Exalted Alternate Universe: Gunstar Autochthon

[Krule]

Riveda started interest in this, I'm going to begin with a map and the government of the Gunstar then we'll get to character generation

Size:Autochithonia is a world realm all of itself, though actual measurements are meaningless, as there are places where space and time bend somewhat, and divinities even have extra dimensional sanctums within, in general it can be seen as bigger then the planet Jupiter, the picture is a cut section of the Gunstar, only a two dimension breakdown of a vast three dimensional realm.

Government: Found within the Centropolis of Hadal, the Orichalcum Crown of the elemental pole of Crystal are the goverment of the Realm, the three most powerful are indicated below, and while the Solar's hold the greatest power, the chosen of the Moon and the Stars possess enormous influence, as they closely work with the Solars.  For that matter, there are a number of particularly influential Alchemicals and Dragon-Blooded who may not hold direct power, but who are listened to by those who do.

• The Solar Deliberative: The Lawgivers are the greatest of Executive, Legislative and Judicial Power in the Realm, their Power and Authority is like no other.
• The Void Hunt: The Stewards are the right hand of the Lawgivers, adding endless Adaptability to the Overwhelming Power of the Lawgivers.
• The Bureau of Destiny: The Visers are the Oracles and Prophets, Advisors and Teachers to the Solars, adding the guidance of Destiny to Solar Power.
• Others: Though their Influence may not be as great, the many Dragon Blooded Gens and the various Alchemical Champions add still more options to the Solar Powerhouse

Faith: The Exalted are worshiped by mortals as Avatars of the Divine, of whom the Seven Divine Ministers and the Five Maidens are the greatest, and Autochthon is filled with divine, the flames of the divine spirit burn thoughout the realm, the greatest of the Celestial exalts are all worshiped as some aspect of the Divine.

Enemies The Infernal Exalted of the Primordials still persue the Exalted Host and the Gunstar is not yet perfected to make the return to war.. additionally, the Necrotic Power of the Death Knights.. and there are other less comprehensable forces at work against them, but the Host greatest enemy is also their most beloved... the Tyrant Sun, the Patron of the Solar Exalted, bound in service to the Emphyrial Chaos himself.

Character Creation: To Come, this was inspired by Riveda who was forced by circumstances to withdraw, so those who indicated interest in that thread will be considered first, character generation will be similiar but not identical, antisocial characters need not apply, I expect cooperation between player characters. A certain degree of initiative will also be expected of players, I also expect players to take action even more then react.  There will be a greater degree of power difference in characters then in Riveda's game, but that will be explained later, if you want to indicate interest, or bring your character and concept from Riveda's thread, feel free to do so here.

Setting Details

- Note: These details are taken from the Shards of Exalted and The Compass of Celestial Directions - Autochthonia, if you want more details, I suggest picking up those books, they are avalilble as pdf files from DrivethruRPG.  It focuses on Autochthon rather then the vast realm of the spiral beyond him, which is an vast endless universe that dwarfs even him.

History

This is the history of the world: In the beginning, the Primordials arose from the cosmic depths to forge a great Spiral of worlds, building their palaces and towers high amid the coils of the universe they created. These titans ruled over all things as immortal tyrants, and so the gods they had created plotted against them. The Celestial Incarnae, gods of sun and moon and stars, conspired with Autochthon and Gaia to bestow their own power upon men, forging Exaltation. Chosen of the gods, the Exalted went to war with the titans, seeking to win worlds with their triumph.

The Exalted lost.

Though empowered by the greatest of gods and the heights of mortal audacity, their victory was never assured.  None can say for sure the precise moment when the Chosen knew defeat. Was it when the Principle of Hierarchy set the Spiral ablaze with white flame, burning entire galaxies to stellar ash? When Isidoros unleashed his apocalypse-jouten, obliterating countless armies in a blink of his dread eye?  When the Unconquered Sun knelt before his titanic father, pledging fealty to the Universe Emperor? 

The Solar Exalted were loath to accept their defeat, but even they could not refuse the counsel of their Viziers, and the truth of their own eyes. In an act of defiant courage and utter despair, the Exalted Host fled into the world-body of Autochthonia, bringing as much of humanity as they could salvage, and then set a course for the infinite abyss of stars beyond the Spiral. Cast into exile, they began to regroup and rebuild, preparing for that fateful day when they could return to the Spiral as saviors and conquerors.

It is four thousand years since the Exalted embarked on their long exodus. A Solar Deliberative reigns over the Eight Nations of Autochthonia, overseeing an unthinkable plan to reclaim their homeworld. The Great Maker’s mortal sickness has been cured at the hands of the Chosen, his pantheon culled and remade to begin his transformation into a divine weapon, a war-world of titanic power. But even after four millennia, they have yet to make their return. Hunted by the Primordials and their Green Sun Princes, wracked from within by internecine strife, the Exalted have yet to choose between the fragile peace of exile and the audacious hope of return.

Remaking the Maker
Eons ago, the titan called the Great Maker took the exiled peoples of the Spiral into the world that is his body, securing them in a sanctum of brass and shadows. Knowing that his sibling-titans would never forgive him for his treachery, he hastily agreed to the Exalted’s plan of retreat, fleeing into starry darkness outside the Spiral. In those early days, the orphaned Lawgivers came to Autochthon with a daring plan, one in which he would play a crucial role. Without a home or the hope of any other return, the Maker consented. Sometimes, in the idle dreams of spun-off thought processes, he wonders if perhaps this was a mistake.  But there are no tears left in him to shed for his regrets.

At the heart of the Solars’ plan is the transformation of Autochthon. Through works of high theurgy and grand artifice, they will recreate the Primordial as an avenging titan, a living warship of numinous power with might enough to launch a devastating counterattack against the Spiral. A lone Primordial could not be expected to stand against the massed might of an entire pantheon, but the new Autochthon will be a perfect nemesis. Already, the Solars call him the Gunstar, dreaming of his awful steel fury. The god-weapons forged into his war-jouten will strike against his cruel siblings’ every flaw and imperfection, while the five-metal bulwark of his hull will stand impervious against their wrath. As the fourth millenium of the Autochthonian Realm draws night to its close, the Great Maker’s transformation is nearing completion. Its first step was the curing of the Primordial’s mortal sickness, and the Exalted accomplished that long ago. With divine medicine and world-warping shinmaic manipulation, the Solar Exalted purged the Great Maker of his cancer over a span of centuries, scouring away the degenerative symptoms of the Void within his very nature. Although the core imperfection has yet to be fully removed, the grand astrological blessings of the Sidereals and a ceaseless gremlin-hunt waged by Luna’s Chosen have kept the Void well at bay.

With the underlying sickness treated, the Exalted have all of Autochthonia in which to work their will. Souls of Autochthon are brought into experimental complexes for analysis and alteration, reshaping them to enact the progress of Autochthon towards his final form. The most dramatic changes come from the execution of souls within the recombination arrays, as when the Divine Minister Ku was slain to cleanse the Maker of his fears and doubts. The vast majority of operations, however, are more subtle. A war-deva might have synthetic cerebellum implants grafted onto its cortex to subtly differentiate Autochthon’s strategic thought processes, while a stubbornly pacifistic exmachina might have its personality resculpted through mind-altering Charms. After millennia of operation, almost every significant exmachina has received at least minor fine-tuning in the laboratories of the Lawgivers.

Aside from these metaphysical changes, the Exalted have physically altered the Great Maker, grafting powerful artifact-organs onto his living body to facilitate and empower his transformation. The Primordial’s outer hull bristles with Essence artillery and siege-artifacts installed by the Exalted, the almighty Realm Defense Grid. Essence turbines in Hadal draw power out of the Elemental Pole of Crystal to empower this divine arsenal, giving it power enough to demolish entire planets. Within his world-jouten, expedition crews headed by Lunar shikari have ventured into the furthest Reaches of Autochthonia carrying vast motonic machinery, installing them directly into the Maker’s body as prosthetic enhancements. A synthetic nervous system of starmetal circuitry spreads throughout the Reaches, while a massive pumping facility installed in the Pole of Smoke dumps countless tons of theocarcinogenic smoke into Elsewhere every day. A pulsating sphere of orichalcum and moonsilver the size of a small moon revolves in a narrow orbit around the Elemental Pole of Crystal, a second heart beating alongside Autochthon’s own.

Under the countless layers of machinery and the scars of theurgy, Autochthon wonders. No longer can he fear the Exalted who change him in ways he never thought possible. No longer can he doubt their triumph. Such insecurities have been flensed from his mind. But he wonders what the world will become when the Exalted reclaim the Spiral from the Primordials, and what his place in it will be. He wonders if his enraged sibling-titans might not have been gentler in their torments than the Exalted proved to be. But it is too late for such thoughts. Soon, whether in a thousand years or a single century, the transformation of Autochthon will be complete, finalized with a single decisive alteration to his fetich-core. Out of the Great Maker’s husk will emerge the Gunstar, the greatest sword ever seized in the hands of the Exalted. When that day comes, the titans will weep.

A Realm Amid the Stars
The Exalted have made for themselves a kingdom to reign over in their exile. From the Centropolis of Hadal, the Solar Deliberative presides over the Eight Nations, overseeing both the constant defense of Autochthonia and the plans for their vengeful return to the Spiral. Glorious even in the shadow of the Primordials, the Autochthonian Realm controls a staggering treasure trove of resources.

Jade-lined vaults in every metropolis house heaped-up slabs of the magical materials, mined from both the body of the Great Maker and from metal-rich planetoids encountered in the Gunstar’s flight. Impossible treasures and exotic prodigies shaped from the prismatic haze of Wyld nebulae fuel the tireless progress of Exalted artificers, allowing potent treasures and supernal weapons to be forged en masse in defense of Autochthonia. Miracles of industrial artifice are commonplace for the Realm’s citizens, from the Gates of Auspicious Passage that link distant cities to the comforting silo-spires of the Immaculate Dragon Aeries, forward bases of the Gunstar Defense Line. And above all, the Realm has the personal power of hundreds of Celestial Exalted and hundreds of thousands of Dragon-Blooded, all working together for a single purpose.

It is wealth and power enough to usher in an Era of Dreams. Instead, the Exalted have put it towards sustaining an endless war. Untold sums of resources are consumed in the twin endeavors of maintaining the Gunstar’s defenses and completing the transformation of Autochthon. The Exalted have foregone the opulence of their personal luxury artifacts and pleasure-palaces in order to sustain the infrastructure of the Realm. Even the most privileged Princes of the Earth understand the paramount importance of holding off the Gunstar’s pursuers, the ethos of total war that is at the heart of the Realm.

The Exalted command the Realm, but it would not stand without the ceaseless labor of its mortal citizens. Every citizen is expected to work for the benefit of the Realm, whether on the assembly lines or the line of battle. Populat workers manufacture voidfighter gunships in Estasian munitions factories and excavate veins of magical materials from alien planets. Soldiers drawn from the Militat serve under the Exalted in the ranks of the Deliberative Army and the Void Hunt, risking their lives to protect the Realm. Administrators of the Olgotory act as bureaucrats and local planners, answering to each nation-district’s Dragon-Blooded governor and implementing laws, regulations, and schedules passed down from the Deliberative. The Theomachry sees to matters of morale, history, and dogma, devoting as much time to maintenance of state sanctioned Exalted cults as it does to the worship of the Great Maker. The Sodalities compete with one another for the choicest of resources, but the Realm’s constant war footing leaves no room for jealous hoarding. Their technical know-how keeps lights lit and engines humming, allowing all of Autochthonia’s citizens a degree of safety and comfort in the darkness of the Maker’s body. Hard work has its rewards; dutiful laborers of even the lowest social caste can expect enough living space to comfortably house them and their families, ample allocations of food, access to essential magitech amenities, medical treatment, public entertainment, and more.

Most mortals live in relative safety. Medical alchemy provides remedies and cures for almost any plague or poison, while the policing of the Alchemical Exalted and the Regulators keeps crime to a bare minimum. Advances in magitech infrastructure and Municipal Charm development have diminished the risk of industrial hazards in the workplace. But while the Exalted have solved many of the problems facing Autochthonian mortals, new perils have appeared in their absence. Massive geomantic grids can provide power to entire cities, but system failure results in nation-wide blackouts that can last for days. Advanced industrial machinery and labor automatons have removed much of the risk to human life from mining and manufacturing, but reliance upon these technologies makes their breakdowns all the more disastrous. Even when they work in the shadow of the great Solar god-engines, mortals must still contend with mechanical failures, industrial dangers, and grinding hours of labor.Most mortals live in relative safety. Medical alchemy provides remedies and cures for almost any plague or poison, while the policing of the Alchemical Exalted and the Regulators keeps crime to a bare minimum. Advances in magitech infrastructure and Municipal Charm development have diminished the risk of industrial hazards in the workplace. But while the Exalted have solved many of the problems facing Autochthonian mortals, new perils have appeared in their absence. Massive geomantic grids can provide power to entire cities, but system failure results in nation-wide blackouts that can last for days. Advanced industrial machinery and labor automatons have removed much of the risk to human life from mining and manufacturing, but reliance upon these technologies makes their breakdowns all the more disastrous. Even when they work in the shadow of the great Solar god-engines, mortals must still contend with mechanical failures, industrial dangers, and grinding hours of labor.

Nations

Hadal
The Deliberative divides the Autochthonian Realm into eight administrative nation-districts, each of them built around one of the ancient metropoli that were the first cities raised by the Exalted Host. At the conflux of these Eight Nations is the Centropolis of Hadal, the elder city of orichalcum that sits atop the Elemental Pole of Crystal like a shining crown. Amid the sprawling factory-complexes and Charm-engines of the city’s municipal infrastructure is the mile-high dome of gold and black basalt where the Solar Deliberative convenes to rule. The Deliberative’s control radiates out from the dome through realm-spanning systems of technology. Hologlyphic projection relays transmit the oratories and proclamations of Celestial senators to crystalline display screens in every city of the Autochthonian Realm, while the world-moving machinery of the theotechtonic navigation grid sets the drift of Autochthon’s continent-organs in the order ordained by the Exalted.  Artificial dragon lines channel elemental Essence from the Pole of Crystal to empower the Realm Defense Grid built by the Exalted, and the stolen Loom of Fate that sits at the pinnacle of Hadal.

NOTE: I've changed this slightly, the Loom of Fate is under the city of Hadal and the Realm Defense Grid at it's pennacle instead, see Layout.  Also, unlike the other Alchemical Cities, Hadal intersects directly with the elemental pole of crystal, the mind and heart of Autochthon, tapping it for power and giving it more power and beauty then all of the other nations of Autochthon combined. 

Gates of Auspicious Passage: These Municiple Charms were designed by the greatest of Twilight caste, while each nation has one that connects to Hadal, Hadal itself has many, at least one linked to each alchemical nation, sometimes more, they come online when activated, but remain at rest when not, they bend space time and allow instant travel between the gates.

Layout
Hallow Advocate of Law - this is the Orichalcum central city of Hadal, a perfect sphere with a spiral stretching upward in the center for the Deliberative itself, Hadal is split into 5 districts based on each of the solar castes.. circling the center city is the next city, Luminescent Orb Defender,  who circles around the center in a set of moonsilver circlets, so to speak, three perfect circles to represent the 3 lunar castes, rising from below, is the starmetal city, Entangled Guide of Stars, who seperates into 5 spirals around the city, each one devoted to one of the 5 castes of Sidereal, between them starmetal bridges act threads between each tower,  and down to the 3 closest solar districts to that spiral, trams travel these bridges, below  she reaches down to grasp and anchor the city to the city below, where the Palace of the Maiden and the Loom of Fate is anchored to the Adamant caste - Divine Weaver of Threads, this city is forbidden to all save the divinities and their priests.. and while technically every Non-Alchemical Celestial Exalt is a sort of divinity, the only ones automatically welcome are those who are naturally priests - All Sidereals, Zeniths and No Moons..  Others need to either be priests in other ways, or an invitation from the Maidens or the Divine Ministers, for this city not only holds the divinities, Adamant threads even stretch down to the Core itself.  Beyond these are five Jade cities devoted to matters of the dragon-blooded, many of the various Gens have their household homes in these cities encircling these 4 central alchemical cities, and beyond them, another 3 soulsteel cities, where most of the mortal inhabitants make their home, but also were some of the prisoners of the Deliberative are kept, making up a grant total of 12 alchemical cities to the Centropolis of Hadal, and giving Hadal a sort of mix of star and crown, and unlike the other cities, it's position is anchored, Hadal remains the eternal crown of the Pole of Crystal.

Estasia
The Tiger-Warrior Estasia—favored servant of Aofe, the Golden Blade—sacrificed herself in a desperate bid to buy the escaping Exalted more time. The district named for her is as devoted to martial pursuits as she was; it has serves as the crucible for the Deliberative’s Army, and a forge for crafting the implements of revenge. Here, the great sums of magical materials produced by Kamak and Sova are put to use. In the arms factories of Lux, Populat laborers work to assemble voidfighters, warstriders, and the titanic siege weaponry of the Realm Defense Grid. Sodalt savants oversee the construction of these artifact weapons with their technical expertise, with Exalted artificers providing the finishing touches. In the metropolis of Cidon, newly-Exalted Dragon-Blooded go through five years of flight school in the Steel Crucible of Dragons Academy, undergoing a hyper-accelerated regimen of Solar training to prepare them for service in the Gunstar Defense Line. On the rain-slick plains below, the mortal soldiers of the Deliberative Army train for war, a legion four thousand years in the making.

