Homework-Combos

Every Combo has a specific appearance - someone who has fought you before should be able to tell what Combo you're using if they've seen you use it before. It's like the Limit Break attacks in Final Fantasy - they all have the same "cinematic" as you use them.

A lot of times, these combos have a visual, auditory or other sensory effect that is appropriate to the "themes" of the Exalt's caste. A Dawn or Night Caste might leave a slight covering of dew on things, a Zenith might leave those affected feeling slightly sunburnt or dehydrated, and an Eclipse might cause someone to have spots before their eyes.

Another idea is to use your iconic anima for effect. This is a good way to have your iconic anima "do" things - a lion leaping forward to attack, the mandala shifting and sigils appearing that declare the target of the attack has been judged under Heaven, a victorious angel-goddess leaps forward with sword-blade wings to strike down the foe.

Some examples are below:

God-Eating Cyclone
Charms: Archery Overwhelming, Trance of Unhesitating Speed, Ghost-Eating Technique
Description: Six brilliant white lights appear around Cerin's castemark, before they fly out into a wide ring. He plucks them one at a time, drawing them across his bow as arrows of light. They fly onwards, striking straight and true.

Terrible Iron Bear Stance
Charms: Martial Arts Overwhelming, Fists of Iron, Iron Skin Concentration
Description: Midday Snow kiais, and his anima flares, the massive snow-white, golden-eyed bear surrounded by a blizzard manifesting to roar along with him. He strikes, and for the split-second before the blow lands, everything becomes silent. As the strike lands, there is the sound of iron-on-iron. When he blocks, he slams his arms into oncoming attacks, causing the sound of iron-on-iron and showers of cold, white frost-sparks.

Hands Guided by the Sun Technique
Charms: Medicine Overwhelming, Wound-Mending Care Technique, Instant Treatment Methodology
Description: Alder's anima bathes her patient in the cool colors of dusk, and her castemark burns white hot. The light from her castemark reflects off of the most eggregious pains there, the blood turning reflective and golden in her anima, and with a few deft touches of first needle, then bandages, the wounds are bound. Then, her anima flares totemic as the blood shifts from gold to the reflective quality of diamonds and then disappears, taking the wounds with it.

Your homework, then, is to do this kind of descriptive work with your own combos.

Aapo

Ruinous Onslaught & Dancing Iron Nine Tail Defense
Charms: First Melee Excellency, Iron Raptor Technique, Hungry Tiger Technique & Iron Skin Concentration
Description: When this combo is activated Aapo's anima flares bright golden red and the totemic ninetailed fox appears bearing a massive sword in its mouth. The sword draws energy & radiance from the sky or the air around it and as Aapo makes his attack with his own weapon, which glows to match the totem's sword, with motes of lightning arcing between the two weapons, the fox follows form and both weapons deliver a powerful blow, releasing the destructive essence into the target (melee or ranged). If the ranged essence attack of iron raptor is used, then while Aapo remains holding his weapon, the foxes' brilliantly glowing sword of pure essence rockets through the air like a lightning bolt at the target and strikes them, passes through them where it is caught again in the foxes mouth on the other side where it had darted to once it had released it's sword. When attacked, Aapo is defended by the nine tails of his totemic avatar. They swirl about him in a dance and effortlessly knock aside blows that would otherwise have harmed him, flashing a shower of sparks as the tails are struck, or otherwise warrant him further protection against blows that make it through their whirling defensive dance.

Alabaster Mountain

NAME
Charms: X
Description: X

Crimson Slate

Battleworn Guide of the Skies
Charms: Thrown Overwhelming and Dodge Overwhelming
Description: As this combo is invoked, Crimson Slate's Anima flares as a gigantic clockwork horse rears up on it's hind legs, exhaling sharp winds out of it's snout, guiding whatever weapon is being thrown to a more accurate path of flight to rend all who oppose the Solar. As she is dodging, any strikes that may look to harm her are blown aside by the horse's overwhelming exhalation. Invariably, her foes find that their aim is never as true as they intended it to be.

Sapphire Veil

Lethal Carp Excellency
Charms: Demure Carp Feint, Lethal Paper Fan Attack, Martial Arts Excellency
Description: X

Demure Concubine's Lethal Pillow Book Attack Excellency
Charms: Demure Carp Feint, Lethal Paper Fan Attack, Vindictive Concubine's Pillow Book Understanding, Martial Arts Excellency, Stealth Excellency
Description: X

Tobias

NAME
Charms: X
Description: X

Whispering Bear

Heaven's Instinctive Bounding Thunderbolt
Charms: Monkey Leap, Flashing Vengeance Draw, Reflex Sidestep
Description: motes of essence burst from Whispering Bear's skin, drawing back and hesitating to taste the air for the threatening presence she has already detected. Her anima of a large ghostly white bear catapults her into the sky where she flips, somersaults and lands, bow in hand with an arrow knocked and ready for firing at the opponent made visible to her in the past split-second.

If at any time Whispering Bear spends the motes to hide the effects of this charm she simply dodges the immediate threat and comes into an appropriate fighting stance with her bow ready. Her teeth are bared and pure ferocity masks her eyes from deep thought as she is kicked into a purely animalistic instictual reaction. She snorts and snarls as a bear cornered, ready for attack.

The Many Taloned Sting
Charms: Trance of Unhesitating Speed, First Archery Excellency
Description: With an almost inaudible yet constant "shik-thoom" volley of launching arrows Whispering Bear unleashes her wrath upon those deemed unworthy to walk the beauty of Creation. Once unleashed, the arrow's spinning flight whistles through the fletching starting first as a slight high-pitched note on the wind but as the arrow travels the timbre and strength burrow into the depths of a low roar, rushing to the target. Should the arrows delight of it, they will frequently intertwine and bob and weave and duck and bow amidst themselves as swiping claw points of the large, lumbering anima bear descending upon the target. Once the satisfying "chuntht" of the target's surface being pegged is heard, everything is silent save for the satisfying dusting-off of Whispering Bear's hands.

If at any time Whispering Bear spends the motes to hide the effects of this charm .. well.. honestly.. it's pretty much the same save for the bear part. It's simply far too satisfying to deny the arrows their caprices.