The Void Path

Necromancy -x- Giovanni

Introduction

Ghosts cling to existence tenaciously, tied as they are by emotional connections to the living world. Astute necromancers know that the reasons spirits hold fast to their passions and Fetters is that without these "life-lines" ghosts would be dragged into the void of nothingness. At best, a spirit consigned to Oblivion never returns. At worst, it rises from the darkest recesses of the Underworld as something else… something malignant. The Giovanni know such spirits as spettri, or Spectres.

The Void Path of Necromancy gives the vampire control over the dark energies of Oblivion, allowing him to use his vitae as a conduit for entropic energy. It is believed that the Void Path originated with the Nagaraja, but that the Giovanni managed at some point to pry an incomplete understanding of the basic principles of "Nihilistics" through ghostly spies. More likely, necromancers seeking to emulate the rumored powers of the Nagaraja assembled the path independently.

Thus, there is a certain measure of similarity between the Void Path and the Vitreous Path, as both deal directly with the entropic energies of nothingness that the dead almost universally fear. The Void Path is not widely practiced: a few elder and ancilla Giovanni have been taught this form of Necromancy, often as a reward for exceptional work toward the agendas of la familia.

Gaze into the Abyss - 1

The primary ability of the Void path is the capability to sense the currents of entropy that flow throughout the underworld. The taint of Oblivion clings to all things that it touches, eroding passion and fostering angst. Ghosts who have succumbed to their darker halves completely are discernable by this taint, and even those who possess strong Shadows can be detected. The taint of Oblivion is visible as an inverse radiance—a sort of aura of blackness that clings to and emanates from the wraith that the necromancer is observing.

System: The necromancer is also capable of detecting the touch of the Void in the living world, and thus may sense when a person has been affected by spectral powers, gifted with supernatural abilities by a Spectre, or when an individual is emotionally tinged with Oblivion’s taint, enough so that she would join the ranks of the Spectres upon death. System: The primary function of Gaze into the Abyss is to sense if Spectres are about. By concentrating for two turns and rolling Perception + Empathy (difficulty of the 7), the necromancer can detect the aura of entropic energy that Spectres emit. Even one success will alert the necromancer to the presence of Spectres in his vicinity, while three will tell him if a Spectre has passed through the area within the past few minutes. The necromancer may detect any emanations of Oblivion through Gaze into the Abyss, but the most common source of entropic energy is the presence of the Shadow-eaten. He will be able to tell if a person has been in contact with a Spectre, or been the subject of a Spectre’s powers, and to what extent he or she has been influenced. He may also determine if a given individual has been gifted with any supernatural abilities by a Spectre. Three or more successes will reveal if the individual being observed is tainted with Oblivion to the extent that, upon death, she would become a Spectre herself.

If used in conjunction with Shroudsight (Ash Path 1) or other Necromancy powers that allow a glimpse of the underworld, the necromancer can determine if a given wraith that he can see is a Spectre or not or if a wraith that he observes has a weak or strong Shadow, relative to the ghost’s Psyche (the wraith’s "better half"). The difficulty is 6, but there are certain Spectres (known as Doppelgangers) that specialize in masquerading as benign spirits. If the target of Gaze into the Abyss is one of these Doppelgangers, then the necromancer must score three successes, or he believes the Spectre to be a normal ghost.

Necromancers utilizing Gaze into the Abyss may also detect pockets of nothingness in the Shadowlands, which ghosts refer to as Nihils. Spectres often emerge from these dark portals, and the necromancer can sense the proximity of such Nihils. The difficulty is 7, as above, and a successful roll allows the necromancer to determine the direction, rough distance, and relative size of the Nihil. If a wraith or Spectre opens up a Nihil in the Shadowlands near the necromancer (even if the necromancer is in the Skinlands at the time) through the use of a ghostly power (as some are capable of doing), then the necromancer can sense this with a successful roll.

Oblivion’s Caress - 2

All things decay with time, but a necromancer who has reached this plateau of thanatological insight understands the intricacies of the process of deterioration and its relation to the flow of entropic energy. By focusing these dark emanations into the physical form of an inanimate object, the necromancer may accelerate the normal rate of decay. Metal will rust and flake away, wood will rot and crumble, glass will sag and distort, and even synthetic materials like plastic will become brittle and age-worn.

If an object targeted in the Skinlands is a Fetter to a ghost in the underworld, then Oblivion’s Caress can literally shatter the soul-chain that binds a wraith to the afterlife.

