So he basically created an Aes Sedai Warden bond between her soul and his?
Talk of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face....
Sorcerous workings can be rife with unexpected complications which do not prevent the final result but do introduce unintended side-effects, especially when dealing with high-end stuff. "Remaking someone's sorcerous initiation" is definitely high-end (whether it's even possible would be GM fiat, I suspect).
 
So my current latest flash in the pan project in Writing Exalted Fanfic can best be described as Romance of the Three Kingdoms meets Exalted meets the Mongols.

Creative disaster to hopefully follow. :V
 
(18) First of all he from his shadow created the five types of ignorance called tâmisra (Ignorance), andha-tâmisra (The concept of mortality), tama (Nescience of the self), moha (The illusion of the material/being matter), and mahâ-moha (Craving or lust)1 (19) Dissatisfied Brahmâ threw off this body of ignorance which was then seized by Yakshas and Râkshasas to serve as the darkness that is the source of hunger and thirst. (20) Controlled by that hunger and thirst they ran after him in order to eat him and cried in their affliction: 'Do not spare him!' - Bhagavata Purana (3.20.18-20)

"This is true," said YISUN fondly, "but she carries with her the most powerful mastery, which is the hunger of desire. She is the Master of Want." - Kill Six Billion Demons, Pree Aesma and the Three Masters

So, Raksha in Exalted are dumb as shit.

You may have an alternative opinion but you're wrong. They took an interesting idea that tied neatly into the historical legend of the Rakshasa and fucking ruined it because the fucking authors they got didn't understand anything that wasn't overplayed fucking faerie with fucking courts.

Jesus christ they take agg from iron.

It is some seriously dire, singularly disappointing total horseshit. If you're gonna cop out and be yet another rando using fae then don't pretend you're doing something worth the ink it's fucking printed on to lure people in.

So, yeah, Exalted's take on Raksha. Dumb bullshit, even ignoring their mechanics. But once we've recognized that, how do we fix it? You can't just tear shit down and leave a gaping hole there, after all. Unless it's the first couple chapters of Infernals. Or something similarly dire.

Well, start from the legend and adapt it to Exalted.

So, you have the Rakshasa and the Yaksha. Yaksha can be basically ignored, for our purposes they aren't meaningfully different from the Rakshasa. The term Rakshasa itself, however, has two definitions.

The first is literally 'wild men'. Ultimately this is not a particularly common use of the word, though Adivasis and, in at least one case, the Nepalese were referred to as such. That said, for our purposes it'll be useful to refer to Wyld Barbarians.

The second definition is 'demons'. It's not quite a proper translation, Rakshasa really aren't analogous to Demons in the Judeo-Christian tradition or in the hordes of Fantasy settings that have plagued the twentieth and twenty first century. Still, it's the definition we want when we're referring to Rakshasa. Consummate shapeshifters, masters of illusion, beings of superhuman strength with mastery of magic and with impossibly strong wants.

And, when talking about Rakshasa, it's the wants that are important.

Pretty much all of the legends involving or about Rakshasa revolve utterly around their wants. Surpanakha's lust for Rama and Lakshmana results in her being maimed, then results in her selling Ravana on Sita. Ravana's lust for Sita leads to a titanic war that destroys his kingdom. Hidimba's desire for human flesh leads him to eat everyone who enters his forest, while Hidimbi's lust for Bhima leads her to turn on her brother and have him killed. Ravana's desire for kingship leads him to overthrow his brother, his desire to impress Shiva leads him to pull his nerves out and play a sick Veena solo on them. Rakshasa are defined by the strength that the five illusions have on them, and consistently it is maha-moha, uncontrollable cravings and lust, that are what define their tales. Rakshasa never back down from their pursuit of what they want, save to pursue some new desire, and this holds true not merely for villainous Raksha, but also for heroic ones. Hidimbi betrays her cannibalistic sibling not because it's the right thing to do or because she's disgusted by him, but because he tells her to help him eat a hot guy.

(There are obviously exceptions but largely you can slot them into this paradigm. Kumbakharna as desiring to serve Ravana, for example, and Vibhishana very carefully controlling his desires so that he's not compelled to act on much, and as such is one of the few Raksha in Ravana's court who do not deeply want to please Ravana. The few exceptions, perhaps including Vibhishana, would fit into an expanded paradigm involving the various illusions but I'll get to that later)

In Exalted terms, they're an entire species with five conviction, randomized other virtues, and they are completely unable to suppress conviction.

Quite obviously, they weren't always like this.

