Introduction

From Summoner

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself.
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
~Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, 1892

What do we see when we look into the mirror? Of all of the frontiers and shadowy places humanity has explored, the search within himself has offered no concrete answers. Within us is a wilderness, without maps or boundaries. Within, there are many beautiful things...as well as beasts that stalk the corners of our thoughts. Who are we? What is good? What is evil? The search for answers is an adventure within itself.

Demons. Creatures of terror and vice, every culture has created their own spirits to possess and beguile those who misbehave or stray too far from safety. Creatures that cackle and torture, hungry for flesh and blood and bone. Beings of indescribable beauty, leaving empty, hollow shells of men and women in their wake...or worse. Demons both terrify and fascinate us, metaphors for drives and fears all too human. What, then, if demons are not a thing of fiction? What if they are a part of us all?

A Game of Self-Discovery and Deception

Summoner: the Conception is a game designed to tell stories of fantasy, horror, and identity in a world of soul-devouring demons and everyday setbacks. A summoner has been exposed to an occult subculture with access to potent forces of their own, and most importantly, he has unlocked a doorway within himself, and something has stepped out: the Alter Self.

To be a Summoner is to take a long, hard look within, and to draw out something tangible. To some, this experience is liberating and life-affirming. To more, it is a source of confusion, doubt, and conflict. To others...it is evidence that their deepest wants are justified, and they are justified in taking them, by whatever means they deem fit. A Summoner is defined by Ego, the affirmation of Self and Reality, the arbiter between the two, and the source of his Alter Selves.

As much as Ego, the Alter Self defines a Summoner, because an Alter Self is an expression of part of that Summoner's soul. By looking upon it, you see his Truth, or at least a small part of it. Bound up in imagery of the Tarot, each Alter Self represents an aspect towards a great path...from the open, hopeful Fool, unto the World. Towards Conception. Most Summoners discard Conception as a rumor or a myth. That said, rumors and myths hold more power than you think in their nightly activities.

And Summoners are often busy. There is another world behind a barrier, not of flesh or spirit, but of thought. And the beings of that realm, known only as Demons among the Summoners and between themselves, have one common Truth: they hunger. Their meal of choice is consciousness, and they consume hearts and souls to grow stronger and dig roots into the reality of the world. Many Summoners come into being as a reaction a demonic attack, and a constant war of borders goes on between the two. This isn't because of some holy crusade on the Summoner's part: it is because when demons walk free, reality itself begins to warp and buckle.

The Summoners walk the fringes, from quiet cybercafes to dive bars, odd occult magazines to small-time casinos. In places no one else looks, hunting rumors no one admits in believing, they walk through a world of illusions and deception, finding power and most important, finding out who they truly are. That is what it means to be a Summoner: to look into the mirror, and to know what you see.