Lore of the Spirit

Halaku Lores

Description: The Lore of the Spirit was originally used for guiding the immortal remains of life-forms to the next world. When humanity became mortal following the Rebellion, this Lore was also used to guide human souls to sanctuaries so loyalist angels of death could not take them away and possibly destroy them.

Although this Lore may seem rather under-powered compared to other World of Darkness creatures with necromantic abilities, it must be remembered that its purpose, unlike those of the Giovanni or Euthanatoi, was never meant to command, but to guide. By that means, the Lore serves its purpose quite well.

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● SPEAK WITH THE DEAD

This evocation allows the Slayer to communicate with spirits roaming the physical or spirit world. Spirits addressed in this way are compelled to respond, and they must answer the demon's questions to the best of their ability.

System: Roll Manipulation + Awareness. The spirit can attempt to avoid the evocation's compulsion with a resisted Willpower roll (difficulty 9). If the evocation is successful, the spirit must answer the Slayer's questions truthfully. The Slayer can affect any spirit within reach of her voice, and the effects of the evocation persist for a number of turns equal to the character's Faith score.

Torment: Monstrous demons can perform this evocation as well, but the spirits they contact become warped by the demon's Torment and grow inimical to living beings for days afterward. Spirits affected by this evocation become restless and hostile to the living for a number of days equal to the demon's Torment score if a Willpower roll (difficulty 9) fails.

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●● SUMMON THE DEAD

Slayers can use this evocation to summon spirits to their presence, their influence reaching across entire city blocks. Spirits summoned in this fashion must come to the demon whether they wish to or not, and they remain until dismissed.

System: Roll Manipulation + Leadership. The Slayer can summon one spirit per success rolled, if any are present in the area. The evocation affects 10 square yards times the character's Faith score, and spirits within the affected area are drawn to the Slayer's presence immediately. They remain until the effects of the evocation expire or the demon dismisses them. The effects of this evocation last for the duration of the scene. At the Storyteller's discretion, a particularly potent or willful spirit could try to break the demon's control with a resisted Willpower roll (difficulty equal to the demon's Faith score) made against your Manipulation + Leadership successes.

Torment: Monstrous demons can summon spirits, but the effects of their Torment cause the beings to become inherently hostile to the living for a number of days equal to the character's Torment score if a Willpower roll (difficulty 9) is failed.

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●●● COMMAND THE DEAD

A Slayer may command a spirit of the dead to do her bidding, forcing the ghost to perform any actions that the demon desires if her will proves greater than its.

System: Roll Manipulation + Leadership. The Slayer may command any single spirit that can hear her voice. The spirit may attempt to counteract the effect with a resisted Willpower roll ( difficulty 8 ). If the spirit's roll fails, it must obey the demon's commands to the best of its ability. The effects of this evocation last for a number of turns equal to the character's Faith score.

Torment: Monstrous demons can command spirits as well, but they warp any beings by the force of their Torment, causing ghosts to become maddened, violent entities that lash out at the living at the first opportunity. Once the evocation's effects expire, the Storyteller makes a Willpower roil ( difficulty 8 ) for an affected spirit. The roll requires a number of successes equal to or greater than the number of turns that the ghost spent under the demon's control. If the roll fails, the spirit becomes malevolent and hostile toward the living for a number of days equal to the demon's Torment score. If the roll botches, the change is permanent.

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●●●● ANCHOR THE SOUL

This powerful evocation allows a Slayer to anchor a disinterred mortal soul (or a demon's spirit) to a physical object, creating a haunted artifact that traps the spirit in the physical world. In the darker days of the War of Wrath, Slayers used this evocation to bind the souls of mortals and angels to fuel powerful weapons and tools crafted by the Annunaki.

System: Spend one Faith point and roll Stamina + Awareness. The difficulty is determined by the nature of the object being used as an anchor. Binding a soul to something that was close to the person in life (difficulty 6) is the most effective kind of anchor, while foreign objects prove more challenging depending on their composition. Crystal, gems or precious metals are useful (difficulty 7), while natural objects such as wood, glass or bone are less so ( difficulty 8 ). Synthetic objects such as plastic or high-tech items such as computers are challenging to use (difficulty 9). Your character must be within a number of yards of the spirit equal to his [your character's] Faith rating in order to affect it, and he must hold the intended anchor. The spirit can resist imprisonment with a resisted Willpower roll ( difficulty 8 ). If you get more successes, the spirit is trapped within the anchor and cannot interact with the outside world unless the object has been properly attuned.

