<chapter>The Risen

<1>From the Grave to the Cradle

<i>But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is

willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” 


― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956

There is a cycle to life and death. You are born, you live, you die, you are reborn as a wraith, and

then you hurtle down the slope toward Oblivion. Then there are the Risen, and they are to the

standard order of things what a mallet is to a plate.

When a wraith decides to return as Risen, it’s the first step in an arduous and labyrinthine

process. The dead aren’t meant to cross back over any more than a butterfly is supposed to

reinvent itself as a caterpillar. It doesn’t happen, and it’s certainly not supposed to. This,

however, is a world of horrors, and sometimes the gate can be forced open the other way, the

Shroud torn asunder by sheer desperation and will.

Players can choose to portray Risen in Chronicles as either new characters or pre-existing wraith

characters who need to reenter the Skinlands. Those characters who start as wraiths face a

dangerous road for even considering becoming one of the Risen. It’s not an easy task—the

knowledge is rare and forbidden by the decree of the Hierarchy, so just asking questions about

becoming Risen is in itself a crime. Once the wraith starts gathering the pertinent information on

the down-low, she still has to learn the proper Arcanoi to affect the transition. This takes time,

and it’s not even the hardest part yet. That comes when the wraith ventures into the Labyrinth to
cut a deal with her own Shadow. One does not simply walk into the Skinlands. Securing the

Shadow’s cooperation is paramount to becoming Risen, and that means agreeing to unsavory

terms after dealing with the Shadow..

Those characters in Risen-centric chronicles that start off as the returned, however, may face a

constant reminder of disappointment and estrangement. It can be a study in frustration, because

what’s the point of returning to life if you can’t return to <i>your<i> life? And when a Risen

comes back, the details are all wrong because the lens of perception is different and the senses

perceiving them have been dialed down. Colors, smells, sounds, taste… it’s like dropping back

from HD to cathode ray tubes. Everything is obviously grainy and distant and smaller, but when

you consider a wraith has pierced the Shroud and seen the other side, mere human senses can’t

hold up against memory or death. The constant disappointment alone is enough to feed a Risen’s

Shadow, let alone the sharper pangs of existence as one of the walking dead.

And no, becoming Risen should never be easy. This is a thing of mythology, crossing into the

land of the dead and returning. The act of Rising should reflect those stakes or the world would

be awash in Risen, to the detriment of both living and dead. Crossing the Shroud to become

Risen should be an earned privilege or hard-fought to maintain, so that the risks and losses, the

struggles and victories, are that much more meaningful.

So yes, it is difficult, but that means the victory of achieving it is that much more rewarding.

<3>What Is A Risen?
<n>A Risen is a wraith who has fought his way back across the Shroud and re-animated her body

in order to achieve some concrete aim. The Shadow, without whose negotiated permission none
of this happens, comes along for the ride. For most of a wraith’s time as Risen, the Shadow

resides in the Conduit, an object (or pet) that’s dear to the Risen. If the Shadow takes over, it’s

the Psyche that then gets shoved into the Conduit temporarily.

In order to become Risen, a wraith must first acquire certain specialized knowledge and skills,

particularly a few specific Arcanos arts. With those in her arsenal, she then must travel bodily

into the Labyrinth to negotiate a Pact with her Shadow, essentially bargaining for the Shadow’s

willingness to come along across the Shroud. If the Pact is successfully made, she then utilizes

the appropriate Arcanoi and climbs back into her body - assuming it’s still in good enough shape

to be climbed back into. At that point, she begins to function as a Risen.

Risen are exceptionally tough, fast and strong. Designed to reach a goal quickly and deal with it

efficiently, they have tremendous potential as killing machines - which is part of the reason the

Hierarchy is constantly on the lookout for Risen, prime violators of the Dictum Mortuum.

