Adremer Tor

Adremer Tor, also known as the Scourge, is the mysterious entity that devastated much of the Weave network hundreds of millennia ago. Little is known of the being save for the fact that it is a mindless force of destruction, and is invisible to the Outer Gods and Transcended except for its impact on the Void and the countless realities contained within it.
== Description ==
Tor is an immense entity, though its exact form is unknown, if it even possesses one. It's manifestations, however, take the form of a creeping nebula that expands into the past, present and future of a universe, causing entities caught within to become 'blightlings'.
== History ==
Tor first appeared in the Weave during early 32 364 244, when several thousand Weave Nodes and their affiliated civilisations suddenly became unresponsive. In the following days several Transcended civilisations that investigated the anomaly also disappeared, resulting in a Weave wide emergency being called. By this time, whole swathes of the Weave were cut off from one another and Nodes were either destroyed or damaged beyond repair. The cascading destruction of logistics and communications crippled the ability of the network to respond on a collective level, with only comparatively miniscule local responses being performed. 
When the Outer Gods within the Weave had finally identified what caused the crisis after a few months, most of the multiversal network had already fallen silent. The weeks after, the Weave's population tried every measure possible, escalating all the way to forbidden superweapons used during the Aeon Wars to no avail due to Tor being simply too vast. 
The Weave's Outer Gods and their followers then conceived of a more brute force approach; every Outer God would congregate at the Weave centre and link their power together to destroy the Adremer Tor. This resulted in the gestalt being known as the Overmind, which would hopefully obliterate the entity as a coherent being. The following release of power the Overmind unleashed had severe side effects; most of the Weave Nodes at the centre of the Weave were completely erased from existence, and caused what remained of the ravaged network to shatter even further. Tor itself was ended as a coherent whole, but the scattering of its corpse, especially around the central Weave Nodes has trapped the Overmind and all its constituent Outer Gods into the Weave's centre forming the Creeping Cage. Thus, their ability to affect almost all of the network was nullified, save for their own small region.
Adremer Tor at current is spread throughout the entirety of the former Weave, having been fragmented and scattered by the Overmind's release of power. In the period that would come to be known as the Scattering, multiversal travel within the former Weave became dangerous and unpredictable, with surviving civilisations existing on a razor's edge. It was only after the founding of the Unlasting and the re-establishment of the Linelayers that survivors would have somewhat safer sanctuaries to inhabit, akin to fortified islands in a sea of monsters.
== Origins ==
Tor's exact origins are unknown, but it is speculated to have been an artificial being in nature, and one designed to target Transcended beings specifically. Evidence of this lies mainly in its effects on Transcends in particular; Tor itself is completely invisible to Transcended senses, and is not perceived directly except for its effects on the Void and on reality. Void based abilities with the exception of Exaltations are extremely ineffective against it and its manifestations, as the effects of such powers on itself are immediately undone. Tor's manifestations also possess extremely detrimental effects on Transcends, whom are most at risk at becoming blightlings when in proximity to Tor. 
It is also unknown to the Weave Remnant exactly how Tor suddenly managed to arise so suddenly and spread without detection. While Tor is stealthy towards Transcended senses, the vast sensor networks and senses of other types of beings should have provided ample warning if a full instance of Tor had come hurtling towards the Weave, especially with how immense an impact such an entity would have on any realities or Pools of Possibility in its path. What little evidence has been uncovered by the Remnant suggests prior infiltration and sabotage by hostile external actors. Records have surfaced of sealed entities matching the description of dormant blightlings being uncovered just beyond the edges of the Weave, which were then brought in as curios by traders from outside the network. After a series of tests were conducted on the unfamiliar goods these traders carried to ensure their wares were harmless as they declared (with the blightlings remaining unresponsive to the prodding) the curios were sold to collectors and merchants. These curiosities were then spread around the edges of the Weave, culminating in a sudden alpha strike that brought down thousands of Weave Nodes near the borders of the network when they simultaneously awakened and released multiple greater fragments of Tor within each of the nodes. WIth the destruction of the Weave Nodes and thus the breakdown of logistics in the affected regions, cvilisations outside them could not advance into the areas before the collapsed portions were consumed by Tor. During this sudden blinding of the Weave's border regions, a full instance of Tor then crashed into the network shortly after, likely having been awakened and sent by whoever or whatever awakened the blightlings. Just before the nodes were destroyed
== Effects ==
Adremer Tor possesses immense influence over what was formerly the Weave network, even in its currently indisposed and 'dead' state. Adremer Tor's effects on Transcends and non-Transcended beings differ, though both have common characteristics. Once Tor has begun to manifest in a universe, that reality is rapidly consumed by the manifestation and whatever power gained is added to the greater entity. Through some unknown means, Tor is attracted to Transcended beings and actively chases after large groups of such individuals. In its current shattered state, however, most Tor manifestations are markedly smaller, usually taking much longer to consume a reality for minor fragments, though major fragments are able to eat universes with just as much speed as their prior whole state. Both the full entity and its fragments can grow in scale and magnitude without any input or fuel, though eating realities allows for much faster growth than its rate of natural production. Reality anchors are noted to be notoriously inefficient against Tor, requiring an anchor several dozens of times more potent than is used against Transcends to suppress a manifestation that is minor enough to be a rough equivalent to the latter. Old Brethren terraforming fields are also noted to be somewhat blunted, but still often possessing enough potency to somewhat suppress and eliminate an equivalent manifestation. After the collapse of the Weave, no new Outer Gods have emerged from the Weave Remnant, raising questions on Tor's influence. 
