< Tiger Style? | Martial Arts | Martial Kata >
The pattern spiders who tend the Loom of Fate do not seem to like the Obsidian Shards of Infinity. They treat practitioners of this martial arts style with the same curt, impersonal respect they show to all Sidereal Exalted. Their metallic faces and unblinking jade eyes cannot show expression. Yet, they cluster around patches of fate where this style has seen use, softly clicking their mandibles, extending their claws but hesitant to touch the fate-strands. For a time, they seem uncertain of how to tend these sections of the Loom... or, perhaps, frightened of what the martial artist has done to Creation's weave.
A practitioner of the Obsidian Shards of Infinity doesn't seem to live in the same world as the people around them. Sometimes, he seems to look at things that aren't there. He forgets events that happened to him, or remembers things that other people swear never took place - but might have. In combat, his movements follow no rhythm and his strikes make no sense.
Sifus begin teaching the style begin with an aphorism from the Maiden of Battles: Do not seek one path to victory; make every path lead to victory. Practitioners claim that the Loom of Fate shows only one version of Creation. Others could exist as well, each slightly different, like reflections caught between cracked and bent mirrors. The Obsidian Shards of Infinity breaks the barrier between might-have-been and really-is.
Many Charms in this style are technically Shaping effects. Nevertheless, Lunar tattoos and Exalted Charms against Shaping do not defend against every effect of the Obsidian Shards of Infinity. Most of the style's Charms shape the reality around the martial artist's opponent, rather than the opponent himself. Charms of the Fair Folk, however, can affect reality on the same metaphysical level. Obsidian Shards of Infinity Charms are all Obvious to raksha perceptions, and attacks made using the style's Charms cannot take Fair Folk by surprise. Any magical effect that extends a zone of Shaping defense around a character (such as Chaos-Repelling Pattern) also protects against the reality-warping effects of Obsidian Shards of Infinity Charms.
Complimentary Abilities: The style's faux Primary Abilities are Brawl and Thrown, through these do not factor into the calculation of the Stylists Martial Arts rating. This is determined by the Style's Secondary Abilities: Brawl, Dodge, Lore and Occult. Add them, divide by 4, round down.
Weapons and Armor: This style treats paired sais, paired baneclaws or multiple knives or punch daggers as unarmed attacks. The martial artists can wield these weapons in close combat or throw them, using the Sidereal's Martial arts as the relevant Ability, but the martial artist must always use more than one weapon. A character reduces to only a single weapon cannot use it with the Charms of this style until he acquires another, matching weapon. For reasons that shall become obvious, practitioners of the style keep their weapons brightly polished.
Obsidian Shards of Infinity Style can be practiced while wearing armor whose mobility penalty does not exceed -1.
The Student's Sutra of Reflection: Once, there was a thoughtful maiden...
Black Shards Fall Like Ice
Cost: 15m; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4; Type: Simple (Speed 6, -1 DV) Keywords: Combo-Basic, Obvious, Shaping Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: None
...who broke her mirror, and dropped the pieces to the ground.
With a shout, a step and a ringing clap, the martial artists breaks the world. Razor-sharp obsidian shards rain down or spray outward in a burst (Essence x 5) yards in radius. The martial artist can place the center of the attack anywhere she can see within (Essence x 25) yards. The flying shards create an environmental effect, with damage 15L and Trauma of the martial artist's Essence. Damage is also Piercing.
Most of the shards break immediately, leaving the ground littered with tiny bits of obsidian. Five large, reflective shards remain, however, stuck into the ground or other convenient surfaces. They range from a yard to a yard and a half high or wide. Other Charms in the style can use these shards in various ways.
As an area attack, Black Shards Fall Like Ice is quite useful in mass combat, in which the martial artist acts as a solo unit, commander or sorcerer. Apply the Charm as a 5L ranged attack against a targeted unit; it always hits.
