Compendium of Notes on Rituals, Occult, Crypitds

and Peculiar Oddities in East Texas ~ by Crayton

White, Grey Wizard of the Order of Olorin and
Protector of Pinebox

I’m Crayton White, student at South East Texas Institute in Pinebox

Texas. This my journal, research notes, and other thoughts. If you are
reading this, GIVE ME MY BOOK BACK… hahaha.

I started this journal in 1949 after joining the Pinebox Protection

Society. You see, lots of students started going missing. Much more
than normal. PPS was started by my good friends Helen L, Jack L,
Judith F and Nina C. We decided we had to do something.

PPS quickly found out, under Dr Danielson’s guidance, that magic

and the occult are real. Hard to believe, but true. We started learning
what we could. It quickly became difficult to balance our studies and
our chosen calling. I often thought of myself as Tex Granger.
March 1949
Pluto's Cloak
(invisibility: affects a single cloak, raincoat, small blanket, beach towel, or similar sized cloth
item, and one character wearing the item is invisible even if not fully covered.)
Power Points: 4 Casting Modifier -2
Range: Touch
Duration: 4 hours, after item is put on and phrase "Fiat Lux” is spoken.
Components: charcoal, earwax, broken mirror, 4 oz whiskey
Trappings: Chanting

Really helped us in our investigations. We could sneak by almost

everyone. Not useful if you have a cold and sneeze a lot.

May 1949

Like the Lone Ranger, silver bullets work. Well silver buckshot. Wee
tracked, fought and killed a werewolf last night. I had no idea it was
really Missy Andrews, although Helen says she knew. Wonder why
Helen kept that secret..

St Thomas Blessings against Evil

(smite: the power only affects attacks against supernatural evil target but does also
count as Holy for creatures affected by such.)

Power Points: 2 Casting Modifier 0

Range: Touch
Duration: 4 rounds
Components 2 oz Holy Water, blood from a believer.
Trappings: white glow

This adds the power of God to any weapon for a short time. It really
messes up vampires. Usually works on werewolves as well. Nothing
special against more mundane monsters like chupacabras.
GM Notes If it’s a ranged weapon, it affects one entire magazine, 20 bolts, shells, or arrows, or
one full “load” of ammunition.+2 damage, +4 with a raise.
N “found” these plans for a Ghost Viewer while she was in Europe this
summer. She seems to like spending time with an awful lot of
different guys. No idea if this thing will actually work. Maybe N
can”convince” some of the Engineering guys to help her. She doesn’t
seem too picky.
September 1949
Ley lines seem to be increasing. JL thinks he has a better method of
finding the lines. I think he just wants to show off for H.

De Exorcismis et Supplicationibus Quibusdam, 1614

Casting Modifier -1
Range: Smarts
Duration: Instant
Components; Crucifix, Holy Water, Blessed Oil
(Banish)

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth,

Plenisunt caeli et terra gloria tua.

Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis

Deus meus, ex toto corde poenitet me omnium meorum peccatorum, eaque detestor, quia
peccando, non solum poenas a Te iuste statutas promeritus sum, sed praesertim quia offendi
Te, summum bonum, ac dignum qui super omnia diligaris. Ideo firmiter propono, adiuvante
gratia Tua, de cetero me non peccaturum peccandique occasiones proximas fugiturum. Amen.

et in nomine deorum daemonium ejiciam foras Te urges potéstas Christi

et in nomine deorum daemonium ejiciam foras Te urges potéstas Christi
et in nomine deorum daemonium ejiciam foras Te urges potéstas Christi

Recesserimus ab hoc plasmate Dei

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen

CW Notes. Thisis our translation and attempt at how to exorcise a

demon. If someone is possessed, this might work. Might be better of
seeking help from the Church, Faith seems to help, a lot. HL’s ideas
about scarification and bleeding did not help poor Thomas much.

GM Notes (In East Texas University, this power works the same as in Savage Worlds with the
following modifications. A success banishes the target (Wild Card and Extra alike) from the
plane for 1d6 months during which time it cannot return by any means (summoning, gate, etc.).
A raise increases the time to 1d6 years. ISBN 978-88-209-4822-1.)
October 1949
Mambo Laveau’s good grisgris Revealing Chant.

