Promethean

Not quite living yet not quite dead, the Prometheans are beings created out of dismembered and reassembled bodyparts given new life through mystical rituals. Named after the Titan Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods to give it to humans, they are fuelled by a strange alchemical force known as Azoth, the Divine Fire.

The Promethean condition is not an easy one to handle; these poor unfortunate souls are both blessed and cursed with the Fire that fuels them. Whilst Azoth grants them the ability to channel the fire into strange feats no human could ever hope to replicate, it also causes trouble because it burns so strongly. The effect is one called Disquiet - the instinctual feeling other beings get around the Promethean that something is terribly wrong with the creature. This causes them to hate and shun the poor Created.

Outcast by society and severely lacking a soul, most Prometheans embark on what they call the Pilgrimage, a quest on which they attempt to attain mortality; their own New Dawn, where they hope to turn into real humans.

Azoth - the Divine Fire
Prometheans are dead bodies given new life through alchemical processes. The force that drives them is known as the Divine Fire, and it comes in many different forms. Not even Prometheans themselves have uncovered its mysteries in its entirety, but they have managed to identified varying states in which the Fire occurs.

Out of those, Azoth is the most important one - it burns within every single Promethean, and is what gives them life. It is defined as a sort of refined or purified Pyros. Pyros itself can't create life from death, but Azoth most certainly can. Azoth is a catalyst for life, a transformer which can purify other things into purer forms. It is also the driving force behind the Promethean's strife for Mortality, the purest of states. During the span of the life time, a Promethean's Azoth burns with ever-higher temperatures.

Where Azoth is associated with alchemical themes such as unification, coagulation and stability, it has its counterpart in Flux - the chaotic aspect of Pyros that breaks things down.

Azoth is measured on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest value. Every Promethean starts out with one Azoth, given to them by their maker, and can then acquire more as they gain experience and learn new things.

Beneficial effects of Azoth include:


 * The higher the Azoth, the more Pyros can be stored. This means the higher the Azoth, the stronger and more frequently used can the Transmutations be.


 * With an Azoth of 6 and higher, the Promethean's mental and physical aspects surpasses a human's capacities, giving them abilities above the ordinary without the use of Transmutations.


 * Azoth calls to Azoth. Prometheans can sense another Promethean's Azothic radiance, and the higher the Azoth, the easier it is to sense it.

Drawbacks of Azoth include:
 * A Promethean can diminsh their Azothic radiance for 24 hours, making it easier for them to hide from other beings who hunt by sensing it (i.e. Pandorans, unsuccessful attempts at creating Prometheans). However, this makes them very unappealing to other Prometheans, driving them away, and limits their use of Pyros for the duration of the effect.
 * The higher a Promethean's Azoth is, the harder it becomes for non-Prometheans to resist their Disquiet.
 * A Promethean's Azothic radiance precedes him. The higher his Azoth is, the greater the vicinity in which its radiance spreads around him. Since this radiance is what awakens Pandorans from their Dormancy, it can prove to be very dangerous for the Promethean, as it awakens creatures well beyond his immediate senses.


 * A Promethean's Azothic radiance bears something of the taint of the Torments he has suffered. This taint is subtle, but it does affect the first impression a Promethean has on other Prometheans in a ritual called the Measure -- in which strangers size one another up before either of them engages in conversation. Some Prometheans choose not to spend time in the company of those whose radiance is too heavy with past Torment. This is entirely a personal choice, based off superstitions about how such radiance might taint the Pilgrimage. The tainted Promethean can remove the burden from his radiance by spending time in the wastes.

Flux
The Divine Fire is just like a real fire - it can be both life-giving and a force of destruction. Without the stability it gets through the alchemical process of purification (that which ends in Azoth), the Pyros can run completely wild. This aspect of the Fire is known as Flux, and is the polar opposite of Azoth; it's disintegrating, chaotic and destructive.

Flux is a natural part of the world order, but that does not mean it is a benevolent force. The nightmares it spews forth are creations which break the rules of nature. They simply should not be. Most people are remotely aware of it, as the polarity of nature - night and day, good and evil, reason and insanity... Awakening its spark can only lead to something dangerous that threatens the ordered world.

Prometheans rarely suffer from Flux directly, but they often encounter it in Flux's "children" - the Pandorans, beings created when a Promethean tries to create another and something goes wrong during the process. Pandorands are fueled by Flux, and slaves under it. A Promethean who learns to harness the force of Flux is feared and hated by most.

Pyros
Pyros is a term to describe the fluid form of energy that Azoth generates, the force which the Promethean then uses to fuel their supernatural abilities - alchemical processes known as Transmutations. The higher the Azoth, the more Pyros a Promethean can hold, and the strongar and more often the Transformations can be used.

Pyros is usually not visible and can't be touched or felt other than by those with specific abilities to sense such supernatural occurrences. It is not sustaining for a Promethean and cannot animate them like the Azoth can. However, it can still activate Pandorans, who need to consume the flesh of Prometheans to remain active.

All Prometheans can use the power of Pyros, but some are better at storing and using it than others are. Especially those who follow the Refinement of Quicksilver tend to be more apt in its usage, and they house a deeper understanding for how to properly manipulate it.

Regaining Pyros

Pyros does not generally occur naturally in the world, and therefore it cannot be harvester. Instead, Prometheans must generate it on their own - Pyros always comes from within the Azoth driven creature. There are certain situations that can help stoke the flame or provoke the fire, creating more Pyros.

Below follows a list of things that helps a Promethean regain Pyros. Using any of these ways to get some does not cause the Promethean's disfigurements to show.


 * A Promethean automatically gain one Pyros at dawn. When the sun rises, the Azoth flares up and generates Pyros.


 * A Promethean gains one Pyros simply be being in the midst of a thunderstorm. They must be under the storm and exposed to it outdoors, but they don't need to be struck by lightning. It only works once per day.
 * After a Promethean has spent at least one hour in the presence of one or more mortals, they gain one Pyros. It works only once per 24 hours, but works regardless of the outcome of the interaction - it doesn't have to be pleasant, and Disquiet can be triggered.
 * Prometheans who learn the Vulcanus Transmutations can learn some abilities that help the regain Pyros.
 * By sleeping in the presence of their Lineage's element according to the conditions listed below, the Promethean gains Pyros. In order to gain this Pyros, the Promethean must sleep for at least four hours.

The key to gaining Pyros through sleeping like this is the dreams that arise when the Promethean sleeps near the element that birthed him. The dreams might be pleasant, strange, or even nightmarish, but they are always incredibly vivid. The cause for this has been debated, but it has never been properly explained. Common for all of these are that the element must be active or present for the full first hour of the Promethean's sleep.

Frankenstein: The Wretched need to sleep near a fire or a high-voltage system in order to gain Pyros.

Galatea: Muses need to sleep in the presence of voices - live voices, not recordings or broadcasts.

Osiris: Nepri must sleep immersed in water. Sleeping in the rain or in a filled bathtub is enough.

Tammuz: Golems must sleep buried or partially buried in earth. It could be dirt or mud, so long as it's earth.

Ulgan: The Riven must sleep in a haunted house or a spirit locus, or activate their Ephemeral Flesh Bestowment as they go to sleep.

Vitriol
One of the fundamental parts of attaining the New Dawn - Mortality - that the Prometheans so seek to find, is a mysterious force known as Vitriol. It is a form of distilled Azoth, a purified version of the Divine fire that will work as a medium through which substances might react. In alchemy terms, Vitriol is a Philosopher's Stone, and it is critical for the transformation of a soul.

Then how does one go about gaining Vitriol? Like much in Promethean life, the question has an answer that is both easy and hard at the same time. In order to gain a soul, a Promethean must first understand what a soul is before they can claim one. The quests they embark on throughout their Pilgrimage attunes them to the Fire burning within them and, hopefully, helps them gain better insight into their own concept of self. Through working towards this self-realization of sorts, with discovering their own identity, what it means to be human and a meaning to this life of theirs, they gain Vitriol.

In short, Vitriol is gained whenever the Promethean has a revelation of some sort. When they feel true emotion, and start towards changing from a soulless creation into a real, genuine person. It is what drives the Promethean forward onto their longed-for Mortality, their purpose. Vitriol must be earned, as it is the refinement of Azoth into something more, and it is gained through experience. Below are listed but a few ways a Promethean could go about achieving Vitriol.
 * When achieving a Milestone on their Pilgrimage, a Promethean gains Vitriol.


