Instant Reaction (Time 1 Mind 1)
When the mage expects a certain event, he can focus his attention on it to be able to respond reflexively at the same time. For example, if a thug threatens him with a gun, he can program his body to dodge at the exact moment the thug pulls the trigger or respond with magick. A stand-off between two mages both using this rote can be quite deadly, since they will both react at the exact same time.
[ If the rote succeeds the mage will act just before the event, as long as the condition predates it slightly (like the act of pulling a trigger). The number of successes denotes how long the mage can concentrate himself. He has to be completely concentrated on the condition to act, and cannot do anything else (unless he uses multitasking, of course).]

No-Time (Time 1 Entropy 2 Mind 1/3)
This bizarre rote removes the sense of time from the subject or the mage. It becomes impossible to plan for the future or remember the past, all that exists is an eternal now. By combining this with entropy it becomes impossible to predict what the subject will do, even with Time. The Cult of Ecstasy usually invoke this by extreme intoxication, loud music and then by placing the ring on a finger; as long as it remains, the rote will be active.

Sounds of Pain (Time 2 Life 1)
This little rote allows a mage to mentally hear the sounds of whatever caused a wound. Some truly twisted cultists have used it to play music on sick people.
[Adding Forces 3 Prime 2 the sounds can be made audible].

Prophylactic (Time 2 Life 3/4)
Some mages know they are going to get hurt in the future, and take steps to limit the damage. By reaching into the potential futures and choosing one where the damage isn1t that bad, they can avoid the worst possibilities. This is usually coincidental; a wound turns out to be much less severe than expected or a weapon just makes a glancing blow. The rote will just protect against the next wound. Among the Cult of Ecstasy, this rote is usually done by dressing imagined wounds, followed by a period of intoxication where the mage removes the bandages happily proclaiming "It doesn't look that bad!"

Enhanced Regeneration (Time 3 Life 2)
Time mages are able to selectively speed up the healing and regenerative abilities of an organism, making it recuperate much faster. This is very useful, although it is often accompanied with hunger and extreme itchiness. The Sons of Ether apply electricity in precisely calculated patterns to the wounds, while the Cult of Ecstasy gives the patient such a good time they forget about being hurt.
[One success halves the healing time, two successes divide it with three, three with four, etc. ]

Scent of the Hounds of Tindalos (Time 1)
The mage concentrates himself and try to feel when something happened (or will happen) by imagining it and different times it might have happened at. The mage will feel when he gets closer to the right time as the "scent" gets stronger. This can for example be used to find out when a building was built or when a clock stopped. It cannot tell why or where something happened. This rote is named for the legendary paradox beings the Hounds of Tindalos, which ruthlessly hunt down mages who interfere with Time. They have the ability to find the mage regardless of the time he exists in, and will appear out of nearby corners to destroy him.

Sense Angled Time (Time 1 Entropy 1)
Time does not always flow smoothly, sometimes there are corners and discontinuities in it for unknown reasons. These corners are dangerous times, since the defences of reality and casualty are briefly removed. Powerful beings of the Deep Umbra and dangerous weirdness may appear, and many momentous events occur at these times. This makes itespecially important to know them beforehand. The Technocracy calls the "Bifurcation Points", and spend much energy neutralizing them or manipulating events around them.

Find Connection (Time 1 Correspondence 1)
This rote is used by mages to find the secret links between seemingly disparate events. A mage can read a newspaper, and realise that the current conflicts on Balkan are linked to the disappearance of several prominent engineers in England, or that the fluctuations of the stock market have been strongly influenced by the person in the border of that picture. He might not know how or why, but he will see the links.

What Time is it? (Time 1 Mind 2)
The mage disturbs the sense of time of a person, so he will think that more or less time have passed. He can make the victim think that its still four or that its already six, until the victim watches his watch (which clever mages can manipulate using Matter).

Follow Blood (Life 1 Time 2) (Order of the Eternal Dawn)
The mage touches some blood from someone. The result is that the mage gains physiological knowledge about the owner, his age, condition, appearance, sicknesses, markings and so on. By tracing the blood backwards, the mage can learn how the owner was when he was younger. The mage may also continue the tracing back to the owners parents, and their parents, and so on. A single trait may be followed back to its source.

