MartialArts/BlackRose

Black Rose Style - College of Endings Assassination Techniques

Crafted by Sidereals of the Bureau of Endings for use by College of Endings Amiliki operatives, this is a Terrestrial level Martial Art which aids in sculpting a martial artist to become a deadly assassin by emulating the intent behind the gift of a black rose. While it has only existed briefly, those who use this style have already developed something of a reputation for what seems to most to be needless cruelty by causing the deaths of those they target to linger. Yet, to Black Rose practitioners, nothing could be further from the truth.

Those trained in this style often refer to themselves as "messages of death." They pride themselves not on delivering swift and sudden assassinations, but in ensuring that each death they cause comes with a clear understand of why to all involved – the victim, the assassin, and all those around them. Indeed, if anything, they consider themselves far more aware of every murder they commit as they meditate upon their reasons for the act. While it does not necessarily facilitate a more moralistic outlook, it does often leave Black Rose assassins with a cleaner conscience and a more ready dedication to their task than others.

The Charms of this style cannot be employed with armor. Black Rose Style considers attacks made with straight swords, kunai, and thrown kunai as unarmed attacks.

Black Bud Awakening: Student Techniques

Intimate Gift Approach
Cost: 1 mote per weapon
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Min Martial Arts: 2
Min Essence: 1
Perquisites: None
A black rose is left for the eyes of its recipient alone, its warning meant for them and no other. Understanding this most basic of principles, the Black Rose Style practitioner can keep the tools by which he will deliver his message of death from all save those he desires to see them.

Using this Charm, the character can successfully conceal any weapon upon their person without fear of detection, provided it is no larger than a straight sword. The character may conceal a number of weapons equal to his Martial Arts score at a cost of one mote per weapon. Its effect ends the moment the character draws a weapon from concealment.

Mark of Haunting Truth
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Min Martial Arts: 2
Min Essence: 2
Perquisites: Intimate Gift Approach
Many who are given the gift of the black rose attempt to ignore its message. Yet no matter how they attempt to turn their face from the truth, it has left them marked and preys upon their mind every waking moment. Understanding that many will attempt to deny this message, the character can employ this Charm to dispel such illusions and grant their victim better time to meditate on their fate by marking their target physically as well as mentally. This Charm ignored all difficulty penalties on an unarmed Martial Arts attempt to mark a target (see Exalted, page 238 for details on marking). This Charm can be used to reduce both the natural difficulty of marking and difficulty added from other sources such as Charms or Hearthstones, but only for a marking attempt.

Dark Message Motion
Cost: None
Duration: Permanent
Type: Special
Min Martial Arts: 3
Min Essence: 1
Perquisites: Intimate Gift Approach
Black roses often appear suddenly and unexpectedly to those cursed with their gift, manifesting seemingly out of thin air to be found laying on a pillow or a night stand, but their message is always clear. By using this Charm, the character can also ensure that his intentions are clear no matter how sudden his appearance may be. Should the character fail a Stealth contest, drawing forth a concealed weapon, or willingly revealing his presence to another after concealing himself, he may draw a weapon as a free action and either attack or defend with it immediately, splitting dice pools normally.

Unfurling Flower Enlightenment: Form Technique

Black Rose Form
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Min Martial Arts: 4
Min Essence: 2
Perquisites: Mark of Haunting Truth, Dark Message Motion
Having internalized the basic tenets of the style, the character now learns to emulate implication of the Black Rose. They become the silent message of death. A stillness and a hush falls over them, unbroken save for the gentle rustle of their clothing and the sudden, swift motions of their attacks.

For the remainder of the scene, the character may add his Essence to his Initiative and any Stealth rolls or parries which use his Martial Arts ability provided he moves no more than one half his total movement a turn. The Charm allows the character to make reflexive parries at his permanent Essence if he has no other way to parry an attack. While this Charm is in effect, the character cannot speak nor utter a single sound. Should he die while under the effects of this Charm, his body and all possessions he carries will dissolve into a cloud of black rose petals, leaving behind no evidence of his presence.

A character cannot use more than one Form-type Charm at a time. Using a Form-type Charm ends the effects of another Form-type Charm the character was utilizing.

Wilting Petal Perception: Mastery Techniques

Blood-Thirsting Bloom Technique
Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min Martial Arts: 5
Min Essence: 2
Perquisites: Black Rose Form
This is the Charm for which practitioners of the Black Rose Style are often mislabeled cruel, for it is designed to aid in evoking a slower, more lingering death. It is not a tool of torture however, but understanding. As the gift of a black rose often leaves the recipient with days to mediate on their fate, this Charm allows the character to give the victim time to comprehend the message their death will leave behind.

