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The Occultists of Achaea
Occultists are Ashtan’s scholars of Chaos. They pact with Chaos Lords from the Plane beyond, inscribe Tarot cards with magical inks, bend time and aura with subtle precision, and command karma itself. Their hall is the Esoteric Consortium in Ashtan, but their work reaches far older than any city in Sapience.
Occultist lore and origin
Occultists have existed since before the founding of the Seleucarian Empire, researching mysterious arts in their historical home city of Ashtan. In what is commonly called the Burning Times, the Church of Achaea launched a crusade against the then-scattered individuals practicing Occultism. Survivors banded together, but the knowledge of the older Occultism was lost. The early survivors turned to Necromancy and entered a long period of gaining their powers through death magic.
In the modern age, the knowledge was recovered. Led by Shakti, Silverstorm, and Saruman, the Occultists gathered and began a ritual that created an anchor to a ritual begun in the distant past. The two times bridged. The Great Occult Working completed. Occultism returned. Since then, the Occultists have turned their backs on Necromancy and again study the older science.
Modern Occultists are secretive and powerful. They consider themselves scholars first, and the deadly power they wield as a byproduct of their research. Knowledge at whatever cost, from whatever source, drives them. Most worship Chaos. Many also worship other Divine. Their work is precise, philosophical, and centred on the Mysteries: manipulating auras, bending time and reality, mastering karma.
The class is alignment-locked to Ashtan, the city of Chaos. The conflict with Targossas (the successor city to fallen Shallam, which was destroyed in part because of its Church-led history with the Occultists) is one of Achaea’s oldest standing grudges.
Signature combat identity: Chaos pacts, Tarot, and the Mysteries
Three things make an Occultist an Occultist.
The first is the Chaos pact. Through Domination — described in the lore as “without question the most dangerous art within Achaea” — an Occultist travels to the Chaos Plane, finds an entity, and bargains for its service. The bargaining is real: cheapness has its own punishment. The entity may attack, ignore, or agree. Once a pact exists, the Occultist can SUMMON the entity. Named entities include Skyrax, Marduk, Lycantha, Glaaki, Hecate, Pyradius, and many more — each with distinct flavour and capabilities. The most dangerous entities (Golgotha, Xenophage, Piridon, Istria) cannot be summoned the normal way; they come on their own terms.
The second is Tarot. An Occultist inscribes magical Tarot cards with various inks, each card representing one of the major arcana — Magician, Priestess, Lovers, Tower, Wheel, Sun, Moon, Death, and many more. The cards are flung at targets or the ground (FLING ). Some cards heal, some teleport, some hinder, some kill. Tarot is shared with the Jester class, but Occultists have two unique specialisation cards: Heretic (“Raised from Ruin”) and Ruinate (“Two sides of the same coin”).
The third is the Mysteries themselves. Occultism — the core skill — is the manipulation of auras, time, and karma. Distortaura protects the body from physical harm. Timewarp bends a location’s vibes. Karma is the underlying resource that fuels the deepest abilities, and Transmogrify, the capstone, lets a sufficiently advanced Occultist reincarnate as a Chaos Lord themselves.
Together, the three skills make Occultist combat layered, deliberate, and strange. An Occultist in a serious fight is bargaining with bound chaos entities, throwing inscribed tarot at the room, distorting time and aura, and managing karma as a resource — all at once.
The three skills of an Occultist
An Occultist commands three skill sets: Occultism, Domination, and Tarot. A fledgling Occultist gains Occultism and Tarot; Domination is granted through deeper study (the lore notes Domination as the most dangerous of the three).
Signature abilities: Ague, Auraglance, Warp
Once studied in ancient times by predecessors to the modern Occultists, Occultism is gained through the study of the Mysteries of the nature of the universe itself. This knowledge — manipulating auras, bending time and reality, mastering karma — was lost during the Burning Times when the Church crusaded against Occultism. The modern revival, led by Shakti, Silverstorm, and Saruman, recovered the older science through a Great Occult Working that anchored a present ritual to one in the distant past.
The capstone is Transmogrify: a sufficiently advanced Occultist may reincarnate as a Chaos Lord.
