The creature known as The Hope Ender burned a swath of destruction across the North, massacring every city and village along its path. None knew of where it came, nor what its purpose was, only that it killed countless people over the course of a season in the late days of the Shogunate.
It was thanks to the work of the brilliant and powerful sage Lexicon, who discovered the origins of the beast, along with the hero of Nexus, Supreme Mandala, who had the strength needed to stop the monster. Lexicon had discovered the creature was once a hero named Cryptic Knight, who was lost in the Underworld decades before, and emerged a powerful beast.
Knowing Cryptic Knight’s weakness, Supreme Mandala met the monster on the edge of Nexus. The two battled for 3 days before finally, in a spectacular clash, the two combatants slew each other. Cryptic Knight transformed back into the shattered body of the man he was, the battle harness that gave him his power falling to the ground, lifeless. Supreme Mandala was given a hero’s burial for his immense sacrifice. None know what became of the wretched artifact, though some rumored the crafty Lexicon stole it away to study its immense power.
The Abominable Apocalypse Arsenal is an artifact razor harness which straps to the shoulders and torso of the exalt. It has the statistics of a light artifact weapon and deals lethal damage during a Savage attack in a clinch. Normal Brawl or Martial Arts attacks can be stunted to do Lethal when using the harness. The harness is made with blades of moonsilver; the buckles and straps studded with Soulsteel. It is a wicked and gruesome tool of violence to behold. It has a single hearthstone socket in the buckle across the chest.
A Solar, Lunar, or Abyssal who spends 3 additional motes attuning to the Abominable Apocalypse Arsenal cause the harness to expand and evolve. Straps snake around the arms and legs of the exalt and fresh blades and spikes extend from them. This allows the exalt to treat all of their unarmed attacks as light artifact weapons, and not restricted to grappling attacks. In addition, while wearing the Arsenal, they gain the effects of the Hideous merit for free.
Cost: 5m, 1wp Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: None
The Abominable Apocalypse Arsenal is a tool of pure violence, and it’s wearer is a promise to that end. Activating this evocation makes the exalt more intimidating, the weapon more deadly. All opponents aware of the wearer’s presence are subject to a Threaten action of (Appearance + Presence or Performance) to create a tie of Fear in the exalt. If the opponents intend to engage the exalt at all in Close range combat, the wearer of the Arsenal treats their Appearance as 2 higher for the roll. This intimacy costs an extra willpower to resist.
Subjects that are successfully Threatened, gain a tie of Fear in the exalt that begins at the Minor intensity. Any foe maintaining a tie of Fear toward the wearer of the Abominable Apocalypse Arsenal must spend (Intimacy’s strength - 1) initiative before attempting to attack them each round. In contrast, the foe gains a die bonus to Disengage from the exalt equal to (Intimacy’s strength) as they are driven back by the fear aura.
If the target survives the combat, the tie fades 1 level of intensity as soon as combat concludes or if the wearer of the Arsenal leaves the premises, and another level of intensity each following day until it is gone.
Cost: 4m Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Counterattack, Decisive
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Promise of Violence
Those who wear the armaments of death bear a promise of ruin to all who oppose them. To attack them is to bring disaster upon oneself. When an opponent attacks, the Abominable Apocalypse Arsenal stretches its spikes and curves its blades to try and gouge and tear the flesh of its foe.
Promise of Ruin grants a reflexive counterattack whenever an opponent at Close range strikes the exalt. After damage is rolled, the wearer of the Arsenal may roll a (Brawl or Martial Arts) based Decisive counterattack with a dice pool equal to the number of successes the attacker achieved over the exalts defense, with a minimum of 1. This attack does not reset the exalt to base initiative. If the attacker holds a tie of Fear towards the exalt, add (Intimacy’s strength) to the damage pool.
Cost: 7m, 1wp Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One Combat
Prerequisites: Promise of Violence
The wearer of the Abominable Apocalypse Arsenal is a beast, filled with fury. This savagery is held back by the the trappings of humanity, with the promise of rage and release at the appointed time. Promise of Rage discards these trappings and unleashes the beast inside sending the exalt into a rage and causing their eyes to turn an intense red or orange glowing with their hate, or black and smoking with the monstrous power they wield.
Activating this evocation puts the wearer of the Arsenal into a frenzy trance, bestowing a Major Intimacy towards Death and Destruction. They are granted +1 die on all rolls pertaining to grappling. The flurry penalty for a Rush action is removed, and movement actions gain +1 die. However, the exalt becomes unable to Disengage at all, and cannot stop attacking something while the evocation is in effect. This evocation can only be voluntarily deactivated after killing a non-trivial foe or when there are no enemies left to kill.
If a target holds a tie of Fear towards the wearer of the Arsenal, increase the die bonus for grappling and movement actions to (Intimacy’s strength) against them.
Cost: 5m Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One Combat
Prerequisites: Promise of Ruin, Promise of Rage
The blade harness is a weapon of cruelty; barbaric and terrifying. In combat, it holds the promise of a brutal and gruesome end to its enemies. The wearer of the Abominable Apocalypse Arsenal becomes one with the harness as the straps absorb into the exalt’s skin and the spikes protrude grotesquely from their body.
This evocation makes the harness one with the exalt’s body and enhances it in terrible ways. It becomes impossible for the artifact to become de-attuned from the wearer by any means for its duration. It grants the piercing tag to all of the exalt’s attacks, and makes it impossible for them to deal bashing damage with any unarmed attack. Additionally, all grapples that the exalt controls gain 1 additional free round of control as the victim struggles to escape past the wall of spikes that moves as the exalt does.
If a foe holds a tie of Fear towards the exalt, grapples against them gain (Intimacy’s strength) extra rounds of control instead, and attacks against the foe gain the piercing tag without spending initiative.
Cost: (+5m, 1wp) Mins: Essence 4
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisites: Promise of Brutality
The true monster sleeps, waiting for the proper time to fulfill its final promise. When the day of doom finally arrives, nothing can stop the beast. Promise of Doom upgrades its prerequisite and for the added cost and changing the duration to Indefinite, transforms the wearer of the Abominable Apocalypse Arsenal into a destroyer of worlds. The exalt takes on a terrifying new form as the harness incorporates the host body and changes it. Their hair turns white like a ghost, their skin turns grey like granite, the blades fuse with their skeleton and become unbreakable razor-sharp protrusions. They gain 20% mass in size and bulk becoming a hulking beast.
The doombringer adds (Essence) automatic successes to rolls to intimidate or threaten, and trivial opponents will flee automatically at the very sight. The exalt gains (Essence) to their Strength for purposes of determining feats of strength, and adds (Essence) damage dice to both Withering and Decisive attacks. The monster’s rock-like skin gains (Essence) to natural soak, and adds (Essence) to hardness against grappling attacks.
If a foe holds a tie of Fear towards the exalt, it is automatically but temporarily raised by 1 level of intensity when in view of the exalt in this monstrous form and applies its benefit to all other evocations of the Arsenal. This extra level of intensity fades after combat.
Finally, the exalt may also activate Promise of Rage by paying 4 additional motes when beginning Promise of Doom. Doing so changes the granted Intimacy towards Death and Destruction to a Defining Intimacy, and reduces any conflicting intimacies by 1 level. The duration changes to until Promise of Doom ends.
Promise of Doom cannot be voluntarily deactivated by the wearer until they have slain (Essence) foes personally (must deliver the killing blow). If they run out of foes, they will start hunting bystanders, or even allies. Oftentimes, the wearer becomes blood drunk with the power and loses themselves to the beast, and choses never to deactivate the evocation.