Layout
Estasia’s motion, a wide circuit around the Pole of Metal, constantly takes the nation near the elemental poles. The rapidity of movement causes a great cooling effect, result ing in dropping temperatures and a pervasive, perpetual fog rolling across frosted and cracked sub-plates to cling to low valley settlements. The temperature never drops so low as to become inhospitable, but it remains uncomfortable to the populace—only Kamak is colder. The nation’s high-ceiling chambers collect condensation, which drops down constantly in a torrential downpour offering only brief respites. Canyon-like trenches of pipes and corridors lay carved into huge plains of metal and crystal. It is inside these trenches the towns and tram lines of Estasia exist, fighting one another for space and heat and refuge from the damp. Cities break the surface, rising high above the trenches; massive tenement blocks stacked atop one another beside great waterfalls, tall towers topped with spiraled minarets sluicing off the constant water. The cities are shining reflections across the plains and lakes of stagnant water, their sisters and brothers a dim light on the horizon. Few large settlements exist outside of Estasia’s cities, the largest being Deliberative Army training camps and staging areas to access international tubes and the Reaches.

Nurad
The nation-district of Nurad is a living memento of the long-vanished Spiral. Vast arcologies float within its chamber-dome, buoyed by clouds of Essence. Crystalline panels reveal vine-draped trellises, trees heavy with fruit, and nutrient-baths thick with seedlings. Agricultural laborers work in specialized farm-decks, raising pigs, chickens, and yeddim engineered by Genesis sciences. Far below, Nurad’s tidal regions drain into paddies of artificial soil, where workers sow and harvest rice. High above, the city of Wisant casts life-giving light upon all below, a reflection of the Deliberative’s promise to the people of Autochthonia.

Genesis laboratories and bioenhancement facilities flourish throughout Nurad, drawing specimens and raw materials from its arcologies. Sodalt geneticists raise specialized breeds of animal and hybrid plant life, while Genesis savants working in the Arsenal of Experimental Life-Forms create artificial behemoths and engineered super-soldiers, living weapons against the forces of the Primordials.  Thaumaturgical hospitals provide state-of-the-art health care to the injured, while the Exalted find comprehensive supernatural care in the Garden of Holistic Rejuvenation, along with an extensive suite of biological enhancements and modifications. The wide open-air spaces of Nurad also make it an ideal testing site for magitech aircraft, making it home to the Gunstar Defense Line’s Illustrious Institute of Voidflight Research, nicknamed the Hatchery.

Layout
Physically, Nurad is the most open of the Eight Nations.  Almost all of Nurad lies within one especially large oblate spheroidal chamber almost a hundred miles in diameter and thirty miles high. Dozens of mile-wide columns, festooned with conduits and crawling with living machines, pierce layers of wispy clouds to support the distant dome of the sky-ceiling.  The floor of the nation-chamber is a labyrinthine landscape of metal domes, ridges, valleys and mesas. When the rains come, flash floods transform canyons into canals and depressions into lakes. Forests of steam vents throng with flocks of vaporous elementals; freestanding spires serve as airship docking posts. At the chamber’s rim, the floor rises toward verticality in ever-steepening terraces of brass, copper, bronze and steel.  Nurad’s movement through the Reaches often brings it adjacent to the Pole of Steam. For days or weeks, the air grows hot and muggy, and the upper atmosphere boils with thunderheads that drizzle a constant warm rain or flare up into sudden typhoons. Then Nurad moves on, and monsoon season gives way to cool, dry air and wefts of cirrus clouds.

The Orichalcum city of Wisant, hangs suspended from the faraway sky-ceiling. So remote is it from the lands below that it appears as nothing more than a distant light, its fluctuations marking shift-transitions and bringing an echo of day and night to the entire nation.  Many of the Airships and Voidfighters launch from here, for testing and practice for travel in the void beyond Autochthon, or to serve the needs of Nurad itself.

Claslat
Hadal is where the Exalted work, but Claslat is where they come to rest. The nation-district caters to the Chosen like no other: within its technicolor cities, the Chosen feast on fine cuisine, enjoy the company of courtesans, and cheer for competitors in the arenas of the Gladiat. Miles below, workers toil in a churning maze, cranking out crossbows, armor, and other implements of war. When the shift-whistle blows, some filter to the upper decks, hoping that one of the Chosen will see something desirable in them—whether that something is wit, strength, intelligence, or even simple sex appeal. While the Exalted and their mortal followers occupy two very separate social strata, Claslat is a mixing pot, where an off-duty Solar general can play sports with his troops and an overworked Sidereal can enjoy a good conversation and a cup of kaff. Sometimes this causes conflict, as tensions accumulated over decades or centuries boil out without duty to keep them contained. Sometimes, new bonds of love, friendship, and loyalty form. Inevitably, both sides must return to their duties—but often they return with a renewed sense of respect, and the knowledge of what they’re fighting for.

Layout
Claslat is organized into two basic geographic divisions—Central Claslat and Outer Claslat. Central Claslat contains the nation’s older settlements, including nine cities and countless towns. It is a single massive, low-ceilinged open cavity half the size of the Wavecrest Archipelago. Massive bearing races mark out natural roadways connecting Central Claslat’s many habitations.  Outer Claslat is a series of smaller chambers adjoining Central Claslat, connected by tram lines. It contains over thirty towns and two cities, Kur and Anket. Much of Outer Claslat has sprawled into what were once considered the nation’s Far Reaches.

Yugash
Yugash is nestled in one of the Maker’s mighty neural nodes, a confluence of faith and genius. Centuries of work by theotechnical savants have shaped it into a land of towering peaks and narrow, winding tunnels; prayer-flags flap in venting steam, and electrical arcs trace out entire sutras in their deadly currents. Thousands of savants, technicians, and scholars make their home in the district, bustling from project to project and providing brain-power for the largest think tank humanity has ever seen. Led by Exalted savants, they plumb the reaches of possibility, devising new and awe-inspiring tools for the Deliberative’s endless struggle.   As Autochthon’s thought-lightning roars and crackles overhead, they bow their heads in solemn meditation, hoping that the Maker’s genius will grace them.

The Metropolis of Kadar forms the nation-district’s core; the Synaptic Junction Dynamo runs down the city’s spine, drawing energies from the Maker’s thought-lightning into massive rods and channeling it into the power grid.  Even the residue of Autochthon’s genius is enough to power Kadar ten times over—which leaves more than enough for the Deliberative’s experiments. Early in the Realm’s history, a No Moon researcher perfected a method for containing Wyldstorms, and transporting them safely within the Gunstar’s hull. This raw creation-stuff has served as fodder for countless theories, experiments, and weapons—the first protoshinmaic vortex was birthed within the labs of Yugash, and its labs churn out refinements on the basic design to this day. In the nearby reaches, Lawgivers weave Miracle Shells within specially-shielded chambers, warping the laws of nature to better study them. These two disciplines have borne terrifying fruit in the form of the Titanomach, a device the size of a man’s hand. When detonated, the Titanomach affirms the reality of Nirguna upon a localized area, obliterating all existence within it. It’s hoped that weapons like these will prove a crucial asset in the upcoming war, but there are those who wonder, in moments of silence, if such a thing is worth the price.

Layout
Unlike some other nations, Yugash is not situated in a segment of the Maker’s anatomy with many large, open spaces.  Its towns and cities are tucked into narrow, claustrophobic cysts in Autochthon’s vast muscular system, connected by an intricate network of primary and secondary tram lines. Where the location of various towns and cities within the other nations is fairly fixed, Yugash’s internal geography stays in constant, if fairly predictable, drift. Paradoxically, this makes restricting travel within the nation exceedingly easy, as the trams are the only reliable means of transit between settlements. A trip from Het to the town of Jakul takes a mere hour by tram, but may easily take four days on foot, all of them spent trekking through winding access corridors, climbing up and down service ladders, and squeezing through forests of churning rocker-arms and slamming pistons.

Gulak
The air in Gulak is thick with hymns to the Chosen.  Cathedral-complexes hold hourly masses, empowering the Exalted with mortal worship in accordance with the catechism of the Deliberative’s prayer calendars. While the temples of the Chosen are found in every city of the Realm, the nation-district of Gulak has been designed purely as an optimized power-source. Gulaki chefs are put through training regimens to make them the finest of any in the Realm, maximizing the consumption of the fertility drugs that every morsel of food is laced with. Music halls and grand poetry salons draw thousands of mortals to listen to talented lectors and Exalted performers, promoting Deliberative-approved doctrine with every showing. Nowhere else does mortal culture flourish as it does in Gulak—nor, for that matter, mortal population. So great is the nation’s overpopulation that entire sectors of its geomantic grid are dedicated to powering the spatial-folding technology built into its dormitories, compacting the living space of thousands of citizens into a building no larger than a single Populat apartment.

While this overpopulation has turned Gulak into a bottomless wellspring of worship for the Exalted, it poses its own problems for the nation-district’s citizens. Disease spreads through the compressed populace in a matter of hours, turning even the mildest outbreaks into epidemics that tax the nation’s medical services to the breaking point.  Cultural tensions flare high in tight proximity as adherents clash over differing modes of worship, philosophies, and aesthetics. Peacekeeper Champions intervene to stamp out violence or mass unrest, but conflict simmers hot under the surface. The masses of mortal citizens also provide an ideal hiding place for Apostates, akuma, and traitors. The Void Hunt pays special attention to Gulak, but even they cannot uncover every hidden threat.

Layout
Gulak is contained within a cluster of over a hundred spherical chambers gathered like a bunch of grapes. These chambers are generally two to five miles in diameter, and even the largest—the central chamber containing the metropolis of Thutot—is less than thirty miles across. Seven other major cities are located at the nation’s edges, either within their own sizable chambers or embedded into the nation-cyst’s outer wall.

Most of Gulak’s smaller chambers contain a single town apiece. These are connected to the nation’s cities by a looping network of pneumatic trams. Vast artworks cover the walls and ceilings of these chambers: conduits daubed with luminescent paint to form elaborate glowing filigree; bas-relief gearworks picked out in gold leaf; mosaics of colored mirrors that shimmer like the sea; artificial waterfalls flanked by swirling patterns meant to evoke the legendary “foliage” of Creation.

The small size and curved walls of the town-chambers requires efficient use of space. Streets become stairs as they run up the sloping floors of a town, then give way to elevators going still higher. Balconies jut out from structures set in the upper walls and ceiling. Towers rise dozens of stories into the air, their upper levels linked by covered bridges of glass and steel.

Jarish
The district of Jarish floats on a cushion of prayer, traveling through the Maker’s body to carry out its holy mission. The lover-Metropoli of Jast and Qune hold each other in an eternal embrace, forming a single gleaming city of moonsilver and orichalcum. At its center stands the Radiant Obelisk—a shining prismatic spire housing thousands of worshipers. Mortals, exmachina, gods, and even captured demons raise their voices in song; the Obelisk trembles, awed by the force of their faith. From this awe comes enough energy to run Jast and Qune three times over. Often, this spare power is channeled outward, to power vehicles, equipment, and even smaller mobile settlements; when Jarish is in motion, it is channeled inward. The Obelisk itself recites the Wanderer’s Prayer, praising Autochthon and begging for passage through his holy body—and consciously or not, Autochthon’s body complies. The very structure of the Maker rearranges itself to accommodate the city’s passage; even the narrowest tunnel will expand to fit it.

While mortals offer up their faith to Autochthon as the god of their exodus, the Exalted take matters into their own hands. From Hadal, the Solar Deliberative pilots Jarish through the Pole of Metal as a mobile theurgic laboratory, sending it to track down exmachina and perform modificationsto distant parts of Autochthon’s jouten-landscape.  The strange engines of the Demomorphic Recombination Array and the Transdivine Parallax Enclave are housed within the golden span of its capital metropolis, allowing the Solar Exalted to modify the souls of the Great Maker on an industrial scale. Heightened patrols of regulators and the Alchemical Exalted track down any exmachina that escapes its cage, ensuring that renegade spirits do not upset the plans of the Solar Exalted. It does not disturb the pious mortals of Jarish to see the emanations of their god brought down into the grinding gears of these machines, nor do they fear when the exmachina emerge altered, transformed, or not at all. Their faith in the Great Maker is unwavering, but so too is their faith in the plans of the Solar Exalted.

Layout
See above, the nation of Jarish is like few others, moving though the reaches of Autochthon on a holy mission, it's location constantly shifting, it is the cities itself that are joined, and in motion, but love and sacrifice are the greatest virtues in Jarish, the great love of their two greatest Champions are the heart of the nation, and furthermore, almost a thousand years ago, it was attacked by the forces of the Primordials, as it moved though the outer reaches of the pole of metal including several Infernal exalts, a powerful force of epic preportions, during this time the city was almost destroyed, were it not for the actions of a heroic group of exalted, several of whom gave their very lives, and the city of Jast herself, it would have been destroyed, today the Walk of Saviors commemorates that moment of glory and deepens the faith of the people in Autochthon and in the Exalted, the faith of a people almost legendary in their faith already.  Jarish has more priests and members of the theomachy then anywhere else in the Realm.

Kamak
Kamak traces out the widest orbit of the Eight Nations, circling through the mineral-rich edges of the Pole of Metal in accordance with the Solar Deliberative’s designs. Kamaki citizens oversee the largest mining operations in all the Realm, directing swarms of arachnid harvester-automatons or operating magitech excavation machinery. Hover-skiffs and hydraulic trams transport materials by the ton to the other nations, feeding the coffers of the Realm and the Gunstar Defense Line. Even after the steep taxes imposed by the Solar Deliberative, there is plenty left over for the Kamaki, supporting such luxuries as the nation’s sky mantis grid and clockwork servitors. Innovation is encouraged and rewarded, with stipends of magical materials and exotic reagents paid out to those whose designs and inventions hold promise for the Realm’s future. It is said that even the humblest mortal savants may live in the same splendor and opulence as their Exalted rulers, if they have the talent and genius to earn it.

But Kamak’s riches are not without their cost. As the nation drifts along the outermost edge of the Pole of Metal, it is the most vulnerable of the Octet to demonic incursions.  Stellar behemoths or deva swarms have invaded the nation through access hatches and spatial portals on the Gunstar’s exterior, while direct fire from hellstar battleships have threatened to breach the exterior hull that shelters Kamak from the deadly void of space. Workers caught in these incursions find themselves fending off monsters with little more than mining equipment and industrial tools, one-sided engagements that all too often end in mortal bloodshed.

The Solar Deliberative has commissioned a disproportionate  number of Gunstar Defense Line bases in Kamak to safeguard their greatest source of magical materials, and the clarions of the Immaculate Dragon Aeries have become a familiar sound to the nation’s citizens. The short-tempered Dawn Caste Ragni Star-Bear oversees the Defense Line’s operations here, and has little patience for the softness and cowardice she sees in Kamaki culture. If she had her druthers, the entire nation would be placed under permanent martial law, and damn the complaining of Twilights back in Hadal.  For now, she settles for making her will known through the oppressive presence of her Dragon-Blooded peacekeepers keeping the fat bureaucrats and absent-minded savants in line with her martinet discipline.

Layout
Where other nations are comprised of rounded or tubular chambers that run parallel or perpendicular to gravity, Kamak’s chambers are both unusually shaped and laid at odd angles, like a fistful of three-dimensional puzzle pieces tossed into a jumbled heap. Shapes range from regular polyhedra to kinked and twisted tubes to amorphous, irregular spaces. Sizes likewise vary, with shafts fifty miles long situated alongside cysts less than a mile in diameter. Their conjunctions often lead to mild temblors.

Flat horizontal surfaces rarely occur naturally in Kamak. Most of those which exist have been engineered into that shape over the millennia. Some of the nation’s settlements stand atop sl ick metal summits or saddle-back ridges; others cling to narrow ledges or jut out from escarpments. Still others are spread across multiple ledges or outcroppings, connected by swaying metal bridges. But most lie embedded within the nation’s walls: networks of corridors and chambers built of concrete and steel, tucked away from the cold and the winds and the stark cliffs and chasms.

Sophisticated trams and funicular lines run across the icy slopes and through miles of illuminated tunnels, steam rising from their heated tracks. Obelisks of red jade three meters tall, their surfaces inlaid with convoluted thaumaturgical sigils of orichalcum, hover above settlements and stopping points, emitting zones of warmth to stave off the encircling cold.

Sova
Sova’s metropoli lie above an ocean of molten metal that flows through the veins of the Maker, a sea of liquid gold and boiling jade that rise up through the titanic shafts that pierce the nation’s landscape. Under Exalted reign, this industrial pyroclasm has become a source of untold wealth and resources. Huge tubes of red jade and adamant extend from Sovan cities down into the shafts, pumping the molten magical materials into the distillation factories of Municipal Charms. Citizens work in the siphon-factories as technicians and engineers, performing routine maintenance on Municipal Charms and refining the harvested magical materials through complex thaumaturgical processes. The actual physical labor of extracting the minerals has been replaced by automated machinery, obsoleting the dangerous mining-skiffs once used to gather precious minerals. However, this is not without is own perils. When lava surges or solid mineral deposits obstruct the siphon-tubes, crews of Populat laborers must descend through access tunnels to clear the blockage, braving the heat and poisoned air to do so. Sometimes, they must even fend off attacks from metal elements unwittingly caught in the siphons, or from invading gremlins.

