Adept Rotes (Sphere Level 4)

Now the Spheres become even more powerful, gaining interesting and unpredicted effects in addition to their normal uses. Many of these Rotes are almost game-breaking, and if used intelligently, can make the game a much more interesting or deadly place. Once any Mages reach the Adept level of a Sphere, the mood of the game will change because at this level, if your enemies arent prepared to defend against you, you can utterly destroy them. The threat of Paradox is still there as always but thats a small price to pay, right?

Correspondence
You Will Not Fail Me Again Science Fiction has had an insurmountable
affect on the mages of this era. In the tradition of Star Wars, the mage literally reaches out and makes a choking grip as if on anothers neck (the sounds of blocked air pressure from Darth Vader have a tendency to accompany the gesture) A victim suddenly feels the strangling grip around his neck as the mage applies continual pressure (Strength is still damage). Since there is nothing for the victim to pry loose, even the most physically weak adept can strangle people. . . it just may take some time

The Enemy Within (Correspondence 4, Life 3) (Euthanatos) Many of

the Euthanatos' intended victims have turned out to have some surprising defenses. Thus the Euthanatos have had to come up with some surprising techniques of assassination. During the long Akashic - Euthanatos war, the famous assassin Delion came up against the equally renowned Akashic Brother Raging Mountain. 'Mountain's skin was invulnerable to all weapons and he was unbeatable in combat. Taking the second problem first, Delion simply attacked whilst 'Mountain was asleep. To overcome his invulnerable skin however, Delion devised this rote.

It is when the sword slices through muscle tissue and vital organs that it causes harm. Therefore it is much more efficient simply correspond the blade inside the victim and wave it about a bit at a distance. This doesn't really do any more damage - after all, skin and subcutaneous fat have never provided much of a barrier to tempered steel - but it does overcome a surprising number of magickal defences. This is a highly guarded from the Akashics: All whom are taught are summarily sworn to secrecy. [This rote follows normal Correspondence ranges.]

Summon Person (Dreamer) Sometimes Dreamers need to get hold of

people outside their own dreams. One way is to literally teleport them into the dream of the Dreamer from their own. This can be quite an advantage, as they no longer reside in a dream of their choosing, and the mage is able to run the show instead.

Link Dreams (Dreamer) (Correspondence 4 Mind 3) The ability to link

together dreams by portals or smooth transitions is an important skill for any budding Dream Lord. It requires that the mage moves them together and find a point or place where they fit together somehow (like having two doors connect or different sides of a lake). When the dreams merge, the results can sometimes become rather unpredictable. Another problem is of course that the dreamers of the different dreams now suddenly share the same dream, which can lead to conflicts.

Divine Army (Akashic) (Correspondence 4, Life 2, Mind 1) This rote was

first used by the Akashic monk Parandasambahava during the Himalayan Wars, when he found himself surrounded by a half-dozen Euthanatos assailants. By co-locating himself, he was able fight them all simultaneously. [Each success scored after the first creates a second version of the mage, able to function independently of the others by virtue of the Mind sphere. However, because they are all the same person, each one suffers the wounds inflicted on any of them, and only one magic effect can be cast per round, no matter how many of them there are. This effect is almost always vulgar.]

Hyperspace Transmission (Etherite) (Correspondence 4) This rote is

the cornerstone of most psychotronic processes thatthe Sons of the Ether have developed. The scientist projects energy into the ether in such a manner that it moves instantly to another location. Note the rote does not itself provide the forces to be transported, which must come from some natural ot magickal source before the mage can affect it. [The mage must often get a high number of successes to transmit energy anywhere useful. some Sons have solved this by using special "receiver" for which they are familiar enough with to project to with few successes. ]

Energy Dampening (Etherite) (Correspondence 4, Forces 3/5, Life 3 )

This Son of the Ether rote is similar to Endothermic Explosion in that it absorbs the energy from a distant area. Most forms of electro-magnetic energies are drained. This causes the shutdown of most forms of technological devices by denying them power, be it electrical, solar, magnetic or even nuclear (with forces 5). The mage must be able to create the force he wishes to drain, a mage with forces 3 wouldn't be able to stop a chemically powered device like an internal combustion engine because that involves "nuclear" forces of chemical reaction, however, the sparkplugs could be stopped from firing. Mages need Life 3 to drain living beings of energy, causing raw damage. Those with life 4 are experimenting with more selective draining to cause paralization..

Psychotronic Biostimulation (Etherite)(Correspondence 4, Life 2/4 )

This rote uses psychotronic devices to alter the electromagnetic fields a

living thing creates. Alteration of this field can cause the body to react tot he psychotronic stimuli in manners identical to those of having a physical disease or injury. such ailments have no detectable physical cause. This can also be used to re-balance an aura to promote halth and causing the body to respond similarly. A final option is alter the person's aura so that it is generally more or less unballanced than natural. This increases or decreases the resistance of a person to disease or poison. Careful work can change a person's aural balance with respect to a single substance or disease only.

Psychotronic Mood Projection (Etherite) (Correspondence 4, Mind 2)

The use of Psychotronic methods to alter a person's brainwave patterns is a very new science. To date, mages have only developed firm throries of sensing an projecting general emotional states through these methods. The Sons are close to having a firm theory for mind-reading. Rumors persist of an Afganistanni Son of the Ether Barrabi that has combined psychotronic technology and Extera-Low Frequency radio transmission devices to develop a means of long-range Possession.

