Cindershard

Cindershard, Tooth of Hesiesh
(Red Jade Reaper Daiklave, Artifact ⦁⦁⦁⦁⦁)

During the Usurpation, not every Terrestrial Exalt backed the Sidereal coup. A small faction remained loyal to their commander, a Dawn caste general called She Who Broke A Thousand Blades. She Who Broke A Thousand Blades carried a Reaper Daiklave crafted from a tooth of the Fire Dragon primarch. She lead her twenty loyal dragonblooded into battle, and emerged victorious each time.

More than anything, She Who Broke A Thousand Blades and Hesiesh bonded over their temperaments. Calm control of great internal power defined both the God and the Celestial Exalt. Strength, speed, and control defined their approaches to adversity, and these values were imbued in Cindershard upon its forging.

Attunement: 5m
Type: Medium (+3 ACC, +12 DMG, +1 DEF, OVW 5)
Tags: Lethal, Melee, Balanced, Slashing
Hearthstone slot(s): 1
Era: War of Rebellion

Evocations of Cindershard
Cindershard cannot stand a wielder quick to anger. It respects control and the exercise of restraint as Hesiesh does. Wielders of Cindershard enjoy a +1 bonus to Join Battle rolls and a +1 bonus to Accuracy. In addition, the Cindershard can control the flow of heat in a small area around itself, conveying immunity to the effects of environmental heat hazards less than (2L/round).
While Cindershard is not fully sentient, its emotions are plain to an essence wielder who has attuned to it. Cindershard makes its disapproval of impulsive behavior clear, as well as its approval of temperance. The fiery essence of Hesiesh burns eternally in the Cindershard, causing the blade to glow a deep red. It is always hot to the touch and casts dull red illumination out to short range when unsheathed.

Searing Ember Spray
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type:Reflexive
Keywords: Resonant, Stackable
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: None

The teeth of Hesiesh forever smolder with fiery essence. Upon successfully parrying an enemy attack, the wielder discharges hot ash and smoke from the blade of Cindershard. The plume envelops the enemy, imposing a -1 penalty to all actions requiring vision (including attacks).

The smoke and ash persist until the target wipes their eyes with a miscellaneous action. The debuff can stack up to (Essence or 3) times, whichever is higher, imposing a cumulative penalty.

Resonant: If the parried attack was decisive, the attacker loses an additional point of initiative and the wielder of Cindershard gains a point.

Obsidian Maze
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Withering-only, Dissonant
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Searing Ember Spray

Cindershard is imbued with Hesiesh’s mastery of volcanic elements. The wielder pierces the ground before her to reach the dragon lines of the earth below. Soon after, razor sharp obsidian spikes rend upward from the ground in a circle around the wielder out to short range.
The wielder makes a single withering attack roll with Cindershard against each opponent in range. Replace the Damage trait of Cindershard with (Essence or 3), whichever is higher, when calculating raw damage. The feet and legs of any opponent damaged by this attack are stabbed and slashed by shards of obsidian, imposing a -3 penalty on all combat movement. The wielder gains 1 initiative for each enemy so afflicted.

The shards, and combat movement penalty, remain for (Essence or 3) rounds, whichever is higher. Afterward they crumble into carbon dust.

Dissonant: The wielder does not gain initiative from enemies struck.

Roar of Hesiesh
Cost: 6m,1wp ; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Perilous, Dissonant, Resonant, Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Obsidian Maze

With greater mastery of Cindershard comes greater control of the volcanic elements which it commands. The wielder thrusts the blade toward an opponent at short or medium range. In concert with the thrust, Cindershard draws forth the carbon and metals in the earth around the wielder. The elements stream together to the tip of the blade and liquefy, forming a missile of molten metal to incinerate the foes of the wielder.

The wielder makes a withering or decisive attack out to medium range without aiming. The intense heat of the molten metal ignores (Essence x 2) armored soak on a withering attack or (Essence) Hardness on a decisive one.

Dissonant: The wielder’s control of Cindershard is insufficient to fully liquefy the metal. The attack ignores neither soak nor hardness.

Resonant: Any flammable material struck by the plume of fiery metal is ignited. Small objects are incinerated instantly, while larger objects such as doors, wardrobes, or people, catch fire. The flames are treated as a 3L/round environmental hazard, which can be snuffed out as a miscellaneous action. The flames last no more than (Essence) rounds.

Inner Fire
Cost: 5m (+1wp, 1lhl) ; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Perilous, Withering-only
Duration: Instant (Scene)
Prerequisites: Searing Ember Spray

The Cindershard recognizes true conviction and rewards it. When Cindershard is used to strike an enemy, if the wielder has a relevant Intimacy supporting the violence, Cindershard strikes true, adding extra post-soak damage dice equal to the strength of the Intimacy.

True conviction often requires sacrifice. For the additional expenditure of a willpower and lethal health level, the benefits of Inner Fire last until the end of the Scene. The damage sustained in invoking this charm for the extended duration typically manifests as burns on the primary sword hand and on the chest, over the heart.