House Sabine Ancestor Veneration

Sissi Sabine

Era: Rise of Alexus

Destiny: the Faithful Princess

The Akashic Order holds Sissi Sabine up as the ultimate example that all Sabine’s should follow as their “True Path.” She sacrificed her needs, love and happiness to see to the furthering of the Akashic Order’s goals. Characters with the Faithful Princess destiny are destined to empower the Akashic Order, to be rescued when in danger, to have people fall in love with her, to have their sacrifices make a meaningful impact on the world.

Legacy

Sissi Sabine’s driving passion, more than even her own well-being, was to support the Akashic Order, but she also mothered the Alexian line. To Sissi, the Alexian line was the Golden Path. She did whatever she could to improve the situation of her children, and considered that first and the needs of the Golden Path second.

Descendents who follow Sissi Sabine must have Obsesssion (Restore Alexian Line) [-10].

Milestones

The Descendent, bound by duty, gains access to a unique conspiracy that would allow her to escape her duty, empower herself, and gain the services of a wicked Boon Companion. She refuses the temptation, unravels the conspiracy, betrays the Boon Companion and faithfully returns to her duty.

The Descendent, bound by duty, will meet the man she is destined to marry, and will not feel about him as he does about her. Nonetheless, she will accept her fate and marry. In so doing, she gains a Boon Companion.

The Descendent faces a grave enemy that threatens to overpower her. She has the insight necessary to escape, but allows herself to be captured instead, knowing that her suffering at his hands will motivate her allies to come together in a great show of force and defeat the threat, which will result in greater power in her chosen faction in the long run.

The Descendant, when faced with heretical diversion from the Golden Path, speaks out against the heretic. This shames a Boon Companion, but also reminds those around her of the need to remain true and converts at least one doubter to the side of the Akashic Order.

The Descendant will have a child with great power and destiny, but tragedy will befall that child, and the Descendant will witness it. Nonetheless, the Descendant is duty-bound to have said child, and to do nothing to avert the destined tragedy.

Associated Miracles

Esper Focus

Minimum Reaction: Neutral

Learned Prayer Prerequisite: Blood Purity 1, either Communion 4 or Archetype

Learned Prayer Cost: 3 points.

According to legend, Sissi Sabine was the most powerful Esper born to the Sabine line. Those who carefully emulate her gain a fraction of her insight. This miracle grants +3 to ESP. These bonuses last for one hour, or long enough to make use of a bonus roll, which ever is longer.

Statistics: ESP Talent 3 (Divine -10%) [14] + Rules Exclusion: May Exceed the +4 Talent Cap [1].

Pure Beauty

Minimum Reaction: Neutral

Learned Prayer Prerequisite: Blood Purity 1, either Communion 4 or Archetype.

Learned Prayer Cost: 3 points

According to legend, Sissi was the most beautiful of all the Maradonian aristocracy. For a moment, her ancestor can share in some of that transcendent beauty.

Statistics: Appearance (Trascendent, Glamour Will-5%, Divine, Path -25%) [14];

Prayer of Hope

Minimum Reaction: Good

Learned Prayer Prerequisite: Blood Purity 2, Communion 7

Learned Prayer Cost: 6 points

After finishing the petition roll in which the character expresses (silently or verbally) her wish for what should happen, she may make a roll against IQ-based Meditation. This roll cannot fail. She applies her margin of success (with a minimum of +1) as a bonus to a roll that someone else makes, provided his actions closely resemble that which she prayed for. This may not apply to combat rolls.

Statistics: Visualization (Divine: Path -15%, Blessing +0%, Reduced Time, 1d6 seconds +80%, Cosmic, No Die Roll Required +100%) [27]

Jaina Sabine

Era: The Eternal Empire

Destiny: the Manipulative Witch

The Akashic Order portrays Jaina Sabine as a wicked woman who manipulated those around her for her personal gain. Jaina sought forbidden and wicked powers so that she could avenge herself against minor insults, and twist the hearts of beautiful men so that they loved her, and then abandoned those suitors for the deeply inappropriate Lothar Kain. They hold her up, and her exile from House Sabine, as an example of what befalls those who betray the Akashic Order in pursuit of forbidden power.

Legacy

Jaina Sabine pursued mystical enlightenment and forbidden power. She tamed the Hammer of Caliban and learned the secrets of the Devils of Persephone despite the wishes of the Akashic Order. Those who follow Jaina Sabine tend to be driven by the same hunger to increase their knowledge and power, no matter the cost to their social standing or the wishes of the Akashic Order.

Descendents who follow Jaina Sabine should have Obsession (Attain Mystical Power) [-10].

Milestones

Many men pursue the Descendant, but one is unsuited for her, due to a lack of virtue and position. The descendant chooses the “wicked” suitor over the “righteous” suitor. Her choice proves correct when the “wicked” suitor proves to be a true, boon companion, nonetheless she suffers the scorn of her peers.

The Descendant stands on the threshold of a haunted place that contains a forbidden power. The peers of the Descendant warn her of the danger of both. The Descendant chooses to enter the haunted place and gains mastery over both it and the forbidden power, but only by allowing it to corrupt her in the eyes of her peers.

The Descendant suffers insult or injury from one of her peers. She chooses to take revenge, and uses a forbidden power to do so. She successfully takes revenge, but her duplicity is revealed by the allies of her enemy; they successfully slander her as an unjust monster, and paint the target of her revenge as an innocent victim. Her peers believe the slander.

A threat faces the family and peers of the Descendant. She offers to assist with her forbidden power, but her peers reject her offer, fearing that they will be tainted by her power. Because of their stubbornness, they suffer defeat, and the Descendant is unable to assist. She loses at least on loved one from her old life.

