Mnemosyne’s Transubstantiation

The Necromantic Library of Phineus -x- Necromantic Mnemonic Rituals

Description: This ritual is closely akin to Mnemophagia, but rather than turning wraithly relics into blood to be consumed for sustenance, it rather transforms relics that have been brought across the Shroud into the material world and embodied as physical objects via rituals like "Grasp the Ghostly" or the rank four power of the Reliquary Path called: Scarlet Materialization and transforms them into mnemonic-blood that can be consumed to provide the memories of the dead. The memories provided are usually cherished by the wraith from whose life they originated and it is likely that ghost will journey to heaven and through hell in search of his or her lost memories. Despite the risk of having an enraged ghost stalking them, those who use this ritual have a tendency to become somewhat voyeuristic under the best of circumstances, while those less fortunate become memory addicts living out the best parts of other people's former lives.

If the necromancer in question is strong enough to resist the addiction, then there is virtually no secret that can be kept from him and there is a brisk trade in the memories of the dead, for who wouldn't want to know if their deceased lover was faithful or where great-grand-father so-and-so buried the family wealth, or what it feels like to commit the most heinous crimes without fear of detection or punishment? The limitation of this ritual is that the memories fade within a year, but then again this weakness does create a regular demand for the enterprising necromancer to supply. Of course, when one creates a market for a rare commodity like memories, it also creates a consumer who over time becomes more discerning and likely demanding with ever more specialized needs and requests. This in turn forces the necromancer to cater to weird kinks, bizarre fetishes and eventually to the mnemonic version of snuff-porn wherein the necromancer must arrange for the creation of the memories and then execute the former owner in order to make his consumer's deadline.

Nor do the possibilities stop with necromantic pornography, for a necromancer using Mnemosyne's Transubstantiation can acquire secrets that vary from the relatively mundane to the earth-shattering: incontrovertible if inadmissible proof of who murdered Jane Doe for the local district attorney, corporate data worth billions for the CEO bled from the corpse of his rival's most trusted employee, military or political secrets stolen from the corpse of a patriotic hero who died without breaking sold to his nation's worst enemies for whatever price you could care to name, the possibilities are limitless and so is the temptation. Caveat venditor!

Origin: Benesj the Black -- While the necromancer known as Benesj the Black produced the latest versions of Greco-Roman rituals, the pale rites underwent three separate evolution beginning with the Cappadocian style and proceeding through an Egyptian style and finally the Greco-Roman style. All such rituals are based on the principle of Authority rather than that of Taboo.

Ingredients: A silver plated Kapala (skull cup), a handful of rock-salt, a fistful of rosemary (for remembrance), and a drop of the casters blood.

Casting:

System: The player rolls Intelligence + Rituals at a difficulty of seven (7). Successes equate to the clarity and detail of the memories transferred. Should the necromancer botch, the consumer who imbibes the mnemonic blood pays the price in more than one way, as each one rolled during the casting robs the subject of one of his or her prized memories which are either destroyed outright or utterly corrupted by fusion with dose of new memories; horror stories circulate among those few necromancers who employ mnemonic magic of consumers who were virtually lobotomized by a thoroughly botched casting of Mnemosyne's Transubstantiation. If the necromancer should fail the casting of the ritual, then the memories remain inaccessible, but the necromancer can try again at a higher difficulty.

Reference: This ritual's metaphysical properties are based on the foundational work of the level two necromancy ritual Chalice of Memoirs and is closely akin to its sister ritual Mnemophagia which is of the same level of power.