Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

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Appendix I: The Spirit World
RULES: DUAL SENSES
When a werewolf wishes to gain a general impression
of what’s happening in the physical world (if he’s in the
Shadow) or the spirit world (if he’s in the material world),
the player rolls Wits + Empathy + Primal Urge as an
instant action, with the usual modifiers for the strength of
the Gauntlet. Success gives the character a vague impression
of what’s happening in the other realm — blurred
forms, as if viewed through filthy, frosted glass. Exceptional
success gives the character a more clear view, as if seen
through a clouded window. Failure means the character
can see nothing, while dramatic failure gives a dangerously
misleading idea of what is going on — a gathering
of spirits might look like a peculiar weather condition,
while a rival pack of werewolves might look like a group of
humans. In all cases, the glimpse across the Gauntlet lasts
for no longer than a turn.
When rogue spirits enter the physical world, they
don’t gain a material body — they’re still ephemeral.
They must usually find a host body to possess quickly
or begin losing their vital energy. Some, however, are
able to linger on in an immaterial, invisible state if they
can find a potent source of Essence. Such spirits are said
to exist in the state of “Twilight,” or shurilam. Though
spirits without a host body or manifestation cannot be
perceived by normal means, a werewolf can roll Wits +
Occult + Primal Urge as an instant action to attempt to
perceive such a spirit. Optionally, the Storyteller may
make the roll for the character as a reflexive action if
the werewolf draws particularly near to the spirit. Success
indicates that the werewolf is vaguely aware of the
spirit, perhaps catching a glimpse of a blurred shadow or
a quick whiff of an alien scent. An exceptional success
gives the werewolf a clear view of the spirit for the turn.
This ability does not reveal spirits that have merged with
a locus (p. 262) or a fetter (p. 277). Irraka receive two
bonus dice to the rolls to peer across the Gauntlet or to
perceive a spirit in Twilight (see p. 83).
GHOSTS AND SPIRITS
Ghosts, as described in the World of Darkness
Rulebook, share several qualities in common
with the spirits of the Shadow Realm, but are
not the same thing. Both are ephemeral entities
— when present in the physical world, they do
not have a solid, material form, but are instead in
an intangible, ephemeral state (that of Twilight).
A ghost and a spirit can see, touch or otherwise
interact with one another, as they are in the same
ephemeral state. However, a ghost is not a spirit,
and cannot be bound into fetishes, summoned by
rites, or otherwise affected by supernatural powers
that target spirits.
When in the Shadow, ephemeral entities
(including ghosts and spirits) are no longer in
Twilight, and can be interacted with as though
they were solid. Ephemera is the natural state of
matter in the spirit world.
THE OTHER WORLD
Once a werewolf finds a passage through the
Gauntlet, she finds herself in a world that should’ve been
as much her home as the physical world. In a way, it’s
the same world, reflecting the same events and objects,
but on a different spiritual “frequency” or “dimension.”
When a werewolf enters or leaves the Shadow, even
though she doesn’t move any spatial distance, she now
exists in a separate place, but one that’s still intimately
connected to the world from which she came. Many
young werewolves, having grown up in the mundane
world, take a while to realize that the Shadow is just as
“real” as the physical world, but with different qualities.
These qualities make for quite a difference. The Hisil
bears history like a network of scars. It’s as if the world
itself remembers, and the Shadow comprises its memory.
Things can be bulldozed away in the physical world, yet
their spiritual memory remains steadfast. Buildings long
gone in the physical world linger in spirit if their memory
is strong enough. It’s a funhouse mirror held up to the
world, a distorted reflection that displays the cruel truths
of civilization and nature alike.
The billions of humans who teem over the face of the
Earth also affect the Shadow, with just as much facility
as they reshape the physical environment around them.
There are few parts of the Hisil that are free of the traces
of humanity.
The world is far older than humanity, though, and
things linger in the spirit wilds that are memories of a
time before humans ruled the earth. Packs of werewolves
encounter spirits whose outlook and forms are so alien
they can only be a legacy of a long-forgotten age. Any
werewolf who thinks she can understand the Shadow
Realm in purely human terms is setting herself up for
a humiliating fall. Some Ithaeur speculate that the
Shadow is nothing so much as the memory of the world,
the place where every action has its consequence…
a consequence that lingers long after the action that
birthed it. It’s a place where every object of any significance
has a spiritual reflection and where the spirits play
a subtle dance of politics and warfare that reflect changes
and events in the physical world. Other Ithaeur suggest
that the spirit world is just as real as the physical world
and just as deserving of the title “the real world.” Attuning
yourself to the Shadow is merely a process of looking
at the same world in a different way. It is, if you like, a
different frequency of the spectrum.