Crane Style

Developed by Sidereal Exalted during the Primordial War as a means of teaching newly Exalted Celestials the ways of martial arts without risk of deadly training accidents, Crane Style emphasizes defensive maneuvers, restraint and empathy for opponents. The style does not permit armor, but considers hook swords and war fans (as well as the magical versions thereof) as unarmed attacks for the purposes of its Charms. Most commonly, these weapons are wielded paired, as a one-winged crane is considered highly inauspicious. In the Second Age, the main practitioners of this Celestial martial art are Gold Faction Sidereals who run the training camps of the Cult of the Illuminated, applying the style‟s techniques to their original purpose as they prepare Solar Exalted to face the enemies of Creation.

Fluttering Cry of Warning

Cost: 1m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive (Step 2) Keywords: Combo-OK Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: None

The clumsy hunter might strike from ambush, but the crane is not fooled. This Charm may be activated in response to any unexpected physical attack targeting the martial artist or anyone within (Martial Arts x 10) yards of her. Yet, the target of the unexpected attack must not have made any physical attack previously in the scene (counterattacks are permitted). If the target is valid, the attack loses the unexpected quality and its target may defend against it normally.

Empowering Justice Redirection

Cost:3m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive (Step 2) Keywords: Combo-OK Duration: Until next attack Prerequisite Charms: Fluttering Cry of Warning

Crane stylists do not initiate hostilities—they finish them. This Charm may be activated in response to any physical attack targeting the martial artist and notes the attacker and the number of successes rolled for the attack prior to applying the martial artist‟s defenses. Whenever the martial artist next makes an unarmed attack or counterattack roll against the noted attacker, her roll adds a number of extra successes equal to those noted. An attack enhanced with these successes inflicts its usual type of damage, but the actual levels applied to an enemy in Step Ten convert into bashing damage that cannot spill over past Incapacitated to impose lethal wounds. If an enhanced attack inflicts any levels of damage, the opponent is automatically knocked prone by the force of the blow. Reactivation of Empowering Justice Redirection resets the noted aggressor and number of successes, replacing any prior activation.

Crane Form

Cost: 6m; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2; Type: Simple Keywords: Form-type Duration: One scene Prerequisite Charms: Empowering Justice Redirection

The crane is not a violent animal, it is an elegant one. While this Charm is active, the martial artist ignores the off-hand penalty for actions while wielding paired form weapons. If wearing clothing with long, flowing sleeves, she adds one to her Parry DV (and her clothing will never be torn or stained by using it to parry attacks), and her barehanded attacks gain the R tag. She automatically succeeds on all Athletics checks to retain her balance and exerts no effective weight on any solid object, allowing her to balance on a pine tree's needles or run across a spider web as readily as firm ground. The Charm doubles the dice bonus (but not actual level) of all stunts made to enhance unarmed Martial Arts actions and allows such stunts to recover a Compassion channel in place of other awards if the action succeeds. Finally, all damage inflicted by the martial artist's unarmed attacks is limited to bashing injury as per the effects of Empowering Justice Redirection.

Humbling Enlightenment Commentary

Cost: —; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2; Type: Permanent Keywords: None Duration: Permanent Prerequisite Charms: Crane Form

The grace of the crane inspires those who bear witness to it. A martial artist who knows this Charm may enhance her unarmed Martial Arts attacks and parries with the same descriptions as a social attack, provided that her spoken words analyze her opponent‟s fighting techniques and offers helpful advice to improve them. Thus, comments by players speaking in character provide a one-die stunt, etcetera. Social and conventional physical criteria do not stack as such, though a combination of visual and literal poetry may certainly net a higher stunt award at Storyteller discretion.

As a secondary benefit, if the martial artist takes a dramatic action lasting one minute in which shespars with a single individual, both combatants treat that minute as a day of training time for the purposes of purchasing dots of Martial Arts, Martial Arts specialties or Martial Arts Charms. This acceleration is not a Training effect and does not allow purchase of traits the combatant‟s player lacks the banked experience points to afford.

Kindly Sifu's Quill

Cost: —; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3; Type: Permanent Keywords: None Duration: Permanent Prerequisite Charms: Humbling Enlightenment Commentary

Gentle masters write their lessons in bruises, not cuts. While a character with this Charm has Crane Form active, he does not need to spend a Willpower point to channel Compassion to enhance an unarmed Martial Arts attack or parry. Moreover, whenever he does channel Compassion this way to improve an attack, he also adds the dice bonus from the channel to the attack‟s raw damage and he may choose to arrange inflicted bruises as calligraphy upon the victim‟s skin when inflicting any levels of damage.

