THE SEARCH
FOR IMMORTALITY

There are few things the galactic community can agree upon about humanity other than their obsession with immortality.  Since ancient times humanity has viewed faith in various religions as the path to eternal life.  Today even as technology encroaches on the territory of immortality only religion can profess to protecting your immortal soul.  Whether the dogma allows for reincarnation or the soul to ascend to another plane of existence religion still appeals to the masses.  However, this promise of eternal life through renewal of their soul isn’t good enough for everyone.  There are those whose fixation on immortality for their body and soul escalates from obsession to pure mania.

For millennia mainstream and fringe scientists have searched for the proverbial “Holy Grail” or “Fountain of Youth”.  Justification for the pursuit of immortality varies widely.  People of means are often willing to personally finance science and technology which promotes extended life and eventual immortality for their families.  Governments support research to extend the lives of their leaders and the ruling class.  Mega-corporations spend trillions of credits to extend the lives of successful executives and employees deemed too brilliant to die.  Most of this research has been done in good faith to advance the longevity of humanity and programs which once only benefited the rich and famous trickle down into the general population.  Advances in cybernetics, bionics, nanotech, and bioware have all extended life expectancy. Anyone willing to make certain sacrifices might even find an imperfect immortality through these means.

In mainstream science, immortality is a far from perfect process and current methods for achieving it still require the recipient to lose part of themselves in the process.  Cybernetics allow a person to replace limbs and organs as they fail, but in the end, there is little left of their former being.  Nanotech offers the benefit mnemonic transfer which allows a subject to have its consciousness transferred into a clone or another being, but each time this procedure is performed it’s said a small part of the subject’s soul is left behind.  Even the immortality offered by the encephalon cyberdeck has its limitations.  It’s the potential loss of body and mental faculties that continues to fuel the fixation on eternal life for the body and mind.

FRINGE SCIENCE
AND ANCIENT ALCHEMY

Where mainstream science failed to answer the riddle of immortality fringe science may have already found an answer for a devoted few.  Nearly 700 hundred years ago, a small cosmetics firm invented a serum which halted the aging process.  Unfortunately, 98 members of the initial 101-member trial group became horribly mutated, but all the participants stopped aging.  The results of the first trial group were buried and the cosmetics company continued their research and experimentation.  Several more trial groups were used like lab rats ending with similar rates of success and those left horribly disfigured simply disappeared.

Although the first series of trial groups consisted largely of vagrants and criminals, people that weren’t likely to be missed, later trail groups became strictly voluntary.  Evidence suggested that you had to have a deep desire for eternal life if the serum, now called “necroplast”, is to succeed.  Those lucky enough to survive the transformation without unintended mutation earned the moniker of “luminary”.

Luminaries were paraded around the Datasphere and The Cortex as necroplast trial success stories. Success meant credits and the credits kept pouring in to advance the cosmetic company’s research while the mutated failures were hidden from the public eye.   Necroplast trial cycles continued for almost 130 years and then overnight all traces of the cosmetics company disappeared including previously published articles, scientific research papers, and bank records.  It was simply gone.

The truth behind the small cosmetics firm and necroplast is reminiscent of a real-life Gothic horror film.  The cosmetics firm was a front for a Cult of the Great Old Ones. Emerging nanotechnology integrated with ancient alchemy techniques and a dark faith converged to create necroplast.  Scholars of the occult have speculated the recipe was delivered to the first Black Pontiff in a dream.  While it is true that all the participants stopped aging, this is only true because all the trial participants technically die during the trial and transformation.  Survivors become members of the quasi-dead known as the “Necroborg”.

While in hiding in the shadows for the larger part of a millennium the Necroborg have been steadily increasing their numbers.  Their leader, who is known as the Black Pontiff, has continued to spread the doctrine of the Great Old Ones in which true immortality can only be achieved through death.  Despite its evil pretenses the Necroborg dogma has become popular amongst those vain enough to seek out immortality at any cost.

THE GREAT OLD ONES
AND MYTHOS

The Great Old Ones are said to have existed before existence itself.  Reality as we know it, may in fact only be the dreams of the Great Old Ones caught in eternal slumber.  Some would compare the Great Old Ones to gods, but it has been postulated the gods themselves might also only but figments of a Great Old One’s dream.

Occasionally, a Great Old One stirs in its eternal slumber and will manifest an aspect of itself in our reality.  Aspects are extremely powerful but only represent a fraction of a Great Old One’s power.  It has even been surmised that  if a Great Old One was somehow to awaken from its slumber that our reality and the gods themselves would be undone.

