[X] Night - Strike out alone, and further, performing forward reconnaissance. You will have to trust in the ability of Nio and your lieutenants to discern the proper strategies. In the meantime, you, most capable of your tribe's scouts, must find a place for the tribe to shelter, during the darkness to come. Always you have been alone, forging the path, finding the way. Though you are their chieftain, in many ways you are an outsider to your own clan. But that does not mean you will fail to protect them.
I'm not going to base my choice on the previous quest(s) version of Odyssial, he was a neat character but I prefer to put a new swing on things in iterative games. It seems absurd to try and choose a 'most powerful' out of a set of solar exaltations being given to a paragon of ability. Sure, there are significant gaps in Greatness, but if you stand two posthuman gods next to each other and tell me one has a higher powerlevel, I doubt I could pick out the winner. I just don't care if we're a little less impossibly superb than we could have been.
Heartlessness is a factor, and I like that Night has a little less. The idea that distance and isolation would make him less of a monster is neat, and I'd like to see Rihaku work with that. Furthermore, less heartlessness means greater odds of seeing something wrong with the Deliberative in the coming millenia. Of course, that ties into the next bit I like.
Superlative Perception is a big god-damned deal. Power and ability will never be lacking for Solar Odyssial, and there are an absurd number of problems in the setting which he needs to know about. Anything that improves our chances of finding out about the Great Curse is huge, an improved capacity to analyze the Primordials and (hopefully) eventually the Yozi, opportunities to see the Usurpation coming, this does some neat stuff. It's also a component of Wisdom, a stat which Exalted lacks for a reason. Being able to see problems is half of it, and it's up to us players to manage the decision making. I hope that Night will put us in a position to improve everyone's lot.
As for the other options, they're fine and dandy. Dawn would be a blast, I love how Rihaku writes determined characters and superhuman abilities, and it would suit to a T. Twilight would be amazing, the setting has so much to explore in its science-magic that I'd love to play with. My reasons for not picking Dawn are: a desire to be contrary to the thread, hope that I can get this post in before Rihaku writes a last ditch advocation for the losing option, and a mild preference not to re-tread territory more than we need to. For Twilight, I think Nio actually has good odds of attracting one, given her drive and the relatively slim population and high turnover we can look forward to in the Primordial War.