 * Whenever a Promethean learns some fundamental principle of how the Created interact with the world, Vitriol might be awarded. The younger the Promethean is the larger the reward, since older Prometheans might be expected to know this piece of information.


 * By helping a member of their throng (if they have such a group) to achieve a milestone, a Promethean might gain Vitriol.


 * If they learn something about the reasoning behind their creation, they might be awarded Vitriol depending on how important the knowledge is for the Promethean in question.


 * By solving a great mystery of some kind, the Promethean might gain Vitriol - especially if they were leading or heavily participated in the investigation.


 * When a Promethean learn something about other supernatural races that is imperative for their view on them, they might gain Vitriol. This goes for busting myths or learning something important about the race's functioning, like for example how Changelings Freeholds work.


 * By solving a supernatural conflict, like putting a ghost to rest, the Promethean may gain Vitriol.


 * When a Milestone is fulfilled through the Promethean's Virtue or Vice, they might be awarded Vitriol depending on how important the Virtue/Vice was in reaching the Milestone.

Transmutations
Just like alchemists of old sought to transmute lead into gold, Prometheans puts their bodies through experiments in a desperate attempt to transmute their bodies into a human form. These experiments unlock supernatural powers, and those are known as Transmutations. During their life, a Promethean undergoes many such changes, the first of which is the transmutation when their sire brings them to life. Bestowments, abilities common to all belonging to the same Lineage, are given to them from their first breath and are the simplest of those. More advanced are the changes brought on by following Refinements - ways and philosophies meant to guide the Promethean on their way towards humanity.

The number of Transmutations a Promethean possesses tends to be higher the older the Promethean is. A newly created Promethean hasn't undergone as many changes and thus might not have learned any Transmutations at all. The few they do know are probably such that they have discovered on their own, or have been taught by a helpful creator. Prometheans do not age, and therefore they might learn an enormous number of Transmutations before eventually succumbing to death or achieving their goal of mortality! An old Promethean is a dangerous foe to cross, as the mix of Transmutation they might have picked up have a huge range and potency.

For a list of Transmutations, go to the main page here.

Gaining Transmutations

Transmutations are very hard to learn; they take effort, time and practice. Since there are no schools teaching Prometheans how to properly harness their abilities, it is hard for them to learn any at all. A Created searching for guidance on Transmutations must either find another who is willing to teach them (which is hard, given how few there are around), or experiment themselves in a long process of trial and error. Researching Transmutations could involve such diverse activities as reading ancient forgotten manuscripts on forbidden alchemy, socializing with experimental mortal crowds, or performing horrific surgeries on unsuspecting creatures in an attempt to get to the bottom of the mysteries the Promethean is trying to uncover.

Out of all methods available to a Created wishing to learn Transmutations, finding a tutor is by far the safest and least time consuming. However, learning under the watchful eye of a good teacher still takes multiple months of hard work in order to learn just one transmutation. Therefore, young Prometheans are very unlikely to possess more than one or two Transmutations.

Disfigurements
Usually Prometheans look just like humans do; they might have oddly coloured eyes or miss a limb, but there's nothing so far out of the ordinary that they do not pass for human. This seeming isn't what truly is, though. Once they achieve their New Dawn what is currently visible will become reality, but until then it is but a mask to hide their true, disfigured forms. The Disquiet others suffer in the presence of one of the Created is not sprung from their physical appearances but rather from something deeper. Although they are not consciously aware of it, something about the way the Promethean looks seems off, and it's further cause for distrust and unease.

Underneath the mask, the Created are clearly of unnatural origins. Scars from their creation might be visible, or fluids drip from holes in their flesh. Prometheans refer to this true visage as their "disfigurements". The guise that hides it from the rest of the world is an attempt from the Divine Fire to restore at least the illusion of real life to the dead flesh from which they were created. Since that is the case, the disfigurements do show through when Pyros is channeled - i.e., when the Promethean uses Transmutations. For but a moment, the guise is dropped and what is truly there becomes visible to all. The same might happen if the Promethean comes in contact with electricity.

Each Lineage has their own common disfigurements. Disfigurements are always visible to all of the Created, so other Prometheans can easily see who belongs to what Lineage from their appearance. We will delve further into what disfigurement belongs to which Lineage under Lineages below.

The disfigurements might not be visible for all to see, but Prometheans are still acutely aware of them being there. They remind them of who and what they are, but also of what they are not. The body simply doesn't feel alive - much like with Living Corpse Syndrome, a Promethean does not feel like their body is functioning. They don't feel like their heart is beating. They are never allowed to forget their undead status. Even though they have known nothing else for their entire lives, they are still aware that their bodies don't feel right.

Benefits to the Promethean Condition
The harsh reality of being such a wretched creature as a Promethean is, is that they are indeed true outsiders. Forced to stand on the outside looking in, set apart from the rest, their existence is a lonely and terrifying one. Yet there is a bright side to their situation. The Divine Fire blazing within them has made them better equipped to face the hard Pilgrimage ahead; they are stronger and tougher than humans, and they don't suffer the same physical frailties as their mortal cousins. Prometheans have defied death once, and all of them have the ability to do it once more.

Regardless of this, it is important to note that a vast majority of Prometheans do think the mortal existence humans lead are preferable to their lives as social outcasts. Solitude suits them ill, especially since it's not self-chosen isolation.

The body of a Promethean is hardened by the purified Azoth burning within them, the very force that sustains them. The Fire never burns out; it might grow dim and gutter from time to time, but there are few things in the world that can truly extinguish it for good. However, since this strange force is what keeps the Promethean on their legs, they are not alive in a true sense - not like humans understand the word. They are not subject to the same circadian rhythms or needs that a human body needs in order to be properly maintained. Here is a list of what physical benefits a Promethean has:

Enhanced Endurance

The Created do not need to sleep in the same manner most creature do. They simply do not get tired. A Promethean can go for 48 hours without feeling any fatigue, and if they push themselves beyond that they can go for a period of 48 more hours without major problems. If they fall asleep after having stayed awake for too long, they only sleep for four hours (plus one hour per six-hour period beyond the initial 48 hours). They are just as prone to boredom or apathy as humans are and might sleep for those reasons - but if they focus, they show a great endurance.

On a related note, Prometheans have an inborn physical durability. If they get hurt, a Created can continue unhindered with their activities until they are brought down. Regardless of how much damage they suffer, they can keep going so long as they remain standing on their feet. However, while it might not slow them down, they do suffer the intense pain of the injuries and are in no way immune to it. It might, however, more often than not serve to only infuriate them further, adding to their freakish nature.

Whilst a Promethean can take a real beating without going down, they are not invincible. The Promethean, resilient though they may be, cannot walk away from damage wrought by magical sources or fire as well as they may from anything else. As they take more and more damage from such sources, their Divine Fire fails to compensate as it normally does - their bodies begin to wear away as the attacks mount, flesh eventually dying a second time and sloughing away. This effect may arise from large, brutal attacks, or even smaller ones with repetition. Eventually, the body deteriorates entirely, losing affected limbs and entire muscular connections. The Promethean will remain conscious for a while, unable to move and excruciating pain, before finally passing out and dying.

Death does not need to mean the end for one of the Created, at least not the first time they do die. Once they have sustained deadly damage, the Azoth may flare up and reanimate them once more. This flare occurs within 24 hours of death, and usually as soon as the threat has ceased, left the place. When this happens, the Azoth burns itself out, leaving only one single dot, but it heals all damage done to the body (though it does not magically reattach/regrow lost limbs). This may only happen once; only Prometheans with the Revivification Bestowment (a natural ability of the Osirian Lineage) may cheat death more than once.

For all their wondrous endurance, a Promethean body heals wounds at the same rate human bodies do. If they have been injured, it's going to take weeks or months for it to heal if it's left to do so naturally.

Strange Diets and Sickness

Being Created has odd benefits. For example, a Promethean has no need for three healthy meals a day, and they don't need to be picky with what they put in their mouths. The Divine Fire that fuels their body purifies what they put in, meaning that Prometheans are pretty much invulnerable to toxins and don't get sicknesses or viruses. The only thing they need to do is make sure that the Fire has oxygen (they need to be able to breathe), and that they put in enough fuel. They don't need to get rid of waste matters (i.e. they don't need to go to the toilet), because the fire burns away all.

