The Dark Pine Lodge

By Adam Simpson (adamsim@chiefarch.com) (11 November 1995)

An Overview

The Dark Pine Lodge is a spiritual force from Native American belief that has always been bound to an area of land near the west coast in the state of Washington. A lodge was built on its land years ago and became the Dark Pine Lodge when the spirit merged with it. The spirit has grown corrupt with the passing of years. Old Native Americans have not forgotten it, and still tell of it in their tales. Some of them know its true name, but do not mention it in their stories. These men and women know what it has become, and would never travel there.

The spirit and the land where it resides are linked on the most basic of levels. One result of this connection is the spirit's inability to extend itself beyond its land. The land acts as its earthly form, and because of this it cannot leave its borders. When the Dark Pine Lodge was built on that land it became a part of the spirit.

Dark Pine Lodge is a spiritual place, closely tied to another plane of existence. The spirit extends into the Umbra and is a domain there, darkly linked to Gaia. As such, it can be reached by those who step sideways, but to do so would require a great deal of the traveler. Characters attempting this would have to make an expenditure of Willpower. Garou would have to spend Rage points, while mages would temporarily lose some Arete.

The Dark Pine Lodge Spirit was once a benevolent spirit of the land. Shamans of Native American tribes communed with it, gaining visions and wisdom. Over the ages this changed. The spirit grew distant from the shamans, and as it did it grew corrupt. With this corruption came a hunger, one that could only be satisfied with the energies of humans. The spirit learned ways to tempt men to enter its grounds, where it would trap them, never letting them see the waking world again. The shamans learned of this and tried to warn their tribes about the dark spirit's "seduction", for such was the word they gave to the spirit's temptations.

The shamans were never certain how this change came about. Some pointed to older and darker spirits subverting the spirit of the land. Some said the spirit of the land was forced into evil ways while other shamans said it followed willingly. Other shamans claimed the spirit of the land turned to dark hunger on its own, with many different reasons offered as to why. The centuries have only seen an increase in its hunger. The Dark Pine Lodge still seduces men and women to enter itself and become lost. It starts by influencing their minds, then begins controlling their actions. After the subversion is complete the unfortunates enter into the Lodge and never emerge. The spirit can fracture itself into lesser spirits which think and function on their own. These lesser spirits are not bound to the land as their parent is, and can travel freely. Because of this fact the Lodge creates many of these lesser facets of itself to do its work beyond the borders of its land. The lesser spirits retain the Lodge's ability to seduce and control mortals, and use it to lead people into the Lodge's power. Time does not flow normally within the Lodge. Events can happen in any order there. Time inside the lodge relates to time outside the lodge, but that is as far as normalcy goes. The Lodge can exert its own power over the flow of time, causing strange effects.

If the Lodge foresees it will have an opportunity to seduce someone, subtle and insidious signs will manifest before the person even makes contact with a Lodge spirit. If correctly interpreted, these signs can aid in avoiding the Lodge's influence.

Entering the Lodge

There are several methods of entering the Lodge besides walking into its Earthly location. Umbral travelers may be able to force their way into the Lodge by stepping sideways, as mentioned above. Doing so could be costly and dangerous. The Dark Pine Lodge's Umbral realm is a twisted, evil place. The spirit's deceptive nature has kept the realm looking much like it did in ancient days, a beautiful forest. The only difference apparent is the structure of the Dark Pine Lodge. Because of its intimate link with the spirit, the lodge building has appeared in the Umbral realm. Travelers to the realm quickly become aware that something is wrong with their surroundings. The breezes and sounds of the animals are unsettling to those with acute senses.

Tremere or Magi might develop a ritual or spell to allow them access to the Lodge in an attempt to negotiate with the Lodge spirits in exchange for power. An attempt to do so would practically guarantee that (s)he will be possessed or murdered by the Lodge spirits. This does not deter some Magi however, as the mere desire to enter the Lodge at any point in their lives opens the necessary doorway for a Lodge spirit to begin tempting them towards the Lodge's embrace.

There are places in nature near the Lodge along the west coast in the U. S. and Canada that hold portals to the Dark Pine Lodge. These portals open of their own accord, but only rarely, usually once every 50 to 500 years. These self-openings are dependent on stellar and planetary phenomena. When one of these portals is open, anyone may enter the Lodge's earthly structure or its Umbral realm by merely stepping through. One portal was discovered to be a ring of Sycamore trees.