Entropy
Dissolve A nasty rote invented by a desperate and hateful Euthanatos
against her master. The mage dissolves the tissues of her victim. Bones become flexible, muscles turn into jelly and the blood become almost etheric. Usually the victim just collapses and burst open, in a gross and very vulgar display

Genetic Manipulation (Entropy 4 Correspondence 4 Life 3/4) This rote

has been secretly developed and used by the Michaels They will use it for others ( for a sufficient favor ) but will never divulge it's secret to anyone not of their small order. The Traditions continually seek ways to foil the threat of Progenitor Cloning. This rote is one such means of anti-cloning methods. Its use causes small errors in the recipient's genetic structure to be produced, seeds for a chaotic process of cellular degradation. This degradation causes the cell to begin making "suicidal" enzymes and structural components. Progenitors trying to use such a cell for cloning will find the cells untenable, they die out in less than ten divisions. The rote has three specific sub-versions. All require the adept to make a model of the recipient's DNA. The first works along with Correspondence 4 and can take up to a week to run. It causes all cells that the recipient has already shed to undergo the entropic genetic change. It takes so long because the computer must Sort Through All-Space to find every little cell. This affects cells with the recipient's DNA even if they are dead.

The second works on the mage himself, involves life 3, and causes the cells he sheds to develop the entropic gene sequences.. The third and final version uses Life four and is the same as the second version except it is used by the adept on another. [Each success removes two successes from any attempt to clone/grow the effected cells. The second and third versions will cause pattern bleeding if maintained beyond their normal duration, so those who know this Rote often run this rote regularly to ensure pattern integrity. Masters insist their apprentices submit to versions one and three of this rote before sharing any of the secrets of the Rote itself. Paradox rote can cause the early expression of the gene errors or strike a close relative with them ( similar codons ). I don't really want to think what version 1 would do if someone had a clone made or to an identical twin. ]

Threefold Return (Verbena) Using the principle that evil done returns
to the doer three times, the Druid Hwyll employed this effect to discourage attacks on his person. When the Celestial Chorus finally captured and slew him, all those involved perished within a year. [Casting this rote involves a ritual bath in a cauldron. From that point on, any harm intentionally done to the bather during the duration of the effect will eventually return three times upon the person causing the harm. The exact effects are left to the Storyteller, and they may involve an exact repetition of the harm or merely something equivalent. The effect is never immediate, and in extreme cases may take months or years to play out.]

Hand of the Crone (Verbena) (Entropy 4 Time 4) The Danish witch

Gunnhild invented this rote to enable her to destroy the Progenitors who slew the members of her coven, and the more bloody-minded members of the Tradition continue to employ it to bring sudden death to their enemies. [The witch employing this effect must make physical contact with her target after ritually annointing her body with a potion brewed in her cauldron and stirred with her wand. This sets the effect in motion, and the Time sphere causes the rote to hang for period of time until the Entropy sphere suddenly causes catastrophic damage to the victim.]

Forces
Summon the mighty Lord Uolxdo of Earth of Fire, He whose name is Annihilation (Enochian) (Forces 4 Entropy 3 Spirit 2) The

mage summons one of the Lords of Fire. If the Lord chooses to help the mage it can destroy almost anything or anyone, using its own considerable power or its servitors. This often happen using static magick. Typical effects is terrorist bombings, small earthquakes, traffic accidents, chemical explosions or riots. The targets demise is almost a certainty, since the Lord is known for his tenacity.

Life
End of Blood The mage touches the victim with some blood (very little
is required). The result is a small infection rendering the victim sterile and unable to pass on undesirable traits. The victim will not notice anything by conventional means; there is no associated cold or backlashthis results as simply a genetic error that has presented itself in the form of an infection that the victim did not notice.

Your own Weight in Gold (Life 4, Matter 2) This rote was reputedly
invented by an ancient sorcerer in Arabia when confronted with a group of adventurers demanding payment. He just turned their skeletons into pure gold and walked away. The victims of this rote become extremely heavy, and due to the flexibility of pure gold their skeletons bend and deform. Most are simply crushed under their own weight. Beside this obvious problem, friends and enemies alike become very interested in their skeletons...

Matter
Transmutation (Alchemists) (Matter 4) The most well known rote of all
alchemist rotes. The mage heats a piece of metal for a long time, carefully meditating on the true secrets of transmutation. When the metal cools, it has become pure gold.

Mind
Talk to animals (Mind 4, Life 2/3) Simply contacting the minds of
animals (and plants) for information is seldom useful, since they lack understanding of human questions and the gift of reason. But an experienced mage can overcome this by temporary making the animal intelligent! Verbena do this by dipping their athame in blood and drawing symbols on the fur of the animal. The mage builds a temporary mind out of the memories and personality of the animal (and partially of the mage) and communicates with it mentally. In this way the animal can respond to questions, think and even act intelligently for a while. But the mage must also keep constant control over its emotions and mind, since they tend to get confused of panic. After the rote ends, the animal return to its original state and forgets everything.