On Transcends, Tor's manifestations surround and envelop the unfortunate victim, beginning the process of converting them into what are known as 'alpha' blightlings. Manifestations and blightlings are extremely resistant against non-Exaltation Void abilities and powers, being harmed by such much less and also undoing their effects on themselves immediately. The reason for this resistance is a combination of a reality anchor-like and wide spectrum Counter Arcana-like effect present within Tor mass that is tuned towards the Void, dampening and suppressing the impact of Void based powers against Tor. The ability to undo Void based effects on Tor manifestations and blightlings originates from them constantly flushing themselves by cycling in fresh Tor mass, reverting effects even as they are being afflicted with them. While Void Erasure can in theory harm manifestations and non-alpha blightlings, in practice trying to apply it at range meets with the same limitations against reality anchors and trying to do so through physical contact almost invariably results in corruption and conversion into a blightling. The exception is the combined Void/Tor powers used by Transcends implanted with a Tor Harness, which can also render an alpha blightling dormant. 
The conversion process for becoming a blightling is described as being excruciatingly painful by the few Transcended that have had managed to escape before the conversion was complete. In a different manner to the Opal Light, Tor uses its anathemic nature to the Transcended to strip away their personalities, memories and identity to leave a husk behind. The newly converted alpha blightling is then used as a vector for the conversion of more Transcended. Alpha blightlings present an existential threat to most Transcended civilisations, as they are both extremely resistant to many measures such civilisations may use, and possess the same corrupting abilities that make Tor so threatening to their former kin. Blightlings constantly produce Tor mass, allowing the eventual emergence of new fragments and even instances of Tor. A blightling stores this Tor mass should they be rendered dormant, releasing it if they are awakened. The threat of alpha blightlings remains long after they have been rendered dormant, as they are an indestructible reservoir for new instances of Tor to emerge. 
On non-Transcended individuals, the blighting is both far faster and no less thorough. Physical contact is enough for immediate conversion of an entity, but such a process is by most appearances, mostly painless, even if the end result is still a husk with no trace of its former identity. Normal blightlings are mostly mindless entities, being attracted to and targeting Void patterns. There are, however, rare reports of both regular and alpha blightlings that seem to display cognition on par with their uncorrupted counterparts. These reports are almost always in proximity to Ulemedi held space, raising rumours that the slavers and soul-masters of the species have managed to restore or at least grant a mind to these corrupted beings.
Due to Tor's danger to Transcends without an activated Tor Harness, fighting Tor manifestations and alpha blightlings in entrusted to the ranks of Old Brethren and Shardbearers alongside the comparatively few Transcends with an activated Tor Harness. Shardbearer abilities are completely unaffected by Tor's resistance against Void based effects and thus suitable for fighting manifestations and non-alpha blightlings. Old Brethren, meanwhile, while operating at somewhat reduced effectwith their terraforming fields are still effective at combatting Tor and thus are suitable for fighting alpha blightlings.
A rare condition resulting from incomplete Tor corruption can occur should a being escape a Tor trap, yet still have enough of Tor's essence within them to be permanently affected. This affliction, known as Black Nebula Syndrome, mainly affects Tor Harness users who are on active duty in fighting against Tor' manifestations. A patient with this condition gradually has their minds stripped away by Tor. The condition has three stages; in the first stage, lasting a few years, there are negligible, if any effects. After that comes the second stage; several years pass where the affected individual's thoughts become sluggish and their emotions begin to dull. In the third stage that occurs within three years of the second stage comes memory loss and nearly complete cessation of thought and emotion. In the final months of the third stage, the patient completely succumbs to Tor and becomes a blightling. Within the Weave's remains, there are no known ways to treat the condition while it's in progress, though it is rumoured that some Ulemedi lords have managed to reverse the cognitive effects of the sickness entirely, even in cases where the afflicted have become blightlings.
Despite research efforts by many, there is no known way of reversing a blightling's condition, at least within the Weave Remnant. Any trace of a blightling's old consciousness is completely burned away, and may very well be completely unsalvageable.