How Many Scions Can You Make?

[ironchicken]

We have been playing Fireborn recently in which the PCs are dragon scions discovering their powers. (O.T. The books are quite cheap as PDFs and the GM book has a lot of ideas that are transferable). This is giving my players some thoughts about dragon based Scions. I like the idea of lesser and greater dragons suggested above.

Other thoughts I have had are:

Elemental scions

The Wiccan god and goddess bestowing some form of "force of nature".

[Fedifensor]

@Fedifensor: How has the dragon scion been in game, if you've tested it yet? And when you say Dragonbane weapons, I assume there are a few random relics capable of such things in your game? Swords of the Cross fulfill the Catch on just about everything, so relying on just those would be rather daunting

Dragonbane is a catch-all category for anything I come up with to bypass a dragon's defenses.  Things that would fulfill the Catch have probably been a high priority for dragons to destroy, which is why the few remaining aren't going to be something to discover with a bit of research.  I was actually considering using an plant nicknamed Dragonbane which could be applied to a weapon like a contact poison (if you've read Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame series, that's a good example of what I have in mind).  The plant would be extremely rare...and also wouldn't be enough to bypass Ferrovax's defenses*. 

I haven't tested the dragon scion in play yet...heck, I'm still trying to get all the players together for city creation and character creation.  I'll post here once I have a chance to see the character in play.

* However, it might give him a rash. 

[Crion]

So I'm doing a bit of thread necromancy here to see if anyone else has any new ideas, or if those that have posted their ideas (the Edlritch Horror, the Dragon Scions, etc) have had any results or amusing stories to share.

Now that I'm getting a potential game rolling, I'd like to see more ideas and may potentially do a few more writeups of my own.

[wyvern]

I haven't gotten to the point of having any examples of actual gameplay, but I can go ahead and post the other elemental scion character I've built stats for.  I don't think I'm actually going to end up using him for anything, sadly.  Too much of a PC to put into the game I'm running, and I went with a different concept for the game I'm playing in.  I suppose I could probably find a pbp game to use him in?  I might do that.

Name: Jake Turner
High Concept: Unwitting Heir to the Grey Wind
Jake's father blew into town on the eve of one of the most destructive storms in local history - and vanished from his mother's life just as quickly, leaving behind no indication that the resulting child would be anything particularly special.  Jake was unaware of his potential for most of his lifespan, and still doesn't know where his power comes from, or what strings might be attached.
Trouble: What you don't know can hurt you
Jake doesn't know much about supernatural affairs - and what he does "know" is just as often wrong.  This aspect is likely to get changed during play as he buys up his lore skill.

Other aspects:
Jake had (what he thinks of as) a comparatively normal childhood, raised by a single mother in the bad part of Lincoln, Nebraska (though anywhere in tornado alley could be substituted).  He learned early that There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch - anyone who comes bearing gifts wants something from you, and if they won't tell you what, the price is certainly higher than you want to pay.

He had trouble getting through school - partly due to various gangs and other external factors, but also partly due to his own flightyness - essentially ADD.  While he never got an official diagnosis, the school councilor did suggest he take up martial arts training (which he paid for with a part time job delivering pizza); the extra discipline he learned from that let him pull his grades up far enough to get into college.  (And, as a college student, he could end up in a game in just about any major city in the US.)

Unfortunately, even with a few small scholarships, he still had to take up a side job, and seek out the very cheapest apartment he could find - ending up living in the worst part of InsertSomeAlreadyPrettyBadLocationHere.  Even with all that, he's still Scraping To Make Ends Meet, picking up extra odd jobs where and when he can, living mostly off ramen noodles and other forms of ultra-cheap food, etc - and always with the looming specter of student loans that he'll have to start paying off once he's out of college.

The job he ended up with (armed with a letter of introduction from his martial arts instructor) is doing deliveries for a small chinese restaurant - mostly food to relatively normal people, but also the occasional odd package to someone perhaps less normal.  The proprietor, a wizened old man named Tann Zi-Lung, is almost certainly at least a clued-in mortal.

First adventure phase is still a bit sketchy; I'm thinking Jake kinda eased into shapeshifting, starting with vivid "dreams" of flying, and maybe running into trouble with some vampire hunters investigating rumors of a "giant bat" in the area - not to mention actual local vampires who are... displeased... with the additional scrutiny this new shapeshifter has brought too close to their home.

