On Empyreans - Awakening, Traits and Powers

Empyrean Awakening

So it's time to return focus on the primary subject: Empyreans.

Following up on the preliminary post here, that paints a very loose, very general picture, we're not yet going to give any more concrete answers that could provide a clearer picture of what an Empyrean actually is.

Instead we're going to remain vague for a little while longer, because being vague suspends the mystery that is necessary in the initial experience of being an Empyrean, and this is what we're mostly exploring here: The character's awakening to the life of the Empyrean character.

Kaltos led a peaceful and relatively unassuming life, in the small subterranean settlement of Atias. He helped run the settlement's church, lending moral, psychological and physical support to those that needed it. Although he was hardy and strong-willed, he didn't have the violent spirit needed to practice in martial ways.

When a gang tore his settlement apart in a brutal rampage, Kaltos was among those who fell first, but died last, after much pain and torture. When Kaltos returned from death, he was still in agony, and had to pull himself out of the terrible torture that the gang had inflicted on him.

He could not remember exactly what had happened. He gazed in disbelief at his healed wounds, and gasped at the new sensation of a godlike flame living inside his chest. One would think that it was a sensation of pride and excess, but it was quite the contrary. A humbling and reverent sensation - to harbor something so sacred, and to have survived death through a miracle. 

With the presence of the flame, fleeting memories of another life passed before his eyes. Unable to place these recollections, Kaltos put them all in the back of his mind, trying to regain his composure. But it was not so easy. His sense of identity was broken. The man he had once been had died. Now he was someone, or something else. 

In desperation he tried to build an artificial persona based on his recent memories. He had suffered at the hands of the gang, inside the church of the god he served - the noble Archon, the savior of mankind. His recent torture gnawed at the edges of his consciousness. The fire beating in his chest was broadcasting the truth, but Kaltos was unable to grasp it, so he pushed it all away.  He had returned from the brink of death, gaining a second chance to life.

He could use it to rescue those he could from the violent raiders. Or he could use it to avenge the fallen against the raiders. Pondering this false dichotomy, Kaltos suddenly realized what had happened. The Truth that the flame burning within him was desperately trying to broadcast, was revealed. The fire surged through him once again, just as it had done moments ago with his fatal wounds.

In life, Kaltos had been a peaceful man, unable to reconcile the ways of violence with a spiritual life. But death had opened a different gateway for Kaltos, allowing him to see more clearly, to understand the role of justice, and the nobility of protecting the innocent. Moments after his rebirth, he was a changed man. And this was only the first step into the life of an Empyrean.

The awakening itself is a process. The players and storyteller together create the characters that will become Empyreans, in some amount of detail, and consequently, what happens is that these characters have a very intense, very powerful and very shocking experience that changes them forever, awakening the so called Inner Fire, that was slumbering inertly within them.

The nature of this experience is one and the same with death. The event of the death isn't as significant as it is important to relay the experience and the process of awakening. It's not that Empyreans didn't carry their Inner Fire before their awakening. It is that it was buried somewhere within them in the form of a concept or potential. By dying, they had forced their Inner Fire to come out, and with it came the entirety of their previous existence.

And now it washes over them, overpowering even their sense of identity, and bringing them a new purpose. In most regards, a new life, far removed from the limits they were used to. For Kaltos this meant that he became able to understand further than the binary notion of violence/ non-violence. Often this is the nature of this revelation and what probably empowers the character, a glimpse past their previous limitations.

Empyrean Traits

The Inner Fire is usually the first Empyrean Power that reveals itself. Whilst a singular concept, it is the source of many things. The Inner Fire is a divine spark, the character's Celestial Soul. The character's Inner Fire is a conduit to the realm of Yrion, where the Flame Eternal, the Eternal Breath of Akaon the All-Maker suffuses everything. It is the essence that powers spirits, dreams and hopes. And it is strongly connected to the power of Destiny.

Through the Inner Fire, Empyreans gain an outstanding perspective of life and the events that surround them. Even their force of will changes, gradually, as it aligns itself with the powerful drive of their celestial heritage, becoming Destiny. Destiny allows Empyreans to call upon their Inner Fire to manifest in their hour of need. The manifestation of these powers, grants the Empyreans Supremacy, which is the only means to combat the unnaturally powerful foes that are willing to block their destiny.