Program Bio-Expert System (BES) (Life 3 or 4, Mind 3 or 4 Prime 2)

(Technocracy) Technomages researching biocomputers have made some progress. They have developed this rote, which allows them to make a computer inside someone's brain/mind and program it as an expert system. Mind and Life 4 are needed if the mage wishes to create a BES in someone other than himself. The mage first prepares a generally unused portion of brain cells with life, and programs them with mind while balancing the necessary prime. The system is programmed with abilities, downloaded as memories from a donor and placed in the recipient's mind as a program. The result is a small autonomous computer system within the recipient. The abilities the system is programmed for will kick in automatically whenever the recipient tries to perform actions they would normally be used in. The BES gives the recipient no knowledge of the process, which occurs in a manner similar to automatic writhing, tasks are performed without knowledge of how or sometimes even what is being done. For example, a person with a Brawling BES might have no idea how to fight, but the system will cause their strikes to hit appropriate areas of the enemy without their even considering it. One "Dirty Trick" arises from the fact that the BES kicks in automatically. A Technomage can program a person with a BES which has less dots in a skill than the recipient. Every time the recipient tries to used the skill, the BES takes over and prevents him from reaching any potential higher than that of the BES. [Each success gives the BES one dot in an ability taken from a donor. No BES can have more than four dots in any one skill, more dots in an ability than the donor, or abilities from two or more donors. Unless the mage succeeds in making the BES permanent, it will eventually degrade, possibly causing seizures or psychological problems. Trying to use the Dream background has unpredictable effects. It has been totally successful in some cases, caused deep quiet in others, and cause mental damage in the unfortunate. No person can have multiple BES' These systems have been known to implant personality traits of the donor into the recipient and cause amnesia when running. All in all, Adepts feel a very great deal more of research can go into the BES field. Some are even working at simulating a Trinary Computer in their own mind so they can do magick with no external focus (they haven't come close yet). Paradox can strike a BES programmer easily by possessing the BES and taking over the recipient.

Unconfirmed rumors report Progenitors are working on BES and other biological computers as an alternative to Iteration X hardware. They also hint the New World Order is considering establishing "Monitor" BES systems in sleepers to control them.]

Deep Programming (Mind 4 Prime 2, sometimes Spirit 2) The mage

enters the mind of a person (often while the person is asleep or in trance) and reprograms it in secret. The most common use is to place suggestions or ideas into the subconscious, where they will trickle to the surface. Other possibilities are deep hypnotic suggestions giving the mage control over the actions or thoughts of the victim, mental blocks of certain memories, placing "trapdoors" which will give the mage a way around mental defenses or even the creation of full-fledged sub-personalities. The last use, often called Invocation of Thelemic Beings, is sometimes combined with Spirit too. Such sub-minds will be independent from the main mind, and may influence it, read its thoughts or do other things on a mental level, as programmed by the mage. This is a subtle way to sneak around enemy mental scanning.

Disrupt Dream (Dreamer) This rote is a favourite among the more

dynamic Dreamers, who are not far from Marauders themselves. They reach into the dreams of a person or a place and then blur the line between dream and reality. Things, situations and people from the dreams will appear coincidentally in the lives of the victims, strange events and odd hallucinations will follow them. Life becomes a slightly surreal affair, where nothing is certain and everything is possible.

Steal Dream (Dreamer) This rote allows a Dreamer to try to sever the
link between the person dreaming a dream and the dream itself. If it succeeds the dream will become free, hopefully without damage. [The number of successes denote the damage the dream took in the process. One success means that the dream was heavily damaged, with major sections missing and many things changed. With two successes the dream only took some medium damage, loosing some minor locations and objects. Three successes ensure only small damage and minor changes, and four and more successes will generally leave it almost completely intact.]

Dream Dominion (Dreamer) Not only is it possible for a mage to sever

the link between a dreamer and his dream, he can claim dominion over a free dream. To do this he must extend his mind into the dream and encompass it, essentially learn to dream it. The mage must understand the dream well, and at least have seen most of it. This way Dreamers collect interesting or beautiful dreams from people when they awaken and build and improve on their own dreams. Less ethical dreamers wrest control of dreams from their owners and take them. This is also the way the Dreamlords try to gain supremacy over the Chimerae, by constantly subtly infiltrating the dreams of each other and then suddenly striking, grabbing as many dreams as possible

Dream Knowledge (Dreamer) In dreams you are often able to do

things you are unable to do in the waking world, or have new skills. Dreamers are able to actually give themselves (or others) new abilities, at least inside their own dreams and often inside other dreams too. They can also gain knowledge about things they should not have any knowledge about, like what other people are planning or what have happened to them. However, this will work only in their own dreams or in dreams which allow it (usually Sleeper dreams). [Each success will give the Dreamer one dreamed dot in a ability. This dream-skill is only applicable inside the dream, and cannot work with things from the outside (have you too woken up with a feeling you had just managed to solve a hard problem, and the solution turns out to be just nonsense?)

