Jukashi
Four Thousand Club
Yes, it's naruto-based. But give it a read! I put a lot into it. And advise me as well, please. First, we'll start with some flavour text...
***
Mehuka took in what he saw about him, and smiled. Fine furs... silk cushions and luxurious carpet... populated by the guild's finest hired slaves, of course, plus a few special servants of his own, with the scent of spices and fine drugs heavy in the air... This was life, and all of it rightfully his. He felt smooth flesh against his side and, looking down, smiled indulgently on Moonlight In The Waters, his personal favourite. The spirit knelt by his side, eyes downcast as appropriate.
Life had not always been so bright. Mehuka had began as a barbarian child, the apprentice of a tribal shaman. The knowledge, the wisdom in the ways of spirits and medicine and lore, had been a heady draught. He had revelled in his knowledge that some day, the tribe would be his. Then the Lunar, Burning Claw, had come to rule them, and Mehuka had not felt like being ruled. Still young and thirsty for the power that knowledge brought, he eventually found his way into the party of a scavenger lord. Beside him, his eyes had been opened to a greater learning, the lore of the First Age. Finally had come the greatest gift of all, when the party had faced an ancient automata of the first age. He had watched it scythe down his fellows. Beyond the door it protected lay vast secrets, and his hunger for them outmatched his fear of death. In that moment, the Unconquered Sun gifted him with the true power he needed, and he claimed what was his.
On the long road back to civilisation, the sunlit memories had crowded his mind, and he recalled the first age. When he, as one of the Children of Twilight, had bent ancient evils to his will and sent the little gods to and fro to fill his needs. And he swore, he would reclaim his ancient rights. With the books he had looted he learnt, and in a rented apartment in the great city of Nexus, he had bound a spirit to his will and commanded it to advise him.
His eyes piercing the darkness, the man saw the guards as clearly as if he stood next to them. The martial artist saw their movements, their awareness, and moved where their gaze did not fall and their senses had been dulled by monotony. The latch of a window shattered under a finger, its sound lost amid the evening murmur of the city.
So it was that eventually he had arrived here, where he rested from his labours, and took a moment from a life of promised millenia to enjoy their fruits. He gestured, and a blindfolded, black-haired slave, broad sashes of white cloth barely covering her pale, pleasing form, brought him a goblet of the strong fruity alchohol that his people made. It had been difficult to obtain, and he savoured it, reminiscing on the images of his youth it called to him.
The slave moved gently, and pressed two fingers of each hand into his body. His insides ignited in pain.
He dropped the goblet as his muscles shook and an obscuring cloud threatened his mind, but anger rose and shook it away. What was this!? He lashed out against the woman, with a barbarian's arms not much weakened by civilisation. Her hand blurred, and her grasp stopped his blow a bare inch from her face.
His brows furrowed, and Mehuka scowled in his wrath. This wench, no doubt an assassin of some sort, would learn the price of so foolishly attacking a Solar Exalt. His caste mark pulsed on his forehead as he burnt essence to fuel his own supernatural martial arts. His arms shifted almost out of visibility as he rained a dozen rapid blows on the girl. But her arms melted into a blurred counterpoint for each attack, and they both stood there, exchanging a multitude of strikes and blocks, bright flashes of essence crackling with each meeting of their bodies.
The guard fell to the ground, sent to a world of blissful slumber. The black-haired warrior knelt gracefully beside him, lifted his keys and then, stepping over him, padded silently onwards through the halls, his eyes gazing beyond the imperishable stone walls from long ago. He came to a door, the imperfections in the recently-made timber releasing thin cracks of light into the hall.
The sorcerer's arms spasmed momentarily in pain, and a quick glimpse showed odd circular bruises forming under their skin. Mehuka sweated, worry beginning to tease around the corners of his mind. Surely, this woman was a member of the Wyld Hunt, come for him at last. He would not fall so easily! Essence enhancing his muscles, he leapt back across the room, nearly landing on one of the slaves that now huddled along the walls. The assassin leapt to persue, but discarded cloth and strewn luxuries impeded her. Gesturing with the calm of long practise, the solar intoned the words of the Death of Obsidian Butterflies. Before the woman could reach him, razor-edged shards of black filled the air before his gaze, obscuring her.
He breathed out. He would have to repay the guild for the hired slaves slain by his spell, but-
Suddenly, a blue glow was lit in the midst of the cloud, and a bright sphere of spinning azure essence tore apart the obsidian butterflies that crowded it. Its motion blew back the magical attack along with the expensive fumes that hung in the air, shattering the conjured insects against the walls. The orb's twisting slowed, then dissipated, revealing the untouched woman still slowing in her twirl within.
The door opened.
Mehuka, for all his hours spent pouring over tomes, knew not to pass up such a combat opportunity as this. Red-gold essence pouring off his frame as he focused his energies, he leapt, and struck the girl with one powerful kick that knocked her back across the room and into the wall, where she slid down atop the scattered black shards left by his spell. Such an attack would fell even an Exalt who did not defend against it. Sure enough, she struggled to rise, but fell back. Her blindfold had slipped, revealing large eyes of silvery white, like moonstone. Veins stood out around them, and her gaze seemed to cut right through him.
