BujiExtras/Lex
Lexicon from the Exalted books printed thus far:
All-Seeing Eye, the: The imperial secret police, who guard the throne against sedition, corruption and treason. The All-Seeing Eye employs countless mortal and Dragon-Blooded agents recruited from the Thousand Scales, but at its core are spies and assassins of both the Bronze Sidereal Faction and the House Iselsi.
Anathema: The term the Immaculate Order use to describe the Solar, Lunar, and recently, Abyssal Exalted. In the catechism of the Immaculates, Anathema are individuals who have become conduits for dark power and whose souls have been forever tainted by the influence of evil spirits. This doctrine is typically accepted without question in the Realm. It was previously observed in the Threshold because the Realm forced tributary states to pay lip service to the Immaculates. Today, few Thresholders unquestionably accept the doctrine of the Anathema.
Anima: An aura, normally invisible, that surrounds all living things. However, when an Exalted uses Essence, the power often spills into her anima, making it visible. As a result, an Exalted who expends a great deal of power is usually surrounded by a display of power that can range from a glow to a billowing pillar of heatless flame bright enough to see for miles.
Anlok: The lonely, desert-dwelling Southern breed of Dragon King.
Ambrosia: The fruit of prayers directed at a single god, Ambrosia can be used to create items of high quality in Heaven. Ambrosia is the true coin of the Celestial Gods – Quintessence is used only by gods of lower classes.
Amphiskipolis: A settlement or strong place in the Labyrinth built by nephwracks and inhabited by specters.
Arcane Fate: Prolonged manipulation of the Tapestry in the precincts of the constellation known as the Mask has left the destinies of the Sidereal Exalted permanently obscured behind a haze of forgetfulness, lost paperwork and misdirection. This effect is called the “Arcane Fate.” Sidereals must use Essence effects or serious and prolonged contact to create a lasting bond with non-Sidereals.
Arcanos: The name ghosts give to one of the magical powers they can learn. The proper plural is Arcanoi. Most mortal savants simply call these ghostly powers “Charms,” but the dead favor their own term.
Arts: Generic forms of thaumaturgy that anyone with a high enough occult can attempt.
Astrological House: The five general groups into which the 25 constellations are divided. Each division of the Bureau of Destiny has control over one house, from which the division takes its name. The constellations are divided into houses as follows:
- The Golden Barque of the Heavens (The Division of Journeys): The constellations of the Division of Journeys are the Captain, the Gull, the Mast, the Messenger and the Ship’s Wheel.
- The Cerulean Lute of Harmony (The Division of Serenity): The constellations of the Division of Serenity are the Ewer, the Lovers, the Musician, the Peacock and the Pillar.
- The Crimson Panoply of Victory (The Division of Battles): The constellations of the Division of Battles are the Banner, the Gauntlet, the Quiver, the Shield and the Spear.
- The Forbidding Manse of Ivy (The Division of Secrets): The constellations of the Division of Secrets are the Guardians, the Key, the Mask, the Sorcerer and the Treasure Trove.
- The Violet Bier of Sorrows (The Division of Endings): The constellations of the Division of Endings are the Corpse, the Crow the Haywain, the Rising Smoke and the Sword.
Black Monarch, the: One of the Dual Monarchs, the ritual rulers of the Underworld. In his male aspect, the Black Monarch is called Setesh, and is the Monarch of Efficacious Prayers and master of the Calendar of Setesh. In her female aspect, she is called Nebthys and hears the secrets of the dying.
Blessed Isle, the: The great island at the center of Creation, which the Scarlet Empress governs directly. . It is at the center of the Inland Sea and is several weeks sail from the nearest Threshold port. This isle is traditionally the center of the world – it was the seat of the Solar Deliberative in the days before the Usurpation and of the Shogunate in the days before the Contagion. The Blessed Isle is the stronghold of the Realm, and even in these dark days, no pirate has yet survived an attempt to raid it.
Burial Sacrifice: An animal or human sacrificed during the funeral process and buried with the corpse rises again in the Underworld as the slave of the individual they were buried with. Animals rise unfailingly and are unhesitatingly loyal to the deceased. Sacrificed humans may or may not rise and possess free will, though they are indelibly marked as another ghost’s property.
Burnt Offering: Sacrifices made to the dead after their burial, which typically appear at the Underworld analog of the alter as jade plaques with the recipients name marked on them.
Calendar of Setesh, the: A great mechanical device built by Setesh, the male aspect of the Black Monarch, whose operation causes the passage of days in the Underworld.
Caste Mark: All Exalted are branded on their foreheads with a mark of status. This Caste Mark if typically invisible, but can be seen when the Exalt expends Essence. No two types of Exalted have the same Caste Mark, and it can be used to distinguish between one type of Exalted from another.
Celestial Bureaus, the: The Celestial Bureaus is divided into five bureaus, under which all the functions of Creation and Heaven fall. They are:
- Celestial Monitors of Seasons and Weather (The Bureau of Seasons): The highly conservative Bureau of Seasons is made up primarily of elementals and is given little respect. Instead, the Court of Seasons is honored. This latter group is a ceremonial body of trivial gods in charge of certain celestial festivals, but Heaven’s preference for divinities knows little propriety. The Bureau of Seasons also contains Heaven’s primary army and is responsible for turning the power of so-called “martial weather” on the enemies of Creation.
- Commission on Abstract Matters and Celestial Concerns (The Bureau of Heaven): This bureau controls the nature of abstract reality and the administrative machinery of Heaven itself. It employs the censors and the celestial lions, the lion dogs and the scarab guardians and all the other direct servants of Heaven.
- Divine Witness of Human Works and Deeds (The Bureau of Humanity): With the shrinking of Creation and the gradual decline of human civilization, the Bureau of Humanity has lost a great deal of its importance. Today, many senior members of the bureau encourage city fathers and other gods to rule humans directly in order to prop up the bureau’s failing fortunes.
- Most Excellent Designers of Destiny and Sidereal Conjunctions (The Bureau of Destiny): This is the bureau to which Sidereal Exalted belong. The Bureau of Destiny maintains the Loom of Fate, plans history and ensures that the Tapestry unfolds smoothly – free of snarls and snags. In this capacity, it is Creation’s first line of defense against those who would unravel the Tapestry completely, including the Fair Folk, the Yozis and the Deathlords. For planning purposes the Bureau of Destiny is divided into five divisions, one for each astrological house. There are five permanent conventions for such matters such as demon-hunting, disasters and forward planning for powerful Essence-wielders.
