Crossed Spears of Eschaton (Exalted: Abyssals/Infernals)

QuicksilverFox85 said:
Just to make sure I've got this right. Say that I'm working on an Infernal that's Essence 3. As long as I nab three charms from the tree that I want the Excellency in, the freebie excellencies will cover the normal requirement, correct?
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Correct.
 
How effective do you judge Eldritch Secrets Mastery is? Particularly, how does it interact with one's Anima (so I could know to take Disguise of the New Face if it doesn't work)?
 
MrSerious said:
Where did all the Abyssal supporters go?
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It certainly seems that the Primordials are currently gathering more support than the Neverborn. Hmm...Must be a Fiend's foul play behind this development. ;)


I might lean towards the Abyssals in such a case, but still pondering on it.

Incendius said:
How effective do you judge Eldritch Secrets Mastery is? Particularly, how does it interact with one's Anima (so I could know to take Disguise of the New Face if it doesn't work)?
Click to expand...
There was one charm in TDO's (TDO is Robert Vance, one of the latest Exalted writers) homebrew collection that expanded upon Eldritch Secrets Mastery, addressing this specific issue, at least as far as Obvious Charms are concerned. Here's the full text, hope it can be of help. :)


Gilded Gloaming Arcana


Cost:—; Mins:Essence 3; Type: Permanent


Keywords:Illusion


Duration: Permanent


Prerequisite Charms:Eldritch Secrets Mastery


Just as the sun’s light annihilates darkness, so too does the truth wither the Ebon Dragon with its touch. He must hide behind a sheathe of lies and deceptions, keeping his true nature hidden so that he might not be found out. This Charm upgrades Loom-Snarling Deception. Whenever the Infernal activates an Obvious Charm while Loom-Snarling Deception is invoked, he may warp the Obvious aspects of the Charm. While


he cannot disguise its function, he may change its visual appear-ance however he pleases, allowing him to mask the Charm’s Infernal nature, or emulate the Charms of other Exalted. Only characters capable of seeing through the Loom-Snarling Decep-tion can pierce this secondary Illusion.
 
That would be pretty nice. If that is approved, I am thinking of making a Slayer, probably Adorjan favored, who masquerades as a Fire Aspect.


What would you say to this other charm, to complete the deception?


Insidious Phantasms Applied


Cost: -; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Permanent


Keywords: None


Duration: Permanent


Prerequisite Charms: Eldritch Secrets Mastery


Building on the ability to disguise his motes, The Ebon Dragon is able to extend his mastery of false existence onto his magical implements. This charm is a permanent upgrade to Loom Snarling Deception that allows the Infernal to disguise artifacts and other magical items when he disguises himself. The disguised items benefit from all the enhancements of Eldritch Secrets Mastery, allowing the Infernal to change their appearance. If he wishes, a hellforged grand daiklave could be disguised as a simple steel greatsword, or a Tainted Orichalcum blade could appear pure. If the Infernal choses, he may add half the attunement cost of the item to the activation cost of Loom-Snarling Deception. Doing so alters the magical material bonus (if any) to match the disguise. The Infernal may only disguise personal scale items this way. Overcoming this illusion requires the usual means.
 
I am divided. I find the Infernal side more engaging (though both sides are fun), but it sounds like people are glutting there already. The options are reduxing my older archer-savant Daybreak caste, or creating an all new Infernal... probably a Cecelynian Defiler. Which sounds better?
 
Actually, I have decided to go with my old bow-wielding, fearsomely intelligent Daybreak Sage. Hope this makes a good concept. :D


The Sage of Dark Truths


Background:


Hector Rahir had grown up surrounded by books. A youthful genius son of an upper middle class scholar in the Northern Realm tributary city-state of Wasak, he was absorbed in this world, particularly in understanding that of the mysterious occult, and the equal mystery of people's minds and connections. Knowledge was power, though acquiring it ran a close second.


As Hector studied through these worlds though, he realized that generally, the Dragon-Blooded, much of them and certainly the mortal aristocracy in the area, didn't give a damn about the facts of the world, barbarians laboring in ignorance and pure indulgence. Not the least because since the Empress' rumored sabbatical (at the time, no one had realized she was gone), it seemed the incompetent were taking over the world, and reason was going to be lost.