So, Exalted. In the beginning you have the Wyld and jackshit else. The Primordials are things, but the Rakshasa, as we know them, aren't. What would eventually be them exists, of course, but it has not yet been cursed with the beastly idiocy that will eventually make it a Rakshasa. It doesn't want anything, it doesn't fear death, it doesn't do much at all, really, save reflect on itself. It exists in a natural, eternal state of enlightenment, incorporeal, immortal, and eternally thoughtful in the non-space of the pre-creation Wyld.

Then the Primordials fuck it all up. They create. Things exist, properly, have definition. Linear time. Direction. Needs.

Wants.

The non-thing, perhaps curious, perhaps not given a choice in the matter, takes form. A million forms. A billion forms. It cloaks itself in flesh, instantly becoming an entire species, and in an instant it forgets what it once was. Where once was an immaterial, self-content, ever-knowledgeable, atman now there are a billion stupid greedy little creatures, each wrapped in a thousand little delusions: I am. I am strong. I am wise. I am not you. We are different. I will die. I need this. I want this. This is important.

They rushed creation and her borderlands, these creatures, screaming for slaves, for worship, for food, for drink, for riches. They rushed it in their billions, running full force into the might of the Primordials, and were butchered for it. The Rakshasa, to a creature, were wiped out.

But, of course, the thing that was the Rakshasa's source, the atman, cannot die. So they returned from whence they came, became cloaked in flesh again, not as their old forms but as new beings entirely.

And, self-ignorant, they rushed into creation's borders once more and were slaughtered.

This learning period was a long, slow, brutal process. The Rakshasa that ran into creation invariably died, then simply became new, different Rakshasa, having learned less than nothing in the process. The few that didn't run into creation often died anyways, hunted by a bored primordial, or its devas, or a god, or one of the other things that lurk in the Wyld, or even other Rakshasa.

Still, over time fewer Rakshasa died diving into creation's borders. Survivors, those who found something that they wanted deep in the Wyld and pursued it long enough to miss the purge, those that were lucky enough to dodge hunts and similar threats, began to thrive and multiply. They built little empires over things they Wanted, had children, pressed newly incarnated Rakshasa into service. Yes, they would generally be wiped out, but the atrocious casualty rates of the Rakshasa Kingdoms were less than the complete annihilation that faced those who blitzed creation. So, the kingdoms survived. They didn't thrive, not in the Primordial's creation, but they survived.

Then the Primordials fell.

The new Regime were far less powerful than the Primordials. Yes, they were powerful, yes, they killed the vast majority of Rakshasa who approached creation, but they could be talked with. They had failings. They overlooked little things and made deals. Sold slaves for ingredients, for the bodies of other Rakshasa. Sure, they toppled kingdoms that got too big, sure, they killed the invasions, but they filled wants, and that's what matters. Maybe with some other power, in some other time, this would be the prelude to some sort of long-term infestation or subversion, but not with the Rakshasa. Too power hungry, too backstabbing. Where one gets her claws in, another's waiting to stab her in the back and take what she owned.

So they remain a small thing. Less so if you're sold to them, but ultimately no-one really cares about the powerless.

Then the Solars fall, the Lunars flee, the Great Contagion ruins the Shogunate. In normal circumstances this wouldn't change much for the Rakshasa. Raiding would increase massively, of course, a thousand imperialistic empires desperate to sate the wants of teeming, insatiable subjects, but the Exalted would remain too strong, and the Rakshasa too weak, for it to truly work. They would fight each other as much as they did creation, self-sabotaging in an orgy of violence the likes of which the world had not seen since the First Age.

But, ultimately, the Great Contagion came at the best possible moment for the Rakshasa, for something unique had happened to them. Kubera, a Rakshasa of immense power, who had shed many of his wants in a maniacal drive for enlightenment, left his place under a Banyan tree blessed with glorious purpose in the process. He forged the Rakshasa into one nation, demanding unity from the myriad Rajas. Many did not join him, survived assaults or were too inconvenient to reach, but most did. And for the first time in History the Rakshasa were One.

The invasion is infamous, the Kuberan March. The establishment of Aloka, and, when all seemed lost, the Ascension of the Scarlet and the death of Kubera.

Now we have Raksha in the modern day. They've a better position than they ever have before, the infrastructure of the Shogunate is gone, the Realm weak and fractious, Creation fighting a thousand myriad threats. But their chance, the fleeting, glorious reign of Kubera, has come and gone. Never again will the Raksha unite into the Scourge of the Gods, rampage across creation in pursuit of their insatiable wants. They're back to normal. Feuding. Fighting. Raiding. Powerful, perhaps, but always at war with each other, always attacking one another for an advantage or some bizarre obsession.

