Unconventional Threats: A Report on Factional Response Doctrines
Nexus City Watch Special Assessment, compiled by Analyst Veda
Analyst's Foreword: Standard doctrine addresses the three great factions. This report details the specialized protocols for threats that do not field armies: Qliphothic Infestations and incursions from the void of Da'at. Understanding these protocols is vital for any situation where conventional tactics fail and reality itself becomes the battlefield.
1. The Adamant Concord: the sanitization protocol
The Concord treats metaphysical threats as they do all disorder: with systematic eradication. Their response is handled by a specialized branch of their Inquisitors known as the Purifiers.
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Doctrine vs. Qliphoth: Views Infestation as a conceptual plague to be sterilized, not a monster to be killed. The goal is containment and purification.
- Tactic: The Aegis Lock. A multi-layered quarantine zone of Binah wards that block both physical passage and concepts specific to the Qliphah (e.g., 'Hunger,' 'Deception').
- Tactic: Conceptual Excision. Gevurah Judicators enter the lock to perform Conceptual Severance, cutting the Avatar's connection to its Husk and environment.
- Tactic: Reality Anchoring. Hod Scribes reinforce the "source code" of reality within the lock, creating a hostile, unchanging environment that starves the Qliphothic entity.
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Doctrine vs. Da'at: Views the Abyss as a hole in reality that cannot be destroyed, only contained permanently.
- Tactic: The Panopticon Ward. Constructs a permanent fortress-prison around a Da'at incursion. This masterpiece of Binah magic is dedicated to the single law: "This Place Does Not Exist," removing the location from all forms of perception to wall off the void.
2. The Flowing Garden: the cauterizing bloom
The Garden has no formal institution for such threats. Their response is organic, coalescing around a powerful individual who rises to the challenge. These ad-hoc leaders are sometimes called Tide-Breakers. Their methods are dangerous, heroic, and have a terrifyingly high mortality rate.
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Doctrine vs. Qliphoth: Views the Qliphoth as a perversion of life, to be fought with an overwhelming wildfire of vitality.
- Tactic: The Life-Flood. A powerful Chesed Life-Warden unleashes a torrent of pure life energy, creating an environment so fertile that the parasitic Husk energy is drowned out and starved.
- Tactic: Passion's Anchor. A Netzach Champion's indomitable passion acts as a psychic anchor, shielding allies from the psychological horror and conceptual drain of a Qliphothic zone.
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Doctrine vs. Da'at: The official stance is to flee, but legends speak of heroes attempting to "fill" the void.
3. The Way of the Middle Pillar: the harmonious intervention
The Way sees these threats not as enemies to be destroyed, but as imbalances to be corrected. Their response is not military, but surgical, often carried out by specialized Hidden Dagger cells.
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Doctrine vs. Qliphoth: Aims not to fight the Avatar, but to save the person inside during the early stages of Infestation.
- Tactic: Spiritual Alchemy. A "psychic rescue" performed by a cell led by a Tiferet Alchemist. A Yesod agent enters the Diver's subconscious to find their true self, while the Tiferet master works externally to harmonize and weaken the parasitic bond. Against a full Avatar, the person is considered lost, and the cell performs a merciful termination.
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Doctrine vs. Da'at: Da'at is the ultimate imbalance. The goal is not to contain or fill it, but to heal the wound in reality.
- Tactic: The Sealing of the Veil. A slow, meditative ritual where a cell of masters treats the incursion like a spiritual wound. They use Tiferet to find the wound's edges, Yesod to mend the astral "skin," and Malkuth to re-establish the physical "bones," coaxing reality to heal itself and gently close the hole.