Moves and Combat Tactics
Stats:
ATK: 4
Ebony is overflowing with mana. Her spells are powerful, yet the raw, almost uncontrollable, magic also empowers her physical strikes. Use of magic like that isn't a conscious decision.
DEF: 3
For a teenage girl, Ebony is surprisingly resilient. This a passive effect of her magic, resulting in harder the break bones, a better pain threshold, and tougher muscles and skin - almost like a bodybuilder condensed into a 5ft girl. Despite this, she will usually flinch or recoil when hurt.
SPD: 2
Ebony is fairly light, so is naturally more nimble than the average person. She's fairly flexible, but also somewhat clumsy. While she lacks the control required to use her magic to help her move, she's not terrible at dodging.
TEC: 2
Scythes are also not well known for being practical weapons, and her magic is naturally very hard to control due to its strength. But, after
training with Summer and Sonny and practising her skills, she is gradually improving her prowess with every day she spends in the Omniverse. She might not be an elite spell sniper, but she can score some lucky shots.
Ebony's Weapons
Ebonywood Hellscythe (900) Requires: Telekinesis, Physical Strength, Ranged Proficiency, Area Attack
Ebonywood Hellscythe's scythe is an ebonywood hellscythe. The pole is 5.2ft/1.6m long and made of dark black ebony. It's smooth to touch and feels slightly warm. Attached to the top is a curved silver blade that's 3inches/7.6cm tall where it joins the pole and about 1cm wide. The blade extends 3ft/0.9m from the staff (but is actually longer than that due to the curve) where it slowly gets narrower and shorter until it eventually reaches a fine point. While made of wood and silver, the scythe is incredibly durable and resilient, so even the narrower points of the blade will require very considerable stress to break. Small chips off the wood or metal repair near-instantly in a burst of harmless purple flame, so the blade will never dull - with one exception: Ebony's own scythe cannot cut her. It acts as if it's completely blunt when touching her skin. While using her scythe, Ebony's eyes glow red.
Carrying a scythe that's as tall as you everywhere can get very tiring. Even if it's super cool and Ebony is much stronger than her appearance would suggest. If the scythe is ever more than 5m/16ft from Ebony it disappears. When this happens, parts of the scythe fall off rapidly as small dark, glowing, purple flecks that dissolve into the air. If Ebony maintains a line of sight with her scythe then she can choose to prevent this effect. Also, Ebony can say a quick 2-second enchantment to cause the disappearing effect on purpose. To regain the scythe, Ebony has to stand still and focus. Over the first 3 seconds she chants and spreads out her hands, this causes the staff to form from glowing dark purple magic. Them she chants for 2 more seconds and spins the staff. When this happens one of the ends glows purple and the blade forms off it. This is not a draining process. If the scythe is used to attack with before fully forming, it will shatter and dissolve into the air.
Ebony usually attacks with her scythe spinning the sharp edge of the blade towards her opponent, or by using the ebony staff to attempt to pummel them. She needs to use both hands to use the scythe effectively. It may be held in one hand, but only attacking with one will make it much more unwieldy than it already is. When attacked with, the scythe blade leaves a trail of harmless deep purple flames. These dissipate quickly. Ebony may use her telekinesis on her own weapon, allowing her to roll it over the back of her hand or spin it around her body. Regardless of how it moves, part of the scythe staff always remains within a few inches of Ebony's body and must return close to her hands within about a second at most. She can twirl it no faster than she could usually swing it, but the lack of hands required allows her to maintain a higher swing speed for longer durations. This is more for swiftly repositioning her weapon than attacking or blocking with it, as when not held it's susceptible to being knocked out of her magical grip (based on her ATK and the strength of the push) and its attacks carry less force. This is no more tiring than swinging the weapon normally but does require more concentration. Taking damage won't cause her to drop it, but while using her scythe like this she's solely limited to focusing on normal combat manoeuvres (e.g. attacks, blocks, dodges).
Her scythe is not limited to melee attacks alone. She can also project her slashes through the air, causing a thin crescent-shaped wave to head in a straight line from her scythe blade, travelling at the speed of an arrow. To do this, she just has to swing her scythe as normal (i.e. not telekinetically) and focus on the attack. So she can move but she can't concentrate on any other moves at the same time. If anything hits the scythe while she's trying to use this attack, it fails, so this is much easier to do outside of melee range. The wave is just over 4ft long and crescent-shaped. Being hit by it feels the same as actually being hit by her scythe (so any modifications to her scythe blade, such as Soul Strike, will be compatible with this). Using this is more tiring than attacking with her scythe normally.
Ebony's Skills
Soul Strike (300) Requires: Ebonywood Hellscythe, Physical Strength, Debuff Proficiency
A non-lethal attack that uses Ebony's scythe. Ebony focuses for three seconds. During this time she may move and dodge, but may not attack. Taking more than a small amount of damage or losing concentration will revert all progress towards this. After this, the previously silver blade glows a faint purple and appears slightly translucent. Ebony then may continue to attack with her scythe as usual besides from one key change. Once the blade reaches an opponent, it appears to phase through their armour and body (however the wooden staff will not). However, the blade is still blocked by other weapons and moves, such as a sword, shield, or spiked gloves. This includes any incidental weapons although blocking with them runs the risk of having them destroyed (a fallen tree branch probably wouldn't hold up against a hit with Ebony's scythe). Any cuts that would usually have appeared on the opponents body instead glow with harmless purple flames for about a second before they fade away. The foe feels some pain, but it's very reduced from what the attack would normally feel like. Instead of actually doing any damage, the attack solely drains the foe's fatigue leaving them tired. This is a permanent drain for the whole fight (but can be removed with any move or item that would normally reduce fatigue), so should Ebony win by primarily using this, or attack with it as a finisher, the opponent would likely fall unconscious. Each individual strike is not draining to Ebony and won't seem very draining to her opponent (so the first hit will probably seem like a slightly painful joke attack). However, over time, the attacks will add up as the fatigue induced is cumulative. The impact on an opponent is based on Ebony's ATK against their DEF.
