Out of Character (OOC):
More groundwork for our next Chronicle. Sources Taken from the nWoD Antagonists sourcebook, as well as Boston Unveiled and Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition. Quotes on cannibalism are taken from the cult classic video/web game Fallen London.
Audrey stood outside the closed door of her boyfriend’s dorm room, arms crossed over her chest, her
face petulant. “You said we were going to go out tonight, Daniel!” she shouted loudly enough that several students came out of their rooms. The curious wanted to watch the show about to unfold.
“You… you don’t understand Audrey. I have to… I need to finish this term paper.” Daniel’s reply was slow and quiet, as if his attention were somewhere else.
Audrey could hear papers and aluminum cans being shuffled around inside the room.
“Well, could you at least open the door so I can see you?” When no reply came, Audrey knocked hard on the door. “Damn it, Daniel, open the door! This isn’t funny!”
Slowly the door opened. Audrey stepped inside, taking a moment to glare at several of the people watching. When the door closed, several students emerged from their respective dorms to talk.
He looked like shit, like his hair was falling out,” said another girl. The trio exchanged nervous glances at each other and then at the door. Not a sound.
“Do you think they’re making up in…”
Audrey’s scream pierced through the door and echoed through the hallway. The trio scattered with just enough time to watch the door shatter off its hinges. Daniel stood in the doorway, his mouth hanging open impossibly wide, showing bloody, serrated teeth. His eyes were as black as a shark’s and just as emotionless. His face, shirt and hands were completely covered with blood. Audrey’s body lay behind him, her head open and hollowed out like a Halloween pumpkin.
“Anyone else for dinner?”
Background:
While most of humanity has no problem with feasting on animals, to eat another human is to become a monster. Even though some cultures lack this taboo, seeing cannibalism as a form of ancestor worship or method of gaining the strength of an enemy, this fear thrives. The fear of cannibalism is an extension of the fear of being eaten, which most modern-day people never have to contend with.
Human beings sit at the top of the food chain, for all practical purposes. And yet, something of that primal fear still lingers in the minds of mankind. Creatures lurk in the dark that can and do feast on human flesh, and humanity keeps that knowledge and the terror it engenders, even if no one would ever admit to it. Did the Hunger arise from that fear, a malady created from one of our oldest nightmares, or did the curse come first, doing its part to create that fear? The question is academic. The Hunger exists, and even if it was born from fear its effects are horrifyingly real.
Description:
"Now the hunger has you - the deeper hunger, lower than the belly, louder than the heart. It grips and shakes you like a rat."
The Hunger is a curse that can affect anyone who eats the heart or brain of another human being, at any time. The curse does not differentiate between those who willingly partake of human flesh and
those who are tricked into it. Not all human meat carries the Hunger, of course. The Hunger isn’t a disease or bacteria in the flesh, it is a supernatural affliction. Sometimes it arises spontaneously, especially in those who eat human flesh repeatedly. Other times, a powerful mage or spirit can deliberately afflict a cannibal with the Hunger. Those cursed by the Hunger have no way of knowing
it until the physical and mental effects begin to kick in.
These afflictions can start anywhere from an hour to a month after eating a human heart or brain. Throughout the curse, the afflicted person begins to take on shark-like characteristics, his mentality devolving into a hungry, instinct-driven beast. The curse goes through several distinct stages, each happening after the afflicted consumes another heart or brain, compounding each other until the afflicted becomes nothing more than the embodiment of Hunger itself. The Hunger affects human beings, mages, werewolves and other supernatural beings. The undead cannot suffer from this curse.
Hunger Curse Stage One:
"You remember the hollow voice you heard in your dreams. The gnawing hunger in your belly. The way the darkness seemed populated with tiny movements. The sense you had that your bones were outgrowing your skin... perhaps you shouldn't go back. It's more peaceful here."
The afflicted person begins to crave the taste of human hearts or brains, and his dreams are filled
with scenes of gruesome cannibal feasts. Systems: At this point, the victim is little more than disturbed and disgusted.
System: Inflicts the Condition: Nightmares (preventing willpower recovery from sleep) and forcing the victim to recover willpower points from Vice and Virtue. They also gain the Condition: Hunger Curse Stage I: all Mental and Social rolls suffer a –1 penalty. Whenever the character is exposed to human (dead or alive) gore or blood (ST discretion) they must roll Resolve + Composure (a willpower point can be used to avoid the roll for a scene). If they win they don't give into the impulses to try to eat the blood or gore. If they lose they make active efforts to intelligently (and stealthily) try to eat human flesh and blood. If they are hungry or fatigued penalties can apply to this roll. They can expend a willpower point to turn their impulse to other raw meat at the first opportunity as an emergency alternative.
