump trucks. No power means
that the operation has shut down, and so the whole
place is a forest of corroded metal shadows. Gathered
here are Cancer Boy, his two Half-Formed pets, Carla
Two and any clones brought by the characters. If the
characters left Dunleavy with Cancer Boy, the good
doctor is dead. If Cancer Boy didnt kill Dunleavy, he
took his own life in the interim (which method of demise you prefer for Dunleavy is irrelevant for purposes
of this story).
Cancer Boy isnt interested in whats above ground.
He takes the characters to a six-man elevator, an oxidized wire-mesh cage dangling above a deep chasm.
Using the Jolt Transmutation, he gives the elevator
power. The group has to split, as the elevator can
only hold six (and even then it does not hold them
comfortably, with faces pressed against the cage). Because of the hands-on nature of the Transmutation,
Cancer Boy remains present in each ride downward
(unless one of the characters knows and is willing to
use Generator).
The descent is slow. Each trip goes down about 1,200 feet,
and takes almost 15 minutes. It is, for the moment, a slow
plunge into absolute darkness. The Half-Formed grow agitated
unless the characters brought some kind of food i.e., raw
meat, animal or human to sate them. They dont need
calming as they arent yet out of control. They simply seethe
and dget, hissing and clacking their teeth together. On the
ride down, Cancer Boy is mostly quiet unless spoken to.
Otherwise, he hums hymns happily to himself.
At the bottom, Cancer Boy uses the Generator
Transmutation to power a generator that bathes the
mines in eerie, soft light.
The mines tunnels are broad and hugely open rectangles of space carved out of the earth, big enough to sit
a half-dozen trucks side-by-side. Claustrophobia does not
apply. The walls themselves sparkle with the speckled crystalline texture of salt. The middle of each massive tunnel
is marked by a rutted road. At the end of this rst tunnel
sit a number of massive white salt boulders. Its eerie down
here, silent except for the buzzing generator. Words echo.
Strings of pale lights hang at the corners of the tunnel but
nowhere else, so the light is washed-out, leaving pockets
and puddles of shadow.
141
Deeper
Cancer Boy asks the throng to follow and to keep the

Half-Formed calm. The clones grow more and more agitated
unless theyve been fed. Calming them isnt too difcult,
yet. Successful Social rolls relax them for a time, and can be
made as instant actions; nearly any Social action is considered
applicable. Intimidation can be used to threaten them into
subservience. Cajoling (Persuasion) or the simple calming
chatter of a constant voice (Socialize) might apply, too.
The trip through the tunnels is a long one. The group
walks about 10 miles through these massive tunnels. This
takes a little over two hours, though along the way Cancer
Boy might note that the mine is far bigger than what they
are seeing. About an hour into the trip, the characters again
need to sate the Half-Formed either by feeding them or
calming them. Food does the trick automatically, but Social
rolls are now hampered by 2 dice penalties. Failure on any
Social roll indicates that at least one of the Half-Formed
attempts to ee and must be caught and restrained. While
the Half-Formed do regain limited Pyros from Prometheans
and are somewhat calmed in their presence, the creatures
grow more and more agitated as the trip continues. Only
raw meat can help assuage this panic.
Along the way, the group sees a number of sights:
Some tunnels have massive trucks with 40-ton beds
and seven-foot tall tires. (If at any point a character tries to
drive one, it has the following stats: Durability 6, Size 21,
Structure 27, Acceleration 2, Safe Speed 4 (3 mph), Max
Speed 7 (5 mph), Handling 5.)
Small camps sit abandoned. Camps feature small
lanterns, small food storage (dried food mostly), tables,
tents, decks of cards, hard hats, several hammers. The food
doesnt automatically sate the Half-Formed, but it grants
a +2 dice bonus to any Social rolls if used in conjunction
with calming.
Big boring drills sit unused. Each is nearly twice as tall
as a character, and would require several men to operate.
Someone carved something into one of the salt walls:
Give neither advice nor salt, unless you are asked for it. Noticing this requires success on a Wits + Composure roll.
If the characters look around and succeed on a Wits +
Investigation roll, they nd wooden boxes here and there
of dynamite, usually near thin-bore rock drills. Each box
contains ve to 10 sticks of dynamite. (See Explosives,
pp. 178179, the World of Darkness Rulebook.)
Cancer Boy, as he walks, goes on about random tidbits
and facts. If the characters try to discuss these things with
him, he simply talks over them as if they werent speaking
in the rst place. Such bits include the following:
Hell note that the air is pure down here, and is good
to breathe. Hell also point out how there are no rats or
cockroaches because these tunnels feature nothing for
them to eat. He reiterates the words clean and pure in
needless repetition.
142
This place was once a massive sea, and hell quote the
Book of Job (Job 26:10): He hath compassed the waters
with bounds, until the night and day came to an end.
Hell explain that in various chemical and alchemical processes, salt dissipates upon fullling its grand
purpose.
Salt was used as a ritual emblem in the old days.
Newborns were rubbed with salt. Meat was ritually salted.
And all sacrices were salted before being offered to God
or the gods that came before.
Jesus said, You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt
has lost its taste, its good for nothing. Cancer Boy repeats
this fact periodically, almost as if he forgets that he said it
before.
Off the Beaten Path
As noted throughout this story, the characters may