While the siphon-tubes are Sova’s most obvious form of industry, most of its populace is employed in the nation’s other greater enterprise—the Malki Archives. Soulsteel chambers deep beneath the patropolis of Imtu house the malki, gestalt material intelligences synthesized from the personalities and knowledge of the Realm’s dead. Specially trained Luminors oversee the the transfer of psyche-imprints from soulgems into the material intelligences, while Populat curators assist visitors in navigating the vast stores of data held in the collective minds of the malki. Within the halls of the Archives, Celestial savants debate the finer points of metaphysics with ancient scholars and philosophers, while young Dragon-Blooded are schooled in Primordial battle strategy by ancestors who fought the titans firsthand. The topmost layer of the Archives houses the Sagacious Council of Fallen Stars, a revered council of malki composed from the memories of fallen Celestial Exalted. Each of these malki contains the personas of every inheritor of a single Celestial Exaltation. It is considered traditional for the newly-Exalted to meet with the malki of their past incarnations, standing as equals before the flickering screens.

Layout
Sova is the third most populous nation in Autochthonia, and geographically the smallest; unlike other nations, it possesses a warm atmosphere, some of which is inhospitable to human life. The nation rests in a dense expanse of metal, pierced by dozens of titanic hollow vertical shafts, each of which ranges from a half-mile to a mile wide and tens of miles deep. Sova’s historical riches stem from vast pools of the Magical Materials that lie molten in the depths of the shafts.  Elegant columns spiral alongside the shafts, granting them a winding, spiked look. Twisting paths lead to smaller, cooler tunnels between the shafts, where the Sovans build cities to draw on these materials.  The sultry troposphere and teeming life of the nation leave Sova uncomfortably hot.

The Reaches
In the last thousand years, two new cities have extended the reach of the realm further then ever before, each one the nucleus of what the Deliberative intends to be a new pair of nations in a much more unusual pair of locations then the other nations of Autochthon.

Loran
Though rooted in the upper strata of the Pole of Metal, the majority of the metropolis of Loran extends up into the Pole of Oil—a titanic reservoir filling the upper hemisphere of the Great Maker’s body, vast as the Great Western Ocean of Creation. Viewed from outside, Loran appears a series of shining gold-silver domes and bubbles connected by tubular scaffolding and flexible tram tunnels. Its people, the Loranei, style themselves the greatest mariners of Autochthonia, and the city is also one of the center of research into the science of Alchemy, as well as the Deliberative and Void Hunt's advance outpost in the pole of oil.  Loran is also mobile, able to close it's access points and sail though the pole of metal, an alchemical city that is also a ship in it's own right.

Xexes
Xexas hangs down from the ceiling of the Pole of Smoke, a vertical city descending like a soulsteel stiletto into the heart of the perpetual toxic storms that roil through the lowest point of the Great Maker’s anatomy. Viewed on approach,
the city seems to be a vast black inverted citadel, a series of thin spires dangling precariously above a yawning empty void of churning smoke and corrosive fog, its dangling peaks and fins shrouded in miasma and crackling with electric discharges.  The city’s people are a practical, aggressive, and sometimes fatalistic sort. The Pole of Smoke promises the city nothing but hardship, and never fails to deliver.  Like it's sister city Loran, Xexes is advance outpost of the Deliberative and Void Hunt into the pole of smoke, and while Loran is mobile, Xexes is anchored in place, where the pole of smoke and metal connect and fleets are now docked there that move though the pole of smoke serving the will of the Deliberative.

The Elemental Poles

The rough torus of the Elemental Pole of Metal enfolds the delicate sphere of the Elemental Pole of Crystal, capped on top by the hemisphere of the Pole of Oil and below by the symmetrical bowl of the Pole of Smoke, the metaspatial body of the Great Maker simultaneously encompasses the cylindrical Poles of Steam and Lightning, connected to the main mass by portal-ducts and batteries of rift-circuits.

Altogether, the body of Autochthonia forms a shape loosely analogous to a sphere, yet it is larger on the inside than the outside and encompasses numerous higher dimensions of space packed into recursive infinitudes of Essence and form. By design, this geometry borders on incomprehensible, only the greatest savants among the Exalted Hosts come close to understanding it.  Just as a singular soul woefully fails to express the nuances of Primordial existence, so too does the human experience of space fail to understand the magnitude of titanic jouten. Autochthon could pack himself into a two foot wide orb or expand to blot out the whole of Creation’s sky and his absolute volume would remain unchanged.

The Great Maker uses his Poles as embodied axioms, the idealized and quantized form of the six elements comprising all parts of his body. Each pole encompasses multiple organs, acting in concert as the titan’s ailing metabolism. The Pole of Metal forms his flesh, from the warded mile-thick skin of his outer shell to the most intricate mechanisms of his innards. The specialized “tissue” of the Pole of Crystal serves as his brain and control nexus, sending and receiving signals through the nervous system mapped by the Pole of Lightning and the dynamo reactors at its heart.

Aspects of the circulatory system span three poles. Lightning provides the fastest vector by which the Machine God redistributes his empowering motes. Meanwhile, the Pole of Steam maintains the pressure and energy to keep pneumatic machine components operational. Finally, the Pole of Oil shares elements of circulation, endocrine and immune systems. Most of its secretions provide lubrication, fuel and catalysts for key alchemies. Other oils bind to dangerous chemicals so they can be transported and processed elsewhere. To the degree Autochthon has an actual heart as humans use the term, it exists in the complex of pumps and baffles that line the floor of his northern pole.

Once, all of the Great Maker’s systems showed signs of his illness, the Pole of Smoke showed the most severe symptoms, even today, the pole of Smoke harbors the majority of the remaining gremlins in his system, and the Void Hunt is quite active here.  It is both stomach and lungs, constantly digesting the waste of his other systems in torrents of powerful solvents. The semi-pure raw materials that result allow him to heal wounds and expand his physiotopography. Meanwhile, the vaporized effluvia of this consumption constantly dirties the bellow pumps that cycle gasses through the Primordial’s body.  The Deliberative has installed massive engines into the pole of smoke that transmit the worst of the smoke into elsewhere, and making this area much purer then it would be otherwise.

The Pole of Metal
When the mortals of Autochthonia imagine their world, most can only conceive of the largest and most inhabitable of its polar regions. The alternatives are simply too far away  and strange to consider, even if the component elements that comprise them exist in less concentrated form throughout the toroidal expanse of the titan’s metallic innards. Thus, the Pole of Metal serves as the default identity of the Realm of Brass and Shadow. Its Reaches are those Reaches known to humanity.

The vast diffusion of alloys that comprise the Pole of Metal provides a strata of stability analogous to earth in the Gaian Elemental schema. Just as soil provides a verdant home in which wood may root above the raging conflagrations of volcanic depths, so too does the infinite machinery provide settings for countless crystal matrices and conductive circuit paths for blazing arcs of lightning. The Pole of Metal is unique among elemental poles for lacking any central radiating point that expresses the purity of its aspect, providing definition through ubiquity.

The appearance of the Reaches combines qualities of caves and factories, with tunnels ranging from needle-slender pipes to corridors so wide and tall they disappear from view with an illusion of empty sky. These tunnels connect chambers, and such spaces may be empty or home to any scale of machinery. Motifs of steam-powered clockwork and sizzling circuits predominate, but some places are strangely barren with glass-slick floors or miles of grating suspended over rivers of molten slag. All possible permutations of the elements that compose the Great Maker see some manifestation in the Reaches.

The Pole of Crystal
In the center of Autochthonia lies the most critical juncture of Great Maker’s anatomy, the smallest of his elemental poles and yet the repository of his consciousness.  Inasmuch as Autochthonia replicates the universe in microcosm, the Pole of Crystal is a heaven to rival Yu-Shan in size and beauty. Structurally, it appears as a sphere-like object mimicking the exterior of Autochthonia in scale miniature, filled by many millions of distinct mineral inclusions and open spaces arranged in intricate patterns of demiorganic growth and mechanistic symmetry. All the colors of the rainbow lie strewn among these shards, aglow with surging lightning as they sing the chiming chorus of transdivine  cognition.

Only Hadal has a direct connection to the Pole of Crystal, this is no accident. Autochthon left no easy routes for humans to find and meddle with his brain, only the exalted are permitted such action, so he did leave paths, to dangerous for mortals to travel, to allow the greastest of exalted to travel to his core as needed to commune with him directly when necessary.

The Poles of Lightning and Steam
The twin engines that power Autochthonia exist within separate sanctum rifts in Elsewhere, linked back to the main body of the titan through many thousands of portal circuits and metadimensional pneumatic pumps. The two tall cylinders of the reactor Poles are the least hospitable regions of Autochthonia for organic life, though the specifics of the hazards vary.

In the Pole of Lightning, churning dynamos along the walls rotate in opposing stacked rings, each adorned with spires that conduct the constant world-searing arcs to the appropriate circuits to fuel the Great Maker’s neuroelectric grid. Lightning does not strike everywhere at once, but the omnipresent risk of sudden vaporization keeps away most intruders.

By contrast, the Pole of Steam is roughly a quarter  filled with high-pressure water kept boiling by lightning arcs flashing through their depths. Anything not instantly flash-fried by the scalding sea must further contend with city-smashing pressure and typhoon whirlpools of pneumatic currents. The steam atop this sea is only marginally less pressurized and scalding, but still more than capable of crushing and cooking anyone caught in it.

The Pole of Oil

The chemical ocean of the Pole of Oil is the single-largest body of liquid within Autochthonia, encompassing a fifth of the world’s total volume. Most of the oil is relatively pure, existing as a viscous amber-tinted liquid. Encountering different colors or opacity indicates the presence of other chemicals, sometimes as catalytic currents and often as pollutants.  While the entire ocean system churns constantly as a result of thermal imbalances and continuous chemical reactions, surface tension “walls” between areas of highly-divergent substances can sometimes maintain semi-stable seas for years or even decades.

The Pole of Smoke
Although Autochthonia is a spherical world, the primary vector of gravity does not orient toward the core. Instead, that force pushes everything down from the Pole of Oil through the Pole of Metal, gradually filtering all refuse and waste products to fall into the vast junkyard hell of the Pole of Smoke beneath. The bowl occupies a fifth of the titan body’s volume, the largest open space in the entire realm. Thick fog banks cover the sky in choking toxic fumes, dozens and sometimes hundreds of miles thick.  Long spires pierce the murk from the machinery above like jagged inverted skyscrapers.

Far below lies a seemingly endless plain of broken metal, torn scraps of artificial rubber, glass shards and other industrial waste. Thousands of chutes in the ceiling empty this detritus onto the cratered hell, building irregular towers of garbage that would climb to the sky if underground seas of acid did not constantly dissolve the lowest layers. While the barrage of falling junk is more or less constant, the clouds also give frequent rise to sizzling typhoons and maelstroms that pour acid rain onto the cratered ruins below. These solvents pool in lakes and eventually drain through smoking tunnels leading down into the sea. Lightning and pyroclastic hail accompany the worst of these storms.

Immense veins of varicolored jade climb the walls like so much ivy, pumping the slurry of raw materials extracted by solvent digestion back up into healthier parts of Autochthonia. The peristaltic undulations of these wide pipes makes the background waver like a desert mirage even in the rare moments where the smoke clears enough to see that far.

Not all wreckage melts, of course. Countless artifacts lie mixed in with the rubble, some broken but many not. Furthermore, the junkyard itself offers such a glorious abundance of resources that the Deliberative posted Xexes here to exploit, once the city develop stable trade routes.

Some visitors don’t come as prospectors, but as crusaders, most of the gremlins here have been eliminated, but there are still some left, and so the Hunt comes here to complete the last vestages of the cleasing of the sickness of the Great Maker, thus the Pole of Smoke holds the front lines of the Void Hunt and the vast open area is one of those locations that allows some of the largest the forces of the enemy primordials to infiltrate,  so forces loyal to the Great Maker find no shortage of enemies to destroy.

The Spiral

What awaits the Exalted when they finally end their exodus? The world that the Primordials made is known to them as the Spiral, a vast cosmology arrayed in seven coils.  It is little but legend to most of Autochthonia, existing only in the memories of the Exalted. Even to most Celestials, it is remembered only as a heap of broken images—ancient, shrouded in myth, but still home. What is known is recorded in the secret scriptures of the Tome of the Great Maker. Legends of the Spiral are read aloud at the welcome banquets of the newly Exalted, and whispered to infants in their nativity creches.

At the highest coil of the Spiral lies the abode of the titans, where the Empyreal Chaos holds court amid crystal manses and starry towers. Where the lowest coils winds to its close, the city of Black Non rises out of the crypt-bodies of the Neverborn at the place where existence ends. In the coils between hang countless worlds, shimmering jewels in the dark. It is a paradise in which any joy or horror can be found. There are worlds where violet flames burn at the edges of time, and worlds whose dreaming depths hold secrets unknown even to titans. Worlds with diamond clouds, forests of corpses, slumbering dragons, oceans of gemstone and metal. Such are the treasures await the Exalted when they finally return to reclaim their rightful thrones.  Or at least, so say the legends.

[AndyZ]

Hmmm...would Steel Orchid as written be considered antisocial?

[Krule]

Not at all.. she would need 5 excellencies and 6 more freebie points to bring her in line with what I intend to give starting characters... plus a bit of extra XP

MODIFIED: I will be adding in character creation updated rules in the next day or two.

[Krule]

Character Creation

UPDATE: All Character Generation Rules Up.. questions.. PM me.

House Rules

Craft: Each dot of Craft adds one of the basic five crafts, player choice, at 5 dots all 5 crafts are known at level 5.  Special Crafts are covered by taking specialties, there is no limit to the amount of specialties one can have in craft.  You still must meet basic skill requirements for such crafts.
Example: Craft 3 (Air, Fire, [player choice]) is required for the Specialty: Magitech +1
NOTE: In cases where repair rating matters, the specialty is added to the total calculation to see if the player can do the repairs

Linguistics: Sense it doesn't cover language, other then the more alien races beyond the Spiral, linguistics covers writing, calligraphy, ciphers, body language, sign language and the like... any of these are valid specialties.

Thaumaturgy: It seems silly to me that lesser magics are almost as expensive as a single spell, purchasing any level of a Thaumaturgical Degree only costs the same as any other specialty

Sorcery: Free with the purchase of each level of sorcery(Terrestrial, Celestial and Solar), is the equivalent counter magic spell, Elemental Summoning generally summons the 6 elements of Autochthon, but there are a few ways around that.. if you want to know, you'll have to learn in game.  The various summon Demon spells are summon Deva in this setting, and there is no control option, so it's a dangerous practice.   A note on protocols - some of these can be adapted to sorcery, but some of them are only useful to Alchemicals, any with a Clarity requirement needs an OK from me to learn, in fact, in general if you want one of them as a spell, check with me first.

Necromancy: Unavailable, province of the Death Knights, the close nature of necromancy to the void would horrify the vast majority of Autochthon natives, Exalted or not, in any case.

Merits and Flaws: No flaws allowed, but I'm more flexible with regards to Merits, check with me if you want one in particular.

Acceptable Characters: I will take up to 2 player characters for each solar, lunar and sidereal caste.  Alchemicals and Dragon-Blooded are unrestricted in terms of numbers.

Sifu: Sense they are not the same, if you also want your Sifu to know a Terrestial Martial Art Style, trading out one Celestial Martial Art will give them as many terrestrial Martial arts as her Sifu Rating, but you may only do this once.  Additionally, Lunars and Dragon Blooded who take Sifu, may trade out 1 Sidereal MA style for two Celestial Styles(This option is not available to Solar or Sidereal Sifu's).  Alchemical's do not need and therefor can not take Sifu.

A note: Celestial Exalts get a point of backing in their main faction for free, it can be switched to a different suitable group

Use Errata 2.5 unless something stated in this thread counters that.

A note on backing, solars, lunars and sidereals have backing with their respective factions for free.. DB's will have a backing with their Gens for free,
Exalted Host
- Solars: 250
- Lunars 250
Lore and Memory says that the numbers of solars and lunars should be 300, but at least 50 of each are missing, either with Luna or Sol
- Sidereals 100
- Alchemicals: 1800 (enormous ammounts of resources results in what amounts to close to twice the numbers of Champions in the traditional game
- Terrestials: Millions.

Bloodlines

I seriously dislike half-caste, so in my setting... and sense it's come up in some pm's with Ember's player

First: Dragon-Blooded Exaltation is designed to operate though inheritance, as such it is dominant in all exalted and divine pairings.   This means that if a dragon-blooded has a liaison with a celestial, divinity, demon or elemental, the essence of the Dragon-Blooded wins out.  The child exalts in this case as though both parents were of the same breeding and aspect of the Dragon-Blooded parent, if the breeding is legendary, the exaltation of the child is certain, if lesser, then the roll is necessary to see if the child exalts.  If the other parent is mortal, then the breeding level of the child begans to degrade, in Gunstar, this is strongly discouraged, and solars have worked hard to find ways to purify a dragon-blooded bloodline of mortal 'taint'.  The charm, Purity Crucible Strike was developed by a Fire Aspect in conjunction with a Solar and Sidereal studying ways to purify the bloodlines of weak breeding Dragon-Blooded, though the deadliness of the charm has it used less then it might be, they are working on other ways, not the least of which is selective breeding projects to insure blood purity.

