Nuranihim

NURANiHIM, THE SACROSANCTUM Exorcists

The Sacrosanctum Exorcists, or the Nuranihim, protect humanity from dark spirits, curses, and other forms of dark powers that emerge in the form of the Night Malefic.  They serve as exorcists, curse-breakers and monster hunters on behalf of the Church, and have to be experts in the lore of dark things and places.  For this reason, the Church cautiously trusts them with some of their archives of collected lore as it might pertain to their duties, though they are kept a close eye upon by their own brethren, and those of the other Covenants, to ensure they remain on the right path.

Because of the nature of their work, Sacrosanctum Exorcists often have to delve into long-forgotten histories and places in order to find the answers to undo a curse or destroy a lingering evil.  Nuranihim tend to be trained in combat, research, and archaeology in order to get the information they need, and then finally perform the dangerous task of attempting to cleanse a wickedness from the world.

Exorcists use their rituals and knowledge to get closer to the answers they need and to defend themselves and others from powerful Malefic creatures.  Their prayers and holy tools get them closer to the answers of what happened, and how it can all be set right again, or else some measure of poetic justice delivered.

The Seal of Nuraniel

THE SACROSANCTUM, GOSPEL OF REDEMPTION

Penned by the Nameless Saint, the Sacrosanctum tells of the many forms and shapes the Night Malefic will take. Both a field guide and gospel, it is a common trapping of experienced hunters and slayers. It concludes that the night malefic is an imbalance made manifest of natural law and that in order to cleanse an area, indirect wrongs must be righted. Knowledge and faith are more common methods than fire and sword within the writings and it preaches that through unity and brotherhood, the world can be taken back.
 

Covenant of Chastity
A member of the Nuranihim must never take a spouse and must remain celibate at all times.

Sacrosanctum Exorcists may earn a Nuranihim Achievement whenever they resolve and lay to rest a Malificarum or break a curse.  Nuranahim Achievements may be spent as Priest Achievements, or to learn the Sacred Rites of Nuraniel.

RANK 1

CALL of Pathos

Find the location most important to a Malefic entity.

Ritual: The priests spends their Downtime in meditation and prayer with an item linked to a Malefic entity, asking Nuraniel to reveal to them an understanding of where they can find the epicenter, the Atopos, of the Malefic entity.

Props: Malefic item

Effect: At the next event, the Priest may call upon Nuraniel for guidance, and may use the linked item to guide them on a Trial to the heart of where the Malefic entity is strongest, usually a site important to whatever brought them into being.

 

Bestiary

Diligently study your enemy and gain insight into defeating it.

Subject shows advanced signs of decomposition across the arms and trunk. Teeth show signs of bone augmentation. Skull plating shows weakening due to transformative ridges. Reanimation ceased once both the spine and heart were disconnected, and reconnecting them has not resulted in any recovery of flesh or spirit.

Ritual: The priest carefully chronicles his experiences and all facts relating to a specific Malefic creature, culminating in an autopsy dissection of the creature once a corpse is produced. Diagrams, notes and drawings specific to that creature must be recorded both in and out of character.

Props: Handwritten book with drawings

Effect: This ritual requires a Book item. Once complete, the Instinct profile that creature possesses is revealed.

NURANIEL

Archangel of Protection, Redemption, Innocence and Virgins

 

Aqua CAELestis

Arm yourself with holy water.

Ritual: The priest places holy water into a small, glass flask or vial. On the container is etched the symbolic name of Nuraniel, Archangel of Redemption. A pinch of dirt from the grounds of a cathedral is added to the water before it is immediately sealed with cork and wax.

Props: Small flask or phial with the seal of Nuraniel

Effect: When the contents of the flask are emptied onto the target, If truly a malefic creature, then the water will sting and burn like a terrible flame upon them. The Priest may expend the entire contents to call Sacred Strike on a Malefic target. Regular creatures, even anathema, are not affected.

Resonant Evil

Use wicked items to root out more wickedness.

The old, wicked oak tree in the forest had drawn the children in their sleep with the sound of its swaying, awakening naked in the wood from awful dreams. The old pederast had been long dead these many winters, all that left the shackle he had used to keep the children in place to the iron ring still twisted into the tough bark. With no direction for my anger to go, I felt alike with the lost souls that haunted the hillside – my anger was all that was real, my sense of self merely a shade to house it. The shackle seemed to recognize the sinful appetite shared in the old man’s son. Strangling the man with the shackle seemed to quiet the madness that the place caused in me.

