LastDropOfJoyStyle

Last Drop of Joy Style

Collaboration between Chosen of Serenity and Endings resulted in this unique Celestial martial arts style. At select points in the weave of the Tapestry, Sidereals face the regrettable duty to remove a certain person from the equation, to preserve the fate of many others. The Last Drop of Joy style was designed to make this transition as pleasant, gentle, and in its own way rewarding as possible, as well as to ease the removal of individuals possessing significant combat prowess.

Weapons and Armor: This style may only be used unarmed and cannot be used in armor.

Strategy: Typically, the practitioner arranges an encounter with the target in circumstances that allow sufficient privacy and pre-activates the Form. Invitation to Joy is then used to initiate combat on favorable terms. Practitioners rarely cause more harm than they must; typically, everyone other than the target for assassination is merely rendered ineffective by accumulating a massive internal penalty.

As the first step, an armored opponent is Artfully Disrobed, which opens him up to the internal penalty inflicted through the Form and the Venus Flytrap Technique. Use of Temperance Severing Stroke greatly speeds accumulation of this penalty. Fountain of Joy Conclusion allows the martial artist to recoup expended essence. A target for assassination, once sufficiently penalized, may be slain through conventional means such as poison needles or simple violence. Those who mastered this style may set the target's soul free and petition it for Terrestrial Exaltation in its next incarnation.

This style tends to combine better with native Charms from other Abilities than with other martial arts styles. Stealth and Athletics can greatly enhance the martial artist's available options for infiltration and escape, while Dodge and Resistance can provide more immediate protection this style lacks.

Invitation to Joy

• Cost: 4m; Mins: Martial Arts 2, Essence 1; Type: Supplemental
• Keywords: Combo-OK
• Duration: Instant
• Prerequisites: None

Brushing up against her target, her smile an Invitation to Joy, the martial artist redefines the concept of ambush. She adds her Appearance in bonus successes to the (Dexterity + Stealth) roll to stage an ambush in plain sight. This Charm is explicitly permitted to supplement actions of other Abilities.

Artful Disrobing Strategem

• Cost: 2m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1; Type: Supplemental
• Keywords: Combo-Basic
• Duration: Instant
• Prerequisites: Invitation to Joy

Where the martial artist intends to bring joy, dress and armor only gets in the way. With a few casual gestures, she brushes these impediments aside.

The unarmed attack enhanced by this Charm does no damage, but substracts two points from both the target's armored soak values. As long as one soak value remains above zero, the target can spend a miscellaneous action to redo his armor and restore two points of soak of both types. Once all its armored soak is gone, that piece of armor is undone entirely and the target loses all benefits. This Charm has no effect on armor that is an integral part of the target, nor does it affect vehicles or warstriders.

A single application of this charm also removes as many pieces of mundane clothing as the martial artist desires (except clothing still covered by armor). Attuned, magical garments are treated as armor with 2L/2B soak but require a number of successes on the attack roll equal to their Artifact rating to be affected.

Last Drop of Joy Form

• Cost: 5m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2; Type: Simple
• Keywords: Form-type, Obvious
• Duration: One scene
• Prerequisites: Artful Disrobing Strategem

Her demeanor one of remorse brightened by the joy of their meeting, the martial artist focuses the full force of her Charm on her target. Remorse is forgotten as she moves, every gesture supple and sensual, combining two of Creation's oldest dances; seduction and battle. Her touches become irresistible caresses, suffusing a distracting, debilitating pleasure through her victim's chakras. This is the Last Drop of Joy Form.

While this Form charm is active, the martial artist may reflexively spend one mote to enhance an attack (at Step 1 of the attack resolution), which must be made unarmed. Armored targets are far more difficult to affect: the martial artist suffers an internal penalty to her attack dicepool equal to the target's armored bashing soak. This attack inflicts no damage but one point of internal penalty, plus one point per (target's Temperance) successes on the attack roll.

This euphemistically-labeled Joy penalty applies to all the target's action dicepools, with the exception of completely passive 'actions' like Resistance rolls versus poison. It also applies to his Dodge and Parry DVs and Parry MDV (only), lowering each of these by one per two full points of penalty. This is a Crippling effect that stacks with itself and lasts for the remainder of the scene. Entities without a Temperance trait, such as most automatons, are utterly immune to this effect.

Should an attack boost the Joy penalty to equal or exceed the target's (Stamina + Dodge MDV), the martial artist automatically becomes aware of it; this does nothing by itself, but makes certain advanced Charms in the style applicable to the target.

Finally, while Obviously supernatural, Last Drop of Joy Form is not obviously a combat stance.

Temperance Severing Stroke

• Cost: 3m; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2; Type: Supplemental
• Keywords: Combo-OK, Crippling
• Duration: One action
• Prerequisites: Last Drop of Joy Form

Her fingers fluttering lightly over the skin, the martial artist plays with another's nerves like a spring breeze stirring the snares of a harp, evoking the sweetest of melodies.

This Charm supplements an unarmed attack. The attack does no damage, but reduces the target's Temperance by a number of points equal to the martial artist's Essence for one action. This cannot reduce Temperance below one or below the minimum enforced by the Great Curse, if applicable.

