As written, it doesn't tell you the details of how you can kill spirits - only that you can.
General Exalted Thread
As written, it doesn't tell you the details of how you can kill spirits - only that you can.
Imadaman
Has no clue, but keeps going.
- Location
- Finland
A temporary increase in Stamina, and increased effects from sleeping/resting?
Bonus roll against disease/poison?
Why? Increasing Strength Exercise is a thing, why not Better Breathing Exercise? Or Proper Flexing Technique for Dexterity?
Those would be nice.
But what that they were meant as are Breathing, REM Sleep, and Excretion.
Imadaman
Has no clue, but keeps going.
- Location
- Finland
Huh. Okay? I guess that might make some sense if you squint at it turnways? I mean, I don't get how or why but okay.
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
It's a deliberate logical extrapolation to emphasize a point. "Taken too far, this premise leads to an absurd endstate."
"Solar* Charms are techniques. A technique-Charm to improve your breathing is valid design space. Codifying the automatic process of breathing as a charm and insisting Mortals must 'learn it' is invalid design space."
It's deliberately absurd.
Carrnage
Human
- Location
- New Zealand
It seems like the kind of shit Primordials would do to the mortal races though.
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Not really. I think that's a meme now in the fandom that the Primordials were deliberately awful to everyone. They were aloof and uncaring masters, not pointlessly cruel. Part of the reason why the Ebon Dragon gets so much play from the writers is that his nature allows him to act at a comprehensible level for any other character, because he mirrors them.
The Primordials were guilty of hubris among other things, and if anything, they were dicks to the gods, who they at least acknowledged more than the ant-like mortals/structures of Creation.
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
I always liked the opening chapter of an Exalted quest set before the Incarnadine Rebellion, where the starving survivors of a once-numerous tribe of humans try to navigate through the harshness of Creation and find a new place to call home.
Why? A Primordial decided to leave Yu Shan for a spell, wandered the vast world he and his siblings had made, looked up at the shining form of Sol Invictus, and lay down for a while to soak in its radiance.
He didn't even see the tribe's tents scattered along the valley he chose to rest in. How could he - he's a being the size of three Mt. Everests stacked on top of each other, and he was looking up toward the sun at the time.
Primordials killed humans all the time, but only in the same way that we kill bacteria and other microorganisms all the time - obliviously.
Mangrove dragons
Spawned from Coastal Erosion
Wood Elemental
A mangrove dragon has a crocodilian form, though their skin is waterlogged bark and in place of feet they have roots. Some of their armoured plates naturally form the faces of children, which cry only when the dragon eats. They are creatures of tidal swamps and rivers, existing on the borders between the land and the ocean. Newly spawned mangrove dragons are a good five or six metres long, and ones which feed well can grow to ten or twenty metres in length. One cannot run from a mangrove dragon when its ire is raised, for the mud will suck you down, roots will trip you, and waterborne plants will snarl you - and the creature moves surprisingly fast on land over short distances. Then the dragon feasts.
Across the South West, it is said that mangrove dragons are those wood elementals who were banished from the land for their greed and for their malevolence. Because of this, they dwell in rivers, swamps, and around coastlines, and rapaciously devour any who cross their path. In truth this is somewhat unfair. While mangrove dragons are indeed hungry and vicious predators who hunt and kill any who intrude onto the territory they claim, this is because they are spawned when the ocean threatens the solidity of the land. They guard mangrove swamps and other barrier masses of vegetation against all intruders. Mangrove dragons especially detest water elementals and tidal gods.
Elder mangrove dragons retain their hunger and their proprietary attitude towards their swamps, but gain a sharp cunning and the capacity to delay gratification. Few tolerate the presence of other mangrove dragons, so they instead build courts of other breeds of elemental who can be intimidated by their bulk and clear willingness to devour any who cross them. In many rural isolated communities on the coastlines, villagers know to offer blood and rotten meat to the draconic lord of the swamps, and in return for sacrifices of chickens, fish, and - perhaps - the occasional outsider, the mangrove dragon will permit them to gather from its land. These princes are often fond of the music of stringed instruments, and villages that live under the dominion of one learn that it is a good idea to make sure that there is always music and prepared offerings in case the mangrove dragon shows up unannounced.
Capabilities: Mangrove dragons are associated with hunger, vegetation, swamps, and borders. Obviously they can aid in magic where the sorcerer wishes to take on some trait of theirs - or even assume their form - but their association with the preservation of demarcations means that a powerful mangrove dragon can be used to ward against scrying or teleportation, close a gate to Hell, or force back the intrusion of a shadowland. The latter trait is a reason that some in Dead-haunted lands will willingly seek out a mangrove dragon for protection, for the dragons love rotten meat above all and will come to devour any Dead walkers who rise from the grave.
