Fading Suns and Flaming Heresies
(Level 1, Perception + Observe, P, perpetual, 1W)
One of the earliest rites developed by Eskatonic theurges was that of Celestial Alignment, which proved useful to explorers on new planets seeking Ur-artifacts or forgotten wisdom.
This rite enables a theurge to keep perfect mental notation of all the movements of the surrounding solar system, as well as the constellations (as they appear to an observer on planetside). Thus the theurge, with but a glance at the sky, can reckon sidereal time and track his position, direction and motion as he travels across the planet.
The effect of this rite is permanent, but applies only to the planet upon which it was cast, and does not need to be recast if the theurge returns to that planet. Celestial Alignment has some application to interplanetary navigation (i.e., travel within a solar system), but not to interstellar travel or complex maneuvers like combat, docking or landing on a planet. The accuracy with which a theurge can figure his relative position in time and space is based on the victory points from casting the rite:
|1||+/- 10 minutes||+/- 10 kilometers|
|2||+/- 9 minutes||+/- 8 kilometers|
|3||+/- 7 minutes||+/- 6 kilometers|
|4||+/- 5 minutes||+/- 4 kilometers|
|5||+/- 3 minutes||+/- 2 kilometers|
|6||+/- 1 minute||+/- 1 kilometer|
|Critical||exact second||exact centimeter|
(Level 2, Wits + Focus, P, 1W)
Developed from the common prayer for guidance, this rite guarantees the theurge some kind of significant insight into whatever problem is vexing her. The gamemaster should adjust the degree of insight according to the victory points: one would furnish only the slightest of clues, something which might not even seem important to the player; three provides a more substantial answer that will lead most characters to a solution; five or six will grant the theurge a clear indication to the exact nature of her dilemma and what needs to be done to alleviate it. With a critical success, profound leaps of logic are possible, where the gamemaster may opt to give the player information to which her character would not normally have access.
Rending the Veil of Unreason
(Level 3, Perception + Focus, P, sight, prolonged, 1W)
This rite grants the theurge the equivalent of the psychic power Subtle Sight, except that the auric image that the theurge actually perceives is based on the Eskatonic conception of the soul. Rending the Veil shows the actual “mirror” reflecting the light of the Celestial Sun, the Holy Flame of the spirit, centered on the heart region within the conventional aura. The size of the reflected Flame indicates the target’s Faith rating; with a Faith of 10, the Flame is large and bright, filling the surface of the “mirror,” while a Faith of 1 shows up as a candle flame seen at the end of a dark corridor. Because this “mirror” can be “tarnished” by sinful actions and intentions, the theurge may guess at the type and extent of the target’s sinful ways by examining the condition of the target’s “mirror.”
|Pride||Narrow vertical streaks|
|Greed||Broad horizontal streaks|
|Lust||Violet bubbles rising from bottom|
|Envy||Greenish streaks pointing inward from outer edges|
|Sloth||Thick bluish bubbles rolling down from the top|
|Wrath||Reddish streaks radiating from the center|
|Oathbreaking||Cracks; one for each oath broken, with size of crack equaling importance of oath|
Besides this moral insight, the theurge may also read the aura as if using Subtle Sight, but the theurge needs victory points one greater than required for each level. General types may still be discerned with one victory point, but two is necessary to see colors, four to see motion and six to see shapes.
(Level 4, Perception + Focus, P, sight, prolonged, 1W)
This rite is the theurgic equivalent of the psychic power Wyrd Sight, but with more of an emphasis on the moral forces at work in the targeted viewing area. A theurge casting Second Sight may see a psychic’s Urge, for example, as a dark fetal form in the psychic’s brain (at lower levels) or as a fully formed shadow which moves independently of the psychic casting it. Second Sight reveals the presence of demonic influence, with their dark forms hovering in the air around a Antinomist, or coiled up in the body of someone who is possessed. Second Sight also shows the theurge details of any theurgic rite in effect, its type, target and caster.
