Spells

Known only to true masters of magic, this spell is a secret of the Phoenix and has never been intentionally shared with any other shugenja school, not even the Imperial one. It is considered a sacred trust among the most high-ranking of Phoenix priests, and not even all of the Elemental Masters have been considered worthy of its power... for to abuse this prayer is to call down the very wrath of Heaven.

This prayer calls for the direct attention of a Fortune named by the shugenja. It may only be performed within a temple or shrine specifically devoted to that Fortune, and may never be cast more than once a month lest it anger the entirety of Tengoku. If the spell is successfully cast, a mote of the Fortune's essence will manifest within the shrine's sacred icon and the shugenja will be permitted to briefly commune with the divine being. The Fortune is neither compelled to answer questions asked nor to fulfill boons requested, and the utmost reverence must be maintained lest its immediate and terrible wrath be unleashed. However, if true reverence is offered and the cause is worthy, the Fortune may offer help available nowhere else.

The wind itself will take form to defend you. The ultimate actualization of the Summon spell, this spell summons a massive kami of pure air to serve you. It takes the form of a vaguely humanoid shape, roughly ten feet in height, with an indistinct outline visible only because of small debris caught up in its body. The kami may move up to 10' x your Air per Round, and generates powerful winds in a twenty foot radius around it that hinder movement, preventing anyone from making Simple Move Actions within its area of effect. The manifest kami is treated as if it has all Physical Traits equal to your Air Ring, and attacks with a Jiujutsu Skill rank equal to half your Air Ring (for example, a spirit summoned by a shugenja with Air 6 would inflict 6k6 damage with its attacks). For purposes of taking damage, the spirit is considered to have Wounds as though it were a human with Earth equal to your Air Ring, but suffers no Wound Penalties. It is Invulnerable. If it is successfully reduced to zero Wounds, it is dispelled.

The greatest illusory gift of the wind is legion. Within the area of effect of this spell, you can create a number of illusory figures up to your Air Ring x 10. these figures may be as detailed or as vague as you prefer (such as "Crane bushi" versus "Heavy infantry of the fourth Daidoji legion"), although you must be familiar with the appearance in order for this spell to take effect (You could not, for example, replicate a family mon that you have never seen). The figures are fully mobile and will take whatever actions you desire as long as they do not leave the spell's area of effect. They can be seen, heard, even smelled, but as with most illusions, they cannot physically interact with the objects or individuals in any way.

This secret spell is an important element in the Kolat’s methods for creating sleeper agents, but even when used by itself it is a potent weapon in the conspiracy’s arsenal. The Kolat typically use this spell when it is vitally necessary to conceal their operations without actually killing someone - typically because the person in question is too important to be easily disposed of.

Casting this spell requires the caster to hold the target by the head and focus on him for 8 hours uninterrupted; typically, the target will be bound to prevent interruptions. If contact with the target is broken for more than 3 minutes the spell will fail. At the end of 8 hours the shugenja makes a Contested Insight/Air roll against the target. If the shugenja wins the roll, the target’s thoughts and memories are rewritten and rearranged in whatever way the caster prefers. Mental Advantages and Disadvantages cannot be changed, but the target may be made to think he is someone else, to forget something that happened, to remember events or persons differently, and so forth. (This does not grant any Skill ranks, Techniques, or other actual capabilities. The target may believe he is the Elemental Master of Fire but this will not make him capable of casting spells.)

Air acolytes of some potency realize it is possible to read the minds of others, but a few shugenja have looked at this as only the beginning of what can be done with Air. Through extremely advanced and powerful invocations of the Air kami, it is possible for a shugenja to not only read the surface thoughts of another but to transit his own thoughts into the mind of that person. This is considered a highly questionable act, and the Phoenix Clan considers this spell to border on blasphemy. However, the immense advantages that can be gained from such total manipulation of another means the spell continues to circulate covertly through the Empire.

In order for this prayer to succeed, the caster must know the name of the target and must be able to see him or her clearly. Without the visual connection, the thoughts of the target will be too garbled to be decipherable, resulting only in a painful headache to both caster and target. If the name which the caster knows is false (e.g. the target is using an alias) the Spellcasting Roll suffers a +10 TN penalty as the false name confuses the spirits. Furthermore, in order to successfully impose his thoughts on the target's mind, the caster must succeed in an Contested Air Roll against the target; failure means contact is broken and both sides suffer a severe headache as above. However, if the Air roll is successful, the target will be unaware of the mental contact and for the duration of the spell will believe the thoughts springing into his mind are entirely his own. The caster must maintain partial concentration for the duration of the spell - if this is disrupted, the spell ends immediately.

A peculiar side effect of this spell is that for an hour after it ends, the caster and target will find it difficult to lie convincingly to each other, inflicting a +10 TN penalty to any Sincerity (Deceit) rolls they make against each other.

The wrath of the air kami, and the Fortune of the Wind, is truly dreadful to behold. In casting this spell, you unleash the full force of a hurricane upon your enemies. When the spell takes effect, you are standing in the eye of the storm, a zone radiating twenty feet in every direction from you, and in which no ill effects of the spell are suffered. Outside the eye, however, the brutal effects of the storm tear at everything in its path. Objects weighing less than five hundred pounds are lifted by the wind and tossed into the storm. Individuals in this area must hold on to something immobile or be cast into the winds to their certain death. Everyone within the affected region who does not have sturdy shelter suffers 1k1 Wounds each minute from the winds and minor debris. there is a one in ten chance each minute that an exposed individual will instead suffer 5k5 Wounds due to being struck by a wind-borne object. This spell lasts for a maximum of one hour, although it can last far shorter times if you are disrupted while maintaining the spell.

This spell may not be cast in a given area more than once per month, as it completely exhausts the favors of the air kami to perform it.