Shadow Theft

Cost: 30 motes
Target: One creature

This spell traps a victim's shadow in a crystal orb. The spell requires a small globe of rock crystal (costing Resources 2) set inside an orichalcum cage (costing Resources 4, but reusable).

The spell itself takes one hour to complete. At its end, the target's shadow disappears, and inky blackness swirls in the center of the orb. The sorcerer can then remove the crystal ball from the orichalcum cage. The target's shadow remains trapped until the caster releases it, Sapphire Countermagic targets the globe, or the orb is destroyed.

As long as the globe holds the shadow, the victim feels a Compulsion to recover it. She can tell what direction her shadow lies just by closing her eyes and thinking about it. The victim can ignore the Compulsion for 28 days by spending a point of Willpower. However, every two months that pass without recovering her shadow halves the duration for which a Willpower expenditure grants reprieve. After the first two months, spending Willpower grants immunity for 14 days, then 7 days, until the tenth month, when the victim can resist the Compulsion for one day by spending Willpower.

On the one-year anniversary of the loss of her shadow, the victim's Motivation goes into abeyance and a new Motivation takes its place: "Recover my shadow." Once she fulfils this artificial Motivation, her old one returns. A character gains no benefit from fulfilling this artificial Motivation (such as it counting as training time for raising permanent Essence).

Using the Shadow-Orb

Cost: 5m (committed)
Target: The creature whose shadow is within the orb

A sorcerer can merely hold a person's shadow for ransom, but the orb possesses two other functions.

• The trapped shadow serves as an arcane link to the victim. It can replace any other arcane link a spell may require. The target always knows if her shadow is used as a sorcerous link back to her.

• The sorcerer may spend five motes to see through the target's eyes. This shared vision lasts for one minute, but that is often enough to discern the target's location and her current activities. The sorcerer's player rolls (Perception + Occult) to do so, and this roll may benefi t from Excellencies. The target receives a reflexive (Wits + [[[Integrity]] or Occult]) roll to resist. Regardless of whether the victim wins this contest, her player also attempts a reflexive (Perception + Occult) roll, with a difficulty equal to the sorcerer's Essence, to realize that her shadow was just used to see through her eyes.