Fallen Rituals

Fallen Rituals

Every aspect of the universe, from concrete matter to such abstract concepts as truth and beauty, is a composite of numerous elemental forces - the design of multitudes of angels in a weave dictated by the Creator’s design. Though the Heavenly Host was ordered into separate Houses, each given dominion over a specific set of forces that formed the cosmos, many of the Creator’s greatest constructions required the cooperation of multiple Elohim, each providing knowledge and lore. These symphonies of angelic power, known as choruses, were formed and directed by the angels of the First House, with the Heralds using their broader knowledge of the Creator’s plan to combine the efforts of the Elohim into ever-greater acts of creation. As mighty as the Elohim were individually, their power was mightier still when they contributed their energies to a higher purpose. It was an insight that Lucifer would make great use of in the dark times to come.



From the moment Michael levied God’s curse against the fallen, the infernal host faced an enemy that vastly outnumbered and outmatched it in terms of raw power. The Morningstar knew this and believed that the only way to counter Heaven’s brute force was to fight with greater wit and agility. This meant creating newer, more flexible tactics that eventually led to the creation of Lucifer’s legions and a system of rank that cut across the boundaries of House seniority and specialisation. Cooperation and innovation were the order of the day, and the infernal host adopted tactical variations on the grand choruses of the Elohim - combinations of House lore that could be performed quickly and to devastating effect on the battlefield. These rituals were highly effective in countering the advantages of the Heavenly Host, particularly during the early stages of the war, and the concept was adopted to a wide variety of functions, from information-gathering to the creation of mighty bastions hidden from the eyes of mortal and angel alike. Although much of this ritual knowledge has since been lost to the effects of time and Torment, newly returned fallen can attempt to re-learn these powerful cooperative evocations fro use against their enemies.



History



According to legend, the first rituals created during the early centuries of the War of Wrath were largely passive in nature, allowing the fallen to project their awareness across the globe and confront the enemy far from the fragile lands of mortals. Many of these rituals were said to have been developed by the Archduke Asmodeus and his subordinates in the Silver Legion, and their efforts were instrumental in allowing the fallen to stalemate Michael’s forces during the centuries of the Silent War. Many Devils dispute this, claiming instead that Lucifer himself and the Namaru as a whole were the architects of these cooperative tactics. What cannot be denied is that the Devils were responsible for the first destructive applications of the craft, wielded during the first siege of Genhinnom at the dawn of the Time of Atrocities.



Not long after the fall of Sagun, the Heavenly Host mustered its battle-formations and descended on Lucifer’s cathedral city with a huge army of Elohim and mortal forces, intent on capturing the Morningstar and ending the rebellion while the infernal legions were scattered. The Crimson Legion held the walls for seven days and seven nights, while the earth shook to the tread of titanic angels and the skies split with heavenly bolts of fire. The mortals within the city despaired, for it was clear that the forces of the enemy were numberless and their strength undiminished, while Genhinnom’s defenders grew steadily weaker. Finally, just before the dawn of the seventh day, Lucifer called his lieutenants to attend him in the Palace of Shadows, and rumours ran through the streets that surrender was imminent.



Instead, the dawn saw Lucifer and his chosen angels rising like angry stars above the black needle of the palace, Devils and Scourges circling one another in intricate patterns as they began to chant words of power. No sooner had the Heavenly Host sounded the call to arms when the watch-fires of their mortal allies erupted into huge towers of flame, whipped higher and hotter by a sudden wind that howled from out of the east. The fire spread, and the wind raged like a beast, and a terrible storm raged through the ranks of Heaven in moments, scouring skin from bone and leaving nothing but ash in its wake. The Heavenly Host was hurled back in terror and dismay, retreating to its prison cities with the knowledge that, far from being beaten, the rebels had turned the tide in their favour once more.



What followed was the construction of great, living battle engines; the bastions of Lucifer and his generals and eugenics experiments within the Palace of Sighs. Many other rituals were designed as well to spy upon, to harass, to delude and to hide from the enemy. Others were used to muster and enhance the human troops fighting under the rebels, to create new troops or beasts of war or to counter lore against which there had previously been no defence. Using rituals was one of the most potent and economical ways for the rebels to channel their resources as long as there was enough Faith to sustain them.



