| Lexicon Abambo: Bush of Ghosts (q.v.) term for African wraiths (plural) Ability: An Ability is a Trait that describes what a character knows, learns or can do. Abilities are divided into Talents, Skills and Knowledges. Examples of Abilities include Dodge, Security and Bureaucracy. Ace: Pilot who has downed five or more opponents in aerial combat Action: An action is a deed that a character performs. Actions range from walking down the block to using Arcanoi to swinging a weapon. When a player tells the Storyteller what his character is going to do, this is called announcing as action. Advantages: These are additional Traits that characters possess besides Attributes and Abilities. Backgrounds, Arcanoi, Passions, Fetters, Willpower and Pathos are considered Advantages. Agency, the : Slang for the bureaucracy of the Hierarchy. Amaterasu: Japanese sun goddess; her descendants were the Emperors of Japan Annals of Pestilence (a.k.a. Journals of Bone): Transcribed utterances of the Skeletal Lord Angelics: Plasmic entities that seem like the classic idea of angels; they are usually benign. Angst: The negative mental energy that the Shadow (and Specters) feed upon and use. Arcanos: One of the Supernatural abilities that Wraith's possess, allowing them to affect the living and the dead. Plural is Arcanoi. Arisen: Wraiths who have Transcended. Artifact: An object in the Underworld that has unusual powers of some sort. Attributes: Traits that describe a characters innate potential for Physical, Social and Mental tasks. Examples of Attributes include Strength, Charisma and Perception. Backgrounds: Traits that reflect a wraith's experience and place in society, purchased separately from Abilities. Status, Mentor and Eidolon are examples of Backgrounds. Barrow Flame: A cold thing that burns wraiths like a normal fire would burn the living. Benandanti: A mystical fraternity (literally - females are often prevented from joining) whose members can perceive wraiths in the Skinlands and astrally visit the Underworld Behest: The name Stygian wraiths apply to the Arcanos practiced by Moriman (q.v.) Beaufort-Granogrec Scale, the: A system for measuring relative Maelstrom (q.v.) intensity Black Mask, the: The espionage order of the Grim Legion Bleak Legion: Not a true Legion, but a Russian branch of the Silent Legion Boche, the: Nickname the Allies applied collectively to Germans Body Snatcher: A wraith who possesses the living. Boer: A South African of Dutch Ancestry Boo Job: A premeditated attempts to scare the Quick. Botch: A botch is a catastrophic failure on a die roll. Breathless Dead, the: Bushido: The Japanese "Way of the Warrior,"; the essential spirit of the samurai Bush of Ghosts, the: The African Deadlands; in Stygia, commonly called the Dark Kingdom of Ivory Byways: Semi-permanent paths, roads, rails and rivers that run through the Tempest and connect the inner realms. Utilizing byways is the safest method of crossing the Tempest. Cataphractoi: The heavy cavalry of the Legion of Fate Catharsis: When a wraith's Shadow attempts and sometimes succeeds at taking over her Corpus Channels: Liquid byways: Technically, they are no different from normal byways. Character: A character is the persona a player adopts in order to play Wraith. Much like an actor's role, the character is the player's surrogate on the stage that the Storyteller sets. Concertina: A type of barbwire Corpus: The "body" of a wraith, equivalent to how healthy he is. Darklight: An Artifact produced by the Soul-Pirates of the Far Shores. It provides illumination without calling attention to them by shining within the darkness of the open sea. Dark Umbra: Another term for the Underworld, used mostly by Garou and mages. Deliriums: Plasmic entities (creatures) that resemble bizarre and unusual near-animals (lion-headed snakes, for example). Demeanor: The personality a wraith presents to the Underworld, which may differ vastly from his true Nature. Denomics: Plasmic entities that seem like the classic idea of demons; they are usually inclined to be evil Destruction Harrowings: Harrowings which have no quarry or target (such as a Fetter or Passion), but try to directly consume the wraith with Oblivion. Dice pool: The number of dice you have available for a given roll, equivalent to the number at dots your character possesses in the Traits being tested. (NA in the online gaming system) Difficulty: The target number for a success on a die roll. The more difficult the action being attempted, the higher the difficulty. Difficulties range between 2 and 10. Dopplegangers: Strong, somewhat- independent Spectres who retain their Fetters and Passions. They are the favorite servants of Malfeans. Downtime: Down time is the time when the characters aren't actively in game play. This includes time spent Slum-bering, studying or turning large rocks into small ones all the things it's no fun to roleplav. Displace: The name Stygian wraiths apply to the Arcanos practiced by Tvashtriya (q.v.) Doughboy: Slang term for United States soldiers; used mainly by Americans Eidolon: The purest aspects of the Psyche, in many ways the wraith's higher self. In game terms, a Background that a wraith can purchase in order to resist the effects of her Shadow. Euthatanos: Mages who study entropy and who are often filled with a great deal of death energy. Extended Action: This is an action requiring multiple successes in order to achieve the desired effect. Multiple rolls can be made in pursuit of this effect. (NA with online gaming) Ferrymen: Wraiths who travel throughout the Tempest. They will take on passengers for a price. Flesh Corps: An order of the Penitent Legion; similar to the Beast Corps, but this order uses moliated Leviathans instead of barguests or the lich Fetters: ties that bind a wraith to her old life in the living world. They can be people, places or things. Fetters (2): Objects in the lands of the living that tie a wraith to the Shadowlands The more dots a wraith has in a Fetter, the more important it is. Gaijin: Japanese slang for foreigner Geisha: Japanese female pefformer, musician and artisan of the highest order; often mistakenly considered mere prostitutes by Westerners Generals Of Oblivion: A select group of Nephwracks who serve Oblivion directly, and who side with (or against) Malfeans as they choose Great War, the: In the Skinlands, the War to End All Wars (q.v.); in the Underworld, the War of the Dead, which follows the Skinlands conflict Nature: A wraith; true, archetypal self. Passions: The purpose which drive a Wraith, based around a core emotion. Wraiths are able to gain Pathos by following their Passions. Pathos: The pure emotional energy that fuels wraiths' Arcanoi. Pathos is gained from fulfilling Passions. Points: The temporary ratings of such Traits as Willpower, Pathos, Angst and Corpus; the squares on the character sheet, not the circles. (NA usually in OL gaming) Psyche: A Wraith's core personality; also known as the character. Yellow Springs: Jade Kingdom term for China; Deadlands |