Mechanically, I'd stat Rakshasa either as Spirits with Spirit charms relating to shapeshifting, illusion, and massive strength (And no ability to dematerialize) or as Aberrant Novas. They have a distinct love of Artifacts, with many using shit they grabbed during the fall of the First Age, or their own, Raksha made inventions. Their Intimacies are all ranked in order, from most important to least. They have Compassion, Temperance, and Valor, but no Conviction. In all ways, a Rakshasa is treated as a Conviction 5 creature incapable of channeling or suppressing its conviction. Conviction trumps any other Virtue in case of a conflict, while higher ranked intimacies always trump lower ranked intimacies. A Rakshasa can, and will, instantly backstab anyone in pursuit of its wants (Though obviously it will attempt to satisfy both wants).

Of note are human servants of the Rakshasa, labelled in the core book as Wyld Barbarians. They remain as they are in canon, humans living in the Wyld. Often thralls or citizens to some Rakshasa, making up the bulk of their armies, but occasionally independent.

Player characters can expect to interact with Raksha in a variety of ways, from a constant threat at creations borders, to valuable trading partners with a variety of valuable artifacts, to allies who are fanatically loyal if you know their levers. Allying with one Raksha against another is normal, human Raksha can be a valuable tool and source of manpower, and for a Solar fearing the Hunt a Raksha ally can be a literal lifesaver.

(Also Raksha and their impossible wants are valuable exotic materials for artifact Creation.)



1 The untranslated terms provided here are, frankly, pretty difficult to translate meaningfully. They're technical terms bound deeply into the morals of Hindu Mythology and Hindu/Buddhist ideals behind enlightenment and the soul. I've provided an idea in the parantheses above, but they're not going to be 100% accurate.

Imma steal this.
 
Demesne Week Continues with Day 4 (I know this is technically Friday but).


Lake of Misty Blades
Water-Aspected Demesne 3

Nestled in soft hills and thick forests of oak and pine is a hidden lake shrouded by pleasantly cool mist. The trees and grasses around the shoreline grow strong and tall, but sway elegantly during storms, bending and never breaking. The rare yew tree found in the area offers wonderful wood for crafting bows.

The lake itself is placid, home to plentiful fish that are colored so finely as to disappear in motion. Nestled among the reeds and aquatic plants are the gleaming edges of swords. Hundreds- thousands- an army could equip itself twice over, and not one shows a hint of rust or decay, despite obviously being in the lake for years, decades. Almost every blade is is an equivalent to a swordsmith's singular lifetime masterwork, and these are the failures. A careless fish sometimes slices themselves perfectly down the center, carried with the current. Diving birds avoid this lake for the same reason.

Lake of Misty Blades is home to a god who has secured the demesne against all pursuers for centuries. Her name is Temper the Fold, master swordsmith and well-known recluse in the divine sphere. She discovered the demesne and holds onto it with a rigid determination, because she knows if an Exalt were to commission a manse upon her sanctum-workshop, she would have no legal say in the matter.

The Essence token of this demesne is the lake water itself, though it can only be harvested or utilized under specific conditions. When the moon is out and the lake is mirror-flat and glassy smooth, one can painstakingly draw water from the lake with a hollowed reed, bare cupfuls at a time.

This water is the secret joy of Temper, for she has collected small urns full for use in her great crafts. When used to quench hot metal, the water instantly and harmlessly cools it, from tip to tang without flaw or crack. Such is the perfecting nature of the water, that even if only a tiny chip is flawless, the rest of the blade will cool to match that superior element. No blade or armor she has forged in this demesne has shown a weakness.

To protect her prized workshop, the god often gifts her lesser masterworks to wandering mortal heroes and neighboring kings, extracting promises of protection against covetous Exalted. She is not above binding Outcatstes or other Exalted to her cause as well, so long as they clearly have no interest in her or the potent waters.

The Hidden Silver Forest
Lunar-Aspected Demesne 5

A thin ribbon of trees in the wintery, evergreen Northeast stands out starkly against the verdant hues. At the edges, bark and bough show through lightly, growing pale and boldly contrasting as one goes deeper into this expansive demesne. At the center, the trees and bush are all a thousand shades of polished mirror silver, often dusted with round, frosted beads of dew during the winter months.

An eerie place, the Silver Forest is a maze of mirrors, where shapes flicker from every surface, moving soundlessly all around. Hunters have gone mad, following desperate prey into this wild thicket. Those who give up have a wild tale to tell at the lodges and taverns, while those who stay join the hunt eternal. There are many lessons to learn in this place, but staying too long in the demesne- days, weeks - gives oneself over to the forest of mirrors.

