What was the art of the realm into which the hero first stumbled? Though he had mastered it to a prodigious degree, the exertion of his final onslaught degraded his power in this field as it did others. Now in his pre-Cursebearer state he was barely more notable than an average soldier, given the many ills and maiming wounds that plagued him. As a Cursebearer, that may no longer be the case.
By default, options that grant you immediate power will take the most efficient route of restoring, upgrading, or expanding on your chosen magic. You may gain access to other sources of supernatural power as well, such as the Praxis if a certain Remittance is chosen, or simply the magics and technologies of other worlds. Each would possess varying levels of synergy with the options below. Especially as a Progression-type Cursebearer, no field is truly barred to you save that which your Curses preclude. And, of course, it's easier to tread a path already taken.
[ ] Battle Mastery - At first glance a simplistic art, yet few are more sophisticated at their core. The power of battle magic appears almost shockingly literal: techniques of sword and fist sporting superhuman might, orbs and shields channeling stupendous energies, summoned beasts who charge fearlessly into battle. All the mainstays of a hero's arsenal are present, but their implementation cleaves conceptual lines with a precision that bewilders and frustrates. How can a torrent of lightning that vaporizes a giant leave the surrounding greenery unmarred, save for a cosmetically significant singe mark?
How can a technique of bodily resilience grant superior resistance to harm without affecting one's health or the texture of one's flesh? How can a technique sufficient to propel the hero in a sixty-meter leaping charge fail to generate enough force to break down a wooden door? How can a spell of healing restore one from the brink of death yet have no effect on maiming wounds? The values of the system seem orthogonal to physical reality or common sense, and yet prioritized over both.
Mastery comes not only from cultivating its spells and techniques, but from clever exploitation of their confounding results. Lateral thinking is key. You need to scale a wall, but only wield a spell which summons a horde of skeletons that mindlessly attack a single target? Target the wall and use the skeletons as a makeshift ramp. Need to carve a statue? Animate a pile of marble into the weakest tier of golem so that it counts as a foe, allowing you to shape it with offensive spells. Polymorph passengers into helpless frogs so that your ferry can fit more, lowering the fares for all!
*Leaps, charges, strikes, sweeps, stances, orbs, bolts, cones, blasts, shields, fields, auras, lances, and other active effects distinguished by their kinetic and spatial parameters
*Extremely efficient at what it does; no extraneous power is wasted on combat-irrelevant effects, and even the most destructive effects unleashed at point-blank range will leave allies and bystanders untouched. Does eventually cap out, though many effects retain their utility; reducing damage taken by 99.8% is frequently relevant.
*Recombination of techniques allows for surprising versatility for the quick-witted and sharp of mind.
*Forbidden Art: Spirit Mastery. The hero learned to burn his own fundamental essence in order to magnify the power of his techniques, but he burned so much during the final confrontation that he has lost even the knowledge to attempt this.
[ ] Seven Seals - The magic of the world was evocation of the self, the light of the soul made manifest. Each who had awakened to the light could offer their own unique capabilities, but few were as versatile and encompassing as this. The power to Seal can broadly be thought of as the inverse of reification: a flame becomes the character for 'Fire'; an onrushing torrent locked into a picture of itself. But this is an ability whose applications well exceed mere storage and containment. Not only can attacks from one foe be captured to be released against another, the nature of things sealed can be intensified through addition or fundamentally altered via combination. One may lack the equipment to meld fire with stone, but far easier to combine the character 'Fire' with the character 'Stone.'
And stranger effects than this are possible for a true master of the art: drawing upon sealed reserves without unsealing them; sealing and combining concepts; safely converting one's self into a seal, thereby to reside halfway into the Realm of Forms!
*An extremely versatile ability that allows for countless permutations
*Seal and redirect enemy attacks or convert any convenient form of quickly moving mass-energy into attacks; contain and constrict the abilities of foes; channel intensified sealed strength for superhuman attributes, seal one's own tiredness, or even become a being of pattern more than form and sear yourself across the span of reality!
*The first two Seals are easy to learn. Each subsequent level represents a rapidly escalating leap in difficulty. Progress will be relatively slow compared to other disciplines.
*Forbidden Art: Fifth Seal. The hero can no longer recall any details of the Fifth or higher Seals.
[ ] Accretion - A farmer's boy. A sword of fable. A perilous quest. Death or glory.
A form of symbiosis between wielder and object, integrating shared experiences, mythic archetypes, accumulated legendry and personal craftsmanship. The result is a being greater than the sum of its parts, not a man wielding a sword but Arthur with Excalibur, the blade closer to his being than his own sword-arm. That deep conceptual weight, wearing a groove in reality's current, permits the slow unfurling of impossible feats as a product of the partnership.
The power of Accretion is rarely replicable and never easily defined. Its greatest masters turn the tides of battle simply by taking the field, their presence an inexpressible radiance, sharp light beyond sense or reason, that erodes the existential basis of those who would oppose them. You will find them at the crux of fate, the critical point of inflection; there does that power reach its apex, starshine become a blazing sun, light and fire and fury as to bring the world to its knees.
*A power that is somewhat agnostic to the strength of one's foes. Battle Magic will never deflect a supernova; a master of this art might, though they'd have near equal difficulty deflecting a tank shell.
*Operates on a level beyond physical causality. With few exceptions, does not enhance physical parameters at all.
*With time and many shared tribulations, some of a union's powers may become relatively consistent and explicable. For example, the hero wears a suit of dark grey plate, and nothing may slay him short of annihilating the armor entire.
*Forbidden Art: Abduction. The forceful seizing of another's armament, inconsistent in application and terribly risky, as aspects of the prior wielder may impose themselves upon you. The hero stole into the Tyrant's Catacomb and emerged bearing the sword of the Tyrant's progenitor. That blade now lies broken, and with it its wielder.
The arts not picked will never have been present in the hero's initial realm.
Please remember to copy your vote for the previous choice when you vote here, so as not to override your previous vote.
