Andraste

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Mask of Winter’s Abyssal Sparks

 

1)   Dawn (Dusk) 03

Silver Empress of the Frozen Rose
Prince Resplendent in the Ruin of Ages, Crumbling Pillar

2)   Dawn (Dusk) 05

Maiden of the Mirthless Smile

3)   Dawn (Dusk) 11

Irreproachable and Flawless Golden Tyrant

4)   Dawn (Dusk) 52

Adamant Sadness

5)   Midnight (Zenith) 22

Sorrowful Hill Master
Lady of Darkness in Bloodstained Robes

6)   Midnight (Zenith) 44

Apostate in Tatters (The Harp Guy)

7)   Daybreak (Twilight) 42

Ebon Whisper of the Weeping Mountains
Icy Monsoon of Bloody Maiden Tears

8)   Daybreak (Twilight) 49

Sagacious Bodhissatva of Crows and Murder
Illuminant Guardian of the Final Dust

9)   Day (Night) 11

Typhon – Thorn’s Ambassador to the Scavenger Lands

10)   Moonshadow (Eclipse) 27

Mistress of Pact Sealed in Blood

 

Associated Abyssals

Dusk Princess of the Obsidian Heart - Moonshadow (Eclipse) 24

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.

Rhianna of Marukan Alliance

Here is the image I picked for Rhianna of the Marukan Alliance.

Rhianna has the Unique Merit “Heavenly Spear.”  It is a modification of the Prodigy Merit.  Her merit, instead of adding +1 to Melee, adds +2 to Spears.  Like Prodigy Merit, this Merit also raise her Charm Dicepool Cap.  It’s most potent ability is that this Unique Merit also allows her to consider her Essence to be 1 point higher when using a Spear.  Thus even before she Exalted she would use Enlightened Being’s dice pool when wielding a spear, since her Essence would be 2 while doing so.  Now she would be Essence 6 when it comes to Charms regarding Spear Use.  It however, does not allow her to learn Charms she does not meet the pre-req for, it only improves the functions of the Charms she already know.

She is Solar Night Caste Essence #40.  Originally in 1st Edition she is Eclipse Caste, but I think that makes her too powerful.  So I changed her to Night Caste.

The image is Balsa from Seirito Moribito, and yes Rhianna was the finest mortal Spear User in Creation before her Exaltation.

I was debating between Balsa or Rider, but Rider is just too sexy for someone as serious as Rhianna.  Plus Balsa has this picture.

As a side note Rhianna is the one that gave Dagnir his horse.  The Marukan Steed was a foal from Rhianna’s own steed – Balsa.

Circle of Everlasting and Perfect Illuminated Harmony, The

The Circle of Everlasting and Perfect Illuminated Harmony as their name suggest is a Perfect Circle formed and trained by the Cult of the Illuminated – and by extension, their Sidereal masters, the Gold Faction Sidereals.

Unfortunately due to the obstinance of Lytek, even the Gold Faction did not learn of the Sun-King’s return to Creation until well after the fact. Feeling cautious the Sidereals decided not to approach the Solars who are already well established.

Cautiously the Gold Faction gathered those who are more pliable, the not yet established lone Solars who are confused and scared, and formed the School of the Illuminated. In these hidden monastery fortresses they secretly began to mold the returning God-Kings into tools that can guarantee the future.

Already more than a dozen Solars have been gathered and the Gold Faction even went out of their way to gather their Lunar Mates when convenient. The members of the Circle of Everlasting and Perfect Illuminated Harmony are just the most senior of the Solar trainees.

 

 

Ovalisque of the Invincible Starfall, The Dawn

Motivation: To fight for equal rights of womankind, so that no longer will they be exploited and oppressed.

Origin: Ovalisque of a Sultan in the Hundred Kingdoms. She was exalted when she bravely, but futilely, tried to stop a Cynis Scion from violating her Mistress on the Great Caravan Road. She exalted when her mistress killed herself instead of risking the indignity.

Dawn Caste #26

Essence: 4

Ovalisque of the Invincible Starfall is the women in red on the left side of the picture.

 

 

Celestial Anger, The Zenith

Motivation: To repair the damages to Creation accumulated over the ages and make restitution on behalf of all Sun-Kings.

