Ritual Mirror

Ritual of the Smoking Mirror

The Necromancer needs an obsidian mirror with sharp edges that will cut into his hands if he holds it. When his vitae congregates in the mirror, the Necromancer either calls a prayer to the god Tonatiuh to activate Lifesight, or to the god Mictlanteotl, to active Deathsight. Both are seen in the reflective surface.

Deathsight

Wraiths and Mummies see death in everything. They do not see things in the physical world as they appear, but as they someday will be. A person about to die might appear cadaverous, with hollow eyes and jaundiced skin; a car destined to crash will appear dented in advance. Much of the world seems decayed or near collapse. Billboards are tattered, roads are potholed, paint is peeling, metal is rusting, buildings are crumbling. This can be used to find weak spots and to measure the Health level of a person.

All Wraiths are touched by Oblivion and are able to see the creeping influence and the inevitable death of everything. Because of this, deathsight is an ability that every wraith possesses.

The counterpart of deathsight is Lifesight.

Lifesight

Just as they can see the inevitable death in beings via Deathsight, wraiths can also see the life in them as well. This ability takes the form of being able to read the auras of living (or at least animate) beings, the swirling veils of color that surround all things, similar to the second level of Auspex. As auras change color from moment to moment according to the mood and health of the beings generating them, wraiths can often determine the current mood, health, and state of mind of someone just by looking at best.

See •• Aura Perception
Some scholarly Wraiths can use this to track even spirits within the Middle Umbra.