Pandemonium
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Contents
Introduction
Pandemonium is one of the primary thirteen Arcanoi from Wraith: The Oblivion. Wraiths who use this Arcanos can use the powers of chaos to create havoc in the living world.
Pandemonium is also called the Wylding, a very appropriate name as perhaps no Arcanos is more associated with the Fog than this one. Experienced Haunters can create spectacularly horrible effects that are usually dramatic. They are usually the ones responsible for many effects of the classic "hauntings" in history. Blood running down the walls, mists and sudden chills, and swarms of rats or insects are just a few of the more common effects that a Haunter can inflict on their targets. Many Haunters enjoy using this art, and tend to develop a very artistic sense around it. In some cases, their only limitations are their imaginations and the thickness of the Shroud.
Despite their view of their abilities as "art", Haunters are not accepted like the Chanteurs or the Sandmen, as the existence of their powers violates the Dictum Mortuum. In fact, Haunters are one of the most frequent violators of the law, and therefore are usually chased down by the Hierarchy. On occasion, however, the Hierarchy has been known to hire more respectable Haunters to "clean out" certain buildings of the Quick.
Backlashes of power are frequently a problem when a use of Pandemonium doesn’t go as planned. Objects a wraith didn’t intend to touch can become distorted or destroyed, or a wraith’s Pathos or Corpus can be accidentally stripped away.
Guild
Back in the time of the Guilds, only the Spooks would regularly associate with the Haunters. The two Guilds cooperated to clear mortal intruders away from buildings they were hired to "clean". However, no other Guild would gladly mingle with the misanthropic, half-crazed Haunters. Their harness of the Wylding seemed to bend their minds as much as it distorted reality, and nobody could be sure that the Haunters were fully in control of themselves or their powers. These days, Spooks and Haunters are nearly inseparable, and other wraiths are quite happy to leave them to each other.
Haunters are recognizably quirky, adopting all manner of peculiar mannerisms (inappropriate giggling, affected speech, staring just a bit too intently at your left ear, and so on). Many have adopted billowing black cloaks as a sort of badge of honor or theatrical device.
Botches
Pandemonium botches often result in some sort of backlash, distorting things the wraith meant to leave alone. They can cause temporary chaos in the wraith's Shadowlands vicinity, or steal the wraith's Pathos or Corpus without causing any Skinland effect.
Basic Abilities
- Sense Chaos: A Haunter can tell if something is being or has been manipulated by Pandemonium.
Standard Powers
- • Weirdness: A Haunter can cause a small, limited effect on a lone target.
- •• Befuddlement: A Haunter can completely confuse a target for a limited time.
- ••• Dark Ether: A Haunter can tamper with light or weather conditions in an area.
- •••• Foul Humour: A Haunter can produce a strong, material effect through the Shroud.
- ••••• Tempus Fugit: A Haunter can manipulate distance and time on a limited basis.
Alternate Powers
- • Mouth of Madness: A Haunter can manifest Pandemonium arts through themselves.
- • Scripture: A Haunter may communicate by writing with their Corpus.
- • Wild Bloom: A Haunter can cause a small, withered garden to grow anywhere.
- •• Haunting: A Haunter may call on the Wylding to create strange effects in the Skinlands.
- •• Bite Me: A Haunter may create realistic-looking (but foul tasting) food with their Corpus.
- •• Fooled You: A Haunter may distort the distance at which an object appears to be.
- ••• Stretching Reality: A Haunter can distort distances further, such as along hallways or roads.
- •••• Stigmata: A Haunter may create the appearance of bleeding wounds on their target.
- •••• Form of Chaos: A Haunter can make a rough humanoid form out of what appear to be foul objects (such as blood, maggots, insects, etc.)
- ••••• Death's Caul: A Haunter may use part of his Corpus to create a "caul" over the face of a mortal.
- ••••• Tesseract Bomb: A Haunter can turn a structure into a maze of nightmare geometry, making it impossible to enter or leave.
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Other Books
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