Umbranomicon

The ***Umbranomicon*** is the final, unfinished work of notorious mad Warlock, Toland, the Shattered. It had been contained in the Praxic Order's Secure Collection, but was stolen on behalf of Wahei Ohr, who maintained possession of the book for more than two years before returning it to the Praxic Order not long after the conclusion of the Derelict *Leviathan* incident.

### Description

It is a compendium consisting of all of his notes and observations on the nature of the Darkness, its paracausal power, and what it desires. These notes were compiled over Toland's life as a Lightbearer, after studying the Hive and their ways. Further details on the contents are difficult to come by, as the few individuals who have read it underwent marked psychological divergence or degeneration, or are otherwise taciturn about what they have read within.

Physically, the *Umbranomicon* is a book, composed of standard journal stock, as commonly used by Warlocks of various guilds and factions. The cover is black, with a silver-colored disc in place of a title, over which is embossed a black elongated, four-sided diamond shape. Given the subject matter of the contents, it is presumed the black shape is meant to be a tetrahedral pyramid, viewed from overhead. The pages of the book are likewise of standard journal stock, and the ink is standard as well.

### The Curse

There is a persistent belief among those who are aware of the *Umbranomicon*'s existence that the book is "cursed." The belief holds that anyone who reads the book will suffer from psychological degeneration, diverging from their standard psych baseline. At least two people have experienced these sorts of effects, but the evidence supporting the curse's existence is circumstantial at best, and mundane explanations have been put forward for both cases.

#### Samita Sadijh

A Lightless civilian assistant to the Praxic Order, Sadijh worked in the Order's Archives as a librarian, of sorts. She was exposed to the *Umbranomicon*'s contents while working to transcribe it for digital archiving, and soon afterward suffered from a psychotic break. She has since been institutionalized. However, the retrospective consideration of her case suggests she had always been experiencing low-grade, high-functioning, untreated schizophrenia. Her symptoms worsened after her exposure to the book, and now spends most of her days catatonic.

#### Afa Kashaf (Dredgen Bog)

A human Hunter, Kashaf had worked as an acquisitions expert for the Praxic Order, retrieving artifacts and books from old ruins across the system. Kashaf had long been plagued with doubts in the Traveler and the Light, and was urged by his comrade Damon Geist to examine proscribed texts in the Praxic Archives. Kashaf read the *Umbranomicon* and soon after his faith in the Light collapsed completely, resulting in his steep fall into the ranks of the Shadows of Yor, and later the Shadows of Salvation as Dredgen Bog, where he used the knowledge obtained from the book to further their search for Dark power. Current belief holds that Kashaf's collapse of faith was inevitable, and that the book's contents merely provided confirmation bias.

### The Theft

Not long after the Black Fleet's arrival in Sol, Wahei Ohr approached Charlie Tango, a mercenary thief, and contracted him to break into the Praxic Order's Secure Collection to steal two objects. One of them was the *Umbranomicon*. She took the tome and has used it in her quest for insight into the Darkness during her travels through the system. For a long time, Aunor Mahal held that Wahei's possession of the book was proof that Wahei was dangerous enough to warrant arrest, though it was not until their accidentally joint investigation aboard the *Glykon Volatus* that Mahal relented on this stance. Despite repeated demands to the Vanguard that she be ordered to return the book, Wahei refused to do so, stating it was still of use to her.

More than two years later, following the conclusion of the Derelict *Leviathan* incident, Wahei finally turned the *Umbranomicon* over to Ikora Rey, who would return it to the Praxic Order. Wahei claimed that she had nothing more to learn from Toland. This was also shortly after Wahei had shaped the Resonant Visor from the Martian Relic, and was done as much to give the Praxic Order one less thing to pursue her about.