The Circle
Of Emerald
The spells
of the Circle of Emerald are the simplest form of sorcery. Even the Terrestrial
Exalted can master these spells, and they are the mainstay of every sorcerer’s repertoire,
providing the magician with sword, shield and wings, as it were. Their scope is
generally limited, affecting at the utmost a few hundred individuals, but the
spells often take only a few moments to cast, making this the only circle that
is particularly useful in pressing confrontations.
Becoming The Wood
Friend
Cost: 14 motes
Target: Caster
With a swirl of emerald mist, the caster
channels Essence into herself and creates an empathic bond with the elemental
aspect of wood. The caster’s skin gains a greenish cast, and her hair becomes
like leaves. The sorcerer can now feel the living plants and trees around her
with supernatural clarity, and nature itself responds to the caster’s desires.
Until the next time she sleeps, the caster
may move unhindered through even the densest foliage and can run at top speed
in it without Athletics rolls.
This spell does not protect the caster from
rocks, mud or dangerous animals, but even mindless carnivorous plants will
think the caster more plant than prey. Intelligent plant life feels an empathic
bond with the caster of Becoming the Wood Friend but can choose to ignore the
effects at will.
For purposes of speed and fatigue rolls,
any forest, scrubland or even cultivated field is treated as open terrain to a
sorcerer under the effects of this spell. In addition, no method of mundane
tracking can be used to follow the being. Even the target’s scent becomes more
like the plants she passes through. The sorcerer may engage in supernatural
tracking contests, and supernatural trackers suffer a +2 difficulty to rolls
made to track the caster. This sorcery renders useless any Charm or other
effect that makes the caster harder to track.
In addition, the caster becomes completely
at home in the trees. She adds her Essence Trait to her Strength when
determining her jumping distance when leaping or brachiating through wooded
environments. She also adds her Essence Trait to her Dexterity when determining
her base movement speeds in forests, jungles, savannas or other green environment.
finally, she adds her Essence Trait to any other Athletic rolls involving
moving through or balancing on plant life.
The empathic bond works on the sorcerer as
well as plants. She must make a successful Willpower roll to do any serious
harm to a plant or tree. She cannot cut live wood or set unprotected fires, nor
can she join in a large scale harvest. Gathering fruits or nuts, gathering
fallen wood or pruning dead branches does not count as serious harm. Performing
such an act of harm instantly ends the spell effect, and the caster is unable
to use this spell again for three whole days under such circumstances.
Blood Lash
Cost: 10 motes and 1 health level
Target: Caster
When this spell is cast, blood explodes
from the casters wounds, and Essence twists this blood and the caster’s pain
into a lethal red whip. To cast blood lash, the sorcerer must have suffered at
least one health level of lethal damage without healing and must pay not only
the motes of Essence necessary, but an additional health level of lethal
damage. This health level represents the blood loss necessary to form the
physical aspect of the spell. Such damage is a committed cost and does not
trigger reflexive Charms, nor does it heal until the spell ends.
The blood lash appears as a whip of
swirling vermilion liquid, anchored to the caster’s wounds and wrapping around
his limbs to protrude from his weapon hand. The blood lash, though a weapon, is
also a part of the sorcerer’s body and cannot be disarmed or taken away. The
blood lash has a speed equal to the sorcerer’s Occult score and an accuracy and
defense of +1 each. The caster uses his Dexterity + Melee pool to attack and
deals a base lethal damage of his Strength + permanent Essence + the number of
health levels of lethal damage from which he is currently suffering. The
sorcerer may make attacks against targets up to a range in yards equal to his
Willpower Trait.
For Example: Rosh the Triumphant is
fighting for his life (and the lives of a small group of villagers) against a
tyrant lizard. He has taken three health levels of bashing damage and four
levels of lethal damage. When he casts blood lash, he takes an additional level
of lethal damage, for a total of five lethal health levels. His Strength and
Essence are both 3, making his damage with the sorcerous weapon equal to 11L (3
Essence + 3 Strength + 5 health levels). His Willpower is 8, allowing him to
attack the creature from up to eight yards away.
The caster of blood lash must concentrate
while using the weapon, so no other spells may be cast until it is dispelled.
Charms may be used normally. Most sorcerers consider blood lash to be a
last-ditch recourse, when fighting is the only option. The blood lash lasts for
one scene, or until dispelled or countered.
Burning Eyes Of
The Offender
Cost: 10 motes
Target: Caster
With this spell, the sorcerer charges her
anima with Essence to create an enthralling and fearsome visage before her
enemies. A single word and gesture cause all enemies within 100 yards to avert
their eyes from the glory and the power of the Exalt. If they do look at her,
their eyes sear with pain, and they begin to weep uncontrollably.
This spell stays in effect for 10 minutes,
during which time all attacks against the sorcerer from those affected suffer a
difficulty penalty equal to the caster’s permanent Essence.
Anyone entering into the field of effect is
also similarly struck by the aura of the caster, but those who can attack from
beyond the spell’s range suffer no penalty. The caster appears quite glorious
to all who see him, whether within range of the spell or not.
Characters may attack the sorcerer with
their eyes closed and, while doing so, do not suffer the magical penalty.
However, characters with their eyes closed suffer the normal -2 penalty for
being blind, unless they have a Charm or magical effect that negates the need
for vision.
The sorcerer may dispel Burning Eyes of the
Offender as a reflexive action. Only enemies are affected by this spell, though
the sorcerer needs not be aware of enemies within the spell’s range for the
spell to affect those enemies.
Calling The Gulls
With Beaks Of Steel
Cost: 25 motes
With this spell, a sorcerer can summon a
horde of sorcerous birds driven by an unquenchable hunger. These birds look
like mortal gulls, save for their steel beaks and claws, their glowing topaz
eyes and their twice-normal size. They descend on their target, and devour all
the nonliving organic material that they can find. They will eat a man’s clothes
from his body while leaving the flesh beneath untouched and peck the silk
ribbons out of a woman’s hair. More to the point, they will happily chew up the
wood and rope and sails of a ship that is their target. This spell endures for
as many turns as the casting sorcerer has points of permanent Essence, during
which time the gulls attack the hull of the target ship. The flock’s gnawing
and clawing reduces the ship’s hull soaks (both bashing and lethal) by a
cumulative point per turn, until either the flock is driven away or the spell
ends. The damage to the hull remains until it is mended. Thus, 1 point on the
first turn, 2 points on the second turn and so on.
The birds can be attacked comparatively
easily, as they make no attempt to defend themselves from the humans or to
attack in return, only going so far as to dodge if attacks are being rained on
them. The flock remains bunched together. It has, as a whole, health levels,
Dexterity and Dodge equal to those of the sorcerer who summoned it, a bashing soak
equal to that sorcerer’s Perception and a lethal soak equal to the sorcerer’s
Intelligence, and it dodges reflexively with its full dodge pool if attacked.
The birds draw their strength from their summoner’s spirit, and a weak sorcerer
produces a poor flock of gulls. They may be made to attack any boat within
their summoner’s field of vision.
Calling The Wind’s
Kiss
Cost: 10 motes + 2 motes per additional hour
(maximum 20 additional motes)
Target: One sailing vessel
The sorcerer channels Essence into the air
about him to create a steady wind, which he can use to either assist a sea
vessel’s passage, or to confound the voyage of an enemy. The wind lasts for a
number of hours equal to the caster’s permanent Essence, and the effect may be
extended at the cost of 2 motes per hour. The sorcerer may choose to pay this
Essence cost up front or may choose to renew the spell at the end of every hour
for the required 2 motes. A sorcerer may not spend more than 20 motes of
Essence to extend the spell.
Paying the cost up front frees the sorcerer
for other tasks, but paying for it on the hour requires that the sorcerer stay
on deck to manage the ship and not meditate. The caster may only target a
vessel within visual range, up to a maximum of (his permanent Essence x 3)
miles away.
If this spell is cast to the benefit of a
ship, the ship’s sails fill with a magical wind that appears with a funnel of
pale-blue light, almost indistinguishable from the sky on a clear day. The ship
will be able to maintain its maximum speed with the aid of this wind, ignoring
normal currents or small storms. Heavy storms, unusually strong or sorcerous
currents and obstacles will all still hinder the ship.
However, the spell will grant the ship and
its crew an additional three dice to any Sail rolls made to keep the ship on
course during such extreme conditions.
If this spell is cast with ill intent
toward a ship, the funnel that forms will have a slight gray cast to it,
similar to a storm cloud. The wind blows counter to every move the targeted
ship makes, and that ship will have to sail as if it is tacking into the wind
no matter what direction it faces. Sail rolls to control a ship cursed by this
spell suffers a three-die penalty.
This spell can be countered by the use of
countermagic spells or by casting Calling the Wind’s Kiss in opposition to the
original effect. In addition, a spirit of the air with a permanent Essence
equal to or greater than that of the casting sorcerer may attempt to take
control of the spell with a Willpower roll, difficulty equal to the casting
sorcerer’s permanent Essence. The caster will always know if his spell is being
controlled in this manner. The caster can also choose to dismiss the spell at
any time, unless it has been commandeered by a spirit.
Commanding The
Beasts
Cost: 10 motes
Target: Nearby animals
This spell can be used to stop rampaging
beasts, to cause animals to join in combat or to tame and befriend unfriendly
creatures. The sorcerer gathers Essence about her and then speaks a command
word. Her Essence changes to a bright primary color and then rushes out toward
nearby animals, wrapping around their bodies and dissolving into their flesh.
The caster’s Essence suffuses and takes control of the Essence of the
creatures, making their will subservient to the sorcerer’s own.
The casting sorcerer may choose a number of
animals within 20 yards (approximate hearing distance) equal to her permanent
Essence x 2. The targets experience the effects of the spell for one scene,
unless the spell is countered. Commanding the Beasts may be countered by
Emerald Countermagic or an equivalent spell, by the use of beast-calming Charms
or by another use of Commanding the Beasts. In the case where another casting
is used, it simply negates the effects of the first spell.
The caster may target only creatures of
animal intelligence (those with an Intelligence Attribute of 1). If she targets
Wyld-shaped creatures, creatures of magical origins, automata, plants, undead,
elementals or possessed beasts, the spell has no effect, and the Essence
dissipates harmlessly.
The player of a sorcerer who commands
beasts adds three dice to any Survival or Presence roll used to deal with these
creatures. If she does not attempt to tame the creatures by the time the spell
ends, they revert to their pre-spell state.
If beings other than the sorcerer try to
interact with animals under the effects of this spell, their players must make
a successful Charisma + Ride or Charisma + Survival roll, with a difficulty
equal to the caster’s permanent Essence. Charms or sorcery will have their
normal effect on afflicted creatures.
Conjuring The
Azure Chariot
Cost: 15 motes
Target: Caster
This spell summons four cerulean elemental
horses that tow an ornate azure chariot behind them. The chariot has room in it
for the sorcerer and up to 200 pounds of goods and people per point of
permanent Essence the caster possesses. The horses ride out of a billowing fog
bank, snorting steam and striking sparks with their hooves against the wind.
They ride toward the ground and land in front of the caster to await his
bidding.
The sorcerer needs only step into the azure
chariot and grasp the reins, and the steeds will begin to climb into the air.
The caster then commands them to bring him and his cargo to a location of his choosing.
The chariot will circle once in the air, finding its bearings, and then fly off
at a rate of 200 miles per hour (nearly 600 yards per turn). The chariot lasts
for as long as the sun is in the sky, and this spell can only be cast during
daylight hours. If the sun sets before the destination is reached, then the
chariot circles to land on the nearest safe, dry land. Once the chariot lands,
the caster and his companions have one minute to unload everything before the
horses ride again into the air and vanish.
The azure chariot is a magical construct
― and nearly indestructible. It has 25 health levels and a soak of
25L/35B. It provides 90 percent hard cover to those who ride in it. In
addition, the chariot’s speed makes attacking its passengers exceedingly
difficult. Thus, only one attack can be made against the chariot or its
occupants unless it is matched in flight by the attackers. Attacking out of the
chariot is similarly restricted.
The azure chariot protects its occupants
and cargo from most ranges of temperature and weather, though extreme
conditions such as hurricanes or blizzards are still hazards to both the
chariot and its occupants. The caster’s player may add three dice to any roll
for Ride maneuvers made when flying the azure chariot through extreme weather
conditions due to its magical nature.
The azure chariot lasts until it reaches
its commanded destination, until it is commanded to land prematurely, until the
sun sets or until it is countered.
Connivance Of Wood
And Bone
Cost: 15 motes
This spell calls up one of the aspects of
the forest mist, binding it to the sorcerer and vice versa. A roiling cloud of
vapor rises around the character. Tiny flecks of the character’s Essence flake
off, opening channels by which the power of the mist can reach the character’s
heart. Make a Willpower + Essence roll for the character. Each success
represents one day that the character falls under a numen’s influence, gaining
certain abilities and suffering certain restrictions. The character chooses the
numen in question when casting the spell. On a botch, the character is drawn to
the forest to join the community of Witches there. For those already belonging
to the Witches, botching has no additional effect. The sorcerer cannot
voluntarily terminate this effect. Ending it prematurely requires Emerald
Countermagic. This is a form of self-transformation and cannot affect Lunar
Exalted.
Iurka: A sorcerer who summons Iurka’s aspect receives one automatic
success whenever using a stunt based on dexterity, foresight or beauty. This is
in addition to the normal bonus dice. The Autumnal Torrent also offers a
lesson, so that others may understand the virtues of Iurka’s escape from
stillness and uncertainty. Players of those struck by the sorcerer’s open palm
must succeed at a reflexive Valor roll, or their characters find themselves,
for an eternal moment, in a still and quiet place full of darkness. There, they
wait, full of the knowledge of their own flaws, for a shape unspecified to come
and mete out justice. This vision costs the victim one point of temporary
Willpower.
Those who summon Iurka must make her
sacrifice: They can neither rest nor sleep while under her influence. Without
rest, they cannot recover Essence naturally. Instead, they regain 1 mote for
each hour spent in vigorous physical activity. In addition, they bleed in a
quiet trickle from two locations of their choice, and this bleeding will not
stop. This effect causes one level of unsoakable bashing damage that cannot be
healed until the effects of the spell end.
