Summoning

 

The Art Of Summoning (Occult •)

Roll: Charisma + Occult

Cost: 3 motes per attempt

Aspects: Ghosts, beasts, spirits, elementals, man

Calling the spirits, the elementals and the dead are what is commonly thought of when Summoners are mentioned, but in fact, nearly any creature can be called to a thaumaturge who knows the right words to use and the right actions to take. The hunter that whistles up prey to be slaughtered, the horse trainer who can call in the herds from the field — they are as much summoners as the black cultist making deals with the Yozis’ servants.

As a special rule, a thaumaturge may choose to further limit one or more of their summoning aspects — a shaman might only be able to summon up the ghosts of his ancestors, for example, or a hunter might only know the words to bring prey animals to his presence, while a soldier might know the words to summon a spirit of war to her side. This halves the cost of the aspect and should be noted on the character sheet — as with Summoning (War Gods), for example.

 

Beasts (Occult •)

Summoning and controlling the beasts of the wood and the field and the sky and the sea is an art practiced by many in the Second Age. Nearly any caravan master will know how to calm his beasts, just as hunters may draw prey to their snares, and breeders arrange to make sure the strongest and healthiest of their breeding stock are interested in each other at the appropriate times.

Summoning beasts can be used in two ways — to call creatures to the thaumaturge and to control them once they are there. Calling creatures is a relatively simple task. The player spends one point of the character’s temporary Willpower and rolls the character’s Charisma + Occult, with a difficulty equal to (the creature’s control rating - 2, minimum 1). If the species called exists within calling range (normally one mile per dot of the thaumaturge’s permanent Essence), such a beast will make its way to where the thaumaturge is located — this normally takes two hours, but each extra success reduces this time by 15 minutes. Summoning more than one member of a species is +1 difficulty to summon “whatever’s available” or +2 difficulty for a specific number.

Controlling creatures is slightly more difficult. The roll to actually command a beast is Manipulation + Occult, with a difficulty equal to the creatures control rating – 1 (plus any modifiers for complexity or Intelligence). If the roll succeeds, the animal will undertake the orders it is given to the best of its ability. The thaumaturge must have a clear idea of the task or action he wishes to have performed. This is easiest if its a single word or action — complex statements of desire or sophisticated concepts are beyond most beasts. For every two words beyond the first, add 1 to the difficulty of the task roll, subtracting the creature’s Intelligence (normally 1). Failure usually indicates only that the animal does not perform as desired, while a botch often means the creature flees, attacks the thaumaturge or otherwise becomes unresponsive.

 

Mortals (Occult •)

Although the basic rituals for summoning mortals to one’s side are easily learned, their execution is far less certain. In order to summon a mortal, the thaumaturge must know his name — his actual name, not his title or position. “Hetman Liu Ke” is sufficient. “The Hetman of Shadowfalls district” is not. The thaumaturge must also have some sample from the person to be summoned — this sample could be of hair, nail clippings or some other bodily substance. Summoning mortals is a resisted action. The thaumaturge’s player rolls Manipulation + Occult, while the Storyteller rolls the target’s Willpower + permanent Essence. Players of Exalts roll Willpower + (permanent Essence x 2) and gain two free successes on all rolls to resist beckoning by thaumaturgy. The Exalted are always aware of an attempted summoning and of who attempted it. What actions an Exalt takes is up to him. If the thaumaturge’s player succeeds at the roll, the subject faces a strong compulsion to travel to where the thaumaturge is located.

At one success, the compulsion is strong but not sufficient for the character to threaten the target’s life in any way. He will travel by a direct route and make travel arrangements as quickly as possible, but he will not travel in hazardous weather and will take time to make sure local arrangements are in order before departing. At three successes, the subject will take risks and even leave his affairs in disorder, but he will not react in a suicidal fashion to the compulsion. At five successes, there is nothing more important to the subject than getting to where the thaumaturge is, as quickly as possible.

Range attenuates the effect of a summoning — the further away, the less strongly the subject feels the compulsion. Subtract one success for each orientation that separates the thaumaturge from the target (-1 from the East to the Realm, -2 from the East to the West, etc.).

