Kult in Space - the Void at the Centre of All Existence

 

 

Science lied to us, wittingly or not, about planetary cores consisting of super-heavy molten minerals and metals. In Truth, as we have found on every single world we visited - and our own Earth as well, once we learned how to look for it - there is a Black Hole at the centre of every planet. 

And unknown to most, fiercely kept from the public, since the knowledge itself heralds nothing but existential dread and raving madness, it is the same Black Hole we find in all of them. 

Meta-scientists have since figured out that that's also where gravity comes from - it is merely a physical manifestation of the inescapable pull of oblivion itself. Pulling us ever downwards, inwards, into Nothingness. 

But, you may ask, what about the Black Holes we first observed? The ones out there in space?
There used to be planets around them, too. Those were the worlds where Achlys has already won.

 

 

 

 

 

Disturbing Discovery

 

Let's face it: We've all been musing about Kult in Space at some point or other, haven't we?
Most people immediately associate the idea with space-horror classics such as Hellraiser IV or Event Horizon... but here, Kraetyz shows that a possible take-off point for a Kultish campaign that is revolves around space travel can also be... much closer to home, as it were:

In 2025, NASA finally sends a team to revisit the original 1969 moon landing site. A trail of footsteps is found that goes off into the distance, classic moon leaps due east. In one of the larger craters, the tracks lead them to Neil Armstrong's body. Mummified in his space suit, he looks like he's been dead for 56 years. With the entire event being live sttreamed, there is no chance to conceal the disturbing discovery from the world.

Why is it there? And who or what was it that came back to Earth?  

 

(by Kraetyz)

 

 

 

For more Kraetyan goodness, be sure to check out his blog, Beyond Elysium. It has loads of good stuff, ranging from Actual Play reports, to explorations of the Kult Tarot cards, to mechanical considerations of PbtA and K:DL - truly there is something awesome for every Kultist to discover on there!

Space, the Final Illusion. These are the transgressions of the starship Kraeburney. Its sixty-six-year mission: To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly see through Veils that no man has seen through before!

 

 

 

The Pipe

This one is brought to you by Sølvkre, a good friend of mine from the Kult:Elysium discord group, who took this photograph while taking a stroll through the borderlands one day, and wrote the below story inspired by it.
I thought it was eminently Kultish, and with his permission may now share it with you:

* * *

He was not well versed in the particulars of flora that made up the moist green film that had grown up where the water ran down the concrete wall. Nor did he care much. The water trickled out of a rusty metal pipe, a little over an inch wide, and had endowed the surface of the wall with a multitude of colors and textures before it splashed into a small pool formed by years of erosion. It had rained for several days in a row now, and the water gushed out of the pipe as from the urinary tract of some shameless slut. Illuminated by his halogen flashlight the water reflected strange hypnotic patterns on the walls of the small room. An empty space left behind by urban growth, disused and hidden, but nonetheless an artifact of human aspirations. He let his index finger run along the edge of the pipe's opening. While it had probably once been smooth it was now serrated and uneven with a layer of rust. Further in, the surface felt smoother, even delicately organic, lubricated as it was by oily residues transported through the pipe by the water. He turned the flashlight off, and pocketed it. In complete darkness he could no longer see the pipe, so he had to feel his way with both hands; his sense of kinesthesia somewhat hindered by the lack of sight. He found and gripped the pipe, and leaned forwards. Carefully. He stopped to take in the sweet odors of decay carried by the water before he stuck his tongue into the hole. At first carefully probing, and then with more conviction. He licked with growing enthusiasm as the water covered his face, ran into his mouth, dripped on his coat and further down onto his shoes. He forced his tongue deeper into the narrow hole and let his lips envelop the protuberance, feeling the metal scrape against his teeth.The sharp edges of the pipe opened several small cuts in his mouth where rusty particles mated with his hemoglobin to impregnate his body with the consciousness of the city up there. Rat feces, dislodged pieces of diseased animals of various sorts, urine from a drunkard two blocks away and nitrogen oxides from a thousand cars mixed in his mouth. His pelvis gyrated slowly against the wall as he worked his orbicularis oris around the pipe. Grime, metal, rust and blood. He held every conceivable secret of the city in his mouth and it was much too much for a single mind to process. He threw up several times. On the wall, on the floor and on his clothes. He was entirely spent, and slumped down against the wall behind him. Still in darkness. He was too exhausted to turn the flashlight back on. He needed to sit for a while and let the cold air remind him what he was. An animal with futile aspirations of becoming ... He didn't know what. The sound of water digging ever deeper into the little pool reverberated through the chamber as if nothing had happened. The room and the walls were entirely indifferent to him. 

