Wraith the Beckoning 2.1

7/29/2019 Wraith the Beckoning 2.1

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Wraith the Beckoning

By Peter M. D'Amica III[aka: GrimJesta]

For Val.

___________________________The greatest irony to face the human soul is the fact that in death, time is

more precious than when a person was among the living. There is a simplereality that becomes more apparent the longer a person is dead the number of: souls that have not succumbed to The Slumber numbers less than one hundred.- This means that from the time a soul steps off of Charon s boat, their soul' usually has around one hundred and fifty to two hundred years to take care of- - their final business, give or take a few decades. Beyond that, most ghosts fall intothe Slumber and become non or semi sentient Drones incapable of finishing their- - final tasks. They are forced to remain on Earth until they fade into nothingness

or some sort of event shocks them into Revival. The latter is often brief andpainful for the spirit.The only way to beat this countdown to oblivion is to Transcend death' '

itself. Once a ghost lets go of it s earthly fetters and urges it is free to move on' to whatever mysteries await the Human soul outside of this purgatory

That Which Beckons to Unlife


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Ghosts may come from all walks of life, but all have twounifying factors in their death experience: they are driven byunfinished business in the realm of the living and they are tiedto one or more fetters (as explained below). A ghost's unfinishedbusiness keeps them from 'moving on' to Heaven, Hell, Nirvana, or

whatever afterlife they believe in (or so they hope; no onereally knows what occurs after a ghost fades from theUnderworld upon resolution of whatever beckons it back fromthe grave).

In addition to this unfinished business, all ghosts havepeople, objects, or places they are bound to that may or maynot be intertwined with their incomplete tasks. These 'fetters'are what prevents a ghost from being thrust into the eternaldamnation of Stygia; a ghost without 'fetters', but has nottranscended to the proper afterlife, is unable to maintain anysort of hold on the Underworld. There is no such things as aghost that has no unfinished business- a ghost withoutunfinished business either transcends to another realm of thedead or fades into nothingness! Fetters are things that theghost had an emotional investment in during their lifetimes.This need not be a positive emotion. Some ghosts are forced tohang around the place they were abused, haunt the place theirheart was first broken, or hang around the person that

molested them as a child. Positive or negative, fetters are basedon raw emotion.

Fetters are sometimes known as Anchors.

That Which Beckons to DeathWhile the essence of a ghost may stick around for centuries, whatever

gives it the ability to retain its sentience does not. Most ghosts have only acentury or two to complete their tasks and move on or face Slumber . Slumber' '

is nicknamed the little death amongst the dead of the Underworld. Each decade' ' a ghost exists in the Underworld, he or she comes closer to the little death' '


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Geography of The Underworld

Hades/Sheol/DuatSome religions have more than just a Heaven and a Hell. Some cultures

have more than just transcendence. The concept of a purgatory is as old aswritten history, but most ghosts favor three words for this in between place one:

Jewish, one Greek, and one Egyptian. The Jews called this world of unlight theSheol, a place where both the righteous and the wicked awaited resurrection.Early Greek mythology called this gloomy land of the dead Hades, a placewhere there was no reward or punishment, only waiting. Duat is the Egyptianword for the same concept, only there was a judging of one s soul. All three are' correct in some ways but the concepts are perfect examples of how little mortalsunderstand death and dying.

When a person dies and is condemned to the purgatory of Hades they findthemselves in one of two situations. Either they find themselves trapped near thescene of their death awaiting the arrival of Charon or they are catapulted into theWastelands.

The former is by far the most common way a soul finds themselves inpurgatory. Every soul has a different experience, but there are usually somesimilarities. The first is that they find themselves at the place of their death or thelocation of their main fetter. Some can see their body and the people in thevicinity, while others find themselves completely alone in a barren world. Theycan usually only travel a few dozen feet from the place of their death (thoughsome ghosts report the inability to travel even that far) or their main fetterthough what limits them varies from spook to spook. For most it is a mist that

grows thicker and thicker the further they move from their body, it s disorienting' effect always leading them back to where their body or fetter lies. Others tell ofdriving winds or torrential rains, piles of debris or objects in the vicinity blockingthe way further, and other barriers. It is always some sort of twilight or foggywith an overcast sky with a strange half light partially illuminating the scene.

