Finding Defixiones

Defixiones are some of the most common artifacts recovered from the ancient world. Some graves or wells literally contain hundreds of defixiones in various states of degradation. Not all defixiones, however, are suitable for study. A magus may only study those defixiones whose magic has not yet been released.

There are a number of reasons that a defixio could have been created and never used. For example, if a jealous husband cursed his wife's

lover and she had always remained faithful to him, the curse would still be pending and could be studied. If an absentminded person cursed the thief of his cloak and he later found that he had simply misplaced it, the curse would still be pending. In general, the storyguide should limit the number of suitable defixiones discovered to one or two per season the investigators spend searching.

Curse Tablets

The curse tablet is the most common form of defixio and was utilized by all practitioners of defixio magic. A curse tablet could be made from any material upon which a sorcerer can write. The usual medium was a flattened lead tablet, though parchment, wax, or other soft metals could be utilized. Silver and gold were popular material for defensive defixiones and were often worn on necklaces. The sorcerer performed an intricate ceremony to prepare the surface of the material before writing on it. Using a brass stylus, the cultist then described the target, detailed the curse, and inscribed words of power and mystical symbols.

Once the tablet was inscribed, the sorcerer folded the tablet over upon itself to conceal the writing and then transfixed it with a nail, often one that had been used in a crucifixion. The ritual was completed when the defixio was deposited in a suitable location. Defixiones seeking revenge or destruction were often placed in a place where Pluto or Hecate were worshipped. Those seeking justice or victory were frequently placed in an oracle or spring dedicated to Minerva or a local deity. Defixiones used to control ghosts were usually placed in that ghost's grave.

Silhouettes

Cultists of Hecate specialized in the creation of silhouette defixiones. These devices were created during a ritual that involved molding a statuette of the target in lead. The cultist then engraved the statuette with a description of the individual and words or symbols of power. While reciting an oral formula to empower the defixio, the cultist used a heavy weight to smash the figurine flat, which left a thin, silhouette-shaped figure. The cultist then deposited the defixio in an inaccessible location, such as an underground body of water, or an oracle or sanctuary dedicated to an appropriate deity.

Figurines

Cultists of Ceres and Proserpina specialized in the creation of figurine defixiones. The figurines were most often used in ceremonies to inspire love or lust in a target. As part of a lengthy ritual, the cultists created a figurine by molding a representation of the target from wax, clay, or wood. The sorcerer then etched the person's name into the figurine and, while reciting the oral formula to empower the defixio, impaled the figurine with numerous iron nails. The cultist then deposited the figurine in an inaccessible location, such as a well, underground stream, or spring dedicated to the appropriate deity.

Formulae

In addition to requiring the creation of one of the three physical examples above, defixio rituals also involved an oral component. These formulae were essential to empowering the defixio to channel the underlying magic that affected the target of the curse. These rituals were often recorded in large collections — some of which still exist. Although the investigators can learn much about the practice of defixio magic through examination of the physical remains, their research is made easier by acquiring and studying the accompanying formulae.

The ancient sources of defixio formulae are not texts in the traditional sense and do not have Source or Quality ratings. They are merely collections of formulae for various defixio spells. Studying such a collection does not allow a character to gain any ability in Defixio Lore, but some formulae may provide a suitable source for investigation.

If the investigator is able to discover a formula for the same cult as a defixio in his possession, the character receives a bonus of his Insight roll. Over the centuries, many formulae have been copied incorrectly, and original texts have been ravaged by time; therefore, few formulae are suitable for study. In addition to providing access to formulae, some ancient texts provide descriptions of the most efficacious locations to deposit defixiones. These descriptions can provide the investigator valuable clues in recovering specimens for study.

Toledo Scholars

Many texts from ancient Greece and Rome survived in Arabic translation throughout North Africa and other Moorish lands. Some of these texts have begun trickling back into Europe through Andalusia for the last century. The translation center at Toledo serves as a prolific source

of Latin translations of both ancient Greek and Egyptian texts.

