Path of the Bottled City (Via Urbs Ampulla)

By Gregory Rowbotham (gard@ats.com.au)

Description

All things, Kindred included, need structure and stasis, to a degree. It is from this order that great plans can be flown. If all around is chaos then one is merely concerned with surviving the tempest and one does not have time to obtain more from the world around her. With this Path the thaumaturgist is able to extend direct influence over the very city she resides in. Even more useful is that she can have control over a different city as long as the simulacrum of the city is made with something from the original place. This path requires a fifth level ritual, shown below, to be known. This has stopped power hungry youngsters from destroying the very cities in which they reside.

Rituals of City Bottling (Ritus Urbs Ampulla)

Fifth Level Ritual

Components: Consecrated tools to make a scale model of the city, a glass cage which fits the model and materials taken from city to be materials for the model.

Casting: The thaumaturgist first has to make the modeling tools with which to make the city. In this way she is familiar with the tools; they are extensions of the magus. This must be done with the appropriate skill: black-smithing, carpentry etc. The Path of Conjuring can be used but 5 successes must be made for the items to be non-flawed, and each tool must be separately conjured. These tools must be kept with the Magus or near the bottled city at all times; if they are away from one or the other for more than one night then they are useless and new ones must be fashioned. Once the tools are created the thaumaturgist must collect the raw materials for the model. They should ideally be bits of the places she wants to model. Normally a piece from the most attention-grabbing structure in the area is all that is needed, but better sympathetic magick will flow if the caster has pieces of all buildings, roads, parks, clubs etc. that are to be modeled. Conjuration will not substitute in this case. Once these pieces are collected the modeling can begin. The thaumaturgist must make a scale model of the city, or at least the piece she wants to influence. Each piece of the actual city collected must be dunked into the casters blood before being used. When it is dunked a simple invocation is cast over it. Each night of work will use a Blood Point. This could take months or years if the caster does it properly. It has to be done by hand by the caster using the created tools, and with the appropriate model building knowledge. The more correct the model the easier it will be to influence the city, and the larger the model the easier for the caster to see the effects of her magick. When this model is complete it is put under a glass dome or bottle or whatever that will hold it. This glass cover will have symbols of the city etched in it (i.e. city name, founding date, important events etc.). Finally the magus draws a mystic circle around the scale model with her own blood and casts the final part of the invocation. This requires 5 blood points and one night to achieve. Now the scale model is linked to the Magus and to the city it represents. No other Magus can use this model. It can only be used by the thaumaturgist who created it. Nothing major can be done with this simulacrum until the thaumaturgist learns the Path of the Bottled City.

System: It is ST discretion on how much role-playing and how much dice rolling will be required to make the model city. Seeing that it is a many month long enterprise then I would make it a role-playing exercise that fits into your chronicle. But the correct skills will be needed to make the tools and the model. The final invocation is a Wits + Occult (Dif 8) with 5 blood points for the circle. Only one success is needed. If failed then caster will have to try again the next night. If botched then the city is magickally ruined and must be remade! Lower the difficulty of the roll if the character has made a special effort with tools and models and raise it if she has just thrown everything together. Once the ritual is complete ghostly images of moving things will be seen on the model. Blurry little people, cars and weather will be seen. This is a magickal representation of the city outside; unfortunately no precise information can be gleaned until the path is learnt. General weather is easily discernible (snow, calm or tornado etc); also the destruction of buildings in the real city will be mimicked with the destruction of pieces of the model city. The only areas affected by the path will be the ones modeled, so if only one block is to be influenced then it will take a few days or weeks to model but if the whole city is to be created then many months or years will be required.

* Listen to the City Heart (Auscultare Urbs Cordis)

At this first level of power the thaumaturgist is able to make out sounds from the area of interest. The caster chooses a building or small area and listens closely. She will be able to hear what is going on. In the modern age it has been discovered that with the right equipment then it is possible to plumb some of the electromagnetic spectrum as well! As long as the caster has a radio she will be able to pick up all signals going into and out of the area under scrutiny, and if she has a computer with a modem she will be able to pick up all internet traffic from the areas as well. This does not mean encoded information is uncoded; it merely means the caster can hear/access it. You can only access the sound or data; you cannot input.

System: Roll Per + Occult (Dif 7) and spend a variable number of blood points. Each blood point equals (Thaumaturgy level) minutes of listening time. The blood must be spent up front.

