Wyrm's Nest Rituals
Driven to make use of spiritual forces they can perceive, but do not fully understand, the mystics of The Ordo Dracul have stolen, invented and copied rituals capable of harnessing the power contained in some Wyrm’s Nests. Some of these rituals are ancient, extrapolated from fragmentary texts in dead languages, while others are wholly new, the results of cautious or reckless experimentation with misunderstood energies. What all of these rituals have in common, however, is the stage on which they must be performed: the mystic sites known by the Dragons as fontal nests.
In some domains, fontal rituals are called “blood rituals,” “nest rites” or “inclination channeling.” In game terms, they may also be called Essence rituals.
Differentiating a genuinely effective ritual from a faulty counterpart isn’t easy. Even when a false ritual is finally performed, participants may imagine it has had some minor effect on their unlives, like an occult placebo. It is possible to identify the provenance and legitimacy of a recorded ritual with an academic approach, and it’s certainly a place to start, but many enterprising Dragons insist that actually performing a ritual is the only way to be sure it is genuine. In game terms, an academic evaluation of a ritual requires an extended Intelligence + Occult action, with each roll representing an hour of study and Research. A minimum of 15 successes is often necessary, though especially obscure and complex rituals may require more. To perform a scholarly examination, a character must have access to a record of the ritual.
Some rituals are recorded as complex and archaic notations on paper; the ritual called “Drink of the Resounding Blood” is rumored to have been found written on the endpapers of a Puritanical volume titled The Dangers of Spiritualism and Ghost Worship. Other rituals are written out as carefully annotated directions, like a kind of arcane instruction manual. One authentic fontal rite was supposedly “discovered” by the Dragons of Baltimore when it was seen performed by a cult of blood dolls on a VHS tape confiscated from the estate of a dead ghoul. The cultists had neither the knowledge nor the supernatural blood necessary to make the ritual work, but their recitations caught the ear of a covenant Master who later sorted out their intentions from their mistakes, or so the story goes. Fact or fiction, it is certainly true that the circumstances and choices that lead to the discovery of a genuine ritual are hard to foresee.
Before a character can successfully perform a Fontal Ritual, she must purchase the Fontal Ritual Merit. A character with that Merit may then purchase any Fontal Ritual for which she can find a useful record, at a cost of five experience points. This experience point cost represents the study, personal focus and minute changing of the blood that goes into learning a ritual. Each Fontal Ritual costs five experience points, regardless of how many the character is able to find and learn.
In some domains, fontal rituals are called “blood rituals,” “nest rites” or “inclination channeling.” In game terms, they may also be called Essence rituals.
Finding Fontal Rituals
Many, if not most, chapters of The Ordo Dracul have no fontal rituals of real power. Many of the rituals performed by Dragon spiritualists are incomplete, mistranslated or utterly fraudulent, but the Dragons continue to perform them in many domains, whether as a cultural event or for the sake of science. If nothing else, such impotent rituals might form a useful control group.Differentiating a genuinely effective ritual from a faulty counterpart isn’t easy. Even when a false ritual is finally performed, participants may imagine it has had some minor effect on their unlives, like an occult placebo. It is possible to identify the provenance and legitimacy of a recorded ritual with an academic approach, and it’s certainly a place to start, but many enterprising Dragons insist that actually performing a ritual is the only way to be sure it is genuine. In game terms, an academic evaluation of a ritual requires an extended Intelligence + Occult action, with each roll representing an hour of study and Research. A minimum of 15 successes is often necessary, though especially obscure and complex rituals may require more. To perform a scholarly examination, a character must have access to a record of the ritual.
Some rituals are recorded as complex and archaic notations on paper; the ritual called “Drink of the Resounding Blood” is rumored to have been found written on the endpapers of a Puritanical volume titled The Dangers of Spiritualism and Ghost Worship. Other rituals are written out as carefully annotated directions, like a kind of arcane instruction manual. One authentic fontal rite was supposedly “discovered” by the Dragons of Baltimore when it was seen performed by a cult of blood dolls on a VHS tape confiscated from the estate of a dead ghoul. The cultists had neither the knowledge nor the supernatural blood necessary to make the ritual work, but their recitations caught the ear of a covenant Master who later sorted out their intentions from their mistakes, or so the story goes. Fact or fiction, it is certainly true that the circumstances and choices that lead to the discovery of a genuine ritual are hard to foresee.
