The Black Spiral Dancers possess corrupt versions of most of the same Rites that are used by their Garou enemies, but they possess a variety of Rites that are distinct to themselves. Some years back I posted a couple of rites of my own design for the Spirals, but these Rites in today’s post are converted from those found in the Mind’s Eye Theatre Book of the Wyrm. It is indeed very strange that the best source for information on Spiral Rites is a book for MET – none of these were ever printed in a main system WtA book. So here I present W20 compatible conversions of the Sacraments of the Wyrm
Rites of Accord
These Rites draw their power from the Dancers’ fundamental connection to the Wyrm, and they are characterized by taint and corruption. To channel this power the Dancer must use a Talen, Fetish or object that is tainted or corrupted. Dancers who have reached the sixth circle of the Shattered Labyrinth are immune to this requirement.
Rite of Blood Taint
(Level One) – If the Dancers suspect that someone contains the taint of Dancer blood in their heritage, they perform this rite. This rite “activates” the tainted blood subtly, giving glimpses of violent and terrifying past lives, or causing Garou or Kinfolk to hear voices that urge them to commit atrocities.
System: The ritemaster spends one Gnosis point. While the target does not need to be present, the ritemaster must have possession of something that the target touched within the past five days. The stronger the taint of blood is, the more pronounced the effects are. A full-blooded Dancer Kinfolk might suffer a psychotic break unless they can score more successes on a contested Willpower roll than the ritemaster, for example. These effects last for one chapter.
Rite of Vice Assumption
(Level One) – Dancers use this rite to uncover a vice or weakness in an opponent that might be used to corrupt her. By taking upon themselves and the Rite’s participants the target’s moral weakness, they can learn of that weakness and discern potential ways to capitalize upon that weakness in their target.
System: The ritemaster spends one Gnosis point. For one full chapter, the vice that is strongest in their prey (be it greed, lust, envy or something more specific like gambling or alcoholism) is evoked in participating Dancers. The compulsion to follow the vice may serve to distract the Dancers from their attentions to their prey, but it can also give the Dancers a way into someone’s heart, if they use it cunningly. For example, a Dancer uses this rite on a Garou whose chief vice is gluttony, appetite for food. For the rest of the session, the Dancer finds that he’s always hungry, sometimes for traditionally inappropriate things or for items that he doesn’t usually like. The target need not be present for the casting, though the Rite must be performed in a place where the target has personally been within the last turn of the moon.
Rite of the Small Push
(Level Three) – This rite increases the target’s worst urges. The idea is to make the target believe that everything she did was of her own will, so the effects of this rite are not intense or dramatic. Using this rite may serve to push weak or guilt-prone people into their own downward spiral or to foul up their relationships.
System: The ritemaster chooses one of the following options: He spends one Rage point to increase the subject’s temper, and so if the subject possesses Rage, the difficulty of Rage rolls goes down by two (minimum 2). Subjects that lack Rage instead raise the difficulty of any rolls to control their temper or resist Frenzy (if applicable) raised by two. If instead the ritemaster spends one Willpower point, they can weaken the subject’s resistance to other temptation, and the subject must spend twice as many Willpower points as normal in order to resist bad actions. As a third option, the ritemaster can spend one Gnosis point in order to increase one vice in the subject, and the subject’s interest in the vice expands accordingly, forcing Willpower rolls to resist temptations that would otherwise not apply. For example, our ritemaster performs this rite on our gluttonous Garou from the Rite of Vice Assumption, spending one Gnosis point. The Garou finds his appetite increased, making it easier for food to distract him from his duties. He’s tempted by foods that are inappropriate, such as human flesh or the flesh of other shapeshifters. This Rite’s effects remain for one chapter.
Rite of Evocation
(Level Five) – This rite is essentially a much more powerful cousin to the Rite of the Small Push, and drastically increases the subject’s worst vice in a similar but greatly amplified manner to what the Rite of Vice Assumption would uncover.
