Latest revision as of 23:06, 24 August 2010

Ashen Calender of Setesh for Second Edition

Work in Progress

Oblivion

By haren

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Background

The basis of this martial art is Oblivion and fate in a larger aspect. In smaller aspects, it deals with disease, madness, age, and the Great Curse. The large view is that the touch of Oblivion is felt everywhere. It is seen in the diseases of body and mind that strike mortals and Exalts. It was placed deeply in the souls and sparks of the Exalted with the Great Curse. Mortals age so they might come closer to it in death. Eventually, it is the fate of all Creation to join Oblivion in blissful non-existance. That is heart and soul of the Ashen Calander of Setesh.

It is said that the style was developed as a weapon that even the Deathlords and Neverborn themselves could not resist. They attempt to draw power from the Void, so the best way to battle them is with the very source of their own powers. Even if all must eventually fall into the Void, it is within the power of the Sidereals to make sure such a day shall occur after the Sun has blazed out, the Moon breaks into ten thousand pieces, and the stars have all fallen to the earth.

Three is Peaceful Death. The acceptance of inevitability and the end of fortunes. Represented by the Vindicated Mourner. It has three Charms. The first, second and third hours of the Calendar of Setesh. This is linked to the virtue of Valor, the ghost-element of jade, and the southern direction of change, with a Caste of Midnight.

The next is 6, which is the Many Faces of Death. The fact that all things do die. End comes to all - even if they thought themselves beyond it. Represented by the Faceless Millions. And the three Charms of the fourth, fifth and sixth hours. This is linked to the virtue of Temperance, the northern direction, and the corpse-element of blood, with the Caste of Day.

Nine is the Deliverance of Death. The peculiarity that coexistence *requires* death to, in fact, Be. For one being to survive, or one object to survive, another must always perish. All things desirous of the Sun's warm generosity must consign others to the Void, again and again to keep that warmth and life. Represented by war, or the Devoted Casualty. That's what the seventh, eighth, and ninth hours say. This is linked to the virtue of Conviction, the element of ghost flame, the eastern direction, and the Caste of Dusk.

And then finally, Twelve. The fact that all things, big and small, pass on. But the greater the thing, the more lasting the memory. It is represented by the Graven Monument. And once the tenth, eleventh and twelfth hours are learned, one may learn the thirteenth hour. The Ashen Calendar Form itself. This is associated with the corpse-element of bone, the western direction, and the virtue of Compassion, with the Caste of Daybreak.

The 13th hour is the time when all barriers fall and all rejoice in the silent wonder at the completion that Oblivion brings. Nations cease battling and men no longer see the need to divide themselves from each other with artificial barriers. In Oblivion, even the natural barriers of flesh, thought, and animal instinct cease to drive people apart. Oblivion is like a great mother welcoming all to it's embrace, as they find peace and an end to the dissonance of life in the total silence and darkness of non-existance. This is a balance of virtues, the ghost element of prayer, and the center direction, with the Caste of Moonshadow.

This style is compatible with four weapons, each of which is attuned to one of the set of hours and can only be used with that path unless the final form charm is used and none of it's Charms are compatible with armor. When any form of the style is empowered, the weapon of that form becomes compatible with all Celestial or Terrestrial Martial Arts the user knows. The weapon of the first three hours is the war fan, with which a mourner might hide their face, and perhaps with that their soft smile of acceptance of fate. With the second set, the knife that could be in the back or used from the shadows, is the weapon of choice. For the seventh, eighth, and ninth hours, the spear or lance shows the power of war. In the glories gone but not forgotten of the last hours, the sword is mightiest and is remembered better than any weapon.

Charms

All of these are forms. Each 3 hour branch can be freely combined with itself, but not with others (till the 13th hour Form Charm.) On a seperate note, while Balthasar and myself did the most, I do want to thank FourWillowsWeeping for great ideas and input.

