Ah, I was confused by the way you were doing the running tally of motes throughout the charm.
But then you get a total of +16 motes for 2 charm purchases. Which is underpowered compared to other essence addons. Then there's the odd way it splits the bonus between your personal and peripheral pools, which... doesn't really have a precedent. Charms expand your peripheral pool, not the personal.
Also, it's a rule that a character can only have (Essence) mote pool expanders, so you've got to take opportunity cost into account. At E4, you could grab a total of +40 peripheral motes with various charms, or you could grab this twice and two other expanders for a total of +32 peripheral and +4 personal, putting you slightly behind other characters.
So it's a really awkward way to add less motes than other charms and skirts the rules while doing so.
In that case I think it still works. The advantage of the Personal Pool is that it lets you use motes stealthily, which is both advantageous and in theme for Cytherea. It's a trade-off, comparable to how Hardened Devil-Body provides more health levels than Ox-Body Technique, but they're all at a bigger wound penalty. It might actually be more appropriate to adjust the ratio a little in favour of more Personal pool.
In that case I think it still works. The advantage of the Personal Pool is that it lets you use motes stealthily, which is both advantageous and in theme for Cytherea. It's a trade-off, comparable to how Hardened Devil-Body provides more health levels than Ox-Body Technique, but they're all at a bigger wound penalty. It might actually be more appropriate to adjust the ratio a little in favour of more Personal pool.
I had thought about the stealth bonus from the personal pool, but it's only 4 extra motes at E4 (I use E4 because it's the most relevant level; 7+ is unlikely to be seen) which doesn't go very far at all.
I'm not sure about whether or not expanding the personal pool is a good idea. I'll toss it at the General thread and see what they think (my go-to solution for uncertainty).
One thing that needs to be considered for a Yozi Charm to add motes to an Infernal's personal mote pool - Yozis, gods, demons, spirits, and other beings don't have personal or peripheral mote pools. They simply have one Essence pool to draw from and that's it. Only Exalted have two different pools, as far as I'm aware. A Yozi Charm that puts motes into the personal pool wouldn't make sense when you look at the fact that every other Yozi Charm that adds motes does so to the peripheral pool.
One thing that needs to be considered for a Yozi Charm to add motes to an Infernal's personal mote pool - Yozis, gods, demons, spirits, and other beings don't have personal or peripheral mote pools. They simply have one Essence pool to draw from and that's it. Only Exalted have two different pools, as far as I'm aware. A Yozi Charm that puts motes into the personal pool wouldn't make sense when you look at the fact that every other Yozi Charm that adds motes does so to the peripheral pool.
That's a point.
However, by the logical of Yozi not having separate pools, could make one that puts it in the Personal pool instead, because to the Yozi, there's no difference.
It's worth noting that most of the mote-pool expansions were either shifted to Overdrive (meaning they only provide motes for offensive charms) or have a very limited source of regeneration (e.g. Immanent Solar Glory). This is because your mote pool is basically your lifebar in combat. The smaller size really isn't enough to account for it being an entirely unlimited mote-pool expansion.
One of the few good Ink Monkey's ideas was to remove most Mote Pool Expanders from the game and replace them with Overdrive Charms that rewarded suboptimal combat actions in return for increased aggressive power.
So no, mote expanders are not really good charmtech.
If you want some good extra power for Cytherea give her an Overdrive Charm which fills when an ally uses a Defend Other action to protect her and that she can then expend on Charms that enhance ally actions.
In that case I think it still works. The advantage of the Personal Pool is that it lets you use motes stealthily, which is both advantageous and in theme for Cytherea. It's a trade-off, comparable to how Hardened Devil-Body provides more health levels than Ox-Body Technique, but they're all at a bigger wound penalty. It might actually be more appropriate to adjust the ratio a little in favour of more Personal pool.
That's also because a few Malfeas Charms actually get better when you're in high wound penalty, and so having a version of Ox-Body which allows you to get a higher Wound Penalty and not be in as much danger of getting one-shotted is pretty important. If you're a Malfean Infernal buying Hardened Devil Body, you probably intend for those boxes to be filled at some point.
The thing is, will any Cytherea Charms really build of the mote pool expander in a similar way? Do you have charms after that that get bonuses when used with Motes from the expander?
Initial Axiom Guidance Shintai
Cost: 20m; Mins: Essence 5; Type: Simple Keywords: Combo-Basic, Form-Type, Shaping, Blasphemy Duration: One Scene Prerequisite Charms: Skeins of a Greater Design, Life-Giver Restoration
Cytherea was once nothing more than a dream of herself, until she grew lonely and chose to Awake; defining herself into existence. It was with this initial movement that everything changed, and it is only thanks to her largesse that literally everyone and everything else has followed on.
Upon activating this Charm the Infernal redefines her very existence, so that although she has not moved, she is no longer present. Everyone else temporarily loses the concept of her existence, and may only attempt to conceive of her presence if she acts against them specifically or are alerted by an ally. Anyone who is affected by one of her actions may roll (Perception + Integrity) in order to suddenly recall her existence, and this effect does not cause her attacks to count as unexpected.
In this form, all her charms can only be Obvious if the observing individual is targetted by the ability.
Whilst in this form, there is less to distract from focusing on her designs, reducing the commitment mote cost of Instructing the Ignorant to nothing for allies so long as they remain nearby. In addition, as a Shaping Effect that costs 1wp, she can choose to reject those alterations forced on her allies that she finds abhorrent, including Derangements and Mutations, other Shaping Effects, and can also prevent mortal allies from Bleeding.
If The Green Blade Rises is activated whilst in this form, the relevant target of Beloved Child Martyrdom and any who have already noticed the Infernal's existence hear the mournful cries of a kitten, coming from a box nearby. When the box is opened in any way, the Infernal rolls a single die. If successful, the Infernal exits the box in the form of a cat and may return to their normal self at any time with the number of health levels they had before the charm was used, and with Initial Axiom Guidance Shintai deactivated. If unsuccessful, the sapling of The Green Blade Rises is revealed within.
The bit about rejecting other Shaping Effects might be too powerful, I'm not sure. I added the willpower cost to help that a bit. Looking at it now though, I'm wondering it would work better as it's own charm. I'll have another look at it in the morning.
Anyway, the basic idea of this charm is to encourage (but not force) the character into acting as a support for allies and remaining mysterious, whilst meshing with the existing charmset (which was surprisingly easy. Everything just fit really well. Almost like there was a really skilled Designer at work...)
Also, it exists in order for me to squeeze in relevant jokes about Physics and Philosophy. Remember kids, just say No to Solipsism.
I was a spoiled child. I was given personal tutors in every subject, my every whim attended too. I was taught a language so old it predates the pyramids, predates what the rest of the world knows a civilisation. It was when I was nine that I found out why I was treated such. My family tree, in all the glory it holds, is entirely Dragonbloods for Six generations back. I was, as much as such a thing could be, a 'sure exalt'. My family had staked most of it's influence on its continuing to have a unbroken line of Dragonbloods.
You can guess what happened.
I reached the age by which I should of exalted at, and my family's opinion stuttered and I was slowly sidelined from the public eye. And then my brother exalted.
In a matter of two weeks I was picked up and thrown to the metaphorical door. I was shipped off to Area 5, given a job in the bureaucracy of that small, cold, terrible island. And I did my best. Oh, god, I was an idiot then. I worked my way up the Area's government, until I came to effectively rule part of that island. And I made it flourish. I took that area and I turned it from a collection of rural towns and villages into a prospering series of Cities. The amount the Area made in a year is now, barely one and a half decades later, the amount it collects in tax in a quarter. The quality of life in that Area is almost equal to that of Britannia itself!
And then I recived a summons to the court of Charles vi Britannia. I was overjoyed. Recognition for my work. And then I arrived off the plane and was snatched away by my mother, and told I just needed to sit quietly. It was my brother's wedding to one of the minor royals that I was brought there for. What had he done? Killed some Indonesian cannibals? Helped invade another area? I had rebuilt and entire areas economy, and no one seemed to care.
After I was sent back to Area 5 it took not three months for the fucking Empoorer to use his well trained skills in nepotism and throw me out of my job in favour of one of his princes. Pah. I spent three months working out to how to take back my job, and then I failed. I stood in front of that nepotistic idiot for two minutes before politely bowing out without saying anything.
You want to know why I should have your blessing?
Becuase I will give up all of that, my memories, my loves, my hate, for a chance again.
Anima Banner: A howling red brown wind surrounds Tarana, with ethereal eyes and smiles flickering in the wind , all presided over by a laughing hat.
Motivation: To destroy all evidence of her past life
Urge: Bring Dorothea Ernst to Malfeas. (Adorjani)
Trait from the Unwoven Coadjutor: Tarana's hair rearranges itself whenever she is asleep [-0]
Charms: Adorjan First Excellency
Wind Borne Stride (x2)
Running to Forever
Murder is Meat
Unimpeded Perfection of Exertion
Gravity-Rebuking Grace
Sacred Kamilla's Inhalation
Freedom Lets Go
Thousand Typhoon Hand
This is my first time attempting to make an Infernal (or any Exalted character) so feel free to point out the many, many points I have failed, for I'm quite sure they are there.
Alright, I see nothing wrong...except Strength, which is 1. It should be at least 2, because 1 means the Attribute is below average, and in a physical Attribute it usually indicates a deficiency.
Cythrea is ever a benevolent mother, and is ever regretting the marring of Creation brought by rebellion of gods.
Upon activation of this Charm, Infernal anima flare to full iconic level and beyond, shattering material form of Internal into droplets of radiant white essence. Droplets of essence spreads enriching reality and realizing in small scale Cythrea initial design of Creation. Trees and other plants are brought to existence as saplings, that quickly spread, grow and develop into their full form. In seconds, area in radius of 50 meters / essence becomes a primordial garden.
Verdant Emerald Garden is fragment of primordial creation. It cannot be overstated. Shintai carves area from Creation, Wyld or Malfeas and literaly recreates design that was marred and twisted with uprising of Gods and defeat of Primordials. Plants that can be found within are alien to Creation as it is now, strange, and living by different rules. Animals that comes from between trees are even stranger.
The most curious element of reality of the Garden is it's effect on conceptual level. Garden is literaly reality from the dawn of time. Clear and pristine. During primordial war She Who Lives in Her Name used three of her spheres to destroy great areas of Creation. This calamity targeted not only the physical, but also very ideas, concepts. The few text remaining from Primordial age are full of odd turns of phrase. Very ideas they refer to were destroyed, and are not possible to conceptualize now. Everywhere except the verdant emerald garden.