"What are you?" he whispered, caught momentarily in his own curiosity.
"Mehuka..." she strained to say, coughing. "Of the twilight caste... of the solar exalted... For willful... enslavement of spirits... and the servants of the gods... The reason I came... was for your death."
The solar half-smirked, caught between gloating in victory and puzzlement that this was not the Hunt.
"It appears you were not successful."
The martial artist took the correct stance.
She smiled at him. Those eyes were disturbing, yet for a moment it seemed as if she truly were looking through him. He turned. The other Hyuga attacked.
Mehuka, of the Copper Spiders, witnessed the 64 Hands of Hakke. It would be among the last things he ever saw in life.
***
Remembering a discussion on converting Naruto into Exalted terms, I found the idea of the Byakugan and the Hyuga style of martial arts- as practised mainly by Hyuga Neji in the series- to be very interesting in the context of exalted. Eventually, I ended up creating a merit for the Byakugan (which I ended up calling Crystal Eyes), a Bird in the Cage Flaw, a terrestrial martial arts style and a means of implementing both as a family of anti-exalt-trained god-blooded martial artists. Unfortunately, I have absolutely horrible ability for numbers and the like, so deciding on costs is something I've most likely gotten completely wrong. Perhaps you could give me some suggestions on costs, along with comments and advice on the charms and so forth, please?
The basic idea on fitting it into Exalted is that, with the return of the solars, the arrival of the abyssals, and all the trouble caused by every kind of exalt in their own ways, certain concerned gods grouped together in the secret, unofficial Court of Heavenly Defense, and decided that a means was needed to deal with mortal essence channelers of all sorts. This means was revealed in the journals of a powerful First Age martial artist, Hyuga of the dawn caste. He had never developed it, due to it being only of use against fleshy creatures, and not the fair folk, rogue spirits, demons and so on who were more of a concern at the time. Now it was fully researched, and developed into what was called the Hyuga style. Unfortunately for the gods, the style could also only be wielded by mortal creatures who could channel essence, not by beings composed of essence. To fill this need, these gods secretly created a family of god-blooded servants, their mortal parentage taken from the finest available martial artist stock. Raising them from childhood, this also allowed the gods to instill in them the key ability required to practise the Hyuga style- the Crystal Eyes. Once these god-bloods, given Hyuga for their family name as an ever-present reminder of their purpose, became adults, trained since birth for their duty, the Court of Heavenly Defense sent them to destroy those Exalted who had drawn their wrath.
***
Crystal Eyes (15-pt. Merit)
Prerequisites: Perception OOOO
The character is one of the Hyuga family, either a god-blood created by the Court of Defense or descended from one. The pupils and irisis of their eyes, both very large, are indistinguishable from each other and almost from the white around them, being a pale silvery colour. These eyes have several powers. Firstly, the character can see 360 degrees around herself. She can see anything in any direction around her as well as if she were facing that direction. She is not subject to sneak attacks. Secondly, the character can expend essence to activate the powers of their gaze. By committing 1 mote per layer, the character can see through things- typically, one foot or less of a substance counts as a layer. Objects seen through do not become invisible to the character- they are still aware of everything they have seen through using this power. This lasts for as long as the essence is commited. Similarly, by committing 1 mote for every 50 feet, the character can focus their vision, seeing things at that range or closer as if they were right next to them. The character loses their 360-degree vision while this is in effect. Most importantly, the character can spend 1 willpower to perceive the flow of essence directly. They can see magic in effect, tell the difference between magical beings and ordinary ones, see dematerialised spirits, and observe the boundaries of demesnes and other magical areas. This lasts for one scene. While seeing essence, the character can navigate by the glowing flow outlining everything, and is unimpeded by darkness or similarly obscuring effects.
The Crystal Eyes do have some disadvantages. The character is at -4 on all dice pools regarding visual sensory overload. She is considered to have the 1-pt. version of the Unusual Appearance Flaw. Lastly, whenever the character spends essence or willpower to activate her eyes' powers, veins stand out on her face beside them as her blood rushes to provide essence, and her gaze becomes distressingly piercing and knowing. While such effects are active, she is considered to have the 2-pt version of the Disturbing Flaw.
The Crystal Eyes, though they allow their bearer to see the flow of essence, do not confer the ability to channel it; characters who have Crystal Eyes but do not have the ability to channel essence must use willpower to inefficiently power the eyes' abilities.
This merit may be passed on through the blood. Roll a ten-sided dice when the child is concieved. If both parents have the Crystal Eyes, the child is only devoid of them on a roll of 10. If just one parent has them, the child has them on a roll of 1, 2, 3 or 4.
Bird in the Cage (7-pt. Flaw)
The character's life, through sorcery, magic or simply unstoppable supernatural assassins following his every move, is completely in another's hand. At any time, the character with this special means can end the life of the one who bears this flaw- and there's no resisting it. The Hyugas created and raised by the Court of Heavenly Defense all have this flaw, represented by a symbolic tattoo somewhere on their body; by use of a simple little secret spell, the gods of the Court can end any single Hyuga's life. Fortunately, each Hyuga created requires a large investment of time and essence, so smaller crimes, such as simple disobeying, rarely lead to this punishment. This Flaw can be removed, but with difficulty- for the Hyuga version, only Exaltation or deification are known to remove it. Of course, if the knowledge of the spell which activates it is lost, the character no longer has anything to worry about.
