Difference between revisions of "The Book Of Fire/Elder Exalted2"

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Fed Namar, Ancient Chosen of Battles

Like many of the Maiden of Battles' Chosen, Fed Namar was born to one of the more turbulent eras of the First Age. His exaltation occured at the age of 12, when he idly wandered through the camp of a Solar general waging a campaign against invading Fair Folk, found the general, and calmly assured him that he was going to lose the battle. The bemused Dawn brought the boy along to show him the error of his forecast, but was stymied when every prediction he made from overlooking the battle was accurate. It wasn't until the general swallowed his pride and followed the boy's advice that clear gains were made that day. After the enemy retreated, the Sidereals showed up for the boy...

Fed took to the training like a bird to the air, always aware that he had a sponser watching over him in the form of General Kenichi, whom he had helped his first unofficial day on the job. When the time came for field work, he happily accepted the generals' offer to join his field staff, managing and training his troops and bodyguard, as well as providing strategic advice. Eventually Namar began to realize that something was wrong with his beloved leader. Too many out-of-character battlefield atrocities and fatal punishments of his own men were occurring. Consulting with his fellow Sidereals revealed the problem to be widespread among the Solars. And so, with heavy heart, he joined in their campaign to purge the Solars.

It was the rhetoric of a young Chosen of Secrets named Chejop Kejak which convinced him of his path. Like all campaigns, once he had committed himself to it, he allowed no regrets or hesitation. On the nights following the Usurpation, Namar was one of the few Sidereals to actively take the field against their former masters; his Grand Grimcleaver weakened many Solars enough so that they could be finished off by his Terrestrial troops, or finished the job the Terrestrials had started.

His was also one of the main hands involved in the revising of The Thousand Correct Actions for the Shogunate's military. For the remainder of the First Age, Namar would maintain a succession of Resplendent Destinies as instructors in the military academies of both the Shogunate, and later, the Realm. He thus has great influence over how those states waged war, and he has been close friends with many of the greatest war leaders of both regimes, including Cathek Cainen and Tepet Arada (as well as their ancestors). It was with this in mind that he vehemently clashed with Chejop for the first time in centuries. Kejak insisted on sacrificing the Tepet legions to the Bull of the North for political reasons, a move Namar considered both wasteful and dishonorable. Perhaps the two alone could have reasoned out a better solution, but the entire Inner Circle of the Bronze Faction was involved in the dispute, and so no clear way forward could be found.

Now, after watching one of the finest legions and students he has ever polished broken and disgraced, Namar is having doubts about his path and faith in Kejak for the first time in millenia. He still will not join the Gold Faction, of course. But he may well seek out alternatives on his own, while publicly still toeing the party line. He believes that he has found one such opportunity in the figure of Tepet Ejava. He remembers predicting great things for the Roseblack, and now prepares to actively make them come true. So far, neither Faction has a clear position on her, which leaves her availability wide open. She may well find herself experiencing a strong streak of good fortune in the near future...

Namar knows that he hasn't much time left. He regards helping the Roseblack as not only benefiting both the Realm and Creation, but also as making some small atonement for his part in the decimation of her House. If he can arrange it, he will ride alongside with her, suitably disguised as a minor officer or armsbearer. Secretly, it is his hope that she can retake her family's honor on the field by campaigning against the Bull of the North. If this occurs, then Namar, knowing well the limits of Terrestrial might, may well take up his Grimcleaver one last time...

As one of the Bronze Factions' Elders, and the Senior Chosen of Battles, Namar has Salary and Backing 5 and is always surrounded by a scale's worth of martial gods and elementals (whom he has enhanced with Sidereal War Charms and Astrology), as well as Sidereal aides and students working in the Division of Battles. He chairs Conventions on Realm Warfare and Invasions From Beyond, and is also on good terms with all the Regional War gods, who still make half-hearted efforts to convince him to leave Hu Dai Liang and join their staffs. Namar can even call upon the Aerial Legion if need be. Although he would normally only do so in case of a major invasion of Creation, he might take a small detachment of them to Creation for "field exercises" against a worthwhile opponent...

