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[✗] [Lore][Ghost Rewrite] Phantom Compendium: 2nd Edition


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Preface:  

Spoiler

 

In case the spoilers or the page is not working, or for ease of viewing, refer to the google document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jt2rTIQPI9oZKAThtY-6fEmXiGgnUZ-hZQS26QYPS2g/edit#heading=h.i646pww8ax7r 

- Note, the google doc may have minor outdated information.  All future changes will be amended in the forum post, so there may be discrepancies but generally they contain the same information.

 

The aim of this rewrite is to make ghosts and gravens tolerable and counterable creatures while still ensuring that they remain fun to play for ghost players, as well as a new“starting point” for ghost lore so that it is concise and in one place.  Though wights are mentioned a few times, one should refer to Mysticism lore for details on that particular entity.

 

The following things are removed from basic CA lore:

  • Ghost Husking

  • Playable Graven CAs (replaced with another physical variant

 

This rewrite should accepted under the following criteria:

  • Current ghosts must submit a new MA as the “Gray Spirit” option, their characters effectively shelved until the new MA is accepted; they are not reverted because all current ghosts exist as PKs.

  • Existing gravens are allowed to put in a MA that changes their character into a Gray Spirit in the same fashion as ghosts.  They, too, are shelved until their MA is accepted and are not reverted because all gravens come from a PK’d character.

  • All older ghost and phantom lore is shelved and this becomes the only current ghost lore.

  • The lore within this post is not considered “common knowledge” for roleplay purposes.

  • Ghosts who complete the redemptive or ravening path must be tracked by the ST Lore Team.  This is done simply by having a player contact an ST writer to update their application with a comment after the player shows screenshotted evidence of their roleplay.

 

Here is a visual depicting the path of progression for ghost players; progression is permanent and cannot be changed posthumously:

 

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The Phantom Compendium:

2nd Edition

8x5jEul-NOmP5AIuQbPBrMJGUFOmGCErZqjIZ4tsfIBR1CSJ0l6shkimyITYM4G0xQhEFsy45VshkXZSmVJVtr1OI5BFa04XMJoEhnayWXzM-D89-DUzENsF27Wst9OqTXSlSWGF

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTa1jHk1Lxc]

Nameless; faceless; formless.

 

The Spectral State

There are those who had experienced death worse than others; those that were shocked by its traumas and broken harder by its cold grip.  So severe were their horrors that soul parted from body and remained anchored to the earth — because the nature of their expiration was so wretched, so malformative, that it was capable of piercing the spirit and pinning it to limbo like a shackle.  These woes are bound to the roots of the world. When men perish in great anguish, something dark stirs within them that manifests as a refusal to pass on. They become shadows of themselves while their once warm vessel rots atop, or within, the forsaken earth — a spectre, the spiritual undead.  

 

Spectral beings do not arise from any dead alone, but those who have experienced great trauma — whether it be grave betrayals, inhumane deaths, or a deep emotional scarring — though to no certain rule.  Detailed by the proto-Mystics of the First Synod in the Grimoire of Phantoms and studied at length by their inheritors, the spectral state of undeath exists in several different categories to no pertinent rule though each possess general likeness.

 

Ectoplasm

Within the makeup of spectral undead and those attuned to use it is the curious ethereal substance known as ectoplasm.  Ectoplasm exists as an inbetween of lifeforce and mana, a primal substance yielded in the soul itself rather than the flesh.  This quasi-gelatinous substance compose all ghosts, gravens, wights, apparitions, or any other likewise similar spectral entity.  Typically, only capable of being seen within those capable of wielding it, it ranges from a paleness of sickly verdant green or ghastly cobalt, and those insidious shades in between.

 

Ectoplasm in the material world is a bewildering substance. Outside of spectres and Mystics, it has little potential to exist on its own and is of no discernable consequence or use. When it does manifest, it largely exists as an intangible and invisible substance, though has been known to be visible in what some can only describe as a murky, impermeable fog.

 

Though generally incorporeal in its composition, ectoplasm itself holds the potential to exist in solid states.  These solid forms, like the ethereal variants, exist in no particular color, ranging from the spectrum of visibility of ghastly blues and smoggy grays to appearing incomprehensible.

 

Affinities

The nature of any and all spectres varies from being to being.  To no hard rule will an Apparition or Black Spirit be inherently evil, nor do the seemingly benign White Spirits follow a perfect moral compass.  The affinity of spectral beings is as wild and ranging as the mortal souls they are composed of. Rather, spectres are classified into the nature of how they came into existence and their capabilities rather than any attempt to arbitrarily define their morality.

 

Overview of Spectrals

Most, if not all, phantoms follow a particular set of rules and shared characteristics due to their shared makeup of ectoplasm.  Unless otherwise specified, spectres all share the following traits, abilities, and drawbacks.

Demanifestation

 

Spoiler

 

For most lower level spectres, the prospect of a true death exists far outside the realm of reality.  These entities, while capable of being banished — or demanifested — will continue to reform over and over unless they are finally managed to pass on from the world of the living and into the depths of Ebrietaes.  In the event that a spectral entity comes to terms with a “killing” blow, their soul and ectoplasm will disperse and reform again over time.

 

Redlines:

  • Spectral CAs follow the similar death rules as normal players, with the caveat that their return to life is explained from being undead and remanifesting.  Should something go unmentioned, refer to normal death rules.

    • Spectral CAs reform with no memory of the RP leading up to what demanifested them.

    • Spectral CAs may refer to their own undeath when threatened, and may kill themselves without repercussion or prospect of PKing.

      • However, spectral CAs who attempt to kill others en masse in a suicidal act are, however, PK’d.  For instance, a Wraith strapping themselves with alchemist fire and attempting to blow up a city square.

 

 

 

 

 

True Sight

 

 

Spoiler

 

All ectoplasm wielding entities possess an ability known as True Sight.  Through True Sight, these entities are able to see ectoplasm in cases where it is summoned up to veil spectres from the sight of ordinary people.  

 

Redlines:

  • ST Actor controlled spectres and spectral player CAs may see one another without issue, even when invisible.

  • Spectres and ectoplasm wielding entities are able to understand through sight alone that they are seeing ectoplasm, and thus that they are seeing phantoms.

  • Seers of Vaasek have True Sight in addition to crowned Mystics and wights.

    • True Sight may be given out a temporary White Omen (see below).

 

 
Incorporality
Spoiler

 

The most curious makeup of ghostly creatures is their ability to exist separately from the material world.  Spectres and phantoms lack a physical body, causing mundane objects and weapons to simply pass through them without any true harm being caused to a spectre.  In addition to this, these entities possess the capability of phasing through living beings without any inhibition, though they find trouble in doing this to a higher degree with solid walls and doors.

 

Most spectres exist incorporeal to the living, are capable of touching any forms of ectoplasm — even other incorporeal entities.  They may be wounded, hurt, stabbed and even eaten by these entities, taking on the same damage as mortals with the caveat that they demanifest into nothingness instead of leaving behind a corpse.

 

Redlines:

  • Player CAs are incapable of phasing through walls, gates, or locked gates.  Any means in which is not possible MCly to do, a player CA cannot do as well.

    • ST Actor controlled phantoms are fully permitted to phase through these things.

  • Should a player CA be struck with aurum, alloys like Slayer Steel, fire, or raw energy based magical attacks (i.e. electric evocation, arcanism, or holy magics) they will take “damage” equal to that of a mortal being struck in that area.

    • For instance, a blow to the chest will instantly demanifest a spirit, while a chopping of their spectral arm will simply cause that limb to demanifest.

    • For the purposes of soul-targetting magic, all spectres exist as “raw” souls, meaning they are extremely vulnerable to magical effects such as malflame.    

  • Spectres of all types are vulnerable to being assailed by other spectres, be it an apparition or another type of ghost.

    • Depending on the scale of their powers, ghostly beings are capable of different variants quasi-physical attacks — Gray/Black/White Spirits are as weak as a Tier 5 Void mage would be, while Wraiths and Revenants are capable of inflicting knight-tier strength.

    • This “damage” is only inflicted in places where ectoplasm collides — a Graven using a normal iron sword would be unable to cut a Gray Spirit, for instance.

 

 
Gleaming

 

Spoiler

 

Dubbed “gleaming” by the first Mystics, this process involves the dredging up of ectoplasm and using it in supernatural abilities.  Gleaming exists as a harbinger that a spectral entity is about to do something, whether that be utilize one of the many abilities in its arsenal,or simply as a show of dominance.  This technique varies from ghost to ghost, though always consists of glowing a hideous, sickly looking shade depending on the primary color of the spectre’s ectoplasm.

 

Redlines:

  • Gleaming exists as the general tell for using ghostly abilities.  Though it is generally left up to the interpretation of how much flavor a player is willing to add to their emotes, gleaming for player CAs will always consist of brightly glowing these hues: pale whites and greys, bleached and milky light blues, and smokey, soft grays.  

    • ST Actor creatures such as apparitions utilize gleaming in their abilities.

