MartialArtsRelay/BlackClaw

The Twenty-Third Theme is Black Claw Style

This is a First Edition Celestial martial art, used by the Second Circle Demon Mara, the Shadow-Lover, the Eater of Souls. It is her primary weapon, its teachings her gift to her favorites. It is based upon the principles of love and sorrow, and heavy in shadow imagery. It has 10 Charms, 3 pre-form, 6 post-form. It is an unarmed and unarmored martial art. - GoldenCat

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/fourwillows/Kungfu/blackclaw.png

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1. In the Hands of Wickedness - willows

Cost: 2 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 2

Minimum Essence: 3

Perquisite Charms: None

Mara never releases her grip! When she rolls damage for a Martial Arts attack, Mara may invoke this Charm once. Her attacking hand locks into the 'eagle claws' position and her flesh shrivels into cords of leathery sinew. The arm clenches in her victim's flesh. She grows a new free arm, while the arm now attached to her opponent becomes a flexible cord tying them together.

Mara benefits from several advantages while she has an arm in an opponent:

• When that opponent moves, she may follow at no cost, if she wins an opposed Dexterity roll with bonus dice equal to the number of arms she has planted in the opponent.
• Similarly, she may drag along opponents when she moves by winning an identical opposed Dexterity roll.
• She benefits automatically from all effects that improve her opponent's movement.
• If the number of arms exceeds an opponent's Resistance, increase his wound penalty by 1 per excess arm.

2. Barrier-Scorning Shadow Fingers - willows

Cost: 3 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 3

Minimum Essence: 3

Perquisite Charms: None

Mara breaches all barriers! When a defender attempts to use Parry or Soak against Mara's Martial Arts attack, she may invoke this Charm. Her flesh stops at the interposing barrier, shredding off her black obsidian-mist bones. These incorporeal appendages pass through the offending defense, creating an unparriable and unsokable attack. However, they do only spiritual damage; for every damage success, the defender loses 2 motes.

At Essence 6, Solar Circle sorcerers experience an epiphany of Essence manipulation which improves this Charm. It strips the victim's Essence or 2, whichever is greater, from the victim per damage success.

3. Broken Heart Reflection - Greymane

Cost: 4 motes

Type: Supplemental

Duration: Instant

Minimum Martial Arts: 3

Minimum Essence: 3

Perquisite Charms: None

The graceful demoness leaps through the air and lands upon the shadow of her foe, her hoof thrust down upon the center of it’s chest. This stomp shatters the dark image like a pane of black glass, leaving it’s broken shards scattered on the earth around her. Her heel upon the heart of their dark reflection, she crushes their love with overwhelming sorrow.

After a successful Martial Arts attack enhanced with this Charm is used, Mara steps on the shadow of her target. As long as her foot remains poised above his shadow (she must remain up to her Dexterity in yards away), the opponent subtracts a number dice equal to his Compassion from all actions directed at Mara. Attacks supplemented with this Charm deal only bashing damage, the imprint the cloven hoof of a deer appearing in dark bruises upon the chest of her foe.

4. Black Claw Form - Wordman

Cost: 5 motes

Type: Simple

Duration: One scene

Minimum Martial Arts: 4

Minimum Essence: 3

Perquisite Charms: In the Hands of Wickedness, Barrier-Scorning Shadow Fingers, Broken Heart Reflection

While Mara's black claw digs into flesh it also burrows, more insidiously, into her victim's heart and spirit. Even while fighting against them, she connects with them at an intmate level, gaining sustenance and power from their passions. At the same time, Mara harnesses her own emotions as weapons against her enemies.

For the duration of this charm, Mara may exploit certain actions of any target with whom she is in physical contact, friend or foe:

• If the target channels a virtue, Mara regains a number of motes equal the target's score in the virtue being channeled. If the virtue being channeled is Compassion, this number is doubled. For each mote regained, Mara rolls a die, healing one health level for each success.
• If the target receives Willpower and/or motes from a stunt, Mara receives them as well.
• If the subject fails a Valor (or other virtue-based) roll, Mara regains a point of Willpower and gains an additional Virtue channel in the relevant virtue. Channels gained this way may exceed normal maximum limits, but any over that vanish when the form ends.

Mara maintains a spiritual connection with the claws created by In the Hands of Wickedness. As long as such a claw remains in the target, Mara is considered to be in physical contact, even if the cord connecting her to the claw is severed.

While the form is active, Mara may also channel her own Virtues without paying Willpower to do so. As these dice come from virtues, they do not count against dice caps. She may also channel Compassion without providing any rationale.

In addition, Mara gains wicked black claws. These add +2L to the damage of unarmed attacks, and can be used to parry lethal attacks.

