How do attunement and consorts work?

Question

In Wraith the Oblivion, I fail to fully understand a rule as basic as attunement and consorts.

Consorts are defined as the people (or object) a Wraith attunes to.

Attunement consists on expending willpower when using an arcanos to various effects. Attunement costs 5 willpower points when done on a stranger, and less with closer people.

For me, it's not clear enough. I've got the feeling that they didn't write well how it really was supposed to work. Here come my questions:

• How long does the attunement last?

• If attunement is required for some arts like Puppetry, does this mean that I should expend 2-5 WP every time I use it on someone?

• Must you expend all the WP at the time you are attuning, or can you space the expenditure on several arcanoi uses? If the latter, how can this be done with the arcanoi that require attunement?

Answer 1

The text on page 135 of Wraith: the Oblivion, Second Edition is a little obscure, but it covers most of your questions. Attunement is a slow, but permanent process -- once you've attuned to someone or something, they stay attuned. Each time you use a relevant Arcanos (Embody, Inhabit, Puppetry) successfully upon a target, you may spend one Willpower to begin or continue the attunement process. Once you've spent a number of Willpower equal to the total set by the Storyteller based on intimacy -- between 2 and 5, as noted -- they become a consort or the item is attuned.

Arcanoi that require attunement can't be used on those things to which you're not attuned. You'll need to do some preparatory work first. (Skinriding someone multiple times before you can Rein In their Mind, for example.)