Remnant

Remnant is the power for spectral entities such as Ghosts to affect the world around them with their memories, and to claim territory within Avernus. Remnant requires expending a Minor Merit to purse.

Title

History

While within Avernus, Remnant is recognized by many magi to be the most powerful form of Arcana, its most proficient wielders serving as demigods, warlords, and wardens of the afterlife from within their vast Memorandums.

Acquisition

Remnant is one of the most difficult abilities to acquire, often tied to very specific states of being associated with Miasmata or its Psychoplasm. Ghosts, Elder Dracolyches, Liches, and Onryo may learn it. Scourge and Endless may access a variant of Remnant.

To learn Remnant, one most travel to Avernus and bleed their Psychoplasm or Ash into the planar memory itself, aligning themselves with memories that have come to pass.

Playing as a Memorare

Total Recall

As one progresses with Remnant, they will begin to remember the experiences of their life in more detail and granularity, leading to more accurate Phantasms. Eventually, they will recall great detail about events that happened even in their peripheral, scouring the time they spent for every last grain of memory. This can lead to such beings being fairly contractual, chasing new experiences or trying to find context that escapes them. They will even go so far as to impart the distasteful Miasmata of their memories upon others to forget them or collect memories associated with their own traumas, creating an economy of memories between the undead and spirits.

Total Recall is a form of divination, and so it will not work upon the details of Blights or other beings that derive a resistance to such.

Concepts

Memories

Memorare wield memories they have experienced, in life or in their unlife. However, they will forget the memories they use unless they are first added to a Memorandum. Beings with attachments such as Ghosts and Onryo will feel as though a piece of themselves is missing forevermore should they somehow lose memories important to them.

Memories may be traded, stolen, or imparted through the Syphoning of Miasmata by one who is also a Memorare. If this is done to a Memorandum, then its owner will forget that memory. They may also be destroyed from the source within the Memorare's Memorandum, forgotten if the memory is not immediately Syphoned. Modified memories such as alterations made by Fathom will be restored when recalled by a Memorare.

Important: Memories must be obtained during an in-character and reviewed story to then be wielded. They are only as good as someone's perception of a spell, and will always be recalled exactly as they are remembered.

Spells

Memorandum

The Memorare may weave into a place of their choosing within Avernus the memories they’ve bound themselves to in order to claim it. Within their Memorandum - sometimes referred to as a 'Memory Palace' - they have an increased ease of control of the Phantasm(s) within and their casting can expend less Miasmata than normal to cast - from anything using that as its Spell Reserves.

To make a Memorandum, the Memorare must first select a location within Avernus, infusing their memories of a location into the very land around them. If the location already has memories given form with Phantasm, they can hybridize them with their own creations. The methods by which the Memorare populates the land with their Phantasms varies from individual to individual, with some spreading their dominion through trails of Phantasmal forests, buildings, and disjointed city streets, and others approaching this in a logical way with creative thoughtforms made entirely by their own creativity.

Individual Memorare may come together and form a communal Memorandum, either creating a memory sprawl of their own together, or joining into one that already exists. If a Memorandum already exists, the original Memorare has to open their magic to the other or be forcefully overpowered. A Memorare may only be a part of one Memorandum at any given time. Individual Phantasms may be created within their Memorandum over and over to safeguard the memory against erasure.

Any damage done to the Memorandum will cause the Memorare to feel immense psychological discomfort, like a fog sweeping into their mind. They will know when someone or something has trespassed into it without their approval, able to track them down in this way. When a Memorandum is destroyed, those memories are lost forever unless they are Syphoned.

Haunt

Haunts are locations replete with ongoing events and experiences, playing on a loop yet overlain with the world. Much of a Haunt will dissipate into floating ash when disturbed.

Vestiges

Vestiges are Re attempting to mimic the memory of a person. Without several days worth of experiences, they will seem slow and without personality. When using spells and abilities, they will consume the Memorare's own Spell Reserves to do so if allowed.

