Necromancy - The A'aru Path

A'aru Path of Necromancy is practiced by the rare Disciples of Anubis bloodline. For them, it is their primary path. Very few outside of the bloodline itself are aware of the path, as the Jackals do not teach it to any but the most loyal of companions. The path is concerned primarily with releasing the dead from their earthly fetters, allowing them to move on to A'aru (paradise).


*Sense Death

The Necromancer can sense when a Soul passes to the afterlife in her immediate vicinity.

System: No roll is required. The Necromancer can sense when anything dies anywhere in a fifty-yard radius. This does not allow the character to sense the cause or nature of death, merely the fact that it has occurred near her.


**Soul's Passing

This power allows a necromancer to sense if a death has taken place in the recent past. Soul's Passing also gleans some information as to the cause and nature of the death.

System: The character rolls Perception +Investigation (difficulty 7) to determine if a soul has passed recently. The body does not have to be present for this power to work, and like Sense Death it has a radius of fifty yards. The number of successes determines how far back the vampire can sense and what information is learned.


1 success: One hour. A vague sense of the subject's appearance.

2 successes: One day. A sense of the general nature in which the subject died (i.e. natural causes, homicide, etc.). Nothing specific.

3 successes: One week. A clear sense of the specific cause of death such as: poisoning, heart attack, gunshot, etc. Character also gets a general feeling of the emotions in the area at the time of death (i.e. anger, jealousy, etc.).

4 successes: One month. A clear picture of the murder weapon (if a homicide or suicide) and a vague sense of the victim's thoughts at the time of death.

5 successes: One year. If the subject was murdered, the necromancer has a vague sense of the murderer's appearance. The character also learns specific thoughts that occurred at or near the time of death.


***Locate Fetter

The necromancer may discover a wraith's fetters-the objects and places that compel him to haunt the real world. Once located, the Kindred may do what he wishes with them, although the wraith will often do everything in its power to stop her from harming or controlling them. If all of a wraith's fetters are destroyed, he is effectively banished from the physical realm.

System: In order to use this power, the character must either know the name of the wraith in question, or have in his possession an object which was associated with the ghost in its life (which is, ironically, often a fetter itself). The character must then roll Manipulation + Occult (difficulty 8, though the difficulty may be lowered or raised due to the length of time the target has been dead or proximity to the fetter in question) to determine what the fetter is. This power can only reveal one fetter at a time.


**** Banish Soul Servant

This fearsome power allows a necromancer to destroy the powers that other necromancers use to bind spirits to the physical plane. The Disciples believe that this power allows a soul to journey much more swiftly to paradise. Also, any wraith that is freed using Banish Soul Servant usually feels indebted to the Kindred who released him. The powers commonly affected by this one are: Levels 2, 3, and 4 of the Sepulchre Path, and levels 4 and 5 of the Bone Path.

System: For this power to work, the character must be of an equal or greater proficiency than the necromancer in question. The character spends a Willpower point, then rolls Manipulation +Occult (difficulty 5+ the number of successes the opposing necromancer achieved when using Necromancy). If no roll was made, the difficulty is the opposing Necromancer's willpower.


*****Form of Anubis

Feared by all that have been unfortunate enough to witness it, Form of Anubis allows the Disciple to take on the terrible visage of the god of death and judgement. By channelling what she believes to be the spirit of Anubis, the necromancer gains a small portion of the power of their god.

System: The character expends 2 willpower points and 1 blood point to begin the transformation. The change requires 3 turns to complete, during which the character grows at least two feet, and takes on the traditional appearance of Anubis (of course, the character is much more anatomically correct than the Egyptian hieroglyphs depict). The character can fully interact and perceive both the lands of the living and dead, and they can interact with him also. The necromancer gains +2 to both strength and stamina, and a +1 to dexterity, while her appearance falls to zero. The powerful jaws of the jackal-headed Anubis cause strength +2 aggravated damage.