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Bender of Worlds

Page 63

by Isaac Hooke


  Endurance Running. Level 1.

  ID Spoofing. Level 1.

  Kissing. Level 0.

  Learning. Level 3.

  Mechanical Engineering. Level 2.

  Mountain Climbing. Level 1.

  Piano. Level 2.

  Rake Fighting. Level 0.

  Sex Mastery. Level 0.

  Sharpshooting. Level 2.

  Social Skills. Level 2.

  Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Pilot (Small Craft). Level 1.

  Essence Skills

  Beam Hilt Control. Level 3.

  — Blade Manipulation. Level 1.

  Chrysalium Siphoning Level 3.

  Darcanium Siphoning. Level 2.

  Dark Artifact Control. Level 1.

  Dark Siphoning. Level 2.

  Dark and White Mixing. Level 3.

  Essence Link. Level 0.

  Essence Sight. Level 3.

  White Siphoning. Level 2.

  White Essence Specific

  White Siphoning Level 1 Essenceworks:

  Air Current. Level 2.

  Essence Missile. Level 3.

  Persistent Flame. Level 1.

  White Siphoning Level 2 Essenceworks:

  Healing. Level 1.

  Light Glove. Level 1.

  Dark Essence Specific

  Dark Siphoning Level 1 Essenceworks:

  Night Vision. Level 1. Creation time: 14 seconds.

  Melt Metal. Level 1. Creation time: 57 seconds.

  Fingers of Ruin. Level 2. Creation time: 55 seconds.

  Dark and White Essence Specific

  Dark and White Mixing Level 1 Essenceworks:

  Repel Nanotech. Level 1. Creation time: 2 minutes.

  Infuse Oxygen. Level 1. Creation time: 30 seconds.

  Equipment

  - A3 Personal Shield System

  - Blur cap

  - Armored Robe I

  - Basic outfit.

  - Beam Hilt I (White Beam Hilt)

  - C’havar Beam Hilt (Dark Beam Hilt)

  - 5x Chrysalium Star Ring I

  - D18 smart targeting plasma rifle.

  - Endurance Necklace I (Epic)

  - Feral Necklace (Epic)

  - Finger of Malevolence (Legendary)

  - Harness with 2 incendiary grenades.

  - Nova Bracelet I

  - Osmium Gauntlets I

  - Spacesuit II

  - Traveler’s Delight (Personal Storage Device I). Capacity: 3/10. Items: Suitcase of clothes, Sigma 231 Dark Artifact

  White Essenceworks

  List of publicly available White Essenceworks

  Essenceworks available to White Siphoning, Level 1.

  Shapist:

  Star Light. Positions a light globe in the immediate area; the globe follows the Essenceworker. Higher levels allow one to choose different wavelengths, from infrared to ultraviolet, and to place the globe farther away. Stamina drain: low for short durations.

  Silence Cage. Envelopes an area in silence, preventing sound from entering or leaving. Higher levels offer a greater area of effect. Stamina drain: low for short durations.

  Warmancer, ranged:

  Air Current. Launch a gust of air. Strength of gust increases at higher levels, or when Siphoning through Chrysalium. Ineffective against energy shields until level 3. Stamina drain: low to high, depending on gust strength.

  Essence Missile. Launch a missile of pure Essence at an opponent. Energy shields offer no defense. Stamina drain: medium to high, depending on strength of missile launched.

  Persistent Flame. Create a persistent flame in the palm of your hand. At higher levels, can be used to burn objects. Ineffective against energy shields. Stamina drain: low to high, depending on flame strength and duration.

  Warmancer, hand-to-hand:

  Essence Trap. Create a small trap on an object such as a door or vault that detonates when the object is opened. Higher levels inflict more damage. Stamina drain: medium.

  Essenceworks available to White Siphoning, Level 2.

