L'enfer, c'est les autres"
Jean-Paul Sartre
The players have come into possession of an occult artefact, a strange candle with ritual
properties. It becomes increasingly apparent that someone or something is killing every
previous owner of the artefact and the players become the victims of a mysterious attacker and
the recipients of strange occult messages. Deactivating the artefact will involve a literal descent
into Hell and a confrontation with diabolic Nepharites. If the story bears a passing resemblance
to incidents in the Hellraiser series then I hope Clive Barker won't sue.
Referee's Background
Bethany Yeoman is a competent passion-witch who has left a trail of discarded lovers across the
country. When her bisexual partner, Ellis Wood, was stolen away from her by a rival, Bethany
swore vengeance. Ellis' new lover was Kyle McAlistair, a death-magician involved with the
local Satanic Lodge. The two were happy together, setting Kyle on the path to a sort of
repentance: Kyle began to distance himself from the Satanists and look for a way out of the
contract he believed he had signed with Inferno.
In spite, Bethany contacted a fundamentalist Christian group, the Last Witnesses, dedicated to
monitoring and exposing the Satanic conspiracy. The Last Witnesses began harassing Kyle and
Ellis, putting the lovers in jeopardy with the Lodge. Kyle grew desperate and obtained an
Infernal Artefact from the Lodge - the Dark Taper. Kyle intended to use this to summon the
Death Angel, to whom he had pledged his soul, to call off the deal. A prerequisite for the
summoning was a live sacrifice. The sacrifice was provided by Kyle's contacts in the Tainted
Saints, a local gang of Hellers, who handed over Jeremy Shaw, a young runaway they had
befriended and drugged.
The summoning went ahead, but the Artefact was not what it seemed. It opened a portal, not to
Inferno, but to a powerful Purgatory-realm. Kyle was dragged inside, screaming. Ellis Wood
went into shock and, in his madness, warped time and space to escape. He is now a Child of the Night.
The Hellers returned the next day to collect their reward, but found only Jeremy's body and the
Dark Taper. They took the Taper and went home to party. Next day, one of their number,
Vernon, took the Taper to drug-dealer Mick Patton. Patton accepted the Artefact in
part-payment for a supply of cocaine. Vernon took the drugs to his girlfriend, Melanie Prior, and
spent the night with her. That night, the Nepharites, drawn to the Taper, arrived at the Hellers'
den and killed everyone.
Melanie Prior collected occult art and heard from Vernon about the Dark Taper. She went to
visit Mick Patton, secretly, under the pretext of buying more cocaine, and asked to buy the
Artefact. She slept with Patton in "part-payment" and so decided to keep her purchase secret
from Vernon.
Vernon went to a few parties then decided to meet up with the Hellers again. He discovered
their mutilated bodies. He was discovered by Caspar Ollenwald - a powerful Magister of the
Lodge. Caspar wanted his Artefact back and told Vernon what to expect if he didn't get it.
Vernon visited Patton, who admitted to giving the Taper to Melanie in return for sex. Vernon
beat Patton up and left - later that night the Nepharites came to finish the job.
All this has taken place over the course of a week. On the night of Patton's death, Melanie
throws a party.
Extending the Chain
The Dark Taper marks its owners, allowing the Nepharites to home in on them and cross into
this world. To be "marked" a character need only have the Taper in his possession overnight.
The Nepharites will usually come the next night. It doesn't matter if the character has since
gotten rid of the Taper, he's still "marked". The Nepharites will usually try to come when the
victim is alone or with only few onlookers - staying in a public place (like a party) can cause the
Nepharites to delay for a few nights, but come they eventually will. They will come for Melanie
Prior two nights after her party (described below), and after the first PC two nights after that, but
the dates are flexible and the Referee should alter them to give the players a fighting chance but
also keep up the tension and urgency.
The Party
The PCs are invited to a party hosted by Melanie Prior, an insufferable yuppie and
wannabe-occultist. Melanie has a high-powered job in management consultancy but spends her
off-time collecting occult paraphernalia, cultivating New Ager friends, dating Neo-Pagans and
signing up for Wiccan workshops. At least one of the PCs should know Melanie personally,
perhaps as a former girlfriend, perhaps as an acquaintance in occult circles.
Melanie keeps a stylish apartment, all oak-floors and hanging tapestries with baroque incense
burners, self-conscious etchings and gimmicky ash trays. Most of the guests take themselves
very seriously and look down on Melanie, who is doing her best to be the life and soul of the
party. The PCs can mingle with New Age poets, lesbian Wiccans, Tarot-freaks and
out-of-their-depth accountants (Melanie's colleagues from work). The GM should role play
through a few sample conversations to set the tone.
Viewing the Taper
The centrepiece and main talking-point is a curious candle, mounted on a glass coffee table in
the foyer. The candle itself is about 3 feet high and 9" thick, formed out of greasy black/red
wax, knotted and bulbous and very suggestive. The candle-holder is of dark wood coated in
rivulets of congealed wax. The whole effect is disturbingly organic: the artefact seems to squirm
and throb and strange patterns or resemblances can be detected in the strands and bulges of wax.
PCs can roll Estimate Value to judge that the thing is genuinely marketable as art, Medicine or
Forensics to suspect that the "wax" is a biological product - some sort of animal fat or blood
compound. Yeugh!
Anyone with a negative mental balance studying the Taper must make a _ Ego check or find
themselves repeatedly drawn back to stare at the thing as the party drags on. Such a person will
run into Bethany Yeoman. Meet Bethany Yeoman And don't you just love her? Bethany wears
her long raven-black hair in a fantastic construction of braids; her plaited red dress is low-cut
and flows around the curves of her body. Phew! She has an interest in the Taper too, a hungry
obsessive interest, and she'll turn that interest on any character similarly drawn to the Taper (or
the one with the highest Comeliness).
Bethany has the sort of erotic power that makes gargoyles break down and cry. She seems to
know everything about the character, his deepest desires, fears and inhibitions (including Dark
Secrets and any Disadvantages related to emotions or sexuality). Incidentally, Bethany isn't
deterred if the PC is a woman - she's beyond this heterosexuality hang-up thing. Role play
through this sizzling encounter, or resolve it by rolling Seduction for Bethany against the PC's
Ego, modified by relevant Advantages or Disadvantages: an Effect of 1-15 in Bethany's favour
will arrange a rendezvous for later (see "Intimate Moments with Bethany"), 16+ means an
immediate relocation to Bethany's apartment and dim the lights.