Namar has all combat Abilities and Essence at 8, Willpower at 10, and has mastered nearly all Sidereal Charms, esp. those relating to combat (of which he has many, many Combos). While initiated into Celestial level sorcery, he prefers to rely on Terrestrial spells in combat. In battle, he wields a Grand Grimcleaver and wears a Starmetal Celestial Battle Armor (this is a special model that trades both standard Sidereal features for a single one that allows him to practice all Martial Arts Charms as if unarmored). He has also mastered many Supernatural Martial Arts, altho he prefers to practice those that rely on straightforward combat (such as First Pulse and Solar Hero Style) to the more esoteric types. Charcoal March of Spiders, Prismatic Arrangement of Creation, and (of course) Scarlet Patterned Battlefield Styles are his favored Sidereal Martial Arts.

Namar's greatest secret is that, after leading the fighting in the South during the Contagion and Fair Folk invasion, his Maiden was so pleased with him that she created (revealed?) a new Sidereal Charm to him. This Charm has prerequisites of Essence and War 6. He has very rarely used this last-ditch tactic, and only taught it to one other. This student has since defected to the Gold Faction, and Namar fears the day the two Factions must clash, for on that day, he knows one of them must strike the other down with the nearly unknown technique...

Doctor Q, Ancient Chosen of Serenity

The Doctor, as this elder is known, stopped using his actual name for so long that only the Bronze Faction Inner Circle now remember it. To everyone else, he is simply THE Doctor or Doctor Q, which his name supposedly starts with.

The Doctor is Heaven's foremost authority on Magitech. As a youngster, he studied at the Primal Forge under Autochthon himself, and was incensed when Solar intolerance chased away the Great Maker. He never forgave them for that (nor for outstripping his own abilities, some cynics claim) and eagerly supported the Usurpation. If he later regretted doing so, after seeing the great Magitechnological infrastructure of the First Age collapse under Terrestrial rule, he has wisely kept such an opinion to himself.

Doctor Q's primary capacity in the Fivescore Fellowship, in addition to chairing the Convention on Magitech, is twofold: First, he is the primary Armorer of the Fellowship, crafting the incoming amounts of Starmetal and other exotic materials into exquisitely made Artifacts. Virtually everyone who is anyone in Heaven owns at least one Doctor Q original. Of course, this also means that many gods equate him with the (often unfair) murder of divinities, although they dare not snub him publicly. Still, he is one of the least popular Sidereals in many circles. Nevertheless, poor indeed is the Sidereal agent or Circle that goes on a mission without being outfitted by the Doctor...even if they are the guinea pigs for experimental Artifacts.

His secondary role is as an educator. Every Sidereal incarnated within the last few thousand years has spent a significant amount of time training under the Doctor in Sorcery and Craftsmanship. Gods who don't mind his reputation also study under him, as do promising Terrestrials, although they only know him as a visiting expert under a Resplendent Destiny. He also is the reigning expert on the Mountain Folk, and normally spends his sabbaticals in their underground city of Urvan, where he has fathered many children with the Firstborn.

Recently, the Doctor was fascinated to hear of reports of a plague of "Locust Men". Suspecting what this entailed, he went forth to investigate himself, something he rarely did and which Chejop strongly opposed. When he saw the Locusts in action, he allowed himself to be captured and taken back to their home, along with other slaves. Astonished to be once more in the presence of Autochthon, he was also dismayed at how far the Titan had fallen. The Doctor was the first subject to survive having a Soulgem installed, after which he successfully convinced a Starmetal Caste scientist to escape with him back to Creation. Instead of returning to Yu-Shan, the Doctor and his new lover went to his Mountain Folk allies, meditating in the Secret Forge Autochthon had built in the heart of Mount Meru ages ago, and which still resounded with his presence. There, the Doctor created one of the newest Sidereal Martial Arts styles, The Bronze Clockwork of Gears. His future actions have yet to be seen.

The Doctor possesses a comprehensive knowledge of Magitech and virtually every form of Craft that perhaps only the Deathlords may rival. Given the materials and tools, he can literally create ANY Artifact published, including artificial lifeforms and animating intelligences. He has access to every Crafting aid, whether Artifact or Hearthstone, as well as a highly experienced team of artificier-gods and Mountain Folk to assist him. He also has round-the-clock access to many Level 5 Factory Cathedrals, both in Yu-Shan and in Urvan. When traveling in Creation, the Doctor prefers to use a smaller-than-average Traveling Pagoda, upon which he uses rare Spatial Warping techniques learned from Autochthon to make it much bigger within than without. It is animated by an I AM node, one of the few to survive to the Second Age, and one of his best friends, although he doesn't mind traveling with mortal Acquaintances, as well.

