Tvashtriyas

Arcanoi of Svarga: Displace
Displace combines elements of Kinesis, Moliate, and Usury. In Swar, the Arcanos’ chief use is for “creating” all the splendid “foods” and comfortable accoutrements which characterize that Dark Kingdom. Basically, wraiths who belong to that kingdom but who attempt one of the three aforementioned Arcanoi in Stygia find themselves facing certain restrictions and having certain advantages — none of which apply to Stygian wraiths. Conversely, no Stygian wraith can ever practice the art of the Tvashtriya.

Tvashtriya
Death strands numerous Rajput, Punjabi, and Bengali troops and trench-diggers — whom the British export from colonial India — in the Dark Empire of Iron. Unlike wraiths of the other Dark Kingdoms who turn up in Stygia, the Tvashtriya are not necessarily Renegades in the Dark Kingdom of Iron. Stygia has no treaties with Swar, so the Hierarchy isn’t opposed to seeing such wraiths enthralled or integrated into the bureaucracy in more pleasant ways. However, all Tvashtriya experience dreams of Swar, with its seeming ease and plenty. Stygia’s relative bleakness is something to be fled for most of these wraiths. Once such wraiths master their Arcanos, they can render another wraith into amorphous soulstuff, a substance they can then reshape into all manner of Artifacts. What distinguishes Displace from Moliate and Usury is that a Tvashtriya must wraithride a target before he can have any other effect on her. Although Straddle (and the detection of other wraiths using it) is a basic ability for practitioners of this Arcanos, Tvashtriya can have no further interaction with objects across the Shroud. Every other aspect of this art involves wraithly Corpora. A Tvashtriya wraithriding another faces risks similar to the ones that affect someone who is Straddling: Damage inflicted on the ridden wraith affects the wraithrider equally. This rule includes Arcanos damage such as what Early Withdrawal might inflict (i.e., a Usurer directing that art at someone who is wraithridden gets double Corpus levels). Tvashtriya cannot insert their Corpora into mortals, relics or Artifacts. Practitioners of Displace obviously make great spies, a fact that makes these wraiths welcome in any Renegade Circle and hunted by the Legions. The Artificers’, Usurers’, and Masquers’ Guilds pursue them relentlessly in effort to learn the Displace Arcanos — which they can never do. Many individual wraiths are uncomfortable with the invasiveness of the Arcanos and therefore seek Moliation by Tvashtriya — or Pathos infusion from them — only as a last resort.

Botches
Depending on what a Tvashtriya is attempting inside another wraith, botches can have a range of results. Typically, a botch causes a boomerang effect wherein attempted theft of Pathos drains it from the Tvashtriya or efforts to infuse a wraith with Corpus instead drain the target of health. Nasty failures can trap a displacer inside his subject. • Wraithride 

A Tvashtriya who can make contact with the Corpus of another wraith can invade the target’s Corpus and remain there for an indefinite time. A successful wraithrider finds herself in a dark, quiet place. Normally, she has no perception of events outside the host wraith except for the host’s entry into Slumber (which causes a Displacer’s “environment” to brighten) and attempts to detect the rider’s presence (which the Displacer might notice as a buzzing noise). Wraithride provides no control or influence over the host wraith. It also exposes the rider to all damage the host wraith suffers, including Harrowings and theft of Corpus or Pathos. Also, should a wraithriding Tvashtriya fall into a Harrowing, she drags her host along with her. A Usurer who receives “extra Pathos” from a wraith can sometimes infer the additional presence of a wraithrider. System: The player rolls Stealth + Displace to invade a target’s Corpus. The number of successes achieved must be exceeded in a resisted roll for another wraithrider to force the first out of the host. Although a successful wraithrider can be intentionally detected only through the use of Sense Rider or Sense Kinesis, a wraith who uses Transfer (or other applicable Usury ability) on a ridden wraith can determine the presence of a rider in her target’s Corpus with a successful Intelligence + Usury roll (difficulty 8).

