Pulse of the Sacred Land

Jamie's Esoterica

Level 5 Thaumaturgy, based on Spiritual Hermeticism.

This ritual creates a bond between the caster and the spirits of a selected plot of land, allowing him to sense supernatural intruders within small geographic area such as a valley, mountain, or complex of buildings.

System: The caster must first walk widdershins around the area three times, chanting mantras and performing acts intended to gain the favor of the local spirits. This walk which must be taken at a normal walking pace: Celerity is not allowed. The caster must remain uninterrupted during the walk, and observe the area as intensely as possible: He must spend a point of willpower has he makes a perception + alertness = 6 roll during each circuit, for a total of three points of willpower spent to cast the ritual. If any of these three Perception + Alertness rolls fails, the ritual similarly fails at the end of the casting sequence.

Once the three circuits are complete, the actual ritual may begin: The caster builds a bonfire in the geographical center of the area. For the next six hours, he chants in a language appropriate to the ancestors of the people who reside there (Storyteller's discretion as to what languages qualify), and dances around the fire. Into the fire, he feeds three points of his own blood, then a ritual representation of all that he does not want to detect (native plants, animals, humans, technology, etc: and no, he cannot choose to detect any of these things). If he chooses, he may also feed the fire with the names or physical representations of supernatural individuals he does not want to be bothered by.

The caster remains extra-ordinarily aware of his Sacred Land for one season per success achieved on a standard casting roll.

As the fire burns, its smoke infuses the area, awakening the minor spirits of the land, buildings, plants and animals within it, and giving the caster a subtle awareness of them.

Once completed, the caster is alerted to the presence and movement of any supernatural within his Sacred Land, weather in the physical world, the Near Umbra, or the Shadowlands, though it does not extend beyond the boarder of these other realms. The term supernatural is somewhat subjective, but extends to ghouls, possessed mortals, and anyone with some sort of hanging magic or the ability to use sorcery. The caster will notice those under the effects of magic or carrying magically enchanted items, but minor amounts of True Faith, some Numina and other near-mundane effects may not fall under the auspices of this ritual (storyteller's discretion).

Any time a supernatural being intrudes into the Sacred Land, the caster must roll Perception + Occult, difficulty 7 (8 for intruders in the Umbra or Shadowlands). Success allows the caster to sense the location of supernatural intruders within the defined domain. This information comes as if the caster were borrowing the senses of the spirits of the domain, and sorting this information out can be difficult. Refer to the following chart to see how much information the caster can discover in the moment. If the Caster takes no action but concentrate, he may roll again the next round in an attempt to learn more information. A botch will give the caster incorrect information.

Successes	Information Available
1 success	Exact Location of All Intruders to the Sacred Land
2	Species (Werewolf, Vampire, Mortal Sorcerer, Mobile Foreign Spirit, etc.)
3	The Caster may recognize those with whom he is familiar
4	A visual Impression: The Caster knows what the intruders are carrying, and how they are moving.
5	The caster may detect the auras of intruders, but doing so requires an action for each individual, as per Aura Sight
6+	Storyteller's Discretion

Mundane attempts at stealth do not affect this ritual: It is impossible to hide from the tree you are hiding behind. Thus, the caster's "supernatural" senses may detect an interloper that he cannot find with his physical eyes. Supernatural stealth (Obfuscate, Invisibility, and the like, not effects that add stealth dice) must exceed the caster's Thaumaturgy rating to pass unnoticed. Users of abilities of a level matched with the caster's Thaumaturgy rating must roll a contested Wits + subterfuge vs. Perception + Subterfuge, both at difficulty 7, as with tests of Auspex vs Obfuscate. If the intruder wins this contested roll, the caster may not attempt to detect him again until he does something substantial to the domain, or drops the power. At the Storyteller's discretion, those with the Eerie Presence flaw, very low path rating, or who suffer from some other affliction that makes them more interesting or repulsive to spirits may suffer a penalty on the contested roll.

Locating a stealthy intruder with mundane senses may still be difficult: The perception may not be up to spotting a stealthy intruder. This is akin to hearing someone you cannot see. Attempts to spot a physically hidden, but detected, intruder are made at a -2 difficulty. Even of the intruder remains effectively hidden, the caster could target an area, hoping to hit something. A target who has managed to evade detection gains a -2 difficulty dodge bonus against such a blind attack.

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