[Naztherak Amendment] Origins & Cursed Child Progression

[Unwillingly 18096]

Changes are Italicized

Additions are Bolded

Removals are in Strikethrough

Old

Origins

Spoiler

It all starts with a deal.

 

The climb for power knows no bounds. Descendants who find themselves battered and beaten beneath the heels of weakness may seek resolve for their desperation, be it by the work of greedy banditry, arcane magics, or a ruler’s crown — little do they know, there is only one true crown that could ever grant resolution to their plight. For some, soul-bargaining is regarded as a wicked and accursed practice, reserved for only those truly beyond saving and damned to hellfire for all of eternity. For others, it’s seen as an opportunity to cheat and play the world as they see fit, to enact vengeance on those who have wronged them, or to make the trade of a lifetime. 

 

To become a False Prince is never devoid of a price. The Five Lords have mastered the art of deception and manipulation, allowing them to dominate with an iron-grip over their victim’s soul. However, no matter the means, there is always one thing above all that binds these warlocks together.

 

The Pentacle and High Hells of Moz’strimoza. 

 

- RP connection is freeform and may be done through various aesthetic rituals, such as a smoke filled handshake, stepping into a fiery pentacle, or any other form that the teacher wishes. Creativity is encouraged in both connection and roleplay building up to it.
- OOC consent is required to be connected to Naztherak. A character may, however, be deceived or tricked into striking a deal in-RP.
- A TA holder is required to connect someone to Naztherak, wherein the receiver loses two magic slots upon said connection.
- Slots dedicated to Naztherak are permanently lost.
- Upon being connected to Naztherak, one must OOCly pick a malice and one of the five Lords which will watch over and influence their character. These cannot be changed later.
- Upon being connected to Naztherak, one must choose or be given their Ilzakarn name with the help of their teacher. This CANNOT be changed later.
- Upon being connected to Naztherak, the soul is inevitably doomed to Moz Strimosa, upon a PK death. This prevents one from becoming a ghost, darkstalker, ghoul, draugar, or other post-mortem CA besides ressurection as a Zar'ei via Naz'kuthun.

 

New

Origins

Spoiler

Unlucky souls who find themselves displaced from the light of Aeriel’s soulstream may instead suffer the cruel fate of Moz’strimoza, the High Hells: a plane of perpetual war and barbarity, comprising a litany of patchwork landscapes sown into one confusing, chaotic amalgamation. Here, its landscapes know no calm, for its hellish planes may range from firestorms erupting from basalt crags, frozen hinterland forests, desolate wastelands of ash and soot, ruined cities of stone, rivers of beating flesh and ichor, and plenty more treacherous and sorrowed terrains.

 

It is here that the wretched Infernals lurk, ravaging Moz'strimoza in a state of perpetual war, carnage, and glorified barbarity upon one another. Among these Infernals are the common Inferi: humanoid Zar’ei, bestial Zekul, and pestlike Zevn, demonic beings who toil at merely the lowest rung of the Infernal Climb, serving as little more than cannonfodder designed to carry out the bidding of their greaters. Above them, the greater Inferi: The ruling Rokul, the colossal Zar’kiel, and hybrid Zar’akal, all warlords and despots who have learned to master their lessers in their unending battle to the top of the infernal ladder, summarily constrained by one ruling bylaw: The weak are meat and the strong do eat.

 

At the apex of all things wicked, sits five ruling titans: the rokul, fallen Dragaar and Drakaar who have come to conquer Moz’strimoza. They are Velkuzat the Goat, Prince of Gluttony — Drazhana the Bat, Prince of Dread — Kiiztria the Snake, Prince of Venom — Kholidav the Crow, Prince of Pestilence — and Zathairn the Black Cat, Prince of Calamity. With their infernal legions, their factions brutalize each other in an endless cycle of backstabbing, conspiracy, and conquest in their open war for dominance over the infernal plane. 

 

As meat is to the maw, mortal souls are to their carnage. As the purest form of infernal power, uncorrupted souls act all the same as fuel, currency, and sustenance to the inhabitants of Moz’strimoza, while being masterfully hoarded only by the rokul, who have learned to weaponize these corrupted souls to further their own malevolent agenda. Even in the Material Plane, does their wretched influence extend in the form of wicked proxies: Naz’therak, False Prince mortals who have damned their souls for eternity in exchange for the gifts of the Red Prince. 