Skills:
+5: Athletics
+4: Alertness
+3: Conviction, Discipline, Fists
+2: Might, Empathy, Contacts, Rapport, Stealth
+1: Scholarship, Presence, Endurance, Investigation, Intimidation, Deceit, Lore

Powers:

Inhuman Speed (-2)

Inhuman Recovery (-2)
The Catch (+3) is anything grounded.  That can be literally grounded (a guy with a wire running from his sword handle down to the earth), magically grounded (the fists of an earth elemental, or a spirit attack designed to drain energy into the earth), or even symbolically grounded (a spear forged out of a lightning rod).

The Wind Holds No Secrets (-1): this is a supernatural sense; the ability to simply know things like which way the wind is blowing, where all the nasty downdrafts and vortices are in a storm, etc.  Jake doesn't (yet) have this sense tuned well enough to pinpoint someone's location by where the air isn't (though this might still justify diving for cover when an invisible assailant starts moving), or to tell the difference between a cloud of steam versus a cloud of shapeshifted vampire (at least until that vampire does something totally out of character for a natural mist, like move against the wind).

Fingers of the Wind (-0): This is the mundane effects trapping of Channeling (Air) (see YS259) - enough power to do something that's identifiably magic, but not enough to make any sort of difference in a fight.  Jake will probably be upgrading this to a full Channeling power (or sponsored magic?) when he's got the refresh available.  In the meantime, it makes for a fairly crummy light source (via repeated electrical sparks), an effective method of flipping light switches from across the room, and a good excuse for being able to pick up and use items normally even if Jake is temporarily sans opposable thumbs.

Human Form (+1): Jake also has access to the natural form of his father; this is could be described as a mottled grey-scaled wyvern (sans tail stinger), or a cross between a pterodactyl and a velociraptor, or even as an archaeopteryx that happens to have leathery wings instead of feathers.  The human form limitation applies to the following powers:
Supernatural Speed (-2): the total cost of supernatural speed is -4, but upgrading inhuman (which he's normally got) to supernatural is only an extra -2.
Inhuman Toughness (-2): the same catch as inhuman recovery.
Wings (-1) - a good four foot wingspan; big for something that flies, but there are natural flying critters that are up to about twice the size.  (See, for example, California Condor.)
Claws (-1) and teeth.  Lots of teeth.
Diminutive Size (-1) - the wyvern form is a solid ten pounds - an order of magnitude more bulk than any natural flyer of similar wingspan, but still pretty tiny compared to a human.

[Cowboy]

I was thinking that Scions of Neil Gaimon's Endless would be pretty cool. Destiny, Death, Destruction, Dream, Desire, Despair, Delusion. I seem to recall that Orpheus was the son of Dream, so perhaps there could be a lineage through him. I might be wrong as it's been ages since I read any Sandman.
I could see a scion of Morpheus having glamours and illusions, perhaps incite emotion to induce sleepiness or nightmares ( would that work?) or a bag of sand that is used as an item of power or focus item.
Anyhow, I don't really know the system well enough to stat anything, so if anyone else wants to use this, then please have at it 

[CMEast]

Feet in the water, 6 refresh and 20 skill points.

-----------------Aspects-----------------


High concept: Rebel angel

Trouble: Destined to fight the dark
- He is a gifted angelic warrior, his powers designed to fight evil wherever it may be. Or at least, that's what he will be once he's grown up a bit.

Others:

Not so angelic
-Young and wild, loves to party, has a dark-side

All-American pretty boy
- Blond, blue eyed and athletic; he could be quite popular if he wasn't such an arrogant little so-and-so about it.

Cursed secret
- Whenever he shows his powers to a mortal on purpose, they always seem to end up dead. He's lost two casual girlfriends and a good friend this way (because having wings is too cool not to show off sometimes).



-----------------Powers-----------------

[-2] Inhuman Speed
[-2] Inhuman Recovery

[+1] Human Form - affecting:
[-1]Wings
[-2] upgrade to Supernatural speed
[-2] Inhuman Toughness.
[+3] Catch - holy items.

[-5] Refresh total.

-----------------Skills-----------------

Great: Athletics, Guns
Good: Endurance, Alertness
Fair: Stealth, Deceit
Average: Presence, Resources


-----------------Background-----------------

He is the typical teen-movie jock... or at least he was before he turned 16 and his inheritance kicked in. Now he's on the path to being a dedicated servant of heaven, fighting evil and protecting the innocent; he loves the powers that he's got but he's not so good at handling responsibility and he'd prefers playing hard to working hard. He is a naturally gifted athlete and his ridden on that all through school and he has enjoyed playing with guns, now he has to put these skills to the test in the real world.

