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Black Dagger (Life 1, Forces 2)

Named by the straightforward Euthanatoi after its most common focus, this rote is easily mastered by young Disciples. As with most of the traditional rotes, it is simple, effective and created to kill people. Taking a knife suitable for throwing, the mage daubs it in the substance of a bodily organ to prepare it. This is either vitreous humor (eye), semen (genitals) or blood (heart). This knife then acts as a focus for the magick. The mage hurls the dagger at his enemy and it is drawn towards the correct area. Of course, it helps if the mage's aim is reasonable but the magick greatly increases his chance of success.

There are many very old daggers in use by the Euthanatos, passed down from mentor to disciple. These are often African throwing knives and use of one of these ritual items can make the magick far more potent. Over the centuries these blades have been stained distinct colors. Yellow blades are drawn to the eye, white blades fly for the genitals and the most common black daggers pierce the heart.

Life magick identifies the target area, Forces guides the blade towards it. Each success reduces the difficulty of hitting the target area by one. The base difficulties are normally eyes +3, groin +2 and heart +2. Use of a knife with the appropriate resonance will reduce the difficulty of the magickal success roll.

Aura of Death (Life 2)

Other Traditions have noticed that wherever there is a great disaster, the Euthanatos soon appear. And when the Black Death broke out in the cities of Europe, the Euthanatos came out in droves. Although the Euthanatos could cope with the sight and stench of thousands of rotting corpses, they needed some way to avoid contracting the plague itself. Conducting this ritual creates a kind of Death Field around the mage which kills all minor life forms that come too close, such as fleas, viruses, insects, etc.

This field is too weak to affect higher organisms but other people do sense a kind of chilling effect around the mage. There may be a way around this but very few Euthanatos actually care.

Life magick kills all simple life forms within two feet of the mage. Three successes are needed to activate the rote and the effects last for one day.

Death Mask (Life 3, Matter 3)

This old rote recently became popular again after the film Silence of the Lambs. Correctly used, it is very effective for infiltration. The Euthanatos carefully cuts apart a fresh corpse and select the parts that he needs — this always includes the face. He then places these over his own body parts where they merge with his own flesh, bonding into one entity. This rote makes him into a perfect simulacrum of the victim — face, fingerprints, hair, as close as he desires. One variation on this rote even enables him to speak like the deceased by consuming the tongue. This melding also affects his life pattern, sometimes enabling him to pass magickal detection.

All of the attached parts are infused with his own blood and actually become part of him. Therefore they do not appear dead but the removal of the disguise is very messy. It is even more bizarre if the mage was larger than the victim because he appears to split out of the smaller body (and like a snake, leaving the skin behind). Quite frankly, it's rotes like this that get the Euthanatos a bad name.

Life and Matter magick enable the blending of mage and corpse. Minor cuts and abrasions that the corpse sustained may be repaired but tissue damage. like burns, will increase the difficulty. Only two successes are needed for a scene but three will last for a day, four indefinitely.

Zombie, 'Orleans style (Life 3, Spirit 4)

Euthanatos of Africa have been raising corpses as long as anyone can remember and today, those who follow this tradition still use the technique as a wonderful source of servants. However, there now seem to be as many rotes for doing this as there are mages. This particular rote is believed to be the one used by the reknowned Baron Samedi. Several voodoo priests are fond of it and even Sleepers have learned the basic ritual. The word zombie does not actually mean an animated corpse in this case, however. It is still essentially a living human being.

The first stage of this rote is to find a suitable subject and induce a state of suspended animation in him. This may be done by magick but more usually an herbal poison is used. The body is traditionally buried and left for a while before being retrieved but there is no actual need for this. The poison brings the victim to the point of death (without causing tissue damage) which weakens the link between the body and the spirit. Most of the rituals of the voodoo priest are solely for the purpose of breaking this link. If too little poison was administered then the link will be too strong to be broken. Conversely, if too much was used then the body quickly dies and is useless. Just as the link is at its weakest (that is when the subject is about to die) the mage quickly drives out the spirit if he can and then hurriedly neutralizes the poison and drags the body back to life. This is no easy task and mentors usually make disciples practice on animals before progressing to people. If successful, the mage has a living, intelligent body with no soul — and thus no will of its own. A Zombie.

