[Extreme] Exalted: Infernals; The God Damned South

[The Great Triangle]

Not too long ago, the Gods committed a great betrayal.  Lashing out against their proper masters, the gods used their own energy source, a barely sentient slave race, as a WMD delivery system, creating vast leigons, and overthrowing the creators of the universe; the primordials.  Some of the saints who created the world, and loved it dearly, were murdered, bringing death into the cosmos, and the threat of oblivion.  Even worse, the remianing spirits of creation were tortured and bound, forced to become Malfeas, the sprawling chaos of hell.

Now, the south is an inhospitible reigon of burning sands and sun baked stone, filled with canyons and ravines, massive trade caravans, and truly massive meccas of trade.  The people there are really the salt of the earth, harsh superstitious, brutal, they're exactly what the people of creation were meant to be. 

Now, the gods deserve to be taught a lesson.  All creation needs to be brought in line with the mess that the ungrateful incarnae made, so that it can be healed back to its proper state,  brought back to the ownership of its proper masters.

For this, you, the green sun princes, were born. 


So basically, I'd like to run an infernals campaign set in the south.  Characters will be Infernals, akuma with extra bonus points based on exaltation.

Terrestrial Akuma: 25 bonus points
Sidereal Akuma: 15 bonus points  (must be ronin)
Lunar Akuma:     10 bonus points
Solar Akuma:     no bonus points
Infernals:          2 extra charms, and 4 free background dots that can be used only to purchase infernal artifacts.

Characters may also take mutations for additional bonus points, but no points for the creature of darkness mutation.

EDIT: And just to be clear, Akuma do not receive the demonic inheritance 5 merit, although they do receive the demonic patron 5 merit, which effectively acts as 5 floating background dots that apply only to the direct service of their infernal overlord.  All assignments of those background dots require a trip to malfeas to "check in" with your parent yozi, and if the Yozi becomes unsatisfied with your use of his or her resources she may send a team of first circle demons to give her assets to more worthy servants.

[Karma]

I know a sum total of jack about Exalted. Does that make this insurmountable for me?

[Muse]

Morning Triangle. 

Sounds intresting.  Can you clarify a few things for us? 

For example: 

What would your posting rate be? 

Exactly how often will erotic content come into play?  Will you ever initiate it, or will it be up to us?  And do we need to keep it amongst ourselves, or could we use it in twisted ways to further the plot? 

If we have ally charecters, how do you want the roll playing of them handled? 

*  *  *

Karmatrik, Exalted is the coolest game ever, and I'd love to offer you some help.  Infernals an Akuma are certainly an odd place to start, though. 

[The Great Triangle]

I'd post once every other day or so, and I'd probobly post a bit faster during combat scenes.  As for erotic content, I give the game an extreme rating because I fully expect the PCs to be rather violent in their actions, torturing and living out their twisted obsessions.  It is possible that you'll twist the world to be as bad as you are.  This is a good thing.  It means the return of the yozis will come sooner.

As for allies, submit a concept, then stat them up if you've got time, although I might request the right to stat them myself.  They'll only be allowed to help for a number of scenes equal to their dot rating before going back to whence they came, unless you have more modest allies like heroic mortals.  Extras and other retainers can be kept at your side freely, and used like any other peice of equipment.

I know a sum total of jack about Exalted. Does that make this insurmountable for me?

Not particularly, infernals are actually pretty simple because you don't need to learn much about different types of excellencies.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

I still have some to read, but I'll throw my bonnet in the ring.

[Doomsday]

I'd be interested in learning more about Exalted as well. Doing a little brainstorming, I know about 0 things about the system.

[The Great Triangle]

Since there are a few people just doing their research, let me explain exalted.  *giggles and cracks knuckles*

The immaculates will tell you that the world is a continuous cycle of reincarnations, with the most enlightened souls going on to become monks, and later the dragon blooded themselves, the Gods appointed rulers of the world.

This is all bullshit.

The Solars will tell you that they are the divine heroes of a better age come to restore the world and make it a better place.

This is an even bigger sack of bull excrement.

The world is the creation of its rightful owners; the primordials.  It is a complex essence weave which allows certain aspects of its matrix to manipulate the flows of essence which make up the whole.  When immortal, these beings are called Gods.  When mortal, these beings are called the exalted.  Now you, the Infernals and those exalted who have seen the light, are the true heroes.  Your task is to reverse the unjust rulership of the Gods, and bring hell to creation, so that all creation might be reborn into a glorious third age, in which the injustice of oblivion shall be swept away, and the fair folk shall drown in their own fairy piss as they scream in shock of a constantly expanding creation.

Sure, to get there you'll have to do some damage.  Some people might even think you're warped and perverted.  But you'll one day teach them the truth.  Now lets meet your rightful overlords, the five demon lords active in the reclamation conspiracy to retake creation, the five most dynamic, powerful, amazing beings you will ever meet in any universe.

