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Author Topic: Craft & Craft Specialties  (Read 7100 times)

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Craft & Craft Specialties
« on: Jan 23, 12, 09:24:20 PM »
How Craft Works

TLDR version:
•  The only real difference in Craft between a White Jewel and a Black Jewel is the amount of power available to throw towards an effect at one time.

•  Each step down in depth represents 2x the available power.

•  Specialties are narrow areas of Craft that a character has extra training in, making them more adept than average.

•  The Craft Types list shows just SOME common ways Craft is used. Players are encouraged to think up their own applications of Craft that are unique to their characters.

Craft is the name for the magic that the Blood wield. In theory, the same Craft is available to Jewel-less Blood as is available to those who bear Jewels as dark as the Black. For the most part, the difference between them is not in the range of effects possible, but in the strength of the effects. Jewels are a reservoir of the power of the Abyss, dictating how much of that power any given Blood may conjure at one time. In theory, if a White Jeweled witch could hold as much power in one moment as a Black Jeweled witch could, she could apply that power to create the same effect the Black Jeweled witch could, because the Craft they wield is the same. It is only because the White Jeweled witch has a smaller reservoir of power to pull from that her Craft effects will never be as strong as those of darker Jewels. On BR, it is generally believed that each Jewel rank descent allows its bearer double the reservoir of the Jewel rank preceding it. A power bolt created with the Craft from a Yellow Jewel could have twice the destructive power of one created with a White Jewel. A Summer Sky shield would be four times as strong or last four times as long as one made from a Tiger Eye Jewel, because the Jewels are two levels apart.

However, because it is essentially the same Craft applied at every Jewel level, even the lightest Jewel can create some truly staggering effects if they are properly trained, or canny or resourceful enough. Sometimes, in fact, Blood with lighter Jewels can accomplish feats that their more darkly-jeweled counterparts struggle to replicate. Imagine the difference between opening a tap on a water cooler, and opening a tap on a dam that holds back a river. You’ll get water both ways, but a finer control is possible with the smaller reservoir. Darkly jeweled Blood can sometimes learn an impressive degree of control and finesse, but it will always require more training and focus than their Light Jeweled brethren require, and is often still not as delicate or precise as Light Jeweled efforts.

Those Blood who do not receive a Jewel, and those who survive having both of their Jewels broken, lack the reservoir necessary to store the power of the Abyss for their personal use. They are still conduits, may still touch and manipulate that power, but only in the smallest measure. They are limited to what is known as Basic Craft.

Basic Craft
Basic Craft is that Craft which all Blood may instinctively learn through unguided experimentation and practice. The more intricate and demanding Craft listed in the Crafts Type list unilaterally requires training of some kind; only Basic Craft is available to Blood before they are taught how to focus and apply the power stored in their Jewels. Those who do not have Jewels, those who have had both Jewels broken, and those whose Jewels have been taken from them will be limited to this Craft.
Communication Craft Those without the use of Jewels can receive psychic threads and communicate along that channel once it is opened, but they usually cannot initiate psychic threads.
Emotional Projection This is a lighter skill than Emotional Manipulation, which affects a target's emotions by force. This is a passive effect, that merely presents an emotional state that may not be the Caster's true state. It is useful for summoning pity or making one's self seem more confident or aggressive.
Heating & Cooling This is also an abbreviated form of the more complex Craft available to Jeweled Blood. A caster may heat a meal or themselves, but their range and the duration of effect available to them is severely truncated.
Psychic Sensing The fact that they are Blood is all that is required for a caster to be able to sense the psychic scent and impressions of other Blood, including their caste, emotional state, and their depth in the Abyss in relation to the caster.
Shielding Those without Jewels are limited to the most basic of shields. They are enough to keep the weather off of a person or perhaps deflect an arrow or two, but not enough to deflect significant impacts.
Telekinesis Many Blood intuitively figure out how to move things around with their will alone before they ever reach their Birthright Ceremony. While limited to Basic Craft, however, this Craft is only capable of moving lighter objects (up to 25lbs/11 kg or so), and does not permit fine control over its movements.
Vanishing & Conjuring The psychic cabinet available to the Jewel-less is much smaller than that of their counterparts. It is typically used for small personal items rather than supplies or large items.
