Path of Creation

So they wanted to send you a message, huh? Well, let's send them one right back - you don't cave. Not to them.

Not when you've got me there to pick up your pieces, anyway.

The most in-demand of all the Anchorage Paths, the Path of Creation is sought out by Wraiths who have, over time, lost connection to their Anchors. It is also invaluable for giving Anchors back to a Wraith after they have been severed, either by uses of the Path of Separation, or other, darker alternatives. So-called Generators can also create easier Consorts, or temporary Anchors for themselves and for others, in case of emergency.

All the Arts on this Path can be used on another Wraith's Anchors, or used to create an Anchor for another Wraith. Unlike the Path of Protection, the Wraith who owns the Anchors does not have to be willing to have these Arts used on her, or her Anchors. Some Arts require that the Wraith be present, however.

 

** Ping

The first step on the Path of Creation allows a Wraith to see another Wraith's Anchors. Gathering information about another's Anchors is usually seen as a violation of privacy, but those who need their Anchors fixed are often willing to be scanned. The Art can also be used to perform minor "maintenance" on the Anchor.

System: To use this Art, the Wraith has to be within conversational distance of the other Wraith, and spend a Turn in concentration, looking at her. After that, she spends one Essence and rolls Intelligence + Manipulation + Anchorage: Path of Creation: Path of Creation, with each success giving a detail about a single Anchor the other Wraith has. Unless the other Wraith specified which Anchor, or the Wraith doing the Pinging has an idea of one, the Anchors are seen from largest to smallest, and most important detail to least, respectively.

The Wraith can also use this Art to perform minor "maintenance" on the Anchor: removing dust or mold, smoothing over cracks and dents, cheering the person up, etc. This is done by spending an additional Essence after using Ping on the Anchor. The maintenance has no bearing on the Anchor's actual rating, but makes the other Wraith feel a little better, as though she'd gotten a second wind for some unknown reason.

 

*** Grasp of the Grave

This Art allows a Wraith to create a Temporary Anchor, making it easier to travel, escape a Storm, use Numina on the living or Manifest while away from one's own Anchors. It also allows a Wraith to create a temporary Consort - and have full "ownership" over that person - without having to spend the time and Essence needed to make a Consort in the normal, "proper" fashion.

System: The Wraith must be in physical contact with the object in question to use this Art, and if she's creating the Anchor for another Wraith, that Wraith must be present. The Wraith spends two Essence and rolls Wits + Presence + Anchorage: Path of Creation. Each success gives the Anchor a level rating - to a maximum of ***** - and the effects last for a full 24-hour period.

The Wraith can try to make the roll again in order to strengthen the Anchor. However, each further attempt must exceed the previous roll in order to have an effect: equal or fewer successes don't do any good. Subsequent attempts do "reset" the clock on the Art - extending the effect out for another 24 hours.

Consorts made through this Art do not get Anchor ratings, obviously - instead, each success on the roll gives the Wraith full "ownership" over the Consort for a 24-hour period. These people then act mostly like normal Consorts, in terms of "ownership," Manifestation and Numina. However, a Wraith cannot heal herself inside the Consort, nor regain any Essence in her presence.

 

**** Renewed Link

One of the most sought-after Arts on this path, Renewed Link allows the Wraith to repair damage done to an Anchor's level. It won't repair the Anchor, itself, but will repair any spiritual damage, whether done by Anchorage or other means. The Wraith can even reattach Anchors that were completely severed using this Art.

System: The Wraith has to be in physical contact with the Anchor to be repaired, but does not have to have the owning Wraith present. She spends three Essence and one Willpower, and rolls Dexterity + Manipulation + Anchorage: Path of Creation. Each success past the first takes the Anchor back up a level.

The Art can reattach Anchors that have been completely severed, but this costs four Essence and one Willpower. The Wraith whose Anchor was severed must be present for this use of the Art.

No matter how good the Wraith's roll may be, this Art cannot improve upon the preexisting level: an Anchor that was *** can only be taken back up to level *** with Renewed Link. Extra Successes are wasted.

 

***** Fetterbound

This - the most powerful Art of the Path - allows a Wraith to create a brand new, permanent Anchor for a Wraith. It also allows the Wraith to augment the levels of a preexisting Anchor. Wraiths who are virtual powerhouses of Essence may have used this Art to create many new, powerful Anchors, but the power is not without its risk...

System: If creating a new Anchor, both the Wraith working the Art, and the Wraith to be granted the new Anchor, must be in physical contact with the would-be Anchor. The Wraith being granted it must sacrifice a point of Permanent Willpower, and whatever emotion she feels for the Anchor will become the core emotion behind that Anchor.

Meanwhile, the Wraith using the Art must spend five Essence and one Willpower. {If the Wraith is using the Art on herself, the expenditure comes out to five Essence and one Permanent Willpower.} She then rolls Strength + Presence + Anchorage: Path of Creation: one success creates *, two successes create **, four creates ***, and so on. Failure gives all Wraiths involved three Tainted Essence.

If augmenting a preexisting Anchor, the Wraith whose Anchor it is need not be physically present - though that might be a good idea. The Wraith having it augmented doesn't need to sacrifice anything, either. The Wraith using the Art spends three Essence and one Willpower, and rolls Dexterity + Presence + Anchorage: Path of Creation. Success follows the same pattern as making a new Anchor: if the Anchor is at *, then it takes two successes to take it up to **, four to take it to ***, and so on. Failure gives all Wraiths involved one Tainted Essence.

In either application of the Art, the Anchor's levels cannot be taken up past *****, regardless of however many successes are gained on the roll.

 

Go Bang

There is something an upward limit as to how many Levels in Anchors a Wraith can have, and this is what causes the high risk of using the Fetterbound Art. It's not that having extra Anchors is a problem, it's that the Wraith's body can't always handle all the "extra" Essence that many Anchors would provide. The results can be rather explosive...

A Wraith tends to start "life" with ten dots in Anchors, but can go up to 10 plus her Permanent Willpower without danger, courtesy of Fetterbound. This also means that a Wraith can have an Essence pool of 10 plus twice her Permanent Willpower without danger. Once this limit is breached, however, it becomes harder for a Wraith to handle her now-increased Essence pool - Corpus has its limits.

To safely absorb Essence above the danger limit, the Wraith must roll her Stamina + Composure. Each dot of Essence to be absorbed takes one dice away from this roll. Success means all Essence is absorbed, Failure means the Wraith suffers a level of Lethal damage for each dot of Essence she tried to take in. Dramatic Failure gives a level of Aggravated damage for each dot of Essence.

Example: Xavier, a powerful Wraith of The Order, has a Stamina of 4, a Composure of 3, Willpower of 7, and a total of 23 levels in Anchors. This means that his Essence Pool could go up to 30 {23 + 7} but he can only handle 24 {10 + 7 + 7} Essence safely. And if he's at 24 Essence, and stands to gain more, he must roll 7 dice {4 +3} minus one for each dot of Essence he stands to gain. As he stands to get four extra Essence, he must roll 3 dice.

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