Everything

Where does this energy come from? That depends upon the mage and her preferred creation process:

• Tass: In many cases, Wonder-crafting mages prefer to draw energy from sources of solidified Tass – werewolf blood, dragon scales, enchanted spring water, powdered vampire fangs, and other sources of paranormal power. Enchanted items tend to be crafted out of such things because items like white buffalo pelts, gryphon feathers, and so forth contain Quintessential energy.

In game terms, the mage gathers up an appropriate sort of Tass and then uses Prime 3 to drain its power into the Wonder. That Wonder, of course, could be crafted out of the Tass material – hence, cat-eye Charms and books bound from human skin. Regardless of the process in question, the Tass invests its energy into the Wonder. The material and the Wonder become one and the same.

• Raw Quintessence Energy: Using Prime 4 (for inani­ mate objects) or Prime 5 (for living beings), the creator could pull Quintessence directly from material objects and organic entities. Technocrats and other techno­ mancers tend to break down shale, gold, diamonds, recyclable rubbish, and other sources of potential energy with Prime 4 Devices. Naturally, this process destroys the source of energy – a perfectly moral thing if you’re recycling trash, a really bad idea if you’re annihilating black cats or human babies. In either case, the Primal Energy invested in that resource goes into the Wonder, while the material form decays into nothingness. (For

details, see Disintegrating Things /Liquidating Assets in How Do You DO That?, p. 49.)

• Personal Life-Force: Desperate or powerful mages can invest their own personal Quintessence into a Wonder. Story-wise, the character draws blood, breathes into the wonder, gives birth to it, or performs some other action that makes that Wonder a part of herself. System-wise, this requires Prime 3 and enough innate Quintessence to fuel the Wonder’s creation. Obviously, the mage needs to have enough Quintessence in her personal reserve before she can attempt this sort of thing.

• Combined Sources? Whether or not a character can mix-and-match energy sources is a Storyteller’s call. Dramatically, it may be extremely appropriate to gather a bunch of Tass and then seal the enchantment with some personal Quintessence. From a gaming standpoint, how­ ever, a combined-source option may be abused by certain types of players. Ultimately, then, we leave the final decision to you, the Storyteller. Only you know your own players and the effects their actions have within your chronicle.