  • Gleaming can be interrupted by using aurum, aurum alloys, fire, energy based magics, or a spectre’s attack in the same way that magical connections would be severed by pain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Preterite

Often just dubbed “ghosts,” newly risen phantoms are remnants of a mortal churned into incorporeal shape as a result of traumatic demise, the terrible events surrounding them, or because the victim was the vessel of so much willpower that they rose again to finish what they could not in life. Though they initially take shape as the ailing Gray Spirit, they may make use of their new immaterial capabilities to either follow the path of redemption as a White Spirit, or forsake their second chance by succumbing to the innate darkness of mortalkind — to become a Black Spirit, a scourge upon mortality that echoes relation to the forsaken geists of Ebrietaes.

 

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Gray Spirits

To transition from the realm of the living to the purgatory of spectrality means to become an entity that is disconnected from the physical world in a manner where they cannot rightly influence it.  Gray Spirits linger some form of unnamed plane between the material world and Ebrietaes, hampered by some unseen shackle that completely deprives them of interaction with the corporeal realm, but prevents them the release of death.

 

Physical Characteristics

Distinct from any other spectre, a Gray Spirit is as the name suggests: gray.  A Gray Spirit will typically appear similarly as they did in life or before their death, though shaded in depressing grayscale hues.  There is no certain rule as to what age a Gray Spirit chooses to don as their primary appearance, though this usually favors the form they felt most confident with in life.

 

Notably, they bear the same proficiencies as the ghosts of yore: incorporeality.   Gray Spirits are immune to most mundane forms of attack; for instance, trying to cut them with a ferrum sword will simply pass through them and leave their bodies unharmed.  Equally so, these beings possess limited way to interact with the world around them beyond small feats of strength such as opening and closing a door or pressing switches. The exception to this being that Gray Spirits are extremely vulnerable to even the slightest amount of aurum — moderate sums of gold dust or lines of gold will prevent ghosts from crossing less they risk hasty demanifestation.  

 

Unlike how ghosts once functioned, any sort of raw energy — be it arcanism, electric evocation, holy fire, or the raw flame — also run the risk of destroying these entities.  However, magic that utilizes a physical component to try and harm these spectres will often be shirked off with ease, such as druidic manipulation of vines or telekinetic weapons.

 

Mental Characteristics

Upon coming to undeath, a Gray Spirit does not inherently realize they are dead.  Many of these entities will helplessly wander the remnants of their old life, going about their former tasks as if they were still alive.  These delusions of life tend to continue unabated; ghosts of a farmer past will attempt to till their fields and live at home with their widowed wife until they come to the shocking realization of what they are.  

 

When a Gray Spirit does reach an awareness of their new existence it can cause them to lash out in an unpredictable nature.  As such, one can expect a Gray Spirit to become increasingly unstable as they adjust to their new state. While dubbed “gray” in reference to their form, these spirits exist in that way in more than color; they carry a potential to shift from friendly to malicious in an instant.  

 

Every Gray Spirit passively siphons the emotional vigor of those they are around and are largely influenced by this.  For this reason, these “newborn” spectres are largely impressionable by those who either choose to lash out at their presence or guide them.  And like all undead, Gray Spirits experience a numbness to life itself. They cannot feel pain or warmth — instead they feel a disembodied chill constantly lingering within them, as some have described, which aches them onto madness that seeks to pull them towards a dark, insatiable hunger.

 

Abilities

Lesser Wraithreach

 

Spoiler

 

With the Wraithreach, a Gray Spirit may suck an ethereal, esoteric vitality from living, mortal beings — either imparting a mercy or a curse upon their soul.  By coming face to face with their victim, a spirit may begin to channel a siphon from their incorporeal form which may either draw in this essence, using it to feed themselves.  The more benign spirits opt to take less filling negativity from a person such as their woes, doubts, and anger — with what is left behind being is a feeling of goodness. Though, those who opt to feed their ravenous appetite for mortality may choose to steal away all that is good —  happiness, wholesomeness, and confidence — leaving behind a husk, a broken individual in emotional duress.  Conducting the Wraithreach appears ghastly and unnatural, as if pulling and consuming a silhouette of soul itself into the mouth of the spirit.  By feeding from a person, a Gray Spirit feels an addictive, euphoric reminder of the mortality they once bore, which is further siphoned passively as an omen is left behind.  Immediately after being siphoned, the victim will feel a sense of weakness, frailty or lightheadedness for a Black Omen or a sense of wholesomeness, bolstered spirits, and unnatural positivity. 

 

The Lesser Wraithreach requires three emotes to perform: one to gleam, one to create a spectral tether, and one to siphon from their victim.  

 

A Gray Spirit must message a player to describe the effects.

 

Redlines:

  • All variants of the Wraithreach can only be utilized on beings with souls; those without a soul or with protected souls are immune.

  • To utilize the Lesser Wraithreach, one must be within one meter of a person and maintain that distance.

  • A Gray Spirit’s version of Wraithreach is limited and only capable of making a person experience minor Omens (see Omens).

  • If a person is killed after having been victimized by a form of the Wraithreach, the Omen is not carried over after death.

  • The way a Gray Spirit chooses to utilize their Wraithreach is indicative of the path they will take: if they use White Omens, they walk the Redemptive Path, but if they use the Wraithreach to administer Black Omens, they have chosen the Ravenous Path.

 

 

Lesser Telekinesis

 

Spoiler

 

Though quite limited in how they can interact with the world, Gray Spirits possess minor feats of telekinesis.  This is limited typically to being able to pick something up within two meters of them at the strength of a feeble old man.  Only capable of opening doors, holding knives, or shoving someone — Gray Spirits are the weakest of the spectral family.

 

Gray Spirits are capable of lifting a single object of low weight.

 

Redlines:

  • A Gray Spirit is only capable of lifting a single object up at a time which is limited to 5lbs max.

  • This object cannot be extended more than two meters from the Gray Spirit.

  • Attempts to throw the item will fail and cause it to drop, regardless of momentum, when it extends out of the two meter radius from the user.

  • Weapons can be used in this form, however, the act of parrying or piercing armor is beyond ghosts; trading blows with a sword would be akin to a Tier 5 void mage trying to swing a blade — really only capable of killing the defenseless or unsuspecting.  

    • Complex machinery, like crossbows, cannot be operated.

  • Any strike upon a held object will knock it from their grasp and cause them to have to pick it back up.  

 

 

 

 

Invisibility

 

Spoiler

 

By dredging up their ectoplasm to the forefront of their being, Gray Spirits may shroud themselves in an invisible layer of ectoplasm or reveal their ectoplasmic avatar.  This facade warps around the form, causing temperatures to drop around the spectre as they approach — giving off frosty, fogged breath. While invisible, the veil of ectoplasm prevents those without capabilities of True Sight from seeing them, though it does not diminish their influence.  A spirit attempting to utilize other abilities while invisible causes them to appear as faded silhouette and amorphous, glowing set of wisps — taking action in this form invisible often poses a risk.

 

Leaving or entering invisibility requires three emotes to perform: one to gleam, one to begin to fade from sight, and the last to fully fade from sight.

 

Redlines:

  • A Gray Spirit is capable of becoming completely invisible.

  • Using abilities, entering or  leaving invisibility, or projecting one’s voice beyond a whisper still causes a spirit to gleam.  

    • The process of gleaming is just as apparent to the living as it is fully visible, meaning a ghost attempting to wield a dagger would be revealed a glowing amorphous blob.

  • Using invisibility to sneak near someone has a general tell: their breath will fog up.

 

 

 

 

General Redlines

 

Spoiler

 

Redlines:

  • Gray Spirits require a creature application to play.  They can be created from any PK’d character that has a soul.

  • Later levels of ghosts (Black Spirits, White Spirits, Wraiths, and Revenants) are achievable by using Lesser Wraithreach to progress down a path.

    • Progression to later stages of ghosts requires using Lesser Wraithreach to grant White/Black Omens.  

      • Following the Redemptive Path, one must utilize their Wraithreach to bestow White Omens upon seven individuals.

      • To follow the Ravening Path, one must utilize their Wraithreach to bestow Black Omens upon seven individuals.

      • Using Wraithreach can only count towards their progression at most once a day.

    • Screenshots must be taken of using the Wraithreach if used to progress. Upon completion, these screenshots must submitted to a ST writer, where the player names their final form and a ST member updates the player's CA to reflect the new state of being.  This cannot be changed posthumously.

  • Gray Spirits cannot wear armor of any kind.

  • For purposes of combatting other spectres, a Gray Spirit exists in a “physical state” equivalent to that of a Tier 5 void mage.

    • For example, a Gray Spirit would be feeble, crumpling under blows and and easy to defeat by a stronger spectre such as a Wraith or Apparition that both lack a “physical” weakness.  

  • Gray Spirits do not possess the ability to possess a vessel or morph their ectoplasmic body into beasts, weapons, or any other form.  They are strictly limited to their humanoid shape.

  • These spectres and their progressed variants do not hold the capacity to use any forms of magic beyond their innate abilities.

    • Magic TAs are all dropped upon becoming a spectre and may be reapplied for, though the ability to connect or disconnect other users to that magic cannot be utilized.  If a person taught by a ghost requires being connected, there must be some confirmation in their application that they were connected by a person or entity capable of connection.  