The lesser spirits of the Dark Pine Lodge use these places to open their own portals to and from the Lodge. The places used more often by the spirits take on dark characteristics. Those places frequented by the spirits look downright sinister.

People seduced by the Lodge will enter it in their dreams. These visits are infrequent at first, but as the Lodge's influence increases the person will spend every sleeping moment wandering through the Lodge. When the Lodge spirits move to controlling the person's actions, they again wander the Lodge, though now their steps seem guided, allowing less freedom to explore. In this stage they also start to see and hear traces of others in the Lodge's endless hallways and rooms. These glimpses and faint sounds are increasingly difficult to forget during the person's time in the waking world.

Inside the Lodge

The lodge built on the Dark Pine Lodge Spirit's land still stands today, looking exactly as it did when it was first built. The building is mystically maintained by its link to the Lodge Spirit and never needs any repair. The building is a modestly decorated 2 story structure designed to be a hunting lodge/hotel. A sign hangs over the front entrance and reads "Dark Pine Lodge."

The lodge building has a direct link to the Dark Pine Lodge's Umbral Realm. The Lodge Spirit can warp the building's interior in any way it desires, but cannot affect the exterior. If the Lodge wishes to entrap or confuse someone inside it can increase the interior to any size and create any number of rooms. If someone suspicious of the Lodge enters and searches for indications of anything unusual, the Lodge will return the building to its natural dimensions and wait for him to leave. If he stays too long or damages the building the Lodge will summon lesser Lodge spirits.

Entrance into the Lodge begins in a part known as the Waiting Room. The waiting room is a large room with thick red curtains for walls and a zig-zag pattern of off-white & off-black stripes on the floor. It is furnished with 3 black upholstered chairs, 2 of them next to each other and the third a short distance away and facing them. The separate chair is adjacent a small black marble end table with a small white marble sculpture on it. The sculpture appears to be of a planet or astrological model. The chairs next to each other have a similar end table between them. At either end of these chairs stand tall brass floor lamps. Behind the chairs is a near-life size white marble statue of a female nude. Coffee is often served in the waiting room, but it tastes foul.

Those who through the curtains in any direction will find a short hallway, also walled by curtains, with the same floor. Passing through curtains out of these hallways leads to other rooms almost identical to the waiting room. The only difference will be the furnishings. A seemingly infinite number of rooms such as this exist, all with different furnishings. If someone continues in this way without a destination in mind he will most certainly become lost. However, if you walk with a specific location in mind, and spend a Willpower point to get there, you can step through any curtain and arrive in any location within the Lodge.

The final location is the Meeting Room. This wood-floored room is where the Lodge spirits gather for reasons only known to them. This square room is occupied by a small stage in the corner, several chairs, a dark-colored sofa, and a green table.

The Seduction

In order to feed the Lodge's unholy hunger mortals must be drawn in and absorbed into the Dark Pine Lodge. The Lodge cannot absorb a person until he is first prepared. To prepare the person the Lodge must corrupt her, warping her personality and binding her will to the Lodge's own. This process ultimately breaks the person wholly.

The entire process is subtle and difficult to detect. Lodge spirits can't simply grab people and run off with them. It wouldn't suit the Lodge's purposes at all. The process can be broken during any step, but the difficulty increases as the person draws closer to the Lodge's power. In the first step of the seduction the Lodge or a Lodge spirit will select an appropriate person. Usually those with weak wills or unhealthy interests (i.e. the occult, death, demonology) are chosen, but all sorts of individuals have been selected in the past. The Lodge spirit will begin communicating strange thoughts and desires to the chosen person. The spirit may appear in dreams, whisper to the person just low enough so as not to be fully heard, or any variety of methods. The end result is always the same -- the individual starts taking an abnormal interest in a certain place or activity that he didn't have before.

The affected person will spend an inordinate amount of time in the new place or activity. The stronger the spirit's grasp, the more time will be spent. The place or activity is chosen by the spirit, and will always be one that requires the person to be alone. In solitude the spirit can strengthen its grasp and prepare the mortal for the next step in the seduction.

Friends or family members will probably notice the odd activities of the individual and can try to pull him back from the spirit's power. If the affected person is forced out of his solitude and surrounded by friendly people the spirit's draw can be broken.

In the second step the person starts entering the Dark Pine Lodge in his dreams. These visits may be infrequent at first, but as time goes on he will begin to spend every sleeping moment wandering the strange hallways of the Lodge. Over time these dreams will become impossible to remember. The dream sequences will sap strength away from the individual, not allowing normal rest. Towards the end of the second step the person will behave neurotically because of the lack of proper rest at night. If those around the individual seek to help him now, only a professional psychiatrist or doctor can aid by this stage.

