Rituals With one foot planted firmly in the spirit world, Devil-Tigers consider ritualism and black magic an integral part of their existence. Not that every Heavenly Devil practices the dark sorcery of their Dharma, but a large majority have at least
some knowledge of these black arts. The rituals listed here are only those practiced by disciples and jina. Crimson Tiger ritualists of mandarin and bodhisattva status have developed rituals complex beyond the practice or understanding of their Dharmic lessers, and of commensurate power.
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Learning Rituals
The price of learning a ritual has always been problematic, as they provide serious in-game benefits for an unspecified price. Storytellers who wish to put an experience point cost on rituals are within their rights to do so. One experience point for each level of the ritual is a good rule of thumb, provided that the process of gaining access to the actual knowledge of the ritual itself is reflected in-game. Storytellers who waive study times and the need to seek out texts and tutors may wish to increase the cost of rituals to two or three times the level of the ritual.
Spirit Rites Savage Joss (Level 2 Ritual) Devil-Tigers don’t always limit themselves to punishing the exceptionally wicked. Many Heavenly Devils also act as roaming forces of instant karma, inflicting little punishments on those responsible for the banal evils of our world. While this practice is theoretically far below their station as Devils, some Crimson Tigers derive a certain childish amusement from the use of this ritual. Such is particularly true of Running Monkeys in the throes of picking up the devil, but some jina and mandarins enjoy slumming, acting as unseen magistrates and meting out capricious justice on the mortal herd.
Savage Joss calls up a horde of tiny gnat-like Bane-spirits that orbit around the Devil-Tiger until the Cathayan activates them. When loosed on a target, the Banes swarm around the victim and corrupt her
joss, causing her a very strong but brief streak of ill fortune.
Those targeted by Savage Joss suffer only one major instance of bad luck, but it hits nearly instantly. Savage Joss only really works when used to inflict poetic justice on someone who has just committed a wicked deed. The Banes are very weak, and the target’s spirit must have a very fresh taint of corruption indeed for the spirits to have much influence. Also, the strong flows of
joss around
shen, even minor ones like Kinfolk and bakemono, generally prevent the Banes from having any noticeable effect on these beings.
System: The vampire spends 10 minutes preparing an unguent composed of honey, cayenne, aconite and arsenic, then spends a point of Chi to activate the substance. He smears the unguent across his lips, and when he wishes to set the Savage Joss on a target he needs only to stick out his tongue, blow her a kiss or otherwise symbolically transfer the attractant to the target. The honey unguent is only necessary during the ritual — after the Rite ends, the Kuei-jin can wash it off almost immediately, but the Banes remain with her until unleashed. A Kuei-jin may hold as many “swarms” of Savage Joss to his person as his P’o or Charisma score, whichever is higher.
Savage Joss, as noted, essentially causes instant poetic justice to strike the target. An officious bureaucrat will be immediately reprimanded by her superiors for some petty infraction, an inconsiderate jogger will twist his ankle mere steps after he brushes an old lady aside, and someone who refuses to stop talking in the theater will catch her finger in the chair. Note that Savage Joss doesn’t really allow for anything more than minor justice. While it could be used on a murderer, it’s unlikely that having a gunman burn himself painfully on the hot barrel of the murder weapon will really even up the karmic score.
Storytellers should go out of their way to discourage the use of the ritual in combat. That’s not what it’s for, and it doesn’t work very well when used for that purpose.
Asserting the Heavenly Privilege of Yang Demon Command (Level 3 Ritual) The Crimson Tigers believe themselves to have been granted authority over lesser evil spirits, a mandate of which they are not hesitant to take advantage. It is through this rite (and several other related ones) that Devils of Heaven bind wicked spirits to do their bidding.
Black sorcery is never without risk. Evil spirits are, by their very nature, violent and prone to turning on their erstwhile master should the sorcerer prove inadequate to the task of control. In this present Age of Darkness, with the Celestial Order in such profound decay, a Devil-Tiger can expect to have authority only where she enforces it. However, while this authority may spring from force, it is as genuine as any other. While certain entities of massive power (Yama Kings, Maeljin Incarna, greater
akuma black magicians) may be able to wrest control of the spirits away from the Kuei-jin through sheer strength, there is no presumption in the vampire’s mastery. Bane-spirits commanded by the Devil-Tiger can and will attack other Banes and evil creatures, even those of higher Power, without hesitation.