Spawned from Coastal Erosion
Wood Elemental
A mangrove dragon has a crocodilian form, though their skin is waterlogged bark and in place of feet they have roots. Some of their armoured plates naturally form the faces of children, which cry only when the dragon eats. They are creatures of tidal swamps and rivers, existing on the borders between the land and the ocean. Newly spawned mangrove dragons are a good five or six metres long, and ones which feed well can grow to ten or twenty metres in length. One cannot run from a mangrove dragon when its ire is raised, for the mud will suck you down, roots will trip you, and waterborne plants will snarl you - and the creature moves surprisingly fast on land over short distances. Then the dragon feasts.
Across the South West, it is said that mangrove dragons are those wood elementals who were banished from the land for their greed and for their malevolence. Because of this, they dwell in rivers, swamps, and around coastlines, and rapaciously devour any who cross their path. In truth this is somewhat unfair. While mangrove dragons are indeed hungry and vicious predators who hunt and kill any who intrude onto the territory they claim, this is because they are spawned when the ocean threatens the solidity of the land. They guard mangrove swamps and other barrier masses of vegetation against all intruders. Mangrove dragons especially detest water elementals and tidal gods.
Elder mangrove dragons retain their hunger and their proprietary attitude towards their swamps, but gain a sharp cunning and the capacity to delay gratification. Few tolerate the presence of other mangrove dragons, so they instead build courts of other breeds of elemental who can be intimidated by their bulk and clear willingness to devour any who cross them. In many rural isolated communities on the coastlines, villagers know to offer blood and rotten meat to the draconic lord of the swamps, and in return for sacrifices of chickens, fish, and - perhaps - the occasional outsider, the mangrove dragon will permit them to gather from its land. These princes are often fond of the music of stringed instruments, and villages that live under the dominion of one learn that it is a good idea to make sure that there is always music and prepared offerings in case the mangrove dragon shows up unannounced.
Capabilities: Mangrove dragons are associated with hunger, vegetation, swamps, and borders. Obviously they can aid in magic where the sorcerer wishes to take on some trait of theirs - or even assume their form - but their association with the preservation of demarcations means that a powerful mangrove dragon can be used to ward against scrying or teleportation, close a gate to Hell, or force back the intrusion of a shadowland. The latter trait is a reason that some in Dead-haunted lands will willingly seek out a mangrove dragon for protection, for the dragons love rotten meat above all and will come to devour any Dead walkers who rise from the grave.
The following is an attempt to make the Hellscry Chakra tree more appealing, by reducing power in favour of broader applicability, and by taking inspiration from charms such as Green Sun Nimbus Flare and Invasive Exteroception Technique that improve with other charm purchases.
HELLSCRY CHAKRA
Cost: 5m ; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Infernal opens his caste mark as an imperceptible third eye upon his brow. This spiritual organ perceives the flow of demonic Essence as a garish synthetic overlay of colors and tastes.
While this charm is active, the Exalt gains the following benefits:
WAYWARD DIVINITY OVERSIGHT
Cost: — ; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Hellscry Chakra x2
Infernal Exalted understand demons better than other spirits because they are the most closely related in nature and power. However, the Primordials created the gods in the image of their aspects, so they remain understandable.
This charm permanently enhances its prerequisite, expanding it to include gods and elementals as well as demons.
A repurchase expands the Infernal's understanding of spirits to beings outside of Creation, including Creatures of Death and Creatures of the Wyld..
EPHEMERAL ABRASION CURSE
Cost: — (2m); Mins: Essence 2; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Hellscry Chakra
None may escape Cecelyne's judgement.
This charm permanently enhances its prerequisite, allowing the Infernal to attack dematerialized targets while it is active.
With an Essence 3 repurchase, the Infernal may pay 2 motes in step 10 of an attack that kills a spirit, scattering its essence across infinity and rendering its death permanent.
DEMONIC PRIMACY OF ESSENCE
Cost: — ; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Servitude, Social
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Hellscry Chakra x2
The law of Cecelyne binds the will of inferiors to their natural masters.
Whenever the Infernal makes a social attack against a spirit against which they have enhanced perception from Hellscry Chakra, the attack is considered unnatural mental influence. Furthermore, in social interactions with such spirits, the Infernal adds his Essence to his Appearance rating for determining MDV bonuses and penalties, but not for dice caps.
In campaigns not using Appearance, this charm instead gains the Messianic keyword and reduces the number of scenes to create an intimacy of Obedience, Reverence, or otherwise relating to the superiority of the Infernal to the spirit, by [Infernal's Essence + Cult – Spirit's Essence], to a minimum of one scene.
Beings capable of taking advantage of the Imperfection of the Endless Desert are not affected by this charm.
GUILT DIVINING HARUSPEX
Cost: — ; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Hellscry Chakra x2
Everyone is guilty if you look close enough.
