Book of Bone and Ebony

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etween the Deathlords and nephracks aren’t always cordial, a persuasive Deathlord might be able to borrow a few hundred (or thousand) suicide commando mortwights that are barely recognizable as humanoid. Marching into Creation with such a force doesn’t require the ghosts to know Moliation, and it will take a serious toll on the morale of Creation’s defenders. Of course, doing so would likely give all the Deathlord’s mortal soldiers nightmares for a week, but such is the price of using the acolytes of the Neverborn. NEMISSARIES Nemissaries, those ghosts that can possess the bodies of the living and the dead, are by far the most frequent ghostly recruits in the war against Creation. They are capable of entering Creation in an assumed body — and for far less Essence than it takes to make their own ghostly forms solid or to seize the flesh of the living. Their abilities in reconnaissance, diplomacy and war with the living are invaluable to the Deathlords’ plans. Before the appearance of the Abyssal Exalted, nemissaries occupied the most favored position in the Deathlords’ hierarchy, and they channeled vast resources into the creation of stealthier, stronger and more highly trained nemissaries. In the last few years, however, that favored position has largely been usurped by the Abyssal Exalted, and some Deathlords are making much less use of nemissaries in favor of the more powerful deathknights. This is not the case across the board, however. Some Deathlords (such as the First and Forsaken Lion and the Mask of Winters) still favor nemissaries, if only for their relative plentitude. That said, there still tend to be a handful of the old guard lurking around the citadels of the Deathlords. These creatures include centuries-old nephracks, steeped in bizarre Malfean Arcanoi and placed into Artifact ••••• war-bodies. Ghosts such as these are as lethal as a young or even moderately powerful Abyssal and could easily annihilate a recently Exalted deathknight who presumed too much. Soul Mirror (see Savant and Sorcerer, p. 43) was made for a nemissary, after all, and few among the dead are as terrifying as a well-equipped and ancient war ghost. On the whole, the arrival of the Abyssal Exalted has been a boon for the nemissaries. They now have some very capable field commanders, and the deathknights’ skill at necrosurgery has also benefited the nemissaries immensely, as they now have access to much more skillfully customized fleshly vessels. Still, some nemissaries have grown bitter at their perceived displacement by the Abyssal Exalted. While few nemissaries would be so rash as to engage a deathknight in direct combat, even with the finest war body, lone Abyssals would be wise to watch their backs around groups of the ghostly puppeteers. 87 CHAPTER FOUR • CREATIONS OF BONE CUSTOM CORPSES Any nemissary can possess a common cadaver, so long as it’s reasonably intact. If it really comes down to it, a skilled nemissary can make do with any corpse, whether it be scavenged from a battlefield, a graveyard or from the embalmer’s table. Unless the nemissary decides otherwise, chance alone dictates what pallid face she wears until the stolen flesh rots away and she must jump to a new host. But many nemissaries would prefer not to comport themselves like common body thieves. They are highly trained and proud ghosts. Nemissary’s Ride, the Arcanos that gives them the ability to possess dead bodies in the first place, is an advanced Arcanos, and the ghosts who learn it are respected for their skill and dedication. There is prestige to be had among nemissaries by possessing the strongest, the prettiest or the most lethal vessel, and the corpses they run across by chance alone are unlikely to suit them, unless they are trying to look like a common zombie for stealth purposes (or just slumming). Nemissaries often seek out the best corpses they can find until something better (or better suited to a specific mission) comes along. Ghosts in service to an Abyssal Exalt (or to one of the Deathlords, of course) usually have better options, receiving bodies carefully harvested and specially modified for a specific mission. These bodies, called “transcendent revenant vessels,” are carefully chosen corpses augmented through a combination of necrosurgery, alchemy and necromantic enchantment. No two of these dread artifacts are exactly alike. Instead, each is custom-built for a specific task. Models exist for diplomatic assignments, for covert scouting and assassination and for open warfare. There are two ways of obtaining a transcendent revenant vessel. Taking the Artifact Background lets the ghost have a vessel that’s entirely hers. She can do with it as she pleases, but the responsibility for maintaining or upgrading it is also hers. Alternatively, the Backing Background can be used in place of the Artifact Background, in which case the revenant vessel is on loan from a Deathlord. In this case, the vessel may be taken away at any time if the nemissary displeases her master. At the same time, she may occasionally be issued other vessels (with the same rating) for use in particular missions. A nemissary can upgrade her transcendent revenant vessel by paying a necrosurgeon to perform the augmentation. The cost for this process is exorbitant (see below) but results in a more powerful tool. A nemissary using one of the Deathlords’ revenant vessels can gain access to better vessels by improving her Backing rating. Depending on the level of power invested in them, transcendent revenant vessels range from Artifact • to •••••. Such vessels are never extras. All versions possess the following characteristics: Decay Resistance: Vessels do not rot while possessed, but slowly decay if left uninhabited. For every three days of rot,
