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The Glory of Damnation: A Pantheon of the Yozi

This page isn't going to have a flowery opening at the moment. Rather, it is a list of what the 25 surviving Primordials are in my own game settings; this may change from time to time, but it's going to be the core that I use.

My Yozi will be following the Scriptures of the Maidens laid out in the Loom of Fate; however, they are tied to the Constellations and those attachments rather than directly to an Ability. I've discovered that this seems to work wondefully well.

Also, I'm going to have to see what happens when Second Edition comes out, if they shuffle the Scriptures or create new ones (Resistance works beautifully for Integrity, but I'm not sure about War.) Until then, these will do.

The Uncorrupted

Autochthon - The Scripture of That Old Thing (The Key; Investigation)
That Old Thing is the Maiden who must be a maiden because she is nothing else; it is different from the other maidens. "To know the world is to love it." The Key is the constellation of wisdom discovered through curiousity, and of innovation. Mechanical devices and books are included among its correlations.

Gaia - The Scripture of Lover And Maiden (The Peacock; Crafts)
Wading back into the Luna debate on this one. The Maiden met a thing outside of Creation, dangerous and perfect, and took it into her life. "Love is understanding." The Peacock is the constellation of thoughtful breeding and considered partnerships. Procreation, dualities, and necessity are among its correlations.

Canonical Yozi

Adorjan - The Scripture of The Maiden And Dust (The Rising Smoke; Athletics)
The maiden who ran beyond herself and died; "There's always an ending, said the run." The Rising Smoke is the sign of the end of journeys and death through accident and murder. Its correlations include quick and painful deaths and murder again. Finally, one of the Resplendant effects of the Rising Smoke is the Chains of Adorjan.

Cecelyne - The Scripture of The Drowning Maiden (The Gauntlet; Brawl)
The maiden who accepts her fate, which is to fall endlessly without ever landing. "Survival is acceptance." The Gauntlet is the sign of ruthless expediency and unpleasant necessity. Its correlations include pragmatism, surgery, and the sacrifice of others.

Cytherea - The Scripture of The Clay Maiden (The Quiver; Archery)
The maiden who makes herself from the substance of the world, and learns wisdom, love, and hate. "Survival is flexibility." The quiver is the sign of quick-wittedness, strategems, and lockstep thinking. Its correlations include pride, self-absorption and clever ideas. (Note: This one's a bit of a stretch, but I wasn't sure what else fit. And we know very little about Cytherea.)

The Ebon Dragon - The Scripture of The Savory Maiden (The Guardians; Larceny)
The maiden who seeks to escape her prison, and who gained aid from the night, fire, and pain. "To know the world is to serve it." The Guardians are the sign of rewards earned through long labour and of inbred wisdom. Its correlations include age, patience, and observation.

Hegra - The Scripture of The Maiden In Terror (The Treasure Trove; Lore)
The maiden who whispers dark truths to a man who fears to hear them. "To know the world is to fear it." The Treasure Trove is the sign of revealed wisdom and the teacher and revolutionary, and of stinging animals. Its correlations include schools, blight, and secret societies.

Kimbery - The Scripture of the One-Handed Maiden (The Shield; Resistance)
The maiden who acts with eternal fury, smashing her very self to gain revenge. "Survival is fury." The Shield is the sign of the warrior who seeks battle without victory, and of sadism, masochism, and battle without thought. See the Lintha. Its correlations include fearlessness, protection, pain, and wrath.

Isidoros - The Scripture of The Hunted Maiden (The Ewer; Dodge)
The maiden who is endlessly chased, but who laughs at the troubles that pursue her. "Love is smiling at your troubles." Isidoros is the Black Boar, one of the few Yozi who acts as a being rather than a location. The Ewer is the sign of flirtation and of marriage-seeking. Its correlations include idealism, obsession, dreams and fantasies.

Malfeas - The Scripture of The Eternal Maiden (The Mast; Endurance)
The Eternal Maiden is made of iron, from other sources. She forgets why she runs, and throws her heart away. "I have no use for beginnings." The Mast is the sign of raw physical exertion and the inability to communicate. Its correlations include architecture, stoicism, and manual labour.

Oramus - The Scripture of The Maiden Entombed (The Ship's Wheel; Survival)
The Maiden trapped eternally in a tomb made in her own image. "I am not trapped while yet I run." The Ship's Wheel is the college of perseverance in the face of hardship, and of clinging to doomed causes. Its correlations include martyrdom and burdensome debt. (Note: Another Yozi we know little about, so I had to guess based on what he looks like.)

Sacheverell - The Scripture of The Maiden and the Scythe (The Crow; Awareness)
The Maiden who knows that she will die, and it will hurt, but she won't avoid it. "Baby, don't you know? There's always an ending." The Crow is the sign of the end of illusions and of ancestors. Its correlations are slow and painless death, dark humour, and inevitability. (One more that we know almost nothing about. But Knowing The Shape Of Things To Come seems to fit here well.)

