Ascensions and Transgressions: the Tales of Keris Dulmeadokht (Exalted game)
- Thread starter Aleph
- Start date
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
That ending... That Ending...
Ohhh Boy. Things are happening now folks! Also, I have a feeling of what Hermione just did got out, she'd be in serious 'Now Imprisoned' trouble at best. Which is likely to be something that seriously sets off Keris. Maybe even actually starts the break with Hell, rather than just creating fracture lines.
Of course, I think if it's discovered the Unquestionable, or at least a powerful section of them, are going to be very unhappy with Keris too...
Ohhh Boy. Things are happening now folks! Also, I have a feeling of what Hermione just did got out, she'd be in serious 'Now Imprisoned' trouble at best. Which is likely to be something that seriously sets off Keris. Maybe even actually starts the break with Hell, rather than just creating fracture lines.
Of course, I think if it's discovered the Unquestionable, or at least a powerful section of them, are going to be very unhappy with Keris too...
Yeah, my first reaction to Devah is "This guy doesn't seem nearly as evil as Keris made him sound." I'd put him in the same mold I'd but SWLIN into- a controlling, proud, and unreasonable obsessive with an all-consuming need to have things the right way. The guy I read in the story seemed to be of a lot more genuinely devout temperament than fanatical martinet I'd come to expect from Keris's references.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
He's a genocidal maniac. When used against mortals Will Crushing Force at the level he is using kills them and uses their essence to construct a simulacra that is perfectly obedient and lacks a will of its own. He's basically been going around and wiping out villages and replacing them with Stepford Wives bots, with the intention of doing that to everyone in Creation, Yu Shan, and Malfeas if possible.
This makes me curious about the potential for Ghosts or Abyssal Exalted to interfere with Devah's plans. When someone is killed with Will Crushing Force can they leave a Ghost or Exalt as an Abyssal? If either of these transformations could occur than it seems like Devah could end up facing some serious opposition from the Dead simply as a consequence of how many people he is killing.
I think that it would be absolutely fascinating to see how a Ghost interacts with the simulacra that is constructed as a result of Will Crushing Force.
I think that it would be absolutely fascinating to see how a Ghost interacts with the simulacra that is constructed as a result of Will Crushing Force.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Those simulacra would likely be excellent candidates for ghosts to possess if the power of Deveh/SWLIN was forced out of them, which could be an angle of attack for Keris - 'exorcise' them and then let the Dead use the bodies to take revenge on Deveh.
- Location
- Wingmaiden's Reach, the Near Roofs, Town
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I doubt it?
Now. While this is, strictly, ambiguously worded with regards to the circumstance you bring up ... it sort of defeats the point of the charm if you literally burn someone's soul up to excise their capacity for free will and then said soul sticks around to be upset at you?
Note also that this metaphysical death-and-replacement effect also only comes into play after, um, crushing their will; which suggests to me that even if a ghost did somehow stick around it would not really be, you know, capable of providing opposition. On account of having been reduced to zero willpower by a Pyrian social charm whose whole purpose is to excise free will and create useful, obedient drones.
EDIT:
To contribute something other than charm minutia pedantry:
I'm sure that Keris' new plan to create a sanctum for a demon lord who is starved for agency and physical presence, inside of a fully-articulated suit of magical armor, will have no side effects and lead to zero cases of Hermione working out how to seize control of said armor in order to use it as a body.
Revlid's Pyrian Charmset said:
Now. While this is, strictly, ambiguously worded with regards to the circumstance you bring up ... it sort of defeats the point of the charm if you literally burn someone's soul up to excise their capacity for free will and then said soul sticks around to be upset at you?
Note also that this metaphysical death-and-replacement effect also only comes into play after, um, crushing their will; which suggests to me that even if a ghost did somehow stick around it would not really be, you know, capable of providing opposition. On account of having been reduced to zero willpower by a Pyrian social charm whose whole purpose is to excise free will and create useful, obedient drones.
EDIT:
To contribute something other than charm minutia pedantry:
I'm sure that Keris' new plan to create a sanctum for a demon lord who is starved for agency and physical presence, inside of a fully-articulated suit of magical armor, will have no side effects and lead to zero cases of Hermione working out how to seize control of said armor in order to use it as a body.
