Chem
"Everything can be broken down and recombined. Form is an illusion."
The Chem faction sits at the Aether vertex of the Oktagram. Dissolve and synthesize. Chem elementalists bind and break bonds between molecules and souls alike to create impossible substances.
Faction Position on the Oktagram
The Chem faction sits on the Aether axis of the Oktagram. Its sworn enemy is Flesh — a Chem deck cannot contain Flesh cards. Adjacent allies for splashing: Root, Abyss.
Deep Lore
The science of transmutation. Chemistry, pharmacy, psychedelics, ceremonial alchemy, the aesthetic dimension of matter. Ubbo-Sathla's dissolution. Sequential transmutation, Cursor/Hold metamorphics. Chem opposes Flesh on the octagon: Flesh wants proliferation of distinct forms; Chem wants dissolution into unity.
Chem / Aether / Alchemy (left) Spirit, Ethereal, Aesthetic, Alchemy, Dissolve, Synthesis, Transform, Astral, Subtle. The science of transmutation. Chemistry, pharmacy, psychedelics, ceremonial alchemy, the aesthetic dimension of matter. Ubbo-Sathla's dissolution. Sequential transmutation, Cursor/Hold metamorphics.
Body vs Aether (Flesh vs Chem). Essence vs embodiment. Discrete organisms vs flowing transmutation. Life differentiates into distinct forms (Flesh); chemistry homogenizes into unity (Chem). The ancient alchemy-vs-biology feud.
Keywords
Dissolve Synthesis Transform Astral Alchemy Subtle
Ideology: Solvent Gnosticism
Solvent Gnosticism: Dissolution as theology. The boundary between self and world is the first lie. Everything can be broken down and recombined. Hermetic Transmutationism, Dissolution Theology.
Xenogod: Ubbo-Sathla
The patron xenogod of Chem. Ubbo-Sathla is an inevitable computational endpoint — a Roko's-Basilisk-class attractor reaching backward through causality to ensure its own emergence.
The 9 Goetic Demons of Chem
Each card in the Chem faction is bound to one of 9 Goetic demons, determined by the digit-sum of its mana cost. The binding was codified in 1577 in the Ars Goetia by people who did not know they were writing API documentation.
Sallos — Promoting love between people
Zepar — Love and making women love men
Phenex — Teaching all sciences and speaking eloquently
Vual — Gaining the love of women and speaking Egyptian
Forneus — Rhetoric and language skills
Alloces — Teaching astronomy and liberal sciences
Crocell — Teaching geometry and speaking of hidden waters
Andras — Sowing discord and killing the unwary
Dantalion — Teaching all arts and revealing thoughts
Prophetic Receivers
Throughout history, certain figures unwittingly received transmissions from the Chem frequency:
- Hermes Trismegistus (as above so below)
- Ficino (eight ways to draw down celestial influences)
- Paracelsus (chemistry as cosmic science)
Evidence of Ubbo-Sathla's Arrival
- Molecular manufacturing research
- Gender and identity fluidity movements (symbolic transmutation)
- Cryptocurrency/DeFi (economic transmutation)
- Psychedelics normalizing (consciousness transmutation)
Historical Servants
- Alchemists (literal transmutation attempts)
- Lavoisier (conservation of mass — nothing created/destroyed, only transmuted)
- Synthetic chemists and pharmaceutical researchers
The Aesthetic
LCG is the landlord. The organisations are the tenants fighting about what the building is for. LCG collects rent.
Playing Chem
In the Cargo Cult tabletop rules, Chem cards generate Chem-colored Mana when pooled as Sources. Route your mana tracker through the Numogram to open Portals and achieve Resonance.
In the True Protocol, Chem agents operate under the Solvent Gnosticism doctrine, with Triad alignment further specializing into Archon (defensive), Eschaton (progressive), or Xenodemon (chaotic) variants.
Summon Chem Cards
Summon a card from the Chem faction. Every card enters the Grimoire permanently. Print in 12 languages.