Page 123 - Chronicles of Darkness

Ephemeral Beings than others (those so weak they can’t Manifest at all are es-
sentially impotent and don’t interact with humans), but all
require certain appropriate conditions before they can use
Humanity shares the world with innumerable entities,
lurking invisible and intangible in a Twilight state, waiting for these powers.
An ephemeral being wanting to shift into physical form or
the right conditions to arise. When an area becomes tainted inhabit an object, animal or person requires the area, item or
by the touch of death, when the wall between the world and character it is Manifesting into to have been prepared for its
the terrible, hungry Shadow of animist spirits grows thin, arrival. Ghosts require Anchors — places, objects and people
when people begin to see the gears of the God-Machine, the that are linked to their living days and reinforce their failing
ghosts, spirits and angels can manifest, interact, and further identities. Angels can only appear in the world when enough
their alien goals. All of them want something from human- Infrastructure has been laid out by the God-Machine. Spirits
ity — memories, obedience, emotion… even their bodies. need the emotional resonance of the area or victim-host to
Sometimes, humanity fights back.
match their own. The more powerful the Manifestation, the
Invisible Incursions stronger the Condition needed. The most powerful physi-
cal forms and tightly-held victims are the result of careful
The physical world borders on multiple realms, each husbandry by the Manifesting being, slowly building up the
with its own peculiar laws. The inhabitants of those realms necessary Condition by leveraging whatever Manifestation
aren’t material beings, and although many are intelligent they can produce at first. Unless Conditions are very strong,
and self-aware, their thoughts are alien to humans. Mortal or the possessing entity extremely powerful, a human being
investigators almost never see the worlds these beings come falling victim to a possession is first urged to follow the entity’s
from with their own eyes, for which they should be grate- wishes instead of his own, then forced to do its bidding, and
ful. Everything occultists have been able to learn about the only then physically mutated into a bizarre amalgamation of
animistic Shadow World and the chthonian deep of the natural being and supernatural power.
Underworld paints both realms as deadly and teeming with Summoning or exorcising entities from locations or
“natives.” The enigmatic servant angels of the God-Machine Possession, then, is a matter of creating or destroying the
might come from such a realm, or might be created within appropriate setting for the creature, preferably near a place
the world by the processes and Infrastructure they serve. No where it can cross over from or to its native realm. Most en-
one knows for sure. tities waste away, as though starving, outside of the needed
Whether the beings are fleeing the dangers of their home Conditions, so breaking those Conditions is a surefire way of
realm, avoiding banishment to it, summoned from their forcing the being to abandon its attempt at Manifestation and
home by mortal occultists, sent as agents by more power- send it fleeing toward either a way “home” or another appro-
ful members of their own kind, or forced to cross over to priate vessel. Cultists wanting to summon entities attempt to
complete a mission by the God-Machine, most encounters either ritually create appropriate Conditions near a crossing
between characters and ephemeral beings in a God-Machine point, or offer up a suitable vessel in the hope that the right
chronicle take place in the physical world, where characters sort of ephemeral being will accept the gift. In the case of
have the home field advantage. angels, most participants in a “summoning” never realize the
significance of their actions — Infrastructure is gradually built
Manifestation as the God-Machine moves pawns and machinery around like
game pieces until an angel is brought forth.
and Possession

Instead of bodies formed of flesh and bone, ephemeral Ghosts
beings are made up of a sort of spiritual matter called ephem- Echoes of the Dead
era, which comes in several varieties. These substances are When human beings die, especially in a sudden or
both invisible and intangible to anything not comprised of traumatic fashion, they sometimes leave parts of themselves
the same sort of ephemera — ghosts can see and touch one behind. Ranging from broken, animated afterimages, un-
another, but are invisible to most living people and don’t able to do anything but reenact their death, to intelligent,
interact with solid objects or even other ephemeral beings malevolent, once-human spirits with power over whatever
that aren’t ghosts. Spirits happily float through walls and pass kind of calamity killed them, the world teems with vast num-
through ghosts without even noticing them, but are incapable bers of the restless dead. More ghosts exist than any other
of interacting with people without help. supernatural creature, but the truly powerful, independent
Almost every ephemeral being has the ability to Manifest,
to make its presence known and affect the physical world, specters of legend are rare.
The majority of ghosts are poor at influencing the world,
in ways ranging from remaining invisible but using powers, trapped in their insubstantial state and unable to even
to appearing as insubstantial but visible images, to possess- Manifest, noticed only as a strange chill or eerie vibe if the
ing a victim, sending his soul into hibernation and warping living sense them at all. Ghosts are drawn to places and people
his body to suit their own uses. Some are more skilled at it

122
Horrors and wonders-antagonists