The earliest rituals were conceived of as combinations of dance and song, wherein each participant wove her lore with the rest and created new conceptual effects. The number and rank of the ritual’s participants depended upon the desired effect, but there was always a single individual known as the Ankida who directed its power. Those angels who contributed additional lore to the ritual were known as the Mudu. The Ankida would gather the necessary resources and provide the tempo of the song and the pattern of the dance. As with the Firestorm, some rituals were enacted by the highest ranks of the Houses, with hundreds of attendants (or Khauiki) providing support and stores of extra Faith.



Although it was subsequently discovered that rituals could be created within the jurisdiction of a single House, the prevailing strategy was to create rituals that made use of dissimilar lore. Each ritual had a dominant or primary lore, and only a demon with the proper mastery of the necessary evocations could act as Ankida. Therefore, all rituals became associated with Houses, even when others were called in to participate. As only the Ankida needed to know and comprehend the entire ritual, it was easy to restrict the flow of knowledge. Over time, many rituals came to be considered the property of one House or another.



During the war the infernal host created and employed hundreds of different rituals, both on and off the battlefield. Since that time, much of this knowledge has been lost. Few records remain in the physical world, and the agonies of the Abyss has eroded the memories of the fallen. What is more, the limitations of possession and the relative faithlessness of the World of Darkness has added a host of new difficulties in recalling and properly enacting rituals that demons once performed with ease. Where it once took only one or two demons to muster the relevant knowledge and power to fuel the ritual dance, now the fallen must cast far and wide for demons with the necessary lore. They must look still farther for mortals and fallen with the Faith to spare to ensure a ritual’s success. Special sigils must be designed and inscribed to properly amplify and focus the meagre store of collected Faith and even so, many rituals can now be performed only at specific times and places that resonate with the effect the demon is attempting to achieve. Nonetheless, many fallen are actively researching the lost art of ritual lore, eagerly seeking any advantage that they can bring to bear against any advantage that they can bring to bear against their enemies and further their own agendas.



Learning Rituals



The fallen gain access to rituals in three ways. The first, but by no means the easiest, is to retrieve the memories from within themselves. The second is to learn them from other fallen or through the rare transcriptions that have been made throughout history. The third way is to create whole new ones. Doing so is a time-consuming and sometimes frustrating pursuit, but it can yield rituals that take advantage of many of the modern world’s innovations.



Knowledge of a ritual is a valuable resource. If your character possesses something that no other fallen yet on Earth has access to, then all kinds of people are going to be interested once the word gets out. Knowledge of particularly famous or infamous rituals might have further consequences as well.



Recalling Rituals



The fallen have not lost the knowledge of everything they once were, but much of their memory and knowledge is merely buried deep in the subconscious of their mortal host. Therefore, it is possible, with time and effort, for a character to search her memories for the secrets of rituals she once performed with ease.



Learning Rituals from another Fallen



All fallen have the potential to perform rituals. If your character has a willing and knowledgeable tutor, she can learn what rituals the tutor has to offer, although it is neither a short nor straightforward process. Of course, finding someone who is willing to not only share her knowledge with your character, but to spend weeks and even months doing so is another problem entirely.



Teaching Rituals to Thralls



Even humans can learn rituals, though they must also possess the requisite dots in the ritual’s primary lore to do so.



Learning Rituals from Written Records



It is possible that just as certain infernal relics might have survived the war in secret bastions hidden across the earth, written records and tomes of knowledge detailing certain rituals might have survived to the present day. Such ancient knowledge could take on numerous arcane forms - words inscribed upon veils of solid light, burned into the preserved husks of angels or whispered in breezes set to run eternally through intricately carved vaults deep within the fortress. Unfortunately, the slow collapse of the multi-faceted aspects of Creation means the majority of such “books” are not transportable as they once were.



Additionally, it is possible that extant human records contain fragments of lost ritual knowledge, collected from summoned demons across the ages or derived from the experimentation of sorcerers. Such transcriptions might have occurred as recently as 400 years ago, and some can be found within actual leather-bound tomes, scattered in occult repositories across the globe. Of course, the unadulterated writings of the great sorcerers of the past are among the most prized possessions of the sorcerers of the present, so they are not much easier to find than extant infernal fortresses.



