Anacrusis

Anacrusis

Magical forces are explicitly unnatural. No application of sorcerous might is native to the world, and perceptive arcane scholars note that the effects of their spells often have side-effects, perhaps almost imperceptibility minute, that occur in the people, places, and things that they enchant with their magic. Ordinarily these sorts of unpredictable effects are, if interesting, inconsequential. Perhaps a sword remains weakly magnetized after it was sharpened with the Metal Domain of Earth Magic. Perhaps a skeleton key altered to fit the lock you need it to open runs all the impurities in the metal one direction and gives the key an odd sort of appearance under close examination. While a curiosity, it rarely bears much scrutiny, chalked up to a slightly imperfect spell owing to some momentary break in the magicians concentration or focus, perhaps.

However, these effects do have a more troubling effect that all magicians do pay attention to. In living creatures, occasionally magical energies can prove deleterious to their health, usually after long-term or repeated exposure to magic. Headaches, nausea, bleeding membranes, illness, vertigo, temporary madness, deep burns, respiratory issues, even death have been reported after some amount of magical exposure, and much more troubling and serious conditions from extreme amounts of magic. These effects, called Anacrusis by arcane scholars (and sometimes called Spell Sickness by lay people), demonstrate that the human body has limits to how far magic can augment it. The Magician herself can usually endure exposure to her own spells for far longer than others can, usually not suffering Anacrusis unless under extreme and long-term effects, but others she enchants exhibit far less tolerance. Occasionally benefiting from increased reflexes or unnatural charisma seems to be largely without its risks, but those who habitually undergo magical effects or are the subject of particularly powerful spells begin to show signs sooner or later.

The effects of Anacrusis Points and Wyrds are cumulative. Long term exposure to spells, being in a magically saturated area, repeated spells, miscasting magical effects, and other reasons can also cause the accumulation of Anacrusis at Staff discretion. As well, repeated Anacrusis over time can result in permanent changes to a character or item, resulting in personality shifts, mutation, or even wasting away under the need for sustenance from sources that do not exist in this world.

In game terms, Anacrusis is caused mostly by Enchantments and beneficial Forces. Mages, and those with Anacrusis Resistance, suffer less and gain one less point of Anacrusis from the first spell affecting them at the same time.  As Anacrusis builds, the effects are visible and cumulative on the suffering character as described below.  These appearance changes are costume requirements and must be represented as soon as possible, and ideally prepared in advance by the enchanting Wizard.  At this stage, Anacrusis has no game effect on the character, but at any moment a staff member may activate your Anacrusis, which removes it entirely, but also has one of the below effects determined by the activating staff member.

Anacrusis does not dissipate naturally except at its lowest level.  At the end of an event, anyone with only a single point of Anacrusis will recover completely without ill effects.  Anyone with more than one point, will carry over the full amount to the next event and should continue to costume it appropriately.  

Anacrusis PointsCostume Requirement
1 TrivialNone
2 MinorDarkened veins on exposed skin
3 ModerateElementally colored lines radiating around around the eyes, open sores on exposed skin
4 SevereGlowing lights at the wrists, waist and neck that shine through any obscuring clothing
5 CripplingPermanent change of appearance to something unmistakably alien, requires ST approval

Trivial

At this range, there are no observable effects from spells.  The spell functions normally and as expected.  This amount of Power is generally considered to be safe.

Minor

The subject begins to feel strange and unhealthy.  Characters suffer Misery immediately, which manifest as unpleasant effects such as nose bleeds, headaches, full body soreness, difficulty breathing, strong irrational feelings and cravings or confusion.

Moderate

ResultModerate WyrdEffectDuration
1Awful AuraMust wear a glowing bracelet or necklace. Call Miserable on anyone who interacts with you in a non-aggressive manner.One Period, around 8 hours.
2Intestinal RebellionYou vomit or soil yourself violently, being rendered useless for around 5 minutes. If you are wearing an Outfit it has no positive effect until a Cleaned, Pressed and Stitch kit is used.Around 5 minutes
3Run at the MouthYou are overcome with rage and start spouting off incredibly hurtful insults that are beyond your control. You must spend Discipline not to speak the most hurtful or negative thing you can think of to anyone and everyone around you. Each Discipline allows you to simply remain quiet for around 1 minute.One Scene, or around an hour.
4The RustAll metal in the area shivers and rusts, puffing iron dust in all directions. All items with a metal component immediately take an irresistible Sunder.Instant
5ShiversweatsA terrible sense of foreboding and a chill washes over the area, obviously centered on you. Everyone in the immediate area feels shivers run down their spines and a cold, clammy sweat cover their bodies. They all suffer from Fear.One Period, or about 8 hours.
6Tears of KuarlYour eyes begin to weep blood profusely. Gain the Bleed condition on each eye.Around 5 minutes
7Waxy EarfulYou feel a pressure in your head as you lose your hearing, and feel slime drip from your ears. Your ears continually mass produce wax, which pours forth and temporarily deafens you. After this period you remain deaf until another character spend 5 minutes assisting you in cleaning your ears of the waxUntil assisted
8WitcheryThe air seems to thicken a moment before dissipating, and the stench of rotten food and vinegar rises from all around. All ingestible items (food, alcohol, water, potions, poisons, herbs, spices, etc.) turn foul and spoil, becoming unusable and causing vomiting.One Scene, or around an hour.
9HandfrozenThe bones and muscles of one of your hands wrench painfully tight, unable to move from a specific position, resembling part of an Arcane Sign.One Scene, or around an hour.
10Magical DisasterRoll again on the chart of Severe Wyrds.N/A

