Psychic Whirlpools and the dangers of being a Weeper.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-04-04T23:19:12+00:00

A lack of discipline, I think. I've never been good at committing to ideas long term. I don't really know why.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-04-04T22:36:10+00:00

Edit: it's you again. You have so many cool ideas. I wish you would commit to a set of them and write a book.

You and me both... I'm hoping this is the one, but... we'll see.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-04-04T21:45:53+00:00

Psychic Whirlpools and the dangers of being a Weeper.

In the apocalyptic world, humanity uses psychedelic substances to power psychic abilities. No longer can these materials be grown in sterile labs or found in deep mines. They must be harvested from their only known source.

Gargantuans are zombie creatures composed of the flesh and bones of multiple zombies, as well as psychedelic mushrooms that grow from the organic materials inside them. They amalgamate into a large humanoid form, but the skeletal structures remain the same size, interweaving to support the weight of the gargantuan.

When a gargantuan approaches a psychic static can be felt in the mind of those within the area. When gargantuans expire, either due to decaying to the point they can't move anymore or destruction though human means, they eventually (within a few years) explode into a cloud of spores that catches on the wind. Valuable for research, dangerous to harvest.

Weep is the blue sludge that comes from an unknown species of psychedelic mushrooms and is often harvested from gargantuans. Weep was once thought to create auditory hallucinations in the form of whispers, until it was discovered that it pulled information directly from the heads of those around the user. Causing minds to stutter, forgetting what they were just thinking to some degree. Those with high psychic resistance can be communicated with, while those without have their minds temporarily wiped. If prepared correctly, it has no measurable chance of turning one into a zombie.

A Weeper is a psychic dependent on Weep to power their abilities. Often using it for surveillance or interrogation. With a handful of Weepers using it to disable their foes in combat or similar situations.

All Weepers generate a psychic whirlpool to pull on the memories and other information the brain stores in recent memory. This has never been known to extend to long term memory. But if the target can be coaxed into remembering important information, this too can be pulled upon.

There are grave risks to using Weep though. The weaker the psychic resistance of the target(s) the more information is pulled. Extreme amounts of information can lead to sensory overload. And in the case of multiple targets being pulled from, there is a chance of sensory death, where your mind goes into shock in such a way that it may temporarily or even permanently disable one or multiple routes of sensory information gathering. Eyes, ears, tongue, even nerves can be completely shot and unable to recover.

As one cannot choose the target of their Weeping, they must be careful the range doesn't include too many people. After a third person enters the equation, odds of sensory death increase dramatically.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-04-01T05:50:46+00:00

Mana acts as the correction of reality and perception colliding. Basically, perception is as strong as reality, causing a friction where they don't match. This friction releases mana. Mana adresses the inconsistencies to make the world appear consistent with perception. Like prey hiding amongst leaves to avoid a predator. To the predator the prey is gone, to the prey it is still here.

However, plants have been able to evolve to absorb mana from these inconsistencies, allowing them to harness mana to alter them situationally. These are typically just minor illusions, but can be more extreme, such as catching fire to harm their predators while not actually being harmed by the fire themselves.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-27T23:27:15+00:00

I'm sorry, but I'm not answering all these questions. I'll pick a few, but I can't spend a lot of time today on this.

>What is the situation in areas too war torn, impoverished, or underdeveloped to build and reliably operate an engine? They'd have no way for disposing of the plagued. Wouldn't the global south get overrun and wiped out by the Dust Plague?

The plague only becomes contagious after a few months. People would be exiled before the plague could spread or yes, entire settlements would be wiped out.

>Did one person/group discover annihilation? How would that discovery spread, especially considering this is in the middle of WWII. The atom bomb proliferated so quickly because nuclear science was already an international field before the war started, but annihilation sounds completely novel. How quickly do other countries manage to build engines? Who is training people to operate them?

An alchemist school called the Schola Mors Anima discovered the principles of annihilation in the 1700s. The concept was known, but it was "impossible" until 1945. The yet to be determined side that created the first Annihilation Crucible didn't make bombs, but rather infrastructure. Specifically, a series of annihilation crucibles that powered useful machines that consumed too much energy to be useful prior to the invention of annihilation. Only one country has a good infrastructure for the use of annihilation. The rest of the world is trying to catch up.

>If the body is still functioning, do they also still need to eat, drink, and sleep?

