Revenant Arts

## Overview

The **Revenant Arts** (or **Revenancy**) are a collection of martial techniques designed during the first chapter of the Blackwatch that can push the biological limits of normal human beings into almost unnatural states of being and give users "abilities" akin to a Super.

Revenancy can be considered a manifestation of ones own psyche into the physical plane of existence by way of the natural order of Dominance's universe, rather than bypassing said laws by drawing from the Void via S-genes. **Put simply**, a user refines their mental state to an extreme point, where they are borderline psychics and have extreme control over their body. The training required to get to this point is cruel and unforgiving, and mastery can take years.

Revenant Arts were specifically designed to counter both those born with S-Genes and Void Walkers by giving non-supers an edge in combat. That said, Supers have been known to learn Revenant Arts themselves in order to boost their own capabilities. Revenant Arts can be seen as the opposite of Aura Manipulation, as with Aura you must clear your mind, but with Revenant Arts you must tap into a certain emotion or innate trait in order to utilize effectively.

## Signs and Tells of a Revenancy User

Due to the extreme physical and mental demand of the techniques, most non-supers can be identified as Revenant Art users by their extreme physical prowess and mental fortitude. In fact, a vast majority of Revenant Art users are already **naturally** resistant to psychic abilities and attacks. However, because of the forms and applications of Revenancy, it can be easy to underestimate an individual who is actually quite proficient with the techniques, as most users are often described as stronger than they look.

With that in mind, the most guaranteed way to identify a Revenant Art user is via their presence. Most users of the art naturally project a very commanding and almost overbearing presence to those around them that is extremely hard to ignore. To Aura users, this manifests as a shroud akin to an Aura shroud that only they can see in the shade of a black mist surrounding the user. For standard Supers and Non-supers, its often interpreted as a heavy weight in the air that increases relative to their proximity of the user. Void Walkers are naturally resistant to this dominating presence, and instead detect these users through their own innate Energy Sensing. Upon detection from a Void Walker, most of them will feel a natural state of fear and "fight or flight", a naturally occurring instinct developed through generations of persecution at the hands of these users during the First Chapter of the Watch.

## Applications, Forms, and Requirements

Revenant Arts is a loose term describing a set of techniques and abilities and as such the applications of it, the forms it can take, and its requirements all vary by technique. The most common requirement amongst all techniques is that the User in question must fully engage themselves in a certain emotion or mental state, and have a high degree of self awareness in order to do so. Frank, for example, often times utilizes his rage or determination in order to properly utilize the technique of Revenant Speech. That said, *what* is utilized varies between user to user, with varying effectiveness. The most effective thus far seem to be negative emotions and an indomitable will.

An extremely rare technique would be the forementioned **Revenant Speech**, a technique that requires the user to project their voice at a frequency that overrides another humans brain functions, specifically the Parietal Lobe and the Cerebrum, with the intent to control their actions with force. Whereas motor function control as a Super ability is more often than not a psychic application of force, Revenant Speech takes advantage of natural human biology and the functions of the brain and it is not uncommon for Supers to forget that beyond their abilities, *they are still Human*. The consequences of such a technique make its usage as dangerous as it is powerful, as an improper frequency or unfocused mental state can form hemorrhages in a person's throat and damage their vocal cords.

Aside from Revenant Speech, there are a multitude of other abilities that make up the foundation of Revenancy as a whole.

* **Evocation of Arms** is a technique derivative of Aura Manipulation that allows its user to coat themself and, if they so choose, their weapon with a sleek, black metal coating in a similar fashion to Aura. The coating is limited to one's arms, legs, and/or their weapon and the durability is dependent on the user and how proficient they are with Revenancy. *Evocation of Arms*, in general, boosts both the damage output and damage resistance of the user. It has been recorded that a non-Super capable of using *Evocation of Arms* was able to physically pierce a Vasto Lorde with a single strike. The coating of black metal seen in *Evocation of Arms* is actually a manifestation of a user's psyche into the physical plane. Using *Evocation of Arms* naturally boosts strength and agility. Improper usage of the *Evocation of Arms* can rupture muscles across the body and, in some cases, completely shatter bones.

