Ushabti

The name of the path comes from the figurines that properous Egyptians had buried with them. In the Afterlife, these figurines supposedly became servants who would work for the interred person's soul. Each use of this path requires a separate figurine. Thus, a magician who wants to create a crocodile fashions a model crocodile, to create a falcon, he uses a model falcon. A magician can only use a figurine only once.
In every case, the magician makes the figurine out of wzx or clay mixed with one blood point of her own vitae. The lector-priest writes words of power upon the model, including its name in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Then she bathes the figurine in honey and beer and fumigates it in the smoke of various herbs.
If the magic works, the statuette expands into a life-sized, animate figure. A botch will still animate it but an evil spirit possesses the ushabti and sets about making the magician's life miserable. Ushabti creatures have Attributes and Abilities but only the same ones as the lector-priest. Only at the highest level of mastery can an ushabti have Virtues, Humanity, or Willpower, because they have no genuine minds or free will. Most ushabti can only follow orders. They cannot think for themselves, even to preserve their own existence. An ushabti has health levels identical to a human or vampire. Although it can possess the physical abilities intrinsic to an animal form, such as flight for a bird or a lion's claws and teeth, they cannot have any sort of magical power. Ushabti range from obvious animate mannikins to almost indistinguishable from life. An ushabti creature remains active for one lunar month, so long as it has no contact with mundane humanity and stays within the vampire's haven. At the end of this period, the magician can extend the ushabti's existence for another lunar month by feeding it another blood point. If a ushabti interacts with ordinary humans outside its creator's haven, the magic rapidly degrades; within an hour, the ushabti reverts to wax or clay and becomes a crumbling statuette again. A "slain" ushabti becomes a figurine at the moment of its "death".
They are always made for use by a specific person; no one else can employ them. A magician can make one for another person for use at a later time. This costs the magician a point of Willpower. The other person activates the ushabti using the requisite magic words, but does not need to expend vitae.

1 • Laborer
At first, a magician can produce only simple, nearly mindless servants. These ushabti can perform simple, repetitive tasks such as digging, sweeping, pulling and carrying. Laborers cannot fight. These basic ushabti possess two dots in each Physical Attribute, one dot in Mental and none on Social. (Ushabti can be beautiful, if their maker fashions them so. A 0 Appearance represents an ushabti's inability to perform any task requiring Social Attributes). They have no Abilities

2 • Servitor
A more skilled magician can produce ushabti with greater intelligence and usefulness. Servitors can perform moderately complex tasks that require some small degree of common sense. To the basic laborer, add three dots of Attributes (but no Social Attributes, and no Mental Attribute can rise above 2). Also add two dots of Abilities. At this level, these cannot be combat Abilities.

3 • Guard
At this level, the magician can create ushabti with simulated minds that work quickly enough to handle combat. An ushabti created with this level of mastery does not have to be an actual guard, but it is a common application. To the basic laborer, add six dots of Attributes and four dots of Abilities. Guards can have Social Attributes, but no Social or Mental Attribute can be more than 2, neither can any ability.

4 • Overseer
A truly skilled magician can create formidable ushabti--powerful beasts, or servants more skilled than many humans. Such a ushabti can command lesser ushabti, and perform complex tasks without supervision. To the basic laborer, add nine dots of Attributes and six dots of Abilities. No Social or Mental Attribute can be above 3, neither can any Ability.

5 • Gift of Khnum
The ancient Egyptians believed that the god Khnum shaped human beings in the womb, as a potter shapes clay. A master of Ushabti can create servants of remarkable skill or power who are utterly loyal, but do not know that they are fakes. Even more remarkably, a magician can craft a body for a spirit and that spirit and body will truly live, as a free-willed being from then on. Through the Gift of Khnum, a blood-sorcerer can raise the dead--or release demons on the world. To the basic laborer, add 12 dots of Attributes and eight dots of Abilities. The ushabti also has Virtues, Humanity and Willpower like a starting Vampire character. It can think for itself, but remains emotionally bound to its creator as if blood bound. Alternatively, the magician can simply craft a body and infuse it with a pre-existing soul: either a wraith or some other spirit. The ushabti then has whatever Abilities, Virtues, and other Traits the spirit had. The magician can create whatever body he pleases, but the spirit must agree of its own free will to occupy the body. Costs two WIllpower points and more Willpower can be spent for added success to increase the chance of a highly lifelike ushabti. An ushabti created by Gift of Khnum does not degrade in the presence of ordinary mortals, or at the end of a month. It will degrade within minutes, however, if someone challenges its identity and convinces it that it is not a real person.

Thaumaturgy