Astrological Prediction (Time 2 Prime 1 Spirit 1)
The Order of Hermes is the master among the traditions in matters of astrology and planning. One major use of astrology has been to find the most suitable time to perform magick, by studying the conjunctions of the planets and stars. The astrologer analyses the act of magick, determines which planets rule it (for example, Prime is ruled by the Sun while Spirit is ruled by the Moon) and then tries to find the best conjunctions. Magick of the right type performed then will be more powerful and safe.
[ The number of successes determine how powerful conjunctions the mage has found (a conjunction with 4 successes will decrease the difficulty for that type of magick with 4). However, the more powerful conjunctions are much more rare, so the mage may have to wait for an inordinate amount of time before the right moment, or use lesser conjunctions (by removing extraneous successes). One success means the astrologer has found a minor event, occurring within a day (generally a suitable planetary hour). 2 successes occur within a week (generally a suitable planetary day). 3 successes occur within a month (often influenced by moon-phase). 4 within a year and 5 within a decade (and so on). ]

Summon Timekeeper (Time 2 Spirit 2)
One of the more unusual kind of elementals is the time-elementals, known in the Cult of Ecstasy as timekeepers. They seems to be the spirits which keep track of everything, making sure things happen at the right time for the right reasons. They seldom manifest physically, preferring to communicate through coincidences and physical phenomena like the sound of a ticking clock. The timekeepers know everything about what has happened and will happen, and may give information to the mage as long as it will not cause any disturbances of time. If the mage disrupts time too much, they might become very dangerous servants of paradox. Persistent rumours tell that they have a lord known as Chronos, the Master Timekeeper. Some mages speculate that Chronos may be Wrinkle.

Peer into the Beyond (Time 2 Entropy 2) (Necromancers, by Robert Kirkpatrick)
The Necromancers use this rote in order to see the outcome of very specific actions. What the rote does is allow the caster to look into the future, but be able to filter out any unnecesary random future events, so that he can see one specific outcome.
The Necromancer essentially asks a specific question about the future, and gets a yes or no answer. Common questions include, "Oh, mighty spirits, I beseech you, is a page of the Necromicon behind this door?" or "If I get into a fight with this Mage, will I die?" The outcomes always occur, but not necessarily the way the Mage thought. For instance, in the first example, a page may be behind the door, but it could be buried under 3,000 feet of sand, or in the second example, the Mage may not die, but may be teleported in a Paradox dimension. Correspondence Magick must be combined with this rote, in order to ask questions about a place the Necromancer currently is not, like "will I die if I go to Egypt tomorrow?"
[The number of successes on the Magickal effect roll is the number of questions the Mage can ask about a particular scene. The Mage cannot recast the spell to gather any information that might be beneficial to him for that same scene. For instance, before a battle, the Necromancer asks a few questions about it's outcome: will i die, will this particular attack kill him, etc. He cannot later ask "will my friend die," if it's about the same battle. Also, the Mage cannot ask anything that is philosophically vague, such as "is there a God?" This will occur in one aggravated wound per number of successes, plus Paradox.]

Detect Pattern (Correspondence 3 Entropy 1 Time 2)(Forecasters)
By comparing events with each other and running sophisticated algorithms, the Forecasters of the Technocracy can detect patterns which normally would seem random. They can predict how the patterns will develop, trace their history and often discover who is behind it. Typical applications are scanning for Tradition activity or crime.

Track Manipulations (Time 2 Entropy 2) (Forecasters)
This is continuously done by the Technocracy to see if other groups attempt to manipulate the trends. The Forecasters carefully analyse events to see if they have been manipulated by someone, using their computers to search for patterns. The difficulty lies in the fact that most manipulators are very careful, and the results are seldom apparent until years later.

Keening of the Banshee (Time 2 Entropy 1)
This rote (also known as the Sight of the Valkyries) is surprisingly simple, but still very rarely used. By following the threads of fate forward, the mage can feel where they end. This can be used to predict how long anything will remain in existence; inanimate objects, living beings, people and even love itself. Most mages prefer not to use this rote at all. The only exceptions are (of course) the Euthanatos, who simply regard it as a useful tool or a very powerful demonstration of the total power of Entropy. They cast the bones and interpret their patterns.
[ The rote has some limitations. It cannot predict exactly where something will end, just a time of great entropy. Sometimes people survive just barely, and go on living. Awakened beings also automatically disturb the predictions by their actions, especially if they have Time or Entropy themselves (increase difficulty). If the rote is used on a mage, he will automatically try to subconsciously countermagick it. ]