* **Evocation of Will** is a technique that takes advantage of a user's already dominating presence by exuding a user's willpower over others around them. This Evocation is the most difficult of the four to even perform due to the required willpower, determination, and psychic strength to pull off, and the consequences that occur if someone who is not mentally strong enough tries to perform it are devastating, often times resulting in brain death. A proper utilization, however, can cause mentally weak people in a 150 meter radius around the user to **pass out**. Those mentally capable of handling such a psychic show of force, such as God-tier Artifact users like Chance Ramirez, will instead be naturally resistant.

* **Evocation of Foresight** is a technique that boosts the perception of the user, allowing them to sense intent and read movements easier. The most advanced users of this technique have been rumored to be able to see into the future by a couple of seconds, with the only purported master of the *Evocation of Foresight* being able to see a full minute into the future. The main draw back of this future vision, however, is that it is reliant on the user's own perspective and it only goes so far as to accurately predict their opponent's next few moves with the trajectory they have set. That means a user cannot use this aspect of this Evocation to predict an ambush or an event that will occur that does not include them. The future seeing aspect is mostly only used in direct combat as a result. Improper usage can rob an individual of their sight **permanently**.

This list is not complete, as there are a multitude of other techniques that have been utilized throughout the Watch's history, but thus far these are the only techniques to still exist in the current year of Dominance.

The durability, effectiveness, and innate enhancements of each Evocation and general technique is determined by the User's current physical and mental capabilities. Revenant arts were designed with the intent to end engagements with Supers **fast**, but the duration of the techniques does not always reflect this, with many proficient users having been recorded as lasting for almost days while using Evocations. With that in mind, it is safe to say that the general limits and outputs of the techniques are hard to measure accurately and vary user to user. A deep study of the utilizations and limitations of the Revenant Arts has found that many users could only use two of the Evocations and two techniques in general, these being the *Evocation of Arms* and the *Evocation of Foresight* respectively, with users of all three Evocations being chalked up as "one in a million".

## Purpose and History

There is little recorded history of the Revenant Arts as a whole, and for good reason. The High Lord of the Watch -- upon rediscovery of several codexes relating to it within the Lexicon of Truth -- has barred the majority of information relating to it for reasons made unclear. Frank and known practitioners of the Revenant Arts refuse any attempts to make these reasons known and actively refuse to indulge any with information regarding Revenancy. As such, it is relatively unknown to most in the world of Dominance and is only known to high ranking Magistratii (top ten) and various Aura users.

The general purpose of the Revenant Arts has been to close the extreme gap between Supers and Non-supers, with utilization of the two most common techniques automatically putting most non-supers up to par with a lot of high power, brawler type supers. Due to the vast number of Aura practitioners and masters that have even *heard* of the Revenant Arts, it is highly possible that Revenancy may have specifically developed to counter Aura users. This is supported by the similarities of how both is used, with the key difference being that Aura users must be of clear mind whereas Revenancy users must tap into an emotion or trait.

Revenant Council mandated study has led to the more recent discovery that practitioners are borderline immune to all psychic engagements, including motor function control, psychic communication, and psychic influence. As supers from the time period of the first and second chapter were mostly Mages, Aura Users, and wielders of god-tier artifacts, it has been surmised that Revenancy may have also developed as a method of countering the psychic influence some Vasto Lorde are capable of and the general corruption many god-tier artifacts are capable of.

## Known Revenancy Users

* Frank - Uses *Revenant Speech*, unknown how many more techniques he knows. Victims of it describe it as a "thundering storm".
* The High Lord - Presumed Master of all known arts, and those generally unknown. Teaches techniques to the top ten Magistratii.
* Unknown number of Magistratii.