- Superintendency of Nature Grand and Humble (The Bureau of Nature): This bureau represents the gods of the physical world and the creatures within it. The destruction of so much of Creation during the Contagion resulted in the layoff of many gods. These unemployed divinities form the majority of Heaven’s unemployed squatter class.
Celestial Incarna: The seven great divinities of the heavens – the Five Maidens, Luna and the Unconquered Sun. The primordial Gaia is often counted as among these beings as well, increasing their numbers to eight, but this grouping is more a matter of convenience than an effective taxonomy. Savants of theological matters count Gaia as a being of an entirely different sort.
Censor: An official, typically a lesser elemental dragon, charged with meting out justice among gods. Censors are part of the Bureau of Heaven. There are 125 censors in Heaven and 7 in Creation. Censors are normally served by celestial lions and other heavenly agents.
Chimera: A Lunar who loses his higher consciousness and becomes a creature of instinct. Used by extension and to refer to those Lunars who sculpt their natural shape too much.
Chiminage: The fee a shaman pays to his patron god in exchange for protection and advice. These typically include regular offerings and prayer, observance of taboos and service to the god’s interest.
Charm: A primal form of magic, focusing Essence through the character’s Abilities rather than purely by her will. Charms allow a character to perform feats of superhuman heroism and are the most basic form used by the Exalted. They contrast with more sophisticated magic of sorcery.
Chosen: Another term for Exalted.
Circle: A group of Solar Exalted brought together by oaths and mutual need. Many believe that most modern Circles have the same membership as Circles from the First Age and that the Solars are drawn to the sides of their reincarnated companions. While there is some evidence to indicate that this is the case, some Circles are definitely creations of the modern age. Regardless of the cause, most Solar Exalted find themselves part of a Circle at some point in their early existence.
Cloister of Wisdom, the: The secondary school oriented toward preparing students for service in the Immaculate Order.
College: One of 25 specialist organizations of pattern spiders who provide support for certain kinds of stereotypical destinies. There is one college for each constellation, and beings whose destinies are under the influence of a given college are said to be in its precincts. Sidereal Exalted are able to become certified initiates in these colleges and then gain the ability to invoke their effects on themselves and others. This is the foundation for Sidereal astrology.
Conclave: The council of Artisans who govern the Mountain Folk.
Constellations: Recognizable arrangements of stars that form a sort of reference shorthand for certain kinds of templated destiny. Each constellation has a college of pattern spiders associated with it. Constellations are the foundation of Sidereal Charms and Sidereal astrology.
Conventions: The operations divisions of the Bureau of Destiny. There is a convention responsible for maintaining and repairing fate in each elemental direction and a number of special conventions.
Creation: The world and everything in it. Beyond Creation lies vast, formless chaos of the Wyld.
Cult of the Illuminated, the: A millenarian cult devoted to the worship of the Illuminated Ones, mystical saviors who will come to lead the world into a new golden age. This heretical cult is a front for a number of Solar Exalted, who use it to help gather up and hide newly emergent Solar Exalted. These Solars are trained in one of the cult’s several secret bases and used to further the goals of the Sidereals who control the cult.
Cup: The Grace of the Fair Folk focusing on appeasement and performance. It is the focus of the raksha’s Compassion.
Dead, the: The collective label for all ghosts together as a group. This term is in common use in both Creation and the Underworld.
Deathknight: A generic term for the Abyssal Exalted. This term and many others are applied to these beings by the savants of the living, and many observers are currently not certain the Abyssals are Exalted at all.
Deathlords: The sorcerer-kings of the Underworld. Their power springs from the Malfean masters and from their matchless erudition. The Deathlords are probably the most powerful beings to walk the world of men in this age. The Deathlords are the Malfeans’ primary pawns in their plan to destroy Creation.
Demesne: An enchanted place, a location where magical currents eddy together to create a natural vortex of power. These places of power are rich in energy for beings that know how to harvest it. Most Exalted harness this power by constructing a Manse on the site of a Demesne.
Demon: The most numerous inhabitants of Malfeas, the prison-kingdom of the Yozis. Demons of the greater sorts are the divided souls of the Demon Princes, while those of lesser sort are the creations or offspring of the greater demons.
Demon Prince: A term more commonly used to describe the Yozis.
Destiny: Technically speaking, an objects fat in the large sense – the deeds it is to take part in, as opposed to its fates. As a general rule, Sidereals plan destinies, pattern spiders weave fates. Destiny and fate are often interchangeably, even by Sidereals, to describe the Tapestry as a whole.
Dominion: A very large prefecture created from the personal lands of the Shogun in the post-Contagion era. Managing the dominions is a very important task. There are two dominions, Arjuf and Lord’s Crossing. Juche Prefecture is almost a dominion and is considered equivalent in stature.
Dragon-Blooded: Spiritually advanced humans Exalted into power by the blood and might of the Five Elemental Dragons. The Dragon-Blooded are creatures of great mystical refinement and are permitted to pray outside of holy days and to interact with gods and ghosts. They are natural-born rulers of Creation. The term Terrestrial Exalted use to describe themselves because they are “of blood” with the Elemental Dragons. This term once referred to the origin of the Terrestrial Exalted, who were created by the Elemental Dragons at Gaia’s behest to aid the gods in their war against those who came before the gods. In modern day, however, the Dragon-Blooded consider it to describe how they partake of spiritual closeness to the Elemental Dragons.
Dragon King: A prehistoric race of magically talented lizardmen who ruled humanity in the time before the coming of the Exalted and the war against the Primordials. Dragon King civilization declined during the Old Realm and the Shogunate, and the Contagion rendered the Dragon Kings nearly extinct.
