Paris, la nuit... Hekau Path of Lightning

Updated: 18 July 1999

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Hekau Path of Lightning
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The origin of this Hekau Path is unknown to Mummies, who never succeeded in finding the Rituals and description (the only copy was in Meryt-Neith's pyramid.

While it has been used by Hecate, this Path has not been seen since (or no witness showed himself...). If some do the easy mistake of associating the name of Zeus, the mythical greek god of lightning, the Truth is that this Path was developped as a present to Set, the Egytpian god of Deserts, Storms and Lightnings, before his corruption, but that's another story...

This Path is a very dangerous one as it does shock damage as well as thermic damage (Considered simple Lethal Damage for purpose of soaking, but as Aggravated Damage when it comes to heal it).

Unless a character is (or was) a Knight of Hecate, there is no way for him to know the Path of Lightning. So no character, even a Veilleur, can start with any point in this Path.

* : Static Shock

Difficulty: 3
Cost: 1 Sekhem

The magician can provoke little electrical shocks that hurt anything that comes in contact with her skin. The damage is too low to even consider on normal sized creatures but the effects are really unpleasant.

System: 1 Sekhem for 1 Scene.
This power lasts one Scene, but its effects can be activated (or deactivated) at will without expenditure of Sekhem if done in the same Scene. As said before, there is no damage done to normal creatures (it's a cool way to kill mosquitoes, through...), but this power is enough to provoke methane/gazoline explosion (it would be a bad idea, unless the magician uses a long electrical wire), light cigarettes of matches, or to make flee that annoying person who tends to be too near... In the darkness, the sparks are visible. Other effets are possible, like destroy those fragile tiny electronic components like microprocessors, or to erase the touched part of a disk or VHS magnetic support... Of course, this kind of erasing doesn't works on non-magnetic supports, like CD-ROMS, etc..

** : Electric Fortitude

Difficulty: 4
Cost: 1 Sekhem

The magician can now create, thanks to his Blood, mystical wires equivalent to electrical wires that allows the passage of electrical current. Being now more or less conducting, he can now soak easily damage made by electricity (most of it being heat/burning damage, by Joule effect).

System: 1 Sekhem for 1 Scene.
The magician is immunized too low voltage/intensity electicity damage (including the first level of this Path) and adds his 'Path of Lightning' level to any Soak roll to electrical damage. The magician can use this level to put his digits on any electric source, and then touch someone to electrocute him!

*** : Lightning

Difficulty: 6
Cost: 1 Sekhem

The cainite can now project an elecrical arc from one of his extremities (hand, head, foot).

System: 1 damage OR 1,5 meter per success.
The electrical arc produced can propagate itself through the air or the void. Any success add one to the damage OR 1,5 meter (5 feet): So, one success is enough only to make touch damage. The Damage isn't aggravated, but can provoke severe shock/confusion to the victim.
Note 1: 1 damage is normaly enough to destroy any normal electronical component: More allows the shock to transmit even through eletric fuses which normaly protect computers, etc. (The ST will add a Soak roll for any fuse protection between the Knight and the electronic/electric component she tries to destroy).
Note 2: A magician can use this power to stimulate a heart who stopped or entered fibrilation. The roll is different: Path of Lightning+Medicine, Difficulty:7. It's a prolonged action that needs seven successes. A Botch kills the victim.
Note 3: To pass through a conductor element can increase the range, but if this conductor element is very large AND/OR touch the ground, then decrease the damage accordingly.

**** : Electrostatic Aura

Difficulty: 4
Cost: 3 Sekhem

The magician creates around him an increase of the electrostatic field around him. Those who touch him (either with bare skin, gloves or metalic object are victim of painful electrical damage.
Moreover, this power has some spectacular effects: Someone striking the magician with a sword would see little electrical arcs climbing the blade and lick his hands (gloves don't really protect in this case) in less than a fraction of second. It's hard to continue striking someone who damages you this way. There is a visual component to this power: little electrical arcs runs around the body of the Knight protected this way.

System: ?.
The number of successes in the Path roll used to start this power is equal to the Voltage Damage. Note that the Knight will not know how many success he did. This power lasts one turn per Voltage Damage, and then, the Voltage start to decrease by one damage per turn. So the total duration of this power is equal the the double of the Voltage Damage. The Knight can't stop this power: He will have to wait for the end (he will know when the power will end).
Note 1: If the Knights isn't protected by Electrical Immunity, then he takes, too, damage from this power.
Note 2: Having gloves or a wood protection around a metallic weapon will only add to the Soaking Roll. It will not protect the attacker. To fire a gun a point blank range (less than 1,5m) won't protect the attacker too: An electrical arc will climb the ''trace'' of the bullet up to the gun (explosion?) and to its bearer.

***** : Lightning Ball

Difficulty: 6
Cost: 3 Sekhem

By concentrating some of his Sekhem in the palm of his hands, the magician can project a ball of highly electrified matter, and guide it by his willpower to its aim: If the victim doesn't succeed in dodging the Lightning Sphere, he will be caught in an electrical aura which will litteraly explode in lightning bolts, provoking painful and sometimes mortal damage.

System: 3 Sekhem.
The magician must use 3 Sekhem to fuel the ball, and then use the Roll Path: Each success is one damage. Then she must roll Perception+Alertness, Difficulty: 7.
This power has a range of 50 meters (50 Yards) and the victim must dodge it as if it was a full-auto attack (Difficulty to dodge raised by 2) as the magician has some control on the movement of the Sphere.
The damage is non-aggravated, but is more difficult to Soak: Difficulty 7; and is equal to the successes in the initial Path Roll the first turn. Each following turn, the electrical aura affecting the victim does one less damage until it disappear.
The diameter of the Aura is 0,5 meter around its aim, more or less, and will damage anything that enters this zone of effects. If the Spheres encounters a solid obstacle (wall, car, etc. but glass doesn't work), it will explode in the same way described before. If the Sphere enters water, it will explode the same way, but with a diameter equal to 1 meter per damage.
Note 1: If the Sphere go through the Ground or through water, the damage is divided by two, as well as the time of effect.
Note 2: The time the magician concentrate the Sekhem on his palm, a ball of white light is visible in the palm of his hand.

***** * : Lightning Sun

Difficulty: 6
Cost: 5 Sekhem

This power creates, like the Level 5 Ritual, a Ball of Lightning energized with electrical Sekhem. The Knight sends the ball to its place, and the next turn, it starts to radiate electrical arcs all around the zone. Everyone in the zone suffer electrical damage unless succeedeing in avoiding the arcs (more luck and ability!)

System: ?.
The sun's diameter and damage changes with the successes:

Successes	ray	Central Damage
1	3m	2
2	6m	4
3	9m	6
4	12m	8
5	15m	10
+1	+3m	+2

People within the 1 meter diameter of the sun takes full damage. Each meter removes one dice of damage, minimum 1 until the full range of the power: Thus 3 successes creates a zone of 9 meters, with a 6-Dice damage sun. Within one meter, one take full damage (6). From 4 to 5 meters, one takes 2 Damage, beyond 5 meters until 9 meters, one takes 1 Damage.

It is very difficult to dodge this kind of ray: The difficulty to dodge is 8, but each success removes one damage.

***** ** : Level 7 Power

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***** *** : Level 8 Power

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***** **** : Level 9 Power

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