Abilities (40)
| Ability | Description |
|---|---|
| Ague | A chill that enters from the aura to the body. |
| Auraglance | Seek out another in your mind’s eye. |
| Warp | Cause your enemy’s body to warp beyond recognition. |
| Night | Create darkness in the room. |
| Shroud | Perform many actions in secret. |
| Bodywarp | Warping your own body is not for the faint of heart. |
| Eldritchmists | The Hymn to Glaaki will raise strange mists. |
| Mask | Conceal the movement of your chaos entities. |
| Attend | Force your students to pay attention. |
| Enervate | Suck the strength from your enemy’s aura. |
| Encipher | Hide your writings from prying eyes. |
| Quicken | A small time warp around your enemy makes them hungry. |
| Astralvision | Your aura gives insights into that which is around. |
| Regress | As before, so again. |
| Shrivel | Cause your opponent’s limbs to shrivel up. |
| Readaura | Reading another’s aura will reveal their secrets. |
| Karma | Sense how much karma you have accumulated. |
| Heartstone | Create a figurine of your heart to help give you mana. |
| Simulacrum | Create a figurine of yourself that absorbs damage. |
| Entities | Sense the whereabouts of Chaos Entities in the land. |
| Timewarp | Warping time in a location will move vibes. |
| Distortaura | Distorting your aura will protect you from physical harm. |
| Pinchaura | Surgically alter your patient’s aura. |
| Impart | Impart your karmic knowledge to others with Occultism. |
| Transcendence | Open a gateway to the Plane of Chaos. |
| Unnamable | Hear what cannot be named, or see what cannot be imagined. |
| Devolve | Devolving your enemy will make them unrecognizable. |
| Cleanseaura | Cleanse away the natural defences of an aura. |
| Tentacles | Master your body and create tentacles of your own. |
| Chaosrays | Pure chaos will strike all in a location. |
| Interlink | They shall warp under your will. |
| Instill | Instill your victim’s aura with diseases of the body. |
| Whisperingmadness | A curse of madness not soon forgotten. |
| Devilmark | The Mark of the Devil grants great power. |
| Truename | Find the truename of your enemy. |
| Astralform | Turn yourself into a being of pure energy. |
| Enlighten | Reveal the truth to the uninitiated. |
| Unravel | Destroy the psyche of the uninitiated. |
| Compel | They will hear and be silent. |
| Transmogrify | Reincarnate as a Chaos Lord. |
Signature abilities: Skyrax, Rixil, Eerion
Domination is the most dangerous art within Achaea. It involves the summoning of entities from the Chaos Plane as well as Chaos Lords themselves. You risk your life and your very soul in dealing with them.
To gain the service of a Chaos Entity: travel to the Chaos Plane, find them, DOMINATE . The entity may ignore, attack, or bargain. Bargaining cheaply has its own punishment. After a pact is formed (PACTS to view your pacts), SUMMON calls them. BANISH sends them home.
Some entities cannot be summoned via SUMMON: GOLGOTHA, XENOPHAGE, PIRIDON, and ISTRIA. These come on their own terms.
Chaos Entities and abilities (25)
| Ability | Description |
|---|---|
| Skyrax | Skyrax, the Skyscourge. |
| Rixil | Rixil, the spectre. |
| Eerion | Eerion, the demon jester. |
| Arctar | Arctar, the Defender. |
| Scrag | Scrag, tender of the bloodleech pool. |
| Pyradius | Pyradius, the firelord. |
| Golgotha | Golgotha, the Ascendant’s Thrall. |
| Dameron | Jy’Barrak Dameron, the Hand. |
| Palpatar | Palpatar, the Glutton of Glaaki. |
| Nin’kharsag | Nin’Kharsag, the Slime Master. |
| Istria | Istria, the pathfinder. |
| Marduk | Marduk, the eater of souls. |
| Primebond | Agency upon the Prime. |
| Nemesis | Nemesis. |
| Buul | Buul, the Chaos Chirurgeon. |
| Cadmus | Cadmus, the cursed shaman. |
| Piridon | Piridon, the shapechanger. |
| Danaeus | Danaeus, the dark savant. |
| Xenophage | Xenophage, keeper of the chaos gate. |
| Lycantha | Lycantha, Keeper of the Hounds. |
| Tarotlink | Command your doppleganger to throw tarot cards. |
| Hecate | Hecate, Mother of the Crones. |
| Covenant | You are known to the court. |
| Feed | A transaction most profane. |
| Glaaki | Glaaki, the Eldritch Ascendant. |
Signature abilities: Inscribing, Sun, Cardpacks
Tarot is the occult skill of inscribing magical cards with various inks to create powerful images. Each of the major arcana is represented. To use: find blank tarot cards, then INSCRIBE . Inscribing takes intense concentration.
Cards are flung at targets or the ground (FLING ). Some hinder, some heal, some teleport, some kill. Tarot is shared with the Jester class, but Occultists have two unique specialisation cards.
