Itztli
Blood sacrifice may be what the Aztecs were most known for by humanity, seeing it as a horrible dark past for Mexico. But, what people fail to understand is the Aztecs believed wholeheartedly that if they did not preform the sacrifices, the world would end. No crops would grow, no rain would come, the sun could not rise, and more. To the Teotl, this is a very real facet of every day life. Sacrifice must be given to the Gods so they can continue to function, continue to save them every single night.
The Purview of Itztli allows the Scions of the Teotl to empower themselves and the Gods with the blood of sacrifices. This will sometimes cause issues, both for an internal conflict inside the Scion who must accept that the killing of others ensures the world will exist tomorrow, and it can cause issues with Scions of other Pantheons who will likely not understand.
If any wounds caused by Itztli are healed through some magical means, the Legend points gained immediately vanish, and if this would reduce the Scion below 0 Legend, they take a point of Lethal damage per point they would be under zero.
This Purview is in the process of being reworked in order to have it be more resonant with the Teotl ideas of the universe and the functions of sacrifice.
Itztli One
MAGUEY STING ●
Cost: 1 Lethal Damage
Dice Pool: None
Type: Miscellaneous
The very first step of blood sacrifice is learning the function of self-sacrifice. They may inflict one point of Lethal damage to themselves in exchange for a point of Legend.
Itztli Two
COMBAT SACRIFICE ●●
Cost: 1 Willpower per use
Dice Pool: None
Type: Miscellaneous
The power of self-sacrifice further improves, and the Scion gains the ability to let the blood that they shed in combat fuel the Divine. They may chose to reduce their Block or Dodge DV by a number of points up to their Legend Rating by taking a 5 Tick action, and pay the activation cost. The next time damage is inflicted to them, they regain a number of points of Legend equal to the number of points they reduced their DV by.
Itztli Three
OBSIDIAN MUTILATION ●●●
Cost: 1 or more Lethal
Dice Pool: Conviction
Type: Miscellaneous
Self-sacrifice taken to a drastic extreme, a Scion must Succeed in a Conviction roll to allow them to use this power. If they Succeed, they can chose to, once per week, inflict any number of Dots of Lethal Damage to themselves, regaining a point of Legend per Lethal damage sacrificed.
Itztli Four
OBSIDIAN EXCRUCIATION ●●●●
Cost: 1 or more Lethal
Dice Pool: None
Type: Miscellaneous
Now able to shed the blood of others for the success and power of the Gods, the Teotl Scion can bleed others in order to fuel the Divine. These Sacrifices need not be lethal, shedding the blood of their Bandmates, allies, and friends, or they can carve out the hearts of a sacrifice, something best not done to Bandmates and other allies. The blood must be burned immediately after being shed, and the Scion regains one point of Legend per point inflicted. If they carve out the heart of the sacrifice and burn it, they regain an additional five Legend.
Itztli Five
SACRIFICE OF WILL ●●●●●
Cost: 1 Willpower per use
Dice Pool: Conviction
Type: Miscellaneous
The willpower of the Teotl is insurmountable, when they are given tasks by the Divine even more so. When one of the true Teotl tasks the Scion with something, they may pay a point of Willpower to roll their Conviction to attempt to focus themselves on the task. If they Succeed, they immediately drop into a Conviction Extremity, and stays in the state until they eventually Succeed at their task, or the end of the Scene.. They gain their Legend and Conviction as bonus dice to all actions that would work towards Succeeding at that goal, and they may Channel their Conviction to resist attempts to persuade them away from their goal, even if they have used all of their Channels already. They gain a point of Legend every time they inflict damage on another being while in this state.
If the Scion does not complete the task by the end of the Scene, the Scion loses all of their Willpower and may not regain it for a number of days equal to their Conviction Dots.
Itztli Six
POCO A POCO ●●●●● ●
Cost: 1 or more Aggravated damage
Dice Pool: None
Type: Miscellaneous
No longer just blood, the Scion can mutilate their sacrifices, removing limbs from the target and inflicting permanently lasting damage in order to sustain the Gods above. They must burn these removed body parts while their sacrifice still breathes, and likely screams. Eyes, hands, feet, arms, legs, tongue, and genitalia are all viable targets for this mutilation, inflicting a point of Aggravated per part removed, and gaining five Legend per part sacrificed. If they chose to preform this Sacrifice on themselves, they may gain six.
Itztli Seven
THE BURNING HEART ●●●●● ●●
Cost: None
Dice Pool: None
Type: Miscellaneous
The power of the Divine almost in their hands, a Scion of the Teotl may slowly start to leach power from the Sacrifices, no longer just gaining some Legend from the Gods in return for their sacrifices. They may swallow the heart of a being they sacrifice, and then tear their own chest open to show their own heart, and the heart of the target beating inside them. Fire licks from their body, and the gruesome scene is complete. The Legend Rating of the owner of the heart changes the effect of the Boon, as can be seen on the chart below.
While in this State, the Scion may not do anything that would violate their Conviction or Courage, and they gain their Courage + Itztli + Legend as a bonus to all intimidation rolls. When the Scene ends, they lose their extended Legend pool, but may keep the Legend they had over their maximum.
Itztli Eight
RECEPTION OF SACRIFICE ●●●●● ●●●
Cost: 1 Willpower per use
Dice Pool: None
Type: Persistent
Now a God in their own right, the Aztec God may gain power from all who sacrifice in their name. Whenever a Scion or God uses Itztli to sacrifice in their name, they may spend a point of Willpower to gain half the Legend gathered. Whenever a mortal sacrifices to the God, they may automatically gain a single point of Legend.
Itztli Nine
COMMUNAL DIVINITY ●●●●● ●●●●
Cost: None
Dice Pool: None
Type: Miscellaneous
Sharing their power between their allies and Bandmates is now something the God is capable of. By having them ingest some of the Scion's Ichor in some way, they may link their Legend pools together. This combined, massive Legend pool lasts for the Scene, and at the end of it, they points are equally divided between the two of them.
The Scion may also give another being their Ichor so that they can gift some of their Legend, transferring as much as they would like between themselves and their target as long as it does not exceed the normal limitations. For every five points they give away, they may generate an additional one.
Itztli Ten
RANK 10 ●●●●● ●●●●●
Cost: None
Dice Pool: None
Type: Persistent
Familial Sacrifice is a Boon that violates Aztec Virtues, and has no precedent in mythology or history. It will be replaced along with the rest of the Purview.