The Student's Sutra of Oblivion: There was a Maiden who wandered,

Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Keywords: Compulsion, Emotion, Form-type, Obvious
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: None

and found herself lost in memory
The begining stance of the first hours has the user take on a posture that reminds attackers of fond and precious memories, so much, that to attack is as if to attack the very basis of those memories. Anyone attempting to strike the user with a hand to hand attack or melee weapon must make a Conviction roll at a difficulty of two each turn to strike. Even then, they suffer an external penalty equal to half the user's Martial Arts rating (rounded up) to attack the user.

Cost: --
Duration: Permanent
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Crippling, Form-type, Obvious
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: Memoirs of Blissful Nostalgia

for she could not bear its loss
With bowed head and flowing grace, the martial artist accepts death passing into themselves, knowing that they will die one day. With flowing blood and growing wounds, they let their fears and pain pass to all warriors around them. With open arms and a song, their wisdom grants them a beauty so that those who would cause them pain, share in that same pain. They cause all enemies within (Essence x 3 yards) to suffer an addition to their wound penalty equal to that of the martial artist's own penalty (who can use Charms to negate their own dice reduction without reducing the penalties of others.)

Cost: 9 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Keywords: Form-type, Obvious
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 5
Prereqs: Serene Mourner's Posture, One complete Celestial Martial art

and so, sought out a way to hold it forever.
Those who have mastered the first hours of Setesh's Calander know that time is against the living. Death comes for all in time, but the martial artist can grant this understanding to those around them. They understand that their coming time is an end to pain and suffering. A chance to join with loved ones beyond. This removes their desire to put off the coming death. All enemies within (Essence x 5 yards) subtracts the half martial artist's Essence (rounded up) from their dodge or parry DVs.

Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Keywords: Form-type, Obvious, Reactor, Shaping
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: None

She begged from the mighty,
With the begining of second set of hours, the martial artist becomes as a beggar who's need inspires pity in those who have more. All beings with an essence pool attacking the user of this Charm lose half of the user's Permanent Essence (rounded up) in motes (Peripheral before Personal and round down) for each attack made against the user. The user of this charm gains these motes. For purposes of Abyssals, the motes gained with this Charm can fill pools granted by Essence Engorgement Technique. As a note, this is not a Shaping attack, but a defense. By choosing to attack the user, the attacker instinctively agrees to the terms of this Charm.

Cost: --
Duration: Permanent
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Form-type, Obvious
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: Innumerable Offering of Alms

and crawled in the gutter,
With growing understanding, the Abyssal learns to feel the touch of Oblivion in all things. They also learn how to manipulate this seed of eternal death to create effects that mirror the curses of the Malfeans on those among the living, though far weaker. Any time the Abyssal makes an attack that has 6 or more dice of damage (after soak), they may choose to reflexively spend 3 motes (does not count as Charm usage) and negate the damage to cause a more spiritual damage. The martial artist rolls Permanent Essence resisted by a Virtue dependant on the curse type. There are multiple effects possible, each beyond the first requiring 1 xp to learn. Each curse is resisted with a roll of the victim's relevant virtue with a difficulty of 2.:

• The person struck adds 1 Limit if they succeed at their defense. If not, all virtues at 3+ are considered "primary" for the purposes of the Great Curse. For Solars, any without a flaw gains one for each over 2 (Red Rage of Compassion, Heart of Flint, Contempt of the Virtuous, or Berserk Rage). Resisted with Conviction.
• The should the victim succeed at defense, the next time they try to use a background of Resources, Allies, Contacts, Followers or Backing, they must make a Temperance roll at difficulty of 2 or immediately lose a dot in the background they attempted to use as they rashly grab at their assets. Should they fail, they automatically loose a number of dots equal to the number of successes over the defense roll. Resisted with Compassion.
• If the defense succeeds, the victim becomes susceptable to addiction and adds +2 to the difficulty to resist or break addictions for a week. Should they fail, the susceptability lasts for a month, and even Charms to cure addiction fail if the victim succeeds a willpower roll (difficulty 2). Resisted with Temperance.

These are only a few possible curses, and the ST can allow others.