Whether or not Bethany succeeds in seducing the character, she has a warning she won't
elaborate on: "Best to forget the candle. It's about damnation, pain past death or desire. Forget
about death - let's talk about desire . . ." Bethany leaves, either alone or with a PC, before the
parlour games start (below).
The Gate Crasher
Late into the night, a gate crasher stirs things up. Anyone investigating the screaming and
shouting will find Melanie in the foyer flinging crockery (and sundry African devil-masks) at a
menacing-looking party crasher. This character is 6'6" with unshaven jowls, deep set eyes, thick
matted hair and a rancid leather jacket. Tattoos and patches proclaim him an extreme member
of the motor biking fraternity. Melanie screams at him to get out, calls him a "barbarian" and a
"anal-retentive scumbag". He retaliates with "whore" and pushes her with enough force to send
her through a wickerwork coffee table.
Are the PCs going to be gentlemen? Vernon isn't going to leave until he's slapped Melanie
about a bit then gotten the Taper back (though he's distracted now, so it's unlikely to be obvious
that he's come for the Taper unless the craven PCs leave him to his own devices and watch).
Putting Vernon out will involve violence, but Vernon will back down if someone gives him a
good thumping. He'll respond to fire with fire: if the PCs gang up or have weapons, he'll
produce his knife but if they have guns he'll back off.
Vernon has some last words for Melanie: "You'd better let me have it 'cause I plan to take it.
You can't keep me away. Better hope I don't kill you, bitch!"
Charming fellow.
Party Wind-Down Time
Melanie recovers once he's gone, phones up a locksmith to come out in the morning and change
all the locks, then hits the Pimms in a big way. Then she ransacks her bedroom for any
remaining possessions of Vernon's (a couple of pairs of Y-fronts, aftershave, an ear ring, a
flick-knife and a half bottle of gin), piles the stuff up in the kitchen, douses it in turpentine and
torches the lot. She's quite far gone now so a kindly PC might have the wit to stop her
inadvertently crisping the apartment.
That only leaves that damn candle. Somehow, Melanie doesn't want to burn it so she'll give it
away. She gives it to a PC (one who developed an interest in it). "I can't see what I ever saw in
the horrid thing, or in Vernon or any of his horrid biker friends!". With that she locks herself in
her bedroom, where she can be heard digging out her old Barry Manilow records and playing "I
Write The Songs That Make The Whole World Sing" to herself over and over again.
Most parties come to an end at this point. The PCs can stay to counsel the obligatory character
being sick in the kitchen, or leave with the Taper (certainly anyone who failed the Ego check
will want to take it).
Vicious Assaults in Dark Places
Once the PCs have the Taper, Vernon will start harassing them. This will start with their rooms
being ransacked. Next Vernon will stage a mugging. He'll try to pick on a character alone and
beat him senseless, looking for keys or clues to where the Taper might be. He'll flee if he meets
with serious opposition. He'll keep up these assaults, interspersed with threatening phone calls
and poison pen letters, until he gets the Taper back or the police arrest him (see Front Page News).
If the PCs can capture Vernon, they'll soon realize he's too terrified of something else (actually
Caspar Ollenwald and whatever trashed his buddies) to be frightened of them. He clearly wants
the Taper, but he won't say why - in fact, he doesn't understand its true connection with the Nepharites.
Gavin McKnight to the Rescue
Ever since Bethany Yeoman tipped them off, the Last Witnesses have been keeping tabs on the
Tainted Saints. Since the rest of the gang dropped out of sight, McKnight has been spying on
Vernon, hoping he'd lead him to the Saints' Satanic bosses. GMs can introduce Gavin
McKnight at any point during Vernon's assaults - he makes a good rescuer, being a heroic type,
and isn't averse to knocking heads together in the Lord's name.
Gavin McKnight is an invaluable contact to the PCs, since he represents an organization
dedicated to hunting down and destroying Astaroth's minions. Obviously, he doesn't know what
he's let himself in for, but then neither do the players. McKnight has lots of info on the Tainted
Saints and their connections to Kyle McAllistair and Ellis Wood (see Research).
Ellis' Messages
Once the players have the Taper, they're going to start getting messages from Ellis Wood. Ellis
is pretty deranged at the moment and almost paralyzed with terror. In shock, he's warping time
and space a lot (see "Beyond Time & Space" in the Kult rule book). This means he'll pop up,
leave disturbing incoherent messages, then vanish again. He wants the Taper so that he can be
reunited with Kyle again, but paradoxically he doesn't want the Taper since he's seen what it
can do. Subjectively, Ellis did all of this shortly after the Taper was used in Kyle's apartment;
in real time, his appearances occur over a period of several days.
Message Number 1
One of the PCs who was drawn to the Taper receives this one. The PC is in a public place (a
bar, a tube train, a busy street). The PC is aware of a stranger approaching (Ellis) who stares
directly at him and walks towards him, ignoring any obstacles or people in the way. Once Ellis
gets close he starts shrieking: "You fool! You damned doomed fool! Don't you see what it is?
Don't you see them coming? They're close now, so close - and they want you - they want your flesh!"
Obviously, this causes consternation in the crowd. Ask the PC what he's going to do.
Regardless, Ellis changes his tone, a look of abject terror comes over his transparent face and,
screaming, he dives out of the way - through a window, in front of an oncoming truck, out of a
moving train, etc. After the hubbub has died down, there's no sign of a body.
Message Number 2
This one happens while the PC is asleep. It can happen to any PC who's handled the Taper -
preferably one with a Disadvantage related to their sexuality or sleep patterns (Sexual Neurosis,
Nightmares, Mental Constriction related to childhood abuse, Phobia related to sleep or night-time).
The character awakes with a scream, knowing that someone is there, beside them, in the bed.
Arms possessed of maniac strength lock the PC in a neck-lock, choking off the scream. Ellis is
there, behind the character, whispering in his ear: "Do you fear this moment? Or do you desire
it? I can taste your fear [Ellis' tongue slithers along the PC's neck] - and when they come for
you then you'll savour it again and again and again. Get used to your fears and desires, they'll
be your only companions in Hell!" The PC discovers himself alone, screaming, in bed.
Message Number Three
This one happens in a PC's home, so you'll need the player to sketch out a floor plan of the
house or apartment. It can happen to any PC who's handled the Taper - preferably one with a
Disadvantage related to home or security (Mental Constriction related to childhood home,
Paranoia, Monophobia, Agoraphobia).
