The Soul Jar, the Black Book, and the Fallen Stars

In what little has survived and is known of zebra mythology, the stars are in reality powerful creatures beyond our understanding, capable of inflicting either good or ill on those who make bequests of them. They are variously depicted as tricksters and as beings of unattainable power, and often they are depicted as malevolent. The fallen stars specifically are referred to as terribly malevolent beings of immense power, corrupted by the void of space and turned black with pride, arrogance, hatred and suffering. In their pain they’ve been driven to madness and unbridled fury, and they actively work towards spreading their suffering to others.

The fallen stars have several manifestations in zebra lore, many of which deeply involve other races (ponies in particular) or can be traced back to documented historical events. Perhaps the most compelling evidence of their power is the existence of Starmetal, a silvery blue or green hued metallic substance which resonates only at a single magical frequency and, as a result, has a wide array of useful and unusual magical properties. This metal was said to be one of the primary components of Nightmare Moon’s armor, and during the war was used, among many other things, as a terrifically deadly type of ammunition. Starmetal is inherently toxic in ways that defy medical magics and technology; zebra associate it with death, decay, and bloodthirsty actions.

It is widely believed by zebra that the stars curse those who come into contact with too much starmetal, especially items crafted from it. The only noteworthy zebra clan to oppose this belief is the Starkatteri, who hold the distinguished title of “clan least trusted by every other clan;” It is from the Starkatteri that all knowledge of zebra necromancy originates.

Based on inferences from the mythologies of several other tribes, the Starkatteri were said to have been descended from the survivors of a great calamity that befell an ancient zebra city. In their pride and arrogance, this city sought to harness the powers of the stars, summoning and trying to bind one of them for their own benefit. The city was destroyed, and most of the survivors driven mad by the star’s corruption. The survivors were plagued with horrible nightmares, driven to do terrifying things against their will out of sheer insanity and depravity. Those who remained sane codified the oldest known spells in the necromantic tradition, in a vain quest to use the same magics the stars had taught them to escape their terrifying influence.

The most noteworthy of these ancient spells is known as the soul jar, a method developed by the first necromancers as a means of trying to prevent the fallen stars from rending the souls from their very bodies and torturing them for eternity. This spell is particularly noteworthy mostly because it forms the basis for more than half of the other spells that still survive for the necromantic tradition, and with good reason – by perverting the laws of spiritual immortality and immutability, it is its own means of preservation.

The soul jar in its most basic form takes the soul of a living creature and places it in an object; these objects gain a sort of sentience, and though the process tends to drive the soul insane in many cases, the object is rendered completely and totally indestructible.

This has led to the creation of so-called ‘black books,’ tomes and grimoires of necromantic knowledge and power that are themselves the objects of soul-jar spells. These books are all undeniably ancient, the souls trapped within them warped and usually malevolently insane. All documentation on them shows the books actively seeking to corrupt their bearers, whether through the presentation of spells that can do what a given character needs (though omitting or minimizing the true cost) or influencing their behavior through their uncanny ability to pierce into the subconscious and dreams. Black books are capable of putting the knowledge of how to use certain spells right into a character’s mind, given enough proximity and the right motivation to do so.

A small number of necromantic spells have been observed throughout the wasteland, and are outlined below; all of them are usable by any race with magic as a racial ability, regardless of a character’s individual spellcasting ability. They need only to be taught the knowledge by a black book or similar source of information. Not all black books will have the same spells, and what spells a black book will reveal to any character who reads it are ultimately the decision of the GM. Casting any of these spells often appears to have no cost (and usually only takes a single action), but it goes without saying that if your characters end up having to use too many of these spells, Celestia help you…

BLACK BOOK SPELLS

Agony –Channels magical electricity into a target, activating all of their pain receptors at once. This totally disables them for 1d4 rounds and deals 1 wound to all locations (flying targets are rendered incapable of flight). Despite the incredible pain it inflicts, this spell does not (and cannot) physically cripple or kill its targets, as that would prevent the prolongation of their suffering – the wounds dealt are not dealt every round, and wounds dealt by this spell cannot move a character past their crippled or maimed threshold (simply do not deal wounds to areas at the threshold if it would do so).