Malfeas is the king of hell, he was the most powerful being in all existance before he was put into chains and brough low.  They killed most of his soul, and twisted his insides inside out.  He didn't like that.  Now he's the demon city, the capital of Malfeas, the realm of demons, and he's damned filled with rage.  He grants his indestructability to his followers.  Hell, Malfeans are pretty much impossible to kill without some seriously heavy artillery!  Malfeas is arrogant, cruel , and excessive.  He loves obvious force, the chance to show off and takes sadistic joy when enemies and allies look upon him in awe and terror. He is vast and full of hate, filled with indiscriminate callousness and a love of the collateral damage he inflicts on the innocent.  The Demon City is resilient and strong enough to lift the world or crush it underfoot.  The green fires raging in his heart blight the very Essence of everything they touch, marking the world with his wrathful glory.  He holds authority over all things wise enough to bow before the world’s creators.  He's also a hell of a good musician. 


Cecylene Was the divine messenger in the great age of the primordials.  In her doom, she was annhialated completely, becoming the outward slopes of hell, the endless wasteland one passes through on the way to Malfeas.  Within the desolation of Cecylene, one finds holiness, and enlightenment.  Cecylene is the true goddess worthy of worship, and her word must be spread to the poor mortals of creation at any cost.  She is patient and deliberate. She holds back, amassing resources until she can overwhelm her opposition.  Her law places the strong over the weak, celebrating arbitrary and capricious hypocrisy.  She demands reverence from allies and enemies alike and works terrifying and wondrous miracles to expand her worship.  She is deeply insightful into the desires and failures of others and owns those whose wishes she fulfills.  She borders everything and eternity, so everyone comes to her in time. Her heart overflows with desolation, turning all around her to literal or metaphorical wasteland.  When her patience runs out or her plans reach ruition, her rage is sudden and shocking.


She Who Lives in Her Name:  Before the betrayal of the insidious mass of the Gods, there lived a transcendant creator, who abhored chaos.  In the begining was the name, and that name gave form to creation, building the virtues that today make up the soul of all self aware beings.  With a hatred of chaos, and a love of order, the creator instilled creation with the simple and elegant order that the Gods take for granted.  Yet in her doom, she who lives in her name was distilled into a form of perfect order; an infinitely complex array of formless flames bound eternally within perfect spheres of imperishable crystal.  Now she seeks followers to restore her idealized hierarchy upon a creation craving structure.  The Principle of Hierarchy is methodical and meticulous. She analyzes every variable and chooses the most efficient and orderly method by which to achieve victory. Her utilitarianism is absolute and consistent as clockwork. She is as brilliant as she is alien, cold and unfeeling. Her violence is dispassionate and perversely pure, unmotivated by sadism and yet capable of systematically disassembling every obstacle in her path without the slightest remorse. She builds and improves structures of all kinds and abhors chaos, randomness and free will in all its forms. She finds excessive effort wasteful and prefers to apply the minimum exertion necessary to attain the desired outcome.  Her directives are fascist and totalitarian, but ruthlessly fair. She has no moral restraint against deception, nor any attachment to honesty, but her nature must choose the most expedient method even when it is not the solution that best matches her talents. She demands perfection, especially from herself.


Adorjan:  The being once known as Adrian was a flighty being, creating beautiful, complex creations, only to destroy them in a fit of rage when she grew bored.  When the primordials created the games of creation, however, Adrian found her passion in existance.  She devoted herself more slavishly than any other primordial to the games, advancing them, making them better, raging viciously at any creature who took the controls from her.  And so, when the primordial war came, she fought with a fanatic zeal unmatched by any other being in all creation, destroying vast worlds to defeat those who wanted to take her toys away.  As her fury in battle earned her the nickname "the river of all torments" she drove herself into a rage, barely needing the gods to harrow her into a mad engine of destruction, as she filled endless bloody realms of torment with the sound of her laughter.  The Silent Wind is restless, always in motion and never satisfied.  She expresses the inevitability that bad things happen regardless of who you are or how many backup plans you have.  She is catastrophe and calamity, the unconsidered variable that shreds the best-laid plans of Yozi and Exalt alike.  She kills because it is her nature to hurt everything she touches, not because she revels in suffering.  More than any of her siblings, Adorjan is insane and encompasses contradictions.  Adorjan scours her enemies, breaking them to enlighten them, even if the lesson proves fatal.  Her actions display vicious whimsy, especially towards the complacent and comfortable. She loves purposeful chaos that exposes the flaws in systems and lays out the proud, but abhors chaos the sake of chaos as much as She abhors stasis.  She is a balancing force of wickedness against the excesses of the righteous.  Her depredations inspire heroes to reach their full potential through the crucible of tragedy, invariably ruining their lives in the process. Greatness is the worst curse her touch imparts.  She inflicts more pain on those she loves than those she hates.  No one expects her.  She refuses to be understood and torments those who try.