Hunger Curse Stage Two
System: The character also gains Condition: Hunger Curse Stage II: While the afflicted person’s fingernails and teeth seem to become weapons. Brawl attacks with fingernails and teeth do Lethal Damage but take -1 to the attack roll as if they were improvised weapons. Social rolls that involve eye contact or general appearance incur a –1 penalty because of the afflicted’s eyes and hair. Intimidation is unaffected.They still make Resolve + Composure rolls to resist feeding on wounded or dead people but an added penalty of -2 is added to the roll. A willpower point can be used to avoid the roll for a scene. If they are given no alternative they can expend a willpower point to turn their impulse to other rare meat at the first opportunity.
Hunger Curse Stage Three
"In the morning your sheets are crusted with blood. Your fingernails clogged with skin. There is a taste beneath your tongue."
The third stage of the Hunger curse is horrifying. The victim’s eyes lose all trace of humanity, all of his hair falls out, his fingernails become claws and his teeth turn into fearsome shark teeth. His skin texture turns to that of sandpaper. The victim begins to experience violent mood swings, going from lethargic to enraged at the smallest provocations. The dreams return, more intense than before, but the afflicted wakes up every morning ravenously hungry.
Hunger Curse Stage Four
"For I was hungry, and I ate you. I was thirsty, and I drank you." What happened in there? Your memory is patchy. The cutlery. The difficulty with the tablecloth. That business with the mouse. If only it had moved faster. If only the sous-chef had been more cooperative."
While the third stage tortures the mind and transmutes the body, the fourth stage focuses directly on the victim’s physicality. The victim evolves into a powerful hunter. His body strength increases dramatically, along with his physical stamina. He is able to open his mouth past the normal human limit, wide enough to engulf a small child’s head. His claws and fangs elongate, allowing him to tear open a person’s chest cavity or bite open someone’s skull. He also loses the fleshy part of his ears and nose, leaving only holes.
System: Condition: Nightmares goes away forever. Condition: Hunger Curse Stage IV is added to the remaining 3 Hunger Curse conditions. All Social Attributes fall to zero while both Strength and Stamina increase by another two dots each, which may take Attributes above 5 (again, derived traits adjust accordingly). The afflicted’s Size also increases by one, as he gains inhuman muscle bulk. The afflicted does (+2L damage) when attacking with claws or teeth. It can also make bite attacks outside of a grapple. They still make Resolve + Composure rolls to resist feeding on wounded or dead people but an added penalty of -3 is added to the roll. A willpower point can be used to avoid the roll for a scene. If the character is out of willpower they automatically fail the roll.
The fourth stage is the last stage recommended for a player character. At this point, the character should either have a chance to undergo a cure or the player should relinquish control to the Storyteller. If the players and the Storyteller are comfortable with one player taking on the role of a flesh-crazy maniac for a Chapter (or however long it takes the other characters to hunt down the Hunger sufferer), feel free.
Hunger Curse Stage Five
"Drown each secret in wine. They scream like buried children. Drink them down; drink them deep. They will rise in you like the water below the well and flower like red spring. You are thirstier now. No. Hungrier."
The fifth stage is the last stage of devolution caused by the Hunger. The victim loses himself completely to the curse. The character is unable to think past his own hunger, which at this point never dies away, no matter how many hearts or brains he eats. Only through an extreme show of determination can the character recover his sanity for a small amount of time.
Systems: Condition: Hunger Curse Stage V is added to the remaining 4 Hunger Curse conditions. The victim’s Intelligence drops to 1, and his Wits and Resolve are reduced by one dot each (again, recalculate derived traits as necessary). At the beginning of a Chapter the victim may make a Resolve + Composure roll to gain control of himself. Each success gives the victim control for one hour/one scene. During this time, the victim still suffers from intense hunger and barely controlled rage, but has enough self control to remove himself from populated areas… or to lay an ambush. His remaining Aspirations are changed to: Consume a human heart or brain, and feed on whatever flesh you can find. At this point the afflicted is unable to use any supernatural powers unless they are reflexive in nature. They no longer roll Resolve + Composure but must spend a willpower point for a given scene or immediately feed on human flesh.
The Hunger is a potent adversary because it is a spiritual or magical curse with direct, physical results. While sufferers of the Hunger, especially in the later stages, pose a significant combat threat for sleepers, curing the Hunger is a different matter entirely. The Hunger tends to work as a “wrinkle” to complicate other adversaries, too. Like a killer cult (see whose membership is comprised of Hunger victims.
