Buyuku

A mage who can use draconic accumulation to absorb other esoteric energies and then wield them, giving them the powers of dragons.

Dragon Magic

Dragon magic is the term used for any esoteric energy absorbed via draconic accumulation and then wielded. It is esoteric energy converted into a usable form by this accumulative process, wielded through special rituals. It is extremely rare, dangerous, and forbidden.

Ritual of the Five Heads

To become a buyuku, one must complete the Ritual of the Five Heads, representing the five kinds of true dragon and the five characteristics of the dragon. The ritual requires potent ingredients and complicated rites. As being a buyuku is forbidden in most places, knowledge of the Ritual is forbidden. Finding information on it is difficult at best. If one finds out how to perform the ritual, one then must acquire the materials to perform it.

Ingredients

The five main ingredients of the Ritual are all derived from dragons:

• A weapon that has slain either a dragon or a dragonslayer. It represents power. Note: the slayer may not be the buyuku themself.
• A magnificent cape of crushed purple velvet, dyed with dragon's tears and the color leeched from a dragonscale. It represents majesty.
• A jewel or other extremely valuable object obtained from the den of a dragon. It represents territory.
• A drachesch (or dragonbone) ring, forged in dragonflame by an eirgera (or bonecaster). It represents discipline.
• Dragonsblood. It represents accumulation.

However, each one must be from a different dragon.

Lesser ingredients include

• A large, clean floor space protected from the weather - preferably in a cave.
• Something to draw upon the ground with.
• A basin made of neutral materials.
• A means to create a circle of fire.
• Salt.
• Wood ash of a neutral tree.
• Five objects with great personal meaning to the caster.
• A knife of neutral or draconic materials. A dragonfang or dragonclaw would be best.
• Five-colored robes.

Steps

The ritual is complicated, long, and dangerous:

1. Gather ingredients. If necessary, create them.
2. Create a circle of power drawn in some neutral material.
3. Make another circle within that, and light the second circle on fire.
4. Make a circle just within that circle of salt.
5. Create a circle of wood ash.
6. Create a circle of dragonsblood.
7. Draw a pentagram within the circle in dragonsblood.
8. At each point, place one of the five ingredients, and at the top point, place a basin with the remaining dragonsblood. The sword should be planted blade-first into the ground at one point. The ring should be lain on the exact tip of another point. The cape should be carefully folded and placed at another, and the last should have the valuable object.
9. Stand in the center of the circles and meditate. Do not sit or rest. (Mind)
10. Face each of the five points while meditating. This requires enormous will power. If you are even a fraction of an inch off, the ritual will fail.
11. While facing the first point (blade), offer up an object of great personal meaning to the caster (Heart). It must be cast foward, over the four inner circles, such that it catches the flames of the second circle and lands between it and the outer circle. It must then burn.
12. While facing the second point (ring), offer up an object of great personal meaning to the caster. It must be rolled gently over the four inner circles, such that it stops before the final circle and rests, aflame.
13. While facing the third point (cape), offer up an object of great presonal meaning to the caster. It must be carried with great care, not disrupting any circle, and placed before the cape, such that it just touches the flames and thus, burns.
14. While facing the fourth point (valuable), offer up an object of great personal meaning to the caster. It must be hurled with great force against the outer circle. If the ritual has succeeded thus far, the object will rebound from the outer circle as if hitting a wall and fall into the flames.
15. While facing the final point (blood), offer up an object of great personal meaning to the caster. It must be placed into the basin of blood. If the ritual has succeeded thus far, the object will erupt into five-colored flames.
16. Come out of the meditative trance.
17. Return to the center of the circle.
18. Remove your robes, bare yourself, and cut deep across the chest.
19. Let your blood fall while walking back to the basin, where the caster must drain a great deal of blood into the basin. (Body)
20. Kneel in the flames to be consumed by dragonflame.
21. While burning, speak the ancient words of the ritual in the language of dragons. Chant them five times. (Soul)
22. Drink the dragonsblood from the basin.
23. Let the fire overwhelm and consume all that is left of the caster.
24. If the ritual has succeeded, a dragon of blood and flame will form within the circle. With their lingering will, the caster must take control of this figure and draw it within that which is left of themself.
25. Become one with the dragon.

If the ritual has succeeded, the caster will arise naked from blood and ash with a mark of a dragon across their chest. The ingredients will all have been destroyed.

Failure means a fiery death.

