Face-Drinking Bite

Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Larceny 4, Essence 2; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Illusion
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Any Larceny Excellency

This Charm enhances an Abyssal's innate bite attack, allowing her to absorb a victim's visage with the stolen Essence. The Abyssal gains no motes from the attack but must have been able to do so for this Charm to function. As Face-Drinking Bite activates, the Abyssal's outward appearance shimmers and warps into an exact likeness of the victim. Current clothing may be copied as part of the ruse, though an actual disguise is more versatile since it may be removed without disappearing. For as long as the mask remains intact, the Abyssal replaces her Appearance rating with the victim's at the time of the bite. This perfect unnatural Illusion fools all senses, even those with superhuman acuity, though anyone with reason to suspect a ruse may spend four Willpower points to see past it and perceive the Abyssal as she truly is for one day. (This stricter scrutiny costs only one Willpower point if the skeptic has seen through the specific illusion before). Onlookers with any form of Essence-based perception (such as Measure the Wind or All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight) also see through this Charm automatically without effort on their part.

Keep in mind that most people do not immediately leap to the conclusion that a person who acts strangely is actually a doppelganger unless they have experience with such tricks.