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Kerisgame! In which Keris rights a wrong she has committed, gains a Demonic Familiar, gets some valid training time for Moe Artist Style and accidentallys a seduction. We also learn that Keris is really bad at remembering she has a social Perfect [1], that sufficiently bishie people don't trip her "Girls over Boys" Principle [2], and that it is just about possible that Keris's views on what constitutes "short hair" have become somewhat... skewed [3].

Oh, and also I learn that I'm going to have to write her around more extremely pretty people, because it makes her dialogue fucking hilarious. :V

[1] NO KERIS JOY IN VIOLENCE APPROACH IS NOT YOUR SOCIAL PERFECT.
[2] No Keris you are never allowed near bishie relatives of the Scarlet Empress.
[3] Keris: "What do you mean, 'long'? It's only three feet from the nape of my neck to the end of my braid!"
 
I like seeing the slipshod and organic fashion in which Keris develops her soul-world. Declaring nobility in order to keep Firistu from being Haneyl's latest plaything is just the sort of hairbrained thing she'd do.

I'm curious how the "escape to and from her soul" works, though. She doesn't have the Surrender Oaths on her, so shouldn't her devas be able to freely travel between her soul and reality?
 
Peanuckle said:
I like seeing the slipshod and organic fashion in which Keris develops her soul-world. Declaring nobility in order to keep Firistu from being Haneyl's latest plaything is just the sort of hairbrained thing she'd do.

I'm curious how the "escape to and from her soul" works, though. She doesn't have the Surrender Oaths on her, so shouldn't her devas be able to freely travel between her soul and reality?
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Well, its mentioned that they have some effect since "Any (Yozi) Mythos Exultant" is a prereq for "Titanic Spawn Uncountable".

Titanic Spawn Uncountable
(snip)
The scars of the Surrender Oaths are burned into the Mythoi of the Yozis, and certain of these restrictions bind the warlock. When within Creation, the Infernal may make use of this charm no more than once per day, and may not summon a demon on a day she uses it and vice versa.
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Though it might simply be a case of skill and/or power. As an example, I believe the "Fourth Soul" has "Self-Within-Self Inversion" charm at Essence 4 (dunno how that would translate to Enlightenment).
 
Peanuckle said:
I'm curious how the "escape to and from her soul" works, though. She doesn't have the Surrender Oaths on her, so shouldn't her devas be able to freely travel between her soul and reality?
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Basically, when it comes down to it, these restrictions exist for game balance and I make up justifications (like the "yeah, there's scars of the Surrender Oaths on Mythos charms") to explain why. Infernals aren't allowed to just be able to store massive demon armies in their soul built up where no one can stop them and unleash them instantly - they have to follow the same summoning rules as everyone else.

Firisitutu is mechanically a Demonic Familiar who can, rather than escaping from Malfeas on its own, escaping from Kerissoul on its own. Likewise, Keris demons we've written up have their own release conditions, so they still exist, even if I haven't come up with a justification for the release conditions yet. To put it another way, the Infernal's soul world here is basically their own personal Hell where their inner demons live, and most of the same rules exist.
 
Indivisible said:
Glad that Keris is doing well by her children! Also, I totally checked the Keris stats Google Doc for Moe Artist style and an ~Ubuu~ principle.
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She does indeed have the Principle of "~UGUU~", but this is merely valid training time for Moe Artist Style. She hasn't actually learnt it. (Yet.)
Peanuckle said:
I like seeing the slipshod and organic fashion in which Keris develops her soul-world. Declaring nobility in order to keep Firistu from being Haneyl's latest plaything is just the sort of hairbrained thing she'd do.
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I've actually had this in mind for a while - ever since I started thinking about Krisity Quest and decided on a different political structure for how her soul works. Rather than serf-citizen-Unquestionable, it goes (beast)-citizen-noble-royal - and the difference is that every citizen has basic rights that even royalty can't ignore entirely, and growth in power comes less from vitriol exposure a'la the sublimati, and more from sponsorship and aided growth in a codified process - nobles are more powerful because they are nobles; their titles and domains come with a boost in personal puissance. Their sponsor literally Endows them with greater Enlightenment - which is why sponsorship to the nobility isn't something done lightly by a royal or another noble, and will leave the new noble with debts to their sponsor.

