Book of Bone and Ebony

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This Arcanos is, in most ways, the opposite of Honorable Descendant Blessing. It can only be used on living mortals and Exalts who trace a line of blood descent from the ghost. It works at any range, however. The ghost must simply visualize the target and state his name aloud, and the subject feels a dull, throbbing pain throughout the duration of the Charm. While the curse is active, the subject loses one die from all dice pools. Spend the necessary Essence, and roll Compassion + Lore. For every success, the curse lasts one hour. The ghost who activates the Arcanos may dismiss the curse at any time. SCHOLARLY WAYS This art first cropped up around the centers of scholarly learning within Stygia, as it relates to the levels of trust between professor and student. Its secrets were distributed early on by unscrupulous students, and it has subsequently spread throughout the Underworld. UNSEEMLY LIBRARIAN NATURE Cost: 2 motes Duration: One hour per success Type: Simple Minimum Temperance: 1 Minimum Essence: 1 Prerequisite Charms: None The studious ghost-librarian is well in tune with the knowledge of the Ages. After all, many evenings he has nothing better to do than to read scrolls and books found in the Underworld — materials forever lost to Creation. By activating this Arcanos with 2 motes and his player making a successful Intelligence + Lore roll, the scholarly ghost receives one automatic success with all Daybreak Caste Abilities (Craft, Investigation, Lore, Medicine and Occult) for one hour per success. DISCERNING STUDENT TECHNIQUE Cost: 2 motes Duration: One minute per success Type: Simple Minimum Temperance: 3 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Unseemly Librarian Nature The ghost scholar who knows Discerning Student Technique has whole libraries of information buried within his ghostly mind, and he can easily compare the known facts of a situation against the statements of another being. The ghost’s player rolls Perception + Empathy as the ghost activates this Arcanos. Throughout the duration, he gains one automatic success to detect most falsehoods. Discerning Student Technique provides insight (that automatic success) into statements that the speaker knows to be lies. It also provides the same level of insight when a speaker misstates objective fact, so long as that objective fact is recorded in a public, scholarly storehouse of knowledge 47 CHAPTER TWO • THE ARTS OF THE DEAD located in the Underworld (it would prove to be of no use if a scholar’s allies began saying “…the Scarlet Empress is in Sijan! …the Scarlet Empress is in Chiaroscuro! …the Scarlet Empress is in Wangler’s Knob!” until they found one statement that did not register as false — it only works on matters of scholarly record). This Charm does not provide the ghost with insight into the truth of a situation in any circumstances, only awareness of whether a statement is false. MASTERLY PEDAGOGICAL INQUIRY Cost: 3 motes Duration: Instant Type: Simple Minimum Temperance: 3 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Discerning Student Technique The ghost-scholar using Masterly Pedagogical Inquiry can force his subject to answer a single question truthfully. The ghost simply spends the necessary Essence and asks a direct question of the target, and the ghost’s player rolls Manipulation + Presence; the target’s player rolls Willpower to resist. If the ghost achieves more successes than the target, the target must answer the question as fully and truthfully as possible — though generally speaking, this Arcanos cannot get more than a 100-word answer out of anyone with a single question. This Charm does not work on individuals with an Essence higher than the ghost’s. IMPERIOUS INSTRUCTOR’S DICTATE Cost: 5 motes + 1 Willpower Duration: One day Type: Simple Minimum Conviction: 4 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Masterly Pedagogical Inquiry Imperious Instructor’s Dictate allows a ghost to issue a single command to her subject, which must be followed to the best of the subject’s ability. The scholar spends her Essence and Willpower and immediately issues a single command, a short imperative sentence. The ghost’s player rolls Charisma + Presence, and the target’s player rolls Willpower to resist. If the ghost achieves more successes than the target, the target will obey the command — and not realize that he’s been given a command, but rather, think that this is his own idea. The target loses interest in fulfilling the command after about a day, so the ghost using this Arcanos should make the command relatively easy to accomplish within that period. If the ghost’s player manages to botch the roll on this Charm, the target instantly knows that he is being magically manipulated and is likely to respond angrily. This Charm does not work on individuals with an Essence higher than the ghost’s.