Dream Barrier (Dreamer) Many Dreamers are quite paranoid about

intruders into their dreams, and seek to both hide them from other dreamers and to raise barriers against them. By using Mind the dream can be shaped to reject intruders, and by using Spirit the Dreamer can prevent the opening of portals from the Chimerae. [Each success will remove one success from any attempt to get into the dream, or even detect its existence. An intruder inside the dream will not be hindered, but the dreamer will be instantly alerted by the breach. ]

Summon the mighty archangel Erzla of Air of Air and his four cherubic servitors (Enochian) (Mind 4 Spirit 2) The mage summons
one of the archangels of pure air. The archangel tend to manifest mentally, speaking directly into the mages mind. Air-angels are quick, highly intelligent and curious, but have a short span of attention unless the mage have something interesting to say. Erzla is very good at explaining abstract theories and magick.

Prime
Anti-Reality (Maurader) This Marauder rote is essentially the exact
opposite of anti-magick (see BoS for details). The marauder dissolves the supporting threads of the local Tapestry, allowing reality the flow more freely and adding excess quintessence to it. This creates a local region of dynamic reality, where the normal laws are temporarily suspended. A kind of anti- paradox zone, where vulgar magick may become coincidental. However, the rote itself is *very* vulgar. It will attract Paradox Spirits as honey attracts bees. But if the spirits enter the area, they become influenced by the local paradigm and may begin to behave in unexpected

ways. In fact, they might start defending the *local* rules instead for a short time, in opposition to their unchanged brethren. Very confusing. Another side-effect is that the dynamic reality and free quintessence makes random events occur. This ranges from weak effects like having a glass coincidentally break or insects behaving strangely when the rote haven't turned reality very dynamic, over more dramatic effects like potential fire coming real or spirits manifesting to truly bizarre and dangerous events like objects changing shape, breaches of the Gauntlet and reality behaving like a surrealist painting. [Each success will make vulgar effects of less or equal levels coincidental. For example, with 3 successes all magick up to level 3 in any sphere is coincidental, while Life 4 would still be vulgar. It will also allow random effects up to this level, but they are completely uncontrollable.]

Heal the Primal Wounds (Prime 4 Entropy 1) The Celestial Chorus sees
it as their duty to not only serve mankind, but also the rest of reality. After confrontations with Nephandi, Marauders and other enemy mages the Chorus often have to try to restore some semblance of normality to the areas which have been warped and destroyed. By sprinkling purifying water and consecrating with fire, they seek to unravel the tangles of paradox, destruction and corruption left behind. They might not be able to restore things as they were, but they can dissolve the worst warpings of reality.

Cartesian Rending (Prime 4 Mind 3) This rote is named after Renee

Descartes, who claimed the soul could not interact with the material body except through a tiny link in the Pineal gland. A logical conclusion to this is of course that the link between the soul (and hence the rational intellect) and the body can be severed by suitable magick. This was also demonstrated by the Verbena who used this rote to be able to safely subdue enemies without killing them. They simply took a drop of blood (preferably from the victim) and cut it in half with their Athame, symbolising the severing of the Soul from the Body. The result is that the soul and mind of the victim will be unable to influence or sense what happens to the body. In effect it is locked up in itself while the body goes on living and retains some rudimentary intelligence, not unlike a zombie (this might be the real method to create living zombies used by the Voodoo mages). To restore the link, the mages have to carefully repeat the rote in reverse. It goes without saying that the effect of the severing on the victims is profound and very unpleasant. In the state of total sensory deprivation they suffer they often develop complex hallucinations and may suffer psychosis, and become incurably insane after a few days. Kind Verbena mages use Mind to put them to sleep for the duration of the severing or place them in nice dream-realms. Mages are however not completely powerless in this state, since they may reach out using their still intact powers of magick. They may not be able to use anything requiring the body (like seeing or

speaking), but many Spheres give them excellent ways to interact with reality. [The rote works by removing the Quintessence of the patterns that link the Mind and Body of the victim. It does not do any physical damage. Normally the soul of the victim will be desperately truing to reach back to the body, and this often succeeds if the rote is not sustained or very successful. For some ideas about the effects of sensory deprivation, see the similar Mind rote "Opening the Abyss"]

Into the Twilight Zone (Prime 4 Entropy 2 Spirit 2) (Maurader) This

rote is popular among the Discordians, who use it on unsuspecting sleepers. It weakens the link between a person and consensus reality. The result is that the victim is no longer protected by the forces of normality, and become vulnerable to all the supernatural forces which normal people never have the bad luck of running into. He will start to run into the weirdness going on behind the scenes, meet people and beings which should not be and generally discover that the world is a much darker and stranger place than he ever thought.

Flaming Spirit Barrier (Prime 4 Spirit 1) This ward is universally feared

among the denizens of the Umbra. The Choristers cleanse and purify and area, and then light a fire along the ward. This purifying fire will burn and dissolve spiritual flesh even more readily as mortal flesh. A spirit can pass through it, but will suffer agonizing burns and may even be permanently dissolved if the ward is strong enough. Few spirits dare to even approach the barrier. This is often used around the Cathedrals of the Chorus.