What constitutes good fuel is pretty much any organic substance on earth. They can sustain on roots, leaves and moldy, stale meat. So long as they are able to chew it, it's good for digestion. They can go without food for a few days, but once they get hungry, Torment starts to build. To avoid this, they must eat (and fill up their stomach) once a day to keep enough fuel for the Fire. Water is not necessary.

Most viruses don't stand a chance in a body hosting the Divine Fire, and as such a Promethean very rarely get sick. They might still catch something, but it's usually only the most rare, serious and ravaging diseases that stand any chance to take root at all.

Electroshock Therapy

Electricity is a representative of the element of fre, and as such, it is tied to the Divine Fire that animates the Created. Therefore, electricity does not hurt Promethean flesh - in actually, it heals it. A Promethean who has suffered damage can willingly subject themselves to electrical currents in order to heal their wounds at an astounding pace. The longer they expose themselves to the electrical current, the greater the damage they can heal. The healing can't be directed; small wounds heal first, followed by larger, working itself all the way up to lethal damage. Any leftover electricity is discharged through the Promethean's body, turning it into something that looks like a living Tesla coil. Should another being not of Created origin be in contact with the Promethean at that moment, they would get hurt.

A Created does not lose control over their bodies when in contact with electricity; they are in full control of their movements and can appear unfazed by the currents coursing through their flesh. The one downside to healing themselves this way, though, is that it leaves their disfigurements completely revealed for the duration of the contact with the electrical current as well as for a couple of minutes after, making it a risky move on their part if they want to remain somewhat undetected.

Life cycle
Sprung from dead, reanimated flesh as they are, a Promethean's life starts with them fully grown yet completely oblivious to the world around them. They retain no (conscious) memories from the humans previously occupying their bodies, and as they are brought into this world they have to start forming their own identities. Eerily enough, motor memory might at times be intact in a Promethean's body, leaving them with abilities they did not know they possessed, or limbs that do things out of their own volition. As for language, they do have an innate knowledge of the one their body spoke when it was alive, although it might be harder for some to regain it than it is for others.

The creator of a Promethean is usually another Promethean, who innately know how to create more of their own Lineage - their own 'family', of a sort, of walking corpses. This is the only known way a Promethean can reproduce; a female Created can't carry a child in her womb, nor can a Created male knock someone up. Lineages arise from the few rare instances (a handful, in fact) where a human has been known to create a Promethean through accidentally wielding the Divine Fire; these few humans are known as Demiurges, and each Demiurge gave rise to a single Progenitor for an entirely new Lineage.

The process through which this happens is both surprisingly simple and startlingly hard: through rituals specified for each Lineage, the would-be sire of a new Promethean conducts the Divine Fire through their Lineage's element (fire, water, earth, air or spirit) and lights the spark of life in the body once more. If successful, a new Promethean arises. When they don't succeed, they create Pandorans - horrific, nightmarish hellspawn of jumbled body parts lusting for Azoth infused flesh.

Once arisen, Prometheans don't age. They don't get weaker as the years go by, nor do their minds start to cloud. Their bodies remain the same (should they avoid to sustain damage), and their senses remain sharp all the way to the end. Though that might make them seem immortal, they do in fact perish after a certain period of time. A flame can only burn for so long, it is believed, and once the Divine Fire burns out the Promethean dies with it. The standard span of Promethean life is thought to be about a hundred years on average, but it's not set - some live longer, some shorter. During this time, they strive for their New Dawn - the all-encompassing goal of gaining mortality for themselves.

There are two known things that might prolong a Promethean's life for more than the hundred they are usually given; resurrection or the Revivification Bestowment, and the practice of going to the wastes. The former seems to add more years, roughly a decade, but it's unknown how many exactly. Through going to the wastes - a practice where the Promethean retreats from all contact with the world and isolates themselves in the wilderness like a hermit - reverses the clock as they lose Azoth dots. It is widely believed that this is the way the Progenitor of the Wretched Lineage has survived through the years, but some whisper that there might not be a time limit for the Progenitors of entire Lineages, and that even Osiris might still be alive if he has avoided attaining Mortality for millenia.

The end means for a Promethean is to attain a New Dawn - the process through which they hope to gain a soul and, thus, a real human life and Mortality. Should they be lucky enough to reach this goal, they turn into beings known as the Redeemed - people indistinguishable from real, born humans, with ordinary, human life spans. A Redeemed start their lives in their 20's, and usually don't retain any memories of their Promethean lives before the New Dawn.

Disquiet
Humans understand the Divine Fire, but only on the most primal of levels. They hold it inside them, and the Fire inside them feels the Fire in other creatures, reaches out to know it; a silent, unconscious, constant exchange. Their ancestral brain knows it to be a force of creation, of power; extant only in small amounts that animate beings. Prometheans violate that understanding - their extensive concentration of Azoth is too large, burns too brightly, and this disturbs all humans on a level so deeply entrenched in the recesses of their brain that they cannot reason with it, only obey its shreik of alarm: this is a creature that offends the very nature of things.

It is this deep, inescapable, irrefutable, irrepressable feeling that the Promethean's very existence is a crime that cannot be forgiven that manifests into Disquiet. Though how their conscious mind attributes it varies by Lineage, the outcome is largely the same: humans hate, persecute, and even attack the Promethean should their reaction be taken hold of by sheer instinctual reaction; a pressing urge that grows stronger the longer the human is in the presence of the Created.

Humans are not the only ones affected by Disquiet; no species are immune. Animals react with their fight-or-flight instinct when subjected to prolonged exposure, and the supernatural beings are affected as well, but in various ways further discussed in the interactions document. The only things that are not affected, asides from other Prometheans, are ghosts and spirits. They do not suffer the effects at all.

This force is what keeps Prometheans separated from society. No matter how strong the bond between a Created and a naturally born mortal, Disquiet always gets to even the most kindhearted, understanding person in the end. It is what remind the Promethean that their nature is in fact unnatural, that they should not be, and it is the strongest driving force behind their struggle towards mortality for themselves. Lest they overcome the Disquiet that spreads around them like a blight, they will never fully be accepted into society. Such a feat can only be achieved by attaining their New Dawn, a human life and soul for themselves.

The Effects of Disquiet

While Disquiet is something that surrounds all Prometheans, the effects of it can vary greatly. Such factors as the Promethean's Lineage and personality affects it, as does the personality, natural resistance and mood of the human they encounter. Adding in external factors as time, place, light, other people around who are or are not affected by Disquiet, as well as previous exposure, it is not difficult to see how the effects of Disquiet may be hard to predict. The only surefire way for a Promethean to avoid the negative effects of Disquiet is to stay constantly on the move and make sure they don't hang around the same people for too long, as multiple exposure tends to trigger Disquiet further.

Initially, Disquiet can seem very weak. It might not trigger at all in a strong-willed individual, as it acts on a subconscious level initially. They might be ashamed of the fear or revulsion they might initially feel upon setting their eyes on the Created and try to rise above it. If the person is more acting more on instinct, however, they might snap or treat the Promethean in an unfair manner, reacting only once the "threat" is gone to how out of character it was for them. Most people do not at first understand where the uneasy feeling come from, and until they enter the first stage of Disquiet (the stages are discussed below), they are unlikely to pinpoint the Promethean as the source.

Before the person has started to descend down the stages of Disquiet, it is not impossible for the Created to build fragile friendships. They are acutely aware that a slight misstep might tear down what they have, so a Promethean attempting this will likely rely on communications that do not require face-to-face interaction. Once the stages has been triggered, it becomes gradually harder for the relationship to be maintained.

The Disquiet is at its most harmful when it gets triggered in larger groups simultaneously. The effect can be likened to a disease, as it is possible for Stage Four Disquiet to become contagious. When Disquiet is triggered in multiple people at the same time, it might trigger a mob mentality effect and lead the infected people to spiral quicker and quicker into a raging hatred, eventually resulting in the mob driving the Created out of town or, in the case of those not quick enough, even lead them to murder the creature. A carefully Promethean who is lucky might encounter individuals who are strong enough to resist the effects long enough for them to finish what they were doing and move on (and, if they are extremely lucky, they might even form bonds of friendship). More often than not, however, the Promethean is unlucky; the Disquiet infects one or a few individuals and drives them on until they reach Stage Four, after which they carry the infection back into the community where it festers and becomes a full-blown outbreak. In these cases, it is nigh on impossible for the Created to remain in the city, and they are forced to flee.

