Once there was a powerful man who was afraid to die. He feared death so greatly that he visited upon himself an even greater misfortune. He had his wise men forge a knife so sharp it could have sliced open the sky, and then he cut out his own breath from his body. He cut the tears from his eyes and the voice from his mouth. He cut the blood from his heart and the bile from his belly. He cut the salt from his sweat and the shadow from his feet. He cut away his tongue and eyes and toes, skin and muscles, guts and veins, until all that was left was a hand holding a knife. Then at last the hand turned the knife upon itself and the fearful man was gone. He had become nothing, and nothing cannot die.
But nothing cannot live either, and this is what the great man became: a voice without a mouth, a hand without an arm, a heart without blood, a shadow without a body. Standing outside our world looking in, a portrait who crawled outside the frame of their painting and froze there. He is always beside us, in a place that is neither within nor beside nor beneath but entirely elsewhere.
Summary
The courtiers of an arrogant Autarch, who sought to cheat death by dividing himself into 999 hypergeometric fragments. He gained immortality, but became a ghastly mosaic of paradoxical flesh and manifold nerves, unable to move of his own accord.
Each courtier has accepted a fragment of their Autarch into themselves, replacing part of their body with the immortal flesh of the Jigsaw Autarch. In this way he lives through each of them, sharing his longevity and strength with his courtiers.
Courtiers have access to the Labyrinth of hypergeometric passages that lie beyond and outside Vaarn. Somewhere in the middle of this paradox of paths is the Jigsaw Palace, where the undying corpse of the Autarch holds court.
The Court is a secret organisation, whose existence is not documented outside of a few obscure texts. Courtiers conceal their true nature, hiding the fragments of the Autarch under bandages and veils.
Goals
Reassemble the Jigsaw Autarch. His courtiers wish to piece back together their overlord, assembling his hypergeometric body in a way that will allow him to live within the lucid world once more. He will establish dominion over the Urth, and his chosen will live as gods alongside him.
Expand the Labyrinth. The Jigsaw Autarch’s palace stands within the hypergeometric madness of Labyrinth space. His courtiers seek always for new ways to expand the Labyrinth’s slow and patient spread, to prepare Urth for their Autarch’s reign.
Recover the Lost Shards. Thirteen shards of the Jigsaw Autarch are considered lost, having vanished along with their bearers. The project of reassembly cannot succeed until they are recovered and reunited with their brethren.
Allies
Children of the Darkling Sun. The Children also seek to usurp lucid reality in the name of Azathoth, the Daemon Sultan. The two cults have much in common, despite having no love for one another.
Enemies
The New Hegemony. The Hegemony’s devotion to normality and the preservation of rational spacetime severely hinders the Court’s goals. They seek any chance to undermine the Hegemony.
Seekers of Eyeless Wisdom. The Seekers view hypergeometric augmentation as a parasite upon human evolution. Accepting a figment of the Jigsaw Autarch is heresy and punishable by death.
Titan Cults. The ascension of the Jigsaw Autarch is not welcomed by any Titan Cult, as it usurps the primacy of the machine gods.
Joining this Faction
Membership is open to anyone willing to swear an oath of service to the Jigsaw Autarch and accept a hypergeometric figment of his eternal flesh being grafted onto their mortal shell. See below for the effects of this figment.
The Court Triumphant
The Labyrinth rises in an irresistible tide. Urth’s flesh is lacerated with fractal wounds. Each room becomes a threshold, doors leading to yet more doors, holes in all horizons which draw one’s eye ever deeper into a multiplicity of impossible courtyards and tunnels lit by other moons and other suns. Lucid geometry is but a memory, and all kingdoms and provinces are absorbed into the grounds of the Jigsaw Palace. The sea drains away and the winds whistle through lurid cracks in the firmament. Along these lunatic highways parade the Jigsaw Autarch and his courtiers, rejoicing eternally for Vaarn entire has fallen into his manifold hands.
Jigsaw Courtier
Biological / Hypergeometric
Lvl 4 (16 hp) / AV 13 / ML +4 / Enc d4
Atk: Bladed Tesseract (d6, hypergeometric)
Bearer of a figment of the Jigsaw Autarch. See chart below for the effects of the figment.
| d4 | Figment Type | Effect |
| 1 | Eye | Bearer’s eye becomes a hole of infinite depth. Bearer can cry lances of paradox energy (d10, beam, hypergeometric). Bearer gains the Hypergeometric creature type. |
| 2 | Gut | Bearer cradles the Autarch’s paradoxical gut inside their body, boosting their resilience. Bearer gains +3 AV and +1 Level. Bearer gains the Hypergeometric creature type. |
| 3 | Mouth | Bearer’s flesh blossoms into a mouth of the Jigsaw Autarch. At close range they make an additional bite attack every round (d10, hypergeometric). Bearer gains the Hypergeometric creature type. |
| 4 | Nerves | Bearer’s nerves are intertwined with the otherwordly neurons of the Jigsaw Autarch. Bearer gains +1 to INT, PSY and EGO. Bearer may extrude the Autarch’s nerves to entangle an opponent (DEX Save vs -5 AV). Bearer gains the Hypergeometric creature type. |
Unfolder
Hypergeometric
Lvl 9 (36 hp) / AV 16 / ML +9 / Enc 1
Atk: Envelop (STR Save vs Special)
Exalted servants of the Jigsaw Autarch, which resemble depth-less cloaks made of skin. They serve as the Court’s assassins, devouring scholars who pry too deeply into the mysteries of the Labyrinth.
Immunity: Unfolders are immune to damage from mundane sources. Only hypergeometric weapons will harm them.
Envelop: enveloped creatures are held in place, and cannot move or attack. They are drained of d8 STR per round. While digesting its victim the Unfolder is immobile and cannot flee.
VAULTS OF VAARN 