Soul-Cleaving Wound
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Thrown 5, Essence 3; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, Crippling, Obvious, Stackable
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Artful Maiming Onslaught, Ravening Mouth of Melee
The Abyssal's attack fades to intangibility at the moment of contact, inflicting spiritual injuries instead of physical damage. Provided that the augmented Melee attack inflicts one or more levels of damage, this Charm replaces all levels with a Crippling effect that wounds a trait chosen by the Abyssal. Multiple injuries from this Charm do stack. Possible options include:
Essence: The victim loses one dot of Essence, recalculating the size of derived traits and bleeding off any motes in excess of the new Essence pool size. Characters cannot activate Charms that require a higher Essence rating than their diminished souls can provide, though they regain access to these Charms as soon as they restore their Essence to appropriate levels. Beings who are reduced to Essence 0 instantly die, their life force snuffed out by Oblivion's touch.
Virtues: The victim loses one dot from each Virtue (minimum rating of 1), wasting any channels remaining in excess of her new ratings and altering her behavior appropriately. The Virtue used for an Exalt's current Limit Break condition cannot be drained this way.
Willpower: The victim loses two dots of Willpower, as well as all Willpower points in excess of her new rating. Beings reduced to Willpower 0 shuffle through life like the spent husks left by the Fair Folk, entirely without identity or volition.
For mortals and creatures of the Wyld, the damage inflicted by this Charm is permanent without powerful magical treatment or normal experience expenditure. Essence-wielders who are not creatures of the Wyld require a day of rest to overcome each use of this Charm on them, during which time they cannot respire Essence or heal in other ways. Activating Transcendent Hero's Meditation instantly ignites a Solar back to full power and flares her anima to its iconic level of display.