Abyssal Tome

The Abyssal Tome is the central religious text of the Order of the Event Horizon, a cult of Blackhole worshippers.

Written by Event Horizon’s founder and leader, the dhraktyl sorcerer Necronyx, the Tome is an ever-evolving, living document, which has been bound and re-bound many times. What began as a series of astronomical observations of a previously unseen phenomenon – a void greater and darker than anything observed before – became a sprawling, chaotic text filled with cryptic diagrams, star maps and dark prophecies, with margins covered in ominous whispers and nightmarish depictions of Necronyx’s visions. To some, the Abyssal Tome is a text documentating a dhraktyl’s descent into madness – but to all who hear its revelations, it is a guide.

For the enlightened members of Event Horizon, the Abyssal Tome is indeed a guide to Blackhole: his creed, his revelations, his will and his ambitions. Within its leather-bound pages is contained the truth of Galaxy and her diseased universe. It sheds light on the path that one must take, in order to prove their faith to the Devourer, and describes the Oblivion that awaits those who displease him.

Although the original chapters were written in ink by his own hand, Necronyx has since bound himself ritualistically to the book, and his mind is now one with the Abyssal Tome, his every thought transcribed, and its pages are written in blood. Over centuries, this has taken its toll on Necronyx’s body and mind. Little remains of the once-esteemed astronomer who discovered new worlds and named constellations. His spirit has become forever compelled to serve Blackhole, to relay his dark visions and the whispers from the void.

There are no copies of the Abyssal Tome, and only Event Horizon members who have achieved the rank of ‘voidwalker’ may read the original, which is heavily-guarded and kept under lock and key in a secure, secret location. As they demonstrate their worth and ascend Event Horizon’s ranks, cultists are drip-fed the revelations contained within through sermons, rather than reading it for themselves. Indoctrination into the order is a slow and carefully-managed process, creating a hierarchy based on knowledge of the Abyssal Tome’s secrets. Only the voidwalkers know the full extent of its doctrine.

Though the Abyssal Tome has been re-bound many times, its cover looks much the same as it always has: rough black leather, branded with the ominous Eye of Blackhole. Its pages are written on vellum, with the older chapters now weathered and mottled by mould, but its revelations, etched in the blood of its author, burn as brightly today as they ever have.