The Artisan
Pattern
Unfolding Pattern
Intuition
Cost: 5 motes, 1
Willpower
Duration: (Essence + 1) hours
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Artisan attunes herself to the flow
of Essence, perceiving the hidden currents and structures of Creation. In this
state, the Jadeborn can see the luminous contrails and
whirls of Essence floating through the world. Manses and Demesnes glow the
shade of their aspect (midnight-blue for water, red for fire, green for wood,
sky-blue for air, white for earth, silver for Lunar, black for Abyssal, gold
for Solar and a shifting chromatic rainbow for Sidereal).
Artifacts and beings with Essence pools
appear outlined in auras colored by their aspect and magic. Charms and spells shine
as they take shape, each according to a design particular to the magic. Living
and animate beings glimmer with the undifferentiated hue of their life force, only
marginally brighter than the backdrop of Creation itself. This alternate
illumination reduces the penalty for absolute darkness to that associated with
murky vision.
Mountain Folk using this Charm can
perceive immaterial beings and sanctum entrances clearly. In addition, they can
see the patterns of standing Essence in ongoing magical effects and can
recognize any magic they have previously seen without a roll. They can similarly
identify the aspect of any perceived Essence with a Perception + Essence roll
at standard difficulty.
Finally, this Charm adds the Jadeborn’s Essence to any Awareness rolls to counteract
mundane Stealth attempts, although Unfolding Pattern Intuition provides no
bonus to spot magically concealed beings.
Interconnection’s
Eye
Cost: 1 mote per die
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Unfolding Pattern
Intuition
With a jolt of clarifying Essence, the
Artisan looks past apparent randomness to the underlying levels of association
and order. For every mote spent, this Charm reduces the difficulty of any roll
to notice hidden patterns by 1. This cannot reduce the difficulty by more than
the character’s lowest Virtue or below difficulty 1. This Charm can aid in any
roll that falls under its broad purview. For example, it can help an
Investigation attempt to connect clues from various crime scenes, developing a
profile of the killer. With Awareness, the Charm can try to spot a team of
disguised secret police hiding throughout a crowded marketplace. In conjunction
with Linguistics, Interconnection’s Eye can help trace the changing meaning of
shared words between languages or aid translation of unknown symbols from
extrapolated context. Storytellers should adjudicate each use of this Charm on
a case-by-case basis but should generally give the benefit of the doubt to any
narrative sufficiently clever enough for a stunt bonus.
Supernal Awareness
Of All
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Interconnection’s
Eye
The Jadeborn
closes his eyes and clears his mind, opening his soul to the ebb and flow of
Essence currents through Creation. If he opens his eyes, they appear as featureless
orbs of cold white jade that no longer grant sight for the duration of the
Charm. Instead, the character sees in all directions simultaneously and
perfectly by magic alone. He cannot be surprised and gains the effects of Unfolding
Pattern Intuition. He still cannot pierce magical concealment or see in
darkness better than Unfolding Pattern Intuition allows. Finally, his magical
sight perceives a flash of Essence whenever an unseen physical danger directly
threatens. This sense does not reveal the source of the threat apart from a
general sense of direction (above, below, behind, etc.), but it provides at
least one full turn of advance warning in which to prepare.
Revelatory Sight
Of Design
Cost: None
Duration: Permanent
Type: Special
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Supernal Awareness
of All
Upon learning this Charm, an Artisan
gains all the effects of Unfolding Pattern Intuition as a permanent expansion
of her natural senses. Characters with Essence 5 further upgrade this second
sight to permanently duplicate Supernal Awareness of All.
Earth-Shaping Discipline
Cost: 1 mote per cubic yard
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Unfolding Pattern
Intuition
This Charm begins the brief cascade
known variably as the Lower Earth Path or the Art of Shaping. The Artisan lays
a hand upon any object made of earth and extends his Essence through it,
suffusing and sculpting the material according to the Jadeborn’s
will. The character may not affect more cubic yards than the number of motes spent,
but he may target portions of a larger structure. As the Essence spreads, the
object flows as if liquefied to its new form. The final result can defy forces
with supernatural cohesion and tensile strength (such as a standing model of
shaped sand or a bridge of dust as firm as rock), but any untenable structure
collapses at the end of the scene. Use of this Charm requires finesse and art
as well as power. Roll the Jadeborn’s Intelligence +
Craft (Sculpture).