Oblivion’s Caress can also be used to target ectoplasm in the underworld, if the necromancer has the means to touch ghostly plasm. Only soulless ectoplasm can be decayed: objects that have been soulforged, for instance, or the relics of objects that have crossed over the shroud, or even the empty shells of once-ghosts called Drones. Such plasmic "objects" dissipate rapidly when attacked by Oblivion’s Caress.

System: The necromancer must expend a blood point. For the next 3 turns, a dark cloud of entropic energy, visible only to those who can see ghostly manifestations, will shroud his hand. Any object that the necromancer touches during those turns will be infused with the essence of decay. Wood and other formerly organic materials (such as corpses) will rapidly putrefy, generally decaying within one turn for every 20lbs of material, while more resilient materials will take longer to deteriorate. A square foot of metal (up to an inch deep) becomes rusted for each turn that the necromancer continues to touch it with Oblivion’s Caress. After three turns of focusing entropic energy on the same square foot of metal, the necromancer may erode a hole roughly a foot in diameter into the material. stainless steel may require twice as long to erode, while iron may require only 1 or 2 turns for the same effect. Relatively pure gold is very difficult to affect through this power, with only a few square inches being affected each turn.

Objects in the underworld can be affected through the Dead Hand power of the Ash Path, or if the vampire is traversing the underworld at the time the power is used. A single turn destroys most "mundane" ghostly objects, or inflicts 2 health levels of unsoakable damage on plasmic creatures such as Drones (excluding wraiths and Spectres). If a Relic is targeted, then every turn reduces the relic’s background rating by 1 dot (and thus making it less useful or functional: a relic sword would do less damage, a relic mirror would become cracked or permanently tarnished, etc). If a relic is reduced to 0 dots, it dissipates completely.

A Fetter that is attacked by Oblivion’s Caress resists most of the decaying effects of the power because of the infusion of emotional energy that binds it to it’s wraith, although the Fetter will show sings of wear and tear. Each turn that the Fetter is exposed to Oblivion’s Caress, the Fetter’s rating is permanently reduced by 1 point.

Awaken the Shadow - 3

The dual nature of ghosts seems to reflect the Man/Beast dichotomy of vampires: when a ghost becomes angered, fearful or otherwise filled with negative emotions, it enters a frenzy-like state where its darkest urges become paramount. Knowledgeable necromancers understand that the "beast" of a ghost is actually sentient in a way that is alien to the Beasts of the Kindred. When a ghost "frenzies," it does not simply become a ravenous monster, but rather its personality receives a direct injection of negative emotions from the blackest recesses of its soul. This can be both a benefit and a drawback with regards to a necromancer’s wraithly servants. A ghost who’s Shadow (his dark personality) takes over will often lose any moral compunctions against performing the necromancer’s dirty deeds, but simultaneously, Shadow-driven wraiths become difficult to control.

A necromancer who has reached this level in the Void Path is able to awaken the negative aspect of a ghost’s personality. Where as practitioners of the Requiem Path may, with effort, push a ghost into a personality shift by manipulating its passions, those who utilize the Void Path accomplish the same by overwhelming the spirit directly with negative energy.

The necromancer awakens a ghost’s Shadow by first infusing his own vampiric vitae with entropic energy, and then emitting that energy in the form of an ectoplasmic cloud that steams from his pores. As the necromancer burns the entropy-laden blood, it manifests as wisps of black, smoke-like mist that is visible only to those capable of seeing across the Shroud. The mist explodes outwards and envelops the target ghost, forcing its dark nature to the fore. If the ghost in question is a Spectre-a ghost who has already submitted completely to his darker half—then the necromancer is able to command the spirit’s Shadow for a few moments, forcing the entity to act as the vampire wishes.

While Awaken the Shadow is most useful against ghosts, it is also possible to infuse negative energy into living (or unliving) creatures, thereby awakening their latent "dark sides."

System: The necromancer must spend one turn focusing his negative emotions into one point of blood, which he then expends to initiate the effect. Holding this negative energy requires a roll to resist frenzy (difficulty 6), but even one success is sufficient to avoid the frenzy (as the entropy-laden blood will be expended at the beginning of the next turn). A spectral black mist pours out from his skin and blasts in the direction of the necromancer’s intended target, requiring a Dexterity + Empathy roll (difficulty 7) to aim properly. A spirit may attempt a dodge (Also difficulty 7, since the cloud is rather large and difficult to avoid), but if the black cloud strikes the ghost, it must immediately roll Willpower against a difficulty of 8. The number of successes that the vampire gains on his Dexterity + Empathy roll indicates the amount of negative energy that saturates the ghost: the spirit must score as many successes on its Willpower roll as the vampire has remaining successes (after the ghost’s Dodge roll). Failing this roll forces a personality shift, in which the spirit’s Shadow gains dominance. (Storytellers using Wraith in their chronicles should allow a wraith’s Shadow to check for Catharsis instead of requiring a Willpower roll to resist the personality shift: in this case, add 1 point of Angst to the ghost’s Shadow for each success the Necromancer scores on the Dexterity + Empathy roll. These extra points dissipate once the roll for Catharsis is made, regardless of which side of the ghost’s personality won out).

