- Location
- Ireland
An Exalted(somewhat) SI with a decent author.
Yeeeessssssss
Yeeeessssssss
Pinball Wizard [SI, Keychain of Creation]
- Thread starter Andoriol
- Start date
- Crossover
- Location
- Florida, United States
Hm, okay:
Moderately Important:
Okay, I'm working on the next chapter now. I double checked some stuff (and am glad I did because I was operating under a few misconceptions on how the spellcasting worked, nothing that's affected what he's done, but for future things) and have adjusted accordingly.
Problem: I'm trying to describe the Underworld. Polling any fellow Exalted fans reading this, how would you describe the Underworld when you're in the West? I'm trying to keep all of the scattered bits of lore in my head at once (the Underworld's never been my strong suit) and figure out what stands out, and what everything looks like. I sorta flubbed the description of where he was at in the first chapter and need to address it in this one.
Moderately Important:
Okay, I'm working on the next chapter now. I double checked some stuff (and am glad I did because I was operating under a few misconceptions on how the spellcasting worked, nothing that's affected what he's done, but for future things) and have adjusted accordingly.
Problem: I'm trying to describe the Underworld. Polling any fellow Exalted fans reading this, how would you describe the Underworld when you're in the West? I'm trying to keep all of the scattered bits of lore in my head at once (the Underworld's never been my strong suit) and figure out what stands out, and what everything looks like. I sorta flubbed the description of where he was at in the first chapter and need to address it in this one.
Dakkan Sall
Random Encounter
- Location
- On the world map
Well, haven't done many games that actively take place in the Underworld (amusingly, I have played a deathknight in the west, but it never came to being in the underworld while it still ran). Did find an appropriate section from one of the books, though:
I take it to mean that, in the underworld at least, the sea is a flat plane of darkened water, with no movement on the surface or below (which may be preferable, as if there is something noticeably moving it's more than likely a band of spectres or some monster's ghost/hekatonkhire). So, the main problem/horror of the western underworld is motionlessness. Kind of a horizon-to-horizon isolation tank without the calming details of such, unless there's either something wrong one way or another, a recent shipwreck, or you're actually on an island.Compass of Celestial Directions Vol. IV: The Underworld said:
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I'd switch it out with Revlid's underworld, personally.
Revlid's Revised Underworld is the link.
'In the West, chunks of land that were lost with the continent of Okeanos still connect islands in great land-bridges. When Leviathan descends to the abyssal floor of Creation's oceans, where it is always night, he can swim on past sunken fragments of Saigoth and surface in a land of feverish monochrome, where Luthe's mirror stands intact atop islands long-sunk.'
Revlid's Revised Underworld is the link.
'In the West, chunks of land that were lost with the continent of Okeanos still connect islands in great land-bridges. When Leviathan descends to the abyssal floor of Creation's oceans, where it is always night, he can swim on past sunken fragments of Saigoth and surface in a land of feverish monochrome, where Luthe's mirror stands intact atop islands long-sunk.'
Yarudazuigu
Frostbyte's overlord.
- Location
- Poland
Is God-Machine of Creation ... the Loom of Fate?
Or SI have to kill Autochton ?!
Or SI have to kill Autochton ?!
Dakkan Sall
Random Encounter
- Location
- On the world map
One would hope not, as Autochthon is one of the only two 'good' primordials in the setting. Unless he's been corrupted at this point in time/story, he should be asleep in Elsewhere.
Might be one of his subsystems, tho.
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Given what it does, and how it explicitly uses time travel as part of its programming, i actually wouldn't be surprised if the God Machine is the Engine of Extinction, after its destroyed Creation and thereby destroyed the lock on time travel. This means he could 'destroy' it by saving Autobot.
Ball 2 - Travel
- Location
- Florida, United States
Ball 2
Travel
"Mmn…"
I glanced over at Secret briefly, finding her pale face scrunching up as she shifted in place. A small smile crossed my face before I smoothed it away and returned to my task.
"I would say welcome back to the land of the living, but we're in the Underworld so…" I paused in my efforts to shrug. A small groan came from the pale young woman, making me glance at her, "You okay?"
"Yes," she grumbled, red eyes opening to give me a small glare as she pushed her hair out of her face, "That joke was just so bad it hurt."
I chuckled in spite of myself at the snark, grinning as I returned to my work, "Why thank you."
"It wasn't a compliment," Secret muttered, though she looked at me in confusion, "What… are you doing?"
"Magic."
She just raised an eyebrow at me and I smiled, "See, I like magic, so I'm doing magic so I can put magic in my magic so I can magic while I magic."
The look she gave me at that very eloquently conveyed 'What the fuck is this crazy person talking about?' I laughed, so hard.
"Um…"
"I'm joking…" I said through the chuckles before returning to scratching runes onto my skin, "Mostly at least. What I said is technically correct, if totally unhelpful." I paused, adjusting the angle of my watch face and turning my face a few times, checking the rune on my cheek for accuracy. Satisfied, I brought the knife of Prometheus up and carefully began to scratch the lines of the next rune onto my forehead, "See, when the magic brought me here, I didn't know where I was at first, I just knew the… essence around me felt weird." Whoop, almost said mana. Wrong setting. Same basic stuff it seems, but different terminology. "I wasn't able to use it, so I've been trying to be sparing with my magic. But once I realized you were an Abyssal, it clicked. We're in the Underworld, all of the essence is aspected to death and at least partially hostile to living beings like myself."
Secret shifted uncomfortably as she moved to a sitting position on the deck of the Ice Ice Baby. But I continued, "So, since I need motes to actually do anything useful and have any chance of surviving in the Underworld, I need to be able to regain motes… which is what this," I paused to indicate the scratches I was putting into my skin, "Is all about. Allowing me to use all of the power in the air around me, sort of like how you do, just on a massively lesser scale."
While my personal reserves of mana capped out at somewhere right around twelve or so 'units', that felt like it was less than she had in her body. And let's just ignore the fact that she had over twice that in her aura. It wasn't visible to the naked eye right now, but I could just see the power coiling around her like a shadowy flame. And from what I knew, she was comparatively weak. She was still young by a normal person's reckoning, let alone that of an Exalted.
"You can do that?"
"Mhm… well, probably." I admitted with a little shrug, still carefully scratching at my skin with the tip of Prometheus' folding out blade.
"Wait, probably?"
"If I'm wrong and I can't, then I'm going to die of starvation or thirst pretty quickly unless you can help me out there." I glanced at Secret, finding her looking distinctly uncomfortable at that, "But I have a feeling you can't?"
