The Circle
Of Iron
The magic
of this, the weakest circle of necromancy, pulls at the threads and timbre of
the Underworld to move it in accordance with a necromancer’s whim. The
necromancer is a figure of mysterious power in the sunless lands.
Ghosts simultaneously
respect and fear him, desire what he can give and tremble at the retribution he
can affect. He is something of a contradiction to the dead spirits, for he can
be the door to their freedom or their imprisonment.
Banish Ghost
Cost: 12+ motes
Target: One ghost
This spell is yet another example of the
total power an experienced necromancer can wield over the inhabitants of the
Underworld. Like its sorcerous counterpart and the various countermagics,
Banish Ghost is a quick spell that goes into effect immediately once the
necromancy Charm is activated and the Willpower and Essence are spent. The
necromancer and his target enter a contested Essence + Willpower challenge,
their players rolling each turn until one of them manages to accumulate a number
of successes equal to the other’s character’s Essence. If the ghost is
triumphant, she remains where she is and the necromancer may not attempt to
banish her again until the Calendar of Setesh has marked the passage of three
days. If the necromancer is triumphant, he may do one of the following:
• Banish the ghost from Creation to the
analogous point in the Underworld. The ghost is physically unable to return to
Creation until the Calendar of Setesh has marked the passage of three days.
• Banish the ghost into her tomb, body or
place of death for a similar period of time. She is physically unable to leave
the confines of her tomb (be it plot or mausoleum) or body or to stray farther
than five yards from the place of her death.
• Banish the ghost from his presence for a
similar period of time. If the ghost is seen by the necromancer before the
banishment expires, she suffers one bashing health level per turn until she
escapes his gaze.
The necromancer may spend extra motes at
the casting in increments of 3 motes, reducing the ghost’s dice pool by one die
per 3 motes spent.
Particularly cruel necromantic masters
will banish a loyal servant from their sight through the use of this spell
while still expecting flawless service.
Black Candle
Visage
Cost: 18 motes
Target: One ghost
Fixing a nearby ghost with his deadly
gaze, the necromancer takes total command of a ghost’s body. Pulling at his
target’s ghost flesh from a distance as a puppeteer pulls at strings, the
necromancer can make superficial or completely reconfiguring changes as
desired. Alterations require a Dexterity + Craft (Moliation) roll and can
achieve the same effects as the Arcanoi Nine Terrors Visage and Ghost-Devil
Form.
Should he so choose, the necromancer can
forego such sophistry and simply cripple his target, distorting the ghost’s
limbs and body beyond all use. This can reduce the ghost’s Dexterity or
Strength by one dot per success on an immediate Dexterity + Craft (Moliation)
roll.
Furthermore, the necromancer can lock the
ghost into the form he shapes. Roll the necromancer’s Conviction + Willpower
against the ghost’s Conviction. Every success that the necromancer achieves
over the ghost’s total successes indicates one week that the ghost is locked
into the form. Ghosts whose players botch their Conviction roll may be bound to
the new form as long as the necromancer desires. Ghosts may choose not to
resist the transformation. However, this choice is a dangerous one because it
gives the necromancer full control over the duration of the change.
A ghost successfully bound into her
altered form takes on a black, burnt-wax color while she is under its effects.
Ghosts familiar with Black Candle Visage will recognize the telltale sign of
necromancy.
There is a
A ghost subject to Willful Flesh Commands
retains possession of her Arcanoi and may use them despite her finale form. Her
corpus is, however, henceforth proof against Arcanoi that alter ghost flesh,
whether used by herself or another. The effects of this spell are permanent and
can only be reversed by countermagic or an additional use of this spell.
Willful Flesh Commands costs 24 motes of Essence.
Bless The Rapine
Soul
Cost: 16 motes
Target: One living creature
The necromancer with this spell is every
ghostly puppeteer’s friend. Strapping a single living person to the worktable,
the necromancer invokes a ritual of knives and blood, of spiritual lashings and
the ghostly rack. The spell stains and subjugates the victim’s soul, making all
but the most strong-willed cower before even the most meager assault. Victims
killed without an opportunity to recover from this harsh treatment almost never
enter the Underworld as ghosts, so timid are their spirits.
The result of this spiritual abuse is a
vast magnification of the effect of body-controlling Arcanos, such as
Puppeteer’s Masterful Hand. A ghost invoking this Arcanos upon a human prepared
with Bless the Rapine Soul enjoys the following benefits: He gains a number of
extra successes to the initial possession roll equal to the necromancer’s
Essence, and the duration of the Arcanos is extended to one week. Other Arcanoi
related to the possession of living creatures receive similar benefits at the
Storyteller’s discretion.
A victim of this spell typically recovers most
of her will following a month free of possession, after which the treatment
needs to be reapplied. Some necromancers insist that repeated applications
become permanent, but only the joyless victims of the Fair Folk truly never
recover from the abuse of this spell. Exalted and other magical beings with a
soul are not immune but recover after a week of freedom. There is a similar
spell called Consorting with Devils.
Also of the
Abyssals who prefer consorting with the
dead but tire of their concubines’ pale and cold flesh often arrange for
consorts who permanently wear a mortal’s lovely flesh. One who does not care
which ghost possesses her plaything might use Bless the Rapine Soul, while one
who desires to make love to a specific spirit might use Consorting with Devils.
Blessed Dead
Fools
Cost: 13 motes
Target: Several ghosts
Song begets song. In search of lovely,
gentle music, the necromancer croons a short and disturbing melody while
forming thin staves of Essence and binding them with cords of the same.
Finished after nearly a half-hour, she stands the haphazard flagpole in the
Underworld and binds it with a kiss. In response, a flag bursts into being at
the top of the staff, one formed of pale blue flame and visible for leagues.
Ghosts who know and curiously foolish
ghosts alike are drawn to the burning flag. Each ghost who nears the signal is
gifted with instant knowledge — the flag is a request and a binding oath, which
any ghost may accept. A ghost who agrees to the bargain is given a gift of
skill — he is blessed with a Performance of ••••• — and a gift of knowledge —
he knows when and where he is to perform. The oath requires him to be there at
the proper time and properly attired, and it binds him to never speak of the
event or anything he may learn there.
The return to the ghost is great: The
parties of necromancers are grand and gaudy affairs, and many maskmakers or
peddlers of dreamstones make their fortunes through networks forged at such
parties. Additionally, the music played is as vivid and vibrant as anything the
ghost might have heard while alive — the strength of these sensations can even
be enough to create addicts among the dead. Even when not addicted, most ghosts
are very grateful for the opportunity to experience such a thing.
Until the event, the ghost may use his
newfound skills to improve his lot in other ways. Afterward, the skill fades.
After the sixth ghost touches the flagpole and binds himself to the
necromancer, the flame atop the staff gutters out, and the Essence-built sticks
crumble. The same occurs if the flagpole still stands when the event actually
begins.
Blood Mirror
Speech
Cost: 10 motes, 1 lethal health level
Target: One creature
Mirrors are objects of strange nature and
natural metaphor. They are often enchanted for use with various magics and
purposes, and in the Underworld, it is common for even mundane mirrors to
display some strange properties, whispers of what once was or shadows of what
might be. Strange things hide in mirrors.