Abstraction

An Abstraction is any spell, skill, or ability the Memorare has seen during their adventures, capable of being utilized to their full extent. First-person experiences will always be ideal, but flawed versions may be construed from witnessing that spell several times. To preserve these remembered spells within a Memorandum, they are given to a Vestige or recorded within a Haunt where it is harmless until empowered as an Abstraction.

If one conjures a ball of fire, it will always have the exact same force, speed, and trajectory.

Caveats

Sovereignty does not work with Phantasm, even with Conjurations. However, a spell or ability will be cast at the Sovereignty it was remembered as.

Any ability recalled would have that exact affect, reach, and form, and must be first witnessed to be recalled, and it will only be as powerful as their own equivalent Spell Reserves allow. This means they must experience an ability with many facets several times to then recall them, and they would have little control over the actual spell, even to the point of being harmed by their own creations. The same could be said of Remembered Contrivances - except for true Alkahest, or Abrogations, as memories cannot unweave something, reduce the cost of, absorb, or create permanent Metaphor, only damaging or supporting falsehoods that will cause the creation to become undone once the Phantasm fades or leaves its Memorandum for long enough.

While mundane objects and places may be freely recalled within reason, a character must experience an ability such as a spell in-character through play or else possess it themselves to then recall it.

Vestige

A Vestige is an autonomous person, vehicle, or creature created carefully out of many layered Phantasms within a Memorandum. There will always be something 'off' about these false individuals, and they will have no direct control over them unless they are Tethered through Nekros, and will still dissipate after leaving the Memorandum they are from for long enough. They will typically add remembered spells to a Vestige, but this being would expend the Memorare's Spell Reserves to cast the Phantasm spells written into it should the Memorare accept their aid.

You must also ask permission from an author to create a facsimile of their NPC or Player Character.

Hex

To Hex another is to insert a memory of something experienced into an object, or the soul of a person. If inserted into an object, all who touch that object will experience the Hex, and this may even expand to entire buildings. If inserted into a soul, that being will then experience an illusion of whatever it is forevermore, as if on a loop. This will recur even if they die, and Syphon must be of an equivalent tier to Syphon and then Impart it away. Only the victim will experience the illusion, and the harm will never leave behind a permanent wound, or create phenomena that another aside from the victim can perceive. The Memorare is immune to their own Hexes, allowing them to create a hexed weapon that strikes with brief illusions on contact with the skin of another soul-inhabiting person or entity.

Equivalent Resistance or Meditation skill may be used to see through a Hex or ignore its consequences.

Tiers of Mastery

Novice

When learning the basics of Remnant, the Memorare will only have access to Phantasm and a limited personal Memorandum to use as a small sanctuary for their most treasured memories.

• Phantasm:
  • Phantasms may not yet remember abilities or skills.
  • At Novice, Phantasms must remain relatively simple– for example, the scent of petrichor.
  • Phantasms will dissipate immediately after leaving the Memorare's Memorandum.
• Vestige:
  • Unavailable at this tier.
• Hex:
  • Unavailable at this tier.
• Memorandum:
  • The Memorare may join the Memorandums of others, no matter the size, and pool their own size limit with the collective.
  • A novitiate may make their own Memorandum, but such a place will be relatively tiny– about the size of a bedroom, or 120 sq. ft.

Apprentice

With a firmer grasp on the foundational tenets of Remnant, a Memorare gains the ability to start playing with Hexes.

• Phantasm:
  • Phantasms of abilities or skills may not exceed Novice.
  • Phantasms cost Spell Reserves at a tier higher than the remembered spell, skill, or ability.
  • Apprentice Phantasms gain some complexity; for example, one may recreate the sensory experience of standing in the rain.
  • Phantasms will dissipate after an hour away from the Memorare’s Memorandum.
• Vestige:
  • Unavailable at this tier.
• Hex:
  • The scope of one's Hexes mirrors the limitations of Phantasm.
  • At apprentice, the Memorare may only Hex objects up to the size of a large horse.
  • Hexes will dissipate after an hour away from the Memorare’s Memorandum.
• Memorandum:
  • The Memorare may join the Memorandums of others, no matter the size, pooling their own size restriction with the collective.
  • An Apprentice Memorandum is about the size of a tiny home, or 600 sq. ft.