The base difficulty depends on the
density of the targeted material: 1 for sand, dust or dirt, 2 for packed soil or
clay, 3 for stone or metal and 4 for most crystals. This Charm cannot affect
magical items. Increase the difficulty by +1 if the change is simple and crude
(tearing a hole in a wall), +2 for complex changes (raising three dozen bars from
a floor to make a cage) and +3 for extremely difficult and artistic changes
(transforming a stone slab into someone’s perfect likeness). This Charm cannot
be used as a direct attack, although it can collapse ceilings and pillars with
appropriately catastrophic results or cruelly entomb a victim to suffocate.
Shaping Mind Concentration
Cost: 1 mote per cubic yard
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Earth-Shaping
Discipline
This Charm duplicates the effects of
Earth-Shaping Discipline, save that Artisans can sculpt objects from a distance
with their will alone, to a maximum range of (Willpower x 10) yards. This
upgraded version requires no words or gestures to invoke, although such
movements can merit a stunt bonus if properly narrated.
Incomparable Sculptor’s
Trance
Cost: 10 motes, 1
Willpower
Duration: One scene
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Shaping Mind
Concentration
With this Charm active, Jadeborn can shape earth with their minds as a simple
action each turn as if using Shaping Mind Concentration. This costs no Essence,
but cannot affect more cubic yards in a turn than the character’s permanent
Essence.
Living Earth Meditation
Cost: 10 motes /1 mote
Duration: Instant/one hour
Type: Simple/Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Unfolding Pattern
Intuition
This Charm begins the cascade known as
the Higher Earth Path or the Art of Geomancy. With Living Earth Meditation, an
Artisan learns to channel Essence more efficiently through auspicious
meditative posture. These stances serve two purposes. First, the Jadeborn can spend 10 motes to force instant attunement
with a Manse or Demesne by standing within its boundaries. If the place of power
has no beings attuned to it, the process occurs automatically without need for
a roll. Otherwise, the Jadeborn’s player must roll
Intelligence + Lore against a difficulty equal to the highest permanent Essence
of any attuned being. On a botch, the harmonic feedback inflicts one level of unsoakable lethal damage, and the attunement fails. On a
failure, the character simply wastes Essence.
Regardless of failure or success, the
use of the Charm alerts all beings attuned to the Manse that someone has
attempted to claim it. Success leaves all existing attunements intact, with the
Artisan joining the group.
In addition to aiding attunement, this
Charm also speeds the rate of Essence recovery through meditation. For a cost
of 1 mote, the character can spend an hour meditating in exacting postures. At
the end of the hour, roll the Artisan’s Temperance. He regains 8 motes, plus 1 additional
mote per success.
This Charm only functions within
Creation proper and has no effect in shadowlands or Wyld-tainted lands, let alone other realms of existence.
Manse Body Technique
Cost: None
Duration: Permanent
Type: Special
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Living Earth
Meditation
In learning this Charm, an Artisan
awakens and deepens her connection to the vast wellspring of Essence at the
heart of Creation. While underground in Creation, she regains a number of motes
per hour equal to her Essence regardless of her activity level. This amount is
in addition to any received as a result of resting, sleeping or meditating.
Mountain Folk with Essence 4 may purchase this Charm a second time, doubling
the Essence recovery bonus. Characters may not purchase this Charm more than
twice under any circumstances.
Essence-Transfer
Technique
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Manse Body
Technique
With a touch, an Artisan with this Charm
can drain or donate Essence in a cascade of glittering light. The transfer
requires complete concentration for several seconds and cannot be used in
conjunction with a striking attack. However, characters may explicitly use this
Charm from within a clinch. Each activation of this
Charm can drain or donate motes up to the permanent Essence of the target or
Artisan (whichever is lower). Jadeborn cannot donate
motes to beings that lack Essence pools, but they can store Essence in flawless
crystals. This unusual use costs 5 motes per mote stored in the gem, and gems cannot
hold more motes than their Resources value.