In casting this spell, the necromancer
must face a mirror and keep a short message in mind. When ready, he cuts his
palm with an obsidian knife and flings the spray of blood onto the reflective
surface, where his message is spelled out in blood before it dissolves into its
own reflection.
The next time the target of the spell
looks into a mirror, the message comes flowing out of it to be read. Once the
bloody words are understood, they lose cohesion and begin to run down the
smooth surface of the mirror. At this time, if the target of the spell chooses,
she may wipe clean the mirror and lightly cut her fingertip. Using it as a
stylus, she may write a short message on the mirror, and it will be seen by the
necromancer when next he looks in a mirror.
There are additional spells of the three
necromantic circles that take advantage of mirrors’ strange qualities.
Invisible Doorway, of the Shadowlands Circle, costs 18 motes of Essence and a
lethal health level. It allows the caster to open a doorway between Creation
and the analogous position in the Underworld through any reflective surface.
Anointing it with his blood, the crimson becomes the shining quicksilver blood
of the Malfeans and the surface becomes a portal, which remains open for three
turns. After this use, mirrors shatter, ponds boil and silver tarnishes. White
Shard, a Labyrinth Circle spell, costs 28 motes and allows the necromancer to
communicate face-to-face between two specially treated mirrors. The
communication afforded by White Shard lasts for up to half an hour. The Barless
Gate is of the Void Circle and costs 42 motes to cast. With it a necromancer
may step between any two mirrors in the Underworld in a form of instantaneous
travel. Invoking the Barless Gate violently shatters all spiritual or physical
wards barring such travel at the recipient’s gate.
Bone Puppet Dance
Cost: 16 motes
Target: One creature
Considered requisite among those who wish
to be known as masters of the walking dead, this spell is completed by the
utterance of a single syllable of command, the sound of which burns through the
air to brand itself invisibly on the center of its target’s ribcage. Once the
brand is made, the necromancer commands complete obedience from the skeleton,
and any living flesh around that skeleton is in for a nightmarish time.
The skeleton will immediately begin
attempting to enact the necromancer’s will, moving to attack its owner’s
friends, bearing a message to the East or performing back flips for the
necromancer’s amusement. The inherent difficulty in controlling another being
causes any action attempted by the skeleton — who otherwise acts with its
host’s dice pools — to be at a dice penalty of the host’s Essence.
If the host does not wish to be the
necromancer’s servant, as is likely, he must to act against the actions his
skeleton is carrying out. He may exert control over his body with little mental
effort, but even as he drives his body through force of will, his skeleton is
resisting. His bones burn and scream, unable to perform as their necromantic
master demands. Every action taken by the host is at -1 die, and every turn in
which he wrests control from his tormented frame, he suffers two levels of
lethal damage as his bones blister his muscles and claw at him from within.
This damage can only be soaked by natural soak (and is unaffected by hardness
ratings that do not reasonably affect wounds coming from within the body).
The effects of this spell last for a
number of hours equal to the necromancer’s player’s successes on a Charisma +
Occult roll. Trying to control a body that resists requires more of the spell’s
available power, so every turn in which the host painfully controls his own
body reduces the remaining hours of servitude by one. When this number reaches
zero, the spell ends. If the host is killed as a result of attempting to remain
in command of his body, the skeleton claws its way free of the flesh which
restrained it and becomes a permanent zombie under the control of the
necromancer.
A necromancer can cast this spell upon an
already extant skeleton to animate it as a permanent servant, or she can target
a skeleton that is already animate, ripping control from its current master.
This technique is so spiritually abusive that it inflicts the caster’s Essence
in dice of bashing damage, soakable only with Stamina, to the necromancer from
whom she took the skeleton.
Bonfire Visions
Cost: 13 motes
Target: One bonfire
Although abysmally rare in the Underworld,
the bones of a creature that once lived must be collected before the necromancer
may cast this spell. Splintering the bones and piling them on the ground, the
necromancer hurls a ball of blue flame into the pale white kindling, which
bursts into flame. The fire is large but controlled and always burns a pale
blue-white. The light is drowned out by the strong rays of the sun, and in
Creation, the fire will soon go out. But in the Underworld, the light of the
bonfire burns brightly. Ghosts can see the clear light for miles through the
dreary Underworld, and they are drawn to it.
Any ghosts who peer into the flame during
the hour in which it persists can look in upon any of their Fetters with
perfect clarity, without the requisite Arcanoi. This is often a boon for which
ghosts are willing to pay, either in goods or in services.
Death Flies Two
Sails
Cost: 14 motes (seven committed)
Target: One sailing vessel
There is no safety in sailing upon the Sea
of Shadows. Spectres float on the boundless black waves, vile shadows are able
to seep in with the smallest leak, and hekatonkhire lurk in the depths and do
not always slumber. A necromancer with this spell need fear none of those
things.
Standing with her feet in the lapping
waters of the Underworld’s dark ocean or its murky rivers, she sings an eerie
lullaby to the depths. After seven minutes, the song is finished, and the
strange ghosts who rule the depths of the ocean are appeased. In response, they
send forth a sailing ship long dead and repaired. The ship is small and of a
dark wood, but its mast stands tall. It is obviously a sunken vessel returned
to service: The black sails are patched with tanned human skin, and holes in
the hull are closed with pale white bone. The prow bears a figurehead — a
living spectre, bound there to sing softly as the ship sails.
The ship moves as the necromancer wills
and requires her presence on the ship. The craft can comfortably contain two
passengers, but five can fit with effort. As the ship sails, it leaves a wake
of bile-tainted blood. This and the lullaby of the figurehead act together to
calm the savage inhabitants of the Sea of Shadows and ease the necromancer’s
passage. Storytellers should make an effort to reduce the difficulty of
challenges inherent to travel on the Sea of Shadows. For instance, if a social
roll is required to navigate an obstacle, add three dice to the relevant pool,
independent of any Charms or stunts.
The ship lasts as long as the necromancer
leaves the Essence committed. If she desires, she may cast this spell at night
on Creation’s seas and rivers at twice the Essence cost (the Essence commitment
is not doubled). However, the shadowy wood of the ship boils away to nothing if
the sun’s rays strike it, losing one health level each turn, and the spectre
shrieks as it disappears beneath the waves.
Treat the ship as a fast courier with
respect to speed and appearance, and give the vessel 8L soak and 8/16 health
levels. Also, treat shadowlands as the Underworld for the purposes of this
spell, even when the sun is shining.
There exists a Labyrinth Circle version of
this spell called Funerary Misted Vessel. The vessel summoned from the dark sea
bottom is greater and able to carry up to 20 able bodies comfortably, 50
uncomfortably or 80 of the walking dead, carefully packed. In addition to the
properties provided by Death Flies Two Sails, the ship travels obscured by a
thick fogbank. This fog is transparent to anyone on the ship but nearly opaque
to all others, and this effect spreads out from the summoned vessel for a
number of miles equal to the caster’s Essence. This fog serves to protect the
ship from harmful daylight — when under the Creation’s sun the ship suffers a
loss of half its soak but is not destroyed. Treat the ship as a marine assault
bireme, with 14L soak and 16/32 health levels. The ship need not be manned by
the one who summoned it — the Silver Prince has three of these ships that
patrol the waters around his island realm. Funerary Misted Vessel costs 22
motes to cast and requires 11 to be committed; the cost is doubled in Creation,
but the committed Essence is not.