Demons bound to an attuned item can still access their inherent powers (including their lore paths), provided they have Faith available. (Any existing pacts with mortal thralls remain in effect). This evocation persists for a number of days equal to your character's Faith score, or it can be made permanent by expending a temporary Willpower point. If an anchor is ever destroyed, the spirit is freed immediately. Freed mortal souls disappear forever or become ghosts haunting a locale, at the Storyteller's discretion. Freed demons must resist the pull of the Abyss and attempt to locate another host body or physical anchor.

Torment: Monstrous demons bind spirits with a shroud of suffocating darkness, imposing the slightest taste of the agony suffered in the Abyss. These trapped souls are so frenzied by their hardship that their despair leaks into the physical realm, surrounding their anchors with an aura of ill fortune. Individuals touching or carrying such a spirit anchor botch their actions on a roll of 1 or 2.

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●●●●● RESTORE THE DEAD

This evocation allows a Slayer to anchor a spirit into any soulless physical body. This effort returns the ghost to the land of the living, at least for a short time.

System: Spend one Faith point and roll Stamina + Awareness. The Slayer must have the soul she wishes to restore in her immediate vicinity and be able to touch the body she wants it to possess. The body in question must have died only recently (i.e., within the last 48 hours). If successful, the soul is anchored to the body, healing any injuries the body may have had and returning the spirit to the land of the living. The new person has the same Physical Attributes that the body had in its former life, and the Mental and Social Attributes and Abilities of the new soul. The effects of this evocation last for a number of days equal to your character's Faith score, or it can be made permanent by expending one point of permanent Willpower. Demon spirits without hosts can be placed into bodies through this evocation.

Torment: Monstrous demons who perform this evocation invariably taint the spirit with their own Torment, leaving the soul twisted by hate and pain. Once the soul has been restored, the Storyteller makes a Willpower roll for it with a difficulty equal to your character's Torment. If the roll is successful, the restored person suffers a temporary derangement. If the roll fails, the derangement is permanent. If the roll botches, the restored person becomes a frenzied monster, attacking the living until it is destroyed.

If a disembodied demon spirit is put into a body with the high-Torment version of this evocation, a Willpower roll is made for it, too. If the roll is successful, the possessing demon has a Torment score that's one point less than your character's. If the Willpower roll fails, the possessing demon's Torment score equals your character's. And, if the Willpower roll botches, the possessing demon's Torment score exceeds your character's by one point.

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NERGAL, THE VISAGE OF THE SPIRIT

The angels of the spirit world appear as pale, serene figures reminiscent of the images of human saints, beautiful, silent and remote. Like others of their House, the Nergal move without noise or effort, seeming to glide along the ground as they move. Only their eyes, colored in shifting patterns of gray and black, hint at the bleak world beyond the mortal realm.

The Visage of the Spirit confers the following special capabilities:

• Ghost Sight: The angel can see the spirits of the dead that linger in the mortal realm, whether the ghosts wish to reveal themselves or not, with a successful Perception roll (difficulty 6).

• Enhanced Social Traits: The angel's beatific appearance provides the following bonus traits: +2 Charisma, +1 Manipulation, +1 Appearance.

• Pass Without Trace: The difficulties of the character's Stealth rolls decrease by two, and her passage does not disturb the surrounding environment in any way. She leaves no footprints and disturbs no foliage.

• Wings: A pair of raven's wings extends from the character's shoulders. At full extension, each wing is a third again as long as the character is tall. The character can glide up to three times her running speed per turn.

Torment: Monstrous Nergal are stained with the blood of the dead, their alabaster skin streaked with lines of crimson and black. Their eyes are orbs of clotted blood, and when they speak, their voices howl like the spirits of the damned.

The Visage of the Spirit confers the following high-Torment special capabilities:

• Cloak of Shadows: The demon is shrouded in a pall of darkness, making her features difficult to see in the best of light and rendering her near-invisible at night. The difficulties of all Stealth rolls decrease by two whenever the demon stands in a pool of shadow or moves in darkness. If the character is attacked, the rules for Blind Fighting apply to the attacker.

• Howl of the Damned: The difficulties of all Intimidation rolls decrease by two.

• Aura of Dread: The demon is surrounded by an aura of fear that saps the will of her foes. Targets within a number of yards equal to the character's Faith lose their normal initiative unless a successful Willpower roll is made against a difficulty equal to the demon's Torment. Affected individuals act last within a given turn. The Willpower roll is made every turn in which a person or another demon is in the Nergal's apocalyptic presence. Normal initiative resumes for a victim as soon as a successful Willpower roll is made.

• Damage Resistance: The demon is capable of shrugging off damage that would cripple a normal human. She may ignore any wound penalties for the duration of the scene, although penalties return and apply normally when human form is resumed.

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