Dual Monarchs: The Black Monarch and the White Monarch are two masked figures who serve as ritual kings of the Underworld. The Monarchs each have a male and a female aspect, appearing sometimes as one gender and sometimes as the other, depending on their whim and the demands of their extensive ritual schedule. Each aspect has its own personality and predilections, but the four aspects have always displayed a unity of purpose. Dynasty, the: The Great Houses and their immediately subordinate lines together compromise the Dynasty, the ruling elite of the Realm. Dragon-Blooded born outside the Dynasty are either adopted or married into its ranks, placed into legions or the Immaculate Order, or branded outcastes.
Effigy: Effigies are specially prepared funerary statues of men or animals. The statues accompany an individual into the Underworld and, there, serve as her simple-minded guardians and servants. The city of Stygia also fields a great army of these effigies, which can be awakened and deployed in defense of the city in times of need.
Elemental: The semi-spontaneous offspring of natural forces, elementals are responsible for the maintenance of the natural world and for carrying out its ongoing processes. Most elementals work for the Bureau of Seasons or the Bureau of Nature.
Elemental Poles, the: The five cardinal points of Creation. In the North lies the Elemental Pole of Air, in the East lies the Elemental Pole of Wood, in the South the Elemental Pole of Fire, and in the West the Elemental Pole of Water. The Elemental Pole of Earth is the Imperial Mountain of the Blessed Isle and the omphalos, the axis of creation, around which the world revolves. As one moves away from the calm and stability of the Pole of Earth and closer to one of the four active pole’s influence grows stronger. Eventually, the elemental effects are so strong that only the mightiest of Exalted can survive them.
Enlightened: Mountain Folk touched by the inspiration and genius of Autochthon.
Essence: Magic. The most basic building-block of Creation, Essence is the power that links all things together and from which all wonders spring. To channel Essence is to wield the power of gods, and the might of the Exalted springs from their ability to shape and channel Essence.
Exalted: The warriors of the gods. The Exalted were given guardianship of Creation in the time before history for their service in the war against those who came before the gods. Exalted are divided into two groups: the Terrestrial Exalted, who are weak enough that they may breed as men and animals do, and the Celestial Exalted, whose spiritual Essence is too great to travel through the blood. The divine might that empower Celestial Exalted is inextinguishable – when a Celestial Exalted’s body dies, the fragment of divinity flee to find a new body whose destiny is great enough to accommodate it. This act is not reincarnation so much as a transfer of power – the spirit carries few memories, and the new Exalted retains her personality and free will.
- Exalted, Abyssal: Champions of Deathlords. The Abyssal Exalted only recently appeared, yet these warrior-poets of the Underworld bear Caste Marks similar to those of the Solars and have been seen to use sorcery of the Celestial Circle. Not even the wisest of the Sidereal Exalted knows from whence the Deathlords summoned them, but the deathknights are mighty warriors – each the equal to one of the Lunar or Solar Exalted and more than a match for even the mightiest of the Dragon-Blooded
- Exalted, Lunar: Champions of Luna. The Lunar Exalted were once the spouses of the Solar Exalted and the generals of the armies of the First Realm. The Lunars fled into the wilderness after the murder of the Solar Exalted or were slain fighting to avenge the memories of their fallen mates. Today, these shape shifting warriors live as barbarians, dwelling together in small packs or ruling savage nations of their bestial offspring.
- Exalted, Sidereal: Champions of the Five Maidens. The Sidereal Exalted are the sages and astrologers of the Exalted, as well as peerless martial artists. The Sidereal Exalted instigated the murder and imprisonment of the Solar Exalted almost 1,500 years ago in an attempt to avert an apocalypse their astrology foretold. Since then, the Sidereals have lurked in the shadows, attempting to shape the destiny of the world by manipulating the Realm. Those who disagreed with the murder of the Solars fled into exile. Many of these Sidereals seek to use the returning Solars to advance the exiles own goals. The most prominent among these exiles are the Sidereals who secretly support the Cult of the Illuminated.
- Exalted, Solar: Champions of the Unconquered Sun. Once lords of Creation, the Solar Exalted became decadent and corrupt and were slain by the Dragon-Blooded and the Sidereal Exalted. The divine spirits of a vast majority of the Solars were imprisoned, and for centuries after, the Wyld Hunt of the Dragon-Blooded slew those who had escaped as soon as they were reincarnated.
- Exalted, Terrestrial: Champions of the Five Elemental Dragons. The least among the Exalted in power, the Dragon-Blooded, alone among the Chosen, can increase their numbers through reproduction. The Dragon-Blooded were the rank-and-file of the champions of the gods in the war against those who came before the gods. In the late Old Realm, the Dragon-Blooded murdered the Solar Exalted at the behest of the Sidereal Exalted and usurped the rulership of the Realm. The Dragon-Blooded branded the Solar and Lunar Exalted Anathema and made the Immaculate Order the state religion. Today, almost no Dragon-Blooded know of these events, instead believing the stories of the Immaculate Order.
Fair Folk: The faerie. The term the inhabitants of Creation use when referring to the raksha, as using their true names might attract their attention, used to describe the being who dwell in the unformed madness beyond the edges of Creation. Raksha almost never call themselves Fair Folk unless they are expressing self-aware humor. Those who remain beyond the borders of the world are creatures of the Wyld, hostile to all things of set shape and constant form. However, many of the Fair Folk have entered the world and have taken on shape to do so. Most of these beings are tricksters and hunters of men, but some coexist with mortals, ruling them as lords in some places and living among them as citizens in others. The unshaped Fair Folk invaded Creation en masse once, during the Great Contagion, and would have destroyed the world had the Scarlet Empress not used the defenses of the Realm against them.
Fate: Speaking technically, the actions an item is to take, as opposed to its destinies, which are more general. Everything that happens to an item, it in some sense, a fate, but most fates are planned and handled transparently by the pattern spiders.
First Age: The Golden Age, when men wielded magic for greater than the petty scraps they hold today. The First Age is popularly though to stretch from the beginning of history to the Great Contagion almost 800 years ago. However, most savants consider the murder of the Solar Exalted some six centuries before that to be the true turning of the Age.