Open the Void (Prime 4 Spirit 4) (Nephandi) A feared Nephandi rote. It

literally destroys reality, opening a yawning Void in its place. It is commonly performed by sacrificing victims around the affected area (or at least completely, needlessly destroying things to create the required waste), often in the form of a destructive symbol. Around the Void reality flows and changes in unpleasant ways, sometimes spontaneously rupturing further. There are even reports that frightful beings have appeared from the Void, most commonly Pure Forms, but sometimes worse things. Rumours tell that the Avatars of people vanished into the void become food for the Nephandi Lords. [ The mage must break through the gauntlet (like Breach the Gauntlet) to create a true, somewhat stable Void. Otherwise it will just become a major Paradox warp instead. Anything inside the Void will dissolve into nothingness at a frightening rate (twice the number of successes per turn). To heal an expanding Void, the spirit rote "Sustain Existence" has to be used.]

Transformation Rotes (Prime 4, Sphere 1, Sphere 2/3/5) (Maurader)

Marauders excel in changing the forms of things, just to demonstrate the possibilities. This is both highly vulgar and entertaining. The marauder simply dissolves the pattern of something old and creates a new pattern for

it, while keeping the essence unchanged. This works mainly on the pattern spheres, but enterprising marauders have experimented with turning people into patterns of randomness or spatial relationships. The new pattern will still retain the essence of its previous form. Radioactivity turned into Life will appear as scorpions, air turned into life will become birds or butterflies. Gravity turned into matter will become lead, while Gravity turned into life will become an Elephant or something heavy. And so on. [To transform a pattern of one type to another, the marauder must perceive it (using level 1 of the sphere), take it apart using Prime 4 and rebuild it using Prime 2 and the new pattern-sphere (Matter 2/4, Life 3, Forces 3/5). The number of successes will tell how well the transformation went and how stable the new pattern is. Most changed patterns don't survive very well.]

Disintegration Ray (Etherites) (Prime 4) A favorite of the Sons of Ether

during the 1950s, this device annihilates an object by draining it of all Quintessence. [This is identical to the Flames of Purification rote used by the Celestial Chorus. When it is complete, all that is left is a fine layer of granular matter.]

Spirit
The Sign of Clypsani (Euthanatos) This sign (symbol) is placed on
doors and openings to seal them from umbrood beings. When drawn, the mage must infuse it with Tass to connect it to Clypsani, guardian of the Between. Most Umbrood, even many of the most powerful respect it since they fear the power of the Great One that Dwells Between. However, there is a catch: If the door is opened, it lets the beings in and out. And there is the added danger and fear of Clypsani, whom may be lurking in the shadows, waiting for a door to be opened so that she can be freed of the between

Vinculum (Spirit 4 Matter 2) This rote is a classic method of binding

spirits, mainly used by Order of Hermes. Part of the spirit is simply forced into a material object and locked in place. The spirit has to choose between leaving the object, or ripping itself part. Such spirit-fetters are a very useful way of taming dangerous spirits or to keep spirits imprisoned in the material world. A common addition to the rote is a condition which will hurt the spirit if it tries to affect the object, or even destroys the object plus the essence of the spirit if it is harmed.

Magickal Barrier (Spirit 4) This ritual creates a magickal barrier which

no spirit may pass. Instead of the normal Circle, the mage draws or marks the barrier (using chalk, stones or other available materials), draws the necessary seals at strategic positions and performs a powerful ritual to make it impregnable.

Consecrate Circle (Spirit 4 Prime 3) This hermetic ritual is used to

consecrate a Circle and/or Triangle to make it easier to summon spirits into it, and strengthen its protective properties. Usually it is done by sacrifices to the invisible rulers of the spirit world, and long incantation of godnames. [Each success will decrease the gauntlet inside the Circle and/or Triangle with 1 and increase it along the circumference.]

Imprison Spirit (Spirit 4) This rote was reputedly invented by Solomon

himself. The mage orders (or lures) the spirit into a bottle, box or other space and then seal it with wax and the seal of the spirit or the mage. The spirit will be imprisoned in the vessel, and cannot leave until the seal is broken. Some mages have also thrown crystals or scrolls of parchment through the manifestation of the spirit, but this method is much less reliable.

Eat Spirit (Spirit 4 Life 3) This rote was reputedly invented by a very
eccentric hermetic mage, who boasted that he had tasted everything on earth. He finally decided to taste something not of this earth, and invented this rote. By drawing a complex hermetic circle, trapping a spirit inside and forcing it to manifest, he was able to make it material... and edible. According to the stories (which diverge on this), the etheric flesh of the spirit was either the greatest disappointment of his life or of such an exquisite flavour that he never ever could eat any earthly food ever again.

Charge Gauntlet (Spirit 4, Forces 3, Prime 2) (Technocracy) Many Void

Engineers and once upon a time, Etherites, had to spend at least some of their time on "border patrol", guarding and maintaining the Gauntlet. They often think of their gauntlet as a fence between the spirtual and physical worlds. There are things out there that can break and practical fence. Do what sleepers do when a fence has to hold something really big back, they Electrify it! Use the gauntlet as a non-conductive material and separate a charge into the material and spiritual worlds. The charges stick together due to electrostatic attraction, but can't normally touch. Whenever something tries to cross the gauntlet, it becomes a conduit between these worlds. ZZZaaaap! Mucho voltage. The discharge is quite spectacular (one of the rewards of the often thankless job of a border guard ).

