Sacrifice to Fortuna (Entropy 2 Spirit 2): Fortune is by definition capricious, and all attempts to placate the goddess of chance are of course quite useless. But some gamblers are risking it anyway, hoping that the attention from the powers of chance they gain will help them rather than destroy them. The player sacrifices something expensive, preferably in a random way (like throwing money from a rooftop into the street below) surrounded by symbols for luck and chance (like dice, cards, the Wheel of Fortune tarot card or lottery tickets) while invoking the powers of chance into his life.

[If successful, chance will begin to affect the mage much more strongly. Each time the mage is in a random situation, roll a dice. If the result is below the number of successes of the rote, the mage will either get that number of extra successes, or that number of ones (toss a coin). The rote will also make the mage get involved in more random events, both good and bad. ]

Scan Sideways (Correspondence 2, Spirit 1): Beats me why this one was never included in the Mage books. Just as any Mage with some sense "looks" at her destination for her Correspondence 3 effect using Correspondence 2, so any Mage planning to step Sideways should employ this rote to avoid unnecessary complications.

Scent of the Hounds of Tindalos (Time 1): The mage concentrates himself and try to feel when something happened (or will happen) by imagining it and different times it might have happened at. The mage will feel when he gets closer to the right time as the "scent" gets stronger. This can for example be used to find out when a building was built or when a clock stopped. It cannot tell why or where something happened. This rote is named for the legendary paradox beings the Hounds of Tindalos, which ruthlessly hunt down mages who interfere with Time. They have the ability to find the mage regardless of the time he exists in, and will appear out of nearby corners to destroy him.

Schnider's Buttline (Correspondence 3): Schnider liked to look good for the babes, but his wallet ruined the smooth seat of his pants, obscuring the view. So he makes it appear that all that cash, credit cards, IDs, etc come from this slim wallet.

[The Mage keeps his items in a safe place and reaches to it when needed. Sometimes he will use this method to pop into other places to get cash. Why use the ATM when you can access the vault?]

Seal of the Void (Prime 5, Relevant Sphere 5): This is one of the few symbols that both the Traditions, Umbrood and Nephandi all respect. They have to. It is a symbol, which will seal a pact or an oath with an unbreakable seal. This is literal, the Seal cannot be broken by anything. There are rumors that Oracles have tried, with disastrous consequences. Essentially, when integrated into something, the Seal will bind it into reality with an infinite force. Attempts at breaking the Seal will cause paradox, and will not succeed. Why the Seal works is unknown, and what it signifies. According to the Nephandi, who are rumored to know the most about it, it is the symbol of the perfect Void, which underlies all things? If something is written in the Void, it is unreadable and can never be changed. Writing the seal is quite simple, but requires an intense concentration as the mage pours quintessence into it. The Seal seems to suck it up like a black hole, and etches itself (and whatever it is connected to) into reality. The shape must be approximately correct (it's not very complicated), and can be written, drawn in the air or even imagined by a clear-headed mage. The physical representation may be damaged, but the Seal itself seems to reside somewhere else. Some mages have tried integrating the Seal into their magic to create permanent effects, but the resulting disasters have made many Masters to outlaw such experiments in their domains. The Technomancers don't know and understand the Seal, and would regard it as mystical mumbo jumbo. The Marauders rage against its unchangeability and try to deface it whenever they can. Order of Hermes and the Nephandi have studied it at length (many traditions regard it as Nephandi magic, and punish those who use it). Especially the Nephandi have used it as a horrible punishment for offenders or failing Barabbi: they write an Pact which is impossible to fulfil (like counting all sand in the ocean before midnight), make the victim sign it and then seal it with the Seal of the Void. When the victim fails, he is destroyed by Paradox.

Note that the Seal cannot add anything to reality, it can only cause things to not happen and punish deviations from a pact with Paradox. Since it can create extremely nasty logical paradoxes that arouse some of the most hideous paradox beings unimaginable, those who know it use it with extreme caution. It has especially been used by the Nephandi to sign their pacts to their Lords.

Second Body (Life 5, Prime 2, sometimes Mind 5, Correspondence 2): While most Traditions use Co-location if someone needs to be in more than one place at a time, the Verbena prefer to create a duplicate of the person out of their own blood. This person shares the awareness of the original and they are usually mentally linked, but the second body is physically independent of the first and can suffer harm or even death without serious effect to the original.

