Evocation

Evocation is magic stemming from The Lustful Howl of Ashes. It's the broadest category of magic; spells that don't fit into other traditions fit well here.

If determining a random evocation spell, roll a die to determine if it is grey magic or black magic. Evens are grey, odds are black. If a black magic spell, roll a 1d4 to determine its strength, than 1d8 to determine the specific spell.

1- Petty
1 - The Hierodule's Hymn
2 - The Twinned Seals of Binding
3 - The Word of Winged Ruin
4 - Banishing the Earthly Tithe
5 - Rebuking Baron Death
6 - Hex of Wheels
7 - The Dew of the Anunnaki
8 - The Icon of Ouroboros in Nadir (arcane symbol that compels any human who views it to smash the item the rune is written upon. Initiation into magic of any kind, including players who make a Magic saving throw, renders targets immune to this effect. Occultists use it to make sure their grimoires aren't read by the uninitiated, or as the spring in a trap of some kind).

2- Minor
1 - Striking Root and Shattering Eye
2 - Reflecting the First Kingdom's Abstraction Resplendent
3 - Throwing Wide the Manor-Gates
4 - Mantra of Unseen Ascension
5 - The Rain-Making Glyph of Huasca
6 - Igigi Killing Curse (creates storms centered on the target)
7 - Calling Forth the Honored Guest (summons an individual from an exalted bloodline)
8 - Ascending the Red-Limned Stair (initiates with knowledge of this spell can teleport up to 60' in any direction after they kill someone with a melee weapon. Magicians are actually briefly slipping into Unfallen Akkad and traversing streets and back-alleys, so may not end up exactly where they intended. And may not always come back.)

3- Major
1 - The Argent Evocation of Lunar Shadow
2 - Calling the Storm Down to Earth
3 - The Scent of Sweetest Incense
4 - The Sign to Break Tongues
5 - The Gainful Hand
6 - The Sargonic Sequence
7 - Contact Enlightened Ancestors
8 - The Path of Hours

4- Grand
1 - The Palace in the Window
2 - The Curse of Abnegation
3 - The Howl of the Spheres
4 - Drawing Down the High Mystic Serpent
5 - Calcifying the Solar Spirits on the Cusp of Rubedo
6 - The Hidden Angles of Akkad
7 - Adjuration of the Ravening Masters
8 - Reigning Upon a Throne of Prisms

2 - The Hierodule's Hymn (Petty): The oldest and one of the most ubiquitous evocation spells in existence, it was famously created as a weapon by the Hierodule of Unfallen Akkad. Reciting the Hymn forces anyone able to hear the words to make an immediate Magic saving throw (including the speaker and caster; I=it's typical for black sorcerers to utilize earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones to protect themselves from the spell). Those who fail are frozen in paralyzing pain until the speaker stops reciting the Hymn, or until those affected succumb. Those who succeed manage to ignore the cursed syllables, though they will have to repeat the saving throw every minute unless the Hymn stops or they somehow block out its fearsome tones.

After 10 minutes of listening to the Hymn, or in the case of investigators 10 + their Constitution modifier in minutes, the victim must make a Physical saving throw. On a success, the victim "only" takes 2d6 (Slaughtering 1d10) damage from internal trauma. On a failure, the victim hideously vomits up his or her own innards. Worse, the viscera is animated into a grotesque facsimile of life, creating a "note" of the Hymn. This animate viscera will attack anyone present, save for those reciting the Hymn. If no targets are present, the viscera will crawl away into some dark and comfortable spot, lying in wait for prey. The magic animating the entrails and organ will disperse after a few hours, rendering it inert.

The Hymn is a favored weapon because it requires no special components or preparation to use. As long as the caster knows the blasphemous Hymn, they can use it with impunity. That said, it is a very long, hour-long spell, and it can be physically exhausting to perform. The GM might force the caster to make skill checks (such as Language/Akkadian or Art/Public Speaking) or even Physical saves to determine if their voice is up to the task. The spell is actually a pledge to the Howl, and use of it damns the soul of the speaker. Additionally if the speaker fails their own Magic save, they will be compelled to continue speaking the Hymn until some outside force stops them. Suicidal magicians may use the Hymn and listen to it willingly, sacrificing themselves to smite their enemies or spawn a note. This is a relatively rare use of the Hymn, however, and most sorcerers simply plug up their ears or utilize noise-cancelling headphones to protect themselves from the curse.

Significantly, the Hymn retains its potency even if recorded. So long as the pronunciation and cadence is correct, a recording of the Hymn is just as dangerous as if it spilled directly from the sorcerer's foul lips.

3 - The Twinned Seals of Binding (Petty): By inscribing words of magic on a surface, black magicians can use evocation to bind any spell they know to an object. Breaking, burning or otherwise destroying the object releases the spell.

The targeted object can be anything from a supercomputer to a painted canvas, but needs to incorporate the magical symbols somewhere on the surface. To create the seal the caster imagines the spell they intend to cast, and satisfies any requirements for that spell (like human sacrifice) they need, then begins creating or marking the target item. The specific symbols used differ per spell, and arrive in the sorcerer's mind via "divine inspiration." This sanity-corroding community with an Outer Power is what makes this technique black magic.

If this is the only spell a black magician knows, roll again to randomly determine another spell. The random spell can only be cast via the seal, since that is the only way the magician learned to cast it. This version of the spell sometimes comes to particularly devoted artists, crafstmen or scientists in dreams as wondrous designs or formulae they feel inspired to explore.

4- The Word of Winged Ruin (Petty): A dread curse pronounced in Akkadian will summon a thunderbird to destroy an inanimate object of the caster's choosing. This must be an object the caster has handled or at least seen themselves. A corrupted form of the thunder-chant discovered by an obscure Medieval occultist from continental Europe, its discoverer famously discovered its counter-curse as well: destroying the targeted item. If the target of the thunderbird's ire is destroyed by anything but the thunderbird itself,

The thunderbird will routinely kill any individual that stands between it and its target. The target of the curse also needs to be present to hear it. Recordings of the curse don't hold any potency, but cursing the target via phone or even voice chat works fine. The curse is instantaneous, but only a single thunderbird arrives to harry the victim, and it only arrives at night.

5 - Banishing the Earthly Tithe (Petty): This spell banishes a small inanimate object. The object must be small and light enough to be held in a single human hand, specifically the caster's. Properly targeting this spell requires knowledge of some extra-planar space or entity to serve as the object's destination. The banishment requires holding the target object and reciting a spell, the details of which differ depending on the exact target. Regardless of where the item is sent, all versions of this spell incorporate bleak oaths to the Howl. Use of it will permanently mar the caster's psyche, cursing the caster with bleak and mind-shredding nightmares of the atrocities committed in Unfallen Akkad's streets.