(You can, I imagine, see why Haneyl likes the idea so much.)
 
Aleph said:
Kerisgame! In which Keris rights a wrong she has committed, gains a Demonic Familiar, gets some valid training time for Moe Artist Style and accidentallys a seduction. We also learn that Keris is really bad at remembering she has a social Perfect [1], that sufficiently bishie people don't trip her "Girls over Boys" Principle [2], and that it is just about possible that Keris's views on what constitutes "short hair" have become somewhat... skewed [3].

Oh, and also I learn that I'm going to have to write her around more extremely pretty people, because it makes her dialogue fucking hilarious. :V

[1] NO KERIS JOY IN VIOLENCE APPROACH IS NOT YOUR SOCIAL PERFECT.
[2] No Keris you are never allowed near bishie relatives of the Scarlet Empress.
[3] Keris: "What do you mean, 'long'? It's only three feet from the nape of my neck to the end of my braid!"
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Can I just say that I loved just how quickly Haneyl went from "Mommy, look at my new pet!" to "No Keris, you can't have him!"
 
How does one go about learning Infernal Charms?

Mizuki_Stone over on SB had an Infernal SI in Worm, who learned Infernal Charms through, channeling rage?, no more meditation (reaching a sort of Zen of Wrath), and cycling his Essence/Anima? through his body/soul/self to learn by Rage Recast (an Accidentally learned Viridian Legend Exoskeleton).
Begins Learning the Charms
An Undeserving Legacy (Exalted Multicross) | Page 67

Gets the Charm
An Undeserving Legacy (Exalted Multicross) | Page 67

Earthscorpion and Aleph said that Sasi learns her charms... Like Sorcery? by studying the patterns of essence and using them to extrapolate how to perform the next charm in the tree? I think?

Could I have some examples on how the Princes of the Green Sun would learn their Charms?
 
Matthew G said:
How does one go about learning Infernal Charms?

Mizuki_Stone over on SB had an Infernal SI in Worm, who learned Infernal Charms through, channeling rage?, no more meditation (reaching a sort of Zen of Wrath), and cycling his Essence/Anima? through his body/soul/self to learn by Rage Recast (an Accidentally learned Viridian Legend Exoskeleton).
Begins Learning the Charms
An Undeserving Legacy (Exalted Multicross) | Page 67

Gets the Charm
An Undeserving Legacy (Exalted Multicross) | Page 67

Earthscorpion and Aleph said that Sasi learns her charms... Like Sorcery? by studying the patterns of essence and using them to extrapolate how to perform the next charm in the tree? I think?

Could I have some examples on how the Princes of the Green Sun would learn their Charms?
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The best way would to be combine the personality of the Prince in question with that of their circumstances and the themes of the Yozi that the charm they are trying to learn in question.

So a Infernal trying to learn Malfean toughness charms could either mediate on the invulnerability of the demon city and punch the silver sands of Cecelyne like some demented Immaculate until he abosrbs that aspect of Malfeas or she could just get shoot at enough until she toughened up, like Louise did in ES ZnT/Exalted fix.

Like wise, learning Cecelyne's survival charms is as simple as meditating on the desolation of the endless desert or by simply being lost in the middle of a Southern Desert.
 
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Matthew G said:
How does one go about learning Infernal Charms?

Mizuki_Stone over on SB had an Infernal SI in Worm, who learned Infernal Charms through, channeling rage?, no more meditation (reaching a sort of Zen of Wrath), and cycling his Essence/Anima? through his body/soul/self to learn by Rage Recast (an Accidentally learned Viridian Legend Exoskeleton).
Begins Learning the Charms
An Undeserving Legacy (Exalted Multicross) | Page 67

Gets the Charm
An Undeserving Legacy (Exalted Multicross) | Page 67

Earthscorpion and Aleph said that Sasi learns her charms... Like Sorcery? by studying the patterns of essence and using them to extrapolate how to perform the next charm in the tree? I think?

Could I have some examples on how the Princes of the Green Sun would learn their Charms?
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From what I understand, the way that Sasi is learning her Charms is more of a fluff thing than anything. But she learns her magics in something of a distant way. She learns the way the essence flows, calculates what effects will result from doing something in this or that matter, etc. Basically, a something more like a science than anything.

