Antibeing

Some Secundi tempt you, some flatter you, some terrify you. Antibeings don’t do any of that. They just stand there, and everything you are begins to fall off you like rust.

— Soki Noles, Field Notes From the End of All Things

I. Nature of the Antibeing

Antibeings are the Secundi of Despair—the Vice that is not a hunger, but an absence.
Where other Secundi feed on acts, emotions, or indulgence, Antibeings feed on degeneration.
They consume the erosion of spirit, the decay of hope, the weariness of the soul, and the collapse of structure.

They embody the idea that:

iron rusts

flesh fails

light dims

empires fall

certainty cracks

and the heat of the universe will eventually die

Their presence accelerates this truth.

Antibeings are not aggressive in any conventional sense.
They rarely speak, rarely demand, rarely even bargain—because they don’t need to.
Their mere existence is a form of predation.

II. Forms of Decay

Antibeings tend toward forms that visually express entropy:

shambling fungal mockeries

eroded humanoid silhouettes

statues half-crumbling into dust

rotting cadavers animated by nothingness

holes in space where light dies

ash-bodied revenants

beings whose edges blur, as if time is failing to render them

Clothing—if worn at all—rots off them.
Weapons they touch become pitted and dulled unless intentionally maintained by psychic force.

Even their shadows show decay:
stretching too long, breaking into drifting flakes, or writhing like mold under a microscope.

III. The Atropic Aura

The defining power of Antibeings is their Atropic Aura, a constant field of accelerated entropy.

Within its radius:

metals corrode

electronics glitch, fail, or flicker

batteries drain

flesh bruises without impact

cells age rapidly

emotions dull

vigor wanes

hope becomes a physical weight

diseases worsen

Mutations accelerate

food spoils

structural integrity weakens

morale collapses

This aura can be turned off.

It never is.

Antibeings don’t see a reason.
Decay is simply the natural state toward which all things fall.
Why resist gravity?

IV. Outcasts of the Courts

Among the Lower Courts of Acheron, Antibeings are strange figures.

They are:

rarely Presidents

almost never Barons

always tolerated but never welcomed

useful as executioners or environmental Hazards

feared but not respected

When an Antibeing does claim an Acheronian Object, it is always:

small

dark

rotting

barren

populated only by broken Tertia

and avoided by nearly everyone

These tiny, decrepit fiefdoms resemble haunted houses in subspace—
lights flickering, structures sagging, the very idea of architecture failing.

Some researchers theorize that if left fully unchecked, a powerful Antibeing could depopulate an entire Acheronian Object without lifting a finger.

V. Protecting Against an Antibeing

Defense against an Antibeing is fundamentally different from defending against other Secundi.

You cannot block decay.
You cannot parry entropy.
You cannot bargain with despair.

What you can do is oppose their nature through creation.

1. Courage (Virtue Resonance)

Courage is the metaphysical opposite of Despair.
It is the conviction that action still matters.

To the Antibeing, the resonance of Courage feels like:

acid

radiation

burning cold

the sting of light

Templars and Seekers who cultivate Courage are the closest thing to naturally toxic organisms to Antibeings.

2. Maintaining Identity

Despair corrodes the sense of self.
Strong personal identity—such as a Knight’s oath, a Technocrat’s mission, or a Kthoniker’s conviction—can reduce the aura’s effects.

3. Creation

Building, repairing, nurturing, cleaning, or maintaining anything fights against the decay-field.
This is why artists, engineers, and healers can endure Antibeings longer than fighters.

4. Authority Sigils

For unknown reasons, the sigils of Authorities repel Antibeings.
Authorities find the reason “too obvious to explain.”
Antibeings “cannot be bothered.”

Researchers suspect metaphysical hierarchy—
Despair is the lowest entropy state; Authority is the highest assertion of reality.

VI. Contracts With Nothingness

To serve an Antibeing is to be slowly destroyed.

This destruction is not malicious.
It is simply the natural progression of entropy accelerated.

Just speaking with an Antibeing:

drains health

causes sickness

ages cells

damages organs

induces mental fatigue

creates despair

This is not symbolic.
This is physics.

The Contract’s terms inevitably boil down to:

“Help me hasten the end.”

Most who enter these Contracts do so out of:

nihilism

depression

hatred of existence

a desire to see the world collapse

or a belief that entropy brings purity

The supplicant becomes a vector of decay—
a walking biohazard of despair, rust, and quiet apocalypses.

VII. Callings of the Antibeing

Nihilo

Regular

“All things end. Let me help.”

The supplicant invites the Antibeing’s entropy into themselves and the area.

The supplicant takes 1d damage (unblockable).

All enemies within 3 yards take the exact same amount.

This damage appears as aging, bruising, necrosis, broken blood vessels, or cellular collapse.

Cost: 1 SP

Activation Time: 3 Actions

Duration: Instant

Break Down

Regular; Resisted by Malf

“Nothing is built to last.”

All Equipment within 10 yards immediately rolls for malfunction.

Weapons jam.
Armor splits.
Electronics sputter, crack, or flicker out.
Tools rust in seconds.
New objects appear decades old.

This Calling is anathema to engineers, soldiers, and pilots.

Cost: 1 SP

Activation Time: 3 Actions

Duration: Instant

Theft of Time

Regular; Resisted by HT

“Your years mean nothing to the universe. Permit me to redistribute them.”

The supplicant steals 1d years from the end of the target’s lifespan and adds them to their own.

Both supplicant and target immediately feel age adjustments.

The target experiences excruciating biological shock.

They must roll against Shock as if suffering a mortal wound.

Cost: 8 SP

Activation Time: 6 Actions

Duration: Instant