Post by Phsycodelic on Jan 30, 2017 19:46:46 GMT
Wanga: Orisha's Fortune
Followers Of Set
Followers Of Set
Except for the path known as The Flow Of Ashé, Wanga paths require the expenditure of blood for activation. In addition, any time Wanga is invoked, be it a path or ritual, the wangateur must call upon the spirit appropriate to the intended effect. For instance, a wangateur invoking Lure of Flames might call on Chango, Alternatively, were she attempting to call upon the Path of Weather Control, she might invoke Agarou Tonerre, aloa of thunder.
In addition, Wanga possesses its own unique wet of tools, components and ritualistic items that must often be present for the magic to work. Not every ritual involves all of these tools, but the vast majority of them require at least a few. Listed below are the more common of Wanga's tools, once again, a bit of research on the players' part will turn up a wealth of additional material.
Asson: Used primarily in voudoun. This is a rattle wielded by the houngan or mambo, and is considered a magical and sacred object. It is normally constructed out of a gourd to which has been affixed a wooden handle, and is often decorated with such esoteric items as snake bones and bits of coral.
Ekwele: From the Santerfa faith, this is a thin chain measuring about 50 inches in length, and broken at regular intervals by one-and-a-half inch disks made from a tortoise shell. It is used in the practice of Ifa, a form of divination.
Ese: Also from Santerfa, the Ese are poetic verses used in the interpretation of Ifa. Babalawos often have hundreds of these committed to memory.
Farine: This flour used to trace the veves utilized in voudoun rituals.
Gris-gris: A gris-gris is a charm, talisman or any other small magic item. Many of the faiths refer to such charms as wangas; gris-gris is the voudoun equivalent.
Hounfour: A temple or structure used for ceremonies to the god of voudoun.
Kisengue: A human shinbone wrapped in black rags, this is a common component of Palo Mayombe ceremonies.
Ngana: A large iron cauldron filled with graveyard earth, bones, and sticks and other disturbing ingredients. It is one of the most important components of Palo Mayombe. (This term also refers to a priest or shaman of certain African religions, though it is never used in that context here.)
Peristyle: An open courtyard in which voudoun ceremonies are held. There is often, but not always, a hounfour located on the property.
Poteau Mitan: The pole that stands at the center of peristyle or hounfour. It is often carved or decorated, and represents the center of the universe and its connection with the spirit world. All dancing during the ceremony revolves around the poteau mitan.
Veve: Common to many of the Afro-Caribean faiths but most prevalent in voudoun, this is a symbolic design representing one of the Ioa (or other spirit). Veves are used as the focus of rituals, and serve as a temporary altar when a more permanent construct is unavailable. Although they can be found written or inscribed on all manner of surfaces, they are most commonly constructed by pouring flour on the ground during rituals.
Orisha's Fortune (Or Lou's Fortune, or Enkist's Fortune, depending on the wangateur allows the thaumaturge to manipulate the whim of luck, the vagaries of random chance. By spending his own blood in sacrifice, the wangateur beseeches the spirits to bring fortune to herself and her allies, and misfortune to his foes.
Orisha's Fortune follows most standard rules for Thaumaturgical paths. The blood point required cannot simply be spent, however; it must be physically shed by the wangateur when the power is activated, and many practitioners carry a small ritual blade on their person for this purpose. The wound need not cause any health levels of damage; it is the act of shedding vitae that captures the orisha's attention. Many wangateurs slice open a palm and symbolically fling the blood at their target, though this is by no means required.
(For those who are concerned about such things, the vitae cannot be retrieved by other thaumaturges for use against a character. The blood point is consumed by the magic seconds after it is spilled.)
The wangateur can target anyone in his line of sight.
Setite Sorcery botches, regardless of school, cause the sorcerer to acquire an intense photophobia. When exposed to extremely bright lights, the sorcerer must roll for Rötschreck against a difficulty of (4 + the sorcerer's Path rating). Setite lector-priests do not suffer this effect. [Rites Of The Blood - Page 132]
Social Responsibilities
Kindred or kine, you cannot just wake up one morning (or evening) and decide, "Today, I will become a houngan (or tata)." As with any position of authority in any other religion, it takes years of learning and initiation to become a priest of voudoun, Santeria. Palo Mayombe or any of the Wanga-practicing faiths. Many are the steps between a simple practitioner and a recognized master of mysteries.
It is relatively uncommon for a Kindred follower of an Afro-Caribbean religion to learn the secrets of Wanga without being initiated as a priest of the religion. Remember, Wanga is much a religious system as a form of Thaumaturgy, and like any religious secret, it is rarely taught to those who have not gone through the proper steps and initiations.
What does this mean for your Kindred wangateur? For stargers, it can mean years - often as much as a decade or two - to reach this level of initiation.
Houngans and mambos, santeros and santeras, babalawos, tatas and yayas - they're all religious leaders, which means they have certain social obligations demanded of them by their community and by their own beliefs. In communities where these religions are the norm, the local priest is expected to lead ceremonies on a regular - sometimes weekly if not daily - basis. Many in his community seek his aid, his advice, even his powers of divination. He is expected to his magics to help those around him, to protect them from evil spirits and the influence of malice, or evil spells.
This can cause real problems for those of the vampiric persuasion. Leaving aside the fact that most such events, petitions and requests come during the hours of daylight, bear in mind that such a character is constantly standing on the very edge of the Masquerade. Even if you've managed to explain away your nocturnal leanings, what happens if you frenzy in the midst of a ceremony? Many such ceremonies involve the spilling of blood (albeit animal blood). Between the scent of vitae, the pounding drums, the pulsating pass of humanity dancing their ritual dances - the situation is absolutely ripe with disastrous potential.