Most wraiths are only Risen for a short time. The journey to becoming one of the returned is

long and arduous, and the risks of Rising are numerous and deadly. As such few wraiths actually

make the trip, and most of those who do flame out spectacularly along the way. There are

numerous things that can go wrong for even the best-intentioned Risen: the ease of gaining Angst

in the Skinlands, the increased power of the Shadow, the potential to give one’s self away as

undead, and the temptation to just start ripping things apart and the hell with the consequences -

all of these come together to make sure a Risen’s stay in the Skinlands is potentially very bloody

but generally very short.

<3>The Risen Commandments

<n>When it comes to the Risen, there are certain inviolate rules that bound their existence.

Wraiths who don’t abide by these rules simply fail to become Risen - they’re lacking one of the

essential elements that allows for the repossession of their physical forms. When in doubt,

Storytellers should refer to these as guidelines in making hard and fast decisions about what’s

allowed and what isn’t.

<bullet>You Have Unfinished Business: Those who return, return for a reason. It’s likely tied

into why you died or what forced you to stick around. The clinical word for it is objective or

agenda, but the reality is that it is an obsession that brings you back. It’s one that pushes you to

risk danger, censure, and even destruction, because you simply cannot stop.

<bullet>You Are Not A Zombie: Risen are the walking dead, but you are not a zombie. Your

hunger is rooted in the Psyche and is an emotional need. It is never a physical desire that

overrides reason, and you are not a mindless engine of hunger. The body unrots when you rise,

and aside from some wear and tear and a paleness about the flesh, you can pass for one of the

living (assuming no one checks for a pulse).

<bullet>The Shadow Rules: You cannot become Risen unless your Shadow agrees to loosen the

ties that bind you both to the Shadowlands. If the Shadow does not agree to rise, you cannot

physically threaten it or overpower it into doing so. That said, the Shadow is made powerful by

becoming Risen and the danger of falling to its machinations is much greater on the other side of

the Shroud.

<bullet>Returning is Forbidden: This is true on multiple levels. The Hierarchy hunts down

practitioners of the arts of Rising to quash the knowledge of it, while the practitioners try to keep

the knowledge hidden to protect themselves, to protect their edge, or to protect everyone from
another wraith tempting fate and their Shadow. A Risen who falls to her Shadow is a terrifying

monster, one that can wreak untold havoc across the Skinlands.

<bullet>Getting to the Other Side is Not Easy: It’s as simple as that. Finding the knowledge,

putting it into practice, convincing the Shadow to cooperate, surviving on the other side…these

are dangerous and difficult tasks. Becoming Risen is an endeavor of mythic proportion, and

every Rising runs the risk of becoming a study of what happens when you get what you thought

you wanted and it turns to ash.

<bullet>Staying on the Other Side is Harder: Returning to the Skinlands is never the

homecoming a Risen expects. In the land of milk and honey, the milk tastes curdled and the

honey is made from poisoned flowers. Somehow, people simply know that you’re not quite right,

and they’ll ignore or avoid you if they can. The sensations you once experienced are somehow

muted. It’s easier to become frustrated, and Angst builds up more easily as a result. The Shadow

already expected this, however, and that may have been its ultimate objective in letting you get

what you thought you wanted.

<1>Becoming Risen
<n>How does a wraith go about becoming Risen? There as many or as few steps as the

Storyteller dictates, but based on canon alone, the following section details the unspoken but

official steps in rising.

<bullet>It starts with Intent. “Why” does the wraith need to come back?

<bullet>Following that is the “How” or the Investigation into the process of Rising, since the

information is mostly apocryphal and difficult to find.

<bullet>Next comes The Pact, the bargain with the Shadow, and that means finding a way into

the Labyrinth itself for a tete-a-tete. This is the “Where.”

<bullet>Then comes the transition: The Rising, “Who” being who’s re-entering the character’s

body and ‘who’ they might be doing this for.

<bullet>After that, it’s all about the “What,” as in “What’s Next” and the Risen’s adventures in

the Skinlands.

Those are the five steps. The devil, however, is in the details.