Power 3 CM -1
Touch
Duration 6 minutes

Components

A teaspoon of gun powder

A childs toy
5 CC Morphine

1 CC = 1 ml=1/4 gr=15mg
1 gr=60mg
5 pills of 15mg each.

JL got this while tomcatting around New Orleans. He says he found

H’s family, and had a “good time” with H’s younger sister.
Knocking boots with a 16-year-old girl who is part of a voodoo family
seems just a bit risky.
“Magic” items start to glow. More powerful items may have a brighter
aura. JL says any heroin based drug works, but I’m not willing to try
and find out. Good thing Nurse Wilma has a soft spot for the
younger brother of a Marine.
Those pills help him sleep when the damn Jap dreams get to be too
much. I know it was pretty rough on Guadalcanal, and Vella LaVella
in the Solomon’s with Edson’s Raiders. Until I ran into some of the
same things here in Pinebox, I never believed his stories of Japs getting
up after being shot dead, and walking towards the Marine lines. The
Marines had to use flamethrowers to stop the dead again. I’m sure I
would have nightmares after seeing my buddies get eaten.
February 1950
H is getting very powerful. She is focused, and can perform rituals
that scare me in the risk she is willing to take.

The Oracle’s Curse

Cast by HL. Not good. Why would you attempt anything that says
“curse”. HL says this ritual grants visions and divinations of the
future.

She had visions of the gates of Hell opening here in Golan County,
because the ley lines are converging. We have to do everything we can
to stop the convergence. We are not strong enough to fight the demon
hordes she saw. If we fail, everything on Earth is destroyed. I think
she has been casting this frequently at the Sanctuary without the
group there to help her. She seems angry a lot. She is going to teach
us all this, as she is convinced that each of will see slightly different
parts of the answers we need. H warned that the ritual would take a
long time, so R closed the bookstore early and joined us upstairs to get
started. Judith brought all the components;
Incense, a Human tooth, fresh blood, and a small animal.

Power 6 CM -3
Self
Duration 1 minute
Trapping: 1 question
Components
Incense
Drops of fresh blood
Human tooth
Sacrifice
Scrying Bowl
I never want to do that again. It was terrifying. I saw myself die on a
beach, being torn apart by demons. I think we are going to fail. It was
the most exhausting ritual I have ever performed.

Afterwords, H explained that she has better luck when asking Yes/No
questions. Less room for the demons to lie.

Are we doing the right thing? It seems like the end of the world is
coming, as the convergence opens Earth to the gates of Hell. But we
keep using that as an excuse to try dark things, all for a good
purpose.

“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions?”

Does the end justify the means?
All my efforts to help my brother failed. He killed himself while I was
in the sanctuary. Maybe if I had brought him into the PPS, he would
have found a new purpose. Maybe he would have went mad and died
anyway. I’ll never know.

I feel lost, and I have no one to talk to. Kierkegaard isn’t really
helping. I guess I can always head to the Angry Stick for some potent
potables
March 1950
Goddamn it to hell. What the Hell are Jack and Nina thinking?
Stupid cowboy thinks he’s Cyrano. They are playing with fire. I hate
to think what might happen when H finds out. First H’s sister, and
then H’s best friend. Just cause he’s hung like a horse. I DO NOT
understand these women. Doesn’t J realize H can use divination
rituals? At least they recovered the Demon Slayer cross before those
weird Mexican cultists found it. We need that cross to help focus the
energies we need to stop the ley lines from converging. I bet he thinks
the wards and soundproofing at the Sanctuary are enough to keep his
affair secret. Idiot. He’s just asking for Judith to walk in on him
when she re-stocks.

April 1950
Nina has gone missing, along with de Garza’s cross. J is blaming it
on the Mexican’s. I’m not so sure. She may have left school to “go
visit her aunt”, since she’s been seeing Jack for a few months. H is
going crazy looking for the cross. She is convinced we need it to stop
the demons from coming through the portal.