She Who Lives In Her Name - The Scripture of The Maiden In Chains (The Socerer; Occult)
The maiden who is chained up. People come to worship her, but none free her from her chains. "To know the world is to own it." The Sorcerer is the sign of powerful secrets and tasks accomplished through the use of Essence. Its correlations include demon-summoning, Essence use, and geomancy.

Szoreny - The Scripture of The Maiden And The Road (The Corpse; Medicine)
The maiden who climbed the earth until she reached the sky, and could climb no further. "There's always an ending, said she." The Corpse is the sign of the end of lives and modes of existance, and of metamorphisis. Its correlations are transformation, sudden and painless death, and thresholds. (Szoreny only just got confirmed as a Malfean, but as the threshold between Kimbery and Malfeas, and an inverted forest, this seemed to fit.)

Non-Canonical Yozi

Birasza Haisz - The Scripture of Absence (The Mask; Stealth), as written by Shaitana.
The Maiden who none knows if it lives or dies, or what it truly is. The Mask is the college of things known but concealed, and of secret wisdom. Its correlations include secrets, guarded individuals, and trickery.

Chorifa - The Scripture of The Maiden's Promise (The Haywain; Bureaucracy), as written by The Hoverpope
The Maiden who stood between life and worse destruction than death, but who made death a part of her. "Into the silence she said, There's always an ending". The Haywain is the college of endings that cannot be easily described, and of ruin that gives way to new growth. Its correlations include mystery, muddled deaths, and aging.

Ghroth - The Scripture of The Maiden At Sea (The Captain; Sail), as written by Nero's Boot.
"Rarely is travel peaceful." A wanderer and hunter, Ghroth rages at his entrapment. The Captain is the stern, ordered traveller, who travels on paths chosen by others. Its correlations include tyranny and fatherhood.

Gatanaris - The Scripture of The Whore (The Lovers; Socialize), as written by me.
"Love is hard." Giving power in order to survive, the Maiden has a hard time. The Lovers are the sign of abuse and submission. Its correlations include slaves, lust, and abuse.

He Who Follows In His Wake - The Scripture of The Bride (The Pillar; Linguistics), as written by FourWillowsWeeping.
"Love endures." He travels through the lands, on behalf of and with his sister. He is running, but also vying with himself. The Pillar is the sign of partnerships and control. Its correlations include stability, unjust authority, and friendship.

Kagami - The Scripture of The Maiden On The Shelf (The Spear; Melee), as written by Quendalon.
"Survival is control." The city of mirrors waits, and then, when it changes, none can anticipate it. The Spear is the sign of professionalism and discipline, and of myopia. Its correlations include bravery, lack of initiative, and competition.

Sadagares - The Scripture of the Maiden And Shadow (The Gull; Thrown), as written by Quendalon.
"I can't quit now." Writhing across the sky, heedless of pain in favour of continuing his blind dance, he continues. The Gull is the college of travel without a plan, and is the sign of freedom and irresponsibility. Its correlations include fish and birds, and an unexamined life.

Talavos - The Scripture of The Dancer (The Musician; Performance), as written by Paranoia833.
"Love has no rules." The Vengeful Dream dances ever-more awry, bringing joy and pain at his own whim. The Musician is the sign of gluttons and poets, of hedonism and avarice. Its correlations include laughter, adultery, and greed.

Thari - The Scripture of The Desirable Maiden (The Messenger; Ride), as written by Quendalon.
"I cannot help what drives me." Thari flies on wings of poetry; many desire her, though they do not understand. The Messanger is the college of the professional servant, the diplomat, and the abdication of moral responsibility. Its correlations include duty, communication, and journeys.

Wesmakan - The Scripture of The Expectant Maiden (The Sword; Martial Arts), as written by Lammoth.
"But, said Time, There's always an ending." Expectantly, Wesmakan still dreams of escape, and rails against the injustice of his injury. The Sword is the sign of hopes ending, either fulfilled or destroyed. It is the college of the salesman and the ghost, and death through suffering and illness. Its correlations include perseverance, failure, and inheritance.

Zuratha - The Scripture of The Maiden At War (The Banner; Presence), as written by The Hoverpope.
"Survival is a long reach." Zuratha's reach stretches across the world; he was once a great Primordial, but now lives on his reputation of old. The Banner is the sign of heroism and gossip, the martyr and tyrant. Its correlations include reputation, infamy and symbols.

Politics

Although they are united in their disdain for the world, the Yozi are not united in anything else. Each of them has many allies and enemies amongst their brethern, and any idea of a unified invasion is purely madness.