grow to believe that Cancer Boy is too off-kilter to trust.
He promises transcendence, but has no evidence of its
coming. He at times vacillates between being pedantic,
supplicating and confrontational.
Again, if the characters bail, they bail. Assume that this
act continues, except with Carla Two in their place. The
characters may follow along, stalking Cancer Boy in the
deep shadows of the salt mine, waiting for the chance to
end his plans (or at least glean more information from the
relative darkness).
If they attempt to leave Cancer Boy and Carla Two in
the middle of the salt mine, once again Cancer Boy goes
through the motions. He pleads. Then he insults them.
Then he dismisses them. This time, though, Carla Two is
fully on board and does her level best to convince them
to come along. (A note to Storytellers: This should never
feel like railroading the players. Their characters are free
to leave the story at any time, or pursue it from whatever
angle they so desire. Theres a ne line between having
Cancer Boy want them to come along, and having Cancer
Boy sound like hes your mouthpiece in trying to tie the
story up.)
Once again, if Cancer Boy is dead by this point, or if
they destroy him in the salt mine, thats ne. They can
continue his quest in his place, or be glad that they thwarted
whatever it was that he was trying to accomplish. Carla
Two, however, will attempt to pick up the pieces of Cancer
Boys journey, even if the characters do not.
The Pit
Eventually, Cancer Boy leads the group to a dead-end

tunnel. At this dead end, someone has broken one of the
strings of lights from the wall and draped it across the ground.
It disappears down a wide (10 yards in diameter) hole. One
of the big drills rests nearby.
The string of pale lights drops about halfway down into
this pit, which is approximately 100 feet deep. Someone has
GOD MACHINE
bolted fat metal rungs into the salt walls of the pit, forming
an erratic, only partially effective ladder. Cancer Boy says
nothing; he just starts climbing down.
Because the ladder is slippery and poorly placed,
characters must succeed on a Climbing roll to descend.
The action is extended, requiring 10 successes, with
each roll representing one minute of climbing. The
presence of the partial ladder confers a +3 dice bonus
to this roll.
Getting the Half-Formed down there can be tricky.
Characters can bring them down on their backs, but
doing so confers a 4 dice penalty to the Climbing roll.
The Half-Formed can be persuaded to climb down themselves with a successful Manipulation + Persuasion roll
(suffering a 3 dice penalty as the clones are now truly
agitated). Throwing or pushing one into the hole damages
the clone, as the drop is significant enough where lethal
damage occurs from terminal velocity. Resultant damage
will kill the clone over time as it hemorrhages internally.
Cancer Boy tries desperately to stop the characters from
throwing any more clones down the hole, as in this condition he believes they could become useless.
God Machine
At the bottom of this shaft, the ground widens out into a

broad pit. The light down here is pale, and any Perception
rolls requiring sight are made at a 3 dice penalty because
the lights only descend halfway down the shaft.
Cancer Boy says that the workers found this anomaly, but
he dreamt of it and it calls to him. The walls are painted
with one symbol, over and over again: the symbol of a snake
biting its own tail, the Ouroboros. A successful Wits + Occult
roll reveals that this symbol is sometimes associated with
alchemical processes. In many alchemical procedures, some
chemicals must be destroyed to make the nal material or
prima essentia. This is a known paradox, that the snake must
devour itself (or the chemical must consume itself) to create
something: life from death, positive from negative.
Cancer Boy then points to the ground in the middle of
the pit, Here, the smooth salt oor has been blasted and
chipped open in a hole about ve yards across. About three
feet into this hole, characters note massive exposed machinery in particular, the teeth of two giant gears meet here.
The gears gleam, clean and bright, the bronze-hued metal
polished almost to a mirrored nish. Beneath these two quiet
143
enmeshed gears, the characters see countless smaller gears.
Its clearly only one small part of a much greater machine
that exists deep and wide beneath the salt.
A Thousand Variables
What occurs below with the God Machine is the
default scenario. This is what happens to tie up the
story, and how the players react to it or deal with
it is their decision.
However, Promethean: The Created is an intensely personal game. What happens here with
Cancer Boy and the God Machine needs to be
in line with the overarching themes and moods
exemplified by the characters and their individual Pilgrimage journeys. As such, throughout
we provide a few other options outside the default
ending, thus allowing you to ensure the proper
conclusion to the story. Also, dont hesitate to sacrifice bits of this story. After all, sacrifice is one
of the themes of this chapter, so feel free to offer
parts up on the altar of good Storytelling.
Oiling the Gears
Its time to oil the gears, claims Cancer Boy. How does
one do this? By killing the Half-Formed and spilling their
blood on the exposed machinery, of course. Thats what
Cancer Boy wants, and he expects the characters (Carla
Two included) to comply.
If the characters obey, they must attack each Half-Formed,
grappling them and killing them in a way that pours their
blood on the gears. The characters have a chance to surprise one or several of them on the initial attack (and the
Half-Formed have the appropriate Wits + Composure roll
to sense the surprise and apply Defense). After that, the
Half-Formed ght with brutal ferocity: all gnashing teeth
and thrashing limbs.
Only two Half-Formed need to actually be killed to get
the gears moving. (Technically, they dont even need to die
to produce the appropriate blood, but Cancer Boy demands
that death serve the God Machine.) Once the blood of
both clones has wetted the machinery, the gears begin to
turn slowly against one another. Curls of steam rise from
the hole. It stinks of sulfur.
Cancer Boy is satised once the gears turn. If the characters want to continue to sacrice the clones, ne. If not,
the remaining Half-Formed will ee into the depths of the
salt mines, howling as they escape.
During this fracas, Cancer Boy doesnt harm his own two
Half-Formed clone pets. Once the gears start to turn,
however, he wades into the fray himself, attacking them
144
with alarming swiftness. He doesnt just pour their blood on

