LabyrinthCircle/Ambisinister
Blossom of Transient Vitality - Labyrinth Circle Necromancy -- Ambisinister
Cost: 50 motes
Through the use of this spell a necromancer is capable of cultivating a single, beautiful flower infused with the vitality of the living. This spell must be cast in the Underworld or a Shadowland, and consists of a ritual which requires thirteen days to perform properly. Before starting the ritual, the necromancer must acquire a healthy, living human, who will be sacrificed during the ritual. The victim must be placed in contact with the local soil and restrained. Over the first five days of the ritual, the necromancer slowly exsanguinates the sacrifice and carves a cavity into their chest. On each of these days the necromancer spends 10 motes of essence. On the sixth day the necromancer prepares the cavity by filling it with soil and infusing it with the gathered essence. Over the next seven days the necromancer will tend to the blooming flower, watering it with the blood he collected. After this time the flower will have fully matured and may be harvested. The flower which is produced is a bright crimson in color and bears 13 petals. It bears a faint scent which is similar to that of the sacrficial victim.
If at any point during the thirteen days the caster is violently disturbed he must make a spell concentration check as if he were attacked while shaping in combat. The first willpower point of this spell is spent at the start, the second at the completion. Only expended motes and willpower are lost if the spell is interrupted or ended prematurely.
Once harvested, the flower will retain its potency for one week. It must be bestowed upon a user during this time or it will wither and die. The process of attuning to the flower costs either 5 motes or a willpower and a single, lethal health level. For each day that passes the flower will shed one petal. As the flower ages it's scent shifts closer to the coppery smell of fresh blood. Once attuned, if the flower is ever brought into the underworld it will wither and die instantly. While a shadowland won't kill it outright, it will hasten its decay; each day spent in a shadowland counts as two off of the flower's lifespan. The attuned flower has several uses/benefits:
If given to the undead: For the next 13 days the attuned user will have a seeming of life. Their flesh will be whole, and their blood will be warm. They can breath, eat, feel, and in general conduct themselves as one of the living during this time. A ghost must inhabit a corpse to recieve the benefits of the flower, and some of its arcanoi may cease to function at the storyteller's discretion. Undead with an essence pool will respire essence as one of the living.
If given to an abyssal: For the next 13 days the attuned user appear to be normal and healthy (for those abyssals walking the path of horror). In addition, the flower will negate the need for funerary trappings when conducting themselves in creation. Furthermore, the flower will help to negate resonance penalties for interacting with mortals. Each point of resonance negated will shorten the flower's lifespan by a day. As with undead with an essence pool, abyssals will also respire essence as one of the living. As a drawback to their condition, abyssals will be unable to gain sustenance or essence from drinking blood or consuming flesh. This does not impact essence regained from charms, but does negate the effects of Blood Feasting Technique.
The final effect of the flower works only for mortals (including abyssals). Should the bearer be slain, the flower will grant them temporary life. For each health level inflicted past incapacitated, shorten the flower's duration by one day. The attuned bearer will continue to "live" for the duration of the flower's life. Though their health levels will remain at incapacitated, they will remain conscious and unable to heal. For mechanical purposes, all die pools are halved. Further damage will continue to erode the flower's lifespan at the rate of one day per health level. Once the flower withers, the bearer will die.
Feedback
Brilliant, brilliant stuff. Thematically and mechanically, everything that necromancy should be...DeathBySurfeit, departing to wipe off the brown mark
