The Book Of Air/Warstriders

== Battlechargers ==
Artifact: 5
Shapechanging Moonsilver Warstriders

Soak: 24/24
Strength: 16
Mobility Penalty: 0
Fatigue Value: 1
Commitment: 10

Barbarian legend tells of giant argent eagles and wolves warring with each other, laying waste to entire regions in the process. Though few remember, these tales refer to Battlechargers, the First Age Lunar answer to the Warstrider. Mostly identical to the Solars' Noble Warstriders, Battlechargers are composed of massive quantities of Moonsilver coating an articulated endoskeletal framework of Jade, giving them much more of a fluid and smoothlined look than traditional Warstriders. In addition to the standard Moonsilver benefits, this allows the Battlecharger to adapt its shape along with the Lunar piloting it! HOWEVER, each Battlecharger was crafted with a certain Lunar hero in mind, and only those of his Totem or an appropriately close one can use this ability, with a +2 difficulty. All others may use it only as a standard Warstrider, even if they are Lunars.

Example: The Battlecharger Roarquake was constructed for Bloodmane, a 1st Age Lunar Full-Moon with a Lion Totem; strapping himself into Roarquake, he pilots it as any Warstrider, and finds that its sympathically-linked framework and attuned Moonsilver instantly mimics his Deadly Beastman Transformation and his lion form, though none of his other shapes gained with Heart's Blood are compatible with it. Roarquake was lost after the Usurpation until being discovered in the Wyld by Mbume, a newly-Exalted Lunar who has a Leopard Totem. Mbume is also able to pilot the Battlecharger and, due to his similar big cat totem, make use of its form with difficulty (+2 Diff to movement rolls). However, Mbume lost Roarquake after being defeated in honorable challenge by an elder Lunar, Shrike. Shrike finds it a powerful weapon, but as a Bird-Totem, cannot use any of its alternate shapes, only its default humanoid one.

Battlechargers were never common, being the product of a single 1st Age No-Moon genius, though if one of the handful he created (all with different Totem-forms) were to be found, its secrets could be reverse-engineered. Or if the Lunar shard belonging to the original creator were to suddenly Exalt another...

Dream-of-War

Artifact: 5

History: The Raksha Artisan Ever-Weeping Willow was awestruck when she saw the lengths the little creatures of Creation went to to enlarge themselves. She decided that she simply had to have a Warstrider of her very own, but only one of her own making would suffice. For decades, she flitted from savant to engineer, seducing the secrets of their craft from them; for even longer, she applied this stolen knowledge in the workshops of the Wyld, utilizing Charms somewhere between Crafter's Arsenal and Principle of Worlds until she was finally able to perfect the forgings of her Ring Grace into Dream-of-War, the first true Fae Warstrider...

But she wasn't done yet. Most Raksha would have been satisfied with owning the Warstrider as a Possession, that could be Invoked into Creation with a thought, but not Ever-Weeping Willow. Using an adaptation of Assumption of the Person's Heart, the Willow actually merged her very being into her production when she brought it to Creation. Her preferred strategy for causing mischief is to walk it/herself to a walled city's gates in the night, with a message presenting her as a gift from the gods to fight their enemies with. Once the city dwellers take in the apparently empty suit of armor, she will allow them to pilot her for awhile, gaining their trust as she smashes their enemies, until the day a "system malfunction" causes her to go haywire, demolishing their city beneath her feet. Then, the cycle repeats itself. Eventually, she most wishes to visit Lookshy...

Image: Dream-of-War is a little larger than a Royal Warstrider, appears to be composed of a variety of priceless materials and is crafted with all of the elegant grace one would expect of the Fae. Except when it runs amok, in which case its baroque stylings suddenly reveal their Wyld-origins with all manner of bizarre apparitions and fluxuations.

Powers: Dream-of-War has abilities equivalent to the following Raksha Charms: Gladdening Visage hides the Wyld-nature of the weapon; Shiftless Untamed Beauty normally gurantees that even the most skeptical of populations eventually lets it into their midst; Bastion of the Self (Sword) is suitable for most mundane opponents, while Defining the Parameters of Battle & Fearsome Mien aid it against truly dangerous foes; Glorious Hero Form (Strength & Stamina) makes it stronger and tougher than most Royal Warstriders. Raging Vortex Form is activated only during its rampages...

Also, anyone piloting Dream-of-War is subject to its entire array of Feeding Charms; the pilot during its rampages is inevitably Ravished into one of the Dream-Eaten...

Golgomekh

Behemoth: 4

History: When the Cataphract Koan-of-the-Sword journeyed deep into the Wyld to successfully Vex a Behemoth from the Unshaped Name-of-None, he was genuinely surprised at the shape it took. Normally (if that word has any meaning concerning matters of the Wyld and Raksha) Behemoths manifested as some manner of wild creature, but his had emerged as a giant suit of armor, akin to the metal skins the weaklings of Creation wore to make themselves literally and figuratively big. An ardent follower of the Balorian Crusade, Koan has wasted no time bringing his Deep Wyld Horror against his enemies, both within the Wyld and especially without...

Image: Golgomekh is roughly the size of a Juggernaut Warstrider, shaped of the same multicolored stained Glass that many Raksha like to arm and armor themselves with. Its huge bulk has the approximate shape of a man, but contains many jagged surfaces capable of ripping buildings and other Warstriders apart...

Powers: Golgomekh has Glorious Hero Form (Strength and Stamina), Imposition of Law (Grappling Attacks), Bastion of the Self (Sword), the mutations Giant, Impaling Attack (telescoping arms), Quills, Regeneration, and Body of Stone (Stained Glass). Its fists are the equivalent of Orichalcum Smashfists, and can be used at range with its Impaling Attack. Also, its pilot (normally Koan) can gain the benefits of the Berserker mutation in combat.

Koan has made an especial effort to confront the Warstriders of Creation and has amassed a sizable amount of Warstrider-sized weaponry from the many he has destroyed. It is believed that he won't rest until he can ransack the armories of Lookshy and turn his gaze to the Realm...