[The duplicate is physically identical, but it lacks a true spirit or avatar, and so cannot perform magic. The Mind component is necessary to fill the body with a functional personality. If it is left out, the duplicate will be a simple programmed robot. The Correspondence component allows mental contact and can be omitted if not desired. The duplicate will die when the spell expires.]

See the Astral World (Spirit 1 Mind 1): To actually project into Astral Space is hard and requires hard training and immense strength of will. However, to just see what's in there requires much less preparations. Akashic brothers cleanse themselves and meditate on the mental world, while Dreamspeakers watch how the contents of the medicine pouch fall.

See the Dark World (Spirit 2 Entropy 2): By singing and dancing the songs of mourning the Dreamspeakers are able to see the worlds of the dead and communicate with the wraiths who live there. To see the dark world, they look through the feather. To speak to the wraiths, they talk through it and hold it to their ears to hear the replies.

See through Other Eyes (Life 2/3, Mind 3): The mage touches an animal (or a plant), draws a circle on its brow or similar area, and contacts its consciousness. Now the mage can experience what the animal feels and see through its senses. He has no direct control over it, other than emotional impulses and telepathy. The range can be extended by the use of Correspondence.

Sense Angled Time (Time 1 Entropy 1): Time does not always flow smoothly, sometimes there are corners and discontinuities in it for unknown reasons. These corners are dangerous times, since the defenses of reality and casualty are briefly removed. Powerful beings of the Deep Umbra and dangerous weirdness may appear, and many momentous events occur at these times. This makes it especially important to know them beforehand. The Technocracy calls the "Bifurcation Points", and spends much energy neutralizing them or manipulating events around them.

Sense Link (Mind 3): Allows the Mage to perceive through another's senses.

Sense the Land (Correspondence 2 Life 2 Mind 1): First employed by the witch Brangian to keep track of the Saxons who were raiding her land, this rote has become a standard surveillance effect among the Verbena. The witch extends her senses and merges them with those of the plants and small animals in a given region.

[The Life magic allows the witch to blend her perceptions with those lives around her, while the Mind sphere enables her to understand the sensations she receives. Because her awareness is covered by the lives in the area, this effect is very difficult to detect. Every success increases the difficulty of detection by one.]

Sever The Ties That Bind (Life 4): Cuts the links between the left and right Cortex in the subject, thus creating total chaos within the target--his left hand and right hand will fight for control. In essence, his body will argue with itself. Higher functions will be disabled...

[I've mulled over this one for a while--Thing is, Vampires can heal such damage very quickly, so I've devised a way to put up a thin layer of steel between the cortexes as they are severed to prevent regrowth back into a normal pattern. (SEVER UNDEAD TIES, Matter 4)]

Shaking the Bones (Entropy 2, Prime 2) or (Entropy 2, Time 4): The Euthanatos are not usually very open about their activities (which are probably very wise), and thus have developed this rote for secret communication. The only traditions to rival this system are the Akashic and the Virtual Adepts. The Euthanatos often cast bones as a means of divination and have developed a very sophisticated code in the patterns they fall in. A Euthanatos wishing to send a message uses her Entropy magic to influence the way they fall and then locks this pattern into the bones with Prime magic. Alternately the mage can use Time magic to create a `one-shot' only set of bones. This alternate version can also deliver different messages or a number of different messages depending on some pre-chosen circumstance, such as a question asked. These bones are then delivered to the intended receiver. Most mentors teach their disciples this code.

"The more magical successes achieved, the more complex the message may be. Two successes produce a simple message, such as `technocrats are on to us.' Six successes would give details of numbers, locations, battle plans and contingencies."

Shields Keptin? (Forces 3, Prime 2): This is a VULGAR effect that sets up a forcefield that works within the electromagnetic spectrum (i.e. light and magnetism). Higher levels of Forces and Prime can affect other attack forms. The same number of successes reduces damage as if Forces were used for damage.

Shrubbery From Hell (Life 5, Prime 2): The Sabbat raids gave Rose Embolism a _lot_ of blood to fool around with. One of her 'experiments' involved irrigating her prized garden of Single-Thorn Roses with vitae. The result were semi-ambulatory monstrosities out of a 50's horror flick. Eventually she learned how to do this without a supply of vitae, and her manse s now encircled by large rose hedges...