<sidebar>

<3>Shortcutting the Steps

<n>Storytellers are free to modify the Chronicle as they see fit, and one option includes

shortcutting steps to adjust to the playstyle of the game. While these options aren’t canonical,

they are here to offer versatility. The only steps that remain sacrosanct, however, is Step One:

Intent, and Step Three: The Pact.

<bullet>The Rabbi: In law enforcement circles, a ‘rabbi’ is someone who mentors subordinates

and offers them political leverage or protection. In Wraith, this is likely a Renegade who knows

everything there is to know about becoming Risen, and offers the characters the information and

guidance required to succeed, cutting out large chunks of Step Two: The Investigation. The

Rabbi might have her own agenda, but if she’s been purchased as a Background: Contact or

Mentor, the rabbi shouldn’t out to screw over the Circle, not deliberately.

<bullet>The Artifact: The artifact is a powerful item that replaces a wraith’s need to understand

the necessary Arcanoi to become Risen. Regardless of its form, it should not eliminate the risks
of being Risen and it carries the high price tag of turning the wraith who possesses it into a target

- such a valuable item is bound to be coveted by many other wraiths. Storytellers can make this a

five-dot Artifact, but once the characters use it to become Risen, they can’t bring it into the

Skinlands with them. It remains in the Shadowlands and must be protected/hidden or be lost. The

Artifact cannot work on more than one wraith at a time, or it should be treated as a deus ex

machina under Storyteller control, and not the player character’s.

<bullet>No Labyrinth: This eliminates the need to venture into the Labyrinth completely. The

wraith deals directly with the Shadow without a need to make the dangerous trek. It doesn’t

mean that it might not take days or weeks to convince the Shadow to reach a mutual accord, but

it’s a far less dangerous process than a Helldive.

<sidebar>

<2>Step One: The Intent

<n>The “Why” of it is the most important and the most personal step. All Chronicles with Risen

in them must consider this step regardless of their focus. The Intent is the driving force behind

the desire to cross the Shroud and operate once again among the Quick.

While all wraiths have unfinished business, for a Risen it has to be something more powerful. A

Passion so strong, so all-consuming that it subsumes everything else, it can be anything from

avenging one’s unsolved murder to needing to get hands-on to protect a love one from certain

peril. Left unattended, the Intent will gnaw at and distract a wraith, putting himself and all the

other wraiths around him at risk.

The locus of the Intent need is a quantifiable thing, something simple to grasp as a concept: A

person, a place, an object, a secret. It has a verb attached to it, often with a sense of constancy to
apply pressure to the need: Protect, hide, destroy, inform, etc. A character trying to avenge his

own death is seeking to destroy the person responsible. A character protecting the stolen money

that’s keeping her son’s medical bills paid is either protecting the secret of the theft or the stash

of money itself.

Players can make the agenda seem more complex, but it should always boil down to a straight

forward object and an easy to understand verb. “I was murdered by my partner on the force

because I wouldn’t play dirty, and now the murderer is trying to seduce my wife” is fine so long

as the player remembers that it’s all about “Kill my murderer” or “Protect my wife.”

These simplicities give the Shadowguide or the player a way of obfuscating the terms of the Pact

so that what seems like one agenda is in fact another. The Shadow may gravitate more towards

“Kill my murderer” because of the opportunity for Angst when the real driving force behind the

wraith’s actions might be “Protect my wife.”

Player and Storyteller should discuss the Intent before starting any campaign involving a Risen.

The duration of a Risen-centric section of the Chronicle should guide the character’s obsession.

If the story arc is short, the obsession can be easily solved (kill my murderer, tell my husband I

love him, unearth the money from the robbery , etc.). If the game is a full Chronicle, the Risen

needs a longer obsession-arc that requires detail, work, and attention (find my runaway sister,

destroy my traitorous partner’s life, protect my unit buddies who have become Hunters, etc.).

<3>It Isn’t All Altruism

<n>One of the reasons the Shadow might want to enable the wraith to become Risen is because

the obsession is dangerous and can easily be twisted into something else. “I love her,” can
quickly become “nobody else can have her.” “He got away with my murder,” can transform into

“I’ll ruin everything he loves.” “My children need protection” is a small step away from “they’re

useless without me.” Everything can be twisted, every noble motivation broken and made selfish.