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- Location
- U.S.
....Working As Intended then? Like, if Keris helps her do that, or even just lets her use it when she figures it out, that's a ton of points with Hermione, which is good for Keris's plans, and also good for the poor girls mental state.
Honestly, I think Hermione probably enjoyed the trip out of Malfeas not only because of her own cleverness....but because she got to interact with people who weren't bound up in either fearing her, being watchful of her, or seeing her as beneath them. She got a blank slate with Ogin and Kali, and I think she probably found it at least a little nice.
Azrael
Sakura Saber
- Location
- Throne of Heroes
In this context, to be over the top, extravagant, to go beyond, etc. Especially in terms of action or behaviour.
Put simply, Sirelmiya has capped Calesco at one romantic principle, and so given her the capacity to get over someone by falling for someone else. Oh, and this hasn't changed how easy she finds it to fall in love. It just means that her new love overwrites her old one.
Now, because Calesco is super-goth and is as much TED as Adorjan, she totally has a thing for doomed romances and epic passions that can't last. Which means she throws herself into each new romance as TRUE LOVE which lasts until she falls for someone else. And she writes overblown poetry, and perches on the tree outside singing love songs and then one day vanishes and is never seen again because she's fallen for someone else. Which will probably build her up a cult of ex-girlfriends who still remember their pale lover who vanished with the morning light.
(Also, she literally does the female vampire thing of appearing in her current girlfriend's bedroom at night, and leaving before sunrise - only being seen heavily veiled in light. And insists she always keeps the lights off)
In conclusion, much as Calesco hates the comparison, it is very noticeable that Haneyl and her are sisters.
Warpings - Wyld-tainted Land Rules
Freed From Creation's Constraints
"Man has one name, and many more than two natures. But the essential two are these: that he shall strive to impose order on chaos, and that he shall strive to take advantage of chaos… A third element of man's nature is this: that he shall not understand what he is doing."
― John Brunner , The Compleat Traveller in Black
Places washed by the wyldtide are infused by the nature of chaos, and things become not as Creation says they should be. Such effects vary radically in scale and in harm, too. There are places where cruel Fate says that nothing can survive, but kindly chaos permits life to continue – even thrive! Yet to those who dwell in the staid reaches far from Creation's borders, the tales of the wyldtide bring only horror.
Away from the Inner Sea, the touch of chaos is a fact of life. Creation is littered with wyldpools where pockets of primal chaos still survives in lessened form. Many thaumaturges entreat with these liminal places, for the potential of these places can turn lead into gold, change the minds of men, and bring crops. And there is not always a price. Sometimes men can cheat chaos, and steal for themselves a fortune or save a dying husband. Still, there is a reason so many of these tales end in tragedies. One can swim in the ocean, but strange waters have strange riptides indeed. These places have their own dangers, and that's before one gets to the wyldlife.
Such effects are also common around Fate glitches, and one of the frequent duties of Sidereals is to venture into land that's undergoing a warping to try to save who they can and remedy the glitch. Often they might wind up having to oppose beings - whether mortal, divine, elemental, wyldlife, demonic or even stranger - that has come to take advantage of the twisting of the way of the world.
These warpings are split into major and minor versions. By and large, on the wyldshore only minor warpings will be seen, save perhaps on the night of the new moon. Even in the shallows of the Wyld or a wyldpool most warpings will be minor.
Climate – Such warpings are some of the most obvious to the naked eye. A minor climate warping provides the area with a climate that is possible somewhere in Creation, but not in the local area – the most famous of these being wyld-tainted oases in the Far South. A major climate warping need not abide by such rules, and the climate can be outright supernatural – winds that carry houses, clouds of fire that rain ashes, and areas of eternal night are all possible.
The tales of the Haslanti are peculiarly neutral about the enchanted greenfields that sometimes appear in the icy wastes. Yes, they often bring doom to those who linger overlong in their pleasant warmth, but so too do they save lost travellers from certain death. No such charity is given by Western sailors, who tell dark tales of unnatural ice storms where the entire sea freezes solid in the hottest weather.
