Anahata
From Summoner
Contents |
The Crashing Gale of Open Eyes
Once there is existence, there is feeling. Once one feels, that emotion fuels will. Once will is bolstered, decisions must be made. And when all things come to a conclusion, the inevitable disagreements can be a veritable cycle of beliefs, ideas, and hopes struggling for dominance. Thus is Anahata, home of air and change. The Kingdom reacts to strong ambitions or espoused ideals, and the name itself means unhurt or unbeaten. Those who survive Anahata rarely leave it unchanged, and rarely do the weak survive.
Landscape
To survive Anahata, one must be solid in a place that is not solid. To remain yourself in Anahata, one must feel the natural flows and sense the dangers invisible in the gale. To reach your goal in Anahata, one must demand of the sky to carry them to their destination, with absolute conviction. Most importantly, to escape Anahata, one must choose. The fabric of Anahata is formed entirely by its denizens. Flotsam and jetsam, ranging from random bolts to vast mountains, all hang and are swept by the endless winds. In some places, poles jut out from the highest places to beyond the endless pull of merciless gravity. Some say that Manipura is below, churning up great gusts of wind. Others say that beneath lies the very void, yawning and sucking. No one knows. If one truly falls, one does not return. The only way to fall to the lowest place of Anahata is to surrender completely. So far, no one is known to have returned.
To travel Anahata is an act of conscious control over the environment. A successful roll of Presence + Resolve can alter the landscape significantly. A bit of wreckage may be blown closer to serve as a raft in the chaos. A great, rocky crag may be pushed aside with an extreme refusal of that fated, deadly course. Those with a sufficiently strong presence (a combined Presence + Resolve of at least 6) can move in any direction at their normal Speed, and may run or fly as appropriate.
The pillars themselves are the representations of the Network in Anahata, serving as a bridge between that which is above and that which is below. That said, the pillars follow no rhyme or reason, extending in any given direction relative to the viewer. Around them, the reference point of gravity can shift, creating 'islands' or 'floating zones' where these pillars concentrate. Items naturally avoid contact with the Network, and the few things that cannot avoid them or be brushed aside are simply shorn into more acceptable chunks by an unknown force.
Anahata, perhaps more than any other realm, bears a feeling of endless vastness. One may not see one of these reference pillars for what seems like miles. In other places, they form vast spiderwebs the size of cities. It is usually in these latticeworks that the Thrones are found, palaces and spires built out of detritus from all things.
Hazards
The greatest danger in Anahata is the wind. It emanates from all objects within the Kingdom, though from some more than others. This is the source of the 'natural' flight of those with sufficient strength of bearing and mind. However, the many demons, objects, and perhaps even the collective thoughts, feelings, and choices of the World reverberate through Anahata. The demons here believe that no wind ever dies...it simply travels on, until it returns again a hundred fold. These winds range from firm to hurricane-force or worse, depending on the moods or significance of those present. As an example, stumbing into Anahata from a heated gunfight will drop the traveler into a clashing melee of tornadoes, swept full of demons, metal, and broken glass.
Not only will the goals of those who touch the winds change them, so will the intensity of those goals. Any time Willpower is spent in Anahata, any character within the spender's Willpower in yards must immediately make a Presence + Athletics roll to not be blown away. Bonuses or penalties should be applied to this roll based on the reasons for the Willpower expenditure. Willpower spent in pursuit of a Vice inflicts a -2 penalty on others' ability to resist the terrible winds. When a Virtue is involved, the penalty is -3. Being dashed about could potentially lead to dangerous collisions, and the Storyteller should ultimately decide if 'falling' damage should need to be applied for impacts, or if floating shrapnel will become a hazard.
The demons of Anahata are used to the winds, and in fact use them as a means of travel, defense, and hunting. It is a very unfortunate traveler who find several bags of jagged metal dumped into their path. Worse still when the wave of will-bolstered demons charge forth behind the deadly wave of junk.
Thrones
Optional Rule: Anahata and the Lost
Needless to stay, those who are known as the Lost are familiar with the churning storm of choices, both made and imposed. Simply remaining in Anahata is a level 3 sin against Clarity, and the few Changelings who have found themselves here are rarely better for the trip.
Glamour can be readily harvested from the winds of Anahata with an appropriate roll, and the stores are nearly infinite. However, a separate roll of Stamina + Composure must be rolled to not become enthralled in the emotion, seeking to devour more and inflict the emotion on others to stir up more satisfying winds. Subtle changes overcome one who is so addicted. Each point of Glamour gained once the resistance roll is failed subtly changes the Mien of the Changeling, turning them more ominously towards the appropriate Mantle, in all of its worst representations. The Changeling will suffer a -2 to any Social rolls except for Intimidation for any who can see their Mien as it truly is.
A Changeling who clings hard and fast to truth in the face of the malleable winds may receive a single point of Clarity after a significant struggle, subject to Storyteller approval. However, the whispers of Anahata speak of many possibilities...the temptation of being restored to wholeness, or perhaps even become greater, wilder things than their former tormentors may start to tickle the ears of a Changeling whose Clarity is low...
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