Commentary: The Shaping keyword is included because magical effects that block an enemy from Shaping can prevent the use of Black Shards Fall Like Ice. The damage itself, however, is entirely physical. As Immaculate Golden Bow and Spirit Weapons show, the Shaping keyword is not intrinsically necessary for Charms that materialize damaging effects.
Ripple in the Silvered Glass
Cost: 6m+, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4; Type: Reflexive (Step 6) Keywords: Combo-OK, Shaping Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: None
She thought to repair it, but was arrested by the sight of the scattered shards,
In response to an opponent's successful attack, the martial artist flicks his hands apart as if opening a pair of curtains. The Sidereal posits a world in which the attack failed. His enemy stumbled at an inconvenient moment, or mistook where the martial artist would move next. The upshot is a perfect block or dodge - whatever defense the character needs - even against attacks that cannot be blocked or dodged.
The martial artist did not obviously use a perfect defense. For all his opponent knows, the attack simply missed. The opponent's player, however, can roll (Wits + Awareness) with an internal penalty of the martial artist's (Essence + Martial Arts). If the opponent has reason to suspect Charm use (such as, how did that perfect attack "simply miss?"), she can apply Excellencies to this reflexive action. On a simple success, she realizes the Sidereal actually did something to make her successful attack not have happened. With two more threshold successes, the opponent can spend a Willpower point and force reality back into its former course, in which her attack succeeded. Integrity-Protecting Prana, Lunar moonsilver tattoos and other supernatural defenses against Shaping grant a +2 dice bonus to the roll. (Note that Fair Folk always sense that the Sidereal altered reality, but the raksha's player still must roll for the possibility to undo the Charm's effects.)
As a further benefit, Ripple in the Silvered Glass can be used against nonsentient "attacks" such as traps or landslides. In this case, the Charm automatically succeeds. What's more, the character infallibly senses any attack directed at him through a reflective surface - from other Charms of this style to an enemy scrying him in a forest pool - and can, if he chooses, apply Ripple in the Silvered Glass against it.
Commentary: Note that unlike Avoidance Kata (The Manual of Exalted Power - The Sidereals, pp. 143-144), Ripple in the Silvered Glass really does change history and "make it didn't happen." However, the same technically applies to the Third Dodge Excellency; Ripple in the Silvered Glass merely operates perfectly, and hides the fact of its use.
Reaching Through the Mirror
Cost: 8m; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4; Type: Supplemental Keywords: Combo-Basic, Obvious, Shaping Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: None
Which showed so many visions of her face.
Using this Charm, a martial artist no longer needs to strike his foe with his attack. Instead, he can attack his enemy's reflection.
To use this Charm, a martial artist needs a surface that reflects the image of her opponent. Her polished weapons would suffice; so do calm pools of water or the obsidian mirrors from Black Shards Fall Like Ice. The only restriction is that the reflection must be within (martial artist's Essence x 10) yards of the target. A mirror that the Sidereal can manipulate, such as her weapons, can always reflect a visible foe. An enemy who stands within the area of a Black Shards Fall Like Ice attack is always reflected by the five obsidian shards left behind, no matter what he does to hide: The martial artist can reflexively call his reflection into the mirror of her choice.
As the martial artist's hand strikes her enemy's image in a mirror or her thrown knife strikes the reflection in a nearby pool, her enemy feels the attack. Even if the target sees the Sidereal attack his reflection, he can do nothing to evade it: The attack becomes unexpected. Charms that prevent unexpected attacks, however, block this aspect of the Charm and permit normal parrying or dodging.
The attack also becomes lethal (if it wasn't before). Finally, the damage is applied against half the target's total soak, from all sources, as the target feels his flesh crack like breaking glass or ripple like a struck pond. Personal Shaping defenses (including Lunar moonsilver tattoos) counter these supplemental effects, but do not prevent the attack from striking or make the attack no longer unexpected.
Note that the reflective surface suffers the same basic damage that the Sidereal intends to inflict on her foe. This damage is not made lethal and Piercing, but hitting a pane of silvered glass still probably breaks it. Still water takes a least a minute to calm before it can be used again as a mirror.
