Paths & Numina

Maelstroms

Discovered by accident, the Path of Maelstroms was originally an attempt to rediscover Weather Control. Traditionally referred to as “Whistle” (as in, “whistling

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up a storm”), the magicians using it sought to conjure intense gales of wind and rain in the world of the living. It took until the 19th century to discover that these tempests were stolen from the Shadowlands.

Maelstrom pulls the energy to create its storms from two sources. The first is the caster’s force of will. Spells and rituals of this Path cost one Willpower point per level rather than the usual flat one point for most Paths. The other source of power is the Shadowlands itself, pulling its energy out and rendering ghosts in the area calm or forcibly driving the dead from the area depending on the size of the storm.

The most common instrument for this Path is, by far, music. Most users say that from the moment they learned it, they could hear music in their head, and some believe it grows louder when the storms they can draw from are stronger. For these people, their Alertness is capped at 3, due to the distraction of the music. Others, however, don’t experience this effect and suffer no penalty.

System

Aspects: Area, Duration, and Intensity

Intensity

•

Drawing a breeze and fog from the underworld into the world of the living pacifies the local Shadowlands. Ghosts in the area are calmed. They’ll defend themselves, but otherwise they won’t attack anyone in the area for the dura­ tion without succeeding on a Willpower roll (difficulty 6).

••

A rainstorm is summoned, and it drains so much energy from the underworld that ghosts are frozen in place unless they make a Willpower roll (difficulty 7). They’re made just corporeal enough that the magician can physically move them. Usually, they remove the ghosts from an area where they are unwelcome.

•••

Calling a full-scale thunderstorm does even more to quiet the Shadowlands. This drains the power of Oblivion from the area. Ghosts are sedated as in the first rank, but those under control of their Shadows are restored to reason. Results vary with spectres, but legends exist of hedge magicians with this Path pulling a spectre away from Oblivion.

••••

Powerful storms in the world of the living, with gale-force winds, hail, and plenty of property

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damage can truly sap the power of Oblivion in the Shadowlands. Spectres and other deeply malicious ghosts who fail a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) disappear within the barrage of wind and hail. No hedge magician knows for sure what happens to these spirits, but they are never seen in the location where the power was evoked for a year and a day.

••••• A massive storm draining all energy from the corresponding region of the Shadowlands. Both the area and its reflection in the Shadowlands becomes utterly uninhabitable for ghosts. The Restless Dead must flee the area, or else suffer five dice of damage per round until they do so.

Price of Failure: The magician’s control over these storms is tenuous at best. On a failure, the Willpower is still expended but nothing happens. Botches, how­ ever, result in storms that go out of control, both in the world of the living and the Shadowlands. When a hedge magician loses control of the energies of this Path, they call forth a piece of the Tempest. This causes normal ghosts to become disoriented and have difficulty moving around. Spectres, on the other hand, thrive in this environment. These most malicious of spirits ride the Tempest directly up to the Shadowlands and have an easier time manifesting in the area for the duration the spell would have had.

Sample Rituals

Rest in Peace (••)

By summoning a thunderstorm from the under­ world, the magician can place nearby ghosts into a state of Slumber. Slumber is similar in many ways to sleep for the living. It is restorative for the ghost’s ephemeral form and restful for their minds and personalities. While in Slumber, the ghost loses awareness of their surround­ ings, instead experiencing vivid dreams. Usually those dreams are lively and colorful, focused on the ghost’s passions, but with a darkness overlaying them due to the Shadow. The Slumber created by this ritual brings better, more peaceful dreams. The Shadow’s influence over them is diminished to nothing, and even Spectres find themselves having positive dreams for the first time since they fell to their Shadows. A single success always puts a willing target into Slumber, but unwilling targets (like most Spectres) roll Willpower (difficulty 6) and must achieve more successes than the ritual in order to stay awake.