CHAPTER 2 - Abyss Mysticism: Black Magics

Level ??? Ritual
This ritual was developed by Abyss mystics of Necromantic bent who drew spiritual connections between a ghost’s Shadow and a vampire’s Beast. These metaphysical phenomena seem to share in common the coalescence of dark appetites, desires and volition of their former human selves into a pseudo-entity that awakens to a sinister existence of its own, after they shed their mortal coil and become a “supernatural.” More deeply felt amongst the departed, who struggle at every moment with the Shadow cast by their own psyches, this experience is one not alien to vampires—although perhaps the Children of Caine have less to fear from their savage Beasts if compared to Wraiths’ sly and malicious Shadow.
The mystical principles supporting this ritual lend credence to the theory that the Shadow and the Beast are indeed similar, perhaps coming from the same part of the mind—that which mortal psychoanalysts call the id. Furthermore, inhabitants of the dead lands know there is a direct, even if not fully understood, connection between their Shadows and darkness, both of a physical and spiritual nature. Building upon their knowledge of these same kinds of darkness, Abyss mystics learned to cast their Beast into their bodies’ shadows, animating a spiritual servant that is at the same time efficient yet dangerous. Besides the implications of Necromantic knowledge involved in the development of this ritual, some say that masters of the Animalism and Auspex Disciplines were also involved, since it replicates similar results of their most advanced powers as well. However, ritualistic refinement has enabled this ritual to indeed work independent of a mystic’s knowledge of those Disciplines. Scholarly Abyss mystics also suggest there seem to be similar powers practiced by vampires from the Far East.
The Shadow Beast is a fierce spiritual guardian as well as a means of perceiving the spirit world, though this ritual is not without many perils, however. A mystic must be careful—failing to control the Beast while it is under this ritual’s effects might take it to a higher degree of awareness, and some would say malevolence. Some mystics are left with cunningly intelligent Beast-possessed Shadows after proving ineptitude with this ritual—and the possible results from a Shadow Beast's destruction are even more devastating.
System: This ritual takes 2 hours to cast, and lasts as long as the mystic desires, though the first step of the ritual is meant to prepare the vampire’s shadow to receive the Beast. The mystic must use Shadowplay (Obtenebration Level One) to distinctively cast his shadow over a smooth surface, where it must be projected as a long silhouette, unconnected to the mystic’s body by any path of shadow. This is usually done in a controlled environment free from interruption, since the mystic must engage in deep concentration immediately afterward while facing their own shadow.
The ritual itself involves a series of trances and mental exercises meant to bring the Beast close to the surface, the actual details of which vary from vampire to vampire. Some dwell deeply on memories of previous moments of fury or humiliation, while others fast for many nights before casting the ritual so that their Hunger stirs the Beast. Regardless, the vampire must not succumb to frenzy, but must be close to it, which requires a Willpower point to be spent at this point. On the following turn the vampire opens a vein (or otherwise bleeds), sprinkling his shadow with the equivalent of a Blood Point. The player then rolls Intelligence + Occult (Difficulty 8 ). If successful, the shadow now houses the vampire's Beast and they is free from its pernicious influence. While this means that the mystic does not risk succumbing to Frenzy or Rötschrek, neither can Willpower be regained or spent (including to power Disciplines or grant an automatic success) while the vampire’s Beast inhabits his shadow. The mystic also casts no shadow while this ritual is in effect, which even applications of Obtenebration (such as skilled use of Shadowplay) cannot remedy.
The Shadow Beast and the mystic should be treated as separate and distinct entities, although both share a connection that is (usually) dominated by the mystic. They can go no farther from each other than 50 feet (15 meters) per Willpower dot the mystic possesses—a spiritual tether (fetter?) attracts one to the other, and if thus separated, willingly or not, both must halve all dice pools. To end the ritual the mystic must call the Beast back by wounding himself, suffering an unsoakable level of Lethal damage. The sight (or smell, or sense—none can be certain at this point) of the mystic’s blood causes the Shadow Beast to pour itself through the wound, returning both Beast and shadow to their rightful places, the mystic’s body.