[The discharge causes successes x2 damage. In addition, each level not soaked also removes one success from any attempt to cross the gauntlet. One use of the rote can create a number of discharges no greater than the number of successes. ]

Rune of Ownership (Spirit 4 Matter/Life 4) (Nephandi) This spiritual

sign is drawn on an item (or being), which will be marked forever as a possession of the mage. This will work as long as the mage doesn't sell, give away, or free the marked. To mark something, the mage must own and control it at least for the moment. Even Avatars can be marked in such a way if the person in question truly agrees about his servitude with the marker for a moment. This is the way many Nephandi collect Avatars for their masters (who may have the ownership of their souls...). It is also used by some normal mages to mark their possessions (in this case Spirit 2 is all that is needed), and in old times many mages marked their possessions before their death to be able to bring them with them into the Underworld.

Creating the Magical Mystery Machine (4 Matter, 4 Spirit, 2 Prime)

This Rote was originally taught within the Order of Hermes as a quick method of creating reliable transport in the Umbra. After leaving the Technocracy the Sons of Ether used this Rote to create graceful and imaginative Ether sailing ships in the Umbra. Then an unknown Cult of Ecstasy member, on a very strange and powerful trip during the nineteen sixties, while listening to the Beetles Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band record, changed the perceptions of this Rote forever. Since that fateful day no Tradition Mage is ever sure of what this Rote will create, Cult of Ecstasy members claim that being in the midst of a real mellow trip when using this Rote makes the result look, "Really COOL man!" [With one success the Mage creates a breech in the gauntlet, usually manifesting as an invisible doorway, and a small slow Umbral craft which the Mage can use the doorway to gain access to. For each additional success the Umbral craft created becomes larger and faster. Unfortunately the Mage has absolutely no control over what the Umbral craft looks like or how it propels itself through the Umbra. This totally in the hands of the Storyteller and is usually very wild. The Cult of Ecstasy thinks this effect is really cool, the comments of other Traditions are unprintable.]

Program Expert System (Spirit 4 Mind 3/4 Prime 2) The Virtual Adepts
are very interested in the possibility of creating their own customized expert systems and AIs. This is by no means a simple feat, and AIprogrammers are regarded as very Elite by the Adepts. To create a simple expert system, the programmer must first create a system which can hold information and act on its own. Then it must be programmed with the necessary skills, behaviors and personality to become functional. This is usually done by having the programmed download part of his memories and skills into the system, and then modifying them to fit in. The result is an autonomous system, which exhibits personality traits and behaviors

almost like a real being, although it is not really intelligent or self-aware. The expert system is not truly intelligent, its just a crude simulation (true AI is much harder), but its often hard to tell a cleverly designed Expert from true intelligence. [Each success lets the mage download one skill-point into the system (its often a good idea to slowly build the system under a long time as an extended action). The skills and memories must come from the mage self, or be downloaded with Mind 4 from another person. Personality is up to the designer to determine, but often elements from himself sneaks in. If the mage doesn't succeed in making the magick permanent, the expert will crash after a while and have to be rebooted. ]

Purify Paradigm (Spirit 4 Entropy 3 Prime 3) This rote is coincidentally

used by technomancers when they build their central laboratories and other installations. By making sure that everything inside is perfectly ordered and that nobody questions the paradigm in any way, and then channels some quintessence (funding) into it, they can fix the paradigm to become "hyper-static". The Gauntlet is quite impermeable. Randomness and decay is banished. Experiments will be completely repeatable, and follow theory exactly. The whole area follows their paradigm and actively dampens all forms of magick not compatible with it. A weaker version of this rote is used around important people or in the homes of technomancers. [Each success will increase the Gauntlet rating one step, and give the area and anything within a extra dice of countermagick against everything not consistent with the paradigm.]

Dissolve Spirit (Spirit 4 Entropy 4) (Maurader) To actually destroy a

spirit is often extremely hard, but it is possible. This rote dissolves the spiritual essence of the spirit and scatters it for the winds. This will destroy lesser spirits, but really powerful spirits can sometimes appear after a considerable time, often both weakened and desperate for revenge. To make sure the spirit is destroyed, either the True Name of the spirit has to be used or Prime 4 can be used to unravel the remaining patterns into nothingness (but even then, extraordinary powerful spirits may return sometime in the far future). [The rote does aggravated damage against Spirits not Avatars. If they are reduced below Incapacitated, they are destroyed or banished for a very long time if they are powerful enough.]

Spirit Flask (Spirit 4 Matter 3) Another classic rote. By making a material

container impervious to spirits, they can be trapped inside and only escape if somebody opens it. The trick is to get them inside...

Sustain Existence (Spirit 4 Prime 2) A great but fortunately uncommon

danger is the risk in being trapped in a decaying reality. This problem is most often encountered under the creation of Horizon realms, since many early attempts often break down as the reality crumbles due to unexpected internal stresses, or near the chaotic and Wyld zones left in the Umbra by Marauders. An unprotected mage trapped inside a reality whose existence is unraveling will vanish together with the reality unless he can enforce his own reality strong enough or at least uphold reality around him. Order of Hermes have developed a effective version where the mage protects everything inside his circle while constantly drawing powerful symbols along the perimeter with the seal, while the Virtual Adepts (whose early realms had an unfortunate tendency to crash at a drop of a hat) weave a web of network connections around themselves, protecting themselves by the built-in defenses and inherent stability of the network. [The mage must constantly refuel all patterns around him with quintessence to prevent them from loosing their reality. Spirit is used to supply "base reality" in the vicinity regardless of the nature of surrounding reality. Often the local gauntlet is hardened as much as possible to bring more stability to the region. ]

The Brand of Evil (Nephandi) This sign is used by the Nephandi to

brand people that have angered them. It is a violent, radical rune which is drawn in the air against them, painted on objects which are given to them or actually branded into their skins. It makes all Umbrood to recognize that the bearer has angered the Forces from Beyond, and most beings either try to make his life as miserable as possible, or avoid him. The taint of the Nephandi can be felt around him, and it is rumored that if the Avatar is branded, it will be sucked out into the Outside after the bearer's death...

