The Self-Cooking Chicken
By Thomas Gray (grayt@berio.augustana.ab.ca)
Cost
Level
Arete
Quintessence
Background
Robert stopped running for a while, to sit and rest. He knew they were still chasing him, but he couldn't keep going. His stomach rumbled. He was hungry. Still he hadn't had time to get anything to eat since the suits had showed up the other day. He sighed and stood back up and began running again. As he was running, he thought there should be a way to create an easy, fast meal for people on the run. As he ran, he went past a restaurant advertizing a roast chicken special. Then it hit him. If he got out of this alive...
Description
Well, Robert was never seen again, but another mage under different circumstances came up with a similar idea. Basically, the chicken is a living talisman. First, it uses a Life 3 effect to cause all its feathers to drop off. Then, it uses a Forces 3, Prime 2 effect to spontaneously combust. Using Time 1, it stops cooking at the desired time. The nicely roasted meat can then be carved off.
Creation
The talisman can be created by using Life 4/Prime 2 or by simply performing a ritual on an ordinary chicken. The ritual also works on other forms of meat. There have been rumors of French mages using a similar, but more complex ritual on frogs.
Variant
There have recently been rumors of a Marauder who has created a variant of this effect. Instead of using Life 4 in the creation of the talisman, Matter 3 is used. It is still a mystery as to what the Marauder is doing with a self-cooking rubber chicken.