Guide to the Immortals

group of innocents without any subterfuge (like quartering
or devouring the babies of a village or raping vestal virgins
of all the temples in the region, or even ravish and burn
alive the mothers of a community, etc.). The deed must be
of a unique kind, potentially completed over an extended
period, and requires the sacrifice of at least 500 victims.
Trial: The Destroyer must succeed in permanently
destroying an artefact of Thought, having had it made by
exponents of that Sphere and then having tortured and
otherwise humiliated them.
Task: The Destroyer must find a Major artefact of the
Sphere of Entropy, which must have been lost or be held
by a group of guardians (often members of a rival or
opposing cult). The candidate must recover the artefact
with brute force (openly facing his enemies without deceit
or subterfuge) and kill whoever attempts to stop him. If he
had the aid of allies in completing his Task, once he is in
possession of the artefact he must also eliminate them
(with only the exception of his successor, if he’s present -
see Testimony for why).
Testimony: The Destroyer must find and train a
successor who is dedicated to the same ideals as he is, and
this successor must gain at least 12 levels whilst in the
service of the aspiring Immortal. The Destroyer must treat
his pupil in the most brutal way possible, having taken
care to raise him in his traditions of violence and cruelty,
even while preventing his being killed by anyone (though
life is the only requirement, the successor may become
disabled due to injuries etc), until he is not able to stand
him. In any case the successor must not be removed and if
necessary must be made a slave in order to constantly
accompany the Destroyer in his exploits; if the candidate
should kill him before the Testimony is completed or he
isn’t able to avoid the death of his successor, he must find
a new pupil and start afresh with him.
It’s a further task of the candidate to create an item of
legendary destructive power that corrupts its user,
increasing the influence of entropy in the world. The
Destroyer must then have this item fall into the hands of
his successor, and when he uses it against the candidate in
order to usurp his position, the Destroyer must liquidate
his disciple in a spectacular and painful manner in front of
many witnesses. The candidate isn’t allowed to create an
item that immediately causes the death of its user: to the
contrary, it must be made in a way that his disciple can
come to know of all the items powers and is able to use it
against him. It’s not important if the successor uses allies
in the battle or faces the Destroyer alone: the candidate
must take part in the encounter without any outside aid,
facing everyone else before killing the successor.
MANIPULATOR
This is the path that opposes that of the Polymath and
in general the Sphere of Matter. Those people who follow
this path deceive and betray anyone to attain their desires,
adore manipulating people and infringing the rules for
personal gratification, and by this activity attract the
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attention of the entropic powers as a perfect representative
of chaos. Whoever successfully completes the path of the
Manipulator will be obsessed by the idea of corrupting
and destroying order and Matter (thus becoming a sworn
enemy of that Sphere in particular).
Quest: During his Task (see below) the Manipulator
must be accompanied by at least 4 characters, each of these
must belong to one of the following classes: Fighter (or
Monk or Paladin), Cleric (or Druid), Wizard (or Sorcerer
or Bard) and Thief (or Barbarian or Ranger). His
companions should be no higher than five levels more
than the character. During the task the Quest of the
Manipulator is to obtain the confidence of his
companions, saving then betraying them one after the
other and causing their deaths. The betrayal must be
noticed by each of the victims at the moment of his death,
in such a way that the Manipulator gets enjoyment from
his deed; the Quest is achieved when the pre-selected
fourth victim dies.
Trial: After having achieved his Quest and completed
his Task, the Manipulator must seek a candidate to
Immortality in one of the other four Spheres and join him
as an ally, pretending help but in reality hindering his
mission. The aim of the Trial is to corrupt the soul of the
aspiring Immortal, making him fall to Entropy or
manipulating events in such a way that his attempt to
become Immortal ultimately fails. This manipulation
must ultimately cause the death of the candidate, which
cannot happen by the direct action of the Manipulator
(usually the Manipulator is able to lead his victim to
suicide or is able to get him killed by an adversary by
failing to aid him at the most critical moment). If the
attempt fails the Manipulator can try again as long as his
victim doesn’t unmask him: in this case he is forced to
abandon the candidate and must find another.
Task: The Manipulator must recover an artefact of the
Sphere of Entropy to use during his Testimony,
preventing it from being destroyed until he becomes
Immortal. If the artefact becomes lost or ruined, the
Manipulator must find another and keep it until the
moment of his ascension. It isn’t necessary that he always
carries it with him, but he must find the means to use it in
his Testimony (he can naturally also use it at other times if
the need arises).
Testimony: The Manipulator must complete a
corrupting deed of epic proportions, like replacing the
official creed of a nation with an entropic religion, creating
or using an artefact that corrupts (physically or
psychologically) at least 1,000 people, and so on, in a way
that increases the influence of entropy in the world. This
deed must be of such extent that it attracts all possible
adventurers drawn from the ranks of order and of Good
that act in the region, in a fashion that leads to him having
to directly face them whilst completing his work.