Crossed Wings Denial

Cost: (0+)m; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive (Step 2) Keywords: Combo-OK Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Crane Form

What monster kills so beautiful a bird? This Charm may be activated in response to any physical attack of which the martial artist is aware, allowing her to make a perfect unarmed parry even against unblockable attacks. Doing so costs a number of motes equal to the number of times she has activated Crossed Wings Denial previously in the scene. Use of this Charm prevents the martial artist from making any physical attacks on her next action as a special flaw of invulnerability. Counterattacks are not similarly prohibited.

Feather-Stirred Arrow Deflection

Cost: 4m; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive (Step 9) Keywords: Combo-OK, Counterattack Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Crossed Wings Denial

With a mighty beat of its wings, the crane shames feathers bound to shafts. They understand the lessons that their archers do not. This Charm is an unarmed (Dexterity + Martial Arts) counterattack that may be activated in response to any ranged attack with a solid projectile. The projectile may strike the martial artist or not depending on her defenses, but regardless, the counterattack hurls the projectile at an armed character no farther away than the distance between the original attacker and the martial artist. The target of this counterattack need not be the attacker who prompted it. If the counterattack hits, it inflicts no damage, but the opponent is automatically disarmed and the weapon flies five yards away in a direction of the martial artist‟s choice.

Beak Spears Frog

Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive Keywords: Combo-OK, Counterattack Duration: One Scene Prerequisite Charms: Crane Form

It is the nature of a crane to grab a frog that passes beneath its beak. It is the nature of Crane Style to strike those who strike first. A martial artist using this Charm cannot make physical attacks against other animate beings, but this prohibition does not extend to counterattacks. While Beak Spears Frog is active, however, the character may respond to any physical attack against him in Step Nine with a single unarmed counterattack, provided he can reach the attacker to do so. Counterattacks made this way suffer an internal penalty equal to the multiple action penalty of the attacks to which they respond, but are otherwise made at the character's full dice pool.

Wings Spread to Sky

Cost: 6m; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious Duration: One action Prerequisite Charms: Beak Spears Frog

Majestic and beautiful is the soaring crane. In activating this Charm, the character extends his arms to either side, hands pointed down, and glides up to (Martial Arts x 5) yards in any direction. If this path terminates in midair, he remains suspended in defiance of gravity for the duration of the Charm with enough mobility to dodge without actually moving from his location. He cannot reactivate Wings Spread to Sky until his DV refreshes. The Charm may be used to abort a fall safely or rise higher from the apogee of a jump. If used to pull away in response to an attack, the attack resolves normally before the martial artist moves. Defensive gliding can interrupt a flurry if the martial artist moves out of the attacker‟s reach, ensuring that successive attacks automatically miss.

When Wings Spread to Sky ends, the character glides another (Martial Arts x 5) yards or less in any direction before gravity resumes its hold upon him. This can allow him to land safely from a great height or deposit him on a safer perch. Termination of the Charm can also close the distance to an opponent to deliver an unarmed attack or counterattack (effectively extending the reach of the attack). Closing to strike this way doubles extra successes for the purposes of calculating the attack's raw damage, but only the first attack in a flurry enjoys this bonus.

Wisdom of the Celestial Crane

Cost: —; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4; Type: Permanent Keywords: Holy Duration: Permanent Prerequisite Charms: Kindly Sifu‟s Quill, Feather-Stirred Arrow Deflection, Wings Spread to Sky

The crane is a sacred animal. How much more so are the masters who understand its ways? Upon learning this Charm, the martial artist converts all Combos solely containing Crane Style Charms into the experience points needed to acquire them. Combos containing Charms outside the style remain. Through the Wisdom of the Celestial Crane, the character can activate any Combo solely containing Crane Style Charms as though she knew that Combo and she considers Crane Form Combo-OK for this purpose. She does not need to spend Willpower to activate a Combo intuited through this Charm. Finally, if she is using Crane Form, whenever an unarmed attack she makes inflicts any levels of damage to a creature of darkness, that being also loses a Willpower point. Victims who lose their last Willpower point this way instantly form an Intimacy of love for Creation.