  Shapist:

  Blur features. Hide your face from the facial recognition algorithms in cameras by applying infrared light globes around one’s features. At higher levels, you can affect other individuals, and also change the shape of your face on the visual band as well. And at the highest levels, you can affect larger objects such as small shuttles, allowing you to blur the thermal and visual signatures, effectively hiding the craft from detection by passive sensors. Stamina drain: medium to extremely high, depending on object size.

  Healer:

  Wound healing. Heals wounds on one subject. At higher levels, major wounds can be healed. Stamina drain: high. Note: requires physical contact with the subject.

  Warmancer, hand-to-hand:

  Light glove. Your hand becomes coated in a glove of white Essence, allowing you to punch through shields, hitting any armor beyond. Stamina drain: medium for short durations.

  Essenceworks available to White Siphoning, Level 3.

  Distorter:

  Distortion tunnel. Create a distortion tunnel to jump from one point to another. At higher levels, the range and size of the tunnel increase. Jump points must be within line of sight. Cannot be used as a weapon or breach tool: distortion tunnels will not open over solids such as bulkheads or human beings. Note: knowledge of this skill is not needed to operate a starship jump chamber, as the operator merely Siphons while the AI aboard the starship handles the actual creation. As such, Essence Jump Chamber Control is not considered a White Essence Skill. Stamina drain: high.

  Shapist:

  Public profile masking. Alter your public profile in realtime to fool customs and other officials. Stamina drain: low for short durations.

  Speed boost. Momentarily boost your speed, or the speed of another. Stamina drain: low.

  Warmancer, ranged:

  Telekinesis. Remotely manipulate objects. Stamina drain: low to high, depending on range and size of object to be manipulated.

  Warmancer, hand-to-hand:

  Deflect. Deflect incoming works of pure Essence, including Essence Missiles. As an added bonus, starting at level three, it also deflects standard laser beams and plasma bolts. At still higher levels, it deflects explosions and shrapnel as well. Stamina drain: medium.

  Essenceworks available to White Siphoning, Level 4.

  Distorter:

  Distortion tunnel to beacon. Open a distortion tunnel to an object previously marked with a beacon. The range you can be away from the beacon increases at higher levels, or if Siphoning more Essence via Chrysalium. Only one object can be marked with a beacon at any given time. Stamina drain: medium to extremely high, depending on range to beacon.

  Shapist:

  Stamina transfer. Use to steal or transfer stamina to or from another. Range increases at higher skill levels. From levels 4 and above, can also be used to put subjects to sleep. Stamina increases upon a successful drain. Upon failure, stamina drain is medium.

  Warmancer, hand-to-hand:

  Disrupt Essence. Prevent an enemy from creating an Essencework for a short period of time. Must be next to the enemy at low levels. At higher levels, the range increases, as does the time period. Stamina drain: medium to high, depending on time period.

  Essenceworks available to White Siphoning, Level 5.

  Shapist:

  Reveal Surveillance. Allows the Essenceworker to search for hidden surveillance, tracking devices, or traps. At high levels, can be cast over a larger radius, and can penetrate the human body to search for trackers. Stamina drain: medium.

  Warmancer, hand-to-hand:

  Paralyze enemy. Momentarily paralyze an opponent at close range. Stamina drain: medium.

  Warmancer, ranged:

  Forked Lightning. Sends multiple streams of energy at a group of foes. Range, damage, and number of foes targeted increases at higher levels. Energy shields offer no defense. Stamina drain: high.

  Essenceworks available to White Siphoning, Level 6.

  Shapist:


  Deactivate. Use to deactivate individual weapons, traps, and surveillance devices. At higher levels, can be used to safely destroy a tracker hidden inside a human body, and to disable robots. Stamina drain: varies depending on the size of the object to be deactivated. For something like a tracker embedded in a human body, the drain is tiny. For a full-sized robot, medium.

  Warmancer, hand-to-hand:

  Invisibility. Become invisible to enemies for short periods of time. At higher levels, that period increases. Note: you become visible during attacks. Stamina drain: medium.

  Essenceworks available to White Siphoning, Level 7.