System: The Ritemaster spends one Rage and one Willpower during the ceremony. The target’s vice becomes so pronounced that they have little interest in other activities or relationships, and allows it to override even common sense, and must roll either a standard Rage roll (if possessing that Trait) or roll Willpower (if not) any time they are impeded in any way from fulfilling this vice. For example, if this rite is performed on our gluttonous Garou, he goes on a rampage of hunger, ignoring his duties, leaving his post and possibly attacking a human or fellow Garou in his need to feed. During this haze, he may be a fine target for a Bane, or he may commit an atrocity that drives him to Harano or into the Wyrm’s embrace. The effect lasts for one chapter.
Punishment Rites
Punishment for a crime or transgression of the Dark Litany is handled rather differently among the Black Spiral Dancers, who tend to either ignore or personally repay small crimes, and to repay larger crimes with torture and/or death. Therefore, most Black Spiral Dancer Punishment Rites are intended to be inflicted upon innocent mortals or other victims rather than transgressors of the Dark Litany.
Rite of the Survivor
(Level One) – This dangerous and cruel Rite is only bestowed by a spirit Incarna or Black Spiral elder who has victimized the poor bastard in a particularly brutal manner. If the victim survives, they cannot recall what they experienced, but inherit this rite instead. The Black Spiral never realizes the source of their continuing pain, but still feels an overwhelming need to exact their frustrations on others. The survivor can then perform similar abuse on selectively chosen victims. The most common application of this ritual is during ceremonies of abduction and breeding.
System: The ritualist must render a living being unable to resist and then, while victimizing them, perform this Rite and spend a point of Gnosis to erase their victim’s memory of the event and channel the energies associated with the Delirium to construct an alternate memory. The torturous experience must continue for at least 10 minutes. The survivor cannot remember how they were victimized, but still has glimpses of the experience. Unfortunately, the victim can burn a point of Willpower to dredge up a vivid glimpse of the horrific event. Ragabash call this dark pact, “Our Little Secret”.
Rite of the False Memory
(Level One) – This rite has most of the same effects as the Rite of the Survivor, but the memories are false. A Dancer uses this rite to instill memories of horrific experiences in the mind of someone whom they haven’t actually victimized. The rite must be cast while the victim sleeps, but it needs not be cast in their presence.
System: The Dancer expends one Gnosis point and one Willpower point, and spends an hour constructing the false experience in their mind. During this time, they anoints an item that belongs to the victim with three drops of their own blood. Once the item has been returned to the victim’s possession or home, the victim will suffer flashbacks and nightmares of the fictional experience. If they spend a Willpower point to get a better picture of what happened, they will develop a temporary and strong feeling of disconnection and unreality, and the details of the event will slip just beyond their grasp. If the anointed possession is destroyed, the false memories slip away, never to return.
Rite of the Haunting Moment
(Level Three) – At its height, this rite causes a target to see briefly what the ritemaster wants them to see. The effects can be subtle (shadows out of the corner of their eye; the silhouette of a friend looks like that of an enemy; a packmate’s face grows dark and cold), or they can be straightforward (the face of the ritemaster superimposed over that of a friend, speaking the ritemaster’s words). Such dark visions are often mistaken for true prophetic visions.
System: The effects last for 15 seconds maximum, and the ritemaster must spend a Gnosis point during the ceremony. The Ritemaster most possess either an object belonging to the victim, or an actual tissue sample such as a tuft of hair or a few drops of blood.
Rite of the False Hunt
(Level Five) – This rite turns an evening into one long waking nightmare. The target( s) of this rite spend the time from dusk to midnight having hallucinations, usually of their enemies. A pack of Garou might find themselves fighting phantom Dancers, some of whom turn out to be their own packmates when the dust clears.
System: The ritemaster and their pack spend the entire evening performing this rite, and if they’re interrupted, the effects end immediately. The ritemaster must spend one Gnosis point plus one Willpower point per target. The ritemaster has no control over the specific form of the hallucinations. The victims need not be present for the performance of the Rite, but the Ritemaster must have previously met all of the victims, even if only briefly. Victims that suspect that what they are seeing is not real can break the effect if they exceed the ritemaster’s successes with an opposed Willpower roll.
