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Coerce Spirit (• • • Mind, • • Spirit or • • • • Spirit) The Spirit Ways 89 |
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Though spirits are often friendly and cooperative to mages who address them
properly, some mages are unaware of the proper forms of address, or they prefer
to deal from a (perceived) position of strength. Other spirits are disagreeable
by nature. When a mage wishes to deal with such a spirit, a lengthy dialogue or
physical duel is sometimes too demanding. In such cases, a mage can resort to
magical means of coercion, forcing the spirit to obey his will. Naturally, this
sort of magic is risky, and continued behavior of this sort will certainly
attract negative attention. [There are two basic rotes for coercing and controlling spirits. Their effects are essentially identical, but their exact methodology differs. The version that uses Mind 3 and Spirit 2 affects the spirit's "mind," while the Spirit 4 version affects its Umbral nature directly. While different in technique, the results of both techniques are nearly identical: The spirit is compelled to obey the mage. [Mages use this rote frequently to force spirits into a spirit bottle. This rote can also summon a spirit and cause it to perform a single action. To force a spirit to perform some action, the caster's player must achieve a number of successes equal to the spirit's Power score. The exact nature and difficulty of the task asked of the spirit determines the difficulty of this roll. Compelling a violent spirit to attack someone is relatively easy, while asking a fire elemental to help put out a fire could necessitate a difficulty of 8 or 9. Extended rituals are often necessary to compel powerful spirits. However, spirits know instantly if someone is attempting to perform such a ritual. Unless the shaman is in some way protected from the spirit, the spirit may attack before the ritual is complete. [Mages who use this Effect too often risk alienating spirits entirely. Such mages gain Notoriety.] |