Book of Bone and Ebony

Void Cocoon Warrior is a Void Circle version of this
spell. When cast, a burgeoning black nothing grows out of
the necromancer’s chest and slowly wraps itself around her
legs, her arms, her chest and, finally, her head. Growing
still, she pilots a towering 20-foot-tall machine made of
black steel and the Void: a mighty noble warstrider or a
massive juggernaut. Should the necromancer desire, she
can sacrifice a lethal health level to the Void as the
machine forms around her — the black warstrider takes on
a ruddy red color and swells, until it is quite possibly the
tallest thing on the battlefield, becoming a royal warstrider.
The health level cannot be healed until the spell ends.
Void Cocoon Warrior is more flexible than Rattled
Bones of War: It costs a minimum of 28 motes (committed),
and the warstrider appears with a grand daiklave that
hums softly as it sucks the air near it into Oblivion. It has
the option of being summoned adorned with ancient
artifacts of war. Any weapon that can be mounted on a
warstrider can be summoned with a Void Cocoon for an
additional cost (and commitment) equal to the amount of
Essence that would normally be required to attune the
weapon. Expendable ammunition for such weapons can be
created out of dull-gray Oblivion for a single mote apiece.
The Void Cocoon Warrior remains for only two hours, but
the duration can be extended for an additional hour for a
number of motes equal to half the originally cost. (See the
appendix of Savant and Sorcerer for more details on
warstriders and their weapons.)
REBIRTH INTO DARKNESS
Cost: 25 motes
Target: One ghost
As this spell is cast, the ghost who finds himself its
victim feels an invisible collar fasten around his neck. The
sensation fades after a moment, and the ghost can continue
with his regular habits. The next time the ghost is
slain or suffers some other loss of form, the spirit feels the
collar again, tightening around his neck to the point of
suffocation. The strangling sensation persists until the
ghost reforms. There is no opportunity for him to enter
Lethe nor any danger of Oblivion, and when the spirit
returns to consciousness, he finds himself in the presence
of the necromancer who laid this spell upon him. Despite
his best efforts, the ghost cannot manage to pass on. He will
always return to his second existence only to find himself
before she who cast the spell. Ghosts who suffer dissipation
while possessing a permanent Essence of • do not lose that
Essence if under this spell. Instead, the necromancer must
immediately pay 10 motes to keep the ghost from dissipating
forever. If a necromancer does not or cannot forfeit the
cost necessary to maintain the ghost’s existence, the ghost’s
collar drags him into Oblivion.
Deathlords and Abyssals commonly use this spell to
repeatedly torture ghosts to “death” while ensuring that it is
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CHAPTER FIVE • NECROMANCY
not an escape. It has proved to be a less costly method than
seeking out and guarding the victim’s Fetters. The collar
remains for two days as marked by the Calendar of Setesh.
SEVEN VISIONS WISDOM
Cost: 34 motes
Target: One ghost
The necromancer holds his hand flat in perspective so
it appears to him that his target is resting in his palm. He
closes his hand and focuses thin flows of hot Essence upon
the ghost now captured within. Short minutes later, he
opens his palm to reveal a small medallion of soulsteel. The
ghost’s name is etched into the front.
Seven Visions Wisdom can capture any ghost within
100 yards and bind her into a medallion. This medallion
qualifies as Artifact •• and requires a commitment of 2
motes to be used. Any person wearing it with such a
commitment can choose to substitute any one of the
captured spirit’s Ability ratings instead of his own while
performing a relevant task. Someone who “borrows” a
rating in an Ability he does not himself possess (i.e., his
rating is 0) still suffers the two-die penalty — his muscles
and his mind are simply unable to perform with the
familiarity the ghost’s would have. Any Ability the ghost
possessed may be used.
This spell can only be cast upon a ghost with an
Essence less than that of the necromancer. The medallion
loses its integrity when struck by countermagic or after a
number of months equal to the necromancer’s Essence. It
blossoms over the next few seconds into the form of the
ghost it once was, who is again in command of her own
facilities. She remembers all actions that her Abilities
were used to assist during her imprisonment, but little else.
The necromancer may, at the casting of the spell, spend
six points of experience, making the enchantment permanent
and rendering the spell immune to all but Obsidian
Countermagic. Only one such medallion can offer its bearer
wisdom at one time. If any more are worn simultaneously,
the different intuitions and skills contradict with one another.
These silent arguments cause all actions attempted by
the one who wears them to suffer a two-die penalty, whether
or not he intends to use the skill of either.
SHADOW STONES TRAVEL
Cost: 24 motes
Target: Area of effect
As she completes the spell, the necromancer cuts her
palm and lets a splash of blood paint the ground at her feet.
Immediately, a stiff breeze blows outward from the stain of
red. A few seconds later, a gust of wind that carries with it
the scent of grave rot billows forth from the center. Scant
seconds disappear before the breath of decay dies down,
and as it does, the world ripples out from the center of the
spell. Where the ripple passes, grasses become dead and