Witchfire This is the same Craft available to Jeweled Blood, but is limited in focus, intensity, and duration. Those without Jewels can light a candle or a campfire, but the effect requires concentration and cannot be used for sustained effects. Once a campfire is burning, it will burn as long as it has natural fuel, but a Lamp that typically runs off of Craft will only be lit for as long as the caster concentrates on keeping it so.
Witchlight The Jewel-less may create instances of witchlight, but the effect requires concentration and will not sustain itself once the caster has been distracted. Also, the intensity of the witchlight summoned may only reach the equivalent of a candle-lit room.

Craft Strengths & Weaknesses

When creating a new character and trying to decide on Craft Strengths and Craft Weaknesses to call out, players may use the following Craft Types list to help define their character's abilities. This list is far from exhaustive, and is meant to merely be a framework to help players understand the kinds of effects possible and to showcase some common uses. If a character has a Strength or Specialty in a particular kind of Craft, it’s generally taken to mean that the character has received extra training in that area. Alternatively, the character might be a “natural” at that kind of Craft, and required less training than normal to reach adeptness. While a character will never reach the same level of raw power as someone with darker Jewels (their reservoir does not grow, no matter how much they train), they can nonetheless surpass their peers of the same Jewel level if they have a Strength/Specialization.

You may occasionally run across a Character's sheet that lists an Advanced Specialty. This is a semi-rare boon that is typically only available through purchase or prizes during special events on BR such as the Thanksgiving Shop and Winsol Auctions. When applied, it represents a character’s success in managing the power consumed by a particular skill. When this particular skill is performed, it consumes only half the Jewel power that it normally would. If the character desires it, the skill may be therefore performed with twice the impact it normally would for normal the amount of power consumption.
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Re: Craft & Craft Specialties
« Reply #1 on: Apr 21, 16, 12:45:39 PM »
Craft Types
Forces Craft:Magic involving elements and natural forces such as light, darkness, temperature, raw energy, sound waves, and the creation of shields which limit the movement of such forces.
Aural Shielding The Blood love their secrets, and Aural Shields are a common method used to keep them. These are invisible bubbles of Craft that prevent sound from traveling through them in either direction.
Casters with extra skill in this Craft may be able to create one-way shields, where a Blood may hear but not be heard, or vice-versa.
Combat Shielding Combat Shielding is the use of deflective shields in a martially offensive manner. These are typically deployed and retracted in quick succession in the midst of battle. Skilled practitioners of this Craft can use these shields to knock their foes about, trip, shove, or otherwise impact them with blunt force.
Very skilled users of Combat Shielding may be able to define their shields more narrowly, striking at their foes with more precision. Alternatively, they may be able to deploy such shields for longer than normal, or summon and dismiss them with a greater speed than is typical.
Defensive Shielding This is typically what is meant when someone refers to shielding in general. These are invisible but solid structures composed entirely of Craft that are usually employed to protect a person or object from being touched or harmed. Defensive shields maybe be layered atop one another for additional strength.
Those particularly skilled in this Craft may have the ability to leave shields standing for a length of time even after the caster leaves the vicinity. Or perhaps their shields are flexible, allowing some attacks/impacts to bounce off rather than absorbing the impact like normal. A skilled shielder may simple require less energy to create their shields, meaning they last longer or are stronger than a normal shield at their level of Craft.
Manipulate Shadows Similar to Whimsy Craft, the ability to manipulate shadows is often used for entertainment or staging. Shadows may be intensified or banished, moved about as puppets or used to create intricate two-tone images. Note this this craft can expand or diminish existing shadows, but creating new shadows requires Shadow Building, a specialty unique to Black Widows.
The caster may be able to direct shadows with more finesse, or stretch them further or sustain them for a time. A Hearth Witch in Dena Nehele was once highly sought-after for her ability to weave lasting patterns into the shadows of her aristocratic clients, so that anywhere a client's shadow fell, they were beautifully unique.
Power Bolts Perhaps the most straight-forward type of offensive Craft, Power Bolts are a direct exertion of raw Jewel power for the sake of destroying a target. The particular color/feel/flavor of a particular character's Power Bolts may depend on the character in question.
