Artifacts/DarlothIcefist

Icefist
Artifact ••••
Soulsteel 'smashfist'
Commitment: 8 motes
Stats below - there are a few separate statlines.

Icefist is a deceptively delicate looking construction of soft, black dyed leather, with 13 small yet finely detailed soulsteel stiffeners sown onto the outside. The stiffeners are usually oval in shape, with skilled scrollwork round the edge, and an intricate and unique design in the centre. They are never more than an inch long or half an inch wide, but vary in size depending on their placement. The stiffeners are sown in around the inside design, and thus do not actually stiffen the glove very much at all. In addition, they never even come close to touching each other, giving the impression that this item was created by someone who was far more interested in aesthetics than the actual armour value or practicality in combat. At best, it could be used as the dueling glove of a noble, or some other noncombative application.

However, while it has the appearance of a piece of art or an interesting curio, Icefist is a deadly and fatal weapon of pain and death. It always feels bitingly cold to the touch, and anyone actually touching the soulsteel will find their skin sticking to the deep black metal as if it were colder than the ice of the far north. The gauntlet is pleasantly and deceptively cool to wear, especially if the wearer is attuned, and transmits sensations like it was made from gossamer.

The otherworldly cold of the ovals means that a wearer will do +1L damage with the glove alone if used in melee combat, whether they are attuned or not. It still cannot block lethal damage on its own, however. In addition, if the glove is attuned, it grants +3 dice on all rolls to resist cold, as well as reducing the damage dice (not levels) of any magical cold attack by 1. This is explicitly allowed to reduce the damage of such an attack to 0 dice. Finally, if attuned, the glove has the soulsteel magical material bonus, and as such will drain essence and gain +1 accuracy.

The true power of the gauntlet becomes evident when it is placed in water, for the freezing touch of the soulsteel ovals spreads rapidly. If the bearer is not attuned, they will find themselves holding a massive block of ice on the end of their arm, which can be used as an awkward club at best.

If the wearer -is- attuned, however, the magic of the glove causes the ice to freeze with exactingly precise fracture patterns. If it is hit against any solid surface, the outer ice will shatter, revealing a gigantic fist of crystal clear ice. The fist will move, mimicking the wearer's gloved hand, and can be used as a weapon or even to carefully and delicately manipulate items. The fist will always be clawed and cruel-looking, and is freezing cold to the touch. In this form, it both inflicts and blocks lethal damage, and has the statistics below. It can be treated as a smashfist if the need to classify it arises.

		Spd	Acc	Dam	Pry	Rate	Notes:
Icefist: 	+3	+3	+5L	+2	8	Soulsteel included, drains Essence
PC Icefist	-3	+3	+7L	+3	8	Soulsteel included, drains Essence

If there is no water nearby, 5 motes of essence can be (reflexively) channeled through the glove, causing it to boil and crackle with ice-white essence. Moments later, this will evaporate in clouds of freezing vapor, and the icefist will be revealed as it leaves.

These minor powers all pale in comparison to the true core of the weapon, however. Every time Icefist (the large frozen smashfist, not the gauntlet itself) strikes a blow, is blocked with a parry, or is used to block an attack itself, the ice will shatter and blast outwards, trailing blue-white smokey tendrils and bitingly cold arctic winds. This inflicts environmental damage on anyone within a yard of the impact point, most certainly the target of an attack, and also most certainly whoever is wearing the gauntlet. The difficulty to resist this effect is 2, rolled with Stamina + Resistance as normal, and it inflicts 2L damage if resisted, 4L if not. It should be noted that automatic success is explicitly allowed for this resistance roll. This power is automatic and involuntary, and happens every single time the above conditions occur, but of course, the giant icy fist does need to be active for the ice to be there. The fist is never destroyed once it has been created, and lasts for an entire scene, regrowing in smokey drifts of icewhite essence. The wielder may dismiss it at any time, and it immediately breaks into chunks of ice, falling away from the gauntlet. This ice is real, normal ice, and so if necessary can be melted for water etc, although it is a very inefficient method of providing such. It provides approximately 4 pints per fist created with essence, should anyone need to know this.

Finally, if the attuned wearer chooses to spend 5m and 1w, they may smash the fist into any solid surface, breaking it apart in a massive blast of arctic gusts and cutting ice. This envelops an area equal to (Essence x 25) yards in diameter in swirling ice for a single turn - treat as a supernatural ice storm according to the rules in the exalted core rulebook, although everyone in the area of effect must resist immediately. This power can be used no more than once per turn, and is the only thing Icefist may be used for that turn. However, it is an unrolled dice action to use this power, and thus the user may split their action to do other things that turn, if desired. It should be noted that this destroys the ice-fist, and it will need 5 motes of essence to reform, or to be dipped in liquid again, after this power has been used.

Icefist costs 8 motes to attune, and has no hearthstone setting.

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Comments:

Hopping defences will probably avoid the environmental damage caused by an attack or parry, by the way.
-- Darloth