The PC becomes aware that someone else is in the house - then the power is cut. Let the PC
stalk the intruder (or be stalked) in the darkness. The PC might have a firearm, or manufacture a
weapon out of furniture. The PC and the intruder should both make Hide and Search, each
subtracting their effect from the other's roll. Keep this up as long as it stays fun, with false
alarms caused by creaky floorboards, TV sets left on, the household cat, etc. Then let Ellis
pounce on the PC for a life-and-death struggle.
Either the PC will end up near-unconscious with Ellis about to deliver the coup-de-grace, or
Ellis ends up shot, stabbed, electrocuted, beaten to a pulp, etc. Regardless, Ellis croaks "My
God, man - don't you see, I'm trying to help you! I'm the only one who can open it up again.
I'm the only one!" Give the PC an opportunity to respond to this somehow. Ellis seems calm
now: "Everyone's left. They're going to demolish the building, bring it all down on top of me.
But I've got the keys. They entrusted me with the keys. And I can open places up - places you
wouldn't believe . . ."
As his voice fades, so does his body, until Ellis vanishes altogether.
Intimate Moments with Bethany
A PC might have left the party with Bethany. Failing that, the players may well decide to chase
up Bethany later on, figuring she seems to know something about what's going on. A successful
roll on Net of Contacts or Occultism should turn up her address - within a day, or within an hour
if the effect is 16+. Bethany has a reputation in Wiccan circles as something of a witch, though
nobody knows much about her.
Bethany's Love-Den
Bethany keeps a luxurious studio-apartment in a run-down but genteel part of the city (you know
- iron railings, cobbled streets, gabled roofs, etc.). The place is dimly lit and shaded in reds and
orange hues; the air is scented with an elusive but sensual incense; art work includes Egyptian
cats, phallic African sculptures, erotic medieval woodcuts and many glass tanks housing tropical
fish, colourful insects and lizards; uncountable cats range freely about the shagpile carpets and
leather-upholstered couches. The atmosphere is distracting and intoxicating: character
Disadvantages will be nearer the surface here.
Significantly, Bethany's vast circular bed occupies the centre of the apartment, almost obscured
by a labyrinth of hanging curtains of diaphanous silk and musical bells. Figures within the
bed-area can be made out as uncertain silhouettes from outside. The bed is, of course, Bethany's
"temple" where she works her Passion magic.
Bethany herself is interested in humans as subjects for her magic: anyone wanting to deal with
this lady is going to sleep with her first; Bethany is not above drugging guests to bring this about
(using opium). Bethany's sexual predilections will be one of the following:
* Predatory: the PC neither interests nor repels her, it's "just sex".
* Contempt: something about the PC repels Bethany; she is likely to use "Emotion Transfer" to
instil fear of her into the victim.
* Intrigued: something about the PC interests the Passion Sorceress; she may use "Charm" to
keep him around for a while.
* Desire: Bethany wants to keep this one to herself: she may use "Domination" to keep him
occupied.
Bethany likes things to be dangerous, which means she lowers the mental balance of her
partners. The lower the character's balance (or the more sexual Disadvantages he has) the more
indifferent she is likely to be. Passion with Bethany can get a little crazy, so an Ego throw to
avoid shock is necessary, with -1 to the roll for every 5 points of mental balance above or below
zero, additional modifiers based on how brutal, perverted or downright weird things get;
remember that characters in shock might develop new Disadvantages (sexual neuroses) or see
through the Illusions and perceive their own Divinity. Yahoo!
Naturally, if the PC has owned the Taper and sees through the Illusions, they'll see the Purgatory
waiting for them. Ouch!
Pillow Talk
Assuming the PC is willing to play along with Bethany, she'll probably be willing to talk about
common interests - the Taper. Bethany reacts with a mixture of horror and fascination to the
thing, but she won't take it, or be cajoled into keeping it. She knows how dangerous it is.
Initially, Bethany will say only that it's not of this world, that it's from "beyond Death", that it's
a beacon, drawing death to it like moths to a flame. If the PC suggests getting rid of it, Bethany
will laugh and explain it's too late: the character has owned it, it's marked him now; you can
pass it on, but you can't avoid what it's summoned to you. Destroying it won't do much good
either - in fact, you need the Taper intact to figure out how to deactivate it. And no, Bethany
doesn't know how to deactivate it.
Bethany can guide the PC in two ways, but she won't volunteer the information and will only
give it up to a character who has intrigued or impassioned her. One of her ideas is a Good Idea,
the other is a Very Bad Idea.
The Good Idea
If the PC wants to get in touch with someone who does know how to deactivate the Taper,
Bethany will reluctantly admit to knowing one Death Magician: Kyle MacAlistair. She'll give
the PC Kyle's address (see "Research").
The Very Bad Idea
Bethany can use her magic to probe a little deeper. If she uses See Through Passion, she can
create a portal to the purgatory linked to the Taper. The problem is, the portal works both ways
and Nepharites will emerge out of the fire, looking to kill Bethany and drag the PC into
purgatory. The best course of action is . . . run like bloody hell.
Front Page News
If things are slacking up, or if the PCs are making good progress, bring this incident forward.
The first news is the horrific murder of Melanie Prior at her apartment. Newspapers dwell upon
the horrific ritual nature of the killing; police are linking it with a succession of ritual killings in
the country over recent decades. Sensationalists hint at Satanic cults. This time an obvious
culprit has been picked up - Vernon Jeffreys, a local drug-addict with links to a biker gang
known as the "Tainted Saints". Vernon assaulted the victim at a recent party and has been
sighted lurking about the premises. Another victim, killed in a similar manner several days
previously, a drug-dealer named Mick Patton - Vernon was at the deceased's flat behaving in a
hostile manner the evening of the crime.
Visiting Vernon
The players may want to interrogate Vernon, who's currently being held in custody. The
Advantage "Influential Friends" could get them in after a quiet word with the Chief
Superintendent. Alternatively, players can lie, bluff or weasel their way in, using skills such as
Acting, Disguise or Forensics and a suitable cover-story.
Vernon is subdued and nervous. He denies killing Melanie. He doesn't know about Mick
Patton's death and the news will shake him up: "Both of them? Oh Jesus, they're killing
everyone . . ." After this, Vernon won't say anything. A successful roll on Interrogation reveals
that Vernon is more afraid of someone else than he is of them or the police. If confronted with
the Taper, Vernon will go berserk, screaming: "Get it away from me! Get it away from me!"
Another visitor arrives and the players are asked to leave.
The newcomer seems to be Vernon's lawyer, a Mr B. Lyle. The players will get a glimpse of a
tall distinguished looking gentleman with greying black hair and fierce dark eyes glowering
under a heavy brow. Any lingerers can make a PER roll to notice that Vernon reacts to the
newcomer with recognition and utter terror.