Journeyman

Starting to feel comfortable enough with their spellcraft, the Memorare at Journeyman has begun to learn the art of weaving Phantasms together to create Vestiges.

• Phantasm
  • Phantasms of abilities or skills may not exceed Apprentice, and will dissipate after 6 hours away from the Memorare’s Memorandum.
  • Journeyman Phantasms gain further complexity; for example, one may recreate something like the scene and sensation of standing in the rain in the woods at dusk.
  • Phantasms cost Spell Reserves at a tier higher than the remembered spell, skill, or ability.
• Vestige:
  • A Journeyman’s Vestiges dissipate after 6 hours away from the Memorare’s Memorandum.
  • A Journeyman’s Vestiges are fairly rudimentary; they look convincing at a distance, but upon closer examination, flaws will show. They won’t be able to move very well if at all, their speech might be distorted, parts of them may even not appear fully corporeal, etc.
• Hex:
  • The scope of one's Hexes mirrors the limitations of Phantasm.
  • The Memorare may Hex any object.
  • Hexes will dissipate after 6 hours away from the Memorare’s Memorandum.
• Memorandum:
  • The Memorare may join the Memorandums of others, no matter the size, pooling their own size restriction with the collective.
  • The Journeyman’s individual Memorandum has a size limitation of 2,808 sq. ft., or about the size of a tennis court.

Expert

With all of Remnant’s tools at their disposal, the Expert Memorare can weave their memories into creations of kaleidoscopic complexity.

• Phantasm:
  • Phantasms of abilities or skills may not exceed Journeyman.
  • An Expert’s Phantasms are truly vast; they may be recreations of a busy city square, a desert oasis, and so on, lovingly recreated to the finest detail the Memorare is capable of recalling. They may begin to fit their memories into smaller areas, and a small room may contain an entire region worth of memories.
  • Phantasms cost Spell Reserves at a tier higher than the remembered spell, skill, or ability.
• Vestige:
  • Vestiges may be woven with Phantasms of abilities per limits relative to both the Memorare’s Phantasms and any other relevant skill involved.
  • An Expert’s Vestiges dissipate after 24 hours away from the Memorare’s Memorandum.
  • An Expert’s Vestiges are superficially flawless, though they still carry the natural uncanniness innate to a Vestige. However, Vestiges of extremely complex objects such as people may still exhibit additional incongruencies with their source– either because the Vestige itself is imperfect or the memories used to craft it are imperfect.
• Hex:
  • The scope of one's Hexes mirrors the limitations of Phantasm.
  • The Memorare may Hex any object.
  • The Memorare may Hex souls at half again the cost.
  • Hexes last about 24 hours away from their Memorandum.
• Memorandum:
  • The Memorare may join the Memorandums of others, no matter the size, pooling their own size restriction with the collective.
  • An Expert’s individual Memorandum is roughly an acre, or about the size of a football field.
  • The Expert expends three fourths the amount of Spell Reserves when casting spells from the same Metaphor within their Memorandum.
  • The Expert's Memorandum is bigger on the inside; they may fit an entire city worth of information into a 120 square foot room, but they risk having it more easily damaged this way.

Master

By Master, a Memorare might only ever leave their Memory Palace to seek out new experiences which they may then weave into it, so vast now is the scope of their abilities.

