The mage can create or fundamentally alter a spirit. She can generate a spirit out of free-floating ephemera or so alter an extant spirit as to make it a new entity, one (should the caster wish it) possessed of appearance, mindset, traits and powers so distinct from the original as to be indiscernible as what it once was by any who did not witness the transformation.
If creating a spirit, successes buy dots of Rank, Attributes, Influence, and Numina for the being on a one-for-one basis. Similarly, changing a spirit (adding to, altering or subtracting from its Attributes) requires the mage to devote one success per dot to the trait to be added or changed. A mage cannot create a spirit of a greater Rank than the lesser of his Spirit Arcanum or Gnosis. Nor can he advance an extant spirit beyond such a degree or alter one
of a Rank greater than the lesser of his Spirit Arcanum or Gnosis.
Example: Nine Jade Thunder creates a spirit. Since she creates one from scratch, rather than altering an existing spirit, she does not have to worry about it contesting her efforts. She decides to make a tree spirit for her garden sanctum, and wants it to have the following traits:
Rank: 2 (which requires two successes)
Attributes: Power 3, Finesse 3, Resistance 4 (1o successes total; traits like Willpower and Size are derived from these Attributes and do not cost extra successes)
Influence: Wood 3 (three successes)
Numina: Wilds Sense (one success)
The total target number for the spell is 16 successes. She wants her special creation to last for more than one hour, so she increases the Duration to indefinite, adding six successes to the target number for a total of 22.
The mage must be familiar with the powers with which he works. That is, he must have studied a spirit who already has those powers before he can imbue them into a spirit. At the Storyteller’s discretion, an occult library might hold enough information to allow a mage an Intelligence + Academics Skill roll to understand the forces before he begins casting. When the spell’s Duration expires, the spirit ceases to exist (if it was created) or reverts back to its natural state (if it was modified). Note that familiars cannot be affected by this spell.
Free Council Rote: Transformation of the Timeless
By way of this magic, a Council willworker can utterly transform a spirit, changing its strengths, powers and even fundamental nature, or else create a spirit where none existed before. Some use this rote to make an intractable or dangerous spirit more pliant or friendly, while others do so to fortify an allied spirit, and still others in order to custom craft an ephemeral entity for a specific purpose.
