Adremer Tor

An alpha blightling emerging from a Tor tendril

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 into action. By this time, whole swathes of the Weave were cut off from one another and Nodes were either destroyed or damaged beyond repair.

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.

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 was 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, been fragmented and scattered by the Overmind's release of power. Multiversal travel within the former Weave is dangerous and unpredictable, and any civilisations living in this region exist on a razor's edge; often staying a step ahead from total corruption or annihilation.

## 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 in particular. 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 are extremely ineffective against it and its manifestations, as the effects of such powers are immediately undone in its vicinity. Tor's manifestations also possess extremely detrimental effects on Transcends, whom are most at risk at becoming blightlings when in proximity to Tor.

## 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 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. 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. 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.

On Transcends, Tor's manifestations surround and envelop the unfortunate victim, and begin the process of converting them into what are known as 'alpha' blightlings. The manifestation is extremely resistant against Void abilities and powers, being harmed by such much less than otherwise and also undoing their effects immediately and firmly trapping most Transcends within its grasp. The exception is the combined Void/Tor powers used by Transcends implanted with a Tor Harness.

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 most measures such civilisations may use, and possess the same corrupting abilities that make Tor so threatening to their former kin.

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.

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. Any trace of a blightling's old consciousness is completely burned away, and may very well be completely unsalvageable.