 

Demons (Occult ••)

Summoning up demons is perilously simple. Summoning up a demon in a fashion that allows it to be controlled in any meaningful fashion is another matter. Summoning a demon normally requires a human sacrifice. The least demons sometimes demand only a predator’s blood — for example, erymanthoi will respond for the blood of any large cat, for they hate these things above all other creatures. Some demons will respond to a summoning whether there are sacrifices made or not — the neomah and teodozjia are particularly known to respond to nearly any summonings, whether blood has been spilt in quantity or not.

Summoning a demon of the First Circle requires a Charisma + Occult roll, with a difficulty of 3. This conjuration forces the demon to appear in Creation, within the same room or close area as the summoner, but it places no particular onus of behavior or geas of command upon the demon, who may then act as it wishes once it arrives in Creation. Mortal thaumaturges who summon up demons without first setting up careful wards against them rarely live long enough to try a second time.

Mortals cannot force a demon to perform a task — demons can be forced to appear in Creation, but a mortal cannot force one to perform once it arrives. However, demons, particularly those of the First Circle, come to Creation to fulfill their inclinations and will willingly perform the tasks they are created to perform: Erymanthoi will kill when ordered to do so, gilmyne will perform their dances and neomah will prostitute themselves in exchange for samples of flesh. Demons who perform services for mortal thaumaturges are not automatically returned to Malfeas when their service ends. They can choose to remain in Creation, unless banished back to Malfeas. There are simple rituals to perform this task — most of which have long since been lost or destroyed by Yozi-worshipers. Mechanically, these banishing rituals operate with a Manipulation + Occult roll, difficulty 2, with the caveat that only a demon the thaumaturge has summoned can be banished in this fashion. Otherwise, the summoner must use the banishment rules under the Art of Exorcism. Or he can simply accept that he has unleashed a being of ineffable evil into the world.

Demons of the Second Circle cannot be coerced into appearing, and the rituals to beckon them to appear in Creation are normally carefully hidden. Allusions of their power can be found in manuscripts, but unlocking the precise ritual requires an extended Intelligence + Occult roll, with a base difficulty of the demon’s permanent Essence and a total number of successes required equal to the demon’s permanent Essence squared, with a roll interval of one week. Once this roll is successfully made, the summoner can make his attempt — but whether the demon comes or not is strictly based on its own whims, not on the power of the thaumaturge or how properly the ritual was enacted. No demon of the Third Circle has ever been summoned by a mortal. There are no rituals that are known to be efficacious, and none of the documented attempts to gain their attention has ever resulted in anything more than a host of failed sacrifices.

Second Circle demons come only when it pleases them, when their presence in Creation allows them to further some goal they have or to satiate some desire. This does not mean they will not come when beckoned, for sometimes, they do, but it does mean that the demon is in Creation solely at its own behest, and woe betide the mortal who thinks otherwise. Demons of the Second Circle can rarely be bribed, but they can sometimes be appeased through painstakingly precise knowledge of their whims, understanding of their desires and a willingness in the thaumaturge to follow their… suggestions… in all ways.

Most of the discoverable rituals of summoning for demons of the Second Circle were designed by the demons themselves and contain numerous traps and flaws in them. Unless a thaumaturge is very careful, or very lucky, he will find his wards mostly ineffective (half normal strength) and himself unable to resist the powers of the demon he has summoned (an effective -3 to Willpower and permanent Essence in all cases). There are still fragments of early records that suggest rituals that can call those of the Second Circle without some of the attendant risks to body and soul. Assembling one of these rituals from the various records of the First Age would be an epic quest for a mortal thaumaturge and is largely beyond the scope of rules, but doubling the needed successes on deciphering the demon’s summoning ritual (Essence squared x 2, instead of Essence squared) would be a good basic difficulty if the Storyteller doesn’t want to roleplay the entire process out.

 

Elementals (Occult ••)

Elementals can be readily summoned with little effort. Getting them to do what the summoner wants can be another matter entirely, however. While most elementals are interested in performing services for thaumaturges when summoned, they do not normally work for free — although what the elemental considers payment and what the thaumaturge might consider may be two different things entirely. Like demons, elementals want to do those things that are in their nature: A fire elemental wants to burn things, earth elementals desire stability and stasis, etc.