There are a few factors that affects Disquiet in a positive way, making it less likely to trigger in an individual: As for things that might trigger and worsen Disquiet, these are some pointers: Stages Of Disquiet
 * The person can't see the Promethean, either due to bad lighting, distance or blindness. Having visual contact is imperative to Disquiet; a phone call or an email does not trigger it.
 * The Promethean is using a Transmutation that diminishes the effects of Disquiet on the individual.
 * The person in question is aware of the effect and chooses to stand above it (this only works up until Stage Three).
 * The person witnesses the Promethean using their supernatural abilities.
 * The person witnesses the Promethean's disfigurements.
 * Prolonged exposure to the Promethean's presence.
 * A person infected with Disquiet (Stage One and onwards) is more sensitive and will spiral quicker than one who has not yet reached the stages.

Initially, a person encountering a Promethean might only feel a slight distaste for the Created or an unnerving feeling when being around them. At this point in time, they have not yet started to suffer from Disquiet for real. Just like a disease, Disquiet starts gradually, and as the symptom gets worse, so does the sickness. At the final stage, it has come to full bloom and is contagious.

How long it takes for a person to start suffering the stages of Disquiet depends on the factors mentioned above. The longer the physical interactions are with the Promethean, the more likely it is that the person enters Stage One, and once they have, they need some time away from the stimulus in order to settle down and let the Disquiet settle. For example, at Stage One, the person might need one week of not being exposed to the Promethean, on the second Stage they might need two weeks, on the third four, and on the final Stage two full months. It depends on the individual and the severity of the Disquiet.

Stage One: the Dream Stage

At the first stage of Disquiet, the person suffering starts having dreams inspired by the Promethean's dominant humours. A dream inspired by Galateid Disquiet might be a sex dream, whilst those under the influence of a Frankenstein might dream of anger and frustration. The dreams are usually not connected to the Promethean, and are on a purely subconscious level. While they might not be remembered upon awakening, they don't give the person suffering them a restful sleep.

Stage Two: the Fantasy Stage

At this point, the dreams from Stage One starts intruding on the person's waking life. Every time they see the Promethean or are in some way reminded of them (or something related to their dominant humours), they might slip into a distracting, uneasy daydream. Afterwards, they feel uneasy and uncomfortable, as if they had been caught doing something forbidden. The shame of having daydreamed like that without being fully able to stop further triggers Disquiet, and it is at this stage that the person will start connecting the feeling with the Promethean, even though they don't know how it all relates.

Stage Three: the Impulse Stage

The impulses inspired by the second stage get much harder to ignore on this stage, and the victim of the Disquiet are more likely to act on their impulses than they are to hold back. The end result is often petty, aggressive and out to hurt their Created tormentor, and (like with the previous stages) inspired by the Promethean's dominant humours. At this stage, they also develop a mild (temporary) derangement fitting for the type of Disquiet they are suffering under. For Frankensteins, this might be narcissism, Galateids might induce an inferiority complex, Tammuz making them fixated on somethng, Osiran Disquiet cause irrationality, and Ulgans cause them to think out loud. The effects stay for as long as they suffer Stage Three.

Stage Four: the Driven Stage

The final and most dangerous stage causes the victim to full-out acting on the Disquiet. They can no longer hold back, and takes things to the ultimate (often insane) level when it comes to actions in order to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling - be it violence, fighting, back-talking... Anything that might harm the Promethean. No matter what, they are on the offence and has a hard time focusing on anything but the Created who has driven them to this stage. The derangement they started suffering in Stage Three gets more severe, and to make matters worse, the effects of Disquiet becomes contagious at this stage. It can spread through the community like wild-fire, creating that mob mentality that forces the Promethean to flee or suffer the consequences of lingering in a place where they are clearly not welcome.

Types Of Disquiet

Each Lineage has their own type of Disquiet, and those are discussed further on each Lineage's own page, as well as in the guide to how different species interact with one another.

Lineages
Over the course of history, only a few new types of Prometheans has been created. It always starts with a mortal demiurge, a human being that (usually through some sort of experiment) accidentally manage to wield Pyros and instill new life into a dismembered and reassembled body. The process is alchemical, granting the new being a life and will of their own, but not a soul. Once this first being, a unique creature known as a Progenitor, decides to create a new being of its own, a Lineage is born.

The progeny's Lineage is named after its Progenitor; a Promethean descending from the original Frankenstein's monster is known as a "Frankenstein". They are imperfect versions of the original, who themselves are imperfect products of men who did not know what they were doing. Some of the members of the progeny looks upon their Progenitors with distaste, therefore choosing alternate names for themselves, but most view the first of their Lineage as examples to follow, an archetype of sort they need to emulate.

Frankenstein
- also known as the Wretched.

The story as told by Mary Shelley is renowned; a scientist named Victor Frankenstein managed to revive a patched-together corpse by electrocuting it. Disgusted by his creation, he then leaves the creature to fend for itself. In the beginning, the creature attempts to befriend humans but, once scorned, eventually settles on a course of hatred and revenge. If he cannot be accepted into the society of mankind, he himself will reject mankind. Once he tired of his lonely existence, he created more of his own, and the Lineage was born.

Frankensteins, also known as the Wretched, are prone to angry outbursts and vengeance seeking if they feel they have been wronged. As a Lineage, they are known for their strength. They have an excess of choleric humour in their body, and fire is their ruling element. Each of them has been created from multiple corpses, and then reanimated with electricity (in most of the cases).

Galatea
- also known as Muses.

Sprung from the myth of the sculptor Pygmalion and his marble statue turned alive, Galatea, the Muses is a Lineage renowned for their stunning beauty. Though the story of their Progenitor differs (some say Galatea was truly made of stone, others that she was actually assembled from only the most beautiful women's body parts), the progeny of this beauty still attempt to uphold a standard of class.

Though they are stunning with their excess of sanguine humour, the beauty they display are a false one. Galateids can be quite full of themselves, as their beauty instills envy and self-loathing in those they encounter. They still seek the love of humans, even though they are just as scorned as the other Lineages. Brought back from death by the breath of life, their element is that of air.

Osiris
- also known as Nepri.

The Nepri hail back from the ancient Egyptian myth of Osiris, who was killed and taken apart by his brother Seth, only to be reassembled and ressurrected by his wife Isis. This would make Isis the demiurge and Osiris the Progenitor, though the truth as to whether or not this is the case has since long been lost in history. One thing stands for certain, however - just like in the myth, Osirans have a strange affinity for ressurrection; even if they are killed, they may come back once more.

The dominant humour in a Nepri is phlegmatic, which tends to leave them very level-headed and philosophic. Like the waters from which they are risen upon rebirth, they follow the flow rather then rebel against it. To others, they can thus seem both cold, unemotional and quite calculating.

Tammuz
- also known as Golems.

Tammuz was a Babylonian god who was killed by the godess Ishtar only to later be restored by her. In his rebirth, he was birthed from earth. The alternate name for Prometheans of the Tammuz lineage, Golems, originates in the Jewish myth of men made out of clay that carried out tasks for their masters. Naturally, earth is their element and clay is what they arise from when reanimated.

The Golems are dominated by an excess of melancholic humour, which tends to make them withdrawn and hard to socialize with. However, they are also very steadfast and goal-oriented. Their furious rampages when they succumb to Torment are renown, as are their amazing stamina. Funnily enough, they are also well known for being able to stand at attention for hours without getting bored, as their minds are occupied by some not-spoken-of mystery.

Ulgan
- also known as the Riven.

A common theme in shamanism (regardless of what culture) is the trance state, where the shaman can enter the spirit world. During initiation, they are "torn apart" by the spirits during their trance, and reawaken purified with new powers. This tale is similar to that of the Ulgan Progenitor, who is said to have been a shaman from Siberia whose body was torn to pieces, then reanimated by the Divine Fire. Once he reawakened, he had a connection to the spirit world that is impossible for ordinary humans, as he could witness spirits unseen.

Just like their Progenitor, those of the Riven's Lineage has the ability to see into Twilight, the spirit realm. They have an excess of ectoplasmic humour, and are this driven more by basic instinct than the other Lineages - something that also lends them a very good intuition. As a result of their rebirth, they suffer terrible scarring. Life on the other side of death isn't easy for an Ulgan, as they are just as often haunted by the ever-present spirits as they are helped by them.