System: Asserting the Heavenly Privilege is a fairly complex ritual, which cannot be carried out without some preparation, including a lit brazier and a number of ceremonial objects (bells, censers, etc.). Therefore, using the ritual as a fast defense against hostile spirits is essentially impossible. Likewise, unless the Kuei-jin has some means of forcing the Bane to hold still (typically the Tapestry power Chi-shaping) it can be problematic to use this rite against a spirit intelligent enough to recognize what is happening and flee the area.
In addition, the Kuei-jin must be able to sense the Bane to be bound. Lifesight usually does the trick, but the Chi’iu Muh power Chi Sight (or other means of sensing the Yang Mirrorlands) will work as long as they are at least as precise as vision.
Typically, the Kuei-jin enters an area of the Middle Kingdom of which the Yang Mirrorlands are thick with Bane-spirits. After locating a relatively inactive Bane of the appropriate type (or immobilizing an active one with Chi-shaping) she begins performing the ritual of Assertion. This takes about 30 minutes, and while the Assertion can be performed in the outdoors, it looks exactly like what it is — a demonological ritual. For this reason, it is best done away from mortal eyes.
On completion of the ritual, a Manipulation + Rituals roll (difficulty of the local Wall rating + 1) is called for. If this roll succeeds, the player may then spend a point of Yin Chi and make a P’o + Occult roll with a difficulty of the spirit’s Willpower. The Devil-Tiger can make as many attempts as there were successes on the initial Manipulation + Rituals roll, at a rate of one per turn. The Kuei-jin may choose to end the process early if he wishes, but the player must spend a point of Yin Chi for each roll. During the period when the player is making P’o + Occult rolls, the Bane-spirit is aware of the ritual’s effect, and it may resist by lashing out at the Kuei-jin. Obviously, unintelligent spirits are not likely to connect the magic with the vampire, and spirits immobilized by Chi-shaping or without combatoriented Charms are essentially helpless.
When the vampire either runs out of time or her player chooses to make no additional P’o + Occult rolls, the Bane-spirit becomes bound to the Kuei-jin’s service for a number of lunar months equal to the total successes accumulated on the P’o + Occult roll. The spirit carries out the Kuei-jin’s orders in good faith and to the best of its abilities, though failure and mistakes are still possible.
It is possible to reassert mastery over a Bane, but the spirit is free for at least the period equating to the time when the player makes the P’o + Occult rolls. During this time, the Bane is sure to attempt to destroy the Kuei-jin or else escape. The latter can be dangerous, as the identity of the spirit’s master penetrates into the understanding of even the dullest of Banes after several months of slavery. A Kuei-jin can safely control Banes whose combined Power is equal to or less than 20 times their combined P’o + Occult rating. The more Banes a Kuei-jin controls, the less control the Cathayan has over any particular spirit, and the Storyteller should emphasize the increasingly fractious character of the vampire’s servants. If the total Power rating of a Kuei-jin’s servants exceeds 50% of his safe total, they get unruly. If it exceeds 75%, the Banes can grow slow to carry out their orders, or sloppy in their work. If the number exceeds the safe limit, there may be attempts at escape and sabotage. If the Kuei-jin goes 50% above his safe limit, every time he issues a command, the player must succeed on a Manipulation + Occult roll (difficulty 6), or the spirit may break the Kuei-jin’s control partially. If the Kuei-jin is so foolish as to double his capacity, that same roll may release his entire horde of servants, who no doubt will seek immediate revenge. A Bane, particularly a Bane with high Rage, is likely to be quite ill-disposed to is former master when its period of slavery lapses.
