Altar Stone

From Edge of Darkness Wiki

The character is in control of an altar stone. This stone acts as a vessel for Essence. The altar stone produces no Essence of its own. To give it Essence, the character sacrifices a living creature upon it. Upon the creature’s death, the altar gains a number of Essence equal to the creature’s normal Health score (sacrificing a dog would yield between four and seven points of Essence depending on the Size and therefore Health of the animal). The character, or any other member of his race, may draw Essence from the stone once per day by rolling Harmony. Successes gained equal Essence points taken. The altar can only hold a number of Essence equal to the altar’s Merit points times two. Moreover, only one creature can be sacrificed to the altar per week. Several characters can contribute to an Altar Stone’s Merit points.

(Note that killing animals upon the altar doesn’t count as “torturing prey” unless the character actively torments the animal. Killing humans, animal representatives of the shapechanger, or other shapechangers is a Harmony violation, however.)

Drawback: The altar suffers Essence bleed. After a number of days equal to the points spent in this Merit, the Essence begins bleeding off the altar, depleting it by three per day. If the Altar Stone Merit has •••, then on the fourth day the altar begins to bleed. (Spirits can claim this Essence only after it bleeds off — many therefore gather around it in the hopes of feasting.) Also, when an altar stone goes dry either from taking Essence or bleeding Essence, the altar must be “reawakened” with a Willpower point, or the altar will hold no Essence.

See Also Altar Stone • Essence Gift • Essence Reservoir

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