Psychology
As established above in the Biology section, the Created might to all outer appearance seem human but they are in fact far from it. Their bodies work quite differently and, as it turns out, so do their minds. A Promethean has no inborn sense of right or wrong, no moral compass to guide them, and initially they don't have a conscience. What they develop in terms of these is what they are taught and what they can lean from observing human interactions. In their quest for Mortality, their wish to attain their New Dawn, they have to understand what it means to be human before they can reach the goal. Such a study is a truly ambitious one, and the Prometheans embarking on the Pilgrimage for the very first time will eventually end up with very different concepts on humanity before they are done.

It all comes down to experiences. Promethean minds, just like their bodies, are initially very easy to mold. They seek to imitate what they see, and know not that the passions of pure love are any fundamentally different from those of perverted hatred or deranged sadism. Their emotions and morals are superfluous, an imitation they put up for their own sake to attempt to get closer to their goals to become human themselves. A Promethean so good at pretending they have emotions, that they are humans, that they even trick themselves into believing so are well on their way to attain what they seek. However, the humanity they gain might in the end not be of a good kind. If they sin, they might not fully understand that they did, and the remorse that might follow such an action is also a sort of acting on their part, have they only been told that they ought to feel that way.

It's a thorny path ahead. So long as the Created is willing to attempt to play the part, be it that of a sweet damsel or a savage villain, they may edge ever-closer to the end of their Pilgrimage. But there are those who choose not to participate in the sham, as they see it, and wonder if the end goals are really worth the hassle. These Prometheans never truly reach their goals.

Derangements
As moldable as the Promethean mind is, it can only go through so many transformations before it starts to degenerate. Life as one of the Created is a tough one, and coping with it can often become too much. The social isolation might cause them to succumb to madness, or they might attempt to fortify their minds through rigorous self-control and defense mechanisms that shields them from the world. In a few severe cases, the Promethean's mind more or less shatters as they lose all ability to understand reality and make use of their Azoth.

With this in mind, Prometheans are susceptible to an assortment of derangements, more likely to suffer from one than humans are. Since they themselves fabricate their understanding of themselves and the world without any innate reference frames, this shouldn't come as a surprise. While they hope to achieve humanity, their understanding of what it entails is imperfect. The ups and downs of everyday life wear away at them quicker than it would on a mortal mind, as Prometheans lack the natural resilience humans possess in order to withstand setbacks and tragedies. Adding to that the fact that their lives tend to be filled with setbacks - Disquiet causing them loneliness, people they care about leaving them or fearing them - it is no wonder that their minds deteriorate and cause madness to befall them.

The most reliable indicator as to whether or not you are going in the right direction is usually the surroundings. Prometheans don't have this benefit, as they are shunned by society at large and forced to rely on their own distorted perceptions (or, perhaps worse, those of monsters like them). They might therefore stray from the path to humanity without even knowing it, or risk all by trusting someone that might well go ahead and break their hearts when they eventually abandon them.

How a Promethean gain a derangement varies from individual to individuals. Some are inescapable parts of the Pilgrimage, while others are consequences following certain actions. Below follows a list of things that can lead to a Promethean developing a derangement. Curing Derangements
 * Failure: Upon failing to achieve something they had set out to do, or by attempting a Transmutation and then not succeeding, a Promethean might start developing a derangement due to the stress.
 * Extreme Pain, Frustration or Horror: In any sort of situation where the Promethean can be subject to a shaking event, be it through their own actions or those of others, the Promethean might suffer enough to gain a temporary derangement. If the situation is traumatizing enough, the effect might be permanent.
 * Going to the Wastes: Isolating fully from society might seem like a good idea at first, but prolonged isolation might mean that the Promethean gains difficulty to get back to society again. The solitude will slowly drive them mad.
 * Genuinely inconsolable situations: When the stress of never feeling like they accomplish something even though they strive hard everyday, they eventually develop defense-mechanisms in the form of a derangement.

Since the Promethean mind doesn't work like humans do, conventional psychology doesn't apply to them. This makes it harder for them to recover from a derangement. Due to their metabolism, behaviour-modifying drugs don't work on them. However, the derangement is caused by the Created's behaviour or perception, and never out of chemical defects in the brain.

In order to get free of the derangement, they often need to come to terms with the root problem, be it through action, emotional catharsis or overcoming it intellectually by realizing what the cause of their derangement is and changing it.

Torment
The Divine Fire works very much like a real fire; its sheer energy can drive something (in this case, the body of a Promethean), it gives off a radiance, and it demands both fuel and air to function. Therefore, it's not too hard a step to imagine that it gives off some excess heat. It doesn't do so in a literal sense - the Promethean is just as warm or as cold to the touch as a real human would be - but in a metaphorical sense it does. The heat it gives off continuously burns the Created from within, and the harder they work at attempting to reshape their very being from artificial to human, the more heat the Fire is going to give off that hurts them. This affliction is one that no Promethean can escape, and all of the Created recognize it as an integral part of their existence.

Torment is a psychological state that might take physical expressions. Many Prometheans think of it as the slag product left on the furnace where the Azoth burns; whenever they lose the will to continue the journey on or their efforts go sour, the soot flares up and poisons their minds. It is, after all, easier to remain a monster than to journey on towards a goal that seems ever-distant. This bitterness might lead the Promethean to dangerous, degrading and highly immoral behaviours, causing them to stray further from the path they want to be on.

Always present, Torment lays smoldering underneath the surface, threatening to blind the Promethean to their goals by infecting their humours and leading them to believe that they are wasting their time, that they are never going to reach the goal of their dreams. It's a dangerous state of mind, but one they cannot fully escape so long as they haven't reached their New Dawn.

The Rise Of Torment

While the mere existence of the Created might be viewed as eternal torment, actual Torment only arise from specific type of stimuli. A bad day is not enough to trigger it, no matter how bad the day has been. Fact is, Torment helps the Promethean to put their day-to-day suffering into perspective. What they just went through was not things that would trigger Torment. Below follows a list of things that do. Resisting Torment
 * Disquiet: When the Promethean is actively being forced to come face to face with the consequences of their Disquiet, like in the case of a mob driving them out of town or a person ending the relationship with them, Torment builds. The person is always in Stage Three or Four of Disquiet when this happens.
 * Defeat: If the Promethean is hindered on their Pilgrimage by their creator, Torment builds.
 * Fire: When fire is actively used against the Promethean as a weapon, Torment builds up. Being caught in a blaze doesn't trigger Torment, nor does seeing a campfire or a burning trashcan, but if a person lights a match and threatens to light gasoline on fire, it will cause Torment to build.
 * Pain: While being trapped in a fire in itself doesn't cause Torment to build, the pain of being burned does.
 * Failure: Not managing to achieve something that the Promethean feels is imperative to their Pilgrimage will destroy their confidence and cause Torment to build. It's irrelevant if the failure was due to fault on the Promethean's side or if it was done with malicious intent from an enemy or a rival - whether it was done carelessly, inadvertently or accidentally is irrelevant.
 * Hunger: If the Promethean doesn't keep properly fed, they will cause Torment to build as the Fire lacks proper fuel to keep going. Properly fed means any kind of organic substance, so long as it fills their belly.
 * Torment: Torment is contagious among Prometheans, just like Disquiet (Stage Four) is among humans. Therefore, many Prometheans avoid those whose Azothic radiance bears the marks of having suffered through Torment, even though they are clearly not suffering from it now.

It is hard to stand against the effects Torment has on the mind of a Promethean, especially since it's such an integral part to the Promethean condition. They struggle onwards to be what they are not, and Torment is there to constantly remind them of their inhuman nature, of how insane it is of them to ever hope to be anything else than a monster. There is only one thing the Created can do to resist the allure of Torment, and that is to remind themselves of their goals and that they are able of reaching them. This is difficult enough under ordinary circumstances, but when Torment flares up, it becomes close to impossible. However, it does get easier the close to the ideal the Promethean gets. The moment they can resist the urge to be the monster they know they are and instead choose to be the human they strive to be, they are one step closer to overcoming it altogether.

