Ritual Reference Guide: ''Bombshells''

This entry provides a summary and structured mechanical analysis of ritual magic as it appears in Bombshells, a short story from Dangerous Women (later collected in Brief Cases). Chronologically, it occurs shortly after Cold Days and features Molly Carpenter in her role as the new Winter Lady.

In Bombshells, Molly is sent by Mab on a mission to prevent the Fomor from acquiring dangerous magical munitions. To find the missing vampire warheads, Molly performs a ritual divination using a sympathetic token, establishing her growing proficiency with focused thaumaturgy. It’s a textbook example of small-scale but precise ritual use.

Molly uses a ritual involving a blood token to track the location of dangerous vampire-held explosives.

• Intent: Locate a specific item across a wide distance
• Domain: Divination, Thaumaturgy
• Scale: City-level
• Link: Sympathetic blood sample from a vampire connected to the weapons
• Catalyst: Ritual circle, focus object, verbal incantation
• Resolution Type: Ritual
• Cost: Magical effort and mental focus
• Complications:
  • Draws attention from supernatural observers
  • Risks exposing Molly’s position if not masked properly

Bombshells provides a tight example of classic thaumaturgy with modern stakes: Molly uses the ritual to drive the plot forward and assert her agency as Winter Lady. It can be used as a model for mid-tier tracking rituals that are neither trivial nor high-risk — an excellent case for focused scene framing around divination.