Unfortunately, the price of his indignation was the occasional loss of self-control, which took a catastrophic turn, when during a social courtly event, he got into a shouting match with a few Immaculate monks. The 17-year old mocked and contradicted three of the Noble Insights, particularly the ones regarding the Dragon-Blooded and the Anathema.


The result: The Rahirs, father and son fled the city to avoid being seized and tried for heresy. But as they made their journey, around the town of Inland Breech the two were caught by a Magistrate and his Archons, and promptly taken down without trial. As Hector lay dying beside his father, a voice called to him...


The Walker in Darkness had called for his soul and service - but Hector was naturally reluctant. However, the fearsome intellect of the ancient Deathlord encouraged him into a debate. It raged for an impossibly long time at the edge of the precipice of death, but in time, the sheer knowledge of the Walker allowed him to swing Hector's views. Hector agreed, Creation's systems were irrevocably broken - and the whole of it needed to be scrapped. He took the Black Exaltation.


In the years since, the Sage of Dark Truths has become one of the mightiest Abyssals, employing his occult and academic knowledge with clinical care to bring many of his master's objectives to pass. What he cannot analyze or sway, he brings down with a soulsteel powerbow. Fools may call it insanity - but so what? The line between true genius and insanity has always been blurred.


Noted Accomplishments:

  • The Sage has through covert warfare, emasculated a now ailing and beleaguered Halta. Though not a military man, The Sage is keenly aware of mercantile and domestic supply matters, and calculated to an astonishing degree the needs of the Haltan people. Attacks on the ground floor Fair Folk, raids on Haltan merchants and outright massive fire-setting operations have obliterated several Haltan cities - leaving the war with the Linowan to do the rest. Halta still holds out, but time is running against the tree-people now.
  • Using political information on the state of the Hundred Kingdoms, the Sage has also personally attacked many villages and hamlets, wiping them out wholesale or assassinating key figures as need be - driving the petty polities against each other in revenge wars of increasing quantity and virulence. As of yet - no one except the forces of Oblivion know that the deathknight is responsible.
  • As the East has particularly attracted the attention of the Anathema and the Realm in turn - the Sage's other category of feats has been executing those who could pose a true threat and obstacle. The newly Exalted Solar Anmar Kathet, three young Lunars and a number of Dragonblooded Immaculates have been slain by the Sage when they all got too close to the Abyssal's trail or simply were a nuisance. (Twisted Basalt saved one Lunar at the behest of the Whispers of the Neverborn.)


Picture:


The_Black_Hand_by_YueChangShi.jpg



Note: Though not in picture, he wears spectacles made of human bone to protect himself from the disorienting effects of Creation.

The Sage of Dark Truths


Concept: Mad archer-savant in the service of the Neverborn.


Caste: Daybreak


Motivation: Purge an utterly flawed Creation


Intimacies:


+Logic


+Scholars


+Neverborn


- Dragonblooded


- Fools


- The Upper Classes


Anima Power: Abyssal Exalted of the Daybreak Caste may perceive Essence through their anima, allowing them to hone their senses for magic. By spending five motes, a Daybreak may add (Essence) automatic successes on any (Intelligence + Occult) roll to identify a Charm or to analyze it with Essence sight, and on any (Perception+ Awareness) roll made to notice a magical effect or Charm. In addition, this supernatural perception easily pierces through deception, adding a +3 bonus to the Abyssal’s Dodge MDV against unnatural Illusions. These effects come into play automatically once the Abyssal spends 11+ motes of Peripheral Essence.


Attributes


Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2


Intelligence 4, Wits 4, Perception 3


Charisma 2, Manipulation 3, Appearance 4


Abilities


Caste: Craft, Investigation, Lore, Medicine, Occult


Favored: Archery, Bureaucracy, Dodge, Integrity, Linguistics


Archery 3 (Powerbows +2)


Awareness 2


Bureaucracy 5


Dodge 4


Integrity 3


Investigation 5


Linguistics 5 (Native: Low Realm, High Realm, Old Realm, Riverspeak, Sky-tongue, Forest-tongue) (Written Social Attacks +2)


Lore 5


Occult 5


Presence 2


Socialize 2


Backgrounds


Liege 3


Artifact 3 (Soulsteel Chain Shirt and Soulsteel Short Powerbow)