Strength in this type of Craft may afford the caster the ability to rapid-fire their Power Bolts. Or perhaps they are refined to a laser point to be more precise, or are crafted to specifically be more effective in breaking apart shields instead of phsyical objects.
Sight Shielding Used most often for personal stealth, a Sight Shield provides a witch with practical invisibility. Sight Shields typically are one-way (the caster can see out, but others can't see in), and do nothing on their own to obfuscate noise, smell, or psychic scent.
Very skilled users of this Craft may be able to make their Sight Shields more subtle than normal, so that they are less likely to be noticed by a casual observer.
Warming & Cooling Spells This Craft is commonly used by most Blood. Warming and Cooling Spells can be applied to specific non-living objects (such as a plate of food or a tub of bathwater), or in a shield-like manner around a living being.
Casters may warm or cool a larger number of things or a larger area of space than normal. Alternative, experienced casters may be able to reach unusual heights and depths of temperature, or more sensitively gauge the temperature of other objects.
Whimsy Craft Whimsy Craft encompasses low-impact illusory Craft, the sort of things used to entertain or distract rather than directly affect a target. Whimsy Craft may be used to create a puff of air, fleeting lights and sounds, and other simple and unsustained illusions.
Strength in this Craft may mean that the Crafter may summon more sustained or believable illusions. It may mean that this Craft consumes less energy, or that it will be less likely that anyone can discern the source of said illusions.
Witchfire Witchfire is one of the most basic dispensations of pure Craft. A Blood's raw power manifests as a globe of light that they can control with their will. The intensity, color, temperature, shape, duration and movement (or lackthereof) of the light is determined by the caster.
Strength in this Craft may mean that the summoned Witchfire will burn hotter, longer, or brighter than normal. It may mean that the summoner can create more intricate combinations of color and/or shapes, or stage elaborate displays that normally require more finesse than typical Blood possess.
Corporeal Craft:The magic of manipulating living bodies. Physical beings and the life that animates them. Senses, physical appearance, healing, the manipulation of one's voice or pheromones
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Physical Craft:Sensing, identifying, quantifying and manipulating nonliving bodies. Storing physical items in one's psychic cabinet. While a person's hair or skin would not be altered with this category, their clothes or accessories could be.
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Mind Craft:Anything involving the mind or thoughts of another that does not include the person's Chalice or Jewels or connection to the Darkness.
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Psychic Craft:Anything involving the manipulation or distillation of pure Craft, whether to enchant a physical item or challenge the integrity of someone's psychic being. Telepathic communication that is carried by jewel-powered threads is included, as is the impressing of psychic images onto crystals for the creation of memory crystals. Anything related to one's chalice or connection to the Darkness would fall under Psychic Craft.
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Spatial Craft:Any Craft dealing specifically with the distance between two objects. Also, Craft which allows other spells to be performed at greater distances than normal.
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Timed Craft:Craft that relies on a timed element, with the triggering element often being a measure of time met. Alternatively, Timed Craft may simply allow common spells to last longer than normal.
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Caste-Specific Craft
Craft listed below is traditionally the purview of a specific caste. While other castes (or the casteless) may learn some of these applications of Craft, there should be explicit justification in a character's backstory to explain how and why they sought out this training. In addition, even with this training the character will never have quite the proficiency with these applications that someone naturally belonging to the relevant caste would. Starred items are absolutely unique to their listed caste, and cannot be taught to other castes or the casteless.

Black Widow Craft
* Black Widow Webs: Delivery Webs These are webs used to transfer a latent spell to another person or object (IE, the web Elisif bound into the comb she gifted to Isvyiel, or the web Indy built into a note that made Severin docile when he opened it.)
Specializing in this Craft would perhaps mean the crafter excelled at making the webs more imperceptible, or especially long-lasting, or could build them more quickly than normal.
* Black Widow Webs: Illusion Webs Black Widows possess an inherent affinity for illusion, and can use this to create webs which contain incredibly complex, wearable illusions. These webs may simply alter a witch's psychic scent, or they may provide an alternate appearance, voice and scent altogether. Smaller versions of these webs are also used as vanity decorations for those willing and able to pay for such luxuries.
Those with particular strength in this Craft may create webs that are more durable than normal, or that require less frequent recharging. Or perhaps the webs stand up to scrutiny without giving themselves away as easily as other webs.
