SHARD OF SAFEGUARDED PERCEPTION
Cost: - [3m]; Mins: Essence 3, Dexterity 3, Wits 3
Type: Simple (Speed 3)
Keywords: Internal, Permanent, Shaping, Touch
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None
Throughout history, the concept of "Stealth" has taken as many - if not more - forms as there have been beings capable of realizing it. In bygone Creation, spirits, mortals, and everything in-between found ways to hone the art, and in Nowhere the Entities have possessed uncounted numbers of Shards capable of deceiving the senses of Hosts and Entity alike.
Trapped in his self-made prison in Elsewhere, the Primordial of Innovation took inspiration from both universes and made something that would surpass the concept in both realms.
When the Shard of Safeguarded Perception is in use, the Alchemical and their actions are not altered; they are not physically invisible, nor are they silent, scentless, or otherwise reduced in physical or spiritual presence. Instead, this Charm reaches out into the minds of any and all nearby thinking beings to alter their memories directly, even as they are forming. Moreover, unlike Stealth charms such as Mental Invisibility Technique, this effect is so pervasive, so overwhelming that it persists even when the user engages in combat; combatants find it difficult to even recall if the wounds they're receiving are new or merely re-opened, as memories of how and when they received the damage never formed in the first place.
Mechanically, this charm is not Unnatural Mental Influence, but is rather a conceptually-propagated Shaping effect that physically blocks any minds from creating or accessing memories of the Alchemical's existence while it is in effect - even memory restoration charms used after the fact will only yield unrecognizable holes where the mind failed to record anything existed.
This 'invisibility' effect can momentarily be shrugged off should a victim focus (Speed 3), spend 2 Willpower, and succeed on a [Intelligence + Integrity + Essence] roll at a difficulty of the Alchemical's [(Dexterity OR Manipulation) + Stealth] score; success restores the character's memories to normal for a number of DV refreshes equal to their own [Essence] score (minimum 1). Possessing an Intimacy to the Alchemical - or to something/someone the Alchemical has enshrouded with this charm - negates the need for a Willpower expenditure.
The Alchemical's body and possessions are guarded against recognition by default, but the charm's protection may be extended to targets with a Touch, taking a Simple (Speed 3) [(Dexterity OR Manipulation) + Larceny] action with a difficulty equal to the target's greatest dimension in yards (minimum Difficulty 1, capped at Difficulty [Essence x 2]). When extending the Charm over a target, the Alchemical must choose to either make the target immune to the Charm's effects or keep them ignorant for the duration. This protection remains as long as the Charm is active, but affected targets that move more than [Essence] yards away from the Alchemical instantly break free of this effect.
This charm otherwise has no range limit, however, save that it does not affect beings in other dimensions (examples: alternate Nowhere parallels, Elsewhere pockets, etc.) This means that anyone viewing live footage, tracking footprints, or otherwise perceiving immediate physical evidence of the Alchemical's existence is just as affected by this charm as someone standing nearby. Only after a full scene has passed, or the charm has been deactivated (whichever comes first) can someone perceive physical evidence (stored footage, footprints, etc.) of the Alchemical's passage. In the event that a scene has passed but Shard of Safeguarded Perception is still active, observers will still be unable to attribute the evidence to the Alchemical without shrugging off the charm's effect - they will recognize evidence of someone's passage and note the identifying characteristics, but they will be unable to put two-and-two together.
Like its brethren converted Shards, such power does not come without a cost; the reality-altering essence patterns cascading through the Shard of Safeguarded Perception are as an ocean, and such tides can wear channels into even the mightiest barriers. This charm is active by default, and can only be deactivated with a Simple (Speed 3) action that costs 1 Willpower - reactivating the Charm, however, is an Instant, Reflexive action. Additionally the Alchemical gains 1 Clarity the first time the charm is deactivated that day, and at the end of every scene/hour during which the charm remains deactivated the Alchemical rolls [Essence] with a difficulty equal to [Current Clarity / 4]; failing this roll gains the Alchemical 1 Clarity.
Submodules:
Detritus Defragmentation (Requirements: Essence 3, Stamina 5, Wits OR Charisma 5)
The charm tidies up after its user, altering video recordings, wiping fingerprints, deleting database entries, and evaporating parking tickets. Physical evidence left behind now begins slowly disappearing after the end of a scene/hour, increasing the difficulty of any rolls to recognize or remember the evidence by +1 for each hour afterwards. This caps at a maximum of +3, at which point no mundane means will allow a character to identify that the Alchemical was ever there. In cases where a lack of evidence would be more memorable, evidence will be altered to provide a plausible (albeit vague) substitute. Should the Alchemical wish for a specific piece of evidence created during a scene to remain whole, they may reflexively pay 1 Willpower at any point before it disappears entirely to dispel the effect upon it; otherwise, the only way to prevent this effect is to keep the charm deactivated completely for three consecutive hours after the end of the scene.
Memetic Guardian Protocols (Requirements: Essence 4, Dexterity 6, Wits OR Manipulation 6)
Extending the charm's protective effect with a Touch is now reflexive, and does not require a roll (maximum size for valid targets remains the same). Additionally, moving away from the Alchemical does not break the effect; beings "protected" this way remain so until the Alchemical reflexively chooses to terminate the effect upon them, or the charm is deactivated. Even further, the Alchemical may choose to spend 1 Willpower to "infect" a target object or person, causing any thinking being that touches the target to receive the same "protection" and propagating effect as well.
Cascading Memory Fault (Requirements: Essence 5, Dexterity 8, Wits OR Charisma 8)
With surgical precision and overwhelming power, the charm can now excise any record that the Alchemical, or target, ever existed. Once per day with a Speed 3 action, the Alchemical may reduce either one of their - or a Touched target's - Backgrounds, or all Intimacies that target them directly, by one dot as the charm reaches out through the universe to weaken the bonds that tie them to the world. This is reduction is permanent, with Backgrounds thus reduced converting back into Experience. If the target of this Shaping effect is unwilling, they may resist the effect with a reflexive [Appearance + Integrity + Essence] roll, while holders of Intimacies towards the target may resist this Shaping effect with a reflexive [Intelligence + Integrity + Essence] roll - both rolls at a Difficulty of the Alchemical's [Essence] score. Should a target have all their Backgrounds and targeted-Intimacies removed this way, no trace remains (beyond the target's own memory) that they ever existed prior to the final use of this submodule - reality itself is wiped clean of their past, allowing them to start anew.
SIDEBAR: ON HAMMERS AND WORKSHOPS
When approaching a Host race's planet to begin a new Cycle, Entities will endeavor to prevent Hosts from learning the origins of their new "powers." For as each Shard makes a connection with a Host, the nature of the bond allows small glimpses of the true, mind-shattering enormity of the Entities to leak through; while these glimpses cannot be prevented, comprehension and memory of these glimpses can be safeguarded. While each of the hundreds of thousands of Shards of the Earth Cycle possesses this ability, it is because the Entities themselves used this Shard to first test and refine the process before ultimately propagating the ability to all the others.
Small wonder, then, that Great Maker harvesting this Shard was akin to a master craftsman being given the blueprints for a simple armored gauntlet... despite having already reverse-engineered multiple warstriders.
After the King of Craftsmen spared a moment to ensure he was indeed (figuratively) receiving a request for a hammer when the previous requests had been for complete workshops, Autochthon fashioned the best "hammer" ever made and counted himself lucky (for once) that all his prior work with converting far more complicated Shards had ultimately made the process as quick and resource-efficient as possible.
