Post by Ascanio Giovanni on Jul 11, 2013 16:02:50 GMT -8
When we published the clarifications for Necromancy, we included a bunch of new rituals that we were approving for use, on the justification that if ritual creation was a real thing that anyone could do, the Giovanni family would have been creating more. The intention was always to do the same for the other types of magic that were organized and had groups to spread new discoveries and creations including the Tremere, the Assamites, the Setites, and the Lasombra.
This is the first installment in that set of new rituals that will be approved for character use, covering the Lasombra's Abyss Mysticism. A lot of these are taken and converted from One World by Night's MET Lasombra packet, while others are our own writing. The rituals detailed here are assumed already to exist in the world and be available for PCs to find or obtain through a mentor. Keep an eye out soon for the new rituals for the other paradigms as well.
NEW ABYSS MYSTICISM
Communing With The Darkness: Level 1
The Abyss is a cold thing, a thing of necessity and contemplation. The Abyss does not act with haste or passion, but slowly continues to work its way into all worlds to bring about what must be done. This ritual infuses the Mystic with some of that cold drive, protecting him from the Beast of Caine, but also weakening his moral resolve.
System: The player rolls Wits + Occult or Meditation at difficulty 6 as the Mystic spends one hour in the isolation of a lightless room, intoning a meditative chant as he summons a Nocturne. The Mystic then breathes in the Nocturne directly into his being, allowing the chilling darkness to merge with his very soul. If the ritual is successfully cast, the Mystic gains +1 die per success on all Self-Control and Instinct rolls, as well as all Courage rolls to resist Rotschreck for the remainder of the night. However, the Mystic is also at +2 difficulty on any Conscience or Conviction rolls he must make for that same duration.
Side Effect: The cold heartlessness that permeates the Abyss alters the Mystic's mindset. If the caster fails to successfully cast this ritual, he may not attempt to cast it again for a full week as the passion of his Beast rebels against the cold of the outer darkness. Similarly he is stained by the attempt to infuse himself with the essence of the Abyss and his skin darkens until it is the same shiny black as that of an elder Assamite. This lasts for the remainder of that week. Should the Mystic botch this ritual, the darkening of the skin is permanent, and he may not attempt to cast this ritual for a full month per negative success.
Craft Abyssal Jet: Level 1
This ritual calls forth a tangible piece of the Abyss in the form of black jet that drinks light around it. This jet is fashionable among elder Lasombra and often worked into jewelry and either worn or given to favored allies of the Mystics.
System: The ritual summons a piece of jet about the size of a man's fist. As incarnate shadow, this jet can then be worked into nearly any form easily through the use of Shadow Play, requiring a Manipulation + Crafts + Obtenebration roll for particularly fine works. Light sources in the immediate vicinity of a piece of Abyssal Jet seem to dim slightly as the jet drinks in the light. In the sight of those with the Darksight merit, the results of this ritual seem to shine like miniature suns.
Side Effect: A botched roll creates a stone that randomly, and hungrily, drink light. At unpredictable and inconvenient times, a botched stone will "flash" darkness, dousing all light sources in a room.
Drawing the Shades of Darkness: Level 1
This ritual wards a room against light, protecting the vulnerable Lasombra from the scorching rays of the sun. Traditionally in his sleeping chambers, though one room is as usable as any other in truth, the Mystic must coat all doors and windows with black wax and scratch a sigil representing the shadow's triumph over the light into each blob of wax. The wax need not fully cover the door or window, but must be large enough that the sigil can be carved into it by hand.
System: The player must roll Intelligence + Occult at difficulty 5. This ritual functions as the Thaumaturgy ritual Defense of the Sacred Haven in that it prevents sunlight from entering the warded room. It differs in that it also prevents any light at all from passing the seals, so only light sources within the warded room itself may be seen within. The seals function both ways so no light will leave the warded room either, causing any to look in from outside to see nothing but darkness. This is natural darkness however, and not the inky blackness of the Abyss. This ritual lasts for one full cycle of the moon, and the wax seals must remain intact on each door and window in the room for the full duration. If any of the seals are broken, the ritual's effects immediately end.
Side Effect: The light is a vengeful thing and resents the dark and those who favor it. Should any of the seals ever be broken during the duration of the ritual, the Mystic who cast the ritual immediately must soak 3 aggravated damage at difficulty 9 to soak as though exposed to full sunlight for a single turn. This effect occurs regardless of the time the seals are broken or the location of the Mystic at the time and occurs in addition to any damage the Mystic may suffer from actual exposure to sunlight as a result of a seal being broken.
Leash the Shade: Level 1
This dangerous ritual, originally created by a Child of the Abyss to correct an unfortunate mistake, allows the Mystic to leash an abyssal entity to himself restricting its movement. This will invariably irritate the Abyssal creature who under most circumstances will simply attack the Mystic presumptuous enough to attempt this.
System: Unlike most Abyss Mysticism rituals, this requires Obtenebration higher than its level as the use of this ritual requires using Arms of the Abyss. This ritual requires that the Mystic spend a blood and a Willpower in the same turn that he uses an Arm of the Abyss to attack an Abyssal creature such as a Hungry Shade. The Mystic then enters into a contested roll of his Manipulation + Occult versus the Entity's Willpower (both at difficulty 7). If the Mystic is successful, the Arm merges with the Abyssal creature on one end and the Mystic's own shadow on the other, forming an unbreakable tether. From this point on, the Mystic may extend or retract the length of the tether at will to go where he wishes. He may also attempt to pull the Abyssal creature to him, retracting the tether by making another contested Manipulation + Occult versus the creature's Willpower (difficulty 7). The Abyssal creature may similarly move physically anywhere it wishes, extending or contracting the tether in the same way, even pulling the Mystic to itself. The main use of this ritual however is that the tether to the Mystic anchors it firmly to the material world and prevents any use of an Abyssal creature's ability to travel through the Abyss through methods such as the Shadow Step power.
This leash lasts as long as the Mystic wishes, even extending past sunrise. However, this ritual is extremely dangerous as it cannot keep an Abyssal creature at bay and gives it an unerring way to track back to the Mystic, able to follow the leash even during the day when the Mystic is sleeping. The leash will only vanish with the Mystic's final death, the destruction of the Abyssal creature, or if the Mystic chooses to dismiss it early (and most do before dawn) by spending another Willpower point.
Side Effect: This ritual consumes a great deal of the energy used to produce Arms of the Abyss. For the duration of this ritual, all uses of Arms of the Abyss will suffer +2 difficulty.
See With the Shadow's Eyes: Level 1
This ritual attune's the Mystic's senses to those of an already summoned Eye of Ahriman. The Mystic must pluck out one of his own eyes and feed it to the Eye of Ahriman to so attune his senses.
System: The Mystic must spend a Willpower point to voluntarily pluck out his own eye. This deals one level of unsoakable lethal damage (which may subsequently be healed normally). For the remainder of the night, the Mystic's senses are attuned to the Eye of Ahriman, allowing him to see what the Eye sees and hear what it hears. Even after the eye has been regrown, for the ritual's duration, that eye will be pure black and without iris or pupil. This ritual may be ended prematurely with a second ritual that requires the Eye of Ahriman to be present.
Side Effect: While the ritual persists, the Mystic's senses are divided, imposing a +2 difficulty to all Perception rolls. A botch on this ritual bestows the Uncontrollable Night Sight Flaw that cannot be removed with a subsequent application of Pierce the Murk.
Abyssal Bribe: Level 2
This ritual was created as a last ditch effort by a cabal of young Abyss Mystics who had lost control of a Hungry Shade and had no other option to get it back to the Abyss before it rampaged through the city. This ritual breaks a lot of the usual rules of Obtenebration, in that it places the Mystic in a role of supplication, tempting and coaxing these forces rather than commanding them, but in desperate times, desperate measures are called for. And the price to pay for this ritual is quite steep as the method of tempting a Shade back to the Abyss involves a sacrifice of the Mystic's connection with the Abyss as he gives up all ability to use Obtenebration for a time.
System: This ritual may be cast communally by any number of participants, all of whom must have the ritual. Every participant in the ritual must have touched the Shade in question with an effect of their own Obtenebration in order to use this ritual. All of the Mystics who will perform the ritual must each link hands and call a Shroud of Night. While meditating in the darkness, each Mystic must roll Manipulation + Courage roll (difficulty 8) to open a reversed portal to the Abyss that will draw Abyssal energies from the material plane back to itself. The longer that the Mystics leave this portal open, more of their own ability to connect with the Abyss is drained away, but from that draining, the Shade remembers how much it hates the material plane and how much it wants to go home.
A special dice pool is generated by means of this ritual, and is rolled in a resisted roll against the Shade's Willpower. This dice pool increases by the amount of time the Mystics enact the ritual for, and consequently the amount of time they must cut themselves off from the Abyss for. Every 15 minutes each Mystic meditates in this ritual represents a week that the Mystic will be cut off from the Abyss and one die added to the pool. All Mystics participating in the ritual must participate for the same amount of time. When the ritual is complete, this special dice pool is rolled in a resisted roll against the Shade's Willpower at difficulty 6. If the Mystics gain more successes, the Shade follows the dissipating Abyssal energies back to the Abyss. If this Shade scores more successes, the Shade has no compulsion to return to the Abyss and all of the Mystics have still given up their ability to use Obtenebration or Abyss Mysticism for the required time. Should the Mystics' roll botch, all participants lose the Ability to use any effect of Obtenebration or Abyss Mysticism for a full year and the Shade is not compelled to return.
Side Effect: As a result of losing one's connection to the Abyss, during the period of that the Mystic cannot use Obtenebration, he also loses access to all Abyss related merits and flaws as well. Most curiously, without a connection to the Abyss, during this period Lasombra Mystics regain their reflection, the sight of which can be quite disturbing for them.