Learning the Ritual
A Fontal Ritual cannot just be performed out of a book. To be properly executed, a ritual must be learned. Typically this involves extensive practice and memorization, and often a great deal of study. For a vampire to be able to harness and alter the spiritual energy of a Wyrm’s Nest, the ritual must become something she can perform from memory, while making use of the arcane Properties of the Blood. Dragon ritualists sometimes call this “training the blood.”Before a character can successfully perform a Fontal Ritual, she must purchase the Fontal Ritual Merit. A character with that Merit may then purchase any Fontal Ritual for which she can find a useful record, at a cost of five experience points. This experience point cost represents the study, personal focus and minute changing of the blood that goes into learning a ritual. Each Fontal Ritual costs five experience points, regardless of how many the character is able to find and learn.
Execution
Most Essence rituals are performed in the same general way. All involve a vessel — either mortal or Kindred — into whose blood the mystic power of the fontal nest is channeled. Most disseminate that power through ritualistic feeding or bloodletting. A great deal of ceremony surrounds the channeling and bleeding of the site’s energy, and it’s difficult to know for sure how much of that ceremony is truly necessary for the ritual to be a success.
Most rituals require only the leading participant to have the Fontal Ritual Merit, though exceptions do exist. Many rituals also allow multiple participants to cooperate during its invocation (see “Teamwork,” in the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 134). The number of possible participants varies with each ritual.
The Storyteller may deem that certain rituals can only be performed at appropriate fontal nests. The Arcane Vitae ritual, for example, may work at a site infused with magical energy but not a site resonating with spiritual essence. Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult or Presence + Occult; this dice pool is typically modified by the vessel’s Resolve, Stamina or Composure.
Action: Extended. (The number of successes required depends on the ritual; each roll represents one hour of ritual casting.)
While successes are being accumulated on the extended action to invoke the ritual, characters are presumed to be singing, chanting, praying, meditating or otherwise performing according to the demands of the ritual. When the necessary successes have been reached, the ritual vessel must be fed from or bled within a few minutes, or the energy channeled into his blood dissipates and is lost. Once the vessel has been infused with the energy of the wellhead, any vampire that drains at least one Vitae from him can benefit from the effects of the ritual. Consumed Vitae that has been empowered by a Fontal Ritual should be specially noted on the feeding vampire’s character sheet for future reference.
Dramatic Failure: The ritual is a disaster. Some vital portion of the ceremony is forgotten or performed incorrectly, and the ritualist loses control of the mystic forces being channeled. The spiritual energy of the Wyrm’s Nest is wasted and the ritual cannot be attempted again for at least one night, but likely longer.
Failure: Some part of the ritual is interrupted, skipped or performed incorrectly, but the damage isn’t total. The Wyrm’s Nest’s mystic energies are not channeled or spent, and the ritual can be attempted again, provided there’s time. Success: The ritual is completed, and the spiritual energy of the fontal nest is channeled into the ritual vessel, which is affected according to the description of the individual rituals, below.
Exceptional Success: There is no advantage to an exceptional success when performing a Fontal Ritual, aside from the speed at which the process is completed.
Modifier | Situation
+3 | The Wyrm’s Nest is secret or hidden.
+2 | The Wyrm’s Nest is private or enclosed.
+2 | Ritualist uses a ceremonial Altar or other relevant artifact.
+1 | The Wyrm’s Nest is away from common traffic.
–1 to –5 | The ritualist is distracted or antagonized.
–1 to –3 | The ritualist is rushed.
–1 to –3 | Weather obscures the ritual area.
Most rituals require only the leading participant to have the Fontal Ritual Merit, though exceptions do exist. Many rituals also allow multiple participants to cooperate during its invocation (see “Teamwork,” in the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 134). The number of possible participants varies with each ritual.
The Storyteller may deem that certain rituals can only be performed at appropriate fontal nests. The Arcane Vitae ritual, for example, may work at a site infused with magical energy but not a site resonating with spiritual essence. Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult or Presence + Occult; this dice pool is typically modified by the vessel’s Resolve, Stamina or Composure.
Action: Extended. (The number of successes required depends on the ritual; each roll represents one hour of ritual casting.)
While successes are being accumulated on the extended action to invoke the ritual, characters are presumed to be singing, chanting, praying, meditating or otherwise performing according to the demands of the ritual. When the necessary successes have been reached, the ritual vessel must be fed from or bled within a few minutes, or the energy channeled into his blood dissipates and is lost. Once the vessel has been infused with the energy of the wellhead, any vampire that drains at least one Vitae from him can benefit from the effects of the ritual. Consumed Vitae that has been empowered by a Fontal Ritual should be specially noted on the feeding vampire’s character sheet for future reference.