Origin: A young Immaculate Order monk risen by the Archimandrite of his Monastery as a baby.  When he was only 10 he was told that he is the reincarnated of a great hero of the past – returning finally on behaves of his holy father the Unconquered Sun to set world aright. He was exalted while leading mass in the Cult of the Illuminated.

Zenith Caste #8

Essence: 3

He is the Man in the Red armor with the Grand Daiklave in the picture.

 

 

Exaltant Sunrise Spirit, The Twilight

Motivation: To establish a fundamental respect for knowledge and the love of virtue in the heart of mankind

Origin: A Scholar in the Academies of the Blessed Isle. He was sent by his teacher into the Scavenger Lands to excavate a rare document shortly after the Empresses’ disappearance. He was exalted few years ago while in ecstasy recording the murals in the ancient tomb.

Twilight Caste #48

Essence: 3

Exaltant Sunrise Spirit is the man in the gray plate armor behind Celestial Anger.

 

 

Death and Metal Maiden, The Night

Motivation: To ease the abundance of suffering in the world.

Origin: A merchant’s wife whose husband died to one of the many plagues in the Southeast jungles. She used what little money she has left to tend to the other sick and contracted the plague also. She exalted on her deathbed and was almost burnt by her village as the cause of the disease. A passing by Monk (Sidreal in respendent destiny) “saved” her and enlightened her to her great responsibility.

Night Caste #23

Essence: 3

She is not in the picture.

 

 

Child of the Violet Star, The Eclipse

Motivation: To inflict soul numbing justice onto those who are above the law

Origin: A carnival freak who was borned a Wylt tainted monster and has knew nothing but abuse since then. Her only friend and caretaker was killed when her circus caravan was waylaid by a local king seeking to fatten his purse she managed to slay 4 of the King’s knights before her escape. She stalked the King’s men for weeks slowly inflicting terror and fear into their hearts. She exalted when the king committed suicide rather than risk having the horrible thing she been doing to his men inflicted upon him.

Eclipse Caste #3

Essence: 4

Child of the Violet Star is the Woman in the background with the bow on the right.

Ysabel Hayfa

The enlightened mortal mercenary woman who pilots her own Scout Warstrider.  She was mentioned in the Scroll of Kings in the section about Gem.

Tachi-Kun, Central God of War

The god of war for the center direction, Tachi-Kun is also the god of Exalted warfare, the patron of the tumultuous clash between those imbued with the power of the gods. In ancient days, when the Exalted marched to war, Tachi-Kun was there, overseeing the clash of battle-Essence, savoring every shake of the earth and mountain toppled by these heroes.

To say that Tachi-Kun has been disappointed with the warriors of the Blessed Isle since the Usurpation is something of an understatement. He finds the Dragon-Blooded focus on unit tactics and dog-packing to lack the honor and glory of the ancient wars, when Solars took to the field against their foes, each a hero in his own right.

This isn’t to say that Tachi-Kun doesn’t support the Bronze Faction, of course. He is too wise to see the suspicious disappearance of Darunla, the wolf-goddess of the East who supported the Solars, shortly after the Usurpation as chance—especially given that Sunipa, who favors the Dragon-Blooded, was soon after elevated to the position of war-goddess of the East. Tachi-Kun acknowledges that the Dragon-Blooded are mighty warriors; they are simply not heroes, in his mind. But then, foot soldiers rarely are.

Tachi-Kun maintains a strong rivalry with Voharun, the crow-god of Northern war. Once, in the time of the Solars, Voharun and Tachi-Kun were strong allies, but they have not gotten along since the Usurpation. Neither, however, will reveal the reason.
The central god of war is nearly eight feet tall and powerfully built. He wears an incredible suit of starmetal and jade superheavy plate, with an impressive dragon-face helm. He wields Terrible Mountain Cutter, an impressive divine grand grimcleaver. He is a superb martial artist and soldier, excelling at the use of Charms to their best effects in combat.

Sunipa, Eastern God of War Constrained By Law

Sunipa, the East’s supreme god of war, governs all aspects of war in which soldiers follow rules.  She is the patron of soldiers who follow orders, from grunts in the field to generals who start and end their battles as their heads of state direct.  Her purview also covers truces and surrenders, exchanges of prisoners, battlefield challenges, military training, supply contracts, military police and indeed every military activity in which warriors act according to agreed-upon rules.  Sunipa works closely with her colleague (and reputed relative) Shield of a Different Day (see The Compass of Terrestrial Directions, Vol. I—The Scavenger Lands, pp. 142-144).  She also directs a staff of gods who oversee other aspects of professionalized warfare, such as military intelligence, logistics and chains of command.

