Spectral Servant Might 1-10 (Mentem) (Spring)
While not common it is also not very unusual for older covenants to have one or two benign spectres inhabiting them. Spectres are typically formed when someone dies traumatically while carrying out their duties – miners who die in a cave in, sailors whose ship sank, soldiers who fell in battle. These events are much more likely to generate a spectre in a magic aura.
Spectral servants are a particular sub-class of spectres sometimes found in hermetic covenants, where a trusted grog dies and leaves behind a spectre which continues to carry out their tasks. This is often as a result of a tragically fatal lab accident, or sometimes as collateral damage in a wizard war. According to rumour there are some covenants which practice the ritual murder of grogs to generate useful spectres intentionally, though this has rarely been proven. The covenant of Ungulus in the Stonehenge tribunal is one such suspected covenant, but no evidence of the practice has ever been found.
The example spectral servant here was a menial grog in life and has powers that allow it to use brooms and buckets. Other spectral servants will have powers which can manipulate the tools of their trade, or a focus power which allows for various sorts of objects to be manipulated.
Characteristics: Int -1, Per +0, Pre +1, Com +0, Str +2, Sta +2, Dex +1, Qik +0
Qualities and Inferiorities: Lesser Power
Personality Traits: Servant +3*
Abilities: Profession Servant (Cleaning) 6
Description: To second sight the spectral servant appears as a shadowy version of the servant as they were in life.
Powers
Labour Even In Death (ReTe(He)) 0 Might Init -3
R: Touch D: Concentration T: Individual
The spirit can lift and manipulate objects made primarily of plant materials. In theory this power should allow the spirit to lift any object a man of strength +5 could, but in practice it will not lift anything it could not have in life.
(Base 3, +1 Touch, +1 Concentration, +1 Intricacy)
Story Seed
One of the older grogs has passed on quietly of natural causes… or so it seems. However, their death has left behind a spectral servant – useful, no doubt, but it raises worrying questions. Does this mean they actually experienced a traumatic death, and it was merely made to look like a natural one after the fact? Or has the covenant stumbled onto some unique set of circumstances which can create ghosts on death without requiring trauma? Either way the causes must be investigated, whether it be to solve a murder or to find a lucrative new resource!