These ghosts usually find a pair of ancient looking coins at the scenethrough what appears to be circumstance. Anyone with knowledge of antiquity orcoinage recognizes that these are oboloi, a coin that dates back to ancient Greece.


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A soul with unfinished business always finds the coins. That is just the way it is.Souls doomed to Stygia do not find them and never can.

Another commonality most ghosts have regarding their initial death is theburning sensation that they re waiting for someone and' mustwait for that person.They don t know who that person is, but they know that they will know when'

they see him or her. Eventually, Charon himself arrives to ferry their soul intothe Underworld. How Charon appears and the sort of conveyance he is usingvaries wildly, depending not only on the ghosts themselves but also the locationthey are in. His face is never revealed and the spirit knows not to look. Charon' ' simply holds out his hand and the soul knows to hand him the oboloi. A soldierkilled in Vietnam may find a mysterious soldier piloting an army riverboat comingto rescue him. A wealthy politician might be borne by a limousine driven by asilent but graceful chauffeur. Even if other souls are in Charon s boat they all see' it as they want to. Charon never speaks, but he is always inviting, calming andvery graceful.

A wraith must pass through three sets of cyclopean gates before hereaches the land of the dead. These gates are said to have been standing sincethe first human died and found him or herself in the Underworld. The Egyptiansheld a similar belief inspired by the reality of these massive doors, most likely

whispered to them by their own dead, warning them that they shall stand beforethese gates and recognize their own mortality.At the third gate one finds an old man holding a set of scales, presumably

to weigh a persons soul before they enter the Underworld. He calls himself' Osiris or Yama, depending on his mood, though most suspect that he is merelythe first soul to have entered the Underworld. Each spook that passes the secondgate finds themselves before this entity and is called upon to recognize they heis dead. Those who refuse are left to contemplate their death until they are readyto enter the gates of the Underworld. Once they proclaim that they recognizetheir own death they are free to enter. As they pass the old man, the scales shift

in a way that only the old man understands and he declares their Dooming. Someghosts believe that this old man is the origin of myths such as Saint Peterguarding the gates of Heaven or Anubis weighing the feather to judge mens' souls.

After passing through the third gate the wraith finds herself in a familiarsetting. She may find herself near the scene of her death or she may find herselfin a familiar part of her home city or town. Sometimes spooks find themselves ina place they always loved but haven t been too in ages. Ghosts are entities of'


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pure emotion and desire no matter where they appear it is always someplace; important to them while they were alive and in death.

While the scene may strike a chord of familiarity with the wraith, certainaspects of the world around her will stand out immediately.

There is no sunlight. There is no moonlight. The sky is alwaysovercast and dark. During the time of day that would be lightoutside in the mortal world the inky darkness of theUnderworld changes to a queer twilight. It is always foggy, butits thickness differs day to day. Time does not seem to pass.

Everything is seen through the eyes of the dead: colors aremuted, scents are weak, texture dulled. The lens of death casts astrange pall over the world. Things look slightly decayed andruined since the eyes of the underworld can see the death of

everything. Humans looks slightly blurred or transparent. Paintis chipped and peeling. Wood is bloated or crumbling with age.

The air is stagnant and reeks of decay despite the breeze. Fromthe shadows, voices whisper or cry. In the distance the keeningof the lost souls competes with the wind blowing from Stygia.Floors moan and branches creak.

This is the Underworld.

The land of the dead is a dead land. It looks and feels like a purgatory. Itis a world of ruin. This death sight is what allows some ghosts to predict the death of a mortal or a tragic event. To some spooks, such things reflect in theUnderworld before they actually happen. Ghosts are not in a real place in asense, and because this Underworld is based on the perceptions of the soulstrapped there, individual spooks might see different things in the same place.There is usually a subconscious consensual understanding of a the Underworld s ' reflection of the mortal realm, but some ghosts do not share in this communal vision , so to speak. A ghost that murdered his entire family might see blood dripping from the walls and pooling on the floor while visiting ghosts see arotting, decrepit house. Wraiths speculate as to the why and how of this, but this is the realm of the dead! No mere ghost will ever comprehend it.