Bye Bye Vernon
Vernon is dead the next morning. Apparently he committed suicide in his cell by placing a pen
against his eyeball then head butting the wall (yeeugh!).
Research
By now, the players should have started investigating things in their own way. Investigating
Bethany Yeoman is described above; other avenues are detailed below:-
The Taper
A PC can roll Evaluate Object to evaluate the Taper: it's old, but not ancient (effect 1-5);
probably 19th Century European, with Middle Eastern influences (effect 6-10); it's similar to a
number of occult objets d'art created in Istanbul and finding their way into the hands of Western
occult collectors (11-15 successes); no human imagination could have conceived these designs
(effect 16+).
Follow up research can be done at a good library during one day, rolling Information Retrieval
with a bonus equal to the effect of the previous roll: the Taper resembles a number of strange
artefacts which circulated among 19th Century occult art collectors (effect 1-5); the most valued
were those created by the Turkish artist Ibn-Nefur (effect 6-10); he was brutally murdered in
1873 in a Venetian hotel while touring Europe (effect 11-15); the details of Ibn-Nefur's death
are similar to the deaths of Melanie Prior, Mick Patton or the Tainted Saints (effect 16+).
PCs can analyze the Taper themselves, rolling Occultism:
the Taper is a tool for occult rituals (effect 1-5); in fact it's aligned to demonology (many
Medieval demons are representations of Semitic gods and spirits - effect 6-10); the Taper is used
to summon demons and open a portal to their world (effect 11-15); the Taper attracts the
demons to it and probably to anyone who keeps it in their possession (effect 16+).
Previous Owners
Melanie Prior didn't own the Taper long, as any of her friends will know. If the players are
quick they can speak to Melanie before her death, but she'll be very reluctant to admit where or
how she got the Taper and PCs will have to score a good (6+) effect on Interrogation to get her
to reveal how she went behind Vernon's back to sleep with Mick Patton to get the Taper.
Mick Patton is probably dead by now, unless the PCs are astoundingly astute. If they do have
dealings with him, they'll become suspects after he's brutally murdered that night. They should
be able to discover that Patton got the Taper from Vernon, in part payment for a supply of
cocaine for his gang.
Melanie's Murder
Melanie's apartment is taped-off, but PCs might be able to wrangle their way in and look
around, using Forensics skill. Odd nick-nacks suggest that Vernon slept here on several
occasions and that the two were lovers (effect 1-5); trace clues reveal that Melanie used
cocaine, probably with Vernon (effect 6+).
Melanie herself was murdered in her bedroom. She appears to have been tied to the bed then
meticulously cut to ribbons. You don't need a Forensics roll to figure that out.
A PC with a Net of Contacts roll might have a contact in the police forensic laboratory. The
police believe the murder was also a sexual attack and that the victim had been injected with
drugs during the course of the attack. The drugs cannot be identified.
Mick Patton's Murder
Mick Patton's den is no longer of interest to the police. Bloodstains suggest that Patton was
murdered in the living room. The stains indicate that he must have been skinned alive or
disemboweled. Nobody else in the block heard a thing.
The PCs can question the other residents - a down-at-heel bunch who've learned the wisdom of
minding their own business when it comes to Patton and his clientele. Role play through the
investigation, assigning bonuses of +1 to +10 based on how well they handle it. PCs can roll
Interrogation to determine that Patton was a drug dealer in cocaine and heroin (effect 1-5), that
the Tainted Saints called on him a lot (recognizable by the designs on their jackets - effect 6-10),
that Vernon came to buy drugs a few days before his death and again the night he died (effect
11-15) and that a young woman resembling Melanie came to his flat earlier and stayed the night
(effect 16+). If the PCs describe the Taper, someone will recall that Patton had a candle like
that - he quite often picked up weird stuff from the biker gangs as payment for drugs. The
candle wasn't there when the body was discovered, though.
Mr B. Lyle
Checking up on this fellow draws blanks quickly. He doesn't exist - there is no lawyer of that
name or description nor will anyone admit to appointing him. The wall of silence surrounding
him looks like a conspiracy (it is: the Lodge has influence with the police) and the players will
get nowhere.
Unless they speak to Gavin McKnight. Gavin doesn't know the name (but he'll laugh at the
joke: "B-Lyle? Belial!"). He recognizes the description: this was Caspar Ollenwald, a
powerful Satanist who occasionally met up with the Tainted Saints. It seemed they did his dirty
work. Gavin would love to get closer to Ollenwald and the Satanic conspiracy he represents, but
isn't going to get a chance to in this story. If Ollenwald wanted Vernon dead, he must have
become a hindrance to the Star of Suleiman.
Gavin McKnight & the Last Witnesses
Gavin has lots to say, not all of it relevant or true. He and his group run a newsletter and an
illicit radio channel which operates whenever they can get a transmitter together. They
broadcast a mixture of fundamentalist Christianity and conspiracy theory. Gavin knows, for
example, that the FBI were being manipulated by the Priorate of Zion and the International
Freemason Conspiracy to initiate the Waco siege. He also knows about the vast power of the
Satanic Lodges, like the Watchers of the Star of Suleiman in Britain.
The Last Witnesses have been trying to expose the Star of Suleiman for years but got a break a
few months ago when they were tipped off about two Satanists, McAlistair and Wood. These
two degenerates were sodomites and McAlistair had certainly sold his soul to the Evil One in
return for sorcerous powers. McAlistair seemed to be connected to the Star of Suleiman and a
gang of Hellers called the Tainted Saints. These bestial sinners were no ordinary biker gang -
they are the foot soldiers of the Star of Suleiman. McKnight and his Witnesses began to spy on
and harass McAlistair and Wood, suspecting them to be a weak link in the chain. Though they
were sinners, they might repent. Wood, in particular, seemed frightened and repelled by Satanism.
Gavin McKnight can provide Kyle McAlistair's address; he can also provide a list of three or
four hideouts used by the Tainted Saints, though the gang seems to have dropped out of sight.
So too have McAlistair and Wood. Gavin and his friends will go with the PCs to investigate
these sites.
Gavin can also introduce the players to Harriet Shaw. Harriet became involved with the Last
Witnesses when her son Jeremy disappeared. She believed he had run away from home and
gotten involved with a biker gang. McKnight's friends contacted her, confirming that her son
was now running with the Hellers. Harriet is a woman on the verge of hysteria. She is
convinced the Hellers mean to kill her son, that this is why they have adopted him. McKnight is
sanguine: he believes the Hellers perpetrate human sacrifice all the time.