In general, the fatigue is similar to the effect on the opponent should they have actually taken damage. As accumulated damage would wear down an opponent as, naturally, someone with a cut, bruised, and bleeding arm won't hit as well as someone with an uninjured arm, Soul Strike achieves a similar effect. Essentially, the opponent suffers as if they actually took damage. That said, the potency is lessened compared to actually being hit with the normal scythe blade. Thus, using Soul Strike will never have the same impact on an opponent as cutting them with Ebony's unchanged scythe blade.
The fatigue can either be interpreted by the target feeling drained, tired, or sluggish after receiving multiple strikes, or by the body parts that would have been injured simply aching.
To revert back to normal attacks, Ebony has to focus for three seconds and again can only move and dodge during this time. As before taking more than a small amount of damage or losing concentration will revert all progress towards this. Also, if the scythe is dispelled, when resummoned it will always revert back to its normal form. So, Ebony has to spend a total of 8 seconds of focus at least (5 to create the scythe, 3 to change the attack mode) to start using Soul Strike without having her scythe initially on hand. Lastly, Ebony is immune to the debuff effect of being stabbed with her own scythe blade.
Glacial Rift (300) Requires: Ebonywood Hellscythe, Area Defence, Ranged Materialise, Ranged Attack
Ebony stands still and concentrates for 5 seconds, focusing magic in the blade of her scythe while winding it up like a baseball bat. Should she lose concentration (by taking anything more than light damage, or stopping to do something else) all progress is lost. While charging, Ebony's eyes flicker to an icy blue, the air around her feels cold, and glowing white frost forms on the blade of her scythe. Once charged, Ebony swings with all her might, causing an ice-blue crescent-shaped blast of energy (quickly increasing to a size of about 4m wide, and 1m deep) to ripple through the ground towards a chosen destination within 60m of her. The energy wave damages nothing and travels at the speed of a bullet, but people near to it will feel a rush of cold air. The moment the magic is released, Ebony feels a rush of fatigue, essentially putting all moves on cooldown for a few seconds and crimpling her ability in combat for this time.
Once it reaches its destination, a large rift of opaque ice forms over the span of about half a second, reaching a maximum height of 2m, depth of 1m, and width of 4m in a curved shape (from an ariel view, it'd resemble a similar shape to a small section of a donut). The side closer to Ebony isn't as high, starting at about 0.5m but climbing steeply up to 2m, because of this, the top of the mini-glacier is weaker. Should the wave of energy be about to pass underneath someone, it will prematurely form in front of them (unless they were airborne). If Ebony's initial swing isn't completed (due to being blocked), then the move fails but no magic is lost.
The glacial rift is generally very strong, requires no thought or concentration to maintain, and lasts until either Ebony mentally dismisses it (which will cause it to disintegrate instantaneously), it is destroyed (which often won't happen in full, as it acts like actual ice, so it's more likely for large parts to be missing), or until Ebony uses this move again. Ebony can also spend 2 seconds concentrating while in physical contact with the glacier to absorb a proportion of the energy she spent on it (depending on how damaged it is). The main purpose of this move is to provide a sturdy wall to hide behind, but, naturally, there's nothing to stop an enemy moving around it or over it.
RP Notes: Ebony is often likely to use this after casting other strong spells, or using lots of attacks with short breaks as the coolness can help her focus once the wave of fatigue has worn off.
Immortal Flames (900) Requires: Physical, Debuff, Area Defense, Area Attack
In moments of combat, or intense emotion, Ebony's body heats up as her mana flows through it. Primes with enhanced senses will see the invisible flames around her while this is active, otherwise, there's no visual effect. Typically, this requires no focus and can remain always active with no noticeable stamina drain, even while using other demanding moves (with the exception of variants of this move). However, due to this being a passive effect, it is very weak. Being near to Ebony feels like being near to a hot radiator, and touching her will feel painful, like touching something really hot - but not enough to burn without very prolonged contact.
Ebony can also channel mana directly to a part of her body or point of contact. Doing so takes 3 seconds of concentration (Ebony can move at full speed, take damage, but not use other moves), and once activated it is very tiring to sustain and can last for 10 seconds before Ebony has to rest. The flames in the focus area become visible as a dark purple colour, and burn much hotter, damaging all who touch them. Furthermore, they spread to anyone who touches them for longer than a second, doing continued damage to the burning area for the following three seconds (although these flames are half as potent as Ebony's). Also, should anyone (besides Ebony) touch the fire on someone else for longer than a second, it spreads to them for three seconds (again, at half the potency as before). The fire could spread to the same person twice, should they touch their burning shoulder with their hand for a second, for example. Flames at one-eighth strength cannot set anything else on fire, and are easy to pat out (so can be easily removed before the 3 seconds are up). Ending this and reverting back to the passive version can be done almost instantly.
Lastly, while standing still, Ebony can focus her mana outwards, causing all the flames to become visible. While she does this, the inferno acts as an aggressive shield, burning anyone within 5ft of her. This is very tiring, and cannot be maintained for longer than 10 seconds before she has to rest. Starting and stopping this can be done near instantly. In addition to damaging near people and objects, the flames also incinerate and weaken projectile attacks, meaning weaker bullets will have no effect on her, and stronger ranged attacks will simply be weakened. While active, Ebony can move at half speed and make basic weapon attacks, but can't focus on any other moves.
While Ebony will never take damage due to her own flames, prolonged or repetitive use of any parts of this move may leave her feeling dizzy. Also, combustible objects ignited by this can still burn her.
RP Notes:
>Ebony is likely to use this with her Fires of Darkness power-up.
>Ebony cannot prevent her allies from being hurt by this move should they touch her/be too near, besides the basic version where she can try to just turn it off.
>Standing near flammable objects while using this move is not recommended.
>If Ebony is not focusing on anything else, she may use this accidentally.
>Ebony can boil water or fry eggs on her forehead with the passive version, if given enough time.