"Not really. There's… not much out here to eat."
"It's okay, I kind of figured. If I get this wrong, I've got enough power to try it a few more times before I have to buckle down and just get us somewhere else."
Pale fingers pressed to equally pale lips as Secret scowled briefly down at the deck of the ship in contemplation. I was able to watch the emotions flit across her face as she did, scratching further runes into my skin while she thought.
Her eyes flicked to the side into nothingness and she briefly chewed on her knuckle before looking back to me, "What all is involved in this?"
"I keep scratching myself up for a bit, then say some funny words that probably mean jack diddly to you…" I paused as a thought occurred to me, "Probably catch on fire for a little bit, and then I can use Death Essence alongside more normal energies for a while."
"Catch fire-?" she squeaked.
A small chuckle escaped me, "Just a little bit. A teensy bit of immolation."
"Oh yes, because that makes it so much better."
I shrugged, "To be honest, I'm not sure it'll happen at all. See, I know what's going to be happening metaphysically, at least I'm pretty sure. But I'm rushing a bit so I'm not completely sure what'll happen physically." Finishing with the runes on my face, I set Prometheus down and began to work my coat and suit jacket off.
"Um… what are you doing?"
"I've got to put some more runes on my chest and stomach," a quick snap of my wrists and I folded the overcoat a few times before setting it on the deck beside me. A smirk found itself on my face, "And magical I may be, but I can't exactly do it through my clothes."
My jacket soon joined the coat, though I took a moment to pull my pocket square out and set it aside for clean up later. Soon though, I was unclasping my dark green vest, the heavily pocketed thing joining my jacket before I began to work on my purple dress shirt. Secret stared for just a moment before looking away in embarrassment, "So-… what am I supposed to do while you get all slicy dicy?"
"If you can manage it, pulling your boat up here or otherwise breaking it down and getting the pieces on this one will save me some time and work."
Secret scowled out over the side of my boat at the top of her smaller ships mast, the only part of it visible over the railing. After a moment, she morosely admitted, "I don't think I can pull that thing out of the water."
"Don't worry, doubt I could either honestly." Red eyes flicked back to me as I folded up my dress shirt and set about loosening my underarmor, "I'm going to be magicking it into place then."
"Is that your answer to everything?"
I couldn't help but grin, "Yeah, pretty much." That got an eyeroll, so I continued, "Honestly, not all the time. But when I'm dropped into things like I was, without any equipment or even a boat, it's the only tool I've really got."
"Oh…" she glanced back over at me as I set my actual armor aside. The thing was actually pretty form fitting despite being damn good armor, it was a layered, magical derivative of spider silk and heavily enchanted metallic plating. … though come to think of it, I could probably swap out the plating for some serious magical plating now… hrm… that was something for later. I did have a brief moment of self-consciousness at being topless in front of a cute girl, but I pushed it aside, I had work to do.
Picking Prometheus back up, I began to scratch runes into my skin once more, just barely drawing blood, "It's not a big deal really, magic is sort of my thing. I just usually prefer using non magical methods."
Secret's eyes narrowed at me as blood welled up against my neck, "Should you be talking while you do that?"
"I could do this in my sleep," I boasted, though not untruthfully thank goodness, "But I've just got to be slow and deliberate about it. I'm going to be at this for a while longer."
She raised an eyebrow at me, "Okay… so… what do I do while you do… whatever it is you're doing?"
"Relax? Once I'm done with this I'll need to recharge, and then we can work on getting out of the Underworld. It'll be easier to hide you in Creation than here, and that's definitely where I'm headed."
Covering her mouth in thought, she considered it before nodding, "Okay."
She stood, dusting herself off and looking around, "Is… there anything to do?"
"Well, if you look to your left you'll see abso-fuckin-lutely-nothin~, and if you look to your right, you'll see oodles and oodles of nothin~. And so on and so forth and sundry things." Now that got me another eye roll, though a little smile appeared accompanied it. But I continued, "Honestly, not really. Sorry."
"No, it's okay," she waved it off before looking away and grumbling, "I'll figure something out."
And with that, a little quiet fell over the two of us. I worked steadily, scratching runes into my neck and torso, blood welling up from each one in turn. Had to be careful around the stomach region though. I was sufficiently ticklish and the tip of the knife was sufficiently light to make it hard not to screw things up. Sure, it stung just a bit after the cuts, but the initial movements didn't really hurt, like cutting yourself shaving.
Still, the time passed quickly for me, even though Secret ended up having to spend nearly an hour faffing about. She got all of her limited stuff out of her boat and moved over, had explored the entirety of the Ice Ice Baby, all two areas of it, had looked out over the water from each of the railings, and had eventually settled in to watch me work. Hugging her knees to her chest loosely.
"Right," I murmured, looking over all of the runes carefully in the reflection of my watch, ignoring the little rivulets of blood that had seeped from the twenty or so runes carved into my skin, "That should do it."
"What, is it time to light yourself on fire?" Secret muttered, scowling just a bit. It wasn't mean, but the lack of anything to do was obviously bugging her.
"Pretty much." I agreed with a good natured smile, folding Prometheus knife back into place and setting the lighter down beside me. Pressing my fists together such that my knuckles interlocked, I settled in for my spell, starting to forge the imago, "This will take a while, though at very least it'll be more interesting to watch."
"Really?" there was a fair bit of snark and disbelief in her tone, but also a bit of hope.
I just smiled, closing my eyes and focusing inward, and knowing that a glowing circle had formed in the air behind me.
Words that were simultaneously meaningless and full of purpose quietly came from my mouth as I described the magic I was working in my head. My Nimbus, the interaction between my Pattern and the world around me, began to flare into visibility. Deep green circuitry traced itself into the air, describing the interactions my magic and the mechanisms of the world, creating a circuit-board from power…
"Runtime Start:: #Arcanum<Life>, #Arcanum<Death>, #Practice<Patterning>;" The magic was far from done though, the rough patterns of the circuitry began to interlock and fold back in on themselves, creating circles of circuitry and runes, building a clockwork mechanism of circuitry from my power. It wasn't literal, but nor was it entirely metaphorical, Awakened magic was weird like that. But this was how I used my magic, how I connected my will to the world and enacted it. I was a mechanism in a greater machine, and by turning my wheels, I could shift the gears of the world, "Yantra(Mantra, Mandala, Sacrament) ; Variables(Set) ; Enact:: Motonic Conversion."
