A modern variation on a powerful Giovanni family warding spell, this Ceremony is kept strictly within the Hecata clan. Intended to severely disable or halt attacks or espionage from other necromancers, this ward pulls tight the veil in such a way that forces any wraith who attempts to cross it to become momentarily stretched between the worlds of the living and the dead.
Prerequisite Power: Where the Shroud Thins
Ingredients: Powdered bones, salt, a steel chain long enough to encircle the desired area, the caster’s vitae, a severed human finger, a metal basin.
Process: The steel chain is laid along the circumference of the desired area, meeting and leaving no gaps. Mixing the ingredients into the basin, the caster dips their hands into the mixture, coating up to the wrist, and applies the mixture by hand along the chain at equidistant intervals. With a final sigil located in the center of the chain, the Ceremony is complete. Wraiths who attempt to cross the chain are dragged into a horrid momentary echo of physical form, often in states of torturous wailing terror. Wraiths so affected are temporarily visible to any casual onlooker, leading to terrifying tales of the appearance of screaming ghosts.
System: This Ceremony costs three Rouse Checks instead of the usual one, but the caster does not make their Ceremony roll until a wraith attempts to cross the chain, triggering its effect. This Ceremony is strongest when fresh, but lasts a year and a day after it’s performed. If the ward is triggered more than seven days after it was performed, subtract two dice from their pool. The wraith rolls their Willpower in a contest against the caster and if the necromancer succeeds, they inflict torturous pain upon their victim. The wraith suffers three points of Superficial Health damage. For as long as they remain within the boundary, they lose two dice to all Willpower rolls and rolls to use their supernatural abilities. On a critical win from the caster, they may choose to bar the wraith from leaving the boundary until they pass a Difficulty 4 Willpower test, which they may attempt once per scene. The other parameters of this warding Ceremony are identical to Blood Sorcery Warding circles (see Vampire: The Masquerade, p. 275). If the wraith is possessing an individual or object when they cross the chain, the same effects apply, and the unlucky individual suffers 3 Superficial Willpower damage as the wraith is violently forced from them.