Mnemophagia
Description: The Underworld is not a forgiving realm, especially not to the Children of Caine. But being half-dead themselves, they can with great effort travel there and remain indefinitely, were there any sanguine sustenance to be found. Blood however, is not native to the cold dark lands of the dead. So if a vampire wishes to feed in the Underworld, he or she must either bring their nourishment with them (a difficult proposition as preserved blood usually spoils within minutes of exposure to the energies of Oblivion and mortals brought to the Underworld usually expire within hours) or they must be able to manufacture a potable substitute. And it is towards the later strategy that this ritual was researched. The key to finding sustenance in the realms of the dead lies in knowing that there are only three elements at play: the force of Oblivion, the spirits of the dead and memories. The final element, memories make up not only the relics that ghosts bring with them to the Underworld, but the very material that world is made up of as well. This revelation is the very foundation upon which this ritual is based. For those schooled in necromantic mnemonic magics can transmute blood into memories, with this ritual the process is reverse engineered to turn memories found in the Underworld (relics) back into blood. Of course, this ritual is of only limited potential and cannot affect the greater relics of the Underworld, nor anything larger than the necromancer himself; in general that mean the ritual can only effect portable relics which in turn provide a limited amount of blood for the hungry necromancer, but nothing within the metaphysical process of this ritual proscribes it from being cast multiple times. However, foolish is the necromancer who believes that he can feed off inanimate objects in the Underworld to curb his thirst in the world of the living, for regardless of the amount of relic-blood in the vampire's system, once he or she crosses back into the physical world all such blood is lost and the vampire is once again hungry, perhaps to the point of frenzy. Equally, its worth noting that should the society of ghosts become aware that relics can be ingested by vampiric necromancers, the caster likely won't survive the wraithly response.
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, brine (sea water) from an Underworld ocean, and a drop of the casters blood.
Casting: The necromancer begins by forming a perfect circle around the chosen relic with pieces of rock salt. When the circle is finished, caster fills his silver plated Kapala with brine and invoking Mnemosyne, the Greek goddess of memory to succor his hunger in this inhospitable land. He then bites the middle finger of his left and with one of his fangs and stirs the brine with a bloody finger. He offers this libation to the goddess and pours out the Kapala over the relic which liquifies into barely digestible blood.
System: Intelligence + Rituals = difficulty of seven (7). Should the caster botch, the blood he has transubstantiated from relics become poisonous and once ingested provokes an immediate sense of nausea which ultimately results in a violent bilious response. Each point of poisonous relic-blood that the vampire ingests, increases the difficulty of a self-control roll triggered by the ingesting of the bad blood. Thus, if the necromancer turned a three-point relic into relic-blood and then ingested it, he would have to roll Self-Control at a base difficulty of six (6) plus the number of poisonous blood points ingested, in this case three (3), for a total difficulty of nine (9).
Of course, if the caster simply fails, all that is lost is time and may try the ritual again, upon the same relic, at a slightly higher difficulty (+1 for each failed casting).
If however the necromancer succeeds in casting the ritual, then he can transubstantiate one relic into a variable amount of relic-blood dependent on the size of the item. Below is a chart detailing the general ratings of relics as they are perceived by wraiths. So the cast must acquire a number of successes equal to the relic's value in order to transform into into a like number of relic-blood points.
Reliquary Chart
- 1pt Relic = A seemingly insignificant relic, like the keys to a treasured car.
- 2pt Relic = A minor relic, perhaps a small work of art.
- 3pt Relic = A relic with some usefulness, a telescope or a knife.
- 4pt Relic = A major relic with moving parts, often powered by Pathos.
- 5pt Relic = A huge or invaluable relic, a sophisticated device or famous object.
Reference:
The source for the table above comes from the 2nd Edition Wraith Corebook, page 132.
Author's Conjecture: This ritual or one very similar to it could have been the key to the survival of the Harbingers of Skulls in the Underworld.
"The Magister 22:21, 24 December 2014 (MST)"