11 Dice = 1 8 4 8 1 4 1 3 4 8 7 = 3 Successes
Blood welled up from the numerous runes on my body as the spell formed around and within me. The blood was the oil for the gears and mechanisms of reality, acting as a lubricant to ease the new connection I was creating between myself and Mana. Even then, the magic settled into place in and around my Pattern with a jerking lurch, like a new transmission getting shoved into place in a moving car.
The metaphorical engine of my soul that let me use Mana sputtered and tried to stall as I connected the jury-rigged system to it, but then the blood welling up from the runes burned, puffing away in bursts of black and white flames as I frayed myself and sacrificed the blood to jumpstart both engines, each puff of blood burned setting the metaphysical pistons to churning.
Something inside me ground, metaphorical gears and circuitry slipping and burning.
Vitae surged through the gear-circuits that interacted with the outside world and my own internal one for just a moment before–
Relief.
I let out a little sigh as the gears caught and turned, power jumping from one circuit to another at a measured, easy pace. I relaxed, feeling sort of empty, but not in a hungry or aching sort of way… it was weird, but not unpleasant. It was… almost heady… this was like an upper tier Hallow mixed with a Supernal Verge, it was like… like the atmosphere of the longtime sanctuary of an elder Vampire… there was just so much power in the air compared to what I was used to… I hadn't noticed earlier because it wasn't something I could use but now…
It was like drowning… but in air? Or power. It's hard to convey in words. The power was sickly sweet… or… or like drowning in Vitae…
HUNGER
Something in me, something dark and powerful and that I'd thought long quiet, made itself known. And I shuddered. I wasn't too surprised that it had stirred that old addiction, the underworld's mana was strikingly similar to that of a Vampire's Vitae, it's why I'd been able to design the spell in the first place. But… well, it was an unpleasant reminder. Even if I intellectually knew the addiction could never go away, Vitae's temptation never fades.
"Did it work?"
The soft, feminine voice tore me from my unpleasant musings. Giving my head a little shake, I responded, "Yeah, gimme a sec to adust and I'll get the boat a goin'."
I straightened out, cracking my back before pushing myself to my feet. Oh wow, same position for way too long. That was uncomfortable.
And from the look Secret gave me, completely audible, "Ew."
"I will actually second that, no matter how satisfying it was." I agreed, giving myself a little twist, and a cascade of little pops going through me. "… ow."
Picking up my pocket square and unfolding the handkerchief, I began to dab away at the blood still on my skin. I was quite thankful that my pants were a material that didn't stain because of blood and that the handkerchief was enchanted to consume stuff. The handkerchief was meant for cleaning up rituals, exactly like this one. Can thank working with vampires for both of those. "Gotta admit though," I started in amusement, "Little surprised you found the pops of joints disgusting, but not the fact that I have numerous runes weeping blood."
My companion just rolled her eyes, "I'm an Abyssal, blood comes with the territory."
Chuckling quietly to myself and satisfied with the cleanliness of my torso, I set my pocket square to the side and picked up my vest, "Which way are we going?"
"East by North East," Secret said with surprising surety as she stood, before looking away, "Mostly. I… don't really have a goal other than…" she made a vague gesture, scowling slightly, "Away."
"Fair enough." I admitted, tugging my armored vest back on over my head and tucking it into my pants, "Away from the Deathlords, away from the craziness, away."
Relief washed over her face at the understanding, "Yeah…"
I smiled, slipping my purple button-up shirt back on and tucking it in around my vest. "We'll figure out the rest when we get there. Land first. Then a Shadowland, then Creation."
"How will we do that?" she asked, her head tilting to the side slightly as I slipped my more stylish vest back on and buttoning it up. For the briefest of moments I felt like Eva Unit 01 or the Incredible Hulk what with the purple and green contrast. But the familiar and entertaining feeling passed quickly, "I'll only sort of know the area and we can't just wander around, what with you needing food and everything."
"I'll throw together another spell to make it work." Now that I knew where I was and could regain mana, I could set up a serious tracking spell to find a Shadowland. I could have bothered with a tie at this point, but I decided against it. Creation had a more Asian aesthetic… I might have to change outfits entirely to fit in better really.
That got me a look of disbelief though, her hands on her hips, "Wait, seriously?"
"Mhm?" I grunted, before throwing on my suit jacket and buttoning it up.
I could see the thoughts going through her head as she glanced at the boat, then back behind it, thinking of the spell I'd obviously used to propel myself, then her eyes focused on my lips… heh, looks like I wasn't as subtle with the universal language as I'd thought. Finally, as I shrugged on my overcoat, Secret asked incredulously, "… just how many spells do you know?"
"Can't talk, casting." A quick snap of my foot sent Prometheus flying upwards into my ready hand as I formed the spell, "Runtime Start:: #Arcanum<Matter>, #Practice(Ruling) ; Yantra(Mantra, Mandola, Tool) ; Variables(Set) ; Enact:: Bending."
9 Dice = 7 5 7 (9 8 7) 4 6 3 6 (9 3) = 3 Successes ; Wisdom (2 successes) vs Paradox (0 Successes) (
The spell settled into place once more, the runes on the ship lighting up as I took control of the water around the ship. A sweep of my hand caused the water beneath Secret's rowboat to lift like a bowl… the water level beneath it rising above the railing of the Ice Ice Baby. I called it bending, and I moved like I was doing so, but I didn't actually need to do so to perform the actions, but I was, admittedly a pretty physical caster. I always visualized ongoing magics like this as augmented reality effects, and that my manipulations were like adjusting the runes in my vision to do so like it was some sort of super advanced holodeck or omnitool sort of shit.
A twist of my wrist, and the tiny little sailboat was gently dumped out onto the deck. Letting the pseudopod of water collapse back into the otherwise still ocean I shifted my stance and lowered one hand while raising the other, propelling the boat once more, easing it in the direction Secret had indicated.
It was… quiet. Now that I'd realized where I was… it really sort of struck home just how quiet everything was. No waves. No wind. No… nothing. The sky was a pale blue, and the sun wasn't bright… I'd barely even noticed it…
I glanced over to the east. It was barely visible with my Mage Sight opened, but…
Revelation: 2 Dice = 1 (10 9) = 2 Successes
The enormous clockwork thing of lanterns and gears and Incan-like design that hung in the sky was… old. Like… horrifyingly, absurdly, impossibly old. Cue yo' moma jokes. I…. okay, I exaggerate a little there, but the thing was already aged like not so fine wine when human civilization as I knew it was just taking its first toddling steps. There was a weight to the thing in its years, and holy crap was it sobering. Not so much as seeing that weight of years in a person-shaped-thing, no, but still.