StygiaAll watercourses in the Underworld eventually lead to the five rivers of the


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Underworld, and these rivers always flow into the infinite gulf of Stygia, a placeno ghost with a fetter can ever enter. No one knows what is in the churning,impenetrable darkness of Stygia since once you are plunged into that void youare gone forever. Wraith mythology tells many stories of a city of the deadsomewhere in here, a place where the Dead live in peace and without need, and

free of Slumber. Others claim that Lost Souls, those unable to find their properafterlife and without anything to tie them to the land of the living, are sweptaway into this void to face eternity in torment. Whatever is out there will neverbe known.

The five rivers of the underworld are known by their Greek names :Acheron, the River of Sorrow, Cocytus, the River of Lamentation, Phlegethon, theRiver of Fire, Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness, and Styx, the River of Hate.Rivers in the Sheol are unpredictable and dangerous. The same reality distortionthat causes the Labyrinth to exist also forces all rivers to flow into one of the

five rivers of the Underworld. Usually a wraith only realizes she has becometrapped in one of the Underworld rivers when it is too late. Of all the rivers ofthe Underworld the River Styx is the most common culprit of this trick thus the; name Stygia literally means- 'of or pertaining to the River Styx. The river' Acheron is the gateway to the Underworld and as such forms the barrierbetween the lands of the living and the lands of the dead. It is on this river thatCharon ferries souls to the Sheol for an Obolus under the tongue (an Obolus oneach eye, while incorrect, is acceptable to the mysterious and ferryman).

Stygia is sometimes referred to as Limbo, a name influenced by Christian

mythology, while others refer to it as Gehennain the Jewish tradition, or Tartarusif one prefers the Greek convention. Interestingly enough, Charon and the fiverivers and absent from the Underworld on the Asian continent, Instead all riversand waterways seem to flow into the Sanzu River, one with attributes similar tothe Styx (and is assumed to be the same river by most ghosts).

It must be noted that on the cusp of Stygia stands an iron watchtower, theRiver Styx flowing past in an almost serene manner. The average spook can notapproach this tower the Styx flows so strong here that wraiths are sucked out into the nothingness of Stygia should they attempt to cross it but some have- noted Charon ferrying souls to it. Some souls enter the tower and are pulled

from the Underworld, while others ferried there wait as guardians to aid theseother souls. Because these souls never pass the Three Gates of Hades they arenot truly dead. They do not see the world with the eyes of the dead the: wasteland around the tower, the wraiths surmise, must look like a palace to thosewithout the eyes of the dead.

Those familiar with Mage the Awakening might suspect that this is the Watchtower of Lead Coin.How right they are. When a Moros approaches the Watchtower they see a palatial land of white marble and


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serene beauty. They are unable to move away from the Watchtower for the Styx impedes them. Thus, aMoros only sees what he is allowed to see by whatever powers beyond the cosmos created this realm ofwaiting. Moros who visit this realm see what their mind would interpret the realm of the dead as being.Serenity, white marble, palace-like structures, peaceful dead, piles of wealth these are things our minds are conditioned to believe Heaven would be when we die. Even though the Moros knows this is far from any

Judeo-Christian Heaven, part of their subconscious adheres to these images. It helps the whole process runsmoother, since they're still technically alive and would be driven insane were they to be dropped into thedismal, depressing afterlife most Wraiths know.

The guardian dead are a mystery. No one knows why some people are ferried to this tower to standas eternal guardians while most souls are ferried to the Sheol. It is supposed that the reason why so manyof the living call the entire Underworld Stygia is because of the proximity this tower has to that place.

The LabyrinthThe lands of the dead defy normal physics and geographical laws. The

Labyrinth is one such example of this. From a wraith s perspective the Labyrinth' lies below Hades. It is made up of an infinite number of tunnels and chambers. The walls are carved with catacomb like niches, while the floor is made up of- moldering earth bristling with jagged pieces of broken tombstones and bones.Some areas may resemble some other burial structure or like locations, fromcharnel houses to rust riddled morgues. Any stairs leading down too far or any- slope that traverses too deep runs the risk of ending up entirely too close toStygia.