***
The Hyuga Style.
Open-handed attacks and fluid grace characterise the Hyuga style. It is a completely unarmed style, incompatible with the use of weapons or armour, concentrating on disabling essence users and enhancing the user's own essence mastery so as to match such powerful foes.
Limitations: Most Hyuga-style charms are only effective on mortal targets; that is, targets of flesh and blood. If this is not so, it will be noted in the charm description. The Hyuga-style charms can also only be utilised by such beings. Also, with the exception of Essence Knife, all offensive and perceptive Hyuga charms require an effect which allows the user to perceive essence to be active; Hyugas use their Crystal Eyes, but similar effects such as the solar charm All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight serve equally well. Until the character learns Opening Point Awareness, the offensive Hyuga charms can only be performed using the fingers and palms.
Essence Knife
Cost: 2 motes.
Duration: Instant.
Type: Supplementary.
Martial Arts 2
Essence 2
Prerequisites: None.
At the point of attack, he martial artist projects a knife of disruptive essence from his body. The knife does not cut, but rather disrupts the flow of essence in the target, causing internal bleeding. At a cost of 1 mote per attack, the character's attacks do lethal damage.
Inner Coils Blow
Cost: 5 motes 1 will
Duration: One Scene
Type: Supplementary.
Martial Arts 3
Essence 2
Prerequisites: Essence Knife
Essence flows through everything, particularly living creatures: its path is intertwined with the muscles, the bones, the flow of blood and the internal organs. By perceiving this deep connection and exploiting it, the martial artist may ignore the resilience afforded by calloused skin and steely sinew, attacking their target's delicate innards directly. For the length of one scene, the character's attacks ignore natural soak. Armour soak still functions; the attacker can only extend their disruptive essence so far.
Focused Essence Deflection
Cost: 5 motes, 1 will
Duration: One Scene
Type: Supplementary.
Martial Arts 3
Essence 2
Prerequisites: Essence Knife
The character learns to expel essence out through their hands, surrounding them in a crackling glow and pushing away things which come near. For the rest of the scene, the character may parry unarmed and may add their permanent essence rating in dice to their parry attempts.
Stunning Essence Strike
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplementary.
Martial Arts 3
Essence 2
Prerequisites: Inner Coils Blow
The practitioner of the Hyuga learned in this charm may disrupt their opponent's body on a greater level. Instead of an attack, the martial artist rolls their Dexterity + Martial Arts in an opposed roll against their opponent's Stamina + Resistance. If the martial artist succeeds, the target's whole body flow is momentarily thrown into chaos, causing them to be stunned for a number of turns equal to their attacker's permanent essence.
Threefold Essence Seal
Cost: Five motes 1 will
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplementary.
Martial Arts 4
Essence 3
Prerequisites: Stunning Essence Strike
This terrible technique is one of the most prized by its practitioners, and the one feared by the most powerful of their foes. This charm does not merely disrupt the flow of essence in the target's body, but seals it within the body. Every health level of damage dealt by this charm seals three motes of the target's essence, rendering it incapable of being used just as if they had been spent. These lost points of essence return at the same rate that essence normally does.
Knowing Eyes Technique
Cost: 4 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple.
Martial Arts 2
Essence 2
Prerequisites: None
Observing shape, colour, motion and the flow of of essence with crystal clarity, the character may now see the meaning behind what their eyes tell them. Using this charm, the martial artist notices every twitch of eyes, every minor movement and momentary hesitation. For the rest of the scene, the character adds her permanent essence score to all dice actions to "read" people; for example, to discern their emotional state or tell if they're lying.
Opening Point Sight
Cost: 5 motes, 1 will.
Duration: Instant.
Type: Reflexive.
Martial Arts 4
Essence 2
Prerequisites: Knowing Eyes Technique
Activating this charm, the martial artist can now see not only the large centres of essence in her opponent that previously were her targets, but also the smaller centres on the surface of her target's skin: the Opening Points. She is no longer limited to a small selection of targets; even her opponent's arms and legs have a selection of Opening Points. Mechanically, when this charm is activated, the character may see and attack these points precisely; thus, she can attack the very limbs her opponent seeks to block her with. She may ignore one unarmed parry attempt.
Opening Point Mastery
Cost: 1 permanent willpower.
Duration: Permanent.
Type: -
Martial Arts 4
Essence 3
Prerequisites: Opening Point Sight.
This charm's cost is paid only once: when purchased, and its effects are permanent. The character has perceived the Opening Points of the body and internalised the knowledge, training himself rigourously to make use of his own opening points. From now on, the martial artist is not limited to his hands in the forming and control of essence; he may perform Hyuga-style attacks not only with fingers and palm but with feet, knees, elbows, headbutts or any other part of his body. This effect may also apply to other charms, at Storyteller discretion.
Hyuga Form
Cost: 10 motes, 1 will, 1 lethal health level per action affected.