Menderes: A sorcerer who conjures the aspect of
Menderes onto himself fades from view. His player can roll twice for any
Stealth action the character takes and use the better of the two results.
Moreover, those who do see the sorcerer see him as a daydream or a figment of
their imagination. Even total certainty that he is actually there does not
affect this perception. This subtracts two dice from all dice pools to attack
him. Conversely, if his player makes a successful Perception + Awareness roll,
the sorcerer can witness the daydreams of others and optionally interact with
them.
Menderes does not speak, and a sorcerer
under Menderes’ aspect has difficulty communicating. Regardless of the means he
uses to get a message across, he can convey only simple emotional concepts —
things such as “vague unhappiness” or “snide laughter.” An Intelligence +
Awareness roll against difficulty 3 can garner a little more of the sense of
his communication. The sorcerer can share more general two- or three-word ideas
with those whose players make the roll, such as “ambush ahead” or “oh, you idiot!”
Samathi Anja: A sorcerer who summons Samathi Anja’s
aspect receives one automatic success on Lore and Occult rolls. She can travel
unerringly to lost things, unless concealed by a power greater than Terrestrial
Circle Sorcery. If she attempts to locate an item thus concealed, she instead
finds her way to the god Madame Marthesine of the Lost, with whom she may
discuss the matter further.
In addition, the sorceress can store any
number of her possessions Elsewhere, retrieving one with a simple action. When
the spell ends or suffers the touch of countermagic, any possessions still in
Elsewhere are destroyed (if possible) or lost. If she finds anything willingly
discarded, it belongs to her by occult law. This has no direct effects, but may
interact with the laws of the Fair Folk and the actions of certain Charms. A
sorcerer under the influence of this aspect casts off her nature. She may not
regain Willpower, even after this spell ends, until she works a significant
treachery against herself or her goals.
Rèsja: A sorceress who conjures the aspect of Rèsja cannot fail to
please. No power short of Celestial Circle Sorcery can force her to look
graceless or inept. She receives one automatic success on all rolls based on
Appearance or dealing with etiquette. This rises to three automatic successes
for non-magical rolls. She may lay a magical binding on any bargains or
agreements she makes. If the other party breaks the agreement, he suffers three
great strokes of ill fortune. The sorceress, like Rèsja itself, is under no
obligation to keep the bargain. When it is sealed, her nature changes, and it
no longer applies. (This may or may not function against unrelated powers that
enforce bargains.) Each time a sorceress invokes Rèsja’s aspect, she must
sacrifice some facet of herself to it and claim another in its place.
Appropriate possibilities include minor aspects of appearance; phobias, philias
and other personality traits; tastes in clothing; style of speech; or her
approach to society, combat or life. This does not normally include changes in
Traits, although Rèsja’s aspect can justify spending experience on them.
Corrupted Words
Cost: 10 motes
Target: One creature
This spell curses one target so that she is
unable to speak of a single chosen subject matter. The sorcerer must make eye
contact with the target of the spell at the time of casting and be within 10
yards of the victim. To cast this spell, the sorcerer intones a chant and
gathers Essence around him, then forces it into a bilious green ball in his
hands. The sorcerer names the subject matter that the target cannot speak about
and releases the ball to rush toward the mouth of the target, where it squeezes
past her lips and down her throat. The target chokes for a moment as the spell
dissolves in her throat and, from then on, can never speak of the subject
matter. Exalted characters and physically manifested spirits may resist the
effects of this spell with a Stamina + Resistance roll that has a difficulty
equal to the caster’s Occult Ability. This spell may also be parried or dodged
with appropriate Charms.
Any attempt to speak of the subject matter
causes the target to begin to vomit forth white maggots. The target is crippled
while retching by the pain and horror of what is happening to her. The target
cannot act or move and can use only reflexive Charms if they are available.
Corrupted Words affects the victim’s intent
to speak. Trying to hedge around the topic or speaking in code will trigger the
vomiting. The only way for a victim to avoid such an excruciating and
humiliating result is to avoid the defined topic, which may be as specific as
“Lady Emiliana’s indiscretions” or as broad as “the current war.”
The curse lasts until broken by
countermagic or until the caster dies.
Curse Of Slavish
Humility
Cost: 10 motes
Target: One creature
While not in itself an overwhelmingly
dangerous spell, this sorcery causes humiliation and embarrassment to its
victim. The sorcerer calls forth Essence and targets a being within 10 yards,
exhorting the victim to worship the caster or a nearby subject. Essence extends
forth in ruby tendrils that batter the victim and force him to his knees. The
victim is then caused to grovel and abase himself in humble self-effacement
before the chosen subject. Although this spell will in no way prevent the
victim from attacking the chosen subject, should he choose to do so, the spell
will oblige him to do so in a browbeaten, groveling manner (“Forgive me,
Eminence, for inflicting this blow upon your radiant brow….”). While this will
not affect a combat, it can be devastating in a social situation.
Alternatively, a sorcerer can simply use it to flatter her ego and impress
captives or to force the victim to worship before a statue.
A character targeted by this spell may
attempt to resist it. To do so requires his player make a successful Charisma +
Occult roll, its difficulty equal to the caster’s permanent Essence. If the
roll fails, the victim suffers a -3 penalty to all Social Attribute rolls for
the duration of the scene.
Characters may make social stunts to negate
this penalty, working their groveling and mewling into some kind of advantage
in the situation.
Dance Of The Smoke
Cobras
Cost: 15 motes
Target: One creature
When this spell is cast, dark fiery Essence
flares from the caster and strikes the ground at the target’s feet. The earth
shakes, five cracks appear in a star pattern around the target, and thick gray
smoke flecked with emerald lightning billows out from the ground. The smoke
quickly shapes itself in to five huge cobras with their hoods open and their
venomous, fanged mouths yawning to strike. Poison glints on the cobras’ teeth,
and where it drips, the ground blackens and chars.
Smoke cobras are magical conjurations made
from Essence, earth and fire. They have no will of their own and can only
strike at the target specified by the spell. They have the Attributes,
Abilities and other statistics listed below. Their venom is magical and can
harm Exalted, spirits, mortals, beasts and the walking dead alike. Magical
protection or immunity to poison, whether from Charms, spells or artifacts, can
ward a target against the venom’s effect. Smoke cobra venom is quite lethal,
and its resistance factor is equal to the caster’s permanent Essence.
Additional applications of the venom do not
add to the venom penalty, but add an additional minute to the duration of the
penalty. Mortals unable to resist the venom and not treated immediately usually
expire at the end of the duration of the poison, if not immediately.
The sorcerer may choose for this spell any
single target within 30 yards. The smoke cobras appear and attack on the same
turn that the spell resolves, and they act on the sorcerer’s initiative count
in subsequent turns. The cobras array themselves about a yard away from the
target and can reach up to three yards away from the ground out of which they
issue. They will attack only the target of the spell and not his friends or
allies. If the victim moves out of the circle of cobras, they will continue to
strike at him until he is out of range. A target cannot hide from the cobras
because they able to sense their victim through the bond of the spell. They
never need to make Perception rolls to find a target, should the target try to
conceal himself.
Whenever a cobra is destroyed before the
spell expires, it regrows on its next action and can attack the turn after
regrowth. When the spell expires, the smoke cobras dissolve back into the
cracks in the ground, and the earth heals itself, leaving little trace of the
spell’s existence. When a victim of the smoke cobras dies, his blood turns to
smoke, exudes from the victim’s pores and orifices and soaks into the ground
― leaving behind a desiccated corpse frozen in agony.
Other Notes: Damage listed is the physical
damage from a bite. Once the Cobra has successfully dealt at least one health
level of damage to a victim, the player of that victim must make a reflexive
Stamina + Resistance roll to see if his character resists the poison or not.
The smoke cobras are conjurations and do
not have Mental or Social Attributes. Nor do they have a Willpower rating or
Virtues. They are mindless and only attack the victim of the spell.
Death Of Obsidian Butterflies
Cost: 15 motes
Death of Obsidian Butterflies calls forth a
cascade of sculpted obsidian butterflies with razor-sharp wings, whose wingspans
vary from an inch across to almost a foot. Flashing over the character’s
shoulders and past her sides in a glassy black torrent, they slash through the
air in a pattern approximately 30 yards wide, 100 yards long and 10 yards high.
Brush, grass and small trees are cut off near the ground. Larger trees and
wooden structures suffer serious damage. Stone is defaced but structurally
unharmed.
When the character releases the magic, her
player makes a Perception + Occult roll and adds a number of automatic successes
equal to the sorcerer’s permanent Essence. Everyone in the attack pattern not
behind an inch or more of stone or several inches of wood is subject to attack.
Characters who wish to defend against the Death of Obsidian Butterflies do so
as if it were a hand-to-hand attack that had scored as many successes as the
caster’s player achieved on her Perception + Occult roll. The obsidian
butterflies have a raw damage of 8, plus extra successes on the attack roll.
This damage is lethal. The thousands of shattered glass butterflies don’t go
away afterward, and walking barefoot in the area is not recommended.
Demon Of The First
Circle
Cost: 20+ motes
The spell calls up one of the lesser
inhabitants of the demon realm — a twisted, hellish world, different from our own.
Though these wicked creatures resent being called into the burningly clean air
and bright yellow sunlight of our own world, they can be shackled into magical
bondage by a cunning sorcerer. Casting this spell is a ritual of many hours, which
must be begun at sundown and end at the stroke of midnight, and it involves a
great number of ritual implements and protective sigils — casting it outside a
dedicated ritual space is difficult. The actual spell itself costs 20 Essence,
to open the portal to the demon realm and call forth the target.
Once summoned, the sorcerer and demon
engage in a contest of wills, reflected by opposed Willpower + Essence rolls. During
the casting of the spell, the character may spend temporary Essence in 5 mote
increments to decrease the demon’s dice pool. Every 5 motes of Essence so spent
decreases the demon’s Willpower + Essence pool by one die. Continue to roll,
once per turn, until one of them accumulates three more successes than the
other. If the character gains three or more successes, the demon will serve him
loyally for a year and a day or perform one task, which can be of indefinite
duration. If the demon wins, the character’s player may make a Wits + Occult roll
at difficulty 3 to banish the demon back to Malfeas. If he fails, the demon is
free of the protective diagram. Typically, this means an excruciating death for
the sorcerer, as he rarely has the Essence to defend himself.
Demons are the favored tools of the
sorcerer because their actions cost no Essence and their capture does not outrage
the Celestial Hierarchy.
Emerald Countermagic
Cost: 10 or 20 motes
Through the use of Emerald Countermagic,
the Exalted can protect herself and her companions from hostile sorcery. If the
character spends 10 motes of Essence, she can secure her own person against
hostile magic. She crosses her arms or makes a gesture of defense and is surrounded
by a nimbus of multicolored energy. Until the end of the next turn, any hostile
magic of the Terrestrial Circle that attempts to affect her shatters, and its
effects are wasted. However, the character must partially maintain her
defensive stance and is thus at a -2 penalty on combat, athletics and similar
actions during her next turn.
The caster can also opt to spend 20 motes
of Essence and halt the effects of a Terrestrial Circle spell within a radius
of (the caster’s permanent Essence x 50) feet. Spells in the midst of being
cast are shattered, and spells that are currently in effect are undone.
Emerald Countermagic is fast and requires
no shaping — it takes effect as soon as the character spends the Willpower. Countermagic
cannot banish demons or other spirits. Countermagic is not a clean or quiet
process — spells in the midst of being cast are huffed out in a puff of
Essence, and already existing magics are deliberately torn asunder. While the
magician who used the countermagic will remain safe, those nearby may receive
minor flashburns, small fires may be kindled, and weak “echo” effects of the
disrupted spell may wash over the area.
Eye Of Alliance
Cost: 5 motes per participant
Target: Participants
Creates an arcane link
This spell is a ritual that links the
emotions of a number of characters equal to the sorcerer’s permanent Essence x
2. Each participant links hands with the sorcerer in a circle while the caster
begins an incantation lasting half an hour. While she does this, the sorcerer
is suffused with a brilliant white aura, which then spreads to each of the
participants in the ritual. When the ritual ends, the white auras around each
participant drain into a depression carved into the ground at each character’s
feet. The light pools and then hardens into a crystal with a number of facets
equal to the number of participants. These crystals may then be mounted into
pieces of jewelry or merely be carried by each participant. The spell costs 5
motes of Essence per participant to create the white crystals, and 1 mote of
Essence is committed by the sorcerer per crystal.
The crystals last for a year and a day,
during which time any bearer of the crystal may choose to send simple emotions
to the other bearers of the crystals. Examples of such emotions are fear, love,
happiness, hatred, sadness or loneliness. Each person bearing a crystal
instantly knows which bearer sent the emotion.
The power of the crystals does not allow
characters to locate each other, nor will the bearers know what is causing the
emotion that was sent. However, they make excellent foci for magical
divinations.
If a character dies while bearing a
crystal, the crystal dissolves, and one facet of each of the remaining crystals
turns black. All bearers of the crystals instantly know which character died.
The crystals dissolve if destroyed and at a year and a day after Eye of
Alliance has been cast. Only a participant in the ritual can use one of the
crystals to send emotions to the other bearers. However, if the sorcerous
nature of the crystal is discerned, it may be used as an arcane link to scry
upon or magically trace the other bearers.
Smoke cobras all act on the same
initiative. They cannot split their dice pools for multiple actions.
Disguise Of The
New Face
Cost: 15 motes
Target: One creature
Disguise of the New Face is a complicated
illusion that alters not only the physical appearance of the target, but his voice,
his mannerisms and even his anima. The spell requires careful study and
preparation before it is cast, so as to make sure the disguise is as complete
as possible.
The spell takes 10 minutes to cast, but it
is not a ritual, as it does not require magical preparation, only a small hand
loom. The caster faces the target, who must remain standing and immobile while
the sorcerer works. The caster summons her Essence, spinning it into thin
multihued threads and then weaving these threads about the target.