There are a number of problems facing the young voodoo priest, however. If he works too slowly then the body begins to deteriorate before he can drag it back to life. Without oxygen the brain rapidly suffers damage. That is why so many Zombies are slow and a little dense. The second problem is that although the Zombie has no will of its own it has no particular loyalty. If anything, it just tends to obey the person that can shout the loudest. Thus the zombie needs to be trained. This frequently but does not always involve Mind magick. Finally, a spiritless body is a walking invitation to any passing Umbrood who fancies playing about in the physical world. It is like leaving a Ferrari around with the keys in the ignition. To prevent this, the mage seals the zombie against the Umbra. If all this is done then the mage has an excellent servant, body-guard, dinner-date or whatever.

This is an extended ritual. First, the victim must be rendered deeply comatose (Life 4 or poison). Some experience is needed to judge this correctly. Second, the spirit must be driven out (Spirit 4). At least 10 successes are needed, possibly more for those with strong Avatars. Finally the body must be healed (Life 3). 4 successes are needed and must be achieved within one turn.

Enemy Within (Corr. 4, Life 3)

Many of the Euthanatoi's intended victims have turned out to have some surprising defences. Thus the Euthanatos have had to come up with some surprising techniques of assassination. During the long Akashic - Euthanatos war, the famous assassin Delion came up against the equally renowned Akashic Brother Raging Mountain. Mountain's skin was invulnerable to all weapons and he was unbeatable in combat. Taking the second problem first, Delion simply attacked whilst Mountain was asleep. To overcome his invulnerable skin however, Delion devised this rote.

It is when the sword slices through muscle tissue and vital organs that it causes harm. Therefore it is much more efficient to simply correspond the blade inside the victim and wave it about a bit at a distance. This doesn't really do any more damage — after all, skin and subcutaneous fat have never provided much of a barrier to tempered steel — but it does overcome a surprising number of magickal defences.

This rote follows normal Correspondence ranges.

Guarding the Tomb (Mind 2)

Few people would want to invade the privacy of a Euthanatos mage but this rote was developed by them in order to keep even these few away. During a long ritual in which the Euthanatos sprinkles human ashes over the chosen area, she creates an atmosphere of fear. The degree of fear she produces is a matter of choice. A subtle impression of unease will deter people without a genuine reason to go there. A much greater effect will create one of those places that have a bad reputation — haunted cottages, dangerous alleys and the areas that you just don't go. A very powerful mage or a cabal can create a place that most Sleepers cannot even approach, certainly not without a very good reason.

The trick is to gauge the right intensity. Too little and anyone with a few beers inside them won't even notice it, too much and the Men in Black will hear about it. In modern times some people even seek out such places. Coincidences can often be used in graveyards, secluded glens and places of tragedy, etc.

Finally, this rote can be expanded to exclude certain people, those who carry a special seal or any other signal that the mage desires, although this will require additional Spheres. Nephandi also use a variation on this rote, although theirs produces a more active sense of evil.

Typically, in addition to successes needed for area affected (which varies according to locale), two successes would be needed for a subtle aura, five successes for a very real sensation of fear and ten or more to drive away determined trespassers.

Shaking the Bones (Entropy 2, Prime 2) or (Entropy 2, Time 4)

The Euthanatos are not usually very open about their activities (which is probably very wise), and have thus developed this rote for secret communication. The only Traditions to rival this system are the Akashics and the Virtual Adepts.

The Euthanatoi often cast bones as a means of divination and have developed a very sophisticated code in the patterns in which they fall. A Euthanatos wishing to send a message uses her Entropy magick to influence the way they fall and then locks this pattern into the bones with Prime magick. Alternately, the mage can use Time magick to create a 'one-shot' only set of bones. This alternate version can also deliver different messages or a number of different messages depending on some pre-chosen circumstance, such as a question asked. These bones are then delivered to the intended receiver. Most mentors teach their disciples this code.

The more magickal successes achieved, the more complex the message may be. Two successes produce a simple message, such as 'technocrats are on to us.' Six successes would give details of numbers, locations, battle plans and contingencies.

