Zahaqiel/MartialArtsHorrifyingBeastWithinStyle
Horrifying Beast Within Style
Originally designed to further a Solar’s understanding of what it means to be a so-called Anathema, the Horrifying Beast Within Style martial art is a lengthy spiritual journey of self-awareness. A lengthy, horror-filled, murderous, probably highly illegal, definitely highly immoral, spiritual journey of self-awareness.
This martial art recognises the distinct separate natures of the Hun and Po souls. The Hun soul makes up the higher, controlling portion of a person, while the Po makes up the vitality, power, hunger and uncontrollable rage that supports it. The Po soul also holds the shard of exaltation, so in Exalts it is doubly the seat of power within the soul.
The Horrifying Beast Within Style seeks to call forth the Po soul, and allow it to surface in all its ravening, horrific splendour; temporarily shunting aside the practitioner’s self-identity and replacing it with that of an unstoppable monster. Eventually it even seeks to master that monster.
Weapons and Armour: This style is compatible with any weapons that a practitioner can already wield with their Martial Arts ability. It is incompatible with armour.
Complementary Abilities: This style requires the practitioner have a minimum of three dots of Integrity to begin training in it. A practitioner’s Compassion must also be lower than or equal to their Permanent Essence rating. Should it exceed their Essence rating at any time, they can no longer use or learn any of the Horrifying Beast Within charms until their Essence is increased or their Compassion is decreased to meet this requirement.
Some practitioners may also find this martial art complementary to certain uses of their Presence ability.
Eyes of the Beast Prana
Cost: 5m
Mins: MA 2, Essence 1
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Keywords: Obvious, Emotion, Combo-OK
Prerequisite Charms: None.
Effect: As the beast within rises up within the martial artist, his irises take on an unnaturally vibrant colour, while the whites of his eyes swirl to a deep black and he begins to look… unnatural and wrong. Onlookers begin to feel an uncontrollable dread terror rising within themselves.
All animals able to sense the practitioner in some way, or that are within [Essence x 10] yards immediately attempt to flee his vicinity. Anyone who can perceive the practitioner and who’s MDV is lower than the practitioner’s [Permanent Essence + Valor] receives a –1 die penalty for any action against the practitioner. Should the practitioner actually try to instill fear (whether through a [Charisma + Presence] roll or through other charms) the subjects of such an attempt suffer an additional –1 die penalty to resist (for a total die penalty of –2). Those who’s MDV is lower than the practitioner’s [Permanent Essence + Valor] by three or more begin to flee as soon as the first opportunity presents itself, although they can resist this for the rest of the scene by expending a point of willpower.
Devoured Identity Meditation
Cost: 5m
Mins: MA 2, Essence 2
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Keywords: Obvious, Illusion
Prerequisite Charms: Eyes of the Beast Prana
Effect: A person’s identity is a part of their Hun soul. By further displacing his Hun soul, and allowing his Po soul to rise up and temporarily consume it, the practitioner completely obscures who he is.
Activating this charm causes the practitioner’s essence to form a stylised bone-like mask over their face. While this doesn’t necessarily obscure their face, it completely removes their identity from their features and confounds any logical attempt to connect this masked individual with the practitioner (regardless of clothing, weaponry, etc). Nothing bar magical means can discern the practitioner’s identity unless an observer is already aware of their identity (either by watching the transformation, or by being informed).
Undiscovered Talon Liberation
Cost: 3m
Mins: MA3, Essence 2
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Keywords: Obvious, Combo-OK
Prerequisite Charms: Eyes of the Beast Prana
Effect: The appearance of this charm varies from practitioner to practitioner; in some, turning their entire hands into bone-like claws, in others, making their movements seem unnaturally angular. Regardless of the way this charm displays, the practitioner’s essence binds around their hands allowing them to deal and parry lethal damage whilst unarmed.
At Essence 4, this charm allows the practitioner to attack dematerialized spirits.
Predator’s Awareness Understanding
Cost: 3m
Mins: MA3, Essence 3
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-Basic
Prerequisite Charms: Eyes of the Beast Prana
Effect: There is a level of awareness that most people don’t know that they have. It comes from the Po soul; a recognition of the darkness inherent in those around them.