Mystic Rites
These Rites involve spirits, Umbral entities and the spirits of individual Dancers. Unless stated otherwise, a lone ritemaster performs these rites without assistance.
Rite of the Sacred Tattoo
(Level Two) – Through this rite, a Black Spiral Theurge may permanently mark a sacred tattoo on another dancer. This serves as more than decoration. The sigil forms a spiritual connect between the initiate and the Wyrmish spirit represented. The first tattoo is usually the Dancer’s chosen head of the Hydra, displaying his personal totem; the second is often his pack’s Bane-totem.
The recipient must make an important choice during the casting: Will the tattoo be visible or hidden? Visible tattoos are worn with pride by Dancers who have no desire to hide their true natures. Granted, the sigil may be concealed under clothing, but the Black Spiral knows that if they are captured, their clothing may be torn from his body to reveal signs of their dark alliances.
Hidden tattoos are inscribed by the tracery of a profane fetish. Though not immediately visible, these marks are revealed if the Rite of Woad is performed in the wearer’s presence. Sacred tattoos may also be used to inscribe patterns used in Gifts, showing the Dancer’s mystical accomplishment. Alternatively, a series of glyphs can show the achievements that granted the dancer Renown – every scarified decoration brings back delightful memories.
Rite of the Bane Totem
(Level Three) – This rite binds a Bane totem to a pack of Black Spiral Dancers. The ritemaster begins the rite, and the pack steps into the Umbra at the first light of day. There the pack finds some trace or trail of the totem it has chosen. For normal Garou totems, the tracking is often a formality. Bane totems take Dancers through dangerous territory, forcing them to prove themselves right away. The test that the pack undergoes will in some way require the pack to show that its goals or attitudes match up with the totem’s. Dancers who fail to research their future totem might never get the chance to speak with it. If they fail the test, the trail disappears, ending the rite. Powerful totems sometimes require a trial, task or quest in addition to this test.
System: This rite uses identical systems to the Rite of the Totem.
Rite of the Corrupted Fetish
(Level Three) – Dancers prefer to use Wyrm-spirits in their fetishes. When they use other spirits, they prefer to compel, torture and torment the spirit, forcing it into a fetish rather than gaining its cooperation. Doing so typically robs the spirit of the will to possess an item, leaving it cursed instead. Cursed fetishes are deemed particularly valuable by Dancers.
System: The mechanics for this rite are the same as the Garou Rite of the Fetish. In a variant of this rite, the ritemaster may channel one Gnosis point and a full 24 hours of ritual into the torture and corruption of an existing Gaian fetish, causing it to become cursed and Wyrm tainted.
The Rite of Woad
(Level Three) – The name of this rite is derived from the blue pigment that legend holds was once used in Pictish tattoos. That particular hue was intended to draw upon a mystic’s deepest energies, showing his most sincere beliefs. Others apply the term to the blue warpaint worn by Scottish tribalists in battle. A Theurge casting this rite reveals the hidden Sacred Tattoos (see above) worn by a Black Spiral. Even if those present are wearing clothing, the sigils and glyphs become visible, glowing with an unnatural blue tinge.
System: When this Rite is performed, any Sacred Tattoos borne by any being in the Ritemaster’s presence are revealed. Any Wyrm servants that wish to keep their Sacred Tattoos hidden may resist with a single success on an opposed Willpower roll. Thus, though some Garou may think that capturing a mystic and forcing them to enact the Rite of Woad will reveal all enemies present, this tactic might well backfire. The rite also has a curious effect on bastards of the Hidden Foe – their glyphs shine on the wall where their shadows are projected. As a side effect, the rite may also reverse the Doppelganger Gift, the Obfuscation of any vampires present that bear , and so on.
When all hope of subtlety has been lost, Theurges cry out the invocations of this rite to reveal the warriors who aid them. Those who are unerringly loyal to the ritualist may even shift the color of their skin to a brilliant blue to show their battle frenzy. This is a sign that the Black Spiral Dancers will show no quarter, fighting until their enemies are utterly destroyed.