Abhoth, Azathoth, Dagon, Nhimbaloth, Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, Yog-Sothoth and even Cthulhu are all worshiped as part of a degenerate pantheon by the Necroborg.  The chaotic and often evil dogma of the various great old ones has been interpreted and misinterpreted many times over the ages.  For the last thousand years necroborg oracles representing the Cult of the Great Old Ones have compiled a holy doctrine. the Chronicles of the Great Old Ones. These chronicles are simply known as the “Mythos”.

Mythos is a compilation of occult dogma, dreams, nightmares, and ancient manuscripts.  Cult oracles compiled the chronicles by entering the Cosmic Dreamscape in a trance-like state to peer into the horrific alien subconsciousness of the Great Old Ones. Oracles rarely returned from these encounters unscathed. Each journey to the Cosmic Dreamscape edging them closer madness and insanity. 

Mythos can be read a hundred times by a hundred individuals and every reader will have a different interpretation of the scripture within each time it is read.  Rumors persist that Mythos changes on its own enabling the Great Old Ones to communicate directly with their devout through subconscious directives.  However, there are four truths lying within the maze of alien dreams.  First, it is accepted that the Great Old Ones are in fact dreaming in an eternal slumber.  Second, it is the manifest destiny of the necroborg to spread their influence and domain across the universe.  Third, the Promise, eternal existence for those willing to devote their life to the teachings of Mythos.  Finally, Mythos reveals in its Song of Revelations the necroborg will wake the Great Old Ones from their eternal rest ushering in not only a new age but a new reality. The multiverse will be undone and remade and only those following the path of Mythos will gain the enlightenment necessary for their immortal soul to pass into this new reality.

THE PROMISE

The Promise is a ritual ceremony in which the recipient’s life force is snuffed out during a hyper infusion of necroplast.  During the course of the ceremony the “the promised” is suspended and restrained on a metal frame resembling a five-point star.  Infusion pumps replace the recipient’s blood and spinal fluid with necroplast causing cardiac arrest and painful death.  While an oracle of Mythos recites the Song of the Promise the infusion pumps continue injecting necroplast into the promised until they begin bleeding necroplast from their ears, nose, mouth, tear ducts, and sweat glands.  Exactly thirteen minutes after death the nanites in the necroplast reanimate the recipient as necroborg.

All willing recipients survive the Promise, but not all survivors become luminaries.  The type of necroborg a recipient of the promise becomes is determined by their truth.  Everyone’s truth is personal and can therefore result in a different outcome.

The Promise is only offered to humans and anthropomorphic demi-humans. Demi-humans are those species possessing DNA capable of reproducing with humans and share the same panspermia origin.   There are no known instances of the Promise being offered to a non-human or non-demi-human.  However, it is theoretically possible for any species with DNA compatible with humans or a genetically malleable species like the Swarm, skittermanders, or a symbiont/symbiend to survive the transformation into a necroborg.  Rumors persist that dragons might also be compatible with the process.  Theorist use the existence of half-dragons as proof of this potential. 

The Cult of the Great Old Ones are humanist and they believe only humanity and like species are worthy of the next reality.  If non-human/demi-human necroborg exist they were not created by the Cult of the Great Old Ones.

DOMINION OF THE NECROBORG

The Dominion of the Necroborg is a potentially galaxy spanning conglomeration of cultist dedicated to the Great Old Ones.  You can determine the scope and breadth of the necroborg’s influence in your campaign.  They may be a galaxy spanning empire or limited to a single secrete base of operations with footholds throughout local space.  No matter the scale of the necroborg in your campaign I thought I would present a loose framework of possibilities. 

HISTORY

Truth be told, the Cult of the Great Old Ones is not a single cult, but a conglomerate of cults devoted to one or more Great Old Ones.  Prior to the discovery of necroplast the occult followers that would become the necroborg were often referenced by many different names; the Cult of the Nameless, Cult of the Aeon Dreamers, and the Devote Cult of the Dreamers.  Its not clear if these were separate cults that merged or alternate names for the same organization. In either case, the reference here to the Cult of the Great Old Ones is specific to the small group that would eventually become the necroborg.

Not much is known about the early history of the Cult of the Great Old Ones.  Its unclear whether the cosmetics company was infiltrated with cultist or founded by cultist.  It is clear the relationship between the two was formed early on.  At the time the Cult of the Great Old Ones operated in secrete and membership was only offered to those willing to risk everything for a chance at immortality and a glimpse into the mysteries of the Void.

