Velomancy: another Cronenberg-inspired School of Magick

[sp!ke]

Velomancy 

"It's the future, Ballard, and you're already part of it. For the first
time, a
benevolent psychopathology beckons towards us. For example, the car crash is a
fertilizing rather than a destructive event - a liberation of sexual energy
that mediates the sexuality of those who have died with an intensity
impossible
in any other form. To fully understand that, and to live that... that is my
project." - Vaughn

a cultish sect embracing chaos, flesh, sex, death and speed, velomancy is
actually a sub-school of entropomancy (with influence from the schools of
pornomancy and epideromancy) that has delved headfirst into the mythic
connection between sex and death; eros and thanatos. some say that the
autophiles have a death wish, one that will soon be fufilled in their pursuit
of "the ultimate experience." others are sickened by their obsession with
scars, crime scene photography and fast cars. the few that understand soon
find
themselves behind the wheel...perhaps for the last time. 

velomancy works through a combination of forces: entropy, sex, technology and
myth...all potent forces in the Occult Underground. but for the most part,
joyriders aren't concerned with waging secret wars or finding the hidden
meaning of the universe. they all have one desire: self-destruction through
self-realization. followers of the cult believe that the only way to live
is to
die. they gain charges by pushing the envelope and risking their skins on the
reflexes and skill while driving. velomancers tend to have powerful
connections
to their cars -- always buying the same make and model (or buying several cars
of the same make and model at once) and learning every esoteric trick of the
mechanic's trade. autophiles are walking encyclopedias of car crash lore
(especially as this lore is helpful in regaining charges) and often own their
own garages or race-tracks (if in a remote enough setting) where they have
demolition derbys and car-crash re-enactments. 

the close-knit group of car crash enthusiasts is fiercely protective of their
privacy and the actual number of velomancers is unknown. they tend to attract
followers who provide financing, real-estate or other such assistance for the
group (few members of velomanctic circles are actually mages -- most are just
hangers-on, fascinated by the spectacle of their magick or from being a crash
survivor). 
note that although automobiles are used throughout this article, any
fast-moving vehicle (motorcycles, airplanes, speedboats) can be used in
velomancy. 

velomancy blast style: velomancers attack the human body (or specific parts)
with a kind of sympathetic magick, unleashing their own memories of horrific
injuries onto others. hood ornament-shaped contusions, lacerations from broken
glass and steam burns spontaneously and violently manifest on their victim's
body, as if they had been in a car wreck. the only condition is that the
velomancer needs to have experienced the injury in question in order to use it
on someone else (assume it's not a problem with minor blasts...every
velomancer
has gotten whiplash before. velomancers often photograph fatal car wrecks,
documenting them for later use in significant blasts). whatever the injury,
most velomantic blasts are unsubtle to say the least... 

generate a minor charge: as in entropomancy, velomancers gain minor charges
from taking risks. the difference is that velomancers must do so in a very
specific way, namely taking risks while driving: not wearing a seatbelt,
driving recklessly or speeding all enable the velomancer to gain a minor
charge. 

generate a significant charge: re-create a famous car crash or drive a famous
crashed car (kennedy's lincoln, james dean's "little bastard"). maintain a
serious injury in a car crash (though this must be accidental...slamming your
mazda into a brick wall just to gain a charge won't cut it). 

generate a major charge: be physically involved in a famous, fatal car crash
(the chaffeur driving the car the princess diana died in, the college student
that struck james dean's car). many velomancers believe that to die in a
spectacularly fatal crash is a one-way ticket to the invisible clergy as the
archetype of the flame that burns twice and bright and half as long... 

taboo: velomancers exist in a paradoxical world, a world where they control
their own destiny when behind the wheel and they must relinquish that control
for magickal power. not being in control will cause the velomancer to lose all
charges, be if from being a passenger (air-travel sucks for velomancers --
unless they're the ones flying the plane) or by failing a helplessness stress
check. 

random magick domain: velomancers, like entropomancers, are masters of
coincidence. the difference is that they can only use their magick to affect
vehicles. 

starting charges: newly-created velomancers have four minor charges. 

