Zephyren gathers mystical energy into his palms and cups them so that the wings on the gloves align. Blowing on them causes a firebird to materialize and fly at the target.
On the firebird:
It's said that the firebird brings bad luck to its captor, though Zephyren's luck is horrible enough that he wouldn't notice a little more of it. Besides, he's chucking it at someone else, so if anything the bad luck with transfer to them first.
On energy:
In his childhood, people would always talk about 'qi' and how it flows together to create a unified being. Apparently, deities also have 'qi', as if it is one of the foundations of the universe. He's had some practice trying to manipulate it through tai chi, though he was never really good at it. Zephyren's enhanced senses, combined with this gift's affinity with the firebird, have allowed him to pinpoint and gather the scattered energy of perished firebirds. Bringing them together, he can nearly mimic their rebirth for just long enough to enact their wrath on those who threaten him.
On voices:
Zephyren hates to admit it, but he doesn't bode well with people raising his voice at him. The noise grates at his ears, and he starts to get flighty. It's because being yelled at usually entails worse consequences in an Asian household. Words are never enough and Zephyren can only start to expect the worst. Now it's even worse because he's found that the emotion behind someone raising their voice spikes the surrounding qi.
Spend an Action. Select a target within 50 feet. You must actively and obviously use gloves with one wing drawn on each palm to activate this Effect. Roll Perception + Occult Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling to Dodge or Defend as a Reaction, Difficulty 6.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much Damage plus 4.
You may use this Effect to Defend against any melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks within range or Clash against any Attack targeted at you. Using it to Defend deals no Damage but does not cost Exertion.
The target suffers a -3 dice penalty for the next hour or until the Injury is healed. This dice penalty does not stack multiple times on the same target.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Qi spike: When someone raises their voice at you, roll Self-Control to avoid entering fight-or-flight mode.
Instead of dealing Damage all at once, the Injury caused by this Power starts at Severity 1 and worsens at the rate of one level per Round until it reaches the Severity it would have otherwise been.
The user draws the paper in which this artifact has been imbued onto and begins to rapidly fold it into the shape of a triangular obelisk. As they fold, the space around them begins to bend and distort, their body splitting apart into several perfect, geometric slices, until eventually they fold in onto themselves. They then unfold, alongside those they are in contact with, at the target location, in several separated pieces that refold to form their shape.
Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions. If you are at the Battlegrounds Monument, you may choose a target Location within your line of sight; otherwise, your target may only be the Battlegrounds Monument. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. If you fail or Botch, you receive one Mind Damage and a new Trauma.
You are transported directly to the chosen Location. Anyone who is touching you as you Travel will be brought along with you. You must wait an hour before activating this effect again.
If you traverse any a place with a significant amount of paper (such as a library or paper factory) for one minute, you may activate this Effect and travel to the edge of any other a place with a significant amount of paper (such as a library or paper factory) that you’re aware of, regardless of range.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see the user slicing into several sheets of themselves, which tear apart upon their disappearance.
After you finish activating this Effect, you cannot move quicker than a walk (max 15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.
Dolores looks directly at her target and they receive a mental message from the raspy alto voiced woman.
Spend a Free Action. Select a target within 300 feet of you. You must have a specific target in mind, but you require only an intuitive understanding of them, such as their name, face, or Location.
You may send a single message to your target. It cannot be longer or more complex than a couple short sentences.
The message will only be perceived by the intended recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is a prominent vein can be seen pulsing on her forehead. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: mute.
You place a hand on the object, gloved or not, and glare into its figurative or literal soul. You may even sniff or lick it depending on how confident you are that it won't kill you right away. Observers to this act may feel a mild to intense discomfort depending on what item it is (pray that it's not someone's clothing, cough cough) but you can insist that this is all for the sake of science.
On testing:
Delphyrion has always wanted to know everything. However, no matter how strong one's background is in chemistry, you'd usually need equipment and time to study an object's composition. Not to mention the amount of harm it could do to the item.
On alien origins:
Whatever it is that they encounter on their contracts, Delphyrion would very much like to know when something is out of this world so they don't have to waste time trying to apply human logic to it. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but sometimes a cigar is very much not a cigar.
On chemistry:
This gift could be groundbreaking, but only if you know what you're looking at. Initially Delphyrion wanted to use it for finding the chemical makeup of an item, though they realize they should already know as long as it's recognizable. Chemistry is all about using what you have, and what's the use of a weapon that you know nothing about?
On questionable acts:
Look, living creatures are born with five senses for a reason. Delphyrion will use all five senses if it means new knowledge can be found. Sure, they've gotten sick from licking stuff for no reason, and they've licked a frozen pole (you can imagine how that went down), but at least now there is a reason to do so. This will do wonders for their immune system.
Spend a minute. Select a target Object within arm's reach. At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Science at Difficulty 6.
You learn a single specific piece of information, chosen from the following list, about your target:
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
I'm here to clean house, and nobody's going to stand in my way. My aura reeks of confidence, a controlling smile on my face. This radiant Ruby sits atop a golden veneer, placed on my tooth to utilize it's power. There is no point to testing your luck, you don't have the winning cards. You should leave now before you lose everything to me.
