[Cryptworld] New Thing: The Ashen

A Suffocating Smoke Thing for Cryptworld

THE ASHEN

STR: NA --- WPR: 8 (120)
DEX: NA --- PER: 5 (75)
AGL: NA --- PCN: 5 (75)
STA: NA --- PWR: 130
ATT: 1/90% --- WND: 0*
MV: F 75  (incorporeal)

Experience: 1,000

When a person dies horribly in a fire or some other intense heat, there's a chance he could become one of The Ashen. After his physical body has burned away, his soul becomes intertwined with the materials that killed him, becoming a restless spirit made up of searing smoke, smothering ash, and burning cinders. The Ashen are in a constant murderous rage as their "unlife" has them trapped in an eternal burning state.

An Ashen appears to be a swirling mass of smoke and ash with flickers of searing embers glittering throughout. Someone who sees the creature may catch glimpses of a human face or grasping hand in the drifting vapor. An Ashen floats through the air as a cloud of smoke would. Although an Ashen cannot pass through physical objects, it can squeeze itself through the smallest of cracks and crevices. An Ashen is painfully hot to get close to, causing one box of Wound damage if contact is made. Flammable items (paper, cloth, wood, etc.) will also erupt into flame upon contact.

The Ashen are often found near the location of their original death, fading in and out of existence like a ghostly cloud of soot. An Ashen may also be attracted to and appear at blazing infernos or other hellish locations of intense heat. In its agony, an Ashen lashes out at living creatures it encounters, punishing them by putting them through the same torment the Ashen is eternally living, either by setting them on fire or smothering them in a swirling vortex of ash and soot. Sadly, massive casualties amongst responding firefighters and emergency personnel is likely if an Ashen has been created by or pulled to a fire they're battling.

The Ashen cannot be harmed or destroyed by physical means, except via the tools used in firefighting. Only a massive amount of water, sand, or foam dumped upon the Ashen can injure or dispel it. Intense cold also has a chance of disrupting an Ashen's grasp on this plane of existence.

Ashen Powers

Pyrokinesis: This power works similarly to the paranormal talent of the same name, except that it costs 30 WPR per round of use.

Suffocating Ash: The Ashen engulfs its victim in a choking cloud of soot and smoke as it attempts to smother the victim to death. The attempt costs the Ashen 30 points of WPR per round to maintain the choking cloud. For each round so engulfed, the victim takes two wounds. If the Ashen stops its attack before the victim dies, the victim will still be blinded by the abating smoke for 4 rounds while his eyes clear and he gasps for breath.