Vayist

By taking 1 point of essence burn as a free action, you can infuse the air yourself around with a rarified form of essence and send it flowing across the battlefield towards a particular target. Choose one target within 60 feet, creating a tie that lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier. As long as this tie is active, the targeted enemy takes a –2 penalty to all attack rolls and save DCs that do not include you as a target. Whenever a tied enemy misses you with an attack or uses an attack or ability that does not include you as a target, you recover 1 point of essence burn. This effect only triggers once per triggering action, no matter how many attacks are made as part of that action. You can have one aether tie active at a time, plus one additional aether tie for every 5 levels you possess, but each tie must be activated and paid for separately.

Whenever you attack an enemy affected your aether ties with a thrown philosophy weapon, you can choose to have that thrown weapon immediately return to your hand after the attack is resolved (shurikens only return to your hand if they aren’t destroyed as part of the attack).

In addition, you gain a dodge bonus to your armor class and a competence bonus on reflex saving throws equal to the number of aether ties you currently have in effect. These bonuses only apply against attacks made by enemies not currently affected by an aether tie.

As a vayist, you become particularly adept at using essence to become one with the air around you, manipulating it to enhance your attacks and defenses and obscure you from your enemies. You may activate one or more of the following abilities as a swift action, so long as you can pay the cumulative essence burn:

• By taking 1 point of essence burn as part of a ranged attack, you can increase the range increment of any ranged philosophy weapon you wield by 10 feet and gain a +2 competence bonus on all attack rolls. The range increment increases by an additional 10 feet at 13th and 19th level (to a maximum of an additional 30 feet).
• By taking 1 point of essence burn, you can surround yourself with a whirlwind of air that obscures you from view, protecting you as though you were affected by a blur spell.
• By taking 2 points of essence burn, you can cast mirror image as a spell-like ability using your class level as your caster level.

The duration of each of these abilities is 2 rounds. Once activated, these abilities can be sustained as a free action taken when they would expire by taking the listed amount of essence burn again.

At 7th level, you have learned to always keep your composure and your feet whenever life, or an enemy, knocks you down. By taking 1 point of essence burn, you can stand up from prone as a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. You can perform this action even when it’s not your turn.

Additionally, you can take 1 point of essence burn to reduce the damage from any fall as though it were 10 feet less per point of essence in your essence pool, regardless of whether that essence is assigned to other abilities. Essence currently unavailable due to essence burn is not counted when calculating this total.

At 10th level, you can breathe new life and energy into your companions. Once per day, you can take 5 points of essence burn to cast breath of life as spell-like ability with a caster level equal to your class level.

At 13th level your ability to disperse your essence into the air to create aether has further improved, granting you continual influence on the wind in your immediate surroundings, and allowing them a wider range of uses for your aether.

You gain the effects of alter winds as a continuous effect, using your class level as the caster level. This effect is treated as a 10-foot radius aura that surrounds you, rather than being an immobile emanation, and you can choose to suppress this aura, reactivate it, or change whether its effects on the wind speed within the aura as a swift action or as part of reinvesting your essence as a swift action.

You also gain the following abilities:

• By taking 3 points of essence burn as a swift action, you utilize your aether to empower your alter winds aura, causing it to function instead as the wind wall spell for a number of rounds equal to your class level. (Your aura automatically activates as part of using this ability.) This effect ends if you suppress your aura. Your ranged attacks, equipment, and held objects are not affected by this wind.
• By taking 3 points of essence burn as a swift action, you can use air walk on yourself as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to your class level. This ability cannot be used to affect anyone other than yourself.
• By taking 3 points of essence burn as a full-round action, you can use river of wind as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to your class level; when you use this ability, you can choose to disperse your physical form and become one with a roaring current of air, instantly teleporting yourself to any square within the ability’s area of effect. You are immune to the negative effects of this ability.

Unlike the Aether Infusion ability, each of these abilities must be activated independently.

At 16th level, you utilize your aether to turn your attack in a storm. You may take 1 point of essence burn as a full-round action to make one attack against each enemy within the first range increment of a ranged philosophy weapon you possess. If you make an attack with a thrown weapon while using this ability, the weapon returns to your grasp immediately after each attack is resolved.

At 19th level, you become as ephemeral as the aether you control, gaining the benefit of a continuous freedom of movement effect.