Doctor Q's new Sidereal Martial Art, Bronze Clockwork of Gears Style, emulates many of the processes of Alchemical Protocol Weaving, as well as other martial arts. So far, no one else has learned it. If it depends on a Soulgem, no one without one may be capable of practicing it...

Donnan the Walker, Ancient Chosen of Journeys

The Sidereal Silver Faction has no leader, but if it did, then it would most likely be Donnan, called The Walker of Roads...

A jovial, mountain of a man with an excess of snowy white hair, Donnan has probably traveled more of Creation than any other creature, with the possible exception of Lilith. Unlike most Sidereals, he has little time for Heaven, and usually leaves as soon as he finishes his scheduled duty at the Loom. Both Factions continue attempts to sway him to their side, for an Elder Exalt is a powerful thing. But he simply laughs his deep laugh at such attempts and suggests that if they have so much free time, perhaps they should take his shift at the Loom!

Also unlike many Sidereals, Donnan has actually maintained tabs on his mortal descendants, most of whom congregate in small gatherings of mobile caravans. These Rovers can be found all across the Threshold and have inherited their progenitor's wanderlust, along with some other benefits of being Half-Caste. To most of them, Donnan is an eccentric uncle figure who regularly shows up with gifts, tales and warnings. But a handful of the clan leaders know who he *really* is, and serve as his Acquaintances...

Donnan also enjoys a wide network of Contacts among mortals, spirits and other entities, possible the most extensive in Creation. The Lunar Nation is actually quite fond of him, the Elders because he has never tried to manipulate them, the youngsters because he has all the experience and wisdom of an elder, but is far more lighthearted and approachable than many of their own. One of Donnan's favorite pasttimes (along with eating!) is writing. He has penned many tomes, both magical and mundane, but his personal favorite are a series of children's stories that have spread throughout Creation and are beloved even in the Underworld (perceptive readers may discern various Occult secrets hidden in the narratives).

Donnan cultivates the image of a leisurely gentleman enjoying a semi-retirement, but is actually far craftier than he appears: In fact, he is carefully manuevering himself as a compromise candidate for the currently empty Chair of the Convention of Air in the North. If both Gold and Bronze Factions believe him tractable, then he can secretly do much more for his *real* allegiance, the Silver Faction!

Donnan has Essence 8, Willpower 9, and has mastered all Sidereal Charms and Terrestrial and Celestial spells relating to travel. Perhaps his greatest asset is his sheer breadth of personal experience of the world, represented by Lore and Linguistics of 8. Outside of working the Loom, Donnan doesn't have much use for Destiny manipulation. Which isn't to say he isn't good at it, but most of his astrological attempts are tied into the welfare of his wandering family. He rarely bothers with Resplendent Destinies, but will if he must.

He always wears the Mantle of Earth and Sky, a furred cloak woven from the pelt of a wilderness god. It not only gives him enhanced Natural Soak (10B/7L), but it also gives him constant use of the Charms Adopting the Untamed Face, Becoming the Wilderness and Sky and Rain Mantra, at no cost to himself and without counting as Charm use. This is Artifact 5. Donnan has also mastered such Supernatural Martial Arts as Orgiastic Fugitive, Lunar Hero Style, Mantis, Silver-Voiced Nightingale, and Citrine Poxes of Contagion Styles, and has Comboed many Charms from among them. On the whole, however, he prefers to reason rather than fight, and so his fighting style is designed to incapacitate rather than kill.

Donnan has several Familiars bonded to him, some little better than beloved pets, others formidable beasts, still others that he has evolved into spirits. These last keep him abreast of events in Heaven and throughout the world. He also maintains close partnerships with many of the Lesser Elemental Dragons operating as Creation's Censors, as well as those he has created himself, and is on good terms with the Wind Masters. These friendships give him much pull in the Terrestrial Bureaucracy and ensure him a large backing of elemental force should he ever need it...

Beauteous Autumn Queen, Elder Chosen of Serenity

Beauteous Autumn Queen is among the oldest of the Bronze Faction, and is still fanatically devoted to its purpose. In fact, it was she who planned most of the Calibration Banquet at which the Solars met their doom, and she personally led the entertainments which dazzled and distracted them up until the end. In the years since, Beauteous has overseen the good health and happiness of those in Creation, with special emphasis on those in the Shogunate and Realm. Her devotion to spreading the benefits of good hygiene alone has probably saved millions of lives.

