Cult Sorcery

Cult Sorcery

Situated between pagan witchcraft and Eldritch lore, these spells represent “classic” forms of human magic such as Enochian keys, astrology, and necromancy. All these spells have roots in the Mythos, but none involve direct contact with Old Ones or ancient races. Some were acquired by the Covenant during their time in the Channel Islands, and share similarities with witchcraft. The difference is these so-called sorcerots draw their power from the Green Flame rather than a witch’s relationship with the natural world.

Credits
Some of these spells are unique to White Leviathan, and some are variations of standard spells found in the “Grimoire” of the Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, and assume the players have access to those descriptions. Those marked with an asterisk are adapted from spells found in Chaosium’s Grand Grimoire of Cthulhu Mythos Magic. Some of the sorcerots I devised for White Leviathan have been purchased by Chaosium for use in future resources; specifically Binding Oath, Main de Glorie, and Vincula Sanguinis. This material is copyrighted 2021 by Chaosium, and used with permission.

Binding Oath

• Cost: 1 Power percentile. 10 magic points/person
• Casting time: 3 rounds

Binding Oath creates a compulsion to keep an oath no matter the cost. The oath must be reasonably achievable, and cannot be expressly suicidal. For instance, a person may swear to raid a tomb or assassinate a sitting senator; but cannot vow to fly to the moon or set themselves on fire. However, they may agree to a fatal consequence if they fail: “I swear to keep this secret under penalty of death” is a valid Binding Oath. Prior to enacting the spell, the caster must invest a talisman with 10 magic points for each person the oath is intended to bind, and only one investiture may be performed each day. Up to one hundred people may be bound by a single oath. Upon charging the talisman with this energy, it must be permanently be sealed by spending 1 Power percentile.

In order to cast Binding Oath, the talisman must be visible to everyone the sorcerer intends to bind. It is not necessary for the targets to understand the purpose of the talisman, or to realize they are participating in a magic ritual. However, if the targets know they are taking place in a Binding Oath, the spell is automatically successful. The caster clearly states the oath, and incites every oath-taker to swear no less than three times. They may also be induced to drink upon the oath, shed their own blood, or partake in human sacrifice. Upon completion of the ritual, the caster must win an opposed Power roll against each individual oath-taker. If the target has been induced to drink, a +1D10 bonus die is awarded to the caster’s roll. If the target has shed his own blood, another +1D10 bonus die is awarded. If the oath-taker willingly partook in an act of human sacrifice—everyone stabbed the victim once, drank the victim’s blood, dined upon his flesh, etc.—no Power roll is needed, and success is automatic. If the roll fails, the oath-taker is not bound by the oath, and the talisman has no power over him.

A successful Binding Oath is not viewed as an alien compulsion, but a vital and personal goal shared by the oath-taker himself. This sense of ownership becomes increasingly internalized over time, and is only called into question by tremendous adversity: imminent death, financial ruin, causing the death of a loved one, and so forth. Only then may a target attempt to break the Binding Oath. The oath-taker must make an opposed Power roll against the caster. A success breaks the Binding Oath, but triggers a 1D6 Sanity loss. Failure to break the oath costs 1D8 Sanity points and brings a crippling sense of shame. Only one attempt to break a Binding Oath may be made each week. If the talisman is destroyed, everyone affected by the Binding Oath is allowed an immediate roll to break the spell, with a +1D10 bonus die and no penalties to Sanity. From that point on, attempts to break Binding Oath cause no loss of Sanity.

Coeur de Chêne (Heart of Oak)

• Cost: 7 Power percentiles
• Casting time: 7 Months

Coeur de Chêne is a powerful ward placed upon sailing ships to safeguard them from harm. It requires an actual human heart, which must be carefully mummified across the space of seven lunar months, each cycle of the moon requiring a different mixture of herbs and treatments. Each of these “treatments” necessitates the permanent investiture of 1 Power percentile; although these needn’t come from the same donor, and the donor doesn’t have to be willing! The resulting organ is inscribed with talismanic symbols believed to date from the Phoenicians. This heart must be secreted somewhere onboard a ship, confined inside a silver-lined container. If the heart belongs to someone important to the ship’s captain or mate, it’s believed to be more efficacious. As long as the heart remains hidden, the ship is protected—although the exact form of this protection varies depending on the incident. Perhaps the captain receives a sudden bonus to a necessary skill roll, or an enemy vessel aiming a broadside towards the ship is more prone to a sudden swell. It’s really at the Keeper’s discretion, and Coeur de Chêne is hardly proof against all adversity!

