TEXT: Unlikely Flowerings�
  The first humans emerged from the�
  Garden into a world of savagery�
  and grime. Beasts and birds and�
  fish hunted, and killed, and ate,�
  and the ones most often eaten were�
  the ones who harmed no�
  others at all. The sky poured water�
  and stony ice and jagged lightning�
  down upon them and the thunder�
  shouted its rage.�
  The first humans built themselves�
  a shelter from sticks and leaves;�
  and a fire from stones and wood;�
  and they learned to kill what they�
  wished to kill and protect what�
  they wished to protect; and as Eve�
  brought forth a child in suffering�
  and pain, she said:�
  “Truly, this is an age of miracles.”�
  —from�Carryout�,�
  by Emily Chen�
  
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Unlikely Flowerings�
  BY�Jenna Katerin Moran� (�
  aka�R�.�
   Sean Borgstrom�)�
  With Design and Development Contributions�
  by:�Neil Laughlin, Chrysoula Tzavelas, and James�
  Wallis�
  Release and Distribution Assistance by:�Brad�
  Elliott and Hsin Chen of Eos Press�
  All contents are copyright the original author. All rights reserved.�
  Distributed by Eos Press with permission. All the characters and�
  events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to�
  real people or incidents is purely coincidental. Copies of materials�
  are intended solely for your personal, noncommercial use, and only�
  if you preserve any associated copyrights, trademarks, or other no-�
  tices. You may not distribute copies to others for a charge or other�
  consideration without prior written consent of the owner of the ma-�
  terials except for review purposes only. The Eos logo is trademark�
  and copyright © 2008 by Eos Entertainment, LLC.�
  Dedication�
  I�
  n honor of the birth of�
  Robin Michael Alexander Maginn�
  and the birth of�
  Eliza Caroline Ann Wallis�
  and in the hopes of greater joy�
  for all those�
  who play Nobilis.�
  
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Contents�
  Exclusive Attributes...............................................................................................................................................................9�
  Alchemy...............................................................................................................................................................................10�
  Alchemy Scores............................................................................................................................................................11�
  Level 0: Student.....................................................................................................................................................11�
  Level 1: Practitioner..............................................................................................................................................11�
  Level 2: Alchemist................................................................................................................................................12�
  Level 3: Master Alchemist....................................................................................................................................13�
  Level 4: Grandmaster Alchemist...........................................................................................................................14�
  Level 5: Worldbreaker...........................................................................................................................................15�
  Alchemy Rules..............................................................................................................................................................16�
  Floral Influences....................................................................................................................................................16�
  Precision Work and Imprudent Alchemy..............................................................................................................17�
  Crafting and the Circumstances of the Game........................................................................................................20�
  Dynamic Alchemy.................................................................................................................................................22�
  Alchemy Miracles.........................................................................................................................................................23�
  Level 0: Alchemical Analysis................................................................................................................................23�
  Level 1: Alchemical Trivia....................................................................................................................................23�
  Level 2: Essential Alchemy...................................................................................................................................24�
  Level 3: Improbable Alchemy...............................................................................................................................26�
  Level 4: Alchemical Mastery................................................................................................................................26�
  Level 5: Alchemical Wonders...............................................................................................................................27�
  High Summoning.................................................................................................................................................................29�
  High Summoning Scores..............................................................................................................................................30�
  Level 0: Severed Sage...........................................................................................................................................30�
  Level 1: Companion to Monsters..........................................................................................................................31�
  Level 2: Lady of the Beyond.................................................................................................................................31�
  Level 3: Peer of the Most Distant Realm..............................................................................................................32�
  Level 4: Sovereign Beyond...................................................................................................................................33�
  Level 5: Empress Beyond......................................................................................................................................33�
  High Summoning Rules................................................................................................................................................34�
  Learning High Summoning in Dynamic Nobilis...................................................................................................36�
  Pacts.......................................................................................................................................................................37�
  Creatures of the Beyond........................................................................................................................................38�
  Build Points...........................................................................................................................................................40�
  Coercion................................................................................................................................................................41�
  Adharmic Subversion............................................................................................................................................42�
  Dynamic Coercion.................................................................................................................................................43�
  High Summoning Miracles...........................................................................................................................................51�
  Level 0: Animal.....................................................................................................................................................51�
  Level 1: Monster....................................................................................................................................................51�
  Level 2: Horror......................................................................................................................................................52�
  Level 3: External Inheritor....................................................................................................................................53�
  Level 4: Noble.......................................................................................................................................................53�
  Level 5: Unearthly Noble......................................................................................................................................54�
  
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Imperfect Command.....................................................................................................................................................55�
  Imperfect Knowledge...................................................................................................................................................56�
  Student of Summoning.................................................................................................................................................57�
  Patronage.............................................................................................................................................................................59�
  Hostile Patronage..........................................................................................................................................................60�
  Empathy........................................................................................................................................................................61�
  Galeid............................................................................................................................................................................62�
  Guiding Hand...............................................................................................................................................................63�
  Incomprehensibility......................................................................................................................................................64�
  Integrity.........................................................................................................................................................................65�
  Love..............................................................................................................................................................................65�
  Mastery.........................................................................................................................................................................66�
  Warding........................................................................................................................................................................66�
  Superior Attributes...............................................................................................................................................................69�
  Preview: A Menagerie of Myths..........................................................................................................................................70�
  Rules Templates............................................................................................................................................................71�
  Default...................................................................................................................................................................72�
  Anchor...................................................................................................................................................................74�
  Animal or Machine................................................................................................................................................75�
  Inheritor.................................................................................................................................................................76�
  Inspired..................................................................................................................................................................77�
  External..................................................................................................................................................................78�
  Nature Spirit..........................................................................................................................................................79�
  Deceiver-Shard......................................................................................................................................................80�
  Deceiver.................................................................................................................................................................81�
  Excrucian Strategist...............................................................................................................................................82�
  Excrucian Warmain...............................................................................................................................................84�
  Imperator...............................................................................................................................................................86�
  Noble.....................................................................................................................................................................87�
  Strategist-shard or Warmain-shard........................................................................................................................88�
  Transcendent..........................................................................................................................................................90�
  Unearthly...............................................................................................................................................................92�
  Entities..........................................................................................................................................................................93�
  Charitable Being....................................................................................................................................................94�
  Lawbreaker............................................................................................................................................................97�
  Peregrine Bear.......................................................................................................................................................99�
  Mini-Preview: The Accords at Babylon............................................................................................................................101�
  Mini-Preview: The Book of Purity....................................................................................................................................102�
  
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Before I was born, I saw a great pearlescent river rising from this world, merging with just such rivers rising from�
  every world and forming a great confluence pouring upwards towards Heaven.�
  Before I was born, I saw a wall of fire around the universe, and something more beyond it.�
  Before I was born, the angel Lahariel came to me  and showed me a book. Its pages described things that I did not un-�
  derstand, all manner of creatures and places that I had never known to exist in all the worlds into which I had been�
  born; and I asked him, “What is this, then?”�
  “It is a survey,” answered the angel Lahariel, “of a place larger than the Creation you know. Within this place are�
  threats uncountable to everything you have ever loved and within this place are hopes for our salvation as yet beyond�
  our dreams. I have learned some of what is there but I have not learned it all. In truth, in seven thousand years, I�
  have scarcely even begun.�
  “No ordinary ink suffices,” Lahariel continued, “to record this work, so I must use the mortal soul. I ask you then for�
  a hundredth part of yours — a tithe — that this project may continue.”�
  “A hundredth part?” I asked. “How much will that let you write?”�
  Lahariel shrugged. “Enough for a space as large as all Creation, and a bit besides.”�
  “You may have it.”�
  Lahariel disappeared. I felt a moment of pain. I turned as if to resume my search for this life, but found my eyes fol-�
  lowing the piece of my soul instead as it rose and merged into the great nacreous stream.�
  It would not be enough, I knew; not with seven more years or seven thousand, not with the souls of all that lived. I had�
  seen the size of Creation, and the size of what lay beyond. But I found the effort worthy. I wanted to be part of it. And I�
  would have given more than half my soul to see Lahariel smile.�
  —from�Memories Predating Earthly Experiences,�edited by Kayetan Dernesch�
  
  8�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  
  9�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Exclusive Attributes�
  N�
  obilis honing their miraculous abilities generally follow widely-�
  known paths, striving to improve their Aspect, Domain,�
  Realm, Spirit, or collection of Gifts. However, the road to�
  greater power has a few narrow and twisting offshoots, routes that lead�
  some Nobles to develop peculiar and unique abilities. Many of these take�
  the form of�byway�or�exclusive Attributes�— miraculous Attributes pos-�
  sessed by only a small percentage of the Noble population. Each is the�
  fruit of an idiosyncratic personal journey down a path of study few�N�o-�
  bilis walk. Most are weaker or less flexible than the four primary Attri-�
  butes; the others have comparable power but specific limitations. The�
  virtue of the exclusive Attributes lies not in their raw miraculous po-�
  tency but rather in their rarity — the Powers who master them thereby�
  command a rare resource, and can take advantage of this in their deal-�
  ings with other�N�obilis.�
  The criteria for purchasing exclusive Attributes vary, as do the criteria�
  for purchasing any associated miracle points. In most cases, the character�
  must fulfill a roleplaying condition. Some require access to a specific�
  source of information. In other cases, an entity that already has the Attri-�
  bute must use a Spirit-based Word of Command (also called an�Exalted�
  Word�) to show the character part of the inner reaches of their soul. This�
  shares enlightenment in the ways of one exclusive Attribute. For Attri-�
  butes with associated miracle points, the character must generally pur-�
  chase five permanent miracle points associated with that exclusive�
  Attribute, at the normal cost. After fulfilling the relevant conditions, the�
  character acquires a score of 0 in the exclusive Attribute and can work its�
  miracles.�
  Individual characters can also create new exclusive Attributes, based on�
  their own studies and aspirations. The HG determines the exact bound-�
  aries of these exclusive Attributes, or whether the character can create a�
  given exclusive Attribute at all. In addition, Hollyhock Gods can create�
  their own byway Attributes for general distribution in their world, and�
  others will appear in this and future works.�
  The old rituals of dark-�
  ness, thought master�
  thespian Arigato James,�
  needed a little something�
  — a little�spice�.  Acro-�
  bats, perhaps, or caged�
  tigers. A few sizzling as-�
  sistants in skimpy cos-�
  tumes, that could never�
  hurt, even if all they did�
  was hold their athames�
  and gesture in mock as-�
  tonishment at the mon-�
  ster summoned from�
  Beyond —�
  Fireworks! Showman-�
  ship! Such would be the�
  goetism of Arigato James!�
  —from�The Ivory Clock�,�
  by Emily Chen�
  
  10�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Alchemy�
  A�
  lchemy sees past the prosaic and mythic nature of the world to�
  the divine and supra-divine power behind it. Its origins lie in�
  the Second Age, when the Devil Shuhyung Chen strove�
  against the Angels and broke the sky. The Power Hermes Trismegistus�
  scoured the world for a means to repair the heavens, and, having found�
  nothing, sat by the sea to rest. There, the Trismegistus saw the flower Ni-�
  uka, also called Nu Wa, floating on the waves. Her petals were the color�
  of fire and her stem the length of a dragon’s tail. Pistils rose from her�
  center like horns. Witnessing that divine flower, fallen somehow from�
  the Angels’ realm to Earth, the Trismegistus understood the core truth of�
  alchemy: as above, so below. That is, Heaven reflects the power of the�
  Creator, and the flowers of the world reflect the power of the Brightest�
  Realm. From Niuka the Trismegistus brewed a five-colored rainbow and�
  cast it upwards to repair the sky. Only in two places, where clouds ob-�
  scured the Power’s view, did small cracks remain in the vault of the sky.�
  Later, Hermes Trismegistus recorded the basic principles of alchemy on�
  the Emerald Tablet (also called the Emerald or Smaragdine Table). For�
  this reason, alchemy is sometimes called the Emerald Art. Thirty years�
  after the repair of the sky, Tanetnephthys the Sieve found the Trismegis-�
  tus’ corpse, hands clutching the Emerald Tablet against the body’s chest;�
  from there, the secrets of Alchemy diffused through the Noble popula-�
  tion.�
  Cneph came to Lo Mei-zhu�
  in her dreams and gifted her�
  with an understanding of�
  Creation. She woke the next�
  morning and made herself�
  ready, and went to work,�
  and worked, and came home,�
  and began to read a book.�
  “Lo Mei-zhu,” the Creator�
  said, “why do you not act on�
  the knowledge you possess?”�
  Mei-zhu stood, set her book�
  down, and pulled a flower�
  from a table’s vase. “With�
  nothing more than my un-�
  derstanding of this flower,”�
  she said, “I could reshape the�
  world. But why should I?�
  Contemplating the truth of a�
  single petal gives me all the�
  happiness I could ever�
  want.”�
  —from�Legends of the Nobilis�,�
  by Luc Ginneis�
  
  11�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Alchemy Scores�
  Level 0: Student�
  S�
  tudents of alchemy have taken their first steps towards understanding�
  the Emerald Art. They have a reasonable theoretical grasp of its basic�
  principles and have performed their first experiments. If their alchemical�
  texts do not describe a given flower’s properties, the character can investi-�
  gate them. They can perform elementary analysis on items and substances�
  created through alchemy. To perform meaningful alchemical feats, the char-�
  acter must expend miraculous energy.�
  Most students of Alchemy are eager to progress further. For mortals, this is�
  not always possible; for Powers, it is almost inevitable.�
  Example Concept�
  K�
  eziah Montagu� is a woman of a thousand interests. As a mortal, she over-�
  committed herself to the point of ineffectuality. As a Power, she can push�
  forward her endless array of projects with glacial and majestic inevitability.�
  A recent enthusiasm is Alchemy, with her sister caelestis Malkiyah Theo-�
  dores acting as her mentor in the Emerald Art. Keziah is a mere apprentice�
  now, save for occasional flashes of Aspect-fueled brilliance; in seventy-two�
  years, she expects to be a master.�
  In Locus Imsety, there is an Oracle�
  named Rainfall. Her full name is�
  “Rain falling in the jungle, heavy�
  drops struggling down through the�
  leaves, and the knowledge of your�
  lover’s death.” She can answer al-�
  most any question, if moved to an-�
  swer at all, and has occasionally�
  unraveled mysteries that no other�
  Power can touch. Rainfall had a�
  deep and desperate love for knowl-�
  edge, and gave herself over to it; and�
  one day, there came a point when�
  the facts, mysteries, and wisdom in�
  her mind began to crowd out her�
  thoughts, feelings, and desires. “I do�
  not care,” decided Rainfall. “I wish�
  to know.” Thus she made her choice,�
  and now she feels nothing, thinks�
  nothing, desires nothing, and knows�
  all things that are.�
  —from�A Tourist’s Guide to Creation�,�
  by Jasprite Sherrard�
  Level 1: Practitioner�
  Characters who proceed in their studies of the Emerald Art eventually master its�
  elementary activities. On the theoretical front, they learn more about the proper-�
  ties of rare flowers — from the flower Nu Wa, almost never seen on Earth, to�
  yellow roses exactly seventeen and a half days old. As a practical matter, they�
  learn the basic elements of alchemical manufacture. They are qualified profes-�
  sionals at one of the deepest sciences in the world.�
  
  12�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Developing one’s alchemical abilities further takes a certain mindset, diffi-�
  cult even for Powers to adopt. It is a rare mortal who has the raw talent and�
  drive to proceed past this point. Some of the Powers who study this exclu-�
  sive Attribute linger at this level of understanding for many years before�
  they have the time and inclination to delve into the greater mysteries of the�
  Emerald Art. Others — particularly those with high Aspect or Spirit, though�
  not invariably — race past this point furiously in their climb to higher levels�
  of mastery.�
  Example Concept�
  K�
  apshö Surkhang�’s son was poisoned with a distillation of the flower�
  Dóirín, a blossom rare enough that none of the public works record its prop-�
  erties. To free his son from the Dóirín-induced coma, Kapshö developed�
  modest alchemical competence and began a hunt through private collec-�
  tions for the information this allowed him to understand. “Love him?” an-�
  swered Kapshö, when the inevitable question arose. “Of course not; but to�
  do this to my own flesh and blood is an insult I cannot allow to stand.”�
  “We have guns. You have an or-�
  chid,” said the thug to the alchemist.�
  “But it is an indigo orchid,” the al-�
  chemist replied, “so I suggest you�
  surrender at once.”�
  —from�Transmutation for Dummies,�
  by Gerald de Voe�
  “Two days ago,” Mieszko said, “I�
  could not have seriously considered�
  selling myself to Hell. You are very�
  good at this, Nilaia.”�
  “Perfection is in an angel’s nature,”�
  Nilaia answered.�
  Mieszko frowned. “Then how did�
  you fall?”�
  “With great difficulty,” Nilaia ad-�
  mitted. “I must struggle constantly�
  lest I return to grace.”�
  —from�Children of Heaven�, by�
  Martin Elliott�
  Level 2: Alchemist�
  I�
  n the Cleave of the Botanists (pg. 35,�Nobilis�), only those who�
  reach this level can become full members; those of lesser skill are�
  apprentices or support staff in the eyes of the Cleave. This is the point at�
  which alchemy can compete easily with the other magics of the world; a�
  well-prepared mortal Alchemist can face down an elementalist or Goetic�
  magician. Noble Alchemists can draw upon their innate miraculous en-�
  ergy to create true alchemical wonders.�
  In mortal society, those who go further become giants of the field: es-�
  teemed elders of the botanists and the bright young geniuses of the Em-�
  erald Art. Among Powers, this level of Alchemy represents less of a�
  meaningful plateau; anyone who climbs this far has the potential to�
  climb to the pinnacle of alchemical achievement.�
  
  13�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Example Concept�
  K�
  o Te Oho a Neru� learned the al-�
  chemical sciences from her Chancel-�
  folk; their mortal perspective�
  pervades and diminishes her under-�
  standing of the Emerald Art. As she�
  put it, bitterly, when first encounter-�
  ing a limit on her progress, “it is as�
  if one has learned one’s trigonome-�
  try from pigs, and can only dimly�
  hear the angles through the snort-�
  ing.”�
  Level 3: Master Alchemist�
  M�
  aster alchemists have seen�
  past the mortal virtues of�
  flowers and plants to the divine�
  power within them. With ground�
  coltsfoot petals and burned hyssop�
  — and a thousand other prepara-�
  tions besides —they can brush aside�
  the substance of Prosaic and Mythic�
  Reality and touch the�spiritus Dei�.�
  In any given generation, only a few�
  dozen mortals are born with the�
  ability to become master alchemists.�
  Natural inclinations or the divina-�
  tions of the Cleave lead them almost�
  inevitably to an alchemical life.�
  About half of these have the poten-�
  tial to rise further and become�
  grandmasters —with Alchemy�
  scores of 4 or 5 — either through�
  long-term study or immediate mas-�
  tery of the field.�
  The greater alchemical experiments�
  possible to the grandmasters are in-�
  creasingly risky and unreliable. The�
  lure of power draws some Nobles�
  inevitably past this point; others feel�
  that their energies are better used�
  developing more dependable abili-�
  ties.�
  This was my ambition: to create an answer to the defilers of the world.�
  It took me ten years to learn the alchemist’s art. It took me ten months, hard labor�
  all, to formulate and prove my method; and when I looked up from that final deter-�
  mination I saw the long strange shadows dancing in the corner of my lab.�
  It took me ten weeks to finish the construction. As I completed it the Thing came�
  into being amidst the shadows; and its body was like a lion’s, and its face was like a�
  woman’s, but its eyes were nothing human.�
  No art in my possession could drive it from my lab.�
  From that ten weeks of work (that ten months of computation; that ten years of�
  study!): a wooden flute, inlaid with gold. It had certain qualities and affinities of my�
  devising. Its sound would crush the hearts — the pumping, bloody hearts — of the�
  corrupters of the world.�
  Seven days I polished it. Three days I tested it, tested it in silence, with measure and�
  mathematics to verify that it could not harm the pure.�
  Three breaths I took; then I was ready.�
  I turned to look at the creature. “What are you?” I asked. “That you are not�
  afraid?”�
  “I am the Dark,” it answered. “I am here to witness.”�
  I watched it for a time, and it watched me. Then I began to play.�
  “It is strange,” the creature said, “how many ways you humans find to bring clo-�
  sure to your lives.”�
  —from�Transient Elements�,�
  by K.C. Danine�
  
  14�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Example Concept�
  C�
  lematis 4�is the Pawn of her Estate and a Radiant of her Realm, with lim-�
  ited access at best to the world-shaping abilities of the�N�obilis. As partial�
  compensation, she has striven to develop a deep alchemical knowledge;�
  now she may build alchemical tools for miraculously changing the world�
  in a variety of ways.�
  Level 4: Grandmaster Alchemist�
  G�
  randmasters of alchemy have unlocked the deeper secrets of the�
  world. They can work with the�spiritus Dei�as easily as the mortal ele-�
  ments; from their laboratories come divine masterworks. In reaching this�
  level they tear the scales from their eyes and learn to directly apprehend�
  the miraculous nature of each flower; (or each archetype; or each word);�
  fields and glades become riots of meaning to them, and they can see the�
  world reflected in a single rose.�
  The grandmasters lead the Cleave of the Botanists; the orthodoxy of the�
  organization restrains them from progressing further. Those who insist on�
  the search for greater enlightenment become�emeriti�, honored outcasts;�
  while the Cleave embraces their willingness to risk life, limb, and mind on�
  hazardous research, it demands that they retreat from the world and prac-�
  tice in seclusion. Even Powers consider the final level of alchemy forbid-�
  ding: in opening oneself to the greatest powers, one risks unleashing�
  terrible dooms.�
  Example Concept�
  C�
  hao Nurhaci�ascended to nobility from within the ranks of the Cleave;�
  in the first moment of her blazing�Commencement, she understood the�
  truths that had eluded her before and achieved grandmastery. Grandmas-�
  ter she became, and grandmaster she remains; contemplating the individ-�
  ual smells and fates of each emeritus she had known, she saw no reason to�
  go forward!�
  As I entered the room, a bell chimed.�
  She turned, very casually, and swal-�
  lowed down a vialful of shimmering�
  black liquid. I stepped forward to�
  grab her shoulder; without apparent�
  effort, she slipped directly sideways�
  and out of the way. I picked up a ta-�
  ble, scattering alembics, pestles,�
  lenses, crucibles, exotic fluids, and a�
  coffee grinder. She winced visibly. I�
  swung the table in her direction, and�
  she fell silkily to the floor. It took me�
  a moment to realize that she had lit-�
  erally dissolved into liquid rather�
  than simply falling prone; by that�
  time, she had coalesced again, and�
  was hurling a powder in my direc-�
  tion. The world went dark. I could�
  still smell her, though, and I ad-�
  vanced; that’s when she went liquid�
  again and poured herself down a�
  drain pipe in the floor.�
  —from Raüli’s Report�
  on the Hunt for�
  the Botanist Ndrirjàna Shkelyim�
  She has chosen her own punishment. Liquid she is; liquid she shall remain; and when she dies, I shall drink her as wine. This is the�
  statement of the Grim King.�
  —from a Notice distributed to the Cleave of the Botanists�
  
  15�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Level 5: Worldbreaker�
  C�
  haracters at this level understand the deadliest and the greatest al-�
  chemical science: the creation of artifacts capable of Imperial miracles.�
  This knowledge is perpetually incomplete and the danger it poses to the�
  practitioner and everything around them cannot be eliminated. A mind�
  grounded in form cannot wholly apprehend the formless; in the wedge of�
  unknowable and uncognizable consequence this creates there is ample op-�
  portunity for cataclysm. Not the Trismegistus nor any Power since has�
  fully mastered this science or its subtleties, nor is it likely that any ever�
  will. Thus those who practice this ultimate expression of the Emerald Art�
  are named Worldbreakers; disaster is a way of life for them, and even the�
  Cleave of the Botanists shows them fear.�
  Only a handful of mortals in any generation become Worldbreakers; the�
  dedication and the insight necessary to work regularly with Imperial arti-�
  facts eludes all others. For many Powers, conversely, the final alchemical�
  science is an infinitely alluring opportunity, and both dedication and in-�
  sight are easy to come by. In a world with billions of mortals and only a�
  few thousand Powers, the Nobles at this level usually outnumber the mor-�
  tal Worldbreakers.�
  Example Concept�
  M�
  aliqe Ristani� never wished harm to another living thing — but in the�
  moment of her Commencement, hearing the song of the Dark, she sold her�
  soul to it. Hidden in that song was the memory of the apples of Eden, and�
  something in her lusted for them. Drinking deep of the nectar of human�
  suicide, she earned her access to the Sable Gardens. Dedicating herself to�
  the Emerald Art, she learned to brew a mash from the sour and withered�
  apples of the Tree of Knowledge. Drunk on that forbidden wisdom, she�
  has made herself one of the deadliest opponents of the Light.�
  Weaving at the Loom named Yin-�
  Feng has many desirable effects.�
  Powers have tested Yin-Feng’s po-�
  tency against the Excrucians, pit-�
  ting the shuttling of the loom�
  against the edge of the Abhorrent�
  Weapon Rivalry (that is also Caligo-�
  rant); Yin-Feng came away the vic-�
  tor. Yet Powers rarely sit to weave�
  from this loom. Yin-Feng produces�
  no fabric save destiny, and those�
  who use its powers for too long turn�
  to molten silver and trickle away.�
  —from�A Tourist’s Guide to�
  Creation�, by Jasprite Sherrard�
  