The peers of the Descendant reveal her crimes. They condemn her, except for the beloved peer, who still sees “good” in her. Her peers seek to exile or kill her. The Descendant has new allies, those associated with her forbidden power or her wicked suitor, who rescue her. In so doing, a beloved peer is wounded, or sees something that convinces him that she is truly guilty. She loses her beloved peer.

Associated Miracles

Dark Beauty

Minimum Reaction: Neutral

Learned Prayer Prerequisite: Blood Purity 1, Dark Communion 4 or Archetype

Learned Prayer Cost: 3 points

Jaina Sabine had the power to twist men’s heart with her great beauty. Her descendants can invoke the same transcendent beauty.

Statistics: Appearance (Trascendent, Glamour Will-5%, Divine, Path -25%) [14];

Curse

Minimum Reaction: Good

Learned Prayer Prerequisite: Blood Purity 2, Dark Communion 7

Learned Prayer Cost: 6 points

Upon completion of this miracle, during which the Descendant visualizes/describes the failure of the target, the Descendant rolls IQ-based Meditation. Success applies a penalty to the target's actions as long as they more-or-less resemble the moment he described.

Statistics: Visualize (Divine, Path -25%, Curse +100%, Reduced Time 1d6 seconds +80% [26]

Untameable Spirit

Minimum Reaction: Good

Learned Prayer Prerequisite: Blood Purity 2, Dark Communion 7

Learned Prayer Cost: 7 points

Jaina could not be controlled, tamed or manipulated. For details on how this works, see Self-Mastery from Powers: the Weird, page 34. As a general or specific miracle, it lasts for one hour, or until it has protected the Descendant at least once, whichever takes longer.

Statistics: Immunity to External Influences (Divine, path -25%) [34]. applies her margin of success (with a minimum of +1) as a bonus to a roll that someone else makes, provided his actions closely resemble that which she prayed for. This may not apply to combat rolls.

Valria Sabine

Era: War of the Four Houses

Destiny: the Rebel Queen

The Akashic Order struggles with the legacy of Valria Sabine. She refused to be the wilting flower, the puppet for the Order, and she refused to work to restore the Alexian legacy. Instead, she fought for what she believed in, rescued herself, and defied the original order to bring about a principled stand for greater equality for everyone. Nonetheless, as the founder of the Federation, she attracts many admirers, especially in her own house.

The Rebel Queen Destiny means the character is destined to see the injustice the people must endure, to face danger that she can rescue herself from, and to receive the acclaim of the people and a position of power where she can right those injustices (though whether she actually does...)

Legacy

Restore the Federation or End Injustice In the Galaxy

Nothing moved Valria Sabine quite like the suffering of those around her. She willingly sacrificed her own aristocratic privilege to tend to the weak or weary, and respected and admired those of lesser station than herself. She envisioned a Galaxy where all were equal and where the War of the Four Houses had ended.

Descendents who follow Valbria Sabine should have either Obsession (Restore the Federation) [-10] or Obsession (End Injustice in the Galaxy) [-10].

Milestones

The Descendant, when faced with injustice caused by the very social system that empowers her, refuses to turn a blind eye. She rescues the victim of injustice, who becomes a Boon Companion, and faces the scorn of her peers.

When faced with impossible odds, the Descendant gathers up what a rag-tag band of victims and offers them words of encouragement. They together cannot hope to defeat the overwhelming opponent, but she nonetheless instructs them on how to defend themselves and they face down the enemy. They secure enough time to allow reinforcements to arrive, and achieve a major military victory, but at the cost of many lives (not the Descendant’s though).

The Descendant faces a grave foe who threatens her chosen faction, and is captured by them. Rather than allow members of her faction to face the grave enemy, she defies her captors, defeats them, and emerges victorious, carrying some vital advantage she can use to strengthen her faction.

The Descendant sees an opportunity to denounce the very social system that empowers her and she rises up to do so. Her speech shakes the foundations of that social order, and brings allies to her side. She must abdicate a great portion of her power, but in so doing, she creates a new social order on the ashes of the old social order.

The forces of the old order seek to destroy the new order forged by the Descendant, in a last ditch effort. The Descendant has sufficient power to overcome them, but doing so will cost her her life, or that of her boon companion. The new order must be born of blood.

Associated Miracles

Purity

Minimum Reaction: Neutral

Learned Prayer Prerequisite: Blood Purity 1, either Communion 4 or Archetype

Learned Prayer Cost: 3 points

Valria Sabine always stood by her principles, and the descendant can have similarly unshakeable resolve. The descendant may give in to temptation, but only of her own accord: Any attempts to use any influence skill to force her to do something automatically fail.

Statistics: Indomitable (Divine: Path -15%) [13]

Words of Truth

Minimum Reaction: Neutral

Learned Prayer Prerequisite: Blood Purity 1, Communion 5

Learned Prayer Cost: 4 points

See Sermonize, Divine Favor 9

Aura of Courage

Minimum Reaction: Good

Learned Prerequisite: Blood Purity 2, Communion 9

Learned Prayer Cost: 11 points.

After making a successful Meditation roll, Communion imbues the Descendant and all nearby (within 2 yards) of complete immunity to fear. The Descendant may apply a -5 to his Meditation roll to expand the effect out to 4 yards away. On a failed meditation roll, the mystic can spend a point of fatigue (or psionic energy reserves) and try again on the next turn. This lasts for the remainder of combat, or an hour, whichever is shorter.

Statistics: Aura of Courage 7 (see Pyramid #3-19 page 6)