Maiden of the Mirthless Smile

A Loyal Abyssal of Mask of Winters

Favorite Skills: Archery, Martial Arts, Melee, Thrown, War, Resistance, Integrity, Presence, Performance, and Social

An alabaster master piece made flesh is what comes to most people’s minds when they first gaze upon Maiden of the Mirthless Smile. Her smooth face forever molded into an enigmatic smile that does not touch her eyes. It is a badge gained for a failure no one save her and her master knows. Since that soul numbing day in the flesh forges of Mask of Winter’s laboratory Maiden of the Mirthless Smile has never failed again.

• Oldest Death Knight under the Command of the Mask of Winters
• A Death Knight marked by The Green Lady as worthy – a true Solar Quality Recipient.
• Commander in Chief of Mask of Winter’s Armies and strangely enough has her master’s full confidence
• Led the Vanguard against the force of Thorn and personally executed all the Supernatural Defenders and the City God
• She fought Dace when she invaded a city-state in the Scavenger Lands. Dace only managed to pin her unit, and Mask of Winter recalled her before she can show the fledging Solars a Death Knight’s true might. All this almost came to naught with Golden Tyrant’s rebellion but thankfully only the War Captain’s Circle realize their true damager. All encounter the other Solar had with the Death Knights showed them as formidable but hardly on the same level. This is mainly because so few Abyssals are the stuff of legends. Instead many are whatever tickles the Death Lord’s fancy.
• Only her, Adamant Sadness and Blind Pain Soulful Timbre remain as Death Knights. The other 6 Death Knights were all killed by Solars when they invaded the Underworld in search of the kidnapped Gladrien Vanja.
  • Though 2 of those 6 are newly exalted after Golden Tyrant slaughtered their predecessors.
• Uses an Abyssal Daiklave Style “New Shadow School (新阴流),” more commonly known as “One who strike strong enough, need not strike again.”
  • Focuses on Speed and Damage
• Has the Combo “Wolf Catching the Snake’s Tail”
• Has 7 Hearthstone Socketed that combined with her equipment and arsenal at her disposal makes her an adversary not to be taken lightly. 3 from Sword, 2 from Armor, 1 from Hearthstone Bracer, 1 from Hearthstone Amulet

 

The Maiden’s Panoply

Ironic Jest
(Soulsteel Grand Daiklave, Artifact•••••)

Like all Soulsteel weapons this Grand Daiklave is Jet Black with tormented souls that fade and reappears as if it’s a trick of the light. When drawn a constant swirling aura of Red and Black surrounds it.

• Cost 10 Motes to Attune
• 3 Hearthstone Sockets (one on each side of the blade where the guard joins the hilt, and 1 at the tip of the blade)
• The weapon releases a desolating and soul numbing chuckle when its attacks fail to do damage. All living things within hearing range (except those with the Whisper Background), be they friend or foe, regardless if they can physically hear sounds or not – since it is a supernatural effect and not actual sound waves, who’s MDV is lower than the Essence of the Wielder +3 will be at -4 internal penalty for the rest of the scene as the chuckle wreck their souls and send their bodies into random spasms. This is an unnatural mental influence and requires 2 Willpower point to resist for the rest of the scene.
• The blade is no better when its attack succeeds however. When an attack manages to do damage, it screams a desperate laughter of suffering as if hot lead is pour into their eye sockets but they can only laugh. The ghosts whose soul was used to make the material for the blade all rush to its surface, distorting it as blood trickles out of their orifices and drips down the blade. This is not all for show. The blade is literally drinking the life essences of the target and venting it out as blood. It adds levels of lethal damage equal to the wielder’s Essence (after damage is rolled) to the attack but only to living targets.
• All this is in addition to the intrinsic essence draining property of Soulsteel.

Speed 5
Accuracy +3 (+5 attuned)
Damage +14L/4
Defense +0
Rate 3
Min Str••
Attune 10
Tags: 2, O, P, R

 

 

Pale Pain’s Mirror
(Super Heavy Artifact Plate???, Unique Artifact)

This set of Abyssal Battle Armor is completely made of Soulsteel forged from the Ghosts of Violated Maidens. It is said that Maiden of the Mirthless Smile was made to gather these Ghosts personally and in the depth of the Mask of Winter’s Labyrinth Laboratory forged them into the armor accompanied by Mask of Winters. Whether this is true or not, no one save Mask of Winters and Maiden of Mirthless Smile know. The armor is rarely used however, and is stored in Elsewhere via Charms.

This all that is half-truths however, since the actual Pale Pain’s Mirror is a part of Maiden’s Life Essence. In its making her soul was no less violated than the final violation she was forced to commit on the armor’s material ghosts. The necromancy Mask of Winters wielded forged all their suffering into a crystalized monument to innocence lost to tyranny – a perfect face of suffering contorted into a forced smile, the very face of Maiden of the Mirthless Smile.

What people believe is the “Armor” is actually nothing more than a memento. True the actual armor grants fantastic protection but no more than any quality suit of same caliber. The true horror, the truly powerful artifact, is hers for all time – an escapable and inviolate proof of her broken spirit.

Power: In this artifact the Mask of Winter had outdone himself. A simple act of “diabolique” turned out to be more successful than even he realizes. The Pale Pain’s Mirror Increase the Maiden of the Mirthless Smile Permanent Essence by 1, and connects her to the corruption of the Labyrinth and cements her to the causes of Oblivion. Her caste mark is no longer a bleeding brand but of solid darkness that dims her surrounding in opposition magnitude of Solar animas.

This connection effectively negates the her need to spent Willpower points to activate Charms with “Spectre” keywords, for she is ever choking in the taint of the Underworld. It also means she regains Essence always as if she is in the Labyrinth.

Unknown to even the Neverborns , whilst she “wears” this artifact she can never be redeemed. The potent link to the Neverborns (hence the +1 to Essence) will forever unmake any progress towards that goal. As a side effect, her Dissonance Discharges are at double potency. This doubles radius and targets and such, it does not mean her 2 dot discharge has the same sweeping scale as a 4 dot discharge.

The Byproduct Soulsteel Superheavy Plate (Artifact •••••)

Soak: +15L/15B, Attuned: +17L/17B
Hardness 10L/10B, Attuned: 11L/11B
2 Hearthstone Sockets (Collar, Waist)

 

 

Tears of Incomparable Misery
(Soulsteel Punishment Implant, Artifact •••••)

This is a cape of interwoven strands of soulsteel that trails a murky vapor as fire does smoke. Each strand is finer than spider silk and is stronger than anchor chains. The cape is regal and fit for a queen, with gold trimmings and a high collar. Its opulent appearance however disguises its ruthless nature. The strands do not merely form a tapestry of darkness. It reaches deep within her and integrates into every organ and every bone. The crude necrosurgery leaves an ever open wound between the shoulder blades where it enters the body. The wound is horrifying to look at but otherwise produces no pain or penalties upon Maiden of the Mirthless Smiles.

It is because of this that the Maiden of the Mirthless Smile is never seen without it. Nor does she allow any but her honor guards to attend her when she is undressed.

For all its apparent horrors the cape is far far worse.

• The Cape essentially makes Maiden of the Mirthless Smiles a puppet on strings. Regardless of the distance can, should he wish it, play with her as a puppeteer does a marionette. He if he so choses can see what she sees, hear what she hears, smell what she smells, but fortunately he does not know what she thinks. The arcane link only links the physical and does not extend to the mind. He can also communicate with her (as if he is whispering to her ear) over the same arcane link.
• While she would never have chosen it herself, the cape can reweave itself into a dozen razor sharp cords 30 feet long. These cords functions the same as 4 permanent Charm of Withering Blood Chain Technique (see below). Like the Maiden of the Mirthless Smiles herself, these malignant appendages’ controls are shared between the Maiden and her master.
• All these control are merely Damocles Sword. For the Mask of Winter never used it. He does not even use the communication function. Instead he resorts to Necromancy or more mundane ways. The Maiden of Mirthless Smile knows they exist however, since Mask of Winter told her personally when the surgery was performed.
• While the artifact have similar function as the Permanent Charm, but it is not actually the permanent version of the Charm. Thus it does not count against the permanent Charm’s normal limit. Should she ever wish to do so, she can purchase the normal limit for the permanent version of the charm.
• Being Razor Sharp Soulsteel, the attacks of these cords have the same Essence draining properties as Soul Steel and inflict Lethal Damage.
• In addition the darkness that extrudes from the cape (and the deadly cords it forms) are poisonous to all living things and takes effect when anything it coats inflicts lethal damage. It goes without saying the source of the corruption (the cords) are always thus coated, but one can sweep their weapon through the murkiness and it will gain enough coating for 1 attack. The Maiden buff her Daiklave with the cape before every battle and its poisonous property last the whole scene.
  • The poison is magical corruption and cannot be prevented by mundane means. Though magical effects that stops poison and crippling effects does work.
  • The Poison drops Extras to the ground in terrifying screams as their mind is overwhelmed. Mercy is granted to them at the end of the scene as their hearts finally gives out.
  • Mortals fair slightly better, since they at least get a save of Stamina + Resistance over difficulty equal to the controller’s Essence. Should they make it, they suffer the same effect as Enlightened Beings, otherwise they perish just the same as Extras.
  • Enlightened Beings are sturdy enough to resist the poison’s deadlier effects. It however is still deliberating and causes mild hallucinations accompanied by high fever. It imposes a –1 Wound Penalty for a number of days equal to the controller’s Essence score. A successful poison RR vs. the controller’s Essence halves that duration.
  • While Maiden of the Mirthless Smile has inundated by her constant exposure the poison readily works on abyssal as it does other Exalts. Of course it does not function on beings who has no wound penalties – such as the dead or constructs.
• The last function is that the cape can be used to whisk the Maiden back to Her Abyssal Manse in an explosion of blood and gore. If one didn’t already know, it would only be natural to assume it was her that exploded. This is a means of last ditch effort to escape, though Mask of Winter can also use it as a form of Recall. The active use of this power is a reflexive action that takes 12 motes. However, it is set to automatically activate should the Maiden reach incapacitated or below.

