Libations of Asphodel
- The Necromantic Library of Phineus -x- Level One Rituals -x- Level Two Rituals -x- Level Three Rituals -x- Level Four Rituals -x- Level Five Rituals
Description: Offerings to the dead are an elaborate tradition dating from the dawn of time to the modern era. The natures of the offerings have varied down through the ages, but the principle remains the same, that the living can aid the dead by offerings of sustenance.
In Greek mythology, the first realm of the Underworld was the Fields of Asphodel, where the ghosts of heroes and lesser mortals wandered despondently until their judgment or until summoned to the upper world.
In chapter eleven of the Odyssey, Odysseus with the help of the witch Circe, summons the dead of Asphodel to the upper world and offers them libations of blood from a black sacrificial ram. The blood libations offered to them in the world of the living reawakened in them for a time, the sensations of once more being human.
The vampiric necromancer can duplicate Odysseus's feat by sacrificing his own blood to feed the dead and reawaken in them their human passions.
Origin: This ritual is based on ancient Greek cult practices.
Ingredients: A physical container & the caster’s blood
Casting: The casting of the ritual consists of a benediction to the gods of death, who have made the feast possible and an invitation to the dead to partake of the blood. If the ritual is successful, the wraiths can consume the blood and replenish their pathos.
System: Intelligence + Rituals = difficulty five (5) and requires ten (10) minutes to cast. Successes transubstantiate blood points of vitae into pathos that the Wraith can consume; for instance, five (5) successes would equal five (5) blood points, which in turn becomes five (5) pathos divided into however many wraiths attend the feast.
Reference: The Odyssey by Homer