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Invocations -- An Example by Thom Marrion Zoe Soren is the only daughter of two Rosicrucian Tribunes of the New York Shrine. Unlike her parents, the only Art she ever had a talent for was the Sight. This caused quite a lot of tension between Zoe and her parents. Eventually, she left the Brotherhood and headed west, ending up in Los Angeles. Along the way, she met a member of the Cabal of the Psyche. After a time, she joined that Covenant. Zoe's parents are aware of her new allegiance, although the rest of the Brotherhood is not. This has put them in the awkward position of constantly keeping watch over their daughter to make sure that the rest of the Rosicrucians never find out about her "defection to the Combine" (the Rosicrucians have a somewhat biased view of the Cabal). They may not approve of their daughter's behavior, but they don't want to see her get executed and unraveled either. So it is with great concern that the Sorens find out about two Marchers (Rosicrucian troubleshooters) from New York who are traveling to Los Angeles in pursuit of a Seer criminal. While in Los Angeles, they are to investigate any sign of Seer activity. The problem is that the two Marchers, Silas Tucker and Fletcher Davis, were childhood friends of Zoe and will recognize her if they run into her. Zoe's mother, Lisette, is an Inquisitor (Rosicrucian Internal Affairs) and realizes that if the two Marchers discover that Zoe's relationship with the Cabal, it will not go well for their daughter. The Sorens have decided to make sure that the two Marchers never run into Zoe. Piet Bernardus, Zoe's father, decides to summon an Angelic Ethereal (see Abominations Codex, p. 155) to watch over his daughter while he and his wife take care of the Marchers. Piet has a Willpower of 5 and the Spirit Mastery (Ethereal) Invocation at a skill of 3, so he starts with a +8 to the die roll. Piet also knows the True Names of some Ethereals and decides to summon one named Rehael-Ptechout. Knowing the spirit's True Name gives Piet and additional +4 to his roll (see WitchCraft, p. 223). It costs 5 Essence Points to summon the Ethereal, plus 1/5 of the spirit's energy pool. Reheal has an Energy Pool of 70 (cost +14), bringing the total Essence cost to 19. Piet can channel 4 points of Essence per Turn, so it does not take him long to gather the necessary 19. Piet then attempts a Focus Task to correctly weave the Essence pattern (see WitchCraft, p. 197). He gets a 6, plus 8 for his Willpower and skill, plus 4 for knowing the spirit's True Name. This gives a total of 18, an Excellent result (see WitchCraft, p. 129). Reheal rolls to resist with its Willpower doubled (see WitchCraft, p. 223). The spirit has a Willpower of 5 and rolls a 7. That brings a total of 17. Also an Excellent result, but not good enough to resist being summoned. As the Focus Task was successful, the Dismissal Task is presumed to succeed as well (see WitchCraft, p. 197). Piet wants to enter into a Compact with the Ethereal, to the effect that the spirit will watch over Zoe and protect her from the Marchers for a period of forty-eight hours. Ethereals cannot be compelled to do anything that goes against their natures, but Piet explains that Zoe is an innocent (more or less) who will suffer greatly if she is taken by the Marchers. The Ethereal is sympathetic and agrees to perform this service if Piet agrees that he will never summon the spirit again, or reveal the spirit's True Name to any other. They both swear to uphold their end of the Compact by their True Names and Power, and Piet spends another 2 Essence Points to put the Compact into effect. Piet and Lisette then attempt to locate the two Marchers. It takes Piet less than eight minutes to regain his Essence (with Essence Channeling 4, he regains 4 points every minute) (WitchCraft, p. 154). The Sorens do not know exactly where the Marchers are, so they decide to use the Locate Invocation (see Mystery Codex, p. 148). This is a rather costly Invocation, so they decide to cast it at noon and use a circle as part of the ritual. This gives them an additional 10 points of Essence, 5 for casting an Invocation during a Time of Power (see WitchCraft, p. 203) and 5 for standing outside a Circle while casting (see WitchCraft, p. 204). If they had a third magician to work with, another 45 points of Essence would become available (see WitchCraft, p. 206), but there isn't anyone else that they trust