When the Wyld Hunt attacks...

[Quorlox]

Under what circumstances does the Wyld Hunt take an interest in a group of Solars?

 

[Flagg]

When they're found to exist.

 

[wordman]

When they're found to exist.

...and there are no pressing political issues or machinations that divert the troops elswhere.


I'm under the impression that more solars survive since the Empress disappeared because of the latter. Since the prison break, though, probably detection isn't as good as it used to be either.

 

[Jukashi]

Since the prison break, though, probably detection isn't as good as it used to be either.

Prison break?


*gears turn*


That... gives me a great idea. What if Autocthon didn't create shards, but rather created semi-subservient gods to serve the Incarnae, whose sole purpose is to go around and bond with humans to create Exalted? They'd be different from regular spirits, of course... bound until death, pretty useless without a host... but THEN you could have lots of cool scenes with shards acting as spirit guides, internal dialogues, revealing past life memories only to serve their own ends, dragging their hosts into their own vendettas and relationships, becoming semi-material at very high levels of anima expenditure...


And the Jade Prison would have been a literal prison, with an actual prison break, and the Deathlords actually making their offer to independantly sentient beings.


Why didn't I think of this before?

 

[Flagg]

...and there are no pressing political issues or machinations that divert the troops elswhere.

I'm sure they take an interest in every Solar they hear about. Wether they ride out to hunt them is another story.

 

[Jakk Bey]

...and given that they've been used to hunting down maybe a Solar incarnation a year, for how many years, suddenly getting a 150 reports, channelled through their Sidereal masters...it depends on how much of a ruckus they cause before being assigned priority.


Unless of course, you do what our group's Zenith did, and charged right into the Immaculate Temple and get made by the Immaculates sent to investigate the claims that one of their own members turned Anethema, then that might get some more attention...

 

[wordman]

What if Autocthon didn't create shards, but rather created semi-subservient gods to serve the Incarnae, whose sole purpose is to go around and bond with humans to create Exalted?

One of the more interesting aspects of this idea is that it adds yet another layer of politics to the game. What are the ultimate loyalties of these entities? Are they unified? Can they communicate with each other while inhabiting hosts? How well did they handle their imprisonment? Do they know of the great curse? Are they the themselves the great curse?

 

[Jukashi]

One of the more interesting aspects of this idea is that it adds yet another layer of politics to the game. What are the ultimate loyalties of these entities? Are they unified? Can they communicate with each other while inhabiting hosts? How well did they handle their imprisonment? Do they know of the great curse? Are they the themselves the great curse?

I've thought a bit more on this. In order to be capable of the war against the primordials, the shard entities would have to be independant from the Incarnae, so though they would have started as being loyal to them, they might since have developed their own goals. So some would be loyal, doing their duty honourably by teaching and serving their hosts as they're meant to do, while others might be lazy and force  their hosts to do things for them in return for power, and others still might be completely dominating or rebellious. They even might treat their hosts as servants or pets themselves.


So they wouldn't be unified, necessarily. They might have rivalries, vendettas or even romantic relationships with other exalt-spirits. It's useful in that it provides a way for Circles to get together besides "Destiny", which I've always thought was kind of odd in how it applies to shards. Shard entities who know each other well could even be able to speak with each other via dreamscapes or other methods, and subtly (or unsubtly) prod their hosts to get together. And like the Deathlords, some shards might have been maddened with rage and vengeance by the Usurpation, and decided to strike back by accepting Abyssal transformation.


As to the Great Curse, I considered the possibility that the shards are cursed, inflaming their passions and drive to their personal goals, and that when limit break occurs, instead of a surge of passion on the human's part, it represents the entity becoming so impassioned and driven as to be able to wrest control from their hosts.


I think perhaps I'll do an article for this alternate setting. I find it a fascinating concept.

 

[Haku1]

Juk, seriously... this DOES rock. I would be most interested in seeing this developed more.

 

[Alabaster Anathema]

Well i thought there was a background in first edition that kind of gave some type of way to look at if the wyld hunt comes after your character, it wasnt repuation i dont think but it was something along the lines of fame, it might have been a merit or flaw actually

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

One of the more interesting aspects of this idea is that it adds yet another layer of politics to the game. What are the ultimate loyalties of these entities? Are they unified? Can they communicate with each other while inhabiting hosts? How well did they handle their imprisonment? Do they know of the great curse? Are they the themselves the great curse?

I've thought a bit more on this. In order to be capable of the war against the primordials, the shard entities would have to be independant from the Incarnae, so though they would have started as being loyal to them, they might since have developed their own goals. So some would be loyal, doing their duty honourably by teaching and serving their hosts as they're meant to do, while others might be lazy and force  their hosts to do things for them in return for power, and others still might be completely dominating or rebellious. They even might treat their hosts as servants or pets themselves.


So they wouldn't be unified, necessarily. They might have rivalries, vendettas or even romantic relationships with other exalt-spirits. It's useful in that it provides a way for Circles to get together besides "Destiny", which I've always thought was kind of odd in how it applies to shards. Shard entities who know each other well could even be able to speak with each other via dreamscapes or other methods, and subtly (or unsubtly) prod their hosts to get together. And like the Deathlords, some shards might have been maddened with rage and vengeance by the Usurpation, and decided to strike back by accepting Abyssal transformation.