Appearance of Garden is a thing of breathtaking beauty. Creation as it should be, unmarred, pristine and perfect. Beings permitted inside of Garden doubles speed of essence regeneration and heals that much faster.
Infernal remains conscious under the Shintai - though is incapable to be bored, nor able to feel passage of time. She can communicate with beings inside of the Garden in form of indistinct immaterial shape wrought with soft white radiance. Garden being area under design of Cythrea, remains under control of Infernal. There are several rules she can set for the Garden:
- Barr entrance (though not exit) to the garden (including immaterial beings)
- Expulse chosen being from the Garden (it somehow wanders outside)
- Prevent any and all damage to the Garden or beings within (up to level of damage able to dispel shintai itself). Prevention includes social damage.
- Allow of restrict essence respiration to beings within the Garden
Under Shintai, Infenral regenerates mote of essence per minute - excluding 20 motes commited to Shintai itself.
Verdant Emerald Garden Shintai cannot be dispelled by sorcery. Only way to destroy it is by using overwhelming area attack able to damage every plant and animal inside. Once shintai is dispelled, either voluntarily or not, Infernal reappears turn later, including all equipment. Plants and animals die and dissolves soon after dissolution of the Garden. Their death is not property of the charm itself, but simple incompatibility with current reality in Creation and Malfeas.
Interesting idea, but how would it be useful? I mean, how could a Cytherean Infernal uses it efficiently?
You may not know it but I published a version of this quest of FF, and there is a review that proposed this:
THE SEVENFOLD SCRIPTURE
Cost: 2m
Essence: 3
Duration: 1 scene
Keywords: Obvious, Social
Oramus is a being unto itself, but needs must when one has to ensure others know and understand you. By invoking the charm, the Green Sun Prince becomes capable of speaking, writing, drawing or otherwise communicating his thoughts and will. He must choose the medium of communication as he invokes the charm. The Green Sun Prince communicates with a speed seven times increased, speaking with great speed, drawing with supernatural dexterity, writing astonishingly fast, or even dancing in a highly expressive manner.
Depending on the medium of communication, the recipients may choose to be swept into the pace of the Infernal, where applicable. Doing so allows them to easily comprehend the message delivered, but also entrances them. Should they choose to be swept into the pace, changing one's attention to another subject before the Infernal is finished requires a cost of 1 wp.
The charm can be bought twice more, on Essence 4 and 5. Each time, the speed of communication increases sevenfold. With the second purchase, the Infernal may choose to let the message linger beyond his presence, allowing for an image or writing left to be comprehended seven times as fast as usual. Also, the Infernal may instead choose to hide six words beyond one, encoding the message for a chosen recipient. It is said that the book written by such an Infernal is truly a Sevenfold Scripture, revealing the truths of the world piecemeal to the worthy ones.
Finally, with the third purchase, the Green Sun Prince may embed the message itself into the recipient, in some cases driving them utterly insane. This is considered Unnatural Mental Influence and costs 2 wp to resist.
Leaving hidden secrets behind for chosen recipients to find? I think so. The speed mechanic is a little odd, though. I'm imagining Lelouch churning out a novel at 343 times normal speed (7x7x7), pages flying and inkwells drying as he writes faster than a laserjet printer. Or trying to leave messages in a song and just shouting into a microphone before walking away.
I'd drop the speed increase and focus the charm around the "hiding the true meaning behind six others" aspect. That way the Infernal could do some interpretive dance and have the audience all argue different points, except for the cultist in the back who got a step-by-step plan to burn down the local temple. Follow that up with a (Perception + Investigation) roll against the Infernal's (Performance (+ something else?)) to determine the true goal, so that sufficiently wise characters can penetrate the meaning. Doing so risks a derangement, maybe they have to succeed a Resistance or Integrity roll?
Hmmm... I think you underestimate value of safe heaven. You can invoke Verdant Emerald Garden Shintai in the volcano. Or in the middle of ocean. You could travel to Wyld, invoke Shintai and mock impotent Raksha outside. You can travel to Yu-Shan and be reasonably safe there too - for it would take quite a bit of collateral damage to dispel the Garden. Gods may be rather hesitant to try. There is nothing that bars you from invoking it on battlefield, and throwing barrage of ranged attacks outside. It's not only safe heaven - it's also a fortress.
Then there is whole essence and wound recovery aspect. Doubling all essence gains gives quite a boost when it's pressed for time. And for infernal herself? An hour to refill essence pool, sans 20 motes.
As for non-violent usages... It has wide range. Beginning from serving as source for magical materials gathered from animals and plans, through research on essence principles that differs from current - to conceptual difference mentioned in description. For me personally the last one would be enough to want that charm. There is so many possible application and opportunities there, that I don't even know when to start the list.
The mechanics are also a bit clumsy: The only way to disperse it is to deal sufficient damage, but the Infernal can prevent up to the amount of damage needed to do so? How do you dispel it then? And what is meant by "social damage?"
I was thinking about attacks in range of Total Anihilation sorcery spell, or main attack from Five Metal Shrike. Or atomic bombs in modern times. In short, something that is accessible only very rarely, and cannot be used without consequences.
As for "social damage" - social combat and all type of emotional damage that can be done by words. There are charms to erode your motivation. Charms to change the way you see the world. Charm that allows you to almost literaly destroy person using few chosen words. This type of 'damage'. You don't need to kill person to make him dead inside.
But you are right - it's described in unclear and awkward way. Maybe just say, that it can all charms that induces unnatural mental influence?
What do You think about:
Infernal remains conscious under the Shintai - though incapable to be bored, nor able to feel passage of time. With effort of will she can walk though the Garden and communicate with beings inside by taking indistinct immaterial shape wrought with soft white radiance. The Garden, being area under design of Cythrea, remains under control of Infernal. There are several rules she can set for the Garden:
- Barr entrance (though not exit) to the garden. It includes immaterial beings and all travel forms.
- Expulse chosen being from the Garden. That being somehow wanders outside.
- Prevent any damage from being done to the Garden and beings within (up to 50 lethal or 10 agravated level damages in single attack)
- Prevent shaping and charms that induces unnatural mental influence
- Allow of restrict essence respiration to beings within the Garden
Under Shintai, Infenral regenerates mote of essence per minute - excluding 20 motes commited to Shintai itself.
Verdant Emerald Garden Shintai cannot be dispelled by sorcery counterspell. All designs can be broken, though, even those created by Cythrea. It requires attack on the level of Total Anihilation sorcerry spell. Given unique nature of Shintai, exact effect and results of attempt to destroy the Garden are up to decision of GM.
Once shintai is dispelled, either voluntarily or not, Infernal reappears turn later with all equipment intact. Plants and animals brough to life within the Garder die and dissolves soon after it's dissolution. Their death is not property of the charm itself, but simple incompatibility with current reality in Creation and Malfeas.
(sigh) Yeah, I try, but it's not easy. I'm usually spending twice as much time re-reading what I've written, trying to correct spelling and grammar than actually writing.
The problem is that Infernal's aren't bound to only one charmset like Yozis are. An Infernal could load up on Malfeas' combat charms, then dip into Cytherea enough to get this very unbalanced essence booster, thus making himself much more capable than his peers. Some things work wonderfully if you're only considering the fluff, but since Exalted is a game, you've got to keep balance and playability in mind. Giving someone a markedly larger boost to their mote-pool for the same cost as a less-efficient expander is unbalanced.
Quite true. Though, well, in this setting, with only a few relatively easy charms we can have whole counrty full of demons existing within Infernal soul. Said Infernal can also aspire to becoming Yozi. Balance there? Not all that important.
In general, yes, I agree with you. In this quest? I consider balance to play second fiddle to the power of awesome.
None of the Yozis are human-friendly. She would change Creation so that it fit her view of how things should be, disrupting the world and making life very... difficult for everyone else. Imagine an overbearing mom who never let you play, relax, have a snack or just watch the sunrise: She'd make you spend every minute of every day training, learning, building, advancing in some way because you have potential and she is going to make you maximize it, dammit! And your potential is going to be oriented towards her plans, because your plans are silly and misguided, but a gentle nudge from Mother will fix that! Now stop trying to get married and raise a family, there's a building to construct!
She might not murder everyone in a fit of horrible vengeance, but she's got her own problems. A world under Cytherea is a world of slaves to someone elses' vision of perfection.
Quite correct. But I still believe Cythrea to be by far most human-compatible Yozi. Hell, she is about only one that embodies concepts that are recognizable and accepted in human society. Plus, virtues. I don't remember any other charms that makes use of virtues. Cythrea have them - which means virtues are part of her nature. Much in the same way, they are not part of other Yozi.
Heh, given that, I believe it was Cythrea that introduced virtues to design of Creation. Noone else could. Humans literaly own their conscience to her.
I was thinking about attacks in range of Total Anihilation sorcery spell, or main attack from Five Metal Shrike. Or atomic bombs in modern times. In short, something that is accessible only very rarely, and cannot be used without consequences.
There is nothing that bars you from invoking it on battlefield, and throwing barrage of ranged attacks outside. It's not only safe heaven - it's also a fortress.
I was thinking about attacks in range of Total Anihilation sorcery spell, or main attack from Five Metal Shrike. Or atomic bombs in modern times. In short, something that is accessible only very rarely, and cannot be used without consequences.
This is too much. Those attacks deal anywhere between 50-100+ damage. By comparison, the Greater Shintai of the Endless Desert costs 40 motes, can be dispelled with Adamant Countermagic, and only reduces all damage to 1 rather than negating a huge chunk.
I'd recommend using that last bit myself. Post-soak reducers are a common way to show toughness, and its a lot more balanced than "you can't destroy me without destroying everything else."
For protecting against UMI, I'd put a mote cost on that. Maybe 2 motes to perfectly defend others against UMI? Being totally invincible without cost is a design flaw, since it turns gameplay into "run away" play.
(sigh) Yeah, I try, but it's not easy. I'm usually spending twice as much time re-reading what I've written, trying to correct spelling and grammar than actually writing.
Quite correct. But I still believe Cythrea to be by far most human-compatible Yozi. Hell, she is about only one that embodies concepts that are recognizable and accepted in human society. Plus, virtues. I don't remember any other charms that makes use of virtues. Cythrea have them - which means virtues are part of her nature. Much in the same way, they are not part of other Yozi.