Where a staircase or hallway might end in the Skinlands, sometimes it

continues on in Hades, and this is how one may find themselves lost in theLabyrinth. Or perhaps a Skinland basement has a sinkhole in Hades or a crack inthe wall that leads to this mysterious and horrific place. No one knows why theLabyrinth exists or what purpose it serves. It simply is.

Tempests, Vortexes, and Other AnomaliesSome spooks believe that Stygia is more than an endless

gulf of darkness and nothingness. From this seething murk,savage storms known as Tempests and Vortexes boil forth andravage the Underworld and devastate the souls found therein.No one knows what causes these storms or why they occur, but


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occur they do and all a ghost can do is seek shelter and hopethat the storm blows over.

Vortexes seem to be made up of whirling, black quasi-nothingness that howls along the waterways of the five riversand ravage an area much like real world tornadoes would on the

other side of the Veil (only Vortexes are much bigger). Lostsouls from Stygia literally swirl around the column of inkydarkness, keening along with the moaning winds. Ghosts caughtin a Vortex are lost forever, their ties to any fetters shreddedinstantly.

Where Vortexes 'whirl', Tempests 'boil'. They flare up fromStygia like angry storm fronts that wreak havoc on structuresof the Underworld and tear at the corpus of any ghost caughtoutside. Strange lights resembling heat lightning flash deepinside of the churning nether-clouds.

Thankfully, 'atmospheric anomalies' such as these areheralded in by subtle changes to the Underworld. A cold breezeis almost constantly blowing in the Sheol, sometimes lightly,other times almost storm-like in nature. When the wind suddenlychanges direction and slowly peters out, as of the wind werebeing sicked out of the Underworld, it is usually a sign that aVortex is about to burst forth. Tempests are usually precededby an unnatural calm that stifles the lay of the land and

almost 'thickens' the 'air' further than it normally is.Vortexes and Tempests are common enough that all ghosts

know of them, yet rare enough that most only see a few in their'lifetime'. A more common anomaly that resembles weather is the'ghost wind'. It is assumed that ghost wind also originates inStygia, its howling winds composed of the wails of the soulslost to eternity. What makes ghost wind terrible is that if onelistens closely one can make out words in the wind. Those thatlisten too closely have been known to go mad, some even

throwing themselves into the abyss of Stygia.

The Wastelands (The Junkyards)No one knowshowone winds up in the area called the Wastelands, but

most know that some dofind themselves there. The Wastelands, also known asthe Junkyard, have some qualities of the Labyrinth and some of the Sheol. Shoulda Wraith find herself lost in the Wastelands on several occasions chances are the


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place will look different every time. Many of finest dead philosophers speculatethat the Wasteland is made up of the subconscious fears of the dead and theliving, a realm of nightmares and terror. No matter what the realm looks like, itis usually very empty in a sense. Rarely will the trapped spirit see another soulexcept those she came in with, but there is often the sound of life here and

there. A Junkyard that looks like the halls of a darkened insane asylum mighthear the wails of the tortured patients and the cruel whispers of the psychologistsbut never actually see anyone, even if every cell couldbe checked. A maze ofabandoned cars in an actual junkyard might creak and moan, but nothing will bethere to cause such a sound. Regardless of what it looks like, the Wastelands aresimilar in some ways to Hades there is only a twilight fog for a sky and: everything is decayed, only infinitely worse than in the Sheol.

Twilight

Operating from behind the Veil can be extremely difficult for a wraithwhen they wish to interact with the mortal realm. With some effort and a littleluck the dead can slip through cracks in the Veil and enter a state called Twilight.Twilight is not a place A wraith in Twilight is merely in the mortal world, past the Veil, but completely ephemeral and invisible. This is a double edged sword- While Wraiths find it easier to affect the mortal world while in Twilight, they tooare affected easier by mortals and supernatural entities of said place. The Sheolaffords a wraith certain partial immunities to exorcisms and lesser magic but thisis not so for Twilight. The only time a Wraith may ever see or interact with a

Spirit is while it is in Twilight and then only the most powerful Spirits are seen.

