Through nothingness, all is accomplished.

Description: The Storm’s Eye is a lazy, passive figure, that seems to be in the center of things, despite total inaction. By abandoning ambition, the Storm’s Eye awakens into fullness. The Storm’s Eye stumbles into the right place at the right time, and has greatness thrust upon him, or her. This concept has historically had its deepest roots in the Chinese philosophy of Taoism, which preaches that “through nothingness, all is accomplished.” Passive action, devotion to emptiness, and accepting the universe completely are the hallmarks of this Archetype.

Looking at the typical Avatar, though, one would not really see an ascended master. Powerful Avatars are often lazy slobs, doing the least they can to get by, working at do-nothing jobs or just collecting welfare. They are shiftless, but tremendously useful because of what they can accomplish from their place at the center. Their homes would be messy if they weren’t so empty; the Storm’s Eye doesn’t need much.

Being at the center of things is almost as important to this archetype as inaction. Avatars are friends, and have a huge number of casual acquaintances. They move transparently through all social circles, somehow bypassing the normal expectations of class, culture and faith. In some way, this is because the Storm’s Eye doesn’t care about these things. Instead, the Storm’s Eye merely sits in the center of a spiderweb of connections, tugging very lightly on these connections, often causing tremendous effects far away. Often, an Avatar will find some way to do very little while meeting a lot of people – he or she might become a prostitute, a counter clerk at a fast food restaurant, a drug dealer or a DMV employee. They’re also drawn toward the Internet, meeting many people without ever leaving their home.

The Storm’s Eye is similar to the Fool in that it’s directed by luck, altering things without much intention. However, the Fool is an unbalanced and active force, while the Storm’s Eye is balanced and passive. The Storm’s Eye also resembles the Messenger and the Demagogue – all of them traffic in ideas and social connections. Unlike the Demagogue or The Messenger, the Storm’s Eye keeps a persistent connection to the world without any real purpose.

Attributes: The important attributes of this Archetype are passiveness and centrality. The Storm’s Eye doesn’t do much. His or her life is, in fact, mostly calm and serene, almost boring. At the same time, the Storm’s Eye is richly connected to others. He or she knows people, even if casually. Tiny motions in this still pond ripple outward unmistakably. The Storm’s Eye changes the world, but is unchanged and inactive.

Taboo: You must always take the path of least resistance. The Storm’s Eye is a passive force. The Storm’s Eye is calm and nearly inactive. Taking initiative, going the extra mile, or even having serious goals is against the directives of this Archetype. Similarly, the Storm’s Eye cannot have an Obsession skill of any kind. That sort of passion and urgency is in violation of the assumptions of this Archetype.

Symbols: The center of a spider web. An empty hand, or other symbols of nothingness – a blank page, the void of space, a still pond, dust, or the number zero. Empty containers. Symbols of laziness are also applicable: the easy chair, the pillow, the fishing rod, and the television. The internet, especially in idle activities like chat rooms or multiplayer games.

Suspected Avatars in History: Lao Tzu, author of the Tao Te Ching. Ulysses S. Grant, the depressed drunkard who stumbled into winning the Civil War, then becoming the U.S. President. Typhoid Mary, who carried diseases that never affected her.

Masks: The Tao (Taoism), an un-anthropomorphized divine force of passive transformation. The chaos butterfly (Fractal Mathematics). The Norns (Norse). The Fates (Greek). Meaningless Random Chance (Atheism).

Channels

01-50% The Storm’s Eye is well-connected. With a successful roll against Avatar: The Storm’s Eye, the Storm’s Eye can reach a particular person they’ve met who belongs to a large class of people – at least a hundred thousand people worldwide. For instance, the Storm’s Eye might be looking for “a millionaire” or “a gullible gun-owner” or “a Freemason” or “a midget,” but not “a gullible gun-owning millionaire midget Freemason history professor” or “the President” or even “Joe Pedowski of Chicago, Illinois.” On a successful roll, they’ll know a person matching that description on a first name basis, and know their phone number or email address.

51-70% The Storm’s Eye isn’t affected by much. As long as the Storm’s Eye remains totally inactive, he or so can duck out of most tragedies. They won’t get drafted, hit by stray gunfire, catch a cold, get an email virus, or attract the attention of a stalker. With a successful Avatar roll, the Storm’s Eye can duck even direct harm: a gunshot will miss, a blast will fizzle, a disease will not affect them, and they’ll be missed by the blast of an explosive. While using this effect, nothing good can happen to the Storm’s Eye either – they can’t win the lottery, get healed, or even receive a gift in the mail. The only exception to all of this is a direct touch – this channel can’t protect against hand-to-hand attacks, gifts given personally, or other things involving physical contact.

71-90% The Storm’s Eye can draw upon a connection with the world, making a small action that radiates outward. The Storm’s Eye can send an object or piece of information out, and expect it to reach the right place. The Storm’s Eye puts the information, or the object, outside his or her personal control, and lets it drift out into the world. Eventually, through a series of coincidences, it will reach the desired target. For instance, the Storm’s Eye could report an anonymous tip to the police and be sure that the police chief heard it. Or the Storm’s Eye could send a warning note to a random address, and expect that, somehow, it would reach the thief who still her bicycle. Reaching many people would probably require a matched success. The amount of serendipity that can be caused by this channel depends on the success of an Avatar: The Storm’s Eye roll, and on the ambitiousness of the result – the better the roll, the faster the trip, and the more that can be accomplished. The Storm’s Eye must use a minimum of effort to send this out.

Example: Joe Nguyen, Mak Attax slacker and Avatar of the Storm’s Eye, is feeling guilty after watching a sad television show about poverty on the streets of Miami. He lives in New York, but he’d still like to help. He puts a box of Twinkies on the porch, and decides he’d like it to reach those poor kids. He makes his Avatar: The Storm’s Eye roll with a 62 – not bad. The next morning, a passing teenager notices the box and decides to steal it off Joe’s porch. He leaves it in his parent’s car, just as his father is leaving for Miami on a business trip. His hurried father brings the box with all his other things, but throws it away in his hotel when he realizes what it is. The hotel manager, though, decides that this is a waste, and gives it to charity instead.

91-98% The Avatar becomes comfortable with the void. He or she ceases aging, requires no food or water, and is unharmed by poisons and diseases. Normal forces of entropy will bypass the Storm’s Eye. The Avatar still requires sleep. In fact, the more the Storm’s Eye relies on this channel, the more sleep he or she will require. The immortal masters of this Archetype sleep for centuries at a time.