Full Analysis
Rank 5 Thaumaturgy, based on Hermetic and Alchemical principles.
Full Analysis: This ritual is designed to analyze an object or localized area (no larger than a small room), and discover as much as possible about any magic that may have affected it.
By using a large number of hermetic devices (scales, distillers, incense, blocks of wax and clay, parchment with rare inks, etc.) the caster distills the essences of individual dweomers, learning everything about any magic that may be present. The caster must set up the apparati around the object or area in question, and begins casting. The ritual takes one hour per success to complete, and can be continued as an extended action, even over the course of days. Once started, the caster must devote enough time and effort to learn everything about the magic present, or the partial information is garbled and useless. Thus, the caster must complete the entire ritual before gaining any insight into the magic in question at all.
System: Each success detects one ritual, path power, or other magical effect (including true Magick, but not the effects of disciplines, gifts, etc.), and gives a full account of it's parameters, including (but not limited to) it's effects, side effects, the basic identity of the caster, how it was cast (including all parameters of the casting), and whether there is another magical effect that has not yet been profiled. If the caster of Full Analysis is capable of learning the ritual in question, he or she now has enough information to do so, though learning times still apply. If the effect is greater than rank 5, it "uses up," one extra success per level above 5 (2 for rank 6, 3 for rank 7, etc.)
After the first hour of casting, the caster gains a measure of mobility - the ritual requires tending once every 15 minutes or so, but that can be done by a reasonably skilled assistant, homunculus, or similar helper. The original caster is the only one who can recast the ritual to extend its effects (if the initial casting is not enough to learn everything relevant).
Casters should be aware that any area effects that encompass the item or area in question (such as a Warding Circle vs Scrying) will be detected and profiled by Full Analysis. The caster must either accept that his own defenses affect the ritual or move to an unprotected location. (Note that most circles, such as Warding Circle vs Ghouls affect only the line of the circle, not the area inside them).
The storyteller must decide how many successes are required to examine a particularly powerful item or effect, such as the mystical objects that are in circulation around Sofia.
This is metamagic, but due to the cooperative nature of the research involved, it does not fall neatly into the style of any particular series.