The targeted object is instantly teleported away once the spell is recited. If the gift is intended for a particular entity, the item will appear in roughly that entity's possession. This could mean gripped in one of its tentacles, in the possession of one of its minions, or even stored in an extra-dimensional vault.

Some black magicians use this spell to dispose of evidence, banishing paraphernalia where they know mundane authority will never reach.

6 - Rebuking Baron Death (Petty): Supposedly invented by a voodoo priestess as a weapon against the cults of the Pale King, this spell "revitalizes" a human corpse with a simple incantation of wildly disparate Nahuatl and Creole words combined with other, less identifiable syllables.

Many occultists believe this "revitalization" will restore a human carcass to life in a manner similar to The Catabasis Protocol. Instead, this spell simply causes all human corpses within 50' of the caster to erupt with an effluvia of unnatural life. Once the five minute incantation is complete, nearby corpses will twitch and quiver for about an additional minute before disgorging 1d4 notes of the Hymn each. The notes will attack anyone except the caster of the spell.

Additionally, all living creatures who hear the spell will be infused with a wild, hedonistic energy. This inflicts 1d6 Madness on all present, but will allow NPCs to use their skill bonus as a damage bonus to melee attacks. PC investigators present instead gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with melee attacks. This infusion of unholy vigor can be enough to incite an otherwise timid crowd into violence, though the individuals are in no way compelled to lash out, and are not under the direct control of the caster by any means. The mania lasts for the better part of an hour, but fades quickly once it has passed.

Hex of Wheels (Petty): This curse can target only means of human conveyance, like boats, automobiles, spacecraft or horses. It requires a sympathetic connection to the target, which is consumed during the casting, but requires no other major components, and can be performed within a round. The spell, once cast, causes the vehicle to malfunction in some unlikely but mundane-seeming way. This usually disables the vehicle entirely, but always causes a significant delay of some kind.

The part used as a sympathetic connection need have no actual connection to the malfunction; a cultist who knows this spell could use some fibers ripped from the backseat of a car, for example, to bring that car to a sudden and screeching halt. This spell is black magic largely due to the highly unpredictable nature of its outcome. A magician who steals a part from an airplane, for example, may just cause it be delayed on the ground for hours, or may force it to crash mid-flight. Attempts to predict the outcome through the precognition discipline or other methods will fail, but the spell is guaranteed to delay travel for at least 2d6 rounds, if not much longer.

The Dew of the Anunnaki (Petty): This ward perfectly preserves an object (usually an object no larger than a human body), so long as no human observes the warded item. The ward renders the warded object indestructible to any mundane means. Heat, cold, crushing pressure or the passage of centuries will have no effect on the warded object. Magic can still target and destroy it, but the protected item is completely immune to non-magical harm.

This protection fades as soon as a human other than the caster lays eyes on it. The ward can be perceived for a moment before it fades, with witnesses describing it as a layer of slime or moisture coating the item before it seems to "evaporate." This has led to it being called "the dew of the anunnaki," "dew of the asura" or "dew of the gods" in occult scholarship or the few archaeological writings that mention it.

While largely used by sorcerers in antiquity to preserve their knowledge for future generations, modern occultists have found creative uses for it, such as burying caches of guns or equipment for later use. The ward takes only a few minutes to apply, and is permanent unless broken by human perception.

7 - Striking Root and Shattering Eye (Minor): Threading together knots of human hair while under the influence of powerful hallucinogenic tubers, the magician can create a sort of universal voodoo doll, one that can be used to affect any human who is viewing it. The token created can only affect humans, and only if they are aware of the object and can view it with their eyes, unaided by any device. For this reason, video recordings of practitioners using the totem has no effect on viewers.

Once created, the "doll" is considered a sympathetic connection to any human viewing it with their natural, unaided vision. This connection lasts only so long as the doll is viewed; removing the totem from sight immediately breaks the sympathetic connection until it is returned to an individual's line of sight. The doll can function as a sympathetic connection for more than one individual, and will in fact function for all viewers, no matter how many.

If the totem is destroyed by stabbing, crushing or burning, any human witnessing the act will need to make a Magic saving throw or be stunned for 1d4 rounds. This stun takes the form of burning, all-encompassing pain similar to that caused by the Hierodule's Hymn, coupled with crippling grief similar to losing a beloved pet. Witnesses must also make a Physical saving throw, or suffer 2d6 damage (1d10 Slaughtering). This damage often appears to be an an aneurysm, stroke, or some other seemingly natural cause.

8 - Reflecting the First Kingdom's Abstraction Resplendent (Minor): Modern historians attribute the fall of Akkad to decadent leadership and the invasion of the Gutians, but the truth is much stranger. After the people of Akkad began to question the power of the Hierodule, she conducted a terrible ritual (The Palace in the Window, see below) that allowed her to scour much of late Akkad from history, and withdraw into a parallel universe where she could reign as a god over the ancient city-state.

Despite the extreme isolation of Akkad, the Hierodule still permits visitors. Those who recite a short phrase in Akkadian pledging allegiance to her before crossing a threshold of some type are instantly transported into Unfallen Akkad. A twisted shadow of the historical city-state, Unfallen Akkad is a place of unending fire, violence, and anarchy. The Hierodule herself still persists here, reigning in a hell of her own making. Willingly stepping into Unfallen Akkad is usually a fate worse than death, but desperate occultists sometimes use this method to escape the justice of investigators. This spell only functions within a fane to the Howl.

9 - Throwing Wide the Manor-Gates (Minor):  This spell opens a small tunnel into the earth, potentially causing seismic events in the process. The tunnel will lead about 10' to 30' down before flaring out in a small, 50' diameter underground chamber. Repeated castings of the spell can add additional chambers, and chambers may "overlap" to create larger subterranean spaces. These magically-conjured caves never accidentally collapse when created, no matter how unlikely their geometry or geology, though they can still be collapsed through skilled use of mundane demolitions.

Earth and stone in the path of this spell are removed by magical means, disappearing utterly and leaving behind unnaturally smooth walls in unsettling organic shapes. Valuable materials like ore, gem stones, oil or natural gas are left behind. It seems the distinction is largely made by what the caster personally perceives to be "valuable."

The hour long invocation in Akkadian is easy enough to learn phonetically, but the spell only has power when recited by a naga or the direct family member of a naga. This spell is used by certain naga-compromised clans of the Ivory Brotherhood to construct secret subterranean strongholds in rural areas, or else as an occult alternate to standard mining practices.

