MartialArts/GloriousPhoenixEternalStyle
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Background
Glorious Phoenix Eternal Style
This Style is not applicable with armor. Treat attacks with Tiger Claws, Flame Spears, and Rope Darts as unarmed attacks for the purposes of charms in this style.
History
This style was developed by Orphen during one of his attempts at divining the principles around which to base his personal style. Having been travelling in the northern wastes, the vast ice oceans seeking a muse. Inspiration of course struck on an entirely unrelated note. Where he sought frost he found fire and in those frozen wastes the beginning of Phoenix took shape. Like the eternal ever-changing power and beauty of the Great Garde the Phoenix is passion, fire, life and death. It is changing and cyclical and never ending, while always ending and beginning. While not the goal the style demanded to take shape and formed all but whole cloth in his mind. Perhaps so insistent because it would only be half complete without its sister style, a style emulating a different kind of eternity and one embracing Ice. Glorious Phoenix Eternal has become rather popular since its recent creation. Amusingly its creator admits to having not mastered it yet, laughing off the inconsistency. However, the style is only half complete and having never been a creature of fire Orphen is having problems learning half of an unbalanced equation. Glorious Phoenix Eternal's sister style should balance that equation encouraging the creator to finally harmonize his essence to the styles. Glorious Phoenix Eternal Style is primarily taught at the Great School of Kajeth, where a number of students and instructors have been more successful in mastering its charms then its creator.
Style
Cherry Blossom Cinders</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes Duration: Until Next Action Type: Reflexive Keywords: Combo-Ok, Obvious Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Survival: 3 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: None
Power seems to sink into the body of the Martial Artist only to pulse outward. This blast manifests as a swirling play of cinders spiraling around the user like the drift of cherry blossoms in early Earth. Those within Essence yards must soak half the practitioner’s Essence rounded up in lethal damage. The swirl of gently blowing cinders also adds Essence again to DV calculations.
Raising Phoenix Strike</b>
<b>Cost: 2 motes Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Keywords: Combo-Ok, Obvious, Holy Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Cherry Blossom Cinders
The rebirth of a Phoenix heralds the perseverance, the beauty, the joy, the strife, the struggle, the life…all that is Creation. It is a bulwark against and a scream in the face of all that is not the mortal world. The power of these times is mirrored in the strikes of the Martial Artist. This blow holds in it the inevitability of all cycles and any being killed with it turns to ashes, from which no ghost or other disruption of the cycles of this world can be raised. Normally this blow would do Lethal but against enemies of creation it is considered aggravated.
Concussive Feedback</b>
<b>Cost: 7 motes Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Keywords: Combo-Ok, Obvious Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Raising Phoenix Strike
The practitioner with this technique knows the secrets of striking not only the target but also his essence in such a way as to cause a violent backlash. This appears as an explosion caused by the Martial Artist’s blow. Half a moment after the initial hit the targets essence and the essence immediately around the point of impact recoil and reverberate, exploding out seemingly in waves for fire. The Martial Artist does damage as normal but if he successfully hits the target must soak a separate source of damage equal to twice that of the raw damage of the original hit. This second source is considered Lethal.
Raise from Ashes</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Keywords: Combo-Ok, Counterattack Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Survival: 3 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: None
Like a Phoenix raising from the ashes the Martial Artist returns from a blow even stronger. Strike and recoil in one smooth motion. The Martial Artist accepts the blow of the opponent only to add it to his own strength. After the opponent does damage from her blow roll Martial Arts + Opponents extra successes on the attack. Add the raw damage taken from the opponents attack to the raw damage of the Martial Artist’s counterattack.
Death and Rebirth</b>
<b>Cost: 4 motes Duration: One Scene Type: Reflexive Keywords: Obvious, Counterattack, Shaping, Combo-Ok Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Raise from Ashes
Like the blazing reincarnation of the Phoenix from glory to ash and back so too does the Martial Artist seem to die on impact turning to ash in a wave from point of impact back and in the same cascade blowing away only to swirl back together and reform nearby. Any point during the scene in which the practitioner applies his Defense Value he may spend one mote and move Martial Arts + Essence yards vertically or (Martial Arts + Essence) * 4 yards horizontally. This movement can be treated as an attempt to reestablish surprise with a bonus of half the Martial Artist’s Essence in dice rounded up to the roll.