As you can see he's a low level character but pretty effective. His speed and wings allow him to avoid taking damage and when he does he can recover quicker too (one of the benefits of a supernaturally high metabolism). His speed also means he can fight on his own terms, staying at a distance to take advantage of his Great skill at guns and further reducing the chance of his opponents hitting him.

What do you think? I wanted to make a good character at feet-in-the-water level which is much harder to do.

[CMEast]

Hey, here's a thought! (And one separate, though inspired by, my previous post, so I didn't want to edit it).

Feet-in-the-Fight-Club! It'd be interesting to put some of these characters in a tournament. Give them some tactics (grapple asap or stand back and shoot) and see which characters win the most duels

[Crion]

@wyvern: Sounds like an interesting concept there with the Scion of an Air Elemental. Some parts of it reminds me of what a friend told me of a book entitled "Ill Wind" by Rachel Caine. It was apparently suggested to him when he mentioned The Dresden Files, but it seems to have more of the teenage love twist tossed in, or perhaps closer to Laurell K. Hamilton. Something to at least look into for the idea of using the winds themselves.

@Cowboy: Gaiman is an epic idea for this kind of game. Scions of the Endless would be an interesting idea, and do open the doors to other options for anyone who has read the series.

@CMEast: Just a question: Would Holy really be the best Catch? Being a Rebel is at least a little bit different from being Fallen, especially if you are more human than Angelic. Just a thought there. And personally, I like "Destined to Fight the Dark" as a Trouble Aspect; makes more stuff capable of knocking on his door to net those Fate points, and you won't be needlessly killing other PCs in the process.

[CMEast]

Well I know what you mean Crion, normally we'd automatically assign the catch as unholy power and he certainly isn't a fallen angel. However if you think about it, it doesn't really make sense. If you are a holy warrior destined to fight against evil, surely you would be strong against evil? Wouldn't you be extra powerful against the things you are designed to fight?

On the other hand, if my character was attacked by someone wielding holy magic, it would be like a divine chastisement for not being good.

If he were an 'elemental' of holy power then he would be hurt by the opposite element. However if he's a weapon to be used against an element, that element shouldn't do extra damage to him.

Does that make sense?

I think there is logic to both perspectives, but I want him to be a demon-hunting evil-killer. I could have given him physical immunity against just unholy things but I don't think that really fits, if angels could be totally immune to demons then there'd be no demons at all.

Also, thanks for the aspect suggestion, I'll edit it now

[Crion]

Well I know what you mean Crion, normally we'd automatically assign the catch as unholy power and he certainly isn't a fallen angel. However if you think about it, it doesn't really make sense. If you are a holy warrior destined to fight against evil, surely you would be strong against evil? Wouldn't you be extra powerful against the things you are designed to fight?

On the other hand, if my character was attacked by someone wielding holy magic, it would be like a divine chastisement for not being good.

If he were an 'elemental' of holy power then he would be hurt by the opposite element. However if he's a weapon to be used against an element, that element shouldn't do extra damage to him.

Does that make sense?

I think there is logic to both perspectives, but I want him to be a demon-hunting evil-killer. I could have given him physical immunity against just unholy things but I don't think that really fits, if angels could be totally immune to demons then there'd be no demons at all.

Also, thanks for the aspect suggestion, I'll edit it now

Actually, you are correct that it does make sense, and I can appreciate it a bit more in that regard. The concept of Divine Chastisement completely went over my head when I was looking at it, and I can respect the idea, especially if he is out hunting the darker powers (as your new Aspect involves).

So, did you leave two Aspects open for Guest starring scenarios, or just ran out of ideas at the moment? And do you see him potentially advancing into acquiring Soulfire or Hellfire?
Just curious is all.

[Ophidimancer]

How's this for a kinda Scion of Ishtar?

Name:  Jasim "Jay" Bashir
High Concept: Teenage Reincarnation of an Emissary of Ishtar
I think I want to go with Emissary of Power, but I might just stick to Minor Talent.
Trouble: There's an Ancient Sex Priestess In My Head!!!