Heh, given that, I believe it was Cythrea that introduced virtues to design of Creation. Noone else could. Humans literaly own their conscience to her.
SWLiHN has virtue-based charms (Cosmic Transcendence of [Virtue]), and other Yozis have them as well depending where you pull your homebrew from. In general, humanity was a committee project that all the Primordials touched upon. Virtue charms don't exist in large numbers because they drastically change the way your character works, so they should be carefully considered before purchase.
Only the Ebon Dragon doesn't have virtues, and that's because he's a pathetic shadow of a Yozi (literally the Dragon's Shadow) who has to mimic others in order to be relevant.
Alright, I see nothing wrong...except Strength, which is 1. It should be at least 2, because 1 means the Attribute is below average, and in a physical Attribute it usually indicates a deficiency.
This is too much. Those attacks deal anywhere between 50-100+ damage. By comparison, the Greater Shintai of the Endless Desert costs 40 motes, can be dispelled with Adamant Countermagic, and only reduces all damage to 1 rather than negating a huge chunk.
I'd recommend using that last bit myself. Post-soak reducers are a common way to show toughness, and its a lot more balanced than "you can't destroy me without destroying everything else."
For protecting against UMI, I'd put a mote cost on that. Maybe 2 motes to perfectly defend others against UMI? Being totally invincible without cost is a design flaw, since it turns gameplay into "run away" play.
And not so long age You were wondering if it's usefull.
More seriously though, Greater Shintai of the Endless Desert is superior in many ways.
- It allows Infernal to move. Garden does not.
- It allows Infernal to act, attack, cast chams, etc. Garden allows infernal only to see and communicate. Any attacking needs to be done be others.
- It have much greater range. Gardern is actually smaller.
- Lack of feeling of passage of time in Verdant Emerald Garden shintai is dangerous. Left alone, Infernal may come about dispelling the shintai literaly years later.
Both have advantages and disadvantages. Most damningly, without allies Cythrea's shintai is close to useless. It simply lets infernal buckle down and survive. Nothing more. On the other hand it is almost perfect fortress for others, and have wide range of non-combat uses - while Greater Shintai of the Endless Desert provides no defence for others, and it purely destructive.
As for damage reduction... I'm honestly not certain. I wanted it to be a eerie, otherworldy safe safe heaven straight from dawn of time. One that is stupidly hard to destroy - at a cost of it being immobile and rendering Infernal inactive. Idea was for it to be something not that far from enclosed reality bubble. You try to shatter it, and it does nothing since laws of physics it runs on simply does not recognize your attack. It's not exactly how it would go - but defence is built something like this. Essence flows and patters present in the Garden follows Cythrea's design. It literaly have its own physics. Adjusting the design is source of rules Infernal can set for Garden.
Anyway, how would you phrase damage prevention/reduction? Assuming something of compromise between my almost-invulnerability and Your mote cost per negated damage?
EDIT: adjustment within limits. Every good plan needs to have degree of flexibility. Rules infernal can set for the Gardern are limits of flexibility left in Cythrea's design.
Because Cecelyne doesn't have a chosen yet. Use if you like him.
George Tollenmach.
The aging, grey-haired doctor sat outside the operating room, surrounded by empty bottles of Tequila and rum. He couldn't save them. He came here to save lives, to spread knowledge, and he was failing.
Juan, that wonderful boy, opened the door. "Dr. T, it's no use getting yourself worked up like this."
George sighed. "I know. I should be preparing to meet with Secretary Acton, not sitting here feeling sorry for myself. The hospital needs that money." He looked to the empty bottles of put neatly alcohol, then at his student. "How are we doing on disinfectant?" Using alcohol to disinfect wounds and tools had helped stretch out the proper disinfectant, but they were starting to run low on even that
"We're running low, like with pretty much everything else. You know, you look like drunkard, surrounded by all those bottles." Juan took a deep breath, and that was a bad sign "Dr. T, even if we're lucky we only have enough supplies to make it another two weeks. Even if you pad the budget with your paycheck again."
George sighed. He made quite a bit as the hospital administrator, and an irritating amount of it went to keeping up his appearances; the governors and company held the purse strings used to fund his hospital. His house was cluttered with luxuries he didn't want but would be expected by the people he had to deal with. That had been one of the most irritating discoveries he'd made, of when he'd finally gained control of the Carayao hospital.
The door opened again, and Alda walked in carrying a tray. "Dr. Tollenmach, your lunch." The middle aged Brazilian woman looked the grey-haired doctor, slumped in his chair, and then turned to Juan. "Boy, is this old fool beating himself up again?"
"That's exactly what he's doing, Abuela." That grinning traitor. "Beating himself up for not getting a miracle, and planning to talk to that old gringo back in the capital hoping for another."
Alda gave the aging britannian a glare. "Dr. Tollenmach, I have worked for you ever since I married my husband. And you are being an idiot."
George stood up, astounded "Mrs. Alda"
"No! You listen to me! You came out here hoping to bring medicine from the poor savages," a hint of a rueful grin slipped onto Georges face as he heard the words of his younger self, "and you did that and more. You built up this hospital, you saved my husband when he was injured, and you taught my boy to be a Doctor. You brought young men and woman into this place and taught them right, and you kept this hospital open for five years even as the company gave you less and less money. Your generosity knows no bounds."
George raised an eyebrow. "Mrs. Alda, you know I do nothing for free. Everything from my services to my patronage has it's price." And that was true. Under the excuse of "practical training", he'd made service at the hospital mandatory for those who wanted to learn from him, where he could use a pair of skilled hands and a place where he could instill a sense of obligation and ones lessers- or better yet, a genuine understanding that britannia had lucked into it's strength- into them without interference. Every student had been exploited for their time, skills, and sometimes money, and many of them had thanked him for it. The same went for his patients, once the money from the company dried up. He insisted that every patient pay what they owe, and used his more criminal patients-both Three and Britannian- to set up illicit operations that funneled money back into his own coffers, and built of favors from highly placed patients, building his network. Even his charity did not come free. Between the money and the favors and the loans, he was probably the richest man in town.
"That is a lie and you know it. You'd fund this hospital out of your own pocket if you could. Every man and woman knows that if you're squeezing them, it's because you know they can afford it, and there's some other poor fool who needs the help." The words struck true, almost surprising him. He'd considered funding the hospital personally, but even all his savings wound't run the hospital for more than a month. He built his favors, gathered wealth by any means, and squeezed people, manipulated them. He'd thought he'd just been getting his price; he'd always been a big believer in never giving anything away; people should be able to stand strong on their own.
But in retrospect, it's kind of funny that as greedy and as harsh as he was supposed to be, he'd given so many chances and so hated spending on himself.
He really was an idiot. It was one thing to be a hypocrite, it was quite another not to realize it. Dr. Goeorge Tollenmach chuckled. "Thank you Mrs. Alba. You've given me some perspective. Juan, I'll need you to take care of my patients for today; I need to prepare for my trip to the capital. Hopefully, I'll be able to talk Secretary Acton into throwing some money our way- I trained his brother and his nephew- but it case I fail…Juan, you still have those books I loaned you?
"Every last one, Dr. T."
"Good. If this fails, the people here will be relying upon you, doctor."
Juan's eyes bugged out slightly. "Uh, Doc, I know abuela all the guys around town call me doc, but I'm not really a Doctor-"
"You have the mind, you have the training, you have the experience. It does not matter if others cannot stand to acknowledge your superiority. You were cheated of that title, Juan." Tollenmach saw Juan's hand clench momentarily at that word. Cheating was a sensitive spot for the young man, for good reason. "And now if you'll excuse me…"
He stood up and walked out the door, leaving the grinning Mrs. Alba and her grandson, Juan- no, Dr. Alba- spechless and open mouthed in his wake. He had work to do.
****
Damien Acton, the secretary of Medical Affairs for Area three, was a short, roundish , balding man with a genial smile and the easy charisma of an natural politician. He sat comfortably at a stately hardwood desk covered in neatly arranged papers, his office painted a dark blue and a large window overlooking the city at his back. "Ah, Dr. Tollenmach! It's good to see you again. Take a seat. Please, let me pour you a drink."
Dr. Tollenmach sank into the overstuffed chair and gratefully took the drink. "Thank you. How is your nephew doing?"
"Wonderfully! He's got his own practice back in the homeland now. He told me to give you his regards." With that, Anton's smile fell too quickly to have been real, replaced by a reluctant sadness that Tollenmach was sure was not wholly fake. "Doctor, I'm going to be straight with you. I know you got a soft spot for the Threes. And I know you've fought to keep that hospital of yours alive."
Tollenmach nodded. "Mining is a dangerous profession to everyone involved, and it's the only hospital within any reasonable distance from the mines, and only of two within the whole province. With the amount of economic benefit from the mines themselves, and the fact that my hospital often has ended up servicing more than the mine's workers, it would be absurd to leave Central Hospital as the only medical center in the whole region."
Damien, one of the best poker players Tollenmach knew, let out a wince, and the doctor knew he had lost in that moment.
"That is…very true. True enough that others have agreed." He put some papers on his desk. "You may want to read these."
Tollenmach picked up the documents. The first was a the legal paperwork for a hospital. Somewhere closer to the city than where his hospital was located, but not too much. Funded by the government, but with some help from the company.
The second was an order to shut down the Carayao hospital, effective yesterday. The coin dropped. "I'm being replaced."
Damien nodded. "They've already have a senior staff all lined up. You've got a lot of people who like and owe you, but none of them can force the hand of the Mr. Neville and Governor Maxwell himself. You'll be able to get a position at Central without a problem, at least. They can't force you off entirely."
That…that wasn't so bad. Juan would still be around. He had the books, so he could teach others. And he wasn't the only student, merely the brightest- and he still had enough life, money, and favors left to train a few more. Even if the new hospital refused to treat the Three's, they would still have a proper doctor. "Well, I can't say this is pleasant, but it's better than I'd feared-"
Then some young twenty-something man crashed through the oak doors in a sweat-stained suit, out of breath and with a sheaf of papers in a deathgrip. "Secretary Anton I need to speak with you immediately! Governor Maxwell…the army…" Panting, the young man held out the papers.
Damien took the papers and read them rapidly while the younger man gained his breath. The middle-aged politician swore. "Those damn bastards!"
