New existence means new terms. How else
are you going to describe the Shadowlands?
Following is a brief summary of terms familiar to most wraiths. It is divided into three sections, namely Common Parlance, Old Form, and Vulgar Argot.
Common
Parlance
Angst:
The power of the Shadow.
Arcanum, The:
A dangerous group of mortal occult investigators.
Artifact:
An object that has been changed to hold mystical powers.
Byway:
Paths through the Tempest that are relatively "safe" to
travel.
Caul:
An ectoplasmic covering that shields newly-dead wraiths. In some
ways, it serves to protect, but it warps perception until it removed.
Charon:
The founder of the Hierarchy. He has been missing for decades.
Circle:
A group of wraiths, typically banding together for mutual
protection.
Citadel:
An individual stronghold within a Necropolis.
Cohort:
A Circle
of Hierarchy wraiths.
Corpus:
The spiritual body of a wraith.
Cult:
Any one of hundreds of a Heretic sect who espouses a particular
path to Transcendence.
Deathlord:
One of the seven leaders of the Hierarchy. They dwell in Stygia.
Domain:
Territory held by a wraith or group of wraiths.
Doomsday:
The day when Oblivion shall consume all reality. Alternately,
when all the dead shall walk the earth.
Drone:
A wraith who has lost its sentience and identity.
Enfant :
A recently-deceased wraith. Enfants are amnesiac, and their Cauls still cover
their faces.
Far
Distant, mysterious realms within the Tempest. They often correspond to mortal
beliefs about the afterlife.
Fetters:
The ties that bind a wraith to his old life, and to the living
world.
Gang:
A Circle
of Renegade wraiths.
Guild:
In the past, an organization that taught the secrets of an Arcanos.
The guilds were disbanded long ago.
Harrowing, The:
A nightmare experienced when lost in the Tempest.
Harrowings are extremely dangerous, injurious experiences.
Harvest:
To gather the newly dead, either as Reaper, mentor, or slave
trader.
Haunt:
A place in the Shadowlands where the energy of death is strong. It
is easier to affect the living realm when in a Haunt.
Hierarchy, The:
The largest organization of wraiths in the Underworld. It
was founded by Charon years ago as a means to help wraiths reach
Transcendence.
Over the years it grew twisted and corrupt.
Heretics:
Those who believe another, better afterlife awaits those who
Transcend.
Hell:
Any of countless realms claiming to be the "true" Hell.
There are so many of these that they are collectively referred to as "The
Thousand Hells," or simply, "The Thousand."
Host:
A mortal possessed by the use of Puppetry.
Legions:
The army, police, and enforcement arm of the Hierarchy.
Lemure:
A young wraith, only recently deceased.
Maelstrom:
Intensely powerful and destructive storms that occasionally
emerge from the Tempest and ravage the Shadowlands.
Malfean:
An elder Spectre or beast of the Void.
Mask:
A stygian artifact worn by many wraiths, to conceal their true
identity, or as a badge of office.
Necropolis:
A city of the dead. Necropoli reflect the cities of the
living world, and occupy the same geography in the Shadowlands.
Nephandi:
Mages who have turned to Oblivion.
Nihils:
Pits or cracks in the Shadowlands that lead into the Tempest.
Oblivion:
The negation of all things. Oblivion is that which wraiths fear
most. The Void is its physical manifestation (or lack thereof).
Obolus:
The basic currency of the Underworld. The coins are forged from
the souls of the dead.
Pathos:
Emotion. Pathos is the "food" of the spirit world.
Plasm:
The ectoplasmic substance that makes up the bodies of the wraiths
and all their belongings.
Projectors:
Living travelers in the Shadowlands.
Quick, The:
A term for the living.
Reaper:
The wraith who removes the Caul from an Enfant.
Relic:
An object brought into the Shadowlands from the living world.
Renegades:
Wraiths who have banded together to overthrow the Hierarchy.
Their individual motivations vary wildly.
Restless, The:
A term for the dead.
Shadow, The:
The darker half of a wraith's personality. Shadows differ on
an individual basis, but all seek to take total control of their wraith and
cause him to embrace Oblivion.
Shadowlands:
The part of the earth that most wraiths inhabit. Only here
can wraiths attempt to affect the living world.
Slumber, The:
The sleep cycle of a wraith, entered in order to heal,
among other reasons.
Spectre:
A wraith whose Shadow has become dominant.
Stygia:
The largest realm in the Underworld, and home to the Hierarchy's
ultimate rulers.
Tempest, The:
The eternal storm of the Underworld. It hinders travel
between the different realms and the Shadowlands.
Terminals:
Small, relatively safe realms in the Tempest where travelers
may rest during journeys.
Thrall:
Any wraith enslaved to another.
Tithe:
The amount of Pathos due a wraith from a haunt or Fetter.
Transcend:
To leave the Underworld completely, and move onto whatever
lies beyond. Many wraiths consider Transcendence to be a cruel myth.
Underworld, The:
The land of the dead. It includes the Shadowlands, the
Tempest, and all the realms therein.
Void, The:
The total nothingness at the very heart of the Tempest. See
also Oblivion.
Wraith:
A spirit of one who has died, yet remains attached to the living
realm.
Old Form:
Advocate:
Powerful wraiths belonging to any Heretic cult, dedicated to
the recruitment of souls or a realm in the
Agency, The:
Archaic nickname for the bureaucracy of the Hierarchy.
Arisen, The:
Those who have achieved Transcendence.
Consort:
The host possessed by Puppetry.
Eidolon:
The enlightened, higher aspect of personality. It is opposed to
the Shadow.
Legacy:
A Fetter with extremely powerful ties to a wraith.
Onyx
Charon's palace. It is also used to describe the goal of becoming one of
Charon's servants.
Vulgar
Argot
Body Snatcher:
A wraith that possesses the living.
Boo Job:
An attempt to scare off the living, typically away from a haunt.
Boojum:
A generic word used to describe hostile creatures and/or those
that dwell in the Tempest.
Brain Sucker:
A wraith who uses Phantasm or the lesser Puppetry arts.
Creepshow:
The Tempest.
Doomshade:
Slang term for a Spectre.
Dothead:
A wraith who was a hanger-on in life, who closely followed
fashions and fads without real contribution.
Flesh Freak:
A derogatory term for a Skinrider.
Hellbound, The:
Term for a wraith thought to be well on his way to
domination by his Shadow.
Juice:
Pathos.
Meat:
Mortal flesh.
Meat-chains:
The mortal body.
Mitty:
One who never fulfilled their dreams while living.
Molemen:
Derogatory term used for those who experienced the "tunnel
of light" effect when they died.
Scrooger:
Slang for a wraith that uses Phantasm frequently.
Skinlands:
The living world.
Stormrunning:
Traveling through the Tempest.
Tag:
Using Arcanos on other wraiths for practice or nonlethal duels.
Renegade lexicon
A Thought:
A circle of Idealists wraiths
A Cell:
A circle of Terrorists wraiths
A Murder:
A circle of Subversives wraiths
A Truth:
A test to prove your worth, and willingness to be a renegade.
A Lie:
Another test during recruitment.
A Boundman:
A Hierarchy wraith marked for destruction by a Murder.
Camp:
A haunt belonging to a Cell/Murder/Thought of renegades.
Lost boy:
A renegade who has been caught by the Hierarchy and is marked for destruction for what he knows.