Editing Michael Alan Gold (section)

===Merits===

'''Chi''' ''(2 Additional Dots)'' (•••)(•••) (Immortals - Page 111)
'''Effect:''' Your character gains an additional dot of Chi. All Purified begin play with one dot of Chi. However, more experienced and powerful Purified have more dots in Chi. During character generation, each additional dot of Chi costs the character three Merit dots. See Effects of Chi (p. 99) for more information about how this Merit affects your character. Purified characters can purchase this Merit no more than twice, for a total Chi of three.

'''Contacts''' ''(Online Occutist Community)'' (•) (World of Darkness - Page 114)

'''Essence Reservoir''' (••) (A Small Metal Flask) (Immortals - Page 111)
'''Effect:''' Your character has some talisman or other item that can hold additional points of Essence. The character must touch this item to put Essence into it or retrieve Essence from it. The amount of Essence your character can put in or remove from this item every turn is limited by both how much Essence he can spend per turn and how much Essence the device can hold. A one-dot Essence reservoir can hold up to three points of Essence and must be at least as large as a small wrist watch or a large coin like a quarter. A two-dot Essence Reservoir can hold up to six points of Essence and must be at least as large as a large pocket watch or a cell phone. Regardless of their size, Essence Reservoirs can be made in any form, including being a working cell phone or watch. Essence reservoirs also exist in Twilight, the Shadow Realm and the Underworld. If the character is touching this item when he sends his mind into one of these realms, the item vanishes from the physical world and remains with him in the realm to which he travels. Also, as long as he is touching this item when he returns to his body, it reappears with him. Purified cannot create Essence Reservoirs, but they can bargain with spirits or some powerful mages who know the secret of their creation.

'''Familiar''' (•••) (Cat Spirit) (Immortals - Page 112)
'''Effect:''' Your character has a magical bond with an immaterial and invisible spirit that aids him and which normally dwells in the Spirit Realm.  These familiars
can temporarily manifest like ghosts (see “Manifestations,” p. 210 in the World of Darkness Rulebook), but their ephemeral bodies are otherwise invisible and intangible to the physical world. A familiar must manifest or use Numina to affect anything in the physical world — except for its bonded Purified, whom it can touch at will, just as the Purified can always see the familiar. 

A familiar is considered to be the lowest rank of spirit (a “squire” or “lesser gaffling”, with a limit of 5 on all traits, and a maximum Essence of 10. The Storyteller designs the spirit’s traits. Each familiar begins play with at least one dot in each Attribute, with extra dots as listed below. For rules concerning spirits traits, including additional Spirit Numen, see p. 210-212 in the World of Darkness Rulebook, as well as pp. 317-322 in Mage: The Awakening, pp. 273-282 in Werewolf: The Forsaken, or pp. 130-149 in Book of Spirits.

The character to which the familiar is bonded is considered to be its anchor to the material world, although there is no limit to how far a familiar can travel from the Purified it is linked to. It also does not lose Essence for every hour it spends in the physical world. It must follow all the other rules concerning Essence, however, including spending one Essence per day. If It is reduced to zero Essence, it falls into Slumber but it is not transferred back into the Spirit Realm as long as the Purified-familiar bond still exists. Like other spirits, it can gain Essence by being in proximity to something that it reflects (p. 135, Book of Spirits, pp. 319-320 in Mage: The Awakening, pp. 275-276 in Werewolf: The Forsaken, or Book of Spirits, p. 135).

The Purified and her familiar have an empathic connection; each can automatically feel the emotions of the other. However, supernatural effects that damage or manipulate the familiar through an emotional attack don’t damage or manipulate the Purified to which it is bonded. Also, your character can use his familiar as a magical connection that is sufficiently close that there are no penalties to her Siddhi roll.

Improvement: To improve a familiar, the player of the Purified must spend some of his character’s experience points on the familiar.

