Naming (Art)

Names hold power, and few are so keenly aware of the potency of titles than the Kithain. Discovering a changeling’s True Name grants authority over the faerie, but those who seek a mystic understanding of Naming cantrips can reveal hidden truths, set others on dangerous or heroic paths, and even fundamentally alter someone or something by inscribing a new name into the ledger of the Dreaming.

## Unleashing Naming

The study of Naming begins with revealing what is hidden, and graduates to enforcing one’s will through new titles and definition. Unleashed Naming puts awesome power into the voice and eyes of the changeling brave or foolish enough to invoke it with raw Glamour. Unleashed Naming can uncover secrets or something hiding, empower the changeling temporarily, or rework a small piece of reality to her whim.

## Naming Bunks

Naming cantrips often involve meticulous ritual, but can also focus more on word play, songs, and writing. Example bunks: Write a novel and then burn the only copy, repeat the full name of the target three times in her presence, inscribe runes of blood onto your skin, name every bone in the body, or yell the names of the seven dwarfs in seven different languages.

## Naming Cantrips

### Between the Lines

Discernment is the first lesson of Naming magics. Until the changeling can understand the real message in anything said or written, she cannot understand seek the intimate knowledge hidden within True Names. Deceptively powerful, Between the Lines empowers the Kithain to understand any language or learn the intended meaning behind anything she can see or hear.

An eshu deciphers the ancient warning of a guardian’s curse written outside the cave before journeying inside, a clurichaun understands a request for help in a language he has never heard before, or the sidhe effortlessly constructs a puzzle box containing a clue to his lost king’s whereabouts.

**System:** The Realm dictates the source of the message. The changeling would use Prop to read a book written in code, Actor to understand someone speaking in a foreign language, Nature to understand messages passed by songbirds, or Fae to unravel the riddles spouted by an ancient chimera. Any number of successes allows the changeling to understand a written cypher or foreign language, but each success adds an extra die to any pool for contested actions meant to reveal the truth or see through lies during the current scene.

**Type:** Chimerical

### Nickname

Before a changeling develops the talent and discernment needed for uncovering True Names, she learns to apply a more cursory label to something or someone. The effect fades over time, but the target’s identity warps and bends to the nickname provided by the changeling. While the cantrip stays in place, everyone around the focus of the cantrip sees them through the lens of the Nickname.

A nocker begins calling her mother-in-law “warthog,” and the poor woman begins to snort when she laughs. After an arrogant sidhe stole her girlfriend, the jilted piskey nicknames her ex “stilts,” causing people to see her long, beautiful legs as too long and comical.

**System:** The Realm determines what can be given a Nickname. For the duration of the cantrip, people (even strangers) unconsciously refer to the target by the given moniker. If the target is an inanimate object, it conforms to the spirit of the nickname. A car nicknamed “clunker” doesn’t start reliably and sputters down the road. An impressive magnum revolver nicknamed “peashooter” fires bullets that barely break skin. Nickname a street “Murder Lane,” and suddenly it attracts those making illicit deals and seeking violent confrontations.

If applied to a changeling, mortal, or other sentient creature, the target cannot regain Willpower unless she acts in accordance with the spirit of the Nickname. The number of successes determines the duration:

 2
 3
 4
 5

**Type:** Wyrd

### Saining

The ability to discern True Names is the heart of Naming magic. Once the changeling can label the inherent nature of the subject, she gains profound insight into who or what they are, as well as power to wield any magic against them with little resistance. The power the Naming mystic gains over someone may first seem beneficial, but loyalties shift, friends become enemies, and nothing remains secret forever.

**System:** The number of successes required to uncover a target’s True Name depends on the sophistication of the subject. A block of wood does not significantly change in the time spent searching for the name, and possesses no self determination to complicate the cantrip. The True Name of a changeling, Prodigal, or powerful chimera, on the other hand, can require an extensive amount of time and quite a bit of danger.

Saining cantrips normally involve an extended action, but each roll requires either the immediate presence of the subject or some intimate attachment or piece of information about her or it. The changeling must accumulate a number of successes equal to the target’s (Willpower x 3).

Once she discerns the subject’s True Name, she receives a –5 to the difficulties of all cantrips and contested rolls where magic is involved with the target.

**Type:** Wyrd

### Runic Imprint

Having learned to see the true nature of anything around her, the changeling now becomes versed in the ancient language of runes and how to apply them to strengthen her allies or weaken her foes. The Runic Imprint cantrip always involves writing or physical movement to form the rune on or near the target. Afterward, the changeling can mold the basic attributes of the cantrip’s focus as she sees fit.

The sidhe’s bodyguard becomes stronger and faster while protecting her. A boggan’s spiteful boss curses while his brand new sports car sputters down the road like an old jalopy.

**System:** The character begins an extended action and the player must spend a point of Glamour each time she rolls to add successes to the cantrip. After completing the cantrip and drawing (even if just in the air or dirt) the rune, the subject of the cantrip (as determined by the Realm) receives reduced or enhanced Attributes. The player applies the number of successes rolled as she wishes to determine the impact and duration of the cantrip.

Each success applied to the power of the cantrip equals one dot in an Attribute the player can add or subtract from the target. The number of successes applied to duration are as follows:

 2
 3
 4
 5

When used on an object or anything without Attributes, she can influence the basic function or capabilities of the thing to make it fundamentally better or weaker. The Storyteller should arbitrate the number of successes for the desired change.

**Type:** Wyrd

### Reweaving

After learning the True Name of the subject, a master of Naming can rewrite that name, fundamentally changing the target. Seelie could become Unseelie, Legacies could be changed, etc. The cantrip cannot change the physical form of a living creature, but objects can be literally transformed: A brick becomes a flower, or a fish transforms into sand. Even places can be changed and their purpose or structure redefined.

A satyr musician transforms an assault rifle into a Les Paul, lost and seeking comfort, a childling sluagh reweaves an abandoned gas station into a bustling circus, or seeking vengeance against her brother’s killer, an eshu inflicts him with a dangerous addiction.

**System:** The Realm determines who or what is affected, but additional Realms must be used if the changeling wishes to transform one thing physically into another (Nature and Prop to transform a cat into a gun for example). The player rolls an extended action and must spend a point of Glamour and a point of Willpower for each roll. She splits the number of successes between the potency of the change and the duration.

 2
 3
 4
 5

 2
 3
 4
 5

**Type:** Wyrd