Contracts of Communion

Instead of commanding or becoming an element, changelings who choose to pursue Contracts of Communion learn to communicate with the element and can eventually relate to their chosen element on a deeply personal level. As with Contracts of Elements, Contracts of Communion are purchased separately, each Contract attuning itself to one particular element. For example, a character assigning all his beginning five dots in Contracts could purchase Communion •• (Water) and Communion ••• (Ice), or Communion • (Fire), Communion •• (Earth) and Communion •• (Metal). Similarly, learning new versions of already known clauses is half the cost (round down) of learning a new Contract.

## Sense Element (•)

The changeling first learns to precisely sense her chosen element. The results of this differ from one element to the next, but in all cases, she can sense the precise location and form of the element.

* **Cost**: 1 Glamour
* **Dice Pool**: Wits + Wyrd
* **Action**: Instant
* **Catch**: The changeling sits and meditates for at least 10 minutes and makes a successful meditation roll.

Roll Results

* Dramatic Failure: The character’s perceptions become confused, and she experiences a –2 penalty to all Wits rolls involving perception for the next full scene.
* Failure: The Contract does not allow the character to perceive the element.
* Success: The character can precisely locate all instances of the element within Wyrd x 10 yards of her. She knows where all of these instances are and their precise shape. Sensing metal allows the character to sense all knives, guns or other metal weapons within range as well as learning whether the guns are loaded or have their safeties on. Sensing electricity allows the character to determine the exact location of all wiring behind the walls of a house or other building. When using this clause in conjunction with an appropriate talent (sensing metal while picking a metal lock, for instance), success provides a +1 bonus to all appropriate rolls to work with the element. When sensing fluid or intangible elements such as water, air or shadow, the character learns the location and general shape of anything surrounded by these elements. Sense Element (Air) allows the changeling to clearly perceive the shape of every person and object within range, just as Sense Element (Water) allows the character do to the same with anything and anyone who is underwater. This does not allow the character to detect entities concealed by supernatural power, though; the power interferes with what is, after all, a rather basic trick. The changeling must still make perception rolls where appropriate; a character hiding from the Elemental usually still gets the benefit of stealth, as remaining close to cover can deceive the clause. The clause’s effects last for one scene.
* Exceptional Success: The character can sense the element at a range of Wyrd x 25 yards.

## Primordial Voice (••)

The character can talk to the element and ask it about past events that it may have sensed. The character can only learn about fairly recent information, but otherwise the element tells the character what she wishes to know. However, the character can only ask the element about events that occurred near where she is asking the question. This clause can be used once per scene.

* **Cost**: 1 Glamour
* **Dice Pool**: Socialize + Wyrd
* **Action**: Instant
* **Catch**: The character makes a minor offering to the element — polishing metal she is going to talk to, sweeping flagstones, singing for the air, adjusting the lights to make shadows larger, etc. In addition to the effort involved, such efforts also take at least a few minutes of time.

Roll Results

* Dramatic Failure: The character receives false or misleading information from the element.
* Failure: The character learns nothing from the element.
* Success: The character can ask the element about anything that occurred within the last day. Each additional success rolled allows the character to ask about events that occurred another day before. Rolling three successes allows the character to learn about events three days ago. For the next five minutes, the character can talk to every example of the chosen element that is within Wyrd x 3 yards. The information the element provides depends upon the particular element the changeling is talking to. Light provides visual images of the past, air provides sounds, including speech, while solid objects can provide details of how and when they were used, including images of the fingerprints or handprints of anyone that touched the objects. The elements can also answer general questions such as if anyone touched or walked through them in the last 12 hours as well as the number of people and when such events occurred. Details are typically inexact; the air in an office will probably differentiate between “worker” and “visitor,” but may not know the difference between “male” or “female.”
* Exceptional Success: In addition to being able to reply to questions about events up to five days in the past, the element is helpful and talkative, possibly offering potentially useful information without being asked or volunteering details about a situation that the character might not have otherwise asked about.

## Distant Connection (•••)

The changeling can share the senses and experiences of distant examples of her element. In addition, with additional effort, she can ask these distant examples of the element to perform actions for her.

* **Cost**: 2 Glamour and (optional) 1 Willpower
* **Dice Pool**: Wyrd + Persuasion
* **Action**: Instant
* **Catch**: The character wishes to share the senses or ask a favor of an example of the element she is extremely familiar with, such as the wood of or air in her home or the metal in her car.