This Charm permanently enhances its prerequisite, providing the same benefits as the Solar Charm
All Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight (Exalted, pp. 222) while it is active.
HELLSCRY CHAKRA
Cost: 5m ; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Infernal opens his caste mark as an imperceptible third eye upon his brow. This spiritual organ perceives the flow of demonic Essence as a garish synthetic overlay of colors and tastes.
While this charm is active, the Exalt gains the following benefits:
- He perceives dematerialized beings with all senses, recognizing that they are incorporeal.
- He perceives all possessing beings as a smoky anima banner enveloping their host.
WAYWARD DIVINITY OVERSIGHT
Cost: — ; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Hellscry Chakra x2
Infernal Exalted understand demons better than other spirits because they are the most closely related in nature and power. However, the Primordials created the gods in the image of their aspects, so they remain understandable.
This charm permanently enhances its prerequisite, expanding it to include gods and elementals as well as demons.
A repurchase expands the Infernal's understanding of spirits to beings outside of Creation, including Creatures of Death and Creatures of the Wyld..
EPHEMERAL ABRASION CURSE
Cost: — (2m); Mins: Essence 2; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Hellscry Chakra
None may escape Cecelyne's judgement.
This charm permanently enhances its prerequisite, allowing the Infernal to attack dematerialized targets while it is active.
With an Essence 3 repurchase, the Infernal may pay 2 motes in step 10 of an attack that kills a spirit, scattering its essence across infinity and rendering its death permanent.
DEMONIC PRIMACY OF ESSENCE
Cost: — ; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Servitude, Social
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Hellscry Chakra x2
The law of Cecelyne binds the will of inferiors to their natural masters.
Whenever the Infernal makes a social attack against a spirit against which they have enhanced perception from Hellscry Chakra, the attack is considered unnatural mental influence. Furthermore, in social interactions with such spirits, the Infernal adds his Essence to his Appearance rating for determining MDV bonuses and penalties, but not for dice caps.
In campaigns not using Appearance, this charm instead gains the Messianic keyword and reduces the number of scenes to create an intimacy of Obedience, Reverence, or otherwise relating to the superiority of the Infernal to the spirit, by [Infernal's Essence + Cult – Spirit's Essence], to a minimum of one scene.
Beings capable of taking advantage of the Imperfection of the Endless Desert are not affected by this charm.
GUILT DIVINING HARUSPEX
Cost: — ; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Hellscry Chakra x2
Everyone is guilty if you look close enough.
This Charm permanently enhances its prerequisite, providing the same benefits as the Solar Charm
All Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight (Exalted, pp. 222) while it is active.
- Location
- Singapore
How does one track people across the Wyld?
With difficulty.
The shifting nature of the Wyld can erase tracks fast, much like the shifting sands of the desert. However, the story of hunter and prey is old, old beyond measure. The Wyld recognises this story, and a skilled tracker can recognise the signs left in the various Waypoints of the Wyld that indicate where their prey has gone.
- Location
- Singapore
What if, say, a primordial was to flee into Deep Wyld?
Then you don't follow and hope it never comes back.
- Location
- Singapore
I meant autobot fleeing from 1st age creation.
Monsoon elephants
Spawned by the Dry Season
Air Elemental
In most of Creation, it is the fierce wind bears who herd clouds. However, in the South monsoon elephants instead push and pull the heavy monsoon clouds in at the end of the dry season. These elementals might be mistaken for water elementals by the ill educated, for their slate-grey thundercloud bodies are laden with moisture. They are proud creatures, and consider such things an insult if given by a peer, but they are compassionate enough to consider it the babbling of a fool if they do not respect the one misnaming them. That is just as well, for their trumpet calls are thunder, their footsteps shed rain and their tusks are savage lightning strikes.
Most monsoon elephants live for but a single season. They are spawned over the ocean, as the winds start to move feeling the presence of too much fire within the South. Fulfilling ancient vows, the monsoon elephants herd the clouds in towards land, making sure they are not permitted to wander. When the clouds are reluctant to shed their rain they trample upon them, forcing them to shed their water. When they grow tired the elephants wrap their long tails around the weather systems and start to pull. Such exertion ages them and burns through their short lives, and when the elephants reach the great burning mountains of the south they have run through their vitality. They die, and their lightning tusks fall to earth, leaving precious amber-ivory. Others are blown into the deep desert which is anathema to the humid winds that are their kin, and there they die of thirst.
A few monsoon elephants do not die - perhaps because their clouds were more obedient, or perhaps because the prayers of mortals gave them the strength to survive. These elephants are lucky enough to find ice-capped mountains where they can rest and bathe in the snow. Driven by primal urges, they drift back to the ocean as the land dries out once again, and this time they are there to lead younger monsoon elephants to safety. Elder elephants are the leaders of a herd of their kin, accompanied by lesser air and water elementals who accompany them just as birds associate with mortal elephants. As many mortals are thankful for the arrival of the monsoon rains they swiftly acquire worship and elephant-headed human forms. They are known to be benevolent by their worshippers, though in truth this is mostly because they desire to bring the rains. They care little if they cause flooding or landslides by bringing too much rain, though they cry if they bring too little. These elephant tears produce strange harvests indeed.
