Astral Portent
By inspecting the state of the heavens at a person's birth (and/or Embrace) and at the present, a magician can discover the most powerful forces at work in a person's life. The subject can ask for a general forecast, or to seek more specific advice about his financial future, love life, a planned journey, etc. The astrologer can also ask such a question about a subject who does not know he is being studied.
System: Each success rolled indicates one significant fact about a person's near future - either in general or in relation to a particular topic. Clues should be short and somewhat vague.
Example: A mortal asks about his amorous opportunities. The astrologer's player rolls three successes. The three clues are "Travel by water." "Heaven favors boldness," and "Venus is unfavorable." From this (and discussions about the client's income and lifestyle), the astrologer might suggest that the client take the ferry to work instead of driving, aggressively pursue any hint that a woman likes him, but not to expect a happily-ever-after this time around.
This open-ended ritual carries risk for abuse. Storytellers should never give precisely detailed information - only clues that characters can follow up on their own, or warnings to keep an eye out for significant events in the near future. An Astral Portent is especially useful when characters simply have no idea what to do next. The heavenly portents will not give them the main answer on a silver platter, but they can point the way to something interesting.
A character can receive only one reading of portents per story. By acting on their horoscopes, characters change their potential futures in every way. The mysterious web of Fate takes some time to adjust to the altered circumstances.
Note: More powerful versions of this ritual enable an astrologer to cast horoscopes for larger groups. A Level Three ritual lets a sorcerer read the portents for a corporate body, such as a coterie or small business. A Level Four version produces a horoscope for large groups such as a large business or a city. A Level Five version reveals clues to the future of an entire nation. National events have so much momentum, and result from such broad causes, however, that the stars rarely give better information than a decent economist or political analyst.
These rituals also have variant forms that employ other divination methods, such as reading entrails, dream interpretation or geomancy.