Gems filled with Essence faintly glow
with a pale white light, but have no additional powers. If taken above to the
surface world, these stones lose 1 mote per week, but otherwise remain charged
indefinitely in their natural environs. Any being with an Essence pool can take
Essence from a charged gem with a touch but cannot regain motes from more than
one gem in a turn or more motes per turn than her permanent Essence.
Essence-Focusing
Concentration
Cost: 1 Willpower
per dot
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Living Earth
Meditation
The Artisan extends the grasping power
of her will, channeling and absorbing ambient Essence from the earth in an
incandescent surge of power. White light flares in a corona around the
character as the Charm activates, as bright and glorious as an iconic Solar
anima but not depictive of the character’s nature.
If the Artisan is standing within a
Manse or Demesne to which she is attuned, she may drain as many dots as desired
from the site’s rating. She can also pillage a Manse through the conduit of its
Hearthstone by focusing on the gem. Each drained dot costs one Willpower point
and restores 10 motes to her Essence pool.
Sites of power recover one dot of drained
rating per day until they refill completely. Any Hearthstones belonging to a
drained Manse continue to provide Essence at the diminished rate, but lose all
special powers until the Manse fully heals. Mountain Folk cannot drain Essence from
a Manse/Demesne to which they are not attuned and so must first connect
themselves to the site using Living Earth Meditation.
As a dangerous alternative to draining a
site of power, an intrepid Artisan can journey into the Wyld
itself and draw power from the flowing sea of inchoate Essence. A mile radius
region in the Bordermarches or Middlemarches
is considered the equivalent of a level-1 Demesne, while the same area in the
Deep Wyld is level 2. Zones of Pure Chaos afford the
equivalent of level 3. Draining any Wyld region
inflicts unsoakable levels of aggravated damage to the
Mountain Folk equal the equivalent Demesne rating, as well as sending painful
shockwaves of disturbed Essence for 10 miles that Fair Folk can sense with a
Perception + Awareness roll at standard difficulty.
Finally, Artisans can tap the ambient
Essence in Creation outside of a Manse. This restores 5 motes to their pool,
but desiccates the area’s geomantic currents within a half mile radius for a
day. No being can respire to regain Essence in the depleted zone (stunts,
Hearthstones and other effects work normally), and all immaterial spirits feel acutely
uncomfortable in the area. Gods and elementals will assuredly seek revenge for
such abuse of their homes unless placated with apologetic prayers and
offerings. Demesnes and Manses reduced to a rating of 0 cannot be drained any
further, nor may areas desiccated of Essence.
Use of this Charm can increase a Jadeborn’s Essence pool above its normal maximum, but only
briefly. After a number of full turns equal to the character’s
permanent Essence, the excess begins bleeding off at the rate of 5 motes per
turn.
Dragon-Tangling
Web
Cost: 5+ motes, 1
Willpower
Duration: Essence hours
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Essence-Focusing
Concentration
The Artisan makes a harsh clutching
gesture and spreads his fingers. Coruscating filaments of light flash and sizzle
in the air around his hand, weaving into geometrically impossible knots as they
fade to invisibility. This versatile and much-feared Charm has many uses,
depending on how the Artisan deploys the web.
As a first option, the Jadeborn can attack a Manse or Demesne in which he stands,
provided the site does not have a rating higher than his permanent Essence. The
web hopelessly snares the Essence flows of the site, scattering and diminishing
its power. The site loses one dot of its rating for every 5 motes spent (to a
minimum rating of 0) until the Charm’s duration ends. This effect temporarily
disables all Hearthstones of tangled Manses until the web fades.
A Dragon-Tangling Web can also assault a
Hearthstone the character touches with an unarmed attack for a cost of (the
rating of the stone x 3) motes. The tangled gem loses its glow and remains an
inert and powerless rock for the duration of the Charm.
More viciously, Artisans with Essence 5
can use this Charm to attack any being with an Essence pool for a cost of (the
permanent Essence of the victim + 10) motes. The Artisan must specify whether
to lay a stable or unstable web at the time of activation. Stable webs prevent
the target from recovering Essence by any means other than respiration
(including successful stunts and enhancements to respiration) but last for one
scene only. Unstable webs snare and collapse immediately, draining a number of motes
from the victim equal to their creator’s Willpower + Essence. Webs cannot
target beings with a higher permanent Essence than the Artisan.