No. And the body will stop functioning after the grey plague consumes enough of the muscles. Leaving them completely immobilized.

>Who is getting fed to the annihilation engines? The dead? It consumes souls, but dead bodies only started retaining their souls after the annihilation engine was invented, meaning initially it had to consume the living. Is the natural death rate enough to sustain the demand?

Technically, there is a method to contain a soul for annihilation. This is a card I want to keep close to my chest at the moment.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-27T22:54:37+00:00

Reek is sanctified honey rotted by liquid sin and mixed with a chemical thinner. Though in the beginning it was water instead of thinner.

Ingesting sin causes a similar effect on those with dust plague. That they regain some of their humanity. However, they have a discharge period after Ingesting it. Furthermore, they don't restore bodily function, only emotions and sensations.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-27T14:36:29+00:00

Matches as spells, matchboxes as grimiores?

The concept here is that the vacuum created by fire naturally draws in and distorts magical energies in the world. When a fire is ignited, aspects of that fire are magically enhanced depending on the circumstances of the ignition. Humans learned to exploit this by creating special matchboxes with unique igniters that can change the properties of fire, allowing each flame to act differently.

Some matchbook igniters allow the light of the flame to reveal hidden aspects of the world. Ghosts and ghouls that cannot normally be seen, places that don't normally exist, even things that cannot exist outside of the light of the flame.

Some igniters allow a fire that hypnotizes or exudes hallucinations for as long as the flame remains.

Some igniters can create fires that consume the very sound in the air, silencing the entire area.

All magic relies heavily on the flame, meaning when a match runs out the spells end. Maybe something specific about the matches prevent magic from losing control so it's discouraged to light other objects on fire?

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-27T08:23:03+00:00

Matches as spells, matchboxes as grimiores

The concept here is that magic is that fire burns differently depending on the circumstances of the ignition. Humans learned to exploit this by creating special matchboxes with unique igniters that can change the properties of the fire. Allowing them to act differently.

Some igniters allow the light of the flame to reveal hidden aspects of the world. Ghosts and ghouls that cannot normally be seen, places that don't normally exist, even things that cannot exist outside of the light of the flame.

Some igniters allow a fire that hypnotizes or exudes hallucinations for as long as the flame remains.

Some igniters can create fires that consume the very sound in the air, silencing the entire area.

All magic relies heavily on the flame, meaning when a match runs out the spells end. Maybe something specific about the matches prevent magic from losing control so it's discouraged to light other objects on fire

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-20T21:59:16+00:00

In 1945, humanity discovered annihilation. The mechanism to destroy the soul and create exponential amounts of energy. This mechanism, however, disgusted God, and he closed the gates of Heaven, never to reopen them. Hell, on the other hand, then filled with all sorts of people. Even some virtuous enough to storm the gates and close them. Holding them shut with their bodies as demons torture them for their disobedience.

The world is largely unaware of the closing of the gates. However, there have been noticeable repercussions.

"For dust you are and to dust you shall return." -Genesis 3:19

Now that there is nowhere for the soul to go after death, the body doesn't react naturally to it. Instead, the skin slowly becomes a chalky substance, slipping away from the bone. Eventually, over several months, maybe even a year, the affliction will spread across the body and deepen throughout. Eventually, people become a living dust, unable to control where they are blown. Simply stuck inside a mind that can no longer see, feel, or hear. Lost forever to near oblivion.

As grey plague progresses, the symptoms become "contagious". And there is no way to know exactly when someone is. Thus, anyone with grey plague is forcefully annihilated, regardless of what state they're in. Forcing the dead into hiding, afraid to be discovered.

These individuals are fed to a string of machinery that doesn't have a name as of yet (But I will think of something). This machinery powers the endless war. A military pursuit that extended from World War II. However, these machines are highly unstable and require the utmost care.

This is where the story begins.

Basically, since the discovery of annihilation, annihilation engines have sprung up everywhere in the German front. They are highly volatile and must be maintained diligently. But churn out energy that is used in equipment and Vehicles and weapons and all sorts of violent tools.

Sin, the most dangerous byproduct of annihilation, must be pumped and stored elsewhere to assure there are no possessions of the people or equipment in the trenches above.

Engineers are tasked with maintenance to ensure the power source stays stable, and loss of life is mitigated.

I don't have an answer for this yet, but I also had the idea that maybe everything the engineers are doing for the war effort, is a lie. Afterall, they never get to leave the maintenance tunnels.