 

 

 


 

The Redemptive Path

Beginning down a journey of redemption, a path of serenity and peace of mind — a Gray Spirit must turn away from the debase hunger for mortal essence and focus on a purer existence.  Rather than turn away from the humanity that made them, a Gray Spirit embraces the legacy of death and the person they once were. When they were confronted with the allure of darkness and violence, they chose restraint over vice.  Gray Spirits who have chosen honor the mortality they once bore, those who have idealized sainthood and refrain from dark desires, bear some resemblance of the beings they once were or that they had once aspired to be.

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White Spirits

Tales of the White Spirits speak of their magical grace and zealous nature; of saints who rose from death not to forsake, but to guide man toward righteousness, and suppress the darkness of curses hexed upon their souls. Such is the way of the White Spirit, and though they are bound to the shadow of undeath, the fire of justice and virtue burns within an ethereal hearts.

 

Physical Characteristics

Though not necessarily white in color, a White Spirit’s form bears color to its ectoplasm and subsequently its passive appearance — soft, bleached shades of cerulean and blue.  White Spirits, having had at least a full year to grow accomodated to their new form, control their appearance to greater degrees than their weaker predecessors, bearing the ability to morph their body into different variants of their pre-death racial form or even into smaller forms of fauna.  

 

Like the Gray Spirit it is yielded from, a White Spirit possesses full incorporeality with its form, to no greater degree.  Despite being more proficient with the capabilities of their ectoplasmic bodies, the nature of ectoplasm itself does not change for these entities as it does for other variants of phantoms — a White Spirit still is as vulnerable to fire, raw energies, and aurum in any quantity.  

 

Mental Characteristics

The hunger that once lured the Gray Spirits towards the Ravening Path is something that White Spirits have grown to suppress and even ignore the negative gnawing at their mind.  What is left is a sort of mental clarity, a conciseness — wholeness.

 

Upon transitioning from a Gray Spirit into a White Spirit, these beings have trouble differentiating themselves from the mortal life they desperately linger away from.  White Spirits often congregate in towns and civilization, yearning to be a part of life that rejects them.

 

Abilities

White Wraithreach

 

Spoiler

 

Cleanliness, purity, restraint — a White Spirit has grown in regards to what a Gray Spirit lacked, and so too has their capacity to manage their prowess with the Wraithtouch.  Just as the Gray Spirits before them, a White Spirit has the capability to draw out an esoteric vitality from the soul itself, subsuming this essence in order to achieve an ambrosia-like effect upon their undead minds.  Far more advanced that their meeker predecessor, White Spirits are capable of doing so to a much more proficient and noticeable degree, though are incapable of the more invasive and sinister uses. With the White Wraithtouch, a White Spirit is able to administer psuedo-blessings upon a soulbearing creature.  Conducting the Wraithreach appears ghastly and unnatural, as if pulling and consuming a silhouette of soul itself into the mouth of the imbiber.   By siphoning all that ails the mind, that afflicts the soul, a White Spirit leaves behind a residual mark that provides a neutral or beneficial effect.  Immediately after being siphoned, the victim will feel a sense of wholesomeness, bolstered spirits, and unnatural positivity. 

 

The White Wraithreach requires three emotes to perform: one to begin gleaming, one to create a tether, and one to siphon from their victim.

 

A White Spirit must then message a player to describe the effects.

 

Redlines:

  • All variants of the Wraithreach can only be utilized on beings with souls; those without a soul or with protected souls are immune.

  • To utilize the White Wraithreach, one must be within one meter of their victim and maintain that distance.

  • If a person is killed after having been victimized by a form of the Wraithreach, the Omen is not carried over after death.

  • A White Spirit’s variant of the Wraithreach, the White Wraithreach, is only capable of instilling White Omens in an individual (see Omens).

 

 

Greater Telekinesis

 

Spoiler

 

Much more adept than their lessers, a White Spirit is ultimate capable of far more powerful uses of their form in the shape of telekinetic powers.  These powerful spiritual beings have mastered their telekinetic focus, allowing them a small degree of influence in an area around them. Alternatively, a White Spirit can exert a more powerful degree of power upon single objects at a distance.

 

White Spirits are capable of using simple telekinesis in an area of one meter around themselves at will.

 

Complex Telekinesis requires three emotes: one to gleam, one to cause the object to rumble, and the third to lift the object.

 

Redlines:

  • White Spirits have a sphere of influence of one meter around them allowing them to use simple telekinesis — defined as controlling one object that is not motion or acted on by any other agency to manipulate.

    • For instance, arrows fired, rocks thrown, and swords swung cannot be halted by the sphere of influence.  Additionally, if an object is held by someone else, such as a shield or a book, it cannot be manipulated in this sphere of influence.

    • Simple telekinesis cannot be used to operate mechanical devices, or to throw or fire projectiles.  

  • Alternatively, White Spirits may exert their will outside of their sphere of influence with complex telekinesis — defined as acting on one object outside of a radial influence limited to twenty meters.

  • All forms of telekinesis are limited to the weight of 30lbs; anything greater would simply shake and rumble.

    • Objects picked up are capable of being thrown as if they were thrown by an average human knight.

    • Complex machinery such as bows and crossbows may be manipulated without issue, provided they are operated within their normal emote count.

    • Telekinesis is limited to inanimate objects.  Living creatures or automatons, for instance, cannot be lifted.

  • Complex telekinesis requires emotes beforehand, while simple telekinesis does not.  

  • Attempting to throw or fire objects beyond the limitations of these two types will cause these objects to reach the end of their influence and drop without any momentum.

     

     

 

Shapeshifting

 

Spoiler

 

As the ability to control ectoplasm evolved, so too does the prowess over the natural form and shape that spectres can take.  White Spirits are capable of morphing their bodies into shapes those of beast and man alike. Though they grow no distinct powers or strengths from doing so, many spectres find solace in taking the shape of something unrelated from the shadow of death they had once inhabited.

 

Shapeshifting requires three emotes to perform: one to gleam, one to become amorphous, and the last to take the shape.

 

Redlines:

  • A White Spirit can shapeshift to any creature up to the size of a stag, where they would retain that form until they change shape again.

    • In the event of combat, shapeshifting into a beast does not grant the beastly prowess of that form; they are not as fast or as deadly, even to other spectres.

      • For instance, a White Spirit cannot use an avian form to fly to a rooftop or avoid in game mechanics.

    • Strictly, shapeshifting cannot be used to make spectral claws or ghost swords that are functional in combat.  

  • A White Spirit is capable of utilizing all other abilities.

  • All shapeshifted forms bear the distinct shape of the bleached blue and translucent color that a White Spirit originally had.

  • A transformation can be permanently worn by a spectre as a type of calling card and symbol of notoriety.

 

 

Invisibility

 

Spoiler

 

By dredging up their ectoplasm to the forefront of their being, White Spirits may shroud themselves in an invisible layer of ectoplasm or reveal their ectoplasmic avatar.  This facade warps around the form, causing temperatures to drop around the spectre as they approach — giving off frosty, fogged breath. While invisible, the veil of ectoplasm prevents those without capabilities of True Sight from seeing them, though it does not diminish their influence.  A spirit attempting to utilize other abilities while invisible causes them to appear as faded silhouette and amorphous, glowing set of wisps — taking action in this form invisible often poses a risk.

 

Leaving or entering invisibility requires three emotes to perform: one to gleam, one to begin to fade from sight, and the last to fully fade from sight.

 

Redlines:

  • A White Spirit is capable of becoming completely invisible.

  • Using abilities, entering or  leaving invisibility, or projecting one’s voice beyond a whisper still causes a spirit to gleam.  

    • The process of gleaming is just as apparent to the living as it is fully visible, meaning a ghost attempting to wield a dagger would be revealed a glowing amorphous blob.

  • Using invisibility to sneak near someone has a general tell: their breath will fog up.

 

 

Haunting

 

Spoiler

 

The most notorious abilities that those of the ghostly variety possess is a process called Haunting.  Haunting takes many shapes and forms in general, but specifically the ability exists as means to possess beings of all types.  With their advancements in their incorporeal state, spiritual beings are capable of entering humanoid bodies and projecting whispers and images into their mind.  Though they have no true control over their host, those that utilize Haunting to its fullest potential are able to incite emotions and ideas into the minds of their victims, often leading men to do heinous or uncharacteristically courageous acts based on one core idea.

 

Haunting requires three emotes to conduct: one to begin gleaming, one to enter the host, and one to begin to incite the victim.

 

After Haunting is successful, a player messages subsequential effects to their host.

 

Redlines:

  • Haunting purely takes basis on an psychotic level, its magic acting in a similar way to mental magic.

    • For instance, while Haunting a White Spirit may induce feelings of dread and anxiety off of the image of spiders crawling on their face floating in their victim’s mind.  

    • Alternatively, they can incite feelings of bravery and valiance off the concept of glory and riches.

    • Additionally, mental magic barriers, mind-like wards, Cognants, or any similar beings would treat Haunting as if it were a mentalist type magic.

