Les Filles de Mélusine

“We are the coils amidst the branches, the bloom upon the vine, and the fangs amongst the reeds.”

Description

## Origins

**Parentage:** Thrysus, Free Council
## Doctrine

**Prerequisites:** Spirit 2, Occult 2, and one of the following at 2 or higher: Animal Ken, Empathy, Science or Survival

**Initiation:** The Red Meal?

**Organization:**

## Magic

**Ruling Arcanum:** Spirit

**Yantras:** Working within a forest (+1); changing the enviroment to match with local Resonance (+2); using hand crafted fetishes (+1-3, function identically to sacrament yantras); presence of Essence in one's Pattern (+1, +2 if Essence exceeds Mana)

**Oblations:** Meditating upon the dichotomy of flesh and spirit; tending to natural plantlife; communing with the local spirits

### **First: The Wind's Whisper**

Prerequisites: Spirit 1, Initiation

*Coaxing the Spirit (Reach: Casting Time):*

In their efforts to perfect their own abilities and thus 'approach' the enlightened state of wisdom required to fully understand the Mysteries, a Seeker must first correct that most fallible of human capacities, memory. With a momentary effort a member of the Eyes may recall with vivid clarity a number of their own memories up to their Mind dots. These recollections are unerringly accurate in regards to all things the Seeker might have perceived at the time, even if they were not consciously aware of these details.

*Optional Arcanum: Life 1*

*Analyze Life (Reach: Casting Time):*

Before the daughters can truly pursue their shared goal of cultivation they must first understand the state of the creatures that surround them. The Fille may choose to study a living creature for a moment to gain insight into their state of health as well as general physical fitness (total dots in combined physical attributes).

### **Second: The Serpent's Eye**

Prerequisites: Spirit 2, Investigation 3

*Exorcist's Eye (Reach: Casting Time, Accelerated Mental Tasks):*

In order to better study the Mysteries they encounter, the Eyes must be able to hold and pursue multiple lines of inquiry in tandem so as not to be blinded by a preferred hypothesis. The Seeker may activate this attainment to allow themselves to pursue two primarily mental actions simultaneously. This effect persists for a number of turns equal to the Eyes' Mind dots + 1.

*Optional Arcanum: Life 2*

*Web of Life (Reach: Casting Time, Advanced Scale):*

By opening themselves to the song of life, the Daughters may tune their perceptions to detect the presence of living things within their vicinity. This effect allows them to detect any form of life they choose by focusing for a particular set of 'notes' and is effective out to an area approximately the size of a city block. Once they have begun to listen for this song, the Fille can remain focused on it for up to their Life dots in turns before they lose the melody and must stop to listen in again.

### **Third: The Voice of Waves**

Prerequisites: Spirit 3, One of Academics, Empathy, Occult or Expression at 3

*Opener of the Way (Reach: Advanced Duration):*

The observer cannot allow themselves to be influenced by that which they watch lest the entire exercise collapse into falsehood. The Seeker's take this truism to heart and use focused meditative exercises to erect a lasting mental shield over themselves which protects from all psychic influences as well as the touch of beings of the Astral. This barrier provokes a clash of wills against any such assault upon which the Eyes receive automatic successes equal to their Mind dots.

*Optional Arcanum: Life 3*

*Many Faces (Reach: Casting Time, Special):*

In order to fully study many Mysteries it is necessary to approach and engage with them. This can often provide a wealth of useful insights and opportunities for study, but it can also open the Seeker up to significant danger. In order to undertake their studies with some degree of confidence the Eyes have developed the power to erect short lived barriers of protective energy that can be used to defend themselves and those who might happen to have stumbled upon their experiment. With an act of will, the Seeker may extend this protection out to surround an area around themselves out to a couple meters. This field persists for 2 turns, and grants everyone within it a Withstand of the Eye's Prime dots against spells directly targeted at them.

### **Fourth:** **The Mother's Key**

Prerequisites: Mind 4, Investigation 4

*Augment Mind (Reach: Casting Time, Multiple Attributes):*

A scientist can only be as accurate as the tools he is given, and while a Seeker's tools are more numinous in nature, honing said implements is of paramount importance. With a moment's focus the Eye collapses the results of years worth of mnemonic exercises and cognitive training into a single supernal blast of insight. The Seeker may divide a number of points equal to their mind dots between any two Mental and Social attributes, raising them up to their normal limit for 3 turns.

*Optional Arcanum: Prime 4*

*Light Under a Bushel (Reach: Advanced Duration, Casting Time, Sensory Range):*

While the members of the Eyes strive to ensure perfect objectivity in their studies, any who have gone about the practice of truly scrutinizing a Mystery know just how difficult it can be to fully prevent one's influence from seeping in to contaminate things. This is of course doubly true for those with less refined skills as a researcher and in order to remedy this, the Seekers developed this attainment. With an effort of will, the Eye may choose two people they can see (they may target themselves) and grant them an additional number of scrutiny rolls equal to their Prime dots before risking corruption of any Mystery they study for the next 24 hours.

### **Fifth: The Singing Seed**

Prerequisites: Mind 5, One of Academics, Empathy, Occult or Expression at 4

*Gain Skill (Reach: Casting Time, Sensory Range):*

All puzzles can be approached through the same systems of logical thought and problem solving. For a master of the Eyes' philosophy this principle can be extended to almost any obstacle through a nigh-on transcendent exercise of their enhanced cognition. The Seeker may choose any skill and grant themselves a rating equal to their Mind dots (max 5) in it for 3 turns.

*Optional Arcanum: Prime 5*

*Supernal Dispellation (Reach: Casting Time, Complex Form):*

To understand a thing is to know the key to its unmaking, and the Seeker who has attained mastery of their arts can unpick the truths that underlie all magic. By speaking the antithesis of a particular spell into their cupped hand, the Eyes may conjure forth a luminous mass of high speech runes which they may press or toss onto the corresponding spell to suppress it for a period of 24 hours. This affects any spell with a potency of up to the Seeker's Prime dots.