5. Sweet Shadow’s Song - Greymane

Cost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 3

Perquisite Charms: Black Claw Form

Flesh rippling as if it were water around her finger tips, the demoness strikes deep into her target and strums upon the dark strings of love and sorrow within the heart of every creature. This sweet music swells, throbbing along lines of pain and pleasure alike until it overwhelms their soul.

Upon making a successful unarmed Martial Arts attack, Mara may activate this Charm. Rather than rolling damage, add the demoness’s permanent Essence to the targets Compassion. Additionally, if the target fails a Willpower roll with difficultly equal to Mara’s Essence, they are overcome by their emotions. For the remainder of the scene, the target must act as if under the effects of a Compassion-based Limit Break of their choice. This effect applies even to targets who do not normally suffer from the Great Curse.

6. Dark Love - GoldenCat

Cost: 4 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 3

Perquisite Charms: Sweet Shadow's Song

Mara begets love even in her wickedness! Upon striking an enemy with an unarmed Martial Arts attack, this Charm causes her victim to treasure her, and even if he should harm her, he will suffer no others to do so! The victim rolls his Compassion, giving Mara one boon per success rolled. The Victim cannot give Mara more boons than his Compassion.

If Mara is attacked while touching a victim she retains any boons from she may spend 4 motes and one boon as a Reflexive non-Charm action to cause the victim to take her place as target of the attack; this action makes perfect sense for the victim at the time, although it may seem puzzling in hindsight. A victim cannot protect Mara from one of his own attacks.

Boons do nothing but to measure how many favors Mara may extract as the effect of like Charms.

7. The Shattered Chalice - Greymane

Cost: 3 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 3

Perquisite Charms: Dark Love

Whenever Mara takes damage in combat, she may activate this Charm to cause a fit of uncontrollable sobbing and sorrow within her attacker, an unquenchable regret over what they had just done. These tears that pour forth are not salty and clear, but oily and black. They swiftly come to coat her attackers eyes, blotting out their vision. By the following turn however, the tears will have become a torrent. Filling the air with a heavy black misama, the impenetrable shroud extends for Mara's Martial Arts x 3 in yards around the target, rendering the area as dark as a moonless night. All within it subtract 2 successes from all attack rolls and cannot effectively attack beyond 100 yards. This supernatural darkness cannot be pierced by Charms that aid in seeing through normal darkness, though the demoness herself is immune to it.

The mere sight of someone striking the demoness can be enough to evoke tears, to those her finger rests upon. If Mara retains any Boons from Dark Love, so long as she remains in physical contact with them, she may also spend one and cause the same effect in the person whom she drew the Boons from.

8. Sorrow-Drawing Gesture - GoldenCat

Cost: 6 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 4

Perquisite Charms: The Shattered Chalice, Sweet Shadow's Song

Mara is drawn by humanity's sorrow! The demoness makes a Martial Arts attack which deals no damage. Instead, she sheds her skin at her victim's corporeal body, spiritual bones drawing into the his and stealing his most sorrowful memories! The victim of this strike must roll his Compassion. Each success in this roll makes the victim lose 2 motes together with giving Mara full knowledge of one occasion that has given the victim terrible grief, a Sorrow. She can also spend boons to give the victim an automatic success on this roll, one per boon spent. At the moment Mara steals those Sorrows she must choose one of...

• Queen of Sorrow As one who comes to give counsel on tragedies, Mara comes clad in sorrow! Spending 1 willpower and committing the motes used in this Charm as a reflexive action, Mara makes the memories orbit her like shadows! This increases the difficulty to strike her by 1 per Sorrow drawn, for the victim and anyone who shares one of the particular Sorrows drawn (like members of the victim's family, if the Sorrow was the death of the victim's mother). No more Sorrows may orbit Mara than her Essence score.

• Devourer of Sorrow As one who comes to offer a new direction in life, Mara sees past sorrows as things to be consumed! Mara may feed the Sorrows to her shadow instead, gaining 2 motes per Sorrow consumed. She may consume any number of Sorrows at once. This cannot take her Essence Pool above the normal maximums. This must be done in the moment Mara steals the Sorrows, and cannot be saved up.

Using this Charm is a great violation. For the remainder of the Scene the victim may always channel any of their Virtues to attack Mara.

