by Peter Lennox (Orpheus | Resources)
"Sweet dreams are made of these – Who am I to disagree?"
- The Eurythmics, "Sweet Dreams"
Throughout their lives prospective Apparitions find themselves the willing victims of desire. For some the craving may be a substance – alcohol, nicotine or even chocolate. For others it may be the need to commits violent acts, to gamble or shock people with their antics.
Whatever their particular fixation may be, it colours that person’s very outlook on life and, as it happens, their perspective on death as well.
Apparitions are often considered to encompass the weakest and most unsavoury of the nature groupings. While this may be true in some regards it cannot be said that all fill this assumption. For every drug addict who rises to become an Apparition there is a cold-minded officer of the law who believed that force was as much of a tool of interrogation as diplomacy.
Nevertheless Apparitions can be divided into roughly two categories which seem to cover most of those within this particular shade.
The first group are those who have been overtaken by their appetites. These people have either lost control over the cravings in their lives – or never possessed control over them in the first place. No matter how hard they or someone else try to cure them of their addictions, sooner or later the craving returns.
The second type of Apparition consists of those who formed an obsession with a mode of thinking or a way of acting. Even if that person was offered a way to rid themselves of such appetites it is highly unlikely that they would take it. For these Apparitions the desire to act out their fixation is ingrained. They usually do not deviate from their chosen course of action and are far less likely to mutate their fixation over time than the first group is.
In all cases most Apparitions are viewed negatively by others. One of the primary reasons Orpheus has not encountered any significant numbers of this group is that the psychological tests they use to screen potential agents rules out most prospective Apparitions from the very start.
Base Vitality: 4
Base Spite: 1
Base Willpower: 5
Apparitions may not learn the arts of Marrows and Skinriders may not learn the arts of Apparitions.
Horrors: Muse, Golem, Flux, Mass Hysteria, Compel
Manifestation Forms: At zero Vitality the Apparition may only manifest on the fringes of a person’s senses. The living usually catches a glimpse of the Spook out of the corner of the eye. With a higher spite rating though the spook registers more as a cold shiver down the living person's spine. Apparitions find it highly difficult to affect the living in this form, though it can be employed for nudging someone in the right direction.
Expending One Vitality point allows the Apparition to manifest fully and even physically – though only to a single person. While the ghost may seem wholly solid to that person in question no one else may see them or know that they are there (Dead Eyes and other Projection powers aside.) As spite increases the spook manifests with their Stains gradually becoming more and more visible. The Spook also may not interact with any material object.
By investing two Vitality points into a manifested form the Apparition manifests normally, he seems to possess an aura about him that intrigues others. At higher spite levels the Apparition manifests with the look of a hungry predator in search of prey.
To Cassandra Kyle, it was never a matter of fitting in with others. She learned from a very early age that she didn’t. No matter how she tried, she could never seem to be just like all the others. At school she found this to be a nightmare. The taunts and teasing and physical violence of the playground bullies drove her to try and take her life not once, but twice. These were her first brushes with death. They would not be her last. As she grew older Cassandra tended to stay on her own with only a few close friends for comfort. These friends were people like her, social outcasts and misfits that the rest of the world laughed at and generally taunted. For some this would drive them further under. But in Cassandra it ignited something. She would seek out stranger and stranger ways to express herself. Things such as changing her hair colour or getting tattoos or piercings she quickly got bored with. Her clothes were never considered conventional and her need to be outrageous took its toll on her family life until her distressed parents threw her out. Cassandra got by working as an assistant in an ‘alternative therapy’ store and lived in a cramped basement apartment. The perverse side of her nature would not let up though and even her friends began to find her slightly uncomfortable to be around as her need to shock began to disturb them too.
One night as she walked home from work she was attacked by a group of drunken men. When she struggled against them raping her they beat her severely and left her for dead.
Recovering in a hospital, she received a visit from a smartly dressed gentleman who claimed to work for a company called Orpheus. He thought she may be suitable for a rather unconventional experiment and left a card.
