Light-Bound

Contract Type: Light-Bound

AX.GHW.06.05.01

Choose this contract type if the lineage bargain was made with the Illuminated — beings comprehended only as light, often revered as benevolent, but no less alien and no less costly for that perception. The covenant expects. Not because it is cruel, but because it invested in this bloodline for a reason, and that reason has not gone away.

Quick Reference — Light-Bound

Lineage Element	Value / Details
Health Modifier	+1
Cultural Talent	Tactics 1D (free)
Inherited Perk 1	Energy Absorption, Radiant (Resistance: halve Radiant damage, Passive)
Inherited Perk 2	Searing Presence (remove Marked as target for 1 Turn on hit, Wit Save Threshold 2, 1× per Short Rest)
Power Access	Force or Resonance depending on Profession; Lineage-direct access recommended for covenant-acknowledging Professions
Cap Increases	None
Stat Caps	Standard (5D Attribute, 5D Talent, 3D Focus)

Light-Bound Inherited Perks

Energy Absorption, Radiant | Energy Infusion The covenant runs bright. The light that lives in the Marked's blood is the Illuminated's investment in the lineage — not natural luminescence but something that recognizes consecration, that knows the difference between darkness as an absence and darkness as a presence. The Marked's body does not burn the way it should under radiant energy. Sacred fire, blessed weapons, searing light — these register differently in the Marked's flesh, as something adjacent to their own nature rather than something opposed to it.

Effect: The Marked has Resistance to Radiant damage. When the Marked takes Radiant
        damage from any source, reduce that damage by half (round down) before
        applying to Health. This applies to all Radiant damage regardless of source
        — natural, supernatural, covenant-produced, or weapon-based.

        Stacking: Radiant Resistance from multiple sources does not stack; use the
        most favorable single application.

Activation: Passive
Scope: Self
Recovery: N/A
Genre Note: In settings where Holy or Sacred damage is a distinct category from
            standard Radiant, the GM must determine whether this perk applies.
            The recommendation is that it does — the covenant recognizes its own
            kind. Note that Shadow entities and undead typically vulnerable to
            Radiant damage will not treat the Marked's Resistance as a shared
            quality; the Resistance is personal, not a property of their attacks.

Searing Presence | Energy Infusion The covenant's presence in the Marked's blood is not subtle to things capable of perceiving it. There is a weight to a Light-Bound Marked's focused attention that registers as significance — not threat, but the recognition of something under covenant, something carrying an obligation older than the individual, something that burns if you press against it. Most people feel this as a moment of involuntary deference, a pause before action they cannot fully explain. Most things feel it as a command that wasn't spoken — a warmth that becomes pressure, becomes imperative.

Effect: When the Marked makes a successful melee attack, they may declare Searing
        Presence as a Free Action. The target makes a Wit Save (Threshold 2). On
        a failure, the target cannot willingly choose the Marked as the target of
        an attack until the end of the target's next Turn. The target may still act
        freely against other characters — the restriction applies only to deliberate
        targeting of the Marked specifically.

        This effect is available once per Short Rest. It does not require a
        separate roll — only the successful hit and the Save.

        Creatures or entities with Illuminated origin, under existing covenant
        obligations that supersede this one, or with explicit immunity to compulsion
        effects are immune to Searing Presence. Creatures with Wit 1D (Animal
        intelligence) are not immune — the warmth registers in them as instinct.

Activation: Free Action (declared after a successful hit, before damage is applied)
Scope: Touch (melee attack range)
Recovery: Short Rest
Genre Note: Searing Presence is defensive in orientation where Hollow's Gaze is
            offensive — it removes the Marked as a target for one Turn rather than
            applying a condition that impairs the target's actions broadly. In a
            party context this functions as a redirect: the target is forced to
            turn toward someone else, and the party capitalizes. Treat the
            compulsion as genuine — not something the target can muscle through.
            The Save represents resistance; failure means the warmth landed.

Design Note: If playtesting reveals Searing Presence underperforms relative to Hollow's Gaze in combat output — particularly in parties where redirecting a single target provides less value than the Frightened condition — add a secondary effect: "On a failed Save, the target also takes 1 Radiant damage." Make this call after playtesting with actual party compositions, not preemptively.

Light-Bound Power Access

Light-Bound Marked have alignment with both Force and Resonance traditions, depending on the character of the covenant. Force traditions oriented toward directed luminous energy, sacred fire, consecration, binding light — suit Marked whose covenant is active and demanding: the Illuminated expects the bloodline to act. Resonance traditions oriented toward discernment, truth, and prophecy suit Marked whose covenant is more perceptual: the Illuminated wants eyes and judgment, not a weapon.

The player's Profession choice should clarify the direction. A Marked who selects a combat-oriented Profession is likely channeling the covenant's active demands; Force access makes sense. A Marked who selects an investigative or social Profession is likely channeling its discernment; Resonance access makes sense. Both are legitimate expressions of the same Light-Bound contract.

Covenants with the Illuminated create Threshold adjustments: aligned use may grant +1 success; misaligned use may add +1 to Threshold. Both are GM calls applied sparingly at moments of clear alignment or misalignment, communicated to the player in advance. Full framework in AX.GHW.14.03 (Creditor Framework).

For Light-Bound Marked, the Order of the Warden's Flame (AX.GHW.07.06) is the catalog's primary institutional home. The Order's Warden track requires Light-Bound lineage and provides Sacred Fire at 1D with full formation support — the Order's accumulated training tradition, community infrastructure, and doctrinal framework for understanding what the covenant is and what it demands. Light-Bound Marked who develop the tradition through a different Profession, or who choose not to affiliate with the Order, develop the practice without that structure. The Order does not claim authority over unaffiliated Marked, but it has opinions about them, and those opinions range from concern to active outreach depending on the Prior in question.