Path of the Dawn Oath
Contents
Path
Ziel follows the Path of the Dawn Oath, the Path of brilliant soulsmiths and scriptors. The Goldsign is green horns on the head. This Path cycles force madra, with gravity effects. Advanced artists on this Path expertly and rapidly employ runes and scripts, and are often soulsmiths.
The Path of the Dawn Oath is also the Path followed by the Dawnwing Sect, who were attacked and killed by the Stormcallers cult.
Force Madra / Gravity
Ziel simply let them grab his ankles, then Forged a ring of shining green runes around him. A moment later, force crushed the hands against the stone as though gravity had been increased. (Reaper ch 9)
Source Material
Ziel studies and learns from the ancients. In Reaper, he acknowledges this. In Ghostwater, when he met Lindon, he showed him a script tablet to study:
Ziel paced down the shelves until he found the tablet he wanted. The Script Lord, Archlord on the Path of Whispering Wind: the Creation of the Seven Principles. Ziel nodded to it. “For you. Try it.” (Ghostwater)
Techniques
The Path of the Dawn Oath has only two techniques, but the Oathsign technique is endlessly versatile. It involves Forging runes out of madra so they float in rings in midair, effectively creating scripts that have one of many different effects. The strength of the Path is its flexibility, the weakness is the precision and years of training that it required to master.
Two Main Techniques:
- Oathsign: the name of their scripting techniques in combat technique (his cornerstone technique)
- Stone Anchor: enforcer technique that binds the user to the ground and make them solid as a boulder.
Excerpt: “The Path of the Dawn Oath had only two techniques, and Ziel used them both. The Stone Anchor, his full-body Enforcer technique, ran through him like iron bars reinforcing his skeleton. It bound him to the ground, so that with stable footing he could stand as though nailed in place. But the cornerstone of his Path was the Oathsign technique. He Forged eleven green, shining runes in a circle that hung in the air in front of him. This circle hardened force aura into a solid barrier that stopped physical impacts.” (Wintersteel)
Forged Platforms, Rings, etc
These seem to be examples of the Oathsign technique?
“Ziel hopped up on discs of Forged runes.” (Reaper ch 10)
Ziel can rapidly forge advanced script-circles with green runes.
“Ziel was burning through soulfire, infusing his runes so that his script-circles lasted longer. Therefore, as the fight went on, more and more green rings surrounded his arms, legs, and hammer. With each exchange, it became clear: he was getting stronger and stronger. Until this moment, Lindon hadn’t been able to estimate how much of Ziel’s former power he’d recovered. But based on the density of his madra and the strength of his soulfire, Lindon put him at the high end of Overlord or the low end of Archlord. His skill, though, would be considered impressive no matter where he was. He was Forging runes with incredible precision and operating scripts with such speed that Lindon wondered if he had a mind-spirit like Dross.” (Reaper, ch 19)
See more details on Ziel’s page and see Soulsmithing