Imbuing her words with arcane gravitas, a mage
can brand an idea directly into a subject’s memory.
Should such a subject fall prey to dementia or brain
damage, forgetting even his own name, he will never
forget the ideas burned into the deepest recesses of
his psyche.
In order to cast this rote, the mage must vocalize the
intended knowledge to the subject, even if that subject
is the mage himself. The presence of bystanders has no
effect on the magic, though the speech must be targeted
specifically at an individual rather than being a general
address. If the spell succeeds, the subject never forgets
that information without the interference of other magic
or powers. Mind 2 is required for the mage to target
himself; scribing other minds requires Mind 3. With
an additional dot of Mind beyond these requirements,
knowledge may be imparted telepathically rather than
aloud. Resolve is not subtracted from the caster’s pool
if the target is aware and willing.
Although not widely known outside of the forbidden
ranks of the Unforgotten Scions, this spell can
also be cast more aggressively on a Sleeper target, in
which case the spell costs one Mana point. If the spell
succeeds, the target not only remembers the branded
information forever but also develops a perverse fascination
to share the knowledge with others per the
Fixation derangement (see the World of Darkness
Rulebook, p. 97); this derangement potentially flares
up whenever the subject of the information comes up
in conversation or the target is actively reminded of
it, promoting the usual Resolve + Composure roll to
resist. Any new fixation implanted this way replaces
all existing ones, so a victim only needs to worry
about the most recent obsession. Furthermore, he
may permanently overcome such madness by spending
one dot of Willpower or raising his Morality;
otherwise, such madness is permanent. Damaging
a Sleeper’s mind this way is an act of hubris, requiring
a mage with a Wisdom higher than four dots to
make a degeneration roll. More importantly, doing
this is an excellent way to attract the attention of the
Unforgotten and its enemies.
Mysterium Rote: Soul Scribing
Although the Mysterium spends more time solving
mysteries than protecting them, members also recognize
that every secret forgotten is one that they must waste
time rediscovering. Therefore, members make extensive
use of this rote, to help themselves remember and
to educate junior members in the order’s regulations.
The aggressive casting method is not widely known,
but thankfully, mages cannot accidentally stumble on
it unless they actually intend such harm.
