SPECTRES
By C. Spence Roberts (candc@wolfenet.com) and the Queasy Donkey Game Studio for the Delicti bloodline
Prelude
Quiet. Peaceful quiet. The only disturbance of the silence is the quiet turning of a page occasionally, or the creaking of a floorboard. Such a peaceful scene. The Tremere's main Chantry in Vienna. The year: 2012. The date: October 31. The time: Midnight. Etrius quietly walks the halls. Grimgroth reads from a dusty tome. Foolish Usurpers. Good thing they enjoy the shadows. They will not for long. Their "Gargoyles" patrol the Chantry, ignoring the shadowed corners. One of the shadows moves. So does the shadow behind Grimgroth. It grows arms and slowly hovers above him. It suddenly engulfs him, growing shadowy tentacles. He screams and then is suddenly silenced as shadowy mass is shoved down his throat. Silence once more. The shadow of a group of Gargoyles rears up behind them and slaughters them silently. Etrius' shadow comes up from under him, slamming him against the wall, knocking him unconcious. Silence. A Nihil opens in the hallway, a dark clothed figure steps out, followed by seven more dark clad figures. More shadows appear, and follow the eight figures. As the group walks past each of the Council of Seven, the seven dark clad figures break off and diablerize the council members. The lead male, now by himself, makes his way torwards the resting place of Tremere. He walks into the chamber, killing the guards. He walks up to the sleeping body of Tremere. He kneels down next to him, and whispers in Tremere's ear. "Bonus nox noctis, senex senis amicus." Tremere's eyes open and look over at the figure. "Oh my god," he whispers as he fruitlessly tries to get up, finding himself held down by a large shadow. The figure grins morbidly, "Now Tremere, you will know what Saulot felt." The figure pushes Tremere's head to the side, exposing his neck. Tremere struggles against his shadowy bonds, "You'll pay for this Delec! You'll pay!" he yells. "Of course I will." Delec bares his fangs, sinking them into Tremere's cartoid artery. He sucks the stolen lifeblood from Tremere. Tremere's eyes roll back into his head as Delec laps up the last of his precious Vitae. The power courses through Delec's veins, and he lets out a billowing laugh as his seven closest confidants diablerize Tremere's council of Seven. Today is a joyous day indeed. Trick or Treat.
Description
The Spectres are the enforcers of the Delicti. They are the Delicti's "darker side" if that is possible. Most have gone into Infernalism, using demonic investments to make them even more powerful. No one really knows how the Delicti created the Spectres, but rumours exist that the first of the Spectres (Lazarus, Malfeas and Corpasus are a few of the names that scholars have given "it") was created by Oblivion itself, was created by embracing a embodied Shade, or by dabbling with Tzimisce, Lasombra, Nagaraja and Baali blood, much like the Tremere's creation of the Gargoyles.
Nickname
Appearance
They are shadows given three-dimensions. Often through Lemurae, they make their shadow form even more horrendous, with multiple appendages and so forth. When in material form and not using a disguise, they are over six feet tall, grey skinned, with long black and grey hair, red eyes, no mouthes, auditory holes and no nose. They are also Androgynes. When in shadow form, Spectres have a 5 for all stealth Dice Pools.
Haven
If not residing within a Delicti "Mausoleum," they often reside in the Labyrinth.
Background
The few Spectres that create progeny are never choosy, for upon the embrace, the childe's mindset becomes that of the Spectre's hive-mind. The whole hive often teaches the childe and initiates it into Spectre society.
Character Creation
Spectres often have concepts that have to do with supporting the hive. Their natures are almost always Traditionalist, but some times there are scholars among the Spectres that work more with the Delicti than the hive. Physical Attributes are often primary, as are Talents. Backgrounds are usually Mentor, Herd and Generation. If they spend any of their points on Dark Thaumaturgy, they start out with the path of Hands of Destruction.
Clan Disciplines
Weaknesses
Being Shadows, Spectres are extremely susceptible to sunlight. Example: If a sunbeam bathed a spectre's hand in sunlight, its hand would disappear, reforming during sleep. Or, if it was totally bathed in sunlight, it would return to the Labyrinth and be in a torpor like state, until it is completely healed (depending on Ethic/Humanity Rating). Directly shining a light that has UV rays in it at its chest, would make it effectively staked.
Organization
The Spectres have a hive type hierarchy, with a hive mind, much like from ALIENS, and The Borg from Star Trek. They often live in a habitat under Delicti Mausoleums that resembles the Labyrinth in the Tempest. There is often a Spectre "Queen" that is of the highest Generation and power of the hive. If there is a dispute for power, it is solved by Trial-by-Combat.
Quote
"Oblivion waits for no man, usurper."