 

 

Battlelusting Lightless Shadow
(Soulsteel Noble Warstrider, Artifact ••••)

Mask of Winter does not wish to provoke the Warstrider Legion of Lookshy and thus far have kept all his true Warstriders in the Underworld. He made a great show of “field testing a prototype trying to even out the playing field against Lookshy.” This prototype is of course the too large construct made of bone that Adamant Sadness ended up running off with.

Power: A Standard Soulsteel Noble Warstrider built for her at the Command of the Mask of Winters. The only addition is the prehensile tail.

 

 

Nemissary Honor Guards

Like Adamant Sadness, Maiden of the Mirthless Smiles is always escorted by her personal nemissary guards.

These guards are all experienced veterans of the Stygian Wars with centuries of Arcanoi experience hand chosen by Mask of Winters to carry the honor of his chosen. Each of these ancients are granted a construct bodies that is the peak of necro-tech perfection and are both frightening in power and form and molded to emulate the icy beauty of their charge.

Commanding Officer: Maiden of the Mirthless Smiles
Armor Color: Black and Silver, tinged with iridescent Blue
Motto: “Accept this blessing [death] from your betters”
General Makeup: 50 Ancient Nemissary, in Soulsteel Super-Heavy Plate, wielding Soulsteel Grand Grimscythe
Overall Quality: Ultra-Elite
Magnitude: 2 (4)
Drill: 5
Morale: Perfect (Undead and Her are both effectively fearless)
Close Combat Attack: 8
Close Combat Damage: 7 (P)
Shield: Wings (+2 DV)
Ranged Attack: –
Ranged Damage: –
Endurance: N/A
Might: 5
Armor: 8, Hardness 11 (-2 mobility)
Formation: Nemissaries of this caliber are never extras. The five warriors move between formations as needed, and support each other in battle. They often coordinate attacks or move to surround an individual foe.

Note: These Nemissaries have 12 Heath Levels per Magnitude
Note: Soulsteel Wings are not flight capable, but are for defensive purposes. They can be used as shield against incoming attacks adding +2 to DV.
Note: Due to Mask of Winter hiding his true might, these nemissaries often just possess recently killed soldiers’ bodies. Thus they are not using the above stats. These stats are them functioning at their full might.

 

 

 

WRITHING BLOOD CHAIN TECHNIQUE

Cost: 8m, 1wp (12xp)
Mins: Martial Arts 5
Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-Basic, Obvious, Stackable, Taint
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Five Knife Fist

Blood gushes from the Abyssal’s back and arms and hardens into rust-colored chains tipped with barbed claws. The Abyssal may grow as many as 13 chains, but there is no mechanical benefit to having more or less.

While this Charm is active, the blood chains give the character an extra action on each tick when she acts. A character can buy this Charm more than once, up to (Essence - 2) purchases, gaining another extra action with each purchase. The chains use the Abyssal’s full traits and go limp while the character is inactive for any reason. Actions taken by the chains may be enhanced with Charms as if any normal limb performed them, but they occur independently of any singular actions or flurries their creator takes and do not suffer normal multiple-action penalties. Use of Writhing Blood Chain Technique prevents the use of any other extra-action Charms, though.

The chains cannot wield other weapons, but they can lash opponents up to (Essence) yards away. As weapons, the chains have the tags D, N, R. They have Accuracy, Damage and Defense bonuses equal to their creator’s Essence, inflicting lethal damage. The chains cannot make clinch attacks on their own, but each of their actions may be used to impose a -1 external penalty to an opponent’s roll to control a grapple if used to entangle rather than strike. The weapons are not considered unarmed attacks for the purposes of Martial Arts Charms unless that style wields fighting chains or whips as form weapons. When the scene ends, the chains dissolve in a splash of gore.

Blood chains are vaguely self-aware and restlessly malevolent. If the Abyssal has no Willpower points remaining, the chains lash out at whatever targets the Storyteller chooses, tearing up the environment from boredom if they have no animate targets to maim or kill. It is not possible to voluntarily terminate the Charm before its duration while the chains act freely, though regaining a single Willpower point reasserts control. The Taint drawback of this Charm is that permanent chains present far more opportunities to lose control and cause unwanted collateral damage. Making the Charm permanent costs six bonus points or 12 experience points.

Clytemnestra, Eclipse Caste #17

K-ly-te-m-ne-s-tra

First Age Bearer: Terrible Bloody Rose

Original Image #2

Total Attributes: 29

Strength 2
Dexterity 2
Stamina: 4

Charisma 3
Manipulation 3
Appearance 5

Perception 3
Intelligence 4
Wits 3

Things of Note

• Orichalcum Solar Battle Armor (From the Solar Armory on the Unconquered Sun’s many properties in Yu-Shan)
   
   
• Rightful Owner of the Thunderbolt Shield Balan been using
• Enchanted Feature (4): Statuesque
• Leader of the Gold Faction Solars

 

The Domain of Stately Order

In the middle of the Southern coastal plains, between the Penitent and Chairoscuro lies the most unusual and most hotly debated of the lands of the South. Created 260 years ago as a social experiment, the Domain of Stately Order is a small tributary governed by the Solar Exalt Terrible Bloody Rose and her Lunar consort Shining Ocelot. The principality is a circle exactly 800 miles across. It contains the central city, known as Dari of the Mists, which is beautiful, perfectly circular metropolis precisely 40 miles in diameter with seven million inhabitants.

Dari is located in a bowl-shaped valley and is an ancient city built in the early days of the rule of Primordials. Although smaller than many modern cities, it is exceptionally beautiful. All of the towers and other large buildings are made from an opalescent alloy that even the finest savants of the Deliberative cannot make in the vast quantities necessary to build a large city from them.

When exposed to sunlight, this alloy shines like white opal, and it glows softly with the same sparking color at night. It also attracts ambient mist that briefly swirls with similar color when it touches these towers. These mists have long been known to make mortals who inhale them both slightly happier and less inclined to excessive violence. Mortals living here are treated as if they have a minimum of two dots in both Compassion and Temperance, even if their actual scores are lower. This effect fades within 3 days of leaving Dari. The effects of these mists gave Terrible Bloody Rose and Shining Ocelot the idea for creating the Scepter and Orb of Peace and Order. Their efforts, however, have also made the city far less popular to both immigrants and tourists.

Before it became part of the Domain of Stately Order, Dari was widely acclaimed as the most pleasant city in the south, and mortals regularly flocked here to visit. Many Southern mortals attempted to save sufficient amounts of money to be able to go on their honeymoons in Dari. This custom persists, and newlyweds remain an important source of tourism, but all tourism has significantly declined since the city’s rulers completed the Scepter and the Orb.

The remainder of this principality houses an additional 93 million people, the vast majority of whom work in various RPCs that specialize in growing and spinning linen and in tending Essence spiders and transforming their silk into sails, armor and similar goods.

The Scepter of Peace and Order (Legendary Artifact)

This incomparable wonder consists of a five-foot shaft of orichalcum, ending in a ring adorned with various spurs, crescents and Essence-focusing crystals. Attuning to the Scepter requires a commitment of eight motes. The artifact confers several powers on the Perfect:

• The Scepter grants its owner one additional dot each of Stamina, Charisma, Manipulation, Perception, Intelligence and Wits as long as it is attuned, a maximum of 5. (This is no longer meaningful for the Perfect. In his long life, he has raised all these traits to 5.)
• The Scepter’s owner becomes immune to all Emerald and Sapphire Circle sorcery, all Charms that affect perception and all forms of unnatural mental influence.
• The owner soaks both lethal and aggravated damage with his full Stamina.
• An enlightened mortal attuned to the Scepter can access his entire Essence pool without the necessity of spending Willpower.
• All oaths a person makes while touching the Scepter become forever binding. A complex eye-shaped sigil appears on the palm of the oath-swearer, like a faintly scarlet tattoo. No power short of Adamant Circle Countermagic can remove the sigil. If the person hacks off the entire limb that bears the sigil, it reappears on her stump.
• The Scepter does not remove a person’s free will, but it rigidly enforces the oath the person swore. Severe pains radiate from the sigil to wrack the person who broke any of the oaths she swore upon the Scepter. The Scepter’s master can calibrate the pain’s severity for different oaths and offenses. For minor violations of the oath, the agony ends when the foresworn person confesses her crime to a designated, legitimate authority (in Paragon, a magistrate). For the most serious oaths, however, a foresworn person suffers death. At the moment of the crime, the eye-sigil closes to show her and everyone else that she is doomed. The agony begins in moments, and does not relent until the person dies a few hours later.
• To minimize social problems and disruptions of daily life, the Scepter’s punishments largely happen out of the public eye. All pain suffered by oath-breakers begins at sunset of the day of the offense. Also, oath-breakers who condemned themselves to death through their actions die only after dark while inside a building. A few oath-breakers try to stay outdoors every night to avoid their fate. Between the pain caused by the sigil and the stresses of life on the streets, these wretched individuals rarely last long. Paragon citizens who see them crouching in doorways and sleeping in gutters shun them.
• The short-lived pain for a minor violation of an oath acts as a -1 wound penalty that lasts a few hours. The pain for severe violations inflicts a -2 wound penalty. The pain for a terminal violation inflicts a -4 wound penalty, while it lasts. The victim lives for a number of hours equal to his Stamina. These are Crippling effects. Charms that protect against Crippling effects can protect the person, but for Charm vs. Charm purposes, treat the Scepter enforced oath as backed by Essence 8 and a dice pool of 16. Punishment is only delayed, however, not cured.
• While holding the Scepter, its master can borrow the senses of anyone marked with its sigil, located anywhere in Creation. This function has no Essence cost and requires no dice rolls. Sigil-bearers, even those who are Exalted, can neither sense nor resist this power. The Scepter’s bearer can experience all of a sigil-bearer’s senses without the sigil-bearer’s knowledge or consent.
• For three motes of Essence, the Scepter’s bearer can strengthen this connection and actually take over the body of any mortal sigil-bearer, including enlightened mortals (but not Exalted), for up to a scene. The Perfect can possess or tap the senses of only one person at a time, but he can use this borrowed body as easily as his own. The subject of this possession has no memory or awareness of these events.
• While holding the Scepter, its owner can also spend one mote to induce severe pain in any single person who bears the sigil, including Exalted. Jagged black lines radiate from the sigil. This Crippling effect acts as a wound penalty of -2. It lasts a scene, or until the Scepter’s owner relents and cancels the effect.
• As long as at least 200 people bear sigils, the person attuned to the Scepter becomes completely immune to all diseases and does not age. He heals one level of lethal damage every three hours and one level of aggravated damage every day.

All of these powers are granted to any Essence-user attuned to the Scepter. A Celestial Exalt who attunes to the Scepter gains even greater powers (see Dreams of the First Age: Book One—Lands of Creation, pp. 94-95).

Dream of the First Age: Book One – Lands of Creation, p. 94-95

This tributary was created to test and demonstrate the promise of a pair of exceptionally powerful artifacts called the Instruments of Peace and Order. The Scepter of Peace and Order is large orichalcum scepter with a five-foot-long shaft, topped with a complex crook decorated with a variety of crystals that focus and channel Essence. The complementary Orb of Peace and Order is a moonsilver sphere the size of a large grapefruit, incised with grooves to allow it to be held in one hand and decorated with crystals identical to those on the scepter.

When a Celestial Exalt holds the scepter, it allows the bearer to have a general sense of everyone within 400 miles. The bearer can sense general concentrations and movements of population, as well as being able to instantly identify any Exalts, gods, elementals or demons inside his domain. The bearer can also broadcast messages to everyone inside the radius and can produce a scarlet eye-like sigil on the flesh of every adult or adolescent inside the domain. The target must accept the sigil willingly, but the scepter allows a Celestial bearer to cause anyone who refuses the sigil to be overcome with the urge to leave he domain within the next week. This compulsion is impossible for anyone but another Exalted to resist.

The scepter also allows its bearer to automatically distinguish between individuals who have lived in the domain for more than a month and visitors or new arrivals. Terrible Bloody Rose leaves visitors alone, but every month, she forces her sigil on anyone who has been in the domain longer. All mortals who refuse must leave. Exalts who refuse need not leave the domain, but if they accept the sigil, they are as bound by its power as any mortal would be. Other than allowing the bearer to sense them, neither the Scepter or the Orb of Peace and Order has any effect on gods, elementals or demons.

Anyone who accepts the sigil is marked for life. Only Solar Circle sorcery performed by someone who’s Essence is at least as high as the scepter bearer’s can remove this sigil. The scepter-bearer can borrow the sense of any sigil-bearer at will and with no rolls or Essence cost, no matter where the person with the sigil is in Creation. By spending three motes of Essence, the scepter-bearer can also take over the body of a sigil-bearer for up to one scene. Finally, as the scepter-bearer places the sigil on a target, she also impresses the laws of her domain into the target’s mind. Sigil-bearer knows that accepting this sigil means they also swear a solemn oath to obey all these laws. This oath remains in place as long as t he scepter is attuned. If, however, it is ever unattuned or the wielder dies, all sigils vanish within 24 hours, unless someone else attunes to the scepter during this time.

The device does not remove a sigil-bearer’s free will, but it does force him to pay a price for any and all transgressions. Pain wracks the body of anyone who disobeys the laws he swore to obey. For major offenses, this agony ends when the criminal confesses his sin to a local magistrate. For minor offenses, the pain last for only a few hours if the offender resist the urge to confess. Breaking the most serious oaths, however, such as never attempting to harm one of the Celestial Exalted, is inevitably punished by death. Sigil-bearers who break one of these capital oaths die a painful, writhing death a few hours after the oath is broken. As soon as they commit this transgression, the eye on their sigil closes. Every punishment imposed by the sigil takes place indoors and during the night. If an offender attempts to remain outdoors at night, his presence becomes obvious to Terrible Bloody Rose, who commands him to go home, whereupon he will immediately pay for his crime.

The power of the Orb of Peace and Order are far more subtle and insidious. Any Celestial Exalted who carries the orb can both sense and alter the emotion of all sigil bearers, either en masse or individually. Also, as long as it remains attuned, any sigil-bearer who performs any action that either actively encourages others to obey the laws or goes beyond the expected minimal obedience to the law is automatically rewarded with vividly enjoyable dreams. Also, characters who regularly obtain these dreams also reduce the difficulty of all rolls to recover from infections or disease by 2 (to a minimum of 1) and live one third again as long as they otherwise would.

No individual can attune herself to both the Scepter and the Orb of Peace and Order. The attunement cost of each artifact is 5 motes. As long as at least 200 people bear sigils, anyone attuned to either object is completely immune to all diseases and infections. He also does not age, and he heals one level of lethal damage every 3 hours and one level of aggravated damage every day.

The instruments of Peace and Order offer Terrible Bloody Rose and Shining Ocelot an unprecedented amount of control of the populace of their principality. In the 260 years that this experiment has been running there has been only one riot and one worker’s strike that lasted only one day. In addition, citizens are exceptionally polite and courteous to visitors and each other. Even very minor offenses such as littering, which are typically punished only by a headache that last a few hours, are almost nonexistent.

In short, this tributary is clearly the most law-abiding and polite place in all Creation, although it has a higher than average suicide rate. Terrible Bloody Rose and Shining Ocelot regularly assert that similar measures should be adopted throughout Creation, but debate continues in the Deliberative. Many Celestial Exalted and most Dragon-Blooded strongly oppose this idea because they find the results to be deeply disturbing. Also, most Celestial Exalted forbid sigil-bearers from entering their domains, and they object to the idea of other Celestial rulers transforming their entire populace into what potentially amounts to an army of spies and possibly even assassins.

Terrible Bloody Rose and Shining Ocelot both claim that the Scepter of Peace and Order cannot be used to place a sigil on one of the Celestial Exalted and that all forms of Exaltation automatically burns away the sigil. The first statement has never been tested, because none of the Celestial Exalted are willing to test their immunity. A few dozen adolescent bearing the sigil have undergone Terrestrial Exaltation, however, and all of them have lost their sigil, so the second claim has been accepted as fact. The truth, though, is that any Exalt can be given the sigil, and Exaltation removes the sigil only if the bearer wishes it removed. If either of these facts were discovered, the small amount of sympathy for this tributary and its rulers would evaporate, and several dozen Celestial Exalted would call for the immediate destruction of the Instruments of Peace and Order.

Heresy, Blasphemy and Apostasy

Since religion is central to at least one of the player character’s identity, I wanted to clarify the difference between these 3 terms.

This way Alabaster can accuse someone of the correct crime – and met out his “proportionate” punishment.

Heresy is simply believing/following another religious path than you.  Sometimes it can be as simple as believing Unconquered Sun is not a God of Mercy and Compassion but one that is terrifying in anger and utterly merciless. 

Of course there is the obvious “Heresy is whatever I say it is” reasoning common to the Spanish Inquisition.

 

Blasphemy is a bit more serious.  It is a direct insult to the god or religion.  This is often grounds for execution in Rathess, for they take Lèse majesté with deadly seriousness.  Though this strictness actually a corruption of the Unconquered Sun’s wishes and is on the path of Apostasy.  Hastha-sth have already purged the law from Rathess, but people still secretly (and illegally) punish those accused of Blasphemy.  Some even turn themselves in after such murder to face judgment – such is the blind zeal of their faith.