Cost: 4 motes, 1 willpower
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Keywords: Form-type, Obvious, Shaping
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 5
Prereqs: Power without Recognition, One complete Celestial Martial art

and she was seen but never noticed.
With mastery of the second set of hours, the user becomes one of the faceless. They understand that all things are weak before death, unable to hold off the end. But, they also understand that since all are equally meaningless, they may take the place of another, while that one suffers their fate. With the reflexive non-charm expenditure of 4 motes in step 2, they may switch places with someone within (Essence x 5 yards) who does not have a higher Permanent Essence than them and is not the attacker himself. This allows them to perfectly avoid the attack if their new position places them outside of it.

Cost: 3 motes, 1 willpower
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Keywords: Form-type, Obvious
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: None

So she took up the blade and went to war,
The begining of this path is the understanding of sacrifices. Nothing worth gain is without sacrifice. As a general places troops to attack and draw attention away from forces flanking the enemy, the martial artist can offer anyone who attacks an opening, but such is only a trap for them. The user grants a number of bonus dice to an attacker for their first attack against the user, up to the user's Martial Arts rating. For every die given, the user gains an attack die and a damage die on every attack made their next action on the person they granted the bonus to. These dice do not count towards the dice cap.

Cost: --
Duration: Permanent
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Form-type, Obvious
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: Herald Signals the Alarm

and gathered an army who fought for her,
As the rich and powerful hoard food and live leisurely while they work and starve the poor near to death in times of war, you may draw energy from those around you, slowly weakening them. Those foes within 3 times Perm. Ess yards roll for fatigue every turn with half your Perm Ess (round up) as the base diff (modified by armor as normal.) Also, while there are applicable targets, you need not worry about fatigue as you live off their life. Charms that protect against fatigue reduce the need to roll to every (target's Permanent Essence) turns. This Charm doesn't affect those with higher Permanent Essence than the martial artist.

Cost: 9 motes, 1 willpower, 1 lethal health level
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Keywords: Form-type, Obvious
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 5
Prereqs: Change Sweeps Nations, One complete Celestial Martial art

till all were dead and herself scarred.
With mastery, the martial artist sees the need to sometimes make sacrifices of their own, that they must move past the limitations of a merely mortal body, even one of the Exalted. In doing so, their body disappears away leaving them as a living manifestation of their own anima. As such, they gain extended abilities since there is no body to mute their anima's effects and they gain increased physical and spiritual abilities. The growth of physical abilities can be represented in a fashion similar to Lunar Deadly Beastman Transformation mutations. They gain one mutation point for every Permanent Essence they have. These are a representation of the character's idealized self, and therefore can not be changed, only added to. (Anima Effects detailed below)

Cost: 3 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Keywords: Form-type, Obvious
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: None

And her pain brought wisdom,
The spirits of mortals and the sparks of the Exalted both contain many memories that are hidden or lost. Sometimes they are removed, but they live on in the Underworld and in stories. The martial artist can tap into these memories and gain both inspiration and the strength to act. Bonus dice granted by stunts in any ability are doubled while this Charm is in action (though the essence or willpower granted does not change.)

Cost: --
Duration: Permanent
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Form-type, Obvious, Shaping
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: Memory of Perfect Clarity

and wisdom brought her wealth and power,
The martial artist takes on the bearing of the greatest and most powerful rulers. These people had an aura of such strength as to seem invincible. All others seemed lesser and far too weak to ever cause harm to their terrible and awe-inspiring being. This aura of undefeatable glory is worn by the martial artist, guarding them in battle. They gain their Permanent Essence to all soak (like armor in that it protects against aggravated) and subtract 2 health levels of damage from all attacks. This can reduce an attack to no damage.

Cost: 5 motes, 1 lethal health level
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Keywords: Form-type, Obvious, Stackable
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 5
Prereqs: Splendor Amongst Despair, One complete Celestial Martial art

and she bought back all that had been lost.
The martial artist can not only call upon their memories for spiritual support with mastery of this path, but also to support them in a more temporal manner. With each use of this Charm, the image of a previous life of the martial artist forms near them. This memory is bound to the current life. This summons one "clone" per use. They share the health levels, and essence pools of the original, and all are affected by a Charms that would affect one. Treat it as if the user is just in multiple places at the same time. Each use requires full attention of the soul (meaning that this charm can be used only once per turn, even with Independent Actions). Subsequent activations after the first in a scene do not require the sacrifice of more health levels. The martial artist can summon a number of clones equal to their half their Essence rounded up. Any attack that would strike an area with more than one version of the user only attacks once. Though in multiple places, should one escape, all would with their shared fate.