The sorcerer must work quickly to cover the
target in a tapestry that, when complete, bears the image of the intended
disguise. When the spell is complete, the tapestry of Essence melts into the
body of the target, forming the new visage of the creature.
While casting the spell, the sorcerer’s
player must make an Intelligence + Larceny roll and adds a number of successes
equal to the caster’s Occult Trait. The number of successes dictates the detail
of the disguise and its ability to fool observers.
Emerald Circle
Banishment
Cost: 10+ motes
Target: One First Circle demon
When a demon summoning has gone awry or a
creature of Malfeas has found some other way to roam freely in Creation, it can
either be hunted down and slain or it can be banished. Neither option is likely
to endear the denizens of Malfeas to the caster, but the banishment option is
much more likely to play to the strengths of a sorcerer. Emerald Circle
Banishment is a very fast spell, like Emerald Countermagic, that goes into
effect as soon as the Terrestrial Circle Sorcery Charm is activated and the
Willpower is spent. The caster immediately goes into a contested Willpower +
Essence challenge with the demon. The caster may spend Essence in 5 mote
increments to lower the demon’s Willpower + Essence dice pool by one die.
Continue to make the Willpower + Essence rolls every turn for the demon and the
sorcerer until one of them accumulates his opponent’s Essence in successes. If
the demon wins, the spell ends, and the demon remains free. The sorcerer cannot
attempt to banish the demon for another five days. If the caster wins, the
demon is immediately ejected back to the demon realm of Malfeas.
There are Sapphire and Adamant Circle
versions of this spell for use in banishing Second and Third Circle demons.
They cost 15 and 20 motes of Essence, respectively. Using Sapphire Circle
Banishment on a First Circle demon or Adamant Circle Banishment on a Second
Circle demon grants the caster three automatic successes on the first Willpower
+ Essence roll. A sorcerer using Adamant Circle Banishment on a First Circle
demon automatically succeeds in banishing it.
Flight Of
Separation
Cost: 10 motes
Target: Caster
This spell instantly transforms the caster
into a flock of birds that explodes into the air with a rush of rainbow
Essence. The effect of this spell occurs at the end of the turn in which it is
cast, rather than on the sorcerer’s next action. The birds fly together at a
speed of 20 miles per hour and can travel for up to a number of miles equal to
the caster’s permanent Essence before merging back into the sorcerer’s original
form. While under the effects of Flight of Separation, the sorcerer maintains
all of her Attributes, Abilities, Willpower, health levels, Virtues and soak
(including armor). However, she adds her permanent Essence to her Dodge rating
for evading attacks.
The caster may not perform any actions
other than to move and dodge while in bird form, but she can easily fit through
narrow apertures one bird at a time. She may not use Charms, attack, parry or
communicate with others while under the spell’s effect.
Any health levels of damage taken while in
bird form is represented by the death of several birds until the caster returns
to normal, at which point the wounds manifest visibly upon her body.
The color and species of birds into which
the sorcerer transforms varies according to the temperament and nature of the
caster ― it is noted, for instance, that Abyssal Exalted tend to manifest
as murders of raitons. The caster transforms into a number of birds equal to
her permanent Essence + health levels x 10, thereby providing some indication
of her power. Players of characters with the Occult Ability may make a
Perception + Occult roll, difficulty 3, for the character to determine the
caster’s permanent Essence rating.
Flight Of The
Brilliant Raptor
Cost: 10 motes
Target: One creature
This spell summons a savage fire elemental
that takes shape as a huge bird of prey in front of the caster. When the
summons is complete, the caster chooses a single target he can see within 1,800
yards (about a mile) and commands the brilliant raptor to attack. The flaming
bird streaks across the distance at an impossible speed, leaving a trail of
smoke and burning embers in its path, to plunge into the body of the victim.
When it hits, the brilliant raptor explodes in a fiery holocaust that engulfs
everything within three yards of the victim.
The caster must make a reflexive Wits +
Occult roll when choosing the target, and this serves as the attack roll. The
attack cannot be parried without the use of Charms, only dodged. The brilliant
raptor delivers a base lethal damage equal to the caster’s Perception + Occult
rating upon impact, with a number of automatic successes equal to the caster’s
permanent Essence. Successes on the attack roll add to the damage as usual. In
addition to the impact of the raptor, the victim’s nervous system is shot
through with searing heat as the flames pass through it. For every two health
levels of damage successfully dealt by the brilliant raptor, the target’s
player suffers a one-die penalty to all Dexterity rolls on the next turn. This
penalty decreases by one on each successive turn, so that if the brilliant
raptor successfully deals seven health levels of damage, then, on the turn after
the spell is cast, the target suffers a three-die penalty, a two-die penalty on
the turn after that, and so on.
The pyrotechnic explosion afterward causes
flammable objects, hair, skin and even the ground to catch fire.
The players of the target and of any
characters within the three-yard radius of effect must make a Stamina +
Resistance roll, difficulty 3, for their characters to withstand the flames.
Characters whose players fail this roll suffer a two-die penalty to all rolls
involving Physical Attribute for two turns, until the flames subside. The
explosion may also ignite any explosive or highly flammable materials nearby,
such as firedust or barrels of lamp oil.
Flying Guillotine
Cost: 10 motes
Target: One creature
This spell gathers Essence into a
three-foot-wide circle of silver chain with razor edges that hovers in the air
before the sorcerer, spinning ominously. Once summoned, the caster chooses a
single creature within line of sight and no more than 500 yards away to be its
victim, and his player rolls the character’s Perception + Occult as a reflexive
attack roll against the target, with a number of extra successes equal to the
attacking sorcerer’s Essence. The silver loop of chain then flies after its
target, attempting to loop about her neck and decapitate its victim. The
guillotine will avoid obstacles and even turn corners to chase its foe. Normal
environmental penalties apply to the attack, except for cover bonuses.
The flying guillotine moves at a rate of
500 yards per turn (approximately 340 miles per hour!). The flying guillotine
does a base damage of 18L, plus additional dice of damage for successes on the
attack roll. If the damage dealt by the spell exceeds the number of health
levels of the target, the victim is decapitated, and the guillotine becomes a
silver band that seals the neck of the victim just below the chin. The victim
dies instantly, instead of expiring slowly as if reduced to Incapacitated. If
the spell is successfully dodged, parried or countered,
the Guillotine disappears in a flash of
silver light.
Food From The
Aerial Table
Cost: 10+ motes
Target: N/A
With this spell, the sorcerer may conjure
nourishing but bland food for herself and her companions. As the caster invokes
the spell, the air around her begins to swirl and fill with a pale pink light.
On the turn after it is cast, the pink light coalesces into small flakes of
soft, textureless foodstuff that looks very similar to flower petals. When the
spell ends, the flakes fall to the ground and can be gathered and consumed.
Enough food for five servings is produced in this manner.
The casting sorcerer may choose at the time
of casting to invest more time and Essence to produce more food. Every
additional turn and 5 motes of Essence invested will produce another 10
servings of magical sustenance. This additional cost must be paid at the
beginning of the spell. If the spell is interrupted during casting, the food
produced already exists, but no more will be conjured, and all the Essence
spent is lost.
The magical food produced by Food from the
Aerial Table lasts for a number of days equal to the caster’s permanent
Essence. At the end of this duration, any uneaten food turns to gray ash. The
food will not rot before the end of the spell’s duration, and it cannot be
poisoned. With enough water and continuous use of this spell, the sorcerer and
her allies can survive for a long time. However, most creatures will quickly
get bored with such fare and begin to pine for real food. Carnivorous creatures
may refuse to eat the substance after a day or two in favor of finding meat.
This “meat” could well include the sorcerer.
Over the course of years or decades,
creatures will find that the food does not quell their hunger and that the
nourishment it provides can no longer sustain them. Characters must find
non-magical sustenance at least once a year, or they suffer a one-die penalty
to all actions until a full meal can be eaten. This penalty is cumulative per
year.
Fugue Of Truth
Cost: 10 motes
Target: Caster
This simple-sounding ritual is actually a
demanding meditative practice that allows a sorcerer to pierce illusions,
resist glamours and avoid enchantments. In addition, obscure purposes and
hidden intents are revealed to the casting sorcerer.
The ritual requires that the sorcerer
meditate in a lightless, soundless place for an hour while she focuses her
Essence around her. Once the ritual is complete, the sorcerer is in a trance
similar in effect mechanically to being stunned. All maneuvers such as attacking
and dodging or any use of the Athletics Ability are performed at a -2 penalty.
In addition, the sorcerer suffers a -1 penalty to all Social Attribute rolls,
as she moves and acts slowly, in a stupefied manner. However, the sorcerer’s
player may add four dice to any Perception Attribute rolls involving magical
deceptions. Additionally, the sorcerer’s player may add three dice to
Perception rolls involving non-magical lies or bluffs and two dice to rolls to
determine the purpose of First Age artifacts.
If the caster is the target of
mind-affecting spells while under the effect of Fugue of Truth, her player may
make a reflexive Perception + Resistance roll, with a difficulty equal to the
permanent Essence of the character trying to affect the sorcerer, for her to
resist the effect.
Fugue of Truth ends if the casting sorcerer
botches any roll, is wounded or voluntarily leaves her altered state. This
spell can only be countered during the casting ritual.
The Horse That
Travels Earth And Water
Cost: 10 motes
Target: One summoned creature
This spell summons a lesser elemental of
air in the form of a perfect stallion whose coloration depends on the
sorcerer’s proximity to one of the elemental poles. A sorcerer in the West will
summon a blue horse with a green mane. In the South, the stallion appears as a
red horse with a yellow mane. In the East, the horse will have a green body and
a brown mane. A horse from the North will be white with a purple mane. Near the
center of Creation, the stallion will be brown with an orange mane.
The stallion appears riding on a gust of
wind and lands next to the caster, tossing and stamping, eager to be ridden.
The stallion will serve the caster willingly until the next sunrise and is, in
most ways, similar to a trained warhorse. The elemental stallion never tires
and is able to traverse water as easily as it crosses land. It can travel at
its full speed until the spell ends, at which point, it is returned from whence
it came in another short gust of wind. The stallion is capable of carrying the
sorcerer and his gear, and even another rider, but it balks at being used as a
pack animal. In combat, the horse is fearless in its service to the sorcerer
and never fails Valor checks.
The caster may command that the horse carry
another person in his stead, and if so, the stallion will take that person
toward a chosen location or in a specified direction. The stallion will not
allow the new rider to direct it, and if the rider should dismount or fall off,
the stallion rides on and dematerializes.
Other Notes: The sorcerer cannot become
dematerialized, but he may force the horse to dematerialize. The horse will
only use its Charms to protect itself in case it is in mortal danger. It will
serve the summoning sorcerer in any other way the caster commands.
Hound Of The Five
Winds
Cost: 15 motes
Target: One conjured automaton
A sorcerer channels Essence into the sky,
pulling to him winds from the five elemental poles, which swirl together and
sculpt a massive, horse-sized wolfhound. This magical automaton is a superb
tracking beast that can scent its prey up to 100 miles away and chase it
ceaselessly. The hound of the five winds is nearly as intelligent as a human
― and is an excellent fighter as well. The hound will serve the casting
sorcerer without reservation for up to eight hours as a warrior, as a bodyguard
or even as a riding beast. The hound is most effective at tracking prey, and
this is its most common use.
These hounds can understand complex
instructions, rarely ever tire and do not need to eat or drink. A hound will
hunt alone, lead the sorcerer or an assigned deputy or take control of a pack
of trained war dogs. Some sorcerers choose to create packs of hounds at a time
to chase their prey, and in this case, even Lunar warriors will fear if hunted.
The hound of the five winds is a
supernatural tracker, and as such, it automatically succeeds in tracking mortal
prey. In addition, Charms, sorcery and other magical means of foiling mundane
tracking are only a minor hindrance to it. The hound may track prey that uses
Charms with a Perception + Survival roll that has a difficulty equal to the
Charm user’s permanent Essence score (unless otherwise stated by the Charm).
Only magical effects that completely remove the scent of the victim, such as
Sound and Scent Banishing Attitude are effective at confusing the hound. Even
then, if the Charm or other magical effect wears off within 100 miles of the
hound, it will immediately know and begin the chase anew. Hounds of the five
winds only need to have been introduced to one tiny bit of material that bears
the victim’s scent to home in on their prey.
This spell can only be countered during
casting, and once the hound is formed, it must be killed or banished to get rid
of it before the duration of the spell ends. If it is killed or at the end of
the hound’s duration, it explodes in a violent burst of wind that deals five
health levels of bashing damage to everything within three yards. The hound
cannot be healed.
Hypnotic Piping
Cost: 21 motes, and 10 motes to activate
Target: See text
This spell has two parts. The first part is
a ritual in which the casting sorcerer makes an enchanted set of pipes, through
which the second part of the spell is then later cast. The ritual takes several
hours and requires a set of pipes made from the bones of a hybroc or other
immense bird, requiring an Intelligence + Craft roll, difficulty 3, to
construct. The bone pipes are etched along their length with magical
inscriptions before the ritual begins. Then, the caster begins the ritual at
moonrise, pouring 21 motes of Essence into the pipes while chanting the 555
lost names of Luna, the trickster. When the ritual ends, the inscriptions on
the pipes will have filled with moonlight to glow faintly silver. In addition,
a number of dark amethyst-colored jewels equal to the casting sorcerer’s
permanent Essence will appear implanted at the base of the pipes.
For each jewel, the caster must commit 3
motes of the Essence paid for the ritual, and the number of jewels represents
the number of times the enchantment on the pipes may be used. The pipes can
only be used by the sorcerer who performed the ritual, and the Essence remains
committed until one of the jewels is used and shatters.
Activating the pipes requires 10 motes of
Essence, but it does not involve the actual casting of a spell and, therefore,
requires no preparatory turn or Willpower expenditure. The sorcerer needs only
to begin to play a mournful tune and pay the Essence cost. The music itself
does not matter, and the player does not need to make a roll for his character
to perform music. The music that comes from the pipes is ethereal and beautiful
no matter the skill of the sorcerer and can be heard up to a quarter mile
(about 450 yards) away. The sorcerer may choose to play the pipes for up to
five turns before the melody ends and one of the amethyst-colored jewels turns
black and cracks (releasing the committed Essence within). While he is playing,
he attracts any nearby sentient beings, who will be enthralled by his sorcerous
music.