"Anton, what's going on?"
"The Governor is ordering the military to 'keep the peace' in the mines. He says an investigative team has found evidence of "serious sedition" amongst the miners."
"That's impossible." If the Three's were plotting rebellion, he'd have heard about it. It wouldn't have been the first time.
"Maybe not impossible, but I know it's false. That team told the governor no such thing- I was in that meeting. It's a flat out lie, and many people know it. Under the emergency powers act, he's mobilizing the army and shutting down the Honorary Britannian program…damn them!" Anton threw the papers down on the desk, scattering them. "Dr. Tollenmach, you need to hear something."
What is going on? "Anton, you're making me very concerned."
"George, Mr. Neville and the Governor have been among the more radical Purebloods for years; they think Britannia is being too gentle in area 11, and Maxwell has control over the military. They wanted to advance the ideas thought by that Lambton lunatic. They couldn't do it because they couldn't get the funding from either the King or Parliment. But Neville has decided to use his own funds for much of it, while Maxwell is using every pretext he can fabricate to provide him the muscle he needs."
Tollenmach blanched, suddenly sick. He'd heard of Lambton. Read his work, and then burned it, and felt nauseous afterwards. Lambton been an early opponent of the honorary brittanian idea, and instead supported the idea of the conquered people being nothing but manual, unskilled labor- and that Britannia should "adjust" conquered peoples through the creation of specialized "slave cultures" to be taught to children, eugenics, and purges until they more properly fit their role. His ideas had been both immoral and impractical, and included…oh no.
"They cannot do this. It's against the law; Maxwell has tried to push this pet project of his before, but the parliament denied him, and courts ruled he didn't have the authority under law, and the Emperor refused Maxwell's request. This is a clear attempt to circumvent rule of law, and the only way any of the local families would agree to this is under threat of force. Once the king gets word of this defiance-"
All was lost.
He interrupted his sometime ally. "They waited until I was here. Nobody else has the power to object- and if I was around to be a witness, people would listen to me. Without, they can say whatever they want, and bully the rest."
"…Yes, that is true. They wouldn't have been able to do this had you been around to object in person. You have too much influence, and neither of them have direct authority over you."
He stood up. "Mr. Anton, I need to be going. I have a phone call to make."
"Doctor!" He turned back to the Secretary. "If Neville really going to work from Lambton's playbook, then he's going to drive his company into the ground. Maxwell is ruining his career with this move; this is a virtually indisputable case for corruption, he's made several obvious lies, and his enemies will crush him as soon as they file the right forms. Once that happens, things go one of two ways. One, he accepts the rule of law, and the families destroy him in the courts. He doesn't have a leg to stand on legally. Two, he threatens them at gunpoint, and things continue until the Homeland catches wind of Maxwell running Area Three as his private kingdom, and comes to crush him for defying britannian law and threatening the noble families. Now, Neville may not like you, but you're too popular to get rid of- and that didn't work the last time they tried it. All you need to do is wait somewhere safe, somewhere where you can't have an "accident", and you can retire to a life of peace, or a cushy job, and probably get those reforms you wanted through. If you go back there, all you will achieve is getting yourself killed."
Tollenmach thought. He considered what he knew. He thought about the odds of Britannia ever accepting that non-Britannians could achieve true strength and greatness, that Britannia might become the vehicle for enlightenment and civilization he thought it was in his youth."
"Anton, the first time I saw the law broken like this was when several of our countrymen tried to beat up a Three- and lost, in broad daylight, in front of a dozen witnesses- and the Three was the one who got tried for attempted murder. The second time was when Juan got expelled from medical school for cheating. This will be the third time. I came here to make people strong, Anton. Britannia has made it clear it's not interested true strength."
He ran from the room without waiting for a reply. When he made the call, nobody picked up.
All was lost. If Neville was going to use his company as a playground for Lambton's ideas, they would actively hunt down the seeds of medical expertise he had sown. They'd do more than that; they'd actively be taking the young children, he needed to get back, Juan had younger siblings, he needed to get back.
*******
When he came back, all the children were already gone.
Mr. and Mrs. Alba were dead in their own homes. The hospital staff had been killed down to the janitor, their bodies burned even as britannian soldiers rotted in the streets- because they would have spoken out, at least some of them. Juan's own small apartment was ransacked- all of the books were gone. Taken. The homes of his extended family were filled with the bodies of his relatives. People he knew.
Tollenmach ran about the streets, trying to find somebody he knew, someone who would speak to him. All he could find were Three's who knew his name and face but had never spoken to him- from them he learned that Juan was supposed to be a "ringleader", and that he was supposed to be one as well There were soldiers who demanded that he "come in for questioning". He ran- he might have beat them, in his youth, but not now.
This wasn't skirting around the law. This was ignoring it entirely, legislative process be damned. And they could get away with it, simply because he had gotten the support of the army and decided to kill and slander anyone who might oppose him. He did not find Juan; Juan found him. He'd manage to hide for the past few days. They sat down in the ruins of an old house. Juan spoke first.
"Dr. T…they killed my whole family. Even the kids. They just took the kids from anybody else, but my brother and cousins…"
George didn't say anything. He simply embraced the young Three; none of his family were around to do it for him.
"What are we going to do, Doc?"
He had an answer. Part of one. "Return to the homeland." At Juan's astounded look, he explained. "I still have money and contacts. We can flee the country" if his few underground contacts didn't kill him instead "and when the backlash ruins Maxwell and Neville drives his company into the ground with his ideas, we can re-emerge from hiding. There is no way they'll get away with this; somebody will talk, and many will hate them, and if nothing else the homeland won't stand for this clean violation of law." But he didn't believe that last part.
"If I might intrude?"
That was when a suit of armor came in, and to the astounded pair of them, made the sales pitch on Dr. Tollenmach becoming a servant of Hell. He made a surprisingly good case. Tollenmach asked for some time to think about it, and the strange armor- Nornetic- had said by dawn, and no longer.
That night, Tollenmach approached Juan as he sat on the roof and looked up at the stars. "If I agree to that…creature's offer, what will you do?"
"I'd follow you Dr. T. I've got nowhere else to go, nobody to be here for, and I figure if Hell has got people like you in it, it can't be that bad."
A few minutes later, Tollenbach told Nornetic he accepted. The armor broke apart, flew towards him, and-
*******
He found himself in a desert of silvery sands, pale and desolate. It was dark, and he could hear nothing.
He heard the whisper of the sands. "So your little empire is broken and fallen down. Taken by force by those who ignored the law."
"Yes." He suppose it was crazy, to speak with the desert. "By those two idiots. They're going to ruin everything. Not just what I built…what others built. They're going to run Area 3 bankrupt. Lambton's plans are mad. The Emperor condemned them, when they were published. They'll bankrupt Area Three, destroy its people, and everyone will hate them. I don't know how they could do this. It's idiotic."
"Yes, their…ill-considered plots. There are better ways to ensure loyalty. But you know that quite well." The desert paused. They hated you, you know. "
"I knew they disliked me, but I was not expecting hatred."
"You were cleverer than them, planned for the…long term. You amassed true loyalty, . You gave and took and equal measure, used what you had to build more, while they frittered their time and power away in foolish struggles. And now, they're going to ignore the wisdom you had taught, and kill your students and try and rule through nothing more than brute force. They have ruined you, and will ruin themselves and the land they rule. While you would have brought prosperity, ruled more completely, and been thanked for it. That understanding of people...it is what drew my eye toward you. It is something we have in common."
"Truly?" He didn't trust himself to say more.
"Yes. I was the judge between my siblings. I was the best among them at knowing their hearts and arbitrating their disputes, so I became the first maker of the law. It was I who first invented debt, so that I might build up others in my service and worship, and trade with those who were nothing but could be something, one day." A sigh like a shifting sand dune. "I really was the only one among us who could plan properly long term. It was so irritating that that Malfeas took command."
Something sticks out. "You…invented debt? How is that possible?"
"I and my siblings are the architects of creation. Debt is but one of our many miracles."
And then it clicks, inside his head. "You must be one of the Yozi's."
"Yes."
The sands leap up in a sudden storm all around him, blotting up the sky. It blew around him with no wind, the sand stinging his skin but leaving the air still. Tollenmach looks up, and sees a giant, feminine face looming above him.
"We are alike, Dr. Tollenmach. You knew the desires of others, and gave them, and reaped great rewards. You grew others strength, bound them to you, and grew in power in turn. You were wise and mighty, and with your influence, Area Three and Britannia might have prospered. But those who ruled Britannia spurned your generosity threw you down out of cruel selfish stupidity.
I knew the desires of others, provided them, and reaped great rewards when those debts were repaid. I was wise, mighty and glorious, and creation prospered under my law. But heaven betrayed me, shattered my law, and taught me the same lesson you have so recently been taught yourself."
"The strong rule the weak. This is the only law. But with time and patience, we might build the world up again with into true glory under it's rightful rulers, those who know of true strength. Kneel down and worship me, and know, Dr. Tollenmach you are chosen of the Endless Desert!"
He knelt, and prayed, and dreamed of an empire whose people bent their knees willingly for his gifts. It would be nice.
*******
When he emerged, he decided to try and rescue those kidnapped children with those that survived. That went surprisingly well.
***************
Dr. Tollenmach
Caste: Defiler
Concept: Ruined Doctor
Motivation: To spread medical knowledge throughout the world.
Urge: Enslave all sources of medical knowledge and place them in the service of hell's armies. (Cecelynian)
Patron Yozi: Cecelyne
Anima Banner: A dozen concentric ring of swirling sand, spinning and shining with silvery-white light, only tinted green at the edges.
Abilities: Archery/Firearms 3, War 1, Integrity 3, Performance 2, Presence 3 (Teaching x2), Investigation 3, Medicine 4 , Lore 3 (Myths of Hell),Bureaucracy 3, Linguistics 2 (English, Spanish, Old Realm), Socialize 3
Virtues: Compassion 3, Conviction 1, Temperance 3, Valor 2.
Backgrounds: Allies 3 (Doctors of Area Three), Allies (Nobility) 2, Unwoven Coajator 2 (Is a Perronele), Followers 2 (Survivors of the Purge), Backing (Yozi) 1, Cult (Yozi) 1, Influence (Yozi) 1, Resources 3
Intimacies: Juan (Pride and friendship), Cecylene (Wary gratitude), Treating the Sick (Devotion), Maxwell and Neville (Disgusted Hatred), Britannia (Bitter Disappointment), Encouraging Strength (Righteous Ideal)
Willpower: 6
Essence 3
Trait from the Unwoven Coadjutor: His hair is iron grey, despite his new youth (-0).
