Ritual Variation: Regression
(Level-Five Crúac Ritual)
Powerful Acolytes of The Disciples of Silence believe they can actually obliterate a part of their enemies via the power of this ritual, returning it to the nothingness from whence it was created. To accomplish this effect, they must accomplish a difficult and exhausting meditative feat: temporary complete annihilation of the self.
Before the ritual is begun, the Acolyte dresses in a costume that is meant to approximate the appearance of the victim. Wigs, clothing and appropriate accessories are assembled in a sympathetic exercise, allowing the vampire to identify (on some level) with her victim and direct her energies correctly. When properly attired, she sits in a dark, quiet space free of distractions and empties a quantity of her blood into a bowl at her feet. A large mirror is placed before her. Any fellow Acolytes participating in the ritual seat themselves around her, facing outwards. All ritual participants close their eyes and practice the meditative techniques taught by theDisciples, achieving a trance state.
The Acolyte at the center of the circle focuses intently, delving deeper and deeper into her Meditation. The layers of her personality are stripped away over time (minutes or hours — it’s different for everyone and depends on meditative talent), vanishing from her consciousness until she is left with nothing at all. Merging with the Silent Void, she experiences a moment of cosmic, agonizing non-being. At that instant, the blood in the bowl before her boils away to nothing, and her eyes snap open, fixing on the reflection in front of her. The fragment of the Void that is within her is flung into the reflection, shattering the glass and leaving the practitioner free to crash back into her conscious being.
The victim, wherever he is, suffers the immediate effects of the ritual as the quantity of his blood (determined by the number of successes on the Crúac roll) vanishes, collapsing tissues and crushing him inwardly.
Those Disciples who have performed the Regression are often permanently changed, unable (no matter how much they try) to forget the brief instant of pure, untainted non-being that they managed to achieve at the climax of the rite. Some become convinced that the Regression hides within it the path to Golconda, performing it again and again. Others foolishly attempt the ritual without choosing a target, hoping to focus it on themselves and maintain the state permanently.
Before the ritual is begun, the Acolyte dresses in a costume that is meant to approximate the appearance of the victim. Wigs, clothing and appropriate accessories are assembled in a sympathetic exercise, allowing the vampire to identify (on some level) with her victim and direct her energies correctly. When properly attired, she sits in a dark, quiet space free of distractions and empties a quantity of her blood into a bowl at her feet. A large mirror is placed before her. Any fellow Acolytes participating in the ritual seat themselves around her, facing outwards. All ritual participants close their eyes and practice the meditative techniques taught by theDisciples, achieving a trance state.
The Acolyte at the center of the circle focuses intently, delving deeper and deeper into her Meditation. The layers of her personality are stripped away over time (minutes or hours — it’s different for everyone and depends on meditative talent), vanishing from her consciousness until she is left with nothing at all. Merging with the Silent Void, she experiences a moment of cosmic, agonizing non-being. At that instant, the blood in the bowl before her boils away to nothing, and her eyes snap open, fixing on the reflection in front of her. The fragment of the Void that is within her is flung into the reflection, shattering the glass and leaving the practitioner free to crash back into her conscious being.
The victim, wherever he is, suffers the immediate effects of the ritual as the quantity of his blood (determined by the number of successes on the Crúac roll) vanishes, collapsing tissues and crushing him inwardly.
Those Disciples who have performed the Regression are often permanently changed, unable (no matter how much they try) to forget the brief instant of pure, untainted non-being that they managed to achieve at the climax of the rite. Some become convinced that the Regression hides within it the path to Golconda, performing it again and again. Others foolishly attempt the ritual without choosing a target, hoping to focus it on themselves and maintain the state permanently.