MartialArts/WesternTorrentStyle

Western Torrent Style

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Western Torrent Style is closely tied to the ancient Mosok, who often employed its assassin-like capabilities as part of their daily activities. Mastery of the style requires serious exploration of the Path of Shimmering Water, which also appealed greatly to its Mosok practitioners.

Weapons and Armor

Western Torrent Style is a clinching style, and as such teaches the use of the pankrator's cestus, along with the artifact versions: the crushfist and the Dragon King's vegetative equivalent, the clinchvine bracers. As with all Dragon King styles, Western Torrent Style allows the use of armor.

Charms

Crushing Wave Grip</b>

<b>Cost: 4 motes
Duration: Instant	
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: None

Water is relentless, and the Dragon King may imitate its endless power. The Dragon King may double her base clinch damage (not extra successes). This damage is lethal. The Essence for this Charm must be spent before the attack roll.

Hidden Depths Kata</b>

<b>Cost: 3 motes per +1 Difficulty
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Crushing Wave Grip

The Dragon King wraps herself in a shroud of watery Essence, protecting herself from an attack. For every three motes spent to activate this Charm, the difficulty to strike the Dragon King increases by +1. The maximum difficulty increase is equal to the Dragon King’s Permanent Essence. This Charm must be activated before an attacker makes his attack roll and is an illusion effect; any Charm or magic that penetrates illusions will allow the user to ignore this difficulty.

Sudden Undertow Strike</b>

<b>Cost: 3 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Martial Arts rating in turns
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Crushing Wave Grip

Just as the still waters can hide dangerous undercurrents, so too does the Dragon King learn how to seize her opponents when they least expect it. When the Dragon King makes a clinch attack against a target that is unable to defend himself effectively due to surprise or being attacked from behind (see page 238 of the Exalted rulebook), the Dragon King may add her Permanent Essence to all clinch attacks and clinch rolls made for the Charm’s duration. This Charm ends immediately if either opponent ends the clinch.

Western Torrent Form</b>

<b>Cost: 5 motes
Duration: Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Hidden Depths Kata, Sudden Undertow Strike, Guise of the New Form

When the Dragon King activates this Charm, her form seems to blur and ripple, as though seen through a fast-moving current. For the rest of the scene, the anyone attacking the Dragon King must subtract her Permanent Essence from their dice pools. This is an illusion-based ability, and any effect that overcomes illusions will negate this penalty.

The Dragon King may not have more than one Form-type Charm activated at any time.

Stream Carries Pebble</b>

<b>Cost: 4 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Western Torrent Form

With but a touch, the Dragon King may claim an opponent’s weapon for her own. She makes a standard disarming roll, but the difficulty of the roll is reduced by her Permanent Essence (to a minimum of Difficulty 1). If the Dragon King wins the disarming contest and has any hands free, she may choose to end up holding the weapon. This Charm may be used outside of combat to take a sheathed weapon from another character; if used in this fashion, the target does not get the usual Wits + combat Ability roll to resist the disarming. The Dragon King must still touch the target, however. This ability cannot affect attuned artifact weapons.

Savage Typhoon Blow

Cost: 5 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Western Torrent Form

After an opponent attempts to strike the Dragon King in hand to hand combat and fails, she may make an immediate Martial Arts clinch attack against the attacker as a counterattack. In addition to her usual Dexterity + Martial Arts roll, she may add any extra successes achieved by parrying the attack as additional dice for the counterattack. She may not gain these dice if she attempted to dodge the attack (regardless of whether the dodge was successful).

This is a counterattack Charm and may not be used in response to a counterattack, nor can other counterattacks be used in response to it.

Shroud of the Darkening Deep</b>

<b>Cost: 3 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Western Torrent Form

A few feet below the surface of the waters, the Unconquered Sun’s light fades, and all within it becomes invisible. So too the Dragon King with this Charm.

If the Dragon King is attempting to conceal herself, either through mundane stealth or magical effect, she may activate this Charm as she makes a clinch attack to avoid revealing herself when she attacks. The target still perceives her normally. If the attack is successful, she may extend the benefits of her stealth or concealment magic to her target, regardless of whether the target is willing. When she and her target make their contested clinch roll each round, she may activate this Charm to maintain its effects until the following turn. This Charm is only effective if the Dragon King wins the contested roll; however, until her opponent overcomes her in this fashion, nothing the opponent does can disturb the concealment.

Once the opponent reveals himself the Charm ends and may not be reactivated without beginning a new clinch. This Charm does not work on a target with higher Permanent Essence than the Dragon King.

Shimmering Current Defense Method</b>

<b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One scene
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Stream Carries Pebble, Savage Typhoon Blow, Shroud of the Darkening Deep, Veil of Deception

Every spear fisher knows that you must adjust your aim when thrusting into the water, because the water itself will confuse you as to where your target truly is. The Dragon King learns the secrets of this protection. By activating this Charm when she makes a clinch attack, the Dragon King uses illusionary magic to blend her appearance with that of her opponent. Combining this confusion with rapid, Essence-driven movement, she makes it all but impossible for onlookers to determine which combatant they are attacking.

For the duration of the Charm, whenever the Dragon King is attacked while in a clinch by someone other than an opponent she is clinching, she may make a reflexive Manipulation + Martial Arts roll against a difficulty equal to the Permanent Essence of the opponent she is clinching. If this roll succeeds, she redirects the attack to the targeted opponent – it is as though the attack were directed at that opponent all along. This is considered a dodge maneuver.

She may only use this ability if she won the last clinch roll against that opponent. This ability may not be used more than twice per turn.