Seed of Light

Seed of Light (••)

 * Action: Extended, (20 - Willpower) minutes/roll, threshold = 3 * seeds made
 * Dice pool: Dexterity + Expression
 * Cost: 1 Willpower, 1+ Wisps (special)
 * Duration: lasting

The Light exists within the world, within the hearts of all men. However, with will and effort, the Hopeful may calcify Wisps into gem-sized, imperishable Seeds, proof against the ravages of chance. Each Wisp spent on the Charm forms a separate Seed. The Princess does not have to decide how many Seeds to calcify beforehand; after spending the Willpower, she starts to concentrate on her pool of Wisps. Each three successes accumulated allows the Princess to transform one Wisp into a Seed, and she may roll a number of times equal to her dice pool, or until she runs out of Wisps. Extra successes are wasted.

The shape of a Seed is a profound expression of its creator’s soul, and is heavily influenced by the Invocation (if any) applied in its making. (Applying Legno, for instance, often creates Seeds in the form of living, unchanging flowers - roses, in particular.) Any character examining a Seed, if they make a Wits + Occult roll, can recognize a Seed as coming from the same hand as one they’ve seen before.

To recover the Wisp from a Seed, a Noble must bring it into contact with her phylactery, and spend a minute in concentration. No actions may be performed while doing this, and the Noble is at -3 to all Wits-based rolls, so deep is their focus. The Seed glows, and becomes incohesive, melting into their soul, and adding the Wisp to their pool. If the Noble’s Wisp pool is full, the Seed vaporizes and releases the Wisp into the air, where it dissipates.

As tiny fragments of solidified Light, Seeds are incredibly alluring to creatures of the Darkness. Any such creature can consume Seeds to regain Willpower, gaining one point of Willpower per Seed eaten. The Darkened can smell out Seeds kept in quantity - they gain a cumulative +1 bonus to all Perception rolls to notice a person carrying Seeds for each Seed above the carrier’s Composure, and tend to aim first at opponents carrying the most Seeds. Moreover, any location where large numbers of Seeds are stored will tend, by seemingly random chance, to attract more Darkspawn to it, drawn by their hunger. For this reason, Alhambran outposts, where they store their misbegotten gains, tend to either be very heavily protected, or to try to move them back to their rain-soaked city as fast as possible. And for the same reason, servants of the Queen of Storms have been known to use captured Seeds as Darkspawn bait.

A Bequest based on Seed of Light creates Seeds from Wisps in its holder’s pool.

Bereaved

 * Requires Lacrima •••

The production of Seeds by Alhambrans occurs on an almost industrial scale... or, at least, so they would wish. Nevertheless, in their raids on the Rebellious Provinces, they have learned secrets of their construction. Reduce the time per roll to (10-Willpower) minutes; if this reduces the time needed to 0, the character may roll once per turn.

As a side effect of applying this Upgrade, the Noble may remove the unique traces of her identity from the Seeds she makes. Instead, the Seed forms as one of the seals of the Kingdom, the crown of the Queen of Tears prominent on it. The production of such a Seed is frequently used as a test of identity by an Alhambran outpost sent a new Noble, and documents and packages sent between groups are sealed with wax imprinted with this mark. This leaves unmistakable magical traces, which a character with Lacrima 1 or higher, or the ability to see auras, can detect with a Wits + Occult roll, making forging the seal harder.

Militant

 * Requires Tempesta •• or Fuoco •••

One cannot simply wait for the Light to diffuse into one’s soul! All of existence is a war against the Darkness, and no soldier of the Seraphic General should be caught without her arms! When creating the Seed, the Noble may choose to make it release its energy quickly. If Tempesta was applied, the Wisp can be recovered from the Seed as a reflexive action, at a cost of 1 resistant lethal damage, with no more than skin contact with the Seed. There is no limit to how many Seeds can be tapped in this way per round, beyond the limits of one’s well-being.

The followers of the Queen of Swords are less rash, but no less aware of the dangers of the world. By applying Fuoco, they create Seeds that release their Wisp as an instant action, and inflict 1 resistant bashing damage when released. A Noble can learn either the Fuoco or the Tempesta version of this upgrade, but not both.