As I flash my winning grin, you can see the glint of a golden veneer on my tooth. Perched atop it is a radiant Ruby, the gem of my Pot-Winning Bluff. With the curl of my smile, the room seems to shimmer with anticipation. The Ruby sparkles, emitting a red hue across the table. A psychic repulsion field emanates from me, extending out in every direction for 45 feet. It's like a force field of confidence, daring anyone to challenge my hand.
Any fool who can't see past my bluff knows that they're going to bust. They're trapped in their own defeat, pushed back to the edge of the radius like the pill of a spinning roulette wheel. They realize they've already lost before the first card is even dealt.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. Any Animate targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
Create a repulsion field which extends out 45 feet from you in every direction, and lasts for the next 5 Rounds. Any Animate targets within the field that failed to resist cannot move any closer towards you. If they were within 45 feet from you when you activated the effect, they are immediately pushed back to the edge of the repulsion field.
You must maintain Concentration during this Effect.
When you activate this effect, you may designate any number of specific individuals to exclude from the Effect. Anyone designated in this way is unaffected by the repulsion field, and can approach you as normal.
After this Effect ends, you cannot move quicker than a walk (15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour.
skin contact between the injury and the transfer target must be made. Both parties become intimately aware of the injury as it fades from one body and appears on the other.
Every sensation becomes imprinted in the mind of the transferers. The way skin peels or folds, the way cells divide and rush, the hemoglobin coagulating and the sense of one persons distinct physical presence feels against the injury. It is impossible to not become aware of the way the body each of you occupies feels around the source of pain.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Sapient target within arm's reach. If a target does not consent to the transfer, you must roll Perception+Occult at Difficulty 6 to use the effect on them. They can resist by rolling either Body or Mind at Difficulty 6, depending on what you are attempting to transfer to them.
You may choose a single instance of one of the following to transfer from your target to yourself, or from yourself to them:
The De-Neuralizer is a small silver device that can emanate a bright flash of light. Any being that looks into it with uncovered eyes has their most recent period of the their memory set into a highly over-writable state for a moment. While in this state, their memories may be overwritten at will.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within within arm's reach. All Sapient targets within 20 feet are affected. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is looking directly into the device with uncovered eyes. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, the most recent 1 hour from your target’s memory is either replaced with new memories or forgotten entirely. This is recorded as a Condition. The level of detail and completeness of the alteration depends on your Outcome. If you fail, the target realizes that you are attempting to alter their memories.
The period is chosen either by time (i.e. “last Friday night”) or by reference to a specific event (i.e. “when the murder occurred”).
The user places this slip of paper from the mystic against their head, speaks the inscribed phrase, and envisions a time they wished they were alone. the paper bursts into a shockwave that pushes a nearby being away. The repulsion field can be maintained for several seconds by meditating on the nature of solitude.
Spend an Action and use up this paper with mysterious calligraphy. Select a Animate target up to 100 feet away.
Targets are pushed back until they are 100 feet away.
This Effect cannot move anything heavier than 500 pounds.
Affected targets may use a Reaction and roll Dexterity or Brawn + Athletics to hold on to a nearby anchor, if available. A complete success increases their effective weight by whatever they hold onto.
Pushing a target straight upward requires you to be directly beneath them and halves the range. GM’s may ask for a Dexterity + Athletics roll when repositioning yourself around a target to get a desired angle. They may React to reposition or anchor themselves as normal.
You may maintain Concentration after the initial activation of this Effect to continue the push on the target. Lasts up to one minute.
The magician dons their wizard hat, raises their arms, wiggles their fingers, and a rain of sparks fly woosh around an object. It shudders to life and follows the magicians commands, including to do things it was not designed to do.
Exert your Mind and an Action. Select a Inanimate target within arm's reach which could fit inside a briefcase (15 liters). You must actively and obviously use a pointed hat with stars and moons to activate this Effect.
Your target will become Animated indefinitely. You may choose to end the effect at will, as a Free Action. You can maintain a max of 4 targets animated at once.
Animated Objects have the following restrictions and capabilities:
Perform the Five Point Technique via a series of quick pressure point hits on the target’s chest. As you do, channel your chi and speak a condition involving the number five. If the target cannot stop you from performing the technique, their heart will take a direct hit when they fulfill the chosen condition.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living target within arm's reach. Roll Dexterity + Brawl Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling Body, Difficulty 6.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much Damage plus 2. The target's Armor is completely ignored.
When you activate this Effect, instead of occurring immediately, you may choose to delay its effects until the target takes a particular Action. For example: "when they fire a gun" or "when they swim in deep water."
Instead of dealing Damage all at once, the Injury caused by this Power starts at Severity 1 and worsens at the rate of one level per Round until it reaches the Severity it would have otherwise been.
The Skeleton Key slips easily into any keyhole and turns without a fuss.
Spend an Action.
You may lock, unlock, and/or open any number of doors, containers, knots, or locks within arm's reach of you. Cannot be used on Alien technology.
If you successfully operate a lock, you may choose to destroy it, rendering it inoperable.