Nameless Sorcery

Circles Initiated:
Terrestrial Circle Sorcery
Celestial Circle Sorcery
Shadowlands Circle Necromancy
Shaping Rituals

The Anointed is a blood mage just as much as a necromancer, and the ability to draw power from blood is something that has tainted her. For each level of lethal damage available to any one character within medium range that is able to bleed (including the necromancer herself), one additional necrosis is added to the shape necromancy action. The necromancer cannot gain more than (Essence x 3) necrosis per action through this ritual, and she may only tap into a wound a single time.

Love Is Pain
By meditating on his lost love, and taking the lash in hand, the sorcerer can offer up their misery to Mara. Gain (stamina+occult)/2  sorcerous motes. 1 lethal health level in payment.

Mind Scarred By Visions of Death
The sorcerer abides by an esoteric taboo or is victim to a delusional belief inspired by the glimpse of the void inside her mind, a Defining Derangement which cannot be removed or altered. If she works her delusions or taboo into the description of a stunt, she gains sorcerous motes equal to the stunt’s rating. If she is stunting the casting of her control spell, add two to the bonus. These motes last until the next time she sleeps, and can be spent towards any spell she casts. If the Derangement causes in-character hardship that would be sufficient to gain solar experience from the Flaw (p. 167), she gains 10 sorcerous motes, which last for the duration of the story. After the first time this bonus is awarded in a story, subsequent awards are lowered to the sorcerer’s (Essence).

Dark Paramour (Merit ••): Mara appears in the sorcerer’s dreams, feeding her with fragments of stolen souls. Once per story, the sorcerer’s player may declare that she is visited by Mara in a dream while sleeping. She does not recover Willpower from that sleep, but receives some significant benefit determined by the Storyteller—tutelage in a new spell in a single night, double 9s on all shape sorcery spells for the next day, the service of a First Circle demon as a gift from Mara, or something similar. She also wakes with a Minor Principle of “I take pleasure in death and suffering,” or strengthens that Intimacy if she already possesses it.

Sorcery: Terrestrial
Demon of the First Circle
Cost: Ritual, 2wp
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
The sorcerer conjures one of the least monsters of the Demon Realm into Creation, breaking and binding it to her will. This spell requires a ritual that begins at sundown, and ends at the stroke of midnight. A faint green glow traces out a rift between Creation and Hell, and a First Circle Demon of the sorcerer’s choice is drawn forth, howling with rage, fear, or sorrow. Demons summoned by this spell must be bound with an (Intelligence + Occult) roll against their Resolve. The sorcerer may choose to make the demon her personal slave for a year and a day, giving it a Defining Tie ofloyalty to her that cannot be weakened or altered by any means and setting its Resolve to 0 against any influence rolls she makes. Alternatively, she may assign it to complete a specific task—“Construct a tower using these plans,” “Murder Magistrate Yang,” “Dig a tunnel through this wall”—for as long as it takes to complete. Task-bound demons form a Defining Principle of “I must complete my task,” which is similarly impervious to tampering. On a failed binding roll, the sorcerer is unable to bind the demon, and must make a (Wits + Occult) roll against a difficulty of the demon’s Willpower to banish it back to Hell. If she fails, then the demon is unleashed, unbound, into Creation—and is most likely very angry at her.

Infallible Messenger
Cost: 5sm, 2wp
Keywords: None
Duration: Until message is delivered
The sorcerer shapes a small, six-winged messenger spirit to convey her words to another character. The spirit flies with immense speed, capable of crossing hundreds of miles in an hour or all Creation in less than a day—only the boundaries between realms of existence will stop it from delivering its missive. Upon arrival, the cherub is visible only to its intended target, to whom it can deliver a message of up to five minutes in length before dissipating. Sorcerers can convey social influence through the Infallible Messenger, but cannot normally use their Charms to enhance the roll.
A sorcerer who knows Infallible Messenger as her control spell may pay an additional point of Willpower to project her senses through the cherub’s own, allowing her to use Awareness and Investigation Charms while delivering the missive. Having this spell as her control will also cause a number of tells to begin manifesting in the sorcerer’s vicinity, even when the spell has not been cast. It may appear in murals or paintings that she owns, carven amongst the gargoyles of her residence, or briefly fluttering in the periphery of a mirror’s reflection.