* * *

 

Sølvkre

 

 

 

The Oasis at Finger Rocks

Once again I got inspired by an image that was shared on the Discord group Kult: Elysium. This one was made by user rosedragon, a talented and incredibly prolific visual artist whose works can be enjoyed here: https://www.deviantart.com/rosedragoness

This picture just spoke to me on a deep level. I sensed there was a story in there somewhere. So I sat down to look at it for a while, and wrote one of my shred fiction pieces for it.

  

"When wandering Limbo, and travelling through dreams of loneliness, corrosion, or unfulfilled cravings, one may well find themselves unexpectedly expelled from one of them - as it happens - and stumbling out here, into the Desert of Desolation.

Nothing here but thirst and seeking, and the occasional, yet ever-crumbling spot of poisonous hope. Such as the Oasis at Finger Rocks. Its clear waters are precious in this lifeless waste, soothing scorched throats - but you should never drink too much. All too soon, if you do, the oily sludge murking its depths will well up to despoil the shallow layers of clear, wholesome liquid on top. 

Many a dream wanderer has fallen to that place's treacherous toxicity, yet no bodies or even skeletons are ever found laying next to that pool. Some say the poison affects their minds such that they are compelled to plunge themselves into the waters - their mortal remains becoming decomposed and sinking down as murky particles, themselves renewing the murderous nethersludge they so foolishly partook of. 

For me, it's different however. Permanently banished to Limbo, with no physical body back home in my bed to wake up to, I inevitably ended up here of course, as so many others do. But having been marked by the dark powers long ago, and become more infernal machine than biological man ever since, I crave the very oils and venoms of this place for sustenance. The clear water would corrode my gears and dissolve my filter-valves, killing me more surely than the heat and exhaustion. 

Fortunately, the hose has long become a fixed part of me, permanently fused to the mechanical mask where my face once used to be - so long ago, in the dimly-remembered life I led before this new existence I must now endure..."

The Lake

Here is another picture, this one posted by user Gabe on the Kult - Elysium Discord server.
I captioned it with what I thought must be the story behind it.



 "Even as a little kid, when I would feel bad, I would like to go stand by the shore of the lake and envy my mirror image down below the waves. I always wanted to be where it was, down there where its quiet and peaceful and the worst thing that happens to you is that the wind ripples up the surface and you can't see out for a short little while. 

I never realized that when I would finally go down there, I wouldn't replace it - I would join it. Now there's two of us down here and none of us up there any more. I've always wanted a brother... but now I have something even better!"

The Baron's Bastard Daughter

Here is a picture that user junneh posted on the Kult - Elysium Discord server.





The question was brought up what the hell might be going on there, so I opened my senses to the Truth beyond the Veil, let my mind drift through the Abyss of Time, and discovered the only logical explanation.

* * *

Many would have thought the baron's bastard daughter utterly mad for her vicious endeavors - but her father sensed there might just be a spark of promise behind her depraved ramblings and murderous desires. Had it not, after all, been his own late mother who had spoken the prophecy in her dying hours? And now his illegitimate offspring reminded him so much of her ever since she had come of age... 

"There will be born a babe of man, who shall not break when smitten with hammers and shall not scorch when kissed by flames. This child shall be the second coming of our lord and saviour, and those who find and rear it as their own shall know much blessings, and be gifted with wisdoms beyond the scope of mortal men." 

 What could it hurt, the baron thought. Children were many in his realm, and more would always yet be born. And if she should, indeed, find the one... So he closed his ears against the tiny screams echoing from her chamber daily, and sent out his knights anew, to fetch more newborns from the lands. She would soon be out of babes again, and could develop an insufferable temper if not allowed to pursue her sacred destiny. Just like mother always had...