The Tainted Saints
Anyone can quickly discover that this posse of biker-scum were just one of many gangs of
Hellers, dabbling in occultism and devilry and perpetrating nasty crimes against humanity. Most
were wanted for theft, assault, arson, rape, breach of the peace and reckless driving. They
maintained a number of hideouts throughout the city in condemned buildings, cellars and
abandoned warehouses. Most of these are empty now and the "Saints" haven't been around in
some time. In fact, none of the street trash will confess to having seen them lately.
The Tainted Saints have one hangout in an old WWII bomb shelter underneath a condemned
church. The church has been ransacked and desecrated with Satanic graffiti. The church - St
Michael Archangel - is an Exposed Place where the Illusions crumble, so if things are slowing
up the GM can throw in a creepy run-in with Nachtkaffer or a downright deadly encounter with a
Ferocco.
Down in the shelter, the players can find the Tainted Saints - all 18 of them, stone dead and
rotting horribly. The walls run with blood and the floor is sticky with gore and excrement.
Each Heller has been murdered with careful and grotesque precision - one is skewered on the
legs of a chair, another has been decapitated with a baseball bat (messy), two have been
crucified on the ceiling, one skinned alive, another asphyxiated in the aforementioned skin, four
lynched with barbed wire and disemboweled, at least one seems to have simply exploded. Roll
for Shock all round and watch those Illusions crumble revealing the Hellers' purgatory.
Jeremy Shaw is not among the dead (as far as one can be sure), neither is Vernon Jeffreys. If
anyone has the nerve to search the place (roll Search), they'll find some blood-splattered
photographs pinned to a wall. A recent photograph shows Vernon and Jeremy drinking beer on
a mattress, a syringe lying nearby; another, perhaps more recent, shows the gang partying:
Jeremy is not there, but the Taper is clearly visible on a table in the background.
Kyle McAlistair
The players might visit McAlistair's house with Gavin McKnight and Harriet Shaw, or they
might come here on Bethany's advice looking for information about the Taper. Kyle
McAlistair's house is a secluded place in private gardens: high walls and overgrown trees shield
it from the busy road; the building was once a church hospice and still contains a small chapel
built onto the side. The garden is ill-tended and overgrown with trailing ivy and decaying roses.
The oaken front door is locked, but the side door to the kitchen has been broken down and
swings ajar. The dead leaves and rain-water on the linoleum suggest the break-in happened
many days ago. Someone has raided the kitchen, left the fridge open and curdling milk on the
table, opened up several tins of baked beans and strewn the floor with empty beer cans. In
another room a tape recorder on continuous playback blasts out obscure death-metal music. A
message on the answering machine, obviously recorded here, reveals the identity of the
intruders: it's the Tainted Saints: "Hey Kyle man! Where you got to? Fed up of hanging about
this place [jeers, raspberries, obscene expletives in the background] so when you and your
boyfriend decided not to show, we figured we'd take the candle - looks like you don't need it no
more [someone in the background shouts "Nice job in the chapel, Kyle!"]"
The chapel is decorated for an occult rite, but the pentacle is smeared, the candles tipped over
and the incense spilled over the floor tiles. The naked body of Jeremy Shaw lies rotting on a
white sheet, his heart cut out with a sacrificial knife. If Harriet Shaw is present, roll Shock for
her at +10. If her Illusions crumble, she'll see into her son's purgatory; if her terror is projected,
she'll probably animate her son's body.
Anyone rolling Occultism can judge that a major rite was performed to summon a demon or
open a portal to Hell; an effect of 6+ will reveal that the rite seems to have gone wrong at the
end. Studying the room will reveal an overturned table, of a size to hold the Taper and stained
with the same foul wax the Taper seems to be made of. A successful roll on Forensics will turn
up unusual stains or scratches on the floor: caused by bloodstained fingers and frantic
fingernails - as if someone was dragged from the centre of the room over to the wall (where a
ripped tapestry of a horned devil hangs in tatters) and apparently through the wall. There is no
secret door and the wall is solid.
Searching the house will turn up photographs of Kyle McAlistair and Ellis Wood (the players
might recognise Ellis as the ghostly figure who's been appearing to deliver his messages) and
plenty to suggest they were lovers. Ellis seems to have moved in some months ago, but
nobody's been here for at least a week, since the sacrifice in fact. Kyle's filofax is in his study:
Bethany Yeoman is in the address section, but her name's been scored out. Kyle has an
impressive occult library - at the GM's option, there might be tomes here which can instruct PCs
in the Lore of Death. Anyone studying them and rolling Occultism can figure out what Kyle
hoped to do with the Taper: it seems it opens a portal to Hell; it also seems the Taper functions
as a sort of transmitter so a careful ritual was needed to "turn it off" afterwards. This ritual was
never used, nor is there anything in Kyle's notes to suggest how the PCs might reproduce it.
Kyle seemed to genuinely believe that he'd sold his soul; apparently, he wanted to buy it back.
Neighbours don't have much to say. Mr McAlistair and his "friend" kept themselves very quiet.
There have only been two disturbances. One was recent: a gang of unpleasant bikers came
round one evening with a young boy, but they left without him; the bikers returned briefly the
next morning but left again. The other was a few months ago: a strange woman turned up at the
house and Kyle and his friend ended up throwing her out; she swore a lot and made very
unpleasant threats; if described, she resembles Bethany Yeoman.
Back to Bethany
The PCs might go back to Bethany for lots of reasons, but they'll probably suspect her of holding
out on them and will get most done if they take Gavin McKnight and his friends with them.
McKnight and his pals set about trashing Bethany's apartment, calling her a "whore of
Babylon", with much justification.
Bethany won't want to admit it, but she tipped the Witnesses off about Kyle McAlistair and the
Tainted Saints and she did it because Kyle stole Ellis Wood away from her. She hasn't seen
Ellis recently but she knows where he used to live: he was caretaker in a run-down tower block;
she thinks he lost the job when the site was condemned, but he might still be living in his
basement den.
Ellis Wood
The players will come after Ellis either because Bethany's sent them here, or because they've
deciphered his last message and have used Information Retrieval to get a list of buildings
scheduled for demolition. Time should be running out by now: if Ellis can't turn this Taper
"off" then the players will go the same way as its previous owners.
The tower block was built in the 30s and has become the centrepiece of a nasty zone of slum
housing. The whole area is condemned, half of it has been bulldozed and gigantic cranes and
wrecking machines stand about idly like sleeping dinosaurs. Vagrants shelter in the gutted
buildings or scavenge in the rubble and gangs patrol the empty streets, lighting fires and
smashing windows. This place is a Borderland, where the Illusions crumble and Metropolis
becomes visible. The journey to the tower block can be dangered up with cannibalistic
Borderliners or stalking Wolvens.