Sign of Protection (Nephandi) This sign is the opposite of the Brand

of Evil, it shows that the bearer is under the protection of the Forces from Beyond. Anybody harming him risks retribution from Them. Most beings simply avoid the bearer, and some may become hostile. The strength of the protection depends upon the strength of the powers invoked by the drawer, and if they are willing to give their protection. However, it is hard to tell if a sign is backed up or not, so bluffing is possible.

Rite of Transmutation (Nephandi) This rote is fortunately uncommon,

but it allows Powers from Beyond to enter the normal world on a large but subtle scale. When performed, the presence of the Things become stronger around the mage, and will start to influence reality. Normally this is an coincidental effect, as living beings develop rare and surreal diseases, plants mutate, animals and humans are born malformed and the normal flow of events turn subtly strange. An area such affected will over time become more and more eerie, and if done slowly and carefully, the Nephandi can transmute the region more and more without undue paradox. In the end such an region will become a warped nightmare, where plants

and animals have become hideous and surreal creatures, where the normal laws of physics have become warped and the gauntlet weakened. Such blights can grow in secret, and when they have become large enough their influence will start spreading of its own volition.

Zombie, 'Orleans Style (Life 3, Spirit 4) (Euthanatos) Euthanatos of

Egypt have been raising corpses as long as anyone can remember and today, those who follow this tradition still use the technique as a wonderful source of servants. However, there now seem to be as any rotes for doing this as there are mages. This particular rote is believed to be the one used by the renowned Baron Samedi. Several voodoo priests are fond of it and even sleepers have learnt the basic ritual. The word Zombie does not actually mean an animated corpse in this case however. It is still essentially a living human being. The first stage of this rote is to find a suitable subject and induce a state of suspended animation in him. This may be done by magick or a herbal poison. The poison brings the victim to the point of death (without causing tissue damage) which weakens the link between the body and the spirit. Most of the rituals of the voodoo priest are solely for the purpose of breaking this link. If too little poison was administered then the link will be too strong to be broken. Conversely, if too much was used then the body quickly dies and is useless. Just as the link is at its weakest (that is when the subject is about to die) the mage quickly drives out the spirit if he can and then hurriedly neutralizes the poison and drags the body back to life. This is no easy task and mentors usually make disciples practice on animals before progressing to people. If successful then the mage has a living, intelligent body with no soul - and thus no will of its own - a Zombie. There are a number of problems facing the young voodoo priest however. If he works too slowly then the body begins to deteriorate before he can drag it back to life. Without oxygen the brain rapidly suffers damage. That is why so many Zombies are slow and a little dense. The second problem is that although the Zombie has no will of its own it has no particular loyalty. If anything it just tends to obey the person that can shout the loudest. Thus the Zombie needs to be trained. This frequently but does not have to involve Mind magick. Finally, a spiritless body is a walking invitation to any passing Umbrood who fancies playing about in the `real' world. It is like leaving a Ferrari around with the keys in the ignition. To prevent this the mage seals the Zombie against the Umbra. If all this is done then themage has an excellent servant / body-guard / dinner-date or whatever. [This is an extended ritual. Firstly the victim must be rendered deeply comatose (Life 4 or poison). Some experience is needed to judge this correctly. Secondly the spirit must be driven out (Spirit 4). At least 10 successes are needed; possibly more for those with strong Avatars. Finally the body must be healed (Life 3). 4 successes are needed and must be achieved within one turn.]

Open the Ivory Gate (Dreamer) Most Dreamers are solitary and prefer
to contact other mages in their dreams, but sometimes they have to bring them in bodily into their dreams. Adept dreamers are able to open gates into their dreams, or other dreams. They can also open portals into the Chimerae by their own choosing, not having to depend on the whims of the dreams themselves.

Dreams into Reality (Dreamer) (Spirit 4, Prime 3, Mind 3) A dream can

be turned into a real realm by weaving it into the spiritual fabric of the Umbra and feeding it quintessence, just like in the creation of a normal horizon realm. This requires that the dreamer of the dream cooperates or that the dream is free. The resulting reality has axioms determined by the dream, but also frequently quirks and odd properties not readily apparent, based on the quirks of the original dreamer. Most such realms have a distinct resonance.

Ectoplasmic Depolarization (Etherites) (Spirit 4 Prime 2) The psychic

researcher Prof. Ephemeris encountered many strange spiritual entities during his years of active research, and he eventually perfected this procedure to force disembodied consciousnesses to vacate the hosts they possess. This process depolarizes the ectoplasm which makes up a spiritual entity, thus reducing the entity's ability to influence human minds. [Each success grants the equivalent of 3 Willpower successes on an exorcism roll.]