Accumulation

If the buyuku has succeeded, they will have the power to absorb esoteric energies. Their WIL will determine how much they are capable of accumulating (5 points per WIL point, 5 kinds of energy per 3 points of WIL - see below), and different energies will have different effects on their being. To absorb the energies, they must leave their dragon mark bare. They cannot absorb via blood ritual like a draquestrian, nor through mere touch like a dragon, nor passively like a pentologer, but must invoke their mark when these energies are used upon them. This makes them nearly invulnerable to weaker spells of any kind.

If a buyuku tries to absorb more than they are capable of holding, they will begin to burn up from within their own soul unless they release it. Release it will not be usable as a spell, but will simply dissipate the energies around them.

Points

The formula for accumulated esoteric energies is 5 points per point of WIL the caster has, and 5 energies per three points. So. The caster with a 15 WIL can store 5 different energies for a total of 75 points, meaning they could have a 25 in d'qiarsea, 20 in rending, 10 in lahab al'qalb, 10 in infernum, and 10 in psionic energy. No energy may have more than 25 points at once.

Energy Usage

The number of points used is determined by the power of the spell cast. A spell with a 10 difficulty will cost 10 points, unless the spell fails, then it is +3 more points per level of failure (so +9 more points burned for an exceptional failure). If the spell succeeds specially or exceptionally, the caster may choose to retain its power at 10 and spend fewer points (-1 spent for special, -3 for exceptional) OR spend more points and have bonuses to the power of the spell (+3 for special, +6 for exceptional). A tie means 1 point is burned and a very minor version of the spell occurs.

If the spell uses up more points than the caster has, the rest of the points will come permanently out of WIL and STR (1 point of each for 1 point of power). I told you this was dangerous.

Conflicting Energies

A buyuku cannot contain energies that conflict with one another at the same time. See esoterica oppositions for more information. If they try to contain both, the two will interact dangerously within their souls and harm them permanently.

Rituals

Every use of these energies requires a ritual to cast them. For potential effects, see draconic power and dragons - a buyuku can use any power a dragon has, if they have the appopriate energy. Every type of power has its own basic ritual, and variations may be done to tweak them:

• Attack/Defense: a basic attack or defense power of any energy can be invoked by the caster simply drawing their dagger from the original ritual across the dragon mark while chanting draconic words. These powers can be reacquired after five hours per 3 points used after all points are used up.
• Breath: the breath weapon of a dragon can be imitated by drawing the esoteric energy into the caster's lungs. This is done through breathing exercises and meditation that take five hours to complete. This power cannot be reacquired for five weeks after all relevant points have been used up. When it is acquired, the points become locked - any extra points to that energy gained thereafter do not count toward the breath weapon, nor can the locked points be used for another power.
• Barrier: creating the barrier or protective powers of a dragon requires use of a five-ring circle (drawn, salt, ash, flame [or something similar], fluid), a pentagram, and a ring. The caster must leave the ring in the center of the circle, walk around it five times, then place a drop of blood from their dragon mark within each circle without breaking any circle. If they succeed, the ring will glow and can be used to create a barrier up to five times depending on the points used and the success of the ritual. It takes five days and five nights to reaquire this, and energies are not locked - but points are.
• Immunity: a ritual to gain an immunity to something requires a five-ring circle (drawn, salt, ash, flame or similar, fluid), a pentagram, and a cape. The cape must be opened wide and draped over the entire pentagram, and the caster must lay atop it without smearing or breaking the circles. They then must sleep there, perfectly still, for five hours, covered only in something symbolic of what they wish to be immune to. Immunities burn energies based on how long the caster wishes to be immune - a point per hour for normal success, a point per day for special, a point per three days for exceptional if the caster chooses to use extra points, or just a point per hour no matter level of success if they choose to burn fewer points. Immunities can be reaquired after five weeks.
• Area: area effect spells require a ritual of a five-ring circle (see above), a pentagram, and a basin of the same fluid used for one of the circles. A small fire must be lit within the center of the pentagram, and the basin must be placed on top of it. The fluid in the basin must come to a boil, and then the caster must place their hand in it while chanting words of draconic power. If they succeed, their hand will glow. If they touch it to their dragon mark, the area effect will be triggered. This can be reacquired after five months.
• Annual: an annual power is one that regenerates after a year for a dragon. For a buyuku, it is actually a five year recharge period. These are a wide range of powers of moderate strength. The ritual for these requires a year's worth of discipline, every five nights chanting forward and backward words of draconic power while drawing a different circle around one's sleeping place. After this, one will have the power and can trigger it via chanting.
• Scale: a buyuku can replicate the powers granted a bearer of a dragonscale by transfering the effects into something they own, usually something hard and roughly the size of a dinner plate. The ritual requires placing the object in a five-ring circle and casting coins into the five circles while chanting words of draconic power. The buyuku may not use the "scale" themself, but they must give it to one who will bear and use its powers. This ritual will regenerate after a year.
• Gaze: a draconic gaze power can be gained by placing drops of one's own blood in one's own eyes every five hours for five days. This can be regained after five months.
• Gate: to gate means to open a portal of some kind. Doing this requires a five-ring circle, a pentagram, and a sword. The sword must be placed blade-down into the ground at the center of the pentagram, and the caster must break the five rings with the sword, dragging the blade through the ground, then slash their dragon mark with the blade, never failing their chanting the entire time. It takes five years to regain this power.
• Summon: summoning means to teleport targets to one's location. This requires a five-ring circle, a pentagram, and a major offering that must be burnt in the circle with dragonflame (or other burning agent) from the caster's breath weapon or attack spell. This can be anything from a living being to an enormous amount of wealth. Reacquiring this takes five years.
• Sense: heightened or extra senses can be gained through a simple ritual of washing one's relevant sensory organ with one's own blood (or the eyes, if no other organ is involved) every five hours for five days and wearing five rings washed in the same blood for the same time period. This can be reacquired in five weeks.
• Single: the strongest draconic power is one that can only be used once. A buyuku can replicate these via a ritual of immolation similar to their original ritual, but with ingredients of less potency and rarity. It can never be reacquired once used.
• Final: the final power is the final power a dragon gains in their life of accumulation. It is usually fairly potent, and it will take a buyuku one to five years to reacquire it. The ritual to gain it is a five-ring circle, a pentagram, and an offering of up to three items (blade, valuable, ring, cape, or fluid), all consumed in dragonfl ame from breath or attack.