Background:  Jasim comes from a Muslim family living in America and, although he was raised in a pretty devout household, he tends to just want to live the American Dream of being a popular high school jock.  As the captain of the soccer team he enjoys the perks of being in the in crowd, despite the fact that he has lost touch with his heritage.  Little does he know that it will bite him in the ass, because both sides of his family are very distantly related to an ancient bloodline of Babylonian priests.  He's lately begun to have disturbingly vivid dreams of ancient times and places.  More embarrassing for him, he's also having wet dreams about men.
Aspect: All-American Muslim Boy

Rising Conflict:  In the middle of his gay crisis, the last thing Jay expects is for a four thousand year old priestess of Ishtar to wake up inside him.  Things get really weird as he starts casting ancient spells unconsciously and some strange woman begins talking to him in his dreams.  He tries to bury the stress of both of these things by being aggressively normal, throwing himself into sports, school, and maintaining his popularity.  The camaraderie he shares with his teammates is a large source of comfort for him.
Aspect: I Just Want To Be Normal

The Story:  Now fully awake, Jay's co-pilot who I have yet to name, has begun to make a nuisance of herself.  She's headstrong, willful, and has magic to boot.  She has the annoying habit of giving Jay unwanted advice and then taking over his body when he doesn't take the advice.  She's kind of a diva in that she was accustomed to being obeyed, had beautiful clothes, beautiful men, and the attention of a goddess.  It's difficult to get these things when you're four thousand years out of date and in the body of a teenage boy, but that doesn't stop her from trying.  This seriously complicates Jay's masculine image and threatens his popularity.  It also sends up mystic red flags that catch the attention of the White Council and shadowy enemies from the high priestess' past.  Jay leans heavily on the support of his best friend and fake girlfriend, Tasha (replaceable name), a tough no-nonsense chick with a cute cheerleader exterior.
Aspect: As a continuation of his Trouble Aspect ... And She's a High Maintenance Bitch.

I don't have a group to play this character with yet, so I'll leave the last two Aspects for later.

Skills
Great: Athletics,
Good: Endurance, Presence,
Fair: Rapport, Alertness,
Average: Fists, Driving, Deceit, Contacts, Empathy, Conviction

Powers (6 Refresh)
Wizard's Constitution (-0), Evocation (-3)

Human Form* (+1), Involuntary Change (+1)
*Beast change (-1)
*Sponsored Magic (-3)

Specializations
Evocation: Spirit (control +1), Air, Water

Item Slots
Lion Ring (+2 Power, Spirit)
Star of Ishtar Pendant (+2 Control, Spirit)

Final Refresh: 1

And his alter ego is a high priestess of the ancient Babylonian Goddess, Ishtar, name Ameena.

Skills
Great: Lore,
Good: Conviction, Discipline,
Fair: Rapport, Empathy, Presence
Average: Weapons, Deceit, Intimidation

Rotes
I'll need some time to work out the mechanics, but probably a spell to stick some sort of Glorious Radiance Aspect to herself, a stun spell in the form of a mental Grapple, a personal armor spell, and maybe a mass emotional disinhibitor spell.

[CMEast]

Actually, you are correct that it does make sense, and I can appreciate it a bit more in that regard. The concept of Divine Chastisement completely went over my head when I was looking at it, and I can respect the idea, especially if he is out hunting the darker powers (as your new Aspect involves).

So, did you leave two Aspects open for Guest starring scenarios, or just ran out of ideas at the moment? And do you see him potentially advancing into acquiring Soulfire or Hellfire?
Just curious is all.

Yeah thank you It's one of the reasons why I made him the rebellious party boy instead of some sort of pure paladin type, I'd be playing him as chaotic neutral (if we had alignment in this game).

For other aspects, I wanted to leave it open so I could tie his motivation to play in with the party. I figured I could do something with his family or friends, perhaps have one of the factions hurt or kidnap someone he cares about. Alternatively I could make him related to, admire, or simply be attracted to one of the other PCs. Finally I also wanted him to get in to mischief of some sort; a party gone wrong, breaking and entering for a prank, something like that; and I wanted to tie it in with another PC too. Perhaps he was even on the wrong side in a confrontation.

As to what powers he might develop, I thought he could eventually develop a soulfire breath weapon that comes out of his hands, using guns instead of weapons for the attack roll. Also a supernatural sense and perhaps psychometry or the sight, something to help him track down evil. Otherwise just bumping his speed and toughness up is nice

[CMEast]

Here is another one. I hadn't realised the similarities to Dexter until later so I thought hey, why not just pinch the name?