•• Deflect 

Deflect allows a Tvashtriya to combat others’ attempts to sense his presence when he’s riding an object or another wraith. This art also lets a wraith channel damage from his own Corpus to that of a wraith he’s in contact with as the damage occurs. System: Obviously, a Tvashtriya must first successfully ride an object or Corpus before he can attempt to deflect efforts at detection. Also, he must realize that someone is attempting to detect him, which requires one success on a Perception + Awareness roll (difficulty 6). To avoid detection, the player makes a contested roll of his character’s Manipulation + Displace against the seeker’s Perception + Kinesis or Perception + Displace, as appropriate. Detection by a Usurer cannot be deflected; in that instance, the cat — or, rather, the Corpus level/ Pathos — has already left the bag. It’s up to the Usurer to make sense of the excess profit. To deflect damage, the wraith must make physical contact with a target who can receive it (the wraithrider cannot deflect damage). The player rolls Manipulation + Displace. The number of successes equals the number of Corpus levels of damage the Displacer can channel.

••• Transfuse 

A Tvashtriya riding another wraith’s Corpus can lend Pathos to her host or take Pathos from her host. If the host is not in Slumber at the moment of transferal, he can notice the event, as can onlookers. Bestowal of Pathos produces a momentary scintillation around the host’s Corpus, whereas theft of Pathos causes fleeting waves of darkness to sweep across the host’s Corpus. System: Once the Tvashtriya is successfully wraithriding a target, the player rolls Stamina + Displace to bestow Pathos or Dexterity + Displace to steal Pathos. The difficulty to bestow Pathos equals the host’s current Pathos, whereas the difficulty to steal Pathos equals the host’s Willpower. Pathos theft with this art grants the Tvashtriya 1 temporary Angst.

•••• Reconfigure 

With Reconfigure, a Tvashtriya can make various changes to his host’s Corpus. Minor alterations can be effected during the host’s Slumber without rousing the host. Such changes include making part or all of the host’s Corpus luminescent (as with the Moliate ability Glow), transparent (to let the Displacer visually reconnoiter his surroundings; a wraithrider looking out while her host Slumbers inside a Fetter sees only impenetrable darkness), or resonant (so he can hear the host’s surroundings; dead silence means the host is inside a Fetter). Any more extensive alteration attempted with Reconfigure on a wraith in Slumber may rouse the host. Major alterations with this art include new appendages or sensory organs, modified teeth or extremities. A favorite Tvashtriya trick is to make the host resemble the Displacer, then abandon the lookalike host, who serves as a decoy. System: Once a character has successfully wraithridden a host, the player rolls Intelligence + Displace (difficulty 7), with the number of successes required to be determined by the Storyteller, based on the goal of the Tvashtriya. Changes made with Reconfigure to the host’s Corpus can likewise be undone with Reconfigure or the Moliate ability Sculpt. Otherwise, Reconfigure’s effects are permanent. If a Tvashtriya attempts to use Reconfigure on a host in Slumber, the target’s player should roll Perception + Awareness and be roused on a successful roll (difficulty 8). This art costs 1 Pathos to use, and the host loses 1 Corpus level. Use of Reconfigure on an unwilling host grants the Displacer 2 temporary Angst; on a willing host, 1 temporary Angst. ••••• Transmogrify 

Masters of Displace can change a host’s corpus into nearly anything (mostly inanimate stuff, though), including a form that can be consumed for Pathos “nourishment.” System: Once a character has successfully wraithridden a host, the player makes a contested Wits + Displace roll against the host character’s Willpower (difficulty 7 for both). Three or more net successes for the Tvashtriya allow her to render the host into an “edible” form that grants Pathos to the consumer. Many users render a target into a form resembling a cluster of grapes. Each “fruit” a wraith ingests confers 1 Pathos; a cluster contains one grape per point of Pathos the target possessed at the time of transmogrification. Any use of Transmogrify costs 2 Pathos and grants the Tvashtriya 3 temporary Angst. ==Reference ==
 * Wraith The Oblivion 20th Anniversary, p.463, 464