In the third step the spirit's grasp on the mortal is strong enough to allow it to take control of the person's body. When the spirit is in control it will follow through with most of the person's normal activities, however it will behave cruelly to those close to the person being controlled. The spirit wants to drive away the individual's friends and family, making it easier to isolate him. The periods of the spirit's control will lengthen as its hold grows stronger. The affected person will have no memory of what occurred during the period of the spirit's control. Although these memory black-outs are distressing, the spirit's control is strong enough to prevent the person from finding help on his own.

In the fourth and final step the person will leave everything behind and travel to the Lodge. During this step the spirit is partially in control at all times. It will tell the person exactly how to reach the Dark Pine Lodge. Only powerful means beyond the scope of normal mortals can help him now.

Lodge Spirits

The lesser spirits created by the Dark Pine Lodge have 3 forms:
1. Spirit Form: When Lodge spirits are created, whether by the Lodge itself or lesser Lodge spirits, they always come into being as this form. The Spirit Form is invisible to all normal means of vision. Lodge spirits in this form can step sideways into and out of the Umbra automatically -- no roll is needed. Their movement in the Umbra is restricted to Earth's Penumbra, the Dark Pine Lodge's Realm, and those areas that can be construed as "in-between" the two.

   The advantages of this form are the use of spirit Gifts, the ability to travel quickly across the Earth, an innate stealth, and the ability to travel the Umbra. The disadvantages are the difficulty to interact with the physical world, the increased difficulty of influencing mortals, and the fact that they can be detected by those with powers affecting the spirit world. It should be noted that because of the unique nature of Dark Pine Lodge spirits, Garou cannot sense them using Sense Wyrm. Lodge spirits do not appear to be banes or servants of the Wyrm. The spirit of the Dark Pine Lodge used to be familiar to the Garou Theurges in ages past. Now, however, it is something completely alien to the Garou.

2. Body Form: The Lodge is able to re-create the bodies of mortals it has absorbed in the past and place its spirit minions within them. The Lodge spirit is then able to walk the Earth and interact with the world and its people as if it were one of them. This offers obvious benefits in seducing mortals to the Lodge.

   The physical body taken by the Lodge spirit is always an exact duplicate of one of the people seduced and consumed by the Lodge. It retains the same physical attributes and Appearance. The Lodge spirit takes on the mannerisms and general personality of the body's original occupant. None of the mortal's skills or knowledges are retained. Lodge spirits who take on physical bodies spend time among mortals learning their ways, so Storytellers should feel free to give Body Form spirits whatever attributes and abilities they feel are appropriate.

   Body Form spirits lose most of their Gifts and the ability to enter the Umbra (though they can still use portals and the Dark Pine Lodge building to enter the Dark Pine Lodge's Realm). To make up for these shortcomings, the Lodge has given them powers in the Earthly realm similar to vampiric Disciplines. Body Form spirits can increase in these powers over time. A body can only be conferred on a Lodge spirit by the Dark Pine Lodge itself. Lodge spirits can only be freed from their physical bodies by the Lodge's power or by the destruction of the body. The Lodge finds these mortal impersonators very useful, and creates them when it feels it needs to. Lodge spirits in this form do not need to eat or sleep. The spirit maintains the body with its innate spiritual energies. When these energies run low the spirit will become "inactive." During these periods the spirit sits or reclines and ceases all movement. The spirit may choose to imitate sleep during its inactivity. When a Body Form spirit is "killed" the body will decompose at a slightly faster rate than normal. This usually leads coroners to believe the body died at an earlier time than it actually did.

3. Object Form: Both the Dark Pine Lodge and its minions in Body Form can bind spirits they've created to physical objects. Spirits in this form lose all consciousness and free will -- they cannot move or take any actions. These possessed objects are given to mortals chosen for the seduction. They work subtly on the person's mind, aiding the work of other Lodge spirits. Sometimes the object's influence is strong enough to seduce a mortal to the Lodge's power completely on its own. The person owning an Object Form spirit will invariably become attached to it, wanting to carry it with them or be around it most of the time.

The spirits made by the Lodge can in turn create new spirits out of themselves. Each generation removed from the Lodge is weaker in power. The potency of a Lodge spirit is denoted by its Hierarchy rating. The Lodge itself has a rating of 0 while each successive generation goes up one in its rating.