'''''Midnight'''''

'''''Power''''' 3
'''''Finesse''''' 4
'''''Resistance''''' 4

'''''Willpower:''''' 7
'''''Essence:''''' 10 (10 max)
'''''Initiative:''''' 8
'''''Defense:''''' 4
'''''Speed:''''' 14
'''''Size:''''' 2
'''''Corpus:''''' 6
'''''Influence:''''' 2 ''(Cats)''

'''''Ban:''''' Will not physically harm someone as long it sees them treating a cat well.

'''''Numina:''''' 

''Howl:'' This Numen enables a spirit to let out a blood-curdling howl that causes an opponent to panic and run. The spirit spends a point of Essence and then rolls Power + Finesse – the opponent’s Composure. If the spirit wins the contest, the victim must flee the spirit’s presence for a number of turns equal to the number of successes achieved.

''Regenerate:'' The spirit can use Essence to regenerate Corpus. There is no dice pool for this Numen.  Once activated, the spirit automatically regenerates one level of damage per turn. It regenerates bashing damage first, then lethal. This Numen costs one Essence per turn. Aggravated damage must be healed normally.

'''Language:''' German (•)

'''Language:''' Latin (•)

'''Language:''' Spanish (•) (World of Darkness - Page 109)

'''Locus''' (••) (Kitchen of Michael's house.  Resonance of Joy and Pride)

'''Locus''' (•••) (Immortals - Page 112) (Antique Bookshelf that Michael brought with him.  Resonance of Possessiveness)
'''Effect:''' The character has claimed a minor locus (see p. 92). One dot provides your character with a one-dot locus, two dots provide your character with a two-dot locus. The addition of one dot to the cost allows this locus to be mobile. However, the object to which the locus is attached must be inanimate and can never be smaller than a large steamer trunk or some other object of at least Size 5. Loci do not combine, moving a one-dot mobile locus into the area of a three-dot locus does not temporarily create a four-dot locus. Instead, spirits and the Purified can still draw Essence from both loci separately.

'''Meditative Mind''' (•) (World of Darkness - Page 109)
'''Effect:''' Your character can effortlessly enter a meditative state when she chooses, and can remain in it for as long as she wishes. All environmental penalties imposed to Wits + Composure rolls to meditate are ignored. Not even wound penalties apply to your character’s efforts to focus. See the Meditation Attribute task in Chapter 2, p. 51.

'''Relic:''' The Janus Lock and Key (••••) (Reliquary - Page 85; Immortals - Page 110 states this Merit is available to Purified)
'''Effect:''' The character owns a mystical object or relic. How the character came to own the object is up to the player. The character might have inherited the object, stolen it, purchased it or just found it by sheer luck. Note that this Merit only represents an object that a character begins play with; if your character finds a relic during a story, you don’t need to pay the experience points for it.

''The Janus Lock and Key''

[[File:Skeleton-key-door-locks-antique-skeleton-key-door-locks.jpg]]

An antique lock and key set of unknown provenance. Allusions to these artifacts date back to at least the Renaissance, though descriptions tend to vary. Some speculate that means there is more than one set in existence, while others believe the appearance of them changes over time. When the lock is installed in a door it can allow the bearer of its key to reach it from any door with a lock from potentially anywhere. The one who wields it must either expend a significant amount of mental effort (2 Willpower points) or sacrifice a mote of whatever supernatural energy one can utilize (a point of Essence, Glamour, Mana, etc) while saying "To Janus, for the toll" to attempt to rouse the bond between Key and Lock (Wits + Manipulation roll). If successful, the key will fit into the next lock the wielder attempts to insert it into. Whether the wielder actually is paying a toll to Janus, God of Beginnings and Endings, Doorways and Transitions or the unknown creator just thought making the activation ritual a mythological reference would be stylish is unknown.