  16�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Alchemy Rules�
  A�
  ny character — including mortals, Powers, and Excrucians — can de-�
  velop the Alchemy exclusive Attribute. It requires that they�
  achieve what the alchemists call the “essential insight” of the Emerald�
  Art — the understanding that the Trismegistus came to while regarding�
  the flower Niuka. Sadly, like Buddhist enlightenment, the essential in-�
  sight resists explanation. A few Nobilis achieve this insight on their own.�
  Others learn it through meditation on their Chancel — Nobles bound to�
  Chancels with the�Alchemy� Resource can automatically acquire the es-�
  sential insight in this manner, as will some of their Chancelfolk. For the�
  rest, two known methods exist for “teaching” this insight.�
  First, the teacher can transfer the insight to the student along with their�
  soul — literally embedding that soul and all its perspective within the�
  initiate’s own. This requires that the teacher kill themselves — of their�
  own free will, untainted by direct magical or miraculous compulsion —�
  in the student’s presence. Either the student must have an appropriate�
  alchemical artifact to “catch” the teacher’s soul, or the teacher must use�
  an alchemical tool to “channel” that soul into the student. In event of�
  tricks or treachery, unless the artifact involved can work Imperial mira-�
  cles, Powers can freely refuse the offered soul.�
  Second, if the teacher has the Spirit Attribute, they can perform a Spirit-�
  based Word of Command. They spend 8 SMPs and accept a wound, and�
  the blaze of their spirit rises around them. Looking into the shining�
  white fire and fury of that Word, the student acquires the essential in-�
  sight and can begin their study of Alchemy.�
  Characters who acquire the essential insight also gain an Alchemy rating�
  of 0 and may perform Alchemy miracles. Additional levels of Alchemy�
  cost 3 Character Points each; characters can purchase up to 5, each repre-�
  senting increased understanding of their essential insight into the nature�
  of the world. Mortal alchemists are limited to simple miracles of this At-�
  tribute, but miraculous beings may spend Aspect Miracle Points (AMPs)�
  on Alchemy, enhancing their insight, senses, and physical precision that�
  they may perform even greater works.�
  Floral Influences�
  T�
  he stronger Alchemy miracles draw on the essence of a flower or�
  flowers to empower an artifact or substance of the alchemist’s de-�
  sign. This creates a magical or miraculous tool whose basic qualities de-�
  rive from the symbolic associations of the flowers. (Characters can�
  The door to my cell, old,�
  fouled wood, grew clean and�
  straight when he touched it,�
  and the lock shone. He put�
  in the key, and the door�
  opened without effort. He�
  stepped in the filth as he en-�
  tered; it dissolved under his�
  boot, turned to dust and�
  then nothingness, and clean-�
  liness spread in rivulets�
  across the floor of the room.�
  He wore a strange headband�
  of woven thorns and blos-�
  soms; pale violet petals�
  shone with a soft pure light.�
  “You are free,” he said. “I�
  shall lead you hence. But do�
  not touch me.”�
  I could not help myself. It�
  had been too hard. I had�
  missed him for too long. I�
  took his hand in the two of�
  mine.�
  . . . that is the last entry I�
  shall write, for it marks the�
  end of one life and the begin-�
  ning of another. I do not�
  know what I became, when�
  Corentin’s touch burned�
  through my soul, but I am�
  not who I was; and, in truth,�
  I am glad to conclude my�
  former life’s affairs. Coren-�
  tin — I shall still love�
  Corentin, I think, but I have�
  no love for the man named�
  Reynaud Parmentier.�
  —from the Diary of�
  Reynaud Parmentier�
  
  17�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  instead learn or develop Alchemy based on other symbol sets, such as the�
  Tarot; this follows identical rules but is slightly inferior. These variant Al-�
  chemy Attributes do not include floral Alchemy, or vice versa.)�
  Unfortunately for the alchemists, multiple�influences� taint each flower. The�
  alchemist may wish to take advantage of a specific concept tied to the�
  flower — but it also has other associations. Some of these are known to the�
  general alchemical community, such as those in�Nobilis�, ppg. 294-298.�
  Others are�not�, and require research or blind optimism to determine. The�
  more time an alchemist spends, the more likely they are to create some-�
  thing that matches their desires. However, the remaining influences on the�
  artifact generally burden it with peculiar quirks, drawbacks, and limita-�
  tions.�
  In the past century, the Cleave of the Botanists has taken advantage of�
  gene manipulation and floral hybrids to create flowers with one or two as-�
  sociations carefully screened away. The process is extremely complex, and�
  only eight complete successes exist. These flowers do not reflect the Great�
  Work in Heaven, and the Angels feel a great loathing for them. Thus —�
  while it is the consensus of the Council of Four that the Cleave should con-�
  tinue its work — alchemists who work too frequently with these flowers�
  tend to meet tragically beautiful ends.�
  The Nobilis occasionally describe�
  their passing passions as such: “I�
  was touched by the periwinkle”,�
  or “a jasmine mood took me”. The�
  first refers to a moment of wistful�
  memory; the second, an hour, day,�
  or week of lust. This fashion is par-�
  ticularly common among alchemists,�
  who are more likely than other Pow-�
  ers to memorize the meanings of the�
  flowers of the world.�
  —from�The Society of Flowers�,�
   by Heather Williams�
  
  18�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  She held up the mirror, and in it I�
  saw myself; and behind me, the curl�
  of a mountain laurel. An insect�
  perched on the plant, of a sort that I�
  had never before seen. “This is your�
  ambition,” she said, “and it does not�
  suffice.”�
  She set down the mirror and sprin-�
  kled a powder over it. I could see the�
  insect’s reflected image swell to�
  monstrous proportions; then it�
  crawled out from the glass. I stood�
  in a kind of frozen horror as it scut-�
  tled over to me, and did not shriek�
  and jerk until the twisted reflection�
  had clambered most of the way onto�
  my back.�
  Six legs and a body burrowed into�
  my skin, while I thrashed, until its�
  fluttering wings lay flush against�
  my back. Its legs spread through me.�
  Its mind touched my own.�
  Now, when I think to rest too long,�
  or eat too much, or waste any time�
  at all, the insect moves in me. It�
  jerks my limbs about. I must work!�
  the insect thinks. I must work! I�
  must work!�
  How otherwise can I master the�
  great alchemical arts?�
  —from the Journal of Sigurd Lanser�
  Precision Work and Imprudent Alchemy�
  S�
  creening out unknown or unwanted influences on a given work is�
  tricky and uncertain. Alchemy is fundamentally an experimental sci-�
  ence, and almost every work is flawed.�
  Let us begin our discussion with�precision work —� the domain of the cau-�
  tious, inasmuch as the term applies. The pinnacle of alchemy is the perfect�
  work, harmonious in every aspect and perfectly expressing the creator’s�
  will; this cannot be achieved in an imperfect world, but the alchemist may�
  manage a functional equivalent. . . with a miracle 8 levels higher than the�
  base difficulty. If the player cannot afford such conspicuous excess, the HG�
  may season their character’s alchemical creation with limitations and�
  drawbacks to taste, as follows:�
  Requirement                        (in Dynamic Nobilis)�
  Possible Flaws�
     Miracle Level�>� Difficulty + 8�
  (T�
  RIUMPH�)�
  None; the product is perfect as envisioned.�
     Miracle Level�>� Difficulty + 4�
  (deep success)�
  ... or has significant limitations on its use.�
     Miracle Level�>� Difficulty + 2�
  (hard success)�
  ... and/or significant drawbacks to its use.�
     Miracle Level = Difficulty + 1�
  (normal success)�
  ... and/or to carrying or transporting it.�
     Miracle Level = Difficulty�
  (simple success)�
  ... and/or significant drawbacks to�owning�it.�
  
  19�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Some examples of these limitations include�
  •� 
  “does not work at night;”�
  •� 
  “requires a full Gregorian choir;” and�
  •� 
  “user must be calm.”�
  Some examples of these drawbacks include:�
  •� 
  “drains MP when used” (a problem in use);�
  •� 
  “puts anyone touching it to sleep” (a problem when carrying it);�
  and�
  •� 
  “owner can never find happiness” (principally a problem with�
  owning it.)�
  For characters with less skill and more ambition, there is another path:�impru-�
  dent alchemy.�
  As said, alchemy is an experimental science; a reckless work, rather than fail-�
  ing outright, is more likely to function in an unexpected fashion. Thus alche-�
  mists — whether mortal apprentices consumed with importune hubris or�
  Powers striving to master the infinite — have the option to attempt alchemical�
  miracles with miracle level�lower�than the difficulty.�
  Each such imprudent work is inherently a gamble. The character wields pow-�
  ers they only partially comprehend and creates — something — but it is not�
  necessarily a thing that is desirable or safe. The best way to think of this is that�
  the player describes their character’s process and goals and this serves as a�
  source of inspiration to the HG, who strives not so much to fulfill the player’s�
  desires or to thwart them as to use them as the springboard for the creation of�
  something resonant, quixotic, and fitting to the needs of the game. Such works�
  are always�like�the creator’s intent . . . but not�very� like; they are generally dan-�
  gerous, sometimes useful, always surprising, and often fatally flawed.�
  Requirement                        (in Dynamic Nobilis)�
  Possible Flaws�
     Miracle Level = Difficulty�
  (simple success)�
  The work is only�similar�to your intent.�
  ... and may have very limited use.�
     Miracle Level = Difficulty - 1�
  (normal failure)�
  ... and/or significant drawbacks to its use.�
     Miracle Level�<� Difficulty - 2�
  (hard failure)�
  ... and/or to carrying or transporting it.�
     Miracle Level�<� Difficulty - 4�
  (M�
  ISERY�)�
  ... and/or to�owning�it.�
  Yip Xiao-mei, regrettably, lost half�
  of her mind to an alchemical experi-�
  ment gone awry. She still thinks�
  perfectly well, of course, and this has�
  proved no practical impediment to�
  her success, but she admits quite�
  explicitly that she cannot think half�
  of the thoughts she might otherwise�
  have been capable of.�
  —from�In the Right Circles�, by�
  Jasprite Sherrard�
  
  20�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Characters using miracle level equal to the difficulty may use the rules for�
  precision work or for imprudent alchemy — whichever they prefer.�
  Crafting and the Circumstances of the Game�
  A�
  s a general rule, PCs can complete one major alchemical work and�
  two minor works in each story. (A “minor work” is something that�
  the character can create with a simple miracle.) This limit reflects natural�
  time constraints — experiential wisdom accumulating in one story and�
  flowering in the next — and cannot be hurried by miracle points alone.�
  NPCs have the potential to do the same, but typically work at a slower�
  pace. The HG can allow additional works for both PCs and NPCs if the�
  time scale seems appropriate.�
  Alchemical objects tend to reflect the conditions that produced them. An�
  object built carefully in a laboratory will be predictable but sterile; the�
  crude work of someone chained in Hell will operate with the same malevo-�
  lent creativity and tightly constrained circumstances as its maker. Sponta-�
  neous alchemy produces reckless works of power; slow and meditative�
  practices produce deep and still ones.�
  It requires specific effort as part of the design to secure an alchemical object�
  against breakage and the destructive works of time. A glass cup, even�
  should it contain Imperial magic, is prone to shattering; an alchemical tap-�
  estry can rot. That said, it is difficult to destroy any alchemical work before�
  the spirit of its purpose and its flaws are satisfied; unless directly targeted�
  by a powerful miracle, it will tend to endure until it has had the opportu-�
  nity to work its magic and its mischief on one or more meaningful occa-�
  sions.�
  In my Chancel, the infernal Power�
  Channary Keng runs the hospitals.�
  Naturally, they do not admit those�
  whose condition creates intense suf-�
  fering — but Channary is remark-�
  ably lax in applying this rule,�
  treating even such conditions as�
  cancer, severed limbs, and degenera-�
  tive lung disease. Nor do her hospi-�
  tals treat them inadequately — her�
  alchemical cures are experimental�
  and perhaps dangerous, but on the�
  whole quick, effective, and painless.�
  Qu Kien-Lung challenged her, say-�
  ing, “You sacrifice these peoples’�
  suffering to advance your own�
  knowledge of the alchemical arts.”�
  “I do not,” answered Channary. “If�
  I turn away a patient who then dies,�
  their pain ends. If I turn away a pa-�
  tient who then masters their hard-�
  ship, I have failed entirely. But those�
  I send away healed return to their�
  lives, and know that accident, dis-�
  ease, and death shall be no escape for�
  them; they will face suffering�
  enough for any Power of Hell.”�
  —from�Becoming Noble�,�
  by Fayola Osiagobare�
  
  21�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Examples�
  C�
  lematis 4 has Alchemy 3. She wishes to alchemically enhance her fa-�
  vorite gun so that it never misses — at least, when there is nothing mi-�
  raculous involved. This is basically an Earthly magic, so she uses�Essential�
  Alchemy� (a level 2 miracle), imbuing the gun with the essence of Hemlock.�
  When she has finished her work, the barrel will shimmer with the soft�
  white of poison hemlock and its handle will turn jade green.�
  As mentioned, this is her favorite gun, so she doesn’t want any downside�
  to carrying or owning it. She uses a level 4 miracle, equal to the difficulty +�
  2. This ensures that carrying and owning the gun is safe, though its actual�
  use might have limits or drawbacks. The HG decides that the hemlock in�
  the gun really wants to kill, not to hit. It therefore has a limitation: when�
  fired at an inanimate object, using a mundane action, it simply refuses to�
  work. This limitation is fairly minor, since Clematis can usually use Aspect�
  0 miracles to shoot inanimate things. However, Essential Alchemy is a low-�
  level miracle typified by relatively minor flaws.�
  T�
  eodosio Ribeiro has Alchemy 3. He wishes to create a powder of awaken-�
  ing that, when sprinkled onto the inanimate, gives it life and mobility in�
  the prosaic world. He uses�Alchemical Mastery�(a level 3 miracle) to do so,�
  crafting the powder from extracts of Angelica and Butterfly Weed — the�
  flowers of inspiration and freedom.�
  Teodosio chooses to create this powder carefully. He uses a level 5 miracle,�
  costing him 2 AMPs. The miracle level is again equal to the difficulty + 2,�
  so the powder is definitely safe to carry and own — but using it may have�
  some drawbacks.�
  The HG evaluates the likely extra influences on Angelica and Butterfly�
  Weed, either using whimsy or comparing the flower design charts in�No-�
  bilis�to the physical flowers, and determines that Teodosio fails to screen�
  out aspects of knowledge and war. Consequentially, the inanimate objects�
  that the powder awakens will be truculent, vicious, and cunning enough to�
  conceal their nature until they can strike at the Power that awakened them.�
  Since Teodosio is a reasonably accomplished alchemist, the HG also de-�
  cides that Powers�can�tame these hostile creatures and make them loyal,�
  with sufficient effort.�
  Teodosio may or may not be satisfied with the powder. If not, he can try�
  again, most likely finding a variant on the awakening powder with differ-�
  ent flaws.�
  K�
  o Te Oho a Neru wishes to craft an alchemical blade that, when drawn,�
  causes those who look upon it to love and fight for the wielder. She’d like�
  an effect comparable to the Glorious Gift, so must use�Alchemical Grand-�
  mastery� (a level 4 miracle). She only has Alchemy 2, and only 1 AMP to�
  The Temple of Inessential�
  Doubts contains two pre-�
  cious scrolls: the Primary�
  Truth, that is, the truth that�
  is the archetype for the very�
  concept of veracity, and the�
  Principal Lie, which is to�
  say, the corresponding ar-�
  chetype of falsehood. (Astute�
  readers may recognize these�
  matters from earlier discus-�
  sion, and identify these�
  scrolls as Earthly extensions�
  of the Angels Firstborn and�
  Lucifer.) For centuries after�
  the Temple’s construction,�
  visitors came to admire these�
  scrolls; then, sadly, they�
  were stolen. The Temple’s�
  seven-story hounds rapidly�
  brought the thief to heel, but�
  the priests of the Temple�
  found that — once having�
  been rearranged — they�
  could no longer tell the Pri-�
  mary Truth and the Princi-�
  pal Lie apart.�
  —from�A Primer on the�
  Loci Celatum�,�
  by Holly Djurisic�
  
  22�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  spare, but she tries it anyway. The difficulty (4) is equal to the miracle�
  level (3) + 1, so the HG can alter the basic concept and possibly impose�
  limitations or drawbacks on its use. After some thought, the HG de-�
  cides that the blade inspires desperate love, not for the wielder, but for�
  the blade itself. This seems a sufficiently large change that no further�
  limitation is required. Ko Te is reasonably pleased with the result; she�
  can still�distract�large groups of warriors, even if she cannot subvert�
  them.�
  M�
  aliqe Ristani has Alchemy 5. She wishes to create vambraces to�
  counter the Abhorrent Weapons of the Excrucians — specifically, an�
  artifact that can counter the Negative Gift. Maliqe can’t think of a gen-�
  eral way to counter a Major Destruction of Miraculous Power with a�
  Noble miracle, so she uses�Alchemical Wonders� (a level 5 miracle) to�
  create a relic on the Imperial scale. This is a tricky, dangerous work,�
  requiring the essence of at least five flowers.�
  Maliqe elects to empower the vambraces with the essence of Achillea,�
  Alyssym, Amaranth, Ashflower, and Chamomile — the flowers of�
  war, excellence, immutability, guardianship, and energy in adversity.�
  She uses a level 6 miracle, costing her a single AMP. The miracle level�
  is equal to the difficulty + 1, so owning the vambraces is guaranteed to�
  be safe — but carrying, wearing, and using them might not be. The HG�
  looks at the Negative Gift, which usually costs the Excrucians miracu-�
  lous energy, and decides that the vambraces do the same. They drain�
  the miracle points of whomever carries them at the rate of two per�
  scene, and swallow an additional MP each time they block an Abhor-�
  rent Weapon’s power. Since these effects are fairly obvious, the HG�
  tells Maliqe about them. Maliqe names the vambraces Aristratos, but�
  sometimes calls them Hunger.�
  Maliqe could have issued an Aspect Word of Command instead, burn-�
  ing inspiration into her mind. For just 8 AMPs and a long-lasting�
  wound, she could have used a level 13 miracle, creating wondrous�
  vambraces that could block the Excrucian Negative Gift without limi-�
  tations or drawbacks worth the mentioning.�
  It was more graceful than a�
  dance, the alchemist and the�
  nimblejack: one blessed with�
  dexterity by something�
  greater than a god, and one�
  whose shoes — high-heeled,�
  no less — gave her the terri-�
  ble speed of a hurricane�
  wind. I think that after the�
  first ten seconds — that�
  must have been an eternity�
  to them — the nature of�
  their battle changed. The�
  nimblejack set aside its will�
  to claw out her eyes and pull�
  her liver free, and she sur-�
  rendered her desire for life.�
  Hunger did not exist. Life�
  did not exist. There was only�
  the motion and the speed.�
  It ended all too predictably.�
  The beauty of the encounter�
  reached and moved the�
  nimblejack’s stone heart and�
  the creature died at once.�
  — from the Memoirs of�
  Alice Mendel,�
  Lady of the Thunder�
  
  23�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Dynamic Alchemy�
  I�
  n�Dynamic Nobilis�, each individual Alchemical creation requires�
  downtime consultation with an HG.�
  The player and HG meet. They discuss what the player hopes to create,�
  and how. The player notes how many Miracle Points they wish to use, the�
  flowers in question, the desired miracle level, and any other pertinent in-�
  formation. The HG, possibly after consulting others, determines the final�
  product and creates it as an object card�
  The player may now begin to spend the desired number of miracle points�
  (here, equivalent to AMPs.) They can spend these points over any number�
  of games. When they’ve spent enough to enact the miracle, they receive the�
  object card.�
  In�Dynamic Nobilis�, a given player should only develop one alchemical�
  product at a time; however, they can conceivably create one per session.�
  Hemlock Gun�
  (example object card)�
  Created by HG for Clematis 4, Power of Recurrence, 2/4/08 1pm�
  The barrel of this gun shimmers and its handle is jade green.�
  It never misses a living target (earthly magic), but�
  it cannot shoot inanimate objects without a miraculous action.�
  Requires an Aspect 2 miracle to damage.�
  
  24�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Alchemy Miracles�
  Level 0: Alchemical Analysis�
  L�
  evel 0 Alchemy miracles allow a character to determine the limita-�
  tions and quirks of an alchemically created object. The time invest-�
  ment is small, and sometimes gives the alchemist a hint of the influences�
  involved.�
  Playing it Out: In�Dynamic Nobilis�, the character can read the object card for�
  any object created through Alchemy. In general, this is all the relevant information�
  for the object; if the HGs have secret information about the alchemical creation,�
  these miracles do not help reveal it.�
  The wolf came into Christopher�
  Dannson’s camp, its fur the color of�
  storms at night, and bared fangs the�
  white of the moon. An angel fell�
  from above in a susurrus of wings�
  and the blade named Promise, and it�
  said to the wolf, “You are a thing�
  that should not be.”�
  Christopher ran while the angel�
  fought; and then four hours later,�
  the angel found him. Its wings and�
  hands and face ran with blood. He�
  fell to his knees.�
  “There is a price that must be paid�
  for acts of virtue,” said the angel,�
  “for this is the law of the blade I�
  bear.”  The sword came out again�
  and in one stroke it took off Christo-�
  pher Dannson’s head.�
  —from�Innocents and Thieves�,�
  by Keiko Takemori�
  Level 1: Alchemical Trivia�
  L�
  evel 1 Alchemy miracles express the basic skills of a practical alche-�
  mist. These miracles do not use the precision work or imprudent�
  alchemy rules; a level 1 Alchemy miracle is both necessary and sufficient.�
  The first skill under this heading is alchemical manufacturing: the produc-�
  tion of mundane or unusual substances through alchemy, whether creat-�
  ing them in a laboratory or transmuting them from lesser substances. This�
  ability is a minor Earthly magic, and is comparable to Extrapolative Tech-�
  nology in its ability to grant access to unusual chemicals, drugs, and met-�
  als.�
  The second skill under this heading is an analytical, applied, and reason-�
  ably comprehensive understanding of the properties of flowers. In the�
  hands of an alchemist, flowers can do some fairly peculiar things, from�
  eavesdropping on (the vicinity of) a matched blossom to opening gate-�
  
  25�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  ways to Heaven. The HG can sometimes offer an alchemist the opportu-�
  nity to solve a problem that is otherwise blocking them by finding an�
  appropriate flower or flowers. This generally does not mean “a hyacinth”�
  so much as “a hyacinth so many years old, with one petal twice the length�
  of another” — but alchemists still find their peculiar knowledge handy.�
  Playing it Out: In�Dynamic Nobilis�, object cards created through alchemical�
  trivia use the same rules as objects built with Extrapolative Technology — they�
  give one more shift towards success than the tool typically would. The HGs can�
  optionally give alchemists the right to create one such object a session without con-�
  sultation with an HG. This is in addition to any major alchemical objects devel-�
  oped together with the HGs.�
  When a difficult problem becomes public knowledge, the HGs may sometimes in-�
  form characters able and willing to use these miracles (Alchemy 0 characters will-�
  ing to spend an MP or characters with Alchemy 1+) how their floral techniques�
  can resolve it.�
  Level 2: Essential Alchemy�
  L�
  evel 2 Alchemy miracles allow the character to unlock the hidden es-�
  sence of a single flower and create objects imbued with its power.�
  Results usually vary, even with identical objects and flowers, but an alche-�
  mist can deliberately reproduce a previously discovered effect. The al-�
  chemical artifact this miracle produces has raw potency equivalent to an�
  Earthly magic — its effects are not treated as miraculous. For example, a�
  solvent created through this process would splash off a Noble harmlessly.�
  However, the effects can be quite powerful; such a solvent would burn�
  through steel as easily as paper.�
  These miracles use the precision work and imprudent alchemy rules; how-�
  ever, the limitations and drawbacks associated with them are generally�
  trivial.�
  Playing it Out: In�Dynamic Nobilis�, these use the normal rules for alchemical cre-�
  ations, described above.�
  There is an old legend�
  that if you hollow out a corpse,�
  leaving only skin and bones,�
  and stuff�
  this remainder with violets,�
  it will be able to speak.�
  I do not recommend the attempt;�
   corpses may�
  remember much of their former life,�
  but they are wicked�
  and devious�
  beyond the aspirations of man.�
  —from�The Grim King (Appendix A)�,�
  by Melanie Tumbarius�
  
  26�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Level 3: Improbable Alchemy�
  L�
  evel 3 Alchemy miracles allow the character to create objects imbued�
  with the essence of a pair of distinct flowers. The alchemical artifact�
  thus produced has a raw potency equivalent to a lesser miracle; its penetra-�
  tion generally ranges from 0-2. Unfortunately, the unwanted influences�
  that derive from a pair of flowers are harder to screen out than those from�
  the single flowers of essential alchemy.�
  These miracles use the precision work and imprudent alchemy rules. The�
  limitations and drawbacks associated with them should be relatively mi-�
  nor.�
  Playing it Out: In�Dynamic Nobilis�, these use the normal rules for alchemical�
  creations, described above.�
  Level 4: Alchemical Mastery�
  L�
  evel 4 Alchemy miracles allow the character to create objects imbued�
  with the essence of three distinct flowers. This yields an alchemical�
  artifact with a raw potency equivalent either to a major miracle with small�
  penetration or a lesser miracle with 4-5 penetration. Such artifacts are al-�
  ways useful, but generally both limited and peculiar due to the varied in-�
  fluences upon them.�
  These miracles use the precision work and imprudent alchemy rules. The�
  limitations and drawbacks associated with them can be major or minor.�
  Playing it Out: In�Dynamic Nobilis�, these use the normal rules for alchemical�
  creations, described above.�
  The light cast by censers of burning�
  Amaranth and Hawkweed casts no�
  shadows; it trickles around, under,�
  and over every obstacle. In the�
  hands of a skilled alchemist, such�
  censers are more potent yet, reveal-�
  ing the unseen and blinding the un-�
  worthy.�
  —from�A Tourist’s Guide to Creation�,�
  by Jasprite Sherrard�
  Seen through an alchemical viscis-�
  cope, the flower of Storms is nothing�
  more than a raging hurricane; or�
  perhaps, a driving rain; or a night�
  full of snow and ice. The exact spiri-�
  tual nature of the flower varies de-�
  pending on how it chooses to�
  interact with the viewer; those�
  whom the Viscount of Storms de-�
  spises generally see nothing but�
  flurries of hate and clouds whose�
  march across the sky forms an omen�
  of doom.�
  —from� The Amethyst Table�,�
  by Salma Aidara�
  