• Phantasm:
  • Phantasms of abilities or skills may not exceed Expert, and last about 7 days away from their Memorandum.
  • A Master Memorare may create Phantasms of full scale battlefields, or even Phantasms that loop extended periods of time– the primary limitation at this point is the Memorare’s own breadth of experiences and their creativity.
  • Phantasms cost Spell Reserves at a tier higher than the remembered spell, skill, or ability.
• Vestige:
  • Vestiges may be woven with Phantasms of abilities per the limits relative to both the Memorare’s Phantasms and any other relevant skill involved.
  • A Master’s Vestiges dissipate after 7 days away from the Memorare’s Memorandum.
  • Though still possessing the innate uncanniness of a Vestige, the only flaws with a Master’s creations are whatever incongruencies may exist within the memories used to craft them.
• Hex:
  • The scope of one's Hexes mirrors the limitations of Phantasm.
  • The Memorare may Hex both souls and any object.
  • Hexes last about 7 days away from their Memorandum.
• Memorandum:
  • The Memorare may join the Memorandums of others, no matter the size, pooling their own size restriction with the collective.
  • The Master’s individual Memorandum may be up to the size of a small town, or 3,000 acres.
  • The Master expends two thirds the amount of Spell Reserves when casting spells from the same Metaphor within their Memorandum.
  • The Master's Memorandum is bigger on the inside; they may fit their entire Memorandum into a small object or a mere door, but they risk having it more easily damaged, and a Memorandum will be destroyed if taken from Avernus.

Harbinger

While within Avernus, nothing matches a Harbinger operating from their Memorandum.

• Phantasm:
  • Phantasms of abilities or skills have no limits, and last about a year away from their Memorandum.
  • A Harbinger's only real limitation at this point is themselves; they may recreate anything they are capable of recalling.
  • Phantasms cost Spell Reserves at a tier equal to the remembered spell, skill, or ability.
• Vestige:
  • A Harbinger's Vestiges dissipate after a month away from their Memorandum.
  • Though still possessing the innate uncanniness of a Vestige, the only flaws with a Harbinger's creations are whatever incongruencies may exist within the memories used to craft them.
• Hex:
  • The scope of one's Hexes mirrors the limitations of Phantasm.
  • The Harbinger may Hex both souls and any object.
  • Hexes last about a year away from their Memorandum.
• Memorandum:
  • The Harbinger may join the Memorandums of others, no matter the size, pooling their own size restriction with the collective.
  • The Harbinger's individual Memorandum is limitless.
  • The Harbinger expends half the amount of Spell Reserves when casting spells from the same Metaphor within their Memorandum.
  • The Ascended's Memorandum is bigger on the inside; they may fit their entire Memorandum into a small object or a mere door, but they risk having it more easily damaged, and a Memorandum will be destroyed if taken from Avernus.

Variant - Ash Dominion

When wielded by a Scourge or the Endless, Remnant is conducted through the Metaphor of Absentia. Everything they create within Avernus will always have a rotten, emaciated, or derelict appearance. These ruinous holdings are gathering points for the Endless, and for Alítheia. They may even maintain a pit into Nihilos within their Memorandum, a place where time does not move without the will of their dark god.

Such memories of Absentia cannot be Syphoned except by Scourges or the Endless.

Variant - Abyssal Dominion

When wielded by a Deep One or a Coreadh, Remnant is conducted through the Metaphor of Imber. Such places can only manifest within genuine bodies of water overlain by Avernus, such as Lacon, or a lake upon Antarok. Their Phantasms initially take on grotesque and sliming aberrations such as sucker-covered tentacles, teeth, and fleshy domiciles unless sculpted towards true reality. They may also bridge Avernus and another Plane together by manifesting a permanent whirlpool into their Memorandum between them.

Memories of Imber fill an entity with ravenous hunger when Syphoned, or when consuming food made of such.

Creations

Alchemistry

“When I was away from my Memory Palace, I felt a sickly malaise overcome me– the telltale sign that my beloved sanctuary was under duress. Peering through my Tethers, I commanded my carefully constructed Vestiges to purge my home of these intruders without having to move an inch. For those would-be adventurers to assault my demesne so unprepared…I can only wonder why.” - An ancient Lich.

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