Time
Delay Paradox (Johnny Special # 13) (Time 4 Prime 2) Paradox
Backlashes are so great disturbances in reality that any mage with Prime and Time will feel them approaching well in advance. So far nobody has ever been able to avert them, but they can be delayed, giving the mage a chance at least to prepare himself. He simply twists the time around the approaching backlash, delaying it. This is of course utterly vulgar, and will fuel it even more. Powerful mages have experimented with Time 4 to freeze Paradox completely, but it will inevitably escape and become a Timebacklash of almost mythical strength. [Botches are *very* nasty. Handling Paradox is inherently paradoxical, and this rote may even disturb the flow of Time. Caution is advised. The number of turns the mage can delay the Paradox is equal to his successes. Double the strength of the Backlash and use the normal duration table. ]

Compile Virtual Computer (Time 4 Correspondence 2 Prime 2 Forces 1)

The Virtual Adepts have always been interested in applying the ideas of technology and science to magick. One early development was the discovery that magickal effects could be delayed until certain conditions

had been fulfilled. Since this is essentially the same principle as the transistor, they began to develop magickal electronics. By joining together many separate "transistors" and using magickal events instead of electricity, they were able to first build immaterial digital devices and finally the virtual computers. These computers are built out of magickal patterns, which interact in complex ways. They require no electricity, since they use causality itself as their building material (some Adepts claim that spacetime really is built out of a network of information processing units, and the virtual computers just are man-made imitations). They have no limitations on speed, size or processing power except paradox and the skill of their creators. This turned out to be the greatest obstacle, since the creation of the ultra complex patterns requires extremely skilled programmers. It was however somewhat simplified when a team of Adepts developed the first compiler, which could compile source code in electronic form into a running virtual program-pattern. These compilers are major feats of magick and programming, and still require extremely skilled adepts, but its no longer a feat worthy an AI to create a virtual computer. [Virtual computers are compiled into extremely complex patterns of causal connections, which interface with the normal world through the Digital Web. The patterns has to be very exact, otherwise the system will quickly unravel. Interfacing with the physical world has proven to be too prone to paradox, which wrecks the intricate patterns in a matter of minutes. However, one elegant application which works is expanding the capacity of a normal Adept computer, which is often coincidental or at least doesn't attract attention. Virtual memory can hold unlimited information and virtual processors can process nearly infinite amounts of data. There are persistent rumours that several experimental virtual computers have achieved consciousness and Ascended. ]

Petrify (Time 4 Life 4 Matter 2) This is the classic petrifaction rote, a

staple of the Verbena and also rather popular among some of the more drastic Cultists. The victim is literally turned into stone, lasting forever (or at least a long time). Some Sons of Ether have a stasis rote, based on Forces instead, locking victims inside fields of no-time, but the function is the same. These rotes can be supplied with conditions which will dispel them, as a kiss from prince charming or a pre-set time. [The rote can be used without Time, but then it won't last as long as when the Avatar of the victim is frozen into stasis. ]

Weather Conserves (Time 4 Forces 2/4) An ancient Verbena rote. The

mage boils together a broth during a thunderstorm, hurricane or sunny day and lets it absorb the weather, which is stored in a jar, bottle or sack. If it is opened, the weather will come streaming out again. This can prove useful

as a weapon, as in the case of Mother Huntington's Pickled Lightening or practical as a diversion (like her Fog Preserves or Hail with Cinnamon).

Warning Curse (Verbena) The ancient Verbena reputation for effective

curses rests in no small part on the power of this rote, by which the witch warns that dire consequences will strike the target if he fulfills the conditions set by the witch. [This spell is cast in conjunction with a second one. The Time sphere allows the witch to specify a moment or condition which will trigger the second spell. There are many versions of this, but one familiar example is "On your sixteenth birthday, you will prick your finger on a spindle and die." Another example is "If you strike your wife three times, you will lose your family and property."]

Chronal Energy Generator (Etherites) (Time 4) Professor Reflux is

justly pleased with this invention, which has enabled him to finish his experiments when his wife was demanding that he sit down to dinner immediately, as well as saving his life a few times. The Chronal Energy Generator literally creates time. He has also perfected a small, hand-held version that provides a similar, but less powerful effect. [The Chronal Energy Generator generates extra time within the field of its effect. Each success creates 1 hour of time for the scientist to use as he pleases. It is possible to cross into or out of the field, but doing so will cause damage equal to the number of successes. The Portable Chronal Energy Generator acts as the Time 3 effect "Time Dilation".]

Do Not Suffer Today What You Can Suffer Tomorrow (Cultists)

(Time 4 Life 3) This rote is commonly used to avoid the nasty after-effects of partying for some time; the cultists simply pushes them further into the future. It can also be used to move pain, hunger or other negative experiences ahead, and even move wounds into the far future. They will still be felt, but (hopefully) at a time of the cultists choosing. [When the displeasure appears (as determined how far into time it has been pushed) it will give the usual penalties, in addition to the penalties the mage may have had before. Moving wounds is very dangerous, since the mage may suddenly find himself mortally wounded ].