Eternal Cycles</b>
<b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 willpower Duration: Until Used Type: Simple Keywords: Combo-Basic Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Death and Rebirth
The Marital Artist comes to understand the cycles in all things. The turnings of Ages are the processes of her understanding. The births of Eons are her subtle insights. The give and take, the revolutions, turns, horrors, beauties, destructions and unities. All things come and all things go only to begin again when forgotten. Like the eternal yet changing essence of elementals the Martial Artists is one of the few things that doesn’t forget. The Martial Artist can store an attack to be released at a later date. This attack can be modified by applicable charms. This counts as a charm use when the attack is stored but not when released. At Essence six the Martial Artist can store a second attack.
Rivalry of Immortals</b>
<b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 willpower, 1 health level Duration: Indefinite Type: Simple Keywords: Obvious Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Survival: 5 Min. Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Concussive Feedback, Eternal Cycles
The Martial Artist finds and binds a Garda Bird to her Essence. The Ancient Phoenix rests for a time in corporeal form and grows stronger from the experience while the Martial Artist gains strength not only from the bond but also from the struggle between eternal fire and flesh. The practitioner with phoenix fire flowing through her veins and undying Essence bound with her own is powerful indeed. As long as the Garde Bird is bound the Martial Artist heals one bashing or one lethal every other action. They are immune to natural sources of fire and due to this connection receive two successes on social rolls involving fire elementals, spirits or Dragon-Blood.
Insubstantial Armour of Feathers and Flame</b>
<b>Cost: 2 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Keywords: Combo-Ok, Obvious Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Rivalry of Immortals
As easily as the birds of ancient fire cast off death shrugging one form for the next so too can the Martial Artists who have learned to emulate them cast off a blow. When struck an outer skin of sparks and cinders shatters and blows away as flaming feathers of glowing ash to drift into the winds absorbing the hit. When activated he adds his Essence to his soak ratings which count as Hardness for that instant.
Wings of Billowing Flame</b>
<b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 willpower Duration: Instant Type: Simple Keywords: Combo-Basic, Obvious Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prerequisite Charms: Insubstantial Armour of Feather and Flame
With a piercing screech, two wings of brilliant billowing flame erupt from the back of the adept encircling her. All those in the area can feel a wash of heat and then searing burning scorching pain as manifest fire burns through them. Within a radius of Essence yards all those in a 360 degree arc suffer the attack, taking (Essence + Martial Arts) * 2 Lethal dice. This damage is piercing, seeping through the smallest crease and tightest guard and the sturdiest armour. On the targets next action they take another Essence in lethal dice as the flames burn themselves out in a burst of light and pain.
Raise from Ashes</b>
<b>Cost: - Duration: NMartialArts/A Type: Permanent Keywords: None Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prerequisite Charms: Wings of Billowing Flame
This charm is a modification of both Eternal Cycles and Raise from Ashes. Once these charm is purchased if Raise from Ashes is used and Eternal Cycles’s charm slot is open the strike is also stored in Eternal Cycles. This storage does not count as a charm action and only requires 1 mote committed rather than the usual 10 motes and a willpower. Such is the nature of the incarnations of the adept’s chosen emulation that one blow becomes like any other one moment like before and each a part of a whole.
Trail of Ashes, Cinders and Sparks</b>
<b>Cost: 12 motes, 1 willpower Duration: Instant Type: Extra Action Keywords: Combo-Basic, Obvious Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 5 Prerequisite Charms: Raise from Ashes
Like a blazing wildfire or a fleeting spark; the trail cast out by the practitioner is one of wild abandon, searing destruction and ephemeral beauty. In a flash the Martial Artist may move up to Essence * 10 yards leaving a burning wake which extends 5 yards, the movement itself a seeming still-motion lick of flame. Everyone within the wake suffers two martial arts attacks from the stylist and as quickly as the frozen moment comes it passes leaving an after image of still hot cinder. The attacker is immune to defensive effects that hurt the attacker, such as counterattacks of contact damage.