Death Inversion
Loop
Cost: 18 motes
Target: One ghost
So horrible is the moment of death for
most ghosts that they are loath to think back to it or to visit the place where
it occurred. Most who leave haunts behind avoid those tableaux with great
vigor. A necromancer can cast a ghost into the Death Inversion Loop, a
harrowing experience wherein the spirit relives her death just as she first
experienced it, leaving his victim drained of will. The caster targets a single
ghost within 50 yards.
When the spell is cast, the ghost freezes,
all muscles rigid, before collapsing to the ground as her mind is trapped in a
repeating replay of her death. These images are accompanied by the numbing
knowledge that she can in no way change the outcome of the events that she is
reliving.
The outward effects of Death Inversion
Loop last only a moment. Those who watch the unfortunate ghost will see her
collapse one moment and rise the next, shivering with effort and fright. Only
she will have lived through an immeasurable length of time that has sapped her
will to continue on.
When the spell is cast, the necromancer’s
player rolls his character’s Willpower + Essence against the ghost’s Willpower.
The difference in successes between the two is the maximum number of loops the
caster can force his victim to endure. If the roll for the ghost turns up more
successes than the roll for the necromancer, she has proved stronger than he,
and the spell turns upon him instead.
After each loop, the target ghost loses
one dot of permanent Willpower, and her player rolls that value against a
difficulty equal to the Essence of the necromancer. Success frees the ghost,
while failure dooms her to another cycle. After the number of loops chosen by
the necromancer, or after the ghost’s player succeeds on the Willpower roll,
the ghost returns to her consciousness and can act. In terms of combat time,
the ghost is paralyzed for only a single turn. A ghost reduced to zero
Willpower by this spell dissolves, becoming a haunt of the scene that killed her.
This spell can be cast on living
targets, and it casts them into a vague and disturbing vision of their own
deaths. Savants are unsure if this is prophetic in nature. The vision occurs in
an instant and does not incapacitate the victim for a full turn. Instead,
disturbed by the vision, she suffers a one-die penalty to all attacks for the
turn in which the spell is cast. This effect also occurs when the spell
rebounds upon a living necromancer who chose to punish too strong a spirit.
Death Mask
Cost: 14 motes
Target: Caster
Before a necromancer can first cast this
spell, he must personally oversee the painful sacrifice of a living mortal. As
his victim’s life flees her, he must invoke Death Mask. The mortal’s hun is caught
as it escapes the failing corpse and is rent of any sentience by the casting of
the spell. What remains of the hun is no more than a shell, a cloak of plasm,
which the spell hides Elsewhere. Most necromancers take a petty pleasure in the
knowledge that nearly all victims of this treatment rise as hungry ghosts
afterward.
When he casts the spell in the future, he
spends 10 minutes in meditation before spending another 10 gently pulling the
fragile cloak out of Elsewhere and carefully donning it. Once complete, only
the most perceptive ghost will see anything other than a fellow spirit in the
necromancer’s place. Each time the necromancer dons the mask, his player rolls
Essence + Craft (Moliation). The result is the difficulty a ghost’s player’s
Perception + Awareness roll must overcome to see through the caster’s deception
and recognize that he is an impostor ghost.
Mortals and living creatures cannot see
the Death Mask at all. The use of Essence-viewing magic can reveal its presence
but will not provide a clear view of the disguise.
If the necromancer is attacked while
wearing the ghostly shroud, count any lethal or aggravated damage done to him
as damage done also to the spirit. If the cloak suffers more than four health
levels of damage, it has been reduced to such tatters that it falls off of the
necromancer then and there. Up to that point, his disguise is intact, and his
identity is safe from ghostly eyes. If the damage to the cloak is any less, it
will regenerate one lethal health level per week Elsewhere, once removed. If a
necromancer’s cloak is destroyed, he will have to acquire another before he can
cast the spell again.
When worn in Creation, the ghostly cloak
only takes damage from attacks that can harm spirits.
Drawing Blind
Edge
Cost: 20 motes
Target: One ghost
Breathing a frigid mist upon her hand, the
necromancer’s palm and fingers grow pale with rime. With a white glow in her
eyes, she plunges her frosted hand into the pale corpus of a nearby ghost and
slowly draws from his body a translucent blade, dancing lightly with blue
flame. The ghost’s corpus dwindles as the blade is drawn until it disappears
with the unsheathing of the point, entirely transformed into a deadly edge. If
the spell isn’t discharged upon the corpus of a ghost, the rime inflicts one
unsoakable level of bashing damage upon the necromancer every 10 minutes as it
slowly spreads over her body and freezes her to death.
The necromancer must, after casting the
spell, successfully strike her target with her bare hand. Once done, nothing
can prevent the unsheathing of Blind Edge. The weapon’s statistics are chosen
by the necromancer at the blade’s inception. She may distribute one point among
the blade’s speed, accuracy, damage and defense for each dot of her victim’s
permanent Essence; until so bolstered, the weapon’s stats are identical to
those of a reaver daiklave. None of the weapon’s stats may be raised above the
necromancer’s Essence + Occult. (If playing with Exalted Power Combat, the
weapon’s rate is equal to the necromancer’s Essence.)
The blade inflicts only half damage,
calculated before soak, against living creatures. Against ghosts and other dead
spirits, Blind Edge deals aggravated damage and can strike even immaterial
ghosts. Should it deal a fatal blow, the slain ghost is drawn into the blade
with a shriek and a burst of blue flame. No dead spirit destroyed in this
manner will ever see the Underworld again. Its Essence is consumed by the
blade.
Each ghost absorbed into Blind Edge allows
the necromancer to distribute additional points across the blade’s attributes,
one for each point of permanent Essence it devours. While there is no limit to
the number of ghosts that may be drawn into the weapon, the necromancer can add
to the weapon no more points than (her Essence x 5). Blind Edge remains until
dismissed, until struck by countermagic or until the sun of the Underworld next
dawns. Whatever the cause, the bluish-white blade then flashes stark black, and
it howls with the voices of the captured ghosts as they are hurled into the
Abyss.
Dusk Eyes
Cost: 10 motes
Target: Caster
Blood is one of the borders between life
and death. A surfeit of blood plagues the living and keeps them alive, while
the dead suffer from an endless thirst for it. A wise necromancer can use this
very fluid boundary to peer across the curtain between the living and the dead.
Lightly pricking a finger, he touches it
once to each eye and closes both, letting the blood settle. When he opens his
eyes, they are a dark crimson and he can see from the Underworld to the bright
world of Creation, or his vision can reach from the living worlds into the
realm of the dead. A necromancer using this spell can only see one world at a
time. If gazing into the other world while engaging in a complex activity, such
as combat, he suffers the two-success penalty of acting blindly in the world he
inhabits.
This spell can be defeated by wards and
spells against scrying. The effects of Dusk Eyes last for an hour as marked by
the Calendar of Setesh and confer no benefit in a shadowland.
Easing The
Forsaken Memory
Cost: 12+ motes
Target: One haunt
A traveler through the Underworld is
constantly confronted by the lost memories of the dead, images and emotions
frozen at a moment of abject terror or pitiful loss as the victim ended his
mortal life. These foul tableaux can be cleansed from the bright world of
Creation with rituals of exorcism and, if given time, will fade. Their
counterparts in Creation’s smoked mirror are hardier, bolstered by the negative
Essence of the Underworld, and resist efforts to remove them.