MASTER NINJA TIME ROTE (Time 3, Mind 1, Entropy 1)
(Sons of Jupiter, by Jack Dracula)
Just the thing for the clever coyote, this Rote can turn anyone into a Master Ninja. It was first used by Glen Manning, a Mystery Science Theatre fan, who wanted to fight just like the ninjas in bad martial arts flicks.
[Time slows down for the Mage, who then can use the Dim Mak effect to his the best possible spot on the enemy. Also, absurdly silly but effective dodges are possible, since the attacker is moving in slow motion; -2 to all dodge target numbers.]

Temple of Love (Time 3 Correspondence 2)
While the mage uses tantric sex-magick with a partner inside a circle of lit incense-sticks, the time outside the participants slow down while their own time accelerates. The result is a zone of relative safety around the mage for a short while. The difference in the passage of time is so abrupt it creates a kind of barrier, which seeks to delay passing objects or personas. Most such effects are coincidental, like having enterers stumble, doors getting stuck or shoelaces suddenly appearing untied. The mage will also instinctively know well before when somebody will try to enter, and have ample time to prepare.

Resting (Life 3 Time 3)
The mage speeds up sleep for somebody, so he will awake rested sooner. A pleasurable side-effect is that dreams will be very beautiful and intense. Very popular among members of the Cult of Ecstasy.

Prolong Life (Life 3 Time 3)
By selectively slowing down the processes of ageing, many Cultists remain young and healthy despite their hectic lives. In fact, most users of this rote perform it by simply living as pleasurably as possible.

Faint (Life 2 Time 3)
The Cult of Ecstasy don't like to hurt people, but sometimes they have to. This rote was perfected by a Lady de Joen during the 18th century, who sometimes had the problem of being surprised in embarrassing circumstances by the appearance of the wives of her lovers. However, by slowing down the blood supply to their brains, she could easily make them coincidentally faint. And people often forget what the saw just before fainting...

Preserve (Time 3 Entropy 3 Prime 2 Matter 1/Life 1)
A recurring problem for pattern-mages is that many of their creations don't last well or begin to dissolve. This is especially the problem with the creation of living beings. One solution is to seek to restore their patterns and slow down their ageing.

Waste Time (Time 3 Entropy 3/4)
Sometimes nothing seems to get done, regardless of how much you work or plan noting worthwhile comes out of it. This effect can be created by a judicious use of Entropy to make time less "fresh" and useful to people. Some Cultists use it to sabotage the workings of bureaucracies or other organisations by making the employees ineffective and slow. By using even more powerful Entropy magick time can even be destroyed; the victims will notice that a certain period has passed but cannot remember anything of it, and nothing seems to have been done either.

Tantric Meditation (Time 3 Prime 2)
One of the more important methods of tantric yoga is to have intercourse, but avoid orgasm. This is continued as long as possible, resulting in a powerfully altered state of mind. The main use is of course theurgical, to experience the true White Light, but some cultists have found a more practical, theurgical use of the practice. The tantric Masters of course disapprove of it, but its useful nevertheless. During the state of no-time which develop, the mage(s) can weave new magickal effects but just as orgasm is delayed, delay their expression until the final moment. This gives them the ability to create extremely complex magick which is released in a single instant, or strengthen magick greatly.
[In order to work, the participants must succeed in reaching tantric trance, using stamina + meditation with a difficulty of 6. The successes can be used to lower difficulties for magick in this state as described in the Book of Shadows. The rote requires prime to sustain the etheric patterns of the magick even when the mage directs his or her will to other purposes in the ceremony. ]

Time is of the Essence (Time 3 Mind 1)
One problem many people have is that they become stressed or feel they don't have enough time to think in tense situations. The Cult of Ecstasy has a reputation of having many great improvisers or wits, and this rote is one of the reasons. By simply focusing on the present, the mage can speed his own thoughts to great speed while appearing to be acting normal.
[ The rote will not give the mage any increased speed in movement or other physical actions (like looking at something else). For practical purposes, the world seems to have slowed down into slow- motion. Time is slowed at the rate normal for Time 3. Alternatively, in a live-roleplaying situation, each success will give the mage a minute extra to think over his actions, solve problems or use magick. ]

