They are Spectres with a rather unique ghost chain. Instead of being bound to the world by a physical object they are bound to the world by metahuman vice and sin.
They are not diriven by a common goal so much as they have a common nature. Each is out for itself but their natures force them to perform the same acts, to stalk and kill sinners. Their origins, I leave up to whoever decides to use them. However, I see them as more of forces of nature than anything else. They may be related to the Advasary Idol but they aren't under its direct control.

Then again, those who desier certain types of power can attempt to use them as I'll explore later so I wouldn't cound Richard Villiers out.


Gluttony - The Collector

Gluttony is usually represented by overeating. However, gluttony is a sin of excess consumption no matter what is consummed. Those who hoard materl wealth are just as gluttonous as those who consume massive amounts of food.

Cyrus Zorba was a wealthy man in interests in a few As and AAs. He had no shortage of money but it did not buy him happiness. Instead, he traveled the world searching for rare or unique artifacts to add to his collection. He was a glutton for collectibals and his obsession with obtaining better and stranger worldly goods would lead to his downfall. When material thing could no longer satiate Cyrus' gluttony he turned to collecting ghosts. Not just any ghosts mind you, Cyrus collected the Avatars themselves. Having collected 11 of them, Cyrus became the 12th when he was killed by a deathtrap that he had collected years earlier.

The Collector appears to be a dignified man in a white suit with a white beard, not unlike Colonel Sanders. Attached to his body by chains are representations of the trinkets he has collected over the years including gold coins, unopened Star Trek action figures, mayan pottery, and other artifacts both ancient and new. He is eternally forced to drag around the things that he so desired in life. When he takes the essense of a glutton that person's likeness is added to his burdern.

Unlike the other Avatars, The Collector was only recently killed and maintains much of his humanity. He acts according to his own plans rather that serving his insatiable desires. He intends to complete his collection of ghosts and is obssessed with finding number 13. To this end he will manipulate others as best as he can. However, it is only a matter of time before his unholy desires get the beter of him and he degenerates into a relenless killed of the gluttonous.

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Simony - The Magus

Named for Simon Magus, simony is the sin of exchanging material wealth for the promise of spiritual salvation.
The act of practicing magic for hire is not, in and of itself, simony. Magic for hire only becomes simony when one attempts to achieve spiritual immortality through magic.
The most notable simonists of the Sixth World are Cybermancers who perserve souls beyond their time in exchange for money.

In life, the Magus was known as Pope Clement V. His simontical practices led to the Great Schism in the Roman Catholic Church and he is damned because of them.
The Magus appears to be a distinguished Roman Catholic priest carrying a cross in one hand and a collection plate in the other. The collection plate is full of what appear to be giant lumps of lead, symbolizing that material wealth is worthless and burdensome in the spiritual realm. The Magus stalks simonist priests and cybermancers, bludgeoning them to death with his lead offerings.

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Squander - The Bloody Princess

Squander is the sin is violence against oneself and one's property. It is the sin of self destruction and of suicide.

In life, the Bloody Princess was the kind of person who would cut off her nose to spite her face. She had great wealth and a loving family but she threw it all away in her anger. When she had nothing left but her life she threw that away, as well.

The Bloody Princess possesses nothing, not even clothes. Arteries in her neck and her wrists are cut open and blood pours freely from them as she stalks her victims. She slays squanders by holding their faces against the gash in her neck and drowning them in her own free-flowing blood.

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So here are 4, 5, and 6. I'll be back with more.

I don't even know what I want the stats to be yet. I would want them to be smitable by a decently prepared team, so long as they are fought one at a time. Yet, I also want them to be powerfull enough to frighten even the most battle-hardened veterans.

One of the big concepts from the movies was that the ghosts are trapped in a heavily-warded mansion so that the characters can avoid confrontations whith them, most of the time. I imagine that the average team would be running behind superwards rather than standing their ground most of the time.