The Deathlords are particular beings and
have specific tastes. When one desires to raise her fortress here, no
pitiful spirit’s echoing cries against death are going to disrupt her choice of
locale and decor. Easing the Forsaken Memory can completely erase a single
haunt of the caster’s choice. For an additional cost of 1 mote per mile, the
necromancer can relocate the haunt to a location of her choosing.
There is a similar spell, Congealing the
Last Thought, that can create haunts for those necromancers who appreciate them
as a motif. The haunts created by this spell can be taken from the mind of a
cooperating ghost or can be constructed out of whole cloth from the
necromancer’s imagination. Haunts created by this spell in Creation last a
month per permanent Essence of the caster, while those created in the
Underworld are near-permanent. Congealing the Last Thought costs 12 motes.
Emperor’s Chains
Cost: 16 motes
Target: Varies
The necromancer claps her hands, and the
world resounds with that sharp sound. As it reaches ghosts’ ears, their corpora
become sluggish and unresponsive. All ghosts within 50 yards of the necromancer
find their movement rates halved, and the costs of all movement-related Arcanoi
are doubled.
The necromancer may choose, instead, to
focus the spell’s effect on a single ghost, who must be within 20 yards when
the spell is cast. That ghost is rendered unable to move at all, and any
movement-enhancing Arcanoi cost triple the Essence to use.
Faces Of The Dead
Cost: 16 motes
Target: Caster
Casting the spell with two fingers
together, the necromancer brings them apart and draws out a wire of shimmering
silver. The wire appears to fold outward, growing additional dimensions and
facets until it becomes a thin-shafted silver mace with a perfectly forged,
12-faced head.
The silver mace is of excellent quality
and balance, and beneath the stars of the Underworld, it winks with reflected
light. Against a ghost, the weapon inflicts additional damage equal to the
caster’s Essence. If a blow with the mace deals a number of health levels of
damage equal to or greater than a ghost’s permanent Essence, the mace and ghost
flash with a bright blue light as the ghost is captured in one of the faces of
the weapon’s head. The faces of all ghosts captured peer out from the surface
that holds each.
Once an hour has passed, the necromancer
forfeits use of the weapon as the shaft dissolves into dust and blows away on a
phantom wind. The mace’s head becomes a jar of transparent rock crystal,
holding all the spirits that were captured within. The jar has 12L/12B soak and
can suffer up to 20 health levels of damage before it shatters, freeing any
trapped ghosts. Effective countermagic violently shatters the jar
automatically. Only the necromancer can open the jar without forcing it. A
ghost freed from the jar by whatever method is bereft of Essence.
Faces of the Dead was a tool used in first
days of the First Age, as the inquisitive Solars and Chosen of Secrets began
exploring the mysteries of the Underworld. Its use was eventually viewed as
distasteful and discontinued.
Abyssals use it today to collect souls for
the forging of soulsteel, as the ghosts are quite pliable once removed from the
crystal jar.
Weapon Speed Acc. Dmg. Def.
Silver Mace -1 +2 +5L +0
Field Of Fell
Dreams
Cost: 16 motes
Target: Area of effect
The caster drops to one knee and channels
the heat of thousands of decaying dead into the earth or stone at her feet. As
the spell ends, the necromancer removes her palm to reveal a brand in the shape
of her hand. At that instant, skeletal hands burst forth from the dirt, the
cobblestones or the marble floor and begin to latch with the strength of the
dead onto any who come within their grasp.
Any person other than the caster is forced
to dance and dodge about to avoid being grabbed by the grasping claws — he has
his Dexterity reduced by one dot while within 50 yards of the brand and his
Dexterity reduced by two dots with respect to calculating movement.
Additionally, anyone moving through the Field of Fell Dreams suffers one attack
for every five yards he moves. Each attack is a clinch attempt made at an
accuracy of (the caster’s Essence + 5). The hands have a pool of seven dice
when attempting to maintain clinches, and they never attempt to inflict damage,
only to contain their victims. The bony hands may be destroyed easily — they
cannot dodge or parry and are relatively fragile — but a new one takes the
place of any hand smashed or severed. The hands can grasp immaterial ghosts as
easily as mortals, and ghosts caught by the hands are forced to spend a mote to
manifest.
The hands’ animation flees them at the
stroke of midnight, as measured by the Calendar of Setesh.
Five Gifts
Cost: 12 motes
Target: One ghost
Every ghost is afflicted with the
mind-numbing blandness of unlife. When foods taste as dust and the rainbow is
different shades of gray, when a ghost cannot even dream of the vivid
sensations he used to have, rapidly fading memories are all that remain.
This spell was crafted in the First Age as
the Exalted began to explore the Underworld and its then-sparse inhabitants.
While many spells of sorcerous origin could do little to relieve the ghosts’
dreary existences, the discovery of necromancy gave the curious
sorcerer-priests a second opportunity.
A ghost affected by this spell experiences
the world as he used to in his previous life. Blood appears a bright scarlet
instead of a faded pink, and wracking sobs echo and ring in a pleasantly
abominable din. The dull foods of the Underworld are given taste, and the
sacrificed foods of the living taste as sweet and savory as they did before the
ghost’s death. These are pleasures otherwise unknown to the residents of the
Underworld. In the Age of Sorrows, this spell is often a blessing bestowed on
much-prized servants of the Abyssals or the Deathlords. Ghosts of moderate
means may humble themselves to purchase what is, to them, bliss, and
necromancers in negotiation with the dead can use this spell as a powerful
bargaining chip. There is no danger inherent in the spell, which makes it an
attractive alternative to risking one’s corpus in a world of ghost-hunters,
Immaculates and exorcists.
Five Gifts lasts only until the next sunset,
but it is a strongly reaffirming experience. It reminds ghosts of the world
they are refusing to leave, and when the spell is cast, the target gains points
of temporary Willpower equal to the successes on a roll of his highest-rated
Passion. This may temporarily raise Willpower above the ghost’s maximum. When
the spell begins to fail, the ghost can feel it fading. It is very difficult
for a ghost to peacefully let go of mortal pleasure. Roll the ghost’s
Temperance when the spell ends. A failure results in the loss of a single point
of temporary Willpower. All Willpower in excess of the ghost’s normal maximum
vanishes with the effects of the spell.
Although there is no physical addiction,
ghosts who receive the pleasures of this spell multiple times find themselves
yearning for it more and more often, making them more pliable, even slavish, if
it will get them the sensations they crave.
Flesh And Bone
Winds
Cost: 18 motes
Target: Caster
With the final syllable and gesture of
this spell, the ground around the necromancer glows a soft, pearly white. After
a moment, the earth or stone is ruptured by sharp, shattered bone and soft
ribbons of flesh. The materials spin around the caster at ever-increasing
speeds, obscuring him and picking up the flesh and bone of the dead that lie in
the necromancer’s path, tearing them to pieces and adding them to the storm.
The Flesh and Bone Winds howl around the
caster one yard from where he stands. At its base utility, the spell adds a
difficulty of 1 to all melee attacks made against the necromancer and a
difficulty of 3 to all ranged attacks in or out of the shell of skin and
marrow. Additionally, anyone apart from the necromancer who steps into the
maelstrom automatically suffers three dice of lethal damage each turn she is
exposed to the tearing bones and flesh.