Finally, a Dragon-Tangling Web can
spread through an area of space itself for a cost of 20 motes. This effect extends
in a sphere with a radius of its creator’s (Willpower + Essence x 10) yards.
Inside this zone, magical beings respire Essence at
half their normal rate, rounded down. More importantly, the web adds a number
of motes equal to its creator’s permanent Essence to the cost of all magical effects
requiring Essence expenditure. The creator is not exempt from this effect,
although anyone with a higher permanent Essence than the creator is immune.
A Dragon-Tangling Web can only be
parried or dodged with a perfect defense, but it can be torn asunder with
Emerald Countermagic.
Sign Of Warding
Cost: Varies
Duration: Until broken
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Essence-Focusing
Concentration
The Artisan traces an elaborate mandala with one finger, trailing luminous Essence in the
air or upon a surface. When complete, the sign flares with power and spreads
weaving tendrils of Essence across the warded area. These threads fade by the
end of the turn, and the original symbol dims by the end of the scene, visible
only to spirits and beings capable of perceiving Essence. The ward only appears
in full radiance when triggered by a forbidden intruder. The effects of the
warding sign depend upon its intended function. Each ward can be keyed as
broadly or specifically as desired and with as much “intelligence” as needed to
fulfill the directives. The simplest and most basic wards are barriers of material
and immaterial force that only permit their creators to pass. More complicated barriers
only stop spirits or anyone who isn’t a Jadeborn or even
key themselves to specific individuals. Additionally, wards can be keyed to
inflict damage on anyone who touches them, though this rapidly depletes their
energies. Finally, wards can be made one or two way.
Regardless of their keys, wards have
common statistics. Barrier-type wards have a soak of 1L/1B per mote invested in
the enchantment and require twice that number of health levels of damage to
damage. A damaged ward has a hole large enough for
whatever broke it to squeeze through, with additional damage tearing open other
cracks as appropriate. Destroying a ward requires a total number of health
levels of damage equal to the motes invested x 4. Barriers regenerate one health
level per turn, sealing all gaps once they mend sufficient structural damage.
For every week that passes, a barrier cumulatively loses 1L/1B soak. When soak reaches
zero, the barrier is destroyed. Wards that have the ability to inflict injury
do so on contact, inflicting dice of bashing or lethal damage (as designated)
equal to half of their soak value to any forbidden being touching them. This
damage is applied once a turn, with each shock depleting 1L/1B from the ward’s
soak (which may diminish future damage effects). A barrier can be renewed and
mended with a reapplication of this Charm by anyone, but no ward can be made
stronger than its original strength or have its key conditions altered.
Wards that enclose a space can shield a
sphere with a maximum radius of (Willpower x 10) yards. Wards that cover a
specific two-dimensional space (serving as a gate, for instance) can have a
maximum area of (Willpower x 50) square yards.
Emerald Countermagic
can nullify a ward created with this Charm.
Elemental Invocation
Rite
Cost: 10+ motes, 1
Willpower
Duration: Varies
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Essence-Transfer
Technique, Dragon-Tangling Web
Like the Exalted, the Artisans of the
Mountain Folk can learn to ritually summon and bind elementals. To use this
Charm, the Jadeborn spends 10 motes and 1 Willpower point.
He then uses his finger as a stylus, inscribing a geometric design of light
upon a stone surface. The power of the elemental determines the complexity of
the design as well as the time required to draw it (one hour per dot of the
spirit’s permanent Essence). The elemental’s aspect dictates
the pattern’s color: azure for air, green for wood, red for fire, midnight blue
for water and white for earth.
Finally, the spirit’s size defines the
size of the design, ensuring that it will always be large enough to contain the
elemental when it appears. Once the Artisan completes the mystical design, he
steps outside of it and lays a hand against its edge. A dragon line erupts from
the center of the pattern, threading its way through Creation at the speed of thought
toward the specific elemental or the closest elemental of the desired type.
Only the Artisan, spirits and beings capable of perceiving Essence can see this
blazing filament. The line instantly coils and weaves itself into a cocoon
around the target and implodes, transporting the target to the center of the
design.