Phoenix Tears</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes, 1 willpower Duration: Instant Type: Simple Keywords: Touch Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Rivalry of Immortals
The phoenix, the stylists and the fire are never just about destruction. Never just about death. There is a purity that only comes after destruction. This is not the cycle of life and death wood embodies with is over abundance. Life survives, it grows, old things are cleared away and new ones forms. This never-ending wellspring of primal compassion is as much a part of the phoenix as the fires of destruction. By channeling a small portion of this robust life force the Martial Artist sheds a single tear, which must be touched to the target. The stylist must sacrifice a compassion channel to accomplish this. In return the target heals a number of health levels equal to the practioner’s compassion, with aggravated damage healing at a rate of 1 for 2.
Firestorm</b>
<b>Cost: 15 motes, 2 willpower Duration: One Scene Type: Simple Keywords: Obvious Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Phoenix Tears
Like many things the power of flame begins quietly, soft and latent. It is the quiet whisper of a dream, which roars to life and consumes all before it. The fire of the phoenix is slightly more selective but just as awe-inspiring. Imagine a storm of fire, trailing wisps and gouts of flame swirl on essence thermals in a devastating vortex of heat. The firestorm of the Phoenix Stylist extends out to a range of Essence * 10 yards. Anyone in the area not the stylist must tithe one mote per charm or spell activated. With the blistering vortex everything suffers XL per action where X is the total number of motes tithed. To the practitioner and any plants these health levels are only phantom damage. This phantom damage still accumulates and applies wound penalties but when it reaches incapacitated the “victim” instead heals all the phantom damage plus one additional level. This effect does not heal aggravated damage.
Cherry Blossom Cinders</b>
<b>Cost: - Duration: NMartialArts/A Type: Permanent Keywords: None Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prerequisite Charms: Phoenix Tears
This charm is a natural extension and development of the Glorious Phoenix Eternal Style, once it is purchased again the charm Cherry Blossom Cinders activates without cost and as a non-charm action whenever a charm from this style is used. This charm is still not stackable and once activated lasts until the practitioner’s next action.
Purified by Flame</b>
<b>Cost: 1 willpower Duration: Instant Type: Simple Keywords: Combo-Ok, Obvious Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 5 Prerequisite Charms: Cherry Blossom Cinders
Like the waking of the sleeping and dead Garde the martial artist is reborn clean and new fresh from her fiery rite of purification. The practitioner arches back mouth opened and the Garde bird within burst free in an ear-piercing screech. In addition to the cost of this charm Rivalry of Immortals must have been currently committed and released as this charm is activated. As the Garde bird leaves the body it burns off all crippling effects, poisons, and diseases, as well as mental or social compulsions, illusions, or servitude effects.
Glorious Phoenix Eternal Form</b>
<b>Cost: 6 motes Duration: One Scene Type: Simple Keywords: Form-Type, Obvious Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 5 Prerequisite Charms: Purified By Flame, Trail of Ashes, Cinders, and Sparks
Upon adopting the form and stance of the Glorious Phoenix Eternal style the practitioner knows what it is to be purifying flame. Taking into themselves some of the rarified and pure fire essence of the Great Garde, the first fire elemental, the Phoenix, for such are the stylists called, radiates a heat mirage and phantom flames of essence leak from their bodies. Such is the power and heat of their acclimated essence and bodies that anyone successfully touching the Phoenix suffers environmental damage as if from a bonfire of supernatural fire which does (Essence)LMartialArts/Action with a trauma rating of 3. Anyone that actually touches the Essence of the Phoenix must soak a number of lethal dice of damage with just natural soak equal to the number of motes “touched”. Any attacks made while in Glorious Phoenix Eternal Form are considered Lethal and add Essence to the raw damage. While this form is activated the charm Cherry Blossom Cinders does not end. Finally if this form is activated when the Phoenix dies they are consumed in a pillar of flame leaving only ash without the possibility of becoming a ghost or hungry ghost.