  • Haunting may only be performed towards one end on a host; a White Spirit cannot incite fear then bravery.

  • Though inside of a host, spiritual beings performing haunting are not immune.  Should a person be cut by gold alloy, burned by fire, or has an energy based magic cast upon them, the spirit is forcefully ejected from the host and left dazed for one emote.

 

 

General Redlines

 

Spoiler

 

 

Redlines:

  • White Spirits exist as a end result of the Redemptive Path, the result of progressing through using Lesser Wraithreach in beneficial ways on their victim.

  • For purposes of physically combatting other spectres, a White Spirit exists in a “physical state” equivalent to that of a Tier 5 void mage, regardless of shapeshifted form.

    • For example, a White Spirit morphed as a bear be feeble, crumpling under blows and and easy to defeat by a stronger spectre such as a Wraith or Apparition that both lack a “physical” weakness.  

  • White Spirits must use a skin that is largely monotonous in bleached blues, whites, or anything in between.

  • These spectres and their progressed variants do not hold the capacity to use any forms of magic beyond their innate abilities.

    • Magic TAs are all dropped upon becoming a spectre and may be reapplied for, though the ability to connect or disconnect other users to that magic cannot be utilized.  If a person taught by a ghost requires being connected, there must be some confirmation in their application that they were connected by a person or entity capable of connection.  

 

 

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Revenants

Those who have been born of the blade seldom find solace in anything but.  Once knights, crusaders, fallen clerics and paladins, a Revenant is the result of a spirit who has chosen to continue their righteous path when damned with the insufferable fate of undeath.  To no rule, these spectres are bound to a code of chivalry. Unlike their kin of the Redemptive Path, the White Spirits, Revenants have forsaken the weaving of ectoplasm for dredging forth in damnation the martial prowess to harness the sword and shield.

 

Physical Characteristics

Whereas spiritual beings are found lacking in prominence of their form, a Revenant is whole, in the physical sense.  This wholeness takes the color of milky white to bleached blue hued “skin,” glowing vibrantly with an otherworldly aura to the eye. Unlike both the Gray and White Spirit, a Revenant finds themselves lacking in the traditional capabilities of the ghostly types of beings.  Instead, Revenants are fully capable of wearing protective armor and wielding swords like they once did in mortal fashion.

 

For the cost of their physical strength, Revenants find themselves weakened to all forms of mundane weaponry as mortalkind would.  Though a Revenant cannot bleed, limbs can be severed without causing a mortal wound. Only by delivering a mortal strike to the skull of a Revenant or stabbing it in its chest where a heart would be can end such a thing, until it later reforms and rises again.

 

Mental Characteristics

To no rule, Revenants are kindred souls and warriors who have found themselves scorned with undeath.  Many of these creatures were once the fervent and zealous holy soldier who found themselves afraid of death or simply wish to enact the last will of their God upon the earth.  Subsequently, many Revenants find themselves conflicted with the duality of their existence: an undead abomination yet a soldier of their Holy ways.

 

The hunger that had once plagued the nature of the Gray Spirit no longer ails those who have become Revenant; they have made some peace with their new undeath and work towards their own self-righteous goals.  Yet, as all spectres before them, a Revenant finds themselves unable to connect, to fully empathize, or experience a lover’s touch. Instead, they feel the constant chill of death, a constant, frigid coldness in each limb and in their minds, aching.

 

Abilities

White Wraithreach

 

Spoiler

 

Cleanliness, purity, restraint — a Revenant has grown in regards to what a Gray Spirit lacked, and so too has their capacity to manage their prowess with the Wraithreach.  Just as the Gray Spirits and White Spirits, a Revenant has the capability to draw out an esoteric vitality from the soul itself, subsuming this essence in order to achieve an ambrosia-like effect upon their undead minds.  Far more advanced that their meeker predecessor, Revenants are capable of doing so to a much more proficient and noticeable degree, though are incapable of the more invasive and sinister uses. With the White Wraithtouch, a Revenant is able to administer psuedo-blessings upon a soulbearing creature.  Conducting the Wraithreach appears ghastly and unnatural, as if pulling and consuming a silhouette of soul itself into the mouth of the imbiber.  By siphoning all that ails the mind, that afflicts the soul, a Revenant leaves behind a residual mark that provides a neutral or beneficial effect, passively feeding themselves off of it as the victim lives.  Immediately after being siphoned, the victim will feel a sense of wholesomeness, bolstered spirits, and unnatural positivity. 

 

The White Wraithreach requires three emotes to perform: one to begin gleaming, one to create a tether, and one to siphon from their victim.

 

A Revenant must then message a player to describe the effects.

Redlines:

  • All variants of the Wraithreach can only be utilized on beings with souls; those without a soul or with protected souls are immune.

  • To utilize the White Wraithreach, one must be within one meter of their victim and maintain that distance.

  • If a person is killed after having been victimized by a form of the Wraithreach, the Omen is not carried over after death.

  • A Revenant’s variant of the Wraithreach, the White Wraithreach, is only capable of instilling  White Omens in an individual (see Omens).

 

 

 

 

Martial Spectrality

 

Spoiler

 

Once wholly incapable of anything of the sort as a Gray Spirit, Revenants have forsaken their incomplete forms for the blade itself.  Donning suits of spectral armor and wielding ghastly looking swords at their side, those whose path had lead them here has rewarded the benefit of strength, of touch, of feeling of the sun’s light upon their face, without its warmth.  

 

Revenants may wear full suits of armor and wield swords.

 

Redlines:

  • Revenants possess the capability to utilize armor and weapons, fighting with the same strength as a human while lacking the fatigue of muscles.

    • Orcish beings, or any otherwise stronger beings, who become Revenants do not regain their Orcish, or similar, strength.

    • Revenants exist, at all times, in the peak condition of the average human form; they do not exist as hulking behemoth outliers of men and Olympic runners, but the average knight.

  • Revenants do not experience fatigue, though they can be slowed by the amount of armor they wear.

  • A Revenant’s armor and weapon is molded to their bodies, taking up a spectral appearance the same color as their dominant hue.  

    • Should a Revenant be struck by a spectre such as an Apparition or another Revenant, their spectral armor, giving an iron armor-like defense.

  • The weapon of a Revenant always take a spectral shape, glowing as if it were some sort of ghostly armament that may strike otherwise incorporeal spectres.

    • These armaments, in normal combat, act as they would if worn on a normal person.

 

 

Staring

 

Spoiler

 

Once only known to only Gravens as the “Graven Stare,” those who found themselves incapable of utilizing the magical prowess of their phantasmal forms have found power in the other places where it lies.  By staring into the livings’ eyes, a Revenant is capable of reminding those that stare back of the terrible gulf of death that is to come, leaving them in a state of shock as they visualize their own death.  It is said that looking too deep into the eyes of death is to stare directly into the infinitesimal maw of Ebrietaes, and the madness of it all.

 

Staring requires three emotes: one to gleam, one to draw their ectoplasm to the eyes, and the third for the stare to permeate their victim.

 

The effects of staring lasts for three emotes.

 

Redlines:

  • Staring causes the victim to be frozen with a creeping anxiety and fear and an image of their own death in their heads; the only thing that breaks someone from this trance is pain or time.

  • The effects of Staring require the victim to be looking at the Revenant; only a glimpse is needed.

  • Using Staring requires total focus; the act of swinging one’s sword or being attacked will cause a Revenant’s focus to falter and subsequently the ability.  

 

 

 

 

General Redlines

Spoiler

 


Redlines:

  • Revenants exist as a end result of the Redemptive Path, the result of progressing through using Lesser Wraithreach to afflict their victims with White Omens (see Omens).

  • Revenants exist both in a physical and spectral state with the strength of a human knight, though are always corporeal.

    • Revenant’s are extremely flameable under their armor, often quickly combusting if a flame is allowed to combust upon their bare ectoplasmic form.

    • A Revenant will remain “alive” unless struck in the head or in the heart with a mortal strike, with energy based magic these areas, or if they are set aflame and fire reaches these areas.

    • Their limbs can be mutilated and hacked off, which would reform after the narrative scenario is complete.  

  • Revenants must use a skin that is largely monotonous in bleached blues, whites, or anything in between.

  • These spectres and their progressed variants do not hold the capacity to use any forms of magic beyond their innate abilities.

    • Magic TAs are all dropped upon becoming a spectre and may be reapplied for, though the ability to connect or disconnect other users to that magic cannot be utilized.  If a person taught by a ghost requires being connected, there must be some confirmation in their application that they were connected by a person or entity capable of connection.  

 

 

The Ravening Path

Peering into the oblivion of death does not bode well for those forever out of the graces of light.  Beyond the shadow of redemption, there exists a hunger, a thirst, a lust in darkness and amoral fiber of mortalkind to violence and debauchery — the Ravening Path.  When faced with a path of fortitude, charity and semblance of virtue, not all Gray Spirits are capable of passing through unscathed. Falling to the ravenous hunger and corrosiveness of power, these beings of terrible disposition find themselves addicted to feasting on the mortality they were once a part of.

