sol invictus.indd

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESWhile this Charm is active, the Solar may choose tospecifically prevent any statement she makes frombeing understood in this fashion, though she mustdo so universally — she may not select specificindividuals to understand while others cannot.BLESSED UNDERSTANDINGCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: One Speaker, ManyTongues, Language-Creating GestureThe Solar has internalized the deep universaltruths that underlie every language. An Exalt whoknows this Charm can understand any languageinstantly, even if she has never been exposed toit before. This applies both to spoken and writtenlanguage. This Charm does not grant any abilityto speak or write other languages, however; thecharacter could copy or recite a document or speechfrom memory and verify its meaning, but composingnew text still requires an actual knowledge of thespecific language.This Charm does not need to be activated; it simplyenhances the Exalt’s capabilities.THOUSAND-FACET WORDS TECHNIQUECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Letter-Within-a-LetterTechniqueExpanding upon the Letter-Within-a-LetterTechnique, the Solar crafts a document which holdsa different messages for different recipients. TheSolar must first scribe the text which will appearas the default to most who read the document.Then, he must go through again and write eachadditional text, which fades into invisibility as it iswritten. While writing each such alternative, thecharacter must specify a category of individualswho will perceive that message, which may bevague or specific as he chooses (“the current Mouthof Peace,” “Exalts,” and “Swift Waters, who livesnear the Firewander district in Nexus” would allbe acceptable choices.) There is no limit to howmany alternate texts may be embedded in a singledocument, though the Solar must go through theprocess again to create each one.Other Linguistics Charms may explicitly be usedto affect a specific writing created with this Charm,without affecting others encoded within the samedocument.SELF-AUTHORING TEXT STYLECost: 20 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Thousand-Facet WordsTechniqueInvesting a portion of her own Essence into adocument, the Solar creates a text which can growand change with the passage of time. She must spendthe normal length of time authoring the originaldocument; then, she must annotate portions whichshe wishes to update themselves, using a specialgolden ink. Once this process is completed, the goldfades into the page, becoming nearly invisible. Foras long as the Solar keeps three motes committed toit, the book will change and update itself. The bookmay alter itself to incorporate either knowledgewhich the author or the reader possesses whichis not currently reflected in the text. For example,the character might create a travel diary whichautomatically records the character’s travels. TheCharm may also cause the text to change basedon predefined triggers — for example, the authormight create a textbook which tailors its lessons tothe specific needs of the student. In all cases, thenewly written text appears in the style which theExalt would normally write.153