Whispers 1


Charms


Excellencies: First & Second & Third Archery, First & Third Investigation, First & Second & Third Occult, First & Second & Third Dodge, First Bureaucracy, First Linguistics


Withering Feathered Maelstrom


Doom Drawn and Imminent


Splinter of the Void [bloodthirsty Arrow, Hundred Paces Bite]


Deception-Piercing Stare


Spider in Society's Web


Spirit-Sensing Meditation


Corpse-Rending Blow


God-Slaying Torment


Through Dead Eyes


Flitting Shadow Form


Flickering Wisp Technique [Valor Flaw]


Uncanny Impulse Evasion


Cunning Subversion Style


Scathing Cynic Attitude


Essence and Other Traits


Essence: 5


Personal Pool: 22


Peripheral Pool: 45/51 [6 committed]


WP: 6


Virtues: Compassion 1 (Flawed), Conviction 3, Temperance 3, Valor 2


Dodge DV: 6


Parry DV: 2 (Martial Arts)


MDVs: Dodge 7, Parry 4 (Man+Investigation)


Soak w/Armor: 8B/9L/7A (3B/3L Hardness)


Health Levels: -0x4, -1x5, -2x4, -4x2, INC


Wise Raiton (Powerbow): Speed 6, Accuracy 12, Damage 6L, Rate 2, Range 250


BP Log


Essence +2 - 14


4 Caste/Favored Ability dots - 4


XP Log


WP 6 - 10


Integrity 1->3 - 7


Awareness 1->2 - 5


Presence 1->2 - 5


Socialize 1->2 - 5


Essence 5 - 32


Hundred Paces Bite Effect - 1


4 Caste/Favored Charms - 32


Keeping the last 3 xp
 
MrSerious said:
Off Topic question but what is the best source of Abyssal charms that aren't in the MoEP?
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Most supplement Solar Charms have their Mirror versions. It would be handy if there was a single collection of Abyssal Charms... but I guess this is true for all splats. =p
 
MrS, you seem to have restored balance in the force(s of those who would exact their vengeance upon Creation). :D After your question, it seems that Abysall supporters have stepped forth to even things out. :)
 
This game has the Staff's approval, and is now set to Awaiting Players. Let us know when you feel you have enough players.


Well done Intro Posts as well. One of the best I have seen with two parallel narratives.
 
Ooooh! Okay. I'd reeeeeeally, really like to play in this if it's okay. I have two concepts for you! One's a Chiaroscuran conman Fiend with a Malfean urge to utterly destroy the realm and a motivation to "always bring down the house", Danny Ocean style, and the other's a Midnight Caste evangelist of several ancestor worshipping death cults who's so utterly besotted with oblivion that he's developed a subtle case of self-loathing due to him being (technically) alive. I'll write up two slightly more full ideas for each of them.


EDIT- Settled on my Infernal. This is his backstory (hope it's not too long.)


For many years, the man now known as Smiling Jin was a cause of some disagreement in Chiaroscuro. On the one hand, he was charming, dashing, and a widely welcomed fixture in many of the more refined gambling houses of Chiaroscuro, and as comfortable in high-society as any non-Delzahn is capable of being. On the other hand, there was always something about him that tended to make the very rich and very paranoid (of which the cross section was ever growing) uneasily checking their wallets. Not that they could say why, of course. There was just something about him.


Both schools of thought were right, after a fashion- Jin, an orphaned scavenger at the lowest of the low, was a thief. An excellent one, in fact. By the time he was seven, he’d learnt how to card-sharp better than his tutors. By the time he was thirteen, he could rig a dice game with almost contemptuous ease. And by the time he was fifteen, he conned his first noble out of half his wealth, and the man had thanked him for it. Jin soon found that small-scale theft, while interesting, was no-where near as fun as the bigger games; a good con could put enough jade in his pocket to buy him a whole new life, and a carefully calculated heist could double that while also curing any boredom that his new “respectable” life might bring him. It was the life he dreamed of. So naturally it all came crashing down on him.


