Whispers of the Dead (Glaaki)

Gla'aki by Davide L Marescotti

The Ritual 

The operator must stand at the edge of a natural body of freshwater, chest bared to the elements, after the sun has gone down. The operator thrusts a dagger into their chest and kneels in prostration to their new god. The surface of the water ripples as if disturbed by something large underwater before becoming eerily still. When the waters return to normal, the operator rises and removes the dagger from their chest, revealing a small bloodless hole. 

Ideally, the ritual takes place at a lake or pond, but a river can work. The rushing waters dampen the operator's connection to the stagnant calm of Glaaki, imposing a -20% penalty to the activation roll. They can also impale themselves with one of Glaaki's spines (more likely a broken-off tip; they're long) or activate the ritual near a crystal fragment of the meteorite that carried him to Earth to get a +20% bonus¹ to the activation roll. Performing the ritual at the shores of Deepfall Lake near Brichester in the Severn Valley grants another +20% bonus.

If the activation roll succeeds, the strange magic of Glaaki allows the operator to run themselves through with a spike or blade without suffering any harm.

If the roll fails, the operator takes damage corresponding to whatever they impaled themselves with; D4 for a knife, D6 for a large knife or dagger, D8 for a spear or sword, D10 for a Glaaki spine or sharpened poker. Rather than losing 1D4 SAN from unnatural for failing to activate a ritual that costs 1D8 SAN, the operator rolls SAN from violence for being stabbed or being reduced to 2 HP or less (AH p. 67). If the operator is still conscious, they have two choices: attempt to force a connection to the unnatural, or try the ritual again later, probably after they've had some time to heal from their self-inflicted chest wound.

To force a connection, they thrust their skewer deeper into their chest, whispering promises of undying servitude. The operator takes damage corresponding to their weapon of choice, rolling SAN again, only this time from helplessness as they wait for Glaaki to respond. The ritual still works if this reduces them to 2 HP or less, they just lose more SAN, 0/1D6 instead of 0/1D4.

Forcing a connection only costs 10 WP, as opposed to the usual cost of 1 POW (HG p. 166-7). Additionally, each point of damage the operator inflicted on themselves over the course of the ritual reduces the cost by one, to a minimum of 1. 

Alternate Names: Find the Master from the Falling Star, The Piercing Baptism, The Undying Curse

SAN Loss Flavor (from activating the ritual)

1-2 points: A city of black stone, blue metal, and shimmering crystal can be seen deep under the water, deeper than the actual lake-bed, you feel a tingling at the edges of your wound.

3-4 points: Icy ferrofluid crawls through your veins, leaving a livid spiderweb on your chest, the city grows clearer as everything feels like it's covered with a sickly sweet residue.

5+ points: The wind howls, something moves in the trees, electronics flicker, small pieces of metal twitch, shadows can be seen moving in the sunken city.

Boon

The operator becomes one of the Glakeen. They take half HP damage from everything except fire and hypergeometry. The operator still possesses their own free will, though the dream-pull of Glaaki tugs at them, costing 0/1 SAN from unnatural at the end of every Home scene. When they are reduced to 0 HP and die, the SAN test is at a -20% penalty as the dreams grow stronger. Even after the operator dies, they're not quite dead. They can still regain HP from rest, First Aid, and Surgery. So long as their body isn't completely destroyed, they can recover from being left at zero hit points, even after CON minutes. The Handler decides whether a successful Lethality roll destroys their body. Hypergeometry and fire may also prove impossible to recover from.

Once the operator is reduced to 0 HP and dies, they are unharmed by poison, disease, and suffocation and cannot be stunned or knocked unconscious. However, they do have to roll CONx5 to not pass out at 0 HP and whenever they take additional damage at zero. They wake up after they regain any hit points or an hour passes. Like every other regular Glaakeen, the operator also becomes vulnerable to the Green Decay.

Blessing

The operator dies, though their hit points are unchanged. They gain all the ‘benefits’ of being a Glaakeen, but don’t suffer from the Green Decay until they are reduced to 0 HP.