Abyssal Vault: Level 2
This ritual turns any patch of shadow into a pocket Abyssal realm and allows the Mystic to hide away items within it. The item must be able to physically fit in the shadow in question to be able to be stored away.
System: This ritual enchants a stationary patch of shadow only. Should the shadow move more than the natural movement caused by changes in light, the ritual ends and any items stored within are lost to the Abyss. The Mystic permanently enchants a patch of shadow to hold items within a pocket Abyssal realm. After the ritual has been performed, any item that wholly fits within the patch of shadow is placed within and the Mystic targets the patch of shadow with Shadow Play to envelop the item which disappears into the Abyss. At any subsequent point, the Mystic may use Shadow Play on the enchanted shadow again to cause it to return the item to the material world. The Mystic may store any number of items within a given shadow regardless of combined size, however the Abyss takes its toll. For every night the Abyssal pocket exists, the Mystic must spend a blood point per item stored within or the pocket closes and the items stored within are lost forever in the Abyss.
Side Effect: Items returned from the Abyssal Vault will forever after be touched by the Abyss, their colors muted and darkened. This is not merely cosmetic. Anyone unused to the sight of Obtenebration upon seeing or handling an object returned from an Abyssal Vault must make a Courage roll as if witnessing Obtenebration for the first time. A botch on this ritual causes the Vault to open with a hole in the bottom, causing all items stored within to be lost forever, although the Mystic gains no intrinsic knowledge that this will happen and may store several items before discovering this upon attempting to call one back.
Bestow Gray Cloak: Level 2
This ritual binds an Eye of Ahriman into a large piece of cloak-like clothing (a poncho or trench coat for example) and forces it to shroud the wearer. Thereafter, anyone wearing the cloak will be wrapped in the Abyss.
System: As long as the garment is worn, the wearer is affected as though by Shadow Play, grandaunt him an additional die on Stealth and Intimidation rolls. The spirit is released from service should the garment ever be significantly damaged. A living creature who wears a Gray Cloak suffers one level of lethal damage each hour he wears it.
Side Effect: Those who wear the cloak have a connection to the Abyss, albeit a lesser one than is shared among Clan Lasombra. While wearing the cloak, the wearer's reflection will appear hazy and translucent, as though not entirely there. While not strictly a breach of the masquerade, this may draw some attention from anyone who looks too close at the wearer's reflection. A botch on this ritual creates a garment that shadows inexplicably avoid, and all stealth rolls made while wearing it have their difficulty raised by three.
Name the Shadow Puppeteer: Level 2
Obtenebration is not like other disciplines, and Lasombra Mystics know this better than anyone else. Channeling the power of something like the Abyss must be done with great care and if the power falls into the hands of one who is not properly trained, it could mean the end of the world. To that end, the Lasombra have created this ritual to alert them as to whom is using Obtenebration effects around them, so that they might either educate this person or eradicate them as needed.
System: The player must roll Perception + Occult at difficulty 7 while the Mystic spends a blood and a Willpower. This ritual requires the Mystic summon an Eye of Ahriman (the summoning of which is not part of this ritual) and absorb it into one of his ears. Until the next sunrise, whenever the Abyss Mystic encounters any Abyssal effect, whether Obtenebration, Abyss Mysticism, or other unknown effect, he may attempt to coerce the Eye of Ahriman to divulge the name of the one who summoned the encountered effect. To do this, the Mystic must roll Manipulation + Leadership at a difficulty of the Manipulation + Occult of the individual that caused the effect. If the Mystic is successful, the Eye of Ahriman divulges the name of the individual that summoned the Abyssal effect. The Abyss knows all those who touch its power.
Side Effect: While within the Mystic's ear, the Eye of Ahriman continuously whispers dark and terrible secrets and truths in an effort to disturb and disorient the Mystic. This imposes a +2 difficulty on all hearing based Perception checks for the duration of this ritual.
Nocturnal Disclosure: Level 2
The Abyss contains the knowledge of everything that occurs in darkness, as well as the collected knowledge of all those who have died therein. With this ritual, a Mystic may glean some of the secret knowledge kept by the Abyss as it relates to specific occurrences in the material world.
System: The player makes a Manipulation + Occult roll at difficulty 5 and spends a blood point which must be given in offering to any stationary shadow. If successful, the blood disappears as the shadow comes to life and accepts the offering in exchange for information. The Mystic may then ask any one question that the shadow is compelled to answer truthfully and completely to the best of its knowledge regarding anything that has occurred in the Shadow's vicinity. The difficulty of this ritual increases by 1 for each week that has passed since the event the Mystic is asking about. The shadow cannot answer any questions who's answers could not be divined by a mortal standing at the shadow's location during the time in question. Suitable examples include, "What did the person who last passed by you look like?", "How long has it been since the lights were turned on in this room?", or "Was anyone killed here last night?" Multiple part questions are not permitted and the ritual must be invoked a second time for each question to be asked.
Side Effect: None.
Nox Eternum: Level 2
While an ordinary Nocturne can befuddle enemies and disturb those who encounter the effect, the relatively short duration typically forces the effect to be used proactively by the Lasombra rather than as an effective defense. This ritual allows a nearly permanent Nocturne to be summoned to protect locations the Mystic may value.
System: The player spends a Willpower point in addition to the blood needed to summon a Nocturne and makes the usual roll to use Shroud of Night. Unlike normal, however, the Mystic may set a maximum size for the Nocturne of any size up to the full successes rolled by by walking a perimeter of the effect with an unbroken line of Obsidian dust. This effect costs an additional blood point for every range increment the Nox Eternum will take (2 blood for 20 feet, 3 blood for 40, 4 blood for 80, etc.). Unlike a normal Shroud of Night, a Nocturne summoned by Nox Eternum is unable to be moved and will last indefinitely, until struck by sunlight at which point it dissipates immediately. An Abyss Mystic may only have one Nox Eternum in existence at any one time. A Mystic may voluntarily end the effect at any time by making a second Manipulation + Occult roll at difficulty 7 and requiring as many successes as were invested in the Nox Eternum summoned. This ritual is often combined with Drawing the Shades of Darkness over a Mystic's haven to create the lightless sanctum sought after by those studying the mysteries of the Abyss.
Side Effect: The location covered by a Nox Eternum is flooded with far more Abyssal energy than an ordinary Nocturne. Such is the entropic effect of this power that any object stored within a Nox Eternum for more than a week will begin to break down and will need repairs. Any object left within the Nox Eternum for more than a month will be irrevocably broken. Any living or unliving being save the Mystic himself who rests within the Nox Eternum for a full night or day will take an unsoakable level of lethal damage as her body begins to wither and die.
Banishing the Hungry Shade: Level 3
Created by the Children of the Abyss in an effort to prevent the worst of the acts of some of the younger Mystics during the Anarch Revolt who were known to summon Shades and simply let them rampage, this ritual is created to banish a previously summoned Hungry Shade.
System: This ritual can only be performed at the same site as the original summoning of the Shade, by the same number of Mystics who originally summoned it, all of whom must know the ritual. This ritual may be performed at any time from dusk until midnight and is performed in the exact opposite manner as Calling the Hungry Shade, each mystic recreating the spiral of blood by spinning clockwise instead of counterclockwise. Just as with Calling the Hungry Shade, the maximum number of participants is that of the highest Occult rating in the group. Each Mystic makes an Intelligence + Occult check (difficulty 6) once per hour of the ritual. The ritual can continue until one hour before dawn. Over the course of this ritual, the Mystics must accumulate a number of successes equal to the successes gained on the original summoning of the Shade. At the conclusion of the ritual as the Shade is drawn back to the Abyss, each Mystic must spend a point of Willpower to seal the breach. A botch from any of the Mystics reduces the accumulated successes by 5.
Side Effects: None
Dark Well: Level 3
This ritual, sometimes jokingly referred to as the First Interplanar Blood Bank of the Abyss by younger Mystics, allows the mystic to store blood in the cold and timeless realm of the abyss through the convenient gateway of his own shadow. The mystic may store blood indefinitely this way and retrieve it when he desires. However, the Abyss is a cruel banker and always takes its toll.
System: The mystic may store two points of blood per success, and access them at any point later by taking an action and rolling Manipulation + Occult (difficulty 6), allowing him to withdraw points equal to his successes by appearing to reach a hand inside his own shadow and gaining the sustenance mystically.
However the Abyss is a consumptive thing (much like a bank), and it finds ways to skim its users every way it can (also like a bank). Like a bank, the Abyss charges a "reasonable" fee of one blood point for every deposit, withdrawal, and week elapsed since this ritual is cast for the first time. Like a bank, the Abyss does not notify its users of these fees; the blood simply disappears from the Mystic's account. There may be additional fees beyond these, and the storyteller is encouraged to randomly remove additional blood from the account due to other hidden fees (for LARP purposes, a second envelope of blood tickets should be kept by the Storytellers to represent the Mystic's Abyssal account, the exact contents of which the player does not know at any given time).
Side Effect: Abyssal banking is extremely convenient, but once an account is opened with the Abyss, it can never be closed again. Should the Mystic's account be empty when a fee comes due, the Abyss will take blood directly from the Mystic's own blood pool.
Darkening the Distant Eye: Level 3
With his understanding of the mysteries of the Abyss, the caster draws into being a form of darkness that hangs on the edge of sight of those in the area, and completely obscures the sight of those outside it.
System: The mystic spends several hours crafting the darkness, enticing measured waves of abyss energy into his abode. Doing this requires the expenditure of a Willpower point and a successful Perception + Occult roll (difficulty 8). The effect lasts for one month per success. During this time, any attempt to spy on the interior of the affected area whether by magic, mortal artifice, or simple peeking finds their senses blocked by a Shroud of Night. They can see only darkness, and only the loudest sound can be heard outside the area of dampening. Even hidden cameras and microphones are affected, provided the information they gather leaves the area warded thus. It is worth noting that, unlike other rituals that protect against scrying, this one protects against the Abyss Mysticism ritual Reflections on the Hollow Revelation.
