Grand Thane

Grand Thane
Umbrella term	Kai Grand Master
Discipline bonuses	Grand Master series Deliverance Assimilance Kai-surge Grand Nexus Telegnosis Magi-magic New Order series Grand Weaponmastery Animal Mastery Assimilance Kai-surge Kai-screen Grand Nexus Telegnosis Magi-Magic Kai-alchemy
Previous rank	Sun Thane
Next rank	Grand Crown

Grand Thane is the tenth Kai Grand Master rank, and the twenty-eighth Kai rank overall, after Sun Thane.

Training

Grand Thanes reaching this rank have mastered nine Grand Master Disciplines, and New Order Grand Thanes have mastered twelve. In both cases, they have also mastered all the Magnakai and Kai Disciplines.

Improved Grand Master Disciplines

Grand Thanes have improved Grand Master Disciplines over their original, initial mastery of them. Some improvements only apply to the Grand Master series (indicated by ^[GM]), and some improvements only apply to the New Order series (indicated by ^[NOGM]).

Unlike previous levels, Grand Thane improvements differ substantially between the Grand Master and New Order series. The Grand Master improvements, however, are deferred until Grand Crown in the New Order series.

Grand Master series

These improvements apply in the New Order series at Grand Crown.

Deliverance^[GM]

Grand Thanes are able to call upon the God Kai for divine assistance should a situation warrant it. Kai cannot intervene directly, but can give signs which may help. A Grand Thane can call upon the God Kai for assistance no more than once every month. The frequency of divine audiences will increase as a Grand Master rises in rank.

Assimilance^[GM]

Grand Thanes are able to protect themselves from detection by creatures using infravision (the ability to see the heat radiating from a person or thing), or ultravision (the ability to detect objects or movement in the ultraviolet spectrum of light).

Kai-surge^[GM]

Grand Thanes are able to focus their mind-power upon inanimate breakable objects and cause them to explode violently. Any person or creature in close proximity to such an explosion risks injury from flying shrapnel.

Grand Nexus^[GM]

Grand Thanes are able to detect the location of Shadow Gates and pass freely through them without suffering any physical ill effects. The range of detection increases as a Kai Grand Master rises in rank.

Telegnosis^[GM]

Grand Thanes are able to detect the exact location of precious gems, and valuable metals such as gold, platinum, and silver, including those hidden. The range of this ability is limited at first, but increases steadily as a Kai Grand Master rises in rank.

Magi-magic^[GM]

Grand Thanes are able to use the following Old Kingdom Battle-spells:

Power Glyph

Grand Thanes can inscribe a glyph upon a door, an archway, or even upon the lid of a closed box. When it is opened, the glyph's power is released and the opener will suffer its deadly effects.

Hold Enemy

Grand Thanes are able to immobilize a single hostile creature anywhere within twenty feet of themselves. The duration of the spell is dependent upon the size and strength of the targeted creature. The range and duration of effect of this spell increase as a Grand Master rises in rank.

New Order series

Grand Weaponmastery^[NOGM]

Grand Thanes are able to draw a weapon very swiftly, or switch between a hand weapon and a bow in the blink of eye.

Animal Mastery^[NOGM]

Grand Thanes can command an animal to halt and remain motionless. Few animals can resist this command. The effects of a Grand Thane's command last approximately one minute and affect one animal.

Assimilance^[NOGM]

Grand Thanes can cause themselves and/or a group of willing creatures in the nearby proximity, to take on the appearance of inanimate objects, such as trees, rocks or bushes. Anyone affected in such a way must remain stationary for the illusion to work. The effect will be negated immediately if the Grand Thane, or any of the affected creatures, should move or be attacked. The effect lasts for approximately 10 minutes and has a range radius of 30 feet.

Kai-surge^[NOGM]

Grand Thanes can use Kai-surge to attack up to 10 enemies in psychic combat simultaneously.

Kai-screen^[NOGM]

Grand Thanes are able to absorb and transform hostile psychic energy into a positive physical effect, possibly restoring lost Endurance points while being subjected to psychic attack. The number and rate of Endurance points regained in this way varies greatly, and is dependent upon the nature of the attack and the physical condition of the Grand Thane when the attack occurs.

Grand Nexus^[NOGM]

Grand Thanes may utter the Kai Word of Power ('Kai!'), repelling and causing damage to creatures who devoutly follow any of the lesser gods and champions of Naar. The Kai Word of Power has no effect when used against non-sentient creatures or persons who have neither sworn fealty to Naar, nor acknowledged Naar as their master.

Telegnosis^[NOGM]

Grand Thanes are able to excavate earth by force of their will alone. The amount of earth, the depth of the excavation, and the speed at which the excavation occurs all increase as a Grand Thane advances in rank.

Magi-Magic^[NOGM]

Grand Thanes are able to use the following Old Kingdom spells:

Speed

Triples the speed of all normal physical movement. It lasts for approximately 5 minutes. The duration of the spell increases as a Grand Thane advances in rank.

Power Strike

When cast immediately before combat, it adds +1 Combat Skill to the Grand Thane, and +1 to every Endurance point lost by the enemy due to wounds caused by the Grand Thane. The spell ends immediately when combat is concluded. It costs a Grand Thane -3 Endurance points to use this spell.

Kai-alchemy^[NOGM]

Grand Thanes are able to use the following Brotherhood spells:

Illumination

Creates a sphere of brilliant white light that will hover in mid-air within 10 feet of the Grand Thane. It can be directed at will and lasts for up to 1 hour. It can only be cast once per day.

Bridge

Creates a solid bridge over an obstacle, or from ground level to a higher or lower location. The range of this spell is approximately 20 feet, and its duration is precisely 1 minute. The range and the duration of effect increase as a Grand Thane advances in Kai rank.

In the gamebooks

In the Grand Master series, completing five gamebooks promotes the reader to Grand Thane. The earliest this can be played as, and canonically for Lone Wolf, is Dawn of the Dragons.

In the New Order series, completing eight gamebooks promotes the reader to Grand Thane. The earliest this can be played as, and canonically for Grand Master, is The Storms of Chai.