I don't know how many runners would earn Sloth's ire. It stalks those who have done neither harm nor good. While many runners have done no good, they usualy have accomplished plenty of harm. However, I think he's the coolest of those who I have posted and i would be a shame to imclude these

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Deception - The Liar

The Liar is a large bloated man with a bulbous , a naked torso, and tattered shorts. He has no eyes, no ears, and no nose. In place of those features are extra mouths. Mouths cover his forehead, his scalp, his torso, his arms, and his legs. In total, he has 1,001 mouths. They all speak in unison, making contradictory statements, none of which are completely true.

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Graft - The Torn Prince

Graft is the sin of using wealth and power to exploit the work of others rather than working oneself. Grafters are parasites who constantly take and never create. Graft is the sin of landlords, bankers, capitolists, loan sharks, extortionists, and corrupt polititions.

In Life, The Torn Prince was an french aristocrat known for making loans to needy peasants and then charging exorbinant interest. When the debtors couldn't pay that were made to work off the debt. He became wealthy and powerful from the sweat and bllod of others. Then a little thing called the French Revolution happened. While most Aristocrats were beheaded, the Usurer's debtors wouldn't have that. Instead they tied his limbs to horses and then sent the equines running in opposite directions.

The Torn Prince appears to be a nobel arsitocrat in a purple velvet longcoat and a poofy white shirt. However, his limbs and not attached to his torso. His legs walk ahead of his floating body while his arms levitate off to his sides.

When he attacks, he sends his arms out ahead of him to strike and strangle his victims.

I have found that creating 13 (now 14) interesting backstories is a rather daunting task but I do have some ideas.

Theft was a petty thief in an Islamic nation that adhered to a strict interperation of Sharia. We he has caught pickpocketing, the arm that he stole with was lopped off. Later in his life, he turned to more sophicistated forms of theft, stealing credit card numbers and personal information rather than physical goods.

Pandery was a classic 70's street pimp. He was left alone by the police and allowed to do his job because he often acted as an informent against the more dangerous criminals. His name was Whitey Bear.

Deception was former United States President Bill Clinton. "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky." "It depends on what your definition of is is."
Anyone can lie to you when you don't know what the truth is. It takes a true master to lie believably when you know that he is lying.

Haha.

Personally, I think Joseph Goebbels is a better candidate for Deception than ol' Bubba.

Evil Nazi ghosts are too cliche. They're like evil Nazi vampires, evil Nazi scientists, evil Nazi immortal elves, evil Nazi Nazis and evil Nazi living severed heads.

Needless to say, I was running out of ideas.


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Hypocrisy - The Zealous Emperor

Do as I say not as I do is the credo of the hypocrit, who's actions deny his words. Hypocrits are inconsistant in their dealings with others and with themselves. They violate their own values without care while acting as a harsh judge against others who do the same. The worst of all hypocrits deny their true nature even to themselves.

In his life, the Zealous Emperor was Theodosius the last Soverign of Rome. He made Christianity the official religion of Rome, outlawing all others. He was selctive in implementing his harsh laws. They were more often political tools than attempts to convert the unfaithful. Nevertheless, Theodosius was successful in stamping out paganism in Rome. He also indirectly causes the split of the Roman empire by having two heirs.

The Zealous Emperor appears to be a distinguished and politically powerful Mediterranean man. However, unlike most humans he is inside out. In response to his hypocricy in life, his internal organs, bones and muscles are on display for all to see while his skin faces inward. All can see his hidden nature while his veneer is reflected back at him.

He stalks hypocrits and stangles them his his exposed intestines.

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Treason - Judas

The the soul of Judas Iscariot was thrown violently down to the metaplane some know as hell, he came face-to-face-to-face-to-face with the fallen angel Lucifer. Standing before his eternal warden, Judas made a fateful decesion; he would not go quietly; he would rage against is destiny. As a final act of defiance and of atonement Judas smote the three-faced angel with all of his might.

Alas, Lucifer is an incarnation of three powerful idols, the Advesary, the Dark King, and The Firebringer. While lesser dieties may have been wounded by Judas' unexpected assualt, Lucifer was simply delighted. Lucifer saw Judas as a kindred being who was cheated by destiny. Rather that tormenting Judas as was his job, he enlighted Judas with the terrible truth.