Creating Rituals



All fallen have the potential to create rituals from the lore they know or create variations to the rituals they currently possess. It takes time and effort, however, and is not something that can be done spontaneously. A character can research ways to combining her own lore paths into demonic rituals, but she does not have to undergo the laborious task alone. The best part about the otherwise gruelling process is that as many fallen can contribute their knowledge and experience as there are paths of lore involved.



The first step in the creation process is to determine the intended effect of the ritual. The character or group of characters must work out a clear description of what they want the ritual to do and then determine the necessary primary and secondary lore paths required to achieve the desired effect. The character or characters involved in the creation process must possess all of the requisite dots in the required lore paths, or the ritual cannot be created. All rituals come at a cost. The more complicated the ritual is - the more requisite lore, and the more dramatic or dangerous it is - the higher that cost will be. The scope of rituals is not unlimited, especially in the modern world, but means of expanding a ritual’s effects are discussed in Performing Rituals (see below). They are very flexible, and if particular care is paid to choosing the relevant lore paths, then a great multitude of effects can be achieved.



Creating a ritual is a complex process, requiring both deep intellectual discipline and a meditative contemplation of the fractured universe. Flaws can crop up during the research process, which the characters can either cast aside their research up to that point and begin again or accept the flaws and carry on. Flaws in the design process can cause unpredictable and potentially dangerous risks, depending on how many botches are accrued during the creation process. One botch might impose very stringent restrictions on the ritual - such as saying that one can perform the ritual only during certain times of the day or during certain seasons. Two might cause the enactors of the ritual to gain temporary Torment. Three might cause the ritual to go out of control unless the Ankida extends their will to contain it. Four or more might require the death of one of the ritual members in order to unleash its energies. Characters who create a flawed ritual can attempt to discern the risk inherent in their creation with Supernatural Awareness.



Once the required conditions have been met, the ritual is complete. The designers have determined the precise combination of evocations, envisioned a proper sigil and crafted the ritual song.



Performing Rituals



Like everything else about rituals, performing them takes time and effort. Some can be performed in a few minutes with minimal or trivial restrictions; some take hours and can be attempted only at a precise astrological conjunction. All, however, require the same basic components.



Participants



While it is possible for a single demon to perform a ritual, most modern-day fallen do not have access to the wide range of lore paths that most rituals require. Typically rituals are conducted by a leader (the Ankida) and one or more Mudu providing whatever supplementary lore the ritual requires.

The Ankida



The Ankida is the leader of the ritual, and she determines its ultimate effects. Only the Ankida needs to know the ritual and possess its primary lore, and she has sole control over what the ritual will affect and how. The other ritual members contribute any required supplementary lore, but they don‘t necessarily have to know the bigger picture. They are the choir the Ankida conducts. At the time the ritual is performed, the Ankida must possess at least one Faith point. A thrall can act as Ankida in a ritual if he possesses the requisite dots of the ritual‘s primary lore.

The Mudu



The Mudu provide any supplementary lore the ritual requires, offering their power at the direction of the Ankida. The Mudu sing as the Ankida directs, voicing a chorus of Enochian words of power. Each Mudu must have at least one Faith point available to participate in a ritual.



It is possible to have ritual participants providing knowledge of more than one lore path. This reduces the number of participants required but increases the overall difficulty of the effort. The Mudu must spend one point of temporary Willpower per dot of lore for each additional path she is attempting to provide, ands he must have a minimum of one Faith per lore path. For example, a Mudu providing two dots of Celestial lore and two dots of Wind lore must spend two temporary Willpower points and have at least two Faith points available to provide the extra lore. Thralls can perform the role of the Mudu in a ritual if they possess the requisite dots of lore.

Khauiki



Sometimes required, more often optional, these fallen lend Faith to the ritual in support of the more active participants. Each Faith point offered adds one die to the Ankida’s Faith pool for casting purposes. Each of these fallen must also have at least one dot in any of the lore paths required for the ritual, and at least one Faith point available. The Khauiki choose for themselves how much Faith they will individually offer at any stage of the ritual. If the process is not going well and the Khauiki is running low on Faith, she can refuse to share any more. Thralls can perform the role of Khauiki in a ritual.