[No real system, but Rose's Roses now have long thorns that can drink the blood of any creature that wanders through them: the basic stats are: STR 3, DEX 3, STAMINA 5, Brawl 4, Concealment 4 Damage 3+ 1 Blood point/health level lost/ turn. Per each turn after one the victim is in the bushes, add one to the effective struggle as more bramble vines join in...Think of a large, very pretty sundew plant. The plant will gain one Paradox point for every person it traps, and for every five minutes it is acting 'out of the ordinary'.

Shure, I'm Perfectly In Control... (Mind 3 Life 3): Many drunken people think they know that they are doing, or that they are capable of doing things they normally would avoid. Some Cultists have taken this to heart, and get completely drunk before undertaking risky or complex business. In this way they don't have to worry about any risks, and since belief is reality, they are in fact just as (or even more) capable as when they are sober.

[During the duration of the rote, intoxication causes no penalties to any abilities. Although the mage is roaring drunk and suffers from the usual lack of judgement, he will not do anything directly stupid or hurt himself. In some situations they even think they can do more than usual; add as many dices as there were magic successes to their dice pool if it fits the story and the role-playing].

The Sign of Koth (Spirit 4): This sign is placed on doors and openings to seal them from Umbrood beings. When drawn, the mage must infuse it with Tass to connect it to Koth, whoever or whatever that is. Most Umbrood, even many of the most powerful respect it since they fear the power of Koth. However, there is a catch: If the door is opened, it lets the beings in and out. And there is the added danger and fear of whatever Koth is, and what happens when the mage contacts it. The Nephandi knows, but they don't tell anybody...

Sign of Protection (Spirit 4): This sign is the opposite of the Brand of Evil, it shows that the bearer is under the protection of the Forces from Beyond. Anybody harming him risks retribution from them. Most beings simply avoid the bearer, and some may become hostile. The strength of the protection depends upon the strength of the powers invoked by the drawer, and if they are willing to give their protection. However, it is hard to tell if a sign is backed up or not, so bluffing is possible.

Signal Filter (Mind 1): The wound is particularly clean or missed major nerve clusters, the mage's brain is flooded with endorphins, her ration to the wound happens to be helpful (you double over and the next shot whizzes over your head). 'This guy's obviously on PCP,' etc. The V-dept version of a classic Akashic Rote, Signal Filter evaluates incoming neural signals, intercepting excessive pain messages that might hamper the mages ability to function. Signal Filter is dangerous because the mage using it cannot tell the severity of her injury without carefully examining her pattern. She can feel enough to tell she was hurt and where the damage is but not how dangerous it is. In any case, the Rote in no way reduces the damage taken.

[Each success reduces the penalty and action restrictions on the wound chart by one level. The mage can even act while Incapacitated for up to one turn per success. Duration is otherwise normal. If the mage takes particularly strenuous or inappropriate actions, the Storyteller may call for a Stamina Roll (Difficulty = current wound level + 3) to avoid taking an additional wound.]

Significator (Entropy 2 Matter 3 Correspondence 2): The mage identifies himself with a card, a playing piece or a number on a slot machine, and thus gains control over it. He will be able to feel what happens to it, where it is and control what it will do. However, the reverse is also true. Everything that affects the significator affects the mage (if the card is bent the mage will be hurt. If the gaming piece is moved from the board the mage will soon have to leave, if the slot machine gets a jackpot to a stranger the mage will loose all his money too). Players usually create this link by randomly selecting the significator, and then spend some time meditating on it, learning its secrets and trying to identify with it.

The Silence Cannon (Forces 3 Prime 2): Another discovery of Professor Prion, who has a fascination with negative forces, the Silence Cannon emits devastating blasts of countersound, which not only cause damage but also temporarily render a region free of all sound.

[The Silence Cannon does normal Forces damage, and renders an area silent for one round.]

Simulate (Life 3): Sometimes mages have to appear more hurt than they are, for example during medical examinations. Using this rote the mage can simulate all kinds of diseases and wounds, or make wounds appear healed. Verbenas usually wash themselves with blood and paint their new appearance using it and special herbs. The results look like the real thing, but are no real wounds (if the mage doesn't want to be *too* realistic, of course). By adding Mind 1 the mage can imprint the correct responses too, like appearing in pain or shivering when touched in certain spots.

