The Lengthening Shadow
Level: One.
Author: Lord Blake
Description: While it is true that Abyss Mysticism is something of a narrow specialty, it does also have its share of trade offs. Like this simple mystic ritual to track an object or individual. First the caster must be able to see his target. Thereafter, the mystic must animate his own shadow with Shadow Play, the foundational level of Obtenebration and ensure that at some point during the casting of the ritual that the caster's shadow and that of the target intersect at right angles. When the two shadows are overlapping, the caster must cut the palm of his left hand with a used gnomon from an old sundial and will forth enough of his immortal essence to fill the palm of his injured hand. Then he clenches his wounded hand into a fist over his own shadow. As the mystic's blood falls into his shadow it vanishes; if successful, the caster's shadow should point directly towards the shadow of the target.
System: The player expends one point of blood for the Abyss mystic and rolls Intelligence + Occult at a difficulty of five (5). If the player botches, the mystic will thereafter possess two shadows, one that obeys the laws of optics and one that points towards the person the mystic is currently watching; an unusual circumstance that is likely to draw unwanted notice. If the ritual fails, the caster has wasted five minutes and a point of blood. If successful, the mystic's shadow will point unerringly towards the target regardless of where that individual goes. The mystic has a rough gauge of distance between himself and his target by the apparent distortion of his own shadow. If the shadow is normal in shape and proportion, then the target is close. But the more distorted and thin the shadow, the farther away the target is likely to be. In fact, if the mystic can perceive an observable change in his shadow as he watches, then the speed of the target can be gauged as well. The ritual lasts a number of hours equal to the successes scored by the player on the activation roll; but the ritual fails at sunrise regardless of the caster's number of successes. The ritual cannot be cast in complete darkness. Should the target enter an area of complete darkness, then the ritual's effects are temporarily suspended and should the target remain in complete darkness until the expiration of the ritual, the target is untraceable.
Side Affects: Unknown.
Author's Conjecture: Due to the ritual's various properties, it seems likely that the angle of approach and thus the elevation of the target might be determined in a rough sort of way. In other similar auguries, the elevation of the target is usually unverifiable, largely due to the shortsightedness of the sorcerers who engineered those rituals. This is by no means a fine instrument, but rather a rough guide based on the geometry of the mystic's shadow.