Along with their willpower, the Drive of Empyrean characters also gradually transforms. A dark or mundane motivation, such as the thirst for revenge, or the hatred of one's mortal enemies, gradually gains new perspective, transforming into something greater, and often nobler, like the desire for justice, or the quest for truth.

It is this destiny, this divine purpose that begins to gleam through the character, changing him. The Inner Fire is something that every living being can sense to a certain extent. It often unsettles other living beings, in an inconspicuous way. Sadly, few are wise to discern its benign nature. Often the Inner Fire creates other manifestations as well: A glow in the eyes, a strange change of eye or skin color, or a change in the character's hair. To anyone but the most cursory observer, the Empyrean's mark is almost always visible, in some way.

The Inner Fire has the power to heal the character's wounds, healing one wound per hour. It does the same with toxins and most diseases. The character can accelerate the healing process by using just one action and making a successful Spirit roll. The character can even spend one Destiny to gain back one wound instantly, by means of the Inner Fire. The Inner Fire can even heal grievous injuries, but at a much slower rate, healing 1 grievous injury per day of rest.

Due to the Inner Fire, the character also regains Destiny at the rate of 1 destiny per hour.

The character can purge corruption via Inner Fire. Spending 1 Destiny and 1 hour of rest / meditation to purge 1 Corruption.

Finally, the Inner Fire creates a protective aura that shields the character from Fire, Cold, Electricity and Radiation, blocking the first 5 points of damage from any such source. This makes it possible for Empyrean characters to survive extreme climates that normal humans wouldn't be able to survive, including the Arandorean Wastelands, or Frozen Highlands.

Another common Empyrean power is the gift of Second Sight. Soon after becoming awoken, Empyreans begin to see in the realm of Spirit, which is in itself a very powerful experience. Nonetheless, the gift of Second Sight doesn't merely stop with the ability to perceive the world of Spirit, including its denizens, or the color of some being's aura. It extends into Divination - a powerful extension of the character's Insight, granting them access to knowledge that they did not previously know, and ability to foresee future events, or gain visions of remote locations without ever having visited them.

The final foundational Empyrean power is the power of Soul Speech. Empyreans are natural telepaths, able to communicate without words with each other, over a distance that grows proportionately to their Spirit (Level 1- 1 meter, Level 2 - 10 meters, Level 3 - 100 meters, Level 4, 1000 meters, Level 5 - 10000 meters). This ability also allows them to communicate with and understand spirits and other entities of the worlds beyond. To a certain level it also allows them to read the thoughts in the minds of other beings, or sense the presence of sentient beings around them, although they have to focus for a standard action and roll Spirit to attempt this.

Besides these three powers, that all Empyreans share, and which are called Empyrean Traits, Empyreans develop additional powers which are hereafter what we will refer to when we use the word Empyrean Power. Every Empyrean has access to at least one Empyrean Power, plus one more power if they have Spirit Level 4, or two more powers if they have Spirit Level 5.

Below is a pool of other broadly used Empyrean Powers, that can further be developed. There exist even more specialized powers that belong with specific subtypes of Empyreans but these would stretch the subject matter of this post too far (and it is already quite an extensive post)!

Empyrean Powers

Empyrean Traits have various workings, but most Empyrean Powers work in a similar
way. They are activated as a minor action by spending 1 Destiny, and they remain active for an entire scene. A character can maintain 1 active Empyrean Power at a time, plus an additional Power if they have Spirit Level 4, or three powers at a time, if they have Spirit Level 5. Empyrean Powers can be further developed through the concept of surges (which is also beyond the scope of this post).

Empyrean Wings: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You gain wings that allow you to fly. The Wings are invisible, but may appear with some ethereal, slightly luminescent color.  Your Movement increases by the number of successes you make. In addition to the power of flight, you gain the following benefits:

• An unlimited number of additional dodge actions that you can use against any attack. You can even attempt to dodge attacks that you already tried to avoid otherwise, but you cannot dodge the same attack twice through the benefit of this power.
• Gain Supremacy to any movement and maneuver roll concerning dodge, evasion, acrobatics, running, chasing etc.
• Break or cancel any movement-limiting powers and effects by rolling Spirit (with the Supremacy bonus).

