View source for Random Nerd/ElementalRealm

While I was out driving the other day, shortly after reading Games Of Divinity, a thought occurred to me about Exalted. 

In the canonical setting, dynastic Dragonblooded tend to marry other DBs. If, for whatever reason, they're unable to, they tend to marry patricians of as good breeding as they can manage, so the blood of their offspring will be as close to pure as possible. 

However, at least for the game I'm planning on running, there will be another option. Specifically, an elemental with an element corresponding to Mister Can't Find A Dragonblooded Wife's aspect. 

As I'd run this, such a creature would have a chance between that of a well-bred patrician and a low-Breeding Dragonblooded of having a DB kid if the other spouse is a matching DB, and there are some side benefits, as well. 

First off, it's a way to strengthen ties to the spirit courts for the DB family, and a way to get Realm prestige for the elemental. Second, there's a reasonable chance of getting a elementalblooded if the kid's not a DB, and while the real DBs would look down on such a person, most mortals probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between one haughty guy with elemental powers and another. And finally, it's an option that would lower a family's status a lot more than marrying people off to mortals. 

Meanwhile, the elementals get a chance to have kids in the Realm and to form ties with a dynastic family. Since (based on numbers of sorcerors and the fact that Terrestrial stuff's the best the Realm can manage) most of the people summoning elementals would probably be found in the Realm, having blood ties to DB families would be a very useful thing for an elemental. In a game where this is the case, elementals will have rights in the Realm, at least as long as they can demonstrate kinship with some DBs. Also, they'd produce kids (both DB and elementalblooded) in positions of power in the Realm, which could be quite useful indeed for an elemental with political designs. 

As I plan to handle it, children of DBs and non-matching elementals tend to be stillborn because of non-compatable Essence flows in their bodies, and no DB with an elemental father or mother is eligible for the Breeding background. As a result of the latter fact, families with lots of these guys will tend to weaken their blood further over the long run, unless they're really low on DBs. 

In a game that takes this view, the relationships between the elemental courts and the Realm will be far closer, there'll be a lot more elementalblooded running around the Realm (who, on my view, will have rights and status somewhere between that of a DB and that of a non-Dragonblooded Dynast), and the Realm will be notably more alien, what with all the people with inhuman parentage running around. 

Now, with this many elementalblooded from the Dynastic houses running around the Realm, the Immaculate Order would have a significantly higher number of elementalblooded members.  As they're able to manipulate Essence, but not Dragonblooded, there would have to be room made for them in terms of Essence training.  Probably, on my view, there'd be an elemental "Martial Art" (which'd in reality probably be a tree of standard elemental Charms) for each element.  Now, as these would presumably not be the work of the Sidereals, they wouldn't be as effective as the Five Dragon Paths, but they'd be able to do things that those couldn't.  

I'm not sure what they <i>should</I> do, however, save that they'd build on the natural powers of elementals.  There'd likely be defenses based on partial or total dematerialization, and ones based on turning into one's element.  Clinch/hold escapes, also, where one could turn to water or fire or whatever to flow out of their grasp and reform.  I can also see trees of ranged effects based on Dragon's Suspire in the same ways that normal martial arts are based on hand-to-hand combat.

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