Prohibitions – A normal application of an Ability or Attribute becomes more difficult. Minor prohibitions impose an external penalty. Major prohibitions make the use inapplicable.
Woodcutters try to avoid taking lumber in the Melsa forest. Rolls to shape wood or cut down a tree with metal suffer a -2 external penalty. There are a few families who have learned the secret and use stone axes instead. Around the new moon, however, it becomes impossible to cut wood with metal – and shattered axes speak of these weird enchanted woods.
Enablings – An ability or attribute gains an otherwise-impossible or inapplicable use. Minor enablings have a limited impact on the way the world works, while major ones can radically change the laws of Creation.
In certain places of the Firewander district of Nexus, one can coax a lock to open by whispering the right words to it. Presence can be used in place of Larceny for lock-picking actions. Meanwhile, in the near wyld of the far East, there are places where any man or woman can fly just by flapping their arms and horses gallop through the sky, grazing off trees. Athletics actions can be taken to fly regardless of the flight capability of the creature.
Narrative – The area possesses a theme or genre, which distorts the natural happenings of Fate. This includes both the appearance of the landscape and events that happen therein. Minor narratives enforce small external penalties (-1 to -2) on all actions which go against the genre and provide a small dice bonus to in-theme actions (+1 to +3), or apply an Emotion to characters which costs 0wp to resist. Major narratives provide larger bonuses and penalties, apply Compulsions which cost 1wp to resist for a scene, and can even make certain actions outside of genre inapplicable (for example, willingly laying down arms in an eternal battlefield).
There is an inn in the Scavenger Lands where the fruit on the trees grow a peculiarly rainbow-tinged colour and the light through the clouds is soft and gentle. It is said that to stay in that inn brings hidden passions to the fore, like in a romantic play – and perhaps it is true. Certainly, the surrounding area has a notable number of children born with many-coloured eyes. Far less gentle is the narrative of the fortress of An Dek in the South West, where every lady granted the land has gone mad, delved in forbidden magic, and added to the terrible stone machine in the basement. Each time this happens, it grows a little more complete.
Empowerment – Beings or objects in the area display powers or capabilities they do not usually possess in Creation. This can overlap with enablings, but the divide is broadly that an empowerment is a property of the being, while an enabling is a natural 'law'. Minor empowerments have a limited impact on the being, while a major one can radically alter them.
On certain islands in the domain of the Aquamarine Emperor, cats can talk. However, these mutated beasts have no greater intellect than their mundane kin and so their words are just the desires of any normal cat. The inhabitants of these islands are entirely used to their mousers begging for food or to be let out.
South of Gem, there are places where chaos has poisoned the soil. They know these places because root vegetables squirm and wail like newborns when they dig them up. Most people leave such places, but the poor and desperate just end the suffering of the root vegetable with a quick knife cut. There may be a revenge of the tubers, for in the aftermath of a great wyldstorm last Calibration unharvested crops are growing into dumpy beings who raid farmsteads and cultivate more of their kind, seeking revenge on mankind.
"Man has one name, and many more than two natures. But the essential two are these: that he shall strive to impose order on chaos, and that he shall strive to take advantage of chaos… A third element of man's nature is this: that he shall not understand what he is doing."
― John Brunner , The Compleat Traveller in Black
Places washed by the wyldtide are infused by the nature of chaos, and things become not as Creation says they should be. Such effects vary radically in scale and in harm, too. There are places where cruel Fate says that nothing can survive, but kindly chaos permits life to continue – even thrive! Yet to those who dwell in the staid reaches far from Creation's borders, the tales of the wyldtide bring only horror.
Away from the Inner Sea, the touch of chaos is a fact of life. Creation is littered with wyldpools where pockets of primal chaos still survives in lessened form. Many thaumaturges entreat with these liminal places, for the potential of these places can turn lead into gold, change the minds of men, and bring crops. And there is not always a price. Sometimes men can cheat chaos, and steal for themselves a fortune or save a dying husband. Still, there is a reason so many of these tales end in tragedies. One can swim in the ocean, but strange waters have strange riptides indeed. These places have their own dangers, and that's before one gets to the wyldlife.
