A sufficiently compelling performance can lull the creature within Gorgon into complacency. This is an extended (Performance + Charisma) miscellaneous action with a difficulty of the wielder’s permanent Willpower, a goal number of 30, an interval of one turn, and a terminus of (10 − wielder’s Essence). If a performer succeeds on a roll with 5+ threshold suc-cesses, Gorgon’s Wakefulness falls by one step, but a botch resets Gorgon’s Wakefulness to the highest point it held this scene.
If the performer meets the goal number by the ter-minus, Gorgon falls completely asleep and cannot be roused this scene by any means. Failure restores its Wakefulness to its highest point this scene, and it can be lulled no further for the rest of the day.
Resonant: An enemy in Initiative Crash while suffer-ing from Stone-Sinew Offensive cannot take movement actions.
Shackles of Lassitude Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 2 Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Stone-Sinew Offensive
Gusts of lethargy clutch at the Exalt’s foes, holding them close. When an opponent attempts to disengage from the wielder, this Evocation changes (Wakefulness) successful dice on the disengage roll to failures, starting with 10s and working down. When this Evocation causes a non-trivial foe to botch a disengage roll, Gorgon’s Wakefulness rises by one step.
Granite Venom Strike Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2 Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only, Dissonant Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Stone-Sinew Offensive
This Evocation can’t be used when the eye on Gorgon’s blade is fully closed. Gorgon leaves a wound that doesn’t bleed, for it turns blood and flesh to stone. A decisive attack made with this Evocation poisons its target on a successful hit. The toxin’s traits are damage 1L/round, duration (Essence + Strength) rounds. If the target has been hit with Stone-Sinew Offensive, its penalty is added to the poison’s duration.
The toxin has no base penalty, but each health level lost to the poison gives the target −1 to all Dexterity-based pools and +1 soak as his body petrifies. These modifiers only disappear as the damage is healed; mortals don’t heal this damage naturally. If the target accepts a crippling injury to ablate this attack, that injury involves partial petrifaction.
Dissonant: This Evocation can only be used against an enemy with a lower Initiative.
Life-Devouring Hellion Blade Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only, Resonant Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Granite Venom Strike
Gorgon’s roused hunger unleashes a tide of blood sufficient to sate its thirst. The Exalt may activate this Evocation to add (Wakefulness) dice to a decisive attack’s damage.
Resonant: If the enhanced attack incapacitates a non-trivial enemy while at Wakefulness 1+, Gorgon’s Wakefulness rises by one.
Ever-Hungry Devil Sword Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 3 Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Life-Devouring Hellion Blade
As Gorgon sheds its lassitude to feed, it drags its wielder from one victim to the next. Whenever the Exalt kills an opponent with a decisive attack, she may activate this Evocation to add Gorgon’s Wakefulness (including any increase from the attack) to her Initiative after re-setting to base Initiative. This doesn’t stack with other effects that increase base Initiative.
Baleful Gaze: The Dead Eye Opens Cost: 6m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Dissonant, Psyche, Resonant Duration: Until next turn
Prerequisites: Ever-Hungry Devil Sword, Shackles of Lassitude
This Evocation can only be used when the eye on Gorgon’s blade is at least half-open. The eye fixes an opponent with its ghastly stare, such that its glittering malice holds him in thrall. Snaring the target’s gaze requires a special (Dexterity + Melee) gambit with a difficulty of the tar-get’s Resolve, which can be made out to short range.
If this gambit succeeds, the target is paralyzed and cannot take any physical or social actions, even reflexive ones, save to defend himself with a −2 penalty to Defense. To maintain this paralysis, Gorgon’s master must continue to roll Initiative on each subsequent turn against the target’s Resolve; this doesn’t require an attack roll, and only costs a single point of Initiative on each turn after the first.
Gorgon’s paralysis is broken if the target’s view of Gorgon’s eye is entirely blocked for a full turn; the Exalt takes any combat action other than moving or maintain-ing control; either the Exalt or the target is struck by an attack or otherwise harmed; or the distance between them exceeds this Evocation’s maximum range.
Dissonant: Characters dissonant with Gorgon cannot awaken this Evocation.
Resonant: This Evocation’s range is extended to medi-um range, and the wielder doubles 10s on all Initiative rolls for this Evocation.
