100 Dreamspeakers do. My totem — the Rubbish, you read about it — likes these things.” With a single continuous gesture he dumped them into the cup, put one hand over it, and swished it up and down half a dozen times. “Listen.” As his hand came away from the cup, the butt and wrapper looked up at him and smiled. “You are a friend of our father’s!” Robert nodded as solemnly to them as he had to the woman. “I am. I have a guest here, who has never heard your voices clearly. Will you sing for her?” They spoke together. “Will it make our father happy?” “I think it will. She may not be one of his, but she’s certainly part of the family.” “Then of course we’ll sing for her.” Robert tilted the cup toward her, and a strange music leaked out of it. The spirits of the discarded sing in styles that have also been discarded, combining last year’ s pop music with tonalities abandoned before writing was invented. It was strange, yet not unpleasant, and it stirred something more in the woman. “Is is true?” she asked again. “It is,” he told her again. “I want to do that.” “Then you can. We’ll go see friends of mine who can help you get started. They’re not far away.” Left to their own devices again after the people went away, the rubbish slept, happy in having done a good deed. Bibliography Books Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches Sabbath. Historian Carlo Ginzburg makes in interesting case that at least some of the people tried in the witch trials of Renaissance and early modern Europe were actually practicing a form of shamanism. His book Night Battles goes into greater details about a rural community where many people engaged in shamanic rites. The Kalevala: This collection of Finnish legends describes the adventures of that shaman-mage Vainamoinen and his partner the smith Ilmarinen. It provides an excellent picture of a truly legendary and heroic shaman. Out of this World: Otherworldly Journeys from Gilgamesh to Albert Einstein . Religious Historian I.P. Couliano looks at all forms of spiritual and visionary experiences, many of which could provide excellent inspiration for umbral journeys. Shaman. Sandra Miesel has written a wonderfully fun and fascinating novel where the protagonist is a woman on a totalitarian alternate earth who learns to become a shaman. “Shaman”, by John Shirley. After being out of circulation for a time, this story is back in print thanks to a recent bout of reprinting Shirley’s short fiction. This is a tale of shamanic awakening in another cyberpunk future America. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Mircea Eliade wrote this book almost 40 years ago, but it is still a classic and provides a wealth of detail about shamanism all over the globe. Svaha, Charles de Lint. Back in print after years in obscurity, this is a science fiction/fantasy tale about a Native American shaman in the traditional style in the midst of a cyberpunk future America. De Lint shows options for urban shamans who are not techno-shamans. The Way of the Shaman. Michael Harner, the same person who started the wonderful magazine TheShaman’s Drum , describes both how one can become a shaman, and provides much information about being a shaman. Video Serial Experiments Lain. There are shockingly few good, and not even that many that are non-offensive, portrayals of shamanism in film and video. This excellent anime series, however, does a truly amazing job portraying the technoshamanic awakening of a young Japanese schoolgirl. This series is a must see for anyone who wishes to play a technoshaman. The Last Wave and Picnic at Hanging Rock, films by Peter Weir. In The Last Wave , Richard Chamberlain plays a white Australian lawyer defending a group of aborigines accused of murdering another aborigine. During the course of the trial, he begins experiencing visions. The unfolding revelations about his own destiny and the apocalypse waiting for his society are absolutely perfect for this purpose. There is no shamanism in Picnic at Hanging Rock , but there is an abiding sense of mystery and suppressed magic. A group of Australian schoolgirls go on a picnic on Valentine’s Day, 1900, and some of them disappear for good. The film presents the sense not just of puzzles that go unanswered, but of mysteries that cannot be answered in any terms comprehensible to the seekers.
Strength______________ Dexterity_____________ Stamina______________ Nature: Essence: Demeanor: Name: Player: Chronicle: Faction: Concept: Cabal: Advantages Advantages Attributes Attributes Physical Social Mental Charisma______________ Manipulation___________ Appearance____________ Perception_____________ Intelligence____________ Wits__________________ Talents Alertness______________ Athletics______________ Awareness_____________ Brawl_________________ Dodge________________ Expression_____________ Intimidation___________ Leadership______________ Streetwise_____________ Subterfuge_____________ Crafts_________________ Drive_________________ Etiquette______________ Firearms_______________ Meditation_____________ Melee_________________ Performance____________ Stealth________________ Survival________________ Technology_____________ Academics______________ Computer______________ Cosmology_____________ Enigmas______________ Investigation___________ Law__________________ Linguistics_____________ Medicine______________ Occult________________ Science________________ Skills Knowledges Correspondence________ Entropy_______________ Forces________________ Life__________________ Matter________________ Mind_________________ Prime_________________ Spirit_________________ Time_________________ Backgrounds Arete Health OOOOOOOOOO Willpower _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ Quintessence Bruised -0 Hurt -1 Injured -1 Wounded -2 Mauled -2 Crippled -5 Incapacitated Experience Paradox Abilities AbilitiesAbilities Spheres Spheres OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO • OOOOOOOOOO Resonance Dynamic______________ Entropic_______________ Static________________ OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO Other Traits _________________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO ™
™ Weapon Difficulty Damage Range Rate Clip Conceal Merits & Flaws Merits & Flaws Merit Type Cost Flaw Type Bonus ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ Magic Preferred Effects Rotes ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ Combat Maneuver Roll Difficulty Damage/Effect Armor:___________
™ Expanded Background Expanded Background Allies ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Contacts ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Destiny ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Influence ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Library ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Mentor ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Node ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Resources ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Possessions Possessions Gear (Carried) ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Equipment (Owned) ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Foci ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Wonders ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Familiar ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Past Incarnations Past Incarnations ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________
™ History History Awakening ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ Goals/Destiny ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ Seekings:__________________________________Quiets:__________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ Description Description Age:____________________________________________________________________________________ Apparent Age:________________________________________________________________________ Date of Birth:__________________________________________________________________________ Age of Awakening:_____________________________________________________________________ Hair:____________________________________________________________________________________ Eyes:____________________________________________________________________________________ Race:________________________Appearance/Nature of Avatar:_______________________________ Nationality:__________________________________________________________________________ Height:_________________________________________________________________________________ Weight:__________________________________________________________________________________ Sex:____________________________________________________________________________________ Visuals Visuals Cabal Chart Character Sketch
Notes
Notes