Ritual: The Priest must acquire some object that is tied to the malefic presence in question, either by use in the inspiring event, or by possession of someone afflicted by the original curse. The Priest then wraps a sacred leonem around it on a silver chain and ties the object tightly, sealing it with a spoken prayer to Nuraniel.

Props: leonem and chain, item prop in question

Effect: The object, so long as it is on the Priest’s person, will gently and silently pulse if the Priest becomes quite near to someone, something, or some place related to the curse. So long as the Priest holds the item, the Priest may take actions to attempt to resolve a Malefic situation that correspond symbolically to the situation rather than being true resolution. The Priest may punish a living criminal whose crime resembles an unpunished injustice to attempt to bring resolution when the criminal that caused the disturbance is long dead. The closeness in the two situations affects how effective this is to bring closure to the Malefic situation.

Rank 2

Exorcism

The Priest banishes a malefic presence from an area for the night.

Ritual: The Priest must brandish a silver leonem and admonish a wicked spirit in the name of Nuraniel, speaking this sacred prayer and casting holy water at the spirit.

Mechanics: The Priest calls “Sacred Obey: Be Banished” on a Malefic creature.

The targeted Malefic spirit is banished from the area, and may not return to the general place from which is was exorcised until the following sunset.  

If the Ritual is performed in Aldersabin, it counts as a Ceremonial Rite and requires no Bibliomancy.

 

SEAL OF HEAVEN

Sanctify a small area to ward malefic entities.

 

Ritual: An area is sectioned off with silver filings mixed with ash while the Priest chants. The priest is marked with the sign of Nuraniel and must stand within the bounded area.

Props: Dark-colored sand

Effect: The Priest gains 5 Mastery while standing in the circle. Any Priest standing within the circle may call Sacred Slam once every Beat on any Malefic creature that attempts to cross the circle.

The effect ends when the Priest exits the perimeter for any reason.  

 

One unit of silver filings is enough for one person. If the circle is larger than that, it requires one additional use of silver filings for each person to be included.

Prayer of Exorcism
Gothic

God lives, God reigns.
Nuraniel will defeat all evil in you,
Curse and Excommunicate all demons,
By virtue of the deeds in Her name,
Nuraniel, the Redeemer, the Intercessor,
the Emancipator, The Light in the Darkness,
the Shield of Morning, the Lady of Grace
Worthy Nuraniel, by these names,
We invoke You,
We without power and bound to You,
by Your great powers, and not by ours,
to banish all evil,
of spirit and of body!
(Cast the holy water)
 
 
 

Prayer of Exorcism
Aldersabin

Deus Vivit, Deus Regnat.
Nuraniel ab omni malo te deficit.
Maledecit et Excommunicati daemones.
Invirtue istorum factorum Dei nominum.
Nuraniel, Redemptor, Intercessorem,
Emancipator, Lux in Tenebris,
Clypeus est Aurora, Domine est Gratia
 Ubi, fuerint haec nomina, ei digna Nuraniel
praecipimus vobis,
atque ligamus vos ui non habeatis,
potestatem per pesten, nec per aliquod,
quodeumque maleficum nocere ei,
incantationem neque,
in anima, nec in corpore!
(Cast the holy water)
 

Weapon of Dawn

Empower weapons with the bane of daylight.

Ritual: The priest lays the weapons in question in the sun for the last six hours before sunset, touching the pages of the Sacrosanctum gospel.  At the end of the period, each person to wield the weapons comes forth to claim their weapon, placing their hand upon it while the priest intones a blessing of protection upon them.

Props: Gospel, sun blessed weapons

Effect:   The person so blessed by this ritual may call Sacred with any Hit or Condition while they wield this weapon.

Rank 3

Emancipate

Remove ungodly influences from the mind.

Ritual: The Priest wets a cloth with holy water and wipes the brow of the person in need of salvation. The Priest then begs the awesome power of Nuraniel to liberate His servant from the bondage of lies and evil while squeezing the cloth out over the supplicant’s head.

Props: Wet cloth

Effect: The target character may immediately shake off any intrusive influence upon her mind. The target gains one Sacred Discipline that must be immediately spent to counter any Obey they may be afflicted with.  This includes any foreign influence, including curses, influence of ghosts or malefic being, or arcane sorcery.