Singing in the Rain (3 Mind): There is some argument between mages as to which came first, the movie or the Rote. Which ever, the effect of this Rote is to alter the emotional state of the target to a state of joyous euphoria. Once in that state the target loses any aggressive feeling towards anyone, including a mortal enemy standing directly in front of her, in favor of singing out loud of the sheer pleasure of singing. The effect is limited both in depth of euphoria and duration, but while under the influence of this Rote the subject will happily sing in the midst of their own execution as if they had not a care in the world.

[For every success past the first either the depth of euphoria or its duration is increased. Note that this Rote can be resisted with a simple Wits + Alertness or Willpower roll with a difficulty equal to the mage attempting to enforce the effect.]

Site to Site Transport (Correspondence 3, Mind 1): This Rote takes the mage to a specific, pre-determined location. Often, a series of locations is 'programmed' ahead of time. All such locations must be personally memorized by the mage (thus the mind aspect, for eidetic memory). This rote is very simple, often requiring only a single keystroke like [HOME] or [RETURN].

[Site to Site Transport differs from the classic Seven-League Stride primarily in that the target location is always well known. Two successes are all that is needed to remove the mage to the next programmed location. Extra successes are required if the mage wishes to 'cascade' through several localities, spending anywhere from a fraction of a second to a few turns in each intermediate location. As long as her computer is up and running, the V-dept can activate this Rote with no initiative penalty. This Rote is almost always vulgar magic.]

Sleeping Beauty's Lament (Life 4, Time 3 (at least): Use this effect to put someone to sleep for a long, long time. Either using the Dilate/Constrict Time effect, or "sending" the victim into the future. For each success on the effect, you dump someone into a longer and longer sleep (1=hour, 2=day, 3=week, 4=month, 5=year should be pretty acceptable).

Smells the Traitors Heart (Mind 3): The Akashic developed this Rote to alert themselves to hostile minds, and avoid ambushes. The mages keeps a light telepathic contact with all the minds in her immediate area. If a sentient being in the Akashic's sensory range becomes hostile, the Akashic empathic senses will be alerted, and the mage can defend herself. The Akashic need not even see the ambush to "scent" the hostile intent. However, this Rote does nothing to protect the mage from inanimate threats or accidents.

Snipertrace (Correspondence 1): This rote was recently pioneered by combat Virtual Adepts using their HUD displays. The rote lets that computers track the path of any projectile back to it's path ( even those too fast for the adept to see ) Time 2 can be used to determine the paths of projectiles that have already been shot. (Was the Man in Black behind the grassy knoll or in the building?) Using this rote with a video input is coincidental. Mind 1 can be used to make the rote track many lines of fire at once.

[Each success comes closer to pinpointing the source, at 3 or more successes the sniper's location is known enough to be attacked, even if he is invisible or concealed. ]

Solar Flare (Forces 5, Prime 2): This creates a stream of solar temperature fire anywhere within range and spreading outward away from the mage in a cone shape. Requires at least three successes to work properly, but it does successes x 4 damage.

Song of Life (Life 1 Spirit 2): Dreamspeakers often contact the spirits of nature. They seek to awaken the spirits around themselves by dancing, drumming and singing ancient songs. If they are lucky they might contact the spirits around them. Most nature spirits are weak beings, but sometimes they meld together into one powerful spiritus loci, which can have great power. However, most spirits are just conscious of what happens in their own world, and very bad at recognizing other activities. On the other hand nature spirits are very good at revealing where different plants grow, if somebody has passed or forecast the weather.

Sounds of Pain (Time 2 Life 1): This little rote allows a mage to mentally hear the sounds of whatever caused a wound. Some truly twisted cultists have used it to play music on sick people.

[Adding Forces 3 Prime 2 the sounds can be made audible].

Speed-Read (Mind 1): The Mage can read many times faster than normal with this effect. Each success adds 1 to the multiple for reading times, starting at 1 for 1 success.

Sphere of Truth (Forces 3 Mind 2 Prime 2): This rote is used by Order of Hermes at tribunals and trials to test if someone tells the truth or talks with true conviction about something. The user of the rote draws a symbol above the Showstone using the seal, while chanting the twelve secret names of Truth. From inside the showstone a small sphere of vibrating, dancing light emerges. It can be handled, and while held in the palm it will change color, size and shape depending on the Bearers State of mind and what he says. If he lies, the sphere will become darker, stained and begin to vibrate with a eerie sound. If the bearer tells the truth it will become brighter. If the bearer talks with true conviction and tells the truth it will jump up and down, glittering with intense colors depending on mood.