The goddess herself looks like a fit middle-aged woman, handsome rather than beautiful, with short, black hair and jet-black eyes.  She wears a suit of green and silver magitech armor; a minor illusion makes it look like lightweight, plain gray breast-plate strapped over simple brown leather armor.  Sunipa carries a fire lance called Delicate Scarlet Blossom and a slashing sword called Neverfrost whose blade is carved from steel-hard, unmelting ice.  Thus does Sunipa balance pomp and practicality, heat and cold, the magitech of the Exalted and the blades of common mortal soldiers.

As Eastern God of War, Sunipa answers to E-Naluna, Queen of Warfare in the Bureau of Heaven, and Hu Dai Liang, Shogun of the Crimson of Battles in the Bureau of Destiny’s Division of Battles.  Sunipa enjoys extensive worship throughout the East.  Her cult is particularly strong among mercenaries, who fight according to the terms of contracts.  Somewhat ironically, the East’s large contingent of guerillas, partisans and insurgents also pray to Sunipa… to keep the regular armies they fight slow and hidebound.  In the planning sessions at the Division of Battles, though, Sunipa only backs rebels who feel they have just cause and follow rules about legitimate and illegitimate targets for attack.  Sunipa despises rebels who try to tear down a society without building something new in its place, and sees them as no more than bandits with slogans.

For all the power and prestige of her office, Sunipa does not consider herself safe.  In the First Age, Sunipa held a lower position in the Division of Warfare as patron of the concept of soldiers under orders.  As such, the soldiers of the Dragon-Blooded Host fell in her purview.  The wolf-goddess Darunla held the office of Eastern War God. When the Usurpation came, Darunla sided with the Celestial Exalted.  Sunipa felt immensely conflicted: she could not countenance mutiny, but wanted to help her Dragon-Blooded soldiers.  Eventually, she sided with the Dragon-Blooded, reasoning that most of the Dragon-Blooded who actually attacked and slew the Solar and Lunar Exalted were just following orders from their own commanders.

After the Usurpation, Darunla disappeared and Sunipa took her place.  Sunipa believes the Bronze Faction destroyed Darunla, and could destroy her too if they ever suspect her of working against them.  Sunipa does not work directly against Solars in the East (for she fears what the resurgent Gold Faction could do to her, too) but tries to prevent any of the gods under her command from assisting the new Lawgivers.

Dance’s Daiklave of Conquest

Dance’s Daiklave of Conquest was given to him as a gift from Arianna, who retrieved it from a Solar Tomb she excavated in the Deep South.  All Daiklave of Conquest are forged for the greatest generals of the Old Realm and thus designed exclusively for use by the Dawn Caste. No other Exalted can attune themselves to this weapon, nor wield its fantastic powers.

When used in battle, the daiklave glows with a bright, unearthly light. As long as this daiklave is unsheathed, all opponents and other hostile individuals within 10 yards of the bearer must make a Valor roll at +1 difficulty or flee in fear.

Those who hold their ground lose a number of dice from all attacks (even those not targeting the wielder) equal to the bearer’s Valor score.

So long as the bearer is using this weapon in combat, friendly troops fight with improved morale that gives them one bonus die to all combat-related dice pools. They also automatically gain one success on all Valor rolls.

In addition, all opponents suffer a –1 internal penalty to all combat-related dice pools and receive a +1 penalty to the difficulty of their Valor rolls.

Both of these powers affect combatants within one mile of the Exalt wielding the daiklave. These bonuses and penalties do not apply to civilians or neutral soldiers.

A Dawn Caste Exalt must commit 10 motes of Essence to attune to this blade.  Both known examples of this rare and deadly treasure act as standard orichalcum daiklaves in hand-to-hand battle, though each has a setting for three hearthstones.

Dance’s Daiklave has a Hearthstone setting on each side of the blade, and the last one is the jewel setting for the pommel.

Perfection of the Ascending Sun

This fantastic blade is also known as the Fomenter of the Ever Victorious Legion. It was forged for the greatest general of the Solar Deliberative “Solomon of Teir” by his Twilight Caste lover “Vicar of Origination Sublime” and is an awe inspiring symbol of power on the battlefield. This Daiklave is wide and single edged almost resembling a reaver daiklave, but is slightly longer and elegant in its plainness. It has 4 sockets for Hearthstones, lining the back of the blade from the Guard to a quarter the way up the blade.