* Black Widow Webs: Security Webs Security webs are invisible tethers that a Black Widow may build around an object or a property. These webs may be keyed to specific individuals, and may vary in their purpose. Some webs are merely meant to alert a certain person when one of the tethers is tripped, while others are charged with sufficient Jewel strength to actively prevent unauthorized access to an item or location, either by a triggered shield or some more offensive attack.
Adepts in this Craft may be able to make their security webs even more difficult than normal to detect. Alternatively, they may require less power to function, and therefore have to be recharged less frequently. Or perhaps the crafter has learned to weave unusually complex webs, so that whatever attack or defense is triggered fires on multiple channels of attack (ie, psychically as well as physically or mentally).
* Black Widow Webs: Vision Webs (aka Tangled Webs) Black Widows are unique in their ability to weave Tangle Webs, intricate and mysterious devices that allow them to channel visions from the Twisted Kingdom. The specific look and feel of a web may vary from Widow to Widow, as this Craft is no less influenced by a witch's personality than any other Craft. Elements that are often common universally are a frame on which to draw the web, and silk that will be laced with Craft for the physical formation of the web. If the Black Widow has a specific query in mind, she might also include blood from either herself or the target of her query, and/or small items that can be woven into the web to aid as a focus for the query.
Black Widows who are particularly skilled in this Craft may venture deeper into the Twisted Kingdom without losing their way, and may see a greater success than normal in digging up the answers to more specific queries. Alternatively, they may gain supernatural insight into interpreting webs (which are often metaphorical or just frustratingly vague), or be skilled in helping other Black Widows navigate the Twisted Kingdom.
Poisons: Designing & Crafting Poisons range from the unerringly lethal to the perfectly harmless; everything from a toxin meant to kill or immobilize a target to a prank meant to infect its target with a pervasive odor. Poisons, by definition, have purposes that are more nefarious than helpful, but the types of specific effects possible are nearly limited only by the Crafter's imagination. Blood are uniquely capable of targeting not only the physical, but with the addition of Craft also the psychic and the emotional parts of their prey.
Crafters who are especially talented in the creation of poisons may be able to assemble intricately complex recipes that accomplish more delicate effects than the standard. Alternatively, they may be able to concoct distillations of pure Craft which remove the need for physical ingredients for their poisons, or they may excel at making their potions far harder to detect than normal.
Poisons: Detecting & Curing For every poison, there's a cure. This particular Craft is used to not only detect the presence of poisons in a victim (or elsewhere), but also to provide clues about what steps to take to counter the effects of the poison discerned.
For every poison, there's a cure. This particular Craft is used to not only detect the presence of poisons in a victim (or elsewhere), but also to provide clues about what steps to take to counter the effects of the poison discerned.
* Shadow Building A subset of the more generally available Illusion Craft, this discipline is available only to Black Widows. These shadows are complex illusions which are often used to mimic the casting Black Widow themselves and trick others into believe they are truly in a location when they are not. Depending on strength and skills, a Shadow can be complex or simple. A controlled Shadow can be used from a long distance but it is still an illusion and cannot truly interact with things (though can give the illusion of interactions).
A Black Widow who is specialized in this Craft can make their Shadows seem even more lifelike. If setting up a Shadow to imitate a person while not being actively controlled, a specialized user may have their Craft react even more realistically, with a larger collection of stored answers and illusions for specific situations. A Shadow that is not controlled can only respond to certain parameters so they are not foolproof.
* Mind Healing Mind Healing allows a Black Widow to identify, diagnose, and treat mental illness and injuries. The Blood are extremely passionate creatures whose intense emotions are sometimes reflected by their psychic connection to the Darkness in such a way as to be damaging to the mind. Black Widows are uniquely capable of not only identifying these injuries and the damage they may cause to a person's chalice, but also repairing them.
A Black Widow with special skill in this Craft may be able to repair the most damaged of chalices to a point where there is almost no trace of the damage afterwards. Alternatively, a devious Black Widow may reverse this Craft, and create damage in a subtle way that is not easily detected by others.
Healer Craft
Animal Healing Animals are even more fragile than Landen, and it requires some special training to heal the broader categories of animals (Mammals, Reptiles, Fish etc.). This area of healing allows a healer to Calm the animal, once they touch them, Delve the animal accurately and mute their Jewel strength almost to Blood levels so that they do not burn the creature out to heal them.
