Revision as of 08:07, 5 April 2010

Cerulean Lute of Harmony Style

By Joseph D. Carriker, Jr. and Mel Wong

Background

Another style from the Sidereal teachings of the First Age, the Cerulean Lute of Harmony seeks to use the serenity of Venus as a means of defeating one's foes -- anger, frustration and other such fiery tempers are improper in a truly disciplined martial artist. It is only through the achieving of peace and attainment of joy in the wonders the world that this martial art can be mastered, and its practitioners are known for their smiles as they practice its techniques.

Martial artists who use this style are fond of flowing, graceful movements. Indeed, many of its practitioners use the forms of this style style, drastically slowed down, as a meditative device (at the Storyteller's option, a character who makes a successful Wits + Martial Arts check with a difficulty of their Essence is able to use its forms as meditation, allowing for the quick recovery of spent motes). Those who fight with this style prefer quick, short hand movements and spinning, whirling kicks that appear to be more dancing than fighting.

The Cerulean Lute of Harmony teaches its adherents to attack with the arms that are most easily hidden, such as the concealable fighting chains or the disguisable seven-section staves (sometimes broken down and stored within musical instruments) and the warfan/wind-fire wheel, as well as the artifact versions of these weapons.

Characters cannot use this while wearing armor.

Once, there was a maiden...
... taken by a general as a prize of war.
She played her harp and danced in his camp,
her bare feet tracing a thousand steps in the thirsty dust.
Whirling while surrounded by bright-burnished blades,
she stopped, and she laughed, and they wondered.
Days passed into months, still she did not flee.
She won his heart, took his favor, and in the end, claimed his head as well.
Returning to the salted earth of her people, she held her grim trophy aloft.
"Love betrays," it sighed.

Charms

Bearing the Ewer </b>

<b>Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min. Martial Arts: 1
Min. Essence: 1
Prereqs: None 

Assuming the posture known as "Bearing the Ewer," the Exalt channels the very force of her personality into the vessel of her body, allowing it to augment her speed and agility. By spending 3 motes, the Exalt may add her Charisma to a single Dodge roll. Note that this may be used even if the Exalt has no Dodge action to use, allowing them a reflexive Dodge pool equal to her Charisma alone.

<b>Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Varies
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 2
Min. Essence: 2
Prereqs: Bearing the Ewer 

With a touch, the Exalt may imbue a single weapon that is usable with this martial art style (seven-section staves, fighting chains, warfans and wind-fire wheels) with Essence that is attuned to courtly deceptions. By touching an applicable weapon and spending 2 motes, the weapon appears to be a simple, harmless item of like size but not necessarily weight -- the fighting chain may appear to be a simple belt or sash, while the wind-fire wheel appears to be a simple paper fan. Charms that pierce deceptions will detect the truth about this item, and the motes remain committed into the item for as long as the disguise is maintained. Once the weapon is put to use, this Charm is broken, and the committed Essence is freed.

The use of this Charm places a mark of Essence in the shape of an "eye," like that on the tail of a peacock, visible to those with the ability to see flows of Essence (through the use of All Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight, and the like). Though the use of such Charms does not reveal the item for what it is, it certainly reveals the item as special in some fashion.

<b>Cost: 1 mote per die, 1 Willpower 
Duration: One Scene 
Type: Supplementary 
Min. Martial Arts: 2
Min. Essence: 2
Prereqs: Bearing the Ewer 

Through the use of this Charm, the Exalt lashes out with weapon or hand, scribing the ideogram representing her name onto the soul-pillar of her opponent, creating a strong spiritual connection between the two that can be manipulated. Simply put, the ideogram of her name on another's soul draws her to it.

This Charm is attached to the opponent through the use of a Martial Arts attack. Such attacks do no damage – instead the fingers or weapon-tip of the attack sink into the body of the opponent, who feels a strange coldness in his soul. For the rest of the scene, the Exalt gains a number of dice as bonus dice to attack that opponent (to a maximum of his Martial Arts in dice).

An Exalt may have a number of active uses of this Charm running equal to her Martial Arts during any given scene. If the Exalt is at her full allotment and creates another of these connections, the oldest one created fades.

<b>Cost: 3 motes per opponent
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 3
Min. Essence: 2
Prereqs: Bearing the Ewer 

The Exalt unleashes the Mudra of the Lover's Guise, a hand symbol which awakens something in the soul of her opponents. In a flash, those affected by this Charm connect the Exalt, on some unspoken and unrealized level, with one of the people they have truly loved in their lives. As a result, those affected receive a penalty equal to the Exalt's Socialize on their dice pools to attack her for the rest of the scene. The Exalt may affect a number of opponents equal to her Martial Arts with a single application of this Charm.