Infernal Deluge (300) Requires: Physical, Ranged, Area Attack, Telekinesis
Ebony charges up mana for 3 seconds. She can do this while moving or taking damage, but can't focus on any other moves/powers at the same time. Within a second after building up strength, she lashes out with a basic melee strike - this can be with her fists, or one of her weapons. Instead of the attack connecting as usual, the stored energies are all expelled at once a fraction of a second before she hits her opponent. This takes the form of a powerful burst of telekinetic energy that hits like a strong slam spread out over the target's body. Most foes are pushed back by about 10m if this hits directly, with the distance varying by up to a couple of metres either way based on Ebony's ATK and their DEF. If Ebony doesn't attack within the second, then the energy is lost. Furthermore, the telekinetic energy will still be discharged on a miss (with the force usually glancing her intended target, potentially staggering them a bit). But, as the magics involved are highly innate, the energy disappates if Ebony doesn't attempt to direct it at someone or something (meaning the next part of this move will not occur if she simply punches the air or remains idle).
Following the blow, fiery magicks forcibly leak out of Ebony in the form of a slow sweeping wave of dark purple fire. This only takes about half a second, where Ebony is forced to stand roughly still. The fire is expelled from any weapons she's holding and her body - as well as the air about 0.5m around her. The flames travel at 1m/s in the direction of the attack. While slow, they eventually reach a distance of 15m in a cone-shaped blast before dissipating into the air, spreading out in a 15m arc at their furthest point. The curved rectangular-shaped wave is about 1m thick and reaches 5m high at its maximum range (it starts at 2m tall after creation). It provides a treacherous hazard to the battlefield, dealing moderate damage to all who touch it - and especially those who pass through it. The fire is just as strong at a distance as it is at the source despite dispersing and growing wider. While the flames don't completely block vision or prevent attacks from passing through, they serve as a way to help Ebony use the space she creates for herself, although there's nothing stopping something from going over or round. Ebony cannot be harmed by how own fire, and the flames are unaffected by wind and small obstacles, but shields can leave gaps in the waves.
Telekinetic Shove (300) Requires: Telekinesis
Using her magic, Ebony can also affect other primes telekinetically in the form of a shove. This is just as tiring as a shove, takes about half a second to charge and then another half a second to execute, and feels like a shove to the recipient. While charging, Ebony can't move or use any other moves or attacks (but she can still block). When executing, appear to jolt slightly towards the direction of her target and her body will also give off a slight dark purple aura. Someone watching Ebony attentively (and with insight or the intuition to guess that she's doing something) will have a short period of time (about a fraction of a second) to brace themselves. In close range, the strength of the shove is as strong as if Ebony had physically pushed as hard as she could (without a run up). This strength drops off at further distances from Ebony (and has no effect outside her telekinesis radius). A braced opponent is unlikely to be affected much (outside of maybe shifting back a metre) unless they're in very close range. Primes with a DEF higher than Ebony's ATK are less affected, and those with a lower DEF are more affected. In general, this move is more useful against speedy targets as it can disrupt their momentum and they'll be unable to brace. However, it can be hard to hit them with it, often resulting in glancing pushes that do little as the location and direction of the shove has to be decided after the first half a second (and then a push in that place happens over the following half a second). This move typically does no damage, although being pushed into something may hurt.
RP/Fodder Notes: Ebony may use a lesser version of this move to pull friends towards her, pat them on the back, and so on in non-combat situations. General stuff she could do with her hands.
Pick Me Up (600) Requires: Telekinesis, Ranged, Ranged Control, Area Defense, Buff
Ebony can pick up primes as well as objects within her telekinesis range, so long as she has the strength to lift them. This ends immediately if they struggle, making it impossible to use on most unwilling targets. It doesn't take any longer to pick someone up that it does a rock or other object. While carrying someone, it's equivalent to giving them the flight power (within her telekinesis range), but with her ATK for their SPD, and Ebony suffering any fatigue for their movement as well as having to be the one to control them. Furthermore, primes carried move relative to her, so if she moves in one direction, they do too unless she chooses to keep them still. This requires as much concentration as lifting something normally and is otherwise identical to lifting an object. Holding something still requires negligible focus. Her control may wane towards the edge of her telekinesis range as her strength drops off. Ebony may lift many people at once, so long as it is within her telekinetic capabilities. Taking damage may break her concentration, but unless it's a strong amount she is very unlikely to drop someone. Note that struggling only has to be done against her telekinesis, so someone can still wiggle and shift around to use moves.
Once Ebony has picked someone up, she can launch them faster than the speed of an arrow (67m/s or 150mph). To do this, she needs to dedicate most of her concentration towards her telekinesis for 3 seconds, during which she can still move, dodge, and block but cannot attack. She can still move people and objects held by her telekinesis a bit, but this would distract her from her own dodging unless they're following a simple movement (e.g. holding someone next to her and moving them with her while she dodges or simply moving someone in a circle or back and forth in a line). After building up the energy, a translucent purple shield appears an inch away from their skin. The shield only blocks kinetic damage caused by Ebony throwing them but is strong enough to survive a good hit, preventing them from being harmed by crashing and making them bounce back a bit.
After making the shield, she instantly fires them 30m in any direction, building up to the maximum speed by the end of the movement (which takes under a second). This is moderately tiring. The maximum speed can increase for smaller allies or those who try to assist her push with flight (or by any other means). The acceleration can feel strong, but her magic reduces the effect it has on their body. She can make small tweaks to the aim mid-flight, but nothing large. Her ally keeps travelling after this 30m, gradually slowing down and falling normally due to gravity. The high speed, potentially combined with a melee attack from her friend, can deliver a strong blow if it hits, doing good damage and knocking back anyone hit by the prime-bowling ball.
Eclipse (600) Requires: Fusion - Basic, Buff
After touching a willing ally (who also has fusion) and maintaining physical contact for 3 seconds, during which both Ebony and her friend must concentrate and cannot attack, they both fuse together in a low-power state. They get all the benefits of a usual fusion (such as shared moves and powers, shared SP pool) but their new total stats are halved (including powerups). While in this state, damage is split between both of them equally, and either Ebony or her ally can instantly choose to spend SP to turn this into a proper fusion (following the usual usage costs). As with a usual fusion, any items used are applied to a character, rather than the fusion.