Commentary: The full Supplemental effect is to make an attack ranged, lethal, piercing and unexpected. This is a lot even for Essence 4: Only the need to face the enemy (enough to reflect his image, anyway) prevents it from being a complete "Stuka" Charm. Combo-Basic prevents characters from using Reaching Through the Mirror with Extra Action or damage-multiplying Charms to create Insta-Kill Stuka Combos; or at least it cuts down the options.
Cracked Obsidian Restoration (From an idea by Jive X?)
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4; Type: Simple (Speed 6, -2 DV) Keywords: Shaping, Touch Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Black Shards Fall Like Ice, Ripple in the Silvered Glass, Reaching Through the Mirror
She put the pieces back together at all the wrong angles,
As a martial artist learns the Obsidian Shards of Infinity, he can push other creatures through the black mirrors of Maybe to undo harm they may have suffered. This requires considerable concentration. The Sidereal makes five swift strikes against his target's chakras while his player rolls (Wits + Martial Arts + Essence). The martial artist then spends the successes on the following possible applications:
The shock of conflating different potential versions of a person is not gentle. The recipient of Cracked Obsidian Restoration suffers one level of unsoakable aggravated damage. Any action taken to prevent this damage also prevents the Charm from working. Shaping defenses block Cracked Obsidian Restoration. The Charm does not remove inherited mutations, as these are natural to the Charm's target.
Commentary: One of the coolest things about supernatural martial arts is the option to bring together Charms that follow a theme but cut across Abilities. Cracked Obsidian Restoration emulates Order-Affirming Blow, with lower Essence and Willpower cost. OTOH, that Charm automatically removes all Shaping damage. It also does not injure its target.
Cracked Obsidian Restoration replaces Shattering the Balance. That Charm was a relic of the author's original intention, to include a system for Derangements that was A) long and B) inappropriate for a book about martial arts. Thank you again, Jive X?, for suggesting a replacement Charm that enables removing the "insanity" aspect from the entire style.
Obsidian Shards of Infinity Form
Cost: 15m; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 5; Type: Simple (Speed 6, -1 DV) Keywords: Form-type, Obvious, Shaping Duration: Scene Prerequisite Charms: Shattering the Balance
And was delighted at the image of herself.
Practitioners of the Obsidian Shards of Infinity Style surround themselves with endless reflections of possibility. Whenever an enemy manages to strike him with any sort of physical attack, the martial artist may reflexively spend one mote - and he breaks into shards of glass that fade to nothing a second later. In the same moment, the martial artist reappears up to (Essence) yards from his original location, in whatever direction the character wants, completely unharmed. (Consider this reflexive effect as happening in Step 6 of combat.) His player then may roll to surprise his enemy (see Exalted, p. 155, for rules about surprise attacks). If someone can attack the reappearing Sidereal before the next tick, however, the Sidereal cannot vanish and reappear again: the Obsidian Shards of Infinity Form grants only one perfect defense and escape per tick.
What's more, the Sidereal can retrieve a lost weapon if he still holds its mate. This might happen because the Sidereal threw one weapon, or an enemy succeeded at a disarming attack. He Sidereal spends one mote, and the lost weapon is revealed as nothing but a duplicate made of black glass. This copy shatters, and the original is seen to have never left the Sidereal's hand.
Any supernatural attempt to stop the Sidereal from shattering and reforming in response to an attack, or from retrieving his weapon, treats Obsidian Shards of Infinity Form as an immovable object (see Exalted, p. 179). The only ways to beat the Form's effects are to trick, force or persuade the martial artist to abandon the Form; to attack in ways that do not involve causing harm (such as unnatural mental influence); or finding a way to attack the martial artist twice in the same tick, despite his movement.