Second: Without the involvement of one of the Dragon-Blooded, it was thought that a child of a Celestial would be mortal, but the power of a Celestial Exaltation is much greater then expected, the child of a celestial exalt is by nature, a god-blooded as though her parent was a god of Light and/or Virtue(any of the 4 or all of them) - (in the case of solars), Adaptability, Change and/or Nature (in the case of Lunars) or Destiny, Wisdom and/or Knowledge (in the case of Sidereals).  Such cases are identical to other God-Blooded children, any charms purchased are either divine charms, or sometimes martial arts or sorcery, if they meet the requirements.  Should such a child manage to reach essence 4 (Requiring endowment of some sort, it's a fairly rare event), they rise to become a divinity, are summoned by the Maidens to their Palace, and a place is found for them among the divinities.  It is somewhat possible for them to become a celestial exalted if they show the right traits at the right time, but this completely overwrites their semi-divine nature with the exaltation, though this is a even rarer event then them becoming a god.  If both parents are Celestial exalts, the parent with the highest essence wins the draw, in the case of equal essence, Solar wins any pairing, where as a Lunar and Sidereal pairing has a 50% chance either way. 

The only exception to this is if a lunar goes though the process necessary to birth a beastman child, in which case that child is born with that aspect dominant rather then the semi-divine aspect, but they also have the ability to pass on their traits, something a semi-divine celestial child does not have.

NOTE: Alchemicals can not have children, outside of Voidtech charms, which come with some very nasty side effects, so in effect, they are not included here.

See Backgrounds for more.

Solar

• Select Caste, Mortal Background and Motivation
• Attributes: One dot in each attribute, then as follows: Primary Attributes: 8 | Secondary Attributes: 6 | Tertiary Attributes: 4
• Basic Training: 1 dot in either Bureaucracy, Performance, Presence or Socialize; 2 dots divided among Archery, Martial Arts, Melee and Thrown; Lore 2, Occult 2 and Sail 1. S/he also receives Caste-specific training as follows:
  
  
  
  • Dawn: Allocate 2 dots to Archery, Martial Arts, Melee or Thrown; Add 1 dot to Sail and War
  • Zenith: Add 1 dot to Bureaucracy, Integrity Performance and Presence
  • Twilight: Add 1 dot to Lore, Medicine and Occult; Allocation 1 dot to Craft (Chosen Craft for this dot should be fire or air) 
  • Night: Add 1 dot in either Archery, Martial Arts, Melee or Thrown; 2 dots in either Investigation or Larceny; Add 1 dot to Stealth
  • Eclipse: ) 1 additional dot in Sail; 1 additional dot in either Bureaucracy, Performance, Presence or Socialize; add 1 to Integrity and Linguistics 1
• Note Caste and Favored Abilities: 10 dots go into them as you please.  You then get another 18 dots to put anywhere you like.  [NOTE: Total number of dots allocated to Abilities at this point should be 40]
• You get 4 points of specialties to divide as you please into any non-zero ability
• Solar Exalted begin with Class 4, Cult 3, Backing (Solar Deliberative) 1 and 12 additional dots of Backgrounds.  Check the Backgrounds tab below with regards to details about them.
• You start with Essence 4, this can not be raised with bonus point (but see the special tab below)
• Charms: Add 5 excellencies, 3 must be in caste/favored abilities, you must have one of each of the three types (first, second and third - or Overwhelming, Triumphant and Resurgent if you prefer), but the remaining two may be applied to any ability you have dots in and be any the three basic ones.  || Add 15 charms as you like [Total Charms without freebies = 20]
• Your character begins with 1 point in each Virtue and gets 6 additional points to distribute as desired. Add your Base Starting Willpower, which is 5.  No Virtue can go above 4 without spending bonus points, it costs only 1 bonus point per additional Virtue or Willpower dot.
• Select one Virtue rated 3 or higher to be your character's primary Virtue, and choose a Virtue Flaw as described in the core book. If you have a custom Virtue Flaw in mind, PM the Storyteller to discuss it.
• You have 18 bonus points, they can be used at any point with regards to the above character creation.
• Calculate Essence and Health Levels

Lunar

• Select Caste, Mortal Background, Spirit Shape, Tell and Motivation(There are only three Castes of Lunars, as in normal Exalted; the additional Castes from Dreams of the First Age never existed in the Gunstar setting.)
• Attributes: One dot in each attribute, then as follows: Primary Attributes: 8 | Secondary Attributes: 6 | Tertiary Attributes: 4
• Note Caste Attributes. Choose one other Attribute as a Favored Attribute. Distribute 2 additional dots among Caste and Favored Attributes.
• Your character gains the following Ability dots as part of basic training: 1 dot in either Bureaucracy, Performance, Presence or Socialize; 2 dots divided among Archery, Martial Arts, Melee and Thrown; Lore 2; Occult 2; Sail 1; Survival 1. S/he also receives Caste-specific training as follows:
  Full Moon Caste 1 additional dot in either Archery, Martial Arts, Melee or Thrown; Add 1 to Resistance and War
  Changing Moon Caste Add 2 dots to Larceny 2; add 1 dot to Stealth
  No Moon Caste: Add 1 to Craft (Chose One), Lore and Occult
• Pick 3 Favored Abilities, one of which must be Survival. Assign an additional 25 Ability dots, of which at least 5 must go to Caste and/or Favored Abilities. There must be at least 1 dot in each Favored Ability by the end of this stage. Abilities may not go above 3 at this stage without spending bonus points, unless they are favored which can be raised to 5 without freebies. [37 total dots here]
• Your character gets 4 free Specialties to distribute among any Abilities in which s/he has a non-zero rating.
• Lunar Exalted begin with Class 4, Cult 3, Backing (Void Hunt) 1 and 12 additional dots of Backgrounds.  See Below for Backgrounds
• Your character's starting Essence is 4, and cannot be raised with bonus points, but see the special section below
• Charms & Knacks: Add 3 Excellencies, two must be caste/favored, chose one knack ||  Then add a total of 12 Charms and Knacks, which must include at least four Charms chosen from Caste/Favored Abilities [Total Charms and Knacks without freebies = 16
• Your character begins with 1 point in each Virtue and gets 6 additional points to distribute as desired. Add your Base Starting Willpower, which is 5.  No Virtue can go above 4 without spending bonus points, it costs only 1 bonus point per additional Virtue or Willpower dot.
• Select one Virtue rated 3 or higher to be your character's primary Virtue, and choose a Virtue Flaw as described in the Lunar book. If you have a custom Virtue Flaw in mind, PM the Storyteller to discuss it.
• You have 18 bonus points, they can be used at any point with regards to the above character creation.
• Calculate Essence and Health Levels

Sidereal

• Select Caste, Mortal Background and Motivation
• Attributes: One dot in each attribute, then as follows: Primary Attributes: 8 | Secondary Attributes: 6 | Tertiary Attributes: 4
• Basic Training: 1 dot in either Bureaucracy, Performance, Presence or Socialize; 2 dots divided among Archery, Martial Arts, Melee and Thrown; Lore 2, Occult 2 and Sail 1. S/he also receives Caste-specific training as follows:
  
  
  
  • Journey: Add 1 dot to Martial Arts, Sail and Linguistics, add 1 dot to Athletics or Survival
  • Serenity: Add 1 dot to Martial Arts, Dodge, Socialize and Performance
  • Battles: Allocate 2 dots among Archery, Melee and Martial Arts as desired, add 2 dots to war
  • Secrets: Add 1 dot to Martial Arts and Stealth, add 1 dot to Awareness or Investigation, add 1 dot to Larceny or Socialize
  • Endings Add 2 dots to Martial Arts, add 1 dot to Awareness or Investigation, add 1 dot to stealth
• Note Auspicious Abilities by Caste. Pick 4 Favored Abilities. Assign an additional 30 Ability dots, of which at least 10 must go to Auspicious/Favored Abilities. There must be at least 1 dot in each Favored Ability by the end of this stage. Abilities may not go above 3 at this stage without spending bonus points. [NOTE: Total number of dots allocated to Abilities at this point should be 42]
• You get 4 points of specialties to divide as you please into any non-zero ability
• Sidereal Exalted begin with Class 4, Cult 3, Backing (Bureau of Heaven) and 12 additional dots of Backgrounds.  See below for Backgrounds
  
• Your character's starting Essence is 4, and cannot be raised with bonus points.
• Charms: Add 5 excellencies, 3 must be in caste/favored abilities, you must have one of each of the three types (first, second and third - or Overwhelming, Triumphant and Resurgent if you prefer), but the remaining two may be applied to any ability you have dots in and be any the three basic ones. || Add  15 Charms, which must include at least 5 Charms chosen from Auspicious/Favored Abilities. They may start with up to 3 Sidereal Martial Arts Charms, but you must master a martial art style before your Sifu will begin teaching you Sidereal Martial Arts.
  
• Collages: Distribute 5 dots among your character's Auspicious Colleges (those within the constellation of his/her patron Maiden), and an additional 5 dots among any desired Colleges. Additional dots in Colleges cost 2 bonus points per dot, or 1 bonus point per dot for Auspicious Colleges.
• Your character begins with 1 point in each Virtue and gets 6 additional points to distribute as desired. Add your Base Starting Willpower, which is 5.  No Virtue can go above 4 without spending bonus points, it costs only 1 bonus point per additional Virtue or Willpower dot.
• Select one Virtue rated 3 or higher to be your character's primary Virtue, your character suffers from flawed Fate based on your caste.
• You have 18 bonus points, they can be used at any point with regards to the above character creation.
• Calculate Essence and Health Levels

Alchemical

• Select Caste and Motivation, consider a few of your lives as a Heroic Mortal (who could have even Exalted)
• Attributes: One dot in each attribute, then as follows: Caste Attributes: 8 | Favored Attributes: 6 | Non-Favored Attributes: 4
• Add 2 points as desired to Caste and Favored Attributes, all caste attributes must be at 2 by this point.
  
• Basic Training:  1 to bureaucracy, socialize, performance or presence, 2 dots distributed as desired to any combat ability, add 2 to Lore, Occult and 1 to Sail || Advanced Training: Alchemical Exalts are usually created for a specific purpose they are often dispatched almost immediately once they are activated, but the deliberative usually tries to insure a certain amount of basic competency within their purpose, and attend the academy as soon as possible, however the existence of certain charms that can essentially install abilities as needed means that they are more adaptable to a specific situation, so they are somewhat more varied in their training.
  
  
  
  • Orchicalcum: Distribute 8 dots between bureaucracy, integrity, presence, performance and socialize, at least 1 dot must be in each, non more then 3 dots
  • Moonsilver: Distribute 8 dots between athletics, awareness, larceny, survival and stealth, at least 1 dot must be in each, non more then 3 dots 
  • Jade:  Distribute 8 dots between craft, medicine, resistance, survival and war, at least 1 dot must be in each, non more then 3 dots   
  • Starmetal:  Distribute 8 dots between craft, lore, linguistics, investigation, and occult  at least 1 dot in each, non more then 3 dots 
  • Soulsteel:   Distribute 8 dots between bureaucracy, investigation, integrity, stealth, and one of the following (archery, martial arts, melee, or thrown), at least 1 dot in each, non more then 3 dots
  • Adamant:   Distribute 8 dots between awareness, investigation, integrity, stealth and survival, at least 1 dot in each, non more then 3 dots
• Assign 24 ability dots as desired, 3 abilities can be raised as high as 4, the others can be no higher then 3, raising anything higher then that requires freebies (40 dots assigned at this point) 
• Assign + 4 specialties in any ability you have dots in.
• Alchemicals begin with Class 3, Cult 2, and 12 additional dots of Backgrounds.  See below for Backgrounds
• Your character's starting Essence is 4, and cannot be raised with bonus points.
• Charms: You get 10 Dedicated Charm Slots and 6 General Charm slots, and a charm for each of them, you may assign any group of charms to an array at this time to reduce installation cost, but they must be removed and installed together, an array is not necessary to combo charms, it simply allows a reduction in cost.  ||  More charms can be purchased with 1 bonus bonus point, or with the charm background, but slots for them cost more, a Dedicated Charm Slot costs 3 bonus points, and a General Slot costs 4 freebies, purchasing a slot comes with a charm for it.
• Your character begins with 1 point in each Virtue and gets 6 additional points to distribute as desired. Add your Base Starting Willpower, which is 5.  No Virtue can go above 4 without spending bonus points, it costs only 1 bonus point per additional Virtue or Willpower dot.
• You have 18 bonus points, they can be used at any point with regards to the above character creation.
• Alchemicals are affected by Clarity, note your level of clarity with regards to a charm installation
• Calculate Essence and Health Levels

Dragon Blooded

• Select Aspect, Gens, and Motivation
• Attributes: One dot in each attribute, then as follows: Caste Attributes: 8 | Favored Attributes: 6 | Non-Favored Attributes: 4
• Basic Training: Dragon Blooded are the heart of the military forces of the realm, and they are known from youth, as such they are trained extensively, their training even more intense then the various celestials; add 3 dots to linguistics, add 2 dots to archery, lore, martial arts, melee, and war, add 1 dot do performance, presence, sail, ride and stealth
• Add in the following advanced training depended on academy the young dragon blooded attends
  
  
  
  • Eight Degrees of Enlightenment Academy: Add 1 dot to lore, add 3 dots to occult, add 2 dots to Craft (Air, Fire) || Bonus Charm: Terrestrial Circle Sorcery
  • Scarlet Academy of Proper Bearing: Add 2 dots to bureaucracy, add 1 to performance, presence and socialize || Bonus Charm: One Excellency of Choice from these abilities
  • Steel Crucible of Dragons: Add 2 dots to archery and sail, add 1 dot to war || Bonus Charm: Deck Striding Technique (adapted for Voidfighters)
  • Upright Soldier Military Academy: Add 1 dot to archery, martial arts, melee, resistance and war || Bonus Charm: Dragon Graced Weapon   
• Note Aspect Abilities and chose three favored abilities, you have 10 points for these, you may take them up to 5 at this point, you must put at least 1 point in each favored ability || Now, add 15 ability dots wherever you like, only caste and favored can go over 3 dots.
• Assign + 4 specialties in any ability you have dots in.
• Dragon Blooded begin with Class 3, Cult 2, Breeding 4, Backing (Gens - Yours - see backgrounds) 1, and 10 additional dots of Backgrounds.  See below for Backgrounds
• Your character's starting Essence is 4, and cannot be raised with bonus points.
• Charms: You start with Wind Carried Words Technique and Elemental Bolt Attack, the Bonus charm indicated above and three excellencies of your choice || add 8 more charms of your choice.. if you chose, you may begin study of one of the Five Glorious Dragon Styles, but in such a case, you must learn the necessary enlightening charms, and you must have a Sifu to teach you.
• Your character begins with 1 point in each Virtue and gets 6 additional points to distribute as desired. Add your Base Starting Willpower, which is 5.  No Virtue can go above 4 without spending bonus points, it costs only 1 bonus point per additional Virtue or Willpower dot.
• You have 18 bonus points, they can be used at any point with regards to the above character creation.
• Dragon-Blooded are affected by the great curse, if weakly, note your primary virtue
• Calculate Essence and Health Levels

Backgrounds

Acquaintances (Sidereal Only): Use Dreams of the First Age

Artifacts: This background can be bought three times (Four By Alchemicals): Offensive, Defense, Utility and Charms (Alchemical only). each one applies to artifacts of that type and nature... artifacts of muliple types go to the grouping most fitting to them (Warstriders are both Defensive and Offensive, but their primary nature is weapon, so they fall under Offensive).  Each dot in any of them (Except Charms) counts as 3 dots of artifact.

Backing: Levels in backing can be used to requisition anything up to the level of your backing needed for any particular mission, it can even request multiples of something if you can convince your backers it's required.

Breeding (Dragon-Blooded Only): Due to breeding, eugenic's projects and needs of the realm, the blood of the Dragon's have been kept exceptionally pure, many Gens pride themselves in having kept their blood pure (for the most part, mixed blood Dragon-Blooded are sterilized by the Realm to keep them from weakening the bloodlines of the Dragon Blooded, though there have been exceptions) all Dragon Blooded start with Breeding 4 for free, and may raise it to legendary levels (Meaning you have no mortal's in your bloodline) with one background dot.

Class: This background counts as and replaces: Followers, Henchmen, Influence (Populate), Retainers, Resources, Salary
- Note: To have dragon-blooded henchmen or retainers you must also possess the necessary Connections in a Gens or one of the Dragon Blooded Academies.   If you want a Alchemical aid you'll need a good degree of connections with those groups who have strong ties to them as well.   Half-Divine or Mortal Essence users also require a degree of influence beyond just class.

Command: This includes what you need to arm your troops, use the Dragon Blooded Version... you must also possess some degree of military connections for this

Connections: This background counts and replaces - Allies, Contacts, Influence within whatever of the following connections you chose to entertain

• The Gunstar Defense Line: The space defense and scouting force of the Gunstar
• The Deliberative Army: The force of augmented mortals and Dragon-Blooded officers that stands ready to repel boarders, fight insurgents and (one day) take the fight against the Primordials to the worlds of the Spiral.
• The Void Hunt: Primarily lead by lunars, the hunt is the secret police and shock troops who combat Voidbringer heresy, Primordial infiltration and gremlin infestation within Autochthonia.
• The Bureau of Destiny: Made up primarily of Divinities, lead by the Five Maidens and their Chosen, the Bureau works with the Divine Ministers to keep everything in line with the Grand Design (NOTE: I'd need a really good reason to allow a Dragon-Blooded or a non-Adamant Alchemical to have connections here)
• Hadal: The Centropolis of Hadel, central government of the 8 nations, connections here deal with law and influence over the entire realm, as such having connections 3 or better here translates into a degree of influence thoughout the Realm, generally connections here can be used at 1/3 strength (Rounded up) with regards to any of the nations of the Oligarchy, Solidites and Theomachracy.
  