Life As The DeadMost souls are shocked to find that life goes on when you re stuck in' ' '

purgatory. Wraiths still need the ghostly versions of the basic necessities in life.They still need to feed on emotions, find shelter from the savage Maelstromsthat howl out of Stygia from time to time, horde relics and artifacts, and so on.Add to this the fact that wraiths still retain most if not all of their personalitieswhen they die, so pettiness, cruelty, and possessiveness are just as strong (if not


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stronger) on the dead side of the Veil. Humans believe that they have limitedtime on earth but an eternity on the other side. The dead know that they havelimited time as a spook... or face complete oblivion.

Ghost or Wraith?

A distinction must be made between a ghost and a wraith. Ghosts aremindless drones who either crossed over that way or are Wraiths who havefallen to the Slumber. All ghosts can be considered Slumbering, since even theweakest ghost can be awoken with enough trauma to its existence (an unlikelytask). Wraiths, unlike ghosts, are not completely tied to an anchor and trapped inTwilight. Wraiths, on the other hand, are tied to fetters but can still roam theUnderworld as well.

Death 101

Death Marks and Doomings: What is and what will be.Each and every ghost bears the sign of how she died. These marks are

grouped into categories based on the manner in which the person s life ended' ;violence, illness, age, happenstance and wasting are the five death marks, thoughsome speculate on a sixth fate.

Death Marks:

Death by violence: You were killed by violence somehow, be it asoldier on a field of battle or the victim of murder.

+1 to Strength or Dexterity

Numina: Wrath, Shroud-Rend

Prone to succumbing to Dark Passions easier than other wraiths


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Death by illness:You died from an illness, whether it was a physical

thing like small pox or a mental thing like insanity. Suicide falls

under this Mark as well since it is caused by insanity through some

form or fashion. Spooks with this death mark exhibit some form of

inner strength or resolve awakened by their death (or their

insanity).

+1 Stamina or Resolve

Numina: Erudition, Putrescence

Suffer penalties to social interactions due to disturbing

physical or mental illnesses

Death by age:You died from old age, simple enough. This death mark is

rare in the Underworld but not unheard of. Most, but not all, people

dying of old age have come to terms with their death and do not

linger with unfinished business on the scale of those who died

unexpectedly, such as those who die in a car crash or a mugging gone

wrong. Despite their fetters and the business that beckons them to

remain tied to the world of the living, those with the death mark of

age are more susceptible to Slumber.

+1 Intelligence or Composure

Numina: Temporus, Traverse

-2 to resist Slumber

Death by happenstance:You died by an accident, from falling down a

flight of stairs to being in a car wreck and everything in-between.

This is usually a catch-all death mark for any spook that doesn't fall

under the domain of another mark, but usually it is clear that the

wraith died by a freak accident. People don't handle this well and as

a result ghosts with this death mark gain a minor derangement.

+1 Dexterity or Manipulation


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Numina: Compulsion, Gremlin

Begin play with a derangement

Death by wasting: Dehydration, starvation, suffocation, drug

overdose and even childbirth fall into this Deathmark; anything

cause by the body being denied a vital need or losing a vital

substance not caused by another type of death. Suffering on this

level usually imparts a certain type of worldliness or wisdom, while

their physical appearance lends them an air of intimidation.

+1 Wits or Presence

Numina: Transfigurement, Haunting

Must lose two Corpus for each one lost normally through damage

Death from the Hand of Fate:Many are skeptical about the existence

of this Deathmark. No one has seen a spook with it, or if they did

they didn't know it. After all, what would fate look like? Wraiths

marked by Fate die through what usually looks like happenstance or

violence and as such manifest what appears to be the proper deathmark. Because Fate deemed them to die before they were born, their

oboloi literally burns them when they find it, marking them as dead

before life.