Jin still doesn’t know precisely what it was that sank his lie, but somehow, somewhere, someone managed to connect the dots well enough to see him dragged before the Tri-Kahn. He could have escaped then- they’d searched him, but they hadn’t found his last smoke bomb, and he could have gotten away with anything he needed. Hells, he could have made off with the Tri-Kahn’s gods-damn crown, if he wanted. But he was so terrified, so numb from watching his whole life fall apart in thirty seconds, that he let the chance slip by. And so, wracked with terror, he listened to the Tri-Kahn’s judgement- banishment from the city that had been his whole world.


As he staggered through the desert, thinking of the wreckage of his past life and chances let slip by, something spoke to him. The Chrysogona slipped out of the sands and offered him a chance to escape, to start again- and to wreak awful, bloody revenge. All it would cost him was eternal servitude.


Jin considered his options.


Five days later, he broke out of his wooden cocoon, and laughed, and laughed and laughed.
 
Given the sheer number of people with Infernal concepts, I've decided to go ahead with my huntress Day caste concept. Sheet incoming via edit.


The Huntress of Silence and Shadows


History


Ashal Kurgala was born to the Kurgala tribe of the Totikari, a relatively small tribe of nomads in the veldt of Harborhead. Between raiding for herds and slaves and protecting their own herds from predators of both the two-legged and the four-legged variety, a young Ashal grew up with a hands on weapons and eyes firmly on dreamed glories. Not long after she came of age, Ashal was accepted as one of the youngest Brides approved by Ahlat, and joined the Royal Guard in Kirighast. Her skill at arms and clever wits eventually earned her a lieutenancy, but the ambitious Ashal was never content with that. She wanted to be captain, but all the captains could use essence, whether by birth or by gift of their divine husband. Such a gift was not freely given, however. It had to be earned. Ashal knew of a way to earn it and in so doing cement for all time her legend among the people of Harborhead.


So it was, that the young lieutenant swore to Ahlat and set out to collect the cattle for a hecatomb by herself, a feat never accomplished in Harborhead's history.


Ashal knew that she could never succeed through strength of arms alone at taking a hecatomb, and so she crept in, sneaking into the kraal and silencing and disabling the guards one by one over the course of an hour. Finally, their numbers whittled to a manageable number, Krugala struck, engaging them in combat as she drove the herd away. As her cries of victory sounded into the dark savanna night, however, she heard a sound that chilled her to the bone, the ululating cries of another raiding party. No! NO! It couldn't be! She'd screamed out her defiance in the silence of her mind, even as the raiders closed in on her. She fought fiercely, forced them to abandon all notion of claiming her as slave--for she'd not come garbed as a Bride that night--and she even managed to slay more than one before a spear finally took her in the side.


So it was that Ashal Kurgala lay bleeding out, staring up in enraged defiance at the stars above, cursing Ahlat in the mocking silence of her mind. How else could it have happened but that Ahlat allowed it? She'd told no other but her husband what she had planned. And so the ambitious bride felt her devotion repaid with ashes and her love for a divine husband soured to hate.


And perhaps had it ended there, all would have been well for Creation. But such is the way of the world that it did not. Instead, there came an echoing, booming voice, shattering the deafening silence in Ashal's mind.


Ahlat is a fool to lose one such as you. I would not be so reckless with such a clever warrior. Forsake your name, forsake Ahlat, and help me drown the world in blood. Make god and mortal alike choke on their imagined glories.


What could she say but yes?


She agreed and ceased to be Ashal. Her jet skin, covered in scarifications and tattoos honoring Ahlat, scabbed over and fell away, revealing smooth unblemished skin of a deathly pallor. Her dark hair turned the shade of freshly spilled blood.


Her new master, the First and Forsaken Lion, informed her that she was now the Huntress of Silence and Shadows, an Abyssal of the Day Caste, and that she would hunt and kill at his command.


In the long years since, the Huntress has fulfilled that promise time and again, and she has proven herself among the Deathlord's most ardent and deadly servants. Yet for many years now, the favoritism the Lion shows to his Dusk Caste servants has aggravated an old wound of resentment from her days in the Royal Guard. Truly thriving in missions on her own, the Huntress has come to loathe those times that the Lion orders her to operate in conjunction with other Deathknights, for he inevitably appoints those of the Dusk Caste as the operation's leadership, and this second subordination is one that the fiercely independent former Bride tolerates poorly. She wishes to be about ending Creation already, and begins to spend her free time contemplating ways to accomplish this, with or without the Lion's approval. In recent days this has led to her spending increasing amounts of time in the Labyrinth, hunting the things that dwell there in attempted communion with the Neverborn.