  • The Oligarchy: Mortal government of the eight nations, each of the 8 nations.
    
    • Estatia: Military and Industrial Center, the Academy - the Steel Crucible of Dragons is found here, as is the training grounds of the Deliberative Army, in addition it is the center of construction for the massive warstriders and voidfighters in their industries, connections here can help in terms of getting something built to a specific need, or ties with the Realm military.
    • Nurad: Certain of Genetic and life related studies, anyone who studies the advanced art of Genesis or any lunar looking to add a creature to their variable forms comes to this vast open region light by the city of Wisant that is a tribute to the living worlds of the spire.  The Garden of Holistic Rejuvenation devoted to healing and the Gunstar Defense Line's Illustrious Institute of Voidfighter Research (nicknamed the Hatchery) are both found here... if you are researching Voidfighters or Genetic's, or seeking healing, this is the place to be.
    • Clastat: While the Exalted work in Hadal, they come to Glastat for rest, relaxation, and entertainment, though the needs of the Gunstar does have a good part of the lower city devoted to weapon construction, the upper city is where the Exalted find entertainment.
    • Yugash: If other cities are the center of Military, Life or Entertainment, Yugash is the center of Research, even into the very nature of the Shinmai themselves, while many savants and thaumaturist aid the work of the Exalted Savants, creating wonders great and terrible.
    • Gulak: Gulak can be considered the nation of prayer, largest population of the nations, it is a center of culture and the arts as well, but the chief purpose of Gulak is prayer, for their prayers recharge the essence of the exalted themselves.
    • Jarish: If Gulak is the nation of prayer, Jarish is the Temple nation, though it's purpose is more then simply temple, here is the center of the reconstruction of Autochthon himself, the Theurgic Laboratory that reshapes the Exmachina into the solar vision, the transformations that eventually turn Autochthon into Gunstar
    • Kadmak: Devoted to mining metals needed for the grand design, and moving though the outermost mineral rich regions of the elemental pole of metal, Kadmak is the closest to the outer edge of Autochthon and thus the most threatened, and has the largest posting of the GDL here.
    • Sova: Lying above a sea of molten metal, of boiling jade and liquid gold, is a source of untold wealth and power, tube of adamant and jade pump these resources to serve the needs of the Realm, but the true wonder here are the Malki Archives, material intelligences that contain the memories of the dead.  The topmost layer houses the Sagacious Council of Fallen Stars, the memories of those exalted who have fallen, it is traditional for new Celestials to meet with their previous incarnations here.
    • Xexas & Loran: These cities are new and experimental, but they serve very important purposes, extending the dominion of the Deliberative into the Poles of Oil and of Smoke, from Xeras the Solars maintain and extend the pumps that pump the smoke of the pole into elsewhere, and Voidfighter combat practice occers.  In Loran, the oils and resources are returned to the realm, and research into the limits of Alchemy occer here, futhermore,  Loran itself is a prototype of a mobile city Alchemical, that may someday join the Voidfighter craft as a carrier.
      
  • The Solidites: Mortal savants, they may not have the arcane power of the exalted, but no major project can be completed without their aid
  • The Theomachracy: Mortal clergy who keep the realm strong in worship of the Celestial Exalted, the Five Maidens, the Divine Ministers and other Divinities
• The Scurrying Nation: The legions of the Rat Avatar may have no power in human society, but their knowledge of the Reaches of Autochthonia is unparalleled, and they have friends among the Exalted Host
• The Gens: Each Gens is it's own bloodline, for sake of ease, we shall use the following gens, I'm stealing them from Lookshy, including the fallen ones, there are more, but these are the ones that the various Dragon-Blooded retainers, henchmen, warriors and players should be from.  - Karal(Fire), Teresu (Water), Maheka (Earth), Amilar (Air), Yushoto (Wood), Marui (Mixed: Air and Earth strongest - known for craft and creativity), Varil (Mixed - Fire and Water - excellent military reputation), Gherin (Mixed - All five aspects are found within this Gens, they are a fairly new gens involving a sworn brotherhood several centuries ago, which is a missnomer sense their sexes were more evenly mixed)
• The Academy of Celestial Refinement: All Celestial's spend at least a year studying here, learning the basics necessary to serve the realm, this is where all celestial exalted learned the basic and caste related skills
• The Dragon Academies [Celestial Exalted may purchase these as a single connection, Dragon Blooded must purchase them separately]

• The Eight Degrees of Enlightenment Academy: Here is where the realm teaches young Dragon Blooded motonic engineering and the sorcerous and thaumaturgical arts
• The Scarlet Academy of Proper Bearing: Here is where young Dragon Blooded are trained as governors and aids to the Deliberative
• The Steel Crucible of Dragons Academy: The realm sends young Dragon Blooded here in order to train as Void Fighter Pilots
• The Upright Soldier Military Academy: Young Dragon-Blooded are sent to this Academy to train as officers for the Deliberative Army

Cult:  Solar, Lunar and Sidereal Exalted start with Cult 3 for free and may raise it normally with bonus points. Alchemical Exalted and Dragon-Blooded do not start with a Cult rating, but may buy up to Cult 2 with Background dots and/or bonus points without facing opprobrium.

Family (Dragon-Blooded) Only: Represents unusually well regarded family members (alive or dead, player's choice)
Celestials replace this with Reputation, DB's can have both.

Familiar: You may take the alchemical or regular version of familiar

Mentor: A powerful elder guides you

Sifu: You have a mentor that is also a Sidereal Martial Artist who can teach sidereal styles (Only solar and sidereal characters can enjoy the full benefits here), lalchemicals do not need this merit, a lunar or dragon blooded may take this merit up to 2 and trade out 1 sidereal style know for 3 celestial styles.  A Sifu also acts as a mentor, so taking this merit makes mentor unnessary.

Savant: Unchanged, any exalt can take this merit.

Special

Special: I want a greater degree of variation in power As each character is completed, that means background, character sheet, and final approval by me as ST, they will be awarded a xp bonus for their character, characters in excess of the initial 5 of your type will start with only the basic character creation rules.

Solar

First: Steel Orchid (400)

Second: 320

Third: 240

Fourth: 160

Fifth: 80

Celestial

Lunar

First: 500

Second: 400

Third: 300

Fourth: 200

Fifth: 100

Sidereal

First: 500

Second: 400

Third: 300

Fourth: 200

Fifth: 100

Alchemical

First: 500

Second: 400

Third: 300

Fourth: 200

Fifth: 100

Terrestial

First: 600

Second: 480

Third: 360

Fourth: 240

Fifth: 120

Experance Split for the bonus will be expected as follows
40 % - Charms
30% - Abilities & Specialities
20% - Attributes
10% - Virtues & Backgrounds

The First, Second and Third of each type will be permitted to purchase Essence up to 5, the experience for that purchase can come from any of the four categories, odd amounts can be shifted to cover a different category
Note:  Every 100 xp represents a decade of experience as an exalt, I would like you to at least devote a few sentences to that time period, more is encouraged.  Additionally, you do not have to accept this if you don't want too, you may chose to start without any of this extra experience, in which case I reserve the right to gift it where I chose.

NOTE: For those of you from Riveda's thread, I'm most likely going to keep Sapphire Wind on as an elder solar, though I'm renaming him/her, and won't be too much older (about a century or two) if no player takes up the Eclipse caste, he/she will take the place of the eldest member of your circle... and someone to tie folks together.
[/list][/list][/list][/list][/list]

[AndyZ]

Name: Steel Orchid
Caste: Dawn
Anima: Golden circle of spinning blades
Motivation: Free the Unconquered Sun

Strength 2 Dexterity 5 Stamina 2
Charisma 2 Manipulation 2 Appearance 3
Perception 4 Intelligence 3 Wits 4

*Archery 1
Athletics 3
*Awareness 5 (Initiative +3)
*Integrity 1
Lore 3
*Martial Arts 3
*Melee 5 (Two-Handed Blades +3)
*Occult 2
*Presence 4
*Resistance 5
Sail 2
Socialize 1
*Thrown 0
*War 5

Awareness Overwhelming
Melee Resurgent
Integrity Triumphant
Presence Triumphant
War Overwhelming

Hungry Tiger Technique
Golden Destruction Cut
One Weapon, Two Blows
Peony Blossom Attack
Iron Whirlwind Attack
Invincible Fury of the Dawn
Durability of Oak Meditation
Soul Fire Resurgence
Surprise Anticipation Method
Invincible Essence Reinforcement
Fists of Iron Attack
Thunderclap Rush Attack
Panoptic Fusion Discipline
Irresistable Salesman Spirit
Rout-Stemming Gesture
Commanding the Celestial Army

Compassion 2 Conviction 3 Temperance 2 Valor 5
Essence 4 Willpower 10
Limit Break: Heart of Flint (Conviction)


Artifact 3
-Orichalcum Royal Warstrider (5)
-Attached Grand Daiklaive (3)
-Nova Battery (1)
   This level 1 orichalcum/lightning essence core powers artifacts as if it was level 3.

Warstrider AI 4
Backing 4: The Deliberative Army
Class 4
Connections 1: The Scurrying Nation
Connections 1: The Upright Soldier Military Academy
Connections 1: The Void Hunt
Cult 3

Tactical Instincts +3

Personal Essence: 22
Peripheral Essence: 50  (Warstrider takes 24 motes to attune)

Bonus Points: Specialties 1 Backgrounds 4 Virtues 2 Willpower 5 Charms 3 Merits 3



Exceptional Alchemical Glass Greatsword: Speed 6 - Accuracy +2 - Damage +6L - Defense -1 - Rate 1 - 2, P, R

Exceptional Reinforced Breastplate - +8L/+7B - Mobility -2 - Fatigue 0

Good Luck Charm, Walkaway

Intimacies:
The Unconquered Sun: Love/concern
Autocthtonia: Devotion
Faithful Exalts: Devotion
Unfaithful Exalts: Scorn
Primordials: Hatred
The Spiral: Wistful dreaming



Steel Orchid was fortunate enough during her childhood to see one of the few rare public artist performances of a Celestial Exalt, hinting at the beauty and majesty of the Spire.  Her childlike wonder had little difficulty in conjuring all sorts of images and glorious places.  She wanted to see it all.

Everyone has to grow up someday.  Not everyone completely loses their dreams.

Her Exaltation came relatively young, during her teenage years, when a Terrestrial was putting sexual pressure on some of her friends.  This was back when she had time for friends.  She figured that after she clubbed him on the back of the head with a pipe, she was going to have to run, but he nearly died.  She still can't stand bullying, although she understands the irony of raiding other planets for their resources.

She tends to think of herself as a weapon, a shield between the encroaching death and the many people who depend on her.  Her talents have pointed her naturally towards the Deliberative Army, where her tactical ability and close quarters prowess have ensured that she ascended rapidly through the ranks.

Her primary skills, however, are dedicated towards her warstrider Golden Fury.  The right hand of the Royal Warstrider is constantly wrapped around an orichalcum grand daiklaive, with pistons adjusting the handle so that she can adjust her grip at a moment's notice.

Even outside the warstrider, however, she has herself trained and focused for duty.  Her default assortment is a greatsword of alchemically-treated glass and a reinforced breastplate complete with gauntlets and boots, though she's been known to take other items as well as the situation requires.

Her eagerness to help has gained her a number of allies.  Both the Upright Soldier Military Academy and the Void Hunt have requested and gained her expertise in a large number of minor disputes, but such tales pale in comparison to the third Connection. 

A few years ago, she ended up lost in the Reaches, heavily wounded and alone.  One of the rats came up to her and started nibbling at her, and she grabbed it with the reflexive intent to squash it.  Something in its eyes, though, reminded her of just that look from her old friend from so long ago, being bullied by that Terrestrial.  She let it go, removing her gauntlet to squeeze out some blood into a puddle for the animal.  With a squeak of joy, it lapped at the blood, thanked her for saving his life and showed her the way back to civilization.

After that, she'd head out to the edge and bring out some food for the rats, meeting a few who knew their way around Autocthtonia very well.  Another alliance formed easily enough, and whenever she needs help within the Reaches, she knows how to call for help.

Her private life is dramatically less impressive, at least when compared to other Exalts.  She has few additions to her personal staff besides the usual cooking and cleaning: a masseuse, an elder who's exceptionally proficient at Gateway (though she's passing the point where he can even challenge her anymore) and a former trainer who keeps her appraised of the state of each soldier under her command.

When everything is done, when the Spiral is theirs and every threat is destroyed, perhaps she can attempt to have a true life for herself.



EDIT: A couple things, the Nova Battery and the Alchemical Glass Greatsword, need cleared with you.  The Nova Battery is based on the hearthstone which gives motes based on your Virtue, and the Alchemical Glass has the stats of Chiaroscuran Glass.

[Krule]

She looks fairly good to me, a few notes

She has compassion 2, so she should have at least two intimacies, you have willpower 9, so she can start with up to 11, but you should have at least two... one of which can easily be your warstrider of course.
You have an extra dot of background, Solars get free 1 dot backing in the Solar Deliberative  (which would be enough to requisition a Nova Battery as desired), in addition I see 3 unspent background points (total bps including the +1 you spent to raise your AI) - Never Mind about this, looks like you covered it for the most part.
Regarding Equipment.. Gunstar is filled with wonders beyond counting, if it can be purchased with a Resources rating equal to your present Class.. you can have it.

Lastly: while it doesn't matter too much, as it looks like you will be the first completed solar (and therefor, get the Bonus xp under special, and can buy these charms), I do have a few charm suggestions - Dawn King's Strife may be the best charm available for a Solar with War 5, and it's only 2 charms deep, requiring only Elegant Dance of Bow and Blade, and in essence allows you to apply your Dawn Caste Excellencies to any Dawn ability, meaning you would be able to use the war and melee excellencies to cover Archery and Martial Arts also (and thrown if you picked it up).  Perfected Battle Array meanwhile will ease up on essence commitment for further weapons.  Meanwhile, if you need/want more essence errata has made Immanent Solar Glory work with War, Performance, Lore, Larceny, and Bureaucracy, so that it's favored by all castes of solars.

[Dracorion]

Quick question: are the backgrounds listed the only ones allowed, or could we also get Sifu, Mentor, Familiar, Savant and other stuff?

[Krule]

Ah, shoot, yes those are allowed, I'll add them in.

[Muse]

  Hi hi.  I'm interested.  I pinged Malixie too.  We'll see if he wants to bring the twins back or if I should try something else. 

[Krule]

Your welcome to do either.

[Zaer Darkwail]

Ok, I send here my char what I worked with Riveda until he called quits (because it took too long time for his opinion to shuffle it). Consider this as rough draft :P.

Name:	Jay Jadestar
Type:	Solar
Caste:	Night
Mortal Background:	Son of dragon-blood ace pilot and mother a bar tender, had elder sister
Motivation:	Be the best pilot ever in Gunstar
Intimacies:	Cenjo/father (admiration), Mother (sorrow), Sister (disgust/pity), Racing (passion), Space Battles (passion), Gunstar Defense Line (dislike), Dylan Blade (hatred), Goldhammer (mild annoyance), Phoenix/Radiant (affection), His Circle (respect), Lunar Mate (fear)
Anima:	A orihalcum furred wolf with blazing white eyes.
Anima Power:	Can pay extra motes hide anima manifestation, 10m to get 1/2 essence as added internal penalty to detect his presence. In 11-15 anima display distinguishing features become completely shrouded.
Age:	48
Height:	5'5"
Weight:	180 lbs
Skin:	Caucasian
Hair:	Red
Eyes:	gold/red
Style:	Wear pair of blue 'jeans' along with pair of belts and motorcycle boots and gloves along with studded leather vest. He has red dragon tattoo over his left arm and he wears simple silver necklace which is wrapped around a wooden icon somekind. Which looks like a chained nude female humanoid (closer inspection reveals it to bear resemblance maiden of battle).