the gears; he tosses their struggling bodies into the works.
Their bodies are pulled into the turning gears and crushed
as theyre drawn into its maw. Blood wells up. Bones snap.
They scream as they die.
Revelation of
the Arch-qashmal
The gears grind and rumble. The ground trembles with

strange vibration, and the throng hears an odd high-pitched
frequency interrupted by hard bursts of static (heard despite
the lack of any radio or receiving device).
From the hole bursts a pillar of white re. The re, silent
and bright, soon manifests into a single individual a tall
and willowy Arch-qashmal now straddles the hole as the
gears churn beneath it. (See The Hand of the Principle,
under Dramatic Personae.) Cancer Boy drops to his knees,
weeping and laughing.
Firestorm
An Arch-qashmal has entered the world, materializing

above the God Machine. A Firestorm results from this
sudden intrusion (see pp. 253254, Promethean: The Created). It takes 10 turns total to build to the point where its
effects are felt. In that time, white re licks at the salt walls,
eventually moving closer to the throng. If you have access
to Pandoras Book, feel free to customize the Firestorm as
described in Chapter Three of that supplement.
In the time before the Firestorm, characters may speak
to the manifested qashmal. The being answers all questions
plainly, though it seems as ignorant as any other qashmal
regarding anything beyond the Principle and its Mission.
Its Mission, the qashmal notes, is to bleed radiation and to
kill the humans of the city above its head (or, as it puts it,
Make this city of men sick with the Divine Fire).
Just before the Firestorms effects actually take hold and
ramp up in intensity, the entity thanks Cancer Boy for summoning it and serving the Principle.
Radiation
At this point, the God Machine begins to bleed radiation.

Radiation is, of course, invisible, though during the chaos
of the Firestorm its possible the characters may become
aware of it in part: Cancer Boy seems given over to sudden
ecstasy, shuddering and grinding his teeth. The Hand of
the Principle will narrate the scene, somewhat, noting in
his soft (yet contrarily loud) voice that the intensity of the
sickened re grows. The qashmals body pulses and throbs
with nascent light.
Assume that for every ve turns, the radiation Intensity
goes up by another point, beginning at 0 and going all the
way to 5. For the effects of this radiation, see Radiation
Poisoning on p. 72 of this book.
REVELATION OF THE ARCH-QUASHMAL
Destroying the Hand
This entity does not have game traits, for it is an Archqashmal. Attacks made against it are fruitless. Hits never
connect, always just missing the entity by a fraction of an
inch. The Hand never ghts back, though. It simply talks
to the characters.
The being notes that Divine Fire is considered by some
to be a limited resource. And while this isnt precisely true,
Pyros so often goes wasted on the many when it could be
hoarded by the few. The Hand will offer that this is true
of humans, too, who once stole the Divine Fire from the
gods. Now, the Arch-qashmal claims, its Mission is to offer
the characters a way to steal the Divine Fire back by
ending many lives.
This is clearly what Cancer Boy desires. The Nuclear
Promethean adds over the howling Firestorm, Now the
world is ours, I give you this reward!
On the other spectrum is Carla Two, who seems confused
and lost. She wants Mortality, not power. This is not her
idea of transcendence.
Final Sacrifice
Hopefully, the characters will be the ones to ask the Archqashmal how to stop this from happening. If they dont, or
seem to take too long in the asking, assume that Carla Two
voices the question.
The Hand of the Principle simply answers, Azoth calls to
Azoth. He steps away from the exposed gears and gestures
to the hole, as if to suggest you rst.
The direction is clear. If some number of Prometheans sacrices themselves to the chewing gears of the God Machine,
the Machine will stop and the radiation will dissipate.
Sequence of Events
What happens next is up to the players. If they allow