Inventory

Buyuku use robes designed to show off their dragon marks, staves designed to draw power, and other equipment forged from draconic materials.

Open Robes

The robes of buyuku are designed to show off their dragon marks, so they are always open in front. Some buyuku wear nothing beneath, but most wear a loincloth or clothing appropriate to their climate. Robes are usually designed to reflect the mage's preferred powers (i.e., reflecting the dragon whose powers they mimic).

Staff of Fives

A Staff of Fives is a designed to pull energies to it. It is crafted with draconic writing, usually of wood flowing already with draconic power, and has five short, sharp spikes at either end. It is used to draw the "drawn" rings of a five-ring circle, to channel energies, and in melee combat if need be.

Dagger

Daggers are used solely in rituals. Using one for other reasons will corrupt the blade. They are made of either draconic materials such as drachesh or dragonfang or neutral materials that do not influence the ritual. However, buyuku attuned to aligned dragons, such as celestial, infernal, or aetherial dragons, may use other materials that align with their chosen aspects.

Sword

The sword is one used either to slay a dragon or a dragonslayer, always by someone other than the buyuku. It will almost always still have their blood on it. Finding such a blade is very difficult, and many dragonslayers sell their swords for great fortunes to aspiring buyuku.

Cape

The capes used for rituals is washed in dragon's tears and dyed via colors from a dragonscale. The capes are never worn, and the process of making one requires weeks of hard labor. They are very difficult to come by, and therefore, buyuku often make them themselves.

Ring

The ring used by buyuku in rituals is made by a bonecaster, a wielder of certain infernal essences, and is therefore the most dangerous piece to acquire. It must be cleansed after its making by being soaked in liquid zinc for seven straight days.

Jewel

Buyuku use jewels or other valuable objects in rituals, but they also carry at least one jewel from a dragon's treasures with them at all times in order to prove their own personal worth to themselves (and to bear a piece of a dragon's territory). They do not spend this, for doing so would transfer ownership and rid it of its draconic power.

Basin

The basin used in buyuku rituals is carved with draconic writing after its use and saved (if not destroyed). They are stored in a special cabinet and only taken out for offerings to dragons.

Ingredients

Buyuku use ingredients of draconic power, and to keep them fresh, they store them in neutral bottles soaked in liquid zinc.

Variations

Variations exist mostly by different kinds of energies preferred - many buyuku prefer to emulate specific dragons. They generally are all called buyuku or some local equivalent.

Persecution

Buyuku are hated by dragons, their followers, and their allies, and as such, are forbidden in most places where dragons hold any sway. They are feared by other esotericists, hated by ruling classes because they are harder to oppress, and seen as murderers even by the most egalitarian socieities. Not entirely wrongly. The response to them is often disproportionate, however, when the buyuku is not guilty of their alleged crimes.

Skills

Some common skills include

• Smithing
• Hunting
• Drawing
• Draconic language/writing
• Bloodletting

Stats

Modifiers from base of species/nation:

PRO +3
ATH +2
STR +2
AWA +3
WIL +5
STH /
PRS +2