Rynel/ExaltedModernSetting
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Background
The end of the Second Age came in a way none could have expected or predicted. Even the Chosen of the Maidens were surprised as it all happened, and so quickly as well. A Solar Exalt who's name was lost to the ages had finally gathered dozens upon dozens of his fellow Lawbringers together and prepared for a massive assault on the Realm. When they finally attacked, the Dynasts brought to bear the full might of their armies to counter them, but it wasn't enough. In a matter of months, a brilliant defensive campaign had been reduced to small pockets of Realm soldiers isolated by the combined forces of the Solars and the sudden onset of Alchemical-led Autochthonian forces arriving from the Southwest. The remainder of Dynastic forces that could be mustered were gathered, and they staged a last-ditch defense of the Imperial City against the two other armies.
The inevitable did occur, however, and they were slain to the man. The Autochthonian and Solar forces were similarly decimated, a combination of sorcery, high-Essence Alchemical charms and hidden First Age weaponry put the death total on that day in the tens of thousands. Strange emissaries travelling with the Autochthonians, later identified as advisors from the Deathlords, utilized strange artifacts and succeeded in creating a large Shadowland on the Blessed Isle as night fell. Countless dead marched out of the Shadowland, and the Imperial City was wiped clean of life. Few Solars involved in that battle could escape, their shards captured by the Death Knights that had arrived on the scene. Multiple Alchemical Exalted were slain, but at least two of them retreated with what little forces they had left to a staging point on the southern coast of the Blessed Isle to lick their wounds.
With the Dynastic forces defending the city itself broken, the forces occupying its silent remains turned to eliminating the stubborn Dragon-Blooded defending the Imperial Manse. The oldest and mightiest Immaculate martial artists and heads of the Houses had managed to turn it into an impressive fortification, and lasted for weeks before a small hole in their defenses widened to a massive gap and they too were killed or forced to retreat out of the city entirely. With the Imperial Manse under their control, they turned their efforts to finding a way inside the deepest chambers of it, to the controls of the Realm Defense Grid itself. While their most ingenius Death Knights worked on that, the most powerful and tactically knowledgeable led a campaign across the Blessed Isle and began slaying anyone in their path and conquering everything they could, spreading the Shadowland they had created as they went.
In preparation for a planned move in the future, Mask of Winters had a great mirror created by his artisans. Forged of Soulsteel, it did not reflect anything, though its surface was shined to perfection. He sacrificed a significant potion of his resources to have it created, using some of his most powerful servants' souls in its construction to strengthen it and increase the power of the strange artifact.
The First and Forsaken Lion's attack on the Patropolis of Ot was swift and decisive. While he lost many soldiers in the combat and even a Death Knight, he managed to get some within, and the Autochthonians began to succumb to mass outbreaks of the Great Contagion. He sought to bring the Machine God under his control, and it was beginning to look like all he had to do was wait to do it.
Calibration later that year marked the end of it all.
On the first day of Calibration, the Fair Folk re-entered Creation, moving more quickly than they had ever before in a second Balorian Crusade. One of Mask of Winters' Death Knights finally broke open the final lock to the nerve center of the Imperial Manse, and put it under his control. Within hours, every Solar Exalt in Creation was systematically eradicated, and all their Solar Shards captured by the Deathlord within the mirror he had made. The shadows of their former incarnations could be seen, and it was a recreated Jade Prison that was under his control. Within hours, every Solar Exalt in Creation was systematically eradicated, and all their Solar Shards captured by the Deathlord within the mirror he had made. The shadows of their former incarnations could be seen, and it was a recreated Jade Prison that was under his control.
On the second day of Calibration, The First and Forsaken Lion entered Autochthonia with an artifact he had taken from a mixed group of Exalted, using its immense power to annihilate the defenders. He began his march towards the Pole of Crystal—the brain of the Machine God. As the Realm Defense Grid was beginning to be utilized to rapidly slay every mortal on the face of the world, something happened. No one is entirely sure what occurred, but the Manse was cleansed of its Abyssal presence and sealed by some incredibly powerful being. Despite the best efforts of the remainder of the occupying Abyssal forces, they could not force their way inside again.