Roll Results

* Dramatic Failure: The character temporarily loses connection with her element and suffers a –2 penalty to all Contracts of Communion and the Elements for the next scene.
* Failure: The changeling cannot communicate with the element.
* Success: The changeling is able to share the senses and experiences of manifestations of her chosen element beyond the range of her senses. For ubiquitous elements such as air, earth or water on a lake or ocean, the character can sense the element and all major disturbances in it at a range equal to Wyrd x 30 yards. For elements that are not ubiquitous, such as fire, electricity or metal, the character has a range of Wyrd x 300 yards. A character using this Contract on air or on water while out on a lake could sense any large relatively rapidly moving objects such as cars or trucks, boats, large fish or submarines. Similarly, a character sensing fire could locate every lit match, candle, campfire or cigarette within range, and a character sensing water in a city could sense every pipe full of water as well as every drinking fountain, fire hydrant or tap that was in use. In addition to sensing the element, the character can also focus her attention on a specific manifestation of the element. She then extends her senses so that she can see an area around a specific lit cigarette or running faucet or see any specific location containing a ubiquitous element, such as air. The character can see and hear everything occurring within a radius of (Wyrd) yards, centered on the manifestation of the element. If the character spends a point of Willpower and makes another Wyrd + Persuasion roll, she can persuade a single manifestation of the element to briefly become more powerful and direct its power. The character could make a lit cigarette burst into flame and potentially set anything within a few inches on fire. She could also cause a light bulb to explode, a running tap to surge with water and splash everyone within a few feet of it, an electrical socket could shock someone a foot or two away or air to blow papers off a desk or a hat off someone’s head. None of these elemental manifestations can be stronger than the element could theoretically do on its own — a cigarette cannot suddenly flare up into a campfire, and none of these bursts of power last more than one turn. The character can affect the element as often as desired, but each attempt costs one point of Willpower.
* Exceptional Success: The character can affect a manifestation of the element that she is looking through for an entire scene by spending one point of Willpower and can affect any manifestation of the element she is perceiving. Exceptional successes on either the initial roll or the roll to affect the element have the same effect.

## Elemental Servitor (••••)

The changeling can call up the element to act as her willing ally.

* **Cost**: 3 Glamour
* **Dice Pool**: Wyrd + Persuasion
* **Action**: Instant
* **Catch**: The changeling performs a significant favor for the element, such as thoroughly cleaning a public fountain, spending an hour or more polishing a large stone statue or hanging up ribbons and bits of paper for a wind to blow immediately before using this clause.

Roll Results

* Dramatic Failure: The servitor animates (see below) for two turns, but it reacts in a wild, unpredictable and dangerous fashion and will attack anyone nearby, including the changeling.
* Failure: The character fails to animate the element.
* Success: The changeling successfully persuades the element to become animate and act as his ally for the next full scene. The element becomes an intelligent elemental being capable of obeying the changeling’s commands and observing the world. The elemental being is approximately as intelligent as an especially smart dog. The elemental being can obey any relatively simple command and notices obvious threats or dangers to the changeling or itself. The changeling must touch, or at least place her hand within a foot or so of the portion of the element she wishes to animate. The amount of element the changeling can animate is equal to five square yards of volume per point of the changeling’s Wyrd. In addition to any advantages granted by the element (such as fire being able to burn flammable objects), these elemental beings also gain Power, Finesse and Resistance Attributes similar to ghosts or spirits. The elemental being’s Power and Resistance equal the changeling’s Wyrd, and the elemental being’s Finesse equals the number of successes the changeling rolled when using this Contract. However, the changeling can only animate the amount of the element present. If she can animate water and is in a room with only a single glass of water, then the glass of water is all she can animate. In addition, all three of the servitor’s traits are also limited by the amount of the element that is present. A two-pound rock will not, if animated, demonstrate four Power and Resistance. The changeling gives the elemental being basic commands when invoking the clause and can issue other commands as desired. As a result, a servitor can fight alongside the changeling, while allowing the changeling to fight, run or otherwise act independently. The elemental being remains animate for one scene.
* Exceptional Success: The servitor remains active for a number of hours equal to the changeling’s Wyrd.

## Elemental Ally (•••••)

The changeling can imbue an element with intelligence and animation. The element can only become animate for a single scene, but the elemental ally retains intelligence and awareness of its surroundings for several days.

* **Cost**: 3 Glamour + 1 Willpower
* **Dice Pool**: Presence + Wyrd
* **Action**: Instant
* **Catch**: When first using this clause on the element, the changeling negotiates with the element, promising some service or other payment in return for having the element as a temporary ally. Successfully bargaining with the element and paying its price are the catch for this clause. The favor asked is invariably hazardous, arduous or expensive.

Roll Results

* Dramatic Failure: The elemental animates (see below) for a number of turns equal to the changeling’s Wyrd but is wholly malevolent and attempts to attack and kill the changeling who animated it.
* Failure: The character fails to animate the element.
* Success: The changeling successfully imbues the element with intelligence, awareness and the ability to become fully animate. The element remains intelligent and aware for one week. However, the element can become animate for only one scene. While animate, the element has all of the physical capabilities of the elemental being described in the Elemental Servitor clause. When the elemental is animate and when it is merely intelligent and aware, the element is as intelligent as a human and can clearly sense the environment around it with sight and hearing as keen as a human’s. These senses extend to a range of up to the changeling’s Wyrd x 10 yards, unless blocked by some obstacle. For the duration of this Contract, the element is well disposed to the changeling and obeys any request that will not result in the element’s destruction. The element cannot, however, leave the immediate area of its animation, whereas an Elemental Servitor could follow the changeling as far as possible before the clause’s effects expired.
* The element is perfectly willing to keep watch over the surrounding area and report any activities to the changeling. In addition, the element is willing to animate itself in response to some event indicated by the changeling. These events can be anything from a command issued by the changeling when he is in range of the element’s senses to some event such as a person attempting to break into a nearby building, a specific individual that the changeling has shown the element a picture or video of coming within range or simply at a specific date and time. As long as the element does not have to seriously endanger itself, it will obey any command by the changeling.
* Exceptional Success: The elemental ally remains aware and intelligent for an entire month, although the element can still remain animate for only one scene.

1. ↑  Changeling: Winter Masques (p. 32-34)