View source for Theft of the Living Heart (Dur-An-Ki ritual)

[[Level 6]] / [[Kaitlin's Spell Book]]<br>

'''Description:'''  Down through the ages Egyptian sorcerers and priests have worked many  wonders for the mighty and erudite, yet according  to the tales of Greek and Roman travelers none of these  wonders could compare  to the chthonic  rites  of  the dark temple of Seth and its eldritch priests. <br>
	Among, the darkest  and  most  powerful of  the Setite miracles  was the power of drawing an enemy's  heart  from  his chest  at a distance, slaying or  enslaving  the  victim  by  stabbing  or  threatening  the  still beating heart.<br> 
	In the middle of the third century before the birth of the Christian god, Egypt was invaded by the Persian Empire and with the Persians came  the Children of Haqim, who like the mortal Persians, sought to establish their influence and justice over the whole of the known world. Like the Greeks and Romans who would one day follow them on the road to conquest, the Children of Haqim  heard the tales  of the Setite mysteries and the legendary spell  for  the  theft of the heart. Each of the Children of Haqim  sought to make  these  secrets  their  own; though  they  fought many  secret  wars  with the priests  of  the Temple  of Seth and were mighty in both  the arts  of  sorcery  and  war, none  of  them  would ever succeed  in learning  the  Setite mysteries  or  the  spell  for  the  theft  of the living heart; at least ,  none  lived to tell  the tale  of it. <br>
	Twenty-five centuries  worth of change have wrought a new Egypt, a new battle  in  the ancient  war  with the now modern Followers of Set  and a  clever  Banu Haqim  Ashapu  who has finally  unveiled the mysteries  of the legendary spell  for  the  theft of the heart; if rumors are to be believed. Once again the Children of Haqim are marching to war in Egypt, the difference this time is that they come  wielding the Setite's greatest mystery as a  weapon to slay and enslave the serpents; perhaps the age of Gehenna is upon us all.<br>
	Theft of  the Living Heart is a fusion of the classical Egyptian Akhu sorcery and the Babylonian  art  of  Dur-An-Ki; the fusion of these  two religio-magical  traditions of blood-magic  has produced one  of  the most  amazing and dreaded rituals in the dark history of sorcery. In short, the ritual mystically  steal  the heart  of  an enemy  from  his  own chest, giving the blood-magician  who cast ritual,  the absolute  power  of  life  or  death  over  the unfortunate  individual.<br>  

'''Ingredients:'''  Before the blood-magician can use this fell  ritual he must  first obtain the equivalent of  the target's  true-name, a  symbol  of  target's  ultimate  identity. Next the magician must  acquire a  sacrificial  victim  of the same  species  as  the target of the ritual (According to the principle of sympathy: like produces like. So  the sacrificial  victim  should be of the same  kind of supernatural; if the target of  the ritual is a Setite  vampire, then the magician needs  a  Setite  vampire as his sacrificial  victim. Should  the target be  Silent Strider  werewolf, then the sacrificial  victim  must be a werewolf  of the same  tribe.)  Other  variables, such as age, rank , generation , sex, etc  are conveniently unnecessary and unimportant.<br> 
	Of great importance  to the ritual  is a personal  sacrifice on  part  of  the magician, as a  token of  tribute to the gods Set and Marduk for aiding the magician in his or  her endeavor . Without, this act of sacrifice on  the part of  the magician, the ritual simply  wouldn't be powerful enough to achieve its desired effect.<br> 
	The  last  ingredient  of  importance is of course  the rare and sacred (to Assamite  Sorcerers at least) Kalif plant, without which the casting of Dur-An-Ki  rituals  would  be impossible. The  magician  needs  enough Kalif  to intoxicate  himself  for  the variable  duration of  this  ritual.<br>
	The  magician must cast the ritual : 'Theft  of the Living  Heart'  on one  of  the  three nights of the new moon. The ritual must be cast in an a  pre-prepared site, open to the night sky  and  the magician must be able  to see  the dark-moon  at any time. The victim must  be ritual cleansed, anointed and adorned as a true sacrifice. The magician  must  have his ritual paraphernalia  at  hand for ready usage.  It is advised that the magician have his most  trusted guards at hand, for once  he partakes  of  the  sacred  Kalif, he will beyond awareness  of  the events occurring in this world.<br> 