their characters to do nothing, Carla claims that this is
her moment, that its time to become human. She loudly
proclaims her faith, and leaps into the Machine.
Her bones crunch as the gears chew her up at about one
foot of her body per 10 seconds. She does not scream or cry
out, though shes clearly in immense pain (teeth gritting,
muddy humours running from her eyes like rusty tears).
Her melancholic uids and Vitriol well up over the at gear
heads, and spatter the salt oor. The characters can try to
pull her out, requiring a Strength + Athletics roll with a
penalty of 5 dice (the gears are strong, and she resists them
as best as she can). If they pull her out and shes not dead,
shell try to throw herself back into the gears.
If she manages total dissolution at the mercy of the chewing gears, the ground shudders slightly. All the lights in the
mine glow very brightly for about ve seconds. Even the
Firestorm seems to react, ickering and shuddering. The
throng hears a deep, low buzzing sound, like the white noise
generated by an electronic device.
Alternately, one of the characters may try to sacrice

himself. Entering the Machine is instantly painful as the
gears begin to grind him up. As it draws him downward,
the gears inict two aggravated damage every 10 seconds.
During those 10 seconds, his body is pulled down another
one to two feet.
If the character decides to extract himself from the hungry gears, he must make a Strength + Athletics roll to pull
himself out. For every 10 seconds hes been in the gears,
however, a 1 die penalty is conferred (thus cumulating),
to a maximum of 5 dice. Others may contribute aid as
secondary actors in a Teamwork action (see p. 134 of World
of Darkness Rulebook).
Alternately, its possible that the throng sees an excellent
sacrice in Cancer Boy. Subduing him and throwing him into
the God Machine will not be easy. Not only is he powerful,
but the resident radiation can heal him. He ghts tooth and
nail, possibly entering the ery Torment of his kind. He also
pleads for the Hand of the Principle to help him, to which
the entity answers, That is not part of this Mission.
If thrown in, Cancer Boy tries to free himself from the
grinding gears. Wrenching himself free requires the same
roll as for one of the characters, noted above under SelfSacrice. The characters may impede this by pushing him
down, which increases his penalty by a number of dice equal
to successes gained on a characters Strength + Brawl roll
against him (which are therefore not applied as damage).
He may try a last-ditch effort to grab hold of one of their
limbs as he disappears through the gears, possibly dragging
the character down with him. Contested Strength + Brawl
rolls become necessary in such an instance.
(For those sacriced, see below under Fate of the Consumed.)
One, Then Another
Once a single sacrice has been made, the Hand of the

Principle notes, And now another is needed to fulll this
part of the Mission.
A second Promethean must be sacriced. The sequence
of events depends on which Created was the rst sacrice.
Carla Two will offer herself if she remains alive. Alternately,
any of the characters may step into the Machine. Cancer
Boy may remain alive, too but hell stand in the way of
anybody trying to sacrice anyone else. He does not want
this process to end, and will ght zealously to guard what
he loudly proclaims is his legacy.
Other Solutions
Characters are known for a pesky thing called
free will, so what happens when they dont give
in to either choice and concoct their own solutions? Perhaps they use some of the dynamite
found earlier to blow up the God Machine. Does it
145
work? Up to you. Maybe you do want to give the
Hand of the Principle stats, so they can throw the
Arch-qashmal into the crushing gears (and what
happens then?). The characters could run far, far
away, gaining no benefits or detriments from the
process and instead catching news of the radiation leak that killed or sickened most of Detroits
citizens.
The End
So, what happens? To the characters, to the qashmal, to

Detroit and its people?
Completed Sacrifices
If two Promethean sacrices made it into the crushing

gears of the God Machine, the Hand of the Principle says,
And so it is done. The radiation stops.
The people of Detroit are, by and large, safe. Some of
them living in the several blocks surrounding the entrance
to the salt mine suffer radiation sickness damage from and
level radiation (p. 74).
If Cancer Boy is still alive at this point and did not go into
the God Machine, he ees the scene. The characters may
attempt to catch him (Foot Chase). Any damage he takes
is automatic with no Defense applied; his will is gone.
The Hand of the Principle disappears, rst into Twilight,
and then altogether, back into the Pyros.
The characters gain eight Vitriol from this act. Though it
is not technically a milestone, it still counts as the completion of a major event and signicant choice. (Alternately, a
Storyteller could award this Vitriol only to those players who
can explain what their characters learned from this process,
thus in effect making it the fulllment of an impromptu
milestone.) Also, the characters gain two dice when the time
comes for their players to roll Humanity for Rebirth.
Also, if the story continues well beyond this point,
consider that Detroit maybe sees a kind of resurgence, too.
Auto plants reopen. Old buildings are renovated or replaced.
Crime drops while wealth increases.
Failed Sacrifice
If the Machine did not consume two Prometheans (itll

