3X3 EYES HERO

SANJIYAN MAGIC AND HOLY ITEMS


Michael's Note: Due to the nature of the items listed here, I have not written them up as full-fledged HERO System artifacts. Instead, I've settled for describing what the items do and suggesting HERO System mechanics that can be used to simulate the desired effects.


SANJIYAN MAGIC AND HOLY ITEMS

WARNING: This section contains major spoilers.

SHIVA'S CLAW

The Shiva's Claw is a device similar to a glove. It consists of a black piece of cloth the size of a human hand, with a hole for the middle finger and small ornate strings across the upper side to help fit it to the hand. The cloth only covers the palm and there is a specific Devanagari character (the saz mantra) drawn on it in white .

While a Sanjiyan is wearing Shiva's Claw, their power is restricted (which translates into blocking the dangerous, more powerful personality from awakening) and the more docile personality can control some of the powers of Sanjiyan by chanting "Barasuvidaahi." This will release a powerful power blast and open the third eye for the duration of the attack (plus a few more seconds). Unfortunately, the power level a Sanjiyan can access while wearing Shiva's Claw is far lower than what a fully awake Sanjiyan can. This can be seen in Volume 8 of the manga, in Pai's last fight against Galga.

Shiva's Claws were common in the Holy Land, and although they are not that easy to find on Earth, they're not all that rare either. Yakumo found the one he gave to Pai in a temple, and later they found three more in a sacred shrine. Parvati III (Pai's mother) used to wear one sometimes.

The amount of damage done by the power blast is dependent on the power level of the Sanjiyan. Game Masters should make a Shiva's Claw an open-ended device with no set upper limit to how many dice of Energy Blast they can produce. Alternatively, a Shiva's Claw can "rated" to produce Energy Blasts of 50, 75, or even 100 dice (or some suitable and impossible to achieve number) with a limitation that the actual number of dice a Sanjiyan can use is dependent upon the size of their Magical Energy Endurance Reserve. A good rule of thumb is for Shiva's Claw to allow 1d6 of Energy Blast for every 5 points of END in the Sanjiyan's END Reserve. If you find this to be too low, then use a formula of 1d6 per 2.5 END in the reserve. Said Energy Blast will require at least an Extra Phase to power up, meaning the Sanjiyan won't be able to release the attack until the Phase after they start the Energy Blast.

During the period of Extra Time, a big and very bright power sphere will grow in the glove (usually requiring both hands to keep aim on the target, unless the Sanjiyan has a of STR 13 or above), at a roughly 2 inch radius for each die of Energy Blast being used. The sphere will lift the Sanjiyan from the ground if it gets big enough, but aim will not be lost.

Once the sphere appears, the Sanjiyan must release its power (sooner or later). The Sanjiyan cannot turn off this attack, and must use it at some point. The Shiva's Claw power blast looks like three high-energy beams aimed directly into the target, draining the sphere. Unlike the Sanjiyan's own power blast, the three beams will usually explode upon contacting the target, inflicting damage on the surrounding area. Give the power blast the Area Of Effect: One Hex Doubled Advantage, a +3/4 Advantage (this will give you a 2" radius attack).

The glowing sphere does not have to be released immediately and can be used as a weapon if needed. The Sanjiyan can use the sphere to block incoming attacks (with possible OCV bonuses if the sphere is big enough), causing major damage to anything it touches and a lot of Knockback. This damage depends on the size of the object. A dagger or fist may unleash 3d6 or more of damage, while a sword or staff will release 6d6, and anything larger will take 12d6 or more. This will drain some of the accumulated power of the sphere, usually at the rate of 1 die from the Claw's Energy blast every 3 dice of damage the target being blocked took. You can build this as a form of Damage Shield, with the Hand-To-Hand Advantage added in.

To truly represent the damage potential of this power blast, Game Masters may want to consider using RKAs instead of Energy Blasts.

NINGEN STATUE
(Statue of Humanity, Ningen no Zou)

One of the single most important items in the manga story line, this statue holds the power to turn Sanjiyan into human beings. It is around 16 inches tall and 26 inches wide, and is composed of three squatting Sanjiyan sitting opposed to each other like the vertices of a triangle.

The ritual of the humanification process is not an easy piece of information to find. In the manga, only Benares remembered how to do it, until Pai dreamt of her past after summoning Kaiyanwang (Shiva). From this dream, Yakumo, Pai, and Haan learned how to do it. It is not clear how to activate the Ningen statue nor if the ritual will work outside the Holy Land. The Humanification ritual requires three Sanjiyan to work properly. Two of them will be turned into human beings, and the statue will transfer their power to the third Sanjiyan. The Kaiyanwang always had the privilege of receiving the power from the humanification process during the time the Sanjiyan society still existed. The ritual takes a lot of time and the Sanjiyan are helpless for its duration, so their Wu are usually around to protect them.