Base abilities (23)
| Ability | Description |
|---|---|
| Inscribing | The ability to inscribe images upon blank Tarot cards. |
| Sun | Create a portable light source. |
| Cardpacks | Use the handy cardpacks for easier storage. |
| Emperor | Create the compulsion in others to follow you. |
| Magician | Replenish your mana with the might of the Magician. |
| Priestess | Heal yourself with the benevolence of the Priestess. |
| Fool | Shrug off afflictions with blind courage. |
| Chariot | Create an infernal chariot to ride. |
| Hermit | Teleport to an uninhabited location. |
| Empress | Summon your friends to you. |
| Lovers | Create a strong love for you in your target. |
| Hangedman | Hinder your opponent with a mass of ropes. |
| Tower | Cause a crumbling tower to appear in your location. |
| Wheel | Spin the wheel and take your chances. |
| Creator | Create an illusion in an adjacent room. |
| Justice | Bring justice to the unjust. |
| Star | Strike down a foe with a flaming meteor. |
| Aeon | Curse your foe with the mark of Chronos. |
| Lust | Cause an opponent to hopelessly lust after you. |
| Universe | Transport yourself around the land. |
| Devil | Call a Devil to serve you, though no more than once. |
| Moon | Bestow the maladies of the moon upon your enemy. |
| Death | Call down Death itself to claim the soul of your enemy. |
Occultist-specific specialisation:
| Ability | Description |
|---|---|
| Heretic | Raised from Ruin. |
| Ruinate | Two sides of the same coin. |
Occultist Houses and cities
See Achaea’s city-states for the cities where these Houses recruit.
Occultist is alignment-locked to Ashtan (Chaos). All three Ashtan Houses accept the class plus the two cityless options. Same House list as Unnamable.
| House | City | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The Esoteric Consortium | Ashtan | The traditional Occultist home. House of mysteries, scholarship, and the occult. |
| The Savants of the Wheel | Ashtan | Ashtan academic House. Strong fit for Occultists who lean toward the karma-and-mysteries scholarly side. |
| The Nemesian Vanguard | Ashtan | Ashtan front-line House. Occultists who lean combat-active find a home here. |
| The Grand Merchant Collective | (cityless) | The cityless trader House. Rare Occultist choice. |
| The Carnivalis Institute of Jestering | (cityless) | The Jester-founded cityless House. Rare Occultist choice. |
To check current House availability in-game: HOUSE LIST OCCULTIST.
A note on the alignment: Occultists have long worshipped Chaos. Much of their power comes from pacts with the Chaos Lords. The Chaos Lords do not look favourably on those who would use the powers of Chaos to oppose those who work to further Chaos. Acting against Chaos puts your power at risk.
What an Achaea Occultist might look like
Class shapes silhouette; race shapes everything else about a character’s appearance. The art below shows what an Occultist can look like across two of Achaea’s 14 playable races. These are illustrative examples. Any race can play an Occultist.
How to roleplay an Occultist in Achaea
The Occultist roleplay anchor is the scholar identity. Your character is intensely protective of the secrets behind your skills. Knowledge at whatever cost, from whatever source. The class lore is explicit: the deadly power Occultists wield is incidental to the research. The research is the point.
Three things make Occultist roleplay distinct:
Your bargains carry weight. Every Chaos Entity you have a pact with is a character with its own interests. The pact required negotiation, and the relationship is ongoing. Players who lean into this — referring to bound entities by name, describing the terms of the bargain, treating the Chaos Plane as a real geography — get rich material.
Your conflict with Targossas is ancient. The Burning Times are part of the class lore, not just flavour text. The Church (now reformed in Targossas after the destruction of Shallam) crusaded against Occultists. The grudge runs deep. Targossan players will treat your character with suspicion. Your character will have reasons.
You can worship multiple Divine. While Occultists owe devotion to Chaos, many also worship other Gods. The class allows for layered religious play in a way most other factional classes don’t.
A few practical notes:
Most Occultists live in Ashtan. Some go cityless. Some join other cities (though the Chaos Lords frown on this). Pick your home knowing it shapes everything.
Tarot is your most accessible toolkit. Domination is dangerous and lore-heavy. Occultism’s deepest abilities require karma management. Tarot is the entry point for newer Occultists and remains useful at every level.
Conflict with Targossas will happen. Same dynamic as Mhaldor/Targossas: long-running rivalry with named players on the other side.
If you want a class with deep scholar-of-Chaos identity, layered combat across three distinct systems, and a strong factional home in Ashtan, Occultist delivers.
Other classes to consider
Three classes worth a look if Occultist is on your shortlist (or browse all 21 Achaea classes for the full comparison):
Apostate: Mhaldor’s Daemonic Priest
The Mhaldor dark-priest counterpart. Apostates serve Evil rather than Chaos, summon Baalzadeens rather than Chaos Entities, and live in Mhaldor rather than Ashtan. Similar “scholar of darkness” role on a different side of Achaea’s political map.
Unnamable: Ashtan’s Body-Horror Warrior
Ashtan’s other Chaos-aligned class. Shares the alignment lock, the House list, and the underlying philosophy. Where the Occultist studies Chaos, the Unnamable becomes Chaos through bodily transformation. Often allied in Ashtan’s military operations.
Jester: Absurdity as a Weapon
The other Tarot user. Where the Occultist’s Tarot serves dark-scholar work (with Heretic and Ruinate specialisation), the Jester’s Tarot serves chaotic and absurdist combat (with Hierophant specialisation). Different alignment, different combat identity, but a shared core skill makes them an interesting comparison.