Keening Symbol

eening is an Arcanos of emotion transmitted by sound. The ancient legends of banshees and ghostly mourners have at least some basis in Keening's arts. Those who have mastered this Arcanos can sing emotion into their listeners, living or dead.

It is not absolutely necessary for a wraith to sing to use this Arcanos. If a wraith wishes to touch others' emotions through dance, oration, or even laughter, she may, but it may require an extra test since this Arcanos is taught through song (where a tie in a retest is considered a win).

Ultimately, the emotions Keening instills are artificial, and cannot compare to the heady rush of true feeling. Gaining Pathos from a Keening-fed emotion is possible, but it requires an additional retest which must be won to have any effect. Furthermore, the Pathos harvested in this manner is far blander than usual. Masters of Keening often prefer to infect one person with an emotion, then feed on the truer feelings he engenders in his companions.

Use the Performance Ability for retests with the Keening Arcanos.


Innate Abilities



Perfect Pitch:

This is the ability to notice when another wraith is actively using Keening.

System: The wraith must enter a challenge against the wraith in question, bidding Mental Traits instead of Social ones (as dictated by Sotto Voce, see below).

Soto Voce:

With Sotto Voce, a wraith may hide her Keening arts in normal singing or casual conversation.

System: To use Sotto Voce, the Chanteur enters a challenge, but bids Social Traits against her opponent's Mental.


Basic Abilities



Ballad:

This art allows a wraith to inspire either the "higher" emotions like serenity, joy, mirth, loyalty, love, inspiration, vigor, faith, and so on, or the "darker" ones like despair, anger, fear, loneliness, grief, or lust. This art has proven excellent in everything from removing unwanted mortals from a particular locale to protecting Fetters and swaying other wraiths into alliances.

System: To use Ballad, the wraith enters an Extended Social Challenge against his target(s) and spends one point of Pathos.

Muse:

This art allows the wraith to make a suggestion into the subject's subconscious, inspiring him with an idea he will believe to be his own. This is useful for those who continue to compose music, art, or literature after death, but require a middleman to bring their works to the living. More commonly, the art is used subtly to manipulate other wraiths.

System: By spending two Pathos and gaining one Temporary Angst point, a Chanteur can attempt to use Muse. The more successes gained on an Extended Social Challenge, the better the target interprets the suggestion, which must be phrased clearly and in a single sentence. Three or fewer successes indicates that the target gets the general idea, but puts his own spin on it. Four successes mean that he will follow the suggestion as long as it isn't directly harmful; five or more compels him to do as the Chanteur pleases. This art works equally well on wraiths, mortals, and other supernatural beings.


Intermediate Abilities



Crescendo:

The wraith can scream a musical blast capable of damaging plasm at close range.

System: By spending three Pathos and gaining one point of Temporary Angst, the wraith enters an Extended Static Social Challenge. The singer inflicts one Corpus Level of damage per success on every wraith in normal hearing distance. The damage is not aggravated, and can be soaked. Crescendo cannot be concealed by Sotto Voce. Optional: Singing Crescendo while Embodied inflicts all listeners with a terrible heart stopping fear. This art also inflicts one Health Level of damage per two successes. This damage may also be soaked, but will affect vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures as well as mortals.


Advanced Abilities




Requiem:

This art floods the subject with raw, undiluted emotion. Any feeling the wraith wishes will pour over the target, burying her soul in its tide.

System: The wraith states the emotion he wants to project and enters an Extended Static Physical Challenge. Each success scored by the Chanteur paralyzes the subject for one minute, unless she is prepared for the onslaught. In that case, she can initiate a Social Challenge against the Chanteur to see if the art affects her. If the Chanteur wins the challenge, however, or if his victim is unsuspecting, the object of the art is overwhelmed with emotion and cannot move, act, speak, or defend herself. Particularly dark emotions can scare a target's soul. If five or more successes are scored with a negative emotion at the core of the Requiem, the subject may lose Mental Traits or go insane at Narrator discretion. This art costs two Pathos plus one Pathos per success achieved. If the emotion projected is negative, the wraith gains one point of Temporary Angst.

Chanteurs Guild: Keening Arcanos


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