10 - Mantra of Unseen Ascension (Minor):  Rumored to have been gifted by a Mesoamerican mystic to his disciples, this hour-long Nahuatal ritual is characterized by high, wordless shrieks and only works on the night of a new moon. This strange calling will attract 1d4 thunderbirds, who promptly pluck the caster up in their talons and transport them safely to a location of their choosing. This strange demon-flight is corrosive to the rider's sanity, but the thunderbirds serve the caster faithfully. The conjured birds are known to attack humans or destroy structures that stand in the way of either their charge or their destination.

Once the caster is deposited at their destination, the thunderbirds fly way, and cannot be called again in the same night. It is rumored that the summoned birds can transport the caster to places beyond earth and beyond this plane, but magicians who attempt such feats are seldom heard from again.

The ritual takes two hours to complete, and must either be cast in a place where a great deal of human blood has been recently spilled, or by someone who has enjoyed the Sweetest Incense within the last lunar month. Successfully casting this spell once allows the magician to cast it again without further human sacrifice, though not all practitioners are aware of this liberty.

11 - The Argent Evocation of Lunar Shadow (Major): A central spell for both subservient and maltheistic branches of the storied Ivory Brotherhood, the Argent Evocation must be cast at night, during the new moon.  More importantly, it must also be cast in a location of great "psychic dissonance" between humans, as well a fane devoted to the Howl. This "psychic dissonance" is usually created by a massive orgy juxtaposed with torture of one or more individuals, though other methods of creating a tableau of hedonistic debauchery paired with human agony can also activate the spell.

The "festivities" occupy most of the evening, reaching a crescendo at midnight. The purpose of the spell is to manipulate the fane itself. The Argent Evocation of Lunar Shadow can function identically to the spell Binding Shut the Way, but functioning only on fanes to the Howl and only for a month's time. Cultists must repeat the ritual each month if they hope to keep the fane deactivated permanently. Other sects of the Ivory Brotherhood use the ritual strategically, to temporarily disguise or hide a fane from investigators or other enemies.

Alternately, the evocation can be used to personally empower a lone participant in the ritual. The recipient of this blessing can double their skill bonus for a lunar month, and at the GM's discretion learn a single black or grey magic spell as they attune their consciousness to the Howl. Investigators enjoy a +2 bonus to all skill checks, and may or may not learn a spell as well, but inevitably take d20 Madness for being a willing or unwilling participant in the ritual.

The Argent Evocation of Lunar Shadow has a hidden danger in that it invites naga into the world. Every time the spell is cast, the GM should select a single target, likely either the victim of the torture fueling the spell, the magician performing it, or the individual receiving the evocation's "blessing" in the alternate form of the spell. If the save fails, the participant becomes a naga.

12 - Calling the Storm Down to Earth (Major): This grand ritual allows the summoner to produce a flock of thunderbirds. It can only be cast during a major storm of some kind, and only at night. Like many summoning spells of black magic, it requires a human sacrifice, or for the Scent of Sweetest Incense to have been previously cast. Almost any available human victim will do, but the method of execution must involve bloodletting, drowning, or dropping the sacrifice from a great height.

The spell summons 3d6 thunderbirds, who arrive immediately. They weather will intensify and linger unnaturally for 2d6 days, and the thunderbirds will active even during the day time so long as they do not leave the cover of the storm.

The sorcerer does not have direct control over the thunderbirds, though they will not attack the caster unless provoked. They will attack nearly anything else, however, rampaging through the area unless directed with other magic.

13 - The Scent of Sweetest Incense (Major): This spell sacrifices a human subject to heal or magically uplift the magician. It is the classic "blood power ritual," and so ubiquitous in human thought and culture that its exact operation needs no further elaboration. All that matters is that a human life is spent in exchange for magical healing or occult power, and that the act is performed with utter certainty of will at a fane drenched with the Howl's power.

This rite is physically addictive to both human and naga, who are the most likely to know and perform it. Naga regain 1d10 hitpoints when drinking in the incense, while humans gain both 1d6 hitpoints and a +2 bonus to all skill rolls and saving throws for the next 24 hours. Certain dire spells require first imbibing the Sweetest Incense as a prerequisite.

Victims slain by this spell (and they can be slain by almost any method conceivable) rapidly transform into a black mist. Inhaling this mist imparts the effects of the spell, and can be shared among seven individuals.

14 - The Sign to Break Tongues (Major): This curse renders the target incapable of speaking about a certain subject or object. It requires a a fane to the Howl, and consists of a day-long occult ceremony conducted in total silence by the magician, culminating with the sacrifice of a gagged human victim. Dipping one's fingers into the spilled blood enables the magician to make fell hand-signs of warding and binding. After making the sign, all who witness it must make a Mental save. On a failure, the magician dictates the banned subject of conversation. The magician is aware of any individual that made their save, and can repeat the hand-signal once per round until the blood dries. The hand-sign is quick to perform, and does not take the magician's action for the round.

As part of the spell, the magician can also preserve vials of this bloody pigment for later use. 1d6 such doses of blood can be extracted from a single victim over the course of the ritual.

15 - The Gainful Hand (Major):

16 - The Sargonic Sequence (Major): A powerful apotropaic pattern applied to a person's arms, torso, and feet, the sigils are described in occult literature as a "prism" reflecting away dark magic. The sigils can be painted on with pigments, or expressed through tattoos, scarification, or other methods. Modern occultists have experimented with more exotic methods of application, with unpredictable results.

If correctly applied, the sequence inoculates the warded person or object against both black and grey evocation magic. All spells fail to affect the target as expected, with no need of a saving throw. Black magic from other schools is still effective, though the sequence allows the warded individual to add their skill bonus to the saving throw.

The sequence does have a hidden danger, however, as this "prism" can intensify the magic of the Howl if exposed to too much of it. If someone protected by the sequence is brought into an active fane of the Howl, or if they witness or participate in the The Argent Evocation, they will have their soul devoured by a naga. The sequence lures naga into this reality, all but guaranteeing the possession. On a failed saving throw, they become a naga, and must repeat the save if ever exposed to the raw stuff of the Howl ever again.

Most are unaware of this danger of the sequence, but some black magicians have made the connection. It is possible to use the Sargonic sequence to intentionally summon naga, though such uses are invariably black magic.

17 - Contact Enlightened Ancestors (Major): Grants the caster telepathic contact with an exalted bloodline in some other reality.

Some bloodlines know certain arcane formulae, which they will eagerly teach the contactee, formulae that can summon the exalted to our reality, or transport the caster to theirs. Some can spread their "blessings" to others through these means, or accomplish other, stranger things...