Chest-deep, 8 Refresh, 30 skill points.
Name: Dexter Dyson
Template: Scion (Air elemental)

------------Aspects-----------

High-concept: Vigilante Air Elemental
Trouble: Can't kill the memories.

Background:Traumatised by a Clown!
When he was 8, he was kidnapped by a serial-killing clown. His ordeal lasted 27 hours, most of which he spent locked in small box terrified out of his mind. When the clown finally decided to kill him he escaped, and after a small after-hours showdown in a hall of mirrors, his terror finally unlocked his potential as he turned into a cloud of gas and drifted away.
Compel - Clowns terrify him. Hates clowns.

Rising Conflict:Judge, Djinn and Executioner
Now safely at home but still trying to get over his ordeal (which will take a few years of therapy and only cause him to internalise his issues), he learns that the clown had been caught, but not before he'd tortured and killed another two boys around his age. Wracked with guilt at the thought that if he'd only done something more to stop his attacker then perhaps they'd still be alive, he gradually starts to obsess.
At the age of 16, he breaks in to the cell of the killer clown, now declared criminally insane and left to rot in an asylum, and executes him for his crimes. Unfortunately that wasn't enough anymore, there were too many serial killers talked about on TV, too many people hurting others and getting away with it. Someone had to stop them.
Compel - Killing is his solution to problems. Is basically a serial killer himself and so may run into problems with the law.

Others:
Never Stops Hunting
He's now 22 and has killed over a dozen people already, all of them killers themselves... he's pretty sure they are anyway. He travels the country on the money he has stolen from them, constantly searching for signs that will take him to the next killer.
Compel - Can't turn down a hunt. Easily distracted by signs of a killer. Rarely thinks of anything else.

Be like the wind.
He's developed his powers so that he can change into gaseous form and back whenever he wants, as well as controlling the wind itself. More than that, he tries to be silent but powerful, going where ever he likes swiftly, without being seen and leaving no trace of his presence.
Compel - Not used to working with people.

------------Powers-----------

[-3] Gaseous Form
[-2] Breath Weapon (Air)
[-2] Inhuman Speed


------------Skills-----------

Great: Athletics, Stealth, Weapons
Good: Alertness, Deceit, Investigation
Fair: Burglary, Rapport, Scholarship
Average: Endurance, Presence, Resources

What do you think? I thought it'd be nice to have an air elemental. My first thought was to give him channelling but then he's got to have a high conviction, high discipline, a decent lore for focus items etc and then he would be like other wizards. This way he's a very different character, relying on weapons (knives or something) and his breath weapon, plus lots of stealthy tricks with gaseous form. He can use breath-weapon to create manoeuvres too and he doesn't literally have to breath it, so I can see it being very useful for a variety of effects without taking any mental stress.

[Crion]

I'm not dead, I promise! I just fell off the radar for a bit. . .

@CMEast: So, is the character closer to a Jann than an air elemental (even though in some myths, they are one in the same)? Just a bit curious there.
Instead of the up-front fighters that we often see (Earth Elementals, Scions of Gods of Strength, etc), you wanted something sneakier? I can dig that.

And personally, I can see this Scion picking up something akin to a spell Elaine uses to detect subtleties in the air. . .perhaps after he's around a while, pick up a few of those tricks? ^_~

If you get a chance to play him, tell me how that goes.

[Thrythlind]

Aki Komatsu

High Concept: Half-Oni Tea Mistress
Trouble: Daddy Issues
Background Aspect: Tea is Sacred
Rising Conflict: Have to Learn All the Blends
Adventure Aspect: I'm Korean, Damn It!

First Adventure: Tea Time With The Shade

When a spirit threatens the upcoming high school graduation with slaughter and massacre, one of the graduating class sets out to stop the haunt armed only with her knowledge of tea and tea ceremony.  Can Aki succeed without alerting the wrong sorts of spirits as to who and where she is?