If the Kuei-jin uses the power from inside the Yang world, the difficult of the initial Manipulation + Rituals roll is 4, but he should seriously consider his physical safety before wandering into an unclean area of the Yang Mirrorlands hunting Banes to enslave. Asserting the Heavenly Privilege offers no protection for the vampire, from either the target Bane or any companions it might have. This ritual cannot bind spirits with Power greater than 40, though there are more powerful versions available to Devil-Tiger mandarins and bodhisattvas. A botch during the casting of this ritual often has severe consequences, which are left up to the Storyteller to determine.
The Deceptive Jade Chains of Yin Demon Command (Level 3 Ritual) This ritual is the Yin-oriented version of Asserting the Heavenly Privilege of Yang Demon Command However, rather than binding Bane-spirits, the Deceptive Jade chains bind
kuei, Spectres, Shadowed Plasmics and other Yin-spirits. While the particulars of the ritual differ vastly, the mechanics are essentially the same. If the Storyteller is using
Wraith: The Oblivion, substitute the Spectre’s Charisma + Being for its Willpower. The Deceptive Jade Chains cannot bind the Restless Dead, only the Shadow-eaten. Similarly, the Chains are effective against only Shadowed Plasmics, not the regular denizens of the Tempest.
It is worth noting that the Immortal Guard of the Yellow Springs has repeatedly proven immune to this rite, and that Kuei-jin who attempt to ensnare the terra cotta servants of Qin Shihuang have met with severe reprisals. Normally less effective than Asserting the Heavenly Privilege, The Deceptive Jade Chains have grown considerably more effective over recent months, as another of the Yin World’s great storms has blown up, flooding the Mirrorlands with Spectres,
kuei and other wicked Yin-spirits.
Inauspicious Object (Level 4 Ritual)
Just as the Devil-Tigers use rituals to coerce wicked spirits into serving the Gui Ren directly, so do they also command those spirits into indirect servitude. Through the ritual known as Inauspicious Object, an unrighteous spirit is forced into a object, imbuing it with mystical powers relating to the spirit’s character. The object that houses the evil spirit must be of extremely fine quality, for though the spirit is of unrighteous nature, it is a representative of the Celestial Bureaucracy. Even in servitude, it deserves accommodations befitting its elevated station. Some spirits prefer lodgings that proudly display their unwholesome nature, while others desire objects of refined or regal appearance. It is wise to determine the spirit’s preference before confining it, for unsuitable housing can lead to an Inauspicious Object with a distinctly rebellious character. In addition, the purpose of the object and the nature of the spirit should coincide. For example, a no daichi would make a highly unsuitable residence for a Bane that exists to lead mortals into lascivious behavior.
[b]System: The Kuei-jin must first prepare the object. Though the vampire need not prepare it herself, the being who crafts it must be a master of his particular art (Crafts 4+). As stated, it is best if the item matches the spirit’s preferences regarding abode. If it does not, the item will be unwieldy to use at best, and dangerous at worst.
Next, the spirit must be constrained to enter the object. There are two options. The first is the creation of a temporary Inauspicious Object, called a Little Inauspicious Object. A spirit bound via the Rites of Yin Demon or Yang Demon Command can be placed into such an object during an abbreviated version of the Inauspicious Object ritual that is four hours in length and involves a monkey sacrifice. This ritual must be conducted in a defiled dragon nest.
The player rolls Manipulation + Occult when the character brings the knife down. The difficulty of the roll is 8. For each success, the Little Inauspicious Object may be used once. While the objects are good until used, in no case can the number of uses created via the rite exceed the number of lunar months left in the spirit’s service.
Spirits do not willingly partake in the creation of a permanent Inauspicious Object, also called a Greater Inauspicious Object. In order to be forced into such an item, the spirit must either be beaten to 0 Power in spirit combat, or restrained via Chi-shaping. The sacrifice in this case is not the blood of a manlike beast, but rather a part of the Devil-Tiger’s own higher soul, which is used to cement the bond between the spirit and its new vessel.
To create a Greater Inauspicious Object, The Devil-Tiger ritualist takes part in a night-long ritual that culminates in a Charisma + Rituals roll (difficulty 9). Again, this ritual must be performed in a defiled dragon nest. If the rite is successful, a Greater Inauspicious Object is created. If the rite fails, the vessel shatters and the spirit flees. Regardless of if the ritual is successful or not, the vampire loses a point of permanent Hun.
