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Snow Monkey Style
- Themes: emotion, survival, trickery
Compatibility and Systems
- Staves, whips, fighting chains and seven-section staffs (representing Snow Monkey's ever-useful tail), are all considered form weapons. This style is incompatible with armor.
Charms
Fruit-Stealing Tail Whip
Cost: 3 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 2 Minimum Essence: 1 Prerequisites: None
Snow Monkey, having travelled day and night for an entire season to reach the Peerless Master Whose Name Is Fire, was famished. She stood before the Master, stomach rumbling and eyes coveting the delicious fruit the Master held in his hand. He noticed the look in her eyes, and with a stern expression that make most men tremble and a voice that shook his mountain home said: "Should you take this fruit from my hand, I will in no way train you." The Peerless Master looked down, and realized that he was holding a rock, while Snow Monkey feasted on the fruit held tightly in her tail. Against his better judgment, the Master took the wayward monkey in anyway.
The first lesson of Snow Monkey Style revolves around using the raw emotion one feels to give power to one's actions. Be it icy determination, a sudden rush of bravado, the need to protect a loved one or a calm that defies explaination, there is power to be had in the connected Virtues.
This charm may be invoked immediately after the artist wins initiative over someone that they can muster particularly strong emotions about; focusing on that person, the artist gains a number of bonus dice equal to the appropriate Virtue to all of their actions against the target for that turn. These dice specifically do not count towards the artist's normal dice-adding limits, but this charm may only be invoked once per target per scene.
Virtuous Ice-Body Trance
Cost: 4 motes Duration: Virtue turns Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 3 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisites: None
Having accepted the strange, mischevious Snow Monkey into his mountan abode, the Peerless Master found that for all her simian might, she was thin of skin and bruised easily. Trying to determine a way to help her find strength, the Master took his wyld pupil aside, showing her a board, a chunk of ice, and a slab of granite.
"I know you can break the board, and I know you are not yet strong enough to shatter the stone. But... could you possibly break the ice for me?" he said, looking down at Snow Monkey. She looked a bit uneasy, before finally shaking her head.
"I am strong, Master, but ice is still dense. I could break it, but I would certainly shatter the bones in my hand. I have tried it before, you see." The Master chuckled, shaking his head as memories of binding Snow Monkey's hand because of 'an accident' came back to him.
"Well. Try one more time, for me. But, before you strike it... pretend that it stole all the fruit on the mountain." Giving the Monkey a pat on the back, he watched as she effortlessly struck through the ice, then looked at her uninjured hand in amazement.
There is strength in emotion, not only to destroy but to endure. Pouring emotion-tinged Essence into their beings, the artist toughens their bodies for the dangerous battle ahead. After spending the required motes, the artist chooses an appropriate Virtue (most likely Valor). The artist may parry lethal attacks unarmed without a stunt or Charm, and gain their Martial Arts in bashing and lethal natural soak for a number of turns equal to the chosen Virtue's rating.
Mocking Monkey Dance
Cost: 5 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 3 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisites: Fruit-Stealing Tail Whip
The Peerless Master and his pupil went out on a trip to purchase supplies for their home, travelling along the roads leading to a port town. On the way there, however, they came across a group of capable bandits, led by one of some skill who bore the blood of gods in his veins. His lackeys were easy to dispatch, but he proved to be a wily one, avoiding their strikes while barely missing with his own. Finally, in her frustration, Snow Monkey batted aside his blade, then performed a most uncivilized dance, making fun on the godblood's meaty body. Her master was shocked at her sudden loss of all reason, but the bandit was enraged beyond belief. While he beat on Snow Monkey, the Master easily struck the fury-blinded man down.
Reaching down to help up the bruised and bloodied wyld-thing, the Master asked, "Whatever caused you to do such a thing?" Offering him only a shrug in reply, the Master grinned. "Do keep that in mind for another battle, Snow Monkey."
One of the best ways to get someone to pay attention to you in a fight is to make fun of them. Throwing in a bit of Essence into the mix, the act can yield unexpected, if potentially painful, results. This charm may be used as a 'counterattack', but instead of granting a retaliatory attack, it allows the artist to perform a quick, empowered dance that effectively goads the attacker into focusing on them even more. Upon using this charm, the artist rolls Manipulation + Martial Arts against a difficulty equal to (6 - the target's Valor). On success, the target MUST do everything in their power to attack the artist on their next turn, and automatically channel their Valor into the attack, spending Willpower as normal. Until they attack, their intense focus inflicts a +2 difficulty to all actions not involving their eventual target of violence.
This charm only functions completely once per target per scene. Every use after the first increases the Manipulation + Martial Arts check difficulty by one, and even if additional attempts are successful, the target does not have to focus on the user or channel Valor, only suffering a +1 difficulty to all actions before their next attack thanks to the distraction.
Mallet Strikes The Gong
Cost: 4 motes Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Minimum Martial Arts: 3 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisites: Virtuous Ice-Body Trance
"... Snow Monkey, what in Creation are you doing making all that noise?!"
Snow Monkey was, over and over, striking the massive brass gong in the center of the Master's training grounds before looking at the quivering mallet in her hands. She paused, smiling at the Peerless Master before replying in a quivering voice, "I'm training!"
The Peerless Master shook his head and quickly left.
