Book of Bone and Ebony

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Players and Storytellers are encouraged to come up with their own, using those listed below as guidelines. The Warm and Pleasing Cadaver Diplomacy, seduction and deception are invaluable assets to nemissaries infiltrating the living. These subtle agents of the Deathlords are capable of passing among the living with none of their victims even knowing that the dead walk among them. Alternatively, a nemissary with these augmentations may be a known representative of the dead but may wish to put the mortals she’s associating with at ease by appearing to be one of them. Eat/Drink (5 points): A ghost without this augmentation cannot consume anything, as the corpse’s stomach will hold neither food nor drink. This does not grant the ghost the ability to digest food (that is a luxury reserved for the living), but it allows the ghost enough control of its vessel’s innards that it does not immediately regurgitate everything that passes its palate. The body can take in two large meals or three smaller ones before the ghost needs to empty the vessel’s stomach. Essence Parasite (10 points): Enchantments etched on the vessel’s bones allow the ghost to absorb Essence from other Essence channelers, including Exalted, God-Bloods, materialized spirits and gods. For every two hours the nemissary is in close contact with the Essence channeler (within 10 feet or closer), the ghost drains 1 mote of Essence. Since most Essence channelers gain more than that during that time frame, the theft frequently goes unnoticed. Essence Parasite can sap motes from more than one Exalt at a time, so sharing a bed with three Exalted (for example) would provide the ghost with 3 motes of Essence every two hours. This method is an agonizingly slow way to replenish Essence, but it’s better than nothing, and it stacks with Essence-Measuring Thief Arts (see Exalted: The Abyssals, pp. 245-247). It’s possible to use this augmentation on mortals, but the mortal in question suffers one unsoakable bashing health level per hour, which manifests as exhaustion and anemia. Lifelike (10 points): Owing to the familiarity of the ghost with his assumed body, the vessel betrays no outward visible sign of its undead state apart from its ashen or pallid complexion. A nemissary inhabiting the body can spend 5 motes of Essence to simulate all signs of life — from breath to a pulse to faint warmth to basic sexual responses — for one scene. It takes three successes on a Perception + Investigation roll to discern that the vessel is a possessed corpse. This seeming is only cosmetic. Any test for actual life will easily discern the corpse’s true nature. Sculpted Physiognomy (10 points; if target face is more attractive than Appearance 3, player must also buy additional points of Appearance): Sometimes, a ghost doesn’t just need to pass for living, but must appear like a particular living individual. With this augmentation, the nemissary’s facial bone structure and overlying flesh are sculpted to look 89 CHAPTER FOUR • CREATIONS OF BONE like a particular individual. There’s only so much even the finest necrosurgeon can do, however, so anyone well acquainted with the individual the ghost is mimicking (sibling, lover, old friend, arch-nemesis) needs only two successes on a Perception + Investigation to detect subtle but pervasive differences in facial features and expressions. The Corpse Made Stealthy It behooves the Deathlords to know what the living, and the armies of the living in particular, are doing. Some nemissaries choose revenant vessels appropriate to scouting and reconnaissance missions. These bodies are augmented to allow the ghost to make long forays into Creation and to bring information back to the Underworld. They are the Deathlords’ eyes, spies and military intelligence operating in Creation. Built for Speed (5 points): They say the dead travel fast. In this case it’s literal — and dead flesh never needs to rest. The revenant’s leg and pelvic bones have been modified through necromantic artifice to enable the corpse to run at three times its usual running speed (see Exalted, p. 227 for movement rates) for entire days on end. Spending 5 motes of Essence lets the nemissary sprint at full speed for up to one full day. Repellent to Animals (3 points): Such a miasma of death and horror surrounds the nemissary that even carrion eaters avoid her. No animal will go near the augmented body without being magically commanded to do so. Fourand five-dot familiars will do so, but only if their masters’ players get three or more successes on a Manipulation + Presence roll. This augmentation requires a rotten raiton’s head be sewn into the revenant’s chest cavity and subtracts two dice from all the nemissary’s Social dice pools. Repugnant to the Mind’s Eye (10 points): The corpse is ritually scarified, and small nodules of soulsteel are placed under the skin to produce horrific patterns of bumps that are repellent to the living mind. It is possible to look at the nemissary, but the mind does not want to accept what the eyes are telling it and truly see the nemissary. One of the living passing a transcendent revenant vessel with this augmentation is likely to experience a fleeting moment of disgust, pity, horror or indignation followed by instant denial of his own senses. The moment the nemissary is out of sight, the witness’ mind instantly, gratefully, turns to anything else rather than acknowledge the revenant’s presence. In situations where a mortal can easily talk himself out of believing what he just saw — a dark forest, a busy street at night, in the midst of a mad rush — subtract three successes from all Perception rolls to see and truly recognize the revenant body for what it is. In situations where the revenant’s presence is not so easily ignored — he’s the only one on a deserted street in broad daylight or in a welllit room with people looking directly at him — subtract two dice (not successes) from the perceivers’ dice pools.
