Wonderland - Jags

Deeper Mysteries - Overview
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doing something else that everyone gets the sensation of, but doesn’t
understand.
Rogue Shadows may also mutate. They may have Twists like PCs. They
may be deranged, self-aware (sometimes), and have agendas. In some
cases, their human casters seem to be inadvertently acting out on their
Shadow’s wishes. That can be scary: if your boss’s Shadow looks like a
mutant, talking lion and you’re on his bad side, having an Episode in the
office could be fatal! (If his Rogue Shadow devours you when you’re
down on Chessboard One, you really die! If he just devours other people’s
Shadows when the human caster is “chewing them out,” well, that’s
not nearly as bad).
Whirls
Under conditions of psychological trauma, humans sometimes spin off
a “rogue shadow.” In this case, the person keeps their Shadow normally
but now there’s a damaged, mutant version of them walking around on
Chessboard One as well. Whirls tend to seek others like themselves and
to have insane aims and directives. Rarely are they benign.
Whirls can have a dramatic effect on Chessboard Zero. Unlike many
monsters they are aware of, and understand Chessboard Zero pretty darn
well. Unlike deeper (and more physically powerful things) they have the
advantages of teamwork and planning—and they can stay at the relatively
high levels of Chessboards One and Two indefinitely. They also have
the skills of their creator (although the personalities are often far different).
They understand the value of pressuring Infecteds they can affect
directly. They understand the difficulties they face in changing the real
world and they are more than willing to play that game.
Expertise With Descent: Mastery
You have already read about the stages of standard infection: Early,
Two Middle Stages, and Late. If you don’t have a Survival Trait, and
you make it to Late stage, you are in real trouble: either you will die, go
permanently insane (your Reflection is abandoned on Chessboard Zero
to be committed to an asylum), or vanish entirely.
However, if you are careful—if you are committed to learn—and maybe
a little bit lucky, you can learn to control Unsanity and, eventually,
master it.
How this is done varies a lot depending on the kind of game you are
playing. In some cases, people who survive a few Episodes just start to
“get the hang of it.” Lots of people (Gurus, in the lexicon of the Support
Groups) claim to teach techniques that will help you overcome your
Infection (or even cure it). Few really do.