Charsheet

Strength	3		Charisma	3		Perception	3
Dexterity	5		Manipulation	3		Intelligence	3
Stamina	3		Appearance	5		Wits	5

Archery	5	Integrity	4	Craft	X
Martial Arts	2	Performance	0	Investigation	0
Melee	0	Presence	5	Lore	2
Thrown	0	Resistance	1	Medicine	0
War	5	Survival	4	Occult	2

Athletics	1	Bureaucracy	0
Awareness	5	Linguistics	0
Dodge	5(+3)	Ride	5
Larceny	3	Sail	5
Stealth	5	Socialize	0

Craft Invested dots
Air	0
Earth	0
Fire	0
Water	0
Wood	0	Magitech	0

Specialties
Sail:Voidfigthers	3	Larceny:Pickpocketing	2

Survival:Urban Environments

1

Ride:Motorbikes

2

Languages:

Old Realm (native)

Charms

Archery

First Excelency, 1m/1 dice
Infinate Mastery, 2m+1wp
Trance of Unhesitating Speed, 2m or 3m/multi action
Flashing Vengeance Draw, 3m
Essence Arrow Attack, 2m
= Righteous Judgement Arrows, Dazzling Flare
Phantom Arrow Technique, permament (1m)
Inexhaustible Bolts of Solar Fire, 8m+1wp
Solar Flare Methodology, 3m+1 wp or 5m+1wp (summons a prayer piece called Seeker of Justice)
Lambent Bolt of Annihilation, 5m (Lords of Creation+Scroll of Errata)
Golden Arttilerist Method, permament (enchances phantom arrow technique and Inexhaustible Bolts of Solar Fire, Scroll of Errata)

War

Heroism-Encouraging Presence, 5m or 5m+1wp (mass combat) (scroll of errata)

Integrity

First Excelency, 1m/1 dice
Phoenix Renewal Tactic (valor), permament

Awareness

Third Excelency, 2m/1 sux
Surprise Anticipation Method, 1m

Dodge

Second Excelency, 2m/1 sux
Shadow Over Water, 1m
Seven Shadow Evasion, 8m (valor)
Reflex Sidestep Technique, 1m
Flow Like Blood, 5m+1wp
Refinement of Flowing Shadows, +3m or +3m+1wp (valor)

Stealth

Second excelency, 2m/1 sux

Ride

First Excelency, 1m/1 dice

Sail

Second excelency, 2m/1 sux
Space Ace Method, 3m (Salty Dog Method)
Void Explorer Attitude, 4m (Perfect Reckoning Technique)
Void Space Omniscience Intuition, 3m+1wp (Oceanic Omniscience Intuition, abyssal mirror: Sea-Scanning Glare)
Immortal Ace Advantage, Permament (Immortal Captain's Advantages, Ink Monkeys)
Void Ambush Technique, 10m+1wp (Sea Ambush Technique)
Ship and Soul Union, Permament (3m to activate Night caste power; +3 all stealth rolls and Void Ambush costs only 1 wp activate)

Thaumaturgic Arts&Degrees

xxx (+x)

Sorcery

xxx, xxm

Backgrounds

Class

4 (his status wealth&influence)

Cult	5 (highly celebrated hero of populate as Goldhawk)

Backing (Solar Deliberate)

1

Artifact (personal manse)

2 (Manse 5;Willstone of Strategos, orihalcum heartstone bracers)

Artifact (transport)

4 (Phoenix 5, Lightning Elemental Core 5, Motorbike 2)

Intelligent Voidfigther

5 (resides in Phoenix)

Command

5 (arm/gear his dragon-blood expert pilots and himself)

Connections (Hadal)

5 (Major contact; Raesha, female elder twilight solar who leads Solar Deliberate research branch for arms development&research and has specialized for voidfigthers specifically, Minor contact/ally; Goldhammer)

Merits

xxxx (xxx) (-xpts)

Virtues

Compassion	3	Conviction	3
Temperance	1	Valor	5

Virtue Flaw:Foolhardy Contempt

Defense Values (dodge):Physical:9, Mental:9

Soak:B2/L1/A0 (unarmored B2/L1)

Health Levels:-0, -1, -1, -1, -2, -2, -2, -2, -4, incapacitated, x3 death

Attacks: Seeker of Justice Spd 5 Acc +2 Dmg 10L* Rate 2 Range 50 Ammo ?? *=Aggravated dmg vs Creatures of Darkness

Willpower:8

Essence:5

Personal Pool:23/23

Peripheral Pool:55/51

Other Pools:20 (sail charms)|

Committed:4

Bonus Points 18/18

Increase Abilities (1pts): Dodge to 5th dot
Increase Willpower (3pts): Up to 8th dot
Increase Backgrounds (14pts): Increase Connections to 5th dot, Increase Artifact to 4th dot, Increase Command to 5th dot, Increase Inteligent Voidfigther up to 5th dot

Experience 320/320

Attributes (60/60): Wits to 5th dot, Inteligence to 3th dot, Perception to 3th dot, Stamina to 3th dot, Strenght up to 3th dot
Abilities/Specialities (98/98): Archery up to 5th dot, Presence up to 5th dot, Survival up to 4th dot, Integrity up to 4th dot, Ride up to 5th dot, Stealth up to 5th dot, Awareness up to 5th dot, Larceny up to 3th dot, Martial Arts up to 2th dot, Purchase first dot in Resistance, Purchase Speciality; Pickpocketing (Larceny)+2, Increase Speciality; Voidfigthers (Sail) up to +3
Charms (97/97): Refinement of Flowing Shadows, Phantom Arrow Technique, Inexhaustible Bolts of Solar Fire, Solar Flare Methodology, Lambent Bolt of Annihilation, Golden Arttilerist Method, Surprise Anticipation Method, Ox-Body Technique, Heroism-Encouraging Presence, Phoenix Renewal Tactic, Dazzling Flare (extra trick with essence arrow attack), Ship and Soul union, Second Stealth Excelency
Backgrounds (12/12): Purchase Artifact (manse) up to 2 dots, increase Cult up to 5th dot
Virtues/Willpower (21/21): Increase Valor to 5th dot
Essence (32): From 4th dot to 5th dot

Background

Jay Jadestar is son of Cenjo Jadestar, a veteran dragon-blood soldier who served in Gunstar Defense Line army as a ace pilot in company known as Brilliant Blades. His mother was Tuya and they lived in Claslat where she worked as barkeep in bar called Racing Star. Jay also had elder sister, Vneya. She was understudying with mother to both aid and continue her work in the bar which attended to needs of populace and rare exalted guests. Jay dreamed to become someday a soldier, ace pilot like his father which he much admired and he had deep respect for Gunstar Defense Line and thinked all of them as heroes like his father descriped the bunch to be. His father always left his wooden/silver medallion of maiden of battles to Jay whenever he left to work, saying it would be Jay's job to protect home while he is gone and giving medallion as link to guidance when time comes to protect what is precious. Cenjo promised return always retrieve it from Jay when he comes home and so take Jay's duty off him and so he did for many years. It became a ritual shared between Cenjo and Jay.

However, Cenjo one day did not come back home. He died on duty when Jay was a ten year old. From Brilliant Blades arrived Dylan Blade, the company's solar commander to deliver his condolences to Tuya and to rest of the family. Jay saw him near instantly start court and flirt with mother.....Jay did not like it but seeing mother happy instead crying was better deal in his opinion so he did not say anything. Later on Jay felt it was perhaps lucky Dylan ignored him entirely and left him linger on background. However relationship lasted a year, during that time Jay's mother and also oddly sister got odd bruises and both told Jay it was because of 'falling down the stairs' altough bruises appeared in odd spots and Jay did not see them even once fall down stairs in home.

Soon when mother saw sister had also bruises they started shout angrily on each other which resulted Jay's elder sister, back then 17 in age, leave home and literally quit studying the running a bar and ceasing to come to bar help mother. Jay watched more bruises come to mother but she seemed happy somereason. Then one day Dylan came drunk and Jay's mother asked him that they go outside but he refused and then Jay learned where she had got bruises.....Dylan beatting mother up! Dylan struck and mother did not defend herself, receive beatting and nasty words along with nastier activity following that. Jay, a brave altough incredibly foolish young eleven year old boy, screamed and charged to try kick Dylan's ass! He felt this is what he should had seen happening and interfere since start! Try keep promise for his dead father even if he is just eleven years old! But mom, probably had forehand guessed what was about to happen and probably for Jay's own good and to protect from drunken solar grabbed him up from behind and dragged him to his own room and locked the door so he could not get out and he was reduced to listen the lustful activity occuring outside his room and sound of smacks from beatting occuring.

But mom smiled after she got the beatting and she forced Jay to swear never to tell anyone about it! Jay, taught by his father since childhood to honor promises sacred gave angirly his word. However after year of abuse Dylan dumped mother completely off cold...called her being worthless and being only a good lay, slut and so on. It crushed mother's self-worth, more so when her husband had died so recently and it made mother cry and become depressed. She lost interest and will to run the bar and so Racing Star was closed. After long silence in mother's part, days after Dylan had spoken and bar closed she hanged herself on appartment and Jay was one to find her.

Jay then met with local district champion; Goldhammer (orihalcum alchemical) and Jay told him full story (as investigation for her death must be thorough and so it forced/freed Jay from his promise) and he expected Dylan being persecuted or very least punished for his actions. Goldhammer was symphatic for Jay's story and he went all his lenght to send his report in, but he was convinced by one Dylan's friends in bureu of investigation that the case is unfounded and that Jay's (a child) testament is merely for Jay looking someone blame for mother's suicide. Goldhammer bought the story and he told Jay to give up on blaming Dylan when is not responsible......this enraged Jay how fucked up the system was! As the system seemed protect Dylan (when in truth it was Dylan's own clever work ensure such scandalous immunity). It was outright unfair and not right in Jay's opinion! It made him despise Gunstar Defense Line instead admire it, it literally crushed all remaining admiration he had. Thinking Dylan was just one rotten apple from the rotten tree but Goldhammer's explanation made him grew spiteful towards Goldhammer who did nothing for Jay's mother who's suicide clearly was related to Dylan's actions. Same spite spreading to go rest Gunstar Defense Line, as he no longer viewed them as noble heroes.....but bunch of crooks clothed as heroes and only true hero was his father which he still deeply admired.

Because of the law he was send to where his elder sister was....and discovered Dylan had been there and dumped her also and she had lot more bruises but instead doing suicide Vneya handled the break up better in her own way. However Dylan left her influence, or determination, to seduce and whore herself to solars until she finds her perfect match and get elevated from her position?! She had forsaken all ideas to run bar like mother did and did not care for Racing Star and she instead gave the property in return for some fancy clothes and comforts?! Jay was disgusted with his sister, loosing mother was hard blow on Jay but he saw sister was in her own way changed more selfish from the kind sister what he had.....and in way it was perhaps better mother killed herself instead succumb to undergo same change caused by Dylan if this is alternative! However Jay had no other place to go so he stayed with his sister and watched her transform more and more ruthless and cold blooded in her pursuit, it becoming a single minded obsession to her to point she dated any solar and bedded any one of them! Despite the looks and mannerism or treatment what she received in bedroom, so long solar looked her favorably was enough and it sickened Jay watch this.

Jay and his sister had break out when he was 17 when he had grown sick of her behavior completely. He had not never seen his sister again after that. He has pondered few times on the future years how she eventually ended up but he never pursued to confirm any of it. Only confirm was few years ago that she had died but he did not attend on her funeral nor visited her tombstone even once. Fearing what he will see or learn about her. Jay, who disliked the whole caste and hierarchy of Gunstar became then a rebel. Jay never commited serious crime but he stole what he could get by as he refused to work in shifts in local factories (as he lacked training for any specialisized field) and his numerous thefts and misbehavior draw ire of Goldhammer and they both started despise each other and they saw regularly over the years for antics what Jay did. He hated Gunstar Defense Line pilots with passion, but knowing it's suicidal to attack them head long so he instead went indirect route; pranks, sabotage their bikes, pour liquid waste on them when they left from tavern (and one case succeeding dump the stuff on Dylan himself; which earned a everlasting enmity from Brilliant Blades from doing that and Jay was very lucky run alive that day). Whenever Jay was caught, Goldhammer dragged him to work in factory as laborer and forced to work there until Jay one way or another slipped free whenever he was not watched by shift chief. He was officially branded as lumpen after his third arrest and forced instalment to work in factory waste section and branding was done by Goldhammer who had given up for Jay learn his lesson and his place in Gunstar society. Becoming lowest low caste in Gunstar. But Jay did not stop; he went further disgrace himself and keeping running off and then Goldhammer decided this was enough and he called for a fellow alchemical to bring in personality changing spike. As Goldhammer personally dislikes using that charm because of his personal ideals and refuses implant it on himself, but it is final method in his disposal and he uses it only these extreme cases of misbehavior.

Jay was in factory when fellow workers started talk about a infamous soulsteel alchemical; Inquisition without Mercy, showing up and many wild theories were thrown around but one stuck out; that she had come to rewire one lumpen workers to more proper behaving. jay, guessing correctly him being target ran away from factory and instead sticking in his normal territory he went to reaches themselves, there at least he could live free from Goldhammer and from the damn system nor get his personality stolen! He learned to scavenge for food from wastes and occassion make daring thefts but overall he no longer lived in civilization anymore. Living in constat fear for gremlins and what else lived in dark glooming urban wasteland. In there he befriended a gang, Blood Dragons, which was made up from similar outcastes like Jay was. Lumen who refused to work three shifts a day nor wanting get themselves personality rewired completely. They wanted only simple thing; freedom from the oppressive system. Jay was accepted in the gang and he bears even today the dark crimson stylisized dragon tattoo over his arm as memory for them. Soon after joining he found out they had stolen motorbikes! Shocked from revelation the gang told that couple years ago they got lucky and hijacked few bikes from Gunstar Defense Line, stealing their patrol bikes! However problem was they lacked essence to power them up. However, a somekind exalt approached them (none was sure who/what this mysterious figure was). However figure gave them deal; he/she offers special artifacts which allows power up the bikes (it was not everlasting, as these artifacts worked like essence batteries which ran out eventually). In return the gang members would hold highly dangerous daredevil races to entertain vain members of exalted host who would witness these races in private channel (which no doubt figure asked high fees to watch). If races were entertaining enough they get also food or some minor left over luxuries (which gang called 'bread crumbs from shiny tables').

Jay, as part of gang, was given his own motorbike. A spare one which had remained collect dust in one hidden carages in reaches where even champion patrols would not come investigate or try locate just handful missing bikes from years ago. Jay, who had very much already given up ever become Gunstar pilot had tears of unsuppressed joy when he started the bike and drived with the gang! Of course life in reach was not picnic but the gang sticked together and worked together and had figured best spots find secure rest locations and food in reaches and bikes gave them advantage when it came to running off from danger if they were cautious. Jay after month of practicing became one best bikers in the gang. He joined the races and he did not care did he win or loose the races, he enjoyed the thrill of driving in dangerous and risky situations. It was only true joy what he had left in the world besides feel of freedom what he had in reaches. Altough how costly that freedom was. He expected to die any moment, either by reaches dangers or during the races but he did not care. He was now thrillseeker like the gang was and the gang gave feel for family what he had lost, they were his siblings who all enjoyed same things with their own quirks in their characther.

But then when Jay had turned 29 year old (ten years living in reaches) they decided do a amazing shocking stunt to hold race in the Yugash! Whole gang involve in it! They spoke the idea had been, appealing to mysterious identity who promised some generous bonus if they pull the race succesfully. With promise for some serious luxury for their wicked lives they drove in Yugash, and started the races in there on less occupied and patrolled streets in the lines. But they were caught off guard by sudden thought-ligthning from Autochton which happened outside normal pattern and it chased after them! The lightning started fry one by one the gang members! Jay, who had lived years mocking death now first time faced it for real.....and he was scared! He did not want to die! He cried in anquish when gang members got fried one by one in painful fashion. Him surviving because he was fastest and ahead of the gang. Driving top speed in hair lenght's away from deadly ligthing, all gang members dead he shouted that he will live for them rest of his life best as possible manner he can if he survives this day! And so he exalted on the spot with that promise which he meant by his full heart. He started elusively dodge the ligthning with his motorbike, moving smooth grace and survive the near death experience thanks his exaltation as a solar. In thrill of the moment he did not realize it until he saw everything glowing gold....and see from motorbike's reflection castemark in his forehead, framed by his lumen brand tattoo.

Loom of Fate detected his exaltation and he was soon tracked down by recruiter from The Academy of Celestial Refinement where his education will be held. Jay felt this was big change for him, but still he disliked solars in general because of Dylan and them being immune or rather above the common laws which apply to mortals and so he could not but laugh on the offer and irony of whole situation. But he joined the academy altough he was listed one most laziest and uncooperative students in there. Along his joining his lumen tattoo was removed but it did not remove spite what Goldhammer held towards Jay whom he thinks does not deserve being a solar (and Jay did not improve his statement by showing tongue at him). Biggest shock for Jay however was that Dylan had actually died heroically in battle years ago while he was in Reaches! So any dreams to get back on Dylan now that he was exalted would never come to be....and it left very sour and bitter taste to jay's mouth. When graduation eventually happened eight years later, they prepared grand banquet for him and even visit on the Malki archives in Sova to meet his earlier exalted incarnation. But he skipped the whole dinner sneaking out the place and racing out with his bike and returning to Claslat! He was few solars ever in Realm history to skip the graduation dinner and ceremonies! The other expections were based on national emergencies or such giving reason ignore the tradition but he did so willingly and on purpose. His reason being simple; he hated solar society and the influence solars have and he so thought all of them being one way or another rotten and he does not want associate with people like them nor live like them! This enraged many solars who had came to attend and disrupt them from their duties or their own plans. It also included his own circle who had came to attendance specifically and also his lunar mate who all felt properly insulted by his childish behavior.

Jay then became a wandering solar in Claslat, doing nothing to contribute on the Realm and holding the daring race stunts to get some food to get by while he slept in ruins or in unfinished buildings. Doing his reaches harnessed urban survival combined with basic pickpocketing to survive. He got caught dozen times red handed by alchemicals and dragon-bloods who grew disgusted that one Realm brightest stars, a solar, was living in such conditions. despite being caught the deeds were not publisized and any rumors were denied, as any confirmation of such tales would lower image of all solars! This bad the situation was and the local law office was stressed to keep things only local level known instead spread it over as common knowlegde. Jay had been offered nice apartment and room and food in Claslat.....but he refused it. He felt it was betrayal for his friends from reaches if he lived in such condittion without honestly deserving it (instead auto granted just because he is solar). He did not live where he should be and where he got food but he continued live like he had before he had been recruited upon the academy! Goldhammer who's dislike only continued grew and he could do little to stop Jay from continuing as he did expect a night in restriction cell whenever he got caught in theft and so earn ire of locals. Only way how he spended his wealth at all was weird tailor made clothes which were not uniform alike at all....but simply weird fashion and he did it so he can even passively defy the present stuck up social structure of Gunstar by dressing against 'the norm'.