with this. Piet has a Perception of 4 and the Locate Invocation at 2. Lisette also has Locate at 2, but her Perception is 5. Since she has the higher Attribute, they decide that Lisette will lead the ritual and Piet will donate Essence. The first casting costs 10 Essence Points. This is taken care of by the Essence provided by the Circle and by casting at Noon. Casting Locate takes an hour, after which Lisette rolls a 4 for her Focus Task, plus 7 for the combined total of her Perception and Locate Invocation. This gives an 11 -- a Decent outcome which successfully scans an area 100 yards in radius from Lisette. Not surprisingly, the Marchers are not there. To widen the radius of the search takes another hour of concentration, and costs 15 points of Essence (5 is added to the original cost to widen the radius of the search to a mile). Lisette uses 7 points of Essence and Piet uses 8. Once the new amount of Essence is gathered, Lisette must make a new Focus Task roll. She rolls a 3, plus 7 as before, for a total of 10. an Adequate Success. Again, the Marchers are not found. Widening the radius to five miles takes another hour and an additional 20 Essence Points (the previous cost plus 5). The Sorens each use 10 points of their own Essence Pools, and Lisette rolls a 7 for her new Focus Task, giving her a total of 14. This is a Good Outcome and actually succeeds in pinpointing the Marchers. Again, no Dismissal Task is necessary. The Marchers are currently about five blocks away from Zoe's loft. The Sorens have both spent less then 20 points of Essence each, so they will regain their Essence within five minutes. They get in their rental car (A Silver Lexus. Very nice.) and head to a spot where they can try to intercept the Marchers before they run into Zoe. Entirely unaware of her danger, Zoe is heading for a little coffee shop a few blocks from her loft to get a cup of Chai. Driving the Silver Lexus down the street, the Sorens must make a Perception roll to notice either their daughter or the Marchers. The Chronicler decides that because they succeeded with a Good Outcome for their Locate that they gain a +2 to find the Marchers. They are traveling along a busy Los Angeles street, so the Chronicler applies a -2 to find either one. Piet is Driving, so Lisette rolls versus Perception first. She does not have the Notice Skill, so she simply doubles her Perception of 5. First, she looks for her daughter and rolls a 3, plus 10 for the Perception doubled and -2 for the crowd. This gives her a total of 11 and she spots Zoe weaving in and out of the crowd. The Sorens keep driving and Lisette looks for the Marchers, rolling a 5. She adds 10 for her Perception doubled, plus 2 for the bonus that the Chronicler gave them, minus 2 for the crowd. The total is 15 and she has no problem finding Silas and Fletcher. Piet decides to cast the Hideaway Invocation (see Mystery Codex, p. 146) on his daughter before the Marchers run into her. He wants the effect to last ten minutes so he spends 12 points of Essence. Because the invocation will be targeting the Crowd that Zoe is currently walking through, an Essence dampening effect must be accounted for (see WitchCraft, pp. 200). The Chronicler decides that the streets are not all that crowded and that only about thirty people will be affected. This adds 26 points of Essence to the cost of the Invocation (20 points plus 1 for every 5 people affected). This brings the total Essence cost to 38. Piet's Willpower is 5 and his Hideaway Invocation is 2. He rolls a 6, for a total of 13 (a Good Outcome). People start avoiding Zoe and subconsciously make sure to look in any direction but toward her. Zoe is a Seer with Mindsight, so she may notice the Essence surrounding her (see WitchCraft, p. 86). Her Perception is 3, which is doubled to 6 for a Simple Perception Test. Zoe rolls a 3 and (just barely) catches sight of the Essence flows in the area. Furthermore, Zoe may recognize the Magical Signature inherent in the Essence she just noticed (see WitchCraft, p. 194). Even though this is her father, the Chronicler decides that the Sorens' separation from Zoe for the last ten years creates a -1 recognition modifier for Zoe. Zoe does not have the Notice Skill, and must succeed at a Difficult Perception Test. Zoe rolls a 3 for a total of 6 and has no idea who cast a spell on her. Zoe immediately tries to figure out what is happening to her. Her first reaction is to duck behind a parked car. This does