A Spectre struck by Awaken the Shadow falls under the necromancer’s sway for one turn per success scored on the Dexterity + Empathy roll (the Spectre may resist as usual). It must obey the necromancer’s orders for that duration, although once the time elapses, the spirit is free to exact revenge on the necromancer (so most necromancers command the Spectres to leave their presence before the time elapses on their control). If the necromancer expends a point of Willpower, then the Spectre remains under her control for the entire night.

Mortals and Vampires may also be affected by Awaken the Shadow. The Shadow of a mortal is still integrated into her personality, and as such the living are more difficult to influence through this power. The black cloud of entropic energy created by the necromancer is invisible to most humans: only Mediums, Psychics, or other mortals capable of seeing ectoplasm can attempt to dodge the effect, although their difficulty to resist with their Willpower roll is only 5. If they fail, however, they are overwhelmed with their darkest, most destructive urges. They may seek to harm the people they most love, tear down years of their most important work, or, in the case of those with extremely weak wills (those who botch their resistance roll), possibly even commit suicide.

Giving oneself over to one’s darker impulses can be empowering, however. The awakened Shadow can unlock a mortal’s latent emotional energy, much like the second level power of the Nocturnal Path (Shadow’s Strength), giving the mortal capabilities beyond her normal ken. At any point during the scene, the mortal may expend a Willpower point to add an extra die to any one action for every dot by which his Humanity is lower than 10. He may add all of the dice to a single roll (to a maximum of 5 dice on any single roll), or may split these dice among a number of separate rolls. For example, a mortal with a Humanity of 6 who’s Shadow is awakened can split 4 bonus dice between any actions during the scene, or may drop all of the dice on a single roll.

The personality shift in a mortal lasts for one scene, and the mortal may only call upon the extra bonus dice once during that scene.

Vampires targeted by Awaken the Shadow can attempt to dodge the effect if they succeed on a roll of Auspex (difficulty 7), or if they have some way of seeing the black, entropy laced ectoplasm: Necromancy powers such as Shroudsight, Eyes of the Dead or Nether Light, or active Aura Perception directed at the necromancer at the time that this power is activated are all viable options. A vampire struck by the black cloud makes the Willpower roll to resist Awaken the Shadow at difficulty 7, as the vampire’s Beast (the first rumblings of the Shadow) has manifested following her death and Embrace. If the vampire fails, then she immediately enters frenzy. However, the frenzying vampire should have a bit more control over her actions when her Shadow is awakened: each turn she must take some violent, destructive action (unless a Willpower point is spent), but she will attack those with whom she has the strongest emotional bonds, either valued friends or bitter enemies, above all other targets. Vampires also receive the benefits granted to mortals: by expending a point of Willpower, they gain a number of bonus dice equal to their Humanity subtracted from 10. Vampires on Paths of Enlightenment that stress submission to one’s urges (such as the Path of the Feral Heart) instead gain a number of bonus dice equal to their Path rating –1. A character who is affected by Awaken the Shadow is still incapable of directly harming those to whom she is blood bound, or to whom she holds a Vinculum rating of 8 or higher. However, the bonus dice afforded by the Shadow can be used to bolster the character’s Willpower roll when attempting to momentarily resist the bond (the Willpower point must still be expended; the player simply receives additional dice to the Willpower roll, which gives her character a better chance of meeting the requisite number of successes).

Reap the Whirlwind - 4

A vampire invoking Reap the Whirlwind focuses the very energy of Oblivion into his outstretched hand (though sometimes the energy is emitted from the necromancer’s lips), opening a small rift in the fabric of the shroud and allowing a portion of the tempestuous Underworld storm into the Skinlands. In the physical world, the only perceivable effect is that an ice-cold wind issues forth from the vampire’s hand or mouth. In the Underworld, the necromancer emits a black nimbus that seems to swirl with raging winds. Whomever the vampire strikes with this blackened mist is wracked by unbelievable agony as their very soul is eaten away by the entropic forces of total annihilation.