This weapon can only be attuned by a Dawn Caste Solar costing 8 motes. No other castes can wield this weapon or utilize its fantastic powers.

The sword comes with an exquisite case like sheath that negates the entirety of the weapon’s weight and inertia. This effect is constant and does not require attunement, making the weapon easy to transport and carry. The sheath can be worn fashionably on the hip or strapped to the back. The Sheath also has an additional function as noted below.

The weapon is currently socketed with Gem of Acclimation (••), see page 230.

	Speed	Accuracy	Damage	Defense	Rate	Attune	Minimum	Tags
When Attuned	5	+3	+10L/2	+3	4	5	Str ••	O, P

• Indestructible: The weapon is night-indestructible; nothing in creation can end its existence.
• Piercing: The weapon is so sharp that it halves any armor’s soak value rounded down.
• The weapon doubles the wielder’s raw damage against inanimate objects of Earth and Fire. This includes Warstriders, Fortifications, Ships, Siege Engines, Mountains, Bridges, etc. It doesn’t include Undead or things built of once living things such as wooden structures and soulsteel. It also doesn’t include objects worn by living things, such as armor and weapons. Should another effect also double damage, this just adds 1 more factor to it and not doubles. So if a charm doubles damage, combined with this weapon the total raw damage is now 3x not 4x.
• As long as this daiklave is released from its Moonsilver sheath/case, all opponents and other hostile individuals within a radius from the bearer equal to 10 yards per dot of the wielder’s permanent essence must make a Valor Check at +1 difficulty or flee in terror. Those that hold their ground suffer an internal penalty on all “attack” actions equal to the bearer’s Valor score.
• As long as the daiklave is attuned and sheathed in its Moonsilver sheath/case the wearer can “ready” the blade as a Reflexive action up to number of miles equal to his Essence + Valor Score. Returning the sword back to the scabbard has to be done via mundane means, however, and the sheath/case is not teleported along with the blade.
• When the wielder of this weapon leads in mass combat he becomes a force of nature.
  • The weapon becomes the focal point of immense amount of Divine Essence blessing and strengthening the wielder’s troops. This effectively adds 2 to the army’s might rating, regardless of any maximums.
  • The focus of holy essence transforms the daiklave into a fragment of the Unconquered Sun. It becomes a blaze of sunlight. It will light the battlefield as if it was daytime dispelling even magical darkness from horizon to horizon. This divine glow is the true aspect of the Unconquered Sun, and should be treated as such.
  • As long as the bearer is engaged, all friendly troops fight with heightened spirits that gives them an additional bonus die to all combat-related dice pools.
  • These soldiers also automatically succeed any Morale checks (Perfect Morale) and cannot be placed under any fear effect.
  • In addition, all opponents shake with dread losing one die from all combat-related dice pools and receive a -1 external penalty to their Morale checks and Valor rolls.
  • All the Mass Combat bonuses only affect combatants within a mile of the Exalted wielding the daiklave. The relevant bonuses and penalties do not apply to civilians or neutral soldiers.
• The weapon cannot be placed in Elsewhere via Charms or sorcery. Any attempts to do so will automatically fail.

Mecca, The Lissome Halo of Golden Annihilation

This breathtakingly beautiful orichalcum great daiklave is decorated with Moonsilver and all 5 colors of Jade. Just the quality of the decoration is worth entire nations, the overall value of this artifact is beyond mortal imagination. Plus not only is this blade sentient, she (yes, she) is a survivor of the First Age and is none other than the proud weapon of the Solar Deliberative Proctor – the Guiding Hand that Smite of the Zenith Caste.

During the First Age, Mecca is perhaps the most famous weapon in Creation. Not only because her illustrious partner but also because they were the pairing that struck the final blow in the Primordial Wars. The Guiding Hand that Smite with his Circle ventured deep into the chaotic foulness that is the miasma of the dying Primordials and with their bravery made the binding of Malfeas possible. Of these heroes and their belongings, only this Grand Daiklave survived. Forever scarred by the intensity of that struggle – both on her surface and, more deviously, internally as well. The holiest of all blades became the symbol of Solar Victory – tragically a symbolism truer than anyone suspects.