However his behavior had drawn attention of Raesha, a female twilight solar who was a brilliant engineer and weapon designer. She had researched his piloting skills were top notch in academy and in practice how he eluded peacekeeper patrols with daring stunts with outdated motorbike model. He had little to no connections to any solars, nor apparent any grand ambitions for that matter and he had disliked to Gunstar Defense Line. Raesha then contacted Jay and introduced him to her secret project....orihalcum Phoenix, a top of the art voidfigther designed specifically for celestials to use. She asked obligation and also eclipse reinforced oaths be silent about the project and in return Jay would get his long awaited dream come true; fly a voidfigther and battle enemies of Realm in space. While not be part of Gunstar Defense Line which he disliked or hated depending day of the week. But rather as part as Raesha's private testing group which occasions cooperates with military but is not part of command structure (expects hers personally and she has enough influence and weight around to keep military out from her labs and her people). Jay agreed on the terms and so he became test pilot for Phoenix and during a day lasting meditation he formed link and connection to ship's AI which is called Radiant. Jay formed team with four other dragon-blood pilots who belonged to Raesha's staff and after several weeks of tests, training for war stragedies and aerial combat and he showed naturally fast progressing talent to pick up piloting voidfigther craft. After final adjustments the ships, the squad entered to one conflict zones to test the ship....and it left their target audience; Gunstar Defense Line military and folks in Realm slack jawed when they saw Phoenix in action. However part of the deal was for Jay work under a alias and not reveal his real name nor face while wearing full body helmed pilot suit. So he is known only by his code name; Goldhawk. For a decade he would remain as unknown pilot and in decade he had formed solid fan base as Goldhawk.

Jay continued live at first like he did before; stealing, living by carbage send to farms work as biological fertilizer and sleeping in ruined city blocks. However his lifstyle was known by mortal family who had served generations Jay's exaltation loyally since beginning of Realm history was highly distressed for his situation. It also included his lunar mate who was pulling all strings she could keep it as secret and she tried locate Jay and talk sense to him but he eluded her very well. As lunar mate could not contact solar deliberate to correct this error as if it was found out Jay had lived already month like this.....they may decide execute him to avoid public embarassment! Jay had even skipped one solar deliberate meetings where it was wondered where he was and was searched for a hour before meeting proceed without him! Lunar mate, who was pressured by all fronts to ask where Jay was went only source of help what she could trust on; to Jay's circle eldest solar Reflections of Serenity. Reflections of Serenity, then upon learning that Jay was more than just rude....but outright disgrace and rebellious solar who clearly had no idea of his responsebillities or idea that his actions will affect more than himself!

So Sapphire Wind digged out Jay's movements with his contacts in subtle manner and learned he had frequently visited Rhaesha's labs in past. He went there and asked what Rhaesha was up to as Jay was living like a slummer. Rhaesha, who was annoyed that another elder solar started snoop around on her business now turned her ire on Jay. She wanted a social outcaste as test pilot as then no one would discover what she is doing, but Jay was pulling his act too far! Also she had mind use Jay in future to advertise success of her project, so his present behavior would not do nor prepare for such high profile life. So she used her own staff locate Jay and send Reflections of Serenity on him, Reflections of Serenity found him on old abandoned storage house drinking stolen booze and he was then dragged by Reflections of Serenity (figuratively speaking) and same time tongue lashed about his behavior. Jay may be stubborn hothead but even he is not immune for well build lecture where he then feels guilty for his behavior as he did not know his lunar mate and mortal family who had attended centuries before him his exaltation were having trouble. He so far had selfishly thinked only to answer on himself and himself only for his troubles.

Back at Rhaesha's lab Rhaesha gave Jay a ultimatum; he either improves his behavior or he is cut off the project for good! Pressured by his own dreams to become ace pilot stacked over his own stuborn nature (which was beaten down by Reflections of Serenity already) and so Jay agreed on the terms. He started live on literally on Rhaesa's lab; some her workers had rooms in the lab and there was spare one which small very spartan in furnituring. He ate same breakfast as workers did and he goes get evening meal by dinning outside with small amount of money and eats same dinner what workers have in lab. Rhaesa did not complain the arrangement and Radiant was actually thrilled for it as it allowed her interact and talk to her pilot more often. It did not remove distress from lunar mate or family entirely but no longer Jay was slumming and so it was big relief know he now had even semi-proper place to stay and eat regularly. So after tough month the rumors of 'slumming solar' became a local urban legend instead of fact, only very few know the truth (including Goldhammer). He was dragged to solar deliberate meetings by Rhaesha but he mostly absented from votes expect the critical decision making where he took same vote as Rhaesha did. Some elder solars could predict pattern in his votes but they never learned what connection Jay had to Rhaesha until a decade later.

Jay however continued keep his profile up as local troublemaker by visiting Claslat daily and often stalked and patrolled by peacekeepers and Goldhammer to wait just Jay to steal something....but as he had no longer need to steal live by he did not. But he more often than not started break local driving codes with motorbike to rouse peacekeepers and Goldhammer into chase where he kept his driving skills sharpened with the daily exercise. But eventually Rhaesha decided it was time to unveil her project and then she waited for a major battle.....then decade later there was one where Goldhawk and his crew proved their mettle in heroics which are even singed today. They drived to the Gunstar Defense Line and there the crew was greeted as heroes and there they took their helms off.

Then many who knew Jay were surprised to see his face under the helm and it was revealed that years he had kept his appearance as vagabond to keep project details secret until development was complete. So many who knew but did not know Jay well started treat all his antics just a extreme means to keep project secret and in actually heroic achievements! Becoming a new milestone to many inspiring young solars to take example when it comes devotion to duty. Only one who was not convinced about that was Goldhammer who knew Jay had always been rebel and that some his actions were not act but he decided be silent about it. Also some elder solars knew about Jay's rebellious nature and easily see through the common lie, but decide to leave it be as it polished and improved solars reputation to keep the lie as fact than tell actual uglier truth side of it.

But eversince his unveiling it resulted in explosive popularity to Jay. He was instead stalked by fangirls (both dragon-blood and mortals) who had got decade to admire Goldhawk's aerial battle stunts and brilliant tactics! Secret identity had been long disputed rumor among the fans and Jay was striking person both hot looks and bit bad boy personality, a very attractive combination. Jay however started to be scared about his obsessive fangirls than ever from Goldhammer or Peacekeepers or ever being caught by Brilliant Blades who still remember the kid who soaked their much admired hero. Second effect was that because he gained so much reputation from this, he became highly wanted and invited guest to the parties. Rhaesha, who was enjoying height of her success in recogniction and now many factories are starting copying her prototype. However she wants her project further promoted and advertised by her test pilots and knowing jay's dislike for 'dress gala' parties of solar circles she pulled strings to get Jay's decades old nemesis; Goldhammer, assigned as Jay's personal assistant to make sure Jay attents in all critical parties. Both Jay and Goldhammer were shocked but neither could object for varied reasons, and so Goldhammer became Jay's assistant and person to keep Jay socially in line.

Third and most important factor was that Jay got to meet with his circle first time in two decades since he exalted, it was highly awkward meeting for him considering he had insulted his circle decade ago with his graduation and Reflections of Serenity had witnessed Jay during his most lowest bottom period of his life. But Reflections of Serenity had succeed talk everyone meet their circle member and smoothen over hurt feelings and consider the meeting as fresh start over for everyone and for Jay. Jay expected decadence, arrogance, pride and other awful feelings related to solars. However he was surprisingly shocked from experience which opened his eyes first time that he may had been wrong all this time regarding solars (altough Reflections of Serenity wisely told all solars are not nice people like them but they are expection than norm). Jay thanks effects of his circle started less dislike the solars and society overall, but he still disliked to dress up into galas so Goldhammer (sometimes loaning Jay's dragon-blood crew) to check Jay meets proper time his tailor and dress ups and gets into party in time. Jay may not care much for presented glory of his crew but his dragon-blood crew who had served under him decade wants to dress up and get finally enjoy fruits of their hard work!

However, even he now actively spends his wealth more than usual he still refuses live in splendid manor dedicated for his exaltation. Still live in Rhaesha's labs and even his recogniction had positive impact on his mortal staff who upkeeps the manor in his absence are still wondering (and guessing) why he does not come 'home' that he no longer needs act up as vagabond? Same question is pondered by his lunar mate who wants meet him but Jay keeps eluding her best of his abilities and now she is starting loose patience on said subject. It's matter of time before Jay is forced to meet her. Reason why Jay avoids her is mostly on fear; she is older, experienced and fears she turns him into full blown solar fitting on society. A something which Jay is correct about as Jay finds her strikingly attractive and some memories in his shard are influencing his own feelings and empowering the attraction.

Statitics for Orihalcum Phoenix (unique voidfigther)

Speed: 60/120 mph
Maneuverability: +S3 (Lore 2, Sail 2, Occult 2)
Endurance: Need powered by +5 essence core heartstone. Needs maintenance from every 20 hour of use. Repair 4.
Crew: 1/1
Cargo: 1 passenger or equivalent of cargo
Armor: 25L/30B (Hardness 12L/15B)
Health Levels: Ux10/Mx5/Cx4/Ix2/D
Integrated Artifacts
Solar Slicer: Speed 6, Accuracy +1, Damage 20L (piercing), Rate 1, Range 600. Each shot costs six motes. Each shot consists of wave beam which is 600 yards long and can be from two to fifty yards wide. Because of razor sharp structure of the beam it is considered piercing attack and it drops opposition's armor by -4. It is meant to clear cluster of enemies in single close range blast or hit massive targets several systems and blocks all once.
Long-Ranged Twin Lightning Ballista Cannons: Speed 6, Accuracy +2, Damage 25L, Rate 2, Range 1,500. Each shot costs three motes.
Nova Warheads: Speed 5, Accuracy +0, Damage 30A, Rate 1, Range 1,000. All ships within 100 yards of the initial point of detonation are damaged if their DV is lower than the pilots attack roll. Charging a nova warhead costs ten motes.
Intelligence: Orihalcum Phoenix houses a intelligence similar what is found in intelligent royal warstriders. Statistics in below;

	Charisma	3		Perception	3
	Manipulation	2		Intelligence	5
	Appearance	x		Wits	2

Virtues

Compassion	2	Conviction	2
Temperance	2	Valor	3

Charms

Measure The Wind, 1m
Amethyst Awareness, 6m
Tracking, 5m
Essence Bite, 3m/scene
Uncanny Prowess, 2m
Donning Spiritual Armor, 5m/scene
Essence: 3  Motes: 30
Private Auspicious Relay Node: Works same as normal Auspicious Relay Node, expect it goes in separated wave length compared to other voidfigthers in Gunstar and so is more private. It's attended by chosen of battles who is under command/service of Raesha.
Celestial Resonance Engine: Unlike standard voidfigther the core of the voidfigther has been rebuild entirely to host a celestial core made from orihalcum sphere with moonsilver links towards starmetal chips which communicate with adamant core inside orihalcum sphere shell. Overall it provides 30 motes essence use for Phoenix's weapons and systems but powering none the charms.
Environmental Shielding: A voidfighter gunship’s hull provides full protection against the hazards of exposure to hard vacuum. The ship is also capable of producing an unlimited supply of air, synthesizing it from Essence drawn out of its celestial core.
Integrated God-Machine Grid: The grid contains the installed machine god's charms which are alchemical in nature. It has slot for total six charms which can be removed and replaced by other charms while ship is docked in dock bay and download needed programs use the charms. So far Raesha has not been able expand slots any further than this but it goes above average standard voidfigther. The qualifications for each charm is based on driver's own attributes than attributes of the awakened god in voidfigther.

[Krule]

Ok, Jay is a bit more antisocial then I'm looking for in characters, he needs to be updated to my character creation rules, ally is covered by Connections and Class together, but Mentor can be purchased seperately..  and he doesn't quite work with the vision I have of the society of Autochthonia, but he can be fixed, and I'm willing to work on it, but some of the story needs some serious work.  You need connections with either the Gunstar Defense Line, with Hadal or with Nurad (where Voidfighter research occers) to cover his story too.

But here are a few bullet points that I need dealt with.

• With regards to relationships, while the Celestial Host can get away with a lot, the Deliberative comes down a bit hard on those who abuse their power, though the Celestial's can get away with quite a bit, the Lawgivers more then the rest, but there are a number of even solar's who would be sympathetic to Jay's issues.


• In addition, if a mortal was giving a Champion that much trouble, certain charms, such as Personality Override Spike, as one of the lowest caste, it would be encouraged for Goldhammer to make use of that particular series of charms, or to call one someone who could, in order to make Jay more agreeable to his work.  Of course, he could have heard that he was going to be taken in for reprogramming and that might be part of why he ran away into the reaches


• As a solar, however, he will be required to attend the Deliberative, which meets once a season.. even Magus attends, though it's through holographic projections that are silenced to prevent him from doing anything more then agreeing or disagreeing with a vote.  A solar who is too anti-social is a threat to the realm, he must contribute to the needs of the Gunstar in someway, and publicly, and I see no integrity charms that would keep some of the more social celestials (and not just solars, there are sidereals and lunars who would feel the same way) from using charms to convince him so.


• Thirdly, the link between Solar's and Orichalcum caste will create a sense of kinship between him and Goldhammer, something I don't believe either of them would be comfortable with..  if your not careful, some folks in the Solar Deliberative will assign Goldhammer permanently to Jay as a personal aid and assistant to keep him active and involved in the realm.


• Fourthly, the lunar mate of Jay's exaltation is likely to be very distressed by his behavior, if he was sleeping in the streets, he might wake up to find himself in his personal estates, which brings in the other problem, his estate, there are likely families who have served his exaltation for generations and who are extremely distressed.

Easiest fix I can see to some of these problems, make his work as Goldhawk public rather then private, perhaps have the eclipse member of his circle come and explain to him, how his behavior is as bad as Dylans, sense he's acting like a spoiled brat (would have used those words almost exactly) could have been the one who dragged him to Rasha.  We could also have Dylan (and perhaps Goldhammer) die heroically, creating another problem in terms of coming to terms with the issues.

[Zaer Darkwail]

I likely have Nurad connections maxed out so it means he has elder solar support in regards the project. Gunstar Defense Line he would not had formed any contact because his personal dislike of the lot.

Now to bullets;

1) I intented Dylan to be Gunstar version of Desus; a dick in private life while publicly loved and worshipped figure. In essence he had enough connections that the crimes what he does towards lower rank mortal population simply never get to ears of Deliberate or never taken into discussion. Shortly a social fu dick in extreme scale.

2) I can agree to that; he was meant to be reprogrammed (Goldhammer lacking the charm) and Jay overhearing workers speak of this or that alchemical in factory and knowing her reputation....Jay bolted and went to reaches as he refused to get his freedom of choice stolen from him.

3) He could attend once he had been forcibly dragged once to a session by the elder solar who watches on the new voidfigther project which he is part off. Altough not plan purchase any mentor backgrounds but she could had been guiding force to keep Jay out of trouble this way. But in session Jay would avoid voting or abstain from voting (assuming abstain is allowed so long that the single vote does not prevent solving the issue).

4) I think it would be suitable that Goldhammer is put responsible watch on wayward Jay and keep him socially active and attending to solar events even when Jay has not much interest on them personally. A kind of personal secretary who runs find him or drag and dress him (note; not too violent dragging but more social fuing and him dragging heels while walking). So Jay attends the stuff what he needs in Realm in social wise as solar but outside of these neccesary cases he would not much interact expect with his circle, close friends and the elder solar in charge of the project and his flight squadron.

5) I think this point Jay no longer sleeps in the streets, but there was point where mortal family who had attended specifically Jay's exaltation's needs in his personal estate were highly distressed and so was his lunar mate. It's because these two the elder solar learned of jay's 'bad habbit' early on (so it lasted like a month the rumor about 'slumming solar' incident). But because he prefers sleep in small bunk rooms in the lab than his personal estate the family is mildly distressed and having moral issues as they feel present exaltation hates them or something such (while not sure how Lunar would take this).

Anyway I am fine for a point Jay was undercover and had strictly secret with project and was known long while as Goldhawk only when he went on field of battle. But now publisized his past misdeeds were forgiven and seen he does contribute to Realm after all (even if he is seen odd and somecases considered crazy). But true that Jay has no integrity charms so he is easy to social fu around but once he finds out such charms he goes angry about it and strictly avoids invinduals who had repeatedly used the charms on him.

Now, I think somepoint Dylan died so the case regarding Jay's family remains unresolved permamently (as nobody digs past sins of fallen heroic solar and place them on public). So Jay never got his 'proper justice' done on Dylan. He may had even died while he was in Reaches and he did not learn it until he studied in celestial academy.

So overall we could push the whole anti-social stuff as past matters and he is social with his own circle, Goldhammer, elder solar and attend neccesary parties and perhaps lunar mate also depending how she views about Jay and how their relationship had developed (prefer lunar mate being female).