All mortal things that live too long off the land eventually become creatures of reflection and forest shadow. The silver forest unfolds infinitely into a stalking ground of mirrors, where prey and predator, mortal hunter and prized game pursue each other endlessly. Those who partake of this eternal hunt need no food, water or rest, and are only visible to outsiders as reflections in the polished surfaces of the trees and leaves.

Catching any such reflected game- or even a former hunter, is a prize worthy of legend and incredibly useful for enchantment or artifice. Imaginable hare's pelt made of mirror-fur, or wood planks that can be polished glassy smooth. The actual Essence Token of this demesne is none other than the moon's own light, caught in frozen dew at the stroke of midnight. A drop might cure or inflict a thousand insanities, and short of the consumptive chaos of the Wyld, there is no truer expression of myriad potential.

A particular Elder Lunar maintains a hold on this demesne, using it as a training camp for her disciples, or dooming her foes to wander eternal in the mirrors. All who are lost here yet remain, and while they cannot escape, they could, somehow, be released.

The Hidden Silver Forest counts as a tutor, with an effective rating of Survival 7, Awareness 7, and Stealth 7. However, spending longer than a week in the defense inflicts a mutation upon the character that makes them dependent upon its reflective ecosystem. Characters who can interact with the immaterial may hunt the reflected animal life, which are often able to provide Artifact 3-4 exotic components for artifice, in addition to the Essence Token itself.
 
The Marred Dragons
Demons of the Second Circle
Souls of the Conventicle Malfeasant

I see what you did there.

Is Keramos SWLiHN or Sacheverell? The glass themes and the shattered-ness makes me think the former, but the visions make me think the latter.

... and yeah, I'll bet healing them is hard. I'm kind of surprised Divisa's in as good shape as she is, for starters.

(... I kind of want to try writing up a hypothetical ... oh, what's it called. Heaven's Reach Shard Lilunu. As contrast.)
 
One for each of the Yozis that's opened their Charmsets in Kerisgame. The core five, Kimbery, Isidoros and Metagaos.
Kind of surprised Szoreny hasn't yet, if Isidoros has.

Then again, maybe he hasn't progessed to the "alright, I'll humor him if it'll get him to shut up about it" stage of listening to Isidoros yammer on about how cool his Infernals are and how Szoreny should totally get some of his own.
 
Kind of surprised Szoreny hasn't yet, if Isidoros has.

Then again, maybe he hasn't progessed to the "alright, I'll humor him if it'll get him to shut up about it" stage of listening to Isidoros yammer on about how cool his Infernals are and how Szoreny should totally get some of his own.
Listein, when they get together to do more than just talk; Szorenzy refracts his light in mind-breaking patterns that seer the hidden truths of the Boar-That Twists the Sky and Isidoros unleashes gravitational quakes that crushes everything that isn't another Yozi into a fine paste while shacking the branches of the Forest of Reflection just so.

Y'know, kinky shit.
 
So when Keris convinced Metagos to open his charmset (I think that's what happened), Lilinu sprouted another soul?
Nah, Metagaos spoke to her through Lilunu. He'd already opened his Charmset - and may in fact only recently have done so - she was just the first Infernal he spoke to and made the pitch of "c'mon, learn my charms, you know you wanna~" to.
 
Nah, Metagaos spoke to her through Lilunu. He'd already opened his Charmset - and may in fact only recently have done so - she was just the first Infernal he spoke to and made the pitch of "c'mon, learn my charms, you know you wanna~" to.
Did he give Keris the first hit of his particular cosmic power for free? Just to keep her coming back for more?
 
Nah, Metagaos spoke to her through Lilunu. He'd already opened his Charmset - and may in fact only recently have done so - she was just the first Infernal he spoke to and made the pitch of "c'mon, learn my charms, you know you wanna~" to.
Mentor 1 Metagaos when?

Then Adorjan and him can bond over stuff! Like talking about which first age Solar was actually Keris. It'll be FUN!
 
Did he give Keris the first hit of his particular cosmic power for free? Just to keep her coming back for more?
A serious answer to a joke question, he probably did so that he could own her a way; Keris now has a piece of him influencing her, as part of her that she can never ever get rid. Do you think that Metagaos could pass up such an opportunity?
 
A serious answer to a joke question, he probably did so that he could own her a way; Keris now has a piece of him influencing her, as part of her that she can never ever get rid. Do you think that Metagaos could pass up such an opportunity?
Yup, pretty much. Like @Revlid said, it's an infection vector that they can never, ever defend against. And just look at Keris! She's a little Seedling of the All-Hunger Blossom now; she's taken seven of his Charms and is hungrily eyeing another pair - terraforming ones to boot (Haneyl is also hungrily eyeing them).
 