Duration: One Scene.
Type: Supplementary.
Martial Arts 5
Essence 3
Prerequisites: Focused Essence Deflection, Threefold Essence Seal, Opening Point Mastery.
This charm is one of incredible power, and of terrible danger to the user. The practitioner of the Hyuga style who learns this charm gains ultimate understanding of their own personal essence's flow, and becomes capable of forcing their essence to do twice the work it would normally do. When this charm is activated, arcs of electrical blue essence spark about the user's body. Her teeth twist into a grimace and her muscles tense; this charm is a great strain. For one scene, the martial artist may halve her essence costs. However, for every charm, spell or other effect she uses this effect on, she suffers one health level of lethal damage. Obviously, using the effects of this charm too much will lead to death, but it is usually the only way to use the essence-hungry top-end charms of the Hyuga style.
Buying this charm represents an enlightening mastery and control over one's own essence, and as such it allows the martial artist to raise her permanent Essence to four dots without the deification, demonification, death, "choose another type", or other effects normally experienced by such mortals. These effects now occur should the character ever be raised to Essence five.
Transcendant Speed Meditation
Cost: 3 motes per extra action, 1 willpower
Duration: Instant.
Type: Extra Action
Martial Arts 5
Essence 3
Prerequisites: Hyuga Form
The user of this charm has comprehends the flow of essence which powers his muscles, and can focus it in order to to transcend mortal limitations of movement. He may purchase a number of extra attacks up to his permanent essence rating.
Breaking Point
Cost: 5 motes, 1 will.
Duration: Instant.
Type: Supplementary
Martial Arts 5
Essence 3
Prerequisites: Hyuga Form.
The character's mastery of his own essence leads to a deeper awareness of the flow of essence in the world around him. He now sees that even inanimate objects contain complex flows of essence as living creatures do. By activating this charm, the character uses this knowledge to focus on an object and see its points of weakness. Channeling essence into this point as he strikes it, he bypasses the object's resistance to break it apart from within. Enhancing an attack with this charm allows the character to ignore the target object's soak.
Kaiten- The Heavenly Spin
Cost: 20 motes, 1 will, 1 bashing health level.
Duration: One turn.
Type: Reflexive.
Martial Arts 5
Essence 4
Prerequisites: Transcendant Speed Meditation, Breaking Point.
The warriors of the Hyuga style can devastate their foes, but their attacks are useless if they are destroyed by the awesome might of their enemies before they can unleash their power. This technique is the ultimate defense of the Hyuga style, and as such extremely heavy on essence. The martial artist may activate Kaiten as a reflexive action when attacked, forgoing their next action, or they may activate it on their turn. They expel essence from every opening point on their body, stopping attacks dead, and then spin, simultaneously releasing essence with centrifugal force and drawing it back in. This creates a spinning sphere of essence surrounding the martial artists, which renders them immune to all physical attacks during the spin- even charm- or sorcery-based attacks such as Cascade of Cutting Terror and Death of Obsidian Butterflies are repelled by the Heavenly Spin; the wind created by the spinning essence even blows back sound and gases until the charm ends. However, the spin is exhausting, and is no proof against non-physical attacks; if there isn't a tangible object to be knocked back, it doesn't work. The spin lasts from the initiative count it was activated on to the same count next turn. Then, even if the martial artist has enough essence to re-activate the charm, there is an opening of one turn before the spin can be activated again- the user must carefully stop spinning and restart in the opposite direction.
The 64 Hands of Hakke
Cost: 64 motes, 2 will, 2 bashing
Duration: 6 turns (see below)
Type: Simple.
Martial Arts 5
Essence 4
Prerequisites: Transcendant Speed Meditation, Breaking Point.
This is the ultimate attack of the Hyuga Style as can be practised by its main users, and it would be feared by any Exalt- if the secret of its existance were to emerge. Even a mighty Exalted of the First Age, once caught by this charm, is helpless before its full power- only outside aid can rescue her before the charm is complete.
In the first round, the user spends the willpower and 2 motes of essence (he spends a mote of essence with each attack), then attacks twice. They are resolved normally, but do not cause health levels of damage. If this attack scores any successes which would otherwise have dealt damage, the target is stunned as per Stunning Essence Strike, though this version cannot be resisted. The target is now inescapably caught in the charm, and attacks are considered to automatically hit. In the user's next turn, his fingers attack twice again, keeping the victim helpless and imposing a -1 die penalty on all actions for a scene. In the third turn, the user makes four attacks, once again keeping his opponent helpless and bringing the die penalty up to -2. In the fourth turn, the user makes eight attacks, the same occurs but the die penalty is brought up to -3. In the fifth turn, the true power of the charm begins to take effect; the user makes 16 attacks, continuing the previous effects and sealing 32 motes of the target's essence as Threefold Essence Seal does. Finally, in the sixth round, the martial artist makes 32 attacks, suffers the two levels of bashing damage, continues the previous effects, and seals the entirety of the target's essence pool; in addition, all ongoing magical effects and anima displays cease.
The final charm of the Hyuga style, The 128 Hands of Hakke, has never been practised; its god-blooded practitioners simply cannot hope to power it. Should a Celestial Exalt somehow learn this style, however...