Fatal Flaw (Entropy 1, Mind 3)

Euthanatoi are feared not only for their ruthlessness but for their uncanny ability to find people's weaknesses. This rote is widely used for that very purpose. Many Euthanatos use this rote on friends as well as enemies — just in case.

To perform the rote the Euthanatos searches the victim's mind for psychological weaknesses — phobias, hatreds, ambitions, doubts, anything that can be used against him. She may have to take time with this rote to get past mental shields or to perform it coincidentally.

Three magickal successes will reveal a major weakness. Greater successes will provide more detail.

Reaper (Prime 3, Spirit 5)

Much of the Euthanatos Tradition's magick draws its energy from the dead. That is why Euthanatos cabals like to perform rituals in cemeteries and on burial mounds. No rote illustrates this better than the creation of a Reaper.

Requiring a master of Spirit and a disciple of Prime to perform and preferably with many acolytes and disciples, the Reaper is not an easy rote and is done very rarely. First, the mages gather together in an area dominated by dead spirits, such as a very large graveyard, a battle-field or the site of some terrible disaster (the most recent site was a large field in China where hundreds of prisoners are regularly executed). The mages then begin to draw up the forgotten spirits of the dead. These pitiful, barely conscious things are gathered by the mages who slowly begin to weave them together. Slowly, over the course of the night, a patchwork monster of lost souls takes form. It is the essence of death and can produce only death. Using whatever magick they can to control it, the mages send it out to kill their enemies. In the past it has been sent after some powerful enemy or let loose to destroy whole villages or towns. It is important to understand that the Reaper is a near unstoppable force for death. It has, in historical times, decimated entire chantries. Physical barriers cannot stop it and only the most powerful or ancient of wards can keep it at bay. Nothing can fly faster.

The strength of the Reaper depends upon the skill of the mages who created it and on where they performed the rote. Its strength is invariably vast, however. The Reaper is a monstrosity and the spirits of which it is composed gradually fall away. Yet beyond a certain point, the Reaper begins to feed upon the spirits of those it murders, binding them into its own being. At this 'critical mass' point it is best to simply give up attempts at restraining the monster and head for the nearest Horizon Realm.

Many successes are required to create a Reaper. More successes create a stronger Reaper (provided the spirits are available), but too few successes simply cause the entity to fall apart into hundreds of separate spirits.

Communion (Spirit 2)

None of the Tradition have the Euthanatoi's knack for communicating with the dead. Actually, none of them want it. Summoning up ghosts is usually easier than getting rid of them. This rote goes back as far as anyone can remember. Ancient Euthanatos would perform a bizarre death dance as part of the funeral rites in order to ease the deceased on their way. The modern followers of the Tradition perform the same dance to call the spirits up.

Mages can call up a spirit knowing only its name, but it is much easier if some link to the spirit can be provided. This could be a favorite possession of the deceased's, having a close relative or friend of the deceased's present, right up to dancing on his grave (very popular). If forced to the mage can attempt to summon a spirit he does not know, e.g. 'whoever died here' but this is hard. Of course if the deceased is an active, haunting spirit then this rote is absurdly easy.

The Cursing (Entropy 2, Mind 3)

Euthanatos mages do not always kill those who are wasting their lives. Sometimes they punish them until they mend their ways. This rote is a simple way of doing just that. Entropic magick is used to produce a 'Sod's Law' effect on the victim, generated by his own subconscious or conscious fears. If, for example, he is worried about making a bad impression on his boss then he is far more likely to spill hot coffee on her or find his watch is slow and he is half an hour late for the meeting. The effect only ends when the victim has changed his ways (as defined by the mage to the victim).

Bad luck is subjective, however. this rote has failed on HIT Marks because they have no desires or fears as such. There was also one near legendary failure of this rote when an extremely powerful Euthanatos cast it on a young Akashic Brother to teach him a lesson. Using simple Mind magick, the Akashic convinced himself that the worst thing that could possibly happen would be for the Euthanatos mage to die. An astonishing series of flukes and chance events brought them face to face one more time where, despite his best efforts, the Akashic accidentally killed the Euthanatos.