Eldritch Magic

Eldritch Magic

These spells draw their power directly from the Mythos. They are used by a wide range of practitioners, from the Kingsport Cult to the Deep One descendants of the K’th-thyalei. Most involve contact with ancient forces, and all come at a high price to Sanity. This category also includes Dreamlands magic and the arcane “science” of the Elder Things.

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 “Eldritch Magic” I devised for White Leviathan has been purchased by Chaosium for use in future resources; specifically Flesh Harrow. This material is copyrighted 2021 by Chaosium, and used with permission.

Convocandi Viridi Flamma (Summon Green Flame)

• Cost: 5 magic points, plus 1 magic point/10 minutes; 1D3 Sanity points
• Casting time: 3 rounds

This spell allows the caster to call forth the Green Flame, the magical avatar of Dagon’s sundered Kha. Performing the ritual costs 5 magic points, and requires the presence of saltwater, human blood, or huile de cachalot noir, a special oil rendered from the Black Leviathans surrounding Kith Kohr. The convocation must be accompanied by a particular music, a series of atonal clusters usually played on a pipe or flute. The Green Flame persists for ten minutes, but this duration may be extended by spending 1 magic point for every additional ten minutes. The Green Flame is cold to the touch, and causes corruption in physical materials from metal and wood to flesh and bone. It attracts all nearby vermin, particularly worms and insects. More than a single caster may convoke the Green Flame, and its volume increases geometrically with the number of casters; so for every 5 magic points invested, it doubles in volume. Of course, an equal amount of fuel must be prepared to handle such “bonfires,” so these rituals are performed in spaces where saltwater may be pooled. Additionally, each caster extends the initial duration by ten minutes.

Dream Dislocation

• Cost: 1 Power percentile. 7 magic points; 1D3 Sanity points
• Casting time: 1 round

Dream Dislocation is a powerful spell that allows the caster to switch bodies with a fellow Dreamer. In order to cast the spell, the Dreamer must create a Dream Anchor, a physical fetish endowed with his spiritual essence. The Dream Anchor may have any appearance, and often varies by culture—it could be an Aboriginal passage stick, a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign, or even a silver key. The caster must invest 49 magic points into the Dream Anchor before it can be activated. This process requires a minimum of seven evenings. Each night the caster makes a Dreaming roll. If the roll is successful, 7 magic points are infused into the Dream Anchor. If the roll is unsuccessful, a fresh attempt may be made the following evening. Once the Dream Anchor has absorbed 49 magic points, it is “sealed” by the permanent expenditure of 1 Power percentile. This allows the Dream Anchor to transition into the Dreamlands with its maker.

In order to use Dream Dislocation, the caster must be in the Dreamlands and have the Dream Anchor in his possession. Upon meeting another Dreamer, he attacks the target by attempting to merge their avatars together. The caster spends 7 magic points and makes an opposed Power roll. If he is successful, both caster and target are expelled from the Dreamlands, each waking in the other’s body. The caster loses 1D3 Sanity points, while the disoriented target must make a Sanity roll or suffer a 1/1D6 loss. If the target is not the same race as the caster—perhaps a Serpent Person, a Man from Leng, or an Elder Thing—the spell costs twice the magic points and causes three times the Sanity loss. Each use of Dream Dislocation drains the Dream Anchor of 7 magic points. Once the spell has been cast seven times—whether successfully or not—a new Dream Anchor must be created.

To prevent unwanted mischief, a caster may take precautions to immobilize or secure his sleeping body. Often a minion is employed to stand guard, perhaps keeping the caster’s body strapped to a bed or drugged with opium. The swap lasts until the caster falls asleep in his new body, which automatically reverses the exchange. If one of the bodies dies, the mind inside returns to its home body, expelling the other mind into the Dreamlands.

Note: Counter-Fetishes
Some cultures have developed precautions against invasive Dreamers, and counter-fetishes are known to exist. Created in much the same fashion as a Dream Anchor, these devices must be physically located near the Dreamer’s sleeping body, and provide a +1D10 bonus die to resisting an attacker’s Power roll. The asabikeshiinh of the Ojibwe are one such example of a counter-fetish, as are certain Amish quilts.

Deeper Version—Dream Relocation
A Dreamer who invests 3 Power percentiles into a Dream Anchor may access an even more potent version of Dream Dislocation. By spending 14 magic points during the attack, the caster temporarily merges the Dreamlands with the waking world. Success on the opposed Power roll results in the caster and his target literally switching bodies: the caster physically appears in the target’s home location, and the target physically appears in the caster’s home location. The caster loses 1D6 Sanity points, while the target must make a Sanity roll or suffer a 0/1D3 loss. This physical relocation is permanent. Attempting Dream Relocation on another race costs 21 magic points. The caster must be cautious, as there’s no guarantee his body won’t materialize in some inhospitable environment!