A specialization in this area might allow an interpretation of the animal's body language, sounds and emotions, and to influence them as if the animal had been well trained. Or one might be able to heal the animal without touching, or even help large groups of small or tiny animals with one application of Craft, like a whole family of mice or swarm of bats.
* Bone Shaping This allows the correction of damage to the bones, from actually knitting a strain or break to supporting it until it heals itself. It allows the proper Healing of concussions by repairing the skull, and can correct some vision and hearing problems that are structural. It can correct some crippling injuries or birth defects, especially in the legs and arms. Perfect teeth is also within this area.
A specialization here could allow you to change a person's height, lengthen or shorten limbs. A Healer be able to trigger the regrowth of teeth or missing bone fragments. Or actually change the structure and shape of existing bones, altering faces or easing a birth.
* Curing Disease This allows a skilled healer to offer a likely diagnosis, prognosis and treatment for diseases. If they have the Jewel Strength they can even attempt to cleanse the body of the disease entirely. Genetic diseases may recur, and likewise, curing a disease in this fashion does not create the antibodies that would allow the patient to fight it off on their own in the future.
Someone with a specialization maybe able to actually cure genetic diseases, or impart a lasting immunity to a certain class of diseases. A specialty might be to correct diseases that are the result of structural impairments or previously contracted diseases, such as some types of infertility, blindness, or deafness.
Curing Poison This area identifies and analyzes specific toxins, from an allergy, to a drug or alcohol of choice, to actual, intentional poisons. Certain injuries, like being under a heavy weight for more than an hour or damage to organs can produce sufficient toxins to act like a poison. Once identified, the Healer will know both what is required to cleanse the toxin and how long they have before it is fatal. With sufficient Jewel strength, the Healer may be able to cleanse the toxins at once, or need to balance healing and cleansing over days or weeks to accomplish the healing.
A specialization might be to identify deliberately hidden, complex, or tailored poisons. It might be to efficiently heal the damage of the poison and thus gain sufficient time to cure it completely. Or perhaps allow a Healer to buffer a patient against future poisons for a specific amount of time. NOTE: In the case of designer poisons custom created by Black-Widows, the resolution would depend upon relative Jewel Strength, relative skill level, the basic toxicity of the Widow in question, and immediacy. If a slow acting poison had a long time to set in before it was detected, it would be correspondingly harder to eliminate.
Healing Tonics Healers make especially effective purgatives, tonics, and medicinals to ease disease and discomfort. Training in this area also allows the creation of specific antidotes and anti-venoms, such as against the brown recluse spider, the diamond back rattlesnake or arsenic. Skill is very critical in this area, though a darker Jeweled medicine would carry that much more power into its purpose. Pointless, against the common cold but life saving against pneumonia.
A specialization might be to collect and prepare herbs with more potency, or make the tonic effective against a broader spectrum of diseases. One might make them last longer, or create antidotes that are broad spectrum (all spiders). Perhaps create a Special Purgative (Craft antibiotic for a specific illness) or even a Preventative, to prevent infection.
Mending Flesh This covers all of the soft tissue in a body. Skin, muscles, ligaments and tendons. This is used most commonly for treating combat wounds, whether from Craft or from weapons. This is knitting wounds together, stabilizing organs and accomplishing Craft based surgery. In general, it is not re-creating what was lost; if an Eyrien's wings have been removed, they are gone; severed limbs that are lost (as opposed to preserved for reattachment) are normally gone. It is often used to mitigate or remove scaring, for distinctive and minor cosmetic alterations (like a face lift, or Botox).
Specializations might allow the repair of lost organs or limbs, depending upon Jewel strength. It might permit correcting genetic anomalies in organs. Or lead to greater and more permanent improvement to ones appearance, perhaps enough to irrevocably and undetectably change an identity, so long as the bone structure wasn't affected. Alternatively, a Healer may specialize in treating specific physiologies, such as a particular caste, or Eyriens or Landen.
* Reverse Healing This allows a Healer to detect and re-open previous wounds. This is a mystical ability that has more to do with turning back time on a wound than fighting the strength of the original Healing. While the revealed wound won't normally exceed the original in parameter, the shock and horror effect of this power cannot be under estimated.