Unknown to even the wisest Savants the indestructible weapon was damaged beyond the constraints of possibility when it plunged into the fetich soul of the Demon King and scourged the Primordial Masters into submission. The holy blade’s spirit was fissured when she contended against the reality defying power of the Fetish Soul before his diminishment into Ligier. As Malfeas’ soul’s suffering echoed across all existence, its intensity crept in to the invisible fissure. Overtime the echo of that suffering amalgamated with Mecca and the sword became inwardly twisted and corrupt.

It was she, and not the great curse, that was the main cause of the atrocities The Guiding Hand that Smite was attributed and ultimately the Deliberative used Mecca to carry out his execution. Thus this blade passed from Solar to Solar marking each with her infallible touch of corruption. Mecca is now a twisted sentience that delights in misery and subtly influences her owners into completely suffering and despair – a sentience with powerful on par to any third circle demon.

Speed	Accuracy	Damage	Defense	Rate	Minimums	Tags
5	+3	+13L/4	+2	2	S···	2, O, P, R
4	+4	+13L/4	+3	3	S··	O, P, R

• This weapon is sentient and has P/I/W of 8/6/7 and C/M/A of 6/10/9, though it can communicate via speech, telepathy, or empathy, it never does so. Instead it uses its empathy to subtly influence the emotional state of the bearer to entertain itself.
• The blade is in completely control of her powers and can grant all or none of the abilities listed to the bearer (attuned or not) – this control even extends to the material bonuses for attunement. Should the sword wish it, it can be as heavy as a mountain regardless of how much essence the bearer pumps into it. Thus all mention of “attuned” should read as “should Mecca allow it” though she normally masquerade as a non-sentient weapon and thus pretend to follow the normal rules governing artifacts.
• The Weapon has its own collection of charms subjected to the Storyteller’s decision, and has an Essence stat of 9 and has an Essence pool of 100, plus 10 for each dot of Hearthstone socketed. This pool of essence can be committed as personal essence to the bearer at a transfer rate of 2 sword essence for 1 personal. This Essence Allowance cannot be used as commitment Essence. The Sword regenerates Essence at the rate of 10 motes an hour in direct sunlight plus the combined socketed Hearthstone’s regeneration capacity. When not in sunlight the daiklave only regenerates 1 point an hour.
• In addition to her personal Charms the scars left by the titanic battle upon her body can be used to learn the following Perfect Charms. These charms can only be used in conjunction with her and can be mastered by any Solar with Essence 5 and Melee 7 with Swords. While she cannot prevent anyone from reading the charms, she can adjust her own weight and balance. Since the Charms only work with her, this in effect stops the wielder from training with, and should the charm already be learnt, the use of the charms.

Eight Direction Orichalcum Palisade

Cost: 8m, 1wp
Min: Melee 7 with this Sword, Essence 5
Type: Reflexive (Step 2) Combo-Ok, Obvious, Perfect
Duration: 2 ticks
Prerequisites: Solar only, no prerequisite Charms

This is the perfect defense form that allows the user to achieve a sublime unity with the blade and allow the wielder to defend without thought. The attacks must not be unexpected, and the character must have Mecca in hand. This Charm is a perfect parry that defends against any/all attack for the rest of the tick and the tick after.

This Charm has one of the Four Flaws of Invulnerability common to all solar perfect defenses. The flaw is unique to each person and is picked when the Charm is learned.

The Inevitability of Victory

Cost: 1m, 1wp
Min: Melee 7 with this Sword, Essence 5
Type: Supplemental Combo-Ok, Obvious, Perfect
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Solar only, Eight Direction Orichalcum Palisade

The Solar focuses and releases a single slash that materializes the Certainty of Inevitability, while just a plain slash from a third person point of view, the actual target(s)being assaulted sees infinite attacks from every direction and regardless of how he defends he cannot break the perfection of certainty - the inevitable slash will strike its mark without error.

This Charm supplements the player’s melee roll with Mecca and guarantees that the attack hits. The Charm can be used to argument attacks including trick shots and stunts. The attack is resolved normally, but if the attack would have missed without this Charm, then it hits, calculating its raw damage based on an assumption of 2 extra attack successes. This Charm does not change the normal rules for valid targets – stabbing the blade through “the gap in his armor” does not allow the Exalted to bypass armor soak, nor does this Charm allow the Exalt to perform impossible deeds.

