| Legion's Life (• • • Prime, • • Life) Dead Magic 106 |
| Somehow, the Cult of Mercury managed to pull off an Effect that the
modem Traditions consider impossible. The underlying trick hasn't
been figured out, but the rote apparently works. When the Romans put
together a legion of soldiers, they formed a tightly knit group of
warriors who fought, loved and died together. That closeness made
their Patterns so tied to one another that the legion magicians -- who
likewise worked in groups -- could draw form the whole of the legion for
their Effects. Somehow, the Mercuric magicians discovered a way to
bleed off just a little energy from everyone in the legion and
convert it into Quintessence -- something that should be impossible, since
Quintessence freed from a Pattern normally goes straight back into the
universal pool. Sure, experienced mages could "skim off the top,"
but these Roman mages drew upon great stores of energy and used them to
fuel their battlefield magics. System: This rote only works on a set of "bonded" Life Patterns; they must be human, and there must be at least twenty. For the purposes of this rote, "bonded" Patterns are those that have gone through significant shared adversity and triumph. The Roman legions probably got their strong mystic ties from their discipline, martial experience and homosexual bonds. For every twenty Patterns involved, the mage can eke out a single point of Quintessence without causing any actual injury. Successes scored on the Effect determine the maximum amount of Quintessence a mage can harness. For a really large army, several mages must work together. Such a draw can only be done once per day, as Life Patterns must have time to stabilize their Quintessential flow. |