Celestial Sorcery
Magma Kraken
Cost: 30sm, 1wp
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Calling to the Essence of fire and earth that roils deep beneath her, the sorcerer wills ten tentacles of lava to erupt from the ground, shaking the earth as they burst forward in torrents of molten stone. She designates where each appears, out to as far as long range from her. Together, these form the Magma Kraken.
It is rolled into battle with the sorcerer’s (Wits + Occult), and has a base Initiative equal to her Essence. As it erupts from the ground, any character who is at the point where a tentacle emerges must make a difficulty 2 (Dexterity + Athletics) roll to avoid it, or else be flung one range band away and knocked prone by the eruption.The Magma Kraken may act on its turn to make a withering or decisive attack, grapple an enemy, or wreak general havoc on the scenery. It uses the sorcerer’s (Intelligence + Occult + Essence) for all attack and feat of strength rolls, and each tentacle can strike out to short range from its location. If it becomes necessary for the kraken to make a roll for another action, such as opposing an enemy’s stealth attempt, its dice pool is equal to the sorcerer’s ([Relevant Attribute] + Occult + Essence). Magma Kraken tentacles have Parry and Evasion values of 5, and 10 points of soak.
• Withering attacks made by the Magma Kraken are treated as medium artifact weapons with the lethal, grappling, and reaching tags. If the kraken uses multiple tentacles to attack, it makes a single attack roll and divides the successes among all targets to determine who is hit, before rolling damage separately for each. Its baseStrength is equal to the sorcerer’s Essence rating.
• Decisive attacks add the sorcerer’s Essence to their base damage. If the kraken attacks multiple enemies, it makes one attack roll and does not divide those successes,but  instead divides its Initiative among each enemythat it  strikes to determine the raw damage of the attack. It must assign at least three points of Initiative toeach enemy.
• The kraken may only attempt to grapple a single enemy each turn, and receives a flat total of (five + sorcerer’s Essence) successes on the control roll. The kraken suffers  no penalties from grappling, but a tentacle being used to  clinch an enemy cannot make attacks against anyone else.
• Destroying scenery such as setting fire to vegetation, melting through stone walls, or uprooting statues counts as a feat of strength. The kraken is treated as having Strength 10 for determining the feats it may attempt, and doubles 7s on the roll. It may use multiple tentacles together to perform a feat with no penalty.

The Magma Kraken cannot be grappled or defeated with standard decisive attacks; destroying a tentacle instead requires a difficulty 5 gambit, stunted in a way that could reasonably disrupt a living pillar of molten stone. At the Storyteller’s discretion, attacks or hazards that affect an area or multiple targets and deal 5+ levels of damage can also destroy any tentacles within their range. Destroying a tentacle frees any character being grappled by it. If all ten of the kraken’s tentacles are destroyed, the spell ends. At the end of the scene, the tentacles or their broken remains harden into obsidian and remain fixed where they stand or lie.
A sorcerer who knows Magma Kraken as her control spell is forever chased by magmatic flame. An open fire curls into tentacles around her, or a torch flame licks out from its sconce to light her pipe. When she is angry, the walls or ground become blistered and hot, with faint tentacle shapes writhing in rising smoke. The sorcerer can use these effects to intimidate, set fires, melt minor obstacles and perform other similar stunts.

Distortion (Goal Number: 10): Distorting a Magma Kraken renders it incapable of perceiving and attacking the distorting sorcerer as well as all allies within close range of her (though this is of limited use if it is already grappling her). If this distortion renders the kraken incapable of perceiving any enemies at all, it will begin using its tentacles to lash out at random in hopes of striking a hidden foe.