The tower block itself is echoing and empty - one side has been peeled away by wreckers and
rooms gape open to the sky. The lifts are out and the rusting fire escape plummets into the
darkness of the basement. Flashlights are needed. The basement is a labyrinth of tunnels, boiler
rooms, stores, laundry halls: water runs down the walls, rusting piping criss-crosses the ceiling,
chains and ragged sheets hang from overhead hooks. Ellis is down here too, deranged and
stalking the PCs. Occasionally he can be heard screaming in the darkness: words can't be made
out except for the name "Kyle" (or was that "kill"?). He appears from nowhere to bludgeon,
strangle or bite, then flees: he's a Child of the Night now and knows these tunnels well.
Once things are reaching a peak of confusion and suspense, let the players stumble across Ellis
crouched in an empty boiler. The inside has been painted garishly, a mattress lies on the ground
and Ellis is huddled inside, holding himself and shivering. His Shock has passed.
The Death-Wish of Ellis Wood
Ellis speaks in a grating monotone, staring before him. Occasionally, he is wracked with
convulsions of grief and horror. Ellis learned enough from Kyle to reactivate the Taper. This
will open up a portal to an alien Purgatory. Kyle thought it led to Inferno, but he was wrong.
Ellis is going to rescue Kyle. The players are coming with him. Once they enter there's no
turning back. When they've rescued Kyle and emerged out the other side, Ellis plans to throw
the Taper itself through the portal, closing it down forever. The PCs can decline, but the
Nepharites will come for them if they don't take the offensive first.
Ellis is going to open the portal at Kyle's house, since the place is exposed to Purgatory. The
players should have time to lay hold of any guns, knives or Molotov cocktails they think might
be useful. Ellis cannot be dissuaded from his purpose: he's obsessed. Probably, if the players
try to detain him, Ellis' passion for Kyle will warp space around him, projecting Ellis and his
captors into the purgatory without needing the Taper.
The Hellwalk
The portal appears when the Taper is soaked in blood and lit and certain invocations made. The
candle flares, belching out black smoke and the light it sheds reveals a reality beyond the
Illusions. Within the light of the Taper, the players stand in a room in Metropolis. Within the
light, a nearby wall contains a door which wasn't there before. The door is of slick black wood,
carved with demonic faces compacted together. It is sealed shut with six bolts, six locks and six
chains, but the bolts can be slid back, the keys in the locks turned and the chains unlatched and removed.
The door swings open at a push, revealing a corridor stretching into darkness.
The PCs will pass through several purgatories which the Nepharites have created for their
victims to date. The first is the most recent, that of Melanie Prior (unless the Nepharites have
taken a PC already); next is Mick Patton's; next the Tainted Saints' collective purgatory, finally
Kyle McAlistair's purgatory. Purgatives can be "rescued" and players will certainly want to save
other PCs who have fallen victim to the Nepharites - but remember that their mental balance will
be at least -75 (subtract 10d20 from original balance for PCs).
Melanie Prior's Purgatory
Melanie's purgatory is shaped out of the apartment where she died, merged with the landscape
of her traumatized childhood where she was deprived of love and affection by her
emotionally-crippled parents.
The perimeter of the purgatory is a warren of narrow corridors in an old rundown house. The
grey walls are only alleviated by occasional religious prints. Many of the scenes are disturbing
(cockroaches cover the table of the Last Supper, masked demonic creatures attend the birth of
the Christ-child, etc.); the doors are all locked and weeping or screaming can be heard beyond,
if broken they open onto more corridors. This was the country home where Melanie grew up neglected.
The corridors become those of an office block - grey stone, steel and glass, tiled floors,
humming fans and rotting pot plants. Periodically, hoards of office workers emerge from lifts
and rush into the darkness - these creatures have no faces but attack and devour anyone in their
path (use statistics for Borderliners). Windows look into offices stacked with meaningless
paperwork or flashing computer screens: workers are shackled to desks: these wretches gnaw
continuously at their own bodies and try to fill out forms with the bloody stumps of their fingers.
In some offices, scenes from Melanie's career are re-enacted as nightmares: the first sexual
favour to a middle-manager is enacted as a brutal rape, the friend who was abandoned on the
climb up the corporate ladder enacts violent revenge on her unresisting body.
Melanie's body lies at the top of the office-block, where the manager's office is surrounded by
an automated abattoir. Behind the oak-paneled door is a recreation of Melanie's apartment
where, tied to the bed, Melanie is tortured and abused by the Nepharite attending her (Madame
Fly - see The Nepharites). Beyond this room lies the next purgatory.
Mick Patton's Purgatory
Patton's purgatory is created from his tenement flat where he dealt drugs, combined with scenes
from his more horrific drug-induced experiences.
Patton's body lies bound on the floor, many tubes run into his veins, orifices and eye-sockets,
injecting horrific drugs devised by his Nepharite (Doctor Needles - see The Nepharites). The
apartment is bathed in filth and excrement that runs in rivulets down the walls and swirls across
the floor. Passing through this purgatory involves crossing the room, but Patton's deranged
mind distorts reality here to reflect his horrific mental state.
First, the distance stretched to infinity and the cold of outer space descends. Each PC rolls CON
every round or loses a point of CON. Ice forms over everything. The cold is a psychological
reflection of Patton's emotional alienation and only a successful attempt to reach Patton by
rolling Rhetoric can end this "trip".
Next the distance contracts to claustrophobic intimacy - everyone is compressed into a tiny
room, but Patton is cut off from the players by a wall of indestructible soundproof glass.
Through the window, the Nepharite continues its soundless ministrations over Patton's writhing
body. Around the players, the liquid filth filling the room begins to rise around them. The filth
rises a foot every round: once it's over their heads the PCs begin to drown in it. By pressing
themselves against the glass, the PCs may be able to catch Patton's hallucinating gaze - roll Parapsychology.
Patton acknowledges his "guests" but to him they are threatening fantasies. He marshals his
reality to eliminate them. Lengths of tubing capped with squirting syringes animate and fly
towards the players, to strangle, bind and impale. Each PC is "attacked" by one syringe and
each round an extra syringe attacks each PC..