almost certainly consume one, as Carla Two does her level
best to perish amid the crushing gears), then the radiation
continues to amp up.
The Arch-qashmal explains to the characters that because of their choice, they are immune to the effects of
the radiation.
The city of Detroit, however, is not. Most of the city suffers
radiation sickness damage on par with a level. Many
people die in the coming days and weeks.
146
The characters gain an automatic point of Azoth and one

Vitriol point (thus potentially proving the Arch-qashmal
comments regarding limited Azoth and stealing it back from
the humans). If the time comes that a player rolls Humanity
for a characters Rebirth, that roll is made at 2 dice. Their
Azoth is marked with the choice they made (whether they
consciously made it or simply failed to complete it).
Fate of the Consumed
What happens to the Prometheans who are minced

betwixt the gleaming gears? Again, it comes down to what
best serves the theme of the ongoing chronicle. Below are
options. Whatever happens to a sacriced character potentially happens to Carla Two and Cancer Boy, if either
of them went into the Machine.
Remade
The Promethean reawakens at the point of her initial
creation. Resurrection is automatic, and it doesnt matter if
the character has spent that one chance at rebirth. Upon
awakening, the character has not lost a point of Azoth,
but has gained one as a gift for the sacrice in which she
committed.
Reborn
The character awakens above ground in the city of Detroit,
and is no longer Promethean, but human. For this character
at least, the Saturnine Night is over, and the Great Work
is complete. Alternately, if you dont want this to be automatic, perhaps give the characters player a chance to roll
Humanity as per the normal Rebirth roll. Success indicates
he achieves Humanity. Failure indicates either Remade
or Death (above and below, respectively).
Death
Sacrice means little if it fails to be permanent. Who
wouldnt sacrice himself if it meant that the act of surrender
and the giving in to pain would be undone after the fact?
In this case, death is the end. The Promethean is gone. His
sacrice may have had a grand effect on the throng or the
city, or it may have been for naught.
Something Else Entirely
Feel free to consider wilder possibilities. What if the Promethean is reborn as a qashmal? Certainly the character has
entered the God Machine and become one with the Divine
Fire. Is it possible that this changes esh to re and makes the
character a lesser qashmal? Or at least allows him to commune
with the Principle before returning to this world?
Alternately, maybe his parts reanimate as a mad Pandoran
wriggling free from the grinding gears, or stranger still, a
Pandoran capable of redemption? Perhaps in the last few
moments before total dissolution the Promethean gains
Humanity and feels bliss just before his bones and body are
pulverized. If thinking far outside of the box serves your game,
do it. This story should end on a note that really embodies
the individual nature of a Promethean: The Created game,
so do what needs to be done to achieve that.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Act Three Milestones

This final act is rife with milestone potential.
The nature of sacrifice, and what is gained from
it, may fulfill any number of mile-markers on the
way to the New Dawn. Moreover, a single event
may reward two Prometheans differently. One may
find evidence that sacrifice provides the ultimate
reward, while another gains proof that sacrifice is
a meaningless endeavor.
These big milestones might be nearly religious
in their depth and breadth. In this act, characters
see what others are willing to do (Cancer Boy will
sacrifice others, Carla Two will sacrifice herself)
and furthermore, find out what they themselves are
willing to do. In saving the Half-Formed from the
gears, do they learn something about compassion?
In hearing their bones snapping between machines,
is there a lesson about the necessity of cruelty?
Moreover, does the God Machine allow for
further milestone completion? Does the Machine
prove that a higher power than man and Created
exists? Does it prove that such a higher power is
benevolent, or outright pitiless, or simply ineffable?
Botherd
Heres something to consider: what the Arch-qashmal said

and what Cancer Boy clearly believed are both in line with the
principle philosophies of the Botherd (found in several of the
chapters of this ongoing Promethean chronicle). The Botherd
espouses and acts upon a theory in which Azoth and Pyros
are a limited resource. By removing other Prometheans from
the equation, one stands a greater chance of becoming more
powerful or more quickly attaining Humanity. Now, what the
Hand of the Principle claims goes one step beyond that, positing that by weakening humanity (here by destroying them),
a Promethean affords himself more power (an act of stealing
back the Divine Fire).
If you want the Botherd to have a more substantial
wrap-up than what occurs in earlier stories, this may be your
opportunity. Do the origins of the Botherd come back to
Cancer Boy? Did he inadvertently set other Prometheans
onto this idea through his journeys? By destroying him, have
they destroyed the societys origins?
Alternately, perhaps the qashmallim (or the Hand of the Principle in particular) have been behind the origins of the Botherd.
Whats disturbing about this is that implies that some grain of
truth lurks within the Botherd principles. Its not misguided
zeal, but based on a possibly real phenomenon.
Dramatis
Personae
The following section details the characters that feature
prominently in These Mortal Engines.
Combatants
Below are those characters that may end up in combat

