The Manual of Yi
Qiao
Chi
When Kung Kung took Master Yi to Heaven,
our lord lay down his bow on the peak of Everest.
Then the Great Dragon breathed upon our teacher,
and his spirit was sundered from his soul.
The latter was brought into his reward,
the former was scattered across Zhongguo,
as seeds to be sown.
Now the yield is great,
for all warriors who learn of the spirit
take in a bit of Yi's.
[The three new Qiao below follow the statements above in diagrams in a similar manner as the mundane martial arts techniques. One can see that the author does not much differentiate between Qiao and the martial arts, save that Qiao requires direct tapping of one's inner life reserves whereas most standard techniques are less exacting. The Manual also describes the original nine Qiao, demonstrating the auspicious count of twelve.]
Qiao of the Long Dun
The Bridge of the Dragon Shield provides the celestial warrior with respite from the elemental and mystical might of the shen. Its defensive potential is amazing but quite exhaustive. Like the Qiao of the Yu An, the Shih requires a piece of jade worn on his person as focus for the defensive power.
* No Mind
The Shih's first step across this Bridge is to learn how to clear his mind and focus on the nothingness of the present. Such keenly aware unawareness makes it difficult indeed to discern and manipulate the hunter's motives. This is most important, considering how many demons use mind control of some variety or another.
System: Roll Perception+Meditation (difficulty 8) and spend two Yin Chi. Each success cancels out the successes of any magical attempt to affect the demon hunter's emotions (such as through vampiric Presence or Mind magick) on a one-for-one basis.
** Scales of the Dragon
The next level of this art grants the Shih protection against magically-summoned energies like fire or ice. Any elemental force can be repelled so long as its origin was magical. This shield does not block naturally-occurring forces or even man made ones -- only magical forces. This includes fire, ice, wind, water, and a few other elemental forces (at the Storyteller's discretion).
System: Roll Stamina+Meditation (difficulty 8) and spend 2 Yin Chi. Each success provides the Shih one additional soak die against magical attacks of an elemental nature.
*** Primal Barrier
The third step of the Bridge of the Dragon Shield fine-tunes the Shih's defensive ability. The step before allows the Shih to defend against only elemental forces. This level, however, grants the Shih temporary defense against any magics. It is, however, most taxing. Note also that its benefits extend only to the Shih and magical spells directed at the Shih. Clever chi'n ta often use their Arts to create indirect "accidents" to curse and befall their foes; this Qiao does not defend against that.
System: Roll Willpower (difficulty 9) and spend 2 Yin Chi and 2 Yang Chi. Each success grants the Shih one die of countermagic that may be employed against any direct, magical attack or spell. This defense lasts for one scene and cracks the jade focus that this Qiao requires. A replacement must be found before the Shih can use the Bridge again.
**** Ephemeral Ward
This powerful step permits the Shih to defend against the spells of the unmanifest. Ghosts and demons alike find themselves unable to affect or possess the demon hunter while under this aegis.
System: Roll Manipulation+Occult (difficulty 8) and spend 1 Yin Chi and 1 Yang Chi. Each success provides the Shih with one turn of defense. During this time, no Arcanos or Charm can affect the Shih so long as it's directly aimed. For example, use of Stonehand Punch (Outrage 3) against the Shih would fail, though using the same art to knock a pot off the wall to fall on the hunter's head would still work just fine.
***** Aura of the Dragon
The final step of this Bridge is actually an extension of the first four combined. When the channeling of this step is complete, the Shih may then channel any of the other steps and extend them to friends, allies, and innocents as well as himself.
System: Roll Willpower (difficulty 8) and spend 1 Yin and 1 Yang Chi. Only one success is needed. For the duration of the scene, the Shih may choose to extend any of the other steps of this Qiao to one additional person per success. The other levels must still be rolled and the Chi costs paid.
