[HERETIC’S TESTAMENT: CLASSIFIED]
SUBJECT: The Ascended Path (A Guide to Divine Madness)
Most people in this gutter are trying to keep the Blight out. The Ascended are trying to let it in. They are a Rift Cult, a tribe of fanatics who heard the Whispers in the Static and decided it was the voice of god. To them, the apocalypse wasn’t an accident; it was a revelation. They believe the Blight is a sacrament and the monstrous transformation it causes is a divine ascension into a final, perfect form . They don’t just survive the madness; they worship it.
The Look: A Canvas of Blasphemy
An Ascended wears their faith on their flesh. Their body is a living canvas for biomechanical art, a testament to their devotion.
- The Fusion: Their look is a heretical fusion of the organic and the alien. They integrate polished pieces of Riftspawn chitin alongside their chrome, creating an unsettling, biomechanical aesthetic.
- The Sigils: They adorn themselves with artifacts recovered from the Wastes and display glowing, geometric patterns on their skin — sigils that supposedly ward off the worst of the psychic feedback while inviting the physical transformation.
- The Chrome: Their augments are tools of faith. Adapted Chitin Plating from monsters, or dangerous Non-Euclidean Heuristic Processors that help them comprehend the impossible geometry of the Rift’s intrusions .
The Mindset: The Logic of the Glitch
To play an Ascended is to reject human logic and embrace the terrible clarity of the Static.
- The Gospel Truth: They are true followers of the Carrion Prophet, and his “Gutter Gospels”—revelations scratched onto sheets of scrap metal — are their sacred texts. They study his words to understand the will of the Rift.
- Rejecting the Cage: They see the material world as a prison. They reject the Cal economy entirely, seeking a different kind of energy, a direct sustenance from the Rift itself. They trade in devotion, not credits .
- The Final Form: Their ultimate goal is to achieve the “final, divine design”. They believe that by embracing the Blight, they can shed the flawed drafts of flesh and chrome and become something perfect and eternal.
The Path: Roleplaying the Transformation
An Ascended’s story is a pilgrimage toward a monstrous apotheosis.
- The Backstory Hook: How did you first hear the “voice” of the Rift? Were you a scientist who saw the divine mathematics in the Blight? A desperate soul in the gutter who was offered a greater purpose? What was the first “truth” the Static revealed to you?
- “Glitch-Craft”: Your abilities will seem like strange magic to outsiders. You don’t hack systems; you manipulate the glitch in reality itself. Your faith might allow you to intimidate the lesser children of the Rift or manifest short-range telekinetic shoves. This is the power granted by your alien god.
- Holy Quests: Your missions are not jobs; they are pilgrimages. You will be sent into high-Blight Warp Zones to retrieve sacred artifacts, to hunt a specific, powerful Riftspawn to “receive its wisdom,” or to spread the gospel to new converts .
The Culture: Sects and Schisms
The Ascended are not a monolith. They are a collection of rival sects, each with their own interpretation of the Prophet’s words. Some are contemplative, seeking a peaceful communion with the Rift. Others are violent evangelists, believing the unenlightened must be forcibly converted or purged. This creates a fertile ground for player-run cults, theological debates, and holy wars fought in the shadows of the city.
[TRANSMISSION END]