Alternatively, they can treat their original forms as alt forms, allowing the low-power fusion to take on the stats of one of the fusion members, rather than their half-stats. While doing this, only the leading prime's stats matter, so if the prime taking the back seat uses a powerup, it has no effect (unless they take the lead while it's still active). But if the one leading uses one uses a powerup, it works as normal. The SP pool, moves, and powers are still shared, and this otherwise works like the first use of Eclipse (outside of stats). Switching between this and the mixed stats takes half as long as switching between their main forms (based on SPD, works the same as alt forms). Debuffs, buffs, and other effects still impact both Ebony and her friend.
Eclipse has no defined duration and continues until one of the participating parties either dies or wishes to leave.
Ebony's Spells:
Meta Magic: Elemental Blast (3000) Requires: Ranged Proficiency, Area Attack, Homing Proficiency, Debuff Proficiency
Note: In some older posts, every 'element' just did damage. And over time I've been upgrading to give them individual effects. So, if you see 'fire' not leave a lasting burn in one post, that's why.
Quick summary:
[spoiler]Base spell: 5 seconds, not fatiguing, Ebony cannot move, speed of an arrow, can be any of the elements listed, size of a fist (projectile and impact area), 5 seconds air time, needs 1 hand to chant, needs 1 hand to cast.
Charged: 5 seconds, fatiguing, Ebony cannot move, more damage, repeatable, needs 1 hand to chant, increases to 2 hands to cast.
Homing: 5 seconds, not fatiguing, Ebony can move, spell is now homing (3m/10ft radius turns) but moves at half speed, 10 seconds air time, decreasing damage after 5 seconds air time, needs 1 hand to chant.
Explosive: 5 seconds, not fatiguing, Ebony cannot move, area effect (2m/6.6ft radius), decreased overall damage, needs 1 hand to chant.
Multi: Start casting new spell, older spell(s) saved, then may cast each one after another with a 1-second delay between each, delay may exceed the 1-minute cap, fodder time may be used prior to or between each spell once casting starts.
Fodder: 2-3 seconds, not fatigue, does literally nothing but maybe sound cool and delay the spell by a few seconds, can go over the 1-minute limit, Ebony needs the same number of hands-free that are required to cast the spell, Ebony cannot move.
Spell time cannot exceed 1 minute. If it does the spell fails. If damage is taken the spell fails. If the casting stops then the spell fails.
The base spell can be any of the following elements. Any not listed do the same as raw magic (normal damage, magical burns):
Air: Knockback. ~10m per 5 seconds worth of damage.
Fire: Half damage at start, half damage spread over the next 2 seconds (target set on fire).
Ice: Half damage. Slows target based on damage. Lasts 5 seconds. Wears off over this time.
Light: Half damage. Blinds target for 2 seconds. Disorientated for 5 seconds. Both wear off over these times. Target is immune the Light debuffs from Ebony for 30 seconds.
Dark: 'Non-lethal damage'. Causes pain. Makes target a bit tired or sluggish. Impacts the target as if they had taken damage, without them actually taking damage. Slightly less effective than a standard damage spell. Wears off after a good rest.[/spoiler]
Current list of "elements" Ebony may use:
[spoiler]Raw Magic, Fire, Ice, Water, Air, Earth, Electric, Dark, Light.
Descriptions: all elements are the size of a fist (explosive effect are in brackets and have a radius of 2m/6.6ft). All effects listed here are visual only (the next spoiler contains any mechanical differences).
- Raw Magic: A swirling purple blob. Appears to melt away on impact, disappearing. (A dense purple fog explodes outwards, then fades away almost instantly.)
- Fire: A swirling mass of red flames. Feels hot. Disappears on impact. (A ball of flames explodes outwards, then fades away.)
- Ice: A solid spike of white/pale blue ice. Feels cold. Pierces into the target, then disintegrates on impact. (An outwards explosion of ice that creates a dense white/pale blue fog. Quickly fades away into the air.)
- Water: A swirling mass of blue water. Disperses into the atmosphere on impact. (A torrent of water explodes outwards, then fades away.)
- Air: A swirling mass of green airwaves. Disperses into the atmosphere on impact. (An explosion of green air. Disappears quickly.)
- Earth: A solid lump of brown-orange rock. Disintegrates on impact. (An outwards explosion of rock and earth that creates a dense brown fog. Quickly fades away into the air.)
- Electric: A zig-zagging mess of yellow and blue lightning bolts confined to an invisible sphere. Disperses into the surroundings on impact. (An almost solid-looking mass of yellow and blue bolts that slowly fade away)
- Dark: A smooth pulsing solid black/dark purple sphere. Feels warm. Disperses slowly on impact into harmless purple flames that appear to melt into the people it touches. (An explosion of dark purple flames that quickly fade away)
- Light: A smooth pulsing solid white sphere. Disappears instantly on impact. (An extremely quick explosion of white light. It's gone almost instantly.)
[/spoiler]
Current list of the non-cosmetic effects each element has:
[spoiler]Every element not listed here just does the standard "magical burns" as damage.
Air converts all damage from the spell to knockback. Essentially changing the spells from acting like concrete breaking punches to car pushing shoves. The specific distance an opponent is pushed back depends on the difference between Ebony's ATK and their DEF, although if agreed OOC further or shorter than usual distances may occur for smaller and larger targets. The general floor and grip a target has on a surface could also have an impact. As a general guideline, the base spell can knock someone back 10m/30ft. Charging this adds another 10m/30ft for each charge. The explosive variant pushes people away from the centre of the explosion, and those on the edge won't be pushed back as far (but if hit by the main projectile directly the target will suffer the full knockback). Homing pushes a target away from where it made contact with them (by the same distance it would do if it was non-homing), so it's technically possible that the projectile could actually push someone towards Ebony. Naturally, the decrease in damage from a prolonged homing spell transfers proportionally to a decrease in knockback. The multi variant has no impact and each spell applies its knockback individually. While air doesn't do any damage directly (the attack feels like being shoved really hard), being hit into a wall, a rock, or off a cliff is probably still going to hurt. Lastly, targets with a high SPD and flight may be able to move against the knockback and prevent being pushed the full distance.