Shifting through the worlds of Maybe to evade attacks and recover weapons carries some danger. Sometimes, the character herself sees what might be, but isn't. Every time the Sidereal takes an action while using this Form, the Storyteller secretly rolls one die. On a selected number (1 is appropriate), she lies about an opponent's actions or the results of the Sidereal's action. This must be something that could really happen at that point, such as an attack that missed when it really hit, or an enemy activating one Charm instead of another. On the martial artist's next action, the truth reveals itself.
Commentary: While the damage-shedding teleport is a powerful defense, it could be beaten by a combatant who can flurry an initial attack and a second, ranged attack, and who has sufficiently high (Wits + Awareness) that the martial artist cannot establish surprise. This is not too unusual for the sort of adversaries an Essence 5 Sidereal martial artist tends to face. (A partner who stands ready to strike the reappearing martial artist can also beat the Form.)
The Mirror Does Not Lie
Cost: -; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 5; Type: Permanent Keywords: Counterattack Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Obsidian Shards of Infinity Form
The Elder Sutra of Reflection: The maiden wanted to show everyone how wonderful she looked.
Mirrors redirect as well as well as portray. This Charm enhances a martial artist's use of Ripple in the Silvered Glass. Instead of simply making an attack miss her, she may redirect the attack at a new target. Anyone her enemy could have attacked is a valid target, except the attacker himself. To witnesses, it looks like the Sidereal's enemy meant to attack the new target all along. Use the roll by the attacker's player, but apply the results to the target chosen by the martial artist.
As with Ripples in the Silvered Glass, though, the attacker might realize that his actions were insane or impossible, and try to force reality back on its proper course. Since redirecting an attack strains the bounds of plausibility to a greater degree than merely missing, the attacker's roll becomes (Wits + Awareness + Essence.)
The Mirror Does Not Lie also expands the range of attacks that Ripple in the Silvered Glass can deflect. Social attacks and mass combat attacks now become valid targets for redirection.
Vanished Within the Glass
Cost: 20m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 6; Type: Simple (Speed 5, -1 DV) Keywords: Combo-Basic, Obvious, Shaping, Touch Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: The Mirror Does Not Lie
But it seemed as though no one could see it.
What image in the mirror is more fascinating than one's own? For someone to be a valid target of this Charm, the martial artist must carry a reflective surface that shows the target's image. The martial artist attempts a (Dexterity + Martial Arts) attack against his foe to bring her face-to-face with her reflection... and the mirror sucks her in! This attack can be dodged but not parried, and it cannot be flurried at all.
The martial artist's target sees herself as still in the world, but nothing she does affects her surroundings. To everyone else, she is not even dematerialized - she is gone. However, mirrors and other reflective surfaces still catch her image. Anyone who sees her reflection can also hear her voice, but cannot affect her any more than she can affect anything else. These strictures apply to the martial artist, too: One he traps a person, he has no power to attack her any further.
The target of this Charm exists in a bubble of Elsewhere, a bit like a mobile spirit sanctum that can only interact with surrounding reality through reflections. If the martial artist uses Vanished Within the Glass on multiple people within a scene, they share an Elsewhere bubble as long as they stay within sight or hearing of each other and can interact with each other normally. While trapped behind the mirror, characters do not need to drink, eat, excrete or breathe; neither do they age. They can go wherever they want; they are not trapped behind the mirror that the martial artist used to catch them.
Motes spent on the Charm are committed. If the martial artist lets the commitment lapse, or dies, everyone he trapped in the Elsewhere behind mirrors returns to normal reality. Clever Sidereals might find ways to exploit this aspect of the Charm; however, characters cannot use Vanished Within the Glass on themselves.
Characters trapped by the Charm have three ways to escape on their own. First, anyone who can create Elsewhere pockets (such as the Lunar Charm, Secure Den Prana) can move from the Sidereal's Elsewhere bubble to her own, and from there back to Creation. Second, entities that can dematerialize can walk out through any mirror as large as they are. Finally, a trapped character can enter spirit sanctums as easily as she travels through the rest of Creation. If a sanctum has a mirror inside, the character can walk through it; she is then out of the Sidereal's bubble, but inside the sanctum. Being Vanished Behind the Glass does not, however, confer the power to sense or locate spirit sanctums: That is the character's own problem.