 

Apostasy is the most serious of it all.  In normal terms it is simply the rejection of a religion.  However in the context of Exalted it takes a more serious turn.

Religion of Celestial Worshipping is not only all encompassing it is actually the basis of Creation’s existence and a native law of its existence.  To reject it is to turn into its enemy.  The most common form of Apostasy is to reject the light of Unconquered Sun for ultimately doomed pursuits such as power (usually via Malfean methods) or Immortality (usually via Death Cult Worshipping).

These crimes are universally unforgivable.  Even one as compassionate as Gladrien Vanja realize the depth of depravity one who committed such Apostasy naturally is disposed towards.  While she takes severity into consideration many do not.  For all her compassion and temperance Hastha-sth is still a Dragon King with all their innate cruelty and aggressiveness.  Apostasy is one of the few times one can see Hastha-sth’s un-saintly side.

I AM II.β

I AM II.β is something built by the Mice of the Sun that mimics the Great I AM of the First Age.  It however is not the same thing.

While the original “I AM” was an sentient automaton that forms a network all across Creation.  I AM II.β is actually an amalgam of Magitech and Organics.  I AM II.β is a beautiful 5’ coral like tree of pink living crystal with circuitry capillaries of orichalcum and amalgamated with an frame of magitech clockworks and monotonic capacitors.

By itself I AM II.β is just a repository of knowledge that responds to voice and it is simple enough to construct with nothing more than inorganic materials.  It’s true wonder is that it is a living being – and designed to be possessed by the City God of Rathess – Long Zi Sen.

 

Functions of I AM II.β

Central Hearth Interface

I AM II.β is designed to be geomantically in sync with the Central Hearth.  This allows I AM II.β to interface directly and enhance the basic functions of the Central Hearth.  It arguments the Glorious Halo of Hesieth Function (3-D display of fire) with audio.  And allows real-time visual/audio monitoring of everything within the Central Hearth’s zone of control.

Communication

Chief among I AM’s functions is easy communication across the City.  No longer are the special alcove necessary for visual communication.  I AM II.β can send the visuals with audio to any place within the Central Hearth’s Zone of Control.  

An individual can relay a statement to I AM II.β, which can then relay the recorded statement, verbatim, to another individual.  As I AM II.β speaks Earthtongue, Skytongue, Flametongue, Seatongue, Forest-tongue, Riverspeak, and Old Realm, it also add translation commentaries to the message.

Public Library

I AM II.β has the eidetic memory merit and can perfectly recall anything it sees or hears.  This perfect retention of information serve as a primary form of library for the City of Rathess. 

Librarians have been working diligently with I AM II.β to store books that should be allowed for general consumption and anyone in Rathess can request these books displayed via the Glorious Halo of  Hesieth.

Books that are more specialized and possibly dangerous, such as covering the topics of occult, are still maintained in the standard library and must be checked out physically.

The All Seeing Eye

I AM II.β is also used for security purposes.  If I AM II.β was already online then the death of Megabotuatak may not have occurred.  Because of the existence of I AM II.β there is no privacy in Rathess.  Everything everyone does within the Central Hearth’s zone of control is monitored by I AM II.β.  Because of I AM II.β’s Perfect Recall it is also permanently recorded.

This knowledge however is strictly controlled and can only be accessed in formal court session in the Hall of Justice.

The difference between Prayer, Prayer and Prayer

In Exalted when one sys Prayer there are actually 3 separate types.

First is the Bread and Butter of the Gods, the measuring stick for their might and status.  This is the simple prayer in which one humbly show devotion and makes entreaties to the Gods.  Such as “please keep xxxxx safe”, or “please make yyyyy fall in love with me”, or “dear god we like to thank you for this meal”, and such.  Gods have the natural ability to both hear and process these prayers. 

The Standard Rule Book mentions that Prayer action requires a difficulty 7 roll of Charisma+Performance with each dot of resources sacrificed lowering the difficulty by 1.  That makes little to no sense in the fact that humans are designed to provide prayer as fuel for the inhabitants of Yu-Shan.  With these stringent requirements all of Yu-Shan would starve.  There for it must mean a separate form of prayer.  This roll will now be called “Invoke Miracle” as opposed to “Prayer.”  Success in this action means this special prayer not only sounds special in the ears of the God, it also creates an link between the two.  The God is able to use a single Charm through the person or on the person.  Failure in this roll means little, the God would still hear it as a basic prayer and may still intercede, and, like basic prayers, he would have to physically arrive at the invoker to utilize his charms.  Thus it is best to do these rituals at/near the God’s sanctum or domain.  Thus you have these story of Merlin arriving at the Lake (Lady of the Lake’s Sanctum is near by) to beseech her help (thus whether he succeed or not, the Lady may still aid him.  Should he do so elsewhere the Lady can only provide aid if he succeeded in his Invoke Miracle roll.  It is unlike the Lady will physically travel to his location and provide aid should he fail.)

The third type of prayer is the Thaumaturgy Religious Rituals.  These are holy processes that invokes an aspect of the God’s power and nearly always use Charisma+Performance instead of Intelligence+Occult as per normal Thaumaturgy rules.  Like all methods that taps a god’s aspect, the god in question cannot stop someone from gaining bonuses from a correctly performed holy rite.  However, these rituals may be Thaumaturgy but they are still prayers.  So a God is aware when it is performed and still get his allotment of Ambrosia.  Thus most do not care when it is put to a inoffensive purpose.  One might want to think twice about invoking a Religious Ritual against the God’s interests however.

Abyssals and Solars Charm Trading

I briefly mentioned it on Saturday.  I am putting it in official record for reference.

Abyssals can learn any Solar Charm without Holy Tag.  Even their Eclipse counterpart cannot learn it.  Their corrupt nature simply cannot channel Holy energy.  If they should try to channel the body would automatically convert it to Abyssal Essence – which means the Charm does not function.

Solars cannot learn ANY Abyssal Charms, even though Solars Charms and Abyssals Charms have Mirror Relationships.  Solars simply do not have the corrupted Spark that facilitates the Abyssal Charms.  Eclipse Castes, however, can learn them.  However, they are still governed by the rules for non-solar charms and abyssal charms.  Meaning, it cost 2 motes more, and they have to meet all requirement – some Abyssal Charms have the Whisper Background requirement.

For those who can learn the other’s Charms – Mirror Charm Relationship is maintained.  Thus they can use them for meeting pre-requisites.

Greeting the Sun

From “Glories Most High, Unconqured Sun” Page 40

The Art of Husbandry (0, Charisma, 1, Five minutes)

First Age Solars mandated a schedule of worship wherein all mortals made five daily prayers to the Unconquered Sun: once at sunrise, then at noon, midafternoon, sunset and midnight. These prayers were not simply shows of respect to the Most High, they enabled the sun’s righteous blessing upon the people.  A successfully completed daily prayer to the Unconquered Sun obviates one botch between the time of the prayer’s performance and the next scheduled prayer in the cycle, making it a normal failure instead. (A prayer at sunrise would alleviate the first botch that occurred between dawn and noon.)

By the end of the First Age, the Solars had allowed most mortals to grow lax in their devotions, and the majority of individuals did not awaken to make a midnight prayer.  As a result, the small hours of the morning became widely associated with misfortune and disaster, an association that has persisted into the current day.  Only a very few communities still greet the sun according to the old methods, though the Cult of the Illuminated has recently revived the practice among its training camps.  This procedure uses Performance in place of Occult.

[My Adjustment]

It is now just a normal prayer ritual, it is no longer a Thaumaturgy Rite that uses Performance.  However, it now requires a Week of the scheduled prayer (Charisma + Performance, Difficult 1) before it start to take effect.  Once broken for whatever reason, it will need another week before it takes effect again.

The Ritual be started within a 10 minutes window at each phase.  It does not matter why it was missed, the person has to start anew.

It also only negates 1 Botch between Sunrises, not Once every 6 hours.

Otherwise the ritual is unchanged.

Keep in mind it is a Religious Ritual/Prayer.  Akin to the rites of Islam.   It is not a quiet silent thing one does under one’s breath in secret.  It is the reciting of the Unconquered Sun’s Litany while prostrating oneself towards the direction of the Sun (or lifting hands in prayer towards the middle of the sky should it be noon or midnight).  The ritual last 5 minutes.

Mass Combat: Heroes, Sorcerers and Relays

Heroes

Heroes are better visualized as the Vanguard of the Army.  Like Marcus Antony to Julius Cesar, or Achilles to Agamemnon.  They are pretty much a “mini” commander.