A specialization in this area might increase the pain they feel from this and all wounds, might allow more than one wound to rip open at once, or might even make an open would deeper or worse that the original.
Priestess Craft
* Blood Magic A less common form of Priestess Craft, some Priestesses have learned to wield blood as a tool and connective agent in certain spells. Sharing blood with another enables them to initiate a spiritual and psychic intimacy with others that would be otherwise impossible. It is useful for helping others to heal spiritual wounds and to help them explore levels of the Darkness (via their connection to the Priestess) that they may otherwise be unable to reach.
Those with specialized training in this Craft typically have a specific feat they are trying to accomplish. They learn to combine Blood Magic with other forms of Craft to increase the flow of power from the Abyss to whatever effect they are attempting to create. For instance, one might bind Blood Magic with psychic sensing to be able to more vividly "read" the psychic impressions left on a place from a great deal further back in time than a witch can typically manage. Creativity is encouraged in defining this specialization, but the focus should be very narrow.
* Ceremonial & Ritual Craft This Craft specialty covers the most common ceremonies and rituals performed by Priestesses in all Territories, such as the Birthright Ceremony, Marriage Ceremonies, Funeral Rites, and the Offering. Priestesses alone possess the ability to assist someone with diving into the Darkness and emerging with their Jewels.
Those who have special training may learn more obscure rituals and ceremonies. These are most often used among Priestesses themselves, and are only occasionally requested by the most religious of the other castes. These less universally-known rituals might include a Rite of Contrition, Reconciliation Rites, the Bounty Ritual (Glacia only), or a Fertility Ritual, among others.
Communion Craft The act of communing with the Darkness typically involves a Priestess leading another Blood into the Darkness. The mechanics of the Craft itself will vary from culture to culture, but the essence is typically that the supplicant must clear their mind and meditate on the Darkness while descending into their inner well of power. When they rise again, their reservoir of power from the Abyss has been filled, and there is often a pleasant or even euphoric rush during the filling.
Those with specialized training in this Craft may have a deeper understanding of how to navigate the Darkness during Communion. They may expand beyond the normal role of guide during Communion and become a spiritual healer, helping to overcome obstacles that may keep a Blood from successfully Communing.
Connecting with the Darkness This Craft deals specifically with the ability to sense and manipulte the energy that fills the reservoirs of the Blood and fuels their Craft. Priestesses using this Craft may sense far more than the average person would concerning a target's Jewels and caste, including how full their personal reservoir of power is, or whether there is something obstructing the flow of that energy. While Communing with the Darkness can be likened to a Priestess leading a supplicant out into deep waters in a raft, [i]Connecting[/i] with the Darkness is more akin to a Priestess wading out on foot to touch those waters directly herself.
Those with unusual skill in this Craft may channel the force of the Darkness more willfully than their brethren. They may serve as a conduit for the Darkness and refill another Blood's reservoirs without the need for Communion, or may reverse the flow and siphon away that energy instead.
Queen Craft
Emotional Healing With the proper focus, a Queen may use her inherent skill with people to remedy chronic emotional issues of someone in her care. Trust issues, phobias, depression and anxiety are just some of the maladies that a Queen may be able to cure if the patient is willing.
An exceptionally skilled Queen may perform this sort of healing on someone who is either unaware or unwilling to consent to the healing. Alternatively, a Queen with enough malice may create these emotional issues as well, in a manner that is subtle enough that its source is nigh-undetectable.
* Geas More than anyone, Queens are keyed into what it means to serve and to be served. Some Dea al Mon Queens can learn a variant of the Contract Craft of Princes. A Geas differs from a typical contract in that it is an agreement between the Queen and another party, wherein some service of equal weight is traded between them. A Geas is typically concerned with holding a condition over the involved parties until a certain condition is fulfilled, such as preventing a person from sleeping until they have delivered a message. Once completed, there must be some compensatory service awaiting the working party, however. Only a Queen may dictate the terms of a Geas, though if the terms of the Geas are terribly unbalanced, the spell will sometimes fail.