Spirit Flask (Spirit 4 Matter 3): Another classic rote. By making a material container impervious to spirits, they can be trapped inside and only escape if somebody opens it. The trick is to get them inside...

Spirit ID (Spirit 1, Mind 1): This rote allows a mage to recognize spirits who contact her, whether through his Umbral Pager or by attacking her, without constantly scanning the Near Umbra. When contacted by a spirit, the mage automatically 'sees' the spirit, though no other parts of the adjacent umbra or nearby spirits are perceived.

[The mage should make a Perception + Awareness rolls too positively ID the spirit. She can then tell whether it is a familiar spirit and can recognize it the next time their paths cross. The information granted is also enough for the mage to call the spirit later on, though he has no power over it of course. Umbral effect, no coincidences required.]

Spirit Messenger (Spirit 2 Correspondence 2): A rote that was often employed during the Middle Ages by Order of Hermes. The mage summons a minor spirit, which is given a message to deliver. The spirit flies away to the receiver, delivers its message and vanishes (unless ordered to return with an answer). The Order had long tables with the names of suitable messengers, and especially valued spirits who could communicate in several languages and work as interpreters.

Spy Beam (Correspondence 2, Time 2, any other spheres you want): This allows spies to monitor targets, ignoring barriers coincidentally (the old laser on the window trick, or the infinity transmitter hooked up to the phone, or "good thing they picked the suite with the bug in it!") and even allowing them to scroll forward and backward in time to monitor events that have happened (It's already in the CD-ROM, we've been taping this room for nine months) or events that might happen (statistical probability projection complete with spiffy graphics). Other spheres make the read-outs more complete (Life, Matter, and Forces are particularly useful).

Foci for this effect: Rifle microphone, infinity transmitter, laser-scope microphone, little sophisticated bugs, a van chock-full of complicated electronics and spies dressed up like waiters, or even a camcorder hidden in the closet.

Stop Lactation (Life 5): Prevents milk production in a lactating woman.

Strength of Steel (Matter 3): The mage can make something hard as steel without changing other material properties. This rote can turn a curtain into a barrier, a piece of string into a cable or a paper-plane a deadly killing instrument. Sons of Ether usually perform this rigidity activation by carefully measuring the material of the object, and slowly manipulating the readings to suitable levels.

Strengthen Destiny (Time 5 Prime 2 Entropy 2, Correspondence 2): Some of the most powerful cultists are not content merely to watch the flow of history, they want to direct it. When they see a tendency they like, they perform elaborate ecstatic rituals to fuel the causal chains supporting it and increase the chance it will grow. This will help the development through random events and "the flow of history". Some cultists claim that Woodstock was such and ritual to fuel the whole of the 60's. Others whisper that the Technocracy is doing the same thing on a global scale, to ensure their total victory.

Strengthening the Limbs of a Hero (3 Life, 2 Prime): The Celestial Chorus was famous during the Mythic Age for using this Rote on unsuspecting sleepers. This Rote usually uses a Coincidental focus that the target believes in strongly, during the Mythic Age the Celestial Chorus used priestly blessings, dousing with holy water and/or the touch of relics.

[For every success past the first the Mage may choose to add an extra die per success to either or all of the target's Physical Attributes for the remainder of the scene, or choose to extend the additional dice to the Physical Attributes for an extra scene per success.]

Stepping through the Gauntlet with the third foot (3 Spirit): This is the basic Rote taught to all Akashic Brothers to master the art of stepping through the Gauntlet into the Near Umbra. Other Traditions teach variations on this Rote to their members of course and without the use of some misdirection it is extremely vulgar. The usual method to turn this into Coincidental Magic is to use a door, often one letting into a closet or other area where sleeper witness are not present.

[Number of successes required varies depending on the area in which the attempt is made. Concentrated urban areas are the most difficult, primeval or pristine wilderness the easiest. What sets this Rote apart from those of other Traditions is that if an Akashic Brother has left behind the need to use the Do as a foci for this rote. Performing the do as part of the rote effectively allows the Akashic Brother to use Arete rather that the Sphere of Spirit.]

Stifle the Warning Claxon (Mind 3 Entropy 3): Knowing well that mages use their power to warn themselves of danger, the Euthanatos developed this Rote to counter this. The Euthanatos uses Mind to project feelings of calm and safely, while clouding the mental senses of the target(s). Simultaneous, she uses her advanced knowledge of Entropy to "cloud the fates", flattening the whorls in the winds of death that give one warning.

