I use to be a skin sack filled with warm blood, same as you. I just traded up for a better model. Now I have a motor for a heart, electricity in my veins, my hair is fiber-optic, and my copper fingers snake through cities. It's the ultimate upgrade, my friend. Get with the program. Wraiths skilled in Inhabit are masters of the inanimate. They can infuse their very essence into an inanimate object, attunign themselves it its every inch, in time even learning how to animate their "home." If an object is destroyed while a wraith occupies it, the item immediately becomes a relic. Masters of Inhabit can even imbue an object with their own Aracnoi, gradually pouring Corpus and Willpower into the item to create a form of inexpensive yet powerful Artifact. Inhabit is a textbook example of how Arcanoi evolve to fit the times. Many of Habit's arts are recent creations, deemed more useful in the Information Age than the antiquated arts they replaced. It is entirely likely that older wraiths still practice the Ancient Arts of Inhabit, never learning the new-fangled tricks of the modern age. There are some advantages to attuning Inhabit to a specific object. By preparing an inanimate Consort, a wraith can exert more control over its functions when Inhabiting it. Wraiths must spend Willpower while Shellriding an object to attune it.
The Guild
The proud Artificers claimed to be not only the richest of Guilds, but also the eldest. Nhudri himself, the Artificers say, created their Guild in order to train helpers for his forge. The practioners of other Aracnoi uickly recognized the assests of such organization, and followed the Artificers in forming their own Guilds. In the social unrest following the Third Great Maelstrom, the Artificers fomented rebellion against Charon. They rallied the other Guilds around them, and led the battle to overthrow the Hierarchy. They failed, and paid the prioce. Although many ex-Artificers are still employed as soulforgers, it is illegal to use or teach Inhabit in many places. While sourforging is a vital part of the Stygian economy, those Artificers who know only Inhabit's secrets dwell in squalor a far cry from the glory of the first Guild. Most Artificers are charred or maked with reddish patches from their work at the soulforges. younger Artificers specializing in computer-based arts have charred traceries of circuit-board patterns instead.
Botches
Inhabit mishaps are an excellent way to become trapped in an inanimate object for longer than one might life. A wraith might likewise accidentally short out a valuable device, delete important computer files or have her senses overwhelmed by the input suddenly available. Botching some of the newer arts might even cause the host object to explode.
Basic Abilities
Sense Gremlin: "Gremlin" is a slang term for wraiths who possess machines. A wraith may carefully examine an object with this ability, determining if any wraiths are currently in residence. Shellride: The wraith may slide his Corpus without harm into a machine or object, hiding there from other wraiths. He has no control over the object only remaining within until he chooses to leave. While there, he can be only detected by Sense Gremlin. However, if the host object is destroyed the wraith immediately takes a Corpus Level of damage and is forced out.
1 - Surge By passing his hand through an electronic device, the wraith may cause a temporary short, briefly cutting its power. This disruption of the electron flow can actually damage computers and other delicate instruments, especially those without surge protectors.
2 - Ride the Electron Highway This art allows a wratih to slide into wires and transmit herself across communication networks and computer satellites. This mode of travel, called the Electron Highway, is like riding a bullet train through tunnels, barriers and gateways of light. If the wraith can get past the tollbooths and barricades that represent computer security systems, the world openup before her. This art costs a Pathos point, while failure gives the wraith a temporary Angst and may well strand her someplace unpleasant.
3 - Gremlinize The wraith may possess and control machines. True control comes only with attunement. Sput-of-the-moment Gremlinization allows only minor, clumsy effects, such as turning a machine on or off. The wraith must spend 2 Pathos to Inhabit a machine, plus 1 Pathos per effect evoked.
4 - Claim The wraith may Shellride an object and posses it as her own body for a scene. Her senses are unaffected, save that they are spread out over the entire object she is Claiming. For example, a wraith Claiming a car can see, hear and feel everything happening to it, within it and around it. She may even exert some control over the host object while Claiming it. If the object is destroyed while Claimed,, the wraith may spend Willpower and Corpus to form it into a relic. Claim costs 3 Pathos.
5 - Empower Wraiths with this art can create a form of inexpensive Artifact by placing one of their Arcanos arts into a relic. Other wraiths thereby are able to use the art by activating the relic. The relic usually must be appropriate for the Arcanos involved; a calculator makes a far superior vessel for Usury than an umbrella, for instance. This art costs no additional Pathos, but 2 Willpower.