A Dea al Mon Queen who is exceptionally skilled in this Craft may impose a Geas without the consent of the other party. This works much like a curse, in that specific conditions are set into the spell, and will persist until a second condition is met (ie, you cannot speak until a witch kisses you). Alternatively, a Queen may choose to set a condition that will occur upon the meeting of the second condition (ie: if you ever kiss a witch, you'll lose your voice). The same balance must apply, however; a Geas without just compensation for the targeted party who meets all criteria of the Geas will fail.
Land Sense Those trained in this Craft can feel the lay of the land without needing to physically explore it. Hidden caves, tunnels, lakes and other natural features become revealed to the caster's senses. She can also sense when a piece of land would be well-suited for a use she has in mind for it, such as the integrity of a plot where she wishes to have a structure built.
Those with extra training or skill in this Craft may delve the land, in a sense, to understand what may be deep below the surface. Blood with this skill are highly prized in Territories like Pruul and Glacia, where gemstone mines are plentiful and waiting to be found.
* Queen's Gift Queens are indelibly connected to the earth. One of their birthrights is the ability to feed their power directly into the land in order to help nourish it. A land that is well-tended by a Queen will yield more growth, be richer and more beautiful, and better support any living thing that attempts to dwell within or upon it. This Craft sometimes involves an elaborate ceremony, and sometimes is a far more casual work. Most frequently, the process involves the Queen opening a vein and bleeding her Craft-infused vitae directly into the earth.
Those with special training or natural adeptness in this skill may simply be able to enrich larger swatches of land with one offering. Or perhaps they are able to temper their Gift to encourage a certain kind of growth in the earth below: produce for farmland, grapes for vineyards, or even gemstones in the climates that would normally produce them. Alternatively, a Queen may learn to diagnose and "heal" the land if there are specific maladies afflicting it which resist traditional remedies.
* Queen's Touch With a touch and an expenditure of will and Craft, a Queen may impart to one of her Bonded males a sense of preternatural peace and fulfillment. The actual sensations felt will vary from pair to pair, but in general it is described as the feeling of being home after having been away for a long time, except the intensity of the feeling is multipled many times over. A Queen's Touch is used to calm, to soothe, to reassure, and to heal, and is one of the most commonly used tools in the arsenal the Darkness has gifted to Queens for the sake of managing her males.
Queens with special skill in this Craft may apply their soothing Touch to people other than their Bonded males. Alternatively, the Queen may have a particularly strong Touch, capable of altering the mood of the target more forcefully. Or perhaps the Queen's special skill in this Craft simply allows her to apply it at will without quite as sharp a drain on her Jewels.
Warlord
* Calming Rage Warlords have the unique ability to share their grounded, level-headed nature with their subordinates. Just as Warlord Princes may share their cold rage, Warlords are able to share their calm, allowing them to help their men keep their wits about them in situation where combat and carnage are not desired.
A very skilled Warlord may use this Craft on men who are not his subordinates. A very large difference in Jewel strength may mean that he cannot completely quell an angry Warlord Prince's rage, but he may still blunt or soften it, depending on his skill and the Warlord Prince's level of control.
* Rut Transference Warlords succumb to Ruts less frequently than Warlord Princes, but they are still susceptible. Unlike Warlord Princes, however, Warlords may learn to channel the energy of an oncoming Rut into other, safer activities. Most commonly, this transferred energy is used to fuel combat or shielding spells.
A Warlord who is particularly well-trained or skilled in this Craft may bleed off his excess energy in small amounts on a constant basis. By doing this, he prevents this energy from ever building up to the point where he is in danger of losing control of himself, and may endure his entire life without ever succumbing to a Rut.
Prince Craft
* Contracts Princes can construct Craft-laden documents upon which binding contracts are inscribed. Once signed by all parties and sealed by the Prince, a document made this way will be virtually indestructible unless and until the terms of the contract are fulfilled as described. The contract's scribe may summon it to himself at any time, no matter where it has been hidden.
Princes who have taken pains to train deeply in the art of contract-making sometimes learn to embed consequences into the pact made, so that if a contracted Blood fails to meet his or her agreed-upon obligations, some Craft-based malady will befall them. The wording of these consequences and the conditions that trigger them are extremely delicate and specific, and this Craft is rarely used lightly.