This was the land of the dead… and now that I was aware of it, I couldn't not be aware of it. I was too in tune with Death, too studied in the arts of the Dead, to just ignore it.
To be frank, it was irritating, like the tingle of pins and needles or that feeling of needing to pop a joint but the damn thing refusing to do so. Just all over. The living just weren't welcome here, not really. And some part of me, some part of my soul, remembered the taste of Vitae, the flavor of the Abyss as it entwined with my Awakened soul…
"So…"
I shook the thoughts off like a wet dog. It wasn't a productive line of thinking, not right now. I'd contemplate it more when we were safe and I had ready access to food and water. I looked over at Secret, "Yeeesssss?"
The pale young woman sat on the edge of the railing, her legs loosely crossed as her arms rested in her lap, "What got you sent to the Underworld?"
"Magic." Oh it was fun to be cheeky. But I smiled, "More seriously, it was a spell by my boss. It…" my eyes flicked about, taking in the surprisingly… calm? Serene? Grim scenery. "Well… it worked technically. But this isn't where I expected to end up at all."
"Where did you expect to end up?"
"Not the Underworld." I said with a grin. I looked over at her, "Okay, my turn. Why'd you leave the Deathlords? I don't know much about them other than that they're abominably powerful ghosts that rule the Underworld."
Well, I did, but the Underworld of Creation and its accompanying horrific masters had never been my strong suit.
"I… well…" she paused, looking down at the icy deck, "I… I've been on a training montage with a number of the Deathlords… I'm… honestly not all that good of an Abyssal. I did get a bit stronger but… the Deathlords, particularly the Lion… I got to see how… terrible they were." Her hand slid to clasp the small circlet hanging from her neck, squeezing it tightly for comfort as a very small, and a very scared look took over her face for just an instant, "And I just… I was headed back to Skullstone but… I just couldn't go along with it anymore."
My heart went out to the young woman, a little ache in my chest. I never liked to see people suffer, I was a bleeding heart through and through, but I had a weakness for attractive women. Gently, I prompted, "Bad?"
"Really bad."
I cringed slightly, it was more the tone than anything else, along with the look on her face. That conversation line was over.
"What about you?" she asked, obviously changing the subject, "Why did you let your master use a spell like that?"
"Because I asked her to." I paused, "Well… sort of. She made an offer to me, she'd teach me some magic and enable me to help people in a major, lasting, significant way. And in a lot of ways, that thing is my duty. She's really just the enabler, she's making it possible for me to do something I'd do anyways."
A puzzled expression crossed Secret's pale face, "What's that?"
"Find a particular big and nasty thing and punch it right in the schnoz. Repeatedly." I said with a grin. The enormity of the task didn't mean I couldn't be cheerful about it. I considered a thought for a moment before glancing over at her with a more neutral expression, "And I don't mind telling you, but I don't think the name means anything to you. And if I do, you've gotta promise not to bring it up unless I do, it could be risky."
"Really?"
"If it's even a quarter as entrenched as I expect, let alone as I fear, then yeah. It could be listening in with stuff like animals or spirits or structures. And I don't want to draw attention to myself just yet." Or ever, if I could help it. This world was insanely overpowered at its higher end, and while I could handle myself, I couldn't do anything like tank a perfectly accurate infinite damage attack.
And no, no part of that description is hyperbole at all. Perfectly accurate, infinite damage attack.
"But… you're willing to tell me…?"
I shrugged, "If there's anywhere we're safe from it listening in, it's here and now." If only for the fact that there was nothing interesting around for it to expend the resources and infrastructure to monitor the area.
Secret, bless her little necrotically infused heart, actually considered that for a moment. Her hand cupping her chin in thought as she scowled at the deck of the Ice Ice Baby. Then she raised her red eyes to meet my own gray green ones, pointing a pale finger at me, "Tell me. Because if anything sounds like a major plot point, that's it."
Okay, now that made me smile, "It's commonly known as the God Machine," and there was no recognition in her face at that, "It goes by a lot of names though, when it's given one."
Secret recrossed her legs, shifting in place on the railing as she puzzled over that, "Yeah… I've never heard of it… what is it?"
"About as bad as any of the Deathlords… maybe a particularly active Neverborn… it depends on how long it's had time to build itself up here. But it's subtle…" I paused, glancing over at her, "A lot like your former boss."
That made her pause, shuddering and looking away. "That's… bad…"
"Just a smidge, yeah."
"Do…" she stopped, hesitating for a moment to reorder her thoughts, "What do you need to do?"
"Figure out where to start looking," I said with a shrug.
She gave me an incredulous look at that, "… really?"
"Really. I'll figure it out. I know what to look for in the generalities."
"Like what?"
"Human sacrificial systems, certain formations of geomantic magic, certain forms of spiritual entities…" I paused as it sort of clicked, "… huh… the damn thing might actually be a Primordial…"
Secret somehow managed to blanch at the thought, "Seriously?"
"Yeah, it could take any number of forms really, it might be pretending to be a Neverborn or be integrated into the Loom of Fate, or a part of the geomantic systems of the world in some other fashion." Honestly, the God Machine was almost like an infection or a parasite in the geomantic systems of the world, which could mean it could be in any number of places… that was problematic. I needed to find some instances of its smaller workings and start tracing them back towards its central networking and command / control nodes… hrm… "But honestly it's very similar to a Primordial, what with having subsidiary existences and a distributed form as well as a Jouten."
"A what?"
"World body." I explained, "It's a kind of weird concept to wrap your head around in its entirety. But Creation's main form is either built from or built atop of or otherwise outright is Gaia's primary Jouten."
"Creation is a Primordial?!" she half shrieked.
"Sort of. Like I said, it's complex." That and the lore was sort of inconsistent and I didn't know what was true here and what wasn't.
It took her a moment of unhappy contemplation to shake that off, hugging herself around the waist. I'd have put a hand on her shoulder or otherwise provided some sort of comfort, but I was still moving the boat forward across the still sea of the underworld and couldn't move much. Eventually though, she shook it off, "Ugh… just how many points did you sink in Lore to know this stuff?"
"Lore and Occult thank you very much," metaphorically speaking at least, "But not as much as I'd have liked. I'm woefully out of date and vague on far too many points." It was interesting that she was at least tangentially aware of the system the Exalted world had run off of in the games, just like she and others had been in the comic. That merited study entirely on its own.
A small, teasing smile crossed her face at that, "What, didn't use your Excellencies?"