Because the Church sponsors the translation of these texts, the search for defixio formulae is difficult. When most Church officials uncover a magical text, they simply destroy it. Not all translators agree with this policy, however. The investigator may need to identify a sympathetic translator or blackmail one to locate suitable formulae.

Egyptian Formulae

The Roman Empire had extensive contacts with Egypt, and defixio texts may still survive there. Many believe that defixio magic originated in Egypt. The Greek and Egyptian formulae, which were adapted by Roman cultists, still exist in the libraries of Moorish scholars and magicians in the Levant and Egypt. These texts may be the most comprehensive sources for defixio formulae, but they are also likely to be the most difficult to obtain, and require a journey to Islamic territory. Once obtained, the magus must translate and decipher them from Ancient Coptic or Greek before conducting any laboratory investigation or attempting to understand them.

Tremere Archives

Some ancient collections of defixio formulae may have survived to the present in the hands of members of the Order. A sufficiently large collection of magical texts from the time of the Founders — such as the Tremere archives — might have some examples of defixio formulae. It is doubtful that anyone in that House attaches much importance to them, given the popular belief that the

magic of the earliest members of the Order has been fully incorporated into Hermetic magic. However, the investigator is still not able to gain access to the archives of Coeris without offering something valuable to the leadership of House Tremere.

The investigator might seek the assistance of a conspirator to gain access to the Tremere archives. A disgruntled grog or servant may be willing to risk his life to cross the Tremere, but the justification would need to be great. The Tremere are likely to discover any theft by a non-magus rather quickly. A less risky alternative might be to identify a Tremere magus with the Leadworker Virtue who wishes to return his magical lineage to prominence. Of course, such a magus is likely to be manipulating the investigator to his own ends, as well.

The storyguide has the option of using the Tremere as a source of assistance or hindrance in the investigation of defixio magic. House Tremere may be concerned about the investigator's research for several reasons. First, they may not want the magus to disclose the secrets of the Leadworker Virtue to the Order as a whole, because it would weaken the House's current necromantic dominance. Second, defixio magic provides its user with powerful tools for war and espionage. The Tremere may want to monopolize these techniques to improve their political advantage in the Order. Finally, even if the secrets of defixio magic are eventually available to the entire Order, House Tremere may want to slow their spread until the House can perfect it, or develop defenses against it.

Cultists of Pluto could coerce restless ghosts to perform fell deeds. Other cultists also placed their defixiones in gravesites to deter the victims of their curses from finding and destroying the devices. Therefore, ancient gravesites are very fertile grounds for discovering defixiones. Although the practitioners of defixio magic were spread throughout the Roman Empire, Rome contained the highest concentration of cultists. The sheer quantity of gravesites makes Rome a likely destination for uncovering defixiones, and any large Roman city is likely to have defixiones interred in its ancient tombs.

Locating a graveyard in Rome is not difficult. However, finding one that contains useful defixiones presents a potential problem for investigators. The cultists favored the graves of children and victims of violence because they possessed vengeful ghosts willing to harm the living. Romans believed that people who died in an untimely fashion, especially those who died too young to have progeny of their own to tend their tombs, were likely to be restless spirits filled with hatred and jealousy for the living. Ghosts of individuals who were betrayed in death or died with an important task unfinished could remain active to the present. Rumors of haunted areas or ghosts may provide the investigators with some of their best leads.

The City of Rome

Rome has a current population of perhaps 10,000 permanent residents.

This number varies greatly depending on the season, being inflated by pilgrims and other visitors to the Holy See. Because vast areas of Rome have been destroyed and rebuilt over the centuries, potential gravesites exist in unexpected locations. The source of a haunted home, inn, or plaza could be the ghost of an ancient Roman who is restless because his grave is no longer marked.

