General

pactum | noun | \ˈpakt-əm\ | pack – tum | plural form: pacta

A complex relationship formed between two beings, allowing them to better their intrinsic capabilities. An agreement to share the soul.

par pactum | adjective | par – pack – tum

To be bound by a pactum to another. To be par pactum to another is to be two individuals that share a soul, or partners par pactum.

In the world of Ars Pactum, two characters can form a contract called a pactum – plural pacta. These have terms settled upon by its two participants. This contract allows them to share soul capacity, or their life force. A pactum grants unique advantages based on the nature, strength of, and character types involved in the contract, delineated below in { Pactum Relationships }. 

Characters form contracts with each other for a multitude of reasons. Sometimes, it is to gain access to a branch of magic the individual would not otherwise be able to use. Other times, it is to increase one’s capacity for magic usage or soul power. And in the case of entities, it is a natural disposition – the craving for a life force in general.

Contracted characters are only able to use magic as strong as is permitted by their partner. A magician of third tier contracted to a human of the first tier is slightly weaker than usual – but as their human partner becomes stronger, the pair will find their abilities become collectively more powerful. 

For characters contracted to other characters of a lower tier, they may have conditions under  which they’re able to use the full extent of their power. Storyline-wise, you’re free to interpret the way this information applies to your characters freely: 

• Maybe one of your characters is an incredibly powerful magician contracted to a human that functionally handicaps certain aspects of their powers.

• Maybe you have a strong entity contracted to a weak magician that can only use the full extent of their magic upon the consumption of blood.

• Maybe your character is a weak magician contracted to a strong human: the human is a very powerful retainer for soul capacity, but this can hardly benefit the magician because the magician is so weak.

Stat-wise, two contracted characters with a considerable tier gap will receive penalties that can be removed by closing the gap between the two character’s tiers (see: { Mechanics: Tiers, Stats }).

Pactum Relationships

All pactum relationships involve the sharing of the soul. A pactum grants the contract partner access to their par’s (short for partner par pactum) reservoir of soul power, if applicable. Permanent contract partners are often referred to as a character’s par in casual vernacular. Temporary contract partners are generally called a temporary par.

Sharing life force has repercussions, as well as equal dividends. Normally, a day’s worth of average soul power consumption can be replenished with a good night’s sleep. But when a contracted character uses soul power, it is depleted for both individuals. When one half of the pair uses too much soul power – more than both individuals combined can safely lose – they will both experience the ill effects. 

Being deficient in soul power will cause a character to experience intense fatigue. A constant soul capacity deficiency, or the failure to replenish soul power faster than the character loses it, will result in death. The consumption of all a character’s soul power is also fatal. The concept poses benefits as well, though: a character that shares soul power with another is sometimes able to sustain fatal blows through the usage of their par’s soul power.
 

Contracted partners of the highest caliber can sometimes experience the sharing of pain: a dull sensation in the same area their partner par pactum sustains wounds, or even sharp pain in severe circumstances. And sometimes, oddly, they might feel something is off when their par suffers. Some especially close pairs might find their emotions are inexplicably linked – they might share feelings of joy, sadness, or fear.

The below chart explains in detail the unique relationships between characters when contracted in a pactum. The leftmost column indicates the character forming the contract, and the right columns indicate the character type of their contract partner.

Forming Pacta

Forming a pactum is quite simple. Each constituent writes their name on the other’s body. In the case of an entity, sometimes a symbol (called a sigil) is written instead. The strength and duration of the contract is determined by the permanence of the writing, and the location of the contract on each character’s body. The location of the contract should be the same area of the body for both parties involved.

Upon a successful pactum, this mark – a person’s name or an entity’s sigil – will change appearance to a design called a pactum mark. The design of the pactum mark has the name of the writer incorporated into its design, but often takes a different form completely. However, the name or sigil of the contract partner is always preserved somewhere on the mark. Often times (but not always), pactum marks will take form in what appear to be ancient script, generally related to the heritage of the character that wrote it.

For the artist: this means you can freely design the pactum mark so long as the writer’s name is still incorporated in the design! It can be writing if you’d like, but it doesn’t have to be. I.e.: You’ll design the pactum mark that appears on your own character, but it should incorporate the name or sigil of your contract partner in some way (in whatever language, script, or writing form you choose). Optionally, you can draw pactum marks for each other. It’s up to you!

After formation, sometimes the pactum marks will take the appearance of tattoos - and sometimes, they simply look like scars, regardless of the instrument they were written with. This is different for every character (the appearance and formation of this pactum mark is up to your discretion: Rule of Cool, guys). Pactum marks cannot be removed or obscured by any means – not even through magic like body manipulation or illusion creation. They can be covered by clothing, but not erased from the skin: even if scratched off, the mark will shine through and reform on the surface of its original location. For temporary contracts, pactum marks will disappear when the ink used to write them has faded.

Please add a visual reference and the location of your character’s pactum mark on their character sheet.

