Tieh Tan

In the common parlance of the Hsien, Tieh Tan is Metal Alchemy; a branch of Wu Tan that deals with the element of Metal and its correspondences.

Overview

The element of Metal includes all precious and working metals: gold, silver, iron, brass, and steel. While it's scope is rather limited compared to Water or Earth, its overwhelming use is to fashion tools, especially for war. Masters of Metal can be incredible artisans or unassailable warriors.

Metal Soul

The Metal Soul contains a person's sense of justice, honesty, and fair play. It governs Perception and Dexterity as well. Judges, vigilantes, human-rights activists, and civil-rights supporters have strong metal souls.

Listening to a metal soul reveals if one is speaking honestly (the ring of truth). Enlarging the metal soul can make a person tell the truth. Diminishing it makes it easier to lie.

Attributes

• Virtue - Lesser Yin
• Constructive Cohorts - Earth and Water
• Adversary - Fire melts Metal
• Yin Attribute - Perception
• Yang Attribute - Dexterity

Fortunes

• Color - White
• Direction - West
• Dzi Dzat - Images of coins or other metal objects; origami swords, bells, etc...
• Festivals - Martial celebrations like Pennons or craft festivals; festivals honoring Shao Hao
• Kwannon-jin - Chu-ih-yu and Tanuki get an automatic Fortune when using Tieh Tan
• Mu-jen - These figures should either be adorned with metal or destroyed with it
• Poetry - Well-crafted poems about justice, biting satire, or martial epics. Conversely, a brutally self-honest poem may do the job.
• Season - Autumn
• Sense - Hearing
• Skills - Law, Martial Arts, Melee, Crafts, Streetwise, Performance (acting, singing, instruments), etc...

I Chih

Level 1: The Prodigal Tongue

• Commune With Metal - Like other elemental objects, those of metal have limited senses and limited ways to communicate. A metal sword may be able to comment on the skill of its maker or of its wielder or whether the warrior fights fairly. A metal object one swears on could tell you if the swearer is honest. The one bonus metal objects have is that, as they are associated with hearing, they can actually recount conversations.
• Read Metal Soul - Communing with the Metal Soul of a person will tell you whether the person has spoken truthfully or whether they ignore what is just.
• Speak With Jimu-Tenno - The Alchemist can speak with Metal Spirits, provided they can be encountered.

Level 2: Command Elemental Vassals

• Summon/Dispel Tieh Shen - A Metal Alchemist may summon or dispel a spirit of metal. A Chu-ih-yu or Tanuki may command the spirit while others must bargain or sacrifice to get the spirit to do a task.
• Nurture/Diminish Metal Soul - See above for the effects of this I Chih.
• Increase/Decrease Metal Attributes / Blessing of Shaohao/Curse of Luban - The Alchemist may affect the Perception or Dexterity of the target. The Blessing of Shaohao will grant the recipient great Perception to justly judge while the Curse of Luban, the carpenter god, will make a craftsman clumsy by decreasing their Dexterity.
• Summon the Dragon Boat - Calling a Dragon Boat associated with Metal is useful when the Dragon Line it follows has been covered with a railroad or if the Dragon Nest travelled to or from is associated with Metal or Justice.

Level 3: Raiment of the Elements

• The Enfolded Object - Metal is perhaps the second most easily enfolded object and practical as well. As long as a blade is only metal it can be enfolded with little trouble. Most items, though, especially weapons, are not simply metal and often have a bone, stone, or wooden handle which makes this best for cohort effects, though coins can be easily stored. A firearm requires Earth as well for the gunpowder in the bullets. Technological devices often require facility with Fire as well, though this can be difficult because of Adversarial effects.

References

1. CtD. Land of Eight Million Dreams, p. 14, 98-99, 115-116.