Wards are often “locked” into a given object, being, or area. This process integrates the ward into the Pattern of that protected thing:

• Forces 3 allows the ward to “transmute” the elemental energies enough so that the mage may integrate a ward into sources of fire and electricity, and into gadgets that employ those energies. Given the ephemeral nature of certain elements, however, wards cannot be “set” into air, light, radiation, temperature, and so forth – there’s simply not enough “solidity” to lock such elements into something as “fixed” as a ward. (Shadows and darkness, being the absence of light, hold a weird sort of middle-ground in that equation; darkness is not an “element” in itself, but shadows and darkness hold long traditional associations with demarcation, and so wards “stick” to them even though they really shouldn’t be able to do so.) Vast areas require Forces 4 or 5 – see the Elemental Mastery section for details.

• Matter 2 sets that ward into a particular item, a substance, or a material (like floorboards or a door) that can secure that ward to an area. Matter 3+ can integrate it into a complex material objects (computer, car, TV, etc.).

• Life 4 can integrate that ward into a living being, so that it travels with that creature. In the latter case, the forbidden subject cannot touch the protected creature until it overcomes the ward.

• If the ward is supposed to be able to travel around and retain its protective properties, then it also requires Prime 2 and costs one additional point of Quintessence.