Witchcraft Merits

Second Sight (Style; • to •••••)

Prerequisites: Resolve •••• or any other Supernatural Merit
A rare few are touched with what witches call the Second Sight - that strange blessing that puts a mortal in touch with the ebb and flow of the spirit world. Most possess only the lower levels of power, allowing them glimpses at the strange things that wait in the twilight of the world around them. Others, however, cultivate their power to discover ways of throwing open the veil of the senses, peering not only into Twilight, but into Shadow itself. The Second Sight is not easy to endure. For many normal humans, the things it reveals can drive one to terror and madness. (Characters are still subject to Breaking Points for viewing strange occurrences through these sensory means.)

• Glimpses of Horror (•): You catch occasional glimpses of Twilight beings in your surroundings, particularly when you are alone or it is dark. Ghosts, spirits, and myriad other things lurk just beyond sight and touch, and it can be devastating to witness them. Spend one Willpower to gain the ability to see Twilight entities around you, although such perception checks are made at a penalty of -1 per 10 feet of distance from you - such things can often not be seen until they are right on top of you. Drawback: Your Storyteller may choose to activate this ability without your conscious decision, though doing so does not cost you a Willpower. Additionally, many of the sights that await in Twilight can be Breaking Points.
• Twilight Vision (••): You can choose to shift your senses entirely to perceive Twilight entities as readily as you can see normal things. They are apparent to you when something is in a Twilight state, so there is no mistaking one for the other, and the Drawback from "Glimpses of Horror" goes away. However, you are not rendered immune to the terror and possible madness that comes of seeing some of the things that await there. You can also sense the presence of loci, making you vulnerable to the strange vision-hallucinations of those fey places.
• Past the Thinned Gauntlet (•••): You can see not only entities in a Twilight state, but at a locus you can actually peer into Shadow, piercing the Gauntlet visually to do so. You can only see into the areas that fall within the locus' Influence, and when you do so your vision is wholly subsumed by your Shadow sight (although only vision is so stolen). Your eyes are covered over in a strange murky cataract while you use this ability. In addition to this capability, you also gain the ability to use Essence. You may store up to 3 points of Essence, and may spend only one point of it per turn. Seeing past the Gauntlet requires you spend a point of Essence.
• Pierce the Gauntlet (••••): As the previous level of power, except that you can project all of your senses past the Gauntlet. You are also not limited to such seeing at a locus - you can now do it anywhere you wish, although it costs Essence equal to the Gauntlet rating of the area to peer past it. You can now store up to 4 points of Essence.
• Two-Sight (•••••): You can blend the world of mortals and spirits in your senses, seeing both at the same time with a sort of strange combined sensory input that is difficult to explain to others (though you do have a -2 penalty to all perception checks, for either realm, while doing so). You may store up to 4 points of Essence.