The Storyteller and the player should work together to determine the powers of any items created via the use of this ritual. Some examples of both Little and Greater Inauspicious Objects are provided later in this chapter. As a general rule, the maximum level of an Inauspicious Object is equal to the Power of the spirit divided by 10 and rounded down. Devil-Tiger ritualists cannot create Inauspicious Objects whose level is greater than their Hun score at the beginning of the rite.
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Sacrifice
While monkey sacrifices may get the job done, any Devil-Tiger worth the oil it took to fry him in Yomi knows that the only way to perform this ritual properly is with the inclusion of a sinner. The more appropriate the sinner’s crimes are to the intent of the ritual, the greater the reduction in difficulty, up to a -3.
Bakemono Rite (Level 4 Ritual) Through this ritual, the Devil-Tiger invites an evil spirit to join with the soul of an iniquitous mortal, creating the unwholesome creature known as a bakemono. The targets of this rite must be chosen carefully. The Crimson Tigers must make sure they take as their servants only mortals who will not be missed. More importantly, Banes cannot join with the soul of a mortal unless an unrighteous life has readied a place for the evil spirit to dwell. While suitable candidates are entirely too common in some parts of the Middle Kingdom, they still do not grow on trees. Devil-Tigers in search of minions must often spend quite a while looking, particularly if they wish to recruit a number of such servants, and if the mortal targets are too wholesome yet to accept the spirit melding, the Banes may well turn on the Kuei-jin who summoned them.
System: The Kuei-jin must bring the sinner in question to a defiled dragon nest. Likewise, the evil spirit with which they will join the mortal’s soul must be present and bound to the Cathayan’s service, either through a rite or through the Tapestry power Chi-shaping. The Kuei-jin’s player must spend a point of temporary Willpower and make a successful Charisma + Rituals roll, with a difficulty of the local Wall rating or the target’s Willpower, whichever is higher.
The Bakemono Rite takes several hours, and it is in no way pleasant. Even the most wicked mortal is likely to have second thoughts when a creature of elemental evil begins burrowing a new home in his soul. Even if the mortal does not regret his situation for some reason (which is, at this point, beyond any remedy save death), the convulsions and incredible agony that accompany the possession are truly horrific, and they may call for restraints on the victim. The ritual takes approximately one hour, and the initial period of possession last from four to six hours. The bakemono’s character manifests itself over three to seven days. This time is the most difficult for the goblin’s master — the bakemono’s supernatural powers will have begun to manifest, but the mortal’s will may not yet have succumbed completely to the influence of the wicked spirit.
If the spirit used to create the bakemono was restrained via a demonological ritual at the time of the binding, the goblin tends to be naturally subservient to the demonologist. Weakened as it is by the union with a mortal soul, the spirit will never be able to shake off the bonds of ritual binding. Those goblins restrained only by Chi-shaping are likely to be of a considerably more rebellious character, and generous use of Chi’iu Muh or Obligation are suggested to ensure such bakemono’s continued loyalty.
As a rule of thumb, each 10 points of the spirit’s Power, rounded down, allows the bakemono to manifest one supernatural power (aside from the ability to soak lethal damage, which is inherent to the bakemono’s condition). Binding spirits of Power greater than 40 into a mortal frame is possible, but not recommended. While the resulting bakemono are often quite powerful, they rarely survive for long. The living mortal frame is not meant to contain such evil. Mortals who become bakemono cannot take the Second Breath — like a broken winged bird, their wounded soul spirals down into the Mouth of Yomi after death. For more on bakemono, see the
Werewolf: The Apocalypse supplement
Freak Legion.
Beckoning the Unrighteous Spirit (Level 4 Ritual) With their reliance on demonological rites, Devil-Tigers often have need to procure spirits of a specific type. Even in this era of jet travel and instant communications, Heavenly Devils cannot afford to spend their unlives tramping across the Middle Kingdom in search of this unrighteous entity or that one. By means of Beckoning the Unrighteous Spirit, the vampire attempts to call an unwholesome spirit of some specified type to her location. The process can often take a great deal of time, and calling a Nexus Crawler to one’s dragon nest is an act of questionable wisdom even for a mandarin.