18 - The Path of Hours (Major): This spell allows psychic communion with a nagual, a totemic force that can grant knowledge of disciplines but will also warp the unwary into an atavistic monster. Initial contact is made in dreams.

19 - Curse of Abnegation (Grand): Also called "The Claws of the Dragon" as it a favored weapon of the great serpents, and in fact can only be cast by a dragon. A mortal with knowledge of a specific dragon can attempt to summon it and leverage this knowledge to cast

20 - The Palace in the Window (Grand):
Requires: Underground, residue of naga, an exotic animal, an unwitting innocent. Two days to cast. Creates a bubble of artificial reality that gradually sloughs off from the consensus. It dissolves into Chaos soon after this process is complete, but the caster has full control of his new demense until this occurs.

21 - The Howl of the Spheres (Grand): Summons a wendigo by sacrificing a naga, cutting it open to unleash the horrible potential inside. Magicians sometimes do this believing they are tapping into the infinite energy of the Howl. Any wendigo created immediately slaughters all present and begins casting the Palace in the Window.

It requires creating a totem of metal, stone, clay, bone or horn, carved with four specific sigils. These sigils can optionally be split between multiple totems. All the sigils must be inlaid with silver, requiring talented artisans meeting exacting standards. The totems need to be erected in a place of worship. The exact definition of "place of worship" is murky, but roughly speaking, at least a dozen humans must have gathered there for a year or more to worship someone or something. The totems can be hidden in architecture or other objects, or even buried.

A magical knife must be used to slay a naga to finalize the spell. Weapons affected by the spells The Silvered Blade of Sacrifice, Binding the Crimson Sword, or The Rite of the Wetted Knife (attuned to naga, of course) are sufficient, but need to be constructed entirely of silver. More powerful magical weapons will also work, regardless of their composition. If this act is performed while the compromised temple is in the path of a solar eclipse, the slain naga will immediately transform in a wendigo. If performed at any time other than a solar eclipse, the naga will simply die, but its death will be treated as if by natural causes. After its normal incubation period, a wendigo will emerge, provided the corpse isn't moved more than 100' away from any of the sigils.

22 - Drawing Down the High Mystic Serpent (Grand): This dread rite summons a dragon, a dangerous prospect but that one that allows for the possibility of bargaining with mighty outer being in exchange for potentially limitless occult knowledge.

23 - Calcifying the Solar Spirits on the Cusp of Rubedo (Grand): This spell is believed to be the "philosopher's stone" of legend, capable of transmuting an substance into any other substance. This "perfect transmutation" requires a full week of black ritual,

24 - The Hidden Angles of Akkad (Grand): This spell promises time travel, connecting two points in time with a physical and metaphysical gate. All who traverse this tenuous bridge risk plummeting into Unfallen Akkad. Worse are the consequences of actually successfully casting this spell, and completing the psychedelic balance-beam journey through time. The paradoxes created by such an event might buckle the noosphere, or at the very least slough off large chunks of it into alternate timelines.

Adjuration of the Ravening Masters (Grand): The writings of a Coptic priest and secret grey magic occultist warns against the 'adjurations of ravening masters who teach the left-handed path of the serpent.' What at first appears to be a generic ban against magic and occultism is actually a dire warning against a particular black magic spell. The 'Adjuration of the Ravening Masters' as it is now known, is seen by some as a path to immortality. Specifically, it allows the caster to swap minds with another person, trading an old, ailing or absent body for a new one. The target is left in the caster's former body or vessel.

The caster must prepare their target by first initiating them into the ways of magic. Forging and then corrupting a student and teacher relationship is vital to this spell, though this relationship does not need to be amicable. Teaching any first level grey magic spell or initiating the target into any discipline will be sufficient, but the caster can teach more advanced magics if they so choose. The teaching will involve complicated purification rites that are actually secret components of the spell that will allow the mind transfer to take place. The actual magic taught must be real and true, however, as the black magician needs the reality-bending influence of true magic to lay their trap.

A portion of this tutelage must take place underground, such as in a cellar or cave, one that has been ritually sanctified by the caster in some way (spells such as the Pandect of Light or the Cleansing Light of Dawn are more than sufficient, as are runes, sigils or religious paraphernalia of many traditions). Additionally, a snake must bite the student once during the lessons, and a snake must also bite the teacher. This need not be the same snake, and the bites don't need to happen at the same time, but 'piercing the flesh with the venom of knowledge' is a vital component described in the few black grimoires that detail this rite.

If all this comes to pass, and the student actively learns and attempts to use the magic offered, the caster can utter the trigger word to complete the mental transfer. Investigators get only a Mental saving throw to resist. On a failure, they can continue playing their character in a foreign body, but take d20 Madness as a result of the trauma.

While repeatedly casting this spell on a string of apprentices allows for theoretical immortality, in truth there is always a small chance that this spell will go awry, transforming one of the mentally-swapped individuals into a naga. This danger of the spell is obscured to even the most experienced sorcerers, such as the Man Who Wears Dead Faces.

Reigning Upon a Throne of Prisms (Grand): This terrible curse alter's the target's worldview. Many black sorcerers mistake this for mind control or a memory-altering spell, but its design is actually much more insidious.

Upon culmination of the lengthy targeting ritual, the recipient of the curse will believe one statement that the sorcerer utters on the wind. Even if presented with obvious evidence that the statement is untrue, a target who has succumbed to the curse will continue to believe it. For minor lies, this functions essentially as mind control. For major lies or alterations to the subject's character or history, however, they may encounter metaphysical "friction"  that drags the cursed individual further away from consensus reality. If enough of this "friction" occurs, they will be completely closed off from the noosphere, left to fend for themselves in the Howl as their personal reality fragments around them.

The greatest black magicians alive today, such as the Man Who Wears Dead Faces and his ilk, have come to see Reigning Upon a Throne of Prisms as their greatest weapon against enemy spellcasters. Implanting an idea as incongruous with consensus reality as "the sky is green" or "oxygen is poisonous to you" will quickly lead to a rival dying, disappearing or worse.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:29, Wed 11 Dec 2019.

Necromancy

Necromancy flows from The Pale King Ascending and his Garden of Flesh and Bone. It deals with knowledge, spirits, corpses, and the undead.

Roll a 1d4 and a 1d8 to determine a random necromancy spell.