Side Effect: The constant draining effect of the abyss energies damage a building quickly with constant use. If kept active for a year, a grand, modern manse might become a dilapidated hulk. Those who wish to use this ritual for extended periods might want to hire a groundskeeper and handyman to keep up with the entropic resonance. Over a period of five years’ constant decay and repair, a mystic will likely end up replacing every piece of her haven at least once.
Egg of Darkness: Level 3
This ritual creates a softball-sized "egg" that contains a concentrated bundle of Abyssal energies. When complete, the egg may be thrown or struck to release a cloud similar to a Shroud of Night.
System: The egg may be triggered at any time after it has been completed either by throwing it or striking it sharply. This can be triggered accidentally at the Storyteller's discretion should someone carrying an unprotected egg fall or take significant damage from a blow that might strike the egg. When triggered, the egg releases an effect that functions exactly like a Shroud of Night, save that the radius is only 10 feet per success scored on the ritual casting around the egg.
This ritual is often used to provide Lasombra agents with potent tools, but it has been pointed out that this ritual provides a more…subtle Shroud of Night than most mystics can invoke.
Side Effect: A botch permanently damages the Mystic's ability to control his own Shroud of Night. Ever after, the Mystic invoking the Obtenebration power Shroud of Night will create a Shroud of double the usual radius.
Tangible Shadows: Level 3
The ability to share the senses of an Arm of the Abyss is well known to most Lasombra. This ritual takes that to its logical conclusion, granting the Mystic senses of his complete surroundings by summoning thousands of invisible tendrils of the Abyss all sharing sensory information with him.
System: The Mystic first summons a Shroud of Night. While within that Shroud of Night he then activates Arms of the Abyss. Chanting supplications to "see as only the darkness can see" the Mystic then spends a Willpower and rolls Perception + Occult (difficulty 8) causing the summoned Arms of the Abyss to split again and again and again until they are so thin and all encompassing the they fill the Shroud of Night, at which point the Mystic dismisses the Shroud and is left with thousands of invisible shadow tendrils connected to him. For each success scored on the Perception + Occult roll, the Tendrils extend 10 ft from him.
These tendrils are tangible but invisible. Anyone coming within the radius will feel as though thousands of cold silk strands are brushing over them from all angles. Within this radius, the Mystic can feel the shape and position of every solid thing around him. This sensory data allows him to function normally as long as he restricts actions to things within the tendrils' radius, even when completely blind, including when he is in another Lasombra's Shroud of Night. The Mystic also receives a -2 difficulty on all Perception rolls dealing with things in the radius of this ritual. It is notable that the effects of this ritual are touch based, and not truly sight, so while this sensory information can reveal the shape of an individual so detailed that the Lasombra can identify them, it cannot read words on a page or view images on a screen.
The effects of this ritual have no effect on Obfuscated individuals as the tendrils are subject to the mental avoidance generated by Obfuscate and will all subconsciously avoid the Obfuscated individual. Using Vanish From the Mind's Eye while within the radius however has its difficulty increased by 2 (to a maximum of 10) to reflect being immersed in the tendrils.
This ritual lasts until sunrise, or until the Mystic dismisses the effects.
Side Effect: The overwhelming amount of sensory data generated by the tendrils of the Abyss is so great that a Lasombra with this ritual in effect finds it difficult to concentrate on outside perceptions. While this ritual is in effect, the Mystic suffers +2 difficulty on all Perception rolls for all things outside of the radius of this ritual. The Concentration merit negates this side effect. Botching this ritual renders the Mystic unable to use Arms of the Abyss for the remainder of the night.
Abyssal Ward: Level 4
This ritual goes against the very nature of Abyss Mysticism, and yet without it the practice of Mysticism would likely have never developed to the extent it has. This ritual creates a warding circle within which the Abyss cannot penetrate, Obtenebration does not function, and Abyssal entities cannot enter.
System: The player must roll Intelligence + Occult (difficulty 7) as the Mystic lays a circle in diamond dust. This must be performed in a location where no shadows lay across the lines of the circle (Shadow Play may be used to bend any existing shadows away from the circle to ensure this). Once the ritual is complete, no Obtenebration effect may cross the threshold unless the caster scores more successes than the Mystic scored on the ward. Neither may any Abyssal entity cross without making a Willpower roll and scoring more successes than the Mystic did on the ward. For the purposes of this ritual, anyone with an active Obtenebration effect is considered an Abyssal entity, as is anyone with the flaw Animate Shadow or Harbinger of the Abyss. A Shade or other true Abyssal entity makes the roll at difficulty 9, a Cainite with either flaw makes it at difficulty 8, and anyone with an active Obtenebration effect makes it at difficulty 7.
Side Effect: Once established, no shadow will ever lie across the lines of the circle, shadows bending around in odd and disturbing ways to avoid the lines. Lasombra, particularly Mystics, feel wrong just being in the same room as an Abyssal Ward, as if a part of themselves is being blocked. For every hour a Lasombra spends in sight of an Abyssal Ward, he must make a Courage check (difficulty 6 for most Lasombra, difficulty 8 for Abyss Mystics) or lose a point of Willpower. Any Lasombra who spends the day in the same room as an Abyss Ward will suffer terrible nightmares and will wake from that sleep having lost half of their current willpower pool.
Ahriman's Favor: Level 4
The Abyss serves no master but itself truly and those who believe themselves masters of the Shadows are soon to discover their folly at the hands of a Mystic who possesses this ritual. This potent ritual allows the Mystic to seize control of any existing Obtenebration effect from its initial user and take that power for himself.
System: The player must spend a blood point which must be offered to the Mystic's own shadow in sacrifice as he rolls Manipulation + Occult at difficulty 7. This infuses the Mystic's shadow with an ongoing connection to the same Abyssal source as any other Obtenebration effect that the Mystic may tap to control any currently active Abyssal effect. This can be any power of the Obtenebration discipline or Abyss Mysticism effect up to the Mystic's own rating in Obtenebration. This will seize control of any ongoing effect and treat the Mystic as the caster of that effect with the same successes as scored by the original caster. In order to seize control of an active effect, the Mystic must spend a blood and willpower point and make the same roll as it would normally take to activate the power in question (or Manipulation + Occult at difficulty 6 if no roll is normally needed) and score more successes than the original caster did (in the case of an effect with no roll, both parties make a contested Manipulation + Occult at difficulty 6). In the case of a transformation effect such as Black Metamorphosis or Tenebrous Form, this pulls the current caster out of the transformed form and sends the Mystic into his own. The Mystic may seize a number of Abyssal Effects equal to his successes on Ahriman's Favor. This ritual lasts until sunrise.
Side Effect: A Mystic with this ritual active is the bane of shadows, who all recognize the energies pumping through him. All shadows bend and twist away from the Mystic in a disturbing way giving him a +1 difficulty on social rolls with mortals for anything other than Intimidate.
Eclipse of the Heart: Level 4
This ritual binds the Mystic forever to the Abyss by replacing his heart with a permanent Heart that Beats in Silence which will reside forevermore in the Mystic's chest, the Mystic's own Heart lost forever in the Abyss.
System: The Mystic must first cut open his own chest with a dagger crafted from Abyssal Jet, dealing 4 levels of unsoakable lethal damage and requiring the expenditure of a Willpower point. The Mystic must then command a previously summoned Heart that Beats in Silence to flow inside the wound and consume his heart. As the Abyssal creature is feeding on his heart, the Mystic loses half of his current blood pool and must immediately test for hunger frenzy regardless of his remaining blood pool. Failing to this hunger frenzy disrupts the ritual and causes the process to be considered a botch. At the exact moment that the Mystic's Heart would be fully consumed, he must make a Manipulation + Occult roll at difficulty 9 and spend 4 blood to heal the chest wound. This binds the Abyssal creature within his chest and forces it to function as the new seat of his power as his heart once did. Failing this roll sends the Mystic into an immediate torpor that lasts twice as long as normal for his Path Rating as a new heart must be grown. Botching this roll instantly brings the Mystic Final Death and sends his soul screaming into the Abyss.
After the ritual is complete, thereafter the Mystic is immune to staking as his heart is in constant Tenebrous Form. Furthermore the absence of the Seat of Emotion in him cause a -2 difficulty on Frenzy tests, but the Abyssal energies now permeating his body cause a +2 difficulty on all Rotschreck tests based from Fire or Sunlight.
Side Effect: The Mystic's blood is forever tainted by the Abyssal energy of his new Heart. Forever after, the Mystic's blood will be an unnatural inky black and any time he spends blood for any effect, a panoply of shadows will wash over his skin in a disturbing and obviously unnatural manner.
Imbuing the Hand of the Void: Level 4
Arms of the Abyss are useful tools, but quite often they are limited in their abilities due to not having a further power source to draw upon. This ritual creates such a power source, allowing Arms of the Abyss created by the Mystic to be further enhanced as needed.
System: This ritual requires the Mystic to spend a number of blood points by spilling them into his own shadow which greedily drinks the blood while intoning a ritual chant of supplication and sacrifice to the Abyss. The Mystic makes a Manipulation + Occult roll (difficulty 7) and a number of blood up to the successes on this ritual will count toward the effect. Note that the amount of blood to be spent must be chosen before the roll is made and any additional blood spent is lost to the Abyss.
After successfully casting this ritual, until sunrise the Mystic may expend blood from the pool now stored in his shadow to activate any Obtenebration effect or to empower an Arm of the Abyss as though the Arm was spending the blood in any way a vampire normally could, such as enhancing its physical attributes or healing it from damage. This blood does not come from the Mystic and thus does not count against the Mystic's own generational limits. This effect may be cast multiple times if desired, stacking the blood in the pool. Any excess blood left in the pool when the sun rises is lost forever to the Void.