The Ravages of Torment

Once a Promethean is overwhelmed by Torment, the Divine Fire dims and they stop striving towards being human. The monstrousity of their nature overtakes them, making them selfish, petty and lazy, completely under the influence of their dominant humours. Due to this, Torment varies from Lineage to Lineage. The actions they undertake under the influence of Torment are usually opposed to the Disquiet they inflict, causing them to get into great conflict with those they have inflicted with the Disquiet. On top of that, their Azoth doesn't burn at its full strength, making Transmutations harder to use. This makes the Promethean vulnerable to attacks.

The Torment is rampant for as many hours as the Promethean has Azoth, and once it's over, they find it hard to take action at all; the ravages of Torment leaves them drained and lacking motivation for an additional number of hours equal to the initial period of Torment. During this time, they will curse themselves, their creators and the entire world for what they did, regretting their actions and blaming themselves for not having been able to resist their impulses.

For more information on Lineage specific Torment, check each Lineage's individual page.

Sociology
Since Prometheans are (involuntarily) solitary creatures, beings who spend a vast majority of their time either in solitude on the road or shunned by society in cities, there isn't much in ways of a governing force or other institutions that might keep them in line.

One thing does binds them together, however; the longing for company, a wish to somehow find their own rightful place in the world where they will be accepted for who they are. It is a thing Prometheans do have in common with humanity as well, the fact that they deep down are social creatures. The quest for Mortality is ultimately one of companionship, and the other they create on the way towards it are often attempts at gaining acceptance from someone. But not even monsters can stand the company of monsters for long, and therefore many of them choose not to mingle with those of their own kind of too long.

However, Prometheans stem from human bodies, and as social beings they can't help but form cultures. These cultures are usually transmitted from individual to individual through absence; direct encounters are rare, but the ones who trod the path before they did usually leave records behind, often written in coded messages that are hard to find for those who don't know where to look (and harder still to understand for those that might stumble upon them without the proper knowledge to read them).

Prometheans that meet on the road (given that they don't see each other as enemies at a first glance) always trade news and stories from the long, windling road. Life for the Created is lonely, so they take any form of contact they can get, even if they are just short random encounters.

The Pilgrimage and the New Dawn
Something all Prometheans have in common is something they call the Great Work - the Pilgrimage they undertake from the moment they first wake up on the slab, which end goal is to attain a New Dawn; a human soul and human existence for themselves. The Promethean condition renders them isolated from companionship, which naturally leads to most of them seeking to escape their state of being and become truly alive. The tales of those fortunate few who have attained it and managed to retain their memories are spread like urban legends over the world, instilling new hope in those that have just started out. They cling to the possibility that it might happen for them, too, and even when they despair they attempt to hang on to this treasured dream with all their might.

Attaining their New Dawn would mean that the Promethean would be rid of the Disquiet that constantly follows in their wake. It would grant them a soul of their own, securing them a place in this world and (some Prometheans believe) in the next. These Prometheans-turned-humans are known as the Redeemed, and they are held in high esteem, as well as subject to deep-seethed envy.

The toughest question the Created face is not the "why" but the "how". How does one go about to gain this precious soul? What path must one take to achieve it? At what cost? There is no single answer to these questions; the path is individual to all Prometheans, and they must find it on their own. What might work for some might be inherently dangerous for others to even attempt, and for others still it might mean nothing at all. Prometheans are aware that on the path they set out on they will at times experience great epiphanies where they gain some relevant insight into what it means to be human. So they seek these moments actively, travelling far and wide across the earth in order to find them. Any small experience could hide a hint as to what mortality entails, so finding the ones which actually matters is hard work. It may take a lifetime - or more.

The key to the New Dawn is a force known as Vitriol (discussed above). It is what allows the Azoth to transform into a soul. Vitriol can't be manufactured; it can only be collected (or stolen, see Lacunae below) along the Pilgrimage. By reaching milestones, a Promethean can earn this distilled form of the Divine Fire and start their transformation.

What a milestone entails is quite hard to distinguish, as it differs from Promethean to Promethean. They are the sudden epiphanies the Created needs in order to properly understand the human nature on a deep level and, in doing so, turn human themselves. Milestones are not the study of humanity; they are the experience of humanity, that feeling deep in the gut or in the heart when you reach an understanding that changes everything you thought you knew. They are thus rare, but extremely important as they are what starts the transformation of the Azoth into something that might be called a soul. There is no set number of how many milestones a Promethean needs; one might only need a few before they reach their goals, whilst others might need twenty or twenty-five to get to the same understanding. Others still strive through endless milestones before finally succumbing as their Azoth burns out, unable to ever reach their New Dawn.

During the Pilgrimage, encountering others of their own kind occasionally happens. A number of customs have been formed to make these meet-ups easier on everyone. Among them are the concepts explained below; the Measure, the Ramble, the exchange of parting tokens and the usage of pilgrim marks.

The Measure
The first thing Prometheans do when they meet is that they stand at a distance, silently observing each other, reading off any notable features the other possesses before they make contact. Since Prometheans can see each other's disfigurements, they can distinguish Lineage from that. Prometheans that have suffered many episodes of Torment has a very distinct taint to their Azothic radiance, one that others of their kind can sense (and thus choose if they want to avoid them permanently). In doing this, they soak up each other's presence, essentially taking each others' measure.

During this initial meeting, the Promethean usually decides whether or not they are going to like the other person. If they find their Azothic radiance disturbing, they might superstitiously decide hat they are dangerous to be around, as if it was contagious and would adventure their own Pilgrimage.

The Measure has nothing to do with personalities. A Promethean might hate another Promethean based on their personality, but still find their presence acceptable during the Measure. They might even decide to stick together, even though they don't mesh, just in order to get ahead on the Great Work. If they don't synch well, they usually politely part ways.

The Measure is not a permanent judgement of the other. Two Prometheans who might have met before and disliked one another might have changed their minds the next time they meet, so long as the Azoth has changed. It is also not uncommon that one Promethean likes another's Azoth, whilst the feeling is not at all mutual.

The Ramble
Once the Measure is completed, the Promethean usually asks the other "What's your Ramble?" This essentially means "What's your story?", and is a polite way of asking them to tell about their Pilgrimage, their experience, and any stores they might have picked up on the way. The Promethean tradition is a highly oral one, and they think it's very important to grasp whatever chances they get to hear news and exchange experiences. The Ramble is often longwinded with a lot of backtracking on the storyteller's part, unless they are experienced or have a natural affinity for it. Some Prometheans tattoo their Ramble into their flesh to commemorate important events in their lives, usually milestones they have reached.

Once one's Ramble is complete, the other Prometheans begins. If there are more than two around, it is costumary to wait around until all have told their stories. It is not uncommon that they save one story for the next night, so that they can enjoy each other's company for one more day.

Rambles are the most common way urban legends and stories spread through the Promethean community. When Prometheans who have shared Rambles part ways, they often give each other parting tokens, gifts by which they can express their own identity and be remembered by. They are usually small trinkets, little more than trash (like bottle caps, or scraps of papers folded into figures). Prometheans who have been out on the road for a while often carry around multiple tokens they've received from others. They are often cherished as signs of friendship, and it's very frowned upon to steal or loot them from others and then try to pass them off as one's own. Rumours about such thieves spread fast, and the offenders are quickly rejected.

Pilgrim Marks
Whilst a vast majority of Promethean culture is oral, they have developed a written language based on various symbols, many of which originally had alchemical meaning. Those symbols are known as Pilgrim Marks, and they are left behind to leave information to other Prometheans that might pass through about the land they are about to enter into. These signs have spread around the world, and they may be found wherever there has been Prometheans passing through. It considered cruel by Creators not to teach them to their progeny.

Signs are much like Japanese Kanji or Chinese writing; each mark conveys concepts, and used in conjunctions with others they might gain another, significant meaning. They cannot convey complex stories, and are usually left as warning or tips; a sign saying "Pandoran" might be left to warn others not to wander further ahead, as there are dormant Pandorans ahead.

Humans stumbling upon signs can't make sense of them without context; they look like graffiti or random doodles. There are signs they can't even perceive as they are made with the Firebrand Transmutation, written with Pyros and only visible to Prometheans with a sense of detecting their presence.

The idea behind the Pilgrim Marks is a solid one of aid and community, but they also pose a threat. Pandorans (especially of the intelligent, cunning Sublimatus variety) can create their own, false marks to lead an unsuspecting Promethean in if they have learned them from a captured Promethean. Even if they can't create Firebrand marks, there's no way to know if they have forced a captive o write them for them.