EXALTED • BOOK OF BONE AND EBONY Shadowland Sense (2 points): This gives the nemissary a kind of “compass of the dead” that gives her an intuitive knowledge of her position relative to the nearest shadowland. Spending 1 mote of Essence allows the ghost’s player to make an Intelligence + Survival roll for her character. Even one success lets the ghost know in which direction the shadowland is located and how far away it is. The nemissary can use this sense to find her way home or simply as a means to get her bearings, provided there’s only one shadowland in the area. Transmitting Sense (4 points): The nemissary transmits all information from one of her five senses back to one individual in the Underworld. The recipient of this information is usually a Deathlord, but it could just as easily be an Abyssal Exalt or even another ghost. The recipient must be carrying a specially wrought amulet on his person in order to receive these transmissions. To begin transmitting sensory information, the nemissary spends 5 motes of Essence to establish the connection, at which point the recipient’s amulet grows unnaturally cold to the touch. The recipient then grasps the amulet and spends 5 motes of Essence to receive the nemissary’s sensory transmission. There is no “narration” involved; the ghost cannot explain what it is he’s sensing. He can only transmit the sensory information and hope it makes sense. The Deathlord (or whoever holds the second amulet) can activate this link any time he chooses by grasping the amulet and paying all 10 motes of Essence. This augmentation must be purchased separately for each sense. Wards that stop scrying prevent the use of this ability. Nemissaries wishing to explain what they are sensing may use a mirror that looks upon its twin (see p. 74) to speak directly to their superiors in the Underworld. A Body Built for War By far the most common type of transcendent revenant vessel, a powerful war body is a trophy among nemissaries. These are the elite shock troops deployed by the Deathlords in their assaults on Creation. War bodies are often the lesser officers of the Deathlords, charged with directing rampaging zombies or hungry ghosts. Unlike zombies, these highly trained and extensively augmented nemissaries are expected to be cunning tacticians as well as brutal killers. Armor (2 points per 1L/1B): Riveted plates of metal and bone increase the vessel’s durability. Vessels with this enhancement cannot have an Appearance higher than ••. The additional soak provided by a vessel’s armor cannot exceed its Stamina rating. Despite its name, 90 this enhancement counts as part of the vessel’s natural soak rather than armor. Nemissaries benefiting from this enhancement may only wear armor specifically fitted to their bulky frames. Claws/Blades (4 or 6 points): For four points, the vessel has razor-sharp talons of bone or metal extending from its fingers or the back of its hands. These enable a slashing attack with Speed +1, Accuracy +1, Damage +1L, Defense +1 (Rate 4 if using the Exalted Power Combat rules). For six points, the vessel has scythe-like blades extending from one or both forearms as desired with the same statistics as any type of one-handed sword the player selects.
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AND A Compendium of Necromantic Lor
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