1- Petty
1 - Mastering the Hound
2 - The Ivory Eyes of the Enlightened
3 - Taking the Tribute
4 - The Libation of White Rum
5 - Walking in the Garden
6 - The Sacrament of the Haruspex (consuming human liver allows any system of fortunetelling to temporarily give perfect results)
7 - Unveiling the Dancers
8 - The Burden of St. Benedict (a magic ring that allows the user to instantly destroy servitors created by The Libation of White Run or Conjure Ectoplasmic Precipitate, or deal 1d6 to undead creatures with unarmed attacks. The caster will need to save or die if the ring is removed)

2- Minor
1 - The Mark of Sanctified Nekyia
2 - Gifting Back the Offering
3 - The Master's Guiding Hand
4 - Opium of the Oracle
5 - Hex of Lesser Reaping
6 - Conjure Ectoplasmic Precipitate (allows the ash or salt of a corpse to be temporarily reformed into a shade)
7 -  Sacred Words to Enthrall the Spirit
8 - Essence of Amaranth (composed of the blood of undead beings like ghouls and vampires, this will make a consumable object utterly irresistible to humans).

3- Major
1 - Dousing Whole the Wick
2 - Construct Binarang
3 - The Sanctifying Scourge of All Ash
4 - Slipping the Skein of Flesh
5 - The Master Song of the Ascendant Exarch
6 - Calling Down the Eightfold Angel
7 - Favor of the Brightest Burning Candle
8 - The Mantle of the Medium and His Train of Many Attendants

4- Grand
1 - The Catabasis Protocol
2 - The Translation of Leaden Flesh (4 needed things, two weeks, turns a terminally injured but still living target into a vampire, or a dead target into a ghoul)
3 - Unfurling the Garden-Gates (attempts to summon a human target to the caster by transporting them the Garden of Bone. Kills the target if any witnesses are present, summoning their shade instead (as if with Mark of Sanctified Nekyia).
4 - Rod of the Destroying Angel (4 needed things, one week, allows a dread withering that reduces the target to a pool of filth. wand? ring?)
5 - The Feast of All Seeds (a zombie apocalypse, as officiated through a number of appointed leaders)
6 - Circle of Ershekigal (creates a sterilized zone)
7 - Silver Branch in Blooded Hand
8 - Knotting the Ladder to the Heaven-Bound Asura

2 - Mastering the Hound (Petty): The caster sacrifices himself in order to a summon a black dog to consume his enemies. The method of suicide requires piercing the heart in some manner, which can be a difficult deed to accomplish in a struggle. The GM should make some type of saving throw or check as appropriate to the situation, but on a success the caster dies and a black dog is summoned.

Only one black dog is created, but since the creatures can only really be removed by magic, sometimes one is enough.

3 - The Ivory Eyes of the Enlightened (Petty): This spell allows a necromancer to empower a fragment of human bone (usually a tooth or fingerbone) as a scrying device. After ritually inscribing the bone with runes and marks, it can be planted anywhere to function as a magical listening device. Any time the sorcerer chooses, they can choose to pick up ambient sounds and speech around the fragment of bone. Moreover, they will intuitively understand the meaning of any speech "overheard" by the bone, even if the speakers are communicating in code or allusion, or speaking a language the sorcerer doesn't know.

The only bones suitable for this spell are those the sorcerer has personally ripped from an unwilling victim. Human teeth function as scrying devices for a week, while finger bones are effective for a full month. Skulls or larger fragments of bone can last even longer, at the GM's discretion.

4 - Taking the Tribute (Petty): This spell reverses Gifting Back the Offering (see below). It can only be cast by the magician that applied the poultice, and requires the caster make a series of a intricate hand-signs and consume a single maggot. The created limb will melt into a necrotic black goo during the next round, stunning the target. It additionally gives the target 1d10 Madness, and inflicts 1d6 Madness on anyone who witnesses the curse take effect. The trauma and shock associated with a limb sloughing away due to spontaneous rot will inflict 1d10 damage (1d6 Slaughtering) as well to ordinary human targets.

This spell can be cast from any distance, the magical limb essentially functioning as a sympathetic connection for this spell. Actually casting the spell only consists of achieving a certain meditative state and making a series of intricate hand signs. It can be very quickly performed (within a round) by accomplished black magicians, but meditating on the Garden is ill-advised for any magician looking to preserve their sanity.

5 - The Libation of White Rum (Petty): One of the many rites stolen by Arden Cooke, the Libation of White Rum allows for the creation of a 'zombie' servitor without expensive reagents or rare poisons. By spilling 1d4 hitpoints of his own blood, mixing it with alcohol (white rum is traditional), and imbibing it after an incantation to the Pale King, the magician can raise a single intact corpse (use weak undead humanoid stats with no modifiers). The corpse will serve the magician faithfully, but will collapse into salt if it ever makes contact with daylight.

This spell is incredibly dangerous, as it invites the attention of the Pale King himself. After casting it the magician must succeed on a Physical save or  contract a lethal disease. Those who already have a lethal disease from this spell must repeat the save or find it progress with sudden, hideous and unnatural speed.

It's possible to avoid contracting a fatal disease when taking the libation... by intentionally placing oneself in mortal danger before taking the potion. No save is necessary, but the magician will still need to devise some means of escaping the danger once the spell is complete. Among the Pale Cup Fellowship, it is popular to add a dash of snake venom to the potion, with the antidote administered only after the corpse is successfully raised. Dosage is tricky in these matters, and savvy investigators know that mysterious, "accidental" poisonings are a warning sign of would-be necromancers.

6 - Walking in the Garden (Petty): The only black magic "spell" that may be cast unwillingly and accidentally, "a walk in the garden" is the Wilcox Agency's euphamism for a near-death experience.

7 - The Mark of Sanctified Nekyia (Minor):

8 - Gifting Back the Offering (Minor): A poultice made of human bones and graveswax can regrow a lost limb. The replacement arm or leg will be pale, cold to the touch, smell slightly rotten, or otherwise be subtly or obviously "off." Magicians use this spell to partially restore injured servants, instructing their patients to cover up with long clothing, perfume and cologne. The unnatural nature of the restored limb will be obvious to anyone who makes a Perception check with a threshold of 11, though this realization inflicts 1d6 Madness.

Actually creating and using a medicine composed of human remains will irrevocably damn the magician's soul, but simply being the beneficiary of this magic inflicts 1d20 Madness.

9 - The Master's Guiding Hand (Minor): This spell is only possible for undead beings of some kind, or those under the effect of the Rite of the Brightest Burning Candle. It curses an individual gifted with a magical limb from the spell Receiving Back the Offering. The caster of this spell gains a permanent sympathetic connection to the recipient of Receiving Back the Offering. Additionally, the caster will gain a sympathetic connection to anyone the cursed target touches with their magical limb.

