Absorb Essence (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island)

Frequently Asked Questions

Elements and Elemental Thresholds

• If you gain a flexible Element (e.g., an "Any" Element, or multiple Elements separated by slashes) from something other than a Presence Track, when do you choose which Element to gain?
  When directly gaining flexible Elements from an Action mid-turn, like from "Absorb Essence" or Lure of the Deep Wilderness’ 3rd Growth option, you must choose a specific Element immediately.

  Passive Elements on Presence Tracks or in Bonus Spaces can be chosen at any time. [Core rulebook, p. 14, last item under Presence Tracks]
  Tags: "Any" element, Elements, Growth, Presence track, 9 more...
• Are elements personal, or can you use elements from other spirits?
  Elements can only be used by the spirit that played them; they can't be shared unless an effect explicitly says so.

  For example, if you are playing River Surges in Sunlight, you cannot use Water generated by cards played by Ocean's Hungry Grasp.

  There are a few power cards that grant Elements to other Spirits, like "Elemental Boon," the innate power "Spirits May Yet Dream" from Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares, or several of Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island's powers. Powers with this effect explicitly say so.
  Tags: Elements, Elemental Boon, Gift of Nature's Connection, Spirits May Yet Dream (Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares), 8 more...
• If you gain presence during the turn (after Growth) and uncover the "any" or another element, can you then use it for other powers?
  Yes, you can start using elements as soon as you gain them. (p. 14) Similarly, if you are able to play a card mid-turn, you get the effects of its Elements immediately.

  (And if some effect were to cover an Element by returning Presence to your track, or destroy a Power card in play, you'd immediately lose access to the elements.)
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: "Any" element, Elements, Adding Presence, Indomitable Claim, 13 more...

General Play

• When using a Power, can you ignore parts of its effect that you don't want to use (e.g., not adding Blight), or use a weaker version of them (e.g., Pushing only 1 Town with a "Push 2 Towns" instruction)?
  No, if you're using a Power at all, you must use all of it, and you must resolve the effects at the amount printed.

  That being said, players still have a lot of discretion for using Powers in ways were some of the effects won't happen or won't happen at full strength:

  • Spirits can target a land where some effects or possibly all of them won't do anything. (e.g., a Power with a "Push 1 Town." instruction doesn't need to target a land with Towns.)
  • If an effect is explicitly optional, it can be ignored. (e.g., "You may instead Remove 1 Blight." doesn't need to remove Blight even if there is Blight in target land.)
  • If given a choice for how many pieces to affect (e.g., "up to 3"), 0 pieces is a valid number unless a minimum amount is specified. (e.g., "Push up to 2 Dahan." can Push 0 or 1 Dahan even if 2 Dahan are present.)
  • If an effect checks how many Elements you have – usually as part of an Elemental Threshold requirement – you may choose to apply fewer Elements so long as you're consistent for the entire Power. (e.g., if you choose to use 8 Fire for a "1 Damage per Fire" effect, you also meet and must use an "If you have 7 Fire" threshold. But you could alternatively use only 6 of those Fire for the Power in order to deal 6 Damage and ignore the 7 Fire threshold.)
  • If a threshold requirement includes an Energy cost, you may choose not to pay it in order to skip that threshold. (e.g., "If you have 3 Fire and pay 2 Energy" does not require you to pay 2 Energy even if you have 2 Energy to spend and are using 3 Fire for the rest of the Power.)
    Tags: Elements, Resolving Powers, Firestorm (Heart of the Wildfire), Heart of the Wildfire, 72 more...

Power Cards

• What happens if you use Entwined Power to give another Spirit a card with Spirit-specific effects? (E.g., Absorb Essence, Swallow the Land-Dwellers)
  As usual, do as much as you legally can, skipping instructions you can't perform. However, Special Rules can define new types of effect (like "Drown") usable by anyone with a Power referencing it.

  More specifically:

  • "Absorb Essence" effectively becomes "Gain 3 Energy. Target Spirit gains Any Element and 1 Energy." (You cannot follow the instruction "Move 1 of target Spirit's Presence to your 'Deep Slumber' track", because you do not have a Deep Slumber track.)
  • Ocean's Special Rules define what "Drown" means: "Destroy Drowned pieces, placing Drowned Invaders here [on Ocean's playmat]." So if another Spirit Drowns an Invader, it is Destroyed (by that Spirit), then goes onto Ocean's playmat. Similarly, since "Terror Stalks the Land" defines what "Abduct" means, abducted pieces go to The Endless Dark whether or not Breath of Darkness Down Your Spine is the one using the Power.
  • "Elemental Teachings" lets other Spirits prepare Element Markers, but what what they can do with them depends on whether or not Shifting Memory of Ages is using an Aspect.
  • Powers that reference specific Incarna can still interact with that Incarna, but may be less effective.
  • While any Spirit could perform the effects of many of Fractured Days' Unique Powers, they can't pay the time cost to use them in the first place.
    Tags: Transferring Power Cards, Drowning (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), Entwined Power, Swallow the Land-Dwellers (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), 8 more...

Spirits and Innate Powers

• If Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island fills its Deep Slumber track (so only 13 is visible), does Absorb Essence still work?
  Yes. Put the Presence on the track, but don't cover any numbers. The Power otherwise works normally.
  Tags: Absorb Essence (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island, Deep Slumber (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island)
• What happens when an Incarna would go to place off the island that only Presence goes, like being returned to a Presence Track by "Numinious Crisis" or moved to Serpent's "Deep Slumber" track by "Absorb Essence"?
  It leaves the island, ceases to be Presence because it's no longer on the island, and returns to the Incarna supply instead of wherever it was going to go. It can then be added to the island normally by anything that adds that Incarna.

  For "Absorb Essence" in particular, both Serpent and the other Spirit will get the immediate benefits of using the Power, but Serpent's Presence limit won't go up.
  Tags: Counts As, Incarna, Absorb Essence (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), Deep Slumber (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), 2 more...
• Does the Presence limit for Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island count destroyed Presence?
  No, the Presence limit only counts Presence that is actually on the island, not destroyed Presence.

  It is possible to get all the way to the end of your Presence track without ever using "Absorb Essence," if you never have more than 5 Presence on the board. Thematically, this is the Serpent being stung towards greater wakefulness.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Destroyed Presence, Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island, Deep Slumber (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), Absorb Essence (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), 0 more...
• How does Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island work in a solo game?
  The Presence limit from its special rule Deep Slumber still applies. It can use Absorb Essence on itself [p. 22]. Presence on its Deep Slumber track is not "on the Island" and does not count against the limit. It cannot get a double benefit from the Serpent Wakes in Power innate power.
  Tags: Solo games, Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island, Deep Slumber (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), Absorb Essence (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), 1 more...