Any door it's used on opens not to where it would normally lead but instead to a misty, grey void. Anyone or anything who crosses the threshold into that void within a turn will be swallowed up by those mists as the door shuts behind them. A minute later (or a turn later for a Dramatic Success) they will find themselves going through the door the Lock was installed in to the room or place it leads into. In the event the attempt to use the Key is a Dramatic Failure it can still be used to open a door but those swallowed by the mists are not transported to the door with the Lock but instead are expelled out of the door they used one hour later covered in scratches and bruises (equivalent to four points of bashing damage). This method of transport can even be accomplished between realms, such as from Earth to the Underworld, but the cost in effort or energy is twice the normal one (4 Willpower points or 2 points of Essence, Glamour, Mana, etc). The time it takes for travel is from the external perspective. From the point of view of those making the transit it is instantaneous. As to the nature of the void, opinions vary among those aware of it. Some simply think the grey void is an unknown portion of an already known realm, such as Spirit Realm or the Underworld. Others believe use of the artifacts temporarily creates a new portion of existence to act as a corridor. And then there are some, mostly among those who believe a toll is actually paid to an entity behind the mythological Janus, that call the grey void the Border Realm, the place of transition which lies between all points and moments, worlds and states of existence. 

The door with the Lock installed can be used in a similar manner. If one states the phrase while paying the toll and touching the lock and then opens the door it will lead to the grey void. Anyone or anything crossing the threshold into it within a turn will be transported through to wherever the last door The Key was used on is (assuming success in the Wits + Manipulation roll). Of course if one didn't bring The Key with them then one will have to take the long way back.
''(Bought as Unnatural Travel **** from page 111 of Reliquary with the Alternate Activation Costs options Ritual and Sacrificial found on page 116. If used to transit between worlds the toll is either 4 Willpower or 2 Vitae/Essence/Satiety/etc)''.

'''Resources''' (••••) (World of Darkness - Page 115)

'''Ritual Crypt''' (•) (Immortals - Page 113) (Michael's bedroom.  The sigils were drawn using ultraviolet ink so they're only visible under blacklight)
'''Effect:''' Your character has a ritually prepared location where her body can be made to reappear if it dies. Even if the character’s corpse is largely intact, she must spend five points of Essence to cause her body to vanish from its current location and appear within the ritual crypt. At minimum, this crypt consists of a bed, slab or other surface large enough to hold your character’s body inside a room with doors and windows that close. This location could be anything from a deeply buried stone crypt to an ordinary bedroom. Regardless of the crypt’s appearance or location, the slab, or bed where your character’s body reappears and all of the walls and doors of this room are marked with special sigils. If any of these markings are disturbed, the ritual crypt does not function and the character’s body remains where it was. Your character can only cause her corpse to reappear there; she cannot cause her still-living body to magically appear at this location. Also, even if the character’s corpse is fully intact, it costs five points of Essence to move her body to the ritual crypt, because doing so involves destroying the body at its present location and then restoring her body to the crypt. All Purified automatically know how to create a ritual crypt; possessing this Merit only means that your character has taken the time and effort to create one.

'''Spirit Realm Sanctum''' (•••) ''(Large and Comfortable, Formidable)'' (Immortals - Page 113)
'''Effect:''' Your character has a stronghold in the Spirit Realm where he can retreat from foes and regain his strength. The exact nature of this sanctum is up to you, it could be a well-fortified building, a deep cavern, or something far stranger like a living hollow tree the size of a small apartment complex that is also an intelligent spirit who is your character’s loyal friend and ally. All spirit realm sanctums are by their nature difficult for enemies to locate, with the basic Spirit Realm Sanctum providing anyone attempting to locate it with a –3 penalty to all rolls to do so. A one-dot Spirit Realm Sanctum is a relatively small and spartan space, like a room in a cave or a small hut. The sanctum is relatively comfortable, but is both small and devoid of amenities. This Sanctum can be enhanced in three different ways that each increase the cost of the Merit by one additional dot. A Spirit Realm Sanctum with all three advantages costs four dots.

The enhancements are:

• The sanctum is both larger and more comfortable. It can be as large as a large house or small mansion and contain light heat, running water, a well-stocked larder, some facilities for entertainment and various similar comforts.

• The sanctum is far more formidable. It now has a penalty of –5 to all roll to locate it and is also highly defensible. When locked up, which your character can accomplish in one turn, its walls have a Durability of 10.

• The sanctum becomes a spirit that is intelligent and loyal to your character. This spirit cannot move.