'''Casting :'''  Once all preparations have been seen  to, the magician must  invoke  Set and Marduk  to aid him in vanquishing his enemy and delivering the target's heart into his hands. The caster  is then offered  blood  laced  with sacred  Kalif, which the magician offers to the gods Set and Marduk as a libation, ritually spilling some  for  each  of the gods and then drinking the rest of the blood  himself. Next the magician offers the two gods one of his most  prized  possessions, a mystical  relic  that  the he then promises  to  the god who  will  aid  him  the  most  in his endeavor. Shortly thereafter, the magician  will  enter  the mystic  world of Kalif and begin his sojourn, when he has overcome  the Stair  of Travails  and the Station of Ecstasy he  will step through a  doorway  into the Hall of Apotheosis  and be  with the gods  as  he casts  the remainder of the ritual  which plays itself out in his mind as a  symbolic  dream  struggle  with his  target. With each success  in the dream  struggle, the magician severs one of the sacrificial  victim's  limbs, disembowels  the victim and finally cuts open  the victim's  chest and rips out his heart.<br>
	Should the magician be successful, only one of the two gods  remains  in the Hall of Apotheosis  to congratulate the victor, the god who helped the magician most. That god will describe his counterpart's  weakness and shame  in failing to aid the magician and his subsequent flight from  the Hall of Apotheosis; then the remaining  god  demands  his due sacrifice , which the magician must give to the god in the dream. The remaining god then asks the magician what he will do with the vanquished for though the magician has been successful in defeating his opponent, he can only retain the heart  while yet remains in the Hall  of Apotheosis.  The god remains  to see the fate of the vanquished and then departs the hall and magician, hailing the victor. Once  the Kalif  wears  off, the magician  will realize  that whatever he gave the god as a sacrifice  is gone.<br> 

'''System :''' Extended and contested ritual roll  at  a  difficulty of  9-10 depending  on  whether  the  magician  is gifted (belongs to a bloodline  that rolls at 3+ ritual difficulty) or  not (non-clan magician: not a Tremere, Assamite Sorcerer, etc). The target can roll  Willpower  to resist at a difficulty (6). Each contested roll is a  hour of real  time. Seven successes over  that of the opposition are required for either the caster or the target to succeed. Willpower can be spent by the caster to add to his successes, but this is not required. The target cannot expend Willpower to gain additional successes because he is already rolling his Permanent Willpower score to resists the rituals effects. Should the caster  run out of Willpower before reaching the necessary seven successes the ritual ends because the caster is no longer focused and is at the mercy of his  Kalif induced hallucinations. Regardless of the position of the battle, if dawn arrives, the ritual automatically  ends  with the target's escape.<br>

'''The Sacrifice:'''  The  sacrifice  should reflect  the willingness of  the magician  to  pay  the gods  their  due  in  return for  their  aid;  should  the sacrifice not be in keeping  with the station of  the gods or  appealing to their natures, then the sacrifice is unaccepted  and the ritual fails.  If the magician offers the gods something  he  the caster  doesn't  value, the ritual will also  fail.  Should the magician renege on his offered sacrifice  then the magician has an angry god on his hands and the Storyteller  is encouraged to use his or her fiendish imagination to quite literally destroy the character's unlife. (Don't  fuck with the gods!)<br>
 
Should the caster be successful, he remains in possession of the heart only as long as he can maintain his Kalif induced dream  or  until the coming dawn. While  the Kalif  induced  dream  remains, the caster  can do anything to the target  though the heart: this includes diablerie, killing the target, entorporing the target, stealing his blood, etc. The only  limitation that the caster faces  is that he the caster  is the only one  who can do anything to the heart, no associate or ally gains the benefit of having cast this ritual, only the caster – to the victor go the spoils. The advantages of diablerie are obvious and permanent  as this is as much  a Dur-An-Ki  ritual as an Ahku Sorcery ritual.<br>