~ Prime ~
Specialties: Channeling, Perceptions, Filling Patterns, Draining Patterns
Prime is the study of Quintessence, the raw stuff of True Magick. It exists everywhere, and all things are composed of it, though some sources are easier to work than others. The most accessible forms of raw magick are the Quintessence stored in a mage's Avatar or crystallized into Tass. More dangerous to use, but no less possible, is the Quintessence which sustains the Life Patterns. The most difficult form of all to use is the Quintessence which forms the Patterns of creation, though a Master of Prime may tap this source as well.
Prime is essential when conjuring things from pure thought into existence, or when sustaining things which run from a magickal source (like Talismans). Bringing Pattems of Life, Matter or Forces into being "from nothing" demands Prime 2, while "recharging" magickal energies requires Prime 3.
· Etheric Senses
A mage can sense basic Quintessential energy-the Nodes where it collects or wells up, the Tass in which it crystallizes, and the Quintessential ebbs and flows which mark the times of greatest magick. He may also notice creatures and objects charged with magickal energy. Such perceptions vary from mage to mage.
Without the first rank of Prime, the mage cannot store free Quintessence within his own Pattem beyond the amount he receives from his Avatar. Mages without Prime magicks cannot gain Quintessence ratings above their Avatar Background Trait.
··Weave Odyllic Force/ Fuel Pattern
The mage attains some control over the shifting Quintessential energy, and can divert small streams to flow differently or reweave them. When he conceives of an object, it takes on some degree of solidity. By channeling Prime Force through his concept, the sorcerer can transform it into a physical form.
··· Channel Quintessence
At rare sites (Nodes) and on rare days (Junctures), Quintessential Force focuses into Primal energy. The resulting flow is called "free" Quintessence. Another Prime aspect, "raw" Quintessence, makes up Patterns, flows through living beings and coalesces in the tremendous pool of Quintessence from which mages draw the energies for Pattern magick. At this rank, a mystick understands how to draw these "surplus" energies out of their Pattems and channel them into new ones.
···· Expel Base Energy
While Disciples of Prime are largely limited to detecting and manipulating free Quintessence, Adepts of Prime learn to channel raw Quintessence. They can pull Quintessence out of the Patterns of matter and energy, affecting a Pattern's substance in reality. Each shard of inanimate matter and each spark of energy has Quintessence stored within. Adepts can expel the Quintessence from these Patterns, recycling it into the cosmic pool of raw Quintessence. Without Quintessence in its Pattern, that matter or energy ceases to exist.
Adepts who know enough about Matter or Forces can use conjunctional Effects to alter the amount of Quintessence stored in various parts of these Patterns, thereby "dissolving" different aspects or properties of the energy or matter. A sorcerer could make solids become insubstantial, cause a magnet to have only one pole, remove a chemical's ability to form nuclear bonds with other chemicals (this process would, for example, make an acid unable to corrode), or cause objects to lose their mass yet remain solid. While Pattern magicks alone can do the same thing, extracting a target's raw Quintessence is a direct and "easy" way to alter it.
····· Alter Flow
Masters of Prime delve into truly advanced theories. Such Masters can alter established flows of raw Quintessence, those flowing through Life Patterns. Living beings interact with Quintessence in a unique manner. Their Quintessence is not stored in their Patterns, but runs continuously through them. By damming this flow, the mage can extinguish the spark of life within the creature.
Masters can also increase the flow of Quintessence through a Pattem. This means nothing to life forms without strong Avatars, but Awakened ones can instantly recharge their Avatars' Quintessence.
