Wraith the Beckoning

By PeterM. D'AmicaII [aka:GrimJesta] I 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 simple reality 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 into the 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 and painful 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

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That Which Beckons to Unlife

Ghosts may come from all walks of life, but all have two unifying factors in their death experience: they are driven by unfinished business in the realm of the living and they are tied to one or more fetters (as explained below). A ghost's unfinished business keeps them from 'moving on' to Heaven, Hell, Nirvana, or whatever afterlife they believe in (or so they hope; no one really knows what occurs after a ghost fades from the Underworld upon resolution of whatever beckons it back from the grave). In addition to this unfinished business, all ghosts have people, objects, or places they are bound to that may or may not be intertwined with their incomplete tasks. These 'fetters' are what prevents a ghost from being thrust into the eternal damnation of Stygia; a ghost without 'fetters', but has not transcended to the proper afterlife, is unable to maintain any sort of hold on the Underworld. There is no such things as a ghost that has no unfinished business- a ghost without unfinished business either transcends to another realm of the dead or fades into nothingness! Fetters are things that the ghost had an emotional investment in during their lifetimes. This need not be a positive emotion. Some ghosts are forced to hang around the place they were abused, haunt the place their heart was first broken, or hang around the person that molested them as a child. Positive or negative, fetters are based on raw emotion. Fetters are sometimes known as Anchors.

That Which Beckons to Death

While 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 a century 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'

Geography of The Underworld

Hades/Sheol/Duat
Some 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 as written 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 the Sheol, a place where both the righteous and the wicked awaited resurrection. Early Greek mythology called this gloomy land of the dead Hades, a place where there was no reward or punishment, only waiting. Duat is the Egyptian word 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 mortals understand death and dying. When a person dies and is condemned to the purgatory of Hades they find themselves in one of two situations. Either they find themselves trapped near the scene of their death awaiting the arrival of Charon or they are catapulted into the Wastelands. The former is by far the most common way a soul finds themselves in purgatory. Every soul has a different experience, but there are usually some similarities. The first is that they find themselves at the place of their death or the location of their main fetter. Some can see their body and the people in the vicinity, while others find themselves completely alone in a barren world. They can usually only travel a few dozen feet from the place of their death (though some ghosts report the inability to travel even that far) or their main fetter though 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 of driving winds or torrential rains, piles of debris or objects in the vicinity blocking the way further, and other barriers. It is always some sort of twilight or foggy with an overcast sky with a strange half light partially illuminating the scene. These ghosts usually find a pair of ancient looking coins at the scene through what appears to be circumstance. Anyone with knowledge of antiquity or coinage recognizes that these are oboloi, a coin that dates back to ancient Greece.

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 the burning sensation that they're waiting for someone and must wait 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 into the Underworld. How Charon appears and the sort of conveyance he is using varies wildly, depending not only on the ghosts themselves but also the location they 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 soldier killed in Vietnam may find a mysterious soldier piloting an army riverboat coming to rescue him. A wealthy politician might be borne by a limousine driven by a silent 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 and very graceful.

A wraith must pass through three sets of cyclopean gates before he reaches the land of the dead. These gates are said to have been standing since the first human died and found him or herself in the Underworld. The Egyptians held 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 before these gates and recognize their own mortality. At the third gate one finds an old man holding a set of scales, presumably to weigh a person's soul before they enter the Underworld. He calls himself Osiris or Yama, depending on his mood, though most suspect that he is merely the first soul to have entered the Underworld. Each spook that passes the second gate finds themselves before this entity and is called upon to recognize they he is dead. Those who refuse are left to contemplate their death until they are ready to enter the gates of the Underworld. Once they proclaim that they recognize their 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. Some ghosts believe that this old man is the origin of myths such as Saint Peter guarding the gates of Heaven or Anubis weighing the feather to judge men's souls. After passing through the third gate the wraith finds herself in a familiar setting. She may find herself near the scene of her death or she may find herself in a familiar part of her home city or town. Sometimes spooks find themselves in a place they always loved but haven't been too in ages. Ghosts are entities of

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, certain aspects of the world around her will stand out immediately. There is no sunlight. There is no moonlight. The sky is always overcast and dark. During the time of day that would be light outside in the mortal world the inky darkness of the Underworld changes to a queer twilight. It is always foggy, but its thickness differs day to day. Time does not seem to pass. Everything is seen through the eyes of the dead: colors are muted, scents are weak, texture dulled. The lens of death casts a strange pall over the world. Things look slightly decayed and ruined since the eyes of the underworld can see the death of everything. Humans looks slightly blurred or transparent. Paint is chipped and peeling. Wood is bloated or crumbling with age. The air is stagnant and reeks of decay despite the breeze. From the shadows, voices whisper or cry. In the distance the keening of 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. It is 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 the Underworld before they actually happen. Ghosts are not in a real place in a sense, and because this Underworld is based on the perceptions of the souls trapped 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 a rotting, 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.