Before the initial 101-member test group the Black Pontiff received the Promise as a test of his devotion to the Mythos and became the first luminary necroborg.  In the Pontiff’s eye’s there were no failures in the early refinement of necroplast.  Those that weren’t deemed worthy of ascension to luminary would bolster the ranks
of the cult’s defenses and were quietly sequestered to cult safehouses and sanctuaries.  A century passed and the various versions of necroplast were refined while the ranks of the cult grew in number, strength, and devotion.

There were two events of significance within the cult during this century of growth.  First, the Black Pontiff completed compiling the Chronicles of the Great Old Ones and the completed work was simply known as Mythos.  Second, the Ravens of the Black divined the location of a relic.  The relic was in a star system beyond known space.

Coincidence or the divine providence of Mythos?  Humans were in the middle of their first Great Expansion into the Void 700 years ago.  The Cult of the Great Old Ones commissioned an Ark-II colony ship (“The Emma”), and many embarked on a 300-year journey to the R’lyeh star system.  Those Ravens who were left behind tasked with rebuilding the cult in the Sol System and spreading the Songs of Mythos.

Before departing for R’lyeh the Black Pontiff sanctioned the appointment of the Raven Dark, the first among equals.  The Raven Dark’s had no true authority over the other Ravens of the Black but would serve as the eyes, ears, and mouth of the Black Pontiff.  It is unclear how the Black Pontiff and the Raven Dark communicated before the advent of hyperspace communication beacons.

It was only 333 years after departure that the Black Pontiff returned to the Sol System in the D.N.S Anubis (a space folding attack cruiser).  The significance of this event, hyperspace travel had not yet been discovered by humans.  The Black Pontiff had indeed been successful in finding the relic and harnessing some of its secretes. 

The “Necroborg” emerged from the depths of space not as conquerors but to save the Earth. In a twist of fate, they arrived just in time to see its destruction.  Interpreting the dreamscape of the Great Old Ones is maddening.  It is an arduous task to sort out the many possible futures for any event with any certainty.   The Earth was forced into a phase of rapid plate tectonics and accelerated organic evolution by eco-terrorist, but this is a story for another time.

During the Black Pontiff’s absence, the Raven Dark had successfully established a nest (the necroborg name for a parish) on each of the human colonies within 30 light years of Earth.  After experiencing the destruction of Earth firsthand the Black Pontiff made the decision that the Necroborg could only gain the numbers needed to usher in the next reality by saving humanity.  Cultist from each nest were chosen by lottery to return to R’lyeh and become Necroborg.  The Lottery of Dominion has continued every 52 years into the present. 

After subduing the R’lyeh System and eradicating a local primitive race the Dominion of the Necroborg has continued their conquest of systems local to the Nameless Nebula.  During their expansion the Necroborg have discovered abandoned Atlantean ruins and a swarm hive world.  Following these discoveries the Necroborg have taken a much more measured approach to their expansion knowing just a few of the challenges facing their grand vision of ushering in a new universe.

While the Necroborg expanded their influence in the Nameless Nebula, humanity has entered a new renaissance called the Gravity Age.  Developments in quantum physics yielded several important innovations in gravity control and the discovery hyperspace.  Hyperspace travel allowed humanity to reconnect with lost colonies and begin a second wave of exploration and expansion.  Proof humanity was not alone in the universe ushered in a new era of religious freedom.  Lost or forgotten faiths reemerged and new ones were established.

This period of religious diversification caused a rift in the Cult of the Great Old Ones   Many of the younger Ravens believed it was time for the cult to operate openly, but older more conservative members asserted that their secretive services to the Great Old Ones fostered the successful state that the cult was now in.  The Raven Dark worried with a possible schism in the cult consulted with the Black Pontiff for guidance.

The Black Pontiff delved deeply into the Songs of Mythos and entered the Dreamscape of the Great Old Ones.  It was revealed there must be three but only one will see the Song of Revelations.  It was proclaimed that day the Necroborg would be led by a Triumvirate; the Black Pontiff, the Raven Dark, the Vizier of Mythos.  The Black Pontiff would continue as the undisputed leader of the Triumvirate and the Dominion of the Necroborg, but the Raven Dark would now stand above the other Ravens and managed the Enclaves of the Nameless.  The newly appointed Vizier of Mythos was tasked with founding the Ministries of Mythos and building the First Temple of the Dreamers.