Mizuki's SI and Keris both have something more of an organic approach. They don't learn the precise equations or what have you behind how their magic works. They grasp the feelings and associations instead, learning in a more personal sense.
 
Aleph said:
Standard to all Exalts, incidentally, not just Infernals. Sidereals make little bubbles of Maiden-Aspected Fate, Dragonblooded put out RAW GAIAN POWAH, Abyssals drown everything under the entropic beat of the Calender and Solars just go "YO I'M IN CHARGE BITCHES SHUT UP SIT DOWN AND TAKE NOTES."
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Looking back at this, I can't help but wonder what the Lunars do?
 
Oh yeah, forgot Lunars. Yes, Witches (because we use TAW rather than canon Lunars, obviously) have a foot in all worlds, and spin themselves a cocoon of moon-madness and flux that protects them from adverse environments. Or just turn themselves into a Creature of Whatever and immunise themselves that way, depending on how they feel that day.
 
It seems as if there are actually some really interesting RP opportunities if you are portraying a Lunar that survives in Lovecraftian or similarly utterly inhuman environments by transforming into a creature that is native to that environment. How would a Lunar that lives in the Wyld, Malfeas or the Underworld be shaped by the steps taken to survive in such hostile environments?
 
Ct613hulu said:
How would a Lunar that lives in the Wyld, Malfeas or the Underworld be shaped by the steps taken to survive in such hostile environments?
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However it wants. And then it'll stop being that whenever it feels like it.

Of course the Wyld didn't break the TAW Exaltations. How could it? Wyld things were what Luna was made to chow down on. Lunars who went crazy in the Wyld did so because of their human minds being in a place which follows the Wyld's mad logic, not because of some kind of "chimerism" or suchlike.

Same for deathly things. If you put a TAW Lunar in a Monstrance, it corrupts them, turning them into a Creature of Death. That's the bog standard Creature of Death mutation that they can treat like any other mutation. No, there's no such thing as an "Abyssal Lunar" - the Abyssal Exaltation is to the Solar Exaltation as the Lunar Exaltation is to itself.
 
They can likewise slot seamlessly into the Infernal Essence of Hell by becoming Creatures of Darkness, and could even adapt themselves to the Design of Autochthonia (though they'd probably have to eat something already in it first). And of course Fate is fine with them, even if they're always sort of on the outskirts of whatever causality they inhabit.
 
EarthScorpion said:
However it wants. And then it'll stop being that whenever it feels like it.

Of course the Wyld didn't break the TAW Exaltations. How could it? Wyld things were what Luna was made to chow down on. Lunars who went crazy in the Wyld did so because of their human minds being in a place which follows the Wyld's mad logic, not because of some kind of "chimerism" or suchlike.

Same for deathly things. If you put a TAW Lunar in a Monstrance, it corrupts them, turning them into a Creature of Death. That's the bog standard Creature of Death mutation that they can treat like any other mutation. No, there's no such thing as an "Abyssal Lunar" - the Abyssal Exaltation is to the Solar Exaltation as the Lunar Exaltation is to itself.
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huh so Lunars are like the the opposite of infernals when it comes to channeling unnatural powers which are hostile to reality as we know it?
 
The way I have always viewed Charms is that its not like learning a regular skill. Or, maybe that it is but its applied to your souls not your body or mind. The Essence of the Exalted is not something that they command or regulate or control. It is something that literally reacts to their desires, often before they are even aware of it. Essence bends to the whim of the Exalt.

Think of it this way: you see a Dragonblooded moving through the woods, she never seems to misstep. Her feet always land on soft grass that muffles her tread. There always seems to be a perfect break in the underbrush for her to move past without disturbing it. The shadows cast by the canopy of leaves always seem to line up to provide her with shade. She isn't consciously looking for any of this, she isn't even consciously manipulating her environment. Yet the wood essence in the plants reacts to her nature and bows to her passage. If you pointed this out to her she would give you a strange look. This has been the way of things with her for decades of her life, she can't remember when it wasn't so. She could no more explain to you how she does this than you could explain how you breath or open the fingers of your hand.