The Shadow revels in tearing down the Psyche’s delusions, and if it thinks it can turn an

obsession against the Psyche, it will cheerfully do so.

<2>Step Two: The Investigation

<n>For characters that start as wraiths, “The How?” is where their focus might lie for quite some

time. The investigation into becoming Risen is a conflict and suspense-rich environment for the

entire Circle of characters, and something that would require everyone’s help given the potential

number of smaller steps along the way to the ultimate goal.

There are three crucial steps involved in the investigation phase of uncovering the secrets of the

Risen. The first is tracking down legitimate sources of knowledge, the second is convincing said

sources to share their secrets, and the third is obtaining the components of the secrets to prepare

for the attempt.

<3>Tracking Down Sources

<n> According to the Hierarchy, becoming Risen is illegal. Sure, the Hierarchy has Risen agents

in the form of <i>The Order of Acherontia Styx<i>, but breaking the rules is the privilege of the

elite. For everyone else, knowing how to become Risen is a crime in itself, officially punishable

by a swift trip to the forges. This makes practitioners of the art very cautious about who they talk

to and who they take in as students, and encourages them to be hard to find.
This is the first of many reasons the returned are relatively rare. Those who know aren’t talking

because those who talk aren’t around for long. Atop that, Risen fall more quickly to their Shadow

in the know don’t trust anyone else to use their knowledge safely. Either that, or there is good

obloi to be made for someone willing to pay. Additionally, there is no social networking and that

means gossip never reaches widespread saturation in the Shadowlands. What does become

widespread is invariably inaccurate or so diluted as to be meaningless. Everything about the

Risen, unless taken from actual knowledgeable sources, becomes a game of broken telephone.

The odds that any information a character receives is 100% accurate are laughably low.

Still, it’s impossible to kill an idea, and becoming Risen has gained the status of an urban legend

in the Underworld. Everyone’s heard about it, and everyone has a friend of a friend who crossed

over before something terrible befell them.

Said sources of information, however, might have some or all of the information required to

becoming Risen. They include knowing the correct Arcanoi and how they relate to inhabiting

one’s former body; how best to negotiate with the Shadow; where to go in the Labyrinth and

even how to reach it “safely” (and we cannot stress the number of quotation marks that go

around that word); and, the dangers a wraith faces in the Skinlands once she re-possesses her

body.

<sidebar>

<3>The Order of Acherontia Styx

<n>The Order of Acherontia Styx is an arm of the Order of the Unlidded Eye, but it’s the

equivalent of a government basement operation receiving hand-me-down technology from a

decade ago, featuring agents too talented to fire and too troublesome for the Inquisition to

handle. Acherontia Styx is distrusted by the majority of the Eye for its offbeat approach to the

Skinlands, not to mention their offbeat approaches to pretty much everything else. But someone

has to investigate the worst, most dangerous breaches of the Dictum Mortuum, and these are the

wraiths who drew - or volunteered for - the short straw.

The Order carries the full power of the Inquisition. Their mandate is the Risen, which means

everything from returning themselves to deal with catastrophic risings to hunting down

purveyors of knowledge of the process. They operate on both sides of the Shroud because they

have to, and some of them are unsettlingly good at transitioning between wraith and Risen. They

play their cards close to the vest and are granted a wide degree of discretion in how they pursue

their goals. This makes them particularly unloved by their fellow Inquisitors.

Being part of Acherontia Styx means bending the rules because sometimes a little negotiation

with the Devil isn’t just necessary, it’s essential. To do their job means crossing a few lines, as

each and everyone of them has returned at least once. That gives them little patience for sticks-

in-the-mud and Dictum Mortuum literalists. Their work - tracking down Shadow-possessed

Risen, preventing waves of returned from overwhelming mortal cities - is too important.