Five Elemental Dragons, the: The five children of Gaia, who protect their mother and who brought all the gods and elementals to heel in the chaotic days after the Primordial War. They are, in theory, the rulers of the Terrestrial Sphere, but for all their might, they issue few edicts and are so vast that they show little interest in Creation. It may be that the Terrestrial Exalted followers of the Immaculate Philosophy really do join them when they become spiritually advanced, for the Terrestrial partake of the same nature, but if this is the case, the Five Elemental Dragons say little of it. The Elemental Dragons are the lords of the world and are responsible for overseeing the hierarchy of spirits. Like most of the gods, the Dragons have become decadent and self-involved since the end of the First Age. Rarely do the Elemental Dragons inquire into the state of their subjects, and with every passing year, the spirits ignore their duties more and grow more independent. The Immaculate Order venerates the Elemental Dragons as the apotheosis of spiritual development and the princes of Creation.
Five Magical Materials: Orichalcum, moonsilver, starmetal, jade and soulsteel comprise the five known Magical Materials. These materials are all easily enchanted and resonate with the animas of the appropriate Exalted. Though each material is especially resonant to a particular type of Exalted, an item made from any of the Magical Materials can be made to resonate with the anima of any type of Exalted. Their resonance makes the item preternaturally deft and sure in a character’s hands, as well as activating any Hearthstones set into the item.
Five Maidens, the: Five divinities second in sheer power only to the Unconquered Sun. The Five Maidens are Mercury (the Maiden of Journeys), Venus (the Maiden of Serenity), Mars (the Maiden of Battles), Jupiter (the Maiden of Secrets) and Saturn (the Maiden of Endings). Though Luna is not numbered among the maidens, she is considered their equal in power. Though the Maidens are venerated in many places, the Immaculate Order officially disapproves of their worship by the unExalted. Flaw: A negative Trait not part of the normal array of Attributes, Virtues and so on. Some characters possess certain Flaws, other characters do not. Some Flaws have varying values, like normal Traits, while others merely denote that character is subject to some status or condition. See Merit.
Gaia: The spirit of creation, the mother of the Elemental Dragons and all those things that live and grow. It is said that Gaia is one of those who came before the gods but that she aided the gods in their war against her fellows out of love for her once consort, Luna.
Games of Divinity, the: A game invented or created by the Primordials. The Games of Divinity are explicitly not the use of humans as pawns (though there are many gods who do play such games), but are in fact, something greater and more mysterious.
Ghost: The hun of an individual whose chooses not to enter Lethe and accept reincarnation, but to linger on in the Underworld instead. Some cultures worship the ghosts of their ancestors, while the Immaculate Philosophy decries the ghostly state as an offense against the natural order. Ghosts are spirits, but weak ones, and they are highly dependent on regular offerings to enhance their power. Though most non-Immaculates revere and sacrifice to their ancestors, only in those places where the Deathlords rule do the dead command the same degree of respect as gods and elementals.
God: Often used generally to mean any little god, elemental, Exalt, demon, behemoth or faerie noble who captures the worship of a barbarian people and the chiminage of their shaman.
Grace: A repository for the Fair Folk’s being and self. There are five Graces, the Cup, the Ring, the Staff, the Sword and the central Heart Grace.
Grave Goods: Objects buried with an individual that appear with him in the Underworld. These grave goods are always of the highest quality, even if the actual item use in the burial was cheap and shoddy – or even a paper-and-wood effigy.
Great Contagion, the: A terrible plague created by the Deathlords that devastated the world almost eight centuries ago. In its wake, the Fair Folk cast open the gates at the edges of Creation and marched across the world. The Fair Folk were stopped only by the Scarlet Empress, who dared the Imperial Manse and used the defenses of the Realm against them. The Great Contagion is popularly considered the mark to the end of the First Age.
Great Curse, the: When the Exalted slew those who came before the gods, their victims cursed the Chosen as they died. Though this Curse was elaborate and vast, its core was that the Chosen would forever be cursed with the hate, immoderacy and treachery they displayed in the murder of their enemies of the gods. Though this Curse has dogged the Exalted as a group since that day, the Curse settled primarily on the shoulder of the Solar Exalted. Since then, the Solars have been subject to terrible, dark moods and uncontrollable outburst of emotion.
Great Geas, the: The magical binding Autochthon placed on the Mountain Folk to prevent them from challenging the Exalted mandate.
Great House: A line of Dragon-Blooded, generally descended from the Scarlet Empress, that has special legal status in the Realm. The Great Houses receive special tax breaks, provide the Realm’s most important officers, lease land at favorable rates from the Throne and may keep small numbers of armed troops. The Great Houses were created by imperial decree, usually for political reasons. There are currently 11 Great Houses, but there are others that have risen and fallen before present day.
Guild, the: A vast network of merchants, trading in every imaginable good – from ore, grain and textiles to slaves and addictive drugs. The Guild knows no good or evil, only the supply and demand. It even trades slaves tot the Fair Folk, who feed on their hopes and dreams and then sell the soulless husks back to the Guild as docile servants useful for simple manual labor. Though the Guild’s headquarters is in the trading metropolis of Nexus, its representatives are present in nearly every corner of Creation. Heart: The central Grace of a raksha and the residence of her Willpower and free will. The Heart Grace is protected y the Great Maker, Autochthon.
Hearthstone: A crystal of pure magical energy, formed at the center of a Manse. If an Exalted is attuned to the Manse from whence a Hearthstone springs and carries the Hearthstone with him in a focal device made from one of the Five Magical Materials, then he may draw on the power of the Demense to perform miraculous feats. The exact manifestation is determined by the Essence-focusing architecture of the Manse built atop it.
Heptagram, the: A secondary school that teaches the secrets of magic and First Age lore to young sorcerer-savants of the Realm.
Hero: A special member of a military unit who is permitted to strike for the leader in hand-to-hand combat and who can assume leadership of the unit if the unit leader is incapacitated.
Host of the Dragon-Blooded, the: A more formal term for Dynasty.
House of Bells, the: A secondary school that prepares young officers for service in the legions.
Hun: The higher soul of an individual, the seat of logic, reason and spiritual development. It passes out of the body with the final breath, as opposed to the po, which resides in the remains. If a hun chooses to linger in the Underworld rather than traveling on to its next reincarnation, it becomes a ghost.
Hungry Ghost: A creature formed from the angered po of a deceased individual. It stalks the area around the body during the night and then descends into the Underworld during the day. Destruction of the corpse confines it to the Underworld, and proper burial or sunlight outside of a shadowland destroys one instantly.
