Sindaen/The Gray Touched

FOREWORD

Some time ago, after reading the excelent concept of the Gray Touched that I found while surfing trough Exalted Compendium, I decided to run a series for my regular Exalted Players. We had a lot of fun, but as usually, my players felt the Children Of The Contagion needed more substance.

Empowered by creative urges, we took the liberty to use the same concept that [[[Sindaen/The_Gray_Touched/Dayeshield]] from StorytellerStudios]], the original creator and revamp the Gray Touched.

This work is not intended as a challenge to the creator of Exalted:The Gray Touched, but only a personal view of the same concept my group and I decided to share with all the Exalted enthusiasts.

If this piece of work offends anyone, including the original creators, please feel free to e-mail me and I will remove this document inmediately.

DISCLAIMER

Exalted is a trade mark of White Wolf Publishing, and Exalted: The Gray Touched were originally developed and concieved by Dayeshield, from Storyteller Studios.

Also, I would like to apologyse for the spelling errors, but undertand that English is not my native language. Please enjoy our particular view of Exalted: The Gray Touched and feel free to ditribute this document and send your comments to sindaen@hotmail.com

THE CONCEPT OF THE GRAY TOUCHED

Note: The following was inspired heavily by Dayeshield original text.

“The Great Contagion ravaged the lands of Creation at the end of the First Age, leaving nothing untouched from its cold, blighted touch. Whole cities were left barren while others became a wasteland. In the shadows of those cities where the plague seemingly destroyed all life, shadows survived. Rumors spoke of these haunted towns and settlements stealing souls of any whom dared to cross into the Contagion’s greatest horrors on Creation. Though in its wake, humanity survived. Forever changed by the plague and cursed by its touch, they each bare the mark of the Great Beast. These torn and broken people became known to some as the “Gray Touched”, survivors of the Great Contagion and its legacy on humanity.

The Gray Touched are humans who carry a permanent scar to their Essence, a hole, left by the Contagion, their souls thorn and fragmented, too fractured to enter the underworld as ghosts or to continue living as normal humans. That scar within their soul slowly bleeds away from them what is only a resemblance of life which can ultimately lead to their death, unless they consume the energies the Contagion left in its passage… the essence of the dead.

Whatever the contagion ripped away from their souls, left place for something else. Forver trapped in a state beyond both worlds the Hollow Ones have learned to tap the primal energies of Life And Death, they understood how to master the Path Of The Great Beast. Nevertheless, if a Gray Touched fails to feed from the dead, the Great Beast within them coils and rips away their very existences, and they too become the very entities they prey upon.

It is said only one in ten people survived the contagion, and it is know that only those who stood behind their villages, with nothing but the company of their dead relatives, became so tainted by death that he became one of the Gray. There are very few people bearing this curse over their shoulders, some say less than thirthy, others, mistakenly consider the gray to be no more than powerful Ghost-Blooded, say their numbers are beyond the hundreds. The truth is far more complicated than that.

When the Contagion ended, fifty five men and women became broken, broken from the loss of their relatives and from hearing the tumultuous Age Of Sorrows approaching. There are some who still wander the World, leading the few they can find into the Path. Those who still exist carry a heavy weight in their shoulders, should no other Gray Touched exist, the Great Contagion would sweep again the face of Creation, and the Great Beast will spare no one this time."

THE WORLD OF THE GREY

The Gray touched live inside human settlements. They inhabit the cemeteries and places where the dead walk at night. They move from shadowland to shadowland as assasins, rogues and drifters, always hunting by night and sleeping whenever they can. The Path Of The Great Beast Is a demanding one. Each night, the Hollow Ones must hunt the undead for their precious necrotic essence to keep the beast within them satiated, or the loss of Essence will slowly cause their bodies to decay and rot away from the plague. They go to great lenghts to avoid being discovered for what they trully are.

