This pre-Celtic ritual creates a paste that purports to protect the wearer from all harm. It’s a little over sold, but quite useful nonetheless and kept alive by old-school Avatars of the Hunter.

Cost: 5 minor charges

Ritual Actions:

This ritual begins with the rise of the full moon and requires the ritualist grind lapis lazuli and agate to dust with a mortar and pestle made of granite. While this grinding process occurs, spring water should be brought to a boil in a copper pot over a fire of yew wood. Once the stones are a fine dust, add them to the boiling water along with the crushed teeth from 10 different kinds of animal (and yes, humans count as ‘animals’ in this context), the crushed talons of 10 different kinds of bird, a pint of warm human blood, olive oil, monkshood, wild garlic and bitter almonds. Boil the mixture down down to a fine paste, stirring continually with a wooden spoon carved from oak. While stirring the ritualist should chang “Abna kuhla rabna thechas.” Once the mixture is reduced to a paste, remove the pot from the fire, kneel and kiss the ground to each of the four directions, starting with west and turning counter-clockwise. Then poor the paste into a bottle for later use or apply it to the skin immediately.

Effects: This ritual creates a paste that, when applied to the skin, prevents any form of bite or claw from penetrating, applying a -10 shift to damage rolls from animal attacks (and people, too). Attacks that do not rely upon pummeling, ripping or tearing flesh with tooth, claw and fist are not as affected by this ritual–so ritualists should still beware of constrictor snakes and spitting cobras. Apex predators that rely chiefly on brute strength (bears and boxing champions), breaking the neck of their targets (great cats), and suffocation or drowning (crocodiles and constrictor snakes) are still dangerous as well. This is why having an unpiercable hide is still only a -10 shift in damage.

Guns, knives, clubs or any other kind of weapon are not affected at all. Neither is any form of fish. Still, it’s a useful ritual when confronted with the possibility of guard dogs, rabid bats, poisonous snakes and unarmed humans.

The paste is good until the next full moon.