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Submerging oneself in the practice of an Arcanos can mark a wraith with traces of that power. These marks make her recognizable as one who is well-versed in a specific arcane skill, and cannot be removed by cosmetic alteration. The details vary from Arcanos to Arcanos.
Excessive use of an Arcanos will mark a wraith permanently, whether or not she is a member of the Guild associated with that particular Arcanos. A wraith diving into the Tempest with Argos on a regular basis will acquire jet-black eyes, even is she has never met an “official” Harbinger. It is the Arcanos itself (or the environment associated with its use) that creates the markings, not any sort of Guild association.
However, there are many wraiths who have learned more than one Arcanos to such an extent that they start developing more than one set of distinctive marks. This is no longer uncommon in Stygia where average citizens are encouraged to learn multiple Arcanoi. Usually the multi-talented wraith will manifest the distinctive patterns of all the Arcanoi she uses, unless there is some conflict between the developing marks (i.e., Argos and Intimation modify the appearance of the user’s eyes in mutually exclusive ways.) In this case, the markings of the Arcanos that is used more frequently will predominate, though some evidence of the less commonly used arts will manifest as well. For example, a Harbinger with some knowledge of Intimation (which stains its users left eye bright green) will have the traditional set of jet-black eyes, but with a distinctly green sheen to his left one.
When purchasing Arcanoi, a character must first master the lower levels (or “arts”) before moving on to the more advanced ones. For example, before learning Life-in-Death, a character must possess first the Innate Abilities that form a basis of that Arcanos (Embody in this case), as well as Phantom Whispers and Statue.
Regardless of the nature of the Arcanos, a character must actually learn the Arcanos between game sessions, as opposed to during game play. This prevents the character from suddenly powering up during the course of an evening and throwing game balance off-kilter. Also, this helps to reflect realistically the time it takes a wraith to master her newly developed powers.
Each time the wraith successfully manifests to, Skinrides, or hides in the Consort, she may spend one Willpower Trait, carefully identifying with it. The closer the wraith was in life to the object, the easier attunement is. Attuning to a stranger costs a total of five Willpower Traits over an extended period of time; attuning to a close friend or lover may require only two or three. The results vary by Arcanos; for instance, certain Puppetry arts can only be used on Consorts. If no attunement results are given under the Arcanos, the Storyteller or Narrator should pick whatever effect seems most reasonable – if she decides to allow it to be attuned at all.