After summoning an elemental, the
Artisan must then bind the spirit, represented by a roll of Essence + the Virtue
associated with the being’s aspect (Compassion for wood, Conviction for air,
Temperance for water, Valor for fire and highest Virtue for earth). For every 5
additional motes spent, the Artisan’s player adds one additional die to this
roll. The difficulty of the binding attempt is the elemental’s
permanent Essence. If the Artisan fails, he can banish the elemental back to
its original location, requiring a second Essence + Virtue roll at difficulty
1. If the banishing roll fails, the elemental is free to seek retribution on
its would-be master. If the binding succeeds, the elemental must obey the
Artisan’s every command until released of its duty or until the next
Calibration.
Kidnaping and enslaving powerful elementals
offends the Celestial Hierarchy and earns the enmity of spirits. In general,
elementals of Essence 3 or less will not be missed. Artisans daring or foolish
enough to summon spirits with Essence 5+ should treat their vassals with the
utmost respect, phrasing all commands as requests and compensating the
elemental for its labors with artifacts and prayers. As usual, powerful
elementals may send minions in their stead to the summons.
Spirit-Calcifying
Technique
Cost: 8 motes, 1
Willpower
Duration: One scene
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Elemental
Invocation Rite
The Artisan hurls a pulse of opalescent
light at an immaterial being in his line of sight. The energy spreads and coruscates
through the ephemera of the spirit’s body, weighting it with Essence. Roll the Jadeborn’s Willpower + 6 against the target’s Willpower +
Essence. If the target wins, the Charm simply drains 5 motes from the being’s
Essence pool. If the Artisan wins, the being becomes solid. Gods and demons
with the Materialize Charm must activate it immediately and cannot voluntarily
retreat back to an immaterial state for the rest of the scene. Ghosts with
Weighted with the Anchor of Flesh or another Arcanos
allowing materialization must activate one of their options and also cannot dematerialize
before the end of the scene. Spirits without such Charms or who cannot
currently afford to pay the cost of these Charms lose all remaining motes of
Essence but materialize for the scene. Elementals and other beings using the
Dematerialize Charm (or an equivalent effect) are forced back into a default
material state at no cost but cannot attempt to dematerialize again for the
duration of the Charm. Spirit-Calcifying Technique cannot affect beings with a
permanent Essence of 7+. This Charm does not confer the ability to detect
immaterial beings.
God-Summoning Glyph
Cost: 30 motes, 3 Willpower
Duration: Varies
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Elemental
Invocation Rite
Although Mountain Folk cannot bind gods
into service any more than the Exalted, the greatest Artisans can command gods
associated with the element of earth or the subterranean depths to appear
before them. This requires a geometric pattern similar to that employed by the
Elemental Invocation Rite, although designs to summon gods are considerably
more complex and time consuming to create (four hours per dot of the spirit’s
Essence). At the end of the ritual, the Artisan kneels outside the violet
pattern and unleashes the dragon line with a touch. The god appears before the Jadeborn and manifests, although it need not actually
materialize unless it wishes to do so. From this point on, the god and Artisan
are free to interact however they choose. If the Jadeborn
desires service or a favor from the deity, she must bargain, bribe or bully it —
or employ some combination of the three. Nothing stops the spirit from attacking
or using Charms, though the Artisan can attempt to banish the god back to its
original location at any time as a standard dice action. The player rolls
Willpower + Essence against a difficulty of the spirit’s permanent Essence.
Alternately, Artisans who know Sign of Warding can set up protective barriers
to contain potentially hostile deities, though most gods regard this as a
deadly insult.
Emerald Unweaving
Rune
Cost: 10 or 20 motes, plus 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Essence-Transfer
Technique, Dragon-Tangling Web
Although Mountain Folk cannot learn
actual sorcery, geomancers with sufficient understanding of Essence can disrupt
the patterns of such magic. The Artisan traces a coiled symbol of green light
in the air with her fingers and invests the sign with power. She can hold this
sign ahead of her for the rest of the turn, shattering all
Sapphire Unweaving
Rune
Cost: 20 motes, 2 Willpower
Duration: One hour
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Emerald Unweaving
Rune
While accomplished Artisans can tear
apart
Demesne-Binding
Ritual
Cost: 30 motes, 3 Willpower
Duration: Until broken
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Essence-Transfer
Technique, Dragon-Tangling Web
The Artisan spends an hour setting up an
array of flawless crystals around the heart of a Demesne to which he is
attuned. These gems can be any variety provided they are sufficiently large and
well cut (Resources ••• for a Demesne of • to ••• or Resources ••••• for a Demesne
of •••• to •••••). Tradition links certain gemstones with Essence aspects
(emerald for wood, ruby for fire, sapphire for water, chalcedony for air and
diamond for earth), but the use of specific types of gemstones is unnecessary.