Which isn't to say that Exalt's don't consciously improve. Essence flows within them naturally, like blood and breath and the lightning in your nerves, without their conscious need or desire and simply reacts to their intent. It's that Intent which is the real important part. An Exalt Intends to move silently and so their Essence bends itself to that task. However not all Intents are the same. Some things are easy for Essence to accomplish, some things are hard. You can Intend for your hands to be covered in glorious sunlight all your want, but unless you are a Solar that isn't going to happen.

When you first Exalt your Essence is inclined to a few very simple tricks. Excellencies, essence 1 Charms, etcetera. Think of it like water flowing down a hill. It's going to flow down by itself anyway, because that's gravity (ie, Intent) but its going to tend to carve channels and banks over time where it will pass around hard obstacles and wear away soft earth and end up moving faster down these rivers than it would if you just poured buckets from the hilltop. The process of learning Charms is carving those rivers, making it easier and faster for Essence to flow in the direction of your intent but in specific ways that are more possible.

If you've ever seen any Nasuverse/Type Moon stuff I imagine Exalted Charms are much like Magic Circuits. A type of spiritual nervous system which has been carved into the Exalt's soul structure. When an Exalt learns a new Charm he forges new pathways in this system, so that Essence will flow unconsciously in line with his Intent much easier when he needs it to. This means that learning Charms is a more conscious process than using Charms. You can think of it like muscle memory. You train and train to repeat the same motions so that when you use them they happen below the conscious level, but its not muscle or brain tissue you are training, its your soul.

As for how training occurs? It depends on the Exalt. Some focus on a certain Intent and attempt to achieve it over and over until the Essence naturally carves the required channels in your soul. Others meditate until they can see the shape of their soul and use focused Intent and willpower to etch the required channels. Still others seek out tutors and helpers who can guide them through special training regimes that are focused on creating the right kind of channels in the most efficient way possible. Sometimes Charms just naturally develop, other times it requires a deliberate effort to go against your nature to force them into your spiritual landscape.

Note that only natural charms develop naturally. You can learn Fivefold Bulwark Stance by just wanting it badly enough over time, but as a Solar you can't learn Fire Dragon Style or Sorcery without the kind of conscious effort that requires learning how to reform your soul to force Essence to move in unnatural ways. Martial Arts works like other Charms once learned because first and foremost all Exalts were designed to be Weapons and so things that weaponize them are always 'in theme' so to speak.

This is why Sorcery requires a Sacrifice. Sorcery is the ultimate unnatural method of Essence manipulation. It doesn't flow in favor of Intent, it is directed and consciously controlled using formulas or processes inherent to the world, not the Exalt. Exalted Charms were designed to be simple and flow in particular ways. Sorcery runs exactly counter to all those ways, and thus you have to basically mutilate the soul in order to get it to work at all.
 
Anyone else think that the latest Mad Max movie is perfect imagery for the Endless Desert?



Man I wish this site could handle webms. The music really makes it.
 
I may be missing something but it seems as if their is very little canon or homebrew information regarding life within the Endless Desert. This seems like a pity as it could actually be a very interesting setting as demonstrated by the above images from Mad Max. I would imagine that existence within the desert would revolve around competition for the Spawning Pits that acts as a source of both food and new recruits.
 
I imagine it's a mix between roaming scavengers/caravans journeying between oasis-es (sp?) and well-nourished strongholds ruled by higher tiers of demons who demand exorbitant prices just to stay there.

And giant sand worms.
 
Peanuckle said:
Anyone else think that the latest Mad Max movie is perfect imagery for the Endless Desert?
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It's not, actually. You'd have to retint it first. Cecelyne's sands are silver, and the sky above her is black, lit only by the dying stars of demons Orabilis has flung into the void between layers to burn for ten thousand years after they discovered secrets only the Yozis may know.

... or in other words it's the moon. Literally. It's the lunar landscape; silver-grey sand under a black sky speckled with stars.

Like many things in Malfeas, Cecelyne's appearance is an science pun. :p

(The rocking out is indeed Infernal-okay, though. As long as the Infernal is not Keris. It even comes with convenient homebrew demons!)
 
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