Abyss Mysticism
- Main Page -x- Lasombra -x- Road of the Abyss
Contents
Quote
"Stars, hide your fires"
"Let not light see"
"my black and deep desires."
-- Shakespeare's Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 4, Page 3
Overview
Despite the pragmatic view most Lasombra have on Obtenebration, some eccentric vampires have figured out what their clan discipline really is: a window to the Abyss itself, that great and terrible unknown that lies at the center of creation.
The Abyss gnaws at the heart of the underworld and the doubt in every question never answered. It is present in the absence of light and lurks in every shadow. Wraiths rightly fear its hunger, but they do not understand it. Demons call it Hell, and they only begin to comprehend. No Lasombra knows where it comes from or its purpose or even the purpose of its strange denizens, but the Angellis Ater understand the Abyss as the ultimate source of their power.
Either from fear or distaste, Les Amies Noir follow a policy of ignoring mystics until times of great crisis. The Lasombra Antediluvian sometimes claimed that the Abyss was the state of all creation before an interfering God made light, and that as the perfect master of Obtenebration, the Antediluvian was the primordial essence on Earth. Whether it was right or not, study of the Abyss repays the diligent student.
Immersed in undying study of a force transcending and ultimately opposing all light and life, Abyss Mystics have little use for humanity or mortal precepts of right and wrong. Most adherents of this dark and heavily ritualized faith eventually gravitate to their own Road of the Abyss, a path which bears disturbing and striking similarity to the Road of Bones and Path of Death and the Soul.
The mystics of Clan Lasombra pry into the dark places in search of secrets, answers, and perhaps more questions. For these driven souls, conventional Obtenebration is only the beginning. By applying thaumaturgic principles to Obtenebration, Lasombra mystics of the Dark Ages developed rituals to unlock the hidden powers of shadow and summon the unnamed primordial horrors of the Abyss, thereby effectively extending Obtenebration into a form of blood sorcery.
Though the word Obtenebration itself is sometimes used as the name of this blood sorcery, it is often called Abyss Mysticism as a reference to the school of thought which produced it. The Abyss Mystics state that the reason they were able to expand Obtenebration into a form of blood sorcery is because the essence of the Abyss resides within every vampire's blood, as it is what gives vampires their thirst to feed on the living.
It is not unknown for members of the Kiasyd bloodline to practice Abyss Mysticism, although the Lasombra Clan makes every effort to keep such knowledge away from their curious “cousins.”
The Rituals
- Level One
- Pierce the Murk (PGHC 176-177)
- The Shadow of Hands That Serve (PGHC 177)
- Level Two
- The Heart That Beats in Silence (assumed ritual referenced in The Shadow Hands that Serve
- Transubstantiation of Essence (PGHC 177 - 178)
- Level Three
- Drinking the Blood of Ahriman (PGHC 178)
- Calling the Hungry Shade (PGHC 178-179)
- Level Four
- Reflections of the Hollow Revelation (PGHC 179)
- Level Five
- Whispers in the Dark (PGHC 179-180)
- Level Six
- Into the Chasm (PGHC 180-181)
- Level Seven
- Evocation of the Oubliette (PGHC 181)
- Level Eight
- Cry That Slays Light (PGHC 181-182)
- Evocation of the Damned (assumed ritual referenced in Evocation of the Oubliette.)
- Level Nine
Abyssal Research
Level 1
- -- Sympathetic Shadow Scribe -- Level 1 -- This ritual uses the principle of sympathy and contagion to link two sets of shadows allowing caster and a single target who can use Obtenebration 1 to communicated back and forth over vast distances. (Proposed by Bruce)
- -- The Lengthening Shadow -- This level 1 ritual is a basic tracking spell. (Proposed by Bruce)
- -- To Divine the Stains of Night -- Level 1 -- An augury to detect residue of Abyss Mysticism on people, places and things.(Proposed by Bruce)
- -- Written in Night Upon the Wall -- Level 1 -- A simple ritual that twist the local shadows into a message placed upon any flat surface. (Proposed by Bruce)
Level 2
- -- Night-Stones -- This level 2 ritual enchants a common stone to hold the rank 2 cloud of darkness called nocturne to be unleashed at the caster's whim. (Proposed by Bruce)
- -- Rorschach Test -- Level 2 -- A divinatory spell that influences victims to reveal their secrets. (Proposed by Bruce)
Level 3
- -- Armorer of the Abyss -- Level 3
Level 4
- -- The Transmogrification of the Night-Beast -- Level 4 -- An abyssal enchantment that transforms common everyday beasts into augmented guardians with some of the Lasombra's strengths and weaknesses. (Proposed by Bruce)
Level 5
- -- Deepening the Shadows of the Unseen -- Level 4 or 5 -- All things that move in the light, cast a shadow, at least in their world. By invoking the Abyss, the mystic can grant more substance to a shadow that is normally imperceptible (like that of a ghost), and thus be able to see it in this world. (Proposed by Bruce)