 

Old

Explanation & Connection

Spoiler

Naztherak is a dark magic varying from two to four slots depending on how far one wishes to delve into the arts, as each magic slot allotted further corrupts one’s soul. These slots may not be redeemed or regained, permanently binding the character to the magic. Malflame and Demonology are acquired upon connection, together consuming two slots. Curses and Pacting may optionally be taken at T3 and T4, together consuming two additional slots. At the beginning of their journey, each false prince is chosen by one of the five Lords of the pentacle, in which they will be observed and scrutinized throughout their journey. At tier five, a Naztherak may submit a TA in order to teach the magic and may employ any means they see fit to trick victims into joining their ranks, most often through the use of lies and the empty promises of power and ascension. 

Progression Summary
Players must have consistent lessons to progress. A player at T1 may not go on hiatus for four months and return T5.

 

Tier 1: Princeling [Immediate]
The Naztherk seals the deal with a Hzakhadlu (T5 Naztherak possessing a TA) and obtains a small brand upon their hand as well as [10] maleus. Their malice is barely noticeable at this stage. They are able to create a grimoire, cast basic malflame spells, and corrupt objects. They may bind and summon imps that they find or that have been created for them. 

 

Tier 2: Apprentice [2 OOC Weeks Post-Connection]
The brand encompasses the entire hand and part of the wrist and they gain [10] maleus for a total of [20]. Their malice begins to show in day-to-day activities but is not obstructive. The Naztherak is able to cast more complex malflame spells and become accustomed to demonology, allowing them to create, bind, and summon zekul. 

 

Tier 3: Adept [1 OOC Month Post-Connection]
The brand encompasses the entire arm and part of the torso and the Naztherak has a total of [30] maleus. The Naztherak’s Striith may break free from their Grimoire, allowing the Naztherak to see which Prince has claimed their soul. They gain more malflame spells and may now conjure zar’ei to serve in their ranks. Upon hitting tier three, a Naztherak may take an additional pact. 

 

Tier 4: Expert [2 OOC Months Post-Connection]
The brand grows to consume the Naztherak’s entire torso while their maleus count grows to [40]. The Naztherak has nearly mastered malflame manipulation and can summon and contort it with ease. The False Prince may take their final pact, should they choose to devote nearly all of their magic slots to Naztherak.

Tier 5: Master [4 OOC Months Post-Connection]
The brand now covers nearly the entire body of the Naztherak and they have a full maleus count of [50]. The Naztherak has mastered malflame manipulation along with demonology and any pacts which they may have picked up previously. They may now teach others or ascend into a Zar’akal to try and escape the grasp of the Lords.

- Naztherak is compatible with any dark or voidal magics, but not deific ones, with exception for Seer, should they have the slots available to give.
- Naztherak is not compatible with dark magic CAs or transformative CAs, such as Frost Witches, Liches, Wights, Anthroparians, Azdrazi, etc.
- Although it’s impossible to regain magic slots once offered by default, it's plausible with an accepted MArt.
- Due to their infernal nature, cursed children may start naz off at the progression of T2, though they still require the lessons for the T1 and T2 spells.
- When tiers three and four are reached, a Naztherak may take up additional subtypes for the cost of another magic slot and a sliver of their soul. These should be updated accordingly on a user’s MA.
- Only one additional subtype may be taken per tier.
- Naztherak requires an MA to use.

- A Naztherak must learn every spell at a given tier in order to proceed to the next tier.

- Should a Naztherak sire or bear children, they will automatically be Blessed Children of Ixris.

 

New

Explanation & Connection

Spoiler

Naztherak is a 2-4 slot deific Dark Magic entailing the subjugation of one’s soul to the rokul in exchange for infernal powers. Slots may not be regained upon connection or pacting. Upon reaching Tier 5, a Naztherak may submit a TA through which they may employ students to further do their bidding. Connection is freeform, though should encourage themes appropriate to the infernal or occult, examples being: signing a contract, a ghastly rite, an oath and handshake, et cetera.
 

Progression Summary

Players must have consistent lessons to progress. A player at T1 may not go on hiatus for four months and return T5.

 

Tier 1: Princeling [Immediate]

The Naztherk seals the deal with a Hzakhadlu (T5 Naztherak possessing a TA) and obtains a small brand upon their hand as well as [10] maleus. Their malice is barely noticeable at this stage. They are able to create a grimoire, cast basic malflame spells, and corrupt objects. They may bind and summon imps that they find or that have been created for them. 

 

Tier 2: Apprentice [2 OOC Weeks Post-Connection]

The brand encompasses the entire hand and part of the wrist and they gain [10] maleus for a total of [20]. Their malice begins to show in day-to-day activities but is not obstructive. The Naztherak is able to cast more complex malflame spells and become accustomed to demonology, allowing them to create, bind, and summon zekul. 

 

Tier 3: Adept [1 OOC Month Post-Connection]

The brand encompasses the entire arm and part of the torso and the Naztherak has a total of [30] maleus. The Naztherak’s Striith may break free from their Grimoire, allowing the Naztherak to see which Prince has claimed their soul. They gain more malflame spells and may now conjure zar’ei to serve in their ranks. Upon hitting tier three, a Naztherak may take an additional pact. 

