Phantasmal Menaces (Wermspittle)

"In films murders are always very clean. I show how difficult it is and what a messy thing it is to kill a man."

Alfred Hitchcock

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Phantasmal Menaces
No. Enc.: 1
Alignment: Neutral (Thoroughly Despicable)
Movement: *See Below
Armor Class: Glass Plate 9, Projected Form 7
Hit Dice: 1+
Attacks: 2 Claws or 1 Bite
Damage: 1d4/1d4+poison, or 1d6+poison
Save: F3
Morale: 9

Special: Limited to 30' radius of its glass-plate, Silver does double damage and silver objects affect them as Holy Symbols affect lesser undead.

Any fool knows that it is not possible to trap someone's soul using a camera, not without serious modification and the application of one or two proscribed spells. It's nothing for amateurs to fool about with by any means. But of course, those sorts of obstacles have never stopped anyone from engaging in such questionable practices, especially if they themselves are lacking in common sense.

Phantamalists and Fantomists, and in some instances those engaged in research into opticks or the emerging fields of Ectography, Haemotropy, and other forms of esoteric photography (including Caprichographika), are often all lumped together in the popular press as geistmongers, peddlers of degenerate art, and unsavory characters all too likely to attempt to enslave intangibles and the like irregardless of the consequences. Fulvous Frida, a popular comic strip in one of the weeklies, is constantly decrying the dangers of unlicensed photomancy and related darkroom arts. Certainly the anonymous artist behind the comic has an obvious personal agenda, but their farcical tirades more often then not strike a chord with the people of the Low Streets and Back Alleys. The comic is so successful that has attracted the sponsorship of Lear's Soap.

But aside from the trumped up terrors and supposed indiscretions of carefully misnamed or cunningly disguised figures of note who are suspected or known to engage in any of the various arts, crafts or techniques disparaged and reviled by the comic, there are actual, very real dangers that have arisen from these fields of endeavor and inquiry. One example of such troublesome thinsg are the so-called Phantasmal Menaces.

Back in the early days of glass-plate image-capture, during the hey-day of Phantasmagoria and Magic Lanterns (which are making something of a come-back we are told), a great many images of various sorts were produced and circulated from show to show, theater to theater, with most ultimately getting stored in some warehouse or a repository or simply discarded. All well enough at the time, however it has turned out to be akin to a Pruztian landmine left-over from the last war and half-buried in the mud.

A surprising number of those old glass plates have been rediscovered by various Guttersnipes, Urchins, Feral Children and even Foragers. Left to fester and decay in obscurity, many of these images, especially those exposed to Spectral Brine or some other form of contamination or pollution, have begun to take on a strange half-life. Some of them whisper garbled blasphemies more gibberish than anything, but dangerous nonetheless. Others ooze off of their glass plates and attack anyone or anything within their limited reach.

So far, very little is really known about the entire process behind the formation of these Menaces, though it has been reported by two different Foragers that have run afoul of these things that silver seems particularly effective against them, possibly due to some sort of arcane chemistry...

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What We Know...

• Phantasmal Menaces derive from discarded old glass plates that were once used in magic lantern shows and similar entertainments.
• They inflict wounds with their jagged claws and vicious little needle-teeth.
• Those wounded by a Phantasmal Menace must make a Save or else be poisoned and unable to sleep or recover hit points through rest for the next 1d4 nights.
• Phantasmal Menaces cannot move outside a 30' radius of the glass plate they derive from.
• Breaking the glass plate requires inflicting damage upon it equal to double the thing's HD.
• Breaking the glass plate will terminate the manifestation for 1d6 nights, during which time the pieces will slowly reform and the creature return.
• To end the manifestation once and for all, it is necessary to encase the glass plate in silver, or submerge it in a solution of silver dissolved in nitric acid for more than four hours, after which time the plate is rendered completely inert, black and image-less.

Caprichographika (Wermspittle)

Some of the more whimsically-malicious forms of degenerate art, Caprichogrphika are a critically-debased and esoterically-scatalogical assault on the innumerable foibles, follies and foolishness to be found in any of the three civilized societies, as well as from the lingering scientific prejudices, deceitful practices, and blind adherence to outmoded industrial doctrines that customs, ignorance and entrenched self-interest have made dominant forces in the wake of the devastation brought about in the last war.

Most take the form of editorial cartoons, but a surprising number also show up in the form of etchings and graven images printed upon paper manufactured from the sweepings from Killing Floors and using crude, sepia-like inks derived from the offal, leavings, blood and filth likewise gathered in the aftermath of the Butcher's trade. Each is deeply impressed with the lingering echoes of slaughter and are reputed to attract buzzing swarms of Gebrochengeists or even demons.

If the image you have discovered has a more grayish cast to it or perhaps a distinct black edging, if is more likely to be a  Graven Image which is a more specialized form of Caprichographika once popular in Nagrothea and crafted from ground-up funeral cerements, shrouds, and the ashes of the cremated dead, often plague victims, orphans or the unclaimed. These things tend to be more toxic on the whole and should never be left lying around loose, especially near the sleeping or recently deceased as it may well prove significantly detrimental. Take this editor's advice and sell any such Graven Images as you might come into possession of to either a reputable Resurrectionist, a representative from the Barrow Makers and Mound Builders Mutual Indemnity & Welfare League, or even a Metempsychotic if you cannot locate someone more pleasant with whom to make the exchange. Fantomists may also express an interest in your recent find, so perhaps you can negotiate some sort of arrangement with them if you are so inclined, but you'd best act quickly before drawing the ire of the Undertakers. I have been told that there is a lively trade in these sorts of things among certain of the patrons who frequent The Tall Man, a dingy little rathskellar near Skrimm Street.

Yellow Kids will sometimes attempt to slip a Caprichographika into the paper, tabloid or nickel-dreadful of those customers who forget to tip the little scamps. Usually this is only a minor nuisance. In those instances where things escalate well past that stage, it sometimes helps to engage the services of a Necro-Mesmerist or licensed Karcist, certified Phantasmalist, bonded Geisterbeschwörer or similar specialist in such phenomena. You will want to attend to matters sooner, rather than later, before attracting a Fantodic, Hasnamuss, or poltergeist. Myself, I prefer to just over-tip the little bastards and avoid the unpleasantness altogether. It is also the policy of our publisher to feed any unsolicited Caprichographika that comes into the offices to an Ordrang that is kept penned-up in the basement near the incinerator, boiler and generators. We used to bundle the things and sell them wholesale to a group of ungezeifers, but after their third cheque was refused by the bank, we stopped dealing with them entirely.

Lastly, it is never a good idea to fall asleep near one of these foul bits of compressed phantasmal debris and offal. Doing so leaves one vulnerable to all manner of nightmares, highly negatively-charged psychic impressions, and the lingering echoes of fear, pain and death. Your health will suffer. Your sanity will erode. Your life will be in peril, eventually. And while it is tempting to burn these things, this only releases the pent-up psychic filth contained within them, often with explosive repercussions...