Rite of the Opened Eyes
(Level Five) – This rite enables the ritemaster to penetrate the effects of the Rite of the Shrouded Glen. They must still pick where to look, however. As part of this rite, the Ritemaster anoints the eyelids of each participant with the blood of a non-Wyrmish Garou or Kinfolk.
System: The difficulty of this roll is target Caern’s Gauntlet rating plus the number of successes scored on the Rite of the Shrouded Glen. This rite requires the expenditure of one Gnosis and one Willpower. Any ally present when the ritualist performs this Rite can spend a Willpower Trait to see through the hallucinations for one scene, although while they are within the affected area, they will still see flickers of movement and shadow from the comers of their eyes and feel as though they are being watched.
Hive Rites
The counterpart to the Caern Rites of the Garou, these Rites align with corrupted and diseased places of spiritual power. Accordingly, these Rites can only be performed within the bounds of a Caern. Unless specified otherwise, that Caern must have been already corrupted previously before it is a suitable site for the performance of such blasphemous rituals.
Moot Rite
(Level Three) – This is a debased form of the Garou Moot Rite, but always comes with a bloody price.
System: The mechanics are the same as for the original Rite, except that the expenditure of Gnosis must be accompanied by a sacrifice of fresh blood, equal to one health level per point of Gnosis. This blood which must be allowed to sink into the earth of the caern, stain the stone or mark the place in some other way. If the caern in question lies within a Dancer Pit, then the sacrifice must come from the Dancers present; no one else is allowed within a Dancer Pit. If the caern in question does not lie within the Pit, then the Dancers may sacrifice the blood of either shapeshifter or human, the more corrupt the better. Some packs have tried sacrificing innocent blood to their caern during a Moot Rite, but doing so always causes the caern to drop one power level.
Rite of Synchronization
(Level Four) – Again, the Dancers’ version of the Rite of the Badger’s Burrow is a bloody and sacrificial affair.
System: The mechanics are the same as the base Rite. However, in order to enact this rite, the ritemaster must first spill his own blood at his caem’s moot for two months in a row. If he ever fails to enact this monthly sacrifice, he loses his connection to the land around the caem and must start this rite over again.
Rite of Caern Corruption
(Level Five) – Once the Dancers take a caern from the Garou, their work is not done. Then, the work of that holy site’s corruption must begin.
System: This rite must be performed once a week (no more, no less), in a Caern that has not yet been fully corrupted to the Wyrm. It takes a full 24 hours to perform, and it requires at least five Dancers from the same pack to perform it. The rite must be performed twice for each level of the caern. During this time, the Dancers may not perform other caern rites there, with the exception of the Moot Rite, which is performed as a part of the day-long Rite of Caern Corruption. This rite is typically enacted as a perversion of the Garou Rite of Caern Building.
Rites of Death
The Dancers have no quarrel with death, and may even show gratitude, glee or a perverse reverence when faced with it. Their Rites reflect this truth.
Rite of the Goodbye Party
(Level One) – This rite is performed to send off Dancers who have died. Some Dancers only perform it for those who died in battle against the Garou, but most Dancers have widened the use of this rite in the interest of having a good time more often. The rite is meant to push the Dancer along on his journey around the wheel and make sure he comes back soon. It’s a wild, raucous party, including drinking, mock battles (that sometimes turn real), sex and possibly the torture and death of prisoners. Some Dancers throw this party to honor particularly difficult-to-kill enemies. The hope is that the rite will push the Garou’s spirit toward the “right” side the next time around.
Rite of the Unburdening Soul
(Level One) – This rite is performed by any Dancer too sick, wounded or old to serve the tribe, and it is performed alone or only with the Dancer’s pack. If a Dancer is sick or old enough that her peers see her as a burden and she refuses to perform this rite herself, her packmates can perform it for her, forcibly holding her down and killing her. Some young pups refer to this rite as the Rite of the Sick Puppy.
Rites of Renown
Rite of Transmogrification
(Level Two) – This rite is performed whenever a Black Spiral Dancer is ready to go up in Rank. Functionally it is identical to the Dance of the Black Spiral (see W20 Book of the Wyrm, page 123).