• Heroes can assume commander’s role if the Commander dies.  If there are no Heroes within the army then the unit immediately undergoes disbandment.
• Heroes must be in the front.  If the Special Character are not leading from the front then they are Sorcerers.  It also means even of the Hero is using a range attack he cannot commit to “snipe” action.  He can only “duel” other Heroes.  Since he is deep in the thick of the battle and doesn’t have the luxury to patiently wait for the perfect opportunity to attack an opposing special characters.
• Heroes are under the command of their generals, and there for use the General’s War or their own War as ability caps.  Under no circumstance will a Heroes War Ability be used as Cap for the Unit.  To do so he has to usurp command of the Unit and replace the Commander.
• Heroes because they are right in the thick of it are the edge of the unit’s blade.  A unit can rally around the Hero and use HIS Close Combat Rating instead of the Units.  Thus even the lowliest of peasants will be emboldened by Achilles heroism and push deep in to the enemy line at every attack – getting effective Close Quarter Combat Rating of 7 (for Achilles).  This makes a good pairing of Heroes and Commander nigh invincible.  Which is the case of Kaneko and Nella.
• [My Changes] Heroes attached to a pure Range Attack Unit can lend the Range Attack Unit his Range Attack Score.  This is balanced out by the fact I am allowing Sorcerer’s to use Charms to benefit the Unit.
• They can make an additional attack that is separate from the Unit as a whole – as a Solo Magnitude 0 Unit.
• Heroes because they are fighting in the front cannot attack a target that the Unit is not attacking.  To do so he has to break away and form his own unit.
• Heroes can become a unit in his own right.  Becoming a new independent unit.  Standard split unit action rules apply.
• [My Interpretation] Heroes because of their limited focus (in the frontlines leading the charge) cannot use Charms to benefit the Unit.  They can use Charms to argument their solo attack to to raise his own Close Quarter Combat Rating, but he cannot use Charms otherwise to benefit the Unit.  E.g. he cannot use sorcery to teleport the entire unit to safety, he cannot use charms to defend the entire unit, etc.

 

Sorcerers

Sorcerers are those special character with skills that are deep behind the army lines.

• Sorcerers are not Heroes.  There for they cannot assume command in the Heat of the Battle.  He can reform the army after its rout, but he is not at the focus of the fight to stench the bleeding wound should the death of the commander shatter morale.
• For rule purposes Sorcerers cannot split the Unit (no idea why, but that is the rules).  They however can split from the Unit independently and become a “commander” of his own magnitude 0 unit, and they under go merge/split action to gain more magnitude.  No idea why the game mechanics force it this way but I am honoring the rules.
• Sorcerers however cannot use their own War Rating.  They are always capped at the Commander’s War.  Even for their own independent range attack.
• Like Heroes, Sorcerers can also make independent attack as Magnitude 0 Units.  Because they are not in the frontlines they can only attack with Ranged Attacks.
• Unlike Heroes, the only Combat Rating a Sorcerer can impart to the Unit is Range Attack Rating.
• Because they are away from the action they have the luxury of using Sorcery.
• Because they are away from the action they can support the whole unit as opposed to marred to their knees in the bodies of the enemy.  Thus they can use Charms to aid the entire unit.  Such as Perfect Parry or Perfect Soak.

 

Relays

While Relays have no direct combat advantage they are vital to large units.  Relays are not necessary messengers.  It embodies the entire command structure.  The Co-Captain is a Relay, so are Lieutenants, Signallers, Runners, etc.

• Relays are abstractions, but they are also special characters.  Being such being a relay does not “remove” the person from being counted in Magnitude (just like Heroes and Sorcerers).
• Units with Magnitude 3 or higher must have at least 1 relay for every dot.  Since a Army can have 2 special characters for every Magnitude, it means for magnitude 1-2 they can have 2 and 4 Special characters respectively.  For every dot beyond that it really only adds 1 special character slot, since the other will be taken by a relay.
• For each relay that is missing the unit suffers -2 to its effective Drill.
• Since Relays are the Command Structure they can stand in for the Commander for Command functions.  Rolls such as Rally Checks, Hesitation Rolls, Route Tests, etc.  Thus a completely not likable commander may still function if his second in command is popular and charismatic.

Night Caste Anima Clarification

Here are some clarifications so we are all on the same page in regards to Night Caste Anima Powers

1. It allows Motes spent on charms to not add to anima banner.  Except those by sorcery.
1. When the Charm is normal it only cost 1 extra mote to not have it add to Anima Banner
2. When the Charm is Obvious it cost double to have it not add to anima banner.
3. It does not make an obvious charm not obvious.  It just stops it from adding to anima banner and nothing else.  So it pretty much just turns peripheral essence into personal essence (and thus there is no point using it if you are using personal essence already.)
2. When Iconic it makes the character unidentifiable
1. Think of it as if the character is donning a super hero costume.  When Batman puts on his suit no one knows he is Bruce Wayne.  But anyone who see him putting on knows it is Bruce Wayne.  Anyone seeing a person wearing the Bat Suit (anima banner) again knows it is Batman again.  There is nothing supernatural about it.  It is just a matter of the animal obscuring the character’s appearances.  Making him non-identifiable on physical appearance alone.
2. This only prevents identification by physical features.  It does nothing to hearing, smell, or texture.  Thus it is of little effect on Blind people.  The anima does not cover up smell or voice (aside from the muffling, see below) to any significant degree as to make detection thus impossible.
3. When Iconic it adds half the essence of the Solar (rounded up) to tracking attempts
1. Keep in mind this is an Anima Power.  Which means when this happens you are subjected to the Stealth is Impossible Rule of Anima Banner.  Thus it only affects people who are tracking you (without direct visual contact).  A person who can just follow the giant glowing source of light has no difficulty modifier.  It is only applicable when they lose sight of you and must track you by things you leave behind.

Rathess Society Information

Rathess is a draconian totalitarian theocracy though lead by a dogma of Compassion and Justice. 

There however is no privacy, IAM 2.1 is everywhere and monitors everything.  Making Criminal Careers short and painful.  Punishment is swift and certain. 

Unless the Crime deals with Rathess itself (such as treason, damage of public property, crimes against/involving a Dragon King) it is handled by the Courts of Humanity following laws outlined by Gladrien and Aata – reasonable and compassionate.

Crimes that fall under the governance of the Ecclesiastical Court are a different story.  The punishment for such crimes are almost without fail Ritual Sacrifice – since they only deals with matters of apostasy.

The Dragon Kings have been convinced by The Fair Lady, the Thunder God, and the Twilight, that the inherent spiritual difference between mankind and Dragon Kings require the adaptation of separate Codes of Law.  Thus unlike Dragon King Criminals, death sentence is rare for humans (except for Heresy) because it is a tenant of Compassion to give the criminal opportunity to redeem themselves in the scales of heaven.  Usual punishment involves fulfillment of debt to society and (re)education – sometimes via Hard Work, other times through religious indoctrination.  However, under no condition is mind control a legal course of action, because the goal is for redemption and not just a change in behavior.  Those deemed beyond redemption are executed.  These executions are just a matter of course and has no associated importance.  Thus condemned criminals are not paraded through the streets and publically executed, nor are their punishment hidden from the eye of the people.  Anyone can pay Homage at the Temple of Justice and have free access to the execution grounds.  Though their chance to witness such an proceeding is up to chance due to the lack of advertisement and rarity of capital punishment.

There are also no currency within Rathess.  Any barter done by Rathess to outsiders are done in Silver and Jade.  Dragon Kings does not consider Gold a currency, instead it is used for iconography and religious decorations. 

Residents of Rathess each are assigned responsibilities they must attend to.  It governs the lives of every Rathessian from the adult’s work hours in the Undercity to how many hours a child must play with other children in any given day.  These schedules however are very reasonable and give fulfilling and structured lives to the masses.  The residents of Rathess have no worry of food, shelter, and security, and receive education that is the envy of any city state.  Those who repeatedly renegade on their responsibilities are exiled into the Jungle and few wishes to throw away their utopian existence for sheer laziness.

Solars that chose to settle in Rathess have the right to pick an Estate in the Human Octave.  However, like all Humans they are not allowed to have estates/permanent residence in the non-human areas.  Rathess as it was, is dedicated to the Unconquered Sun and Dragon Kings – it is not for humanity to claim as their own.

The Solars are also provided with servants and guards and resources to the maintaining of their Dignities.  It is a great honor to be chosen by the Lawgivers and many hopeful place their name on the rosters for the chance of basking in the glory of the Unconquered Sun’s Children. 

Solars are individuals however and just what this dignity is differs from person to person.  It runs the gambit from the Tasteful Monument to his own Greatness that Dagnir calls his estate, to the small non-descript apartment of the Twilight that is unreachable without going through the Undercity.

There is no need to assign a resource value to each Solar, since only time and manufacturing speed limit their spending.  However, should they require resources outside of the City they can easily receive enough resources to be considered at 5 dots.  Since Rathess for all intent and purpose have Unlimited Resource (at least for any one Solar to spent by himself).

Rathessian Crystal Weapon

While Chiaroscuro Glass Weapons are the wonder of the south, the Dragon King’s mastery over crystals are a wonder of the First Age.  It is but Child’s play for Dragon Kings to product a better material. 

Unfortunately due to the lack of Dragon King’s its production are very limited.

Currently only few hundred weapons are made and they are used almost exclusively for Adeptus Astartes and Solar House Guards.

Rathessian Crystal can be made into any Slashing or Piercing weapon.  They have the same statistics as their mundane counterparts, except the Crystal Blades gains Piercing Tag if it does not already possess it and +1L of damage.   The crystal however are incredibly dense and is as heavy as the metal it replaces but nigh indestructible.