Side Effect: The Mystic's shadow grows larger and more powerful when storing blood in this way. It moves more and appears darker. Consider this as the flaw Animate Shadow, except that anyone crossing the Path of the Mystic's shadow will be affected as though hit with Shadow Play, reducing their Stamina by 1.
Shadow Servant: Level 4
Abyssal entities are not the friends of the Lasombra who call them. Under normal conditions they will take every opportunity they can to follow their own wishes of destruction and chaos while on this material plane. This ritual allows the Mystic a tighter control on an abyssal servant he has summoned, alleviating some of the fear that summoning such creatures may bring.
System: The caster must first cast the ritual Calling the Thing in Darkness, then immediately upon completion of the ritual, this ritual must be cast on the Thing. To enact the ritual, the Mystic must first subdue the Thing physically, reducing it to at least half its Health Levels to show his dominance. The Mystic must then intone a ritual chant lasting approximately 15 minutes. At the conclusion of the chant, the Mystic spills his vitae over the Thing, making it into a Shadow Servant. From this point on, the Shadow Servant will act in all respects as though it were fully blood bound to the Mystic. This ritual may not be used on Hungry Shades or any other type of incorporeal Abyssal creature.
Side Effect: The blood point that the Mystic spends on this ritual is locked away, effectively reducing his maximum blood pool for as long as the Shadow Servant persists. Only once the Shadow Servant returns to the Abyss will the Mystic regain his full blood pool.
Sight of the True Shadow: Level 4
No matter how something changes, a creature's shadow is more than simply a trick of the light. It is a tie in to their true nature reflected by the Abyss. This ritual allows the Mystic to look past the mundane and see the True Shadows of all he sees, revealing their true forms.
System: To cast this ritual the Mystic must first summon 2 Eyes of Ahriman to serve him. He must then take the same candle used to summon the Eyes and burn out his own eyes, inflicting 2 levels of aggravated damage and requiring the expenditure of 2 willpower points. The Mystic then makes a Manipulation + Occult roll (difficulty 7) to command the Eyes of Ahriman to replace his own eyes and grant him the True Sight. If successful the Eyes of Ahriman replace the Mystic's own eyes and allow him to see again, in a fashion.
While this effect is active, the Mystic may make a Perception + Occult check at a difficulty of the subject's current Willpower when looking at any creature's shadow. If successful, he can see the shadow that would be reflected by the subject in their true form, and not necessarily the one they are currently showing. With even a single success, this ritual allows the Mystic to positively identify that a creature is not in their true form as the shadow is different. With at leas 3 successes, he can tell the approximate size and shape of that true form, thus revealing Lupus or Metis werewolves for instance. If he scores at least 5 successes on this check, the Mystic may positively identify the subject from this shadow as it takes on a true semblance of the individual in question. This roll does benefit from Auspex should the Mystic have any. This ritual lasts until the next sunrise.
Side Effect: Eyes of Ahriman do not see the world in the same way as normal people. For the duration of this ritual, the Mystic gains the flaw Uncontrollable Night Sight. A botch on this ritual gives the flaw permanently.
Vault of the Black Soul: Level 4
This ritual functions much the same as Abyssal Vault, except that the user stores the Mystic may take the stored items with him by storing them in his own shadow.
System: The method of storing and retrieving the items functions just as Abyssal Vault, save that the shadow used is the Mystic's own, so no item too large to be encompassed may be stored within. This ritual also does not have the weakness that causes it to disappear if the shadow is moved. The Mystic may withdraw the item in the same manner at any time from his own shadow.
Side Effect: Same as Abyssal Vault.
Aegis of Ahriman: Level 5
However alien the Abyss seems to material beings, there is a hierarchy of sorts. Greater creatures absorb and consume lesser in a grand miasma, and despite their desire to destroy, the lesser creatures of the Abyss have a tiny seed of fear that comes with sentience that makes them not wish to be destroyed. This ritual infuses the Mystic with the energies of one of the greater Abyssal Entities and causes them to see him as something far more and fear to strike him.
System: To activate this ritual, the Mystic must spend half an hour in a lightless chamber, focusing the energy of the Abyss into his body, which requires the expenditure of a blood point and a willpower point, as well as a Stamina + Occult roll (difficulty 8). If the ritual is successful, until the following sunrise, no effect of Obtenebration controlled by another will affect him in any way. Arms of the Abyss will refuse to strike him, Shrouds of Night will bend around him creating pockets of light, and even Abyssal Creatures must make a Willpower roll at a difficulty of the Mystic's Obtenebration rating + his successes on the ritual in order to attack him. Other Kindred and Creatures with a greater rating in Obtenebration than the Mystic are unaffected by this ritual as they know they are superior.
Side Effect: The huge amount of Abyss energies involved in this ritual twist and affect the Mystic greatly. While this effect persists and for a full week thereafter, the Mystic gains the flaw Harbinger of the Abyss. Multiple uses of this ritual in the time the effect persists extend the duration the flaw is suffered by an additional week per application. A botch on this ritual deals 7 levels of aggravated damage and bestows the flaw permanently.
Domain of Darkest Night: Level 5
This ritual breaks down the barriers of the world over a given area, allowing the Abyss to creep in and take control. While in this area, it is always just a bit darker than anywhere else, structures are always just a little more rundown and death really does wait in every shadow. An Abyss Mystic who creates such a domain gains a great deal of power, as his control of the permeating Abyss truly allows him to become master of his domain, aware of all threats and capable of exacting vengeance on those who would dare to invade.
System: Creating a Domain of Darkest Night is no subtle task. The Mystic must begin by creating a Shroud of Night at the exact center of what will become the domain. The Mystic then increases the size of this Nocturne by widening the conduit to the Abyss through his own shadow as the entropic energies rage through him threatening to rip his body apart. Each hour the Mystic chants and meditates in the darkness, he makes a Stamina + Occult roll (difficulty 6) to resist a number of levels of aggravated damage equal to number of hours the Mystic has been chanting. This is not a soak roll and does not benefit from Fortitude, as the damage caused would normally be unsoakable. This roll is to direct the Abyssal energies away from the Mystic's own soul as the Shadow Storm rages through him. As an active part of the ritual and not a reflexive soak roll, this is also penalized by wound penalties. For every hour the Mystic chants, the Nocturne doubles in size again. The Mystic may continue to meditate for as long as he wishes, or until he drops from damage. At the conclusion of the ritual, when the Nocturne has reached the size desired by the Mystic, he must then close the portal to the Abyss in his shadow he has opened, reabsorbing the torrent of Abyssal energy back into himself as the Nocturne rushes back into him. This deals a further amount of aggravated damage to the Mystic equal to the number of hours the ritual lasted, although the Mystic may make one final Stamina + Occult roll to avoid the damage. Several unwary Mystics have forgotten this crucial last step and let their Nocturne's grow so large that death was certain in the end.
Once the ritual is complete, the total area once covered by the Nocturne becomes the Domain of Darkest Night. Within this area, an ever-present shadow permeates the very air leaving the entire domain just a bit darker than anywhere else. Within the domain, all light levels are considered a step lower, fires burn at one less intensity than normal, damage from sunlight is always considered to be shrouded (difficulty 6 soak rather than 9), and all those save the Master of the Domain have their Stamina reduced by 1.
The real benefit however is only seen by the Domain's Master who is so attuned to the energies permeating his domain that several important benefits are gained. First, the area is so attuned to the Abyss that all uses of Obtenebration or Abyss Mysticism by the Master have their difficulty reduced by 3. Second, the Master may, while within the Domain, shift his senses to anywhere else in the domain, watching out of the ever-present shadow that hangs over the area. This is treated as the Auspex power Clairvoyance, save that anyone being viewed may make a check to notice the shadows watching as per the ritual Reflections of Hollow Revelation. Third, the Mystic may invoke any power of Obtenebration anywhere within his Domain regardless of line of sight. And finally, at the cost of a Blood point and a Willpower point, the Mystic may step between any two shadows within the confines of the Domain as per the elder power Shadow Step, save without the maximum range as long as both shadows are within the Domain.
The Abyssal energies on this scale cannot persist forever in the material world. For every year that passes after the Domain is established, it contracts by half its size. The only way to return it to its full size again is to perform the full ritual again, reestablishing a new Domain of Darkest Night.
Side Effect: This is not a subtle power at all, as the Master's attunement to the Abyss is readily apparent thereafter within the Domain. At all times within the Domain, the Master is marked by the shadows flocking about him in a manner that is obviously unnatural, and provoking a Courage check from any unused to the sight of Obtenebration (difficulty 8) to avoid fleeing the scene in a panic. Also, Abyssal energy is utterly entropic in nature. Structures within a Domain of Darkest Night tend to fall apart due to seemingly ordinary wear and tear far quicker than they normally would. As such, maintenance of any structures within the Domain becomes far more costly and time consuming to upkeep.
Walk the Shadow's Path: Level 5
This ritual allows a master Mystic to step into the Abyss itself for short trips. Distance in the material world is meaningless once in the Abyss, as all shadows are merely doorways to the domain of Ahriman. This ritual lets the Mystic journey through the Abyss for short trips or even pull other objects or creatures through.
System: The Mystic must take any number of previously summoned Hearts that Beat in Silence and infuse them into his own shadow by making a Manipulation + Occult roll at difficulty 8. Each success gained infuses one Heart that Beats in Silence into the Shadow. Each Heart that the Mystic fails to fully infuse in his shadow rips its way out, dealing a level of unsoakable aggravated damage. Until the end of the night, the Mystic gains the ability to move a number of people or objects through one shadow and out another equal to the number of Hearts that Beat in Silence that the Mystic has bound to his own shadow.
To step through shadow, the Mystic must spend a blood point and a willpower point and make a Perception + Occult roll at difficulty 7. If instead the Mystic wishes to pull a target person or object through a shadow to them, the roll is Intelligence + Brawl at difficulty 7. The maximum distance between shadows that the Mystic may step between is equal to 5 yards for each point of Intelligence + Occult possessed by the Mystic.