Description


This red-haired woman moves with a sinuous, predatory grace, her every movement an elegant expression of the potential for violence. Unless specifically ordered otherwise by her liege, the Huntress goes clad only in the bones and sinews of things she's killed herself.

defiler_of_the_moon_by_kerembeyit-d4u006s.jpg







Title: The Huntress of Silence Shadows


Concept: Oblivion-annointed Huntress


Motivation: Hunt down the last souls living and dead and consign Creation and the Underworld to Oblivion.


Attributes


Str: 3


Dex: 4


Sta: 4


Cha: 1


Man: 3


App: 3


Per: 4


Int: 2


Wits: 3


Abilities


Caste: Athletics, Awareness, Dodge, Larceny, Stealth


Favored: Melee, War, Integrity, Resistance, Survival


Archery:


Melee: 5


Thrown:


Martial Arts:


War: 2


Integrity: 3


Performance:


Presence:


Resistance: 5


Survival: 4


Craft:


Investigation:


Lore:


Medicine:


Occult: 1


Athletics: 4


Awareness: 3


Dodge: 1


Larceny:


Stealth: 4


Bureaucracy:


Linguistics: 1


Ride:


Sail:


Socialize: 1


Specialties:


Melee: Direlance (Spear?) +1


Survival: Hunting +3


Charms


Melee


1st Melee Excellency


2nd Melee Excellency


Supreme Perfection of Melee


Savage Shade Style


Resistance


Ox-Body Technique (x5)


Cadaverous Torpor Technique


Spirit-Hardened Frame


Walking Cadaver Grotesquerie


Wound-Eating Invulnerability


Wounds Mean Nothing


Survival


1st Survival Excellency


2nd Survival Excellency


3rd Survival Excellency


Maelstrom-Weathering Indifference


Dark Paths Found


Infallible Barghest Mien


Athletics


1st Athletics Excellency


3rd Athletics Excellency


Spider Pounce Technique


Shadow Races the Light


Stealth


1st Stealth Excellency


2nd Stealth Excellency


Shadow Cloak Technique


Shade Walker Prana


Backgrounds


Artifact: 2 (Soulsteel Direlance)


Liege: 2


Whispers: 3


Essence: 5


WP: 7


Virtues


Compassion: 2


Conviction: 3


Temperance: 2


Valor: 3


HLs:


-0: 4


-1: 10


-2: 14


-4: 2


Incap: 5


Dead


BP Log


Essence +2: 14


WP ->7 - 2


XP Log


Essence 5: 32 xp


Resistance 5: 7 xp


Appearance 4: 12 xp


Melee 4: 5 xp


4 Favored Charms: 32 xp


keeping last 2 xp
 
Given the sheer number of people and consequent concepts, I'll try and make a list, which our two esteemed STs can copy in their first post and then update, to keep track easier of every interested and prospective player for this dual RP project. Hope it helps. :)


Abyssals


1. MrSerious - "Twisted Basalt Shard of Joy and Despair" - Midnight caste. Zealot and Warrior-Priestess concept.


2. Blackadder - "The Sage of Dark Truths" - Daybreak caste. Bow - wielding and fiersomely


3. Norts - Dusk caste, sword-wielding slaughterer.


4. Feantari - Undecided on concept/caste.


5. Thief of Words - Day Caste, Huntress concept.


Infernals


1. Coyotekin - Undecided on concept/caste.


2. QuicksilverFox85 - Scourge. Former Legion of Silence. Adorjan and Malfeas focused, charm-wise.


3. Arion Wind - Fiend. Former magistrate of the Realm. Cecelyne as favoured Yozi.


4. Myllinnia - Malefactor. Former slave dancer turned Priestess of Desires. Favoring SWLiHN or ED.


5. Incendius - Slayer. Adorjan as favoured Yozi. Masquerading as Fire Aspect.


6. Djehuty3 - Fiend with Malfean urge. Chiaroscuro focused.
 
My goodness! Thanks Ebon_Arbiter. I was going to do this tonight when I got home from work. Very helpful.
 
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