Success	Area
1	One Small Room (or equivalent area)
2	A couple of rooms
3	Entire Floor
4	Couple of Floors up and down
5	Entire Building
6+	Surrounding Area (ST Call)

The sounds heard are unfortunately tinny due to lack of size and if any other noises from the model or from the surrounding area interfere then the caster must make a Per + Alertness Roll to make sure nothing is missed. It might even be necessary for the caster to put her ear close to the target area.

** Observe the Scurrying Ants (Contemplari Formica Vivus)

Now the thaumaturgist is able to bring into focus the blurry figures of her model. Certain areas can be chosen and scried upon as if above the city, watching like a god.

System: Roll Per + Occult (Dif 7) and spend a variable number of blood points. This power is exactly the same as Level One except that the caster can now see instead of hear the city. If the caster wants vision and sound then both levels must be cast. A magnifying glass, video camera or Auspex might be needed to make out clearly the detail. Once again a Per + Alertness roll may be called for. To find a specific person then a personal item of that person must be held by the thaumaturgist. The caster waves it over the city and rolls Per + Occult (Dif 9) and two blood points. The more successes gained the more accurate the information on her whereabouts. Five successes are needed to know exactly what building/area and roughly where in that building/area. The downside to this scrying is that it is mainly used for outside watching. If the area needed to be watched is inside a building then the magus has to be able to watch through a window or opening. If there is no opening then the inside cannot be seen, yet the area can still be heard using level one. If the person being sought after is inside the building then the best the caster can do is know what building and roughly where in that building.

*** Voice of God (Cantus Dei)

The thaumaturgist is able to talk with his creation and thereby communicate with the people in the city. Once the Magus knows who or where she wants to talk to she can talk softly to one person or loudly to a group. Smart Magi will realise that not only sound can be communicated but signals of all sorts. This means the caster, using Listen to the City Heart, to hear the signals, and this spell, to send the signals, can hack into any computer as long as she has a computer with a modem and so does the target machine and that machine is on. She still must have computer hacking skills, the spell doesn't do it for her.

System: Roll Wits + Occult (Dif 8) and check the table in level one to over what area the thaumaturgist can project his voice. To speak to one person/room for (Thaumaturgy level) minutes costs one blood point. Every area bigger than that costs one extra blood. So, to talk to every person in a large building would cost 5 blood points per (Thaumaturgy level) minutes. Lesser amounts of time and blood can be used. This power allows the recipient to respond as well.

**** City of Storms (Tempestas Urbs)

Finesse is now in the hands of the thaumaturgist. She no longer just observes or interacts with the city but can now also interact and control the city's weather patterns. This power can be used to summon storms but just as easily it can be used to quiet them. The caster should emulate the effect of the spell over the model, i.e. cold air from ice and a fan or clouds of steam or extra heat from a lamp etc.

System: Roll Man + Occult (Dif variable) and spend a blood point. The difficulty is based on local weather conditions. It is easy to summon fog in London (Dif 3) but it would be nearly impossible to summon rain in the Sahara (Dif 9). Unseasonable effects also add to the difficulty. Each success creates a different effect; see below.

Successes	Effect
1	Summon/Expel Fog or Light Wind
2	Summon/Expel Rain or Increase/Decrease Temp by 3-5 oC
3	Summon/Expel Strong Wind or Change Temp by 7-9 oC
4	Summon/Expel Storm (of any type), Change Temp 10-12 oC
5	Summon Lightning (10 Dice), Change Temp 15-20 oC
6+	Greater variations of these effects

For each blood point spent, as long as the initial successes were achieved, another directional lightning bolt can be thrown.

The area that the weather affects is determined by the size of the model and number of successes gained from the initial roll. These successes must be split between weather effect and an area roll; see below.

Successes	Area
1	One Building
2	One City Block
3	One City Area
4	Half the City
5	Entire City

It is not possible to magickally affect an area that is not enclosed by the casters model no matter what the successes gained. These weather effects happen naturally, (i.e. normally slowly). The weirder the weather change the slower it will happen. By spending an extra blood point the time for the weather pattern to happen is halved, and each blood point halves it again, ie 1 extra 1/2, 2 extra 1/4, 3 extra 1/8. It is up to the ST to determine how long a weather pattern would normally take to occur. A storm normally takes a few hours to brew on average and lightning from a clear sky will not happen. For each 12 hours the weather pattern is to stay costs another blood point. The thaumaturgist must stay with the city model and keep conjuring, whilst awake, at all times for the weather to remain at her command. If she should stop for more than an hour then the weather will revert to normal very quickly and she must cast the spell all over again.