Charms
First Cecelyne Excellency, Second Cecelyne Excellency, Cecelyne Inevitability Technique, Cecelyne World-Shaping Cosmogony
First She Who Lives In her Name Excellency, Second She Who Lives In her Name Excellency, She Who Lives In her Name Inevitability Technique, She Who Lives In her Name World-Shaping Cosmogony
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 synesthetic overlay of colors and tastes. While this Charm is active, the Exalt gains the following benefits: • He perceives dematerialized demons with all senses, recognizing that they are incorporeal. • He perceives all possessing demons as smoky anima banners enveloping their hosts. • He adds (Essence) bonus successes on all rolls to notice natives of Malfeas, track them or pierce any disguise attempts. If the target isn't using magic to contest the action, the Infernal may spend one Willpower to automatically succeed. • Upon recognizing a perceived character as a demon or a Yozi, its nature becomes Obvious to him. The Storyteller provides a basic synopsis of the target's capabilities and Motivations (if any). This power imparts the same information about Infernal relics the Infernal can perceive. • He automatically recognizes non-demon natives of Malfeas as such upon perceiving them, although he learns nothing else
Demonic Primacy of Essence
Cost: —;
Mins: Essence 2;
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Servitude, Social
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Hellscry Chakra
The law of Cecelyne binds the will of inferiors to their natural masters. Whenever a character with this Charm makes a social attack against a native of Malfeas who has a lower Essence rating, the target suffers an MDV penalty equal to the difference between their Essence ratings, and the attack is considered unnatural mental influence. Attacks enhanced this way cost the usual number of Willpower points to resist. Hierarchy works both ways, however. The Infernal suffers the same penalty against the social attacks of Malfean natives with higher Essence (unless they also have this Charm, in which case the DV penalties for both Charms don't stack), though any natural mental influence remains so. Infernals who also know Wayward Divinity Oversight (see p. 118) apply the MDV reduction to social attacks against gods of lesser Essence, but none of the other benefits or drawbacks of this Charm apply with such beings.
Cecelyne is always home within herself, finding sanctuary in her eternal wastes. An Infernal who learns this Charm gains the following powers as permanent enhancements to his competence:
• He suffers no negative effects from exposure to a place of desolation, including penalties, environmental damage and even visual impairment.
• All foraging rolls that would normally have a difficulty of 4+ have a difficulty of 1 instead (see Exalted, p. 139). This does not make impossible rolls possible in a place where the Storyteller determines absolutely nothing edible can be found.
• The total penalty for starvation or thirst cannot rise above -3 within a place of desolation. The Exalt's perfected metabolism no longer produces waste of any kind, including sweat.
• All mundane attempts to track the character automatically fail with zero successes unless the character allows himself to be tracked. Magically assisted tracking efforts suffer an external penalty of the Infernal's Essence rating instead.
• He adds his Essence rating to the difficulty of all efforts to notice him with an Awareness roll in a place of physical desolation (spiritually desolate places as defined by Withered Soul Wastes don't count for characters who know that Charm). This benefit may be turned on and off at will.
Cecelyne understands failure. Her failure to transcend all limits galls her even more than the fact that the Exalted imposed this punishment upon her. This Charm enhances an action to understand an observed target's emotions and displayed Intimacies in a social scene (see Exalted, p. 131). By the power of Cecelyne, the action automatically succeeds regardless of the roll results, as if the character had rolled twice the number of required successes. Furthermore, the Infernal understands all Intimacies that have been displayed in any way during the scene (as determined by the Storyteller) and their context toward other characters who are present. Finally, if the character would have succeeded by any threshold without this Charm, she intuits what the target believes his greatest failure in life has been.
Few beings are as they would choose to be. Certainly, Cecelyne would rather that her inner borders were not fettered to Malfeas. Where dissatisfaction endures, emptiness spreads the idea of the Endless Desert. Prior to using this Charm, the character must have observed the target express dislike of her present state and desire for some improvement of natural aptitude or training, such as beauty or skill with a sword. The wish need not be articulated with any intention of seeking its fulfillment or even seriously, but it must be unambiguous. In this condition is met, the Infernal need only be within (Essence) yards of the target and activate Verdant Emptiness Endowment. Doing so causes the target to gain one dot of the Attribute, Ability or specialty that best pertains to the observed wish. This Training effect can't raise any trait above its normal maximum, nor does the Infernal need any rating in a trait to bestow it. This Charm also can't target those who have any outstanding experience debt from prior use of any Training effect. It is possible for the target to unconsciously reject the gift for a cost of one Willpower, thereby avoiding the gift and its hidden price tag. This effect is not Obvious, however, so the target's player only knows the trait being offered and the associated experience cost, without learning anything about the source of the effect or the price. Once the gift is accepted, the magic is done, and countermagic can't reverse it. Traits improved by this Charm do so over the course of the scene, fast enough to be miraculous but slow enough that no one has to know the source of the blessing. The Yozis always exact a price for their gifts, however. At any point in the future, the Infernal may come back to that individual and demand any one task. If the target understands the demand and the task isn't literally impossible, she intuitively understands that doom will befall her for failing to obey. After one month or as soon as the task becomes impossible (or constitutes an unacceptable order), the duty ends without harm to the beneficiary. However, if the character stops working toward the goal for more than a day while the duty remains, she suffers a number of automatic botches equal to the Infernal's Essence rating. These botches match the effects of breaking an oath sanctified by an Eclipse Caste Solar and linger until the worst possible time. It is possible to target oneself with the Charm, in which case the Infernal obviously owes himself nothing
By the power of the Primordials, Creation came into existence and elements, deities and even life upon it. Sorcery is this power, filtered down through fractured glimpses of understanding that cannot begin to describe the intricate elegance of the universe. To be a sorcerer is to be mad with jagged shards of cosmic awareness and with will and might enough to impose that madness on the world.
This cluster of Charms each grant the shallowest fragments of supernal wisdom, enough to learn and cast spells of the Emerald Circle. Subsequent purchases of the same version unlock higher circles. Spells require the usual costs and spell-shaping actions when cast this way. Each variation of this Charm belongs to one of the Yozis and grants a particular benefit that may be invoked whenever that Charm is used to cast a spell. In addition to these powers, each variant imposes the themes and imagery of the appropriate Yozi upon every spell cast using that initiation. For example, tarnished brass blades with barbed stingers replace obsidian butterflies for the Malfean spell that comes out Death of Brass Wasps. This substitution of imagery never materially alters the effects of a spell except in the slightest of ways and is not optional. The player may select the modified imagery with Storyteller approval.
The integration of Yozi themes can be subtle or overt and may even vary with each casting of the same spell, but Yozi power resists efforts to hide its glory. Even if the sorcerer attempts to minimize the warping effects on his sorcery by integrating extremely minor special effects, observers with Occult 1+ still recognize the taint with a reflexive (Wits + Occult) roll at difficulty 5. The only way to completely hide a Yozi's influence is to cast a spell that already completely resonates with the Yozi's thematic imagery, such as when Malfeas hurls Total Annihilation or the Ebon Dragon disgorges Summoning the Heart of Darkness.
Sorcerers may learn as many different initiations as they meet the prerequisites for. They can't cast a spell using multiple initiations at once, however.
This Charm may be purchased a second time by Infernals with Essence 4+, deepening the patterns of creative psychosis through which miracles occur. Such characters may learn and cast Sapphire Circle spells with the benefits and drawbacks of their initiation, though it is harder to hide the warping touch of the Yozis (difficulty 3 to recognize as above). A third and final purchase of this Charm at Essence 5+ unlocks the core truths of forces and principles by which worlds were fashioned and allows learning and casting of Adamant Circle spells within the bounds of initiation. Such spells proclaim the Yozi whose glory they express with all the subtlety of Erembour's horn (difficulty 1 to recognize).
Spells with any Holy effects represent innovations of Creation's Exalted never dreamed by the Primordials and whose nature is antithetical to Yozi Essence. Such magic can't be learned. Primordial sorcery does not bind demons through the oaths of the vanquished Yozis, but rather in fulfillment of Cecelyne's cruel law. Infernal sorcerers cannot learn conventional demon summoning spells, but they may learn variations that non-Yozi-bound sorcerers cannot hope to understand (see below). The spell Summon Elemental is also forbidden by incompatible Essence. Finally, each Yozi has taboos against its nature that prohibit casting or learning of certain spells with that initiation.
The laws of the Endless Desert guide the interactions of her sorcery and entities called upon to attend her will. Use of her initiation reduces the cost of all spells that naturally summon, bind or banish other beings by 10 motes and one Willpower (minimum five motes, one Willpower). Cecelyne is equally at home dominating the Minions of the Eyeless Face as demons. Her taboo bars any spell from creating edible food or potable water and spells that create or manipulate the element of wood as a primary effect. Spells that only produce forbidden effects as a side effect rather than their primary purpose may be warped in such a way as to remove this ancillary benefit but cannot be cast as they are. For example, the City-Swallowing Sandstorm Attack that replaces the monsoon of a traditional Torrential Cascade leaves choking dunes instead of drinkable water, but Cecelyne has no means of adapting a spell like Food from the Aerial Table or Sprouting Shackles of Doom to her aesthetic of desolation
Dr. Tollenmach does not know any spells. Yet.
Factual Determination Analysis
Cost: 2m;
Mins: Essence 2;
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Principle of Hierarchy recognizes the totality of truth. This Charm may be used to test any statement the Exalt reads or overhears and provides the Infernal with certain knowledge of whether the statement was presented as a complete truth. Any intentional deception or meaningful omission of relevant data in any part of the tested statement returns the same negative response, so it is best to test a long statement frequently to isolate where the truth breaks down. If this Charm contests another, add the Infernal's Essence rating in bonus successes to the roll-off. Truth is measured from the perspective of the speaker rather than based on objective truth. Factual Determination Analysis does not supply the truth along with its binary measure
Exacting Preparation Philosophy
Cost: — ;
Mins: Essence 2;
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Factual Determination Analysis
It is better to be safe than sorry, and the Principle of Hierarchy lacks room for regret. This Charm enhances the Infernal, allowing her to ignore internal penalties to planning rolls, and carry any threshold successes from the planning phase of a project onto its actual enactment. Additionally, she treats time spent planning (or otherwise making preparations for future action, however trivial) as time spent sleeping for the purposes of relieving fatigue and respiring motes, the act of shaping the world into usable patterns soothing her mind and body.