Hybrid Form: A hulking and deadly humanoid caricature of the Lunar’s totem animal. The hybrid form becomes one of the Lunar’s natural shapes when the Exalt learns the Charm Deadly Beastman Transformation.
Ikth-ya: “Respected.” A Lunar of the third rank. A Lunar of this rank is one of the leaders of her people and a powerful voice in their affairs.
Immaculate Order, the: The state religion of the Realm. The Immaculate Order preaches that an individual’s soul is reincarnated again and again through successive lives, until it reaches perfection and joins the Elemental Dragons. Humans are more advanced than animals, and the Dragon-Blooded are more advanced than humans. The Immaculates frown on any sort of popular worship or veneration of spirits because they believe spirits to be celestial functionaries rather than divinities – instead, the Immaculate Order sees that the local spirits are given the proper offerings at the predetermined times. Immaculate monks are known for their deadly mastery of the martial arts, and Dragon-Blooded monks are particularly feared for their mastery of elemental style martial arts. The Immaculate serve as a front organization for those Sidereal Exalted who originally instigated the murder of the Solar Exalted, allowing the Sidreals to continue to shape the destiny of the Realm. The order has allowed these hidden Exalted to manipulate the course of the empire since they helped found it nearly 1,500 years ago.
Imperial Service: The proper name for the imperial bureaucracy, more commonly called the Thousand Scales.
Itinerant: A wandering Immaculate with special authority to look into matters of interest to the faith. Similar to imperial magistrates.
Jade Pleasure Dome, the: The great palace in Heaven where Celestial Incarna and their guests plat the Games of Divinity. Access to this palace is forbidden save to the invited guests, and the Exalted are never invited.
Labyrinth: The dark tunnels that lie beneath the surface of the Underworld and the tombs of the Malfeans. The Labyrinth is the home of specters as well as many of hungry ghosts who find their way to its dark corridors. The Labyrinth is a nightmare realm of manifest hallucination and solidified fear, where time and distance are sometimes as fluid as in the Wyld.
Lease: The Scarlet Empress owns all the real estate on the Blessed Isle, and all land deals are trading in negotiable land-lease agreements issued by the state. Most peasants on the Blessed Isle pay land-lease fees as their primary tax, and the Great Houses always have various leases up for renewal that the Empress can change the terms of as a form of leverage.
Lethe: A state of blissful repose ghosts enter as a prelude to accepting reincarnation. Over three days, the ghost grows increasingly lassitudinous and at peace, as her Passions and Fetters slip away one by one. At the end of the process, the ghost dissipates, and the being’s higher soul is reborn into the next reincarnation. This process cannot be stopped, but the Deathlords have chains that cast the wearer into Oblivion if he succumbs to Lethe while manacled.
Little God: A god not of the Celestial Incarna. Even the least gods are prideful enough beings and resent being referred to in the diminutive or reminded of their low station. All but savants, the Exalted and the followers of the Immaculate Order simply call these beings gods.
Loom of Fate, the: The structure upon which the pattern spiders weave the fabric of destiny according to the plans of the Maidens and the elder Sidereals.
Luna: Though many mortals, especially those influenced by the Immaculates, do Luna homage as the consort of Gaia, this is not so for the Lunar Exalted. The Lunars pay homage to her in her aspect as a many-faced trickster, a sorceress and a brutal and implacable warrior queen. Luna appears to each of the Lunar Exalted during Exaltation, and this typically leaves a very long-lasting impression on them, and this personal relationship is reinforced by occasional visions and guidance. Luna does not use her Exalts as tools, but sees them as her children and her most devout priests and protects them to a certain degree as their divine patron. A shape changer and a warrior almost the equal of the Unconquered Sun, Luna is the mother and patron of the Lunar Exalted.
Luna’s Beloved: Another term for the Lunar Exalted, used by the Lunars to refer to themselves because of the intimate spiritual connection they share with their patron.
Lunar Society: Another name for the Silver Pact.
Malfean: A dead Primordial, slain by the Solar Exalted. The Underworld was created with the first Primordial death, and those among the elder gods who were slain descended into the Underworld. The Malfeans lie now in state, dead yet wakeful in their vast dark tombs, wishing always to strangle out the living world, hurling all into Oblivion.
Malfeans: Cousins to the Yozis, the Malfeans were slain in the time before history and, in dying, created the Underworld. They sleep forever in their temple-tombs far beneath the land of the dead, dreaming endlessly of the day when all of Creation will join them in death.
Magistrate: Plenipotentiary officials who speak with the voice of the Scarlet Empress and act with her authority. The magistrates investigate corruption and treason as well as serious criminal cases, and there is a great degree of competition between them and the All-Seeing Eye.
Manse: A structure of occult architecture built to channel and focus the energies of a Demesne. The energies are focused into a Hearthstone, a crystal of concentrated magical energy that grants power to an Exalted who carries it.
Merit: A positive Trait not part of the normal array of Attributes, Virtues and so on. Some characters possess certain Flaws, other characters do not. Some Merits have varying values, like normal Traits, while others merely denote that character is subject to some status or condition. See Flaw.
Monstrance of Celestial Portion: A cage in which a Solar Essence is corrupted with the Essence of the Abyss and transformed into Abyssal Essence. Each Abyssal Essence has a Monstrance it calls home, and it is there that the Abyssal Essence flees if the Exalt who bears it is slain.
Mosok: Western, aquatic breed of Dragon King.
Mote: A unit used by sorcerers and savants to measure Essence.
Mountain Folk: Fair Folk Essence trapped in Creation when the world was created and given shape by the efforts of the Great Maker, Autochthon.
Murr-ya: “Revered.” A Lunar of the fourth rank. Murr-ya are rare even among the oldest of Lunars, for only the great and repeated sacrifice of their own interests int eh name of the Silver Way can a Lunar achieve the sort of reputation necessary to reach this rank.
Nain-ya: “Kin.” A Lunar of the first rank. A Lunar who has just been initiated into the Silver Pact or an older Lunar who merely payslip service to the Silver Ways and the ideals of the Silver Pact.
