Trilha de Wotan
Path of Wotan The Blood Magick of the Vikings
of Old
| Preface |
A short introduction to the Path of Wotan |
| • Tale of the
Runes |
Learn the secrets which are at the top of your enemy's consciouss mind |
| •• The Red Brew |
A potion of Vitae which induces Berserker Rage in thos who drink it |
| •••
Runes of Blood and Steel |
Runes which are inscribed upon weapons to enable the wielder to strike
Bane Blows |
| •••• Blood Song
of War |
A dreadded War Song of Old which induces Berserker Rage in those who
hear it with a friendly ear |
| ••••• Call Bifrost |
Summon the fabled rainbow bridge of the Ases Gods |
Path of Wotan
By: Kenneth
Madsen
MADness Ventures Design Studio 1995-1996
This is the blood magick of the Old Vikings -
the proud berserkers of the High North. They practised the Worship and
Rituals of Blood long before the Tremere, and sang their songs of War and
Cold Iron while the Red Rage claimed their bodies and the spirits of their
enemies for their fierce Gods. Odin - the God of Death - was the King of
the Gods, and also a powerful sorcerer. His Valkyries claimed the spirits
of the most brave of the dead and took them to Valhalla, the Home of Odin
and stronghold of the Gods, where they would drink, eat and fight until
Ragnarok, the End of the World
Odin needed the spirits of the warriors to fill his army of Einherjer,
and devised both weapons and magick which would aid the Vikings in battle.
Of course, he also did his part in making Kings and Jarls fight in order
to gain even more spirits, and made them invent new and more deadly weaponry
which to use in war. Odin's affinity for treachery was also wellknown,
but none dared appose him, fearing that he would cause the tide of battle
to turn in favour of their opponents.
This Path was originally devised by the True Brujah Methuselah Braavahl,
who acted as deity in the Frozen North of Old. Much of what he did was
later turned into tales of the Ases Gods. The Viking-Priests also had their
version of this Path, although they did not have the option of calling
Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge which leads to Valhalla. The Vikings were wellversed
in the ways of Blood and Rage, and the Vampire Lords had an easy time walking
amongst the Kine then.
-
This Path cannot be learned if the character does not understand the
language and Runes of the Old Vikings!
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• Tale
of the Runes
How does one learn of a prisoner's current goals - very probably the
very goals which brought him within your reach and later into your clutches?
Torture is of course a much used method, but even then you cannot be absolutely
sure of the truth of what you are told. Blood is always blood, and using
this Power, the character will be able to extract the prisoners most emmediate
secrets.
The prisoner is bled for a certain amount of blood which is gathered
in a earthenware bowl. Usually those using this Power regulary will have
a scrying stone to use in the next stage, but any smooth non-absorbing
surface will do. The character let one hand describe patterns in the air
above the surface, and pours the collected blood over his hands. While
chanting the Words of Old, he activates his own power, and let it power
the prisoner's blood as it washes over his hand, and drips upon the intended
surface. Here the blood will gradually flow together, and form Runes in
the language of the Old Vikings. Depending on the characters abilities,
he will be able to extract the information he desires.
System: The character drains 2 Blood Points
worth of blood into an earthenware bowl. Using one of his own Blood Points
to activate this Power and energize the stolen blood, he lets the contents
of the bowl drip over his fingers while inscribing various patterns in
the air. The blood begin to form Runes when it hits the surface, and when
all of the blood has been used, a complete set of Runes can be seen on
the surface. Then an Intelligence + Occult/Fortune Telling must be made
against a difficulty of 8. The more successes, the more information will
be revealed. Name, Clan/Family/Lineage, Generation/Age, and Travel Destination
(or emmediate agenda in more modern days) are amongst the information revealed,
and depending on the number of successes, the StoryTeller decides what
information to divulge.
Note that it is only information the bloodlettered prisoner is aware
of that is revealed, this Power does not give access to Omniscience.
Historical Notes: This Power was originally intended to learn
the purpose of captured spies without having to engage in longterm torture,
and also proved usefull if enemy spies/assassins died before any information
could be pried from them.
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•• The Red
Brew
The Vikings were reknown - or more appropirately feared - for their
berserker rage. In a frenzy of blood and steel they would hack away at
anything moving, throwing themselves at their enemies without the protection
of a shield, focused only on the kill! Oblivious to harm which would kill
ordinary men, and endurable beyond their normal physical limits, the berserkers
were easily the most feared warriors on the field of battle; for what is
feints and parrys against a man who throws himself at you, caring nothing
for himself as long as you die with him?