The Green Decay

The sun causes the Glaakeen to start to rot. Patches of green mold sprout up and eat away at their flesh.  Exposure bright direct sunlight inflicts an attack with a Lethality rating equal to the number of years they have been dead. The HP damage from a failed roll is still halved. The experience of rotting alive costs 1/1D6 SAN from helplessness. A successful Lethality roll only leaves behind a puddle of green sludge with some bone shards and strands of mycelium floating in it. If the roll fails but doesn't kill them, they lose 1 hit point every 1D6 hours.

Glaakeen can immerse themselves in fresh or brackish water to delay the inevitable, much like how Dr. Muñoz tried to escape the New York heat in a bathtub full of ice. Time spent in the water doesn't count towards the 1D6 hours. At the Handler's discretion, tap water or flowing freshwater (like a river) may only slow the decay, down to 1 HP every 2D6 hours. Full submersion in one of Glaaki's sacred lakes permanently halts the process. It's up to the Handler whether the operator can consecrate a lake to their sunken benefactor. Though it will likely involve using the ritual Whispers of the Dead (Glaaki) with a hefty penalty to the activation roll, or Call Forth Those From Outside (Glaaki).

Glaakeen can wrap up in robes, scarves, and jackets to protect themselves from the sun. It's still too bright at midday, but they can venture out in the early morning or late evening. The inherent risk of exposure, even with precautions, costs 0/1 SAN from helplessness. It might just be in their heads, but the light still burns their eyes and flays their skin. However, mild exposure can cause minor spots of mold to pepper their skin, analogous to how the sun's UV rays can cause freckles and moles before giving you skin cancer.

Curse

This is a weaponized variant of the hypergeometric phenomena that make Glaakeen so vulnerable to the sun. Sorcerers associated with Glaaki or those that have read the Book of Eibon or the Revelations of Glaaki use this against their enemies. The effects are the same whether the victim fumbled an activation roll, or got cursed by a cultist.

The same green mold that afflicts the Glaakeen slowly rots away the victim, regardless of lighting conditions. They lose 0/1D4 CON every session (or 1/1D6 every Home scene for a slower burn). This works just like a SAN test, except you roll POWx5 and lose CON. Each lost point incurs an automatic loss of 1 SAN from unnatural, unless the victim is adapted to helplessness. In that case, they can roll SAN to avoid the loss. At zero CON, the victim melts into a pile of mush, though this doesn't have to be instantaneous. The Handler can choose some dramatically appropriate time for them to die. If you're stuck for ideas, the victim starts deteriorating whenever they would roll CONx5 or test it without a roll. The process takes 3D6 minutes and costs 1/1D6 SAN from unnatural.

Rituals related to the dismissal of Glaaki or his minions can remove the curse. Advanced medicine, especially when combined with unnatural aids, can slow or halt the victim’s decline for a time. If the curse was cast as a ritual, finding and killing the operator saves the victim. 

Side Effects

• The operator always feels like they're being watched and develops a gradual distaste for the sun. This eventually manifests as full-blown Agoraphobia.
  
• If they fall asleep near a body of water, they will probably sleepwalk towards it.
  
• The operator produces a slight magnetic field. It might only throw off compasses to start with, but as they grow closer to their master (either physically or metaphysically), it starts shorting out electronics and damaging hard drives.
  
• They have extreme reactions to spikes and punctures. This can develop into OCD, PTSD, or a Phobia of anything related to impalement.
  
• Viewing the operator through the Voorish Sign reveals the hole in their chest, a ghostly imprint of the spike that impaled them, and the splinters of Glaaki fractally branching through their body.
  

If you're confused as to what this is about, check out this post. 

1 These bonuses and penalties are the sort of thing an Agent will likely discover in the course of researching the ritual. They may even be spelled out in the texts that teach it, albeit, not in mechanical terms, only the Unnatural skill can reveal that.  ^↩