Water

The Drowning Hands form the crucial logistical and bureaucratic foundations to Dragon-Blooded society. They travel the great whale roads of commerce, master its businesses (legitimate or otherwise) and meditate on and explore the secrets of the Exaltation. With the Empress absent from the throne of the Realm, the Aspects of Water are thrust increasingly to the fore, as their Great Houses demand more efficient and more lucrative operations and seek to manipulate the bureaucracy of the Realm to profit the houses and lines.

And so, the Children of Daana’d wash the Realm forward on the tide of history, both pulling the institutions along with them and being pulled themselves by the pressure of house and institution. Like water, they lubricate, permeate and flow to match the shape of their vessel - or in this case, their lack of vessel, as the institutions of the Realm fail, one after the other, through lack of oversight by their immortal mistress.

The Aspects of Water are the principals of planning, commerce and nebulous spiritualism within Dragon-Blooded society. They are sailors and businessmen and bureaucrats and monks. At their best, they are shapeless, unpredictable and flexible seekers of opportunity. At their worst, they are the universal solvent, seeking the lowest level, eroding all they touch, prone to tempests and departing without apology through the thinnest of loopholes.

Water-aspected Dragon-Blooded are thus like the tide, for often the best and worst traits of their aspect coexist in the same being. Like all Dragon-Blooded, they seek to focus their elemental natures on the productive and the positive, and like all Dragon-Blooded, even the greatest among them is never entirely successful. Just as with any moody individual, the rages and the selfish moments contrast with the generosity and the understanding. Unfortunately for those around them, the Dragon-Blooded’s temper is magnified by their Exaltation as much as their physical capabilities, and their moods are often as potentially deadly as the turning tempers of the sea.

The Drowning Hands serve the Realm as its traders, sea pilots and chief bureaucrats. Now, as the Age of Sorrows opens, they are the individuals who will be most responsible for the shape of the post-Realm Blessed Isle, as they destroy outmoded or weak institutions and attempt to erect structures that support their own goals. What will be the result, non can say, but the future rushes forward, as inexorable as the rising tide, and the Aspects of Water will move with the waves, for they know that no structure can fight the hammer of the tides with rigid strength. Only through flexibility can the sea grass weather the greatest storms.



	Water flows. It moves through even the smallest opening, filling empty spaces and surrounding all that it touches. The most easily moulded of the five elements, water assumes the shape of whatever holds it but will only hold that shape so long as it’s necessary before reverting to its natural protean state. The Exalted and Water share this mercurial nature. Their adaptable minds allow the Children of Daana’d to fill and exploit any circumstance that presents itself. That which is unable to adjust to change, they feel, is doomed to the stagnation of death. A Water-aspected Dragon-Blood is the personification of adaptability. Struggle and challenge force him to grow and chance - and to become stronger as a result. Grand galas and love affairs train him to excel in the social arts. Hard-won battles expand his martial talents. Difficult sorceries extend the limits of his inner Essence. Some Aspects of Water meet these challenges like a small stream, flowing over or around all obstacles. Others rise like a terrible flood, washing away anything that stands before them. A Child of Daana’d never concedes failure. If a desired paramour appears uninterested, she applies a new method of seduction. If an obstacle to his political schemes proves obstinate, he bypasses it through less conventional channels. If a theological question proves difficult to solve, he approaches it from an alternative angle. If an opponent outmatches him in martial skill, he simply uses whatever underhanded tactic is necessary to triumph. Failure is for those who lack the will and the flexibility to do what it takes to succeed. The Exalted of Water are the problem solvers of the Realm, offering practical solutions to all difficulties, great and small. Competition, be it a petty personal rivalry or a war that engulfs all Creation, is an opportunity for the Realm to grow and mature. The Children of Daana’d nurture the Realm during these periods of conflict, helping the empire to navigate its way toward new outlets of power and strength. Without conflict to challenge it to change, the Realm will simply stagnate in its complacency. Aspects of Water perform similar functions within their sworn brotherhoods, tailoring their actions to compliment the strengths and counter the weaknesses of their sworn brothers. A Water-aspected Dragon-Blooded nurtures his brotherhood, helping the members adapt and grow stronger in the face of adversity. Appearance Aspects of Water move with an almost hypnotic grace, and their skin has a slight blue-green tint. This aqua tone is most noticeable in members with high Breeding, and the coloration only deepens with age. Well-bred elders are often deep green-black or ebony in colour. They smell of fresh water, either of running streams or the open sea. Aspect Anima When a Water-aspected Dragon-Blood spends Peripheral Essence, his anima bursts forth as a bright blue-green or green-black glow, rippling like a pool of water or rolling like the ocean waves. Truly impressive displays include phantasmal whirlpools, waves, waterspouts and water dragons accompanied by the roar of crashing waves or the alien silence of the ocean depths. An Aspect of Water can spend 5 motes to attune his anima with the surrounding water. For the rest of the day, he can breathe underwater and operate as freely as if he was in air, including firing bows and the like.

		Aspect Abilities Brawl Bureaucracy Investigation Larceny Sail



The Great Curse A Water-aspected Dragon-Blood whose curse lies in his Compassion is typically one who focuses on nurturing others. He’ll go to extreme lengths to protect that which he nurtures, sometimes drowning it in the process. One whose curse comes from Conviction is like a great flood, willing to wash away anything that stands before its efforts. Temperate Aspects of Water often become like deep, still pools, but react poorly if that tranquility is disturbed. Those who curse derives from their Valour often become like tidal waves, believing there is no problem they cannot batter through or wash away.

Aspects of Water are associated with the colour black, the Maiden of Secrets, the season of Water and the western direction. Their names are the Children of Daana’d, the Drowning Hands and the Ebon Dragons.

Sample Concepts: Ruthless magistrate, agent of the All-Seeing Eye, political fixer, diplomat to the Threshold, dilettante artist.