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Heavenly Union Style

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“What fool would dare enter the presence of one who has mastered Heavenly Union Style? Their bedchambers are more deadly than any battlefield! Every inch of their bodies is a potential weapon! They single-handedly prove that sex is more offensive than violence.”

History

Most taboo amongst the Celestial arts, the methods of Heavenly Union Style were developed recreationally – an irony not lost on historians. As the Usurpation was begun, many of the Lawgivers were slain before the insurgent hordes. Not the legendary Zenith sensate Ayatilia, however, nor her Lunar consort Sweat and Tears. As the bloodshed began, she swept the pair away, deep into the safety of her sorcerous sanctum in the North.

Through the long and cold nights, wont of other company or meaningful pursuit as they awaited their discovery, the pair... experimented. The Wyld Hunt reached them after five years, to find them in no condition to fight. The art itself would have perished with its creators, but for the Chosen of Serenity overlooking the expedition – realising its potential, he quickly confiscated their (mindblowingly obscene) notes as 'evidence of their decadance'.

A dirty secret (in all senses of the word), the Style is kept under wraps deep in the Cerulean Lute of Harmony. In this Age of Sorrows, it seems to have re-emerged amongst the reawakening Solars and their consorts. It is uncertain how they acquired such sensitive information, but evidence points to someone in the higher echelons of the Cult of the Illuminated.

Rules

Heavenly Union Style allows the use of no weapons, teaching its students that they are armed enough with the uncounted tools the Incarna granted them. Armour is likewise spurned in its every form – any inhibitor of movement, sensation or indecency is anathema to its tenets.

The Style's progression begins with a number of meditations and practices to establish its basic tenets. It then branches into two wings (each with an according Form), embodying on one hand the piercing might of the sun, and on the other the delicate embrace of the night.

Whilst the principles (and techniques) of each wing can be employed simultaneously through original thinking, the Forms themselves are created to resonate with a given physical form. If the martial artist is in the appropriate sex (or adopts a hermaphroditic shape somehow), and has a Form active, all Charms in the wing are enhanced with a Harmony bonus whilst these conditions remain.

At the culmination of the Style, the martial artist learns (as the founding couple did) to pass beyond conceptions of shape and gender, and to unite the two wings together into a transcendant whole. Until then, however, a practitioner cannot perfectly conceive and apply one half of the teachings - more ambitious adherents should make use of some gender-altering magic to apply themselves fully.

Charms

Smiling Across The Heavens

Cost: 3m

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Keywords: Emotion

Minima: 2/2

Prereq. Charms: None

Whilst the forces of the Incarna struggles, in the mortal heavens as in the Games of Divinity, their eyes are not filled with hatred for one another; at their heart, they know that the conflict is the very source of their bond. The practitioners of Heavenly Union Style learn to adopt a lover's face, pardoning and inviting their foes even in the grittiest throes of combat. When they activate this Charm, they may add their attacker's Compassion to their DV.

Bonded Heart Revelation

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Permanent

Keywords: None

Minima: 3/2

Prereq. Charms: Smiling Across The Heavens

Expanding upon their understanding of the arts of love and war, the martial artist twines their emotions with those of their partner, to better complement their actions and to better share their jubilation. Whenever someone channels a Virtue in a roll (or defence) made against an Exalt with this Charm, the Exalt is immediately (and candidly) aware of it. They may spend 1 Willpower to channel the same Virtue of their own in response; this channel does not count against their maximum channels per story.

Thousand Leagues Understanding

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Permanent

Keywords: None

Minima: 4/2

Prereq. Charms: Bonded Heart Revelation

As the Incarna paint the entire sky with the vibrance of their union, so do practitioners learn to make use of their entire body. Every inch of skin, every proturberance and crevice is discovered anew, a source of rapturous enlightenment. Martial artists of Heavenly Union Style seem fluid and untroubled even amidst a swarm of foes, for they have a part of themselves for everyone. Exalts with this Charm have a new grapple option: Engage. This allows them to attempt a Hold on their existing grapple partner(s), whilst making a grapple attack on another person within range. If successful, they are treated as grappled also. Resolve control rolls between all present; the winner may take separate grapple actions against each person. The martial artist may have no more than their (Essence) partners at any given time, but may voluntarily release partners to take on new ones.

Radiant Shaft of Sunlight Form

Cost: 5m

Duration: One scene

Type: Simple

Keywords: Form-type

Minima: 4/2

Prereq. Charms: Thousand Leagues Understanding

The Exalt hones his might through one moment of balanced tension to the next, becoming expertly in command of how his strength flows. At each maneouvre, he focuses all of his strength into one point, able to pin his foes helpless even as the rest of his body is free to move. When grappling with an opponent, his DV suffers no penalty.