The investigator might encounter many problems searching in Rome. The least of these problems is that within the city walls his actions come under close scrutiny from Church and city officials as well as innocent bystanders. In addition, the powerful Dominion impedes the use of most magic, including the search, discovery, and excavation of tombs.

Old Rome

Many of the gravesites of ancient Rome are no longer within the city proper. The area surrounding Rome, which was previously part of the ancient city, has become rural and is dominated by farms and pasture, with only scattered villages. Rural Rome possesses a weak Dominion aura that interferes with magic, but not to the extent of Rome proper.

Outside of Rome, investigators may more easily utilize Intellego spells to locate defixiones, graves, or ghosts. A powerful Intellego or Muto Terram spell could allow the investigator to look through the earth to locate graves. The search for graves is made difficult, however, by the ancient Roman funerary practices of cremation. The magus must therefore look for grave markers and burial chambers; any bones or corpses the investigators find probably received a Christian burial.

Both Sense of the Lingering Magic and Sight of the Active Magics, with Terram requisites, could detect active defixiones below ground. Unfortunately, these spells may be beyond the capability of a non-specialist or a junior magus. A different tactic might be to follow the approach that where there is smoke, there is fire. A magus using See the Spirits of the Night, or anyone with Second Sight, might stumble across a ghost from ancient Rome.

See the Spirits of the Night

InMe 30

R: Per, D: Conc, T: Vision

The caster is able to see Mentembased spirits (ghosts) that are normally invisible to the living. For spirits that are not in close proximity to the caster, a successful Perception roll may be required to locate them. For example, ghosts hidden behind intervening walls are not visible, and a ghost amid a large crowd may not be immediately obvious. This spell does not allow the caster to communicate with the dead, only to see a ghost. This spell must penetrate the Magic Resistance of the invisible ghost to be successful.

(New Base 5 [Sense any Mentem spirit], +1 Conc, +4 Vision)

Ghosts of Ancient Rome

The residents of rural Rome might direct the investigator to the general location of a ghost because it is relatively well known. One such example is the ghost of Libitina. Libitina was a priestess of the cult of Hecate in Rome. She was a powerful sorceress who was driven to achieve power at any cost. In pursuit of this quest, she murdered her own children and used their restless spirits to punish her enemies and guard her defixiones.

This foul act still binds Libitina to the world of the living. She haunts the countryside of Rome terrorizing parents. She believes that she remains in this world to protect children and punish anyone who abuses them. The characters may hear children playing while repeating a rhyme that calls for Libitina to punish cruel mothers and fathers.

If the magi communicate with Libitina, they may be able to lay her ghost to rest. Once she admits that her deeds in life were despicable and cannot be undone by punishing others, she passes to the other side. As a reward, she provides the magus with a powerful defixio that she created to protect her grave. The statistics for Libitina are left to the discretion of the storyguide, but she should have a Might that presents a challenge to the group. Because she feels overwhelming guilt over her mistreatment of her children, a magus using Coerce Spirits of the Night on Libitina receives a +4 to his Presence for threats involving her children.

Catacombs

While searching for defixiones, the investigators may stumble across the catacombs of Rome. The catacombs were subterranean burial places for early Christians that are located outside the walls of old Rome. Because Pre-Christian Roman law prohibited the interment of corpses within the city, Jewish citizens buried their dead outside the walls. When Christians came to the city, they continued the practice. The catacombs vary greatly and range from rough, narrow tunnels with small shelves for the dead to professionally finished stone tombs with stairs and shafts to the surface to provide light and ventilation. The catacombs fell out of use when the Empire became Christian, and their existence was generally unknown during the Middle Ages. It is possible that still-active defixiones rest in the catacombs, especially if they were intended to call forth the spirit of a Christian or Jewish ghost protected by a Divine burial.

