Dislodge the Soul (Death • •, Prime •)
Practice: Ruling
Primary Factor: Duration
Withstand: Resolve
Suggested Rote Skills: Occult, Academics, Medicine
The Mage knocks the target’s soul ever so slightly out of alignment, neither removing the soul nor physically harming the target. This does however permit the mage to look “behind” the target’s soul, viewing them on a spiritual level so primitive that no part of the ego is present. While looking in such a manner, the Mage may make a Gnosis roll, if successful they regain a point of Willpower as they are affirmed by a glimpse of the individual’s “proto-soul”. This effect lasts only a single turn, and when it ends the mage can gain never gain any further information from that Sleeper’s soul.
This process is addictive, and almost every single Echo Walker will be addicted to the usage of this spell, suffering from the Addicted Persistent condition relating to the use of this spell on Sleeper souls. This addiction is one of the mind and soul and cannot be cured. For every week in which the Mage does not feed their addiction, they suffer the Deprived condition, these conditions can stack with cumulative effect.
The effect on the Sleeper’s soul is long-lasting and brutal, suffering a -1 on all Social rolls until his soul is realigned. This can be performed with a simple application of the practice of Compelling with the Death Arcanum (which suffice to say Echo Walkers see no reason to do). Sleepers can restore their soul by themselves however by engaging in a few hours of self-affirming connection with the rest of humanity, something that many however are incapable of doing. Therapy, spiritual counseling or positive attention can also restore such a soul, requiring success at a relevant roll.
Distressingly however, the most terrifying effects of the spell occur when an individual is forced into a situation where
they must rely upon their sense of identity. Any Breaking Point a Sleeper suffers while under the effects of a dislodged soul automatically fail, and they are unable to resolve conditions generated by such failures until their soul is realigned. Furthermore, any spell, ability or effect which seeks to affect their soul gains an automatic +2 bonus. This many will notice is in many ways far more harsh than the side effects of merely removing one’s soul. This is in fact because more than merely having lost a fundamental part of their constitutive essence, the Sleeper’s soul is active working against them, disjointed and reducing them to a mindless, psychosis-riddled beast.
Many Echo Walkers do however Inure this spell, which can leave its aftermath even more horrifying, with the touch of the Abyss lingering in the dislodged Sleeper’s soul.