Eucharistia Viridi (Control Green Flame)

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

This rite allows the caster to control the Green Flame, the magical avatar of Dagon’s sundered Kha. The spell assumes the Green Flame is already present. There are four levels of proficiency to Eucharistia Viridi, and they must be mastered consecutively.

1. Rite of Baptism
Touching the Green Flame for the first time costs 1D6 Sanity points and triggers a Power roll. A success allows the sorceress to absorb part of the Green Flame into her body for twenty-four hours. During this time, she gains +5 Power percentiles, and all other spells may be cast at half the required magic points, rounding up. Because the Green Flame gives the sorceress access to the raw substance of magic itself, certain spell requirements and fetishes may be overlooked at the Keeper’s discretion. The rite of Baptism may be renewed at any time with no additional Sanity loss.

2. Rite of Communion
Immersing oneself in the Green Flame is known as the Rite of Communion. Doing this for the first time costs 1D6 Sanity points, but provides a permanent +5 Power percentiles. It adds 10 years to one’s natural lifespan by slowing the aging process: all aging penalties on physical characteristics are advanced by 10 years. The Rite of Communion may be repeated yearly at no loss to Sanity. Although there’s no additional Power gain, each Communion contributes 10 more years to the communicant’s life span. However, once 40 years have been added, a human body can accept no more infusions. If the communicant wishes to live longer, he must begin the Rite of Consolamentum.

3. Rite of Consolamentum
Through frequent Communion with the Green Flame, a sorceress may reach an age between 110-120 and still appear as youthful as a person in her 60s. At this point, however, the human body can take no more infusions, and the flesh begins to decompose. The cultist must decide whether to die “naturally,” or to accept limited immortality through Consolamentum. Upon entering the Green Flame and enacting the Rite of Consolamentum, the sorceress inextricably bonds with the Green Flame—the being that steps out is no longer strictly human. The sorceress loses 1D12 Sanity points, but gains +5 Power percentiles. As her flesh begins to decay, the Green Flame suffusing her body attracts other creatures to repair it. Over the course of a decade, the sorceress’ body becomes a walking construct of vermin: worms, insects, arachnids, centipedes, etc. Known as “vermification,” this ghastly process halves all physical characteristics and reduces Appearance to zero.

Unfortunately, the human mind cannot flourish in a brain of worms. Each year after 140, the sorceress must make a Power roll or lose 1D10 Sanity points, –2 Power percentiles, –2 Intelligence percentiles, and –2 Education percentiles. Of course, the original Bons pêcheurs believed the Perfectus would happily relinquish this body and become a being of pure energy: an angel, so to speak. Realistically, that tenet went by the board somewhere en route to the Channel Islands.

4. The Rite of Investiture
The ultimate level of Green Flame mastery is the ability to use the Green Flame to contain the mind altogether, without the need for a fleshy vehicle. This ritual takes years of study; and even then, it can only be performed if the caster has a Power of 80+ and has already undergone Integrum Corruptionem—complete vermification. To perform the Rite of Investiture, the sorcerer must vacate his wormy body and project his mind directly into the Green Flame. From there, he may take possession of any living body that’s been exposed to the Green Flame! Leaving one’s body requires a Power roll, but failure brings immediate death, and success negates the chance for return; so this is a one-way trip. Taking over another’s body is more difficult, and requires an opposed Power roll. A success annihilates the target’s consciousness, allowing the sorcerer to invest the new body with his own. If the sorcerer manages to locate a willing target, the Power roll is unopposed.

Note: Blood Descension
Although any human baptized by the Green Flame makes a suitable vessel, blood descendants are the easiest to possess, and offer bonuses to the sorcerer’s opposed Power roll. Such a target must be within his immediate bloodline; nephews, nieces, and cousins won’t do. Sons and daughters offer +3D10 bonus dice, grandchildren bestow +2D10 bonus dice, while great-grandchildren and their descendants confer a single +1D10 bonus die.

Note: Alien Investiture
Because of the origins of the Green Flame, certain nonhuman species are susceptible to the Rite of Investiture. Byakhees, Leviathans, and Deep Ones make suitable vessels, as do Elder Things—after all, they created the power used to dismember Dagon. Granted, few sorcerers would choose to inhabit a Byakhee, but there’s no accounting for taste.

Deeper Version—Spontaneous Investiture
The most advanced version of the Rite of Investiture allows the caster to pre-select a vessel as an emergency failsafe. If the sorcerer’s body is destroyed, his consciousness immediately invests the appointed vessel. (All the relevant Power rolls still apply.) Spontaneous Investiture requires the caster to have a Power of 90+. Furthermore, the target vessel must be ritualistically “prepared” to accept the sorcerer’s consciousness. This is usually accomplished by branding or tattooing the vessel on the back of the neck; but some older texts hint at mutilation, castration, or the removal of the womb.