Stygia

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

Underworld, and these rivers always flow into the infinite gulf of Stygia, a place no 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 you are gone forever. Wraith mythology tells many stories of a city of the dead somewhere 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 proper afterlife and without anything to tie them to the land of the living, are swept away into this void to face eternity in torment. Whatever is out there will never be known. The five rivers of the underworld are known by their Greek names: Acheron, the River of Sorrow, Cocytus, the River of Lamentation, Phlegethon, the River of Fire, Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness, and Styx, the River of Hate. Rivers in the Sheol are unpredictable and dangerous. The same reality distortion that 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 become trapped in one of the Underworld rivers when it is too late. Of all the rivers of the 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 barrier between the lands of the living and the lands of the dead. It is on this river that Charon ferries souls to the Sheol for an Obolus under the tongue (an Obolus on each 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 Gehenna in the Jewish tradition, or Tartarus if one prefers the Greek convention. Interestingly enough, Charon and the five rivers and absent from the Underworld on the Asian continent, Instead all rivers and waterways seem to flow into the Sanzu River, one with attributes similar to the 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, the River Styx flowing past in an almost serene manner. The average spook can not approach 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 these other souls. Because these souls never pass the Three Gates of Hades they are not 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 those without 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

serene beauty. They are unable to move away from the Watchtower for the Styx impedes them. Thus, a Moros only sees what he is allowed to see by whatever powers beyond the cosmos created this realm of waiting. 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 run smoother, since they're still technically alive and would be driven insane were they to be dropped into the dismal, depressing afterlife most Wraiths know. The guardian dead are a mystery. No one knows why some people are ferried to this tower to stand as eternal guardians while most souls are ferried to the Sheol. It is supposed that the reason why so many of the living call the entire Underworld Stygia is because of the proximity this tower has to that place.

The 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, from charnel 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 to Stygia. 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 the Labyrinth. Or perhaps a Skinland basement has a sinkhole in Hades or a crack in the wall that leads to this mysterious and horrific place. No one knows why the Labyrinth exists or what purpose it serves. It simply is.

The Labyrinth

Tempests, Vortexes, and Other Anomalies

Some 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 and ravage the Underworld and devastate the souls found therein. No one knows what causes these storms or why they occur, but

occur they do and all a ghost can do is seek shelter and hope that the storm blows over. Vortexes seem to be made up of whirling, black quasinothingness that howls along the waterways of the five rivers and ravage an area much like real world tornadoes would on the other side of the Veil (only Vortexes are much bigger). Lost souls from Stygia literally swirl around the column of inky darkness, keening along with the moaning winds. Ghosts caught in a Vortex are lost forever, their ties to any fetters shredded instantly. Where Vortexes 'whirl', Tempests 'boil'. They flare up from Stygia like angry storm fronts that wreak havoc on structures of the Underworld and tear at the corpus of any ghost caught outside. Strange lights resembling heat lightning flash deep inside of the churning nether-clouds. Thankfully, 'atmospheric anomalies' such as these are heralded in by subtle changes to the Underworld. A cold breeze is almost constantly blowing in the Sheol, sometimes lightly, other times almost storm-like in nature. When the wind suddenly changes direction and slowly peters out, as of the wind were being sicked out of the Underworld, it is usually a sign that a Vortex is about to burst forth. Tempests are usually preceded by 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 in Stygia, its howling winds composed of the wails of the souls lost to eternity. What makes ghost wind terrible is that if one listens closely one can make out words in the wind. Those that listen too closely have been known to go mad, some even throwing themselves into the abyss of Stygia.

