Lu

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Banned Retainer

Magical Traditions Sourcebook p. 54-55
Preq's	Status ● (Taoist) Mentor ●●●
Level(s)	● (2XP) ●● (6XP) ●●● (12XP) ●●●● (20XP) ●●●●● (30XP)
Venue	Mage
Possessed By
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A character with this Merit can call upon a roster of minor spirits. Unlike Familiars, each spirit in a lu performs only one feat, and only when specifically invoked through the proper ritual. A lu might be seen as a sort of collective Familiar — both in the sense of powers spread among a collection of spirits, and in the sense that all the Taoists of a particular school might call upon the same lu. The size of a school’s register of spirits may vary. A very large lu, however, is a sign that a school lost Awakened leadership long ago, never had it in the first place, or just pads out the register with multiple names for the same spirits to sound more impressive. The number of spirits in a lu (or the number of applications, if one spirit can be invoked for multiple functions) is actually quite modest — no lu exceeds the 24 magical feats offered by the register of Chang Dao-Ling.

The Storyteller decides what services a Taoist can obtain from a lu. At one or two dots of lu, a Taoist can obtain only minor services, from spirits of rank 1. For three to four dots of lu, a Taoist can invoke spirits of rank 2 and obtain somewhat greater services. Only at five dots of lu can a Taoist direct rank 3 spirits to perform feats of considerable power. Typical feats for the spirits of a lu include luck, protection from various hazards or curing disease.

To invoke the spirits in a lu, a Taoist writes the proper talisman for that spirit at an hour whose eight defining numbers (a pair for the hour, day, month and year) harmonize with the spirit’s nature and function. The Taoist also burns an offering of incense and makes particular mudras while he imagines elementally-charged qi flowing from the proper part of his body into the talisman. The whole process takes an hour. Once he completes the talisman, the Taoist may burn it, bury it or otherwise treat it like any other talisman.

When a character invokes his register of spirits, his player rolls Dexterity + Academics + Spirit – the target spirit’s Rank, to see whether the Taoist correctly draws the talisman and performs the associated ritual.