<b>Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 4
Min. Essence: 2
Prereqs: Peacock's Feather Approach, Soul-Pillar Scribing Offense, Lover's Guise Mudra 

With the activation of this Form, the Exalt assumes the peaceful serenity and sensuality of the Cerulean Lute in the heavens. While this charm is active, the power of her beauty strengthens her weal, adding her Appearance to her bashing and lethal soak totals. Her movements become sure and quick, as only those who are confident in their actions can be, granting her a bonus to her Initiative total equal to her Performance. Should the martial artist be affected by the Lesser Sign of Venus while using this Form, the Essence of the Sidereal providing that benefit is also added to this initiative bonus.

Additionally, this confidence pervades her strikes with this Form, adding her Essence to all damage inflicted with Martial Arts attacks using this style's Charms or style weapons.

Moreover, the Exalt with Cerulean Lute of Harmony Form activated becomes closer entwined to those she is linked to via the Soul-Pillar Scribing Offense. Any time she misses an attack (whether due to a poor roll or Dodge successes, not parries), she may reflexively spend 2 motes in order to redirect that attack along the string that binds the two of them together, allowing the same attack to be directed at the Soul-Pillar-bound opponent. This redirected attack may be made even if the one to whom the martial artist is connected is not in range of the attack -- the redirected attack is focused on the string that connects them, sending the grievous effects of that assault down its length to ground out in the opponent. This cannot be used if the attack originally targeted the Soul-Pillar-bond opponent.

Characters cannot activate more than one Form-type Charm at a time.

<b>Cost: 3 motes per attack
Duration: Instant
Type: Extra Action
Min. Martial Arts: 4
Min. Essence: 3
Prereqs: Cerulean Lute of Harmony Form 

Moving her feet to the song of the Musician constellation in the heavens, the Exalt quickly dances among her foes, striking at them. She may purchase extra Martial Arts attacks, though each attack must be used to attack a different opponent, and she may only buy a number of extra attacks equal to her Performance.

<b>Cost: 4 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 3
Prereqs: Thousand Drumming Footsteps Meditation 

The Exalt who unleashes the Whirling Dervish Blow is terrible to behold, indeed. In a burst of speed, the Exalt may make a Martial Arts attack against everyone within her Essence in yards. The Exalt makes a single attack roll, and that is applied against everyone in that area that she wishes to strike. The character using this attack may not split her dice pool, nor may this be comboed with multiple action Charms.

Additionally, if this Charm is comboed with Charms that affect individual targets (such as with Ecstatic Whore's Kiss), the cost of that Charm must be paid for each opponent thus affected, even though the Whirling Dervish Blow is technically a single attack.

<b>Cost: 4 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Min. Martial Arts: 4
Min. Essence: 2
Prereqs: Cerulean Lute of Harmony Form 

By striking at the pleasure centers of an opponent's body, the Exalt may overwhelm her opponent with waves of ecstatic bliss. In addition to the damage of a normal Martial Arts attack, opponents struck by an attack augmented by this Charm receive a dice penalty equal to the martial artist's Charisma. This fades at a rate of one point of penalty per turn. Multiple strikes are cumulative, capable of incapacitating a foe with waves of sheerest pleasure.

The Martial Arts attack must gain enough successes to inflict damage, but the Exalt may choose to "pull" her blow, inflicting no damage other than triggering the pleasure centers of her opponent.

<b>Cost: varies
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 3
Prereqs: Ecstatic Whore's Kiss 

Once the Exalt has created the spirit strings between herself and her opponent through the use of Soul-Pillar Scribing Offense, she may draw upon the Essence of the Musician constellation, strumming the connection as though it were the string of a sanxian. This permits the Exalt to make attacks upon the opponent without actually being in close range to her – she need only be able to see her opponent, whom she must has successfully used Soul-Pillar Scribing Offense upon earlier in the scene. In order to perform any of these, she must make a unique attack roll using her Dexterity + Performance, which cannot be dodged, but may be parried. She must then decide what chord to play:

• Soul-Wrenching Chord (4 motes): The Exalt plays a discordant tone upon the soul-string, sending waves down the connection that rip her opponent apart from the inside out. This attack does a base damage of the Exalt's Charisma, with successes added normally. The soak from worn armor does not apply against this attack, though all other means of increasing soak do, including bonuses gained from other artifacts.
• Foot-Trembling Chord (2 motes): The Exalt swirls the connecting thread around the opponent's foot and then plays a jarring, sharp chord upon it, snapping it taut and jerking the opponent's feet out from under her. This attack is treated as a Sweep (see Exalted, p240), doing her Martial Arts in base damage. The opponent so attacked must gain a number of successes equal to the Exalt's Essence in order to avoid losing her feet.
• Body-Jarring Chord (5 motes): The Exalt strums the connection, setting up a vibration that rises in strength and tone over a period of several seconds, rendering the opponent nearly helpless during that time. This attack does no damage, but if successful, the Exalt's player rolls a reflexive Charisma + Martial Arts check reflexively opposed by the opponent's Stamina + Endurance. If the Exalt wins thiscontest, the opponent is stunned for a number of turns equal to the Exalt's net successes. During this time, the opponent may take no actions as his body reacts to the soul-deep vibration of the Body-Jarring Chord, sickening and dizzying him. Though he may not even defend normally, he may use Charms that permit him to purchase defensive actions.
• Form-Mending Chord (3 motesMartialArts/CeruleanLuteofHarmonyStyle1/Health Level): The Exalt delicately plays the connection, rending a peaceful chord in the opponent's soul that resonates through the opponent's body, driving away the discordance of wounds. This permits the Exalt to heal the one who whom she is bound by the Soul-Pillar. This Chord heals bashing damage or changes lethal damage into bashing damage. The character may affect a number of health levels of damage equal to her Compassion per application of this Charm.

This Charm is explicitly comboable with Performance Charms.

<b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: Whirling Dervish Blow, Musician's Fateful Chord 

Through the use of this Charm, the Exalt imbues herself with the very Essence of Serenity, becoming a radiant being of peace and beauty, seemingly embodying all that is good, restful and wondrous in the world. While this Charm is active, the difficulty to attack the Exalt is increased by the Compassion of the attacker, for only those who are truly hard of heart may bring themselves to strike out at her with any true force.

Additionally, while this Charm is active, the Exalt's own Essence flows reverse through her Gates of Pain, transforming agony into splendid, uplifting ecstasy. Any dice penalties from pain and wound penalties are instead changed into bonus dice as the Exalt is flooded with beauteous sensation that reaffirms her path as one of peaceful joy in the world.

Sidereal Exalted, and those who learn this Charm as a Sidereal Charm, can enhance it with a prayer strip marked with the scripture of the Barefooted Maiden. The character may, upon activating this Charm, seize up a single thread she has created through the use of Soul-Pillar Scribing Offense and bind the prayer strip to it, spending 1 XP. The strip disappears in a soft glow the color of orchids and the scent of peony blossoms fills the area around the Exalt and the one bound to her.

This permanently binds that thread between the Exalt and her opponent. In addition to the normal effects of those connections created through the use of Soul-Pillar Scribing Offense, the Exalt may use another technique, referred to as Plucking the Strands of Fate. Essentially, the Exalt may use any of her normal social abilities upon the target without actually being in the room with them -- this includes Charms from the Bureaucracy, Performance, Presence and Socialize abilities. At her whim, she may terrify the opponent, causing inexplicable and sudden bursts of fear and panic, or play a sad melody upon her instrument, causing him to succumb to bouts of melancholy.

This connection may be viewed by those capable of seeing flows of Essence, as long as their gaze is keen enough to spot its subtle presence, requiring a Perception + Awareness roll, with a difficulty of the Exalt's Essence. Those who are capable of viewing it may attempt to sever the thread through the use of a five hour ritual, requiring a Manipulation + Occult check, with a difficulty of the Exalt's Martial Arts. The Exalt to whom the opponent is bound will immediately know when such a ritual has begun, as well as gaining a rough idea of where it is taking place.

This permanent connection does count against the number of such connections that the Exalt may have at any one time, as per the limits described in Soul-Pillar Scribing Offense, above.

I'm thinking of using this style for a character so have made a charm layout diagram thingy for it (like Mapache has made). You can find it here: http://www.voidstate.com/downloads/Cerulean_Lute_Of_Harmony.pdf - Voidstate

For reference, in the Sidereals game I'm going to be playing in, LiOfOrchid has made the following changes:

• Ecstatic Whore's Kiss now does no damage, but the cost and cumulative effect are the same.
• The Form charm no longer gives you the Soul-Pillar Scribing extra attacks. The bonus to damage applies to all unarmed martial arts attacks made while the Form is active, Charm-enhanced or not, and including signature weapons.

Others might want to do the same. - Voidstate