Baleful Gaze: Unblinking Eye of Nightmare Cost: 1wp; Mins: Essence 4
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Psyche, Resonant Duration: One scene
Prerequisites: Baleful Gaze: The Dead Eye Opens Resonant: This Evocation can only be awakened by a wielder resonant with Gorgon.
When the eye on Gorgon’s blade is fully open, if the Exalt’s anima is at bonfire she may manifest Gorgon’s eye therein like the looming oculus of some demon prince. Enemies recoil before its gaze; the Exalt adds one automatic non-Charm success to her threaten actions. Enemy battle groups suffer a −1 penalty to rally for numbers actions and raise the difficulty of rout and rally rolls by 1.
As long as the Exalt’s anima remains at bonfire, she may employ The Dead Eye Opens out to long range, and may flurry maintaining the paralysis with other combat actions. Granite Venom Strike’s damage in-creases to (Essence/2, round up)L/round against an enemy thus paralyzed.
If the Exalt’s anima dims below bonfire or Gorgon’s eye becomes less than fully open, the effects of Unblinking Eye of Nightmare cease, only to return in full force when both anima and eye return to maximum.
Baleful Gaze: Apocalypse in Onyx Cost: 5m, 3a; Mins: Essence 5
Type: Simple Keywords: Resonant Duration: One scene
Prerequisites: Baleful Gaze: Unblinking Eye of Nightmare Resonant: This Evocation can only be awakened by a wielder resonant with Gorgon.
While the Exalt is at 15+ Initiative and has activated Unblinking Eye of Nightmare, she unleashes the full rancor of the devil in the sword. For the rest of the scene, Gorgon’s Wakefulness cannot diminish, while the tow-ering Eye continues to loom regardless of the Exalt’s an-ima level, its gaze a palpable force that petrifies with but a passing glance. The Exalt may make ranged Melee at-tacks through the eye out to extreme range, extends the range of The Dead Eye Opens to extreme, and waives the cost of Stone-Sinew Offensive and Granite Venom Strike for the rest of the scene.
Whenever the wielder makes a ranged Melee at-tack, she petrifies all trivial opponents, battle groups
without Might whose members individually would be trivial opponents, and nonmagical inanimate objects within medium range of the target. This turns rain to pebbles, snow to volcanic ash, clouds and fog to dust, rivers to sand, and soil to stone right down to the bedrock.
At the Storyteller’s discretion, a dramatic and narra-tively meaningful botch while this Evocation is active may break the bonds restraining the devil in the sword, unleashing it upon the world.
This Evocation can only be activated once per story. The Dawn Caste anima power cannot reset this Evocation.
Soulfarer
(Soulsteel Grand Grimcleaver, Artifact •••••)
Soulfarer is a two-headed battle-axe traced with shal-low grooves running around the weapon’s two hearth-stone sockets to channel whatever blood it spills. Its haft is carved from the bones of the Locust Moon, a hekatonkhire of direful hunger, though it must be kept wrapped with silk funerary talismans. It is said to be the last relic of an empire of necromancer-kings who warred against the Exalted host in the First Age. After the rebellion of ghost-princes was put down, Soulfarer was claimed by the young sorcerer Yasha Vol, for whom this was the first taste of true battle.
She soon discovered Soulfarer’s dark hunger for blood.
Every battle, the grimcleaver demand more of her, draining her vitality even as she became renowned as a legendary master of both axe and sorcery. In the early years, she put it to noble purposes — executing loathsome criminals, slaying great beasts, and strik-ing down enemies of Creation. As time went on, she became indiscriminate in finding foes, welcoming wars of conquest or murders in the heat of passion.
Soulfarer had triumphed over her resolve, making her its weapon.
Yasha Vol was ultimately slain by her own Circle, horrified at the monster she had become. Deciding that Soulfarer was the corruption’s source, they jour-neyed into the Underworld, sealing it in that realm’s darkest depths. But five years ago, the grimcleaver returned to Creation, wielded by a deathknight’s hand. Daughter of Wisps Unremembered swears fe-alty to no Deathlord, but pledges her victories to the Unconquered Sun instead.
Attunement: 5m
Type: Heavy (+1 ACC, +14 DMG, +0 DEF, OVW 5) Tags: Lethal, Melee, Chopping, Reaching, Two-Handed Hearthstone slot(s): 2
Era: Rotting Lotus Rebellion