The Politics of the Yozi

Comments

I realize that I've made a few unconventional Ability choices, but I went with what seemed to fit. Also, there are still many empty spots, which I will fill in with non-canonical Yozi. Comments are welcome. - FrivYeti

This is a really intriguing idea. The Constellations and the Maiden Scriptures are just utterly fantastic pieces of creativity... to apply them to the Yozis is a dazzling burst of insight and creativity on your own part. It'd be cool to see paragraphs associating the Yozi with the Constellation, or at least your own thoughts on why they'd be connected. Good luck! --UncleChu

Echo! Nifty idea, and some further explanations would be fantastic...DeathBySurfeit

I can do that. :) *gets to work* - FrivYeti

Which of the canon Yozis was supposed to represent Hierarchy? Wouldn't she be the one attached to Bureaucracy? --UncleChu

Traditionally, many Yozi are hierarchical. She Who Lives in Her Name is Obediance, Cecelyne is Restriction, and so on. However, I'm not going by the literal Abilities, I'm going by the Sutras and the Colleges. The Haywain (Bureaucracy) is not about hierarchy, it's about confused systems with fuzzy boundaries. Which is Bureaucracy, not in an ordered state. - FrivYeti

Gotcha. Another question... the other Yozi you use, you lifted from other Wikizen entries? Did you pick these out first for use in your series, and then try to wedge 'em into Constellation assignments, or did you pick home-brewed Yozis that you felt matched the Constellations best? Just lookin' for some insight, I still think this is a fantastic idea. --UncleChu

A little of Column A, a little of Column B. I went through the list over at A Taxonomy of Madness, found the Yozi that I liked the most, and figured out if they fit into any of my empty constellations. In the case of Thari, I had to jam it in a bit; the Scripture only fitesque; otherwise, they lined up well enough that I didn't have to worry. I had two Scriptures left over, so I made a Yozi and I strongarmed TheHoverpope into making one more. ;) I haven't used most of them in my series yet, but it will come up in the future. *insert evil laughter here*. - FrivYeti

I love the reasoning, although I can't help but feel that Malfeas is better suited to The Maiden Entombed - in a prison of his own image, and perserverence despite futility (in his constant efforts to escape himself). Otherwise fantastic indeed...DeathBySurfeit

It does make sense; I more or less did what I did because the Eternal Maiden doesn't work for Oramus, and the Maiden Entombed does. I'm not sure where else I could stick Oramus, we don't know quite enough about him. - FrivYeti

Wait, crap, of course, Malfeas isn't the Malfeans of the Underworld... but which ones are those? Are the slain Primordials part of the Faultless 25? If not, why not? 25 is just such an... auspicious number... what was the original number if not 25, do you reckon? 30? 50? Although, upon consideration, it would make sense that the living Primordials still have representative Constellations, even if shut out of Creation. The dead ones would have dragged their respective stars down under... to the dead heavens of the underworld.--UncleChu

I'm at work and consequently can't do the research I'd like to answer your question properly, UncleChu, but I understand there's somewhere between 6 and 9 Malfeans; their correlations may well be depicted on the dim stars of the Underworld. There was a discussion thread here on the Wiki, if I remember, suggesting that if each Primordial corresponds to an Ability, the dead Primordials represent Abilities whose nature has been wiped off the face of Creation, else have been absorbed into the portfolio of others.

For example, there might have once been an Ability for perceiving the emotions of others, shipboard survival, arcane engineering or sexual prowess. As their corresponding Primordial dies, these are merged into other Abilities - becoming part of Socialise, Sail, Craft and Performance, respectively. Alternatively, if the Malfeans represent facets of Creation that no longer exist, they'll be weirder still, very possibly extinguished from memory of life as much as life itself. This would also explain why the Exalts made the Primordials surrender rather than kill them - quite apart from the havoc so few of them are causing dead, it may well remove a lot of facets in Creation from existence...DeathBySurfeit, who recommends Borgstrom's work on Excrucians in Nobilis for further reading. Surprisingly hegemonic.

And of course, the ghosts of all these madnesses would glisten ectoplasmic in the Labyrinth. FrivYeti, can I transfer this to the Infernals project on the new wiki? --Kukla

Go for it! I'm happy to have any of my stuff over there; I'm just too lazy to move it myself. ;)

This kind of thing actually occurred to me... vanished Abilities, facets of Creation that were utterly obliterated with the Malfeans' fall. But the number thing delights me. 25 of course is a delicious number, divisible by Exalted's magic "5," which fits nicely within humanity's mathematic ideas revolving around "base 10". What if the base number was originally 13? The time before the Primordial's slaughter becomes utterly alien and incomprehensible, as an average of 7.5 abilities, constellations, or just facets of Creation slip off and die. Probably way outside of what any Exalted developer ever imagined, but... --UncleChu

I am working on the assumption, based on 2e, that since gods that die bring their stars to Creation as Starmetal, Primordials that die will bring their constellations to the Underworld with them. I don't know know if there were other Abilities, though. It adds a whole question of weird to the Autochthon Dying section of his book. - FrivYeti

I guess I'm pretty much giving this page a bump. Its such a fantastic resource. --UncleChu

It really is. I use it pretty damn regularly when writing my demons. Also, the FrivYeti/DemonicVirtues - TheHoverpope