System: The Kuei-jin must set up an altar in a defiled dragon nest and perform propitiatory rituals at it every evening to draw the attention of the spirit in question. These rituals take about 10 minutes per evening. If the sort of spirit the ritual is targeting lurks in the vicinity (Storyteller’s option), the player may make an Intelligence + Rituals roll (difficulty 7) every seven days. If the spirit must be attracted from far away, the roll may be made only once every lunar month, typically on the new moon. Rolls made on the nights of the new moon have their difficulty reduced by two. As a rule, the Kuei-jin can only propitiate as many different sorts of spirit as she has dots of Rituals.
The number of successes indicates how soon the spirit will arrive. If the spirit is common and many successes are rolled, more than one may be attracted by the ritual. It is entirely possible to be
too successful when Beckoning the Unrighteous Spirit. Spirits which have unique identities also have enough free will to ignore a Beckoning. Also, if the spirit is very rare or only found at vast distances from the vampire, the Storyteller is perfectly within his rights to rule that the ritual will fail regardless of how long the propitiations are carried out.
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Devil-Tiger Spirit Lore
Over the centuries, the Devil-Tigers as a Dharma have amassed a vast body of material about wicked and inauspicious spirits of every type. The habits, personalities and powers of thousands of varieties of evil spirit are set down in the libraries of the Crimson Tigers. Many elder Heavenly Devils know the habits of evil spirits as well as they know the shape of their hands, and they hold the allegiance or even friendship of beings whose wickedness and power are beyond the mortal scope of understanding.
What it does not mean is that every Devil-Tiger is a walking encyclopedia of Bane-spirit lore. There are and always have been more important things to teach young Celestial Devils than spirit lore that they are too weak and unenlightened to do more with than get themselves in trouble in any case.
Even though many mandarins and bodhisattvas have transferred their libraries to an electronic medium for easier reference, the databases are hardly in common circulation. First, the mastery of wicked spirits is a privilege as well as a right. Few disciples have the insight and discipline necessary to deal with these creatures properly, and so it is best if such wisdom is kept in the hands of the mandarins and jina. Secondly, knowledge is power. Elder Celestial Devils have often spent a great deal of effort gathering their lore, and if they are willing to share it at all, such Elders will wring the maximum possible prestation out of the act.
Thus, the majority of younger Crimson Tigers, even if they have access to demonological rituals, lack the practical knowledge needed to put the rites to good use. For most disciples, the first steps in learning the specifics of demonology are hesitant ones, hit-and-miss attempts to guess which Bane will produce which sort of bakemono or Inauspicious Object, and what propitiatory rituals are necessary to call it up. Storytellers are encouraged to use this state of affairs as a blank check to launch stories, and as a way to limit players certain that access to Bane spirits provides an avenue to unlimited power. Kuei-jin have been consorting with unspeakable forces for millennia, and every mandarin was himself a Running Monkey once. It may not be possible for the elders to check the petty ambitions of the young, but they can certainly anticipate them well enough by looking at their own experiences.
Chi Rituals Ebon Wardings (Level 2 Ritual) Just as mortals protect their houses from devils and other wicked spirits, so sometimes do devils need to protect their own homes from mortals. Through the use of this ritual, the Kuei-jin wards her haven with dark prayers and invocations of Heaven’s less merciful ministers. After the ritual is performed, mortals find reasons not to enter or come near the warded area. Most mortals do not even notice the ward, ignoring the marked area as if it were not there. Some mortals occasionally develop an attraction to the location and hover outside unaware of what it is that draws them, not daring to enter until the ward ends. Note that mortals can enter the area, they just choose not to. Mortals may be led inside by one of the
shen, or have their attention drawn unavoidably to the structure (say, by a burning nine foot tall monster bursting through the second story window). In either case, the ward no longer works against that mortal.