The three Sanjiyan should stand up about 6 to 9 feet from the statue, each of them directly facing one of the statue's faces. The actual relative position IS important, since one of the statue's sides will grant power to a Sanjiyan, rather than making them human.

The humanification process consists of three phases:

During the first and slower one, the three Sanjiyan will enter a trance and will provide the statue with the required power to proceed with the humanification. This takes about 10 minutes, and the statue will shine with a blinding white light as it is charged. At full charge, the statute is almost impossible to see due to the bright light spilling from it.

After that, the statue will send two beams of light from two of its third eyes to the third eyes of the two Sanjiyan to be humanized. A very big power sphere will start growing attached to the third eye of the Sanjiyans, the statue's beams entering them from the opposite side. This phase usually takes around 2 to 3 minutes, but since the size of the spheres are directly related to the power level of the two Sanjiyan, more time may be required if one of the two Sanjiyan is especially powerful. Pai's mother's (Parvati III) sphere was around 3 feet wide, and the deformed Kaiyanwang's was as big as 12 feet in width (MUCH bigger than he was; it lifted him from the ground).

When the spheres reach their maximum size, they will detach from the third eye of the Sanjiyans, which will close and disappear forever. In this moment, the process is complete, and the Sanjiyan will have turned into human, their Wu's souls freed and transferred back to their owners'. The power spheres will migrate, riding the light beams until they touch the statue's third eyes.

When the power spheres reach the statue, the third phase begins. The remaining face of the statue will send a light beam at the remaining Sanjiyan's third eye, and will transfer ALL the power to him in a light flash. Before the light beam is actually sent, the statue may stay idle for up to 2 minutes, perhaps absorbing enough energy to complete the power transfer.

The humanification process is quite dangerous, as many things may go wrong. During Pai's dreams, a fight caused the statue to rotate, thus stripping the deformed Kaiyanwang of his power and giving it to Shiva (Parvati III's power was transferred to him too) who could not stand it, perhaps because the statue rotation happened DURING the second phase. Shiva then became the violent and bloodthirsty Kaiyanwang Yakumo and Pai would need to fight much later.

In HERO terms, this is best defined as a Major Transform. Limitations include OAF (Ningen Statue), Extra Time (roughly 30 Minutes), Concentrate (0 DCV throughout). Obviously, one of the Sanjiyan is going to get a massive boost in his Magical Energy Endurance Reserve and magical power levels. Se page 239 of HERO System 5th Edition, Revised for more on using Transform to add abilities to a person. Of course, since the Ningen Statue is more of a plot-device item, don't get too worried about how it works rules-wise.

KEY TO THE HOLY LAND
(Key to Seichi, Konron Key)

There are a number of Sanjiyan artifacts with the power of opening gates to the Holy Land. Those items are called "Keys to the Holy Land" or sometimes "Konron Keys", and range from incense burners to short swords. All of them have a "three eyed" mark (the same one which appears on the main wall of the Sanjiyan city).

The keys are activated by pouring fresh blood over them, and will react by projecting a strong beam of light into the sky. If the key is correctly placed over a Konron (a gate), the beam will transport all the people on the gate and the key to the outside of the Sanjiyan city, on the Holy grounds (see Volume 5 of the manga). Some keys will keep the gate open until they are cleaned of the blood, while others will clean themselves during the trip.

In the manga story line, keys are rare items, with only two making their appearance until Volume 9 of the manga. Most of the other keys were destroyed by Benares' servants to keep humans out of the Holy Land. The knowledge of the exact location of a Konron (gate) is also very difficult to acquire.

Since the Sanjiyan Holy Land is not in or on this plane, it is impossible to travel to and from it without the keys and the gates, most of which are very well protected. Those gates always have one end in the Holy Land, but the other end might be anywhere on Earth. Benares built a gate between his stronghold on the Moon (!) and the Sanjiyan city.

A Konron Key is a very easy device to build in HERO System. you buy Extra-Dimensional Movement and give it the following Advantages: Area Of Effect (One Hex), Usable On Others, and Continuous. You also give it the Limitation of Gate (-1/2), which represents that while the Konron key is active, anyone (or anything) can come though the gate. Other Limitations include Extra Time (to create the gate), Gestures (pouring blood on the key), and Focus (the key itself).


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