Arcanoi/UnyieldingEffigyPath
Unyielding Effigy Path
The Underworld in it’s entirety is populated by those unwilling to surrender to the pull of Lethe and end their existence. Yet for some, even this defiance is not enough. They cling not simply to the cold existence of undeath, but desperately to life itself.
Phantom-Flame Engulfment
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Compassion: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Perquisite Charms: None
Life has a shade and a color all it’s own. Enflamed with their passions, mortals throb with the glory of their existence. Recalling this sensation, the undead spirit builds a pyre bellow his ghostly flesh. His outwards guise changes visibly in the eyes of unliving creatures. His skin flushes with warmth and life, his eyes ignited from within in the sort of honest emotion no dead man should be able to feel. For the duration of this Charm, the ghost gains the warmth, the breath, and even seemingly the heart-beat of a living mortal. His permanent Essence is added to the difficulty of any attempts to perceive his true nature.
Shroud Incinerating Incantation
Cost: 6 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Compassion: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Perquisite Charms: Phantom-Flame Engulfment
Wrapped not only in the moment of their death, but the necrotic essence of the Underworld, the dead are enshrouded by the cold stigma of their origins. There is danger in tearing this veil away, for the threads which bind them to their existence are inexorably linked to it. Yet for the brave, or desperate, burning away as much of this weighty miasma as possible is the only true path. For the remainder of the scene, the Ghost is no longer considered a Creature of Darkness. This effect ends the moment he expends motes for Arcanoi or to empower artifacts of the dead. If the ghost is slain while under the effects of this Charm, he does not manifest back into the Underworld but is thrown instantly into Lethe.
Ash Scattering Sigh
Cost: 7 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One Turn
Type: Simple
Minimum Compassion: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Perquisite Charms: Shroud Incinerating Incantation
The dead who dare to walk the land of the living often find many familiar and once-comforting doors now barred to them. For the living often fear the dead, no matter what their intentions, and many homes erect simple wards to keep wayward spirits out. These barriers prove no problem for the living to pass through however and so to be among them within these confines, a ghost must often make a sacrifice. Diffusing his very essence into the four-winds, the ghost makes himself naught but a cold breeze and a pale illusion of form. While under the effects of this Charm, the ghost adds his Compassion to his Essence when contesting the Strength of any given ward. His presence however carries with it a cold and clammy touch that fills the air and makes finding welcome among the living a more difficult task, subtracting a number of dice equal to one half of his essence from the first Socialize, Presence, or Performance rolls he makes.
Kindled Soul Replenishment
Cost: None
Duration: Permanent
Type: Special
Minimum Compassion: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Perquisite Charms: Shroud Incinerating Incantation
Memory is often the only form of true sensation a ghost has left to tie him to the world of the living. Even in his own dark realm, food tastes like ash, the flesh of a lover cold and numb, and even the rigors of battle pantomimes of pain and struggle. In Creation, these sensations fade to even less. Yet, as the ghost still exists, the memory of what he once was remains. With this Arcanoi, a ghost may tap into the memory of a single activity from his living existence; the taste of a hot meal, the luxury of a lovers caress, the agony of wounded flesh, or any other activity he can recall - with no greater breadth than a Specialty - and wrap himself in a comforting shroud of smokey-illusion that this memory brings. When ever engaging in this activity with living mortals, the ghost regains a single point of Willpower. A ghost may purchase this Arcanoi a number of times equal to his Compassion, choosing a different memory each time.
Respiring Flame Radiance
Cost: 1 Willpower
Duration: Compassion in Hours
Type: Simple
Minimum Compassion: 4
Minimum Essence: 4
Perquisite Charms: Kindled Soul Replenishment
The dead choke upon the air of Creation. Sharp and burning within their lungs, trying to respire within the lands of the living often brings only pain and few ghosts choose to stay longer than they can old their breath. When employing this Arcanoi however, the ghost creates a small bonfire of ghost-flame within his throat. In the dark of night, the mortal eye can see then flickering of ghostly fire when his mouth and behind his eyes. Once per day, by expending a point of Willpower, for a number of hours equal to his Compassion the ghost may actually breath in Creations air and suckle at the ambient essence within it. Tainted with the touch of death as they pass through his pale inferno, he recovers motes as if he were in the Underworld.