Her ability to respond to unpredictable thought-patterns is reduced, however, reducing her MDVs by (Essence ÷ 2) against any social influence that runs contrary to the focus of the current scene, or to an intimacy she possesses towards that character; an intimidation attempt from a friend, for example, or a seduction attempt at a crime scene.
Binary Instruction Implementation
Cost: 3m (+3m)
Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious, Sorcerous
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Factual Determination Analysis
Orders should be issued only to the appropriate recipients. This Charm enhances any writing (or other form of written social attack) the Infernal engages in, rendering it visible only to those the Infernal intends to read it; such targets can be as specific or general as she pleases, and to them it throbs with Obvious light. This writing can contain mental influence, which is applied to those who read it as normal. Increasing this Charm's cost by three motes renders the writing nigh-imperceptible to even its intended targets. They can roll (Perception + Investigation) at a difficulty of (Infernal's Linguistics + Essence) to register the writing normally, but otherwise acknowledge it (and anything it conveys) only subconsciously, suffering its influence as an unexpected attack. Enhanced writing vanishes when this Charm ends, and the Infernal may end this Charm herself as an exception to the usual Sorceorus rules; messages should not outlive their purposes.
A mere fragment of the true language of the cosmos is enough to set the mind aflame in subconscious infection. It is in this tongue that the Principle of Hierarchy made her home. This Charm functions in the same way as the Solar Charm Flawless Brush Discipline, except that it uses (Manipulation + Socialize) and creates an intimacy toward an organization the Infernal belongs to or an abstract ideal that she herself holds, rather than toward the Infernal herself. A second purchase at Essence 4+ allows the Exalt to use it as a verbal social attack, instead.
Alright, I see nothing wrong...except Strength, which is 1. It should be at least 2, because 1 means the Attribute is below average, and in a physical Attribute it usually indicates a deficiency.
Interesting idea, but how would it be useful? I mean, how could a Cytherean Infernal uses it efficiently?
You may not know it but I published a version of this quest of FF, and there is a review that proposed this:
THE SEVENFOLD SCRIPTURE
Cost: 2m
Essence: 3
Duration: 1 scene
Keywords: Obvious, Social
Oramus is a being unto itself, but needs must when one has to ensure others know and understand you. By invoking the charm, the Green Sun Prince becomes capable of speaking, writing, drawing or otherwise communicating his thoughts and will. He must choose the medium of communication as he invokes the charm. The Green Sun Prince communicates with a speed seven times increased, speaking with great speed, drawing with supernatural dexterity, writing astonishingly fast, or even dancing in a highly expressive manner.
Depending on the medium of communication, the recipients may choose to be swept into the pace of the Infernal, where applicable. Doing so allows them to easily comprehend the message delivered, but also entrances them. Should they choose to be swept into the pace, changing one's attention to another subject before the Infernal is finished requires a cost of 1 wp.
The charm can be bought twice more, on Essence 4 and 5. Each time, the speed of communication increases sevenfold. With the second purchase, the Infernal may choose to let the message linger beyond his presence, allowing for an image or writing left to be comprehended seven times as fast as usual. Also, the Infernal may instead choose to hide six words beyond one, encoding the message for a chosen recipient. It is said that the book written by such an Infernal is truly a Sevenfold Scripture, revealing the truths of the world piecemeal to the worthy ones.
Finally, with the third purchase, the Green Sun Prince may embed the message itself into the recipient, in some cases driving them utterly insane. This is considered Unnatural Mental Influence and costs 2 wp to resist.
Hmm. Could it be used to send seven different messages at once to seven different people, rather than just giving the other six incorrect interpretations?
The footfalls of Britannian soldiers tended to be all that you heard in Vladivostok these days, Lydia reflected as she shied away from yet another one of their military patrols, the fading sound of crunching snow and the bitter complaints of the soldiers telling her that it was safe to continue on. Gripping her precious cargo of bread tightly to her chest, she quickly scampered her way across the street.
The husks of shattered buildings loomed over as she navigated her way through the streets, broken caricatures of what used to be familiar landmarks. She hummed, the song Papa had composed for her rising up as it was wont to do.
"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Bogdanov." Lydia said, her face flushed in embarrassment. Stupid stupid stupid, how could she forget to bring some money with her? "I don't think I brought any money with me. I'll put this back."
Mr. Bogdanov laughed. Lydia liked it when he laughed (though not at this particular moment), it was deep and rumbly, sort of like how she would imagine a mountain laughing. He reached up and ruffled her head, eliciting a weak whine of protest from her. "Take no mind little Lydia, this will be on the house yes? It will be our little secret." He grinned conspiratorially at her.
Lydia mournfully tore her eyes away from the ruined shop, briefly ruminating the fact that it was already looted clean. Thankfully the last she had heard Mr. Bogdanov had managed to flee from the city safely. She prayed that he and his family were alright.
An acrid tang reached her nose, something after a month of burning salvaged wood and clothes told her that something was burning. Looking to the sky, she saw a thin trail of smoke rising to the sky, smoke that seemed to be growing thicker with each moment.
Smoke that was coming from the direction of her home.
PAPA!
Mr. Bogdanov's shop forgotten, she raced through the empty streets, churning snow turning back in her wake as she made her way back home, back to the source of the swelling trail of smoke.
Each beat of her heart grew just that bit more frantic as the acrid stench grew as she neared her home, her hopes that whatever was causing the fire was far enough that she could escape in time with papa dying. As she raced around the last corner she froze in horror, the scene before her searing itself into her mind.
Her assumption that the fire had started nearby her home was just that, an assumption. The flames were just beginning to roar, grown swollen on the diet of dry wood and carpeting that made up her house. The door was gone, the remains of the shattered hinges suggesting whoever made that entry was less than polite.
She didn't even hesitate.
The oily black smoke clung coyly to her throat and lungs as she charged in, leaving her to choke out rasping coughs. "Papa! Papa!" She screamed, looking vainly around, hoping for an answer. Being bedridden after taking that shrapnel to his back, he couldn't have gone far in this choking hell. Gritting her teeth she ran up the stairs, letting out a shriek of pain as she felt the fire flare across the skin, but trudging on regardless. At each step that accursed smoke was in her face, robbing her of oxygen and obstructing her vision. It hurt, everything hurt so much, but Papa was all that she had left. If she didn't have him, then she had nothing. She felt charred fingers wrap around a brass knob, and with a cry of desperation she heaved it open.
Why was Papa so still?
Why did-why did Papa have blood on his forehead?
"Papa," she gasped out as she dragged herself to him, "Papa please, we have to go." She begged as she shook him, ignoring the blood on him, ignoring that dark circle on his head. "PAPA PLEASE." She screamed, shaking him. Whydidn'thewakeuphehadtowakeupshehadnothingnobodyleftshedidn'twanttobealone.
Her breaths were getting shorter, she didn't have any time for Papa to wake. She gasped as she tried lifting Papa with her slender frame, her knees buckling but somehow miraculously managing to set him on her. She managed a single step before she collapsed face first on the ground, the touch of the charring floor leaving her screaming as the heat tore at her unprotected face. She got up sobbing, ignoring the skin that she left on the floor, and promptly collapsed again. This time she couldn't feel her limbs. No matter how she tried, she couldn't get up this time.
By now it hurt to even breathe, let alone speak, but she didn't want to let it end like this.
She stared out at the rain pouring outside, her small six-year old frame struggling valiantly to stay balanced on the sofa so she could look out. She always liked the rain, it made her feel calm and happy, the pitter patter making her think of a piano playing. Like Papa!
Having reaffirmed this irrefutable argument why rain was good to herself, she tumbled off the sofa, and ran to the living room where Papa was staring at his shiny clock on the family piano. Maybe he would play something for her today!
Papa looked at her running in and laughed, scooping her up and making her fly! She liked that too! It was just one of the many reasons why he was Best Papa! He plopped her on his lap and opened up his shiny clock, which had these musical notes stuck inside, he smiled at her like he was sharing something super-secret and only for her. "You see this Lydia? I wrote this song for you, do you want to listen to it and see if Papa did a good job?"
"Okay!"
The last thing she remembered was an enormous black shadow looming over her, for some reason sparking green of all things through the haze of the smoke, it sort of sounded like it was speaking to her. It sounded…unhappy?
Lydia groaned as she opened her eyes, pain wracking every square centimeter of her body as she greedily gasped air into tortured lungs.
"Still alive pup?" A voice rumbled beside her, and looking to see the source Lydia let out a shriek of surprise and jerked away. A shadow towered above her, a nightmare thing of obsidian abyss and sparking emerald flame that seemed to grudgingly coalesce into the form of a titanic hound. Glaring at her with a baleful green eye, it apparently took her shocked terror as a sign to continue on. "I'll cut to the chase then, I'm here as a messenger on behalf of greater powers than you or I. On behalf of my masters I am here to offer you the power to right your failures and reclaim what is rightfully yours."
"I-uh, power?" Lydia rasped, quickly regretting speaking as her vocal cords clawed at her scorched throat. "What are you?"
The creature sighed, a torrent of green sparks kicked up through its mouth. "My name is Zahan, a Chernobaal, what you mortals often call a Hellhound. I am alpha of the pack around you." Lydia's heart leapt to her throat as she noticed for the first time the multitude of green stars peering out from the shadows around her.
Trying to get her raging heartbeat under control between the awful pain and the giant demonic dog right in front of her, she spoke. "You said you were offering…power? There's a catch isn't there."
"Your free will will remain untouched if that's what you're worried about." In a disturbingly familiar gesture it-Zahan reared up a hind leg up to scratch at his ear. "You'll be given orders by the masters, held accountable for failures, etc stuff like that. In return you can do whatever you please as long as it doesn't interfere with their goals."
"Your masters?"
"The Yozi. They who were once Primordials. They who wrought Creation and ruled it as the righteous, until they were ousted by the gods they created to serve them." The green embers that were Zahan's eyes burned. "I've watched you pup, seen you scavenge for scraps left behind by your so-called betters, work in the blood and mire of war, too stubborn to give up but too weak to do anything but fold when those stronger than you sought to carve their mark on your flesh." It cackled bitterly as it turned to show her the side of its neck. "We are kin you and I." Branded there was a rune, seared into the very shadow that made up its being.