Such effects are also common around Fate glitches, and one of the frequent duties of Sidereals is to venture into land that's undergoing a warping to try to save who they can and remedy the glitch. Often they might wind up having to oppose beings - whether mortal, divine, elemental, wyldlife, demonic or even stranger - that has come to take advantage of the twisting of the way of the world.
These warpings are split into major and minor versions. By and large, on the wyldshore only minor warpings will be seen, save perhaps on the night of the new moon. Even in the shallows of the Wyld or a wyldpool most warpings will be minor.
Climate – Such warpings are some of the most obvious to the naked eye. A minor climate warping provides the area with a climate that is possible somewhere in Creation, but not in the local area – the most famous of these being wyld-tainted oases in the Far South. A major climate warping need not abide by such rules, and the climate can be outright supernatural – winds that carry houses, clouds of fire that rain ashes, and areas of eternal night are all possible.
The tales of the Haslanti are peculiarly neutral about the enchanted greenfields that sometimes appear in the icy wastes. Yes, they often bring doom to those who linger overlong in their pleasant warmth, but so too do they save lost travellers from certain death. No such charity is given by Western sailors, who tell dark tales of unnatural ice storms where the entire sea freezes solid in the hottest weather.
Prohibitions – A normal application of an Ability or Attribute becomes more difficult. Minor prohibitions impose an external penalty. Major prohibitions make the use inapplicable.
Woodcutters try to avoid taking lumber in the Melsa forest. Rolls to shape wood or cut down a tree with metal suffer a -2 external penalty. There are a few families who have learned the secret and use stone axes instead. Around the new moon, however, it becomes impossible to cut wood with metal – and shattered axes speak of these weird enchanted woods.
Enablings – An ability or attribute gains an otherwise-impossible or inapplicable use. Minor enablings have a limited impact on the way the world works, while major ones can radically change the laws of Creation.
In certain places of the Firewander district of Nexus, one can coax a lock to open by whispering the right words to it. Presence can be used in place of Larceny for lock-picking actions. Meanwhile, in the near wyld of the far East, there are places where any man or woman can fly just by flapping their arms and horses gallop through the sky, grazing off trees. Athletics actions can be taken to fly regardless of the flight capability of the creature.
Narrative – The area possesses a theme or genre, which distorts the natural happenings of Fate. This includes both the appearance of the landscape and events that happen therein. Minor narratives enforce small external penalties (-1 to -2) on all actions which go against the genre and provide a small dice bonus to in-theme actions (+1 to +3), or apply an Emotion to characters which costs 0wp to resist. Major narratives provide larger bonuses and penalties, apply Compulsions which cost 1wp to resist for a scene, and can even make certain actions outside of genre inapplicable (for example, willingly laying down arms in an eternal battlefield).
There is an inn in the Scavenger Lands where the fruit on the trees grow a peculiarly rainbow-tinged colour and the light through the clouds is soft and gentle. It is said that to stay in that inn brings hidden passions to the fore, like in a romantic play – and perhaps it is true. Certainly, the surrounding area has a notable number of children born with many-coloured eyes. Far less gentle is the narrative of the fortress of An Dek in the South West, where every lady granted the land has gone mad, delved in forbidden magic, and added to the terrible stone machine in the basement. Each time this happens, it grows a little more complete.
Empowerment – Beings or objects in the area display powers or capabilities they do not usually possess in Creation. This can overlap with enablings, but the divide is broadly that an empowerment is a property of the being, while an enabling is a natural 'law'. Minor empowerments have a limited impact on the being, while a major one can radically alter them.
On certain islands in the domain of the Aquamarine Emperor, cats can talk. However, these mutated beasts have no greater intellect than their mundane kin and so their words are just the desires of any normal cat. The inhabitants of these islands are entirely used to their mousers begging for food or to be let out.