There are cultures in which the use of magic isn't inherently a Masquerade breach, where magic is almost common - but most Western princes aren't going to see it like that. You can argue all you want that it wasn't really breaking the Masquerade to use Thaumaturgy in front of witnesses because they were expecting you to do magic, but the local sheriff or archon is still likely to stake first and decide later if she should bother asking questions.
At the same time, such a position of authority offers its own advantages. Herd, Allies, Contacts, even a few dots of Fame or Influence, are all easily justifiable - if not mandatory - for such an exalted post. Your position as a religious leader places all sorts of demands on you, but it opens up an equally large host of opportunities. Don't hesitate to make the most of them.
Some few wangateurs do not bear these responsibilities. Perhaps they have left such concerns behind them after years of practice, or perhaps they serve the spirits in some other capacity. The Storyteller should not feel obliged to include these social aspects if they're going to negatively impact the story.
Ritual Practice
Wanga is often a group activity. Although most of its rituals can be performed alone, they prove easier and more effective when cast as part of a ceremony involving numerous participants. Only the primary caster need follow the steps of the ritual itself; all others are involved primarily in the drumming, singing and dancing common to these religious. These other participants need not be wangateurs, or even Kindred, but they must be true believers in an Afro-Caribbean faith, they must be willing participants (no Dominated dancers, though thralls subjected to blood bonds are common among certain less-savory wangateurs), and they must know the true purpose of the ritual. If the number of participants is at least twice the level of the ritual, the difficulty of the Intelligence + Occult roll is reduced by 1.
Not the downside to this: Rituals invoked this way take substantially longer to cast. Although the standard casting time for a ritual is five minutes per level, the casting time for Wanga rituals that are cloaked in these ceremonies is half an hour per level. Of course, nothing forces the wangateur to make use of other participants if she's in a hurry.
[ 1 ] Sheltering Hand ( XXX - Page X )
At this level, the wangateur can use Orisha's Fortune to prevent catastrophe. The subject is granted just a bit of extra fortune; she may still fail, but she finds disasters occurring far less frequently.
System: The wangateur chooses her subject - either herself or an ally. The next action attempted by the subject is less likely to botch; the number of 1's rolled must exceed the caster's successes for a botch to occur. Thus, if the player rolls 3 successes when invoking Sheltering Hand, his next roll must come up with at least four 1's (and no successes) to be considered a botch. Botches avoided in this fashion still carry all the results of normal failure; this power prevents disaster, but it cannot turn a failure into a success. It applies only to the next action taken by the subject, or for the first turn if the action is extended. If the roll to invoke this power indicates a botch, the subject suffers the opposite effect; every 1 rolled by the player counts as an added botch on the subject's own action.
[ 2 ] Fortune's Blessing ( XXX - Page X )
The wangateur requests the orisha's aid for herself or an ally. Luck is with her; tasks become simpler and less likely to fail and the recipient may even find herself capable of feats that would normally prove too difficult to perform.
System: The specific task – hacking, driving, shooting or any other mundane action – must be declared when the power is invoked. For the duration of the scene, the recipient finds the difficulty of the specified task lowered by 1 (to a minimum of 4).
Multiple uses of this power are not cumulative, nor can a poor roll be superceded or replaced by a better one. Any attempt to use it on someone already under its influence automatically fails.
[ 3 ] Fortune's Curse ( XXX - Page X )
The reverse of Fortune's Blessing, this power allows the wangateur to inflict minor misfortune upon an enemy, making a single task more difficult and likely to fail.
System: The caster must declare a specific sort of action - brawling, sneaking or the like - when the power is invoked. The target of the spell finds his difficulty increased by 1 (maximum 9) when attempting that action, this power lasts for the scene.
This power is not cumulative, and should be considered a failure if used on someone already under its influence.
[ 4 ] Fortune's Favor ( XXX - Page X )
The wangateur calls upon the spirits to perform some truly hefty twisting of the laws of probability. Blows that should land, contests that clearly favor the opposition - all seem to shift inexplicably in the favor of the wangateur.
System: At the moment of casting, the caster must choose a specific individual against whom this power operates. Once this power is invoked, the wangateur is protected by an effect that seems to combine aspects of the previous two powers. All of the target's roll are at +1 difficulty (maximum 10). All of the caster's rolls are at -1 difficulty (minimum 4), but only when in direct opposition to the target (attack rolls, dodges and contested actions). Fortunes Favor lasts for a number of turns equal to the wangateur's successes.
The caster cannot use Fortune's Favor while under the effects of Fortune's Blessing, nor can she use it against anyone already influenced by Fortune's Curse.
[ 5 ] Smiting Hand ( XXX - Page X )
A truly nasty magic, Smiting Hand sets the power of the orishas directly against a foe, transforming almost any attempted task into a catastrophic failure.
System: Every success achieved by the caster becomes a "phantom botch" that the target must overcome on his next roll. Thus, if the caster achieves 3 successes, the target's next roll is considered to have 3 extra dice that all came up 1. Furthermore, any failure while under the influence of this power is considered a botch, rather than a mere failure. For example, if the aforementioned victim rolled 10, 7, 3, 2 and 2, that would normally be a failure - the phantom 1's cancel out the 7 and 10. Because of the power of Smiting Hand, however, the result is a botch even though successes were rolled. The Storyteller is encouraged to have such botches result in truly catastrophic results, even as compared to "normal" botches; those who threaten the favored of orishas deserve whatever happens to them.