Severe

ResultSevere WyrdEffectDuration
1Kin Affected You feel a sense of foreboding that passes after a quick moment.  All of your living kin, to the first cousin level, are affected by a Mild Wyrd.  Roll on the previous chart.N/A
2 SterilizedYour lower gut and loins clench painfully and an ice cold sensation creeps forth.   You are permanently rendered sterile and may never sire or carry a child.Permanent
3 Gaze into the MaelstromYou glimpse beyond the world, beyond the depths of time and space.  You immediately gain a Severe Insanity.  You may also ask any one lore question of a Storyteller, but can only communicate this to others if you roleplay having a psychotic episode.Permanent
4Disturbing Diet You lose your taste for and sustenance from ordinary food, instead wanting (and gaining some strange nourishment from) some unwholesome substance strongly tied toward the Element of the spell that caused this – Fire: Charcoal , Earth: shaved Soft Iron, Air: Incense, Water:  Human blood.  That item counts as Vegetables for the purposes of feeding that character while this Wyrd lasts.   Strangely, higher qualities of these can count as Meat and even Spices – burned Hardwood, blessed coals still burning, hard iron and gold, an Inhaled drug and a Potent Inhaled drug, Highborn blood and the Sangreal Great Noble’s blood.  Your strange predilections will be noted by anyone who watches you with Streetwise.One Chapter (Downtime)
5 The Crush  The magic surges through your body and begins to crush and collapse parts of your body at random.  You are immediately Downed.Instant
6Enfeeblement You feel profoundly diminished and melancholic.  You immediately lose one in the Attribute most relevant to the nature of the spell that caused this. Permanent
7 Enraged You are overcome with unspeakable anger.  You will attempt to kill everyone around you, hollering and bellowing but using otherwise the most effective method at hand.  If you cannot find anyone you will stalk around to find more.10 minutes or until Downed or Blackout
8 Aethyric Overload  Magical forces overload your body, burning through your blood and mind.  If you are a Magician, take Burn.  If you are not a Magician, every Attribute is reduced by 1.One Period, or about 8 hours.
9WyrdstormA fierce wind rips through the area, crackling with the scent of burnt air.  Everyone in the immediate area is affected by a Mild Wyrd.  Roll on the Mild Wyrd table and apply that result to everyone.One Scene, or around an hour.
10Magical CatastropheRoll again on the chart of Crippling Wyrds.N/A

Crippling

ResultCrippling WyrdEffectDuration
1Amnesia  You blink, suddenly unable to remember anything.  Anything at all, except how to speak and use your Skills and Attributes.  You lose all Studies, Rituals and Techniques.  (The Experience is also removed for the purposes of advancement) Permanent
2Stupefied Your head burns with intense agony, and a fog rolls over everything.  You are rendered simple, with Terrible Intellect, and lose any levels of Academics. Permanent
3Rageboil A heat bubbles through the air.  Everyone around you is immediately and irrationally enraged by your very existence, and suffer Obey 2: Kill you.  Even if you leave, affected people will make it their only concern to find you.One Scene, or around an hour.
4Rampaging Magic Every Theorem present in physical form in the immediate area of you is immediately and successively cast with you as the target.Variable
5The Whelming The sky cracks open and the light begins to take on an eerie hue.  Roll once on the Mild Wyrd table and notify a Staff Member.  Everyone in the Forum, with the notable exception of yourself, suffers from that effect over the next few minutes.Variable
6Ripped to BitsYour body begins to move in every direction at once, hideously tearing itself apart.  Take one Crippling Maim of the victim’s choice.  It ends as abruptly and hideously as it began.Instant
7Possession You become possessed by an entity of unknown origin.  You appear to be yourself, but you are not.  At dawn, the spirit will leave you, and you will take 8 Despair, minus one for each of your closest friends (people that would normally cause Despair if they died) that you have killed.  You do not gain Despair for these murders.Until Dawn
8Whispers from the DarkYou hear a strange voice that is not a voice.  It tells you things that you do not want to hear.  See a Staff Member at next opportunity.N/A
9Ripped From RealityAn almighty bang rips through the air.  You are catastrophically and immediately ripped from the world.  There is nothing left.Permanent
10 The Daemon  Immediately pause the scene and get a Staff Member.N/A

 

Anacrusis in Objects

Objects as well can be subject to the strange effects of Anacrusis.  For reasons that are still poorly understood by Magicians, objects are far less resilient to Anacrusis than people are.  Objects gain Anacrusis Points at the same rate living targets do from enchantments and other effects.  Wyrd or Masterwork objects are Anacrusis Resistant, allowing for a single enchantment to be placed on them with no deleterious effects. Objects that are both Wyrd and Masterwork are doubly resistant, allowing for two concurrent enchantments.

Anacrusis points Wyrd Effect
1 Warping The object is warped by the arcane, becoming brittle and difficult to maintain.  It gains the Crude Quality permanently.
2+ Ruined Objects at this level are completely ruined by the effects of otherworldly forces.