<sidebar>

<3>Negotiating with the Sources

<n>Once the characters find a reputable source for the appropriate knowledge, then the

negotiations can begin. The style of the Chronicle should dictate the NPC’s agendas, what they

know, and what they want in return for teaching the character how to Rise. Anything is fair
game, from access to characters’ resources and social networks to having the Cirle do a “favor”

for the source. The trick is in making the players feel uniquely qualified to earn the knowledge.

Bear in mind, however, that while coercion and blackmail are also tools that can be used to learn

the secrets behind tearing through the Shroud, it’s likely that someone with the knowledge to

become Risen has also been around long enough to be a threat in their own right. Meddling with

these individuals is dangerous, and may have unexpected repercussions.

<3>Training

<n>After the appropriate knowledge has been acquired, the would-be Risen will require some

training. In order to tear through the Shroud and re-inhabit her corpse, a wraith must have a grasp

of Puppetry as well as an understanding of either Lifeweb, Inhabit, or Embody. All four involve

touching upon and affecting the Skinlands in delicate ways. Specifically, the wraith must have at

least 3 dots in Puppetry and at least one in each of the other Arcanoi. They must also learn the

proper techniques for becoming Risen. These vary from teacher to teacher, but some form of

guidance is necssary in order to focus the wraith’s efforts. There are, of course, rumors of

codexes and tomes on how to become Risen, but these are rare at best, mythical at worse, and

most likely kept very secure in any case.

Storytellers may want to parse out the secret of becoming Risen among several different

individuals. One wraith might know who holds the secret of becoming Risen, the next knows the

correct Arcanoi involved, while a third has risen before and knows the dangers involved and how

to avoid them. And of course, each of them wants something in exchange for their knowledge.
Spreading the information out not only provides storytelling beats, but also meshes with the

timing it takes for a wraith to learn the proper Arcanoi for her quest..

Storytellers can tackle this situation in one of four ways:

<bullet>The first is that it takes as long as it takes, and the characters can embark on other

storylines and misadventures, but it’s understood that their downtime involves learning the

necessary arts.

<bullet>The second way is a slight twist in that the characters learn about the necessary Arcanoi

early so while hunting down more information on becoming Risen, they are also learning and

training.

<bullet>The third way is effectively a montage. The Chronicle takes a leap forward in time and

the characters emerge from hiding having undergone the required training. There’s no telling

what happened while they were away, however, meaning that friends could missing, enemies

might be on their tail, or worse.

<bullet>The fourth option, but certainly not the last, is that the circle can work together. So long

as one of them possesses Puppetry, and Lifeweb/Embody/Inhabit, then they all benefit.

This last option is for Storytellers who want to get to the Skinlands in a hurry, but it is

recommended that this method comes with some strict caveats to keep it from being abused.

In the end, though, nothing happens without this next step: The Pact.

<2>Step Three: The Pact

<n>Now comes time for one of the most difficult steps, “The Where.” To seal the deal, the

wraith who intends to Rise must venture into the Labyrinth to bargain with her Shadow. It’s a
process akin to but not precisely like a Harrowing, with one of the key differences being that the

wraith enters the Labyrinth voluntarily.

Wraiths who attempt to make the pilgrimage alone tend to have a poor survival rate. As such,

even if it’s only one member of a Circle who intends to Rise, it’s best if the entire group

accompanies her in order to get her to her destination (and to keep from sidelining the bulk of the

Circle during the final stages of the character’s quest)

<3>Reaching the Labyrinth

<n>There are a number of ways to reach the Labyrinth, most of them involuntary, but those

wraiths versed in the mythology and process of becoming Risen also know of the safer ways into

this dire maze. Most would recommend hiring Harbingers who specialize in transit to and from

the Labyrinth using Argos, but there are other routes. Hooking up with Helldivers, following

Spectres home through the Tempest - there are multiple ways, each with their own challenges.

Storytellers should consider tying elements of the journey to the Labyrinth with the obsession

behind becoming Risen. At what cost will the character become Risen? Will he betray comrades

for a shot at it? Will she ignore others in peril to reach her goal? What does the journey itself

reveal about the obsession to reach the Skinlands and how does it change that obsession?