Attack Type (d20) Sc Lw Sw Fw Notes
1-10 Bind 1-8 9-13 14-18 19+ AGL throw to break away
11-15 Strangle 1-10 11-15 16-19 20+ STR throw to break away
16-20 Inject 1-14 15-18 19 20+ Poison effect
The syringes can "bind" like whips: roll under 2xAGL to escape from a scratch, under AGL
from a light wound or half-AGL from a serious wound, no escape from a fatal wound. Syringes
can also strangle: roll using STR as above to escape, otherwise the victim begins to asphyxiate,
rolling EGO, then half-EGO, then quarter-EGO to avoid losing 1 CON each round. The
drug-effect is the same as Doc Needles' hypodermics.
Players can attack the syringes, but do so at -7 due to their size and speed (slashing/cutting
attacks on the pipes are only at -3). Any hit which does damage destroys the syringe.
Ultimately, the only escape is to awake Patton or stop the Nepharite tending him. Any serious
wound inflicted on the machinery injecting the drugs into Patton will break his delirium, but the
Nepharite will attack anyone interfering with his "patient".
If Patton is awakened, the delirium ends. A trapdoor in the floor leads to the next purgatory.
Tainted Saints' Purgatory
This underground dungeon is the torture-ground for the Hellers. Several Nepharites oversee this
place (Greaser, Flame and Wormy - see The Nepharites). The Tainted Saints are now Purgatides
with the characteristics of normal Hellers (see rulebook, p250), but with mental balances
between -75 and -250. They are split into three bands in a state of constant cannibalistic
warfare. Each band is led by a Nepharite. The feuding has occasional lapses where prisoners
are tortured or eaten and the "dead" returned to "life".
The region resembles an underground complex of stone tunnels. Some of the walls are concrete,
others granite stone blocks. Sometimes pipes and chains criss-cross the ceiling, other times
wooden struts or gothic arches. The complex changes between a subterranean factory or a
medieval dungeon. The walls are daubed in graffiti, sprayed in blood or paint or just caked in
slime. Screams, laughter and bursts of discordant rock music echo down the corridors.
Getting through this purgatory involves encountering all three bands (numbering roughly equal
to the PCs each time). Most of the time the bands will fight each other with little or no
provocation, so with some quick-thinking and judicious violence the players might get through
relatively unscathed.
Kyle McAlistair's Purgatory
This is the centre of the purgatory and also the back door into the ordinary world. The tunnels
approaching it become increasingly medieval and gothic in character, the spray-paint graffiti
gives way to incomprehensible Latin inscriptions or baroque gargoyles. Stone stairwells twist
and descend. An icy breeze blows rubbles, dust and dead leaves across the flagstones. The
tunnels arrive at the central nave of what appears to be a vast cathedral. Tall windows cut into
the vaulting stonework are clogged in cobwebs and admit only a dim sepulchral light. Columns
rise up into the darkness, carved with writhing serpents and glistening faintly. Disgusting scenes
of torture and perversion line the bare walls. Far above, a toneless bell chimes slowly.
In the middle of the vast aisle an enormous structure creaks and grinds. Metal struts, taut wires
and glass panes project from floor and walls into a riotous knotwork of rusted blades. Impaled
into the centre of this gigantic sculptor, dangling limply in blasphemous travesty of a crucifixion,
is the body of Kyle McAlistair. But Kyle has changed . . . his muscular body is shredded and
town and skin hangs in ribbons round his waist like a skirt, otherwise he is naked. Coils of wire
are implanted into his shaved skull; arms and feet are severed and his limbs have been roughly
grafted onto the gallows-structure around him. His skin is lifeless grey, his eyes sightless white,
but in some sense, he lives and sees. Kyle is a Nepharite.
Ellis rushes forward, crying uncontrollably, and "Kyle" twists its head towards him. Mandibles
of steel and glass detach themselves from the gallows, like gigantic pincers, skewering Ellis
neatly and lifting his body high into the air. Ellis and "Kyle" are face to face, Ellis bloodstained
and horrified, "Kyle" cruelly impassive.
"I knew you would come," Kyles voice grates on the air, seeming to come from the machinery of
the gallows. Tenderly, the Kyle-thing inclines its head to kiss Ellis for a long moment. Then the
pincers tense and Ellis' body is dramatically shredded, showering onlookers with blood.
Meanwhile, the other Nepharites have been silently arriving to observe this climax. They stand
in a half-circle behind the PCs. The only way out is on, through the gallows itself. Any
character squeezing through the gallows risks being caught there, at the mercy of the Nepharite's
pincers: PCs need an effect of 6+ on a STR roll but can attempt each round at cumulative -1 to
their STR as they become more and more entangled. On the other side a broad corridor slopes
up, narrowing and shrinking and eventually opening out into the familiar world.
Escape from Hell
The passage out of purgatory emerges wherever the Taper is. Looking back, the players will see
an opening in the wall where none was before, emitting a strange radiance. The silhouettes of
the pursuing Nepharites can be seen emerging from the tunnel. The PCs can shoot them (at +5)
but really need to close the portal. The easiest way to do this is to pick up the Taper and hurl it
into the tunnel. As the Taper leaves this world, the portal snaps closed with an ear-splitting
screech. A blank wall confronts the players. It's over.
Or Is It?
Any characters rescued from purgatory should be treated as Children of the Night, with
unpleasant limitations like Cannibalism, Scared of Religious Symbols, Unhuman Appearance
and Sensitivity to various things - and a very low mental balance. The Nepharites will not stop
pursuing fugitives from hell but find it difficult to come to earth in person (unless some dumb
death-magician summons them or they can possess someone who moves into Kyle's house )
Caspar Ollenwald and the Star of Suleiman want the Taper back and will be very annoyed with
the people who lost it. This is a major conflict, but Gavin McKnight and the Last Witnesses are
potential allies (unless they're really Lictors in disguise - gasp!).
Kyle's library might contain all sorts of titbits, especially for characters wanting to research the
Lore of Death. Similarly, Bethany Yeoman can prompt all sorts of scenarios, especially if she's
"involved" with a player character.
The Nepharites
Seen Hellraiser? Then you know what these guys are. Use the stats in the rulebook, p217.
Some customised Nepharites are detailed below.
Madame Fly
This Nepharite appears to be female. She appears as a tall corpulent woman in a bulging outfit
of slick rubber and steel. The costume ripples with movement. Head and hands are sealed
inside transparent covers - the head is visible within a glass-like dome. Enormous flies swarm
over her body, biting, sucking, planting eggs, hatching - eeuurgh! She can attack with a length
of barbed chain (@40) which can be used as a lasso: bound victims are implanted with larval
insects, which hatch and devour their bodies from within.