But it all seemed for naught once the Contagion and Fair Folk invasion occured. Unlike many of her fellows, Beauteous personally descended to Creation to do what she could, mostly using her Craft and Medical magic to save those who could be saved and sending the rest on painlessly (She inadvertantly started many Cults this way, although those who mistook her for a goddess have unusually vague myths about their deity...). Altho she mostly avoided direct combat, one incident occured then that is still praised in Heaven: A brigade of Fair Folk were riding forth to destroy a city that the Queen had spared the worst of the Contagion from. The towns' defenders too weak to stand against them, and with help too far away, she herself walked out to meet them...The stories vary as to exactly what sort of "entertainments" she used to stall an entire Raksha army, but all agree that they were all delayed long enough for the Terrestrial host to show up and turn the exhausted fae back...

As the Senior Chosen of Serenity and the Chair of the Convention of Health, Beauteous Autumn Queen continues to look after the world and its wellbeing, although the return of the Solars disturbs her greatly. Almost as much as the fact that her leader does not seem to have a plan for dealing with them. She stridently advocates rebuilding the Jade Prison and taking out the Lawgivers while they're still weak, but so far, other considerations distract the Fivescore Fellowship...

Now that she is getting on in age, her years are finally starting to show. Still, she has gracefully surrendered the glamour of youth, and is still regarded as one of the crowning beauties in YuShan, whose companionship and bed are still hotly sought after. Indeed, she has borne more children than any other Sidereal, to mortal, Exalted, and Spirit fathers of all sorts, even Raksha. Her services as a caterer and Master of Ceremonies are also much in demand at the most lavish parties throughout Heaven. She also spends much time training her younger fellows in social niceties, craftsmanship, and the arts of performance and seduction.

Beauteous Autumn Queen has one major secret, however. Ages ago, when she first Exalted, she was actually a man named Evar Kan. A crossdressing homosexual, he soon gained a Hearthstone of Gender Transformation and never looked back. As one of her great fears is this being discovered, she is secretly glad that almost all of those who remember her from back then have died off...with the exception of Chejop Kejak, who silently holds this power over her.

Having recently had cause to use the Greater Sign of Venus against a demon incursion, her Essence and Willpower are now at 7 and 9 respectively, but she is steadily building them both back up. Like most Sidereal ancients, Beauteous Autumn Queen possesses virtually all Sidereal Charms, Sorcery up to the Celestial level, and many Supernatural Martial Arts, including Ill Lily, Orgiastic Fugitive, White Veil, Dreaming Pearl Courtesan, Mantis, Silver-Voiced Nightingale, Border of Kaleidoscopic Logic, Citrine Poxes of Contagion, and some of Quicksilver Hand of Dreams.

Aside from Form Weapons of the above, her favorite weapons are Heavenly Thunder Leaves and Fate Rings. She also often uses both Silken Armor (further strengthened with Pearlescent Filigree Defense) and Discreet Essence Armor, and combines Defense of Shining Joy with Harmony in Opposition Stance. Against truly fearsome opponents, she will take the risky move of stacking Invoking the Chimera's Coils with Beauty is in the Eye...

Beauteous is always surrounded by colorful tropical birds. These are her Familiars, who can Shapechange into lovely silk-clad Celestial Maidens at will, and who are among the best singers, dancers and courtesans of their rank in Heaven. They are also capable fighters, being skilled in Crimson Pentacle Blade Style, which they practice with adamant spears and shields, and their Performance and War skills are enhanced with Sidereal Astrology and War charms.

The Swamp Witch, Ancient Chosen of Secrets

There is a legend which few repeat, that deep in the Southwestern threshold, in or near a Wyld Zone, sits an extinct volcano. The sizable crater atop the volcano, rich with mineral soil and Wyld energy, holds a small swampland, within which is said to dwell an ancient and wise witch. The honeycombed volcano is the home territory of Queen Hymenoptra, Lunar ruler of the Omphalos Hive and mother to the Million Ant Swarm. She knows the legend, but only occasionally remembers the truth behind it...

That truth is this: The Witch is real, tho few remember her. She is, in fact, THE oldest living Sidereal in existence. Indeed, she recalls tutoring the young Chejop and foretold great things for him. He would be quite surprised to discover her still alive. The Swamp Witch now lives for one thing only: Over centuries of meditating, she has come to believe that the Sidereals were wrong to mastermind the Usurpation, and that their mistake must be corrected. But only the Solars have the ability to truly set the universe to rights...Thus, she has waited for millenia, certain that Fate would give the Lawgivers another chance to reclaim what was theirs. Her faith paid off; when she saw the Solars had returned to Creation, she simply nodded. Her time was at hand.

