Justice

IX. Justice

“I do this because I love you.”

Persona-users of the Justice Arcana are a frightening group. They seem driven and callous to the point of automation. They are the Furies of the Arcana, redressing wrongs and keeping the ranks of the various Arcana pure. They are the watchers of the Arcana, making sure that none betray the secret of Persona. In addition, they consider themselves the guardians of those unAwakened few who possess the potential to wield the power of Persona in the future.

In truth Persona-users of the Justice Arcana are such staunch advocates of justice because they want to give people what they deserve. The nature of their death assures this. The Justicars died because of a desire to do what was right, to uplift their fellow man, to show a path towards true and lasting redemption.

Or so they think. Justice Cards are just as likely to fall prey to the temptations of human vengeance. They want to get even. They want an almost medieval satisfaction from the defeat of their enemies. They are tired of being used, hate those who would try to control them, and most of all, hate any who have hurt them and looks like they’re getting away with it.

The temperament makes for very proactive Servitors. More Justicars tackle problems with a fervor that rivals some Chariots, hunting down transgressors with unparalleled skill and eagerness.

While known to be fair, the truth is most Justicars trade off this expectation of fairness rather than actually be fair themselves. It all balances out in the end, they argue, and in truth, they’re right. Still, many Persona-users have found themselves at odds with the stereotype of Justice as opposed to whose justice is actually being served: theirs, or the Justice Arcana.

The Dealer of the Justice Arcana is a stern, forbidding librarian named Yukuo Karishima. She knows exactly where all her books are at any given time, and has the same gift when it comes to her Servitors. She commands them like the general of a small army, deploying her Cards into missions that serve to protect the community of Persona-users as a whole.

This does not mean she has lost her appetite for vengeance---it’s just the opposite. She has seen too many of her Servitors fall to the depravations of other supernatural forces and each loss eats at her conscience. She moves quickly and decisively to eliminate threats to the members of her Arcana and other Persona-users in general. She makes it a point to share information with other Dealers that do not put her or her own in danger.

She does however, reserve a special hatred for Simon Namarre. She believes his ascension to Dealer of the Chariot Arcana is a travesty of moral actions. She has assured him that should his ambitions extend past his bailiwick, she herself will make his need for a wheelchair true and permanent. To date, Namarre has kept his end of the bargain.

The Powers of Justice

Yukuo prefers Servitors like her: strong morals, firm beliefs, iron will. Unfortunately for her (and she knows this) her preferences are not what dictate who gets accepted by the Arcana. She’s had to accept some of the most unsavory characters she’s even known into her ranks. Still, she polices them with a steely look. Should any of them endanger her other Servitors, she will put them under the ground herself.

Justice 1: Know Potential
Roll: Wits + Numina
The scales of Justice are the best implement to know the worth of one’s character.

Exceptional Failure: The power fails utterly and cannot be used for another day.

Failure: The power fails to function.

Success: The power reveals if an unAwakened person has the power to wield Persona. If used on a Persona-user or other entity with supernatural powers, it assesses the depth and range of that being’s powers, giving him (at the Storyteller’s discretion) an accurate reading of that being’s power.

Exceptional Success: The power reveals what ability a supernatural entity is best at.

Justice 2: Prevent Perjury
Roll: Wits + Presence + Numina vs. Resolve + Numina.
Justicars are experts at weighing the truth.

Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function; everything the target says is true, even outright lies.

Failure: The power fails to function.

Success: No lie may be uttered in the presence of the Justicar. Lies are suppressed and any attempts to lie are reduced to a physical inability to speak. This power lasts for 1 minute for every Numina the character possesses.

Exceptional Successes: The power is so effective that the target can only speak the truth. In addition to this, he cannot hide the truth unless he pays a Willpower point not to speak.

Justice 3: Path of the Righteous
Roll: Wits + Presence + Numina.
Justice-users use this ability to rescue others lost in the Fog or Dark Hour.

Exceptional Failure: The power cannot be used for another day.

Failure: The power fails to function.

Success: The Persona-user can allot the time he has left in the Dark Hour or Fog to another being for the duration of up to his Justice Arcana rank. Thus if he has 5 days left in the Fog and finds someone who can only stay there for 2 days, he can subtract one day from the time he has left and give it to the person he found. The Justice-user is then left with 4 days, but his target’s time left increases to 3 days. This ability is often used to rescue those who are dangerously close to Apathy, but increases the chances of the Justice-user contracting Apathy himself.

Exceptional Success: The Justice-user does not lose any time but still allots extra time to his target.

Justice 4: Balancing Act
Roll: None, passive. 2 Numina.
Persona-users with this ability cannot be distracted from very difficult tasks. They become expert multi-taskers. Upon paying this power, they make another ability Reflexive for the rest of the scene.

Justice 5: Imbue with Purpose
Roll: Craft + Occult + Numina. 2 Numina/Rank, 2 XP per Rank.
This ability allows those of the Justice Arcana to imbue their weapons with the power of Persona.

Exceptional Failure: The power backlashes, inflicting 1 aggravated damage per Rank imbued.

Failure: The power fails to function.

Success: A weapon of the Persona-user’s choice is imbued with the power of Persona. The weapon gains the Mental Attributes of one of the Social Links of the Persona-user’s choosing, as well as the Arcana powers equal to the Rank of that Social Link. It is for all intents and purposes a sentient being that may or may not cooperate with the Justice-user depending on the current state of relations between the Justice-user and his Social Link. All Numina to feed the powers of the imbued weapon are drawn from the Justice-user, and affects his pool of Numina. The weapon falls inert when not in the hands of the Justice-user, and the Justice-user may only create one imbued weapon at a time.

Exceptional Success: As Success.