The idea was far too tempting for Cassandra and soon she had applied at the local Orpheus office.
The powers she has manifested have fascinated Orpheus as they have seen them nowhere else. They posit these powers may be part of her natural flamboyance and intend to have her stick around for further investigation.
Resonance
Cassandra looked on from her position as the drunken john stumbled around the room, the broken bottle in his hand. “C’mere bitch, I’m not finished with you, I want what I paid for” The girl, Cassandra knew, was hiding in the closet, her face already a bloody wreck after the guys’ first little game. Enough! Cassandra fumed to herself. Stepping into the patch of the drunken man Cassandra was invisible and untouchable. He was not so lucky. Opening herself to the wants and needs of the person before her she allowed the images to wash over her. The man’s mind was dirty and sick and Cassandra knew that she would need a shower after she had finished here. Then the briefest flickering image of a whiskey glass filled to the brim filled her mind. Holding onto the image Cassandra concentrated upon the image, making it appear clearer and more in focus within her mind’s eye. Filing the image back where she found it the man seemed to sway for a while. Dropping the bottle in his hand he stumbled away toward where his trousers lay “Gonna get me a drink and be back for you later bitch” he shouted at the room before slinging on his shirt and leaving the room.
Not if I can help it, thought Cassandra.
The initial power granted to all Apparitions is the ability to tweak the desires of another person. With enough practice and vitality an Apparition may fan the flames of a person’s desires until they become much more important to them – or reduce those passions until they receive no more than a moment’s thought.
The Apparition does face her limitations, though. With Resonance the Apparition may only manipulate those desires already present within her target. The Apparition may not introduce new desires nor may she remove any.
System: The Apparition requires a full action to implement this horror. The player rolls Manipulation + Empathy versus a difficulty of the targets Willpower. Each success allows the Apparition more control to manipulate a targeted desire. In addition to this the Apparition may expend vitality to access more and more of the targets desires.
1 Success: The target becomes more aware of another need. It is only a brief flash but it does put something into the targets mind other than their immediate thought.
2 Successes: The target feels the pull to do something else. They are still very focused upon what they wish to do, but the other desire seems to instil some hesitancy.
3 Successes: The target finds themselves trapped between desires. This creates a moment of anxiety where both desires fight for control of the targets attention
4 Successes: The target reflects that there is something more important to do. Though the current thought is still very real to them they feel it could be done later
5 Successes: The target feels that there is something for them to attend to right now or that something is no longer worth their effort. They may abandon what they are doing in favour of something else.
Vitality Costs
0 Vitality: the apparition may only affect the primary desire of the target
1 Vitality: the Apparition may only probe surface desires
2 Vitality: desires not immediately considered may be accessed
3 Vitality: desires ‘at the back of the mind’ may be accessed
4 Vitality: long forgotten desires may be brought to the fore
5 Vitality: subconscious desires may be accessed
Benefit: The Apparitions unique insight into the desires of others provides it with a better understanding of the motivations of others. By spending one Vitality point, the Apparition may provide a +2 benefit to the initiative of another spook if that spook is going to use a Horror during that turn.
Spite fuelled: Resonance lends itself more readily to the negative side of a person’s nature when fuelled with spite. Although Resonance may still reach any of a victim’s impulses the spite drives that person to fulfil their desire in the most negative way possible.
Cassandra looked about her. The old buildings around her had been there for years, even to her, on this side of the Hereafter, they were thick and solid. Ahead of her, at the entrance of the alley she could see the illumination of her pursuer’s flashlights dancing over the brickwork. It would not be long until those bastards from Terrel & Squib found her.
There was going to be no easy way out. Around the alley the only things she could see were trashcans, bits of burnt wood, even broken bottles – nothing but junk.
It would have to do, she thought.
Spreading her arms wide Cassandra imagined herself to be a powerful magnet, a power of attraction so strong that nothing could escape its pull. The effect in the real world was instantaneous. The garbage cans and the broken glass flew to her. They bent and moulded themselves to her form, like a suit of armour. The form was far larger than her, yet it held her at its centre, the heart of the beast she sought to create.