This Charm may be activated when a successful unarmed Martial Arts attack deals at least one health level of damage. It induces bleeding in the victim for a number of turns equal to the martial artist's Essence. The blood loss cannot be staunched by Medical rolls nor the natural healing properties of the Exalted, only Charms designed for that purpose.

Shattered Blossom Sacrifice
Cost: 1 mote per 2 additional dice of damage
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min Martial Arts: 4
Min Essence: 3
Perquisites: Black Rose Form
Be it a message of love or death, a clipped rose ages and withers fast. Black roses, though delivered fresh, are rarely preserved by their recipients. Once their message is delivered and their purpose fulfilled, they are doomed to wilt and fall apart. By employing this Charm, the character channels Essence through his blade to make the weapon take on much the same aspect. Upon successful ambush or attack from behind attack which employs an Martial Arts attack made with a form weapon, the character may buy additional post-soak damage at a rate of two dice per one mote. He may not buy more damage than his Martial Arts score. Non-artifact blades employed with this Charm will shatter into a hundred petal-like fragments.

Piercing Thorn Impalement
Cost: 4 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Min Martial Arts: 4
Min Essence: 2
Perquisites: Black Rose Form
The thorns of black roses are left unclipped and often sharpened to wicked points, so that even swaddling one in cloth to move it will pierce the flesh of its recipient. The character employing this Charm causes his own strikes to do much the same. A successful unarmed Martial Arts attack dealt with this Charm is considered piercing regardless of the weapons regular status and ignores half the targets armored soak, though not their natural soak.

Dead Rose Wisdom: Ultimate Technique

Hollowed Heart Palm
Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Essence in Turns
Type: Simple
Min Martial Arts: 5
Min Essence: 3
Perquisites: Blood-Thirsting Bloom Technique, Shattered Blossom Sacrifice, Piercing Thorn Impalement
The pinnacle of the Black Rose Style, Hollowed Heart Palm is the ultimate assassin's tool, but one which comes at a price too terrible to pay in all but the most dire circumstances. The character must be willing to slay their target, no matter what the cost, and reaching an understanding of the necessity of their action, escape all fear of death and become the message unto themselves. They write an often cryptic poem dedicated to their target and the message their death is intended to convey and conceal it upon themselves.

The character channels the whole of their soul into their palm and shape it as a numbing reverberation of Essence. The character then makes an unarmed Dexterity + Martial Arts attack as a marking attempt. The recipient of this blow makes a Stamina + Resistance roll with difficult equal to the character's permanent Essence. Should the target fail, they are rendered prone and helpless for a number of turns equal to the character's Essence and an image of the character's choosing marks itself upon the targets flesh. There is no Charm nor Sorcery which can preemptively end this effect nor remove this mark.

Each turn after this Charm has been used, regardless of its success, the characters Essence permanently lowers by 1. They loose access to any Charms their Essence no longer meets the requirements for except Charms of the Black Rose Style, which they may continue to employ.

Once their Essence has reached zero, the effect ends and the character dies. As with Black Rose Form, their body and all carried possessions fall apart, leaving behind nothing more than black rose petals. Unlike Black Rose Form however, their soul wilts as well, neither manifesting in the Underworld nor attaining Lethe nor even cast into the void of Oblivion, but dissolving away mote by mote and leaving nothing beyond stains of Essence where they stood. The only thing that remains of the character is their poem, laying atop the pile of rose petals.

Thanks to...

Kraken - For helping inspire Hollowed Heart Palm and offering generally good advice and feedback.

GoldenCat - Who, in addition to being supportive in just about everything and enduring my constant poking for advice, helped a lot with mechanical tweaking and other nifty things.

Comments

This style was made to go with the College of Endings assassins in my on-again-off-again Amiliki project, while hopefully applicable beyond them. It was originally going to be called Winter Rose Style and involve a lot of clinching effects and enticement Charms, but a friend (GoldenCat) expressed interest in doing a Winter Rose Style as a Celestial Martial Art and so I passed the name on to him and changed it around a lot to make Black Rose Style (which several of its Charms already resembled). I ended up a lot more pleased with it thematically than I was with Winter Rose, though as usual I've got no clue at all if it's done properly as far as mechanics go. Feedback/suggestions/criticism, as always, is very welcome. – Greymane