1d10 constellations that look back at you
Khemites know that the gods dwell in the heavens. Most Khemites pray only that the gods would look the other way. Some are foolish enough to purposefully attract their attention. These so-called priests are closer to satisfied customers—those that have sealed pacts with the heavens.1
Folklore claims that constellation-gods know only that which was done beneath the night sky. This is a foolish hope—priests have spent millennia granting them more eyes with which to see.
A character can attract the attention of a constellation-god once per night spent stargazing. Roll 1d10 to see whose attention you attract:
Heka-pta the Mud Witch
Weighty marsh toad spewing her spawn around her.
Offers prophecy in exchange for memories—the future for the past.2 Inside her mouth is her spawn, which she spews to give prophecy. Hold one to your ear to hear its utterings—pray it does not wriggle free of your grasp.Pare-daiza the Fisher-Warden (called Whale-Head by Vendels)
Shoe-billed stork holding a spear in its talons.
Offers inviolate vigilance in exchange for ponderous deliberation. He holds a spear both meant for fishing and for defending against crocodiles. In one swift strike, he dispatches both preys. The Fisher-Warden despises the Weeper.Ba-lat the Weeper
Crocodile crying forth a mighty river.
Offers the strength of a river in exchange for horrible violence against those who do not deserve it. Cry with them. They will not understand.Setem-metes
Coiled serpent curled around the edges of the sky, consuming herself.
Offers life in exchange for death. Offers this in exchange for that. Offers one in exchange for the other.Sej-et the Enlightened3
Eyes upon a scroll unrolled. A hand, attached to nothing, holds a stylus.
Offers a library's worth of history, mathematics, statistics, politics, theology, philosophy, and esoterica. In exchange, only the natural consequences: your trust in institutions, systems, traditions, and people is destroyed. These wounds can be healed by therapy or time, but they immediately reopen if you ever stand below the open sky.4 Trust not one who would willingly ascend to the heavens—the other gods certainly don't.Am and Net, Huntresses
Lioness twins chasing each others' tails.
Together they make one whole. Offers implacable pursuit in exchange for a worthy hunting trophy. They respect not their prey. They like a bloody spectacle.Esh-Kal the Exile
Long-eared bat with wings and fingers stretching across the heavens, placed there after he was exiled from hell.
Offers secrets overheard from sheol in exchange for your triumphs, your joy, your satisfaction.Ru-Diva the Wanderer
A lone star, police-light red and visible even during the day. The Wanderer is unpredictable in his travels.
Offers to smite the earth with the lighting of heaven to those who commune with him through his black mirrors.Toh-ran the First God of Evening
Slaughtered bull with a broken horn—belly split open, guts falling out, blood gushing forth.
Each evening he charges forth, leading night with his horn. Every evening he is torn apart by the huntresses and butchered by the rest. He is the first god of evening; sunset beauty is paid with his blood. He is slaughtered every night by his fellows. He hates them all. He hates, he hates, he hates—it is all he can offer. In exchange, you must give him his vengeance. Or give him his rest.Bal-kah the Even-Handed
A set of scales—an empty pan outweighs a human heart.
Of all the gods, only the Even-Handed holds regard for creation. Of all the gods, the Even-Handed is the only to offer choice. You must decide if the offer is worth the cost.5
Those who spend any amount of time mapping the stars uncover inadvisable truths. Those stargazers may roll 1d12 instead.
Pharaoh-On-His-Throne
Only three stars. A pyramid, each separated by an infinite expanse of sky.
Offers anything in exchange for his freedom. Do not free him.The Nameless God
Not a constellation at all. A black cat has no form in darkness.
Offers nothing and asks for nothing in return. Pay her no mind and pray she pays you equally little. She is known to swat stars from the sky.
No god is to be trusted. Make not a pact with the heavens. Those who do become anathema.
Taken from Eric Vulgaris, "pacts are like divine oaths, but rather than beseeching the gods with a promise of your own design, you swear to be a willing factotum of their schemes in exchange for power. . . . One should never enter a pact lightly, for they carry great consequences." A character might promise a god something specific, but it is the god who ultimately sets the terms—and needs not inform the character fully beforehand. (In practice, the referee should ensure that there is some amount of equity between that which is received and that which is owed.) Once a pact is sworn, a character receives their gift. If a PC fails their pact, their soul is forfeit, becoming a monster bound to the heavens upon their death. There are no second chances.↩
In my game, characters begin with one sentence of story to define who they are: "Marianos was born and raised in glorious Archontos, and he served in the Ninth Imperial Legion from the moment he could until his honorable discharge earlier this month." At the end of each play session, players write one more sentence—whatever they deem most important about that session; that which most makes up their character's story. I would have the Mud Witch select a sentence of that character's story and remove the proper nouns and/or adjectives from it. Thus, upon sealing a pact with the Mud Witch, Marianos might lose formative memories and his first sentence could become: "Marianos was born and raised in a city, and he served as a legionary from youth until earlier this month." In practice, this should be a conversation between the referee and the player—as all these pacts should be—to work up to a Dark Souls-esque "hollowing" as a character loses more and more of themself in the pursuit of prophecy.↩
Concept taken from Feral Indie Studio's As the Gods Demand, albeit reinterpreted.↩
Use Orbital Crypt's Ru the Awakened as a guideline for offers.↩