 

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Black Spirits

Likened to the mischievous and tortured Geists of Ebrietaes, these soulsucking, maddened spectres who have given into addictive hunger and vice of the Ravening Path, a Black Spirit exists as a ghost who has moved on from forms of restraint to indulging in vice.  Often violent, cruel, and sadistic, Black Spirits have perverted their undeath into the hunger that had consumed them, making use of their twisted composition and ectoplasm to fuel their will.

Physical Characteristics

Unable to experience the peaceful slumber of death, Black Spirits take on a vindictive appearance typically as unrestful as they were in their last moments: mangled corpses holding their decapitated heads, heinous bodies oozing tar-like blood and the grotesqueness of a gore ridden face shown to the bone.  Unlike the typically more benign White Spirit, Black Spirits range in color from bloody reds to deathly blacks, and anything in between.

 

Just as its spiritual cousins, the Black Spirit exists in a state of incorporeality and are unable to be struck with more mundane attacks.  However, they are just as susceptible to aurum alloys, fire, and energy-based magic attacks.

 

Mental Characteristics

A Black Spirit is largely defined by their lack of restraint rather than the makeup of their color.  They have found no solace and peace in their undeath, often turning to vengeance towards the living for the unjustness of their demise.  Unlike those who have managed to quench their thirst for life and blood, Black Spirits know no such boundaries. Instead, they crave the milk of life itself, desperate and addicted to it in their addled, broken state.

 

These beings are not inherently evil, nor do they exist hellbent on seeing the world burn.  Despite how Black Spirits have earned a name as vengeful, murderous amalgamations of death, many exist with convictions and a semblance of morality.  It is not unheard of for former mothers as Black Spirits to engage in saving children or women, though it is often the case that they would needlessly kill and sacrifice other innocents to achieve their cause.

 

Abilities

Black Wraithreach

 

Spoiler

 

The fiendish nature of the Black Wraithreach is a legacy of frigid chills, torment and vexing curses that stain the soul of both the perpetrator and the victim.  The Black Wraithreach exists without what its dichotomy lacks: restraint. Unlike Gray Spirits or those who utilize this ability in a redemptive arc, a Wraith seeks to take everything good and pleasant, leaving behind a mark of terror upon the soul itself.  Whereas a White Spirit or Revenant would take that which plagues the soul, leaving behind a sense of what is good, the darker variant of the Wraithreach is incapable of differentiating and simply takes everything it can, leaving behind something broken.  The darkest creatures capable of utilizing the Wraithreach do so in a manner to feed their habit, their addiction to mortality itself.  Conducting the Wraithreach appears ghastly and unnatural, as if pulling and consuming a silhouette of soul itself into the mouth of the imbiber.  Those who have their esoteric vitality siphoned from this ability experience twisted changes to their mind, their soul, and sometimes something more.  Immediately after being siphoned, the victim will feel a sense of weakness, frailty or lightheadedness. 

 

The Black Wraithreach requires three emotes to perform: one to begin gleaming, one to create a tether, and one to siphon from their victim.

 

A Black Spirit must then message a player to describe the effects.

 

Redlines:

  • All variants of the Wraithreach can only be utilized on beings with souls; those without a soul or with protected souls are immune.

  • To utilize the Black Wraithreach, one must be within one meter of their victim and maintain that distance.

  • If a person is killed after having been victimized by a form of the Wraithreach, the Omen is not carried over after death.

  • A Black Spirit’s variant of the Wraithreach, the Black Wraithreach, is only capable of instilling  Black Omens in an individual (see Omens).

 

 

Greater Telekinesis

 

Spoiler

 

Much more adept than their lessers, a Black Spirit is ultimate capable of far more powerful uses of their form in the shape of telekinetic powers.  These powerful spiritual beings have mastered their telekinetic focus, allowing them a small degree of influence in an area around them. Alternatively, a White Spirit can exert a more powerful degree of power upon single objects at a distance.

 

Black Spirits are capable of using simple telekinesis in an area of one meter around themselves at will.

 

Complex Telekinesis requires three emotes: one to gleam, one to cause the object to rumble, and the third to lift the object.

 

Redlines:

  • Black Spirits have a sphere of influence of one meter around them allowing them to use simple telekinesis — defined as controlling one object that is not motion or acted on by any other agency to manipulate.

    • For instance, arrows fired, rocks thrown, and swords swung cannot be halted by the sphere of influence.  Additionally, if an object is held by someone else, such as a shield or a book, it cannot be manipulated in this sphere of influence.

    • Simple telekinesis cannot be used to operate mechanical devices, or to throw or fire projectiles.  

  • Alternatively, Black Spirits may exert their will outside of their sphere of influence with complex telekinesis — defined as acting on one object outside of a radial influence limited to twenty meters.

  • All forms of telekinesis are limited to the weight of 30lbs; anything greater would simply shake and rumble.

    • Objects picked up are capable of being thrown as if they were thrown by an average human knight.

    • Complex machinery such as bows and crossbows may be manipulated without issue, provided they are operated within their normal emote count.

    • Telekinesis is limited to inanimate objects.  Living creatures or automatons, for instance, cannot be lifted.

  • Complex telekinesis requires emotes beforehand, while simple telekinesis does not.  

  • Attempting to throw or fire objects beyond the limitations of these two types will cause these objects to reach the end of their influence and drop without any momentum.

 

 

Shapeshifting

 

Spoiler

 

As the ability to control ectoplasm evolved, so too does the prowess over the natural form and shape that spectres can take.  Black Spirits are capable of morphing their bodies into shapes those of beast and man alike. Though they grow no distinct powers or strengths from doing so, many spectres find solace in taking the shape of something unrelated from the shadow of death they had once inhabited.

 

Shapeshifting requires three emotes to perform: one to gleam, one to become amorphous, and the last to take the shape.

 

Redlines:

  • A Black Spirit can shapeshift to any creature up to the size of a stag, where they would retain that form until they change shape again.

    • In the event of spectral combat, shapeshifting into a beast does not grant the beastly prowess of that form; they are not as fast or as deadly, even to other spectres.

      • For instance, a Black Spirit cannot use an avian form to fly to a rooftop or avoid in game mechanics.

    • Strictly, shapeshifting cannot be used to make spectral claws or ghost swords that are functional in combat.  

  • A Black Spirit is capable of utilizing all other abilities.

  • All shapeshifted forms bear the distinct color of blackness and bloody red, translucent color that Black Spirit have.

  • A transformation can be permanently worn by a spectre as a type of calling card and symbol of notoriety.

 

 

Invisibility

 

Spoiler

 

By dredging up their ectoplasm to the forefront of their being, Black Spirits may shroud themselves in an invisible layer of ectoplasm or reveal their ectoplasmic avatar.  This facade warps around the form, causing temperatures to drop around the spectre as they approach — giving off frosty, fogged breath. While invisible, the veil of ectoplasm prevents those without capabilities of True Sight from seeing them, though it does not diminish their influence.  A spirit attempting to utilize other abilities while invisible causes them to appear as faded silhouette and amorphous, glowing set of wisps — taking action in this form invisible often poses a risk.

 

Leaving or entering invisibility requires three emotes to perform: one to gleam, one to begin to fade from sight, and the last to fully fade from sight.

 

Redlines:

  • A Black Spirit is capable of becoming completely invisible.

  • Using abilities, entering or  leaving invisibility, or projecting one’s voice beyond a whisper still causes a spirit to gleam.  

    • The process of gleaming is just as apparent to the living as it is fully visible, meaning a ghost attempting to wield a dagger would be revealed a glowing amorphous blob.

  • Using invisibility to sneak near someone has a general tell: their breath will fog up.

 

 

Haunting

 

Spoiler

 

The most notorious abilities that those of the ghostly variety possess is a process called Haunting.  Haunting takes many shapes and forms in general, but specifically the ability exists as means to possess beings of all types.  With their advancements in their incorporeal state, spiritual beings are capable of entering humanoid bodies and projecting whispers and images into their mind.  Though they have no true control over their host, those that utilize Haunting to its fullest potential are able to incite emotions and ideas into the minds of their victims, often leading men to do heinous or uncharacteristically courageous acts based on one core idea.

 

Haunting requires three emotes to conduct: one to begin gleaming, one to enter the host, and one to begin to incite the victim.

 

After Haunting is successful, a player messages subsequential effects to their host.

 

Redlines:

  • Haunting purely takes basis on an psychotic level, its magic acting in a similar way to mental magic.

    • For instance, while Haunting a Black Spirit may induce feelings of dread and anxiety off of the image of spiders crawling on their face floating in their victim’s mind.  

    • Alternatively, they can incite feelings of bravery and valiance off the concept of glory and riches.

    • Additionally, mental magic barriers, mind-like wards, Cognants, or any similar beings would treat Haunting as if it were a mentalist type magic.

  • Haunting may only be performed towards one end on a host; a Black Spirit cannot incite fear then bravery.

  • Though inside of a host, spiritual beings performing haunting are not immune.  Should a person be cut by gold alloy, burned by fire, or has an energy based magic cast upon them, the spirit is forcefully ejected from the host and left dazed for one emote.