Godly Ire: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You begin to brim with barely contained divine wrath that channels directly into your melee attacks with terrifying effect. A glowing aura covers you, granting you a menacing, wrathful aspect. Your might temporarily increases by a number equal to the number of your successes. In addition all your melee Attack rolls (regardless of Aspect) gain Supremacy, as do all of your Force aspect rolls and all Intimidation rolls. Your mere presence causes fear to your enemies within melee range, who must roll Spirit to resist the fear, or suffer a 1 dice penalty to all rolls made to attack you. Each strike you deal has devastating effect, causing 1 additional wound per success, or causing your strike to cleave to an additional nearby foe per success. You can choose either one or the other option.

Aura of the Archon: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You  instantly break most mind-affecting, compelling powers and spells currently affecting you, and grant anyone within 5 meters + 1 meter per success, the ability to reroll relevant failed checks with bonus dice equal to your successes. In addition you create the following effects:

• You provoke the attention of your enemies with your kingly aura. They suffer a -1 dice penalty to any action that does not result to a direct, targeted attack against you.
• Gain Supremacy to all Spirit rolls made to resist mind-affecting, compelling powers, or to soak corruption.
• All your allies regain 1 lost Willpower/Destiny (you don't) when you first activate the aura, or when they first come in contact with it.
• While the Aura is active, you and all allies around you gain 1 bonus dice to all rolls.

Celestial Panoply: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You are garbed in a bright panoply that directly reduces incoming damage by 1 per success, grants supremacy to all Fortitude rolls made to soak damage, and reduces the number of wounds you can take by a single attack by 1 per success, down to a minimum of 1 wound. (You always suffer a minimum of 1 wound, if you do suffer at least 1 point of damage).

Tempest: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You can apply kinetic energy in a form of your choice, being able to move objects and items around you, and push larger creatures or items. The number of successes affect the mass and number of objects you can telekinetically move, as well as the speed you can handle them with. If you use the power to attack your enemies, you gain Supremacy to a new Spirit roll that is the actual telekinetic blast attack. Your blast can affect a number of adjacent enemies equal to the number of successes of your first roll. Any characters wounded by a telekinetic blast are also knocked back a number of meters equal to the number of successes. Instead of the blast attack, the character can opt to focus all kinetic energy into a single powerful lightning bolt, attacking 1 target, dealing bonus damage and wounds equal to the spirit successes. The character can also make a free Spirit roll with supremacy in order to create a kinetic shield that stops incoming missile attacks. A critical success indicates the attack is deflected back to the attacker.

Eternal Flame: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You are able to manifest the Flame Eternal, which covers your form like an aura, but you are able to shape and direct it at your will. The Flame Eternal has a white-blue color, but it can have any other color that does not look baleful or demonic, including the regular color of fire. The Flame Eternal grants additional protection from all damage that your Inner Fire protects you from. The additional damage reduction is equal to 1 per success. You also gain the ability to regenerate 1 wound per round. You can choose the Flame Eternal to manifest as either fire or frost. Your regular melee or ranged attacks deal additional fire or frost damage equal to your spirit successes. In addition to this, the damage of your attacks becomes Holy.

Soul Blade: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You are able to manifest a Soul Blade, which has the form of an energy sword, or any other melee weapon of your preference. There is a special fighting discipline tied with the power of the Soul Blade, which is called Soul Blade Combat. This is a Spirit-based discipline, that can be taught as a talent. Characters who are trained in Soul Blade Combat may use Spirit for their melee combat roll. Characters who are not trained in Soul Blade Combat can still make an attack with Soul Blade, rolling spirit, but they may trigger an attack of opportunity. Whatever the case, the character gains supremacy in their roll. The Soul Blade deals a base damage equal to the initial Spirit roll successes. Regular armor provides no benefits to the target, as the Soul Blade passes through it with ease. The Soul Blade always attacks spirits and disembodied entities.