Commentary: The original version of this Charm left a great many questions unanswered. This version attempts to define what a person can do when they are pulled behind the mirror, as well as preventing it from being an absolutely certain and inescapable way of neutralizing an enemy. The Charm is Combo-Basic to prevent weirdness such as Comboing it with Reaching Through the Mirror to trap someone from a distance. Shaping defenses do not protect a target, since Vanished Within the Glass does not affect the target's body, mind, soul or traits: It just moves her somewhere else (or more precisely, creates a "somewhere else" around her.) Chaos-Repelling Pattern, and similar Charms, block its effects.
Draw Forth One Shard
Cost: 15m, 1wp + later expenditure; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 6; Type: Simple (Speed 6, -1 DV) Keywords: Combo-Basic, Obvious, Servitude, Shaping Duration: One week Prerequisite Charms: Obsidian Shards of Infinity Form
So she painted a self-portrait,
To use this Charm, the Sidereal must be able to touch a surface that reflects her foe. She pushes at the reflected image, and a copy of her target stands beside the original. This is not quite an identical copy: right and left are reversed. There are other, subtler changes, too: A different set to the jaw, perhaps, or a scar shifted a little to one side. Any creature whose Essence is less than the Sidereal's is a valid target. So is the Sidereal herself.
The duplicate - the shard - has the same traits, personal possessions and knowledge of the original, but does not have a reflection. The shard-person also differs from the original in some way the Sidereal cannot predict or control, but this rarely amounts to more than a single different Ability or moving a few dots from one trait to another - but always a different Motivation. The shard and the original person also lack reflections. Only one shard of a person can exist a time: One cannot use Draw Forth One Shard against a target until the existing shard ceases to be.
The martial artist has a degree of power over the shard. She can peek into the shard's consciousness, looking through his eyes and hearing through his ears, but this costs one mote per minute. The Sidereal can also control the shard's action like a puppet, using all of the duplicated person's traits and powers, but this adds one Willpower per minute to the cost of possessing the shard. Either way, possessing the shard counts as a miscellaneous action, so anything else the martial artist does at this time involves multiple actions. The Sidereal's control over the shard trumps any mental influence that may be used on the original. On the other hand, the shard can refuse unacceptable orders, or resist any command from the martial artist by expending one Willpower per action.
Creating the shard is an Instant effect, but the shard persists thereafter for one week. If after one week the shard still exists and the Sidereal still has a use for it, he may spend two Conviction Channels and 5 Willpower to make it last indefinitely. The shard appears to be a genuine person, though Essence perception reveals it as a very peculiar sort of construct, living but not quite real.
Sidereals rarely draw forth their own shards, for they rarely like the result. Martial artists have drawn forth versions of themselves as they might have been, would like to be or feared they might become. More significantly, they had to share Essence pools, the metaphysical growth represented by experience points, and their emotional connections and relationships. They also found that their copies did not like the idea of charging into danger to safeguard their originator - they knew full well that if their creator died, they would be the real ones. Sifus of the Obsidian Shards of Infinity tell their students that all in all, living as two people at once sucks.
Note to Storytellers: Draw forth One Shard can have very open-ended effects, and rules for shards cannot cover every possibility in the diverse and complex world of Exalted. The Charm's description tries to cover the basics, but you may encounter situations that leave you wondering whether some possession or aspect of the Charm's target can be duplicated. Draw Forth One Shard cannot change fundamental aspects of the game's setting (no creating new Exaltations, no duplicating the Incarnae, etc.) Beyond that, apply your best judgment about what could wreck your series or, conversely, what would create amusing and challenging consequences for the Sidereal who uses the Charm and the people that she copies. Most of the changes from the original version are to fix ghastly mistakes (such as no restriction on who the martial artist can duplicate and control). Removing the martial artist's ability to discorporate the shard at will, however, is done purely to give the Storyteller all the fun that comes from characters having "evil twins" running loose.
