Almost universally called Divination by its practitioners, this path is actually comprised of no small number of specific forms of divination - such as casting runes, reading palms, astrology, dowsing, and dream interpretation. At its most basic level (Hand Circle), it allows the magician increased knowledge about the present - providing supernatural sight and granting insight about the current situation - and requires proximity to the events she is examining. At its middle levels (Eye Circle), it reveals the secrets of the past and allows the magician to view subjects from afar. At its highest level (Tongue Circle), the magician can predict events of the future and employ magic on others from a great distance.
Divination is one of the reasons why magicians are so often consulted before making important decisions. Not every fortune-teller or dream interpreter has a whit of knowledge of this Path. Most are charlatans or entertainers, but a wizard who proves his ability to see what lies beyond human sight is a prize to rulers, generals, and merchants. The Immaculate Order frowns upon Diviners, but publicly dismisses them as charlatans rather than taking any action against them.
Body of Hidden Eyes
Cost: 4 motes
Prerequisite Spells: None
The magician can see everything around him as though his body were covered in eyes. This makes ambushing him almost impossible and certainly adds to the mystique of the true Diviner. This effect lasts a number of scenes equal to the magician's Compassion, but never longer than 12 hours.
Dowsing
Cost: 5 motes
Prerequisite Spells: None
This spell guides the magician to one raw material (water, iron ore, Orichalcum deposit) chosen at the time it is cast provided it lies within her Compassion in miles. This only guides the magician to naturally occurring raw materials, not substances that have been refined or processed. If more than one such source of the raw material exists within range, the spell directs guides the magician to either the nearest or largest source at his option.
Feel the Walls
Cost: 5 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Body of Hidden Eyes
Until the end of the scene, the magician can locate objects and creatures within (Compassion x 5) yards even if deprived of light or otherwise blinded. This sight is limited by the wizard's line of sight, though his gaze is not obstructed by barriers of any kind, including fog, walls, or stones. This vision is limited to black and white, and the magician is incapable of reading subtleties such as writing on a page or precise facial features.
Eyes of Wordless Clarity
Cost: 5 motes
Prerequisite Spell: Body of Hidden Eyes
Until the end of the scene, the magician is mystically aware of everything taking place around her, converting a number of dice equal to her Compassion into automatic successes on all her Perception rolls.
Hear the Footfalls of the Soul
Cost: 4 motes
Prerequisite Spells: None
Until the end of the scene, the magician is able discern the base motivation of the touched target. In effect, this reveals the target's Nature and highest Virtue (Primary Virtue, in the case of mortal heroes). It cannot discern the precise motives behind an action or words, only the general measure of their personalities.
Casting the Runes
Cost: 5 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Hear the Footfalls of the Soul
This spell affects a target who understands and heeds the magician's words. The magician can, from very limited information about the target - name, date of birth, and nature of the problem or question - tap into her intuitive knowledge and natural common sense to help her make the best decision. The portent is genuinely meaningless to the magician, but the target, if she chooses to heed it, will immediately recognize the truth in it. For a number of scenes equal to the magician's Temperance, the target adds a number of dice equal to the magician's Temperance to all her Perception, Intelligence and Wits + Ability checks related to the problem or question. A burglar finds it easier to guess where to look for a house's valuables, for example, and an investigator is able to more accurately reconstruct the crime based on information that seemed irrelevant before.
Catch the Honeyed Tongue
Cost: 5 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Hear the Footfalls of the Soul
Until the end of the scene, the magician knows whenever the touched target lies. This does not reveal the truth, nor does it force the victim to utter it, but any deliberate attempt to lie to the magician is revealed to him. This spell has no effect on a target whose Essence or Heroism is higher than the magician's.
See the Little Gods
Cost: 4 motes
Prerequisite Spells: None
Until the end of the scene, the magician may see and hear unmanifested spirits and ghosts, though she may not interact with them in any way without additional magic.
Observe the Far-Wandering Traveler
Cost: 8 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Body of Hidden Eyes
This ritual requires three hours to perform and requires the magician to possess an object of mystical significance to the target. Usually this is a small body fragment (a few strands of hair, clipping of fingernail, a bit of blood, etc.), but a prized possession or beloved blood relation will suffice.
Provided the target is within the magician's Compassion in miles - the maximum range of this spell - the magician enters a deep trance in which she is utterly deprived of her natural senses. The magician sees, hears, and feels the world as though the target's body was his own. She may ride the target's senses for as long as she wishes, provided he remains within her Compassion in miles, returning to her body the instant she no longer wishes to ride the target's senses. If he passes beyond this range or is killed, the magician's consciousness returns to her body immediately. If the target is wounded, the magician suffers unsoakable bashing damage equal to the number of health levels of lethal damage the target suffers. This spell does not allow the magician to control the target in any way, nor can she activate Heroics, cast spells, or perform any other action besides observing what the target sees, hears, and experiences. Charms and spells that detect possession will recognize the magician's presence in the victim's body, though they cannot normally attack her except with Charms that allow them to harm unmanifested spirits.