"Can't~" I said with a fair bit of cheer. Mind you, god I wanted some of those. Using raw magic efficiently and instinctively to massively enhance yourself without any chance of failure? Sign me the fuck up.
That made her red eyes narrow, "Why not? You're a sorcerer, why wouldn't you have an Occult excellency?"
"Because I'm not an Exalt?" She really hadn't picked up on that what with the lack of caste mark of a Celestial Exalted or the anima flux of a Dragon Blooded? She was a dork.
Her eyelids fluttered a few times as she blinked rapidly, "Wait, what?"
"I'm a mortal."
…
"WHAT?!"
Travel
"Mmn…"
I glanced over at Secret briefly, finding her pale face scrunching up as she shifted in place. A small smile crossed my face before I smoothed it away and returned to my task.
"I would say welcome back to the land of the living, but we're in the Underworld so…" I paused in my efforts to shrug. A small groan came from the pale young woman, making me glance at her, "You okay?"
"Yes," she grumbled, red eyes opening to give me a small glare as she pushed her hair out of her face, "That joke was just so bad it hurt."
I chuckled in spite of myself at the snark, grinning as I returned to my work, "Why thank you."
"It wasn't a compliment," Secret muttered, though she looked at me in confusion, "What… are you doing?"
"Magic."
She just raised an eyebrow at me and I smiled, "See, I like magic, so I'm doing magic so I can put magic in my magic so I can magic while I magic."
The look she gave me at that very eloquently conveyed 'What the fuck is this crazy person talking about?' I laughed, so hard.
"Um…"
"I'm joking…" I said through the chuckles before returning to scratching runes onto my skin, "Mostly at least. What I said is technically correct, if totally unhelpful." I paused, adjusting the angle of my watch face and turning my face a few times, checking the rune on my cheek for accuracy. Satisfied, I brought the knife of Prometheus up and carefully began to scratch the lines of the next rune onto my forehead, "See, when the magic brought me here, I didn't know where I was at first, I just knew the… essence around me felt weird." Whoop, almost said mana. Wrong setting. Same basic stuff it seems, but different terminology. "I wasn't able to use it, so I've been trying to be sparing with my magic. But once I realized you were an Abyssal, it clicked. We're in the Underworld, all of the essence is aspected to death and at least partially hostile to living beings like myself."
Secret shifted uncomfortably as she moved to a sitting position on the deck of the Ice Ice Baby. But I continued, "So, since I need motes to actually do anything useful and have any chance of surviving in the Underworld, I need to be able to regain motes… which is what this," I paused to indicate the scratches I was putting into my skin, "Is all about. Allowing me to use all of the power in the air around me, sort of like how you do, just on a massively lesser scale."
While my personal reserves of mana capped out at somewhere right around twelve or so 'units', that felt like it was less than she had in her body. And let's just ignore the fact that she had over twice that in her aura. It wasn't visible to the naked eye right now, but I could just see the power coiling around her like a shadowy flame. And from what I knew, she was comparatively weak. She was still young by a normal person's reckoning, let alone that of an Exalted.
"You can do that?"
"Mhm… well, probably." I admitted with a little shrug, still carefully scratching at my skin with the tip of Prometheus' folding out blade.
"Wait, probably?"
"If I'm wrong and I can't, then I'm going to die of starvation or thirst pretty quickly unless you can help me out there." I glanced at Secret, finding her looking distinctly uncomfortable at that, "But I have a feeling you can't?"
"Not really. There's… not much out here to eat."
"It's okay, I kind of figured. If I get this wrong, I've got enough power to try it a few more times before I have to buckle down and just get us somewhere else."
Pale fingers pressed to equally pale lips as Secret scowled briefly down at the deck of the ship in contemplation. I was able to watch the emotions flit across her face as she did, scratching further runes into my skin while she thought.
Her eyes flicked to the side into nothingness and she briefly chewed on her knuckle before looking back to me, "What all is involved in this?"
"I keep scratching myself up for a bit, then say some funny words that probably mean jack diddly to you…" I paused as a thought occurred to me, "Probably catch on fire for a little bit, and then I can use Death Essence alongside more normal energies for a while."
"Catch fire-?" she squeaked.
A small chuckle escaped me, "Just a little bit. A teensy bit of immolation."
"Oh yes, because that makes it so much better."
I shrugged, "To be honest, I'm not sure it'll happen at all. See, I know what's going to be happening metaphysically, at least I'm pretty sure. But I'm rushing a bit so I'm not completely sure what'll happen physically." Finishing with the runes on my face, I set Prometheus down and began to work my coat and suit jacket off.
"Um… what are you doing?"
"I've got to put some more runes on my chest and stomach," a quick snap of my wrists and I folded the overcoat a few times before setting it on the deck beside me. A smirk found itself on my face, "And magical I may be, but I can't exactly do it through my clothes."
My jacket soon joined the coat, though I took a moment to pull my pocket square out and set it aside for clean up later. Soon though, I was unclasping my dark green vest, the heavily pocketed thing joining my jacket before I began to work on my purple dress shirt. Secret stared for just a moment before looking away in embarrassment, "So-… what am I supposed to do while you get all slicy dicy?"
"If you can manage it, pulling your boat up here or otherwise breaking it down and getting the pieces on this one will save me some time and work."
Secret scowled out over the side of my boat at the top of her smaller ships mast, the only part of it visible over the railing. After a moment, she morosely admitted, "I don't think I can pull that thing out of the water."
"Don't worry, doubt I could either honestly." Red eyes flicked back to me as I folded up my dress shirt and set about loosening my underarmor, "I'm going to be magicking it into place then."
"Is that your answer to everything?"
I couldn't help but grin, "Yeah, pretty much." That got an eyeroll, so I continued, "Honestly, not all the time. But when I'm dropped into things like I was, without any equipment or even a boat, it's the only tool I've really got."
"Oh…" she glanced back over at me as I set my actual armor aside. The thing was actually pretty form fitting despite being damn good armor, it was a layered, magical derivative of spider silk and heavily enchanted metallic plating. … though come to think of it, I could probably swap out the plating for some serious magical plating now… hrm… that was something for later. I did have a brief moment of self-consciousness at being topless in front of a cute girl, but I pushed it aside, I had work to do.
Picking Prometheus back up, I began to scratch runes into my skin once more, just barely drawing blood, "It's not a big deal really, magic is sort of my thing. I just usually prefer using non magical methods."
Secret's eyes narrowed at me as blood welled up against my neck, "Should you be talking while you do that?"