with the throng.
Cancer Boy
Quote: You are all my friends. We are all servants of

something greater. Let us make something of this world and
of ourselves, shall we?
Background: Created in 1988 in the newly built Fermi
2 nuclear power plant in Detroit, Cancer Boy has never
known his creator. The only evidence left of his creator
was a note written in the blood of one of the plant
workers dabbed onto the wall of the nearby reactor. The
message read: Terrible journeys to you, my child. I am
become Death. Convinced that his creator destroyed
himself so that he could be born, Cancer Boy left and
went into the world.
During the last two decades, Cancer Boy has mostly stayed
away from humanity, observing them from afar. He has little
interest in interacting with them directly, but he is fascinated with
the subject of what it means to be human, and what elemental
and emotional factors go into the makeup of a human soul. He
spent months at a time reading books on science and religion.
He became fascinated with how some reagents are completely
used up in chemical reactions, just as how some humans are
used up in their acts of charity and kindness. The concept of
how nothing can be created or destroyed also wormed its way
into his brain, and he now considers that a key part of his own
147
makeup, that perhaps his creator (whom he calls Father or
God) is a part of him.
Its also led him to do quite a bit of killing over the years.
Whenever he feels a human can make a sacrice for his family,
friends or town, Cancer Boy forces that sacrice upon that person (convinced that the human isnt really dead, but is simply
becoming a soul going to Heaven).
Description: Despite his name, Cancer Boy is most certainly
not a boy. He has a mans body a strong, robust mans body,
by the looks of it. His body is wrapped in turgid muscle, giving
him a bodybuilders physique. He wears all white most of the
time, either a dirty terrycloth robe or a yellow-stained wifebeater with baggy pale pants. His skin is pale, too, and all this
serves to showcase the serpentine cancerous keloid that grows
from the center of his back and rises up against the left side of
his neck like some gigantic leech. Parts of this are scabrous, and
bleed a little.
His disgurement only deepens this grotesque countenance.
His skin is so pale its translucent, revealing a body improperly
stuffed with various organs, each of which is strangled by fatty
tumors. The only part of his esh that isnt translucent is the
cancerous keloid, which seems only to grow darker and more
textured in its diseased topography. When in darkness, Cancer
Boy glows with a wan, sickly light.
Storytelling Hints: Hes not a child, but he sometimes acts
like one. Not in a petulant way, but more like hes lost in wonder
. . . like a child looking upon an amusement park ride or a toy
store window at Christmas. This might at rst seem hopeful and
even contagious, but it should grow more disturbing as he appears
this way in nearly any situation, even those that call for horror
to take place before his very eyes. Even the most awful concepts
seem to cast him into that wondrous place, and he animatedly
talks with his hands or rapturously describes how good something horrible makes him feel. He treats his friends very well,
and will go to the ends of the Earth to make them happy. But
he also expects them to do the same for him. Its a surprisingly
stark and simple worldview, and he expects everybody to adhere
to it. Moral complexities are lost on him.
Lineage: Zeka
Renement: Mercurius
Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 1, Composure
4
Mental Skills: Academics 2, Computer 1, Crafts (Found Parts)
3, Investigation 3, Occult 1, Science 2
Physical Skills: Athletics 3, Brawl (Grapple) 4, Larceny 1,
Stealth 1, Survival (Hunting) 4, Weaponry 2
Social Skills: Empathy (Motives) 4, Intimidation 3, Persuasion 1, Socialize 3
Merits: Brawling Dodge, Danger Sense, Fighting Style: Boxing
1, Elpis 1, Lair (Security 1, Size 1), Residual Memory (Science
and Medicine) 2
Willpower: 9
148
Humanity: 4, Megalomania (severe)

Virtue: Charity
Vice: Pride
Initiative: 7
Defense: 3
Speed: 12
Health: 9
Azoth: 5
Transmutations: Alchemicus Identication (), Degradation (), Fortication (), Dissolve (), Transformation
(); Electrication Jolt (), Shock (), Generator (),
Blackout (); Irradiation Flashburn (), Blast (), Blue
Flash (), Fallout (); Vulcanus Firebrand (), Sense
Pyros (), Animate Firetouched (), Fire Grasp (),
Steal Pyros ()
Pyros per Turn: 14/5
Half-Formed (
Clone of Shaun Dunleavy)
Quote: <gibbering, followed by weeping and teeth-gnashing>

