Hanoch

By ShadowWalkyr (shadowwalkyr@hotmail.com)

Hanoch All: Summon Blade

You may summon your bonded weapon to you, so long as it is in sight. It will simply fly into your hand. This power is almost automatic, only the slightest thought is required. This is often used for intimidation purposes or to recover a weapon after a disarm.

* The Bonded Blade

With a night of meditation and the expenditure of one permanent Willpower, you can bond the soul of your weapon to your own. This bond is permanent until severed. Only one weapon can be bonded to you at a time. A bonded weapon becomes extremely (but not absolutely) resistant to damage. If a weapon is lost or destroyed, you may choose to bond another. This severs the connection to the previous weapon. It is also the only known way to sever the bond. No other Hanoch power may ever be used without a bonded weapon!

In addition, you can sense the presence of another bonded weapon (which usually means another Hanoch user) if it is within twenty paces of you. You can always sense the location of your bonded weapon, regardless of distance. Besai who attempt to describe this sensation typically define it as a vibration in their bones.

** Blade of the Ghost

With this power, you can conceal your bonded weapon anywhere on your person. While this will not allow you to put a claymore in your pocket, it is invisible when it is strapped to your back. Like Obfuscate, this power works in the mind. Cameras will record the weapon, and those with sufficient Auspex will often see right through it. If you draw your weapon, it is automatically visible to all. Use of this power is not considered a breach of the Besai code of honor. In addition, you can sense the presence of another bonded weapon (which usually means another Hanoch user) if it is within one mile of you.

If your opponent does not have Auspex of at least one more than your Hanoch rating, you automatically win a challenge (i.e. if your Hanoch is four, the opponent must have Auspex five even to challenge). Those who know Hanoch are immune to this power and it only works with your bonded weapon.

*** Call of the Blade

By activating this power (at the cost of two blood points), you may engage in verbal conversation with one Hanoch user (regardless of rank) you have previously met. This meeting must have been face to face; telephone conversations and such simply don't count. People standing around you or the recipient only see you staring at your weapon and talking; they don't hear the response. You and the recipient can see each other but not your surroundings. This power seems limited, but because Besai wander so much and actively seek each other out, they often meet. Any single Besai who has been Kindred for more than ten years can be considered to know over 90% of her brethren who have also existed for ten years, excluding those in torpor. This includes the Clan Founder, who is still walking around. The recipient typically appears as an image in the blade. As a side note, if you do this in public, you look like you're crazy. If you do this in public and don't have a blade bonded to you (for example, the Besai who uses whips), you also look like an idiot. For these reasons, this power is typically used in private. In addition, you can sense the presence of another bonded weapon (which usually means another Hanoch user) if it is within five miles of you.

**** Power of the Blade

For each blood point you spend, your bonded weapon deals aggravated wounds for one round. When combined with Celerity, this is truly a frightening power. This power is never used against another Besai except in the pursuit of Shallun, and this almost never happens.

In addition, you can sense the presence of another bonded weapon (and usually another Hanoch user) if it is within twenty-five miles of you. You are so sensitive to the frequency of another bonded weapon that if you have met the Hanoch user before, you have a chance to recognize her. If she has changed bonded weapons since you last met, you will not recognize her. Otherwise, StoryTeller's call. (Example: John is a Besai with Hanoch *****. As he approaches San Francisco, he realizes that there is another Besai already there. He stops for a minute and concentrates, and concludes that that specific vibration belongs to Greta, a housewife he Embraced in Kansas some twenty years before.)

***** Sense of the Opponent

Cost: None Your Base: Hanoch rating (if opponent uses Obfuscate) Their Base: Obfuscate rating Conditions: If opponent does not use Obfuscate, you automatically win the challenge. Cannot be used without a bonded weapon. You may sense the location of anyone within one hundred paces who wishes to do you physical harm and is actively trying to do so. In this way, you can sense an ambush, keep track of your opponents, and know decisively when you've really won. Although you can sense the location with ease, you have no idea what your target(s) is doing. This power is both more powerful and more limited than Auspex's Danger Sense. The two may be combined to form a vastly more potent early warning system. If you have no bonded weapon, you cannot use this power (theories abound about why). In addition, you may sense another bonded weapon (and usually another Hanoch user) If it is within one hundred miles of you. You may recognize the user as Hanoch ****. This power can be resisted by opponents who are using Obfuscate.

****** True Strength of the Blade

Hanoch possessors can make their bonded weapons immune. By spending one Willpower point you may enable your sword to cut through anything. Metal, stone, plastic, wood, thin air, anything. This lasts for one strike, or ten minutes, whichever comes first. Hanoch possessors (regardless of rating) can spend one Willpower plus your Hanoch rating to make their bonded weapons immune to your strike (imagine blocking without this). This lasts for one block or ten minutes, whichever comes first. Weapons this power have been used on emit a glow that only Hanoch or Auspex possessors can see. If used directly against an opponent, this power ignores armor and causes double damage. In the case of blunt weapons (i.e. war hammers), the weapon will crush any substance. In the case of piercing weapons, they will penetrate anything. In addition, you may sense another bonded weapon (and usually another Hanoch user) if it is within one thousand miles of you. You may recognize the user as Hanoch ****.

****** Assistance

Once you learn this power, you have a great advantage. At the cost of a point of Willpower you can send out a call for help to all Hanoch users whose bonded weapons are close enough to you for you to sense, even if they cannot sense you. Those who receive the call are under no bond to come to your aid (although they usually do). They know who you are (even if you've never met before) and where you are, but know nothing about what trouble you're in.

A Narrator or StoryTeller must determine how many Hanoch users are near enough to "hear" the call and how many of them respond (typically all of them but you never know). It will usually take two or three days for the Hanoch users to arrive, longer if your range is exceptionally long. In addition, you may sense another bonded weapon (and usually another Hanoch user) if it is within one thousand miles of you. You may recognize the user as Hanoch ****.

******* Dedication

Cost: One Willpower Point Two Blood Points One normal wound level One full hour Your Base: None Their Base: None Conditions: Does not work without a bonded weapon. When the Besai decides to dedicate herself to something, she goes all out. With this power, a Besai throws her soul into her cause. She gains +05 dice on any and all challenges associated with the cause and will never botch (treat as a normal failure). This lasts until the Besai attains her goal. At that point, she will soon fall into Torpor for two days (assume she has enough time to find a shelter, so long as she seeks one immediately). This power is actually a ceremony, involving spending a Willpower point, slicing one's arm open with a bonded weapon (1 wound level) and letting two points of blood flow into the ground. If a Besai uses this ceremony to swear Shallun, the target is screwed.

In addition, you may sense another bonded weapon (and usually another Hanoch user) if it is in the same hemisphere as you. You may recognize the user as Hanoch ****.