Cost: Not available for sale.  Should a weapon be smuggled out, it will cost +•• more than normal to a minimum of ••••

Note: The Adeptus Astarte weapons are all finished within the Altelier-Manse and Blessed by the Mice of the Sun.  Thus they are all Perfect Quality Weapons.  Those used by Solar House Guards are of the mundane quality.

Rathessian War Bow

Rathessian War Bow is of an ancient design and harvested from engineered plants that grown half a dozen every Season.  Incredibly rare only the Adeptus Astartes are using them currently.

The wood is scented and naturally forms a resilient composite with its natural resin.  It is light to pull yet stores an incredibly amount of energy.  It is no less effective than the mundane Wheelbow currently the guarded secret of Lookshy.

Speed: 5
Accuracy: +1
Damage: +1L
Rate: 3
Range: 275
Max Strength: ••••••
Cost: Worth •••• if available at all
Tags: 2, B

 

Rathessian Smite

All the trees currently grown in the Temple-Monastery of the Adeptus Astartes are ancient seeds preserved along with the Legacy.  As such they product Perfect Quality Rathessian War Bows.  These bows are known as Rathessian Smite and has became the Standard Sidearm of the Adeptus Astartes.

Speed: 5
Accuracy: +2
Damage: +3L
Rate: 3
Range: 325
Max Strength: ••••••
Cost: Worth at least ••••• if available at all
Tags: 2, B

Chiaroscuran Glass Blades

The ruins of Chiaroscuro constitute an enormous supply of hard yet resilient glass… but only a small fraction of the glass comes in shards large enough to grind into swords. Glass, however, can hold a sharper
edge than steel.  Blades of Chiaroscuran glass have the same statistics as their metal counterparts, except the glass blades gain the Piercing tag.  Glass weapons also have Strength Minimums one dot lower than a metal weapon, since glass is lighter than steel or bronze.

Cost: +• in Charoscuro, +•• elsewhere in Creation

गरुड (Garuda or Devourer)

Garuda is a primordial creation similar to the Juggernaut and the usual vehicle of the Primordial Jheel-Khan, who eventually became the Neverborn “Whose Laughter Turns the Skies to Blood”.

Originally just a oddity of Creation that was turned into a beast of burden it was modified into a war chariot by The Dragon's Shadow, the Ultimate Darkness (who would fall and become the Ebony Dragon) against the Usurpers.

Garuda was widely regarded as the deadliest weapon against the Exalted and was destroyed at great cost.

Mass Combat

From “Exalted 2nd Edition,” Page 160

Although it is theoretically possible to run a combat with dozens or even hundreds of active participants, such battles last
interminably and quickly stop being fun. As a result, Exalted uses the following rules to abstract mass combat into the existing
system by making battle a clash of units rather than individual characters. Units do not fight in the standard one‐tick increments of
individual battle. Instead, they track time with long ticks that last approximately one minute each. Storytellers should keep in mind
that these rules aren’t appropriate to every engagement, particularly if the clash of armies only serves as a dramatic backdrop to
smaller‐scale personal combat. Once protagonists become involved in the direction of mass combat or the Storyteller wishes to
leave a battle’s outcome to dice rolls and strategy rather than a plot device, use these rules. Moreover, mass combat in Exalted
assumes that unit Commanders fight at the vanguard, leading from the front rather than the safety of the rear. Those who wish to
direct a battle from the rear are not unit Commanders. Instead, they take the role of generals, using relays and standard bearers to
communicate orders to the unit Commanders under their command. Therefore, a distant general can direct an entire force but
cannot personally rally troops to victory through her own prowess.

“YOU WEAR THEM”

The metaphor of the rules that the military apparatus of mass combat is merely an enhancement to the commander. Troops
comprise a bonus for their Commander, adding to his traits. In addition, troops marching in formation possess the ability to force
their context on individual they engage. Characters who come into contact with aggressive units of troops will be forced to fight
them as solo stacks in mass combat, not as heroes facing a large number of individuals in normal combat. This is a part of the nature
of Creation, and Storytellers shouldn’t let characters fight individual members of units once the unit is gathered together in the field.

It’s worth noting that units in mass combat are rarely destroyed through sheer damage unless they are set upon by a truly ferocious
supernatural power. More often, units are rendered ineffective by exhaustion and gradual loss of Magnitude by failed morale
checks, until their commanders stand alone and unaccompanied on the battlefield.

UNITS

Each unit on a battlefield falls into one of two broad categories. First, there are solo units, who are individual characters that are not
part of any group. However, most units are complementary units, made up of a commander and all those who directly follow her
orders. Statistically, a complementary unit is its commander, with trait bonuses awarded according to the numbers, equipment and
training of her troops. These special traits of complementary units include:

Magnitude: The size of a unit
Drill: The trained discipline of a unit
Endurance: The physical reserves of a unit’s member. Solo units also have this trait
Might: The overall mystical power of a unit, factoring in magical equipment
Close Combat/Ranged Attack Rating: The skill of unit members at attacking.
Close Combat/Ranged Attack Damage: The lethality of unit members when attacking.
Armor: The average protection provided by unit members’ armor
Morale: The overall bravery of a unit.
Special Characters: A non‐numerical listing of important characters within a unit’s ranks.
Formation: A non‐numerical trait that describes a unit’s current tactical arrangement.

Magnitude

When a unit attacks another, the larger unit applies the difference in magnitude as bonus successes to its attacks or subtracts the
difference from the successes of attacks by the smaller unit. This bonus/external penalty cannot exceed +/‐3.

My Modification: Keep track two Magnitude values.
“Actual”: Calculated based on raw number of troops in the unit. This will be used for maneuvers and rally rolls. This eliminates the penalty for a 100 Solar Exalted army being as clumsy and hard to manage as 700 men army.
“Effective”: This is the actual value used for attacks and such. So a 100 Solar Exalted fight just as well as a 700 men army.

Might

This value is added as number of successes to the Commander’s attack.  It is also added to the Commander’s Essence value to determine resistance and qualification against charms and spells

Close Combat/Ranged Combat Attack Rating

This value is added as successes to the Commander’s attack
This value is capped by Commander’s War Rating
This value is doubled for Close Formation
Half this Value is added to the Commander’s Parry DV

Close Combat/Ranged Combat Damage Rating

This is added to the Raw damage of the Unit’s Commander

My Modification: Unit does not use the weapon damage of the Commander.  Instead it only use the Skill of the Commander and Stats.  It is assumed the commander is “wielding” the Unit’s Abstracted Weapon.  So if everyone in the Unit is using a Reaver Daiklave, it is assume the commander is using the same.  If everyone gets the material bonus, it is assumed the commander does so as well.

Armor

This value is added to the Commander’s natural soak to determine the Unit Soak.

Morale

The lower of the “average valor of the unit” or the “Commander’s.”

Special Characters

• Maximum special characters in any unit is Magnitude x 2
• When attacking the special character uses the higher of the Heroes’ Close Combat (Attribute + Ability) or the Commanders, limited by Commander’s War ability.
• When attacking the special character uses the higher of the Sorcerer’s Range Combat (Attribute + Ability) or the Commanders, limited by Commander’s War ability.
• Units with Magnitude of 3+ must have at least one relay for every dot of magnitude, or suffer communication failure.

Hero: These characters are sub‐officers who are capable of assuming command if their unit commander dies. Furthermore, heroes may attack other units in close combat as if they were solo units, effectively giving their unit additional (but weaker) attacks.  Finally heroes can break away entirely and take part of a unit with them, transforming the breakaway group into a new unit under their own command. A hero can lead her Close Combat Rating to her unit, using her trait rather than the unit
Commander’s but the trait is limited as normal by the commander’s War.

Sorcerer: These characters might be actual sorcerers, skilled archers or neutral observers embedded deeply in the ranks for their own protection, but First Age tactical manuals such as “The Thousand Correct Actions of the Upright Soldier” use the designation “sorcerer” for all such individuals. Sorcerers can lead the unit in missile fire, lending their rating in the place of the unit’s. This is limited by the commander’s War rating, as normal. In addition, sorcerers have the capability to make ranged attacks independently of their unit, but they cannot assume command or lead troops to break away into new units as heroes can.

Relay: Possibly the most important special characters to organize military units, relay are the assorted drummers, buglers, standard bearers and signalmen who carry the commander’s orders through the ranks. Units with Magnitude of 3+ must have at least one relay for every dot of magnitude, or else, they suffer communication failure. This means the unit can only assume the unordered information and it suffers a penalty of ‐2 to its effective Drill. Besides passively maintaining order and communication, relays can stand in for the commander when the unit hesitates and tests for rout, and in other situations when commands are vital.

Formation

Unordered: Undisciplined Mob, add 2 to the difficult of hesitation rolls.

Skirmish: 2x shield/cover bonus against all attacks, additional +3 DV against ranged attacks. Enemy units attacking with close combat attacks 2x their Magnitude for purpose of calculating attack bonuses. If the attacker is in Close Formation, then 3x attacker Magnitude. Unit in skirmish formation add 2 to the difficulty of hesitation rolls.

Relaxed: Standard formation, no advantage of disadvantages. Double shield and cover bonuses against ranged attacks.

