This rote doesn’t see common use, especially in modern times, but it is nonetheless one of the most frequently cited and quoted sections of Orpheus’ Last Riddle. The spell is buried in a long, moving poem written to Eurydice by Orpheus. Part of the poem remarks upon her beauty and her grace, but much of it is a collection of moments — descriptions of how sunlight played on her hair on a particular day, or the sound of her laugh or of something she whispered to him while they made love. The spell itself does not create love, but gives it a supernatural depth. Lovers who undertake this spell must be very, very careful — if love sours, this spell becomes a curse.
The mage must join the lovers’ hands as she completes the spell, and the lovers must make a declaration of their ardor for each other. This can be an elaborate vow or a simple “I love you,” but when the spell is complete, the love takes on a geas-like quality. From then on, the lovers enjoy the following effects:
- Each can sense when the other is in pain or in danger, from any distance. No information about the particular reason for the distress is granted, only a sudden feeling of fear.
- Each of the lovers can spend Willpower for the other. This enables the lovers to enjoy the effects of 2 Willpower points (for a total of +6) on a given roll.
- If the lovers are together, any reflexive resistance rolls made to counter supernatural mind- or emotion-controlling powers are made jointly. For instance, if a spell is contested against Composure + Gnosis, both lovers make this roll and the successes are totaled. The aggressor must beat this total in order to affect the target. If the power subtracts a Resistance trait instead of calling for a resistance roll, the aggressor subtracts both lovers’ traits.
This spell is always cast with a Conditional Duration.[1]. The condition is this: If one lover betrays the other, the spell’s effects immediately end and each party becomes unable to regain Willpower by any method while the other lives. This is, of course, a fairly easy situation to remedy…
Orpheus' Last Riddle Rote
| References |
- ↑ See p. 150 of Mage: The Awakening
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