Inquiry of the High Confessor
Cost: 10 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Catch the Honeyed Tongue
This spell requires a minimum of one hour of preparation before it may be cast, and the victim must, at the time the spell is cast, be standing, seated, or lying in the spot (no more than a yard across) designated at the time the preparations are made. The spell only affects the target so long as she remains within the designated area, so some form of restraint or clear threat is often required to make the most of this spell.
A target whose Heroism is lower than the magician's will answer all the caster's questions truthfully, directly, and without prevarication until the end of the scene. These questions may concern the victim's knowledge or memory of any present or past events. The victim is under no compulsion to reveal future plans, but it is possible to learn that plans have been made, the identities of fellow conspirators, and so forth.
If the target's Heroism is equal to or higher than the magician's, he may roll a Willpower + Temperance check contested by the magician's Willpower + Conviction roll. For every extra success the magician scores, the victim must answer one question truthfully and to the best of his ability.
This spell has no effect on a target whose Essence is higher than the magician's. In addition, a magician who subjects a victim to this spell cannot affect that target again for a number of weeks equal to (the target's Willpower) - (the magician's Conviction).
Consult the Least God
Cost: 8 motes
Prerequisite Spells: See the Little Gods
The magician may ask an object a number of yes/no questions about past events it has witnessed equal to his Compassion. These can be anything in it's immediate experience - the appearance of owners, the results of activating it, even certain historical events it was witness to. The magician receives only an affirmative answer, a negative response, or silence. Silence can mean anything from "yes and no" to "I don't know" to "That isn't a yes or no question."
Consult the Tiny Local God
Cost: 10 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Consult the Least God
The magician may ask an immobile locale a number of yes/no questions about past events it has witnessed equal to his Compassion. These can be anything in its immediate experience - events taking place within its confines, the appearance of people traveling through it, dangers that await within it, and so forth. The magician receives only an affirmative answer, a negative response, or silence. Silence can mean anything from "yes and no" to "I don't know" to "That isn't a yes or no question."
Deep Divination
Cost: 12 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Casting the Runes, Consult the Tiny Local God
After spending at least an hour performing various divinations, the magician may ask a number of questions no greater than her Compassion about any subject or subjects. The magician receives a vision, name, or other vivid clue regarding any past or present event, place, person, or object. Only the events, things, and beings of this world can be learned of by means of this spell. The magician cannot divine the secrets of the Underworld or Malfeas, or their inhabitants by means of this spell.
Sympathetic Magic
Cost: 10 motes + 5 motes per Circle
Prerequisite Spells: Observe the Far-Wandering Traveler
This ritual requires three hours to perform and requires the magician to possess an object of mystical significance to the target. Usually this is a small body fragment (a few strands of hair, clipping of fingernail, a bit of blood, etc.), but a prized possession or beloved blood relation (or true love) will suffice. Provided the target is within the magician's Conviction in miles - the maximum range of this spell - the magician may cast spells on the target until the end of the scene, up to the magician's Conviction in hours. These may be any spells in the magician's repertoire that target a single individual. The magician must pay the normal Essence cost for these spells, plus 5 additional motes per Circle of the spell cast in this fashion. If the spell normally allows a target an opportunity to dodge, parry, or otherwise evade the attack, she may still do so.
Combat Precognition
Cost: 15 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Consult the Least God
Until the end of the scene, the magician's sees a moment into the future, allowing him to react with preternatural quickness to changing circumstances. The magician's player always declares his action last in a given combat round, since the character is aware of how others will act. This spell also bestows an initiative bonus equal to the magician's Compassion. Finally, the target numbers of all actions requiring quick reactions or the ability to predict the actions of others are reduced by 1, to a minimum target number of 4. This includes virtually all combat actions (attack, dodge, parry, detect ambush, etc...) and no small number of other actions.
Fate Denies Fortune
Cost: 17 motes + 1 feat
Prerequisite Spells: Combat Precognition
For a number of turns equal to the magician's Compassion, all beings within (Compassion x 10) yards are bound to the mediocrity of Fate. Players of the affected creatures do not roll dice when making checks. Instead, they automatically score a number of successes equal to half the number of dice they would normally roll, rounding up for the magician and her allies and down for her enemies and neutral parties.
Call upon the Maidens' Sight
Cost: 20 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Deep Divination
This powerful, if unpredictable, ritual requires the magician to spend the hours from dusk to dawn observing the heavens. She may then ask a number of questions about the future no greater than her Compassion. The magician always receives answers, but not necessarily the ones she wanted or expected. The more she knows about the subject of her questions, the less cryptic the replies. It is easier to predict her own fate than that of a friend, and harder still to divine the future fortunes of a stranger. It is easier to learn of events in the near future than in the distant future. Questions about events of great significance (an invasion, for example) are more likely to be answered at length but less likely to have their outcomes revealed, while questions about minor events (the outcome of a gladiator match, for example) are less likely to be answered in detail but more likely to have their outcomes revealed. Moreover, some nights, people, groups, and places are more ripe with premonitions than others and yield more detailed answers or even predictions not related to the questions at all, while others are of so little importance that answers are terse and concerned only with the topics touched by the questions. While astrology can predict these things to some degree, luck or the use of this spell is generally required to locate these tangles in the web of fate. In short, more than anything, this spell is as much a plot device as a tool for use by the magician.