South of Gem, there are places where chaos has poisoned the soil. They know these places because root vegetables squirm and wail like newborns when they dig them up. Most people leave such places, but the poor and desperate just end the suffering of the root vegetable with a quick knife cut. There may be a revenge of the tubers, for in the aftermath of a great wyldstorm last Calibration unharvested crops are growing into dumpy beings who raid farmsteads and cultivate more of their kind, seeking revenge on mankind.
| Location | Warpings |
| Area for a few days after a wyldtide | 1 minor |
| Wyld-polluted land, weird magical woods, exotic oasis | 1-2 minor |
| Tidal pool ruled by wyldlife | 2-3 minor, maybe a major |
| Location undergoing a Fate glitch | 1 minor for a scene, possibly recurrent |
| Cataclysmic wyldstorm | 1+ major, many minor |
Agreed, he's a murderous lunatic, just not the brand of murderous lunatic I expected. He's killing people because he genuinely thinks they'd be better off dead. I kind of expected him to be killing people because he was so obsessed with control that he'd rather have will-less zombies than anyone who might dare go against his will. The magnanimity is seriously warped, but I didn't really expect it to be there at all.
Hey, as people know, I fucking love foils as a narrative concept. Actually, we do - Aleph too.
And wouldn't you know it; one of Keris's large driving personality traits is her compassion.
(Though do remember - SWLIHN isn't a perfect logic bot no matter what she claims. She's got maxed out Virtues burning in her mind under those seemingly calm crystalline shells)
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I've always said that it's irrational to expect the world to be rational.
Well, yeah.
You don't maim yourself to damage Creation as part of a rational cost-benefit assessment.
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Keris' spite towards Deveh, and religious figures in general, really affirms me to the truth that she's an Infernal, a monster of hell dedicated to tearing down social order and imposing the will of demons.
Well, dedicated is a strong word, but she's acting on their behalf.
Having grown up with a religious background, the idea of someone who would take pleasure in deliberately breaking someone's faith for no reason other than jealousy is repugnant. Obviously Deveh is doing terrible things, but Keris doesn't hate him because of that, she hates him because he's happy in his faith. She'd be just as upset with a peaceful monk, so long as she perceived him to be happier than her.
And her hate isn't even Yozi-inspired. It's all-natural Keris, who was jealous and bitter and let those emotions seep in and become the cornerstones of her personality. Now wonder Kimbery's soul wants her so bad.
Well, dedicated is a strong word, but she's acting on their behalf.
Having grown up with a religious background, the idea of someone who would take pleasure in deliberately breaking someone's faith for no reason other than jealousy is repugnant. Obviously Deveh is doing terrible things, but Keris doesn't hate him because of that, she hates him because he's happy in his faith. She'd be just as upset with a peaceful monk, so long as she perceived him to be happier than her.
And her hate isn't even Yozi-inspired. It's all-natural Keris, who was jealous and bitter and let those emotions seep in and become the cornerstones of her personality. Now wonder Kimbery's soul wants her so bad.
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Well, she's calmed down a lot since that period of her life. Nowadays she's a lot more chill about religion and piety. She's a little uncomfortable about Sasi's devotion to the Yozis, but that's more because it's one of the ways Sasi is a deeply fucked-up person and Keris can see that. And she loved Darling Yellow's faith in her generous goddess (though admittedly that was partly because the generous goddess in question was Keris).
The best illustration of how Keris has changed as a person since she was the antagonist of a Christian morality tale about faith and atheism is probably the difference in her attitude towards Deveh and Mahshid Atrai.
With Mahshid, Keris's primary reaction was wariness. She automatically assumed that a sun-cult would be hostile to her, she was intimidated by its leader being an E10 Zenith who was higher-Enlightenment than she was, and she got decidedly pissed at Mahshid's ignorance and hypocrisy regarding the lynching of other forms of worship.
But she didn't hate her, or want to take her apart. She would probably have been happy to see the woman bopped in the face a few times, but when it came to it Keris actively blew her cover to try and rescue her, and got pretty frantic about getting her to lie down, take an antidote for the abyssal poison in her veins and treat the fist-sized hole in her chest.