When cast, the target and cast must make opposed rolls, the target using either END or INT (but not both) against the caster’s targeting Magic roll. If they successfully resist, the target is able to fight through the pain and only takes a 1 MFD step penalty on all actions for the spell’s duration, but is still able to act. Failures are unable to act for the duration. If the caster wins by more than 2 MFD steps, then the target also suffers one additional wound to the head and torso for each round the spell continues to torture them, in addition to being immobilized and rendered unable to act through the pain.

Successful casts provoke fear checks (usually MFD ¼) in all characters and sentient creatures within earshot as a result of the screams this spell invariably generates.

Ancestor’s Blood –This spell awakens the very blood that runs through a target’s veins, revealing their full ancestry to the caster as implicit knowledge. Precisely how it analyzes the blood of the subject is unknown, as is the method by which the knowledge is conveyed to the caster.

Blood Cast – Automagically stabilizes a character who is suffering from bleeding wounds. The wounds are immediately clotted magically, forming a sort of cast around their body. This cast has a DT equal to 5x the number of wounds a character has suffered.

Blood-Iron Swords –Forcibly removes the iron from a large quantity of blood (at least two ponies or zebras worth) in order to magically form it into a pair of devastatingly sharp swords. Unlike the Sword of Blood, these swords cannot serve as a vector for disease, and once they are formed they no longer require magic to maintain their shape. They use the same stats as the Zebra Officer Sword. If no blood is readily available, this spell will maim or kill (usually the latter) the nearest creatures that are not the caster in order to obtain the raw ingredients it requires.

Call Star – A complex, highly ritualistic spell requiring a potentially dozens of casters and possibly involving blood sacrifice, this spell calls upon a star to come down from the heavens and provide the caster with power. Many versions of this ritual spell exist, ranging from totally deranged and horrifically bloody and violent to comparatively tame circles of prayers for aid. It is known that this spell was performed at least once in ancient zebra history, and the results of the star’s successful summoning brought forth a great cataclysm that destroyed much of ancient zebra society.

Curse– A curse is a funny thing. Not funny in any way that would make anypony laugh, but funny in that there’s such a wide array of variation in what makes a spell a curse, per se. The only things that make something a curse are its duration – permanent, though usually removable with some variety of specialized technique – and the perception of its effects by the target -- a curse is always bad, even if it might not seem that way at first. The specific trappings of a curse – how it manifests, what it does, etc.—can vary. All black books are unique, and most won’t carry the same selection of curses between individual readers, or even from reading to reading! One might have a curse to turn a particularly racist pony into a zebra. Another might turn a pony into a horrible beast after the sun sets. The cure for a curse is equally highly variable, and often specifically difficult for a character bearing the curse to perform. Truly powerful curses may not even have a permanent cure. Curses are often the focal point of individual stories, and are a central part of many tales in zebra folklore.

This spell is a catch-all for negative permanent or semi-permanent effect spells, and should be used with GM discretion. Giving a character the ability to curse a fellow party member at will is often not a good decision; instead, consider that the black book can often temporarily impart specific knowledge to further its own insidious goals. Also, spells like this can be exceptionally useful in the hands of non-player characters…

Drain Magic – One of the oldest pieces of necromantic power, this dark magic allows the wielder to rob any living creature (or magical organism) of its magical energies. The process leaves the victim totally powerless and physically weakened, while simultaneously adding their power to that of the dark magician.

The victim is left totally without magic – unicorns won’t even possess minor telekinesis – but all other races will find that their unique skills have left them as well. Pegasi and griffins will no longer be able to fly, and zebra will no longer be able to perform alchemy or rituals. Earth ponies will lose their connection with the earth, draining them of their strength and stamina. While drained, the cutie mark of the victim is gone, and they lose access to their unique talents (a -15 roll penalty to tag skills) and suffer a -2 semi-permanent penalty to END and STR (a temporary penalty for the purposes of applying it to a character) AND a -1 penalty to all attributes affected by their racial attribute bonus.

