Ice Sculptures

Ice Sculptures (•••, Acqua ••)

 * Duration: until sunrise

The Noble spins small water droplets into a fabric of snowflakes and ice crystals, cut and sewn into clothing (or anything else made of cloth that she requires.) Though apparently more fragile than the usual items the Charm makes, cloth-of-snow actually lasts longer; it stays intact until the next sunrise after it was made, no matter what the temperature may be. Except in subfreezing weather, though, cloth-of-snow will dissolve promptly at dawn. (Nobles who don’t wish to be abruptly half-naked and soaking wet at the end of a long night are well advised to remember this.)

Upgrade: Architecture (Acqua •••)

 * Cost: +(Sanctuary rating) Wisps
 * Duration: until sunrise

The Noble can create walls, arches, even whole buildings of hardened ice, given only time to concentrate. For structures exceeding her Acqua in Size, she rolls once every 15 minutes (instead of once a turn) and adds the successes required for the Sanctuary rating of the final structure to the threshold. The resulting blocks of ice have a Durability of 3, though fire still bypasses that.

The nature of the Charm strongly encourages the resulting building to assume an ornate Art Deco style of architecture, with icicle spires, snowflake lacework, and sixfold symmetry. The walls and floors are thick enough not to melt quickly, so even in the hottest weather the structure remains intact until the next sunrise. However, except in subfreezing temperatures the thing does begin melting at that point. After the first sunrise meltwater makes the building slippery, imposing the Ice Tilt on and inside it. After the second sunrise the building becomes unsound, reducing its Durability to 0, and any object resting on it removes 1 point of Structure for every 50 pounds of weight it has, each turn it remains. After the third sunrise the building collapses of its own weight, if it hasn’t already fallen apart.

Upgrade: Unmelting (Acqua ••••)

 * Cost: +1 Willpower
 * Duration: indefinite

The Noble enchants the ice she creates to remain unmelted even under the heat of a summer sun. For practical purposes, the object made by the Charm acts as if it’s in subfreezing temperatures at all times, regardless of the actual temperature. The Charm will end, however, if the object is placed in a fire, and of course the ice will then melt and destroy the object.