Editing Religions (section)

==The Hollow Men==

The Hollow Men were a cult of blind mystics in the era of the First Shattering. They learned from the ur-vampires lairing in the ancient ruins of the Thousand Flowing Waters, and developed their nihilistic teachings of willful blindness. The original cult was destroyed in the First Great Crusade, and when its surviving remnants flourished again, they were destroyed by the Second Great Crusade. Their benighted teachings continue to resurface under many guises – its current incarnation is the Empty Masters, who are popular gurus among the young and jaded of the cities.

Hollow Men willfully tear out their eyes, losing their visual perception in return for being able to devour perceptions. Each one develops unique and idiosyncratic powers of his or her own. However this is a path that leads only toward union with the consuming void. The more powerful they become, the less human they are, and as they become one with the hungry void they leave life behind for unlife.

Once cut off from sight and the basis of the other four magics, Hollow Men begin to discover strange powers. Each is idiosyncratic and unique to the individual, although there are some commonalities.

All of them develop some unnatural sense that seems to compensate for sight (Dark Vision), each unique: one might feel things at a distance (Colorblindness), another might be extremely aware of every person nearby (Supersensitive), another might simply know where everything that they are facing is positioned (Restricted Vision).

All of them eventually find their other senses affected. Their senses become scrambled, like synesthesia (Protected Senses), so that what others experience as one sense they might perceive using another. Their sense of pain and pleasure are also scrambled, so that they seem unaffected by injuries (High Pain Threshold), or cannot endure specific substances (Weakness).

Skills (for Hollow Men): Meditation, Occultism, Philosophy

Advantages: Dark Vision (25 pts), High Pain Threshold (10 pts), Injury Tolerance - no eyes (5 pts)

Disadvantages: Enemies (Silent Brotherhood, -20 pts), Nightmares (-5 pts), Weakness (1d per minute, rare, -10 pts)

Suggested: Colorblindness (-10 pts), Restricted Vision (-15 pts), Supersensitive (-15 pts), Uncontrollable Appetite (shadows or reflections, -15 pts), Social Stigma (-5 pts)

Example Powers: 
- ''Eat Reflection'': Affliction (No Reflection disadvantage, permanent, melee attack, 23 pts)
- ''Eat Shadow'': Affliction (No Shadow disadvantage, permanent, melee attack, 23 pts)
- ''Eat Color'': Affliction (Pallor disadvantage, permanent, melee attack, 23 pts)
- ''Black Aura'': Distinctive Features (black aura, -1 pt)
- ''No Reflection'': Supernatural Feature (also unaffected by some reflective spells, -5 pts)
- ''No Shadow'': Supernatural Feature (also unaffected by some shadow spells, -5 pts)
- ''Sense the Sighted'': Detect Sense of Sight (30 pts)

-- by Kakita Kojiro