The character uses his own Vitae to create a special brew known as
The Red Brew, for obvious reasons. When the Vikings drank the Brew,
it was usually mixed with mead, depending on the fierceness of the Vikings
who were to drink it - some cared little if they drank blood, the Rage
was the important thing. Once drunk, the Red Brew induces a berserker rage
in the drinker. The Red Brew is drunk from a skullcup, fashioned from the
skull of the most fierce and valiant opponent the character who makes the
Brew has ever slain.
System: The character drains some of his
Vitae into the skull of which the Brew is to be drunk. One point of Vitae
for every person who is to be affected with the Red Rage of the Berserker.
Once the appropriate amount of Vitae has been drained into the skull, the
character expends one Blood Point to start the process which will turn
the Vitae into the Red Brew, and begin to chant the Old Norse Words which
forms the basis of the transmutation. Holding the skullcup with both hands,
he must focus all of his will to transmutate the red fluid. Make a Willpower
Roll against a Difficulty of 8. The number of successes will give the number
of minutes in which the Brew will induce Berserker Rage before the character
who drinks it return to normal.
The drinker will receive an extra attack/action, +2 points worth of
Strength, +2 points worth of Stamina and the ability to ignore a number
of Health Box Penalties equal to his Stamina. This effect lasts solely
for a number of minutes equal to the number of successes the caster had
on his Willpower Roll. Once the effect wears off, the drinker will get
a number of penalty dice to all his Dice Pool equal to the number of successes
rolled while making the Brew. The period of time is likewise equal in hours
to the initial successes.
Should a character wish to drink more than one portion of the Brew,
he is very likely to die! Each extra point of Brew drunk will add an extra
attack as well as +1 points of both Strength and Stamina. However! When
the effect wears off, the drinker must roll his halved Stamina with
an additional number of dice subtracted equal to the extra points worth
of Brew he has drunken, against a Difficulty of 10. If less than 3 complete
successes are attained, the drinker dies from the massive amount of adrenaline
which has been pumped through his veins, as well as from the superhuman
efforts his body has been forced to perform. Cainites will merely go in
Torpor, but the effects may very well be the same when all is said and
done.
Should a mortal survive this, he must take yet another Stamina Roll
against a Difficulty of 8 when he awakes. With less than three complete
successes, his brain will have taken permanent damage from the ordeal,
and he loses a permanent point of Intelligence. As the Beast of Cainites
are closer to the surface and far more fierce than that of the Children
of Seth, the Cainite who survive may (at the StoryTeller's discretion)
develop a craving for the Red Brew and the incredible Rage it produces.
Cainites devote a fair amount of time battling their Beast and keeping
its leash short, fearing that it might take over should it be given too
much freedom. But imagine what happens when the Beast is given the sensation
the Red Brew induces. Perhaps the Magickal properties of the Brew will
make it stronger, and the Cainite is thus in for the fight of his life,
as the Beast attempts to turn him into a Brew-addict. And what happens
if the Beast is denied the Brew? Ahhh, now here is a protential over which
to spin a story....
Note that because of the mystic rituals used to transmute the Vitae
into the Red Brew, the Vitae loses some of its normal properties: Those
drinking it will not become Blood Bond no matter how much they drink!
The Vitae cannot be used to refill one's Blood Pool - once the Red
Brew is drunken, it transforms into the pure energy which fuels the Berserker
Rage. This energy vanishes gradually as the Berserker Rage runs its course!
The Red Brew cannot be used in Blood Rituals nor Magick which are designed
to give the Thaumaturgist control over, or knowledge of, the donor! Why
this is so, is as of yet unanswered, but rest assured that the Magi of
House Tremere is doing some very focused research into the matter...
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••• The
Runes of Blood and Steel
Using his own Vitae, the character is able to inscribe highly powerful
Runes on weapons of metal. Some of the most fabled warriors of the Vikings
had these Runes inscribed upon their weapons before battle, by their Voelve
(Sorcerer), and was thus able to deal out blows which send them straight
into the immortality of the Sagas. The blows struck by weapons inscribed
with these Runes were sometimes known as Bane Blows, as more than one opponent
found emmediate death and a place ready for him in Valhalla.
