By Leroy Van Camp III (van891@uidaho.edu)
In the Shadowlands, fire and flame are a valuable commodity, and those capable of creating it are rare. With few things, including relics, being inflammable, keeping a flame alive requires other means. The Arcanos of Conflagration is the art of transmuting the emotional energy of Pathos into soulfire and soul crystals.
If it were not for soulfire, and those who create it, the Underworld would be a far different place. It is soulfire that the Artificers use for their forges, and it is soulfire that is used in the many torches that light Stygia and her colonies. Because of this, the Conflagrants hold a lot of clout, even though their Guild is long dead.
The Conflagrants were a selfish lot, though, and as time went on they began to raise the prices for their services. Knowing that society itself depended on their skills, they felt they could charge whatever they wanted. And as more and more of the Artificers profits were consumed by these payments, the richer the Conflagrants became.
In the end, this arrogance is what brought them down. Over time, many Artificers began to pick up on and learn the skills of Conflagration, and started to phase out the need for Conflagrant Guild members. Within several decades, the Artificers severed all ties with the Conflagrants. The Guildsmen were shocked by these actions, and tried to make reparations, including a drastic reduction in their fees. But the Artificers no longer needed them.
The Guild leadership, worried about their future, tried to assure everyone that things would be fine, that there were many other markets for their talents. At the same time, they started to clear the coffers and steal away in the night. In the end, the Guild died completely, and the Conflagrants started to work independently. All of this happened long before the attempted coup by the Guilds.
These days, Conflagrants see a lot of work, but none of it is organized in the old Guild faction. Many Conflagrants do little more than spending their time churning out soul crystals and selling them where ever they can. Others work for the Hierarchy, keeping the flames of the Moliated torches alight.
Practitioners of Conflagration are commonly adorned with a whispery nimbus of flame about their heads, which grows slightly brighter with the more Pathos the wraith has.
Also, Usury 5 allows the creation of soul crystals, basically in a similar fasion as Rock Candy, below. A Storyteller who choses to use Conflagration is his own chronicles will have to decide whether to allow Usury to retain that ability, or to remove it. This author recommends its removal, especially since it does not reduce Usury's power appreciably. It is mostly a change in setting dynamics.
System: The player rolls Manipulation+Conflagration, difficulty of 5, or the current Shroud if used on Skinland fires. Each success lets the character do one of two things. First, it can be used to increase the flame's heat, with each success indicating a one step increase on the Heat of Fire chart on page 234. The second causes the flame to burn longer. Each success increases its current potential duration one hundred percent.
Note that these can be mixed. For example, a player who rolls four successes can use two to make the flames burn for 3 times the normal length, and two to raise it up two steps on the heat chart.
This art costs 1 Pathos per success, though the wraith can choose not to use all the rolled successes.
System: By spending 1 Pathos each turn she is taking damage from soulflame, the wraith can add her level of Conflagration to her soak rolls.
When confronted with Skinland flame, the wraith can make a Stamina+Conflagration roll, difficulty being the flame's heat level, as per the chart on page 234. Each success allows the wraith to withstand the heat for two turns without going incorporeal. Each such roll (not each success) costs 1 Pathos.
System: The wraith rolls Manipulation+Conflagration, difficulty 7, for each crystal she wishes to create. The number of successes is the maximum amount of Pathos a wraith can put into that crystal, which manifests in the wraith's hand.
A soul crystal will put off soulfire for a week per point of Pathos. This flame burns with the heat of a torch, which is what they are often used for. This flame is not hot enough for forging; Feed the Flames is used to stoke the soulfires of the Artificer's forges.
This is a particularly unsubtle power; there is little chance of concealing the jets of flame, or the screams of those who are struck with them.
System: For every success rolled on Manipulation+Conflagration, difficulty of 6, the wraith can channel one Pathos into soulfire, which must be directed from the corpus immediately, lest it char the Conflagrant. Striking another with the flame jet requires a Dexterity+Firearms roll. Damage is equal to the initial roll, and is aggravated. The target, if struck, can soak this damage.
Using this power grants the wraith a point of Angst.
System: The player rolls Manipulation+Conflagration, difficulty of the target's Stamina+3. Each success transmutes one of the target's Pathos into soulfire, which burns within. Initial damage is equal to the number of Pathos converted, and is aggravated. The victim continues to take damage, with the initial damage dropping by one each turn. So, for example, if damage was 4 on the first turn, it would be 3 on the second, 2 on the third, and so on. The victim gets a soak roll each turn, but any sort of armor does not help.
If the target has Hellfire, he can try to channel this flame out from himself, reducing or eliminating the damage. This allows the Conflagrant to use his Manipulation+Conflagration as a soak roll. It does not give the normal point of Angst.
Targets with Flame Ward can use that ability against Burning Inside normally.
This art requires 2 Pathos and 1 Willpower each time it is used. It also gives the wraith 2 Angst.