 

Coerce Hate

Create a candle that will summon the Night Malefic in full force.

“All the darkness in the entire world cannot snuff the light of a single candle. Creatures of the Maleficence know this and covet such power, while despising such defiance.”

Ritual: A white candle is lit in an area with no other light sources. It is made from incense mixed with beeswax and is placed within a metal bowl of holy water.

Props: White scented candle

Effect: Using this ritual requires the Staff to be notified one hour before its use.

The light of the candle can be felt for a great distance by Malefic creatures and they will seek it out. All Malefic creatures who can see the light source will do everything in their power to snuff it out, including create plans or use diversions if they are mentally capable. The candle may only be lit once.

 

Vocifera

A volunteer becomes the voice of evil.

Ritual: The subject, who must be within the heart of the cursed stain, must be anointed in soot, ash and mud, so that their face, hair and hands are filthy. The subject places a mixture of poison, strong enough to kill the subject, and offal upon their own tongue freely. The ritual begins when they swallow.

Props: Soot, ash, mud, something gross tasting.

Effect: When the ritual begins, the volunteer becomes temporarily possessed by the stain which uses them as a direct voice, speaking in a language that can always be understood. Speaking sometimes with one voice, sometimes with many, the creature must speak the truth but the meaning of the words are not always obvious, sometimes wrapped in riddle.

The character is no longer in control and certain precautions might need to be taken to prevent her from hurting herself or others. While under the effects of Vocifera, the possessed character gains one power of the Malefic creature this stain represents. The Priest may end the possession at any by calling Sacred Obey: Be Banished. For every minute the possession persists, the host takes Bleed on a new location, their body cracking and heaving with the influence.

Once the possession is broken, the target is Traumatized and affected by the ingested poison.

Rank 4

Cleanse

Purify an area of its evil presence.

Ritual: The priest must enter the heart of the desecrated area, a place where the malevolence has become the most apparent and has twisted the landscape. Once there, she begins to read from the Sacrosanctum while brandishing the sacred leonem, never moving from her position, and holding fast against evil.

Props: Leonem, gospel

Effect:  This ritual requires Staff be notified one hour before it is used.

Every minute, the Priest may attempt Bibliomancy as if begging a level 4 Ritual to complete one step of this process. If the Priest fails any one of these trials, they lose all progress and must begin again. At least three consecutive successes must be made before this ritual is complete (or more depending on the severity of the evil. The Priest has no way of knowing how powerful the evil is except their own observations).

When this ritual begins, whatever evil force inhabits the area will immediately and murderously try to stop the ritual, calling whatever monsters are linked to it to its aid and creating new ones if necessary. Since the Priest cannot move during the ritual, they cannot defend themselves in any way, and thus it falls to her companions to defend them long enough to succeed. If successful, the evil presence in the area immediately dissipates and loses all power to fight, resolved.

Prayer of Cleansing
Gothic

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Lambaste

Ceremonial Rite
Drive away evil with the power of prayer.

Ritual: The Priest reads aloud from this prayer from his Sacrosanctum, speaking in a mighty voice.

Props: None

Effect: Every time the Priest completes this ritual, they may call Sacred Obey: Be Banished to any Malefic creatures.

Prayer of LAMBASTE
Gothic








Rank 5

 

Confront Destiny

Confront the intangible directly.

Ritual: The ritual begins at dawn and lasts for twenty-three hours. Costly powdered silver is spread in a large area encompassing the battlefield and a holy altar is placed at the center. White pillar candles are placed at the north, south, east, and west points of a second circle of powdered silver. Complex symbols are drawn upon the ground radiating from the altar in lamb’s blood, and chanting continues on into the night. At the end of the ritual, a malefic creature is brought forth and placed upon the altar. The creature is killed by a silver knife and whatever it has that passes for blood runs down upon the lamb’s blood symbols. As the two bloods mix, the Priest speaks the name of the being he wishes to call forth.

Props: Grey or silver sand, four pillar candles, stage blood, knife prop.

Effect: Day merges with night around the epicenter and an eclipse appears, tinting the area in strangely colored light. Any bodiless supernatural force, with no real limits, can be given form and be confronted with traditional martial means as if it were a living creature like any other. The being that this ritual calls forth will have power proportional to its significance, so the Priest and his allies should beware what they summon, but any being, be it a ghost, a demon, or even the Triumverate themselves, could be called forth.