Heccans

## Overview

Heccan are demons of shadows and the Void. They are clostest to the eather between worlds, the constant from which all existence originates; and devote their eternal life to understanding its metaphysical machinations. While others fear the void and its destructive powers, the Heccan embrace it and are able to become one with its aspects. They are driven by an alien curiosity for the central secrets of the universe and seek to transcend the confinments of material and immaterial existence; unlike the Aphelius which idealise it. Both to mortals and Neverborn alike the Heccan appear strange, utterly alien and entirely detached from any earthly concerns.

## Philosophies

### Warlocks- *Cear Rarth*

As the most infamous and powerful among the Heccan, the Warlocks have devoted their existence to the pursuit of knowledge and enlightenment. They wish to understand the true nature of the world and look behind the veil of superstiton and deification both mortals and Neverborn wove around Akashas face. Warlocks have next to no consideration mortal emotions and motives or anything Neverborn associate with them; instead desiring to reach apotheosis through liberating themselves animalistic desires and material considerations; achieving a true conciousness and free will within a cosmos many of them believe to be deterministic. They are also most knoweldgable and invested in the conflict against Ahriman. Where many employ their efforts to fight off the Great Devourer, others seem to have found meaning in his darkness and follow the path of the Daeva.

Warlocks wield the greatest powers over unreality and anything sorcerous; surpassing any other group of Neverborn in their mastery of the arcane. They hoard magical, metaphyical and mortal knowledge; aswell as artifacts and spirits of power; putting anything they can find to use to expand their powers.

### Listeners- *Imrith Gren*

Listeners study the world in an obscure and almost schizophrenic way, believing that the universe consits of an endless webwork of blinding insight and concealing shadows, the lie and the truth; which they consider equally important and constantly shifting. Listeners believe that paradox and contradiction are inextricably linked to the world and that reality can only exist subjectivly.

They explore this through embracing the metaphysical shadow that cloaks each considerable truth, shrouding themselves in subjectivity and taking a new perspective in the most literal way possible. To outside observers they appear like constructing a new personality everytime when doing so, gathering experience and understanding through countless faces and names. Their character seems to shift constantly as the eaons pass, constantly expanding their understanding of the world. Although the Heccans are generally the least associated with humans among all Neverborn, Listeners often dive deep into mortal experiences; developing a temporary curiosity for their interests and gossip.

In the material world Listeners usually act as spies and infiltrators. They can do this through stealth, observing and spying upon their targets as immaterial shadows; or through construcing or copying a befitting persona and incorporating themselves into a group of targets with uncanny perfection.

### Deathbringers- *Rava Threl*

Deathbringers have devoted themselves to studying and exploring the nature of death; seeking to understand the stepping stone when energy become sentient in the form of a soul, and how a soul can turn back into mere energy. Where the Inferi focus on the concept of mortality and the passing of the afterlife, these Heccans wish to understand the concept of Death on a more fundamental level; exploring the nature of a soul and in what way it is connected to its material Host.

The latter is fairly easy, as it simply involved the taking of a life. Deathbringers are unique in their understanding of how to sever soul and flesh or find a souls weaknesses and fears; something they can usually determine with a mere look. These skills combined with their general agility and ability to disappear into nothingness make them dreaded and highly sort after Assassins, and a Conjurers best choice to eliminate a rival; however to a *Rava Threl* their deadly arts are merely a means to achieve a greater purpose.

They usually go through great effort to find a befitting soul, haunting and chasing it until the opportunity to kill presents itself after days of careful preperation. When they finally strike they leave a mark on the chosen soul, allowing them to trace in its journey across the void.

## Unique Rules

The Heccan gain access to the Road of the Deep as their unique Road.

### Celestial Gifts

* **Soul Sight-** *Heccans are most prowned to the primordial energies flowing across the worlds, allowing them to sense fine details in their allocation and character when canalised into mortal and immortal souls.* **Use Might:** The Heccan is able to sense souls around them with a sixth sense; being able to precisely locate each of them and determine what kind of lifeform they belong to. People whose Souls they saw before may be recognised again.
* **Stench of Angst-** *Like many other Heccan the Demon has trained themselves to look deep into their targets soul, sensing any weakness hidden deep in their subconciousness.* **Use Might:** The Heccan may choose a visible target and learn their greatest fears.

### Advantages

* **Shadow on the Wall-** *The Heccan has mastered the arts of moving unseeing and transcending solid walls even without their powers; allowing them to seemingly move through locked doors; bypassing any outside defenses.* Once per session the Heccan may directly enter a building unseen, bypassing any outside defenses.

### Corruptions

* **Heccan Marks-** *The Host has developed typical Heccan marks such as transparent skin, a haggard posture, black fumes arising from deep breaths, void-energy flowing under their skin, sharp nails and teeth, immaterial mist instead of blood or an aura of strange emptyness.* The character may gain any amount of cosmetic marks. They reduce their Passion by 1. In addition anyone observing them can find out they are supernatural with a successful Insight + Occult Roll.
* **Shadow in the Mind-** *Many Heccan spend most of their time in the mortal world hiding and trying to obfuscate their presence and identity. Over the eaons some Hecacan have developed a shadowy aura, cleansing the memory of their hosts face from the minds of the people around them.* Mortals will have a hard time remembering the Heccans face and forget trivial encounters with them.
* **Paranoia-** *Considering the things the Heccan have seen in the Void or simply the time they spend in constant hiding, it is not suprising that many of them develop persecutory delusion. Once in a while the Heccan will experience intense anxiety concerning a place or person, leading to erratic reactions.* Whenever the Heccan encounters something or someone they would deem suspicious, the Storyteller may choose to trigger their Paranoia, forcing them to make a Confidence + Willpower Roll against a given difficulty. Should they fail they will suffer *Mental Damage* equal to the missing successes at the start of each round; until fleeing, attacking or reacting in another kind of extreme way.