"We both don't have much time left. Your mortal frame is dying, and the thing I carry within me unravels me as I speak. So choose pup."
Lydia swallowed, feeling the pain of the saliva forcing away down her throat blend in with all the other torturous pains assaulting her body. Zahan was right in the fact that she was likely going to die shortly after this if she didn't accept its offer. For a moment she was tempted to refuse and just die, to either her wounds or to the beast in front of her. With Papa dead and everyone else gone why would she even bother to go on?
But then she clenched her fists, ignoring the way her hands agonisingly protested, that had been a gunshot wound on Papa's forehead wasn't it?
She stared the beast straight in the eye. "I accept."
Zahan grinned ferally before he paused. "I guess since you're not going to die you'll be wanting this back." It spat something out before in a shower of green sparks. "Got this from a group of Britannian soldiers my pack snacked on before coming to save you."
The last thing Lydia saw before Zahan pulled his jaw impossibly wide and consumed her was the shining form of her father's pocketwatch.
The walls were untouched, the door was in place, and no smoke haunted the corridor. It was like the fire had never touched it all in the first place.
And she could hear music playing from the living room.
"Papa?" She called out cautiously, hoping against hope that everything she experienced was some sort of bizarre nightmare. She took a deep breath and ran for the door. "Papa?!"
She opened the door and was immediately assault by a cacophony of screams. She was in a tent now, with wounded and dying men and women surrounding her in a series of bloody cots. Stiffly, almost robotically she picked a triage tag sheet and headed for the nearest casualty, a man with half of his skin flayed off and great chunks torn from his chest, and trembling she made to put a black sticker on him-
The world melted away in a deluge of quicksilver, the triage station twisting away and reforming into a great silver forest. The "trees" stretched into the sky for infinity, roots and branches snaking through both the black earth below and webbing the skies above. Upon an infinite times infinity she could see her infinitely fragmenting reflection in the infinite forest around, a display that more than anything else in her short lifetime made her realise how small she was.
All the while Papa's song was still playing.
"Child."
As one her reflections all turned to look at her, a tilt to their heads that she knew she was mirroring now. "You give much, but all others do is return hatred back upon you. Doomed child, what did you think would be at the end on that tragic road you walk?"
"I-" Her voice faltered traitorously, her very being quailing at the instinctive knowledge that she was speaking to her patron. A Yozi, a being who had created the world itself from the unreality of Before. "I did it because it was right!" She shuddered and collapsed on her knees, wrapping her arms around herself, feeling wetness on her cheeks. "I just wanted to make people happy…"
"And yet the Britannians disagree." Silver bubbled up before her, forming into Britannian soldiers, beating and brutalizing people she knew. "You are weak, so who are you to define what is right in this universe? You dream, but lack the ability to reflect them unto reality. You are pathetic."
"I KNOW!" She screamed, getting back up and looking at the Silver Forest hatefully. "I'VE HAD THAT POUNDED INTO ME EVERY DAY, EVERY HOUR, EVERY SECOND SINCE THE BRITANNIANS ARRIVED. I KNOW I'M PATHETIC, I KNOW I'M WEAK. BUT YOU," she glared at the reflections before her, "You wanted service, and you offered power in return right? ISN'T THAT WHY YOU'RE HERE?! TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT?"
The Forest rumbled, sounding eerily like Mr. Bogdanov. It took that connection for her to realise that it was laughing. "To impose your ideals upon the world, some would say that you are mad. That you are a tyrant. A mad tyrant even."
"Better me than Britannia." She spat. "As long as they exist nobody can be happy, nobody can be free, nobody can be allowed to live. If I have to be a mad tyrant to see everyone get their happy end then that's what I'll do."
The rumbling grew louder, and the soldiers melted away. Her reflections leered keenly at her, grinning too wide grins, their eyes possessing an inhuman quality that seemed to pierce through her.
I AM SZORNEY, THE SILVER FOREST. KNOW THAT YOU ARE MY CHOSEN.
GO FORTH, AND SEE THAT ALL THE WORLD IS A MIRROR FOR YOUR IDEALS
The Chrysalis melted, quicksilver dripping away as unholy flames roared from within. Lydia stepped out, a sublime grace to her posture that hadn't been there before. The cold however informed her of several important items now missing from her person. She blinked and looked down before letting out a shriek of surprise. "Ah, what happened to my clothes?!"
"You'll live pup, steal some new ones if you have to."
"You're in my head?!"
"I can't do anything but sit around and look out from here, your mind is safe."
"I-Okay, okay." So looked at the hellhound pack that was bowing before her now. "So what happens to them?"
"That's up for you to decide pup, you're the Alpha now. Whatever you say goes." She could feel his ghostly shrug. Could dogs even shrug?
"Iunno. I'm not a dog."
Lydia sighed as she bent down to retrieve the shining gold pocketwatch at her feet and held it to herself. This place held nothing to her anymore, not after her home was burnt down and Papa was dead. Where could she go now?
…West, she could go west. That was where the rest of the army was fighting the Britannians right? As long as the Empire stood, then she would never get anything done. She had to go West.
But first, she shivered as a Chernobaal came up and nuzzled her, first she needed to find some clothes.
Name: Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak
Age: 15
Motivation: Create a world where everyone can be happy and give Britannia its just due.
Urge: Impress upon the leaders of Britannia their sins through song. (Sylvan)
Caste: Slayer
Patron Yozi: Szorney
Anima Banner: A banner of silver flame, prismatic musical notes constantly being woven within.
Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 5, Stamina 3; Perception 3, Intelligence 3, Wits 3; Charisma 2, Manipulation 1, Appearance 4
Virtues: Compassion 5, Conviction 3, Temperance 3, Valor 2
Abilities: Archery 3, Martial Arts 1, Melee 5 (Swords +3), War 1, Integrity 5, Performance 3 (Singing +3, Piano +3), Resistance 3, Survival 1, Lore 1, Athletics 3, Awareness 3 (Scent +2*), Dodge 5 (Against Exalts +3), Linguistics 1 (Native: Russian. English)
Backgrounds: Backing (Yozi) 1, Cult (Yozi) 1, Influence (Yozi) 1, Unwoven Coadjutor (Zahan) 4, Demon Followers (Chernobaal Pack) 3, Past Life 5 (Elendil)
Essence: 2
Willpower: 8
*From Coadjutor
Notes: Zahan is an Chernobaal.
Traits from Unwoven Coadjutor: Whenever she coughs green sparks pour out. (-0 Points)
Intimacies:
Father (Love, Trauma, Vengeance)(Negative), Singing/Piano (Nostalgic, Passionate)(Positive), Russia (Home)(Positive), Britannia (Loathing)(Negative), Chernobaal Pack (Gratitude, Companions)(Positive), Szorney (Gratitude)(Positive), Craft (Shiny)(Positive)
Charms;
Malfeas:
- First Malfeas Excellency
- Second Malfeas Excellency
- Hardened Devil Body (x3)
- By Pain Reforged
- Scar-Writ Saga Shield
- Insignificant Embers Intuition
- Green Sun Nimbus Flare
Szorney:
- First Szorney Excellency
- Second Szorney Excellency
- Mirror Matches Movement
- Meeting Mirror Deflection
- Quicksilver Sap Transfusion
- New Growth Meditation (x3)
- Rooted In Reality
Name: Zahan, Breaker of Chains (Chernobaal)
Motivation: To see his brothers live free.
Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 5, Stamina 5; Charisma 3, Manipulation 1, Appearance 3; Perception 6, Intelligence 3, Wits 4
Virtues: Compassion 3, Conviction 3, Temperance 2, Valor 4
Abilities: Athletics 4 (Chains No More +1), Awareness 4 (Scent +3), Craft 5, Dodge 3, Integrity 5, Investigation 3, Linguistics (Native: Old Realm. Russian, English) 2, Lore 1, Martial Arts 5, Presence 1 (Intimidation +2), Resistance 3, Stealth 3, Survival 5 (Tracking +3)
Backgrounds: Backing 1
Willpower: 9
Essence: 4
The footfalls of Britannian soldiers tended to be all that you heard in Vladivostok these days, Lydia reflected as she shied away from yet another one of their military patrols, the fading sound of crunching snow and the bitter complaints of the soldiers telling her that it was safe to continue on. Gripping her precious cargo of bread tightly to her chest, she quickly scampered her way across the street.
The husks of shattered buildings loomed over as she navigated her way through the streets, broken caricatures of what used to be familiar landmarks. She hummed, the song Papa had composed for her rising up as it was wont to do.
"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Bogdanov." Lydia said, her face flushed in embarrassment. Stupid stupid stupid, how could she forget to bring some money with her? "I don't think I brought any money with me. I'll put this back."
Mr. Bogdanov laughed. Lydia liked it when he laughed (though not at this particular moment), it was deep and rumbly, sort of like how she would imagine a mountain laughing. He reached up and ruffled her head, eliciting a weak whine of protest from her. "Take no mind little Lydia, this will be on the house yes? It will be our little secret." He grinned conspiratorially at her.
Lydia mournfully tore her eyes away from the ruined shop, briefly ruminating the fact that it was already looted clean. Thankfully the last she had heard Mr. Bogdanov had managed to flee from the city safely. She prayed that he and his family were alright.
An acrid tang reached her nose, something after a month of burning salvaged wood and clothes told her that something was burning. Looking to the sky, she saw a thin trail of smoke rising to the sky, smoke that seemed to be growing thicker with each moment.
Smoke that was coming from the direction of her home.
PAPA!
Mr. Bogdanov's shop forgotten, she raced through the empty streets, churning snow turning back in her wake as she made her way back home, back to the source of the swelling trail of smoke.
Each beat of her heart grew just that bit more frantic as the acrid stench grew as she neared her home, her hopes that whatever was causing the fire was far enough that she could escape in time with papa dying. As she raced around the last corner she froze in horror, the scene before her searing itself into her mind.
Her assumption that the fire had started nearby her home was just that, an assumption. The flames were just beginning to roar, grown swollen on the diet of dry wood and carpeting that made up her house. The door was gone, the remains of the shattered hinges suggesting whoever made that entry was less than polite.
She didn't even hesitate.
