SolarOccult/Greymane
Sunlit Fortress Path
Of all the Arts and Sciences, the Art of Warding is perhaps one of the few which the Exalted do not ignore completely. Wards are far more specific in nature and purpose than the general and absolute effects of Sorcerous protections. The Art of Warding exists as a viable alternative only because it’s simple yet potentially powerful effects can be employed far more cheaply and at times more swiftly to counter an explicit variety of creature than the all-encompassing power of Sorcerery.
This series of Solar Occult Charms, known in some texts as the Sunlit Fortress Path, are dedicated to the empowerment of warding. Each Charm is method of creation or improvement of mortal wards which allow them to excel beyond the keen of mortal thaumaturgy. Yet, the basic principles of the creation of standard wards remain intact. Ritual preparation and time dedicated to the crafting of these mystical barriers remain as important to the Solar employing one to guard an entire fortress from a Great Unshaped horror of the Wyld as they do for the lowly hedge wizard seeking to keep his home safe from marauding goblins.
The Sunlit Fortress Path employs the stand rules for creating normal wards listed on (PG 130). Simple Charms of this path are activated at the beginning of the creation process. These Charms dictate entirely how the end result will function. They supercede the listed effects of a standard ward, rather than stacking with them.
Supplemental Charms of this path may be employed at any point during the creation of a new ward or attempted boosting of preexisting one. They change nothing of how a ward will function, but instead add additional effects to the ward.
Impassable Walls of Splendor
Cost: 3motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Occult: 2
Minimum Essence: 1
Perquisite Charms: None
Effect: Wards set by mortal hands are often fragile constructs, capable of little more than stopping the most minor spirits. Yet, when a Solar chooses to employ the art, he is capable of crafting a mystical barrier which can give even the mightiest of gods hesitation and send the nobility of the Fair Folk screaming back to the Wyld. When activating this Charm, the Solar’s hands become infused with radiant golden light. Upon touching a ward, this warm luminescence spreads from the Solar into the ward itself, etching out it’s boundaries as it grasps and strengthens the Essence already infused into the ward. Though the glow fades not long afterwards, it leaves an aura of power which creatures sensitive to Essence can feel and identify as the touch of a Solar. This alone is enough to convince most intruders to turn back, as few will willingly risk the ire the Chosen of the Sun. Those who do press on will often find themselves slamming into an impenetrable barrier of golden light which suddenly shines forth to hold them at bay or even writhing in agony as the wards defenses tear through them.
This Charm may be activated when making the standard Manipulation + Occult roll when creating a new ward or when attempting to boost a preexisting ward. Add a number of automatic successes to the roll equal to the Permanent Essence of the Solar. This Charm may only be employed once on any single ward. Attempting to do so twice will cause the woven Essence to tighten so greatly that the ward physically breaks in half.
Golden Guardian at the Gate
Cost: 5motes, 1 willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Occult: 3
Minimum Essence: 1
Perquisite Charms: Impassable Walls of Splendor
Effect: At times the imposition of a simple mystical barrier is not enough to dissuade or stop an unwelcome intruder and a more direct form of prevention is called for. Golden Guardian at the Gate creates a simulacrum of the Exalt made from a semi-solid golden light. This guardian is tied irrevocably to the ward upon which the Charm is employed. It lives and dies with the ward and it’s entire purpose is determined by the same. Tirelessly patrolling the boundaries of it’s ward, the guardian is alert, if unintelligent. Upon catching sight of any creature which it’s ward was crafted to protect against, the guardian will begin a relentless assault until the threat is driven off or destroyed. All other beings the guardian ignores however, even those which would clearly be a potential threat. Only if directly assaulted will the guardian be provoked into a reaction. Beyond this it cannot speak and will not even acknowledge the presence of others.
The guardian uses the Exalts relative attribute + ability pools in combat. They wield weapons of pure sunlight that resemble the artifacts or equipment of the Exalt who created them, but do not possess the capabilities of those weapons. Guardians add their wards Strength rating to the accuracy and damage of all their attacks. They possess the seven standard health levels in addition to a number equal to half the wards Duration rating and ignore all wounds penalties. They also possess lethal and bashing soak equal to the wards full Duration rating. Guardian can instantly appear at any place on the edge or within of the wards boundaries, provoking a roll to avoid ambush from those who unknowingly wander into it’s domain, but cannot ever step beyond the ward. Motes spent to create a guardian are considered commited until the guardian or it's is destroyed or until the Solar chooses to end the effect. Doing so willingly returns the Essence spent back to the Solar's pool.