not do much to address her situation, but it makes her feel better. Crouched near the curb, she notices that no one looks at this odd behavior. In fact, everyone seems to be pointedly ignoring her. With this knowledge, the Chronicler has Zoe roll an Intelligence and Occult Task to figure out the type of Invocation or Power targeting her. She rolls an 11, and realizes that some kind of invisibility power is in effect. Not certain what is going on, she decides a bit of rashness is in order. She starts jumping around on the sidewalk and screaming at the top of her lungs, "Stop making me invisible!" This attracts a lot more attention from the crowd and now 60 people are wondering what the fuss is about and why the woman looks kind of blurry. Of course, it would be impossible for a woman to become invisible on the streets of Los Angeles (Even a blurry Predator kind of invisible). So a giant wave of disbelief from the crowd washes over Zoe and negates 36 points of Essence (see WitchCraft, p. 200. The remaining 2 points of Essence are not enough to keep Zoe invisible, so suddenly an entire street full of Californians are rubbing their eyes wondering why they could not really see that cute blond who was yelling so much. Both Marchers get a chance to notice what is happening down the street with a Perception Test. Silas rolls a 7, plus 6 for his Perception doubled. This gives him a total of 13 -- a Good Outcome. Fletcher rolls a 5, plus 4 for his Perception doubled. He got a 9 and asks Silas if he sees that woman up the street. "I think that might be Zoe," replies Silas. The Marchers start rushing up street when the Ethereal notices them. The spirit wants to manifest to prevent the Marchers from getting and closer to Zoe, but there is still the Crowd Effect to overcome. Manifesting costs 1 point of Essence for every 5 points of Vital Essence (see Abominations Codex, p. 152). In the case of Rehael, that would be 10 Essence Points. To overcome the neutralizing effect of the crowd, the Ethereal decides to manifest with Holy Sword in hand (see Abominations Codex, p. 155). The cost for that is 5 Essence Points (from the Energy Essence Pool). This should result in a mixture of awe and fear that will counter the Crowd Effect. Suddenly a winged figure of shining light appears in front of the two Marchers wielding a sword of blazing white fire. The crowd falls to their knees in wonder and fear as the angelic being proclaims, "You two shall come no further. Turn around and be gone from this place." Silas and Fletcher are both very much Rosicrucian, and so are not the type of people to let spirits command them. No, in the normal course of things, Rosicrucians command spirits. The two Marchers exchange a look between themselves and begin to gather Essence to attack the Ethereal. Although a Difficult Willpower Test is normally in order to attack an Angelic Ethereal, the Chronicler decides that the Rosicrucians are sufficiently experienced and dedicated to skip this Test. Silas prepares a Soulfire Invocation while Fletcher decides to use Elemental Fire. Fletcher steps forward and begins stalling for time -- "You know not who you seek to detain, spirit. We are stalwart in purpose and dedicated . . ." In the meantime, both magicians use two Turns to channel 4 Essence Points into each of their attacks. The Ethereal notices the flow of Essence into the humans, but the amounts are so meager, it pauses to see where Fletcher is going with his pretty speech. Silas has a Willpower of 4 and the Soulfire Invocation at 3. He suffers a -2 due to the sense of awe that the spirit projects (see Abominations Codex, p. 155). He rolls a 3, adds 7 and subtracts 2, for a result of 8. As the total is less than 9, the Focus Task fails. Silas must roll again to properly Dismiss the Essence. Fletcher attacks the Ethereal with the Striking Flames effect. He has a Willpower of 3 and the Elemental Fire Invocation at 3. He also suffers a -2 for trying to attack an Angelic Ethereal. This gives him a 4 to add to his roll as well. He rolls a 1. Using the Rule of 1, Fletcher has to roll again and gets a 4. Since this is less than 5 the number is considered negative and the end result is a -3 for the Focus Task (see WitchCraft, p. 127). The two Marchers exchange glances of disbelief as they try to dismiss the Essence they have summoned. Silas rolls against his Willpower and Invocation skill again, minus 1 point for every 5 points of Essence used. The Chronicler imposes