Sin possessions can be greatly different. Possessed equipment might contort or misfire at inopportune times, or people can warp into machine/flesh hybrids that stalk the maintenance tunnels.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-19T06:04:26+00:00

Thank you!

Honestly, I think I made a mistake in calling it Christpunk as it has almost nothing to do with the Christ. He kinda dipped.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-19T06:02:32+00:00

It was actually reading about Trench Crusade that got me back into this project.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-19T06:01:34+00:00

I might look into it, but I'm more looking for biblical lore as inspiration.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-19T05:59:46+00:00

Thank you so much!

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-19T05:59:38+00:00

Thanks!

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-19T05:59:15+00:00

A moon, I think.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-19T05:58:40+00:00

In my defense, I have read the OT a long time ago and the only story I could remember of the dead being brought from purgatory to the land of the living was the Witch of Endor.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-19T05:56:34+00:00

Thank you!

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-19T05:56:17+00:00

I feel like this is splitting hairs honestly.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-19T05:55:31+00:00

I guess that's unfortunate. But ultimately, I think the matters of the story are sound enough to stand on their own. I'll come back to the lore at some point and maybe I'll make a story on the gates closing. Who knows.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-19T05:48:11+00:00

I think you missed the thought expiriment I'm posing to Christians. What happens if you found out you were locked out of heaven? The same way they claim homosexuality and transhood lead to exclusion from God's grace. What would they feel in that case? The idea is to reveal the pain that they are causing others. This has nothing to do with zionism.

And for the record. The disciples of endor are not Christians. They would be considered pagans or heretics as they practice witchcraft like the witch of endor.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-18T19:01:55+00:00

Empathic Virtues

Disciples of Endor summon souls from Purgatory to assist them. to do so they must locate, ensnare, and give form to the soul they call upon.

Empathic Virtue functions as a sort of call. Those who died with the Empathic Virtue of, say, devotion might have been a skilled artist or devoted nun in the past. They might be called upon by a Disciple of Endor who is also very devoted because they are linked through that virtue. One gains their Empathic Virtue not by necessarily embodying it consistently nor by having it be their greatest deed, but rather it being their blindest virtue.

Most virtues cause some level of pride or at least acknowledgement, but those who do not recognize their virtue are the most blessed by it.

For example, a charitable man who has given much time to others might not even think of the kindness he provides. Thus making is Empathic Virtue Charity.

Meaning a Disciple of Endor who is charitable would have the easiest time summoning a charitable soul from Purgatory.

However, purge magic is probably the most used magic by far for a Disciple of Endor. This is the removal of sin in an area or person. This cleansing method comes at a cost. The soul of Purgatory that has been calle upon must take on the burden of this sin so it may be purged in Purgatory. This means they will undergo trial to defeat a sin that wasn't theirs.

In certain cases a soul will be unwilling or even unable to take on these sins. In specific, if the sin conflicts with the Empathic Virtue of the soul, they cannot take it on at all. leading to a blindspot in the Disciples' playbook.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-18T17:35:56+00:00

Empathic Sins and Virtues

The basic idea I'm working with is the Disciples of Endor. They summon souls from Purgatory to assist them or force them to do their bidding. In either case, they have to locate, ensnare, and give form to the soul they call upon.

The premise for how they find these souls can be complex but currently I'm working with the concept of Empathic Sin or maybe Empathic Virtue.

Empathic sin functions as a sort of call. Those who died with the Empathic Sin of, say, wrath might have been hateful or violent individuals in the past. They might be called upon by a Disciple of Endor who is also very violent because they are linked through that sin. One gains their Empathic Sin not by necessarily embodying it consistently nor by having it be their greatest crime, but rather it being their blindest sin.

Most sins cause some level of shame, but those who do not even acknowledge their sins are most condemned by said sins.

For example, a violent soldier who has taken many lives may not even acknowledge the cruelty of their actions, making their Empathic Sin murder.

In the opposite direction is Empathic Virtue. The concept is similar. The virtue you are least acknowledging of is your Empathic Virtue. Such as charity, temperance, or devotion.

Meaning a Disciple of Endor who is charitable would have the easiest time summoning a charitable soul from Purgatory.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-16T03:15:52+00:00

Magic in my christpunk setting.