Main de Gloire (Hand of Glory)

• Cost: 1 Power percentile. 5 magic points/target; 1D4 Sanity points
• Casting time: 1 round

A Hand of Glory is a severed hand fixed with a candle. When burned in the presence of sleepers, the Hand ensures they remain fast asleep. This gives potential malefactors plenty of time to accomplish their mischief, whether robbing a house, despoiling a bride, or slitting a throat. A famous spell with a long provenance, there are many versions of Hand of Glory; but the one used by the Covenant was first inscribed by Perotine Cauchés, who learned it from the “Bad Book” brought to the Channel Islands from Avignon. Indeed, her instructions are similar to those found in Secrets merveilleux de la magie naturelle et cabalistique du petit Albert, an eighteenth-century grimoire known as Petit Albert and believed to have been compiled from medieval sources. As translated from Cauchés’ Le livre de la méchanceté:

To obtain the Hand of Glory you must take the hand of a felon who was hanged from a gibbet; wrap it in part of a funeral pall and so wrapped squeeze it well. Then put it into an earthenware vessel with sulphate of copper, nitre, salt, and long peppers, the whole well powdered. This must be mixed with the urine of a man, woman, dog, horse and mare. Leave it in this vessel for a fortnight, then take it out and hang it from an oak tree. Expose it to full sunlight during the dog-days until it becomes quite dry. It must be then lain at a crossroads for three nights running, then hung on a church door for one night while the maker keeps watch in the porch;—And if it be that no fear hath driven you forth from the porch, then the hand be true won, and it be yours.

When this process has been completed, the maker consecrates the hand by the permanent investiture of one Power percentile. The next step is to equip the hand with its candle:

Make a candle from the fat of a gibbeted felon, virgin wax, sesame, and horse dung, with the hair of the dead man serving as wick. Only five such candles may be prepared;—These dedicated to Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun, Mercury, and the base thumb that controls the Will. Use the Hand of Glory as a candlestick to hold this candle when lighted, and then those in every place unto which you go with this baneful instrument shall remain motionless.

Once the hand has been fitted with a candle, it’s ready for use. The sorcerer lights the wick and speaks a brief incantation. Every sleeping target illuminated by the candle must make an opposed Power roll against the sorcerer, or be immobilized as long as the candle is burning. A successful roll does not trigger immediate wakefulness; as long as the intruder keeps quiet, the sleeper remains undisturbed. However a failed roll brings complete oblivion until the candle is extinguished: bright lights, loud noise, minor surgical procedures—nothing can rouse the sleeper! Candles burn down quickly on a Hand of Glory; and one candle is good for a mere hour of light. If the hand itself is destroyed, the candles become worthless.

Variations
Main de Glorie has several variations, all depending on the nature and quality of the hand and its attendant candles. If the hand was severed from the felon while he was still hanging, it may be used to paralyze targets who are fully awake. If a wakeful target fails his opposed Power roll, he falls instantly asleep. Alternately, he may enter a state of waking paralysis—it’s up to the Keeper. Furthermore, a left hand is more powerful than a right hand, and rewards the caster with a +1D10 bonus die on his Power roll. However, a right hand produces a light that is invisible to all but the caster himself! However, if the condemned man was actually innocent of the crime for which we was hanged, the Hand of Glory is weaker, and the user is burdened with a –1D10 penalty die to all Power rolls connected to the hand. In such cases neither left nor right hand offers any advantages. Some users decorate their Hand of Glory with arcane symbols, tattoos, or brandings; these may produce additional or alternate effects.

Candles
If the Hand of Glory is fixed with a candle made from the fat of the same felon that provided the hand, its targets are not merely immobilized; they are drained 1 magic point for every five minutes they’re exposed to the light. Furthermore, the flame may only be doused with milk—water is ineffectual. Also, if multiple candles are equipped on the Hand, each extra candle lowers the cost of the spell by one magic point, up to a maximum of five candles for 1 magic point/target.