This drain effect will only end if their magic is returned. This can happen one of two ways – if this spell’s caster dies, or if they deign to return the powers they’ve stolen. If they decide to return their stolen magic voluntarily, they must make use of the Transfer Power spell to return it to its original owner (though they could just as easily give it to somepony else). If they die or are otherwise destroyed, the magic will flow back randomly and in uncontrolled ways. Some victims might get their power back, some won’t, and some will receive the magic of another instead of their own. When magic on this level is uncontrolled, it is impossible to fully predict what the consequences might be…

The benefits of draining another creature or character’s magic are obvious – not only does it increase the strength and stature of the thief (+1 D/W and receive the racial attribute bonus of the drained target as a permanent attribute bonus), but it also increases their raw magical ability. For every drained victim capable of casting magic of their own, the thief gains a 1 MFD step bonus to all spell casting magic rolls, and adds that victim’s strain pool and spell casting knowledge to their personal repertoire.

Drain Talent – Jealous of another pony’s special talent? Don’t be; your good friend the black book can get you all that you desire and more. This spell allows a pony to remove the special talent of another, permanently, and keep it as your own (or, if you prefer, to give it to someone else). The drained pony (or zebra) suffers a semi-permanent -1 MFD step penalty on all willpower rolls and a similarly semi-permanent -15 roll penalty to their tag skills. If the pony had a cutie mark spell, they lose the ability to cast both it and any derivative spells. These penalties can be removed only if that pony re-earns their cutie mark; the replacement cutie mark doesn’t have to be for the same ability, and as a result may not restore access to any cutie mark spell or derivative spells. Characters without cutie marks are immune to the effects of this spell.
The pony who drained the cutie mark suppresses their own special talent (if they have one), and gains a semi-permanent +10 roll bonus to the tag skills of the pony whose special talent they’ve just stolen. If the cutie mark they’ve stolen had a spell associated with it and they are capable of performing that type of magic, then they also gain the knowledge of how to cast that spell.

Enervate – Enervation is a horrific phenomenon caused by the rapid vibration of starmetal at a particular magical frequency. Living tissues and healing magics exposed to enervation for extended periods suffer from rapid and often painful degeneration. This spell creates or strengthens fields of enervation in the nearby area, and requires (usually) a piece of starmetal to use as its focus. Enervation has a distinctly horrific effect on the souls of the recently deceased.

Fate Weave –This chanted ritual calls upon the power of the stars to fulfill ambitions and change fates. It makes a pact between the caster or a selected target or group of targets and the stars themselves, guaranteeing a specific outcome – power, success, etc. – to the target or targets to long as they fulfill their part of the bargain. What their part must be is up to the stars themselves.Beware the fickle and mercurial nature of the stars – the deals they make cannot be broken (or often even fulfilled) without dire consequence.

Gift– Allows the caster to directly gift knowledge to a single target. This knowledge can be almost anything, including spells or otherwise incommunicable ideas.

Hemokinesis – Ever seen all of the blood removed from a creature while it was still breathing? Ever wanted to try doing it yourself? This spell manipulates blood on a level that puts even the most sophisticated telekinesis users to shame. Let the karma loss begin. For Reference: Average sized Alicorns have about 9 gallons of blood. Average sized ponies have about 5.5 gallons. Most living creatures cannot survive a loss of more than 1/3 their total blood volume. The More You Know!

Hemorrhage – This spell reduces a target opponent’s natural healing rate while increasing blood flow, causing them to more rapidly bleed out during combat. If a target character or creature is wounded or becomes wounded during that round (and has blood or some other vital fluids – this is an important requirement), then that character takes one wound of bleed damage to every location that is wounded. This is an ongoing effect, dealing damage at the beginning of the character or creature’s next turn, before they act. Each layer of overglow makes this effect last an additional round.

Inspiration Manifestation – After reading this spell out of a black book it flows into a character’s mind, allowing the reader to literally create any physical thing they can imagine, instantly. This includes altering existing things – up to and including living characters and creatures! The spell cannot turn living creatures into inanimate objects or kill them directly, and altering a living creature or character prompts a willpower roll for that character to maintain their original personality in their new form. Failure on the willpower roll will result in their personality being overwritten – bad day for them, but as far as their new consciousness knows they’ve always been as they are.

Note: Objects infused with starmetal, moonstone, or necromantic magics are not able to be affected by this spell, though ponies under the influence of the spell will not notice this, despite any physical evidence to the contrary presented to them. Strain is not consumed.

