Book of Bone and Ebony

CHAPTER TWO
THE ARTS OF
THE DEAD
As spirit beings composed largely of Essence, ghosts
had great potential to develop mastery of their own magical
natures. As former mortal men, they were compelled by
their nature to explore the possibilities of their bleak new
world. Among their number were savants, princes and
former Exalts, all of whom were familiar with the science
of metaphysics, and many of whom had handled and
shaped Essence themselves when they were alive. Though
the principles were different and the static nature of
ghostly existence made progress slow, there were compelling
reasons to explore this matter — to procure prayers
and sacrifices from the living, to reshape and ward against
the hazards of the Underworld and, of course, to gain
dominion over one’s fellow ghosts.
All of these were the impetus, and within a few generations,
the scattered denizens of the Underworld had
developed spiritual technologies that allowed them to fulfill
many of their needs. As Essence effects springing from spirit
beings, many of these were highly idiosyncratic, unique to
the individuals who created them and the situations they
found themselves in. Others were created by students of
Essence or sprang from some generally shared elements of
ghostly existence and could be taught and refined.
These more general spirit powers were the first Arcanoi.
In the First Age and the millenium and a half thereafter,
a fairly large number of Arcanoi were developed. Many,
especially those dealing purely with ghostly existence in
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CHAPTER TWO • THE ARTS OF THE DEAD
the Underworld, were discovered early, refined early and
taught widely among ghosts. Other, more exotic arts,
especially those involving questionable activities or interaction
with the often-difficult land of the living, were
more specialized. While these arts were often practiced by
multiple ghosts, they were also often confined to specific
cultural regions or family groups and frequently perished or
were partially forgotten.
The various upheavals that the Underworld has suffered
— particularly the rise of the Deathlords and the
often-chaotic times since — have provided the impulse for
these broken traditions. Yet, such “lost” arts are not
genuinely forgotten in many cases, for the dead do not
perish of age, and they often remember their arts after
those arts have become impolitic or unfashionable to use
or when they no longer have any use for them. Many of
these “lost” arts linger on in the corners of the Underworld,
the organized propagation of the knowledge disrupted but
the knowledge itself still alive and, in many cases, actively
practiced by the ghosts who mastered these tricks when
they were actively taught.
The Arcanoi seen in Chapter Six of Exalted: The
Abyssals are by no means the only arts known to the dead.
Many of the other Arcanoi seen below can be found only
in the hands of certain ghostly communities (and are
described as such), but other Arcanoi are common among
the undead and can be learned by any ghost.