Spirit Effects
mage rev
• • • Awaken the Inanimate — By talking and crooning over a physical object, a Dreamspeaker or Akashic Brother may Awaken its spirit and
rouse it into awareness. A Verbena might spread blood in a pattern over the object while a Hermetic mage would sprinkle it with dark dust and
carve a seal onto its surface.
Objects, once their spirits are awake and aware, can be particularly useful. Their personalities tend to be very protective of those who have
treated them well and ill-disposed toward those who have treated them badly. The object could not really do much on its own, but it might cause
small coincidences that work for or against the mage. For example, if a Euthanatos were to rouse the spirit of
his gun, it might misfire in the hands148
of an enemy. Likewise, an aware Chantry house might take a very dim view of burglars, especially if they broke in — doors might slam, lights
could go out (or on), and the alarm system the burglars disarmed might short out and go off anyway.
Rousing an object typically requires plenty of ritual successes — five or so for a gun, 20 or more for a house. This is slow, but often
coincidental unless the mage wants an especially vulgar manifestation. The older and more psychically -charged the object is, the more powerful its
spirit and the harder it will be to rouse. The newer and less important the item, the less powerful and less intelligent its spirit and the easier it is to
rouse. A new knife from the knife shop, never used, would have less personality and intelligence than a cockroach, but could be made aware with a
minimal amount of magic. Over years or decades, the objects would start to absorb some of its owner's personality. The knife an old shaman forged
in boyhood would have a strong and active spirit (thought it might not be a fetish
per se). As always, an object with strong Resonance similar to themage's is more likely to awaken to his call.
An object with an awakened spirit exists in multiple worlds at once. A person can use an awakened knife in the physical world to injure spirits
in the Near Umbra, or he may cut the silver cords that connect astral travelers to their bodies.
In the modern age, many objects resist awakening completely. The dullness of mundanity infects them and prevents them from taking on their
own personalities. Even if a mage manages to awaken an object, there's no guarantee that it will be helpful, or that it will know anything of value.