Unknown Armies

Rituals

Blood Trace

Kin shall call to kin, though Hell should bar the way...

Cost:
8 minor charges

Ritual Action:
The ritual can be performed only when the full moon shines, unblocked by clouds. [This is literally true; it's certainly _easier_ on cloudless nights, but if you can get from start to finish during a gap in the clouds, you're golden]. Find a tree at least one hundred years old, and climb up to the top of the tree, chanting "Branch to branch, link to link, blood to blood" over and over. [Really, you just have to not be touching the ground. The description's hyperbolic like that. The chant's correct, though. -Ed] From this position, while maintaining the chant, remove any manufactured clothing from your person, so that your flesh connects directly to the bark. [Hyperbole again. You "only" need to make skin contact, it doesn't matter how much skin contact. However, you do have to maintain it for the entire rest of the ritual, so if you can get away with it, being naked helps. -Ed] Having done this, wrap a silver chain around both your wrist and a branch, binding yourself to the tree, all while maintaining the chant. Without breaking it, take a silver knife, and cut your arm open, one inch deep, from the inside elbow to the chain, and let your blood spill upon the tree. [OK someone has it in for the reader. You only need half an inch deep and it doesn't matter how long the wound is so long as it's the arm you chained to the tree. Honestly, you'd think people didn't want you successfully using rituals you stole from them or something. -Ed] In the instant it does, the ritual shall be complete.

Effect:
For the next twenty-four hours, you will have a vague sense of the direction and distance of the nearest person related to you, at no more than two removes. If there is no such person, you'll have a seemingly random sense of direction and distance. Furthermore, if someone who qualifies approaches closer than the person the sense is currently pointing at, it will switch to point at them, and you will be aware of this sudden change in the compass' direction.

omegonthesane | profile | May 03, 11 | 9:54 am

Visitor Comments

In case people think I omitted it, the ritual doesn't have a range limit... at least, not one you're going to discover if you don't start running Unknown Armies IN SPACE!!!, and I don't plan to, so you can decide if it works across planets. :P

omegonthesane | profile | May 03, 11 | 9:57 am

This is needlessly baroque, dangerous, difficult and unpleasant. And then, once all the gruesome mystical rigamarole is finished, the practical applications are very limited. It's perfect!

I particularly like the juxtaposition of the ritual's harsh demands with the actual minimum requirements. I think all rituals that get swapped about through the Underground should have an accumulation of fluff and baggage that isn't strictly necessary. "Well, of COURSE you need to fast for 48 hours before you do Back Monkey. EVERYONE knows that!"

Wellbutrin | profile | May 03, 11 | 10:45 am

Perfect for the male Thanatomancer whose years of womanizing have resulted in various anonymous children all over the state. Just pop off this ritual whenever he needs to find one for a major charge.

Orion_Magnus | profile | May 08, 11 | 10:29 am

Actually, a child you've never met before wouldn't have enough symbolic significance for a major charge. It specifically says the victim needs to be *personally important* to the adept.

Bicornis | profile | May 19, 11 | 4:33 am

We'll have to agree to disagree on that point, it quickly becomes an interpretation of the semantics involved.
A GM who uses your interpretation might well rule that a child you've known and been there for all his life wouldn't work because you're willing to sacrifice him - ergo, he's not sufficiently important to you.

Orion_Magnus | profile | May 19, 11 | 8:43 am

Since I'm dwelling here anyway:

I'd be inclined to say you'd have to know and appreciate the personal loss to count as getting major charges. That doesn't mean that the act of sacrificing means you didn't love them enough. It just means you're a nightmarish head case who will even kill people he cares about because he cares more about UNLIMITED POWARR than about his own children.

omegonthesane | profile | May 19, 11 | 11:13 am