As to the Great Curse, I considered the possibility that the shards are cursed, inflaming their passions and drive to their personal goals, and that when limit break occurs, instead of a surge of passion on the human's part, it represents the entity becoming so impassioned and driven as to be able to wrest control from their hosts.


I think perhaps I'll do an article for this alternate setting. I find it a fascinating concept.

And now for another Submission.

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

Though please make it throough enough to actually make people give half a crap about the shards. Playing two sides of a personality can get tedious for some.

 

[Persell]

This sounds a lot like shadows from Wraith.  Most likely the ST will play as the shard's personality, although it would be possible for the PCs to play the shard for another PC.

 

[Quorlox]

Well i thought there was a background in first edition that kind of gave some type of way to look at if the wyld hunt comes after your character' date=' it wasnt repuation i dont think but it was something along the lines of fame, it might have been a merit or flaw actually[/quote']
Thanks!  I'd forgotten about that; it's the Known Anathema Flaw.  A good way to gauge a character's rating on the "Must Die Now!" scale.  


As a second question, would the Wyld Hunt get tired of killing newborn Solars?  Do they know they are simply reborn in another place?

 

[Flagg]

As a second question, would the Wyld Hunt get tired of killing newborn Solars?  Do they know they are simply reborn in another place?

Tired of it? Maybe. But it's still a shitload better than the alternative.

 

[Sherwood]

Better to kill off a newly Exalted Solar still struggling to come to terms with his/her new power than one that has been on the road for a few years and has spent time branching those charm trees out.

 

[Quorlox]

Better to kill off a newly Exalted Solar still struggling to come to terms with his/her new power than one that has been on the road for a few years and has spent time branching those charm trees out.

Sure, but the Wyld Hunt costs money, time, and manpower.  A new Solar could easily get killed trying to recover something from an ancient ruin.  Do you think the Realm would place bounties are less immediate threats?  If so, how would they confirm that the Solar had been killed?

 

[Jakk Bey]

Bounties?  For their holy task?  Surely you jest?


That, and the Bronze Faction is quite keen on making sure the job is done right.  Hiring out for help is sort of against the primary goal of the Hunt--not inconceivable, if a Solar is proving hard to run down, but you can be sure that they're going to have their own safeguards to make sure the job is done.  The Guild says, "Hey, we totally killeded that Noob Solar!" and he shows up a few months later with some friends, that is a Guilder whose ass is in a sling for contracts in the future.


You only hire folks you have a modicum of control over.

 

[Sherwood]

Dont forget that the Empire is not the only political body involved in hunting down the Solars.  With thousands of years of indoctrination on how the Solars are evil incarnate and will go postal on you, it makes sense that others are on the lookout.  Not just allies of the empire, but outright advisaries.


On the other hand, those rivals may be on the prowl for Solars to recruit them to help in their fight against the empire.  Looksky has had many wars with the empire; having a few Solars in their army would be one hell of a trump card.  Just make sure it says on the 'state secret' level until needed.


One thing I'm doing in my game, I'm running the Locust War.  The new Emperor has declared the Solar Purge over, but there are many parts of Creation that is still hunting them down.  They have no loyalty to the empire.  Who cares what they say?  We know that the Anathama are evil and must be destroyed, yada yada yada.

 

[Quorlox]

Bounties?  For their holy task?  Surely you jest?

Desperate times call for desperate measures.    

Looksky has had many wars with the empire; having a few Solars in their army would be one hell of a trump card.  Just make sure it says on the 'state secret' level until needed.

One of the PCs in my group has an influential DB friend in Lookshy and workingwith Lookshy is something that's being considered.

 

[Sherwood]

There is a lot of people in Creation that have no love for the empire.  So long as you keep a fairly low profile, you can build up your strength and power base.

 

[Persell]

As a second question, would the Wyld Hunt get tired of killing newborn Solars?  Do they know they are simply reborn in another place?

I don't think they would.  I'm not sure how much of the truth the Wyld Hunt actually knows about the mechanics of how Solars and Lunars come to be.  The more of the truth of that they know the more likely they'll find the truth of the Usurpation.  It makes sense to me then that most members of the Wyld Hunt consider Anathema to be individual, not reincarnations.

 

[Vanman]

On the other hand, those rivals may be on the prowl for Solars to recruit them to help in their fight against the empire.  Looksky has had many wars with the empire; having a few Solars in their army would be one hell of a trump card.  Just make sure it says on the 'state secret' level until needed.

I was under the impression that Lookshy has just as negative a view of Solars as most Dynastic Dragon-Blooded do. So even if they're fighting the Realm, Solars are still a no-no. From what I remember, whilst their version of the Immaculate Faith is different from the Realm's, they are still taught that Anathema are demon-spawn......

 

[Zaramis]

Well, the DB's believe strongly in reincarnation, so they probably think that the solars reincarnate as persons, not as shards.

 

[Jukashi]

I was under the impression that the Immaculates portrayed the Anathema as evil spirits/demons who had stolen the power of the Celestial deities for their own use, and who roamed Creation looking for hosts in order to steal their souls and use their bodies for their own unholy ends.