With the Ritual of Auspicious Placement complete, the Artisan stands at the
center of the Demesne (or as close as physically possible) and activates this
Charm. Lines of Essence crisscross the room like a vast spider web, connecting
the gems to one another. The gems chime in various pitches beginning with
cacophony and ending in perfected harmony. As the pitches and lights align, a
pulse of Essence sweeps the room.
When this pulse passes, the crystals
remain charged with Essence and glow like strange votive candles. For as long as
the crystals remain undisturbed, the Demesne is now considered capped by a
Manse of equal rating. Over the next week, this temporary Manse produces a
Hearthstone somewhere toward the center of the chamber.
Fortunately for the creator, the Charm
locks the crystals in place so they will not accidentally fall out of position.
A being must deliberately try to move the gems by applying a Strength +
Athletics total of 10 or greater to the task. Once disturbed, the Manse is
ruined. The crystals may be reused and the Charm applied to fix the situation,
but the Hearthstone remains an inert rock until and unless such repairs are
completed.
In addition to its primary function,
Demesne-Binding Ritual has a second supplementary use. The Artisan can place
crystals around the central chamber of an extant Manse and activate the Charm
as normal. If the Manse has an insufficient rating to cap the Demesne beneath
it, it rises to the needed level for as long as the crystals remain intact.
Geomantic Conveyance
Glyph
Cost: 40 motes, 6 Willpower, 1
experience point
Duration: Until broken
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Demesne-Binding
Ritual
The Artisan clears and cleans the
central room of a level-4 or level-5 Manse to which he is attuned. With a chisel
or other implement, he denotes the circumference of a circle 12 feet wide in
the floor. Next, he takes the Manse’s Hearthstone and sets it at the very
center of the circle. With all the preparations complete, he stands at the edge
of the circle, activates this Charm and begins walking. He does not approach
the center directly, but instead follows the labyrinthine twists of the unique
dragon lines running through the room. His path etches a glowing mandala of exquisite symmetry and complexity, weaving back
and forth in ever-greater complexity until it finally ends at the center. This journey
requires an extended Intelligence + Lore roll at a base difficulty of the Manse’s
rating, with 100 successes required. A botch at any time ruins the effort and
blasts the Artisan out of the unfinished design, inflicting five levels of unsoakable aggravated damage and stripping away a dot of
permanent Willpower. If the Jadeborn succeeds, he
reaches the center and reclaims the Hearthstone. Upon touching the gem, the ritual
is complete, and the mandala remains etched in cold
white light in the circle. Any structural damage to the Manse or the circle
itself destroys the design, as does application of
Emerald Countermagic cast by a sorcerer with a permanent
Essence of 4 or higher.
A completed Geomantic Conveyance Glyph
serves as a mystical transport device, allowing teleportation to another such
glyph in another Manse. The maximum range of this journey is (the Manse rating
associated with the departure glyph + the Manse rating of the arrival glyph x
200) miles. In order to use these devices, an Enlightened Jadeborn
must walk the maze of the design, necessitating an Intelligence + Lore roll
(difficulty 4). A failure means the character must start anew, while a botch
also inflicts a level of unsoakable aggravated damage.
Success allows him to sense the direction and rough distance of all valid exit
points in range. After selecting a destination, he spends 10 motes and 1
Willpower point to teleport himself in a flash of Essence to the chosen glyph.
Only Enlightened Mountain Folk can use these tangled dragon lines. No other
being can replicate the necessary pattern of Essence.
Pattern Rending
Onslaught
Cost: 8+ motes, 1
Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Essence: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Demesne-Binding
Ritual
While most geomantic Charms have a wide
variety of complex utilitarian purposes, Pattern Rending Onslaught is elegant
in its simplicity and monstrous brutality. The underlying principle of the
magic is trivial. Essence is everywhere, bound up in the laws of form and force
inscribed by the Primordials upon the shapeless Wyld. These laws define the web of the Tapestry, the very
fabric of space and fate. With this Charm, an Artisan reaches out his hand and
will to slit a handful of these strands, disintegrating the targeted object in
a shrieking flare of discharged Essence.