The caster of spell must have either bestowed the dead limb themselves, or stolen and ritually consumed a portion of it.

10 - Opium of the Oracle (Minor): Frakinescence, opium, and a combustible sympathetic connection to a specific victim allow the creation of the magical incense Arden Cooke referred to as the "opium of the oracle" in his private writings. Inhaling the incense allows the magician and up to a dozen companions to enter the subject's dreams.

The subject will experience this as sleep paralysis, and medical examination will reveal they have a dangerously slow heartbeat during the event. The subject will be helpless, and the magician will be in complete control of their perceptions of the dream. The only detail of the dream the magician is unable to change is the location; the dream will always appear to be taking place in the dreamer's real-life location, due to the experience's hypnagogic nature.

Necromancers can use this spell to strike at enemies from afar, or issue commands to their minions via the dream. After targeting an individual three or more times with this spell, the magician attempt to stop the victim's heart entirely, forcing them to make a Physical save or die.

11 - Hex of Lesser Reaping (Minor): A reported ability of witches the world over, calling on the Pale King and making the appropriate sacrifice can allow a spiteful sorcerer to blight crops or herds of domesticated animals. This spell utterly fails to affect anything but plant matter or relatively homogeneous groups of fish, birds or animals being raised for agricultural or commercial purposes. It is a curse designed solely to deal death to its target's livelihood, drawing upon an ancient and archaic definition of "livelihood."

The hex requires an extensive three hour ritual, at the end of which a living creature is sacrificed. Slaughtering a scapegoat can kill individual plants, or a few animals in a herd, but killing a human can sterilize an entire field or inflict a herd with crippling disease. The symptoms always appear mundane at first blush, but can often be suspicious in their severity and the suddenness of their onset.

12 - Unveiling the Dancers (Minor): This spell calls to any ghouls nearby, alerting them to the caster's presence. It does not compel them to come, but hungry ghouls usually choose to investigate out of desperation or curiosity.

13 - Sacred Words to Enthrall the Spirits (Minor): This ritual allows the caster to briefly exude an aura of intimidating, religious awe. Witnesses will interpret the caster as a terrifying, psychopomp-like figure. This impression will carry over even to photographs, icons, or other representations of the magician. Even those that can recognize that this enchantment is unnatural will be unable to fight the deep, primal terror the site of the magician incites within them. This relationship is permanent unless dispelled by The Cleansing Light of The Dawn, The Pandect of Light, or similar purgative magic.

14 - Dousing Whole the Wick (Major): This powerful curse summons a black dog to stalk the magician's enemy. Black dogs are normally little more than magical constructs representing death, but this spell allows them to build to their true potential.

15 - Construct Binarang (Major): Stolen from Indonesian shaman by Arden Cooke, the creation of a "binarang" of bone, glass or bamboo can hold the spirit of a mambabarang.

16 - The Sanctifying Scourge of All Ash (Major): Must be conducted in a place of worship, which is hideously profaned during the rite. A toad, frog or snake is sacrificed to destroy a ghoul, while a canine, bat or bird is sacrificed to destroy a vampire. The type of fauna used must be local to the vampire itself.

17 - Slipping the Skein of Flesh (Major):

18 - The Master Song of the Ascendant Exarch (Major): A vile black rite that promises immortality to the practitioner, in reality the Master Song transforms the practitioner into an undead monster. The exact particulars of the monster created depend on the caster's own cultural views. Use the statistics for a vampire (pg. 159), with specific abilities and weaknesses based on whatever myths and legends the caster may have heard of or personally believe in. It is possible for the ill-prepared or weak-willed to fail at this ritual, becoming a ghoul instead. Specifically, the caster or a chosen recipient of the spell undergoes an astral journey into the Garden of Bone. Those who turn away and move toward the Dance instead become ghouls, while those who descend far enough to see the very visage of the Pale King return as vampires. Many vampires profess that the motivation for the vile acts is survival; they all claim they never wish to look upon the Pale King again.

The ritual requires a full day of supplications and burnt offerings to the Pale King Ascending. Though physically taxing, it's something a lone participant could accomplish themselves. Alternately, a caster could "gift" the vile blessings offered by this ritual to a willing or unwilling participant. There are two vital components to the spell, one of setting and one of time. First, it can only be successfully performed during the autumnal equinox, as this is the only time the Garden of Bone is metaphysically "close" enough to our plane. Secondly, it must be completed in the ruin of a former human civilization or habitation. The caster must be personally responsible for the ruination for the spell to work, though the specifics of this requirement are remarkably flexible. A banker or real estate agent could cast it in the basement of a home he's foreclosed on, or the descendant of a viking warlord could cast it while standing on the remaining stones of an ancient fortress his ancestor razed in antiquity. When all else fails, however, simple arson is usually enough to do the trick. Regardless of where it is conducted, the rite requires either shedding or imbibing blood.

19 - Calling Down the Eightfold Angel (Major): This dread spell summons a mighty simurgh, one of the Pale King Ascending's favored prisoners and servants. These dread beasts are loathe to be summoned, and will gladly kill its summoner unless powerful wards or sufficient inducement are employed, above and beyond the necessary summoning steps detailed below.

Summoning a simurgh is no trifling task, and requires a full day of blasphemous ritual. Additionally, several gemstones (sapphires and rubies, primarily) are required. These are inserted into the vivisected body of a still-living enemy of the cult. Finally, after the incantations have been completed and the necessary rites of purification concluded, and after the sacrifice eventually expires, an individual with no knowledge of the simurgh or the purposes of the ritual must be tricked or coerced into removing the gems from the body of the sacrifice. Once this is complete, the gems will melt to black tar, and from the body cavity of the sacrifice the glorious simurgh will emerge. The simurgh is under no compulsion to obey its summoners; the magician must either bargain for himself or resort to other magics to bend the creature to his will.

20 - Favor of the Brightest Burning Candle (Major): : A powerful enchantment devised by one of the founders of the Pale Cup Fellowship, this ritual infuses a target with incredible creative potential and personal expertise in a particular skill. The recipient of this “blessing” will find tasks related to their chosen purpose will come especially easy to them, allowing them to roll twice on skill checks and take the higher result. This only applies for skills the recipient considers central to their concept of self; artists will have exceptional luck and skill when creating their art, but it would not affect their ability to swing a club or drive a car, for example.