[Krule]

Thank you, with those points covered, that covers my concerns, he still needs to be brought into line with my character generation rules, but the backstory fits into Gunstar well enough that you can consider it accepted.

[Zaer Darkwail]

Ok, and lastly I need four 'voidfigther' charms for my char. The Shards did not have any (closest was Drive charms but we do not use them).

[Krule]

Voidfighter charms are adapted from Alchemical Charms, you don't carry them, your ship does, but any alchemical charm that can reasonably be fitted to a ship can be installed in your ship, and altered configurations can be uninstalled and new one's used... the level 4 voidfighter has 4 such slots, a level 5 experimental voidfighter is a different matter.

[AndyZ]

Name: General Steel Orchid
Caste: Dawn
Anima: A Gold-White Banner marked with the Dawn symbol
Motivation: Free the Unconquered Sun

Strength 3 Dexterity 5 Stamina 3
Charisma 4 Manipulation 2 Appearance 4
Perception 5 Intelligence 3 Wits 5

*Archery 3
Athletics 3
*Awareness 5 (Initiative +3)
Craft (Fire) 1
Dodge 3
*Integrity 4
Linguistics 1: Ratspeak
Lore 3
*Martial Arts 3
Medicine 2
*Melee 5 (Two-Handed Blades +3)
*Occult 2
Performance 1
*Presence 4
*Resistance 5 (Fatigue +3)
Sail 2
Socialize 3
*Thrown 3
*War 5 (Tactics +3)

CHARMS

Martial Arts

Fists of Iron Attack
Thunderclap Rush Attack

Melee

Melee Resurgent
Hungry Tiger Technique
Golden Destruction Cut
One Weapon, Two Blows
Peony Blossom Attack
Iron Whirlwind Attack
Invincible Fury of the Dawn
Call the Blade
Iron Raptor Technique
Blazing Solar Bolt

Thrown

Joint-Wounding Attack

War

War Overwhelming
Rout-Stemming Gesture
Commanding the Celestial Army
Mob-Dispersing Rebuke
Fury-Inciting Presence
General of the All-Seeing Sun
Ideal Battle Knowledge Prana
Heroism-Encouraging Presence
Tiger Warrior Training Technique
Legendary Warrior Curriculum
Elegant Dance of Bow and Blade
Dawn King's Strife

Integrity

Integrity Triumphant
Integrity-Protecting Prana
Phoenix Renewal Tactic

Presence

Presence Triumphant
Irresistible Salesman Spirit

Resistance

Ox-Body Technique x3
Essence-Gathering Temper
Durability of Oak Meditation
Soul Fire Resurgence
Invincible Essence Reinforcement

Awareness

Awareness Overwhelming
Panoptic Fusion Discipline
Surprise Anticipation Method

Compassion 2 Conviction 3 Temperance 2 Valor 5
Essence 5 Willpower 10
Limit Break: Heart of Flint (Conviction)


Artifact 4 Offensive
-Orichalcum Royal Warstrider (5)
-Attached Grand Daiklaive (3)
-Nova Battery (1)
   This level 1 orichalcum/lightning essence core powers artifacts as if it was level 3.
-Orichalcum Grand Daiklaive

Artifact 2 Defensive
-Orichalcum Superheavy Plate
-Silken Armor
-Collar of Dawn's Cleansing Light

Warstrider AI 4
Backing 5: The Deliberative Army
Class 4
Command 5
Connections 4: The Deliberative Army
Connections 1: The Scurrying Nation
Connections 1: The Dragon Academies
Connections 1: The Void Hunt
Cult 3

Tactical Instincts +3

Personal Essence: 25
Peripheral Essence: 38  (19 committed, 57 total) (Warstrider takes 24 motes to attune)



Exceptional Alchemical Glass Greatsword: Speed 6 - Accuracy +2 - Damage +6L - Defense -1 - Rate 1 - 2, P, R

Exceptional Reinforced Breastplate - +8L/+7B - Mobility -2 - Fatigue 0

Good Luck Charm, Walkaway

Intimacies:
The Unconquered Sun: Love/concern
Autocthtonia: Devotion
Faithful Exalts: Devotion
Unfaithful Exalts: Scorn
Primordials: Hatred
The Spiral: Wistful dreaming
Her troops: Perfectionist expectation (Never completely satisfied with their accomplishments and always expecting them to do better)
Her servants: Unspoken appreciation

Original backstory

Steel Orchid was fortunate enough during her childhood to see one of the few rare public artist performances of a Celestial Exalt, hinting at the beauty and majesty of the Spire.  Her childlike wonder had little difficulty in conjuring all sorts of images and glorious places.  She wanted to see it all.

Everyone has to grow up someday.  Not everyone completely loses their dreams.

Her Exaltation came relatively young, during her teenage years, when a Terrestrial was putting sexual pressure on some of her friends.  This was back when she had time for friends.  She figured that after she clubbed him on the back of the head with a pipe, she was going to have to run, but he nearly died.  She still can't stand bullying, although she understands the irony of raiding other planets for their resources.

She tends to think of herself as a weapon, a shield between the encroaching death and the many people who depend on her.  Her talents have pointed her naturally towards the Deliberative Army, where her tactical ability and close quarters prowess have ensured that she ascended rapidly through the ranks.

Her primary skills, however, are dedicated towards her warstrider Golden Fury.  The right hand of the Royal Warstrider is constantly wrapped around an orichalcum grand daiklaive, with pistons adjusting the handle so that she can adjust her grip at a moment's notice.

Even outside the warstrider, however, she has herself trained and focused for duty.  Her default assortment is a greatsword of alchemically-treated glass and a reinforced breastplate complete with gauntlets and boots, though she's been known to take other items as well as the situation requires.

Her eagerness to help has gained her a number of allies.  Both the Upright Soldier Military Academy and the Void Hunt have requested and gained her expertise in a large number of minor disputes, but such tales pale in comparison to the third Connection. 

A few years ago, she ended up lost in the Reaches, heavily wounded and alone.  One of the rats came up to her and started nibbling at her, and she grabbed it with the reflexive intent to squash it.  Something in its eyes, though, reminded her of just that look from her old friend from so long ago, being bullied by that Terrestrial.  She let it go, removing her gauntlet to squeeze out some blood into a puddle for the animal.  With a squeak of joy, it lapped at the blood, thanked her for saving his life and showed her the way back to civilization.

After that, she'd head out to the edge and bring out some food for the rats, meeting a few who knew their way around Autocthtonia very well.  Another alliance formed easily enough, and whenever she needs help within the Reaches, she knows how to call for help.

Her private life is dramatically less impressive, at least when compared to other Exalts.  She has few additions to her personal staff besides the usual cooking and cleaning: a masseuse, an elder who's exceptionally proficient at Gateway (though she's passing the point where he can even challenge her anymore) and a former trainer who keeps her appraised of the state of each soldier under her command.

When everything is done, when the Spiral is theirs and every threat is destroyed, perhaps she can attempt to have a true life for herself.

New backstory

The years have not been kind.  No matter how much Steel Orchid does, whether become a general, claim an entire legion of troops under her command, or prove herself time and again, it never truly feels like they're getting closer to their goal.  She's spent what little free time she has in learning more and more, with only a few indulgences for herself like taking the time to learn the strange language inimical to the Scurrying Nation.

They call her a general now.  She has officers who understand the strengths and weaknesses of each of her troops, even if she doesn't.  There are just too many, and they come and go too quickly for her to handle the situation.  Thankfully, her extraordinary prowess with understanding the battlefield allows her to handle units the same way one would understand individuals.

Her army group is called the Sunburners, decorated with an eight-pointed gold star painted over the heart.  On more than one occasion, she's proven a soldier unworthy to wear that star by slicing it clean from his armor.  Within Autocthtonia, they salute with a fist to the chest, the resounding sound against the plate echoing upon the walls.  Outside, they salute with a hand to the forehead (often held so as to protect against the glare from the sunlight).  She holds her troops to an exceptional standard while on duty, but allows leniencies otherwise, sometimes even fronting her own credit to provide various forms of entertainment when they do spectacularly well.  It's the only real way she knows how to thank them.

She's had to give up on any single opponent keeping her tactically sharp.  The Upright Soldier Military Academy has five Earth Dragon brothers, each linked with a Torc of Unified Action and each a genius in the art of war, who are able to play her to roughly even odds.  She knows that she hones their edges just as much as they hone hers.

It never seems like enough.  No matter how much her mind shows her the array of choices and possibilities, no matter how she can look and see that things are improving, she hasn't yet learned how to kill that little girl who just wants to go home to the Spiral and stop all the fighting.  The strategy is simple: they need the Unconquered Sun to be freed.  What she's always known in her heart has been tempered by the mental understanding that only his glory offers them a true chance of victory.

Once she got to meet Lytek.  She didn't have much to say beyond thanking him that she had no memories of dying.  He said a number of things but she didn't really understand most of it.  Like magitech, so much of it simply flew over her head; she barely had the talent for even crafting steel.  However, she knows that there are any number of things that cannot be created by those who know how to best use them.

It's far less common now, but she still goes out to the Reaches from time to time with a can of processed meat, feeding the rats as thanks to the one who saved her so very long ago.  She hasn't seen Skirling in forever, and she doesn't know the lifespan of rats, but she doesn't want to find out.  It almost certainly isn't long enough for him to still be alive.

Last week, a few of the officers anonymously asked her to deal with one of the corporals who was getting drunk on duty and harassing his subordinates.  It was simple enough to determine, since he stank of ale and tried to take a swing at her.  After she knocked his plate armor out of alignment so that he couldn't properly defend himself, she kicked him to the floor and ripped the medals of rank from his chest.  It wasn't the first time she'd had to deal with someone like that.  She doesn't even remember his name.  The difficult part is how easy it feels when she deals with someone one on one.  It almost makes her want to rush in to the Spiral already, a foolhardy and reckless charge of arrogance.

She knew that this long war was taking its toll on her.  She could only imagine how other people were coping, even if she knew she could never so much as bring it up.  Everyone had to believe that only they were cracking under the pressure, because each person had to believe that their allies would stand fast no matter what.  Soon this nightmare would hopefully end, and usher in an age of peace and paradise.

-0:  [ ]
-1:  [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
-2:  [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
-4:  [ ]
Inc: [ ]

Personal Essence: 25 / 25
Peripheral Essence: 38 / 38 (Warstrider takes 24 motes to attune)

Willpower: O O O O O O O O O O

Conviction: [ ] [ ] [ ]
Valor: [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Orichalcum Grand Daiklaive: Speed 5 - Accuracy 16 - Damage +14L/4 - Defense 14/2=7 - Rate 2 - 2, O, R
Exceptional Fighting Gauntlets: Speed 5 - Accuracy 9 - Damage +9B - Defense 10/2=5 - Rate 2
Exceptional Iron Boots: Speed 5 - Accuracy 9 - Damage +10B - Defense 5/2=3 - Rate 2

Unarmored Soak: 9 B - 11 L - 5 A - 1 H (Silken Armor)
Armored Soak: 26 B - 28 L - 22 A - 11 H

Warstrider:

Orichalcum Grand Daiklaive: Speed 5 - Accuracy 17 - Damage +40L/8 - Defense 14/2=7 - Rate 3 - 2, O, P, R

Soak: 33 B - 35 L - 29 A - 13 H

[Zaer Darkwail]

Voidfighter charms are adapted from Alchemical Charms, you don't carry them, your ship does, but any alchemical charm that can reasonably be fitted to a ship can be installed in your ship, and altered configurations can be uninstalled and new one's used... the level 4 voidfighter has 4 such slots, a level 5 experimental voidfighter is a different matter.

Umh, my ship has like 6 slots according Riveda's permission. But I am asking what charms solars had developed specifically for piloting voidfigthers. Or is sail excelency only way to go about it?

[Krule]

Ok, directly affecting a voidfighter is a matter of sail charms, you could develop or adapt a few specific ones if you wished.
Charms fitted to the Voidfighter are sort of like an exalt riding inside an alchemical, with the exalt controlling the use of the charms

Think of your Voidfighter as a non-sentient alchemical with 6 General Slots, that are powered from your essence pool

Example Installation: Optical Shroud, Hidden Assembly Conclave, Dexterity Essence Optimized, Accelerated Response System(Dodge), Precalculated Evasion System, Fluid Impeller Drive

- This one would give someone the ability to cloak themselves and their wing, perfectly dodge attacks, and act as a submersible in liquids, as well as enhance dexterity as desired, at the commitment cost of the charms and the voidfighter while flying it, but it's only one of thousands of possible configurations, and some charms are useless on a void fighter.

[Zaer Darkwail]

Hmmm, that set looks hot expect I doubt we face situation (regularly at least) where I need dip into liquid. Anyways below is the stats of the voidfigther and it's inteligence is made sameway as with royal warstrider (plan up it up to 5 with your creation rules). It has own pool where power it's essence weapons (so pilot has freedom use alchemical charms). Altough entity itself has also own charms which it can activate as sepparated actions from pilot (and also can access to alchemical charms if pilot uses other charms on vessel or squad).

Convert some sail charms you say? Hmmm.....

Salty Dog Method renamed = Space Ace Method

Perfect Reckoning Technique = Name remains same (but applies only to hazards related voidfigther flight)

Immortal Captain's Advantages = Immortal Ace Advantage (and move base charm be essence 4 so it extends to 10 miles distance to use charms remotely on ship and no need to see it or commune with AI on ship itself)

Invincible Admiral Method = Invincible Commander Method (name changed but effect same but themed for voidfigthers and space battle condittions)

Sea Ambush Technique = Void Ambush Technique (same as before, but mentions if having Invincible Admiral Method active then all units led by exalt double stealth results and can hide 'plain sight')

Oceanic Omniscience Intuition = Void Space Omniscience Intuition (works on environment where voidfigthers fly in and works as kind personal radar system).

Anyways I rework charsheet tomorrow.

Statitics for Orihalcum Phoenix (unique voidfigther)

Speed: 60/120 mph
Maneuverability: +S3 (Lore 2, Sail 2, Occult 2)
Endurance: Need powered by +5 essence core heartstone. Needs maintenance from every 20 hour of use. Repair 4.
Crew: 1/1
Cargo: 1 passenger or equivalent of cargo
Armor: 25L/30B (Hardness 12L/15B)
Health Levels: Ux10/Mx5/Cx4/Ix2/D
Integrated Artifacts
Solar Slicer: Speed 6, Accuracy +1, Damage 20L (piercing), Rate 1, Range 600. Each shot costs six motes. Each shot consists of wave beam which is 600 yards long and can be from two to fifty yards wide. Because of razor sharp structure of the beam it is considered piercing attack and it drops opposition's armor by -4. It is meant to clear cluster of enemies in single close range blast or hit massive targets several systems and blocks all once.
Long-Ranged Twin Lightning Ballista Cannons: Speed 6, Accuracy +2, Damage 25L, Rate 2, Range 1,500. Each shot costs three motes.
Nova Warheads: Speed 5, Accuracy +0, Damage 30A, Rate 1, Range 1,000. All ships within 100 yards of the initial point of detonation are damaged if their DV is lower than the pilots attack roll. Charging a nova warhead costs ten motes.
Intelligence: Orihalcum Phoenix houses a intelligence similar what is found in intelligent royal warstriders. Statistics in below;

	Charisma	3		Perception	3
	Manipulation	2		Intelligence	5
	Appearance	x		Wits	2

Virtues

Compassion	2	Conviction	2
Temperance	2	Valor	3

Charms

Measure The Wind, 1m
Amethyst Awareness, 6m
Tracking, 5m
Essence Bite, 3m/scene
Uncanny Prowess, 2m
Donning Spiritual Armor, 5m/scene
Essence: 3  Motes: 30
Private Auspicious Relay Node: Works same as normal Auspicious Relay Node, expect it goes in separated wave length compared to other voidfigthers in Gunstar and so is more private. It's attended by chosen of battles who is under command/service of Raesha.
Celestial Resonance Engine: Unlike standard voidfigther the core of the voidfigther has been rebuild entirely to host a celestial core made from orihalcum sphere with moonsilver links towards starmetal chips which communicate with adamant core inside orihalcum sphere shell. Overall it provides 30 motes essence use for Phoenix's weapons and systems but powering none the charms.
Environmental Shielding: A voidfighter gunship’s hull provides full protection against the hazards of exposure to hard vacuum. The ship is also capable of producing an unlimited supply of air, synthesizing it from Essence drawn out of its celestial core.
Integrated God-Machine Grid: The grid contains the installed machine god's charms which are alchemical in nature. It has slot for total six charms which can be removed and replaced by other charms while ship is docked in dock bay and download needed programs use the charms. So far Raesha has not been able expand slots any further than this but it goes above average standard voidfigther. The qualifications for each charm is based on driver's own attributes than attributes of the awakened god in voidfigther.

[Krule]

Well, you realize that you can remove and change the charms installed in your voidfighter by request.. switch out the Fluid Impeller Drive for Aim Calibrating Sensors.

[Zaer Darkwail]

I do realize that. Just saying a aquatic diving is unlikely place where my char flies in :P. If not going explore weird regions.

I wanted something related to increase actual movement speed of the vessel, but only close to it is Personal Gravity Apparatus (secondary mode). With drawback the ship is ligther and may face penalties from being ligther than it is.

[Muse]

The twins and their Best Guy are on their way. 

[Krule]

excellent, all character generation rules are up.

[Muse]

Oh, that's interesting.  How do we go about raising Backgrounds with Experience?