When the sorcerer finishes playing, he may
then issue a single command to anyone in the area who was listening. Make a
Willpower roll for mortals who are affected by the Hypnotic Piping, with the difficulty
equal to the number of turns the sorcerer played the pipes (maximum five) for
them to resist the enchantment.
Make a Wits + Occult roll at a difficulty
of 3 for Exalted, elementals and spirits hearing the pipes to realize that the
music being played is an enchantment. If that roll is successful, make a
reflexive Willpower roll with a difficulty equal to the number of turns the
music has been playing for the characters to ignore the sorcerer’s enchantment.
If the roll fails, they know they have been
enchanted and can stretch the command to its limits, but they must obey. If the
roll succeeds, they may ignore the beguiling music and act normally, often to
attack the caster.
If the caster is interrupted while playing
the pipes, the song’s effect is nullified, and one gem, as well as the Essence
paid, is lost. If the caster is attacked while playing the tune, he may abort
to a dodge but cannot activate Charms, reflexive or otherwise, and the spell is
broken. If the sorcerer wishes, he may ignore the attack and continue to play,
but his player must make a successful reflexive Stamina + Resistance roll with
a difficulty equal to the amount of damage the Exalt takes from the attack.
The pipes have no effect on the undead,
automata, beasts or any creature with an Intelligence Attribute of less than 2.
The effects of the enchantment wear off after a day and a night, at the end of
which all who were affected awaken as if they were sleepwalking. They will have
memories of what they have done while enchanted, but they may choose to dismiss
the incident as a dream until provided with evidence to the contrary.
When all of the amethyst-colored jewels
have broken and turned black, the pipes crumble into colorless bone powder.
Impenetrable Frost
Barrier
Cost: 20 motes
This magic protects the sorcerer and his
companions from attacks by enemies with ranged weapons. A thin, cold blue-gray plume
of mist issues from the magician, extended 10 to 15 feet from him, depending on
the wind conditions and the local temperature. The mists swirl about any
incoming missile attacks, buffeting them and coating them in ice. Most such
weapons are dragged hopelessly off course, and the impacts of the rest are cushioned.
For the next 20 minutes, attacks by ranged weapons against the sorcerer or
anyone standing in the mist suffer a difficulty penalty equal to twice the
sorcerer’s permanent Essence rating. The mists are of limited power — they
cannot stop attacks from large weapons such as ballista bolts and hurled
boulders.
Incantation Of
Spiritual Discretion
Cost: 20+ motes
Target: An area with a radius in yards equal to
the character’s Occult + permanent Essence
This spell is used to secure an area
against intrusion by dematerialized beings and prevents the use of the
Dematerialize Charm within its area of effect. The area to be effected by the
spell must be ritually prepared by the caster and the boundary marked with a
line of salt. This ritual takes six hours, and the salt and ritual implements
may then be removed. This spell may not be cast at the site of a sanctum or
while any spirits are present in the area to be secured. While the spell is
active, dematerialized beings simply find themselves unable to move into the
area or to become dematerialized while in the area. This spell also affects
beings who use sorcerous effects to change into shadow form.
Essence cannot be spent to dematerialize
and cannot be wasted. This spell has no effect on beings whose permanent
Essence is greater than the caster’s. This spell lasts for a number of days
equal to the caster’s Occult + permanent Essence. This spell can be renewed at
any point in its duration by any sorcerer who knows Incantation of Spiritual
Discretion. A shortened version of the original ritual must be performed,
taking one hour, and the 20 motes of Essence must be paid again.
Infallible Messenger
Cost: 10 motes
The sorcerer conjures up a minor spirit, a
cherub, purely from Essence. Cherubs are multicolored humanoid figures only a
few feet tall, with six glittering blue-chrome wings. The sorcerer whispers his
message, which can be no longer than a few minutes, into the cherub’s ear. He
then names and describes a target. The cherub is able to travel from one point
to another nearly instantly — traveling hundreds of miles an hour, it can
traverse the world in less than a day. Unless the target’s location is
mystically obscured, the cherub will find the recipient, deliver the message
perfectly to her ear (even using the original sender’s voice), then dissipate.
Internal Flame
Cost: 15 motes
Target: One creature
This spell causes molten metal to flow
through its victim’s bones, causing excruciating pain until the victim dies.
With a word and a gesture, the sorcerer attempts to transmute a target’s marrow
to boiling iron, burning the body from the inside out. The sorcerer must have
line of sight on the target and must be within 300 yards to cast the spell. The
sorcerer radiates waves of red and gray flame to wash across the target’s body,
which seep past armor and clothing to enter the victim’s eyes, nose and mouth.
The caster’s player makes a reflexive Willpower + Occult roll as an attack,
with a difficulty equal to the target’s Stamina. This attack cannot be dodged
and can only be parried with Charms.
If the attack fails, the target has
successfully resisted the enchantment. If the attack is successful, Internal
Flame deals a base damage of 3L, plus the successes on the attack. This damage
may be soaked only by the victim’s natural soak, ignoring armor bonuses. Charms
that increase a character’s soak apply normally. If damage is successfully
dealt by the Internal Flame, then the molten metal continues its course through
the victim’s body. It continues to deal 1L of damage for a number of turns
equal to the caster’s permanent Essence or until the victim receives medical
attention (Intelligence + Medicine, difficulty 3).
The effects of having one’s bone marrow
transformed into molten metal is agonizing beyond belief. Regardless of whether
or not the target resists the damage of the spell, she will suffer a -2 penalty
to all actions for the remainder of the scene. This penalty is a wound penalty
and stacks with any other wound penalties from which the target currently
suffers. Only targets that are wholly immune to wound penalties are immune to
the paralytic effects of the pain.
Without powerful magical healing that is
capable of regenerating lost tissue, such as Healing Trance Meditation, mortals
targeted by this spell will surely die within a month at most, from the
destruction of their marrow. Exalts, spirits and fey will recover normally from
these wounds.
Invocation Of The
Living Ship
Cost: 20 motes
When using this spell, the Exalt calls to
the figurehead of the ship on which he stands with such command and authority
that the ship’s very spirit wakes and takes control of the vessel through the
figurehead. The ship will obey the Exalt’s verbal commands for the duration of
the scene, to the best of its ability — it can’t suddenly accomplish the
impossible, leap into the sky or turn into orichalcum. However, the sails and
ropes can set and tack of their own accord, and the wheel and rudder can both
manage themselves as the Exalt commands. Oars are unaffected by this sorcery.
If the Exalt moves more than 100 yards from the ship, then it will attempt to
follow him, whatever orders he may have given, and will pursue him to the
limits of its ability until the spell lapses. This spell won’t function on a
ship that doesn’t have a figurehead. It endures until the next dawn or dusk,
whichever comes first, at which point, the figurehead closes its eyes, and the
ship becomes normal once again. There have been recorded cases where sustained
use of this spell caused the ship’s spirit to awaken permanently.
Invulnerable Skin
Of Bronze
Cost: 20 motes
Until the sun next crosses the horizon, the
character’s skin hardens into shining bronze, as supple and as flexible as
silk, but as invulnerable and cold as any metal. The character has +6 soak
against lethal damage and +12 against bashing. Moreover, if the damage is
totally absorbed by the Skin (that is, under 6 dice of lethal or 12 dice of
bashing), the attacker rolls no damage dice at all. The character inflicts an
extra two dice of bashing damage in bare-handed combat and weighs an extra 100
or so pounds. While Invulnerable Skin of Bronze does not impede his motions or
slow him, caution is advised near bodies of water and deep mud.
Keel Cleaves The
Clouds
Cost: 25 motes
This spell permits a ship to literally sail
upon the clouds, ascending from the ocean below to the mists above. It is
Terrestrial Circle, but not in general use, as the Dragon-Blooded tend to
prefer more efficient ways to move fleets rather than single ships. The spell
requires that, at some point, the mists or clouds touch the sea itself. The
caster of the spell must be present on the ship while casting it, though she
need not be the steersman or captain. After the words have been recited and the
gestures made, the ship will move up through the mists, as though rising from
wave to wave, until it reaches the heights of the sky and sails atop the clouds
there, as though they were merely the foam of heavenly waves.
The ship can be steered as it would
normally, even to the extent of tacking against the wind, but is as vulnerable
to a lack of wind as it would be on the seas below. The spell endures for 12
hours. At the end of this time, it may be recast. If it is not renewed, then
the ship descends gently to the ocean below, landing upon the waves as softly
as a feather. The ship is not protected in any way from dragons or from other
spirits or gods of the high air. If it is traveling above islands or bodies of
earth at the point that the spell runs out, the ship will land softly but may
be stranded miles from water.
Lightning Spider
Cost: 10+ motes
Target: Caster
When this spell is cast, eight long legs
made of lightning sprout from the torso of the caster, supporting her weight
and allowing her to climb any surface. The legs are each three yards long and
insubstantial, but they support the sorcerer and all her gear easily. These
legs allow the caster to move along any surface at her normal movement rate,
whether it is a vertical wall or a domed ceiling or even just rough terrain.
Because they are insubstantial, the legs
cannot be dislodged by mundane means. Objects pass right through the coherent
lightning, and if the legs touch a living being, they will immediately shift to
find purchase on an inanimate object. Living creatures may feel a slight
tingling, like static electricity, but are otherwise unharmed by the effects of
the Lightning Spider spell. The number and magical strength of the legs adds
five dice to the caster’s Strength check for purposes of clinch maneuvers made
against the sorcerer.
The lightning spider not only allows the
caster to move unhindered along surfaces, but for an additional Essence cost,
she can produce an electric dragline. This line is also made from cohesive
lightning and can support up to 100 pounds per mote of additional Essence
spent.
The caster may not spend more motes in this
manner than she has points of permanent Essence. Unlike the sorcerer’s spider
legs, this dragline is solid and can be tied to or around objects ― or
people. It has a soak of 10L/10B and can take 15 health levels of damage before
it is severed.
Lightning Whip
Smites The Waters
Cost: 15 motes
Upon incanting this rediscovered First Age spell,
a long whip of braided copper wire with a dark oak handle appears in the
caster’s hand. It will continue to exist until used or until the next dawn. In
either case, the whip dissolves into nothingness, leaving a thin pile of copper
powder behind. To use it, the caster cracks the whip in the direction of the
target, which must be within half a mile or less. The sorcerer’s player makes a
Perception + Thrown roll to determine the accuracy of the blow, against a
difficulty of 3. The whip transforms into a bolt of lightning, which skips
across the surface of the water until it strikes the target. Human-size targets
may attempt to dodge as they would a normal missile, but ships have more
difficulty. The whip can be parried. If the target fails to dodge, then it is
struck by the lightning.
The bolt of lightning does 5L structural
damage per success scored by the caster to any ship that it strikes and three
health levels of aggravated damage (burns and shock) to any living beings
within five yards of the point of impact. This spell, unfortunately, only works
on a body of open water. If a caster attempts to use it while on land, the
lightning grounds itself while leaping toward the target and is lost.
Manifestations Of
Vigorous Design
Cost: 5+ motes (committed)
Target: One inanimate object
This spell allows a sorcerer to invest
Essence into small, inanimate objects and give them the semblance of life.
Objects animated by this spell can receive simple commands and will fulfill
those commands to the best of their ability. The nature of an object defines
its abilities and dictates what it might be commanded to do. A broom can be
commanded to sweep, a table to walk behind its owner, a toy soldier to march,
or a ball to bounce.
The sorcerer may animate any object she touches
simply by invoking this spell and committing 5 motes of Essence. She can
animate any simple, nonmechanical object weighing no more than 10 pounds per
point of permanent Essence she possesses. The object glows with a bright yellow
light for a moment, and then, it begins to move about.
The animated object has Physical Attributes
equal to one dot per every five pounds it weighs, rounding up. An animated
object has other Attributes at one dot each. It will also have one Ability of
the caster’s choosing at a rating equal to the caster’s permanent Essence, but
it cannot be higher than the caster’s rating in the Ability.
The caster may choose at the time of
casting to spend an additional 5 motes of Essence and give the object an
additional Ability at the same rating as her permanent Essence.
Alternately, the sorcerer can spend
additional Essence to give that object a specialty of +1 in its Ability or to
increase an Attribute by one dot. No more than 20 motes of Essence can be spent
in this manner. All Abilities granted to an animated object must have something
in common with the object’s design and intent. Shovels can dig, brushes can
paint or write, and boxes can open or close. An object with legs can walk or
run, follow and even be ridden. Weapons most often are granted the Melee
Ability. Pens or chalk can be granted the Linguistics Ability. Characters
should work out with their Storyteller exactly what Abilities can be granted to
an object.
Unless otherwise interrupted, an object
animated by Manifestations of Vigorous Design will continue with its last
command until the sorcerer removes her committed Essence or the object is
completely destroyed.
Mast-Shattering
Spell
Cost: 20 motes
Target: One ship or vessel
The caster’s anima flares with dark-blue
Essence, which gathers itself into a spiked ball of blue tempered steel
hovering before the sorcerer. The sorcerer utters a single word and points
toward his enemy’s ship, and the ball flies across the distance to smash into
the main mast of that ship.
The mast then explodes in a shower of
splinters that rain across the deck and imbed themselves in bare flesh.
Everyone within 20 yards must Dodge this explosion, at difficulty 1, or suffer
10 lethal health levels of damage.
The target of this spell must be a ship within
one mile of the sorcerer and must be clearly visible. Any weather conditions
such as fog or rain that would obscure vision lower the range of the spell
appropriately.
Masts that have been magically reinforced,
such as through the use of Mast’s Unbreakable Will Prana, may survive this
spell. The casting sorcerer’s player must make a reflexive Wits + Occult roll
with a difficulty equal to the permanent Essence of the being who reinforced
the mast. If the roll fails, then the mast shudders and groans but survives
intact. First Age vessels commonly have reinforced masts. Masts made of the
Five Magical Materials are completely immune to this spell.