The Swamp Witch has but one goal: To teach, train and prepare the Solars who find their way to her. The going will not be easy: They must first find their way to her, through rumor and myth, Wyld Zones and Beastman armies. And, although she has already decided to impart her knowledge, she will still make them prove themselves worthy by setting difficult tests and trials before them. If and when they are accepted, she is ready to teach them. And teach ALL. Anything that is asked of her, from Sidereal Martial Arts to Solar Circle Sorcery, to the bald truth of what happened in the First Age, she will offer up without hesitation.

If asked, she will gladly shepherd an entire Circle of Solars, zipping between guiding one Solar in meditations to raise his Essence, to helping another make her sacrifice to attain a new level of sorcery to sparring with still another to help him gain a new Martial Art Form. If necessary, she can use Sidereal Martial Arts to literally split herself up into multiple forms to cover the most ground!

However long the students' training takes, at its end, she will do two things: Allow them to take whatever Artifacts they desire from the hidden storage she has (many of them working personal transports as well as weapons and armor), and, prostrating herself, offer her life in reparation for the horrible harm her fellows wrought. Ideally, the students will truly love her by now and won't go that far (though some of her more extreme training methods may tempt them!). But if they truly want to, then she won't stop them.

Indeed, the Crone's fighting days are behind her. She has released all attachments to the world of the living, and is ready to lay down her burden. Even if some force were to raze her home, she would simply remove herself from it. The only thing which *might* move her to force would be the possibility of some threat killing her before she can impart her knowledge to her coming students...

The Swamp Witch has mastered every martial art yet practiced in Creation (and many without), including Quicksilver Hand of Dreams style, which explains why the Fivescore Fellowship never noticed that her Essence is unaccounted for. She possesses innumberable Combos, often across different disciplines, and has access to dozens of Hearthstones and Artifact weapons. She also knows all listed Terrestrial and Celestial Circle spells, and has an astounding comprehension of the Solar Circle, as well as many intact First Age instructional materials and spell books.

Easily Willpower and Essence 10, the Witch has the maximum amount of Familiars a Sidereal may have and has long since transformed each into spirit beasts, who keep her abreast of events in Yu-Shan. At any given time, half of these surround her in seemingly normal animal forms, while the others patrol the swamp, usually dematerialized, instantly sharing their senses with her to warn her of intruders. They can even share their Essence Pools with her, thus boosting her reserves significantly. Each has also mastered supernatural Martial Arts, and serve to spar with her students during their training; upon her death, they may even decide to follow the Solars who carry on her legacy...

If the Witch has any weakness, it's that living so long in isolation (save for beastmen, spirits and primitive Wyld mutants) has made her rather...odd. Her lectures are often riddled by bursts of cackling laughter, she is often seen sleeping in strange places and mumbling to herself, or making inappropriate come-ons to cute young bishonen!

Regardless, she knows that she hasn't much time left, and is considering risking Sidereal scrutiny by using Astrological means to hurry her students to her. She wants Solar students the most, but will also greet any other sort of Exalted kindly, if they pass her tests. Except for Sidereals; she is leery of being stopped before her work is done (and stopping her would be the one thing that both the Bronze and Gold Factions would agree on!), and so will most likely render a Sidereal guest comatose for quite some time...

Falling Star Prophet, Ancient Chosen of Endings

In the First Age, Falling Star Prophet was one of an elite Circle of multiple kinds of Exalted, known as The Black Hand. Membership consisted of the best Night, Waning Moon, Chosen of Endings, and Air and Water-aspected Terrestrials of their time, each sworn to police the stealthiest of their kind, answering only to the Hierophant of the Solar Deliberative himself. Having trained himself to detect the most hidden of corruption, Prophet could hardly fail to notice the increasingly blatant offenses against Heaven by the Lawgivers. And so, he kept to his higher duty, and sided with the Sidereals in betraying his Circlemates. He personally struck down the Hierophant from behind. It took centuries of cat-and-mouse games for him to be certain of the deaths of his Night and Waning Moon partners, but eventually, they were put down.

