Da'at: The Abyss
Warning: The following text describes a secret and forbidden aspect of K10 magic. All major factions discourage its study.
- Concept: The Abyss, Un-knowing, Erasure, The Hole in Reality.
- Description: Da'at is not a true Sefirah. It is not an emanation from the Ein Sof, but a lack. It is the Abyss, a conceptual void that separates the highest Sefirot from the rest of the Tree of Life. It represents Knowledge, but not the Wisdom of Chokmah or the Understanding of Binah. It is the knowledge of what isn't—the "secret" of non-existence. Accessing Da'at is not about channeling a concept, but inviting a void. Unlike the Sefirot, it possesses no corresponding Sefirotic Realm to explore, only a nothingness that erases.
Mechanics of un-making
Da'at does not follow the rules of the Sefirot. It cannot be "Attuned" to and has no "Milestones." There is no safe progression, only a descent. Access is usually accidental, happening when mages attempt a flawed Cycle between Chokmah and Binah, or when those deep in Hollowing corruption try to fill their inner void with... nothing.
The "magic" of Da'at is Un-making.
- Conceptual Erasure: To target a concept and weaken its reality. This can be used to make a wall "less real" and thus easy to pass through, or to make a memory "less true," causing it to fade.
- Void Step: To momentarily step outside of reality, disappearing from one point and reappearing in another. This is extremely dangerous and can lead to being lost in the Abyss forever.
- Ego-Death: A forbidden art that strips a target of their identity, purpose, and consciousness, leaving a hollow shell. This is a direct, weaponized invocation of Hollowing corruption.
The Abyss & annihilation
The final result of meddling with Da'at is a unique form of corruption known as Annihilation. It is not a twisting of the self (like Dissolution or Petrification) or an emptying (like Hollowing), but a complete erasure from existence.
To feel the touch of the Abyss is not to feel pain or fear. It is to feel a profound sense of wrongness. It is the feeling of looking at a photograph from which you have been neatly cut out. It is the sound of a symphony with a single, crucial note missing, leaving behind a silence more jarring than any sound. It is not an attack, but an edit. The universe ceasing to acknowledge you were ever a valid part of its composition.
- Stage 1 (Whispers): The mage's presence begins to thin. People forget their name, misplace items they were just holding, and memories of conversations with them become fuzzy. Their reflection seems delayed by a split second.
- Stage 2 (Flickering): The mage's physical form becomes unstable. They may flicker, becoming momentarily transparent. Objects pass through them. Their own memories begin to fray as the timeline rejects their existence.
- Stage 3 (Un-happened): The mage is erased from reality. Not just killed, but removed from the past, present, and future. All memory of them vanishes, historical records are altered, and the world rebuilds itself as if they had never been born. Only the most powerful Chokmah seers might sense a "hole" where something used to be.
Cultural notes
All factions agree that Da'at is the single greatest threat to a mage's existence. The Adamant Concord hunts down any who study it as heretics. The Flowing Garden sees it as a terrifying, un-navigable sea, and its explorers are warned to steer well clear. The Way of the Middle Pillar teaches that Da'at is the ultimate imbalance, the antithesis of the harmony they seek, and the final test for those who seek to understand the whole Tree.