It is entirely possible that taken this way, the quest to become Risen never happens because the

discovery leads to character growth and that growth allows the character to cope with their

obsession in other ways.

All that said, venturing to the Labyrinth as a Circle means trusting one another on the deepest

level. The Labyrinth is where whispers carry weight, where monstrosities swim beneath oceans

older than recorded memory, and where Oblivion awaits, the ultimate end of ends. Asking
friends and associates to go there has no precedent because it beggars simile and metaphor. The

best one could hope for is that whatever happens in the Labyrinth, that it be swift and decisive.

Wraiths belonging to a circle need a better reason than “I need help” to go along on something

like this, because while the wraiths themselves might still undertake such mammoth favors for a

friend, their Shadows will not. So even before the journey begins, a group of wraiths better have

damn good reason to say ‘yes’ to the adventure.

<3>Dealing with the Shadow

<n>Once the characters arrive in the Labyrinth, the aspiring Risen can now deal and negotiate

with the Shadow. At a suitably appropriate spot, his Shadow manifests itself, powered by the

wraith’s obsession and the nearness of Oblivion. The Shadow is merely a vision, incapable of

physical interaction, but this first step to separation leads down the road to the Conduit.

No wraith can return to the Skinlands without the cooperation of the Shadow. The Shadow must

agree to return and it cannot be forced except through applications of Castigate - ones that could

prove very risky in the Labyrinth.

Coming to the Labyrinth is no guarantee that the Shadow will cooperate, either. While becoming

Risen is something that most Shadows are interested in, largely because of the accelerated rate at

which Risen accrue Angst, not every Shadow wants to take the risk. As for those who do, many

of them are smart enough to adopt refusal as a negotiating tactic in hopes of getting a better deal.

The terms of the deal can range from “Let me be in charge when we get back” to “You have to

deliberately feed a Dark Passion” to “You must destroy your favorite Artifact before we go”, and

they’re infinitely fluid until the moment the deal is formally struck. Then, they’re locked in

stone.
That being said, the negotiations do not occur in a vacuum. The spectres who haunt the

Labyrinth have no respect for the sanctity of the discussion, and will cheerfully set upon any

interlopers they find in their halls. It is entirely possible for the aspiring Risen to be conducting

feverish negotiations with his Shadow while his Circlemates fight off a shrieking horde of

Striplings. It’s just as possible that the Shadow summoned those spectres to add a little bit of

urgency to the negotiations.

If the entire circle is going Risen, then they’ll need to follow these steps too, and no telling what

the individual Shadows will do to get the Psyche in trouble. Shadows have no need to cooperate

with each other, and may do things to thwart each other’s ambitions. Storytellers should be ready

to deal with the repercussions of doing this, up to and including thwarting the Circle from Rising.

<3>What the Shadow Gains

<n>So, why would the Shadow ever agree to allow the wraith to re-inhabit her body? It seems

natural that either, whatever the Shadow agrees to would be to the full detriment of the wraith, or

that the Shadow would automatically refuse any request to help the character, but those aren’t the

cases here. In these instances, it’s all about risk-versus-reward for both parties.

For the wraith, the stakes are in tending to an obvious, immediate, and driving desire. For the

Shadow, the appeal lies in the risks the Psyche faces by the attempt. By saying “no, you can’t

play,” the ploy is straight out frustration or perhaps even fear on the Shadow’s side for the very

real dangers it’ll face in the Skinlands. To say “yes” however, means the opportunity to watch the

character fail, to grow increasingly disillusioned with the life he can no longer have, or (best of

all) to see him pervert the very reason why he went back.

<3>The Pact
<n>The Pact is a solemn agreement between Psyche and Shadow, unbreakable without dire

consequences. To make a Pact, each side states their terms, and then the wraith invests a point of

Permanent Willpower. It’s a steep price, but now both sides are bound and the Shadow cannot

prevent the wraith from Rising.