  27�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Level 5: Alchemical Wonders�
  he most powerful Alchemy miracles allow the character to create�
  objects imbued with the essence of five distinct flowers. The result-�
  ing work has power equivalent to that of an Imperial miracle, beyond the�
  might of any Power, and conceivably even puissance beyond that of a typi-�
  cal Imperator. However, even the greatest Alchemist cannot weed away all�
  the influences that taint such artifacts; it is a wonder to produce one at all,�
  and producing something�too� close to the desired result would be too�
  much to ask.�
  These miracles use the Alchemical Experimentation rules. The limitations�
  and drawbacks associated with them should be major or at least signifi-�
  cant, and even “perfect” works should be quirky.�
  Playing it Out: In�Dynamic Nobilis�, these use the normal rules for�
  alchemical creations, described above.�
  The label on the box said, “Lucifer’s�
  Heart – 5¢.”�
  “How do you know it is really�
  Lucifer’s heart?” asked Emma Jane.�
  “I pulled it out myself,” said the�
  man in the black coat. He pulled up�
  his shirt and Izod sweater to show�
  the hole in his chest. “See?”�
  —from�Emma and César�,�
   by Martin Elliott�
  
  28�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  “Are the ranks of the�
  muses fixed?”�
  “Of course not,” said�
  Terpsichore. “We regu-�
  larly expand our ranks as�
  new forms of art become�
  available.”�
  “Oh? Who are some of the�
  up and coming young�
  muses?”�
  “Well, we’ve been very�
  pleased to welcome Katal-�
  ixis,” Terpsichore said.�
  “She’s the muse of de-�
  stroying the world.”�
  “That’s an art form?”�
  Terpsichore smiled. “You�
  know?” she said. “I asked�
  that too. But it’s all about�
  your attitude when you’re�
  doing it.”�
  —from�The Ends of the Earth�,�
  by K.C. Danine�
  
  29�
  High Summoning�
  S�
  ome Powers turn outside Creation for their strength. They�
  study the monsters that live beyond the Weirding Wall. They�
  learn to summon them, to bind them, and to make pacts with�
  them. Some are corrupted, and fall into the service of the Beyond’s�
  horrors. Some grow mighty from their allies’ power. Most become�
  a little alien themselves, bound with strange promises and gifted�
  with peculiar abilities.�
  High Summoning rests on two foundations. The first is knowledge�
  — understanding the creatures of the Lands Beyond Creation.�
  Those who know their ways can speak to them; those who learn�
  their tricks can bargain with them; those who learn their weak-�
  nesses can command them. The truths of the Beyond, however, are�
  always changing. Last year’s understanding of the Peregrine Bears�
  may not survive into today. The promise so tight as to command a�
  Lawbreaker one day may hold no influence over them the next. A�
  High Summoner’s power waxes and wanes, and what they can do�
  one moment they might not accomplish the next. The second foun-�
  dation is influence — acquiring a social and perhaps mystical posi-�
  tion in the Beyond. A Power whose name accumulates fear and�
  respect outside the Weirding Wall can parlay this into more com-�
  plete command over greater and more terrible creatures.�
  Characters who engage in the dangerous art of High Summoning�
  should generally take the Handicaps Imperfect Command (pg. 55),�
  Imperfect Knowledge (pg. 56), and Student of Summoning (pg.�
  57). The first indicates that the character does not wholly master�
  everything they summon, and has various outstanding pacts with�
  the creatures of the Beyond. The second defines the degree to�
  which the summoned creatures fall short of the character’s expec-�
  tations. The third indicates that the character, in pursuit of further�
  knowledge, continues to experiment with High Summoning, call-�
  ing forth new creatures in their quest for understanding; this can�
  lead to an occasional disaster.�
  Once, I asked my imaginary friend,�
  “Are you real?”�
  She thought on this, and then sat�
  down upon the beach. She poked�
  her finger into the sand; it left a�
  hole. Ten times she did this, and�
  nine holes she left.�
  “Mostly,” she concluded, and I was�
  forced to agree.�
  —from the Diary of�
  Minerva Candeloro�
  
  30�
  High Summoning Scores�
  Level 0: Severed Sage�
  A�
   student of High Summoning must learn the rites of summoning,�
  binding, dispelling, and compelling. They must master the ceremo-�
  nies that propitiate the Weirding Wall (pg. 40,�Nobilis�) and conceivably�
  Creation itself, allowing the conjuration of entities from Beyond. Most im-�
  portantly, they must learn enough about the infinity outside existence to�
  both locate and manipulate the allies they desire. Some delve into libraries�
  of mystic lore, earning their wisdom through old-fashioned scholarship.�
  Others, whose experiments rely on their raw intuition and the power of�
  their soul, acquire a quicker but less comfortable understanding of the�
  Lands Beyond Creation; strange truths, lies, and theorems spread through�
  their mind like cracks through a stone.�
  Those who practice High Summoning are never wholly creatures of Cre-�
  ation again. They base their influence in the Beyond on their honor, decep-�
  tions, promises, gifts, contracts, secrets, alliances, energies, wisdom, and�
  efforts — all things that are a part of their essential selfhood. To learn High�
  Summoning is to sever oneself, ever so slightly, from the natural processes�
  of the world. A portion of one’s soul becomes a stranger to all the things in�
  Creation. This does not necessarily corrupt the practitioner; the Lands Be-�
  yond Creation are home to things stranger than the Fallen. Neither, howev-�
  er, is it safe.�
  Example Concept�
  A�
  ndel Miskova�chose to learn High Summoning due to its availability in�
  his Chancel; this, he concluded soon after, was the greatest mistake he had�
  ever made. He can feel in his bones and his soul that he no longer belongs�
  wholly to the world; and though the spirits and the land seem still to wel-�
  come him, he spends his life in expectation of the world’s rejection. He�
  feels estranged even from his Estate, a Power’s first and final companion;�
  and so has chosen to walk the path of High Summoning no further.�
  I waited for her to introduce�
  herself, but she stood silent. Fi-�
  nally, I prompted her. “Your�
  name, milady?”�
  She shook her head. “Creatures�
  who one day have seven limbs�
  and the next twenty-three, who�
  can eat your shadow and spit it�
  out again — they bandy my�
  name about. Things with seven�
  sapphire eyes, the living antith-�
  esis of mountains, they make�
  jokes of it. Monsters who can�
  flip a coin and have it come up�
  null, whose fangs can cut the�
  night and whose eyes can see�
  through stone — they hide in�
  fear from its shadow. I have a�
  name,” she said, “but it is no�
  longer fit for the children of�
  man.”�
  —from the Thought-Record�
  of Luc Ginneis�
  
  31�
  Level 1: Companion to Monsters�
  A�
  fter mastering the basic techniques, a High Summoner begins a long�
  study of the internal lives and social contracts of the creatures be-�
  yond Creation. Through these studies, they learn to constrain, compel, and�
  manipulate such entities. Some creatures the Summoner controls through�
  the creature’s sense of honor and obligation; some through agreements�
  made with greater, suzerain entities; and a few through a shrewd under-�
  standing of the monster’s nature, allowing them to present the creature�
  with a dilemma solvable only through obedience. These matters are treach-�
  erous; the greater the dominion a Summoner hopes to claim, the more hos-�
  tility their experiments can generate.�
  Characters with this level of High Summoning have used their knowledge�
  to gain social currency in regions of the Beyond, and with certain individ-�
  ual entities as well. In so doing, they make themselves a creature of the�
  Lands Beyond Creation as well as a creature of the world; they have an�
  identity in both places. Those uncomfortable with this idea rarely develop�
  their High Summoning to this point; those who consider such a dual na-�
  ture mere semantics often proceed further.�
  Example Concept�
  E�
  semkhebe�is also Niutweskhet of the Lands Beyond Creation; she has a�
  name there and a place in the societies of seventy of the Beyond’s domin-�
  ions. She finds the process of High Summoning intellectually and emotion-�
  ally fascinating, but doesn’t feel she can afford to develop Niutweskhet’s�
  influence further; she has Esemkhebe, Power of Tragedy, to tend to.�
  She stood in the garden she had�
  summoned from outside the world.�
  A thing that I could not call a flower�
  brushed against her face; soft yellow�
  fuzz lay beneath her feet. Behind�
  her, radiant indigo shapes of whorls�
  and topologically impossible curves�
  served as bushes, and something�
  beautiful but disturbingly wormlike�
  crawled up a lattice against the gar-�
  den fence.�
  Nothing in that garden came from�
  the mind of God. It was something�
  called, something conjured, some-�
  thing found.�
  “What price did you pay for it?” I�
  asked.�
  She opened her eyes. Patterns of am-�
  ber and violet endlessly bloomed�
  within them. “None worth the men-�
  tioning,” she answered.�
  She stood within the garden; and�
  nothing in that garden came from�
  the mind of God.�
  —from the Thought-Record of�
  Melania Stockli�
  Level 2: Lady of the Beyond�
  D�
  etermined practitioners of High Summoning eventually build a�
  meaningful web of influence in the Lands Beyond Creation. Whether�
  mortal or Power, each of those who develops High Summoning to this�
  level becomes a lord or lady of the places outside existence; in the Beyond,�
  they are a force to reckon with. This has certain spiritual consequences. A�
  mortal with such mastery almost inevitably falls into the Beyond upon�
  their death, rather than reincarnating. A Power faces a small corrosion of�
  their identity: though their Estate exists only within Creation, they and�
  their authority reach outside it. Those Powers at this level assert that this in�
  no way dilutes their loyalty or their effectiveness in service to Creation; the�
  person playing such a Power determines how much truth lies in this asser-�
  tion.�
  
  32�
  A character’s continuing social advancement in the Lands Beyond Cre-�
  ation has certain direct material consequences. Their ability to dominate or�
  earn cooperation from any of the allies they summon increases; they are�
  simply in a better position to command.�
  Example Concept�
  T�
  ang Pei-pei� feels herself diluted by the energy she pours into the Be-�
  yond. She has built power for herself there with pacts, gifts, and promises,�
  and sometimes suspects she is buying that power with pieces of her own�
  soul. At the same time, the prospect of an unworldly crown to go with her�
  Duchess’ circlet of strawberry leaves and gold appeals to her. More influ-�
  ence over her Beyond allies is always tempting. She has not yet decided�
  whether to direct her efforts into further studies of High Summoning or to�
  spend that time turning her already-mustered influence to the service of�
  Estate and Code.�
  Level 3: Peer of the Most Distant Realm�
  T�
  hose who ascend to this level of High Summoning can wear a crown�
  woven of�sukka adharma�, a substance or quality found in the Beyond�
  that sometimes carries an appearance of shadow and sometimes of light.�
  They have claimed a high place in the distant courts; and if that place is�
  not a true place, in a court no true court, in a land that one cannot truly say�
  exists, nevertheless they have become something more than they were.�
  At this level, the Power has significant influence over the unintelligent�
  denizens of the world Beyond; moreover, with the pacts they have woven,�
  they can reasonably expect to dominate creatures whose nature both mir-�
  rors and stands outside the miraculous. Sometimes, they can even control�
  those creatures whose nature is as potent as a Noble’s own.�
  Example Concept�
  K�
  aminaga Hitoshi�spends much of his time in abstract research on the or-�
  der and structure of the Lands Beyond Creation, viewed as if it possessed�
  geography, physics, politics, and social systems. He considers these things�
  to exist only in the mind of an observer within Creation, as an interpreta-�
  tion of the fundamentally unknowable; the question that burns in his mind�
  is whether the Beyond, existing outside the physics and metaphysics of�
  Creation, is real at all. He wears the crown of�sukka adharma� proudly, and�
  would like the reassurance of believing that the lands from which that�
  crown comes are more than a consensual illusion.�
  The Lady of the Dawn opened her�
  eyes and cast her gaze across the�
  battlefield; and as the light of her�
  regard touched each of them, the�
  creatures of darkness withered, and�
  sank down, and hid beneath the sod.�
  A murmur rose among the soldiers,�
  and they knelt before her, one or two�
  shaming twenty and then two thou-�
  sand into obeisance. They drove their�
  blades into the soil and waited for her�
  to bless them with her word. She said�
  nothing, but rather closed her eyes;�
  and from the sod beneath the soldiers,�
  the creatures of darkness rose.�
  “How should I record it?” asked�
  Eguerdi, pen in hand, when the�
  slaughter was complete.�
  “At this battle,” said the Lady,�
  whose aspect had darkened, “I am�
  the Lady  of the Eventide.”�
  —from�Seven Wonders�,�
  by Emily Chen�
  
  33�
  Level 4: Sovereign Beyond�
  T�
  hose who can claim this High Summoning score have built massive�
  influence in the Lands Beyond Creation; they may wear the crown of�
  ariya adharma,� a substance that sometimes shines with its glory and some-�
  times flickers with unworth. They are a significant potentate in the Be-�
  yond, and that power roughly equals the strength of their influence in�
  Creation. Some find themselves still bound thoroughly to Creation’s ser-�
  vice; others discover their Imperator’s constraints have slowly faded away,�
  and they must decide whether to serve the world freely or reject it as be-�
  neath them.�
  At this level, the Power’s dominance over the menial animals of the Lands�
  Beyond Creation is in most respects complete. Their control over signifi-�
  cant entities is meaningful. They can treat with the Beyond’s equivalents of�
  Nobles as equals or — occasionally — superiors.�
  Example Concept�
  I�
  lisa Kasavaraju�stands at the cusp of the most important decision of her�
  life. Already, she possesses nobility in both Creation and the Beyond, and�
  her fundamental connection to reality has grown tenuous. If she stops her�
  studies, she can continue to consider herself a person and a Power, and�
  most likely — with effort and planning — can arrange to reincarnate rather�
  than fall out of Creation upon her death. If she struggles upwards towards�
  true mastery, she will become something fundamentally alien, serving Cre-�
  ation only by choice: a creature fated to upon its death forswear ordinary�
  things, shake free its wings from the chrysalis of the world, and fly out into�
  endlessness as an empress of the Beyond.�
  Certain Powers assert their mastery�
  of the peculiar art of High Summon-�
  ing by adopting a crown shaped�
  from the substance of the Lands Be-�
  yond Creation. Like any other item�
  of regalia, such crowns ostensibly�
  recognize the Power’s worth and�
  serve to intimidate those who have�
  earned no similar adornment. In�
  practice, the Power has adopted the�
  distinctive markings of another tribe�
  — that of the entities beyond the�
  boundaries of the world— and in so�
  doing indicated their defection from�
  the social order. The response is in-�
  variably negative. That some Powers�
  fail to notice this simply demon-�
  strates their increasing alienation�
  from Noble culture. That others�
  prosper in society despite choosing�
  an adharmic crown testifies to the�
  charm, intensity, and manipulative�
  ability that some fortunate Powers�
  possess.�
  —from�The Society of Flowers�,�
   by Heather Williams�
  Level 5: Empress Beyond�
  T�
  o reach this High Summoning score is to claim the crown of�nijhati�
  adharma,� the circlet that perfects — though the standard to which it�
  perfects its wearer is unknown. Death is nothing to these masters; when�
  they die, unless an Imperator should intervene, they shall step beyond Cre-�
  ation and become something else — something grander, something more�
  glorious, something altogether inhuman. Those who would find such a�
  fate unwelcome had best curtail their ambition before they reach this point.�
  
  34�
  Those Powers who may name themselves emperors in the Beyond easily�
  dominate a wide variety of useful monsters. In addition, they can usually�
  force the grudging cooperation of certain majestic and semi-divine horrors.�
  High Summoning cannot manipulate those terrible creatures who corre-�
  spond to the Beyond’s Imperators, but even these will generally go out of�
  their way to avoid crushing a master of High Summoning under their heel.�
  Example Concept�
  A�
  nupriya Mageshkumar� wore the name Kadir-Rahman in the Lands Be-�
  yond Creation and thought this name an aspect of herself. She fed that�
  aspect’s strength with her efforts and occult bargains, seeking always to�
  make it greater. Then one day she awoke to understand that Kadir-Rah-�
  man was not her aspect but the converse; that she had been a part of Kadir-�
  Rahman since the day of her birth, and upon her death would rejoin with�
  it. “Which came first?” she asked herself. “My creation of Kadir-Rahman,�
  or Kadir-Rahman’s creation of Anupriya Mageshkumar?” Eventually, she�
  concluded that the question had no meaning; time is an artifact of the an-�
  gels, and cannot bind such things as Kadir-Rahman, who is also named the�
  Mercy at the Heart of the Flame.�
  Walk to the east until you can walk�
  no more. Swim east until you pass�
  the sunrise; swim east until you�
  pass the stars; swim east until you�
  pass beyond the edge of the sky.�
  There, you will find yourself on the�
  shores of a different land, under a�
  different sky.�
  Even in that land, he said, they shall�
  know your name, and mine, and of�
  our love.�
  —from�Adel�, by K.C. Danine�
  
  35�
  High Summoning Rules�
  T�
  he power source for High Summoning is High Summoning MPs�
  (HMPs). These represent the alien but miraculous energy accruing to�
  the character from their position and bargains in the Lands Beyond Cre-�
  ation. Characters have 0 HMPs by default. Normally, a character begins�
  purchasing these Miracle Points before developing a rating in High Sum-�
  moning. This represents their studies of and experimentation with the Be-�
  yond, which have as yet yielded no useful results. When a character has�
  purchased 5 HMPs, not counting HMPs received from Handicaps, they�
  acquire a rating in High Summoning. They may then purchase levels in the�
  exclusive Attribute normally.�
  Certain environments are particularly congenial to High Summoning�
  — such as Chancels with the High Summoning Chancel Property and�
  places tainted heavily with the powers of creatures Beyond. Creatures�
  bound to a character in such a place are vulnerable not simply to the�
  character’s wisdom but to their raw spiritual potency. The character�
  can substitute Spirit MPs for HMPs when summoning, binding, ban-�
  ishing, or coercing such creatures. If the character lives in such a�
  place, they may freely develop a rating in High Summoning without�
  purchasing 5 HMPs, or, in fact, any HMPs at all.�
  Mortals who live in an environment congenial to High Summoning�
  can learn the art, but cannot develop HMPs or SMPs. Most have the�
  Handicaps Imperfect Command, Imperfect Knowledge, and Student�
  of Summoning, none of which earn them miracle points. If a creature�
  so requests, they may accept other Handicaps to please it; this earns�
  them neither miracle points nor any guarantee of loyalty. High Sum-�
  moning is a Noble’s art.�
  He looked at the pentacle,�
  and his nostrils flared.�
  “Clearly,” he said, “I have�
  overestimated your tal-�
  ents. Perhaps we will start�
  with something easier to�
  draw. A summoning cir-�
  cle. Or perhaps a sum-�
  moning square.”�
  “What can you summon�
  with a square?” asked Jau-�
  regi.�
  “Demons and monsters,”�
  snapped Salvador. “But�
  they sneer at you!”�
  —from�The Ivory Clock�,�
   by Emily Chen�
  
  36�
  Learning High Summoning in Dynamic Nobilis�
  I�
  n�Dynamic Nobilis�, characters do not purchase HMPs separately. In-�
  stead, generic Miracle Points represent HMPs (and SMPs).�
  To learn High Summoning without an appropriate Chancel Property, a�
  character must still make an investment in developing the appropriate ap-�
  plications of miraculous energy. As there are no HMP to purchase, they�
  must fulfill the generic�MP Criterion�(below).�
  A�Dynamic Nobilis�character can claim a rating in High Summoning as�
  soon as they purchase a sufficient number of generic MPs and obtain HG�
  permission. The HGs may wish to impose additional restrictions, such as a�
  number of stories spent studying High Summoning or specific interactions�
  with HG-played entities.�
  “To learn the first secret of this tem-�
  ple, you must sacrifice your left arm.�
  To learn the second, you must sacri-�
  fice your right. The third, your left�
  leg. The fourth, your right. The fifth,�
  your tongue. The sixth, your eyes.�
  The seventh, your torso, and the�
  eighth, your head.”�
  “You seem remarkably intact, hon-�
  ored teacher.”�
  “I had acquired several spare bod-�
  ies,” he explained, “for just such�
  occasions as this. . . .”�
  —from�Tearing Down the Thirty-�
  Three Heavens�,�
  by Martin Elliott�
  MP Criterion�
  Fulfilled for . . .�
     Character has purchased 3 additional MPs�
  One exclusive Attribute demanding this criterion.�
     Character has purchased 5 additional MPs�
  Two exclusive Attributes demanding this criterion.�
     Character has purchased 8 additional MPs�
  Three exclusive Attributes demanding this criterion.�
     Character has purchased 10 additional MPs�
  Four exclusive Attributes demanding this criterion.�
  * In the event that a character needs to develop more than four Attributes with this criterion, start over at the beginning of�
  the table; 13 MPs suffices for a fifth, 15 for a sixth, 18 for a seventh, and so on.�
  
  37�
  Pacts�
  H�
  igh Summoning is not a solitary art. In its pursuit, summoners make�
  pacts and bargains with — potentially — dozens of creatures. These�
  include things and essences in Creation that watch over the Weirding�
  Wall; potentates and ministers controlling access to the various regions of�
  the Beyond; the oracles, sages, divinaturges, and sofiamancers that teach�
  the summoner of the secrets and species outside existence; those divine�
  horrors and horrarchs the character summons; and the strange and hid-�
  eous lords, ladies, and androgynes that rule, govern, dominate, or oversee�
  the individual species of the furthermost realm.�
  The requirements incumbent upon a character can take the form of con-�
  crete sacrifices, such as virginal maidens or boys, gold, chocolate, rare�
  flowers, or the character’s own blood. They can include abstract sacrifices,�
  such as death, joy, bored drudgery, mountain climbing, beetle consump-�
  tion, or artistic effort, experienced by the Power or by a number of mortals�
  in the creature’s name. The Power may need to lame themselves or drive�
  themselves mad; they may need to speak no truths or no falsehoods; they�
  may be bound against killing, or against holding back their anger; they�
  may be required to isolate themselves from the touch of water or the taste�
  of stone. Bargains can call for the torment of thousands, a week’s revelry, a�
  stone that shines as brightly as the sun, a hundred thousand dollars set on�
  fire, an intricate pattern of brands and marks on the Power’s flesh, cruelty�
  or kindness, or the gift of a butterfly found living and well at the bottom of�
  the sea.�
  In practice, these pacts take the form of Handicaps. The Handicap Imper-�
  fect Command (pg. 55) serves as a catchall for all the small bargains the�
  character involves themselves with that do not merit MPs on an individual�
  basis. The need for minor sacrifices could take the form of a Restriction,�
  giving a MP when some obstacle prevents the character from making the�
  sacrifice. Conversely, making regular major sacrifices takes the form of a�
  Limit: the HG defines interesting sacrifices that must be obtained, and the�
  character’s quest for each forms a subplot in one or several stories. In addi-�
  tion, almost any Limit or Restriction can derive from a bargain with crea-�
  tures Beyond. Even peculiar Restrictions such as the inability to enter a�
  home uninvited can serve in a character’s bargains — few entities take�
  pleasure in that particular inability, but the spiritual commitment the�
  Power makes to that Restriction can provide energy or some other quality�
  that a creature from Beyond finds valuable. Although a great deal of free-�
  dom exists in choosing High Summoning-based Handicaps, the player�
  should always work out which of the creatures they dealt with demanded�
  the Handicap and why.�
  The end result of the character’s pacts is a supply of HMPs or SMPs with�
  which they can enhance their miracles of High Summoning. Thanks to�
  “‘Before I break my pact with�
  you,’ you swore, ‘I will burn�
  away my eyes; scour away�
  my flesh; pound my bones to�
  dust; and curse to death my�
  ten thousand young.’”�
  “I swore that; granted.”�
  “How do you explain this�
  betrayal, then?”�
  “When the moment of deci-�
  sion came, I could find no�
  brands with which to burn�
  away my eyes; no stones to�
  scour away my flesh; and no�
  hammers to pound my bones�
  to dust. Sadly, for all my no-�
  ble and self-sacrificing inten-�
  tions, I could not fulfill the�
  oath that I had sworn. Now�
  that I have already broken�
  the pact, it is too late.”�
  “And your young?”�
  “I cursed them to a dread�
  and terrible death. Happily,�
  my curses are not effica-�
  cious.”�
  —from�On Making Pacts�
  with the Odonata�,�
  by Nadyezhda Chesnokov�
  