Fire spells do half damage initially. However, when hit by a fire spell, the affected area of impact is set on fire magically (this also applies to surroundings so could set flammable objects on fire). This fire lasts for 2 seconds, and applies the remaining half of the damage at a steady rate. The fire cannot be removed by water as it's magical in nature, but attempts to brush it off may be met with some success. The fire feels painfully hot. The flames caused by splash damage are much less potent as they typically cover a larger area of the target (and, if they didn't take a direct hit, the overall damage is reduced). If a burning area is hit again, the flames are replenished (so the 2-second timer is reset).
Ice spells do half damage, but anyone hit with them experiences a slowing sensation, making their limbs feel sluggish regardless of the impact site. This is spread through their whole body. The potency of this is proportional to the half of the damage which isn't applied, but it will always last 5 seconds. This slowness wears off throughout the 5 seconds, so is also more potent at the start. It is also influenced by Ebony's ATK versus the target's DEF (so high DEF targets may partly shrug this off, and low DEF targets may be influenced more highly). In general, the base 5 second charge time is going to initially cause a slight stiffness, give or take a bit. Enough to provide a noticeable difference, but not completely impair their capabilities. Being hit by splash damage rather than a direct hit will reduce this. Being hit by a charged attack will increase this. Being hit by another ice spell while already slowed will replenish the effect, resetting the timer.
Light spells do half damage. Anyone hit by a light spell is also temporarily blinded, feeling a slightly disorientated. Being blinded lasts for 2 seconds, and being disorientated lasts for 5 seconds maximum - both gradually wear off throughout these times. Anyone hit by a light spell is immune to being blinded/disorientated by Ebony's attacks for the following 30 seconds. Even if someone is hit in the back by the spell, they still experience these effects - it's magical and sight plays no part of it. If hit by splash damage, both effects are weakened. If hit by a charged spell, both effects are strengthened in proportion to the new damage (but the duration never changes). Due to the immunity, if hit again by a light spell while debuffed by a previous one, the damage is still taken, but the target is not debuffed again. Light spells also don't tend to do much damage to surroundings.
Dark spells do 'non-lethal' damage. Thus, they have no impact on non-living targets. Essentially, the opponent feels pain as if they actually took damage, and their body is limited as if they took damage (so a solid hit to the leg would leave a sore or numb leg), but they don't actually take the damage. This effect does not wear off until the opponent takes a rest or heals or uses a move or item that removes damage and/or fatigue. Basically, this spell tires out the opponent. No visible marks are left from being hit, nor does any pain remain afterwards, but the opponent will simply find themselves feeling drained, with their body not functioning as it should. A single hit from this is unlikely to actually do much, but multiple hits will accumulate this effect. Notably, the impact on an opponent will never quite be as much as if they actually took damage, making this attack inefficient for quickly winning a fight, but good for winning without harming an opponent too seriously, or for tiring the foe out to set up for something else. The strength of this 'non-lethal' damage is proportional to the strength of the spell (so charged spells inflict more while splash damage does less).[/spoiler]
Ebony begins the spell with a five-second incantation specifying an element to attack with. Some elements impact both the effects and appearance of the spell (see above), while others solely change how the spell looks (and just do raw damage, leaving "magical burns" on the impact site). During these first five seconds, Ebony needs at least one free hand, cannot move (but can rotate), and must continue speaking (note that she doesn't need to be heard, so as long as her mouth can open and close, the spell will still work - hence it can be done underwater). These five seconds are not very fatiguing. If Ebony takes damage while casting the spell, it fails and must be restarted. She may make any motions with the hands and arms required to be free that she chooses - if casting an earth spell they may be closed and rough, but for an air spell they may move and flow much more quickly.
After this, Ebony has two choices. Either cast the spell as it is (by which it will travel in a straight line at the speed of an arrow and dissipate after 5 seconds) or add any combinations of modifiers. Each modifier takes five seconds chant, can only be added to the spell once unless specified otherwise, and can be added in any order. The spell cannot be chanted for longer than 1 minute. Ebony can currently use the following modifiers:
Charged Spell: This incantation increases the power of the spell at the cost of time and fatigue. This can be added to the spell as many times as Ebony wishes providing the spell does not exceed a total casting length of one minute (the base spell + 11 modifiers). Ebony cannot move throughout the five seconds of this chant and must have at least one free hand. However, if this modification is added, Ebony needs to use both hands to actually cast the spell (i.e. when she's finished chanting, she needs 2 hands to shoot it).
Homing Spell: After adding this incantation, the spell will follow and curve towards her target. As a consequence, the spell can only travel at half speed, however, it will still travel the same total distance (it remains in the air for twice the time). But, once the spell has travelled for its initial 5 seconds, it slowly starts to dissipate at an even rate. So being hit after 7.5s will do half as much damage as being hit between 0 and 5s, and being hit at just before 10s will feel almost entirely painless. The spell curves after its target fairly quickly, and can make a 180 degree turn in a semicircle with a radius of 3m/10ft and will turn left, right, up and down to pursue its target. Ebony must be able to maintain sight for the 5 seconds that this part of the incantation is spoken, and she must be able to see her target when the spell is cast. The target cannot be changed unless Ebony decided to forfeit casting the spell and start again.
Explosive Spell: This modification increases the area of effect of the spell from being a simple point blast to exploding out in a sphere of a radius of 2m/6ft. The damage of the spell is distributed throughout this area (and weaker at the edges), so the overall damage one target will take is lower than the damage they would take from the non-explosive spell (unless they were hit by the exploding projectile when they will take the full normal damage). During the five seconds of chanting Ebony cannot move and must have 1 free hand. This modifier is not draining to add. Ebony is immune to the splash damage (or effects) of her own spells (n.b. only the splash damage, shooting herself directly would still impact her).
