SourceMaterial-Pathomancy

Pathomancy

Come out here onto the street and take a look! This is a strange sight indeed. I spotted them just a minute ago. There was a lady standing next to the street torch over there that don’ walked up the street to talk to that other gentleman you see, next to the alley, and it looks like it got pretty heated rather quickly. Really, I was just watching because I wanted to see if the lad would hit her. Call it my sick curiosity. Ha! Anyway, in the middle of the argument, I tell ya, this lady reaches over to that wall next to her and grabs her own shadow in her hand, and pulls it over her head! I lost site o’ her after that, but the gentleman seemed like he could still see her ‘cuz he appeared to be scuffling with someone. Weird!

Anyways, look, the lady is back over there by the torch. Is she looking at me? …. Wait. What was I just sayin’ about? -- Calrick “Buzz” Tern, Proprietor, The Horse Skull Inn, Malekia, Seven Cities

Note: This information is not implemented in the game mechanics of Neverwinter Nights

Note: This information is unavailable to all but the most knowledgeable of scholars and researchers.

History

From 1266 A.O.D. to 1379 A.O.D, in the lands of Khanjar Kuro were at a tumultuous point in their history. One creature who slept there was the only avatar of the Negerai Prime ever created on Avlis. This creature was tasked with the important experiment that would ultimately shatter the unified Vortex of Magic into its four components. Its success uncovered the ability to use the Transitive River as it flowed through the Plane of Shadow to create a taint that would spread among the demons and be transmitted to all who fought them. It was the Negerai Prime’s intention to completely negate resistance through infection and recruitment, ultimately tainting the new gods themselves.

Unfortunately for the evil Negerai Prime, his plans fell short. Though his shadow taint was released and began to infect the population of spirits, he was killed and his only avatar was jolted into unconsciousness. The avatar that was now cut off from its true self was no longer a god and relied on the taint it took upon itself just to stay alive in that deep sleep. Its physiology came to rely on taint for sustenance, and whenever a tainted creature wandered near the resting place of the avatar, it would be consumed and its taint absorbed. After more than 2,000 years and thousands of small tainted creatures consumed, the Dark Avatar finally rose again.

The world in which the Dark Avatar awoke was quite different from when he was put to sleep. He noticed that taint was still spreading through the spirit and mortal population of Khanjar Kuro where he now found himself, but that it was proceeding slowly and not in a particularly virulent fashion. Fortunately for him, the creature knew exactly how to increase that virulence and complete what his old self started. Spreading the taint required access to the Plane of Shadow, at which he was extremely adept. However, to make things more efficient, he would need to teach others his craft and recruit them as carriers and agents of the disease. Quickly, he put his plans to work.

Gifted with much of his old knowledge of human and spirit psychology and personal motivation, the Dark Avatar made his way quickly in disguise to the upper echelons of Khanjar Kuro society. He used his position as friend to some of the major noble families to recruit them to his art, which he called Pathomancy. Certain factions of the noble families saw great promise in this power to use against their enemies, and as they learned to tap into the Transitive River in the Plane of Shadow to achieve their ends, they unknowingly fell under the power of the Dark Avatar and spread his evil taint.

The Pathomancers were able to produce spell effects from this energy they tapped. However, as they did so, they opened themselves up to infection with taint by the Dark Avatar at a much higher rate than the normal way, which was to exchange blood or body fluids with a tainted creature. This exchange of shadow energies was highly potent, and the more tainted a creature became, the more its worldview began to match the Dark Avatar’s. After only half a century, the infection was so prevalent that nobles of Khanjar Kuro began to purposely infect and convert their entire houses to the service of the Dark Avatar.

The Dark Clans quickly rose up and destroyed the stability that had existed for the last 500 yearson the island. In the first years where they were nearly unopposed against the untainted legions of original noble families, the casualties were great. The Dark Avatar War nearly destroyed the Empire over many battles taking place within the next century. The reigning Tenshin of the era decided that something had to be done, but he did not know what could possibly effective against this onslaught. It seemed the end was near.