I'm interested in where power equals good so that this would be a special deconstruction point for Exalted to make.
Even in the age of Sorrows the least populous era of mankind since the dawn of the first age still has 500 million people in it. If there aren't at least 20,000 people going through the activation criteria of every exaltation type under heaven I'll eat my hat simply because of course there is people fight for causes they believe in and are right or just or valorous all the time, people are constantly breaking and entering the maneuvering and spying to further some Grand and all the time repeat Ad nauseam for every other exaltation criteria every time every exaltation chooses the pool is Thousands large at minimum so Sol has to pick or the exaltation will pick for him either way someone will be exalted he has no choice in someone will be exalted.
I don't remember what book but I do remember seeing it they do have a proximity function thats based around other Exalted that's why you always saw no matter the Edition people from the satrapys and from the Realm exalting More Than The Fringe despite The Fringe almost certainly having more scenarios for the criteria of exaltation.
Even If Molly wanted to do the Godzilla thing she literally can't we know where one exaltation is currently and vaguely know the location of another that's not Godzilla that's two particularly powerful Wizards. Never mind the fact if we don't do something with the solar it's going to escape anyway when Odin fishes it's counterpart from the sea and modifies it or doesn't and releases it for his own ends.
You don't get an exaltation for some minor thing, it has to be something legendary. Cracking a first age cypher that Dragonblood could not, forging a work of art that will inspire million for thousands of year, slicing the head off of a great beast, having your heart torn out, then choking the other to guy to death before you die. And the whole only 700 exaltation to go around, most people do their legendary thing, then nothing happens as their are zero exaltation open.
No there's only 600 to go around in second edition at least all the fated Stars are already chosen doesn't matter what they do. You get exaltation for doing a legendary thing. Intercepting a cryptographic message under heavy guard that would decide the course of a war Night caste there are thousands of polities in creation. Slay one of the Fay Nobles predating on your village Dawn Caste there are thousands of villages on the outskirts of creation because of the shrinking of creation, translate a Tome of sorcery that's written in Old realm with just a cipher for Realm then translating it into your own language and successfully enlightening yourself with it Twilight right there there are hundreds of tombs all across creation there are literally thousands of years of wreckage that could have that tome in it. On and On never mind the fact that Lunars are selecting for an even more common event trying to successfully fucking survive something dangerous (Conceptually) happening which I know I don't need to tell you the age Sorrows is full of that shit and I'm sure every age before it had some Metric of pretty goddamn dangerous going on.
We know that canonically Seal of Eight Divinities stopped Solar Exaltations from choosing residents of Autochtonia as hosts:
Indeed. Because remember - even Odin's lesser divine servitors have Intellectus for "honorable dead". Odin is one of the players I most expect to be able to game the system to get a loyal and heroic abyssal. For my own plans... Depending on how it goes, either find some WW2 heroic veteran dying of old age, and offer them a canonic choice between "pain and peace, war and lethe", or make Lydia a resonant superweapon - we know that unbound shards can be used to power magical superweapons, and Lydia is close enough, I think, to get a lot out of it.
As far as canon examples go, not really. Down to earth heroism works too.
This is an argument to go after the abyssal shard first not the solar.
Stormlight Archive, technically. Getting and improving Radiant powers requires swearing and upholding progressively harder oaths. The kind of "I will protect", "I will unite", "I will be true", etc.
Honestly, I'm not sure that the formula where you immediately lose power the moment you break morality is suitable. Because in this case, Good is the key to Power. And Not power equals good.
It's not a bad thing to be aware of. It seems some people are concerned about what Daniel may do with that information considering what almost happened before.
That works right up until it doesn't. Or you discover that you have far less control than you thought you had.
He was about to go on a dangerous test that could end in his death, transformation into a toad, or eternal wandering. Not make a deal with the fairies. This is not a bargain, it is more like a training from hell and a hero's journey all rolled into one.
He was going to do that to gain power. Bargains are another route to gain power. We've seen no indication yet that his judgement on such matters has improved since then. Therefore some people may have concerns on what he will do with that information. The position isn't hard to see.