+1 Manipulation or Resolve

Numina: Castigate, Erudition

Suffer if they deviate from Fates Calling


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If a death mark is a ghost s past, it s Dooming is it s future as declared by the' ' ' creature calling itself Osiris/Yama. As soon as a shade sets foot off of Charon s' boat, the wraith must pass through three gigantic doors. At the third door standsan old man in tattered robes holding a set of scales in his hand. With but awhisper the old man proclaims a spooks Dooming. The Dooming is the death destiny of the ghost, it s role in the Underworld. Several factors influence the ' Dooming, but the most important is the wraith s views of the mortal realm now'

that she is dead and her feeling about her unfinished business. An angry,frustrated ghost may be Doomed to an unlife as a poltergeist, while a piousghost consigned to dealing with a quiet unlife in purgatory might be Doomed tospending his time in the Underworld as a Guardian.

Dooming:

Specter: Where Poltergeists are capricious, Specters are malicious andcruel. They hate the living and seek to destroy, whether it ismurdering their own murderers or shredding up the living in a

senseless orgy of blood. Their powers are not pleasant. Specters areknown to make people sick or die, kill plants and small animals, anduse their abilities to really hurt the living.

Poltergeist: Poltergeists deal with their problems by throwingthings around, breaking things, and occasionally battering a personsenseless. Poltergeists are known for inhabiting machines, movinganything not nailed down, and making strange sounds in order to get


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their unfinished business done.

Lamenter: Sometimes called 'Banshees', Lamenters mourn their owndeath and the curse of purgatory they must now face, though somemourn the loss of any loved ones that died with them as well. Theyare gifted with a limited future-sight which allows them to foretell

the death of a person. Most Lamenters gain essence off of the livingmourning, so they have been known become twisted, bitter creaturesthat actually cause a person's death as opposed to foretelling it.

Sandman: Sandmen are ghosts that have the rare ability to travelinto the dreams of the living. Most are also able to possess the mindof a living person (through a similar method to their dreamtraveling). Sandmen also tend to trade in secrets. Entering a person'smind, living or dead, digs up all sorts of juicy secrets. They are alsoknown as Dybbuk,so named from the Jewish tradition, especially the

more malign Sandmen.

Guardian: While the name sounds noble, not every Guardian does soout of a sense of justice or righteousness. Some are merely selfish orpossessive. Guardians usually latch on to a single person or group ofpeople to watch over, while some have no specifics as to whom theywatch over. Guardians are also called 'Guardian Angels, thought thename is a misnomer.

Haunter: Haunters are less invasive than Poltergeists, less wicked

than Spectres, not quite as self-absorbed and depressed as theLamenters, and not as concerned with the living as Sandmen andGuardians are. So what do Haunters do? They exist, They are the'common' house ghost that usually doesn't make its presence known,unlike the other Doomings.

Echoes/ParadigmsThe ghostly abilities that spooks manifest are called Echoes. They are the


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embodiment of the wraith s emotions subconsciously lashing out at their current' predicament. Echoes range from possession of mechanical objects to summoninghordes of roaches to throwing plates and cups around a room. Any sort ofsupernatural ability a ghost may manifest and has manifested throughout history iscalled an Echo. Echoes are broken up into groupings called Paradigms.

Compulsion

Gremlin

Haunting

WrathWrath (0 00000) Wrath is unlike other Echo in that there are no separate abilities for- :

each dot a spook has in it. There is but one thing Wrath can do, and despite being

taxing it is powerful and very useful. Wrath is the ability to focus one s fury and angst

to tear down the Veil for a scene. Many wraiths admit that this is a wonderful ability to

have, but only the most frenetic and angry ghosts have the ability to manifest this Echo..

Those who are overwhelmed and frustrated at their inability to affect the mortal realm

use Wrath.

While active, for each dot a ghost has in Wrath she may reduce the Veil penalty

to her dice pool by one for the purposes of affecting the land of the living. A powerfulwraith attempting to affect the world across the Veil in an area where it is thin might

find she is able to affect the mortal realm as easily as she affects the Sheol!

Only wraiths with the Deathmark of violenceand Haunters have access to Wrath.

Putrescence

Shroud-Rend

Temporus

Transfigurement


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Traverse

Dark NuminaAnguish

Eradication

Damnation

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Wraith the Beckoning 2.1