Indolent Official Charm

Cost: 5m; Mins: Bureaucracy 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Deft Official's Way

The Lawgiver may use her power to slow as well as hasten a bureaucracy. Through use of this Charm, the Solar may bring the wheels of a government to a grinding halt with regards to a single task. Documents will be lost at every turn, every petty official who could possibly interfere or request a bribe will do so, and petitions and important requests will inevitably end up neglected at the bottom of the pile. For every point of Essence the Exalt possesses, the investigation is delayed by one degree, from days to weeks, weeks to months, months to seasons, and seasons to years. Thus an Essence 2 Solar could delay an investigation that would take a week, causing it to take an entire season.

The Solar need not be party to a matter to delay it. She can speculate on an investigation she is unaware of, committing motes against the possibility of such an investigation in the future. For example, she could stymie "The ongoing secret police investigation into my business" without being certain such an investigation were occurring. However, even though this Charm will defend her against such intrigues, this Charm will not inform her as to whether such an investigation exists or is ongoing. The Solar may stack this Charm (Essence) times, protecting herself against an equal number of different investigations.