Going to the Wastes
It is not uncommon for the stresses and dangers of the Pilgrimage to become too much to handle. When a Promethean feels this way and chooses to withdraw from society and stop on their journey ahead, it is known as 'going to the wastes'. By avoiding all contact with the outside world (including contact with other Created) and fleeing populated areas, the Promethean seeks to isolate themselves in their own respite. It might be a cave in a high mountain or an abandoned cottage in the woods, the most important thing is that it is inaccessible and remote. If a Promethean does this, their Azoth usually cools down over time and gets a bit easier to handle, allowing for them to resume their Pilgrimage once more

During this process, the Promethean must actively withdraw from all participation in the outside world, and they cannot use Transmutations. They become dormant, and in doing so their body ceases to "age" - the Fire don't consume them anymore, and they get a prolonged life cycle from doing this. Therefore, it's not uncommon for elder Prometheans to go to the wastes in order to gain some time to think of a new approach to attaining the New Dawn before it is too late.

Refinement
Until the Great Work, the Pilgrimage through which the Promethean hopes to gain a mortal soul, is ended, the work they do will always come out imperfect. How to go about perfecting their attempts at manufacturing something human out of the monstrous shape differs, and these different routes are known as Refinements.

Refinements could be viewed as a form of philosophy, certain beliefs the Prometheans following a specific path holds as to what is the right way to approach humanity and properly understand it. For as long as the Created have walked the earth, there have been different approaches to how to solve the problem of their incomplete natures, how to best gain a New Dawn. Each Refinement has a special core belief through which they believe they can get mortality. They are named after metals, and the Refinement's metal usually holds some symbolic meaning for the groups that practice that particular refinement. The aim is, of course to turn the imperfect Divine Fire into a real soul.

Depending on where they currently are on their Pilgrimage, a Promethean can practice different Refinements through the course of their life. The choice is never permanent, but when they practice one they much give themselves fully to that one particular, and therefore let go of the other ones. Switching is possible, but it takes some time to go from one to another - a little less if you have a teacher that is already practicing the new Refinement (in that case, it takes a bit over a week of study with the mentor), more if you do it on your own (roughly a month). In order to switch over, it is important that the prospect Promethean acts along the lines of the new Refinement's philosophy whilst their Azoth adjusts to the change.

There is one exception to this rule of thumb, and that is Stannum, the Refinement of Tin. Any Promethean can switch to it instantly simply by deciding so. The Azoth will immediately switch to the path of the Fury. The drawback is that it takes twice as long to transition out of Stannum and into a new Refinement if one should wish to do so. The agitation of the wrath and vengeance seeking takes some time to get out of the system.

These are the five Refinements that are the most common ones: There are also four less-common Refinements. There is one last Refinement, looked down upon and feared amongst Prometheans as it is a dangerous and immoral part to descend down.
 * Aurum:  The Refinement of Gold (Mortality). Those who chose the Refinement of Gold believe that by studying and imitating humans, they can better learn to be one and, perhaps, gain a soul in the process.
 * Cuprum:  The Refinement of Copper (Self). By isolating oneself and meditating, those that follow the path of Cuprum hope to achieve a better balance with nature and understand their place in creation.
 * Ferrum:  The Refinement of Iron (Corpus). By strengthening their bodies and exerting perfect control over it, the practitioners of Ferrum believe that a strong soul cannot exist without a strong vessel.
 * Mercurius:  The Refinement of Quicksilver (Pyros). Those who follow Mercurius study the nature of the Divine Fire itself. They believe that by learning to manipulate it, they can transcend to humanity.
 * Stannum:  The Refinement of Tin (Torment). In choosing the path of Stannum, Prometheans accept and embrace the pains of Troment and Disquiet, lashing out at others in vengeance. It's the easiest one to choose, and the hardest one to leave.
 * Aes:  The Refinement of Bronze (Aid). The Refinement of Aes focuses on helping others who seek to complete the Pilgrimage, hoping that by helping others they might find a path for themselves.
 * Argentum:  The Refinement of Silver (Mystery). By studying other denizens of the supernatural world, Argentum followers hope they can understand the process of turning inhuman so that perhaps they can learn to reverse it.
 * Cobalus:  The Refinement of Cobalt (Impurity). The study of imperfection, those who follow Cobalus seek to study the effects during Torment and Disquiet so that they can resolve these imperfections.
 * Plumbum:  The Refinement of Lead (Source). Followers of Plumbum believe that unless you know what you are right now, you can never change. They devote their time to studying the Promethean condition.
 * Centimani:  The Refinement of Flux. Those who follow the path of Centimani turn away from the goal of becoming human and embrace being monsters instead. Manipulating Pandorans and the dark forces of Flux, they are feared by the Promethean society since they are very formidable foes.

Lacunae
As has been established above, Vitriol is a substance that is utterly imperative for completion of the Pilgrimage. Therefore, it is also highly sought after. Pandorans can consume it, and some unscrupulous Prometheans might also attempt to steal it from others. This stealing of Vitriol from a Promethean is known as lacuna, because it literally creates gaps in the victim's experiences, making it harder for them to reach their goals. Vitriol stolen like this appear in form of an acidic plasm that is pulled out of the unwilling body of the victim.

A Pandoran steals Vitriol from the Promethean by tearing out their flesh and devouring it. A Promethean, however, has a more complex method. They need to be able to touch the victim, and the victim must be physically unable to put up resistance either by being restrained, unconscious or bound. The act takes ten minutes and leave the victim with a terrible sense of lose and emptiness.

Even attempting to perform lacunae is a terrible sin in the Created society. It is considered a crime, and there is no doubt that the victim is terribly violated by it. Well-adjusted Prometheans don't do these form of actions, as stealing Vitriol from another hinders them from completing their Pilgrimage. The act itself isn't enough to hinder the one perfoming the lacuna to be considered unworthy of their New Dawn, but it does cut it pretty close. If it is performed more than twice, it demands good, desperate reasons for it to be deemed somewhat understandable. Three or more, and the perpetrator has reached such a despicable state that they are seen as beyond salvation, and they are shunned completely by their kind.

Alchemical Pacts
Most Prometheans walk the path of the Pilgrimage on their own, only occasionally banding together with another to do something before eventually parting. However, there are exceptions to this rule. Some Prometheans prefer the company of other Created to the solitude of walking it alone, and they can form alchemical pacts with one another to create bonds that makes them stronger than if they had stood on their own. These groups are known as throngs, and each member in the group is marked with a Pyros Brand that symbolizes the pact they have entered.

Forming this pact costs Pyros. Once the Pyros is used to form the pact, the Azoth flares up and a symbol is burned into the throng members' bodies. If a new member wants to join, the pact needs to be reinforced, and they receive the same symbol. The symbols, much like Rorshach tests, are often ascribed meaning even when there is none.

Members of throngs can channel Pyros between one another, and it also takes away some of the Disquiet felt by the individuals so long as they are together. A band with mixed Lineages works better than one where all of them belong to the same; in fact, a band consisting solely (or almost solely) of Prometheans of the same Lineage actually makes the Disquiet effect worse, amplifying the effects it would have had.

The pact only lasts for as long as the Promethean wants. If they choose to leave, they can use Pyros to remove the brand. It can't be reversed, but there's nothing hindering them from rejoining at a later time given that the group will let them in again. The throng can also choose to cast out a member if all members agree to the action. If the outcast refuses to remove their own brand willingly, the others can dissolve it on their own. Once the brand is removed, all effects of being part of the pact are also removed.

Origins
Few things are so contested among supernatural races as where their forefathers came from - and yet, Prometheans find themselves in the unique position of knowing exactly from where they came - the demiurge. The demiurge’s hand wove the Divine Fire into a first Promethean of that Lineage, a Progenitor, and began the endless cycle of one damning the next. This ultimately lead to the creatures that walk the Earth today.

What the Prometheans cannot agree on is what drives them. The Divine Fire courses through their body, certainly, and some lend credence to the idea of the great being (though whether he was titan, deity, alien, or something else) colloquially known as Prometheus who brought it down to humans from the heavens - others argue nay, Pyros is a natural substance that has always been, and is vital to all life. Regardless, it is generally agreed upon that Prometheans are roughly as old as civilization - and that the first was Osiris, the oldest Lineage Progenitor.