  Distorter:

  Create Beacon. Mark an object with a beacon. Once marked, the Essenceworker can open a tunnel to the immediate vicinity of that object. Only one object can be marked with a beacon by the Essenceworker at any given time. Stamina drain: extremely high.

  Healer:

  Mass wound healing. Heals wounds on multiple subjects. The higher the level, the more subjects healed, and the greater the healing effect. Physical contact with subjects is not required, but a healing bonus is applied to any subjects the Essenceworker physically touches. Stamina drain: extremely high.

  Shapist:

  Mass Deactivate. Use to deactivate multiple weapons and traps in a given area of effect. At higher levels, AOE increases, and the Essenceworker can selectively omit items to deactivate, allowing the weapons of one’s companions to remain unaffected. Stamina drain: extremely high.

  Essence Imbuement. Imbue an object with the Essence, so that it grants the bearer extra abilities while equipped. More powerful imbuements are available at higher levels in this Branchwork. Stamina drain: extremely high (one-time cost during creation).

  Warmancer, hand-to-hand:

  Shove. Forces an enemy group away from the Essenceworker, regardless of whether they have energy shields. Area of effect, and actual shove distance increase with level. Stun upgrade available at level three—shoved enemies are stunned. Fire upgrade available at level six—shoved enemies are lit on fire. Hidden upgrade available at level ten. Stamina drain: medium to high.

  Warmancer, ranged:

  Mass Telekinesis. Remotely manipulate several objects. Stamina drain: high to very high, depending on range, size, and number of objects to be manipulated.

  Dark Essenceworks

  List of Dark Essenceworks passed down to Tane from Tiberius Tribulantes

  These works can be created well ahead of their intended use. Once created, a Dark Essencework can be held indefinitely for little stamina cost, and released at leisure. You may only hold in reserve as many works as your current overall Dark Essence Siphoning level.

  Higher levels in each Essencework listed below reduce the individual creation time.

  Essenceworks available to Dark Siphoning, Level 1.

  Imprint Location: Sigma 231, Vantaar system. Universal Polar Coordinates: -12.92568738, 179.67468954.

  Builder:

  Night Vision. Allows the wielder to see in the dark. At higher levels, the ability lasts longer and you can see farther. Current range and duration: 20 meters, 10 minutes. Stamina drain: low. Creation time: 15 seconds.

  Amaranth:

  Melt Metal. With this ability, you can selectively melt away metal objects within the work’s area of effect, including weapons, while preserving the metal items of your companions. At higher levels, the area of effect increases, as does the size of the objects that can be melted. Works through energy shields. Current AOE: 3 meters. Stamina drain: medium. Creation time: 60 seconds.

  Fingers of Ruin. Sends dark fingers of unreality at a single opponent; black veins grow outward from the impact site, veins that crack open to wound the target. At higher levels, the damage increases. Pierces energy shields. Stamina drain: medium. Creation time: 60 seconds.

  Essenceworks available to Dark Siphoning, Level 2.

  Imprint Location: Septes IV, Tanori System. Universal Polar Coordinates: 45.24621455, -134.57892352.

  Builder:

  Convert kraal. Can be used to convert a kraal into the dark energy store known as the Dirac that kraals and dwellers feed upon. While the resulting Dirac is not particularly edible for a human being, it can be useful as a diversionary tactic when pursued by a herd of kraals, causing the aliens to break off the pursuit to feed if they are hungry enough. Or the resultant Dirac can simply be collected for resale back in the Umanitar—humanity’s universe. At higher levels, multiple kraals can be converted. Stamina drain: medium. Creation time: two minutes.

  Blur body. Hide your form from any facial recognition and thermal detection algorithms in cameras and sensors by applying a special cloud of darkness around your body. Also successfully subverts LIDAR and echolocation. At higher levels, it can be applied to multiple targets at once. Useful when traveling at night. Stamina drain: medium to high, depending on number of targets. Creation time: four minutes per target.

  Essenceworks available to Dark Siphoning, Level 3.