the -1, and adds an additional -1 to reflect their negative mindset at the moment (see WitchCraft, p. 199). Silas rolls a 2, which makes a total of 7. Not good enough. The Chronicler makes Silas roll on the Random Essence Effects Table (see WitchCraft, p. 201), and he gets a 2. Some other Invocation that Silas knows will manifest around him within the next twenty-four hours. The Chronicler decides that it will most likely be another Soulfire Invocation. Fletcher now has to roll to dismiss the Essence that he summoned. The same rules apply, so his Willpower, Invocation skill, amount of Essence summoned and state of mind must all be taken into account. This comes out to 4. The Chronicler also decides that since Fletcher made such a spectacular failure out of the Focus Task, an additional -3 to the roll is appropriate. Fletcher rolls a 7. Adding the 1 that remains from his bonuses makes a total of 8. Another failure. As Elemental Fire is a special case, Fletcher ignores the Random Essence Effects Table. Instead, he immediately suffers D6 x 4(12) fire damage. He rolls a 5 for a total of 20 points. He loses 20 points from his Life Point Pool, leaving him with 6. There is an explosion of flames in mid air, and Fletcher is lifted up and thrown backwards by its force. He lands on the sidewalk with a sickening thud, face, hands and cloths severely burned. Silas cringes for a moment waiting for a Random Effect to manifest around him. When nothing happens, he rushes to his fallen friend. The Ethereal looks down in surprise at the two foes. He pauses for a moment and then proclaims, " . . . um . . . ahem . . . yes . . . Fear My Wrath!" Having taken credit for Fletcher's predicament, the angelic being makes the Holy Sword vanish and returns to spiritual form. The crowd mostly disappears, except for a few who are too shocked to move. Zoe runs up to the two Marchers and asks if they are ok. "Zoe?" "Silas? What are you guys doing here? What happened to Fletcher?" "We were looking for a Seer Criminal out here when we ran into that Ethereal." "Los Angeles, City of Angels, makes sense I guess. Is Fletcher going to be ok? Do you guys need to get to a hospital?" Fletcher is not is good shape, but he manages to croak out, No. Just take me to the Shrine. No hospitals." He wipes away blood with the sleeve of a shirt that is more char than fabric. Silas looks Zoe in the eyes. "So have you heard anything about that? A Seer Criminal. We think that there is a Cabal of the Psyche connection. The Combine and all that." "What would I know about the Cabal of the Psyche. I went Solitaire once I left New York and I haven't had a thing to do with any Covenants since then," lies Zoe. She has an Intelligence of 3, Smooth Talking at 3, and 2 points of the Attractive Quality that the Chronicler lets her add to the roll. She rolls a 10, allowing her to make another roll. She rolls again and gets an 8. Going by the Rule of 10, this adds 3 to her previous roll making it a 13. Plus her Intelligence, Smooth Talking and Attractiveness make the total 21 -- an Extraordinary result. There is no doubt in the minds of the Marchers that Zoe is just another Solitaire; she would never even think about joining the Cabal. Quite ludicrous when you think about it. "Well, let us know if you hear anything" says Silas, as he helps his friend up to his feet. "Are you sure you guys don't need any help?" "No, we'll be fine." "If you say so. Take care. We'll have to do lunch some time when you not are fighting angels on the sidewalk," replies Zoe as she waves good-bye to her childhood friends. She turns around and smiles to herself at how easy it was to lie to them. The Sorens watch this whole interchange in horror and disbelief, and then wait for their hearts to start beating again as Zoe and the two Marchers walk away from each other. Disaster is apparently averted and it looks like their daughter won't have her soul destroyed after all. Rehael watches over Zoe as and thinks otherworldly thoughts. The Compact was to protect Zoe from those two Marchers for the next two days. Since they seem to have no intention of harming her, this will end up being the easiest Compact that the Ethereal has ever served. Silas and Fletcher make their way down a side street to their car just as a cold rain suddenly starts to fall on them. Silas looks down at his partner as the rain cause him to shiver. It could certainly have been worse.
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