MartialArts/WhisperingMeadowStyle

Whisper Meadow Style

This style considers all actions made with slashing swords to be unarmed. It is compatible with all non-superheavy armor.

Student Charms

Waking Bloom Stance ((Camellia))
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial Arts: 2
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: None
A flower does not bloom in darkness. Patient, it waits for the first light of dawn before it unveils it's colors.

Sword drawn, the adept assumes a ready stance of perfect poise and stillness. A state of absolute ready. The first time he is attacked during the turn in which he activates this Charm, the adept may make an immediate counter-attack with a number of dice equal to the number of initiative ticks which he has delayed his action, but to his full Martial Arts + Dexterity pool. His counter-attack may be rolled before or after his opponents attack is calculated, at his discretion.

Blossom and Stem Stance ((Verbena))
Cost: 3 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Waking Bloom Stance
Without stem, the blossom cannot stand. Without blossom, the stem will wilt.

As the sword is the soul of the samurai, he in turn is it's body. One is not an extension of the other, but they are together a singular whole. The adept meditates upon his sword with hilt in hand until he feels himself become one with the spirit locked into it's steel. For the duration of the scene, he may distribute a number of points to the statistics of his weapon equal to Conviction. He may not raise a single statistic by more than his Essence.

Crimson Bloom Rebuke ((Carnation))
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: None
Flowers in the ravine punish with starvation one of their own who attempts to take sun and soil in underhanded ways!

This Charm can be used whenever a character within range of the adept's normal movement speed takes an action that violates one of the adept's Taboos - the Adept receives an reflexive Martial Arts attack against the offending character - with movement granted by this Charm to cross the space between them. The adept must choose a single Taboo when he purchases this Charm - and can follow no more than her Temperance in disparate Taboos at any time. Possible Taboos include:

• The adept will not tolerate unexpected attacks in his presence and never initiate one herself.
• The adept will not tolerate others to attack fallen opponents and always help them to their feet herself.
• The adept will not tolerate others to attack intoxicated opponents in battle and always aid them in sobering themselves.

As long as the adept respects the Taboo (which she must state at the beginning of each Story when preparing herself for a new journey and reviewing her current martial philosophies) she will receive its compulsions and benefits. To act against a taboo requires the adept to spend 2 willpower an act that is mechanically simple but emotionally difficult.

Elegant Rival's Regard (( Daffodil))
Cost: 2 motes per turn
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: None
Butterfly and blossom. How much does the beauty of each compliment the other, when they do not seek to outshine?

A formal distance from his foe, the adept waits in patience for them to make ready, focusing himself upon the beauty and fragility of life. This Charm may be activated whenever an enemy is disarmed, knocked prone, or declares their intention to activate a Charm with greater than Instant duration. Every turn the adept abstains from action in order to allow his foe to prepare, he converts a single die of both the attack and damage rolls of his first attack into automatic successes, up to his Temperance + Essence in each.

He is permitted to make his own battle preparations while employing this Charm, but cannot take any other action (such attempting social rolls to dissuade his enemy from combat) or else looses all earned successes.

Form Charm

Whispering Meadow Form ((Morning Glory))
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Elegant Rival's Regard, Blossom and Stem Stance, Crimson Bloom Rebuke
With a promise of further glory the adept lays down the rules of her being in a glorious proclamation as she proceeds to write them upon the world! For the remainder of the Scene the adept adds her Linguistics score to her Initiative and Parries and her Conviction score to the base damage of her attacks. Her movements are like precise caligraphy, allowing her to finish the well-rehearsed movements of sheathing and unsheathing the weapons as a reflexive action.

The character's rules and handwriting appear described in the devastation left on her wake - a person surveying a locale in which the adept has fought can spend one Scene in contemplation and roll Intelligence+Linguistics with a Difficulty of the adept's Martial Arts: success gives a good idea of the Martial Artist's Taboos, Nature and Virtues.

Mastery Charms

Coy Maiden Maneuver ((Amaryllis))
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Whispering Meadow Form
Against the chill of night, the blossom swaths itself in maiden attire.

With this Charm, the adept is never without defense. Unarmed, undrawn, or even simply having expended his action for the turn, he may still reflexively parry an attack with his sheath, hilt, or bare hand. His pool is equal to his Temperance + Martial Arts. This Charm does not allow the adept to parry lethal damage unarmed.

When this Charm is activated in the presence of a large number of flowers, a swirling mass of petals will rise up and wrap the adept in a veil, increasing the difficulty of the attack being parried by 1. Images of flowers suffice for the purpose of this effect.

Tenacious Heart Blossom ((Ambrosia))
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Coy Maiden Maneuver
Tenacious flowers bloom to spite even against the most horrible conditions.

With this Charm the adept adds a number of dice to her attack roll equal to her Temperance score. The adept also adds one die to this attack per Taboo the target has violated or level of Celestial Offenses (see Exalted: The Sidereals page 36) the target has incurred in the course of the Scene but no more than doubling the adept's Dexterity+Martial Arts pool. The adept can commit 1 mote when witnessing a single violation to remember it for later - adding the dice for the infraction even after their Scene and for as long as the mote is committed.

Fallen Petal Feint ((Primrose))
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Tenacious Heart Blossom
Let wilt and rot claim you. Ennobled, you fall to the earth.

Whenever the adept is struck in combat, he may immediately make a Stamina + Martial Arts roll to disarm his foe, adding a number of dice to this effort equal to the number of damage successes rolled against him. If successful, for the remainder of the turn, his foe will find themselves unable to pull their weapon from the flesh of the adept. Even Charms specifically designed to return a weapon to a character will not free it.

First-and-Last Farewell Focus ((Red Spider Lily))
Cost: 6 motes
Duration: Indefinite
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Tenacious Heart Blossom
All the red petals
Carried on the gentle breeze
As if the sky bleeds

The adept designates a single foe as his opponent. He take a turn examining their form and posture and then makes a Martial Arts + Perception roll with a difficulty equal to the Manipulation of his foe. If successful, the adept lets skill and the will of the sword guide him into a stance that perfectly counters his chosen opponent. For the remainder of the scene, the adept ignores all difficulty modifiers for all actions against that character, but adds his own Conviction to the difficulty of striking anyone else. Additionally, whenever his opponent spends Willpower to channel a Virtue, the adept gains the exact same number of dice for his next action.