Suspected Cures:
Case Studies:
In 2003, powerful mage from Salem fell victim to the Hunger and sinked into the fourth stage, but through his magic retains enough self-control to keep from running amok. He bargained with Abyssal spirits to remove the curse; these entities agreed to cure him if he “infects” six other people with the Hunger. When some of “dinner guests” realize that something is wrong with their food, the can simply try again the following week with different guests, using the previous victims as the main course until he was stopped.
In 189l, fresh graves all over the Boston were being emptied and the bodies torn to pieces. A late-stage Hunger sufferer is desecrating graveyards and eating the organs of the deceased, but the chemicals used to preserve them are poisoning her.
In the 90s there were several east coast incidents of Chinese restaurants that were spreading the affliction by putting human meet into the food.
Conclusions:
In 2002, the Boston concilium concluded that the Hunger Curse had originally come from an Abyssal manifestation or summoning. The entity itself is nothing more than the fact that "tainted" hearts and brains can spread the affliction. There have been several reported cases of shadow cults on the East Coast and in China that were afflicted as part of membership. There was a spike in doomsday cult activity outside of Boston in 2012 but the prevalence of this inflection and these cults has fallen in the last 5 years. Either that or they haven't been visible, growing and bidding time. Concentrations of cases will sometimes crop up in New England but are met with swift action by the local Arrows.
Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen
Venue: Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition
Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler
Venue: Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition
Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler
Assistant Storytellers: Hannah Nyland & Alex Van Belkum
The Hunger Curse
face petulant. “You said we were going to go out tonight, Daniel!” she shouted loudly enough that several students came out of their rooms. The curious wanted to watch the show about to unfold.
“Well, could you at least open the door so I can see you?” When no reply came, Audrey knocked hard on the door. “Damn it, Daniel, open the door! This isn’t funny!”
“All right, we can share my dinner,” Daniel said.
“I don’t know why she stays with him. Isn’t this the second time in two weeks that he’s done this to her?”asked a petite, blonde girl.
“Ever that Chinese restaurant opened down the street, he’s been holing himself up in his room, getting delivery after delivery of the stuff,” offered a young man in a frayed sweater. “I mean, Neil couldn’t take it anymore and went to stay with his brother while Housing’s looking for another room for him.”
While most of humanity has no problem with feasting on animals, to eat another human is to become a monster. Even though some cultures lack this taboo, seeing cannibalism as a form of ancestor worship or method of gaining the strength of an enemy, this fear thrives. The fear of cannibalism is an extension of the fear of being eaten, which most modern-day people never have to contend with.
"Now the hunger has you - the deeper hunger, lower than the belly, louder than the heart. It grips and shakes you like a rat."
The Hunger is a curse that can affect anyone who eats the heart or brain of another human being, at any time. The curse does not differentiate between those who willingly partake of human flesh and
those who are tricked into it. Not all human meat carries the Hunger, of course. The Hunger isn’t a disease or bacteria in the flesh, it is a supernatural affliction. Sometimes it arises spontaneously, especially in those who eat human flesh repeatedly. Other times, a powerful mage or spirit can deliberately afflict a cannibal with the Hunger. Those cursed by the Hunger have no way of knowing
it until the physical and mental effects begin to kick in.
"You remember the hollow voice you heard in your dreams. The gnawing hunger in your belly. The way the darkness seemed populated with tiny movements. The sense you had that your bones were outgrowing your skin... perhaps you shouldn't go back. It's more peaceful here."
The afflicted person begins to crave the taste of human hearts or brains, and his dreams are filled
with scenes of gruesome cannibal feasts. Systems: At this point, the victim is little more than disturbed and disgusted.
"The more you eat, the more you need. Your belly gnaws at you as you gnaw at raw meat, fungus, tent-poles, fresh cats, childhood memories, your own limbs. Perhaps you should continue."
The victim now constantly craves the taste of human organs and develops a bad habit of staring at healthy people (as they would make good meals). His pupils seem to overcome his irises, turning them black. He still retains the white of his eyes, however. Hair thins all across his body, even falling out in small patches. Fingernails grow hard and pointed. The most disturbing part of this stage is that a few of his teeth fall out every night, only to be replaced by pointed and serrated teeth resembling a shark’s. The dreams cease at this point.
"In the morning your sheets are crusted with blood. Your fingernails clogged with skin. There is a taste beneath your tongue."