On the third day of Calibration, the First and Forsaken Lion unknowingly brought the Eye of Autochthon back to the Great Maker's core, reawakening him. His 'avatar' entered Creation and began to take note of what was occurring there. The Adamant Caste of Alchemical Exalted were suddenly the primary troops of Autochthon's internal defense forces, appearing in great numbers and beginning to easily remove the Abyssal taint from inside their god, with perfect Clarity and responding to unspoken commands. Why they did not appear before things had already progressed so far is uncertain.
On the fourth day of Calibration, the 'avatar' of Autochthon journeyed to the Imperial Mountain, where he was met with a Scale of fifty strange Exalts and legions of demons. They each carried an extremely twisted Solar Shard, and were armed with artifacts the like of which he had never seen nor created. With knowledge that they could indeed harm him, he climbed the mountain while under heavy attack, quickly reaching the top and interfacing with the Pole. Creation trembled, and Autochthon began to meld with the world, absorbing everything else within him and living in Creation. The Underworld was reshaped as well, but the fate of Yu-Shan and those within it is uncertain.
On the fifth day of Calibration, Earth was born. The evil left in the world was not completely expunged during this colossal 'reboot,' and in the millenia to come, it would grow in the hearts of humanity and give rise to new supernatural horrors. The wonders of the First Age were being replicated in cruder fashions in this Third Age of Man, and the old enemies of the Abyssal Exalted and Fair Folk were replaced by much weaker counterparts. The true Fair Ones were trapped beyond the Gauntlet, and both thaumaturgy and sorcery were lessened and restricted by the uncompromising beliefs in normalcy that mankind had fashioned for itself. Champions of Man in the form of men and women calling themselves Hunters arose, resembling much less powerful versions of the heroic Solar Exalted that were imprisoned just before the old world ended.
Yet, there was hope, for an ancient black mirror was uncovered as a meteorite fell to Earth, unearthing the strange dark structure with no damage to it with such a near miss that some wondered if it was a coincidence that it hit there. Scientists believe that a terrorist attack was responsible for what occurred next, for when the mirror was brought out into the light of day, a massive explosion erupted from what appeared to be nowhere, turning that chunk of the Sahara Desert into an odd black material ringed with glass.
The mirror was gone, shards of it sent raining across the world, shining with a golden light. Mankind would find them in time, and the world would be changed as people wreathed in golden light began to work to change this World of Darkness into one that they could only remember in vague dreams of a strange world...
The Shards
Each one of the shards of the mirror that was unearthed contains a Solar Shard. Now in physical form, Exaltation is not in the hands of the Celestial Bureaucracy. Few, if any, know the real power of the shards lies in the possible resurrection of the Solars. The metaphysical shards are reawakened from their dormancy within their prisons much in the same way that people were Exalted in Creation: they have to do something great, though now the physical object must also be in their possession for it to work. Until the first generation of new Solars are slain, Exaltation is entirely dependant on these objects and circumstances being perfect for the chains that bind the shards to them to be broken.
Comments
I was considering putting in a possibility for other types of Exalted to be brought back via this method, but I think it would be better for a different mechanism to be used for each. Ancient bloodlines for Dragon-Blooded reawakened by the sudden re-emergence of real Essence use into the world? The Deathlords having always been around but at significantly reduced powers, seeing an opportunity for re-corrupting the Solar shards? Luna deciding the time is right for her Chosen to reappear? The Sidereals having always been working behind the scenes, even since the Second Age ended? -Rynel
I like this and think that it is a very interesting take on the setting. It is also an interesting way to make Exalted into the World of Darkness. Whats cool is that the Solars will change everything and bring knowledge of the supernatural to a world that hides it in the darkest corners. It makes me wonder the power level between the Solars and the other exalted compared to the Mages, Vampires, Werewolves, Mummies and other denizens of the supernatural world. Personally, as the Solars embody a much more open magical age, they should be more powerful than the others, but that might cause problems. Anyway, I like this and would be interested in seeing where you take it. -Heru