***
Mehuka took in what he saw about him, and smiled. Fine furs... silk cushions and luxurious carpet... populated by the guild's finest hired slaves, of course, plus a few special servants of his own, with the scent of spices and fine drugs heavy in the air... This was life, and all of it rightfully his. He felt smooth flesh against his side and, looking down, smiled indulgently on Moonlight In The Waters, his personal favourite. The spirit knelt by his side, eyes downcast as appropriate.
Life had not always been so bright. Mehuka had began as a barbarian child, the apprentice of a tribal shaman. The knowledge, the wisdom in the ways of spirits and medicine and lore, had been a heady draught. He had revelled in his knowledge that some day, the tribe would be his. Then the Lunar, Burning Claw, had come to rule them, and Mehuka had not felt like being ruled. Still young and thirsty for the power that knowledge brought, he eventually found his way into the party of a scavenger lord. Beside him, his eyes had been opened to a greater learning, the lore of the First Age. Finally had come the greatest gift of all, when the party had faced an ancient automata of the first age. He had watched it scythe down his fellows. Beyond the door it protected lay vast secrets, and his hunger for them outmatched his fear of death. In that moment, the Unconquered Sun gifted him with the true power he needed, and he claimed what was his.
On the long road back to civilisation, the sunlit memories had crowded his mind, and he recalled the first age. When he, as one of the Children of Twilight, had bent ancient evils to his will and sent the little gods to and fro to fill his needs. And he swore, he would reclaim his ancient rights. With the books he had looted he learnt, and in a rented apartment in the great city of Nexus, he had bound a spirit to his will and commanded it to advise him.
His eyes piercing the darkness, the man saw the guards as clearly as if he stood next to them. The martial artist saw their movements, their awareness, and moved where their gaze did not fall and their senses had been dulled by monotony. The latch of a window shattered under a finger, its sound lost amid the evening murmur of the city.
So it was that eventually he had arrived here, where he rested from his labours, and took a moment from a life of promised millenia to enjoy their fruits. He gestured, and a blindfolded, black-haired slave, broad sashes of white cloth barely covering her pale, pleasing form, brought him a goblet of the strong fruity alchohol that his people made. It had been difficult to obtain, and he savoured it, reminiscing on the images of his youth it called to him.
The slave moved gently, and pressed two fingers of each hand into his body. His insides ignited in pain.
He dropped the goblet as his muscles shook and an obscuring cloud threatened his mind, but anger rose and shook it away. What was this!? He lashed out against the woman, with a barbarian's arms not much weakened by civilisation. Her hand blurred, and her grasp stopped his blow a bare inch from her face.
His brows furrowed, and Mehuka scowled in his wrath. This wench, no doubt an assassin of some sort, would learn the price of so foolishly attacking a Solar Exalt. His caste mark pulsed on his forehead as he burnt essence to fuel his own supernatural martial arts. His arms shifted almost out of visibility as he rained a dozen rapid blows on the girl. But her arms melted into a blurred counterpoint for each attack, and they both stood there, exchanging a multitude of strikes and blocks, bright flashes of essence crackling with each meeting of their bodies.
The guard fell to the ground, sent to a world of blissful slumber. The black-haired warrior knelt gracefully beside him, lifted his keys and then, stepping over him, padded silently onwards through the halls, his eyes gazing beyond the imperishable stone walls from long ago. He came to a door, the imperfections in the recently-made timber releasing thin cracks of light into the hall.
The sorcerer's arms spasmed momentarily in pain, and a quick glimpse showed odd circular bruises forming under their skin. Mehuka sweated, worry beginning to tease around the corners of his mind. Surely, this woman was a member of the Wyld Hunt, come for him at last. He would not fall so easily! Essence enhancing his muscles, he leapt back across the room, nearly landing on one of the slaves that now huddled along the walls. The assassin leapt to persue, but discarded cloth and strewn luxuries impeded her. Gesturing with the calm of long practise, the solar intoned the words of the Death of Obsidian Butterflies. Before the woman could reach him, razor-edged shards of black filled the air before his gaze, obscuring her.
He breathed out. He would have to repay the guild for the hired slaves slain by his spell, but-
Suddenly, a blue glow was lit in the midst of the cloud, and a bright sphere of spinning azure essence tore apart the obsidian butterflies that crowded it. Its motion blew back the magical attack along with the expensive fumes that hung in the air, shattering the conjured insects against the walls. The orb's twisting slowed, then dissipated, revealing the untouched woman still slowing in her twirl within.
The door opened.
Mehuka, for all his hours spent pouring over tomes, knew not to pass up such a combat opportunity as this. Red-gold essence pouring off his frame as he focused his energies, he leapt, and struck the girl with one powerful kick that knocked her back across the room and into the wall, where she slid down atop the scattered black shards left by his spell. Such an attack would fell even an Exalt who did not defend against it. Sure enough, she struggled to rise, but fell back. Her blindfold had slipped, revealing large eyes of silvery white, like moonstone. Veins stood out around them, and her gaze seemed to cut right through him.
"What are you?" he whispered, caught momentarily in his own curiosity.