Flesh Harrow

• Cost: Variable magic points; 1D6 Sanity points
• Casting time: 1 round

An excessively nasty spell, Flesh Harrow allows the caster to mold living flesh as if it were clay. Hands and limbs can be blasted into deformed appendages, faces transformed into gargoyle-like visages, bodies smeared across walls, or several people can be fused into one pulsing mass. Indeed, this was the origin of the spell, which was used by primordial races to craft living, star-shaped gateways to Yog-Sothoth. Flesh Harrow requires the caster to oppose his Power against the target’s Constitution. If successful, he must state the desired effect, generally spending 1 magic point per limb, head, or torso to be affected, with another 1-3 magic points reflecting the degree of distortion. If the goal is to injure the target, the caster may inflict 1D6 damage for every 3 magic points expended beyond the initial cost. Physical damage is not restricted to reducing hit points: a caster may create hideous deformations and still leave the target alive, in which case the Keeper may deduct appropriate percentiles of Strength, Dexterity, or Appearance; not to mention a commensurate Sanity loss! The results of Flesh Harrow may be reversed by the same caster, but rarely does a restored body part ever look quite the same.

Transfer Mind

• Cost: Variable magic points; variable Sanity points
• Casting time: 3 rounds

An arcane science of the Elder Things, this power is not found in grimoires, and may only be learned directly from psychic connection to Elder Things or their artifacts. Transfer Mind allows a “master” to switch his mind with a “minion,” assuming full control of the minion for the duration of the process. This functions in reverse as well, so unless the master wishes to lose control of his own body, he should be immobilized during the duration of the transfer. The master must have a Power of 75+ in order to use Transfer Mind, and the target must be “in imminent vibration,” which usually means line of sight.

1. Imminent Transfer
Imminent Transfer costs 5 magic points; beings other than Elder Things also lose 1D4 Sanity points. (From this point on, Transfer Mind will be described in human terms.) If the master successfully wins an opposed Power roll, he can switch his mind with that of the targeted minion. The duration of the transfer is 10 minutes per magic point expended beyond the initial 5 magic points. If the minion’s body is destroyed, the transfer ends, and the master’s mind returns home, expelling the minion’s mind to the Outer Darkness. If the master’s body is destroyed, the master dies when the transfer concludes.

2. Chain Transfer
Chain Transfer allows the master to jump from mind to mind, working through a line-of-sight chain of minions. Each jump requires an opposed Power roll, but exacts no additional penalties to Sanity. The master has two options on how this transfer can proceed. The first method represents the default, and causes each transfer to slip back one link on the chain. In other words, when the master jumps from minion 1 to minion 2, the mind of minion 2 is now relocated to the body of minion 1, whose mind resides in the master’s body. This may create mass confusion, particularly if minion 2 suddenly sees his “normal” body acting independently from his strange “new” body! Death to any minion results in extinction of the corresponding mind upon conclusion of the transfer. The second option requires an additional expenditure of 1 magic point per jump. In this version, each newly-displaced mind is shuffled back to the master’s body, while vacated target minds are returned to their appropriate bodies. It’s more costly, but less susceptible to unpredictable results.

3. Recursive Transfer
Recursive Transfer allows the master to duplicate his mind and use that “copy” to take control of the minion’s body. This also duplicates the minion’s mind, sending the minion’s copy back to the master’s body. (The original Elder Thing term translates as “living mirror,” but “copy” seems more succinct.) Recursive Transfer costs 10 magic points and 1D6 Sanity points. A success places the master in control of both bodies—his own, and the minion’s. Not only that, for an additional cost of 5 magic points, the master may actually access the dominated mind, rifling through the minion’s memories and experiences.

Deeper Level—Permanent Transfer
If a master inhabiting a minion’s body wins the opposed Power roll by two or more degrees—i.e., an Extreme success vs. a Regular success—the master may remain in the minion’s body at the mere expenditure of 1 magic point per day. Because the master must constantly expend magic points to retain the borrowed body, his magic points do not regenerate naturally. However, he may irrevocably sacrifice 1 Power percentile to make the transfer permanent. Unless his old body is destroyed, it remains inhabited by the minion’s consciousness. However, if Permanent Transfer is enacted after a Recursive Transfer, the permanent expenditure of Power destroys the minion’s mind altogether, leaving two bodies invested with the master’s consciousness! While extraordinary difficult for human sorcerers to perform, some Elder Things were known to make numerous “living mirrors” of themselves across a broad spectrum of bodies. This was taken to an extreme during the Galactic Epoch, when a “single” Elder Thing colonized the Eta Carinae system with living mirrors, leading to a civil war known as the Collapse of the Xenon Consensus.

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]