The third stage of the Hunger curse is horrifying. The victim’s eyes lose all trace of humanity, all of his hair falls out, his fingernails become claws and his teeth turn into fearsome shark teeth. His skin texture turns to that of sandpaper. The victim begins to experience violent mood swings, going from lethargic to enraged at the smallest provocations. The dreams return, more intense than before, but the afflicted wakes up every morning ravenously hungry.
System: Condition: Hunger Curse Stage III is added along with the other Stages. All Social Attributes fall to 1, while Physical Attributes increase by one dot each (Health, Willpower and other derived traits adjust accordingly). The character now inflicts lethal damage with his claws and teeth (1L). The character suffers a –2 penalty to all Mental rolls except for those directly relating to finding food. Finally, the character’s Vice changes to focus on cannibalistic gluttony and one of their Aspirations changes to: Eating human flesh. They still make Resolve + Composure rolls to resist feeding on wounded or dead people but an added penalty of -3 is added to the roll. A willpower point can be used to avoid the roll for a scene. If the character is out of willpower they automatically fail the roll. They can no longer turn this hunger on non-human flesh.
"For I was hungry, and I ate you. I was thirsty, and I drank you." What happened in there? Your memory is patchy. The cutlery. The difficulty with the tablecloth. That business with the mouse. If only it had moved faster. If only the sous-chef had been more cooperative."
While the third stage tortures the mind and transmutes the body, the fourth stage focuses directly on the victim’s physicality. The victim evolves into a powerful hunter. His body strength increases dramatically, along with his physical stamina. He is able to open his mouth past the normal human limit, wide enough to engulf a small child’s head. His claws and fangs elongate, allowing him to tear open a person’s chest cavity or bite open someone’s skull. He also loses the fleshy part of his ears and nose, leaving only holes.
"Drown each secret in wine. They scream like buried children. Drink them down; drink them deep. They will rise in you like the water below the well and flower like red spring. You are thirstier now. No. Hungrier."
The fifth stage is the last stage of devolution caused by the Hunger. The victim loses himself completely to the curse. The character is unable to think past his own hunger, which at this point never dies away, no matter how many hearts or brains he eats. Only through an extreme show of determination can the character recover his sanity for a small amount of time.
Complications:
"She is thirsty: so thirsty. She ravages your pantry, overturns water-jugs and milk-bottles, laps and laps. Her eyes are a different colour each time she blinks. "I'm going," she breathes. "I'm going North. Rats will eat my flesh. They will mount my bones to be a throne for their emperor. I can't wait." She arches her back. She bends her head to drink again."The Hunger is a potent adversary because it is a spiritual or magical curse with direct, physical results. While sufferers of the Hunger, especially in the later stages, pose a significant combat threat for sleepers, curing the Hunger is a different matter entirely. The Hunger tends to work as a “wrinkle” to complicate other adversaries, too. Like a killer cult (see whose membership is comprised of Hunger victims.
- The sufferer simply needs a place to “detox” for a month or two, letting the curse work itself out of her system.
- A certain spell or chemical can cure the victim; or perhaps the affliction is permanent, but with treatment the character can curb her desire for human flesh.
- The Hunger can extend past the need for flesh, too, especially if the sufferer retreats to the wilderness. Maybe the sufferer starts taking bites out of whatever is nearby — trees, rocks, beehives, or anything else that it can catch.
Case Studies:
In 2003, powerful mage from Salem fell victim to the Hunger and sinked into the fourth stage, but through his magic retains enough self-control to keep from running amok. He bargained with Abyssal spirits to remove the curse; these entities agreed to cure him if he “infects” six other people with the Hunger. When some of “dinner guests” realize that something is wrong with their food, the can simply try again the following week with different guests, using the previous victims as the main course until he was stopped.In 189l, fresh graves all over the Boston were being emptied and the bodies torn to pieces. A late-stage Hunger sufferer is desecrating graveyards and eating the organs of the deceased, but the chemicals used to preserve them are poisoning her.
In the 90s there were several east coast incidents of Chinese restaurants that were spreading the affliction by putting human meet into the food.
Conclusions:
In 2002, the Boston concilium concluded that the Hunger Curse had originally come from an Abyssal manifestation or summoning. The entity itself is nothing more than the fact that "tainted" hearts and brains can spread the affliction. There have been several reported cases of shadow cults on the East Coast and in China that were afflicted as part of membership. There was a spike in doomsday cult activity outside of Boston in 2012 but the prevalence of this inflection and these cults has fallen in the last 5 years. Either that or they haven't been visible, growing and bidding time. Concentrations of cases will sometimes crop up in New England but are met with swift action by the local Arrows.
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