The Wastelands (The Junkyards)

No one knows how one winds up in the area called the Wastelands, but most know that some do find themselves there. The Wastelands, also known as the Junkyard, have some qualities of the Labyrinth and some of the Sheol. Should a Wraith find herself lost in the Wastelands on several occasions chances are the

place will look different every time. Many of finest dead philosophers speculate that the Wasteland is made up of the subconscious fears of the dead and the living, a realm of nightmares and terror. No matter what the realm looks like, it is usually very empty in a sense. Rarely will the trapped spirit see another soul except 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 might hear the wails of the tortured patients and the cruel whispers of the psychologists but never actually see anyone, even if every cell could be checked. A maze of abandoned cars in an actual junkyard might creak and moan, but nothing will be there to cause such a sound. Regardless of what it looks like, the Wastelands are similar 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 wraith when they wish to interact with the mortal realm. With some effort and a little luck 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 too are affected easier by mortals and supernatural entities of said place. The Sheol affords a wraith certain partial immunities to exorcisms and lesser magic but this is 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 Dead

Most 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 Maelstroms that 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 personalities when they die, so pettiness, cruelty, and possessiveness are just as strong (if not

stronger) on the dead side of the Veil. Humans believe that they have limited time on earth but an eternity on the other side. The dead know that they have limited time as a spook... or face complete oblivion. Ghost or Wraith? A distinction must be made between a ghost and a wraith. Ghosts are mindless drones who either crossed over that way or are Wraiths who have fallen to the Slumber. All ghosts can be considered Slumbering, since even the weakest ghost can be awoken with enough trauma to its existence (an unlikely task). Wraiths, unlike ghosts, are not completely tied to an anchor and trapped in Twilight. Wraiths, on the other hand, are tied to fetters but can still roam the Underworld as well.

Death 101
Death Marks and Doomings: What is and what will be.
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, though some speculate on a sixth fate.
Death Marks:

Each and every ghost bears the sign of how she died. These marks are

Death by violence: You were killed by violence somehow, be it a

soldier 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

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

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 death mark. 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

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 stands an old man in tattered robes holding a set of scales in his hand. With but a whisper 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 pious ghost consigned to dealing with a quiet unlife in purgatory might be Doomed to spending his time in the Underworld as a Guardian.
Dooming: Specter: Where Poltergeists are capricious, Specters are malicious and cruel. They hate the living and seek to destroy, whether it is murdering their own murderers or shredding up the living in a senseless orgy of blood. Their powers are not pleasant. Specters are known to make people sick or die, kill plants and small animals, and use their abilities to really hurt the living. Poltergeist: Poltergeists deal with their problems by throwing things around, breaking things, and occasionally battering a person senseless. Poltergeists are known for inhabiting machines, moving anything not nailed down, and making strange sounds in order to get

their unfinished business done. Lamenter: Sometimes called 'Banshees', Lamenters mourn their own death and the curse of purgatory they must now face, though some mourn the loss of any loved ones that died with them as well. They are gifted with a limited future-sight which allows them to foretell the death of a person. Most Lamenters gain essence off of the living mourning, so they have been known become twisted, bitter creatures that actually cause a person's death as opposed to foretelling it. Sandman: Sandmen are ghosts that have the rare ability to travel into the dreams of the living. Most are also able to possess the mind of a living person (through a similar method to their dream traveling). Sandmen also tend to trade in secrets. Entering a person's mind, living or dead, digs up all sorts of juicy secrets. They are also known as Dybbuk, so named from the Jewish tradition, especially the more malign Sandmen. Guardian: While the name sounds noble, not every Guardian does so out of a sense of justice or righteousness. Some are merely selfish or possessive. Guardians usually latch on to a single person or group of people to watch over, while some have no specifics as to whom they watch over. Guardians are also called 'Guardian Angels, thought the name is a misnomer. Haunter: Haunters are less invasive than Poltergeists, less wicked than Spectres, not quite as self-absorbed and depressed as the Lamenters, and not as concerned with the living as Sandmen and Guardians 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/Paradigms
The ghostly abilities that spooks manifest are called Echoes. They are the

embodiment of the wraith's emotions subconsciously lashing out at their current predicament. Echoes range from possession of mechanical objects to summoning hordes of roaches to throwing plates and cups around a room. Any sort of supernatural ability a ghost may manifest and has manifested throughout history is called an Echo. Echoes are broken up into groupings called Paradigms. Compulsion Gremlin Haunting Wrath
Wrath (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 ones 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 powerful wraith 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 violence and Haunters have access to Wrath. Putrescence Shroud-Rend Temporus Transfigurement

Traverse

Dark Numina
Anguish Eradication Damnation