Path of the Dan

By Helix (mmacnamara@austinc.edu)

Description

The Path of the Dan is not so much an individual path of Thaumaturgy as a channeling of the Kiasyd's fae side into his or her rituals. Only a Kiasyd may practice this path, as it powered by their peculiar hybrid blood. It is rumored that the Kiasyd have used this path to empower themselves with the devil's luck. Opponents are reported to have hacked their own limbs off in freak accidents, while guns and ranged weapons have been witnesses to horribly backfire or ricochet. Unfortunately Lady luck require s a toll to be paid for cheating her, and it's whispered those who abuse this path have fallen victim to their own ill luck.

Level 1 Rituals

Often muttered while this ritual is in effect, the name is fitting for the effects. One of the cruder rituals in the Dan path, it requires the Kiasyd to rub blood in the shape of a cross on both wrists, and then lick it off. This action spends a blood point, which is not regained when the blood is licked. The Kiasyd using this ritual will gain a 1 die bonus to the next 2 dodge rolls she makes.

One of the more humorous rituals, this requires a broken Coo-Coo clock and a pound of sawdust. The Kiasyd spends two hours chanting over the clock, and then stuffs as much of the sawdust into it as possible. The Clock is then hung above a door. If a person entering the door means to harm the Kiasyd, the clock will immediately explode in a cloud of sawdust over the would-be threat.

Level 2 Rituals

The lucky nature of the Dan comes into play in this ritual. The Kiasyd smears blood on his wrists and ankles. A blood point is consumed in this action. When the blood dries, the Kiasyd may activate the ritual by flaking the blood off. The turn after the blood is rubbed off the Kiasyd will gain an automatic success to their next 2 actions. (This may apply to one Celerity action after the next)

Another simple ritual, the caster takes a shard of reflective material, and fashions it into a necklace, and then cuts his own finger with it. No blood is lost at that time. As long as the Kiasyd wears the shard his neck, the finger cut by the shard will bleed when danger is approaching, tipping the Kiasyd off to the threat, and adding appropriate bonuses to initiative in combat, or to detection rolls.

Level 3 Rituals

This is the source of the rumors of spells grossly backfiring against Kiasyd. The Kiasyd must acquire a silver triskelion, and place a drop of blood on each of the 3 "arms" of the symbol. The Kiasyd must then chant a mantra in Celtic over the Triskelion. When complete the Kiasyd must place the medallion around his neck. Once the blood point is spent, any harmful Magick or Thaumaturgical effects against the Kiasyd gains +3 to their difficulty to be cast, maximum difficulty of 10.

A simple but often overlooked ritual, this requires the Kiasyd to soak a pocket-watch in 3 points of their own blood, while chanting. After 3 hours of chanting the effect will be in place and the w atch ready for use. Often used in conjunction with "What was that?", this ritual allows the Kiasyd to win their first initiative round, regardless of their dexterity or wits, IF the knob of the watch is turned 3 times before combat begins.

Level 4 Rituals

One of the few rituals whose effects may be given to another, this ritual requires a silver cross to be left inside an uncorrupted church for 3 days. When the cross is retrieved, the Kiasyd must burn 5 points of blood. This is said to draw God's attention to the cross. From then on, the cross will boost true faith ratings of the person possessing the cross by 1 dot. The catch is that for this to work, the person possessing the cross must have at least 1 dot of true faith to begin with.

Note: Only two crosses may be made a year. It is said that making more brings God's attention to the Kiasyd instead of the cross, and the results may range from being haunted by a spirit sent by God to an Old Testament smiting by a lightening bolt.

This is the source of many of the rumors of backfiring guns and gross misuse of weapons in the vicinity of a Kiasyd. The ritual is the same as the Ritual "Know the Dan", and in fact may be cast on the same Triskelion.

System: The Kiasyd must spend a blood point each night he wants this effect. After spending the blood point the player rolls a d10. The number indicates how many dice he may upgrade from a botch to a failure, and failure to a success. Conversely this may be used to downgrade an opponents successes to failures, and failures to botches. All dice movements draw from the pool set by the d10, regardless of who they are used on.

Note: These dice may not be used against magic or Thaumaturgical effects. This ritual is also never to be used by a Kiasyd with the Rule of Three flaw. Lady luck does not like to be cheated and the effects of this magnified threefold is bizarre and often deadly (e.g., turning on a light bulb in your own Haven, and causing a gas explosion that levels the house, and yourself).

Level 5 Ritual

Rumored to have been based on the actual story of the Monkey's Paw, this ritual does indeed require the right hand of a non-human primate. The paw is dried, and kept in a dry space until All Hallows Eve. On Samhein the paw is removed and dipped in 10 points of kindred blood for 5 hours. After this the fingers of the paw will straighten, regardless of the position they dried in. The Kiasyd may make 5 minor wishes (money, popularity), or one powerful wish (an extra dot in a discipline). There are rumors of this ritual backfiring horrifically on the caster (e.g., money coming at the expense of a friend's death or power gained through later Diablerie).

System: When casting each wish the Kiasyd must make a Wits + Occult roll, Difficulty 9. One success is needed for the wish to come true. If the roll fails or botches, the most horrible rumors of the Ritual come true, power at a horrible price the Kiasyd might not be able to pay.