Thirty years ago, Bone Mirror, a Gray assasin and tomb looter was captured by the deathlord known as The Mask Of Winters. It is said that she experienced horrid torture at the hands of her captors but prefered death before revealing her true nature or that of her people. Whether she exists or not is unknown. What would happen if the Deathlords found the terrible truth of the curse of the Gray Touched, is up to fate to decide.

RELATIONS WITH OTHERS

Solar Exalted The grey are forsaken. They carry the weight of the world over their soulders and are, in their very essence, unsung heroes. Some grey have come in contact with the reborn Solars, but their ways and appearance make them to be considered just another threat from the Deathlords. It is said that some members of the Night and Twilight caste are very interested in the curse the Hollow Ones suffer, but untill today these are just rumors.

Lunar Exalted The Lunars smell the taint and corruption of the Great Beast, but dont understan the suffering of the Gray. The Hollow Ones keep as far as they can from these man-beasts of the Wyld, for no Gray has survived an encounter with one.

Sidereal Exalted The Grey are not aware of the existance of the Sidereal Exalted, but this is is not the same for the Chosen Of The Maidens. Some members of the house of Endings are aware of the unique relation between the Gray and some powerfull entities like Iphimedeia, The Nameles God Of The Utter West, Han-Ta and some disease spirits. To them, the Gray are outside fate

Abyssal Exalted The Grey fear most of all the terribe dark princes and treat them with most caution. Not fewer that four Hollow Ones have fallen by the swords of the Deathkights who find very strange how these beings cannot be commanded with their powers

The Dragon Blooded Realm As strange freaks, the Gray are treated as Anathema by the Immaculate Phylosophy. The few Ledaal savants who know of their presence, make it clear they will pay dearly for a "live specimen". This has only made the Hollow Ones more subtle in their practices

Dragon Blooded Outcasts The Seventh Legion and other large Dragon Blooded societies treat the Gray as they would any specialy powerful Ghost Blooded. That is, with caution and distrust.

Elementals Elementals leave the Gray alone, understanding the great weight they carry over their shoulders

Spirits Spirits tend to leave alone the Hollow Ones, altough those who serve Iphimedeia and other circles of diseases tend to act as protectors or mentors to the Gray, because this is considered a severe offense in Yu-Shan,some disease spirits keep thir patronage as secretly as they can

The Yozi and their demons The Demons believe that one of their slain kin is what the Gray call "The Great Beast", and some second circle demons have made the Gray their enemies, as servants of the Malfeans. The Gray will hunt a demon whenever they can, but will never consume their essence

Dragon Kings The Dragon Kings are a phenomenon too old for the Gray to Know, and the Hollow Ones are to knew to cross paths with the children of The Lizard Queen

Mortals Some mortals tell stories that seem to have references to the Gray, and some disregard them as Ghost Blooded or even minor God-Blooded.The Gray will try to avoid living company as much as they can, for it reminds them of what they have lost

SOBRIQUETS

The Gray -Touched have many names and nicknames,given either by those fool enough to mistake them as agents of the Deathlords or even as demons. The most common are: Children of the Contagion, Shadow Folk, Haunters, Hollow People or The Lost Ones.

RULES AND SYSTEMS

[[[Sindaen/The_Gray_Touched/Character]] Creation]]

[[[Sindaen/The_Gray_Touched/Unique]] Backgrounds For The Gray]]

[[[Sindaen/The_Gray_Touched/The]] Path Of The Great Beast]]

[[[Sindaen/The_Gray_Touched/Gray]] Tocuhed Specific Systems]]

[[[Sindaen/The_Gray_Touched/Signature]] Characters Bone Mirror]]

[[[Sindaen/The_Gray_Touched/Signature]] Characters Father In Shadows Falkii]]

More to come...

Comments

Quite interesting stuff, I for one am looking forward a great deal to reading their specific rules. Also, I cant seem to find the original info on the Gray's at the Compendium, so I was wondering if you could tell me (and everyone else, realy) which section it is in? Thanks in advance. Jamez