Prime Effects

• • • Lambs to the Slaughter — Sacrifice is a highly controversial magical procedure, painted black in the-eyes of most of society — and no

Sacrifice, however, is used, approved and even praised by all Traditions in one form or another. The most common — and most holy — form is

self-sacrifice, as done with Heart's Blood. Heart's Blood may be combined with a living bond (see Consecration) to sacrifice one's own life energy

to power another's magic. The magic comes from a willing sacrifice, and this sacrifice lends the magic additional power, the psychic Resonance of

the primal energy in harmony with the magical working. Thus, a woman who gives of her own life energy to save the man she loves will have the

power of that Quintessence affected by the Resonance other love (and the total sacrifice of her life may not even be necessary, depending on the

magic).

In many other magic spells, the mage sacrifices some sort of material object: breaking an item, burning it, burying it or otherwise destroying an

object of value. In the case of Tass, this act releases its excess Prime energy; to a mage with Prime magic, it allows the mage the opportunity to

channel away a small measure of Quintessence as the item is destroyed (typically one point). Such Quintessence returns quickly to the flow, as soon

as the object is broken, and so it must be used immediately.

The trouble with most Nephandic rituals — and the reason most Nephandi gain no additional power from their sacrifices — is that the victims

are unwilling. Every point of Quintessence pulled out of the blood of an unwilling victim generates an equal and opposite measure of psychic

Resonance absolutely opposed to the murderer and everything he or she stands for. This Resonance cancels out any benefit there might be from

blood on the altar (apart from pleasing one's Dark Masters).

However, a willing sacrifice — such as a Celestial Chorus priest who martyrs herself to save her flock, a Verbena acolyte willingly burnt in the

Wicker Man to end a famine or a Nephandic groupie who really and truly believes that the best thing she can do with her life is spill it on the

ground for the greater glory of the Dark Masters — gives a great deal of power to a ritual. This sort of devotion can't be mentally compelled or

blackmailed, but it can be carefully taught. There are certain Nephandi who raise children as "innocent lambs," treating them well and telling them:

"The Dark Masters are your friends. The Dark Masters are better than Barney. There's nothing more wonderful than to be sacrificed to the Dark

Masters — but we won't do that yet. We'll save it for a special occasion. All praise the Dark Masters".

Verbena, Hermetics, Euthanatos and particularly traditional members of the Chorus engage in similar practices, but with domestic animals —

particularly lambs, goats, chickens and calves. They raise them with a great deal of special care and special treatment, then use them as the

centerpiece (and main course) of seasonal rituals and feasts. As vampires know, the amount of life energy in such a creature is not as great as it is in

a human, but there are also less mural qualms about killing a chicken or lamb.

Many people find the concept sacrifice of distasteful, but it is included here both as a story element and as an important part of both ancient and

modern magical and religious belief. However, a Storyteller is free to disallow sacrifice as a source of magical power if it is a story element she

does not want to deal with, if it's inappropriate to particular magical ceremony or if the proper rites and rituals have not been observed by the

player's character. A Verbena might gain between two and five points of Quintessence from an appropriately raised and humanely slaughtered lamb

as part of a May Day feast. Then again, the lamb may not be that innocent or willing, and any possible bonus might be spoiled by negative

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Resonance. It is a matter of Storyteller opinion and judgment whether any particular sacrifice holds power beyond the beliefs of'the person

performing the ritual.