  38�
  their pacts, they can dominate those things that would otherwise cooperate�
  with them; earn cooperation from things that would normally speak to�
  them; and demand civility from creatures that would otherwise tear them�
  limb from limb. Characters who have high High Summoning scores may�
  choose to scale back on their pacts and obligations, choosing their commit-�
  ments wisely; alternately, they may have Miracle Point-supported dealings�
  with creatures that lesser summoners dare not call forth.�
  The elephants shook; the plate�
  wobbled beneath the world;�
  and we thousands of us top-�
  pled screaming into the void.�
  Our gods offered no sympa-�
  thy; “it was thy choice,” they�
  said, “to live upon a world�
  precariously balanced on a�
  turtle’s back. For life is holy,�
  but its choices mean, and it�
  may hold no other to ac-�
  count.”�
  We took our petitions of out-�
  rage, ghostly, to the one who�
  toppled us; but his staring�
  eyes gave us only blank dis-�
  dain.�
  “I was under a turtle,” he�
  said. “Thus, I jumped. To pal-�
  pate a turtle’s stomach with�
  my head, unsettling its bal-�
  ance: such is my pact with�
  Mario, who is also named�
  Contention, and who dwells�
  between the stars.”�
  —from�Peculiar Devotions�,�
  by Emily Chen�
  Creatures of the Beyond�
  P�
  owers have both arcane and scholastic methods for learning the truths�
  of the Lands Beyond Creation. Practitioners of High Summoning con-�
  jure viewing ports into the Beyond, study strange divinatory arts, and�
  summon forth peculiar creatures for little more reason than to ask them of�
  the truths of the world outside existence. In addition, the libraries of Cre-�
  ation have much information on the things beyond the Weirding Wall.�
  Through careful analysis and study one can often apply this dated knowl-�
  edge in the modern day.�
  Through their research and their efforts, a Power can bind (High Summon-�
  ing Level + 1) allies to them. If appropriate, the Power can treat a collection�
  or hive of monsters as a single ally, using a single character sheet to repre-�
  sent them. The initial summoning that makes a creature available takes�
  days, at a minimum, and normally takes place between sessions. It can oc-�
  cur during a session with prearrangement. If necessary, the character dis-�
  misses or banishes one of their previous allies into the Beyond. The�
  Student of Summoning (pg. 57) Handicap occasionally leads to the Power�
  losing control of a creature they wished to banish; the exact consequences�
  depend on the monster’s personality.�
  Creatures from Beyond are rarely random collections of points. As a gen-�
  eral rule, each should have a clearly defined central quality that makes�
  them appeal to the summoner — e.g., one can travel through the things of�
  Creation as if they were mist; another acts as a kind of living Auctoritas. In�
  addition, these creatures may have a few less important qualities, such as�
  radiant beauty or a tendency to devour shadows. The creature’s beneficial�
  qualities should generally follow a theme — much as Excrucians are war-�
  riors, or liars, or hidden menaces, or weavers of dark plots and energies,�
  
  39�
  other creatures from Beyond may be thieves, diplomats, shapes in fire and�
  pain, negative images of the sun or animal life, things of mist or noise, and�
  so forth. Not every combative creature with a spare point has Durant, nor�
  every conjured mount Flight — although both certainly fit certain con-�
  cepts.�
  It is the responsibility of the player of a character with High Summoning�
  to define the character sheets for the creatures they summon. Do not take�
  from this that the�N�obilis may do the same! It is legitimate and in fact ex-�
  pected to build a creature that differs from your character’s expectations�
  — a typical summoner must study and explore at great length to find crea-�
  tures that closely match their desires, and is frequently surprised, disap-�
  pointed, or elated by some unexpected aspect of the result. In short, treat�
  the design of your summoned allies as you would the design of your char-�
  acter, Imperator, or Chancel, where being able to play the kinds of situa-�
  tions�you� want outweighs the character’s interests and ideas.�
  When designing creatures with Gifts that affect miraculous entities or en-�
  ergies, players should observe the same rules applicable to the creation of�
  Excrucian Gifts — reasonable countermeasures should exist, none of the�
  Gifts should allow an “instant kill” of a miraculous entity, and they should�
  fit the entity’s general theme. If the HG feels a Gift crosses these boundar-�
  ies, they should negotiate with the player, finding a way to satisfy the�
  Gift’s general purpose without breaking the game — normally by impos-�
  ing a Limit on its use or by making the creature reluctant to use that Gift�
  efficiently. If the player has the Imperfect Knowledge Handicap (pg. 56),�
  allowing the HG to modify the final character sheet, this negotiation�
  should still take place beforehand.�
  “Have you no love for imagina-�
  tion?” asked the Lady Vijaya.�
  “I have no love for anything�
  that does not exist,” answered�
  Lord Kurian. “The things not�
  found in this world resent me�
  for living in it. They would kill�
  me, I think, and savor the deed,�
  were not their fangs and claws�
  and blades as chimerical as�
  they.”�
  —from�The Divine Hunt�,�
  by Michael Kay�
  
  40�
  Build Points�
  T�
  he miracle level used to summon the creature determines its rules�
  templates (ppg. 71-90) and its base character point value. In addition�
  to the base character points, a High Summoner receives a number of�
  “floating” character points based on their High Summoning score:�
  The character can use these points to augment their summoned allies, di-�
  viding them among the creatures’ character sheets. However, they must�
  actually bind a new ally to define a�new� character sheet. For example, a�
  character with High Summoning 3 has four allies and 25 floating character�
  points; they can give one ally 5 of these points and two other allies 10 each.�
  If the character dismisses both of the allies with 10 floating character�
  points, they could then summon one ally with 20 floating character points�
  and another with none. Once allocated, these points are treated just like a�
  creature’s base character points.�
  A High Summoner does not need to use all their floating character points,�
  or even all of the base character points for the creatures they call forth. Al-�
  most all High Summoners take the Limit Imperfect Knowledge (pg. 56),�
  allowing the HG to alter the final result; normally, the HG adds Handicaps�
  or slightly adjusts point totals to an extent determined by the Limit.�
  High Summoning Score�
  Floating Character Points�
     0 (Severed Sage)�
  0�
     1 (Companion to Monsters)�
  5�
     2 (Lady of the Beyond)�
  15�
     3 (Peer of the Most Distant Realm)�
  25�
     4 (Sovereign Beyond)�
  35�
     5 (Empress Beyond)�
  45�
  Within the limits of our comprehension,�
  we each determine our own fate —�
  Go gladly to it, rather,�
  whether we make ourselves have wings�
  Or feed ourselves to rabid dogs.�
  It is the inexorable blessedness of the universe�
  Operating beyond our comprehension�
  And clashing terribly with the�
  smallness of our desires�
  That poses the great threat�
  To our chosen outcome.�
  — repeated ad infinitum in�
  the Thought-Record of Hannary James�
  
  41�
  The creature poured towards�
  me like an emerald torrent,�
  great sheets of it raining from�
  ceiling to floor without ever�
  touching either, skating side-�
  ways as if blown by the wind.�
  Needles fell like fangs at the�
  foremost edge. It hated me, but�
  we were bound together. Our�
  pact was a thousand threads of�
  fate and promise stretching�
  from its soul to mine and back�
  again, and I decided that it did�
  not permit an attack upon my�
  person at that time.�
  I tugged on a thread. Some-�
  thing flinched amidst the tum-�
  bling green; it might have been�
  a face. That particular element�
  of our arcane pact had worked�
  three days ago — had not only�
  held it back but bent it to my�
  will. But in three days, the�
  creature had changed; I had�
  changed; the laws that bound it�
  in its distant home had�
  changed. That thread was not�
  enough. I pulled another.�
  Sweat was pouring down my�
  face and the cascade of shining�
  teeth was no more than an inch�
  from my flesh when I found the�
  right thread to pull. Snarling,�
  it stopped, and then retreated,�
  and then settled against a wall.�
  Casually, as if it had not turned�
  on me moments ago, it spoke�
  liquid crystal words. “Good af-�
  ternoon, Salieva. Are you well?”�
  Tomorrow, I will not have the�
  strength to hold it back; but�
  tomorrow, perhaps, it will have�
  no hate for me. The Reflection�
  of Summer is a pleasant com-�
  panion, when we are friends.�
  —from the Thought-Record�
  of Salieva�Kuchmuradov�
  Coercion�
  P�
  owers may call upon their allies in many ways, drawing on the power�
  of their pacts.�
  First, they can summon or dismiss them — once an ally is bound to them,�
  summoning them into Creation or banishing them from it is a ritual that�
  takes only a few hours. Normally, this is a precursor to calling upon the�
  monster’s abilities. Often, a Power does not dismiss certain allies at all — if�
  the creature is under the Power’s thumb, or finds Creation congenial, they�
  may simply remain in the Chancel or in the Power’s company. A few Pow-�
  ers claim uncontrollable monsters as their allies; they summon the creature�
  into an enemy’s Chancel and let it ravage while they make their escape.�
  Later, they banish it from afar.�
  A second use for one’s pacts is forcing civility from a creature. Many mon-�
  sters resent their summoners. A few dislike Creation in general. Some�
  would simply like the taste of Noble flesh. A Power can call upon their�
  pacts and force the creature to converse with them politely, or hold back�
  from actions obviously against the Power’s interests. General good man-�
  ners last one scene; specific prohibitions last one story. Once establishing�
  civility, the Power may be able to persuade the creature to take positive�
  actions through normal conversational interaction.�
  Third, the Power can demand a monster’s grudging cooperation on some�
  defined task. This can be every bit as good as its full cooperation or obedi-�
  ence in some cases — if you order a peregrine bear (pg. 99) to break down�
  a door, there’s not much leeway for interpretation. On the other hand, if�
  one obtains the grudging cooperation of an ally in attempting to assassi-�
  nate an enemy, scout out a territory, or feed a city, it will be under no obli-�
  gation to pursue the most efficient, subtle, cunning, or self-sacrificing�
  approach.�
  Fourth, with more effort, the Power can earn a creature’s full and willing�
  cooperation in some defined task. Here it truly earns the name ally — but,�
  like any ally, it keeps its own interests in mind as well as the Power’s.�
  Thus, it is helpful but not self-sacrificing, and it acts according to its own�
  personality. A Charitable Being (pg. 94) may search out a gift that the�
  Power will find useful for their task, but it will experience its characteristic�
  fury if the Power rejects its gift or demands some specific offering.�
  Fifth, in the ultimate exercise of the High Summoner’s art, the Power can�
  command a creature outright. It cannot disobey, though it may react unfa-�
  vorably to the command at a later date. The Power can issue a complex�
  command, but only a single command.�
  
  42�
  Requirement�
  Level of Control�
     Miracle Level�>� Difficulty + 8�
  Command�
     Miracle Level�>� Difficulty + 4�
  Full Cooperation�
     Miracle Level�>� Difficulty + 2�
  Grudging Cooperation�
     Miracle Level = Difficulty + 1�
  Civility�
     Miracle Level = Difficulty�
  Summoning, Binding, or Banishing as an Ally�
  Criterion (Negative Adjustment)�
  Level of Control�
     Miracle Level = Difficulty - 1�
  The creature can force civility from the Power,�
  or�it actively dislikes them.�
     Miracle Level�<� Difficulty - 2�
  The creature can force grudging cooperation from the Power,�
  or� it loathes them.�
     Miracle Level�<�Difficulty - 4�
  The creature can force cooperation from the Power,�
  or�it hates them and will take any opportunity to do them harm.�
     Miracle Level�<� Difficulty - 8�
  The creature can force obedience from the Power.�
  Adharmic Subversion�
  T�
  he miracle level used determines the Power’s degree of command�
  over their ally. When used to summon a creature or bind it as an ally,�
  a low enough miracle level can either give the monster limited control over�
  the Power or summon it in a condition of enmity; the High Summoner�
  chooses which one. If the monster gains limited control over the Power�
  during a binding, it lasts for the duration of their alliance. If the monster�
  gains control during a summoning, it lasts until the creature voluntarily�
  returns to the Lands Beyond Creation. (That is, a nonconsensual banishing�
  does not break this service.) In a desperate situation — as where a creature�
  offers salvation to the Power on the condition of service — the Power can�
  treat a level 0 miracle as something lower.�
  Reasoning that our art would be best�
  served with a golden ratio of 2, we sum-�
  moned forth the Mimique from a pecu-�
  liar warped space. They were symmetric�
  on 2 phi, giving them an appealingly�
  squashed look regardless of the direction�
  of one’s gaze; while we, to them, were�
  bilateral marvels, the envy of their Mi-�
  chelangelos. The partnership did not�
  prove fruitful; when we spent too long�
  in their company our counting numbers�
  became suspect to ourselves.�
  — from�Principles of Architectural Design,�
  by Kong Jian Nuan�
  
  43�
  Dynamic Coercion�
  T�
  he system above is designed for HG-run creatures. However, in�Dy-�
  namic Nobilis�, the HGs probably have only occasional opportunities�
  to play a character’s otherworldly allies. The rest of the time, each ally�
  manifests as an object card, created in downtime by an HG after consulta-�
  tion with the player. It is bound the next session, when summoned for the�
  first time, with an appropriate expenditure of Miracle Points. Characters�
  can use miracles either to control a summoned creature or break another’s�
  control over such a monster.�
  Unless an HG decides otherwise, a character’s allies begin each session in�
  the Lands Beyond Creation. Summoning the creature uses a High Sum-�
  moning miracle, with the difficulty described under�High Summoning�
  Miracles�, below. This automatically gives the character control over their�
  ally’s actions whenever they are in the same region. In addition, the char-�
  acter can give their ally passive duties in another region — that is, duties�
  not requiring the accomplishment of a proactive task while the character is�
  away. Note that other players can manipulate allies left behind in other re-�
  gions in the same fashion they can manipulate any other object card.�
  When bringing an ally into a new region, players should make it clear that�
  a strange monster from beyond Creation travels with their character. The�
  HGs can define a costuming shorthand for this, such as a stuffed or bean-�
  bag animal prop in a loosely appropriate shape. Characters can banish�
  their ally temporarily into the Lands Beyond Creation, as in tabletop�Nobi-�
  lis�; if they do so, players should put away the prop but keep the object�
  card handy in case they summon the ally again later in the session.�
  When someone tries to break a character’s control over a summoned ally,�
  or the character then tries to reassert control, it begins a contest. One can�
  break a character’s control in two ways: persuasion and dissuasion. To�
  persuade, one uses an Aspect or High Summoning miracle to gently con-�
  vince a summoned monster to violate the terms of its pacts. To dissuade,�
  one makes service to the character uncomfortable. Specifically, if the�
  creature is hurt or discomfited as a direct consequence of following the�
  character’s orders, the miracle that hurts or discomfits them automati-�
  cally contests the character’s control. Reasserting control always uses a�
  High Summoning miracle.�
  The degrees of success and failure on miracles to summon allies, or reas-�
  sert control, have the effects below. Note that any level of control over an�
  object card means that the summoner’s player chooses the creature’s ac-�
  tions — even if the creature technically obeys only “reluctantly”. However,�
  an object card may note specific abilities only usable with a given level of�
  control — for example, a Charitable Being’s Blessing (pg. 96) may normally�
  yield “an effect determined by an HG or a minor effect determined by re-�
  gion consensus”, but has its full flexibility when the character achieves a�
  Triumph on the summoning miracle and the Being obeys them completely.�
  When I looked into his eyes, I�
  saw the radiance of God. I could�
  not refuse him, for all that his�
  requests were vile. I knew that�
  there was a higher purpose to�
  them. I knew that it was correct�
  to serve him. God willed it so,�
  and the angels sang alleluias to�
  that will, and the universe shiv-�
  ered with the rightness of it.�
  —from the statement of�
  Father Sebastian Capobianco,�
   03/25/00�
  
  44�
  Requirement (Dynamic Nobilis)�
  Level of Control�
     T�
  RIUMPH�
  Ally obeys character completely.�
     A deep success.�
  Ally obeys character willingly.�
     A hard success.�
  Ally obeys character pretty well.�
     A normal success.�
  Ally obeys character reluctantly. HG may subvert orders.�
     A simple success.�
  Ally obeys character, if an object card. HG-run allies are forced to�
  behave civilly, but need not obey.�
  Criterion (Negative Adjustment)�
  Level of Control�
     A normal failure.�
  Creature ceases to obey.�
  Unless run by an HG, it still accompanies the character.�
     A hard failure.�
  Creature becomes hostile.�
  If the creature is in object card form, the player of the rival who�
  initiated the contest controls it through a short confrontation, af-�
  ter which it sulkily stops the fight but ceases to obey. During this�
  contest, the rival players should try to stay in the same region or�
  move together. The conflict ends if the character reasserts control.�
     A deep failure.�
  Creature becomes wild.�
  If the creature is in object card form, the player of the rival who�
  initiated the contest controls it through a short confrontation. The�
  rival's player then hands the monster card to an HG, who uses it�
  to wreak judicious havoc. The conflict and/or havoc end if the�
  character reasserts control.�
     M�
  ISERY�
  Creature defects.�
  The creature obeys the rival who initiated the contest willingly�
  until the end of the session or until the character reasserts control.�
  
  45�
  If an HG is actively playing the monster, they should interpret the Dy-�
  namic Nobilis coercion rules loosely. Sometimes, a creature is harder to�
  control than others!�
  Note that this system has different IC consequences than the tabletop sys-�
  tem. Summoned allies are more generally cooperative, easier to turn�
  against the character, and less developed as characters in their own right.�
  Players transitioning from a tabletop game to a Dynamic game, or vice ver-�
  sa, should expect a different feel for this exclusive Attribute.�
  Once upon a time, in a place outside�
  this world, a thing that was one be-�
  came two, and its paths diverged.�
  In the darkness of the void, Textrix�
  forged the spear Morgante, and her�
  name was also Solitude. Textrix�
  carried her into Creation and slew�
  three angels with her; then he came�
  upon an Imperator of the Wild and�
  thrust the spear into its side. There�
  Morgante stayed, and for all his ef-�
  forts, Textrix could not wrest her�
  free.�
  “You are dead,” complained Tex-�
  trix. “Let go of my spear.”�
  “I am,” agreed the Wild Magister,�
  but in distraction, for its attention�
  lay not on Textrix but on Mor-�
  gante. A moment passed. A light�
  woke to brilliance in its eyes, and it�
  said, “Why, I have known you be-�
  fore.”�
  —from�Legends of the Nobilis�,�
  by Luc Ginneis�
  
  46�
  Unpleased and unhumbled by�
  Death's irregular timing, and by the�
  difficulties it posed for them in mak-�
  ing final resolution to their affairs,�
  the Princes of the Lorencete took ac-�
  tion. They sought first to legislate�
  Death out of their empire; this faced�
  strong opposition in the Senate. Ex-�
  ecutions were threatened; Death re-�
  fused to cooperate; and the Princes�
  retreated from the fray. Their labora-�
  tories of law brewed up a new pro-�
  posal: let Death pay taxes on the�
  worth of those it seizes, scaling tax-�
  es, rising rapidly with the prompt-�
  ness of the claim. Public protests�
  ensued, to the bafflement of the�
  Princes: throngs marched in the�
  street, shouts drowned out public�
  business, and a harried government�
  backed down. Feeling they had ex-�
  hausted all good options, and no�
  longer confident in the power of�
  their governance, the Princes turned�
  to a loophole in the universal law. A�
  person's ghost, by divine decree,�
  could remain in the world from the�
  beginning of their funeral to its end;�
  now the Princes took up the employ-�
  ment of necromancers and mediums�
  and required that a Prince’s funeral�
  continue until its celebrants dropped�
  dead. This took a minimum of seven�
  days, and often years, during which�
  time a dead Prince communicated�
  through his oracles. This gave each�
  thus an ample opportunity to make a�
  bookend to their lives.�
  --�from�The One by the Cairn�,�
  by Emily Chen�
  Examples�
  S�
  uperstes Annabelle Zupay lives in a Chancel with the High Summon-�
  ing Chancel property. She can therefore use SMPs for High Summon-�
  ing miracles and can develop the High Summoning exclusive Attribute at�
  will. She does so, claiming a rating of High Summoning 0. Her player�
  elects to take the standard Limits Imperfect Command, Imperfect Knowl-�
  edge, and Student of Summoning at the minimum levels. This gives her 3�
  MPs, which she assigns to her Spirit, raising her total SMPs to 8. She also�
  decides that her ally requires sacrifices of her terrene essence, and that this�
  occasionally makes her behavior erratic and limits her ability to under-�
  stand the suffering of others; this is a Restriction that could give her an ad-�
  ditional SMP when it makes her life difficult.�
  Annabelle’s player follows a simple design pattern for the one ally Anna-�
  belle is allowed. Skim this process for a sense of how High Summoning�
  works, and optionally re-read the details when you’ve explored the rele-�
  vant miracles on ppg. 51-54, the Superior Attributes rules on pg. 69, and�
  the templates on ppg. 71-92.�
  D�
  efine Basic Concept.�Annabelle’s player envisions the ally as an acidic�
  mist that eats away at corruption or beauty — even in miraculous things —�
  rather than material objects. She doesn’t expand on this concept just yet.�
  C�
  hoose Base Miracle Level.� She decides to use a base miracle level of 2.�
  This summons a “horror”, or, more specifically, a member of the order�Hy-�
  menoptera�. It will have 15 character points and the templates�External� and�
  Animal�.�
  P�
  urchase Primary Abilities.� The acidity becomes a Gift of major destruc-�
  tion with a penetration of 2, for a total cost of 12 points. Since the creature�
  is a mist, she also buys it Flight.�
  R�
  efine Concept.� She can refine the concept at any point, of course. Here, she�
  adds a bit of personality to the creature by making it a scholar and ethicist.�
  P�
  urchase Additional Abilities.� She can, again, purchase additional abili-�
  ties at any point. Here, she buys Superior Scholarship 2.�
  D�
  efine Handicaps.� Creatures without miraculous Attributes cannot bene-�
  fit from their Handicaps, but usually have them anyway. She sticks with a�
  standard set: Disabled, Revelatory Trait, and Summonable — since it’s a�
  mist with no hands that she can call to her presence at will. She doesn’t�
  specify its Code; since the creature’s core philosophy isn’t a big part of its�
  concept, she’s content to leave this aspect of characterization to the HG.�
  Refine Concept.� She refines the concept again, giving the creature its�
  name. It is the Lamp Image, a being that considers itself not so much a�
  thing in itself but rather the radiance cast by a greater entity onto the sur-�
  face of its alien home.�
  
  47�
  HG�
   Handoff.� Since Annabelle has Imperfect Knowledge, the HG gets to�
  make some small changes to the final product. The HG might decide that�
  the Lamp Image can’t consume the purest forms of beauty and corruption.�
  Or they might secretly cast the creature’s academic qualifications into�
  doubt by replacing Superior Scholarship with Superior Flim-Flam Artistry.�
  Annabelle’s player doesn’t know.�
  Annabelle must use a level 2 miracle to bind the Lamp Image. This costs her�
  2 SMPs, and gives the creature its introduction to the game. From that point�
  forward, she can summon it or banish it as a level 2 hard miracle. It’s nor-�
  mally civil, but one never knows what will set off one of these Beyond crea-�
  tures — for a level 3 deep miracle she can force it to play nice. She can force�
  its grudging cooperation with a level 4 deep miracle, or its full cooperation�
  with a level 6 Word of Command. Alternately, she can try to talk it into�
  helping like any normal NPC. If it’s like the creatures of Creation, the more�
  often she forces it into cooperation, the less cooperative it’ll be the rest of the�
  time — even though she’s really only calling upon a bargain it agreed to.�
  Over time, Annabelle raises her High Summoning score to 3. This allows her�
  to have a total of four allies of various sorts from the Lands Beyond Creation.�
  She’s used all her floating points on a new ally each time she could summon�
  one, so her second ally has 5 floating points and her third and fourth have 10�
  each. She decides she’s unhappy with her roster of associates, however, and�
  banishes all but the Lamp Image so she can choose three more.�
  With High Summoning 3, Annabelle can summon, banish, or demand ci-�
  vility from the Lamp Image as a simple miracle of level 2, 2, or 3. She can�
  force grudging cooperation from the Lamp Image — if ever necessary —�
  with a level 4 normal miracle, and get its full and willing cooperation with�
  a level 6 deep miracle. With a level 10 Word of Command, she can give it�
  Devour Beauty and Corruption�
  The Lamp Image’s ability to eat through beauty and corruption is purchased as a Major Destruction of Beauty�
  and Corruption, as follows:�
  Miracle Level�
  Invocation� Range� Utility�
  Common?        Cost�
     8+2 Penetration�
     (Domain)�
  Simple�
  Local� One Trick�
  No�
     10 CPs�
  -1�
  -1�
  -3�
  +1�
  6*2=12 CPs�
  