"Mehuka..." she strained to say, coughing. "Of the twilight caste... of the solar exalted... For willful... enslavement of spirits... and the servants of the gods... The reason I came... was for your death."
The solar half-smirked, caught between gloating in victory and puzzlement that this was not the Hunt.
"It appears you were not successful."
The martial artist took the correct stance.
She smiled at him. Those eyes were disturbing, yet for a moment it seemed as if she truly were looking through him. He turned. The other Hyuga attacked.
Mehuka, of the Copper Spiders, witnessed the 64 Hands of Hakke. It would be among the last things he ever saw in life.
***
Remembering a discussion on converting Naruto into Exalted terms, I found the idea of the Byakugan and the Hyuga style of martial arts- as practised mainly by Hyuga Neji in the series- to be very interesting in the context of exalted. Eventually, I ended up creating a merit for the Byakugan (which I ended up calling Crystal Eyes), a Bird in the Cage Flaw, a terrestrial martial arts style and a means of implementing both as a family of anti-exalt-trained god-blooded martial artists. Unfortunately, I have absolutely horrible ability for numbers and the like, so deciding on costs is something I've most likely gotten completely wrong. Perhaps you could give me some suggestions on costs, along with comments and advice on the charms and so forth, please?
The basic idea on fitting it into Exalted is that, with the return of the solars, the arrival of the abyssals, and all the trouble caused by every kind of exalt in their own ways, certain concerned gods grouped together in the secret, unofficial Court of Heavenly Defense, and decided that a means was needed to deal with mortal essence channelers of all sorts. This means was revealed in the journals of a powerful First Age martial artist, Hyuga of the dawn caste. He had never developed it, due to it being only of use against fleshy creatures, and not the fair folk, rogue spirits, demons and so on who were more of a concern at the time. Now it was fully researched, and developed into what was called the Hyuga style. Unfortunately for the gods, the style could also only be wielded by mortal creatures who could channel essence, not by beings composed of essence. To fill this need, these gods secretly created a family of god-blooded servants, their mortal parentage taken from the finest available martial artist stock. Raising them from childhood, this also allowed the gods to instill in them the key ability required to practise the Hyuga style- the Crystal Eyes. Once these god-bloods, given Hyuga for their family name as an ever-present reminder of their purpose, became adults, trained since birth for their duty, the Court of Heavenly Defense sent them to destroy those Exalted who had drawn their wrath.
***
Crystal Eyes (15-pt. Merit)
Prerequisites: Perception OOOO
The character is one of the Hyuga family, either a god-blood created by the Court of Defense or descended from one. The pupils and irisis of their eyes, both very large, are indistinguishable from each other and almost from the white around them, being a pale silvery colour. These eyes have several powers. Firstly, the character can see 360 degrees around herself. She can see anything in any direction around her as well as if she were facing that direction. She is not subject to sneak attacks. Secondly, the character can expend essence to activate the powers of their gaze. By committing 1 mote per layer, the character can see through things- typically, one foot or less of a substance counts as a layer. Objects seen through do not become invisible to the character- they are still aware of everything they have seen through using this power. This lasts for as long as the essence is commited. Similarly, by committing 1 mote for every 50 feet, the character can focus their vision, seeing things at that range or closer as if they were right next to them. The character loses their 360-degree vision while this is in effect. Most importantly, the character can spend 1 willpower to perceive the flow of essence directly. They can see magic in effect, tell the difference between magical beings and ordinary ones, see dematerialised spirits, and observe the boundaries of demesnes and other magical areas. This lasts for one scene. While seeing essence, the character can navigate by the glowing flow outlining everything, and is unimpeded by darkness or similarly obscuring effects.
The Crystal Eyes do have some disadvantages. The character is at -4 on all dice pools regarding visual sensory overload. She is considered to have the 1-pt. version of the Unusual Appearance Flaw. Lastly, whenever the character spends essence or willpower to activate her eyes' powers, veins stand out on her face beside them as her blood rushes to provide essence, and her gaze becomes distressingly piercing and knowing. While such effects are active, she is considered to have the 2-pt version of the Disturbing Flaw.
The Crystal Eyes, though they allow their bearer to see the flow of essence, do not confer the ability to channel it; characters who have Crystal Eyes but do not have the ability to channel essence must use willpower to inefficiently power the eyes' abilities.
This merit may be passed on through the blood. Roll a ten-sided dice when the child is concieved. If both parents have the Crystal Eyes, the child is only devoid of them on a roll of 10. If just one parent has them, the child has them on a roll of 1, 2, 3 or 4.
Bird in the Cage (7-pt. Flaw)
The character's life, through sorcery, magic or simply unstoppable supernatural assassins following his every move, is completely in another's hand. At any time, the character with this special means can end the life of the one who bears this flaw- and there's no resisting it. The Hyugas created and raised by the Court of Heavenly Defense all have this flaw, represented by a symbolic tattoo somewhere on their body; by use of a simple little secret spell, the gods of the Court can end any single Hyuga's life. Fortunately, each Hyuga created requires a large investment of time and essence, so smaller crimes, such as simple disobeying, rarely lead to this punishment. This Flaw can be removed, but with difficulty- for the Hyuga version, only Exaltation or deification are known to remove it. Of course, if the knowledge of the spell which activates it is lost, the character no longer has anything to worry about.
