The Clay of Warped Dreams

Cost: 60m (committed)
Target: Area

As she stands in the damned grandeur of the Labyrinth, with not a living thing around her, the caster utters a 10-minute prayer to the black will of the Neverborn. As she finishes, the whitest Essence seeps from the walls and floors around the three sacrificial ghosts she brought with her. They fade from existence and become nothing, swallowed by white Oblivion to appease the fickle dreaming of the Neverborn that is the Labyrinth. Once cast, the character gains complete control over (Essence x 10) cubic miles of the Labyrinth, in any configuration she desires. Landscapes appear as she imagines them, becoming her playground instead of the expression of the Neverborn's nightmares. Controlling the area's shape gives the caster the following abilities:

• Her player can make a (Perception + Occult) roll for the caster to notice any space within the affected area than she cannot normally see. Using this ability adds to her attempts to detect concealed entities a number of automatic successes equal to her Essence.

• She can manifest physical attacks on creatures within the Labyrinth, such as scythes of sharpened bone or needles of crystallized bile. Her player rolls (Wits + [appropriate combat Ability]) for the attack, which has Rate 1, and adds a number of automatic successes equal to her Occult rating.

• She always has 90% hard cover as sheathes of petrified flesh slide between her and her foes and ropes of wire-strong intestines interfere with their attacks. * She can create poisonous gases using (Intelligence + Craft [Water]) and introduce dangerous creatures into her section of the Labyrinth at will. Creating an original, dangerous creature this way requires an (Intelligence + relevant Craft) roll, and doing so is time-consuming. * Trapping others in her creation, such as in a featureless room of impenetrable teeth or a vast maze of slavering tongues, is possible without too much difficulty. It is hard to contain the Exalted, however.

The caster retains her control as long as she commits the Essence or until a Neverborn stirs enough to reclaim it. Neverborn rarely care enough to do so, and never sooner than a day after the spell has been cast. Once the spell has been relinquished, whether the area changes rapidly or slowly depends entirely on the flows of the Labyrinth. Deathlords use this spell to provide a suitably grandiose location for their rare convocations. Only the wariness they feel about their peers and the spell's Essence cost prevent hosts from abusing their powers.