What the Shadow gets from the Pact must be clearly defined, and the wraith must act in good

faith within a reasonable time frame to meet those terms. Failure to do so gives the Shadow a

point of Permanent Angst. Certain Shadows are not above diverting their Psyches from fulfilling

the terms of a Pact in order to get the juicy payoff at the end, while others will hound the wraith

incessantly until they get what’s coming to them.

<2>Step Four: The Rising

<n>Now we come to “The Who,” the character’s mortal remains and the act of actually diving

back into them. For this to happen, the corpse must be relatively intact in the broadest sense. A

cremated or decapitated body cannot be re-inhabited and there has to be the shriveled remains of

a heart and brain to work. Fleshless skeletons are thus a no-go as vessels, and bodies that have

been dead too long are also often unfitting.

If the body is able to rise, however, the wraith must travel to her body’s in the Skinlands and

settle in. This is where the necessary Arcanoi come into play and a show of Willpower becomes

absolutely critical in binding the wraith back into her own flesh.

Note that once the bargain has been struck in the Labyrinth with her Shadow, the wraith can take

as long as she wants - or needs - to actually return to the Skinlands. Odds are, however, she

won’t want to wait. Getting out of the Labyrinth and back into her body in order to take care of

business will almost certainly become her highest priority.

Stitching one’s self back into her corpse is no mean feat. The body carries the residue of

traumatic memory, and as the soul hooks itself back into the flesh, those memories are a blast

from a double-barrel shotgun, as strong and intense as the moment they happened. The wraith

relives her final moments with the sudden, terrible clarity of the senses.

After that, as the residual memory bleeds off, the body stitches itself back together. Tissue and

tendon that are missing regrow like kudzu; bones reknit as they grind back into one solid piece;

heart, brain, eyes, tongue refill their cavities, inflating inside the Risen’s body; skin tightens;

muscles stretch, snap, regrow; embalming fluids, maggots, worms, and anything else that doesn’t

belong in the human body comes back up in a torrent of vomit.

The process is incredibly painful. Thankfully, it is over in a matter of minutes, leaving the Risen

with a new problem: getting out. Most Risen are buried, and a coffin is a terrifying place to wake

up, especially with wraith senses. The sensory overload gives the Risen the panic-fueled strength

to escape her confines. Fortunately, she doesn’t need to breathe or eat. Thus, escaping the grave

or the mausoleum is a matter of time and brute force even though experience is screaming at the

Risen that she should be suffocating.

Once the Risen emerges, then things get interesting. Odds are she’s broke and wearing her rotted

funeral best, which means there are two immediate problems staring her in the face. How she

deals with them can set the tone for her entire experience as a Risen, for good or for ill.

<3>The Systems Behind Rising

<n>To actually inhabit one’s body and rise, a wraith must ride the corpse as she would any other

mortal. This means doing two things. The first is spending one point of Pathos and rolling
Dexterity + Puppetry (Difficulty 6). The second is spending one Willpower point to claw through

the Shroud, and then making a Willpower roll (Difficulty 8).

If the wraith fails to make the necessary roll in Puppetry, the attempt fails and she remains a

ghost in the Shadowlands. If she succeeds in using her arts but fails in the Willpower roll,

however, the Shadow slips into the body instead and the Psyche is relegated to the Conduit. If the

player botched the Willpower roll, the Shadow gains control and the character gains a point of

permanent Angst for each 1 rolled beyond the number of successes.

<3>The Conduit
<n>When a wraith steps into her body and reclaims it, the Shadow splits off to reside in the

Conduit. The Conduit is one of the wraith’s Fetters, usually the strongest one, and being

separated from the Conduit pains Risen and Shadow alike. This constant distraction puts the

Risen at +1 difficulty on all Willpower rolls as long as the two are separated.

The Conduit is critical for the Risen, and ironically, it’s because the Shadow must be protected

regardless of their relationship. The Conduit is a talisman of sorts, a physical part of the Risen,

and its fate is tied to her. It’s for this reason that the Conduit has 10 Health Levels.