Opening her new eyes made of green glass from the bottom of some beer bottles she looked down and clenched her new fist of steel and broken glass.
If T&S wanted a fight now, she would be ready.
The first sight of Golem in action can be truly terrifying. Vast automatons of previously inert material objects, combining to form a being of seemingly sentient will and destructive power. The Golems seem unstoppable and vary in their constructive components.
The Apparition that draws upon this horror utilises her control over desire and manifests it within the living world. Forming the centre point of the Golem the Apparition crafts herself a body of inanimate objects. Mixtures of objects are perfectly possible, or an Apparition may choose to use a single material to construct the body of the beast. The strengths and weaknesses of the golem are dependant entirely upon the materials involved. For instance a Golem of wood would be susceptible to fire, whereas a Golem of stone would sink in water. The amount of Vitality invested determines the Golem’s cohesion and size. A golem of low vitality may be no bigger than the person manifesting it, though higher vitality Golems can be creatures of ferocious power
The golem continues until it is destroyed or released by its creator
Vitality Costs
0 Vitality: The Golem is the size of the creator and bears the same physical attributes
1 Vitality: The Golem may be twice the size of the creator but still possesses the same physical attributes
2 Vitality: The Golem may be twice the size of the creator and gains a plus one to all physical attributes
3 Vitality: The Golem may be three times the size of the creator and gains a plus one to all physical attributes
4 Vitality: The Golem may be three times the size of the creator and gains a plus two to all physical attributes
5 Vitality: The Golem may be three times the size of the creator and gains a plus three to all physical attributes
Benefit: Increasing its understanding the Apparition may now offer a +4 to the initiative of a fellow crucible member’s Horrors.
Spite Fuelled: The golem may still be built with the materials surrounding the Apparition but now they may also use organic matter in their creation. Living vermin, bone or rotting flesh all may be pressed into service. In addition to this the Golem itself takes on a darker form. The combination of organic and non-organic material creates bones spines or snapping appendages which do additional damage to an enemy.
Cassandra looked down at the large wooden chest in front of her. The Blip had nearly shaken itself to bits trying to get inside this thing. Even now, across the room it was stirring, getting ready to begin its futile assault on the chest.
The box was large and heavy. Although it could not have been up in the attic long a thin layer of dust already covered its top. At the latch was a new lock.
Cassandra examined the box carefully and then motioned her hands over the wood surrounding the lock. Moving quickly it seemed as though Cassandra was peeling an invisible orange. In the living world nothing miraculous seemed to happen. In the lands of the dead though small strips of light seemed to peel away from the wood near the lock. With each strip the wood seemed to age and wither until, eventually the lock itself fell through a hole where the wood had rotted away.
Expending a little vitality Cassandra pushed her form into the lands of life. Opening the chest she watched with a smile as the ghost of the little girl rushed towards the box to claim the moth-eaten teddy bear that had been encased within…
The arts of Flux represent a new direction of the Apparitions arts. Combining the manipulation of desire granted by their first horror with the reality warping powers of their second Flux grants them the ability to affect the physical composition of material items. With practise and the use of Vitality an Apparition may imbue an item with startling resilience or debilitating fragility.
The player rolls Manipulation + Empathy to ‘attune’ with the target of the Horror. For each success the player may inflict one point of damage or increase the objects durability by one.
By spending Vitality the Apparition may choose larger things to affect.
Vitality Costs
0 Vitality: small insignificant objects – car keys
1 Vitality: small objects – mobile phone
2 Vitality: medium sized objects – home computer
3 Vitality: medium to large objects – heavy furniture
4 Vitality: large objects – small car
5 Vitality: very large objects – house
Spite Fuelled: In utilising Spite the Apparition loses all ability to strengthen an object. However the destructive aspect of Flux intensifies. Instead of a slow steady rotting the object undergoes rapid degeneration. Each success now allows two points of damage to an object.
‘You ready to do this, little girl?’ asked Archer.