Defense
Fortunately, Cauchés also provides instructions for defending against a Hand of Glory:

You must prepare an unguent composed of the gall of a black cat, the fat of a white hen, and the blood of a screech-owl. This must be prepared in the dark of the Moon, and mixed with your own blood, drawn from the Moon of the your right palm. Rub this ointment upon the threshold of your domain and you will be afforded protection against the Hand of Glory.

The preparation of such a concoction requires 5 magic points and a successful Power roll. If the unguent is successful, it provides +2D10 bonus dice to anyone within the house forced to make a Power roll against a Hand of Glory. The unguent retains its potency for five years, but is only effective if the malefactor enters the house through the protected threshold. This includes doors, windows, and even chimneys.

Masque Banal (Pose Mundane*)

• Cost: Variable magic points
• Casting time: 1 round

This sorcerot renders an object, animal, or person unremarkable in the minds of viewers. In order to cast the spell, the sorcerer must prepare a sympathetic fetish that relates to the desired appearance. A straw may camouflage a musket as a broom, a collar may pass a wolf as a dog, or a wax mask may disguise a shambling mass of walking worms as a human being. The caster must spend magic points equal to the one-fifth the Size of the object being cloaked, plus one magic point per hour to maintain the illusion. An inanimate object can be masked indefinitely by the sacrifice of 1 Power percentile. If the caster desires to conceal himself, no magic points are required to overcome the Size penalty, but a Sanity roll must be made for a 0/1D4 loss. The spell is not perfect, and long-term or repeated exposure to the Masque Banal allows an observer to perceive that something doesn’t seem quite right…

Parler Suif (Candle Communication*)

• Cost: 2 Power percentiles; 1D4 Sanity points. 4 magic points/round
• Casting time: Variable

Parler Suif, or “Speaking Tallow,” allows two casters to communicate over vast distances. The spell requires the preparation of two candles, each made from the fat of an unbaptized human. Babies are the most effective source, but human sacrifice is not required—the donor may have died from natural causes. Nevertheless, rendering the fat costs 1D4 Sanity points. The candles must be wicked with black-dyed cotton, and each candle requires the permanent investiture of 1 Power percentile. After the candles have been created, they must be “sealed” by exposure to the Green Flame. In order to cast the spell, both sorcerers light their candles and begin chanting. Once both candles are burning, each caster spends 1 magic point and makes a Power roll. If both casters achieve a Hard success, contact is established. If the candles were made from the fat of unbaptized babies, the success is lowered to Regular. The casters are allowed to renew the attempt every round, but each Power roll costs 1 magic point. Upon establishing contact, each speaker must spend 2 magic points for every minute of conversation. There is no range limitation, but the greater the distance between speakers, the more “interference” occurs, and sometimes voices become garbled. The average life of a candle is six hours. For obvious reasons, wizards protect these candles carefully.

Pouldre Noire du Diable (Shrivelling)

• Cost: Variable magic points; variable Sanity points
• Casting time: 1 round

Originating on the Channel Islands, this sorcerot is a slow-acting version of the standard Shrivelling spell. To prepare the “Devil’s Black Powder,” the caster must sacrifice a small animal during the new moon; a rabbit, chicken, or weasel being the most common. The animal is burned to ashes, which are then purified in the Green Flame. The resulting product is a gritty black powder, traditionally stored in a leather pouch made from a bull’s testicles. The caster throws this powder on the target she means to harm, investing 1 magic point for every hit point of damage to be inflicted. If the target is an animal, she loses 1 point of Sanity; if the target is a human being, she loses 1D6 points of Sanity. For the spell to take effect the caster must win an opposed Power roll against her target. If successful, the victim loses 1 hit point per day until the sorcerot runs its course. This usually manifests as a degenerating weakness, a mysterious illness, a spreading rash of boils, etc. Only the caster may halt the phthisis; however, she may also accelerate the shrivelling by stitching dire incantations into the victim’s pillow. This doubles the daily damage, and allows the caster to control the method of debilitation.