Deveh, on the other hand... well, we've seen her attitude towards him. And the difference is; Deveh she has an actual reason to hate. That along with Envious Heart has pushed her into dredging up the stuff from her childhood and getting really vicious about it, because she literally regains WP from crushing his hopes and dreams and bringing him low; it feels good. Also, Mahshid at least had good intentions and was doing some good, while Deveh is literally a smug condescending priest of a patron that Keris is literally phobic of, who hollows people out from the inside and takes control of them and makes them mindless slaves to his will. Which given Keris's history... yeah, it hits Buttons.
The best illustration of how Keris has changed as a person since she was the antagonist of a Christian morality tale about faith and atheism is probably the difference in her attitude towards Deveh and Mahshid Atrai.
With Mahshid, Keris's primary reaction was wariness. She automatically assumed that a sun-cult would be hostile to her, she was intimidated by its leader being an E10 Zenith who was higher-Enlightenment than she was, and she got decidedly pissed at Mahshid's ignorance and hypocrisy regarding the lynching of other forms of worship.
But she didn't hate her, or want to take her apart. She would probably have been happy to see the woman bopped in the face a few times, but when it came to it Keris actively blew her cover to try and rescue her, and got pretty frantic about getting her to lie down, take an antidote for the abyssal poison in her veins and treat the fist-sized hole in her chest.
Deveh, on the other hand... well, we've seen her attitude towards him. And the difference is; Deveh she has an actual reason to hate. That along with Envious Heart has pushed her into dredging up the stuff from her childhood and getting really vicious about it, because she literally regains WP from crushing his hopes and dreams and bringing him low; it feels good. Also, Mahshid at least had good intentions and was doing some good, while Deveh is literally a smug condescending priest of a patron that Keris is literally phobic of, who hollows people out from the inside and takes control of them and makes them mindless slaves to his will. Which given Keris's history... yeah, it hits Buttons.
I think that's not exactly right. I mean yes she has the principle envy but If she hated all faith she wouldn't be so quick to offer to set up all the cults she does. I feel that she hates the monks faith because she feels like they lied to her. Deals with a god our an exchange you bring a prayer and it opens a lock.
When she made the deal Keris was offered food and happiness for faith and she didn't get to be happy. They offered her something she wanted more then anything else and then took it away.
It was also mentioned earlier that she considered most God's to be either corrupt or useless. In fact I think there was something about one of her demons killing and replacing a god and her response was that her demon would improve things because it actually cared about doing it's job.
Finally The Monks in Exalted are in no way considered peaceful and there job consists of killing off the little God's that she depended on and you get spite.
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A nice understated bit of character growth is how easily Keris is giving up her set of moonsilver armor for Hermione. She used to have so much trouble giving up anything that her own po would steal things from her.
I think she means to use the armor as an anchor for another one of the Sanctums, and let Hermione live in there. She would still have the armor.
I got the impression that Keris meant Hermione walking around outside of the mirror in the armor. Second Circle Demons need an anchor to stay in Creation, after all.
deadcrystal
Slaaneshi Cultist
- Location
- The Warp
Every time she shows up I hope it's the time she breaks out of her paradigm and becomes third circle.
So she wants to do to him what the Solar host did to Cecelyne?
Of course, she has yet to connect the thoughts of 'Lilunu looks a lot like Sasimana' and 'Sasimana is the Scarlet Empress's grandaughter' into the idea that 'Lilunu has something to do with the Scarlet' (Though I have no doubt Eko figured that out long ago.)
Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
I don't think that's actually a thing.
Second circles are extensions of a third circle, they are it's souls.
Disclaimer: Please note that this is my understanding of points that I remember ES and Aleph bringing up in homebrew at least months ago, and may not be accurate. On the other hand, what I am certain of is that this homebrew was brought up during a discussion of Asarnin specifically.
The thing is, on the now rare occasions a Yozi actually grows a new Third Circle, or has to replace one that's permakilled, it's possible, although less likely, for the new one to be promoted from the Second Circle and a new Second Circle formed, rather than having a new Third Circle coalesce out of nothing. The reason this is the less common version is that it's something like one in a thousand Second Circles that actually qualifies for such a promotion, which is enough that most of the Yozi don't have one.