Gazhdum

Gazhdum (Ghost-Touched Objects) are fetishes stained from the presence of a ghost. Some werewolves believe the use of such objects as fetishes is justified, harnessing them for the werewolf's own needs. Other believe the use of such objects is blasphemous, and using a human soul - one theoretically trapped - is a gross misdeed against one's own Harmony.

Ghost-touched objects subscribe to the following rules:

• A player can purchase these objects with the Fetish Merit.
• Every ghost-touched object is tied somehow to the ghost that inhabits it; the possession isn't random. A ghost of a man who murdered his family with a fire axe may dwell in that very axe. The specter of that man's wife may possess her wedding ring, her wedding dress or even a lock of her dead daughter's hair.
• Ghost-touched objects smell strongly of scents associated with death - anything from rotten flowers to grave-dirt to roadkill to formaldehyde. This smell lingers for a scene. A character tracking a ghost-touched object or its user by nose gets a +2 to the roll.
• The effects of gazhdum are always negative, and often associated with death. Such an object will not grant a werewolf hope or provide positive feelings; even the effects are marked by the provenance of the grave.
• Gazhdum cannot be created using the Fetish Rite.

Activating a ghost-touched object requires the expenditure of one Willpower point. The object is insidious, and demands that the owner devote his will toward appeasing the specter within. A werewolf cannot spend Essence instead of Willpower, as no spirit resides within to "bride." This does mean that werewolves are not the only creatures capable of using ghost-touched objects, although they (particularly Bone Shadows) are often among the most capable of identifying such items.

Ghost-Touched Fetishes

Le Parfum de Folie: Missy Worthwick was not a lucky girl. Life never gave her much of a break. Her job sucked. No man would give her the time of day outside of asking for her to move aside or to get him a cup of coffee. Even at age 25 she was plagued by persistent acne, which only contributed to her loneliness. One day, she sat down on her bed, sprayed herself with her favorite (and very expensive) perfume and then downed a bottle of lithium.
An echo of her soul now resides in the perfume bottle, perhaps associating it with the one thing in the world that made her feel special. Now, when activated, the perfume's spray confers upon a user the appearance of being dead. The user, smelling strongly of lavender and carnations, literally appears dead to all who examine him: capillaries burst upon unfocused eyes, no pulse, no breath, total stillness. The user literally cannot move or speak during this time, and the effects last for a single scene (attempting to take action during this time obviates the object's effects). Only a successful Wits + Medicine roll (performed with a -3 penalty) will allow a character to detect the subtle signs of life behind the illusion. The user cannot use this on anybody but himself.
Action: Instant

Dead Recorder: Dr. Sabira Gupta devoted her life to helping others, even at the cost of her own life experiences. A counselor, she helped many through long years of therapy, shepherding them through addictions, obsessions and phobias. Her work was far from complete when she took a misstep down a stairwell and fell, breaking her neck. Her ghost did not wander for long, instead trying to scream out a message on her black microcassette recorder. Her voice didn't transfer to the recorder, but her corpus did.
The recorder, when placed within a foot of a dead person, will record that person's last thoughts - up to a minute of what went through the person's head before death. His thoughts may reveal who killed him, or might just be an eerie monologue of fears and dreams brought on by a lack of oxygen prior to death. The recorder requires a fresh microcassette every use. Regardless of how much space is on the tape, it records up to a minute, then nothing more.
Action: Instant

Bitch's Broken Mirror: Becky was cheating on him, and Joe wouldn't stand for it. When he found out where she was going every Friday night - not to the movies with her friend at all, oh no - he did what any man would do. He shot her in the face with a .38 special and then put the gun under his own chin, painting the ceiling with his brains. For decades, his ghost lingered, finding that his soul was not salved by the act of murder-suicide but only further enraged. Somehow, his specter stumbled upon the little vanity mirror Becky used every Friday night to check herself before she went out that door to meet her men. Without meaning to, Joe's angry ghost entered the mirror and its reflective glass split, the fractures like a spider's web.
When the gashdum is activated, the next person to stare into the mirror's shattered glass gains the Suspicion derangement (mild). If the viewer already has the mild version, he gains Paranoia (severe). This lasts for a single day, but the werewolf can continue the effects by spending a Willpower point to force the effects to last for another day. During this time, the werewolf can spend an entire Willpower dot to make the effects permanent. What the victim sees when staring into the mirror is different for each; some see the laughing faces of all who have ever mocked them, some witness their loved ones cheating on them, others see just an empty void.
Action: Instant

Little Baby Burns: The plane didn't make it long past takeoff. A mechanical failure caused the Airbus to swing to the side, where the wing hit the tarmac - seconds later, the cabin was pinwheeling across the runway, a ball of red fire and black smoke. Everybody within died.
One gazhdum came from the wreckage, a little charbroiled doll, her face half-melted, with one eye staring bright white out of a morass of black plastic. The ghost that resides within this doll remains a mystery. It seems likely that the girl to whom the doll belonged is the possessor, but the user of this object sometimes hears other voices: men, women, even radio chatter. Is the doll a kind of black box capturing many of the ghosts that died on board the flight?
The Forsaken who wields this doll becomes terrifying to behold. When the gazhdum is activated, the werewolf catches fire but takes no wounds from the flames. Howling winds and screaming voices whirl about him. The flames wreathing his body are the size of a bonfire (2) with the intensity of a Bunsen burner (+2) - see the "Fire" rules in the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 180. The fire lasts for a number of turns equal to the half of the werewolf's Willpower score (round up). The character takes no damage, and even his clothes remain untouched (though if he comes in contact with fires he caused, that can cause him damage).
Those burned by the fire - provided they live - suffer nightmares for one week after contact. These nightmares involve the crash of the plane: burning bodies, screaming victims, the sound of metal crumpling. During that week, the nightmares cause a persistent -1 penalty to all Mental and Social rolls.
This ghost-touched object can only be used once per week.
Action: Reflexive

References

• WTF: The Rage: Forsaken Player's Guide, p. 138-141