EXALTED • BOOK OF BONE AND EBONY FAVORED-STUDENT CHARM Cost: 10 motes + 1 Willpower Duration: Varies (see below) Type: Simple Minimum Compassion: 4 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Imperious Instructor’s Dictate The ghost with this Charm manipulates another ghost’s hun, rendering that ghost friendly to the Arcanos’ user. This ability, unlike most of the previous Arcanoi in this art, works only on ghosts. Typically, the Charm induces the sort of camaraderie seen between a skilled student and a wise instructor (the ghost using this Arcanos may choose to impose either role on the target). The target of the Arcanos generally can’t be forced to act in contradiction to his Nature or strongly held Virtues. He also won’t sacrifice his unlife or livelihood for the ghost, but he will do his best to assist the ghost as much as possible. The ghost cannot use this Arcanos on another ghost with a higher Essence than hers. The player of the ghost using Favored-Student Charm makes a Charisma + Socialize roll, after the ghost spends her Essence and Willpower, and the target may resist with Willpower. A botch on the roll to activate this Arcanos immediately reveals the ghost’s intentions to the target, probably with dire consequences. When the Arcanos wears off, if it is not renewed with the expenditure of more Essence and Willpower, the target will have a vague idea of what was done to him and may feel somewhat uneasy around the user (+1 difficulty to all Social rolls between target and user). The number of net successes determines the duration: Successes Duration 1 One hour 2 Until the next dawn 3 One full day 4 One week 5 One month This Charm does not work on individuals with an Essence higher than the ghost’s. ETERNALLY LOYAL STUDENT PRANA Cost: 10 motes + 1 Willpower Duration: Special (see below) Type: Special (see below) Minimum Compassion: 5 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Favored-Student Charm The wise ghost-scholar can manipulate a student’s hun sufficiently to permanently implant an order in another ghost’s mind. Like Favored-Student Charm, Eternally Loyal Student Prana can be used only on other ghosts, rather than the living or other spirits. The scholar must first spend a full day with the target. At the end of this time, he spends the Essence and Willpower to insert the com- 48 mand into the target’s mind. The ghost cannot use this Charm on a ghost with an Essence higher than his own. The Arcanos requires a roll of Manipulation + Presence, and the target’s player may resist with a Willpower roll. The scholar’s player must achieve at least two net successes on his roll. The orders cannot be more complex than about 100 words’ worth unless the ghost achieves five or more net successes (in which case, they can be as complex as he wishes, down to subclauses and special cases). As with Favored-Student Charm, no orders may be implanted that directly contradict the target’s Nature or high Virtues. NOBLE CRAFTSMAN WAYS Ghostly craftsmen learn to manipulate soulsteel as well as artifacts from Creation. Ghostly artisans realize that every component of the Underworld contains the Essence of a formerly living creature, and they use talents gained in life to manipulate that crystallized Essence. The following Charms all rely on the Craft Ability to some degree. SOULSTEEL SCREAM Cost: 1 mote Duration: Instant Type: Simple Minimum Compassion: 1 Minimum Essence: 1 Prerequisite Charms: None The ghost with this Arcanos needs only for her player to successfully roll Perception + Craft to gain insight about the origins of a piece of soulsteel or a soulsteel artifact. For every success, the ghost can ask one simple, straightforward question about the physical details of previous handlers of an item or events for which the object was present or used. These events can predate the item’s destruction in Creation, if the object is in fact an echo of Creation. SOULSTEEL SHAPER Cost: 1 mote Duration: One day Type: Simple Minimum Conviction: 2 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Soulsteel Scream Soulsteel Shaper allows a ghostly artisan to aid in the creation of soulsteel items. With Soulsteel Shaper, a ghost can serve as a “trained thaumaturge” for the purposes of assisting an Exalt or other master craftsman in creating a soulsteel artifact, even if he lacks the necessary levels of Craft, Lore and Occult. See Savant and Sorcerer, Chapter Two, for details on assistants and crafting. Activation of this Arcanos simply allows the ghost to serve in this role during its duration on soulsteel projects. It does not enable him to assist with artifacts crafted from other substances.
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