Dramatic Failure: The ritual is a disaster. Some vital portion of the ceremony is forgotten or performed incorrectly, and the ritualist loses control of the mystic forces being channeled. The spiritual energy of the Wyrm’s Nest is wasted and the ritual cannot be attempted again for at least one night, but likely longer.
Failure: Some part of the ritual is interrupted, skipped or performed incorrectly, but the damage isn’t total. The Wyrm’s Nest’s mystic energies are not channeled or spent, and the ritual can be attempted again, provided there’s time. Success: The ritual is completed, and the spiritual energy of the fontal nest is channeled into the ritual vessel, which is affected according to the description of the individual rituals, below.
Exceptional Success: There is no advantage to an exceptional success when performing a Fontal Ritual, aside from the speed at which the process is completed.
Modifier | Situation
+3 | The Wyrm’s Nest is secret or hidden.
+2 | The Wyrm’s Nest is private or enclosed.
+2 | Ritualist uses a ceremonial Altar or other relevant artifact.
+1 | The Wyrm’s Nest is away from common traffic.
–1 to –5 | The ritualist is distracted or antagonized.
–1 to –3 | The ritualist is rushed.
–1 to –3 | Weather obscures the ritual area.
Primary Related Location
Related Organizations
Fake Rituals
Storytellers who want to leave some question as to the legitimacy of a ritual prior to its performance can require the player of a rituallearning character to “invest” experience in the ritual as though it were real, without revealing its authenticity until the scene when it is performed. If the ritual is genuine, and the character performs it successfully, the six experience points are spent and the story continues. If the ritual is bogus, the character doesn’t find out until he manages to “successfully” perform the ritual — and finds that nothing happens. In that case, the experience points invested in the ritual are returned to him, and the hunt for the scheming bastard who first presented the ritual begins. Stories that end with the revelation of a fake ritual are anticlimactic, though — such an event should be the start of a new story, or just one element in a complex climax. Be careful not to disappoint your players with a big buildup to a disappointing ending.
Essence and Resonance
Essence, as hinted at in the World of Darkness Rulebook, is the currency of power among ghosts and spirits. Ghosts, for example, use Essence to fuel the effects of their Numina. Werewolves and spirits use it in a similar (but not identical) way. In a way, Essence is created by the interaction of physical and ephemeral creatures — when a living person remembers or pays respect to a ghost, for example, that ghost gains Essence (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 208). Spirits and, to a certain extent, werewolves consume Essence like a kind of spiritual food. Essence is, clearly, vital to the existence of ghosts and spiritual beings.When Essence is created by actions in the material world, it takes on a kind of resonance, or emotional aspect. Murders create Essence that resonates with terror, death, hate and other grim emotions. Sites that are popular for weddings and celebrations might resonate with joy. This resonance affects the rituals vampires perform on fontal nests and other mystic sites, because the energy being manipulated by the ritual is (possibly among other things) Essence. Thus, the Storyteller should consider and be aware of the spiritual resonance of fontal nests used as the centerpieces in Dragon rituals.
Werewolves, ghosts and spirits utilize Essence naturally, with intuitive finesse and expertise because Essence is a fact of their existence. Vampires, on the other hand, waste and abuse Essence with sloppily inefficient and heavyhanded rituals on the rare occasions when they manage to utilize it at all. When any of the indelicate rituals in this book are used at a spirit locus or other fontal site, all of the Essence that site would normally produce for the day is consumed at once, regardless of how much is actually used by the ritual or how much a werewolf or other spirit could have drawn instead. In some cases, long-term damage may even be done to the site.
The ugly truth is that most vampires don’t truly understand what they’re doing when they’re dealing with Essence. Rituals like these, and the damage they can cause, contribute to the antagonism between werewolves and the undead. More than a few Dragons have been destroyed by vengeful werewolves seeking to retaliate for damage done to a cherished site, and many of those Dragons might never have known the true nature of their crimes against the spirit world.
Some fontal rituals are instead fueled by the mana found at certain magical sites. Such rituals have the same disastrous effects on the currency of magic as they do on Essence.
Essence plays a much more important role in Werewolf than it does in Vampire. Storytellers interested in better defining the relationship between these rituals and the mystic energies of other supernatural beings should look to Werewolf: The Forsaken and Mage: The Awakening for inspiration. The information in those books is not necessary to use these rituals, but you may find whole new avenues for intrigue and drama when you understand how these different types of creatures collide over the supernatural Resources of the World of Darkness.
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