While the silk and rice paper prayer strips posted around the warded area cannot be perceived by mortals, they are quite obvious to other
shen. A Devil-Tiger who performs this rite on an area for an extended period of time will draw attention to herself. Such claims are an open declaration of the Crimson Tiger’s power, and they can draw servants of the Yama Kings eager to destroy an enemy of Yomi. Other
shen may respond to the prayer strips as well, and the vampire may find herself drawing unwanted attention from local hengeyokai,
hsien and Shih.
System: The Kuei-jin must ritually bless the structure, a process taking about 30 minutes. Doing so calls for an Intelligence + Rituals roll (difficulty equal to the local Wall rating), and the expenditure of a point of both Yang and Yin Chi to ward the area. The ward endures for three times as many days as the player rolls successes, and it can be restored an infinite number of times after it falls.
Ritual of Heavenly Defilement (Level 6 Ritual) Devil-Tigers cherish dragon nests. Much to the consternation of their fellow Gui Ren, they prefer that such places bubble with dark Chi and teem with Bane-spirits and
kuei. By means of this ritual, the Devil-Tigers defile the Chi of a dragon nest. While the effect of this ritual is similar to that of unleashing the P'o during osmotic feeding, it covers a much smaller area and operates in a much more carefully controlled fashion.
These defiled dragon nests are important to Devil Tiger practice. Most Heavenly Devil demonological rituals must take place in a such a defiled Nest, and in any case, such areas naturally teem with wicked spirits for the Crimson Tigers to command. Hengeyokai call these defiled dragon nests "Centipede Burrows." and they either avoid them or actively seek to destroy them.
System: The Devil-Tiger ritualist performs a ritual that stretches over five nights. During each of the five nights, the venom of the five poisonous animals are poured onto the soil of the Nest, and the ritualist must make elaborate offerings to Heaven and the Ministers of the Celestial Bureaucracy. At midnight on the fifth night, the dragon nest's Chi curdles like sour milk. Next comes a Charisma + Manipulation roll, at a difficulty of the local Wall rating + 2. For each success on this roll, a Devil-Tiger of Dharma 6 or higher may absorb one point of Demon Chi from the dragon nest per night.
Unlike absorbing Chi from an area that has been defiled, this sort of feeding does not cause Shadow Soul. However, the nest cannot be used for normal osmotic feeding, and Kuei-jin who absorb Demon Chi beyond their P'o rating run a substantial risk of developing the Defiled Flaw (
Kindred of the East, p.95). This Ritual can be used to "purify" (in a manner of speaking) dragon nests defiled by the power of the Yama Kings, but only if the ritualist has mastered the Chi'iu Muh power Purification.
Individual Rites Digesting the Feast (Level 5 Ritual) The Crimson Tigers believe that with their mandate as devils, Heaven granted them the privilege of consuming the souls of the truly wicked through the use of the Chi’iu Muh power Spirit-Eating. The memories gained by such actions are fleeting, however. This ritual was developed by the Heavenly Devils as a method by which the memories of the consumed soul might be retained for later use.
System: The player rolls Willpower (difficulty of the target’s former Willpower) and the character enters a profound meditative state in which he can assimilate (that is, spend saved-up experience points to buy) the target’s memories. This trance lasts for one day per two experience points spent, and during this period, the vampire is essentially unaware of his surroundings. The Kuei-jin’s stolen memories do not fade during the ritual, but the Crimson Tiger is essentially unable to communicate while under the influence of Digesting the Feast. Digesting the Feast must begin on the same evening that the vampire uses Spirit-Eating on his target, or else the memories will fade at their normal rate. The number of successes achieved on the Willpower roll is the maximum number of dots by which any given Ability or Discipline may be raised.
The Kuei-jin can learn from this ritual only if he has enough experience points saved to pay for the stolen knowledge. The Kuei-jin may, however, buy a special Lore skill called
(Name of Victim) Lore, which essentially includes all the victim’s mundane (that is, non-Ability, non-Discipline, otherwise unclassifiable) memories. Buying
(Name of Victim) Lore to two or three dots should cover any plot-relevant memories that may come up during game play, but there may be special reasons to buy the Knowledge to higher levels.