The gong roars when struck, shuddering strongly to the touch, and this vibration travels back into the mallet. Taking that lesson to heart, a practitioner of Snow Monkey Style can make a weapon quiver upon striking their Essence-infused defenses, making it much harder to manage. This charm must be declared before the artist rolls to parry; if said parry succeeds in preventing the attacker from scoring a hit, the Essence within the artist's weapon (or body, should they be fighting unarmed) leaps into the attacker's own, infecting it for the remainder of the scene. This inflicts a one-die penalty to all attacks and defenses made with the weapon, and also allows for such rolls to botch on a 1 or 2. Mundane weapons remain this way until the scene ends, but attuned weapons can be purged of the effect if the weapon's wielder reflexively spends half of the weapon's attunement cost (rounded down). Multiple applications of this charm are cumulative, up to a maximum three-dice penalty.
Snow Monkey Form
Cost: 7 or 10 motes, 1 Willpower Duration: One scene Type: Simple or Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 4 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisites: Mallet Strikes The Gong, Mocking Monkey Dance
"I know you're angry. I know you want to punch me until I can't even cry out in pain. And I know that maybe I shouldn't have pinched your son's ass like that. He looked old enough... but anyway!" Striking a fearsome pose, the Snow Monkey sneered at the hulking man preparing to smash her with a chair.
"Your fury only makes my strikes harder!" And thus Snow Monkey went about proving that statement.
Like a kite in the winds, the artist's being attunes to the winds of emotion and Virtue blowing their way, using them to elevate their art. Whenever an opponent channels a Virtue into a dice action used directly against the martial artist (usually to attack or defend), the martial artist gains an immediate bonus equal to the rating of the channeled Virtue; this is applied to one of their unarmed (or form weapon's) stats depending on the Virtue used. Compassion adds to speed, Conviction adds to damage, Temperance adds to defense, and Valor adds to accuracy. These remain in effect until the Form runs its course or is cancelled. This charm may explicitly be activated reflexively (at a cost of 10 motes instead of 7) if the artist is subject to a direct action where a Virtue has been channeled to increase any applicable dice pools.
The granted benefit for each statistic may not be higher than the artist's Essence rating. Multiple channels of the same Virtue do not stack, instead applying the highest amount. This is a Form charm, and cannot be used when another Form charm is in effect.
Studious Monkey Meditation
Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower, 2 Experience Points Duration: Instant Type: Simple Minimum Martial Arts: 5 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisites: Snow Monkey Form
The Peerless Master, even in his old age, made it a habit to practice his arts every morning. Recently, the ever-learning Snow Monkey would join him, albeit while practicing her own techniques alongside him. One day, however, she simply stood there and watched him perform. This confused him, but he did not pay it much mind.
The next day, Snow Monkey effortlessly mirrored his morning katas. While he did not react at first, he could only smile with pride afterwards, once he had scolded the Monkey for not telling him that she had developed such a trick. Needless to say, Snow Monkey smiled back.
As 'Walking in the Footsteps of Ten Thousand Things', E:PG page 248.
Storming the Gate of Virtue
Cost: 3 motes, 1 Willpower Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Minimum Martial Arts: 5 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisites: Studious Monkey Meditation
"This is a wonderful miracle you have taught me, Master!" Snow Monkey marveled as her eyes were opened to her Master's Virtue Gates... but paused as she beheld the seat of his Valor. "... and what wonderful things it reveals to me." She smiled. He smiled.
The Peerless Master Whose Name Is Fire found himself sharing his bed with the sleeping Snow Monkey the next morning, staring at the ceiling as he recalled just how the time had flown by so quickly.
"Perhaps I should have taught her this sooner," he noted with a lazy smile.
As 'Four Halo Golden Monkey Palm', E:PG page 248.
Snow and Ice Kata
Cost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower Duration: One scene Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 5 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisites: Storming the Gate of Virtue
"The Gates are yours to use, Snow Monkey. Use them well, but be careful. Do not overextend yourself!" The Peerless Master capped his warning with a stern nod, causing the wyld Monkey to ponder his words, tail thumping the ground.
"So... if you were to defend against my punch with your Valor... would that make it a cock block?" A mischevious little grin worked along her lips, and the Master could only put his head in hands and sigh.
"Silly, silly Monkey."
As Four Halo Golden Monkey Realignment, E:PG page 249, sans bonus to Martial Arts attacks.
Ever-Shifting Monkey Posture
Cost: None Duration: Permanent Type: Special Minimum Martial Arts: 5 Minimum Essence: 4 Prerequisites: Snow and Ice Kata
"If it can be hit, I will hit it. If it can be blocked, I will block it. It it tries to destroy me, I will deny it that pleasure. That is the final lesson that I have learned." Snow Monkey bowed before her proud master, who in turn bowed lightly before her. "I am ready to leave now. But I shall return to learn more from you, my Master."
Righting himself, the Peerless Master polished the fruit in his hand with his sleeve. "When you do return, Snow Monkey... I pray you will have learned some tact. Otherwise... you are always welcome. Now, may your trip be safe, and may the gods smile on you." There was silence... and then the two turned and walked away from one another. As he walked off, he went to bite into the fruit... only to find a rock in his hand.
He could only smile. "Heh. Damn you, Snow Monkey."
Ever-changing, the artist is ready to press the attack, defend themselves or give added sturdiness to their posture, adjusting to the situation at hand. At the beginning of each turn of combat, the artist declares whether they are adding their Essence to all Martial Arts attack pools, all Martial Arts parry pools, or to their lethal and bashing soak. As a deeply-ingrained part of their Essence through training and meditation, this has no cost, but does count towards the user's dicepool limits when applicable.