Those slain by the winds are shredded as
they die, their flesh and bones ripped apart to strengthen the fury of the
storm. Corpses already fallen, if brought within the radius of the spell, will
also add to the debris of the dead. Each body added to the storm increases its
radius by one yard, and every two bodies absorbed increase the difficulties of
ranged attacks by one. A maximum of (the caster’s Essence x 2) corpses can be
added to the spell’s fury.
Flesh-Sloughing
Wave
Cost: 16 motes
Target: Area of effect
Originally a utility spell with the
purpose of cleansing the dead of their flesh and leaving only the bones, useful
for constructing the war machines of the Deathlords or legions of the
necromancer’s own, the Flesh-Sloughing Wave has begun to see use as a dangerous
attack spell in the world of the living.
As the spell coalesces, the necromancer
shapes an ivory ball of Essence in her hands above her head. It throbs slightly
with a white light as she caresses it into a sphere, and any visible bones
nearby glow in time. Any living nearby feel a pull in their bones, waxing and
waning in time with the pulsing of the spell.
When complete, the ivory ball is hurled to
the ground, where it shatters, releasing a wave of translucent ivory light out
to a range of (the caster’s Essence x 5) yards. As the dome of light expands,
it carries with it the flesh from the bodies it passes. Flesh from a corpse is
torn away instantly, as is dead flesh on a living creature. Those bearing
living flesh endure a second of pain as the spell tries to peel away their
skin, muscle and fat to leave only the pale white bones beneath.
All living creatures within the radius of
the spell except the caster must soak twice the caster’s Essence + Occult in
lethal damage. Creatures who somehow have no flesh have nothing to fear from
the Flesh-Sloughing Wave.
A Fair One killed by this spell dies in a
blinding flash of chaos, as the ordered prison that held it is torn away by the
spell.
Gathering A Ghost’s
Strings
Cost: 10 or 20 motes
Target: One ghost
With a gesture and a twist of the hand,
the necromancer swiftly learns all she needs to terrorize a ghost of her
choice. Targeting any ghost she can clearly see, the necromancer gains brief
visions of the ghost’s Fetters and of the ghost’s Passions. Each Fetter and
Passion is a unique vision that takes a full turn to complete, together
bestowing upon the necromancer clear details of the ghost’s each and every
Fetter and Passion.
While the knowledge presented by this
spell does not give the caster any inherent power over the ghost, any being
with this sort of detailed knowledge will have at her disposal endless sources
of blackmail and threats.
If the necromancer chooses to spend an
additional 10 motes after seeing her victim’s Fetters and Passions, she may
overwrite them. Concentrating on images of her own, she may exchange each
Fetter or Passion for one of her own design of the same rating. This can
seriously alter a ghost’s lifestyle and drives, but the spirit is constantly
aware that necromancy is forcing him to act contrary to his subsumed desires.
The representations of the ghost’s old Fetters act as the representations of
his new Fetters. The changes fade after one month per point of the caster’s permanent
Essence.
Puzzle Box of Love is a spell of the
Labyrinth Circle that allows the necromancer to completely rearrange a ghost’s
Passions and Fetters. She may choose any combination of new Passions to fit the
ghost’s Virtues and may reshape the ghost’s Fetters in any manner she desires,
so long as the number of dots in Fetters is not greater after the
transformation than it was before.
This spell is permanent, but the player of
a heroic ghost bound by Puzzle Box of Love may roll his character’s Willpower plus
the strength of any Passion lost during the transformation against a difficulty
of the necromancer’s Essence once per year, on the day of his death. Victory
allows him to return to his previous life but comes with no guarantee of safety
from retribution or repeated imprisonment.
Gentle Call Of
Lethe
Cost: 13 motes
Target: One living creature
The necromancer traces a simple mark with
her hand on the target’s forehead. After the caster is finished, the symbol shines
with a bright light for a few short moments before disappearing. There is no
other visible effect. The symbol is visible to creatures using Essence-sight
and ghosts using Aura-Reading Technique, and many such individuals recognize
the power of the rune.
When a creature affected by this spell
dies of whatever cause, he is barred from becoming a ghost. Whether the spirit
enters Lethe or Oblivion is a matter determined by the temperament of the soul.
The most furious and hateful disappear into the Abyss, while most spirits
peacefully dissolve into Lethe, drawn by the power of the spell.
Gentle Call of Lethe and Rune of Sweet
Passing are incompatible spells and may not both be cast upon the same
individual. Until broken through countermagic, the first enchantment prevents
the second from being laid. Ghost-Blooded cannot be affected by this spell
unless they possess the Unchained Soul Merit.
A variation of this spell by the same name
can be learned and cast by sorcerers of the Sapphire Circle. The Celestial
version costs 20 motes and requires 10 minutes to cast.
Hungry Creeping
Shadow
Cost: 15 motes
Target: One creature
The necromancer opens her mouth as if to
scream, and a viscous black ooze pours forth, gathering into a horrible
amorphous creature of liquid shadow that pursues any one target in its
creator’s line of sight. The beast has Physical Attributes and a Brawl Ability
equal to its creator’s permanent Essence and a number of health levels equal to
its creator’s Stamina + Essence. It is immune to all purely kinetic damage,
such as from swords or fists, but has no soak against fire or magical damage.
Like the undead, it lacks Virtues but never fails Valor checks. The Hungry
Creeping Shadow can flow up walls and through narrow pipes or under most doors and
unerringly follows its quarry. If it catches its victim, the beast attempts to
clinch and slowly crush the life from her. The creature only exists for one
hour. Upon its demise, it boils away to a slimy residue.
Iron Countermagic
Cost: 10 or 20 motes
With this spell, the Exalted can absorb
and smother the energy of hostile necromancy. If the character spends 10 motes,
she may slash at the air, tearing ribbons of black power to swirl and bleed
around her person. This shield negates all hostile spells of the Shadowlands
Circle directed at her until the end of the next turn, but its cold also seeps
into her joints and bones, inflicting a -2 penalty to all Physical actions for
as long as it persists. Alternately, for 20 motes, the caster can extinguish a single
Shadowlands Circle spell within a number of feet equaling her permanent Essence
x 50. Extant spells are disintegrated, while spells in the process of being
cast are torn asunder.
This spell is extremely fast and takes
effect as soon as the character spends Willpower. Countermagic cannot banish
summoned ghosts, although it can break bonds of servitude wrought by
necromancy. Also, spells countered with Iron Countermagic shatter into freezing
Abyssal Essence, possibly injuring bystanders or withering plant life as the
magic unravels. The necromancer using the countermagic is entirely safe,
however.
More powerful versions of this spell exist
at higher circles: Onyx for Labyrinth and Obsidian for Void. Each protects
against spells of their own circle or below. If used to counter a spell of a
lower circle, the countermagic annihilates the spell utterly without any side
effects or collateral damage. Countered Void Circle spells slay mortal
bystanders and ravage the earth, although in most cases, the backlash will pale
compared to the intended effects of the spell.
Necromantic countermagic can also oppose
sorcery if it is one circle higher, and vice versa. Thus, Sapphire Countermagic
may counter Shadowlands Circle spells, while Obsidian Countermagic may block
Celestial Circle Sorcery, etc. The personal shield/direct extinguishing costs
for Onyx and Obsidian Countermagic are 15 motes/20 motes and 20 motes/25 motes
respectively.