Multi-Spell: This allows Ebony to essentially store spells during the chanting period to all cast together once she's ready to cast. Instead of simply spending 5 seconds modifying the spell, she starts speaking and channelling magic as if she were chanting the base spell. While this occurs the old spell is saved along with all its already existing modifiers (and may not be changed). This does not reset the maximum chanting time of 1 minute. After Ebony chants the new base spell (which may be different to or the same as the one before) she continues working on that spell as usual (being affected but the same restrictions and times, as well as the usual fatigue, if any). Should she wish, she could even choose to add a "multi-spell" to the new spell, allowing another spell to be saved as well. Once she finishes chanting all the spells she wishes to cast (in the order she chanted them), she may then choose to add a couple of fodder words as usual, or may proceed straight to casting them. During this, the first spell that was saved is cast as usual. Then, there is a 1 second delay (during which Ebony does not have to speak, but may choose to). This may be extended to up to 3 seconds with more fodder words. Once the delay is over, the next spell is then cast as usual and the cycle repeats. It is possible that, due to the occasional different speeds of spells (or them following nonlinear paths) two spells could collide. When this happens they phase through each other without interacting. One additional major downside of this is that for every spell Ebony has stored, the potent magic sucks in and attracts energetic objects within 1ft of her (so 3 spells stored = 3ft). This effectively makes her a magnet to all ranged attacks in the area, and should a single one hit her and disrupt her concentration, all progress on the spells will be lost.
Multi-Spell Example:
[spoiler]Seeing a gap in combat (maybe an ally is fighting) Ebony chants for Fire, Charged, Homing and then chooses to make the spell multi. From there, that spell is saved so she moves onto the next spell. She chooses Air and then multis again. The next time she also chooses Air and then multis again. Then, the last time, she chooses Raw Magic and charges is three times. This takes 45 seconds total (making the spell a multi takes no time, but each other section takes 5 seconds).
She then shoots a Fire charged spell that swerves towards her target. 1 second later a blast of air travels out of her palm faster than the charged spell did and goes through the fire projectile (by random chance) yet misses the target. Nothing happens when they visually collide, but shortly after the fire spell hits the target. After that the next air spell shoots out 1 second later and hits. Being hit by the fire spell, and knocked back by one of the air spells (the other missed), her target charges towards her. From there she waits until the foe is in an optimal position and speaks a few fodder words to pass the time (3 seconds total). After this, she releases the powerful blast of raw magic into their chest doing heavy damage.[/spoiler]
Once Ebony has finished all the incantations she wishes to add, she needs to point the 1 or 2 hands required to cast the spell towards her target (unless the spell is homing when variation in the angle is possible to allow the shot to curve). The instant she finishes speaking the last word of the spell, the attack is fired. If the attack takes the form of a lump of rock or physical object, it disintegrates on impact (or explodes outwards if that modification was added). Lingering frostbite, flames, or other effects will not occur. If Ebony wishes, she can speak a couple of fodder words at the end of the spell, no more than 2 or 3 seconds or so. This is just to delay the casting of the spell slightly, and also make the incantation flow better. These words can go over the maximum casting length and have no impact on the actual spell. Ebony cannot move while saying them and needs to have the same number of
hands free that are required to cast the spell. During this section, the spell is seen as visible in her hands.
Descriptive/General Example:
[spoiler]Ebony is fighting a fellow mage in a friendly duel. Her opponent is fast and mobile. Firstly she says, "Let the air be my ally, and the sky be your doom." This signifies that she will attack using the air. She can say whatever she wishes at this part, as long as it's clear what element she's using.
While speaking this first part, she notices her opponent is moving quickly in an attempt to dodge so she continues chanting, this time moving into a better position and keeping a line of sight with her target. "Your legs will fail you as my spell pursues for eternity." For this section, Ebony moves into a better position and adds the homing attribute to the spell. The general phrase can change, but it should be made obvious which modifier she's using - she can't talk about making it explode when actually making it homing, for example.
After this, the spell is ready to cast, as she doesn't feel the need to make it impact a large area, or do a significant amount more damage. She stops moving, looks at her opponent, and finishes off with the final word: "Elemental Blast". She could have said any short phrase, or simply nothing. In this instance, she felt like saying the name of the spell. The instant she starts the word 'elemental', a green swirling mass of air the size of her palm appears in her chosen hand (or between both). The instant she finishes the word 'blast', the swirling air shoots quickly towards her target, curving towards him as he tries to dodge. She could have shot fire or ice if she chose to earlier, but she wanted to avoid doing direct damage.[/spoiler]
Notes:
- Due to how tiring using the charged effect on a spell is, Ebony can only do about a minute's worth of it (12 uses) without resting. After that point, Ebony will barely be able to walk, so trying to cast it again could knock her out from the fatigue.
- Arrows from recurve bows travel at ~150mph (67m/s, 220ft/s). I'm using this speed.
- Ebony may choose to hold the spell in the hand and throw it, it will still travel in the same way as usual (and at the same speed), thus has no impact on the actual spell itself, or its requirements. Although, if she fumbles while doing this, all work on the spell will be lost.
- Slight pauses in the casting are acceptable to fill gaps. Not every phrase will be exactly 5 seconds long. A 7-second long phrase will be spoken quickly and narrowed down to 5 seconds, but a 3-4 second one may simply have a short gap at the end.
Fodder: Elemental Blast (0)
Ebony can replicate a minor version of un-modified variation of Elemental Blast for quick, non-damaging, effects. For example a gust of wind to knock someone's hat off or blow out a candle (could be warmed up or cooled down slightly for the purpose of providing air conditioning or drying hair); a small flame to ignite something not being worn or carried, or warm something up; a spray of ice to cool a small object down; a blast of water to fill a glass with drink; a stream of hot water, at the temperature to bathe in or make a cup of tea - it's not hot enough to be damaging and the magical origin of the water prevents it from hurting anyone anyway (but it could still be uncomfortable); a small fist sized sphere of darkness that does nothing but look cool (can also be broken at will or with a word command to burst into harmless purple flames); a ball of light that illuminates a 5m/16ft radius sphere. As of this moment, those are the only elements Ebony can use on this small scale. The incantation must be one word or a short phrase (1-2 seconds ish). Although she could say something longer if she really wanted. Ebony doesn't need to stay stationary. This non-damaging variant of the spell has a maximum range of 10m/32ft. Unlike the full spell, these elements do "exist". When the spell is cast in full (see above), the overwhelming and unique nature of Ebony's magic impacts the spell, and thus removes the impact of most elements.