Natural Shape: Lunars who spend Peripheral Essence can become shape locked, meaning they can no longer shape shift freely. However, a shape locked Lunar can still move between his human form, animal form and her hybrid form through the use of the Charms Finding the Spirits Shape and Deadly Beastman Transformation (respectively). These three shapes constitute the Lunar’s “natural shape”
Necromancy: A form of magic that uses the Essence of the Underworld to generate powerful black magic effects. Necromancy is practiced only by the Abyssals and the Deathlords. Like sorcery, necromancy has three levels of initiation: Shadowlands, Labyrinth and Void Circle. Necromancers can also practice sorcery, but advancement in one art inhibits development in the other.
Necropolis: A city of the dead, where ghosts gather together for company and for protection against attacks by specters and hungry ghosts. Necropoli are typically built in a location analogous to a city or burial place among the living, so they can be near the altars to the dead.
Nephwrack: Spectres who lead cults or live monastic existences in the service of Oblivion. They worship the Malfeans or Oblivion itself, and not the Deathlords. In general usage among the dead, a nephwracks is any spectre religious figure. The nephwracks’ relationship with the Deathlords is strained, as the Deathlords see the nephwracks as lacking subtlety and power – which is generally true compared to even weak Exalted.
Neverborn: A term used among the dead to refer to the Malfeans, who were never born into Creation.
Nexus: The largest city in the world, outside of the Realm. Nexus is a city that knows only one law – thou shalt not obstruct trade. Ruled by the mysterious Emissary, Nexus is a filthy hive of crime and treachery, where life is cheap and death is free. It is also a shining jewel of commerce and opportunity, where anyone with enough determination and luck can earn a fortune. Nexus is famous for its markets, its metal goods and its mercenaries, all of which are the best in the known world.
Northern Isles, the: The two small isles to the northwest of the Blessed Isle. These islands are “part” of the Blessed Isle and are governed by prefecture rather than satrapy methods.
Oblivion: The force of true annihilation and total destruction, Oblivion came into existence when the Primordials died. Many are the savants who claims that it shall consume all life in the latte days of Creation, and the Malfeans and the Deathlords do their best to speed the coming of that day.
Old Realm: Also called the First Realm. Used to describe the empire that ruled the world in the First Age, before the Great Contagion. It is forbidden to use this term in the Realm, which considers itself to be the same government.
Path: One of the 10 magical aptitudes (two for each element) practiced by the Dragon Kings to channel their Essence. Paths are somewhat more flexible than Charms, but not nearly as versatile. Dragon Kings practiced almost no other arts beyond the Paths.
Perfected Lotus: A term used to refer to practice of supernatural martial arts. The three initiations into the lotus – root, bud and blossom – represent the ability to practice Terrestrial, Celestial and Sidereal martial arts.
Plasmic: A creature of the Underworld that is not a ghost nor created by one. Some of these creatures resemble simplified animals from the lands of the living. Others resemble no natural creature.
Po: The po is the lower soul of an individual, gull of his animal passions. It remains in the body at death, while the hun passed on to the next incarnation or descends into the Underworld. The po of an unburied corpse, murder victim or wicked individual will often rise as a hungry ghost.
Possession: Something belonging of one of the raksha through a mystical link created through the use of various Charms. Possessions can be stored Elsewhere or be made to manifest in the raksha’s presence, modified cosmetically to suit the raksha’s whims and the needs of the moment, as a reflexive action.
Prefect: The appointee who runs a prefecture. Prefects are rarely Dragon-Blooded because the job isn’t seen as challenging enough to merit the skills of a Prince of the Earth.
Prince of the Earth: Another term used to describe Dragon-Blooded.
Prefecture: The Blessed Isle’s equivalent of a satrapy, governed by a prefect. Prefectures were generally much more fairly administered than satrapies. Their taxes were much more reasonable, and the many faces of the imperial bureaucracy acted as a check on local power and guaranteed the peasantry certain rights and protections. Without the Scarlet Empress to check the growth of house power, many prefecture administrations have begun to favor large leaseholders and to burden the peasants with oppressive taxes.
Primary School: A school with a general focus attended by Dynasts and patricians between the ages of 9 and 14. Before the age of nine, children are tutored in the home. After they finish primary school, most Exalts go on to one of the Realm’s four most prominent secondary schools, while patricians wither begin training with their families for the role they will fill in the family or attend a less prestigious secondary school to continue their education. Most Dragon-Blooded Exalt during their time in primary school.
Pterok: A flying Northern breed of Dragon King.
Quintessence: Quintessence is the fruit of prayers offered to Heaven in general. Quintessence collects in basins in the jade prayer plazas of Yu-Shan and is distributed among the gods for their subsistence. It is considered a sign of low status to draw one’s own Quintessence.
Raptok: The most humanoid, Eastern breed of Dragon King. Raptoks are still found in the Southeast, especially around Rathess, and are called “stalkers” locally.
Raksha: A congerie of five Graces (the Cup, the Ring, the Staff, the Sword and the Heart), one or two of which possess feeding maws and the rest of which are Essence repositories and counterweights for the feeding maws. Fair Folk in Creation must ise Charms to create physical existences for themselves, or they sublimate into nothingness instantly from the sheer pressure of shaped reality.
Rakshastan: The part of Creation that has been touched by the Wyld. The denizens of Creation call this place “The Wyld,” but in fact, it is a medley of both Creation and the true Wyld. Rakshastan is not an actual kingdom, merely a name for the region the raksha inhabit.
Realm, the: The empire of the Dragon-Blooded that, until recently, controlled all of civilized Creation. The Dragon-Blooded see themselves as the direct heirs to the First Age and forbid the use of terms “First Realm” and “Old Realm.” The Realm never really “ruled” more than the Blessed Isle directly. Instead, it exacted tribute from countless local governments, which did it homage and were, in theory, independent but were, in reality, little more than puppet states. Since the disappearance of the Scarlet Empress, the Realm has been in a state of flux. There is a weak regent on the throne, and the various powers of the junta that supports him conspire endlessly, each attempting to build up enough power and influence to crush its rivals and seize open rulership of the Realm. In this chaos, the Realm’s many tributaries have been stripped of their garrisons and left to their own devices. While a few remain loyal subjects states, some have declared independence, and many others have effectively done so, sending only token tribute rather than their full tax duties. Whoever seizes the throne of the Realm will be confronted with the task of reconquering the vast majority of its territory.