Harmony bonus: If the Exalt is in male shape, his natural weaponry is strong enough to rend through the toughest armour; his crush and unarmed attacks deal piercing damage.

Bowel-Loosening Surprise Assault

Cost: 5m

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Keywords: None

Minima: 5/2

Prereq. Charms: Radiant Shaft of Sunlight Form

Such was the speed and severity of this maneouvre that victims would lose all control of themselves! Many who heard of this Charm assumed that this is what its name meant. Not so. This Charm supplements a grapple attempt made as an unexpected attack, adding the exalt's Martial Arts in automatic successes on the roll to establish surprise.

Harmony bonus: If the Exalt is in male shape and has Radiant Shaft of Sunlight Form active, he adds an automatic success to all rolls to determine control of the resultant grapple until it is broken. Grapples formed by other methods do not receive this benefit.

Dazzling Courtship Method

Cost: 2m

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Keywords: Emotion

Minima: 5/2

Prereq. Charms: Radiant Shaft of Sunlight Form

The Unconquered Sun's conquest of the sky is a blinding assault, undeniable in its strength and majesty. Becoming as the Sun himself, the martial artist learns how to make his attacks like advances, laden with unbidden promise and overwhelming to those that do not see past his base intent. This Charm supplements any grapple attempt. The defender's DV against this attack cannot exceed their DMDV.

Harmony bonus: If the Exalt is in male shape and has Radiant Shaft of Sunlight Form active, his Charm is treated as an innate power instead, as with (Ability) Essence Flow.

Velvet Folds of Night Form

Cost: 5m

Duration: One scene

Type: Simple

Keywords: Form-type

Minima: 4/2

Prereq. Charms: Thousand Leagues Understanding

The Exalt performs a series of provocative katas, loosening her body into sinuous responsiveness. Like the night sky, she yields before brilliance; even as she appears to submit to her foes, she envelops them in her embrace, free to do with them as she pleases. When grappling with an opponent, her DV is not adjusted to 0, but instead suffers a -2 external penalty. She adds her Essence in automatic successes when determining control of a grapple. If she wins, her opponent still has control but cannot break the hold (either as a grapple action, or a special move).

Harmony bonus: If the Exalt is in female shape, she is able to exhaust her partner with overwhelming waves of scintillating energy. The damage of all her martial arts attacks that deal bashing damage (including crush maneouvres) is increased by her Martial Arts.

Darkness's Indiscriminate Embrace

Cost: 5m

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Keywords: None

Minima: 5/2

Prereq. Charms: Velvet Folds of Night Form

T he night sky cares not for what invades its domain – its limits are beyond mortal comprehension. Instead, it draws in all approachers until they are lost in its inky depths. Activated in response to a successful attack, this Charm allows the Exalt to make an immediate grapple counterattack. She may not use this Charm if she is already grappling her limit of attackers (typically her Essence, due to Thousand Leagues Understanding).

Harmony bonus: If the Exalt is in female shape and has Velvet Folds of Night Form active, she may activate this Charm in response to an unsuccessful attack also.

Sunlight's Shadowy Mirror

Cost: 2m, 1w

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Keywords: None

Minima: 5/2

Prereq. Charms: Velvet Folds of Night Form

Darkness envelops light, marking its every boundary and reflecting its every movement. The martial artist learns to emulate this darkness, complementing their partner's every move. Whenever she is the subject of an effect in a grapple (throws, crushes, or more esoteric effects such as Throat-Baring Hold), she may activate this Charm to apply that effect to her grappler.

Harmony bonus: If the Exalt is in female shape and has Velvet Folds of Night Form active, this Charm is treated as an innate power instead, as with (Ability) Essence Flow.

Heavenly Union Form

Cost: 5m, 1w

Duration: One scene

Type: Simple

Keywords: Form-type

Minima: 5/3

Prereq. Charms: Bowel-Loosening Surprise Assault, Dazzling Courtship Method, Darkness's Indiscriminate Embrace, Sunlight's Shadowy Mirror

The exalt perfectly intertwines the exercises and katas practiced earlier, twining their movements into a perfect union of focused strength and formless adaptivity. Where they need be firm, they are firm. Where they need be supple, they are supple. They are all things to all comers, and thus intertwine the abilities of both previously learnt forms.

When grappling with an opponent, their DV suffers no penalty. They may elect to add their Essence in automatic successes when determining control of a grapple; if they do, victory indicates that they have still lost control of the grapple, but their opponent cannot break the hold. Their crush maneouvres and unarmed strikes are Piercing. If they deal Bashing damage, their raw damage is increased by the Exalt's Martial Arts score. Finally, they always receive Harmony bonuses with every Charm of this Style.

Comments

Amusing... very much so, hmmm... dare I ask how the original inventors ended up?
~ haku

You might also want to know which is which in the minimums, ie. essence/martial arts or martial arts/essence.
~ Haku