The Cradle of Rebirth
Since the advent of organised religion, it has largely been held that there is something waiting for humans when they die; something on the other side that allows them to keep on existing in a world beyond. The idea, then, that a person could be brought back from this “other side” does not seem so far-fetched at all. This gave rise to many attempts in early human culture, but there were no successes - not until Isis and the Jews.

The first people of ancient Egypt, later venerated as gods, tell a very familiar story of brother-against-brother. Osiris, duplicitously murdered by his brother Set, was torn to pieces - pieces which his wife Isis gathered, put back together (minus his phallus, which is the basis for the stipulation of a missing piece in the Nepri), and submerged in water. Supposedly blessed by elder gods for Isis’ devotion to her husband, Osiris was raised from the water as a new man, come to walk the Earth again. The new Osiris, though appreciative of Isis’ gesture, assured the woman that he did not know her - that in fact he did not have any memories at all, and was quite sure that whoever he had been, he was no longer. And so while Isis wept, Osiris set out to know all that he could, starting a line of progeny that do likewise.

Spread of the Disease
Osiris was something of a confirmation to the ancient world - the dead could be brought back, if only one could have sufficient cause. (At least, that was the belief.) So others began to attempt to create others, in droves - and nearly all failed to create anything. Some unfortunate few, it is said, created ghastly and unholy creatures, worse even than the Prometheans they sought to make. Failure after failure made the man’s story a myth, and the myth legend. Osiris eventually faded into fable.

The later successes of humans, and the subsequent rise of two other Lineages, are not difficult to trace back through their stories: the Tammuz and the Galatea rose from Israel and Greece respectively.

While it is unknown to whom the achievement should be attributed, the Tammuz were either based upon, or were the basis for, the story of the golem. However, while the golem is said to be a man made of earth and stone, the truth is much stranger than fiction: the Tammuz, the “golem” of reality, is a human buried in the earth, who must dig their way out. It is unknown who the demiurge of the first golem was; what is known is that the first golem’s name was Tammuz, and that in his master’s mission he was indefatigable and would stop for nothing, no one. Tammuz’ unyielding stamina marked his children, to the point that those who manage to gain the loyalty of a Tammuz possess a tool that may be markedly more potent than any other supernatural race extant.

In Greece, the story of King Pygmalion and his wife is also well known. The story, as Ovid relates it, is of the sculptor-king making a statue so beautiful and perfect that he fell in love with it, to the point that he became obsessive - spending time with the statue such that he rarely ate, barely slept, and prayed to the gods that she be brought to life. When she was, it is said they were married and bore children.

Many among the other Lineages, however, contest that for Galatea to have been a statue brought to life is absurd - Prometheans are made of flesh, and only flesh. Suggesting that something that could not be alive in the first place should become life manifest is ridiculous. Instead, they suggest, Pygmalion became obsessed with a maid he thought perfect, but could not have for his own; in the rage of her rejection he killed her. Such was his grief at his actions that his Divine Fire swelled enough to rekindle her own. Alternate stories tell that he became obsessed with the idea of a perfect woman, and in his desperation at not finding one took it upon himself to create one, murdering women who had a specific body part he admired and stealing that part. Piece by bloody piece, he built the woman of his dreams, and made her his wife.

In either case, the natural outcome was inevitable. Disquiet overcame his obsessive love, driving him and everyone else in his castle mad with desire and jealousy for her. Galatea, hated by her husband and everyone else, fled from her home. Her children do much the same; overcome by their beauty, not a soul fails to desire them, and not a soul fails to hate them for it.

The last of the ancient progenitors, alphabetically if not chronologically, is Ulgan. An ancient Siberian villager, Ulgan, was chosen by the shaman Tengri to be made into a spirit-slave: a servant of full body but without a soul, made of a person whose ruling bodily element was spirit. To make it so, Tengri had to send Ulgan into the Twilight, and allow the hostile spirits there to tear Ulgan’s spirit to pieces and take it away. Some part of this, however, backfired - when Tengri went to raise Ulgan as his slave, Ulgan rose still a free man - and strangled Tengri where he stood, before submitting the man to the same torment the shaman had made the would-be slave suffer just moments before. In doing so, the demiurge from just moments ago became the first in the Lineage of the Riven.

Modern Monsters
With the ever-expanding civilizations of the last few centuries, the Prometheans have suffered a huge decrease in places they may go to avoid persecution and detection. As such, they have been forced to take on roles more constantly active in humanity, more ingrained into society in greater constancy than perhaps a Promethean should or would like.

Civilisation has also given rise to machine dominance - technology beyond anything the demiurges of old could possibly imagine. One man, Victor Frankenstein, took that power out to its fullest capacity - the ability to not only heal but to create life itself. Stitching together resilient parts of resilient corpses, Victor built himself a man, and animated him with lightning - a substance that has long been known for a boon to Prometheans, but on this particular occasion damned an entirely new set of creatures by bringing his own Creature life.

This Creature, also known as Frankenstein’s Monster, learned of the world more readily than most of the other progenitors, yet its learning was dark and vile - its became the most violent path of all Progenitors, filled with a brutal strength and a righteous rage, after failing its attempts at peace. In this, the Frankenstein find their righteous rage and incredible strength, as well as their element of fire.

Prometheus Ex Machina
Whispers are extant, in this day and age - whispers of “homo ex machina,” man out of machine, that Frankenstein’s experiments (some claim) have built the basis for. It is said that advances in artificial intelligences have set the bar for Prometheans that are not human. These are walking faux-men of steel and wires, who hold a facade just like any other Promethean; however, when their disfigurements show, they are well and truly just robots.

This would, of course, shake the foundations not only of the Promethean condition but of life and existence - if anyone, anything, could learn to feel, to be human, then nothing about humanity would make it unique. It would simply be a goal attainable to all things; lessons learned and existence played out. This is, however, unknown - none have seen these “Machini,” only postulated at their possibility based on the vague idea that humanity one day may generate a true artificial intelligence.

More pressing, disturbing, even frightening tales than this exist - stories of true Children of the Atom, of demiurges that have harnessed the power of the atom to create a bastardized Divine Fire and raise those who had been irradiated. Like tales of the Machini, these are unfounded legends - one traveler passed them on to another, who passed them to another, and by the time they reached the ears of anyone dependable they had become so broken and warped that the truth, if it was ever there, is long gone. All that remains is, as the former possibility to this, the frightening idea that technology’s inevitable spiral may afflict humanity with that which was not meant to be human.

Angels and Daemons
The Ramble, from one Created to another, is what imparts the tales of the Machini and the Children of the Atom, because they are interesting anecdotes, fascinating conversation pieces. Yet there are monsters, things out there that even the most learned, powerful Prometheans are afraid to speak the name of - things that make the maligned Pandorans seem as child’s play by comparison. These are, to the Prometheans, the Qashmal - though they are known by many other names.

Beings seemingly made of pure Pyros, the qashmal are intensely powerful creatures whose construction of the Divine Fire is so complete and focused that Disquiet cannot factor in; mortals and Prometheans alike often stand in awe unless they are interrupted for quite some time at the presence of qashmallim. The appearance of a qashmal heralds either aid or hindrance, as these are the primary functions they appear to serve - those present for aid are known as Elpidos, or Angels for their often taken-on angelic appearance, where the Lilithim focus obstruction or destruction, and (usually) take on the terrible forms of Daemons.

Most events on a massive that have been witnessed by the Created tell of the Qashmal at the center, pulling the strings and making them happen. This has been reported time and again - as has the massive physical, magical, and political strength they have. Qashmal have been seen by stray, back-alley Created as exiting the body of a human, flying away to do gods know what, gods know where. Could these occasional stories, told by a race so kept from humans and human events, be true?

Of course, to any other race the Qashmallim would not be seen as such - they are angels and demons, manifestations or servants of some greater being or beings. While they seem attracted to Prometheans often, this may only be because the Prometheans can feel a fire within them - burning either intense or hateful.

A second, less powerful but perhaps more distressing kind of demon is known to the Created - those who have not only abandoned their Pilgrimage, but turned away from all that is good to embrace the ways of monsters. To hear it told, they are theCentimani, for the hundred-handed guardians of Tartarus in Greek legend. Their mission is to exploit the Promethean mutability for all it is worth, learning from the Pandorans and becoming like them - learning to steal not only Pyros, but Azoth and even Vitriol from those on the Pilgrimage to warp into tools of horrific chaos. They are the rebelling and lost, and rarely if ever find their way back to the Path they abandoned.