New Spectral Caste: Appendages

by

Mike Spera

It has been argued for years whether Oblivion actually has a consciousness, but the appearance
of these new spectres serves as evidence that Oblivion not only watches, but it also learns from
its mistakes.
History: Oblivion has apparently taken notice to the fact that some of its dark, never-born
children have been slain at the hands of ordinary wraiths or cannibalistic spectres. These
Malfean-slayers have always suffered incredible losses, and have never won an easy victory
{slaying a Malfean requires a great deal of planning, tactics, numbers, powers, weaponry, and
plain old luck}, but it has happened in the past, and it seems to be happening more and more
frequently.
Now Oblivion {or the surviving Malfeans themselves - who can really tell?} has decided to
evolve the remaining Never-Born in order to better protect themselves while they slumber. This
nerve-wracking new line of defense not only protects the sleeping Malfean from harm, but also
helps to find it food and relay its dreams and messages to its Nephwrack priests and the rest of
spectral society. This new spectral caste that has been evolved in recent years has earned itself
the collective name of "Appendages."
Consumption / Genesis: Appendages are made from a Malfean spitting out the soul of a wraith
or Spectre that it has formerly consumed.
The soul seems to sprout out from, ooze off of, or otherwise slip itself free from the Malfean's
corpus. The soul retains a human shape and may wander off on its own, but only to a certain
extent. A black, plasmic strip of flesh, like a hideous umbilical cord, stretches from the Malfean's
body to the small of the spectre's back. The length and thickness of this fleshy cord is up the
Malfean (and the Storyteller) to decide.
The newly created Spectre can roam about the Labyrinth freely, but its mind and body are still
linked to the Malfean that created it. In essence, the Spectre is like a living appendage of the
Malfean - an appendage that can travel and spy and talk to others... and lure in lost souls to be
fed to the hungering Malfean.
Appearance: Appendages appear to be dark-skinned, yellow-eyed versions of what they looked
like before they were consumed. How human or horrific the Appendages appear depends on any
Oblivion-taint or Moliation they had before being consumed. Some Appendages look so
dangerously close to human that they make a perfect front, while others {usually consumed
spectres of another caste} are so hideous that they make the perfect "shock trooper" defense for
the slumbering Malfean they sprout from.
Attributes: Appendages have 7, 5, and 3 dots to spend on their Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary
Attribute groups.
Most Appendages favor Physical Attributes for fighting, but high-Mental and high-Social traits
are certainly not frowned upon among this spectral caste. High Perception and Wits are useful for
noticing prey and combat reflexes, respectively.
An Appendage with high Intelligence will observe its prey and plot its strikes with a precision
that will take most Doomslayers aback. Some Intelligent Appendages may even play dead after
being struck, only to rise up and strike when the attacker turns his back on it.
High Appearance, Charisma, and Manipulation may lure in prey, convincing visitors that they're
normal, trapped wraiths {until the intended prey sees the telltale appendage attaching the Spectre
to something much larger and much hungrier...}
Abilities: Since Appendages do not use as many Abilities as normal wraiths or spectres, they
have 11, 7, and 3 dots to spend on their Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Ability groups.
Appendages highly prefer Talents: Alertness, Athletics, Awareness, Brawl, Dodge, Intimidation,
and Subterfuge are all useful for luring in prey or fending off attackers. Skills and Knowledges
are not as useful, although an Appendage with Leadership skills or one that can Meditate or
interpret Enigmas or Occult knowledge is certainly an added bonus.
Backgrounds: Due to their somewhat limited range of movement, Appendages have only 3 dots
to spend on Backgrounds. They may only take Allies, Artifact, Contacts, Mentor, Notoriety,
Relic, or Status. Allies and Contacts probably represent relationships with other spectres, most
likely other Appendages. Artifacts and Relics could easily be pawned off of uneaten remains of
prey or from unlucky Doomslayers looking for glory.
Arcanoi: All Appendages start out play with Hive-Mind at level 5 automatically; They are linked
both mentally and physically with the Malfean they are an appendage of.
Past that, Appendages have 5 dots to spend on other Arcanos and Dark Arcanos. These powers
would be remembered from the powers the Appendage wielded before it was consumed.
Other Traits: Appendages retain their Fetters - if they had any - and retain a small amount of the
Psyche (which is created as normal). They start out with 3 Willpower, 5 Angst points, 10 Corpus
levels, and 10 points to spend on Dark Passions. Calculate Being as per any other Spectre.
Appendages also get 15 freebie points to spend anywhere the creator wishes.

Severing The Strand

Since Appendages are linked to their Malfean progenitors by a fleshy umbilical cord, wraiths
might naturally wonder what would happen if an Appendage was literally cut off from its
Malfean {or dragged so far away that the cord snapped or tore itself}. The result could be one of
two possibilities: Destruction Harrowing for the soul of the Appendage, or freedom from the
Malfean that spawned it.
Either scenario could work, and what happens to a severed Appendage is up to the Storyteller.
Perhaps all Appendages can be saved, perhaps only a few can be redeemed, or perhaps none of
them can exist for even a moment away from the Malfean that spawned them. Does each
Appendage have its own fate? Do all the Appendages spawned from the same Malfean share the
same fate if they are severed?
The results depend on the Storyteller and the needs of the story.