Miedvied/ShinzuiForm
Snow Hunter Form Martial Arts
Signature Weapon: Paired weapons. Usually paired daggers, though also including hook swords, kali sticks, and fists.
Celestial Level Martial Arts. Considered in-aspect for air-aspect dragon-bloods, as for essence costs.
Snow Hunter Spirit</b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes
Duration: One day
Type: Simple
MA Req: 2
Ess Req: 1
Charm Prereqs: None
With this charm, the character becomes able to survive in the harshest cold conditions without preparation. Terrible cold and blizzards are no trouble to the martial artist, nor is hypothermia, snow blindness, etc. - the character is perfectly at home. (As per hardship surviving mendicant spirit, though applying only to the cold.)
Does not protect against the cold found at the Elemental Pole itself.
Arctic Dancer Technique
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: One day
Type: Simple
MA Req: 2
Ess Req: 1
Charm Prereqs: Snow Hunter Spirit
The martial artist no longer has to be mired in the several-stories
deep snow of the northern reaches. The character walks over snow and ice
without pressure; he does not sink in, nor risk breaking thin ice (he
does leave thin footprints, which can be tracked as normal - though the
constantly shifting wastes here tend to eliminate footprints within
hours. Only the prodigious trackers of the Lunars can track someone
here). He moves at normal speed, as if good road were underfoot. he also
suffers no environmental penalties usually associated with such snow,
such as penalties for fighting in deep water/mud, and may gain the
benefits for height modifiers, as his opponent sinks into the snow.
It is not uncommon to see younger Shinzui monks dancing nude atop the shifting snow banks, like fanciful winter sprites.
Azure Claw Strike</b>
<b>Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Required MA: 3
Required Ess: 2
Required Charms: Arctic Dancer Technique
The warrior channels the blind fury and biting energy of arctic essence into her hands. Her hands now do 4L damage. If using weapons with this martial art, they now add 4 damage to their damage rating. Her fists - or weapons - now trail snow flurries through the air. Targets struck usually have small patches of ice on their flesh, though without mechanical effect.
Snow Hunter Form
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Required MA: 4
Required Ess: 2
Required charms: Azure Claw Strike
The character takes on the pose of the ferocious and potent horned snow hunter; usually placing emphasis on the haunches with arms near body midline, hands shifting from claw form to fist (weapon-users tend to move hands in synchronous motion, like the Snow Hunter's horns or canines.)
Add Martial Arts rating to bashing and lethal soak. Reduce the dexterity rating of opponents meeting the martial artist in hand-to-hand combat by the Martial Artist's Permanent Essence (though this cannot reduce the target's dex below the target's Permanent Essence.) All martial arts attacks now do lethal damage.
If the martial artist is killed while using this form, his body swiftly ices over, starting from the point of impact which killed him (such as a sword-wound), and quickly his entire body becomes translucent, blue-tinged ice; a perfect sculpture of the monk's death. If the user is a ghost, then this is blue jade instead of ice.
Shiver Armor</b>
<b>Cost: 6 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Required MA: 5
Required Ess: 2
Required Charms: Snow Hunter Form
The character's body is covered in a thin layer of supernaturally potent frost. The character's soak is increased by his permanent Essence, and he may now use his full stamina to soak lethal damage.
Bare-handed attackers must roll Stamina vs. a difficulty of the martial artist's Essence. Failure temporarily numbs the attacking limb (-3 dice using that limb for the remainder of the scene), unless using a charm that protects from extreme weather (hardship surviving mendicant spirit, snow hunter spirit, etc.)
Freezing Discharge Technique
Cost: 4 motes
Duration: Special
Type: Supplemental
Required MA: 5
Required Ess: 3
Required Charms: Snow Hunter Form
The martial artist's fist or weapon is sheathed in a coruscating aura of snow-white essence. The weapon or hand takes on the appearance of being made of ice (and, on a metaphysical level, almost is) and constantly gives off the white smoke of extremely cold ice. This sheathing persists (and the essence of the charm committed) until the martial artist next strikes an opponent. The opponent thus struck takes an additional damage equal to the martial artist's permanent Essence, which ignores armor (soaked only by stamina), and is soaked seperately from the main attack. If the target takes more damage from Freezing Discharge Technique than his stamina rating, his dexterity is lowered by one for the remainder of the scene. This charm cannot reduce dexterity by more than one point, even if the target takes several multiples of his stamina in damage from this charm. If this reduces his dexterity to 0 or less, he is paralyzed until the freezing wears off (~ten to fifteen minutes, or when the scene ends.)
Swift Sliding Blow</b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Required MA: 5
Required Ess: 3
Required Charms: Snow Hunter Form
The martial artist performs a sweep attack as normal. A path of thin ice extends straight from the attacker to the target within Essence yards; along which the exalt slides and performs the sweep. This cannot be parried, only dodged. Increase opponent's difficulty to resist falling by two, if the attack is successful.
Seventh Chilling Grasp</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Required MA: 5
Required Ess: 3
Required charms: Swift Sliding Blow
When the target is successfully attacked, each health level of damage may be converted to a freezing spasm and veins of ice within the target's body, converting each health level into a -1 penalty to dice pools. If the penalty exceeds the target's dexterity (adjusted by other charm's that reduce or increase dex, as applicable), the target is fully paralyzed from the cold.
The -1's are lost at a rate of one per round; if they come to be less than the target's dexterity, the target regains movement.
Icy Predator's Fury Focus
Cost: 5 motes, 1 willpower
Duration: One Scene
Type: Extra Action
Required MA: 5
Required Ess: 4
Required charms: 7th Chilling Grasp, Shiver Armor
The martial artist takes on the frenzying nature of a snow hunter; he now gains an additional attack each round; one with each fist, one fist one weapon, or paired weapons. Ignore off-hand penalties. Both actions must be attacks; neither may be parries, and pools may not be split. No other Extra Actions charms can be used.
Mindless Beast Rage</b>
<b>Cost: 8 motes, 1 will
Duration: One Scene
Type: Extra Action
Requred MA: 5
Required Ess: 4
Required Charms: Icy Predator's Fury Focus
As per IPFF, save that the character may now make immediate counterattacks at any incoming hand-to-hand attacks, with the usual rules and restrictions that apply to counterattacks.
Notes: It's obvious that save for the soak boost, this cascade makes no allowances for defense. There's a reason for that; because. The Lunar that developed this martial art fought with blind fury and, lucky for him, was able to shrug off pings that would fell most exalts. Most exalts can't do that, and this Form cannot be combined with armor - as such, this is very much a raging mindless killer tree, and should not be treated as otherwise.