The Artisan spends a turn in
concentration as a simple action, gathering Essence as colorless flame around his
hand. On the next turn, he makes a stylized slashing blow as a simple action,
releasing the power in a spray of immaterial ribbons that reach into the center
of the target. The light spreads outward to pierce the surface in dazzling rays,
a broken prism of hues. In a moment, nothing remains of the target except a
fine cloud of glittering motes.
Anyone or anything that somehow survives
an attack by this Charm is almost assuredly horribly maimed.
The blast from Pattern Rending Onslaught
is made using the Artisan’s Willpower + Essence. It cannot be parried without
an enchanted weapon, although it can be dodged. If a defending character
attempts a parry with a non-magical weapon, the attempt fails, and the weapon
is destroyed by the energies. The beam has a base damage of 10L + successes +
(1L for every mote spent after the eighth). There is no limit on how much Essence
an Artisan may pour into a single use of this Charm apart from what he has
available. The Charm bypasses the entire soak of non-magical inanimate targets and
ignores and destroys non-magical armor. This attack can affect immaterial
beings (which the Jadeborn must perceive and target
using some other effect).
Anything destroyed by this Charm is
truly obliterated and leaves no ghost, grave good or continued trace of its existence.
Spirits are annihilated utterly. Only Mountain Folk souls, the Exaltations of
Celestial Exalted and beings with Primordial Essence can endure to reincarnate or
linger forever in the Underworld as appropriate to their nature. Storytellers
should consider allowing this Charm to instantly destroy extras and any nonmagical inanimate objects of roughly human size or smaller
rather than wasting time with a damage roll.
Resplendent Dispersion
Technique
Cost: 1-5 motes
Duration: Indefinite
Type: Simple
Minimum Essence: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Demesne-Binding
Ritual
The Artisan brings her hands together
and indicates an inanimate object within two yards. After a moment’s concentration,
she pulls her hands apart forcefully. The target glows a pale white and fades
away, the pattern of its Essence dispersed across the folded non-space of
Elsewhere. While banished, objects exist in ageless and immutable stasis. At
any later time, the Artisan can revoke the Charm as a reflexive action,
summoning the object to appear in her grasp or anywhere within a yard of her
person. This Charm can only affect objects of the character’s size or smaller
and may not target anything that currently belongs to someone else. Ownership
creates a metaphysical attachment that causes this Charm to fail. The
activation cost is normally only 1 mote, but it increases to the artifact’s
rating if targeting a magical device. Only artifacts attuned to the Artisan may
be banished, but they retain their attunement indefinitely while Elsewhere.
Artificer’s Insight
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Unfolding Pattern
Intuition
This Charm marks the beginning of the
cascade known as the Fire Path or the Art of the Forge. Essence flashes across
the Artisan’s eyes as he stares at a crafted object. He immediately knows
whether the object has any magical power. If the object is enchanted, roll the Jadeborn’s Perception + Occult at a difficulty of the
artifact’s rating (or 6 in the case of artifacts with an N/A rating). The number
of successes determines the additional information gleaned. Each threshold of
success cumulatively provides all the information available at lower
thresholds.
One
success: The character
determines whether the artifact is functional, damaged or otherwise
inoperative.
Two
successes: The Artisan
knows the overall category of purpose into which the device’s magic falls (offensive,
defensive, utilitarian, etc.).
Three
successes: The
character understands the object’s specific purpose but not the details of its
powers (narrative details only, without any explanation of rules or
statistics).
Four
or more successes: The
Artisan discerns the specific details and operation of all powers and
understands how to operate the artifact perfectly.
Incomparable Forge
Dominion
Cost: None
Duration: Permanent
Type: Special
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Artificer’s Insight
The Artisan resonates with the
Primordial Essence of his creator, greatly accelerating the pace at which he
can create or repair mundane objects and artifacts. This Charm halves the
duration required for any such attempt. Mountain Folk with Essence 4 can
purchase this Charm a second time, reducing the duration to a third of usual. Jadeborn with Essence 5 may purchase this Charm a third and
final time, quartering the original duration.