Side Effect: While even one Heart that Beats in Silence is bound to the Mystic's shadow, the Mystic gains the flaw Animate Shadow.
This is the first installment in that set of new rituals that will be approved for character use, covering the Lasombra's Abyss Mysticism. A lot of these are taken and converted from One World by Night's MET Lasombra packet, while others are our own writing. The rituals detailed here are assumed already to exist in the world and be available for PCs to find or obtain through a mentor. Keep an eye out soon for the new rituals for the other paradigms as well.
NEW ABYSS MYSTICISM
Communing With The Darkness: Level 1
The Abyss is a cold thing, a thing of necessity and contemplation. The Abyss does not act with haste or passion, but slowly continues to work its way into all worlds to bring about what must be done. This ritual infuses the Mystic with some of that cold drive, protecting him from the Beast of Caine, but also weakening his moral resolve.
System: The player rolls Wits + Occult or Meditation at difficulty 6 as the Mystic spends one hour in the isolation of a lightless room, intoning a meditative chant as he summons a Nocturne. The Mystic then breathes in the Nocturne directly into his being, allowing the chilling darkness to merge with his very soul. If the ritual is successfully cast, the Mystic gains +1 die per success on all Self-Control and Instinct rolls, as well as all Courage rolls to resist Rotschreck for the remainder of the night. However, the Mystic is also at +2 difficulty on any Conscience or Conviction rolls he must make for that same duration.
Side Effect: The cold heartlessness that permeates the Abyss alters the Mystic's mindset. If the caster fails to successfully cast this ritual, he may not attempt to cast it again for a full week as the passion of his Beast rebels against the cold of the outer darkness. Similarly he is stained by the attempt to infuse himself with the essence of the Abyss and his skin darkens until it is the same shiny black as that of an elder Assamite. This lasts for the remainder of that week. Should the Mystic botch this ritual, the darkening of the skin is permanent, and he may not attempt to cast this ritual for a full month per negative success.
Craft Abyssal Jet: Level 1
This ritual calls forth a tangible piece of the Abyss in the form of black jet that drinks light around it. This jet is fashionable among elder Lasombra and often worked into jewelry and either worn or given to favored allies of the Mystics.
System: The ritual summons a piece of jet about the size of a man's fist. As incarnate shadow, this jet can then be worked into nearly any form easily through the use of Shadow Play, requiring a Manipulation + Crafts + Obtenebration roll for particularly fine works. Light sources in the immediate vicinity of a piece of Abyssal Jet seem to dim slightly as the jet drinks in the light. In the sight of those with the Darksight merit, the results of this ritual seem to shine like miniature suns.
Side Effect: A botched roll creates a stone that randomly, and hungrily, drink light. At unpredictable and inconvenient times, a botched stone will "flash" darkness, dousing all light sources in a room.
Drawing the Shades of Darkness: Level 1
This ritual wards a room against light, protecting the vulnerable Lasombra from the scorching rays of the sun. Traditionally in his sleeping chambers, though one room is as usable as any other in truth, the Mystic must coat all doors and windows with black wax and scratch a sigil representing the shadow's triumph over the light into each blob of wax. The wax need not fully cover the door or window, but must be large enough that the sigil can be carved into it by hand.
System: The player must roll Intelligence + Occult at difficulty 5. This ritual functions as the Thaumaturgy ritual Defense of the Sacred Haven in that it prevents sunlight from entering the warded room. It differs in that it also prevents any light at all from passing the seals, so only light sources within the warded room itself may be seen within. The seals function both ways so no light will leave the warded room either, causing any to look in from outside to see nothing but darkness. This is natural darkness however, and not the inky blackness of the Abyss. This ritual lasts for one full cycle of the moon, and the wax seals must remain intact on each door and window in the room for the full duration. If any of the seals are broken, the ritual's effects immediately end.
Side Effect: The light is a vengeful thing and resents the dark and those who favor it. Should any of the seals ever be broken during the duration of the ritual, the Mystic who cast the ritual immediately must soak 3 aggravated damage at difficulty 9 to soak as though exposed to full sunlight for a single turn. This effect occurs regardless of the time the seals are broken or the location of the Mystic at the time and occurs in addition to any damage the Mystic may suffer from actual exposure to sunlight as a result of a seal being broken.
Leash the Shade: Level 1
This dangerous ritual, originally created by a Child of the Abyss to correct an unfortunate mistake, allows the Mystic to leash an abyssal entity to himself restricting its movement. This will invariably irritate the Abyssal creature who under most circumstances will simply attack the Mystic presumptuous enough to attempt this.
System: Unlike most Abyss Mysticism rituals, this requires Obtenebration higher than its level as the use of this ritual requires using Arms of the Abyss. This ritual requires that the Mystic spend a blood and a Willpower in the same turn that he uses an Arm of the Abyss to attack an Abyssal creature such as a Hungry Shade. The Mystic then enters into a contested roll of his Manipulation + Occult versus the Entity's Willpower (both at difficulty 7). If the Mystic is successful, the Arm merges with the Abyssal creature on one end and the Mystic's own shadow on the other, forming an unbreakable tether. From this point on, the Mystic may extend or retract the length of the tether at will to go where he wishes. He may also attempt to pull the Abyssal creature to him, retracting the tether by making another contested Manipulation + Occult versus the creature's Willpower (difficulty 7). The Abyssal creature may similarly move physically anywhere it wishes, extending or contracting the tether in the same way, even pulling the Mystic to itself. The main use of this ritual however is that the tether to the Mystic anchors it firmly to the material world and prevents any use of an Abyssal creature's ability to travel through the Abyss through methods such as the Shadow Step power.
This leash lasts as long as the Mystic wishes, even extending past sunrise. However, this ritual is extremely dangerous as it cannot keep an Abyssal creature at bay and gives it an unerring way to track back to the Mystic, able to follow the leash even during the day when the Mystic is sleeping. The leash will only vanish with the Mystic's final death, the destruction of the Abyssal creature, or if the Mystic chooses to dismiss it early (and most do before dawn) by spending another Willpower point.
Side Effect: This ritual consumes a great deal of the energy used to produce Arms of the Abyss. For the duration of this ritual, all uses of Arms of the Abyss will suffer +2 difficulty.
See With the Shadow's Eyes: Level 1
This ritual attune's the Mystic's senses to those of an already summoned Eye of Ahriman. The Mystic must pluck out one of his own eyes and feed it to the Eye of Ahriman to so attune his senses.
System: The Mystic must spend a Willpower point to voluntarily pluck out his own eye. This deals one level of unsoakable lethal damage (which may subsequently be healed normally). For the remainder of the night, the Mystic's senses are attuned to the Eye of Ahriman, allowing him to see what the Eye sees and hear what it hears. Even after the eye has been regrown, for the ritual's duration, that eye will be pure black and without iris or pupil. This ritual may be ended prematurely with a second ritual that requires the Eye of Ahriman to be present.
Side Effect: While the ritual persists, the Mystic's senses are divided, imposing a +2 difficulty to all Perception rolls. A botch on this ritual bestows the Uncontrollable Night Sight Flaw that cannot be removed with a subsequent application of Pierce the Murk.
Abyssal Bribe: Level 2
This ritual was created as a last ditch effort by a cabal of young Abyss Mystics who had lost control of a Hungry Shade and had no other option to get it back to the Abyss before it rampaged through the city. This ritual breaks a lot of the usual rules of Obtenebration, in that it places the Mystic in a role of supplication, tempting and coaxing these forces rather than commanding them, but in desperate times, desperate measures are called for. And the price to pay for this ritual is quite steep as the method of tempting a Shade back to the Abyss involves a sacrifice of the Mystic's connection with the Abyss as he gives up all ability to use Obtenebration for a time.
System: This ritual may be cast communally by any number of participants, all of whom must have the ritual. Every participant in the ritual must have touched the Shade in question with an effect of their own Obtenebration in order to use this ritual. All of the Mystics who will perform the ritual must each link hands and call a Shroud of Night. While meditating in the darkness, each Mystic must roll Manipulation + Courage roll (difficulty 8) to open a reversed portal to the Abyss that will draw Abyssal energies from the material plane back to itself. The longer that the Mystics leave this portal open, more of their own ability to connect with the Abyss is drained away, but from that draining, the Shade remembers how much it hates the material plane and how much it wants to go home.
A special dice pool is generated by means of this ritual, and is rolled in a resisted roll against the Shade's Willpower. This dice pool increases by the amount of time the Mystics enact the ritual for, and consequently the amount of time they must cut themselves off from the Abyss for. Every 15 minutes each Mystic meditates in this ritual represents a week that the Mystic will be cut off from the Abyss and one die added to the pool. All Mystics participating in the ritual must participate for the same amount of time. When the ritual is complete, this special dice pool is rolled in a resisted roll against the Shade's Willpower at difficulty 6. If the Mystics gain more successes, the Shade follows the dissipating Abyssal energies back to the Abyss. If this Shade scores more successes, the Shade has no compulsion to return to the Abyss and all of the Mystics have still given up their ability to use Obtenebration or Abyss Mysticism for the required time. Should the Mystics' roll botch, all participants lose the Ability to use any effect of Obtenebration or Abyss Mysticism for a full year and the Shade is not compelled to return.
Side Effect: As a result of losing one's connection to the Abyss, during the period of that the Mystic cannot use Obtenebration, he also loses access to all Abyss related merits and flaws as well. Most curiously, without a connection to the Abyss, during this period Lasombra Mystics regain their reflection, the sight of which can be quite disturbing for them.
Abyssal Vault: Level 2
This ritual turns any patch of shadow into a pocket Abyssal realm and allows the Mystic to hide away items within it. The item must be able to physically fit in the shadow in question to be able to be stored away.