Meta Magic: Preemptive Blast (300) Requires: Elemental Blast, Ranged
Sensing an opportunity, Ebony quickly fires an elemental bolt with the same properties of one of the usual 5-second base spells (speed of an arrow, fist sized projectile, travels in a straight line for 5 seconds before dissipating into the air, not very tiring). This could be any of the elements Ebony knows how to use (see
Meta Magic: Elemental Blast), and keeps the effects of her chosen element (if any). While the only time taken for this is the time Ebony spends aiming the attack (so it could be fired instantly) it has a significant drawback: for the 5 seconds she would have spent charging the attack, her body goes on cooldown. She cannot move. She cannot speak. She cannot twist or dodge or start to use any other moves or powers during this time. All she can do is stand still, paralysed in the pose she was in while the spell was cast. Her mind is also a mess during this time, which would make any mental communication impossible for this period of time should an ally try to contact her that way (and also make her vulnerable to mental assaults). It's no more tiring to her than usually casting the spell (not very) but much more dangerous. This is because while normally casting she can simply choose to forgo finishing the spell to dodge an attack. Here, however, she doesn't have that option. Therefore, if Ebony cast this at a poor time against a smart or opportunistic opponent, she's very likely to come out of this significantly harmed.
RP Notes: The magic/body lock-up isn't intentional. Ebony doesn't realise it's going to happen in most cases. This spell is the textbook outcome of "I panicked", although the paralysis is likely to make her panic even more. Regardless of her not realising she'll get paralysed from it, she's not going to spam it because there's no incantation and incantations are cool (also, after a while she'd probably twig on the fact that quick casting paralyses her).
Counterspell (300) Requires: Ranged, Homing, Ranged Control
Ebony fires a fist sized bolt of magic from the palm of one of her hands with the intention of countering an opponent's ranged attack. This is fairly tiring for her to cast and will leave her out of breath once the paralysis ends (see later), often causing her to stumble. Despite this, she can cast the spell instantly (although she may take a short time to aim her wrist, this generally isn't necessary due to the nature of this spell). The blast of magic may take the cosmetic appearance of any element, although this is purely cosmetic. The projectile is very fast moving and travels 50% faster than an arrow (~225 mph) for 5 seconds before dissipating (if it hasn't collided with anything already). The split second the spell is fired, Ebony's body locks up in paralysis. This paralysis lasts 5 seconds. While paralysed Ebony cannot physically or mentally do anything to stop people attacking her. She can't use moves or powers or attempt to dodge or speak. Her mind is also a mess, which would make any mental communication impossible for this period of time should an ally try to contact her that way (and also make her vulnerable to mental assaults).
Even though she's paralysed, once the spell is fired Ebony picks a target for it (she can do so instantly, so in some cases, it may look like she fired with the target already in mind). Ebony must be able to see the target at the time she chooses it, but beyond that, the spell acts independently. While the spell has no target it travels in a straight line. Ebony can choose any projectile as a target (such as an arrow, energy blast, or even a laser in some cases if it moves at a slow enough speed for her to see where the end of it is). Once the target is chosen, the spell heads straight towards where the target is heading. Essentially aiming to meet the opponent's spell before it reaches its target (think the cool people in books/movies who shoot other people's arrows with their own), which allows Ebony to potentially use this to protect an ally. Due to the homing nature of this spell, it locks onto the target and will follow the attack even if it curves. Besides the initial instant turn (when the target is chosen) the sharpest turn the spell is capable of making is a semi-circle with a radius of 2 metres.
When the counterspell collides with an opponent's ranged attack, two things can occur:
- If both projectiles are equal in strength (Ebony's ATK against the opponent's ATK, although more fatiguing attacks or those with a charge time longer than about 5 seconds may be stronger even if used by a weaker opponent), or Ebony's spell is stronger, then they both dissipate.
- If Ebony's spell was weaker than the opponent's attack, it transfers its momentum to the attack. This may cause it to bend or deflect slightly if it hits at an angle, otherwise, it'll simply slow it down and reduce the damage. Ebony's spell dissipates.
This spell does not damage people, only "high energy objects" (projectile attacks).
Homing clarifications: Where is Ebony's counterspell heading?
- Take a snapshot in time and note the velocity and position of the opponent's spell and the speed and position of Ebony's spell.
- Ebony's spell heads in a straight line to the closest point where both attacks would meet if they kept their respective speed and velocity. Rocks, trees, and general unmoving terrain are accounted for in this movement path, so Ebony's spell may curve if needed.
- When Ebony's spell curves, it has a turning radius of 2 metres.
- A controllable or homing attack may curve, Ebony's spell will still aim following the same routine as usual. So will try and cut off the opponents attack in the direction it looks like it's going.
Core limitations: Outside of paralysing her for 5 seconds, there's another major limitation of this move. Ebony is not a skilful or fast fighter. She's human and thus has a reaction time. Therefore, unless she is able to anticipate the firing of a bullet, it's highly unlikely she'll be able to use this to counter a very fast moving object (without stat changes or transformations).
RP Notes: if agreed, some explosive attacks may simply explode on impact with Ebony's spell regardless of the stats and strengths involved. Furthermore, Ebony does not intend to get paralysed while using this move, and will often not realise it's going to happen until too late. In most (not all) instances it's essentially an "I panicked" spell rather than something more calculated - although the short-term paralysis may make her panic more.
Ebony's Super Moves
T1SD - Super Mega Awesome Explosion (600) Requires: Area Attack
Ebony's magic completely overloads. Maybe she's really scared. Maybe she's panicking, hyperventilating, and curled up under her cloak. Or maybe it was intentional (after all, overloading magic
sounds like a cool thing). The end result is: Ebony explodes. Ebony literally explodes. Boom! Clearly, that's a brilliant method of defence! Who can hurt someone who's exploding!
Nah, just kidding... But a big (non-damaging) explosion does happen with Ebony as its focus, which is almost the same thing. This serves to deflect and push back attacks aimed at Ebony, be it swords or other explosions (gotta fight cool explosions with other cool explosions). Ebony and all her clothes and held items/weapons are almost completely unaffected by the explosion. At most, it'll seem as though she was blown by a light breeze.
