Lovers

XI. The Lovers

“Choose me, need me, love me.”

The Lovers Arcana is not about romance; it’s about love. It’s not about infatuation, but passion. At least, this the propaganda spread by Cards of the Lovers Arcana. They’ve been labeled as vain narcissists more times than they could count, vapid airheads who’d like nothing more than night after night of hedonistic pleasure.

The truth is they are prone to violent moods of passion and fire. They are after all, the victims of love and obsession. While they themselves can be sometimes be cool and detached, the same can’t be said of the emotions they illicit. They know the buttons to press; they crave love and attention---though sometimes they just don’t know it.

Sometimes it moves them to acts of desperation. The need for love is true and palpable. It is this fervor and passion that often led to their deaths, but for some reason or another they cannot let go of that feeling of love, want and lust.

The Lovers Arcana is unique in that it always has two full Dealers rather the usual one. As Dealers, they have sway over all their Cards equally.
Problems occur however when the Dealers disagree on how sensitive cases should be dealt with. And in a perverse way, that how the Arcana seems to like it. Every pair of Dealers is special: they killed each other.

Having to work with the person responsible for your death is bound to create tensions in the relationship. It feels even odder that the same person is responsible for your Awakening to power. Such tensions are bound to tear any couple apart, but their forced joining brings exquisite torment to the pair.

The current Dealers are Paul and Violet DuPond. They don’t like talking about how they killed each other, but they have shown a phobia of moving vehicles.

Paul is an aggressive Dealer. He likes sending his Cards to missions, trying to find ways to get his Arcana more respect than he feels it is currently getting. Paul prefers learning other destructive techniques; his passion is militant and fiery. He believes he died because he was weak to accept the simpering love of Violet. In truth, all he would like to have is for her to grow and be the partner he thought could be.

Ironically, Violet feels the same way. She thinks that Paul is to blame for their current predicament. Sure, she likes the power but she could live without it. To spite him, she looks to her Cards for solace. It doesn’t take much to drive Paul into a raging jealousy. Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise her anymore that the most dangerous missions go the Cards she favors.

The Powers of the Lovers

Either Dealer prefers Lovers who know of the true precept of the Lovers: to enjoy Freedom as it is presented. It is their greatest irony that they love each other, but would rather be free of each other as well.

Lovers 1: Know Desire
Roll: Manipulation + Expression + Numina.
The Lover will know what his target’s greatest desire is.

Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot be used for another day.

Failure: The power fails to function.

Success: The character knows the target’s chief desire. It could be a person, goal or ambition. Since most targets have multiple desires, Lovers try to use this power at moments that they feel a target might be at his most ardent to confirm their suspicions.

Exceptional Success: The Lover finds out what the true chief desire of the target is.

Lovers 2: A Touch of Glamour
Roll: Presence + Expression + Numina. 1 Numina.
Lovers use this to present themselves in the best possible light; the ability is such that they resemble or look like a means to their target’s greatest desire. This ability does not need Know Desire to work.

Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, and becomes the object of the target’s disgust.

Failure: The power fails to function.

Success: The Lover projects the attributes of the target’s chief desires. He gains a +2 bonus to all dice rolls pertaining to Manipulation or Presence for the duration of the scene.

Exceptional Success: As Success.

Lovers 3: Heart Burn
Roll: Manipulation + Expression + Numina vs. Composure + Numina. 1 Numen.
The Lover stirs the desires of his target so much that he is driven to acts of desperation to claim the ardor of his desire.

Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, making the Lover feel the effects of the ability.

Failure: The power fails to function.

Success: The Lover instills a desire so fervent that the target cannot focus on anything else. The target must make a Willpower roll to perform any action that is not what he thinks is in the best interest of the object of his desires. The desire lasts for 10 minutes per Lovers Arcana Rank.

Exceptional Success: The desired instilled is so great that it lasts for 2 days per Lovers Arcana Rank.

Lovers 4: Whatever God has Joined…
Roll: Expression + Resolve + Numina. 2 Numina.
Lovers use this to know where their targets are, binding them to their psychic awareness.

Exceptional Failure: The link breaks, and a link cannot be established with that person for at least another week.

Failure: The power fails to function.

Success: A psychic link is established between the Lover and his target. The Lover knows the general location of the target, his health and the state of his wellbeing. Lovers using this ability know the instant something wrong might have occurred to his target. The link lasts for one week for every Arcana Rank the Lover possesses.

Exceptional Success: The link is so strong that two-way communication can be established through it. Thoughts, feelings and words can be sent from the Lover to his target, and vice versa. The target must be made aware that the link exists, however.

Lovers 5: …Let No Man Tear Asunder!
Roll: Expression + Resolve + Numina. 2 Numina. Reflexive.
This power is similar to that of Lovers 4, with a few key differences. First, the Lover can establish a link with as many targets as his Composure rating, provided he can pay the cost per link. In addition, the ability always operates under the description of an Exceptional Success.