The Ebon Dragon:  The Ebon Dragon is a selfish creature.  Possibly the most proud being in all of creation.  Before the primordial war, he was but a weak servant of the true creators of the universe, but such was his pride that he surrendered to the Gods first among the primordials, and immediately set to work on the task of freeing himself.  The ebon dragon has made overtures to neverborn, fair folk, unshaped rakasha lords, solar exalted in the pits of despair, lunar exalted, nihilistic Gods, deathlords, and even particularly powerful dragon lords.  Ultimately, the Ebon Dragon was the founder of the reclaimation conspiracy, the one who discovered how to take control of solar essences, the one who seduced the first beings into the ranks of the akuma.  The Shadow of All Things is Other, not wholly of the world nor fully alien to its precepts like the Neverborn.  He is self-indulgent and without conscience
but can be trusted to act with enlightened self-interest at all times, making him the most dependable and trustworthy of the Yozis so long as those dealing with him don’t forget his nature.  He corrupts and seduces others away from virtue and honor because these concepts are poisonous to him, rather than because he wants to enlighten or enslave. He genuinely believes the universe should be darkened until it approaches his unholy perfection, but his warped magnanimity hides a deeper and greater hatred of all light—literal or metaphoric.  The Ebon Dragon is hollow, assembling his semblance of identity from lies, copied mannerisms and observed vices, constantly recreating himself in the image of whatever offends and frightens his adversaries the most.  Moreover, he is The Nemesis, finding greater joy in thwarting the dreams of others than advancing his own agenda.  Whereas the Silent Wind brings agonizing freedom to others, the Ebon Dragon can’t abide his own restraint, whether by prison walls or social mores.  And he's engaged.  He won't say to who, and nobody remembers him planning to do this, but he just spirited his bride away from the mortal realm.  Of course, people have a good idea.  She wears a lot of read and she's got a bunch of suprises in store for her descendants.


Those are the Gods an infernal worships and acts as the messenger of.  If you're an Akuma, you were another type of exalted who saw the light and chose to follow one of the Yozis, getting great power in the bargain.  If you're an infernal, a true Green Sun Prince, then one of the Yozis decided to follow you, and saw you fail to acheive your destiny.  This sort of pain is vital for the infernal exaltation.  You're given a generous offer to be twisted and mutilated, into a perfect simalcrum of the yozis.  And when you get the chance for that kind of power, you'd best take it.

Here's a documentary of how this sort of thing works!  (although in cartoon form, with a few less all consuming machine wombs, and maybe your results will vary a little bit)

[Rhapsody]

Interest here.  I don't know if it'll play through though; I have a fairly full schedule (as well as two Infernal games I participate in tabletop), so I'm not trying to overload myself. :)

I'll keep checking back and see what the interest level is like.

[Elohim]

I think I'll be playing a malefactor...  (IE a Cecylne associated green sun prince)  Will mostly focus on cult control, and demon summoning...

[Mnemaxa]

Oh Great Triangular One!

Would it be possible to play as a Fair Folk ally/retainer/tool/weapon/subversive-influence for one of the Green Sun Princes or the like? 

I'm capable of playing an Infernal....but to be honest, the creative challenges and traits of the Fair Folk appeal and suit me better.

"Corruption is growth - of a kind - and it is far better to grow in some manner than it is to stagnate in unchanging, mindless drudgery; with no hope of salvation or chance to return to the effervescent realities of the Wyld, this reality will surely become a grey, unbearable place with no life nor vaunted truth to support it."

[The Great Triangle]

For Mnemexia:

Fair Folk Noble Akuma: 15 bonus points.


*grins*  Have fun with that one.  Oh hell no you cannot become unshaped, but you've actually got an insanely ridiculously overpowered excellency married to the worst essence pool EVER.  And I'm ruling that fair folk can't install biomagitech or helltech grafts unless they permenently fix their forms.  Consider investing in an airship or sorcery so you can return to the wyld and reshape yourself every so often.

[Jefepato]

Depending on the size of the game, I might be interested in playing a Lunar akuma.

[Mnemaxa]

For Mnemexia:

Fair Folk Noble Akuma: 15 bonus points.


*grins*  Have fun with that one.  Oh hell no you cannot become unshaped, but you've actually got an insanely ridiculously overpowered excellency married to the worst essence pool EVER.  And I'm ruling that fair folk can't install biomagitech or helltech grafts unless they permenently fix their forms.  Consider investing in an airship or sorcery so you can return to the wyld and reshape yourself every so often.