 

 

General Redlines

 

Spoiler

 

Redlines:

  • Black Spirits exist as a end result of the Ravening Path, the result of progressing through using Lesser Wraithreach in detrimental ways on their victim.

  • For purposes of physically combatting other spectres, a Black Spirit exists in a “physical state” equivalent to that of a Tier 5 void mage, regardless of shapeshifted form.

    • For example, a Black Spirit morphed as a bear be feeble, crumpling under blows and and easy to defeat by a stronger spectre such as a Wraith or Apparition that both lack a “physical” weakness.  

  • Black Spirits must use a skin that is largely monotonous in dark blacks, reds, and anything in between.

  • These spectres and their progressed variants do not hold the capacity to use any forms of magic beyond their innate abilities.

    • Magic TAs are all dropped upon becoming a spectre and may be reapplied for, though the ability to connect or disconnect other users to that magic cannot be utilized.  If a person taught by a ghost requires being connected, there must be some confirmation in their application that they were connected by a person or entity capable of connection.  

       

       


 

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Witch Wraiths

Spoken only  in the hushed whispers of folklore, banshees, faceless brigands, and the result of the fallen depravity of a spirit, wraiths exist as a spectre unlike their redeemed counterpart.  Within the torment and suffering of all mortalkind, there has always been a form of wraithdom to emerge as the pinnacle of all ire and hatred. Unlike the wraiths of necromancy or the Abyss, the Witch Wraith exists as a lesser kindred soul, but one of much equal demented mind.  

 

Physical Characteristics

Donning wispy cloaks of black and eldritch fabrics, twisted black metal designs, the faceless Witch Wraiths exist nearly identical to the disposition they had in yore.  Wraiths exist without any definitive true shape beyond a shadow of what they were in life; instead, they bind themselves in cloaks of blackened death and maintain their uncanny, nameless visage.  

 

Strictly, the Witch Wraiths are bound in darkness that permeates any and everything that they wear.  Color, unnaturally so, is drained from every garment, gauntlet, cloak, and cowl. Outside of this attire, Wraiths exist as shadowy figures and amorphous clouds of ectoplasm that only somewhat bear humanoid semblance and corporeality that allows them to enact the twisted depravity of their mind.  Unlike any other form of spectre, a Witch Wraith’s voice is characteristically limited to speaking in incessant shrieking and heinous, grating whispers.

 

Mental Characteristics

Volatile, angry, and irrational hatred — all these are characteristics of wraiths of past and present.  The ectoplasmic variant, the Witch Wraith, is no different in this regard. Within the minds and torment of the Witch Wraith, these spectres are damned.  Their minds are doomed with the prospect of never being able to touch, to love, to feel, or be at peace — for their mind always stirs with murderous intent and delusions of grandeur.

 

Most wraiths tend to be former kings and nobility that have been scorned, assassinated, and driven into exile by politics and the facade of kinship.  Such prospects of working with others or banding together seldom happens, even among wraiths themselves: for they find something to loathe in every creature, both living and dead.

 

Abilities

Black Wraithreach
Spoiler

 

The fiendish nature of the Black Wraithreach is a legacy of frigid chills, torment and vexing curses that stain the soul of both the perpetrator and the victim.  The Black Wraithreach exists without what its dichotomy lacks: restraint. Unlike Gray Spirits or those who utilize this ability in a redemptive arc, a Wraith seeks to take everything good and pleasant, leaving behind a mark of terror upon the soul itself.  Whereas a White Spirit or Revenant would take that which is plagues, leaving behind a sense of what is good, the darker variant of the Wraithreach is incapable of differentiating and simply takes everything it can, leaving behind something broken. The darkest creatures capable of utilizing the Wraithreach do so in a manner to feed their habit, their addiction to mortality itself.  Conducting the Wraithreach appears ghastly and unnatural, as if pulling and consuming a silhouette of soul itself into the mouth of the spirit.   Those who have their esoteric vitality siphoned from this ability experience twisted changes to their mind, their soul, and sometimes something more.  Immediately after being siphoned, the victim will feel a sense of weakness, frailty or lightheadedness. 

 

The Black Wraithreach requires three emotes to perform: one to begin gleaming, one to create a tether, and one to siphon from their victim.

 

A Witch Wraith must then message a player to describe the effects.

 

Redlines:

  • All variants of the Wraithreach can only be utilized on beings with souls; those without a soul or with protected souls are immune.

  • To utilize the Black Wraithreach, one must be within one meter of their victim and maintain that distance.

  • If a person is killed after having been victimized by a form of the Wraithreach, the Omen is not carried over after death.

  • A Witch Wraith’s variant of the Wraithreach, the Black Wraithreach, is only capable of instilling  Black Omens in an individual (see Omens).

 

 

Martial Spectrality

 

Spoiler

 

Once wholly incapable of anything of the sort as a Gray Spirit, Witch Wraiths have forsaken their once incomplete forms for the blade itself.  Donning compositions of matte black armor, wispy black cloaks and wielding ghastly, swords encased with black fire at their side, those whose path had lead them here has rewarded the benefit of strength, of touch, of feeling of the sun’s light upon their face, without its warmth.

 

Witch Wraiths may wear full suits of armor and wield swords.

 

Redlines:

  • Witch Wraiths possess the capability to utilize armor and weapons, fighting with the same strength as a human while lacking the fatigue of muscles.

    • Orcish beings, or any otherwise stronger beings, who become Witch Wraiths do not regain their Orcish, or similar, strength.

    • Revenants exist, at all times, in the peak condition of the average human form; they do not exist as hulking behemoth outliers of men and Olympic runners, but the average knight.

  • Witch Wraiths do not experience fatigue, though they can be slowed by the amount of armor they wear as a human would be in large sums of armor.

  • A Witch Wraith’s armor and weapon is molded to their bodies, taking up a blackened appearance.

    • Should a Witch Wraith be struck by a spectre such as an Apparition or Revenant, their spectral armor, giving an iron armor-like defense.

    • These armaments, in normal combat, act as they would if worn on a normal person.

  • Drawing any weapon, the implement is engulfed in a heatless, spectral black fire that causes the blade to be capable of striking other spectres.  

    • This flame does not cause a specter to be burned upon contact, and does nothing additional to the living.

 

 

Wailing

 

Spoiler

 

Once foolishly coined “Banshees” for their devilish shrieking, the Witch Wraith possesses the capability to emit a bloodcurdling, hideous wail.  Wailing is capable of breaking those within deep states of focus and causing others to flinch and grimace in agony, so long as a Witch Wraith is capable of channelling such a technique.  Those who have heard the horrendous cries of these dastardly fiends seldom live to tell the tale.

 

Using Wailing requires three emotes: one to gleam, one to focus their ectoplasm to their head, and the third to wail a sound or phrase.

 

Wailing causes a daze that last for one emote.

 

Redlines:

  • Wailing will cause all magical connections in the area to lose focus and require a reconnection unless effort is taken to shield both ears from the shriek, indiscriminately.

  • Wailing causes living beings, beings who have traditional types of auditory senses, to be dazed for one emote unless they preemptively cover their ears.

  • Though no permanent damage is done, Wailing can cause lasting migraines, headaches, and, in severe cases, bleeding from the ears to its victims after its use.

    • This secondary effect offers no combat utility in the case of magelike beings reconnecting or knights fighting.

 

 

General Redlines

Spoiler

 

Redlines:

  • Witch Wraiths exist as a end result of the Ravening Path, the result of progressing through using Lesser Wraithreach to afflict their victims with Black Omens (see Omens).

  • Witch Wraiths exist both in a physical and spectral state with the strength of a human knight, though are always corporeal.

    • Witch Wraiths’s are extremely flameable under their armor, often quickly combusting if a flame is allowed to ignite upon their bare ectoplasmic form.

    • A Witch Wraith will remain “alive” unless struck in the head or in the heart with a mortal strike, with energy based magic afflicting these areas, or if they are set aflame and fire reaches these areas.

    • Their limbs can be mutilated and hacked off, which would reform after the narrative scenario is complete.  

  • Witch Wraiths must use a skin that is faceless, black, and a combination of black cloak and armor.

  • Witch Wraiths, though related to older variants of wraiths, are incapable of performing abilities past wraiths were capable of, such as Husking or learning magic.

  • These spectres and their progressed variants do not hold the capacity to use any forms of magic beyond their innate abilities.

    • Magic TAs are all dropped upon becoming a spectre and may be reapplied for, though the ability to connect or disconnect other users to that magic cannot be utilized.  If a person taught by a ghost requires being connected, there must be some confirmation in their application that they were connected by a person or entity capable of connection.  

 

 

The Path of Perdition

There are those who have been damned by unspeakable magics, those who have been cursed for a fate beyond the sanity of a simple undeath.  These beings live in perdition, a place far outside the stretches of the mind; beings who have been marked to live out the remainder their deaths in the furthest, deepest reaches and innermost circles of Ebrietaes.  Some manage to claw their way out, though most have the mantle of the damned thrust upon them.