Vincula Sanguinis

• Cost: 1 Power percentile. Variable Sanity points
• Casting time: 1-2 hours

A complex ritual dating back to the Byzantine Empire, “Chains of Blood” establishes an unequal bond between a Benefactori and a Humani excrementis bovis, unflatteringly translated as “human cow,” but usually simplified as “donor.” (“Meat shield” also conveys the general idea.) The spell may be cast by the benefactor, the donor, or a third party, but requires the linked pair to first exchange a certain amount of physical material. This varies from casting to casting, and usually involves sexual congress, the sharing of blood, or even mutual cannibalism. After the exchange is complete, both benefactor and donor are marked with a connecting sigil, usually accomplished by branding or tattooing. Finally, the pair must simultaneously chant the Incantation of Binding. Upon completing the ritual, 1 Power percentile is permanently transferred from the benefactor to the donor. The benefactor loses 1D4 Sanity points, the donor loses 1D6 Sanity points, and the caster loses an additional 1 Sanity point. Once the bond is formed, it may only be broken by death; which inflicts a 1D6 Sanity loss on the survivor. There are three levels to Vinculum Sanguinis, each requiring a more powerful caster to establish the bond: Resuscitation, Resurrection, and Reanimation.

1. Resuscitation
The first level of Vincula Sanguinis is known as Resuscitation, and costs 10 magic points to cast. If the benefactor is wounded, he regenerates one hit point each round until completely healed. This is accomplished by gradually transferring the injury to the donor, who suffers the loss instead. If the donor has more hit points than the benefactor, it’s possible a slain benefactor may be brought back from death. (This means that the Keeper must track negative hit points: if the benefactor has 10 hit points and receives 15 points of damage, he’s at –5 hit points. Let’s hope his human cow is a beefy fellow!) Because Resuscitation is automatic, the process may kill the donor even if the benefactor cannot be resuscitated. For instance, in the above example, if the donor had only 4 hit points, he’d be slain, leaving the benefactor still dead at –1 hit points! Also, Resuscitation has no effect on severed body parts. If the benefactor is beheaded or dismembered, the spell still transfers damage to the donor, but cannot re-attach body parts.

2. Resurrection
The second level of Vincula Sanguinis is known as Resurrection, and costs 15 magic points to cast. In this version, the donor is partially shielded from harm: the transferred damage is subtracted from his magic points first, and only deducts from hit points once these magic points are consumed. This virtually guarantees the resurrection of a slain benefactor and the survival of the donor. As before, it is powerless against dismemberment.

3. Reanimation
The third level of Vincula Sanguinis is known as Reanimation, and costs 18 magic points to cast. This works the same way Resurrection, but transcends dismemberment. If the benefactor is hacked limb from limb, his individual pieces reanimate, blindly drawn to the donor. Such pieces do everything in their power to return—decapitated bodies gather up their heads and walk, hands crawl like spiders, legs and torsos writhe across the ground. Upon reaching the donor, the pieces automatically reassemble using the donor’s blood, muscle, and bone. This invariably kills the donor. There are some limits to this power. A body cut into 22 pieces or more cannot be reanimated, nor can a body consumed by flames or dissolved in chemicals. Reanimation does not guarantee intelligence; if the benefactor’s brain is crushed, his body becomes little more than a zombie.

Note: Donors
Because of the unbalanced relationship between benefactor and donor, Vinculum Sanguinis is often forced upon a donor. These “human cows” are frequently imprisoned, restricted in movement to prevent suicide, and possibly watched by a physician. Willing donors are rare, but not unknown. The alchemist Ludwig Prinn tells the story of a Hungarian crusader and his witch lover. Before her man went to war, the witch cast Vinculum Sanguinis. They made love, drank each other’s blood, and sealed the bond with a painful brand. Six months later he died in battle, hacked apart by an Ottoman Janissary. Having experienced his pain through the depletion of her magic points, the witch knew her lover had suffered; but she was unaware of her own power. Three months later she was surprised to hear a scratching at her door. And a knocking at her shutter. And something slithering down her chimney…

Deeper Version—Reversal
Some grimoires hint that Vinculum Sanguinis can be reversed, suddenly transforming the donor into the benefactor and vice-verse. If this is true, it could only be performed by a sorcerer with a Power greater than the original caster, and would require the physical presence of the Humani excrementis bovis.

White Leviathan > Auxiliary Materials > New Spells
[Witchcraft | Cult Sorcery | Eldritch Magic | Pacific Shamanism]
[Back to New Occupations | White Leviathan TOC | Forward to Kingsport Cult Degrees]

Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 7 September 2021
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
White Leviathan PDF: [TBD]