"I could do this in my sleep," I boasted, though not untruthfully thank goodness, "But I've just got to be slow and deliberate about it. I'm going to be at this for a while longer."
She raised an eyebrow at me, "Okay… so… what do I do while you do… whatever it is you're doing?"
"Relax? Once I'm done with this I'll need to recharge, and then we can work on getting out of the Underworld. It'll be easier to hide you in Creation than here, and that's definitely where I'm headed."
Covering her mouth in thought, she considered it before nodding, "Okay."
She stood, dusting herself off and looking around, "Is… there anything to do?"
"Well, if you look to your left you'll see abso-fuckin-lutely-nothin~, and if you look to your right, you'll see oodles and oodles of nothin~. And so on and so forth and sundry things." Now that got me another eye roll, though a little smile appeared accompanied it. But I continued, "Honestly, not really. Sorry."
"No, it's okay," she waved it off before looking away and grumbling, "I'll figure something out."
And with that, a little quiet fell over the two of us. I worked steadily, scratching runes into my neck and torso, blood welling up from each one in turn. Had to be careful around the stomach region though. I was sufficiently ticklish and the tip of the knife was sufficiently light to make it hard not to screw things up. Sure, it stung just a bit after the cuts, but the initial movements didn't really hurt, like cutting yourself shaving.
Still, the time passed quickly for me, even though Secret ended up having to spend nearly an hour faffing about. She got all of her limited stuff out of her boat and moved over, had explored the entirety of the Ice Ice Baby, all two areas of it, had looked out over the water from each of the railings, and had eventually settled in to watch me work. Hugging her knees to her chest loosely.
"Right," I murmured, looking over all of the runes carefully in the reflection of my watch, ignoring the little rivulets of blood that had seeped from the twenty or so runes carved into my skin, "That should do it."
"What, is it time to light yourself on fire?" Secret muttered, scowling just a bit. It wasn't mean, but the lack of anything to do was obviously bugging her.
"Pretty much." I agreed with a good natured smile, folding Prometheus knife back into place and setting the lighter down beside me. Pressing my fists together such that my knuckles interlocked, I settled in for my spell, starting to forge the imago, "This will take a while, though at very least it'll be more interesting to watch."
"Really?" there was a fair bit of snark and disbelief in her tone, but also a bit of hope.
I just smiled, closing my eyes and focusing inward, and knowing that a glowing circle had formed in the air behind me.
Words that were simultaneously meaningless and full of purpose quietly came from my mouth as I described the magic I was working in my head. My Nimbus, the interaction between my Pattern and the world around me, began to flare into visibility. Deep green circuitry traced itself into the air, describing the interactions my magic and the mechanisms of the world, creating a circuit-board from power…
"Runtime Start:: #Arcanum<Life>, #Arcanum<Death>, #Practice<Patterning>;" The magic was far from done though, the rough patterns of the circuitry began to interlock and fold back in on themselves, creating circles of circuitry and runes, building a clockwork mechanism of circuitry from my power. It wasn't literal, but nor was it entirely metaphorical, Awakened magic was weird like that. But this was how I used my magic, how I connected my will to the world and enacted it. I was a mechanism in a greater machine, and by turning my wheels, I could shift the gears of the world, "Yantra(Mantra, Mandala, Sacrament) ; Variables(Set) ; Enact:: Motonic Conversion."
11 Dice = 1 8 4 8 1 4 1 3 4 8 7 = 3 Successes
Blood welled up from the numerous runes on my body as the spell formed around and within me. The blood was the oil for the gears and mechanisms of reality, acting as a lubricant to ease the new connection I was creating between myself and Mana. Even then, the magic settled into place in and around my Pattern with a jerking lurch, like a new transmission getting shoved into place in a moving car.
The metaphorical engine of my soul that let me use Mana sputtered and tried to stall as I connected the jury-rigged system to it, but then the blood welling up from the runes burned, puffing away in bursts of black and white flames as I frayed myself and sacrificed the blood to jumpstart both engines, each puff of blood burned setting the metaphysical pistons to churning.
Something inside me ground, metaphorical gears and circuitry slipping and burning.
Vitae surged through the gear-circuits that interacted with the outside world and my own internal one for just a moment before–
Relief.
I let out a little sigh as the gears caught and turned, power jumping from one circuit to another at a measured, easy pace. I relaxed, feeling sort of empty, but not in a hungry or aching sort of way… it was weird, but not unpleasant. It was… almost heady… this was like an upper tier Hallow mixed with a Supernal Verge, it was like… like the atmosphere of the longtime sanctuary of an elder Vampire… there was just so much power in the air compared to what I was used to… I hadn't noticed earlier because it wasn't something I could use but now…
It was like drowning… but in air? Or power. It's hard to convey in words. The power was sickly sweet… or… or like drowning in Vitae…
HUNGER
Something in me, something dark and powerful and that I'd thought long quiet, made itself known. And I shuddered. I wasn't too surprised that it had stirred that old addiction, the underworld's mana was strikingly similar to that of a Vampire's Vitae, it's why I'd been able to design the spell in the first place. But… well, it was an unpleasant reminder. Even if I intellectually knew the addiction could never go away, Vitae's temptation never fades.
"Did it work?"
The soft, feminine voice tore me from my unpleasant musings. Giving my head a little shake, I responded, "Yeah, gimme a sec to adust and I'll get the boat a goin'."
I straightened out, cracking my back before pushing myself to my feet. Oh wow, same position for way too long. That was uncomfortable.
And from the look Secret gave me, completely audible, "Ew."
"I will actually second that, no matter how satisfying it was." I agreed, giving myself a little twist, and a cascade of little pops going through me. "… ow."
Picking up my pocket square and unfolding the handkerchief, I began to dab away at the blood still on my skin. I was quite thankful that my pants were a material that didn't stain because of blood and that the handkerchief was enchanted to consume stuff. The handkerchief was meant for cleaning up rituals, exactly like this one. Can thank working with vampires for both of those. "Gotta admit though," I started in amusement, "Little surprised you found the pops of joints disgusting, but not the fact that I have numerous runes weeping blood."
My companion just rolled her eyes, "I'm an Abyssal, blood comes with the territory."
Chuckling quietly to myself and satisfied with the cleanliness of my torso, I set my pocket square to the side and picked up my vest, "Which way are we going?"
"East by North East," Secret said with surprising surety as she stood, before looking away, "Mostly. I… don't really have a goal other than…" she made a vague gesture, scowling slightly, "Away."
"Fair enough." I admitted, tugging my armored vest back on over my head and tucking it into my pants, "Away from the Deathlords, away from the craziness, away."