Rite of the Sixth Circle
(Level Four) – This rite is performed for any Dancer who attains the Sixth Circle of the Shattered Labyrinth. It is solemn and reverential, and it involves many gifts, valuable or symbolic, from the Dancers of a Hive to the Dancer being honored. This rite rarely has occasion to be performed. When it does, Dancers come from several Hives away to participate.
Seasonal Rites
The Dancers, too, honor the passing of the seasons, for every month and year brings the world closer to Apocalypse and the Wyrm’s ultimate victory.
Autumn Harvest of Souls
(Level One) – The Dancers may perform this rite only during the autumn. The rite enables them to see and speak with ghosts for the next three days. Whether they can convince those ghosts to aid them in any way is another matter entirely. This rite also gives its participants a brief chill down their backs when they’re dealing with a Spectre as opposed to a normal wraith.
System: The ritemaster spends a Gnosis point to activate this rite.
Springtime Procreation Rite
(Level One) – The Dancers use this rite to encourage high pregnancy rates and large litters among their Hives. It primarily consists of sex, but it’s a surprisingly solemn rite.
System: The ritemaster spends one Rage point to invoke this Rite.
Summer Rite of No Holiday
(Level Three) – With summertime comes the emotional need for rest, and the Dancers are happy to take advantage of this need. A Hive performs this rite on the first day of summer. Its purpose is to give the Hive a good sense of timing, so that their raids on local Garou will always come when the Garou are most in need of a rest.
System: The ritemaster spends one Gnosis point during this ceremony. For the rest of the summer, they feel restless and angry any time the Garou within a five-mile radius collectively start to relax.
Winter Rite of the Wandering Soul
(Level Four) – Any given Hive of Dancers may perform this rite only once each year, on the winter solstice, within six hours of having killed a Garou. The purpose of the rite is to keep the soul of that Garou from moving onward properly to be reborn, to cause it to haunt its former friends.
System: The Dancers must have the body of the Garou victim in their possession in order to perform this rite on it, and the ritemaster spends two Gnosis points. The ceremony itself takes from sundown to sunup. If successful, the spirit of the dead Garou will functionally become a Wraith. Such spirits may be set to rest, but only by the completion of a great quest performed in the dead Garou’s name. Garou who take on this quest give up any individual renown they might acquire during the quest, giving it instead to their dead comrade. They receive three points of Honor Renown for freeing the lost spirit instead of whatever other Renown would have come of the quest.
Minor Rites
Wyrmish Minor Rites function much like their Gaian equivalents, taking a few minutes to perform. Any modifiers that they grant are not cumulative, but the character may benefit from a number of them at a time equal to their current Rank. If the Dancer misses performing the prescribed action in any given session, they must start the whole process over again before gaining any benefits.
Curse the Soul
The Dancer steps into the Umbra after killing an enemy and curses the spirit of their prey in the name of the Wyrm.
System: If they perform this Rite for every kill for one full turning of the moon, the next Rite or Gift that directly harms their enemy has its difficulty reduced by 1. After each enemy so treated, this bonus returns, up to once each night.
Greet the Wyrm
The Dancer howls an elaborate greeting to the Wyrm when night falls.
System: If they perform this Rite over nine consecutive nights, they gain one additional die to one social roll of their choosing, which will reset the next night if the Rite is performed again. If a sunset is missed, the character must start all over again.
Hunting Prayer
The Dancer chooses an item associated with death and destruction (preferably a weapon) and prays over it in praise of the Wyrm for every hunt for three consecutive lunar months. If they lose the item, they must choose a new one and begin their devotions anew.
System: If the Dancer performs this rite before every hunt for three lunar months, they receive an additional die to all rolls to hunt or track their enemies rolls as long as they continue their pre-hunt prayers. If they neglect the prayer before even one hunt, they must begin the cycle again before they regain the bonus
Respect the Totem
The Dancer meditates for at least 15 minutes, praying silently to their personal or pack totem during every night for a lunar month.
System: Doing so lowers by two the difficulty of any one roll per day that is directly related to a task that the Dancer’s Totem has mandated.
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