(Chest-Deep)
Powers:
Ritual: Tea Brewing and Ceremony (-2)
Refinement (-1)
Refinement (-1)
The Sight (-1)
Soulgaze (-0)(application of the Sight)
Wizard's Constitution (-0)

Stunts:
Lore: Occultist (Tea) (-1)
Performance: Pointed Performance (Tea Ceremony) (-1)

Skills:
Superb: Conviction
Great: Endurance, Lore
Good: Performance, Discipline
Fair: Presence, Deceit, Fists
Average: Rapport, Resources, Scholarship, Athletics, Might

(Submerged)
Powers:
Ritual: Tea Brewing and Ceremony (-2)
Refinement (-1)
Refinement (-1)
The Sight (-1)
Soulgaze (-0)(application of the Sight)
Wizard's Constitution (-0)

Stunts:
Lore: Occultist (Tea) (-1)
Performance: Pointed Performance (Tea) (-1)
Conviction: Resilient Self Image (-1)
Endurance: No Pain, No Gain (-1)

Skills:
Superb: Conviction
Great: Endurance, Lore
Good: Performance, Discipline, Might
Fair: Presence, Deceit, Fists, Rapport
Average: Resources, Scholarship, Athletics, Resources

Items:
Jade Tea Set +1 Complexity, +1 Potion Strength
Obsidian Tea Set +2 Control

4 Open Tea/Potion slots

The yokai affiliated with Japan dwell within a section of the Nevernever that is alternately called Horai or Makai.  The spirits of that place can be mischievous, lofty, wise or evil.  There are such stories as that of shape-changing tanuki who accidentally caused the death of an ox and offered his services to the farmer in repayment...only to be worked to death himself by a mortal who thought such spirits tireless.  There are shapechanging spiders that hide as humans waiting to devour their prey.  There are foxes who play tricks on mortals in order to test their virtue, and then either punish or reward them based on their performance.  It is a place as dangerous and alien as that of the faerie, as the evil and respectable yokai are not always identifiable by breed.  It is within the nature of each yokai to be either good, evil or neutral stances.  However, it is nature, not choice.

For example, a road side shrine is maintained dutifully by a particular family or village day after day, year after year, generation after generation.  The yokai connected to said shrine is likely to be benevolent due to the respect given it.  If the shrine is allowed to simply whither and become rundown and forgotten, the connected yokai might likewise simply stop caring about humanity.  If the shrine is maliciously vandalized, then the yokai becomes an evil spirit and sets about to terrorize the area.

IE, The yokai, especially the minor ones, are how they are treated.  Living metaphors for "what goes around comes around".

There are some other truths.  One can always expect Inari to be serene, fair and wise while the foxes under his/her/its rule can range from cruel and evil to benevolent and kind, but all the foxes play tricks, tricks to test, tricks to hurt, tricks to protect, but tricks none the less.  And sometimes they seem to have a different opinion of what is beneficial and what isn't.

Oni can be intelligent and cunning, or thugish and brutish, respectful or bullying, but all are ambitious.

Aki's father is no different.  Haki, an intelligent and cunning oni, he is one of many oni of the past to recognize the power inherent in a mortal's choice to play havoc with the politics of the youkai.  And so he crafted a human disguise and set to Earth in order to create a weapon.  A half-oni child to be used as a wild card in the exchanges of youkai politics and warfare.  However, his disguise slipped soon after the human woman he seduced became pregnant, as did his plans for the child.  With his disguise stripped, he had to return to yokai or risk his plan being discovered, but promised to return on the child's fourth (four representing death) birthday to claim her.

That left Ji Hyun Komatsu, the woman who bore the child, almost five years to find a way to protect her daughter.  With some help, Ji Hyun tricked the father of her child into a tea ceremony that was really a complex ritual of sorts.  Through a combination of magical teas and the ritual she bound a certain promise into Haki.  First that he could not take Aki against her will, and second, that he could not directly speak or otherwise communicate with her.

The four year old Aki herself witnessed the event...and it started her near obsession with the ritual of tea ceremony.

However, even afterwords, there have been issues with yokai acting in her father's interests.  In desperation, Aki and her mother left Japan for America, and settled far away from the Oriental districts, in hopes that Haki would have trouble sending agents to trick or tempt Aki in lands more or less ruled by other nations of the Nevernever.  The Faerie in particular.

Aki has grown up obsessively learning all that she can about the tea ceremony, both the mundane well known aspects and the more mythical and powerful recipes and ceremony variations.  She collects rituals and tea recipes where-ever she can, sometimes going to almost foolhardy lengths to collect a rare recipe for a tea that she knows doesn't even have any supernatural significance.  She doesn't particularly care: tea is tea, and she wants to learn all she can about it.

Aki, recently graduated from high school and starting college, is the waitress and brewmaster for a small tea house run by her and her mother.  They are aware that operating a Japanese Tea House makes it easier for Haki to reach them through agents, but so far they have gone undetected.