A variant of this spell targets the oars of
a ship and is useful against ships that have no masts. In this variant, the
spiked ball of Essence crashes across the visible oars from prow to stern,
flinging splinters in all directions. Creatures manning the oars suffer five
lethal health levels of damage from the spray of shards, soaked normally.
Mists Of Eventide
Cost: 15 motes
Target: Creatures in the area of the spell
This spell conjures a small cyclone of
opalescent mist that quickly expands to cover a circle 10 yards in diameter,
putting any creatures within its area to sleep. The sorcerer may create the
mists anywhere in view within 50 yards. The mists need not be inhaled. Just
their touch on bare skin is enough to put a victim into a magical slumber.
The spell’s effects last until the sun has
set and risen again, during which time the victims remain comatose unless
awakened forcibly. If awakened before the spell ends, the victims suffer a -3
penalty to all actions, acting as if they’ve been drugged with a powerful
narcotic. The magical sleep invoked by Mists of Eventide is not restful.
Creatures who slumber so will awaken at the end of the spell without having
regained any motes of Essence and will require normal sleep as if no time had
passed. The magical sleep is also completely dreamless, and victims of the
mists cannot be the target of magical effects that invoke nightmares or other
mind-influencing effects.
Mists of Eventide affects mortal creatures
instantly. Exalts, spirits and Wyld-shaped creatures may resist the effects of
the spell with a Stamina + Resistance roll, the difficulty of which is equal to
the caster’s permanent Essence. This spell does not affect Fair Folk, the
undead, intangible spirits or ghosts or automata.
The mists fade and disappear after three
turns, leaving no mundane trace of the spell having been cast.
Open The Spirit
Door
Cost: 15 motes + 5 mtoes per additional target
This spell allows the caster and anyone she
cares to bring with her to physically enter the sanctum of any spirit with an
Essence that is equal to or lower than the caster’s. The caster can also use
this spell to enter the sanctums of more powerful spirits, but only with the
owner’s permission. This spell does allow the caster to dematerialize, it can
only be used to enter a small god’s sanctum, and the caster rematerializes when
he leaves the sanctum. To cast this spell the caster and everyone she is
bringing along with her must be within three yards of one of the sanctum’s
entrances. To locate a sanctum, the caster can either ask a spirit, use the
Spirit Detecting Glance Charm or perform a complex divination. This divination
requires several hours and a Perception + Occult roll of difficulty 3. If the
sorcerer’s player succeeds in this roll, the Exalt has located all sanctum
entrances within a 100-yard radius.
Once the entrance has been found, the
caster and her companions need only stand before it and cast the spell. In the
next instant, they all find themselves on the threshold of the sanctum. For the
duration of this spell, everyone under its influence can interact physically
with the sanctum and all of its inhabitants and furnishings. This spell lasts
until the sun next crosses the horizon. If the caster wishes to leave the
sanctum before the duration of the spell is up, she can simply cast the spell
again, and she and everyone she brings with her will find themselves back in
the mortal world. Regardless of how the caster and her companions leave the
sanctum, they always find themselves back in the exact place where the spell
was first cast. While a number of clever Exalted have used this spell as a
method of hiding from mundane pursuit, it cannot be used to intangibly move
through space.
Anyone using this spell can carry items and
furnishings out of the sanctum so long as she can pick them up and carry them.
Spirits generally strongly object to having their sanctums invaded by greedy or
aggressive Exalted. Anyone who is known to make a habit of attacking the
sanctums of small gods will eventually have to deal with the wrath of more
powerful spirits who object to their underlings being harmed or robbed. This
spell can also be used to gain entrance to the Celestial City of Yu-Shan, but
anyone attempting to enter Yu-Shan in this fashion must also talk their way
past the celestial lions who guard it.
Paralyzing
Contradiction
Cost: 15 motes
Target: All creatures within range
The sorcerer casting this spell draws a
complicated figure in the air out of fiery white Essence and speaks a
philosophical koan that is immeasurably complex. Anyone with an Intelligence
Attribute greater than 1 within 50 yards of the caster must immediately stop
what he is doing and contemplate this fascinating self-contradiction.
This spell affects anyone who sees the
sigil or hears the words of the caster. So, if a person were to be blind and
deaf, he would be immune to the spell. It affects mortals, Exalts, spirits,
Fair Folk and even any undead creatures with the requisite Intelligence. It
does not affect automata.
To solve the contradiction, all affected
creatures must spend their entire actions contemplating the enigma, except for
speaking amongst themselves about the koan. The players of all those affected
may make an Intelligence + Lore roll on each of their actions, with a
difficulty equal to the caster’s permanent Essence to solve the riddle. These
rolls are cumulative, and once someone has gained enough successes to break
free of the contradiction, he will be able to act again. He cannot, however,
assist others that are affected by the paralyzing contradiction. Each must
solve the koan on his own.
The rolls to solve the contradiction are
not reflexive. They constitute a full action, and during the effects of the
spell, no one may take any action or split his dice pools until the paralyzing
contradiction is solved. Those who have held actions when the spell is cast
must immediately abort to pondering the enigma. Similarly, those who are in the
middle of an extended action, such as a full dodge, must immediately stop. The
only defenses that a character may continue to take are those that work
automatically, such as Flow Like Blood, Five-Dragon Blocking Technique and
Virtuous Guardian of Flame.
If a person affected by Paralyzing
Contradiction is attacked, he is immediately freed from contemplation. The
spell ends when all characters have successfully solved the koan, if the spell
is countered or if the casting sorcerer dies. When Paralyzing Contradiction is
finished, the sigil in the air burns out, and all those who were affected
forget the nature of the koan ― and its solution.
Peacock Shadow
Eyes
Cost: 10 motes
Target: One creature
The caster’s eyes glow with a terrible,
iridescent flame that holds the attention of a victim with whom the sorcerer
makes eye contact and compels the target to stunned silence. The target must be
within 10 yards of the caster and both parties’ eyes must meet for the spell to
be effective. The players of the caster and the target then make opposed
Willpower + Occult rolls. If the victim is successful, then the spell fails,
and no effect occurs. If the sorcerer wins the opposed roll, then the victim
falls into a light trance and will be intensely susceptible to suggestion. The
target will believe anything and everything the caster tells him over a period
of five minutes. At the end of that time, the victim snaps out of his trance
with no memory of what has happened to him. He will think he was engaged in
normal conversation with the sorcerer and will continue to believe what was
told to him during his trance, even when faced with evidence to the contrary.
It will take someone providing irrefutable evidence to the contrary (and a successful
Intelligence + Bureaucracy roll, the difficulty of which equal to the caster’s
permanent Essence) to convince the victim of Peacock Shadow Eyes that he has
been duped.
Personal Tempest
Cost: 15 motes
Target: Caster
This spell causes the air around the caster
to become violently agitated, creating short bursts of wind that deflect
incoming blows. The wind is invisible and does not stop the sorcerer from
attacking out of the it, but it reduces her movement to one-half of normal due
to resistance. Attacks against the sorcerer suffer penalties as if the sorcerer
were behind 90 percent hard cover on all sides. This means that hand-to-hand
attacks suffer a -2 penalty and ranged attacks suffer a -4 penalty. Wrestling
maneuvers, reflexive or not, made against the sorcerer in the Personal Tempest
suffer a -2 penalty as well, regardless of whether the sorcerer is already in a
clinch or hold.
Personal Tempest lasts either one scene,
until voluntarily dispelled or countered or until the caster is rendered incapacitated.
Plague Of Bronze
Snakes
Cost: 15 motes
Target: Conjured automata
The caster conjures a brass hammer out of
her Essence and strikes the ground with it three times, causing a small hole to
open up and dozens of bronze serpents to issue forth. These ophidian constructs
are nocturnal, hunting for human-raised livestock and animals only at night.
During the day, they return to the hole from which they were conjured and await
the sunset before venturing forth. The snakes will range 1,800 yards (approximately
one mile) from the point of conjuration per point of the caster’s Occult score
and are attracted to motion. The strike silently, biting a victim, then
retreating to their den for the night. The serpents have a swift and lethal
magical venom that turns the victims of their bite to granite in an agonizing
process.
This spell may only be cast at night and is
usually performed outside a village or near an enemy encampment. The snakes
last for a number of nights equal to the casting sorcerer’s permanent Essence.
The number of serpents conjured is equal to twice the caster’s Willpower. If
they have not been destroyed before the spell’s duration ends, the snakes
return to their den and decompose into tarnished metal segments.
Bronze snakes only hunt livestock and
animals domesticated by humans. They will attempt to flee if attacked and only
strike when cornered. They are creatures made of the caster’s Essence and die
if they take four health levels of either bashing or lethal damage.
Other Notes: While not terribly
intelligent, bronze snakes are preternaturally aware of the best time to
strike, often waiting until a victim is alone before attacking.
After the initial damage of the bite is
dealt, then the magical venom is injected into the victim. This lethal poison
has a resistance factor of 7. Failure to resist means that the victim takes 10
health levels of lethal damage. If this is enough to kill the victim, then he
turns to granite, usually frozen in a position of excruciating agony. If the
victim does not die, or successfully resists the poison, he still takes two
lethal health levels of damage and suffers a -6 to all rolls for eight hours.
As with all poisons, these rules are for
Exalts who suffer from a snake bite. Mortals and beasts die in agony and become
granite statues over the space of a couple of turns, often before they can cry
out.
Private Plaza Of
Downcast Eyes
Cost: 20+ motes
Target: An area with a radius in yards equal to
the character Occult + permanent Essence
This spell is used to secure an area
against magical scrying and intrusion via teleportation. The ritual casting of
this spell takes six hours and requires a procession through all of the areas
to be protected by the spell. While the spell is active, no effect that
magically allows for clairvoyance into or out of the area or translocation to
or from the area functions.
This prohibition includes any Charm or
effect that allows for the user’s senses to perceive a location outside the
bounds of mundane perception, such as (Sense)-Riding Technique or use of a
dragonfly’s ranging eye. Such effects fail instantly and without explanation
when they strike the edge of the ward.
Teleportation attempts fail completely, and
the Essence used to activate them is wasted. They do not transport the user to
the perimeter of the spell effect or give the user any indication of how or why
the teleport attempt failed.
This spell lasts for a number of days equal
to the caster’s permanent Essence. This spell can be renewed at any point in
its duration by any caster who knows Private Plaza of Downcast Eyes. A
shortened version of the original ritual must be performed, taking one hour,
and the 20 motes of Essence must be paid again.
Raising The
Earth’s Bones
Cost: 25 motes
The Seventh Legion prefers not to fight
from static positions when possible, but when necessary, it is perfectly
capable of doing so, and this spell lets its soldiers quickly raise defenses
when needed. The Exalt first marks out the rough outline of the area he wants
to work with, using freshly cut sapling branches cut into marking poles. Once
this outline is laid down, he must clear the area of any living creature larger
than a rabbit and begin casting. If there is a creature larger than a rabbit in
the area of effect, the spell fails.
As he casts the spell, the Exalt visualizes
the defensive structures, which can include any kind of earthen ramparts, stone
walls, small fortifications or other defenses. These protections must be
completely contained within the area the sorcerer has marked out, which can be
no larger than (Intelligence + Occult + the character’s Craft (War) Ability, if
any x 10) square yards in size. Stone buildings, fortifications or other
defensive structures summoned in this fashion cannot exceed three stories in
height and are of durable but not imperishable construction, equal to stone or
brick.
The Ravenous Fire
Cost: 15 motes
Target: One inanimate object
This spell conjures a magical fire that
will consume any non-magical material as if it were dry timber. The sorcerer
concentrates on the spell for a turn and then points at the object she wishes
to incinerate. A jet of blue-white flame shoots from her fingertip up to one
yard away and will instantly ignite the substance at which she points. Dead wood
will be instantly consumed. Granite will soften and burn like candle wax.
Metals will crumble to ash and slag under the heat of the ravenous fire. The
flames will only consume the material to which it was first set, but they can
spread to any other material of the same type as long as it is in contact with
the substance first touched. Thus, if the sorcerer were to set fire to a marble
pillar, it would spread to any other marble that pillar touches, such as the
floor or the ceiling. It would not, however, burn any metal inlays or gems set
into the marble.
The Ravenous Fire can consume 27 cubic feet
(the size of a human-sized statue and base) for every point of permanent
Essence the caster possesses, and it takes approximately one minute to consume
that 27 cubic feet. After the fire has burned itself out, if the substance was
naturally flammable (such as wood) it will continue to burn as a normal fire
until all of the substance is consumed or the fire is put out. The Ravenous
Fire cannot be extinguished by any mundane means, only through the use of
sorcery. The flames cannot consume enchanted objects, anything made of the Five
Magical Materials or any living substance. Creatures that touch the mystical
flames will feel an intense but harmless cold rather than the burning heat they
might expect.
Ritual Of
Elemental Empowerment
Cost: 30 motes
Target: One inanimate object
This powerful ritual is cast from dawn to
noon on a clear day and must be performed with the aid of an elemental. This
spirit must have an elemental affinity with the element to be empowered and
must have an Essence of 3 or greater. The sorcerer begins the ritual by
performing a purification upon the item to be enchanted during the ritual. He
then invokes the blessings of the Five Elemental Dragons, beginning with the
element that is to be empowered. When this is done the elemental strikes the
item five times, once for each Dragon, spending 5 motes of Essence per strike.
Together with the caster’s Essence, this enchants the item to have fantastic
powers.
The Ritual of Elemental Empowerment
permanently instills an item with the enchantment. The effects last for the
life of the item or until the magic is countered or another Ritual of
Empowerment is performed on it. One item can only have one enchantment.
Additional castings of this spell may replace the element enchanted into the
item but may not add to its effects. Only mundane items can be empowered, so
artifacts, enchanted objects, Hearthstones and the Five Magical Materials are
immune to this spell. In addition, this spell has no effect on the living or
the dead, on spirits, on Fair Folk or on demons. The caster may enchant an
object weighing no more than 5 pounds per point of permanent Essence she
possesses. Clothing, jewelry and weapons are the most common items that are
empowered, though very powerful sorcerers can enchant a suit of armor or
barding for a steed.