Master
Puppeteer’s Knife
Cost: 14 motes
Target: Area of effect
Splaying his fingers wide and drawing any
sort of blade beneath her hand in a swift cutting motion, the necromancer cuts
the threads of dark energy that allow an otherwise-senseless corpse to function
and move. A specialized form of countermagic, this spell is very quick and takes
effect as soon as the necromancy Charm is activated and the Willpower is spent.
All animated dead in a 90-degree arc of the caster’s choice and within 10 yards
collapse without fanfare, nothing more than corpses once again. The zombies
must be extras, like those most commonly created with the spells Raise the
Skeletal Horde and Arisen Legion.
The Master Puppeteer’s Knife can be used
to destroy the more proficient animated dead, such as those created by
Exquisite Undead Aide, by focusing the power of the spell upon one at a time.
The Master Puppeteer’s Knife cannot affect
undead war machines, animated as they are by more eclectic collections of
necromantic magic.
Midnight Shadow
Sun
Cost: 8 motes
Target: Shadowland border
One basic limitation of travel between
Creation and the Underworld is that the doors only move one way at a time. When
the sun is in the sky over a shadowland, any who exit find themselves in
Creation. When the night sky looms, those who leave a shadowland will find
themselves in the Underworld. The necromancer who knows Midnight Shadow Sun
never has to wait.
Casting this spell upon the border of a
shadowland weakens and confuses it, forcing it to deposit those who cross into
whichever realm the necromancer wishes. Up to twice her Essence in yards of the
border are affected, and they remain so for five minutes, long enough for
several dozen creatures to pass through in an orderly fashion.
There exists a similar spell of the Void
Circle called Folding Midnight. This curse forces a shadowland to become a
one-way portal into or out of the Underworld at all times of day. A mortal who
walks into a shadowland so cursed may never be able to walk back out into
Creation — or an unlucky ghost may find himself unable to return to the
Underworld. Folding Midnight costs 46 motes and requires that the necromancer
walk a path around the shadowland in question during the time of day
appropriate to her desired effect.
Mother Darkness
Cost: 12 motes
Target: Area of effect
With a grimace and a snap of the fingers,
the necromancer can make herself more comfortable by changing the local
environment to suit her. Over the next minute, the sky perceptibly darkens, the
flora grays, and fauna either leave the area or become sullen and surly.
Landmarks of note take on a devilish cast, and hills seem to carry with them
threats of something lurking on the other side. Some of the changes are more
overt: Glistening white bones are more easily found lying about, and small
stones become glittering obsidian. A dirge floats lightly on the wind.
Creatures of the Underworld find
themselves more at ease within the one-mile reach of Mother Darkness. Those
beings who can normally respire no Essence while in Creation find that they
recover 1 mote per full day spent within the shadowed area. Mother Darkness is
considered a significant fraction of the “trappings of death” required for an
Abyssal to shed Resonance.
The area affected slowly returns to normal
over the course of a week, except when cast within the Wyld. The settling
influence of necromancy act strongly upon the lively Wyld. When cast upon a
Wyld area, Mother Darkness reduces the strength of the Wyld by one
(Middlemarches to Borderlands, Borderlands to Creation), and the trappings of
death remain until the Wyld sweeps over them again. In some cases, this can be
a long time.
The spell cannot be successfully cast upon
a Demesne, as the flow of aspected Essence already colors the environment too
strongly for the effects of Mother Darkness to take hold.
Piercing The Heel
Cost: 17 motes
Target: One ghost
Requires an arcane link
This spell cannot be cast unless the
necromancer has access to her victim’s body, which acts as an arcane link. Ritually
piercing the body’s tendons with iron nails above the heel of each foot, the
necromancer invokes this spell and speaks the name of the ghost who once
inhabited the body. Thereafter, the ghost finds himself unable to enact any
physical harm upon the necromancer’s body. Should he ever attempt such, he
immediately falls lame and unable to move until he abandons the intention.
This binding may be broken by countermagic
cast upon the ghost or by removing the iron nails from the body’s heels — but
the ghost is bound not to attempt this, and if the body has decayed to the
point where the nails have fallen from the heels on their own, the ghost’s only
hope lies in countermagic.
If the body is too decayed for the
piercings to be removed to end the spell, it is too far gone for this spell to
be effective.
Piercing The
Shroud
Cost: 10 motes
The necromancer concentrates and murmurs a
discordant incantation that shakes the earth in the immediate vicinity and
unnerves all natural animals who hear it. This chant takes 10 minutes minus the
caster’s Occult score to finish, to a minimum duration of one minute. At the
conclusion of the chant, the Exalt reaches out with a blade and cuts a vertical
slash in the air. As the blade passes, it tears the fabric of Creation itself
and opens a shimmering rift to the Labyrinth. The rift persists for a number of
turns equal to its creator’s permanent Essence before closing with a horrible
sucking sound. This spell only permits a necromancer to enter the Labyrinth —
the character must find her own way out.
Raise The
Skeletal Horde
Cost: Varies
As she prepares this spell, a ball of
crackling Essence grows and envelops the necromancer’s clenched hand. This
sphere glows darkly and pulsates like a beating heart, finally erupting at the
conclusion of the spell in a cascade of jagged lightning that arcs and forks to
strike the nearest intact human carcasses or skeletons within 100 yards.
Corpses struck by this obscene energy spend the rest of the turn getting to
their feet or clawing their way from the earth as appropriate to their
location. Skeletons and zombies raised with this Charm have the same statistics
as common zombies, though they are always extras. Once raised, such creatures
obey their creator to the best of their limited Intelligence. This spell
creates one zombie for every 5 motes spent. Alternately, the necromancer may
opt to spend only 3 motes per zombie, but such creatures lose all animation at
the end of the scene. Characters may not create both permanent and temporary minions
in the same casting.
There are also two Labyrinth Circle
versions of this spell. Arisen Legion duplicates the effect of Raise the
Skeletal Horde but reduces the Essence cost to 3 motes per permanent zombie or
1 mote per temporary zombie. The second variation, Call the Greater Servitor,
costs 6 motes for each minion, but the caster cannot create temporary zombies
or raise more corpses in a single casting than his Occult score. Zombies raised
with Call the Greater Servitor are never extras and have an Intelligence and
Melee of 2, allowing them to use weapons, to wear armor and to obey more
complicated instructions.
Ringing Hun
Rebuke
Cost: 19 motes
Target: Caster
Pulling two iron rings out of thin air as might
a master of legerdemain, the necromancer puts one on the middle finger of each
hand. He then claps his hands, striking the two black ornaments together and
letting them resonate. Each emits a slightly different tone and continues to do
so for the next hour.
While these rings continue to sound,
ghosts have difficulty approaching the caster. In order to approach within five
yards of the caster, a successful Willpower check must be made for the ghost
against a difficulty of 3. And even then, she finds it abhorrent to strike him
— the necromancer has an effective additional soak of 2L/3B against all blows a
ghost attempts to land. Ranged attacks made from without the five-yard radius
are unaffected.
If the necromancer walks into a ghostly
crowd while this spell is in effect, he finds that ghosts move out of his path
nearly unconsciously — this is as a result of the distinctly unpleasant
sensation that the ghosts feel when too near the resonating rings. The player
of a ghost who actively decides not to move as the caster draws to within five
yards must successfully make a reflexive Willpower roll, difficulty 3, for her
character not to step out of range, just as though she had moved into it.