Other Ritual Requirements



In addition to assembling the requisite number of participants and necessary lore paths (no mean feat it and of itself), the following ritual requirements must also be met;

Restrictions



Certain rituals need to be cast at particular times or under particular circumstances - during a storm, for example, or under the light of a full moon. Such restrictions provide resonances that help the members of the ritual focus their concentration and channel their energies synergistically. The more power and complex the ritual, the more restrictions must be satisfied in order to enact it.

The Sigil



Where the earth was once awash in spiritual power, requiring only a conscious mind to channel it, the modern World of Darkness requires physical symbols that help amplify and direct the meagre stores of energy that the fallen can tap. In some ways, a sigil functions like a circuit board. It channels the energies of the Ankida and her participants into a specific configuration.



The sigil is inscribed at the location where the ritual is to be cast, and its size depends upon the needs of the ritual. Its perimeter must be large enough to accommodate every individual performing the ritual, plus the intended recipients of the ritual’s effect, if applicable. In all cases, the Ankida and Mudu stand equally spaced around the edge, whilst the Khauiki stand in a concentric ring directly behind them.



Creating the sigil is the first actual step in any ritual, although it takes place outside of the ritual’s minimum casting time. It should be traced in materials appropriate to the House, which might be sand, ice, cobweb or crushed glass. (Some rituals have even more exacting requirements - see the sample rituals for details.) It can also be made permanent as a carving, mosaic or incised symbol (perhaps into which inflammable liquid or fresh blood is poured), which makes it more difficult to disrupt. Weaving the sigil from an appropriate material into a large cloth is one way to make it easily portable, but doing so creates difficulties in that the cloth must be kept very flat throughout the casting so as not to distort the pattern.



Whatever materials are used, more than one person can contribute to creating the sigil. Even mortals or demons who are unfamiliar with the ritual can transcribe the pattern if they have a diagram to work from. The amount of time required to create the sigil depends largely on the materials used and the method of inscription. (An intricate mosaic of inlaid coral might take weeks to create.) Depending on the materials involved, this could mean that the inscriber must erase the last segment and start again (in the case of a circle of salt, for example), or he might have to start from scratch in another location. Since the creation of the sigil has no bearing on the ritual’s casting time, it is possible to create one hours, days or even weeks ahead of the actual event, ready for use when the restrictions are right.

Casting Time



The time the ritual will take to perform depends upon it’s complexity and its power. It can range from 10 minutes to over 24 hours. This period consists of the Ankida calling forth her lore and combining it with the Mudu, weaving them together into the proper configuration to achieve the desired effect.



You calculate the minimum time in minutes it takes to cast a ritual by squaring the total number of dots of lore that comprise the ritual. For example, Age Landscape, has a total of eight dots within its three lore paths, so it takes 64 minutes to cast.

Casting the Ritual



Once all the participants have been organised, the sigil has been drawn and the restrictions have been met, the ritual begins. The Ankida begins the song, the Mudu join in as she directs, and the Khauiki concentrate upon the scene before them, chanting a simple, rhythmic mantra. The performance of the ritual is a significant supernatural event. Nearby demons may attempt to defect the ritual with reflexive supernatural awareness and other supernatural species have ways of picking up the ritual’s otherworldly resonance.



Once the minimum casting time for the ritual has been achieved, the collected energies are ready to be unleashed. If the ritual fails, however, then the collected energies violently expend themselves. If the danger of a catastrophic failure seems unavoidable, however, the Ankida can voluntarily abort the ritual and disperse the energies safely.



Losing Control



If the Ankida loses control of a ritual and cannot harness the energy safely, it explodes in a blast of unfocused power. Anyone within the sigil itself is safe, but the Ankida, the Mudu and the Khauiki, as well as any onlookers, face the full wrath of the ritual’s uncontrolled energies.



Complications



Rituals are complex and demanding efforts even for the likes of the fallen. It is possible for them to fail due to nothing more than an Ankida’s lack of ability or the participants running out of endurance. Other factors, particularly outside interference by the Ankida’s enemies, can also affect a ritual’s success or failure.



Disrupting a Ritual



External forces can disrupt the casting of a ritual if they can succeed in disrupting the ritual’s chant, breaking its sigil or affecting its casting restrictions. The simplest way of doing so is through a physical attack. Therefore, the Khauiki serve another valuable purpose. Until the point they are called on to provide their Faith, they can double as defenders of the ritual’s active participants.