Shroud of Night: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You are covered in a mystical shroud that makes you both impalpable and literally invisible to the senses of those around you. The Shroud of Night grants Supremacy to all Stealth rolls for you, and you can extend the shroud to cover additional targets, (+1 target per success) granting them +1 bonus dice to their stealth rolls. Any enemies you wish to hide from receive a -1 dice penalty to their roll to try and locate you in any way. You become physically invisible, impossible to detect with the sense of vision, including superior vision. You also become spiritually invisible, and thus powers like Second Sight etc. will not automatically reveal you. There are specific powers like True Vision that break illusions which can counter the benefit of invisibility via the Shroud of Night, but these powers do not cancel the bonus and penalties that Shroud of Night otherwise provides.

True Vision: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate, and roll Spirit. You gain the power to defeat illusions, see invisibility, and detect  others who are being cloaked or concealed from your sight. True Vision acts as a counter to powers like Shroud of Night. This means that a contested roll judges whether or not one power or the other prevails. In addition to the above, True Vision grants Supremacy to all rolls made to spot anyone or anything. It multiplies the viewing distance that someone can see by the number of successes in the spirit roll. And it increases the precision of the character's attacks, boosting their damage by 1 per success.

Bane: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate, roll Spirit. You can shoot 1 ethereal arrow per round, aiming and directing it with your hand, while whispering a curse to afflict your target. You roll Adeptness (or Insight if you have the Eagle Eye talent), and gain Supremacy in that roll. The arrow gains bonus damage equal to the Spirit successes, and it deals up to 1 wound if it hits and the target fails to soak its damage, but the wound is considered grievous. In addition to the grievous wound, the arrow afflicts the target with a terrible curse. The target rolls a Spirit roll to soak the curse attack (which is equal to the arrow's damage). Each point of net damage that passes past the soak roll grants a -1 dice penalty to all dice rolls for the target character. The affliction lasts until the wound is healed. Instead of a curse, you can choose to call upon the doom of your target. In this case the arrow deals double damage, and an additional wound, but this time the wounds are not grievous.

Aetherean Edge: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate, roll Spirit. You channel your power through your chosen edged weapon (Sword, Axe, Cleaver, Dagger) gaining the power to tear the very fabric of reality. Your melee attacks and dodge rolls gain Supremacy. While Aetherean Edge is active you can use a move or minor action to rend the fabric of reality to teleport yourself in a location within sight for a distance in move units equal to the successes of your Spirit roll. Due to the nature of the attack, Aetherean Edge damage can only be soaked with critical successes.

Thundering Wrath: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate, roll Spirit. You begin to brim with the power of lightning, and your physical blows, or your hand-held bludgeoning weapon (Mace, Flail, Hammer) become imbued with unnatural force that unleashes thunderclaps in the wake of your attacks. Your melee attacks gain Supremacy. The damage of your attacks is increased by the number of successes in your Spirit roll. Enemies wounded by your attacks are also pushed back by a powerful impact (pushed a number of units equal to your Spirit successes), they fall down and rendered deaf for a number of rounds equal to your Spirit successes (they suffer a -1 dice penalty to all actions, and have additional penalties in specific situations). If you score at least 1 critical success, then the target of your attack must make a secondary Fortitude to soak only your critical successes. If they fail, they are also stunned for a number of rounds equal to your Spirit successes.

Aether Weave: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate, roll Spirit. You can draw Aetheric energy by harnessing the aetheric currents surrounding you and weave them to perform Empyrean Magic. After activating Aether Weave you gain Soulforce equal to the successes of your Spirit roll. Your Soulforce indicates the amount of power you can successfully harness. Soulforce determines the base power of your spells as well as the maximum spell level you can cast. To actually cast spells using Aether Weave you need the Empyrean Invocation talent. Your spellcasting dice rolls receive Supremacy.

Dream Walk: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate, roll Spirit. You can project a spirit-body into the Spirit World, whilst you remain in a deep trance-like state, back into the physical world. While in this state your consciousness flows into your spirit body and you become a spirit, subject to special rules. You can also use this power to enter the dreams of others. The successes in your Spirit roll become the base dice for your rolls inside the Spirit World. Dream Walk grants you Supremacy in all those rolls.