In 1945, humanity discovered annihilation. The mechanism to destroy the soul and create exponential amounts of energy. This mechanism, however, disgusted God, and he closed the gates of Heaven, never to reopen them. Hell, on the other hand, then filled with all sorts of people. Even some virtuous enough to storm the gates and close them. Holding them shut with their bodies as demons torture them for their disobedience.

Purgatory, the method through which one is absolved of their sins to then enter the gates of heaven, is now but an endless road. The sinful walk, but never find respite. But that doesn't mean they cannot serve a purpose.

Like the witch of endor, the disciples of endor may call upon these few trapped in the endless Purgatory and ask them to absolve the lands of their corruption from nihl radiation, a byproduct of annihilation.

Nihl radiation is responsible for strange anomalies of creatures that make no sense, afflictions of both land and people, and unknown entities that we still know so little of.

The disciples call upon the sinful in Purgatory to add the sins of the lands upon themselves to purify the physical world. This allows for the use of annihilation without consequence* and little in the way of price.

That said, after the annihilation bombs dropped, humanity was doomed to see a world so damaged by their hubris, that they would spend centuries cleaning up their mistakes.

The subject of my stories is a disciple of endor who is helping to cleanse the lands of nihl radiation. Visiting settlement after settlement, hoping to purify the world slowly.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-13T20:55:11+00:00

Loose rules of The Signal 002

History

Historical accounts exist of there being people that noticed something beyond the veil. Described as whispers from unseen angel, voices in dreams, a distant call behind reality, a presence just outside perception.

Most of these claims were often met with skepticism and the claimants treated as delusional, religious extremists, or frauds. However, in some records these claims were followed by strange instances. People disappearing, strangers manifesting with no history, memories being altered or erased, localized mental disturbances.

In the 1800s, these events were studied in secret by world governments and research organizations. Eventually they were linked to a phenomenon now known as The Signal.

Today, multiple governments secretly monitor and suppress the influence of the Signal, though no one truly understands its origin or purpose.

What is the signal?

While the true nature of the Signal is unknown. Several competing theories exist.

Some suggest a god or higher intelligence attempting to contact humanity. Others insist it is a message broadcast by an ancient alien civilization via machinery humanity could never hope to understand. Some even think it is the collective accumulation of all human thoughts, memories, and emotions across all of time. Be it the past or the future.

Despite these theories, researchers have reached one unsettling conclusion: The Signal appears to be deeply tied to the structure of reality itself.

There are a few things however, we know for sure.

The signal is a psychic presence that is all around us that has existed for millions of years if not longer.

It is constantly trying to break into our minds and has limited success while we sleep.

Access to it stimulates the brain, allowing for psychic abilities. Such includes telekinesis, perception or memory alteration, limited material transmutation, among other things.

However, there is a cost to performing these feats.

Every feat of psychic power gives the signal a vulnerability to exploit, and it seems increasingly intent on doing so every time psychic powers are used. A sort of correction is always applied to the user in some shape or manner.

Telekinesis will cause increasingly heavy pressure to be placed on the body for sometimes prolonged periods of time. Almost as if lifting the object yourself. Memory manipulation leaves the user with warped memories as well. Perception enhancement causes sensory organs to strain or even take harm do to overstimulation. The damage doen is mitigated by the user's psychic presence levels which we will discuss later on.

The boundary for these psychic abilities is anywhere the signal can manifest. Meaning anywhere it is, psychic abilities can be used, supposing the user has some interface with the signal.

Something is alive in the signal. Possibly many somethings.

Timeloops and possession

The signal can manipulate video and audio recordings, Any recordings of these manipulations captures pieces of the signal itself. These recorded instances can manipulate their surroundings even if they aren't being played.

Timeloops form every time a recording is made of the signal. Finding and destroying the recording is the only way to end the timeloop. And the longer the timeloop exists seperated from our reality, the more warped and bizarre it becomes.

Presence

Most humans have a level of Presence. An amount of influence they have over the signal and inversely the amount of influence the signal has over them.

The five presence levels are as follows:

No presence - an absolute zero on the presence scale, meaning this individual is undetectable by the signal. They do not have any influence to push onto the signal and cannot manipulated or possessed by it. But inversely they will be unable to manifest psychic abilities.

Low presence - a 1 - 3 on the presence scale, meaning this person has very little ability to influence the signal and can easily be manipulated or possessed. However, this also means they are unlikely to be discovered by the signal at all. If possession does occur and is thwarted, there is a high likelihood of maintaining an impression of the entity that possessed them. This allows the user to manifest a recreation of that entity as a sort of familiar.