Elementals are often argumentative, willful and easily provoked. They are also surprisingly loyal once an agreement has been reached, unlike demons, and their absence is less likely to attract attention when compared to the absence of a small god. Summoning an elemental normally requires a Charisma + Occult roll equal to the elemental’s permanent Essence. Summoned elementals are not coerced to serve in any way and must be bargained with to obtain their services. The exact nature of the bargain struck depends on the elemental in question, but typically, a sacrifice equal to the elemental’s permanent Essence is sufficient. Summoned elementals are forsworn from attacking or otherwise harassing a mortal that summons them and may not take action against the mortal for a day and a night after they are summoned, unless they are maltreated during the summoning. Once an agreement is reached, an elemental will serve faithfully. Powerful elementals may send nominees in their place.

Under normal circumstances, elementals will not serve for more than a week, and any task they are set to cannot last longer than one season. Elementals expect to be well rewarded for their services. Fine woods and incenses to be burned (useful for both air and fire elementals — the air elementals partake of the smokes, the fire elementals of the act of burning), precious crystals or gemstones, rare plants or seeds, etc. are all common demands for payment and, normally, are equal in Resources cost to the elemental’s permanent Essence. Alternately, some elementals are willing to exchange favors. They may ask that prayers be devoted to a spirit friend of theirs (or themselves) or that the thaumaturge aid a nearby village, help clean up some problem that vexes the elemental or otherwise make himself useful to the elemental in exchange for its cooperation in his endeavors.

 

Ghosts (Occult •••)

Ghosts are some of the easiest of creatures to summon. Even far from a shadowland, there are always plenty of Restless Dead who are willing to answer the clarion call of a dish of fresh blood and the promise of more, and even those dead who are satisfied in the Underworld will normally come to see who has spoken their name with an offering of blood.

The process of summoning a ghost is simple. The summoner must either go to the person’s grave or to the location of her death or must know the ghost’s full name, then make an offering of blood, drawing mystic symbols in the ground in blood and chalk. Funereal incantations must be chanted — those of the ghost’s society are best (+1 die) — and then, the blood is poured onto the ground. The entire ritual normally takes about 15 minutes, culminating in a Charisma + Occult roll. A living animal sacrifice adds one die to the dice pool, while a human sacrifice adds two dice. Fresh blood from a relative can add an additional die — but actually sacrificing a relative of the ghost is rarely conducive to friendly relations with the ghost being summoned. The difficulty is 2 in Creation or 1 if performed in a shadowland or during Calibration. The difficulty is further modified by how old the ghost is — add 1 to the difficulty for each century the person being summoned has been dead (as a rough guideline, if unsure, add the ghost’s permanent Essence).

During Calibration or in a shadowland, a failed roll does not mean there is no answer to the summons. It merely means that the summoner either failed to summon the right ghost or, alternately, summoned up additional ghosts besides the one called. Every die the roll failed by brings an additional three to five ghosts who have been drawn to the summoning by the scent of blood. Their dispositions and interests (other than in the blood spilt) are up to the Storyteller.

Ghost summoning can be attempted by anyone, but the less a summoner knows of the Underworld, the lower her chances of success. Summoning with no Occult is difficulty +3. With Occult 1, the penalty falls to +2, and with Occult 2, it falls to +1 difficulty.

 

Spirits (Occult •••)

A thaumaturge does not summon spirits. He beckons them, asking them to pay attention to him. A beckoning is a special kind of prayer — roll Charisma + Performance, with a difficulty equal to the spirit’s permanent Essence. If this roll is successful, the spirit must fail a Virtue roll — dictated by the summoner — or appear before the thaumaturge. The thaumaturge dictates the Virtue used — and the tack taken in the request for the god to appear — but does not have any power over the spirit once it arrives. And while the spirits response will be shaded by the Virtue invoked (Compassion will suggest a desire to help, a spirit beckoned with Valor will be ready for a fight, etc.), this reaction can change rapidly if the god comes to believe it has been tricked.

Once a spirit has been invoked, getting it to leave again is another matter, and thaumaturges have little more power over the spirits than ordinary mortals do — which is to say, none. Although not as immediately dangerous as summoning demons, beckoning the gods to appear for capricious or trivial reasons (in the eyes of the spirit, not necessarily those of the mortal) is almost never a good idea.