Relief washed over her face at the understanding, "Yeah…"
I smiled, slipping my purple button-up shirt back on and tucking it in around my vest. "We'll figure out the rest when we get there. Land first. Then a Shadowland, then Creation."
"How will we do that?" she asked, her head tilting to the side slightly as I slipped my more stylish vest back on and buttoning it up. For the briefest of moments I felt like Eva Unit 01 or the Incredible Hulk what with the purple and green contrast. But the familiar and entertaining feeling passed quickly, "I'll only sort of know the area and we can't just wander around, what with you needing food and everything."
"I'll throw together another spell to make it work." Now that I knew where I was and could regain mana, I could set up a serious tracking spell to find a Shadowland. I could have bothered with a tie at this point, but I decided against it. Creation had a more Asian aesthetic… I might have to change outfits entirely to fit in better really.
That got me a look of disbelief though, her hands on her hips, "Wait, seriously?"
"Mhm?" I grunted, before throwing on my suit jacket and buttoning it up.
I could see the thoughts going through her head as she glanced at the boat, then back behind it, thinking of the spell I'd obviously used to propel myself, then her eyes focused on my lips… heh, looks like I wasn't as subtle with the universal language as I'd thought. Finally, as I shrugged on my overcoat, Secret asked incredulously, "… just how many spells do you know?"
"Can't talk, casting." A quick snap of my foot sent Prometheus flying upwards into my ready hand as I formed the spell, "Runtime Start:: #Arcanum<Matter>, #Practice(Ruling) ; Yantra(Mantra, Mandola, Tool) ; Variables(Set) ; Enact:: Bending."
9 Dice = 7 5 7 (9 8 7) 4 6 3 6 (9 3) = 3 Successes ; Wisdom (2 successes) vs Paradox (0 Successes) (
The spell settled into place once more, the runes on the ship lighting up as I took control of the water around the ship. A sweep of my hand caused the water beneath Secret's rowboat to lift like a bowl… the water level beneath it rising above the railing of the Ice Ice Baby. I called it bending, and I moved like I was doing so, but I didn't actually need to do so to perform the actions, but I was, admittedly a pretty physical caster. I always visualized ongoing magics like this as augmented reality effects, and that my manipulations were like adjusting the runes in my vision to do so like it was some sort of super advanced holodeck or omnitool sort of shit.
A twist of my wrist, and the tiny little sailboat was gently dumped out onto the deck. Letting the pseudopod of water collapse back into the otherwise still ocean I shifted my stance and lowered one hand while raising the other, propelling the boat once more, easing it in the direction Secret had indicated.
It was… quiet. Now that I'd realized where I was… it really sort of struck home just how quiet everything was. No waves. No wind. No… nothing. The sky was a pale blue, and the sun wasn't bright… I'd barely even noticed it…
I glanced over to the east. It was barely visible with my Mage Sight opened, but…
Revelation: 2 Dice = 1 (10 9) = 2 Successes
The enormous clockwork thing of lanterns and gears and Incan-like design that hung in the sky was… old. Like… horrifyingly, absurdly, impossibly old. Cue yo' moma jokes. I…. okay, I exaggerate a little there, but the thing was already aged like not so fine wine when human civilization as I knew it was just taking its first toddling steps. There was a weight to the thing in its years, and holy crap was it sobering. Not so much as seeing that weight of years in a person-shaped-thing, no, but still.
This was the land of the dead… and now that I was aware of it, I couldn't not be aware of it. I was too in tune with Death, too studied in the arts of the Dead, to just ignore it.
To be frank, it was irritating, like the tingle of pins and needles or that feeling of needing to pop a joint but the damn thing refusing to do so. Just all over. The living just weren't welcome here, not really. And some part of me, some part of my soul, remembered the taste of Vitae, the flavor of the Abyss as it entwined with my Awakened soul…
"So…"
I shook the thoughts off like a wet dog. It wasn't a productive line of thinking, not right now. I'd contemplate it more when we were safe and I had ready access to food and water. I looked over at Secret, "Yeeesssss?"
The pale young woman sat on the edge of the railing, her legs loosely crossed as her arms rested in her lap, "What got you sent to the Underworld?"
"Magic." Oh it was fun to be cheeky. But I smiled, "More seriously, it was a spell by my boss. It…" my eyes flicked about, taking in the surprisingly… calm? Serene? Grim scenery. "Well… it worked technically. But this isn't where I expected to end up at all."
"Where did you expect to end up?"
"Not the Underworld." I said with a grin. I looked over at her, "Okay, my turn. Why'd you leave the Deathlords? I don't know much about them other than that they're abominably powerful ghosts that rule the Underworld."
Well, I did, but the Underworld of Creation and its accompanying horrific masters had never been my strong suit.
"I… well…" she paused, looking down at the icy deck, "I… I've been on a training montage with a number of the Deathlords… I'm… honestly not all that good of an Abyssal. I did get a bit stronger but… the Deathlords, particularly the Lion… I got to see how… terrible they were." Her hand slid to clasp the small circlet hanging from her neck, squeezing it tightly for comfort as a very small, and a very scared look took over her face for just an instant, "And I just… I was headed back to Skullstone but… I just couldn't go along with it anymore."
My heart went out to the young woman, a little ache in my chest. I never liked to see people suffer, I was a bleeding heart through and through, but I had a weakness for attractive women. Gently, I prompted, "Bad?"
"Really bad."
I cringed slightly, it was more the tone than anything else, along with the look on her face. That conversation line was over.
"What about you?" she asked, obviously changing the subject, "Why did you let your master use a spell like that?"
"Because I asked her to." I paused, "Well… sort of. She made an offer to me, she'd teach me some magic and enable me to help people in a major, lasting, significant way. And in a lot of ways, that thing is my duty. She's really just the enabler, she's making it possible for me to do something I'd do anyways."
A puzzled expression crossed Secret's pale face, "What's that?"
"Find a particular big and nasty thing and punch it right in the schnoz. Repeatedly." I said with a grin. The enormity of the task didn't mean I couldn't be cheerful about it. I considered a thought for a moment before glancing over at her with a more neutral expression, "And I don't mind telling you, but I don't think the name means anything to you. And if I do, you've gotta promise not to bring it up unless I do, it could be risky."
"Really?"
"If it's even a quarter as entrenched as I expect, let alone as I fear, then yeah. It could be listening in with stuff like animals or spirits or structures. And I don't want to draw attention to myself just yet." Or ever, if I could help it. This world was insanely overpowered at its higher end, and while I could handle myself, I couldn't do anything like tank a perfectly accurate infinite damage attack.