 

Tier 4: Expert [2 OOC Months Post-Connection]

The brand grows to consume the Naztherak’s entire torso while their maleus count grows to [40]. The Naztherak has nearly mastered malflame manipulation and can summon and contort it with ease. The False Prince may take their final pact, should they choose to devote nearly all of their magic slots to Naztherak.

 

Tier 5: Master [4 OOC Months Post-Connection]

The brand now covers nearly the entire body of the Naztherak and they have a full maleus count of [50]. The Naztherak has mastered malflame manipulation along with demonology and any pacts which they may have picked up previously. They may now teach others or ascend into a Zar’akal to try and escape the grasp of the Lords.

 

- While OOC consent is required to be connected to Naztherak, RP consent is not.

- An accepted TA is required in order to connect new Naztherak.

- Once slotted, it is impossible to regain lost magic slots, unless with MArt or eventline interference. Two slots are immediately lost upon connection.

- Upon connection, the player must choose one of six Malices for their character to be afflicted by, as well as their Ilzakarn name.

- Upon connection to Naztherak, the soul is doomed to Moz Strimosa upon a PK death. This prevents one from becoming a ghost, darkstalker, ghoul, draugar, or other post-mortem CA besides resurrection as a Zar'ei via Naz'kuthun. 

- Naztherak is incompatible with deific magics, with the exception of Seer. It is compatible with voidal and dark magic, should the magic slots provide.

- Naztherak is Incompatible with all dark or transformative CAs.

- Cursed Children who connect to Naztherak may start at T2 rather than T1, though will still require lessons for both.

- When tiers three and four are reached, a Naztherak may take up additional subtypes for the cost of another magic slot and a sliver of their soul. These should be updated accordingly on a user’s MA.

- Requires an accepted MA to use.
- In order to progress, a Naztherak must learn every spell at their given tier in order to progress to the next. This means that being connected, going on hiatus for 3 months, and returning without any lessons does not mean you are then T5 when you return.

- Should a Naztherak sire or bear children, they will be born as a Cursed Child by default.

 

Purpose

Spoiler

This amendment expands upon the origins lore for the main Naztherak lore pages, removes unneeded repetition and fluff, and condenses redlines. Redlines that were formerly under under the origins section were moved to the explanation and connection section, which also omits fluff. The redlines themselves are unchanged, just reworded in order to be more direct, and thus I believe could benefit from being implemented. I just didn't really know how to format it in an amendment. 

The choice to rewrite/expand the origins section is due to my belief that the current lore page fails to demonstrate the core themes of the magic in its introduction. The fundamentals, story, and overall backbone of it should be clearly communicated to players who wish to be invested in the lore, both for inspiring people to RP the magic to its truest and informing new Naztherak students learning the lore - something I have heard in passing people struggle with understanding. What's there is a summary of the Moz'strimoza World Lore page, from which all information was extracted, and where people can read more in-depth about the lore later on. 

I also removed the redline about Cursed Children and tier progression due to it wrongly reinforcing the idea that CC are innately infernal or dark. The current attitude towards them is entirely cultural in RP, and should not be supported with lore that doesn't serve any real purpose otherwise. 

 

[PrimnyaQuorum 3999]

While the rest of this amendment is neat [please we need more moz in naz lore 😭] I'm not sure I follow the CC thing. By CC lore, the soul is claimed and already denoted to go into the climb and ixris upon PK-Death, which is the reason why they're more "adapt" then non-CC and able to "start" at T2. This has always kinda been accepted on a OOC level - I'm not sure what reason makes it make sense to remove the "benefit" a CC has being a naz on the naz page, without removing why it exists from the CC page. 

[Unwillingly 18096]

1 hour ago, PrimnyaQuorum said:

While the rest of this amendment is neat [please we need more moz in naz lore ] I'm not sure I follow the CC thing. By CC lore, the soul is claimed and already denoted to go into the climb and ixris upon PK-Death, which is the reason why they're more "adapt" then non-CC and able to "start" at T2. This has always kinda been accepted on a OOC level - I'm not sure what reason makes it make sense to remove the "benefit" a CC has being a naz on the naz page, without removing why it exists from the CC page. 

the line about the cursed children tier progression was only implemented with the rewrite bob and I did in 2023, it was never part of preceding naz lore from what I remember so I'd disagree that it's always just been accepted on an OOC level (tier progression not CC going to moz). I don't remember exactly which one of us came up with it but I don't feel that strongly about it, so if the LT believe it's relevant to existing CC lore and should remain implemented idrm