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The Hyuga Style.
Open-handed attacks and fluid grace characterise the Hyuga style. It is a completely unarmed style, incompatible with the use of weapons or armour, concentrating on disabling essence users and enhancing the user's own essence mastery so as to match such powerful foes.
Limitations: Most Hyuga-style charms are only effective on mortal targets; that is, targets of flesh and blood. If this is not so, it will be noted in the charm description. The Hyuga-style charms can also only be utilised by such beings. Also, with the exception of Essence Knife, all offensive and perceptive Hyuga charms require an effect which allows the user to perceive essence to be active; Hyugas use their Crystal Eyes, but similar effects such as the solar charm All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight serve equally well. Until the character learns Opening Point Awareness, the offensive Hyuga charms can only be performed using the fingers and palms.
Essence Knife
Cost: 2 motes.
Duration: Instant.
Type: Supplementary.
Martial Arts 2
Essence 2
Prerequisites: None.
At the point of attack, he martial artist projects a knife of disruptive essence from his body. The knife does not cut, but rather disrupts the flow of essence in the target, causing internal bleeding. At a cost of 1 mote per attack, the character's attacks do lethal damage.
Inner Coils Blow
Cost: 5 motes 1 will
Duration: One Scene
Type: Supplementary.
Martial Arts 3
Essence 2
Prerequisites: Essence Knife
Essence flows through everything, particularly living creatures: its path is intertwined with the muscles, the bones, the flow of blood and the internal organs. By perceiving this deep connection and exploiting it, the martial artist may ignore the resilience afforded by calloused skin and steely sinew, attacking their target's delicate innards directly. For the length of one scene, the character's attacks ignore natural soak. Armour soak still functions; the attacker can only extend their disruptive essence so far.
Focused Essence Deflection
Cost: 5 motes, 1 will
Duration: One Scene
Type: Supplementary.
Martial Arts 3
Essence 2
Prerequisites: Essence Knife
The character learns to expel essence out through their hands, surrounding them in a crackling glow and pushing away things which come near. For the rest of the scene, the character may parry unarmed and may add their permanent essence rating in dice to their parry attempts.
Stunning Essence Strike
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplementary.
Martial Arts 3
Essence 2
Prerequisites: Inner Coils Blow
The practitioner of the Hyuga learned in this charm may disrupt their opponent's body on a greater level. Instead of an attack, the martial artist rolls their Dexterity + Martial Arts in an opposed roll against their opponent's Stamina + Resistance. If the martial artist succeeds, the target's whole body flow is momentarily thrown into chaos, causing them to be stunned for a number of turns equal to their attacker's permanent essence.
Threefold Essence Seal
Cost: Five motes 1 will
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplementary.
Martial Arts 4
Essence 3
Prerequisites: Stunning Essence Strike
This terrible technique is one of the most prized by its practitioners, and the one feared by the most powerful of their foes. This charm does not merely disrupt the flow of essence in the target's body, but seals it within the body. Every health level of damage dealt by this charm seals three motes of the target's essence, rendering it incapable of being used just as if they had been spent. These lost points of essence return at the same rate that essence normally does.
Knowing Eyes Technique
Cost: 4 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple.
Martial Arts 2
Essence 2
Prerequisites: None
Observing shape, colour, motion and the flow of of essence with crystal clarity, the character may now see the meaning behind what their eyes tell them. Using this charm, the martial artist notices every twitch of eyes, every minor movement and momentary hesitation. For the rest of the scene, the character adds her permanent essence score to all dice actions to "read" people; for example, to discern their emotional state or tell if they're lying.
Opening Point Sight
Cost: 5 motes, 1 will.
Duration: Instant.
Type: Reflexive.
Martial Arts 4
Essence 2
Prerequisites: Knowing Eyes Technique
Activating this charm, the martial artist can now see not only the large centres of essence in her opponent that previously were her targets, but also the smaller centres on the surface of her target's skin: the Opening Points. She is no longer limited to a small selection of targets; even her opponent's arms and legs have a selection of Opening Points. Mechanically, when this charm is activated, the character may see and attack these points precisely; thus, she can attack the very limbs her opponent seeks to block her with. She may ignore one unarmed parry attempt.
Opening Point Mastery
Cost: 1 permanent willpower.
Duration: Permanent.
Type: -
Martial Arts 4
Essence 3
Prerequisites: Opening Point Sight.
This charm's cost is paid only once: when purchased, and its effects are permanent. The character has perceived the Opening Points of the body and internalised the knowledge, training himself rigourously to make use of his own opening points. From now on, the martial artist is not limited to his hands in the forming and control of essence; he may perform Hyuga-style attacks not only with fingers and palm but with feet, knees, elbows, headbutts or any other part of his body. This effect may also apply to other charms, at Storyteller discretion.
Hyuga Form
Cost: 10 motes, 1 will, 1 lethal health level per action affected.
Duration: One Scene.
Type: Supplementary.
Martial Arts 5
Essence 3
Prerequisites: Focused Essence Deflection, Threefold Essence Seal, Opening Point Mastery.
