Infiltration
Focuses on violating the territorial claims of others, and gaining access to forbidden places. Lower levels assist the Infiltrator in bypassing simple or mundane defenses while higher levels allow the Huldufolk to take on a target’s form, voice, and spiritual outline, shutting the original owner out of their own domain, territory, and even their life.
Infiltration 1: Open Sesame (Potentially Defended, Supernatural) – No door can bar the passage of a Huldufolk with this power. The Huldufolk bypasses all mundane security on a location, finding access points which should be secure.
Spend: The Huldufolk attempts to bypass supernatural wards, entering a secure Demesne. The owner of that Demesne Defends.
Infiltration 2: Out of Sight (Undefended) – Perhaps light passes through them, perhaps shadows and foliage conspire to blur their outline. Whatever the cause, the Huldufolk becomes invisible, so long as they remain still.
Spend: The Huldufolk is able to move while invisible, under this effect, the power lasts for one hour.
Infiltration 3: Insider Trading (Defended, Supernatural) – Doors having long ago become child’s play, the more talented infiltrators among the Huldufolk turn to more challenging tasks. With this power, a Huldufolk invades the target’s very mind, opening their secrets to be read at leisure. In general, the Huldufolk gains access to the current thoughts of the target. However, in cases of well-trained or willful adversaries, the Huldufolk may not be able to penetrate defenses so easily. Or, possibly, the target may have learned how to hold a lie so strongly in their mind that cursory inspection fails to identify the falsehood. Whatever the case, if the user wishes to ensure that they will get true and useful information, they may choose to get the answer to one of the following questions:
- Is the target actively concealing information?
- Is the target currently in a heightened emotional state? If yes, what emotion is predominant.
- Does the target intend to commit violence in the next few minutes?
- What is the target’s given name?
- Has the target recently been involved in a violent situation?
If a question other than these is asked, it is possible for a skilled dissembler to give false information.
Infiltration 4: Wind in the Willows (Undefended) – The mundane world doesn’t have as tight a grasp on Huldufolk as it does on humanity. A committed practitioner learns that even the most essential rules can be ignored by a sufficiently powerful will. This power lasts one hour. While it is active, the user is intangible in some way. Perhaps they become a sentient illusion, or a breath of wind, or some other similarly untouchable fabrication. Whatever form they take, the Huldufolk cannot be touched and cannot touch, they pass through walls, floors, and weapons with equal ease. A Huldufolk cannot actually fly with this power, but they can easily sink into the ground. Under this power, a Huldufolk is immune to mundane attacks and cannot be targeted by Minor Actors who do not have a supernatural threshold. In turn, the Huldufolk is unable to physically affect the world in any way, and cannot make mundane attacks against other characters.
Spend: A Huldufolk under the effects of this power may spend Belief in order to physically affect the world for 1 round without being subject to physical attacks themselves.
Infiltration 5: The Greatest Trick (Potentially Defended, Supernatural) – Huldufolk are, one and all, experts in the field of deception. For most, their very identity is the result of a clever lie. Those who have mastered those power can confidently name themselves as the first among equals in the arena of untruth. By activating this power, a Huldufolk perfectly imitates a character. The target being imitated is not immediately aware that this has happened, and does not Defend against it. All other characters and all supernatural powers detect the user as being the target, and only truly egregious mistakes (forgetting one’s own name, openly revealing incongruent allegiance) will cause even the slightest trace of suspicion. If the user gives strong cause for doubt, or if the user and the target are observed at the same time, the observer is able to Defend.
Spend: While this power is active, the target cannot perceive the user. They simply cannot keep the user in their mind long enough to notice them. If the Huldufolk attacks the target or places them in a position where they must logically acknowledge the Huldufolk’s presence, they appear as a complete stranger, though one who seems vaguely familiar. If this effect is used, the target is able to Defend, though if the power use is successful the target does not know what it was they were Defending against.
Burn: Much more insidious, if the Huldufolk burns a Belief, the target fades from the perception of all other characters. They simply cannot make themselves known. Indeed, the target finds that they cannot even take actions which would lead to them being noticed. For the duration of the power, they are unable to attack, unable to block paths or doorways, unable to do anything to force their presence upon another character. This use is also Defended.