Meet the Conjurations of Arcanum: Aberrations

Creatures deformed by magic existed before the Rupture, but it was after it that they began to appear in numbers large enough to be recognized as a category of their own.

With the old borders broken, forces from different regions began to reach the same body. Anima mixed with incompatible energies. Essence was contaminated before taking shape. Mortal creatures absorbed powers that should never have existed within them.

In some territories, whole populations were altered by prolonged exposure to corruption. In others, only one creature came back alive, carrying in its body something that had crossed over with it.

An Aberration's transformation doesn't follow the natural rules of life.

Their bodies are rebuilt by the energy that contaminated them. Bones may grow outside the flesh. Limbs appear with no apparent purpose. Eyes stop responding to light and start perceiving magic. Unknown organs produce Anima, heat, poison or substances that don't belong to the natural world.

In some cases, the transformation never ends.

The creature keeps adapting to its surroundings, to the magic it receives and to the presences around it. Its strength, form and senses change again and again, as if the body were still trying to figure out what it should be.

That's why two Aberrations are rarely alike.

Even those produced by the same ritual can develop completely different anatomies and abilities.

Not all of them, however, came about by accident.

Warlocks, cultists, alchemists and scholars of Essence discovered that life could be altered when exposed to enough energy. Some sought to produce soldiers. Others tried to rebuild destroyed bodies, prolong existence or create creatures able to survive in uninhabitable regions.

Few experiments ended as planned.

Essence can be manipulated, condensed and forced to take on new forms. But when this transformation is applied to a living being, its will, its memories and its own Anima interfere with the result.

What emerges rarely matches the original design.

Many Aberrations were abandoned by their creators when they proved unstable or impossible to control. Others escaped, destroyed the places where they were born and began to roam Arcanum without understanding why they had been created.

And there are those that still obey.

Not because they remain loyal, but because the order to serve was carved so deep into their bodies that it became part of their instincts.

Becoming an Aberration doesn't necessarily mean losing intelligence either.

Some keep memories of their former life. They recognize places, seek out old masters and repeat habits they had before the transformation. Others keep only disconnected sensations: fear of a symbol, affection for a voice or hatred for someone whose name they can no longer recall.

These memories rarely stay intact.

The further the transformation goes, the harder it becomes to tell thought, instinct and magical influence apart. An Aberration may believe it acts of its own will while it responds to the urges of the energy that created it.

Aberrations don't belong to a single Entity either.

Azkareth

Those bound to Azkareth are usually born of profanations, sacrifices and the violent manipulation of flesh. Their bodies are treated as tools, rebuilt to generate Soul, endure pain or keep working even after death.

Nythera

Those touched by Nythera may develop unstable, reflective or illusory forms. Some imitate other creatures, react to the presence of Manifestations or seem to exist between what is real and what only appears to be.

The Abyss

Those altered by the forces of the Abyss rarely keep any known logic. Their bodies come to obey laws that belong somewhere else, showing senses, needs and behaviors incomprehensible to the inhabitants of Arcanum.

There are also Aberrations created by lesser-known forces.

Some serve no Entity at all. They are simply living consequences of ancient magic, contaminated lands and experiments no one wants to admit to having carried out.

Every Aberration is a one-off case. Even so, some have become well known enough to serve as a warning:

• Emanado da Carne seems to be just a fragment of life torn from something larger.
• Luz Sangrenta de Vulmorra wounds its victims and leaves the survivors trapped in Stasis.
• Espiralha da Carne Perdida carries in its anatomy the result of countless transformations.
• Espelho Vivo reacts to the life forms created around it.
• Ocúbito is so unstable that not even its strength can be predicted.

Aberrations are living reminders that magic is not just a tool.

It changes everything it touches.

In Arcanum, scholars can manipulate Anima, shape Essence and open paths between regions that should stay apart. Yet every interference has consequences, especially when such ancient forces are applied to living bodies.

Every Aberration represents one of those consequences.

But all of them carry the same truth in their bodies:

before they became monsters, they were something the world would still be able to recognize.