 

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Gravens

Inside of the realm of the occult and supernatural, there exist beings who have been cursed in such fashion in their mortal life that they are damned to carry out an eternal task for the remainder of their existence.  These beings, outside of the realm of normal spectres, are classified as Gravens. Eternal scholars left to ruinous citadels, the lost gravekeepers in the unbidden planes of Asulon, forsaken sailors in empty ships — any manner of a Graven’s task is bound is their life, death, and damnation.

 

Physical Characteristics

Gravens are as numerous in form as the many races that exist; they abide to no specific shape and standard, and many more lack any distinct rule for how they appear presently compared to their final moments in death: a slayed king with a spear protruding out of his torso; a scholar with decapitated head and in hand; a sacrificed virgin whose skin appears smoldered and charred.  Additionally, their bodies are distinctly shades of roughed over cobalt and moldy greens, bearing some affliction regarding the manner in which they were killed.

 

All Gravens are distinctly uniform in one manner: corporeality.  Similar to the Revenants and Witch Wraiths, Gravens possess an innate physical manifestation of their ectoplasm.  They bear an uncanny resilience that their brethren lack, a fortitude and capacity to bear and weather much more damage than any other spectre, lest their curse be short lived in the event of a merciful stranger.

 

Mental Characteristics

Gravens are consumed with only one thing: the task they have been cursed to complete.  Gravens do not reason, nor do they think in the degree to which a Descendant can. Such things only exist to reason whether something will help them towards their task and or hinder it.  

 

Many Gravens have existed for upwards of hundreds of years, their minds have corroded away and they feel a constant yearning and pain to complete their task sherely for the reason that it will release them from their curse.

 

Most Gravens lack an affinity towards direct violence.  Many, instead, opt to carry out their task peacefully and without any regard for the nearby living or dead.  The tasks a Graven can range from and many and far between distinct from more aggressive and dark acts, such as being a bookkeeper, fisherman, or librarian — though it is not unheard of for a Graven to be cursed with a task of defending a bridge until they die, or searching for the most honorable fight, for instance.

 

Abilities

Cursed Wraithreach

 

Spoiler

 

Gravens, unlike their bretheren of specters, lack the proper affinity to utilize Wraithreach properly.  Many scholars have surmised that the nature of a Graven has been made from a maddened specter who has altogether refused to utilize the Wraithreach, their mind corroding as a result.  In rare cases, however, Gravens bear a unique touch and variant of the Wraithreach which they may administer to soulbearing living and undead to instill temporarily within them their Graven Curse.  Gravens may temporarily share their affliction, their consuming task, with another who is thereafter forced to follow that task with their Graven lord while the presence of the Graven, lasting upwards of a day.

 

A Graven may take on a temporary steward to help carry out their task.

 

Redlines:

  • All variants of the Wraithreach can only be utilized on beings with souls; those without a soul or with protected souls are immune.

  • Players should first OOCly consent to this before being abducted into the event creature’s side.

  • The curse only works in the presence of the Graven who administered it and lasts for one narrative day.

  • The task is the same task that a Graven is bound to complete; Gravens are generally not capable of placing Omens on players.

 

 

 

 

Greater Physical Spectrality

 

Spoiler

 

Gravens all bear an innate strength that distinguishes them wholly from their lesser counterparts, Witch Wraiths and Revenants.  Though not all choose to use such feat, Gravens have been sighted tearing through walls, steel, stone and earth in order to complete their task by any means necessary.  However, as not all Gravens were great and accomplished warriors in life, not all are capable of using this power in skillful or tactical ways.

 

Gravens have theoretically limitless strength.

 

Redlines:

  • Gravens are may utilize terrible feats of strength in effort to pursue their task.  

    • This can take the shape of bending steel bars, pummelling through a stone gate, or anything supernatural so long as it is towards the goal of one’s task.

 

 

The Graven Stare

 

Spoiler

 

Though the capacity of spellcasting and utilizing the more magical side of their state has since faded from a Graven’s arsenal, many are capable of turning Once aptly known to only Gravens, “The Graven Stare,” Gravens are capable of utilizing their vast fortitude in undeath to their advantage through simply looking at a person.  Through eye contact, these creatures are capable of causing the living to freeze in place completely, experiencing the same consuming torment they feel until they are abruptly brought back into reality through painful stimulus or the Graven’s departure.

 

Staring into a Graven’s eyes will immobilize living creatures.

 

Redlines:

  • The immobilization effect lasts until the Graven has departed the area or the user has experienced some deal of pain to awaken them.

  • Beings and creatures without traditional mortal eyes, such as Golems or Atronachs, are unaffected.  Any soulless creatures or other undead are also immune to this staring.

 

General Redlines

 

Spoiler

 

Redlines:

  • Gravens are strictly played by the Story Event Team or approved Story Lore Team members.

    • Generally, Event Creatures should follow these guidelines but actors may make personal adaptations provided its within the spirit of the lore (i.e. no laserbeams or similarly unthematic abilities).

  • Gravens are fully corporeal, and can theoretically be dispatched with a mundane iron sword.

  • It is expected that actors should undergame this lore, as what is redlined is the maxiumum potential Gravens are capable of.

 

 

 

 

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Apparitions

Fallen legions, crews, rioters — all in death shared.  The vast plains of the realm are littered with the scourge of mass casualties, some deserving and some innocent, those who swelled in such shared horror and misery that all became both the one and many: an Apparition.  They come to be where souls have been bound together with foul magic or a shared angst. Most often, this is the shape of an eerie obelisk known as a “menhir” — an ominous, discolored phallic spire. Apparitions are twisted amalgamations of souls, warped in mind, appearance, and nature — holding malice and hatred for those who disturb whatever semblance of eternal rest they can manage in the world that has forsaken them.  

 

Physical Characteristics

As the Gravens, ghosts, wraiths and every manner in between, the shape and skew of Apparitions range from shadowy denizens to damned, lost children.  An Apparition holds no true shape, mainly settling on a form that the many melded souls have agreed upon, one that is ever shifting like the tides with the moods, the deigns and desires that the entity feels at the time. Apparitions appear as smokey silhouettes and amalgamated black smog and tar, only roughly humanoid in shape.  

 

Though most tend to vary, Apparitions all speak in a multitude of combined voices, a chorus of the many that they once were all as the one they have become.  They hold access to control each and every woeful spirit that formed them; their characteristics, their shape, their memories of loved ones and their voices, and it is not unheard of for these unfortunate beings to mimic and pretend to be the meekest among them.

 

Apparitions themselves hold a selective incorporeality, able to choose when and if they wish to have a physical presence in the realm.  With the prominence of their ectoplasmic shape, they find themselves wholly adverse to the nature of aurum alloys, fire, and energy-based magics.  Unlike their ghostly kin, an Apparition exists in the world as a behemoth, titan-esque fortified souls; where a torch could demanifest a Gray Spirit, much more is required for those who have a special place in Ebrietaes.

 

Mental Characteristics

Apparitions themselves exist in a predominantly conflicted state due to the makeup of the souls that compromise them, however shared their death, and the individuality that comes with them.  An Apparition exists as anything but a sane being, often many recluses in woe and depression, keeping isolated from the world as they feel the slow lingering chill of undeath. Other grow resentment for the very thing that they have become, though the most worrysome is when an Apparition is united in purpose and a common threat.

 

Though not all bound to pillars and menhirs, the longest lasting and eldermost of the Apparitions are have had their minds and purposes weathered away like the sands upon a shore.  It is for this reason that the most conflicted Apparitions are among the youngest, where the eldermost ones were bound to some forsaken obelisk in the ruins of a long lost catacomb with a semblance of sanity and total mastery over their form.

 

The foremost objective of an Apparition is the defense of the land or place they were formed in, as many wish to slumber than to be reminded of the horrors of their now past life, many resorting acts of malevolence.  Though, it has been known for the eldermost of these creatures to seek ambitions of their own.

 

Abilities

Ominous Wraithreach

 

Spoiler

 

The most notable ability an Apparition is capable of is the twisting of another’s soul.  The capacity of an Apparition’s far exceeds anything that any lesser ghostlike being is capable of; for they are but one soul, and an Apparition is many.  By drawing a siphon into the living, an Apparition is capable of not only feeding a hunger for mortality but gravely altering a soul and even future souls to their benefit.  The mark of the Apparition permeates more than simply the host, but their legacy.

 

An Apparition can place Omens upon individuals.

 

Redlines:

  • All variants of the Wraithreach can only be utilized on beings with souls; those without a soul or with protected souls are immune.

  • Apparitions are capable of placing all forms of Omens on players as well as custom Story Team approved ones.

 

 

Advanced Telekinesis

 

Spoiler

 

By weaving the vast amounts of ectoplasm within their incorporeal avatars, an Apparition is capable of powerful feats of telekinesis that far exceed the capacity of even master telekinesis users.  These abominable beings have far exceeded traditional mastery over their environment and their ability to manipulate it. Through sheer will, an Apparition is can lift objects with mere impulses, flinging them and halting them as if simply moving a limb.

 

Apparitions are capable of using simple telekinesis in an area roughly five meters around themselves at will.

 

Complex Telekinesis requires two emotes: one to gleam and cause the object to rumble, and the second to move the object.

 

Redlines:

  • Apparitions cannot lift living beings, automatons, or any otherwise sentient being into the air.

