Channeling

"They dance," he said, "to celebrate your passage. They are not mortals, but the spirits of Time. They began this foolish show when you entered the valley."
-Hugi and Corwin, Courts of Chaos

Channeling is the ability to call on other beings for aid. Demons, Gods, Elder Things, Faries, Elementals, and many other beings may be called on with this power. Once called upon these beings may grant mystical aid or knowledge, or they may ask for favors and boons themselves. Most beings called on will have one "sphere" or ability that they can provide or control. For example an Elder Insect Aspected spirit or god may have power to control or summon swarms of insects to the Channeler's aid. A Fire Elemental could surely summon or control fire to aid the character and calling on a greater Elemental would probably allow the character to summon several lesser Elementals to aid him.

Each Type of Being or Sphere of Being that can be contacted is a different skill. Examples would be the Elementals of Earth, Fire, Water, or Air, Land, Sky or Sea. (There actually is a difference. Earth would be rock elementals, etc., while the Spirit of Land would be more akin to Gaia and would be able to provide aid from random creatures of the land, while Lir, Ruler of the Seas, could provide Dolphins or other sea creatures to aid the character.) Other options would be an Insect Lord, Demon, Death Spirit, or Cthulhu type outer God. Characters must also choose the Circle of Influence for each being they may call on. This is the home Circle in Shadow of the being and is used when determining the difficulty of contacting the being for aid through shadow.

System:

"A few small things I have heard, known, guessed at, and perhaps dreamed--and a few, I suppose, I simply fear. Hardly a coherent shape. Yet enough, perhaps, to query the powers of the earth I work with. Yes. Now that I have thought it I must try it, of course. At a time such as this."
-Vialle, The Salesmen's Tale

The amount of points in this skill determines the Power of the Beings a Channeler may call upon, and also the distance that a Channeler can reach out across shadow when channeling.

More Later . . .