Wrath of the Five Elements

Cost: 45m
Target: One creature

As the sorcerer's anima builds, he gestures and calls the names of the Elemental Dragons. Each dragon's sigil appears, the set forming a pentagram around him. The sorcerer names the target of the spell while holding three arcane links in his upraised hand—a hair, a swatch of clothing and soil from the target's footprint, perhaps. The links can vary (including the presence of friends or relatives), but at least one must come from the victim's body. At last, the sorcerer speaks the Word by which the Unconquered Sun announced his defiance of his Primordial creators. The sigils flare as the Elemental Dragons each vent their wrath on the spell's target, no matter where in Creation she is.

Once the spell is cast, the victim suffers five deadly attacks, one every five ticks. The sorcerer sets their order or lets them happen at random. Each attack requires a separate (Intelligence + Occult) roll to target, with the sorcerer's Essence added as automatic successes, against a difficulty equal to the target's Dodge [[MDV]]. A perfect dodge Charm also lets the target evade one attack per action. Treat each attack as environmental damage (15L, Trauma 4). No conceivable external defenses apply, because the attack comes from within the victim's own body. The victim applies nothing but her innate soak from Stamina or Charms.

• The wrath of the Dragon of Air takes the form of cold. The victim's skin blackens with frostbite as he feels the icy winds of the farthest North rush through his flesh.

• The wrath of the Dragon of Earth turns the victim's bones to stone, while razor-sharp crystals grow from them to slice his flesh.

• The wrath of the Dragon of Fire burns the victim from the inside out.

• The wrath of the Dragon of Water pours surging sea water into the target's blood and lungs.

• The wrath of the Dragon of Wood sets lush, flowering vines sprouting through the victim's skin, consuming his flesh as they grow. If this attack fails to kill the target, the vines wither and drop away on the next action.

No single attack is likely to kill a victim, but five in a row present grave danger to anyone who lacks powerful protective Charms. When an attack kills a victim, the elemental effect completely consumes his body to leave frozen shards, a statue of bloodstained crystal, smoldering ash, a pool of mingled blood and water or a tangle of vines. None of the attacks inflict the slightest harm on anyone nearby, even someone who hugs the victim. The wrath of the Elemental Dragons is most selective.

Finally, a person slain by Wrath of the Five Elements is not completely dead. She immediately appears before the sorcerer, transformed into an elemental of the element that killed her, already bound to serve the sorcerer for a year and a day. The elemental is of a sort that has the same permanent Essence as the victim (so un-Exalted mortals become very minor spirits indeed).