Background: The Half-Formed dont have much of a background worth noting. Shaun Dunleavy was a nice kid, played
sports, got pretty good grades, had a few girlfriends. He was in
many ways an average American teenager. The Half-Formed
exhibit none of that. They are hollow reections of the boy,
driven by hungers and a nameless need. This need is really to
become something more than what they are, but the clones have
no way of vocalizing or even comprehending this urge.
Description: The clones are hairless, with smooth, unblemished skin. Pink and bleeding gums give way to bleach-white
needle teeth. The clones are genderless, as well. Sometimes
they run, limbs ailing. Other times they lope, like gamboling
beasts.
Storytelling Hints: The Half-Formed are mostly feral. Theyre
hungry and act as if caged most of the time, with the only calming
inuence being the presence of Prometheans . . . and that only
calms the Half-Formed sometimes. Its important, though, that
the Half-Formed be portrayed with a kind of sadness, though.
Its as if the potential for something better exists in the darkness
of those broad sad eyes, as if these animals have a small spark
within that could if fostered properly become something
greater.
Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 1, Composure
2
Mental Skills: Crafts (Crude Weapons) 1, Investigation 2
Physical Skills: Athletics (Foot Chase) 3, Brawl 4, Stealth
(Hiding in Plain Sight) 4, Survival 2, Weaponry 1
Social Skills: Animal Ken 1, Empathy 2, Intimidation 4
Merits: Direction Sense, Fast Reexes 2, Fleet of Foot 3, Iron
Stamina 1, Iron Stomach
Willpower: 4
DOCTOR DAVID DUNLEAVY
Humanity: 1 Melancholia (severe), Fixation (mild)

Virtue: Hope
Vice: Gluttony
Initiative: 8
Defense: 3
Speed: 15
Health: 8
Pyros per Scene: 5/3
Cancer Boy has fostered some additional abilities in his pets.
As such, assume that the following stat changes are true for his
two claimed clones: Attributes: Intelligence 2, Manipulation
2; Skills: Larceny 1, Survival 3, Weaponry 2
doesnt bear a single white patch of fabric anywhere on

it. While the rest of his body trembles (lack of food, lack
of sleep), his nimble hands and long fingers are always
rock steady, regardless of the situation.
Storytelling Hints: David is a man given over to grief.
It consumes him and shakes him every minute of every
hour. He never smiles. He blinks a lot. He reacts irrationally, fluctuating from sorrowed pleas into paroxysms
of spitting rage.
Mental Skills: Academics 3, Computer 3, Crafts 2, Investigation 4, Medicine 2, Occult 1, Science (Genetics) 3
Physical Skills: Athletics 1, Drive 1, Firearms 1,
Stealth 2
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Test Subjects) 2, Empathy 1,
Expression 1, Persuasion 2, Subterfuge (Self-Delusion) 3
Merits: Allies (Ob-Gyn Doctors) 1, Ambidextrous,
Contacts (Hospital Counselors) 1, Eidetic Memory,
Languages (Latin, Greek), Resources 3
Willpower: 3
Morality: 4
Virtue: Faith
Vice: Envy
Initiative: 5
Defense: 4
Speed: 10
Health: 7
Type
Damage Range Dice Pool Special
Snub-nose Revolver
2(L)
7
-
Doctor David Dunleavy
Quote: I just . . . I just miss my son. Ill do anything to

get him back. Cant you people see that?
Background: Dunleavy has never really lived up to
his potential. Hes always walked the middle line in life,
never a failure but never a true success, either. While
that would be perfectly acceptable for some, those in
Davids life frowned upon his mediocre performance and
failure to fulfill his potential. His parents consider him
a failure, and his now ex-wife Mira always urged him to
do more. As a genetic counselor, he felt he was doing
just fine, but in reality he always exhibited the possibility to become something greater a possibility he long
squandered. With the divorce and the loss of his son,
Dunleavy decided to pursue that potential at long last,
but this time it was twisted, turned to obsession.
Description: These days, Dunleavy doesnt look so
good. Hes tall and thin, stooped over with scoliosis. His
gaunt face sports a patchy garden of wiry beard. The lab
coat he wears is so stained with dirt and fluids that it
149
Sublimatus: The Timekeeper
Quote: Nothing works when the clock doesnt set the

schedule! The tock of the clock marks the signposts!
Background: The Timekeeper might provide characters
with sporadic bits of his history. Apparently, Prometheans
are sometimes drawn to Detroit. The city is like them,
and something about it or below it speaks to them.
And then they come, weak and unready, the Timekeeper
finds them and eats them. Eating these Prometheans,
thus consuming their Pyros and Vitriol, is what gave the
Timekeeper his sentience. This is his hunting ground.
Description: Hes a grotesque hunchback that seems to
have too many joints in his limbs. And yet, despite his
lurching gait and dragging limbs, he moves alarmingly
fast. Every inch of his body is swaddled with bile-soaked
rags and newspaper. Watches line his arms from the wrists
to the shoulders. Clocks and pocket watches dangle from
his body on strips of leather cord and bundled yarn.
Storytelling Hints: The Timekeeper fluctuates madly
between attacking with frothing fury and pausing to try
to engage the throng in discussion. Its as if he wants
to be them, able to stop and be polite, but what he is
simply wont let him.
Mockery: Render (Sublimatus)
Rank: 4
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 4, Resolve
2
Physical Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 5, Stamina
5
Mental Skills: Crafts (Dismantle) 3, Investigation 2,
Occult 1, Science 1
150
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl (Bite) 4, Larceny