Diplomacy A Prince skilled in Diplomacy Craft gains an advantage in any situation where it is important to make a good impression. The employment of this Craft grants the Prince an uncanny insight into his target, and allows him to discern which way a conversation should go to present the best possible impression of himself anyone he represents. This Craft has no actual persuasive effect like Emotional Craft might; it merely clues the Prince in to things to say that will help him navigate tricky political waters without any sort of blunder or misstep.
A Prince with extra skill or training in this Craft is truly a political marvel. After spending a short amount of time in the presence of his target (or merely researching the person in question, sometimes), the Prince gains a supernatural insight into what his target might like to hear. His extra training may allow him to pick up the most subtle of clues, overlooked even by other Princes. Alternatively, it may allow him to assess multiple targets at once, or do so with extra panache that makes his words seem completely natural and genuine, rather than the tactical stroke they actually are.
Efficiency Princes are often the organizers and administrators of the Blood world. This is, in part, because they are naturally proficient at organizing and streamlining information and procedures. A Prince with this Craft can turn his attention to a particular task or system, and with a little effort gain an almost intuitive understanding of how to adjust it so that it will run as efficiently as possible. No court or business is complete without at least one Prince skilled in this Craft to help keep things running smoothly and briskly.
Princes who are exceptionally skilled in this Craft can learn to apply the same principles to matters outside of paperwork and processes. He can apply the same scrutiny to his own fighting style or fitness, and find ways to accomplish the same results as other men with far less effort on his part. The Princes who are most skilled in this Craft have learned to ply their discerning eyes to much larger endeavors, even to the movement of armies and task forces.
* Exploiting Weakness When confronted with a foe, a Prince may discern a weak point in his opponent's defense that even the most observant of the other castes may overlook. By employing this Craft, a Prince can instinctually determine where and how best to strike for the sake of doing the most damage with the most efficiency. This is not merely being well-trained; this is a supernatural effect that relies upon the Prince's inherent connection to the Darkness to reveal things to him that others cannot see.
Princes who are very skilled in this Craft may be able to discern even more than their caste-mates. They may receive revelation about how a target acquired a weakness, or how their opponent is likely to react when this weakness is exploited. Some exceptionally skilled Princes are able to construct a master strike in their minds from simply studying their opponents; once executed, these highly strategic blows run a high risk of incapacitating or killing the target with one stroke.
Warlord Prince Craft
Combat Craft No one loves a fight like a Warlord Prince. These men have perfected the art of combat, and no one has mastered the blending of physical skill with Craft the way Warlord Princes with this training can. This is a broad skill, encompassing strategy, strength management, resource management, and sheer fighting acumen.
Those exceptionally skilled in this Craft may have specialized in a particular style of fighting, or fighting under certain undesirable conditions (such as the deserts of Pruul of the icy mountains of Glacia).
Enhanced Battle Craft More than any other caste, Warlord Princes are prone to finding themselve in opposition of more than one enemy at a time. This is no longer merely a fight, but a BATTLE. A Warlord Prince trained in Battle Craft is more readily able to contend with multiple opponents, whether it's one Warlord Prince being ganged up on by a mob, or on a larger field of battle where he is not alone on his side.
Extra training in this Craft basically makes you Daredevil without the inconvenience of being blind. Go you.
* Hunter's Mark A Warlord Prince who has learned this Craft may use it to invisibly mark a specific person. That mark will act as a homing beacon for the Warlord Prince, so that he may locate its bearer later, even if there have been attempts made to hide the bearer's location. This is typically used when a Warlord Prince wishes to be able to quickly locate either his Queen, or his chosen partner when he nears a Rut. The mark must be periodically refreshed, as it fades in time.
Warlord Princes who excel in this Craft may target more than one person at a time with it, or may need to refresh the mark more infrequently than his less skilled brethren do.
* Incite Rage A Warlord Prince may share the cold rage of the Killing Edge with Princes and Warlords of his choosing. This can be done against the will of the target, and can be extremely dangerous. Most often, this is used to inflame the offensive strength of a group of males when the Queen they serve is under direct attack.
A Warlord Prince with extra training or skill in this Craft may wield a finer degree of control over its effects, bringing targets near to the Killing Edge without forcing them to lose control. Alternatively, a very skilled Warlord Prince may be able to incite female fighters as well as male. .
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