  48�
  absolute and unquestionable orders, although it’ll probably end any�
  friendship they’ve built up.�
  Annabelle’s player decides to gamble a little and binds a creature with�
  base miracle level 5 — a peregrine bear, of the family�Lepidoptera hespiriidae�
  ursidae� (pg. 99), with 19 floating character points. Summoning it, forcing its�
  grudging cooperation, and banishing it again will use up her 8 SMPs for a�
  story, in miracles with respective level 5, 7, and 5. Still, she expects it to be�
  worth it sometimes — and besides, they could always wind up hitting it�
  off. This leaves her with two allies and 6 floating points.�
  Annabelle wants at least one ally she can get free cooperation from, which�
  means a creature with base miracle level 1 — a monster, based on the�Ani-�
  mal�template, with 10 character points. She decides on something straight-�
  forward and handy: a bodyguard from Beyond. Her player hypothesizes�
  that somewhere in the Lands Beyond Creation are creatures that are defend-�
  ers of existences the same way the Excrucians are absorbers or destroyers of�
  them. One caste of these creatures is the personal bodyguard, who stand by�
  the representatives of the worlds they defend. (Just as the Excrucians may�
  have benign motivations, such defenders may have malevolent ones — but�
  the player isn’t worrying about that right now.) Her bodyguard is a relative�
  wimp, Annabelle’s player admits, but perhaps it would have more power in�
  another Age or situation. She assigns it Superior Awareness 3, Superior�
  Combat 3, and Durant; after some thought, she completes its sheet with In-�
  visibility and Perfect Timing, so it can appear out of nowhere to defend her�
  at the perfect moment. She can spend some floating points here; after some�
  thought, she decides that she wants Superior Appearance 1 and Superior�
  Dress Sense 1 — one can’t make out her bodyguard’s face clearly, but he’s an�
  adjunct likely to increase rather than decrease her apparent cool. She names�
  her bodyguard Mzpopiasaiel, or Sal, after a classical angel of wrath. Finally,�
  she gives Sal the Handicap Respectful, indicating that he will not directly�
  I come across a man trying to kill�
  himself with a knife; but the blade�
  misses, over and over again, and�
  each time lodges in another person’s�
  heart.�
  “Why are you doing this?” I ask.�
  “If I die,” he explains, “I become a�
  mighty Yacarca, a stellar oracle and�
  diviner by fire.”�
  “It does not seem to be working.”�
  He looks slightly crestfallen.�
  “Naturally not,” he says sadly.�
  “There is no such thing as a Yacar-�
  ca.”�
  — from�Sonnet and the Sea�,�
   by Alex Dec�
  
  49�
  harm any Noble, and expresses the hope that the HG will consider this�
  drawback enough and not meddle with Sal’s definition. Annabelle can sum-�
  mon, banish, demand civility from, or force grudging cooperation from Sal�
  with simple miracles (level 1, 1, 2, and 3, respectively); with a hard level 5�
  miracle, she can earn his willing cooperation in some task, such as protecting�
  her for a story; it would require a level 9 Word of Command to demand ab-�
  solute obedience of him.�
  Finally, Annabelle’s player decides to build a creature with base miracle�
  level 3. It will obey the�Animal�,�External,� and�Inheritor�templates, with a�
  total of 15 character points. She decides to go ahead and use her remaining�
  floating points on this ally, bringing her up to 19 character points to spend.�
  (This means that if she decides to replace Sal and only Sal, the replacement�
  can have at most 2 floating points; similarly, if she replaces just the Lamp�
  Image, the replacement cannot have floating points, and if she replaces the�
  Peregrine Bear and keeps the other three, she is limited to 19 floating�
  points. Otherwise, there’s no drawback.) The player wants to experiment�
  with a hive of creatures, and also wants something with fairly general ap-�
  plicability. She settles on a small army of great long legged scissor men.�
  The shears these tall tailors carry can cut away at a mortal or spirit’s limbs�
  or life; the wonder of these creatures is that they can turn their scissors in-�
  side out to restore the lives, limbs, or health of those they have severed.�
  The HG allows this, ruling that those the scissor men kill do not move on to�
  a proper afterlife until the relevant scissor man either leaves Creation or�
  restores them to life.�
  The player’s first duty is to ensure that she doesn’t get more use out of her�
  small army than she would out of a single creature. From a mechanical per-�
  spective, she buys her legion of scissor men as a single monster. This nor-�
  mally means that they can’t wander far from one another — at least, not�
  when cooperating with her — and that their miraculous and mundane abil-�
  Horde�
  The Horde Gift (described further in�A Peculiar Compendium of Gifts�) treats the character sheet as a kind of totemic�
  miraculous force passed around automatically between members of the horde. This is purchased as a Lesser�
  Change of Location and allows one member at a time to take a miraculous action. Mundane abilities such as Su-�
  perior Attributes are divided among the members using the ability�at any given time�, giving individual ninjas and�
  ninja hordes a rough parity.�
  Miracle Level�
  Invocation� Range� Utility�
  Common?        Cost�
     6   (Domain)�
  Automatic�
  Self-�
  Only�
  One Trick�
  No�
     6 CPs�
  +1�
  -3�
  -3�
  +1�
  2 CPs�
  
  50�
  ities are actually the abilities of the army working as a whole. However,�
  she takes the Gift Horde, for 2 points; this gives individual scissor men ac-�
  cess to the full power of their character sheet, as long as only one scissor�
  man takes a miraculous action at a time. The Gift to restore to life the�
  things they kill is a Major Creation of, essentially, anything — since they�
  can kill and restore spirits as well as people — and costs 12 points. She�
  buys them Superior Lethality 2 —one level for their terrifying skill, and�
  one level for shears that can easily slice through bone. The remaining three�
  points she spends on one level of Spirit.�
  Annabelle can summon, bind, or dispel her army of scissor men as a sim-�
  ple level 3 miracle. She can force civility from the scissor men with a nor-�
  mal level 4 miracle, and earn their grudging cooperation with a level 5�
  hard miracle. With a level 7 deep miracle, she can earn their full coopera-�
  tion. If she issues a Word of Command, a level 11 miracle can make an ab-�
  solute demand to the legion of scissor men she has called forth.�
  At this point, Annabelle feels an urge for more High Summoning Miracle�
  Points, and takes several additional Restrictions. To satisfy the peregrine�
  bear, who often finds miracles distasteful, she accepts the Subtle Restric-�
  tion. To keep her pacts with the scissor men, she limits her wardrobe to a�
  pair of gowns they made for her (a Restriction giving 1 MP when the im-�
  practicality or incongruity of this outfit causes a meaningful problem) and�
  further accepts the Health-Linked Restriction with regards to them.�
  Unscissoring�
  The scissor men can restore limbs they cut off, heal wounds they have issued, and return those they have killed to�
  life. This includes Powers, but the Gift must penetrate their Auctoritas. This is purchased as a Major Creation of�
  any Estate, as follows:�
  Miracle Level�
  Invocation� Range� Utility�
  Common?        Cost�
     7+1 Penetration�
     (Domain)�
  Simple�
  One�
  Person�
  Limited�
  No�
     8 CPs�
  -1�
  -2�
  -2�
  +1�
  4*3=12 CPs�
  
  51�
  High Summoning Miracles�
  Level 0: Animal�
  L�
  evel 0 High Summoning miracles allow the character to summon or�
  dominate the�Phasmida�— the “animals” of the Lands Beyond Cre-�
  ation. If these creatures are intelligent, their minds do not accompany them�
  through the Weirding Wall — they act on instinct with the dimmest per-�
  ception of the world around them. These creatures observe the�Animal�
  template (see pg. 75) and have a base of 10 character points.�
  Playing it Out: In�Dynamic Nobilis�, the difficulty to summon, bind, banish, or�
  assert control over an animal is 0. Such creatures are easily mastered — and easily�
  turned against their masters. The HG should reserve some of their abilities for a�
  deep success or Triumph on the miracle that controls them — unless tightly con-�
  trolled, they simply aren’t smart enough to use their abilities optimally.�
  In my path, wolves struggled with a�
  moose. I kept walking, and the�
  wolves disengaged and drew back.�
  One by one, they lay down and low-�
  ered their heads. The moose contin-�
  ued to stomp its feet and toss its�
  horns; I stopped and regarded it�
  with disapproval.�
  “You are impolite,” I told it.�
  It ignored me, so I rendered it to�
  ash. Its bones revealed what I had�
  already guessed: it may have been�
  an ordinary moose, but the thing�
  within its brain had been no crea-�
  ture of Earth.�
  —from� The Book of Silence�,�
  by Melanie Brown�
  Level 1: Monster�
  L�
  evel 1 High Summoning miracles allow the character to summon,�
  dominate, or make pacts with the�Collembola� and�Dermaptora�— crea-�
  tures of some small note in the Lands Beyond Creation, who lose much of�
  their power when summoned into the world. These creatures also observe�
  the�Animal�template and have 10 character points, but also have the intelli-�
  gence to use their Gifts and Superior Attributes effectively.�
  Playing it Out: In�Dynamic Nobilis�, the difficulty to summon, bind, banish, or�
  assert control over a monster is 1. Usually, all the monster’s abilities are available�
  for use.�
  “This is ultimately to your benefit,”�
  it said. Its claws and teeth were dark�
  with the blood of its last victim.�
  “You cannot see the truth of this. I�
  understand that. But I ask you to�
  trust me.”�
  Hysteria tinged her reply. “How?”�
  “I will tear you to shreds either�
  way,” it said. “If you trust me, you�
  shall feel better about it.”�
  For a long, dizzy moment, she con-�
  sidered it. Then she shrugged, and�
  offered the creature her hand.�
  —from the Entertainment�
  Archive of Baronet Dulian�
  
  52�
  Reality is fundamentally social;�
  prior to the intervention of culture�
  we exist in an undifferentiated wel-�
  kin of sensation from which mon-�
  sters, gods, and motivational forces�
  arise. Whence, then, society? Those�
  who have sliced open its belly and�
  crawled out report, “It is no differ-�
  ent: a transient god that swum up to�
  devour us — an aspect of the blas-�
  phemous Athop-Helm.”�
  — from the foreword to�Hero Myths�,�
   edited by Emily Chen�
  Level 2: Horror�
  L�
  evel 2 High Summoning miracles allow the character to summon,�
  dominate, or make pacts with the�Diplura�and the�Hymenoptera�. The�
  abilities of the�Diplura� translate into Creation as miraculous powers; they�
  observe the�Inheritor� template (pg. 76). The�Hymenoptera�, conversely, ob-�
  serve the�External�(pg. 78) and�Animal� templates — they have peculiar�
  abilities that defy the order of Creation, but no innate miraculous nature.�
  The�Hymenoptera� family is particularly popular with High Summoners, and�
  hundreds of species have been categorized. These creatures have a base of�
  15 character points.�
  Playing it Out: In�Dynamic Nobilis�, the difficulty to summon, bind, banish, or�
  assert control over a horror is 2. If the creature is reluctant to perform certain ac-�
  tivities, it manifests as a requirement for a higher level of success; the HG can use�
  this technique as an alternative to a Limit for abilities that risk game balance.�
  
  53�
  Level 3: External Inheritor�
  L�
  evel 3 High Summoning miracles allow the character to summon,�
  dominate, or make pacts with the�Orthoptera�and�Mantodea�— power-�
  ful monsters whose abilities span the range from the miraculous to the pe-�
  culiar. They observe the�Inheritor�,� External�, and�Animal�templates all;�
  their key abilities can affect miraculous things and miraculous energy, but�
  they are themselves as immune to direct miracles as the�N�obilis. These�
  creatures have a base of 15 character points.�
  Playing it Out: In�Dynamic Nobilis�, the difficulty to summon, bind, banish, or�
  assert control over an external inheritor is 3. If the creature is reluctant to perform�
  certain activities, it manifests as a requirement for a higher level of success.�
  The first miracle that touched my�
  life was a holy thing. I was trapped�
  in a burning building. A girl walked�
  through the fire and said, “I owe the�
  world seventy-three lives, in pen-�
  ance.” She took me from that place,�
  unharmed, and said, “Seventy-two.”�
  Then she vanished into the crowd. I�
  do not know what her words meant,�
  but I could feel that she was sacred.�
  The second miracle that touched my�
  life had no place in this world. I was�
  very sick, and a thing made of sun-�
  set colors came into my room. “I am�
  hungry,” it said, and I could feel it�
  ripping the sickness from me and�
  draining it into the flaring orange�
  and red. I felt so much better. Per-�
  haps it even saved my life. But I�
  knew this was a thing that should�
  not have happened, accomplished by�
  a thing that should not have been. I�
  have sought to make myself ill�
  again, but not even the coldest rain�
  can return pneumonia to my lungs.�
  —from a speech�
  by Kalliroe Calmes,�
   3/25/00�
  Level 4: Noble�
  L�
  evel 4 High Summoning miracles allow the character to summon,�
  dominate, or make pacts with the�Odonata�— creatures on the level of�
  the�N�obilis, possibly as a result of power lost or gained in their entrance to�
  Creation. The�Odonata� observe the�Noble� and�Animal�templates (see ppg.�
  74, 86) and have a base of 20 character points.�
  Playing it Out: In�Dynamic Nobilis�, the difficulty to summon, bind, banish, or�
  assert control over a Noble-equivalent creature from the Lands Beyond Creation is�
  4. If the creature is reluctant to perform certain activities, it manifests as a re-�
  quirement for a higher level of success. (However, the�Odonata�, who are in some�
  sense a Noble’s peers, are often more accommodating than both lesser and greater�
  creatures.)�
  There was a woman whom Mar-�
  teinn Magnusson could only see�
  when drunk, for she came from be-�
  yond the boundaries of the world.�
  Drunk he met her, drunk he loved�
  her, and drunk he married her. The�
  doctors told him that his liver was�
  failing and his drink would be his�
  death; so drunk he died for her, and�
  she took his spirit away.�
  —from�Doorknobs�,�
  by Emily Chen�
  
  54�
  Level 5: Unearthly Noble�
  L�
  evel 5 High Summoning miracles allow the character to summon,�
  dominate, or make pacts with the�Lepidoptera� —monsters whose raw�
  power equals that of the�N�obilis, yet who may command Gifts that affect�
  miraculous creatures and energy directly. These creatures observe the�No-�
  ble� and�Unearthly� templates (see ppg. 86, 90) and have a base of 20 charac-�
  ter points.�
  Playing it Out: In�Dynamic Nobilis�, the difficulty to summon, bind, banish, or�
  assert control over an Unearthly Noble is 5. If the creature is reluctant to perform�
  certain activities, it manifests as a requirement for a higher level of success.�
  Seven knights in sapphire and seven�
  queens in jade stand outside the�
  world. When a soul strays beyond�
  the walls of existence, they catch it�
  and make it round; and pass it spin-�
  ning one to the other; and the air�
  where there is no air hums with the�
  interwoven pattern of the souls, and�
  the shouts where there are no sounds�
  come from the players of this game.�
  —from�Fasciculus Temporum�,�
  by Ossian Walthew�
  
  55�
  Imperfect Command�
  T�
  his Handicap expresses the notion that the character commands�
  their allies not through endogenous authority but rather through a�
  set of binding agreements and social relationships. They must work and�
  make sacrifices to maintain their power, and the effort this will require is�
  not necessarily predictable.�
  Imperfect Command may be taken either as a Limit or as a Restriction.�
  If Imperfect Command is a Restriction, then the HG will occasionally put�
  some obstacle in the way of the character properly fulfilling an estab-�
  lished pact, or, alternately, declare a new obligation on which some entity�
  now insists. Here it's common to focus on the imperfect medium of lan-�
  guage through which the character's pacts operate — solecisms and bar-�
  barisms in the text of the character's agreements give rise to afflictions,�
  obstacles, and unfortunate expectations. It earns the character 1-2 MP ev-�
  ery time they must go out of their way to fulfill or renegotiate their pacts.�
  If Imperfect Command is a Limit, then the character’s pacts are inherently�
  ambiguous or difficult to fulfill. Here it’s more common to focus on the�
  character’s enmeshment with the affairs of the Lands Beyond Creation.�
  The player decides whether they’d rather have established duties that are�
  always difficult or frequent, unexpected requests requiring labor to fulfill.�
  In either case, this gives rise to scenes or subplots of trouble on a regular�
  basis.�
  1 MP Limit: the character's pacts bring them a scene or two of trouble ev-�
  ery now and again.�
  2 MP Limit: the character is thoroughly caught up in the affairs of the Be-�
  yond. In a typical story, they will have some Summoning-related task to�
  perform that requires a scene or two of effort to resolve.�
  3 MP Limit: the character must spend substantial effort in every story to�
  fulfill the terms of their pacts.�
  5 MP Limit: the character has unleashed forces into their life that they�
  cannot control and that seem likely to devour them. In a long-term game�
  this Handicap should not endure more than two or three stories — after�
  that, the character should either die/transcend or resolve enough of their�
  current crisis that the 1-3 point level is more appropriate.�
  No sooner had I consented to�
  wearing human form than�
  these creatures began their�
  chorus of demands. I realized�
  — with dawning horror —�
  that the shape was not�
  enough; also, these perverse�
  entities expected I wear�
  clothes on all occasions, inhale�
  the terrible excesses of their�
  smoke, and eat the transub-�
  stantiated flesh of their once-�
  embodied god.�
  "It is impossible," I told them.�
  "What if I am fighting with a�
  wolf of nakedness? Or need to�
  use my unforgiven sins to�
  purchase the amenities of�
  Hell?"�
  They looked blankly at the rea-�
  sonableness of my explana-�
  tions; they gaped as I�
  explained the stringencies of�
  my daily life; they were ada-�
  mant and troublesome, in�
  those days, in the Garden of�
  Modern Men.�
  —from�Forgotten of Our Love,�
  by Madeline Bacall�
  
  56�
  Summoning a perfect foot-�
  high orchestra went quite well�
  until Aholibamah sought a�
  pianist.�
  "It's because of this newfan-�
  gled auditioning behind�
  screens," the conductor said,�
  somewhat awkwardly.�
  "Is it, then."�
  — from�The Mansion of All�
  Strange Things�,�
  by Dolores Bureaugard�
  Imperfect Knowledge�
  T�
  he character's knowledge of the Lands Beyond Creation, however�
  comprehensive, is not exhaustive. Thus there are details of the crea-�
  tures that they summon that they will not know. As a general rule, the�
  changes the HG makes do not affect the number of floating points the char-�
  acter has available — although the HG can bend this rule if subtracting or�
  adding large numbers of points.�
  1 point Limit: the player can expect the HG to adjust the point totals, Gifts,�
  and Handicaps for summoned creatures in small ways — though not�
  enough to dramatically alter the outcome.�
  2 point Limit: the player can expect the HG to adjust the point totals, Gifts,�
  and Handicaps for summoned creatures to fit whatever inspiration strikes.�
  Occasionally creatures will differ dramatically from the player’s design.�
  3 point Limit: Imperfect Knowledge transforms High Summoning into a�
  blunt instrument: the character can use it within broad outlines to create,�
  destroy, and preserve the targets of their desire but must invest substantial�
  time and micro-management to accomplish specific tasks. The HG adjusts�
  the details of the summoned creatures during play, and they need not re-�
  main consistent.�
  5 point Limit: Imperfect Knowledge reduces High Summoning to a catalyst�
  for drastic and unpredictable change — the character can bring it into play,�
  but cannot determine how it will play out. The HG uses the character�
  sheets for summoned creatures as a rough guide when improvising, choos-�
  ing, and changing their abilities, limitations, and motivations during play.�
  
  57�
  Now in his youth, on a swelter-�
  ing summer day, Devin felt�
  suddenly as gold; his limbs were�
  strong, his thoughts were clear,�
  and his heart was treasure.�
  He sipped deeply of his lemon-�
  ade; his spirit shouted in his�
  frame; his dreams were sud-�
  denly within his reach.�
  Then the moment passed away�
  to an ordinary summer.�
  Events arose. Circumstances�
  transpired. Griefs and loves�
  and hurts ensued. The matter�
  was forgotten.�
  Now, as he stared into the�
  burning heart of the void —�
  into the squirming, howling,�
  flat-eared dog-god emptiness�
  that was an uncreated world�
  — he saw a pattern that re-�
  minded him of that gold.�
  Heedless of the open-throated�
  forces that writhed and bayed�
  within, he reached in his�
  hand; trailed it along the sur-�
  face to make it separate and�
  recombine like some baleful�
  gelatin; grasped firmly at the�
  tail of a strange anomaly, and�
  pulled it into sight.�
  There! There, of all things,�
  there and then, in the contain-�
  ment chamber that he'd made,�
  there lay the summer day;�
  therein lay the gold; skulking,�
  lurking, snarling, forbidden�
  on the surface of the void.�
  "It is the end of days," Devin�
  advised it, for it was, and then�
  he smiled. "I'd wondered�
  where you'd been."�
  — from�Dreams of Emptiness,�
  by Emily Chen�
  Student of Summoning�
  B�
  ecause the character practices High Summoning, trouble finds�
  its way into their life.�
  This Handicap functions much as Imperfect Command does, save�
  that where Imperfect Command is cast in the language of obliga-�
  tion, Student of Summoning is put in terms of disaster. The�
  character’s work is experimental, and leaves gaps through which�
  alien epiphenomena may impinge upon their lives. This ensures�
  that even their most reliable work is not entirely tame; it is a char-�
  acteristic feature of this Handicap that characters may fail at a ban-�
  ishment, the creature taking advantage of some lacuna in the pact�
  or some energy released by the character’s recent experiments to�
  remain in Creation and behave according to its nature.�
  Student of Summoning may be taken either as a Limit or as a Re-�
  striction.�
  If Student of Summoning is a Restriction, then the HG will occa-�
  sionally visit a disaster upon the character. If Imperfect Command�
  is a Limit, then the character may expect such disasters with a cer-�
  tain regularity.�
  1 MP Limit: the character's experiments bring them a scene or two�
  of trouble every now and again.�
  2 MP Limit: the character is constantly picking up after High Sum-�
  moning-related disasters. In a typical story, they will have some�
  Summoning-related problem that requires a scene or two of effort�
  to resolve.�
  3 MP Limit: the character must spend substantial effort in every�
  story to recover from some new or persistent disaster.�
  5 MP Limit: the character is constantly unleashing forces into their�
  life that they cannot control and that seem likely to devour them.�
  In a long-term game this Handicap should not endure more than�
  two or three stories — after that, the character should either die/�
  transcend or resolve enough of their characteristic flaws that the�
  1-3 point level is more appropriate.�
  
  58�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  “This cybernetic Rilke is�
  markedly less inspiring,”�
  regretted Jane, but�
  Martin only found him-�
  self admiring the sheen of�
  Rilke’s great coilgun more�
  and more.�
  — from�
  Updating the Great Poets,�
  with Science!,�
  by Annabelle Zupay�
  
  59�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Patronage�
  T�
  he divine intensity of an Imperator’s spirit has a profound effect�
  on that Imperator’s Powers. A clear-sighted Imperator lends its�
  Powers wisdom; a passionate Imperator, zeal; and an�
        inscrutable Imperator shares some fraction of its mystery. Characters�
  who develop the�Patronage�Attribute learn to do the same — to develop�
  elementally powerful character traits and, through their spiritual connec-�
  tion to others, lend them the benefits of Imperator Properties.�
  Any character — including mortals, Powers, and Excrucians — can acquire�
  a Patronage score. It requires the assistance of an Imperator, an Excrucian,�
  or a lesser being with a Patronage score. In all cases, the assisting entity�
  must use an Exalted Word, spending 8 SMPs and accepting a wound; look-�
  ing into the shining white fire and fury of that Word, the character under-�
  stands the truths of Patronage and acquires a Patronage score of 0. They�
  can then buy additional levels of Patronage for 3 points each, to a maxi-�
  mum of 5 levels.�
  When the character buys their way to Patronage 1, and with each new�
  level purchased thereafter, they gain the ability to share one Imperator�
  Property with others. This is either a 1-point Property, a negative Property,�
  or a 2-point Property superceding a Property already purchased. (For ex-�
  ample, with Patronage 2, the character could share the Mastery Imperator�
  Properties of Scholarly or Polished. The second builds on the first.)�
  In order to use Patronage, the character must develop the relevant quality�
  in their own spirit —a character without a clear-sighted perspective cannot�
  grant it to others. More, they must develop this quality to a high pitch. Spe-�
  cifically, they must have a Virtue Handicap appropriate to the Property in�
  question, or two such Virtues for a 2-point Property. Normally, although�
  Virtues are free, characters have a limited number and do not develop�
  them in play. Characters who study Patronage, however, learn the arts of�
  creating Virtues in themselves — it is feasible, although in many ways�
  crippling, for a Patron to develop five distinct Virtues. The Virtues chosen�
  can overlap; for example, the Virtue Devoted can reasonably support both�
  the Imperator Properties Passionate and Dim Warding.�
  To share the developed qualities with another character, a Patron must�
  have a strong spiritual or emotional connection to that person. Strong spiri-�
  tual connections include family ties, marital ties, Power-Anchor relation-�
  ships, Power-Bond relationships, and sometimes a Power’s relationship�
  with the priestesses and cultists that worship them. For a sufficiently�
  strong emotional relationship, both characters must care deeply about the�
  others’ suffering — whether they want to increase it, decrease it, or simply�
  ward it off — and they must think about the other often. Characters implic-�
  itly have a strong spiritual connection to themselves.�
  “It is therefore with the�
  greatest joy,” said the Com-�
  mander, holding his head�
  high, “that I strike your com-�
  ments from my log, and�
  write instead what I know�
  you would write, if only you�
  had the time to come around�
  — that you die joyfully,�
  knowing that you are but�
  playing pieces in this war.�
  That you loved me. That you�
  do not, as you imagine now,�
  resent my choice — but�
  rather are grateful, at the�
  last, that I have used you�
  well.”�
  —from�Safflower Chronicles�,�
  by Tamara Vance�
  