9. Shadow Stealing Strike - Greymane

Cost: 6 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 4

Perquisite Charms: Sorrow-Drawing Gesture

Whenever Mara makes an attack in combat which deals no damage, she may instantly make a second attack using her full Manipulation + Martial Arts pool. Not a physical assault, but one of spirit, her shadow reaches out and grasps that of her foe in a flurry of limbs, fangs, and shapeless, unnameable appendages. Targets of this attack cannot parry, only dodge, and should they fail are yanked off their feet as Mara rips their shadow out from under them. Freed from this bondage to the ground, her foe will find that they move with greater ease and add their Essence to all movement and leaping rates. However, the demonesses feet remain planted upon the very bottom of their being no matter how far they flee. At her whim, Mara can choose to force them to channel a Virtue for 1 Willpower. The will passed through their dark reflection, it's intent is reversed and the powerful emotions stagger and overwhelm them, rather than fuel them. They subtract a number of dice equal to the channeled Virtue for a single roll. Doing so pulls their shadow back to them, returning it to it's rightful place. Unless and until she has done so, Mara will retain ownership of their shadow for the remainder of the scene.

10. Midnight Heart Nail - GoldenCat

Cost: 10 motes, 1 willpower, 1 health level

Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 5

Perquisite Charms: Shadow Stealing Strike

Mara wields the heart's pain! Plunging fingers into her heart, she draws out shadows of sweet nothing that hardens into incredibly long midnight-black claw-like nails that shine blue when struck by direct light, the color of the Shadow-Lover's Eyes. Those claws increase Mara's unarmed damage by her Essence in aggravated damage, soaked separately.

They also beget love - Mara can spend one boon to cause its giver to give himself to her, thus making one attack with the claws undodgeable. Moreover, they modify the student charms of this style. Rooted into Mara's spiritual bones, it allows Barrier-Scorning Shadow Fingers to deal physical damage as well as immaterial. Rooting into the victim's soul, it becomes as painful as love itself when lost! This allows Mara to spend 2 motes to rip out a claw attached with In the Hands of her Wickedness and deal her Essence in unsoakable aggravated damage dice to her victim without the possibility of defense. This only works if the initial attack was enhanced by Midnight Heart Nail as well.

Sidereal Exalted, and those who learn this as a Sidereal Charm, can enhance this Charm with a prayer strip bearing the sutra of the Blue-Eyed Maiden. The sutra wraps around her arms, turning into shadowy bracelets the color of Mara's eyes that whisper sweet nothing every time she touches another, drawing a Sorrow automatically with every successful attack or parry of a hand-to-hand attack, as well as once a turn from people she is clinching or already in contact with through any means. Mara herself benefits of this latter effect like Starchosen do by singing a song of Malfeas whose words glitter around her like faint starlight.

Comments

The first Second Circle Ever, the second or third Martial Art ever mentioned, the most talked about of all demons due to her connection with Sorcery, and nobody wrote that yet? You should all be ashamed. Now, onwards! -- GoldenCat

Awesome theme! I thought I'd offer up a Charm that kinda visibly gives routes for expansion - you should be able to do lots of other cool things with the grappling arms, like more active movement control ("get over here!"), using them as essence conduits, maybe ripping them out of people for free attacks, etc. - willows

Charm tree structure posted on GoldenCat's request. - willows

Hosers. I'm reviving this. Posting a Charm every 48 hours in this or the other relay as long as I can stand it. - willows

Well, this is my first time ever posting something in a relay. The MA relay seemed to have been stagnant for so long now though, I didn't think anyone would mind my trying. Also, willows, very belated question, but did you realize that GoldenCat had intended this to be a First Edition style? Because it looked like some of the mechanics you used (mention of Parry DV in Barrier-Scorning Shadow Fingers) were from 2e. - Greymane

Since this is gone nine months without an entry, figured I'd kick it in the pants. There probably needs to be some comment on how to sever cords from In the Hands of Wickedness, since that will be the first thing an opponent will do. Also probably need to saw how hard the claws are to remove (I'm guessing an opposed test if the cord is intact, a dice action if not). A suggestion for a future charm would be something that forces a target to channel Compassion. - Wordman

With the text of the charm as is, I would rule that to sever an attachment from the first charm, you would treat it like amputating the target's limb. Thus, possible with a specified target and a stunt, or relatively easy with an appropriate charm. - IanPrice

My suggestion: the claws should have Health Levels equal to the practioner's Essence and their own natural soak. They cannot defend, but can only be hurt by essence-enhanced attacks ~GoldenCat

Finito~
I hereby give up my powers of relaystarting, however. Let someone else archive this, and the one who does suggest a new theme, hopefully one that will be more able to keep people interested (or knowing what to do to begin with!) I am sorry I did not touch this before, willows, Wordman (but thank you all, and Greymane, and Kraken who edited things too o.o), since I pitched this precisely because I had no ideas, but had to finish it now to allow things to go on!

So... onwards! ~ GoldenCat