System: This ritual enchants a stationary patch of shadow only. Should the shadow move more than the natural movement caused by changes in light, the ritual ends and any items stored within are lost to the Abyss. The Mystic permanently enchants a patch of shadow to hold items within a pocket Abyssal realm. After the ritual has been performed, any item that wholly fits within the patch of shadow is placed within and the Mystic targets the patch of shadow with Shadow Play to envelop the item which disappears into the Abyss. At any subsequent point, the Mystic may use Shadow Play on the enchanted shadow again to cause it to return the item to the material world. The Mystic may store any number of items within a given shadow regardless of combined size, however the Abyss takes its toll. For every night the Abyssal pocket exists, the Mystic must spend a blood point per item stored within or the pocket closes and the items stored within are lost forever in the Abyss.
Side Effect: Items returned from the Abyssal Vault will forever after be touched by the Abyss, their colors muted and darkened. This is not merely cosmetic. Anyone unused to the sight of Obtenebration upon seeing or handling an object returned from an Abyssal Vault must make a Courage roll as if witnessing Obtenebration for the first time. A botch on this ritual causes the Vault to open with a hole in the bottom, causing all items stored within to be lost forever, although the Mystic gains no intrinsic knowledge that this will happen and may store several items before discovering this upon attempting to call one back.
Bestow Gray Cloak: Level 2
This ritual binds an Eye of Ahriman into a large piece of cloak-like clothing (a poncho or trench coat for example) and forces it to shroud the wearer. Thereafter, anyone wearing the cloak will be wrapped in the Abyss.
System: As long as the garment is worn, the wearer is affected as though by Shadow Play, grandaunt him an additional die on Stealth and Intimidation rolls. The spirit is released from service should the garment ever be significantly damaged. A living creature who wears a Gray Cloak suffers one level of lethal damage each hour he wears it.
Side Effect: Those who wear the cloak have a connection to the Abyss, albeit a lesser one than is shared among Clan Lasombra. While wearing the cloak, the wearer's reflection will appear hazy and translucent, as though not entirely there. While not strictly a breach of the masquerade, this may draw some attention from anyone who looks too close at the wearer's reflection. A botch on this ritual creates a garment that shadows inexplicably avoid, and all stealth rolls made while wearing it have their difficulty raised by three.
Name the Shadow Puppeteer: Level 2
Obtenebration is not like other disciplines, and Lasombra Mystics know this better than anyone else. Channeling the power of something like the Abyss must be done with great care and if the power falls into the hands of one who is not properly trained, it could mean the end of the world. To that end, the Lasombra have created this ritual to alert them as to whom is using Obtenebration effects around them, so that they might either educate this person or eradicate them as needed.
System: The player must roll Perception + Occult at difficulty 7 while the Mystic spends a blood and a Willpower. This ritual requires the Mystic summon an Eye of Ahriman (the summoning of which is not part of this ritual) and absorb it into one of his ears. Until the next sunrise, whenever the Abyss Mystic encounters any Abyssal effect, whether Obtenebration, Abyss Mysticism, or other unknown effect, he may attempt to coerce the Eye of Ahriman to divulge the name of the one who summoned the encountered effect. To do this, the Mystic must roll Manipulation + Leadership at a difficulty of the Manipulation + Occult of the individual that caused the effect. If the Mystic is successful, the Eye of Ahriman divulges the name of the individual that summoned the Abyssal effect. The Abyss knows all those who touch its power.
Side Effect: While within the Mystic's ear, the Eye of Ahriman continuously whispers dark and terrible secrets and truths in an effort to disturb and disorient the Mystic. This imposes a +2 difficulty on all hearing based Perception checks for the duration of this ritual.
Nocturnal Disclosure: Level 2
The Abyss contains the knowledge of everything that occurs in darkness, as well as the collected knowledge of all those who have died therein. With this ritual, a Mystic may glean some of the secret knowledge kept by the Abyss as it relates to specific occurrences in the material world.
System: The player makes a Manipulation + Occult roll at difficulty 5 and spends a blood point which must be given in offering to any stationary shadow. If successful, the blood disappears as the shadow comes to life and accepts the offering in exchange for information. The Mystic may then ask any one question that the shadow is compelled to answer truthfully and completely to the best of its knowledge regarding anything that has occurred in the Shadow's vicinity. The difficulty of this ritual increases by 1 for each week that has passed since the event the Mystic is asking about. The shadow cannot answer any questions who's answers could not be divined by a mortal standing at the shadow's location during the time in question. Suitable examples include, "What did the person who last passed by you look like?", "How long has it been since the lights were turned on in this room?", or "Was anyone killed here last night?" Multiple part questions are not permitted and the ritual must be invoked a second time for each question to be asked.
Side Effect: None.
Nox Eternum: Level 2
While an ordinary Nocturne can befuddle enemies and disturb those who encounter the effect, the relatively short duration typically forces the effect to be used proactively by the Lasombra rather than as an effective defense. This ritual allows a nearly permanent Nocturne to be summoned to protect locations the Mystic may value.
System: The player spends a Willpower point in addition to the blood needed to summon a Nocturne and makes the usual roll to use Shroud of Night. Unlike normal, however, the Mystic may set a maximum size for the Nocturne of any size up to the full successes rolled by by walking a perimeter of the effect with an unbroken line of Obsidian dust. This effect costs an additional blood point for every range increment the Nox Eternum will take (2 blood for 20 feet, 3 blood for 40, 4 blood for 80, etc.). Unlike a normal Shroud of Night, a Nocturne summoned by Nox Eternum is unable to be moved and will last indefinitely, until struck by sunlight at which point it dissipates immediately. An Abyss Mystic may only have one Nox Eternum in existence at any one time. A Mystic may voluntarily end the effect at any time by making a second Manipulation + Occult roll at difficulty 7 and requiring as many successes as were invested in the Nox Eternum summoned. This ritual is often combined with Drawing the Shades of Darkness over a Mystic's haven to create the lightless sanctum sought after by those studying the mysteries of the Abyss.
Side Effect: The location covered by a Nox Eternum is flooded with far more Abyssal energy than an ordinary Nocturne. Such is the entropic effect of this power that any object stored within a Nox Eternum for more than a week will begin to break down and will need repairs. Any object left within the Nox Eternum for more than a month will be irrevocably broken. Any living or unliving being save the Mystic himself who rests within the Nox Eternum for a full night or day will take an unsoakable level of lethal damage as her body begins to wither and die.
Banishing the Hungry Shade: Level 3
Created by the Children of the Abyss in an effort to prevent the worst of the acts of some of the younger Mystics during the Anarch Revolt who were known to summon Shades and simply let them rampage, this ritual is created to banish a previously summoned Hungry Shade.
System: This ritual can only be performed at the same site as the original summoning of the Shade, by the same number of Mystics who originally summoned it, all of whom must know the ritual. This ritual may be performed at any time from dusk until midnight and is performed in the exact opposite manner as Calling the Hungry Shade, each mystic recreating the spiral of blood by spinning clockwise instead of counterclockwise. Just as with Calling the Hungry Shade, the maximum number of participants is that of the highest Occult rating in the group. Each Mystic makes an Intelligence + Occult check (difficulty 6) once per hour of the ritual. The ritual can continue until one hour before dawn. Over the course of this ritual, the Mystics must accumulate a number of successes equal to the successes gained on the original summoning of the Shade. At the conclusion of the ritual as the Shade is drawn back to the Abyss, each Mystic must spend a point of Willpower to seal the breach. A botch from any of the Mystics reduces the accumulated successes by 5.
Side Effects: None
Dark Well: Level 3
This ritual, sometimes jokingly referred to as the First Interplanar Blood Bank of the Abyss by younger Mystics, allows the mystic to store blood in the cold and timeless realm of the abyss through the convenient gateway of his own shadow. The mystic may store blood indefinitely this way and retrieve it when he desires. However, the Abyss is a cruel banker and always takes its toll.
System: The mystic may store two points of blood per success, and access them at any point later by taking an action and rolling Manipulation + Occult (difficulty 6), allowing him to withdraw points equal to his successes by appearing to reach a hand inside his own shadow and gaining the sustenance mystically.
However the Abyss is a consumptive thing (much like a bank), and it finds ways to skim its users every way it can (also like a bank). Like a bank, the Abyss charges a "reasonable" fee of one blood point for every deposit, withdrawal, and week elapsed since this ritual is cast for the first time. Like a bank, the Abyss does not notify its users of these fees; the blood simply disappears from the Mystic's account. There may be additional fees beyond these, and the storyteller is encouraged to randomly remove additional blood from the account due to other hidden fees (for LARP purposes, a second envelope of blood tickets should be kept by the Storytellers to represent the Mystic's Abyssal account, the exact contents of which the player does not know at any given time).
Side Effect: Abyssal banking is extremely convenient, but once an account is opened with the Abyss, it can never be closed again. Should the Mystic's account be empty when a fee comes due, the Abyss will take blood directly from the Mystic's own blood pool.
Darkening the Distant Eye: Level 3
With his understanding of the mysteries of the Abyss, the caster draws into being a form of darkness that hangs on the edge of sight of those in the area, and completely obscures the sight of those outside it.
System: The mystic spends several hours crafting the darkness, enticing measured waves of abyss energy into his abode. Doing this requires the expenditure of a Willpower point and a successful Perception + Occult roll (difficulty 8). The effect lasts for one month per success. During this time, any attempt to spy on the interior of the affected area whether by magic, mortal artifice, or simple peeking finds their senses blocked by a Shroud of Night. They can see only darkness, and only the loudest sound can be heard outside the area of dampening. Even hidden cameras and microphones are affected, provided the information they gather leaves the area warded thus. It is worth noting that, unlike other rituals that protect against scrying, this one protects against the Abyss Mysticism ritual Reflections on the Hollow Revelation.