5 Needed Things
3 – Sacrifice: A family member or loved one.
5 – Act: Construction of an occult structure
1 – Location: Site of a terrible massacre (Chinese massacre of 1871)
3 – Sacrifice: An enemy of the cult
Time: Autumunal Equinox

21 - The Mantle of the Medium and His Train of Many Attendants (Major): This ritual grants the magician Telekinesis-1. Continued practice and greater familiarity can allow for higher degrees of skill, but most modern necromancers prefer to use these "bonded spirits" for the sort of minor tasks and errands well-suited to the lower tiers of telekinetic skill. Arden Cooke himself famously used this rite to prepare for his stage shows, using his powers to levitate tables and perform similar feats of prestidigitation.

22 - The Catabasis Protocol (Grand): Temporarily revives a corpse.

23 - Knotting the Ladder to the Heaven-Bound Asura (Grand): The caster must use the hair woven from unnatural creatures (wendigo fur, simurgh feathers, or similar unlikely components will suffice) and use them to throttle three people to death. When burnt, the bloody loop of alien material will summon a simurgh. The simurgh, if it manages to survive for seven days and conduct seven days worth of rituals, will summon the Pale King Ascending and usher in the end. Quite possibly the end of everything.

24- Silver Branch in Blooded Hand (Grand): This secret rite allows a black magician to craft a wand able to inflict terrible curses and scourges on their enemies.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:10, Mon 02 Dec 2019.

Invocation deals specifically with the Purple Silken Dawn. It's a limited branch of magic, dealing mostly with protective abjurations or transmutations to the physical or metaphysical form of a human subject. It requires great discipline to master, and is usually only utilized by disciples of the Dawn. Magical energy from the Purple Silken Dawn flows inward, heightening one's abilities.

Petty
1 - The Final Cannon of Our Illuminated Forebears
2 - Brand of Zhulong (Petty): Allows a pyrokinetic to reroll a failed hit with pyrotechnics so long as they take 1d4 damage the Dawn burning them up inside. Is also a literal, visible, physical brand, tipping savvy investigators off to the fact that the magician is a pyrokinetic.
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 - The Milk of Aruna (a spell from a heretical sect of the Iron Throne, the milk is a toxic potion that allows a pyrotechnic to subtly warp their talents. Targets of their magic need to make a Magic save or be doomed to spontaneously combust as soon as there are no witnesses to their demise.

Minor
1 - The Lesser Blessing of the Inexorable Masters
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -

Major
1 - The Oil of All Dawns
2 - Inscription to Summon the Lesser Esoteric Elementals
3 - The Keen Iron Familiar (Using a knife enchanted by the Rite of the Wetted Knife, the knife becomes able to Slaughter any magical creature. It allows its wielder the Sacred Blade 1 skill, on increase their knowledge of the skill by +1 if they already know it. They are physically addicted to skin contact with the blade, and will die if they don't touch it for 24 hours.)
4 -
5 -
6 -

Grand
1 - The Greater Blessing of the Inexorable Masters
2 - The Scourging Hand of the Inexorable Masters
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 - The Sunlit Path

The Final Canon of Our Illuminated Forebears (Petty): The chanter erupts, consumed in the purple flames of the dawn.

The Lesser Blessing of the Inexorable Masters (Minor): An hour-long supplication to the Purple Silken Dawn allows for a very literal opening of the caster's third eye. Successful completion of this ritual forces open a small, eye-like orifice somewhere on the caster's body. This opening appears like a normal (if unnervingly large and grotesque) birthmark, unless touched by the Dust of Scouring False Seeming or some other magic. The eye grants the caster the equivalent of the Precognition-2 discipline.

The most difficult aspect of successfully completing this ritual is no doubt its main component; the heart of a nian, a rare and monstrous creature native to China. The putrescent heart is unrecognizable as such to all but the most learned of occultists, with most mistaking it for fish offal.

The sorcerer suffers occasional visions of the Purple Silken Dawn as a side-effect of their link to this strange plane. Though corrosive to one's sanity, these visions are usually brief and not debilitating. However, the visions can be artificially induced if a bright purple light is cast on the birthmark. The blinding purple radiance instantly transports the augmented sorcerer's perception to the Dawn for a brief moment, effectively stunning them for 1 round.

Inscription to Summon the Lesser Esoteric Elementals (Major): Summons thunderbirds or shen for the purposes of conveyance.

Oil of All Dawns (Major): This potion bestows its drinker with immunity from both fire, mundane or magical, or mind-affecting spells or psychic attacks. It requires the deaths of eight men in service to the invoker, as well as accurate depictions of the Purple Silken Dawn in the form of the Atlas of the Black and Red Enlightened Heavens or similar grimoires. The blood of the sacrifices, smeared on the pigment of the accurate image, creates the tincture. The potion must be imbibed at precisely dawn, as it is fatal at all other hours. Its effects are otherwise permanent, unless dispelled with very powerful magic.

The Greater Blessing of the Inexorable Masters (Grand): This spell allows the caster to summon a sunzuwu phoenix as a familiar, binding the two beings together forever. In addition to having a friendly sunzuwu at their beck and call, the recipient of this blessing can also perform the following actions during a combat round, in lieu of an attack:

- Cast a spell on any individual touching or touched by the phoenix as though they had a sympathetic connection to the target. This effect lingers for an hour.
- Command the sunzuwu to detonate, dealing 1d4 fire damage to everything within 10' of it.
- See through the sunzuwu's eyes, or issue it telepathic commands.

Additionally, the recipient of this blessing cannot be killed unless its sunzuwu is killed first. Otherwise-fatal blows will cause the caster to fall into negative hitpoints instead of die. Their wounds will bleed dangerous levels of heat and radiation instead of blood, dealing 1d8 / 1d6 damage to everyone within 50' of their injured body per round. They will regain 1d6 hitpoints per round until they return to 1 or more hitpoints, at which point their fiery wounds close and they can act normally again.

The rite requires carving out one's own heart with a fragment of the Iron Throne, and is generally only performed in ancient strongholds to the Purple Dawn. The spell only functions for an accomplished magician or field agent, someone who has killed on behalf of the cult more than once. After removing the heart, allies of the caster insert a single raven feather into the chest cavity and tend to the half-living body as the summoner undergoes an astral quest into the Purple Dawn itself. If they don't go utterly mad with pain, they awaken three days later when their familiar emerges from the wound.

The Scourging Hand of the Inexorable Masters (Grand): A ring fashioned from human skin allows the caster to steal the vision of from his foe; literally. With a flick of the wrist, one enemy within the caster's line of sight has his or her eyeballs teleported from their sockets to the caster's closed fist. While blinded, the victim suffers -4 to all attacks, automatically fails vision-based skill checks, and must roll twice for all Evasion saving throws and take the worse result. The spell ends if the caster unclenches his fist, at which point the eyes teleport back into their sockets, instantly restoring vision. Stealing vision is a round's action, but releasing it is free. Anyone targeted this spell takes 1 Madness due to the alien and horrifying sensations, but can take this Madness only once every 24 hours. The caster can hold only one person's vision at a time, unless they cast this spell twice, and have a ring on either hand.