Close: vulnerable to AOEs. 2x unit’s Close Combat Rating, 2x their DV bonuses from shields/cover against Close Combat Attacks.
Enemies attacking with ranged attack bonuses 2x their magnitude. Subtract 2 from all hesitation rolls.

Combat Summary

• In mass combat, use the lower of the relevant combat ability or the commander’s War ability.
• When on horse, use the lower of the relevant combat ability or the rider’s Ride ability.
• The commander adds her unit’s Close Combat Rating and her Unit’s Range Combat Rating as bonus successes to close and
  ranged attacks.
• The Bonus successes added cannot exceed the commander’s War Rating, before applying modifications from formation.
• Add an additional number of successes equal to the unit’s Might value.
  • So a crack unit of young Dragon‐Blooded archers with Range Combat 5 and Might 2 commanded by a character with War 4 would add 4+2=6 successes to range attack rolls.
• If a unit attacks another and those units have different Magnitudes, the larger unit applies the difference as bonuses successes
  to its attack or subtracts the difference from the successes of attacks by the smallest unit. This difference cannot exceed +/‐ 3.
• Besides Improving Attacks, Might also adds to the commander’s Essence Rating to determine if particular effects can target the
  unit and/or to help him defend against the effects of hostile Charms.
• One half a unit’s Close Combat Rating adds to the Commander’s Parry DV. This is not modified by formation.
• A Unit’s Close Combat/Range Combat Damage adds to the raw damage of the commander with his weapon, respectively.
• A Unit’s range and its range increment are based on the range of the Unit’s weapon, not the Commanders.
• A Unit’s Minimum damage is not equal to the commander’s Essence or the Minimum damge of the weapon. It is equal to the
  Magnitude of the Unit, including Formation Modifiers.
• A Unit’s Armor adds to its Commander’s natural bashing, lethal and aggravated soak.
• A Unit’s number of health level is equal to the Commander’s full health levels.
• A Unit does not suffer wound penalties.

Common Outlaws

Just to give you guys a rough idea of what you can expect from the Bandit Opposition.  These do not represent army deserters turned banditry.  These are the commoners who have no future and thus turned to banditry out of lack of conviction or weakness of moral character.

Attributes
Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2
Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Appearance 1
Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 3

Virtues
Compassion 2, Conviction 2, Temperance 2, Valor 2

Abilities
Athletics 1, Awareness 1, Craft (Water) 1, Dodge 2, Integrity 1, Larceny 1, Martial Arts 1, Melee 1, Resistance 1, Stealth 2, Socialize 1, Survival 1, War 2

Join Battle: 3 (4 for Outlaws)

Attacks:
Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 4, Damage 2B, Defense 5, Rate 3
Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 3, Damage 5B, Defense 1, Rate 2
Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 3, Damage 2B Defense –, Rate 1
Knife: Speed 5, Accuracy 4, Damage 4L, Defense 3, Rate 3
Short Sword: Speed 4, Accuracy 5, Damage 5L, Defense 4,
Rate 2
Spear: Speed 5, Accuracy 4, Damage 6L/7L, Defense 5, Rate
2

Soak: 3L/6B (Buff jacket, 3L/4B, -1 mobility penalty)
Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incap
Dodge DV: 3/2
Willpower: 4
Essence: 1
Other Notes: Often extras.

Mass Combat Stats

Overall Quality: Barely Disciplined
Magnitude: 3
Drill: 1
Close Combat Attack: 2
Close Combat Damage: 2
Ranged Attack: 1
Ranged Damage: 1
Endurance: 3
Might: 0
Armor: 1
Valor: 2
Formation: 100-200 Bandits in Skirmish or Relaxed formation

Some Members of the Second Cohort of Rathess

Each Cohort consists of around 500 units.  Currently the 100 Adeptus Astartes are split into 25 Unity (Groups of 4).  Each of the 5 Rathess Cohorts consists of about 1000 Triones lead by 5 Unity of Legionarii.

• First and Third Cohort is already engaged in the War of the North. 
• Of the Second Cohort 1 Unity is tasked with Escorting Supplies to the North and subsequently stayed in Angland awaiting reinforcements when they detoured to deliver Flawless Oak’s Message.  3 Unity with ~200 troops went with reinforcement troops to Angland.  The Last Unity moved on with the Next Northern Supply Escort.
• The Fourth and Fifth Cohort are still at Rathess.

 

These Astartes carry the standard equipment.

• Herenthid Gunshosa Commando Armor: Soak +11L/11B, Hardness 6L/6B, Mobility -1, Fatigue (N/A), Attunement 6 (4 with Talisman)
  • First Age Organic Symbiotic Gunshosa Armor of Exceptional Quality
  • Sensory Augmentation: +2 to Awareness, Negates all penalties from darkness less than pitch black
  • Enhanced Combat Reflexes; +2 bonus to all attacks; +1 Parry DV
  • Exomuscular Fibers: Double wearer’s ground speed; +2 to Strength.
  • Skin of the Chameleon: +4 bonus to Stealth
  • Blessed Regeneration: Wearer regenerates either 1 level of bash damage with every action taken during combat or all bashing levels per minute outside of combat. 
  • Endurance of the Forest: While the wearer feels physical strain and discomfort he automatically succeed all fatigue checks.  +2 to other Resistance checks.
  • Artifact •••••
• Adapteus Astartes Robe
• 5 have Jade Steel Daiklave with Matching Thunderbolt Shield
• Custodia and Rafael have Short Power Bow
• Custodia and Rafael have Reaver Daiklaves
• 3 others have Reaver Daiklaves
• All have the normal Triones Weapons if lacking Essence powered equivalent.
• All have Healing Orchid
• All have Breather Plant
• All have Green Eyes
• All have Rathessian Theater Badge
• Tiger Warrior Training Trained by Dace
• Further trained by the Dragon King Legacy
• Morale 5
• Drill 5
• Valor 4-5
• 4 Dots in Strength, Dexterity, Endurance
• 5 Dots in Melee, Archery, Thrown, Dodge, Integrity
• 3 Dots in Resistance
• 3 Dots in Survival with for Jungles Specialty at +3
• 3 Dots in War with +2 Specialty in Supernatural Combat
• 3 Dots in Lore and Occult
• Knows Old Realm, Holy Cant, and their normal languages
  

Mass Combat Stats

Overall Quality: Elite
Magnitude: Effectively 3 (2)
Drill: 5
Close Combat Attack: 7
Close Combat Damage: 4
Ranged Attack: 6
Ranged Damage: 4
Endurance: Does not tire
Might: 4
Armor: 4 (Hardness 6)
Valor: 4
Formation: 12 Adeptus Astartes in Close Combat Formation.

Members

Legionarii Amado (M)

The one that was sent to guide the Northern Supplies to Kaneko.  he was also asked Alabaster Hand of the Heavens and Flawless Oak to scout the Kingdom of Angland – their home kingdom.

He somehow managed to sent Word from the Far East informing the Solars that their Kingdom are in ruins and the Capital under siege by deserters from the various Wars of the East.

1. Legionarii Ramirez (M)

1. Jade Steel Daiklave

2. Matching Thunderbolt Shield

2. Legionarii Custodia (F)

1. Short Power Bow

2. Reaver Daiklaves

3. Legionarii Rafael (M)

1. Short Power Bow

2. Reaver Daiklaves

4. Legionarii Fernanda (F)

1. Jade Steel Daiklave

2. Matching Thunderbolt Shield

1. Legionarii Rodrigo (M)

1. Reaver Daiklaves

2. Legionarii Avinash (M)

1. Reaver Daiklaves

3. Legionarii Manu (M) 

   1. Jade Steel Daiklave

   2. Matching Thunderbolt Shield

4. Legionarii Lupe (F)

1. Reaver Daiklaves

1. Legionarii Robertina (F)

1. Jade Steel Daiklave

2. Matching Thunderbolt Shield

1. Legionarii Nieves (F)

   1. Jade Steel Daiklave

   2. Matching Thunderbolt Shield

2. Legionarii Pravin (M)

3. Legionarii Dara (F)

 

Adeptus Astartes Triones

Lead by the 12 Astartes are 192 Triones, organized into Unity of 4 – as per tradition.

While still labeled as “Triones” these are just as well trained as their elevated brothers.  The only difference is that they have not yet receive the blessing of the Unconquered Sun (Essence Enlightenment).  They are just as devoted and fanatical however and represents one of the most lethal fighting force in the East.