Every time they create something, the caster must roll Willpower (intelligence or charisma, take the better of the two), against MFD 1. Each time they alter or create an item the MFD increases in difficulty by one step. If they fail, they are consumed with the desire to project the image of their thoughts on everything around them – literally, to make the world as they want it, regardless of the feelings of others. At that point the player should be acting as if under the influence of a psychosis centered on irrational personal wish fulfillment and their personal world-view. If a GM deems that a player is not behaving irrationally enough while under the effects of the spell, they may have to commandeer the character to ensure that such behavior takes place (players, you’ve been warned).

The spell’s effects on the caster’s mind are undone if a close friend confronts them about any of the irrational creations or alterations they’ve made. When the spell’s effects are removed, the caster suffers retrograde amnesia regarding all of the events that have occurred since they first read the spell out of the book. All the things they’ve created or modified are unaffected.

Magical Blight –Places blight on the magic of another, usually manifesting as some sort of corporeal alteration. In unicorns, this might take the form of some sort of obstructive growth on the horn. In zebra it might manifest as being struck temporarily dumb.This blight prevents all spellcasting or magic use while in effect. It is difficult, if not impossible to dispel, though powerful restorative magics can remove the effect of the blight with repeated castings. It is normal for those affected by the blight to be disoriented by its presence, or caused pain by its ongoing effects.

Never Born –Ever wished you were never born? Well, your good friend the black book is happy to oblige you.This spell erases all memories of the caster from every pony they’ve ever interacted with, and undoes any significant effect they’ve had on any location, ever. Effectively, it makes it so that a character has never existed.

Each pony’s life touches so many other lives. When she isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't she? Remember, Pip: nopony is a failure who has friends.

Shadow Form –Assume the form of an ethereal shadow, allowing you to travel through realms unseen. While In this form, the target is granted a 4 MFD step non-magical stealth field modifier while in shadow. It also allows access to a number of other abilities, such as access to shadow magic (which will be discussed more in depth in book II), and the ability to warp between shadows within 40’, similar to the bat pony Shadowflash ability but limited by ambient light.

Siphon– As the life force of your enemies weakens, your own grows stronger! This spell drains the life out of opponents within close proximity (5’) and provides it to the caster or another target nearby (within 5’). Each time it is cast, the target (this can target the caster if so desired) suffers 2d4 wounds to the torso, and the caster (or their designated recipient within 5’ of the target) heals that many wounds. If the healing recipient is unwounded, each wound of ‘overhealing’ converts to a temporary +1 STR and CHA bonus that lasts 1d4 hours. As with healing potions, the healed wounds are healed from the most injured locations first. This spell can restore maimed limbs and even remove chronic injuries and disease. Literally the only things it cannot heal are cyborgs (you can try, but expect a messy result as the cybernetics are forced out through the skin and other orifices). While this could probably be used for some extremely effective healing, and maybe even to save lives, don’t you really just want to see what happens when you suck the life-force out of your opponents?

State of Virtue –This spell is generally cast into a reflective surface of some kind. When gazing into the reflective surface, it reveals the onlooker’s virtue. It cannot determine the specific virtue of the target character, but it helps to visually reveal things about that character’s nature that are true, even if the character won’t admit them to themselves.

Sword of Blood – Makes a melee weapon out of coagulated and magically hardened blood. May serve as a vector for disease depending on whose blood it is made of. If there is no source of freely available blood (such as from a fresh untreated wound or a recently deceased creature or character), will use the caster’s own blood. The sword functions identically to a Blade of Equestria, though it cannot be sundered or broken by enemy weapons fire, and must be magically maintained.

Soul Jar – This spell was originally devised by zebra shamans as a way of preserving their life energy forever. It worked. Sort of. By placing the soul into an inanimate object, they successfully prevent it from being entrapped by a fallen star. Of course, there are numerous downsides to placing a portion of a living creature’s soul within an object, most of which are not well known or understood (and are certainly not going to be written out in this section, or probably even in this document!). Items used as a soul jar, either full or partial, tend to be indestructible and possess numerous unusual qualities (sentience usually being among them).

As far as it is currently known, there is no way to place a soul into a living vessel, regardless of whether or not that vessel already has a soul.

Soul Split – Takes a single individual’s soul and divides it, usually between their body and one or more container items (soul jars). As long as at least some portion of the soul remains in the original host’s body, the body will be able to continue to live. The non-animate items used for the other portions of the soul gain a limited and highly variable subset of the unusual properties associated with a soul jar item. All items that contain even a small portion of a living creature’s soul (barring living creatures themselves) are indestructible. Characters missing portions of their soul have not been shown to act significantly differently, though it can be imagined that such a thing might occur.