Relay: A special member of a military unit charged with repeating and amplifying the leader’s orders.
Ring: The Grace of the Fair Folk focusing on the self-awareness and the ability to change the raksha’s physical circumstances. It springs from the raksha’s Temperance.
Satrap: A representative of imperial power in a tributary state, almost always one of the Dragon-Blooded. The satrap is assisted by a staff that might be only a half-dozen imperial bureaucrats or that can include several hundred unExalted imperial citizens, thousands of local employees and dozens of Dragon-Blooded. Satraps are powerful individuals, often commanding private armies and with incredible influence in local government.
Satrapy: A tributary state or, sometimes, a number of very small states lumped together for administrative convenience. These are the building blocks of the imperial system. Each satrapy is ruled by whoever the local ruler is – the Realm is not concerned with the administration of day-to-day affairs among its tributaries. The satrap is instead present to look after imperial political and commercial interests and to oversee tributary payments.
Scarlet Empress, the: The queen of the Dragon-Blooded, who ruled from the Realm’s rebirth to her disappearance five years ago. The woman who braved the Imperial Manse during the Great Contagion and who unlocked the long-forgotten secrets of the Realm’s defenses and used them to defeat the armies of the Fair Folk and save Creation from their wrath. It is possible she had help or advice of the Sidereal Exalted in accomplishing this. After the Fair Folk were banished, she crowned herself Empress of the new Realm and ruled her kingdom for almost 800 years. Five years ago she vanished inexplicably.
Scavenger Lands, the: An alliance of petty kingdoms and city-states in the East who have never paid homage to the Realm, though the Realm has repeatedly (and unsuccessfully) attempted to subjugate them. Most powerful among these principles is the great trading metropolis of Nexus, though there are many other states who take part in the alliance. The dogged independence of these lands is all the more irritating to the Realm because the Scavenger Lands were once the heartland of the Old Realm and have large caches of First Age magic.
Sciences: Specialized forms of thaumaturgy that require more than mere Occult to execute.
Second Breath: In the world of Exalted, the soul enters an individual’s body when she draws her first breath. When a being is Exalted, the rush of divine energy is very similar, and Exaltation is, thus, often called a Second Breath.
Secondary School: A more advanced academy than a primary school. Most Dynastic Dragon-Blooded attend one of the Realm’s four prominent secondary schools, while patricians attend less-prominent institutions.
Shadowland: In the Second Age, the line between the Underworld and Creation is perilously thin. A shadowland is an area where constant ghostly activity or powerful negative geomancy have been brought the two worlds together. Those who cross into the area in either world always arrive at the shadowland, but when they depart, they will always arrive in the lands of the living if they can cross the region’s borders during the day or in the Underworld if they depart at night. Shadowlands are dismal places, haunted both by hungry ghosts and the evil spirits of Creation, who thrive on the negative energy there.
Shahan-ya: “Great of greats.” A Lunar of the fifth rank. Only a tiny number of these incredible beings exist. They do not follow the Silver Way, the personify it, and each has been flattered for their greatness by Luna before a tlak of other Lunars.
Shaman: A barbarian who enters into a client-patron relationship with a god. The shaman serves the god (a practice called chiminage), and in turn, the god ideally teaches and protects the shaman and his people. As the god and the shaman are hardly in an equal position, the deals naturally tend to favor the gods. Hence the need for clever shamans. Lunars are almost never shamans.
Shaping: The innate ability of the raksha to shape the Wyld around them though the use of their Grace.
Shinma: Ultimate concepts that exist in and beyond the Wyld, somewhat between natural laws and unspeaking divinations, venerated and studied by the raksha. The shinma include Nirikara (the Mask), Nirguna (the Heart), Dharma (the Cup), Nirvishesha (the Ring), Nirvikalpa (the Staff) and Nishkriya (the Sword).
Sidereal Astrology: Unlike normal astrology, which only predicts the future by the location of the stars, Sidereal astrology changes the future by conveying specific orders to a given college of pattern spiders to change the location of stars.
Silver Pact, the: The Creation-wide society of Lunars. Similar to the “secret” or fraternal societies common among barbarian nations, the Silver Pact is an organization created by Lunars for the purpose of self-protection and the kidnapping and initiation of newly Exalted Lunars. Also called Lunar society and the Society of the Moon.
Silver Way, the: The code of bravery, generosity and honor held as up as the ideal of the Silver Pact. Lunars who honor the Silver Way are given voice among their brothers and sisters in Lunar society. Those who do not honor the Silver Way are left to fend for themselves as best they can and, thus, typically perish.
Society of the Moon, the: Another name for the Silver Pact.
Sorcerer: A special member of a military unit who occupies a protected position. Used for master archers and observers as well as sorcerers. Sorcerers may strike for the unit leader in ranged combat.
Sorcery: A more sophisticated and demanding form of magic than Charms. When using Charms, the Exalted focuses Essence through her skills, while when using sorcery, she focuses it by will alone.
Spectre: A ghost whose heart has been consumed by Oblivion and who now seek universal annihilation as a servant of the Malfeans. The specters are led by the nephwracks, who are their priests.
Spiral Academy, the: A secondary school devoted to teaching students the skills necessary for service in the Thousand Scales.
Spirit: A term used by some savants for those gods not in the Celestial Order. In common usage, it is just a synonym for god. More accurately known as the little gods, spirits are lesser divine entities charged with the maintenance of Creation. Once, there was a well-ordered spirit hierarchy, but today, matters are in decay. In many places, spirits accept sacrifices and demand worship as though they were greater deities. In other places, powerful spirits even rule men as their lords.
Staff: The Staff Grace is the home of Conviction and social power. It defines the raksha’s ability to change the social world around her.
Stygia: The great dark capital city of the dead, where the Dual Monarchy rules. It is the location of the Calendar of Setesh and the Well of the Void as well as being the seat of the Underworld’s ritual kings.
Sword: The Sword Grace is the home of Valor and the raksha’s sense of mythic self-importance and ability to destroy that which opposes them.