May 1950
Still no sign of Nina. I fear the worst. I expect the PPS to spend the
summer getting ready for whatever is coming. Sometimes I can’t
sleep at night.
November 1950
True Seeing
Seeing the hidden paths of force
Targets of the True Seeing ritual can see ley lines with the naked eye. These lines appear as
glowing conduits of varying diameter and color. Some float dozens of feet out of reach, while
others pass only inches above the ground. This ritual does not allow the user to touch or interact
with the energy, only to observe it.

PP 4 CM -2.
Duration 6 hours
8 mg Heroin, Morphine, any opioid
Eye plucked from a live animal
4 inches Copper wire
4 sticks chalk.
Eye shadow.

J finally came up with a better method of detecting ley lines. HL says

you can double the components, and get the ritual effects to last 3
days. I think she just got very lucky, although she does seem to be
really good at rituals.
The chalk color does seem to restrict the lines you can see. If you use
nothing but blue chalk, you tend to see nothing but blue lines. I don’t
know yet if the color of the lines means anything.

Form the copper into a circle. Mix heroin with eye, chalk, and eye
shadow. Crush everything together in a pestle, then apply to over your
eyelids. Look through the copper circle. J made some glasses with
copper inside the frame. Works pretty well for scouting lines and not
looking like an idiot. J’s been documenting the lines at the Sanctuary
at the bookstore.

December 1950

Judith is starting to worry me. She seems very willing to go down

dark paths to further her research. She is not willing to tell me what
she is doing. I think she is exploring black rituals
Bessie sighting. I think Bessie is just one big gator. Like 30 feet of
gator. Not sure I want to go fishing on Lake Greystone anymore.

January 1951

Found this in Judith’s notes. This is not good.

Lady Hawthorne’s Plague Aura
PP 4 CM -2. (Damage Field)
Duration 6 minutes
Range: touch
Trappings: Thin Black smoke swirling around the character
Components
Charcoal, Small dead rodent, red rose

Damage field creates an effect around a character that deals damage to anyone who contacts
them in close combat. The damage affects any adjacent character who makes a successful
attack roll against the subject. It has no effect on non-adjacent attackers (for example, Reach or
ranged attacks). If a character with a damage field strikes someone in unarmed combat, the
target takes the field’s damage plus the character’s Strength die (Str+2d6). The character may
also simply touch the opponent (+2 to Fighting) and do the field’s damage only. A target who is
grappled suffers the field’s damage each round on the attacker’s action; if the attacker chooses
on following rounds to actively damage the target, he adds his Strength die to the damage roll
as above and may get a bonus die for a raise. With a success, the power does 2d6 damage.
With a raise damage field causes 2d8 damage.

Lady Hawthorn’s Plague Aura (damage field: at the end of the duration, the subject must
make a Vigor roll, at -2 on a raise, or gain a Short Term, Debilitating disease.)

February 1951
The chupacabra is a savage and stealthy carnivore. It attacks victims
with two straw-like fangs, which allow the beast to suck the blood
from its prey. Just shoot it, a lot and fast. It has amazing
camouflage, and blends into almost any environment.
April 1951
I went into the Big Thicket on the anniversary of N disappearance for
a two-day camping trip. I needed to get away from H. Well I got the
starch scared out of me. Hogzilla is real. Or at least the biggest
damn boar I have EVER heard of. It was bigger than any bull I’ve
seen. I smelled something nasty, and I looked up to see two large red
eyes, and some tusks staring at me over my tent. I thought this
might be the end. Instead it just looked at me, snuffling a bit, and
then mosied off deeper into the woods. Packed up and left. I ain’t
afraid of no ghosts, but that monster hog sure did put the skeer in.

This would not have helped, but it might have made me feel a little
better.

Miss Mildreds Tea Ritual Of Protection

(armor: half effect +1/+2 armor but a number of targets equal to half the lead caster’s Spirit gain
the benefit.)

Power Points: 2 CM 0
Range: Touch
Duration: 6 minutes
Trappings: A mystical glow
Armor creates a field of magical protection around a character or an actual shell of some sort,
effectively giving the target Armor. Success grants the recipient 1 points of Armor. A raise
grants 2 points of Armor.