River Of Blood
Cost: 15 + motes
Target: One body of water
This spell causes a natural waterway to flow
with thick, rank blood instead of water. The caster conjures forth a draconic
serpent of vermilion Essence that rises from the sorcerer’s anima to strike
against the surface of the water. From that point and radiating outward as far
as the caster can see, the water is transformed into blood. The blood flows
downstream for a number of miles equal to the permanent Essence of the caster.
The sorcerer may choose to spend additional motes of Essence to increase the
range, at 3 motes per every additional mile beyond the initial amount of the
spell. This spell can only be cast on a river, stream or other flowing water
that the caster can see across to the far shore. It has no effect on standing
pools such as ponds, lakes, puddles, seas or oceans.
Any living creatures in the water will
perish if they cannot find a source of clean water. Plants within a mile of the
waterway will sicken and die over the course of several days. Beasts that live
nearby will flee for a safer, healthier source of water. The liquid drawn from
a river is useless as a source of nourishment to living things, except those
heinous creatures that gain strength from drinking blood.
The sorcerous blood quickly begins to rot
and stink of death, attracting malevolent creatures and driving away weak-willed
mortals. Hungry ghosts and the walking dead are especially drawn to such a
river, sensing the death and decay that surrounds the cursed waterway. Daily
Stamina + Endurance rolls must be made for mortals and mortal beasts that
remain within a mile of the afflicted body of water, with the difficulty equal
to 2. If this roll fails, the victim will become incurably ill and suffer a -1
penalty for the remainder of the spell’s duration.
The enchanted body will transmute back to
normal water in a number of days equal to the casting sorcerer’s Willpower.
This does not cure or revive any creatures and plants that lived within a mile
of the river.
The Sacred Tongue
Cost: 10 motes
Target: Caster
The sorcerer who invokes the Sacred Tongue
can then speak a magical language that is understood by any creature who hears
it. When the caster concentrates and spends the required Essence, a pale golden
mask forms over his lower face, covering his mouth and chin and wrapping around
his head to cover his ears. When the caster speaks, the mask moved its perfect
lips and issues a deep, unnatural, echoing voice that covers the sound of the
sorcerer’s own voice. The language in itself is incomprehensible, but the
echoes of the magical voice sound to listeners like their native tongue.
Creatures who speak many languages will be able to make out several
translations of the sorcerer’s speech, which can be somewhat confusing or
disconcerting. However, simple concentration will allow a creature to discern
the true meaning of the caster’s dialogue.
The mask formed by the spell also allows
the caster to understand any dialogue that is spoken around him, whispering
into his ears with no noticeable pause in the sorcerer’s native language.
The effects of the spell are so powerful
that the sorcerer who uses it commands at least some respect from his audience.
The caster gains one die to all Manipulation rolls when dealing with an
audience that can hear the mystical language.
The language that is spoken is immediately
recognizable as magical and fantastic, implying that the sorcerer who uses this
spell is a powerful being. This can have several effects on the caster’s
audience, as many creatures will react strongly to being in the presence of a
magical being. The sorcerer may be greeted with respect, awe, fear or loathing,
but no creature will be indifferent to his presence. Casual interaction can be
quite difficult, and frequent use of this spell will surely draw attention and
rumor to the caster.
Shadow Summons
Cost: 15 motes
Target: One living creature
Requires an arcane link
This complex ritual pulls the victim’s
shadow from her and calls it to the casting sorcerer’s side. The sorcerer must
have or must forge an arcane link to the victim prior to the beginning of the
ritual, but once established, the sorcerer may target the creature wherever in
Creation she might be.
The ritual is begun at midnight and lasts
until the moon has set, during which time the sorcerer boils a pot of pitch and
spreads it into a pentagram. He then walks the lines of the pentagram in full,
while repeating the name of the target, calling it out to the Celestial Incarna
― the Maidens, Luna and the Unconquered Sun. This incantation is repeated
55 times, until, just before moonset, the sorcerer steps into the center of the
pentagram and calls the name out to the rulers of the Abyss. As this is done,
the shadow of the victim is torn from her body and travels over land and sea to
reach the caster. The shadow moves at unfathomable speed and will arrive before
sunrise.
Silent Words Of
Dreams And Nightmares
Cost: 10 motes
Target: One creature
Requires an arcane link
This short ritual sends a dream or
nightmare of the caster’s own design to a single target anywhere in Creation.
Prior to the ritual, the sorcerer must carefully craft the vision he wishes his
victim to receive. The sorcerer may choose to send any type of message via
dreams, including prophesy of forthcoming doom or a clue toward success in an
upcoming venture. The dreams cannot be used to directly control the victim’s
actions, but the events of the dream will cause the victim to view waking
events in relation to the vision. A general who receives a dream of going to
battle and being defeated will carefully weigh his strategy the day afterward.
A queen who has a prophetic vision of wealth and prosperity after signing a
treaty will most likely view such a treaty more favorably in the morning.
The sorcerer must also establish an arcane
connection to the victim, either by possessing an arcane link to the target, a
bit of blood or skin or a carefully crafted portrait of the target done from
memory. The ritual itself only takes 10 minutes to cast and involves a set of
silvered mirrors and an incense made from lotus blossoms. These items have a
total cost of Resources •••. The caster places the arcane link between the two
mirrors and burns the incense so that the smoke flows around it. As the smoke
thickens, the caster chants the words of the ritual and concentrates on the
dream he wishes to send to the victim. If the victim is asleep, her image will
appear in the mirrors, and the smoke will flow through them and into the head
of the target, carrying the dream with it. If the target is not currently
asleep, the smoke will stay in a cloud between the mirrors until the victim
does sleep and then enter her mind.
When the ritual is finished, the sorcerer’s
player makes a Willpower + Occult roll. If the sorcerer is advising of an
action contrary to the victim’s own choices, then the difficulty of this roll
is determined by the Virtue of the target that is most appropriate to the
action that the sorcerer wishes to urge. If the roll is successful, then the
target of the spell will consider such an action to be the wisest course.
Alternately, if the dream happens to be one bolstering a particular course of
action, the victim will receive a bonus number of dice equal to the sorcerer’s
player’s successes on a Willpower + Occult roll to one Virtue check appropriate
to the recommended course of action. This bonus or penalty lasts until the
target next sleeps without sorcerous dreams.
Instead of sending a specific message, the
caster can plague the victim with horrific, nonspecific night terrors that play
upon the victim’s fears, weakening her resolve and shaking her confidence. If
this is the case, then the victim’s player must make a Willpower roll upon her
character waking, with a difficulty equal to the caster’s permanent Essence. If
successful, then the victim suffers no ill effects. If the roll fails, then she
looses points of temporary Willpower equal to the sorcerer’s permanent Essence.
This Willpower is lost until it can be regained normally. The casting sorcerer
may choose to send nightmares on successive nights, and for each night, the
victim not only may lose temporary Willpower, but her player suffers a one-die
penalty to the morning Conviction roll (which cannot reduce the dice pool below
0). In this case, the victim may be totally drained of Willpower, unless she
possesses the Cult Background, performs many successful stunts or has some
other way of regaining Willpower. If the victim looses all of her temporary
Willpower, she will suffer from a permanent derangement of the Storyteller’s
choosing.
The target of the Silent Words of Dreams
and Nightmares will regard the visions sent by the sorcerer as naturally
occurring, unless her player (or the player of someone who is told by the
target of the visions) makes a successful Perception + Occult roll, difficulty
4.
Many Hearthstones and artifacts protect their
users from nightmares and are effective against the Silent Words of Dreams and
Nightmares.
When the shadow arrives, it takes the
sorcerer’s place within the pentagram and is bound until the sun rises fully.
The sorcerer has until then to deal with it, which he can do in two ways.
First, the sorcerer can use the shadow as a messenger, clearly dictating a
message that the shadow will then return with to its host. When the shadow
reattaches itself to the target, she and only she will hear the sorcerer’s
message clearly.
A more dire option for the captured shadow
is for the sorcerer to destroy it in a burst of eldritch light. If this
happens, the victim will suffer a sudden spasm of unquenchable pain, rendering
her unable to act for one turn. While this causes no physical damage to the
victim, she will suffer weakness and infirmity for one whole week. The victim
will have a penalty to all actions equal to the casting sorcerer’s permanent
Essence for the entire week. This penalty is considered a wound penalty, and
creatures who reduce wound penalties may temporarily ignore or reduce this
effect but cannot maintain such a feat without tremendous cost.
If the shadow is destroyed, it will take
one full lunar month to regrow, starting out as a stunted, pale thing and
slowly becoming more solid and whole.
Sleep Of Stony
Safety
Cost: 15+ motes
Target: Caster and optional allies
This spell creates a hardened magical stone
encasement for the caster and her allies so that they may rest at night
undisturbed. The magical stone is nearly indestructible, yet it provides those
encased with a sleep so comfortable that they may rest in it in armor without
penalty. The Sleep of Stony Safety may only be cast at night, and it ends with
the dawn unless the sorcerer awakens before then. Every 5 motes of Essence
spent beyond the initial 15 required to cast the spell allows the caster to
encase one additional creature. So, if the caster spends 20 motes of Essence,
then two creatures will participate in the Sleep of Stony Safety. The caster
may not include in the spell more creatures than her permanent Willpower Trait.
The spell takes a minute to cast, during
which time the sorcerer spreads fine white sand in a circle on the ground large
enough to encompass all the participants in the spell. The caster and all
participants then lay down within the circle with their heads at their center
and their feet arrayed out touching the sand circle. The caster intones the
words of the spell, and a white glow rises from the sand, creeping across the
participants’ feet and slowly moving up their bodies toward the center of the
circle. When the caster finishes chanting, the light closes over their heads
and solidifies into a white dome of sandstone. This magical stone has a bashing
and lethal soak of 15, it takes 30 health levels to destroy, and it ignores
damage of less than five health levels. It provided total cover, and the
sorcerous nature of the dome protects against magical attacks against the
participants that would normally ignore cover. The dome of stone takes damage
as an object.
While encased, the sleepers are ignorant of
their surroundings, but if the dome of stone is attacked, they are awoken by a
soft chiming of bells. The sorcerer may choose then to end the spell and
release all of the sleepers to face this attack, or she may choose to wait it
out. If the sorcerer ends the spell, or at dawn, all of the participants are
rise free of the stone into a standing position as the dome crumbles into
harmless sand.
The Sleep of Stony Safety provides a means
for rest and a safe haven against danger, but it does not ensure that the
participants will sleep. Creatures who have trouble sleeping, either through
psychological or physical limitations, may still suffer insomnia while
participating in this spell. However, it does dampen the natural processes
somewhat, so that those inside are never disturbed by the need to urinate in
the middle of the night, for example.
Sorcerer’s
Irresistible Puppetry
Cost: 25 motes + 20 motes to activate
Target: One creature
This ritual prepares a creature for later
possession by the sorcerer. The sorcerer must have a target creature
unconscious and immobilized when he wishes to cast the ritual or have a willing
subject who wishes to serve the caster unquestioningly. The sorcerer binds the
target with ritual paper inscribed with mystic sigils and places expensive
incense (Resources ••) about the body at key locations. The caster summons his
Essence and channels it into the body of the creature through the spell papers,
binding the creature’s own Essence to himself. After an hour, the caster drains
his Essence back out of the target and into a jewel placed near the creature’s
head. When this is complete, after an hour of concentration and chanting, the
jewel becomes a focus through which the sorcerer may later possess the target
creature’s body and operate it as though it was the caster’s own. The spell
paper and incense are consumed in the ritual.
To activate Sorcerer’s Irresistible
Puppetry, the caster commits 20 motes of Essence and concentrates with the
possession jewel clasped to his forehead. The caster and target then engage in
a contest of wills that lasts for three turns, though the victim is unaware of
the contest, only suffering from a sudden, strong headache. The sorcerer’s
player makes a Willpower + Occult roll, with a difficulty equal to the target’s
Willpower + permanent Essence. The sorcerer has three turns to gain enough
successes to equal or beat the difficulty. If he succeeds, the caster possesses
the creature and may operate its body for up to 24 hours, without the victim’s
knowledge. If the target’s will proves too strong, the sorcerer still spends
the motes of Essence and cannot gain them back for one full day, and he loses
an additional point of temporary Willpower. He retains the jewel, however, and
may attempt to possess the creature again in 24 hours. When the target
successfully resists, make a reflexive Intelligence + Occult roll, difficulty
3, for it to realize it has been the target of a spell. If five or more
successes are achieved, then it knows the nature of the spell and may take
steps to prevent further possession by the caster, such as by slaying him or
finding a sorcerer to remove the enchantment. If the target was rendered
unconscious before the ritual, it will have no idea that it has been the victim
of sorcery (having missed the spectacular effects of the ritual). The
difficulty of the Intelligence + Occult roll for such victims is 5 to detect
the enchantment and 7 to discern its nature.
The insidious power of Sorcerer’s
Irresistible Puppetry allows the caster not only to operate the victim’s body,
but to plumb its memories for the creature’s Abilities. While possessing the
target, the sorcerer has access to whichever is a higher rating of both his own
and the creature’s Abilities. In addition, the sorcerer uses the creature’s
Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, Perception and Appearance Attributes and his own
Intelligence, Wits, Charisma and Manipulation Attributes. This allows a
sorcerer to use a dog’s sense of smell or an eagle’s ability to fly or even an
assassin’s skill at hiding and ambushing victims.
The sorcerer does not have access to any of
the creature’s magical abilities, spells or Charms, but he may use his own
freely by spending his own remaining Essence. The caster may not regain any
Essence spent while possessing the creature until he relinquishes the
possession.
If the creature suffers damage while it is
possessed, then the caster takes an equal number of bashing health levels of
damage. If the creature should die while being possessed, then the jewel
shatters, the spell is broken, and the sorcerer awakes having not only taken
bashing damage but also having lost three points of temporary Willpower, which
he regains at a rate of one per night of sleep.
The caster commits the 20 motes of Essence
to activate the jewel and must concentrate without interruption while
possessing the target. However, the Essence remains committed for 24 hours, and
the sorcerer may willingly break his concentration during that time, remove his
consciousness from the target, and begin concentration later that day to
possess the creature again without having to spend additional Essence.