System: The character uses 2 points worth
of his own Vitae to inscribe the Runes upon the intended weapon. The character
makes a small slash at a finger, and while he wills the Vitae to flow,
he quietly hums the Runic Chant which the Dwarven Highsmiths of Old are
said to have learned the creator of this Path. While he chants, the Runes
will come to his mind and when they have been inscribed upon the weapon,
they will disappear again. In order to be able to inscribe the Runes, the
weapon must have a relatively flat surface of at least 3x10 cms (1.18x3.94
inches). If such a surface is not available, the Runes simply cannot be
inscribed. If inscribed upon a firearm, the next blow struck with
the weapon will be a Bane Blow, whereas the bullets will still function
as normal.
Once the Runes have been completed, the weapon will virtually vibrate
with suppressed power, and it is said that the weapon will turn upon its
wielder if it does not taste blood soon afterwards. The next attack made
by the weapon will be with a +2 bonus and it will be aggravated!
A number of dice equal to the Willpower of the Inscriber is rolled against
a Difficulty of 8. This roll is made to determine whether or not the mundane
metal will be able to hold the power of the Runes; if the Roll fails, the
Runes lose their energy and vaporizes from the weapon! If the Roll is botched,
the weapon shatters into hundreds of fragments, as the mundane metal breaks
under the power of the Runes of Blood and Steel. If the Roll succeeds,
the wielder of the weapon may make yet another strike, after which a new
Roll must be made, and so on.
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•••• Blood
Song of War
When the character begins to sing this frightening song of weapon blows,
bloodshed and courage - the very same song which some of the Viking Berserkers
sang with foam about their mouths and the taste of blood in their mouths
when they entered a fray - his Vitae flows varm and powerful in his throat,
before it leaves as invisible magickal vapours which find all friends and
true allies within range of hearing. The vapours and the battle song will
induce Berserker Rage into each and everyone of them (individuals may chose
to resist it. Roll Willpower against a Difficulty of 7).
System: In effect, this is a long-range
version of the Red Brew. The character starts
singing the Old Norse Battle Song, uses 2 Blood Points, and Rolls Singing
+ Stamina against a Difficulty of 8. Hereafter the song is in effect. Each
turn, the character must spend another 2 Blood Points to keep the power
in his voice (no Roll is needed), and is not himself affected by the song.
Those willing to enter the Berserker Rage will receive an extra attack/action,
+2 points worth of Strength, +2 points worth of Stamina and the ability
to ignore a number of Health Box Penalties equal to their Stamina. This
effect lasts as long as the singer continues his battle song and
the individual in Berserker Rage remains within range of hearing. Once
the effect wears off, the berserker will get a number of penalty dice to
all his Dice Pool equal to half the number of successes which were rolled
when the Blood Song of War was started. The period of time is equal in
hours to the initial number of successes rolled.
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••••• Call
Bifrost
This Power allows the character to call upon the Rainbow Bridge of
Bifrost which the Ases Gods used when they desired to travel on
foot to other realms. The knowledge of Bifrost's True Name in Ancient Norse
is a great secret, and only a very few know of it. The name is whispered
softly, and the rainbow bridge will begin to appear very shortly afterwards
(unless some denizen of Asgaard is using it, or the character has been
forbidden access by the ruling entity of Asgaard - the Ancient Methuselah
Braavalla), gliding down from the sky in all of its glorious colours.
Although it is transparent, the character will not fall through, and with
each step taken stardust falls from beneath his feet. Also, with each step,
the rainbow bridge draws a little back, and very soon the character will
have a vast gap between himself and the ground from which he entered Bifrost.
Although the character walks along the rainbow bridge, this is only
a part of the magick at work - he does not physically walk the distance
between Earth and the Umbral shadowrealm of Asgaard.
System: The character need only whisper
the True Name of Bifrost to make it appear. However, he has to pronounce
it correctly, and must make a Intelligence + Linguistics Roll against a
Difficulty of 10, and attain a complete success! True Names represent Great
Power, and to wield it, one need only be able to pronounce it correctly
- that is the magick of True Names!
Normally the rainbow bridge will only lead to Asgaard, but if the character
knows the exact location of another Umbral Realm he may perhaps
be able to make Bifrost obey his will, and take him there instead. In such
a case, the character rolls his Intelligence + Willpower against a Difficulty
of 10, and must come up with 5 successes! If he fails the ruling entity
of Asgaard will be made aware that an attempt has been made at forcing
Bifrost from its proper destination, which usually makes Him dissolve the
rainbow bridge, and leave the offending character in the Deep Umbra...
Even if the character arrives at Asgaard, he still has to pass Heimdal
the Watcher, and convince him that he should be allowed access to Asgaard.
If Heimdal is not satisfied with the character's motivations, he will cast
him into the Umbra!
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