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The Calender Of Setesh

To the Sidereal Exalted, the Underworld often seems like a strange and frightening place. Its denizens are not meant to exist, and they were once human; a teeming mass of potential fate snarls, living in their own simple civilizations, without even the simple madness of Malfeas as an excuse. Some chose to blame the Neverborn, or the Deathlords, reasoning that the Underworld would not exist without them - but the simple fact is that it serves a valuable purpose - helping those not ready to move on to come to peace with their lives and ascend willingly into Lethe. Some ghostly scholars even whisper that the creation of the Underworld upon the deaths of the Neverborn was no accident; while the Primordials did not care about the peace of dying mortal souls, the gods did, and that proper death patterns are important to the health of Creation - and although the Neverborn are trying to suborn that purpose, to use the Underworld to drag the world into Oblivion, this is the fault of the enemy, not the system.

Those who believe in the value of the Underworld point to the dual monarchs and the Calender of Setesh, the great astrological compass that follows the stars of the Underworld as they wheel dimly through the skies. Some Sidereals believe that, if they were to gain access to the Calender, they could incorporate the Underworld into their astrologies and account for it in the Loom of Fate. They are, primarily, correct.

Gaining Access

It is almost impossible, at the present time, to gain access to the Calender. In the current age, only three people have the ability to foresee the stars of the Underworld - the Twin Monarchs, and Ten Thousand Virtues, the Sidereal advisor to the Bishop of the Chalcedony Thurible. This is because accessing the Calender requires the trust and approval of either the Monarchs, or one of the Deathlords. The Deathlords well understand the power of the Calender, and do not trust easily; even those Sidereals who work for them do not generally gain access. The benefit is too slim for the risk.

Upon gaining access, it is relatively easy to attune to the Calender. The character must simply make an extended Intelligence + Occult roll, at difficulty 3, and gain a total of ten successes. Each roll represents a day of meditation and focus - if the character spends a full day without doing this, they lose all current successes gained. Upon completion of attunement, the character's fate twists, weaving itself partially into the Calender of Setesh. Forever afterwards, all attempts to use astrology against her suffer a -1 external penalty. She can, however, be affected by the astrology of the Underworld (at the same penalty). In addition, she is now able to learn the Colleges of the Underworld.

Using Underworld Astrology

Underworld astrology is not nearly so simple as that of Creation. On the Loom of Fate, astrology primarily consists of sending a simple petition to the Pattern Spiders, who will in turn work fate as the character requests. There are no pattern spiders on the Calender, and thus the character must physically work the strands of fate herself. This means that few of the techniques used to ease astrological weavings actually function in the Underworld. It also means that the character must be physically present at the Calender, or have a means of accessing it from a distance, in order to work any astrological effect. The Monarchs accomplish this by remaining at the Calender at all times. Ten Thousand Virtues has devised a Shadowlands-Circle necromantic spell that grants him access for a full scene (at the cost of 10 motes, plus the Willpower to cast it). Others will simply have to make do.

Once access is gained, there are three ways that the character can affect their roll. Only one of them affects the actual effect roll; the other two affect the Aftermath roll (see below).

• Fate Planning: Characters may draw up a horoscope of the dead, using the Calender to check for the aftereffects of her roll. This eases the burden on the Calender for a poorly-planned fate, reducing the chance of problems. Roll Intelligence + Crafts (Fate), at difficulty 4. Every three successes removes one die from the Aftermath roll.

• Double-Checking: Typically, it takes five minutes to work an astrology. The character can increase this time to one hour, removing one die from the aftermath roll, or to twelve hours for two dice removed.

• Drawing On the Loom: When crafting a destiny in the Underworld, the character can draw on her connection to the Loom of Fate to gain instinctive instruction from the Pattern Spiders. This requires a Charisma + Performance roll, at difficulty 3. Every three successes adds one bonus die to the character's effect roll. The character also takes a point of Paradox for bothering them.

The Effect Roll

Once the character has finished her primary tasks, she rolls College + Essence, and adds bonus dice if she called on the Pattern Spiders for help. The character's astrologies can affect any inhabitant of the underworld - ghosts, underworld beasts (including hekatonkhire or Fair Folk using the Assumption of Cerements and Bone), Abyssal Exalted, and any Sidereal who has learned to work the Calender. All other beings are considered to be Outside of Fate.

The effect roll functions identically to the chart for astrology listed in Exalted: The Sidereals, with three exceptions. First, the character does not gain Paradox from this roll. Instead, there is an Aftermath roll. Any effect that would add Paradox dice instead adds double that many dice to the Aftermath roll. Secondly, the fates of the dead are fairly static, and this makes it easier to hang effects that last a very long time. Any success spent on Duration is doubled. Successes spent on Scope or Frequency are not doubled. Finally, ghosts are relatively easy to affect with the power of Astrology. Any ghost of Essence 2-3, or any non-sentient Essence-using underworld beast is considered to be Essence 1 for the purposes of astrology, allowing for Sidereals to affect small ghostly nations. Ghosts of Essence 4-5 are affected as if they were Essence 2. Sentient Underworld Creatures, Deathlords, and Exalts are affected as normal.

The Aftermath Roll

Assuming the Effect is successful, the Aftermath must take place. Rather than an effect targeting the Sidereal, this is a reflection of how seriously the fate-weaving goes awry. The pool for an Aftermath roll starts at three dice. Remove dice due to horoscopes or time taken, and add dice from the Effect roll, above. The Storyteller rolls this pool secretly, and if any successes are rolled, divides them between the Power of one of the Twisted Fates listed under each constellation, and between Frequency as listed in the astrology chart. This is considered to be a part of the initial astrology, and cannot be dispelled without dispelling that astrology. Careful study (requiring an extended Intelligence + Craft (Fate) roll made once per hour, at difficulty 3, requiring twice as many successes as the Sidereal gained on the effect roll) reveals exactly what the twist, if any, is. Aftermaths affect either the person under the astrological effect, or those who surround them.

The Colleges

The Calender of Setesh follows the paths of the five constellations of the Underworld. There are many arguments about where these constellations come from. Some scholars believe that Setesh created them when the Calender was first constructed. Others say that they are markers of the contributions that the five Neverborn once made in Creation, now spread thin and guiding the Underworld. Still others believe that they were pieces of the Loom that fell into the Underworld when the Neverborn came to be, and others that they simply formed naturally as a result of it. Any or none of these theories might be true; what is known is that five such colleges exist.

Sidereals may purchase these Colleges using the normal rules; each is favoured, co-incidentally (or not, depending on how conspiratorial one is feeling) by a different one of the five Sidereal Castes.

The Five Constellations are detailed here.

Comments

Groovy. When you get this finished, maybe I'll change my comparison of Exalted calendars to use whatever scheme you come up with instead of the one I am using presently for the underworld. - Wordman