Delay Paradox (Time 3/4 Prime 2)
Paradox Backlashes are so great disturbances in reality that any mage with Prime and Time will feel them approaching well in advance. So far nobody has ever been able to avert them, but they can be delayed, giving the mage a chance at least to prepare himself. He simply twists the time around the approaching backlash, delaying it. This is of course utterly vulgar, and will fuel it even more. Powerful mages have experimented with Time 4 to freeze Paradox completely, but it will inevitably escape and become a Time-backlash of almost mythical strength.
[Botches are *very* nasty. Handling Paradox is inherently paradoxical, and this rote may even disturb the flow of Time. Caution is advised. The number of turns the mage can delay the Paradox is equal to his successes if he uses Time 3. If Time 4 is used, double the strength of the Backlash and use the normal duration table. ]

Compile Virtual Computer (Time 4 Correspondence 2 Prime 2 Forces 1)
The Virtual Adepts have always been interested in applying the ideas of technology and science to magick. One early development was the discovery that magickal effects could be delayed until certain conditions had been fulfilled. Since this is essentially the same principle as the transistor, they began to develop magickal electronics. By joining together many separate "transistors" and using magickal events instead of electricity, they were able to first build immaterial digital devices and finally the virtual computers. These computers are built out of magickal patterns, which interact in complex ways. They require no electricity, since they use causality itself as their building material (some Adepts claim that space-time really is built out of a network of information processing units, and the virtual computers just are man-made imitations).
They have no limitations on speed, size or processing power except paradox and the skill of their creators. This turned out to be the greatest obstacle, since the creation of the ultracomplex patterns requires extremely skilled programmers. It was however somewhat simplified when a team of Adepts developed the first compiler, which could compile sourcecode in electronic form into a running virtual program-pattern. These compilers are major feats of magick and programming, and still require extremely skilled adepts, but its no longer a feat worthy an AI to create a virtual computer.
[ Virtual computers are compiled into extremely complex patterns of causal connections, which interface with the normal world through the Digital Web. The patterns has to be very exact, otherwise the system will quickly unravel. Interfacing with the physical world has proven to be too prone to paradox, which wrecks the intricate patterns in a matter of minutes. However, one elegant application which works is expanding the capacity of a normal Adept computer, which is often coincidental or at least doesn't attract attention. Virtual memory can hold unlimited information and virtual processors can process nearly infinite amounts of data. There are persistent rumours that several experimental virtual computers have achieved consciousness and Ascended. ]

Petrify (Time 4 Life 4 Matter 2)
This is the classic petrifaction rote, a staple of the Verbena and also rather popular among some of the more drastic Cultists. The victim is literally turned into stone, lasting forever (or at least a long time). Some Sons of Ether have a stasis rote, based on Forces instead, locking victims inside fields of no-time, but the function is the same. These rotes can be supplied with conditions which will dispel them, as a kiss from prince charming or a pre-set time.
[The rote can be used without Time, but then it won't last as long as when the Avatar of the victim is frozen into stasis. ]

Weather Conserves (Time 4 Forces 2/4)
An ancient Verbena rote. The mage boils together a broth during a thunderstorm, hurricane or sunny day and lets it absorb the weather, which is stored in a jar, bottle or sack. If it is opened, the weather will come streaming out again. This can prove useful as a weapon, as in the case of Mother Huntington's Pickled Lightening or practical as a diversion (like her Fog Preserves or Hail with Cinnamon).

Strengthen Destiny (Time 5 Prime 2 Entropy 2 Correspondence 2)
Some of the most powerful cultists are not content merely to watch the flow of history, they want to direct it. When they see a tendency they like, they perform elaborate ecstatic rituals to fuel the causal chains supporting it and increase the chance it will grow. This will help the development through random events and "the flow of history". Some cultists claim that Woodstock was such and ritual to fuel the whole of the 60's. Others whisper that the Technocracy is doing the same thing on a global scale, to ensure their total victory.

Time Loop (Correspondence 2, Spirit 4, Time 5)
(Time Lords, by Mark Kinney)
This rote is used when something so disruptive to the timeline is being used or created. This rote separates their world from the rest of the timeline, so that their influence will not effect the flow of history.
[This rote raises the Gauntlet of a target Realm to 10, essentially cutting it off from the Umbra. ]

Back to Robin's Cult of Ecstasy Page.

Copyright 1996-2005 Robin Connor. All Rights Reserved.