Side Effect: The constant draining effect of the abyss energies damage a building quickly with constant use. If kept active for a year, a grand, modern manse might become a dilapidated hulk. Those who wish to use this ritual for extended periods might want to hire a groundskeeper and handyman to keep up with the entropic resonance. Over a period of five years’ constant decay and repair, a mystic will likely end up replacing every piece of her haven at least once.
Egg of Darkness: Level 3
This ritual creates a softball-sized "egg" that contains a concentrated bundle of Abyssal energies. When complete, the egg may be thrown or struck to release a cloud similar to a Shroud of Night.
System: The egg may be triggered at any time after it has been completed either by throwing it or striking it sharply. This can be triggered accidentally at the Storyteller's discretion should someone carrying an unprotected egg fall or take significant damage from a blow that might strike the egg. When triggered, the egg releases an effect that functions exactly like a Shroud of Night, save that the radius is only 10 feet per success scored on the ritual casting around the egg.
This ritual is often used to provide Lasombra agents with potent tools, but it has been pointed out that this ritual provides a more…subtle Shroud of Night than most mystics can invoke.
Side Effect: A botch permanently damages the Mystic's ability to control his own Shroud of Night. Ever after, the Mystic invoking the Obtenebration power Shroud of Night will create a Shroud of double the usual radius.
Tangible Shadows: Level 3
The ability to share the senses of an Arm of the Abyss is well known to most Lasombra. This ritual takes that to its logical conclusion, granting the Mystic senses of his complete surroundings by summoning thousands of invisible tendrils of the Abyss all sharing sensory information with him.
System: The Mystic first summons a Shroud of Night. While within that Shroud of Night he then activates Arms of the Abyss. Chanting supplications to "see as only the darkness can see" the Mystic then spends a Willpower and rolls Perception + Occult (difficulty 8) causing the summoned Arms of the Abyss to split again and again and again until they are so thin and all encompassing the they fill the Shroud of Night, at which point the Mystic dismisses the Shroud and is left with thousands of invisible shadow tendrils connected to him. For each success scored on the Perception + Occult roll, the Tendrils extend 10 ft from him.
These tendrils are tangible but invisible. Anyone coming within the radius will feel as though thousands of cold silk strands are brushing over them from all angles. Within this radius, the Mystic can feel the shape and position of every solid thing around him. This sensory data allows him to function normally as long as he restricts actions to things within the tendrils' radius, even when completely blind, including when he is in another Lasombra's Shroud of Night. The Mystic also receives a -2 difficulty on all Perception rolls dealing with things in the radius of this ritual. It is notable that the effects of this ritual are touch based, and not truly sight, so while this sensory information can reveal the shape of an individual so detailed that the Lasombra can identify them, it cannot read words on a page or view images on a screen.
The effects of this ritual have no effect on Obfuscated individuals as the tendrils are subject to the mental avoidance generated by Obfuscate and will all subconsciously avoid the Obfuscated individual. Using Vanish From the Mind's Eye while within the radius however has its difficulty increased by 2 (to a maximum of 10) to reflect being immersed in the tendrils.
This ritual lasts until sunrise, or until the Mystic dismisses the effects.
Side Effect: The overwhelming amount of sensory data generated by the tendrils of the Abyss is so great that a Lasombra with this ritual in effect finds it difficult to concentrate on outside perceptions. While this ritual is in effect, the Mystic suffers +2 difficulty on all Perception rolls for all things outside of the radius of this ritual. The Concentration merit negates this side effect. Botching this ritual renders the Mystic unable to use Arms of the Abyss for the remainder of the night.
Abyssal Ward: Level 4
This ritual goes against the very nature of Abyss Mysticism, and yet without it the practice of Mysticism would likely have never developed to the extent it has. This ritual creates a warding circle within which the Abyss cannot penetrate, Obtenebration does not function, and Abyssal entities cannot enter.
System: The player must roll Intelligence + Occult (difficulty 7) as the Mystic lays a circle in diamond dust. This must be performed in a location where no shadows lay across the lines of the circle (Shadow Play may be used to bend any existing shadows away from the circle to ensure this). Once the ritual is complete, no Obtenebration effect may cross the threshold unless the caster scores more successes than the Mystic scored on the ward. Neither may any Abyssal entity cross without making a Willpower roll and scoring more successes than the Mystic did on the ward. For the purposes of this ritual, anyone with an active Obtenebration effect is considered an Abyssal entity, as is anyone with the flaw Animate Shadow or Harbinger of the Abyss. A Shade or other true Abyssal entity makes the roll at difficulty 9, a Cainite with either flaw makes it at difficulty 8, and anyone with an active Obtenebration effect makes it at difficulty 7.
Side Effect: Once established, no shadow will ever lie across the lines of the circle, shadows bending around in odd and disturbing ways to avoid the lines. Lasombra, particularly Mystics, feel wrong just being in the same room as an Abyssal Ward, as if a part of themselves is being blocked. For every hour a Lasombra spends in sight of an Abyssal Ward, he must make a Courage check (difficulty 6 for most Lasombra, difficulty 8 for Abyss Mystics) or lose a point of Willpower. Any Lasombra who spends the day in the same room as an Abyss Ward will suffer terrible nightmares and will wake from that sleep having lost half of their current willpower pool.
Ahriman's Favor: Level 4
The Abyss serves no master but itself truly and those who believe themselves masters of the Shadows are soon to discover their folly at the hands of a Mystic who possesses this ritual. This potent ritual allows the Mystic to seize control of any existing Obtenebration effect from its initial user and take that power for himself.
System: The player must spend a blood point which must be offered to the Mystic's own shadow in sacrifice as he rolls Manipulation + Occult at difficulty 7. This infuses the Mystic's shadow with an ongoing connection to the same Abyssal source as any other Obtenebration effect that the Mystic may tap to control any currently active Abyssal effect. This can be any power of the Obtenebration discipline or Abyss Mysticism effect up to the Mystic's own rating in Obtenebration. This will seize control of any ongoing effect and treat the Mystic as the caster of that effect with the same successes as scored by the original caster. In order to seize control of an active effect, the Mystic must spend a blood and willpower point and make the same roll as it would normally take to activate the power in question (or Manipulation + Occult at difficulty 6 if no roll is normally needed) and score more successes than the original caster did (in the case of an effect with no roll, both parties make a contested Manipulation + Occult at difficulty 6). In the case of a transformation effect such as Black Metamorphosis or Tenebrous Form, this pulls the current caster out of the transformed form and sends the Mystic into his own. The Mystic may seize a number of Abyssal Effects equal to his successes on Ahriman's Favor. This ritual lasts until sunrise.
Side Effect: A Mystic with this ritual active is the bane of shadows, who all recognize the energies pumping through him. All shadows bend and twist away from the Mystic in a disturbing way giving him a +1 difficulty on social rolls with mortals for anything other than Intimidate.
Eclipse of the Heart: Level 4
This ritual binds the Mystic forever to the Abyss by replacing his heart with a permanent Heart that Beats in Silence which will reside forevermore in the Mystic's chest, the Mystic's own Heart lost forever in the Abyss.
System: The Mystic must first cut open his own chest with a dagger crafted from Abyssal Jet, dealing 4 levels of unsoakable lethal damage and requiring the expenditure of a Willpower point. The Mystic must then command a previously summoned Heart that Beats in Silence to flow inside the wound and consume his heart. As the Abyssal creature is feeding on his heart, the Mystic loses half of his current blood pool and must immediately test for hunger frenzy regardless of his remaining blood pool. Failing to this hunger frenzy disrupts the ritual and causes the process to be considered a botch. At the exact moment that the Mystic's Heart would be fully consumed, he must make a Manipulation + Occult roll at difficulty 9 and spend 4 blood to heal the chest wound. This binds the Abyssal creature within his chest and forces it to function as the new seat of his power as his heart once did. Failing this roll sends the Mystic into an immediate torpor that lasts twice as long as normal for his Path Rating as a new heart must be grown. Botching this roll instantly brings the Mystic Final Death and sends his soul screaming into the Abyss.
After the ritual is complete, thereafter the Mystic is immune to staking as his heart is in constant Tenebrous Form. Furthermore the absence of the Seat of Emotion in him cause a -2 difficulty on Frenzy tests, but the Abyssal energies now permeating his body cause a +2 difficulty on all Rotschreck tests based from Fire or Sunlight.
Side Effect: The Mystic's blood is forever tainted by the Abyssal energy of his new Heart. Forever after, the Mystic's blood will be an unnatural inky black and any time he spends blood for any effect, a panoply of shadows will wash over his skin in a disturbing and obviously unnatural manner.
Imbuing the Hand of the Void: Level 4
Arms of the Abyss are useful tools, but quite often they are limited in their abilities due to not having a further power source to draw upon. This ritual creates such a power source, allowing Arms of the Abyss created by the Mystic to be further enhanced as needed.
System: This ritual requires the Mystic to spend a number of blood points by spilling them into his own shadow which greedily drinks the blood while intoning a ritual chant of supplication and sacrifice to the Abyss. The Mystic makes a Manipulation + Occult roll (difficulty 7) and a number of blood up to the successes on this ritual will count toward the effect. Note that the amount of blood to be spent must be chosen before the roll is made and any additional blood spent is lost to the Abyss.
After successfully casting this ritual, until sunrise the Mystic may expend blood from the pool now stored in his shadow to activate any Obtenebration effect or to empower an Arm of the Abyss as though the Arm was spending the blood in any way a vampire normally could, such as enhancing its physical attributes or healing it from damage. This blood does not come from the Mystic and thus does not count against the Mystic's own generational limits. This effect may be cast multiple times if desired, stacking the blood in the pool. Any excess blood left in the pool when the sun rises is lost forever to the Void.
Side Effect: The Mystic's shadow grows larger and more powerful when storing blood in this way. It moves more and appears darker. Consider this as the flaw Animate Shadow, except that anyone crossing the Path of the Mystic's shadow will be affected as though hit with Shadow Play, reducing their Stamina by 1.