There is a greater version of this spell
in the Labyrinth Circle called Brick-by-Brick Solitude. When cast, several
dozen arcane symbols appear in a cylinder around the necromancer. Bright, as if
drawn with pure sunlight, they expand rapidly to a radius equal to (the
caster’s permanent Essence x 10) yards. Any ghosts closer than that are pushed
out to the boundaries by the expanding invisible wall. Ghosts are unable to
pierce this boundary and, therefore, cannot make hand-to-hand attacks. Ranged
attacks suffer a loss of half their successes before they reach the necromancer.
Brick-by-Brick Solitude does not increase
the caster’s Strength. While the boundary does move with him and will shove
most ghosts out of his path with little effort, should he encounter a
determined mob that desire to bar his way, he will not be able to push past
more than three times his Strength rating in ghosts.
Rune Of Sweet
Passing
Cost: 15 motes
The necromancer spends an hour painting an
elaborate pattern of glyphs on a naked mortal’s skin. The Exalt must use paint
made from human blood mixed with soil taken from a grave. At the conclusion of
the ritual, the runes flare with red light and soak into the target’s skin.
Once a mortal has been treated with this spell, she is assured of becoming a
ghost upon death. The necromancer also knows immediately when the target dies,
although he does not know the circumstances or location of her passing. This
spell only creates ghosts; it does not compel their service or loyalty. Targets
of this spell need not be willing, although unwilling targets must generally be
restrained. This spell has no effect on the Exalted or other magical beings.
Seat Of Deadly
Splendors
Cost: 15 motes
Target: Caster
Speaking several blasphemies to the local
gods or ghosts and letting a drop of blood fall upon the earth, the caster causes
the clawed, skeletal fist of a fallen giant to burst from the ground. The ivory
bones creak as they settle and open into a massive throne for the necromancer
to seat herself upon. While seated there, she finds that those around her
respond more quickly to her will and that she sees more clearly into people’s
souls.
While her character sits in the Seat of
Deadly Splendors, the necromancer’s player gains a two-dice bonus to all rolls
involving intimidation, persuasion or the perception of true motives and lies.
Sitting on the throne also allows the caster to see dematerialized ghosts as
though they were material, and she can force them to manifest at a cost of 2
motes. Add one to the spell’s dice bonuses when applied to ghosts.
The magical effects of the spell only last
for an hour. The hand of the dead giant, however, remains until hewn from the
ground (treat as a stone statue) and removed. If the throne is destroyed while
the spell is still active, the magical effects immediately end. Seat of Deadly
Splendors cannot be successfully cast if the necromancer is on a second floor,
in a tree or otherwise distanced from the ground.
Shade Prison
Amulet
Cost: 10 motes
This spell can enchant any piece of bone
jewelry to become a vessel for hungry ghosts. The necromancer etches runes into
the object’s surface and invests it with Essence. If the amulet touches a
hungry ghost, it sucks the soul into itself in a swirl of wind. Each amulet can
store only one ghost, and the imprisonment lasts only so long as the talisman
remains intact. Once the prison breaks, the ghost escapes to wreak havoc,
although it will not attack the person that freed it. Breaking a prison by
daylight destroys the trapped spirit. A Labyrinth Circle version of this spell,
Bauble of the Captive Soul, follows the same rules but can capture any ghost it
touches. This spell costs 15 motes.
Shattered Void
Mirror
Cost: 20 motes
Target: One living creature
The necromancer throws his arm out toward
a single target and, to the eyes of his victim, behind him towers the image of
a great, black-robed necromancer with vivid purple eyes mimicking his motion.
The victim is thrown into a stark relief, and for a long instant, the colors of
her image appear inverted as her Essence is thrown against an exact opposite drawn
out from the Void.
The inversion lasts only a moment, but it
wreaks havoc on the target’s physical and spiritual integrity. Her skin and
bones crack as they resist being undone, her heart flutters, and her flesh
grows cold and very pale. She may find herself short of breath for weeks or
notice later that a lock of her hair has turned white. She suffers dice of raw
lethal damage equal to twice her current remaining health levels, soakable only
by her natural soak, and she loses a number of motes of Essence equal to twice
her permanent Essence.
When the Shattered Void Mirror kills its
target, the inverted image shatters into a thousand small pieces that fly away
on the tired wind of the Underworld as the victim’s corpse falls to the ground,
drained of all color. This spell instantly slays extras.
Silent Master’s
Pollen
Cost: 18 motes
Target: One or two ghosts
With little fanfare other than a quiet
invocation to the cycle of passing through Lethe, the necromancer causes to
hover before her eyes a small point of gray-white light. This light represents
a nigh-irresistible summons to rejoin the cycle of life, and it offers a sure
and quick path to that end.
Once she has summoned the passage to
Lethe, the caster of this spell may choose: Touching it once with each hand,
she can let the pearly glow surround her fingertips, where she can apply it
directly to the ghost or ghosts she wishes to affect. This requires a
successful unarmed attack that directly touches the ghost’s corpus.
Alternatively, she may will the tiny point to launch itself at a single target,
requiring a Wits + Thrown attack roll.
A ghost successfully struck by such an
attack is immediately drawn far down the path to Lethe. As when the ghost’s
afterlife is in danger of dissolution, his player rolls the character’s
Willpower against a difficulty of 3. If the roll fails, the ghost silently
slips into Lethe. During this process, there is no danger of falling into
Oblivion — a botch is just another failure.
Whether or not the ghost actually passes
on, there is an additional benefit to Silent Master’s Pollen. Any ghost struck
by it is freed of necromantic shackles and bindings — any spells or Charms that
bind him shatter and release their hold. This only affects spells of the Iron
Circle and Charms of Essence 3 or less.
There are greater versions of this spell
that affect more powerful necromancies and Charms. They are called Black Vial
and Empty Night Future and are of the Labyrinth and Void Circles, respectively.
Black Vial costs 24 motes and frees ghosts of bindings of the Onyx Circle and
of Essence 4 Charms or weaker effects and manifests as a small crystal vial of
a black liquid that appears to contain dim stars. The vial is thrown and bursts
into a small cloud of stars that affects all ghosts within three yards of the
point of contact. Empty Night Future costs 32 motes and rips apart all bonds of
the Obsidian Circle and weaker or of an Essence less than the caster’s,
manifesting as a ripple of nothingness that rolls from the caster in a circle,
affecting up to 10 ghosts within 10 yards. Both Black Vial and Empty Night
Future have another difference — they drag ghosts into Oblivion. Players of
ghosts must succeed at a Willpower roll for their characters to avoid this
fate, at a difficulty of 4 for Black Vial and 5 for Empty Night Future. Any
ghosts who succumb to these fates disappear silently, and their agony is
absorbed and strengthens the caster, giving her 1 mote per soul.
Smoothing The
Crease-Worn Mind
Cost: 23 motes
Target: One creature
Laying a gentle palm on the nape of her
subject’s neck, the necromancer quietly soothes from him all mindfulness of the
slumbering voices of the long-dead gods. The voices quiet to beyond a whisper
before becoming silenced altogether.