And no, no part of that description is hyperbole at all. Perfectly accurate, infinite damage attack.
"But… you're willing to tell me…?"
I shrugged, "If there's anywhere we're safe from it listening in, it's here and now." If only for the fact that there was nothing interesting around for it to expend the resources and infrastructure to monitor the area.
Secret, bless her little necrotically infused heart, actually considered that for a moment. Her hand cupping her chin in thought as she scowled at the deck of the Ice Ice Baby. Then she raised her red eyes to meet my own gray green ones, pointing a pale finger at me, "Tell me. Because if anything sounds like a major plot point, that's it."
Okay, now that made me smile, "It's commonly known as the God Machine," and there was no recognition in her face at that, "It goes by a lot of names though, when it's given one."
Secret recrossed her legs, shifting in place on the railing as she puzzled over that, "Yeah… I've never heard of it… what is it?"
"About as bad as any of the Deathlords… maybe a particularly active Neverborn… it depends on how long it's had time to build itself up here. But it's subtle…" I paused, glancing over at her, "A lot like your former boss."
That made her pause, shuddering and looking away. "That's… bad…"
"Just a smidge, yeah."
"Do…" she stopped, hesitating for a moment to reorder her thoughts, "What do you need to do?"
"Figure out where to start looking," I said with a shrug.
She gave me an incredulous look at that, "… really?"
"Really. I'll figure it out. I know what to look for in the generalities."
"Like what?"
"Human sacrificial systems, certain formations of geomantic magic, certain forms of spiritual entities…" I paused as it sort of clicked, "… huh… the damn thing might actually be a Primordial…"
Secret somehow managed to blanch at the thought, "Seriously?"
"Yeah, it could take any number of forms really, it might be pretending to be a Neverborn or be integrated into the Loom of Fate, or a part of the geomantic systems of the world in some other fashion." Honestly, the God Machine was almost like an infection or a parasite in the geomantic systems of the world, which could mean it could be in any number of places… that was problematic. I needed to find some instances of its smaller workings and start tracing them back towards its central networking and command / control nodes… hrm… "But honestly it's very similar to a Primordial, what with having subsidiary existences and a distributed form as well as a Jouten."
"A what?"
"World body." I explained, "It's a kind of weird concept to wrap your head around in its entirety. But Creation's main form is either built from or built atop of or otherwise outright is Gaia's primary Jouten."
"Creation is a Primordial?!" she half shrieked.
"Sort of. Like I said, it's complex." That and the lore was sort of inconsistent and I didn't know what was true here and what wasn't.
It took her a moment of unhappy contemplation to shake that off, hugging herself around the waist. I'd have put a hand on her shoulder or otherwise provided some sort of comfort, but I was still moving the boat forward across the still sea of the underworld and couldn't move much. Eventually though, she shook it off, "Ugh… just how many points did you sink in Lore to know this stuff?"
"Lore and Occult thank you very much," metaphorically speaking at least, "But not as much as I'd have liked. I'm woefully out of date and vague on far too many points." It was interesting that she was at least tangentially aware of the system the Exalted world had run off of in the games, just like she and others had been in the comic. That merited study entirely on its own.
A small, teasing smile crossed her face at that, "What, didn't use your Excellencies?"
"Can't~" I said with a fair bit of cheer. Mind you, god I wanted some of those. Using raw magic efficiently and instinctively to massively enhance yourself without any chance of failure? Sign me the fuck up.
That made her red eyes narrow, "Why not? You're a sorcerer, why wouldn't you have an Occult excellency?"
"Because I'm not an Exalt?" She really hadn't picked up on that what with the lack of caste mark of a Celestial Exalted or the anima flux of a Dragon Blooded? She was a dork.
Her eyelids fluttered a few times as she blinked rapidly, "Wait, what?"
"I'm a mortal."
…
"WHAT?!"
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- Location
- From the moon
You know Secrets reaction is perfect. I can even hear the record scratch or even the sound of glass breaking or a bubble popping from her thought bubble cracking from the shock of the reveal.
Dakkan Sall
Random Encounter
- Location
- On the world map
Should you actually end up meeting the rest of the canon cast, Misho is going to just about froth at the mouth trying to understand/dispute your existence.
- Location
- Little Rock, AR
There's other concrete world out in the wyld or there's a wyld beyond the wyld going up instead of left who's creator did different magics.
- Location
- Ireland
Ahh Secret. Never stop being cute.
Dakkan Sall
Random Encounter
- Location
- On the world map
Surely you don't think it would be that easy to explain away to a Twilight Caste, do you? He's going to want details...
- Location
- Little Rock, AR
No but it's not some sort of incomprehensible gobbledygook.
Something to study and game yes. Something to look at so that he moght hack andy magic style of easy boom and steal himself yes. But the only thing really gas worthy is that yet another primordial exists and they have to kill it. Also that his boss is probably e 8-10 and bound tighter than an ecplipse.
- Location
- france
A curious reaction.
Although i suppose that knowing her origin and her training, Secret don't really have any confidence into the power level of mortals compared with any exalts.
It is true that in Keychain of Creation, there is no enlightened mortals, either in thaumaturgy or martial arts.
No reaction to his armor... Probably because it must look like an artefact... Hum... maybe why she thought of him as an exalt.
Uh oh... Careful there, this is how the Black Nadir Concordat had the idea to listen to the Neverborn and accessed necromancy.
Never truly explained in Keychain of Creation, but the images and the dialogues between Secret and the various Deathlords spoke LOUDLY about what happened, especially when you know how those Deathlords acted. Frankly readers, don't ask. Read the various sourcebooks and make your own opinion...
There are very good reasons why most of my characters in Exalted had a few plans on how to kill permanently a Deathlord.
IIRC, Auto came into existence dying. Speaking broadly, tool creating figures in mythology are more likely to be in some way less physically able. What's the line? "I had no advantages, so I made advantages."
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Describes the Viator of Nullspace pretty well too.
Devas can make humanform avatars too, otherwise Ligier would have a hell of a time trying to talk to people.
Yarudazuigu
Frostbyte's overlord.
- Location
- Poland
For all intents and purpouses God Machine is a sort of Primoridal. Or a really OP Fair Folk.
EDIT: @bigreader read the Keichain of Creation ... characters there are aware of Fourth Wall.
EDIT: @bigreader read the Keichain of Creation ... characters there are aware of Fourth Wall.
- Location
- france
