Exalted Now

In scratchpad mode. Don't mind me.

Ten Vital Questions

1. Is this Creation in the Distant Future?

No. Creation was obliterated, but its memories (and other things) have made their way, inexplicably, through the Well of Udr.

2. Wait, what. The Well of Udr?! I thought that was for killing!

Through means unknown, a Solar managed to bridge the gap between Creation and a 'safe' reality at the cost of their life and Exalted Essence, just as everything was falling headlong into Oblivion.

3. So, the Neverborn win?

As much as they needed to pass on. Creation itself was erased, but much of what was there made its way through the Well, although not in its original form. With everything 'gone' from Creation's local reality, the Neverborn found their final rest.

4. 'Not in its original form'?

Everything that made it from Creation to Rhea was converted in the form-twisting trip through the Well. What was shaped now exists as dreams and memories given power.

5. ... Rhea?

Rhea is... not quite 'the real world'. In the middle of the twentieth century, the bridge through Udr coughed forth the first waves of alien Essence into the local space around Rhea, going so far as to even inundate the Moon. This Essence curiously lacked the brilliant, shining dreams of the Celestial Exalted -- the transition in form that took place when passing through the Well was much slower for them.

6. And this means...

They're only showing up now. Unlike the more subtle flows of Essence that influence, shape and (in the case of the dreams of the Blooded) empower, the Celestial Essence-dreams completely transform their chosen bearer into something more, something far greater than they once were. Something Exalted.

7. So... this is ExMod.

Not quite! The biggest differences are that Essence is foreign and alien to Rhea, but molds the world like clay. That, and it isn't something that permeates all creation, but wells up from within those capable of manipulating it. (There are exceptions, such as the Alchemicals). Also, there are no gods in the classic sense. There may be a God, their might not be. All the miracles that happen in the world are either through sheer human will, or the wonder of Essence.

8. And the Curse?

... what Curse? Pfffft.

9. Okay. There're Abyssals in this list. If the Neverborn are gone...

... the dreams of an end to everything remain, and those dreams find the right people; blood-minded sociopaths, actual serious hate-it-all emo kids, and so forth. While there's no true Oblivion to feed them to, every Abyssal is a little Abyss unto themselves. More on that later.

10. One more If everything was translated into dreams, then how do Artifacts work?

You shall see, but it will bear some resemblance to how big bad items work for Changelings from C:tL

Solar Exalted

Life is Excellence

Main themes: Excellence, heroics, leadership, inspiration
Anima Shift
- Stage 1: Minor parts of the body take on a shining golden hue, usually starting with the eyes and spreading to nails and teeth.
- Stage 2: By this point, the hair on the Solar's head (and any other well-furred areas) takes on the appearance of spun gold lit from within.
- Stage 3: The Solar's body is now a gleaming golden statue, form perfected and idealized. Even the objects on their person have threads of golden light running through them.
- Stage 4: The Solar has reached Iconic status, and their form looks like some golden hero out of legend, complete with Essence-spun clothing and similar iconic symbols and effects. No two Solars are the same in this form.

Lunar Exalted

Life is Survival

Main themes: Adaptation, survival, environmental harmony, instinct
Anima Shift
- Stage 1: Minor parts of the body take on a liquid silver hue, usually starting with the eyes and spreading to nails and teeth. Parts affected take on a slightly more 'feral' shape best fitting the Lunar's active Totemic lifeform.
- Stage 2: By this point, the hair on the Lunar's head (and any other well-furred areas) takes on the appearance of flowing quicksilver. Faint shimmers of tattoo-like patterns appear on the Lunar's skin.
- Stage 3: The Lunar's body is now an ever-shifting silver shape quite close to their Totem, form feral and alluring. Even the objects on their person begin to show the now-constant tattoo-like patterns running along their body.
- Stage 4: The Lunar has reached Totemic status, and their form looks like a terrible, fearsome argent man-beast straight from the dreams (and nightmares) of children and adults alike, complete with Essence-spun trappings and similar defining symbols and effects. No two Lunars are the same in this form.

Sidereal Exalted

Life is Mystery

Main themes: Secrets, mysteries, knowledge, guidance
Anima Shift
- Stage 1: The Sidereal's eyes turn black as night, and twinkling stars can be seen within them if one looks at them directly.
- Stage 2: The faintest aura of gaseous, brilliant Essence wafts from the Sidereal's skin, not unlike a nebula and having a pattern and color array unique to the Sidereal. The inside of the Sidereal's mouth and the insides of their hands darken and take on the star-filled appearance their eyes already display.
- Stage 3: The Sidereal's body is now a man-shaped nebula, form wondrous and mysterious. Even the objects on their person begin to darken and take on a star-filled appearance.
- Stage 4: The Sidereal has reached Resplendent status, and their nebulous shape has tightened and solidified into a brilliant, awe-inspiring form of colors and stars, complete with Essence-spun attire and similar iconic symbols and effects -- universally, tiny stars seem to wink into existance around them. No two Sidereals are the same in this form.