Commentary: The original was a mess, with no limits on who the Sidereal could duplicate, or what he could force it to do. Many of the details about the connection between the original and the shard were also just plain silly.
Draw Forth Every Shard
Cost: 20m, 2wp; Mins: Martial Arts 6, Essence 6; Type: Simple (Speed 6, -2 DV) Keywords: Combo-Basic, Obvious, Shaping Duration: One scene Prerequisite Charms: Draw Forth One Shard
And portrait after portrait after that,
The Sidereal gestures to both sides as if arranging two mirrors face to face with himself in the middle, and his form multiplies into dozens of copies. The duplicates do not move in unison, but similarly. They join the Sidereal in whatever task he performs, from crafting a daiklave to fighting a battle.
The host of shards function as a mass combat unit under the Sidereal's direction. (This is very useful for Sidereals who know War Charms such as Demon-Blocking Battle Pattern, as they can supply their own army at a moment's notice.) Treat the army of shards as supernatural beings for purposes of enemy rout checks. The mass combat unit has the following traits:
Commanding Officer: The Sidereal (+4)
Armor Color: Each member of the Host of Shards looks almost exactly like the Sidereal, down to having the same possessions.
Banner: None, unless the Sidereal was toting around a Banner. In which case the Host has a lot of banners.
Motto: This depends heavily on the Sidereal.
General Makeup: The exact number of Mirror Shards depends on the Sidereal's Essence; at Essence 6, it's around 100 copies of the Sidereal.
Overall: Either Garrison, or Raiders; Elite, Elder Celestials.
Magnitude: (Half the Sidereal's Essence)
Drill: 5 (the copies act with one mind)
Close Combat Attack: Sidereal's (Dexterity + Martial Arts)/2; Close Combat Damage: Sidereal's (Strength + Weapon Damage)/3; (Varies)
Close Combat Attack: Sidereal's (Dexterity + Thrown)/2 or 0; Close Combat Damage: Sidereal's (Strength + Weapon Damage)/3 or 0; (Varies)
Ranged Combat Attack: 3; Ranged Combat Damage: 2; Range: 45 yards; (Javelin)
Endurance: Sidereal's Stamina + 5; Might: 5; Armor: Varies (Mobility, and Fatigue varies.)
Morale: Perfect (the shards all know they are shards, and feel no fear); Move: As Sidereal; Resistance: As Sidereal
Health Track: -0x30
Formation: The combat unit does not need relays, since the shards all share their creator's consciousness. The Sidereal commander might be deceived, but no force known can prevent his shards from knowing his will. On the other hand, the unit also lacks heroes or sorcerers. If the Sidereal wants to add these special characters, he must recruit allies to fill these roles.
Notes: As long as they stay within mass combat, the shards can use any of their creator's Artifacts and Martial Arts Charms... or at least they seem to. All of these special capabilities for attack, defense and mobility, however, are folded into the unit's Might and Endurance. Copies shatter into broken obsidian if they are removed from the mass combat unit and forced to act separately.
Draw Forth Every Shard can be used for purposes besides combat. The shards can perform any task that a group of several dozen people with all the Sidereal's Attributes and Abilities could do, but they cannot apply Charms outside of combat.
Commentary: This Charm may seem insanely generous, since by the (Magnitude + Might) metric, Draw Forth Every Shard gives the Sidereal the equivalent of a crack Realm legion. However, Incantation of the Invincible Army can grant perfect morale and a Might of 5 to tens of thousands of troops at once; the spell has fewer prerequisites; and its effects last longer than a scene. For a further comparison, Fury-Inciting Presence recruits an instant army (albeit not a very good one) at only Essence 3.
Echoes of Infinity
Cost: 14m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 6, Essence 7; Type: Simple Keywords: None Duration: One scene Prerequisite Charms: Vanished Within the Glass, Draw Forth Every Shard
Until she made everyone look at her.