[The mages successes subtract from the successes of any ability that detects the presence of danger, including the above Rotes, Auspex, Fatalism, and so forth.]

Strength of Antaeus (Life 3): Another old Greek rote, this one is employed mostly by the Twisters of Fate, who like the way it reminds the caster of her dependence upon the earth by allowing her to tap the earth's strength.

[Each success give the witch 2 points of Strength as long as she is in direct contact with the earth. If she breaks contact with the soil, the strength immediately fades, but returns when contact is re-established. If someone attempts to lift or otherwise move her off the soil, she resists with her full strength, regardless of whether she has leverage or not.]

Summon Demon Process (Correspondence 1 Spirit 2): The mage summons one of the spirits of technology and communication from a network of some kind. The spirits are quick, efficient entities who know almost everything about their own medium, but unfortunately not much about anything else (Many spirits deny the existence of anything outside their network.) The spirits can for example tell the mage about where information has been transmitted or stored, but nothing about what the information means, since it is incomprehensible to them. Virtual Adepts summon and talk to these spirits using query-languages or their own weird dialect of LISP.

Summon the Servitors of Decay (Entropy 1 Spirit 2): The mage summons some of the spirits of entropy in an area of entropy, like a garbage dump, a dying person or a condemned house. Euthanatos usually do this by asking a question while rattling the rattle and then throw the bones. The answer is found depending on how the bones fall. The spirits of entropy are not very good at answering questions about anything that does not involve entropy and randomness. They cannot tell if anybody have passed them, but can give detailed descriptions of the flow of entropy around a murder victim or tell in what way a glass was broken.

Summon Succubus/Incubus (Spirit 2 Mind 2): Succubi and Incubi are as much beings of desire as actual spirits. They take their form from the wildest, most repressed desires of their partners, intent on fulfilling all their fantasies. This has made them excellent tools of corruption or spies in the past. Many mages have also fallen for the temptation of using them as lovers, which they are all too willing to become. The longer a succubus/incubus remain physical and the more lovers it has, the more powerful will it become until it is beyond the control of any mage. However, that hasn't detained many mages from summoning a few.

Summon Timekeeper (Time 2 Spirit 2): One of the more unusual kind of elementals is the time-elementals, known in the Cult of Ecstasy as timekeepers. They seems to be the spirits which keep track of everything, making sure things happen at the right time for the right reasons. They seldom manifest physically, preferring to communicate through coincidences and physical phenomena like the sound of a ticking clock. The timekeepers know everything about what has happened and will happen, and may give information to the mage as long as it will not cause any disturbances of time. If the mage disrupts time too much, they might become very dangerous servants of paradox. Persistent rumors tell that they have a lord known as Chronos, the Master Timekeeper. Some mages speculate that Chronos may be Wrinkle.

Sustain Existence (Prime 2 Spirit 4): A great but fortunately uncommon danger is the risk in being trapped in a decaying reality. This problem is most often encountered under the creation of Horizon realms, since many early attempts often break down as the reality crumbles due to unexpected internal stresses, or near the chaotic and Wyld zones left in the Umbra by Marauders. An unprotected mage trapped inside a reality whose existence is unraveling will vanish together with the reality unless he can enforce his own reality strong enough or at least uphold reality around him. Order of Hermes have developed a effective version where the mage protects everything inside his circle while constantly drawing powerful symbols along the perimeter with the seal. While the Virtual Adepts (whose early realms had an unfortunate tendency to crash at a drop of a hat) weave a web of network connections around themselves, protecting themselves by the built-in defenses and inherent stability of the network.

[The mage must constantly refuel all patterns around him with quintessence to prevent them from loosing their reality. Spirit is used to supply "base reality" in the vicinity regardless of the nature of surrounding reality. Often the local gauntlet is hardened as much as possible to bring more stability to the region. ]

Swarm of Bugs (Life 5 Mind 2): This rote is a good example of the skill at shapechanging attained by some Lifeweavers. With it, the witch transforms not into a single creature, but into an entire mass of them, usually insects or rodents.

[The Mind sphere allows the witch to maintain her single consciousness while her body is divided into many units. It requires at least three successes to work, in which case the witch may function as a swarm. While the swarm can be blown around or evaded, it is difficult to harm enough of the swarm to cause serious damage to the witch. The witch is immune to attacks that do not effect an area.]