Soul Rend – This necromantic spell slowly tears the soul out of a single target over a period of 3d4 hours. The pain is excruciating, and unless countered appropriately the target will invariably die after their soul is fully removed. There is no known appropriate counter or prevention for this curse.

Overwrite Soul – Takes a portion (up to the size of a whole soul) of a creature or character’s soul and overwrites it with the soul (or a portion of soul of the same size) of another creature or character, effectively erasing the original portion. It is unknown how this affects the copied soul, or what happens to the soul information that was overwritten.

Copy Soul – Creates a copy of an existing soul or fragments thereof. This spell is usually used in conjunction with other soul alteration spells, as it requires that there be something to copy the soul onto (such as a ‘blank’ or a specially crafted soul jar).

Star Curse – A curse is inflicted upon an individual (If you’re casting this, it’d likely be upon your target) by the stars. It usually affects a character’s luck, though it can come in many forms. Often the curses’ effects may actually be a boon disguised as a punishment, or vice versa. Note that in general the stars are tricksters who desire to see characters learn from their mistakes and punish those they deem unworthy – the curses they give tend to reflect this attitude.

Remove Soul – Immediately remove a target character or creature’s soul, rendering their body into a catatonic husk. Cutie marks and glyph marks disappear as a result. (The soul is the source of magic.) This can also be used to destroy soul jars.

Nightmare – Magically twists the subconscious of a sleeping or otherwise unconscious character to prevent them from having restful sleep. Their dreams are filled with horrors, including their worst fears. This spell differs from Dream Invader in that characters suffering under the effects of this spell naturally recover magical strain half as fast (where applicable), and cannot heal wounds via rest until the spell’s effects are dispelled, in addition to any penalties that may be imposed by the sleep deprivation that the spell necessarily entails. The spell’s effects are permanent after casting until dispelled. Casting this spell a second time on the same subject can be used to dispel it.

True Reflection –When cast on a reflective surface, shows any that look upon that surface their true self. This true self is often a reflection of that character’s virtue, or of their idealized self. It tends to be quite upsetting to most viewers. Those who look on the mirror in the presence of others will find that only they can see their true self as the mirror reveals; the mirror or other reflective surface only reveals the picture to the character to whom the reflection belongs. When cast on a caster, it allows them to see others for what they truly are, instead of seeing them as they physically appear. If cast on a living creature, it may lead them to a break from reality, and possibly with sanity as well.

Waking Madness– Drives a character mad with delusions and fears of the worst possible things they can imagine. This twists their conscious perception of the world around them, trapping them in a living nightmare where their worst fears are realized, one by one. They cannot perceive normal reality while under the effects of this spell; onlookers may see their eyes change color.

Waking Nightmare – This spell forces the target to undergo psychological torment for an indeterminately long period of time. It accesses their subconscious mind and sends them into an almost sleep-walk like state, wherein they suffer through all of their greatest fears until they are eventually driven completely insane. While suffering under the effects of this spell, characters spend both actions in each round acting out their fears while totally unaware of their actual physical surroundings. They must roll fear rolls MFD 1.5 every round, and react appropriately. Characters suffering under the effects of this spell do not recover magical strain, and cannot heal wounds via rest until the spell’s effects are dispelled, in addition to any penalties that may be imposed by the sleep deprivation that the spell necessarily entails. The spell’s effects are permanent after casting until dispelled. Casting this spell a second time on the same subject can be used to dispel it. Each layer of magical overglow allows this spell to target one additional character, which must also be within the line of sight of the caster.

Windigo’s Breath – Summons a spirit of unkindness to fill the air with frigid feelings and mistrust, freezing all it comes into contact with solid. The breath exhaled when the spell is cast turns into the form of a Windigo, freezing everything in a 15’ wide path moving away from the caster that dissipates after 30’. Ambient temperature drops by up 1d4x5 °C. Those affected are frozen solid, and must roll END MFD ¼. Critical successes are not frozen; both successes and failures cannot move or shoot, but can still use magic. They will die within 5 combat rounds (thirty seconds) if they do not receive appropriate medical attention (such as being thawed out). Critical failures die instantly.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 878