Any perfect defense used against this charm will result in a Essence contest between the attacker and defender.  The result will determine which charm took effect.

• The weapon, regardless of attunement, does additional levels of aggravated and unsoakable holy damage equal to the wielder’s Conviction on Creatures not native to creation, being such as Creatures from the Wyld, Malfeas, Underworld, and even that of Oblivion. These damage levels are inflicted as long as the wielder hit and are separate from normal damage (e.g. need another invocation of any perfect soak charms).
• Requires 10 motes of Personal Essence to attune with the weapon. Orichalcum weapons when attuned are +1 to Accuracy, Defense and Rate. This specific weapon when attuned by a Solar becomes incredibly light, becoming naturally speed 4, and needing only 1 hand to wield and a strength requirement of only 2 dots.
• When attuned, the weapon hardens any flared anima with protective properties that provides a +2 DV Cover bonus against all attempts to penetrate it, be it material, immaterial, or essence/unnaturally powered mental effects. Being a cover bonus it is not cumulative with other cover bonuses – such as shields.
• The weapon for as long as it is attuned will perfectly shield the owner from Wyld Contamination, Possession, Shapping, Unnatural Mental Influences, and even the virtue draining abilities of the Fair Folks.
• Unlike most great daiklaves Mecca only have 2 Hearthstone sockets, one at the center of the blade, and one near the tip.

Peach of Immortality, The

Found a reasonably good image for the Peach of Immortality Aata ate.

Adamant Sadness

Abyssal, Dusk Caste (Dawn Caste Essence 52)

Intimacies: Hate Mask of Winters, Getting Ahead, Despise Failure

The Right Hand of the Maiden of the Mirthless Smile and Commander of Thorn’s 8^th Legion of Shock Troopers.

Favorite Skills: Archery, Awareness, Bureaucracy, Investigation, Linguistics, Martial Arts, Melee, Presence, Thrown, War

Adamant Sadness has the face of a melancholy angel moved by the sufferings of the world. Her smiles are enigmatic and rare and her voice seems to radiate innocent. This is often works to her advantage as her beautiful shell hides the heartless inner core that is fully dedicated to the cause of Oblivion. Adamant Sadness chaffs under the leadership of Mask of Winters. The Scavenger Lands are ripe for the taking and plans for their destruction drawn up decades in advance. Every day the legions of the dead swells with new recruits and the smithy in the Underworld ring with ghostly screams. Yet her master seems content playing his political games and shield these ants from the enlightening embrace of Oblivion.

When The Irreproachable and Golden Tyrant were punished, it didn’t lose its meaning to Adamant Sadness. In him she saw her own future. To protect herself against Mask of Winter’s piercing attention she uses one excuse or another to keep her troops constantly away from the city on maneuvers. Even as this prevented her return to the political death trap that is Thorns, it managed to hone her Legion into Super Elite Status. When the news of The Irreproachable and Golden Tyrant’s defeat reached her via the spy network she wept tears of blood. Not because the lost of an equal but for the lost of dignity and reputation to all Dusk Castes. How can a chosen of oblivion be stupid enough to suffer such humiliating defeat against the weaker Solars! By next morning all torture pits are filled and all tents packed away, the army was on the move due east – Rathess after all was not part of the Scavenger Lands and its razing would not be against Mask of Winter’s explicit orders.

Just when she was about to cross the Gray River she received a summon she could not ignore…

Jalith of Haltan

The Solar that accompanied the Haltan Army to join the Kaneko in his campaign against Linowan.

Young Girl about 16 years old.  Exalted about 3 years ago.

Solar, Dawn Caste Essence #33

Has 3 Sa-Animal Familiars.  The most famous being a Leopard.  She has the animal training equivalent of the Tiger Warrior Training Charm.

Mudiwa

Daughter of an War Auroch of Ahlat and blessed with divinity at birth.  It was no surprise that Mudiwa joined the Brides of Ahlat and raised through the ranks to become Chief Bride.  After her retirement she did not start a family.  Instead she continued her service to her god as one of his High-Priestess.

Mudiwa’s life is devoted to Ahlat and she never took another lover.  Even after retiring from Brides of Ahlat Mudiwa still consider herself married.

Mudiwa is chosen by Enu Kofi, High Priest of Ahlat to be Ahlat’s Governor of Chiaroscuro.