Abyssal Exalted

Life is Decay

Main themes: absence, entropy, destruction
Anima Shift
- Stage 1: The Abyssal's body doesn't show any visible changes, but lights dim and sounds are muffled within a fair range around the Abyssal. In fact, everything seems muted around them, even colors, tastes and sensations.
- Stage 2: The dampening effect becomes all the more evident, to the point that reality seems less... there around the Abyssal. Their own form darkens at the edges, making the Abyssal look like a paper cutout that doesn't quite seem to fit into the world around them.
- Stage 3: The Abyssal's body suddenly begins to devour light, and their form doesn't turn black so much as it becomes the absence of color, save for three colored points of light: their eyes and mouth. Even the objects on their person begin to darken and warp.
- Stage 4: The Abyssal has reached Imminent status, and their light-eating form also begins to draw in anything lightweight and loose that comes close to them. The few people that have looked into the form of an Abyssal (and managed to resist the urge to go insane from the horror such an act brings) equate their appearance to a 'walking black hole', then promptly change the subject with a shudder. Abyssals in Imminent form are difficult to distinguish from one another, as much of their identifying characteristics (vocal inflections, habits and even fashion sense) are temporarily muted.

Terrestrial Exalted

Life is Unity

Main themes: Unity, authority, legacies, elemental forces
Anima Shift
- Stage 1: The Terrestrial's Element begins to 'bleed' slightly, manifesting in subtle ways. A Fire-type's body temperature grows, and they begin to exhale hot steam, for instance.
- Stage 2: External displays of the Terrestrial's power become more evident, and even a little damaging to anything that comes in contact with them. Even their form begins to warp some, mimicing their Element in some way.
- Stage 3: The Terrestrial's body is now a monument to their Element, form sculpted and majestic. By now, their form actively causes damage to anything touching them, like corrosive salts eating at the ground... or someone's flesh.
- Stage 4: The Terrestrial has reached Elemental status, and their form completes its shift from human to living force of nature. In this form, their mind is wide open to the communal 'thoughtblog' all Terrestrials share, and their destructive nature is such that handling non-attuned objects will ruin them irreparably.

Alchemicals

Life is Discovery

Main themes: Discovery, investigation, adventure, 'little men doing big things'
Essence Bleed
- Stage 1: The agent's Alchemical Armor seems brighter, and various points (seemingly designed just for this purpose) glow and purse with colored lights.
- Stage 2: On top of the glowing effect, the Armor begins to occasionally give off faint emanations of Essence, usually in the form of sparks and lightning trails when joints move and limbs touch surfaces.
- Stage 3: The Armor's Essence Core Module will begin to show some sign that enough Essence is flooding through the Armor that it's approaching its final state. This can include pre-programmed chimes, even more pulsing lights, or various effects fitting the Armor's Type and the agent wearing it.
- Stage 4: The Armor enters Exceed status. This is the point where the Armor has cycled enough Essence around to store up one stunning charge of energy meant for a final, glorious act, usually a massive attack or a burst of activity. Once this charge is expended, the Armor automatically sinks back into Stage 1 and overall performance is slightly depressed for a time.

Infernals

Life is Torment

Fair Folk (Phenomena)

Life is Unusual

Main themes: urban legends, chaos, the unexplained, altered realities
Phenom Suit
- Hearts: Emotions, passions and corruptions
- Spades: Bravery, violence and conquest
- Clubs: Social structure, interaction, relationships
- Diamonds: Creativity, objects, places
Phenom Type
- Unchained: Phenoms of this nature have no real shape and cannot actively communicate with real beings, but are wide-reaching and powerful in a single, well-defined manner. (Those in the know are aware that every single road named after Martin Luther King Jr. is in fact one road, and that you can travel down it if you give the road a proper toll at the nearest green trashcan. It will always be something you're suddenly aware of and something you can give... but not always something you'd be comfortable giving. MLK Highway is an Unchained Phenom of the Diamond suit.)
- Chained: Phenoms of this nature can actively interact with the world and even do some pretty interesting things, but they cannot physically interact with the world save through mediums fitting their 'motivation'. (The lucky few who know about AM 1444, also known as AM iReal, tune in to hear the 24/7 ramblings of a wise, but strangely off man -- or is it woman? -- who seems to know just what to say to make you feel better. Occasionally, the host, DJ Glam, also takes callers for personal talks about life, love and loss. To reach the show, you dial the number of the phone you're holding backwards. AM iReal is a Chained Phenom of Clubs suit with a strong Hearts taint.)
- Bound: Phenoms of this nature are immense forces of chaos that either ride on the living or have forms of their own. The latter are the most powerful, the most 'real', and often the most dangerous. They are the strange man at the freakshow who actually looks like a freak, the fellow on the corner who collects every candy wrapper tossed aside, the legends oF Springheeled Jack, the Chupacabra and Wendigo all rolled into one. Those who meet a Bound Phenom are rarely ever the same. ("'There's a man by a tree / who seems wild and free / with a glimmer in his eye / He has many a form / but a satyr's the norm / and he'll torment you until you cry'" is the lesser-known rhyme about the notorious Robin Goodfellow, also known as Puck. Presently, Robin travels the globe by 'jumping' from one treetop to another, looking for things to do and people to terrorize. He's not overtly vicious, but can defend himself well if threatened... although his victims usually end up alive, injured, and embarrased in some way. Puck is a Phenom of Hearts, with very strong Spades tainting.)

DarkheartOne/ExaltedNow

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