Recharging Periapts
System
A mage can recharge an existing Periapt either with Prime Sphere magick (the fast way), or by leaving it to absorb Quintessence at a Node (the slow way).
• The Quick Way: Prime 3 allows a mage to channel Quintessence into the Periapt from Tass, a Node, or her own personal Quintessence supply. Prime 4 allows her to draw that energy out from an inanimate object, and Prime 5 allows her to pull it from the Pattern of a living thing. The Quintessence Amounts chart (Mage 20, p. 507) shows the levels of Quintessence you can get from various creatures. The amount of Quintessence you might obtain from material substances is up to the Storyteller’s discretion, but could be based upon the Structure of the object in question – see Sample Objects and Surfaces in Mage 20, p. 457.
Many mages – especially technomancers – craft Devices to recharge their Periapts. The Technocracy employs such machines for obvious reasons. Typically, those “juicing stations” employ Prime 4 to draw Quintessence from raw materials (stone, shale, gold, etc.), although especially cruel ones use Prime 5 to pull life-essence from living things instead. Technological Periapts are generally referred to as Matrices, described above.
• The Slow Way: Left within a few feet of a Node or a large amount of Tass (10 Quintessence points or more), the Periapt will recharge itself at a rate of its point rating per day. A five-dot Periapt, for instance, would absorb five Quintessence points per day.
• Recharging Resonance: In both cases, the Resonance of the source will flavor the Resonance within the Periapt. Say that Jennifer Rollins has a shaped-leather mask that she uses as a Periapt. If she restores its Quintessence supply by painting it with her own blood, then that mask acquires Jennifer’s current Resonance; if she leaves it for a fortnight at a deep-forest glade, then her mask absorbs the Calm elemental essence of that Node; and if she wears it while fucking a weretiger – using Prime 5 to channel his life-force into the mask – then the Periapt blazes with an Animalistic passion that matches the fury of their sex. A simple Prime 1 Effect can filter that Resonance, wiping it “clean” unless it’s got an extremely powerful signature. A wise mage uses such magick whenever she crafts, charges or refills a Periapt; if all mages were wise, however, then the Ascension War would never have begun.