Meta Magic: Preemptive Blast

300 OM - Requires: Elemental Blast, Ranged

Sensing an opportunity, Ebony quickly fires an elemental bolt with the same properties of one of the usual 5-second base spells (speed of an arrow, fist-sized projectile, travels in a straight line for 5 seconds before dissipating into the air, not very tiring). This could be any of the elements Ebony knows how to use (see Meta Magic: Elemental Blast), and keeps the effects of her chosen element (if any). While the only time taken for this is the time Ebony spends aiming the attack (so it could be fired instantly) it has a significant drawback: for the 5 seconds she would have spent charging the attack, her body goes on cooldown. She cannot move. She cannot speak. She cannot twist or dodge or start to use any other moves or powers during this time. All she can do is stand still, paralysed in the pose she was in while the spell was cast. Her mind is also a mess during this time, which would make any mental communication impossible for this period of time should an ally try to contact her that way (and also make her vulnerable to mental assaults). It's no more tiring to her than usually casting the spell (not very) but much more dangerous. This is because while normally casting she can simply choose to forgo finishing the spell to dodge an attack. Here, however, she doesn't have that option. Therefore, if Ebony cast this at a poor time against a smart or opportunistic opponent, she's very likely to come out of this significantly harmed.

RP Notes: The magic/body lock-up isn't intentional. Ebony doesn't realise it's going to happen in most cases. This spell is the textbook outcome of "I panicked", although the paralysis is likely to make her panic even more. Regardless of her not realising she'll get paralysed from it, she's not going to spam it because there's no incantation and incantations are cool (also, after a while she'd probably twig on the fact that quick casting paralyses her).