Alae Di Noctis by Rob Torno
Written by Dennis “Wyatt Salazar” Santana
Edited by Jonathan Jacobs
Illustrated by Rob Torno
The unknown powers are worthy of only certain causes, certain ideals.
Background
The Alae Di Noctis began as an unassuming parish in the hill country. The high priest of Alae Di Noctis was a man named Tolus, who had studied scripture since he was an orphan boy, and now devoted himself to prayer and service to his community. He was known as a man who traveled the region, taking care of lost souls, healing the sick, and performing the occasional casting out of demons. For a time, Tolus considered himself unmatched in his abilities since he had yet to come upon a demon that he could not match. This all changed, however, when Tolus stumbled into an exorcism that was beyond his ability to control or banish.
This unknown power was unlike anything encountered before, and it showed Tolus the true scope of the universe. During the casting out, which eventually failed, Tolus touched upon the mind of this entity for a brief moment and his mind, in that instant, was utterly destroyed. The entity’s vast millennial history, its travels across the entirety of the universe, and the totality of the souls it had corrupted through time disintegrated the importance of Tolus’s gods and his world suddenly became a speck of dust.
Tolus succumbed to the power of this entity, which entered into his own soul, seemingly completing the exorcism. Knowing the time would soon come when he could never allow another unworthy eye to see him, Tolus led his order away. He set out to fulfill the mission given to him by his new gods, a most holy mission of salvation. He burnt down his old church and hid with his followers, traveling far until they reached a mountainside, an abandoned mine, which they declared the holy mount of their new, sacred order.
Mission
Tolus forged a new organization, the Alae Di Noctis. The entities which contacted Tolus showed him visions of their rivals, beings immaterial of incredible strength. The entities wished for Tolus to hunt down the servants of these beasts, who were using their own sacred power without aim and without respect. In reality, the entities wish only for Tolus and his order to create chaos and disorder. They know for a fact that a war between them and other entities of their power would end in nothing. But if, by chance, some of their rivals are indeed slowed or weakened, they would be most pleased indeed.
Structure
At the head of the organization is Tolus, a man warped by the horrible power now within him. Tolus receives no contact from the outside world, and few if any of his own monks have seen his new form. Those that have seen him are known as Alaes, wings, and they serve as his lieutenants. The Alaes main function is to delegate his orders to the Noctis, men of the dark who use shards of power to find and kill others that have foolishly opposed the Alea Di Noctis.
Benefits/Drawbacks
Members of the Alae Di Noctis are each given a shard of chaotic power, the whole of which is held within Tolus. These shards allow the members of Alae Di Noctis to sense others who share similar foul powers. The shard is not enough to grant them much more than this, but should they die, the shard can either use their flesh to summon a beast from another realm, or create a small explosion to cover up the death of the Noctis member. The Noctis are trained to endure great tortures, fight with great physical prowess, and to disguise themselves as ordinary monks or pilgrims.
Adventure Hooks
- The Alae Di Noctis have targeted a prominent local for assassination. What has this man been hiding, and perhaps, should he be given up to the Noctis?
- A crazed man begs the players for help in exorcising a strange presence from him, but the Noctis have their eyes on him already.
- One of the players has contact with an entity, and is then followed by the Noctis. Has he or she really been tainted far enough to attract them?
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Alae Di Noctis by Nevermet Press is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.nevermetpress.com/contact.