This charm is one of incredible power, and of terrible danger to the user. The practitioner of the Hyuga style who learns this charm gains ultimate understanding of their own personal essence's flow, and becomes capable of forcing their essence to do twice the work it would normally do. When this charm is activated, arcs of electrical blue essence spark about the user's body. Her teeth twist into a grimace and her muscles tense; this charm is a great strain. For one scene, the martial artist may halve her essence costs. However, for every charm, spell or other effect she uses this effect on, she suffers one health level of lethal damage. Obviously, using the effects of this charm too much will lead to death, but it is usually the only way to use the essence-hungry top-end charms of the Hyuga style.
Buying this charm represents an enlightening mastery and control over one's own essence, and as such it allows the martial artist to raise her permanent Essence to four dots without the deification, demonification, death, "choose another type", or other effects normally experienced by such mortals. These effects now occur should the character ever be raised to Essence five.
Transcendant Speed Meditation
Cost: 3 motes per extra action, 1 willpower
Duration: Instant.
Type: Extra Action
Martial Arts 5
Essence 3
Prerequisites: Hyuga Form
The user of this charm has comprehends the flow of essence which powers his muscles, and can focus it in order to to transcend mortal limitations of movement. He may purchase a number of extra attacks up to his permanent essence rating.
Breaking Point
Cost: 5 motes, 1 will.
Duration: Instant.
Type: Supplementary
Martial Arts 5
Essence 3
Prerequisites: Hyuga Form.
The character's mastery of his own essence leads to a deeper awareness of the flow of essence in the world around him. He now sees that even inanimate objects contain complex flows of essence as living creatures do. By activating this charm, the character uses this knowledge to focus on an object and see its points of weakness. Channeling essence into this point as he strikes it, he bypasses the object's resistance to break it apart from within. Enhancing an attack with this charm allows the character to ignore the target object's soak.
Kaiten- The Heavenly Spin
Cost: 20 motes, 1 will, 1 bashing health level.
Duration: One turn.
Type: Reflexive.
Martial Arts 5
Essence 4
Prerequisites: Transcendant Speed Meditation, Breaking Point.
The warriors of the Hyuga style can devastate their foes, but their attacks are useless if they are destroyed by the awesome might of their enemies before they can unleash their power. This technique is the ultimate defense of the Hyuga style, and as such extremely heavy on essence. The martial artist may activate Kaiten as a reflexive action when attacked, forgoing their next action, or they may activate it on their turn. They expel essence from every opening point on their body, stopping attacks dead, and then spin, simultaneously releasing essence with centrifugal force and drawing it back in. This creates a spinning sphere of essence surrounding the martial artists, which renders them immune to all physical attacks during the spin- even charm- or sorcery-based attacks such as Cascade of Cutting Terror and Death of Obsidian Butterflies are repelled by the Heavenly Spin; the wind created by the spinning essence even blows back sound and gases until the charm ends. However, the spin is exhausting, and is no proof against non-physical attacks; if there isn't a tangible object to be knocked back, it doesn't work. The spin lasts from the initiative count it was activated on to the same count next turn. Then, even if the martial artist has enough essence to re-activate the charm, there is an opening of one turn before the spin can be activated again- the user must carefully stop spinning and restart in the opposite direction.
The 64 Hands of Hakke
Cost: 64 motes, 2 will, 2 bashing
Duration: 6 turns (see below)
Type: Simple.
Martial Arts 5
Essence 4
Prerequisites: Transcendant Speed Meditation, Breaking Point.
This is the ultimate attack of the Hyuga Style as can be practised by its main users, and it would be feared by any Exalt- if the secret of its existance were to emerge. Even a mighty Exalted of the First Age, once caught by this charm, is helpless before its full power- only outside aid can rescue her before the charm is complete.
In the first round, the user spends the willpower and 2 motes of essence (he spends a mote of essence with each attack), then attacks twice. They are resolved normally, but do not cause health levels of damage. If this attack scores any successes which would otherwise have dealt damage, the target is stunned as per Stunning Essence Strike, though this version cannot be resisted. The target is now inescapably caught in the charm, and attacks are considered to automatically hit. In the user's next turn, his fingers attack twice again, keeping the victim helpless and imposing a -1 die penalty on all actions for a scene. In the third turn, the user makes four attacks, once again keeping his opponent helpless and bringing the die penalty up to -2. In the fourth turn, the user makes eight attacks, the same occurs but the die penalty is brought up to -3. In the fifth turn, the true power of the charm begins to take effect; the user makes 16 attacks, continuing the previous effects and sealing 32 motes of the target's essence as Threefold Essence Seal does. Finally, in the sixth round, the martial artist makes 32 attacks, suffers the two levels of bashing damage, continues the previous effects, and seals the entirety of the target's essence pool; in addition, all ongoing magical effects and anima displays cease.
The final charm of the Hyuga style, The 128 Hands of Hakke, has never been practised; its god-blooded practitioners simply cannot hope to power it. Should a Celestial Exalt somehow learn this style, however...
. Anyways, this is really cool... I think I'll actually implement a slightly changed version into my game.