Contract (Art)

Oaths have always been of paramount importance to the fae. Legends speak of ages past, when reality bowed to the least whims of the lords of Arcadia, and the Dreaming served as the medium for tests of will between fae magicians. In such a wild age, the only constants among the fae were those promises to which they bound themselves, and those agreements they entered into and sealed with Glamour.

While oaths still play a great role in the society of the Kithain, the simple and codified rituals of common oaths pale in comparison to the Art of Contracts, which allows the power brokers of the changeling world to bind oaths of power, punish oathbreakers, and seal witting or unwitting participants into binding agreements enforced by the power of the Dreaming itself.

Contract is most often practiced by nockers, eshu, sidhe, and some trolls. Boggans generally disdain the Art, believing that if a fellow cannot be trusted on a simple handshake, he is unworthy of their attention or efforts, while pooka and piskies prefer not to be bound at all.

## Unleashing Contract

Contract Unleashings are unusual in that they allow the changeling a great degree of power to make demands of the Dreaming, focused on either the deployment of the Art itself or on those who have been bound by it. Contractual Unleashings are best used with great caution, as the Dreaming gives little heed to anything other than their core demand. For example, a sidhe noble looking for a warrior willing to undertake an oath to complete a difficult quest might demand that the Dreaming reveal to him one who would be willing to assent to the contract, and the Unleashing might comply…by revealing a fearless blackguard of a redcap. Unleashings directed at existing contracts are more common. Something like “show me Sir Caobahn’s progress upon our matter of business” is a common Unleashing, as are “bring the oathbreaker Silas Miller to my court, now” and the fairly risky “I call upon the Dreaming to send some aid to speed this matter toward successful resolution.”

## Contract Bunks

Contract bunks tend to involve common binding rituals, displays of sincerity or vexation, and writing. Examples include: Draw up a formal contract, mix up a batch of high-quality ink from scratch, bite your thumb, spit in your hand, kiss someone on both cheeks, drain a drink and toss the glass into a fire, step on a bottle, give someone a ring, sign your name in wet concrete, graffiti your name on a highly-visible wall, recite a target’s name, social security number, and home address thrice, read the fine print of any advertisement or contract aloud, very quickly, sign your name in blood, or convince someone to tattoo your name on their body.

## Contract Cantrips

### Done Deal

“Very well,” the sidhe says, clasping hands with the pooka. “Should you bring the warlock to face the justice of my court, you have my word that knighthood will be your reward.” A warm glow of Glamour suffuses their hands, scribing the promise onto the heart of the Dreaming.

This powerful cantrip allows the changeling to enter into binding oaths with others, or to sanctify oaths she formally witnesses. Those who break agreements and contracts sealed with Glamour are punished by the very forces of the Dreaming itself

**System:** Done Deal is an unusual cantrip, in that Realms modify its basic effect rather than strictly dictating who and what can be targeted — the “primary target” is always the agreement itself.

As long as at least one Realm can be brought to bear, the changeling may always use Done Deal to enter into contracts with other people; if she lacks Fae or Actor, she may use Prop or Nature to weave an object or locale into the deal as the binding element. Officiating a contract between other individuals requires the relevant ratings in applicable Realms (thus, sanctioning a contract between a troll and a mortal would require Fae and Actor), though the changeling may still weave in Prop or Nature as well if she desires.

Done Deal can only sanctify formal agreements between the changeling and other characters, or between other characters who have agreed that the changeling should act as a witness or notary to the contract. Casual agreements (“sure, I’ll pick up the check” or “I’ll try to make it to your little-league game”) aren’t valid targets for Done Deal — at bare minimum, a formal promise is required.

When an individual breaks an agreement bound by Done Deal, they normally suffer a number of auto - matic botches equal to the successes on the cantrip’s activation roll, which the Storyteller doles out at the most dramatically appropriate and poetically ironic moments. If the oath was sanctified around a place (with the Scene Realm), that place becomes the oathbreaker’s bane; for a number of scenes equal to the successes on the cantrip’s activation roll, while the oathbreaker is in the binding location, 1s, 2s, and 3s all subtract successes and can create botches. (These scenes are only ‘spent’ when the oathbreaker is present; one cannot wait out a Contract curse by any means save total avoidance of the baneful ground.) If the oath was sanctified around an object, that object becomes the oathbreaker’s bane. All attempts by the oathbreaker to use it suffer the same penalty as with cursed ground, and any attempts to use the object against the oathbreaker gain a number of bonus dice equal to the successes on the activation roll.