  60�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  If a sufficiently strong connection exists, the character can share any selec-�
  tion of their developed Properties with the victim or beneficiary.�
  Characters who stop having a Virtue fitting a given Imperator Property�
  can’t give it out until they once again develop such a Virtue. Any other�
  characters receiving its benefits or drawbacks lose said benefits or draw-�
  backs in the interim. There is no specific mechanism for changing the�
  Property if the character never intends to develop such a Virtue again; if�
  the player is unhappy with the waste of points, the player and HG should�
  discuss the matter out of character before or instead of any in-character�
  efforts towards change.�
  The miraculous qualities of the Patronage byway Attribute affect the�
  character’s own soul directly. The effects on others derive naturally from�
  being spiritually or empathetically “proximate” to the character in ques-�
  tion. (See the discussion of terrene particles on pg. 102 for details on how�
  an emotional connection can bridge two souls.) This is related to the Impe-�
  rial process of Patronage, but not identical — among other things, Impera-�
  tors have a spirit so intense they don’t need Virtues to offer Imperator�
  Properties.�
  Sample Virtues for the various Imperator Properties follow. Note that the�
  Dynasty Point, Mystery Cult, and Respect Properties are not recom-�
  mended for use with Patronage, and that the appropriate Virtues for�
  Granted Gift and Granted Handicap depend greatly on the Gift or Handi-�
  cap in question.�
  Hostile Patronage�
  C�
  haracters can receive unwanted Properties from enemies with Patronage. Such unwelcome Properties�
  can always be overcome in the short term with symptomatic solutions — the HG should suspend or reduce�
  the Properties’ mechanical effects while the character is "dealing" with the problem in an adequate and rea-�
  sonable fashion. Thus characters can legitimately use miracles as crutches to overcome Granted Handicaps�
  or to shield themselves against the spiritual connection; or legitimately cut the connection by, e.g., remov-�
  ing their memory of the Patron with a hippocampal knife. But symptomatic solutions such as these have a�
  natural inclination to decay; eventually, they should stop working, and the Power will need to spend more�
  effort or a higher miracle level to keep the Property in check. A longer-term solution is to win some notable�
  victory against either the Property, the spiritual connection, or the Patron; this causes the Property to sub-�
  side for (most likely) 2-5 stories. The permanent solution is a spiritual cleansing — the Power struggles�
  within themselves to face and expiate the relevant emotions or to transcend the conditions that bring about�
  the spiritual link. This can take part-time work over the course of several stories; Purity 4 miracles can re-�
  duce the effort. Alternately, the character can kill their Patron, ending the Patronage instantly.�
  
  61�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Empathy�
  lear-Sighted� draws on the character’s ability to assess and understand�
  the things of the world. The Compassionate Virtue reflects the desire�
  to understand; the Rational Virtue reflects acceptance of that understand-�
  ing; and the Cautious Virtue fits a character who looks to the deeper things�
  of the world rather than accepting the surface. All of these Virtues are ap-�
  propriate for lending the Clear-Sighted Property.�
  The�Sympathetic�Property relies on the character’s ability to feel the pains�
  and joys of others. The Compassionate Virtue applies here as well. The�
  Self-Controlled and Egocentric Virtues are also appropriate, as characters�
  with iron self-control or absolute certainty of their own superior impor-�
  tance can afford to feel the emotions of others as acutely as desired.�
  The�Cruel�Property has no meaning when “bestowed” on others. The char-�
  acter can be cruel to their associates without buying up their Patronage.�
  “Do you love me?” I asked, when�
  our time was done.�
  Diamanta leaned her head back to�
  look at me. “Is that why you think I�
  come to you?”�
  “Why do you, then?”�
  She looked down. “I committed a sin�
  I cannot bear,” she said. “This is my�
  expiation.”�
  —from the Thought-Record of�
  Desecration’s-Regal Meon�
  
  62�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Galeid�
  nspirational� normally relies on the radiant glory of an Imperator. The�
  Vain or Egocentric Virtues can simulate this glory through a spiritual�
  or emotional connection; the character with such virtues certainly believes�
  in their own glory! The Virtue Faith permits the Power to share their vision�
  of greater things with others, and can therefore also provide this Property.�
  The�Transcendent�Property builds on Inspirational, imbuing its beneficia-�
  ries with the will to overcome even the most impossible odds. The Stub-�
  born Virtue or the Dutiful Virtue, added to one of the Virtues above, can�
  provide this dedication. Alternately, the Reckless Virtue contains a certain�
  willingness to disregard the odds — it can also help lend this Property.�
  The�Unshining� Property effectively drains its victims’ faith in the cause of�
  Creation. For a Power, such Virtues as Fearful, Doubtful, Disloyal, and�
  Hopeless can help provide this Property. Excrucians and their agents, con-�
  versely, can lend this Property by way of positive examples, being Vain,�
  being Egocentric, or having Faith in the Excrucian cause.�
  Today, Oscar offered to “inspire” me�
  with his “hidden glory”, through the�
  mechanism of “greater intimacy” . I�
  am afraid that I quite needed to�
  draw upon my miraculous abilities�
  to avoid laughing in his face.�
   —from�
  the Diary of Clarissa Kilthdigai�
  
  63�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Guiding Hand�
  rophetic�, which lends Powers the benefit of an Imperator’s oracular�
  foresight, is not normally appropriate for use with Patronage. With�
  the HG’s permission, Virtues associated with foresight — such as Rational,�
  Careful, and perhaps Elegant — can lend this Property.�
  The�Advising� Property lends its subjects the benefits of an Imperator’s�
  common sense. Naturally, Common Sense is the most appropriate Virtue�
  for use with this Property. (Strictly speaking, this Virtue has relatively few�
  drawbacks; but it does restrict character options, and there are certain�
  Chancels and Realms where the sensible have difficulty.)�
  Like Cruel, the�Demanding�Property has no meaning when “bestowed” on�
  others. The character can make as many demands of others as they like;�
  since the character is not those others’ Imperator, they have no obligation�
  to obey.�
  He lifted the gun and pointed it at�
  the girl; and then there was a�
  shadow behind him, and in that�
  shadow was the Prince of Lies.�
  “I wouldn’t,” the Devil warned.�
  “You’ll go to Hell.”�
  The man bit his lip. “Why’d�you�
  want to stop�that?”� he asked.�
  “I am high-minded and noble,” an-�
  swered the Devil, “and, besides,�
  she’ll� go to Heaven.”�
  —from�The Haunting�,�
  by Martin Elliott�
  
  64�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Incomprehensibility�
  T�
  he�Soul-Twisted�Property normally conceals its beneficia-�
  ries’ natures through their connection with an incompre-�
  hensible Imperator. To achieve a similar effect, the master of�
  Patronage must be equally incomprehensible; such Virtues as Irra-�
  tional, Chaotic, or Insane help in this endeavor. Characters with�
  the Virtue Liar may be able to give the same benefit, maintaining a�
  constant masquerade of insanity across the emotional and spiri-�
  tual links.�
  Players whose characters take the Irrational or some similar Virtue�
  should consult with the Hollyhock God to define the Virtue’s lim-�
  its. The illogic or madness involved should have an underlying�
  pattern, to prevent the character’s Virtue from disrupting play. At�
  the same time, the pattern should not suffice to predict both their�
  actions and their thoughts. For example, an Irrational character�
  might think about and justify their actions in an extremely pecu-�
  liar fashion, but keep their actions themselves within a few de-�
  grees of sane. A Chaotic character might be afflicted with random�
  urges, but not continuously. An Insane character should have an�
  incomprehensible internal worldview, to properly yield this Prop-�
  erty, but they can manifest that worldview as a standard form of�
  insanity — a constant sense of uncleanliness and unworthiness,�
  hyperactivity, ritual compulsions, and so forth. Their internal ex-�
  planation for this disorder is simply slightly less human than for�
  the mortal mentally ill.�
  The�Unfathomable�Property builds on this by making the charac-�
  ters blessed by it indescribable. Adding a Virtue such as Sneaky,�
  Liar, or Bland can help with this. (If the character is already using�
  Liar to provide the Soul-Twisted Property, adding Irrational, Cha-�
  otic, or Insane would also work.)�
  The�Straightforward�Property represents an elementally straight-�
  forward Patron. This suggests a Virtue like Blunt, Open, or, of�
  course, Straightforward.�
  I have no motivations. I am a word;�
  I am a note in a song; I am a day, a�
  week, a month, a year. I proceed�
  from my beginning to my end be-�
  cause of what I am and not because�
  of what I do. To speak my true name�
  is to know how my life will end, how�
  it began, and what I will do for ev-�
  ery moment in between. This is not�
  a curse; this is my freedom.�
  —Bhradkaya Kalluri,�
  Power of the Wild�
  
  65�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Integrity�
  rincipled� expresses a resistance to personal corruption and an abso-�
  lute service to Creation. The Virtues Honorable, Dutiful, and Self-Sac-�
  rificing all fit this Property well.�
  The�Honorable� Property augments this with an acute sense for Excrucian�
  and Diabolic deception. Compassionate, Cautious, and Rational make�
  good Virtues for this Property, for the same reason that they help lend�
  Clear-Sighted. In addition, the Power should have a Virtue appropriate for�
  Principled.�
  The�Degenerate� Property embodies a susceptibility to Excrucian deception�
  and, more generally, a tendency towards suffering corruption. Virtues like�
  Liar, Sneaky, and Corrupting may help with this, as do the Virtues appro-�
  priate for Unshining (above).�
  Love�
  T�
  he�Passionate� and�Cold� Properties both reflect — in different ways�
  — the character pouring their own Code into others’ souls. Having�
  the Zealous, Devoted, or Dutiful Virtue helps here, as might the Virtue�
  Evangelist.�
  The�Fervent� Property takes this to a higher pitch. Generally, the character�
  needs two reasonably distinct Virtues that help them share their Code;�
  Zealous and Devoted, or Dutiful and Evangelist, for example. Certain ene-�
  mies of the�N�obilis might share this Property by way of the Virtue Cor-�
  rupting — the Code they inflict twists their victim.�
  “I will give you this Creation,” said�
  Seimelkhe, “and all the power there�
  is in it, if you but give me the cup�
  you hold in your hand.”�
  “This does not tempt me,” said�
  Galeid.�
  —from�Legends of the Nobilis�,�
  by Luc Ginneis�
  They bound me to the tree, far from the�
  world, and turned to leave.�
  “Wait,” I asked them. Then him.�
  “Wait, Daniel.”�
  He stood very still for a moment, my�
  love did, but then he shook his head.�
  “This is right,” he said. “This is the�
  thing that we must do.”�
  —from�The Wood Nguema,�
  and What Took Place There�,�
  by K.C. Danine�
  
  66�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Mastery�
  cholarly� shares superlative expertise with a given skill. The character�
  with Patronage has to be able to tap into the spiritual essence of that�
  skill, which normally requires a superhuman commitment to that skill. Vir-�
  tues like Artisan, Dedicated Student of [the Skill], and Stubborn help here.�
  A Virtue directly relevant to the skill (like Vain for Fashion) can also help.�
  The�Polished�Property requires something slightly more — the character�
  must go beyond even the superlative. This generally requires both a dedi-�
  cation to the skill and something that enhances the character’s commitment�
  in general — e.g., Artisan and Zealous, or Dedicated Student and Stub-�
  born. Again, a Virtue directly relevant to the skill (like Cruel for Torture)�
  can replace one of these.�
  The Virtue required for the�Untalented� Property varies depending on the�
  skill. For example, incompetence with guns can be conveyed via the Virtue�
  Pacifist, and incompetence with cooking can be conveyed through the Vir-�
  tue Ascetic. Such Virtues as Fearful and Doubtful also work, attacking the�
  ability of the character and their victims through underconfidence.�
  “I had hoped to change people,” she�
  said, “by mastering the arts of beau-�
  ty. I thought: I will make something�
  so radiant that people, looking upon�
  it, will become different than they�
  were. But this did not happen; I dis-�
  covered I had been extremely foolish;�
  and so I took up neurosurgery.”�
  “Neurosurgery?”�
  “Changing people from the outside,”�
  she said, “is not what beauty’s for.”�
  — from�A Comedy of Spirits, Act II�,�
  by Keiko Takemori�
  If you die, said Adel, I will die;�
  while you live, I will live. I shall be a�
  guardian of blood to you.�
  —from�Adel�, by K.C. Danine�
  Warding�
  T�
  he�Dim Warding� Property represents the Patron’s fierce desire that�
  the ones they care for suffer no harm. Typical Virtues for this in-�
  clude Devoted, Protector — embodying the character’s commitment to the�
  role of guardian, and perhaps Compassionate.�
  N�obilis who share the�Bright Warding� Property with others rarely live�
  long; the power involved in issuing it eats through their soul. Any two Vir-�
  tues suitable for Dim Warding suffice, or one of those Virtues plus Gener-�
  ous or Self-Sacrificing.�
  The�Bright Warning� Property is a banner calling Excrucians to war. Char-�
  acters can generally share this Property if they have such Virtues as Brave,�
  Fierce, Warlike, or Dutiful.�
  
  67�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Examples�
  N�
  ajia Sediki wishes to develop the Patronage byway Attribute. By�
  dint of great personal service, she convinces Ramachandran Denya�
  (a Power with Patronage) to issue an Exalted Word on her behalf. As Ra-�
  machandran burns in the pyre of that Word, Najia understands that power�
  in his soul that makes Patronage possible and acquires a Patronage score of�
  0. She may now buy additional Patronage levels, can develop new Virtues�
  easily, and can teach others to use Patronage with an Exalted Word of her�
  own.�
  Later, Najia spends 3 character points to buy her way to Patronage 1. Being�
  a level-headed sort, she decides to go with the Rational Virtue and the�
  Clear-Sighted�Imperator Property. She immediately gives herself the benefit�
  of this Property, along with her mother, her Anchors, and two of her sib-�
  lings caelestis.�
  Later yet, she spends another 6 character points to develop Patronage 3.�
  She chooses to take the Honorable Virtue, allowing her to give out the�
  Principled�Imperator Property. Since she already has Rational, she can also�
  give out the�Honorable� Imperator Property. She gives their benefits to the�
  same characters, except that one of her siblings caelestis, a Power of Hell,�
  requests that she not give him the Honorable Property.�
  Finally, as she has acquired several really annoying enemies in Noble soci-�
  ety, she spends another 3 character points to increase her Patronage score�
  to 4. She takes the Dutiful Virtue and the ability to create Bright Warnings.�
  She immediately attaches the Bright Warnings to her enemies. At this�
  point, she has three Virtues, which is slightly more than she can handle —�
  but she could later increase her Patronage to 5 and learn to give out the Im-�
  perator Property�Passionate�, since Dutiful covers duty to her Code as well�
  as the War.�
  Najia can change her Virtues later, if she so chooses, since they are Handi-�
  caps. However, she cannot change the Imperator Properties she has chosen�
  — if she does not have an appropriate Virtue for a Property, she can’t give�
  it out.�
  He was weak and they held�
  him back, but then the Hun-�
  ger fell upon him, and he�
  moved against the foe.�
  Through their ranks he tore,�
  cutting through the soldiers�
  as if they were paper toys. He�
  came against Ju Sze-mei and�
  their blades met, and with her�
  soldiers still milling about�
  him and striving at his back,�
  he fought her to a standstill.�
  “I had not thought you so�
  strong,” she said.�
  “I am not,” he said. His eyes�
  burned with his Need for�
  blood and death, the hook�
  caught in his soul since the�
  day of his daughter’s execu-�
  tion. “But I serve a powerful�
  master.”�
  —from�
  On Serving the Nobilis�,�
  by Luc Ginneis�
  
  68�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  We do not wish to remem-�
  ber the thing that broke the�
  Lady Atiriya into her six�
  aspects; but we will never�
  forget that when it hap-�
  pened there were nine. Her�
  face that was Shyamala fell�
  in love, and her face that�
  was Indrabala learned an�
  obsession with the law; her�
  face that was Dhrtavati�
  tried to mediate between�
  them, but Lord Entropy�
  struck down Shyamala�
  and Dhrtavati alike when�
  Indrabala took their case�
  before the Locust Court.�
  Shyamala we adored, and�
  Dhrtavati we loved, but�
  Irijaya was the most pre-�
  cious of all; and Irijaya�
  took her life when she saw�
  that the two parts of her-�
  self she valued most were�
  gone.�
  —from the Revelations�
  of Dhvana Kallichuran�
  
  69�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Superior Attributes�
  S�
  ome mortal characters are, quite simply, better than humans. They�
  are stronger, faster, sneakier, or more destructive. They can accom-�
  plish improbable feats — but these feats are mundane actions.�
   Nobilis�represents these abilities with�Superior Attributes�, such as Supe-�
  rior Intellect, Superior Toughness, or even such limited-purpose abilities as�
  Superior Resistance to Blandishment.�
  Each Superior Attribute has a rating between 0 and 9. It allows the charac-�
  ter to perform appropriate feats, with a mundane action, as if using an As-�
  pect miracle of that level. For example, characters with Superior Speed 2�
  run as fast as Powers using level 2 Aspect miracles. A Power would need�
  an Aspect 7 miracle to break the grip of a character with Superior Wres-�
  tling 7. Since these are mundane actions, they ignore the Auctoritas — but�
  the Rite of Holy Fire does protect against offensive uses.�
  To purchase these Attributes, characters must develop the ability through�
  natural, mundane means. For a human-born Power, Superior Attribute�
  scores top out at 2 — and that requires considerable natural talent and�
  many years of practice. Animals, nature spirits, and creatures from other�
  worlds can have higher Superior Attributes, as can Imperators and Excru-�
  cians. Most, however, do not.�
  Superior Attributes cost 1 point per level. Not all Superior Attributes are�
  created equal; Superior Speed and Superior Cooking have the same cost,�
  and — depending on the campaign — one can prove far more useful than�
  the other. The HG should ensure that both player characters and Noble�
  NPCs restrict themselves to Superior Attributes of limited scope.�
  If a character’s Superior Toughness (or Superior Grit, Superior Endurance,�
  etc.) exceeds their Aspect, base their wound levels on the Superior Attri-�
  bute. An ennobled rhinoceros with Aspect 0 and Superior Toughness 2 has�
  six wound levels — two Deadly, two Serious, and two Surface.�
  In�Dynamic Nobilis�, the HGs can use these rules to replace the�Talent &�
  Professionalism� shift towards triumph on mundane actions. Alternately,�
  they can apply these rules only to physical advantages and truly superhu-�
  man talent.�
  It took me ten years of prac-�
  tice to learn to paint — with-�
  out miracles — what I could�
  accomplish miraculously�
  from the moment of my�
  Commencement. And in that�
  time, I have grown into my�
  power, and can make works�
  that transcend my mortal art�
  as the ocean transcends a�
  pond. But still I sit in the�
  morning at the easel and�
  paint with the skill of an or-�
  dinary woman; and why?�
  Anyone may work miracles;�
  but in the ordinary things�
  dwells God.�
  —Akilina Govorov,�
  Warden of Locus Kadmiel�
  
  70�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  A Menagerie of Myths�
  Here are a few pages from forthcoming peculiar books to help put context to the High Summoning miracles.�
  
  71�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Rules Templates�
  A�
   creature’s�rules template� describes the basic game rules governing�
  its abilities. For example, creatures with the�Noble� template have�
  Aspect, Spirit, Domain, and Realm Attributes, and miracles can-�
  not directly change their nature. Each template has a�priority� rated Lowest,�
  Low, Medium, High, or Highest. If a creature has multiple templates, and�
  they conflict, use the template with the highest priority.�
  In some cases, the abilities�available� to a given template far exceed the typi-�
  cal. For example, nature spirits can have Superior Attributes up to 8, but�
  most spirits top out at 0-5. Higher ratings are possible for such things as a�
  mountain’s Superior Toughness or light’s Speed. These should be 7, so that�
  level 8 Aspect miracles can split mountains and outrace lasers.�
  Similarly, if a given template allows Gifts that can affect Powers or miracu-�
  lous energy, this doesn’t mean that every Gift taken by a creature with that�
  template does. For example, if a creature with that template has Glorious,�
  their beauty doesn’t overpower Noble minds — unless explicitly stated.�
  “Every day, for seventy�
  years, I would throw an evil�
  thing into this bottomless�
  pit. They would scream sat-�
  isfyingly as they fell. After�
  seventy years, I stopped�
  this practice. It was no lon-�
  ger necessary. I had firmly�
  established a link between�
  evil and an eternal fall; it�
  had become the norm for�
  black-hearted creatures�
  rather than the exception.�
  Only a few truly excep-�
  tional monsters have been�
  able to resist the subtle�
  pressure of that standard�
  and stop themselves from�
  jumping into the pit at the�
  steady rate of one per day.”�
  I looked at the pit and�
  thought of the horrors I had�
  participated in through all�
  my years of service, but I�
  felt no great inclination to�
  jump.�
  —from�
  On Serving the Nobilis�,�
  by Luc Ginneis�
  
  72�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Lowest Priority�
  “If you strip any Power down to their core, you have a hu-�
  man,” said Mok Tso-lin. “If you take the miraculous power�
  from them, and the habits of nobility.”�
  “Not so,” answered Chang Xue-mei. “I, for one, have for-�
  gotten what humanity is.”�
  —from�A Noble’s Catechism (Introduction)�,�
  by K.C. Danine�
  U�
  nless otherwise stated, a creature obeys the fol-�
  lowing rules:�
  •� 
  They have no rating in Aspect, Domain, Realm,�
  or Spirit.�
  •� 
  They have no Gifts or miracle points.�
  •� 
  They can have ratings between 0 and 5 in those�
  exclusive Attributes (p. XX) explicitly available�
  to their character type (or to all character�
  types). They have no rating in other exclusive�
  Attributes.�
  •� 
  They can have Superior Attributes between 0�
  and 2.�
  •� 
  They can learn or innately possess Earthly mag-�
  ics.�
  •� 
  They have no resistance to direct miracles. The�
  Power of Memory can make them forget, the�
  Power of Speech can give them a second�
  tongue, and so forth. They are a part of all rele-�
  vant Estates.�
  Example�
  B�
  hrajathu Behari�is a human architect in Locus Drag-�
  Adriessc. He has no Chancel-specific modifications, but�
  he designs some pretty nice buildings.�
  
  73�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  
  74�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Low Priority�
  I sat down and pulled my son onto my lap. “I have heard�
  you have been telling the other children about the glory of�
  the Excrucian cause,” I said.�
  “That’s right,” he said chipperly. “Ms. Caducine put a little�
  piece of herself in my head and now I understand it all. How�
  come you always explained it backwards?”�
  I will not write of what I had to do. Suffice it to say that the�
  Excrucian Anchor will not bring further trouble to the�
  Chancel of my lord.�
  —from the Journal of Calliste Focault�
  C�
  haracters with the Anchor template derive their�
  miraculous nature, as an ongoing process, from�
  another creature. This usually means they�are� an An-�
  chor, although a few exceptions exist. They obey the�
  following rules.�
  •�
  Anchors are not a part of any Estate. Similarly,�
  no aspect of their mind or body is part of any�
  Estate. They cannot be directly warded, creat-�
  ed, destroyed, or changed with miracles.�
  ¤�
  Exception: the creature from whom the�
  Anchor derives its miraculous nature�
  can use miracles directly upon it.�
  •�
  The creature responsible for the Anchor’s mi-�
  raculous nature can most likely move their con-�
  sciousness into the Anchor’s mind, to witness�
  events or take that mind over.�
  Example�
  O�
  riane Feroulet� is one of Zéphyrin’s Anchors, claimed�
  out of his love for her. His need to prove her worth —�
  to assuage his guilt at loving a mortal at all — compli-�
  cates their relationship.�
  
  75�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  The panther sprang. Arikel didn’t bother to move; it thud-�
  ded into his shoulder and rolled off to the side. Its claws had�
  made no dent in his flesh. Arikel, lost in meditation, was�
  unperturbed. The panther, conversely, was clearly thrown.�
  It regarded him with an expression I can only describe as�
  intense puzzlement.�
  —from the Thought-Record of Cassius Quirinius�
  C�
  haracters with the animal or machine template�
  can exceed human capacity in some respects —�
  possibly being stronger or tougher.�
  •� 
  They can have Gifts reflecting their racial abili-�
  ties (e.g., Flight or Amphibian).�
  •� 
  They can have Superior Attributes from 0 to 5.�
  Example�
  A�
   Nameless Bee�has the Gift of Flight. This particular�
  bee belongs to the beehive Chelsea, whose spirit Patrick�
  Precipice-Lord Anchored (p. 260,�Nobilis�). According-�
  ly, it has both the Anchor and Animal templates. These�
  do not conflict in any fashion.�
  
  76�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  The child of the cosmos walked out into the Arizona heat.�
  Where no one lived and nothing grew, he set up the ring. It�
  took him only a few days to get the bandstands up and the�
  restrooms built. Then he sat at his laptop and printed out a�
  handful of flyers, reading, “The Child of the Cosmos against�
  the Gods that Move Between the Stars! A once-in-a-lifetime�
  wrestling event, coming June 3�
  rd�!” These he distributed in�
  nearby towns. Then, at last, he let himself sleep.�
  “But you are only half a god,” the reporters would ask him�
  later. “How can you expect to beat the real thing?”�
  “The gods rule an unjust cosmos,” he would answer. “But�
  in the ring, I will make justice with my own two hands.”�
  —from�24 Finales�, by Rannen Yedidyah�
  C�
  haracters with the Inheritor template have some-�
  how inherited a certain amount of miraculous na-�
  ture from a Power or Imperator — e.g., from an�
  ancestor, or from the Chancel whose creation gave�
  them life.�
  •� 
  Inheritors are not a part of any Estate. Similar-�
  ly, no aspect of their mind or body is part of�
  any Estate. Thus, they resist direct miracles.�
  •� 
  Inheritors can have ratings in one or more At-�
  tributes (Aspect, Domain, Realm, or Spirit). If�
  so, they have a score between 0 and 3 and a�
  base of 3 Miracle Points.�
  •� 
  Inheritors can have ratings between 0 and 5 in�
  any exclusive Attribute available to mortals.�
  •� 
  Inheritors can have ratings between 0 and 3 in�
  any exclusive Attribute available to Powers but�
  not mortals.�
  •� 
  Inheritors can have Gifts of any potency. These�
  Gifts can only affect things that are part of�
  some Estate.�
  Example�
  H�
  arkány Ordina� found a recently dead “angel” — in�
  truth, a winged Power — not far from his laboratory. A�
  skilled mage, a talented doctor, and a thoroughly in-�
  sane man, he decided to preserve the Power’s wings�
  and the associated musculature by grafting them onto�
  his own back. Since then he has found himself tainted�
  by the miraculous — acquiring both power and pecu-�
  liar Handicaps.�
  