A Lodge spirit can dissolve other spirits that are descended from it. Lodge spirits cannot dissolve spirits not of its descent, no matter how low in the Hierarchy they may be. Dissolving lesser spirits is very costly. The Dark Pine Lodge has the ability to summon its lesser spirits to itself. The spirits will always hear and obey the summons. This is done when the Lodge wishes to increase or decrease their power, or dissolve them.

Lodge spirits are not combat oriented and will never initiate unnecessary fights. They will defend themselves and their chosen prey if they feel the need. They will always fight to the death to defend the Dark Pine Lodge.

Systems

Replenishing Power: There are 2 ways in which Lodge Spirits may replenish spent Power. The first is through Slumber. Periods of complete inactivity will regain 2 Power per hour. If a Body Form spirit is imitating sleep it will only regain 1 Power per hour. Lodge spirits Slumbering in the Lodge's Earthly territory or the Lodge's Realm will regain 3 Power per hour.

The second method of regaining Power is through sapping Willpower or Humanity from mortals. When a Lodge spirit uses the Gift Sap Will, every point of Willpower or Humanity taken becomes 2 points of Power for the spirit.

Creating Lodge Spirits: A Lodge spirit must use 3/4 (round up) of its maximum Power rating to create a lesser Lodge spirit from itself. The newly created Lodge spirit will have a Hierarchy rating one higher than its creator. Hierarchy 6 Lodge spirits are not capable of creating more spirits.

Dissolving Lodge Spirits: In order to dissolve a lesser spirit, the spirit must use half of its maximum Power rating and possess more Power than the spirit being dissolved before the attempt is made. It must also win an extended contested Willpower roll against the lesser spirit (the lesser spirit suffers a +3 difficulty on its Willpower roll).

Lodge Spirit Traits

Hierarchy	Gnosis	Willpower	Rage	Power
1	11	10	8	60
2	10	9	7	50
3	9	8	6	40
4	8	7	5	30
5	7	6	4	20
6	6	5	3	10

Spirits in Body Form lose 10 Power while they inhabit the body. The 10 Power is used to maintain the form.

Body Form spirits spend a number of Power points equal to the level of the Discipline they use. Using the level 2 Dementation ability would cost 2 Power, while using the level 4 Chimerstry ability would cost 4 Power. Body Form spirits use Gifts at the normal cost.

Using a Gift or Discipline is one Power cheaper when the Lodge spirit is in either the Lodge's Earthly domain or the Lodge's Realm.

All rolls involving chosen mortals are -2 difficulty for Lodge spirits.

Powers of the Lodge Spirits

Automatic Abilities of Body Form Spirits

Disciplines

Auspex 1

Dementation 2

Obfuscate 1

Gifts

Break Reality

Forest Sense

Possession^*

Sap Will^*

Disciplines for Body Form

Auspex 1-4
Celerity 1-4
Chimerstry 1-4
Dementation 1-4
Dominate 1
Fortitude 1-4
Obfuscate 1-4
Obtenebration 1-2
Potence 1-4
Protean 1-2
Quietus 1-3
Vicissitude 1-2

Automatic Gifts of Spirit Form Spirits

Airt Sense
Break Reality
Corrupt Dream
Disorient
Forest Sense
Influence
Open Moon Bridge
Possession
Sap Will

Gifts for Lodge Spirits

Airt Sense
Armor
Blast Flame (Can only use this Gift in the Umbra. Appears as a jet of gray smoke.)
Break Reality (Can only use this Gift in the Black Lodge's Earthly domain or in the Lodge's Realm)
Corrupt Dream
Disorient
Forest Sense (Can only use this Gift in the Black Lodge's Earthly domain or in the Lodge's Realm)
Influence (from the Book of Madness)
Open Moon Bridge
Possession^*
Reform
Sap Will^*
Suggestion
Tracking

^* Special cases, see below.

Possession: Lodge spirits can only use Possession on mortals chosen for the seduction. The mortal can be one chosen by any Lodge spirit, not just the one using Possession. The bonus for influencing chosen mortals applies to the use of this Gift. The chart for Possession speed is different for Lodge spirits:

Successes	Time Taken
1	one hour
2	half hour
3	15 minutes
4	5 minutes
5+	instantaneous

Sap Will: The cost of this Gift is 3 Power for Lodge spirits. Although they can sap Willpower from anyone, they can only sap Humanity from those chosen for the seduction.