**Type:** Chimerical

### Liar ’ s Bell

The selkie looks up from her motley’s conversation, suddenly heartsick. Somewhere, she knows, her husband has just betrayed her. She rises without a word, and before her friends can ask what’s wrong, she is gone.

As the changeling’s mastery over Contracts grows, she becomes highly attuned to breaches in the binding Glam - our she laid down. She becomes instantly aware whenever some - one has broken a contract she sanctified — she doesn’t necessarily know where or why, but she does know who and when. Moreover, it becomes easy for her to use the Arts of Glamour to seek the oathbreaker

**System:** This cantrip modifies Done Deal, and doesn’t need to be invoked on its own. In addition to alerting the changeling to broken oaths, it reduces by one the difficulty and Glamour cost of any cantrips used to locate or travel to the oathbreaker’s location for a number of days equal to the changeling’s Glamour rating, or until she stands in the oathbreaker’s presence, whichever comes first. Liar’s Bell’s effects are automatic and permanent.

**Type:** Chimerical

### Castigate

Denied her promised reward, the sluagh retreated to her home. If the sidhe knight would not raise his blade to protect her as promised, then she saw no reason why he should be able to wield it at all and, with a vicious gesture, dreamed up a poison and sent it to live in the hilt of his favored sword.

The changeling not only knows when someone has broken an oath she sanctified, she may reach out to inflict her own punishment upon the oathbreaker, in addition to the normal penalties of violating a Contract.

**System:** This cantrip modifies Liar’s Bell, creating an automatic bridge between the changeling and the oathbreaker at the moment a contract is violated. The changeling may reflexively target the oathbreaker with any one cantrip she knows in that moment, as though they stood before her, even if she lacks the Fae or Actor Realms; she may target her cantrip through whatever Realm she used to sanctify the oath.

**Type:** Chimerical

### Casual Contract

This fearful enchantment grants the changeling power over even the most casual of agreements, allowing her to sanctify careless commitments (“sure, I’ll be there”), idle boasts (“if that redcap sets foot in this bar, I’ll whip him and his whole motley all at once”), and even sarcastic rejoinders (“oh, of course I’ll support Duke Dray, loving nobles so much as I do”).

**System:** This cantrip permanently modifies Done Deal.

**Type:** Chimerical

### Sanctified Words

This awesome cantrip allows the changeling to weave additional Glamour into a contract, granting potent blessings to those bound by it. The power of Sanctified Words can only be used to assist in carrying out the contract, but some oaths can be very broad indeed (“I swear to protect the Duke with my life”).

**System:** Successes on the activation roll for Done Deal, in addition to setting the severity of the oath, may be used to buy enchantments from the list below. Spending successes to purchase enchantments does not lessen the severity of a broken oath.

* **Favor of the Mists (1 success per die):** The oathbound gains a pool of extra dice to draw upon in each scene, which may be added to any roll that upholds the contract. This pool refreshes at the beginning of each scene
* **Fortified Will (1 success per Willpower point):** The oathbound gains a pool of extra Willpower points to draw upon, which may be spent at any time to uphold the contract. This pool refreshes at the beginning of each story.
* **Questing Token (1 success):** The oathbound gains a chimerical token, seal, or sigil they may display as proof that they are undertaking the terms of whatever their contract might be. This blessing is most often given to questing knights undertaking contracts at the behest of powerful nobles. Beings of the Dreaming inherently recognize and understand the meaning of such tokens.
* **Bond of Glamour (2 successes per Glamour point):** The oathbound gains a pool of additional Glamour to draw upon, which may be spent at any time to uphold the contract. This pool refreshes at each sunrise (if the oathbound is Seelie) or sunset (if Unseelie).
* **Arcadian Inspiration (2 successes):** In the moment when all seems hopeless and it appears that the contract cannot be fulfilled, the oathbound may call upon Arcadian Inspiration to show some path, clue, or blazing inspiration that might lead them to a solution. The exact form this takes is up to the Storyteller. Arcadian Inspiration can only be used once per story.
* Bestowment (3 successes): The oathbound is granted a single Bestowment (see Enchanted Mortals) so long as they uphold the tenets of the contract.
* **Vindication (3 successes):** At the moment the contract is successfully completed, the oathbound loses three points of Banality. A character may only benefit from this enchantment once per story.

**Type:** Chimerical