User blog:Holokami/The Nightmare Cult

[Still a Work in Progress]

The Nightmare Cult was the cause of the second war of the Psychic Wars. The were a dark and mysterious cult who devoted themselves to serving "the Nightmare", who was believed have been a rogue Crafter that awoke due to the efforts of the cult.

Introduction
The Nightmare Cult is believed to have been founded as early as ancient Rome, as "the Nightmare's" whispers began to take the minds of a few. Remaining highly secretive, and utilizing telepathic and empathic abilities, as well as even telekinesis, they channeled the negative forces of the world to "the Nightmare".

"The Nightmare" promised it's followers eternal happiness, and the power to change the world. It's earliest followers believed that by channeling negative forces to "the Nightmare", they were making the world a better place. All the while, the Nightmare was growing in power without having to lift a finger.

Involvement in History
The Nightmare Cult has only been mentioned once or twice in ancient texts, and they often appear involved with events that lead to losses of life, through either war or other means. There is even a belief that it was the Nightmare Cult that purposefully spread the Black Death, so they could harvest the negative emotions, and one ex-cultist even claimed they were harvesting the souls of those that died.

The Nightmare Cult has often clashed in secret with various religious groups, typically the most popular ones at the time.

Structure
There are two distinct hierarchies in the Nightmare Cult, the Cultist and the Nightmares.

The Cultists
The Cultists are like the preachers, worshipers, and so forth, of the Nightmare. Under the guidance of the Nightmare, they banded together, and are the backbone of the entire organisation. It's said that some cultists are often driven insane, or become apathetic, because of the forces they deal with.

It's the cultists job to inflict harm and misery on others, and channel negative forces to the Nightmare. Normal cultists typically get involved in acts such as physical violence, murder, insults, racism, hate crimes, slander, and even rape, all to spread pain and misery, to generate the food for their dark master.

The more the cultists practice these acts in the name of the Nightmare, the Nightmare gives them power, addictive power, making them commit these acts more in a downward spiral. It's said that some cultists lose who they are and become mindless monsters, hellbent on criminal acts.

The more sophisticated cultists, such as the wealthy, and ranking cultists, often have ties to the economy and politics, allowing them to create greater disasters and misery.

In more recent history, the Cultists follow a strict hierarchy, which is similar to that of the church. They are lead by the Patriarch, and followed by five Archbishops, with a number of Bishops following under them.

Nightmares
Not to be confused for the mysterious dark being, "the Nightmare", nightmares are the monsters the Nightmare Cult unleashed on the world during the Psychic Wars, under the orders of Patriarch Julius VII. Nightmares were created using Julius' psychic power, the will of the Nightmare, and negative forces, to create powerful monsters.

Nightmares are generally mindless beasts that follow the orders of the Archbishops and the Patriarch, as well as the Nightmare. After harvesting an simply enormous amount of power over the course of the first psychic war, the Nightmare Cult unleashed their nightmares on the world.

These nightmares proved to be unbeatable for two reasons:
 * They absorbed psionic, inversic, and negative forces to bolster their own might- to the point they could replicate as well.
 * As long as the one targeting them was thinking about them, or even subconsciously acknowledging them, they were absolutely invulnerable and protected from anything.
 * This power even extended to unmanned drones: if the person who ordered the drone was thinking about them during any moment of the drone's flight and assault, even the drone wouldn't do anything against them.

Second Psychic War
The Nightmare Cult, under the leadership of Patriarch Julius VII, were the ones who initiated the events that lead to the Second Psychic War, or the "Nightmare War".

[WIP]