If the Conduit receives damage, the Risen is equally hurt for said damage type and cannot heal.

Destroy the Conduit, and the Risen is sent screaming into a Destruction Harrowing. Conversely,

if the Risen’s body is destroyed and the Conduit is left behind undamaged, it becomes a potent

link to the Shadowlands and imbued with the malicious intent left behind by the Shadow.

Hunters of such items would pay a fortune to get their hands on said Conduit or do their utmost

to kill whoever possesses one.

Because of the significance of Conduits to the Risen and vice versa, the Fetter in question should

be small and easily transportable so the Risen can keep it on their body, and more importantly,

the Conduit should be near the Risen when she returns to the Skinlands. Some Risen insist on

carrying their Conduit with them at all times for protection, while others prefer to risk the

distraction and hide it in a safe place.

Sometimes, the positions are reversed and the Shadow slips into the body while the wraith is

forced into the Conduit. This can happen during a Catharsis roll, or when the Risen first attempts

to occupy her own body. When this occurs, the Shadow must still keep the Conduit safe, but the

player still plays her Risen character with the objectives of the Shadow. This means trying to

fulfill its Dark Passions, or undermine the Risen’s objectives until the Psyche resumes control.

As for the Psyche, during Catharsis, the Shadow can sever its connection to its body’s senses,

putting the character in utter, hellish darkness, and absolute silence as long as the Catharsis lasts.

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<3>Animal Conduits
<n>Sometimes, a Fetter is too large and the Conduit becomes something tied to it rather than the

Fetter itself. A family home is too large to serve as a Conduit, but the family dog who lives there

is a much more appropriate size. Should it be chosen as a Conduit, the animal’s psyche is

obliterated and the body becomes a husk for the Shadow, which can enjoy a newfound freedom

not previously available to immobile Conduits. Animal Conduits tend to follow their Psyches

closely, but they’re not frolicsome pets. Empowered with mobility, fully aware Shadows guiding

the bodies of animals can provoke all sorts of havoc.

If the Psyche is ever forced into the animal Conduit, it can use the animal’s senses just fine, and

even “run away” from its owner to force the Shadow to come after it (rather than embarking on

mayhem).

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<2>Step Five: Existence as Risen

<n>Welcome to the land of the living, better known as “The What” or “What Next?” The Risen

has emerged and this is as good as his body’s going to get: Passably alive. This is everything he’s

geared himself toward, pursuing the object of his obsession and putting matters to the right. This

will not be the happy reunion a Risen expects, however. The Risen returns with senses that have

beheld and been warped by the Underworld, and they can never see the living, breathing world

the same way. Everything is doomed to die and the wraith will often fixate on the ebb of that

cycle.

The lost human senses don’t return with the same clarity, and the reality of a rose cannot hold up

against the memory of its beauty. More so, the Risen comes back with additional senses: Their

Deathsight, Lifesight, and Heightened Senses. Their eyesight and hearing are microscopes and

microphones on the living world; they no longer perceive the painting as a whole, but rather see

the individual brushstrokes of dried, cracked paint. How can one appreciate the beauty of life

when all they can see are its imperfections?

Then, there’s the obsession, the one compulsion that drove the wraith to risk damnation and

destruction to get this far. The Risen is less likely to stop and smell the roses when all he can
think about is the obsession. Everything becomes a distraction, with the clock ticking, the

Shadow waiting, and the obsession that powered the wraith out of the grave not letting them rest.

As a result, Risen strive towards realizing the object of their quest with all speed. They don’t

sleep, they don’t eat, and they power themselves endlessly towards their driving obsession. At

the same time, they may need to collaborate with mortals to achieve their goals, and that means

trying to fit in with humanity long enough to build the needed relationships to achieve the

Risen’s ends. Making human connections could ameliorate the Shadow’s pernicious influence,

but at the same time they could distract the Risen from the reason for returning, and that

potentially opens the door to disaster. It’s a fine line to walk, and a Risen is always caught in that

tension.