Madame Fly tortures Melanie Priors, appearing in a variety of forms: her estranged and distant
parents, her abusive uncle, her manipulative employers and vengeful underlings, her succession
of destructive lovers. In each form, the Nepharite assaults and brutalizes her victim.
Doc Needles
This Nepharite appears to be male, in a white surgical smock and mask, arms wrapped in rubber
gloves, eyes glazed behind opaque circular glasses, skin white as a corpse. Each finger tapers
into a long hypodermic needles, that squirts vile corrosive toxins. The Doctor attacks with his
needle-fingers (@30, Sc1-8, Lw9-14, Sw15-19, Fw20+) and a hit injects a horrific drug. The
drug has a CON loss of 3d5, CON=0 means transformation into a Nepharite, CON=1/3 means
death, CON=1/2 means unconsciousness and physical changes as per Shock, CON=2/3 means
nausea and confusion.
Doc Needles supervises Mick Patton's purgatory, intravenously injecting acids, hallucinogens,
toxins and vile substances through a complex machine of plastic tubing and needles. He ensures
that all Patton's fears are projected and become real.
Greaser, Flame and Wormy
This trio of Nepharites are violent and hostile towards each other. Greaser is a gigantic creature
dressed in black leather and strapped with studs, chains and zips. His boots are steel-capped and
gloved hands have a terrific grip (STR 50, damage +10). He appears to have been in a motor
accident, since the leathers are frayed and the left hand side of his troll-like face has been
scraped clean away (attacks on Greaser's left flank are at +5). Greaser attacks with his bare fists
(@25).
Flame seems to be female. Like Greaser, she is dressed in the black leathers and seems to have
been in an accident, but Flame has been burnt alive. Her stinking charred leathers smoulder and
smoke. Her skin is black and crisp. She attacks, appropriately, with an incinerator (@17).
Wormy is just disgusting. He/she/it wears a one piece body suit of black PVC but the suit alone
seems to hold him together, since his body is made of worms. His whole form slithers and
squirms and a single eyeballs stares insanely from its shapeless wriggling face. Wormy likes
whips (@45) and a long curved sabre (@25).
Crucis (formerly Kyle McAlistair)
See the main text for a description of what Kyle's become. Crucis cannot move, but neither can
he be effectively assaulted except by ranged attacks and then only by hits to the Abdomen, Chest
or Head. Crucis attacks by animating the gallows of steel, glass and wire that he is impaled on,
detaching razor sharp pincers. Detachment takes one round, but thereafter the pincers strike
with an initiative bonus of +25 and a skill of @50. The damage is horrific (Sc1-3, Lw4-7,
Sw8-13, Fw14+). Crucis can detach one pincer per round, until he has up to 8 in action.
Principle NPCs
Vernon Jeffreys
Vernon is an ordinary Heller (see rulebook, p250) with a better-than-average mental balance
(-42). He prefers unarmed combat (@17) but carries a blackjack (@14). If he knows the players
have firearms, he'll lay hold of a handgun (@12, probably a Walther PPK) or even a sawn off
shotgun (@10), whatever it takes to even things up.
Bethany Yeoman
AGL 16 EGO 17 Actions: 2
STR 09 CHA 18 Initiative Bonus: +4
CON 15 PER 14 Damage Bonus: +2
COM 19 EDU 16 Damage Capacity:
4sc=1lw 3lw=1sw 3sw=1fw
Endurance: 105
Mental Balance: -50
Disadvantages: Drug Addiction, Egotist, Mental Compulsion (Sex), Sexual Neurosis, Sexually
Tantalizing
Advantages: Body Awareness, Empathy, Magical Intuition
Skills: Sneak 12, Dagger 9, Search 14, Dancing 16, Astrology 15, Drugs 14, Meditation 21,
Occultism 17, Seduction 23, Estimate Value 14, Occult Contacts 16, Acting 15, Drive 10, Jujitsu
20 (Throw 16, Grip 16, Block 16, Fall 16, Evasion 12)
Magic: Lore of Passion 15 (See Through Passion 14, Manipulate Passion 15, Summon Creature
of Passion 12, Bind Creature of Passion 10, Expel Creature of Passion 8, Exorcise Creature of
Passion 12, Tantric Rituals 15), Art of Dreaming 13
Gavin McKnight
AGL 16 EGO 20 Actions: 2
STR 14 CHA 19 Initiative Bonus: +4
CON 15 PER 14 Damage Bonus: +3
COM 13 EDU 14 Damage Capacity:
4sc=1lw 3lw=1sw 3sw=1fw
Endurance:105
Mental Balance:+35
Disadvantages: Fanaticism
Advantages: Altruism, Chivalry, Code of Honour, Forgiving, Honesty, Intuition
Skills: Unarmed Combat 15, Impact Weapon 13, Hide 10, Search 14, First Aid 12, Drive Car 15,
Meditation 20, Occultism 18, Security Systems 10, Church Contacts 8, Rhetoric 19, Bible
Scholar 15, Jujitsu 30 (Throw 16, Grip 16, Block 16, Dodge 12, Fall 12, Disarm 12, Break Grip 15).
Ellis Wood
Ellis Wood was a caretaker in a rundown office block whose only vice was for browsing through
the occult sections of old bookstores and a hitherto unrecognized bisexuality. There he met
Bethany Yeoman and embarked on a mind-bending affair which shattered his mental balance.
He learnt a little of the Lore of Passion from Bethany and a little of the Lore of Death from his
second lover, Kyle McAlistair. Since his madness, Ellis has become a Child of the Night. His
sense of self-revulsion has been externalised: his skin has faded to transparency within which
his skeleton and organs are clearly visible. He was naked for Kyle's ritual and hasn't dressed since.
AGL 17 EGO 10 Actions: 2
STR 16 CHA 13 Initiative Bonus: +5
CON 13 PER 15 Damage Bonus: +4
COM 01 EDU 10 Damage Capacity:
4sc=1lw 3lw=1sw 3sw=1fw
Endurance: 95 Mental Balance: -85
Disadvantages: Haunted (by Kyle), Manic-Depressive, Mental Compulsion (be with Kyle),
Nightmares, Sexual Neurosis
Advantages: Magical Intuition
Limitations: Unhuman Appearance
Powers: Infrared Vision
Skills: Unarmed Combat 16, Dodge 17, Hide 17, Search 15, Astrology 05, Drugs 08, Meditation
09, Seduction 10, Acting 12
Magic: Lore of Passion 07 (See Through Passion 07, Manipulate Passion 05), Lore of Death 05
(See Through Death 05), Art of Dreaming 07