***** Hammer of God (Malleus Dei)

At the ultimate level of this path the thaumaturgist can finally destroy what she created and nurtured. Using this power she can cause the city to crumble and buildings to fall. But as in all great magicks there is a price.

System: Roll Str + Occult (Dif 7). Subtract 4 successes from roll. The successes which are left must be split between radius and effect. The Caster strikes at the city with her fists destroying the model. If the caster fails to gather any successes then the model is destroyed but the city is undamaged. If the caster botches then not only is the model destroyed but also the caster takes three aggravated unsoakable health levels.

Successes	Area
1	One Building
2	One City Block
3	One City Area
4	Half the City
5	Entire City
6+	City + Surrounding Areas

It is not possible to affect an area which is not enclosed by the model no matter how many successes the caster gained. Refer to the following table for earthquake effects.

Successes	Effect
1	Minor Earthquake (Max Richter 2)
2	Moderate Earthquake (Max Richter 4)
3	Serious Earthquake (Max Richter 6)
4	Terrible Earthquake (Max Richter 8)
5	Total Devastation (Max Richter 10)

It is, of course, impossible to contain an earthquake to one small area such as a building and so some effects will leak out but, mainly it will be centered and contained in the magickal radius. The effects of these earthquakes are shown on the chart below.

Richter Scale

One	Not normally felt by those on the ground floor but will be noticed on the upper floors of buildings. Many do not recognize it as an earthquake. Standing motor cars may rock slightly. Vibration similar to the passing of a truck.
Two	Felt indoors by many, outdoors by few during the day. At night, some awakened. Dishes, windows, doors disturbed; walls make cracking sounds. Sensation like heavy truck striking the building. Standing cars rocked noticeably.
Three	Felt by nearly everyone; many awakened. Some dishes and windows broken. Unstable objects overturned. Pendulum clocks may stop.
Four	Felt by all; many frightened and run outdoors, walk unsteadily. Windows, dishes, glassware broken, books off shelves, some heavy furniture moved or overturned; a few instances of fallen plaster. Damage slight.
Five	Difficult to stand, furniture broken, damage negligible in building of good design and construction; slight to moderate in well-built ordinary structures; considerable damage in poorly built or badly designed structures; some chimneys broken. Noticed by persons driving motor cars.
Six	Damage slight in specially designed structures; considerable in ordinary substantial buildings with partial collapse. Damage great in poorly built structures. Fall of chimneys, factory stacks, columns, monuments, walls. Heavy furniture moved.
Seven	General panic . . . damage considerable in specially designed structures, well designed frame structures thrown out of plumb. Damage great in substantial buildings, with partial collapse. Buildings shifted off foundations.
Eight	Some well-built wooden structures destroyed; most masonry and frame structures destroyed with foundations. Rails bent.
Nine	Few, if any (masonry) structures remain standing. Bridges destroyed. Rails bent greatly.
Ten	Damage total. Lines of sight and level distorted. Objects thrown into the air.

There is a price for such terrible devastation. The thaumaturgist is mystically bound to the city and to the model of the city. The city is a part of her, just as much as she is a part of the city. If the magus destroys the city, 3/4 the Richter value (round down) is taken as aggravated unsoakable damage, ie 1,3,4,6,7. She is permanently scarred by this event. The skin cracks and the muscles pull. The bones break and the entire body is wracked with terrible tidal forces. Until the damage is completely healed (naturally, magick will not help) the thaumaturgist will be in terrible pain and will suffer a +3 on all difficulties. Even after the damage heals there will be some mark left on the casters body.

A Magus's model city can be given to another thaumaturgist. It can even be stolen. The new owner merely needs to leave her mark on the model so as to attune it through sympathy to her. She then needs to do the One evening, 5 blood point ritual to bind both city and model to her.

Here also lies the casters weakness. If somebody destroys the model then the thaumaturgist who created it takes 3 aggravated unsoakable health levels of damage which have to be healed with time and blood, no willpower.