Demon of the Second Circle
Cost: Ritual, 3wp
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Celestial sorcerers may call upon demons of the Second Circle, baleful spirits that serve the Yozis. The ritual to summon a Second Circle Demon is much like that described in Demon of the First Circle, save that it can only be performed on the night of the new moon (and then only once per lunar cycle), or once during one of the five black nights of Calibration. Instead of pulling the demon through a glowing green glyph, tongues of green fire trace out a mandala that is the demon’s name written in the alphabet of Hell, and it emerges from this circle at the sorcerer’s call.The roll to bind Second Circle Demons is the same as with First Circle Demons, but failure is more dangerous. If the sorcerer fails her (Intelligence + Occult) roll against the demon’s Resolve by three successes or more, then she is unable to banish the demon, and must contend with its wrath or wiles.


Shadowlands Circle Necromancy
Field Of Fell Dreams
Cost: 15n, 1wp
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Laying her palm on the ground at the spell’s climax, the caster scorches the earth with a black brand in the shape of her hand. Immediately afterward, hundreds of skeletal hands burst upward through the earth, stone or flooring to grab anyone present (except the caster), holding them with the strength of the dead. The necromancer rolls (Intelligence + Occult) against the Defense of every character standing on the ground within short range—friend or foe, material or immaterial. Those who fail at defending against the necromancer’s roll are immediately subjected to a grapple gambit (see Exalted Third Edition, page 200.) as hands grab them from below. This costs no Initiative to attempt. If at least one character fails to defend against the attack and becomes grappled, then the necromancer rolls (Willpower + Occult) with Essence automatic successes as a control roll against the targets’ (Strength + [Brawl or Martial Arts]) to determine how long the affected victims will be held. The necromancer suffers no penalty to her Defense and can perform flurries like normal since it is the spell and not the necromancer that is holding her victims. Each turn in which the grapple is maintained, the necromancer can choose between a savage, restrain, and release action. Her choice of action is applied to all affected targets. Any withering damage caused by a savage action is not gained by the necromancer, but she may gain one Initiative Crash bonus this way per round should at least one of her victims crash. A decisive savage action uses the necromancer’s (Essence + Occult + remaining rounds of control) in damage dice. Performing a decisive savage action ends the spell’s effects even if it deals no damage. This spell can only be cast once per scene unless the ground is fed with fresh corpses. At least five characters must die or a battle group must be reduced in Size for the spell’s reset condition to be met.
A necromancer with Field of Fell Dreams as her control spell may keep the spell from targeting allies in range. Additionally, she may single out targets for her savage, restrain, or release actions instead of being forced to pick one action for all targets.
As a drawback, sometimes not even the necromancer can escape her spell’s clutches. Undead hands often hold her as she sleeps. Should she make a botch in combat, hands appearing from the ground may render her prone or grappled at the Storyteller’s discretion.
Distortion (Goal Number: 5): Each successful distortion of the Field of Fell Dreams reduces the duration of the control for one
round for every targeted character. The opposing necromancer may also focus the distortion towards one of the spell’s victims, releasing him from its grasp. Being released this way does not in any way cancel the spell, though, and it may try to grab him again next round, using half of the necromancer’s original dice pool in an attempt. Should it grab him again, subtract one success for each round that target was previously held from the new control roll.