• Rathessian Adeptus Astartes Lamellar Armor (Quality, Mobility -2, Fatigue -1, +2 L/B Soak). Soak 8L/10B, Mobility 0, Fatigue 0, Cost •••••
• Adapteus Astartes Robe
• Wrath of Rathess (Standard Triones Secondary Weapon, Perfect Quality Rathessian Crystal Chopping Sword, +2 to Accuracy, +1 to Defense, +1 to Damage): Speed 4, Accuracy +3, Damage +6L/2, Defense 0, Rate 2, Str ••, Cost N/A, Tags O, P
• Spear of Rathess (Standard Triones Spear, Perfect Quality Short Spear of Ironwood tipped with Rathessian Crystal Spearhead, +2 Defense, +1 Accuracy, +1 Damage) Speed 5, Accuracy +3, Damage +5L, Defense +3, Rate 2, Str•, Cost •••, Tag P, R
• Aegis of Rathess (Standard Triones Shield, Perfect Quality Target Shield, Mobility -1, DV vs Melee +1, DV vs Range +1): Raise DV vs Hand to hand or ranged attack by 2.  Does not incur any mobility penalty.
• Rathessian Smite (Perfect Quality Rathessian War Bow): Speed 5, Accuracy +2, Damage +3L, Rate 3, Range 325, Max Strength ••••••, Cost N/A, Tags 2, B
• 60 Target Arrows (+0L Damage, Piercing)
• All have Healing Orchid
• All have Breather Plant
• All have Green Eyes
• All have Rathessian Theater Badge
• Tiger Warrior Training Trained by Dace
• Further trained by the Dragon King Legacy
• Morale 5
• Drill 5
• Valor 4-5
• 4 Dots in Strength, Dexterity, Endurance
• 5 Dots in Melee, Archery, Thrown, Dodge, Integrity
• 3 Dots in Resistance
• 3 Dots in Survival with for Jungles Specialty at +3
• 3 Dots in War with +2 Specialty in Supernatural Combat
• 3 Dots in Lore and Occult
• Knows Old Realm, Holy Cant, and their normal languages
  

Mass Combat Stats

Leader: Usually an Adeptus Astartes Legionarii
Overall Quality: Elite
Magnitude: Effectively 3 (2) when split into 64 each lead by a Single Unity (4) of Legionarii, or 5 (4) when fighting as a single unit.
Drill: 5
Close Combat Attack: 6
Close Combat Damage: 5
Ranged Attack: 6
Ranged Damage: 3
Endurance: 9
Might: 1
Armor: 3
Valor: 4
Formation: 64 to 192 Adeptus Astartes Triones in Close Combat Formation.

Item Index

Here is a index of the various entries about the items in [Exalted Past]

Albio’s Armor (Artifact •••••)

Aata’s (Artifact ••)

Belt of Aerial Mobility (Artifact •••)

Celestial Cocaine (Resources •••••)

Celestial Wine (Resources •••••)

Chiaroscuran Glass Blades (Resources +•/+••)

Cup of Flowing Blood (Artifact •••)

Dactylothecoe, The (Legendary Artifact)

Daiklave of Conquest, Dance’s (Artifact •••••)

Domnica's Mantle (Legendary Artifact)

Dragon Tear Tiara (Artifact ••)

Fans of the Sweet Courtier, The (Artifact ••••)

Heart, The (Unknown Artifact)

Ironic Jest (Soulsteel Grand Daiklave, Artifact•••••)

Mask (Artifact ••)

Mecca (Legendary Artifact)

Metasorcerous Phylactery (Artifact ••••)

Nadir of Inauspicious Fortune, The (Artifact ••••)

Pale Pain’s Mirror (Unique Artifact)

Peach of Immortality (N/A)

Perfection of the Ascending Sun (Legendary Artifact)

Rathessian Crystal Weapon (Resource +••, no less than ••••)

Rathessian Smite (N/A)

Rathessian Theater Badge, The (Artifact •) 

Rathessian War Bow (N/A, Resources ••••)

Rod of Cleansing the Body (Artifact ••)

Scepter of Peace and Order, The (Legendary Artifact)

Seven Bounties Paste (Resource •••)

Songbirds of Atlantis (Artifact •••)

Sweet Cordial (Resource ••••)

Tears of Incomparable Misery (Artifact •••••)

Third-Arm Glaive (Artifact •••••)

Translation Crystal (Artifact ••)

Yasal Crystal (Artifact • or ••)

 

War Strider

Battlelusting Lightless Shadow (Noble, Artifact ••••)

 

Others

Nemissary Honor Guards: Maiden of the Mirthless Smile

 

Legacy of of Auspicious Plume

Herenthid Find, The (Military Science)

Hidden Library of Chikmayiz, The (Medicine)

Hidden Workshop of Methexis, The (Metallurgy)

GM’s mistake on Adaptus Astartes

GM made the mistake remembering more suits than there are.  After checking the list only 141 Suits were recovered.  49 is used already (at that point).

Once growth is accounted for here is the break down of current suit distribution

The suit The Twilight used was returned to Rathess.

The 100 Astartes of the Rathess Chapter are completely equipped – so that is 100 Suits.  About 60 went to the War of the East, and 40 remain in Rathess as Elite Shock Troopers.

Dagnir’s Adepta Sororitas is another 20 Suits.  That is 120 Suits accounted for.

The Kirighast Chapter is another 20 Suits, that is 140 suits Total.

With 1 for Kai, that is the entirety of 141 suits.

This means Alabaster and Flawless Oak have at most only a handful of Adaptus Astartes with them.  Including the 1 sent to scout Angland, that means they probably have total of 10 Astartes leading maybe 15x that number in Triones  (Tiger Warriors yet unblessed with full rank).

It also means the travel times are significantly slower, and that the players will not be given Gunshosa Commando Armors.

Dactylothecoe, The (Legendary Artifact)

The Dactylothecoe is also known as the Ring of Victory or more commonly as “The Trophy.”  It is made from the core of the freshly murdered Primordial “Ramethus;” who escaped the initial primordial wars into the Wyld and eventually returned after reinventing himself purely for combat.

That Battle was long and bloody and claimed the life of such Solar luminaries such as Brigid, Unconquered Shield and Righteous Guide.

Like the War before, it was Guiding Hand that Smite who landed the killing blow and Mecca who sealed the victory.  Guiding Hand that Smite, already manipulated by Mecca, deeply under the influence of the Great Curse refuse to yield the carcass of the Primordial for seal into Malfeas and claimed it as his spoil of war.  Thus another Neverborn was created.

The Deliberative tried to force him to yield by passing a motion, but Guiding Hand that Smite simply left the proceeding in mid-session and refused to return till the Deliberative swore to declare the carcass as his rightful gain.  This contest effectively disbanded the Solar Deliberative for more than a Century – for no session can be recognized without the Proctor present.  While irked the callous Solars did not see this as anything more than minor inconvenience to their governance of Creation.  However, as time grew the increasing dissenting Solars grew irked.

In secrecy that would shame Sidereal in Perfection, the 5 Deliberators unanimously voted to remove Guiding Hand that Smite as Proctor and install the more agreeable and equally respected Aofe as his temporary replacement.

The same playbook for Merela’s “removal” was used and after his “peaceful and natural” death Guiding Hand that Smite was given a funeral deserving of a Hero of the First Age.

Mecca then passed on to Aofe conditioned upon his temporary post as Proctor.  During this time he gained the epithet “The Golden Blade” on his many campaign into the Wyld and expanded the Reach of Creation greatly. 

The Ring passed on to the next incarnation of Guiding Hand that Smite.

Aofe’s temporary assignment lasted till the Usurpation since none of Guiding Hand that Smite’s incarnation ever lived long enough to gain enough recognition to assume his rightful position.  “Misfortune” seems to follow the ring bearer yet none of them can resist the power it grants and all wore it to their untimely deaths.

 

Power

Forged from very essence of a Primordial’s Essence as he straddled between his unkillable self and transformation into a Neverborn.  This ring grants the Wearer the certainty of existence that is the basis of Creation.   It affirms and protects its wearer’s identity and nature.  Only things of Creation proper can affect the character – the Dead, Fair Folk, Demons, Gods and the Wyld cannot even target the character with their magic.  They may use physical and social attacks, but none of their exo-creation properties can touch the bearer.  Any such actions enhanced by Charms/Special Effects will have the effects nullified.

Elementals and Gods, however, are of Creation, and thus are unaffected by this protection.  Charms that belong to Creation, such as Solars, Lunars, Dragon-Blooded, Spirit Charms of Gods, and Sorceries, are all native to Creation and thus will take effect – even if they are used by beings not-of Creation.

Similarly while Abyssal Charms are corruption of Solar Charms they are none the less still Solar Charms and thus are also outside the ring’s protection.

Green Sun Princes' charms however are Charms of the Yozi, thus cannot affect the wearer of the ring.

The Ring has 3 Hearthstone settings and functions as a Hearthstone bracer.  However, the Ring cost 15 motes to attune and is considered native material for all Magical Beings of Creation.  Though this is rather moot since only very specific people can attune to this awesome artifact.

While the Ring looks like it is made of Common Gold it is not.  It is the very essence of Will and Existence.  Thus those who attuned gains all 5 of the material bonus for Hearthstone Bracers.

• Orichalcum: All of the character’s attack gains +2 dice.
• Moonsilver: Increase the character’s lethal soak by 2 dice.
• Jade: Gain a -1 bonus to their Speed ratings for H2H or ranged attacks.
• Starmetal: Add one to the character’s weapons’ Accuracy and Defense rating.
• Soulsteel: Decrease the target’s lethal and bashing
  soaks by two against the character’s attacks. This effect cannot reduce a target’s soak below 0.

It is commonly assumed that the Ring will only function for Guiding Hand that Smite’s incarnations, but this is not entirely true.  The Ring will also function for whoever attuned Mecca – for she has tainted it with her corruption even during its creation.