The Master's Sutra of Oblivion: At last her desires and passions fulfilled,

Cost: 1 willpower
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Keywords: Form-type, Obvious
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 5
Prereqs: Phalanx of Graven Monuments, Harvester of the Devoted Casualty, River of Faceless Millions, Assembly of Vindicated Mourning

the Maiden returned to home and family,
The martial artist understands that all the previous pathways were just separate faces of death. But death is more than any one of them. To understand it's true power, all must be examined. Activating this Charm allows the user to freely mix the Charms of each previous pathway of the Ashen Calander of Setesh.

This is usually seen as the final Charm of the style, but for those who have explored further there are two finishing Charms. These two Charms can not be activated at the same time, as each is an exclusive view of the power of Oblivion.

Cost: (10 motes, 1 willpower, 1 aggravated health level)
Duration: One Scene
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Form-type, Obvious
Min. Martial Arts: 6
Min. Essence: 6
Prereqs: Ashen Calander of Setesh Form

where her father welcomed her with a hug and took her in,
With a rending quiet, the martial artist focuses their essence on using their body as a bridge to help bring more of Creation to the Void. Every strike brings a fearsome end to existance. Where their hand or foot passes, everything ceases to be. The martial artist's attacks all cause aggravated damage. Objects not made of the Five Magical Materials are unable to soak damage from these strikes, and even those of the Five Magical Materials may be damaged. The damage taken by objects is multiplied by Permanent Essence. As a wave of entropic destruction emanates from the martial artist's strikes, all objects within (Essence x 5 yards) take this damage. Those destroyed with this Charm are devoured by the Void, body and soul. The martial artist must make an attack every Permanent Essence in turns or take an aggravated health level of damage, as the Void they summoned will not stand by with not being "filled". The Style's Form Charm is enhanced by this Charm when the surcharge is paid.

Cost: (10 motes, 1 willpower, 1 aggravated health level)
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Keywords: Form-type, Obvious
Min. Martial Arts: 6
Min. Essence: 6
Prereqs: Ashen Calander of Setesh Form

and her mother put her in bed to sleep and dream happily till the end of time.
The martial artist looks inward and finds peace in the eternal nature of the Void. They call the Void and bring it into themself spiritually, so that like it, they are immutable, unchanging beyond their own nature. Nothing outside themself can force change, instead being quietly absorbed into the emptiness of the Void. This Charm places them outside the purview of fate, as their presence devours the strings of fate. Assume that they have an immunity to all externally based shapechanging magic and Shaping effects. This includes effects that would drain Willpower, allow others to freely use their essence pool, but not ones that indirectly affect them (such as by redirecting attacks or creating monsters). Additionally, all Shaping effects are Obvious to their eyes, and like a mother soothing a wound, they can cancel all existing Shaping effects on a target. The Style's Form Charm is enhanced by this Charm when the surcharge is paid.

Harvester of the Devoted Casualty

The anima effects I've gotten around to detailing for this Charm can be found here (with thanks to FourWillowsWeeping for lots of help with Sidereals). In general it's an increased effect based on the normal anima. These effects are directly based on the anima of the Exalt in question and they can not emulate others unless they have another Charm that would do that, in which case the effect is that of all applicable anima effects.

Solar:

