Threefold Binding of the Heart
Cost: 30 motes
Target: One being
Ropes of orange and yellow light coil around the target and wrap around her spine, ending in three knots through the heart of the victim of the type fishermen of the Coral Archipelago swear will never work loose.
Mortals are snared automatically. Against Essence wielders, the sorcerer attempts a magical social attack. His player rolls (Manipulation + Occult), adding a number of automatic successes equal to his Essence, against the target's Dodge [[MDV]]. If this attack succeeds, the victim is under an unnatural mental influence that creates a Compulsion effect (a powerful Intimacy to the sorcerer), an Emotion effect (love) and a Servitude effect. Since powerful beings often have ways to resist these effects, sorcerers prefer to cast Threefold Binding of the Heart on Essence wielders who are asleep or unconscious, rendering the target's Mental DV inapplicable.
A victim of this binding falls madly in love with the sorcerer. This love can manifest as anything from a lover's sexual passion to a soldier's patriotic loyalty, depending on what cues the sorcerer gives the victim. The victim feels these emotions are true and genuine, but others can see how the victim is ensorcelled. This devotion is absolute, and the victim might go out of her way to remove anything that distracts or contradicts her connection with the sorcerer—even murdering people she used to love if they try to keep her from her beloved master.
A spellbound victim can spend a point of Willpower to resist a direct command or three Willpower to resist the sorcerer's control for a scene, but she needs an overwhelming reason to do so—such as being ordered to do something against her core morals or something she knows will harm the master's interests. Eroding the spell-forged Intimacy is quite difficult. Doing so requires a number of successful social attacks equal to the sorcerer's (Occult + Essence) to break the Intimacy. For each day that passes, one successful attempt is negated, "regenerating" the Intimacy.
On the subject's birthday, however, she is granted an unconscious attempt to break free from the Threefold Binding. Savants attribute this reprieve to the gods of the days. Each day in the year has a god, and these gods note the fates written in the stars for everyone born on their day. Threefold Binding of the Heart forces a blatant change to a victim's fate, unlike the more subtle changes to destiny that Sidereals create. Such clumsy changes anger the day gods, so on the day it is most powerful, the victim's day god try to unravel the knots through the target's heart. On this day, the target's player makes a reflexive (Wits + Integrity) roll, with a difficulty equal to the sorcerer's Essence. This roll may not be augmented by Charms, channeling Virtues or spending Willpower, though. The subject doesn't want to break the bond and does not even know the opportunity has occurred. If the roll succeeds, however, the Threefold Binding frays, and she is freed. to realize what the sorcerer did to her.