(• • • Entropy,   • • • Matter;  Optional  • • • Life)                                         Dead Magic  56

The caster invokes a protective deity with a brief preliminary chant, then recites the types of harm that will not affect the object of the rote, in a rather Seussian fashion ("It won't be crushed beneath a train, it won't be left out in the rain, it won't be dropped in boiling fat, it won't be eaten by a cat").  While the sing-song rhyming technique is useless for most paradigms, a pattern must be established for the incantation to work.  A Virtual Adept might use a repeating string of code, while a Hermetic might place the object within a runic circle and walk around it, adding a measure of protection each time he reaches a certain point on the circle.

System:  The player wishing to use this rote must detail every form of misfortune from which the object of the spell will be protected.  Storytellers, by all means, exercise creativity!  In the above example, the object might be dropped in boiling acid rather than fat -- a fate that is within the confines of the ward, yet still unpleasant.  Each success on the roll adds 1 to the difficulty of an attack in that medium.  Since the ward does not provide absolute protection, the Effect is coincidental.  As always, the Effect only lasts as long as the duration garnered byt the mage's successes; this rite is not a way to gain permanent immunities.  The Entropy component defends against mischance while the Matter magic specifies the exact types of harm that leave the object unscathed.  Life magis can optionally fortify a living subject against such injury.