While Torment is an effective tool for punishing unruly spirits, Reap the Whirlwind is the ultimate form of retribution, sending the spirit screaming into the darkness of nothingness. The vortex opened through this power is actually a conduit for the mighty currents of the great storm in the underworld—souls touched by the harsh wind of Oblivion are literally torn to pieces.

System: The vampire must expend a blood point and roll Dexterity + Occult (difficulty 6, use Firearms complications) to strike a resisting target, who may be physical or in the underworld. Each success inflicts one Health Level (or Corpus Level) to any spirit targeted by the effect. The damage is considered Aggravated, although targets in the living world may attempt to soak the damage at a difficulty of 8—the flesh insulates the spirit from the raw power of oblivion, so Reap the Whirlwind is more effective on naked ectoplasm. Of course, a target who’s soul is removed from their body via the Bone Path does not have such protection...

A character slain through Reap the Whirlwind will rarely return as a wraith… if he does, it will be as a Spectre. Most souls shattered by this power are completely engulfed by the Void.

The Night Cry - 5

By channeling the dark emotions fostered by his beast into a violent bellow that resounds in the living world and the deepest recesses of the lands of the dead, the necromancer may call to the agents of Oblivion, enticing them to enter the physical world and tear down his enemies. The Night Cry is a chilling call that reverberates in multiple tones as it leaves the necromancer’s throat. Those with Auspex or the second level of the Ash Path have claimed to hear other, roiling voices overlapping the Night Cry, sometimes speaking in whispers, other times seeming to roar with bitter rage. These voices are always unintelligible: whatever language they speak is not of this world.

The Night Cry summons Spectres to the necromancer, much like the Breath of Thanatos (Vitreous Path level 4), but where as the Vitreous Path lures the Spectres with entropic energy, Night Cry opens up a small rift directly into the Tempest, allowing Spectres to come through. The vampire’s body becomes a portal through which the Spectres may manifest in the living lands: those capable of viewing events in the Shadowlands will see a Nihil opening in the vampire’s abdomen, swelling as the pitch of the vampire’s cry reaches its crescendo.

System: The necromancer must issue a blood-curdling scream and spends a blood point and a point of Willpower. He then rolls Charisma + Occult, difficulty 8. A successful roll attracts the attention of Spectres in the roiling Tempest of the underworld and creates a conduit within the necromancer’s body through which those Spectres enter the physical world (although if the necromancer has discovered a Nihil through Gaze into the Abyss, he may instead summon the Spectres through that portal, avoiding the negative effects described below). Additionally, if the necromancer is aware of the presence of Spectres in the Shadowlands (through Gaze into the Abyss), then the difficulty of the Night Cry drops to 6 (it requires much less effort to open a portal to the Shadowlands than it does to the Tempest).

One Spectre comes through at the beginning of the turn following the Night Cry, and another comes through, one per turn, for a number of turns equal to the number of additional successes the necromancer gained beyond the first. Thus, one Spectre is summoned for each success, and each success allows the Nihil to remain open for one turn.

Spectres channeled through the Night Cry are not under the Necromancer’s control unless he attempts to use Awaken the Shadow on each of them (he may do this as they emerge from the Nihil). They will generally attack or otherwise torment whoever is standing in front of the necromancer when he issues the night-cry, but it is not unknown for them to turn on the vampire immediately after exiting the Nihil (especially if the necromancer is alone when he bellows the Night Cry, and does not adequately control the Spectres). The Spectres are intangible to those in the physical world, but they are visible as transparent, shadowy entities.

Much like the ritual Elisio (Clanbook Giovanni, pg. 76), however, acting as a conduit for the Void is an extremely dangerous undertaking. For each turn that the Nihil remains open, the necromancer receives a Health Level of unsoakable Lethal damage (which may be healed as normal). The Nihil closes at the end of the last turn in which a Spectre emerges, but the Spectres may remain in the Skinlands for the remainder of the scene, unless the necromancer utilizes Compel Soul (Sepulcher path 3) or Awaken the Shadow in order to force the ghosts to leave his presence. Once the scene ends, the Spectres must either be bound to an object through the Haunting (level 4 Sepulcher path) or they begin to fade, suffering one Health Level of unsoakable Lethal damage each scene they remain in the Skinlands beyond their allotted time. Those that lose all of their Health levels are destroyed utterly. Some Spectres are capable of rending the Shroud between the worlds, and so may be able to return to the Shadowlands on their own.