Velomancy minor formula spells 

red light, green light, 1-2-3 
cost: 1 minor charge 
effect: this spell enables the velomancer to change the color of traffic
lights
from red to green or vice versa. all other lights will also change (thus at an
four-way intersection, if the east-west light is changed to green, the
north-south light will change to red). 

whiplash 
cost: 1 minor charge 
effect: this is the velomancer minor blast spell as described above. damage
from whiplash is relatively minor and internalized -- nothing more noticable
than a bloody lip or brusied collarbone (close inspection reveals the imprint
of a steering wheel on the victim's shoulder or similar signs of an auto
accident). the velomancer may add one die of damage for every ten miles over
the speed limit he's driving. if the subject is driving when the spell is
cast,
he will crash unless he makes a successful speed check. 

hotwire 
cost: 1 minor charge 
effect: the velomancer can start any car without an engine key. 
engine trouble 
cost: 2 minor charge 
effect: when this spell is cast on a moving vehicle, it will stall and the
engine will cut out. if cast on a stopped vehicle that isn't running, it will
permanently cease to run. 

auto-eroticism 
cost: 3 minor charges 
effect: by tapping into the psycho-sexual mystique of cars, the velomancer can
use his car's power to attract others to him. the velomancer casts the
spell by
taking the intended target of the spell of a ride (the passenger must be
willing). when the spell has been cast, the target will begin to feel sexually
aroused whenever near the driver or his car. she will begin to fixate on
details: scratches in the paint, scars on the body of the velomancer;
eventually she will fetishize these details until they reach a sexual
significance. although superficially it appears to be a form of mind control
(like the pornomancy spell number nine), it doesn't compel the subject to act
on these feelings -- only to experience them. 

Velomancy significant formula spells 

trauma 
cost: 1 significant charge 
effect: the velomancy significant blast manifests as traumatic and visible
damage -- broken bones, burns, lacerations, you name it. similarly to the
minor
blast effect, for every ten miles above the speed limit the velomancer can add
an additional die of damage and the driver must roll against crashing (if he
even survives the blast). 

radio-activity 
cost: 1 significant charge 
effect: to cast this spell, the autophile thinks of a question and tunes the
car radio to any station. whatever song, news report or commerical that is
playing will somehow answer the question (although it may be presented in a
cryptic form). even disc jockey banter will provide useful information
("...and
the correct answer to last week's trvia question is...") 

joyrider 
cost: 2 significant charges 
effect: the velomancer can instill a subconscious urge in the victim's mind to
hurt themselves the next time they drive a car. if the victim is a
responsible,
safe driver who wears a seatbelt and doesn't speed, he can make a driving
check
to realize that he's about to do something dangerous. otherwise, the victim
will speed, change lanes without signaling and generally drive extremely
dangerously until he reaches his destination. 

license to kill 
cost: 3 significant charges 
effect: when cast on a vehicle, that vehicle and its occupants will cease
to be
visible (or audible) to other drivers, pedestrians, etc. if cast on another
car, the driver won't be aware that no one can see him until another car
changes lanes and collides with him (or something similar). if cast on the
autophile's own car, he can run stop signs, commit hit and run killings or
even
escape from police officers who are chasing him. this spell lasts until the
vehicle's engine is turned off or until the velomancer wishes it to stop
working. 

body work 
cost: 5 significant charges 
effect: the velomancer can will any vehicle he owns to change form (even while
being driven). thus an '91 red ford escort could change to a '57 chevy in
candy-apple red (with all changes in mass, performance and gas consumption
that
go with the transformation). the caster can change any or every feature of the
car, even going so far as to instantly restore a wrecked auto lying in a
junkyard (although instantly is a bit strong...the transformation is visible
and takes everything from seconds (for minor changes or repairs, all the
way to
a few minutes for major changes). besides the condition of ownership, this
spell may only be used on automobiles (the thought of turning a cessna to an
f-14 fighter is a bit much, even for magick). 

Velomancy major effects 

major velomancy effects include causing disruptions in traffic patterns,
instantly killing a car's driver or occupant, or enhancing a mundane car to
perform supernaturally. 
Jared A. Sorensen
http://www.memento-mori.com

"I don't think there's anything man wasn't meant to know. There are just some
stupid things that people shouldn't do. "
- David Cronenberg
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