powers update ♦ capeandcowl
† Personal Fade
In Thedas, the Fade is both spirit world and dreamscape, a place of pure thought and imagination ruled by strange metaphysical beings. Here, dreams are dreams, and they don't literally take you to another world. However, Zevran trailed a tiny scrap of the Fade into this dimension with him. Not being a mage, he normally wouldn't be able to do anything with it, but his power here lets him draw it into the physical realm in forms relating to his soul and intentions. The problem is, he has no idea of the details of this or how it might be extensively manipulated--he just knows that he can do some cool new things. After all, he isn't a mage. So his command of his personal Fade was initially rudimentary, limited to two simple powers stemming from his non-magical skills and his dishonorable plans. Since then, it has expanded to include a more complex and less reliable power as well.
†† Fade cloak
With a thought, he can wrap the Fade into a cloak around him, rendering him imperceptible to senses both natural and supernatural. This power operates on a psychic level as much as a physical one, by creating a localized patch of reality that bends the perceptions of anyone nearby so that instead of sensing him, they sense what they would otherwise expect to be there. Those with psychic or telepathic awareness will have that ability affected similarly: their powers will pick up what they expect to pick up if he weren't there. However, if they concentrate, they'll be able to sense that something is causing a psychic/spiritual/magical spike in activity nearby. Those with active immunity to psychic or magical effects (not simply passive resistance to some psychic interference or a very strong will) will see said patch of reality for what it is: a distorted, shimmery thing in the shape of a man. Zevran himself sees the world in an altered form while in this state: it's hazy, soft, and slightly purple, with sounds and other sensations slightly distorted. For more on this, see Fade eyes.
†† Fade dagger
When he wills it, a very sharp dagger with a leather-bound hilt coalesces in his hand out of the Fade around him. It functions as a normal bladed weapon under most circumstances, quite useful for stabbing someone or slitting their throat, as you do. It also, however, deals spirit damage, and so it can inflict wounds on immaterial entities not normally vulnerable to such things. As a side effect, it can also rip open magical or spiritual wards or barriers and bypass protection drawn from those sources. Armor, physical invulnerability, healing factors, and the like still work just fine against it, though. Note that he cannot use the dagger while using either of the other manifestations of his Fade power.
†† Fade eyes
Either by using the Fade cloak or by focusing his vision alone through the Fade, Zevran can shift his perception so that he sees a slightly different level of reality: a more dream-like and spiritual world. Simply cloaking himself or looking through the Fade will show him glaring emissions and obvious sources of magical and spiritual power. If he concentrates while doing so, however, making a point of becoming hyper-aware of his surroundings and "listening in" on what they tell him, he can sense more. The true form of illusions will become clear to him (although they'll be fuzzy and heavily overlapped by the illusion); magical, spiritual, or psychic power will whisper to him at a volume proportional to its strength and in ways related to its nature; spirits will be plainly visible and ghosts faintly so. Since the Fade is also linked to dreams, he will, in a sense, be able to see these as well when he uses this manifestation of the power, in the form of an aura around sentient beings. Most of the time, these auras will be too jumbled for him to make out anything distinct, but if someone has a particular vivid or recurring dream, it will be distinct enough from the mess for him to make out an image or silent movie trailing them and hear some sounds from it if he focuses on it. This is all, of course, dependent on permissions and prone to unreliability. In addition, this part of the power relies strongly on practice and honing his skills. He won't immediately know what to make of the new imagery and sensations he can gather from it. Understanding more about the nature of his power and how to focus his own senses will help him maximize its potential.
† Subtle Severity Set
While on his previous trip into the City, the 'Porter stripped Zevran's equipment of all its magical bonuses, this time she's allowed one through and in fact transferred its effects to him as an individual. He came through wearing two rings that together grant him a significant bonus to health regeneration. Now, in the City, he heals minor wounds instantly and deeper injuries within seconds or minutes. Immediately fatal wounds will still kill him, and he can't regrow severed limbs.