Shadow Servant: Level 4
Abyssal entities are not the friends of the Lasombra who call them. Under normal conditions they will take every opportunity they can to follow their own wishes of destruction and chaos while on this material plane. This ritual allows the Mystic a tighter control on an abyssal servant he has summoned, alleviating some of the fear that summoning such creatures may bring.
System: The caster must first cast the ritual Calling the Thing in Darkness, then immediately upon completion of the ritual, this ritual must be cast on the Thing. To enact the ritual, the Mystic must first subdue the Thing physically, reducing it to at least half its Health Levels to show his dominance. The Mystic must then intone a ritual chant lasting approximately 15 minutes. At the conclusion of the chant, the Mystic spills his vitae over the Thing, making it into a Shadow Servant. From this point on, the Shadow Servant will act in all respects as though it were fully blood bound to the Mystic. This ritual may not be used on Hungry Shades or any other type of incorporeal Abyssal creature.
Side Effect: The blood point that the Mystic spends on this ritual is locked away, effectively reducing his maximum blood pool for as long as the Shadow Servant persists. Only once the Shadow Servant returns to the Abyss will the Mystic regain his full blood pool.
Sight of the True Shadow: Level 4
No matter how something changes, a creature's shadow is more than simply a trick of the light. It is a tie in to their true nature reflected by the Abyss. This ritual allows the Mystic to look past the mundane and see the True Shadows of all he sees, revealing their true forms.
System: To cast this ritual the Mystic must first summon 2 Eyes of Ahriman to serve him. He must then take the same candle used to summon the Eyes and burn out his own eyes, inflicting 2 levels of aggravated damage and requiring the expenditure of 2 willpower points. The Mystic then makes a Manipulation + Occult roll (difficulty 7) to command the Eyes of Ahriman to replace his own eyes and grant him the True Sight. If successful the Eyes of Ahriman replace the Mystic's own eyes and allow him to see again, in a fashion.
While this effect is active, the Mystic may make a Perception + Occult check at a difficulty of the subject's current Willpower when looking at any creature's shadow. If successful, he can see the shadow that would be reflected by the subject in their true form, and not necessarily the one they are currently showing. With even a single success, this ritual allows the Mystic to positively identify that a creature is not in their true form as the shadow is different. With at leas 3 successes, he can tell the approximate size and shape of that true form, thus revealing Lupus or Metis werewolves for instance. If he scores at least 5 successes on this check, the Mystic may positively identify the subject from this shadow as it takes on a true semblance of the individual in question. This roll does benefit from Auspex should the Mystic have any. This ritual lasts until the next sunrise.
Side Effect: Eyes of Ahriman do not see the world in the same way as normal people. For the duration of this ritual, the Mystic gains the flaw Uncontrollable Night Sight. A botch on this ritual gives the flaw permanently.
Vault of the Black Soul: Level 4
This ritual functions much the same as Abyssal Vault, except that the user stores the Mystic may take the stored items with him by storing them in his own shadow.
System: The method of storing and retrieving the items functions just as Abyssal Vault, save that the shadow used is the Mystic's own, so no item too large to be encompassed may be stored within. This ritual also does not have the weakness that causes it to disappear if the shadow is moved. The Mystic may withdraw the item in the same manner at any time from his own shadow.
Side Effect: Same as Abyssal Vault.
Aegis of Ahriman: Level 5
However alien the Abyss seems to material beings, there is a hierarchy of sorts. Greater creatures absorb and consume lesser in a grand miasma, and despite their desire to destroy, the lesser creatures of the Abyss have a tiny seed of fear that comes with sentience that makes them not wish to be destroyed. This ritual infuses the Mystic with the energies of one of the greater Abyssal Entities and causes them to see him as something far more and fear to strike him.
System: To activate this ritual, the Mystic must spend half an hour in a lightless chamber, focusing the energy of the Abyss into his body, which requires the expenditure of a blood point and a willpower point, as well as a Stamina + Occult roll (difficulty 8). If the ritual is successful, until the following sunrise, no effect of Obtenebration controlled by another will affect him in any way. Arms of the Abyss will refuse to strike him, Shrouds of Night will bend around him creating pockets of light, and even Abyssal Creatures must make a Willpower roll at a difficulty of the Mystic's Obtenebration rating + his successes on the ritual in order to attack him. Other Kindred and Creatures with a greater rating in Obtenebration than the Mystic are unaffected by this ritual as they know they are superior.
Side Effect: The huge amount of Abyss energies involved in this ritual twist and affect the Mystic greatly. While this effect persists and for a full week thereafter, the Mystic gains the flaw Harbinger of the Abyss. Multiple uses of this ritual in the time the effect persists extend the duration the flaw is suffered by an additional week per application. A botch on this ritual deals 7 levels of aggravated damage and bestows the flaw permanently.
Domain of Darkest Night: Level 5
This ritual breaks down the barriers of the world over a given area, allowing the Abyss to creep in and take control. While in this area, it is always just a bit darker than anywhere else, structures are always just a little more rundown and death really does wait in every shadow. An Abyss Mystic who creates such a domain gains a great deal of power, as his control of the permeating Abyss truly allows him to become master of his domain, aware of all threats and capable of exacting vengeance on those who would dare to invade.
System: Creating a Domain of Darkest Night is no subtle task. The Mystic must begin by creating a Shroud of Night at the exact center of what will become the domain. The Mystic then increases the size of this Nocturne by widening the conduit to the Abyss through his own shadow as the entropic energies rage through him threatening to rip his body apart. Each hour the Mystic chants and meditates in the darkness, he makes a Stamina + Occult roll (difficulty 6) to resist a number of levels of aggravated damage equal to number of hours the Mystic has been chanting. This is not a soak roll and does not benefit from Fortitude, as the damage caused would normally be unsoakable. This roll is to direct the Abyssal energies away from the Mystic's own soul as the Shadow Storm rages through him. As an active part of the ritual and not a reflexive soak roll, this is also penalized by wound penalties. For every hour the Mystic chants, the Nocturne doubles in size again. The Mystic may continue to meditate for as long as he wishes, or until he drops from damage. At the conclusion of the ritual, when the Nocturne has reached the size desired by the Mystic, he must then close the portal to the Abyss in his shadow he has opened, reabsorbing the torrent of Abyssal energy back into himself as the Nocturne rushes back into him. This deals a further amount of aggravated damage to the Mystic equal to the number of hours the ritual lasted, although the Mystic may make one final Stamina + Occult roll to avoid the damage. Several unwary Mystics have forgotten this crucial last step and let their Nocturne's grow so large that death was certain in the end.
Once the ritual is complete, the total area once covered by the Nocturne becomes the Domain of Darkest Night. Within this area, an ever-present shadow permeates the very air leaving the entire domain just a bit darker than anywhere else. Within the domain, all light levels are considered a step lower, fires burn at one less intensity than normal, damage from sunlight is always considered to be shrouded (difficulty 6 soak rather than 9), and all those save the Master of the Domain have their Stamina reduced by 1.
The real benefit however is only seen by the Domain's Master who is so attuned to the energies permeating his domain that several important benefits are gained. First, the area is so attuned to the Abyss that all uses of Obtenebration or Abyss Mysticism by the Master have their difficulty reduced by 3. Second, the Master may, while within the Domain, shift his senses to anywhere else in the domain, watching out of the ever-present shadow that hangs over the area. This is treated as the Auspex power Clairvoyance, save that anyone being viewed may make a check to notice the shadows watching as per the ritual Reflections of Hollow Revelation. Third, the Mystic may invoke any power of Obtenebration anywhere within his Domain regardless of line of sight. And finally, at the cost of a Blood point and a Willpower point, the Mystic may step between any two shadows within the confines of the Domain as per the elder power Shadow Step, save without the maximum range as long as both shadows are within the Domain.
The Abyssal energies on this scale cannot persist forever in the material world. For every year that passes after the Domain is established, it contracts by half its size. The only way to return it to its full size again is to perform the full ritual again, reestablishing a new Domain of Darkest Night.
Side Effect: This is not a subtle power at all, as the Master's attunement to the Abyss is readily apparent thereafter within the Domain. At all times within the Domain, the Master is marked by the shadows flocking about him in a manner that is obviously unnatural, and provoking a Courage check from any unused to the sight of Obtenebration (difficulty 8) to avoid fleeing the scene in a panic. Also, Abyssal energy is utterly entropic in nature. Structures within a Domain of Darkest Night tend to fall apart due to seemingly ordinary wear and tear far quicker than they normally would. As such, maintenance of any structures within the Domain becomes far more costly and time consuming to upkeep.
Walk the Shadow's Path: Level 5
This ritual allows a master Mystic to step into the Abyss itself for short trips. Distance in the material world is meaningless once in the Abyss, as all shadows are merely doorways to the domain of Ahriman. This ritual lets the Mystic journey through the Abyss for short trips or even pull other objects or creatures through.
System: The Mystic must take any number of previously summoned Hearts that Beat in Silence and infuse them into his own shadow by making a Manipulation + Occult roll at difficulty 8. Each success gained infuses one Heart that Beats in Silence into the Shadow. Each Heart that the Mystic fails to fully infuse in his shadow rips its way out, dealing a level of unsoakable aggravated damage. Until the end of the night, the Mystic gains the ability to move a number of people or objects through one shadow and out another equal to the number of Hearts that Beat in Silence that the Mystic has bound to his own shadow.
To step through shadow, the Mystic must spend a blood point and a willpower point and make a Perception + Occult roll at difficulty 7. If instead the Mystic wishes to pull a target person or object through a shadow to them, the roll is Intelligence + Brawl at difficulty 7. The maximum distance between shadows that the Mystic may step between is equal to 5 yards for each point of Intelligence + Occult possessed by the Mystic.
Side Effect: While even one Heart that Beats in Silence is bound to the Mystic's shadow, the Mystic gains the flaw Animate Shadow.