Afterwards, life was pretty quiet. He assumed a high position in his Faction and Convention, led a few high-profile missions to Creation, enjoyed what free time he got, and worked the Loom. It was during this last activity that things changed for him forever. Falling Star Prophet was unravelling an unusually large snag in the Tapestry, when the entire Loom blinked, stalled and went offline just for a microsecond. It came back on immediately, and hovering in the center of it, was a brand new Sutra strip. Taking it, Prophet found himself compelled to read it, and having done so, immediately swallowed it...

The Bureau was in an uproar. Four of the Five Maidens themselves showed up to take charge and investigate matters. They were suitably shocked when Falling Star Prophet outright refused to tell them what was on the new Sutra, despite Mars' threats, Venus' pleas, and Secrets' commands (Saturn stayed silent). In the end, the Sisters ordered him arrested and imprisoned, foregoing even the formality of charges and a trial.

And that is where Prophet has been to this very day, held without recourse to the law in the deepest, darkest oubliette beneath Yu-Shan, bound by a major God of Bondage, who is both jail and jailer. Each century, he is summoned forth, surrounded by Lesser Elemental Dragons ready to blast him at a moment's notice, the prison god wrapped about his immobile form like an iron maiden straitjacket, his only means of sensing the world through a cage-like facemask. Each century he faces a secret tribunal of the Maidens, who ask him if he is ready to win his freedom by revealing the Sutra. Sometimes, he spars verbally with them; sometimes he teases the Maiden of Secrets with the knowledge that even she may not know every hidden thing; sometimes he says nothing at all. But always he refuses them, and is led back to his gaol...

But things are not as they seem. Falling Star Prophet somehow has access to resources, information and connections seemingly beyond his means. He has long ago seduced his gaoler to his service, and can walk out of his holding any time it suits him; he has promised her that if she lets him go, he will deliver the entire God City to her as her new domain, that she may be eternal Warden over a continent-wide Heaven Prison.

Falling Star Prophet has also secretly gained great influence throughout Yu-Shan, especially among the large population of destitute gods, and has laid many subtle schemes and traps, which only require one thing to come to fruition...The return of the Solars. The time is near: Once the first Solars set foot in Heaven, his ultimate Endgame will begin. The Incarna are too dazzled by their games, and the Sidereals are blinded by their arrogance; only Chejop Kejak seems to suspect that he may be up to something, and visits him more frequently, hoping to tease some revelation from the mad one's obvious lies and blandishments. But even that old one cannot stop the machinations already in motion...It is now only a matter of time...

Falling Star Prophet appears to be a very elderly man, who would be tall were it not for his body being hunched and shriveled with enormous age. His skin is drawn and creased, his hands gnarled and clawlike, his head hairless. He dresses in long, shapeless swaths of dark silk, that floats with each movement like solid smoke. Only his clear, penetrating eyes give away his true power. Like all Sidereals, they are the color of his Maiden and flecked with stars; unlike his fellows, the stars in his violet eyes are constantly falling like rain, endlessly falling...

He has Willpower 10, Essence 9 (but just on the cusp of 10), maxed out Stealth, Occult, Larceny, as well as other appropriate Abilities, and all Charms to match (along with many, many Combos revolving around stealthy assassination). He has long since mastered the Terrestrial and Celestial Circles of Sorcery, and all three levels of Martial Arts. Should he be moved to physical combat, Prophets' favorite tactic is to use Prismatic Arrangement of Creation Form to adopt Quicksilver Hand of Dreams and Border of Kaleidoscopic Logic Forms. He particularly enjoys using Draw Forth Every Shard to split into multiple copies of himself, which then use BoKL? form on all enemies present, further multiplying himself (QHoD? will also help secure his escape from imprisonment, should he choose to, by making even Sidereal pursuers forget all about him).

The Secret Sutra gives him additional unique powers, which are up to the ST. Extra Essence and Willpower available to him is suggested, however other possibilities include: Orders from the Final Primordial, who has thus far eluded detection from the gods and their Exalted; The secret weaknesses of the Deathlords; the key to Malfeas; the whereabouts of the Scarlet Empress; proof of the Incarnas guilt in some crime, sufficient to bring down even the Bureaus; or the identity of the next Maiden.

Falling Star Prophet's ultimate goal should also be something suitably grand. Perhaps he intends to subvert Fate and his own eventual death by becoming the next Maiden himself. Should he suceed at this madness, then when Saturn Ends herself, setting the next Age into motion, Falling Star Prophet will become the bloody-eyed Maiden of Horrors, whose Chosen will not be as quick or merciful as her predecessors' were...

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