Tea cup
Silver spoon
January 1951

Sumbitch. Jack’s been holding out on me. He knows a ritual that

transfers knowledge from a book directly into the ritualist. No
wonder he doesn’t study.
October 1952
Helen got this one, and has me helping her make all the talismans we
need for the upcoming Convergence. I’m going to start making silver
armor Ivy amulets.

CREATE TALISMAN
Power Points: Special 5 plus power (CM Special)
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent (Special)
Trappings: Crucibles, chants, engraving or decoration of the item

Talismans are items imbued with a power anyone can activate if they know the proper
trigger. Talismans can only be created via ritual and can’t have their range or duration
increased.

Creation: To create a talisman, the caster chooses the item to be imbued and the power
with which to imbue it. The caster must have the ability to use the power imbued. He then
gathers the required components for both powers and conducts the ritual. The Power
Point cost is equal to 5 plus the cost of the power being imbued. Creating an amulet of grant
Edge, for example, costs 8 Power Points.
When imbuing powers with variable effects, the exact use, which always occurs whenever
the talisman is activated, must be determined when the ritual is performed. A talisman with
grant Edge always grants the same Edge, one with boost/lower Trait always boosts or lowers
the same Trait, and one firing a 3d6 bolt can’t fire a single or multiple 2d6 bolts instead.
During creation of the talisman, it must also be given an activation word, phrase, action,
or gesture by the ritualist. This becomes a permanent part of the talisman. Discovering the
activation trigger of an unknown talisman must be done through research or trial-and-error.
Creating a talisman is serious business that takes every bit of a character’s will to transfer
immense magical power into a physical object. Failure not only destroys the item, but requires
drawing on the Botched Talisman Creation Table below.

Use: The user does not need an Arcane Background or skill to use the device. To
activate a talisman, the character must perform the trigger and make a Spirit roll as if it were his
arcane skill roll. The penalty is equal to half the Power Points the power normally requires,
rounded down. The grant Edge power, for example, normally requires 3 Power Points.
An amulet of grant Edge thus requires a Spirit roll at –1 (half of the 3 Power Points grant Edge
requires).

A success or raise works as usual for the power invoked. A failure causes the item to channel
its energy into the user, ignoring armor. He’s Shaken and the talisman is unusable for the
next 24 hours. If the user rolls a 1 on his Spirit die, he suffers 2d6 damage as well. If he rolls a
critical failure, the talisman is destroyed.
December 1952
HL is really getting scary. She is only focused on our coming doom.
I am worried she is going insane. The ley liens are moving closer. It
could be a couple of areas, all south of Pinebox. We do have a lead on
the Lantern. It might be the final key we need to stop the end of
everything. I am having second and third thoughts about H and JF. I
think they have crossed a line they cannot un-cross. I think I should
leave, but the Convergence seems to be coming soon. I’ll wait until
after graduation to decide.

January 1953

Well, the lines are moving faster. It looks like several of them will
converge in the Big Thicket. Near that damn giant hog.

February 1953

I think the time has arrived. we have made a device to focus our
energy. The missing Cross may prove critical in defeating the
demons. We are headed to recover the last talisman.
The Rangers and the Army have folks lined up in the thicket where
many lines are crossing. I hope this works.
I guess if someone is reading this, then we were successful.
The old groups store of ritual components has largely gone bad,
but pick five Common and two Exotic items that would not spoil.

Human tooth, Incense, large silver scying bowl, chip of grave stone,

A special brass circle nailed to the floor negates one point of casting modifier when a ritual is
conducted wholly within it.

Prominently hung upon another wall is a large county map.

Intersecting lines of different colored string cross the county. All the lines converge on an area
outside of town, which quick research reveals as within the present-day Burn.
Finally, a framed photo rests upon another small table. Characters who pass a Notice roll
recognize the same people in this picture as the one mailed them by their unknown benefactor
(Jackson Green).
Although the sanctuary is a secret even to the bookstore’s current owner, Helen Lane naturally
knows of its existence and location. However, the room’s painful association with her past
means that as long as the new group does nothing to draw attention to its renewed use, they
may use it as a base of operations without her knowledge.