EXALTED • BOOK OF BONE AND EBONY all physical actions taken by a nemissary attempting to use the body suffer a one-die penalty. When this penalty reaches ten dice, the body’s advanced putrescence renders the artifact completely useless. Nemissaries can avoid this outcome by using bindings of eternal preservation (see p. 92-93) or any of several other means of preserving their transcendent revenant vessels. Enhanced Physique: Vessels have a Strength and Stamina of 3, a Dexterity and Appearance of 2 and the seven standard health levels of a mortal. They have a natural bashing and lethal soak equal to their Stamina. Nemissaries inhabiting one of these bodies may use the higher of their own Attribute ratings or those of their vessel, but they must use the Appearance and health levels of the body. REPAIR AND ENHANCEMENT Transcendent revenant vessels do not heal on their own. Advanced nemissary Arcanoi (i.e., Instauration of the Fleshly Vessel, p. 92) may be used to mend the revenant vessel, although necrosurgery and magical restoration are both alternatives if the nemissary does not have that Arcanos. Surgical repairs require a Dexterity + Necrosurgery roll, with each success fixing one level of lethal damage or two levels of bashing damage. The surgeon also needs components costing Resources •• and a number of hours equal to the accumulated successes. The Abyssal Charm Form- Restoring Touch (see Exalted: The Abyssals, p. 188) instantly and perfectly restores the vessel, although convincing a deathknight to use it on any but his most favored lieutenants could prove challenging, given its cost. While the cost of modifications is likely to vary depending on the quality of the necrosurgeon, the base Resources cost of any modification to a revenant vessel after purchasing the Artifact is half of the augmentation’s point value, rounded down. Skilled necrosurgeons, Abyssal Exalted in particular, command premium prices for their efforts, but some nemissaries have formed into cabals to study the techniques of necrosurgery. They swear a pact of mutual assistance and modify one another as needed. Alternatively, a ghost familiar with necrosurgery can always pilot his vessel into the Underworld and perform the surgery himself (and avoid going broke in the process). GENERAL AUGMENTATIONS In addition to the powers listed above, a transcendent revenant vessel receives a number of bonus points equal to its ([Artifact rating - 1] x 10). These points may be allocated to purchase any of the following enhancements or others designed by the Storyteller, adhering to any applicable prerequisites or special requirements denoted in parentheses. Some of these augmentations are the product of basic necrosurgery, while others represent the occult technology of Oblivion: alchemical processes performed on the corpse, necromantic glyphs etched into its 88 bones, necromantically resonant objects sewn into the body, et cetera. Attributes (4 points per dot): The vessel receives additional dots to further improve its Physical Attributes or Appearance according to Enhanced Physique. Dots purchased in this way stack on top of the standard stats for nemissaries on page 301 of Exalted. No Attribute may be raised above 6 dots. Decay Immunity (5 points): Even in the absence of the nemissary, the vessel does not decay. Dedicated Attunement (4 points): Once possessed through Nemissary’s Ride, the Embalmer’s Art or any subsequent Stringless Puppeteer Arcanos, the vessel serves as an extension of the ghost within and cannot easily be taken from her. Add the nemissary’s Essence rating to the difficulty of any roll to displace or exorcise her. If another ghost tries to possess the vessel while the attuned nemissary is elsewhere, the corpse’s very ambiance is hostile to the invader — add the vessel’s Artifact rating to the difficulty. Even if the Arcanos used in the invasion attempt doesn’t normally require a roll, it requires a Strength + Compassion roll in this instance (difficulty 3). If another ghost does manage to steal the revenant vessel, the attunement remains intact for one full lunar month. During that period, subtract the attuned ghost’s Essence from the difficulty of all rolls to displace the invader. If the result is less than one, the body’s attuned owner automatically ejects the invader. These bodies can still be stolen by a necromancer with access to Labyrinth Circle spells, but it prevents the vessel from being stolen by any random ghost. Hidden Enhancements (6 points): All of the vessel’s enhancements function without visible sign, such as armor plates implanted under the skin or reinforced musculature that looks scrawny despite its Strength 6. Enhancements that could not possibly function while remaining hidden may be deployed or retracted into the body as a reflexive action. OPTIONS PACKAGES The Deathlords use nemissaries for all kinds of duties in Creation. No vessel can be optimized for all of the tasks a nemissary might be called upon to perform, so most nemissaries specialize in one area or another. A ghost is likely to choose the abilities of her transcendent revenant vessel based on her own particular skills and interests. A diplomat will not want to possess a war body any more than a violent warrior will want to be stuck in a body made for entertaining. The categories below are very general. While a player may mix and match from these categories — after all, some of these modifications might be useful regardless of a nemissary’s specialization — most nemissaries prefer to hone their revenant vessels for a single function. The augmentations below represent but a sampling of those a skilled necrosurgeon can provide a nemissary.
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