The oily black smoke clung coyly to her throat and lungs as she charged in, leaving her to choke out rasping coughs. "Papa! Papa!" She screamed, looking vainly around, hoping for an answer. Being bedridden after taking that shrapnel to his back, he couldn't have gone far in this choking hell. Gritting her teeth she ran up the stairs, letting out a shriek of pain as she felt the fire flare across the skin, but trudging on regardless. At each step that accursed smoke was in her face, robbing her of oxygen and obstructing her vision. It hurt, everything hurt so much, but Papa was all that she had left. If she didn't have him, then she had nothing. She felt charred fingers wrap around a brass knob, and with a cry of desperation she heaved it open.
Why was Papa so still?
Why did-why did Papa have blood on his forehead?
"Papa," she gasped out as she dragged herself to him, "Papa please, we have to go." She begged as she shook him, ignoring the blood on him, ignoring that dark circle on his head. "PAPA PLEASE." She screamed, shaking him. Whydidn'thewakeuphehadtowakeupshehadnothingnobodyleftshedidn'twanttobealone.
Her breaths were getting shorter, she didn't have any time for Papa to wake. She gasped as she tried lifting Papa with her slender frame, her knees buckling but somehow miraculously managing to set him on her. She managed a single step before she collapsed face first on the ground, the touch of the charring floor leaving her screaming as the heat tore at her unprotected face. She got up sobbing, ignoring the skin that she left on the floor, and promptly collapsed again. This time she couldn't feel her limbs. No matter how she tried, she couldn't get up this time.
By now it hurt to even breathe, let alone speak, but she didn't want to let it end like this.
She stared out at the rain pouring outside, her small six-year old frame struggling valiantly to stay balanced on the sofa so she could look out. She always liked the rain, it made her feel calm and happy, the pitter patter making her think of a piano playing. Like Papa!
Having reaffirmed this irrefutable argument why rain was good to herself, she tumbled off the sofa, and ran to the living room where Papa was staring at his shiny clock on the family piano. Maybe he would play something for her today!
Papa looked at her running in and laughed, scooping her up and making her fly! She liked that too! It was just one of the many reasons why he was Best Papa! He plopped her on his lap and opened up his shiny clock, which had these musical notes stuck inside, he smiled at her like he was sharing something super-secret and only for her. "You see this Lydia? I wrote this song for you, do you want to listen to it and see if Papa did a good job?"
"Okay!"
The last thing she remembered was an enormous black shadow looming over her, for some reason sparking green of all things through the haze of the smoke, it sort of sounded like it was speaking to her. It sounded…unhappy?
Lydia groaned as she opened her eyes, pain wracking every square centimeter of her body as she greedily gasped air into tortured lungs.
"Still alive pup?" A voice rumbled beside her, and looking to see the source Lydia let out a shriek of surprise and jerked away. A shadow towered above her, a nightmare thing of obsidian abyss and sparking emerald flame that seemed to grudgingly coalesce into the form of a titanic hound. Glaring at her with a baleful green eye, it apparently took her momentary shocked terror as a sign to continue on. "I'll cut to the chase then, I'm here as a messenger on behalf of greater powers than you or I. On behalf of my masters I am here to offer you the power to right your failures and reclaim what is rightfully yours."
"I-uh, power?" Lydia stuttered, flabbergasted. "What are you?"
The creature sighed, a torrent of green sparks kicked up through its mouth. "My name is Zahan, a Chernobaal, what you mortals often call a Hellhound. I am alpha of the pack around you." Lydia's heart leapt to her throat as she noticed for the first time the multitude of green stars peering out from the shadows around her.
Trying to get her raging heartbeat under control between the awful pain and the giant demonic hound right in front of her, she spoke. "You said you were offering…power? There's a catch isn't there."
"Your free will will remain untouched if that's what you're worried about." In a disturbingly familiar gesture it-Zahan reared up a hind leg up to scratch at an ear. "You'll be given orders by the masters, held accountable for failures, etc stuff like that. In return you can do whatever you please as long as it doesn't interfere with their goals."
"Your masters?"
"The Yozi. They who were once Primordials. They who wrought Creation and ruled it as the righteous, until they were ousted by the gods they created to serve them." The green embers that were Zahan's eyes burned. "I've watched you pup, seen you scavenge for scraps left behind by your so-called betters, work in the blood and mire of war, too stubborn to give up but too weak to do anything but fold when those stronger than you sought to carve their mark on your flesh." It cackled bitterly as it turned to show her the side of its neck. "We are kin you and I." Branded there was a rune, seared into the very shadow that made up its being.
"We both don't have much time left. Your mortal frame is dying, and the thing I carry within me unravels me as I speak. So choose pup."
Lydia swallowed, feeling the pain of the saliva forcing away down her throat blend in with all the other torturous pains assaulting her body. Zahan was right in the fact that she was likely going to die shortly after this if she didn't accept its offer. For a moment she was tempted to refuse and just die, to either her wounds or to the beast in front of her. With Papa dead and everyone else gone why would she even bother to go on?
But then she clenched her fists, ignoring the agony that burst forth in the process, that had been a gunshot wound on Papa's forehead wasn't it?
She stared the beast straight in the eye. "I accept."
Zahan grinned ferally before he paused. "I guess since you're not going to die you'll be wanting this back." It spat something out before in a shower of green sparks. "Got this from a group of Britannian soldiers my pack snacked on before coming to save you."
The last thing Lydia saw before Zahan pulled his jaw impossibly wide and consumed her was the shining form of her father's pocketwatch.
The walls were untouched, the door was in place, and no smoke haunted the corridor. It was like the fire had never touched it all in the first place.
And she could hear music playing from the living room.
"Papa?" She called out cautiously, hoping against hope that everything she experienced was some sort of bizarre nightmare. She took a deep breath and ran for the door. "Papa?!"
She opened the door and was immediately assault by a cacophony of screams. She was in a tent now, with wounded and dying men and women surrounding her in a series of bloody cots. Almost robotically she picked a triage tag sheet and headed for the nearest casualty, a man with half of his skin flayed off and great chunks torn from his chest, trembling she made to put a black sticker on him-
The world melted away in a deluge of quicksilver, the triage station twisting away and reforming into a great silver forest. The "trees" stretched into the sky for infinity, roots and branches snaking through both the black earth below and webbing the skies above. Upon an infinite times infinity she could see her infinitely fragmenting reflection in the infinite forest around, a display that more than anything else in her short lifetime made her realise how small she was.
All the while Papa's song was still singing.
"Child."
As one her reflections all turned to look at her, a tilt to their heads that she knew she was mirroring now. "You give much, but all others do is reflect hatred back upon you. Doomed child, what did you think would be at the end on that tragic road you walk?"
"I-" Her voice faltered traitorously, her very being quailing at the instinctive knowledge that she was speaking to her patron. A Yozi, a being who had created the world itself from the unreality of Before. "I did it because it was right!" She shuddered and collapsed on her knees, wrapping her arms around herself, feeling wetness on her cheeks. "I just wanted to make people happy…"
"And yet the Britannians disagree." Silver bubbled up before her, forming into Britannian soldiers, beating and brutalizing people she knew. "You are weak, so who are you to define what is right in this universe? You dream, but lack the ability to make them into reality. You are pathetic."
"I KNOW!" She screamed, getting back up and looking at the Silver Forest hatefully. "I'VE HAD THAT POUNDED INTO ME EVERY DAY, EVERY HOUR, EVERY SECOND SINCE THE BRITANNIANS ARRIVED. I KNOW I'M PATHETIC, I KNOW I'M WEAK. BUT YOU," she glared at the reflections before her, "You wanted service, and you offered power in return right? ISN'T THAT WHY YOU'RE HERE?! TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT?"
The Forest rumbled, sounding eerily like Mr. Bogdanov. It took that connection for her to realise that it was laughing. "To impose your ideals upon the world, some would say that you are mad. That you are a tyrant. A mad tyrant even."
"Better me than Britannia." She spat. "As long as they exist nobody can be happy, nobody can be free, nobody can be allowed to live. If I have to be a mad tyrant to see everyone get their happy end then that's what I'll do."
The rumbling grew louder, and the soldiers melted away. Her reflections leered keenly at her, grinning too wide grins, their eyes possessing an inhuman quality that seemed to pierce through her.
I AM SZORNEY, THE SILVER FOREST. KNOW THAT YOU ARE MY CHOSEN.
GO FORTH, AND SEE THAT ALL THE WORLD IS A MIRROR FOR YOUR IDEALS
The Chrysalis melted, quicksilver dripping away as unholy flames roared from within. Lydia stepped out, a sublime grace to her posture that hadn't been there before. The cold however informed her of several important items now missing from her person. She blinked and looked down before letting out a shriek of surprise. "Ah, what happened to my clothes?!"
"You'll live pup, steal some new ones if you have to."
"You're in my head?!"
"I can't do anything but sit around and look out from here, your mind is safe."
"I-Okay, okay." So looked at the hellhound pack that was bowing before her now. "So what happens to them?"
"That's up for you to decide pup, you're the Alpha now. Whatever you say goes." She could feel his ghostly shrug. Could dogs even shrug?
"Iunno. I'm not a dog."
Lydia sighed as she bent down to retrieve the shining gold pocketwatch at her feet and held it to herself. This place held nothing to her anymore, not after her home was burnt down and Papa was dead. Where should she go now?
…West, she should go west. That was where the rest of the army was fighting the Britannians right? As long as the Empire stood, then she would never get anything done. She had to go West.
But first, she shivered as a Chernobaal came up and nuzzled her, she needed to find some clothes.
I finished her intro just as the music finished. Nice writing, although her outburst to Szorenzy near the end seemed just a tad bit off. Excellent mood from the piece.
I finished her intro just as the music finished. Nice writing, although her outburst to Szorenzy near the end seemed just a tad bit off. Excellent mood from the piece.
She had a lot of stress building up since the invasion, learning that the Britannians murdered her dad and burnt her house down (which also resulted in her nearly dying) did not help things. She was going to snap sooner or later at the rate she was going.
Also character sheet up. Reminder that this is me below when it comes to anything about Exalted mechanics.
I'm going with an anti-xp sink houserule, where all the general charms (First Yozi Excellency, Yozi Mythos Exultant) are free when the minimum Essence is reached, repurchase Charms are also free. However, for Yozi that aren't Patron or Favored you still need to buy the First Excellency, but only that.