While under the possession of Sorcerer’s
Irresistible Puppetry, the target has no control and no conscious knowledge
that it is being possessed. It may notice discrepancies afterward, though, and
characters who interact with a possessed target may notice changes in its
behavior and demeanor.
This spell only targets living creatures with
an Essence rating and has no effect on the undead, automata, plants and
dematerialized spirits. In addition, the sorcerer may find it exceedingly hard
to possess creatures of high permanent Essence.
Spirit Of Might
Cost: 10+ motes
Target: Caster
Unlike many spells, Spirit of Might
activates the sorcerer’s full anima banner when it is cast, for the duration of
the spell. The caster gathers her Essence about her and fuels her anima banner,
giving her unnatural strength to move the heaviest objects. Under the Exalt’s
charged anima banner, boulders that block a road shift easily, walls crumble at
a mere touch, and bales of hay will fly across an empty field.
The caster concentrates for a turn and releases
Essence into her anima banner. She may then perform a feat of strength using
her Willpower + permanent Essence as a bonus to her Strength + Athletics,
adding one additional dot for every 2 motes of Essence spent in the casting of
Spirit of Might. Thus, a sorcerer with a Strength of 3, an Athletics of 2, a
Willpower of 5 and an Essence of 3 who spends 10 motes can perform a feat of
strength at the 18-point level, enough to tear iron bars out of a stone
windowsill or to lift 3,500 pounds (see Exalted, p. 252, for more information
on feats of strength). The caster may not spend more than 30 motes of Essence
total in casting Spirit of Might.
Spirit of Might lasts for a number of turns
equal to the caster’s Occult Ability, during which time the sorcerer’s anima
banner is in full effect. At the end of this duration, or if the spell is
countered, the anima banner returns to what it would normally be based on how
much Essence the caster has recently spent.
Spirit Sword
Cost: 20 motes
Target: Caster
When casting this spell, the sorcerer forms
a scintillating weapon of pure Essence that shimmers with a thousand opalescent
hues and rings like an iron bell when it strikes. The sword formed from this
incantation is as deadly as it is beautiful, for it strikes through mortal
weapons and armor to bite directly into flesh.
The spirit sword is intangible and cannot
be parried by normal weapons. Only weapons that are created out of Essence,
forged out of one of the Five Magical Materials or otherwise subject to some form
of enchantment can deflect the spirit sword’s blows. Likewise, the spirit sword
ignores non-magical armor and can only be soaked by Stamina or through the use
of Charms. The weapon does a base lethal damage equal to the caster’s Willpower
(average of seven) plus successes on the attack roll, and the sorcerer’s player
may use the better of his character’s Dexterity + Melee or Dexterity + Occult
for attack rolls. The weapon adds 3 to the speed of attack and 2 to accuracy
and defense. It may be used in conjunction with Melee Charms.
The spirit sword only cuts victims with an
Essence Trait. It cannot harm objects, constructs of Essence or automata. It
will pass harmlessly through stone, dead wood, metal and clothing. The downside
of this is that the sword cannot parry non-magical weapons, for they pass right
through the blade. The spirit sword is, however, able to harm dematerialized
ghosts and spirits if the sorcerer is able to perceive them.
The spirit sword lasts for one scene or
until countered. Thereafter, it dissolves into a fading rainbow and vanishes.
Sprouting Shackles
Of Doom
Cost: 10 motes
Target: One creature
The casting sorcerer causes thick, pulsing
vines to appear and grow to encompass the victim of this spell. The vines wrap
around the body of the target, looping through armor and beneath clothing to
bind its arms and legs and squeeze the victim painfully, until she is rendered
unconscious.
When casting the spell, the sorcerer
chooses a target within 30 yards, and his player makes a Perception + Occult
roll, adding a number of automatic successes equal to the Exalt’s permanent
Essence. These become the successes on a clinch attack made against the target.
The shackles are an automaton that then uses its Strength + Brawl on successive
turns to maintain the clinch. They act on the sorcerer’s initiative, and the
damage they deal ignores any armor the target possesses. The spell lasts until
the clinch is broken or the shackles are destroyed.
If the shackles deal enough damage to the
target to render it Incapacitated, then they cease to deal damage and will only
hold the victim.
The Spy Who Walks
In Darkness
Cost: 15 motes (committed), 5 motes to possess
Target: Caster
This spell creates an automaton out of the
caster’s shadow that can be sent on missions of spying, tracking and
assassination. The spy who walks in darkness is virtually invisible when it
moves among other mundane shadows, and it can slip through cracks in doors and
through windowsills to get at its targets. Any space that can let in air is an
open invitation to a shadow spy. In addition, the spy has the ability to
smother an unwary victim, leaving a pristine corpse.
The ritual to create the spy who walks in
darkness takes three hours and must be performed by the light of a full moon,
so that the caster’s shadow is clearly visible. The caster stands with his back
to the moon, viewing his shadow, and has assistants paint a black clay paste
along the ground where the shadow is cast, while the caster chants and expends
Essence, which is committed for the life of the spy. After the shadow is filled
in with paste, then the assistants paint a thick pine pitch over that, making
sure that none of it seeps out of the shadow’s outline. The pitch is then
ignited, and the sorcerer casts several types of flammable powders (that cost
Resources ••) into the flames. When the fire burns out, the newly formed
automaton will rise and bow in obeisance to the sorcerer and serve with
unswerving loyalty. It appears as an inky black, elongated version of the caster,
with no facial features or distinguishing marks, and it is soft yet solid to
the touch. The spy who walks in darkness lasts for a number of days equal to
the casting sorcerer’s Intelligence + Occult rating.
During this time, the sorcerer casts no
shadow. The caster to may possess the spy at his leisure and is able to sense
what it senses as well as direct its actions. This possession requires the
caster to spend 5 motes of Essence to activate the link to the spy and then for
him to concentrate fully on the possession. While possessing the spy, the
caster may take no other actions and is oblivious to his own body’s
surroundings.
The sorcerer is forced to use the Physical
and Social Attributes of the automaton and cannot use his own Charms, except
for sorcery Charms. The sorcerer may cast spells using his own Essence while
possessing the spy, but rituals and lengthy spells are unavailable. The
sorcerer also has access to the automaton’s inherent Charms, but must use the
spy’s own Essence pool to activate them.
At the end of the spy’s duration, it
dissolves into a puddle of wet clay, and the caster’s shadow reappears as a
normal shadow. If the spell is countered or the spy is slain, the caster loses
one point of temporary Willpower and two health levels of bashing damage, and
his shadow returns, showing obvious signs of injury that heal over the course
of the spell’s remaining duration. If the caster had possessed the spy at the
time of its destruction, then he suffers bashing damage equal to the amount of
damage the spy has taken and loses two points of temporary Willpower.
Sting Of The Ice
Hornet
Cost: 15 motes
Target: One creature
A sorcerer casting this spell conjures a
cloud of sharp ice needles that speed toward their target like a swarm of angry
hornets. These ice needles are translucent blue in color, about four inches
long and a half an inch thick. They are harder than normal ice and will shred
clothing and foliage in their way. The caster must choose a target within 300
yards when the spell is cast, though the needles will travel up to 500 yards
before falling to the ground.
The caster’s player makes a Perception +
Occult roll as her attack roll against the chosen target, with a number of
automatic successes equal to her Essence. The Sting of the Ice Hornet does a
base damage of 12L, plus successes. If used against objects, the needles will
shatter against steel, chip stone surfaces and pierce wood up to one inch
thick. Sting of the Ice Hornet cannot be parried, only dodged, and it ignores
all cover modifiers ― like hornets, the needles will swarm around simple
barriers. The needles will chase their target, moving at a speed of 120 yards
per turn, but can only make simple maneuvers and cannot make right turns or
sudden stops. Targets of this spell may attempt to dodge it at a difficulty of
2 + caster’s player’s successes on the Perception + Occult roll.
The needles of Sting of the Ice Hornet only
last for one turn after impact, though they may spend up to five turns in the
air following a target. While in flight, the needles cannot be attacked, but
they may be the target of countermagic spells. The only evidence left by this
spell is a small, quickly drying pool of water, making this spell a preferred
choice of sorcerous assassins.
Stormwind Rider
Cost: 15 motes
The sorcerer calls up a mighty wind and
wraps herself in it. The result is a dust devil — a tornado-like vortex that’s
smaller and less devastating to the landscape. The dust devil flies low,
usually just touching the ground. The stormwind vortex can jump obstacles 50
feet wide or 30 feet high but cannot actually fly. It can survive falls of 30 feet
and completely protects the sorcerer and any other contents during such short
falls. If the vortex falls any farther, it will dissipate on impact. The vortex
will completely absorb the damage of falls up to 60 feet and reduces the damage
caused by longer falls. Treat long falls as if they were 60 feet shorter for
the purposes of determining damage.
The dust devil carries the sorcerer and 200
pounds per point of her Essence at speeds of nearly 100 miles an hour. The
vortex is immensely maneuverable, and a careful magician can even fly one
through a forest, so long as the growth isn’t too thick. The first time the character
sets foot on the ground, the vortex, and the magic, dissipate.
Characters inside the vortex can see out,
but it requires some concentration to fly it, and this consumes the sorcerer’s
attention. The roaring winds add 2 to the difficulty of missile attacks into or
out of the vortex and render speech nearly impossible. It is very hard to see
who is riding in a stormwind vortex, so it’s generally considered polite, if
you are using one to travel, to land a fair distance away and approach on foot.
Summon Elemental
Cost: 10+ motes
This spell is much like Demon of the First
Circle and uses, generally, the same rules, with the following exceptions:
• It can be cast any time — the ritual
takes four hours and need not start at sunset or end at midnight.
• The roll to banish the elemental if the
binding fails is at regular difficulty, not at +2 difficulty.
• The elemental will not serve for more
than a lunar month, and any task it is set to cannot take longer than a year
and a day.
• The kidnap and enslavement of elementals
can outrage the Celestial Hierarchy. Characters who mistreat their servants or
who bind the subjects of a powerful spirit entity are likely to earn the ire of
the spirit world.
Summoning The Lesser
Minions Of The Eyeless Face
Cost: 25 motes
Target: Summoned automata
The sorcerer casting this spell performs a
six-hour long ritual, in which she creates from her Essence several automata to
be her loyal servants for a year and a day. The ritual requires a barrel of
thin, dark and fragrant oil, refined out of sludge dredged from the swamps of
Mother Bog, stolen from under her children’s noses. This oil costs Resources
••• and is difficult to obtain as it has no use outside of sorcerous circles.
The oil is poured into a wide, shallow circular well that is inscribed around
the edges with the words of the ritual. The caster spends the required motes of
Essence while walking counterclockwise around the well and recites the words.
The words summon forth wicked spirits and bind them into bodies made from
Essence and the oil to form faceless humanoid creatures.
Minions are the color of water in the
deepest swamps, swirling black and iridescent under direct light. They are
completely sexless and have no facial features, hair or ears, but they are
otherwise proportioned as humans are. They often mark themselves with piercings
and crude jewelry after their creation so that they have some individuality.
They have no mouths and therefore cannot
speak. However, they are capable of pantomiming meaning with a preternatural
skill. A number of automata are created during the ritual equal to the caster’s
permanent Essence + Charisma. As automata, the minions are immune to disease
and poison and cannot be healed of wounds.
Minions are not terribly intelligent and
require strict direction to complete any but the most menial of tasks.
Minions have many Abilities available to
them and can be equipped as if they were heroic mortals. They will take orders
from the casting sorcerer without question or will take orders from a
designated lieutenant.
If a minion is countered or destroyed, it
turns into a pile of ash.
Sworn Brothers’
Oath
Cost:
10 motes + 1 mote from
each Exalted bound by the spell
This Terrestrial Circle sorcery spell binds
the Essence of two or more Exalted together and is the one used in the creation
of sworn brotherhoods. This ritual takes an hour to perform upon two Exalted,
and one additional hour for each Exalt beyond that. The sorcerer does not have
to be one of the Exalted bound by the spell. Once the spell is cast, the
sorcerer’s player makes an Intelligence + Occult roll. The number of successes
scored on this roll indicates the level of the sword brotherhood. The bound
Exalted are now connected on a spiritual level, resulting in several effect.
• Loyalty:
In order to take an action she knows will harm ― mentally, emotionally or
physically ― her sworn brother, a character’s player must make a
Conviction roll (which can be an extended roll) and score a number of successes
equal to the level of the sworn brotherhood. So, if the sorcerer gained 6
successes while casting the spell, the player must score 6 successes to break
her character’s oath of brotherhood.
• Devotion:
When a character undertakes an action with the deliberate purpose of aiding her
blood-brother, her player may add additional dice to her dice pool for that
action. This devotional dice pool is equal to the character’s oathbond rating.
The dice from this pool are only available once per story but do not need to be
spent all at once.
•
Familiarity: The sworn
brothers remain acutely aware of each other’s immediate location. As long as an
oath-sister is within the (brotherhood’s rating x 10) yards of the character,
he knows exactly where his sister is. If the blood-sister moves beyond that
range, the character’s player can make an Essence roll at standard difficulty
to get an idea of which direction the character’s sworn sister lies in. The
greater the number of successes, the more detail the character can sense about
the sister’s location.
Theft Of Memory
Cost: 15 motes
Target: One creature
When casting this spell, the sorcerer
plucks a memory from the mind of a victim and crystallizes it into a small gem.
The memory vanishes in a flash of green light that, to the careful observer,
can be seen to emanate from the touch of the sorcerer and curl around her hand
before disappearing. The memory that is stolen is lost to the target of the
spell completely, unless the gem is recovered and swallowed. Only the same
creature that lost the memory can successfully regain the memory from
swallowing the gem. Anyone else will suffer the effects of swallowing a
non-magical emerald. There is no other way for the victim to recall the memory
that has been lost.
The sorcerer needs to have an idea of what
memory she wishes to steal before the spell is cast. To successfully steal a
memory, the caster must have in the palm of her hand a flawless emerald, cut to
the size of a man’s thumbnail and valued at Resources ••. The sorcerer must
touch the victim with the hand holding the gem after the spell is fully cast.