  Imprint Location: Septes IV, Tanori System. Universal Polar Coordinates: 172.87389256, 39.54689674.

  Builder:

  ID masking. Creates a magnetic resonance compatible with dweller chip readers, simulating the dweller equivalent of Public Profiles. Useful when used in conjunction with Blur Body to fool dweller AIs. Stamina drain: low for short durations. Creation time: three minutes per target.

  Amaranth:

  Dark Hand. Use the Essence to manipulate, crush, etc. Similar to White Essence Telekinesis ability. Stamina drain: medium. Creation time: two minutes.

  Essenceworks available to Dark Siphoning, Level 4.

  Imprint Location: Chanis 12, Serepte System. Universal Polar Coordinates: 145.21424655, 38.92357852.

  Builder:

  Distortion tunnel. Create a distortion tunnel to jump from one point to another. At higher levels, the range and size of the tunnel increase. Jump points must be within line of sight. Cannot be used as a weapon or breach tool: distortion tunnels will not open over solids such as bulkheads or human beings. Note: knowledge of this skill is not needed to operate a starship jump chamber, as the operator merely Siphons while the AI aboard the starship handles the actual creation. As such, Starship Jump Chamber is not considered a Dark Essence Skill. Stamina drain: high. Creation time: five minutes.

  Amaranth:

  Deflect. Creates a field that deflects incoming works of pure Essence, including Fingers of Ruin. Also deflects standard laser beams and plasma bolts, and at higher levels explosions and shrapnel. The length of time the field remains in place depends on the level. At higher levels, the diameter of the field can also be expanded to include others nearby. Note: will only partially deflect higher-level works, reducing their intensity. Stamina drain: medium. Creation time: two minutes.

  Essenceworks available to Dark Siphoning, Level 5.

  Imprint Location: Chanis 12, Serepte System. Universal Polar Coordinates: 89.42215546, -5.57892357.

  Builder:

  Distortion tunnel to beacon. Open a distortion tunnel to an object previously marked with a beacon. The range you can be away from the beacon increases at higher levels, or if Siphoning more Essence via Darcanium. Only one object can be marked with a beacon at any given time. Stamina drain: medium to extremely high, depending on range to beacon. Creation time: ten minutes.

  Amaranth:

  Sow Confusion. A concentrated mind blast that allows you to confuse a foe, causing it to attack its comrades (it will continue assaulting you if no other opponents are nearby). At higher levels, you can confuse more than one opponent. Lasts thirty seconds at level one. Won’t work on stronger-willed targets, such as other Essenceworkers. Stamina drain: medium to high, depending on number of kraals controlled and their level (a large stamina hit is taken during creation, and a smaller one when the Essencework is released). Creation time: twenty minutes.

  Disrupt. Prevent an enemy from creating an Essencework for a short period of time. Must be next to the enemy at low levels. At higher levels
, the range increases, as does the time period. Stamina drain: medium to high, depending on range. Creating time: two minutes.

  Essenceworks available to Dark Siphoning, Level 6.

  Imprint Location: Chanis 12, Serepte System. Universal Polar Coordinates: -167.14524655, 21.97852352.

  Amaranth:

  Control Kraal. Allows you to control a kraal. At higher levels, you can control more powerful kraals, or many weaker kraals. Lasts until the kraal dies, or you release it from your control. Note: while it is more reliable than Sow Confusion, it can only be used in the Umbra, where kraals exist. Stamina drain: high to extremely high, depending on number of kraals controlled and their level (a large stamina hit is taken during creation, and a smaller one when the Essencework is released). Creation time: twenty minutes.

  Protective Environment. Surround yourself with a protective environment. Allows you to exist in the void, or incompatible atmospheres, without a spacesuit or pressurized battle armor. Initially lasts for two hours, though at higher levels the duration is longer. Stamina drain: medium (a small stamina hit is continually taken thereafter for the duration the environment is active). Creation time: twenty minutes.

 

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