Hapushet/PathOfCelestialAir2E
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The Paths of Celestial Air
These Paths are primarily concerned with the world of spirits and Essence. The Dragon King's unique understanding guides his words and his will. By mastering these Paths, the Dragon King gains the ability to see and interact with spirits and gods, to command the obedience of the elements themselves. Also, his vision of the ethereal currents allows him unparalleled skill with the bow.
The Path of Celestial Air Excellency
This Path allows the Dragon King to demonstrate his mastery of the motions and whims of Essence and speech. It is associated with the Abilities of Archery, Linguistics and Occult.
The Path of Celestial Air Mastery
This Path focuses on developing the Dragon King's awareness of Essence flows and the hidden subtleties of the immaterial world. At the highest levels, the Dragon King walks among the gods almost as one of them.
Piercing the Celestial Veil (Path of Celestial Air Mastery *)
Cost: 3m or 3m, 1wp; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Until next action or one scene
This power allows the character to see and interact with gods, demons and other spirits that have not materialized. She may strike them as though they were manifested with any physical attack while this power is functioning. If she spends only 3m, this power lasts only for one action, and must be activated before she declares an attack if she intends to attack a spirit. For an additional Willpower point, however, the power lasts for the entire scene.
When using this power, spirits appear just as they do when materialized; while under its effects, the Dragon King may not know whether the spirit she sees is materialized or not. The religion of the Dragon Kings involved possession by spirits, and characters can see possessing spirits while using this power, but they do so at the expense of seeing the possessed character. If a Dragon King were to see an elemental dragon possessing a human while using this power, they would see only the elemental. (Of course, if they activate the power and see the shift in appearance from human to dragon, they may draw their own conclusions.) While using this power, Dragon Kings may freely attack possessing spirits without harming the possessed character.
See the Winds of Essence (Path of Celestial Air Mastery **)
Cost: 4m; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: One scene
The Dragon King can perceive the flows of Essence in Creation. He can see the powerful wellsprings of Manses and Desmenses, the opening of spirit sanctums and the complex swirls of Essence that identify artifacts and talismans from ordinary objects. He can also see the Essence contained in Dragon Kings, gods and Exalts and, so, can instantly tell them from ordinary mortals. He can also see all active Charms. In order to identify specific Essence configurations - individual Charms, Exalt types or Manse alignments - the Storyteller may require a (Perception + Occult) roll.
Open the Celestial Doorway (Path of Celestial Air Mastery ***)
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Type: Simple (Speed 7, DV -2)
Keywords: Combo-Basic, Obvious
Duration: Instant
This Power allows the Dragon King and a number of her companions up to (her Essence) in additional characters to enter the immaterial sanctum of any spirit with an Essence lower than the Dragon King's. If the Dragon King has permission, she and any companions may enter the sanctums of gods with higher Essence as well. The users dematerialize as they cross the threshold of the sanctum, and reappear in Creation on the threshold the instant they leave.
The character and all she brings interact physically with the sanctum, its contents and inhabitants. They may leave simply by walking out the door, and may take with them any items they can carry. The characters may leave whenever they like, but should be aware that many gods are aware of what occurs within their sanctums and do not approve of interlopers or thieves.
If the Dragon King has an Essence of 3+, she may also use this power in combination with a Yu-Shan Gate to enter the Celestial City of Yu-Shan. It gives her no special permission to do so, however, and she will have to justify her presence to the Celestial City's guardians as usual.
Grasp the Celestial Radiance (Path of Celestial Air Mastery ****)
Cost: 5m, 2wp; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-Basic, Obvious, Social
Duration: One scene
The original function of the Dragon Kings in Creation was to oversee the function of the Terrestrial Bureaucracy, and remnants of that authority still cling to them now. By activating this power, the Dragon King takes on an ineffable aura of power, such is carried by the most powerful gods. Though this merely serves to remind most onlookers that they are dealing with an entity of potence, adding one dot to the Dragon King's effective Appearance, its effect is much greater against elementals. When under the effects of this power and confronting an elemental in social combat, the Dragon King increases his effective Appearance by (his Path rating). He may also create or destroy Intimacies in a single scene as an unnatural mental influence, regardless of the opposing elemental's Conviction, as long as the elemental's Essence is lower than the Dragon King's.
If the Dragon King uses this power to create an Intimacy of loyalty to the Dragon King, he may also spend 1xp per dot to buy the elemental as a Familiar. The maximum number of Familiars the Dragon King may have is (his Path rating). Characters should remember that elementals may have assigned duties within the Terrestrial Bureaucracy, and forcibly reassigning them to the character's company may have political consequences.
If the Dragon King uses this power before casting the sorcery spell Summon Elemental, the elemental he summons has its (Essence + Willpower) pool automatically reduced by (his Path rating).
Walk the Celestial Road (Path of Celestial Air Mastery *****)
Cost: (Essence + Willpower) x2m, 1wp; Type: Simple (Speed 7, DR -2)
Keywords: Obvious
Duration: Instant
The Dragon King may dematerialize in much the same fashion as an elemental. Re-materializing is a Reflexive action that costs neither Willpower nor Essence. When she activates this power, the Dragon King may take a number of allies that she can see with her, up to a maximum of (her Essence). These allies do not re-materialize until she does, and then they must do so. Unlike the Dematerialize power, the Dragon King may not stay dematerialized for longer than (her Path rating) days.
Bar the Doorway of the Gods (Path of Celestial Air Mastery ******)
Cost: 15m, 1wp; Type: Simple (Dramatic Action)
Keywords: Obvious
Duration: Instant or indefinite
The Dragon King may perform a ritual (a dramatic action lasting an hour) to ward a region against gods, demons or other naturally immaterial beings. This ward may either prevent naturally immaterial beings from being material in an area or force them to materialize as they enter it. The ward cannot perform both functions, and only one such ward may cover any given area. The Essence required to materialize is paid by the spirit, up to the maximum of their Essence pool. If they do not have enough Essence, they spend all that they have and materialize anyway. Spirits approaching the edge of these wards notice their presence automatically.
The warding ritual requires the Dragon King to place at least four flat, palm-sized crystals around the border of the warded region. They can be buried under the earth or concealed within a wall, but if they are moved or destroyed (a task no more difficult than with any other piece of crystal), the ward fails immediately. Any spirit affected by the ward cannot bring itself to touch any of the warding crystals, however.
To see if a given spirit is affected by a ward, roll (the spirit's Essence + Valor) against a difficulty of (the Dragon King's Essence). If this roll is failed, the spirit is affected by the ward normally. The spirit may not attempt to overcome the ward again during the same scene. Unless the Dragon King chooses to commit Essence to the casting of the ward, however, the ward collapses after a number of spirits equal to (the Dragon King's Essence) have successfully resisted the ward. If the Dragon King commits the Essence, however, the wards last until the crystals are disturbed or the Dragon King stops committing the Essence. Once the Essence is no longer committed, the wards begin to degrade as described above.
These wards are ineffective against any being with a higher Essence than the Dragon King. The maximum area the Dragon King can ward is equal to (his Willpower x20) yards on a side.