Second Sight does not automatically confer the aurareading ability of Rending the Veil of Unreason; each power operates within a different range of the astral spectrum. The gamemaster should be creative when describing what a theurge sees with Second Sight; keep in mind that individual auras are not being read, but rather all the broad occult forces at work in a given span.
(Level 5, Wits + Alchemy, LG, touch, perpetual, 1W)
By calling upon the transformative powers of his own indwelling portion of the Holy Flame, an Eskatonic priest can fossilize any object or body of substance less than or equal to his Theurgy rating times 20 in kilograms. (Additional mass can be bought at 10 kilograms per Wyrd point.)
The transmuted object is composed of a gray chalky sandstone-like stuff, which is just strong enough to support a human’s weight but brittle enough to crack or crumble with sharp impact. The effect is permanent. Ur-artifacts are not affected by this rite.
Living organic tissue cannot be affected with this rite.
Even if it could, it would be considered an especially grave crime by the Order, since it would freeze the target’s soul in the statue-like body and prevent the target’s Luminous Return to the Empyrean. There are, of course, rumors of renegade priests who have somehow attained such ability.
(Level 6, Perception + Observe, LP, prolonged, 1W)
The equivalent of the psychic power FarSight, the Rite of the All-Seeing Eye allows the theurge to observe a place in which she is not actually present. Consult the description of FarSight to see how the casting roll should be modified according to the familiarity of the targeted place.
Refinement of Essence
(Level 7, Wits + Alchemy, LG, touch, perpetual, 1W)
A more specialized form of the Rite of Osseous Transmutation, the Rite of Refinement enables the theurge to cast out impurities or non-essential elements from an object or body of substance less than or equal to his Theurgy rating times 20 in kilograms. (Additional mass can be bought at 10 kilograms per Wyrd point.) Refinement may be used to purify fuel, strengthen building materials and detoxify food, water or the atmosphere of an enclosed and sealed space.
Unlike Transmutation, Refinement may be used on living beings for beneficial effects, but the same penalties applyand considerable discrimination and forethought are required; benign drugs and medicines, surgical implants, transplants or tissue grafts, and even undigested food will be forcibly expelled from the target’s body. Cybernetic enhancements may break down or cause damage to their bearer.
(Level 8, Calm + Focus, LGP, touch, perpetual, 1W)
The Rite of Investiture is used to create a Wyrd Tabernacle (see Relics, above) out of a targeted object. The maximum number of Wyrd points which the Invested Tabernacle may store is equal to the number of successes on the casting roll, and may be increased up to a maximum of 20 through repetition of the rite. Note that the Rite of Investiture does not actually bind any Wyrd points into the Tabernacle; this is a separate process involving a Theurgy + Focus roll, as described above under Wyrd Tabernacle.
Knowledge and Conversation of Tholumiyelos, Lord of Wisdom
(Level 9, Passion + Impress, LGP, 1W)
This exceptionally rare and powerful rite, a closely guarded secret of the order, enables a theurge to contact and summon to the physical world one of the “bodiless powers of the Empyrean,” the clever and insightful intelligence known as Tholumiyelos. According to Eskatonic doctrine, which describes the Empyrean as being presided over by “luminous sentiences” occupying a hierarchy of concentric Emanations from the Celestial Sun, Tholumiyelos rules in the Eighth Emanation, among the ranks of the Archons.
Embodying the Eskatonic virtues of questing for secret lore and the cultivation of metaphysical understanding, Tholumiyelos rarely manifests in physical form, and prefers instead to converse with the theurge who summoned it. These conversations would be virtually impossible for outsiders to understand since they are highly ritualized and formulaic, being a kind of catechism or question-and-answer session with Tholumiyelos taking the part of the teacher and the theurge being the student. Tholumiyelos seldom answers a direct question (e.g., “Is the duchess poisoning my meals?”), but is more likely to ask the theurge questions which will lead him to his own answer (e.g., “How do you think the duchess feels about you, and what political necessities might impinge on your relationship?”). When taking a visual form, Tholumiyelos will appear as a elderly hermaphrodite with clear sparkling eyes, holding an ancient book in the right, or male, hand and a bubbling crucible in the left, or female, hand.