Summoned Beasties
Agata: The Beauteous Wasp
Essence: 2; Willpower: 6; Join Battle: 6 dice
Personal Motes: 70
Health Levels: -0/-1x3/-2x3/-4/Incap.
Speed Bonus: +3
Actions: Demon Lore: 6 dice; Flying maneuvers: 12 dice; Inspire: 6 dice; Resist Poison/Illness: 8 dice; Senses: 7 dice; Tracking: 5 dice
Appearance 5, Resolve 3, Guile 2
CombatAttack (Claw): 6 dice (Damage 14)
Attack (Sting): 5 dice (Damage 13 and poison when de-cisive, damage 2i/round, duration 5 rounds, -3 penalty). Agatae can only sting while airborne.
Combat Movement: 6 dice (12 when airborne)
Evasion 3 (5 while airborne), Parry 3
Soak/Hardness: 8/0
Merits
Shimmering Crystal Beauty: Anyone who looks upon the agata is treated as having a Minor Tie of wonder towards it for purposes of social influence rolls.
Vigorous Steed: The agata can bear two fully armored people on its back while flying at a speed of thirty miles an hour. It may use its Evasion in place of its Parry to protect a rider with a defend other action.
Offensive Charms
Principle of Motion (10m, 1wp; Reflexive; Instant; Essence 2): The agata moves with blinding speed, taking a flurry without the usual restrictions—it can flurry two of the same action if desired, and it ignores the usual pen-alties to dice pools and Defense.
Defensive Charms
Kaleidoscopic Dodge (5m, 3i; Reflexive; Instant; Essence 2): For a moment, the beauteous wasp seems to disinte-grate into rainbow brilliance, as though it were refracted through a prism, adding +2 Evasion against an attack. A successful dodge allows the agata to reflexively move one range band in any direction, if it wishes.
Jeweled Heart Allure (6m; Reflexive; One scene; Essence 2): The agata radiates beauty that dumbfounds even battle-hardened warriors, forcing characters to pay a point of Willpower before they can attack it in a scene unless they have an Intimacy that represents ruthless-ness, pitilessness, or a desperate reason to fight it that is greater than the Minor Tie created by Shimmering Crystal Beauty.
Mobility Charms
Wind-Stirring Wing Tempest (5m, 1i; Supplemental; Instant; Essence 1): The agata doubles 9s on a movement roll. If it is moving downward while airborne, it doubles 8s as well.
Miscellaneous Charms
Hurry Home (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): The demon fades away and vanishes on its next turn, drawn instantly to its summoner’s side. This Charm is unavail-able when the demon is unbound.
Materialize (35m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): The agata solidifies itself in a flash of prismatic light.
Measure the Wind (5m; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): The agata can discern the nature of anyone who rides it.

