" Tuesday " and other such lies. Listen, time flows curiously out here - alright? Better not think too deeply about it.
--
Everyone gets into position, such as it is - shuffling, shoving, moving. The sun shines down on the fresh dawning day. Caedo intones a prayer. The heat is a little less on the skin. Markhan belts out a speech. The troops laugh, appreciating the humour.
>>6125161*Engrave*. The highest of the low arts, or the lowest of the high. Who can say? It's why they fear animists, you know. It's why the kind of things that iconotheurgic animists can do, should they set their mind to it, are cause for quiet dedication of specialized watchmen in Pyther. Push this too far, and you will find a Lanternlighter in your future, quietly, one day, when you least expect it, asking questions of your ambitions.
But until that day, simply think of it like this:
*Tug* briefly flares the world, but resets. A cunning Animist might very briefly harden weapons, weaken shields, flare fires, a host of other tricks.
*Engrave* is to Tug what a sword is to a cheeseknife. The alteration that you intone persists, drawing in and twisting the world.
From your training,
>>6112170, recall that Tug intensifies 1 per 1 AP, or does so as a major action equal to margin + Threshold.
*Engrave*, always a major action, is fundamentally a Tug that does not decay until broken or abjured. It can even be Shunted elsewhere. It creates a new parameter. The outcome you get is usually much reduced, however - roughly 1/3rd Margin+Threshold.
This is where the Rules begin to bite: Consider that Engraving enhanced mobility, agility or strength into an ally does enhance them, and is very powerful. Consider also that interactions of multiple intentions can get squirrely, and Threshold that acts up can get problematic. The working might snap at an inoppertune time, or you might push someone's speed far beyond the human and their related qualities start changing beyond your intention.
It is *safer* (far, far safer) therefore to engrave inanimate material or situations. You make a sword sharper, it remains, mostly, a sword. You make a human hand sharper so it can punch through plate armor, the person that hand is attached to starts changing. We call this Drift, and it's a consequence of Animism in general; you'll just notice it more with Engraving if you push things too far ("Too far" is poetic speech for 'beyond the natural qualities of the person, if you crit a lot or if interactions occur')
For instance, those shields the troopers have now have offer a higher defensive bonus. This will break over time as the Engraving mars and scars, but until it does it's a pretty sizable addition to their capabilities.