In addition to cutting the ring itself from a human sacrifice, the consecration of the cursed ring requires access to the Throne itself, and must be performed by the ring's user; the magic ring does not function for anyone else, and crumbles to black ash if its creator is ever killed. This spell is mostly used by the Inexorable Masters themselves, their close servants, or very high-ranking Wu Operatives in Iron Star who make the pilgrimage to the Throne.

The Sunlit Path (Grand):
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:43, Mon 09 Dec 2019.

Access to the Third Living Tone is achieved through the discipline Apportation. It deals with conjurations, summonings, and traversing vast distances by magical means. It always interacts with the Space Between in some way. Since it manipulates the noosphere itself, it can generally blur the lines of reality and human perception, as well.

Liberating the Mandala (Petty): Replaces a recent memory.

Lesser Rubric of Higher Mirrors (Petty): A secret hand-sign that can temporarily scramble the perceptions of one's enemies, anyone who witnesses the impossible signs must succeed on a Magic saving throw. Those who fail take on the likeness of the caster for a few moments (1d4 combat rounds). Onlookers must succeed on a Mental saving throw or else they will perceive the target of the curse as though they were the caster, taking on the caster's appearance including clothing, tattoos, jewelry, weapons and other equipment or characteristics. Cultists use this to temporarily confuse their foes in a firefight, increasing the likelihood of friendly fire.

The hand-signs required are quick to perform, but require at least one free hand, and for the initiate to have removed the little finger of their left hand with a silver knife. The first time the practitioner actually uses the sign, they will suffer permanent prosopagnosia for the rest of their days.

Opening the Operculum (Minor):

Sigil of Eyes and Tongues (Major): This spell allows the magician to create a sympathetic connection to a target by talking to many of their acquaintances, spying on their correspondence, scrying on them with magic, or stalking their social media profile. The exact specific method of intelligence-gathering doesn't matter, but the magician must succeed on a threshold 7 skill check, adding their skill bonus. If they fail, they can attempt again the next day, but the threshold increases by 1 for each day.

If the check is successful, the magician gains an "immaterial" sympathetic connection to the target of their research. This sympathetic connection can still be consumed by spells like The Messengers of the Air, but is otherwise solely a mental construct. It cannot be stolen or lost, but otherwise functions as a normal sympathetic connection.

This spell depends on manipulation of the noosphere, and by extension the target's social ties. At the GMs discretion, hermits or loners of sufficient solitude may be stubbornly immune to its effects.

The Occluding Mask Damask (Major): The Damask Mask was a tool invented by Arden Cooke that is strangely still useful in the modern age, an enchantment that veils the wearer's "face" permanently with a powerful psychic compulsion. Onlookers will instinctively fear looking at the wearer's face, and any manner of recording device (photographs, video footage, etc.) will inevitably render the user's face (and only their face) unrecognizable. Cell phone footage will show their face only as a smear of pixels, security cam footage will be unusually blurry around their face, and so on.

This enchantment is permanent unless dispelled, which means the recipient of this "blessing" is rendered incapable of interacting with society personally. Cults need to be well-established in order to support a force of "masked' assassins, with plenty of footspads to act as intermediaries.

Thee actual ritual-work required to bestow the mask can be completed by a competent crafter, painter or similar artisan (appropriate skill rank 0) in only a couple hours. The problem is the pigments required, which involve letting the caster's own blood and hair, mixed with the blood and hair of an individual they killed in cold blood, fester in a sealed clay jar for at least a month. Destroying this jar destroys the mask, ending the spell.

Anyone somehow "forced" to look at the face of a person under the guise of the mask takes 1d12 Madness.

Rubric of the Silver Mirror (Major)

Rubric of the Golden Mirror (Grand)
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:35, Tue 29 Oct 2019.

Theironamancy

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Unspooling the Thread (Petty): Erases a recent memory. Casting it requires a hand gesture and sacrificing the caster's oldest memory. Overuse of it obviously has deleterious affects on one's psyche.

Mark of Yew and Horn (Minor) Knowledge of the mark allows the caster to fashion a poisonous wand that will paralyze a target for 1d6 hours with a touch, or a 1d6 rounds with a successful Physical save. The wand will snap after it delivers its payload, but is unnaturally resilient until then.

The wand takes about an hour to craft, cobbled together from the horns of animals, body parts from fae-things, and sticks. A translucent fluid holds the construct together like a delicate glue. Once its magic is spent, the fluid dries up and the wand collapses.

These wands can be created only by minds touched by the Hum. Those with the knowledge to cast it are usually only motivated by dragging more humans back into the Tone.

Making the Unmarked Mask (Grand) - This potent ritual infuses a fae-thing with the perfect likeness of a living creature or human. They will act crudely human, but will never really speak. People will only perceive them as "explaining themselves" or "having a pleasant chat," but find afterwards that they are unable to recall the words.

Must be performed at an isolated, elevated area such as a mountaintop or mountain valley, but need not necessary an area thrumming with the Hum. In needs to be performed during obscure astrological conjunctions that only occur during certain portions of the year, though some cultists are not aware of this requirement and simply repeat the ritual until it works.

The ritual lasts three days, and at least one participant must have recently heard the Hum, and have it fresh in mind. On the first day of ritual, the Hum is amplified to call a fae-thing. On the second day, the fae-thing is bound and given its false human seeming. On the third day, it is banished and sent to its new life, where others will fail to recognize it as anything other than the human it is masquerading to be.

Savvy investigators can attempt a Mental saving throw to recognize an Unmarked Mask-thing as a decoy, usually by noticing that they're only receiving paraphrased, generic answers and never direct quotes when speaking to them. Interacting with one for too long will cause Madness in normal humans as they attempt to rationalize away the changeling's odd behavior, the cognitive dissonance causing great stress over time to their perceptions of reality.

Interrupting the ritual at any time breaks the spell and frees the fae-thing, which will usually attack its summoners or attempt to flee into the wilderness. Cults of the Waiting Whisper usually use this to try and cover up a murder or death, and represents about the peak of their organizational abilities. The ruse doesn't last long, but it can last enough for them to enact their frenzied plans.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:12, Sun 01 Dec 2019.

Channeling

Target is Devoured by Conjured Vermin Excurcation (Major)