Mara, the Shadow-Lover,Demon of the Second Circle
Mara’s appearance changes with each visit to Creation. Sometimes she wears heavy wools and furs, at other times gauzy silks—green in the summer, of ruddy hues in the fall, or white in winter. Her skin may be pale or dark, her hair of any hue, her form old or young. But her face is always lovely to look upon, her eyes are always bright as sapphires, and her long skirts always conceal the hooves of a deer.Folk across the world tell tales of Mara. Some say she is a tree-spirit, for she favors Creation’s woodlands. But she is a demon, a seductress, visiting folk in the night and sapping their strength with arts of love learned in the se-raglios of Hell. Sometimes, at the height of passion, she draws forth a lover’s soul with a kiss. It emerges as some small living thing—such as a sparrow, frog, snake, bat, but-terfly, or even a swarm of insects—that she may bring back to her summoner for his pleasure.Mortals with dark destinies attract Mara’s attention. She takes such people as her lovers, but does not destroy them. Instead she feeds them stolen souls from her lips, strengthening them and giving them a fascination with cruelty and death.
Essence: 5; Willpower: 7; Join Battle: 6 dice
Personal Motes: 100
Health Levels: -0x2/-1x4/-2x6/-4/Incap.
Sample Intimacies
• Defining Principle: “I take pleasure in death andsuffering.”
• Major Tie: Lovers with dark destinies (Eager Interest)
• Minor Principle: “I am a creature of woodlands andkin to deer.”
• Minor Tie: Beautiful mortals (Loveless Attraction)
Actions: Demonic Lore: 10 dice; Disguise: 8 dice; Read Intentions: 6 dice; Senses: 6 dice; Shape Sorcery: 12 dice; Social Influence: 10 dice; Stealth: 9 dice
Appearance 5, Resolve 4, Guile 4
Attack (Unarmed): 12 dice (Damage 11)
Combat Movement: 6 dice
Evasion 4, Parry 5
Soak/Hardness: 7/0
Merits
Cult 2: Mara’s worship comes in part from infernalist cults in Creation and the lips of her paramours, but also from misguided humans who pray to her as a peaceful spirit of the woodlands. Martial ArtsMara is the creator of Black Claw Style, and knows all of its Charms (p. 453). Her nature as the icon of dark grace which the style emulates grants her the Mastery benefit of Charms with that keyword, although this is a true rarity even among martially powerful demons of her rank or higher.
Sorcery
Mara is a skilled sorcerer of the Sapphire Circle. Her control spells are Silent Words of Dreams and Nightmares and Im-penetrable Veil of Night. She knows all spells of the first two circles printed in this book (see Chapter Seven), save for those that summon elementals and demons, which she, as a spirit, is incapable of using. She has all the shaping rituals listed under “Bargain With Mara” (p. 467), although she takes souls using her own unique Charm, rather than with the method listed among the shaping rituals.Offensive Charms
Siphon Soul (10m, 4i; Simple; Instant; Decisive-only; Essence 5): Mara draws forth a mortal’s soul with her kiss. She may steal the soul of a sleeping character or anyone who will-ingly kisses her, or as a decisive gambit against an enemy in a grapple she controls, expending all rounds of control and adding them as bonus dice to her Initiative roll against a dif-ficulty equal to that character’s Resolve. A siphoned soul emerges in the form of a tiny creature that Mara swallows and can bring forth intact, either to nourish another with it using her Soul Feeding Charm or to return it to its original body, which remains alive but inanimate until it dies of de-privation. She may also devour souls to gain sorcerous motes from them, as per her shaping rituals. Once per scene.
Social Charms
Devil Seraglio Ways (15m, 1wp; Supplemental; Instant; Essence 5): Mara doubles 8s on a persuade roll to seduce a character or any influence roll that exploits a Tie of love or lust towards her, and treats her target as having Resolve 0 for determining how many bonus dice her Appearance adds. Handmaid of Dark Fates (5m; Supplemental; Instant; Essence 4): Mara may add three bonus successes on a per-suade roll to convince one of her lovers to take an action that will bring about death or suffering (whether directly or indirectly). Additionally, each time she has used Soul Feeding to benefit that character in the past imposes a -1 penalty on his Resolve against the roll.
Miscellaneous Charms
Hundred-Faced Shadow (5m; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): The Shadow-Lover can make significant changes to her humanoid form, altering her face, build, or apparent ethnicity, or shifting her age anywhere between 15 and 50. Her bright blue eyes and hooves always remain un-changed. If she uses this Charm to assist in disguising herself as another character, she cancels all penalties to do so. Alternatively, she may transform into a housecat (p. 560) or into a swirl of mist. While in mist form, she cannot attack or cast spells, but adds +3 Evasion against any attack not enhanced by magic. Hurry Home (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): Mara fades away and vanishes on her next turn, drawn instant-ly to her summoner’s side. This Charm is unavailable when she is unbound.
Materialize (50m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): Mara appears in a drift of seasonal leaves.Measure the Wind (5m; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): Mara can determine the nature of anyone she kisses.Soul Feeding (10m, 2wp; Simple; One month; Essence 5): Over a period of weeks, Mara nourishes a mortal with frag-ments of stolen souls. This grants the recipient improved traits as a training effect, depending on their existing level of competence. A peasant boy taken as a lover might gain dots of Attributes and Abilities; a mortal sorcerer who binds Mara for this service might learn new spells or gain dark powers as supernatural Merits. The recipient also gains a Major Principle of “I take pleasure in death and suffering.” Gathering souls and feeding them to the recipient occupies her for approximately eight hours per day, and she may only use this Charm on one recipient at a time.

Faceless Servant of Rage
(Excalibur Umbra)