GoldenCat/Chimerae

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The Chimera

The Truth of Luna

It was the dawn of the greatest rebellion ever devised, when the Moon walked upon Creation, smiling. In her hands, she held the seed of Change, the seed of Heroism, the seed of power. In her hands, she held Exaltation.

It was with a passionate, delightful kiss that the first Moon-Chosen received his gift, and shone with moonlight from within. And Luna smiled, for he would become a hero in her image. Wielding the essence of change, the command of Creation over the untamed chaos, insanity and dream.

She watched as the First Lunar Exalted spread his arms, his anima showing the true colors of his show and the shape of his dreams. Watched as he said the first words that would bring him his first Charms. Watched as those words came out as insane profanities. Watched as he quivered and twisted. Watched as insanity took him, and his form unraveled in a spiral of flesh and light. Watched as he became unto a primordial behemoth for a moment, and in a scream, was no more.

And cradled the essence of heroism in her hand, seeing her first champion’s form reduced to nothingness.

She tried again. Again and again, on a hundred and eleven heroes. Again and again, each and every one screamed, each and every one had their minds lost to change, each and every one saw their bodies and minds unravel, unable to deal with change. All possibilities, too fluid for a body to hold. A hundred and eleven times, Luna watched her champions unravel, and that made her see what she is. Not a maiden, not a true Celestine.

She cried then, and her tears brought terrible miracles to Creation.

Taking pity on her lover, Gaia approached her in the Sea of Night, soothing her worries, bringing with her a gift... and a solution. In her hand, Gaia held the Infinite Lotus of Life, the representation of all living things on Creation, each petal the essence of a different species, ruled by a different Avatar. With strings of soul and life, she brought the Essences of Lunar Power to the Lotus, and made them one. Tied to it, they would be ruled by one of those petals, and rule over it. Their Totem. Like Luna shone around her, so would her beloved shine around the Lotus, silver moons in the representaton of life.

When a Lunar next received her kiss, his soul dipped into the Lotus, choosing his petal.
When a Lunar next received her kiss, he turned into his totem, the representation of his chosen avatar by instinct.
When a Lunar next received her kiss, he held onto the Totem, small features in all forms, a memory, an anchor.
When a Lunar next received her kiss, he survived.

You see, little one, this is why Lunars have Totems. This is why Lunars have Tells.

And the Lunars hunted, and the Lunars tricked, and the Lunars served with sharp talons and sweet smiles. They protected, as they are meant to be, shadows of the throne, protectors of the kingdom, lights that bring safety and dreams, keeping nightmares away. They are part of Creation, of its history, some of its mightest champions, of its mightest servants. For from servitude to something greater, they have always drawn a power all their own, the strength of their devotion. And thus, it worried many when a brash young Lunar ventured into the Wyld without the proper protection, when she fought horrors that nearly claimed the world if not stopped by the the Exalted host. The chaos had filled her form. Made her one with it. Changed her body and soul, until it had nothing to do with Creation anymore. Until all connection with the Lotus of Life was severed, until she had no foothold in Creation anymore.

But she survived.

Without a Totem, without a Tell. She had changed already. She knew how to hold to her form. Even being what she was now. Smiling, she met the Exalted Host once again. A host that paled when they saw that Lunar amongst their enemies. Changed. Twisted. Insane. Out of touch with reality, and with the chaos, wishing her former companions, all of Creation, to see the world like she did. She was not what they understood as a Lunar anymore. She was something else. She was the first Chimera.

You see, little one, the Silver Pact tells you the Chimera are warped Lunars. Corruptions of a Lunar’s true form. They are corrupted, yes... but this corruption brings purity. You see, that is what Chimeras are. They are what Lunars were supposed to be all along. They are What Humans Should Never Become.

The True Form of Lunars.
The Insanity Beyond the World.
That Which No Human Should Ever Be.

What Makes Them Tick

The Chimera are Lunars that are so warped that they lost any and all connection with Creation, with the blood that keeps their forms anchored and prevents them from losing themselves, and survived. In the core of each and every chimera, there is a statement. "I will be constrained only when and how I choose." Created for the Primordial War, like all the Exalted, they had their role. Protectors and Bodyguards. But they protected from more than physical harm. They were supposed to warp the world around them with endless dreams, and fight the Architects of Everything with the ability to Change the world around them, not constrained by any laws or constraits, even Primordials ones.

Pehaps, Luna's idea was flawed from the start, and simply corrected by Gaia. Or pehaps the Chimera, tainted by the Wyld, are not fully as they should be, and the Chimera's disruptive influence on the very laws of Reality and Fate would not be so absolute. Whatever the truth is, what Lunars became with Gaia's aid complemented the other Exalted well... whereas the Chimera as they emerge from Chaos warp them and their world.

Bcoming a Chimera

Without their Moonsilver Tatoos, Lunars acquire mutations like any other creature(and they increase their Experience Costs for Charms and Essence like they do to all others, and make them unreal for purposes such as fighting Fair Folk). However, when they received as many Mutation Points as their Willpower, the rules become... different. They are unable to gain Willpower until they lower their Mutation Score below their willpower... and each and every Mutation Point past this limit lowers their Temperance by one.

