Vasht

Vasht the Shadow

Vasht appears as a terrifying creature of the deep. He has seven monstrous heads, like eyeless, toothy-mawed sea serpents. Only his central head bears an enormous, amethyst eye. His serpentine necks connect to a knobby, misshapen trunk which splits in turn into seven writhing, tails. This monstrous spirit never appears above ground and appears to dislike light of any kind. While it prefers to manifest in deep, underground lakes and seas, it can swim through the air as easily as the water. Though it appears horrible, Vasht the Shadow is responsible for keeping even more terrible things out of the world. He is directly opposed to the Scholar. Despite his horrible appearance, the Shadow is a member of the Life Court.

Basic Pact

• Bid: I bid you Keep.
• Offer: I offer you the sanctuary of the Dark.
• Purpose: All things have their time under the sun. All things must then take their place in the dark. There are things that ought no more to walk the world. You will gather them back to the dark where they shall be kept in safety.
• Gift: Followers of Vasht receive a tattered cloak of many pockets. It holds many objects and many secrets. The cloak is actually very fine workmanship, though it is made of many fluttering bits of dark material.
• Mark: Dedicants of the Shadow cast an unusual shadow. It may have too many arms, or be too long, or too short or cast itself against the light. This shadow is always visible, except in utter darkness.

Benefits

• The power of Vasht comes in the keeping of secrets. A follower of the shadow may 'steal' a secret from anyone who shares knowledge with them. They may literally steal willingly given knowledge. For example: An informant shares the time of a clandestine meeting with the shadow dedicant. Now the shadow knows the time, but the informant has forgotten that knowledge.
  • A secret cannot be stolen on a whim. The dedicant must be actively stealing the secret. (In mechanical terms, the intention to steal knowledge must be declared BEFORE the secret is told.)
  • It should be noted that the theft of a petty secret is frowned upon by the Shadow. Also, anyone else who knows the secret does NOT forget it.
  • Secrets must be clandestine knowledge. You may not steal a being's name or home address from them. Don't be silly. Vasht is not petty and will remove his gifts from a caller who abuses them.
    • Unless the secret is WILLINGLY given (ie the being WANTS to forget it) a targeted being gets a will save.
      • DC 5 A secret close to the heart. The Name of a Spirit, the location of a well loved treasure, a powerful spell.
      • DC 10 A valuable secret. The location of something valuable, a state secret.
      • DC 15 A useful secret. Password for an organization, a sneaky shortcut, the time of a meeting, rumored location of a treasure.
      • DC 20 A mundane secret. Where the extra key is hidden, who stole the tarts.
    • A failed secret theft results in automatic discovery and prevents another theft from the targeted being.
• Callers of Vasht may Hide certain things in shadow.
  • The caller may hide a single, non-living item, no larger than they can carry on their person. This item can never be found by searching and appears immediately at the behest of the caller.
  • This is not Hammerspace. The object is still carried, it is simply unfindable.
• Callers may also Give a secret or an object to the Shadow, effectively removing it from the world. Any secret given to the Shadow immediately vanishes from the mind of the Caller and any item so sacrificed vanishes forever. Though it may be possible to retrieve these things from the Shadow himself.

Personality

Vasht is jealous of the secrets he keeps and very serious about his task as a custodian of forbidden knowledge. He is abrupt and to the point. While other Spirits may be vague or evasive when they do not wish to answer a question, Vasht keeps his secrets in silence. In fact, it is very rare that he will answer any question posed to him. In most cases, he gives only warnings to depart, or terse instructions. When called, unless called in total darkness, he speaks from the caller's shadow, his voice grating on both ears and mind to hear.