  77�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  “I boasted of my strength,” explained the ogre, “and so I�
  was transformed into what you see here and set to guard�
  this treasury.”�
  “If you permit me entrance,” answered the Power, “I will�
  take you back to my Chancel and restore you.”�
  The ogre blinked. “Are you kidding? Do you know how�
  much a good treasury ogre gets�paid?�”�
  —from�The Tragic Story of Jay Penhue and His Knights�,�
  by Melanie Tumbarius�
  C�
  haracters with the Inspired template have re-�
  ceived Gifts (effectively) through the miracles of�
  others. For example, a Chancel inhabitant blessed by a�
  Realm miracle of Lesser Preservation can become effec-�
  tively Immutable or Durant. A Cammoran can have ex-�
  ceptionally keen sight via the blessing of the Domina�
  Oculae.�
  •� 
  They can have Gifts of any potency. These Gifts�
  can only affect things that are part of some Es-�
  tate.�
  ¤� 
  These Gifts are contingent on circum-�
  stance. For example, a Chancel resident�
  made Durant can lose that Gift by leav-�
  ing the Chancel for more than a day.�
  Example�
  V�
  aslaw Karpenko�is a Cammoran attached to the Rus-�
  sian mob. He has become effectively Eternal due to a�
  bargain with the Power of Clocks.�
  
  78�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Medium Priority�
  The finch’s star is a thing not of the Lord, nor yet opposed�
  by Him. It stands outside the laws of the world.�
  —from�Earth Stories�, compiled by Edward Guy�
  C�
  reatures with the External template have potent�
  abilities that are neither miraculous nor a form of�
  Earthly magic. They stand “outside” the normal rules.�
  •� 
  Externals can have Gifts, including Gifts that�
  can affect Powers or miraculous energy direct-�
  ly.�
  •� 
  Externals can have Superior Attributes between�
  0 and 9.�
  Example�
  T�
  he Mirrored Haunt�of Locus Asaph is a particularly�
  potent Bane. His face always looks like the viewer’s�
  own. He turns back miracles on their creator with a ges-�
  ture of his bony hand.�
  
  79�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Jacob’s mirror did not like him. It showed him flickers of�
  motion, at times, that caused him to spin about in fear. It�
  flashed, for just a moment, a horror instead of his face. Fi-�
  nally, however, it found its most satisfactory technique: a�
  slow and careful degradation of the beauty of his reflection.�
  As Jacob saw himself grow uglier and uglier each day, the�
  truth of it sank in; and, slowly, his beauty in the world out-�
  side his reflection began to fade.�
  —from�Test Pattern�, by Keiko Takemori�
  C�
  haracters with the Nature Spirit template are alive�
  in Mythic Reality but inanimate or mindless in�
  the Prosaic World. They are the living spirits of the�
  world.�
  •� 
  They can have Gifts — most typically:�
  ¤� 
  the Sovereign’s Gift, adjusted to cost�
  no MPs;�
  ¤� 
  infrequently, Durant;�
  ¤� 
  very rarely, anything else.�
  •� 
  Nature Spirits can have Superior Attributes be-�
  tween 0 and 8.�
  Example�
  M�
  ijiza�is a wind-spirit. In a bargain with the Power of�
  Armor, she earned miraculous protection against calm-�
  ing and fading away, making her Eternal. She has the�
  Inspired template, permitting this Gift, and the Nature�
  Spirit template, allowing her to purchase Superior�
  Speed 3.�
  
  80�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  High Priority�
  “You love me,” he said. His voice was very assured, and I�
  realized at once that it must be so.�
  —from�Jack�, by Keiko Takemori�
  C�
  reatures with the Deceiver-shard template are�
  shards or other extrusions of an Excrucian’s na-�
  ture. The Excrucian in question is almost invariably a�
  Deceiver.�
  •� 
  Deceiver-shards can have a rating in Aspect. If�
  they do, it is between 0 and 2.�
  •� 
  Deceiver-shards can have ratings between 0�
  and 3 in any exclusive Attribute available to�
  Excrucian-shards.�
  •� 
  Deceiver-shards have a base of 0 Miracle Points�
  in every appropriate Attribute for which they�
  possess a rating.�
  •� 
  Deceiver-shards can have Gifts, including Gifts�
  that affect Powers and miraculous energy di-�
  rectly.�
  •� 
  Deceiver-shards can perform the Ritual of Two�
  Skins (pg. 202,�Nobilis�) and gain access to a�
  specific Noble or Imperator’s abilities, becom-�
  ing vulnerable in turn to the Truth of the Name�
  (also pg. 202,�Nobilis�). As a specific exception,�
  they do not gain the ability to work Imperial�
  miracles when they gain access to an�
  Imperator’s abilities.�
  Example�
  R�
  owen Crusher�is a name sometimes worn by shards�
  of Coriander Hasp. The exact distinction between�
  Rowen’s personality and Coriander’s is unclear. Some-�
  times, a Rowen seems very different than his greater�
  self. Sometimes, he seems like nothing more than a di-�
  rect extension of Coriander’s will.�
  
  81�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  “Why do you have a gun in your hand?” he asked.�
  “I have promised to kill the one I love.”�
  “You hate me,” he said. His voice was very assured, and I�
  realized at once that it must be so.�
  —from�Jack�, by Keiko Takemori�
  C�
  haracters with this template are Excrucian Deceiv-�
  ers and similar creatures from the Lands Beyond�
  Creation.�
  •� 
  They are not a part of any Estate. Similarly, no�
  aspect of their mind or body is part of any Es-�
  tate. Thus, they resist direct miracles.�
  •� 
  Deceivers have ratings between 0 and 7 in As-�
  pect and Spirit.�
  •� 
  Deceivers can have ratings between 1 and 7 in�
  Domain or Realm through a Focus.�
  •� 
  Deceivers have a base of 5 MPs in all four Attri-�
  butes, even if they have no Attribute rating.�
  •� 
  Deceivers can have ratings between 0 and 5 in�
  any exclusive Attribute available to Excrucians.�
  •� 
  Deceivers can have Superior Attributes from 0 to 7.�
  •� 
  Deceivers can have Gifts, including Gifts that�
  affect Powers and miraculous energy directly.�
  •� 
  Deceivers can create Deceiver-shards.�
  •� 
  Deceivers can perform the Ritual of Two Skins�
  and gain access to a specific Noble or�
  Imperator’s abilities, becoming vulnerable in�
  turn to the Truth of the Name. This includes the�
  ability to work Imperial miracles, when wear-�
  ing an Imperator’s “skin”.�
  Example�
  A�
  rchetel Denisot� notes, in a private interview, that Ex-�
  crucians do not so much lack the power of Domain and�
  Realm as that they lack Estates and Chancels recognized�
  on Earth. “There are things in the Lands Beyond Cre-�
  ation,” Archetel says, “that I have influence over and�
  few others do; but these things are useless in the War.”�
  Archetel has the template Excrucian Deceiver, and�
  therefore cannot be believed — but in any case, even�
  Excrucians without Domain or Realm have enough po-�
  tential in that Attribute to have the corresponding Mira-�
  cle Points. Therefore, they can use their DMP-based�
  Gifts.�
  
  82�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  The machines of war opened their mouths and blew a great wind of famine across the land. They blew forth a wind of pestilence.�
  They blew forth a wind of death. After each such gout, the people came to their King and said, “You must save us.” Each time, he�
  answered, “I have foreseen this wind; all proceeds according to my plan.”�
  When the wind of death had passed, the last people of the kingdom said, “Your plan has failed, your majesty, for your land is dead.”�
  The King looked at them, as if from very far away. “Had they sought to kill the land, and I to stop them, then I would have failed;�
  but they did not, and I did not. Their only goal was to torment my heart with the suffering of my people. My only goal was to seal�
  my heart in stone.”�
   —from�Legends of the Nobilis�, by Luc Ginneis�
  C�
  haracters with this template are Excrucian Strategists and similar creatures from the Lands Beyond Cre-�
  ation.�
  •� 
  Strategists cannot be directly warded, created, destroyed, or changed with miracles if they have even 1�
  MP remaining. Each time they use this resistance, they must spend a Miracle Point of any type.�
  •� 
  Strategists have ratings between 0 and 7 in Aspect and Spirit.�
  ¤� 
  Strategists must spend one Miracle Point each time their Auctoritas stops a miracle’s effects. If�
  they have no Miracle Points remaining, their Auctoritas does not function.�
  •� 
  Strategists can have ratings between 1 and 7 in Domain or Realm through a Focus.�
  •� 
  Strategists have a base of 5 MPs in all four Attributes, even if they have no Attribute rating.�
  •� 
  Strategists can have ratings between 0 and 5 in any exclusive Attribute available to Excrucians.�
  •� 
  Strategists can have Superior Attributes from 0 to 7.�
  •� 
  Strategists can have Gifts, including Gifts that affect Powers and miraculous energy directly.�
  •� 
  Strategists can create Strategist-shards.�
  •� 
  Strategists can perform Imperial miracles.�
  •� 
  Strategists can take the World-Breaker’s Hand for 0 Character Points.�
  
  83�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Example�
  E�
  vemy Syriack� claims responsibility for the creation of�
  Eurytos, also called Horror. Certainly she displays its�
  mark: circular scars dot her body, as if made by the poi-�
  soned weapon’s spines. Her soul is also tainted by the�
  Abhorrent Weapon; a twisted madness grips her, bear-�
  ing little resemblance to the calm, polite destructiveness�
  typical of Harumaph’s Children. She has been known to�
  display aberrations ranging from mass murder to bar-�
  gains with the Imperators or the Nobilis. She has the�
  Excrucian Strategist template.�
  
  84�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  In the Chancel of Lorelle Clark, one may always choose to sacrifice one’s life to save another’s. This is not magic. This is not a mira-�
  cle. It is the law of the world.�
  Lorelle dueled the Warmain Hesychia Symeonius in the center of her court. Hesychia’s blade hungered for Lorelle’s life, but could�
  not take it; each time it plunged into her heart, or chopped away her side, or ripped through her spine, one of the silently watching�
  courtiers stood up and took that death in her place. The Warmain was snarling, hateful, angry, and realizing with horror that it�
  was possible to�lose�. As for Lorelle, I have never seen a woman look so radiant or so beautiful. She was lost in the rapture of it, for�
  Lorelle is a Power of the Dark.�
  —from�On Serving the Nobilis�, by Luc Ginneis�
  C�
  haracters with this template are Excrucian Warmains and similar creatures from the Lands Beyond Cre-�
  ation.�
  •� 
  They are not a part of any Estate. Similarly, no aspect of their mind or body is part of any Estate. Thus,�
  they resist direct miracles.�
  •� 
  Warmains have ratings between 0 and 7 in Aspect and Spirit.�
  •� 
  Warmains can have ratings between 1 and 7 in Domain or Realm through a Focus.�
  •� 
  Warmains have a base of 5 MPs in all four Attributes, even if they have no Attribute rating.�
  •� 
  Warmains can have ratings between 0 and 5 in any exclusive Attribute available to Excrucians.�
  •� 
  Warmains can have Superior Attributes from 0 to 7.�
  •� 
  Warmains can have Gifts, including Gifts that affect Powers and miraculous energy directly.�
  •� 
  Warmains can create Warmain-shards.�
  •� 
  Warmains can perform Imperial miracles.�
  
  85�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Example�
  O�
  reute Bryde� has seven aspects and exceptional skill�
  at invading reality. If she can break even the smallest�
  piece of herself into the world, she casts forth seven un-�
  usually powerful Warmain-shards. The Assassin wears�
  violet and pursues its goals in stealth. The Brute wears�
  indigo and serves its purpose with strength and vio-�
  lence. The Knight wears blue and pursues its ends with�
  honorable force. The Judge wears green; it acts with�
  discretion and seeks poetic endings. The Thief wears�
  yellow and indulges in cleverness and guile. The Dip-�
  lomat, in orange, seeks to divert Oreute’s enemies�
  through bluff, persuasion, and barter. Finally, the Heal-�
  er, in red, does not serve Oreute’s purposes at all. Dam-�
  aged by some unknown force, this aspect of the�
  Warmain opposes the others and strives to defend and�
  heal the world and the Powers caught in Oreute’s�
  machinations. Oreute has the Warmain template.�
  
  86�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Once, I believed in the sanctity of life. It has grown harder,�
  as the years progressed, to cling to that belief — to resist�
  going out at night and killing, simply to kill. This is not so-�
  ciopathy or rage. It is my burning wish to honor the Lord of�
  Expectations, Ananda, Imperator of Murder, whom once I�
  saw.�
  —from the Thought-Record of Robert Baxt�
  C�
  haracters with the Imperator template are crea-�
  tures of pure�spiritus Dei�.�
  •� 
  They are not a part of any Estate. Similarly, no�
  aspect of their mind or body is part of any Es-�
  tate. Thus, they resist direct miracles.�
  •� 
  Imperators have ratings between 0 and 7 in As-�
  pect, Domain, Realm, and Spirit, and a base of�
  5 Miracle Points in each.�
  •� 
  Imperators can have ratings between 0 and 5 in�
  any exclusive Attribute available to Imperators.�
  •� 
  Imperators can have Superior Attributes from 0�
  to 7.�
  •� 
  Imperators can have Gifts. These Gifts can only�
  affect things that are part of some Estate.�
  •� 
  Imperators can create Chancels and Nobilis.�
  •� 
  Imperators can use Imperial miracles.�
  Example�
  T�
  he Megalith Wasps� (p. 213,�Nobilis�) are not normally�
  considered Imperators; much like mortal wasps, they�
  have minimal intelligence at best. However, these giant�
  wasps derive their substance from the World Ash on�
  which they nest, and are therefore creatures of pure�
  spiritus Dei�. They obey the Imperator template.�
  
  87�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  This is how Bao Way-ming punishes the worst offenders�
  brought before his court. He strips them of their memories�
  and replaces them with his own. Thus, the shameful crea-�
  ture remembers themselves as the exalted Way-ming — but�
  finds themselves suddenly human, suddenly a branded�
  criminal, and suddenly powerless, unworthy to so much as�
  pledge themselves to Way-ming’s glorious Estate or Code.�
  He does not let them commit suicide; they must live out�
  their lives with the horrible pain of that loss, and most go�
  mad.�
  —from�Chamomile Book�, by Chien Shan-lee�
  C�
  haracters with the Noble template have miracu-�
  lous abilities and a miraculous nature.�
  •� 
  They are not a part of any Estate. Similarly, no�
  aspect of their mind or body is part of any Es-�
  tate. Thus, they resist direct miracles.�
  •� 
  Nobles have ratings between 0 and 5 in Aspect,�
  Domain, Realm, and Spirit, and a base of 5 Mir-�
  acle Points in each.�
  •� 
  Nobles can have ratings between 0 and 5 in any�
  exclusive Attribute available to Powers.�
  •� 
  Nobles can have Gifts. Their Gifts can only af-�
  fect creatures vulnerable to direct miracles.�
  Example�
  C�
  laudia Müller� was born under just the right stars,�
  blessed with good fortune well beyond mere miracu-�
  lous luck. Division II of Austria’s Federal Ministry of�
  the Interior recruited her for the occult investigations�
  branch of its Directorate-General for Public Security;�
  there, she unraveled some of its most puzzling cases. In�
  those days, she obeyed the External template and her�
  Luck Gift was able to twist the actions of Imperators,�
  Nobles, and Excrucians alike. After she defeated sev-�
  eral Excrucian-shards through guts and providence, the�
  Imperator Yefef recruited her as a Power. Her Luck can�
  no longer affect miraculous entities; the Noble template�
  has a higher priority than the External template and�
  imposes a limit on the character’s Gifts.�
  
  88�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  I watched its eyes. Sometimes, I can tell the difference be-�
  tween them—‘tween Warmain and Strategist-shards—by�
  the way the stars fall. And it matters. It matters a whole lot.�
  Warmains don’t get in my way. Not often, anyway. They�
  see my Lord’s work in the world, and they smile, and they�
  stand aside to let me do it. Strategists, though, they get all�
  funny about it, as if there’s something about my Lord that�
  the Warmains don’t quite get.�
  This one was a Strategist-shard. I signaled the snipers. The�
  stars in his eyes witnessed that gesture, and instantly they�
  understood.�
  —from the Thought-Record of Hugh Rosewood�
  C�
  reatures with these templates are shards or other�
  extrusions of an Excrucian’s nature.�
  •� 
  Excrucian-shards are not a part of any Estate.�
  Similarly, no aspect of their mind or body is�
  part of any Estate. Thus, they resist direct mira-�
  cles.�
  •� 
  Excrucian-shards have ratings between 0 and 5�
  in Aspect, Domain, Realm, and Spirit, and a�
  base of 5 Miracle Points in each.�
  •� 
  Excrucian-shards can have ratings between 0�
  and 5 in any exclusive Attribute available to�
  them.�
  •� 
  Excrucian-shards can have Gifts, including�
  Gifts that affect Powers and miraculous energy�
  directly. Not all of their Gifts do.�
  •� 
  Strategist-shards can take the World-Breaker’s�
  Hand for 5 character points.�
  Note that Strategist-shards do�not�spend Miracle Points�
  to fuel their Auctoritas and resistance to direct miracles.�
  Example�
  M�
  alakai Fang� is an occasionally-seen shard of Malakai�
  Mesmer that takes the form of a wolf. He obeys the An-�
  imal and Strategist-shard templates. He can therefore�
  purchase Superior Speed 3 as a wolf and a cheap�
  World-Breaker’s Hand as a Strategist-shard.�
  
  89�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  
  90�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Highest Priority�
  “Look,” said the Serpent, “you don’t just come in and talk to the World Ash. She wants to talk to you, she’ll call�you�.”�
  “It’s about Lucifer,” I said. There was a pause.�
  A green and leafy voice from the next room said, “Show her in.”�
  —from�The Kifri Murders�,�
  by Kalliope Tsouderos (unpublished)�
  C�
  haracters with the Transcendent template have a nature beyond miraculous — they are either Imperial crea-�
  tures on a scope that far exceeds the Angels, such as the World Ash, or truly exceptional monsters from the�
  Lands Beyond Creation.�
  •� 
  Transcendent creatures are not a part of any Estate. Similarly, no aspect of their mind or body is part of�
  any Estate. Thus, they resist direct miracles.�
  •� 
  Transcendent creatures can have ratings between 0 and 9 in Aspect, Spirit, Domain, and Realm. They�
  have a base of 5 MPs in each.�
  ¤� 
  Transcendent creatures can take any concept as a Domain or Secondary Domain. This includes�
  concepts already taken by other Powers or Imperators as well as normally illegal concepts like�
  “miraculous energy”.�
  •� 
  Transcendent creatures can have ratings between 0 and 5 in any appropriate exclusive Attribute.�
  •� 
  Transcendent creatures can have Superior Attributes between 0 and 9.�
  •� 
  Transcendent creatures can have Gifts, including Gifts that affect Powers, Imperators, and miraculous en-�
  ergy directly.�
  •� 
  Transcendent creatures can use Imperial miracles.�
  ¤� 
  This ability may be sharply limited in scope, or, alternately, quicker than it is for Imperators.�
  
  91�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Example�
  E�
  pititiokh� has come into Creation twice, and where�
  she passes she brings the drought; water and life alike�
  dissolve with her passage, green things and blue things�
  die, and even in her walk through Heaven she killed�
  the flowers as she passed. No one can stop Epititiokh,�
  or bend her to their will — but men and hermaphro-�
  dites may offer themselves to her as lovers. When she�
  has taken one, and drained in their climax every last�
  drop of water and life from his flesh, she leaves Cre-�
  ation once again.�
  
  92�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  As the Imperator stepped into our world, I felt a change in�
  the air: suddenly, I understood the ideas of Komm and Iax,�
  which had not been part of the Earth before. I shall not de-�
  scribe them here. No doubt they would confuse both myself�
  and the reader when the Lord Hadasdagoy of Dionyl has�
  gone.�
  —from�On Serving the Nobilis�, by Luc Ginneis�
  C�
  haracters with the Unearthly template come from�
  another world on the Ash, or from outside Cre-�
  ation entirely.�
  •� 
  Unearthly characters can have Superior Attri-�
  butes between 0 and 9.�
  •� 
  They can have Gifts, including Gifts that affect�
  Powers or miraculous energy directly. These�
  Gifts are not arbitrary, but rather represent�
  Gifts available to the appropriate character type�
  on their world.�
  Example�
  J�
  usguarin� is an Power from Abaton, a dark and hollow�
  world far from Earth. He has both the Noble template�
  and the Unearthly template. The HG could allow Jus-�
  guarin and other Powers from Abaton to have a spe-�
  cific kind of Gift that affects Powers directly. The HG�
  could also rule that the natural inhabitants of Abaton�
  have up to 5 levels of Superior Night Vision. If for�
  some reason Jusguarin is a player character, these�
  things will require negotiation.�
  
  93�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Entities�
  As a Noble, you must accustom yourself to strangeness. At any time, a giant may�
  stop in for tea, or a spirit seek to become your lover.�
  —from�Becoming Noble�, by Fayola Osiagobare�
  T�
  his section presents a selection of the strange entities that occa-�
  sionally interact with the Nobilis on a social level.�
  
  94�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Charitable Beings�
  “It’s a gift,” she said.�
  “It’s a human heart,” I said.�
  “I know,” she said. “I cut it out myself.” She smiled. “Do you like it?”�
  “It’s a nice gesture,” I said, “but I’m a vegetarian.”�
  —from�Mission to Sol�, by Nazira Orozova�
  E�
  ven the masters of High Summoning do not really understand the�
  Charitable Beings. Nine feet tall and pale, with long fingers and a�
  willow-thin body, they appear to exist simply to offer others gifts. Some-�
  times those gifts are valuable — extra miracle points in a crisis, powerful�
  treasures from beyond Creation, or spices rarely seen on Earth. Sometimes�
  they are unpleasant — clouds of poison gas, curses of itching, and in one�
  case a startled and irritated Strategist. Sometimes they simply puzzle the�
  recipients — a handful of nutshells, a coat on fire, or a selection of Cana-�
  dian coins. If they do not have the most appropriate gift on hand when�
  they encounter a worthy recipient, they ask the recipient to wait, and then�
  vanish for hours or days to fetch one; it sends the Charitable Being into�
  absolute fury if the recipient is not there when they return.�
  Ridding oneself of an unwanted gift can prove difficult. Generally, howev-�
  er, one can pass on even the most unlikely gifts — such as haunting ances-�
  tral spirits and warts — to others. This requires only a suitably ornate�
  gift-giving celebration. Powers generally hold grand celebrations in their�
  Chancel when they wish to forsake a Charitable Being’s gift; there, they�
  ceremonially pass their affliction on to some (un)lucky Chancel resident as�
  a reward. Sometimes, a Power will instead pass their gift on to another�
  Noble at a celebration other Nobles attend. In either case, the nature of the�
  Charitable Beings helps ensure that the gift transfer is successful.�
  Aspect� 3 
  6 AMP�
  Domain�unrated� 7 DMP�
  Realm� unrated� 
  5 RMP�
  Spirit�
  5 
  5 SMP�
  Immortal�
  Charitable Blessing�
  Wound Levels —�
  Deadly�
  [  ] [  ]�
  Serious�
  [  ] [  ]�
  Surface�
  [  ] [  ] [  ]�
  
  95�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  I�
  mpermanent Gifts�
  Recipients can transfer away a Charitable Being’s gift with a suitable cele-�
  bration.�
  Gives 1 DMP (included in Attribute total.)�
  S�
  low Work�
  It takes time for a Charitable Being to locate a suitable gift.�
  Gives 1 DMP (included in Attribute total.)�
  E�
  rratic�
  Charitable Beings are not sane or self-interested.�
  Gives 1 AMP (included in Attribute total.)�
  
  96�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Miracle Level�
  Invocation� Range� Utility�
  Common?        Cost�
     9+7 Penetration�
     (Domain)�
  Normal�
  Global�
  Full�
  No�
     16 CPs�
  -2�
  +1�
  +1�
  +1�
  17*3=51 CP�
  C�
  haritable Beings can offer almost anything as a gift, if they spend long�
  enough searching for it. They can graft on new arms, enhance others’�
  Attributes, adjust a Noble’s genitive force so that their future children�
  come out toads, deliver masterful alchemical creations or stolen Abhorrent�
  Weapons, or anything else of that sort.  This is purchased as a Major�
  (Creation or Change) of any Estate, as shown below.�
  