The explosion has a radius of 2m and people (even allies) within this radius are harmlessly pushed just outside of it when Ebony uses this move. The explosion can take on the appearance of any of the following elements (air, ice, fire, water, raw magic, dark, light), but this is typically a cosmetic (fluff) effect only. That said, if the explosion was of air, people outside the radius (but near to it), they may feel a very slight breeze. If it was ice, they might feel a very slight chill. Fire, a slight warmth. Water, a fine spray of droplets. Raw magic just changes the explosion colour to purple. Dark and light change the explosion colour to black and white respectively.
A T2 attack or something stronger will have enough strength to push through the explosive force. Unlike Ebony's other spells, no chanting is needed, although she might say something anyway.
T2SA - Wild Magic Surge (800) Requires:
Telekinesis - Advanced, Ranged, Ranged Control, Ranged Materialise, Homing
The wild nature of Ebony's magic causes it to go completely out of her control. Random unheld objects within the range of her telekinesis that she can lift are levitated (including loose rocks or even larger boulders and clumps of dirt), with large ones being closer to her. Smaller objects, such as rocks or cutlery, will move fast enough to cause minor damage, but larger objects (such as a big table) will move at about the speed of a brisk walk. The top of each object will never be lifted higher than 12ft off the ground.
In addition to this minor effect, fist-sized magical blasts of energy - all of varying "elements" (see the list of cosmetic descriptions of elements under Ebony's Elemental Blast move) which fire out of Ebony's palms at a very rapid rate of sixty over the seven ]seconds. Some blasts may appear in the air within 20ft of Ebony instead of originating from her palms, but these will act no different from the normal shots. Each blast has a fair strength, but together all of the blasts are very strong; each leaves "magical burns" as damage. Unlike her other spells, no vocal incantation is needed, but one may be spoken anyway. These magical blasts are the real cause of damage from this super move (because a bookcase walking at you is just going to be annoying). All of them swirl around Ebony at the speed of a crossbow bolt within a 20ft radius of her. Ebony has enough passive control over each blast to cause them to swerve around any obstacles (including, but not limited to, any objects she levitated). The blasts are capable of making a right-angle turn almost instantly. While orbiting Ebony, the blasts will also randomly zig-zag about in addition to avoiding necessary obstacles. This makes it very hard for people within the area to dodge. If Ebony has a line of sight with an Ally, she can manipulate the blasts slightly so that they will generally avoid her friend - but this isn't guaranteed. The best way to avoid this is to simply move further than 20ft away from Ebony. Then you only risk being hit by a stray rock.
Any blasts that remain after 45 seconds of being cast dissipate. During this time Ebony cannot move. Once all the blasts have dissipated, every object Ebony was levitating drops to the floor. This is incredibly draining for Ebony to use. So much so that if already very tired she could fall unconscious. Even if this happens, as long as she's not out cold due to actual damage, the attack continues. She'll wake up in the same way a normal tired person would. A loud sound, a slap, damage, or a long rest. While her magic goes out of control, she can use this intentionally.
Can be blocked by a super defence of the appropriate strength.
RP Notes: May cause other adverse effects such as seizures, a bloody nose, and more. If Ebony has not cast a sufficient amount of magic (2 minutes worth of spell casting or 2 SP used) in 24 hours,
or if she takes off her magic suppressing choker, this will activate regardless of if she wants it to or not.
T2SU - Undying Pheonix (800) Requires: Physical, Area Defense, Area Attack
Ebony focuses, channelling her mana for 5 seconds. Once she starts charging, she can't stop, move, or use any other moves, powers, or attacks. During this time, the air around Ebony begins to heat up painfully. After the charging period, dark purple flames violently erupt from her, setting her on fire for 1 round of combat. These reach out up to 2ft from her body, but anyone within 10ft of Ebony also slowly suffers due to the proximity to the heat - although even outside this range, the fire still feels uncomfortably hot. While Ebony will never take damage due to her own flames, this move may leave her feeling dizzy. Combustible objects ignited by this may still burn her, if not completely destroyed first. Ebony usually has enough passive control over her fire to prevent it from igniting the floor beneath her, but it may still leave scorch marks.
In addition to damaging near people and objects, the flames also weaken or block attacks passing directly through them by incinerating them. This effect will be non-existent to a normal sword (unless it's very weak), and primarily affects ranged attacks. As a result, weaker bullets and projectiles will rarely reach Ebony's skin before being destroyed unless many are fired at roughly the same point (when some will break through). Meanwhile, stronger ranged attacks will simply be weakened a little bit. Anything that can reasonably be burnt or damaged by her magic (including energy attacks, and even water or something that isn't typically "flammable") will be. So, for example, if someone poured acid on Ebony while this move was active, even if it managed to stick to her skin, her fire would continue to work to damage it causing it to be destroyed before it would normally expire. The effectiveness of this "defensive" aspect is based on Ebony's ATK verses the strength (or durability) of the attacks passing through her flames.
While active, Ebony cannot travel faster than half speed or use Immortal Flames. She cannot end this move prematurely but may choose to prolong it by spending an additional 2 SP per round. Using Undying Pheonix is very tiring, and it can take Ebony some time to recover after its use, so she can barely move or attack for 10 seconds afterwards, and once she gets over that she'll still be very tired. The primary reason this move is so tiring and mana intensive is due to the duration, rather than the potency of its effects. Assuming someone's DEF is equal to her ATK, the flames tend to do moderate damage while very close, and only lighter damage when further away. They won't melt steel without prolonged contact or anything like that (unless Ebony receives a large increase to her ATK stat). But, naturally, if staying too close it will quickly build up over time.
![[Image: ebonywood_hellscythe_by_tearen_and_zearen-dbisf1p.png]](http://img01.deviantart.net/56c8/i/2017/215/0/d/ebonywood_hellscythe_by_tearen_and_zearen-dbisf1p.png)
![[Image: bC4A2rr.png]](https://i.imgur.com/bC4A2rr.png)
![[Image: UiGb1Rh.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/UiGb1Rh.jpg)
![[Image: d9bd35c52e8cb65a51a2fb003192f5e46058ba29.jpg]](https://safebooru.org//images/2447/d9bd35c52e8cb65a51a2fb003192f5e46058ba29.jpg)
[/spoiler]