Cassandra looked at the man standing next to her. Once upon a time he had been a big fish in one of the local gangs. Now, rumour had it, his bloated carcass fed big fish in the River Rosa. Cassandra liked the symmetry, and that was all she liked about Simon Archer.
Nevertheless she needed him right now for what they had to do.
"Let’s just do this," she growled.
Together they began to call up the powers they shared. Ahead of them the throng of spectres were working quite industriously to harvest the throng on souls they had corralled in this empty nightclub.
Cassandra felt the proximity of the other Apparition. Though she had been told what to expect it still surprised her.
Each spectre in the milieu went berserk all at once. Some savaged their own kind; others stood very still and gibbered in multiple languages. Others fell to the floor and rocked silently back and forth. To her dismay Cassandra noticed that some of the Hues had also been caught in the madness. It could not be helped.
She was brought back to the world by the grating nasal voice of Archer.
"Come on! If we’re going to save these pathetic bastards we better get on with it."
Seething inwardly Cassandra nodded and followed.
Mass Hysteria calls upon the Apparitions’ ability to manipulate desires. Where Resonance allows careful control though, Mass Hysteria permits only rapid fluctuations. The Apparitions involved have no say in which desires are affected, how they are affected or the consequences of such action. The power affects many at once and it has been noted that in large groups many people seem to exhibit similar effects.
The power is automatic and for every point of vitality invested another victim is claimed. The power is largely random however and cannot be targeted by the apparitions who may only guide it in the general direction and not pick targets themselves.
Cassandra smiled sweetly at the pair of blank faced men that stood in front of her.
"I’m truly sorry, but I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere with you gentlemen, sweet as your offer of a job is. I’m afraid it just won’t fit with the busy schedule I keep."
The two men either didn’t seem to hear or didn’t want to.
"Mr Haint is quite insistent that you meet with him." The two men moved towards Cassandra, their intentions to take her by force.
Cassandra summoned up the white hot burning sensation behind her eyes and glared at one of the men ‘GET AWAY FROM ME, NOW!’
The man immediately turned on his heel and ran, bumping against one of the tables and almost crashing through the door to the street, but he did not stop or look back.
"Now, maybe you should tell your boss to find someone else," Cassandra remarked to the remaining stranger.
Compel is the ultimate expression of the Apparition’s gifts. Where the other powers at their disposal allow them to manipulate the feelings and desires of those around them, Compel allows the Apparition to implant a desire of their own. These new desires are intrusive and the victim often becomes aware they are being manipulated, but seems helpless to avoid being affected. Compel works best with short immediate commands, though with vitality more complex instructions may be given. Nor is it wholly necessary for the command to be verbal. Gestures may be used, though they must be clear in what they are trying to express or unexpected results may occur.
Spectres are a special case. Due to their Hive-Mind it is very hard to overwhelm the might of their collective thoughts. Nothing less than a three vitality effect can shift them from their designated course of action or twist that action to serve the Apparition.
Vitality Costs
0 Vitality: Simple one word or gestured commands
1 Vitality: Basic command “Come here” or “Sit Still”
2 Vitality: More complex command “Do not move until you see me raise my right hand”
3 Vitality: Complex Command “You want to unlock all the doors in the house at midnight”
4 Vitality: Complex Command that may override normal instincts “You want to steal the jewel in that case in five minutes time”
5 Vitality: Command that would normally violate the person’s ethics. “You want to attack that group of Spectres right now”
Benefit: A maestro at manipulation, the desires of others the Apparition may now provide insight into others to aid with their endeavours. Spending one Vitality point gives +8 benefit to any initiative on another crucible member’s Horrors.
Spite Fuelled: The Spite-induced version of Compel allows for a far more insidious circumstance. Instead of planting a desire in a subject’s conscious the Apparition may bury it deep within their subconscious, allowing it to fester there until triggered. Like the art of Resonance however, the spite-fuelled variant of Compel leans toward the dark side of the spectrum. No matter the command, the victim will often try to fulfil its duty in a more malicious way than may be immediately apparent.