Metal Gear Solid

Metal Gear Solid is a new god that came into being as the god of Adeptus Astartes.

Wun Ja

From “Compass of Celestial Direction Vol 3 – Yu Shan,” pg. 154

Wun Ja is god of the Shining Metropolis and Director of the Bureau of Humanity. She was once one of the most powerful gods of Yu-Shan in the First Age, but the destruction of the greatest cities of that era was a massive blow to both her spiritual and political power, and in the chaos following the Usurpation many of the gods of the Bureau were co-opted by the Bureau of Heaven. Despite her slide into the Fourth Rank of gods, she is still one of the most powerful gods in Heaven due to tithing by her subordinates, but she is incapable of appreciating that fact and sees it merely as a stopgap measure that has slowed her descent, not stopped it. As such, she is desperate to increase the power of her domain and the bureau’s influence and will break any of the laws of Heaven to do so.

Wun Ja has made overtures to both the Gold Faction and the city fathers and mothers of Creation. She is the lead proponent of the Bureau of Humanity providing aid to the Gold Faction and works tirelessly for its success. She funnels resources to the Gold Faction in exchange for promises that the cities of the Threshold will not be destroyed as the Solar Exalted regain their power, while working closely with the Sidereals of that alliance to cut the Realm off from the Threshold.

At the same time she pushes the gods of various cities to seize control of them. This is not just to boost her political power but her own personal resources, for the gods of the various cities all tithe prayers to her, and so growth in their worship means an attendant increase in her own.  Motivation: Wun Ja is desperately afraid that her Bureau will be diminished, and she will be politically destroyed.  To avoid this fate, she will do nearly anything.  Description: Wun Ja appears as a tall, slender woman made entirely of glass and metal, but she can take more humanoid shapes when the occasion requires it, especially when she walks Creation. She is a god of the Fourth Rank, although she believes she teeters on the edge of the third.  Other Notes: Wun Ja has made a concrete alliance with the Gold Faction and may call on its Sidereals and the Solars who study under them when the need requires it, although she would be surreptitious about seeking such help, as the Bronze Faction still dominates heavenly affairs.

Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 2, Temperance 3, Valor 4

Essence: 7

Neo-Rathessians

Here are the pictures of the Neo-Rathessians costumes.  Ignore the people wearing the cloth and focus on the fashion.

Rathessian Acolyte

Rathessian Priest

Rathessian High-Priest

Rathessian Adeptus Astartes

 

The Rathessian Theater Badge (Artifact •)
 

The Rathess Theater badge is given to all Astartes who have made the required pilgrimage to the Holy City. It is a badge of orichalcum and crystal suspended via a thick gold chain. The crystal face of the badge is a Dragon-Kings Crystal Book containing the holy scripture of the Unconquered Sun.

Aside from signifying the great honor and achievement for the bearer each badge is paws crafted by the Mice of the Sun and Blessed by Arch-Priestess Hastha-sth personally. It perfect construction and holy origin allows it to function as perpetual walk-away and forms an extremely potent ward against all creatures of darkness. The ward is equivalent to a 3 die ward, including all its bonuses and penalties.

Emem Adjoa

Prounced: E-mem Ad-joa

Emem Adjoa is Queen Azula’s Second in Command and the current leader of the Brides of Ahlat. She took over Azula’s old position when she was wed to Balan.

Emem Adjoa is a Wood Aspect Dragon-Blooded in her late 20s. As an native of Harborhead Emem Adjoa can trace her lineage to over 20 generations of Warriors.

Emem Adjoa’s is born from an love affair between her mother and an young realm officer and was Exalted when she turned 14. Her father tried to claim her but she was already marked for the Bull God. The Horned Priest of the Bull God claimed her immediately after her Second Breath and anointed her into the harsh and ruthless life as a Chosen Bride of Ahlat.

While she stricken from all normal bonds of kin Emem Adjoa found kinship of spirit amongst her sisters. Even when some would consider it a tragedy to be separated from her family at such an young age she thought it the greatest honor she could ever receive.

Added Some New Pictures

Sunken Luthe – One of the 6 Lost Wonders of Creation

Deandra

Adamant Sadness’ Anima

Mist of Bloody Passage – Adamant Sadness’ Bonestrider

Loathsome Osseous Shell – Necromantic Gunzusho Armor