The Shadow Beast itself is an entity composed both from physical and supernatural darkness, hence it has an affinity with both the material and spiritual planes. It exists on the Astral Plane in a manner similar to an Auspex user’s Astral Body, being tangible to spirits and other astral travelers. For these purposes the Shadow Beast is treated as if it were the mystic’s Astral Body, including being immaterial to the physical world, replacing Mental and Social Traits for Physical ones (Wits replaces Dexterity, Manipulation supplants Strength, and Intelligence replaces Stamina), and Willpower for Health Levels. All of its attacks cause aggravated damage to astral and spiritual (or ghostly) beings, and it has a distinct Willpower pool apart from the mystic's own, but treated only as its Health Levels—the spiritual disjunction resulting from this separation impedes use of Willpower points for both parties. If a Shadow Beast loses all its Willpower points, a vortex of darkness opens up to swallow it to whereabouts unknown. The mystic has probably lost both his Beast and his shadow forever to the depths of the spirit worlds, although an extremely arduous spiritual quest (and journey) through the far reaches of the Astral Plane might enable the mystic to find both again. Alternatively, a Storyteller might allow a mystic to spend a permanent point of Willpower to simply reclaim his Beast and his shadow.
Differently from an Astral Body however, the Shadow Beast is also visible on the material plane as an intangible, dark silhouette. It can use all the mystic’s Abilities, and its shadowy nature gives it -2 to Difficulties of all Stealth rolls, and it can also use Stealth as a Talent. In the physical plane the Shadow Beast automatically benefits from the passive uses of the three physical Disciplines known by the mystic (adding extra dice to its Physical Attributes), and Auspex 1 (if the vampire knows it), and it can see in the dark. A Shadow Beast acts on its own initiative based on its version of the vampire’s Wits + Wits (since Wits replaces Dexterity in the Astral Plane), which might be different from the vampire’s physical body.
Fire and sunlight in the physical plane can hurt the Shadow Beast across the spirit world, and even its equivalent Fortitude cannot help it soak this damage—it is extremely sensitive to these vampiric banes. It automatically Frenzies and enters Rötschrek when confronted with circumstances where a vampire would only risk such, but it is less prone to do so if the stimulus comes from the material plane. On the other hand, it immediately attacks any spiritual being approaching it—indeed, the Beast should be roleplayed as an extremely cunning and intelligent predator, since its nature does not change with this ritual, it is still a vampire’s Beast, the sum of the vampire’s predator-impulses and most base, animalistic and primal instincts.
A mystic can, however, try to exert control over their Shadow Beast with a successful Opposed Willpower roll, and in this way a vampire can even help control the Frenzy and Rötschrek impulses of their Shadow Beast. Each success enables the Shadow Beast to act according the mystic’s demands regardless of outside stimulus for a turn, and five successes on an extended Willpower roll, tested once per turn, allows the Shadow Beast to completely ignore such stimuli. A failure on this roll at any time adds +1 to the difficulty of subsequent attempts to control the Beast, cumulatively. Aside from these situations, the Shadow Beast acts as the mystic wills it.
The Shadow Beast and the mystic share linked minds and are aware of each other at all times. A mystic with the Merit: Medium or who knows the Necromantic Sepulcher, Ash or Vitreous Paths (at any level) can choose to send the Shadow Beast to the Shadowlands instead of the Astral Plane; the Shadow Beast is tangible to ghosts, as they are to it. If a mystic lacks the proper abilities to send the Shadow Beast to the Underworld, they can sacrifice a living being (usually a mortal) before casting this ritual—the entropic energies freed by the sacrifice attune the Shadow Beast to the lands of the dead, though few kindred, if any, are actually aware of this variation of the ritual.
Through the connection the mystic and the Shadow Beast share, the mystic can use the entity’s senses in the Shadowlands or the Astral Plane without any further effort besides a turn’s concentration. It is possible to channel more advanced perception powers (such as those provided by Auspex) through the Shadow Beast with an additional turn of concentration required for each power used in this way. Mystics are also instinctively aware of their Shadow Beast’s moods, so they can be used to detect ambushes or hidden approaches. In such circumstances, allow the player to make Perception rolls both for the mystic and the Shadow Beast and benefit from the result with most Successes (or the sum of Successes in the case of a resisted roll).
Side-Effect: If the roll to cast this ritual or any Willpower roll while attempting to control the Beast is botched, the mystic must make a Conscience/Conviction roll (difficulty 8 ). Failure means the mystic acquires a derangement, usually manifested as a form of Schizophrenia – the mystic begins to hear the Beast’s whispers, full of ridicule and malice, during stressful times. Upon further botches with this ritual (or at a Storyteller’s discretion, any failed or botched degeneration roll) this derangement can further develop as a form of Multiple Personality, where the mystic risks falling prey to a darker, self-destructive persona – an amalgam of his Beast and the darkest aspects of his mind. The Flaw Suicidal Beast (Players Guide to Low Clans, p.186) can also be acquired as if it were a derangement, in this case.