  97�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Lawbreakers�
  “I have sworn not to relinquish my guardianship,” I said. “If I should let you pass,�
  I die.”�
  The creature fixed me with its burning eyes. “I am not of this world,” it said, “and�
  your oath does not recognize that I exist.”�
  I have heard the speech of Deceivers and their shards. I knew that what I felt was�
  not persuasion or a lie. With a strange, sick feeling, I understood that its words�
  were truth, and that the sanctity of my oath would not defend me from its passage.�
  —from the Thought-Record of Christoph Balleroy�
  T�
  he Lawbreakers come from the Lands Beyond Creation: cadaverous�
  creatures with burning eyes and shallow breath. Despite their name,�
  they do not truly break laws — they are simply invisible to them. Duties�
  and oaths — even the oaths of characters with the Honorable Virtue —�
  treat the Lawbreakers as nonexistent. Mortal police ignore their most egre-�
  gious crimes. Powers have used alliances with the Lawbreakers to shelter�
  certain actions from the Code Fidelitatis or their Imperator’s disfavor; Lord�
  Entropy shows no sign of extending the Code to cover the Lawbreakers’�
  actions. The social order does not recognize these creatures; the�res� (pg.�
  101) treat them as nonexistent, and can even pass through them physically�
  as if they were so much air.�
  The Lawbreakers willingly bargain with Powers who summon them. Pow-�
  ers pay them for their services by accepting�weirds�, a concept that does not�
  translate well into the languages of Creation. In practice, each accepted�
  weird�imposes a certain insanity on the Power for a certain length of time.�
  The Lawbreakers can extend their protection slightly, so that actions taken�
  in close concert with them are equally invisible. High Summoners who�
  wish to commit treason often spend much of their lives closeted with a�
  Lawbreaker. This drives them insane, but ensures protection against the�
  anger of their Imperator and the punishments of Lord Entropy.�
  The insanity of a�weird�varies across the full range of normal mental illness,�
  and many mythic conditions as well. Players making deals with Lawbreak-�
  ers can discuss the�weirds�they might accept with the HG.�
  None.�
  Aspect� 0-2 
  5 AMP�
  Domain�unrated� 5 DMP�
  Realm� unrated� 
  5 RMP�
  Spirit�
  1 
  5 SMP�
  Durant�
  Eternal�
  Immune to Law�
  Wound Levels (Durant) —�
  Deadly�
  [  ]�
  Serious�
  [  ]�
  Surface�
  [  ] [  ]�
  +1 Serious for Aspect 1   [  ]�
  +1 Deadly for Aspect 2   [  ]�
  
  98�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  L�
  aws, social order, and agreements simply do not apply to these crea-�
  tures from the Lands Beyond Creation. The exception is agreements�
  involving the�weirds�. This is purchased as a Major Destruction of Social�
  Contracts — or, specifically, the property that makes them apply to the�
  Lawbreaker — as shown below.�
  Miracle Level�
  Invocation� Range� Utility�
  Common?        Cost�
     7+7 Penetration�
     (Domain)�
  Automatic� Global� One Trick�
  No�
     14 CPs�
  +1�
  +1�
  -3�
  +1�
  14  CP�
  
  99�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  Peregrine Bears�
  Jan ben Jan wished to reward the Folk of the Road, and so he built a great city for�
  them, filling it with rare luxuries: foodstuffs, gems, silks, and gold, and a sewage�
  system that was the wonder of that age. They came to that city in ones and twos and�
  marveled, asking, “Is this truly ours?” And Jan ben Jan nodded. Then, in ones and�
  twos, the Folk of the Road drifted away; for, much as they loved the marvelous�
  place, they could not bear to end their journeys.�
  —from�Legends of the Nobilis�, by Luc Ginneis�
  O�
  nce upon a time, there were no bears. Then a handful of strange crea-�
  tures trundled in from outside Creation. Their name for themselves�
  best translates as “Peregrinator”, or “Wanderer”. Fierce, muscular, and�
  coated in thick hide and fur, they made a strong impression on the humans�
  who saw them. They became mythically identified with strength, fortitude,�
  and wisdom.�
  One day, the concept of the Peregrinators — which humans called “bears”�
  — became so deeply entrenched in the world that it gave rise to an Estate.�
  Of course, the Estate did not govern the Peregrinators, since they came�
  from outside Creation. It really only defined a concept — the idea of a�
  physical thing, bears, that did not actually exist. The newborn Imperator�
  found that unsatisfactory, and issued a miracle of Major Creation; from�
  that time forward, bears have walked the Earth.�
  The Peregrinators still exist, and sometimes they still wander in through�
  the Weirding Wall and roam the worlds of Creation. Physiologically, they�
  represent a kind of living Auctoritas — an incarnation of refusal to bend to�
  miraculous, magical, or even physical force. Those Powers who master�
  High Summoning can learn their language, and perhaps offer them food or�
  directions to an interesting place in exchange for their assistance.�
  None.�
  Aspect� 5 
  5 AMP�
  Domain�unrated� 5 DMP�
  Realm� unrated� 
  5 RMP�
  Spirit�
  5 
  5 SMP�
  Durant�
  Annul Miracle�
  Wound Levels (Durant) —�
  Deadly�
  [  ] [  ] [  ]�
  Serious�
  [  ] [  ] [  ]�
  Surface�
  [  ] [  ] [  ]�
  
  100�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  P�
  eregrine bears can counter any miracle they see used; this costs them�
  one DMP. This is purchased as a major destruction of miraculous�
  power, with miracle level increased to 9, as shown below.�
  Miracle Level�
  Invocation� Range� Utility�
  Common?        Cost�
     9+7 Penetration�
     (Domain)�
  Normal�
  Local�
  Compre-�
  hensive�
  No�
     16 CPs�
  -2�
  -1�
  -1�
  +1�
  13  CP�
  
  101�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  The Accords at Babylon�
  Sacred Contracts�
  . . . The�res�are sacred contracts bound in a physical form. The body of a�res�
  can take any form, from a smooth stone to a bronze spear; some�res� even�
  take form as a human or animal. The covenant held within that body can�
  sanctify an ordinary bargain, embody a group with specific goals, or bind�
  Nobilis together in service to the common good. Powers who agree to par-�
  ticipate in the covenant become “bound” to the�res�. . . .�
  
  102�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�(Previews)�
  . . . The second moral virtue,�purity�, measures a character’s personal�
  growth. As a character frees themselves from human failings, their purity�
  increases. . . .�
  B�
  lack and white particles are two aspects of the terrene essence, the moral�
  grounding of the soul, the element of the earth. These particles create cer-�
  tain forms of malignity and innocence, as well as the harvest, the soil, and�
  stone.�
  Black particles are the particles of empathy. They call to one another, form-�
  ing a channel by which one soul can know another's pain. These particles�
  create prudence, wisdom, constancy, evil, falsehood, and error. Solid black�
  particles create moments of malice, in which one seeks to hurt another�
  through the sudden understanding that one can. They also give rise to mo-�
  ments of conscience, where one suddenly sees and acts to ease another's�
  pain. A deep and persistent appreciation of the nature of suffering mani-�
  fests the power of the clear black particulate substance. This pure inspira-�
  tion, as with the polluted black, can inspire a character either to enhance or�
  remove others’ anguish.�
  White particles define the quest for abstract virtue. This is the substance of�
  philosophers and the spiritual essence of ethics itself. This substance cre-�
  ates purity, truth, innocence, magic, hope, and beauty. The solid white sub-�
  stance inspires those who blindly adopt ethical codes and standards of�
  behavior, whether learned from their culture or a charismatic leader. Clear�
  white particles brace and empower the souls of those who develop their�
  ethics from rational introspection or spiritual inspiration.�
  Vincent Guntali did not believe in�
  Hell; nor did he believe that, should�
  such a place exist, he would be exiled�
  there. Perhaps this amused the�
  Prince of Lies, for he struck a bar-�
  gain with Vincent’s soul. Now Vin-�
  cent sits in a high place overlooking�
  the flames and suffering. So long as�
  he remains unwavering, remains�
  certain that he does not belong in�
  Hell, he shall not suffer from it.�
  He did well at first, but for the past�
  year, he has dared think nothing else�
  but “I am not in Hell.”�
  —from�Observations of the�
  Damned�, by Quan Feng-Ying�
  The Book of Purity�
  
  103�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  “Why do you stand there, at�
  the circle’s center?”�
  “I was promised that should�
  I stand here for one hundred�
  years, the master would�
  bring me enlightenment.”�
  “But you have stood there�
  for two centuries and more,�
  and he has not come.”�
  “I have grown used to�
  standing here. Perhaps this�
  is enlightenment.”�
  —from�Awakening Old�
  Dreams�, by Emily Chen�
  
  104�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Index�
  Achillea (flower)�
  22�
  Adorable Sword (artifact)�
  21�
  Alchemical Visciscope (artifact)�
  26�
  Alchemy�
  Alchemical Analysis�
  24�
  Alchemical Manufacturing�
  24�
  Chancel Property�
   16�
  Essential Insight�
  16�
  Example Flaws�
  19�
  Examples�
  21�
  Floral Influences�
  17�
  How to Learn�
  16�
  Imprudent Alchemy�
  19�
  Miracles�
  24�
  Precision Work�
  18�
  Alyssym (flower)�
  22�
  Amaranth (flower)�
  22�,�26�
  Angelica (flower)�
  21�
  Aristratos (artifact)�
  22�
  ariya adharma�
  33�
  Ashflower (flower)�
  22�
  Butterfly Weed (flower)�
  21�
  Caligorant�
  See: Rivalry (Abhorrent Weapon)�
  Chamomile (flower)�
  22�
  Charitable Beings�
  94�
  
  105�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Cleave of the Botanists�
  12�,�14�,�15�,�17�
  Cneph�
  10�
  Coltsfoot (flower)�
  13�
  a bee�
   75�
  Adel�
  66�
  Aholibamah�
  56�
  Akilina Govorov (Power)�
  69�
  Ananda (Imperator)�
  86�
  Andel Miskova (Power)�
  30�
  Anupriya Mageshkumar�
  34�
  Archetel Denisot (Excrucian Deceiver)�
  81�
  Arigato James�
   9�
  Arikel (Power of Night)�
  75�
  Athop-Helm (blasphemous)�
  52�
  Bao Way-ming (Power)�
  87�
  Bhradkaya Kalluri (Power)�
  64�
  Bhrajathu Behari�
  72�
  Calliste Focault�
  74�
  Cassius Quirinius�
  75�
  Chang Xue-mei (Power)�
  72�
  Channary Keng (Power)�
  20�
  Chao Nurhaci (Power)�
  14�
  Chelsea (a beehive)�
  75�
  Child of the Cosmos, the�
  76�
  Christoph Balleroy�
  97�
  Christopher Dannson�
  24�
  Clarissa Kilthdigai�
  62�
  Claudia Müller (Power)�
   87�
  Clematis 4 (Power of Recurrence)�
  14, 21, 23�
  Contention�
  See: Mario�
  Corentin�
   16�
  Coriander Hasp (Excrucian Deceiver)�
   80�
  
  106�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Devin�
   57�
  Dhrtavati�
   See: Lady Atiriya (Power)�
  Dhvana Kallichuran�
  68�
  Diamanta (Power)�
  61�
  Domina Oculae (Power)�
  77�
  Eguerdi�
  32�
  Emma Jane�
  27�
  Epititiokh�
  91�
  Esemkhebe (Power of Tragedy)�
  31�
  Evemy Syriack (Excrucian Strategist)�
  83�
  Father Sebastian Capobianco�
  43�
  Fayola Osiagobare (Power)�
  20�
  Firstborn (Angel)�
  21�
  Folk of the Road�
  99�
  Great Long Legged Scissor Men�
  49�
  Hadasdagoy (Dionyl Imperator)�
  92�
  Harkány Ordina (Inheritor)�
  76�
  Hermes Trismegistus (Power)�
   10, 15, 16�
  Hesychia Symeonius (Excrucian Warmain)�
  84�
  Hugh Rosewood (Ogre)�
  88�
  Ilisa Kasavaraju (Power)�
  33�
  Indrabala�
  See: Lady Atiriya (Power)�
  Irijaya�
  See: Lady Atiriya (Power)�
  Jacob�
   79�
  Jameson Black (Power of Storms)�
  26�
  Jan ben Jan (Imperator)�
  99�
  Jane and Martin (apocryphal)�
  58�
  Jauregi�
   35�
  Ju Sze-mei�
  67�
  Jusguarin (Power)�
  92�
  Kadir-Rahman (the Mercy at the Heart of the Flame)�
  34�
  Kalliope Tsouderos (Power)�
  90�
  Kalliroe Calmes�
   53�
  Kaminaga Hitoshi (Power)�
   32�
  Kapshö Surkhang (Power)�
  12�
  Katalaxis (Muse)�
  28�
  Keziah Montagu (Power)�
   11�
  Ko Te Oho a Neru (Power)�
   13, 21�
  
  107�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Lady Atiriya (Power)�
  68�
  Lady Vijaya�
  39�
  Lahariel (Angel)�
   7�
  Lamp Image, the�
   46�
  Lexiarchos Caducine (Excrucian Strategist)�
   74�
  Lo Mei-zhu�
   10�
  Lord Entropy�
   68, 97�
  Lord Kurian�
   39�
  Lorelle Clark (Power)�
   84�
  Luc Ginneis�
   30�
  Lucifer�
   21, 27, 63, 90, 102�
  Malakai Fang (shard)�
  See: Malakai Mesmer (Excrucian Strategist)�
  Malakai Mesmer (Excrucian Strategist)�
  88�
  Maliqe Ristani (Power)�
  15, 22�
  Malkiyah Theodores (Power)�
   11�
  Mario�
   38�
  Marteinn Magnusson�
   53�
  Melania Stockli�
  31�
  Melanie Tumbarius (Power)�
  25�
  Meon�
  61�
  Mieszko�
  12�
  Mijiza (wind-spirit)�
   79�
  Minerva Candeloro�
  29�
  Mok Tso-lin (Power)�
   72�
  Mzpopiasaiel�
  48�
  Nadyezhda Chesnokov�
  37�
  Najia Sediki (Power)�
  67�
  Ndrirjàna Shkelyim (Botanist)�
   14�
  Nilaia (Devil)�
  12�
  Niutweskhet�
  See: Esemkhebe (Power of Tragedy)�
  Oreute Bryde (Excrucian Warmain)�
  85�
  Oriane Feroulet (Anchor)�
   74�
  Oscar Toclanny (Power)�
  62�
  Patrick Romney's-Son Olam's-Serf Precipice-Lord  (Power of Chaos)�
  75�
  Qu Kien-Lung (Power)�
  20�
  Quan Feng-Ying�
  102�
  Rainer Maria Rilke (cybernetic)�
   58�
  Rainfall (Power)�
  11�
  
  108�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Ramachandran Denya (Power)�
  67�
  Raüli (Ogre)�
  14�
  Reynaud Parmentier�
   16�
  Robert Baxt (Power of Clocks)�
   77, 86�
  Rowen Crusher (shard)�
  See: Coriander Hasp (Excrucian Deceiver)�
  Sal�
  See: Mzpopiasaiel�
  Salieva Kuchmuradov�
   41�
  Salvador�
  35�
  Shuhyung Chen (Devil)�
  10�
  Shyamala�
  See: Lady Atiriya (Power)�
  Sigurd Lanser (Alchemist)�
  18�
  Superstes Annabelle Zupay (Power of Trails)�
  46, 58�
  Tanetnephthys the Sieve�
  10�
  Tang Pei-Pei (Power)�
  32�
  Teodosio Ribeiro (Power)�
   21�
  Terpsichore (Muse)�
   28�
  Textrix the Deacon (Excrucian Strategist)�
   45�
  The Grim King (Joktan)�
  14, 25�
  The Lady of the Dawn�
   32�
  The Lady of the Eventide�
   See: The Lady of the Dawn�
  The Mirrored Haunt (Bane)�
  78�
  The Reflection of Summer�
  41�
  Vaslaw Karpenko (Cammoran)�
  77�
  Vincent Guntali�
  102�
  World Ash, the�
   90�
  Yefef (Imperator)�
  87�
  Yip Xiao-mei (Power)�
  19�
  Zéphyrin�
  74�
  Divinaturge�
  37�
  Dóirín (flower)�
  12�
  Eden�
  15�
  Emerald Art�
  10�
  
  109�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Emerald Tablet�
  10�
  Emeritus�
  14�
  Eurytos (Abhorrent Weapon)�
  83�
  Exalted Word�
  9�
  Exclusive Attribute�
  9�
  Finch's Star, the�
  78�
  Five-Colored Rainbow�
  10�
  Flute, heart-crushing�
  13�
  Gifts�
  Annul Miracle 
   100�
  Charitable Blessing 
   96�
  Devour Beauty and Corruption 
   47�
  Horde 
   49�
  Immune to Law 
   98�
  Unscissoring 
   50�
  Hawkweed (flower)�
  26�
  Hemlock (flower)�
  21�
  Hemlock Gun (artifact)�
  21�,�23�
  High Summoning�
  Chancel Property 
   35�
  Floating Points 
   40�
  How to Learn 
   35�
  How to Learn (Dynamic Nobilis) 
   36�
  Mortals 
   35�
  Sacrifices 
   37�
  hippocampal knife (artifact)�
  60�
  
  110�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Horrarch�
  37�
  Horror�
  See: Eurytos (Abhorrent Weapon)�
  Hunger�
  See: Aristratos (artifact)�
  Hyacinth (flower)�
  25�
  Hyssop (flower)�
  13�
  Iax�
  92�
  Imperfect Command (Handicap)�
  55�
  Imperfect Knowledge (Handicap)�
  56�
  Indigo Orchid (flower)�
  12�
  Jasmine (Flower)�
  17�
  Komm�
  92�
  Lawbreakers�
  97�
  March 25, 2000�
  43�,�53�
  Megalith Wasps, the�
  86�
  Mimique�
  42�
  Morgante (Abhorrent Weapon)�
  45�
  Mountain Laurel (flower)�
  18�
  nijhati adharma�
  33�
  
  111�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Nimblejack�
  22�
  Niuka (flower)�
  10�,�11�,�16�
  Nu Wa�
  See: Niuka (flower)�
  Patronage�
  How to Learn�
  59�
  Peregrine Bears�
  99�
  Periwinkle (Flower)�
  17�
  Places�
  Abaton�
  92�
  Austria�
  87�
  Chancel of Lorelle Clark�
  84�
  Dionyl�
  92�
  Garden of Modern Men, the�
  55�
  Locus Asaph�
  78�
  Locus Drag-Adriessc�
  72�
  Locus Imsety�
  11�
  The Sky�
  10�
  The Temple of Inessential Doubts�
  21�
  Powder of Awakening (artifact)�
  21�
  Primary Truth, the�
  21�
  Principal Lie, the�
  21�
  Promise (sword)�
  24�
  Rivalry (Abhorrent Weapon)�
  15�
  Rules Templates�
  Basics and Priorities�
  71�
  Lowest Priority: Default�
  72�
  Low Priority: Anchor�
  74�
  Low Priority: Animal�
  75�
  Low Priority: Inheritor�
  76�
  
  112�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Low Priority: Inspired�
  77�
  Low Priority: Machine�
  75�
  Medium Priority: External�
  78�
  Medium Priority: Nature Spirit�
  79�
  High Priority: Deceiver�
  81�
  High Priority: Deceiver-Shard�
  80�
  High Priority: Excrucian Strategist�
  82�
  High Priority: Excrucian Warmain�
  84�
  High Priority: Imperator�
  86�
  High Priority: Noble�
  87�
  High Priority: Strategist-Shard�
  88�
  High Priority: Warmain-Shard�
  88�
  Highest Priority: Transcendent�
  90�
  Highest Priority: Unearthly�
  92�
  Sable Gardens�
  15�
  Seven-Story Hounds�
  21�
  Smaragdine Tablet�
  10�
  Sofiamancer�
  37�
  Solitude�
  See: Morgante�
  Sour Apple Mash�
  15�
  Student of Summoning (Handicap)�
  57�
  sukka adharma�
  32�
  Superior Attributes�
  69�
  Taxonomy�
  Collembola�
  51�
  Dermaptora�
  51�
  Hymenoptera�
  52�
  Lepidoptera�
  54�
  Mantodea�
  53�
  Odonata�
  53�
  Orthoptera�
  53�
  Phasmida�
  51�
  
  113�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  24 Finales�, by Rannen Yedidyah�
  76�
  A Comedy of Spirits, Act II�, by Keiko Takemori�
  66�
  A Noble's Catechism�, by K.C. Danine�
  72�
  A Primer on the Loci Celatum�, by Holly Djurisic�
  21�
  A Speech by Kalliroe Calmes�
  53�
  A Tourist's Guide to Creation�, by Jasprite Sherrard�
  11�,�15�,�26�
  Adel�, by K.C. Danine�
  34�,�66�
  Akilina Govorov, Warden of Locus Kadmiel�
  69�
  Awakening Old Dreams�, by Emily Chen�
  103�
  Becoming Noble�, by Fayola Osiagobare�
  20�,�93�
  Bhradkaya Kalluri, Power of the Wild�
  64�
  Chamomile Book�, by Chien Shan-lee�
  87�
  Children of Heaven�, by Martin Elliott�
  12�
  Doorknobs�, by Emily Chen�
  53�
  Dreams of Emptiness�, by Emily Chen�
  57�
  Earth Stories�, compiled by Edward Guy�
  78�
  Emma and César�, by Martin Elliott�
  27�
  Fasciculus Temporum�, by Ossian Walthew�
  54�
  Forgotten of Our Love�, by Madeline Bacall�
  55�
  Hero Myths�, edited by Emily Chen�
  52�
  In the Right Circles�, by Jasprite Sherrard�
  19�
  Innocents and Thieves�, by Keiko Takemori�
  24�
  Jack�, by Keiko Takemori�
  80�,�81�
  Legends of the Nobilis�, by Luc Ginneis�
  10�,�45�,�82�,�99�
  Memories Predating Earthly Experiences�, edited by Kayetan Dernesch�
  7�
  Mission to Sol�, by Nazira Orozova�
  94�
  Observations of the Damned�, by Quan Feng-Ying�
  102�
  On Making Pacts with the Odonata�, by Nadyezhda Chesnokov�
  37�
  On Serving the Nobilis�, by Luc Ginneis�
  67�,�71�,�84, 92�
  Peculiar Devotions�, by Emily Chen�
  38�
  Principles of Architectural Design�, by Kong Jian Nuan�
  42�
  Raüli's Report�
  14�
  Seven Wonders�, by Emily Chen�
  32�
  Sonnet and the Sea�, by Alex Dec�
  48�
  Tearing Down the Thirty-Three Heavens�, by Martin Elliott�
  36�
  
  114�
  Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers�
  Test Pattern�, by Keiko Takemori�
  79�
  The Amethyst Table�, by Salma Aidara�
  26�
  The Book of Silence�, by Melanie Brown�
  51�
  The Diary of Clarissa Kilthdigai�
  62�
  The Diary of Minerva Candeloro�
  29�
  The Diary of Reynaud Parmentier�
  16�
  The Divine Hunt, by Michael Kay�
  39�
  The Ends of the Earth�, by K.C. Danine�
  28�
  The Entertainment Archive of Baronet Dulian�
  51�
  The Grim King�, by Melanie Tumbarius�
  25�
  The Haunting�, by Martin Elliott�
  63�
  The Ivory Clock�, by Emily Chen�
  9�,�35�
  The Journal of Calliste Focault�
  74�
  The Journal of Sigurd Lanser�
  18�
  The Kifri Murders�, by Kalliope Tsouderos (unpublished)�
  90�
  The Mansion of All Strange Things�, by Dolores Bureaugard�
  56�
  The Memoirs of Alice Mendel, Lady of the Thunder�
  22�
  The One by the Cairn�, by Emily Chen�
  46�
  The Revelations of Dhvana Kallichuran�
  68�
  The Society of Flowers�, by Heather Williams�
  17�,�33�
  The Thought-Record of Cassius Quirinius�
  75�
  The Thought-Record of Christoph Balleroy�
  97�
  The Thought-Record of Desecration's-Regal Meon�
  61�
  The Thought-Record of Hannary James�
  40�
  The Thought-Record of Hugh Rosewood�
  88�
  The Thought-Record of Luc Ginneis�
  30�
  The Thought-Record of Melania Stockli�
  31�
  The Thought-Record of Robert Baxt�
  86�
  The Thought-Record of Salieva Kuchmuradov�
  41�
  The Tragic Story of Jay Penhue and His Knights�, by Melanie Tumbarius�
  77�
  Transient Elements�, by K.C. Danine�
  13�
  Transmutation for Dummies�, by Gerald de Voe�
  12�
  Updating the Great Poets, with Science!�, by Annabelle Zupay�
  58�
  Weird�
  97�
  Wolf of Nakedness�
  55�
  
  115�
  Unlikely Flowerings (release 1, version 1.1)�
  Wolf that probably oughtn't�
  24�
  Yacarca�
  48�
  Yin-Feng (Loom)�
  15�
  Author’s Note�
  I’ve always been proud of this stuff, all the 100,000+ words of�A Society of�
  Flowers�, and I’ve wanted to get it out there —�
  But it has a different feel than the stuff I write these days.�
  That’s made it really hard to finish. I haven’t been sure what to do about that,�
  but I figured out where to start. I’m going to start by making sure you can use�
  it in your games.�
  So . . . here!�
  Have these words, as I wrote them, so many years ago.�
  And please forgive me if I have edited them, perhaps, written a bit more,�
  fixed a few things, as I went along. It’s like eating candy. ^_^�
  And also please accept my regrets that this small book cannot contain all the�
  goodness that was in the files I had sitting around; and that is why, you see,�
  there must be other peculiar books to come.�
  What you will find here is the first part of�A Society of Flowers�, as it was�
  written and as it perhaps will be. I’m glad I could do this, and I hope it�
  brings you joy.�
  Best wishes,�
  Jenna�
  (was: R. Sean Borgstrom)�
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Nobilis/Nobilis - Hogs Head Publishing - Supplement - Unlikely Flowerings.pdf