Conflagration

By Leroy Van Camp III (van891@uidaho.edu)

Conflagrants
"I remember that day like no other. Walking towards the Citadel, our thralls slogging on before
us, when Eddy burst into flames. The blue-black flames of soulfire. I fell back, unable to do
anything other than look on in horror. I will never forget the way his corpus melted and ran, like
wax. That's what one gets, I suppose, for bragging about stiffing a Conflagrant."

In the Shadowlands, fire and flame are a valuable commodity, and those capable of
creating it are rare. With few things, including relics, being inflammable, keeping a flame
alive requires other means. The Arcanos of Conflagration is the art of transmuting the
emotional energy of Pathos into soulfire and soul crystals.

If it were not for soulfire, and those who create it, the Underworld would be a far
different place. It is soulfire that the Artificers use for their forges, and it is soulfire that is
used in the many torches that light Stygia and her colonies. Because of this, the
Conflagrants hold a lot of clout, even though their Guild is long dead.

The Guild

The Conflagrants were a Guild closely allied with the Artificers, mainly due to the latter's
reliance on the former. If it were not for the soul crystals and the soulfire they give off, the
forges of the Artificers would go unused.

The Conflagrants were a selfish lot, though, and as time went on they began to raise the
prices for their services. Knowing that society itself depended on their skills, they felt
they could charge whatever they wanted. And as more and more of the Artificers profits
were consumed by these payments, the richer the Conflagrants became.

In the end, this arrogance is what brought them down. Over time, many Artificers began
to pick up on and learn the skills of Conflagration, and started to phase out the need for
Conflagrant Guild members. Within several decades, the Artificers severed all ties with
the Conflagrants. The Guildsmen were shocked by these actions, and tried to make
reparations, including a drastic reduction in their fees. But the Artificers no longer needed
them.

The Guild leadership, worried about their future, tried to assure everyone that things
would be fine, that there were many other markets for their talents. At the same time,
they started to clear the coffers and steal away in the night. In the end, the Guild died
 completely, and the Conflagrants started to work independently. All of this happened
long before the attempted coup by the Guilds.

These days, Conflagrants see a lot of work, but none of it is organized in the old Guild
faction. Many Conflagrants do little more than spending their time churning out soul
crystals and selling them where ever they can. Others work for the Hierarchy, keeping the
flames of the Moliated torches alight.

Practitioners of Conflagration are commonly adorned with a whispery nimbus of flame

about their heads, which grows slightly brighter with the more Pathos the wraith has.

Some Rule Notes

I have slightly altered a few niggly details in the original rules. The primary being my separation
of the flames of soulfire from that which gives it off. Soul crystals are the actual crystalized
Pathos, while soulfire is the Pathos flame it slowly gives off. I added that the flames can be
doused, shut off, allowing soul crystals to be hoarded for later use.

Also, Usury 5 allows the creation of soul crystals, basically in a similar fasion as Rock
Candy, below. A Storyteller who choses to use Conflagration is his own chronicles will
have to decide whether to allow Usury to retain that ability, or to remove it. This author
recommends its removal, especially since it does not reduce Usury's power appreciably.
It is mostly a change in setting dynamics.

Botches

Botches with Conflagration tend to painful, causing extensive corpus damage, sometimes to
others as well. A fairly common botch is for the Conflagrants Pathos to uncontrollably transmute
to soulfire, setting the wraith alight.

Basic Abilities

Flip the Switch

This is a simple ability, requiring no roll. It allows the wraith to either ignite or douse the flames
of a soul crystal. The crystal must be within line of sight.
* Feed the Flames
By pouring Pathos into a pre-existing soulflame, the wraith can cause it to flare up, burning
hotter, as well as longer. This art can also be used on flames in the Skinlands

System: The player rolls Manipulation+Conflagration, difficulty of 5, or the current

Shroud if used on Skinland fires. Each success lets the character do one of two things.
First, it can be used to increase the flame's heat, with each success indicating a one step
increase on the Heat of Fire chart on page 234. The second causes the flame to burn
longer. Each success increases its current potential duration one hundred percent.

Note that these can be mixed. For example, a player who rolls four successes can use two
to make the flames burn for 3 times the normal length, and two to raise it up two steps on
the heat chart.

This art costs 1 Pathos per success, though the wraith can choose not to use all the rolled
successes.

** Flame Ward
With this art the wraith has learned to resist the heat of soulfire, toughening his corpus to the
flames. This art will also allow a wraith to wade through Skinland fire without becoming
incorporeal.

System: By spending 1 Pathos each turn she is taking damage from soulflame, the wraith
can add her level of Conflagration to her soak rolls.

When confronted with Skinland flame, the wraith can make a Stamina+Conflagration
roll, difficulty being the flame's heat level, as per the chart on page 234. Each success
allows the wraith to withstand the heat for two turns without going incorporeal. Each
such roll (not each success) costs 1 Pathos.

*** Rock Candy

This is the ability of creating soul crystals from one's own Pathos. This was the treasured art of
the Conflagrant Guild, the one that kept their coffers full in the days of old. The sale price of a
soul crystal is typically 1 obolus per point of Pathos it holds, though this will vary based on
location.

System: The wraith rolls Manipulation+Conflagration, difficulty 7, for each crystal she
wishes to create. The number of successes is the maximum amount of Pathos a wraith can
put into that crystal, which manifests in the wraith's hand.
 A soul crystal will put off soulfire for a week per point of Pathos. This flame burns with
the heat of a torch, which is what they are often used for. This flame is not hot enough for
forging; Feed the Flames is used to stoke the soulfires of the Artificer's forges.

**** Hellfire
A powerful, though drastic art, this is the ability to shoot gouts of soulfire from the body,
converting one's own Pathos into flame. Where this flame leaves the corpora does not matter,
though through the hands, eyes or mouth are the most common.

This is a particularly unsubtle power; there is little chance of concealing the jets of flame,
or the screams of those who are struck with them.

System: For every success rolled on Manipulation+Conflagration, difficulty of 6, the

wraith can channel one Pathos into soulfire, which must be directed from the corpus
immediately, lest it char the Conflagrant. Striking another with the flame jet requires a
Dexterity+Firearms roll. Damage is equal to the initial roll, and is aggravated. The target,
if struck, can soak this damage.

Using this power grants the wraith a point of Angst.

***** Burning Inside

The dreaded power of the Conflagrants, the art that inspired fear in many, Burning Inside is the
ability to transmute the Pathos of others into soulfire, while it is still within them. This causes
the target to burst into flame, often resulting in an agonizing death. Range is about 100 yards,
and the Conflagrant must be able to see his target.

System: The player rolls Manipulation+Conflagration, difficulty of the target's

Stamina+3. Each success transmutes one of the target's Pathos into soulfire, which burns
within. Initial damage is equal to the number of Pathos converted, and is aggravated. The
victim continues to take damage, with the initial damage dropping by one each turn. So,
for example, if damage was 4 on the first turn, it would be 3 on the second, 2 on the third,
and so on. The victim gets a soak roll each turn, but any sort of armor does not help.

If the target has Hellfire, he can try to channel this flame out from himself, reducing or
eliminating the damage. This allows the Conflagrant to use his
Manipulation+Conflagration as a soak roll. It does not give the normal point of Angst.

Targets with Flame Ward can use that ability against Burning Inside normally.

This art requires 2 Pathos and 1 Willpower each time it is used. It also gives the wraith 2
Angst.