Great Maker’s Grasp
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Artificer’s Insight
The Artisan touches an ownerless
artifact, threading tendrils of invisible Essence through its components. She may
instantly force full attunement with the device, reducing the standard
commitment cost by her permanent Essence (to a minimum of half its standard
cost, rounded up). For artifacts made of Magical Materials other than jade, the
attunement cost is doubled before subtracting the cost reduction granted by
this Charm.
Jade’s Egg Hatched
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Great Maker’s Grasp
This Charm is perhaps the single most
important piece of magical lore known to the Mountain Folk. Without it, their
race would quickly dwindle into extinction.
Jade’s Egg Hatched allows Artisans to
carve jade slabs containing Mountain Folk souls, transmuting cold rock into
living flesh as they free the newborn within. The birthing ritual takes (8 -
the Artisan’s permanent Essence) minutes. Roll the Jadeborn’s
Intelligence + Craft (Sculpture). The difficulty is 1 to make a Worker, 2 for a
Warrior and 6 for an Artisan. Failing the roll produces a Worker, while a botch
kills the newborn and forces its soul to flee to a new slab of jade. Rolling
eight or more successes on an attempt to create a Warrior or Worker can make the
Jadeborn one of the Enlightened at Storyteller
discretion.
However, Mountain Folk culture teaches
that this freakish occurrence is the result of catastrophic and regrettable failure
on the part of an Artisan. Storytellers should keep in mind that only 10,000 or
so Enlightened Mountain Folk exist out of a total population of 10 million, so
the odds are roughly 1 in 1,000 that any particular child will be an Artisan.
For a more “realistic” system, roll four dice. If three dice show a result of
10, the child can be an Artisan. With four 10s, she can be an Enlightened member of an undercaste.
Roll the sculpting attempt normally, only allowing creation of an Enlightened Jadeborn if the probability check permits.
Body Shaping Meditation
Cost: 10 motes
Duration: Indefinite
Type: Simple
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Jade’s Egg Hatched
The Artisan concentrates, reweaving the
threads of his Essence. In response, his body ripples and shifts like molded
clay. Upon activating this Charm, the Jadeborn’s player
may reallocate a number of dots of the character’s Physical Attributes up to
his permanent Essence. This cannot raise any Attribute above 7 or drop any
Attribute below 3, nor can the magic change an Attribute by more than three
dots from its true rating. A character’s body can only accept one application
of this Charm at a time. If he wishes to change the allocation, he must first
drop back to his normal configuration by ending the Charm.
Artisan Pattern
Mastery
Cost: None
Duration: Permanent
Type: Special
Minimum Essence: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Entire Artisan
Pattern (30 Charms total)
At the apex of mastery, this supernal
enlightenment allows the greatest Princes of Adamant to wield a shard of Autochthon’s
own Primordial power. This confers numerous benefits:
First, the master Artisan can create
matter out of raw Essence, shaping it into any form he can imagine with a combination
of will and craft. Such matter coalesces from streamers of white light that
weave into the desired shape next to their creator. Upon activating this power (which
counts as a Charm use), the Jadeborn spends 1 Willpower
point and the requisite motes of Essence as a simple action. The number of
motes varies with the size and complexity of the desired object. The base cost
is 2 motes for every cubic yard the final object will occupy. This is the final
number if the object is extremely simple: no moving parts and only one type of
mundane material in its composition. Objects that have simple mechanics involving
a few different composite materials cost double. Objects with complex mechanics
and many composite materials cost triple. Creating raw Magical Materials costs
five times the base. Actual enchanted objects multiply the base cost by (the
Artifact’s rating x 6). Only nonliving matter can be created, regardless of the
Essence spent. If the character lacks sufficient Essence for the task, he must
prepare in advance with Essence-Focusing Concentration.
Besides conferring the ability to create
objects, Artisan Pattern Mastery allows Artisans to create new magic in the
form of custom Charms. This process follows the guidelines and restrictions for
other Pattern Mastery Charms. Finally, Artisan masters subtract two motes from
the Essence cost to activate any Artisan Pattern Charm (except the creation ability
associated with mastery itself), to a minimum cost of 1 mote.