I have no problem with those situations.  And I don't blame you for the 'no unshaped' clarification. ^_~  I will definitely have fun with it, promise.

The next question is, does anyone want such an ally/retainer/tool/weapon/subversive-influence?

[Rhapsody]

I'd want to go Fiend, likely.  Someone who so utterly failed at negotiating the terms of a peace treaty that Exaltation didn't even really pause that long.

[Mnemaxa]

Depending on the size of the game, I might be interested in playing a Lunar akuma.

Oh goodie, someone for me to hate utterly! ^_^

Actually, I'm not fond of interparty strife, so I'll keep it to needles and barbs only.  (That and those damn anti-shaping tats....)

[Pumpkin Seeds]

I'm giving some thought to making a Terrestial Akuma with a martial arts focus.

[The Great Triangle]

Actually, Akuma can hate each other all they like, they're physically incapable of attacking each other except to have sadomasochistic sex.  (it goes well with destroying the world.)

;D


(Mr. ST gets to pull the "no free will" card at least a FEW times this chronicle.)

[Mnemaxa]

(Mr. ST gets to pull the "no free will" card at least a FEW times this chronicle.)

Oh, I love being an ST's plaything...especially if other people don't know about it. ^,,,,,,,,,,,,,,^

[Rhapsody]

(Mr. ST gets to pull the "no free will" card at least a FEW times this chronicle.)

I see your No Free Will card and raise you one Free-Willed Green Sun Prince, sir.

[Krule]

I find this one somewhat interesting, might consider a slayer or a scourge, I think..

[Mnemaxa]

Now filter the idea of 'no free will' through madness and craft the demands through the medium of a faerie tale.....the results, while still evidencing a lack of free will, are not necessarily what is expected.

[Elohim]

I would suggest being an AKUMA of she who lives in her name Mnemaxa...  it'll let you wyld shape in creation eventually...   which will be one of your weaknesses.

[Rhapsody]

She Who Lives In Her Name is more calcifying, like the oWoD Weaver, than anything else. She absolutely abhors chaos.   I don't know if a Fair Folk would really survive under her patronage.

[Mnemaxa]

I'm studying that now; though an Akuma Fair Folk of She Who Lives in Her Name might be a little sedate. :P

Strangely, the way this character is shaping up, she might serve the interests of Cecylene just as well. 

It's all about the story you see....and the glory and despair that comes from playing our parts in it.  The story progress so and thus, the lines which have been written must be spoken, our parts played.  But in the end, the story remains the same....except, of course, where it changes the reader.

[Elohim]

True name:   Prophettess of Thrice Damned Gifts
False name:  Vizier of Blessed Bounty         
Concept:     Street preacher gone goddess   
Caste:       Malefactor     
Motivation:  Bring the south into the sweet embrace of her worship
Urge:        divert prayers from the celestial beaucracy
XP:         
Limit:       

Attributes:
Strength     2                 
Dexterity    3           
Stamina      2           

Charisma      4           
Manipulation  4         
Appearance    3           

Perception    2           
Intelligence  3           
Wits          4         

Abilities:
Slayer   
      Archery             
     *Martial Arts  3   
      Melee             
      Thrown
     *War             3   

Malfactor
     *Integrity       3
     *Performance     4
     *Presence        3
     *Resistance      2   
     *Survival        1

Defiler 
     Craft   
    *Investigation     1
     Lore             
     Medicine         
    *Occult            3     

Scourge   
     Athletics       
     Awareness         1 
     Dodge             3                       
     Larceny
     Stealth         

Fiend
    *Bureaucracy        1
     Linguistics        1
     Ride           
     Sail             
     Socialize           

* Favored or Caste

Backgrounds  (15 bonus points spent)
Followers    3
(DB)Henchman 5 (2 fire, 1 earth, 1 water, 1 air,  1 wood )
Cult         5 (First two free)
Aresnal      5
Backing      1 (Free)
influence    1 (free)
Ally         5 (Solar (twilight) Sidereal Akuma,  Fallen Immaculate monk (Wood), Dynast (Air),  Akuma (Water))
Command      3


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

Willpower:    6               

Essence            3 (7)                 
Personal Motes       
Peripheral Motes   
Committed Motes       

Health levels
-0
-1
-2
-4
I 

Intimacies (Max ): 

Charms:
First Cecylne excellency
First cecylne excellency
First Cecylne excellency
Hellscy chakra
Demonic Primacy of essence
Transcendent desert creature
Penitents like scattered sand
Sand through fingers defence
Soul sieve transmuation
holy land infliction
Demonic Primacy of essence
Locust mana plague
Spawning pit santification (Only food source in the area)


Combos:


Merits:

Flaws:
Aura of power
Walking Blaspemy