• Dawn: The Dawn burns with inspiring and awesome might. Foes within 50 yards must make a Valor roll to not be frozen in awe. Even should they succed, they have a minus to all Dawn rolls equal to the Dawn's Permanent Essence. On a botch, they do not run. Instead they become so awed that they begin to battle on the Dawn's side, caught up in the moment.
• Zenith: All dead bodies within 10 yards automatically burn in holy fire. The Zenith's anima not only protects the Zenith, but also burns their enemies. Any Creature of Darkness that attacks them from within 10 yards is hit for the Zenith's Essence x 2 in dice of unsoakable aggravated damage.
• Twilight: The Twilight's anima becomes not just a protective barrier, but a mystical mirror, reflecting attacks back towards the attacker. All health levels of damage that are negated become a damage pool with the Twilight's Martial Arts rating added to it. This damage is not soaked by armor, and only by Stamina and Charms.
• Night: The Night can instinctively mute their presence gaining a automatic successes equal to their Essence on Stealth (or similar related) rolls. Also they can reflexively mute their anima banner so that it does not show. It still is at the existing banner level and decreases as normal, just need not show while this Charm is at work.
• Eclipse: The Eclipse can let an ally within 10 yards times their Permanent Essence feel the web of unity that is Creation. This grants the ally a number of perfect successes (they can be considered to get a success with every die they would have rolled) equal to the Eclipse's Permanent Essence for the scene. Every ally can recive this blessing once per day, and the Eclipse can grant the blessing once for free, all subsequent activations cost 10 motes.

Abyssal:

• Dusk: The Dusk flows with fearsome and terrible power. Foes within 50 yards must make a Valor roll to not be frozen in terror. Even should they succed, they have a minus to all Dusk rolls equal to the Dusk's Permanent Essence. Allies within 50 yards are imbued with the power of death, knowing neither fear nor pain. They suffer no wound penalties and never fail a Valor roll.
• Midnight: All dead bodies within 10 yards automatically rise to fight as normal zombie extras in the next turn. The Abyssal can spend 5 motes (which is reflexive) to raise any body within 10 yards times their Permanent Essence as a non-extra zombie, and these happen to be spiritually developed zombies; this comes from your own refinement of your Essence. Choose (perm Ess) Arcanoi from your highest Virtue, which require no more than Ess 2 and (your Virtue) to use. Your super-zombies always have these Arcanoi, and you can add a new one when your Ess goes up. Their Essence is 2, with a willpower equal to the highest virtue of Midnight, and essence pool of (20 + willpower x 5). All zombies are permanent.
• Daybreak: Identical to Twilight.
• Day: Identical to Night.
• Moonshadow: The Moonshadow knows that the foundations of Creation are crumbling into death and Oblivion, and can cause them to crumble under a specific foe. This causes the foe to suffer a number of botches equal to the Moonshadow's Permanent Essence for the scene. Every enemy can suffer this curse once per day, and the Moonshadow can cause the curse once for free, all subsequent activations cost 10 motes.

Sidereal: The Chosen's anima flows outward in an appropriately colored circumfrence filled with symbols of the constellations that allows emulation of the movement of the celestial bodies, and mirrors an aspect of their domains.

• Invocation of Journeys: The Chosen's anima flows outward to (Essence x 50) yards. Within this area the foes of the Chosen find the distance they and their weapons must journey three times greater (for movement and ranged attacks).
• Invocation of Serenity: The Chosen's anima flows outward to (Essence x 50) yards. The foes of the Chosen of Serenity who are within this area find the lines between suffering and pleasure blurred. Every time they suffer any health levels of damage, they must make a Temperance roll (diff. 2) to not spend the rest of this turn and the next shuddering in sublime joy. They can only use persistant and reflexive defenses while suffering so.
• Invocation of Battles: The Chosen's anima flows outward to (Essence x 50) yards. Whenever an ally is attacked while in this area, the attacker suffers an identical attack to the one they just used. Since this other attack is not considered to have come from the ally they can not counter it in any manner.
• Invocation of Secrets: The Chosen's anima flows outward to (Essence x 50) yards. Within this area, the Chosen's allies can choose a foe who's secret actions of the moment are revealed to them. This foe's actions can be named by the ally's player (as long as it is reasonable to do). The foe either does this action, or can act as they wish, but at a penalty of the Chosen's Permanent Essence for that turn.
• Invocation of Endings: The Chosen's anima flows outward to (Essence x 50) yards. Within this area, the Chosen's foes find their ideals challanged. They must succeed at a Conviction roll every turn or lose a temporary willpower. If they should run out of willpower or botch the Conviction roll, they leave the battle in the safest manner possible, defending only, if possible. The most terrifying part of this is that they find themselves open to trying to resolve differences through any means other than battle.

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