Nephir Un-Akh

Nephir Un-Akh is was was one of the Shan'iatu and one of the heads of the deceived Akhem-Urtu Guild. He is also referred to as the Poet and his domain were the arts of storytelling, poetry, rhetoric and literatur.

Overview
The original purpose of Nephir Un-Akh was to capture the emanations of the Nomenclature in symbols and words. He was part of the group of Shan'iatu that approached Azar to enthrone him in Duat and who first used the word "King". In Irem, Nephir Un-Akhs' adepts told their stories on great forums, setting the sky ablaze with Sekhem from the seba their words generated. Working closely with the Shan'iatu of the Sesha-Hebsu, Nephir Un-Akh held the spoken word above the written record, proclaiming that it was the voice that transformed poetry into magic.

Nephir Un-Akhs will is that words must hurt in order to have an effect, that they have to rend the shrouds of delusion away from their audience and the orator alike, that verses should burn within and sear the heart when spoken. What is said does not concern him, it is the act of oration, not the content of one’s speech, that ultimately matters, as silence feeds the Devourer. The Verse that Speaks itself has a great interest in Utterances and seeks knowledge about them at any turn.

Cults
Cults dedicated to the Deceived of the Verse are highly diverse. There are, however, some commonalities: Cultists who speak well, whose words have the power to shape their world, are prized most by their masters. Many of these ranking cultists possess some kind of mystical knowledge and form conspiracy-like networks to reveal it to kindred spirits.

Art
Nephir Un-Akhs art is omnipresent in this age, from the eloquent harangues of presidents to the hate speeches of the disillusioned, from the meaningless babble found in television to the latest bestsellers. To the Tale Without End, this does not matter much: Tools for storytelling have changed and will likely change again come the next Sothic Turn. The content remains and it affects everyone with the ears to hear time and time again.

The Tale Without End seeks out orations, sebas that form expressions of the Word in its purest form. Many favour cosmic sebas as words uttered by cosmos itself. Often, a mummy of the Poet lurks around great orators, ready to claim his words for its master. Speakers feel inexplicable coldness gripping their throats and weighing heavily upon their tongues whenever the Deceived claim their orations.

Mandate
The Poet demands the following of his adherents: "The verse must speak itself.".

When a Deceived possessed by the Temakh of the Poet focuses on word-creating endeavours or any similar art of the spoken word, they may regain one point of any Pillar. If they have an exceptional success in the resulting Expression Roll, they may instead fulfill their complete Ren pillar.

Burden
Nephir Un-Akhs followers are gripped by the tides of creativity, vacillating between manic enthusiasm and fathomless depression. If they are absorbed in their creative phases, they have to roll a dice to determine the length of their manias (which can span days). During this period, the character adds +2 dice to creative acts and Expression rolls, but suffers a -1 die penalty to all other Skill rolls. All Deceived of the Poet have the Melancholia derangement, and it may be triggered if they fail a roll during their manic stadiums.

Expression
Those possessed by the Tale Without End can utilize The Prison of Languages. When one speaks with intent to compel, influence, frighten, inspire, or otherwise stir the soul, then all non-mummy listeners who share the speaker’s Virtue or Vice lose one Willpower point, after which they become immune to further such Willpower drain by that mummy for several minutes, depending on their Composure rating. If this removes their last point, they comply to the best of their abilities with the speaker’s intent unless doing so would obviously cause serious physical harm to themselves or close loved ones. Oral communications that merely seek to convey information rather than impact the listener’s behavior do not impose drain. Non-mummy listeners unfortunate enough to share both Virtue and Vice with the speaker lose two points per drain and only gain a single minute of immunity before the speaker can drain them again. This power only affects listeners who hear the speaker directly.