If their temporary willpower becomes zero in this state, they explode in moonlight, and their Tell disappears. The area around them becomes like the Wyld, and utterly chaotic if it is the Wyld. Chaos that mirrors their souls, lost to the change without an anchor. Lost in the chaos, the Lunar has to choose, to hold to his power or to let go and let himself be consumed by it, fading his form into nothingness. Either the Lunar will cease to be, or emerge as a Chimera, ripping all the last hooks of Gaia in his soul. Breaking the last restrictions on their form, becoming free.

Chimera's Coils

Without a connection to the Lotus of Life, the Chimera does not possess a Tell or a Totem, and may not access any of the Charms under True Forms, Totem and Masking. They become unable to absorb forms through their Heart's Blood, and may not have either the Totem or Heart's Blood background.

However, they may still shift their shapes, and have a background of their own, Menagerie, which allows one to buy Forms in the same way as Heart's Blood. There is no distinction between Forms being True or not anymore - the Chimera may flare to her highest anima levels without changing her form. They possess no Tell to give away their Form or hold the Lunar in any True Form. However, every Chimera has a number of Mutation Points equal to her Willpower score, which appear in each and every form she takes (They may acquire more, and those no longer lower their Temperance score - the Chimera's sanity is now beyond being affected by their shape being warped).

They have magic of their own to obscure the Mutations.

Chimeras do not gain new forms by drinking blood, but by imagining them. A Chimera may roll Essence+Craft(Shapeshifting) once per New Moon to create a Shape, with a difficulty of 1 if they possess a model in front of them for the duration, 3 if they have seen it once, 5 if they have it described to them or they come solely from the Chimera's dreams. When they gather as many successes as the Form's Mutation Points, and pays a like like ammount of Experience Points(as if it was a Charm, so the Chimera's total number of Experience Points weight into it) they add that Shape to their Menagerie. It may be the shape of Gods or Raksha or Demons, but it does not change the fundamental nature of the Chimera, only her physical shape.

They also possess a Charm, Drawing the Mirror, which allows them to use the Thorn of Dreams and Nightmares to steal the Dreams of those they strike, eating away part of their Temporary Willpower and receiving the ability to temporarily assume the Shape of the one they struck, or any of his loved ones.

Chimeras may buy the Faerie All-Consuming God-Monster Stance a number of times equal to their Essence Rating.

Mark of Luna

When the Chimera breaks free of her chains, she is Casteless once again. However, being a Casteless being is harsh on the Chimera, who find themselves more easily distracted, and having a harder time advancing their power(due to the casteless costs and the increase from their Mutations). And they have their own way to fix their Caste. They create a Mandate.

A Mandate is a rule created by the Chimera to bind herself and the world around her. They are not bound by rules they do not wish to be, but they are bound by those they choose. This rule gives the equivalent of a two-dot unusual feature to the Chimera, and with the expenditure of a willpower point, she receives the benefit of a power equivalent of a Terrestrial Circle Sorcery Spell, coming from her Rule. Those work in a way that redefine reality around the Chimera - something works in a way that it should not. Mortals around the Chimera for longer than a day must make rolls to avoid Mutations as if the Lunar was a Bordermarch - if they fail, their existence falls under the Mandate.

Mandates include

Alaia the Faceless became a Waning Moon by setting forth a Mandate - that people have no faces, and Masks are as Faces. As long as she mantains this Mandate, she is faceless, but by placing on a mask and paying 1 willpower, she turns the mask into her face, obscuring herself in a similar way as Disguise of the New Face.

Daom became a Full Moon by the decree that people should cast no shadows, unless they wish to. He does not cast a shadow, but may do so in any direction he whims. By paying 1 willpower, he can have his shadow move away from him, in a similar way as The Spy Who Walks in Darkness.

Mistral became a Waxing Moon by decreeing that one's hair is very much alive, a manifestation of one's desires. It whispers the desires to Mistral and others close to him, moving of its own volition if he is distracted. By paying 1 willpower, however, he may receive a bonus to his Presence, Socialize and Performance rolls equal to his Essence. Alternatively, he could have decreed they are manifestations of his violence, and they would work as The Tree's Many Branches.

A Chimera with a Mandate breaks the world as he goes by, however - every season she remains on Creation, or whenever her anima banner reaches its iconic display level on Creation, she rolls her Essence - if she has at least one success, the Storyteller must roll in the Breach of Destiny table in the page 258 of Exalted: The Sidereals to know how badly they have warped to fabric of Creation.

Needless to say, this causes both Lunars and Sidereals, each Keeper of Reality in their own ways, to hunt for any Chimeras that dwell into Creation. In fact, such creatures have caused Elder Lunars and Bronze Faction functionaries to set their differences aside and work together - their danger is too great.

A Chimera may shift their Mandate by changing their Nature at the end of a Story, choosing another Mandate, and another Caste.

Magic of the Unbound

Comments & Questions

I'd just like to say that this looks really cool, and I'm excited to see where you're going with it. Especially the way the Chimera warp the world around them. I'd also, in case you hadn't noticed it, like to point out Willows/GCChimera, at which Willows has produced some typically awesome and flavorful charms based on this page. Substantively, I'm glad for the All-Consuming God-Monster Stance clause, because naturally we still need some kind of "Final Boss Form" charm / cascade, but I'd really like to see the kinds of charms these guys get now that they aren't animals anymore, but rather walking pools of metaphysically radioactive quicksilver. Anyway, that's all I've to say for now, but I love your Lunars project in general and I'm certain to love this even more. ~WillCoon

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