So, how would you run One Piece in Exalted?

Do you even have to change anything outside of throwing in Solars and the Yozi?
You set the game in the west, make liberal use of the spirit rules, and make the ships sturdier than triremes oh my god have we told you about how much most of this thread hates triremes and


Sorry about that. Make sure you update the ships and you should be good.

Craft (Courtesan) + CNNT = sex on the beach without any discomfort (or anywhere else without a bed/walls/rope/MaidenTea/etc.). That falls under Performance in 3e, right?
Did you mean Thousandfold Courtesan Calculations+Hyperdexterous Tentacle Apparatus?
 
Jesus christ they take agg from iron.
I can't Like this post enough, but I thought I'd pick this out for particular comment:

There's no reasoning given for why Raksha hate iron. They just do, because generic Eurofae do, and WoD Changelings do, so the Raksha do because faeries are faeries are faeries. There's no old story or myth or hint to explain why Raksha hate iron, they just do. This is particularly notable in a setting where there are a bunch of different super magical metals with their own powers or associations or mystical uses, all of which occupy the space of mystical metals in our folklore, and none of which are iron.

Iron isn't very special, in Exalted, it's just... iron. Super useful for a bunch of stuff, but why do raksha hate it? It can't be because they're creatures of pure shifting chaos and iron represents the solid bones of the Earth, because that's Jade. It can't be because iron has divine associations and fell from heaven and is worked with strange and mysterious practices into incredible tools, because that's Starmetal. And so on it goes.

If you really want to give them a metal they hate, why on earth would it not be silver? Silver's a potent material for use against demons and monsters of all sorts, throughout a variety of Earth cultures. It commonly represents purity and divinity, both for chemical and aesthetic reasons. And perhaps most obviously, you already have an entire faction of people who make heavy use of silver in their weapons and spend a lot of time hunting and fighting the raksha at the edge of the world. It's the sacred metal of a goddess who handles raksha like a kitten handles yarn.

Why iron?

Kind of surprised Szoreny hasn't yet, if Isidoros has.
I think we can safely put that down to Szoreny just not having a Charmset that EarthScorpion and Aleph are comfortable using.
 
Does opening their charmsets to infernal helps them in your setting @EarthScorpion or is it just the infectious nature of Metagaos that makes him "i want people to access to my powers"?
 
If you really want to give them a metal they hate, why on earth would it not be silver? Silver's a potent material for use against demons and monsters of all sorts, throughout a variety of Earth cultures. It commonly represents purity and divinity, both for chemical and aesthetic reasons. And perhaps most obviously, you already have an entire faction of people who make heavy use of silver in their weapons and spend a lot of time hunting and fighting the raksha at the edge of the world. It's the sacred metal of a goddess who handles raksha like a kitten handles yarn.
It also has some neat backhanded effects, like fitting in neatly with the Guild (in whatever form the Guild takes in your game) supposedly working off of broken remnants of the Order-Conferring Trade Pattern, because of course you want to keep large quantities of the wyldbane moving throughout Creation.
 
They just do, because generic Eurofae do, and WoD Changelings do, so the Raksha do because faeries are faeries are faeries. There's no old story or myth or hint to explain why Raksha hate iron, they just do.
Changeling does give reasons why the fae hate iron. Now, the thing about breaking contract with Iron probably doesn't work so well in Exalted, but "iron is completely boring"* could work, as would "iron is the most stable element and so an antithesis to the ever-changeing ephemeral nature of the Wyld"

*Anyone who's taken ferrous metallurgy can attest that this is utterly false. Iron alloys are fascinating, and there's a reason they've been an industrial metal for centuries.
 
I think we can safely put that down to Szoreny just not having a Charmset that EarthScorpion and Aleph are comfortable using.
Well yes, I guessed that was probably the Doylist reason. It's the Watsonian one I'm not sure of.

Also, the reason silver isn't the rakshabane metal is that if it was, Lunars would have a way in which they don't suck, which is against the core design principles of Exalted.
 

Because it represent the Elemental Pole of Earth, which is the Omphalos of Creation and the grounding of all static reality. It is the elemental pole that the raksha can not even approach, lest they suffer critical existence failure calcification. I'm almost 100% certain this is mentioned in either 1e or 2e Fair Folk. Why it was iron rather than jade that filled this role I don't know, but there you go.

And as for silver... the reason that the Guild moved to the silver standard rather than the jade standard was because silver was specifically bad for maintaining the Order Conferring Trade Pattern. The raksha encouraged its use specifically because it was useless against them.
 
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