The caster spends Essence, and her player makes a Charisma + Occult roll, with
a difficulty equal to the target’s Willpower.
If the roll succeeds, the victim relives the
memory in an instant before it is gone, crystallized into the heart of the
emerald. Looking closely at the gem reveals the memory being replayed
constantly within its facets.
The spell does not require any verbal
expression to be cast. The touch and the Essence display are all that signify
the spell to observers. The sorcerer’s player may make a reflexive Dexterity +
Larceny roll for her character to hide the Essence display as part of some
other event, such as the pyrotechnics of a street performer or an odd weather
phenomenon. The player of anyone trying to understand the effect must make a
Perception + Occult roll, with a difficulty equal to the caster’s Dexterity +
Larceny roll (or her permanent Essence if no roll was made), for her character
to realize that Theft of Memory has been cast. This spell cannot steal the
memories of Charms, spells or other Traits, but only of specific incidents.
Once Theft of Memory is cast, any creature may
clasp the gem to its forehead and concentrate for a turn to relive the memory
as if it were the originator of that memory. Reliving the memory takes as long
as the event remembered, and while reliving it, the creature can perform no
other actions.
If the spell is countered or the caster’s
player fails to succeed at the Charisma + Occult roll, then the sorcerer cannot
steal another memory from the victim and suffers a two-die penalty to all
Mental Attribute rolls for the duration of the scene. Theft of Memory cannot be
cast during combat, even though its effects are instantaneous.
Thunder Wolf’s
Howl
Cost: 10 motes
Target: Area of effect
The sorcerer chooses an area 20 yards
across within 100 yards of himself and summons forth an unnatural sound that
damages and stuns his foes. The wind swirls white around all victims within the
spell’s area just before the full force of the effect strikes. It comes as a
noise like the howl of the behemoth Thunder Wolf, who ranged the ice plains of
the Far North, hunting man and beast, until the Lunar general Shu-lin Seven
Fangs thought to fight and tame him. The two fought to the death over the
course of a month, their blood stained the snows red across the side of a
mountain and their cries shook loose several avalanches. It is said that this
spell was created by Shu-lin’s savant widow in memory of him.
As the howl is unleashed, all within its
radius suffer violent sonic disruptions that rip through their vital organs and
smash fragile objects. The caster’s player makes an Intelligence + Occult roll
that becomes levels of bashing damage to all victims and all non-magical
objects within the 20-yard radius. This damage ignores armor and cannot be
parried or dodged, as it is not a direct attack. Only a creature’s soak and any
Charms that add to its soak are viable defense against the howl. Undead and
inanimate objects half their soak against the damage of the howl.
After the initial damage is dealt, then the
secondary effect occurs: All of the victims are stunned due to deafness and
disorientation. All creatures within the area of effect suffer a two-die
penalty to all dice pools due to stunning for a number of turns equal to the
successes on the Intelligence + Occult roll. (Please see page 235 of Exalted
for more information on the effects of stunning.) Players of Exalted and
magical creatures may make a reflexive Stamina + Resistance roll, the successes
of which reduce the number of turns of deafness and disorientation. This roll
cannot reduce the duration of the penalty below zero.
The Tree’s Many
Branches
Cost: 5 motes per pair
Target: Caster
For one scene, the caster causes his
Essence to coalesce on his body, sprouting into pairs of arms. These arms begin
as leafy green sprouts and grow in the space of a turn into bark covered
branches. When the spell is finished casting, the bark crumbles and explodes,
revealing fully functional magical copies of the sorcerer’s original arms. The
arms have the same Physical Attributes as the rest of the sorcerer’s body.
For each pair of arms that are grown, the
caster gains +1 on initiative and reduces the penalty for multiple actions by
two dice. The sorcerer cannot reduce the penalty for split dice pools below
zero. In addition, the caster gains one additional -0 health level for each pair
of arms that are grown through the Tree’s Many Branches. These health levels
are lost first due to wounds and cannot be healed.
Losing these health levels does not destroy
the extra arms. At the end of the scene, or when the sorcerer is slain, the
arms turn into dead wood and fall off the body. A character cannot grow more
pairs of arms than he has points of permanent Essence.
Unbreakable Bones
Of Stone
Cost: 20 motes
Target: Caster
Until the sun next crosses the sky, the
casting sorcerer infuses her very bones with Essence, causing them to
strengthen and harden. The sorcerer calls upon the spirits of the earth in the
area to aid her, and they rise to encircle the sorcerer at the time of casting
as she flares with silver Essence, and they sing as the Essence sinks into the
sorcerer’s body, then disappear.
Unbreakable Bones of Stone grants the
caster several advantages. First, the sorcerer temporarily adds her permanent
Essence rating to her Strength and Stamina Attributes.
This latter bonus increases the sorcerer’s
soak as normal. Second, the sorcerer becomes more resistant to pain, reducing
any wound penalties by half (rounded down) for the duration of the spell.
Finally, any damage taken from falling is also reduced by one-half, rounding
up.
While under the effects of the spell, the
sorcerer’s eyes turn the color of granite, and her skin becomes cold, tough and
ashen. Her body weight increases by 50 percent.
Unconquerable Self
Cost: 1 mote
Target: Caster
This is the last spell a sorcerer will ever
cast. Creation is a dangerous place, and no one knows this better than the
sorcerer. Capture by enemies, heinous effects of spells that backfire and the
cruel machinations of demons are but a few of the worst things that a sorcerer
might face in the pursuit of knowledge, power and fame. Sometimes, there is no
escape. Proud savants often use this spell to spare themselves endless torture
and shame and give themselves a dignified, defiant death.
A sorcerer only needs 1 mote of Essence to cast
Unconquerable Self. This mote causes the sorcerer’s anima banner to flare and
triggers an eruption of Essence that incinerates him and all of his possessions
in contact with him. No gestures or incantations are necessary either, the
casting sorcerer only needs to be able to concentrate for the preparatory turn.
This makes Unconquerable Self a surprise to all but the most learned of foes.
The death is final ― there are no
tricks to survive. The caster’s body and spirit are entirely consumed, leaving
only a fine white ash as evidence of his existence. Unconquerable Self leaves
no ghost behind. The power of a Celestial Exalted who dies in this fashion is
reincarnated as usual in an appropriate new body. Of course, in resurrecting,
the spirit retains none of the sorcerer’s original personality.
Objects not possessed by the sorcerer but
in contact with her, such as binding ropes or chains, are left unharmed by the
spell. People seeing the spell cast may be blinded momentarily by the sudden
burst of brilliant, consuming Essence but are otherwise unharmed.
Unstoppable
Fountain Of The Depths
Cost: 20 motes
Target: Area of effect
With a shout and a flash of blue Essence,
the caster strikes the ground with his staff, causing a crack to open at his
feet and a great fountain to rise like an immense serpent. The sudden flood of
water sweeps out in front of the caster, 10 feet wide and 5 feet high,
flattening everything before it.
When the spell is cast, the sorcerer’s
player makes a Perception + Occult roll, adding a number of automatic successes
equal to the Exalt’s permanent Essence. This becomes the attack roll of the
wave of water as it courses toward its targets. The fountain has a base damage
of 10B, plus successes. The wave of water cannot be parried without the use of
Charms, only dodged. Make a Stamina + Resistance roll, difficulty 5, for any
creature who takes enough damage to be eligible for knockdown.
In addition, while someone is knocked down
under the crushing torrent of water, her player must make a Strength +
Athletics roll, with a difficulty equal to the caster’s Occult rating, in order
to stand up. Any type of handhold, such as a rope or a tree, adds two automatic
successes to a creature’s attempts to stand. Each additional turn a creature
spends in the path of the fountain, it takes three automatic levels of bashing
damage, which is soaked normally.
The crushing force of the Unstoppable
Fountain of the Depths lasts for 10 minutes unless countered. After 10 minutes,
the force of the water slows to that of a gentle stream of pure water, suitable
for consumption by any mortal creature. This stream will last for a number of
days equal to the caster’s permanent Essence. The water cannot be poisoned,
salted or otherwise rendered undrinkable without the use of sorcery.
Viridian Mantle Of
Underwater Journeys
Cost: 20 motes
Target: Caster and optional allies
This spell allows a sorcerer and her allies
to breathe and move freely underwater. The caster and a number of unarmored
allies up to the caster’s permanent Essence must be in contact with a body of
water they wish to enter while under the influence of the Viridian Mantle and
must be no further than three yards apart. As the spell is completed, fronds of
bright green seaweed rise up and envelop the targets of the spell, covering
them completely as a second skin from head to toe. These fronds work like gills
and process air within the water so that the targets can breathe freely. In
addition, trailing fingers of seaweed respond to the movement of the targets, aiding
them and allowing for anyone using the Viridian Mantle to walk or swim at their
normal running rate.
The fronds are also extraordinarily tough
and add 1L/2B to the targets’ base soak. This bonus is not armor and can be
used with Charms that do not permit the use of armor ― the Viridian
Mantle is merely a second skin that covers the targets.
The Viridian Mantle of Underwater Journeys
lasts as long as the targets remain immersed in water. One turn after fully
leaving the water, the seaweed shrivels up and flakes off the bodies of the
targets, leaving them wet but unharmed by the spell.
Virtuous Guardian
Of Flame
Cost: 25 motes (committed)
Target: One creature
With this spell, a sorcerer molds his
Essence into a being of magical flame that protects him from attacks. The
virtuous guardian lasts until the sun next crosses the horizon or until the
target dispels it. It is not truly alive, being solely a manifestation of the
sorcerer’s will and Essence, but it acts independently of the caster when in
battle.
The guardian appears as a small flame,
about the size of a torchlight when not in combat. If desired, this flame can
even rest inside a lantern or on top of a torch so as to remain hidden as a
mundane flame, so long as it remains within three yards of the sorcerer. To
recognize a hidden guardian requires an Intelligence + Occult roll with a
difficulty of 5.
The instant someone physically threatens
the caster, the guardian expands into a man-sized gout of fire, interposing
itself between the sorcerer and those who would harm him. If the target is
attacked by missile weapons, then the guardian forms itself into a shield that
provides 75 percent cover (-3 successes on all ranged attacks) and incinerates
any mundane missiles that it blocks.
The guardian will also parry hand-to-hand
attacks by becoming a great fiery sword. The guardian ignores initiative and
does not split its dice pool to parry, nor can it attack. It uses the target’s
Occult + Essence when parrying incoming attacks, and any barehanded attacks that
are successfully parried cause the attacker to take four lethal health levels
of damage from the burning protector. This damage is soaked normally. The sword
can parry a number of incoming attacks equal to the sorcerer’s permanent
Essence every turn. While protected by a virtuous guardian, a sorcerer may act
normally and split his dice pools, but he is able to wait to respond to
attacks, based on how successful the guardian is at succeeds, they will break
the spell’s effects and release the combatants. In addition, if the caster is
the one to break the spell, then he suffers an immediate loss of three
temporary Willpower points, in retribution for using the sign of Saturn for
deceit.
A variation of this spell was used during
the First Age to sanctify the field of duels and to prevent outside
intervention.
Water’s Ally
Cost: 15 motes
For a day and a night, the caster becomes a
kin to water and can exist in water or air with equal ease. She can swim in the
water at the same speed as she moves upon land, may breathe water or air and
can see underwater just as she can in the air. She is not affected by the
water’s crushing depths or its chilling cold. While in the water, she may add
two dice to her Stealth dice pool as she blends into the deep colors. The spell
provides no protection against predators or other active threats of the ocean.
It merely adapts the caster for existence in the water. A sorcerer has to deal
with the creatures of the depths on her own.
Water’s Chilling
Grasp
Cost: 15 motes
The sorcerer causes a number of chill
tentacles of water equal to twice her permanent Essence to rise up from the
waters that surround a nearby vessel (no further than 100 x permanent Essence
yards from her) and attack the crew of that ship. Each tentacle is up to 30
feet long and attacks once a turn without the direction, randomly attempting to
grab a crewmember, lifting him up from the deck and constricting him in its
cold grasp. Each tentacles has an Initiative of 6 and Attack of 5, and each
does 8 bashing damage per turn that a foe is in its coils. The tentacles attack
as a group; roll one attack, and compare it to each defender’s dodge or parry
separately (so, if the tentacles roll 3 successes, each defender needs to roll
4 successes to avoid being grabbed). Only one tentacle will attack each target.
If attacked, the tentacles do not dodge or soak and take 20 health levels of
damaging before dispersing. Edged weapons do half damage to the tentacles,
fire-based weapons do double. If the sorcerer wishes, he can take an action and
directly control one of the tentacles (using his own Melee pool to attack, at a
two dice penalty), or he can reform a tentacles that has been “slain,” although
this takes the entire turn. The tentacles last for a number of turns equal to
the caster’s permanent Essence + 2 and then dissolve, leaving the enemy vessel
awash in water and any victims either in the ocean or dashed to the decks (50
percent chance of either). Players of victims who fall to the deck must make a
Dexterity + Athletics roll (difficulty 2) to avoid their characters taking an
additional 8B damage from the fall. Victims that fall into the ocean take no
damage but will have be rescued and will start drowning if they cannot swim. If
attacking in group combat, add the caster’s Essence rather than her Charisma to
a single attack roll, and add 2 to the damage of the attack for each tentacle
after the first.
Wood Dragon’s Claw
Cost: 10 motes
Until the character wishes otherwise, the
her hands warp and twist into the shape of huge gnarled claws of oak, lesser
replicas of those that adorn the forepaws of the great elemental dragons of
Wood. The character does Strength + 4 lethal damage in unarmed combat, and he
can harmlessly block lethal attacks with his Dexterity + Brawl pool. The Wood
Dragon’s Claw offers no protection against aggravated attacks. The character’s
clinches automatically do Strength + 2 lethal damage rather than bashing
damage, and holds do 2 points of lethal damage per turn, soaked as normal.
The character’s hands do actually turn into
thorny paws several times their normal size — fine manipulation is impossible,
and attempts to hold or carry anyone automatically inflict 2 points of lethal
damage, soaked as normal.