When Lucifer betrayed YHWH, he was just a pawn in a grander plan. He was punished for doing what was created to do. Likewise, Judas's betrayal was integral to Jehova's plan for Jesus. Judas was simply a pawn doing with he was destined to do. The fact that Jesus was meant to forgive all mortal sins yet refused to forgive Judas made this relevation all the more unbearable.

Over time, the two became close friends and they formulated a daring plan. As a part of this plan, Lucifer sacrificed all the condemed souls in his real to elevate Judas, transforming him into a being somewhere between a god and a mortal's spirit. He became an undying Specter, the essence of Treason itself, the Anti-Christ.

No longer a condemed soul, Judas was able to escape Lucifer's metaplaner prision and return to the mortal world to wreck vengence upon his former pupetmasters.

His first acts were to create the other twelve members of Hell's Zodiac. In an act of artistic irony, Judas capurted the souls of his former friends, the other eleven Apostles, and transformed them into incarnations of Sin using his newfound power. Later, made made the original Avatar of Hypocricy by corrupting the soul of Saint Paul, Father of the Catholic Church and first Pope of Rome. The seeds of coruption planted within the Christian faith through Paul remain to this day, waiting to bloom.

Judas is the most powerful of all 13 Avatars. As the Anti-Christ, his power is equivialnt to JC's. Fortunatly for us mere mortals, that isn't nearly as powerful as most people believe.

Judas is immune to all attacks, mundane or magical, except for those carried out by one who who has betrayed a true friend in heart and in deed and who has, in turn, been betrayed by a friend.

Judas can appear to be anyone or anthing. However, in his prefered form he is an average looking human man with a faint circular mark on his neck, reminent from his death by hanging. In this form he carries thirteen blood-stained silver coins, each engraved with the sigil of one of the 13 Avatars of Sin.

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PS - I refer to YHWH and Jehova speeratly because my Shadowrun-Christian cosmology follows the Marcionical doctorine that the Old Testement deity and New Testiment deity are, in fact, seperate beings. I refer to the old god as YHWH and the new as Jehova to keep things simple.
However, it further skews through the twisted path of heresy with the fact that YHWH are Jehova are part of a conspiritoral pantheon (this is actually supported by YHWH's use of plural pronouns to refer to Himself on certain occasions in the Bible as well as historical evidence that demonstrates the polytheistic roots of judaism) which intends to transform all of metahumanity into a mindless karma machines to feed them and that Lucifer is in fact the good guy in the grand scheme of things.

-edited for spelling

Even gods need karma, but gods can't earn karma it has to be given freely by metahumans. The problem with the whole garden of Eden set up was that there really weren't many ways to earn karma there. Now killing the infidels, that nets you big karma. YHWH, Jehova and Allah figured that they could make three religions, pit their followers against one anothers, and then split the karma given to them through mandated worship. The arangment works surprisingly well.

Thank you for brightening my day.

Gods are simply higher order free spirits that have elevated themselves above normal free spirits by becoming the emobdiment of certain namegiver ideals (Totems, Idols, ect).

Dragons know what the gods really are and they are unimpressed. While metahumans have a tendancy to worship beings of great power, dragons have seen gods rise and fall over the years. The weaker gods are outclassed by the more powerful dragons. However, the most powerful of gods are on par with the most powerful of Horrors, perhaps even more so within their home metaplanes. That being said, there is a good reason that gods don't walk the earth out in the open. To so would weaken them immeasurably and leave them vulnerable to their enemies. Instead they use their followers to fight and gain power.

Gods are not eternal. They are bound by the same cycles of creation and destruction as every other being. They can and do die from violence. They wither from entropy when namegivers forget about them and they lose their supply of karma. They are replaced with new gods.

I am glad that I can warm hearts with my blasphemy.

PlatonicPimp, feel free to post any modifications you make. I am curious as to how they'll work out.