Vardian's Tomb

Although most of the catacombs possess a weak Dominion aura, this is not true for every one. Legend tells of Flambeau's conquest of a group of Roman cultists who refused to join the Order. Flambeau followed the fleeing wizards into the catacombs and, in an epic battle, killed them all, destroying their most powerful artifact — Vardian's skull. This powerful magical act created an aura that a small covenant utilizes today.

The covenant, which calls itself Vardian's Tomb, is composed of several Ex Miscellanea necromancers and Jerbiton magi. The covenant must remain small because of the limited size of the aura. Despite its size, the covenant can provide investigators with valuable assistance. The magi know the catacombs and the area around them well, including the local restless dead.

The magi of Vardian's Tomb also know that there are defixiones located throughout the catacombs. Because unexpended defixiones contain vis, the magi have spent a great deal of time searching for them. The magi may be willing to trade the defixiones in their possession for vis, but they do not trade them on a one-for-one basis. If the investigator attempts to take advantage of the magi of Vardian's Tomb, ridicules them for their poor amenities, or is discovered taking the covenant's vis sources, the magi secretly encourage

the Spectres (see below) to deal with him.

The Spectres

The members of Vardian's Tomb are not the only people living in the catacombs. A group of bandits, calling themselves the Spectres, has also taken refuge there. The bandits have used the haunted reputation of the area to discourage resistance from their victims, and actively cultivate the impression that they are spirits. To this end, the Spectres cover themselves in charcoal dust and preface their attacks with eerie sounds produced by horns and other musical instruments.

The Spectres are a particularly despicable group of ruffians who have no compunction about disturbing the dead. During the day, they remain in the catacombs, hidden from the authorities, and slip out at night to waylay travelers or raid villages. The bandits know the countryside well and are able to avoid the authorities with little trouble. The investigators might stumble across the Spectres' lair or encounter them during one their raids.

Despite the popular belief that the restless dead are terrorizing the Roman countryside, the local officials and the Church correctly suspect something more mundane is the source of the problems. The officials are therefore combing rural Rome, going village-to-village in an attempt to find the parties responsible for the raids. Of course, whether the characters encounter the Spectres or the local officials, either group could complicate their investigation. Some of the troops traveling with the Roman officials are combat vet-

erans of the Crusades. They are also often accompanied by clerics from the Holy See with the protection of relics and possibly True Faith.

The cults of Pluto, Ceres, and Hecate worshiped in underground temples dedicated to their gods. The cultists often deposited their defixiones in these isolated locations. Once a magus learns of the cults that practiced defixio magic, an Intelligence + Magic Lore roll against an Ease Factor of 12 reveals that these temples could contain defixiones or information concerning defixio magic.

There are several sources that could lead an investigator to an appropriate sanctuary. A Tremere magus or Ex Miscellanea maga of the Witches of Thessaly might provide the investigator with the location of a sanctuary for a price. An Intelligence + Magic Lore roll against an Ease Factor of 15 provides the general region of an appropriate sanctuary. The magus may also discover the location of a sanctuary from an ancient text or formulary.

Locating a sanctuary without specific directions is difficult. Because the sanctuaries are often located in Magic auras or contain vis sources, an Intellego Vim spell designed to detect either may be useful. Of course, investigating a sanctuary can cause problems should the investigator interfere with another covenant's magical resources.

The cults that practiced defixio magic were present throughout the Roman Empire, but they were most heavily concentrated on the Italian and Grecian peninsulas. The example sanctuary below is dedicated to Hecate and is set in the Cambunian Mountains of the Theban Tribunal, but it could be almost anywhere and, with little effort, it could be dedicated to any of the chthonic gods.

Cave Complex

The entrance to the cave is rough-hewn and barely large enough for an adult male to enter on his hands and knees. The tunnel extends for several yards before opening into a large multi-room complex of finished stone. An alabaster altar with a fire pit in front of it dominates the largest room. This is where the cult's most powerful ceremonies took place. The walls of the main chamber are covered with small niches that contain defixiones, some of which are suitable for study.