In Thedas, the Fade is both spirit world and dreamscape, a place of pure thought and imagination ruled by strange metaphysical beings. Here, dreams are dreams, and they don't literally take you to another world. However, Zevran trailed a tiny scrap of the Fade into this dimension with him. Not being a mage, he normally wouldn't be able to do anything with it, but his power here lets him draw it into the physical realm in forms relating to his soul and intentions. The problem is, he has no idea of the details of this or how it might be extensively manipulated--he just knows that he can do some cool new things. After all, he isn't a mage. So his command of his personal Fade was initially rudimentary, limited to two simple powers stemming from his non-magical skills and his dishonorable plans. Since then, it has expanded to include a more complex and less reliable power as well.
†† Fade cloak
With a thought, he can wrap the Fade into a cloak around him, rendering him imperceptible to senses both natural and supernatural. This power operates on a psychic level as much as a physical one, by creating a localized patch of reality that bends the perceptions of anyone nearby so that instead of sensing him, they sense what they would otherwise expect to be there. Those with psychic or telepathic awareness will have that ability affected similarly: their powers will pick up what they expect to pick up if he weren't there. However, if they concentrate, they'll be able to sense that something is causing a psychic/spiritual/magical spike in activity nearby. Those with active immunity to psychic or magical effects (not simply passive resistance to some psychic interference or a very strong will) will see said patch of reality for what it is: a distorted, shimmery thing in the shape of a man. Zevran himself sees the world in an altered form while in this state: it's hazy, soft, and slightly purple, with sounds and other sensations slightly distorted. For more on this, see Fade eyes.
†† Fade dagger
When he wills it, a very sharp dagger with a leather-bound hilt coalesces in his hand out of the Fade around him. It functions as a normal bladed weapon under most circumstances, quite useful for stabbing someone or slitting their throat, as you do. It also, however, deals spirit damage, and so it can inflict wounds on immaterial entities not normally vulnerable to such things. As a side effect, it can also rip open magical or spiritual wards or barriers and bypass protection drawn from those sources. Armor, physical invulnerability, healing factors, and the like still work just fine against it, though. Note that he cannot use the dagger while using either of the other manifestations of his Fade power.
†† Fade eyes
Either by using the Fade cloak or by focusing his vision alone through the Fade, Zevran can shift his perception so that he sees a slightly different level of reality: a more dream-like and spiritual world. Simply cloaking himself or looking through the Fade will show him glaring emissions and obvious sources of magical and spiritual power. If he concentrates while doing so, however, making a point of becoming hyper-aware of his surroundings and "listening in" on what they tell him, he can sense more. The true form of illusions will become clear to him (although they'll be fuzzy and heavily overlapped by the illusion); magical, spiritual, or psychic power will whisper to him at a volume proportional to its strength and in ways related to its nature; spirits will be plainly visible and ghosts faintly so. Since the Fade is also linked to dreams, he will, in a sense, be able to see these as well when he uses this manifestation of the power, in the form of an aura around sentient beings. Most of the time, these auras will be too jumbled for him to make out anything distinct, but if someone has a particular vivid or recurring dream, it will be distinct enough from the mess for him to make out an image or silent movie trailing them and hear some sounds from it if he focuses on it. This is all, of course, dependent on permissions and prone to unreliability. In addition, this part of the power relies strongly on practice and honing his skills. He won't immediately know what to make of the new imagery and sensations he can gather from it. Understanding more about the nature of his power and how to focus his own senses will help him maximize its potential.
† Subtle Severity Set
While on his previous trip into the City, the 'Porter stripped Zevran's equipment of all its magical bonuses, this time she's allowed one through and in fact transferred its effects to him as an individual. He came through wearing two rings that together grant him a significant bonus to health regeneration. Now, in the City, he heals minor wounds instantly and deeper injuries within seconds or minutes. Immediately fatal wounds will still kill him, and he can't regrow severed limbs.