Taboo: A special form of worship practiced by shamans or whole barbarian people, typically as chiminage to the tribe’s gods. Those subject taboos must do or not do certain things out of deference to their patron. Taboos can often be quite burdensome, and it is this struggle in the name of the patron that generates Essence.
Tapestry, the: The fabric of interlocking fates and destinies that makes up Creation. This endless cascade of Essence is drawn from the Wyld, spun and woven to fill each moment and the discarded when the instant passed. The Tapestry is woven on the Loom of Fate.
Thaumaturgy: The mortal practice of magic, using very basic Essence channeling and natural law.
Thousand Mazy Paths, the: The Scarlet Empress’ strategy of divide-and-rule governance, pitting the imperial government against itself to prevent any challenges to her power from arising.
Thousand Scales, the: The bureaucracy that governs the Realm and manages the tributary states. The staff of the Scales is primarily patrician, but most auditors and senior decision makers are Dragon-Blooded.
Threshold: Savants use this term to refer to all of Creation that lies between the shores of the Blessed Isle and the uninhabitable purity of the Elemental Poles. In more common usage, it refers to the ring of countless kingdoms and city-states that abut the Inner Sea. At one point, all of these states were tributaries to the Realm. However, in the five years since the disappearance of the Scarlet Empress, the Realm has withdrawn many garrisons to focus on internal troubles. Today, most of these states are subjects of the Realm in name only, and many have declared independence.
Tlak: A formal gathering of Lunars called to settle grievances and discuss concerns.
Totem Animal: The one animal the Lunar identifies with the most closely. This becomes one of the Lunar’s natural shapes when the Lunar learns the Charm Finding the Spirit’s Shape.
Tribute: In addition to oaths of subjection and loyalty, the Scarlet Empress required tribute from the Threshold states that paid her homage, payable in talents (man-weights) of gold, silver or jade. The Great Houses actually collect the tribute as part of a tax-farming system, and the Great House that currently has the rights to the satrapy appoints the satrap. This means satraps are serving two masters, the Realm and their house. It was the business of the magistrates and the All-Seeing Eye to see that the house wasn’t favored at the expense of the imperial coffers.
Uf-ya: “Honored.” A Lunar of the second rank who has distinguished herself with her reverence for the Silver Way and her glorious behavior.
Unconquered Sun: Mightiest among the gods, the Unconquered Sun was their leader when they rebelled against those who came before the gods. He created the Solar Exalted and advised them when they ruled the world during the First Age, until the Solars’ overweening pride caused him to turn away from them. His temples were pulled down after the murder of the Solar Exalted, and his worship was banned. Today, the veneration of the Unconquered Sun is practiced only by savages ad isolated bands of heretics.
Underworld: The dark mirror of Creation that came into existence with the death of the Malfeans and ruled by the Deathlords. The Underworld is a place of shadows and great silent oceans, a dark dreamland full of wonders and dangers unknown to the living. In many places, called shadowlands, the wall between the living and the dead has been worn through by too many crossings and recrossings. In these places, the dead walk freely among the living, and those who stray too far afield can easily find themselves traveling in the land of the dead. The Underworld is a place of memory, ritual and dust, whose natural inhabitants are a few simple types of plants and animals. Those who die but do not wish to pass into Lethe linger in the Underworld as ghosts. Mortals who dwell in shadowlands are sickly, weak things, who pay homage to the Deathlords and spend their lives looking forward to death’s embrace.
Unenlightened: Mountain Folk with intelligence and autonomy diminished by the Great Curse.
Unit Leader: A special member of a military unit who directs the formation and strikes for the rest of the soldiers in combat.
Urrach-ya: “Nonperson.” A Lunar term for a Lunar who has fallen from the Silver Way or civilized mortal or Exalt who has never lived according to the barbarian virtues. Urrach-ya are not protected by the Silver Way and can be lied to, cheated, stolen from or killed as the Lunar sees fit.
Walking Dead: A corpse or skeleton given mobility and a simple, slavish mentality though necromancy. The walking dead do not contain ghosts, but are instead animated by fragments of dark power, said by some to be the shattered souls of destroyed specters.
Well of the Void, the: A great pit at the center of Stygia surrounded by the Manses of the Deathlords and the temples of the dead. The upper levels of the pit walls are decorated with the shrines and temples of the Nephwracks, and far below, in the darkness are the porticos and fanes of the Malfean tombs.
White Monarch, the: One of the Dual Monarchs, the ritual rulers of the Underworld. In his male form, the White Monarch is called Usine, whose bright panoply gives the dead reason to continue their existences. In her female form, she is called Eset. Some say, that in this form she is the voice of Oblivion and that she alone can calm the great storms that call the specters from the Labyrinth.
Wyld, the: It is used by Lunars it means areas actually touched by the madness that lurks beyond the edge of Creation. In the usage of the wise, the Wyld is both the corrosive madness that lies beyond the edges of Creation and the inchoate potential as an elemental force. There are many areas in the Threshold, typically those that were sites of bivouacs or battles during the Fair Folk’s invasion, where reality is still soft and malleable, and these areas are also called the Wyld.
Wyld Hunt: A powerful group of battle-hardened and devour Dragon-Blooded that the Immaculate Order used to hunt Anathema. Now that the Scarlet Empress has disappeared and the various lesser power of the Realm have begun to vie for the throne, most of the Dragon-Blooded who served in the Wyld Hunt have, instead, chosen to stay close to home, to lend their might to the various contenders for rulership of the Realm.
Yozis: Demon prince. Cousins to the Malfeans, the Yozis are forever imprisoned outside of Creation in their blasted kingdom of iron and black marble beneath a mad green sun. The Yozis plot continuously to escape their prison and overthrown the gods.
Yu-Shan: The greatest city ever built, the Heavenly City of Yu-Shan is the abide of the Celestial Incarna, the home of the Games of Divinity and, also, the dwelling place of all those little gods who represent universal principals. Yu-Shan was once the abode of the Primordials in the days before the Primordial War and, today, has fallen into a state of decay, as the gods ignore its maintenance to instead play the Games of Divinity.
Comments
This is basically for all the newbies to the game. I have complied all of the lexicon information from the front of the books and put them in one place. Printed off it fills about 15 pages so it is a rather beefy piece. I am going to try and add some things not listed, i.e. Tells, moon name, etc. -Buji