Imprisonment of Unwelcome Shadows
Cost: 3motes
Duration: Durability in Hours
Type: Simple
Minimum Occult: 3
Minimum Essence: 1
Perquisite Charms: Impassable Walls of Splendor
Effect: This ward is a devious trap, designed not drive off unwelcome guests but instead capture and hold them at the Solar thaumaturges leisure. Unlike typical wards, Imprisonment of Unwelcome Shadows bares no aura of Essence and clever thaumaturges will often craft them to display no obvious physical boundaries as well. Only beings with some active form of Essence detection have even a chance of sensing the presence of these wards, and then only upon a successful Perception + Occult roll at a difficulty equal to the Occult score of the Solar who crafted it. Muted and silent, in sits in waiting for the unwary to pass over it before activating. Once activated, warmly glowing rays of sunlight burst from edges of the ward and weave themselves into a cage around the creature, trapping them within. These wards trap both material and immaterial beings, preventing a simple escape for ghosts and spirits. More over, the glow from their cage of light makes immaterial or otherwise invisible beings visible to the naked eye and thus easy to identify, though it does not force them to materialize.
Creatures with an Essence score equal to or greater than the Solar who crafted the ward may attempt to escape by rolling their Essence against the wards effective Strength once per hour. Each success subtracts a point of Strength, but the ward must be completely demolished before escape is possible. Beings who are not of the variety the ward was crafted to capture may pass freely through the ward with no ill effect, save perhaps annoying the prisoner, but may not weaken or destroy the ward without use of a Charm or stunt. Creatures who match the variety the ward was designed to work against may also step into the ward, but doing so traps them within as well. Once activated and unless destroyed, the ward lasts a number of hours equal to it’s the Duration.
Hateful Heavenly Dungeon
Cost: 5motes
Duration: Durability in Turns
Type: Simple
Minimum Occult: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Perquisite Charms: Imprisonment of Unwelcome Shadows
Effect: Though mere imprisonment can be tormenting for some beings, there are times when a thaumaturge desires to send a far more meaningful message. Wards of the Hateful Heavenly Dungeon are feared by god and demon and any who have ever experienced a moment within their grasp. Like the Imprisonment of Unwelcome Shadows ward, this ward is a trapping ward; impossible to detect without an active form of Essence detection a successful Perception + Occult roll, though the agitated Essence woven into Hateful Heavenly Dungeon wards reduce the difficulty to the Solar’s Permanent Essence – 1. Even those who do detect these wards and are familiar with the two varieties of trapping wards will be unable to discern which they are approaching. The difference becomes obvious the moment the ward activates. Roaring in righteous fury, pillars of golden fire burst out of the edges of the ward and trap the victim within a twisting cage of flame. The solar-fire rips through physical and immaterial alike, offering no escape for those who try to dematerialize. Nor will armor protect from the searing lash, the tongues of flare piercing effortlessly through such artificial protections. There are only two escapes from this agonizing torture, a desperate shove through the cage of fire or death.
For every turn the intruder spends trapped within the ward, they are dealt the wards effective Strength in Lethal damage. This damage cannot be soaked by armor, only by natural soak. Beings of darkness such as demons, the undead, or the Abyssal Exalted, take Aggravated damage rather than Lethal. Those beings that the ward was not set for will feel the awesome heat of the flame even though they are never burned by them and are still able to pass through the ward unhindered. Those who the ward had been set for are not so fortunate. If they are foolish enough to barrel through the flame, they remain trapped within as well. A further more subtle danger, those who attempt to deface or destroy the ward from the outside once it’s been activated are immediately blasted by a gout of golden flame which deals half the usual damage.
Creatures with an Essence score equal to or greater than the Solar who set it may attempt to escape by rolling their Essence against the wards effective Strength once per turn. Each success subtracts a point of Strength, both weakening the ward and lowering the damage dealt, but the ward must be completely demolished before escape is possible. Once activated, the Hateful Heavenly Dungeon lasts the wards Duration in turns.