Reflections seem endless when mirrors face mirrors. The Sidereal can activate this Charm in any place that has at least three flat, mirrored surfaces, each with an area of at least one square yard. (The obsidian plates left by Black Shards Fall Like Ice are ideal.) For the rest of the scene after using Echoes of Infinity, the presence of these mirrors enhances the Sidereal's effectiveness.
These benefits end if the Sidereal no longer has at least three suitable mirrors within (Essence x 10) yards of herself.
Commentary: The original version, which removed all mote cost from Martial Arts Charms, was way too generous even for an Essence 7 Charm with lots of prerequisites. Maybe it's not, anymore, with Draw Forth Every Shard re-interpreted; but it still needed more detail about its use. Supplying a cost break to all Martial Arts Charms without eliminating their mote cost entirely seems like a useful, far-reaching but not game-breaking bonus. Maybe the Charm could use a few other minor benefits for the Sidereal?
Breathing on the Black Mirror
Cost: 20m, 2wp; Mins: Martial Arts 7, Essence 7; Type: Simple Keywords: Combo-Basic, Shaping Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Echoes of Infinity
And they all believed her.
A Sidereal may use this Charm only in the midst of a conflict with entities of comparable or greater power, when stakes of life, death and the fate of nations - or even worlds - rest on the chances of battle. Instead of taking those chances, the martial artist can call for a choice of five possible outcomes. None of these will grant a complete victory, but at least they prevent a complete loss. When the martial artist invokes the Charm (and the Storyteller agrees that the situation is sufficiently fraught with destiny), he exhales a black mist that crystallizes into a large mirror of polished obsidian. With a quick flow from his foot or fist, the Sidereal breaks the mirror into five shards. Each shard bears the shining symbol of one of the Maidens and carries a possible destiny that the character may choose.
The Sidereal picks a mirror and steps into it. That potential destiny becomes real. Only then does the character learn the details of the destiny he chose.
Every choice but the Mirror of Endings include significant plot twists that may shift the course of a series. Storytellers may want to prepare choices of destiny for the crisis-points and principal conflicts of their series, so as not to be caught unprepared if a character invokes Breathing on the Black Mirror.
The Charm's destiny-shaping can affect entities of any power, up to and including Incarnae, Yozis and Neverborn. Creatures outside of Fate are just as susceptible as the Creation-born: Obsidian Shards of Infinity masters say there is a force of destiny beyond the Loom of Fate, a force the Maidens implement but do not control.
Any creature that is involved in the chosen scenario has a chance to realize afterwards that someone has tampered with destiny if it has defenses against Shaping, can engage in Shaping combat or has an Essence greater than or equal to the Sidereal's. Use the same roll as for Ripple in the Silvered Glass. Such entities cannot derail the chosen destiny until the scene has run its course. After that, however, creatures who realize they became players in a forced destiny can take whatever reactions they want and that lie within their power. (This is particularly dangerous with the Mirror of Battles choice.) They also remember seeing the martial artist use the Charm and realize that this act shaped the ensuing destined scene. Those who fail to sense the Sidereal's warping of destiny can never remember the Charm's use; this is not unnatural mental influence, but a Shaping effect akin to the Arcane Fate of Sidereals (but far more potent).
Destinies can kill off supporting Storyteller-characters, such as Allies, Contacts, Acquaintances or Intimacies of the martial artist or his principal foe, but work around people who themselves have Shaping powers or defenses. Breathing on the Black Mirror likewise limits itself to emotional or social harm to Exalted characters. Players' characters are not affected unless the players have a taste for the drama of suffering loss.
Commentary: This Charm operates largely by Storyteller's fiat. There is no use pretending it can operate in any other way. As such, it is the Storyteller's burden to make the plot twists invoked by Breathing of the Black Mirror neither so dire that players regard the Charm's use as counterproductive, nor so benign that players see it as an easy way to win.
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