TheGatesOfCreation/Teratos

Teratos

In the days after Creation was forged from the Wyld, but before the First Age began the Primordials gave life to many strange and wonderful creatures. Of some they created entire races, the Dragon Kings, Darkbrood and humans were among these; but of others they made but a single specimen. These are the creatures commonly known as behemoths, although savants call them “teratos” and classify behemoths as merely one particular type. Such beings of legend as Arad the Hunter, Juggernaut and the Redwood Mantis are placed among their number, but there were many, many more and after the Primordial War was over the newly-formed Solar Deliberative had to decide what to do about them.

Some had already been slain, in spite of their immortality, becoming the hekatonkhires of the Underworld (the Kraken), some had been crippled before the War began (Oliphem the Watcher), their capabilities known, but their loyalties and motives not, and some had fled into the Wyld at the War’s end (Arad the Hunter), escaping the justice of the vengeful Solars, but many remained and the Deliberative discussed their fate for days before coming to an accord. Some of these immortal creatures were deemed to be harmless and were allowed to remain unmolested – the magnificent Redwood Mantis and the enigmatic Mount Mostath lie among this number. A few were deemed dangerous but manageable if watched, and the cost of more stringent measures would be too high – the dark, living swamp called Mother Bog is in this category. The remainder were declared to have no place wandering freely across Creation and the Hundred Secret Temples were the result.

Each Temple was placed in a remote part of Creation; hidden desert valleys, remote frozen mountaintops and deep forest lakes are but three of the many places the ingenious Solars secreted the creations of their would-be nemeses; each Temple had been constructed to incredible degrees of geomantic precision to provide an optimal cage for its inmate (many of them were placed on powerful Demesnes to provide the Essence they would need); and each Temple was the means by which its prisoner could be bound to the will of the Exalted.

In much the same way that the Primordials’ prison had cracks through which the demons of Malfeas could be summoned by a sorcerer, the Hundred Secret Temples would allow an Exalt who could penetrate their defences and defeat the imprisoned teratos (not always, or even often, in direct combat) could attune his anima to teratos and latter summon it to do his bidding for variable periods of time.

System

This Background operates in much the same way as Manse or Artefact, each purchase of it to a level represents a single teratos that the Exalted has bound to his will and can bring to his side using the Call Teratos and Summon Teratos actions (see below). Merely having a teratos bound to your character does not mean that he can summon it, however – he must forge a link to the monster(s) he wishes to be able to summon, by committing motes of Essence to the creature (these committed motes are handled identically to those committed to an artefact), the exact amount depends on the specific teratos. Forging the link requires (rating) hours of uninterrupted meditation and a successful (Wits + Lore) roll, a botch on this roll will break the attunement and require the Exalt to return to the Temple in question.

Call Teratos
(Speed 5, DV -2)

Summon Teratos
(Speed varies, DV -0)

Levels

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