Linguistics Charms

Eternal Gilded Words

Cost: 3m; Mins: Linguistics 5, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious, Touch Duration: Indefinite Prerequisite Charms: Flawless Brush Discipline

With a touch of his hand, the Solar’s Essence renders a message imperishable. This Charm may enchant anything from a wall of graffiti to an entire book, as long as that surface bears a message the character wishes to preserve. While Essence remains committed to the Charm, the letters cannot be erased or defaced. If the enchanted words are contained in a medium designed to hold writing (such as a book or scroll), that object becomes indestructible for the Charm’s duration. Messages scrawled onto surfaces intended for some other purpose are only impossible to remove or deface. The underlying object or structure may still be destroyed, though merely damaging it will not reduce the words ’ legibility. The enchanted words shine through anything placed over them as though they were a Solar caste mark shining at the four to seven-mote level of display, and are faintly luminous in the dark.

Guiding Words of Solar Wisdom

Cost: 15m, 1wp; Mins: Linguistics 5, Essence 4; Type: Simple (Dramatic Action) Keywords, Combo-OK, Training Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Letter-Within-A-Letter Technique

The Lawgiver Passes on her holy insight. Perhaps by writing a tome or inventing a mantra, she gives a lesson focused on a number of teachings equal to her Linguistics. (These teachings may include specific Abilities, Charms, Essence, etc). Those who study her teachings may increase those traits as though she were tutoring them.

This Charm may explicitly be placed in a Combo with any Training-Keyword Charm, even in violation of standard Combo rules, permitting those effects to be encoded into the resultant magical training manual.

Beautiful Essence-Born Rune

Cost: 20m, 3wp; Mins: Linguistics 6, Essence 6 Type: Reflexive Keywords: Obvious, Training, Combo-OK Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Flawless Brush Discipline

This versatile Charm allows Lawgivers to radically compress magical instruction while simultaneously encoding the theories or biases of the scribe into the lesson. The character meditates upon a Charm or spell she knows, and then designs a single glyph encompassing the totality of her understanding of the effect. This glyph transcends language and its meaning may be effortlessly intuited by any character capable of learning the Charm or spell the glyph is based upon. Beautiful Essence-Born Runes contain more than simply instructions in the use of a Charm or spell, however; when created, they are also designed to encompass additional lessons desired by their creator. In game terms, each glyph contains one Charm or spell, and one Intimacy. Thereafter, characters who study the glyph may learn the spell or Charm coded into it a single scene, as a Training effect. However, the character also gains the Intimacy coded into the Charm, and it is fundamentally embedded into her understanding of the magic. The learned Charm or spell may not be used while the character does not harbor the encoded Intimacy. This restriction may be overcome, eventually, by spending an additional 2xp. Designing a rune takes only (minimum Essence of effect) hours of effort, and a character may design an unlimited number of runes. Actually scribing the rune requires an investiture of Essence, as reflected in the Charm’s cost.

Understanding of the Golden Tongue

Cost: —; Mins: Linguistics 7, Essence 7 Type: Permanent Keywords: Training Duration: Permanent Prerequisite Charms: Twisted Words Technique

The Lawgiver bestows a language upon her mortal charges and their language reinvents their thinking. She chooses:

• One specialty to bestow

• One Ability to diminish

• A number of Intimacies to build or erode equal to her Linguistics

• A number of hampered traits equal to her Linguistics

• A number of assisted traits equal to her (Linguistics /2)

The first tie a person speaks the language, he permanently gains the specialty, but loses a dot from the diminished Ability. He counts hampered traits as being one higher for determining experience costs and trait maximums. He treats assisted traits as being one lower for those same purposes. Every scene a character speaks this language counts as a scene building or eroding one of the encoded Intimacies.

Golden Tongues lose potency if their purity is diminished. Linguistic drift must be battled constantly by the vigilant Lawgiver.

Learning this Charm permits the Lawgiver to invent one Golden Tongue; the Charm may be re-purchased an unlimited number of times to produce additional Golden Tongues. Essence-users are immune to the magical repercussions of speaking a Golden Tongue.