Via Arcadius

By John Scott (jwscott@southwind.net)

Description

This path was developed during the Dark Ages by a Tremere who had a thing for the Fae. It was rumored that he was involved with a Sidhe noble of House Eiluned, and she helped him with the development of this path.

It is suggested that anyone that wants to learn the Via Arcadius or the rituals below should have some knowledge of the Fae. A good balance is Mythlore and Faerie Lore scores of 3 in one and 4 in the other. Many of the rituals require a certain amount of understanding of the fae, and without these knowledges, the caster has no idea what he is doing.

As usual, a Blood Point must be spent and a Willpower roll against a difficulty of the power's level +3 must be made. A failure means the magic did not work, while a botch means you lose a permanent point of Willpower.

* Kenning

This gives you the ability to detect things of Glamour even without being enchanted, allowing you to sense Glamour and the presence of chimera, changelings and other things of the Dreaming. You can see and hear chimera and the fae form of any changeling but cannot interact with them. This gives you some protection from chimerical danger, but also keeps you from gaining the benefits.

** Enter into Arcadia

You can now step into the world of the fae and interact with all things of the dreaming. In a way, your blood has gained the ability to enchant yourself and others. Those who drink of your blood can be taken into the world of the fae. This enchantment lasts for a number of days equal to the number of blood points spent or consumed.

*** Gather the Mists

This functions as the Chicanery cantrip Veiled Eyes. The obscurement lasts for one hour per blood point expended. The difficulty to see through this power with Keening or Auspex is 4 plus the number of successes made on the roll.

**** Shred the Spirit Form

For each success made on the roll to use this power, the Kindred can inflict one temporary Banality on any fae in sight. Obviously this power is not going to help the caster make many friends among the Fae.

***** Travel to the Dream

This level allows the Kindred to enter into the Dreaming. There are various places that they may go to from there. They may use this power to enter into a trod. This is simply a matter of finding the trod and then entering it. This power may also be used to enter the Near or Far Dreaming. Finally, they may enter into the dreams of a sleeper. This ability is identical to the Master of Dreams power from the Path of Morpheus in the Sabbat Player's Guide.

Rituals

All rituals require a roll of Intelligence + Faerie Lore to work. The difficulty is the level of the ritual +3.

* Will o' the Wisp: This ritual creates a small ball of light that will lead its creator to a specific place, person or object. The caster must have met the person or have something belonging to him in order for the Will o' the Wisp to find him.

** Power of the Birthright: Casting this ritual allows the Kindred to gain the Birthright of one type of fae. This ability lasts for one hour per success on the casting roll. This ritual requires the blood of a fae or changeling. The type of Fae or changeling blood that is used determines what the choices are for birthright. The Birthright must be chosen at the time of the casting. If Sidhe blood is used, the caster may choose to either have Awe and Beauty or Noble Bearing, but not both. If it was a Boggans' blood the Kindred could have Craftwork or Social Dynamics. The caster may only have one Birthright in power at a time.

*** Ward Versus Fae: This rituals works just like Ward versus Ghouls, except that it affects Fae and Changelings. Cold iron dust is required to cast this ritual.

**** Keening of the Bean Sidhe: Very similar to the Sabbat ritual of the same name, this version has an additional advantage. In addition to aging the victim 1-10 years, she will also lose one memory of the Storytellers choice.

***** Devour the Glen: By standing within a freehold, the Caster may channel the present Glamour into his dice pool. This ritual requires one hour to prepare and five blood points. For each success on a Perception + Mythlore roll, the caster may convert one level of mystic energy into two dice for his dice pool. A site has 10 times its level in dice. Once that many dice have been siphoned from the location, the freehold is destroyed.

****** Take the Fae Form: Similar to Power of the Birthright, this ritual requires a point of Fae blood. Once cast, this ritual allows the caster to assume the form of a fae for one night. In essence he becomes that fae, along with the appropriate Frailties and Birthrights. In later years, a slightly different version was developed that allows the caster to become a changeling, as the affects of Banality on a true Fae form in these times would be really bad. The type of blood used determines what type of Kith you may assume.