2, Stealth (Shadows) 5, Survival 3, Weaponry 1
Social Skills: Animal Ken 1, Empathy 3, Intimidation
3, Subterfuge 2
Merits: Ambidextrous, Direction Sense, Eidetic
Memory, Fleet of Foot 3, Fresh Start
Willpower: 6
Vice: Envy
Initiative: 9
Defense: 4
Speed: 17 (with Fleet of Foot)
Size: 5
Health: 10
Bestowment: Bizarre Weaponry (Claws ), Scurry
()
Transmutations: Pandoran Armor (), Bizarre
Weaponry (Body Barbs , Fangs ), Manlike Stature
(), Flux Within the Shade (), Ceration of Form (),
Clockwork Servant (), Crucible of Flesh ()
Type Damage Range Dice Pool Special
Claws 1(L)
8
Bite (L)
8
Armor: 2
Non-Combatants
Below is the single non-combatant in this chapter.
Hand of the Principle
Quote: What falls must rise again, and what rises again
will eventually fall.
Background: The Hand of the Principle does not belong
to either of the other orders (Elpidos or Lilithim). It exists
NON-COMBATANTS
as an Arch-qashmal of the third, unnamed order. Just as
others of its kind, the Hand knows nothing of what it has
done before, and can only comment on the Mission and
the Principle.
Description: In Twilight, the Hand of the Principle
appears as a column of white ame that pulses and shifts.
When Materialized, the qashmal appears as a tall man with
blond hair, white skin and milky eyes. When he speaks,
steam hisses from his mouth, and one may catch a glimpse
of gears turning within the darkness of his throat.
Storytelling Hints: The Hand of the Principle speaks
plainly, and possesses less of the curiosity that sometimes
accompanies these angelic entities. He asks few questions,
but provides (admittedly cryptic) answers to those posed to
him. No matter what the outcome of the events, the Hand
of the Principle always seems vaguely pleased.
151

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What is the main theme discussed in the text?

What is the main theme discussed in the text?

What challenges does the character of John Ash face?

What challenges does the character of John Ash face?

SATURNINE NIGHT

Good Book says

The World of Darkness with a

- John Ash, Tammuz

Good Book says

The World of Darkness with a

- John Ash, Tammuz

FRAGMENTS FROM THE REVELATION OF JOHN

I. Take it and eat it up,

II. His face was as it were

III. Seal up these things and write them not

IV. I know thy works

V. I have set before thee an open door,

VI. Many men died of the waters,

VII. And they sung a new song

VIII. I know thy works

More of the fluorescent tubes flicker on and off, the further

IX. Babylon is fallen, is fallen

Its hard to hear her over the klaxon.

X. They shall not suffer their

XI. He that leadeth into

Forced to his knees on the poolside pavement,

XII. And the third part of trees was burnt up,

Written by: Joseph D. Carriker, Jr., Jess Hartley, Wood

THE PROMETHEAN SERIES

Chapter One: Demiurges in the Modern Age

Chapter Two: Flesh and Metal

Chapter Three: The Destroyer of Worlds

Chapter Four: Storytelling

Can you not see

Weird Science and Science Horror

SCIENCE |BAD SCIENCE

So many different kinds of horror can come out of

into your body (like the oil-covered, bladed, revving

Body horror comes from the idea of mutation. Some

Science and Humanity

How to Use This Book

A plethora of books, comic books, films and TV shows

a task does so without pity and in the most ruthlessly

DEMIURGES IN THE MODERN AGE

Comrade Doctor Elizarov? A word?

-transcribed from the journal of John Ash

I do not feel that

I AM MY FATHERS SON-DEMIURGES AND LINEAGES | CONNECTING THE DOTS

Gone but Not Forgotten

One of the great paradoxes that relate to Prometheans

through centuries, spanning the globe to modern readers,

Connecting the Dots

Although the exact details of the earliest demiurges may

CHAPTER ONE | DEMIURGES IN THE MODERN AGE

alignment and the desperation of Dr. Frankenstein to succeed

is the role of each Promethean to spawn others of its kind.

THE HAND OF GOD | THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME

The Hand of God

The Right Place