Disrupting the ritual sigil depends largely on the manner in which it is constructed and the methods used to disrupt it. Breaking a circle laid with salt might require nothing more than a strong gust of wind, while breaking one carved into solid granite might take a careful application of dynamite. If the sigil is successfully disrupted, the collected energy is released explosively.



Finally, while many rituals require careful chronological or geographical restrictions that no amount of interference can affect, others require environmental or material restrictions that can be influenced by outside forces. A ritual that cannot be performed in rain or fog, for example, could be disrupted by setting off the building’s sprinkler system. One that requires direct sunlight could be broken by throwing a tarp over the ritual’s sigil. If the ritual’s restrictions are violated, the ritual ends and the energies bleed off safely. Of course, the attacks must know the ritual’s restrictions in order to take advantage of them.



Subverting Rituals



The participants can try to subvert a ritual from within in a number of ways. It is impossible to do so without the other members realising what is happening, though it might be too late by the time they do.



If the Ankida wishes to use the Tormented version of a ritual, she may do so as detailed in the next section. Even if she does not tell the other participants that she is doing so, they can all gain Torment in the process.



Any participant in the ritual who could qualify as Ankida - that is, who knows the ritual and possesses sufficient primary lore - can attempt to seize control of it, effectively becoming the Ankida and redirecting its effects. The attempted takeover of the ritual can occur at any point in the casting process, though the best time to do so is after the ritual is successfully completed.



Ankida and Mudu also have the choice of leeching Faith off the ritual, though demons’ supernatural awareness can sense this taking place.



Torment



Just as with evocations, Torment can taint the outcome of infernal rituals, causing damaging and uncontrolled effects. Ritual high-Torment effects are determined in the same fashion as normal evocations.



The Ankida can deliberately unleash the corrupted version of a ritual, but she and the Mudu (not the Khauiki) all gain a point of temporary Torment. Note that some rituals, particularly those that date from the Time of Atrocities, are cruel enough to accumulate temporary Torment even in their original form.



Effects of Disbelief



The disbelief of human witnesses can make rituals more difficult, just as it does for evocations. Once the energy of the ritual is unleashed, however, little can be done to stop it.



Using Demonically Possessed Relics



Infernal relics imbued with a demonic spirit can act as a Mudu in an infernal ritual if the bound spirit possesses the requisite lore. The Ankida must hold the relic during the ritual in order to mesh its energies with the other participants, but otherwise the procedure is exactly the same as described thus far. Bound spirits are equally capable of leaching offered Faith from a ritual or even seizing control of one like any other ritual participant if the restrictions of their binding allow them sufficient freedom.



A demon bound into a relic can even act as the Ankida for a ritual if it has sufficient freedom, the ability to communicate and the requisite primary lore. To participate as the Ankida the relic must be borne either by a Mudu or a thrall throughout the ritual.



Mortal Participation



It is possible for a mortal to participate in an infernal ritual, whether as a source of Faith, a supplier of supplementary lore or even acting as the ritual’s Ankida. Human participants face much greater risks than the fallen do, as their minds and bodies are not equipped to channel the energies, and the demands presented by the task make a successful casting that much more difficult.


Mortals as Khauiki



Enthralled or not, mortals can participate as Khauiki in an infernal ritual, with the following restrictions. Mortal thralls contribute Willpower points instead of faith but do not suffer the pain and trauma of being ravaged. Non-enthralled mortals (willing allies of the fallen, followers, adoring worshippers, etc.) can contribute a number of Faith points equal to their Faith potential. Once they have exhausted their Faith potential, non-enthralled mortals may continue to contribute Willpower points in lieu of Faith.


Mortals as Mudu



A thrall gifted with an evocation of the proper lore at the required level can act as a Mudu in an infernal ritual. A mortal acting as a Mudu cannot leach Faith from a ritual, but they can attempt to seize control of one if they wish.


Mortals as Ankida



A thrall gifted with an evocation of the proper lore at the required level can act as the Ankida of an infernal ritual. Mortal Ankida cannot leach Faith from a ritual.

Mortal participants of an uncontrolled ritual suffer lethal damage the same as their fallen counterparts. They may also gain a temporary or permanent derangement as a result of this.