The rear chambers were living and working areas. If other parties have not taken the defixio formulae of the cult, they are located here. The complex also has caves that lead deeper into the mountain. Within these caves, the remains of some the cult's victims and its dead members are interred.

The cultists of Hecate have created defixiones to summon spirits or cast harmful spells on any man who enters the sanctuary. The spirits should be numerous and powerful enough to pose a threat to a moderate-sized Spring covenant. The curses are equivalent to powerful Perdo Corpus spells of the fifth, sixth, or seventh magnitude. The defixiones are staggered to affect the intruder consecutively as he goes deeper into the sanctuary. If the defixiones guarding the sanctuary can be removed without triggering their curses, they provide a potent source for study.

Their removal is relatively simple if the characters know that only a male activates them. Any woman may enter and exit the sanctuary with impunity. Discovering this trigger is only possible if one of the defixiones can be studied. The easiest way to disarm the cave is for a magus to locate the active defixiones through a Muto Terram spell to turn the walls of the cave transparent. Once the defixiones are located, the magus can then use Unseen Arm to remove them from the cave. Of course, while they remain physically intact the defixiones continue to protect the sanctuary regardless of their actual location. Destroying them ends the protection, but also makes them unsuitable for investigation.

Erebos

The cave complex is home to a colony of bats. The bats have lived in the strong magical aura of the sanctuary long enough to become warped by it. Some of these warped bats have a Magic Might of 15 and the ability to become invisible when stationary, as in Invisibility of the Standing Wizard. The warped bats do not attack the characters, and the characters may not even notice them. The body of each magical bat has three pawns of Perdo vis. The total vis available is equivalent to two high-level vis sources for the saga (see Covenants, page 72).

One of the covenants of the Theban Tribunal, Erebos, has discovered the sanctuary. The magi of Erebos have not entered it because of the various traps set by the cultists of Hecate. The covenant contains several Perdo specialists, and they consider the cave their most important vis source. The magi of Erebos harvest some of the magical bats each season as they exit the cave.

The covenant has clearly marked the entrance to the cave as its property. Its magi have set their own traps to immobilize any intruders and alert the covenant if anyone enters. They take trespassing very seriously and deal harshly with thieves, being concerned that any intrusion into the cave or disturbance of the defixiones may reduce its aura or cause the colony of bats to relocate, which would destroy their vis source.

The magi can be reasoned with, and a well-thought-out plan assuages most of their fears. However, they are not willing to endanger their vis source or give up the vis-laden defixiones without suitable compensation. The magi of Erebos may consider allowing the investigators access to the cave in exchange for assistance in resolving their conflict with the Daughters of Erictho.

Daughters of Erictho

The Witches of Thessaly were also worshippers of Hecate and are experts in sorcery, necromancy, and the dark arts (see Realms of Power: The Infernal, page 140). Many of the Witches joined House Ex Miscellanea, but a small number of the holdouts survive today in the Cambunian Mountains. These witches are known as the Daughters of Erictho. The Daughters are powerful adversaries with a strong dislike for the Order.

The Daughters of Erictho once used the sanctuary and consider the encroachment of Erebos just the most recent in a long line of trespasses. They have also come into conflict with Erebos and other covenants of the Tribunal of Thebes over certain magical resources. As civilization and the Dominion encroaches on vis sources and weakens magical auras, the conflict between the Order and the Daughters has only increased. The Daughters and the Order have also come into conflict regarding their relations with the faeries of the area.

To gain access to the defixiones, the characters may have to act as mediators between the Daughters of Erictho and Erebos. Some of their differences may be irreconcilable without introducing new magical resources. The characters may be forced to provide additional vis sources or locate magical auras to placate the Daughters. Smoothing relations between the Daughters and Erebos not only allows the investigators admission to the cave, but could also provide valuable assistance through access to ancient defixio formulae. Previous generations of the Witches of Thessaly practiced defixio magic and some of their formulae collections still exist.