Sometimes, the constituents choose to include terms with their contracts – these terms are undeniably unbreakable, but equally dangerous. Breaking contract terms can result in extreme or violent consequences – further explained in { Types of Pacta, Breaking a Pactum }.

Types of Pacta, Breaking a Pactum

Characters can form both permanent and temporary contracts. Permanent contracts are stronger than temporary ones, but can also be more dangerous, lasting, and pose more liabilities. Contracts are not always willing: sometimes, creatures are tricked or forced into pacta. Contracts can also optionally include terms to seal an agreement between the two involved parties.

Temporary Contracts

Not all contracts are permanent. In fact, most contracts used in daily society are simply temporary alliances in order to achieve a bigger goal. A temporary contract is formed by creating a mark on the other individual’s body. This could be makeshift: with pen, marker, or some other writing instrument. Some temporary contracts might be formed with special long-lasting ink or temporary tattoos (like mehndi henna). The temporary contract will fade over time, when the ink has disappeared. When the pactum is activated, the written name will change shape, and the writer’s pactum mark will appear on the receiving character’s body in whatever ink has been chosen.

Temporary contracts allow access to only a portion of the par pactum partner’s soul capacity. It is rare to feel emotionally or physically linked to a temporary par. If both contracted characters can use magic, they allow access to certain aspects of the par’s specialty. For example, contracting characters able to use fire magic might allow their temporary par to make small embers, or ignite a small flame. The small aspect of the character’s specialty acquired by the temporary par cannot be determined before the contract has been formed, and may not be consistent. If the characters make a second temporary pactum after the first has ended, this inheritable aspect might be different.

Breaking the terms of a temporary contract result in excruciating and constant pain until the terms have been righted. If the terms cannot be righted, the pain an individual receives from breaking these terms will not disappear until the contract has been rescinded. For a temporary contract to be removed, the ink marking needs to be erased from the body. The difficulty of removing a temporary contract naturally depends on the method by which it was written.

Characters can form up to three temporary contracts at a time without feeling ill effects. Forming more than three temporary contracts can result in chronic fatigue, migraines, aches, pains, nausea, daytime sleepiness, eczema……...

Permanent Contracts

A permanent contract is also formed by creating a mark on the other individual’s body. However, this contract is formed with a permanent marking. This can be a tattoo, or by creating a scar on the skin. This marking will sink into the skin, and it is not uncommon to see an imprint of the marking on the bone. The strength of this contract is determined by its closeness to the character’s heart. For a human, it would be their biological heart – for an entity, it could be a more theoretical or symbolic location.

These contracts allow for access to the par’s soul capacity and magical specialties. They can only be broken by removing the mark from the body, bone, and bloodstream completely: simply removing the offending skin isn’t sufficient. Marks on the hand will require the loss of the hand. Marks on the arm will require the loss of the arm from the pactum mark down.

As a result, it’s very easy to see the level of trust or commitment present based on where the contract has been printed; a finger is one thing, and a more private area… well. 

Pactum partners with marks extremely close to their heart are more likely to experience the emotional and physical linking effects of the contract. Permanent contracts closer to the heart also imply commitment: complete and utter devotion to the terms of the pactum.  Breaking the terms of a permanent contract results in death for the offender, regardless of circumstance. Magicians and humans tricking troublesome entities into breaking the terms of a permanent contract in order to kill them are not too uncommon.

Your character can only form one permanent contract with another sentient character. Characters can form several permanent contracts with non-sentient characters. Human characters can form up to three permanent contracts with non-sentient entities or one contract with a sentient character and a second contract with a sentient character without feeling ill effects. Magician and entity characters can only form a single permanent contract; magicians will generally choose to form their permanent contract with a sentient being.

Further Details

Young schoolchildren will often form temporary pacts for fun, and temporary pacta are generally regarded as harmless due to their impermanence. The contract will only last so long as the ink stays on the skin. As it’s washed away, the contract will weaken and vanish. Short contracts do not have any shiny or light-show effects, and tend to simply look like mundane ink on the skin. 

Permanent contracts are a milestone regarded akin to marriage. Like marriage, there are horror stories of teenagers rushing into it, people being forced into it, and unpleasant stories of backing out. It’s also difficult to hide from bystanders; the second a contract is sealed, a beam of light will burst out from the carved tattoos like an ungodly Bat-Signal, alerting any nosy stargazer within a ten-mile radius of your sin. They will continue to glow dimly for up to forty-eight hours, thus emphasizing your embarrassment.

It is common for the mark of a permanent pactum to ache, twinge, or darken whenever the other par pactum is in dire trouble or severely injured. When a par pactum dies, unless the terms of the contract were written to remain after death, the pactum will also disappear. Some especially devoted pars choose deference to the terms of a pactum after their par’s death out of respect. Others choose to never sign another permanent pactum, signifying grief, love, or simply lasting friendship.