Capabilities: Monsoon elephants are associated with rainfall and storms, movement, and strength. A sorcerer might involve one to scourge a city with cataclysmic weather or bring rain to a parched land. They know how to channel water and though it does not come naturally to them with a sorcerer's guidance they could redirect a river or make an oasis form in a desert. Of course, the moment when the rains come is sudden and dramatic, and spells such as Thunder Wolf's Howl and The Violent Opening of Closed Portals might well be empowered by the tumultuous thunder-trumpets and terrible force of a monsoon elephant.
Spawned by the Dry Season
Air Elemental
In most of Creation, it is the fierce wind bears who herd clouds. However, in the South monsoon elephants instead push and pull the heavy monsoon clouds in at the end of the dry season. These elementals might be mistaken for water elementals by the ill educated, for their slate-grey thundercloud bodies are laden with moisture. They are proud creatures, and consider such things an insult if given by a peer, but they are compassionate enough to consider it the babbling of a fool if they do not respect the one misnaming them. That is just as well, for their trumpet calls are thunder, their footsteps shed rain and their tusks are savage lightning strikes.
Most monsoon elephants live for but a single season. They are spawned over the ocean, as the winds start to move feeling the presence of too much fire within the South. Fulfilling ancient vows, the monsoon elephants herd the clouds in towards land, making sure they are not permitted to wander. When the clouds are reluctant to shed their rain they trample upon them, forcing them to shed their water. When they grow tired the elephants wrap their long tails around the weather systems and start to pull. Such exertion ages them and burns through their short lives, and when the elephants reach the great burning mountains of the south they have run through their vitality. They die, and their lightning tusks fall to earth, leaving precious amber-ivory. Others are blown into the deep desert which is anathema to the humid winds that are their kin, and there they die of thirst.
A few monsoon elephants do not die - perhaps because their clouds were more obedient, or perhaps because the prayers of mortals gave them the strength to survive. These elephants are lucky enough to find ice-capped mountains where they can rest and bathe in the snow. Driven by primal urges, they drift back to the ocean as the land dries out once again, and this time they are there to lead younger monsoon elephants to safety. Elder elephants are the leaders of a herd of their kin, accompanied by lesser air and water elementals who accompany them just as birds associate with mortal elephants. As many mortals are thankful for the arrival of the monsoon rains they swiftly acquire worship and elephant-headed human forms. They are known to be benevolent by their worshippers, though in truth this is mostly because they desire to bring the rains. They care little if they cause flooding or landslides by bringing too much rain, though they cry if they bring too little. These elephant tears produce strange harvests indeed.
Capabilities: Monsoon elephants are associated with rainfall and storms, movement, and strength. A sorcerer might involve one to scourge a city with cataclysmic weather or bring rain to a parched land. They know how to channel water and though it does not come naturally to them with a sorcerer's guidance they could redirect a river or make an oasis form in a desert. Of course, the moment when the rains come is sudden and dramatic, and spells such as Thunder Wolf's Howl and The Violent Opening of Closed Portals might well be empowered by the tumultuous thunder-trumpets and terrible force of a monsoon elephant.
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Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
Doesn't change anything.
- Location
- Singapore
Wouldn't it?
I mean, first age, Exalted, versus one lone primordial not specced out for fighting?
What is the purpose of your line of questioning here?
- Location
- Wörms, the half continent
The deep wyld is some crazy place, and Auto-bot is either the second or third best at going through the wyld out of everything.
Autobot also went Elsewhere, anyway, not the wyld.
Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
What does fighting have to do with anything? For that matter, echoing landcollector, what is the point of this?
- Location
- Singapore
I'm writing a setting on rpg.net.
About a setting where, instead of Elsewhere, Autobot fled into the Deep Wyld to hide from the Solars, with a population of mortals and dragonblooded hiding within himself.
- Location
- Wörms, the half continent
That sounds similar to Gaia leaving for the Answer.
Also, the dragonblooded would probably die out quickly, given that they'd lose all connection to their five elements.
azoicennead
Overly-Affectionate Zombie Squad
- Pronouns
- He/They
Why would they lose any connection?
Where does it say they need a connection to a source in Creation to Exalt?
Even if they do need a source, why wouldn't their aspects just latch onto Autochthon's Poles as a new source?
- Location
- Singapore
One. Autochthon made the Poles to copy Gaia's elements. So they might not be here.
Two. Dragonblooded do not need any connection to Gaia to stay alive. Unless Solars and Lunars and sidereals need the Celestial bodies to stay alive.