Caul (MTAs)

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Caul (Mage: The Ascension)
A caul is a place of power used by Nephandi. It acts as a node that only Nephandi (and possibly similarly associated beings such as Black Spiral Dancers) can tap. They typically resemble a giant, diseased pustule. They also act as gates that either physically transport the user to the Abyss and back, or at the very least simulate such a trip. Entering a caul gives the impression of thousands of years of torture, which has the effect of either killing the user outright, or making the user hardened and depraved. If the user emerges relatively intact they will have been fundamentally and irreversibly changed; their Avatar will have been inverted focusing on Descent rather than Ascension, and their very magic becomes Qlippothic. Stepping into a caul must be done voluntarily. Involuntary entrance of a gate results in death.

The Nephandi come into existence in two possible ways: firstly, they can be created from regular mages through the 'process' of the caul, or they are simply born with inverted avatars from a previous life.