Nkolos/Ebon Tempest Style

Description

Gasping for breath, Ten Dancing Crows smirked and looked up at his mysterious opponent, his anima banner sending thousands of crows spinning in the air around him. "Still holding back? Why don't you just fight like a man and SHOW ME!" Launching into a vicious spinning kick, he hit only empty air, the man standing just out of reach. Looking up, he noticed with irritation that this man wasn't even breathing heavily. "OK, fine, I guess I'll just have to make you!" he shouted. Standing up straight, the dark-haired man closed his eyes for a long moment before the crows surrounding him suddenly dive bombed the man and he lept into a flurry of Essence-fueled blows. It ended in an instant, Crow's leg clutched in an iron-hard grip and a terrified look on his face. The man had moved so fast. The man looked up and and declared,"My name is Tensai no Arashi. You have pushed me far enough, and now you will get what you asked for. Prepare yourself." In an explosion of dark, crackling Essence, Crow was blasted across the room. He landed gracefully with a grin on his face. The bedraggled Dawn Caste took his stance once again. "At last, an opponent who can give me an honorable death!" he cried, something like joy in his voice, before charging for the last time.

This style takes patience and extreme dedication to learn, more than once the training puts an Exalts life at risk, and yet it is still used. Practitioners of Ebon Tempest Style begin by learning the basic lesson of the storm, speed. After learning the Form charm the rest of the charms focus on taking out enemies swiftly, whether they come in large numbers or few. Because of the potency of their powers they tend to run out of essence qucikly and therefore must rely more heavily on their unmodified pools until they are ready to strike the killing blow.

This is an unarmed and unarmored Martial Art (although I plan on throwing something in there that allows some weapons.)

Charms

Storm Chaser Method

Cost: 3m
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK
Minimums: MA 3, Essence 2
Prerequisites: None

Learning to strike with the suddenness of the storm, the martial artist surges towards the enemy before they can even react. This charm add your Martial Arts score in auto-successes to your join battle roll and makes a reflexive Dash action towards the enemy as your first action, taking 0 ticks.

Paralyzing Strike

Cost: 4m
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Minimums: MA 3, Essence 2
Prerequisites: None

After intense training the martial artist has learned to manipulate their essence into lightning. Fingertips glowing, the attacker presses their hand against the enemy's chest and sends a bone jarring shock through their body. This is rolled as a normal unarmed attack with the exception that all successes on the roll to wound become general DV penalties until the target's next action which has its speed decreased by your Essence score. Minimum of (Essence/2) rounded up.

Eye of the Storm

Cost: 4m
Duration:Instant
Type: Reflexive (Step 2)
Keywords: Combo-OK
Minimums: MA 4 Essence 2
Prerequisites: Paralyzing Strike, Storm Chaser Method

Having learned of the storms terrifying speed and destructive abilities the martial artist next learns of the momentary peace before the sudden strike. Closing their eyes briefly, the martial artist feels the enemy's weapon moving through the air and shifts slightly out of the way before lashing out violently. Mechanically this charm adds +2 to the user's Dodge DV and, if the dodge is successful, it allows a counterattack at their full dice pool.

Ebon Tempest Form

Cost: 6m 1wp
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple, Obvious
Keywords: Form-Type
Minimums: MA 4 Essence 3
Prerequisites: Eye Of the Storm

This form is not taught but learned by meditating on top of a tall steel spire in the middle of a massive lightning storm. Only when the martial artist attains perfect peace despite the constant strikes of lightning and deafening thunder does she truly understand the Ebon Tempest Style. In combat this form surrounds the user in a web of pale, crackling, lightning and swirling black dust. All unarmed attacks deal lethal damage. For an additional 4 motes, the Exalt may double their Dodge DV against an attack. This may not be used more than once per action. As an added bonus all enemies within (Essence) yards take (Essence)L dice of damage on any tick they act.