Enduring Beauty

Enduring Beauty (••••, Specchio ••••)

 * Action: Extended, 1 minute/roll, threshold = target’s Health + Supernatural Tolerance + dots in the Striking Looks Merit
 * Dice pool: Dexterity + Larceny
 * Cost: 2 Wisps, 1 Willpower
 * Duration: lasting

Beauty is the only true constant in the world, the Queen of Mirrors knows. Not personal beauty, for that can fade and die, but the beauty that comes from righteousness and enduring strength. It is the calculus of rule that inspires her to take beauty from fools who might waste it, and use it for the betterment of the world. The Noble learns to peel the beauty from others, and craft it into valuable gems. These gems also have metaphysical potency, and can be used to aid other Charms. This Charm must be used against a target who is asleep, or otherwise incapacitated or restrained. Each time the Noble rolls, her target takes 1 point of bashing damage; a sleeping target reflexively rolls Wits + Stamina - 3 and wakes if they succeed.

If the required number of successes are attained, the Noble peels the metaphysical beauty away from the face of her target, which comes away like a thin layer of skin, then coalesces into a gem. If the target had no dots in the Striking Looks merit, the gem is a cheap stone, dull and lacking luster, equivalent to Availability 1. If they had one dot, it is attractive and valuable, a moderate value sapphire, emerald or ruby (frequently matching the color of their eyes) equivalent to Availability 2. If the Noble is lucky enough to find someone with two dots, the gem is a diamond almost without compare, equivalent to Availability 3. An individual targeted with this Charm loses all dots in the Striking Looks merit, if they had any, and gains the Forgettable Condition. The effects on appearance are not obviously magical; even the most beautiful target is recognizable as themselves after this is used, merely... lacking the gleam of beauty they once had.

The gems produced are metaphysically potent. When holding one in her hand, a Noble may, reflexively, cause it to crumble to dust, destroying it utterly. It adds a number of dice equal to its Availability rating to any one roll of hers which is in line with the Specchio Invocation. Any Noble can use them for this purpose. In addition, a Noble with Seed of Light can use that Charm to turn a gem into a number of seeds equal to its Availability rating. If the gem is returned to the person it was stolen from, it need only be pressed against their forehead to restore their former beauty.

Unless used on a consenting target, using the Charm is a compromise with a -2 penalty.