When this charm is active, the practitioner is aware of every Po soul, living or dead, around him regardless of visual conditions. He never suffers from unexpected attacks, unless he is so surrounded by foes that he cannot avoid them all. When not in combat, he is aware of all such Po souls around him to a range of [Permanent Essence x 10] yards. Creatures that do not have lower souls, such as automata, spirits and suchlike and obstacles such as walls, traps and so on that the practitioner cannot already detect cannot be detected through the use of this charm.
Horrifying Beast Within Form
Cost: 10m, 1wp, 1 limit
Mins: MA 4, Essence 4
Duration: Indefinite
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Obvious, Form-type
Prerequisite Charms: Devoured Identity Meditation, Undiscovered Talon Liberation, Predator’s Awareness Understanding
Effect: Until now, the practitioner has only managed to channel their Po into certain abilities. By learning the form charm of this martial art, the practitioner’s Po is able to be fully unleashed… It is at this point that the practitioner is able to fully comprehend just how insane and bloodthirsty their Po is.
Activating this charm causes the practitioner to undergo the following changes for the duration of the charm:
- Add his Permanent Essence rating to all his physical attributes
- After recalculating his bashing and lethal soaks due to his now higher Stamina, add his Permanent Essence rating to both as well
- Add his Permanent Essence to both his Valor and Conviction. Subtract his Permanent Essence from both his Compassion and Temperance, to a minimum of zero. These changes also add to any charms within this martial art that rely on virtues for the duration of this charm.
- He uses a new, separate Willpower pool equal to his new Valor + his new Conviction.
- He treats all natural and unnatural mental influences as unacceptable orders.
Similarly for the duration of the charm, the practitioner suffers the following penalties:
- He is no longer able to take Guard actions or retreat from battle.
- He will always attack the person he is in combat with upon activating this charm until he is dead. He may take his time finishing his foe off once his foe has fallen to Incapacitated however.
- Should he not be in combat, or have slain his foe, he will immediately attack the strongest opponent (or the opponent he believes strongest) within his range of awareness, regardless of whether this is a friend or foe.
- For the duration of this charm, the practitioner is treated as a creature of darkness.
Note any charms the practitioner knows, his beast within knows as well.
The horrifying beast within’s Motivation and Intimacies remain the same as the practitioner’s whilst this charm is active (and may temporarily interrupt his death spree, although he will act according to his new virtue values in respect to these). Similarly, the changes to the practitioner’s virtues do not change his virtue flaw; however, for the duration of the charm the practitioner does not gain limit, having already gained a point of limit to forgo conscious control of his behaviour. This does not impair his memory of his actions whilst under this charm, in fact he recalls his actions with the exact same clarity as he would normally, but they feel as though someone else had performed them. However, should he be forced to deal with the consequences of his actions after the charm has been deactivated he may gain further points of limit as normal.
This charm ends either when the beast is rendered Incapacitated (or below) or when the practitioner is able to beat his Po back down into submission. To do this, he must succeed at a Willpower check (using his standard Willpower) at a difficulty of his new Willpower. He may perform this as a Speed 3, -2 DV action, each time with the difficulty reduced by 1. Upon succeeding the Willpower check, he may then spend 5 motes and 1 willpower to de-activate the charm. In the absence of necessary motes or willpower points to spend, he may sacrifice a point of permanent Willpower from his standard Willpower rating.
Should the practitioner die whilst this charm is active, he immediately rises as a Hungry Ghost.
Form is Irrelevant
Cost: -
Mins: MA 4, Essence 4
Duration: Permanent
Type: Supplemental
Prerequisite Charms: Horrifying Beast Within Form
Effect: As the beast grows in power even further, the practitioner discovers the depths of his Po’s hatred and hunger even overcome his body’s physical needs.
This charm adds to the powers gained from the Horrifying Beast Within Form charm. In addition to the standard effects of that charm, the beast within no longer suffers from wound penalties, and regenerates 1 point of bashing damage every action.
Impenetrable Screaming Defense
Cost: 5m, 1wp
Mins: MA 4, Essence 4
Duration: One Scene
Type: Reflexive
Prerequisite Charms: Horrifying Beast Within Form
Effect: As the beast begins to free itself from the limitations of the practitioner's body, it becomes harder for its opponents to put it down. And yet, as they inflict more damage to its body, the freer it seems to get.