Welcoming Egress Gate
Cost: 4motes
Duration: Durability in Weeks
Type: Simple
Minimum Occult: 4
Minimum Essence: 1
Perquisite Charms: Impassable Walls of Splendor
Effect: A rare art among mortals, there are certain wards which are designed not to stop all creatures from passing through them, but allow for those one desires safe passage through. A Solar thaumaturge is capable of crafting these keyed wards as well, yet theirs are on a far more powerful level. Welcoming Egress Gate wards impose not simply a mystical barrier against the unwanted, but create a physical blockade as well which can prevent any manner of being from gaining passage. Welcome Egress Gate wards much be placed upon something with clear boundaries such as a door, a window, a city gate, or even a hole in a wall. Once set and activated, the air in the center of the ward becomes a swirling pool of golden light which grows outward rapidly to the edges of the ward. There it stops and the light calcifies into barrier of solid gold. From that moment until the ward is no more, no physical being who is not invited to do so by the Solar may pass and it is a brief struggle for even dematerialized beings to press through.
Those who the Solar allows to move through the ward do so easily, their passage doing little more than causing ripples to roll over the pristine surface of the gold. To all others, the ward presents a very real, very hard barrier that no amount of shoving will dislodge. Dematerialized beings do not find the ward a difficult obstruction to pass, but it can present an annoying one as slows them down, causing them to devote a single turn to pushing through. For physical beings, the ward is much more difficult to pass. One can choose to attempt to destroy the setting around it or to bash through the ward itself. How difficult the first option is depends entirely on where the ward is set, as smashing down the wooden wall of a hut is considerably easier than crumbling the stones of city gate. The golden barrier itself possess a soak of 6b/6L + Strength of ward to both and 10 health levels + a number equal to the Durability of the ward. It does not crack or break and must be completely destroyed to allow for passage. Unless broken, these barriers remain in place a number of weeks equal to their Durability.
Unassailable Skylit Keep
Cost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Durability in Days
Type: Simple
Minimum Occult: 5
Minimum Essence: 3
Perquisite Charms: Welcome Egress Gate
Effect: One of the ultimate expressions of warding’s protection, the crafting of an Unassailable Skylit Keep ward can be a drastic undertaking. Designed to protect not simply a single entrance, but an entire structure, these wards are immense and difficult, yet unquestionable in their power. The key and focus of the ward is placed in the very center of the structure which the Solar desires to protect. An elaborate Mandela is created there, which often depicts a celestial manse gleaming beneath the golden sun. From there, arrayed like spokes on a wheel, physical channels are caved into the walls and floors to channel the protective essence outward to the edges of the structure, then they in turn carved outward to encircle the building completely. Once this is done, the Solar sits in the center of the ward and pours his Exalted essence through it and remains to ensure it flows evenly through the channels. Once activated, a pillaring beam of sunlight bursts into the sky from the channels of the ward, visible for a few moments for miles around. As the light fades, the structure absorbs the brilliant hue into itself and gleams like solid gold.
Any creature not deemed welcome by the Exalt will find making an assault upon the structure difficult indeed. Doors, windows, and gateways will all refuse to open for them and resist all physical battery. They must rely upon only open portals to make their way. Dematerialized beings have a somewhat easier time as they may simply pass through physical obstacles, but it still takes them a number of full turns equal to the wards effective Strength against them to press through the golden skin at every turn. Should any unwelcome creature, manifested or immaterial, pass through the ward or even attempt to, everyone within will instantly know where the ward has been assailed and where the invader is within the structure, making stealth without Charms or other supernatural ability impossiable. Those who make it inside still do not have an easy task. Every dice action they make within the structure is reduced by half of the wards effective Strength against them rounded up.
Unassailable Skylit Keep wards are difficult and exhausting to maintain. The Solar who sits at the center of the ward must remain there for the full duration to guide the flows of Essence properly. Should they leave the center of the ward, the flow of Essence will become uneven and erratic, ruining the pattern of the ward before it burns itself out. Should this happen, the old ward must be wiped out completely and an entirely new ward must be set. Even should the Solar remain in place for the entire duration of the ward it will still burn out, but in a far more graceful fashion that preserves the channels and requires only the center key to be recreated. Unassailable Skylit Keep wards can last a number of days equal to their Duration.