This can have several effects: Ghosts
afflicted with the Whisper of Oblivion need not fear the contagion spreading
while this enchantment lasts. Spectres are relieved of their overwhelming
subservience to the Void and return to the state they held before they became
as they are. For many spectres, their attitude resembles that of a healthy
ghost — often, this spell can supply valuable, if temporary, guides through the
Labyrinth. Mortwights and other spirits who never knew a sane mind simply
become quiescent. An Abyssal affected by this spell loses all ability to
channel the Whispers of the Malfeans that usually babble in the back of his
mind.
The spell’s power must be communicated
through touch. If the subject of the spell is not bound or willing, the
necromancer must successfully strike her target with an unarmed attack made at
an increased difficulty of 1. The attack does no damage. Smoothing the
Crease-Worn Mind remains active for one day per permanent Essence of the
caster.
Stones Worn
Smooth
Cost: 15 motes
Target: One ghost
The necromancer reaches out toward any
ghost within 15 yards and tightens his hand into a fierce claw. The ghost’s
player must then roll her character’s Willpower against a difficulty of the
caster’s Essence — if successful, the spell has failed. If the ghost is not
strong enough, she hurtles through the air toward the necromancer, moved by an
invisible force, until she is impaled upon his grasping hand. The necromancer
then removes his hand from her chest, holding her pale, still-beating heart.
The ghost screams as the caster tightens his hand upon the ghost flesh,
crushing it into a black diamond about the size of an egg — the ghost, at this
time, boils into translucent nothingness.
The black diamond acts as a Hearthstone of
a level equal to the ghost’s permanent Essence, drawing on the ghost’s spirit
and will and, through them, some of the ambient Essence of the Underworld.
Although it offers no additional powers, it can replenish one’s Essence if set
into an attuned artifact. The Hearthstone remains for a day before it shatters
and dissolves. The Hearthstone is not effective in Creation, and it shatters
instantly if exposed to the light of the Unconquered Sun. The ghost does not
attempt to resist the draw of Lethe or Oblivion until the Hearthstone made from
its heart breaks.
Soul Brand
Cost: 15 motes
By pressing her palm against an unExalted
mortal’s flesh and whispering a benediction to the Malfeans, a necromancer with
this spell can mystically tattoo him with a rune of power. This rune confers
the same protection as a Ghost-Warding Glyph, but the effects are permanent
unless the necromancer withdraws the protection. If the glyph is ever removed,
whether through countermagic or the whim of its creator, it inflicts the
necromancer’s permanent Essence as dice of lethal damage as it burns away.
Should a branded mortal ever become Exalted, his rune vanishes without causing
injury in a flash of pain and light. This spell is often used to brand the
foreheads or palms of favored servants.
Summon Ghost
Cost: 15+ motes
This spell calls one of the Restless Dead
and binds her to the service of the necromancer. This spell can only be cast at
night or in the Underworld itself, and it involves an hour-long ritual
requiring an unbroken circle of blood or bone-dust. The character must also
know the name of the ghost he wishes to summon or have a piece of her corpse in
his possession. The actual spell itself costs 10 motes to tear a portal to the
Underworld and call forth the target.
Once a ghost is summoned, the necromancer
must overpower her soul with an opposed Willpower + Essence test. For every 5
additional motes the Exalt spends during casting, the ghost’s pool decreases by
one die. This struggle continues with rolls made each turn, until one character
accumulates three more successes than the other. If the ghost wins, she
immediately escapes through the portal and cannot be recalled by the
necromancer for a full year. If the Exalt wins, the ghost must obey him for one
year or fulfill a single task that can have infinite duration. This binding
only forces the ghost to obey the letter of the necromancer’s commands, rather
than their intent, but most ghosts will fully comply rather than risk the wrath
of an Exalted. Once the ghost fulfills its obligation, it vanishes back to its
original location in the Underworld.
Although ghosts make excellent servants,
their usefulness in the living world is limited by their difficulty in
regaining Essence. Necromancers employing such vassals must be sure to feed
them motes of Essence, either their own or from libations of human blood.
Though they resent servitude, few ghosts will plot revenge when their terms of
service end, if only out of fear. On the other hand, summoning a courtier or
honored servant of a Deathlord can have dire repercussions indeed.
The sorcery version of this spell belongs
to the Celestial Circle and follows the same rules, save that the ritual takes
three hours and summoned ghosts cannot be bound for longer than a lunar month.
Astrology cannot not benefit summoners of the dead.
Trolling The Dark
Water
Cost: 10 motes
Target: Area of effect
While preparing this spell, the
necromancer draws out threads of Essence that shine violet under the light of
Creation. Tying several of these glistening threads into a tiny net of Essence,
she throws the net into the air above her. The net expands and gently settles
down to the ground, highlighting the presence of restless spirits of the dead.
Although the strands of Essence pass
through living creatures, all ghosts within 25 yards are caught in it and are
forced to spend a mote to manifest. At this time, the necromancer, who has kept
a hand on the net, may choose to spend an additional 5 motes to force all
ghosts caught within the net to materialize. The ghosts must spend the Essence
necessary to materialize. If a ghost does not have enough Essence to
materialize, he loses as much Essence as he possesses. Ghosts already material
and ghosts unable to materialize are unaffected by this spell.
Trolling the Dark Water may be cast in the
Underworld, but it has no effect, since ghosts are already material in the
Underworld.
Walking War
Machine
Cost: Varies
Few weapons sow as much terror among
living armies as the undead siege engines employed by the Deathlords. With this
spell, a necromancer can use Essence to animate such devices. The Exalt must
first build or oversee the building of the monstrosity with his player making
an extended Intelligence + Craft (Necrosurgery) roll to represent this. Bodies
most be cut and stitched together and any grafts of metal inserted where
appropriate. The Storyteller decides the difficulty based on the size and
complexity of the weapon. For example, a spine chain needs one success for
every two segments. Once the creature is complete, the necromancer simply
touches it and invests 5 motes for every success needed to assemble it.
Monsters created with this Charm serve their master to the best of their
limited Intelligence. Other devices are left to players’ imagination and
Storyteller approval but should be of a similar power level.
Without Pity,
Without Scorn
Cost: 18 motes
Target: Varies
Holding his hand above his head and
channeling the black Essence of the Void into a sphere of coruscating power,
the necromancer violently casts it to the ground with the conclusion of the
spell. The ball shatters, releasing a burst of energy that stirs the dust of
the Underworld as it passes. The energy flows outward in the blink of an eye,
the crest of its wave crackling with purple lightning. As it passes a ghost, that
ghost is briefly surrounded by the same crackling energy.
Once the light fades and the dust settles,
none are harmed. But the physical representations of the ghost’s Fetters — any
they happen to be bearing — are rendered inert. They no longer provide Essence
on a daily basis. A Fetter representation is unable to be drawn upon for
Essence for a length of time dependent upon the Fetter’s strength:
Fetter Rating Duration Inert
• Two
months
•• One
month
••• Two
weeks
•••• Six
days
••••• Three
days
Alternatively, the necromancer may hurl
the bright and flashing sphere at a specific ghost within 15 yards with a
Dexterity + Thrown roll. That ghost alone is caught in bands of glaring
necrotic energy before it dissipates within the turn. Using the spell in this
form permanently severs the ghost from all Fetters whose representations he
bore. For both versions of the spell, any Fetters whose physical
representations were secreted elsewhere are safe.