Regardless of whether or not the beast is capable of ignoring their wound penalties, they may add the wound penalty they should be suffering given their current level of damage as a positive figure to all their DVs.
For example:
Tepet Altair has a dexterity rating of 4, a dodge ability rating of 4 and a permanent Essence rating of 4. Thus his dodge DV is 6. Having never learned Ox-Body Technique and having taken four levels of lethal damage, he currently suffers a –2 wound penalty. He adds this to his dodge DV, giving him a total dodge DV of 8.
Should he suffer another two points of lethal damage, his wound penalty will increase to –4 and his dodge DV will increase to 10.
Wolf Orders the Pack
Cost: 5m, 1wp
Mins: MA 4, Essence 4
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Compulsion, Obvious
Prerequisite Charms: Horrifying Beast Within Form
Effect: So fearsome indeed is the practitioner’s Po that it can bark out orders and others will follow it; his Po is the alpha in every pack it leads.
The horrifying beast within may use this charm to issue a single direct command to any he is able to address. He rolls his [Permanent Essence + Conviction] against the target’s MDV. Should the roll succeed, the target must immediately do as the beast orders. They are, however, directly aware of this compulsion and may spend a willpower point to resist.
Po Submits to Its Master
Cost: -
Mins: MA 5, Essence 5
Duration: Permanent
Type: Supplemental
Prerequisite Charms: Form is Irrelevant, Impenetrable Screaming Defense, Wolf Orders the Pack
Effect: By mastering the Horrifying Beast Within Style, the practitioner permanently makes his Po submit to his will.
Buying this charm lifts the maximum Compassion limitation from this martial art and alters the Horrifying Beast Within Form charm in the following ways:
- Activating the form charm no longer costs a point of limit, however he may now gain limit while the charm is active.
- The practitioner no longer subtracts his Essence from his Compassion and Temperance.
- He no longer gains a separate Willpower pool.
- He no longer suffers from the charm’s list of penalties.
- The charm’s length changes to One Scene, and he no longer has to perform Willpower checks or pay the deactivation cost to end it.
The effects of any subsequent charms that add to the Horrifying Beast Within Form charm remain unchanged.
Background
In the campaign this comes from, Horrifying Beast Within was a martial art formulated by a Night-caste Solar named Tepet Altair. Tepet Altair was given over to the Immaculate Order when he "didn't Exalt" at age 14. In actuality he had taken his second breath, and it was mostly Sidereal manipulation that put him in the Immaculate Order.
He quickly became a master of the martial arts and (bizarrely for a Solar) became a low-level Bronze Faction member. Although he didn't know it, the reasoning for this was that he had a significant enough destiny that the Sidereals couldn't kill him directly - they had to manipulate him into getting himself killed, so they intended to make use of him in the meantime as a spy and assassin.
Altair realised pretty quickly that the Immaculate and Bronze Faction propaganda about the Anathema was a load of crap. He had seen just and injust Dragon-Bloods, just as he'd seen just and injust mortals. He wasn't a ravening demonic monster, so chances are the same applied to him. But lacking any better organisation and having few strong convictions of his own, he stayed as their pawn. However, in secret he began devising ways of understanding just how far the concept of Anathema could be taken; being high in Temperance he saw that the best way to understand a concept was to experience it.
Due to events beyond his control, he eventually was declared dead by the Immaculate Order and became hunted by the Realm (although he still retained his ties to the Bronze Faction, which he intended to exploit as much as possible). At this point he began developing his own strong convictions about how the world should work. He saw that Creation was on the brink of something terrible, and thus vowed to restore Creation - even if that meant incorporating the Dragon-Bloods as equals into a new order.
Given that this is the mindset of the martial art's creator, it is highly unlikely that he'd teach the style to anyone. He understands exactly how dangerous it is; if it fell into the wrong hands (like the Deathknights') then it could wreak great destruction. He sees it only as a tool to extend his understanding of just how dangerous a person can be deep down, and to employ that to the greater good of Creation.
If he does pass the style on at all, it will be because he knows that the person he's teaching understands the style in the same light he does.