  • Attacking an Apparition while it is telegraphing more advanced stages of telekinesis will interrupt the spellcast.

  • An Apparition has a sphere of influence of five meters around them, allowing them to use telekinesis on objects without telegraphing first.

    • More than five objects at once cannot be halted.

  • At most, Apparitions are capable of lifting boulders and trees, throwing them at a runner’s speed.  Additionally, an Apparition can throw smaller objects like arrows at the same speed as if it were fired by a bow.

 

 

Greater Invisibility

 

Spoiler

 

By dredging up their ectoplasm to the forefront of their being, Apparitions may shroud themselves in an invisible layer of ectoplasm or reveal their ectoplasmic avatar.  This facade warps around the form, causing temperatures to drop around the spectre as they approach — giving off frosty, fogged breath. While invisible, the veil of ectoplasm prevents those without capabilities of True Sight from seeing them, though it does not diminish their influence.  A spirit attempting to utilize other abilities while invisible causes them to appear as faded silhouette and amorphous, glowing set of wisps — taking action in this form invisible often poses a risk.

 

An Apparition may enter and leave invisibility at will.

 

Redlines:

  • Apparitions approaching players will give a tell of fogged breath while near the Apparition.

  • While invisible, an Apparition is capable of both being harmed and causing harm.

  • Beings with True Sight may see through an apparition’s invisibility.

 

 

 

 

Advanced Haunting

 

Spoiler

 

The most notorious abilities that those of the ghostly variety possess is a process called Haunting.  Haunting takes many shapes and forms in general, but specifically the ability exists as means to possess beings of all types.  With their advancements in their incorporeal state, spiritual beings are capable of entering humanoid bodies and projecting whispers and images into their mind.  Though they have no true control over their host, those that utilize Haunting to its fullest potential are able to incite emotions and ideas into the minds of their victims, often leading men to do heinous or uncharacteristically courageous acts based on one core idea.

 

An Apparition is capable of inhabiting a host body within five meters tormenting their mind.

 

Redlines:

  • Advanced Haunting has a tell of causing a player’s eyes to glow.

  • Advanced Haunting purely takes basis on an psychotic level, its magic acting in a similar way to mental magic.

    • Mental magic barriers, mind-like wards, Cognants, or any similar beings would treat Advanced Haunting as if it were a mentalist type magic.

  • Though inside of a host, spiritual beings performing Advanced Haunting are not immune.  Should a host be cut by gold alloy, burned by fire, or has an energy based magic cast upon them, the spirit is forcefully ejected from the host and left dazed for one emote.

 

Primal Mysticism

 

Spoiler

 

Before the mass suicide of the First Synod, the art of Mysticism was gated beyond the mortal form.  With the Apparition known as Mythul Tlan and his crowning of the first Mystic, the ability to weave ectoplasm into various shapes and sizes was unlocked.  Within each and every Apparition, there exists an inherent capacity to utilize Mysticism in some form: walling, deadbreath, and handling. These beings, much greater and wholly than the Wights of the Synod, lack the knowledge and understanding to use these abilities in most stages — though, the eldest among Apparitions have been known to utilize one or two of these abilities under great duress.

 

Some Apparitions can use Mysticism and Mysticism-like abilities.

 

Redlines:

  • Apparitions are capable of Event-style Mysticism, though if they use an ability they should have a general understanding from the lore of what that ability wholly does.

 

 

Selectively Incorporeal

 

Spoiler

 

Like their Mysticism brethren, the wight, Apparitions are capable of wielding a limited form of corporeality.  Due to the degree of control within their form, an Apparition holds the innate ability to grant the ability to touch objects and give off a physical presence at will by utilizing a combination of both ectoplasm and their inherent telekinetic properties.  Many Apparitions most often use this in order to deliver mortal strikes and swipes with spectral claws to the unsuspecting combatant.

 

Apparitions are capable of causing parts of their body to have a pseudo-solid presence at will.

 

Redlines:

  • Apparitions may strike individuals physically with the strength of a bear’s swipe.

  • At most, an Apparition’s attacks may be blocked.  Striking an apparition as it utilizes a temporary physical presence will simply phase through the creature as if it were a normal sense of corporeality.

 

 

General Redlines

 

Spoiler

 

Redlines:

  • Apparitions are strictly played by the Story Event Team or approved Story Lore Team members.

    • Generally, Event Creatures should follow these guidelines but actors may make personal adaptations provided its within the spirit of the lore (i.e. no laserbeams or similarly unthematic abilities).

  • Apparitions are ectoplasmic spectres, requiring aurum, fire, energy-based or soul targeting magic to be damaged with.

    • Generally, Event Creatures should follow these guidelines but actors may make personal adaptations provided its within the spirit of the lore (i.e. no laserbeams or similarly unthematic abilities).

  • It is expected that actors should undergame this lore, as what is redlined is the maxiumum potential Apparitions are capable of.

 

 

 

 

Omens

Most every spectre possesses the means of blessing or cursing mortal souls.  From unnamed ghosts to Apparitions, phantoms can imbibe the ephemeral essence of a person’s very soul, leaving behind a residue that can be either beneficial or detrimental.  The nature of what is bestowed is dependent on the strength of a ghost and its affinity to subsume positive or negative esoteric vitality.

 

White Omens

For a period of three narrative days, a victim will find themselves stricken with a positive emotion of the user’s choosing.  The afflicted feel an affinity towards this emotion, sometimes connected to a past trauma or a cherished memory, and it slowly consumes them.  Typically, this comes in the form of the afflicted experiencing the voices of past loved ones, flashback to cherished moments, and otherwise an event that the victim looks back on with a smile.  The most generic use of this ability feeds a person boons of confidence, respite from depression or sadness, or an overall calmness. Generic White Omens have no bearing on combat.

 

Black Omens

For a period of three narrative days, a victim will find themselves stricken with a negative emotion of the user’s choosing.  The afflicted feel an affinity towards this emotion, sometimes connected to a past trauma or a long-forgotten memory, and it slowly consumes them.  Typically, this comes in the form of the afflicted experiencing the screams of past loved ones, flashbacks to warfare and torture, and otherwise an event that the victim looks back on with disgust.  The most generic use of this ability stokes a person with fear, anger, and spite onwards to depression and sadness. Generic Black Omens have no bearing on combat.

 

Advanced Omens

Though the above are the most generic forms of uses of Omens, it has been known far outside of the scape of phantoms to discover their own unique variants of these blessings and curses, using them as a sort of “calling card” and symbol of notoriety.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Redlines:

  • Player CAs may make MArts detailing the creation of their own Omens.  These custom MArts can be taught to other CAs, provided they are of a similar affinity (i.e. a White Spirit cannot teach a Black Spirit how to perform White Omens, but they can teach Revenants how to perform White Omens because they share the same “family”).

  • Each CA can only have one Omens per their ghost CA; if they wish for more they must have their existing MArt denied which relieves players of their effects.

  • The nature of custom Omens follow the following guidelines:

    • You must be an advanced spirit to create your own Advanced Omens.

    • The Omen does not give ridiculous combat buffs such as Orcish strength; at most afflicting vestigial deformities, vision augmentations, or otherwise cantrip like effects.

    • The Omen has a limitation on how often it can be used, ranging from only being active on one person at a time to simply being once a day.

  • Examples of potential custom Omens:

    • With OOC consent, a hereditary Black Omen that is passed down from the afflicted person, causing them to go bald at twenty years of age and experience a depression.

    • A White Omen capable of bolstering one single person with the ability of True Sight.

    • A Black Omen that gives a person hallucinations of being stalked by some eldritch beast.  

    • A White Omen that causes a person to become extremely calm and mellowed and refuse to engage in combat for several emotes, used only once daily.

 

 

General Redlines

 

Spoiler

 

Redlines:

  • Omens are capable of being removed by magic purging abilities, such as via Antimagic or Holy Magic techniques.

  • Generic Omens do not require OOC consent to perform, though they offer no combative advantages.

  • Advanced Omens are only capable of being created by Black Spirits, White Spirits, Witch Wraiths, and Revenants.  Gray Spirits must progress to be able to create MArts for their own Omens.

 

 

Citations

 

Links

Mysticism lore
Phantom Compendium

 

People

Dardonas - Writing

Zarsies - Original lore writer/4th Generation Necromancy

Kalehart - Consultation

Gallic – Consultation

Mystic and Ghost community - Feedback

 

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I'm excited for this lore, really good writing too.

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I love it, I love you, and I love being of the undeath

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looks amazing +1

 

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As someone who has had a Poltergeist for longer than I can remember, This more than satisfies what I want to see in my future roleplays. The progression and diversity brought by this is more than what the Ghost needed. I fully support this as someone who truly enjoys roleplaying these characters

 

11/10, absolutely marvelous

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+1 

 

Now, when is this going to be accepted?

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With Dardonas’ permission (done with LotC for awhile) I was allowed to reformat and edit this submission as I am also working upon Mysticism for the Lore Games.

Can this be denied, please?

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This Lore has been denied. The reasoning will be edited into this comment within the next handful of hours.

 

Topic moved to Denied Lore forum.

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