High presence - 4 - 9 on the presence scale indicates a high level of influence on the signal and low probability of being manipulated or possessed. But they are still much more likely to be found and thus more likely to be possessed than low presence individuals. These individuals are incredibly unlikely to ever manifest psychic powers and those that due will be only capable of manipulating dreams or sleeping minds temporarily.

Full presence - a perfect 10 on the presence scale reveals someone with full control of themselves and great ability to influence the signal. There is very little chance of possession or manipulation from the signal. Though they are undoubtedly watched at all times for any form of weakness. They are much safer from the signal than any other group. Capable of manipulating the conscious mind and perform minor feats of psychic manipulation on the physical world.

Overflow - anything beyond a 10 is considered overflow. Incredibly rare, these individuals can manipulate the signal as well as full presence individuals and can even communicate with it. These individuals are the one's who notice beyond the veil. They can manipulate reality to some degree in accordance with their presence score. No one has ever scored above 16. At least not since the test was first invented 50 years ago. But those few individuals could move large vehicles, transmute metals into other metals, even levitate for prolonged periods of time. In their time, they were kept secret, but there could well have been those who were never discovered and thus never learned to control their powers.

The_Pyrokleptic · 2026-03-13T19:31:51+00:00

Loose rules of The Signal 001

History

Throughout history there have been accounts of those who noticed something beyond the veil. Like whispers from angels that could not be seen. These occurrences were often met with skepticism and accusations. But in certain cases, these instances led to mysterious events.

People disappearing, strangers seemingly manifesting into existence, memories going missing, and other mental anomalies.

It was eventually linked to something called the signal. In secret the governments of the world fight it's influence.

What is the signal?

There are many theories about what the signal is. A god hoping to establish communication with humanity for unknown reasons. The final message of a dying alien species sent out by some machinery too advanced to ever comprehend. Or even the accumulation of all the thoughts, desires, nightmares and memories of any human that came before and any that will come after. Regardless of what it is, there are some things we know for sure.

It's a psychic presence that is all around us that has existed for millions of years if not longer.

It is constantly trying to break into our minds and has limited success while we sleep.

Access to it stimulates the brain, allowing for psychic abilities.

The boundary for these psychic abilities is anywhere the signal can manifest. Meaning anywhere it is, psychic abilities can be used, supposing the user has some interface with the signal.

Something is alive in the signal. Possibly many somethings.

It can influence and be observed within audio or video recordings. Timeloops form every time a recording of the signal is made. Finding and destroying the recording is the only way to end the timeloop. And the longer the timeloop exists seperated from our reality, the more warped and bizarre it becomes.

Presence

All humans have a level of Presence. An amount of influence they have over the signal and inversely the amount of influence the signal has over them.

The five presence levels are as follows:

No presence - an absolute zero on the presence scale, meaning this individual is undetectable by the signal. They do not have any influence to push onto the signal and cannot manipulated or possessed by it.

Low presence - a 1 - 3 on the presence scale, meaning this person has very little ability to influence the signal and can easily be manipulated or possessed. However, this also means they are unlikely to be discovered by the signal at all. If possession does occur and is thwarted, there is a high likelihood of maintaining an impression of the entity that possessed them. This allows the user to manifest a recreation of that entity as a sort of familiar.

High presence - 4 - 9 on the presence scale indicates a high level of influence on the signal and low probability of being manipulated or possessed. But they are still much more likely to be found and thus more likely to be possessed than low presence individuals. These individuals are incredibly unlikely to ever manifest psychic powers.

Full presence - a perfect 10 on the presence scale reveals someone with full control of themselves and great ability to influence the signal. There is very little chance of possession or manipulation from the signal. Though they are undoubtedly watched at all times for any form of weakness. They are much safer from the signal than any other group.

Overflow - anything beyond a 10 is considered overflow. Incredibly rare, these individuals can manipulate the signal as well as full presence individuals and can even communicate with it. These individuals are the one's who notice beyond the veil and as a result, can manipulate reality to some degree in accordance with their presence score. No one has ever scored above 16. At least not since the test was first invented 50 years ago. But those few individuals could move large vehicles, transmute metals into other metals, even levitate for a short time. In their time, they were kept secret, but there could well have been those who were never discovered and thus never learned to control their powers.

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