Fountain of Joy Conclusion

• Cost: 1m; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2; Type: Supplemental
• Keywords: Combo-OK
• Duration: Instant
• Prerequisites: Last Drop of Joy Form

Once a person is brought to the brink of what his body and nerves can stand, the martial artist can nudge him over that with a single intimate touch. The pleasure is exhausting to the subject but reinvigorates the martial artist.

This Charm enhances an unarmed attack. The target of the attack must have accumulated a Joy penalty equal to his (Stamina + Dodge MDV) or more. The attack does no damage; instead, the martial artist gains a number of motes equal to the target's Joy penalty. This cannot increase her Essence pool past its normal maximum. The target spends the next (Stamina) ticks in an Inactive state. Afterward, his Joy penalty is decreased by his Stamina; the remainder becomes a die penalty for strenuous activity (see Exalted, page 130).

Venus Flytrap Technique

• Cost: 4m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
• Keywords: Combo-OK, Crippling
• Duration: Until next action
• Prerequisites: Last Drop of Joy Form

The martial artists spreads her limbs, her embrace a honeyed trap few can bring themselves escape, their reluctant struggles soon ceasing.

This Charm can only be used in an unarmed clinch with a character who is either unarmored or has his armor at least partially undone. The target's dicepool to initiate, maintain and control a clinch is capped by (double the target's Temperance). A Crush action enhanced by this Charm inflicts no damage, but increases the target's Joy penalty by (martial artist's Performance).

Attacks supplemented by this Charm cannot be further enhanced by spending a mote to activate the benefit of Last Drop of Joy Form.

Saturnalia-Initiating Squirm

• Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive (Step 2)
• Keywords: Combo-OK
• Duration: Instant
• Prerequisites: Venus Flytrap Technique

Passionately engaged in close quarters with one sparring partner, it often happens the practitioner has caught the jealous eye of yet another. As only the selfish welcome too much attention, she twists and lets the other two share the joy instead.

This Charm must be invoked while the martial artist is engaged in a clinch and in response to an attack. The attack must not be unexpected. Despite being clinched, she may apply her full Dodge DV against the attack. If the attack misses her, it is redirected to the character she is in a clinch with (if she is in a clinch with multiple characters, she may choose the new target from among them). Redirected, the attack has a number of successes on its attack roll equal to the number by which it missed the martial artist.

Cruel Lover's Hold

• Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
• Keywords: Combo-Basic, Crippling
• Duration: Indefinite (special)
• Prerequisites: Venus Flytrap Technique, Fountain of Joy Conclusion

Exerting a stern grip, the martial artist holds her victim at her mercy, experiencing a terrible need without being allowed release.

This Charm can only be used in an unarmed clinch with a character who is either unarmored or has his armor at least partially undone. The target of the attack must have accumulated a Joy penalty equal to his (Stamina + Dodge MDV) or more. The target becomes Inactive in physical combat and his Dodge MDV becomes subject to the Joy penalty as well.

If combat ends due to lack of active participants the martial artist is free to act in narrative time, including taking dramatic actions and Joining Debate (the target is not Inactive in social combat). She must remain in physical contact with the target to maintain this Charm, however. Lastly, she can inflict Fountain of Joy Conclusion on the target without needing to make an attack; activating that Charm ends this one.

Joyful Soul Ascension

• Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4; Type: Simple
• Keywords: Obvious, Touch
• Duration: Instant
• Prerequisites: Temperance Severing Stroke, Saturnalia-Initiating Squirm, Cruel Lover's Hold

The conclusion of this style is both a sad and a joyful affair, for those about to be removed from the Tapestry are often not at fault themselves, their death a regrettable necessity demanded by Fate. At times even heroes, paragons of virtue and the Chosen themselves are marked for swift and compassionate retirement. For these honorable individuals, no mere poisoned needle or smothering pillow awaits.

Instead, with but a touch, the martial artist grants the subject such overwhelming pleasure that it shatters the bonds between the soul and the body. She then invokes the power of her office, petitioning the heavens themselves to reincarnate the subject as one of the Terrestrial Exalted. Thus even in death, a fallen hero finds reward and new purpose.

This Charm enhances an unarmed attack. The target of the attack must have accumulated a Joy penalty equal to his (Stamina + Dodge MDV) or more. The attack does no damage; instead, the target is slain instantly.

His lower soul remains with the body as usual. His higher soul instantly enters lethe without leaving a ghost and is petitioned for Terrestrial Exaltation in its next life. Made by Celestials, this petition is automatically granted under the authority of their office. Others who mastered this style theoretically lack such authority; in practice, the officials of Celestial Bureaucracy are not keen on researching the petitioner's credentials for the potential reward of angering a powerful martial arts master.

Female practitioners of this style have a last option available to them, albeit one that is rarely used. Instead of filing a petition, an adjustment in technique allows her to take both the higher and lower souls within herself and conceive, even if this is not normally possible due to anatomical or other limitations. Genetically, the child inherits traits from both 'parents' just as with a natural conception.

During the Usurpation, this option was exercised at least once.